Thicker Than Water
By Ammie Hawk
Disclaimer: Still not mine.
AN: Okay, so here's this week's chapter. I know, I'm evil and I'll leave it at that. Anyway, please enjoy.
Chapter 6: The Snape Household
Severus Snape's eyes snapped open. Something was wrong. He wasn't sure what had caused it, but the wards on his back door had been triggered. He sat up and glanced at the clock on his night stand. Why would someone be trying to break in at six o'clock in the morning?
With a frown, he got out of bed and picked up his wand. He silently summoned his dressing robe and headed for his door. As he cleared the threshold, his brain finally decided to catch up with him. His house was too well protected for a Muggle to attempt a break in, and a wizard would either floo or Apparate. And on that note, he remembered that he had actually set those particular wards the previous night to make sure the children now in his care would not leave the house.
He sighed heavily as he picked up the pace down the stairs to the kitchen. If one of those brats, namely Hermione, had decided it was a good idea to leave the premises than they would find themselves scrubbing cauldrons for the rest of the summer.
His thoughts came to a screeching halt as he saw his son standing at the stove, obviously making breakfast, if the food items spread over the counter were any indication.
"Coffee?" the shaggy haired brunet asked quietly, back still to the door.
"Did you go outside?" the Potions Master deflected.
"Wufei did," Heero shrugged. "He's in the garden training."
"I see," Severus shook his head, he hadn't even considered that as a possibility, but it would make sense, considering where Regulus had chosen to settle down. "Coffee would be appreciated."
"Hn," the teen nodded, pointed at the cupboard to the right of the stove and levitating a mug onto the counter. He picked up the pot off the stove, pouring the dark liquid into the cup. As he replaced the coffee on the stove, he directed the mug over to the man who was his father.
Dark eyes watched the whole process in amazement. How had this boy learned such advanced magic? Wandless magic wasn't even taught at Hogwarts. He shook his head as the cup floated smoothly over to him. He took it cautiously and then leaned his shoulder against the doorframe.
"You can do wandless magic?" he more stated, but it could be considered a question.
"Yeah," Prussian blue eyes finally left the stove. "First lesson I ever had I was given a wand, told to take an end in each hand and break it in half, and that's how I was told you use a wand. From there, perfection was demanded, whether magic, guns, artillery, Gundams, so that's what was given."
"Who raised you?" Severus asked incredulously.
"His name was Odin Lowe," Heero began levitating dishes out of the cabinets and placing the food on them. "He was a mercenary and assassin. After he died, Dr. J took me in. I think he was worse than Odin, only he didn't know about magic."
"Right," the Potions Master sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "If I recall correctly, James was in charge of placing you. He would pick someone like that, just to spite me."
"Why?"
"While James and I may have tolerated each other for the sake of our spouses, he was not above his little jokes," Severus shook his head.
"Not what I meant," the teen countered. "Why were we, my sister and I, sent away if you were here this entire time?"
The dour man closed his eyes and exhaled slowly, finally pushing off the wall and taking a seat at the small table, "That is a question I will answer, but not until Hermione is here as well. I do not want to have to explain it more than once."
"Hn," he nodded, that made sense. "How do you know her?"
"I am a teacher at Hogwarts, an elite magic school," Snape chuckled ruefully. "Your sister has attended there for the past five years. I am loathe to say I am not her favorite professor, but there are reasons for that, which I will explain later."
"Breakfast is ready," he changed the subject, idly directing the food over to the table. "I'll get Wufei."
As he disappeared out the back door, his twin sister stumbled in from the other room, yawning and rubbing her eyes. Severus chose to remain quiet at present, there was no use antagonizing the young Gryffindor at the moment. A moment later, the two boys reentered the house and they all sat down to eat.
Nothing much was said as they broke their fast. Once everyone had eaten their fill, Severus directed the dishes to clean themselves before turning his full attention to the teens.
"Before we begin our discussion," the Potions Master locked gazes with his daughter, who huffed slightly in annoyance. "I'd like to go over a few things first. The first of which are ground rules. Now there aren't going to be many, as this is your home not a prison. I'm not going to forbid you from going anywhere, per se, but I am going to place some restrictions, specifically on my potions lab. I am not saying you can't go down there, but I am saying that you do need to speak with me before going down. This is for your protection, as some of the potions I make are highly volatile, Hermione."
"Excuse me, sir," the bushy haired girl cut in, "I would like to point out that we are not in school and I am not a troublemaker."
A dark brow rose at that.
"Okay, I do tend to get into trouble a lot," she rolled her eyes. "In my defense, Harry is a trouble magnet, and Ron is an instigator. There have only been two times when I actually suggested that we break the rules, when we made Polyjuice Potion and the forming of the D.A. last year."
"Potter assured me he wasn't making Polyjuice Potion in your fourth year," Severus gave her a calculated look, if he wanted to he could get all the dirt on Potter. "Besides, it was proven that it was that imposter Barty Crouch Jr. who had been stealing from my stores."
"I wasn't talking about fourth year, I was talking about… second," she trailed off when she realized that if she kept running her mouth she could get the three of them in really big trouble.
"Are you telling me," he leaned back in his chair, a contemplative look on his face, "that you brewed a successful Polyjuice Potion in your second year?"
"Yes," she squeaked out, determined not to say anything else.
"Impressive," he shook his head. "However, we should get back to the rules. Second rule, I will not forbid you from leaving the house, but please do not leave the property. There are powerful wards around the property to keep out intruders, and more to the point there are people out there who would love nothing more to take any one of you and use you against me. And Wufei, perhaps later you and I can go over what you require in a dojo and I will create a space for you to use."
"Thank you," the raven haired teen said, slightly taken aback.
"You are welcome," Severus nodded. "I believe that, for now, that will do for the rules. Anything else, I will address as it arises." He then took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, "Alright, one at a time, you may ask your questions and I will answer them to the best of my ability. Now, ladies first." He motioned for Hermione to ask one of her many questions.
"Okay," she nodded after a moment, apparently deciding which one to ask first. "Why have you been so mean to me for the past five years? If you're supposed to be my father then why?"
"As you know," he rubbed the bridge of his nose, "I have a position in this war, it is the same one I had before the brief reprieve of the past fourteen years. As such, I could not be seen to show favoritism to a supposed Muggleborn. So most of what I have done is for your protection, and the rest is because I demand perfection from my children, and you have risen to the challenge amicably. Heero, your turn."
"Why were we separated and given up?" Prussian blue eyes locked and held the dark gaze.
"That story actually begins before you were born," the Potions Master sighed. "The year you were born, I overheard a prophecy about the Dark Lord. As a spy I had to report, at least in part, what I heard. However, this prophecy not only pertained to our family, but our friends as well. So when you were all about six months old, we all sat down and decided what to do to protect all of you. It was decided that we would each take one of you and send you somewhere else, and only the one who hid the child would know where they were. We also decided that it would be best if none of the parents knew where their own children were hidden, the only exception being Hermione, because I know that no one would ever suspect that I, a Death Eater, would hide my child among the Muggles.
"You were actually the first to be hidden," he glanced at the single female. "Regulus and Wufei were the next to go, Wufei did not fit into the parameters of the prophecy, but Regulus wanted out of the Death Eaters, so we helped him fake his death and he left for the colonies. The next to go was Troy Potter, Remus Lupin was in charge of his placement. Then Sirius took Daniel. Lily was next, and she was supposed to be in charge of Aries placement, but something came up with her sister, and she was unable to, so it fell to James. Harry was supposed to be taken somewhere by his godmother, but Voldemort attacked before it could happen."
"Wait," Hermione interrupted. "Harry told me the prophecy, and it says 'The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches. Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies.' Not that I put much stock in Divination, but even if you are my father and you defied the Dark Lord three times, my birthday is in September, there is no feasible way that I fall into the seventh month stipulation."
"While I have no patience for the Art myself," Snape shook his head, "I do know that there are various branches of Divination. Each branch holds to different time variants. The Gregorian calendar has July as the seventh month, however, the lunar calendar follows no such manmade stipulations. You and your brother were born on August 7th, which coincidentally fell toward the end of the seventh lunar month the year you were born. As for your birthday being in September, I believe the Grangers, in a stroke of genius, said it was later to better protect you. That being said, however, the prophecy still applies to Harry Potter, as the Dark Lord marked him as his equal. Now, Hermione, I believe it is Wufei's turn to ask a question," dark eyes turned to the former Shenlong pilot.
"Where is my uncle?" the raven haired teen asked. "I have not seen him since I was thirteen, before my father died, and I would like to talk to him."
"You and I both, young man," the Potions Master sighed. "I will be contacting him in a moment. Now, I believe all the important information has been discussed, and on that note I need to go to London and fill out some paperwork. Come to think of it, your father will have to do that as well. But he can do that at a later point. Can I trust the three of you not to destroy the place while I am gone?"
Both boys nodded, but Hermione scowled at him.
"Wait, who is our other father?" she asked incredulously.
"Did I not mention his name?" a dark brow rose as a smirk pulled at the corners of his mouth. "I guess I thought it was obvious. Your other father is Sirius Black."
With that, he made his way upstairs to prepare for his trip to London, leaving a gaping young witch in his wake.
Ammie: There it is, another mildly irritating cliffhanger... Anyway, please let me know what you think.