Princes in Exile

A/N~~ I really don\'t have an excuse for being so late. I am two chapters ahead of this one, but I\'ve been reading more than writing. Shame on you, Marti! *slaps own hand* Damn, that hurt. I don\'t know my own strength. Seems like I wrote more when my son was sick, but now he\'s better and living a normal life, I\'m busy doing other stuff. So yay on that.



If that paltry excuse isn\'t enough, then consider that I think I might have been kidnapped by aliens and I know there\'s been probing somewhere on my body, I\'m just unsure where.





Anywho, onward with the plot and don\'t forget, J.K. Rowling owns Harry Potter, his friends, his frenemies, Hogwarts, etc. Jenny and Abraxas are mine to tortu..I mean play with as I please. Although I\'d really like my own Snape.





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First Year Potions, Gryffindor and Slytherin



‘Who the fuck came up with Gryffindor and Slytherin in any classes together, especially Potions? It’s a wonder I wasn’t bloody bald after my first tenure here with those two Houses together every bloody time!’ Severus glared at the tiny First Year students sitting quietly at their benches, their little faces staring up at him. He tried not to look at his daughter too much, lest anyone else think he was showing favoritism for his own daughter. Next to her sat Abraxas Malfoy. Now that caused a frown. He feared that like her mother, Jenny would develop a friendship with Malfoy, much like Mina with Potter and Weasley. Behind them, sat Victoire Weasley and some Gryffindor he didn’t remember yet. That one looked like her mother, Fleur, the Beauxbaton’s champion from years ago, except her hair had a Weasley red tinge to it. Well, at least the eldest Weasley son broadened the gene pool a little more than his brothers.



“Welcome to First Year Potions. I am Professor Severus Snape. This is my first year teaching after a twelve year Sabbatical, but do not think I am an easy teacher, or light-hearted. I am not. I am here to teach you the art of Potion making. With these skills I can teach you how to brew glory, bottle fame, and even cheat death. You will give all your attention when in this classroom. The slightest distraction could be… unfortunate. Now turn to page three of your books and read the instructions for your first potion. The ingredients are listed on the board.” He waved his wand and the list appeared. “You have one hour to prepare your potions. Begin!”



He watched the students scurry to the ingredients cupboard. It had been a dozen years since he taught classes and seeing so many eleven year old children in one room still amazed and slightly scared him. That his daughter and her two friends were in the room scared him even more. He caught her eye and she smiled at him before turning away. He hid his own smile and looked down at his class list, wondering which of the prepubescent crowd would give him the most difficult time in this class. Thank God there weren’t any Longbottoms yet.



Although Jenny didn’t have formal Potions training, he had been teaching her how to mix herbs and scents in his lab back in the States, so she was ahead of other Muggleborn children in the class. Of course, the Slytherin students were all Wizard raised and knew what to expect. He debated the merits of an Excederin after class or a headache drought. And he changed his lesson plan so that the next class, Third Year Hufflepuff and Gryffindor would make headache droughts. At least it would save him from doing all the work.



At the end of the hour, two melted cauldrons, three students sent to the Infirmary Wing and one orange and yellow striped toad were the highlight of the first year potions class. He had a sneaking suspicion that his daughter had something to do with the day-glow frog but didn’t voice his thoughts without proper proof. And her self satisfied smirk wouldn’t cut it.







#$#$#$





“I told Bartleby I wasn’t going to take his talk. He can’t call my Daddy a traitor without a fight.” Jenny grinned at Vicky and Brax as they sat at the end of the Gryffindor table eating their lunches. The rest of the House was friendly with the two girls but were unsure of how to greet the boy who should have been a Slytherin like his family before him.



“Jennifer, if your father finds out you colored Bartleby’s toad, he’ll be very upset, oui?”



“Probably. But he didn’t have to listen to that dink talk about him. Daddy was very brave during the war and almost got killed a few times trying to do what was right!”



Abraxas kept his head down, eating his stew with gusto. He remembered his father ranting about Severus Snape all his life. He alternately abhorred the man and loved him like a brother for all the sacrifices he made. He knew his own father’s story; that Lucius had been pulled in and felt the lure of the Dark Lord. Brax knew his father hadn’t been as good as Jenny’s, knew that Lucius had been a true Death Eater until just before the end when Voldemort had threatened his mother and brother. That was when Lucius Malfoy knew he’d made a bad choice following the Dark Lord.



“Hey! You listening, Brax?” Jenny snapped her fingers in front of his face. He grinned up at her and shook his head.



“Not even a word. Sorry. I was thinking about that essay Professor Snape wants done for Friday,” he lied easily. He supposed it was genetically wired to lie. His father was Lucius Malfoy, after all. “Don’t worry about Bart. He’s got the brains of a Blast-Ended Skrewt, Jenny. I remember once when Scorpius and I tossed his bro—.” Brax’s throat tightened when he turned and saw the blond figures enter the Great Hall and stride purposefully down the aisle to stand at the foot of the teacher’s table. Headmistress MacGonagall sighed and dropped her fork before getting up and heading off the Malfoy patriarch and eldest son. Jenny gaped when she watched her father almost run down through the students to grasp his old friend’s arm to lead him away from the Great Hall. She caught Draco’s eye and was amazed at how similar the brothers were in looks.



“Headmistress, I must express my displeasure at having no responses to my missives this morning.”



“I responded to the first, Lucius. You know that the Hat decides the House for the students. As surprising as the choice was for all of us, it is the final choice. Your son is a Gryffindor and is blending in… admirably with his Housemates.”



‘Right. Having to cast detection spells on my bed last night was fun, Headmistress. No one expected me to be placed in Harry Potter’s old House at all. It’s a wonder Father didn’t have a heart attack when he learned of my placement.’ Brax snorted softly, drawing his father’s gaze. He smiled at Lucius and was relieved that his father wasn’t angry with him per se, only where he was to spend the next seven years. At least he’d be with Jenny. And with any luck, he’d be an accepted member of Gryffindor by his fifth year. He hoped.



“Headmistress, if you don’t mind, I’ll take Misters Malfoy to my office and discuss the situation. Please, excuse us.” Severus nodded and led the two Malfoys out of the Hall. Jenny watched her father, while Brax watched his.



“Do you think I’m in trouble, Jenny?”



“Oui. You are. There has never been a Malfoy in Gryffindor. A Black, yes, but no Malfoys. It was nice knowing you, Abraxas.” Vicky smiled at her new friend, teasing. But Brax was seriously afraid. What if his father made him go into Slytherin? He’d grown up with most of the Slytherin children and he’d never fit in with them at all. After meeting Jenny Snape, he’d finally found a real friend he could talk to.





~~!~~







Severus knew that Lucius and Draco were following him to his tower office. He could feel their glares on his back and hoped they wouldn’t hex him.



Of course, they were Malfoys so he was only hoping.



He released the spells locking his office and stepped back to let the Malfoy men in before him. Silently, he went to sit in his chair, facing them with the desk between him and Lucius.



“There’s nothing you can do about the placement of the students. You know that, Lucius.”



“I know, but why bloody Gryffindor!? We’ve had a few Malfoys in the past enter Ravenclaw, but never Gryffindor, ever.”



“Times are changing, Lucius. If it makes you feel better, Ronald Weasley’s eldest son was Sorted into Hufflepuff.” He grinned and offered the two men Firewhiskey. He wouldn’t imbibe as he still had three classes to teach, but he remembered how his old friend had enjoyed his drink. Surprisingly, both men declined.



“Cissy would have my head. Evidently too much whiskey can cause ulcers.”



Severus smirked and put the bottle away.



“It makes me feel better. I can’t wait to see Weasel tomorrow at work.” Draco smirked and crossed his leg, resting his ankle on the opposite knee. Evidently, the younger Malfoy had gone a little Muggle. He had a tattoo of a heart on his ankle, above his boot.



“Abraxas will do well in Gryffindor. My daughter was sorted there and they are inseparable as far as I can tell, and to my utmost paternal horror. He has a good eye for Potions.”



“Brax always helped when I worked on the family’s healing potions. I know you’re not his Head of House, but will you keep an eye on him, anyway, Severus?”



“Of course. I had a question of you, Lucius, since you are here. My middle daughter, who is five years old, recently was able to manifest her powers. She waved a play wand and cleaned the living room.”



Draco and Lucius frowned slightly, but not enough to worry Severus. “That’s a little early, but not unheard of, Severus. My son, Scorpius, used magic at six.”



“Serendipity is mute. She used wordless magic, and according to Mina, she was very accurate. This morning Seri was lethargic and could barely keep her head off the kitchen table.”



Lucius stared at his old friend and blinked once. “That’s extraordinary. She’s very powerful, like you and your wife. You might consider binding her powers until she’s older and better able to control them.”



“We bound their powers at birth and I don’t relish doing that again to any of my daughters. They will be raised in the Wizarding world now that we’ve returned.”



“And there is no cure for her inability to speak?”



“There is no physical reason for it.” Severus shook his head and leaned back in his chair. A quick glance at the wall clock told him that there was only fifteen minutes before his first afternoon class. “She’s never spoken a word, but she did cry as an infant. Mina is going to monitor her before making another appointment with St. Mungo’s. I hope it was an isolated incident.”



Draco frowned and bit his bottom lip, something Severus knew the younger man did when he was about to say something he really didn’t want to say. “If your daughter is unable to speak, she won’t be able to attend Hogwarts, Professor.”



As an administrator, he knew this to be true, but a part of Severus hoped that his daughter would be able to be like other children when it was her time to be trained in her abilities.



“I guess we shall cross that bridge when we come to it. As I promised, I shall keep an eye on young Abraxas. Unfortunately, I have a class to teach in a few minutes. Give Narcissa my regards, Lucius.” Severus stood up and led the two blonde men out of his office and to the main entrance before rushing down into the dungeons to his waiting Third Year Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw class. At least it kept his mind off his daughters and their issues.





~!~!



Brax sat in the comfy chair by the fireplace, warming his outstretched feet with the crackling fire. It was only the fifth of September and frost was on some of the tower windows in the morning. Evidently the Scottish highlands were cold! He’d lived too long near London and was used to the cold dreary rain. He watched Jenny over the top of his Potions textbook. She was writing to her sisters again and he wondered what it was like to move so far from the home she’d known all her life to live at Hogwarts.





She wasn’t a Muggleborn, like her mother had been, but she wasn’t like most other Wizard-born children either. It’s like her parents had hidden her magic from her and she just learned about it recently.



“What the heck are you gawking at, Brax?” Jenny had noticed his gaze on her when he was supposed to be studying for her father’s class.



“Nothing. Sorry. Did it ever get this cold where you grew up?”



“Not often. This is pretty unbearable to me, actually. Dad spelled my clothes with a warming charm though, ‘cause he knows we’re used to warmer weather. What’s it like where you live?”



“We live in Malfoy Manor. It’s big and we have a ton of House Elves. I have my own wing of the house, where my brother Draco used to live. He moved out with his wife right before I was born though. We have a stable and a small Quiddich field, but I’m not really much of a player like Draco is.” He put his book down so he could concentrate on the conversation. Vicky was on the other side of the room with some second year girls. The two of them were ensconced in their own little world away from their Housemates.



“I have a library just for myself. Mother and Father don’t know, but I have a ton of Muggle books. They’re so interesting!”



Jenny smiled at her friend’s excitement. Until a few weeks ago, she had felt the same way about the home she’d grown up in. Now she wasn’t quite sure where she belonged and whether she would ever have someplace like that again.



“That’s sounds awesome, Brax. I share a room with Emily. Seri and the twins have, well had, the bigger bedroom other than Mom and Dad’s. We had an herb farm and Dad made holistic treatments for people. I used to help him all the time. I miss it, I miss my mom and my sisters, but I really miss Daddy.”



“We have class with him everyday, Jenny.”



“It’s not the same, Brax.”



“It’s what happens when you go to school, Jenny. We have to learn how to use our powers. You said you didn’t go to school before, that your mum home-schooled you?”



“Yeah.”



“Being here is really different, but it’s not like you don’t see anyone from your family. A lot of the students don’t see their mums and dads until Christmas break in December. And the Muggleborn parents can’t even just drop in like my father did earlier. Lucky kids.” Jenny laughed when he muttered that last, knowing he’d been really scared when his father had shown up at lunch with his older brother.



Brax closed his book and smiled at the girl next to him. She was frowning at him, not unhappily, but in thought.



“I guess you’re right, Brax. I should consider that, huh?” Jenny turned and hugged her new best friend tight, kissing the top of his forehead. Brax blushed down to his blond roots, while clearing his throat and making a show of turning his book’s page when some of the other first years started to laugh and joke about Jenny’s show of affection. He cringed when he realized that Professor Snape would probably hear about the platonic kiss his daughter had given him, and wondered if it was too late to send an owl to his brother with his last will and testament.



“Are you trying to get me turned into a toad or something?” he grumbled as she threw a pillow at his head. It was certainly nice having normal friends in his life.