A/N: This chapter is all about the Slytherins. Don't ask me why, it just is.
Professor Snape stared into his pensieve. He had gone and purchased one after he had to borrow Dumbledore's when teaching Potter Occlumency thirty-four years ago. Too bad the boy had been completely hopeless at it. He braced himself with both hands on his desk, staring at the pearly depths.
A knock made him look up, as he had expected. How he loathed those who bothered him after hours. Even if they were Slytherins, after hours was his time which he liked to spend alone. However, he had expected to be disturbed at this time even if he did not like it. He had organized it, after all.
"Come." He ordered.
The door creaked open and Kai Malfoy entered, followed closely by Kim Flint. He wondered briefly what had possessed Marcus Flint and Milicent Bulstrode to name their son such a feminine name. He already knew, however, that Kim was an accepted boy's name as well. Veronica Parkinson and Nora Flint arrived moments later.
"Sit." He ordered, motioning to the chairs in front of his desk.
They obeyed, staring at their Head of House in confusion. It was not too long after supper and a very odd time indeed for him to call them. He knew that. He took the pensieve and placed it in one of his cupboards. His gaze then returned to the four students.
"You are here because I have dire matters to discuss with you." He informed them in his normal drawl, "As of today, you will no longer be returning to the Parkinson manor; ever. I have become your guardian, Mr. and Miss Flint; and Miss Parkinson, you will be taken in by your father."
"Why?" Kim Flint demanded, while the other three gaped at him.
"Because, Mr. Flint, the Parkinson family has been deemed unable to care for you anymore," He said smoothly, sitting and gazing evenly at them over the burnished wood surface of his desk. "Since Professor Malfoy and I have opted to take residence in the Malfoy manor this summer, you four will not be parted."
"But that also means we'll all have to go to the Weasleys whenever you and Father decide to go." Kai growled sourly.
"Yes, it does, Mr. Malfoy." He said smoothly.
Veronica made a face, which made her appear about as attractive as her mother in her prime. She had some of Draco in her, which made her looks slightly nicer than average, but when she scowled she looked just as ugly as Pansy. Severus tried very hard not to tell her to stop doing so as it was unbecoming.
Nora was hiding in her lifeless black hair, scowling at him. It was odd that a match such as Marcus Flint and Milicent Bulstrode could result in such... normal looking children. Nora and Kim only looked supremely unattractive when they scowled. He vaguely wondered if the older Flints and Bulstrodes had done something to their son and daughter to completely ruin their appearance.
A moment later, he proceeded to wonder why he was so observant as to the children's appearances. Probably because he would have to live with them for the next six years or so, Merlin help him. Luckily Draco was a natural father as Severus was certain that he was not. He would try to hand off his responsibilities to the younger man whenever possible; he loathedchildren.
"Any more questions?" Severus asked smoothly.
They each looked like they had half a mind to say yes, but none of them dared to say so. They simply stared back defiantly. Eventually, Veronica and Nora looked down. Kai and Kim continued to glare, though Kim eventually gave in. Lastly, Kai broke their gaze to glance somewhere past his ear.
He nodded, "Very well, back to your dormitories." He ordered.
They scampered to meet his wishes.
Kai fumed as they walked back in the direction of the Slytherin common room. "There go all my hopes of having fun this summer." He muttered.
"At least you're somewhat used to seeing them over the holidays." Kim growled, "Why would they take us from our legal guardians?"
"I wouldn't have thought Snape would be all anti-Dark supporters." Veronica mused to herself.
"He's on the good side, idiot." Nora snapped, "He turned spy, just like Zabini, except Snape was a spy back during the First War."
"And Father refused the Mark when he was seventeen, but married Mother to get inside information. He got it, obviously, and us two from it." Kai growled.
"Don't you two have another brother?" Kim demanded.
"He's not our genetic brother, not that I know of." Kai muttered.
"He's ten months older than me." Veronica added, "But I bet that Mother would have told me that I had a brother who was born on September third, since my birthday is August third."
"Exactly ten months? Quite a coincidence," Nora muttered.
"Exactly." Kai agreed, "And I would remember him being born, as Father kept commenting on how annoying Mother was when I was born."
A silence fell as they stood staring at each other outside the common room.
"Pureblood pride." Kai muttered to the wall, walking past it into the babbling common room.
Nora and Kim both looked horribly pissed. However, Veronica looked slightly happy. Kai glared at his sister, his irritation bubbling to the surface with lightning speed.
"Why do you look so happy?" He demanded.
Veronica looked a little sheepish, "I've never met Father as well... my father, not Professor Malfoy." She admitted.
"He's not that great. He favours Sirius, though I guess that's because he's never been into the Dark Arts." Kai informed her waspishly.
"Easy for you to say, you've had a father and a mother in your life." Veronica growled.
"Ooh, wow, three years with a mother and the rest with someone who's my father purely due to genetics." Kai muttered. "Lucky me."
Veronica slapped him. He stared at her, feeling a red mark grow on his cheek when she had hit it. She was a strong little girl, stronger than some in his year or above. He also found it rather ironic that his little sister was the first female to slap him across the face, when he had annoyed so many others and been around said others so much longer.
"What was that for?" He demanded, rubbing his cheek.
"For being an insufferable prat and complete arse," She snapped, "At least you got to spend time with Mother."
"Yeah, before she got sent off to Azkaban." He answered sourly.
She slapped him again.
"What was that for?" He snarled, rubbing his other cheek now.
"Same thing." She growled, "You'll treat me with respect, Brother, or I'll keep trying to slap some sense into you."
He glared at her. No Malfoy had to take orders from a girl. His father had told him as much, as he had never taken nonsense from Kai's mother. But respecting a girl? He supposed he had to do that. But if she got in the way... she would not get any respect then.
"Fine, Sister, but if you slap me again I'll hex you." He growled, "You'll respect me too."
Nora and Kim had watched this entire scene play itself out with no small amount of amusement. The boys bid good-bye to the girls as the latter pair headed up to their room.
"I can't believe Veronica slapped you." Kim chortled.
"I'll hex you if you say that again." Kai growled, making the younger boy's laughter stop abruptly.
Sora glanced up from the photo album when the other two returned from Professor Snape's office. "So... That went well, I suppose." She drawled, closing the heavy book.
"If you consider having to live with him and Professor Malfoy from now on a good thing," Nora muttered with a scowl.
"Ouch." Sora observed, smirking.
"Don't you smirk at us." Nora growled.
"Watch me." Sora countered, "You can't order me around, Nora."
Torrence arched an eyebrow, "She has a point, you know."
Katherine looked over the edge of her parchment roll, having been working on their latest Potions essay before the other two barged back in. Sora noted that Katherine and Torrence were both rather irritated with the mouthy Flint. Veronica was an almost constant irritation, but Nora was the worst of the pair. Sora knew that she was not the only one who wished Veronica was a little more like she had heard Draco Malfoy had been when he was young.
She looked back down at her photo album, looking at the smiling face of her father. He had married a Slytherin girl a few years below him, but she had been killed when Sora was nothing more than five years old by a vengeful Lucius Malfoy. It appeared his two year stay in Azkaban, as he had been freed by a group of Death Eaters, had made him bent on revenge on anyone against Voldemort.
She touched the face of her mother, Yonsa, who was beaming up at her. She smiled slightly in return, her gaze falling on her younger brother. His name had been Flayme. She did not know what had happened to him when the Death Eaters came. She knew a part of her hoped he would come to Hogwarts the next year. She also knew that he was probably dead too.
"What are you looking at?" Nora asked nosily.
Sora closed the book with a snap. "Nothing," She snapped irritably.
"Obviously it's something." Nora persisted.
"It doesn't concern you, Flint, so keep your nose out of my business if you want to keep it attached to your face." She snapped, brushing her black hair off her shoulders so that she could fix Nora with her green-eyed glare.
"Fine, be that way." The other girl said huffily.
"Gladly," Sora muttered, opening the album again.
Four year-old Flayme stared up at her from the page. His slightly coppery face was creased into a smile. Their mother had had skin darker than chocolate, but their father had been pale. So, she and Flayme were a creamy copper colour. He had the same eyes as she did, their mother's eyes, but their black hair was their father's. Their eyes, however, were like no others; a pale, near grey, green that was horribly creepy when used in a glare.
Torrence moved to Sora's bed suddenly and she closed the photo album with less irritation. She and Torrence were as close as sisters, though they were not related. Torrence's mother had had her extremely late in her life; most had thought she could not have children by then. But Bellatrix had managed it and Torrence was identical to her in appearance. In temperament, however, she was complementary to Sora.
"You've got one too?" Torrence asked, motioning to the cover of the album which had the Zabini family crest.
"I thought my family was the only one." Sora told her, her curiosity aroused.
Torrence returned to her bed and pulled a similar book from underneath the mattress. She opened it to the first page which had a sneering witch and wizard on it. Torrence winced slightly at the image and Sora did so as well, though in sympathy. Unlike her family, which had never supported Voldemort since her parents had gotten married, Torrence's family was very much full of dark supporters.
"Those are my parents," Torrence whispered needlessly, "Bellatrix and Rodolphus Lestrange, now dead and in graves. It serves them right, actually, the slimeballs."
Sora noticed the lack of gauntness in their features, "Before Azkaban?" She asked.
Torrence nodded, "It's an old picture, amazing that it was still in such good condition when they found it in the pits of the manor."
Sora flipped her book open to the first page, which had a similar image. "My parents, Yonsa and Blaise Zabini," She murmured, "Murdered."
Torrence gave her a small smile, "But they were on the good side, they fought well." She whispered.
Sora nodded, "I just wonder where my brother is." She admitted.
"You have a brother?" Torrence asked with surprise.
Sora flipped to the picture she had been staring at before, "That's the most recent picture I have of him. I have no idea what happened to him when Mother was killed. I managed to get out of the house, but I have no idea what happened to him..."
"I thought you were born after the war." Torrence said suddenly.
"Nope, I was born on October fifth." Sora answered, looking down into her brother's eyes, "He was born September fourth."
"How does that work? Nine months after October, when your father was killed, is July." Torrence observed.
"He was a very late baby." Sora admitted, "They nearly thought he was stillborn but Mother had been two months late as well."
Torrence nodded, "So he would have just missed the cut-off."
Sora smiled fondly at his picture, "His name is Flayme, because Father picked it." She told Torrence.
The other girl smiled, "You're lucky to have a brother."
Sora would have retorted, but Torrence was flipping pages in her album. She finally found the one she wanted, at the end, apparently tucked in at the last minute. It had four young men in it, none of which Sora could name but two of which looked familiar. It was obviously a very old copy of an even older picture.
"This is Sirius Black, my uncle," Torrence told her, pointing at the tallest man with a wide grin and slightly shaggy black hair, "with his best friends James Potter," the man with glasses and untidy black hair, "Remus Lupin," the scrawny man with odd scars on his exposed skin, "and Peter Pettigrew." She indicated the chubby man with a dreamy smile.
"Why are you showing me this?" Sora asked curiously.
"Sirius went on to be a murderer, though he was actually cleared as it was Peter who had killed those thirteen people," Torrence continued, ignoring her, "James was blasted to pieces by Voldemort and Remus died fighting alongside the good, despite the fact that he was a werewolf.
"Sirius's daughter, whom he never knew as her mother was just one of his random hook-ups when he was drunk, died fighting on Voldemort's side, James's son died fighting Voldemort and brought him down with him and Remus's son was murdered for his father being a werewolf before he turned seventeen." Torrence continued, "Now Sirius's daughter had a son through a random hook-up of her own. Who with is only known to her, her son and the father of her child, though he was probably drunk as well. That son, Sirius's grandson, died fighting against Lucius Malfoy. That was Zephari's father."
"And the point of this lengthy, though interesting, tirade is?" Sora asked.
"All those good people who have ever had anything to do with my family end up dead. Most of the bad ones too," Torrence growled. "So, obviously, I'm doomed as well."
"Don't talk like that, Tor. If everyone thought they were doomed because of familial history, then everyone would die. Look at my family! Hell, look at just about any family." Sora snapped.
Torrence nodded reluctantly, "True," She admitted.
"Cheer up; the bad times have almost passed." Sora encouraged.
Torrence nodded yet again, "So, what will we do this summer?"
Sora grinned. She and Torrence had been living together under the watchful eyes of Sora's aunt, Aysha, since her mother's death. Before then, Torrence had been raised by her disowned cousin, Nymphadora Tonks. Sora knew that she had often played with Zephari when the two were children. However, Torrence had left before Zephari came to live permanently in the Weasley-Tonks household.
"I was thinking..." She began, smirking devilishly.
"How can you not be worried, Bill?" Severus asked.
"I am, Severus, I just hide it." The Headmaster told him, running his hands through his hair, "He's been gone four months. Hogwarts will close this summer if we cannot find a way to reverse it."
"Luckily we sent the students with Ministry-led exams to do some practical studying in Hogsmeade." Severus observed.
Bill looked at his co-worker, "Indeed. This way they will pass their exams. I will, of course, cancel all other exams due to lack of teaching. We'll all have to work twice as hard next year to teach them what they should know."
"Wonderful," Severus said in a tone that clearly said it was not.
"Cheer up, Severus, I believe Dethol will find them." Bill said firmly. "He has motive to, after all."
"And we all know how dangerous he is when he has the right motive." The potions master said quietly.
Bill looked at him sharply. "We all can be dangerous when angered." He told the Slytherin Head of House.
Severus did not respond.
"Even if he is not completely sane, I trust him." Bill finished, his tone indicating that the conversation was over.
When Severus had left his office, Bill stared out the window of his office. "Come on, Dethol," He murmured to himself, hearing murmurs of the same kind from the portraits around the room, including Dumbledore's.