Hey all!

OMG I am sooooooooo sorry I've been gone for so long. I just had no motivation to write and I didn't know where to go with this section of the story. In addition to that, I've been ridiculously busy. I'm in my 4th year of university now, so it's insanely busy *sigh*. Anyways, you will be happy to hear that I have actually taken the time to write out a plan/timeline so the next couple chapters are planned out. This should make writing them much easier since I have a general idea of what I want to do.

HUGE thanks to all my incredible and awesome reviewers and to all you faithful readers out there. I know it's frustrating when I have so few updates, but thank you for your patience and understanding. I promise the next chapter will not take so long, in fact I'm going to make it my goal to have the next chapter up by the end of August at latest (Final Exams come in the beginning of August so that makes life stressful and such...)

Thanks again, hope you guys like this chapter! (I know not much happens, again it's more of a filler chappie, but next one will be better... I hope, lol!)

DeceptiveFates

ps. once again, remember *indicates telepathic speech*

Chapter 20 – A Plan In Action

My nails were all painted, and I even got Malik to give me a massage, when finally, a very dusty, annoyed Blaise Zabini stalked out onto the patio.

"Here's your blasted bloody book! I think I looked through every book in the whole library trying to find that damn thing. It just had to be in the farthest and dustiest corner, didn't it!" He exclaimed angrily, slamming the book down onto the table, sending bits of dust flying everywhere.

"Well, think of it this way Blaise, next time I need a book, you'll probably already know where it is!" I said happily.

"Yeah, great," came his sarcastic reply.

"Alrighty then," I said clapping my hands, "Blaise, since you spent the last two hours looking for my book I think you deserve a small break, meaning you can go grab a snack, but be back here in an hour tops got it?"

"Yeah, yeah, thanks I guess," he grumbled, slumping away to the kitchen.

"Well then, that leaves you two. Now, if you two will each grab a chair and one of those tables…" I said, waiting for them to get their seats ready, "excellent. Now I want you, Aleks, to take down notes of what I tell you. Malik, I want to you to read to me. Part way through I will allow you two to switch. I expect everything I tell you to be recorded correctly and if there are any mistakes I will make certain you will regret it," I finished pinning them each with a stern glare.

"Seriously, you want us to take notes for you? Bloody hell Kyla you could just use a Dicto-Quill and you do realize this is summer don't you… ya know, no school... that sort of thing?" Aleks asked incredulously.

"Yup and I choose to spend my summer productively. Now, stop complaining and get ready to start writing... and Malik, do make it interesting."

"Can I at least sit there with you?" He whined, pouting a bit.

I gave him a' look' but sighed and enlarged the chair to make room for him as Aleks settled his desk and chair in front of us.

"All right then, The Nazca Runes by Johnson Perez" Malik began…

The use of ancient runes is one of the most universal branches of magic that has been seen thus far in the history of the Wizarding world. The art has crossed cultural boundaries and is seen in the greatest variety of civilizations. The South American wizards are no exception. One of the most notable ancient civilizations to use runes were the Nazca race. Now located in current day Peru, the Nazca people are most known for their intricate runes that grace the desert floor. There has been much speculation in the muggle world as to how these 'patterns' were created and why. Yet with our knowledge of magic and the art of runes we are able to understand better why such designs were made. To this day however, we are uncertain as to why the runes were made so large. One theory is that it was…"

After two hours and four parchments worth of notes, I decided to let the boys off the hook; temporarily at any rate. I sent them off to the kitchens to get some refreshments, telling them that I would call when I required their assistance once again. They really should have known better than to pull a prank on me when they knew I would retaliate.

The day continued much the same as the morning, and by the time dinner rolled around, the boys were positively delighted to have an hour or two without catering to my every need. I had a very relaxing day and so I was quite cheerful in my greeting. My siblings and cousin were not. We all settled around the table and waited for our food to be served.

"Is there a particular reason why you three boys are glaring at Hermione?" Father asked, quirking an eyebrow inquiringly.

There was a moment of silence before he was simultaneously bombarded with accusations and exclamations of my cruelty from all three boys. Everything ranging from, "you will never believe what she made me do..." to "I wish I was still cleaning the attic!"

"All right, all right! Enough!" Father exclaimed in exasperation, "By my estimation, this is all precisely what you deserve. You made this deal with Hermione of your own free will. Not to mention it was your own foolish prank that resulted in such punishment. You three brought this upon yourselves."

"Yeah, but seriously Dad, taking notes for her?" Aleks complained, "that's along the lines of cruel and unusual punishment."

"Hardly, Aleksander," I said shaking my head in amusement.

"Yeah you wouldn't think so. You've got the good end of this deal," Blaise said bitterly.

"Well, there wouldn't have been a deal if you three didn't try to give me a heart attack that morning."

"It's our fault you're a pansy?" Blaise asked with false curiosity.

"I am so not a pansy!" I exclaimed, outraged, "you scared the living daylights out of me! Not to mention you three wimps are bitching and moaning after doing one day of simple work. So tell me boys, who's the pansy now?"

"Psh, yeah but you ask crazy things" Malik chimed in.

"Crazy things? I asked you to make me lemonade, paint my nails, read to me and take notes. I hardly think that counts as crazy, Malik."

"Do you realize what you just said, Kyla? You said, taking notes... in the summer? Yeah, I think any bloke with good sense would call that crazy," Aleks said

"Uh huh... sure, I on the other hand, call it being useless, lazy buggers,"

"Hey! Lazy, fine, but useless? I think not! We're plenty useful" Malik defended.

"Really? I would love to hear this."

"Um... well... we clean our rooms and we help outside with the grounds and stuff..."

"Oh? And you did this without being harassed by Dad?"

"Hehe, well there may have been some gentle hints from the parental direction," Aleks said sheepishly.

"Ah, I see," I replied, smirking at them gleefully. Instead of pushing them into a full-blown confession, I let the subject drop. Besides, it was clear that they knew that I had caught them, at that was the point.

"Well, it seems you four have had an eventful day. Don't forget to do your homework as well, though," Father reminded.

"Yes, Dad," we replied in unison, except for Blaise who simply said, "yup!"

Finishing dinner, we all trooped off to the basement. I figured I would let them relax for the rest of the evening and we all settled down to play some games. It was nice to have people to spend the summer with, though I couldn't help but miss my mother. It was the only thing I hated about living at Hogwarts; I didn't get to see my mother except during the summer and now, I couldn't even do that. It was all Gary's fault. It always was. But at least that was one good thing about being at the Manor, I didn't have to deal with Gary and his stupidity.

Around 9:00 we relaxed and started a movie. It was nice to be curled up with the boys. It still startled me how deeply I felt the connection to them. The mental bond seemed to amplify my sense of belonging with them. It's like all my life I felt a longing, but only now can I see what it was that I was truly longing for. I had always thought I felt that way because I missed my father or because I was lonely being an only child. I guess I was half right, my desire to have siblings was founded after all. The boys have an amazing ability to make me feel safe and loved. It's as though they loved me on first sight. I guess it's a bit of a foreign feelings considering I had to work so hard for every relationship I'd ever had, including the strong friendship I enjoy with Harry and Ron. I suppose I shouldn't be so surprised though, for in a short amount of time I've become so very attached to my brothers, more than I thought was possible. I rely on them so much now; in a way it's somewhat frightening how much I need them. The movie came to an end and shortly before midnight we all went to bed before we could fall asleep in the basement.

*****

The next morning the children of the Snape household awoke early. They had happily wasted more than half of their time together without even touching their homework. Deciding that this morning would be a good time to start, Hermione rousted the boys out of bed at 8:00 am.

"Bloody hell, Kyla, why do we have to be up so early?" Aleks complained tiredly.

"Yeah, Merlin Hermione, I'm sleepy!" Blaise agreed.

"Oh stop complaining boys, it's not that early. Besides we should get started on all that homework today," I scolded mildly.

Grumbling and mumbling they sleepily trudged downstairs for breakfast. I was not nearly so tired and herded them into the kitchen quite cheerfully.

"Good morning Daddy!" I greeted happily upon entering the room.

"Good morning Mia," he greeted amiably, "why are you lot up so early?"

"Cause you have a vindictive, slave driver for a daughter," Malik grumbled.

"Oh, honestly, you three act as though you've never woken up before noon in your life," I exclaimed in exasperation.

"No, we are normal and enjoy a little thing called SLEEP!" Aleks defended.

"Mmhmm... all right well, I'm sure some warm breakfast will wake you boys up," I said, trying to get them going. So we all sat down and the boys started shovelling food onto their plates.

*And I thought Ron was the only one who ate like that* I thought to myself. Apparently my mental shields were not as strong as I thought, because I got a fairly indignant response to my comment.

*We're growing boys, we need food* Malik said

*That much of it?* I questioned laughingly

*Yup. How else do you expect us to grow tall and strong?* Aleks asked.

*Oh, don't get cheeky with me now, Aleks dear,*

*Me? Cheeky? You jest!*

*Hmm, that fake outrage will do wonders for you in acting school,* I teased.

*Ah zip it Kyla,* Aleks griped.

*But I'm having so much fun!*

*Face it Aleks, we're her personal live entertainment system, especially while those contracts are intact,* Malik lamented woefully.

*Well, yes, I suppose you are for now. But that's what you get for scaring the life out of me that morning!*

*Who's bright idea was that again?* Aleks asked.

*Nice try, I think it was a group plan* Malik said.

"Do you guys mind?" Blaise asked suddenly.

"What?" We asked in unison.

"You three have been staring at each other for the last fifteen minutes in absolute silence!" He exclaimed, "and you were smirking and making faces at each other."

"Oh... yeah, sorry 'bout that Cuz" Aleks said sheepishly.

"You three should learn to control this better, otherwise it could lead you to some unexpected trouble," Father warned.

"What do you mean?" I asked

"Strange bouts of silence would appear odd and give away your connection. I'm warning you boys too. Don't let it distract you from the outside world," he clarified.

"Yeah, I guess it would seem weird," I agreed. It would look terribly strange if I started to zone out suddenly during the day.

Conversation dwindled as we ate. We finished our breakfasts and I dragged all three reluctant boys to the library. Blaise and I had similar work to do since we're in all the same classes, but Malik and Aleksander have slightly different homework. Regardless, we all sat down and tried to get through as much as we could. After working for about three and a half hours we took a break for lunch. We'd made good progress, I managed to finish one essay and two smaller assignments. I had just started my Defence essay when we stopped for a food break. We were all happy for a break by then, even me. For all that I love books and time in the library even I like to take a breather every now and then.

After a quick lunch, we agreed to do finish the assignments we started before putting our homework away for the day. I allowed the boys to relax for about an hour after we finished our schoolwork before I started to make demands on them again. I started small and simple again, asking very nicely if they could fetch me a snack or a drink. We were just lounging around near the pond. The boys were taking turns playing wizard's chess, so since once of them was just watching, I decided to make use of them.

"Aleks, you're just watching, come give me a massage will you?"

"Aww Kyla, do I have to?" he whined.

"Contracts, remember?" I taunted playfully.

"Fine...."

Ten minutes later, Malik let out a triumphant whoop. Apparently he just beat Blaise so I released Aleks from his task and told him to switch with Blaise. I was just about to get a nice foot massage, so that lovely duty went to him now. Needless to say, he was less than pleased.

"Ugh, I think I'm getting to know you better than I thought I would Hermione," Blaise said ruefully.

"Now, now, Blaise, we're cousins, you should be happy to get to know me so well,"

"Yes, I'm learning so much from massaging your feet," he commented dryly.

"Trust me, your future girlfriend or wife will appreciate this. So really, I'm doing you a long-term favour!"

"Ha! I am so not massaging my future girlfriend's feet,"

"You say this now...."

"You implying I'm gonna be a pushover boyfriend?" he asked outraged.

"Of course not, Blaise," I soothed.

"Hmph, better not be..." he mumbled darkly, before resolutely returning to his task.

Before we knew it, it was dinner time and we whiled away the rest of the evening. We were heading to bed when I decided to make use of another chore listed in the contracts.

"Malik, be a dear and brush my hair out for me please?" I asked sweetly. I always hate brushing my hair before bed since it's like having a mini-battle. Not brushing it was not an option unless I was planning on chopping it all off the next morning. But making Malik do it for me before bed, meant that I could just sit back and relax.

"I'm sorry, what?" Malik asked, unsure he had heard correctly.

"I want you to brush out my hair for me. It's quite a hassle and requires some effort, so you might as well make yourself useful,"

Sighing loudly he reluctantly plucked my hair brush from my hand and glared at my reflection in the mirror.

"Well, turn around then," he said as he came to stand behind my chair. Slowly, he started brush my hair, gently teasing the knots and tangles into giving way to his ministration.

"Merlin, Kyla, you're hair may not be as frizzy as it is under the glamour, but even still, it's got a mind of it's own!"

"You're telling me...." I mumbled under my breath.

"Heh, maybe we should be calling you Medusa instead eh?" He laughed

"Try it and I promise you Malik Dreaden Snape, you will regret it," I warned.

"Oh relax, I was just kidding,"

"Mmhmm... you better be,"

Chuckling quietly, he continued brushing out my hair. After he got all the snags out, he braided it neatly so it wouldn't get too tangled during the night..

"All done," he said quietly, tucking any strands that escaped behind my ears.

"Thanks, Malik," I said softly, turning my head slightly to look at him.

"Anytime, love,"

Dropping a light kiss on the top of my head he headed back to his room. He stopped in the doorway to bid me goodnight and disappeared into his room.

Smiling softly, I climbed into bed, content and happy. If only I had known such love from my siblings when I was younger, I thought wistfully. Sighing, I snuggled into my bed. Nothing could change the past, I should be thankful that I have their affection now. After the year I had, it was nice to feel such unconditional love from my family. With these final happy thoughts, I drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

Thanks for reading, leave a review please, they make me smile :)