Disclaimer: See chapter one.

Author's note: Thank you for the reviews. I hope you've liked the story so far and I hope you continue to read. Here's another chapter, Enjoy!

To Complete a Family

Chapter Seven: Talks and Searches

Once settled in Severus' private quarters the two children sat side by side on the couch. The silence in the room was almost overbearing and Rhian wondered when someone would start talking.

Harry must have read her mind for he cautiously spoke up. "Do you hate me?" He asked quietly afraid of the answer he might receive.

Severus sighed this was something he was not prepared to handle. "No child." He responded after a moment.

"There are things I must explain to the both of you so that you may understand better why things were done in the way they were."

Rhian and Harry nodded sitting forward in their seats waiting for their father to begin.

"Shortly after I married your mother she found my secret that I had hidden from her since our sixth year. "Because I came from a dark pureblood family it was expected of me to follow the Dark Lord and in my youth I was foolish and allowed my family's persistence to give in to their will."

"The secret that I hid from her caused her to be frightened, she understood why I did it but she was afraid for her life as well as my own. She tried to get me to stop but I couldn't I was in too deep."

The twins sat in shocked silence as they looked at their father. "Is that when she left you and married my dad…. I mean James Potter?" Harry asked carefully.

Severus nodded rubbing the bridge of his nose wearily. "James Potter was a good friend to Lily he even fancied her once. Lily ran to him and he agreed to help her and her unborn children. I did not know the whole story and I believed that Potter had taken her from me which caused me to go deeper in the Dark Arts."

"Why were we separated?" Rhian asked.

Severus sighed again. "The Potters were the prime targets for the Dark Lord. As was said before, no one knew that Lily had twins so they believed that Harry was their only child."

"I only realized that Lily had left me to protect me when she had called me to her Hospital bed the night you were born. She placed you Rhian into my arms and told me to take you, that you would be safer with me at Hogwarts."

"Why couldn't she take me into hiding with them?" Rhian responded.

"The Headmaster told them that it was only safe to take one child and he mandated that it must be Harry." Severus responded. "Harry if I had known that your relatives treated you the way they did I would have gone against the old coot's wishes."

Harry smiled. "I know you would have. I'm not mad at you; you were duped by the Headmaster into believing I was safe. It's his fault."

Rhian stood from her seat bringing Harry with her. She hurried over to her father wrapping her arms around him. "The past is in the past." She whispered. "We're here together now and that is all that matters."

Severus hugged his daughter to him and looked up at his son who stood a few feet away. Holding out his arm Severus beckoned him to come. Harry warily came closer and soon the three were wrapped in a tight hug.

"What are we going to do about the Ministry?" Rhian asked suddenly.

A hard look appeared on Severus' face. "Don't you worry about the Ministry I will make sure that we are never separated again." The tone in his voice said that it truth.

"Dad are we going to tell anybody about this?" Rhian asked.

Severus shook his head. "I do not believe the Wizarding world would be pleased to hear that the Boy-who-lived is actually the son of a Death Eater."

"What's a Death Eater?" Harry asked confusedly.

Severus smirked. "A Death Eater is a follower of the Dark Lord." He responded.

"Oh"

Severus placed a hand on his son's shoulder. "I will regrettably have to treat you like I have in the past in public due to the fact that many followers of the Dark Lord have children in my house."

Harry nodded understandingly. "What can I call you in private?" He asked.

"Severus or father will do." Severus responded. "But only if you feel comfortable doing so I will not push you to do it."

Rhian hugged her father once more. "We should probably go; Ron and Hermione will probably looking for us."

"Stay out of trouble." Severus ordered.

"Yes sir" the twins said in unison as they exited their father's quarters.

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Christmas was coming. One morning in mid-December Hogwarts woke to find itself covered in several feet of snow and the lake frozen solid. Rhian and Harry cheered the Weasley twins after they were punished for bewitching snowballs to bounce off Quirrell's turban. The few owls that made it through the stormy sky to deliver mail had to be nursed back to health by Hagrid before they could fly off again.

Rhian and her friends couldn't wait for the holidays to start. While the Gryffindor common room and the Great Hall had roaring fires, the drafty corridors had become icy and a bitter wind rattled the windows in the classrooms. Worst of all Professor Snape's classes down in the dungeons, where their breaths rose in a mist before them and they kept as close as possible to their cauldrons.

"I do feel sorry." Draco Malfoy said one day in class. "for all those people who have to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas because they are not wanted at home."

He was looking over at Harry as he spoke. Rhian noticed the Slytherins close by chuckled. Harry, who was measuring out powdered spine of lionfish, ignored them. Malfoy had been even more unpleasant than usual since the Quidditch match. Disgusted that Slytherin had lost, he had tried to get everyone laughing at how a wide-mouthed tree frog would be replacing Harry as seeker next. Then he'd realize that know one had found this funny, because they were all impressed at the way Harry had managed to stay on his bucking broom. So Malfoy, jealous and angry, had gone back to taunting Harry about having no proper family.

Rhian and Harry shared a look knowing that Malfoy wasn't hitting any nerve. It was true Harry wasn't going back to Privet Drive for Christmas. Professor McGonagall had come around the week before, making a list of students who would be staying for the holidays, Rhian and Harry signed up at once. Rhian knew Harry didn't feel sorry for himself at all; this would probably be the best Christmas he ever had. Ron and his brothers were staying too, because Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were going to Romania to visit Ron's older brother Charlie.

When they left the dungeons at the end of Potions, they found a large fir tree blocking the corridor ahead. Two enormous feet sticking out at the bottom and a loud puffing sound told them that Hagrid was behind it.

"Hi, Hagrid, want any help?" Ron asked, sticking his head through the branches.

"Nah, I'm alright, thanks, Ron."

"Would you mind moving out of the way?" Malfoy drawled coldly from behind them. "Are you trying to earn some extra money, Weasley? Hoping to be gamekeeper yourself when you leave Hogwarts, I suppose…that hut of Hagrid's must seem like a palace compared to what your family's used to."

Rhian and Harry had to grab onto Ron before he could dive at Malfoy just as Quirrell came upon them.

"Wh…what is going on here…hmm?" He stuttered taking in the scene before him.

"Nothing sir" Rhian responded first.

Quirrell gave her a calculating look. "Then I suggest you be on your way….ay."

Malfoy and his goons pushed roughly past the tree, scattering needles everywhere.

"I'll get him," Ron said, grinding his teeth at Malfoy's back, "one of these days, I'll get him…"

"I hate them both," Harry said, "Malfoy and Quirrell."

"Come on, cheer up, it's nearly Christmas," Hagrid said. "Tell yeh what, come with me an' see the Great Hall, looks a treat."

So the four of them followed Hagrid and his tree off to the Great Hall, where Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick were busy with Christmas decorations.

"Ah, Hagrid, the last tree…put it in the far corner, would you?"

The hall looked spectacular. Festoons of holly and mistletoe hung all around the walls, and no less then twelve towering Christmas trees stood around the room, some sparkling with tiny icicles, some glittering with hundreds of candles.

"How many days you got left until yer holidays?" Hagrid asked.

"Just one." Rhian said.

"That reminds me…Rhian, Harry, Ron we've got half an hour before lunch, we should be in the library."

"Oh yeah, you're right," Ron said, tearing his eyes away from Professor Flitwick, who had golden bubbles blossoming out of the end of his wand and trailing them over the branches of the new tree.

"The library?" Hagrid said, following them out of the hall. "Just before the holidays? Bit keen, aren't yeh?"

"Oh, we're not working," Harry told him brightly. "Ever since you mentioned Nicolas Flamel we've been trying to figure out who he is.

"You what?" Hagrid looked shocked. "Listen here…I've told yeh…drop it. It's nothin' to you what that dog's guardin'."

"We just want to know who Nicholas Flamel is, that's all," Rhian said with a smile.

"Unless you'd like to tell us and save us the trouble?" Harry added. "We've must've been through hundreds of books already and we can't find him anywhere…just give us a hint…I know I've read his name somewhere."

"I'm sayin' nothin'," Hagrid said flatly.

"Just have to find out for ourselves, then," Ron said, and they left Hagrid looking disgruntled and hurried off to the library.

The four had indeed been searching books for Flamel's name ever since Hagrid had let it slip, because how else were they going to find out what Quirrell was trying to steal? The trouble was, it was very hard to know where to begin, not knowing what Flamel might have done to get himself into a book. He wasn't in Great Wizards of the Twentieth Century, or Notable Magical Names of Our Time; he was missing too, from Important Modern Magical Discoveries, and A Study of Recent Developments in Wizardry. And then, of course, there was the sheer size of the library; tens of thousands of books; thousands of shelves; hundreds of narrow rows.

Hermione took out a list of subjects and titles she had decided to search while Ron strode off down a row of books and started pulling them off the shelves at random. Rhian and Harry wandered over to the Restricted Section. They had been wondering for awhile if Flamel wasn't somewhere in there. Unfortunately students needed a specially signed note from one of the teachers in any of the restricted books, and they knew not even their father would give them one. These were the books containing Dark Magic never taught at Hogwarts and only read by the older students studying advanced Defense Against the Dark Arts.

"What are you two looking for?"

"Nothing," Rhian and Harry said in unison.

Madame Pince the librarian brandished a feather duster at them.

"You better get out, then. Go on…out!"

The two quickly hurried out of the library. Rhian, Harry, Ron and Hermione had already agreed they'd better not ask Madame Pince where they could find Flamel. They were sure that she'd be able to tell them, but they couldn't risk Quirrell hearing what they were up to.

Waiting outside in the corridor to see the other two had found anything, but he wasn't very hopeful. They had been looking for two weeks, after all, but they only had odd moments between lessons it wasn't surprising they'd found nothing. What they really needed was a nice long search without Madame Pince breathing down their necks.

"He has to be somewhere." Rhian stated. "I know I've seen his name somewhere."

"Me too…" Harry said leaning against the corridor wall.

Five minutes later, Ron and Hermione joined them, shaking their heads. They were off to lunch.

"You will keep looking while I'm away won't you?" Hermione said. "And send me an owl if you find anything."

"And you could ask your parents if they know who Flamel is," Ron said. "It'd be safe to ask them."

"Very safe," Hermione responded, "as they are both dentists."

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Once the holidays had started Rhian and Harry moved their things to Severus' quarters. This would be the first holiday that all three would be spending together as a complete family.

"Children I hope you will find your rooms to your liking." Severus said as he ushered them into the living room.

Setting their trunks down at their feet the twins moved to the two closed doors. Harry looked at Rhian and Severus incredulously. "I have my own room?" He asked not wanting to believe that this was true.

Severus' eyes clouded for a moment before settling back into its usual obsidian. "Yes child, why would you not have your own room?" he asked.

"I…I…" Harry stopped afraid to continue.

"Go on Harry, tell him." Rhian whispered giving her brother a little nudge.

Harry sighed fidgeting nervously with the hem of his shirt. "I…didn't have a room…at the Dursley's." He whispered quietly.

"Where did you sleep then, surely they gave you a bed?" Severus replied disbelievingly.

"In the…cupboard." Harry responded almost too quietly to hear.

Again anger clouded Severus' obsidian eyes. "In my home you will have a room to call your own." He said struggling to keep his voice calm.

Rhian smiled at Harry. "Come on lets go check it out." She said pulling him towards one of the doors.

Pulling the door opened Rhian's smile widened when she saw the look on Harry's face. The room was even larger then the Dursley's master bedroom.

"Wow" Harry whispered in awe.

The walls were a cream color, the carpet warm beige. A four poster bed was in the middle of the room with emerald curtains. The comforter was also an emerald color and Harry had half expected to see the Slytherin house crest on it but instead found a lion with a snake wrapped around one of the lion's forepaws.

On the opposite wall was an oak dresser and mirror. Against the last wall sat an oak desk and chair, quills, ink and parchment lying on top.

"This is amazing!" Harry exclaimed turning to Severus. "I've never imagined I'd have a room like this." He added throwing his arms around the dark man tightly.

Severus hugged his son back. "Get settled and then we will venture up to the Great Hall for dinner." He stated as he turned and headed towards his private lab.

The twins smiled at each other disappearing into their respective rooms until it was time for dinner.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed the chapter.