It was the morning of her sisters' arrival, and Severus and Rachel were 'hanging out' in her dojo, waiting for Albus to show up. Harry Potter had been attacked by dementors three days earlier, and Albus had been insanely busy trying to sort it out. Rachel had been worried about Harry; she thought he sounded reckless, but that only served to make her feel more concerned for him. She hoped he wouldn't do something desperately stupid.

Severus had visited Lucius Malfoy and a few other Death Eaters, and had ascertained that it was likely that Voldemort had little to do with what had happened. He had, in fact, learned that Voldemort had a new plan. He refused to elaborate; he didn't want to explain more than once, so he would be telling the entire Order as soon as they arrived at Grimmauld Place.

Rachel, though curious, worried, and feeling like it would be fun to rip Minister Fudge a new asshole, literally, had been trying to keep the mood light, as there was really nothing they could do at the moment.

"So, I've been thinking," Rachel began.

"Sounds dangerous," Severus replied.

"Mm…funny," she said dryly.

Severus raised an eyebrow. "I am ever the comedian."

Rachel snorted. "Anyway, I don't really think we're clearing out the park because it's dangerously overrun with monsters. I'd be surprised if Albus couldn't easily take care of most of it himself. He just wanted us to spend time together, yeah?"

"Obviously, though not, I suppose, to you, as you are unaware that much of the menace of the forest is the result of a rather complex series of charms and wards," Severus replied matter-of-factly.

Annoyed, Rachel asked the first question that came to mind, "And I'm just hearing this now why?"

But Severus continued as though she'd never spoken. "Only when school is in session, though, as it keeps most curious students from running afoul of the centaurs and the Acromantulas. And, frankly, we needed Hagrid gone to deal with the spiders properly."

Rachel opened her mouth again, but Severus quickly continued. "You're right, of course. Albus could clear the forest himself if he so desired, but his time is best spent elsewhere. The Order keeps him quite busy, especially of late. And, as my own involvement must be kept secret, I've had a deplorable excess of free time. And besides, in these past few weeks I believe I have learned a few things about you…primarily that you would not trust that the forest had been cleared properly if you were not personally involved."

"About the Acromantulas," Rachel broke in, "Do you know if Albus has gotten any closer to a decision? We only have three more weeks until the kids get here. I'd rather not leave something that could go so wrong, in so many different ways, to the last minute."

"Yes, I quite agree, as you well know. I did speak with him about it just before the latest drama, and Albus promised that we will have his decision by the end of next week. He is more than a bit worried about how Hagrid would react. But however we dispose of them, Hagrid will undoubtedly be furious."

Rachel was silent for a few minutes. "Still wish you'd told me," she finally muttered.

"Yes, I know. But you forgive me, of course."

"Jerk," she replied cheekily.

"About time you noticed," Severus drawled.

They lapsed into a comfortable silence, each absorbed in private thought. Severus turned his head to study her, but caught Rachel watching him instead. He'd caught her doing so quite frequently over the past week or so. It was unnerving.

"Hey, are you wondering where Albus is? I sure am. You know, I think I'm gonna just pop over to his office and see what's taking him so long. I'll be back in a minute," Rachel managed in one breath. Blushing, she fled.

As she left, Severus vocalized his confusion to the empty classroom. "What on earth possesses her to watch me like that?"

A moment later, he heard a small voice say "Psst!" Severus looked around for the source of the noise; he thought perhaps it was a house elf, but he could find nothing. A moment later, he heard the noise again, but still could not find the source. A few seconds later, a much louder voice piped up, "Stop your job, look at the insensitive man!"

Severus sighed, turned toward Rachel's desk, and stalked over to the computer. "What is it?" Almost immediately after Severus was 'introduced' to the ghost in Rachel's machine, 'Robert' began to display a fondness for annoying him, usually by blaring 'movie quotes' at him. It insisted that turnabout was fair play, and that Severus should be prepared to pay the consequences for causing his Rachel emotional distress. He was truly growing to hate the machine.

The words, 'I know why, I KNOW WHY!' were written on the screen. After a moment, the words disappeared and a new message was typed. 'Frankly, it's about as plain as the nose on your face, and that monstrosity's pretty darn hard to miss. Of course, if you ever saw the inside of Rachel's office, I'm sure even you would be able to figure it out. Wanna know the password?'

There was an almost tangible air of smugness about the machine as it waited for a response.

"She said she had no office," Severus muttered, mostly to himself.

'She's dubbed it the Sisters' Sanctuary. But it's where her office would be, were she using it as such. It's… Wanna know? ;-)'

Of course I want to know now, Severus thought. He would certainly not give in and ask, though. The blasted machine probably wanted him to ask for the password so it could then curse him as a 'betrayer of his Rachel's trust' or some such nonsense. Severus was seriously considering having words with Rachel about the rather disturbingly possessive nature of her computer.

Thoughts still whirling round his head, Albus walked in with Rachel in tow. Severus felt intense satisfaction in shutting the machine with only slightly more force than was necessary. Knowing that, aside from the forest, Rachel went nowhere without her laptop, Severus picked it up, and carried it to her. "Leaving at last, are we?"

"Yes," Albus replied. Severus noted that his expression was rather serious.

"What is it, Albus?"

"The plan is set. Several members of the Order will be escorting Harry to Grimmauld Place this evening. I am certain he will arrive safely; I am merely feeling a bit tired. Shall we depart?" Albus held out the Portkey, a very odd hat with a propeller affixed to it, Rachel and Severus both touched it, and a few moments later they all disappeared.

"Explain it again. Why are we picking your sisters up at the airport?"

''Cause this is where the planes land. I don't know why you're having such a hard time grasping so simple a concept."

Severus clenched his teeth, biting back a scathing remark. There was no point starting an argument; he'd sodding well walked into that. "I am aware of the purpose of an airport. Why did your sisters travel the muggle way?"

"Umm, when did I ever say they were coming the 'muggle' way? You've heard of the Arrow line, haven't you? Sure, I didn't fly on it, as, like the Knight Bus, the Arrow is really not for everyone. It does cut your travel time short, but it can make you feel pretty queasy. I was on it once when I was about 12…never again. But Darcy and Leah both like it, and it's easier for them to go through Customs this way. It means we don't have to make a side trip to the Ministry of Magic, and that's one place I'll be more than happy to avoid. Oh, you got that note from Albus before he apparated, right?"

"Ugh, I'd forgotten about the blasted Arrow. Or perhaps I'd blocked out the memory of that dread contraption. And of course I got the note." Severus silently added, after he transfigured my robes so I would 'blend in.' As if the man that had wandered off wearing their Portkey on his head, along with his usual robes, knew anything whatsoever about blending in.

"Are you certain my robes would not have garnered less attention than this ill-fitting coat?"

"Nah, the robes would have looked weird. Besides, you look pretty sharp in a trenchcoat, and it's supposed to fit like that. You're just cranky because Albus charmed it so it won't button."

Severus raised an eyebrow. He was expending a considerable amount of effort to affect a calm, relaxed pose. And yet Rachel dubbed him 'cranky.' She'd shown an alarming ability to gauge his mood with considerable accuracy of late.

But as much as she had figured out about him, at least she did not appear to understand the workings of his mind. Truly, his irritability had little to do with his state of dress, unpleasant as it was. He was simply not used to venturing into the muggle world at all, so hanging about a crowded airport left him feeling uncomfortable and self-conscious.

It did not help that Rachel had begged, pleaded and cajoled until he agreed not to alter his personal appearance. She'd promised to shut up about it if he would just explain why he did it in the first place, but he'd flatly refused to do so. He'd grown, over the years, so used to his disguise that it was practically an article of clothing. Without it, he felt quite exposed. And to make Rachel understand that, he'd have to explain about his childhood. He had not discussed his childhood with another living soul, and still had no wish to do so.

"There they are!" Rachel exclaimed. She started waving her hand in the air. "Darcy, Leah!"

A tall girl with long, honey blonde hair waved back and called out, "Raych!" Her other hand was on her sister's shoulder. The tiny, dark-haired girl glanced up from her book, raised her hand briefly in greeting, adjusted her glasses, and buried her head once more in her book.

As the girls approached, Severus noted that the older girl was almost a mirror image of her mother. As the walkway cleared in front of her for a few moments, Severus' eyes widened in horror. "Rachel, does your mother know that your sister dresses like that?" She wore what, at first glance, appeared to be a school uniform, sans robes. She wore a pleated skirt and a white oxford shirt, but it was tailored to be form-fitting, and the skirt was so short that he felt a strong impulse to rip off his coat, cover her with it, immediately contact her parents and demand an explanation.

"What, you mean the Alicia Silverstone look? Oh, sorry, pop culture reference. Um, I think the, uh," Rachel paused and gestured at Darcy's outfit as it came back into view, "naughty Catholic schoolgirl look's still pretty popular. Though I don't think Mom knows that Darcy hitches her skirts up until she's about a millimeter away from flashing her underwear. It does make me really glad that Mom won't let her wear thongs. So it could be worse."

"Thongs?"

"Oh, um, I think I'd best explain that, uh, later."

Severus narrowed his eyes at the apparent brush-off, but nodded and turned his attention to the smaller of the two just as the girls reached them. She was mercifully dressed in loose pants and an oversized jumper. Her hair was neatly plaited, but he could see nothing of her face, as her head was still buried in her book.

Severus backed up a few paces to give the girls a bit of privacy as Darcy and Rachel hugged and exchanged greetings.

"It's so good to see you guys! I've missed you."

"Aw, I missed you too, sweets. We didn't get to spend much time with you when you were home. Of course, we thought you were coming right back. Right, Leah?"

A sheepish look on her face, Leah finally pulled her head out of her book. "Yeah, who would've guessed things would work out like this? You're finally going to be in one place long enough to teach me Judo. And I get school credit for it, no less."

"True. I finally get to keep that promise I made to you."

Darcy looked Rachel over, narrowing her eyes slightly. "Raych, are you alright, hon? You look tired."

"I'm fine, really. I've just been a little busy. And, hey, isn't that the kinda thing the big sister's supposed to ask?"

"Well, I am taller than you."

"That's just because Mom and Dad inject you with growth hormones, you mutated freak!"

Perhaps it was because he was an only child, but Severus could not understand why that statement elicited giggling…and more hugging.

Rachel then turned her attention back to Leah. "So, Brain, how's that plan for world domination coming?"

Leah patted her book and grinned at her sister. In an odd voice, she said, "This text has been most helpful. Pinky and I will be ready this evening as scheduled. By this time tomorrow, the world will be ours. Ha! Ha! HA!"

"Narf!" Darcy exclaimed, also in a strange, affected voice, "We'll succeed this time, Brain, for sure."

They all giggled again. As this appeared to be some sort of bizarre inside joke, Severus found himself feeling even more uncomfortable. As the giggles wound down, Darcy finally noticed him, and her eyes grew wide.

"Um, Raych?"

"Yeah, honey?"

"Where'd you get the Trent Reznor look-alike? And do they have a Brad Pitt?"

Rachel snorted. "Terribly amusing, hon. Sever…Professor, I'm sorry, these are my sisters, Darcy and Leah. Darcy, Leah, this is Professor Snape. He'll be your Potions teacher."

"Oh! Great to meet you, Prof. We've heard great stuff about ya from Mom. You know, best and brightest, yadda, yadda, yadda. I think your being the teacher was what actually cinched the decision to send us to Hogwarts, but since I've only recently learned that Hogwarts doesn't get cable, or even network TV," Darcy complained, pausing to glare at Rachel, "I'm not entirely sure whether or not I'm happy about it."

Rachel rolled her eyes and took control of the baggage trolley. "Come on, time to head out. We'll see about getting you some cheese to go with that whine."

Darcy then shifted her attention back to Rachel. "Yeah, yeah, could be worse, I know. At least I'll be totally surrounded by British boys. Cute accents! At least some of them have to be hot too, right? But on the down side, English food. Oh, but on the up side, snow! Ooh, and Dad kicks ass at adapting mundane stuff to work in all-magical environments. So we got to bring a PC and the Nintendo, at least. Dad's still working on adapting a printer for us, but he thinks he'll get it finished by the time school starts."

They made their way out of the airport, Darcy still talking nearly non-stop…strangely, it seemed the longer she talked, the faster she spoke, which was a feat, as she spoke quickly to begin with. Severus trailed slightly behind, already dreading having the child in his class. And when Darcy caught sight of the queue of taxis, she emitted a squeal of glee that caused him to flinch in pain.

"They're so cute!" she exclaimed.

Severus felt quite glad, suddenly, that he'd skipped breakfast.

Darcy practically bounced into the cab. Rachel took the seat next to her, and Severus was rather amused by the look of gratitude on Leah's face. When Severus settled in next to Leah, he finally got a good look at the cover of her book: Theoretical Alchemy, by Madeline King.

Rachel asked the driver to take them to No. 11 Grimmauld Place, and the cab was in motion. Darcy was engrossed in the scenery, endlessly commenting on everything they drove past.

After a few minutes of contemplation, Severus broke the silence on his side of the cab. "Might I ask why you are reading such an advanced Potions text?"

Leah looked up at him and shrugged. "I finished all my reading for the 1st year classes, and then read through all of Magical Draughts and Potions and One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi. Pretty interesting, but lacking in the area of theoretical science." She indicated her book, "And that's where Mom comes in. Have you read it?"

Severus inclined his head slightly. "I have read all of your mother's works."

The child's face lit up immediately. Severus found himself pulled into an oddly adult discussion, which ranged from proper preparation of ingredients to Potions research and development, which was the field Leah hoped to work in. Her knowledge was clearly beyond any of the students at Hogwarts. Severus was certain that, if she had any talent at all at the cauldron, she would not learn a thing in his class. He might have to develop a special curriculum for her alone, simply to keep her occupied.

Before he knew it, the taxi was pulling to a stop at No. 11 Grimmauld Place and Darcy was talking to their driver.

"Oh, don't worry. We're just visiting some friends here. I don't think I'd be comfortable staying in such a suck part of town."

Severus bit back a grin. The idea of Darcy stuck at Black's house for the remainder of her summer suddenly seemed quite entertaining. If she were so displeased about the neighborhood, she would surely be horrified by the house itself.

Darcy bounced out to pay the driver as Severus and Rachel took out the girls' luggage. Leah simply got out of the taxi and resumed her reading.

While they worked, Rachel whispered in his ear, "Leah can be scary, huh?"

Severus nodded and whispered back, "I believe that even Hermione Granger will be frightened by that child's mind. She truly is only eleven?"

"Yep. She's just alarmingly bright, which, sadly, is also why she doesn't have any friends. Kids her age either don't understand her, or they're freaked out by her. Every now and then, you really have to remind her she's still a kid, or she'll kind of forget."

"That odd exchange the three of you had in the airport? With the strange voices? Was that such a reminder?"

"Oh, yeah, Pinky and the Brain." Rachel chuckled. "It's a muggle cartoon about lab mice bent on world domination. Very silly, and almost impossible to explain if you've never seen it, so I'm not even gonna try." All of the luggage out, Rachel shut the door of the taxi and waved goodbye to the driver.

In a much louder voice, Rachel continued. "So, since we can't stand out here forever, let's go see the idiot, err, man, of the house. The note?"

Severus removed Albus' note from his inside pocket and passed it to Darcy. "Each of you, read the note silently to yourself, memorize it, then pass it back to me."

Darcy scrunched up her nose as No. 12 came into view. "And it's not getting any better. We will have words about this. Oh, Professor, Mom wanted me to ask you something about the idiot of the house."

Severus raised an eyebrow. "What did she wish to know?"

Darcy smiled sweetly. "Has he grown as a person?"

Perhaps, he thought, the girl would turn out to be tolerable. "I dare say that, if anything, he's regressed. You are certainly under no obligations to like the man."

Darcy looked disappointed, but unsurprised. "Yeah, that's news. It's his house, though, right? Do we have to make nice?"

Severus favored her with a sly grin. He really was enjoying this too much. "As I am not your parent, and not yet your Professor, sadly I cannot order you to be civil. But, I would advise that, should you decide to make Black's life more difficult, do not suggest that I had anything to do with it."

Darcy chuckled, then her lips curled into a wicked grin. "As if I'd do anything overt."

As he began to understand that Darcy was a good deal more than the dizzy blonde she appeared to be, Severus reversed his opinion about the outlook of the day. Darcy might actually enjoy herself, and Black's day was likely to be terrible…excellent.

As they neared the front door, Severus advised them to keep very quiet as they entered the house, as there were things on the first floor that should not be disturbed. Severus looked up and down the street, made certain no one was outside or at a window, tapped his wand against the door to unlock it, opened the door and quickly ushered them all into the house.

A/N: "Stop your job, look at the insensitive man," is a quote from "So I Married an Axe Murderer," which no more belongs to me than does Harry Potter or the World of Darkness. Review pretty please!