Audrey watched as her new mentor gave her niece and his son some instructions before walking over to his desk. He composed a short note and summoned a house elf to deliver it.

"I have sent for the werewolf," he told her.

She nodded and out of the corner of her eye noticed that Draco made a face at his father. "You mentioned another son..." she said politely, trying to pass time while waiting for the werewolf he had mentioned to arrive.

"Yes, Draco has a twin named Harry," Severus answered. His next words to her informed her that he knew of the faces his son was making at him. "A better behaved twin..."

"Harry?" the blond boy snickered. "Better behaved?"

The Potions Master shot his son a dark look and the boy's features changed once more back to the red hair and green eyes she had seen earlier. "Draco, I was merely teasing. And we have discussed your morphing to get your way."

The boy continued to glare at his father.

"One."

Neither moved and Audrey realized that she was watching a battle of wills not unlike some of the ones that she had witnessed between her brother-in-law and his adopted daughter, who was now smirking at the boy across from her.

"Two."

Green flames filled the fireplace and a tall, thin man stumbled out. He straightened and turned to face the Potions Master. "What do you mean you aren't going to brew my Wolfsbane anymore?!" he demanded.

"I never said that you wouldn't recieve it. Merely that I would not be the one brewing it," Severus responded.

Draco jumped up and ran over to the new man. "Moony! She wants to improve the Wolfsbane."

Severus glanced down at his son, looking quite impatient. "Orion John Snape, you are already in trouble. Sit down at that table and do your work. Now."

When Draco hesitated the man he had called Moony put his hand firmly on the boy's shoulder. "Do as your father says."

Audrey knew that she should turn away from this little family drama, but she felt herself drawn to it.

"But Moony..." the boy protested.

She watched as the man pulled himself up to his full height and gave a low growl. It was then that Audrey realized that not only was he a werewolf, but he was also an Alpha. And this boy seemed to respect the Alpha more than his father because he turned and went back to the table like a pup with his tail between his legs. At this she stepped forward, reminding the Potions Master that she was in the room.

Severus took a moment to calm himself after the blatant disrespect before turning to make the proper introductions.

~*~

Beau slowly made his way through the children's book in his hand. He and Hermione were sitting on a transfigured love seat in an unused classroom where they had been holding his reading lessons. The book he was reading was his youngest sister's favorite and Halle had sent it to him. With Hermione's help on the spelling, he had written his first letter ever to his adopted mother telling her that he was finally learning how to read and write. A few days later he had received a package at breakfast with this simple book. He finished the book and closed the cover, turning his head to look at Hermione, waiting her judgment.

"You're doing really well, Beau," she told him with a smile.

He smiled in return. "You're a good teacher, Hermione." He set the book aside. "Do you have any plans for Christmas?"

"I'm going to France with my parents. What about you? What are your plans?"

"Cedric has invited me to spend the holidays with his family. I wasn't going to go because I didn't want Rae stuck her by herself for Christmas, but since Audrey's here I guess I'll go."

She turned sideways on the love seat, leaning her back against the arm and hugging her knees. "Who is Audrey?"

"It's a little complicated," he told her, turning to face her as well. "I grew up on the bayou in Louisiana. My mother and three of my siblings were killed my rogue dark wizards. Cap was the lead investigator for the American Magical Law Enforcement and after he captured the wizards responsible, he came back and adopted the other four of us. I was ten at the time and the little ones were just babies. We went to Brooklyn to live with him and his wife Halle, and his goddaughter Rae. Audrey is Halle's younger sister. So Audrey is my aunt, but she's only eight years older than I am."

"Sounds like you have a great family."

He nodded. "They are. Cap and Halle have been wonderful to the kids and the kids adore them. It's mutual really. They've been really good to us and I don't know what I would have done if they hadn't come along to adopt us."

She reached over and gave his hand a gentle squeeze.

Beau took her hand and lifted it to his lips, kissing it gently. "Thank you, mademoiselle"

~*~

Remus shook his head when he saw Sirius, Draco and Harry cross the street to join him. He and Sirius had offered to take the boys Christmas shopping while Severus finished up his end of term paperwork. Remus would finish his own paperwork later this evening. He agreed with Severus that leaving the boys alone with Sirius was not exactly the best idea as Sirius was just a big kid himself.

He had stayed with them until Sirius decided that he wanted to go into the pet store and look at the dogs. Most animals could smell the werewolf in Remus and didn't react well to him, but after seeing the hopeful looks in the eyes of the two boys, he agreed that they could go inside the pet store and he would go to the bookstore across the street to wait for them.

Now the two boys coming toward him each had a small pet carrier. Remus was pretty sure that Severus had not planned on getting the boys any pets. He didn't really seem the pet type. "Sirius..." he sighed. "What have you done?"

"I bought them early Christmas presents," Sirius answered with a grin.

"Did you talk to Severus about this?"

"Why would I have to ask Sni...Severus if I could buy presents for my own godsons?"

Remus raked his fingers through his hair. "Padfoot, presents are one thing, but pets are another. You should have asked him."

"Don't worry so much, Moony," he said, heading down the street in the general direction of the Leaky Cauldron.

~*~

Severus glanced up from the lunch that he was preparing when his boys tumbled from the Floo, each with a small animal carrier. They were followed by Remus and Sirius, who took out his wand, waving it at the two carriers. Severus dried his hands on a towel and walked into the other room. "Tell me you didn't, Black."

"Alright, I won't," Sirius replied.

"Don't look at me," Remus said when Severus turned his dark gaze on the werewolf.

Severus crossed his arms. "You were supposed to be keeping an eye on him."

"He said that he wanted to go look at the dogs...not buy anything. I can't go into a pet store," Remus replied with a sigh.

Sirius draped an arm around Severus' shoulder. "Come on, Snape, let the boys keep them."

Severus reached up and expertly pinched the skin between Sirius' thumb and pointer finger. "Do not touch me," he said as he removed the man's arm from around his shoulder.

"That hurt!" Sirius told him, rubbing his hand. "What did you do to me?"

The Potions Master rolled his eyes. "There is a nerve bundle in that spot on your hand. Apply the right amount of pressure and it is quite painful." He glanced over at the boys. "I'm afraid that you'll just have to return the animals."

"Severus..." Remus started before the man cut him off.

"No Remus. The boys asked me about getting a pet this past summer and I told them no. We are not in this house enough to warrant getting one."

"We can keep them in your quarters, Uncle Sev," Draco said, setting the carrier in his hand on the floor.

"In my quarters?" Severus asked him. "Not likely."

Harry set down his carrier as well, bending down to open the door. "In our room, then." He pulled an orange kitten from the carrier. "He'll make sure no more rats get into our room."

Sighing, Severus took the kitten from Harry and held him up so that he could get a good look. "Reminds me a bit too much of a Weasley, but I suppose that I could use a good mouser in my lab."

"I told you that he'd think it looked like a Weasley," Draco told his brother.

Harry stuck his tongue out at Draco. "At least I got something practical."

"Sirius said all the girls would love mine."

Severus looked at his Slytherin son. "I believe the only girl actually speaking to you at the moment is Miss Kelly and she only does so when she's forced to speak to you."

"What's this about a girl?" Sirius asked with a grin.

Remus matched his grin. "She has red hair," he told the other Marauder.

Sirius laughed. "Another Potter has fallen for a girl with red hair."

"I haven't fallen for her!" Draco snapped at his godfather. "You ought to be talking to Harry about Ginny Weasley!"

"Hey!" Harry protested, taking his kitten back from his adopted father.

"Everyone sees how you moon over her," the Slytherin said, as he pulled a white ferret from his carrier.

"I don't moon over anyone!"

Severus decided to step and stop their argument. "Draco, that has got to be the ugliest thing I have ever seen," he told the boy with a smirk.

Draco made a face at him. "I happen to think Frank is cute."

"Frank?" Severus asked him.

"He was already named," Draco said with a shrug.

Severus rolled his eyes. "Alright. You can keep them, but the first time I have to take care of them, they are gone. Understood?"

The two boys nodded. "Thank you Uncle Sev."

"Yeah, thanks Pop," Sirius told the Potions Master, winking at the boys.

Severus turned his dark eyes on the Marauder. "Don't call me that or I just might de-age you and see how much you like being my son. I can guarantee that I will mend your mischievous ways."

"You better listen to him, Padfoot," Harry told his godfather. "He wallops us all the time."

"Scamp," Severus said, ruffling the boy's ever messy mop of hair. "I only wallop you when you deserve it."

Remus put a firm hand on his friend's shoulder. "Calm down, Padfoot. Severus isn't abusing them."

"But Remus..." Sirius started.

"They are perfectly healthy and happy."

Sirius looked at the two boys and nodded, having to admit that what Remus said was true. His godsons were healthy and happy.

~*~

The weekend before school was to start again found the two boys at Grimmauld Place with Sirius and Remus. When Remus left one afternoon, Sirius drug the two boys outside to a shed attached to the back of the building. He threw open the doors and pulled out an old motorbike with a sidecar. "What do you think, boys?"

Harry stepped closer and ran his hand over the motorbike. "I had a dream about a bike like this once. But it was able to fly. That was before I knew about magic."

Sirius smiled. "This one does fly, Harry, and you've ridden on it before. Hagrid used it to go pick you up in Godric's Hollow that night," he said, brushing a finger across the scar on Harry's forehead.

"It flies?" Draco asked.

"Yes," Sirius replied with a laugh. "James and I spent hours fixing this thing up and getting it to fly. How would you two like to go for a ride?"

Both faces lit up. "Can we?" Draco asked.

"Sure," their godfather replied. "Alright, one of you in the sidecar and one on the bike behind me. We'll stop somewhere and let you two switch later on."

The two boys scrambled into place in unspoken agreement: Draco on the bike and Harry in the sidecar.

~*~

They were met by a very angry werewolf when they returned. "Have you lost your mind, Sirius?!" he demanded.

"That was brilliant, Padfoot!" Harry exclaimed, jumping from his seat on the back of the enchanted motorbike.

Remus gave a low growl, catching the attention of all three. "Boys, your father is waiting for you inside." The two boys hurried inside, eager to tell their father of their adventure. Once they were inside, Remus turned to face his best friend again. "Sirius, did you think to ask Severus before taking the boys up on that thing?"

"No," Sirius answered as he put the motorbike back in the shed. "Didn't think I'd need to."

"Do you ever think?" Remus asked.

Sirius whirled around to face his friend. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You bought a Firebolt for Harry, but Draco didn't get so much as a note. You bought them pets without asking Severus first. Now this. Sirius...I know it's hard for you to grasp this concept, but Severus is the boys' father. You need to start consulting him before you go rushing headlong into things like this. If something had happened to the three of you, we'd never have known where to look."

"Remus..."

"No, Padfoot. You need to start thinking because after this Severus is not likely to let you see them again, even when I'm around. I can't believe that you'd wait until my back was turned to do something like this. I trusted you, Sirius." With that he turned and stalked away from his old friend, slamming the back door to the house..

~*~

"Are you mad at us?" Harry asked after they had Flooed back to Spinner's End.

Severus sighed deeply, working very hard to keep reign on his temper. "No, Harry. I'm not mad at the two of you. You didn't know any better. However, I do not want to ever hear of you riding on some contraption like that again. Understood?"

Draco threw himself on the sofa and crossed his arms in a classic pout. "I don't see how it was really any problem. Sirius knows what he's doing."

"This is not up for negiotation, Draco. You will not be riding on it again. End of story," Severus told him firmly.

"You're not being fair!" Draco snapped.

Harry's eyes grew wide as he looked at his brother. "Draco!"

Severus pinched the bridge of his nose. "I have to go deal with Black. I want you to go to your room and stay there until I return, Draco."

"But," the boy protested.

"GO!"

Making a disrespectful noise of protest, the boy stood and stomped up the stairs, slamming the door to his room.

Sighing, Severus headed upstairs. First to deal with his son, then to deal with Black.

~*~

A loud voice woke Sirius the next morning and he stumbled from his bed to figure out who was in his house. As he tripped his way down the stairs, he realized that the voice was not only speaking in English, but was speaking multiple languages.

All young wealthy pureblood wizards were trained in languages at a young age. By the time they went to Hogwarts, those of the oldest Houses, such as the Blacks and Malfoys, were expected to be fluent in Latin, French, Spanish, Italian, German and Greek. Whoever was in his house was slipping between those langauges easily...and it was swearing...in all seven langauges! In fact, there was not a single word that this person was saying that was NOT a swear word.

He stepped into the drawing and was surprised to find the room empty except for a small black bird. Then the bird opened it's beak and spoke. Rather, it swore again.

Rubbing his eyes, Sirius walked over to claim the note attached to the bird's leg. He opened it and read the short note.

Black,

His name is Mimic.

S.S.