Disclaimer-Harry Potter is a franchise owned by J. . I do not, in any way, own the characters, places, movies, books, etc….. The Ocs, however, are my characters. There are families whose surname is Maurya, but I'm not using any of them as a character. So all Oc characters and NAMES would be my own creation. Any character resembling any person living or dead is entirely a coincidence.

***~~WIWATTD~~***

CHAPTER III

Though they kept the mood light enough while describing the Death Eaters, it hadn't escaped them that they were almost killed by those same Death Eaters. It was thankfully due to Master Singh's special lessons that they were a little safe. But the injuries were actually very serious. So, they were under the strict care of Madame Pomfrey. A lot of things happened in that time.

The day after they fought the Death Eaters, the doors of the infirmary burst open as Vikram, Sarakshi, and Raman all rushed in. The twins looked on with raised eyebrows and slightly fearful expressions as they entered. Madame Pomfrey wasn't there at the moment, so Severus had accompanied them.

"Oh no…" Anusha whimpered through their mental connection.

"Yeah sis, we are so dead…" Anya groaned back.

"Where are they?" Vikram demanded as he entered.

"Where are my bacchas?" Sarakshi shouted out like a madwoman as she entered behind him.

The only calm ones among them were Raman and Severus, who had entered last.

"Alright, both of you calm down-" Raman began.

"Don't tell me to calm down, Raman Acharya!" Sarakshi interrupted him loudly.

"Nani?" Anya called out in a small voice. All three heads snapped in their direction.

"Ohh, my Bacchas!" Sarakshi exclaimed as she took in their injuries and all but ran to them. She went to Anya, while Vikram rushed to Anusha.

"Nana, its fine. We're fine," Anusha said, squirming as he poked and prodded at her bandages and a broken arm.

"Don't you dare give me that! You both just fought some of the most ruthless men of that wretched group! It is bad enough that your father has to spy on them!" Sarakshi gushed at them, looking over to both of them frantically, checking if both of them are really fine, much to the mortification of the twins. Raman winked at them and smiled. The twins smiled back.

Meanwhile, Vikram calmed himself enough to see that they were fine enough and sighed a little in relief. An action which didn't go unnoticed by anyone present. Raman shook his head and closed his eyes, while the twins and Severus grimaced.

"Uh oh…" Anusha murmured through the connection.

Sarakshi rounded up on Vikram.

"This was your plan, wasn't it? You said that you had taken all precautions!" She shouted at him, going closer to him. Vikram backed up a little.

"I had! It wasn't my fault!" He said defensively.

"Oh, really? Then how is it that they got transported in the middle of a fight, Vikram?" She retorted.

"The portkeys must be malfunctioning again!" He said as if it gave the explanation to everything.

"Then you should've checked again!" She exclaimed, throwing her hands up her head.

"I did!" He shot back.

"When?" She asked him sharply. Vikram faltered at that.

"A week ago," He said in a small voice.

"Vikram, this isn't some joke going on! Something serious could've happened!"

"Nani, it didn't," Anusha stated, stressing on the sentence.

"You could've died!" Sarakshi shouted, turning to Anusha.

"Nothing happened, Nani! We're fine! We're with Papa and we're safe! Nothing is going to happen; we are not going to be in danger again!" Anya stated decisively, Anusha nodding all along.

Sarakshi's anger dissipated as soon as she looked at her granddaughters and broke down crying, the stress and tension getting to her. She rested her head against her husband's chest, while he rubbed her back comfortingly.

The twins sighed and turned to Raman, who smiled at them.

"Hello, Mama," The girls greeted him.

"Hello there, kids. I'm sorry that I wasn't there to drop you both to the Ministry. I had a lot of work to do. Your Nana's business partners are going to come to India in a week. I had to tend to all the arrangements."

"It's alright, Mama. You came here," Anya said, smiling at him.

"Yeah, and it's a good thing that you did. Else Nani would have throttled Nana while coming here," Anusha said, snickering.

Raman chuckled.

"Your parents were so different from these two," Raman reminisced, smiling nostalgically. The twins snorted.

"Yeah. Though they had their fights and bickering many times, they were still so in sync with one another."

"They had their differences too, Anya. Ma was a Quidditch fanatic. She would go crazy over the Quidditch scores the same way Papa would go crazy at the Potions journal he reads. They debated too. You remember?" Anusha asked, looking at her twin, who chuckled at the memory.

"Oh, yes! It was like a constant tennis match between those two!" Anya said, shaking her head at that.

"Papa won those a lot," Anusha remembered. Severus smirked at her.

"Of course I did," He muttered smugly. Raman gave him a look before an idea struck him.

"And that makes me want to remind you both again, that once, your father used to think that Amisha and I were courting each other," Raman said mischievously, looking at Severus, who glared at him.

"Alright, you can shut up now. It's been nineteen years since that incident. When will you let that go?" Severus groaned. Raman snickered at his expression.

"Seriously, I was her adopted brother! When did we ever give that kind of signal to one another?"

"Look, I was sixteen! What do you expect from me?"

"To be more level-headed," Raman retorted, shrugging. Severus huffed and looked away.

"You could've asked her, you know!" Raman said, smirking amusedly.

"Yes, and I'd love to remind you yet again that it has been nineteen years since that incident!"

The girls giggled at the bantering between them both.

Raman Acharya wasn't really their uncle by blood. His father, Pradyumdh Acharya, was a close friend of Vikram's. Raman had been living with the Mauryas since he was fourteen. He was orphaned at the age of nine; his parents had died in a train accident. He was an only child. When it came to Raman's family, they refused to adopt him and instead put him in an orphanage under an assumed identity and declared him dead to the rest of the world. They then sought to take over his inheritance, which wasn't difficult at all.

When Vikram came to know about this, it was already too late. Raman was in someplace, and his inheritance was gone. Vikram searched for him and found him in a juvenile home somewhere in South India. He took him in as his ward and trained him to help him in his business.

They all had stayed with them until the afternoon. That's when Raman had informed the elder Mauryas that they were getting late and there was still a lot to do for tomorrow. Sarakshi was reluctant to let her granddaughters stay here, but she relented when Vikram reminded her that they had their father here.

"Take care of yourselves here. If there is any problem, you can let your father know. We are all here for you," She said, hugging each of her granddaughters tightly.

"Get yourselves healed. Then have lots of fun. Don't do any mischief that will get your father gray hairs at his age. Be careful," Vikram said, kissing each of the girls' foreheads. They nodded at him, smiling brightly.

"Yes, Nana," They answered together, waving them goodbye as they turned to walk out.

"I'll escort them out," Severus said, following his in-laws as they walked out of the door, closing it behind him.

They knew that their Granddad Septimus was protective of them, even more so now. Granddad was their Papa's uncle and looked somewhat like him, though he had short black hair which was combed back. Not a hair of his was out of place, ever. His sharp features were strict most of the time, though his eyes always softened when he looked at them. He was a bit shorter than Papa, but that didn't make him any less frightening.

He stormed in the infirmary in the evening with Papa beside him. He spotted them sitting on their own cots eating some broth; they weren't allowed to eat anything solid, as it would be too much for their body to handle right now.

"Merlin's sake, you two! Fighting off Death Eaters on the first day of Holidays! Somehow, I'm not even surprised anymore! Why did you both have to join in like a pair of hormonal boys? Can't you both have just slipped away from them?" Septimus raged.

"And let those monsters kill a woman and her child? Really, Granddad? I know for a fact that if you had been in our position, you'd have done the same! Hell, any self-respecting and honorable wizard or witch would've done the same!" Anya said, looking at him defiantly.

"Yes, I would've! Because I'm a grown wizard! You both are children! Do you realize what you both were up against? Those Death Eaters are some of the most ruthless beings in the world right now! They have a reputation! They don't see any difference between man, woman, and child, whether it be wizard folk or muggle! You both could've died!"

"Granddad, we're fine. These injuries would only last a few more days. Then we'll all be going to the Prince Manor, with you. We'll be safe, and we'll be right in front of you," Anusha said soothingly, trying to calm her granddad.

He looked at them both for a few long moments, before his expression wavered and he sighed. He pressed a kiss on each of his granddaughters' head softly.

"No. You both stay here with your father," Septimus breathed out finally. Both the girls looked at him confusedly.

"Why?" Anya asked hurt flashing in her eyes, "You don't want us to come?"

"Oh no, my child! I just want you both to be safe. You see, HE has his eyes set on me. We're the Princes. We have a lot of influence, not political influence like that slime, Lucius Malfoy, but we have the influence through our business. And HE thinks that if HE has me under HIS thumb, then HE would be able to yield more power. I don't want you both to stay in that place right now. You both would just recover from these injuries. If HE gets wind of you both, then HE could and would use you both against me. And I don't want that, ever," He said, pressing his hand against their faces. They nodded to him.

"But, what about you, Uncle?" Papa asked, looking at him concernedly. Granddad looked at him with a thin, sharp smile on his face.

"Don't worry, Severus. I'll be fine. If worse comes to worse, I'll go into hiding," He said firmly, nodding to him in determination.

He stayed till late at night, till Poppy had somehow shooed him out of the infirmary, telling him that they needed their rest.

"Alright then," Septimus said, standing up and kissing them on the forehead again, "I'll see you both later."

"Yep, Granddad!" Anusha said, hugging him tightly. He embraced her just as tightly, a rare smile on his face.

"Be careful Granddad!" Anya said as she hugged him, burying her face against his chest. He chuckled and hugged her.

"You too, my girls! Goodnight!" He said.

"I'll be back," Severus said, walking beside his uncle. They could hear them speaking in hushed tones as they closed the doors of the infirmary behind them.

When they were finally deemed well enough after two weeks by Madame Pomfrey, they were allowed to leave the infirmary.

"Finally," Anusha sighed as she got up from her cot, as Madame Pomfrey undid all the bandages that Anya had.

"Yes, I know that feeling," Anya replied as she wriggled her toes in anticipation. Severus snorted and shook his head.

"Where's your luggage?" He asked as they stood up and walked over to him.

"They were in our pockets. Nana had shrunk them," Anya answered her father.

"Ah, well. Then they would be in my quarters then. The elves would automatically send any personal artifacts that are found in the clothes," Severus explained, looking at the two of them.

"Well," Madame Pomfrey began, "Now, just because you both are out of here doesn't mean that you will be exerting yourself. I want you both to come here as soon as you feel dizzy. You can also speak to me whenever you want. And also, take a nap in between; you both are weak right now and you need your rest."

"Yes, ma'am. Thank you, ma'am," The girls replied, smiling at the Mediwitch, who softened a little.

"Yes, yes. Shoo now. I don't want you both booking a spot here," Poppy said, waving them towards the doors.

As the three walked out of the infirmary, the twins looked around the huge, long corridors and the high ceilings in awe.

"Just how huge is this castle, Papa?" Anusha asked as they passed on the windows. She looked out to see a lake sprawling across the front and the dense forests on the sides.

"Whoa," Anya breathed, as she looked out of the window. She looked down to see the bottom. She couldn't see the bottom of the castle. She backed off from the window, feeling a little overwhelming.

"Well, it is very large. And very dangerous for those who enter for the first time. So, before you make plans to go on another adventure in a huge, dangerous castle, remember this. Even I don't know what kind of traps there are, what kind of magical creatures you can find here. Yes, there are professors in here, some of them being the strongest, but I still want you both to be careful. Stay in those parts of the castle which is commonly inhabited by others. Don't go venturing alone out here. And don't even think about going out into one of those forests, understood?" Severus warned them both.

"We didn't think of going into the forests," Anusha said innocently, shrugging.

"Oh, really? And I was thinking of wearing a tutu for lunch," Severus retorted, rolling his eyes as he walked ahead.

"It would suit you, you know," Anya commented, smirking cheekily, as she and her twin followed, snickering.

"Cheeky," Severus muttered, smirking and ruffling both their heads as they caught up with him.

The trio didn't notice a pair of twinkling blue eyes observing them as they walked to the end of the corridor and take a left to go to the dungeons.

Albus smiled at them, shaking his head.

His daughters are cheeky enough to turn the conversation on him and get away with it…

Albus expression turned serious again.

But, I wonder if… they are the Maurya Heiresses… One of the Royale 15… a group of the most powerful families in the world… and some of them including the Mauryas are the oldest families in the Wizarding history… I wonder if they are as skilled as I think…

"Well, these quarters aren't bad," Anusha commented, looking around the clean, fresh smelling quarters. The rooms were quite simple-looking in their décor, with a dark green and grey theme. There were some journals stacked neatly on the table. There was a huge, black couch in front of the fireplace. There was a corridor to the side, having four doors, two on each side. Two of the three walls were lined up neatly with huge tomes of varying thickness arranged in alphabetical order.

Her gaze immediately went to the bookshelves and her eyes widened at seeing some of the tomes that were there. She went closer to check them out.

"You have been quite busy here," Anusha commented, reading the title of one of the tomes.

"Oh, yes. These are my collection. Feel free to use them whenever you wish," Severus said, taking out a tome and looking at it reverently.

"Really?" Anya asked, her eyes brightening.

"Yes. Go on. But do remember, I want them back on the same spot in the same condition as they had been before," Severus warned them both. They nodded, rolling their eyes at him.

"Papa, we know how to handle books," Anya said to him exasperatedly, Anusha nodding all the while.

"Ah of course you do. That is why you both had almost set your Grandparents' library on fire when you both were thirteen," Severus retorted, looking at them both with a raised eyebrow. The girls turned beet red, remembering the incident.

"It was a tiny mistake!" Anya groaned, hiding her face.

"That was two years ago! Could you please stop reminding us of that?" Anusha whined.

"No. There were some of my favorite books in there. So, please do remember that the books are to be handled carefully, okay?"

"Yes," The girls mumbled, looking down. He sighed.

"Okay, you both can read the books later. Sit down. Tell me, how have you both been?" He asked, gesturing them to the couch. The girls sat down on either side of him.

"Good," Anya answered, staring at the fireplace. Severus frowned at her answer.

"Are you sure? Because I heard you nearly hexed one of your cousins, Anya," He said, looking at her sternly. Anya groaned.

"He was being an asshole, as usual. I know you tell us to control, but he went a step further and insulted Ma and you this time," She said, her expression furious as she crossed her arms petulantly. Severus shared a look with Anusha.

"I was helping out Nani with the food," She said, shrugging. Severus sighed and turned back to Anya, who had retreated back into the couch, hands crossed tightly.

"Sweetheart, it doesn't matter! Your cousins are just jealous because they feel that they would make better heads of the family! Don't let them get under your skin, okay? Just ignore them. You both are way better than they would ever be, you know that," Severus said, pulling them both close to him. Anya buried her head against his shoulder, while Anusha laid her head on his lap, sprawling across the couch. He ran his fingers through her soft hair comfortingly.

"Yes, but I get angry, Papa," Anya explained, looking down at her hands.

"Yes, that is exactly why I taught you both occlumency. So that you don't let people get to you,"

"Master Singh was angry that she lost control," Anusha commented.

"Well, he would be. He had been training you both for four years. He had been giving you special defense lessons, which only select few get to learn. He had expected more control from you both," Severus reprimanded them a bit sternly.

"Yes, Papa," Anya said, resting her face against his cravat and sighing. He smiled a little; it always felt nice to have them both against his side snugly.

"It's alright. But do control yourselves, okay?" He said, kissing each of their foreheads softly.

"Yes, Papa," both of them answered together.

My little girls, He thought fondly, tightening his grip on them both. They stayed together like that till lunch, talking softly about what happened for the past two years since they had last met him.

"So, what's it like, Papa? Teaching here?" Anusha asked curiously, as they made their way to the Great Hall for lunch. Her father snorted at the question. She and her twin turned their heads to look at him, as they ascended the steps to the staircase.

"I can only say this – you both are way ahead of your peers," Severus said, as they descended the Grand Staircase.

"That bad, huh?" Anya asked from the other side, raising her eyebrows at him.

"Oh, no my dears. Your father is slightly exaggerating," said a voice from behind them. They turned to see Dumbledore walking towards them. He was wearing orange and purple robes with green color constellations on them, which were silver in color, which was getting reflected by the sun rays. The twins winced at the clash of colors hurting their eyes.

"Nice choice of robes sir," Anya said sarcastically.

"Why, thank you, my dear! I thought they would be good for today! They're quite new!" Dumbledore said, smiling brightly. The girls snorted and shook their heads at him.

"Now back to the topic at hand. You father is exaggerating. There are quite a few good and very talented students in this school, both in past and in present, all of whom have gone on to lead the ministry and even hold high positions!"

"Oh, yes, of course! Cornelius Fudge is a very talented person, girls," Severus said sarcastically, causing the girls to chuckle. Albus shot him a look.

"Oh, Severus, my boy, he is just misguided!"

"Oh really? I can name a few more people who are oh-so-talented enough," Severus retorted as they entered the Great Hall.

The girls stopped at the entrance of the huge gold doors that led to a very large, spacious room with large windows on the front and to the left of the room. There were four long tables lined up from one end of the hall to another. The ceiling was high, but what was amazing about it was the view of the sky. It was as if there was no ceiling. It showed the clear blue sky with a few scattered around. They loved it.

"Whoa," Anya uttered, chuckling in awe as she looked around.

"I love magic," Anusha said, looking up at the ceiling with unconditioned wonder. Albus smiled at them. It was at moments like these that he remembered why he applied for teaching; to see the wonder and the thirst for knowledge in a child's eyes as they saw something new.

"Ah, it certainly does wonders!" A squeaky voice ahead of them said. They snapped their attention in front to see a dwarf-ish man standing in front of them. He was no more than two feet tall and wore black robes over his coat and tie ensemble and had well- combed hair and a mustache. Grey rimmed glasses perched on his nose as he looked at them with wide, curious grayish-blue eyes.

"Good afternoon, Fillius," Their father and Albus wished him politely.

"Good afternoon, Headmaster, Severus," The man greeted back, smiling at them.

"Girls, I want you to meet Professor Filius Flitwick. He is the Charms Master and the Head of Ravenclaw house," Severus said to them both.

"Good afternoon sir," they greeted him, nodding their heads, Anusha shaking hands with him, followed by Anya.

"Good afternoon my dears!" The dwarf said, looking up at them and smiling.

"Fillius," Severus said, steeling himself, "These are my daughters, Anusha and Anya Maurya Snape."

The man looked at him, his eyes wide as gallons as he processed what the Potions professor just said. Silence reigned for a few moments; he looked at them and Severus, spotting the similarities immediately.

"I… I can't formulate a response," Was all that he was able to say.

"You just did," Severus retorted.

"How… how old…"

"They are going to turn fifteen in August," Severus said, deciding to come clean with his fellow colleague, trusting him enough to not spread this.

"Oh. So I assume that you've been married for more than fifteen years?" He asked, eyeing the man's left hand to spot a ring. Severus sighed.

"Yes," He answered, holding up his hand for Fillius. The Charms Master looked carefully and spotted a faint shimmer of a disillusionment charm on his ring finger. Fillius' eyes widened, but he regained his composure, looking at the girls appraisingly.

"Well, they are fine young ladies," He commented, smiling warmly at them. The girls smiled back and inclined their heads.

"Come now, we can have this conversation during lunch too," Fillius said, gesturing them to the tables. There were few people present during this time of summer. There was the Headmaster, Professor McGonagall, Madame Pomfrey, Filius Flitwick, Severus and the girls. The rest of the staff was on holiday.

It was weird to stay in a huge, quiet castle with only a handful of people to keep them company. Correction, Anusha thought, as she and her twin dodged yet another onslaught of sewage water that that bloody poltergeist, Peeves, tried to pour on them. It was weird to stay in a large, quiet castle with only a handful of living people to keep them company. They had plenty of opportunities to go out to the school Quidditch pitch and play for some time, or walk on the shore near the black lake on a quiet, sunny day, or even do a little exploring of their own. They even found the topmost tower of the castle, the Astronomy tower. The view from the top there was something to behold, seeing the school surrounded by forests and the black lake from all sides was fantastic.

They also found a door appearing out of nowhere in the Seventh-floor corridor.

Actually, Anya was talking about one of her favorite muggle books, the famous five, and how she had lost it and wasn't able to find it since then.

"I wish I could find it soon. I loved that book! Ma had given me that book on our eighth birthday, remember?" Anya reminisced, with a faraway look in her eyes. Anusha smiled sadly.

"Yeah, I know. We'll find it one day," She answered, just as they walked along that particular area.

As they walked to the end, Anya frowned and suddenly walked back to the other side.

"Hey! Anya, where are you going?" Anusha called out to her, walking quickly to catch up with her. They stopped in front of a huge door. Anusha frowned.

This wasn't there when we walked past here before…

"Anusha, this wasn't there, was it?" Anya asked, knowing the answer.

"It just appeared," Anusha said, nodding. They looked at each other for a few moments and nodded. Taking out their wands, they slowly opened the doors to find a room as large as the eyes could see. The ceiling was so high that it felt as if it wasn't even there. And all around them was piles and piles and piles of things lying in a stack. They looked around with their mouth wide open.

"Well," Anusha said after a few long moments, "Fuck."

"I'll say!" Anya said, looking down the wide corridor.

"This is epic," Anusha continued muttering, as she walked slowly to a huge bookshelf filled with large tomes written in different ancient languages. Some she recognized, like Latin, French, and German and there were some which she had no idea of.

"Hey, do you think I can find my book here?" Anya said from behind her. She blinked and turned to her, frowning.

"Anya, how can we find something here that was lost in India?" Anusha asked, looking at her sister as if she was turning stupid.

A book came down on Anya's head, hitting her. It fell down with a thud.

"Oww! Damn it! What the hell-" She started, rubbing her head and picking up the book, planning to throw it hard, before she read the title. Her eyes widened in shock.

"The famous five – Five run away together," She whispered, reading the title.

"What?! Bu-But that's the book you lost!" Anusha exclaimed, going over to Anya and reading the title too.

"Yep, and its mine – look, Ma's message to me," Anya said, opening the cover to see a beautiful, sweet message written in cursive handwriting- For my brave little tigress… Always remember that whatever happens, we're a team- you, Anusha, Papa and me and I'll never stop loving you or Anusha, ever. Happy birthday!

Anya sighed, wiping her wet eyes to see Anusha doing the same. Anya smiled at her as Anusha threw an arm around her shoulder.

"I think we should tell Papa about this," She whispered, clutching the book tightly against her chest.

"Yes, he'll be intrigued to find this room."

When they told him about the room in the evening, he smirked.

"So, you found the Room of Requirement, huh?" He said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"The Room of Requirement?" Anya asked, confused.

"Yes. Also known as the come-and-go-room, it was created by the Founders of Hogwarts," He explained, as they sat down beside him to listen.

"But why?" Anusha asked.

"I don't know. I had found that room sometime after my second year of teaching here. I had patrolling to do," He said, sighing, as he rested his head against the back of the couch. Anusha and Anya looked at each other.

"Tired?" Anya asked, sliding closer to her father.

"Yes," came the answer.

"Why were you clutching your left forearm in the afternoon, before you abruptly left the quarters?" Anusha asked, simply putting the question in front of him, instead of beating around the bush. He didn't answer, remembering the events of the meeting that had happened in the afternoon.

"Was it… HIM?" Anya asked cautiously.

"Yes," He answered, clenching his jaw tightly.

For a second, everything was quiet as they looked at him. Severus closed his eyes, keeping the control over his emotions.

"HE has ordered a search for you both. HE wants to know who you both are," Severus announced, looking at them both. The girls' eyes widened in shock.

"You are both on his shit list after Harry Potter," Severus said, his voice echoing in the room and in their ears. They looked ahead of them, processing the news.

Well, fuck.