A/N: Hello all, I am sorry that it has been sooo long since I have updated, but my life has been super busy! I also have more author's notes that will explain more things in later chapters which I will be positing in a short time. Sorry for the long wait.

Chapter 29

Demure Dinning Arrangements

For Severus, the fact that he was going to a gathering of unknown size but generally to believed a large gathering. At said gathering the likelihood that the other two thirds of the 'Dream team' would be present, as well as their children was also quite high. There was also the fact that he would be the only Slytherin in the group and he would be leaving his children in a completely Gryffindor household for at least a day and night. If truth be told he figured that Hermione would have been a better Ravenclaw Head of House because he felt she was cleverer. But perhaps Ginny surviving as the only girl in a house full of boys proved she was cleverer than he had given her credit for. But the fact still remained that every single one of the people, save himself had been a Gryffindor and he could not help but feel that his children were going to be polluted at an early age with tendencies towards his rival house.

For Hermione the trepidation was that she was going to be leaving her children for the night. It was the first time that she had been without them since she had given birth. In fact she felt that she could relate to and had been with them even before that, when she had begun to feel the first fluttering of movement from the twins while they were still in her womb. She was not quite sure how she was going to make it through the night knowing that they would not be in the next room over. At least she knew that they would be in good hands. If anyone in the muggle or wizarding world could handle their twins it would be the Weasleys. After having six children of their own, and a set of twins at that, Hermione was sure that anything that the twins could manage would be old hat or at least not something drastic or new to them. This thought was substantiated even more when taking into account that the Weasley twins were who they were, double trouble, on the double! Her and Severus' children couldn't be that bad… yet… right?

Once both Hermione and Severus had gotten ready themselves they got the twins ready and packed them an overnight bag. This really turned into a larger fiasco than was really required as there was the thought about what they were really going to need. Hermione had approached this much like she would have a research project, perhaps a bit overzealously. She had nearly packed the entire contents of the closet of clothes for both the children as well as a mountain of diapers. Hermione was quite grateful that in the year prior to her actually giving birth the whole idea of disposable diapers had caught on from the muggle world. It seemed that with so many babies and nearly all of them having at least some sort of muggle parentage, the idea of disposable diapers had been introduced and had quickly caught on in nearly any and all circles.

"What exactly are you doing?" Severus asked as he leaned himself against the doorjamb of the nursery, an eyebrow raised at the appearance of an explosion in the room. The twins were lying in a playpen of sorts where they were both mesmerized by what appeared to be a firefly, but it was something that Hermione had conjured to keep them occupied.

"Packing." Hermione said distractedly as she held up one outfit and then a second trying to make a decision between the two. She then decided she could not decide and put them both in the bag.

"Well that much is clear," Severus said. "But for what? They are not moving out, merely staying one night and part of a day. There really is no need to pack so much." Severus was a firm believer in less is more, at least in the packing arena. He had learned in his time as a spy that packing light was the best and fastest way to accomplish anything. Packing light certainly made sure that you got everything you packed back when you returned because if something was missing it was obvious. The mountain of clothing and stuff that she wanted to pack completely boggled his mind.

"But what will happen if someone comes over to the house and they need to be dressed up, or what about if they want to take the children out, or …" Hermione asked in a nearly panicked tone that was cut off as Severus crossed over to her and placed his fingertips across her lips, stilling them.

"Hermione." He said kindly, "there is no need to worry about that much, they are only a few months old and I am sure that Molly can handle it all. You need only pack two or three things for them to wear and perhaps three packages of diapers each is a bit excessive." He pointed out.

"But…" Hermione mumbled looking unsure of herself and the whole situation.

"It will be fine, perhaps only one package of diapers and we can leave the remaining bit there so there is extra for next time." He suggested soothingly as he reached around and stroked her back comfortingly drawing her close. "I am sure that Molly will have no trouble with them."

"I know," she said a bit dejectedly from his chest, cuddling close to him and hugging him closer. "I guess that I am getting a bit carried away aren't I? I just don't want to have to worry that they won't have everything they need while they are at Molly's."

"They will not be gone very long and she will take good care of them for the night. I am also quite sure that we can find some way to fill our time without worrying about the welfare of our children." Severus purred down to her and leaned down to catch her in a passionate kiss that held all sorts of promise for later that evening. "They will be in good hands, completely Gryffindor hands, but good hands all the same."

"You like Gryffindor though." She grinned up at him. "And was that a complement paid to the Weasleys? What is this world coming to?"

"I like only one Gryffindor, even though she is the rival of mine. She snuck in and stole my heart before I knew what had happened. I never would have guessed that a Gryffindor could have such Slytherin qualities. Though I must say that I have done a very good job a polluting her Gryffindor ways with my Slytherin ones." He told her as he leaned and cupped her hips with his own, letting her feel his desire for her and her alone. He ran one hand down from her cheek, past her throat to lay against the rise of her breasts while the other arm pulled her tighter to him. Hermione's eyes fluttered shut and a soft moan escaped her lips as he did so. It wasn't that they hadn't cuddled in the time since the twins were born; it was that it had been more of a comforting type of touch that assured each other that they were both still there before they fell off to sleep. This was definitely something more deep and passionate that could only end with one thing. This was something that they had both deeply missed and the beginning rekindling of it was something they both relished. It was going to be a long night no doubt.

There was a gurgle and a questioning sort of moan/groan from the corner where the play pen was set up. Both Hermione and Severus turned their heads to look at both of the twins looking at them, the firefly forgotten, still buzzing around overhead, just out of reach. "I guess we got a bit carried away." Hermione sort of laughed going quite red in the face, but not making any move to let go of Severus instead nuzzling her face into his neck.

"That is a possibility." He managed to agree rather gruffly as he attempted to get himself under control, his pale cheeks also sporting some color, though he also made no move to let go of her. "Perhaps we should finish packing." He said half heartedly after a moment.

"It can wait a moment." Hermione said with a grin and reached up to kiss him again.

"In front of the children?" He managed to ask once they had parted.

"It would appear that you were willing to do more than that, not just a moment before." She grinned mischievously even though her cheeks burned red. Severus had the good grace to look just a bit sheepish and the color on his cheeks seemed to spread and touch his ears as well. "Well, kissing in front of them won't hurt them." She said. "Besides we have locking and silencing spells for other things. Anyways, it is good for them to know that we love each other and them as well. Without at least some sort of role model they will be left not knowing what to do or how things happen when they are in a relationship.

I know my parents showed each other affection and I am no worse for the ware. I am or I should say was rather well aware that my parents had good relationship and I am quite sure that they were quite intimate until the time they were killed. I must say it is a bit disturbing to even think about my parents actually… well… yeah…, ever for that fact, but in some ways it is certainly good to know that there is sex after children and it just doesn't stop and that it is and can be a part of a good, strong, healthy relationship."

"I guess I will have to take your word for it, I know I certainly not speak from any experience." Severus said a bit sadly, he gently stroked her hair back from her face. "I know only that I don't can't stand the idea of leaving the type of memories and legacy that I was left with from my childhood. I may not know how your parents interacted and treated each other, but I know that I never want to act like or emulate my father in any way. That would be something unforgivable. I want to play a better role in my children's lives than was played in mine." Hermione could feel as he gave a slight shudder at the mention of his father. She drew him as close to herself as possible and nuzzled his neck affectionately again.

"You are not your father." She whispered. "You have already surpassed him and you are turning out to be a wonderful father so far and you are a loving and attentive husband. Fear not that you are otherwise Severus. I love you; I love you for who you are and what you have done for me. Don't ever forget that and don't ever tell yourself anything otherwise."

"With you here with me Hermione, I can believe anything, and now as we have embarked upon this journey called parenthood together and I can see the proof of our connection I believe that no matter what happens I shall never forget your love and your comfort. I love you too Hermione, you and now our children as well have become my everything, know that I would give anything and everything to know and to keep you safe." He leaned down and kissed her again. "You have rescued me from a dismal existence and have brought me into the light. Love seems like such a cheap and tacky word to use to describe how deeply I feel, but it would appear that the English language has come up short and has restricted my speech." He looked down at her with shinning eyes.

"Who are you and what have you done with my husband?" Hermione asked the warmth and softness in her eyes and touch as she cupped his check belaying her words. "I would never have imagined such declarations being spoken aloud by you ever, especially in the presence of any other soul than myself.

Though I have known what you have said since the first time we made love. You have always managed to make me feel loved and wanted even if it is something you were not able to express any other way. I am glad you have found a way to express such a sentiment verbally as well. To hear it is something special and dear to me. I know there was a time I feared that you would never say such a thing to me in any form."

"Well, love can do strange things to a person?" He tried, though the effort was lost in the dark fire burning in his eyes.

"Ah." Hermione smiled. "Well love and other things besides that. Is it perhaps encouraged by other possible avenues of expression?" She grinned, shifting her hips against his.

"There is a strong probability that it might help things along." He managed to groan. "But that doesn't mean that I don't mean these things."

"I know, but is nice to hear them every now and again especially in a spontaneous manner." She admitted.

"And you claim that it is my ego that requests stroking." He tisked lightly. "It would seem that you know how to spin quite the thread, but in the end it unravels and the truth is known. It is not my ego that needs the stroking as much as yours." He smiled down at her as she 'humphed' and struggled not to smile. "Now you must finish packing so we can go to dinner tonight. I am most eager to go and return so that we can finally explore avenues of expression previously required but seemingly restricted as of late. I am quite interested in re-exploring them in great detail once again." He chuckled as she looked up at him with a mix of distress that they would be required to sit demurely at dinner and anxiousness for the whole evening to go quickly. Hermione rolled her eyes in a playful manner and detached herself from him so that she could finish unpacking and repacking the things for the twin's overnight stay at the Weasley's.

Once the idea that the twins did in fact not need to have a whole entire room full of stuff to go with them, the whole process of getting ready to leave, seemed to speed up. While Hermione was packing Severus changed the twins again and managed to find the pair of slings that Hermione had bought so that they each could carry a twin by their chest and appropriate with them in a sort of side along manner. There had been the initial slight squabble over the whole color scheme of the slings though it had been soon ironed out. Severus could not bring himself to wear a sling that was blatantly a Gryffindor red while he was the Head of Slytherin. He felt that it was just definitely the wrong message to be sending to everyone. He may have loosened up a great deal but he was not ready to be mistaken for some sort of Gryffindor by strangers with a sling like that. Hermione really didn't care much either way, but she definitely did not want to have both slings to be Slytherin green. She loved her Slytherin and all but she didn't want to help encourage her children to be in one house or the other just by the colors that she dressed them in. so finally a compromise was struck and a black sling was chosen for the color that they would use. Not only was black a good compromise color that Severus liked, but it also was very practical and hid stains very well so that they did not look dirty all the time when one of the twins decided that they wanted to check out their lunch again.

Once everything was packed in a bag Severus reduced it to a smaller size and put it away in his pocket and put on one of the slings over his shoulder. The twins had been fed about an hour before so they would not be hungry for a while; hopefully they would sleep through dinner. Severus picked up Serenity from the play pen and settled her into the cloth sling so that she was cuddled in a nest of material and safe against his chest. Hermione picked up Sebastian and settled him in the same manner into her sling as well. The evening was warm so they decided against wearing cloaks and strode out of their chambers hand in hand. Severus waved his wand rather lazily at the wards feeling them spring up behind them as they walked down the dungeon corridor. Hermione had showed him how to match and perhaps even exceed his former wards and he found that they were easy to activate and maintain while making it nearly impossible to break in.

They had informed the Phoenix that they would be leaving to spend time at the Weasley's and that they would be leaving the twins there for the evening and part of the next day. The Phoenix who were still sitting on their nest had agreed that it would be fine as they would not be gone long and since the Weasley's Floo was hooked up it would be easy for them to come to their aid if the need arose. When questioned about the fact they were still sitting on their nest the Phoenix had merely told them it was near the end and that they would be notified of the hatching when it was to occur so that they could be present if they desired.

Once they had walked down to the front gates and closed the gates behind them, both Hermione and Severus nodded to each other and appriated away with thunderous cracks, each holding their baby close. They all reappeared a moment later standing just outside the gate to the Weasley residence unharmed and in one piece. The crack of thunder that accompanied the approapriation or perhaps the sensation of being pulled through a pinhole in a piece of flexible rubber, woke the twins and resulted in a pair of wailing little ones, sounding rather frightened. Both parents responded by holding their baby closer and stroking their backs, cuddling and cooing to them until they calmed down. Only then did they look to the other to make sure that they had also arrived in one piece.

"It would seem that they have some things to get used to." Severus commented as he looked down at Sebastian in Hermione's sling who looked back up at him with an expression of misunderstanding on his little face though he was quieting as Hermione gently stroked his back through the sling, Serenity already having quieted.

"It would appear so." Hermione agreed with a quiet smile as she looked at her son, daughter and husband. She felt such comfort and peace just being able to see them all together and know that things were going to be alright. She then leaned up to give him a quick peck on the lips. "We should be getting in, it is nearly time for dinner and I am famished!"

"So am I." Severus purred to her reaching out and stroking her jaw before capturing her in a passion filled kiss. Hermione was left breathless by the kiss and the dark fire in his eyes when she drew back. It was obvious that Severus was not talking strictly about his need for nutritional sustenance. Hermione could not hold his gaze for too long and glanced down at Sebastian, who was drifting off to sleep, with scarlet running from her cheeks to the back of her neck.

"I am sure we can manage some way to fix that." She nearly squeaked and then was forced to clear her throat, her voice sounding oddly husky and high pitched all at once. She could not help the broad smile that accompanied the blush she was sporting as she glanced back up at Severus through her lashes. It seemed that only Severus could turn something so benign and simple into innuendo and foreplay almost. It was quite obviously that they were going to have quite a long enjoyable night getting reacquainted with the passion in each other. It would seem that Severus would have like to start early. She could do little but beam up at Severus as she tilted head up in challenge. "But first I believe my hunger should be stated before we can attend to the hunger you speak of, for I must agree I am quite famished in that respect as well, I just hope you can keep up with me. Come along now Severus, the faster one hunger is satisfied the sooner we can begin to fulfill the second." She then drew away from him and let herself through the gate to begin walking towards the front door.

Severus let out a low growl of mixed origins and followed his wife, shutting the gate behind him and coming up close to her from behind. "You will be eating your words later wife." She just smirked and let a shiver of anticipation run down her spine.

They had gotten barely half way across the lawn before the door to the Weasley home was thrown open and there were people issued forth from it. First to come out was Ron of all people with a smile on his face. "Hello Hermione." He said with a smile to Hermione as she came up to stand before him. "Severus." He said with a slightly strained voice as if he found it hard to say his name.

"Ronald." Severus said rather curtly, any of the stronger energies and the playful air that had been floating around the couple was replaced by something a bit stiffer. Severus still didn't really like Hermione's choice in friends, but had come to an agreement with Potter, though it seemed that Ron was a bit more hard headed and did not take the whole fact that Severus and Hermione were married with much grace.

"How have you been Ron? How is Lavender and the baby?" Hermione asked with a smile. She was glad to see him again, it had been since the end of the year that they had seen each other and Ron had not been present at the naming ceremony.

"Lavender is doing well and Ron Jr. is doing fine, he managed to stand while holding onto a table leg last week and he has made some promising gurgles towards words." Ron told her looking quite proud of his progeny.

"That is great Ron," Hermione smiled. "This is Sebastian Snape, who is just a few minutes older than his sister Selena Snape." She angled her body so that Ron could easily see into her sling and motioned to Severus in turn as he stood beside her. "They have managed to go through a mountain of stinky diapers so far and that is about it. They will certainly be a handful to deal with when they get too little Ron's stage and become mobile. We will certainly have our hands full, that is for sure."

"Hermione!" Ginny called as she came out of the house a bit slower as she seemed to have a small childlike extension to the bottom of one leg. It would appear that little Lilly Potter had managed to adhere herself to her mother's leg and refused to let go. So as a result Ginny's trek across the yard took far longer than it should have. "I am so glad that you came. We were all beginning to wonder if you had all expired down there in the dark dungeons." She smiled as she came and gave Hermione a side hug so she would not crush Sebastian.

"Never fear we are just fine and generally no worse for the ware, though I must admit we have encountered a couple diapers that could have been used for some type of muggle war device and nearly killed us all. But we all survived, I just hope that Hogwarts' ventilation system does not recycle air through most of the castle. I am sure that there would be an interesting odors throughout if they do."

"I know, with so many little ones in the chambers I don't know how this is all going to work!" Ginny said with a bit more seriousness. "But anyways come on inside, the food is nearly on the table and I am sure that the others would love to see you."

"How many more of you all are there tonight?" Severus asked from beside Hermione, trying to sound interested for some other reason than the number of Griffindors to keep off his kids.

"Just Harry, Ron, Lavender, the children and my parents." Ginny said. "Everyone else is either on vacation until school starts again, or they are off with their other families. It is usually just the six of us that come here every week, but I hope you both won't be strangers. It really is nice to see you both again after having nearly no contact at all over the summer." Ginny beamed at them both, Severus bore it with relatively good grace, managing to merely look indifferent and not scowling. "Come on!"

Hermione let herself be lead to the front door and ushered inside with Severus right behind her. Looking around it was nice to see that nearly nothing had changed. It was like a second home coming for her. As she entered the kitchen she was assaulted by the sights and smells of a lovely dinner being cooked. Hermione was very surprised to see a house elf working alongside Mrs. Weasley.

"How are you?" She asked Mrs. Weasley as she managed to find herself a seat that appeared would be out of the way.

"Oh I am doing fine dearie." She beamed and came at Hermione to give her a hug, leaning way around the baby slung across her chest. "But how are you and how is little…, oh dear which one is this?"

"This is Sebastian." Hermione said with a smile, the small child looked sleepily up at Molly as she cooed over him.

"Well he is definitely adorable, and he had gained quite a bit of weight since I saw him last. He is probably twice as big as when he was born."

"Probably." Hermione said. "We have been so busy with them though that we have not really had time to keep track of those things. We are more concerned about the facts like when their next feeding and change will be to think about much else." Hermione told her.

"Yes, yes," Molly nodded. "I remember those days when I had the twins. They were interesting for sure. They were showing signs of magic the earliest of any of the children, floating the most used bins of ointment and such around and then flushing them down the toilet, many of which would not should not have fit down the toilet, though some did manage,… sort of. Let's just say I got a crash course in how plumbing worked and how to fix it." She said with a look somewhere between a grimace and smile at the memory. "Anyways, I am sure that they will be just fine, just like a regular two year old when the time comes."

"Thanks." Hermione smiled, she did have to admit the 'terrible twos' as they were called did give her a bit of pause. She didn't know what she was going to do with two of them at once. "Is there something that I can do?" She asked out of habit as she looked around the kitchen.

"No dear." Molly smiled. "It would seem that Harry has given me Kendle over there. He is such a good helper and he really has gotten to the point where he does most of the preparations for the bigger meals. I just have to cook once or twice a week now, and that is because I chase him out of the kitchen for the evening. It really is nice to have a house elf around here. I wish I had had one when the kids were all here, it would have made life much easier. But then again, we could never afford one before. Only because Harry insisted do we have Kendle now, I really am quite grateful. Having help allows me to spend more time with the grandkids when they are over."

"Well that is nice." Hermione smiled. Despite the fact she didn't like the idea of house elves in servitude, she had come to learn that it was something that seemed to be part of their makeup and to have a family to serve was their greatest happiness. She had found out how very helpful they were when she had spent the first summer at the Manor and now was glad that they were around now that she had the twins.

Within a few minutes there was a great hustle and bustle and all of the other occupants of the house came into the kitchen looking for food. Severus instated himself and his sling full of baby next to her, favoring the side that appeared to be the 'male' end of the table. Most of the time it appeared that the table was split nearly in half with each end being a different gender. This tended to allow each end to talk amongst themselves without interfering with the others conversations unless asked to. This kept the noise at dinner down and let the girls talk 'lady' things while the men talked about 'man' things. The various children of the couples were inter-dispersed among the adult's laps and were feed little bits of things off of the adult's plates.

Hermione could not help but smile at all those gathered around the table. Little Ron was sitting on Lavender's lap being fed spoonfuls of mashed potatoes, most of which stayed in, though there was the occasional flying bit of food that would originate from him. Little Lilly had made herself at home on her father's lap and Harry had really just given up trying to eat his green beans since they never seemed to make the trip from his plate to his mouth. It would seem he would bring the fork too close to Lilly and she would pick them off and eat them quite happily while her father was left without. Hermione was glad that Sebastian slept contentedly throughout the meal or surveyed his surroundings silently when he was awake. She saw that somewhere near the end that Serenity began to fuss a bit but Severus gently rearranged her in the sling and stroked her back through the sling to quite her. All the while he barely missed a beat in the conversation he was having with the guys about the strength of the current Hogwarts Quiddutch Teams and the outlook for the next year's prospects for the team. It was proving to be quite an interesting and animated discussion, though it really did seem that it wasn't escalating, which was quite an improvement over what could have been.

Somewhere during the dessert Hermione was startled from listening to the conversations around her by the feel of her husband's hand on her knee. He then slowly made his way up from her knee towards her waist in a very unhurried manner, making sure that he lingered where he knew it would have the most affect. Hermione stilled and gave him a look out of the corner of her eye that suggested he had lost his mind. She did not know the man that was nearly feeling her up at the dinner table, it certainly wasn't her husband! He would never do such a thing! Severus merely smirked and a playful fire burned in his eyes, challenging her to say something. In response she looked scandalized and managed to take her spoon and rap him gently on the knuckles beneath the table in response.

"Manners Mr. Snape, manners." She whispered as she leaned towards him, her eyes daring him to make the next move. With a smirk he snatched away her spoon and put it on the far side of his plate so she could not reach it. He gave her a look of triumph as he scooped the last few bites of his ice cream from the bowl in front of him with just a bit too much enthusiasm, while she was left unable to finish without a spoon. The only thing that stopped her from crossing her arms over her chest and snorting was Sebastian who was lodged just below her chest and she didn't want to startle or crush him. She settled for pouting instead. Both of them stopped when they heard a low chuckle from Arthur who was sitting across the table from them. Severus had enough grace too look a bit sheepish and Hermione blushed a deep red.

"I told you that you two would go well together did I not." Arthur beamed across the table gathering his dishes together so that they could be taken by the house elf.

"What did you say dear?" Molly said looking to her husband from besides her thinking that he was talking to her.

"Nothing Molly dear. I was speaking to Severus and Hermione."

"Oh, well, that is good. Well I suppose you should come along dears. I will show you both where the twins will be kept for the night. I am sure that you both would like to have a few minutes to check out where they will be." Molly said with a smile after a moment of thought. She gestured to Severus and Hermione to follow her while the other parents in the room began to disperse with diaper bags in hand and the appearance of a tea pot on the stove. There were different things for an after dinner tea that were appearing on the counter, obviously as a serve yourself if desired type of thing.

Severus and Hermione made their way up the staircase to the second floor that at one time was Bill and Percy's bedroom that was across the hall form Arthur's and Molly's room. It appeared that what had once been the room of the two no longer living Weasley men had been turned into a nursery that had four different cribs, a changing table and two rocking chairs in it. The room had obviously been expanded magically as there was still plenty of room on the floor for there to be a sizable blanket spread out for the sitting of small children to play with a few toys on the floor.

"The twins can have the crib by the door." Molly said pointing at the crib closest to them. "That way we will be able to hear them the best. Ron junior is staying the night as well and he is getting the one by the far wall. We usually don't have to worry about him though. He has gotten to sleeping through the night now." You can leave your diaper bag next to the changing table. You can get them situated and you can come down and join us for tea if you would like."

"Thank you." Hermione smiled. "I am just going to pump one more time and then I will come down. I have some milk already set aside that I pumped earlier, it is in the front pocket of the bag with a chilling spell on it. It should be enough for two feedings between the two. I guess they will have to eat formula for tomorrow till we come to pick them up. They should get hungry again in a couple hours."

"Alrighty dearies." Molly smiled. "We will be in the living room when you come down." She then smiled and left the pair in the room alone to say goodbye for the night to their children. Hermione went over to the crib and laid Sebastian in the crib and then went directly to the changing table to unpack an empty bottle to hold milk. Severus busied himself with putting Serenity with her brother and watching as they turned their heads towards each other and then fell asleep once they knew the other was there. He was still amazed by the fact that he was a father and that the two perfect children in the crib before him were his own. He was also acutely aware that this was just the beginning. He would soon have to help make more of these small packages of wonder. He just hoped he would be up to the task of being a good father. He just hoped there would be no more twins involved in the deal. He didn't know if he could handle more than one set of twins that close together. He must have been standing watching the twins sleep longer than he knew or Hermione was getting to be much better and faster at the whole pumping thing because he was startled when she put her hand on his shoulder.

"Severus, I am all done, we can go down now." She told him looking down at the two children so peacefully sleeping in the crib.

"I was hoping we could skip tea tonight." He said slipping his arm around her waist and drawing her close. "We can have the house elves send us something later."

"True." She said finally looking up at Severus. "Now that it is time to leave I find I don't want to leave."

"I know, but wasn't it you earlier today telling me it was just overnight."

"I know."

"It will be ok, I promise. I am sure that we will be occupied enough for a while that we won't worry about them tonight. We will have them back in the morning. We can come right after breakfast if you want."

"You know just how to make it better." Hermione said snuggling to his chest.

"Thank you for your confidence in me." He said running his hand along her cheek. "I have very few people telling me such things. Let us go home for now, we can stay for tea tomorrow when we come to pick them up. Come with me, I want to show you how much I love you again."

"Alright." She said with a smile and reaching up to grant a soft kiss on the lips. She was still torn about leaving the twins so far away from the castle. But she had to admit that her husband was being very convincing as he ran his hand up from her waist to brush questioningly against her chest. After a moment the broke apart and made the effort to actually leave the room. They managed after another five minutes and made their way down the stairs. They then walked into the living room where everyone had re-congregated after the diaper ritual.

"Are you staying for tea?" Harry asked holding a Lilly that had fallen asleep on his lap.

"No." Hermione said. "We are going to get back for the night. Thank you so much for inviting us for dinner. We will be picking the twins up sometime in the afternoon tomorrow." She told Molly giving her a quick hug.

"Alright. We will see you then, it is too bad you don't want to stay for tea, but we understand." Molly smiled. Hermione couldn't help but blush and Severus looked a bit uncomfortable with the whole conversation, especially since most of the others in the room had knowing smiles or scowls at the thought on their faces. "Have a lovely night dears." Hermione merely smiled through her embarrassment while Severus tried not to scowl too much. Arthur tried his hardest not to snicker at the apparent uncomfortable nature of the whole conversation and applied himself to his tea with great diligence.

Holding out his arm to Hermione Severus made to lead her out to apparate. Hermione smiled and took his arm. "Good night everyone." He said with a nod to the whole room. Then he turned and lead Hermione towards the door.

"Good luck." Ginny called out just as they reached the door to the hallway. Hermione thought she would die of embarrassment, but Severus steered her towards the door to the outside and lead her away.

"Well that was a bit awkward." Hermione said as they made their way out of the front gate.

"It is common knowledge what will likely occur tonight now the stupid law is on the books. It is not something that I enjoy being known, but it is something we can't really change." He said with a frown. "Let us not think about that right now though." He said reaching out his hand to her as they stepped out onto the lane that ran past the front gate. "Come let us finish what we started earlier this afternoon." With a smile Hermione took his hand and let herself be drawn to his side and tucked under his arm. Reaching down he drew her into a deep passionate kiss and then apprated them both away back to Hogwarts.