Chapter 2:
The morning dawned bright and surprisingly warm for the mid-November date at Snape Manor. Tension was high and obvious within all four members, Isabella had disappeared into the library to research long distance protection charms, Severus locked himself in his portions lab, tending potions that were already perfect, Mattieu was flying as fast as he could around and around the garden, and Nicolas was standing in his closet attempting to decide what to wear for the meeting that night. By the time his two siblings had joined him, Mattieu was already dressed and ready, Isabella was holding his hand in a white knuckled grip, and Nickolas had picked out his pants. With help from his siblings, Nicolas finished dressing and the three of them lay on his bed, staring that the ceiling. Mattieu on the left, Nick on the right, both dressed in all black, with Isabella between them in a simple floor length, silk, olive green dress.
"I've made you both something." Isabella said quietly. "Well it's really for all four of us, but the idea started because of the you two's 'big brother complex'." She explained quietly, holding out four identical rings in her palm, three of which had a black diamond center and one with a subtle lilac. "They are jewels I found in the family vault. I added some charms before making them into rings. Each has a rather simple shield charm, but the true gift is that it can transport you to one of the other three ring wearers. All you have to do is close your eyes and picture them in your mind. They should get you through most complex wards, though I'm not sure about Dark or Blood Magic, I'll try and find some more books on those tonight while you're gone; but I wanted you to have something, just in case." She gave two of the black diamond rings to Mattieu and Nicolas. Both rings had a silver band and their initials carved on the inside. Their father's was identical with his own initials, and Isabella took the lilac ring.
When Severus entered the bedroom ten minutes later to collect his sons, he found his triplets curled around each other in one last hug, his little one with a silent tear making it's way down her cheek. "Children, I am afraid it's time."
The three slowly got up from the bed and made their way over. Isabela presented her father with his ring as they made their way to his personal study down the hall. He thanked her with a kiss to the forehead and a large hug before leaving her in a swirl of green flames.
Severus swept out of the fireplace in the Malfoy's personal living room. Upon observing the room, he found himself to be in the company of all three Malfoy's and Bellatrix, lovely. Severus had always cared for his godson, Draco. Lucius was never much of a father figure, though he did try, he tended to lose his patience all too quickly, leaving Severus to deal with a spoiled child. They had grown close because of this, with Draco finding a confidant, and Severus finding a way to fill the void leaving his children always created. Having grown up so much, Draco looked more like a man now. His only drawback was he was still spoilt, which meant finding out Severus had children was not going to go over very well.
"Severus," Narcissa Malfoy practically purred. Never one to stop when she was ahead, Severus found himself on the receiving end of Narcissa's flirting more often than not. "It's so lovely to see you again."
"The pleasure is mine, Lady Malfoy." Severus replied in the hope of reminding her of her current situation, it didn't work. He slowly bowed, taking her hand in his and quickly kissing the back of her knuckles, but dropping it like a hot potato and stepping away. This allowed the room to notice, for the first time, Severus' two companions.
"I see you brought friends this evening Snape!" Bellatrix cackled from her position on the settee. Severus turned to observe his sons and was pleased to find their cold and distant masks in place.
"Indeed, let me introduce to you my sons, Mattieu Severus, and Nicolas Philippe." Severus began with a smirk. Bellatrix almost fell off her chair while Narcissa let out a loud gasp, Lucius clutched his cane in shock and Draco raised a pale blond eyebrow.
"Your sons?! What is this?" Bellatrix shrieked.
"And here we were all thinking you were destined to be forever celibate Severus." Lucius Malfoy said with a smirk to cover his shock and anger at being kept out of the loop.
"Indeed." Severus responded quietly. "That idea has obviously been blown apart. If we do not hurry, we will be late for the meeting and the Dark Lord was hoping to be introduced to them at the beginning, not five minutes in." He finished coolly, his sons smirking behind him. Severus took one last look at Draco who had been glaring at him the entire time, before beckoning to his children and sweeping from the room.
"I guess that puts your plans at shagging Uncle Sev in the garbage doesn't it Mother." Draco said coldly, choosing to take his anger at Severus out on someone else before sharply spinning around and following his godfather out of the room.
Gliding up the stairs, the three Snape men were met with a large closed door where they stopped and took one last look at one another. Mattieu nodded at his father, Nicolas glanced down at his new ring for a bit of courage, and Severus waited for Draco to join them before throwing open the doors and bowing before the long dining table that stretched down the center of the ball room. The room itself was about the length of an American muggle football field, with a huge table down the middle that seated at least 100 of Voldemort's finest men. Surrounding the table were small bunches of couches with tea tables and small pastries in the center of each grouping. The male Death Eaters all had a place at the large table, Voldemort's Inner Circle being closest to the Lord himself. The wives and female Death Eaters were scattered about the couches, talking amongst themselves. Snape, his sons, and Draco rose from their bow and marched on towards the Dark Lord, Snape sitting at the Lords direct right, nodding at the two empty seats beside him for his sons, while Draco said two seats down on the Lord's left.
"The rest of the Malfoy's and Bella should be coming soon, My Lord. They received quite a shock upon welcoming me this evening." Snape said quietly.
"I can imagine." Lord Voldemort responded. "Help yourselves to the feast while we wait for their brains to catch up." He continued snidely. Voldemort was actually thankful for the family's inability to understand information at a quick rate, it gave him time to observe the men beside him. It was obvious the two younger men were related, being identical in looks, stature, and disposition. They were well bred, their manners impeccable, and while he could sense they were not fully joined with his cause, he understood that it would take more than his presence for them to submit to his rule. Not only that, but based on his earlier conversation with Severus, all three men had loyalty first and for most to the absent member of their family. It became apparently clear that the way into the Snape family was through the final member.
It was only minutes later that the Malfoys and Bellatrix walked swiftly into the room and took their seats at the table, Narcissa and Bellatrix being the only two women at the table. "Welcome, my followers! I am pleased to see you all alive and well. You must make sure to thank the Malfoy family for once again hosting our party." Silence fell across the room, at both the center table and small groupings scattered throughout the room, as Voldemort began to speak. "I want to begin our evening tonight by sharing with you are most immediate plans. Obviously invading Great Britain has yet to be successful thanks to the rebel organization The Order of the Phoenix. Due to this set back, I have decided to reign in the attacks here and instead begin taking over other countries in Europe in order to strengthen our army. We will start with France." He continued. There were many confused looks throughout the room, mainly from those who weren't paying attention to the bigger picture, and instead focusing on personal attacks. It was these people that Voldemort had the least amount of hope for. Then again, that's why they weren't leading. "It has been recently brought to my attention, that the Snape family resides in France."
"Snape family, my lord?" Macnair questioned from the opposite end of the table. Voldemort raised an eyebrow at Severus as if saying, would you like to explain.
Severus rose from his seat before turning the face the rest of the great table. "Indeed, Macnair. I have two sons, out my triplets with my tonight. The third will join us at the Malfoy ball tomorrow evening." Snape then sat, dismissing the subject and any follow up questions.
Voldemort continued his speech with a smirk, amused at Severus' brief answer, if you could call it that. "Because of their familial roots in the country, Severus will be leading the movement and I will remain here, attempting to find a weakness in the wards surrounding Hogwarts. Depending on the abilities shown by his children, they may also be joining him. Finally, the Malfoy ball will be attended by any and all who aren't being searched for by the Ministry. That being said, everyone should be on their best behavior, tomorrow night promises great opportunity, I would hate it if one of you ruined that." Voldemort finished his announcement with a chilling his that had even Snape worried. "Please enjoy the food, thank the Malfoy's, and then take your leave."
"Well he's jolly." Matheiu commented telepathically to his siblings.
"What's going on? Are you okay? What about Papa? Is he hurting you? ANSWER!" Came the response from Isabella, the volume and rate of her questions increasing steadily as she spoke.
"Yikes Isa, everyone's fine! Lord you're giving me a headache. Nothing's wrong, it's just that dad was right, this Voldemort dude is serious about his cause. If we join, I get the impression there's no real way out." Nicolas quickly abated his sisters worries. Trying to eat and have a conversation with his siblings had taken all three of them a long time to master, it had definitely paid off though as neither boy had even jumped let alone stopped eating at their sister's loud volume.
"He's right Isa. I don't know if you should join us. This is really serious stuff, perhaps you should stay home, or at least not get a mark. Actually you definitely aren't getting marked, the thought of you branded is making me sick." Mattieu continued, slowly realizing how little he wanted his sister to do this. The worry for her safety had always been there, it just hadn't been so obvious how easily Voldemort would kill his followers until he had threatened them at the end of his speech. Both he and Nicolas knew that Isabella couldn't be threatened into doing anything, she was rather stubborn that way. To be honest, she would probably kill Voldemort before he even thought of harming her. Mattieu smirked, his little Isa was much more powerful than she appeared, that was for sure. Tomorrow night would be fun, very very fun.