It was barely dawn, but in the Lupin household, everyone was up. Wide awake. Hell, there was no household, Khaat believed, that was full of more noise at 6 am than her house. There were her 8 children, and the two sibling groups of three each that belonged to two of her staff members. That made for 14 children under 4 in the same house--and they were all very early risers.
But the household was not happy this morning. Her two year old sons had committed a serious crime somewhere during the night--one that had her four year old daughter, Abbey, livid. The boys had gone in and had joyfully ripped up Abbey's storybooks--her prizes possessions. Abbey loved her storybooks, and, as far as she was concerned, there were never too many of them. She knew each story by heart and could recite it almost verbatim. Now those precious books were in tatters, and the household had been awakened with angry toddler screaming.
To soothe her daughter, Khaat had had to promise she would replace the books--and then some--before naptime that afternoon. Her bodyguard, Marcus Belby, was not at all amused that she intended, herself, to go out and to actually take Abbey with her. That was, first of all, exceptionally dangerous. Abbey was usually well behaved in public but still, that was two bodies to guard. Not one. Secondly, the child was impossible to get out of Flourish and Blotts. She could plant her little four year old self in the storybook section with all intention to take up root there. That also meant that Marcus would be leaving with an unconscionable number of books. He'd have to shrink them to have any hope of getting them home.
Still, Khaat would not be moved. The promise she'd made to Abbey was the only hope of dulling the deafening sound in the house that morning. Marcus understood that much, but it didn't mean he liked it. He insisted that Khaat keep her face shielded to try to conceal her identity. It wasn't all that odd in Diagon Alley to see, after all. She agreed to wear a lightweight cloak and keep the oversized hood pulled up.
So, after breakfast, with strong instructions in his ears about keeping Khaat and Abbey safe, he took them to Diagon Alley. The bookstore was just opening--literally--when they arrived. Marcus was hoping for an easy in and an easy out. Abbey knew her way by heart to the storybooks and she dashed ahead to the shelves, causing Khaat to panic. Marcus had to try to hurry Khaat along so he didn't lose one or the other of them. He could already hear Abbey joyfully flinging piles of books onto the floor because she wanted them.
"That child is going to be a librarian," Marcus mumbled to Khaat to lighten her mood and soothe her a bit. He was concerned about Khaat's anxiety. Things rarely went smoothly when Khaat went out these days. Khaat had asked Abbey if she couldn't just send an owl to the bookstore and buy all the storybooks they had. That was far less anxiety than taking her out, but Abbey delighted in going to the bookstore. So out they had gone, and now Abbey's mama was feeling afraid.
"No, she's good at getting them out, but she's horrid at putting them back," Khaat said.
"That's what charms are good for," Marcus smiled.
by 
