Chapter Nine-
Hermione was known as a brilliant girl and that was why she quickly retreated to the library when she and Severus returned home. He had been glowering for the last half of their visit with the Snape's and she hadn't seen him interact with his brother or nephews even once. Even though she'd had a great time with her extended family, she would not be asking to do that again any time soon.
An angry Snape was a bad Snape. She'd known that since she was eleven years old. She was just beginning to get along with him and would not mess their relationship up, no matter how interesting her grandparents had been.
But despite all of her intentions not to antagonize Snape, come Monday morning, she could not find it in herself to go down to breakfast, causing a thunderous Snape to appear in the library.
"I didn't come to get you this morning because I had believed you would be able to find your way to the breakfast table on your own." He said, glaring down at her. "I can see that I was mistaken, but that does not mean you can skip meals. We have spoken of this!" He snapped.
She cringed, knowing she wouldn't avoid him. "I'm sorry, sir." She said, looking up at him pitifully. "I just wanted to…enjoy the library for the last time." She said, glancing around the room fondly. "I promise I'll be there in time for lunch. I just want to finish this one last book in peace." She added, sighing.
She looked so disheartened; he couldn't find it in himself to be angry. "I do believe you're overreacting." He said, gentling his voice as much as he was able to, which really wasn't much. "Blaise is a jokester, even more so when he's around Draco, but it's just who he is. You shouldn't take it personally, Hermione."
"With all due respect, sir," Hermione said stiffly as he tried to pat her shoulder. "Blaise is a prat. You've never seen him in the library. He takes great delight in trying to drive me crazy. He never leaves me alone. The library is my refuge from when Harry and Ron get to be too much. Blaise and darling Draco take all the pleasure I have in the library out. Okay? I just want these last few minutes."
She turned and pointed to a bunch of books on the chair next to her. The stack was practically up to her head. "Can I take these to my room?" She asked. "I think they're really interesting and I'd love to do a more thorough reading of them."
"Hermione, you may do your reading here." He said sternly, making a decision on the spot. He had enough trouble remembering that these children weren't to be snapped at, he didn't need them fighting amongst themselves and making his job even harder. They would get along, or Merlin help them all.
"No." She protested at once. "I can't. Severus, I don't want to put up with Blaise."
"You two are siblings." Severus said. He waved his wand, sending the pile of books back to their rightful shelves. "I want the three of you to attempt to get along."
She sighed, looking woefully as the books whizzed around the room. "I'm not allowed to take any out?"
"No." Severus said, before the look on her face made him relent. "At least for the first…say…week?" He said. "I want the three of you to get along. Talk to the two if you must; tell them the problems you have with them, but I want the three of you to get along. It's important that you do- I will not have siblings not get along. Draco is my godson, your god brother; I want you to treat him as a brother as well." He added quickly when she began to protest.
***************************
Seeing that the girl was really worried about the two visitors, Severus resolved to speak to the two boys before he released the three of them. This was, when all was said and done, Hermione Granger, the bookworm of Hogwarts. That she was willing to give up the Snape library- which had, after all, even been his downfall when he was younger- spoke greatly of the tense situation he found himself swept up in.
He almost wished he was better friends with Irma Pince, so that he could contact her for more information. He knew Irma loved Hermione almost as much as Minerva McGonagall did, but the two of them had never really gotten along because of his bad habit of writing in library book in order to fix the numerous mistakes that he found. Though he was helping to improve the books, the stubborn old maiden never seemed to appreciate his efforts.
He didn't want to think the situation was really as bad as she claimed- for wouldn't word have gotten back to Dumbledore and, through him, to Snape himself, if two of his Snakes were regularly attacking Harry Potter's best friend when she was alone in the library? The two obviously did it when the girl was alone, as he knew that Potter and Weasley would have defended the girl viciously if his two Snakes would have bothered her in their presence. But neither was Hermione a girl prone to dramatics. She wouldn't be lying…
Such was his drama. What if his children didn't get along? He could barely handle Draco and Blaise the time he got them during the summer. What in Merlin's name would he do if they all started fighting? He wasn't good at disciplining children. Well, unless he gave them all detention, which he didn't think that any of them would appreciate.
Brooding over his disastrous fate, he actually missed the Floo flaring up. He only caught Capricia because he happened to look up as she started his way.
"My darling!" She exclaimed, grinning at him. "How have you and our daughter been getting along?"
She threw her arms around him as the two teens stumbled out of the fireplace, whispering, "I didn't tell your secret. But it was really hard- are you going to tell them now?"
He kissed her cheek, whispering, "Thank you. But no, not quite yet. We need to talk first."
"Well, in that case, I'm not going to stick around." She said, stepping back and running a hand through her silky hair. "I'm on my way to Italy. I will contact you later, my love." She said, stepping back.
"I look forward to it." He said, bowing ever so slightly from the waist. "Be safe."
She gave him a wave, while kissing each of the boys. "You three have fun. I love you!" She said before leaving.
"Uncle Sev, what's going on?" Draco asked at once. "Aunt Capricia has been acting weird, even for her."
"Sit down boys." Severus said, gesturing them to the couch. "We need to have a talk before anything else."
To his amusement, the two boys shared glances. "We didn't do anything, Father." Blaise protested. "I promise."
"I doubt that, very much." Severus said wryly. "But I need to talk to the two of you about another visitor that we're going to have this summer."
"Someone's coming to visit?" Blaise asked curiously. "Who?"
"Is it Father?" Draco asked hesitantly. He had no love for the man who had sired him, but knew that Severus was, for some Merlin-forsaken reason, fond of the man. Draco knew that Lucius often visited Severus, sometimes even more than he visited Draco's mother, but hoped that wasn't the case this year. He wanted an enjoyable summer, which would most certainly not happen if Lucius Abraxos Malfoy was in attendance.
Severus shook his head. "No, no, it's not Lucius. It's your sister, Blaise." He said, in his usual blunt fashion. "Your elder sister."
"What?" Blaise said, indigo eyes widening in surprise. "You found her?"
"Serena, right?" Draco said, struggling to remember. Both boys had been told the story, over the years, but neither Severus nor Capricia liked to talk of it often, so they only knew the barest details.
"Zinone." Blaise corrected his friend. "Mother always claimed she liked that name best."
Draco laughed. "Yeah, well, she likes Zaccheus best for you too, but you never use it."
Blaise wrinkled his nose, looking elegant even through his disgust. "Yeah." He said, rolling his eyes. "I never said she had good taste, though."
"Personally, I still think Silas is a fine name for you." Severus teased, grinning. "But yes, it is Serena. We found her, though under more unfortunate circumstances than we'd have liked. Her glamour was removed when her adopted parents died. We found her and I was eventually allowed to bring her here."
"That's great!" Blaise said. "Well, not that her parents died, but that we found her." He added quickly when his father's dark eyes turned to him in shock. "So why do you look so…grim?"
"There are a few complications with regards to the identity of your sister." Severus said, shifting slightly. He didn't want to have this conversation, but hated the haunted look that was on his daughter's face. "She's not a stranger to us."
"We know her already?" Draco repeated, looking in confusion at Blaise. "But how? She's an older student? I mean, she was born before Blaise."
"She wouldn't be an older student." Blaise argued. "She'd be one of the oldest students in our class, but she's in our year."
"Who are the oldest students?" Draco asked, instantly intrigued. "I don't even know. But- she can't be a Slytherin then!" He exclaimed, as he mentally went through his classmates. "Pansy and Millie both look like their parents and so does Daph. They couldn't have been adopted."
"There was a glamour though." Blaise shot back at once. "What better way to hide a child?"
As much as Severus usually enjoyed the quick minds of the two boys in front of him, today he was too frustrated to let their witty repartee continue. "She is not a Slytherin."
"A Raven then." Blaise said, nodding. He was quite the bookworm and knew that he had gotten it from his father, though it couldn't be discounted that his mother was quite clever in her own rights. He'd almost become a Raven, but had requested that he be placed with his god-brother and had thus become a Snake. "Which one?"
"Actually," Severus said, hiding his own distaste for his daughter's house. "She's a Gryffindor. She was raised in a completely different manner than you were, don't forget that." He warned as both boys wrinkled their noses in distaste.
He gave them a moment to accept his words, but before he could speak, Blaise suddenly stood. "Wait a minute." He said. "A Gryffindor who probably should have been in Ravenclaw? You're not talking about…" He trailed off, shaking his head. "No way."
"Yes." Severus, said, ruefully shaking his head as he thought about the terror that was his and Capricia's brains put together in one child. "It's Hermione Granger."
"Granger!" Draco exclaimed. "She can't be, Uncle Sev. She just…she can't be!" He protested. "Granger- we fight with her all the time."
He suddenly smirked up at his friend. "Well, Blaise fights with her all the time. I stick to an opponent I know I have a chance against. She humiliates him on a weekly basis."
"Yes, I've heard." Severus said, allowing his unhappiness to show. "I've had to deal with a panicking young lady all morning as she worried about how she wasn't going to have any privacy in the library now that you two were showing up. I understand you've made quite a nuisance of yourself, young man." He said to his son.
Under his father's glare, Blaise meekly retook his seat. "It was just a joke, Father, honest!" He protested. "Granger's in the library for hours every day! She needs to take a break sometimes! I just…" He couldn't hold back a mischievous grin. "I just help her out sometimes. She doesn't own that table, you know. Other people can use it." He added, crossing his arms.
"Hmm." Severus said, hiding his amusement. "Nevertheless, there will be no more of that. She is your sister and is to be respected as such. Now, I know there is a certain amount of teasing between siblings to be expected, but that girl has been through a lot lately. Should there be a major magical surge or I find a crying girl, the two of you will make me extremely unhappy. And none of us want that, now do we?"
"Uh-uh!" The two boys exclaimed, shaking their heads rapidly. That was the last thing they wanted! Though Snape wasn't anywhere near as demanding when they were at his home as when they were at school, it was never, never, never a good idea to anger the man intentionally. Both of their backsides could attest to that.
"Good." Severus knew his point was made and so stood. "Now, why don't you two head off to wherever your devious little minds take you. I will be down in my laboratory. Hermione is in the library. Be good. I will see all three of you at supper time."
And with one more warning glare, he glided away.
************************
Blaise and Draco waited until Severus was clearly out of sight before turning wide eyes on each other.
"Granger?" They both half-whispered, horrified.
"Oh dear Merlin," Blaise moaned, sinking into the couch. "If she tells Dad about half of the things I've done to that table, I'm in trouble. How could Granger be my sister?"
Draco shrugged, running a hand through his long blonde hair. "Shall we go greet her?" He asked hesitantly. "She knows we were coming. It would be rude not to."
"Yeah." Blaise decided. "I need to stake out my part of the library before she tries to take over the whole thing!"
As they walked towards the library, Draco laughed. "I wonder if you recognized her as your sister before you ever knew the truth?" He asked his dark-haired friend. "You certainly teased as if she were your sister. Or a girl you liked…" He added, thoughtfully.
"Ew!" Blaise said. "Even before I knew she was my sister- gross. And now," he trailed off, smacking his friend on the head.
Draco stumbled forward a few feet, laughing. Blaise knew his friend all too well, though, and knew exactly what to say to shut him up.
"More importantly, what do we do if she starts crying?"
Draco stumbled again as his head whipped around to face the other teen. "What!"
"She lost her parents, Drake." Blaise pointed out, trying to hold back his smirk. "You know how Gryffindors are. Very attached to their family. What if she starts crying?"
"There is no crying in the library!" Draco said, voice high with nervousness. "If she starts crying, she gets the boot!"
Draco might not like the lack of affection he received from his parents, but he had always appreciated the coldness his mother used to approach emotions. Despite his stays at Zabini Manor, where Capricia was prone to crying, his tolerance had never risen. Even Pansy, his long-time girlfriend, knew better than to come crying to him. If she needed him to get revenge for her, sure, he would gladly do that. But no crying.
And for a girl he had spent the last four years taunting, how in Merlin's name was he supposed to resist?
A vision of a glowering Severus Snape stopped those dangerous thoughts. That road could lead him to nothing but pain.
They reached the library silently, each boy contemplating the horror within. They looked at each other, before taking a deep breath and pushing the doors open.
***************************************
Hey everyone, here's the next chapter! Sorry it's been so long, but I should be updating once or twice a week again. I'm back at college and my schedule has finally been ironed out. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. If you have any corrections or ideas, plz let me know. Tell me what you thought of Blaise's name! And how attached are you to a HG/HP story? Would you prefer her with a Slytherin? Cuz I was thinking Draco and Blaise might call for backup…
Minara.