Here's the next chapter of 'It's A Twin Thing', thank you so much for the reviews and all the feedback I've been getting on this story, it's so inspiring and all of you are amazing, so thank you! Hope you enjoy this chapter :)
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*Last Time*
"Harry, why did they do this to you?" Hermione whispered in silent anger, her eyes filling with tears and magic crackling around her as her emotions swirled in a whirlpool, not knowing which to feel at any one time.
"I – I was rude," he replied back meekly, staring at his feet in embarrassment.
"Rude?" Hermione replied back, not quite believing the words that she'd just heard.
"It - It's not as bad as it looks 'Mione, honestly." Harry tried to assure her, not wanting her to pity him, "I'm used to it, trust me it's fine." Apparently this was the complete wrong thing to say as Hermione quickly lost her cool and started screaming profanities into the house.
"NOT AS BAD AS IT LOOKS? THOSE FUCKING BASTARDS ABUSE YOU HARRY, ABUSE YOU! IF THIS ISN'T BAD THEN I DREAD TO THINK WHAT THOSE IMBECILES DO TO YOU NORMALLY! I SWEAR TO MERLIN THEY'RE GOING TO PAY, HOW DARE THEY! WHO DO THEY THINK THEY ARE? BEATING MY COUSIN LIKE THAT, THEY HAVE NO RIGHT, NO FUCKING RIGHT WHATSOEVER! IF I EVER, EVER SEE THEM THEY'LL NOT KNOW WHAT HIT THEM."
"Mia?" Came a voice, spinning around in a fury Hermione came face to face with a scared looking Martha, her face pallor and hands trembling.
"Not now Martha," Hermione growled.
"You need to calm down," Martha tried to reason, raising both her hands and making her way towards Hermione, before she could get very far though a boom echoed through the house, to her left Hermione could see Harry flinch in on himself, moving subtly towards Hermione and behind her back.
...
"What you did was irresponsible and dangerous!" Severus shouted, he'd recieved an urgent letter from Hermione late last night. The contents provided him with very little information, it was simply a scrap of paper with Hermiones' handwriting scrawled frantically on it with a little note,
Dad,
Going to save Harry, he's in trouble. Update you later,
Hermione.
That was all he'd recieved, a measly note which kept him up all night, wondering just what his daughter had gotten herself into. It wasn't until the early hours of the morning that he'd decided he was going to do something about the situation, making his way to McGonagalls office and asking her for Hermiones' school record.
McGonagall was basically in charge of the school, she made sure everything was in order irganised all events and was the one who filed all student information and kept it orgaised and up to date.
After a bit of grovelling Severus had managed to get the address of the house Hermiones lived in with her muggle parents and after thanking Minerva and racing out of the school wards he apparated to the address.
As soon as he arrived the arguing had started, he was wasting no time in berating his daughter for how stupid she'd been.
"They were beating him! His skin is covered in bruises and his back gorged with a belt. I couldn't leave him there!" Hermione yelled back, livid that her dad had the audacity to shout at her and call her actions stupid when she was just trying to protect her family.
"You should've called someone!" He shouted.
"And what left him there for a few more days to endure the abuse of his so called Aunt and Uncle!"
"It was dangerous Hermione! You could've been caught, it was stupid and reckless."
"I had Martha with me, we were fine. We got Harry back and he's safe now!"
"BUT YOU COULD'VE BEEN HURT!" Severus bellowed.
"I WAS PROTECTING OUR FAMILY!" Hermione screamed back.
"IT'S NOT YOUR JOB TO PROTECT THEM!"
"WHO'S IS IT THEN DAD? CAUSE YOU'RE SURE AS HELL NOT DOING A GOOD JOB OF IT!" Hermione hollered, fed up with the accusations.
...
"'Mione!" Theo cried, racing down the drive towards a certain busy haired Gryffindor and scooping her into a hug.
"Hey Theo," Hermione chuckled, clinging onto her Slytherin friend for dear life, not wanting to let go as he spun her around.
"I'm so glad you're here!" He told her, a massive smile gracing his features, only dropping a fraction when he saw a certain person behind Hermione.
"Potter," Theo nodded in greeting.
"Call me Harry, merlin knows we'll be seeing enough of eachother, surnames just seems a bit formal no?" Harry told him.
"Okay ... Harry," Theo replied uncertainly, not quite knowing how to react to this Harry Potter.
"Let's just start again? Hi, my name's Harry, it's nice to meet you," Harry reintroudced, holding his hand out for Theo to shake.
"Theo, nice to meet you too," Theo replied shaking Harrys' hand.
"Seriously?" Hermione screeched, watching the boys in amazement.
"What?" Harry and Theo asked at the same time, smirking at each other when they realised.
"... Boys," Hermione huffed, grabbing her and Harrys luggage and walking up towards the house.
"What did we do?" Theo asked in confusion.
"Beats me," Harry replied, shrugging his shoulders helplessly.
Hermione simply continued walking up the drive, a smile gracing her lips as she listening to boys chatting behind her, one thought racing through her mind:
maybe miracles can happen.
Chapter 12
"Uncle Moony, I know you're probably not expecting me to - no no no - Remus? Mr Lupin? Argghh"
"Hermione is everything okay in here?" Harry asked, making his way out the bathroom and into the room the two shared.
"No, I'm trying to start the letter to Uncle Moony, but I have no clue how to go about it!" She sighed in frustration, banging her head down on the table, her hair falling to cover her head.
"How about I help? We can sign it off from both of us, maybe it will help convince him that the letter is real and not a joke from someone else?" Harry suggested.
"Sounds good, so how should we start it? I was thinking Mr Lupin would be a bit formal and calling him Remus just sounds strange."
"Uncle Moony it is then, who else calls him that? No-one but us, so he'll be more inclined to read the rest of the letter."
"Okay, now for the rest of it," Hermione mumbled to herself, hoping this wouldn't take an age.
The two spent the next hour or so coming up with the perfect letter, they didn't want it to be too formal but they also didn't want it to sound like they were lying and that it wasn't really them writing the letter. So, after several drafts the two cousins had finally finished the letter, it read;
Uncle Moony,
I know you're probably not expecting to receive a letter, let alone from the two of us. Recently, me and Harry have learnt a lot about our family and it's past, we know that Uncle Padfoot and my mum were framed for crimes they didn't commit and that Wormtail is more of a rat than we, and probably you, originally thought.
We have so much to tell you and we really want to meet you, the Uncle Moony we remember in our memories is amazing and we desperately want to know who you are now, furry little problem and all!
We understand if you don't think this letter is really from us, but we've spelled it so that only you and the two of us can read it's contents. We'd really love it if you could meet us at:
125 Old Broad Street, London EC2N 1AR
on 26th August at 14:00 so that we can prove that we're who we say we are,
we love you Uncle Moony, even if you don't know it yet,
Harry Potter and Hermione Snape x
"I think it's finally done,"
"At last," Hermione sighed, a smile on her face as the reality that they might be meeting another family member soon kicked in. At the reminder of family Hermiones' face dropped as thoughts of her father entered her mind; noticing her change in demeanour Harry reached out to squeeze her hand.
"Everything all right 'Mione? I thought you'd be happy we finished the letter?"
"I am, it's just that it got me thinking about dad and how awful the things I said to him were," She admitted, hanging her head in shame as the words she shouted echoed back in her head.
"He'll come around 'Mione, how about we send him another letter?" He suggested, walking over to grab some paper from Hermiones' desk.
"We've already sent him three and he hasn't replied to any of them."
"How about we send Minnie a letter?"
"Minnie? How is she going to help?" asked Hermione, perplexed at the suggestion.
"She's friends with Uncle Sev, right? She must know where he lives, if we send her a letter and ask her to meet us somewhere, maybe she'll take us?"
"Harry!" Hermione cried, jumping up to pull him into a hug, "That's a brilliant idea, hopefully she'll agree and will help us, I really miss him."
Harry simply smiled, not only at Hermiones reaction but out of self pride that he didn't flinch when she attacked him with a bear hug.
...
"Do you thinks she'll come?"
"She said she would 'Mione, she wouldn't go back on her word," Harry assured her, noticing her tensing up at the idea that she wouldn't arrive.
Minnie had replied back to Hermione almost instantly, telling her that she'd meet her at the Grangers house as she already had the address and would be there the next morning.
"What if she doesn't give us the address?" Hermione pondered, her hands beginning to shake at the thought of not being able to reconcile with her dad.
"'Mione, calm down! Everything will go great, I promise!" Harry assured her, scooting across the bed to wrap his arms around her.
"Thanks Harry," Hermione smiled, leaning into the embrace and wondering just how she managed to get the best cousin in the world. It was mere moment later that they heard a knocking on the door and Martha calling up for the two of them to come downstairs.
As they walked down the stairs Harry took her hand in his and smiled at her reassuringly.
As they entered the living room the first thing they heard was a confused "Mr Potter?" from Minerva.
"Hey Minnie," Harry replied, his face going red as he ran a hand through his hair. Hermione stared at him in shock at the use of the name 'Minnie'.
"Excuse me?" Minerva asked, shocked at the pet name he had used for her.
"Oh, um - sorry?" Harry stumbled, realising what he'd called her, "It's just that 'Mione called you that and it, um, kinda stuck?"
"Miss Granger is that true?" Minerva asked tartly, neither of them noticing the mischievous glint behind her eyes.
"Well, um, I just - you know, your name is so long and I - I hope you don't mind?"
"You're so much like your mother Hermione," Minerva chuckled, smiling softly at the two cousins as they stared at her in confusion.
"Really?" Hermione asked, her back straightening and ears perked in interest.
"Yes, both she and James used to call me that," She replied sadly, hanging her head at the thought of her former students, she'd viewed them more as her children than she did students, they were something special and the bond the three shared was unimaginable.
"I'm sorry Minnie," said Hermione, walking over to sit on the coach next to Minerva.
"Whatever for?"
"I must remind you of mum an awful lot, sorry it makes you sad,"
"Nonsense, you may look like your mother and have some similar characteristics, but there is no doubt in my mind that you are your own person and an amazing one at that," Minerva assured her, smiling kindly at her from the seat next to her, "Now we should address why Harry is here, no?"
"Hermione saved me," Harry told her, moving to sit on the other side of Hermione.
"Saved you?"
"Yes, from the Dursleys,"
"Dursleys? Harry you were safe there, why did she need to save you?" Minerva asked, confused as to why he'd need to be saved.
"Safe? He was not safe." Hermione told her bitterly, "Do you have any idea what they did to him?"
"'Mione please we don't have to go into it," Harry pleaded, staring into her eyes hoping she'd realise how much he didn't want to tell Minerva any information.
"If we don't tell her she won't understand Harry," Hermione said softly, "how about you tell her what you feel comfortable telling her?"
"Okay," Harry nodded, albeit hesitantly.
"The Dursleys were not very nice to me Minnie, they - they hurt me, I - um, I slept in a cupboard and -"
"A CUPBOARD? You slept in a cupboard!?" Minerva practically boomed, standing up from her place on the sofa as she started pacing up and down the room.
"I told Albus those muggles were no good, he promised you were safe, said they were looking after you and treating you as there own, how could I have been so blind? They made you sleep in a cupboard, in a god-damn cupboard! What else did they do? Harry, tell me. What else did they do!?" Minerva demanded, her face red with anger and fist clenched as she knelt down in front of Harry.
Harry wasn't originally going to enclose the whole story to her but looking into her eyes, he couldn't help but tell her everything, his whole life story. He felt overjoyed, that he had another person in his life that cared for him apart from Hermione, Ron, Martha and Uncle Sev that he spent almost an hour telling Minerva everything that had happened in his life at the Dursleys, about the abuse he had endured, how he slept in a cupboard and had to do everything around the house. He told her about how Hermione and Martha saved him, about the fact that he knew about Hermiones' real parents and that he knew he now had people who loved and cared for him.
It was after all this that Minerva gathered the two children in a hug, trying to shield the fact that she was about to cry, and telling them that she was proud of the both of them and that if they ever needed anything she would always be there for them, for as long as she lives she'll stand by them and help keep them safe and loved.
Hermione and Harry couldn't stop themselves from shedding a few tears at that, and when Minerva pulled away they both smiles at each other and took the others hand in their own, relishing in the closeness as they allowed their emotions to get back in line.
"Minnie?" Hermione asked tentatively as the three of them sat close to each other on the sofa.
"Yes Hermione?"
"This wasn't the only reasons we asked you to meet us today," She admitted, suddenly nervous that Minerva would deny their request.
"What is it?" Minerva asked softly.
"We need dads address, me and him had an argument and some things were said in the heat of the moment that were untrue and ended up hurting his feelings," Hermione began, her hands shaking in Harrys as he tried to calm her down by stroking her hand with his thumb.
"We tried to send him letters, but so far he hasn't replied," Harry continued.
"So you would like me to take you to his address so you can apologise?"
"If that would be okay? We understand if not bu -" Hermione began, hoping desperately that she'd not decline them.
"You're too much like your father Hermione," Minerva chuckled, "of course I will take you, in fact I'll apparate you over right now if you'd like?"
"Really?" Hermione asked hopefully, not quite believing that it was this easy, "I thought you weren't allowed to disclose information about professors to students?"
"Ah, but not only is Severus your professor but also your father and a friend of mine, as this trip is personal and not about Hogwarts I will most definitely take you to him,"
Hermione launched herself off the sofa and towards Minerva, wrapping her arms around the older woman and whispering a quick, "Thanks Minnie," before releasing her and going back to Harry.
"Of course my dear, now lets make our way to the entry hall where we will apparate to Severus' address," Minerva said, leading the way to where she first arrived when she got to the Grangers.
Hermione and Harry needed no more encouragement as they both sprang up, hands still intertwined, and raced after Minerva.
"Now hold onto me tight and try your best to relaxed, it'll help with the travel sickness,"
With those words the three of them disappeared before apparating in front of a spacious manor, a fence and large brass gates blocking the way onto the grounds.
"Before I leave, I forgot to give you this when I arrived Hermione, it's a journal. All you have to do is say the words 'hiccium effingo' and any text you want to copy will be copied onto the blank pages inside. Every new copy is marked so all you have to say is the title of whatever book you copied and the journal will open to the pages you copied. Now, I hope you understand that this is to be used only for any acceptable books that you wish to copy. I trust you to use it wisely, Hermione." Minerva said, handing the book down to her.
"Thank you so much Minnie," Hermione smiled, her face alight at the knowledge she could hold in this book.
"I'll leave the two of you here," Minerva told them, smiling down at each of them as they continued to crouch close to the ground to try and stop the feeling of sickness that the apparation had caused them.
"Thank you Minnie," They both chorused, glad that she was giving them space to talk to Severus but sad that she had to go so quick. Seeing the sadness on their faces Minerva crouched down to be closer to both of them,
"I'll visit soon, yes?"
"Really? That'd be great!" Hermione sang, Harry nodding enthusiastically beside her.
"I'll write to let you know when it'll be, now I hope your meeting with Severus goes well, good luck," Minerva said, before apparating away and leaving the two of them in front of the gates.
As soon as Minerva left the large brass gates opened, giving the two of them a beautiful view of the manor and the grounds it sat on.
"Ready?" Harry asked, standing up first and helping Hermione up onto her feet.
"As ready as I'll ever be," She admitted, clutching Harrys' hand as they made their way up the drive and towards the manor lying before them. They made their way slowly towards the doors, hesitant at the reaction they would receive to their presence.
It was nothing to worry about though, as soon as they knocked on the door and it opened Hermione flung herself into her fathers arms, tears already pouring from her eyes.
"Hermione?" Severus asked, his vision quickly blinded by a mass of brown curls as soon as he opened the door.
"I'm so sorry Daddy, I didn't mean what I said, it just came out! I was so angry, and I - I wasn't thinking when I shouted that at you. You're doing an amazing job at protecting us dad, you -you're amazing and I - I - I love you and I'm so so so - sorry," She sputtered, clutching onto her father for dear life at the thought that he'd reject her.
"I failed you poppet, I didn't check on Harry, I didn't protect him," Severus admitted, smoothing her hair down softly as he knelt down to place her on the floor.
"You didn't fail him Dad, I promise. He doesn't blame you one bit, he - he loves you." Hermione told him, looking up at him as Severus wiped the tears from her face, his eyes shining with love and pain.
"He doesn't know me, I'm just Professor Snape to him, the bat of the dungeon and the one that is mean and cruel to him," He said, bowing his head in regret at the thought of Harry.
"That's not true Uncle Sev,"
"Harry?" Severus' head snapped up at the sound of his nephews voice.
"Sure, I still think you're mean when you're in your teacher persona but 'Mione explained everything to me and as soon as I looked into your eyes, that morning the two of you were fighting, all these memories flooded into my mind. All these memories of you and Aunt Liv, I - I do love you Uncle Sev, even though I don't know the man you are now, I know that the man I remember would do anything to protect his family if he knew what was going on," Harry admitted, running his hand through his hair in embarrassment, not sure if Severus would feel the same way.
"But Harry, I didn't protect you, those - those muggles hurt you, and I wasn't there to stop it." Severus told him, walking towards him and kneeling so they were face to face, his eyes showing the pain and sadness that lay deep within him.
"You didn't know, you thought I was safe there, Dumbles told you I was, Minnie thought I was, you didn't know and that's fine. 'Mione and Martha saved me, and I know that you will protect us now and in the future." Harry said, trying to alliviate the pain the his Uncle Sev was going through, he hated to see anyone in pain, especially someone who was a part of his new-found family.
"It's not fine though Harry, I should've known, I should have kept an eye on you, you're my nephew and I didn't protect you or even try to reach out. What I've done is inexcusable and It'll haunt me for the rest of my years."
"You were grieving over the supposed-death of Hermione and Aunt Liv was thrown in Azkaban. I think you had enough on your plate, you thought I was safe, you thought I was being cared for, it's not your fault."
"I'm glad at least someone thinks so," Snape sighed, dragging his hand slowly down his face in exhaustion.
"Can we come in?" Hermione asked, moving out the way of the door so Severus and Harry could get passed.
The two of them went and sat down on the sofa in the main living room as Severus went to the kitchen, coming back with two hot chocolates and what looked suspiciously like fire whiskey. Hermione gave her dad a warning glare as she eyed the substance in the glass, simply raising her eyebrow as her dad looked at her sheepishly.
"How did you get here?" Severus asked, curious as to how the two of them arrived without the company of an adult.
"Minnie helped us out," Hermione admitted.
"Even to get through the wards,"
"Wards?" Harry asked, not knowing what wards were in the wizarding world and making a note to either ask Hermione later or look it up by himself.
"What wards?" Hermione wondered at the same time as Harry.
"The ones that are set up all around the manor," Severus told them, confused at their confusion.
"We just walked through," Hermione told him.
"Walked through?"
"Yeah, the gates opened for us," Harry said, sending Hermione a confused glance which she reciprocated.
"Of course, how could I forget? The wards are keyed to enter anyone with the blood of me or your mother, as you're my daughter that makes sense and because Harry has your mums blood through James he could also get through." Severus sighed, annoyed at himself that he could forget something so simple.
"Cool!" They both shouted together, chuckling when Severus looked at each of them in surprise, obviously not expecting them to be so close that they speak together.
"So, how did you get the information out of Minerva?" He asked.
"We sent her a letter," Harry began.
"After you didn't reply to any of the ones we sent we decided to write to Minnie and ask her to meet us." Hermione continued.
"She answered and we agreed to meet at the Grangers cause she knows the address of all the students and we were already there," Harry explained.
"So we met and told her what happened, she brought us here after we told her about everything," Hermione finished.
"Said that 'Mione was too much like you Uncle Sev," Harry snickered, causing Hermione to elbow him playfully in the ribs. Thinking back to but a couple of weeks ago Severus smiled fondly as he thought of when he'd pestered Minerva for Hermiones' address.
"Like father like daughter," He said smugly, smirking at Hermione who simply rolled her eyes and huffed in fake annoyance.
"Well, I think I'd like to have a chat with Harry if that's okay with the two of you?" Severus asked, desperately wanting to discuss the Dursleys with Harry and see how he was coping with everything, not only that but he had prepared some potions for him to put on his cuts and some coping mechanisms for any trouble he was having.
Hermione looked over to Harry in concern, she knew that he had a hard time trusting people and feeling comfortable around others' especially when he's alone. Even though she knew that he trusted and loved her dad, she couldn't help but feel concerned as the two had spent hardly any time together and Harry wasn't familiar with him.
"Perhaps I should come with the two of you?" Hermione suggested, not wanting to leave Harry.
"It's fine 'Mione, I can go by myself," Harry assured her, squeezing her hand to confirm he meant it.
"Are you sure?" She asked, worried for him and scared that she wouldn't be there for him if he got panicked or scared.
"I'll be fine, if I need you I'll call for you, okay?" He said, he wasn't going to admit it but he was rather worried about how he'd react without Hermione around to help him through things.
"Okay, I guess I'll just, go and explore?" She said hesitantly, pulling Harry in for a brief hug and kissing him on the cheek before making her way out of the room and into the hall.
Not knowing what to do with herself Hermione began walking around the manor, there were loads of windows so the space was well lit and Hermione had to admit that this place was one of the most beautiful places she'd seen.
Before reaching the destination that would finally become the one she stayed in while the boys continued with there chat she looked in two other doors, one appeared to be a ballroom of sorts as it was mainly empty with a hard wood floor and a large chandelier hanging from the ceiling.
The next was a small room, it had a few arm chairs dotted around and a fire place on the back wall, various pictures were adjourned on the walls and a small bookcase was off to the right of the room, after inspecting it Hermione found the books to be fake and just there for decoration.
Finally, she reached a large set of oak doors, around the outside they were engraved with black metal which wound its way up the edges in swirls until reaching the top of the arched door where the two swirls met to make a heart.
Curious, Hermione opened the doors before freezing on the spot a gasp escaping her lips as she clutched the doors for support.
In front of her was the largest library she had ever seen in her whole entire life, shelves and shelves of books covered the walls, both on this level and the one upstairs, large bay windows lay at each end and lavish red curtains flowed from the tops of them. Hermione couldn't believe her eyes, this was her dream, she would live in here if she ever got the chance.
Walking around Hermione picked up book after book, placing them on her ever-growing pile at one of the desks that were situated all around the room. Once she felt like she had enough to look at for the moment she sat down and began reading, most were on magical creatures and many on wards, as she wanted to learn more after her dad mentioned them earlier.
She'd been reading for about an hour and had copied some interesting extracts into her journal before deciding to go look in the parts of the library she had yet to go. Placing the books she'd gotten away she walked to the farthest corner, thinking that the most interesting books would be situated here.
She was correct.
This area seemed to be darker than the others, the books exuberting a sort of dark longing that made her want to read and use the knowledge within, she walked around and picked books off the shelf, many seemed to be on soul magic and dark spells, many she didn't dare to look in but a few caught her interest and she simply copied the whole book into her journal, hoping it had unlimited pages.
She was about to leave when a purple book caught her eye, walking over she blew off the dust that had settled and read the title on the front.
"The magic within us," She read, interested at the information she'd find within the book, she opened it cautiously and turned to a random page, it read:
Auferat Simulare
A spell used on a person so that they (and anyone around them) thinks that magic is being sucked out of the selected victim.
"Why would anyone need to pretend to suck someones magic out?" She whispered to herself, the spell intriguing her even though she didn't know why.
Before she could read anymore a shout echoed throughout the library, startling her and almost causing her to drop the book in her hand.
"Hermione!"
It was her dad, he must have finished his chat with Harry, she was about to put the book away but quickly whispered 'hiccium effingo' and copied the whole book into her journal, making a mental note to go back and read through all of the pages on the that spell.
"I'm here dad," She called, walking back towards the door after she'd placed the book back and shoved the journal the best she could into her hoodie pocket.
"Of course you were in the library," Harry smirked, smiling broadly at Hermione who quickly rushed over at seeing Harry.
"How did it go?" She asked, hoping that everything went well if she was judging by the grin on her cousins face.
"It went great poppet," Severus told her, smiling at her.
"Uncle Sev said we should come and get you so he can drop us off back at the Grangers," Harry said.
"Already? What's the time?" Hermione asked, completely forgetting that they would have to leave eventually.
"5 in the evening," Severus replied, quickly checking his watch to make sure he was accurate.
"5?!" Harry and Hermione both cried together, a look of panic fluttering across their faces.
"Dad, you need to get us back to the Granger now!" Hermione said, her eyes darting around the room in paranoia.
"Is everything okay poppet?" Severus asked, suspicious at the behaviour his daughter and nephew were displaying.
"Dad, the Grangers get back at 5:15, we need to be home before they get back from work!" She pleaded, grabbing his hand and dragging him out of the library and towards the front door.
"Why?" He asked, worried for the kids as they looked terrified at the prospect of not being back before the Grangers.
"Please Uncle Sev we'll explain later but right now we have to get back!" Harry said, his eyes pleading with him to just listen.
"fine, I'll apparate you back now, but next time I see you, promise you tell me what's going on," He said sternly, hoping that what he was thinking was not the reality of this situation.
"We promise dad," Hermione hurriedly replied.
"Hold on tight," Severus informed them, grabbing each child and apparating off to the Grangers.
When they had arrived and Hermione and Harry found time to get their bearings they froze. The Grangers car was already here, they must have come home early from the practice.
"Shit," She cursed, staring at Harry.
"They're here already," Harry whispered, mainly to himself but loud enough for Severus to hear.
"We love you dad, but we have got to go," Hermione cried, racing to give him a hug before entering the house.
"Love you Uncle Sev," Harry cried, not bothering with a hug as he was too preoccupied with how he was going to get to Hermiones room without getting caught.
Severus merely watched as the two of them disappeared into the house, he stood for a couple of minutes and when nothing out of the usual occurred apparated back to Prince Manor, determined that the next time he saw those two he would get some answers.
Meanwhile, inside the house Hermione had raced into the main entrance, only to hear the Grangers shouting at who she could only assume was Martha.
"Harry, quickly up the stairs and in my room, they're in the kitchen I'll handle it," Hermione hissed, walking towards the kitchen door, ignoring the worried look Harry sent her before running up the stairs.
"Where is the freak?" Richard screamed.
"She - She's" Martha stuttered, trying to come up with an acceptable excuse for Hermione.
"I'm here Father," Hermione interrupted before he could shout at Martha any more.
"You! Where were you? Why were you not doing your chores?" Richard shouted, walking menacingly towards Hermione, causing her to be backed into a corner of the kitchen.
"I just went outside for a bit, I needed some fresh air," She whimpered, praying that he wouldn't lay a hand to her, he never had before but at the moment she wasn't confident that he wouldn't.
"Needed some fresh air? THEN OPEN A WINDOW!" He hollered, "you are not permitted to go outside or do anything until all your chores are done, you understand!"
"Yes father."
"Very well," He said, standing up straight, "Make sure all your chores are done in the next hour or you'll get no food for 2 days," He said sternly, as he walked away and out of the kitchen. Jean glared at her, before sniffing and turning her head away as she followed Richard out of the kitchen.
"That was close," Hermione sighed, sliding down the wall and crumpling on the floor, her head in her hands.
"Hermione?" Martha asked, scrambling over to where Hermione sat.
"I'm okay Martha, let's get started on those jobs," Hermione replied, raising her chin and smiling at Martha as she stood up.
"Okay, let's get started," Martha agreed.
As Hermione began the chores all she could think about was the day she could leave this place and stay with her real family, the family she longed to be brought together.
A/N: Thank you, Thank you, Thank you! Thanks for reading I hope you enjoyed this Chapter! Love it if you could leave a review, tell me your thoughts, what you want to happen in future chapters and where you think this story is heading!
Chapter Question: What do you think of the relationship Harry and Harry are developing with McGonagall? Good? Bad? Weird? Let me know in the reviews :)
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