Two's Company
by Teddylonglong
All recognizable Harry Potter characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story. I am merely borrowing the characters to play with them.
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes.
Warnings: Completely AU, partly OOC, magically powerful Harry.
Everyone stared at the head table in apparent amusement, when the headmaster all of a sudden fell from his chair.
"What happened?" Minerva asked, flabbergasted, while Poppy strode behind her to gently help Albus up from the floor.
"I'm fine," Albus replied, as he retook the seat next to the twins. "It was a moment of inattentiveness."
Only by chance did Minerva notice how two pairs of onyx eyes made contact with each other, however, did not think anything about it, before Severus spoke to her in private after breakfast.
"I believe that Albus tried to use Legilimency on one or both of the twins," he informed her. "Apparently, at least one of them must be a natural Occlumens and must have forcefully kicked Albus out of his mind."
Minerva let out a gasp. "A fifteen-month-old?" she asked, incredulously.
"Yes," Severus confirmed, smirking.
Too shocked to even ask how Severus knew what had happened, Minerva absentmindedly pulled the shrunken buggy out of her robe pocket, enlarged it and motioned the twins to sit down, before she returned to her quarters with the buggy floating in front of her. The toddlers were communicating with each other in some kind of baby language that no one but themselves was able to comprehend.
HP
The morning was spent in Minerva's quarters, where she showed her new grandsons photographs of their parents, told them about James' and Lily's time at Hogwarts and finally conjured a box with crayons for them and suggested for them to draw a picture.
While Harry immediately set to work and added thick blue and purple lines to his parchment, Henry gave her a questioning look and asked, "Where is Neko?"
"Neko?" Minerva enquired in surprise.
"Meow," Harry explained, looking up from his parchment with apparent interest.
"Our cat," Henry added, shrugging.
"Was she in your house with you, when you were attacked?" Minerva enquired, faintly recalling that Lily had once mentioned something about a cat. 'It completely slipped my mind,' she thought in disbelief.
"Yef," the twins replied, simultaneously.
Inwardly groaning, Minerva leaned into the fireplace. "Poppy, could you or Theresa watch the twins for an hour please? I need to go to Godric's Hollow and look for the Potters' cat."
"Of course dear," Poppy immediately agreed and promised to send Theresa over and ask her to stay with the twins until her return.
While she was waiting for the older witch, she informed Malcolm that she would like him to take her to Godric's Hollow. "Malcolm, will you be able to access the Potters' house if it was under the Fidelius charm before the Potters died?" she enquired, only to add as an afterthought, "It might be damaged to a great extent though."
"Mistress Minerva has once sent Malcolm to visit the Potter family before," the elf informed her and, as soon as Theresa had arrived and begun to play with the twins, popped her right into the Potters' kitchen – which to Minerva's surprise was completely undamaged.
"Neko," she called out for the cat, only to hear a pitiful meow from upstairs. "Neko, come here," she repeated, however, realising that the feline did not show up but merely let out a series of miserable sounding meows, she headed out into the corridor, staring at the half-damaged staircase in shock.
"Mistress Minerva, shall Malcolm pop you upstairs?" the elf offered, and Minerva immediately agreed.
By the time she returned to Hogwarts with Malcolm, she held the marmalade cat in her right arm and a bag with shrunken toys in her left.
She thanked the elf, before she put the toys onto the ground. Seeing that the twins immediately busied themselves exploring the bag with apparent excitement, she quickly transformed into her feline form to speak with the cat that had been so frightened that she did not want to leave her hiding spot behind Harry's crib.
She spoke to the cat and informed her that she was going to stay with her and the twins, before she enquired, =Do you know something about Henry? Until the evening of the attack, I only knew Harry, and I noticed that there was only one crib in the nursery.=
"No, you will stay here until Granny is finished talking to Neko," she heard Theresa tell her grandsons in a firm voice and inwardly smiled.
=Neko is Mummy's cat,= the cat merely replied and seemed to simply not understand Minerva's question.
Only when she transformed back into her human form, Theresa allowed the twins to rise from their spot and head over to Neko.
"Neko!" the boys shouted, as they approached the cat and pulled her into a bear hug, causing the cat to gently lick the boys' hands.
'They're very gentle with her,' Minerva realised, feeling strangely proud of her grandsons.
"Now, I believe that it's time to head to the Great Hall for lunch," Theresa brought her back to reality.
"All right," Minerva agreed, pointing to the buggy that was still standing in the corner, where she had forgotten to shrink it.
"Did you make that by yourself?" Theresa enquired.
"Yes," Minerva admitted, smiling. "Filius helped me to charm it, so that it can float up and down the stairs."
"That's very convenient," Theresa replied in apparent amazement. "I'd have needed such a thing, when Poppy was a baby."
"Can we walk?" Henry suddenly asked.
"Yeah, we walk," Harry agreed with his brother.
"You may walk if you wish, but we'll still take the buggy with us, as the Great Hall is quite far from here," Theresa replied, smiling fondly at the boys.
"In that case, we'll have to hurry now," Minerva added, inwardly sighing in relief upon realising that Theresa already ushered them into the bathroom to wash their hands. 'Still it's going to take us ages to get to the Great Hall,' she thought in annoyance.
HP
Recalling how the headmaster had tried to use Legilimency on the twins at breakfast, Minerva wondered if she should make the boys sit on her other side between her and Severus, only to realise that Albus was already helping Harry into the high chair next to him.
'Meddling old coot,' she thought, wondering just why she had been so fond of Albus all these years. 'He's not as light as he appears,' she thought, recalling his actions during the last three days.
She observed how the twins began to eat their food, which they elves had cut into bite-sized pieces for them, and sighed in relief. 'Thank Merlin they're at least already able to feed themselves,' she thought, when Albus unexpectedly addressed Harry, causing her to almost choke on her own piece of carrot.
"I believe that the two of you should live with your Aunt Petunia and your cousin Dudley," he told the twins. "He's about the same age as you, and you could wonderfully play together."
Minerva was just about to react, trying to not show her anger in front of the children, when the boys took matters into their own hands.
"No!" they shouted, simultaneously, sending the headmaster two glares that would have made their mother proud.
"Don' wike Aun 'Tunia," Harry explained, matter-of-factly.
"She hates magic," Henry added in a firm voice.
"Don't worry, you'll never have to go there," Minerva spoke up in a soothing voice, causing the twins to nod and smile at her in apparent contentedness.
'I'll really have to speak with Albus and make him leave the boys in peace,' Minerva thought, resolving to have dinner with the twins in her own rooms.
HP
After eating their fill, the twins were tired enough to obediently sit in the buggy, and Minerva trailed back to her quarters after them, when Peeves all of a sudden appeared in the hall right in front of them.
'Oh no,' Minerva realised in horror and was just about to shout at the Poltergeist to leave the children in peace, when Sir Nicholas appeared on his side.
To her absolute disbelief, Nearly Headless Nick bowed in front of the twins, while Peeves solely watched the scene without uttering as much as a word let alone an insult.
'What was that?' she wondered, feeling certain and very much reassured that neither of them had done any harm to the children. 'Somehow, I feel as if I was in a wrong film today,' she thought, when they finally entered her rooms.
By the time she had changed the twins' nappies and put them into their cots in the nursery, Minerva felt knackered and ready for a nap herself. 'Teaching students seems to be easier than watching two toddlers, even if they are as well behaved as these,' she thought, as she lay down on the sofa for a short rest.
HP
At three o'clock in the afternoon, Amelia stepped out of the fireplace together with her two nieces.
When Minerva stepped over to greet her former student, she saw from the corners of her eyes how her boys toddled over to the girls, wearing broad smiles. Before she or Amelia could do as much as introduce Susan and Sandra, Henry pulled the onyx-eyed girl into a gentle hug. Almost simultaneously, Harry hugged the green-eyed girl.
'One has green eyes and other black, just like Harry and Henry,' Minerva thought, smiling, as she observed the children interact with each other.
To her surprise, both girls then proceeded to place sloppy kisses onto the boys' cheeks.
Minerva looked from the boys to Amelia, who returned an equally surprised look.
"I am Henwy, and dis is my twin Hawwy," Henry proceeded to introduce the boys.
"Dis is my twin Susan, and I am Sandwa," the onyx-eyed girl replied, smiling happily.
"Come pway," Harry invited the girls, and the four toddlers made their way into the corner of the room, where Theresa had helped them set up their toy Hogwarts castle before lunch. It was made from large wooden blocks, and the four children busied themselves building more towers, while one or the other tower collapsed as they played.
"I don't understand the world anymore," Amelia commented, as she accepted a cup of tea. "A few days ago, Sandra suddenly appears out of nothing, just like your Henry, and here, the four play together almost as if they had known each other for ages."
"Well, my twins almost get along with everyone," Minerva replied, thoughtfully. "They're very friendly. Even one of the ghosts bowed to them in the hall earlier. My only problem is the headmaster. He has already tried to use Legilimency on them, which did not go well, and he still insists on sending them to the Dursleys to grow up with them."
"Nonsense," Amelia commented, grimly. "They seem outright happy to me."
"They are," Minerva confirmed. "Theresa Pomfrey is minding them during class time, and she is just brilliant with them."
"Oh, I remember her from when I first came to Hogwarts," Amelia replied, smiling. "Do you think she would be willing to mind all four kids? Mine are currently being watched by my house-elf, but I can imagine that Susan and Sandra would prefer playing with Harry and Henry."
Before Minerva could do as much as ponder the matter, four toddlers were standing next to them, casting her beseeching looks along with a quadruple, "Yes pwease!"
"I'll ask Theresa," Minerva promised, smiling, when the children returned to their play corner without making a fuss.
Suddenly, Susan returned and hesitantly tugged at Amelia's sleeve. "Mummy…" she uttered.
"Auntie, Susan stinks," Sandra supplied, helpfully.
Minerva inwardly grinned at the twins' antics. "The nursery is over there," she told Amelia and accompanied her and Susan to the nursery, while Sandra returned to play with the boys.
HP
Since the four children eagerly played together without fighting, whining or shouting for their assistance, Minerva and Amelia had much time to exchange their thoughts about what might have happened for the children to suddenly turn out to be twins.
While it was possible that the Potters had – for whatever reason – make everyone believe that Harry was their only son in spite of the fact that they had two sons, it was strange that Sandra had only appeared on the same evening as Henry, considering that the attack on Amelia's brother's family had taken place almost a week before that on the Potters. Moreover, the seventeen-month-old girl had appeared right next to Susan.
"Perhaps, there are even more new twins," Minerva said in concern. "I mean, I only got to know about your case, because I went to Gringotts after you had spoken with them."
"That is possible, however, if they don't tell the goblins or the Unspeakables, we'll only know when they come to Hogwarts as unexpected twins," Amelia replied, sighing.
Unfortunately, after a two-hour discussion, neither of them was the wiser, and they finished their conversation with Amelia promising to once again ask the Unspeakables to do some more research about the matter.
HP
When Amelia and her nieces returned home, Minerva noticed that Harry and Henry seemed to be sad.
"Don't worry," she told them, smiling. "They'll probably be able to come over again tomorrow or the day after. Shall we have dinner now? Are you hungry?"
The boys immediately agreed and obediently went to wash their hands with her assistance, while Malcolm served dinner for the three of them.
'Thank Merlin the elves do as much as cut the food for them,' Minerva thought, as she gratefully eyed the small pieces of chicken, potatoes and peas, before she proceeded to eat her dinner. Suddenly, a fast movement on the twins' plates caught her attention.
Instead of the peas that she had seen on the plates an instant before, a small amount of carrot pieces decorated their meals.
"What happened?" she blurted out, staring at the twins in annoyance.
"Don' wike peas," Harry offered an explanation.
"Carrots awe better," Henry added, causing Minerva to shake her head in annoyance.
'That was completely intentional magic,' she thought in disbelief, 'not accidental magic.'
"Please eat what is on your plate the next time," she told the kids in her strict, teacher's voice that made both boys look at her and give her a nod that probably promised nothing.
HP
When Minerva spoke with Theresa about possibly watching another couple of twins after putting two extremely tired children to bed in the evening, the older witch immediately agreed to care for all four children, and Minerva asked the house-elves to add a room to her quarters adjacent to the nursery, in which the children could play or study with the older witch, while she was teaching her classes.
"Right now, both pairs of twins are small enough to take small naps in their cots together," Theresa informed her, and the two witches decided to leave the nursery as it was for the time being.
HP
Just when the two witches had finished re-decorating Minerva's quarters, she received a floo call from the headmaster.
"Minerva, may I step over for a moment?" he demanded rather than enquired.
"Please stay," Minerva mouthed to Theresa, who immediately agreed.
"Minerva," Albus spoke up, once they were settled in her living room and Malcolm had brought tea and biscuits, "you should know better than to give in to the boys' wishing."
"Excuse me?" Minerva asked in surprise, giving Theresa a questioning look.
However, the older witch seemed as astonished as herself and enquired, "Albus, what exactly does that mean?"
"The boys must live with the Dursleys," Albus repeated what he had already told them a couple of times. "I have installed blood wards around their house, and Arabella Figg has agreed to move to Privet Drive to keep an eye on them."
"No," Minerva replied, feeling furious. "In the Potters' will, it says that they're not to be sent there, under no circumstances. Apart from that, I am the boys' guardian, and I'm well able to raise them, especially with Theresa's help."
"I completely agree," Theresa voiced her opinion, causing Albus to let out a deep sigh.
"Albus, as sorry as I am to say this," Minerva continued, "but you have two options. You can either agree that the twins remain at Hogwarts or you can continue trying to send them to the Dursleys and Theresa and I will leave Hogwarts taking the twins with us."
"I believe that several of your colleagues would join us if we left," Theresa spoke up in obvious amusement.
The headmaster sighed again. "All right then, you may keep them here, but we must see to it that they're safe."
"Oh believe me," that we will," Minerva replied, glaring at him with the power of the Scottish lioness that she was.
HP
During the weeks leading up to Christmas, the four children spent every day apart from the weekends together, and to Minerva's surprise, Theresa told her that they got along incredibly well.
'Four one-year-olds spent five days a week together, and they didn't get into a fight even once in six weeks' time?' Minerva thought in disbelief. 'They seem to be much better behaved than our students. I really hope it'll remain that way.'
HP
Seventeen-month-old Harry Potter toddled through the streets of London, feverishly looking for something to eat. He was hungry, cold, and his bum was sore. 'Mummy, Daddy, Neko,' he thought, longingly, as he toddled away in exhaustion, tears leaking from both eyes.
All of a sudden, a cat's loud purrs woke the boy up, and he gently cuddled the body next to him close, blinking a couple of time as if to shake off the nightmare.
'Are you all right?' a soft voice suddenly penetrated his mind.
'Yes, and you?'
'Yes. Just tired.'
'Me too,' he thought back, as he drifted back to sleep, undisturbed by dreams, nightmares, memories, visions or whatsoever.
HP
When Minerva entered the nursery the following morning, she noticed in surprise that both twins were laying next to each other in one crib with Neko the cat stretched out on their feet.
'What happened?' she wondered, eyeing the scene in front of her in disbelief.
tbc...
Thank you for your kind comments on the previous chapter. Please tell me what you thought about this chapter and what you expect from this story. My muse appreciates the feedback.
Next chapter "Where is Padfoot?".