Princes in Exile

My friend, Kim and I found some errors in this, but with my computer deciding to throw a temper tantrum today to rival anything my prepubescent daughter can do, I'm letting errors stand and will edit sometime tomorrow when (I hope *fingers crossed!) my computer will be back to normal. I hope you enjoy, and if you have ideas, or thoughts, drop me a line or review. I hope you enjoy and forgive the mistakes!

Marti

Sampdora~~my e-mail is ripperslover@hotmail.com...drop me a note, and I'll give you an idea of what is coming up... you're close to the mark. and thanks. I wanted to show a gentle but firm Severus, and a daughter who truly adores her father.
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Jennifer finished her shower, braiding her long red-brown hair into two long plaits to her waist. She looked at her reflection and sighed. Another freckle across her nose had appeared and she despaired of her head ever growing into her ears.

She left the bathroom and headed into the living room where her father was setting up the chessboard. He smiled as she sat across from him.

“Your mum will join us after she puts the twins to bed. How are you?”

“Curious. I’d have to go all the way to England to learn magic?”

“There are American schools, but well, they’re more liberal and don’t follow the same curriculum as Hogwarts.”

“And that’s a bad thi—hey, my king’s moving!”

“I thought tonight would be the night to teach you Wizard’s Chess. It adds a little something to the game.” He smirked at her surprised expression.

“About time you took us out of that box, you git!” the black knight yelled up at her father. She giggled, staring at her white army, all of whom watched her expectantly.

“You move first, love.” Toby smiled at the girl.

Mina Prince, born Hermione Granger, watched her husband and daughter banter playfully as he showed her how to play magical chess. She remembered all the times that she watched Harry and Ron play in the Gryffindor Common Room all those years ago. Toby had taught Jenna how to play chess before Emily was born and their nightly games had been going on since before the girl’s fourth birthday. Usually, Mina was nursing or rocking one of the younger girls, watching her husband and eldest daughter lovingly.

Now, she moved away from the doorway and stood behind her husband, laying her hands gently on his shoulders. His smile changed to the one he reserved only for his wife as he looked up at her. She bent and kissed him. The chess pieces tittered in their laughter while watching. Mina moved over to her rocking chair and pulled her cross stitch out, rocking gently while listening to her family.

Toby barked out a laugh as he bishop walked off the board in a huff after Jenna’s rook knocked it out of its square. “Obnoxious pieces. I should have traded them for mute ones.”

Jenna giggled when her father’s king mooned the man.

“Insolent. I should have left you in storage.”

Dramatically, his king fell over clutching his chest, ceding the match to the daughter. Jenna clapped happily, not only at winning, but at the added fun of the moving pieces.

“That was so fun! Can we play every night like this?” She helped her father round up the pieces, none of them wanting to be thrown into a box again.

“I planned on giving the set to you for your birthday.” Toby lunged for an escaping pawn, holding it tightly in his hand before dropping it into the deep box they’d been stored in for over a decade. He stood and went to his wife, kissing her like he hadn’t seen her in days instead of just a second before. Jenna smiled dreamily at how much in love her parents were, and couldn’t wait until she was old enough to fall in love too.

Mina stood and took her daughter’s hand, leading her towards the sofa. “Sweetheart, your father and I have much to talk about with you tonight. Why don’t we get comfortable?” She sat first and pulled the girl down. Toby sat on Jenna’s other side, ensconcing her within their embrace.

He had been dreading this discussion since seeing the red-headed little angel the midwife had placed in his arms. His paternal heart had been hooked by the guileless babe from that moment forward, when she’d clasped his finger in her firm hold.

“Hogwarts is a castle built over a thousand years ago by four of the magical commu--.”

“Give her your copy of Hogwarts, A History for that!” Toby snapped. His wife’s nutmeg eyes flashed, but she conceded the point.

“You’re right, of course. First, I’m a Muggleborn witch.”

“Muggleborn?”

“A Muggle is someone with no magic. My mum and dad were Muggles, but I was born with magic. So, I went to Hogwarts, but while I was there, an evil wizard was trying to take over and get rid of the Muggleborn witches and wizards. Your father and I married for convenience right after I graduated to keep me safe from the evil wizard’s followers. Daddy’s a powerful wizard and helped destroy the other wizard, ultimately, along with some of my friends. Right after Voldemort’s death, your father started courting me, as both of us wanted a real marriage, now that the threat to our lives was gone. Or so we thought,” Mina took a deep breath and smiled shakily as she felt the familiar weight of her beloved husband’s hand on her shoulder, squeezing it in consolation. “One of Voldemort—the evil wizard—one of his followers, someone we hadn’t known about, came to our home while your father was out one day. We—his younger brother had been my best friend for years and I never suspected how horrible he was. He…” Mina, even after a dozen years, couldn’t say the words. Her throat froze up and her eyes filled with tears. She wiped at them furiously.

“Jenna, he raped your mother. You know of what I speak, yes?” Toby brushed his daughter’s bangs out of her blue eyes. She nodded slowly, her eyes tearing up in sympathy with her mother. “He forced your mother, and got her pregnant. You were born eight and a half months later.” He let it sink in as realization widened her eyes. Mina hugged her eldest daughter tightly.

“But that means I'm not your daughter?”

“No, that means that I am not your biological parent, but I’m your dad. I held you moments after your birth, I held your hand while teaching you to walk, and I’m the one who taught you to ride a bike and kissed her scraped elbow when you fell.”

“Mommy?” the eleven year old whimpered in empathy of her mother’s emotional pain. She burrowed deeper into her mother’s bosom, feeling her father pull away. She turned away from her mother and hugged Toby tightly, keeping him from rising and leaving mother and daughter. “Daddy, don’t leave!”

Blinking tears from his black eyes, Toby held his daughter and wife within his strong protective arms, rocking them silently.