The Titov Family

Chapter Eleven: The Titov Family and the Assignment Begins

"Oh, honestly, Severus," Hermione said in an annoyed voice. "I don't think this is necessary."

Severus was holding out a set of thick, green winter robes and a brown fur cloak.

"You will catch a chill wearing... that," Severus said, nodding at the short brown and white striped Muggle dress she was wearing.

He ran his eyes over her again. It had no sleeves. It showed her knees. The neckline was so low, it dared to reveal an endearing little freckle just over her--

"They're used to seeing clothing like this, Hermione," said Severus, grasping at straws as he shook the robes at her. "With Anna so close to her time she might feel a little protective about her husband. Especially when you are wearing conventional Muggle clothing that shows more than they are used to."

"Oh," said Hermione, sounding disappointed as she took the robes from him. "I didn't even think of that. You're probably right."

Severus let out a sigh of relief.

Hermione stepped behind a wooden changing screen. It was painted a pale cream with pink roses dappled across the segments and reminded Hermione of something out of a Victorian novel.

Anastasia had insisted on the six paneled obstruction on the grounds that the room was too masculine and needed a bit of lightening up. Hermione and Severus had been thankful for the bit of privacy.

Hermione slipped out of the dress her mother had given her and stepped into the robes Severus had presented her with.

They were surprisingly light, although thick and they seemed to be made out of a material similar to cashmere. She rubbed the material between her fingers curiously and made a mental note to ask Severus about it later.

"Better?" asked Hermione, stepping out from behind the screen. The robes had some form to them, but had a high collar and the hem went down to her feet.

"Much," said Severus, holding out the fur cloak. She took it from him and fastened it with a brooch in the shape of a silver teardrop. "You look very nice."

"Thank you," said Hermione. "Are we Apparating?"

"No," said Severus. "Floo."

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Anna Titov jumped slightly as the flames jumped up in the hearth behind her.

She smiled as her husband's cousin stepped through the flames and gave her a small smile. She always liked it when Severus smiled; he did it so infrequently.

Severus saw Anna put a hand to her pregnant stomach and wince slightly. He ran to her and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Is it time, Anna?" he cried, his voice slightly high.

Anna scowled, her large brown eyes glaring at him. Her straight black hair was pulled back into a large bun. Kohl darkened her eyes and her lips were rouged. Her light brown skin seemed to shine from the various fires in ovens and stovetops in the small kitchen.

"You are as bad as Pieter," Anna said in heavily accented English. "I have done this before, you remember."

Then she whacked him with the wooden spoon she was holding.

Someone giggled, and Anna peered into in the dim light.

She hadn't even noticed the girl's arrival behind Severus.

Severus' new wife was a pretty girl with wild, curly brown hair she had done up. She smiled shyly and Anna smiled back wearily as a bowl of something whisked by Severus' head.

The kitchen was very small. Small yellowish-tan tiles covered the walls and floor. Large wooden cabinets and bins lay above and below the long counter that lined the walls. A large, cast iron, wood-burning stove creaked, and bubbling noises came from it. An assortment of copper pots rested on the top of it, wooden spoons resting on their rims.

Anna reached out to take the girl's hand and pulled her closer. "You brought someone useful, for a change." She said to Severus. She looked at his new wife. "Can you stir a cauldron?"

"Yes," she said, receiving Anna's friendly hug without an introduction.

"Good, then you can stir a pot," said Anna, handing her a wooden spoon, steering her to the stove and taking her cloak from her. "Stir the first two like a simple growth potion, the second like a polishing potion, and the last can be stirred anyway you like. It is just soup. Severus, Pieter is already into the vodka. Stop him. If I have to put up with another evening of off-key opera I may kill him."

The girl laughed as Severus hurried out of the room. "Is it really that bad?"

"It is horrible, and the children think it is amusing and encourage him," Anna said, lowering herself down slowly in a black wooden chair near a small red wooden table. "Sometimes they join in. They sound like werewolves in pain."

"I'm sorry," she said, chuckling as she stirred a pot.

"I would not normally mind," said Anna admittedly, "but I have been having a short temper as of late."

"I can imagine," said the girl, nodding at Anna's midsection.

"I think this will be the last," said Anna thoughtfully. "Anymore and he'll have his own army." She paused as she watched her stir. "Thank you for helping."

"Not a problem," Hermione said, handing Anna a biscuit from a basket hanging from a hook. Anna bit into it and smiled.

"Sometimes I get so busy I forget to eat," Anna admitted.

"Really?" Hermione asked, raising an eyebrow, not surprised at all.

Anna smiled widely. She already liked this girl. Severus really had found the one for him. It was about time.

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Severus shook his head as he walked into Pieter's den. He seemed to be doing the can-can by himself, as he browsed a bookshelf, holding a small tumbler in one hand.

"SEV-EH-UH-EH-UH-EH-UH-EH-UH!" shrieked a Tarzan yell from a corner.

"Well, goodness, young man," said Severus, amused as he scooped up his dark-haired, young cousin. "How terrifying you have become!"

"I am five," the small child said in almost perfect English. "And my name is Misha Titov."

"Your English is very good, Misha Titov," said Severus as the little boy flung his arms around Severus' neck. "What did you get for your birthday this year?"

"A training broom," he began. Severus winced. "A book about the stars, a book about Quidditch, and an Atlas."

"Very exciting," said Severus, his eyebrows raised.

"Smatrets, Misha!" said a small voice from a corner.

"Bulgaria!" Misha squirmed to be put down.

"Severus!" boomed Pieter. "How kind of you to join us for dinner!"

Severus embraced his cousin. Anna was right; he didn't need any more vodka.

"Your little ones are growing so fast," said Severus.

"They are five, three and two," said Pieter proudly, looking at the dark haired children piled in a corner pouring over an Atlas. "Misha, Nadia, and Tatiana. So far, only Misha speaks English, but the little ones are picking it up."

"I'm sorry we're such a burden," said Severus embarrassedly.

"The children would learn eventually," said Pieter dismissively. "Learning to speak to family is a good enough reason to start early."

"I never picked it up," said Severus in an annoyed tone. "They may not be able to."

"We spoke only English when you were young," said Pieter. "There was no reason for you to learn Russian. They learn things so quickly they don't understand it is supposed to be difficult."

"You're not that much older than me," said Severus in an annoyed tone, taking Pieter's glass away from him and taking a drink.

"Almost half a decade," said Pieter, walking over to a counter with bottles lined up on it. "Anna is almost two decades younger than me. Seventeen years."

"I keep forgetting Anna is only twenty five," said Severus as he walked over to monitor Pieter.

"It is better to wed them young," said Pieter with a twinkle in his eye. "They are willing to put up with more misbehavior and think it is attractive. Then again, you know all about that, wouldn't you Severus?"

"That was not why I was married to Miss Granger, and you know it!" Severus hissed.

"So she is 'Miss Granger' now," Pieter said loudly as his booming laugh filled the room. "You are in denial, Severus. She is fond of you. Take her, and she will be yours."

"Good God, man," said Severus looking over at the children in the corner. "Keep your voice down."

"How do you think they got here?" asked Pieter, raising his glass.

Severus reluctantly clinked his glass to Pieter's. "One can only imagine."

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Hermione sat at the dinner table between Nadia and Severus in a modest room lit by red candles. Pieter led a prayer in Russian and they had lifted their spoons to begin their borscht.

Nadia seemed intent on telling Hermione the events of the day and didn't seem one bit put off that Hermione didn't speak a word of Russian.

Tatiana stared at Hermione with large green eyes and played with her spoon throughout most of the meal. She seemed fascinated with Hermione's hair.

Mushrooms in sour cream and chicken followed. For dessert, little fruitcakes were served carefully by Misha before they retired to the parlor.

Pieter tired quickly after dinner, and he sank into a burgundy velvet couch with a pleasant smile on his face as Misha played the piano for them.

Anna put the girls to bed, then came down to tell them she was going to bed herself, but would look forward to seeing them again soon.

Severus rose from his place near Hermione on a love seat to embrace Anna and place a hand on her stomach. Anna murmured something to him that made his cheeks darken and he glanced at Hermione quickly.

Hermione glanced at Pieter, who seemed to be smiling at the pair.

After Anna retreated from the room, Severus made himself a drink and sat in a leather chair near Pieter, disappointing Hermione a little.

Their talk of Quidditch turned to fishing, and Misha was told to go to bed before long.

He rose from his seat at the piano and kissed both his father and Severus on the cheek before coming over to give a somewhat surprised Hermione a hug. Hermione watched him slip a book into his pocket before he left the parlor.

"Did he take the book on the desk or the table?" Pieter asked, yawning.

"The trunk," Hermione frowned.

Pieter thought for a minute, then nodded and shrugged. "Ghost stories. At least his sisters are asleep already."

"Did you bring the documents?" asked Severus.

"Yes, yes," said Pieter, waving a hand at him. "They are complicated and greatly decayed, though. It will take you some time to go through them."

Pieter walked over to his desk and opened a drawer. He pushed lightly at the bottom of one of the drawers and the bottom swung up. He reached into a hidden compartment and brought out a large package wrapped in brown paper.

"Be careful with them," said Pieter. "If they are lost--"

"Nothing will happen to them," said Severus. "I will make sure of it."

He somehow managed to tuck the package into his robes without it showing at all.

"I also have something for you," said Pieter to Hermione.

He handed her a blue envelope that seemed to shimmer.

"What's this?" asked Hermione.

"Is that what I think it is?" asked Severus incredulously.

Hermione turned over the envelope and broke the seal, green wax with the imprint of an ivy leaf. When she opened the envelope, shimmering silver smoke rose out of it.

Madam Hermione Snape,

Inessa Helenasdottir

"Well this certainly opens doors for us," said Severus, excitedly. It was the first time Hermione had ever seen him this way. "The Amazons are even worse than the Brotherhood at guarding their information."

"They seem to take the Dark Lord's invasion into what they seem to see as their territory as a personal insult," said Pieter, his eyes darkening.

"Approximate Amazon army size?" Severus asked, opening the top on the packet of papers and peeking in.

"Three hundred strong," said Pieter. "Could you imagine three hundred insulted women looking for you?"

Severus let out a snort. Hermione giggled to herself.

"I still do not feel sorry for him, mind you," said Pieter, waving a finger at Severus as he poured vodka in a tumbler for Hermione. "I am just saying it is not a place I would want to be in."

"Indeed," said Severus, closing the end of the packet that he had been peering in.

The Dark Lord may have bitten off more than he could chew, finally.

He was weakened and hiding, yet managed to catch the attention of the original militant feminist organization. Not to mention, one of the most respected magical elite forces unit in the world.

A wild part of Severus imagined it would be entertaining to watch.

Severus and Hermione Flooed back to the Snape estate and made their way to the kitchens so they could put away the basket of leftovers Pieter had insisted on sending home with them.

A small house-elf hopped up on a chair and Hermione jumped back into Severus, startled.

"Cherv will take that for you, Madam," he said.

"Thank you," said Hermione.

The elf hopped down and trotted happily into the door to the pantry with the basket.

Hermione lowered a look at Severus.

"We'll talk in the morning," he groaned sleepily.

He'd already had enough for one day.