Hello! For those of you who haven't guessed, I've been taking a little hiatus from writing—RL really sucks sometimes, and I'm stuck in regards to My Past, Your Future. The good news is that my cousin writes too, and I've decided to let her borrow my account for a while. Lilea's a middle-schooler, and this is her first fic, so be gentle—or else! No flames, please.

—Redbird signing out.

Lost Twins

Chapter 1:

Severus Snape still could not make his mind work no matter how hard he tried. He was pacing the length of his office in front of the unwelcome visitor who had just arrived. "So, please tell me … Why are you here?"

The lawyer sighed "I am here to discuss your daughters Claudia and Donatella Snape."

"Daughters?"

"Yes, twins. As I was saying, their great-great Aunt Antoinette Malfoy died leaving you their only remaining guardian, Professor Snape." The lawyer repeated shuffling the documents before placing them in his briefcase. "Honestly, they likely should have been in your custody to begin with, but Lady Malfoy has always been...eccentric...and felt that she would do a much better job of caring for two girls than you. Let us hope you can prove her wrong. Good day, Professor Snape."

After the lawyer had left, Severus collapsed in the chair behind his desk. He still couldn't believe it.

Serena had vanished during the most violent portion of the war. She had been terrified she would be targeted because of her husband's status as double-agent, and her cousin Lucius' position as the Dark Lord's right hand man. This, combined with a natural frailty and poor health, had been incentive enough to leave and retreat to her great-aunt's home in France. Antoinette had never had the highest opinion of her darling niece's husband, so (according to the lawyer's explanation) when Serena had died in childbirth the old crone had taken it upon herself to raise the twins alone, without ever notifying the girls' father of their birth.

Severus had honestly thought that his wife had been killed before ever reaching France, and he felt an aggravated resentment toward the old woman. He had once enjoyed the idea of having his own children, and Serena had always wanted a daughter. But now… How was he supposed to raise and care for two teenage girls? Severus placed his head in his hands, obviously in deep thought.

LTSSLT

"Well… this is where you'll be sleeping until term starts. So goodnight then." They had just arrived that evening and Severus was showing the girls their quarters.

There was a hallway behind the potions dungeon that led to a living room, dining room, and two bedrooms. The girls had requested staying together so their rooms consisted of a bedroom with two beds and two separate bathrooms.

"Goodnight." The girls chorused back. They weren't sure what to think of him at first, but from what Aunt Antoinette told them they knew that he was a great man. But, for now, they were just glad to finally have a real family.

They sat thinking for a moment about what had happened before Donatella broke the silence. "He's seems nice enough, huh Claude?"

Claudia was too immersed in her own thoughts to complain about being called her hated nickname. Finally she said, "Maybe, Donatella."

"Humph!" Donatella, most preferably called Lily, glared at her sister before breaking into a wide smile. "Goodnight to you too!" and she climbed into bed after her sister as the lights went out.

The girls woke up the next morning and went into the dining room to find their new father sitting at the table just starting breakfast. He looked up to find them entering the room. "Good morning. Why don't you have a seat?" they sat down at their places and food suddenly appeared on the golden plates. "Did you to sleep well last night?"

"Yes, Pere" they both said.

On seeing his raised eyebrow, the girls grinned. "Do you know French?" Lily asked.

"A little," he replied.

They sat eating for a couple of minutes before Claudia asked him, "What's it like at Hogwarts?"

"You'll soon find out, though I think you'll like it."

"Did you really work for—"

"Dumbledore and You- Know- who?" Claudia ended for her sister.

"Yes."

"Why?" they both asked together.

"I was a spy for the Dark Lord. I joined the Death Eaters because they offered me acceptance. Of course I never went on raids though. I hate the thought of killing people. The Dark Lord just used me for my potions skills."

"Cool! Are you—"

"Good at potions then?"

"Slightly." Severus replied, inwardly smiling at their curiosity.

After they finished their meal, Severus decided to introduce them to the teachers. He sighed; people so far have thought that the thought of him being a parent was weird. Even Lucius.

He walked with them towards McGonagall first. "Hello, Minerva. These are my daughters, Lily and Claudia. Lily, Claudia, this is Professor Minerva McGonagall."

Claudia stuck out her hand and said "Nice to meet you," but Lily peered from behind Severus shyly and said a polite "hello."

Severus sighed, once again. He didn't do shy kids well. Minerva had looked shock upon being introduced to the two girls. Oh, well.

Lily saw that Professor McGonagall was very strict when Severus introduced them. "Hello," she said politely. She had noticed that being quiet and polite boded well with teachers. Then she felt herself being steered to yet another Professor, only after hearing Severus sigh.

Professor Flitwick seemed nice enough to her. She still answered in the same tone, but Claudia, the annoying out going one. Started chatting about Charms with him nonstop. Claudia was talking so fast that Lily couldn't ask the Professor a single question. She liked being around her sister, but sometimes she got annoying.

Claudia bounced forward to meet the next teacher. This one, who Severus had introduced as Professor Sprout, seemed nice.

"Yes, I teach Herbology," the woman was saying.

"I'm Claudia, and this is Lily!" Claudia said. She liked making new friends.

LTSSLT

The girls were introduced to each individual teacher. After they returned to their rooms, Severus slunk off to brew potions for the school year, so the girls entertained themselves by exploring the castle. When they returned, they managed to drag Severus out of the Dungeons so that they could at least talk with him. All in all the girls spent a lot of time with their new father, and soon discovered that life at Hogwarts could be very interesting (if you could count Peeves bobbing along behind you chanting about greasy haired toads; whatever that was about.)

—y'ello everyone! Lilea here. I finally convinced Redbird to let me upload a fanfic on her page! So excited! Hope you like my story. I know it's a little rough; it was the first one I ever did. Yes that does mean that I've done other fanfics but I probably won't have those uploaded until I finish this one. He he he! I luuv suspense!

P.S. ***** means change of POV, and LTSSLT means a skip in time.