How troublesome it is, picking up after children!
"Emily! Lily! If you two plan on going you'd better go NOW!" I called up the stairs. The girls responded with a laugh and a simultaneous 'coming'
The girls looked tired, as they should. I remembered doing the same thing, staying up all night before my trip on the Hogwarts Express. Although Severus and I both worked at Hogwarts we wanted the girls to go on the train with their classmates. It had been a hard decision. we debated sending them to another school, we didn't want them to be teased because of us, but we decided that no matter what, they had to go to Hogwarts. We both attended Hogwarts and it was the best magical school in the world. There really was no competition. So here they were; bustling down the stairs trunks floating behind them.
Severus was waiting by the fireplace with both of the owl-cages in hand. He had bought them as a gift for the girl's acceptance letters. Lily's was a white and brown spotted Barn owl, Emily's was a reddish European scops-owl.
Severus was getting ready to go when both the girls stormed past him and hollered for Diagon alley. He scoffed and looked at me. Then he glanced around the empty house.
"are you ready?" his face looked annoyed but his tone was bemused. For the first time in seven years we would both be living at Hogwarts again. When we had first adopted the girls we both had stopped being house heads and we both commuted to work. That was about to change. The owl that had delivered the letters to the girls had also delivered letters from the new headmaster, Griselda Marchbanks, the first requesting the re-instatement of Severus to the position of house-head of Slytherin. The second offered me the same job with Gryffindor.
Neither of us were all that surprised. Even after the war was over it was difficult to find people who were willing to take positions of high status. After Voldemort's defeat there were a couple of copy-cat terrorists who crusaded in his name. They killed off nearly anyone they could get their hands on, but many of them looked specifically for people who were in positions of power. Several house-heads had made their way out of the world in such a fashion.
Severus gave me a kiss and one of the owls before following the girls. When we finally got to the platform, it was nearly time to go. A quick goodbye and they were on their way. My plans had already been set. It would be a few hours before the sorting ceremony, and for the first time in seven years, we didn't have to worry about a baby sitter calling us. We apparated straight to Hogsmeade for a few hours of peace.
Hours later, at the sorting ceremony I could clearly see our two anxiously fidgeting in line. As the hat called out names they each got a little closer. Emily had always said she wanted to be in Gryffindor and Lily was bound and determined she would be in Slytherin. This was a clear reflection on which parent each girl had favored. We had let them pick whose last name they had wanted when they were five. Emily had chosen mine and Lily had chosen Sev's. Emily was called first and I paid full attention. The hat had barely touched her red hair before screaming SLYTHERIN. Emily gasped and I would bet the whole table could hear Severus's badly stifled laugh. She begrudgingly tripped off of the stool and walked to the appropriate table. Lily was beaming with excitement and almost didn't notice when her name was called. She was just as shocked when the hat, after much deliberation, sorted her into Gryffindor. Again Severus stifled a laugh and I had to shoot him as menacing a look as I could pull off. He just gave me one of those curious expressions that he was so good at. He knew he would be getting sex tonight, as he had won our bet.