The Enrichment Project

Hermione's eyes flew open the instant she woke. The 'baby' was still curled up in the crook of her arm. He was also awake and cooing quietly to himself as he grasped at the fabric of Hermione's sweater. She scanned the darkened room to see that the other girls and their 'babies' (bundled up in baskets next to their 'mothers' ' beds) were all asleep.

Slowly, she sat up in bed feeling disoriented. She had dozed off before the evening meal and not only had that passed, but it appeared to be quite late. Hermione picked up the baby and her bag and headed for the bathroom. She wrinkled up her nose. "How can something so cute smell so bad!" she whispered through a smile as she shut the bathroom door behind her. "We both need to get cleaned up."

Hermione set to work, not really sure of what she was doing, but just caring for the baby by feel. She took her time washing the baby in a basin by the sinks that she had charmed to be soft and yielding to his little body. She couldn't stop staring at him, drinking him in...she located a few ticklish spots on his little pot belly by happy accident and heard his giggles for the first time. She watched in awe as his little body quivered with his giggles and was kissing him all over before she could think of what she was doing. *He's just a charmed doll!* one part of her brain was telling her, *You're being silly!* but the rest of Hermione didn't care, and she kissed him again right on the nose and received another giggle of delight from her 'doll.'

Something shiny in the baby's bathwater caught her eye. She reached for the object and discovered that the baby had a silver chain around his left ankle. She inspected the bracelet closely. There was nothing remarkable about it other than the single, heart-shaped charm that dangled from one of the chain's tiny links. *Probably lets Poppenz know how we're treating the babies,* she thought.

Her own shower was a quick one--she had bundled the baby in towels and placed him in a basket on the floor and would peek out at him every few seconds to make sure he was okay as she washed.

Feeling much better and wide awake (as well as very hungry), Hermione threw on a pair of soft pajama pants, a tee shirt, and a sweater. She loosely plaited her hair and scooped up her 'baby' and her wand. "Mum needs dinner too, baby," she whispered to her little one as she headed down to the bottle-littered common room and stepped out through the portrait hole. *Lumos*

The baby gurgled happily at the bright light shining from the tip of Hermione's wand. Hermione found herself grinning. She'd only been given the 'baby' half a day ago and since then, everything was different. She realized that in the nearly twelve hours she'd had 'baby,' everything--for once--was not about her marks and studying and rushing to the library between classes. Now everything was about the baby...and it was at once simpler and harder. What was simple was that everything that needed to be done so far was basic: eating and washing, really. The difficult part was delivering the basics on demand and still getting anything else done.

Hermione passed through the now deserted Great Hall, loosely composing the opening of her Enrichment Project essay in her head. As she headed toward a side door that lead to the kitchens below, her eyes darted to the empty chair that Professor Snape usually occupied during mealtimes. She sighed, shook her head, and pushed through the door descending a narrow set of stone steps into the kitchens.


"It's his loss, isn't it, Baby?" she addressed her live doll. "I get to have you all to myself," she sniffed. "It's better this way," she continued cheerfully as she opened a cabinet and rummaged around for a snack, "What kind of a FATHER could HE be anyway?" She pursed her lips in disdain, selected a packet of crackers, spun around, and walked right into the Potion Master's chest.

Hermione gasped as though she'd just been plunged into freezing water. The baby hiccupped. Snape swiftly steadied the girl and baby, allowing the crushed packet of crackers to fall between their feet.

The shock melted away as Hermione looked down at the baby's face--his quivering lower lip and tears threatening to fall past his long, dark lashes. The prospect of the baby crying again was entirely more frightening than any punishment Snape might deliver upon her for being out and about in the castle at this time of night.

"Just WHAT do you think you are doing!?" Hermione demanded of her professor.


To be continued...