Here's the next chapter of 'It's a Twin Thing', I hope you enjoy it :) Thanks to everyone who reviewed the previous chapter!
*Last Time*
"Dad?" Hermione called in concern, opening the door in a flurry and stopping dead in her tracks when she took in the room before her.
In her rush to see if Severus was alright she didn't notice the other occupant in the room, but as soon as she opened the door and called out for Severus though the damage had been done.
There, standing over Severus was Professor McGonagall. As soon as she heard the word leave Hermiones mouth her head snapped up and she gasped in shock at the sight of Hermione standing at the door, frozen in place and staring at Severus in both horror and fear.
"Miss Granger?" McGonagall asked in disbelief, her head turning to look at both Severus and Hermione consecutively.
"Minerva," Severus warned quietly, hoping that she wasn't about to go into one of her famous rants and scare Hermione even more than she already seemed to be.
"I … She ... She's your … you're her … I need to sit down," McGonagall mumbled, clutching onto one of the arm chairs and slumping into it, her face pale and eyes wide.
"Yes," Severus confirmed, sinking into his chair and eyeing McGonagall with concern, "Hermione will you come and sit over here please," Severus asked, motioning to the place next to him on the sofa. Hermione did as she was told and walked shakily towards Severus.
"Daddy, I'm so sorry, I didn't know," Hermione apologised, sitting herself down and clutching onto her fathers arm for comfort. At the sound of Hermione calling Severus 'dad' again McGonagall snapped out of her momentary loss of concentration and her eyes snapped onto a frightened Hermione holding onto Severus' arm.
"Don't worry about it poppet," Severus replied, calming Hermione down by rubbing his thumb over her cheek and smiling at her reassuringly.
...
"Are you okay Professor?" Hermione asked.
"Perfectly fine, I just get a bit teary when I think of what an awful fate Olivia has been condemned to," McGonagall replied, dabbing away the last of her tears.
"I'm going to get her out," Hermione stated confidently. Severus' head snapped up at Hermiones comment.
"Hermione there is no way," Severus sighed sadly.
"There's always a way," Hermione replied defiantly, she straightened her back and stared at her father with determination in her eyes.
"Poppet, I've tried everything I could think of and nothing worked, I can't even send her letters so how are you going to get her out?" He asked, stressing the word you. He didn't want to upset her but he also didn't want her to have false hope and then be crushed when her plans didn't work.
"Dad, you may have tried everything you could think of but I'm not you and I will find a way to get mum out even if I have to do it on my own," Hermione said determinedly.
Severus watched as his little girl stared at him in defiance, his heart went out to her. He knew that attempting to get Olivia out of Azkaban was futile, he'd tried himself and each time failed. He remembered how each time he failed his heart would break just a little more. He didn't want that for his little girl, he didn't want her to have to go through the same pain he had but looking into her eyes now he saw that she wasn't going to change her mind any time soon.
Chapter 10
"We won!" Ron bellowed, he was currently stood on the table in the middle of the common room, waving his arms around like crazy, while swinging his Gryffindor Quidditch jersey around in the air above him.
Hermione just watched him in amusement, laughing when he slipped and fell off the table onto Neville.
Harry, meanwhile, had been lifted into the air by the Weasley twins and was being paraded around the common room while the house chanted his name.
"HARRY! HARRY! HARRY!"
Harry hadn't felt this happy in ages, in fact, he didn't think he'd ever felt this happy. As Fred and George place him back on the ground he found himself enveloped in a crush by none other than Hermione.
"Oh my gosh! Harry that catch was amazing!" Hermione squealed, jumping up and down, with Harry still in her arms.
"Thanks Mione, but I kind of need to breathe," He spluttered, grateful when Hermione let him out of her grasp.
"Sorry," Hermione apologised sheepishly, "but that really was a wonderful catch, I can't believe you caught it in your mouth."
"Yeah, me neither," Harry admitted, "I didn't think I'd catch it at all."
"Of course you would've, you're the best seeker out there Harry, trust me," Hermione reassured him.
"Anyone below fourth year up to your dorms, McGonagall will have my head if she catches you up," Percy bellowed over the sound of cheering and music.
"Not Harry, he can't go," George cried, him and Fred picking Harry up on their shoulders once again.
"He's our Hero," shouted Fred, twirling in circles with Harry clinging on and smiling down at the students below him.
"HARRY! HARRY! HARRY! HARRY!"
While the crowd was cheering for Harry, Hermione managed to sneak out of the common room and made her way down to see her father; they hadn't talked in a while and she wanted to catch up.
"See you later mate," Fred said, clapping Harry on the back after letting him down.
"Don't let the bed bug bites," George called up to him as he made his way towards his dorm.
As Harry made his way up to his dorm he reflected on the game earlier that day, he was really nervous beforehand and Oliver had to get Hermione down in the changing rooms to calm him down, it was kind of embarrassing, but Hermione managed to clear his head and he went out to play the game with more confidence than he had before.
He honestly didn't think that he'd be able to catch the snitch and was relying on the chasers to get loads of points so that, even if the other team did catch the snitch, they would still win.
Halfway through the game though Harry remembered his broom acting weird, it was as if it was going to throw him off. After the game he discussed it with Hermione and Ron and they had some ideas.
Ron was adamant that it was Snape but Hermione assured them that it was someone else and that Snape was muttering the counter curse, apparently when she looked around the only other people she saw with eye contact required for a curse was Dumbledore, Hagrid, Professor Quirrell and Professor Flitwick.
Harry, on the other hand, had no idea who it was but he would rule out Hagrid and Dumbledore - he was Headmaster after all and Hagrid had been his first real friend.
Professor Quirrell just seemed too scared to even be considering him as the one who cursed his broom, but then again he was defence against the dark arts professor so he would know quite a bit about curses and there purpose.
Professor Flitwick also didn't seem like a likely candidate but, just like how Professor Quirrell is the DADA professor, he was the Charms Professor and would have a knack for curses.
"Why is it so confusing?" Harry muttered, as he made his way over to his bed.
"What was that mate?" Ron asked, he had just pulled the duvet cover over himself and had his elbow propped up on one pillow with his head resting on his hand.
"I said why is everything so confusing? I know that you think it was Snape that cursed my broom today but 'Mione's certain that it wasn't, what if it really was Professor Quirrell or Flitwick? Why would they be trying to kill me?" Harry asked helplessly, flopping down on to his bed.
"You're the boy who lived, there are a lot of people who want to kill you mate, especially death eaters," Ron told him.
"Death eaters?" Harry asked, he'd never heard of them before.
"Yeah, followers of you know who, they call themselves death eaters," Ron informed him.
"So you're telling me that I was attacked by death eaters?"
"Not necessarily, but when you think about it the person who cursed you might not of even been in the stadium, they could've been on the grounds," Ron said.
"I suppose," Harry replied.
"I still think it's Snape though," Ron said, before they were interrupted by the sounds of Seamus, Neville and Dean bombarding through the doors laughing at a joke Dean had just told them.
...
"Daddy?"
"Yes Poppet?"
"What are we going to do about Christmas?" Hermione asked, placing down the book she was reading on her lap and looking at her dad expectantly.
Severus sighed, he knew that this was coming. In all honesty he'd been thinking about this for a while, it would be the first Christmas that Severus had celebrated in a long time, well 10 years to be exact.
"Poppet ... I ... I want to spend it with you, I really do but -" Severus began before being cut off by Hermione.
"- but you have to stay at Hogwarts to supervise the students, I understand, besides the Grangers would probably be angry if I skipped," Hermione said sadly.
"I really am sorry 'Mione, I wanted to spend it with you, I really did," Severus told her softly.
"I know dad but honestly, it's okay," Hermione reassured him, taking his hand and squeezing it tightly.
"As long as you're sure," Severus informed, hating that he couldn't spend Christmas with his daughter, and after he'd just found her as well.
"I'm sure," Hermione replied, managing to keep the tears at bay.
"How about you tell me about the couple who raised my beautiful daughter?" Severus asked, guessing that this would cheer Hermione up.
"I'd rather not Dad, not tonight," Hermione told him, she didn't want to have to explain that the Grangers weren't the loving parents he envisioned, or that they used her as their personal slaves and never called her by her name.
"I really am sorry Poppet," Severus repeated, thinking that she was upset about not spending Christmas with him. He pulled Hermione in for a hug and stroked her hair calmly with his hand while Hermione tried to fight back the tears that were brimming in her eyes.
"Daddy, I said it's fine, I'm going to go back to the common room now," said Hermione, only just realising how late it was and hoping that the boys hadn't noticed her absence so she could just get up to bed and sleep.
"Okay sweetheart," Severus replied, placing a kiss on her forehead, "Sweet dreams."
"Love you dad,"
"Love you too Poppet."
Hermione couldn't help but grin as she made her way towards the common room, sure it was after curfew and she had a high chance of getting caught but she'd mesmerised the prefects and teachers rounds and knew the route that filch took every night, so she should be fine.
As she was making her way up the stairs she noticed a figure walking along the grounds towards Hagrids hut, taking a closer look she realised it was Hagrid himself, a bottle in each hand and it looked as if he was dancing - or trying to dance.
"He's definitely drunk," Hermione whispered to herself.
She was about to continue walking up the stairs when an idea hit her, as fast as she could she ran up the stairs, narrowly missing Mrs Norris and into the common room. Luckily, every one had gone up to bed, she was also lucky that it was only the girls staircase that was enchanted to not allow boys up and not the other way round.
She quickly raced up the stairs and snook into the first year dorms.
"Harry ... psstt ... Harry ... wake up,"
"Huh? What, who is - Hermione?" Harry asked in shock, "What are you doing in here? How'd you get up?"
"Don't worry about that know, just get up, we're going to see Hagrid," Hermione told him, ruffling his hair playfully before tip toeing over to Ron and repeating the same process.
Luckily for Hermione she had anticipated Rons reaction and had cast a silencing spell on him previous to her waking him up. As she predicted Ron woke up and screamed, while swinging his arms around manically before realising that he wasn't being attacked by massive spiders and it was actually just Hermione coming to wake him up. She told Ron the same thing she'd told Harry and then made her way back down to the common room.
She sat herself down on the couch as she waited for the boys to emerge, it was at least ten minute before the pair arrived, dishevelled and pissed at being woken at Merlin knows what time in the evening.
"What is it 'Mione?" Harry asked, yawning as he sat next to her.
"Okay, so you know that there is a three headed dog in that room right?" Hermione said.
"Of course we do, you showed us," Ron replied, ruffling his hair to try and get rid of his bed head.
"Yes, well I think I know how to find out what it's guarding," Hermione told them in excitement.
"Really? How?" Harry asked, his tiredness suddenly evaporating as Hermione began speaking again.
"Who do we know that has a soft spot for dangerous animals?" Hermione asked, hoping that they knew who she was talking about.
"Hagrid!" Ron and Harry both cried before Hermione clapped a hand over each of their mouths.
...
"Who's there?" Hagrid bellowed as he heard a knock on his door, it was nearly one in the morning and he was enjoying a nice bottle of fire whiskey.
"Hagrid just open the door, it's freezing out here," Hermione told him.
"Hermione?" Hagrid asked, surprised that she was down here at this time.
"Yes, now open the door," She replied, quite miffed that he was just standing in there.
"Okay, okay, I'm comin'," He grunted, swinging the door open and allowing her in, surprised when two more bodies followed her.
"Arry? Ron? What are yer doing 'ere?" Hagrid asked.
"We have a question for you," Harry said, sitting himself down at the table.
"Yer do?" Hagrid asked, proud that he could be of use for once.
"We do," Hermione told him, "We were wondering why there's a three headed monster on the third corridor."
"Monster? Fluffy ain't no monster," Hagrid bellowed, insulted that they would refer to his pet as a monster.
"Fluffy?" Ron cried, "You called that thing Fluffy?"
"Ron, shut up," Hermione hissed, jabbing him in the ribs.
"Why's Fluffy there Hagrid?" Harry asked politely, not wanting to offend his first friend again.
"Well he's guarding the - " Hagrid began, but stopped when he looked at the intrigued faces staring up at him, "Why do yer want to know?"
"Hagrid we already know what's down there," Hermione told him, ignoring the looks she was getting from Harry and Ron.
"Yer do?" He asked.
"Yes," Harry confirmed, catching on to what Hermione was doing, "We just want you to confirm it."
"Oh, well if yer already know then there aint no 'arm in tellin' yer then," Hagrid decided.
"Thanks Hagrid," Hermione replied.
"Well yer've figured out that Fluffy is guardin' the Philosophers Stone, and nobody can get past 'im unless yer sing to 'im, he likes that," Hagrid said, smiling to himself as he thought of his beloved pet.
"Thanks Hagrid," Hermione chirped, motioning the boys to leave as she watched Hagrid fall slowly to sleep at the thought of Fluffy.
"Go," Hermione whispered, walking out of the door behind the boys. However, before she left she turned around and got out her wand. Checking that the boys were outside she lifted her wand up to Hagrid,
"Sorry Hagrid, but I can't have this getting to Dumbledore ... Obliviate ..." She whispered, sad that she couldn't trust him to not blab to the headmaster.
"Everything alright?" Harry asked as Hermione closed the door.
"Yeah, just made sure that his fire was off, we don't want his house burning down," Hermione told them, feeling bad for lying.
"Okay, we best get back up to the common room," Ron said, peering around in the dark.
"Good idea," Hermione agreed, as the three of them made there way back up to the castle.
"Okay, so d - um Snape should be patrolling the dungeons and Percy is controlling the corridor outside the common room and at 1.30 am he'll be on the other side of the corridor so we can get in then, at the moment it's ... tempus ... 1.15 so if we run then we should make it, just make sure you don't run into Filch because he'll be near the entrance with Mrs Filch, we should be fine but just in case put your cloak over your head and run for it, don't look back or he could see your face, okay?" Hermione told them, as they strolled up towards the doors.
"Bloody hell, 'Mione, how'd you remember all that?" Ron asked, astonished at how much information she could retain.
"I have a photographic memory," Hermione replied, before opening the doors.
"Ready?" Hermione whispered, both boys nodded, "Go."
They ran as fast as they could towards the common room and despite their best efforts Mrs Norris and Mr Filch were waiting at the bottom fo the stairs that they needed to get up.
Hermione quickly pulled Ron and Harry into an alcove near the stairs and told them the plan.
"Filch won't be expecting a bunch of first years to be running up the stairs right in front of his nose, if we're quick then he'll be too surprised and won't react fast enough, so all we got to do is creep up to that corner and then sprint up to the common room," Hermione told them.
Harry and Ron nodded nervously.
"This better work 'Mione," Harry warned.
"Don't worry it will, as long as you're quick."
"I trust you and everything but this is beyond ridiculuos," Ron commented, peering out the alcove at Filch and Mrs Norris.
"You can think what you want Ronald but if you want to get caught then go ahead and come up with a different plan," Hermione retorted, putting her hand on her hip and looking at Ron expectantly with her eyebrows raised.
Ron placed his hand on his chin and looked to be in deep thought before finally coming to a decision.
"Well, we could go back and head up towards Ravenclaw tower then cut across to Gryffindor tower through the fifth floor corridor," Ron said.
"Really? That's a great idea, why didn't I think of that?" Hermione replied sarcastically, Ron not picking up on the sarcasm grinned like a maniac.
"You really think so? I knew I could come up with a better plan than you," Ron replied smugly, proud that he'd actually come up with a better plan than Hermione.
"Oh yes, it's brilliant if you want to be caught by Penelope Clearwater who patrols the fifth floor corridor from 1 till 2," Hermione said, this time it being her turn to look smug.
"Fine, we'll do your plan," Ron told her in defeat, glaring when she smiled sweetly at him.
"Thank you Ronald, at least we're both on the same page now," Hermione told him, "Ready? Let's go."
Just like that Hermione raced out of the alcove, Ron and Harry hot on her heals, they sped past Mr Filch who barely had any time to recover from the surprise before he began racing after them.
"Quick, he's gaining on us," Hermione said, looking back briefly, but making sure to cover her face with her cloak so he wouldn't figure out who she was.
The three of them sped up and rounded a corner, the Gryffindor common room was up the stairs in front of them and by the looks of it Filch was slowing down, they couldn't even see him anymore. They climbed the stairs and Hermione internally cheered as the Gryffindor common room came into sight.
"Galanthus Nivalis," Hermione cried at the fat lady, who glared at the trio disapprovingly before swinging the portrait hole open and allowing them access.
"We made it," Ron huffed as they stood in common room, all out of breath from their run around the castle.
"We sure did," Harry replied happily, clapping Ron on the back and pulling Hermione in for a hug.
"We best go up to our dorms, I should probably start packing for next week" Hermione told them.
"You're not staying?" Harry asked, he really wanted both his best friends to be here for his first proper christmas.
"No, sorry Harry. I know you wanted me to stay but my - my parents want me home," Hermione replied, choking up at having to call the Grangers her parents.
"Don't worry 'Mione, we'll see you after the holiday," Harry said reassuringly.
"Yeah, we'll try and find out as much as possible about the stone while you're away," Ron said.
"Thanks guys," Hermione sniffled, not wanting to cry in front of them, "I'll see you in the morning," She said, and then made her way up the stairs and into bed.
Today had been emotional she decided, but they'd figured out what Fluffy was guarding ... The Philosophers Stone.
Thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Reviews are appreciated, I love hearing what you guys think and receiving feedback on my work! Have a great day :)