His Children

Curse

Severus POV

I'm so pathetic. I can't even drink my sorrows away. Who's next in line to die because of one of my stupid mistakes. It's bad enough now that I am going to be teaching the Potter boy.

Remember Severus, you're only doing this because of Lily.

I took another swig of firewhiskey. It's the only thing that can help me now, I suppose. I was about to grab another bottle when there was a knock at the door.

"Who has come to bother me now?" I grumbled, rising from my comfortable armchair and staggering to the door.

The person knocked again, this time louder. I growled and opened the door.

Katherina POV

She finally did it. She finally threw us out and told us never to come back. I'm talking about our mother by the way. Our as in plural, because I have a twin brother. His name is Kaiden and we're due to be eleven in November of this year.

She gave us a duffle bag with our clothes in it, a couple of bottles of water, some food, and our father's address. It's interesting that she would send us to him. She always used to say that we were just like him.

What did she mean by that? I knocked on the door to his home. It looked nice on the outside, all clean and proper. When no one answered I knocked again, louder. I heard an animalistic sound and then the door came crashing open.

I flinched a bit before looking up at the man. He had our same black hair. He stared at me for a while.

"Holy shit! It's Batman!" Kaiden yelled. I burst out laughing at his comment.

"Why you little! Who taught you such an horrible word!" The guy sneered. I stopped my laughter immediately.

"Alright. Sorry about that sir. We were wondering if you just so happened to be Severus Snape," I smiled.

"What are you here for and how do you know my name?"

"This should explain everything," I held out a letter our wretched mother gave us before she kicked us out.

He took the letter from my hands and motioned for us to come inside. The house was plainly decorated with comfortable looking furniture. Kaiden and I plopped down onto an armchair, wrapping our arms around each other.

We watched as his jaw dropped multiple times due to the contents of the mysterious letter. When he was finished he had a solemn look on his face.

"That explains why Dumbledore wanted me to deliver the enrollment letters this year." he sat down in front of us.

"Who's Dumbledore? Is he your friend?" Kaiden asked sleepily.

"No. He is my boss and your new Headmaster," this time he was the one handing out letters. I opened mine immediately whereas Kaiden took his time to inspect the envelope.

I read aloud,"dear Katherina Brookwell, you have been accepted into the esteemed Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry...'"

"Oh so that's what she meant about us being just like our father," I realized. I looked up from the piece of parchment and stared at my father.

"You're a wizard aren't you?" Kaiden asked, keeping his eyes on his letter.

Severus nodded slowly," it would seem that you have inherited my magical abilities. Congratulations, perhaps you can become a much better wizard than I."

"Sweet! I don't really get the concept of magic and I don't think I feel like reading up on it right now," I yawned, looking at him through hooded eyes.

"Yes I suppose we can save explanations and school shopping for tomorrow," he said, scooping Kaiden and I up into his strong arms. He carried us into a room with a large bed and tucked us in.

I slept comfortably for the first time in years. When I woke up Kaiden was having a nightmare. I shook him awake and he whimpered at me.

"Hey it's okay. I'm fine. We're fine. No one is going to hurt us anymore," I soothed, hugging him tightly. Kaiden had always been the fragile one. Our mother had always treated him worse because he was skiddish. She would try to beat it out of him, but it didn't work.

Then I heard voices coming from downstairs. I grabbed Kaiden's hand and led him out the door, into the hallway, and halfway down the steps. Severus was arguing with someone at the door.

"Let me in!" a familiar voice ordered. Severus stood his ground.

"I have the right to refuse entrance into my home, wench. What are you doing here?" his voice bellowed.

"I came to take back the kids. I need them to do chores!" she stated boldly.

"I will be doing no such thing!" I stormed into the conversation angrily, Kaiden right behind.

"Get your ass over here this instant,  young lady! What have I told you about talking back to me?" The bitch threatened.

"Bring it on! I'm not afraid of you! You've caused enough trauma in one household and I won't let it happen again!" I fumed. I watched out of the corner of my eye as objects started to float.

"Katherina calm down! You're going to hurt yourself," Dad warned, placing his large hands on my shoulders. I took a few deep breathes.

"Don't worry Papa. I won't hurt anyone but her." I smiled maliciously. At this point the woman was ready to hightail it. She took her chance and ran off.

I made the objects stop floating and wrapped my arms around my twin brother. Papa stared at me in awe.

"What? You thought I was actually going to kill her?" I said with mock hurt, placing a hand over my heart.

"Katherina that was amazing. I've never seen anyone control their magic like that on the first try," he smiled. "I believe now would be a great time for breakfast."

"I'll help too since I wasn't the one who scared her off," Kaiden whispered, hanging onto my sleeve. I hugged him one last time before going toward the living room.

I picked up a newspaper on the way and was interested in a certain article about a boy name Harry Potter. He was my age, but he had been famous since he was a baby. What was really cool was that the pictures in the paper moved.

"I bet he's going to Hogwarts too," I said aloud, flipping through the rest of the newspaper. I found out a lot about the wizarding world. Who knew the Ministry of Magic was so.... Weird?

"Who stole the newspaper?" I heard Papa's voice. It sounded irritated.

"Whoops, that would be me," I confessed with a small smile. "Interesting stuff today."

"It is rude to read the man of the house's paper before the man of the house," he said playfully.

"That's why I read it," I smirked, making my way into the kitchen to find my dumbfounded brother. He was staring at the stove which held pancakes that were flipping themselves.

"What did you expect? Our dad is a wizard bro," I giggled, running my hands through his long hair. I should braid it for school. He wouldn't let me cut it so our hair was around the same length. Better for the identical thing, right?

"Magical spices. I expected magical spices and teacups that talked," he marveled.

"Good luck with that one," I snorted. These pancakes need to hurry up. I wanna go shopping already.