Author's Note: I have absolutely no ownership whatsoever on the Harry Potter characters! Never have, never will. I just like to play with them. Okay, that sounded so, so wrong... However, I do lay claim over original characters that are from my own imagination.
Apologies for taking a good while to get this written and placed on up. Thank you for your patience. Been going back and forth between this story and another two I am trying to figure out on in the idea of posting it up, but not sure how to best write them at this point.
I am also going over my head on how to best close this story when it happens, as anyone who knows the Harry Potter books... well duh Calypphire! We're on a fan fiction site where a section is virtually dedicated to the series! Sheesh! That would mean you would know what happens near the end of book three. Oh... gee... let's think... hmm... I will be writing it in a way that, I hope, will work out to something enjoyable to read.
Chapter Ten
Decisions and Choices
"Are you certain that you still wish to go through with your plans, Severus?"
It was the first of November, the night after the scare of having Sirius Black enter the castle and causing the Fat Lady to go into hiding, as well as the students of the school to spend the night in the Great Hall, while the staff and Head Boy and Girl searched the castle and grounds, only to turn up with nothing.
Snape looks at Dumbledore with firmness; "Are you seriously going to hold the actions of a criminal over my choice to do what is needed for my family?"
"You're needed to help with keeping Harry Potter safe!"
"And neglect the needs of my nieces and nephews in the meantime?"
"That is not what I am saying, Severus. I am saying that you need to really consider what is important as a whole, here," the older wizard was very earnest in his words.
Frowning deeply, Snape shakes his head in almost disbelief. "My plans have not changed, and they are not going to."
Disappointment was just on the surface of Dumbledore's face. Snape wasn't going to be made to feel guilty, and so he wasn't going to give him the satisfaction. He went to turn and walk away from the older wizard.
"Your nieces and nephews need to stay here in the United Kingdom, Severus. They need to grow more resilient and you saw how they're accepted more than you think."
Snape whirled on Dumbledore, dark eyes full of glare; "What my kids need and don't need is not up to you!"
"Your kids?" Dumbledore raises his eyebrows.
"I am their guardian, Albus, so essentially that makes them my kids!"
"Never thought I'd hear the day you'd ever declare any child as your own. But that doesn't change my view on this. Those children need to stay here."
"Why? They are not your charges to look after. Not fully."
"Because you are needed here and those children should not be clouding your judgment on what is right!"
The words felt like a punch in the guts to Snape.
"Clouding my..." he couldn't even bring himself to finish what Dumbledore had just said.
Fuming, Snape turned and marched off before he would say something he would really regret.
He reached the apartment to find his four nieces and nephews and Elijah's friends. They were helping Damian, Michael and Isobel to pack, for they are to be leaving the day after the following one.
"Are you okay, Uncle?" Victoria asks seeing the displeasure marking Snape's face.
Snape shakes his head. "What I am about to tell you needs to stay between us for the moment."
"What is it?"
"You are aware of how I was taking you to Australia for the Christmas period?" Snape starts.
The Snape children nodded.
"The true reason was to set things up in order to move there permanently. I had it set so I will resign my post as Potions Master here, at Hogwarts, in June next year. Dumbledore is very aware of this, but is trying to persuade me into staying, believing that what is best for you, from my perspective isn't worth anything and you ought to stay and accept that this is now home."
Snape continued to explain in a way the children would understand until he was done.
Elijah was the first to speak for him and his siblings. "Do you want to stay here, Uncle?"
Snape shakes his head; "In truth? No. I stayed here because I had obligations I thought I couldn't let go of. Now that I have you four to consider, I thought by putting this move in place it would be for a better choice, especially after what has happened to you Elijah. The question I will give is this, are you going to be comfortable staying here, in the UK, at Hogwarts?"
This gave the children a quiet moment to think.
"Even though the past couple of days since I've woken up have been great. I still don't feel overly secure being here, Uncle Severus. That's the truth," says Elijah.
"I don't want to attend here when I turn eleven," Victoria had a mix of guilt in her voice. "I am sorry."
Snape shakes his head. "You have nothing to be sorry for. You are being honest, and you know how much I value such quality."
"I would like to go back to Australia, too," says Gabriel.
"Then that settles it," Snape says firmly. He turns to Elijah's friends. "Would it burden your families if I messaged them to help in varying areas to help make this move happen, in full, by Friday, the third of December? As in, sending items over and storing them and be on the lookout for houses that are on for sale in, I have no idea where right now."
"You can go as far as giving us some stuff to put in our suitcases and bags to take with us," said Michael with confidence in his words.
"Thank you," said Snape with appreciation.
"What about your job here?" Victoria asks a little concerned.
"I will find something," Snape tells her. "Right now, you say a word about this to anyone outside of this room. Do you understand?"
Everyone agreed.
###
Sending and receiving messages under Dumbledore's nose was between difficult and easy. Anything that was sent to Snape, Dumbledore was far too interested that it was almost intrusive, so this resulted in any messages from Australia coming in via owl is addressed to the children, under the guise that it's just friends keeping touch. Well, they are, but there is more going on than the Headmaster is aware off.
Lupin did discover what was going on by accident, and promptly started helping the Snapes with their plans. Even asking questions on whether it was possible to find employment for someone like him, after remembering the many stories from Elijah, Victoria and Gabriel speak of the werewolves they know, including Damian.
"If you like, I could always find out more when I get there?" Snape suggested to Lupin. "If what we are being told is true, you might have something if it doesn't work out here."
"I will definitely consider it, Severus, thank you," Lupin replies.
Quidditch season was underway for the school and it was Gryffindor verses Hufflepuff first up, because of a couple of the Slytherin players catching the flu just a few days out and there wasn't much time to find replacements.
It gave some excitement to the Snape children, despite the unpleasant weather. Ainsley wasn't too pleased, however, given that it was thunderstorms and rain, which she still hated very much, so instead of making her endure the torture, Snape managed to acquire the help from Madam Pomfrey.
"I'll make sure she's occupied, don't you worry, Severus," the nurse assured.
The game was in full swing and the Snape children were cheering for the Gryffindors, being that it was Elijah's house. Though Victoria did admit that if Slytherin had of been playing she would be rooting for them instead.
"I may not want to go to this school, but if I had to pick a house to be sorted into, it would be either Slytherin or Hufflepuff," she told her Uncle Severus.
"Why do you believe you're suited for those two houses and not the other two?" he asks, with a small smile of pride that he had a niece who considered Slytherin as her choice of House.
"I like to think that I value fair play and hard work, but I also think I have an ambitious side, too. I don't think I have the suitability for Gryffindor, like Elijah does and I am not that smart, so I don't think Ravenclaw would want someone who isn't intelligent in their house," Victoria honestly tells him.
Snape shakes his head with disagreement; "Do not devalue your worth, Victoria. You are far more intelligent that you are giving yourself credit for. Plus I have seen how witty you can be, and the Ravenclaws really wanted you to join their house, if you don't get into Slytherin, I remember a few of them telling me as much, after they learned of your choices."
"Really?"
"Really," said Snape with a smile and a nod.
Unfortunately, whilst the game was happening, the Dementors, who were meant to be stationed at the entrances and exits of the school only, came in and caused much distress, including Harry Potter falling unconscious from his Nimbus 2000, and a fair number of people just feeling all of a sudden glum or worse, depending on the degree.
Dumbledore, with the help of the staff, was able to rid the Dementors off the grounds and hurry the children back to the castle to where they needed to go.
"Horrible things!" Victoria grumbles, unhappily, entering the apartment first.
"Ministry's insistence, I am afraid," says Snape, going over the kitchenette and pulling out chocolate bars from cupboard and giving some to each of the children and helping himself as well. He then tells them; "Once you've eaten them, have warm showers and put on some comfortable clothes. We're going to have a movie marathon with comfort food between now and until you are to go to bed."
"What movies can we watch?" Gabriel asks with excitement.
"You may pick two movies each, but it must be something that is suitable for all four of you, as I will be getting Ainsley once I've showered and dressed. We may not get through all six movies, seven if you pick one for Ainsley as well, but at least it will help get your minds off the Dementors and the grim thoughts you've probably conjured. I would suggest you choose stuff that would help you laugh, too."
"Okay," the children agreed.
"We can pick after our showers," Elijah tells his brother and sister.
Snape watched the three go up to their rooms; he then quickly whipped his wand to make the couch a little larger than it was, as well as adding a mattress in front of it. All five ought to fit, with room to spare and full ability to watch the screen. Unbeknown to Dumbledore, Snape had found out how to allow certain electronics work, not all of them, but when he was able to convert one television and two CD players to being able to work. The Headmaster only believed that the projector for the double feature only the last weekend was enough to treat the school, and didn't wish to consider the possibilities after that.
Once satisfied, he quickly went to his room, where he had his own bathroom, showered and dressed within minutes, coming back out to the living area to find that Victoria was sitting at the dining table, she was still damp.
"Victoria?"
"I'm just waiting for Gabriel and Elijah, we did a quick roll of the dice to see who went first, second and third for the shower," Victoria explains.
Snape could see that there was something on his young niece's mind. "Would you like to talk about it?"
Victoria studies her Uncle for a moment.
"I've never been around those things before, Uncle. I didn't know how bad they really were. I didn't know they had come to the Quidditch pitch, but I did start thinking about the day we lost Mum and Dad. I hadn't thought about it until then, and then when I did..." tears started pooling into her eyes. "I miss them so much!"
Snape was quick to go over and wrap his arms around Victoria to comfort her.
"I know you do, Victoria. I believe, in many ways, you always will," he got her to look at him. "If you ever want to talk about what is on your mind and feeling, especially when it comes to your parents, you can come to me. I am here for you four children."
Victoria nods a little. "Thank you, Uncle Severus."
"You are most welcome."
After a quick hug, Severus tells Victoria that since she's still waiting, she can pick her two choice movies, and to let the boys know they can have their picks when they come out.
"I need to go and get Ainsley," he says.
"Okay," said Victoria. "May I start making the nachos?"
"No, wait until I get back, but you can get the stuff ready to make the nachos."
Victoria was okay with the compromise from Snape. Snape wasn't comfortable with Victoria and Gabriel cooking unsupervised, he wasn't as worried when it came to Elijah, though.
She watches Snape leave the apartment, before going over to the selection of movies. After really looking at the choices, she chose Lilo & Stitch and Finding Nemo.
Elijah comes out wearing long pyjama pants and simple t-shirt with a tiger on it, feeling refreshed.
"Hey, Vicky, I thought Uncle Severus said to wait until after our showers before choosing."
"He did, but after I told him of when my brain couldn't stop thinking Mum and Dad and how they died and us finding out..."
Her big brother understood straight off. "I had the same thoughts, too, Vicky."
"He also said that you can pick your choices, before he went to get Ainsley."
It didn't take Elijah as long to choose Shrek and The Princess Diaries. Not long after Gabriel picked Home Alone and Matilda. By then Snape had returned with Ainsley, (who was all smiles to see her big brothers and sister), to see them all ready to get on with the marathon; Victoria also got the stuff out and ready so is to get the nachos sorted.
"Which movie will be going on first?" he asks them.
"We're not sure; we thought that because you suggested the marathon, then maybe you can pick the order of which the movies can go in?" Elijah tells him.
"Yeah, we didn't want you excluded from choosing, even if it's from our picks," said Victoria.
Thinking how generous, Snape looks at the six movies they chose and put them in order of which would be nice to see them in. He had never seen any of these movies, he chose Matilda first.
"Elijah, you can set it up, while Victoria can help me put the nachos together. Gabriel, can you keep Ainsley occupied until then?"
"Sure!"
Within minutes they were all sitting down with beautifully cooked nachos and watching the opening scenes to Matilda.
Snape's jaw drops when he sees Mr Wormwood just tossing the baby-seat with the baby Matilda into the car, even more horrified when the same seat was moving and swirling around.
"How does this kid not die?" he couldn't help asking.
"Because we like to think she's a witch," Victoria replies casually. "The book is just as awesome."
As the movie went further, Snape found he was laughing with the kids at some of the scenes, practically losing it when the television blows up and later when Trunchbull freaks out over a newt.
"You said there was a book of this?" he asks Victoria when the credits rolled.
Victoria nods; "Yep. It's called Matilda and it was written by Roald Dahl."
"Brilliant author he is!" Elijah shoots in. "Well, was, as he's kinda dead."
"I want to be able to read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," Gabriel declares.
Ainsley makes some sort of garble followed by; "Unky!" Taking a hold of Snape's leg and squeezing in a sort of hug, before trying to scramble on to his lap.
With a smile, Snape helped his youngest niece up. "Never thought I'd hear you say Uncle, Miss AJ."
AJ was a nickname Snape thought of almost by accident after learning Ainsley middle name was Josephine, and since it was apparently she didn't have her own nickname, like her three siblings, yet, it simply stuck. However, the 'Miss' was solely Snape's preferred add on, to give it a tad more personal touch.
The following movie that was put on was Lilo & Stitch.
"I would love to go to Hawai'i," Elijah comments when they get to the scene where Lilo is running to get to dance class. "The surfing would be awesome."
"I didn't know you could surf," says Snape with curiosity.
"I'm not too bad, I seem to have the better ability with body surfing, but still was good enough to be part of the Little Nippers back home. I thought you knew."
Snape shakes his head. "Must have not paid attention if you had; but if you would like to try and take it back up again when we settle in, you have my support."
Elijah grins. "Thanks, Uncle Sev."
After Lilo & Stitch, Snape suggested a short break. This allowed him to give Ainsley a warm bath and fresh clothes, and for the other kids to retrieve their pillows so they could veg out in extra comfort. They loved the enlarged couch and mattress, it was proving to be an added bonus and a genius think up from Snape. Plus it was a good excuse to make some mini pizzas.
Finding Nemo was next and the feeling of homesick touched the kids a little watching the images of the Great Barrier Reef. But they were soon giggling away.
"Since when do sharks decide to become vegetarian?" Snape dared to try and question the illogic of Bruce and his shark mates.
Gabriel near choked on his drink when the sharks congratulated and cheered on Dory for 'never eating a fish'.
"That's because you are a fish, Dory!" he says.
"Well, technically, so are sharks," Victoria points out.
"Not according to those three confused supposed predators..." Snape mutters to himself.
"I am curious about one thing though?" Gabriel then says.
"What's that?"
"I'd like to know how good Bruce would taste like if he were to be turned into a piece of flake!"
"Bruce is a great white shark, Gabbo!" Elijah snorts. "I don't know if they're good for human consumption. But you know full well that the best flake is from the Gummy Shark!"
"I'd like to know what Hammerhead takes like," Victoria grins, playing along.
Snape decides to put his opinion in for fun; "If you are going to be play the 'I'm curious on what sort of shark must taste like', then I'd be curious on what a whale shark would be like."
"Be interesting to even try and catch it to fry it up," said Elijah, thinking about it.
"However, in truth, I'd rather stick with the familiar foods," their Uncle says.
"So do us," said Gabriel. "But it's kind of cool to think of what might be."
When that movie was finished, Snape saw the time.
"We have time for one more movie," he tells the older three; Ainsley had fallen asleep against his chest. "If we have time tomorrow, we might watch the remaining two. Does that sound fair?"
The Snape kids always knew their Uncle to be fair, even if he might be a bit stricter than their parents were.
"Which one would we finish with?" one of them asks.
Snape thinks it over, he did have the movies arranged in the order he wouldn't mind seeing them in. But now that there was this small dilemma and his peaking curiosity on what each movie had in store.
"Tell you what. I will put Ainsley down in her cot, you three fix final snacks? One small bowl of whatever mix of lollies, chocolates or crisps each and if you like a drink. When I get back, I will have the names of the movies on folded paper and placed in a hat. The one drawn out will be the one we finish off with for tonight."
This was agreed with.
It didn't take Snape long to resettle Ainsley, making sure she had her Dorothy toy, before returning to the children.
In the end, Princess Dairies was the final movie of the night.
To Snape's own surprise, he actually truly enjoyed it. He never knew he would be in favour of such a light hearted humoured film. He'd heard of Julie Andrews, but never knew her brilliance until now.
"What other movies does she feature in?" he found himself asking when the movie was done.
"Who?" Elijah asked to clarify.
"I think she goes by the name Julie Andrews," said Snape.
"A good few. We can list them if you like?"
Snape nods. "If you don't mind."
All in all, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I hope to get the next one up quicker.