Minerva led the teenagers, my twins, to her seaside cottage in Scotland. She keyed them into her wards and bade them entry. They looked around the living room in interest once they saw her bookshelf. "Let me fix us a spot of tea, decaf of course, and then I will sort you out rooms," she said as she walked towards the kitchen. "Make yourselves at home."

A few minutes later she walked back in the living room, tea service ready, and chuckled in amusement at the sight that greeter her. Robbie and Hermione both were curled up in her sofa and had their noses in a book. "I can see the apple doesn't fall far from the tree," she laughed. Both gave her guilty looks. "You are welcome to anything I have," she reassured them.

"Thanks Professor," Hermione said automatically.

"Feel free to use my given name when we are away from others," Minerva offered with a small smile.

"Thanks Minerva," Hermione said with a radiant smile. "Do you think the house and practice will sell quickly? It will be nice to not wait tables for a little bit."

Minerva settled in the seat near the fireplace and made a cup of tea for all of them. "It is likely," she answered. "That house is in a well-known area and is in great condition. The business seems profitable. I plan on having my solicitor contact the realtor and handle it all discreetly. However, there is no need for either of you to work unless you chose to. I earn a rather generous salary and I rarely use any of it. You shan't go without."

Hermione and Robbie looked at each other in suprise before turning back to Minerva. "We don't mind a little hard work," Robbie said unsure at the situation. "We don't want to be a burden."

Minerva smiled sadly. "You shall never be seen as such. I would have gladly spent every knut I have on you both had I been given the opportunity. Please allow me to provide a bit for you. It will ease my mind if I can provide something for you both. I have already missed 15 years so I have a lot to make up for."

"Very well," Robbie finally agreed although he still seemed unsure about it.

"Do you both have accounts at Gringotts?"

"I do but Robbie doesn't," Hermione answered. "Is he eligible for a vault?"

"He is," Minerva answered matter-of-factly. "Muggles aren't but squibs can have a vault. I shall have one opened for you. Once the solicitors start selling items, the profits will be split between you both. Do you have muggle accounts that you want to fund as well?"

"We do but can we start a new one with our legal names?" Robbie asked hesitantly.

Minerva scrunched up her face in confusion. "Legal names?" she inquired.

"The Grangers never adopted us formally," Hermione explained. "They had falsified paperwork. According to Gran, Arwen insisted on us carrying the McGonagall surname."

Minerva stared at them in suprise. "You want to go by McGonagall," she whispered emotionally.

Robbie smiled at his mother and nodded. "The Grangers loved us but we always knew we weren't truly their children. If it wasn't for Gran's will, we probably would have been abandoned when Mya started Hogwarts. The older we got, it seemed the less they tried."

Horror filled her face at the mere thought. They kept them for the money? "If you want to go by McGonagall, I shall be honored," she managed. "If you want me to legally claim you as your mother I will do that as well, in both worlds."

Suprise showed on their faces at her offer. "What of your reputation?" Hermione asked concerned. "I imagine an unwed single mother would be frowned upon? How would you explain us?"

Minerva smiled at her daughter before standing up and walking to a Scottish countryside painting on the wall. It swung sideways and revealed a muggle safe in the wall. Minerva opened it and pulled out a piece of parchment. She looked at it with fondness before handing it to her children. "Arwen and I were married. We had a small magical ceremony in Paris."

"You were secretly wed?" Robbie asked suprised by the notion.

"We were," Minerva said with unshed tears blurring her vision. "Arwen refused to have a bigger wedding and begged me to keep it a secret. She frequently said she had many enemies and she couldn't bare to put me in danger. She never told me much about her enemies though. I loved her so much I caved to her requests. I cannot fathom why Arwen never told me she was pregnant. Anyways, it just so happened my distant cousin died last year and I found myself as the Ross Head of House. I'm sure my grandparents are rolling in their graves at the mere thought of a halfblood being Head of House Ross." Minerva noticed confused looks on the children's faces and elaborated. "My mother was a pureblood who was disowned for marrying a muggle."

"Really," Hermione asked curiously. "If she was disowned how did you find yourself as Head of House?"

"My cousin brought me back in the family when he discovered he was unable to father children. He eased his conscious by leaving the burden of continuing the Ross line on my shoulders. Gringotts has expressed a need for me to produce an heir. If you desire, I shall list you both as heirs which I'm sure will prompt an interesting Daily Prophet article." Minerva answered with a smile.

"You sneaky witch," Hermione said with a cheeky grin. "You plan to use their bigotry to your advantage. They can't say a word against your secret marriage to a witch since you needed an heir and one was produced."

"I freely admit it," she offered with a grin. "Do you want me to officially claim you both?"

Robbie shared a look with his sister. He silently begged her to allow their mother to claim them. Hermione could see his need to belong in the Magical world with her. She smiled at him and then met Minerva's hopeful gaze. "We would like to be claimed by you, Màthair."

"We would indeed, Máthair," Robbie added with a huge grin on his face.

Tears of joy ran down her face at the term for mother. She had longed to hear it directed at her, to have children of her own. Now she had exactly that and couldn't be happier about it. She moved to the couch and wrapped them up in her embrace. "I don't deserve your acceptance or forgiveness but I thank you all the same," she said in her thick brogue. "Thank you my loves."

"We will be walking in during an Order meeting," she reminded them. "Please leave the talking to me."

"Yes Máthair," they chimed and grinned as she rolled her eyes good-naturedly.

Minerva briskly led them into Grimmauld Place and ushered them into the meeting. "Sorry I'm late," she apologized indifferently. "We had matters to attend to."

"The children are upstairs," Molly said to Hermione. "Go ahead and run along while we have our meeting. Take your friend along dear."

"I would appreciate it if you didn't order my children around Molly," Minerva said in her best aspirated tone. Gasps of suprise sounded throughout the room at her comment. "Please take a seat Hermione, Robert."

"Yes Máthair," the twins chimed and sat down in the only available seats together.

"Your children," Albus asked curiously, his blue eyes twinkling. "I was unaware you had children Minerva."

Minerva met his eyes and smiled slightly. "You are aware I have a life outside of Hogwarts, right? With the current political climate, I no longer feel I am able to protect them in the Muggle World. Hermione would be a target regardless due to her friendship with Potter. Robert is a squib and I no longer feel it is safe for him to be away from me. I am just relieved they relented and went along with my need to protect them."

"But you aren't married?" a voice said in the back of the room.

"I am unsure why you feel that matters," Minerva said with a raised eyebrow and a defiant look. "I will have you know I am a widow."

"They are bastards," a voice boomed in the back. Elphias Doge she thought ruefully. "Elphinstone Urquart wasn't married to you until the early 80s. They are too old to be his."

Minerva slammed her hands on the table and stood up angrily. "You speak ill of my children once more and I will hex you. I will have you know I am Head of House Ross and you have just slighted my heirs. Another thing, I never said Elphinstone Urquart was their father. You in your bigotry mindset assumed. I was married in 1977 to the love of my life unfortunately I was left widowed shortly after the twins' birth."

The old wizard spluttered when she revealed her Ross House ring and quickly apologized to her. "I'm sorry Lady Ross," he said panicking a bit. "I was unaware you were married to another wizard before Elphinstone Urquart."

"Must you continue to jump to conclusions? I never said I was married to another wizard. I said I was married to the love of my life. Unfortunately my wife died shortly after giving birth to our children," she said ignoring the mumbling prompted by mention of her wife. "You are aware of our laws when it comes to Head of Houses and the laws to ensure heirs. If another word is said about my children, I shall make you suffer greatly."

"No harm done Minerva," Albus soothed as he eyed his Deputy Headmistress with a curious expression. "You realize you will need to officially claim your children so misunderstandings won't continue to happen, right?"

"Máthair has already spoken to Gringotts and then met with a reporter from the Daily Prophet," Robbie said with a lazy grin. "Should be an interesting story tomorrow."

Hermione snorted in amusement at the expression on their mother's face. She was glaring at Robbie although her twin didn't seem to be fazed by it. Their mother was obviously not amused by his help it seemed.