Disclaimer: HP characters belong to J.K.Rowlings, as does some of the general story line. The Blackwell Triplets belong to my sisters and I. I make no money off these chapters.
A Three-Braided Cord
Chapter One: Finding the Forsaken
It was a warm, extremely warm summer afternoon. The Blackwell girls, triplets by the names of Mollie, Selene, and Vivian, were getting a taxi home from a softball game at the international field in Senegal. They had flown out to visit their former home of Dakar, Senegal after their first three years of university in the USA. Their parents were missionaries in Senegal, currently working at a divinity school based in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, three countries to the south of Senegal.
"Nice job girls, good hustle," the alumni team waved good-bye as the tired, dehydrated girls hailed a taxi.
It was a done deal, after softball and a shower that they were going to pursue their favorite pastime, read Harry Potter, and update their fanfics. J.K. Rowling's books were even good for college students. But they couldn't have HP parties here like in their university because no one here knew about Harry Potter. The taxi pulled over and Mollie, eldest by 12.3 minutes, started using her practiced French to barter for a price to Hann Mariste, their parent's home. Vivi stared up at the vibrant sun, hopelessly dreaming of rain in this forsaken desert. Looking down, she saw a white man, which wasn't a surprise considering the softball game had just ended and there were many whites around. The surprising thing was his clothes…black robes! Vivi tugged at Selene's arm.
"Selene, check out that guys clothes."
"Who? The beater chugging the beer?" Selene asked as she turned around.
"No Sel, the guy in the long robes, silly! Gosh!" Vivian said as they started giggling at his funny appearance.
"Let's show Mols. Better yet, lets take a picture. It will last longer."
They grinned at each other, laughing at the stranger in the crowd. The unique outsider apparently felt their eyes on him and turned around. Vivian gasped as Selene shook her head. It couldn't be Severus Snape, could it? The man scowled. He was utterly unenthusiastic and making it quite known.
Mollie turned around, unaware of her sisters' newest observation, and yelled at them to get in the broken taxi, her bartering complete.
"You're not going to let him go without getting a picture, are you Selene? The camera is in Mols bag."
"You saw him first, Vivi. You take a picture. He isn't real, we just need water, loads and loads of cool fresh water." Selene ended dramatically.
"Hurry up! Vivi. Sel. I'm tired!" Mollie called impatiently.
"Go on, Sel, ask the imposter to join us." Vivian urged her sister.
"Fine then, I will." She raised her chin trying to not appear as awkwardly shy as she felt. You would feel strange too if you were walking up and talking to a man that no one seemed to be able to see.
Selene walked straight up to the stranger who scowled at her. All Selene's shyness left her.
"Get over yourself; you're not as bad-ass as you think you are. You might as well get into the taxi."
Slightly surprised, he followed her to the taxi and joined the three girls on their way home. Mollie turned around in the front seat to talk to her sisters.
"Hey Viv…Holy FUCK! Is that…?" A dark eyebrow rose at her language.
"Oh good, you can see him too. Then you aren't just a vision of our dehydrated minds." Selene leaned her head back on the bouncy seat, much more comfortable with her surroundings now that this man between her and Vivian was real.
The later was still feeling quite awkward, sitting next to a man she had only read about in books. Snape was expertly keeping his cool under the inspection of these three muggles who acted as if they knew him.
Mollie turned around in her seat, her mind racing. Normally they would have pummeled him with questions, but this guy could still be an apparition of dehydrated minds, or worse: the real thing. All the girls had read the Harry Potter books seven or eight times, and it looked like they had finally gone insane. It was quiet on the short ride home, all of the girls stealing glances at the silent phantom.
The taxi driver pulled off where Mollie directed and stopped in front of the fruit stand. They raced to exit the padding-less taxi (those wheels must have been over seven years old and the shocks were non-existent). Mollie saw Snape look back in disgust as he followed the triplets down a rocky path.
"We don't like to show our house to taxi men, some are a bit off their rockers." Mollie stated to no one in particular.
"Or they like white girls too much...white means money to them." Selene added vehemently.
The house that the small path opened up to was exactly what you would expect in the middle of Dakar. The girls entered the gate from the street to their half decent, two story, concrete, white washed house: no grass, no air conditioning, and horrifically typical. The Snape apparition glided behind.
"I'm showering first," Mollie rushed off to claim her spot, wanting to reclaim her sanity.
Vivi sauntered in behind her, taking her curlier hair out of the ponytail. Yeah, she liked Harry Potter, they all did, but having some wanna-be dressed up and looking like Snape (who Mollie and Selene liked more then Harry Potter) was intolerable. 'Why did I encourage Selene to take him with us? Why am I even bothering myself about him? Sheesh.' Vivian stepped into her parent's shower, the only comfort here. No Snape, no visions, no thought, except the soothing water running down her back. She sighed with relief as she looked at the little key hanging around her neck. She had found it years ago in a trunk in her grandparent's attic and kept it. It looked good on the little gold chain around her neck.
Selene had plopped her sweaty 21-year-old self into the lazy boy, chugging a glace of water, momentarily forgetting the shadow she had called upon. Her auburn hair was falling out of her ponytail not at all gracefully, considering the sweat. She sat up and leaned her elbows on her knees. "Are you for real, Severus? Because if not, you are going to have to go as quickly as possible before my dear Mollie gets to you. And if you are," Selene snorted, "I must be crazy." She got up, not bothering to hear the answer, almost afraid if he would answer.
Snape glided over, he wouldn't shout across the room. "I cannot promise you you're sanity, but I am no illusion of an inane little girl."
That put a fire in her; she was 21 and about to straighten up this proud wizard, when…
"Sel, shower's free!" Mollie bounded into the living room, wrapped only in a fluffy pink towel. "YOU!" Ruffled, she rushed back to get dressed, leaving a wide-eyed Snape and a laughing Selene, who headed for the showers.
Five minutes later, the girls met in their old bedroom. "Okay, we picked him up from softball."
"Mollie, that sounds as if we picked up a stray dog," Selene proclaimed as Vivi snorted.
"But in this case, he is a bat animagus…right?"
"No Vivi, that was only in our fanfic. I'll prove it… Where are the books?" Selene started searching.
Mollie, who had been lying on her back, looked around the room. "Viv, did you take down my Draco posters? I'm going to kill you if you did."
"Why would I do that? Sel, you found the books yet? Ok, what are we going to do about Snape?"
"The books aren't here." A bewildered Selene said while going through boxes of their old stuff. "I thought I had left them out on the desk but they just aren't here."
"That Snape has a lot of explaining to do. I tell you, he isn't a bat anamagus…look it up on or hp-lexicon. They have everything!" Sel headed for the computer at Mollie's orders. "www.jkr …its not in the history." Selene kept searching as Mollie sat up. Vivian looked irritated.
"Website error, site not found. Damn it, no daily wizard! Okay, what about schnoogle? Not found either…" her voice trailed on as she frantically searched websites. Mollie and Vivian moved to the door, Selene followed them. They all walked into the living room to find a sitting Snape.
"SNAPE! WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO WITH ALL OUR STUFF?" Mollie's green eyes were flashing as he looked up from a magazine he had been browsing.
"I will politely ignore the language and the accusation and ask 'what stuff'?" Snape quietly responded.
"Our HP Books, the websites…although I don't know how you could have possibly done that even with magic" Mollie icily responded.
"…and all of Mollies" cough "posters are missing as well." Selene added.
Snape set the magazine down and stood up, straightening his wrinkleless cloak as he went. He really looked like he was trying to keep his temper down; no doubt this containment of his temper was on someone else's orders.
"I have taken nothing and touched nothing but that magazine, which was no doubt written by someone with less brains than a first year Hufflepuff." His expression implied that he viewed them in the same way.
"Than why are our books, websites, and every other piece of information on your world suddenly disappeared?" Mollie asked.
"Are you accusing me again, Miss.?" Mollie stared at the waiting figurine of power. Snape's face was stone as he stood in front of Mollie, Vivian hurried to change the topic.
"Perhaps we should have supper now and discuss all of this over Chicken and Alfredo noodles."
Selene and Vivian hurried out of the living room and into the dinning room to start setting the table. Mollie stood before Snape as the others left the room.
"Was I in this stuff that you have misplaced?" Snape demanded, standing so they were almost touching. She had always loved that voice in the movies. It was the softest, throatiest velvet. And they had gotten the voice pretty darn close to the real life one. She breathed in, which was it was difficult as she inhaled the sent of him, he stood so close.
He narrowed his eyes. "I asked you a question and I won't repeat it."
He was obviously losing his patience. He sneered. This was the real thing, she knew now, and it slightly frightened her.
"I'm not deaf," Mollie smoothly replied, regaining her braveness. Finally sure of their phantom, she reached out and touched him on the face. He went rigid at the touch and stepped back, caught unaware. Their puppy was now under the headlights. "I'm making dinner, care to join us?" She turned just as she was going through the doorway. "Besides, looks like we all need answers."
Vivian and Selene were in the kitchen waiting for her.
Snape followed her in to the dining room and seated himself at the head of the table while Mollie whisked around the kitchen. Although it was June and school was out for them, their parents were working in the Ivory Coast for two more days and no maid was hired to cook for them.
"So, just for our sanity, would you care to tell us who you are?" Snape just glanced at Selene. You could not tell one girl from another except for by their eyes, and one had slightly more curls that the others. This Selene had bright blue eyes, almost white in the middle by the pupil.
"Severus Snape. Potions master of Hogwarts School…" he hesitated, "of Witchcraft and Wizardry." He expected them to blow up, faint, or something, but the one they called Vivian just nodded her curlier head and continued putting down forks on the table.
"Why are you in Senegal?" Snape turned to look at Vivian, he noted the eyes were a deep amber brown, warm and strong to those who notice such things. It reminded him of some forest animal, a deer or a bear, maybe a wolf. It was very odd indeed for a muggle.
"Headmaster Albus Dumbledore used a tracking spell to find a powerful seer. It led me to your playing field. Still understand? Our current seer is not nearly as reliable as we had hoped."
"Way ahead of you. We all know that Trelawney is an almost fraud." Mollie answered from the kitchen.
"May I ask your names?" He demanded.
"Mollie Blackwell." Mollie said from her position on top of the island separating the kitchen from the dinning room. "These are my sisters Selene Blackwell," the blue eyed one blew a kiss, "and Vivian Blackwell," the brown eyed one slapped Selene's hand and smiled politely at Snape.
"Glad to make your aquatince." Snape said civilly.
"Good. Now that we are all introduced somebody pummel the man with questions. Oh dangerous one, come here for a second and cut up these unions…we all know how much you love knives." Selene stood to help her sister; she brandished her knives and chopped that union up proper.
"Okay. Um…Severus, does Harry Potter attend Hogwarts?" Vivian asked. 'Simple is best when you start out.' She reasoned.
"Was Harry Potter in your lost stuff as well?" The word stuff sounded sarcastic every time in came out of his mouth.
"Yes, and everyone knows about Harry Potter." That didn't seem to make him happier at all. "Here, I'll call Vanessa, she's a fan." Vivi skidded over to the phone and dialed Vanessa's phone number (way in America... Desperate times called for desperate actions) by heart. "Hello, is Vanessa there? …Oh, hi!… Sorry bout calling you up in the middle of the night… Yah, forgot about the time changes from Senegal to America. Do you know Harry Potter…No, I didn't meet him at the softball game…no, not very hot, um, I'll talk to you tomorrow…Lord of the Rings!…You can't be serious…No, not Legolas!…Good bye Vanessa." Vivian hung up the phone. "Oh my headache."
"Vivi, Advil is in the drawer." Mollie said in her motherly fashion. Snape watched with uncharacteristic fascination as Vivian swallowed two tiny pink pills.
"No one knows about him, then? All our books, posters, sites are gone." Selene sighed dramatically, the back of her hand on her forehead as she pretended to faint into a giggling Vivian's arms. Snape ignored them.
"Okay, now Snape, you have some explaining to do." Mollie said, her hands rubbing her temples. "Twenty minutes till supper: Chickens in the oven."
That night, Snape spent the night in their parent's room. While sleeping, the girls snuck into his room to get a couple pictures of him, making sure that the flash didn't wake him up. Giggling they all ran back to their room and laughed until their sides ached. Those were going to be some good, crazy, interesting, attention-grabbing pictures!
They had figured out, during their discussion with Snape, that Harry was now going into his 4th year (it was still summer after all); Sirius Black was out of Azkaban as of last year (to Selene's great delight); and everything from Quirrell in the first year to the Basilisk in the 2nd year including Dumbledore's lemon drops obsession were happening according to the now non-existent books, or the books-that-lived-no-more as they were sarcastically nicknamed by Mollie.
They also found out that peas are one of Snape's favorite foods, which he was forced to admit after his second bowl full.
Snape had never heard of JK Rowlings, so she probably didn't exist. And if she did than no wizard had ever heard of her. Gilderoy Lockhart, the stupid menace to society, was locked away in St. Mungo's Hospital (thank God). No one really knew where this knowledge would take them, but things would be decided soon, since their parents arrival in Dakar had been moved to this afternoon. The girls woke around 10 o'clock.
They had watched Phantom of the Opera the night before, after their big supper and bigger talk. It was between the Phantom and What a Girl Wants, and after one glance at the cover of What a Girl Wants, Severus Snape had spoken vehemently against it. And with great reason too, because it was an embarrassment to his country. It appeared to the triplets that Snape enjoyed the Phantom of the Opera since he stayed for the entire movie and even added commentary to some parts. He sported a scowl whenever Raoul dared to show his face.
But when Selene had said, "Wow! Christine reminds me of Hermione Granger!" Snape gave her exactly the reaction she was hoping for.
"And I suppose that idiot Raoul would be Potter. And I suppose you have casted all the other roles in this film as well?" he commented. Mollie grinned, catching Vivian's eye.
"Yes actually. Would you like to play the Phantom? I am sure that Hermione would not mind. Nor would Dumbledore mind putting on such a production at Hogwarts." Snape looked at Mollie like she had grown an extra head.
"Merlin! I will not play any of your adolescent roles, Miss. Blackwell. Do refrain for making such a ridiculous suggestion to the Headmaster. Now, would you mind refraining from babbling nonsense during the rest of this…VHS."
And so it went for the rest of the night.
"Good morning, Snape!" Selene sang as she skipped into the dinning room and opened the fridge. She was not normally a morning person, none of them were, but she had slept well unlike her sisters.
"Morning." Vivian grumbled as plopped her small self down at the table next to Snape. Her curly hair flying in several directions, she had tried to smooth it down but it wasn't behaving properly.
"You were up early," Mollie commented sleepily as she walked into the room wearing pink fluffy slippers and jeans with a tee shirt. She took the cereal off the shelf. "What did Dumbledore write?" They had seen an owl fly into their yard early this morning, and none of them were stupid. The owl was still here, apparently in their parent's bedroom from where they could hear its faint cooing.
"Normally, that is none of your business Miss. Blackwell," he spat out. It would appear as though he was not a morning person. "But Dumbledore wishes for you three to accompany me back to London. This would not normally happen and it is not my wish." They saw the invisible "but…" hanging in the air.
"As in we already know everything you tell us and you need us to win your war?" Mollie rubbed in.
"Apparently," was his only reply.
"And our parents?" Vivian asked; she had always been the family type.
"They get in this morning. I have been wanting to speak to them for quite some time now." Snape's eyes momentarily clouded over with an undistinguishable emotion.
"What if we refuse to come with you?" Selene asked, her elbows unceremoniously on the table as she lifted her spoon full of cereal to her mouth.
"You won't," he said to that, but the look in his eyes showed a deeper story. 'If you don't come with me, the Death Eaters will find you and will use unforgivable curse on you until you will tell everything you know. If this happens, the world as we know it will be no more.'
His expression was perfect. The girls read him perfectly. Vivian gulped. Selene looked a bit anxious while Mollie tried not to faint, but that was from the domineering presence before them. She sighed inside. This man was skinnier than the man in the movies, but only a tiny bit. He was just as wonderful as the books in her opinion, and that was saying something!
"So we come with you and do what?" Vivian inquired.
"Sit around until our information from the books is useful? You said last night that Dumbledore was looking for seers. We aren't seers. We just know what is going to happen and what has happened because of JK Rowling." Selene finished.
"If you would like to be doing something useful I can think of a few things Filch could find for you." Vivian shuddered at the thought, Selene smirked, and Mollie was out of it this morning, so she had no reaction at all. They finished their breakfast (Snape had refused to eat cereal) and put the dishes in the sink. There was no need to wash them since they would be leaving soon and their mother was coming. After all, she could wash them. They would have asked Snape to wash them but they didn't really think he would submit to their requests.
"Ok, but we live at Hogwarts castle." Vivian started to barder, stating the simple first.
"That can be arranged." Was that a hint of a smile on Snape's face?
"And…"
"GIRLS? Sweethearts! Where are my munchkins? Darlings we're home! Come to me, my lovely triplets!" Their mother's shrill voice echoed in the silence. The girl's grimaced at one another.
'Munchkins?' thought the triplets 'Darlings?' When had their mother ever used such foul language? Next it would be buttercup, blossom, and bubbles! Too many weird things were happening today. First Harry Potter was real and than their mother was happy to see them!
"In here mother…" Vivian sighed (not even she was used to this treatment). Their father was the first to walk in, stopping short and going rigid at the sight of their guest. Their mother was right behind him.
"Why is he here?" Their father practically hissed.
"Oh, um, we drove him home from softball," Mollie said.
'Lost puppy?' Selene chortled, trying to stifle her mental image of Snape as a lost puppy at a softball game, her puppy turned out to look more like a furry bat.
The said furry bat stood up and walked toward the two stone statues that the triplets normally called their parents.
"Marcus Black and his own Ursula Wells! Or should I say Mr. and Mrs. Blackwell." Snape whispered harshly to them, the girls were straining to hear so he accommodated them and spoke loud enough for them to hear. "Now I know why you left, I would have too. They are wonderful girls, aren't they? Quite the talented trio you have been trying to raise. Don't act like you don't know who I am or why I am here, my old friends." He poured the venom onto that last word, making it sound rather like a curse. "I want you to know that it didn't work. They are no squibs, you have seen it, haven't you, Marcus? You were always a sly little dog, the top Slytherin, well now I am taking your girls with me…"
"STOP!" Mr. Blackwell bellowed, his face a deepening red. "You will not take MY children back to Hogwarts!"
Mrs. Blackwell chipped in her to cents here, reminding the triplets of an overlarge Petunia. "No, no, no, no, no! Why do you think we left in the first place! To get our children away from them. I was a witch, I went to Hogwarts, I knew what it was like and THANK GOD I am a gone from all that!"
"Whoa, Mom, you're a witch?" The triplets felt cheated.
"WAS a witch." Their father continued. "She broke her wand, as did I. I never liked how we treated people and were treated by them. We were supposed to be all great and mighty as pureblood Slytherins! We were to have the perfect children, but it all was fake! A hoax! A cunning betrayal at best! Now GO TO YOUR ROOM while we talk to this…man."
"Marcus." Mollie eyes narrowed, Selene and Vivian standing side by side with her. "We are going to Hogwarts."
"We will disown you! They just want to use you, they will take you and use you and torture your soul!" their mother shrilled.
Selene laughed a cruel laugh and pointed at her mother. Reminding Snape somewhat of Bellatrix, but he decided not to laugh right now. After all, things were going so well. "What have you ever given us? No love! That is for sure, we could see that you were scared of us. We took care of one another; we tucked each other in to bed when we were younger. We took care of each other when we were sick. You never cared for us." Selene was furious, and rightly so. Vivian looked at her sister, realization dawning on her. Than she walked up to Mrs. Blackwell, her birth mother only, stopped in front of her and slapped her across the face. Shocked, Mrs. Blackwell fell and grabbed her stinging cheek where a red mark was imprinted in the shape of a hand.
"That's for lying to us for 21 years!" Vivian screamed at her mother.
Mr. Blackwell, her father, lunged at his youngest daughter. There was a purple light and the heavy form flew backwards, slamming against the refrigerator and passing out next to his shocked wife. The girls turned around to see Snape with his wand still raised.
"Well, at least I don't have to worry about the authorities. There are no magic detectors out here in Africa," Snape said, lowering his wand.
'Was that humor?' Mollie thought. "So you could have washed the dishes for us. Damn."
"Go pack," Snape continued, ignoring what he didn't want to hear. "We have a long journey ahead of us." The girls nodded and left Snape to their parents. While he was quite civil to the girls, they knew he would not be as kind to their parents, but they didn't care.
Snape sneered at the quivering female before knocking her unconscious with a stunning spell. Brandishing his wand he lifted and sat them down against one another at the table. He worked quickly and methodically. Removing memories of the Triplets since the girls left home and establishing a new memory of a car crash where the girls had died. It was difficult but not impossible since the parent had seen their children rarely and didn't think of them too often. He grimaced, silently sympathizing with the young women's pasts. Their childhood was not even close to as unpleasant as his own, but even if it wasn't yet, it soon would be.
A few hours later they stepped on the WAWA Bus; the West Africa Wins Again version of the Knight Bus. Africa was always stealing ideas and things from western nations and this bus was a fine example of that.
"Boujour et Bienvenu! C'est 4000 cfa pour allez vers Espaine, mes petites." (Which meant: Hello and Welcome! It's 8 dollars to go towards Spain, my little ones.)
"Pour chaque personne?" Mollie inquired. (For each person?)
"Oui, 4000 cfa." (Yes, 8 dollars.)
"Oh monsieur! C'est trop! Nous ne sommes pas les touriste!" (Oh sir! That is too much! We are not tourists). Mollie was just getting ready to bargain with this guy, and she was in the mood to argue.
"C'est 4000 cfa." The fat driver did not want to give way, but Mollie wasn't about to either. Selene gave her a nudge and handed her a fountain pen.
"2000 cfa, chef, pour chaque personne et nous allons te donner ce stilo!" (4 dollars, chief, for each person and we will give you this pen.) Mollie insisted, considering that they needed to go now to get the boat on time, and Snape was getting more aggravated by the second, not to mention, rather uncomfortable with this run down bus. The fat bus driver looked over the fountain pen Mollie had handed him. It was a very nice pen; Selene had just received it for Christmas from her parents. They had never been too generous with gifts.
"Bon d'accord, Entrée." (Fine, get in.) He motioned towards the back of his bus. "Les chose que je fait pour les belle filles." (The things that I do for pretty girls.) The triplets climbed aboard, quite disgusted as the driver grumpily checked them out as they went past. He was a fat African man, though they couldn't place his country, but he had decent French and an Arabic accent. He gave Snape the thumbs up as Snape floated the luggage aboard. Snape's movements were ridged and a profound scowl was quivering on his face as he past the arrogant glob of ignorance.
After one break down in Mali, which was customary for the West Africa Wins Again Bus, it took them up to the Mediterranean Sea. Selene had wanted to floo but there were no fireplaces in West Africa, as Mollie had pointed out. They were too inexperienced to apparate and side-alongs were not permitted at so far a distance. So they had to take Dumbledore's suggestion of the WAWA bus, a muggle boat, and then the Knight Bus to reach Hogsmeade where they would than find a Thestral driven carriage to take them up to the castle.
It was difficult packing with so little time, but they had just left a lot of their useless items to be thrown away. The triplets weren't quite sure what they were going to need in this new world.
"We are trying to not attract attention, Miss. Blackwells'. If you cannot remember anything else, remember that." Snape hissed as he paid for their boat ride. Vivian saw some men in robes walking through the crowd. She was going to say something but they quickly disappeared.
'They could just have been tourists,' Vivian thought to herself.
"Not likely," Selene whispered to her. Vivian just looked at Selene oddly; she hadn't said that out loud…had she?
Snape actually fit in well with the surroundings. He almost looked Lebanese with his dark hair, and his robes could have been mistaken for a Muslim outfit if not looked at for too long, although most of the men wore white. The girls smiled to themselves as they sat down on the boat for the two-hour ride across the Mediterranean Sea.
"Snape?"
"Yes, Miss. Mollie?"
'Wow, no Miss. Blackwell!' Selene stared at him, eyebrows raised. He didn't even seem to notice that he had used her sister's first name. Was the boat making him sick?
"Are we witches?" Mollie asked.
"I am not but you may be." Snape glanced down at her, smirking. "Here, I will ask the famous question."
"Who do you like?" Vivian asked.
"Hardly. Did you ever do something unexplainable?"
"Not that I can remember." Mollie sighed as she laughed. "Hey, the golden trio is going into their 4th year, right?"
'Golden trio?' Snape looked at her, liking her nickname for the Gryffindor tri-menace.
"So that means I am three years older than Draco Malfoy, damn it!"
Snape furrowed his eyes. 'She may be a seer but she isn't very quick on the uptake. Draco? He is a git and a sniveling baby.' Mollie just stared at him.
"Say what?" Selene asked.
"Could you repeat that?" Mollie was flabbergasted; had she just heard what she thought she had just heard?
"Snape, you ok there? You looked puzzled." He glared at Vivian. Mollie's feathers were ruffled and by the looks of it Selene had heard him as well.
'Maybe a long talk with my sisters are in order!' Mollie thought. 'I'm not quite sure what's happening to us.'
"Agreed." Selene whispered in Mollie's ear.
It was almost dark by the time they saw land.
Spain!
The girls were watching the miraculous sunset of hazy reds drifting into the heavens, the orange sun reflected the clear blue of the deep ocean cascades of sparkling diamonds . Gentle waves lapping against the side of the boat in a steady rhythm that would lull you to sleep if you let it. It was paradise, awestricken the triplets didn't want to miss anything as they leaned on the rail letting the waves created by the fairy sprinkle them with heavenly sapphires.
Snape was coolly watching them, half-angry that he wasn't allowed to make the boat go any faster, half-angry that he couldn't join the triplets lazily watching the brilliant display. He wasn't allowed to care for nature like that. He wasn't free to experience such things. If any emotion, besides anger and hatred, get in his way, death would be more than just a foreseen event. Even so, Snape didn't give his anger the full attention it deserved. The truth was that he didn't mind being out here. But he would die before letting that delectable piece of knowledge out.
He was either hated or feared by his students, but these girls were different. For one they were older than any student he had ever taught. For another, they had willingly walked away from their home, family, and any friends that they might have had, to come with a middle aged man who never smiled, to a world they had only read about in books. Their trust in him was endearing, yet unnerving.
The boat gently rocked back and forth as it neared the harbor. Mollie, sensing something, turned away from her sisters and sat next to Snape. Her long straight brown hair was wind blown but her bright green eyes sparkled enough to match the stars that were just coming out. The sun sunk lower in the horizon, casting a dim shadow of cool night on the world. He had never really looked at anyone like this before. He knew more about her than she did, her pureblood stood out with her moonlit face. She looked like a Black. He cleared his throat.
"Your mother's maiden name was Wells, your father was a Black. It was the will of both families that they joined names, so they created the Blackwells. Apparently, it was the best match of the season. The most powerful match, too. I don't know details, only immediate family members would. The England Snapes' ran in the same circle but no family would share secrets with another."
"So, why exactly did our parents leave?" Mollie asked.
Snape shook his head slightly. "Even though that is not the question you were supposed to ask I will answer it anyways. They left because of you. Like I said, it is a family secret that wasn't shared. When your parents left, the rest of the family cut them from the family tree, but continued looking for them, which is strange in itself. Once a person is cut off, they normally are never looked for unless they have something the family wants." They sat in silence for a while, unsure of what to say.
"Could the Wells or the Blacks still be looking for us?" Mollie asked.
"No, all the Wells are dead," Snape said. He pried his eyes away from hers, unwilling to tell that story just yet.
Selene, hearing the name Black, came over to join them, leaving Vivian by herself, which wasn't a good idea, because the moment Selene left, a drunk Spanish boy came over and started flirting with Vivian. Selene sat down on the other side of Snape.
"I know you had a rough time last year with Sirius, but are we related to him?" Selene asked. Mollie rolled her eyes.
"Miss. Blackwell, all the purebloods are interrelated. Surely you would know that."
Selene sat up straighter to his reply, trying to put something into her own words. "Mr. Snape, my question holds for a different matter! I would like to know how closely related I am to Sirius." He smirked, which was close to a smile, but not quite. He was laughing at her.
"I do not know all of the Black or the Wells family history but from what I have unwillingly gathered, your father and the canine's father are third cousins." Selene laughed at Snape's word for Sirius.
"Yes, I guess he is a canine, a big one." Selene said as she walked off making imitations of a dog. "Woof, woof." Mollie and Snape just pretended not to know her as a few of the other passengers looked at her strangely.
Selene rolled her sleeves up and leaned against the side of the boat as whispers of Mollie and Snape discussing heritage floated past her ears. She stared wistfully at the stars. Glancing at Vivian, she saw her sister laughing at something the young Spaniard said. Her thoughts went away, 'Only a very distant relation…that means I could marry Sirius if I wanted to…too bad he dies while Harry's in his 5th year. Well, that is 2 years away and he doesn't really die. He gets hit with a red light and falls behind the curtain…he dies. Not really since he only gets stunned but I could probably save him, if he really is as good as he is in the books. Or we would both die. Wouldn't that be a Shakespearian Tragedy.'
She was awoken from her daydreams by a loud splash and Vivian, looking over the edge of the boat, people where staring at her. Snape fumed as he strode over her Vivian, his black cloak billowing out behind him. He was a sight to behold; Mollie was mesmerized, forgetting her fear for her sister for a moment. Snape clasped his hands on Vivian's tense shoulders. Vivian, youngest of the triplets, had drawn unnecessary attention to them. He spun her around to face him.
She was pissed, ticked off, blazing red hot, almost more so than he was. Selene and Mollie had only ever seen her that angry once before, when she was called a whore by her ex right after she dumped him.
"MAN OVERBOARD!" cried the captain. They where nearing shore so the poor lad could probably swim the rest of the way, but it was good for customers if they threw him a lifesaver.
"Explain," were the only words Snape could get out through his clenched teeth. He searched in her brown eyes for the answer.
"That arrogant bastard was trying to feel me up, and he had a wand, so I punched him and he fell, luckily for him, over the rails. If he hadn't, I would have really hurt him."
"Did he use his wand?" Snape whispered back, most of the anger had left him, only fear that Dumbledore's plan had been meddled with.
She fumed. "Didn't have a chance to use either of them." Her sisters ran over to her, they had all been through some sort of the same thing. Selene even had the gull to laugh at Vivian's pun, which helped lighten the mood a little.
Spain, the land of romance and happy beginnings.
"I thought that was Rome." Mollie looked down at the brochure she was holding. Too bad they weren't staying; Spain looked like lots of fun. Apparently her sisters were thinking the same thing and they glanced longingly at the large buildings and romantic architecture, which were slightly hard to see considering the time of night. The nightlife here was amazing, though; everyone was up and about.
They followed Snape through the streets, down into a tiny alleyway where no one would seem them call the Knight Bus.
Wow, the Knight Bus, all of it was real, it was kind of hard to believe. It was all still kind of hard to believe.
Mollie and Selene (Vivian had her opinions too but she enjoyed the actual books more than the fictions of other people) had always talked about which Harry Potter book character they would "want to kill" or "want to marry" or "want to go flying with" but it brought a whole new perspective now that these were no longer two dimensional characters through the eyes of Harry Potter. I mean, who would have though of Snape being almost agreeable to three girls. (No doubt he was under orders to be nice.) And then traveling from West Africa to England with them without turning at least one of them into a bat. Snape stopped abruptly.
"I suppose you know how the Knight Bus works," he drawled in that pureblood Slytherin way of his.
'No duh,' was the only expression he received.
Snape stuck out his wand hand and with a thundering crash, the Knight Bus halted before them. The WAWA bus really wasn't as impressive as this massive amount of machinery. A conductor in a purple uniform leapt out of the bus and began to speak loudly to the night, glancing from time to time at a piece of old paper in his hands.
"Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transport for the stranded witch of wizard. Just stick out your wa…"
"That will do Shunpike. Here are 11 sickles per person. To Hogsmeade, quick as possible, if it is possible in this broken down piece of …" the rest was cut off because Snape was already inside and the girls couldn't hear any more. But Stan Shunpike flinched, he had been one of Snape's students at one point and time, he knew what it was like. Shunpike stood with his open hand in front of him, holding 2 gallons and 10 sickles, he quickly got a hold of himself. Clearing his throat he helped the girls with their trunks, being as polite as possible. The girls followed suit and climbed into the bus. They were not surprised at the lack of chairs, and they sat down on a brass bedstead beside a curtained window. Candles were burning in brackets beside each bed; they would have to get used to the lack of electricity.
"Ladies," Stan put the last trunk down and cleared his throat, eyeing Snape uneasily. The triplets looked at him expectantly, but it only made poor Stan more nervous. "Ladies, Sir, this is your driver, Ernie Prang." Vivian almost felt sorry for the old wizard Ernie and his very thick glasses.
"'Ello!" shouted an almost deaf Ernie. He waved his hand at them while still focusing on the not yet moving wheel. A tremendous Bang and the bus mounted the pavement, hot hitting anything. Even so, it didn't look like Ernie had mastered the use of this contraption yet. The triplets, not ready for the sudden movement were thrown backwards flat onto their bed; Selene was actually hurled over the bed, legs flying as she did a summersault. Vivian never quite made it on top of the bed, just landed against the side, but Stan was right there to help her back up.
'Lucky Mollie, landed on the soft bed,' thought Selene reproachfully. Snape, who had braised himself, watched the unprepared triplets with quiet amusement on the outside. Inside he was cursing himself; thankfully no one had noticed that he had steadied Mollie. He quickly put his wand away; he hadn't even realized when he had gotten it out.
Two stops later, the Knight Bus worked really hard to get the Snape and Company off ASAP, they arrived on the outskirts of Hogsmeade, which wasn't much to see at three in the morning. The triplets could see a few late night drinkers wobbling in and out of the pubs. A stray dog, barely visible in the dim streetlights, ran across the road slipping between two houses. They where more or less dropped off at the gates to enter Hogwarts.
Banishing their trunks towards the castle door Snape led them towards the single carriage waiting for them. 'Thestrals!' the girls gapped in wonder and excitement. Selene was actually bold enough to touch one on the side. Mollie than pet it since it didn't kill Selene. The Thestrals were scary, especially at night, with its white shinning eyes, the curve of its dragon shaped face, the skeletal black body almost blended right into the night, not easing the appearance of these creatures. Vivian shuddered as Snape opened the door, letting the tired girls climb in, a fascinated Mollie was last to get in.
'So they have seen a death,' Snape raised an eyebrow.
"Our great grandmother, who I guess now is not really our great grandmother but a fake, kicked the bucket in the hospital with our entire family around her last year," Mollie quietly replied to his expressions, as she yawned.
"Yeah, she had to have the entire family there before we could get her to finally go," Selene replied as Vivian snorted. Snape readjusted his robes as the carriage started up towards the castle. They would have to take the boats later as an orientation, it was too early in the morning with no sleep, and they couldn't possibly enjoy the view at this time. The carriage bounced up and down in a comfortable, homecoming sort of way. Vivian sighed and leaned her head on Selene's shoulder. She looked across to Mollie whose slowly nodding head and closed eyes was unknowingly leaning against Snape. He looked slightly annoyed and very uncomfortable, but unwilling to look weak and push her away.
'Nope, he's not used to human contact, especially when the sisters are watching him,' Vivian thought. Selene smirked as she watched them to see what Snape did. If he was too gentle with this sleeping beauty, his reputation would be ruined. If he was too mean Dumbledore would know. So he just let her be; not daring to look down at the creature invading his personal bubble, assuring himself that all would be over soon.
'She's too young, she is only twenty one,' he reprimanded himself, but seventeen was the 'of age' number, so his scolding did not last long. The carriage pulled up to the steps where Dumbledore waited for the tired travelers. Their luggage had already been carried into their new home by a willing house elf.
Vivian and Selene stumbled out of the carriage and met Dumbledore with as much enthusiasm as they could muster, which just ended up in a handshake and staring at his long beard. He really did look like a skinny Santa Clause. They had left Snape, stranded with Mollie, in the carriage.
Snape poked her, trying to wake her up. "Miss. Blackwell, wake up." Silence. "Miss. Blackwell, we have arrived." She just snuggled closer and sighed in her sleep. This was ridiculous and Dumbledore was just outside. 'No doubt his eyes are twinkling in that absurd way of his.' Snape rolled his eyes. He couldn't even get to his wand; her arms were around him too tight. "Mollie?" he whispered in her ear. Her eyes fluttered open, realizing where she was she jumped back a little, smacking her head on the carriage but giving him room to breath.
'Jumping away, the same reaction from everyone,' he thought.
"Ouch!" Rubbing her head, she practically slept walked out of the carriage. Snape climbed out right behind her, steadying her with his hand as she wobbled towards the Headmaster.
"Good morning, sir," she smiled weakly at his long white beard tucked into his belt.
He chuckled. "Good morning, Mollie. How are you feeling?"
"Tired," she said with a yawn, her sisters mimicking her action. Snape clenched his teeth to keep from the contagious yawn.
The headmaster nodded and smiled. "This way to your quarters, then. I took the liberty to set up a small living quarters in the castle for you. Shall we talk more in the morning?" He turned towards the Potions Master who was keeping Mollie standing. "Severus, if you would walk with me?" Snape looked down at Mollie who just nodded.
'Permission?' He wasn't looking for permission! 'Am I?' Selene just smirked at his confused face. That was one victory for Mollie.
'She's softening the old bat quickly.'
Mollie leaned towards Selene. "He's not a bat, not an animagus, remember?" Mollie whispered to her as they followed the Professors around twisting hallways.
Selene furrowed her brows. "Did I say that out loud?" Selene asked.
"No…" Vivian replied. "I didn't hear anything."
"Well, I heard it and you called Severus an old bat," Mollie snapped. Selene just grinned as Snape started to turn around.
"So he is Severus now, not Snape. When are you going to call him Sevvie?" She teased.
"Shut up. I'm tired." Mollie tried to hit her sister but missed by a mile in her tiredness.
Seven feet ahead, two great wizards talked about their findings.
"I was expecting an old hag, not three forgotten witches. It all makes sense that the Wells abandoned the wizarding world, now. It is too dangerous to have Blacks and Wells mixing." Dumbledore just smiled at his Potion Master's words, a tired sort of smile that knew what was going to come but didn't want it.
"Ah, life isn't exactly what you always expect. How was your trip?"
"Detestable," Severus stated, his typical sneer returning to its place. "Miss. Vivian Blackwell found a drunken wizard and knocked him overboard. That was…amusing. All transportation went at a terribly slow speed and the triplets already know everything I tell them." Snape grimaced; he wished he had kept his mouth shut on that last part.
"The Knight Bus has never been my favorite form of transportation, either, but the carriage ride wasn't too crowed, was it, Severus?" Dumbledore's eyes twinkled again. Before Severus could answer, they stopped in front of the door to the triplets new flat inside of the Hogwarts Castle.
"Purple Pasties," Dumbledore said to a life-size portrait that was much taller than he was. The triplets stumbled into their purple living room. One look around told the triplets that this color would have to go, not that they really minded purple, just not this much purple.
"Please floo to my office in the morning, if you will, ladies. Good night!" The portrait gently closed behind him.
An inviting fire crackled in the fireplace as the girls headed towards a door on the other side of the living room. Vivian opened the door.
"Ooops, it's a bathroom." Mollie groaned and looked around for another entrance to their bedroom.
A blank wall beside the bathroom door looked like a good place for a door. She smiled a small, exhausted smile. The triplets went and stood in front of the blank purple wall.
"They didn't give us the password," Selene said.
"NAME," a deep voice boomed out, causing the girls to jump slightly. Had it come from the wall? Normally there was a photo there or something. Ah well, life isn't always as you expect. Might as well give it a try, they shrugged their shoulders.
"Mollie Blackwell."
"Selene Blackwell."
"Vivian Blackwell."
"ENTER." An arch appeared in the wall and they walked through to find three four-poster beds with light purple drapes hanging down like they do in the old castles where princesses used to live. Fake windows were on two sides of the room, charmed to look like you were looking at the lake, which was odd since thick walls surrounded them as did a lot more castle. There were lacy pillows on their beds. Also purple, there would HAVE to be some MAJOR changes. Except to the beautiful three piece wardrobe, it was mahogany, not purple, and the fireplace in their room with it's beautiful brick was not to be changed. They flopped themselves on down, which was fun since the beds bounced them right back up. After finding their pajamas they flopped into bed and fell straight to sleep as pastel and bright purples moved in and out of their dreams. What a day it would be tomorrow.
Read and Review - write me back and tell me what you think!