Princes in Exile

“Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!” Twins screaming in stereo at half five in the morning woke the parents up the next day. Luckily, after watching his lovely wife pass out on his chest, he’d picked her up and deposited her in their bed before clearing the living room of any evidence of their activities. Now the twins were bouncing on the foot of their bed, threatening to make the duvet and sheet slip off their nude forms.

“Hello, my monkeys. Why are you up so early?”

“Dunno. Hun’ry.”

“Potty. Pancakes?”

Both of the twins had their shriveled heads. He rolled his eyes and kissed each of them on the forehead before pointing towards the door.

“Go to your room and make your beds. I’ll meet you in the kitchen.”

If only his teenaged students were as obedient as his 3 year old twin daughters, he’d have had fewer headaches as an instructor decades ago. He pulled on a pair of flannel pajama bottoms and headed into the bathroom for a quick shower. With two toddlers around it was safest to make everything happen quickly. Severus smirked as he remembered their frenzied lovemaking the night before, but quickly quashed the thought when parts of his body wanted to remember too. Yeah, he was a couple of decades older than his wife, but there was still a spark between them.

He felt the cold air enter the shower stall when she slipped in behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist, resting her head on his shoulder blade.

“Good morning, love. Did you sleep well?”

“Professor Snape, did you slip me a sleeping potion? I slept like the dead.”

He laughed and dunked his head under the water. “I just plain wore you out, my wife. How did yesterday go, my love?” He turned then to face her, pulling her into a tight embrace.

“Yeah, we have to talk about that. I was cleaning up the living room and Seri helped. She grabbed a toy wand and made all the toys fly into the play room.”

All she could hear after that announcement was the water hitting his back in their shared shower.

“Why didn’t you owl me, Mina?”

“Because you were getting everything ready at school. If it had been serious, I’d have contacted you. I finished cleaning up and took the girls to Rosmerta’s for dinner. If I’d made a big deal out of it, Seri might have been nervous.” She chewed on her bottom lip, a sign he knew that she was frustrated. She must have worried about this the entire time he was dealing with the Sorting. He hugged her tighter and reached over to turn the water off.

“I have to make it in today, love. Will you be alright here with the girls? You can contact St. Mungo’s and see if they have any ideas. It might just be her natural magic manifesting like most children.”

“I know, but she wasn’t raised in the Wizarding world, Severus. I’m a little worried.”

“Floo Molly. One of her brood must have manifested at Seri’s age.”

“That’s not what’s worried me; she doesn’t speak. She’s using wordless magic and focusing with a wand, even a toy one. How powerful could she be?” Mina pulled her clothes on quickly, barely having dried herself while watching her husband get his clothes out for school. He slipped his pajamas back on to have breakfast with his girls.

Meal time with five daughters could get messy fast and his teaching robes were not appropriate dining wear. He kissed each girl on the forehead while he waved his wand to get the meal started. While he watched the food cook he ruminated over Mina’s observation. If what she said was true, they’d have to be very careful with Seri. A young child didn’t have the control that an adult would; she could be dangerous around Muggles and in fact could be dangerous around magic-folk too should her powers get out of her control. Maybe he should take the day off and bring her into the hospital? But no, it would set a bad precedent by missing the first day of classes.

“When Jenny comin’ home, Daddy?” Marika came over and grabbed his pant leg, looking up at him and gripping her head by its measly hair.

“You’ll see your sister for the Christmas holidays, luv.”

“Not Thanksgiving?” Emily poured the glasses of orange juice, helping her father without being asked. He narrowed his eyes and wondered what she wanted from her parents now.

“Sorry, luv. There is no Thanksgiving in England. It’s a purely American holiday.”

“No tookey?”

“We can have roast turkey any time we want, Milana.” Severus eyed Seri sitting at the table. She looked more tired than normal and wondered if her burst of magic had worn her out. He’d have to remind Mina to keep track of all the signs so if she did go to a healer, they’d have accurate information to impart.

“Good morning, girls. Who wants to help write a letter to your sister, congratulating her on being Sorted into Gryffindor. That was Mummy’s house, remember?”

“Daddy was a Slytherin, right? I think I’d rather be a Slytherin.” Emily finished filling the last glass and returned the juice bottle to the refrigerator before skipping out of the kitchen into the living room where their mother had called. The twins were already in there, having raced. Seri shook her head and sat in the kitchen with her father, her head propped on one hand while she watched him stir the hash browns.

“Emily Snape as a Slytherin: I can see that one.” Severus sat next to Seri and pulled her into his lap, letting her head drop to his chest. “Are you alright, luv?”

She nodded her head and closed her eyes, letting him know that she felt tired.

“I heard you helped Mummy with cleaning the living room using magic. I bet that was tiring, hmm?”

She nodded again.

“If you use magic and aren’t around Mummy or Daddy, will you find a way to tell us? We don’t want you getting hurt or accidentally hurting one of your sister, right?”

Seri looked scared and shook her head in agreement. She’d never want to hurt her sisters, ever. Severus smiled at her and hugged her before getting back up to finish breakfast. So the hash browns were a little crispy. His girls were used to his half-assed cooking by now. Seri watched and wrinkled her nose at the smell of the potatoes on the verge of burning.

An hour later, breakfast was finished, Emily was helping Mina wash the dishes and Seri and the twins were in their playroom quietly playing together with their Barbie dolls. Severus had kissed each of his children on the forehead, and Mina longer on the lips before stepping through the floo and turning into the dreaded Potions Master of Hogwarts