A/N - Not sure how much this is needed, but just to make sure - I don't own any of the original characters or stories. JK Rowling has that distinction, I've just come up with the plot for this story.
Chapter Three
Saturday, 28 November 1981, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Beep, beep, beep, beep…reaching over while groaning deeply, Severus Snape quieted his morning alarm coming from his wand. He stretched and rolled over to sit up and place his feet on the floor. Just as he was about to stand, he heard pecking at his window. Glancing over he saw an unfamiliar owl at his window, patiently waiting to be let in. Severus waved his wand, opening the window, and the owl flew over and landed on his knee. Carefully removing the rolled parchment from its leg, he offered it an owl treat. The owl quickly grabbed it, then flew back to and out the window. Severus absentmindedly waved the window closed as he tried to decipher whose handwriting his name was written in. The seal looked familiar, but he couldn't quite place it. Shrugging, he broke the seal and read the short missive.
S. Snape,
Please come to Potter Manor at 10 a.m. We have some vital news about my sister, Cassie. No need to respond unless you are unable to come.
Sirius Black and Remus Lupin
"Why in the world would those two want me to come over? Vital news about Cassie? Cassie died three years ago, how could they have news about her now? I should just ignore them and go on with my day. On the other hand, I may miss something important about my Cassie if I blow them off. I need to know what happened to her…and what happened to my baby. I know she thought I didn't know, but there were too many signs for it to not be true. Did they actually survive somehow? I have to know…." Severus ranted and paced back and forth for quite awhile before coming to a decision. He would go, but at the first insult or name calling he would leave and not look back.
Potter Manor
Stepping out from the fireplace at 10 am, Severus looked around suspiciously and slightly curiously. Not seeing anything alarming, he greeted the two men waiting for him. "Gentlemen, to what do I owe the pleasure of your summons today?" drawled Severus. Sirius stepped forward with his hand outstretched, showing his willingness to set the past behind, at least for the moment. Severus looked at his hand, looked at Sirius, then cautiously reached out and shook his proffered hand. Remus and Severus then also shook hands. "If you'll follow us, Severus, we can get down to business," said Sirius. Severus nodded slightly, then followed Sirius out the door and down a hallway to a small parlour, with Remus bringing up the rear.
After they were all settled onto the couch or a chair, Sirius offered tea and pastries. Raising an eyebrow, Severus asked "Is this going to take long enough that we need tea?" "It's pretty shocking news, you might want something to settle your nerves. We can even put a shot of Ogden's finest in your tea if you need," answered Sirius. At Severus' nod of acceptance, Sirius called for Tismy. "Yes, Master Sirius?" asked Tismy. "Please bring tea, Fire Whiskey, and some light pastries please, Tismy," ordered Sirius. Tismy bowed, then popped out to go get the requested items. After serving the doctored tea, Sirius sat back and looked at Severus.
"Yesterday afternoon, I received a letter from my sister Cassie. In it, she explained that she didn't die three years ago. She also instructed me to get ahold of you and give you a letter from her. I have that letter right here. I also have my letter from yesterday for you to read if you so desire," explained Sirius. Severus' eyes were wide by that point, and he eagerly reached for the letter addressed to him. As Sirius handed it over, he gave it a small look of shock. Instead of saying To My Children's Father, it now had Severus' name written on it. Sirius looked at Remus to see if he had noticed the change as well. Remus' eyes were just as wide at the change as Sirius' had been. Cassie must have charmed it someway to know when the letter to Sirius had been opened and read so it could change to a personal address.
Not seeing the changed expressions on the other men's faces, Severus broke the seal on the parchment and unrolled it to read his letter from his Cassie.
Dearest Severus,
If you are reading this letter, then something has happened to me. I wanted to write you and explain why I disappeared three years ago. Up to this time, it just wasn't safe for me to contact you. When I left you that day, I was going to a Healer's appointment. I wanted to surprise you that night with my news. I knew I was expecting and wanted to get confirmation before our date that night. I'm guessing you might have already suspected that I was pregnant and was just waiting for me to tell you. After the appointment that day, I had no choice but to go right to my Uncle Alphard. The Healer confirmed I was pregnant, but then told me I was expecting triplets, two boys and a girl. I'm so sorry I couldn't come to tell you myself, but with you being in You-Know-Who's inner circle I couldn't chance that He would find out. I couldn't let him get near our children! I already knew I couldn't go to my parents, they would have disowned me, and maybe tried to cause a miscarriage. That was before learning about the triplets! Uncle Al took me to his house in France, then faked my death to cover my disappearance. He then altered the Black Family Tapestry to show my death and to hide the birth of the triplets.
The triplets were born on 19 September 1979. I gave each them a Shakespearean name in honor of your love of reading and an ancestral name from my family. Hermione Dorea, Alexas Regulus, and Leonato Orion Black are my little loves that entered my world that day. I gave them the Black name because I wasn't sure about the safety of having the name Snape. Once it is safe to do so, please allow them to bear your name. They have your hair and my eyes and such a mix of temperament! Hermione is the most outgoing, but she does need her time to decompress. Alexas is also outgoing but follows Hermione's leadership when navigating new situations. Leo is the quiet one of the three, but don't underestimate him! He doesn't miss much with those very observant eyes and ears of his!
I'm hoping that you and my brother can put your past behind you enough to work together and love my little loves like they will need. They will be okay the first few days, but the longer I'm out of their day to day existence the more they will react and withdraw. Please, Severus, don't close yourself off from them. Let them hug you and love you like you were able to let me do. I'll warn you now, you won't be able to resist their charm for too long! Also, please know that I loved you with my whole heart. It broke me to have to leave you, but with how powerful they will be, I couldn't chance letting You-Know-Who get his hands on them. I hope someday you can find it in your heart to forgive me and maybe look back on our time together with fondness. I will never stop loving you, even after death.
With all my love,
Cassie
By the time Severus got to the end of his letter, he was silently crying, not even trying to hide it. He looked up and locked eyes with Sirius. They both nodded in agreement, they would do their best for their beloved Cassie. Getting up and moving across the room, Severus pulled out a handkerchief and quietly dried his tears. Staring into the fire, he contemplated how much this was going to change his whole world. He had hoped for three years that Cassie hadn't died, and that maybe someday he would even get to meet his child. Now he was going to meet three children that needed him to be a father.
"So, Black…" started Severus. "Call me Sirius, please. If we're going to do this together, we should be on a more informal level of acquaintance than before," Sirius interrupted. "Ok, Sirius, we need to discuss how we are going to approach this. Unfortunately, I have no way to have three toddlers live with me full time at the castle," Severus continued. "I do want to be involved as much as I can, though. I have a feeling the staff will want to meet them. I also will help support them financially, as needed. They will need excellent tutors to prepare them for Hogwarts. I can set up a room for them in my quarters for them to visit on weekends during school days, if that works for you, as well. I do agree with Cassie, though, that for now it's better that they do not use my last name. We should also keep the fact that I'm their father as secret as possible for now. I may have lost Cassie, but I do not want to risk their safety," Severus paced as he talked. Sirius and Remus nodded along in agreement with everything he brought up. "Was there anything interesting in Cassie's vault when you went there?" Severus inquired.
"Yes, their triplet rings, as well as some fine antique instruments," replied Sirius.
"Are you thinking you want to get them playing an instrument? And what do you mean by their triplet rings?" asked Severus. Remus, also puzzled, waited for Sirius to explain these mysterious rings.
"Oh, Well, the Black family has had a set of triplets in the family once before. They were extremely powerful, just like all sets of triplets. They found that if they wore a ring with specific enchantments on it, their ring would improve their ability to control magic, even to the point of not needing a wand. They experimented with different metals and enchantments before finding the best combination. When they died, their rings were put in a Black Vault for safekeeping. Cassie must have searched the Black vaults and found them once she was informed that she was having triplets. We'll have to discuss when a good time would be to give them the rings." Sirius explained.
While musing over that information, Remus suddenly thought of something important. "Severus, do you have any ancestry potions stocked in your lab?" he asked.
Severus looked startled at Remus and asked "Why? We know who their parents are. Unless you think Cassie was lying about me being their father."
"Oh, no, there's no question they are your children. I'm not thinking about the Family Tree ancestry potion. I'm thinking about the Family and Traits ancestry potion. I'm suspicious they may have some innate abilities that we don't know about. That ancestry potion lists those abilities. We'll need to know so we can help guide them if they show up younger than normal in them." Remus reassured Severus.
"Oh, well, yes, I keep that specific one in stock more than the Family Tree potion. My 6th years brew the Family and Traits one in class, so I'm able to keep the ones that finish it to high standards. What do you think we'll find for innate abilities? Anything specific?" mused Severus.
"Well, if I remember correctly, Sirius, didn't the triplets in your family have a built in Animagus ability?" Remus looked over at Sirius and saw his eyes as large as they could go. "Good grief, they did! If I remember right, they had a right hard time of keeping them in human form as kids. They also had more than one form…it was almost unlimited as to what animals they could use." exclaimed Sirius.
Severus sat there, pinching the bridge of his nose, as if he was getting a headache. "What other abilities did your ancestors have?" he asked.
"Let's just get that potion and see what they have. Then we can go from there as to how to manage them and help them learn how to use them responsibly," said Sirius as he jumped up and started towards the door. He looked back to see the other two men still seated. "Well, don't you want to meet your children, Severus?" asked Sirius. Severus slowly got to his feet. Now that he was to actually meet them, he wasn't sure how to take all of this. Following Sirius and Remus through the house, he felt his trepidation increasing with every step. He quietly followed them through a door and found himself in a lovely room, set up with different areas for playing and reading. Three heads turned towards the three adults as they entered. The smiles on their faces were wonderfully bright but increased exponentially when they saw Severus.
"Papa!" Next thing he knew, there were three sets of arms around his legs, causing Severus to almost lose his balance. "Papa?" asked Severus. How could they know to call him Papa?
