Chapter 4:

Little Samantha came to in a room she definitely didn't recognize. It wasn't her room at Hogwarts or her room at Snape Manor. There were no signs of her toys, her clothes, her books or her blanket anywhere. The room was nicely furnished and she knew it was owned by a very rich wizard, but it was darker than the Hogwarts dungeons. She sat up and nearly screamed when she came face to face with the head of a troll hanging above her bed. Someone banged on her door, told her to "shut the hell up" and walked away. She sat shivering, wishing her daddy would chase that man down and make him regret yelling at her, her mommy would come and hug her to make everything alright, or that she had least had Leo, her Gryffindor lion. She then remembered her sister and realized she had to make sure Madi was alright. Without a second thought, the little Snape slipped out of her room (the people who were yelling at her obviously didn't know what a lock or ward was) and went searching for her sister.

Madison was two rooms down from her and was quite happy to see her older sister. The youngest Snape daughter immediately launched herself at Sam and gave her a bear hug. She had obviously been crying and had wiped her face on her white sweater sleeve. "Sammy, I wanna go home. I no like it here," she said.

"I don't like it here," Sam automatically corrected. "And I don't either."

"Can we go home?"

"I don't know where we are."

"Floo?"

"There's no powder, Madi," Sam said, sinking down so that she was sitting on the carpeted floor Indian style, her blue skirt stretched over her white stocking. Madi imitated her sister, smoothing out her green skirt over black stockings. "Face it, we're stuck here."

"Will Mommy and Daddy be able to save us?" she asked, eyes wide open.

"I'm sure."

"What 'bout James?" Sam groaned; she didn't even think that their friends were with them.

"Come on. Let's go see if they're around." With that, Sam stood up and grabbed her sister's hand. They cautiously tiptoed down the hall in search of the others.

Jamie groaned as she sat up. Her back hurt; whoever had put her down hadn't done so gently. She didn't think it was her parents, especially since her sneakers were still on. Her mom and dad always took off her sneakers and placed her down ever so gently when she fell asleep. She shook her head to clear the fog, her pigtails slapping her face to help with the process. She was definitely not at home, neither at Hogwarts nor at their other home. She looked over to find her sister still sleeping, pigtails fanned out across the bed and still in the gray t-shirt, denim skirt and sneakers their mother had dressed her in. Jamie jumped down off the bed and straightened out her camouflage shirt and jeans.

Walking around the bed, she was surprised to find Rawlins sitting at the foot. "How did you get in here?" she asked her brother.

"Door was open," came her reply.

"Wide open?" A shake of the head. "Unlocked?" A nod. "Are we the only ones here?"

"I dunno," Rawlins replied, hugging himself. He wanted his mum to come through the door and lift him up for a big hug. Jamie sat down next to him and encircled her little brother.

At the same time, Lily started coming to. She looked about her and started to cry. "Will someone go shut that brat up!" was heard shouted up. Jamie and Rawlins leaped onto the bed to calm down their hysterical sister. Lily did a few seconds later and was only hiccupping. No one came. Lily wiped her eyes and wished her dad were the one to do so. He always made some funny comment that chased her bad mood away.

"I don't want to stay here," she announced after regaining the ability to speak. "I want to go home."

"We all want to go home. The problem is how?" Sam said, marching into the room with Madi. There's no floo powder." Everyone sighed.

Neither Giachi nor James had been happy to be thrown onto their beds and had tried to kick the person who had done so. The other person swore and slammed the door behind him as he left. They were the only ones (besides the twins) who were sharing a room since it came with a double bed. "Giachi, can we go home now?" James asked as soon as the man was gone.

"I don't think so, kid," his brother responded.

"Why not?" Giachi had no way of answering this, so he let it hang in the air. "Can we find Sam? Sam knows all th' answers."

"I doubt she knows the answer to this," Giachi grumbled. But he sighed; their best friends were probably also trapped in this place. "Come on. Let's go be knights in shining armor and rescue the damsel in de-dress."

"Will we slay d'agons?" James asked as he followed his brother.

"Who knows? Maybe."

"Just 'ike Cha'lie!"

The two Black boys burst into the nearest room they heard little kids' voices from. Sure enough, all their friends were located there. "No fear damses! We come to 'escue you!" James said, waving his arms high.

Jamie giggled. "Our hero," she cooed as Madi ran to hug her best friend.

Giachi turned to Sam and posed the infamous question: "What now?" She could only shrug and his face fell. "So, pretty much our only hope is our parents?"

"That's a pretty good hope," Sam said. "I'm sure my father will be in here swinging curses left and right when he finds us."

"My dad's going to be out for blood. With his own bare hands," Giachi agreed while Lily nodded.

"So, we just sit and wait," the blonde girl said.

Her twin, however, smiled a devious smile—the one their parents called "a marauder's". "Or, we could make our stay here very interesting," she said, rubbing her hands together. "Very interesting indeed."

The dungeons never sounded so quiet. Not that the girls were exceptionally loud, but there was always some sort of sound in the air. Now, it was just the sound of Garret breathing as he slept on while Kiki just lay on the couch, not making any noise. Severus pinched the bridge of his nose as a headache from thinking came. Madame Pomfrey always joked that he was the only person she knew who thought too much to cause a headache. But never mind that now—his daughters were in the hands of madmen and he couldn't do anything about it!

He plopped down on the couch and gave a long, dramatic sigh. Kiki crawled over to him and laid her head on his chest. He closed his eyes and just focused on her. Severus never figured it out, but somehow clutching his wife always made him feel better. She was like a walking, talking security blanket.

"Do you think they're okay?" Kiki asked, sounding like a child. Like one of their children…no, he wasn't going to go there.

He leaned down and brushed his lips against her forehead. "They're our children. I think they are just fine. Madi and Sam have received the perfect blend of Slytherin and Gryffindor qualities that will enable them to survive. Besides, they're both with the Lupin twins. I can't believe I'm about to say this, but that blasted Marauder spirit will probably send Lucius running for his sanity."

"As if he has any left," Kiki snorted. "He's kidnapped our children. And the Lupins'. And the Blacks'."

"Well, when put that way, you're right. Lucius has gone insane. He'll probably be babbling by the time we get there," Severus said. "Though I sincerely hope not."

Kiki jumped up. "What? I hope he is reduced to tears and hiding in the corner. That way he won't be able to hurt any of those poor children."

"I know, darling," Severus said. He stood up and wrapped his arms around her waist, drawing Kiki closer. "But why should we let all the children have all the fun? I want my chance to drive Lucius' sanity to joining Crabbe's."

Kiki smirked. "I think I like that," she said, kissing him. "But after he kidnapped my babies, I don't want to drive him insane. A few broken bones may help, though."

"Remus, darling, why are you holding a pitchfork? Outside of Alida's nursery?"

"Just in case. We don't know if Lucius didn't plan on taking the toddlers. He could come back and take our last child from us."

Harmony slid down next to her husband and transfigured his pitchfork back into the regular fork it used to be. "Remus, I don't think Lucius can handle one-year-olds. Look, the two years-olds are pretty much potty trained by now, which is why he can handle them. I don't see anyone that could be near the children changing diapers," she said, stroking his hair.

Remus leaned down so that his head was resting on his wife's lap. "I just don't want to lose Alida," he whimpered.

"Don't be silly. We're in Hogwarts; we're safe."

"Didn't you hear the note? Lucius has been watching us," Remus said. "He said it's been for a while. We've all been at Hogwarts since Garret was born he was on the property. He probably has an invisibility cloak…"

"Which everyone knows Dumbledore can pretty much see right through," Harmony finished. Remus sat up and she sighed. "I'm confident we are safe here in Hogwarts. Why else would they plan for the children to be kidnapped in the middle of Diagon Alley rather than from their own beds at Hogwarts?"

Remus leaned over and grabbed Harmony's hand tightly. The two just sat like that for a little while longer.

Arden was having another nightmare. Her concerned parents once asked Severus to provide them with a dreamless draught potion, but Kiki warned them against it. She remembered having nightmares at Arden's age and had a feeling they were the "inner eye" developing. Albus and another Seer (definitely not Sibyll Trelawney) agreed with her, so now the poor girl was suffering through the nightmares. At least they didn't seem to affect her.

Sirius now walked back and forth in his daughter's nursery, shushing her gently. Bianca was curled up on her rocking chair, zoning in and out. "Do you think these nightmares are her seeing anything?" Bianca asked her husband.

"I don't know. And she isn't going to be able to tell us. We know a year old child's vocabulary isn't very big," Sirius replied. "Unless you were Samantha Kristin Snape."

"Sirius," Bianca mock-scolded. "What do you expect from a girl whose parents are extremely smart?"

Sirius shot her a glare but then settled down on the floor next to her. Bianca leaned down and picked up their daughter. Arden had stopped whimpering in her father's arms, but fell right asleep with the rocking motions. Bianca stroked the soft hair. "They're alright," she said, suddenly.

"I know they are."

"There's too much of you in them. Luckily, I think Sam and Madi balance out the two."

"And Rawlins. He's just like Remus."

"He is. Lucius Malfoy doesn't know what he's gotten himself into—Jamie and Lily Lupin plus Samantha Snape plus Giacomo Black?"

"Equals pure terror," Sirius said, smiling. "I just want the boys back. We're also going to have to tell your parents."

Bianca groaned. "Do we have to? I mean, I know that they're the grandparents and they have every right to know, but my mother's going to set up camp and won't leave until they are home. Do we really want that?"

Sirius sighed and brought her down off the chair. He wrapped his arms around her and their daughter, rocking them gently. "I think we're going to need her. We're both under a lot of stress now. She can take some off of you," he whispered.

"All right," she sighed. "I'll floo her in the morning. I can't believe I just said that!"

A knock disturbed a deeply absorbed Draco Malfoy from the files he was going over. After starting in the Ministry owl room, he was promoted to research assistant in the judicial department. He had a very keen sense of determination that the senior officials of the department sought and were quite impressed with his thorough work. He had been looking through past records of Deatheater interrogations when his cousin had disturbed him. "Tonks," he said. "You scared me."

"Sorry, kid," she replied, sitting down across from him. Since the end of the Second War, Draco had finally grown closer to his cousin. "I came to bring some news to you."

"What? Is it about that explosion yesterday in Diagon Alley? Melissa was there and she was scared," Draco said. Melissa Reinbart was his girlfriend of eighteen months and worked in Internal Affairs. She had been a Slytherin, two years youngerthan him. They had run into each other at the Ministry food court through mutual friends and spent the entire time talking. She admitted to having the biggest crush on him his last year and he invited her out for coffee the next morning. The two never looked back.

Tonks fiddled with her robes. "Yes. The explosion was a diversion."

"I knew it!"

"To hide a kidnapping operation."

"A kidnapping operation? Who would be kidnapped? Not Potter's daughter, in fact I saw Ginny and Molly yesterday…oh no," Draco said, realization causing him to frown. "Not them. Tonks, please say…"

"Sam and Madi along with Jamie, Lily and Rawlins Lupin and Giachi and James Black," Tonks nodded.

Draco swore and slammed his files shut. "No, Uncle Severus doesn't deserve that. Not after everything he's been through," he replied, fist clenched. "Who would be crazy enough to pull a stunt like that?"

"Well…"

"Oh no, no, no! Don't even say…it can't be…he's…no!"

"Draco, he left a note."

"DAMN IT!" A few people were now staring and other heads were starting to turn. Tonks noticed such and decided to get her cousin out of the office for a while, suggesting they both go for some coffee. They walked around for a little bit. "How could he? What does he want?"

"Harry's head on a silver platter, Severus in jail, Dumbledore locked up in some loony bin, and your address."

"Never going to happen, he'd rather die, why put him there now, and over my dead body," Draco responded. "Does my mother know?"

Tonks nodded. "He's working with Fudge as well. That's the fifth demand; Fudge should become the new minister of magic." She paused. "There's no one of his old gang that would be able to help him, right?"

"Probably only Lestrange. He was sent to Canada for attacking Ginny Weasley. Well, she was that then. Crabbe thinks he's Alexander the Great in Azkaban and Goyle died there a few weeks ago. Everyone else is also crazy or dead from the final battle," Draco ticked off. "But I guess he wants to talk with me about my choice on the final battlefield.

"Yeah, pretty much," Tonks replied. "But don't let him get to you. Severus, Dumbledore and I were all proud of your decision."

"I was too. You know, Melissa was on our side during the final battle?"

"So was her dad."

"Yeah," Draco said. "I'll watch myself and will probably pop in to see Uncle Sev and Kiki soon. They still have Garret, right?"

"Wasn't even at Diagon Alley."

"Good. Thanks, Tonks," he said, reaching his desk.

"No problem, kid."

A/N: Well, I leave for vacation this weekend and I won't be back until August, so this will have to hold you all for now. Don't worry, I'll also do one more update on Phantom of the Dungeons too before leaving. I have my copy of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince and I'm torn between reading it all right away and pacing myself to enjoy it. Marching onwards…thanks to all my reviewers:

Sarahamanda: Well, if I give the children back soon, then I won't have too much of a story. I know I said this should be shorter but I don't want it to be that much shorter!

SarahtheBardess: Yay! I surprised someone by making Malfoy the kidnapper! And his new wife's name is Jolene. I enjoyed writing that letter so much, even if it meant insulting my own character. You can drop kick him…doubt it'll do much good. And yes, Sirius literally was kicked off the couch. And trust me, the kids are going to drive everyone insane (if they are not already there).

Roxy Black: Well, the first step is admitting you have a problem. But then again, do they have rehab programs for fanfic addicts? And furthermore, do I want you to enter one and stop reading my stories?

cerzee: Lucius isn't all that there and definitely doesn't have this all worked out. Trust me. He is pathetic and everyone but he and Narcissa knows it. Oh well.

Anyway, thanks again. Now, my muse is writing a story using my characters but I don't know when she's going to post it up. If at all—she's a little too self-critical and self-deprecating. If she puts up, I'll let you know so you could all check it out. Until then…I'll be vacationing in PA and DC! Mac