DISCLAIMER: Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling.

~ The Worst Kind of Surprise ~

Walburga hears an ungodly racket coming from the nursery where her sons are supposed to be taking their afternoon nap. They are currently quite obviously awake, as evidenced by the shrieking and banging sounds emanating from their general vicinity.

She calls for Orion several times before remembering that her husband is not home.

I knew I should have volunteered to do the shopping, she thinks to herself, daunted by the prospect of having to be the one to deal with their unruly offspring. If she had realized exactly how noisy, messy, and smelly babies would be, she would not have been so adamant in her refusal to allow a nursery maid to be hired. As things stand, most of the childcare tasks fall to her husband.

She had assured Orion that she would be fine being left alone with the children for an hour or so while they had their nap, but when she said it she was expecting them to actually stay asleep the whole time.

Hoping they will settle down on their own by the time she gets there, Walburga begins to make her way toward the room her sons share. Their shrieks do not stop until after the door swings open.

Walburga steps into the nursery, entirely unprepared for what awaits her there. The stench hits her first. The room reeks of excrement, and the foul scent makes her feel sick to her stomach. The entire room - and everything in it, including both toddlers - is smeared liberally with brown goo. Upon further observation, much of the furniture appears to have been overturned.

Regulus runs to his mother and attaches himself to her skirt, crying to be picked up.

"We had a poo fight!" Sirius announces gleefully from his hiding place behind one of the upturned cribs.

Regulus is still pleading to be held, but his mother can't bring herself to touch the poop-covered child.

"Kreacher!" Walburga calls out in desperation. When the house elf appears, she does not give it a chance to address her before snapping the order: "When Orion gets home, tell him that the children are to have separate bedrooms from now on! And clean up this mess!"

~end~