Chapter 8: The a brother's pride
During the middle of dinner, Alex yawns and rubs his eyes, blinking rapidly to avoid falling asleep.
Kat yawned as she made herself another cup of coffee just to keep her awake until she could go take a nap. Her body was exhausted from practice, and she had bruises everywhere, it was tough, and she was constantly getting hit by bludgers or getting knocked off her broom and hitting the ground.
Severus saw his two siblings and sighed, said goodbye to his friends and got up -"Hey, Kat, let's go, you have to rest you look like a Zombie"- He says behind his sister.
-"Yeah, I know, I feel like one."- Kat said as she took another sip of her coffee. -"I'll go back to my dorm once I'm done talking."- She said, glancing back at Severus, who clearly just wanted to leave.
Severus frowns. -"No, let's go, it's not healthy for you to be drinking so much coffee, you can talk to them later"- He spoke as if he were talking to Alex.
-"Can you like relax?"- Kat said, turning around to look at him. -"I'm not the one that gets caught doing stupid stuff, plus I'll be done in like 10 minutes."- She said as she looked at him confused as to why he was freaking out on her
Severus frowned more, he was not stupid, by the way Kat walked he knew that her body was very hurt and she, by that stupid unwritten rule, would not take anything for the pain. -"No, Kat, now, if you can barely keep your eyes open, come on, let's go"- He was serious.
Kat was getting frustrated now -"Sev, just give me like 5 more minutes to finish this, you can literally wait at my dorm for me if you'd like."- She had attitude behind her words now, she hasn't had a normal day in the past few, so she just wanted to fully catch up with her friends.
Severus growled in frustration -"Fine, do whatever you want, damn it."-. He puts a potion on the table. -"But drink this for your body, and don't say you can't because of a damn rule that doesn't exist, worry about yourself and take care of yourself before others for once in your life!"- He turns around -"Alex move, we're leaving"-
Alex blinks rapidly and gets up following Severus out of the Great Hall
- "I'm not drinking that."- Kat said as Severus walked away from her and shaking her head, then she turned back to her friends. She watched as her brothers walked out of the Great Hall.
Severus led Alex into his dorm. -"Take your nap, I'm going to my dorm"- Severus says angrily and leaves.
{Alex's POV}
Alex saw Severus come out of his dorm, he could feel that Severus was angry, but he didn't call him Alexander, so he wasn't angry with him. -"Why is he so angry?"- He wonders to himself as he shrugs.
Alex closed his dorm door before walking over to his drawers. He looked through his drawers for a lighter clothing, he got dressed. He rubbed one eye and yawned as he climbed onto the bed, lay down and bundled himself up.
Alex fell asleep almost immediately, he felt very tired and just wanted to forget about the horrible morning he had had. He hugged his pillow tightly as he fell into a deep sleep.
{Kat's POV}
Glancing back at her father who was sitting at the professors' table, she finished her conversation with her friends about 10 minutes later and then got ready to head back to her dorm.
Kat grabbed the potion off the table as she left the Great Hall, going to her dorm, still confused as to why her brother was being so pushy. She put the potion on her desk when she got back into her dorm, changed into comfy clothes, and then headed into her bed for a short nap.
Kat moved in her bed for a little trying to find the most comfortable position, her whole body hurt, so it was just a matter of trying to find the least painful position. Eventually she fell asleep, without even to turn off the lights, her mind, and body were far too tired to get herself back up to turn off the lights.
{Sev's POV}
Severus walked around his dorm, trying to calm himself. He was like this for half an hour. -'How could Kat be so stupid, seriously for a stupid game she was going to let her body hurt like hell?'- He thought, getting angrier and angrier.
Severus was frustrated, he knew she had a lot to do, but he was just trying to help her. -'What would have happened if I hadn't given her the potion at breakfast, she might have fallen and hurt'- He thought as he closed his eyes without really wanting to think about it.
Severus sighs and sits down on the bed. - "I'd better take a nap too" - He told himself, he knew that staying awake would only increase his anger. He didn't bother to change, took off his pants and shirt, closed the curtains on his bed, lay down and fell asleep after a while.
Alex woke up an hour and a half later. He sat up on the bed still hugging his pillow, although he did not admit it or well he had not realized it, he loved sleeping hugging something. He put the pillow aside as he stretched out; he was feeling in a good mood now, forgetting why he was depressed this morning. He got off the bed and walked over to his trunk, where he had many books on different subjects, both magical and muggle. He took out the books and put them on his bed and then climbed back onto the bed, he looked at the books, seeing which he would read first. After much thought, he took one of the books, lay down on his stomach and began to read while humming.
Severus woke up feeling less angry, but still feeling a bit annoyed. He dressed before getting off the bed. He opened his closet and took out a cauldron, a couple of ingredients and his potion kit; he started to make a potion to finish relaxing that used to help him. He took his potions notebook and chose a simple potion and began to make it slowly. He knew it was forbidden to make potions in the dorms or outside the potions' classroom in general, although the Snapes were allowed to make potions in his father's private laboratory, with his permission of course. But he knew that Kat would possibly sleep until dinner, so he wouldn't get in trouble since no one would catch him, he just had to be careful not to leave any evidence that the elves could see.
Kat let her body recover as she slept, she had a feeling she wouldn't wake up for dinner unless someone came to get her. She didn't mind though, she wasn't hungry and if she woke up hungry she had snacks in her room to eat. And both she and Severus were right, it was getting closer to dinner time and Kat didn't give any indication of wanting to get up, she was so tired she didn't even realize what time it was. She continued to sleep peacefully without even moving a muscle.
It's time for dinner. Severus had finished cleaning and putting everything away thoroughly before leaving his dorm and sitting in the common room. When the students began to leave the common room to go to dinner, Severus was about to do the same, but none of his siblings had left the dorms yet. He sighed and went to his brother's dorm, opened the door and found him kneeling in front of his trunk pulling something out, but he didn't bother to ask. - "Hey, shortie, come on, it's time for dinner" –
Alex turned to look at Severus, slightly surprised that it wasn't Kat. - "I'm coming, let me finish here."- He takes his stuff as he gets up and puts them on his bed, and then puts the books into his trunk, for then walks over to Severus. -"I'm ready"-
Severus raises an eyebrow. -'Why didn't Kat tell this kid it was time for dinner?'- He thought, and then realized that she possibly hadn't woken up. He sighed. -"Come on, let's go find Kat."- He said as he left the dorm towards Kat's dorm.
Alex nodded and walked behind him.
Severus opened the door and they both walk into the dorm.
-"Do you mind, I'm trying to sleep."- Kat groaned as she was woken up by the noise of someone walking into the room.
Severus sighed when he saw his sister still in her bed. - "From what I see, you didn't drink the potion, did you, Kat?" –
-"No, I didn't drink the potion, I told you before I'm not doing that."- Kat said as she lifted her head up to look at the door, seeing that it was just her two brothers she dropped her head back onto the pillow.
Alex stood next to Severus watching the scene, he could feel they were annoying, but it was nothing unusual, so he just kept quiet while he watched them interact.
-"Fine, if you don't worry about yourself then I won't worry about you, come on Alex, it's dinner time"-. Severus said neutrally before grabbing Alex by the wrist before he could say something and drag him out of the room.
{Alex and Sev's POV}
Once they were in the hall.
-"Hey, why did you say that?"- Alex frowned, knowing that Severus didn't mean anything he said. He knew that Severus was very proud, and he used to say things like that from time to time. That ran in the family, both his siblings and his father used to hide their emotions a lot, other than anger or annoyance, of course, and being very unloving or affectionate. That was always weird for Alex, as he loves to show all the emotions that he felt all the time and to be affectionate and caring most of the time. Although, well, the acts of affection that his siblings and his father displayed, physical or not, were all toward him.
- "Because she is a proud idiot, come on, let's talk to dad, if she doesn't want my help directly then she will get it indirectly" - Severus says, still holding his brother by the wrist and walking towards his father's office.
Alex raised an eyebrow upon hearing the word proud. -'And you're not, are you?'- He thought, not daring to say it out loud. He sighed as his brother kept dragging him down the hall to his father's office.
{Kat's POV}
Kat groaned as he stormed out of the room with Alex, forcing her body to sit up with a sigh, and she slid out of bed. She went over to her wardrobe to change back into regular clothes and then headed out of her dorm. She made her way over to the Great Hall, she had already been woken up, so she might as well just grab something to eat.
Kat sat down with her friends in the Great Hall, noticing that her brothers and father weren't there. She shook her head as she realized they were probably together, she knew that if Severus decided to take it into his own hands then he would regret it. He had no clue how much she actually did, and she was handling it much better than anyone else would. Whatever plan they had would either crash and burn or Severus would want to back out once it was over.
{Alex, Sev and Snape's POV}
When they were in front of the office door, Severus let go of Alex's wrist and then turned around to look at him - "Stay here" -
Alex frowns and crosses his arms. -"Why?"-
Severus raises an eyebrow - "Your face is not completely healed yet, if dad sees you closely he will notice, stay here." - Although Kat had healed most of his cuts and bruises, there was still a slight purple shadow under his eye; Severus made a mental note to apply something to his eye afterward. Severus knocked on the door and walked into the office.
Snape looked up when he heard the door. - "Severus, do you need me for something?" - He said when he saw him walk into the office, hoping it wasn't about Alex.
Severus stands in front of the desk. - "Yes, father, I would like to talk to you about Kat, she is neglecting her body a lot because of Quidditch" –
Snape frowns. - "She will be fine, it is normal for Quidditch players to feel a little sore, this happens every year since she joined the team, also, if you are worried about her lack of sleep, that was only for one night, she will feel better from tomorrow. "-He fully trusted his daughter, so he didn't worry, too much, about what Severus was telling him. He trusted that she would know how to take care of her herself.
Severus knew his father was right, his sister had been on the Quidditch team since her third year, but back then, he was just starting school, so he didn't realize many things, like that her father had demanded that she watch over him during his first year. Of course, she never watched him as much as she does with Alex, and when he realized that he flatly refused to be watched by his older sister; Severus thought that she shouldn't waste time watching him, she should concentrate 100% on being the top 1 of the school and being the best search seeker of all; but it was tough for her anyway. In addition, he saw her sister capable of doing everything, he admired her, so he thought that she was strong for enduring all that.
But when Alex entered the school last year and being her first year as a prefect their father had demanded a lot from both of them, but much more from her, that their priority was to keep their younger brother watched and under supervision, plus she still had to watch him; and Severus still steadfastly refused to be watched by his sister; there Severus began to realize how difficult his sister's job was, but did nothing back then. And this year her responsibilities had grown, since their father not only demanded that she watch over his brother and him, but also that she be a prefect and a student exemplary, plus what she demanded of herself during Quidditch. Severus thought enough was enough, so now he was going to help her, whether she wanted to or not.
Severus fought with all his might not to yell at his father. - "Father, then, could you let me take a little work off her so that she is not so tired" –
Snape raises an eyebrow -"Explain, please"-
Severus takes a deep breath. -"I will take care of watching Alex every day and I will take all responsibility, she will no longer have to have an eye on him ever"- His father demanded that Severus be an outstanding student, but he didn't have to be exemplary, and that he keep an eye on his younger brother, but he didn't demand as much of him as Kat, so he didn't feel as much pressure. So he thought he could do this, not as well as Kat, but he could do it.
Snape sighs. -"Severus... "-
-"I can do it, he hasn't had any problems the last few days when I've been taking care of him"- Severus said extremely sure of himself, but obviously he was lying -"Father, please, Kat has enough work already"- Although no one in his family knew about it, he was capable of doing everything for his siblings and more for his older sister, whom he admired too much.
Snape leans in his chair, he wasn't really sure about this, he knew that Kat was capable of handling all the work she had, but Severus didn't usually act like that. - "Ok, I propose you a deal, you will take care of Alexander these three weeks while he is grounded. You will take him to classes, and you will look for him after them, you will take him to eat and to his dorm, you have to make him do all his homework, take him to his detentions, you will make sure that he does not eat sweets, that he goes to bed on time, and of course he doesn't get into any more trouble. If you can do that during that time, Katarina will no longer have to be responsible for Alexander "-
Severus swallowed. -"Yes, I will"- He says in a neutral tone. He was already regretting this, but he refused to back out.
-"Very well, so during these three weeks you are responsible for Alexander, with all consequences, understood?"- Snape said, hoping not to regret the decision he had made, and furthermore, he hoped Severus would regret it as soon as possible and want to give this job back to Kat before something happens. It's not that he didn't trust his son, but he knew his patience and his personality very well that is why he preferred that Kat was in charge of watching over Alex all the time and that Severus was only a help in times when she was busy, and she couldn't keep an eye on his youngest child.
Severus sighs. - "Yes, father, understood." - He said as he nodded before turning and walking towards the door.
Alex had his ear against the door, wanting to hear the conversation. He pouted; he couldn't hear the entire conversation, but what little he could hear, he knew where the conversation was headed. -'It's not fair, I can take care of myself, I don't need anyone to watch me.'- He thought when he heard Severus walk towards the door, he walked away from the door and stood up straight pretending innocence.
Severus walked out of the office, closing the door behind him. - "Well, from now on, I have the job of watching you instead of Kat, at least for the next three weeks" -. He started walking down the hall. - "Let's go to the Great Hall, I'm hungry" –
Alex was walking beside Severus. He was a little bit annoyed with the situation, he did not like that his siblings were always watching him, besides, he knew that the professors also came out to watch him. They always told his father about his behavior in class and his grades. He hoped it would be the same for his siblings, but no, they only did it with him. -'Sometimes I hate being the youngest, well, it's no use complaining, it's not that I could do anything, I'm used to all this.'- He thought before looking up at his older brother. - "You know that Kat has almost no social life because of me, right?" –
Severus rolls his eyes. -"I know, and I know that I will never be able to keep an eye on you as well as her, but I'm good at hiding things, so, as long as dad and Kat discover nothing, everything will be fine."-
Alex raises an eyebrow. -"What if you regret it?"-
Severus sighs. - "I already do, but I'm not going to back out"-
Alex sighs.-"Your pride one of these days will give you a hard time"-
-"Oh, shut up"-. Severus says as he pushes Alex into the Great Hall.
Kat yawned as she talked to her friends; she glanced over as her brothers walked into the Great Hall, but then returned her attention to the table. The Quidditch team captain walked up to her and handed her a binder while talking to her quietly until he walked away and went back to his own spot.
-"Hey, you tell Kat what I told you, I don't feel like talking to her"-. Severus said and walked over to where his friends were. What he really didn't want is for her to ask him why he made that deal, and he refused to swallow his pride. He also knew that she would make fun of him or at least laugh at him, and he preferred that she didn't do it to his face.
Alex raises an eyebrow and rolls his eyes -'Why is everyone in this family hiding their emotions like this?'- He thought before walking up to stand behind Kat. -"Kat, I have to talk to you about something"-
-"Yeah, what's up?"- Kat said as she closed the binder and turned to face Alex. -"If something happened while I was sleeping, I don't want to hear about it."- She said, hoping that it wasn't anything bad.
Alex frowned -"No, nothing bad happened"- He thinks for a moment. -"What did Sev say...uhm…uhm…ah yes...He was very worried about you, and he said that you are an unconscious stupid who does not take care of herself, so he went to talk to dad in to find a way to help you and make things easier for you."- He took a deep breath, as he spoke non-stop. -"So we went to his office, and they reached an agreement so that you are no longer responsible for me, Sev is, so you can rest more, and now you don't have to worry about me anymore."- He finished with a smile but then stopped smiling -"Wait, I think I said more than necessary, well, if Sev asks you, I only told you about the deal with dad, not that he is worried about you"- Alex decided not to take too much importance on the situation, he couldn't be anything anyway.
Kat was a little taken back by what Severus said about her, turning to look at him with a glare. Once she realized what Alex said Sev was responsible for him, she turned back to Alex and burst into laughter -"If he asks what I said, you can just tell him that I laughed at him."-. She shook her head as she tried to catch her breath that kid was either going to get killed by Severus or dad is going to kill Sev for doing a terrible job.
Alex smiles and nods -"Yes, I'll tell him"- He says before turning and walking over to where Severus was. He really wanted to see his brother's expression. -"I already told her"-
Severus nods as he turns to look at Alex- "And why did he laugh and glare at me?" - Hoping his brother didn't tell their sister more than he should have.
Alex smiles- "She laughed at you and I don't know" -Alex was concentrating on telling everything to his sister, that he didn't notice that she had glared at Severus.
Severus frowns, but he wasn't surprised. - "Fine, go away" - He turned to eat again.
Alex turns and sits at the table to eat.
Kat yawned as she finished her food and then got up, leaving the Great Hall as she went back to the Slytherin common room. If anyone needed her, she knew they'd know where to find her, her father would just send someone to get her if he needed her. She sat on the couch in the common room as she went through the binder filled with Quidditch tactics, she thought about going out to the pitch and practice.
Alex pouts when he remembers that he couldn't eat dessert.
Severus got up and went for his brother -"Hey, let's go, move."- He says as he walks past him.
Alex gets up and walks behind him -"You can't be nicer"-
Severus rolls his eyes and walks down the hall to the common room.
Alex tried to keep up with him -"Sev, you're going too fast, wait for me."-
Severus rolled his eyes again, and took his brother by the arm and dragged him to the common room. -"You're very slow"-
Kat smirked as she watched Sev drag Alex through the common room, -'He was going to hate himself for trying to help me.'- She thought.
Alex scowled and didn't say anything until Severus released him in front of his dorm door; he didn't want to annoy him any more than he already was.
-"Remember that you must be in bed an hour before your bedtime, I will come to check on you at that moment"- Severus turns and walks away to his dorm.
Alex sighs -"I know"-. He walks into his dorm.
{Kat's POV}
Kat closed the binder and went back to her dorm for the night; she could relax for once, unless her father needed her. She wanted to get a decent amount of rest because she had practice again the next day. So she decided to go to bed a little earlier than usual.
Kat changed into comfy clothes and then crawled into bed for the night, her door was left unlocked just in case Severus sucked up his pride and asked her for help or anyone from the house needed her.
Kat fell asleep almost immediately after laying in bed, her brain got used to falling asleep quickly, so she could get as much sleep before someone woke her up.
{Sev and Alex's POV}
Alex shook his head when he closed his dorm door. -'I wonder how long it takes for Sev to give up'- He thought before shrugging and walking over to his bed. He climbed onto the bed and grabbed the book he was reading earlier, it was a knitting book. He continued reading a bit more before taking the things in front of him, smiling broadly and starting to do what the instructions in the book said.
Severus was in his dorm while he was talking to his friends/roommates, ignoring what Alex was doing in his dorm, not knowing that he would be about to want to kill Alex later. He looked at the time and sighed, he had to go check if Alex was ready for bed. He left his dorm and headed for Alex's dorm.
Severus opened the door. -"Alex it's time to ... what the hell are you doing?"- He says, seeing his brother sitting on the bed holding a needle and thread.
Alex raises his head when he hears his brother's voice. -"I'm knitting, it's not obvious"- He rolls his eyes.
Severus walks over to where his brother is -"Since when do you know how to knit?"- He crosses his arms.
-"Since I finished reading this book"- Alex says pointing to the book in front of him -"As long as it has instructions I can make anything, I am very self-taught"- He smiles. -"I'm making a hat"-
-"I didn't know that"- Severus runs his hand over his face. -"Well, that doesn't matter, to sleep, now."-
Alex pouts and starts to pick things up, but suddenly pricks himself on the needle. -"Ow! It hurt!"-. He whimpers. -"Sev! It's bleeding! It hurts!"-
Severus groans before grabbing Alex by the arm and dragging him to the bathroom -"How can you be so clumsy."-
-"I'm sorry, it was an accident, I didn't do it on purpose."- Alex said before Severus put his hand under the water tap.
Severus took a deep breath and counted to ten the entire time they were in the bathroom so as not to kill Alex.
After several minutes, they both came out of the bathroom. Alex's roommates had come back and were getting ready for bed.
-"Well, It has stopped bleeding, now go to bed at once, and it will almost be your usual bedtime."- Severus said as he took Alex's pajamas out of one of his drawers and put them on his bed.
Alex pouts and puts on his pajamas. -"When you stop being so mean, and you will be nice."-
Severus growls -"Alexander, go to bed!"- He said sternly.
Alex jumped slightly, as did his roommates, ran up onto the bed and lay down on his bed. - "Good night" - He said as he wrapped himself up.
-"Yeah, good night"- Severus walks out of the dorm as he closes the door.
Alex's roommates saw Severus leave the dorm and sighed in relief, they were very afraid of Alex's older brother.
Severus goes back to his dorm and sits on his bed -'I am not going to back out; I am not going to back out'-. He thought and sighed heavily.
{Snape's POV}
Snape was trying to do work in his office, but his mind kept going back to his children, it was usual for Kat to push herself during the Quidditch season, but Severus has never shown that he cares for her before. He worried that Severus wouldn't be able to handle Alex, as it took Kat a while to figure it out and Alex listens to her better.
Snape wanted to think of this as training for Severus, since he will have to do this anyway once Kat graduates. He sighs as he goes back to work, he hopes Alex will mature enough not to have to keep such an eye on him all the time next year, even though he knew that would be impossible, he had a feeling that he would keep an eye on Alex until he graduates.
-'Am I overprotecting him too much?'- Snape thought before shaking his head. -'No, I'm not, it's for his own good, that kid is too clumsy to walk around unsupervised.'- He thought as he nodded. He tried to concentrate on his work, trying to think that everything would be fine with his children.
