I have, up until this point, been assuming that Hermione was the youngest of the 'Golden Trio.' According to JKR, I would be wrong. So, anything previously mentioning Hermione's age is wrong. She is sixteen, and will turn seventeen on September 19. At one point, Chibi-Usa called her 'little sister.' Make that 'big sister.' For everyone else, I think I've got it right. Sorry if anyone was confused or is upset with me.
Chapter Five
It could be compared to a gigantic puzzle or to an impressionistic painting. Each individual piece was insignificant, could be blown off as coincidence. But once you stepped back and took in the picture as a whole, it was undeniable. All the parts had been there, they just needed to be arranged properly. And the image they produced was startlingly clear.
It had been there the first day she met Usagi, written on every inch of his face when she'd told him she had daughters. It had been there every time Usagi mentioned him, even in passing, her voice always emotional in a way Hermione hadn't understood. It was there in Hotaru and Rei, their resemblance more than just that of two Asian women in the eyes of a European.
Individually, each of these could have their own perfectly harmless explanation. He could have just been upset that she had unleashed her spawn on the rest of the world. The two were unlike enough that it was possible he disliked her that greatly. She could have felt any range of emotions toward him as she spoke about him—anger, pain, or sympathy. Rei and Hotaru could really have just looked alike by coincidence. But, all of these things put together, along with a few other key pieces of information pointed to only one solution.
Severus Snape had two teenaged daughters he'd never seen before.
He stood there with a perfectly calm look on his face, arms crossed over his chest in a stance Hermione had seen quite often. He did not look particularly happy about the situation, but he wasn't shouting or doing any of the horrible things that made him the "greasy git" to all his students. He was just standing there, staring intently at Usagi, who was becoming increasingly uncomfortable with each passing second.
"Severus," she chuckled nervously. "Wh...what are you doing in Japan?"
"I just thought I'd...check up on the family," he replied. He was smiling in a horribly evil way.
That smile could only mean one thing. Usagi was (figuratively of course as Snape was not known to frequently kill Order members) about to kick the proverbial bucket in a most unpleasant manner. Hermione prepared herself for the blond woman's inevitable demise, and was pretty sure Usagi was doing the same. She was wringing her hands and trembling, looking terribly uneasy.
The entire group sat completely still for two full minutes, just waiting for someone to explode. Whether it would be into a rage or into tears or a literal explosion, no one was quite sure, but it was bound to be pretty in the way car wrecks are pretty. Hermione couldn't help but think of a book in the tense situation, and, as per typical Hermione, it was a book of deep philosophy, controversy and esotericism. Joseph Conrad called it "the fascination of the abomination." When everything exploded, people couldn't help but watch, fascinated by the terrible image.
As it turned out, things did not explode. Minako was the first to crack. "Well, this is a family issue, so we'll leave the family to work it out. Come on, Ami, we've got a wedding to shop for!" Her enthusiasm was sickening, but she managed to drag Makoto, Ami and Ryo out of the temple without any casualties. Setsuna, Haruka and Michiru followed suit leaving only the 'family,' Helios, Mamoru and Hermione who wasn't sure if she counted as family or not.
"Well, don't just stand in the door all day," Rei said. He complied, and before he'd taken three steps, she leapt up and threw her arms around his neck. "I missed you."
"I missed you as well," he replied, returning her embrace. In that moment, Hermione vowed never to let the Potions master intimidate her ever again. He was most emphatically a human being. He had a sister whom he cared about enough to hug her in front of other people, and he had children. Of course, she was intelligent enough to realize that flaunting her newfound lack of fear directly at him would have dire consequences, as he, even as a human, was still extremely powerful.
"Oi. Who is this guy, and should I be jealous?" Yuuichirou, Rei's husband, stood in the doorway, a confused look in his half-hidden eyes. Rei beamed at him.
"Yuuichirou, this is my brother."
"Oh." His face brightened immediately. He grinned and bowed. "Snape, right? Severus...Snape. I'm Yuuichirou."
Snape did not return the bow, but did give him the courtesy of a nod. "You work here?" he asked, nodding at Yuuichirou's temple garments and sounding condescending. Rei smacked his arm.
"Severus, this is my husband." Snape stared, looking bewildered.
"You're far too young to be married," he insisted, turning to look at his sister. She glared at him.
"How old are you?" She gave him a moment to think about it. "I'm three years younger, remember? Thirty-three? And I've known Yuuichirou since before I moved to England. Sit down before you fall over." She took his arm and led him to a chair. However, by the time he'd seated himself, he had regained his composure and was glaring at Yuuichirou as he often glared at misbehaving students.
"I'm just...going to go do some cleaning," Yuuichirou said, nervous under such intense scrutiny. "It was nice to meet you." He bowed again and scampered. Rei huffed and sank onto the sofa next to a very dazed Hermione.
"I know, I know. He's an idiot, you don't even have to say it." Snape smirked, but did not comment.
"I'm glad you showed up," Usagi said softly. "It'll be less awkward for you to meet the girls here, instead of at an Order meeting or even at Hogwarts on the first day of school. We still don't know when we're going back."
Snape finally took the time to look at his daughters. They sat next to each other on the couch, along with Helios, and had been staring at him since he arrived. Hotaru blushed at the attention and tried to disappear into the upholstery, but Chibi-Usa was sitting on her hands, her eyes large, twitching slightly in uncontainable excitement. Finally, she couldn't control herself, and leapt up, perching herself on the edge of his chair and wrapping her arms around his neck.
He looked stunned, unsure of how to react, and Hermione couldn't help but wonder when the last time he showed affection had been. He spent all of his time being a grouchy teacher or a Death Eater spy, and hardly seemed to have time for family or a social life. Slowly he reached a hand up to pat her hair, setting the other on her back. When she was satisfied that it was indeed him and that he was accepting her, she released her grip and smiled brightly at him. Hotaru stood and approached him timidly. They hugged, awkwardly as well, and then Chibi-Usa and Hotaru sat back down on the couch.
"I know you all want to talk about personal stuff, but before we get too distracted, we should figure out what to do with Hotaru and Chibi-Usa once we go to England. It would probably be for the best if people didn't know they were twins. Can't risk your job and all." Rei said. The last bit was addressed at Snape, and Hermione realized that it could apply to both his teaching position and his position as a spy. After all, if Harry and Ron knew the 'evil git' had two daughters, they'd probably curl up in the fetal position and weep. And, the Dark Lord would probably be upset that he hadn't been informed of the girls earlier.
"We can make use of our resemblance," Hotaru addressed Rei softly, and blushed as attention was focused on her. "I could play your daughter. It's really the only feasible way, since I look more like your father's side of the family. Otherwise, I could be a cousin or something."
"I guess that would work, if you can keep up the charade. I know you've done it before, but this could very well last for years," Rei pointed out.
"Chibi-Usa and I will play best friends since childhood. It isn't uncommon for best friends to feel like sisters, and treat each other's mothers accordingly. I doubt anyone will bother to look past our resemblance anyway," Hotaru replied.
"Shallow, and yet true," Snape sneered.
"What about me?" Chibi-Usa whined.
As the attention was focused on her, a plan began to form itself in bits and pieces in various minds throughout the room. Hermione sat back, staring in awe at the "family" before her. The three dark-haired, Slytherin-esque individuals developed most of the plan, though Usagi and Chibi-Usa occasionally threw in a comment. The end result was pure brilliance, something that could only be thought up with the combination of Slytherin cunning and Gryffindor boldness.
From then on, the meeting digressed into a self-blaming match between Usagi and Snape. Everyone else in the room quickly realized it and found excuses to leave. Chibi-Usa and Helios went to catch a movie, and Rei went with Mamoru to find Yuuichirou. Hotaru took Hermione by the hand and led her out of the temple.
"That was very awkward," Hotaru stated. "Would you like to see the public library?"
Hermione's eyes brightened significantly, and she nodded fiercely. Of all places available to her at the moment, the library would be the best for putting everything else in the back of her mind. As far back in her mind as was humanly possible, if she had any say in it.
Augustus "Gus" LaRue hated having meetings on the weekends. He was, without fail, hung over every Saturday, and depending on how hung over he remained, was likely to go out and get drunk again, resulting in an even worse hang over on Sunday. Knowing he had to call a meeting on Saturday, he had curbed his drinking the night before, but it hadn't helped much. He had a splitting headache and had spent most of the morning hunched over the toilet.
The situation was further aggravated by the presence of the San Francisco team. The two North American teams tried to have as little contact with each other as possible, but with things coalescing quickly, they had no choice but to join forces. He especially found it hard to get along with Deborah Bauer, the leader of the other team. Honestly, if she weren't such a frigid bitch, he might get along with her better, but as it were, she hated almost everything male, and had no problem voicing her opinions.
Her brother Michael, on the other hand, was all right. With a little alcohol in his bloodstream, the kid knew how to have fun. Anthony, the nerd, was usually antisocial and not worth mentioning, as far as Gus was concerned.
His team was doing its best to ignore the three Californians. Ares and Jess were engrossed in a game of chess, quite content to shut out the rest of the universe. Felix was discussing some Arithmantic theory with Alma, whose faded blue eyes were twinkling in that obnoxious manner so common in her family. She was munching on some obscure candy, which also seemed to run in the family.
Gus had only met her older cousin, Albus Dumbledore, twice, but the resemblance was obvious. Alma had nowhere near the magical ability of her cousin, but she was effective as a leader and, with her position as Headmistress of Salem Academy, was able to keep an eye out for promising young talent. She had been the one to recruit Jess Flynn, and the Danell family would not have even known about the Order of the Phoenix without her.
The only other people at the meeting were Petz and Calaveras, who were mildly annoyed at the dissent between the two groups.
"Oi!" Petz shouted. "Let's get this over with, already." Everyone turned to look at her except Ares and Jess, who cared more about their chess game. "First of all, they found another nijizuishou in South America. There are three left, so the search will continue. Now, Albus has made it clear that he wants to start gathering in England. We need to discuss who will be going and who will be staying."
Calaveras took over. "It's already been decided that Ares and Jess will go to England. Jess will begin her sixth year at Hogwarts, and Ares will teach a new dueling course. Obviously, Alma and Felix need to remain for their teaching duties. That leaves Gus, Michael, Deborah and Anthony. At least one of you needs to stay in San Francisco for logistical purposes."
"I'll stay," Anthony volunteered. He had no desire to leave his computer equipment for Wizarding Britain. In Europe, the Wizarding world liked to stay separate from the Muggle one, including banning most of the technology that made Muggle life so much fun.
Michael promptly offered to stay with him, secretly hoping his sister would leave and go to England. He loved her and all, but it was so much easier to party without her around. She, on the other hand, knew exactly what he was planning, and stated that she would not leave those to "idiotic boys" to run things by themselves. Gus LaRue decided he might as well go to England. He was technically retired, and he could booze and womanize just as good in England as he could in the States.
"Fantastic," Petz said, once the decisions had been made. "I suggest you leave some time in August, so you can get settled. Jess will receive a letter from Hogwarts soon detailing the supplies she'll need. Now, unless any of you have any information you need relayed to another part of the world, I think this meeting is over."
Nobody wanted to remain in the meeting any longer than necessary, so once Petz and Calaveras left, they went their separate ways. Jess and Ares were the only two who did not immediately pick up and leave. As the others bustled about and scampered, they continued with their chess game. Felix Danell chose to stay until they finished, feeling proudly like a responsible adult making sure his son didn't "prey on" his star pupil.
In truth, the "caution" was unnecessary. Even given the opportunity, Ares wouldn't do anything illegal. The two played for nearly another hour before they finished their game. Occasionally they talked, but they were too busy strategizing to be reasonable conversation, and Felix silently urged Jess to hurry up and whip Ares. She did, soundly, and finally the trio left, chatting amiably about Arithmancy.
Once they had been left alone, Usagi and Snape stared at each other in silence for some time. Usagi was wringing her hands nervously, and Snape was glaring at her like a wayward student. There was so much to say, so much to apologize for, so many years to make up for, and neither really knew where to begin. Snape had the added bonus of terribly interpersonal skills. He found apologizing extremely difficult.
"I...perhaps I should have told you," Usagi started, finally breaking the ice. "But...I was so scared at first. I didn't know if they were yours until Hotaru started growing hair, and then I didn't know if you'd want kids, or if it was even safe for you to know."
She was rambling, and she knew it. But she couldn't stop. She had so much she wanted to explain, so many loose ends she wanted to tie up. She went on and on, told him everything that had happened from the time she was attacked to the time she realized Snape was the father. She tried to explain her reasoning for keeping the secret, but from the pained look on Snape's face, she wasn't sure she was doing a good job.
Finally, Snape seemed to tire of her ramblings. He grabbed her hands, and spoke. "Just stop. I understand why you did as you did. I would have encouraged you to do the same. I just...wish it didn't have to be like this."
He looked dejectedly at his hand holding hers. His were long, bony and tough from years of potion brewing. Hers were small and soft, and still trembling slightly. He ran a thumb over her knuckles and looked up at her. She was crying, though there was none of the loud sniffling he had been more than accustomed to when they were young. She was so different, and yet so similar, it was unnerving.
"I'm sorry," she whispered, pulling her hands away and trying to wipe the tears from her eyes.
"In the end, I am only glad to know you are safe and relatively happy," Snape replied. "They seem wonderful. I only wish I could claim them without there being any risks. It will be difficult to follow the plan, knowing what everyone is thinking and knowing how wrong they are."
Usagi nodded, staring down at her hands. They grew silent again for a moment, though it was less awkward than at first. Finally, Usagi gained some courage.
"Would you like to come over and have supper with us?" she asked. He smiled, if barely, at her.
"I'll need to return home briefly to take care of a few things, but I would enjoy that."
They stood, preparing to go their separate ways. They glanced at each other and Usagi blushed vibrantly. He took her hand and kissed it lightly, and she blushed even more. Then, without warning, he Apparated with a loud 'crack,' leaving her standing by herself in Rei's sitting room. She remained there alone for a moment, musing to herself, until finally she turned and left. She was having a guest over for dinner, and would need to get started now if she were going to be able to clean up the kitchen before he arrived.
So, I'm not completely satisfied with it, but I had someone else read it, and they thought it was fine. I then fixed a few things and, well, here it is. Let me know if you think anything is...not right.
Now, about this review business. You wanna know something that bugs me? When people mark a story as a favorite or get author alerts for it, and then NEVER review it. By marking something as a favorite or receiving author alerts, it implies that you enjoy a story. But the author doesn't know why. They don't know if certain aspects are awesome, or if there are some areas that need improvement. Twenty-two people have this story on author alert, and thirteen have it marked as a favorite. I realize that you may not have the time to read and review every chapter as it comes out. But some of you (and I know who you are) don't ever bother to review. I'm not going to name names, but know that I'm not happy with you. (However, if you review, I will be more happy.)
Now, on to reviewing the reviews!
Hoshiko Megami-Hopefully now you know who he is. Thanks for the review.
TheMello-Thank you, as always, for the wonderful review. I'm glad you think my story has maintained a certain level, and hopefully I will be able to keep it up.
Lily ponds-Mamoru is a member of the Japanese Order and a friend to Usagi. He will mostly be overprotective, but he won't play that huge of a role. Thanks for the review.
I laugh at you-Usagi and Snape's past will be explained as the story progresses. Hopefully I'll be able to make it believable with their unique personalities. Thanks for the review.
Tenshi no Nozomi-Thanks for the review. Hermione will be getting back to her normal self slowly, but things are a bit overwhelming for her at the moment. She'll get over it, though.
Okay, I'm sorry this took so long to get out, but honestly, I just started college. I've been a little busy. Just a bit. Also, my other story Vendetta (which, in my opinion is of far superior quality to this fic) received SEVENTEEN reviews in one chapter. I felt obligated to spend more time on it. :hint hint:
I always get yelled at when I beg for reviews. But honestly, unless you guys keep it up, I'll probably lose interest in this story, at least for awhile. It'll come back eventually, but the less you review, the more likely I'll be to focus on other things.