Eliza threw the nanny a disinterested look and got up, taking the small pile of books with her. As the thirteen year old huffed passed him, Severus glanced at the frazzled nanny and at the nappy-less baby she was holding down on the changing table. "She not being any help?"
"None a'tall. Hand me that nappy?" Marny asked, pointing to a lump of cloth right out of her reach. Severus handed her the nappy and settled the baby he was holding on the changing table and quickly changed him. Severus had learned from experience that unless you wanted to be shot with surprise ammo, it's a good idea to quickly change a baby boy. "How's Mrs.Hermione?" Marny asked. She then picked the two freshly nappied babies and put them into identical bassinets.
"She's exhuasted. I don't imagine having triplets is very easy. Not to mention the difficulty Eliza's beginning to present," Severus told her. "Well, I just came down here to get Stu and to change Preston." Severus picked up the two bassinets and went upstairs. He put the two infants inside the door of the nursery and then went to Eliza's room. "Eliza?" he asked, knocking on the door, "Can I come in?"
Eliza looked up, alarmed, from the tedious work of writing her own Maurauder's Map. During Christmas, she had found the charm in an obscure book in the Restricted Section of the library. Of course, Harry had been of some monumental help. It was one of the few times she didn’t mind her older brother being more than twice her age. "Er...one moment, okay?" She hurriedly shoved the book (if Madame Pince knew she had it....) and the parchment into the top drawer of her desk and dumped everything else in a heap on the floor next to her desk. Severus' eyes widened; what on Earth was that girl doing?! "Okay, you can come in!" Eliza called to him as she bounced onto her bed, holding her Potions book upside down.
Severus entered his daughter's room--it was still a big mess--and raised an eyebrow. "Eliza, love, your book is upside down."
"Oh! That would be why I can't understand it, isn't it?" Eliza replied brightly. "What can I do ya for?"
"Huh?"
"What can I do for you? American slang."
"Right," Severus said slowly. "I talked to Marny...she said that you wouldn't help her. I thought we agreed that you would help out with the triplets? I think dirty nappies is included with that."
"Er...right. Sorry 'bout that Daddy. I meant to help, honest. But I was reading and I just got into it!" Eliza lied, pulling her best sad-puppy look.
"Sure you did. I'm just asking that you are more considerate. The triplets are a handful for your mother and myself, and we'd appreciate it if you could help out some. Tomorrow, I'm going to go back to Hogwarts, so you'll really be needed. Harry’s coming by tonight after dinner, by the way.”
"Uh huh, okay Daddy. Uh, can you leave? I want to finish this homework."
Severus raised a cynical eyebrow and turned to leave. "Oh, and Eliza, the third floor will continue to be off-limits for you, alright?" Eliza nodded a few times before Severus left. "Hermione, why is our daughter such a trouble maker?" he asked, walking into the suite of rooms he and Hermione shared. "I certainly wasn't, and you weren't."
"I think it's that Weasley in her," Hermione told him from her spot in the middle of their large bed. "Where are Stuart and Preston?"
"Sleeping in their bassinets in the nursery." As soon as the words left his mouth, a loud wail reached Severus' ears. "Okay, awake in their bassinets in the nursery."
"Ickcarth ipsoneous. Ickcarth ipsoneous. Ickcarth ipsoneous Snape Manor!" Eliza chanted, pointing at a piece of parchment on her desk. Immediately, a map of Snape Manor started to appear on the map like spiderlines.