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He should’ve known that this was going to happen. He should’ve known better than to allowed himself to be lulled into a false sense of security.
Percival breezed into Mindy’s Magic Nursery, his coat flapping behind him satisfyingly.
“Mister Graves.” Melissa, one of the staff, gulped out.
“Where’s Credence?” Percival asked and briefly thought that maybe barging in here with his wand drawn had been a little over the top, considering the way Melissa kept edging back towards the wall.
“He’s with the nurse.” The woman replied, her bottom lip wobbling and her hand shaking as she pointed Percival in the right direction.
Whirling around and stalking down the corridor Percival didn’t bother thanking Melissa. There was nothing to be thanking her for. After all she was among those responsible for the fact that the nursery was a playground for germs and bacteria and Merlin knew what other things.
Opening the door at the end of the corridor Percival found a little office. Credence was curled up on the shabby couch in the corner beneath a blanket, clutching his toy niffler to his chest. His hair was disheveled and his cheeks were red.
“Ah, Mister Graves. Quicker than I expected.” A woman stood up from where she’d sat behind her desk, smiling at him. Percival ignored her in favour of crouching down in front of the couch, brushing Credence’s sweaty hair from his forehead.
“Hello, darling.”
Credence snuffled and buried his face against the belly of the plush toy.
“My poor boy. Papa’s here now and we’ll have you better in no time.” Percival unwrapped Credence from the blanket and gathered him up in his arms. His forehead was hot where he pushed it into the crook of Percival’s neck.
“We didn’t give him any potion since we don’t know if he’s got any allergies.” The nurse said as she stepped out from behind her desk.
“At least something you did right.” Percival muttered under his breath, gently rubbing Credence’s back.
“Excuse me?”
“Nothing.” Percival shook his head and sidestepped the nurse. “We’ll be fine from here, thank you.”
He ignored whatever she might’ve been calling after him, focused entirely on his son in his arms. Credence’s breath was raspy and he shivered, despite the heating charm Percival had cast earlier. “We’ll be home in just a moment.”
Percival got Credence’s things before apparating them straight home, glad to leave Mindy’s Magic Nursery behind.
Usually Credence didn’t mind apparation, but today he whined as soon as they materialised in the livingroom, the whimpers soon turning into pained sobs.
“I’m sorry, darling, I’m sorry.” Percival cooed, rubbing a hand over Credence’s back and kissing the top of his head. “We’ll get you a potion and you’ll feel better in no time, I promise.”
Credence sniffed and looked up at Percival with tearful eyes, his bottom lip still trembling. “Hurts.”
“I know.” Percival murmured, cupping Credence’s cheek. “Potion first and then I’ll make you some tea and we can continue reading Babbety Rabbit, how does that sound?”
Credence shrugged and pulled his toy niffler up to his face.
“Maybe we can have some chocolate too.” Percival added and was rewarded with curious eyes peeking up at him over the stuffed toy. “Would that help?”
Credence shrugged, but at least he wasn’t crying anymore. Percival carried him into the kitchen and opened the medicine cabinet. The tiny bottles inside shone like jewels in all colours of the rainbow. Hoisting Credence up a little higher on his hip, Percival studied them before picking a purple one. Pepper Up for Children, that should do the trick. And to think that Newt had laughed at him for stocking up on all kinds of potions for children.
He pulled the cork out with his teeth and spat it into the sink, whiffing the contents of the bottle. Raspberry, so it should go down easy.
“Drink this for me, love?” He held the vial to Credence’s lips and after a second’s hesitation the boy allowed the contents to be tipped into his mouth. The children’s version didn’t cause steam to come out of one’s ears, but Credence hiccuped a little smoke. He looked at it with wide eyes before pointing at it and looking at Percival with a grin.
“Mh, looks like you’re going to turn into a dragon any day now.” Percival mused and Credence’s eyes, now thankfully not glossy with fever anymore, lit up.
“An Iwonbelly?”
“Sure, whatever you want to be.” Percival agreed. Something tugged on his coat and when he looked down he found Dougal’s eery eyes staring up at them. The demiguise held up a steaming cup of tea and his other hand reached up to gently pat Credence’s leg.
“Thank you, Dougal.”
“Thank you, Dou’al.” Credence echoed and the demiguise’s lips twitched into a smile before he wandered off again.
“Do you want to lie down on the couch or in your bed?” Percival asked.
“Your bed, papa.” Credence decided and sniffed, rubbing his nose against his niffler.
“Don’t do that.” Percival huffed. His hands were full with Credence and the cup of tea, so with a wiggle of his fingers Percival had a tissue flying out of a drawer and hover in front of Credence’s face. “You’re a big boy, blow your nose.”
Credence leaned forward and Percival crooked his fingers to make the tissue fly right up to his nose. He waited for Credence to finish before spelling the tissue to ball itself up and fly straight into the trash.
“So, my bed? Are you sure? I think your bed is much more comfy.” Percival tried to bargain, carefully carrying his precious cargo upstairs.
“Nu-uh.” Credence shook his head and turned wide eyes on Percival. “Yours! And then daddy comes too and we read a story?”
With a sigh Percival walked past Credence’s room to his and Newt’s bedroom. There was no way he’d be able to deny Credence this. Not when he was sick.
“Daddy’s going to be home late tonight, he’s in Africa. Do you remember why?” Percival sat the teacup down on the nightstand before depositing Credence on the bed. The afternoon sun was streaming into the room and Credence flopped down on his side, curling into the plush blankets. Percival took off his coat and scarf and toed off his shoes, sending it all away to the closet and calling a pair of Credence’s pyjamas over.
“Because of the nudus!” Credence declared and promptly coughed into the blankets.
“Nundus.” Percival corrected as he slipped out of his suit jacket and sat down on the edge of the bed. “And that’s right. They’re having a baby.” He coaxed Credence up into a sitting position and helped him to change into his pyjamas. They were a light blue and had different kinds of dragons on them, beating their wings and occasionally breathing fire. Newt had already declared all of them made up and not resembling any race found in nature.
Drawing the heavy blankets back Percival got Credence tucked in, relieved to find his skin a normal temperature.
“It’s my birthday soon, papa.” Credence said, curling up and half-hiding his face behind his stuffed niffler. “Can I get a nudu baby? We be friends!”
“No, absolutely not.” Percival silently thanked Merlin that Newt wasn’t here. Whereas Percival hardly ever denied Credence anything, Newt was likely to allow the few things he took a stance against. Especially when it came to creatures.
Sitting down on the bed next to Credence, Percival pulled his son against his side and ruffled his hair. “I’m sure we’ll find you another present you like. And we’ll have a party at Jacob’s, he and Queenie promised to bake you a cake.”
That at last brought a smile back to Credence’s face and he snuggled into Percival’s side. “Tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow isn’t your birthday.” Percival gently combed his fingers through Credence’s dark hair. “Though I suppose we can get you a pastry from Jacob’s.”
Credence smiled and snuggled close with a content sigh, his eyes already half-closed. “Story please, papa?”
Percival summoned the storybook and took his glasses from the nightstand, putting them on. At work he mostly maintained a vision correction charm, but at home there was no point in dredging up the extra energy.
Barely a page into the story and Credence was fast asleep, one tiny fist curled into Percival’s shirt and the other holding his niffler plushie close. Percival watched him for a while, allowing the tension to leave his body with each unstrained and even breath his son took.
***
He’d only meant to close his eyes for a minute, but when Percival hazily drifted back to wakefulness it was dark in the room. For a second he blinked, but when Newt’s amused face swam into focus in front of him it became clear what had woken him.
“Hello you.” Newt whispered and leaned down for another kiss.
“‘lo.” Percival mumbled around a yawn. When he glanced to the side he found Credence still fast asleep next to him.
“How’s he?” Newt asked and sat down on the edge of the bed. He was still wearing his coat, his hair was windswept and his skin slightly pink with sunburn.
“He’s fine. I gave him a pepper up and he fell asleep almost right away.” Percival carefully sat up as not to jostle Credence. As always the boy could’ve slept through a herd of screeching hippogriffs and merely rolled around and curled back up with a soft little sigh, only tufts of black hair visible over the blanket.
“Mh, good.” The corners of Newt’s lips quirked. “So that howler was unnecessary?”
“I wouldn’t go that far. Besides, you know it wasn’t directed at you. I merely wished to inform you that I was right all along and Mindy’s Magic Nursery is a pool of germs and full of irresponsible people.” Percival huffed, running a hand through his sleep mussed hair.
“Of course.” Newt nodded and Percival narrowed his eyes. It looked a lot like Newt was laughing at him. Before he could inquire Newt leaned in and pressed a kiss to his lips.
“Glad you’re back.” Percival mumbled when he pulled back. “How’d it go with the nundus?”
“Good.” Newt got up and started undressing, dropping his clothes carelessly on the floor. “She had twins, which I’ve never seen before. Really interesting because usually nundus only have one child because the mother raises it for two years. I wonder how Karen is going to cope with twins.”
“Mh.” Percival nodded and stretched his arms up over his head. He was too tired and lazy to get up, so he snapped his fingers to change from his wrinkled clothes into his pyjamas. It felt weird doing it by magic, but when he was knackered like today it was worth the slight discomfort. A minty taste filled his mouth and Percival thought how much he really loved magic. Not having to get up and brush his teeth was brilliant.
“Show off.” Newt interrupted his nundu monologue to chuckle. Percival grinned and winked at Newt before he pulled the covers over himself.
By the time Newt turned the lights off in the room and slid into bed on Credence’s other side Percival was already dozing.
“You do know it’s natural for children to get sick, right?” Newt whispered and Percival huffed, not bothering to close his eyes.
“He’s not going back to that place. They can’t be trusted.”
Newt sighed and reached over, poking Percival’s side. “I’ll take him in the morning.”
“We’ll see about that.”
Between them Credence shifted and they both fell silent, Percival drifting off to sleep easily as he listened to Credence breathing and as Newt reached over to loosely twine their fingers together.