Brendan was jumping on his bed when Harry passed by his room, a little suitcase at the bottom bouncing up and down with each leap, they hadn't actually moved back so Harry noted in relief. He grinned at him, shaking his head jokingly before continuing on to Aurelias room.

He hovered awkwardly in the doorway, she was sitting at the dressing table with Morgana somewhat roughly brushing her hair.

On spotting him, Morgana beckoned him in and offered him the brush, stating that she needed to go start getting Brendan ready.

He took it and trying his absolute best to be gentle, continued brushing out her hair. It was very tangled but she didn't say a word. "Lily is very sorry for pushing you." he told her.

She nodded but remained silent.

When he was finished he asked her what story she wanted. "Cinderella!"

Not needing a book for that one he helped her into bed, tucking the covers in around her, before lying down beside her and beginning his tale.

Morgana reappeared just as he reached the part when the clock struck twelve and Cinderella ran away from the Ball.

She stood watching them from the doorway looking amused. Did she want him to stop?

He paused and looked up. His stepmother smiled strangely at him as she crossed the room, leaning down to place a gentle kiss on her daughters forehead. "I'll see you in the morning." she told her before straightening up and gently tousling a surprised Harrys hair. "Not too much longer." she told him before leaving them to go back to Brendan again.

When he was finished, Harry wished his littlest sister goodnight, carefully checking to ensure she was still properly tucked in before leaving her to go check on the twins.

They were in the Nursery playing chess together, he sat down beside them, and after talking to them for a few minutes he reached for his bag and took back out the assignment he had been working on before they were interrupted.

Morgana came in after a while to check on them, but getting the hint this time she left them alone. Telling them that she was going down to the library for a few minutes and would then be in her room if they were looking for her.

"I might head off to my room now too," Harry said when he finished his essay. The twins had gotten bored of chess and were now doing a jigsaw but they weren't very talkative and he was getting the feeling that they might prefer some time to themselves.

Looking up from the pieces strewn across the table they smiled at him and wished him goodnight.

"Goodnight" He echoed, as he made to leave but as he reached the door he realised something and turned. "I can stay in my old room tonight, if you want?"

The twins looked at each other in that wordless way they often communicated. "It's okay, you don't have to, we will be okay," Evan told him.

"Unless you want to of course?" Lily amended.

Harry shrugged, "All my stuff is in the other room, so unless you want me to."

"It's fine Harry, we will see you in the morning." Evan told him again.

"Okay, Goodnight then." Harry said disappearing out the door as he wondered what his life would have been like if he had had a twin.

Feeling somewhat alone he took a slight detour to the Gallery, talking with the portraits of some of his ancestors before making for the sanctuary of his bedroom.

After changing out of his uniform, Harry climbed up onto the windowsill, and sat looking out at the moonlit lawn, trying to make sense of the events of the day. There was definitely something up. There was no way their Father would have instigated this charade otherwise.

They would discover his motivation eventually he supposed but for now there was no point dwelling on it, so climbing down off the windowsill he tried reading for a while but after nearly a month back at school the silence of the manor seemed deafening and he struggled to concentrate.

He was tired but it was still far too early to go to sleep so grabbing a cricket ball of his shelf he lay back across the bed and began throwing it up into the air above his head, catching it again as it fell.

He was so focused on studying the point at which it lost acceleration and gravity took over that he almost missed the knock at his door. "Come in." he called, not stopping his game, expecting it to be either one or both of the twins but when the door opened he saw that it was in fact Morgana.

"Mrs Snape?" He exclaimed, sitting up in surprise as the forgotten ball, landed on his head.

He winced and brought his hand to his head. She leaned over to check for injury "We're family now Harry, you don't have to call me that." She said softly before getting to the point of her visit – Had he seen his brother and sister?

He shook his head, then noticing the worried way her eyes searched the room asked which ones.

"The Twins?"

"They were in the Nursery?"

"I thought they went to bed about a half hour ago but I just went to check on them and they aren't there, so I thought they might be with you but..." she gestured around the otherwise empty room, frantic with worry.

"Loxie!" Harry called back the elf that had shown his stepmother to his room and asked her if she knew where the Twins were.

"I think they are in your Father's study Master Harry, do you want me to go check?"

He looked to Morgana, in her panic she hadn't thought to ask the elves. "No it's okay Loxie, thank you."

Harry went down with her to find them, She opened the study door cautiously, extremely mindful of the fact her erstwhile husband wouldn't want her in there and sure enough the Twins were there, sitting together on the rug, leaning back against the desk looking at some old pictures.

"Bed now please." she said with a sigh, looking visibly relieved.

The twins looked at her bitterly but did as they were told, standing and hurriedly putting the pictures back where they had got them from as she waited to escort them back to the Nursery.

"What were you at?" Harry whispered as they made there way up the stairs ahead of her "You know we are not allowed in there?"

"We just wanted to check something." Evan whispered back "What were you doing with Morgana?"

"Looking for you!" he replied crossly, wondering what his brother might be insinuating. "She was worried about you."

"She was worried about what Father would do to her if she lost us." Lily said with a grin.

Evan laughed, "That's an idea" he said jokingly making Harry stop them. "Don't!" he warned, "You will go back to bed, and you will stay there this time, no more messing about, promise me."

Slightly taken aback by his reaction, they promised and with a stern look Harry nodded before wishing them goodnight and heading off in the direction of his own room.

Morgana could hear them whispering, of course she could hear them, they were only about three steps ahead of her, did they think she was deaf? She had been debating with herself whether or not to say something but had decided it was probably just easier to let it go.

She suddenly had a newfound admiration for Severus and the indefatigable steadfast way he persevered with Brendan. The Twins treated her with the same cool distrust that he treated his father and she was finding being on the receiving end increasingly tiresome.

They had made it so plainly clear that they wanted absolutely nothing to do with her that she couldn't really be bothered to try anymore.

She didn't even know why she had gone to check on them in the first place. She hadn't intended to, they weren't toddlers anymore so even though she was babysitting it's not like she would have been expected to, their father certainly wouldn't have come up to check on them if he had been in the house.

She had gone to check on her own children and then force of habit or what have you took over and suddenly she was in Evans room. She hadn't really thought anything of his absence at first, though she would have expected them to grow out of it by now, she was used to finding them asleep together so she went across to Lilys room expecting to find them both there but alas it too was empty.

In her rising panic she had forgotten Harry didn't sleep in the Nursery anymore and tried his room next. Her mistake registered on her the moment she opened the door but then she realised that she didn't even know where he did sleep now and she had to call one of the elves to show her. Next thing she knew she was traipsing through the house, searching for them, hoping against hope that they actually were with their brother because if anything had happened to them Severus would most definitely kill her.

The maturity Harry had displayed in telling his brother and sister to quit messing and go to bed had surprised her, and hopeful that they would listen to him she walked them to their rooms, bid them a goodnight and left them to it. Paranoia soon got the better of her though and she found herself needing to get up and confirm that they were definitely abed this time before she would be able to get to sleep.

She looked in on Lily first this time and was horrified to find her bed still empty but after a moments fury she found her in with Evan.

They looked so angelic in their old fashioned night gowns with their pale skin and light hair. It always used to strike her as curious that a man as dark as Severus had produced blond and red twins but then despite her dark hair, Aurelia had come out blonder than blonde too.

It was obvious the twins had unwillingly succumbed to sleep while trying to wait up talking to each other but they were in a bed and they were asleep now and that was all she had the energy to care about so she threw a blanket over them and then returned to her room, collapsing into her own bed with such exhaustion that she was probably asleep before her head even hit the pillow.