A/N: Thanks to all those who have been reading and especially those who are taking the time to submit a review. Your thoughts and critique are quite helpful and appreciated. I just wanted to take a moment to explain that some of the characters may seem a little ooc and want to re-iterate that this story is A/U though loosely based on some of HBP. Thanks again and enjoy.

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After eating dinner, the twins returned to their room to work on their assignments. Lake took out her book, A History of Hogwarts, while Bailey flopped on her bed with a sheet of parchment. They were beginning to work on their reports for Defense class when a note suddenly appeared on the parchment Bailey was writing on. She flashed a questioning glance at Lake, who just shrugged her shoulders.

Bailey unfolded the note and read aloud, "Girls, you are summoned to the headmaster's office, posthaste. Meet me in the Green Hall, in front of the Griffon statue."

"Man," exclaimed Lake as she swung her legs out of bed and slipped her feet back into her shoes. "This has to be a new record, even for us."

Bailey shook her head as she slipped her shoes on as well. "Two visits to the headmaster's office in less than a week. I know we never accomplished that at Salem Prep."

"Not that we never tried," smiled Lake as they walked out of the dorm and made their way to Dumbledore's office.

They arrived from one end of the hall, just as their uncle approached from the other. "Good, at least you are prompt," said Snape as they faced the statue. Before their uncle could say the password, the statue moved and the stairs began to ascend. Snape waved his nieces in front of him before joining them on the stairs.

At the top of the stairs, Snape rapped on the door. The large oak door swung open and he nudged the girls into the headmaster's office.

Dumbledore smiled brightly as he waved for the three to enter the room. "Lake, Bailey, I'd like to introduce Mr. Rufus Scrimgeour, Head of the Ministry of Magic."

The girls extended their hands in greeting to the tall, broad shouldered man with the very imposing demeanor. He shook each hand and then nodded to Snape. "So, these are the underage witches who have been wreaking havoc across London? You two have had half the ministry up in arms trying to track you down."

"That was partly my fault sir," Severus spoke up. "I was so… excited… by my nieces' visit that I forgot to contact the ministry concerning their arrival."

"Ah well, no harm done. The important thing is that they are safe." The Minister took a moment to look over each girl thoroughly. "Is it true that they can already apparate?"

Snape nodded, "Another of my oversights. I should have cleared things with the ministry before allowing them to apparate here."

Scrimgeour just waved his hand, "Amazing! And their Transfiguration, Potions and Defense skills, have they been tested? I'm sure they're excellent, since they are Sina's offspring."

Dumbledore stepped up beside the Minister. "Come now Rufus, they've only been here three days. But, so far, all their professors give them high praise."

The minister looked disappointed as he turned to face Dumbledore. "Yes, but of course, forgive me, I got carried away. I'm sure, all things considered, they would do well. Would they," he turned to face the twins, "forgive me, would you consider having your skills tested? We want to make sure that you are in the right classes here at Hogwarts."

The girls glanced from the minister to their uncle. They could see the vein in his neck starting to bulge and knew that he was barely keeping his temper in check. He spoke through his teeth as he answered the minister. "Of course, they will do as the ministry asks."

Dumbledore even seemed surprised by the minister's request. "Is that truly necessary, Rufus? They've only been here a few days. Can't we at least give them a chance to settle in a bit? Both their Potions and Herbology Professors reported that they had troubles identifying some of the simplest herbs and roots."

The minister shot one eyebrow up in question. "I thought you said that they gave them high praise? Which is it, Albus?"

"Well," replied the headmaster, not missing a beat, "it's both. They said they did quite well for their first days in class and were quickly able to relate the British names for things with the American terms they were used to."

"I see, so with a week to become familiar with these terms, they could be ready?"

"Honestly, Rufus," protested Dumbledore.

"We have to know, Albus. When word gets out that they are here, people are going to start talking. They are going to have questions and I need answers. Next Saturday is when the students go down to Hogsmeade, correct?" Dumbledore nodded resignedly. "Then I will be here at ten in the morning with an examiner. I'm sure there is a room suitable for our needs. Now, if you girls will excuse us, there is some other business that we need to discuss."

The girls started to leave, but Bailey suddenly turned and addressed the three men. "Forgive me sirs, but why would people be talking about us? What would make us so noteworthy? What kind of answers do you need?"

"Bailey, you and your sister should go back to your dorm room. I'll come see you when we are finished here." Snape gave them a dismissive wave.

"No," she said defiantly. Lake pulled on her sister's arm, but Bailey tugged it out of her grasp. "I'm not leaving until someone tells us what is going on. We deserve to know."

Snape whirled to face his nieces as he drew himself up threateningly. "I said I will see you when we are finished here."

Bailey glared at her uncle for a moment, not backing down from his intimidation. Lake tugged more urgently on his sister's sleeve. Finally, with her eyes narrowed to hateful slits, Bailey turned toward the door. She yelled over her shoulder as she stormed toward the door. "Don't bother to come see us uncle, I'm sure we're too young to hear whatever you have to say."

"Oh my," exclaimed Professor McGonagall as she was nearly bowled over by the twins' exit. "What was that all about? Why was, uummm…" she had to stop to remember which witch was which, "Bailey crying?"

"Minerva, welcome, I'm glad you could make it. We were just about to discuss the girls as well as other urgent business." Scrimgeour waved the Professor in and motioned for her to take a chair.

"But, shouldn't someone go after them? They both looked pretty upset. And none of you have answered my question. Why?" she asked again as she fixed the three with a stern scowl.

"They'll be fine," answered Severus. "I'll go see to them as soon as we're done here."

McGonagall's frown deepened as she took the seat that the minister had indicated. She stared at Snape as she listened to what the minister had to say.

"Bailey, where are you going? The dorm is this way." Lake tugged on her sister's sleeve as she continued down the main hall instead of turning toward the Slytherin common room.

"I'm not going back there. I need air. I need to get out of here. I need to run." She turned to face her sister. "I need answers!"

Lake nodded as she fell silently into step beside her sister. They were almost to the great oak doors in the entry hall when the troublesome Peeves appeared and started to chant. "Riddle me this, riddle me that…"

That was as far as he got. Lake waved her hand and a huge gust of wind swept through the hall, sending the poltergeist tumbling through the air. The girls made it out the door before he could recover and continue to torment them. They stripped off their robes as they walked down the steps. They barely nodded to each other as they reached the bottom of the steps and they broke into a jog that quickly turned into a run.

They spied the lake and ran down to its edge. They ran for some while along the beach before they finally stopped to catch their breath. They dropped to their knees and panted till their breathing returned to normal. Lake fell onto her back, stretching her arms in the soft sand. Bailey rested back on her haunches, burying her head in her uplifted knees.

"I'm sure, if they wanted us to know, they'd tell us," Lake finally said softly as she rose and brushed off her uniform. She settled beside her sister and placed her arm across Bailey's shoulders.

"It shouldn't be about what they want, but what we need." Bailey raised her tear streaked face to look at her sister. "We need answers. Why are we being hunted by Death Eaters? Why would our parents give their lives to keep us out of their grasp? Who are the Death Eaters exactly and this He-who-must-not-be-named character? Why would people be so concerned that we had returned to Britain and were attending Hogwarts?" She pushed herself up from the sand and turned to face the calm waters and the reflection of the moon in its quiet depth. She spread her arms wide as she screamed at the top of her lungs, "WHY?"

Dumbledore had only been half listening to Scrimgeour's list of concerns. Idly, he rose and walked to the window. He stared out over the grounds, his eyes traveling to the depthless pool of the lake. He watched the moon's reflection dance on the slight ripples created by the night breeze. He saw the two girls as they raced along the beach till they finally collapsed in the white sand. He watched the one try to comfort the other and the second stand to face the water. Even from this height and distance he felt the anguish in her gesture as she flung her arms toward the skies.

"Yes, I fully agree, Minister," answered Dumbledore as he turned back to Scrimgeour and his two senior professors. "These are very dark times indeed for all concerned. We will take your recommendations under consideration and implement them as we see fit. Now, since you insist, you will be here with your examiner at ten o'clock on Friday morning for your tests. We will make appropriate accommodations."

Scrimgeour glared at the headmaster. "You dare set terms to the ministry, Dumbledore? Won't it be much easier if we do it while most of the students are away from school?"

"More convenient for us, yes, but not for them," and Albus winked at McGonagall. "I believe they have another commitment for Saturday."

Snape, who had been wearing a path on the fine Persian rug, stopped his pacing as he stared lividly from the meddling Minerva to the audacious Dumbledore. "Sir, I must protest. They should not be frolicking about Hogsmeade, especially with… with…"

"We'll discuss this later, Severus." Dumbledore turned to the minister. "If this is all the business that we need to discuss, Rufus, then we will bid you a good night. There is another very, pressing matter that the three of us must attend to."

Snape and McGonagall both shot him a questioning glance and Dumbledore gestured to the window. They looked out across the well manicured lawn to the lake. They watched as two figures walked the beach, one kicking up a stone every so often and the other scooping it up and skipping it across the water's surface. McGonagall rested her hand on Snape's sleeve as she looked up at him. Gently, she spoke, "They must be told - now."

Snape set his mouth in a tight line as he nodded. He heaved a heavy sigh as he pushed himself away from the window. He looked askance of the elderly witch and McGonagall nodded.

"Let me see the minister to the gate and I will join you," said Dumbledore to the two professors as they made to leave his office.

"Join them for what?" asked Scrimgeour as he glared at the headmaster.

"To tell the twins who they truly are."

"You mean they don't know? How could something like that be kept from them?"

"They've been out of the country for most of their lives. Derrick and Sina did well to hide them and keep them so well hidden for so long."

Scrimgeour nodded in agreement as he walked with Dumbledore out to the main gate.

After seeing the minister off, the headmaster made his way back up to the school. His course intercepted with the four returning from the lake. He nodded in greeting as he took in the girls' demeanor. Bailey still looked very agitated and it would seem that her mood was affecting her sister as well. He gestured toward the steps. "Why don't we all go inside where it's warmer? We can talk over some nice cups of hot cocoa."

Without an answer, the girls snagged their robes off the steps and preceded the others back through the large doors. They waited just inside to be escorted to wherever the adults wanted them to go.

It was two very different girls that met Hermione in the library. The sudden storm that had blown out of the west seemed to match the twin's mood. They dropped their books on the table with a loud thud, before slumping into chairs across from their friend.

"Wow, I hate to say it, but you two look like 'ell. Maybe you should go see Madame Pomfrey. I'm sure she's got something that can fix you right up."

"Does she have something that can simply wipe us out of existence?" groused Lake.She yelped as Bailey stomped on her toes.

Her outburst earned her a stern look from the librarian.

"Ignore her," said Bailey, but she sounded no less happy to be alive. "It's just the jet lag finally catching up with her." She flipped open the book at the top of her stack. "So, what exactly does Professor Snape expect?"

Hermione glanced up at the sisters. Bailey's tone was almost condescending, where before it had always held a certain reverence when she spoke of her uncle. She shook her head, thinking the girls must just be having a bad day. "He's a sucker for details. The more detail, the better the grade. Also, if he says two pages, that's what he expects. Not a page and a half, not two and a third, but two pages."

"Gottcha," said Bailey as she bent over a half filled page of parchment. "If it's an essay on discipline that he wants, I'll give him one."

Lake nodded, "I'll write the other one. Rules, respect, decency… Like he would know what any of those are?"

Hermione looked from one twin to the other. Both of them looked like they hadn't slept a wink the whole night and their eyes were quite red and puffy as if they had spent the time crying. "Are you sure you are alright? Maybe if we concentrated on something else for a while. History maybe, or Potions," she suggested.

"No," said Lake vehemently. "We're going to write Professor Snape's essays, just as he wants them."

"Okay," said Hermione, meekly as she returned to her own studies. Occasionally though, she glanced up from her books to watch the twins as they bent their heads over their pages. Soon, they had each filled two sheets of parchment in a nice, precise scroll. She watched as they swapped pages and took out two clean sheets of parchment each. They touched the first essays with their wands then touched the blank sheets. Instantly, the essays were being copied. Hermione cleared her throat to get the twins attention. She leaned over the table and said in a harsh whisper, "That's cheating. Professor Snape will know immediately that you copied those from each other."

Lake snorted. "As if we cared about what Professor Snape thought of our work. Besides, they're not copied - verbatim." With the first hint of a smile that Hermione had seen from either of them that day, Lake turned the two papers she was working on so that Hermione could see them. Indeed, the handwriting on the copied page was slightly different and the wording was altered somewhat.

"How? Why? You can't have learned anything from doing your work like this." Hermione snagged the other set of papers from Bailey.

"We don't do it on everything. Just stupid, idiotic, dunderheaded assignments like these. So, care to quiz us on the names of these herbs and roots?" Bailey flipped open her herbology book and started to read over the names and descriptions.

Lake gently pulled the parchments away from Hermione, who was scrutinizing them like an old school marm. "I hope they met with your approval."

"Amazing, they are just different enough to seem as if you wrote them on your own. I bet that saves you a lot of time. You could get twice the work done in half the time. I've never come across a spell like that. Can you show me?"

Bailey looked at Lake, who shrugged her shoulders. She laid the essay on Hogwarts rules in front of Hermione, who dug two sheets of paper out of her bag. "Now, just touch the first sheets with your wand then tap the blank ones and think 'Fere reddo'."

"Think? That's advanced seventh year studies," said Hermione in a high pitched whisper.

The twins looked surprised, but just nodded. "Well, say the spell then. It doesn't really matter, as long as you get it."

Hermione nodded as she tapped the written essay then her blank pages as she whispered, "Fere reddo." Her brown eyes grew wide as she watched words begin to appear on the parchment in her own handwriting. She read through them as they appeared and noted that the sentence structure and wording was exactly what she would use, even though the content was what Lake had originally written. Hermione giggled as she thought of Harry and Ron struggling in the common room to get half a page written. "There are students here that would give their eye teeth for this spell. It's positively wonderful. As a matter of fact, I like this one much better than the one I did Friday night. You two are brilliant."

The girls seemed to finally be starting to relax and they blushed under Hermione's praise.

"Like I said, we don't use it for everything. We actually study too. But for moronic assignments like this, why bother. I'd bet he doesn't even read them anyway. So, how about this herbology?" and Bailey waved the text book at Lake and Hermione.

"All right, all right, I'll quiz you on the terms," said Hermione with mock exasperation and she flashed her friends a grin.