"You're not a vigilante," said Violet, sitting up and pulling her knees to her chest.
"He's our brother, though," replied Evangeline, digging through her closet. She need black pants, and a black shirt.
Violet got up and handed Evangeline the needed articles of clothing. She raised an eyebrow as Evangeline started towards the bathroom to change. Violet sighed.
"I'll go with you," she said. "You're right, he's our brother, and you're the sister I've been with for – well, our entire lives. I'm not letting you go alone. But – we're going to have to do some research, not just barge out into the countryside and hope we get lucky."
Evangeline, with her back still to Violet, smirked. All was going according to plan. She had figured Violet would react this way. She dropped the smirk, and turned to Violet, big-eyed and smiling.
"Really?" she cried. She tackle-hugged Violet and sighed contentedly.
"Yes," said Violet, chuckling. "Now get off me."
"Okay," she said in a sing-song voice. She tossed Violet's clothes onto her bed. "But what about Severus? How are we going to find Aiden? Think Severus knows?"
"I had an idea for that, actually," she said. "Ever hear of Truth Serum?"
"Can we just get him drunk?" Evangeline asked. "He's funny."
"No," said Violet. "Veritaserum is the most powerful Truth Serum there is, and if we're going to get any information out him, then we're going to have to use it. In other words, we have some shopping to do."
Evangeline gave her a blank stare. Then she sighed.
"Let's go shopping," she said.
Violet opened up her locked desk drawer and pulled out a large paper bag.
"Already done," she said, smirking. Before Evangeline could ask, she added, "I had a vision."
"Ahh," said Evangeline. "Makes perfect sense. So, how do we make it?"
"Well, I'm going to need multiple hours alone, Severus completely distracted, and I'm gonna need a place to do this," explained Violet.
"I take it I'm distracting him?" Evangeline muttered.
Violet nodded and slipped the bag into her backpack. She added the book she had borrowed from Snape and then her usual potion-making ingredients.
"Violet?" said Evangeline.
"Hmm?" she asked over her shoulder, staring at the backpack and pondering where to go.
"You do know it's illegal to make it, right?" said Evangeline.
Violet turned, one eyebrow raised.
"Has this ever stopped me before?" she asked.
"I'm not sure we've ever done anything illegal, so much as against Hogwarts rules," Evangeline clarified.
"It's not illegal if you don't get caught." Violet snorted and slung the pack over her shoulder. "I'll be in the attic. You keep Severus occupied. Take him shopping or something."
"Shopping?" Evangeline asked, incredulous.
"It's just an idea," said Violet. "You'll figure something out."
Violet left the room, and Evangeline went downstairs. She found Snape in his library. Evangeline started combing through the books. She found one of making drinks and took it out, opening to the table of contents. One phrase caught her eye: How to Brew Firewhiskey.
"Severus!" she cried, running over and slamming the book over the documents on his desk.
He looked up, annoyed, and if he wore glasses, he would have taken them off and slammed them on the table. He glared up at her, but looked down at the page. He read the phrase Evangeline was pointing out and drummed his fingers against the wooden desk.
It was just so tempting. How could he ignore such a thing? To brew his own firewhiskey? The idea was heavenly…
"Fine," he said.
"Yay!" she cried and hugged him. "We need to go shopping. Now."
Evangeline grabbed his arm, and he Apparated them to Diagon Alley. Evangeline flipped to the page of ingredients, and drug him all around the alley. She dragged him through three different stores, made him buy large amounts of the needed items, and then forced him to buy her a large lunch.
This should give Vi plenty of time, Evangeline thought, taking the tiniest bites out of her meal.
"Would you hurry up?" Snape snapped as she took a sip from her butterbeer.
Evangeline considered for a moment before looking at him.
"No," she said.
Snape reached over and dumped her plate in the rubbish bin and downed her butterbeer.
"Hey, my mouth was dry!" she said, eyebrows slanted.
"You're done now," he said and grabbed her hand and the shopping bags before Apparating back to the manor.
Evangeline quickly ran to the attic to tell Violet they were back. But Violet wasn't there, and neither was any of her potion stuff. She climbed back down the ladder and went to their room. Violet was lounged on her bed, flipping through a potions magazine.
"Have fun?" she asked, pulling out an ear bud. "What'd you guys do?"
"We're gonna make firewhiskey!" said Evangeline, giggling. "And we get to watch him be drunk."
"Yes!" cried Violet, throwing her fist in the air. Then she looked at Evangeline. "Wait did you say something? They're making a new style of cauldron! Look!"
Evangeline shook her head and went back downstairs.
The next day, Evangeline had taken Snape outside to mix up his firewhiskey.
"Consider it an early birthday present," she said.
Upstairs, Violet was bent over Snape's book, trying to read his notes. His handwriting was so small. She eventually deciphered his alterations to the potion and adjusted her measured amounts of each item. She added the Joberknoll feathers one by one, stirring after dropping each into the mixture.
She adjusted the fire, stirred until it became a golden color and added the next few ingredients.
"Severus, you're doing it wrong!" Evangeline complained. She showed him, following exactly what the book said.
"That book is from the '60s," Snape snapped. "My father used it to make his own firewhiskey."
"Are you sure it's from the '60s then?" Evangeline asked, trying to find a publishing date. "'Cause if your father used it, shouldn't it be from the 1700s?"
"That's it, I'm going inside," he shouted, walking away.
Evangeline grabbed the edge of his cloak. She had to keep him out here.
"Wait, it's from the '70s, Severus!" she lied. "See?"
"Fine," he muttered. "What's next?"
Back upstairs, Violet was getting close to halfway done. As she added another feather, the potion turned black.
"That's not right," she muttered and tried to figure out what she did wrong. Her brow furled and she stared at the instructions. "Oh!"
She added a pinch of magnesium and the potion turned back to aqua. She smiled and left it alone, letting it brew as instructed.
She hid everything behind a false crate and went downstairs. She grabbed a few of the cookies the girls had made earlier and went outside. Severus was glaring at Evangeline. She was sitting on a rock, practically singing the instructions.
"I'm a potions master!" he shouted. "I don't need you telling me what to do!"
"Temper, temper, Severus," said Violet, shaking her head. "And Ev, you think I need anger management. I do believe Severus here does. Can I get you anything, Sevvey-kins?"
"What did you just call me?" he hissed.
"Glass of wine? Will do," she said and walked back to the house. She spun, midway, and threw a cookie as if it was a ninja star. Snape caught it between his fingers, and looked up, lips pursed. "Damn, I was hoping that would work."
She came back moments later with a glass filled more than halfway with one of his favorite wines, and the bottle in her hand. She had taken a gulp, and was wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.
"What the hell?" he shouted.
Violet shrugged.
"Here ya go, Severus!" she said and handed him the glass.
He sipped it, glaring at her.
"Get the firewhiskey," Evangeline whispered to her.
"You go get it, I just got out here," Violet replied.
It took another three days, but Violet had gotten her Veritaserum made and Evangeline and Snape had made their firewhiskey. Snape had sped up the fermentation process, and it was ready to drink.
As the twins were making dinner, Violet cracked open one of his new bottles and poured a glass. She added three drops of the potion into it and slipped the bottle back into her pocket. And returned to stirring the frying vegetables as Snape walked in.
"We opened the first bottle," said Evangeline brightly. She handed him the glass. "Try it, since we're not supposed to drink it."
Snape stared at them cautiously before picking up the glass. He swirled the drink, sniffing it. He couldn't detect an odor, so he sipped. And sipped. And soon the glass was gone.
Violet turned off the gas stove and turned on him.
"Where did they used to experiment on us?" she asked.
"Chelwood Gate," he answered immediately.
"Did you know we were being experimented on?" Evangeline asked.
Snape nodded.
Violet smacked him across the face.
"Never lie to us again," she said, biting back hot, angry tears. "Ever again."
"Did you know about Aiden?" Evangeline asked as Violet turned away, returning to cooking.
"Yes," he said.
"Thank you," she said and handed him the bottle.
Before dinner was even ready, Snape was drunk. He was hiccupping and giggling at Evangeline's normal face.
"Is he implying my face is funny-looking?" she asked.
"Ev, we have the same face," said Violet. "And, also, he's drunk. Everything's funny to him. Isn't that right, Sevvey-kins?"
He burst out laughing hard enough to fall to the ground. He kept rolling around until he rammed his head against the table leg. He stopped moving.
"Is he dead?" Violet asked, poking him with a wooden spoon. He twitched. "Oh, good, I wasn't interested in Azkaban quite yet."
"Yet?" Evangeline asked?"
"Yet," said Violet. "I've got stuff to do. Hell, I wanna marry Michael."
"Violet Corner!" Evangeline sang, helping her sister drag Snape to his study and pull him onto his couch.
"Evangeline Longbottom," replied Violet. "Hey, I'd rather be a Corner than a person with a long ass."
"Oh shut up," snapped Evangeline.
"Just kidding, sheesh," Violet said, ruffling her hair. "Shall we eat?"
"We should be back within a week," said Violet, pulling her backpack on.
"You sure?" Evangeline asked.
Violet nodded. She grabbed her extra bag that was filled with potions ready to heal the wounded and her Veritaserum. Just in case they ran into – troublesome people.
"Let's just get out of here," said Violet, walking out their bedroom door. Snape had placed bars on the windows after their last great escape, but he never used the spell again.
They left straight through the front door and Violet snapped her fingers. Three enchanted brooms flew towards them. Violet stepped onto one and Evangeline onto the other. The third one was for when they found Aiden. He would be coming back with them. "To Chelwood Gate," Violet instructed and the brooms started flying south.
"How long will this take?" Evangeline asked.
"About a day," said Violet. "As long as we don't run into head wind. You can even sleep on 'em! They're rigged to where you can't fall off. I was thinking of you when I did that."
"Oh, ha ha."
Their flight took them through the clouds, and over the cities and towns. They crossed countryside and forests. Evangeline insisted they stop when she saw a fallen deer. Violet rolled her eyes but went along with it.
And – what felt very suddenly – they were in Chelwood. They landed in a patch of woods, and they hid their brooms. Evangeline set up a tent, and Violet cast a few spells to keep out Muggles and Death Eaters.
At nightfall, they started off, in black jeans and shirts. They found an old manor house on top of a hill.
"That's it. It has to be," said Violet. She turned to Evangeline. "Remember, we're like chameleons, but our clothes aren't. We need to stay in the shadows, and shadows only. We can't walk around in the light."
"I know that," said Evangeline, changing her skin, eyes, and hair blackish-grey. Violet did the same, and they slipped into the house.
As they crept along, in the shadows, Death Eaters walked by, completely unaware of the girls. Violet and Evangeline held their breath every time one went by, and when they reached corners, Violet would peak ahead to see if the coast was clear.
They went towards the dungeons of the house first. They had to find the lab. If they could find the lab, they could probably find Aiden.
They crept down the stones staircase, their skin, hair and eyes changing with the stone. At the bottom, they found broken glass and spilled liquid. But this was none of their concern if they had a bad house keeper.
They explored amongst the vials, beakers and bottles of potions and oddly shaped objects.
Evangeline was the first to notice a wooden door with a heavy lock on it. She tip-toed to the door and looked in through the window. Inside was a thin, frail-looking boy, totally their age, with pale blond hair, and big blue eyes.
"Aiden?" Evangeline whispered.
Violet dashed to her side and looked in as well. But she ducked as Aiden looked up and began inspecting the look.
"Who are you?" he whispered back.
"My name's Evangeline," she replied. "My sister, Violet, is picking the lock."
"Hey," said Violet. "Can I tell him?"
"Tell me what?" Aiden asked.
"We're your sisters," said Violet. "We're triplets. Ha, got it!"
The lock crumpled in her hand, and the girls pushed the door open. Aiden was seated on a metal bed, but didn't get up.
"Are you okay?" Evangeline asked.
"I can't walk," he said.
Violet sighed and pulled her wand out. No one would know if she used a simple spell to levitate him. So she used it, and alarms went off.
"Shit!" she cried and hoisted Aiden off the bed.
Together, Violet and Evangeline pulled Aiden out through a window and half-dragged, half-walked him back to their camp.
"That was easy," said Violet, panting. "Whoo."
"Are you really my sisters?" he asked.
Evangeline nodded.
"We understand if you don't trust us right away," she said.
"But we did just save you from a bunch of asshole Death Eaters," Violet added. She pulled her potions bag over and took out a bottle of Strengthening Solution. "You won't be as weak."
Aiden took it warily and then drank the bottle. He made his way to standing on wobbly feet. Evangeline and Violet helped him into the tent and down on one of the sleeping bags.
"So, if we're triplets," he said, "can you tell me about Mum and Dad?"
"Well, for one thing," said Violet. "They died when we were eight."
Aiden's face fell, devastation taking its place. Evangeline placed a hand on his shoulder.
"When you're stronger, we'll tell you how it happened. In the meantime," she said and started to tell stories of their parents.
Violet pitched in and told him about Snape and Hogwarts, all that had happened within the last two years.
"Do you – do anything special?" Evangeline asked.
"I can change my appearance," he said. "Just like you guys can."
"Sweet!" said Violet, going a pitch black with bright red and blue highlights. It became shaggy, going just past her collarbone. Her eyes changed to a dark green and her lashes became long thick.
Aiden's hair changed to a curly dark brown, with bright purple eyes.
And Evangeline made her hair a dark red paired with bright blue eyes.
"What are you, a Weasley?" Violet asked upon seeing her.
"I'm not a Weasley," replied Evangeline. "Now, should we leave in the morning?"
"Likely," said Violet. "It might not be our best idea ever to stay here much longer. See, I told you less than a week!"
"Whoa, wait, where are we going?" Aiden asked.
"Home," said Violet. "Or at least the closest thing we have to it."
"You're so melodramatic!" Evangeline sighed.
Violet shrugged.
"But what if I don't want to?" Aiden asked.
"The hell?" Violet cried. "Why would you want to go back?"
"I'm just joking," he said. He smiled. "I guess you guys really are my sisters – I trust you. I feel connected."
"Good," said Evangeline as Violet punched him playfully in the arm.
"Hey, when we get to Hogwarts, you can learn magic, too!" she said.
"Awesome!" he cried.
"And we'll get you a wand," said Evangeline.
"And you can help us prank people," added Violet.
"And we'll find what you're good at!"
"And if you have other talents!"
"I'm a Parlsemouth and I can heal animals!"
"I'm a Seer and excellent Potioneer – and I will toot my own horn if I want to!"
"This sounds awesome!" Aiden cried and hugged the girls. They hugged him back and told him about all he had missed.
When they arrived back at the manor two days later, Snape had called the Ministry to find them. They helped Aiden into the house, and got him seated on the couch. Then the official had some questions for them.
"We just went exploring," said Violet to the official.
"Then who's he?" he asked.
"Our friend."
She started pushing the official towards the fireplace. Evangeline held out the Floo powder, and he took a handful, and returned himself back to the Ministry.
"Severus," said Evangeline, turning back to him and taking Aiden's hand. "This is our brother, Aiden."
"He will be staying with us as long as he would like," said Violet. "And I believe you and the professors at Hogwarts will be willing to tutor him privately?"
"Are you ordering me?" he asked, staring intently into Violet's eyes.
"Possibly," she said. "Maybe not. Maybe I'm just going to borrow you're firewhiskey for an experiment. I'm not sure how many bottles I'll need."
He sighed and pinched the bridge of his hooked nose.
"Alright," he said. "Aiden, you can stay. You're my godson, too, I suppose. Do you know anything about magic?"
Aiden shook his head, picking at his dirty pants.
"I'll talk to Dumbledore and the other professors," he said. "We'll start with first year spells and potions."
"And you will go easy on him, Severus," said Evangeline.
Aiden started to object, but Violet cut him off.
"He's actually a bit of an ass," said Violet to him. Then to Snape, she added, "Look. Even if he's not Slytherin – which I really doubt – I want you to treat him better than them. Better than Malfoy. By far better than you treat Harry."
Snape sighed and nodded. It was hard to refuse Violet when she started speaking like that. She could be so forceful with so few words. Just her tone alone made you want to obey.
"I have some business to attend to," he said at breakfast.
"Have fun, Sevvey," said Evangeline.
"The doctor will be over to help get Aiden walking again," said Snape as he took one last sip of his tea.
"Sweet," said Aiden.
Snape left through the front door, and Apparated as soon as he was out of sight from the house. When he was at his destination, a large mansion, he went towards the gate. The gates opened as he set foot in front of them.
The front door opened as he walked up the path.
"Severus?" said the woman.
"Narcissa," he said. "Is he in?"
"Yes," she said and let Snape through the door. She showed him to their large, formal dining room. By the fire place, a large, plush throne was placed. Seated in it, was a man with slits for nostrils, red eyes, and a snake coiled around his feet.
"My Lord," said Snape, kneeling in front of him.
"Ah, Severus," said Voldemort. "Rise, rise. What is it?"
"Thank you," he said, not rising. "The girls know."