Severus watched as his wife practically flew around greeting everyone. She reminded him of a bird the way she moved. It was adorable.

He watched as she practically dragged Bill outside with her, no doubt to keep an eye on Kamen. He was about to go find where his other children were hiding when he turned to find Graine watching him. "Well? Anything bothering you Graine?"

Graine put her hands on her hips and leveled Severus with were best "mother" look, "are you treating my sister right?"

Severus crossed his arms over his chest, "Miss Campbell, why is it that you question me about my wife's welfare every time you come to my home."

Graine narrowed her eyes, "Severus, I am no longer your student, do not play the teacher with me. And I wish you would stop calling me Miss Campbell, I have been married for over twelve years after all," she rolled her eyes on the last part.

"I can assure you that your sister is completely happy. Now, do feel like interfering in my life any further?"

"Really Severus, you steal my sister away, and then expect me not to interrogate you about how you are treating her?"

"I don't recall ever 'stealing' anyone away. But I do wish you wouldn't sound so accusatory every time you bring it up."

Graine sighed, although she really did like her brother-in-law, she always felt a need to bring up how she felt about him taking her sister away. "Severus, she had been out of school for a matter of hours before you showed up at our door. You took her away from me."

Severus looked down at Graine, she insisted on bringing this up every time they saw each other, but she was partly right. He had been rather amazed when he found himself attracted to the petit, curly haired, Gryffindor. Morgan had been in her seventh year when he realized how truly amazing she was. He had done his best to keep those feelings hidden, and considering the emotional mask Severus wore at school it had not proved too difficult.

The truly hard part was when he began to see very subtle signs of attraction coming from Morgan. It had been enough to send his heart racing. It was all the encouragement he needed, the only problem was that they couldn't do anything until Morgan graduated.

Severus had not wasted anytime. Morgan had only been at home for a day after graduation when Severus had found himself at her front door. He came under the pretense of returning some papers to her. A horrible excuse, but it got him there. He invited her to join him for dinner that night and their relationship had evolved from there. They were engaged a few weeks later and were married before the beginning of the next school year. It had been a whirl-wind courtship, one based more on outward appearances than actual love.

Severus couldn't really blame Graine for thinking that he had stolen her older sister away. There home life had not been very good, and Severus had felt the need to remove Morgan from there as quickly as possible. He wanted to heal her pain, even though he was still wallowing in his own. Unfortunately, that had left Graine alone with their father. And to say that he was not the best of parents was a vast understatement.

Graine had never truly forgiven her potions professor for taking away her beloved older sister. But she couldn't help but like the man. He had turned out to be amazingly kind, especially considering what she had seen of him in class. And he did truly love her sister. Plus, he had been the closest thing to a father that she had ever had.

He really wasn't such a bad guy when you took everything into consideration.

"When are you going to stop accusing me of stealing your sister from you?"

"When hell freezes over."

"Ahhhh... I see that the stereotypical redhead temper is coming through. Really Graine, in many ways you are still the schoolgirl that I taught."

"What is it that you think gives you the right to insult me?"

"You lived in my home for five years and were almost like a daughter to me. I have the right to treat you however I see fit."

"Severus, why do you insist on arguing in a way that no normal person can follow?"

"I have no idea what you are referring to..."

"How can you say that? If you knew anything about what my life has been..."

"Graine, I know what your life was like. I know that your father was a drunkard. He cared nothing for you and Morgan, all he was concerned with was having enough whiskey on hand so that he could lose himself in memories of your mother. I watched him gamble away damn near everything. Can you blame me for wanting to remove Morgan from that situation as soon as possible?"

"The situation was hardly ideal..."

"And yet you still blame me for it. And then when your father drank himself to death the year after I married your sister you came to live with us. Your sister and I tried to give you a home life that was significantly better than what you had previously had. We are your family, and I tried to be a father to you in the best way I knew how. I have trouble figuring out why you are still so bitter towards life."

Graine sighed, "How can you ask why I am still bitter towards life when you are too?"

"Because my anger is directed towards forces that still have the power to hurt my family. Your anger is directed at a man who never cared for you and drank himself to death while wallowing in his own self pity."

She instantly dropped her tirade and her voice became soft, "Severus, did you know that I wanted to live with you and Graine from the start? I wanted out of that house just as much as Morgan. It hadn't been a home since my mother died, it was just a gathering place filled with bad memories."

"I tried Graine. I know Morgan told you of all the time I spent at the ministry trying to get them to deny your father custody. I would have adopted you if it would have gotten you out of there; you are young enough to be my daughter after all. I wanted you out of that place too. I regret that it did not happen that way. Instead you have ended up just as bitter towards life as I am. And you have blamed me for every hardship in your life since I married Morgan." Severus found himself thinking of the dark years of his past, so different from what Morgan and Graine had gone through, yet he wasn't sure whose past was the worst.

"We are more alike then you like to admit Severus Snape. The only thing either of us has to keep us going is our family. Without them I think both of us would have given up on life a long time ago." She smiled wryly, a distant look in her eyes. "I've never forgiven my father. But, I bear you no grudge."

"Then, can I assume that we are declaring a truce? For the time being of course, I would never consider a permanent truce with someone such as yourself."

"You are free to assume whatever you wish professor, you just won't have to worry about me lurking in a dark corner ready to hex you to kingdom come," she winked at him.

"Mrs. Weasley, may I offer you a drink? I think that our decision to come to amiable terms deserves a toast."

Dierna sat down on her bed and pulled out a somewhat battered box. She stroked the lid lovingly before she opened it to sift through the contents. It was all of the letters and notes Stefan had ever given her. All of their notes, slipped to each other in the halls at school, and all of the sentimental letters that he had sent her every week this summer. Even though they saw each other several times in a week he never failed to write her at least once before the weeks end. Just a reminder of how he felt about her, as he put it.

She sorted through the letters, looking for one in particular. There it was, towards the bottom. It was her favorite of his love letters. In this letter he had said the most wonderful thing in the world. It was something they had never discussed, something he had never asked her about, but it was something that she had wanted for a long time now. And obviously Stefan wanted it too.

She scanned down the letter, looking for the passage that meant so much to her. The letter was creased and worn; she had read it so many times. Always the same phrase. Stefan had been telling her about some aspect at his job in the ministry, and what it meant for him, and then there was that phrase he had written, "When we are married..."

When they were married! It sounded so wonderful. It wasn't asking her to marry him, it wasn't saying "if" they were married. It was "when" they were married. Dierna sighed happily and pressed her lips to the treasured slip of paper. It was only a matter of time.

She thought for a moment. Maybe she could just drop out of school. They could be married now! It was a wonderful idea. There life together could really start. It would be amazing.

It was a crazy fantasy. Dierna sighed and gently placed the worn letter back in the box. She gently ran her hand over the stack of letters; there was so much love inside. But, even if she was really ready to just quit school and marry him, Stefan would never allow it. He was always keeping her in check. He was her firmest support, he was her true love. She would have to wait for them to marry, but she wouldn't wait patiently.

Serena was lying under a tree outside. The cool shade felt so wonderful. She watched as Kamen played with Arthur. It amazed her how nice Kamen was to their little cousin. She wondered why he couldn't be a little nicer to his sisters, he certainly had the potential.

She watched as Arthur ran over to his father. She smiled, she loved her Uncle Bill. He was just so... cool. He still wore his hair in a ponytail and he had an earring. It was wicked.

She shaded her eyes against the sun as she watched Kamen run over to her. "Hey Serena, I was going to go.... have some fun. Want to join me?" He raised a questioning eyebrow at her causing Serena to smile; he looked like their dad when he did that.

She looked at him suspiciously, usually his idea of fun was their parents' idea of trouble, "what are you going to do?"

"I was just thinking, its gonna be Lori's first year at Hogwarts. We should probably give her a bit of helpful advice." He was grinning wickedly.

Serena smiled back at him, "I think that might be fun. Of course I'll join you. But what exactly are you going to tell her?"

"Ahhhh... that's the beauty of it, there are so many things she should know. How hard the sorting ceremony is, how incredibly mean most of the teachers are, all the horrible things they do to first years. I don't know where to begin."

"Who cares what we begin with; this is going to be wicked! Let's go find her."

Kamen grinned at his sister's enthusiasm. Trouble was so much more fun when there were multiple people involved.

"Were you able to obtain what is needed?"

"Of course sir, I would never dream of failing you." The man shifted nervously, his superior always made him feel this way. It gave him the desire to run. But desertion would only warrant a fate worse than death.

"And you followed them with no difficulties, they weren't aware of your presence?" He brushed his white blond hair back, a menacing look on his face, a look that promised retribution for any failure.

"Everything went as planned, there were no problems. I am certain that they had no idea I was there." The nervous man desperately hoped he was right, otherwise his life would be ended summarily.

"Let me see the vial."

"Of course sir," the man retrieved a small glass vial form his pocket and handed it to Draco Malfoy, leader of the cause.

Draco smiled sinisterly at the contents of the vial, "it is not much, but it should be all that is needed. A significant hurdle in our plan has just been crossed. It is now only a matter of time and our plan will go into action..."

Nimue contemplated her next move carefully. She really wasn't a very good chess player, but she still found the game enjoyable. At least she knew that she could beat her cousin Lori at a game of chess. However, she knew that she didn't stand a chance against anyone else in her family.

Nimue had a habit of losing spectacularly whenever she got dragged into a game of chess with any of her siblings or her father. But, a game between Dierna and their father was absolutely amazing to watch. Dierna won only very rarely, but their games could last for hours. Nimue, on the other hand, was usually defeated in a matter of minutes.

Nimue and Lori, with only two years separating them, got on very well. Nimue found that she preferred the relatively quiet company of her younger cousin to that of the more boisterous Kamen and the twins. Plus, she enjoyed occasionally having the upper hand.

Nimue was generally pushed around by her siblings, and being the youngest, her parents tended to baby her. She enjoyed the fact that Lori looked up to her. It was a nice change of pace.

"Checkmate," Nimue grinned as she moved her rook across the board, effectively trapping Lori's king. Her violet eyes sparkled in delight with her victory.

Lori sighed, "You almost always win when we play. I'll have to practice more so that I can take you down next time." Lori tucked a loose strand of her straight red hair behind her ear and grinned back at her cousin. It was so nice to have another girl to do things with. Arthur was not her first choice for companionship.

Lori couldn't wait to begin school at Hogwarts. There would be so many new people and so much to do. To her eleven year old mind it would be a great adventure.

"Oy, Lori!" Kamen was standing there, casually leaning against the wall with Serena beside him, "I have some important stuff to tell you, about Hogwarts and everything."

Nimue looked up at her brother, something did not seem quite right about this situation, "Kamen, what are you going to..."

"Come on Nimue, this is important stuff. Why don't you stay out of our way, go read a book or something."

"Yeah Nimue," Serena spoke up, "we just want to tell Lori about what she should expect at Hogwarts. We really don't need you here for that."

Nimue looked back and forth between her brother and sister. They definitely had something planned, and she had a feeling she didn't particularly want to be around to see what it was. She got up and slowly made her way out of the sitting room deciding it would probably be best to make herself scarce if they were planning any kind of trouble.

"Come on Lori," Kamen gestured toward the sofa, "sit down and we'll tell you everything you need to know," he smiled; this was going to be so much fun.

Lori took a tentative seat on the sofa and Kamen and Serena joined her, one on either side. She hoped they would tell her everything. She was so excited about school starting.

"Now, the first thing you need to know," Kamen began, "is how the sorting ceremony works. There is always some kind of monster. They change what it is every year so unfortunately I can't tell you anymore about what you have to face. But you have to fight this monster, and you're sorted into whatever house your fighting skills match."

Lori looked at Kamen in shock, it sounded so difficult, "but how do I..."

"Oh, don't worry about knowing a bunch of spells; I just threw a chair at the troll I had to fight. It's really not that bad."

Serena chimed in, "he's right Lori, it doesn't matter what spells you use in the fight, just make sure you're creative. And don't worry about the danger, hardly anyone ever gets maimed," Serena made sure that her features were schooled in innocence. She desperately didn't want to give away the joke.

Serena continued, "And make sure you watch out for the giant squid that lives in the lake. Every year he gets one of the first years, but the school keeps that hushed up. It wouldn't look good if information like that got out."

"Are you sure Serena?" Lori wasn't sure if she should believe that or not. This all sounded way too far fetched.

"Trust us," Kamen interceded, "we have the inside connection on these things. Whenever the squid eats a student they tell the rest of the kids that that particular student had to leave unexpectedly or that they got expelled. We only know the truth since our parents are teachers."

Lori looked apprehensive, why hadn't she ever heard about any of this stuff? It didn't seem at all like the adventure she had been expecting, she had the strange suspicion that Kamen and Serena were trying to pull something over on her.

Serena picked up their inventive narrative again, "you really have to watch out for the ghosts that hang around Hogwarts, they like to play horrible tricks on the students. They're done stuff like cutting students hair while they're sleeping, or stealing their homework. And you definitely don't want to face a teacher without your homework, right Kamen?"

Kamen continued, nodding his head in agreement, quickly thinking up something else to tell his little cousin, this was so much fun. "She's right, the teachers are another thing you have to look out for. Most of them are absolutely horrible. Like, Professor Lupin, he's probably the worst teacher there. Everyone is terrified of him."

"Never get him mad," Serena looked deadly serious and she lowered her voice dramatically, "there are rumors that he actually murdered a student once because that student was unfortunate enough to be caught talking in his class."

Kamen tried desperately not to smile, Serena was absolutely brilliant, he could take this so far, "But, the worst of the teachers is our dad. He's terrifying in class."

Serena quickly jumped in, "don't ever get on his bad side; you really need to watch yourself in his class."

Kamen picked up on that line, "yeah, he has done some absolutely horrible things to his students, and..."

"And he has decided that the two of you are now grounded till term starts."

Kamen looked over at Serena frantically, she looked as shocked as he was, "Oy, this is so not good."

"No its not," Severus glared down at the trouble making duo, "I was not very impressed with your rather enlightening conversation. Lori, I wouldn't believe a word these two told you. I am sure that they are now ready to admit that they were merely teasing you, although I do not find their little joke at all amusing."

Kamen scratched the back of his head while he thought quickly. It didn't look like there was any way around this one. "Lori, we were just messing with you, we didn't mean anything by it, honest." Their dad had the most inconvenient habit of showing up at the worst possible time.

Serena rolled her eyes, of all the times to be caught during that conversation, it had to be when they were bad mouthing their dad, how typical. And of course Kamen somehow managed to sound completely contrite. "I'm sorry Lori, we were just playing." She fervently hoped that was all it was going to take.

Severus glowered at his children. The situation was rather amusing, not that he would ever let on that he felt that way. He was not pleased with what he had overheard; there was no reason that they should terrify Lori with stories like that. "Lori, your mother was looking for you." He shifted his gaze back to his children as Lori left the room, "that was a very irresponsible thing to do. I cannot believe that my children would deliberately try to frighten their own cousin like that." He turned and swept out of the room on that note.

"Oversized bat," Kamen muttered under his breath, "he knew we were just having a bit of fun and then he has to go and blow the whole thing out of proportion.

"Do you think he was serious when he said we were grounded?" Serena looked at her brother for any sign of hope to the contrary.

"Of course he was serious, like I said; he always blows stuff like this out of proportion. He insists on making a big deal out of every little thing we do. Jerk." Kamen was glaring moodily at nothing in particular.

"I wouldn't say that if I were you," Serena grinned wickedly at Kamen, "it would be a perfect time for Dad to show up again."

Kamen snorted, "that's true, and the last thing we need right now is to have him over hear us bad mouthing him even more."

"We? Exactly where does that 'we' figure into anything. You're the one that's doing the badmouthing now. Want to play a game of chess?" Serena tactfully steered the topic of conversation in a different direction.

"Only if you're ready to lose."

"Don't count on it Kamen, I can take you, no problem."