Snape entered his home through the front door, having decided that using the Floo Network or apparating home would've been disastrous, seeing as how Sirius had practically shoved bottles of muggle wine down his throat. The poor man ws so tipsy, he was surprised that he managed to get in the first place.
However as he entered his living room, he managed to sober right up the moment his eyes landed on Lucius Malfoy, his wife, Narcissa, and their son, Draco. turning to his right, he saw Bellatrix Lestrange, her husband, Rudolfus, and his brother, Rabastan. Feeling incredibly nervous, he looked to his left and spotted Fenrir Greyback standing next to Wormtail. A swish of robes behind him made him gulp loudly before turning around to face Lord Voldemort.
"Severus, I noticed that you weren't at the meeting tonight. Would you like to give me a reason not to use the Cruciatus on you right now?"
Nervously laughing, Snape motioned for Voldemort to enter the living room and have a seat.
"This may come as a surprise, but the Potter's had twins."
Silence met his ears, which encouraged him to continue.
"Harry Potter has a twin sister named Cassidy. She was sent to live with her father's older brother over in America. Until recently, that is. She was bitten by a werewolf back at Christmas, and since it is now the summer holidays, her uncle decided to give her Godfather, Remus Lupin, legal custody of her. According to the laws regarding werewolves, a werewolf can't have a child under their care, unless said child is also a werewolf."
Lucius appeared to be fuming silently, while Greyback looked murderous. Voldemort, on the other hand, looked quite intrigued.
"Cassidy became very attached to me, and practically demanded that I allow her to stay here with me. She came to my room during the storm last night, because the thunder overpowered her sensitive hearing, and gave her a headache that was so painful, she actually started crying. I gave her a headache relief potion and put up a silencing charm in my room. I was allowing her to sleep in my room with me, which was apparently a very bad idea. I'm her mate, and she knew it."
Draco was starting to get frustrated.
"Would you hurry up? We don't need the details. Just the essentials."
"Right. Sorry. This morning, Cassidy read her tea leaves, and just minutes later, she fainted while walking across the room. Harry Potter and I got her to St. Mungo's, where we had to wait about three and a half hours to find out what was wrong with the girl."
"And what's wrong with the child?"
"You know, out of all the books I've read about werewolves, why did none of them mention that when a werewolf conceives, it can be detected and the signs and symptoms show up in less than twelve hours?"
No one said anything for several minutes. Then Voldemort began to speak in a soft voice that sent chills up everyone's back.
"So, you're going to be the father of a child whose mother is a Potter."
Snape nodded. He was so nervous, his palms were sweating like crazy.
Lucius was sitting on the couch, thinking about how this changed the prophecy.
"I've got a question, my Lord. (Voldemort nodded.) if the potter's had twins, which one was born first? The prophecy said 'The first as the seventh month dies.' Which one did the prophecy mean?"
At that, everyone turned to look at Snape, who ha been edging his way towards the living room door.
"Cassidy was born first, but she doesn't know about the prophecy. Please, my Lord, don't hurt her. I beg of you. Just leave her alone."
Snape knew that he was just embarrassing himself, and that if Sirius had been there, he would be laughing. Currently, Voldemort was chuckling under his breath at Snape's protectiveness of Cassidy Potter.
"I'll leave her alone, for now, at least."
"Thank you, my Lord."
"But you still haven't told us why you weren't at the meeting tonight."
"Sirius Black dragged Remus Lupin, Harry Potter, and myself out to a muggle restaurant to celebrate. I wanted to return home to get ready for the meeting but Black dragged me out with them."
"I see. Well, Lucius will stop by sometime tomorrow to fill you in on what you missed. Just be sure you don't miss the next meeting, or else."
Snape nodded as he watch the nine unexpected visitors head out through the fire place. After they were gone, he sighed and headed up to his bedroom. As he passed the room he had set up for Cassidy the night before, he stood in the doorway and thought about how much would change around the house, now that a baby was on the way. As he turned to continue towards his room, he decided that Cassidy's room would be turned into the nursery, since she'd be staying in his room from now on.
Changing into his pajamas, Snape kept thinking about how much his life had changed in only twenty-four hours. Extinguishing the lights, he got into bed and drifted off into a dreamless sleep for the first time in nearly five years.
