Owls and Musings - The Sequel

Chapter 6 - Getting Sorted

A week later found the two families departing for Diagon Alley to purchase school supplies. After flooing to the Leaky Cauldron, the first stop was Gringotts to withdraw some gold for the day's purchases. While Remus and Severus took the trolleys into the bowels of the bank, the others idled around on the outside steps.

Roger sidled up to his best friend and drew him away from his twin.

"So," he asked sneaking a sidelong look at Brigida, "how successful do you think the turning has been?"

"Mildly," Emrys muttered. "After Da put the pool in, she spent the first week learning to swim and the second week playing in the water. But by the third week she discovered that she could get Mum to cast an Impervious charm on her books so they wouldn't get wet, and now - well, you saw her all this week," he sulked.

"Yeah, I did." Roger thought about the sight of Brigida lying on a float in the pool in her customary reading position with a schoolbook in front of her. "Maybe we can draw her out further at school, don't twins tend to get sorted into the same house?"

Emrys shook his head. "Only about half the time, and we're fraternal. Besides, if there was ever anyone slated for Ravenclaw, Rog, it's Bree," he said with a firm conviction.

"True." His friend had to agree. The boys hushed up as their fathers rejoined the family groups. The adults chatted for a moment determining the shopping strategy, and then it was off to Madam Malkin's for robe fittings. Even though the three younger children had their transfigured blue robes they still needed uniforms and a few more robes to fill out their wardrobes.

They continued with their shopping trip, and the packages piled up in their father's pockets as they purchased potions ingredients, writing supplies, course books and eventually wands.

Ollivander had never been found after the war, and a distant cousin had eventually taken over the business. Before they entered, Alisha took her father aside.

"Da, is it alright if I go to the Weasleys' store? Some of my friends are over there." She waved to a group of students across the street.

"I suppose, if you must," he drawled, rolling his eyes. "But stay there and we'll pick you up after we are done here. This is our last stop for the day and we still need to get lunch before heading home."

"Thanks, Da!" She gave him a quick hug, took her pocket money that he placed in her palm and ran across the alley to join her friends in entering Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. Severus did not even want to know what she was going to bring into the school. At least she knew never to use the gags in class. The standing rule was to have her pocket money cut off for the term and at least three detentions with her father if she was ever caught perpetrating a prank. He had already given the same speech last week to all the new students that had parents on staff. The parents had all agreed that these children needed to be an example to the rest of the students, and as Severus was the most menacing of all of them, he got the honour of presenting the rules. Minerva had sat in on the meeting to add her weight to the matter.

He turned and entered the store hearing the tinkle of the bell over the door. Roger was currently at the counter trying out wands, the discard pile growing steadily. Remus was leaning with his back against the counter, arms and feet crossed in a relaxed mode with an amused look on his face. He raised his eyebrow at Severus as he came in.

"At this rate we'll be here all day!" Remus quipped. Severus chuckled and went to stand next to his wife, taking possession of A.J. to give her a break. The baby was living up to his previous abilities and was constantly in motion while awake, making him quite a bundle to handle.

Finally, the proprietor handed Roger a wand that immediately issued sparks.

"Ah," Ollivander murmured knowledgably. "Larch, nine and half inches, werewolf tail hair." Remus started up from his relaxed position.

"What? Whose?" His eyes took on a bit of hooded menacing look. Ollivander raised his eyebrows at the veiled threat. He checked the box number and summoned a ledger to his awaiting hands. Thumbing through to the correct page he checked the entry. He looked back up at Remus. "You are Mr Lupin?" He continued after the affirmative nod. "Then you should not be surprised to learn it was your tail hair, freely sold to my predecessor in nineteen eighty-four along with three others. This is the first that has claimed a wizard or witch." He made a tick under the sold column and turned the ledger so Remus could verify the information for himself.

Remus relaxed as he remembered those days of living hand to mouth and having to sell off shed portions of himself that he found after transformations to disreputable potions makers on Knockturn Alley. He had approached Ollivander with the four tail hairs after his last transformation before he had begun taking the Wolfsbane potion. He had forgotten about them and had assumed they had all been sold. Now he had a sneaking suspicion as to what would happen with the remaining three wands.

Remus paid the price for the wand, and Roger was absolutely thrilled to have a wand whose magical core came from his father. Severus and Remus exchanged guarded looks at each other as Emrys took Roger's place at the counter and the whole process started over again.

Forty-five minutes later Emrys and Brigida both had their first wands, and the families headed over to the joke shop to pick up Alisha. Severus refused to go in, preferring to keep himself ignorant as to what the two former juvenile delinquents were selling, but he handed over some pocket money and let the rest of his brood spend a few minutes in the shop while Remus and Tonks chatted to the Weasley twins and Esme went looking for her eldest. He would never tell, and the twins would cut off their own hands before any of them revealed the fact, that he had been helping them with their pranks and potions since their school days. Privately, he loved seeing what new products they came up with - as long as they weren't used in his class. He had to draw the line somewhere!

He was amused, as he stood outside the shop, at the reactions of people as they spotted him. Students were friendly, tossing him a "Hallo, Professor!" or "See you in class, Professor!" Older wizards and witches who had been his students or had gone to school with him, shot a veiled look at him from under their hats and would politely acknowledge his presence but hurry on past, giving him a wide berth. Some things never changed, he mused. He would always be persona non grata in some circles no matter how many times it was explained he had been a spy for the side of light.

He sighed to himself; it didn't really matter. He had his circle of family, friends and colleagues who knew the real Severus Snape, and it had been a long road to travel, but worth it. He shifted the blanket over the sleeping infant on his shoulder and smiled warmly as Tonks and Remus led the rest of the family back out onto the street to rejoin him, and they headed back to the Leaky Cauldron for a hearty lunch before flooing on to Hogwarts using a special connection to Minerva's office.

McGonagall sniggered as both families tumbled out of her fireplace one after another and waited for the last Lupin to arrive before vanishing the soot away from her relatives and the rug.

Esme gave her a quick kiss as Severus shepherded everyone out the door and down the spiral stairs. "Thanks for the connection, Auntie!" Esme tossed over her shoulder.

"No problem, dear. I'll see you at dinner tonight."

Esme waved her agreement as she headed out the door.

The next day chaos reigned along the corridor. The front doors were left open to save the portraits from getting cross at all the coming and going between the flats from the children and their parents. The Potters and their brood moved in during the morning, and then there was the getting ready for the train arrival, packing up of the children who would be moving to the dormitories, and various swapping of articles. The children had just thrown their things into the trunks when they had left the cottage and hadn't really checked to see what belonged to whom.

Alisha had moved her trunk and herself, as soon as possible, over to her dorm to escape the craziness in her parents' rooms. And was there craziness! Repacking of trunks, making sure everything was found, babies crying, parents pulling out their hair and escaping to their offices, siblings pulling jealous temper tantrums because they weren't allowed to go to Hogsmeade Station to see the Express pull in.

Finally six o'clock rolled around and Hagrid appeared along the corridor to gather the five new first-years and take them to the station to meet the train and join the other firsts in the traditional row across the lake.

The parents watched as their children, dressed in their new school robes and faces scrubbed until they shined, dragged their trunks behind them to leave them at the landing and follow the half-giant down the main stairs. Ginny audibly sniffed, and Luna came over and put an arm around her shoulders.

Severus gave the rest of the parents a look that clearly said 'Let's go get in place'. They gathered up their remaining family members and followed him to the Great Hall.

+++

The five faculty offspring stood on the station platform awaiting the bright red school train. Hagrid looked over the group fondly as he lit the lantern and checked on the Thestrals waiting in line with their one-hundred carriages. The three girls had huddled together, a bit unsure of what to expect, and the two boys were craning their necks to peer down the tracks, hoping to get a glimpse of the locomotive first.

"Now, when the train pulls in, you lot stay close to me. There'll be a lot of confusion on the platform, and it ain't worth me job to 'ave one of you get lost!" he reminded them.

"We will, Hagrid!" came the chorus of the five children.

They heard the train before they spotted it and saw a plume of steam rise above the treetops. Hagrid pulled the boys back to a safe distance with his meaty hands, chuckling all the while. The girls were literally bouncing on their toes, but they all minded him and stayed close by.

The train slowly pulled into the station, and as soon as it stopped with a belching of steam and a squealing of the brakes, the students were pouring out of the compartments and the older ones began heading towards the waiting carriages. Hagrid's familiar call of "Firs'-years...firs'-years over here!" rang out over the platform and the small first-years, who barely came up to his hip, gathered around the half-giant.

"Is that all of you? Right, off we go. Watch yer step now, bit slippery down this 'ere slope." He led the straggling line of about forty students to the waiting boats and oversaw the loading of them. With only four students to a boat, he ended up with Jamie Potter in his. As soon as she was settled against his knees the line of little boats took off across the lake, the moon shining brightly on the cloudless night.

The children oohed and aahed appreciatively when the castle came into view, lights glittering from the windows and a half-moon in a clear night sky illuminating it from above. The boats slowly made their way to the interior dock, and Hagrid led the line of students up the stairs to the waiting Deputy Headmaster. He gave the faculty kids a wink, which they all responded to with a nervous smile, and after announcing to Professor Snape that the first-years had arrived, headed off to the feast.

++++

After years of watching the sorting hat do its job, Severus had become quite good at pre-sorting the first years in his own head. A little girl who comforted another child as they stood waiting to be sorted he could automatically place in Hufflepuff. The know-it-alls were almost primarily Ravenclaws. The ones who stood back studying their fellow students would probably be Slytherins; and those who did not put up with any bullying, Gryffindors.

Severus stood in his customary place at the inner landing awaiting the new crop of first-years. He could see the long line of magically propelled boats floating quietly towards the dock. For once he was nervous, although no one would be able to tell by looking at him. Outwardly he was the stern, cool Potions Master, the black bat of the dungeons and the bane of all students existence. Inwardly he was eagerly waiting to see where his own children would be placed.

The first-years jumbled together as they alighted from the coracles and milled about on the stairs. Snape waited for Hagrid to make his traditional announcement and sniggered inwardly as he saw the large bear of a man reassure his own group of children with a wink and head up the stairs. After Hagrid had gone through the doors, he favoured the group of five friends with his own look, raised an eyebrow at them and then quickly looked away to glower at the rest of the group.

"Your attention, please!" announced Severus. The students hushed up immediately. "In a few moments I will escort you into the Great Hall to be sorted into your houses. There are four Houses at Hogwarts: Slytherin, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Gryffindor. Your House will become your family during your stay with us. Each House has a long and noble tradition, and I know each of you will strive to be a credit to whatever House you are sorted into." He began to pace along the top landing, hands clasped behind his back and periodically throwing a look towards the students staring up at him from the steps.

"Your stay at Hogwarts is governed by many rules," he emphasised. "Break those rules and you suffer the consequences from lost House points to detentions to being expelled - if the offence is too great. Your dorms and common rooms will be with your House. Points gained or lost by you will be reflected in your House totals, and the House with the most points will win the House cup at the end of the year. Until your third year, when you may choose electives, your classes will be held with your year's housemates.

"Each House has a teacher who is considered the head of your House. I am the Slytherin Head of House, my wife is the head of Gryffindor, Professor Longbottom heads Hufflepuff, and Professor Flitwick is the Head of House for Ravenclaw. You shall formally meet your heads of house later this week." He halted his pacing to stand squarely facing them.

"Line up into two rows and follow me," he demanded. "Quickly, quickly, I haven't got all night." The children jockeyed for position, his own - with their friends behind them - at the top of the line. He slyly winked at the five, and they had a hard time restraining the giggles. They all knew what he was really like - well, all except Jamie Potter, but she went along with her new gang and smiled shyly back up at him. When the new students had managed two ragged lines he swirled his cloak as he turned in place and led them through the doors into the Great Hall.

The older students and assembled ghostly denizens of the castle craned their heads around to watch as the eleven-year-olds entered the room. There were a few cheers from the tables as the five in the front were recognised and some call-outs of encouragement from older siblings to younger ones.

Professor Snape stood next to the stool with the sorting hat upon it and unrolled the scroll in his hands as they listened to the hat sing its song. When it was all over, Severus truly felt as if he should take the place of the hat - he had placed every single child in his mind just as the hat had done. For the ones he considered 'his five' not a single surprise. Roger and Emrys joyfully joined the Gryffindor table amid back slapping and welcoming from their older friends. Brigida went to sit next to her sister in Ravenclaw, Nancy joined Hufflepuff, and Jamie Potter also got sorted into Gryffindor, to Harry and Ginny's obvious beaming pleasure.

He was quite pleased with the results and happily sat amidst his fellow faculty and their younger children as they talked about the size of the new class, their plans for the new term, welcoming back Harry as the newest faculty member, and various and other sundry items.

He ate quickly and efficiently so that he could hold A.J. and give him his bottle while Esme started in on her dinner. The youngest Snape kicked and squirmed until the warm contents settled him down and Severus watched in fascination as the little hands relaxed, the eyelids fluttered closed and finally the mouth grew slack as the baby fell asleep in his father's arms. He gently raised his son to his shoulder to burp him, and after the requisite bubble had come up and was disposed with, the baby was cradled in his arms below the level of the table.

It no longer mattered to Severus what caring for his children at the head table did for his reputation as a hard arse. He was strict where it counted, in the potions lab, and the students who thought otherwise quickly discovered this to their detriment, and that of their House point standings.

After pudding, the headmistress rose to give the start of term announcements and then quickly dismissed the students to head to their towers.

Severus joined his wife on the divan after changing his son and putting him into the bassinet and going into Rebecca's room to tuck her in and read her a story. It would be her first night alone in her room since she was born and while excited to have the room all to herself, she was also obviously a bit apprehensive. Before he left the room Wizby popped in and curled up on the floor next to her young mistress' bed, 'to keep her company' she explained to the concerned parent. As the loyal house-elf fell asleep, he conjured an elf-sized pallet underneath her along with a blanket and pillow, then quietly snuck out of the room and closed the door to a crack.

"Are the children asleep?" Esme asked, looking up from her transfiguration journal. She laid it down on the side table and handed him a cup of tea she had poured out for him.

"Yes, and Wizby is sleeping near Becca to 'keep her company'."

His wife chuckled at the news. "She is a bit overprotective, isn't she?" She scooted over to her husband and snuggled under his arm. He set his cup down to participate wholeheartedly in the cuddling session. They rarely got a chance like this outside of their bedroom.

He played absently with her hair as he leaned over to kiss her gently, enjoying the sensations of her tongue teasing him and her hands roaming under his robes. He growled playfully deep in his throat and, rearranging their position on the couch, pulled her down on top of him in a much more comfortable position for making out.

His hands slowly divested her of robes and underclothes as she playfully used her wand to strip him of his robes, one item at a time. When they were both totally naked, she transfigured the divan into a pile of fur rugs in front of the fire as he cast a Silencio on the room and began to explore his wife anew.