Disclaimer:Unfortunately, I do not own Harry Potter. Just the plot and my OCs
Kathryn and Selene Lupin-Black had been living with their godmother's cousins for eight years. They had tried to make friends with a lonely boy down the street, but he had steered clear of them after his cousin had punched Selene in the face. They hadn't talked to him since. Their daily schedule never changed. They woke up, made breakfast, did the household chores, and tried to avoid getting beaten. Today, however, they were leaving. A nice lady from the Ministry of Magic had and explained everything to them. They were witches. That was why they had been able to heal themselves when the beatings went too far. They had two daddies, but they didn't have a mommy. One of their daddies was in prison and the other one was a werewolf. That's why they had to live with Sarah and Mike. They had been taken away from their daddy by a mean man called Dumbledore. They didn't like him. They had a godfather too, and were supposed to go live with him, but Dumbledore had interfered again. He said that people might try to kill their godfather, and they might get hurt or killed too. But today, their daddy Remus and Uncle Sev were coming to take them away. They were hoping that their Papa and Uncle were nicer than Sarah and Mike. They were currently packing their belongings, which wasn't much, to be honest. A two outfits a piece, a moth-eaten blanket (which they were leaving), a pillow (also to be left behind), and two stuffed animals. A dog and wolf, which Sarah and Mike had said had come with them. They toys were the only things they owned that didn't look ready for the bin. So packing only took a few minutes. They were ready to leave long before their new guardians arrived.
Remus Lupin stood outside the house two of his cubs had been staying in for eight years. What would they think when they found out about Teddy? Would they hate him? Would they think he didn't want them? Severus Snape stood beside him, waiting for the wolf to knock on the door. When he saw that he was too worried about his daughters' opinions to do so, he stepped forward and rapped on the door. A second later, the door flew open to reveal two little girls with straight black hair and grey eyes. They were completely identical. There was no way to tell them apart, so Severus asked,
"Would you mind telling us which is which? We can't tell you apart."
The grinned and spoke in sync,
"I'm Selene." They looked at each other in mock outrage.
"No, I am!" they said together. They glared at each other for a second before the one on the right tickled her sister, saying,
"I won't give until you admit that I'm Selene, Kitten!"
The other girl laughed helplessly until finally crying,
"Alright, alright! I'm Kathryn and she's Selene!"
Remus had doubled over with laughter at their display. When he eventually managed sober, he asked,
"How are you sure which is which if those around you can't tell you apart?"
Selene, at least they thought it was Selene, shrugged,
"We just picked a name. I became the moon and she became the Kat when we started primary school. Before that we thought our name was 'Brats!'." She told them matter-of-factly. Kathryn nudged her sister, whispering,
"Don't tell them that! They may not want us if they think we're stupid!"
Selena rolled her eyes,
"Kitten, if they didn't want us, they wouldn't be here. They tried to get us back. The lady said so."
"So? Since when are so willing to trust grown-ups?" Kathryn demanded of her twin. Selene's face became expressionless and her voice was deadly quiet,
"Maybe I'm so willing to trust them because I'm hoping that at least one of our parents actually wants us, Kathryn. I know no one else wants us, but I'd like to think that they fought for us because they wanted us back, and not because some idiot in a bowler hat forced them to."
Kathryn had paled and was now clasping her sister's hand in both of her own,
"Please, Sel, don't be mad at me…" she begged, "I couldn't stand it if you stopped talking to me again. I'm sorry –"
Selene sighed and cut her sister off,
"I'm not mad, Kitten, but please, don't ask me that again. I don't like thinking about it."
The two men had watched their girls in confusion, which was slowly turning to anger. Remus looked at Selene and asked,
"Where are Sarah and Mike?"
Both girls paled and Kathryn stuttered out,
"A-a-asleep. T-they t-told us n-not to w-wake t-them –" Selene clapped a hand over her sister's mouth and said smoothly,
"They told us not to wake them before we left. They don't want to see us again and are glad that we are going. May we leave now, please? Or is there something that you need to tell us?" it was obvious that she was the braver of the two. Remus sighed, deciding to temporarily give in to his daughter's diversionary tactics.
"Yes, there is something I need to tell you. Shortly after you were taken away, while your godfather and I were trying to get you back, I had another child. A boy. They didn't take him from me. Apparently, Albus only wanted the two of you taken away from me."
"Or he hadn't figured on you being pregnant again and could not come up with a plausible reason to take our little brother away from you." Selene countered. Severus was impressed. He turned to Remus and smirked tauntingly,
"I think we have a little Slytherin in our midst."
Remus laughed.
"Sirius would have a fit if he heard that."
Snape's smirk broadened,
"I think we should write the mutt and tell him that one of his daughters has the makings of a Slytherin."
Remus shook his head,
"You live to torture him, don't you?"
"Of course."
Selene interrupted, looking amused,
"I'm sorry, but who is Sirius?"
Both men looked down at the girl in surprise.
"You don't know the name of your father?"
Both girls shook their heads,
"No, the lady only told us your names. Can we go now? We want to meet our little brother."
The adults laughed at the change of subject, both still inwardly seething at the girls' treatment. They nodded. Selene ran back into the house, coming back two seconds later with two shopping bags. She grinned,
"I've got our stuff!"
Severus frowned,
"Is that all you have?"
Both girls nodded, looking resigned. He and Remus exchanged a look before taking each girl by the hand and disapparating.
Selena and Kathryn gasped for breath as they arrived at their father's home. A little boy ran out of the house to greet them. He nearly tackled the two girls in their excitement. Kathryn shrank back, while Selena laughed wrestled the boy to the ground, pinning him. She grinned as he pouted at her.
"Would you let me up?"
Her grin widened,
"If you answer a few questions."
"Like what?"
"What's your name?"
"Theodore Remus Lupin-Black. Teddy for short though. Which one are you?"
The girl chuckled,
"Selene. The little coward behind me is Kathryn, but I usually call her Kitten or Kat for short." She ignored her twin's indignant "Oi!" and continued, "Next question. Who is your favorite sister?" she asked smiling mischievously. Teddy rolled his eyes,
"Well, I'm obviously not going to say it isn't the one sitting on me, now am I?"
She mock-pouted at him,
"You're no fun. Moving on. What do you like to do?"
"Play Quidditch, read Dad's books, annoy Uncle Sev, and eat Cousin Andy's chocolate chip cookies when I visit."
Selene glowered at him,
"You had to mention the chocolate?" she groused. Kat laughed,
"You'll have to excuse our dear sister. She has a bit of chocolate obsession."
"It's not an obsession! Chocolate is the best food ever!"
Kat and Teddy both laughed. Severus snorted and turned to Remus, who was nodding in agreement with his oldest daughter.
"She gets it from you."
"She's right though. Chocolate is delicious. It's also extremely useful. Especially with dementors."
Severus rolled his eyes turning back to the children, who were still fighting over the deliciousness of chocolate. After a few minutes of not getting anywhere, Selene changed the subject back to asking her brother questions about himself.
"What are they like?" she asked, jerking her head in the direction of the two adults. Teddy grinned.
"They're great! They take me to the park sometimes and let me run around. Uncle Sev is a little grumpy sometimes and sulks when Papa is mentioned, but he doesn't really take it out on me. He just scowls and changes the subject. Usually to Quidditch, Potions, or you two. Dad is scary obsessed with books and chocolate. I put a potion in his chocolate once, he took my broom away and wouldn't let me play Quidditch for a month!" he shuddered. Selene, however, looked horrified.
"You messed with chocolate? Why would you do that? What did the chocolate do to you?" she demanded indignantly. Teddy rolled his eyes,
"You're just as weird about it as he is." He shook his head, "I guess I'll have to stay away from the chocolate pile permanently now."
Selene glared at him,
"If you hurt chocolate I will come after you little brother." She told him dangerously. He just rolled his eyes again.
"Are you ever going to let me up?" he demanded.
"Later. First, you must swear your undying allegiance to chocolate. Then you have to show us around while Daddy and Uncle Sev go get mad at Mike and Sarah."
Said men looked at the girl in shock, but she just laughed.
"I knew when we left that you two would be going back to talk to them. If you don't feel comfortable with leaving us alone, you could always get someone to babysit, but I am determined to explore. Now swear loyalty to the chocolate." She commanded, turning back to her brother. Teddy sighed in defeat.
"Fine. I swear eternal loyalty to chocolate. Now will you please get off me?"
Selena laughed and got off, helping Teddy to his feet as well. She grinned,
"Now if you'd just said that in the first place, I would've let you up a lot sooner."
He stared at her.
"You mean you sat on me because I didn't say please?" he asked incredulously. She nodded,
"Now, show us around."
He rolled his eyes and led her towards the house, explaining Quidditch as he realized that his sisters had no idea what his favorite sport was. Snape and Remus shook their heads fondly before disapparating again. Only they weren't going to visit the muggles like Selena had thought.
Cedric Diggory was flying around his back yard with the Weasley twins when his parents called them all back inside. They looked at each other in confusion before landing and entering the house. He was surprised to see Severus Snape and an unknown man sitting in the drawing room with Cedric's parents. The man smiled as he caught sight of them,
"Hello, my name is Remus Lupin. As all three of you go to Hogwarts, I'm going to assume you know Professor Snape."
The three boys nodded and the smile became a grin.
"Thought so. Well, boys, I have three children at home, and Severus and I have business to attend to. We were wondering if you would mind going to my home and watching them for a few hours. We offered to pay you, but Amos and Sharon both refused to let you take it, and Molly agreed with them. You don't have to watch them if you don't want to."
The three boys exchanged a look and Fred asked,
"What are they like?"
The grin faltered,
"I've no idea what my daughters are like, due to them being taken away from me for eight years and sent to live with muggles who mistreated them. Though from what I've seen so far, both girls are very intelligent, brave, and Severus insists that Selene is going to be in Slytherin." He chuckled at the faces the boys pulled, "They also seemed to have difficulty trusting."
"And Selene seems to have inherited her father's addiction to chocolate." Snape added. Lupin glared at him,
"It is not an addiction."
"You're in denial, Lupin." The Potions Master informed his friend. Lupin sighed and shook his, turning back to the boys and saying sadly,
"I apologize for my companion's behavior, but he has fallen under a dreaded disease called greaseygititis. It's incurable, though the rest of us are hoping he'll be able to fight the illness completely one day."
"I'll tell Andy you said that."
"Cheeky bat!" Lupin exclaimed. Snape just looked amused. Lupin turned back to three boys, who didn't know whether to laugh or not. He went on to answer Fred's question further.
"My son, Teddy, however, grew up with me. He likes to play Quidditch and prank my poor chocolate supply. He's quiet and mild mannered, other than the occasional prank."
"So he is basically a copy of his father." Snape concluded. Lupin rolled his eyes,
"I'm going to take that as a complement, Potions Bat."
Snape raised a brow,
"Potions Bat? Is that the best you can come up with?"
Lupin laughed,
"Actually, James came up with it." he turned back to the teens. "Will you do it?"
They exchanged another look before nodding,
"Sure, Mr. Lupin. We'll watch them."
Lupin grinned,
"Thank you. You're parents will tell you where to Floo. We really need to go quickly. Don't startle the girls." He tacked on as an after-thought as he and Snape left. The three teens went to find Cedric's parents to find out where to Floo.
Teddy was trying to teach his sisters wizards' chess when the fireplace roared to life and three boys stepped out. Selene immediately grabbed her younger (for she insisted that she was the older twin) siblings by the scruffs of their necks and shoved them unceremoniously out of the room before turning to the older boys and demanding,
"Who are you?"
The brunette smiled,
"I'm Cedric Diggory and these two idiots are Fred and George Weasley. Your father sent us to babysit until they get back."
They watched as the little girl relaxed slightly, then looked at the Weasley twins curiously.
"You're twins too? Cool!" She turned and opened the door to the hallway and yelled,
"Teddy, where's the kitchen? It's time for lunch!"
The three teens followed, the children, thinking they wanted them to make them lunch. They were amazed when the girls started pulling out pots and pans and grabbing different ingredients from the shelves. They looked at Teddy, who looked just as confused as they were. Cedric tried to take over a few times, but finally gave up when one of the girls whacked him with a wooden spoon. One of the Weasleys, Cedric couldn't tell which, asked,
"What are you making?"
Both girls shrugged,
"French Onion Soup." Answered the girl at the stove. The boys watched helplessly as the two girls made the soup, hoping their father didn't come home any time soon. Thankfully, Lupin and Snape didn't come back until after the soup was finished and were only staying long enough to eat. Selene made everyone a bowl and forced them all to eat. Cedric decided to tell them who had made the meal before they could ask.
"The girls made the soup. I tried to take over a few times, but one of them whacked me with a spoon…" he trailed off as the two adults stared at the nine-year-olds in amazement and Lupin asked,
"Why didn't you let Cedric help?"
One of the girls scowled, everyone assumed it was Selene,
"The last time someone tried to help, food was withheld for a week. We don't like it when people try to 'help' us make food. It usually doesn't end well for us."
Kat smacked her sister's arm,
"Sel! They said not to tell anyone that!"
Selene turned on her sister,
"So? It's not like they can do anything to us. I don't think we're going back."
"You're not." Lupin confirmed. Selene smiled at him before turning back to her twin,
"Besides, what's the worse they can do? Beat us? They've done it before and we're still alive." She said defiantly. Lupin growled,
"What do you mean by that, cub?"
Selene countered with a startled question of her own,
"Cub?"
Teddy explained,
"He's a werewolf and we're his children, that makes us his cubs."
She nodded in understanding before answering her father's question,
"If we didn't do something the way they wanted or did something they didn't want us to do, they beat us. Sometimes they'd do it just for the hell of it."
"Did they break your nose?"
She chuckled softly in amusement and shook her head,
"No, Dudley Dursley did that."
"Who is Dudley and why did he hurt you?"
Kat snorted,
"I think it was because she called him an illiterate buffoon."
"If he can read then explain to me why the idiot was in the girls' loo!" Selene defended. Teddy snickered,
"He went in the girls' loo?"
Both girls nodded,
"Yeah, walked in and asked me 'What the bloody hell happened to the urinals?' Then proceeded to leave the loo and storm over to his cousin, shouting about him being a 'freak'. I really don't like Dursley." She added, shaking her head at the boy's stupidity. Kat grinned, taking over,
"Sel followed him and spun him around, quite a feat, I might add, and pointed at the sign, saying, 'Learn to read! You illiterate buffoon! That's the girls' room!' It took him a minute, but as soon as he worked out that she was insulting him, he hauled off and hit her on the nose. He had to write lines for week." She reminisced happily. Selene snapped her fingers in front of her face,
"Earth to Kitty, come in Kitty. Are you there Kitty? Stop your daydreams about torturing the idiot. We got him back. Though I'm not sure that's the reason he hit me. I don't quite remember to be perfectly honest. By the way, what are you three staring at?"
Cedric and the Weasleys were still staring at Lupin in shock. The man sighed,
"Yes, I'm a werewolf, but I'm generally harmless until the full moon."
"Unless you mess with his chocolate." Teddy added, shuddering, "He's right scary when you do that."
Kat nodded in understanding and patted her brother's should comfortingly,
"I know how you feel. Sel's the same way. The only time Sarah and Mike don't try to take things from her is when she's eating chocolate. Last time they tried to take that away from her she turned their whips against them. They left her chocolate alone after that." She told them matter-of-factly. Selene nodded in agreement. Snape shook his head,
"And that is why you don't come between a Lupin and their chocolate." He stated, hiding his anger at the mention of whips. The two non-chocoholic Lupins shouted indignantly,
"Oi!"
Cedric and the Weasley twins laughed, the twins saying,
"At least we know what to get her for Christmas."
Selene nodded,
"You can get me chocolate anytime of the year. Just get me lots of chocolate for Christmas and my birthday and I'll be your slave for the rest of the year."
Kat snickered,
"I gave her two bars of chocolate for our birthday once. She did whatever I wanted for two days. Give her a bucket of chocolate and you have your new best friend."
Selene nodded eagerly, licking her lips. She stood from the table and began searching the kitchen. She went to the fridge and opened it, exclaiming,
"Chocolate!"
The room laughed as she took a chocolate cake out of the fridge and cut a slice. She was so absorbed in the treat, she didn't notice the adults leaving until her father kissed her head, saying be good and don't eat all of my cake."
She grinned and nodded, abandoning the cake long enough to hug him, then Severus. The two men left, and as soon as Selene finished her cake, the twins began to tutor her in the art of pranking.