Snape swept into the room in front of them, "Sit down before I change my mind!"
The twins sat on either side of Hermione, clutching her hands like a lifeline, looking impossibly young. It hit him then that they were only thirteen and far away from everything they'd ever known, clinging desperately to the eighteen-year-old version of their mother in the hopes of her offering the slightest hint of comfort. To her credit, she appeared to be trying.
"Mr Nott, stop hovering!" he barked.
Theo jumped at the sound of his name, not sure where to sit given how he knew the twins felt about him. He wanted to be near them, to anchor himself to Hermione to remind him of the good things in his life, but looking at the children, his children, he couldn't find it in himself to force them to endure his proximity. He seated himself across from them, all at once seeing the gulf that he knew existed in the twins' reality. He hated it.
"You may begin," Snape said pointedly, looking at the twins.
Alex started. "You fell pregnant unexpectedly, right after what Uncle Fred describes as a brutal breakup, about a year after you left school. You won't talk about it, you rarely mention Him but I overheard Uncle Fred talking to Uncle George. They have an entire line of pranks developed specifically with him in mind, you know? They're quite protective really. They're our godparents. Uncle Harry actually pouted apparently, Uncle George says it was one of the funniest things he's ever seen."
His sister shot him a look."What did you overhear and why didn't I know?"
Alex fidgeted, "It changes nothing." he said finally with a shrug.
"Can someone please actually explain what you're talking about?" Hermione asked, wondering in what world she made the Weasley twins godparents to her children.
Her daughter smirked, clearly reading the look on her face. "You're really close to the twins. You moved in with them when you were pregnant, Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny had just gotten married, Jamie was a honeymoon baby, and Aunt Lavender had just moved in with Uncle Ron, Uncle Fred says you didn't want to impose on either of them but didn't really have anywhere to go so they offered. He also says you decided it made sense to make them Godparents because they had an inkling of what being twins was like however, he believes that was just the excuse you came up with to spare Uncle Harry's feelings because you love them more than him. They adore you, Mum. I can't imagine you not being close to them. Uncle Fred says re-introducing Aunt Angie to you and waiting on your approval was the most terrifying moment of his life because as much as he wanted to be with her if you hadn't approved he would have ended it."
Hermione blinked, not sure how she felt about having that amount of power.
"Don't worry, you get on with her really well." Ophelia said laughing, "So much so Uncle Fred says he sometimes wishes you didn't because you always take her side."
"I don't quite believe the Weasley twins were the agreed topic of discussion," Severus cut in pointedly.
"Right, sorry Professor." Alex cut in sheepishly. "I overheard Uncle Fred discussing how to get away with hexing Draco Malfoy. Apparently, it was him who discovered you were with Nott. He told his father, who apparently told Nott's father. I gather it turned it into a bit of a big deal. Lucius Malfoy is Minister in our time. The laws he gets away with passing." Alex shuddered. "Well let's just say he's not exactly pleasant and he goes out of his way to make life difficult for anyone who's not pureblooded. He has the entire 'Gamot sewn up, you know how well the Sacred 28 close ranks."
Across the room, Theo's heart was pounding, the pieces beginning to slot into place. Fucking Draco. He imagined he thought he was doing him a favour, he mused, but the bastard had cost him the love of his life and his children. Fuck it all. He wasn't letting that happen the second time round.
He vaguely registered that Alex was still speaking. "You are stuck in a dead-end job in the Ministry. Aunt Min and even Professor Snape pushed for you to be hired at Hogwarts about two years after we were born but the parents of the purebloods pushed back, stating that they'd remove funding if a woman of such loose morals was hired to teach their children. Hogwarts just couldn't afford it. They won't promote you because Lucius won't allow it, you are held up as everything that is wrong with muggleborns. You are portrayed as willfully seducing a Scion of an Ancient and Noble house for his galleons, despite there being proof you've never received a knut. Our sperm donor's exploits are well known, I'm not sure there is a witch in Europe he hasn't fucked."
"Alexander Granger!" Hermione bit out, "Language!"
For a moment, the boy's face lit up. "You sound so like her." he said softly, "I mean, I know you're her but you're also not. Not yet. And you were missing the Frederick, by the way."
"I named you after the twins as well?" Hermione exclaimed.
"Yup. Alexander Frederick and Ophelia Georgina. To be fair, I think those came about because of a lost bet."
Hermione pulled a face. "Wonderful," she replied drily.
He rolled his eyes at her, continuing, "He had just announced his marriage to Pansy Parkinson before we ended up here. It was what started the argument. Scorpius likes to remind us we have no father. He and Zabini have an odd fixation with us, I don't know why. Perhaps because they know their fathers will support them, as a result, they've never let us forget why you're a single parent." he paused, sharing a glance with his sister who looked resigned. "Mum. We need you to know, we understand if you do everything possible to make sure we don't exist."
Hermione drew in breath sharply, her hands tightening on theirs instinctively. "I….No. No, absolutely not. We are not discussing this."
"We have to," Ophelia replied, the stubborn set to her chin mimicking her mother. "Mum, he broke your heart. The things he said…..please. Please don't. It's not that we don't want to exist but we also don't want you to live like you were. You're miserable, Mum! You try to hide it and you tell us all the time you will never regret having us and we believe you, we do, but without us, you could do so much more. Maybe even prevent that arse from being Minister in the first place. You have to think about it. Please."
"He doesn't love you," Alex whispered, refusing to look at her. "I overheard Uncle George telling Uncle Ron that he told you as much, just after we were born. He demanded a paternity test and then vilified you in any publication that will print the story. He essentially calls you a gold-digging whore. And the public eats it up. Our birth is what catapults Lucius Malfoy into power, he uses us and you as an example of the dangers of Muggleborns and people buy it. I can't remember a time when they haven't spoken about you in the street, Uncle Fred says it started getting worse about two years after we were born, and instead of just attacking you, they attacked all Muggleborns. It's awful."
Hermione shook her head stubbornly, looking between them. "I refuse to discuss you not existing."
"I do love her!" Theo exclaimed from across the room, looking ill.
The twins looked at him scathingly, cutting across whatever he had intended to say next. "You have a really funny way of showing it." Ophelia bit out.
"If my father knew." he began hesitantly, "If he knew, if it was as high profile as you are saying, he'd have arranged to have her murdered. I can imagine that the only way to keep her, you, safe… alive, was to act like an arse. If he believed it was a fling, a mistake, rather than me having actual feelings for her there would have been more likelihood of him leaving her alone, especially if it fit Lucius' agenda."
Ophelia shook her head. "No! I don't care, I really don't. If it's that dangerous for her, then stop! Now. Before it hits the point of no return and her life is ruined. You claim you love her, then prove it. Let her fucking go!"
"If I'm marrying Pansy, I don't imagine it's just your mother's life that's ruined," he said softly.
"She works eighty-hour weeks at barely minimum wage with new taxes introduced all the bloody time by that arse of a Minister. Those taxes are crippling her but she keeps going to ensure we have what we need, even when I'm relatively certain we're at the point where she's given up just about everything she can. I genuinely don't know what she'll do when the next one becomes law. So please forgive me if I don't give a fuck that you might be a bit upset at having to marry someone you maybe don't want to."
"Ophelia! For the love of Merlin, language!"
"Sorry Mum," she intoned, unrepentant.
Theo dropped his head into his hands, feeling like the world was spinning out of control. He didn't want this. But she was right, this girl of his, if the future was as bad as they indicated, he needed to let Hermione go. The thought made him want to sob. She was the only good thing in his life, the one precious thing outside of his father's expectations. He should have known he wouldn't be allowed to keep her.