A/N: Just so that nobody is confused, eight years have passed, and in that time Harry and Ebony Potter have been born, and James and Lily killed. After they were killed, Albus Dumbledore took the twins and brought them to their aunt and uncle's house. He knew that they would be unwanted, but believed that they would be safer there. Severus Snape was heartbroken to hear that Lily had been killed and of course wanted to take in his children, but Albus obliviated him, so that he would have no recollection of having any kids. Dumbledore thought that this would be for the best. Little did he know the situation that nine year olds Harry and Ebony found themselves in at the Dursley's.
Chapter 1: A Day in the Life of the Dursley's
"Ugh, where are those filthy creatures?" snarled Petunia
She walked out of the kitchen and into the hall and banged on the door leading to the closet under the stairs.
"Get up, you two have loads of chores to finish before Vernon gets home."
From inside the cupboard you could audibly hear two identical groans coming from Harry and Ebony Potter's mouths as they awoke from their cramped sleeping positions.
They really hated waking up, because there was always a new huge list of chores for them to finish before their uncle got home. This list was almost always impossible to complete, because that gave Uncle Vernon an excuse to punish them.
"Well," said Ebony "better get started."
They stepped out and looked at the list.
Harry and Ebony's list of chores
Make breakfast
Clean dishes
Pick weeds
Mow lawn
Do laundry
Clean gutters
Clean chimney
Mop and vacuum floors
Clean bathrooms
Pick up Dudley's room
Make dinner
"This is much longer than normal!" exclaimed Harry "there is no way we will get all of this done."
By noon, Harry and Ebony had already managed to get into a lot of trouble with their Aunt and were terrified of what would happen when their Uncle got home. First, they managed to burn the toast and bacon Dudley wanted for breakfast, (and they had used the last of it) and when Aunt Petunia slapped Ebony for 'being so careless with their food' Harry came to her defense.
"Don't hit her, it's not our fault that Dudley is so immature he likes to play with the temperature knob on the stove."
After this outburst, Petunia was livid. She grabbed Harry's hand and placed it on the stove for a few seconds and allowed it to burn. This was an awful punishment, not only because it hurt, but also because it made it almost impossible to do any of the other chores without hurting his hand badly.
Later on, they had gone outside to pull the weeds and trim the plants. While working, a bee flew up behind Ebony and she fell on the rose bushes, crushing the beautiful blooms below her. This earned her another, even harder slap.
They were currently trying to clean the chimney without getting soot all over the living room they had just finished cleaning and were definitely struggling. Also, being only nine, they had a lot of trouble reaching the top. They both decided that this was too hard a chore and that they would do the others first.
They started doing the laundry and finished that task without a hitch, except for the fact that Uncle Vernon came home early. They hadn't finished with either the laundry, or any other chore. They knew they were going to get punished badly. This was the worst they had ever done.
Uncle Vernon walked into the laundry room and said "You two, upstairs, now."
Ebony and Harry were trembling as they walked up the stairs and into the guest bedroom (where they always recieved their punishments). They knew that they would not be eating for while, and were actually glad that they had nothing to eat all day, because they were both so nervous, that they knew that it would have ended up all over the ground.
As Uncle Vernon entered the room, they both cringed and backed into the corner. But, Harry being the male, stepped out in front of Ebony shielding her and offering himself up for punishment.
Back at Hogwarts, Severus Snape was found down in his potions lab. He heard his fireplace roar and knew that someone had come to visit him through the floo network.
He walked into his sitting room and saw the headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, standing waiting for him.
"Good Afternoon Severus, I trust everything is well," chatted the old man amicably.
"Fine Albus," replied Snape "what can I do for you?"
"Well funny you should ask, I have an errand that I need you to run for me"
"Okay, what do you need me to do?"
"I need for you to go to Privet Drive and fetch Harry and Ebony"
"No, absolutely not Albus," Severus said forcefully. "I am not going anywhere near James Potters' children, or have you forgot what he did to me while in school?"
"No, Severus I have not forgot, but I do have something to tell you. You should probably sit down," Albus took a deep breath, "now Severus what I am going to tell you will be hard to believe at first, but I can show you a memory to prove it. You have to realize that this was done for your own good."
"Okay Albus tell me NOW before I lose my patience."
"Well, roughly eight years ago two children were born, named Harry and Ebony-" Albus started.
Severus cut him off with, "Yes, Albus I am aware of the fact that Potter had two children, this is no surprise for me."
"No I guess not," Albus said sadly "but what I am about to tell you will be." Taking an deep breath, he went on, "Severus the two children in question were not James', they belong to you and Lily."
"That's impossible Albus, I would have known," Severus stuttered while trying to control his own emotions.
"Well Severus this is the part that will make you angry." Albus started. "After their death, I thought it would be safer for the twins to be put in the care of their aunt and uncle. So I obliviated you, because I knew that you would want to take them into your care."
"…" Severus was unable to come up with any responce as his world came crashing down around him. He struggled to keep the emotionless shield he had so carefully built in place.
"Severus, are you ok?" asked Albus in concern.
"…no Albus, I am not." Severus' words wavered. "I trusted you, and you lied to me. You are the only person in the world besides Lily that I trusted completely, and you lied to me. Took me away from my children. I don't know what you were thinking, but I would have been able to protect much better than those Muggles," Severus spat.
"Severus, you have every right to be mad at me," Albus stated with remorse, "and I completely understand if you never trust me again, but you must go and retrieve your children," he stated with a certain urgency. "Earlier this morning an alarm went off in my office alerting me to danger being exposed to them. They may be hurt or worse," Albus said sadly. Then he forcefully said to Severus, "be mad at me, but don't neglect your children because of it."
"You're right Albus," Severus said in resignation. "What kind of alarm? Are they serious injured?" Severus asked in concern.
"I have no way of knowing Severus" replied Albus sadly.
Severus gathered a sack full of potions and ran out the door.
Albus watched him leave wondering if he would ever be able to fix this great mess he had caused.
TBC…
A/N: Thank you to those of you who reviewed the first chapter. I will try to update again soon. Now please make a girl happy and press that little purple button in the corner and review this chapter.
I am also looking for a beta, so for anybody who is interested please let me know.
