A/N: I hope that I haven't vered to far with my interpretation of Severus. Though, please remember that the story is AU, so he will be a bit different from the canan. Also, I would appreciate your reviews and thank you to those already do leave a response.

Severus pushed open the doors to the mansion and walked through the halls with all the arrogance and confidence of a man who had the ear of the most powerful wizard of the age. He didn't bother to knock as he pushed open the door to Voldemort's study. Severus ignored the snarl issued from the throat of the large, blonde haired Garret and barely nodded to the glaring Bellatrix before he dropped to one knee at the foot of the Dark Lord.

"My master," he offered up in a reverent tone, "I'm honored that you have called me to your service."

"You sniveling rat," hissed Bellatrix as she made to kick at the prone Severus.

Voldemort was surprisingly quick though and turned and grabbed the seething woman by arm. "Now, now, my dear, let's not be too hasty in our judgment. I'm sure he has a good reason for his actions."

"Yes, my Lord," she said as she bowed her head toward her master. She waited till he removed his hand from her arm and turned away to return her hateful gaze to Severus.

Severus brushed passed her as he made his way to the side cupboard and poured himself a snifter of brandy. He savored the aroma before taking a sip of the smooth liqueur. He had their attention and he knew he had to make this a good show. "The reason I did not present my nieces immediately should be obvious," and he fixed Bellatrix with a mocking stare, his mouth twitching up on one side in a half smile. "It was due to the Blood Vow that I took the day they were named."

"So, you would save your own skin, rather than serve your master?"

Voldemort swept his hand out from the folds of his robe and Bellatrix' mouth was suddenly sealed shut. His dark orbs glowed with silent rage as he spat, "I said we would hear him out."

Severus waited patiently for a nod from the Dark Lord before he continued. "Not only did my vow cause me to be overly cautious when it came to my nieces, the ministry was hot on their trail as well. I wanted to clear them with that nosey-body Scrimgeour before I chanced presenting them to the Dark Lord."

Voldemort sat quietly for a long moment, his fingertips pressed together as he tapped his forefingers against his lips. Slowly his mouth creased into that wicked, half smile, "A cautious, but very shrewd move on your part, Severus. Once more your ability to think in a pinch has proven how wise you are, as well as loyal."

Bellatrix made a protesting sound deep in her throat and stomped her foot.

The Dark Lord glanced at Garret and waved toward the obstinate woman. Garret nodded and taking a hold of Bellatrix' arm, pulled her from the study. Voldemort waited for the click of the door, ensuring they were alone, before he turned his full attention again to Severus. He motioned to the couch beside his plush armchair. "So, how much do they know?"

"Thank you, Master," said Severus as he settled into the deep cushioning and began to relate everything that had happened since the girls had arrived at Hogwarts.

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Over the next few weeks, Bailey and Lake settled into a routine with the rest of the school. They met with Harry, Hermione and Ron as often as they could, usually getting together in the library or meeting out in the courtyard.

It was the Saturday before the winter break started and the weather had turned suddenly unpleasant. It was even too cold and nasty for Harry and his team to go out to practice. It was a dismal looking group that gathered in one of the unused class rooms. The desks and chairs had all been pushed to one side and a large pile of pillows had magically appeared in the center. The usual five were joined by Ginny, Luna Lovegood and Neville Longbottom.

"So, what shall we talk about today?" asked Harry as he stretched out on several pillows and laid his head in Hermione's lap, ignoring the glares that Ron threw at him.

Bailey and Lake stretched out on the floor, each propping their elbows on a pillow. They exchanged smiles as Luna, in her rather off-handed way, told Ron he could rest his head in her lap. With a shy grin, he accepted. Neville settled next to Ginny, who leaned over and rested her head on his shoulder.

Lake looked about and noting that no one else was answering, she cleared her throat. As all eyes turned expectantly toward her, she looked at Harry. "I, we," and she hitched her thumb toward Bailey, "were wondering if you would tell us more about your experiences with Voldemort."

Neville made an odd sound deep in his throat at the mention of the name and Ron visibly flinched. Hermione gave him a stern stare.

"Ronald, how many times do I have to tell you that it's not bad to say his name? It only holds power if you give it power."

"I know, I know, but bloody 'ell, you didn't grow up hearing the stories of what he did before 'e attacked 'arry."

Hermione's features softened, "Sorry, I keep forgetting about that. Is Tom Riddle better?"

Ron shrugged his shoulders as he closed his eyes as Luna ran her fingers absently through his hair. Not even raising her eyes from her magazine, Celestials Monthly, she stated. "Did you know that they have found evidence that Lithuanian Lumquerries do exist? I told dad that I saw one…"

"Oh, by Merlin's hat Luna, Lumquerries do not exist."

"Do so," she protested.

"Do not," Ron retorted.

Harry ignored the two as he rolled onto his side and regarded the twins. "So, what do you want to know?"

Bailey suddenly seemed very interested in the conversation. "Tom Riddle, I've heard that name before. Tell us about him, Harry, please."

She noted the way Ginny flinched and shifted uncomfortably and wondered what was wrong. "Are you okay, Ginny?"

Ginny nodded, her bright red ponytail bobbing with the motion. "It's just that… well… that particular story is… well…"

Ron spoke up for her. "Ginny was possessed by Riddle and did some bad things."

Flushing with anger, Ginny kicked out her foot which connected hard with Ron's shin. "Shut your trap, Ronald Weasely or I'll," and Ginny drew her wand.

Neville quickly grabbed her hand, pulled it down and tucked it in his lap. "There will be no bat-bogey curses today."

"It can wait till later," Bailey said with a wave of her hand. "Why don't you tell us more about the Tri-Wizard tournament, Harry? So far, you had defeated the dragon and gotten the egg. How did you finally figure out the egg's clue?"

A sad look washed over Harry's features and he heaved a heavy sigh.

Hermione ran her fingers soothingly over the wrinkles in his forehead as she leaned over to look at Harry. Gently, she asked, "Would you like for me to tell it?"

Harry shook his head. "I'm okay, really. Anyway, I got a hint from one of the other contestants, the true Hogwarts' champion, Cedric. When you opened the egg in air, it emitted an awful, high pitched screech. However, under water, the screech turned into a beautiful, mermaid's song. The song described the second challenge, where something or someone dear to us would be taken and hidden away. We would have to go deep into Black Lake to get our treasures back from the mermaids. Hermione and Ron were both put under a spell and chained in the center of the mermaids' city, along with a girl from Ravenclaw, named Cho Chang and the little sister of the Beauxbaton's team…"

Lake and Bailey listened intently as Harry related the rest of the tale of his Tri-Wizard experience. The others, board by the re-retelling of the story drifted out of the room by one's or two' until only the twins, Harry and Hermione remained. Hermione had shifted sometime during the story and now rested on Harry's shoulder, snoring lightly.

Lake had tears in her eyes as Harry finished his tale. She swiped at her cheeks as she whispered, "How unfair for you to have to face this Voldemort person all alone. It's amazing how you've encountered this horrible man and survived. It's truly unfair that you are so young, yet have experienced so much."

Harry gave a slight shrug, while trying to avoid waking Hermione. "I didn't know anything about it till I came to Hogwarts. Besides, I've never been alone. I've always had my friends, Professor Dumbledore and others around me, watching my back and helping me. You two are the ones who are amazing. Why, you know a lot more than I could ever think of knowing. I bet you know more than some of the professors here."

"Our parents taught us all that stuff, they were the great ones. I just wish that we knew more about why they learned it all. No one seems able or willing to tell us about them." Lake buried her face in her pillow and used it to muffle her scream.

Bailey looked about and realized that the others had left. She locked gazes with Harry and asked, "Who is Tom Riddle?"

"Tom Marvolo Riddle was the birth name of Lord Voldemort. He was once a student here at Hogwarts. He was the only student to ever find and open the Chamber of Secrets."

"But, I thought you said that it was opened during your second year?"

"It was, but Riddle had ensconced his sixteen year old self in the pages of a diary. He possessed a student, Ginny, and worked through her. So technically it was him who opened the chamber. At least the book is destroyed and that's one less horcrux I have to worry about."

"Horcrux," asked the twins together?

"It's a long story," sighed Harry.

"Have you ever heard the name Lavana Davenport?" asked Bailey suddenly.

Harry shook his head.

The action seemed to rouse Hermione and she pushed herself off Harry's shoulder as she rubbed at her eyes. She asked in a sleepy voice, "Who's Lavana Davenport?"

"That's what we were wondering. I overheard that man, Lupin, say something about Tom Riddle and Lavana Davenport to Uncle Severus while I was in the infirmary. I've been reading through all the books that the library has on famous witches and wizards, but hadn't found either name. Now I at least know why Riddle's name was omitted. But who is this Davenport lady? I think she may be related to our mom, because that was her maiden name, but I can't find even a trace that she existed."

Hermione seemed to be searching her memory and she finally shook her head. "I don't recall ever coming across that name either. Have you tried the G.H.O.S.T.?"

Lake made an awful face and Bailey shook her head.

"You mean talk to Peeves, or Sir Nicholas?" she asked.

"No thank you," added Lake. "I swear that Bloody Baron is a pervert. He actually appeared in the steam in the girl's shower. The rest of the girls just laughed, but I didn't think it was funny at all."

Hermione stifled a giggle. "Although talking to some of them might not be a bad idea, I was referring to the 'Guild of Hogwarts' Outstanding Students Thesaurus'. It's basically a huge yearbook with a page for every student who has ever graduated from Hogwarts. There is a brief biography for each student in it. Maybe you will find this Davenport person in there"

"It sounds like as good a place as any to me to look next. So," and Bailey pushed up off her pillows to stand and stretch, "it should be about the super hour. Thank you both for a very informative afternoon."

Lake accepted her sister's hand and was pulled to her feet, "Also, thank you for hiding us from Draco. I swear that boy is going mental. When he's not chasing after Bailey, he's off by himself mumbling. I've been tempted more than once to hit him with a binding curse, for his own good of course."

"I'm going to hit him with more than that one of these days," groused Bailey.

"You mean Draco has been acting more strangely than usual?" laughed Harry as he rose and helped Hermione to her feet as well.

"Come to think of it," added Hermione, "he has seemed a bit distracted and not nearly as obnoxious as usual."

"Well, I'm certainly not going to waste any sleep worrying about him. We'd better get down to the dining hall, I'm getting hungry." As if to emphasize his statement, Harry's stomach gave a loud, long gurgle.

The three girls laughed as the group made their way down to supper.

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The following Saturday, the halls of Hogwarts buzzed with activity as most of the students prepared to go home for the holiday break.

Lake and Bailey stood at the top of the main stairs and watched as the students filed out of the doors and made their way to the carriages that would take them down to the train station and from there, they would travel home.

"Well, aren't you two a couple of gloomy Gusses?" Hermione's smile was soft and understanding as she set her bags down and gave each of the twins a hug. "I'm really sorry that you have to stay here at the school. It would be nice if you could join the rest of us at the Burrow. I'm sure Mr. and Mrs. Weasley could squeeze two more in."

Lake gave their friend a half smile. "We're probably better off here. We won't be very good company anyway, this being the first Christmas without…" She had to stop there or chance breaking down in front of half the school.

Hermione nodded in understanding as she gave Lake's hand a squeeze.

Harry and Ron soon joined them and with their good-byes and well wishes for the holiday given, the three headed for the door, leaving Lake and Bailey alone to watch the procession of students away from Hogwarts. Soon everyone was gone and an eerie silence seemed to settle over the whole school.

"So, what do we do for the next two weeks?" asked Lake as she settled on the top step of the main staircase.

"I say we find this book of Hermione's and start researching it. I'm curious to learn more about Tom Riddle and see if we can't find anything on Lavana Davenport. Maybe that will help us figure out what exactly this Lord Dark dude Voldemort wants with us."

Lake nodded as she rose and followed her sister up to the library. The doors were unlocked, but not even the librarian was at her desk as they entered. An extensive search of the library finally revealed the huge book tucked away in a back corner. Lake levitated it to a table and used her wand to flip it open. "So, where do you think we should start? I've landed on the class of eighteen hundred."

"I think we need to look for more current graduates." Bailey took hold of a fist full of pages and flipped them over. She landed on Daniel Danking, class 1930. "Well, this looks better. Why not start here and we'll work our way forward?"

Lake nodded as she rested her chin in her hand as she placed her elbow next to her sister's and they began reading through the bios of all the students who had graduated from the school.

They weren't even sure how long they had been reading, when Lake finally stood and stretched. She looked out the windows and whistled. "The moon is already high, how long have we been at this?"

"Too long," groused Bailey as she stretched also. "There has to be a quicker way to go through this."

She leveled her wand at the book and said. "Show me Tom Riddle." The pages riffled a little, but didn't move. Bailey sighed and whispered, "Please show me Tom Marvolo Riddle."

The pages lifted and when they settled the picture that was revealed looked vaguely familiar. The rather handsome young man that looked back at them had dark hair, parted neatly at the side and piercing blue eyes. His smile looked kind, but the expression in his eyes made both girls shiver.

"I don't think I like him. Say, I wonder what dad's bio is like. Please show us Derrick Snape," and Lake tapped the book lightly with her wand.

As if lifted by a sudden gust of wind, the pages turned quickly settling to reveal a handsome young man of about eighteen. The girls smiled back at the familiar face. They leaned in close to read the details of their father's years at Hogwarts. He had certainly had an extensive extra-curricular schedule. They found the family information at the bottom to be rather interesting.

Father: Tobias Snape - deceased

Mother: Eileen Prince Snape - deceased

Siblings: Severus

Lake shook her head and raised her wand. "Please show me Sina Davenport." The pages barely lifted, then fell still.

Bailey nudged her sister. "Mom's real name was Thomasina."

"Right! Please show us Thomasina Davenport."

This time the pages flipped quickly to reveal a pretty young woman with long black hair and sky blue eyes. The twins crowded in close to read their mother's biography. She had been a prefect in Slytherin and had been elected as head girl her seventh year. She had excelled in all her classes and had been voted the most likely to do great things. Her biography was short and the twins quickly reached the family information.

"NO!" and the word was barely more than a whisper as it escaped Bailey's lips. She summoned a chair and sagged into it. She shook her head. "No, it can't be. I won't believe it."

Lake summoned a chair as well and perched on the edge as she read her mother's short biography again. It was as if by reading a second and third time, she could somehow change the contents. Finally she turned to her sister. "So, what do we do now?"

Bailey gripped the edge of the table, digging her fingers in till her knuckles turned white. "We go get the rest of the story."

As one, they rose from the table and marched out of the library. They were heading for the Great Hall when their quarry rounded a corner ahead of them.

"There you are," and Professor Snape turned toward them. "I've been looking all over for you. You missed dinner and I was just down in the Slytherin dorm and you weren't in your room." He cocked an eyebrow as he looked into their determined faces. "Girls, is everything…?"

He didn't get to finish as Lake waved her hand, silently casting a spell that shoved their uncle against the wall.

Bailey advanced on him till she stood toe to toe with him. "Why?" she demanded, hissing the word between clenched teeth. "Why didn't you tell us about Tom Riddle?"

Lake stepped up beside her sister, her voice low and threatening, "If you say it's because we're too young to know, I swear, I'll…"

"How did you…?" gasped out Snape. He struggled against the binding spell that Lake had pinned him to the wall with. "Let me go and I'll tell you everything."

Lake dropped her hand and Severus slumped against the wall, panting to catch his breath.

"How did you find out about Tom Riddle?"

"The G.H.O.S.T. in the library. He's listed as our mother's father. Why weren't we told that…" Bailey had to stop to check her voice. "Why weren't we told that Lord Voldemort is our grandfather?"

"Your parents didn't want you to know, didn't want the two of you to get involved. They wanted to try to keep you out of the war. They named me their secret keeper before they left for the states. They made me swear that I would never reveal to you your connection to the Dark Lord. But, since you've discovered it on your own, I'm released from that promise and can now tell you the whole story. Why don't we at least go to my office?"

The twins nodded and followed their uncle to his office. They sat quietly in the chairs that he summoned as he related the whole story of Tom Riddle, Lavana Davenport and their daughter, Sina.

"When your mother found out what her father was doing, she publicly denounced his actions. She disavowed any ties that she had with him. He tried more than once to get her to join his side, but she was appalled at what he was doing, especially since one of her best friends was muggle-born and would soon become one of those that her father hunted. She and Derrick joined the Order of the Phoenix, a group that fought against the Dark Lord and his followers. She even formed a sub-group, Rebels Against the Blood. It consisted mostly of those who did not go along with their families in supporting the Dark Lord, thus the term blood-traitors. That was the last straw for the Dark Lord. He marked her for death and set out hunting her. It was about that time that the two of you were born. Sina and Derrick went into deep hiding. They would have remained so, but for the attack on James and Lily Potter. They came out of hiding to help the Order and the Ministry hunt down the Death Eaters. Though everyone thought that the Dark Lord was dead, Sina suspected that he wasn't. She convinced Derrick that they needed to go back into hiding to protect the two of you from her father. That's when they went to the states."

Lake and Bailey remained quiet for a long time as they absorbed what their uncle was telling them.

Lake finally found her voice. "So, why would we be so important to Voldemort?"

Snape winced, but answered, "His followers knew that your blood could restore the Dark Lord. They knew he would never accept Sina's blood; knew he would never use the blood of a traitor. But yours was innocent blood, pure blood of his blood. Even now, he must suspect the power that the two of you possess and will seek to lure you to his side."

"He knows we are here. Is it a good idea to stay here?"

Severus moved to kneel between the girls. Tentatively, he reached up and patted the knee of each girl. "This is the safest place for you right now. There is no one who is going to get in here, not through all the protective spells we have set forth. Besides, I've sworn a blood vow to look after you and nothing, short of my own demise can break that promise."

The girls slipped off their chairs and wrapped their arms about their uncle's neck. Snape paused for a moment, unsure what to do, when suddenly something deep inside him broke and he hugged the girls close to him. Silently, he re-affirmed his vow to protect them with his last breath.