Chapter 3
Classes were not as bad as she had imagined them to be. She managed to keep control of the children, and her first class was seventh years, who were wonderful. Then second years, then finishing up with fourth years; her best day yet. Admittedly, it was her only day yet- she had first years tomorrow, and that should be trying enough. Another day, Hermione thought to herself. She slumped down into a chair at the round table in the main room of her apartments, pushing her diary open on the table. She looked at the homework she had assigned, read the notes that she had given the children, and read the assigned chapter of the book. Just in case she'd missed anything first time round.
Her study was interrupted by Lianna rushing into the room.
"Mama…" Hermione turned to her daughter, seeing her tiny face flushed from running.
"Yes, dear?"
"Umm… Well, Ri's a bit stuck. I can't get her. Would you be able to get her?"
Hermione smiled, and stood, following her precocious little girl out of the seemingly-solid wall. She had fixed the wall to be like the wall at King's Cross: it seemed- and was, if you didn't believe it wasn't- to be solid at all times. Her children had come in with bruised appendages for a while, so she had asked a suit of armour to stand next to the door, so the girls knew where it was. He was also good safety- Hermione had asked him very nicely to stop anyone with conspicuous motives. So far, he'd had nobody to deal with, which was very good.
Lianna sped down corridor after corridor, until even Hermione herself didn't know quite where she was. She wished that she had the Marauder's Map with her, which somehow decoded the magnificent castle's secrets and made all pathways open.
Finally, they found Adrienne, high up on a sealed balcony, with no way down.
"She already tried to jump, but there's something stopping her from doing that, too." Lianna looked totally perplexed, and more than a little frightened for her sister. Adrienne, on the other hand, was terrified. She cried out when she saw Hermione before subsiding back to whimpers. She was curled up beside the balustrade.
Hermione looked suspiciously at the balcony. She levitated (wonderful trick she'd learned in Auror training, and completely unlike broomsticking- she was completely in control the whole time) to see how Ri had gotten there.
The wall was completely bare. It looked like a trap, and one meticulously set. Hermione tried to levitate into the balcony, but the field, which Li had spoken of, stopped any traffic. Hermione growled.
A thud of wood striking stone made Hermione's head twirl.
"I see you've found my mouse trap." Severus Snape, it seemed, didn't take lightly to snooping, even of the most innocent nature. Hermione glared at the man, refusing to be intimidated.
"Ah, Snape. How wonderful. I'm glad you've found my daughter for me. Of course, the fact that she's frightened witless is not your fault, so I won't even mention it. If you'd care to return her, I'd be very thankful."
Snape sneered at her, and put a hand on Lianna's shoulder. The girl squealed and rushed to stand underneath her mother. Hermione levitated her daughter next to her. "Keep your filthy hands off my daughter."
The coldness of the words made even Ri, who was still shaking, look curiously at her mother. Snape merely blanked his face, and turned to walk out.
"Snape!"
He stopped.
"My daughter?"
He laughed a cold laugh. "Catch," he replied. The balcony suddenly disappeared, as though it had never existed. Hermione gasped and fumbled before catching Ri still a safe distance from the ground. Hermione lowered her little family to the ground, fuming inside. She looked at her terrified little girls.
"That is a cruel, heartless man. I used to work with him, and he has never forgiven me for upstaging him. Now, I have taken the job that he would have loved- Defence. He can't take it out on me, so he takes it out on you, even though you have done nothing to him. Avoid him at all costs; if you can't find me, get Aunt Minerva. Let's go."
Hermione marched her trembling little girls to their rooms, tucked them in and gave them a tiny dose of a dreamless sleep potion that she kept for herself. She kissed them as they fell asleep. Then she allowed her fury full reign.
~*~
Minerva was startled out of her marking by a loud clash of door against the unoffending wall. Minerva was just as startled to see Hermione as the cause of this angry display. Her hair was almost crackling with rage, and her eyes were glinting dangerously. Her face was flushed. Her hands clenched at her sides.
"Minerva, come with me." Minerva stood apprehensively, and then had to rush a little to keep up with her impassioned Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. Hermione walked with purpose, with determination.
They rounded a few more corners than Minerva knew, and before she knew, Hermione had stopped in front of her. Minerva nearly fell into the back of her.
"Watch." Hermione commanded, and with a flick of her wand, pulled ghostly after-images out of the walls themselves. Minerva goggled with horror at the scene that Hermione had walked into a few minutes ago. When the display was over, Hermione turned to glare at her former teacher and friend, her gaze granite.
"Let us go and visit the perpetrator, shall we?" Minerva's mouth thinned down to an almost invisible line, and if she could have seen her face, she would have seen the same fury that lit up Hermione's face burning in her own. Hermione flicked a command at the room, and the transparent images curled into nothingness. Then both women were stalking down the corridors.
~*~
Severus Snape was asleep in his comfortable chair, beside the empty fireplace. The fire suddenly flared, and Snape knew that his inner sanctum had been breached. He stood, wand grasped in his long fingers, to welcome his uninvited guests.
Into his room burst two very angry women- the woman he'd been trying to get over his guilt of for what felt like far too many years, and the Headmistress, his employer. Snape immediately remembered the little trap he'd set for the little mice, and regretted ever setting it. He'd almost relented when he'd heard the dark-haired child crying, but had wanted to make his point. And she was safe enough, after all- he had created that spell.
Now he realised just how foolish his whim had been. He inwardly berated himself, keeping his face unamused for his guests' sake.
"Yes?" He managed to ask in an uninterested tone. Many years of training were being called on here. The women both looked murderous. The younger one was, however, more outraged.
"You know why we're here," She hissed. She stalked towards him, her movements carefully studied and almost as intimidating as she'd intended them to be. She raised her wand-arm- with wand attached- to point into his face.
"My children," she whispered, "are not playthings for you to torment; nor are they weapons for you to try to turn against me. My children are- right now- so terrified of you, they have nightmares. If you have a problem with me, find other ways of telling me, such as speaking to my face. It's not that hard. But then, what more did I expect of an immature, overgrown bat who has no concept of the real world?" Hermione spat the words, spun and stormed to the door, where she paused, turning to wait for Minerva, who now took her turn.
"There is always a reason for what I do- and when I fire you, it will be for a good reason. I just thought you should know, Severus, that those girls are a good reason." And then the older woman turned on her heel and walked out of the room also, without his having uttered a single word. Shaking his head, Snape sat down to fall asleep in his chair again.
~*~
TomFeltonsSexiiWun: Ok, I'll admit that I borrowed the idea from a different book that I read- I have no idea if it could actually happen. Basically, they're not identical twins, so there's two separate embryos released. Theoretically, it's possible, if close enough together, for sperm from two different donors to fertilize the different embryos. And it's fiction, so I can do what I want!! Thankyou so much for reviewing!!