Author's note: thanks for all the wonderful reviews! No I don't own HP, on with the fic!

Severus Snape glared at the letter that had been delivered to him by one of the school owls. He curled his thin dry lips in disgust as he examined the strange muggle paper that the twins had written their message on as he read it again:

Professor Severus Snape,

Thank you very much for taking the time to show us around Diagon Alley and making sure we get the things we need? I have a question though, where is Diagon Alley and how do we get there?

Please let us know when you want to make the trip.

Jake

'At least he was polite about it.' Snape thought as he picked up a quill to reply. He knew why Dumbledore had chosen him, because he was a skilled mind reader, Snape would know if there was something they were hiding.

But that didn't mean he had to like it…

Two weeks later

Snape apparited close to the Fear household. Taking a closer look at the place as he turned the corner, he was impressed despite himself at how well the place was being kept up considering that they were the only ones living there.

To his surprise, both of them were waiting politely on the deck outside. Upon seeing him walking up the driveway, they froze.

The girl turned her head to look at her brother for a minute before heading down the deck's winding ramp to greet him.

"Professor Snape?" She asked, tilting her head a little to the side in question, an unreadable expression in her wary blue eyes. She looked like a fey, a slender and fragile vulnerable creature that couldn't defend herself if she tried.

"Yes. Are the two of you ready to go?" Snape asked, surprised that she would think of speaking to him as though they were equals.

"My name is Tammy, and yes, we are ready to go." She introduced herself as she turned sideways to motion her brother to come down off the deck.

Watching Jake, Snape was reminded very strongly of a half feral panther. Jake's long strides were a ground eating lope as he moved quickly to her side.

Once he reached her, Snape felt the searching gaze Jake gave his twin and saw him raise an eyebrow.

"Are you sure you need to take that Tam?" Jake asked pointing to the fanny pack belted around her waist.

"Yes. I'm not taking any chances." Came the firm answer.

Jake shrugged and turned to face Snape. "How are we going to get there?" He asked.

Snape felt an oily smile spread across his face. "I'll guide you though side- apparition. Each of you hang onto an arm."

He enjoyed the looks of polite confusion that crossed both their faces as they did as they were told. Snape closed his eyes and concentrated on Diagon alley.

A minute later they were facing the entrance to Diagon alley, although Snape wasn't really prey to the aftereffects of this way of travel, the twins looked more than a little green.

"Oh man…" Jake moaned, swallowing hard to keep from getting sick. "Tam, you okay?"

Snape thought it was interesting that Jake's first concern was for the girl. He also noted that she wasn't looking very good after that little trip.

"I'll survive Jake. Don't worry…" Tammy managed a small smile for her twin, giving herself a shake as she fought the green from her cheeks.

Snape raised an eyebrow, but said nothing as he tapped the brick that would open the door with his wand. By this time the twins had gotten control of themselves and were paying very close attention to what her was doing.

Their mouths hung open wide when they saw the strange sight that had been hidden behind that wall. Tammy looked as though she might faint while her brother looked decidedly nervous.

"We're gonna get ssssooo lost…" She whispered, trying to regain some composure. Jake was too stunned to say anything.

"No you won't. You have a guide, remember?" Snape snapped, angry that he could be forgotten so quickly. "Come on."

The twins followed him, turning their heads every which way trying to take everything in.

Snape didn't speak as he led the way towards Ollivander's wand shop. He couldn't keep the smirk off his face. These two were open books, their faces gave everything away! Still, Dumbledore had given him a job, and by the dark mark he was going to do it.

Jake held open the door for his twin with a nod, Snape felt a cynical smile twist his lips at the old courtly gesture, as he followed them inside.

Ollivander looked up, surprise briefly crossing his face before it was just as quickly replaced by a polite smile.

"Ah Severus, what do we have here? New Hogwarts students?" He asked, looking at the pair in curiosity.

"Yes Ollivander. I'll be back in a half hour to collect them." With that, Snape swept out of the room without a backward glance.

Ollivander looked at the twins and smiled kindly at the baffled worried looks on their faces. "May I have your names please?"

"My name is Tammy, and this is my twin brother Jake." Tammy answered, giving a quiet smile in return.

"Well now Tammy, and you as well Jake, let's see if we can find wands that will suit your natural talents and abilities."

"How are we going to do that?" Jake asked, awe in his voice. "There must be at least a million wands in here!"

"Oh, you two just leave that to me!" He chuckled before disappearing somewhere among the many shelves…

It had taken three and a half hours and several explosions (including one where Snape chose to walk in the door at the wrong moment) to find their proper wands. Tammy's was a ten and a half inch long rosewood with a silver unicorn's hair, while Jake's wand was a ten inch redwood with a black unicorn's hair.

Snape saw Ollivander's eyes widen slightly as he put the wands back in their boxes while Snape paid for the twin's wands with the funds Dumbledore had given him.

When they all left the shop, the twins were smiling. "I hope we didn't wreck his shop too much. Professor are you sure you're okay? I mean, I hit you pretty hard…" Tammy said quietly, concern in her eyes.

Snape's lips twitched. "I'll be fine Ms. Fear."

Tammy cast him a doubtful look, but didn't say anything else.

The rest of the trip was uneventful (if you didn't count having to drag Tammy out of the bookstore) until they took a lunch break. As Tammy ate, she began to pop her pills under Jake's watchful gaze.

Snape looked surprised. "Muggle medicine?" He asked, disgust in his voice.

Tammy swallowed the last pill before answering. "Yes. Most of these are vitamins, but I've had to start taking pain killers too."

"Pain killers? What for?"

"My spine is messed up, so I have to wait three months in order to have an operation to get it fixed." She explained, putting the pill bottle back into her pack and zipping it tightly closed.

A few minutes after this, Snape took them to the Owlry to choose an owl. Jake started to protest, but Tammy overrode him.

"Jake, we're going to need an owl once we start school at Hogwarts. How else am I going to get refills?"

He nodded and Snape watched as Tammy chose a tawny golden brown owl. "Be lucky Jake, I could have gotten a cat."

"No way, you know I'm allergic to cats!" he exclaimed.

Tammy just laughed.

About an hour later Snape had had enough and took them home. Saying that he would make the arrangements for their things and would be in touch.

He couldn't keep the smile off his face as he walked away.

It was going to be an interesting year.