Authors note: I know, I know, this was only suppose to be a one chapter story but I thought of a really good plot for it so I just HAD to continue. Besides, I didn't quite like it how it was a one chapter. The kids are two cute! I simply had to develop their characters! I hope you enjoy. If you want to beta read for this story or my others, e-mail me or state it in a review. Gracias.
In The End
Chapter 2: Life Continues
"Aunt Minerva! Aunt Minerva!" chorused the shouting voices of Aden and Logan as they dashed into the classroom of Professor McGonagall. Hearing the urgent shouting her surrogate nephew she stopped mid-lecture to her seventh year Gryffindor and Slytherin class and looked pointedly at the six-year-olds.
"What is it boys? Can't you see I'm in the middle of teaching a class? Maybe it would be helpful to them if I were to use you as an example for our human transfiguration. And here I thought your father may have taught you some form of manners, but alas I must have thought wrong!"
"In the middle of class?" Logan mused, and both he and Aden looked around the room, noticing it was in fact filled with students. Grinning, they both turned toward the others who were openly staring at them, raised their arms and energetically waved saying, "Hello everybody! Don't mind us we're just passin' through!" Turning back to their surrogate aunt they distantly saw her sigh and shake her head in defeat. Everybody had been on the receiving end of their antics at one point or another, and this group of kids had known them since they were born!
"Seriously boys, why are you here?" McGonagall demanded.
Snapping back into the correct frame of mind, Aden nearly shouted in distress, "We can't find Isabel!"
Startled by the revelation McGonagall whipped around from gathering papers on her desk, the ones in her hand fluttering to the floor, and dangerously hissed, "What do you mean you 'can't find Isabel'? She was SUPPOSED to be with you wasn't she?"
"Yes but we left the Great Hall for only a few minutes to chat with Oliver and Corrin before they left, which they were doing might I add," Aden explained, "and when we came back five minutes later she was gone!"
"We've checked everywhere Aunt Minerva. From the Astronomy tower to Hagrid's too! Hagrid's got nifflers there and you know how much Isabel loves animals. But she's NOWHERE. Dad'll maim us if we don't find her! This time I bet our ears'll fall off this time from him screeching like a rabid banshee! You have to help us Aunt Minerva," Logan hastily added, knowing the conversation wasn't going well. There was no doubt in anybody's mind about who Isabel was. Even the first years knew Isabel Amelia Snape who had become a menacing plague to everybody at Hogwarts once she had began to walk, even more so than her brothers had. At the age of two, the worst was just beginning.
"You two know better than to leave her on her own," McGonagall scolded, "Did you ch-" she began to say but was cut off by a loud and resounding crash that echoed and reverberated through the presently deserted hallways, followed by high pitched giggling.
"Oh no…" Logan muttered.
"Isabel," Aden finished for him.
Turning back to her class, which was trying to suppress snickers at how characteristically unalike these children were from their father, McGonagall ordered the class but was directly addressing one Slytherin in particular, "Miss Lexing your in charge. I'll return shortly. Everyone continue your work, if anything is disorganized upon my return each house will loose one hundred points each," and with that she dashed out of the room following the six-year-olds.
Two floors below the transfiguration classroom in the dungeons a silver suit of armor was laying in pieces in front of a happily laughing two-year-old. Suddenly and irate voice could be heard shouting form the end of the corridor, and seeing Argus Filch coming barreling down the hall, she ran. "Get back here you little brat! I've had it with you! I'm gonna slice you from navel to nose! Just get close enough to me! This time I'll have you out of here and with your godforsaken muggle grandparents! Better yet I don't care who your father is! I'll have you hanging by your toes in the dungeon!" Filch ranted as he chased after the small child. Isabel moved her petite body as fast as her little legs could carry her as she waddled down the hall further into the dungeons with her slightly pudgy arms extended beside her to help balance her, and barley manageable black hair freely flowing behind her.
Isabel was able to put some more distance between her and the moody caretaker after he tripped over the disrupted suit of armor, which immediately yelled at Filch to resemble him. Within minutes she arrived at her destination. The Potions classroom. Surprisingly, the door had been left slightly ajar and the cold menacing voice of Professor Snape could be heard drifting unconsciously into the deserted hallway.
"Mr. Blockhurst! Please inform me as to why your potion is neon green," Severus drawled accusingly at the fifth year Gryffindor, who was as bad, or worse at potions than Neville Longbottom. Even with his sharpened senses from years of spying, Severus failed to hear the door creek open.
"Um…It's suppose to be that color isn't it?" the student fearfully replied, just as intimidated by the man's cold and harsh demeanor as every other student.
Although Severus and most of the students didn't notice the door open and the small child entering, a few of them did and smiled when they say Isabel sink from her standing position and onto all fours and quietly crawl into the room. Her eyes darted to the front of the room and when she didn't see her father there her eyes started to water and frantically dart around until her eyes landed on Samantha. Seeing the girls pleading ey3es she smiled and pointed in the direction that the Potions Master was presently located. When Isabel saw him, Samantha noticed that the tears immediately disappeared and they brightened.
"No Mr. Blockhurst. It should be ice blue. Yet while we are on the subject, you potion is releasing a rather sweet smell, which in this potion indicates that IT'S BURNING. Note that ten points from Gryffindor for your stupidity. One would think that even an impertinent Gryffindor such as yourself would have some form of a brain wedge somewhere in your thick cranium. But I've come to expect such things from you a-" Severus berated the boy only to be cut off by a high pitched screech from behind him.
"Da-da!" Whipping around, black robes billowing behind him, Severus saw his daughter crawling toward him and then standing half way there, trotting the remainder of the way. Isabel hid behind her fathers black clad right leg and wrapped her small pudgy arms around it.
His demeanor softened immediately for his daughter and he looked down at her and asked, "What are you doing down here?"
"Wogan an Aden weft me awone in da Gweat Hall an I dot bowed," she replied quietly thinking he was irritated with her.
"Sweetie you know your not supposed to wander off alone," he softly reprimanded her and leaned down to pick her up, "Why did y-"
Once again Severus never got the change to finish his sentence because at that moment Filch burst into the classroom, bellowing obscenities about everything, mainly Isabel.
"Where is that bloody brat!? I'll skin her alive and relinquish in her screams and then feed her to Fluffy!"
"You will do nothing of the sort Filch," Severus said, feeling Isabel sink further into him and start quivering at Filch's words.
Speaking up from the back of the classroom a Slytherin spoke up, "That shouldn't bother you Professor Snape. You were a Death Eater after all weren't you? Didn't you do things like that to people on a daily basis?"
Loosing his control at that comment, Severus ordered, "Leave Mr. Pitchard. Three hundred points from Slytherin and detention until the end of the school term. Feel lucky its not more points and detention to you graduate," Severus noticed he wasn't moving so he shouted, loosing his patience with the student, "What are you waiting for? Hell to freeze over? GET GOING!"
Turning back to Filch once Pitchard was gone he heard the last part of Filch's rant, "And I dint care if you are her father! She'll be hanging from her toes in the dungeon!"
"Not bloody likely Filch," Severus responded, shifting Isabel to his left side, "Go do your job and ge-"
Again, Severus was cut off as Professor McGonagall, Aden, and Logan came running into the room. All three of them noticed Isabel wrapped protectively in Severus' arms and they boys let out a breath of relief. Minerva however let her hand fly to her chest and gasped out, "Oh than goodness she's here and safe. We heard the crash from the Transfiguration classroom and ran straight down here."
"As you can clearly see everything is quite fine here."
"I don't care!" Filch screamed and marched forward. "Give me that damn brat so I can dismember her!"
Severus drew his want and pointed it directly at Filch's head. "I will not having you threatening my daughter, she is only two. Nor do I ever want to hear you threatening my other children. Now get out of here Filch," Severus quietly and menacingly drawled out. After Filch retreated, muttering obscenities about 'greasy Slytherin bastards' Severus turned back to Minerva and the twins and said, "You should be going too. Minerva, I recall you do currently have a class of seventh years awaiting your return."
Minerva nodded her head and she, Logan, and Aden made to leave the room. But were stopped once again by Severus. "Except you two. Aden, Logan, I want you where I can see you."
"Yes dad," they both responded.
During the entire confrontation the students had stopped working on their Arstantic draught, and every one of them had focused their undivided attention instead onto the dispute between their Professor and the resident caretaker. It was a known fact to the entire staff and the student body that Severus Snape was very protective of his children, even though half of them had never witnessed that nature themselves. Although those few who had known, never realized the full extent of it until then even though they all knew Filch wouldn't harm the child for fear of losing his job.
Severus noticed the students staring at them and snapped, "Well? What's so interesting? Get back to work!" Upon which they hastily turned back around and started working on their potions again. Walking to the front of the room, still carrying Isabel who was sucking her thumb, he said to Logan and Aden, "Come here boys," then used his want to conjure tow cauldrons on his desk. "Aden I wan you to brew a Scrutiny draught and Logan I want you to brew the Trinity draught. You know where the ingredients are and how to do it; start working," Severus took noticed of some of the students openly blanching at his request. Who would have though that six-year-olds would be brewing seventh year potions? "Oh, and we'll be having a discussion later about what the term 'babysitting' means."
"But dad we dint mean to leave Izzy-"
"I don't even want to hear it now. Make you potion," Severus cut Aden off. They continued to work in relative silence for the next half hour until Isabel began to cry. Severus quickly turned his attention away form Samantha's perfect potion he was scrutinizing to his daughter who had crawled off of his shoulder where she had been sitting and onto the students desk. "What's the matter sweetie?"
Isabel held her hand up for her father to scrutinize, which was beet red, eyes watering and muttered, "Boo-boo."
Taking in her hand he noticed almost immediately that it had started to blister and he asked, "What happened!?"
"Sir," Samantha said, "I think she touched my cauldron."
"Kiss my boo-boo and make it bewwer pwease da-da," Isabel pleaded, looking Severus directly in the eyes.
"Miss Lanstring fill a small vile with your potion," Severus commanded the girl and them picked up his daughters hand and kissed it. "Does it feel better now Isabel?" Isabel smiled and nodded her head vigorously in conformation. "Now I wan you to drink this potion ok sweetie? Then it won't hurt anymore. Open your mouth," Isabel obediently opened her mouth and drank the Arstantic potion which was ice cold and almost immediately the blisters faded and the redness dissipated.
"Tank you dada," Isabel said in a singsong voice and crawled down from the table.
Smiling openly at his daughter and then noticed class was almost over Severus ordered, "Bottle you potions and then place the vile on my desk for grading, and please, don't step on Isabel. Your homework is a three and a half foot essay on the properties of the Arstantic potion, all of its uses, and why it is an important healing agent. Due next class. Oh, and Mr. Blockhurst, be sure to include in yours why having your potion turn neon green during the brewing process is lethal, even when it does become ice blue again. Class dismissed." As the class was filing out, he held one of them back. "Miss Lanstring. Come here."
"Yes Professor?" Samantha asked, approaching Severus.
"What is your next class?"
"I have Charms next sir. Why?"
"Could you take Isabel with you? I know its is a lot to ask when you have class, but you are the children's babysitter. I'd keep her here, but the potions class room is a dangerous place for her."
"That's fine Professor. Its no trouble really," Samantha replied offhandedly and then looked over at Isabel who had her head poking out from under a desk and was curiously looking at her. "Ella do you wanna come with me to see tiny old Flitwick? So he can levitate you again?"
"Yeah!" Isabel shouted
As she picker her up Severus regained his sense and yelled, "HE WHAT!?"
"Bye Professor!" Samantha called as she exited the classroom with Isabel. Sighing, Severus got ready for his next class, ignoring the laughter coming from his twin sons who were still working on their potions.
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Later that day at dinner Severus ran into Samantha again with Isabel. Taking the small child from her Severus asked her, "How much do I owe you for taking Isabel with you today?"
"Nothing Professor. I always tell you that you don't have to pay me. I adore the children; letting me spend time with them is payment enough."
"But you work so hard with them and your school work. It wouldn't be right if I didn't pay you, even if you don't want it. Here, take this," Severus tried to reason with her and pulled out seven galleons and handed them to her.
"Um…thank you Professor," Samantha muttered after excepting the rather large payment for watching Isabel for only five hours, most of which she Isabel napped through, and then walked back over to her normal place at the Gryffindor table. Dinner commenced as it normally did, Aden on one side of Severus at the Head Table and Logan on the other side with Isabel on the table in front of him so he could feed her easily.
Near the end of dinner Dumbledore inquired, "Severus?"
"Yes Headmaster?" Severus questioned him after setting down the spoon he was using to feed Isabel with.
"I need to speak with you after dinner. The matter is very serious and of the utmost importance," Severus nodded in conformation and watched the Headmaster leave.
When Aden and Logan finished their meals the rose from their seats and followed their father out the side entrance and down to their quarters in the dungeons. After getting Isabel a bottle of juice he said to them, "I must go speak with the headmaster, all three of you behave. I shouldn't be gone long so I won't send Samantha down to watch you."
"All right dad," Aden responded while getting his cards for exploding snap. Nodding, Severus left the kids there and headed to the headmaster's office.
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Well? What do you think? FEED BACK! I need feedback. Please, if you read this review. This is one of the stories I'm really into at the moment. I don't have it all written, but it is outlined.
*dama_de_tinieblas*