Hey everyone. I'm sorry not posting yesterday, as I had to move into my dorm room. The call for beta readers is still out!

Thank you.

I do not own HP, just this version of the plot.

Nearly a week had passed since Harry and Hermione had been taken under Severus's wing. Hermione was sending owls to Mr. and Mrs. Granger nearly every day. She had wanted to keep in touch a lot and she missed them. They had promised to meet her at King's Cross Station when she left for school, however, and she was thrilled about that. Hermione had already read through all her course books once and was starting through them a second time. She had also perfected the lumos charm the same day that they had visited Hogwarts. She had really enjoyed the charms and spells book that she had gotten, and found herself looking through the library for similar books often.

Harry's time at the manor was a bit rockier. It was hard for him to open up to Severus. The first few nights he had been scared of angering Severus and being beaten or being sent back to the Dursleys and being beaten. However, Severus had understood that and gently coaxed Harry into discussing things about the Dursleys in length, often for over an hour before bed. He had told Severus of how he had always been left with Mrs. Figg while the Durlsey's went on lavish vacations. He had been opening up to Severus every night, but the nightmares that he had been having were continuing. He had talked with Severus about them one morning at 3 am after he had woken up screaming. After this, Harry had found himself waking Severus up almost every night. He was scared to fall back asleep after his nightmares, and the more he talked about them, the less they were occurring. He was averaging 1 or 2 a night now, instead of the 3 or 4. Harry was proud of himself. He no longer woke up panicking that he had to make breakfast, and was getting used to sleeping in an actual bed. He had become really good at Gobstones and had nearly won every game he played with Hermione or Severus.

Like Hermione, he had read through all of his course books. He had enjoyed Defense against the Dark Arts and Potions, surprisingly. Severus had taken them down to his potions lab and had showed them the basics. How to cut, crush, slice, dice, etc. Severus has shown them the easiest way to light a fire beneath the cauldron and the easiest thing to put in any potion to neutralize it: water. Water weakened the potion enough to make it safe if anything went wrong.

Harry and Hermione were quickly becoming good friends and siblings. They often spent their days walking outside or reading books. Harry had been able to talk more freely with Hermione rather than Severus, and he had accidentally let some parts of his past slip to her when they were talking. Hermione, however, was happy that Harry trusted her. She let him talk at his own pace.

When Severus has approached them the other day and told them that they were to meet the Dark Lord, they had immediately become very nervous. Neither of them were sure how Lord Voldemort would treat them, and frankly, he seemed even more intimidating than Severus. Today was the day they were going to floo to Riddle Manor to meet him. Harry and Hermione sat in the living room, waiting for Severus to meet them so they could leave at 11:00 in the morning. Harry was dressed in a black cloak and a green button down shirt and black pants while Hermione was dressed in a floor length black skirt and a light blue shirt. She too had a black cloak on. Severus arrived in the room. He was wearing his silver mask and was dressed in all black. He told them earlier that it was his uniform as a Death Eater and unless stated otherwise, it was wise to wear the Death Eater robes when meeting the Dark Lord.

"Are you ready to go, children?" Severus said, his voice like stone.

Harry and Hermione nodded.

"I will go first through the floo, then Harry, and then Hermione. I don't want you coming into a strange house by yourself. We will then be ushered to the Dark Lord. Be on your best behavior. Don't speak unless spoken to. Call him My Lord. Do as we discussed," Severus said shortly.

Severus stepped into the fireplace after grabbing a handful of floo powder.

"Riddle Manor," Severus said before disappearing in a flash of green fire.

Once the fire had disappeared, Harry went next. Finally Hermione followed.

The trio got their bearing inside the strange manor as they waited. Severus was unsure of how they would be meeting the Dark Lord, but he quickly got his answer as a house elf appeared with a crack.

"Come, Master will see you now," the house elf croaked, leading them out of the room.

Severus, Hermione, and Harry followed the house elf out of the room and down the hallway. He brought them to a door and opened it.

"This is the drawing room, sirs and lady. Master is by the fire," the house elf said before leaving.

Severus saw Voldemort and beckoned the children to follow him. He stopped in front of him, bowing as he did so. Harry gazed at Voldemort. He had red eyes and his skin was grey. Harry could clearly see the veins that criss crossed on his bald head. He was wearing black robes and there was a snake resting beside his armchair by the fire. There was a pile of books beside him, and they all seemed to deal with the Dark Arts.

"My Lord," Severus said, not moving from his bow.

"Severus," the man hissed. "Take off your mask and have a seat."

"You are most generous, My Lord," Severus said as he complied with his instructions.

To Harry and Hermione, it was weird to see Severus so submissive.

"Severus, why have you requested an audience, and who are these two?" He asked. Voldemort knew who the boy was, Harry Potter of course.

"My Lord, I am the guardian of Harry Potter and Hermione Granger. Fortunately, they are both Lily Potter's and my children. My affair with her produced them. They were both raised as muggleborns. I had requested an audience with you to ask if I should allow them to change their last name to Snape," Severus said.

Voldemort gave a high, harsh laugh. Harry had to urge to step back, but remembering Severus's instructions before leaving, he stayed put.

"How odd is it that your son is Harry Potter, the bane of my existence? How odd is it that you managed to adopt both of your biological children?" Voldemort said with a smirk.

"My Lord, I don't know, but they are well aware of my allegiance to you, they know the truth," Severus said, holding his breath.

"Hermione, was it?" Hermione nodded. "Come here, girl."

Hermione tentatively stepped forward, but not before sparing a glance at her father. He didn't make eye contact with her. He too was nervous, although he didn't show it. His face was like stone as he stared at Voldemort.

"You are very young," Voldemort said, standing up and walking around her. "I don't want to force you over to our side, but if my spy is telling the truth and you know the truth, you will inevitably fight alongside me."

Hermione nodded. "Yes, sir. He explained why muggleborns displease you. I can understand that."

"Ah yes. 90% of them often leave the wizarding world after they finish schooling and are never seen again, wasting valuable education and resources the wizarding world provides for them. That angers me," Voldemort said, moving to stand in front of the fire, facing them. It gave him an even eerier look.

"I am planning a mass breakout from Azkaban in a few weeks time. I want you to start training with my only female Death Eater, Bellatrix Lestrange. She and your father will train you well," Voldemort said, looking at Hermione with interest. "You seem very intelligent. Your mind, like your father's, will be useful to the cause."

"Harry Potter. The boy who lived. Come here," Voldemort said, as red eyes met green.

Harry walked forward.

"You have managed to escape me for so long," Voldemort said, his eyes not moving from Harry's. "Congratulations. However, like your sister, it won't be too long before you will fight alongside me. I can tell from a small glimpse into your mind that you are and will be very powerful. I understand that you have been abused and Severus is helping you?"

Harry nodded.

"Very good. After my mass breakout from Azkaban, I want you to start training with Severus. During your holidays, you will train with me as well. I will teach you spells that you will not learn in school. You will also duel with me," he spoke to the two of them now. "I recognize that you both are 11 and that you are young. However, if we want to take down Dumbledore and push our agenda, you must start training as you are vital to our cause. In school I want you to be inconspicuous. Act like you are on their side. Do not let the fool suspect you. Am I clear?"

"Yes, sir," Harry and Hermione said in unison.

"Now leave us. I must talk with Severus," Voldemort hissed.

Harry and Hermione left the room, glancing at Severus. He looked impassive, but nodded at them to leave. They left the drawing room quickly, shutting the door behind them and standing by it.

"So, that was nerve wracking," Hermione said with a nervous giggle.

Harry only nodded. Meanwhile, Voldemort had simply stared in the fire as they left.

"I am displeased with you Severus."

"My lord?" Severus asked. He was displeased. This wasn't good.

"You didn't tell me you had Harry Potter under your roof. I would have thought that my trusty spy would have immediately told me that he had been instructed by Dumbledore to adopt the boy."

"My Lord, if I may explain," Severus paused, waiting for a signal to continue.

Voldemort turned, staring at Severus.

"The night I had gotten Harry he had been abused, and I needed to take care of him before his cuts got infected. I've been working with him to try to get him to trust me, My Lord. Forgive me, but imagine the boy's feelings. He barely trusted me the first night, how could I bring him to someone he thought had purposefully killed his parents," Severus said. He was trying to make it seem like a mistake that anyone could make.

"You lie," Voldemort said as he came closer to his spy.

"My Lord, it never crossed my mind, I was focused on caring for the boy, I apologize," Severus said, but he knew what was coming.

"If you are as faithful as you claim you are, you would have told your master before going to get the boy who you thought was the son of a man you hated. Crucio!"

Severus fell to his knees, gasping in pain. His insides felt like they were writhing as he felt stabbing pain all over his body. The curse only lasted about a minute. Maybe Voldemort was feeling generous today.

"Get up, you fool," Voldemort snapped.

"I'm sorry, My Lord, I am truly faithful to you and your cause. I won't make the mistake again," Severus said, breathing heavily.

"I trust that you won't. You rarely displease me, Severus, which is why I released it quickly. I am simply displeased that it took you a week to tell me that you had Harry Potter," Voldemort said, looking at the disappointed man in front of him.

"I understand your displeasure with me, My Lord. I will be better next time," Severus said, bowing his head.

"Take your seat, Severus, we have much to discuss," Voldemort said.

Severus left his meeting with Voldemort nearly a half an hour later. The aftershocks of the Cruciatus curse were still hitting him, and he shook slightly with each one. He was still struggling to control his face when the aftershocks hit, as he was rarely the target of Voldemort's anger. He had only been hit with it 5 or 6 times, and in the 10 years that he had served him, that was almost unheard of. There was no denying that the Dark Lord could be cruel, even as much as Severus supported him.

However, he just wanted to go home to his bed and sleep the curse off. He knew that he had displeased Voldemort and he felt that he deserved it. He should have told Voldemort that he was going to adopt Harry immediately, or at least mentioned that he was and requested an audience with him to explain further. Severus felt that Harry shouldn't have met the Dark Lord any earlier though.

In the end, Voldemort told Severus to not change their last names. It would make Dumbledore too suspicious of the truth, and Dumbledore would be more likely to find out and then do something to him, Harry, or Hermione. Severus had conceded to this reasoning and agreed. Hermione Granger and Harry Potter would be his biological children in secret only.

Severus had flooed back to the manor after the children and sent them to the library to read their course books and to work on using a quill on parchment. He had told them that he would be in his room and that he needed some time alone to figure things out. Luckily, no one bothered him for the rest of the afternoon and he took a much deserved nap.