Chapter 2: Dad came back, and he's not happy at all.
Kat went to her dorm and changed out of her uniform robes, then grabbed her homework and headed back out into the common room to do it. She sat on one of the couches and spread out her work. Hearing her name being shouted, she looked up to find Alex crying -"What happened?"- She asked, confused as she closed her book and put in down next to her.
Alex stood in front of his sister. -"I have melted the floor, what do I do, if the elves see it they will tell the headmaster, that is, they will tell dad, I'll get in trouble, what do I do?"- He sobs and sniffs.
Kat took a deep breath before she got up off of the couch -"First, you need to relax and then take me to your dorm."- She grabbed her wand -"Show me how bad it is and let figure out if you should be crying or not, it may just be an easy fix"-
Alex sniffs before wiping the tears from his eyes- "mhm, okay, let's go"- He says quietly before turning around and walking to his dorm. He walks into his dorm and walks over to his bed -"Here"- He says while pointing to a hole in the floor with shards of glass around it.
Kat followed him to his dorm then sighed as she saw the mess -"Ok, go sit on your bed, so you don't step on glass"- She's bend down and started picking up some shards of the glass -"I'll clean it up and fix the floor"-
Alex nods and sits on the bed being careful not to step on the glass shards -"Ok, thanks, Kat"- He said quietly while looking at his sister. -"I'm sorry, it was an accident, I didn't do it on purpose"- He used to repeat that phrase a lot.
-"It's ok, Alex, I know you wouldn't do this on purpose"- Kat said with a sigh as she got up and threw the glass in the trash. -"How did this happen exactly?"- She asked as she walked back over to the hole and pulled out her wand.
Alex lightly kicks his legs. -"I was doing my homework, the robe made me uncomfortable, so I took it off, I forgot I had the potion inside it, and the potion fell to the floor, the bottle broke, and the contents melted the floor"-
-"Makes sense"- Kat said before she whispered 'Scourgify' and the potion remains were cleaned off the floor. -"Luckily this isn't that bad and I can fix it fairly easily"- She said glancing over at her brother before whispering 'Reparo' with the moment of her wand, the floor fixed itself.
Alex sighed in relief and got up quickly from the bed. -"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! "-He says while hugging his sister around the waist. - "You are the best, Kat!" -
-"I know I am"- Kat said laughing as she hugged him back -"You're welcome, just please be more careful"- She said as she let go of him.
Alex lets her go and smiles at her. -"Yes, I'll be more careful" -
Kat put her wand in her pocket -"Dad made me prefect and if he finds out this happened while I was in charge, he'll kill me and find out we were in his lab."-
Alex shakes his head - "Dad won't find out, I told you I won't say anything" - He pouts - "But I worked hard on that potion, I wanted to at least show it to my friends" - He says, lightly kicking the floor.
-"You can't show stuff like that to your friends"- Kat said shaking her head -"I know you trust them but you guys are only 12, when they see you with something cool, they're going to want it too. Which means they may ask one of the professors how to get it and put you on accident"- She said, giving him a small smile to tell him that she was just watching out for him.
Alex lowers his head as he continues to kick the floor. -"I know, but that potion is very difficult to make, and I was able to make it on my first try, so I wanted to brag about it a bit"- He lifts his head and looks at his sister. -"Okay, I won't show them anything like that, nor will I tell them that I made that potion"- He says quietly.
-"Thank you for understanding"- Kat said with a smile as she ruffled his hair. -"I have to go finish homework so if you need anything else just come find me"- She started walking towards the door to leave his dorm -"If I'm not in the common room then just come to my dorm."-
Alex fixes his hair -"Okay"- He smiles as he watches his sister leave. He turns around and goes back to his bed, lies on his stomach and continues to do his homework while humming.
Kat went back to doing her homework in the common room; a few of her friends had joined her. They were all just talking and laughing as they got their homework done, just trying to make the time go by faster.
When Alex finishes his homework, he decides to go play with his friends.
Dinner time came and Alex bounces and jumps down the hallways while talking and laughing with his friends, they entered the Great Hall and sat at the Hufflepuff table for dinner. Kat and her friends dropped their books off in their dorms and then headed down to the Great Hall together for dinner. And Severus yawning as he walked into the Great Hall, glanced over at the Hufflepuff table and rolled his eyes when he saw his brother, sat at the Slytherin table and read a book while waiting for dinner to start.
Dinner started and everyone was allowed to leave when they finished. Kat ate quickly and then hung out with her friends a little bit before leavings, they decided to go back to the common room with her just to hang out, her and her friends sat on 2 of the couches in a corner just chatting about anything. Severus dined slowly, when he finished decided to go to the common room, on the way he meet some of his friends and went chatting with them. Alex was happily talking to his friends when one said that she took out a spell book from the forbidden section, they all smile, leaves the Great Hall and goes to find an empty room to test them.
Alex and his friends spent time casting spells, but being very advanced spells, most of them either did not work or were very weak. So they gave up and each went to their common room. Alex wandered the hallways, not realizing that curfew had passed, he just hummed as he walked.
Kat's friends went back to their dorms and the common room got empty due to it being past curfew. But Kat knew Alex hadn't come back yet, so she waited for him in the common room. She decided to do something extra studying while she waited. She was unaware of the trouble she was about to get in because of her brother.
Alex kept walking, distracted until he felt a hand on his shoulder; he turned around to see it was his father. -"What to do here so late?"- Alex smiled happily without even realizing that he was in trouble.
-"Dad! Dad! Guess what! Today I cast very interesting spells and I learned to make an incredible potion"- Alex said excited and bouncing.
Snape raised an eyebrow and sighed before taking his son by the wrist -"We'll talk about that later, now let's go to your common room"- He started leading his son to the common room with a frown.
Alex simply smiled and walked behind his father, still unaware of what was happening.
Snape walks into the common room without letting go of Alex and stands in front of his daughter
-"Oh no"- Kat mumbled under her breath as she looked up from her book to see her father.
-"Kat! Kat! Guess what I did after dinner, it was so much fun!"- Alex said happily.
Snape sighs. -"Alexander, son, we'll talk about that later"- He looked at his daughter -"Katarina, do you want to explain to me what this kid is doing so late outside the common room?"- Snape says while raising his son's hand.
Alex looks at him confused, without understanding what he meant.
-"I'll talk to you about it another time, Alex"- Kat sighed as she looked back up at her father. -"I don't know, he didn't come back after dinner, so I haven't seen him since right before everyone went to the Great Hall."- She said as she closed her book and stood up to talk to him -"I'm sorry, father, I should have kept a closer eye on him."-
Alex blinked rapidly and looked around and realized what was happening. -"Oh no"-. He whispered.
Snape kept looking at his daughter "I made you prefect because I thought you would be able to maintain order here, and also you could take care of your little brother"- He scolds her
-"I'm sorry father, I kept everyone else under control here, but he just didn't come back until after his friends. I didn't know he would be out this late."- Kat said as she stood in front of her father
-"But, dad"- Alex said holding his father's robe.
-"Alexander, I'll talk to you later, not now"- Snape said sternly.
-"Alex go wait in your dorm, dad will come up after we're done talking."- Kat said to her brother before looking back up at her father -"I don't know where he went or what he was doing; I was sitting in here the entire time doing homework waiting for him to get back."-
Snape looked around and realized that she was right. -"Yes, you are right, but one of the prefects' jobs is to make sure everyone is here and to inform the head of the house if any students are missing. If a student does not arrive before the curfew, you must inform it, it does not matter if one of your brothers"-. He continues to scold her.
-"Dad!-" Alex held his father's robe again.
Snape lets go of his son's wrist and looks at him. -"Go to your dorm, I'll go when I'm done talking to your sister"-
Alex frowns -"But ..."-
-"Alexander, now! Smack!" - Snape says sternly while spanking his son.
- "Ow!" - Alex whimpers.
-"Alex, listen to dad, just go"- Kat said looking at him almost as if she was begging him to listen.
Alex nodded as he rubbed his butt and walked slowly towards his dorm.
-"I didn't know if he was with you or not."- Kat said as Alex walked away -"I knew you would be back from your meeting and I thought he would want to go talk to you after hanging out with his friends"- She sighed, knowing that she was in trouble -"I got him to finish all of his homework before dinner so the only thing that's wrong is that he didn't come back on time."-
Snape crosses his arms. -"You had to inform immediately that he was not here, you know that the rules exist for something. How do you think I felt when I found him bouncing and jumping down the hallways at night, and if he had fallen down the stairs, you know how clumsy he is!"- He takes a deep breath. -"I do not ask you to be with him all the time, he is not a little kid, but you must keep an eye close on him, do you understand?"- He said firmly.
-"I do keep an eye on him, I watch him better than Severus does and anytime something goes wrong I'm the one he comes to right away"- Kat says with a sigh -"I know how clumsy he is, but he was talking about you the entire time you were at your meeting, so I figured he was with you"- She sighs again. -"I understand, I'm sorry, father"-
Snape takes a deep breath - "Okay, you're right, just one more thing, are you sure you didn't know where he was? I'm a little worried about, he told me, something about learning new spells and a potion. "-He raises an eyebrow.
-"I really don't know where he went after dinner, he was sitting with his Hufflepuff friends or something, and then they all left together. I have no clue where they went or what they were doing, I came back here with my friends to do homework and just hang out."-
Snape nods and puts his hand on his daughter's shoulder. -"I know you do your best to take care of him and I hope you keep doing it, and I hope this doesn't happen again, or I will punish you and ground you, have I been clear enough?"-
Kat swallowed hard and took a deep breath. -"Yes, you've been very clear, I understand."- She said with a sigh, she tried hard to watch her brother, but she had a life of her own and didn't have time to watch him every second of the day.
Snape takes his hand off his daughter's shoulder. - "Good, now I'll go talk to your brother" -He says as he walks, he stops and then turns around and looks at his daughter. -"Katarina, I know that I demand a lot from you, and I'm sorry if you can feel suffocated, but I do it because I trust you a lot, and I'm very proud of you, never forget that." - He says and walks to his son's dorm.
Kat bent down to clean up all her books and work to head back into her dorm, when she heard her father's voice, she looked back up at him stopped in the hallway. -"I know, father."- She said softly with a nod, and then grabbed her books and headed into her dorm.
Alex was sitting on the bed as he looked at the floor and lightly kicked his legs when his father walked into the dorm. He swallowed hard, knowing that he was in a lot of trouble.
Snape walked into Alex's dorm and closed the door behind him- "Would you like to explain to me where you were after dinner? Your sister has no clue where you were, and you know that I ask her to watch you."- He said, standing in front of his son sitting on the bed.
Alex kept looking at the floor -"I just went with my friends to cast some spells. We went to one of the empty rooms and the furthest from the Great Hall or the common room, so it is reasonable that she did not see me and did not know where I was"- He said in a low voice.
-"Look at me when you're talking to me and speak up"- Snape said as he stared down at the boy. -"What kind of spells were you casting?"- He asked with a stern voice.
Alex gulped before grabbing his backpack and pulling out a book. He looked up at his father - "The spells of this book, we took it out of the forbid...I mean, the library" - He says while holding the book in front of him.
-"Alexander, these spells are very dangerous and I'm fairly certain this book is from the forbidden section."- Snape said scolding him -"You and your friends have not been taught how to perform these spells, someone is going to get very hurt trying these."-
Alex put the book on the bed and looked back at his father. - "But dad, nothing happened, most of them did not work when we tried" -. He plays with his thumbs. - "Also, I thought it would be fun, nothing bad happened, nobody got hurt, I thought I could cast some of those spells well and..." - He slightly lowered his gaze. - "And yes, we took it out of the forbidden section" -
-"You know you are clumsy, what would you have done if something went wrong? What would you have done if you accidentally cast one of these at your friends?"- Snape grabbed the book off the bed and held it to his side. - "You are to obey my rules and think about what you're doing before you do it. From not on you must tell your sister where you are going and what you're doing at all times, if she says no then you are to listen to whatever she says. Do you understand?"- He said sternly as he stared down at Alex.
Alex looked up at his father. - "I'm not clumsy, and I'm sorry, but nothing bad happened and I thought it would be fun" - He nods with a sigh. - "I understand, I'm really sorry, but Kat has her own life, now with this you will make me more of a nuisance for her, at this rate she's going to hate me"- He says with tears in his eyes.
- "You're lucky nothing bad happened, but next time something may happen" -. Snape said scolding him - "I've already talked to your sister, she won't hate you for this, but you guys are also the headmaster's children, you can't be breaking rules and making a fool of yourself" - He said with a sigh - "I know your sister she has her own life, but I am very busy now that I am headmaster and I asked her to help me take care of you, I made her a prefect because I know she can handle watching the most rebellious house, so I'd advise you don't make it any more difficult for her" -.
- "I am so sorry, I will not do it again, I will follow the rules, I will do what Kat tells me, I will be good, I will not make things more difficult for her" - Alex wiped away his tears. - "But you're always busy, I just wanted to show that I could do something by myself, you all say that I'm clumsy, and you hardly let me do anything alone, I just wanted you to feel proud of me, I want to show you that I can do things without hurting myself "- He scratched the palm of his hand, already healed, remembering the incident in the lab. -'How frustrating, why do I have to be so clumsy?'- He thought.
-"I am very proud of you"- Snape says putting his hand on Alex's shoulder -"We don't let you do things alone because you always want to do advanced things, even the students in Kat's year don't learn new spells on their own. We teach you new things at the appropriate age, but there's also always a professor around in case something goes wrong."-
Alex smiles slightly and nods. - "Okay, I won't do it again, but am I really going to have to tell Kat where I am and what I do at all times? Everything, down to the smallest detail?"
Snape let go of his son's shoulder. -"Yes, you have to tell her where you're going and what you're doing, she doesn't need to know every detail, but I'd like you to give her a location and a general idea of what you're doing."-
Alex played with his thumbs. -"But, just Kat, right? I don't have to tell Sev too, do I?"-. -'Severus is mean; he won't stop making fun of me for that'-. He thought.
Snape nods -"You do not have to tell Severus, but if you can't find your sister, then, I expect you to tell your brother unless you find me and want to tell me instead."-
Alex pouts -"Okay, I'll tell Sev if I can't find Kat and tell you if I can't find either of them"- He sighs. He sometimes hates being the youngest and that his siblings and his father never took their eyes off him, it's as if they expected him to do something wrong or that he was incapable of doing anything without someone watching him.
-"Alright, I have work to do, so I have to leave"- Snape said as he turned and walked towards the door -"Do not let me catch you out after curfew again".- He said as he walked out of the door and into the common room.
Alex swallowed and nodded -"Okay... I won't let you catch me next time"- He said the last thing when Snape was already out of the dorm.
