Princes in Exile

HI everybody!


I am very sorry about the slow updates. All I can say is my RL is really hectic. My son not only goes in the hospital on a fairly routine basis, but I have stuff to do for him and my other two children that must come before my writing. So here is a very long chapter that I hope will keep people sated until the next one is up and ready for your reading pleasure!


Marti

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Mina pushed her hair out of her face and tapped her foot impatiently as she waited for Toby. Emily had been with Milana in the young children’s section of the bookstore when a stack of books had suddenly fallen down over the railing of the second floor. A quick flick of a wand by more than one witch had saved the people below but Emily’s guilty face disappearing had confirmed her worst fear; her daughter would be just as mischievous as the Weasley twins.

They’d stopped off to order her husband’s writing needs and Jennifer’s quills and ink for school at the stationary shop afterwards. For the three seconds she had taken her eyes off of Marika, the toddler had found her way to the one bottle of open ink in the shop, dripping the green liquid down her new dress. Magic wouldn’t even get all the ink out and now her chin was as green as the stain down the front of her clothes. Thankfully, the last shop to visit for Jennifer was Ollivander’s, and then they could return to the Cauldron for a much needed nap after lunch. She watched her husband glide through the crowd, the people parting before him like the Red Sea parting for Moses. Jennifer followed behind her father, a scowl like his on her little face. Marika was talking to her father, unmindful of her father’s obvious displeasure, her black head against his chest.

And she wasn’t even counting in the obvious displeasure of finding out her husband had reverted to his old name. If she allowed that fact take the forefront of her upcoming tirade everyone would hear how angry she was.

“Hello, wife.”

“Toby. Your daughters knocked stacks of books down over the railing at the bookstore.”

“Your daughter decided that a shrunken head is an appropriate toy. She even got one for her twin sister.” He smiled down at her, trying to diffuse the anger sparkling in her chocolate eyes. She returned the smile but it never reached her eyes.

“Let’s go get her wand. I’m sure the girls are starving by now.”

“Pizza?” Milana asked her mother.

“I’m not sure yet, love. Let’s see what kind of wand picks your sister, then we’ll see about lunch.”

“Mommy, don’t you mean the wand Jenny picks out?” Emily asked as they family entered the wand shop, the girls’ eyes round with wonder. Mina remembered her first time entering the store too, and her eyes misted over. Until now, it hadn’t seemed real that her eldest daughter was heading off to Hogwarts like she had so many years before. Now, Jenny was going to get a wand. Mina cleared her throat and looked down at her second daughter.

“The wand picks the witch or wizard, young miss. Professor and Madame Snape. How nice to see you back home. It seems like so long ago but also like yesterday you came in for your first wand, Madame.”

“I remember. You scared me.” Mina smiled at the old man, wondering just how old he was.

“He scared me, also.” Toby snorted at the old wizard. Mr. Ollivander just smiled benignly back at the two of them. He clapped his hands together, making all five girls jump a little and turned his attention on Jenny. She pressed against her father’s side for a moment then took a deep breath and stepped forward.

“Hello, Mr. Ollivander. I’m Jennifer, and I’m going to Hogwarts this year. I need a wand.”

Ollivander laughed aloud and had the girl follow him to the counter. After trying over fifty wands, Jennifer picked up a long thin one, Willow, twelve and a half inches with dragonheart center. She felt a tingle up her arm as she waved it in the direction of the lamp. Instead of exploding like it had so many times before, it turned into a vase of roses.

“A powerful wand, for a powerful young witch. Be careful of power, young miss. It’s seductive and talks to you like a friend.”

“Then it stabs you in the back. Come along, girls. It’s lunch time before you sisters here start eating their heads.” Toby herded the five girls out of the shop, Jenny carrying her wand case reverently in her hands.

“So, Professor Snape, how was your shopping?” Mina hissed as they entered The Leaky Cauldron. He closed his eyes, realizing it was going to be a long, long afternoon.

The family sat together and dined on a fried chicken dinner, the girls chattering about their day. Jenny kept her wand by her side the entire time. Knowing her daughter well, and remembering her own first foray into Diagon Alley, Mina was certain the girl would sleep with the thin piece of wood for the next two nights.

“Alright, we’ve got a busy evening also, so let’s nap a bit.”

Begrudged, the five girls stomped up the stairs to their suite of rooms. All of them had felt the tension between their parents at lunch, so none argued as they usually would about going to bed.

Once Mina had her five daughters tucked into their beds, Serenity sleeping between the twins in a double bed while Jenn and Em had their own small cots, she returned to her and her husband’s adjoining room. With a flick of her wrist, she warded the door so that the girls couldn’t hear anything coming from their room, but the parents could hear from the children’s.


“So, Professor Snape, when were you going to tell me about this?” she hissed, her eyes narrowed in anger at her husband.

“I am Professor Severus Snape. We’ve been Tobias and Mina Prince for twelve years, but you must have known that once we returned to our magical roots we’d have to return to our former selves.”

“I like being Mrs. Mina Prince. I don’t want to be like before.”

“I love you, Mina. And if you want to remain Mina Snape, that’s your choice. But I can’t forget who I was. I am Professor Severus Snape, the greasy bat of the dungeon.” He stood by the bed while she stormed over to the sink, splashing cold water on her neck. He knew she wasn’t happy, but he had thought she would get over it quickly. She had been spending the last few weeks returning to her friendship with Potter and Weasley as well as acclimating their daughters to the magical world.

“You are Severus Snape, but what am I? I can’t be Hermione again, the girl who allowed someone into her home that she thought she could trust…”

“You will always be Hermione Granger Snape, no matter what we call ourselves, love.”

“Get out. I’m going to lie down. Just leave me alone, Tobias. Or Severus, if that’s what you prefer.” She turned away from him and went to their bed, refusing to look him in the eyes. She lay down and rolled away from him, the fight going out of her.

Severus closed his eyes and took three deep breaths. He wasn’t angry at her, he just wished the old Hermione would come back, the one who fought and argued and yelled at him. Mina argued and stood her ground, but he missed the Hermione from years before, before the attack. For a long moment, he wished for a chance to wrap his hands around Percy Weasley’s throat and squeeze the life out of him.

“I’ll be in the sitting room if you need me. I have paperwork to finish and my syllabi to organize.”

“Fine.”

“I shall listen for the girls, also. Get some rest, love,” he whispered before going through the other connecting door to the small study he’d had Tom transfigure for him. If Mina hadn’t been in such a bad mood, he’d have taken off to the school to do his preparations, but he knew she was upset.

It only took a few moments to drift into a fitful sleep. She’d been stressing about Jenny’s first day of school, which House she would be sorted into and how to take care of the other four girls while her husband spent his days at the school. This would be the first time in their marriage where they didn’t live together daily and she wasn’t sure how she’d handle it all by herself.


’Pain radiated from everywhere, her arms, her broken leg, her throat which he’d squeezed until she’d almost passed out. Below her waist, in her private area she felt nothing, a painful reminder that Percy had taken her virginity and torn her apart to do it, laughing and grinning the entire time. Hermione tried to turn her head away from him, but his fingers, biting into her cheek and chin pulled her back to watch him as he masturbated over her chest. Bile rose in the back of her throat but she forced it back down, knowing he’d use that moment of weakness against her.

“The mighty Hermione Granger brought low. I wish my brethren could see you now, the girl who helped Harry Potter! Where is she now? Lying beneath me, cowering, sniveling, crying!” Percy finished the last stroke, his release splattering over her naked body now, his sneer the only thing she focused on. “You’re nothing, Mudblood. Nothing! My brother didn’t deserve the likes of you. To be honest, you’re not good enough for the half-blooded traitor either. You’re less than nothing, using your brain and knowledge to bring others down low, knowing you’re not any better than the cockroach that crawls beneath my feet.” He bent down licked her cheek, grinning when he tasted blood from the cut caused by his heavy pinky ring. A hand wormed its way to her naked breast and gripped it, tightening little by little until she started whimpering. ‘Leave me alone!!! I hate you, get away from me!’ her mind screamed as she lay there, taking his abuse, verbal and physical. It felt like her nipple was going to fall off, squeezed like it was and pulled away from her body. She started to wiggle away from him and got the back of his hand across her face again. Her left eye started swelling shut and she prayed to lose consciousness just to get away from Percy’s crazed looks and his abuses. She listened to him putting her down, telling her she wasn’t worthy of the magic running through her veins and she started to believe him.

She was nothing, she was a Muggle with powers that didn’t belong to her. Hermione Granger was nothing.

And then he beat her some more, his fists raining blow after blow upon her as he raped her again, one last time, horribly taking her from behind, tearing her apart in his savagery. He dropped her body to the kitchen floor like a child discarding a used and broken toy. Hermione watched her through the one he hadn’t beaten shut, fearful he’d return to his torture, to his play.

“You’re alive because it’s not worth it for me to kill you. You’re nothing, Granger, and you never have been. You can pretend to be better than everyone else, but in the end, you’re nothing but shite, the dirt beneath my shoes. Remember that while your precious husband looks at you in disgust.” Percy dressed, cleaned himself at the sink, humming under his breath as he made himself presentable for the outside world. Bending over her still body, broken and bloody upon her newly remodeled kitchen floor, Percy looked into her one good eye. “Enjoy your life, Mudblood.” He spit down on her cheek, the pressure of the saliva hitting her wound made her moan weakly. Smiling, he stood, withdrew his wand and Disapparated from her home.

She lay there, unable to cry, only able to feel her pains, her aches, the body he’d tortured so thoroughly over the course of an eternity. She wished for death, anything to relieve her of the agony. Hermione screamed inside her head, wishing for death, praying for Severus to return and save her.

The last thing she saw before her other eye finally swelled shut and she lost consciousness was Dobby above her, his face telling her without words how horrible she looked.’

The scene swirled and disintegrated, reforming into her Fourth Year after the Yule Ball.


‘Viktor had taken her out onto the patio, gallantly offering her his fur lined robe to keep warm, although there had been a warming spell put over the area. He had leaned against the railing, mirroring her stance as they looked over the snowy landscape of Hogwarts.

“You look fery lofely tonight, Hermoninny. I tink some vere surprised at your appearance.”

Before she could respond, a cold voice came out of the darkness behind them. “Yeah, Granger, a lot of us were surprised. We didn’t think the filthy Mudblood could clean up so prettily. Of course, no matter how prettily she dresses up, she’s still nothing more than a Mudblood. Dirty, filthy little Mudblood.” Draco Malfoy’s voice cut through her good feeling. She’d had such a lovely evening with Viktor and Malfoy had to spoil it. Tossing Viktor’s cloak to the stones at her feet, she hurried past the Slytherins gathered in the doorway and sprinted up to the Gryffindor tower, ignoring the sound of her date following, calling for her to stop. She gasped out the password and entered the tower, breathless. She stopped before entering the Common Room, not wanting her friends and housemates to see how upset she was over the words thrown at her by Draco Malfoy. She pasted on a dreamy smile and waltzed into the room…’

‘ “God, Hermione, can’t you even kick the bloody ball!?” The boy’s voice cut through her, the little girl standing at the base waiting for the kickball to come towards her for the third and final time. At nine she was shorter than other kids, pale and bushy-haired. She rarely played with the other children during recess, would rather sit in the library and read something, anything than go outside and feel different from her classmates.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered after missing the ball yet again. Her head hung in shame and defeat, she listened to the taunts of her classmates and wishes she could find her place where no one would laugh and ridicule her. With her head always stuck in a book, she had been able to watch her classmates interact and socialize, something she had always found difficult.

She looked up at her teacher and dropped her head down again quickly. She was giving Hermione a look of pity and disgust. Would she ever belong? Would she ever have friends who loved her unconditionally?’


TBC when I can, I promise


Please read and review. my plot bunnies are starvin' here!