“Uhm, Professor, I’m not in trouble, am I?” Eliza asked. She answered herself with a shake of her own head and then asked suddenly, “My parents haven’t died on me, have they?” That thought alone made her panic.

“No, no, nothing so morbid as that, Eliza. It’s more of a birthday surprise.”

“But my birthday isn’t until tomorrow,” the twelve-year-old said bitterly. She still wasn’t over the fact that her parents were at an undisclosed location instead of with her. “And unless you’re going to tell me that either my parents are back or Voldemort’s dead or both, then I doubt it could be much of a surprise.”

“Well, I’m not God,” Dumbledore replied. “Or Merlin, for that matter. But I think you’ll like this surprise.” He said the password and the gargoyle sprang to the side. Eliza took a place on the moving stairs and allowed herself to be moved up to Dumbledore’s office. The headmaster was right behind her.

“So, what’s this surprise,” Eliza asked, sitting in a red chair. Her tone left absolutely no doubt as to who her father was.

“You’re aware that your mother’s a muggle-born, correct?”

“Yes. That’s why Daddy’s family wasn’t too thrilled about their marriage.”

“Well, have you ever heard of the London Zoo?”

“In passing, yes,” Eliza told him. Dumbledore’s eyes got brighter as he laughed internally. Sometimes the resemblance between her and Severus was of the utmost hilarity. But other times, the resemblance between Eliza and Hermione was uncanny. And her comments were definitely from the Hermione side of the girl’s brain. “What about the London Zoo?”

“Your going to it.”

Eliza rolled her eyes in a truly Snape-ish style. “Why?”

Dumbledore took the time to laugh. “Eliza, dear. I know you’re not the dullest crayon in the box. Why else would you go to the London Zoo besides for your birthday?”

Eliza looked at her feet and shrugged. Inside, she was ecstatic about being able to get out into Muggle London and going to the zoo…she had heard wonderful things about it from her mother and grandparents. But then, her mind reminded her that her parents were still at that undisclosed location and they wouldn’t be with her. Dumbledore saw this (remember, he’s a very smart man) and grinned.

“Whom do you think you’re going with?” he asked, his eyes practically shining with mirth.

“Harry or Uncle Ron?” Eliza asked. She knew that both of them had been to the London Zoo with her mother the summer after their seventh year.

“No, but you’re getting warmer,” Dumbledore taunted, also remembering that Hermione and Ron and Harry had been to the zoo the summer after they graduated.

“Ginny?”

“Guess again.”

“Aunt Parvati? Mrs.Weasley?”

“No and no,” Dumbledore replied with a shudder. He knew that Parvati had three children, but he couldn’t trust the still-ditzy witch with an important key to fighting Voldemort. “Would you like me to tell you?”

“Yes!” Eliza said eagerly. She wasn’t over the fact that she thought her parents weren’t taking her, but now her curiosity had peaked.

“Someone by the name of Ginger.”

“I don’t know any Gingers.”

“Sure you do. Now, you’ve got about three second before this Port Key activates and takes you to the arrival site.”

Eliza looked at the bottle of metallic blue nail polish and took hold of it. As soon as her trademark Snape fingers (the long, tapered ones) wrapped around the bottle, Eliza felt the tug behind her navel that signaled her entrance into the world of Port Keys.

On the other side of the Port Key, Hermione and Severus Snape were anxiously awaiting their twelve year old’s arrival. Dumbledore had allowed them to leave their undisclosed location to celebrate with her. Sure, they knew that when she got back that there’d be a big celebration for her in the dungeons, and that they wouldn’t be there, but they were happy that they could go to the zoo together.

Suddenly, a vortex appeared and a screeching girl fell out of it. Said girl stood up and dusted off her robes. When she looked up, Eliza let out a loud squeal. “Mum! Daddy!” Severus laughed and scooped up his daughter. Which, in and of itself, wasn’t a hard feat since the girl was extremely short for her age.

“Hullo angel,” he said, kissing her head. “Happy Birthday.”

“Happy Birthday only-girl,” Hermione said, hugging Eliza. Only-girl had become Hermione’s new nickname for her daughter since finding out that the babies were all going to be males, leaving Eliza the only girl squished in between four brothers. “Surprised?”

“Extremely. You guys are supposed to be doing something for Dumbledore.”

“We are doing something, but we got two others to take over for us for the afternoon,” Severus replied. “I’m surprised that Dumbledore didn’t tell you to wear muggle clothing.”

“Oh, he did. I’ve got on jeans and a jumper underneath.” Eliza shrugged off her Hogwarts robe and handed it to her mother. Hermione promptly transfigured it into a cute little beret that would match the gold jumper from Mrs.Weasley. “Thanks Mum,” Eliza screeched, placing the beret on top of her head.

“Welcome love,” Hermione said. But, not a moment after, her face scrunched up in pain.

“Are you okay, Hermione?” Severus asked, putting Eliza back onto the ground.

“Yes, I’ll be fine. Now, let’s go see those animals!” Hermione flashed her brightest smile and took her husband’s hand. She led the way into the zoo and Severus fumbled with the unfamiliar muggle money. Out of irritation, she grabbed the money and handed the man the correct amount.

Inside the zoo, Eliza charged off to the reptile house and stopped in front of the snake display. “Hey Mum! Come check this out!” Eliza shouted, pointing at a green serpent that Hermione couldn’t identify immediately. “Doesn’t that look like the snake on Slytherin robes?” she asked.

“Yes, it sure does,” Hermione said, slowly, her face once again scrunched up in pain. “Honey, where’d your father go to?”

“He’s over there checking out the king cobra. I think he secretly wants one,” Eliza whispered theatrically.

Hermione nodded and waddled (yes, waddled…have you forgotten? Shame!) to Severus. “I think we need to go back to Hogwarts.”

Severus turned around to eye his wife. He couldn’t see anything visibly wrong with her to warrant going back to the school, so he looked over at Eliza. Nothing was visibly wrong with his daughter, either. With this in mind, he turned back to his wife. “What’s the matter, Hermione? Why do we need to go back to Hogwarts?”

“Because,” Hermione started, “I think I’m about to make this family twice as large.”

“What?” Severus tapped his head for a second before his face schooled into a very shocked face. “You’re joking, right?! They aren’t due for another two months!”

“Well, multiple births are usually premature,” Hermione stated coldly. She was apparently angry that her husband hadn’t done the proper research about her pregnancy. “And these three really want ou-AGHHHH,” the witch groaned. “Severus, Hogwarts, NOW.”

“Right away, ma’am!” Severus rounded on a very shocked Eliza. “Do you have the key?” Eliza nodded. “Hand it over.” When Eliza handed him the nail polish, he rolled his eyes before quickly muttering the charm to make it a Port Key. Severus pushed the bottle into Hermione’s hand and Eliza quickly grabbed hold of it right before her parents were sucked through