Before you read: This is the sequel to Petunia's Duo Dilemma. If you have not read the first story I suggest you do so before continuing to read.


Iris and Harry prepared for the worst, accepting that they likely would not survive tonight's beating. Vernon was ready to release his fury and there would be no stopping him. The two were shaking, whimpering, and tensing up for the first blow. Tears leaked from Iris' eyes and Harry held her close to him.

They were unaware of anything besides preparing for the onslaught of pain. If they tried hard enough they could mentally block out everything from pain to their surroundings. It must have worked since the pain of the first blow never came.

"Or what?" Vernon broke the silence of the room. Harry opened his eyes a fraction and blanched. He nudged Iris and she opened her eyes and gasped.

"Lower the belt, Dursley," Professor Snape growled. His wand was pointed at the man. He felt angrier than expected before leaving Hogwarts.

The Potters looked horrible and didn't deserve the treatment they were about to receive. He expected them to be pampered or something close to that but no, their uncle was ready to beat the life out of them with no remorse whatsoever.

Vernon growled and whipped the belt down. Iris and Harry yelped and ducked down, arms raised above their heads.

"IMMOBULUS," Severus shouted. The spell burst from his wand and Vernon was frozen in place. The belt dangled limply from his raised fist.

Iris burst into tears and curled into herself. Harry remained frozen, trying not to cry. Severus took a steadying breath and looked at the twins. He was ready to cry as well but the current situation needed to get handled.

Petunia entered the room, having been upstairs until the whimpering stopped, and stared at Severus. She stumbled backwards and held onto the doorway for support. Dudley was hidden in his bedroom. The aunt could not summon words.

"Petunia," Severus narrowed his eyes at her. The woman began to cry. He groaned. Three people crying. He wasn't prepared for the adult's tears on top of the twins'.

"I-" He shook his head and gritted his teeth. "I'll deal with you later." He then turned to face Iris and Harry. The man shrunk down to the twins' level and reached out to touch Harry. A frown creased across his features when Harry flinched back.

Severus stepped back and raised his wand. Iris and Harry stared up at him. Two pairs of Lily's eyes looking up at him with unreadable expressions. He needed to help them.

"Expecto patronum," Severus whispered. White light burst from the tip of his wand. It came out in the shape of a doe. He took a deep breath after and stuck the wand up his sleeve, glancing around the room.

The doe would arrive in Minerva McGonagall's office and reveal the events that spurred from what appeared to be use of accidental magic. Poppy or Minerva would arrive to help get the children to safety.

All that was left was to wait and try to calm the members of the house.

"Where is their stuff?" Severus turned to face Petunia. The woman shrunk back against the wall and pointed at the cupboard across from her.

"They have a room upstairs- the one with the locks on it. Some personal things are hidden under a loose floorboard," She whispered. The floorboard was discovered upon cleaning the room while the twins were taking care of outside chores one day. She was surprised to find their photo album.

"Their wands?" Severus was already headed toward the cupboard. Rage threatened to take over when he put the light on.

There was a dingy cot on the ground, obviously old blood splattered along the wall, and drawings that could only have been drawn by Harry and Iris hanging along the back wall. The twins' trunks were on top of the cot, apparently untouched since the two left school. There was no sign of any of the letters he sent to Iris.

"What the hell happened here?" He barked after moving the trunks into the hallway.

"Vernon…" Petunia whimpered. She couldn't bring herself to saying anything else. It would come out eventually.

She was no use. Severus sighed exasperatedly. He would have to get her to open up. Now was not the time though.

The wizard cast a protective shield over Iris and Harry. The two were in shock and silent as ever. He then went upstairs and was surprised to find the Dursley's son cowering in the corner of the hallway.

The amount of family members who were cowering in fear surprised him. Was it all Vernon's doing or did the son and wife have something to do with it? Eleven years of being with the family. The signs of abuse on the children, Dudley's mental state and bodily size included, were clear but who was to blame?

Severus brushed past the boy and approached the only door with outer locks on it. Five locks. That was rather unnecessary. Severus forced the thought aside and entered. The light didn't turn on when he moved the switch. A simple lumos spell would reveal that there were no light bulbs in the room.

He hated the Dursleys with a passion now that he was finding more signs of maltreatment. The neighbors should have noticed that the two children were miserably neglected and abused. He wondered if they ever noticed or if someone tried to notify the Ministry. Albus insisted the children were treated like royalty at home. Perhaps there was even more to the story than just blood relatives tormenting Lily's children.


A/N: I will be working a lot this summer and have no idea when my next update will be. I will hopefully have something up every other week but I am not making promises. I plan to have at least 1000 words for each update and will not post anything unless the next chapter is already halfway written.

I am a college student who writes for fun and does not spend every waking moment working on fanfics. Please keep that in mind before getting snarky about how scattered my updates can get.

Also, there's no way I can be Queen Rowling. I am an American and owe her a thank you for creating a plot bunny for me.