“But I want to do it all,” Sophia told him. “Please…”
Remus tried to keep himself from sighing, it would take much longer that way, but he understood that so much of this was still new to Sophia. “I think we can do that.” He decided that he had made the right decision with the way Sophia was beaming up at him.
“Remus, I wasn’t expecting to see you here!” Madam Malkin said as she bustled over.
“Emily, I would have let you know but I wasn’t sure when we would be coming up,” Remus assured her as he allowed her to usher them further into the store.
“Well, what can I do for you today? I’m afraid I don’t carry much that would be appropriate for your new life in Greece…”
“Nothing for me,” Remus told her as he pulled Sophia forward, “I have one here who will be starting at Hogwarts in the fall.”
“Ah yes, she’s your new ward, isn’t she?”
“In a roundabout way, yes,” Remus told her. “Shall I just have a seat and let you two go at it then?”
“Yes, yes… find yourself a seat and let us take care of this,” Madam Malkin dragged Sophia forward and towards the back, “we’ll start with the basic uniform kit before we get your robes deary. There aren’t a lot of students who start in at Hogwarts as late as you. I trust Remus is getting you caught up? Yes, I’m sure he is, he will see to it that you won’t be behind in your classes once you start…”
Sophia let Madam Malkin keep up a one-sided conversation as measurements were taken and she was forced in and out of uniforms.
“What house do you think you’ll be in dear?”
“Oh…” Sophia tried to twist around to look at herself in the mirror, “I don’t know… I think Remus wants me to be in Gryffindor.”
“Hmmm… yes… both your father and Remus were in Gryffindor… that would make sense,” Madam Malkin said as she waved her wand so that the hem of Sophia’s robe adjusted itself. “Yes, yes, I know all about that love,” she continued on when she saw Sophia’s shocked expression, “there isn’t very much that I don’t know or find out about eventually. It’s one of the benefits of being in this line of professor.”
“It’s really heavy,” Sophia complained as she pulled at the neck of the buttoned up shirt.
“You’ll be thankful for that come October,” Madame Malkin assured her as she put the final touches on the hem. “There now, I think you’re done, back into your own clothes now!”
Sophia gratefully hopped off of the stool she had been standing on and started to change as Madame Malkin gathered up her measurements and a bundle of uniforms.
“That didn’t take too long,” Remus said as he joined Madam Malkin at the counter.
“Sophia’s changing, she’ll be out in a moment,” Emily told him.
“I suppose I should have her pick out a few things to wear on the weekends and such,” Remus said as he looked at the growing pile of uniform articles Madam Malkin was charming to the right size and wrapping in paper.
“Yes, she’ll need several jumpers, mainly warmer things. The school uniform includes a nice warm cloak, so you needn’t worry about that.”
“I’ll have her pick out some warm things, probably some shoes too…”
“Another thing Remus…”
“Yes?”
“Make sure that girl gets some decent underthings.”
Remus felt himself blushing, “I think I’ll let you assist her with that if you don’t mind.”
“Hmpf! I suppose I’ll let you off this time. Although… there is a new store that opened up next to Ollivander’s, they’ve quite the collection from Paris. Perhaps you should pick up something of a more revealing nature for your priestess…”
Remus blushed harder, “Emily, I hardly think that this is appropriate for us to be discussing…”
“Nonsense! I know what a woman appreciates and you should be more than happy to accept any advice I have to offer!”
“What happened to you?” Sophia asked as she joined them, looking curiously at Remus who was still rather pink.
“Well… I…,” Remus straightened his robes, “Madam Malkin will help you in picking out the rest of the clothes you’ll need for the school year. I’m going to go next store and pick up some parchment…” he said as he headed for the door.
“You said something about Kalliope, didn’t you?” Sophia asked as she turned to Madam Malkin.
“That’s none of your business child, but yes I did. Now then, let’s find you something to wear for when you’re not in class.”
~~~~~~~~~~~
“What do you think the chances are that if I went and checked on our daughters now I would find them all packed and ready to leave in the morning?”
Morgan looked up from her own trunk, “that depends which one you plan on checking on.”
“You don’t mean to tell me that one or more of them is actually ready to leave the night before we move into Hogwarts?” Severus asked as he sat down on the edge of their bed.
Morgan smiled and leaned over to receive a kiss, “I helped Olivia pack this morning, she’s ready to go.”
“Perhaps you should go motivate your other daughters…” Severus suggested as he stood up to retrieve several lacy garments that he wanted to make sure Morgan did not leave behind.
Morgan faced her husband, hands on her hips, as he proceeded to poke through her packing, “I’ll thank you to keep your hands out of my things, and please stop referring to them as my daughters. I believe you played some small role in their conception after all…”
“Not according to Serena, she is still insisting it was divine conception.”
Morgan snorted, “Divine conception? Those two? I think not. But if thinking so makes them happy…”
“Hmmm… what do you think the chances are that they have their homework done for the start of term?”
“Honestly Sev, you should know by now that they probably haven’t even started yet.” She turned back to remove several sets of robes from the carved wardrobe in the corner, “Dammit Sev! Didn’t I just tell you to stay out of my packing!?” Morgan exclaimed as she turned around to find her husband going through her trunk again.
“My, but your feathers are easily ruffled,” Severus commented dryly.
Morgan glared daggers at him before dropping the robes she had retrieved in the trunk and then spinning on her heel to stomp off. However, Severus grabbed a fistful of the back of her skirt, preventing her from going anywhere. “Let go Severus,” she growled at him.
Severus didn’t let go, but smiled to himself as he gave her skirt a tug.
“Let go,” Morgan told him as she balled her hands into fists.
Severus pulled on her skirt until Morgan had no choice but to take a step backwards. He kept pulling until Morgan had backed up so she was easily within reach. “You are not really angry, so I wonder why you are putting up this little front… are you trying to provoke me into something?” Severus asked.
Morgan crossed her arms over her chest and refused to turn around, but a slight smile played at her lips.
Severus wrapped an arm around Morgan’s waist and turned her around while he pulled her to stand in between his legs, “Well? What is it that you are up to?” he asked as he settled his hands on her hips.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Morgan replied coolly, although her eyes were sparkling mischievously.
“Hmmm… I seriously doubt that. You are up to something.”
“Am not.”
“Yes you are, I can tell. I spent seven years foiling your attempts to cause trouble in school and I’ve spent the last twenty two years defending myself against your impish ways.”
Morgan rolled her eyes, “I haven’t the slightest idea as to what you’re going on about.”
“I think you do.”
“You want to know what I have planned?”
“I’m dying to know,” Severus confided as he stole a kiss.
Morgan played with the front of Severus’ shirt, “I was rather hoping that if I convinced you I was angry you would consider…”
“Muuuuummmm!!!” Olivia came tearing into her room, tears streaming down her face, and her hair a rather vibrant shade of blue.
Severus groaned inaudibly. Would he never get a moment with his wife that remained free of children?!
“What happened?” Morgan wiped away Olivia’s tears with a lace edged handkerchief as she tried to calm the girl down.
“I don’t know!” Olivia wailed.
“I have a feeling your daughters bought more than just the fireworks you confiscated…” Morgan glanced up at her husband and smiled sweetly, “why don’t you go try and figure out what they gave her,” she suggested.
“And those confounded Weasley twins continue to be the bane of my existence,” Severus muttered to himself as he left Morgan to try and reassure Olivia that her hair would be back to its normal color shortly.
“What did you give your sister?” he demanded as he entered the twins’ bedroom.
“Nothing,” Dierna and Serena instantly replied together.
“Try again.”
“Well…” Dierna looked over to Serena for support.
“You see…” Serena shrugged her shoulders and tried to think fast.
“How enlightening, however I am sure that you can do a little bit better than that sorry attempt,” Severus swore that getting information out of his daughters when they knew they were going to be in trouble was about as easy as holing a rational conversation with a centaur.
“I love you Dad,” Dierna said without blinking.
“Me too,” Serena quickly jumped in, “and have we mentioned that you’re the best professor at Hogwarts?”
“In the history of Hogwarts!” Dierna quickly added.
“I would hate for the two of you to have to spend the week before classes confined to Gryffindor tower…”
“She did it,” the twins said in unison.
Severus sighed, “I want everything that you purchased from that abominable store, now. And if you have troubles finding your purchases, I assure you that I will not.” Severus waited while the girls grudgingly dug through several different drawers in their dresser and handed over the offensive objects. “I know that it is not all of it.”
Dierna and Serena shared a long mournful look as they retrieved the rest of their contraband stash from a small box that had been on top of their bookshelf. The only thing that remained hidden was the Marauders’ Map, which was still a closely kept secret.
“Finish packing and try to make a start on your homework tonight,” Severus told them, once he was certain he had at least the vast majority of their purchases from Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes, he turned on his heel and left in search of a strong drink.
“It never fails to amaze me how well that works…” Serena said as she fell back on her bed.
“It’s foolproof, all you have to do is irritate him and then he is so eager to get away from us that he forgets any plans he had of punishing us.”
~~~~~~~~~~~
