RIIINNNG! RIIINNNG!

Snape reached out a hand lazily and picked up the receiver as he took his feet off his desk and plonked them on the floor. "Hello?" He put down the papers he was rifling through with distaste.

"Hey Sev, it's Chrissy! Merry Christmas!" Chrissy's voice was bouncy and hyper.

Snape rolled his eyes. He had never been one to enjoy Christmases, which was certainly the opposite of his wild, exuberant sister. "Yes, yes, Merry Christmas to you too. Where are you now? Zimbabwe? Madagascar? The Swiss Alps?" He asked with a smirk. His sister was usually too busy flying here or there to bother calling him. She was known for never standing still.

"Actually, I'm home at the moment for Lauren's Christmas break, since I won't be seeing her much this summer." Chrissy suddenly sounded almost business-like.

Snape raised an eyebrow and hurriedly stuffed some papers back into their manila folder. "Well, I'm sure that must be heartbreaking for you." He stated halfheartedly, not really paying attention to her high pitched voice anymore. Now, where did he put that briefcase? He searched around his desk for it while Chrissy tried to start a serious conversation.

"By the way, would you mind if she and a friend stayed the summer with you?" Chrissy asked almost too casually, as if trying to catch him off guard and trick her brother into saying yes.

Snape found the item he was looking for and gave an exclamation. "Ah-hah!" He hadn't heard a word his sister had just said. Standing up, he put his papers into it and frowned. "I'm sorry, did you say something?" He asked distractedly.

"Was that a yes?" Chrissy sounded astonished.

"Yes to what?" He decided he had better sit down and pay attention before he got himself in some kind of mess. Chrissy was known for asking people for favors. Usually she stayed clear of him, knowing full well how he viewed such requests.

"Can Lauren and her friend stay the summer with you?" Chrissy carefully restated her question.

"What? No, why on earth would I say yes to that?" Didn't she know him at all by now? His house wasn't a youth hostel however large it was. How dare she impose children on him like this? Just because she was stupid enough to have children didn't mean relations had to spend their time running after her responsibilities.

"Well, you see, Danielle's parents and I have planned a trip to the Amazon to study piranhas next summer, and we have nowhere to send the girls." Chrissy was near begging now, and with good reason. No one else would take on two teenage girls for a whole summer. Severus was her last resort.

Snape shook his head in disbelief. "Who is Danielle?" He'd never heard of the girl before. "Wait, never mind, I don't care. My answer's no Chrissy. I can't believe you didn't have enough sense not to ask me. Good day." He went to put down the receiver but was stopped by Christine's whining voice. Obviously distance had no affect on the pushiness of sibling relations.

"Severus! Wait, please, just consider it! You'll have two able bodied girls with nothing to do all summer but entertain each other. They could be useful!" Chrissy was desperate. She played on his dislike for doing housework. "They could cook, and clean, and they'd be able to go to the store for you!"

He couldn't get over how pathetic she could be sometimes. He rolled his eyes. Would he ever get out of the house and on his way to the pub? "If I wanted help, wouldn't I just hire somebody? You may have forgotten this, Christine, but I do enjoy my few solitary breaks throughout the year. I suggest you get some other poor individual with nothing to do but care for your ahem offspring to take them in. I am not that individual." He was getting impatient now.

Chrissy sighed, and said resignedly, "Please Severus." Her voice was suddenly tired. "I need you to do this."

Something in her voice told Snape to stop being so stubborn and at least give her a chance to plead her case. He sighed deeply. "Why do you need me to look after them? Can't you take them with you? I'm sure two teenagers would thrive in the Amazon."

"Are you crazy? There are laws and ordinances that don't permit anyone not in direct connection with the study to go into the rain forest; I don't have time to watch their every move! It's dangerous! I really have no where else for them to go, Sev."

Why she had a child was beyond him. Despite her wild, outgoing nature, he had thought she had more sense then to let herself be burdened with a daughter. But what could he do? It was his niece after all... Perhaps she would be somewhat helpful. He sighed again. What was he thinking? Chrissy was infecting his brain. "You say they'll be helpful and stay out of my hair?" He scowled in self-hatred. Why was he being such a pushover? Perhaps it was because he was in such a hurry to get to the pub before his informant left.

"I promise they'll help out, and believe it or not, Lauren will stay out of your hair way more when Dani's around. They're such cute friends." Chrissy held her breath, praying he would say yes.

Cute? He knew this would be an interesting summer- among other things. "I won't pay for their expenses. I won't chaperone them here and there. I won't tolerate any misbehaving. If they do so much as put one foot over the line I'll throw them out. I mean that." He stressed knowing that Christine hardly ever took him seriously.

Chrissy sighed with relief. "Oh my gosh, thanks sooo much, Severus! I'll tell them to behave, of course I know they would anyhow, but I'll make sure they know exactly what you said! Thank you thank you thank you!" She was practically limp with relief.

Snape groaned and hung up on her ramblings. She could really get under his skin sometimes. Well, most people did, but her gushing was most intolerable.

Snape, now fully irritated, picked up the last of the documents and placed them into the briefcase with the rest of the papers. He closed the lid and left his study. It was a fair drive to the meeting place and Severus wanted to get this over and done with quickly so he drove rather fast. His black sports car enjoyed the unusual burst of speed. Occasionally he would check the rear vision mirror to see if anyone was following him. Luckily he was alone.

Once he arrived at the pub he locked his car, walked slowly to the door and entered the musty establishment hoping that all would go smoothly. He looked around at the odd assortment of people until he found the man he was here to meet.

The man in the dark blue cloak looked up as Snape entered the pub and approached his table. He took a sip from the dusty glass sitting in front of him while Snape took a seat. He nodded in acknowledgment.

"Let's do this outside," Snape instructed curtly.

Again the cloaked stranger nodded and stood up. He followed Snape through the back room of the small pub and outside to the alleyway, which appeared to hold only an overfilled dumpster.

Severus looked carefully around the back alleyway and performed a few revealing spells. Fortunately, there was no one lurking. If anyone saw what they were doing or what was contained within the documents he was about to hand over, they would automatically be on death row.

The man averted his eyes from the magic working. It wasn't something he liked to see too often as his jealous nature would sometimes overpower him. He sighed as Snape turned back to him. "Can we get this over with?"

Snape gave him a look that said, 'patience.' He handed over the briefcase carefully. "You'll find it's all there," he said quietly. Then he issued another glare that said 'you better not screw this up.'

The man met Snape's gaze with an amount of conviction the matched the emotion in his glare. He wasn't the one with any real risk of screwing up here and they both knew it. He took the briefcase briskly and snapped it open, balancing it on his arm. He glanced over the contents quickly before snapping it shut and smiling wryly. "Pleasure doing business with you." His voice was dripping with sarcasm.

"The pleasure is all mine, I assure you." Snape's voice was not dripping with sarcasm. He was more relieved than he looked to be rid of these troublesome documents. He only hoped their plan would work. Only time would tell. He turned sharply on his heel and exited through the pub before gladly driving back to his house.

……………

It was towards the end of school the next May when Severus Snape was grading some student's Potions essays when a tawny owl flew in the window and landed right next to his arm.

He lazily untied the letter from the owl, paid it, then sent it flying out the window on its way back to its master. He took a quick look at the return address, paused for a moment, then decided to place the letter aside to read after he had completed his task when his mind was less burdened and he would be able to focus.

………

Draco smiled as he amusedly watched Crabbe and Goyle wrestle about the Slytherin Common Room. In one corner, Blaise Zambini was taking bets as to who would win this match. The young blonde looked away from the fight as Pansy ran into the room, a bit breathless. "Draco?" She addressed the whole room, having not yet seen her quarry.

"Over here, Pansy." He waved one hand to gain her fleeting attention. He wondered what she could possibly want this time.

She walked over to his chair in a very official manner. "Professor Snape insists he see you in his office immediately." Conspiratorially, she added in a whisper, "Do you think he's found out about last night?" Draco rolled his eyes. "Nothing happened last night, you twit. Bugger off." He rose from his rather comfortable chair and walked out of the room, making his way toward the other end of the dungeons. When he reached the office, he heard voices coming from within.

"I won't hear any of your pathetic excuses, Flint. Your talents on the Quidditch pitch do not apply in an essay on sleeping draughts."

Draco heard some muffled mumbles before the unmistakably angry voice of his Head of House and Potions Master rang loudly throughout the stone corridor .

"THAT is QUITE enough, Flint! Now get out of my sight and do not attempt to create such rubbish again!"

The door opened with a bang and Flint stormed out past Draco without even seeing him.

Draco watched Flint's retreating form for a moment before stepping quietly into the office. "You wanted to see me sir?"

Severus nodded but didn't look up until he had put Flint's pathetic excuse for a paper back into its alphabetical spot within his desk drawer. "Sit."

Draco sat. He wondered what Snape could possibly want. He knew his own essay was good. Unless... had he put his name on it?

Snape leaned back in his chair and clasped his hands in his lap. "I have some rather…unfortunate news." His brow furrowed in concentration. How to put this? He had taken so long to accept the idea himself and didn't particularly want Malfoy to throw a hissy fit as he predicted he would.

Draco rolled his eyes. How bad could it be if he had had no news of this himself already? "And this news is…?"

Snape cleared his throat. "Your father has so graciously entrusted me with your safety over the summer."

Draco stared for a moment. "Why… I mean… you?"

Snape sighed. "Trust me, I have no inclination whatsoever for you to stay with me for three months," he said this with a loathing sneer, "but neither of us have any choice so I would expect you to keep your complaints to yourself as I have done." He pressed on despite Malfoy's mutterings. God he was sick of students whining and whinging. "You will not go home with the other students on the Hogwarts Express, instead you will remain here for two extra days while I participate in post-planning." Malfoy made a most unpleasant face at Snape. Snape, always on the ball, made one back, which made Malfoy wipe his off. Snape had a knack of letting students know that the conversation was over without even saying a word. But, just for good measure, he added, "That is all. You may leave now."

Draco sighed. He'd have to owl his father about this later, but there was obviously nothing he could do about the situation at the moment, so he'd better just go. He stood and nodded to Snape, who had already returned to his work grading papers with a brilliant red quill, then escorted himself out.

……………

Draco watched forlornly as the rest of the student body of Hogwarts boarded carriages to go to the train station. He waved grudgingly at Crabbe and Goyle, who seemed very sad to go without him. He could tell this was going to be a very long two days, while Snape cleaned up his office and carried out his teacherly duties. He just hoped the older man wouldn't ask him to help.

As it turns out, Snape didn't want anything to do with him. Malfoy was forced to amuse himself, which he didn't half mind, while Snape tried his best to avoid even looking at Malfoy for the next two days. After all, Snape wouldn't be able to evade him once he was living in his house. Snape busied himself with his work and almost completely forgot about Malfoy. Almost. There was still an annoying thought circling in the back of his mind as he went about his business. He didn't want the peace and solitude of his summer escape to be intruded upon. It wasn't the way things went. He went to school for a year then every summer he got to enjoy the quiet without ever seeing another student. He didn't even want to think about what this summer would be like now.

Draco was relieved to be ignored, at least to start off. He finished a good bit of his summer work and read a bit of a new book, but his eyes soon tired of looking at small print and he was quite bored. He tried exploring the castle, but ended up simply walking aimlessly down corridors he was tired of seeing. If this was what the rest of the summer would be like, he was going to kill himself just for the amusement of watching the blood flow.

……………

A/N: This story is a collaboration between me, Lauren, and my best friend, Danielle (her stories can be found under rickmanlover24601). We warn you that this story will be very long and yes, Mary Sue-a-fied. Please don't flame us for that reason. This story will have many wacky plot twits, which we hope will keep you entertained and amused. We apologize for that rather dark final sentence. The majority of this story is light hearted fun, and we will warn you if it includes otherwise. Thanks for reading and please review!