CHAPTER 14 –Severus And The Girls Day Out

When Harry returned to the Dorm after eavesdropping on the Order, he was very quiet.

He didn't really have what you would call a headache it was just a constant tickle that was starting to really bug him, it was irritating! He had already told Madam Pomfrey about it and she gave him something for a headache but it had not helped. Since it wasn't really painful he just tried to ignore it but one of the side effects was that everything irritated him even someone drumming their fingers on a table.

He was also upset about being left out of things by the adults when he might be able to help them. Now another student was petrified and something had to be done to bring it to a halt.

Then to top it off, he hears about a prophesy. A prophesy that says he will meet Voldemort and one of them is going to die. He really resented the fact that this information was being kept from him. He had a lot of questions but couldn't ask them because he wasn't supposed to know about this prophesy and if he said anything about it then he and his friends would find themselves in a lot of trouble.

The rest of the kids just thought he was tired but Hermione knew there was more going on than being upset about the Order.

"Get some sleep and maybe you'll feel better about it all in the morning" she told him.

"I doubt it" replied Harry.

"Why don't you just sit down and have a talk with Dad?" asked Hermione. "I will be with you if you want company."

"You know he won't give me any answers and if I even hint at what I already know, he will probably blow his cork. I love him, I really do, but sometimes I think he takes this Father thing a bit far. I mean I have to have some kind of picture of what I am walking into when I get older, what is the use of being a kid if you can never make it into adulthood?" asked Harry.

"You're going to eventually go to the ministry and get that prophesy aren't you?" asked Hermione.

"Not right now but as soon as I can figure out a way that might work, then yes, I will go and retrieve it. I am still not sure that Professor Dumbledore is sharing ALL the truth. You know how he is about secrets, what isn't he telling us? I love him as a Grandfather, but I don't trust him to be doing all this in my best interest, do you know what I mean?" asked Harry.

"Yes, after the Dursley incident, and all the other control issues, I can understand your lack of trust" said Hermione. "Sometimes he has a funny take on what is good for a person and what is not. I guess we will just have to find out for ourselves. I have an idea forming in my head on how we might pull it off, but let me work on loose ends before I share it Ok?"

"Listen Hermione, this will probably get me into a bundle of trouble and I don't want to be the cause of Dad coming down on your case" said Harry.

"Well, we will just have to work it out so he won't come down on either of us, won't we" she said with a smirk. "You are not alone in this you know! Don't forget that my parents lost their lives because of all this madness also so I have a big stake in finding out what is really going on."

Harry blushed and said, "I'm sorry I didn't mean to diminish your loss, I just know reckoning with Dad can be a painful experience."

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Severus took Cassy to Mrs. Weasley's classroom. When they walked in they found the kids hard at work drawing and Molly crawling into one of the big closets that was in the room, like she was looking for something or someone and very worried she couldn't find either.

"Molly, could this be what you are looking for" asked Severus as he pushed Cassy forward and held up Molly's wand.

Molly stood up with a great sigh of relief on her face. The look of relief quickly changed when she connected the dots and figured out who had taken her wand. Severus pushed Cassy toward a wall and said firmly, "Cassy you go stand in that corner until I call you, do you understand?"

"Yes, Daddy" answered Cassy as she walked over to the corner. Cassy didn't like corners but she figured it was better than facing Mrs. Weasley right now, because she didn't look like she was very happy.

Severus walked up and sat next to the desk while Molly sat in the teacher's chair. He used his wand to raise a silencing spell then explained what happened and what was going to happen. Molly was flabbergasted "You mean to tell me she transfigured not just one but a number of porcupines with a wand that was not even her own?"

"Yes! Mom is going to work with her during her 'detentions'". He then shared with her about Cassy's reaction to having detention and Molly started laughing.

"I am sorry Severus, I guess my compliment started this whole mess but she did so well with her task I felt it was appropriate."

"Don't worry about it Molly, she deserved the compliment and she will deserve her punishment for reacting in an inappropriate manner. I have a hunch that with this child we are going to have our hands full. I am so glad that we have a number of strong Wizards and Witches around because it may take a quite a few to take care of some of the problems she will create."

"Anyway, I am going to take her home now, Alice should be there shortly, and we will have a family meeting" he said with a smile.

Severus lowered the silencing charm and said, "Cassy, you may come over here now as I think you have something you want to say to your teacher."

Cassy walked over to them slowly, with her eyes looking at the ground. When she reached where they were standing she took a deep breath, looked up at Molly and said, "I am bery, bery sorry for taking your wand Mrs. Weasley. Here is my letter of apoge to you. I got detention too, just like the big kids," she said smiling. Then when she saw that her Father was not smiling she changed her expression and said, "I won't ever do it again I pomise!"

Molly took the letter and replied, "Thank you Cassy for your letter of apology and I accept it. We will see you tomorrow."

When they arrived back in the residence Severus ran her bath for her and watched while she played in the tub. Drying her off he asked her which pajamas she wanted since she would be staying in her room the rest of the day. "Oh pease don't ground me, peaseeee Daddy" said Cassy.

"You will be grounded for a week, except for school, and meals so don't bother begging or arguing! Now put on your PJ's. For the rest of the afternoon you will go to your desk and begin writing your letters to the students, you have to write ten of them and I will help you with the names when you finish."

After she put on her PJ's Severus picked her up and carried her to the bed where he sat down and stood her to his right side. "Now young lady tell me what happens with any of you kids if I catch you stealing" asked Severus.

"You spank us Daddy, peassseee don't spank me" said Cassy.

"I'm sorry little one, you broke the rules and you have to pay the price. Now since you think you are a big kid now I am going to punish you like a big kid and I will be using a slipper."

"Oh no Daddy, Harry says the slipper hurts, peasse don't use the slipper" begged Cassy.

With that Severus pulled her over his lap and bared her little bottom. He pulled the slipper out of his pocket and gave her a light, but noisy, spank which stung a bit and caught her by surprise. Then asked her, "Cassy, why am I spanking you?"

"Because I stole Mrs. Weasley's wand, Daddy" she said, already crying.

Severus spanked each cheek three times with the slipper. Not enough to sting badly but enough to let her know she had moved up from her regular spanking, enough to know that stealing a wand was serious business. Her bottom was a bit pink but that would probably be gone within the hour. It stung a bit and that was new for her and her crying was a bit more real with this spanking. He stopped at six because it wasn't the spanking that was important but the idea that this was a bad naughty and she needed to know that the price was higher."

She cried for a bit as he pulled up her pants and sat her in his lap, rubbing her back and sharing comforting words. Then he told her to go to her desk and start working on her apology cards because tomorrow he would take her to deliver them to the students.

When Alice came in he shared his day and she was in shock. "We really have to get a handle on this Severus, she could really hurt someone and not even know she was doing it".

"I know, but don't overly worry. She knows now there is a high price for taking someone's wand and if she does it again I will just increase the punishment. But I really don't think she will since I will be having Mom work with her and I know Mom will be telling her every other sentence to never do anything unless we are with her and give permission. You have to remember that Harry did some really heavy magic when he was younger and is a very strong Wizard as are a few of the Companions such as Draco and Hermione. She will adapt."

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The rays of dawn were just starting to come through the window when Harry was woken by a gagging noise. He grabbed his wand and jumped out of bed looking around to see who was strangling who. When he jumped up then Ron came flying out of bed with his wand.

They looked around and what they found shocked them. Seamus had a plant around his throat and it was choking him to death. Both boys ran over to Seamus and started pulling the plant off of him.

About that time Neville woke up and when he saw what was happening he pulled the plant clippers out of his bag and cut the plant. It immediately lost its strength and the boys were able to get it away from Seamus.

"What in the world is that Neville?" asked Ron.

Once Dean realized that Seamus got his breath back he jumped off his bed and ran to get Professor McGonagall. She came back with him to see what exactly he was talking about when he told her that his roommates were trying to kill Seamus.

She looked at the plant then looked at Neville and asked him to explain. Neville, turning very red told her he got the plant from a Slytherin first year and was trying to raise it so he could give it to Professor Sprout. Minerva sent Dean to the Great Hall, knowing that Professor Sprout always like to eat breakfast very early and would probably already be there.

Sure enough not ten minutes later she walked into the dorm, looked at Minerva and asked, "How can I help Minerva?"

It would appear Pomona that Mr. Longbottom Snape was attempting to bring this plant back to a healthy status so that he could present it to you. But last night it wrapped itself around Mr. Finnigan's neck and tried to choke him. Can you share with us what it might be?"

Pomona looked at the plant then looked at Neville and asked, "Neville, what kind of plant did you think this was?"

Neville looked at her and said, "I thought it was a Flitterbloom".

Pomona looked at him and shook her head, "Well Neville you were close, they do look alike in a lot of ways but the Flitterbloom is non violent, where as this plant is called Devil's Snare, and it is definitely lethal."

"Oh No" whimpered Neville as he laid his head into his hands, "I should have known, oh, I should have known, it could have killed him. Are you going to expel me now?"

"You all get dressed then I want Neville and Seamus to come with me to the Head Masters office, he will have to deal with this" said Minerva shaking her head. As she was walking out of the dorm with Pomona she asked, "How hard is it to tell the difference?"

"Very difficult Minerva unless you know what to look for, even some seventh years might not be able to tell when the plant is that young" said Pomona.

"Ok, I will share that with Albus and perhaps it will help Neville's case. From what they say if Harry had not heard the gasping then Seamus might very well be dead right now. Tell me, are you going to need any student labor through detentions in the near future?"

"Yes, very much so, but not for another four weeks. Perhaps you can assign him to Severus, then I will be glad to take him for the rest of the year, that ought to carry some punishment weight don't you think Minerva?"

"I'll ask and see if Albus will accept it" said Minerva.

Severus, Alice and Neville along with Minerva, Seamus and his parents were all seated in the Head Masters office. Neville looked like he wanted to die but Seamus had recovered from his panic of a near death experience and was adjusting to being the center of attention with the students, especially the girls, so he just kept telling Neville not to worry, it could have happened to anyone.

Albus explained what happened and asked Seamus' parents if they wanted to file charges against Neville.

Surprisingly they answered "Absolutly not! We have raised a bunch of boys and there isn't anything that we have not experienced. This is actually mild compared to our youngest riding on the back of the next youngest, both thinking they could fly off the roof. Thank God for snow. No professor Dumbledore, we just wanted to make sure Seamus was Ok and to see what kind of adjustments you would make to see it didn't happen to anyone else."

With those words, the tension seemed to go out of the room and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Everyone except Neville, who just knew that he was not going to be able to sit for a month, when his Dad finished with him.

Albus said, "Well, we will put into place a new rule that prohibits any plants in the dorms unless Professor Sprout has signed off on it. And I planned on assigning Neville twenty hours detention with Professor Severus Snape then after that he will serve detention with Professor Sprout until the end of the year. A life was in danger but it was a mistake and there was no maliciousness involved. Professor Snape can help him with a couple classes that Neville seems to be having trouble with and Professor Sprout desires to teach him more about plants since he seems to love them so much. I really feel this can be turned into a positive situation. If it meets with your approval of course."

"It all sounds good to us, now if you will allow us we would like to spend a couple hours with our son as we don't get up this way much" said the Finnigans.

Severus walked Neville out because he saw that Neville was a nervous wreck. "Lets go sit on the steps," said Severus. "Listen Neville I think the detentions are sufficient and could be very productive. You are having problems with a couple classes and I can help you out. Professor Sprout really thinks you have an aptitude for plants so that should work out for your future. I don't see any other punishment being necessary, you didn't do it purposely. It was a mistake and your detentions will be the price."

"You mean you're not going to spank me, I mean he could have died" said Neville.

"Yes and people can die every time a caldron blows up but sometimes it happens because kids are fooling around and I punish them, sometimes it is just an accident. I don't even think you would have had the detentions if you had been up to snuff on your studies and didn't need a bit of a boost with your plants. You're fine Neville, just breathe, and please ask professor Sprout first if you plan on bringing any plants home, OK?"

Neville laughed and assured his Dad that he would. With that Severus gave him the dates of his detentions which would be the same as Erica, Draco and Ginny. Severus felt that they could help Neville catch up with his studies in a less threatening way and that some healthy bonding could take place.

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Severus had been thinking about his need to have some alone time with his daughters. He had taken his boys out a short time back and he needed to do the same with the girls. So to make it special he arranged to take them out of their classes to accompany him to Hogsmeade.

There would be no other kids so they wouldn't be distracted and perhaps they could have some meaningful dialogue or as meaningful as Severus thought he might be able to have with two female teenagers.

The girls thought it was great, although Severus was as nervous as a cat on a hot tin roof. Alice was no help what-so-ever and just laughed at his discomfort. "They love you Severus, while your discomfort might be humerous to them you can really do no wrong in their eyes and by wanting to spend some quality time with them you make them feel they are special to you" said Alice.

Severus was sooooo worried that he was going to end up in Madam Puddifoot's little tea shop. The first stop was The Three broomsticks where he bought them lunch, and they talked about everything from dueling to boys. They seemed to get a kick out of their Dad's expressions when they mentioned certain boys and their teenage attitudes. They also were very forward in asking their Dad about how boy's thought. "Does it really mean a boy likes you if he always wants to be around you but never really says anything nice?" asked Luna.

"I would assume Luna that it would depend on the boy and his motivations. Alice has talked to you about that hasn't she?" asked a blushing Severus.

"Oh yeh, we have had all that 'birds and bees' stuff" said Hermione, "But it doesn't explain some of their weird behavior."

"Boys mature slower than girls Hermione, you know that" said Severus. "Sometimes we want to express ourselves one way and we don't know how so it tends to come out sounding foreign to the situation. Just be patient and allow them to find their way through the struggling emotions that are growing inside them."

Then wanting to change the topic of conversation Severus asked them what they would like to do for the rest of the afternoon and then held his breath. After a short discussion he resumed his calm when they told him that Madam Puddifoot's was not a place that girls went with their Dad. They decided that they wanted to visits Honeydukes Sweetshop and Scrivenshaft's Quill shop for starters then if he was willing they wanted to know if he would take them up to the Haunted Mansion. While Severus was surprised, he found these were things he could do and not feel too uncomfortable.

If he had heard the talk going around town about how cute everyone thought it was that Severus had his daughters out for an afternoon trip with their Dad, he probably would have felt a lot more uncomfortable. Thankfully, those conversations were taking place behind his back and he didn't hear a word.

The girls were a bit uncomfortable at first, thinking he was going to spend the time alone asking them about the rest of the kids. Soon they realized that he legitimately just wanted to get to know them better. He asked them about hobbies and foods. He wanted to know how they were really dealing with the loss of their real parents and if they had major concerns about the Death Eaters. There were no major revelations but they all ended the afternoon knowing each other a bit better and trust levels grew to new heights.

Severus never really realized how much these girls depended on him. He knew that he provided a home for them, security and direction. He was just becoming aware of how much he loved them and how each was so different and unique.

He had no idea that they were leaning on him in such an emotional way. Subconsciously, he figured that Alice probably held that spot in their lives since she was their Mom now and better understood that aspect of their lives. To realize that they trusted and loved him no matter if he was laughing with them or disciplining them was an eye opener. It scared him a bit but it also warmed his heart, a heart that he thought might never come alive again.

As they returned to the castle the girls were laughing and joking as Severus watched them and realized that this trip had benefited him more than them.