"Two weeks later, I got my broom back, and I never ever flew off the property without an adult again," Harry finished, grinning at his black-haired little sister, Eileen. "Well, except for now, ‘cause I'm old enough to not need Dad's permission to go everywhere."

"And you're too old to spank too," the five-year-old added sagely.

Her fourteen-year-old brother just laughed. "Yeah, that too, imp. Just remember that story when you get your first broom, okay? Then you won't end up with a sore bum like I did."

"‘Kay, Harry." Eileen snuggled into his arms, her little head resting trustingly on his shoulder. She had beautiful curly dark hair, black as a rook's wing, and luminous cocoa brown eyes, and was possessed of the Snape independence, stubbornness, and the infamous temper. Her grandfather Tobias had nicknamed her "Little Miss Trouble" and said it must run in the family. For all three Snape children were in and out of trouble, on a regular basis, though Lexy was usually not in hot water as much as Harry or Eileen.

She smiled up at him, she had a gap-toothed grin from knocking her two front teeth out when she had fallen out of the big old maple tree in her backyard three months before. She had been trying to see a bird's nest. Luckily, the two teeth were baby teeth and Severus had said that her permanent teeth would grow in to replace them. But until then, the little girl had a smile like a jack-o-lantern.

"When d'you think Daddy'll let me have my own broom, Harry?"

"Uh . . .when you stop giving him heart failure, probably," Harry joked, ruffling her hair. "On second thought, that would mean never, since you'll probably be in trouble until you're an old lady, brat."

"I will not! That'll be you, mister," she returned indignantly, her mouth turned down in a familiar Snape scowl. "You can't even manage to stay outta trouble for one week, and you just got home from school."

"Watch it, Eileen Lily," Harry warned, waving a reproving finger at her. "Cause you're not too old to spank."

"You wouldn't, Harry!" she cried, her lower lip sticking out. Then she looked at him, he was wearing a stern expression that reminded her of their dad. "Would you?"

"I might, if you really annoy me," he said, giving her a pretend Snape glare.

Her bottom lip quivered. "You're mean! I don't like you any more!" She sniffled and went to jump off his lap, they were sitting in a wooden rocker out on the back porch.

"Hey, I was only kidding!" Harry said, holding her tightly.

She struggled. "Lemme go, you mean old thing! I don't want a big brother that spanks me! I'm gonna go and live with ‘Mione and Robyn." Robyn was Hermione's little sister, an unexpected addition to the Granger family four years ago, she was a late-in-life baby. Eileen attempted to wriggle from Harry's arms, but he was quite strong, for all of his slender build.

"Eileen! I didn't mean it, it was a joke!" Harry said, fighting to hold onto the wild thing. His little sister was strong as well as stubborn. "When's the last time I spanked you, huh?"

"Uh . . ." she frowned, thinking. "Maybe . . .ummm . . ."

"I gave you two smacks when you were three, for touching my wand, and after that I've never hit you," Harry supplied. "Now quit acting like a wild cat and settle down, okay?"

She subsided, her temper burned hot but also quick as lightning. "It wasn't very funny," she stated.

"Okay. I'm sorry. Merlin's beard, but you're in a mood today." He tweaked her nose, it was small like her mother Alaina's.

"So're you," she returned impudently. "It's not my fault Dad grounded you for nearly failing History of Magic."

Harry heaved a sigh. "I know, and I don't mean to take it out on you, kid. Not that I was, really. Binns is just so-o-o boring! He could kill a zombie in fifteen minutes just by lecturing, I swear. You'd better hope that when you go to school, kid, he's moved on to the afterlife or whatever."

"Okay. Maybe by the time I'm in school, you could teach History of Magic, Harry."

"Me? Teach a boring subject like that?" he repeated in mock-horror. "Nah! I could teach potions though. Or Quidditch."

"Yup, ‘cause you're the best Seeker Hogwarts has ever seen," the little girl declared, her dark eyes shining with hero-worship.

Harry blushed. "I think James Potter might have been a tad better, imp."

"Nu-uh!" Eileen shook her head vigorously. "Nobody's as good as my big brother. Will you teach me how to fly, Harry? Please?"

Harry smirked. "Yeah, all right. But you gotta promise to listen to me and do what I say when I say it. Think you can do that?"

"Yes. I know how to listen well."

"Really? Yeah, you listen well to the part of your brain that tells you to go and find trouble."

"Look who's talking! I never snuck drugged sweets to Grandpa."

"Well, I never flushed Mum's favorite pearl necklace down the toilet."

"That was an accident." She rubbed her bottom in remembrance, for that had been one of the few times she had ended up over Sev's knee. "Will you teach me how to fly if I ask nicely, Harry?"

Harry smiled down at her. "Yeah, scamp. I will. ‘Cause that's what big brothers are for. To teach and give advice to their little sisters. If they can remember it."

"I can ‘member, Harry! Dad says I'm a walking encyclopedia."

"Yeah, you're too smart for your own good." He laughed, giving her a mild spank on the bottom.

"Smarter even than you, Harry James Severus?"

"No way. I'm your big brother, imp and I'll always be smarter than you, no matter how old you are or how many masteries you get."

"How come?"

Harry shrugged. "That's just the way it is."

"That's no fair."

"Yeah, whatever."

She shifted in his arms, till she was lying half-curled on her side, her turquoise shirt and black pants contrasting with his green and white jersey and jeans. "Tell me about another time when you were a naughty brat, Harry."

"What is this, Harry's Worst Moments Hour?" he grumbled.

"Pl-e-e-e-ase!" she begged shamelessly. "It's better than reading The Tales of Beedle the Bard."

He chuckled softly. "Yeah, right. You just like hearing about somebody else getting in trouble instead of you for once."

"So? That's what big brother's are for, Dad says. To set a zample."

"You mean an example," Harry corrected, grinning.

"Whatever, Harry. Tell me some more, won't you?" she gave him her best big-eyed puppy dog stare.

He melted, surrendering without a fight. "Okay, brat. Here goes. One time, when I was six, I let Inky outside, he was a cub then, and he climbed the fence and ran away . . ."

Eileen settled down against his chest, warm and happy and a little drowsy, listening to her big brother tell yet another story of his mischief-making childhood, while the sun sank below the trees and painted the sky a brilliant rose, gold, and crimson. And out in the yard, Inky, the big black panther of the tale, yawned lazily and began to groom himself, watching over the two Snapes serenely.