A/N: Okay, I've aged everyone up by 2 years for my purposes. This takes place at the beginning of summer fifth year (before Order of Phoenix), so fifth years canonically would be 15-ish, and instead are 17-ish.

Also, I haven't decided yet, but I'm thinking this might be a Why Choose/RH type situation… which means Theresa and all 3 boys… together.

Chapter One

"You can't just pull me out of school and then shove me in some house with people who hate you, dad!"

This was not the first argument Theresa Eileen Snape had had with her father, Severus Snape, and it wouldn't be the last, but it was quickly turning out to be the most dramatic. Severus pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed heavily, the beginnings of a headache forming behind his eyes. He watched his sixteen year old daughter throw clothes around her room in anger as she went through the process of rearranging her belongings. She had only returned from Durmstrang a week ago and when he informed her that the Dark Lord had returned and that her initial summer plans were being put to a halt, the dramatics had ensued.

"Theresa." Severus' voice hardened and Tessa, recognizing the change in his voice, paused. She shifted her eyes, one blue and one brown, to him and clenched her jaw before casting them to the carpeted floor of her bedroom. "I am doing this for your safety. You know this."

Tessa swallowed and hid her shaking hands by pretending to dig through one of the drawers in her dresser.

"I know that." She said quietly. "But what about Draco? And Theo and Blaise? Who is protecting them?" She paused before continuing, her voice quieter. "I'm scared."

Severus took a few steps toward her and placed his hands on her shoulders, slowly turning her to face him. She looked up at him through watery eyes, fighting the tears as hard as she could.

"I will do my best for the boys."

"And I can't see them at all this summer? I have to stay in some house with people who hate us?"

Severus made a scoffing noise in the back of his throat, fighting the urge to roll his eyes. As he had been bullied throughout his childhood and teenage years, he'd made certain that his daughter felt confident and comfortable standing up for herself. Unfortunately, he was beginning to think that he had maybe overdone it a bit, as she was becoming increasingly resistant to his attempts to simply parent her. He looked down at her, inventorying her pale skin and long, dark hair that was interspersed with dark purple streaks. Tessa had been heavily influenced by American muggles, though Merlin knew how, and was wearing ripped jeans and a black Radiohead t-shirt, her bare feet topped with purple toenails that matched her purple painted fingernails.

"I'm not elated about the fact that you'll be living with Black and company either, believe me, but Dumbledore has a good point, and it keeps you out of the Dark Lords line of sight. Please try to avoid hexing anyone at the house, though. I'd rather not have to deal with that." Releasing her, Severus stepped back over to the doorway of her bedroom, pausing with his back to her. "The boys will be here in an hour - they're bringing Chinese takeaway from that place you like in the city. I have a few things to do this evening. I'll take you to Hogwarts to be sorted in the morning, and then to the house." Albus would tell her tomorrow the exact location of the Headquarters, but until then, Severus couldn't say the words because of the Secret Keeper spell.

Tessa pumped her fist in the air and fought the urge to hug her father - he wasn't the biggest advocate of physical affection, and him touching her shoulders would be the extent of their interaction for a few months at least.

"Thank you!" She called to him as he walked away, heading downstairs to his office.

—-

Tessa continued to sort through her clothing and books after turning on her magically powered radio, trying to pick what she'd want the most over the summer. Her father had said that he would be in and out of the 'headquarters' and could bring things to her, but she hated the idea of being dependent on his schedule, and she didn't want him to have to dig through her things to find what she wanted. She knew that she'd have summer work as well; that was something they would be collecting tomorrow after they met with the Hogwarts Headmaster and she was sorted into her House.

Before she knew it, she heard the front door slam open downstairs and male voices talking over one another before footsteps thundered on the stairs.

"Tessie!" Theo yelled, and then a few seconds later he barreled through her bedroom door, tossing his bag from his shoulder before he lifted her into his arms, hugging her tightly.

"Oh Theo." She whispered, her arms wrapping around his neck and legs wrapping around his waist automatically as she buried her face in his neck. "I missed you, T."

Theodore Nott Jr was, arguably, the most volatile of the four of them, though closely followed by Tessa herself. His protectiveness of her had grown over the years, and he appreciated any opportunity to let out his quiet anger. He stood at six foot one, shorter than Draco but taller than Blaise, and thin but toned. His shoulder length dark brown hair was usually pulled back in a bun.

"Missed you too, Tessie. Letters and Floo chats just don't do you justice during the school year."

"Yes, your sarcasm doesn't nearly translate as well." Draco drawled as he strolled through the door, a large bag of takeaway in each hand. He set them both on the bed and then opened his arms, motioning with his hands before Theo handed Tessa over to him and she repeated the process with Draco, and then with Blaise when he followed behind Draco with a smirk.

"I am not sarcastic." Tessa mumbled against Blaise's shirt as she squeezed him one more time before dropping her feet to the floor and turning to face Draco and Theo, her back to Blaise's chest. The four of them had been friends since childhood, mostly because Tessa had forced herself into their group dynamic and didn't give them much of an option to reject her from their group. "You boys look good, considering our doom is upon us."

Draco scoffed and pulled her trunk off the bed, sitting it on the floor and tossing more clothes on top of it before laying down across the bed, pulling a bag of food toward him and beginning to unpack the cartons. "You're always so cheery."

"We can count on you to find the bright side of any situation, that's for sure." Blaise agreed, pulling the chair out from under her desk and placing it beside the bed, straddling it backwards before opening the other bag of food.

"And I can count on you to focus on the food. Did you bring drinks?" Tessa asked as she watched them pull out multiple containers of food and a few napkins and plastic pieces of cutlery.

"We may have forgotten that." Theo said around a mouth full of an egg roll that he had snatched from one of the bags.

With a sigh, Tessa headed toward the door, yelling back over her shoulder, "Save me an egg roll, dammit, or I'll make you pay!"

Once in the kitchen, she grabbed a few bottles of Gilly Water and Pumpkin juice, but when she turned around, she found Blaise leaning against the doorframe of the kitchen with his arms crossed.

"Are you okay?" He asked, his eyes roaming over her.

"I'm fine." Tessa shrugged nonchalantly as she brushed past him and started toward the stairs. She stopped when Blaise grabbed her arm and pulled her toward him, her body flush against his. Her breathing hitched as he ran his thumb over her bottom lip.

"You're not fine."

"We agreed, we all agreed, that we wouldn't do this, Blaise. I can't choose, and all three of you said you wouldn't make me." Her voice trembled as she stared up into his eyes.

"True. That is what we agreed last summer." Blaise let go of her just as quickly as he'd grabbed her, stepping back to place some room between them as he inhaled deeply through his nose.

Tessa said, "Let's get back upstairs. I want to hear about your plans for the summer, now that I'm not going to be around to help you make smart decisions."

—

When Severus finally arrived home to Spinner's End, he climbed the stairs and stepped into the doorway of Tessa's bedroom, surveying the wreckage. His daughter was laying in the bed with her head on Draco Malfoy's chest, while Blaise Zabini was curled into her back, his hand wrapped around her stomach, between her body and Draco's, and Theo Nott was laying with his head at the foot of the bed, his feet tucked under Blaise's pillow, and his arm under Blaise's feet, his hand wrapped around Tessa's ankle - almost as if to make sure she wasn't going anywhere. They were all still clothed in jeans and t-shirts, and had to be extremely uncomfortable, but Severus wasn't going to interrupt them and deal with the fall out. He was exhausted and tired of fighting with his daughter, and was seriously questioning whether he should continue going along with Dumbledore's plans.