The Snape twins were excused from their classes the following Friday so that they could meet with Mr. Scrimgeour and an examiner from the Ministry of Magic. Their uncle had offered to be present, but Scrimgeour refused, saying that he feared Snape's presence might distract the girls. In fact, the minister forbade anyone from being present, including Dumbledore.
"This way," he explained, "we will get a true feeling for what they are capable of, without any outside influence. As well, there will be no pressure on them to perform beyond their capabilities or expectations."
Dumbledore nodded in agreement. "Yes, I'm sure that's best. Now, the large room at the top of the south stairs has been set aside for your use. This is the room that is used for teaching apperating. Will that be sufficient for your needs?"
Scrimgeour nodded as he followed the girls up the staircase. "This shouldn't take to long. I'll meet you in your office at the conclusion to give you the results."
Dumbledore stroked his long white beard. "Though I'm sure of them, I look forward to discussing them with you." He gave the girls a reassuring wave as they glanced at him over their shoulders.
Four hours later, Snape paced Dumbledore's office like an expectant father. He paused as McGonagall entered the large room. He looked thoroughly vexed as he stared at his associate, "Any word? Are they finished yet?"
"They should be here momentarily. I've asked Professors Flitwick and Sprout to join us as well. It's only right that the heads of all four houses be present to hear the results. Oh, I hope they did okay." McGonagall settled in one of the high-backed chairs with a heavy sigh. The wringing of her handkerchief was the only outward sign that she was nervous.
Snape had whirled about to retort when the office door opened again. The stout Professor Sprout and the diminutive Flitwick ushered in the Minister and the Examiner.
Dumbledore summoned a large pot of tea and seven cups. He tapped the ornate pot with his wand and watched quietly as it poured them each a steaming cup. Each person summoned their cup as the sugar bowl and creamer bobbed about the group gathered around the headmaster's large desk. When everyone was served, the professors and Dumbledore looked expectantly at the Minister.
Scrimgeour took his time testing the hot beverage and making sure that it had enough sugar. The examiner nudged him in the side and he looked up at those gazing at him. "OH, yes, well, as expected, they performed well. They are certainly talented witches, something I'm sure we can attribute to their parents' teachings."
"Performed well?" sputtered the examiner. The man looked frazzled as he stared in disbelief at the Minister. He turned back to face Dumbledore. "You know me well, Sir. I've been administering these tests for many years and I've never encountered two more talented witches. If it were up to me, I would give them BO on their N.E.W.T.s and send them on their way. I realize that you can not, because of their age, but I tell you, they do not belong here."
The minister glowered at the expressive examiner. "Correct, considering their age, the Ministry agrees that they should stay here. May I however recommend a special instructor to meet with the girls once a week?"
"What for?" demanded Dumbledore and Snape at the same instance.
"Why, to hone the girls skills of course," replied the minister smoothly. "There is so much untapped potential here. Why, they could be as strong as, dare I say, He-who-must-not-be-named."
"And you want to make sure that the ministry has control of such power, am I right?" Dumbledore's voice rose to a gentle roar as he pushed himself up from his chair. "I will not have these girls drug into the war, Minister."
"It's unavoidable! No one can escape it." The Minister sprang to his feet. "Think about it Dumbledore. When the final battle comes, whose side do you want them on?"
"Stop!" bellowed Snape as she stepped between Dumbledore and the Minister. "For now we're in agreement, they should stay here where they can be protected. As their guardian, I have final say on what they are taught. They will remain in the classes they are in now. I will however, take the Ministry's offer under consideration. I do have one favor to ask," and he turned toward the minister, "if they performed adequately enough, may they be granted their apparating licenses? You won't be able to stop them from doing it and this way they won't send the ministry into an uproar when they do. Truly, it is for their safety that I ask. Should they ever be caught in an unsafe situation, they could get away."
The minister smiled obligingly. "But of course, that would be most prudent I think. I'll have them drawn up and send an owl in the morning. Now, if you all will excuse us, we should be going. The Ministry waits for no man," he said gruffly.
The examiner rose as well and bid them all farewell.
The five still gathered in the office remained quiet till the sounds of the Minister and examiner's footfalls faded down the stairwell.
Professor Sprout sat shaking her head and McGonagall continued to wring the dainty lace kerchief. Professor Flitwick hummed and mumbled to himself while Snape took up his pacing of the office.
Dumbledore looked introspectively into his tea for a long moment before he spoke. "For now, Lake and Bailey are to be treated like any other sixth year. I want them to have as normal an existence as we can create for them." Dumbledore walked over and placed his hand on Snape's shoulder. His voice had returned to its normal, even timber. "That includes letting them go to Hogsmeade tomorrow."
Snape's protest was stilled by the surprisingly strong hand that gripped his shoulder. He bit his tongue as he let his shoulders sag. "Fine, but can you promise them protection?"
"Certainly," answered Dumbledore jovially. "The Order will send several of its members to watch over them. As a matter of fact, I have it on good authority that two of the best and brightest are planning to be there." There was a mischievous glint in the old wizard's eyes as he smiled at Snape.
"You're joking, right?" Snape's usually pinched face looked absolutely dour. "If you think I'm going to trust my nieces into the care of the Weasley twins, you're daft."
"Actually, I was referring to Charlie and Bill. But now that you mention it, I do need to speak to Molly and Arthur."
"You would actually consider admitting those third rate juvenile delinquents into the Order?" Snape looked insulted as well as outraged by the very thought. "You do recall what they did after Gryffindor won the House Cup, don't you?"
Dumbledore stifled a chuckle. "Yes, but that was just a harmless prank. The colors wore off in a few days."
McGonagall cleared her throat. She stood and held up her hand, staying Snape's response. "This is settling nothing. How can we be sure that there will be adequate protection for them? I fear that they are probably desired more than Mr. Potter."
"Can we be sure of anything in this world?" commented Dumbledore cryptically. He hoped his smile was reassuring as he looked up at the others. "I'm sure they will be fine. It's not in Lord Voldemort's nature to make such a bold move in such a crowded place. Let them have a few hours to be girls."
Snape grunted in disgust, but felt that he had no choice but to agree. "I would chaperone, but I'm already committed to tutoring several second years. Would it be possible…?" He hated to ask one of the others to take on a task that was his.
Dumbledore nodded. "Rubeus has already been most kind in offering to escort the girls. I'm confident that they will be well looked after."
Snape glowered at the presumptuous headmaster for a long moment before nodding his assent. Secretly he hoped that the Dark Lord had not yet figured out wherethe girls were and thus had not yet set his eye on Hogwarts.
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The girls were surprised and grateful when their uncle reluctantly gave them permission to join the others in Hogsmeade. He made them promise to stay close to Hagrid and not to dally to long away from the school. He bit back the command to stay away from the Weasley brothers, knowing that would only spark a rebellion. He hoped that they would get caught up in the town's activities and forget all about their meeting with the 'weasel' twins. They each gave him a hug, which he scowled at, and waved as they joined the large Groundskeeper/Professor in the foyer.
As the long line of students made their way down to the gate, the girls and Hagrid were joined by Harry, Hermione and Ron.
"I see the warden let you two out. Wha for, good behavior?" joked Ron as he fell into step beside Lake.
"Yeah, something like that," said Lake jovially. "Actually, I think Professor Dumbledore had something to do with it. I think he's trying to make up for making us put up with that Ministry twit yesterday."
"Yeah, and the examiner too," added Bailey.
"How did that go?" asked Hermione. "I wanted to ask you last night, but youescaped the Hall before I got a chance."
"It went fine," answered Bailey and Lake nodded in agreement.
"They asked us a lot of questions and had us demonstrate our skills. I think we may have scared the examiner a little." Lake giggled and Bailey joined her.
The other three looked perplexed and would have inquired further if it weren't for Ron's sudden shriek of terror. They all looked over to see him standing frozen in place, a large set of hands grasping his shoulders. Attached to the hands was a tall, handsome man in his mid-twenties,his dark red hair pulled back in a ponytail and a few freckles dotting across his nose. The resemblance to Ron was unmistakable.
"I see you still scream like a girl," joked the tall man as he ruffled Ron's hair.
Ron heaved a heavy sigh as he turned to face the man. "Dang it, Charlie, why'd ya have to go and scare me like that? Isn't a simple 'ello' good enough for ya?"
"Not when it comes to you, little brother." The man sized up Ron and nodded approvingly. "Well, I guess its not-so-little-brother any more. Did mom feed you a growth potion over the summer?"
Ron shook his head as he rolled his eyes. "Charlie, I'd like to introduce you to my friends. Harry and Hermione you've met. This is," and Ron had to stop since the Snape twins were almost identical in every way.
Just then they were joined by Fred and George.
"This is Lake," said Fred as he took her hand and looped it around his elbow.
"And this is Bailey," said George as he did the same.
Bailey rolled her pale blue eyes as she pulled her hand from around Fred's elbow and slapped his shoulder. "I'm Bailey, you dolt."
Lake jerked her hand out of George's grasp and extended it to the second eldest of the Weasley Clan. "Hi, I'm Lake and this is my sister, Bailey. It's a pleasure to meet you, Charlie."
Charlie bobbed his head in greeting as he tried to hold back his laughter at his brothers' mix-up. Finally finding his voice, he held out his hand. "The pleasure is all mine ladies. It's nice to see these two get bested at their own game for once."
The girls looked puzzled at first, but soon caught on to what he meant and giggled.
"They're easy to tell apart," said Bailey as she looped her arm around George's. "Fred is a bit taller and George's hair is more blonde."
"Well, they certainly have you two pegged," came a smooth, deep voice from behind Hagrid.
Bailey leaned back to see around the large man and had to blink several times to make sure she was seeing correctly. She tugged at George's sleeve. "Just how many of you are there?"
"Six, at last count," answered Charlie.
"Seven," corrected a small voice. "Why do you always forget me?"
They all turned to where Ginny stood tapping her foot and looking extremely aggravated.
"Who says we were counting you out?" Charlie scooped her up in his large arms. He kissed her cheek then passed her off to his brother.
The newcomer kissed her cheek as well and just grinned as she struggled to get free.
"Come on, Bill, let me go. I'm too old for you guys to be cradling me like this. Besides, I'll die if any of my friends see me like this."
"Fine!" He placed another kiss on her cheek and then set her down on her feet.
"That's Bill," said Ginny sourly as she straightened her skirt. "Bill, this is Lake and Bailey Snape. They're studying at Hogwarts this year. They're from America."
Bill and Charlie shared a bemused glance before Charlie spoke up, "Snape, as in Professor Snape?"
"As in Severe Severus, the snapping Snape?" added Bill.
The girls blushed and shifted uneasily as they nodded.
"'Ere now," scolded Hagrid softly. "Der will be no professer bashin terday. Why don' we move along up the de road? We're blockin up traffic somethin fierce." With his large arms, he herded the lot up the street to where the Three Broomsticks stood. "I's think certain parties had an appointment 'ere terday?"
Ron, Hermione, Harry and Ginny took their leave of the rest of the group, stating they had other things they wanted to do or people they were supposed to meet. Hagrid ducked inside the tavern and made himself comfortable at the bar, while Bill and Charlie took a table near the back of the room. Fred and George ushered the girls to a larger table near the window and got them settled before going and ordering four bottles of pumpkin juice from the proprietress.
"Sorry if my brothers made you a bit uncomfortable," blurted Fred as he leaned over and sipped from his bottle. "None of us held much favor with the professor. We think it's mostly because we're Gryffindors and it's not just a family thing."
"It's okay," said Lake as she tipped her bottle to her lips. "We've seen how he acts when teaching. I can't imagine it was easy for anyone, unless you're in Slytherin." She shook her head. "So, you guys really want to use our ideas in your shop?"
George beamed. "Yeah, we think the daisies will be a huge seller around Valentines Day. How exactly does that work?"
Lake chuckled, "It's easy. You just enchant the flower so that it always has an odd number of petals on it. If the user tries to cheat and change the last one then the daisy grows two more leaves. If you try to pull two at a time, the flower shakes off the remaining petals and chants, 'Loves you not, loves you not.'"
"I can see that vexing more than a few girls up there at Hogwarts," sputtered Fred through his laughter.
