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"Oh God!" Brooke flailed her arms and tried to get her sister off her. "Mum, help!"
Emilia laughed and lifted Alexis off her sister and onto the arm of the couch. "Sweetie, you can't jump on her like that. You could hurt her worse than she already is hurting."
Severus came over and pulled her from the arm of the sofa. "We're not sitting on the couch arm." He placed her on the floor. "Sit nicely or not at all."
"Yes Daddy. I'm just excited she's home, that's all." Alexis looked down at her hands, trying to fight the blush that was creeping up her cheeks. After a few moments, Emilia pulled her youngest into her lap, giving Brooke mere seconds to move her feet.
"It's alright, but you just need to be more careful." Emilia patted Alexis' leg. "She's not fragile, but she can't be jumped on."
Brooke hauled herself up into a standing position and limped over to hug her grandmother. "Hello, Grandma. Thank you for all those meals."
"Oh, it was not a problem!" Eileen squeezed her tightly. "What happened to the room we set up for you? Is all your things still there?"
"Oh no, Dad cleaned it up while Mum discharged me." She allowed her grandmother to pass her to Gabriel. "Everything is in my room, but it needs to be put away."
"Maybe you and Alexis can go and clean up. I'm sure she's itching to spend some time with you." Gabriel looked at Severus and Emilia, who nodded. Emilia released her youngest, who grabbed her sister's crutches and moved to hand them to her.
Brooke laughed and waved them off. "I don't use the crutches when I use stairs. I'll need them for the hallway though."
The two sisters walked off, Alexis at a run and Brooke at a slow limp. Severus watched the two go, not registering his mother shaking his shoulder to get his attention at first. He was so happy his wife and daughter were back home and his daughter was on her way to recovery. As long as Alexis refrained from jumping on her sister.
"Sev," Eileen shook his shoulder harder. "Gabriel has news of what Eric is doing."
Severus was snapped out of his stupor, shaking his head a little to clear it. He had been pestering Eric about his progress on the case, and it had been very slow moving. Eric had explained that he had to be careful in his movements and digging, so the Aurors who were involved wouldn't spook and try to cover their tracks.
Severus and Emilia walked into the kitchen with the two and sat at the table. Emilia clutched her husband's hand tightly, making her knuckles turn white. The Potions Master patted her hand carefully, understanding why she was nervous. The two had just started to pay off the medical bills, and it was getting tight. With the two trying to pay for food, their home bills and everything else, the rest of their summer reserve was slowly depleting.
Gabriel sat down across from the pair and opened a folder, spreading multiple pieces of parchment in front of him. "So, because of the information that we collected with your wards, and the Auror department, Eric and I figured out that the Aurors who came here had no intention of looking for 'illegal potions' like the warrant said." He passed them a copy of the warrant.
"This is bullshit. I order all my ingredients with the patients' office. They have a record of everything I've ever ordered since my mastery. I knew that everything would come into question eventually if my Death Eater status was ever discovered." He rubbed his arm with the hand that wasn't holding his wife's.
"Yes, that's what I thought." Gabriel put the paper back in his folder. "I then looked at the seven who showed up that afternoon. All seven have connections to Death Eaters currently in Azkaban."
"So? There are many people with Death Eater connections. My sister's brother-in-law's wife is related to Igor Karkaroff's uncle. Both of them are Death Eaters, but they're not bad people."
"No, Emilia, what we found is all of these people are related to Death Eaters in Azkaban, Death Eaters that Severus sold out to stay out of jail." Gabriel sighed and passed the two the Auror files. "Deimos Fawley, cousin to Rodolphus Lestrange. Tucan Dolohov, brother of Antonin. Alpha Macnair, wife of Macnair. Mira Greengrass, half-sister to Augustus Rookwood. Elisa Nott, wife of Theodore. Aquila Black, second cousin to Bellatrix Lestrange and James Avery, nephew of William Avery."
"Good lord, so, no…" Emilia covered her mouth. "They were going to plant evidence against Severus?"
"No Emilia, we think they were trying to kill Severus."
*S*S*
Brooke sat on her bed and unpacked the boxes piled around her, her brace laying on the desk across the room. Alexis sat cross legged on the floor, opening her crates of knick knacks that she had brought to her in the hospital.
"Those go on the shelf over there." Brooke pointed to the shelves on the wall across from her. "Please be careful with them, I don't think I can get them again."
As Alexis turned her back, Brooke noticed that the vibrator that she and Gabby had been using while in the hospital was tucked into the bag. Brooke had packed her clothes herself and forgot that the toy was there, so she snatched it and put it away between her mattress and the box spring before her sister would see and ask questions. The last thing she needed was for her parents to find out that she was sexually active. Her mother most likely wouldn't care as much as her father would. She could remember Severus going spare when she started to date her boyfriend, and the speech he gave her about being an arm's length apart at all times and how there would be no babies from babies.
When she started dating Gabby, there was no speech, for she could not get pregnant from her girlfriend. But as far as Severus and Emilia knew, she was a virgin, and it would remain that way as to avoid the yelling and the lectures.
"Hey, can I have this?" Alexis broke her musings and held up the bear that her ex-boyfriend had bought for her right before they had broken up. Brooke didn't realize she had kept it and nodded before continuing to unpack her clothes. She had thrown most of the things that Mike had given her out, not caring for him any longer.
*S*S*
That night, Brooke was curled up on the rug in front of the fireplace, reading her potions text and making notes in the margins. Alexis was sitting with her back against the sofa seat, her legs stretched out before her on the floor, flipping through the charms book. Every few minutes she would glance up and look at her sister and father, as both were very focused on their readings. Alexis didn't want to read her books but Severus and Emilia had made her go through the first few chapters of all her books so she would be prepared for her first week of classes.
"Hey, Dad?"
Severus looked up at his eldest, who was now sitting straight up, quill poised in her fingers. "Yes?"
"I have a question about the draught of peace. Wouldn't the potion brew faster if you increased the heat right before you added the moonstone?" She flipped through the text till she found the page dedicated to moonstone. "It says here that moonstone is most potent when heated to high temperatures in certain potions, but it doesn't specify."
Severus shook his head. "The Draught of Peace is not one of the potions that you can mess around with. However, in Pepper up potion, that is true."
Brooke nodded and started to scribble in her book, then onto a leather bound journal on the floor next to her. Severus watched her for a moment, then returned to his own book. Alexis however, was so bored reading her book that she laid it on the sofa above her and leaned forward a little.
"Brooke, what are you writing?"
Brooke looked up and shook her head, returning to her journal. "It's Potions Club stuff. You don't need to worry about it."
"Daddy said I should join the Potions Club." Alexis looked smug then shocked when Brooke started to laugh.
"Dad obviously didn't tell you that we require you to have an E average for the first month of school. Not many first years have made the club."
"Who are the first years who did it?" Alexis wanted to make her father proud and be really good at his favorite subject.
"Me." Brooke looked back at her journal. "Now, I'm the president of the club." Brooke flipped back to the Draught of Peace recipe. "We don't want kids getting blown up, and Alexis, I love you but you have had zero interest in Potions so I don't think potions club is right for you."
"But Daddy said-" Alexis whined before Brooke cut her off.
"Frankly, I don't give a damn what Dad said. As president, it's my job to make sure that everyone is safe and by allowing you to walk into the club without knowing basic potions knowledge is reckless and stupid."
"DADDY!" Alexis shouted, pointing at Brooke when he started and looked at her.
"Young lady, there is no reason for you to be shouting in the house. Now, what is the issue?"
"Brooke won't let me join the potions club even though YOU said I could." She crossed her arms and pouted.
"I never said those words you attributed me. I said you SHOULD, not that you COULD. There's a very big difference. Even though I'm the staff advisor, that's all I am. Your sister and her friends run the club. I can make suggestions on who to let into the club based on grades, but I don't override their choices." He picked up his book again. "Now, if you want to be a toddler, you can say goodnight now and go to bed."
Brooke pulled her book up to cover her smirk. Alexis very rarely got scolded for anything, even when she colored on all of Brooke's books her first year. Brooke was furious and brought the issue up with her parents, tears streaming down her cheeks about how all her books were destroyed and she couldn't do her work, therefore she would fail. Emilia had taken Brooke to Diagon Alley that weekend to rebuy her books and Alexis had been put in time out for only five minutes. Brooke in return froze her parents and sister out for nearly a month, not speaking to them more than necessary. Granted, now that she was older, it wasn't the most mature thing to do, but in her eleven year old mind, her parents didn't care and therefore neither did Brooke.
In the end, Severus forced her to stay behind after one potions lesson and made her explain her behavior. Brooke had stayed silent for nearly forty five minutes, arms crossed over her chest as Severus paced the room, trying to get her to speak.
Brooke sat on her high stool, arms tightly wrapped around her body. Severus had his hands clasped around his back and he paced, his feet eating up the floor as he moved.
"I'm not going to ask you again, young lady. Why are you not speaking to your mother or myself?"
Brooke turned her head away stubbornly, refusing to meet her father's steely gaze. His footsteps came over to her and he grabbed her chin, pulling her face up to look at him.
"Brooke Eileen, I've had it up to here with your attitude. You've been a brat for nearly a month and while your mother and I gave you space for a week, there is not a reason any longer for you to continue acting this way. Now, for the very last time, what is the problem?"
Brooke's eyes filled with tears and she tried to wrench her face away from him. "Leave me alone!"
Severus kept his grip and refused to let her up. "Not until I get an answer, young lady."
Brooke knew that she was crossing a line. She was aware that her behavior was very nearly a one way ticket to being placed over her father's knee. But she wanted him to let her leave and go back to her common room. "I hate you!"
Severus was still for a second and then he let her face go. "You don't mean that, Brooke." His face was torn between hurt and anger.
"Yes I do! You always let Alexis do whatever she wants to my things and if I get mad, I'm the one who gets in trouble! Like when she painted my walls last summer and you and mum thought it was cute! You weren't going to do anything about it but I got grounded when I threw her out of my room! It's the same with my books. She completely destroyed them and all that happened to her was a time out? If I did that at her age, you would have spanked me. I'm not saying that's what I want to happen, but she isn't learning that it's not okay to do these things. But she only destroys my stuff." Brooke rolled her eyes and started to pack her book bag to leave. "So, I guess it's alright then."
When she made it to the door of the potions lab, Severus snapped out of his stupor and closed the distance between the two of them. "I'm sorry, lion." He whispered into her hair. "I'm so sorry."
"For what?" Brooke stayed stiff in his arms, though she wasn't trying to get away like before.
"I haven't been fair to you and I'm sorry. I didn't know how much it hurt your feelings." Severus tightened his grip and rocked her back and forth.
Brooke was torn. She wanted to be furious with her father still, but she couldn't be. After a month of little to no contact, she missed her parents and wanted to be with them in the evenings, but she had been so mad. Now, she wasn't so angry anymore. Snaking her arms around his waist, she buried her face into his jacket and started to cry.
"Oh Brooke." Severus carried her to his desk, sitting with her on his lap in the chair. "Hush, it's alright."
"No, it's not. I've been horrible to you and mum for the past month." She pressed her face tighter into his chest.
Severus just continued to rock her gently, thankful that the month of no contact with his eldest was over. Emilia and Severus had missed her terribly, and any attempt of reaching out to her was ignored by the Gryffindor. She had been hurt, and instead of coming to them to talk about it, the eleven year old bottled it up.
"Dad?"
Severus was pulled from his musings. "What, sweetheart?"
"I'm sorry about what I said. I don't hate you." She lifted her tear stained face to look at her father's. The last of his anger was gone and he looked at her with soft eyes.
"Oh, you foolish monster," he kissed the top of her head. "I know you don't. Your mother and I love you very much, you know. We didn't mean to hurt your feelings."
Brooke looked at her father over her book, trying not to laugh. She had very rarely seen her sister yelled at, even when she deserved it.
"But Daddy, it's not fair that Brooke gets to be in the potions club and I don't. She gets to do everything before I get to."
Brooke put her book down. "That's because I'm 15 and you're 11. Like how I'll get to drink before you can because I'll be 17 before you. Life isn't fair, get over it." Brooke then picked up her books and journal and hobbled to the library where Emilia was.
"Can I study in here?" Brooke knocked on the doorframe.
"Of course, my love." Emilia moved her papers to make room for her daughter. "I heard your sister yell. What was that all about?"
Brooke dropped her materials down on the tabletop. "She wants to join the potions club, but she can't until she proves herself. She wanted Dad to let her join without any of the work involved. I can't let her walk in and potentially blow the dungeon up. " She shook her head.
Emilia reloaded her quill and nodded. "You're right, but I hope that if she doesn't have the grades and still wants to join when the time comes, that you consider her for the club."
"I know, Mum." Brooke flipped her journal open and continued her scribbling. "Maybe if she had worked with Dad and I in the lab more often, I wouldn't be so hesitant. But I want her to be in the club because she loves potions, not because she wants to impress Dad. And I think that's what this is about."
Emilia kept writing on her report for work, her left hand resting underneath the table against her belly. In these moments, it was easy to forget that the Dark Mark on her husband's arm was black again and that at any moment he could be called. She could forget that she and her daughter had been attacked and nearly killed by rogue Aurors who they still had no idea what their motives were. Emilia just wanted the war to be over and done with, but she couldn't let her fear ruin Alexis' first year at school.
"Mum?" Brooke had closed her journal and looked at Emilia expectantly. "Can I go see Hermione at Headquarters? I want to run this by her before the first day of classes and I don't know when I'll have time other than now."
"Of course," Emilia stood and waited for Brooke to collect her things. Walking her into the living room, Brooke shoved her books and journal into her bag and shouldered it, taking her crutches off the wall where they were leaning.
"Where are you going?" Severus looked up from his book, one eyebrow arched.
"I'm going to Headquarters for a few hours. I have to talk to Hermione about Potions Club." Brooke reached for the pot of floo powder.
"Why does Hermione get to know about the club and not me?" Alexis muttered bitterly from the sofa.
"Because, Alexis, Hermione is the Vice President. Grow up." Brooke tossed the powder into the fireplace and said her goodbyes to her parents before jumping through to Headquarters.
*S*S*
"Hi Mrs. Weasley!" Brooke settled her weight on her crutches and went over to the matriarch of the Weasley family. "Is Hermione around?"
"Of course, Dear! She's upstairs with Ron and Harry." She looked the girl over. "Have you eaten today? I was just about to start supper."
"I haven't yet, no." Brooke started for the stairs. "Thank you for having me, though." Holding her crutches, Brooke slowly hauled herself up the stairs and made it to the room where the Golden Trio was.
"Hi guys!" Brooke plopped onto the bed next to Harry and let the crutches fall to the floor with a bang. "I haven't seen you all in forever."
The three looked excited to see their other friend, and they all chatted together until Molly called them all down for supper.
"Why did you come, anyways, Brooke?" Harry picked up her crutches and handed them to her. "You usually only come when there's an Order meeting."
"I need to talk to Hermione about Potions Club." Brooke gasped as Fred Weasley popped up next to her as she was about to walk down the stairs.
"Potions Club? You're still exploring the wonders of academia?"
"Yes Fred, I am. You know, you and George should join. You could work on your experiments there." Brooke slowly lowered her crutches to the first stair and tried to lower herself down.
"Nah, it's too risky. We have a place where we work and we're doing pretty well for ourselves." Before Brooke could respond, Fred scooped her up and carried her down to the basement kitchen.
"Fred Weasley, put me down!" Brooke smacked his chest as the other Gryffindors trailed after them laughing. Molly Weasley rounded on the pair as Fred placed her in a seat.
"Fredrick Weasley! She is still recovering and if you dropped her, you could have sent her back to the hospital!" Molly walloped the 17 year old with the wooden spoon in her hand, leaving Fred to gingerly rub his backside before he sat down.
Ron and Harry sniggered at the older boy's misfortune, and Hermione plopped down next to Brooke.
"So, what did you have planned so far?" Hermione opened the journal they used for the club and read her friend's writing.
"I want to review the rules we have in place. I kinda want to exclude first years from the club completely, but I'm not so sure about that." Brooke propped her head up on her hand. "My sister wants to join, but the problem I'm having with that is she has zero interest in potions and she only wants to impress my dad with being in the club. She wants to have something in common with him, but she can be good at other things and not just potion. I don't know… maybe I'm overthinking this."
"Has she brewed before?" Hermione flipped through the book, reading the notes that Brooke made.
"Never, and she threw a temper tantrum before I came here about me not letting her into the club. I have no idea what she'll do when school starts up."
"For all we know, she could fail potions in the first month and be ineligible. But we don't have to let her in, you know. We can use the excuse that first years don't usually know enough to do well in the club and we can't be babysitting her." Hermione turned a page and tapped the writing underneath. "I think we should spend at least a month experimenting with moonstone. That book your dad leant me last year mentioned that moonstone has many uses if you know how to make it usable. I want to try using it to make Pepper-up more powerful.
"That's a good idea. And I bet Dad will be on board too." Brooke pulled out a quill and scribbled down Hermione's idea.
"Girls, please put the book away. It's time to eat." Molly waved her wand and food flew off the counters to settle gracefully on the table. "Harry, be a dear and get Sirius for me?"
"Of course, Mrs. Weasley." Harry ducked out of the room and went into his godfather's study, disappearing down the hall.
Once the two came into the kitchen, Mrs. Weasley allowed the group to start eating.
"So, Brooke, when do you get to go back to class?" Ginny spooned mashed potatoes onto her plate, and swirled a puddle of gravy onto them.
"I'm not sure, to be honest." Brooke accepted the bread basket from Bill. "Thank you, Bill. My healers are shooting for October, but we'll see what happens."
"Hopefully you can go back pretty soon before classes start. You don't want to fall too far behind." Bill carefully cut up the chicken breast in front of him.
"My dad is going to tutor me so I don't fail." Brooke laughed. "He and I are talking about me working with my sister's class as well. I think he wants to put a member of the potions club in each of his classes so we can be a sort of supplemental aid. But, I'm not sure about that yet."
"Severus Snape wants help?" Molly placed a jug of pumpkin juice onto the table top. "Well, I guess I can go to heaven now, I've heard it all." She sat down between her husband and only daughter.
"He doesn't want me sitting around doing nothing." Brooke shrugged and sipped her juice. "I want to take a full course load, but my healers don't want me to overdo it and I doubt my parents would let me either."
"It's best to listen to them, dear." Molly placed another piece of chicken on her daughter's plate. "They do know best."
"Do you know what happened yet? Like, why did the Aurors attack you?" Harry stabbed at his own meal, ignoring Sirius who sat next to him, flinging peas onto his plate.
"I don't, but my parents and my uncle are looking into it. I doubt they'll tell me even if they figure it out." Brooke shrugged and went back to eating, glad that she wasn't stuck in the hospital for another night and that she was surrounded by her friends. Unfortunately, Gabby wasn't here, and she wouldn't ever be able to, unless she joined the Order in a few years. Her parents never were invited by Albus Dumbledore to join the cause against Voldemort, and while it was tough not seeing her as much as she would have liked the past summer, she knew that she couldn't talk to Gabby about the Order. Not that she could anyways. The magic that prevented anyone from finding headquarters also prevented her from saying anything about it either.
"I'm sure everything will turn out for the best, dear." Arthur speared a piece of broccoli on his fork, letting it dangle for a moment before he popped it in his mouth.
"It probably will. And all I can worry about right now is recovering enough to go back to class." Brooke sipped her pumpkin juice, ignoring the others who conversed around her. She was surprised that Sirius hadn't started to tease her about her father being Severus Snape like he usually did, but Harry had told her earlier that Molly had yelled at him about it. Apparently, there had been an order meeting while Brooke was in the hospital and Sirius had teased Alexis about Severus and made her cry. Brooke remembered her first exposure to her father's reputation her first year.
It had been rough, but she got over it and those who knew her, knew she wasn't like her father. Now her friends trusted her and her parents. Those who were important knew what her father did in order to keep them all alive.
When the group was done with dinner, Hermine and Brooke stayed in the kitchen to continue work on the projects the potions club were going to be working on, Sirius, Molly and Arthur stayed as well, drinking tea and chatting while the dinner dishes washed themselves in the sink behind them.
"I really do think that we need to raise the age of people allowed in the club. In the Transfiguration club, you have to be a third year or higher. Why are we still accepting first years?" Brooke twirled a quill between her fingers and looked at Hermine, who had dug out her own notebook to take her own notes.
"We can ask your dad about it, and show him what we're planning on doing. If he thinks it's too dangerous, then we'll raise the age." Hermione scribbled down her idea.. "I also think we should try to get your dad to let us work with him in his lab this year. Jake Mills and his little group of friends left the club to join the charms club. We're much smaller this year now."
"Jake, Dan, Mark and Dustin left? They were some of our best brewers!" Brooke tossed the quill down. "Damn it. Damn it, Hermione. We need to post advertisements this year. Or something. If people keep leaving, we're gonna be a club of two."
"We still have ten people. That's not horrible. Fred and George expressed interest in joining but I think they want to experiment on their own."
"I'm sorry, dear, I don't mean to interrupt, but did you say that Fred and George wanted to join an extracurricular club?" Molly looked over at the girls at the other end of the table. "Are you two going to let them in?"
"We're thinking about it Mrs. Weasley." Brooke looked at Hermione. "It's all dependent on their grades."
Molly nodded, and with a large smile plastered on her face, she turned back to her conversation with the other adults in the room.
*S*S*
Severus sat in his armchair, his wife on the sofa a few feet away. Alexis was in bed, having nearly nodded off in her dinner earlier. Emilia had sent her to bed and had gone up to tuck her in an hour ago, and Severus wondered for a few moments if she was feeling okay, but he supposed she was just tired, for when Alexis was sick, she never hesitated to tell her parents.
Now Severus put his book down on the side table next to him, and removed his reading glasses. He observed his wife for a few minutes before she noticed him staring.
"Do you need something, love?" Emilia looked at him over her book, stunned when he nearly launched himself at her, his lips crushing hers. "Severus!"
"Hush. We have no children that are needing us right now. Alexis is sleeping, Brooke is out as of right now, and I won't be surprised if she asks to sleep over at Headquarters. Live a little." He pulled her to straddle his lap on his armchair, his hands running up and down her back under her shirt.
Emilia swallowed thickly when her husband moved from her lips to her neck, his long fingers dancing over her bra. Severus and she enjoyed their sex life, even when the girls were young, but since her return from St. Mungos, he had been even more eager to have her. With the exception of the few weeks were she wanted to fall pregnant.
"Severus, Brooke will be coming back any time. We need to move upstairs or stop." She panted. Severus allowed her to stand, then heaved her over his shoulder once he stood from his seat, carting her up the stairs to their bedroom. Tossing her on the bed, he locked the door, and crawled up after her, discarding his clothes as he moved to the bed.
In a flash, Emilia was nude, as Severus waved his wand to speed up the process. "In a hurry are we?" She pulled him down for a kiss, her fingers weaving through his hair, running her nails on his scalp.
"We haven't had a night alone in a while. I'm making use of my time." Severus kissed his way down her body, sucking hard on her lower stomach, just under her navel, leaving a dark hickey. Moving on, he latched ono her clit, his tongue flicking back and forth, while his fingers pumped in and out of her wet hole.
Emilia moaned, her grip on his hair tightening, and his hands held her thighs in place as her legs started to close. "Good God, Severus!" She started thrusting against his mouth, grinding her mound against his face. "Don't you dare stop!"
When Severus felt her tighten around his fingers, he started moving them in a come here motion, stroking her front wall. He continued for a few minutes, when his wife let out a wail, and she exploded around his fingers and in his mouth.
"Oh, my goodness," Emilia pulled Severus back to her and kissed him hard. "I love you so much." She loosened her grip on him to allow Severus to position himself above her.
"Ahhh, if only I knew that the way to your heart was to give you a good orgasm, I wouldn't have waited a year before our first time.
*S*S*
Brooke thumbed through her journal. "We need some of the books my dad has in our library." She pointed to her notes about Dragon's Blood. I needed your help with research on its uses, but before I could I was attacked. I'll go grab them, and I can ask if I can sleep over while I'm there."
Hermione nodded, not looking up from her own books.
"I'll be back in a little bit, Mrs. Weasley." Brooke took hold of her crutches and went to the floo, stepping out in her darkened living room. She waved her hand, as wandless magic had been one of her specialties since she learned how to control her magical core, and the books she needed floated behind her as she went up the stairs. She was one of the lucky students who was cleared by the ministry to use magic over the summer with the supervision of her parents. Brooke wasn't sure how many strings Severus had to pull or how many favors he had to use, but she was thankful that he had done that for her. Usually, they spent the summer perfecting her defense reflexes and Potions skills. But with the attack that had happened, it had put a halt to her training.
Brooke quietly opened her bedroom door and hobbled inside. Underneath her bed was her overnight bag which she pulled out and opened on the bed. Waving her hand, her toothbrush and toothpaste danced into the room, landing on her duvet.
Packing her bag, Brooke tossed in her hair and tooth brush, toothpaste and pajamas. The books layered in the bottom of her bag and once she had everything she needed, she shouldered the bag and moved to her parents' door to ask permission to spend the night at Headquarters.
When she lifted her hand to knock on the door, she heard her mother call out, "Severus, don't stop!"
Her eyes were bulging as her father answered, "Good god, you're so tight! I don't think I'm going to last!"
She clamped her hands over her mouth and backed up, shrinking her crutches so she could move quickly and quietly back to the floo. Once she stepped out, Brooke grabbed Hermione and pulled her to the stairs, leaving the basement kitchen with their things.
Mrs. Weasley called after them down the hallway. "Brooke did your parents say you could spend the night?"
"Yes Mrs. Weasley!" Brooke pushed Hermione up the stairs, hitting her ankles with her tiny crutches.
"I thought we needed to work?" Hermione questioned, nearly dropping her books as Brooke forced her into the boys' room where Harry, Ron, Ginny and the twins were. Brooke shut the door with a snap and clutched her hands to her face after she tossed her bag down.
"Oh my god! Oh MY GOD!" Brooke nearly screamed as she pressed the heels of her hands into her eyes.
"What?" Harry pulled his wand and held it before him defensively.
"When I was getting my stuff to sleep over, I went to go ask my parents if it was okay for me to stay and… oh my god!"
"What?" Fred flopped back on Ron's bed and propped himself up on his elbow.
"My parents were fucking!" Brooke pulled at her hair, looking pale and disgusted.
"EW!" All the teenagers cried out.
"I'm never going to be able to look at Snape again," Ron made a face.
"Did you get permission to be here overnight, though?" Ginny asked, trying not to start laughing at the whole ordeal.
"Yeah Ginny, I knocked on the door and said 'excuse me Dad, I know you're balls deep in Mum, but can I sleep over at Headquarters?" Brooke made a face at her friend, then returned to her rubbing her eyes.
"Never say balls deep referring to Snape ever again, Brooke." Harry sheathed his wand and sat back against his headboard. "I'm going to have nightmares now."
"You didn't have to hear him say, 'you're so tight, I don't think I'm going to last.'" Brooke unshrank her crutches and sat next to George.
"Stop talking about it, Brooke or I'm going to hex you." Fred pointed his wand at the girl. Then as an afterthought, he gave her a timid look and asked, "You didn't see anything, did you?"
"If I had to suffer, you all have to suffer. And no, Fred, I didn't see anything. I came back here as fast as I could because I would have turned my wand on myself if I saw my parents naked or having sex." Brooke settled back against the wall, her feet up on George's lap. "As it is I'm never going to look them in the eye again."
"What if your mom gets pregnant?" Hermione flipped through the pages of her books again.
"That would be horrible, so don't even suggest it." Brooke shuddered. "Not only would I have a sibling 15 years younger than me, but my mom would have to hide her pregnancy so Voldemort doesn't find out and use it against her and my dad."
"I can't wrap my head around the idea that your mom knew your dad was a death eater and didn't divorce him." Ginny rolled onto her stomach and looked at Brooke for answers.
"My mom knew, but she also knew that he was vulnerable and Lucius Malfoy preyed upon that. He really didn't have a solid group of friends until University and that was after he joined the Death Eaters. He always tells Alexis and I that joining them was his biggest regret and he wishes he never joined every day." Brooke shrugged. "His being a Death Eater doesn't mean he loves me or my sister any less. He's doing the best he can with the cards he has been dealt. I just hope that if my parents do have another baby, they wait until after Voldemort is defeated."
"Things are changing, aren't they?" Ron stood up and looked out the window to the street below.
"Yeah, they are…" Harry said quietly, looking at his friends around him.
"We're going to be fine, guys. I promise. We're all going to get out of this alive." Brooke looked around at everyone in the room. "We have to. And this year, with all the shit that's going to be happening, we need to protect my sister as much as possible. People are going to be attacking her for her being my dad's kid. Please, you have to promise me that-"
"Brooke, we're not going to throw her to the wolves. We got her back just like we had yours." Fred tossed a pillow at her, laughing when Ron protested at his belongings being hurled around. "Even if she is a Slytherin, we'll protect her."
"She's not going to be a Slytherin." Brooke laughed. "She's a Hufflepuff or a Gryffindor."
"Thank god," George chuckled, pitching the pillow back to his twin. "I wouldn't have been able to be seen with her if she was in Snape's house."
"I still have to live with her." Brooke shrugged. "I'm surprised my parents got her to go to bed by ten. Apparently, she's been driving my parents mad since my mom came home. She wanted me to come home so badly."
"Your parents got her to go to bed so they could have sex." Harry muttered, barely loud enough to be heard.
"Harry James Potter! Enough about my parents having sex, please!"
*S*S*
Severus and Emilia redressed themselves, each with sloppy grins on their face. "Do you think Brooke is home?" Emilia asked her husband.
"Maybe. It is ten thirty after all." Severus fixed his pants and moved to the door. "I'll go check her room." He moved to the room at the end of the hall and opened the door. "Brooke?"
He noted her drawers were open and her overnight bag was gone. Severus returned to his bedroom, where Emilia remained, picking up the pillows they had knocked to the floor.
"She's at Headquarters." Severus sighed. "Should I go yell at her?"
"She knows she needs to ask permission to stay overnight anywhere other than home." Emilia crawled into bed. "Go do what you got to do and then when you come back, we'll have round two."
Severus smiled and kissed her. "Should I let her stay there though after I yell?"
"Yes, she hasn't seen much of her friends since she was in the hospital most of the summer. Just remind her she needs to ask."
Severus nodded then left the room, entering the floo and walking out into the basement kitchen of Grimmauld Place. "Hello Molly."
"Severus, what on Earth are you doing here?" Molly put a stack of plates in the cupboard.
"My child didn't ask permission to stay the night and I have been sent by my wife to reprimand her."
"What do you mean she didn't ask permission? She told me you said it was fine." Molly was confused then her face turned stormy. "Wait here, I'll go get her for you."
The group of teenagers were laughing as Molly opened the door. "Brooke, your father is here and needs to talk to you."
Brooke paled and looked at her friends who were all red faced, trying to hold in their laughter. "I'll be right down, Mrs. Weasley. Is he in the kitchen?"
"Yes, he is." Molly turned and left the room. When she was downstairs, the others burst into loud laughter.
"I hate you all." Brooke stood and hauled herself down the stairs, dreading every moment. "Hi Dad."
"Hello," Severus was seated at the table and gestured to the seat before him. "Molly could you give us a moment alone?"
"Of course, Severus." Molly went down the hall to the laundry room, and once the door snapped shut, Severus looked at his daughter expectantly.
"Care to explain why you didn't ask permission to spend the night?" Severus tapped his fingers on the table expectantly.
"Not really."
"Brooke, either you tell me why you broke one of the only rules we have, or you can get your things and we can go home."
"You're not going to like it." Brooke shook her head. "I don't like it." She made a face and brushed her hair out of her face.
"Start explaining then. There is no reason why you should break the rules." Severus gave her a cool glare, trying to keep himself calm.
"Well, I did come to ask….. but…. Iheardyouandmumhavingsex."
"Excuse me?" Severus had experience with mumbling children but this was not a phrase he was familiar with. Usually children only mumbled 'I'm sorry for being out after curfew Professor Snape."
"I heard you and mum having sex." She whispered.
Severus paled and stood, turning to the fireplace, his back to Brooke. "I see..."
"I figured it would be best if I just left and didn't knock on the door." Brooke muttered, staring at her hands.
"You weren't wrong." Severus chuckled. He wouldn't have been too happy, and he would bet all the money he had saved up in Gringotts Emilia felt the same way. "But you should have sent a note or had Mrs. Weasley send her patronus." Severus wiped a hand over his face. "You had options, Brooke."
"Yes Dad."
"Go back upstairs. What time are you coming home tomorrow?" Severus turned back to her, not making eye contact, his gaze settled on her chin.
"Whenever Mrs. Weasley kicks me out, I guess. If she lets me stay tomorrow night, can I?" Brooke gave his a puppy dog look, and Severus nodded.
"Only if she invites you to."
"Yes, sir." Brooke hugged him and then moved back to the stairs. "Goodnight Dad. I love you, even if hearing that was gross and embarrassing."
"I love you too. Have fun. Don't stay up too late." He paused. "Do you have your potions?"
"Yes Dad." Brooke moved up a few stairs. "I'll see you later."
Brooke moved back up the stairs, and slipped into the bedroom again. "That was the literal worst thing I've ever had to tell my dad ever."
"You told him?" Ginny jumped up and laughed. "Ooooo, I'm so sorry for laughing. But this is actually pretty funny when you think about it. Wouldn't it be worse if he caught you and Gabby?"
"I don't even want to think about that happening!" Brooke shuddered. "He keeps thinking that I need to have the 'talk' like every few months."
"God, Mum just sat all of us down when Ginny was 13 and said 'if I catch you or any of you get a girl pregnant or you do get pregnant before you are married, you best hope you can outrun me.'"
Harry looked up from his broom which he was polishing. "I never got the talk, nor do I want it."
Hermione laughed. "My parents' version was telling me about my birth. It was still pretty bad and they didn't even talk about sex."
"When is Alexis going to get the talk?" Fred chuckled.
"She's not getting the talk. I'm going to inform her cause my parents make it so awkward." Brooke opened her journal.
""You're too nice to her." Harry took a swig from the butterbeers Ron had brought up from the kitchen. "Make her suffer like you did."
"No, that's too mean." Brooke opened a box of Bertie Bott's. "She'll be scarred for life. My dad's version is very heavy into contraceptives." She popped a few beans into her mouth. "It seems like a moot point now that I'm with Gabby, but hey, whatever keeps him happy."
"How is Gabby doing?" Hermione didn't look up from her book, and continued to take notes in her notebook.
"Pretty well. We've been writing every day and she's been visiting as much as she has been able to, but she hasn't been able to see me lately. I'm trying to see her once more before we go to school in a few days but we'll see." She turned to Fred who was still on the bed and looked between him and George who sat next to her. "Are you guys excited to graduate at the end of the year?"
"Most defiantly." They said in unison.
"Once we graduate, we're going to start our joke shop." George snagged a chocolate frog from the pile on the floor and let it get its one good jump out of the way before biting off the head. "We'll start making a ton of money, and then Mum won't be worried about us not being successful in life."
"I'm glad I could have been some help to you two." Harry drained the butterbeer and opened a second one. "It's the least I could have done for you with all you guys have done for me."
"Yeah, without your help, Harry, WWW would never have been able to happen." George tossed him a frog.
"I can't wait to go back to school in all honesty." Ginny wrapped her arms around herself. "Summer has been so boring being shut up in this house."
"Don't tell Sirius that," Ron sat next to Fred on his bed. "He hates it here enough, the last thing we need is to insult his house and make everything worse for him."
"I'm not dumb, Ron. I'd never say that to him." Ginny sighed. "I'm just saying. Soon we'll be able to go outside again without Mum breathing down our necks."
Those who lived in Grimmauld Place all summer nodded in agreement.
Happy Friday all! I have not forgotten about Miles Apart! I have been busy with school and have not had time to write much. Thank you for all who have followed and reviewed! You mean the world to me.
I have been wanting to write a scene where either Brooke gets caught having sex or Severus and Emilia get caught by one of the children. So I finally sat down and wrote the chapter. We also finally have a lead on the rogue Aurors. Let me know what you think!
I hope to have the next chapter up soon, but we'll see how it goes. Finals are next week for me, so I'm not sure how much I will be able to write. Thank you all again, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
Love,
Erectopatronum
