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"Severus, stop pulling your sister's hair," Lucius grumbled for the third time that morning. "Don't you want your Mother and the new baby to come home to some
semblance of order?"
"How's it my fault she decided to have another baby?" he grumbled right back, running a hand through his unruly brown curls. "Another girl, to be more
precise. How did I get stuck being the only boy?"
"Well, son, you're not the only boy I ever had," Lucius remarked. "I had another, once upon a time, but I spoiled him abominably, and I fear he would not
have been the best of men, had he lived. I was hoping that I might do a better job this time around, but your current behavior leads me to think otherwise."
"Must you always use that story whenever you wish me to behave myself, Father?" Severus asked in a long-suffering tone. "Very well, I shall promise to be nice
to Cissy, if you will promise the next child Mother has will be another boy."
"I've no way to do that, young man," Lucius said sternly. "Now, if you love your Mother, we'll hear no more of this nonsense."
"Yes, Father," he answered tiredly.
"Ah, and here they are now," he said proudly as Hermione and the nurse Apparated into the room along with the tiny bundle in her arms.
"Here she is, our little Rose," said Hermione with a smile. "Would you like to meet you new sister, my pets?"
"May I hold her, Mother?" Severus wanted to know.
From the moment he saw her tiny face, Severus Malfoy realized this sister was much different than the pesky Narcissa. She was special, and she already had a
smile meant just for him. He vowed from that very moment that he would protect and cherish her all his days, and as everyone knew, Malfoys always kept their
vows.
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