Trinity

Prologue

March 1983

The three women hurried through the city streets, their faces hidden by the hoods of their black cloaks, skirting around parked cars and telegraph poles as they ran. Their path was lit only by the full moon overhead, the lit tips of their wands and the occasional, intermittent light of the streetlamps that lined the road. Each woman had a small bundle of blankets cradled in her arms.

"How much further?" one of the women panted, the barest trace of pain present in her voice. "My side is killing me. I think I'm getting a stitch."

"Oh would you stop your whining, Issy? If anyone should be complaining it's Diana, seeing as she's the one who just gave birth a couple of weeks ago," one of the others said scornfully. "But no, it's the one who's barely exercised since we left school..."

"Clio, I swear to God, you insult me one more time and I'll hex you into next week."

"Isis, Clio, please, can we not argue? This is the only chance we have to do this." She stopped running and turned to face her companions. Worry was etched across her young face. "I don't want to leave my children - your nieces and nephew, might I add - at the mercy of our relatives. You know what they're like. Why else do you think Mom sent us to England for school every year? They hate people like us, in case you've forgotten!"

"We haven't forgotten, Di," Clio assured her sister. "But what if they don't come? Are you sure that they'll even turn up?"

"Yes, I am perfectly sure. I wasn't a Ravenclaw for nothing, you know. They'll come. I'm sure they will." She pushed the left sleeve of her robes back and checked her wristwatch. "We'd better get moving. I said we would meet them there at one."

"Where are we meeting them again?" Isis asked as they set off at a brisk pace. "You burned the letter before I could get a look at it."

"Oh, I wonder why," Diana said sardonically. "If one of our aunts had got their hands on it, I'd have been burned at the stake. We all would have been, for that matter. Now come on. I don't particularly feel like explaining why we were late." She shifted the bundle she carried and increased her pace.

A dark alley at the end of the street was their destination, its mouth spilling shadows out onto the pavement. Cardboard boxes, damp and discoloured by the recent storm, lay scattered about. Almost as one, the three women each raised their wands in a fluid motion and whispered, "Nox." There was nothing to do now but wait.

Just as Diana's wristwatch ticked over to one o'clock, four sharp cracks sounded behind them. The three of them wheeled around to see four robed figures standing in the middle of the road.

"Is that them?" Clio asked in a stage whisper.

"Shh!" Diana hissed. She cleared her throat. "Professor Dumbledore, sir?" she asked unsurely.

"Ah, Miss Lawyer, there you are," Albus Dumbledore said, and Diana gave a small sigh of relief. "And these must be your sisters. Clio and Isis, if I remember correctly?"

"Yes, sir," Clio and Isis answered.

"Good, good. Now, you will remember Minerva, of course." Albus indicated the stern-looking, black-haired witch standing at his left side; Diana, Isis and Clio all nodded. "But you will not know my other companions; this is Verity Stanhope, of the United States Magical Congress" the red-haired witch at Dumbledore's right side inclined her head and smiled "and Amaethon West, of the Australian Ministry of Magic." The blonde wizard standing next to Verity nodded once.

"I hate to separate them," Diana started, "but our relatives would wish them nothing but harm. That's why we were sent to Hogwarts rather than to Amargosa Valley. This is for the best." She lowered her gaze. "I'm sorry if I've inconvenienced you, but I was desperate. And you were the only person I could turn to."

"Your husband is not aware that you are a witch?" Minerva asked, her sharp tone taking Diana aback.

"I'm not married yet," Diana replied without looking up. "My fiancé and I plan to marry in the fall. But he knows that I am a witch, yes."

"We should get started," Verity said. She fished in a pocket of her robes and drew out her wand. "They will find one another in time," she assured Diana. "It may take a lifetime, but they won't be separated forever. Their magic will draw them together." Her tone of voice turned business-like. "Do you have a photograph of the children?"

"I do," Clio said. She pulled a colour photograph from her pocket; it had been taken with a Muggle camera at the hospital where the triplets had been born. It was clear from the photograph that the three babies were related - their features were identical, right down to their sticking-out ears. "I don't think I have a copy of it, though." She handed the photograph to Verity, who performed a Severing Charm and divided it into three neat segments.

"I've got a copy at home," Isis said. "I'll give it to you when we get back to Tulsa."

"No, I think Diana should be the one to get it," Clio disagreed. "They're her children, after all."

"We can discuss it later," Diana interrupted, and her sisters fell silent.

"What are their names?" Amaethon asked in a broad Australian accent.

"This is Sarah," Diana replied. She rearranged the layers of blankets that had been wrapped around her baby daughter. "Sarah has brown eyes, and her sister has green; it's the only way to tell them apart." Verity tucked the photograph of Sarah into the blanket's folds. "Isis has Miriam."

"Me," Isis replied after Verity glanced at the two other women in confusion, trying to work out which sister was which. Verity handed the photograph of Miriam to Isis. "And Clio has little Taylor."

"That's an unusual name," Amaethon commented as Clio took the third and final photograph.

"It's my surname," Clio said proudly. "Well, my married name, anyhow."

"Are we all ready then?" Albus asked, and the sisters nodded. "Excellent. Verity, if you will?"

"Touch the tips of your wands to mine, please," Verity instructed. The sisters did so, and Verity began chanting an incantation in Latin. The four wands began to glow faintly, the glow gradually building to an iridescent blue that blinded the sisters and seemed to fill the entire street with light. As Verity finished chanting, the glow faded, and the darkness crept back in.

"Ravenclaws, I presume?" Verity asked, being familiar with the House system at Hogwarts through her dealings with the British Ministry.

"They certainly were," Minerva confirmed. "Three of the brightest witches of their generation." The sisters broke into identical grins at their old professor's praise.

"It's for the best," Diana whispered as she handed her daughter to Minerva; Amaethon took Miriam, and Verity took Taylor. "Will they be able to find me once they have found each other?" she asked.

"As long as you yourself are still living, then yes," Verity answered. "The four of you will eventually be reunited, but only if all three of them wish to search. If they do decide to search, and they can't find you, then they will seek out either of your sisters, and I am sure that Clio and Isis will lead them to you." She smiled. "It sounds complicated, I know, but that was the simple explanation."

"I'm sure it was," Isis said wryly. "Are we done, then?"

"Yes, we're done," Amaethon replied with a smile. "It was a pleasure to meet the three of you; I'm sure we will meet again someday."

"I hope we do," Clio answered, returning the wizard's smile. "Thank you."

Amaethon nodded, then Disapparated.

"Well, I should get going," Verity said. "I have a full class of Aurors-in-training to teach come daybreak. They're a handful this lot." She gave Diana a warm smile. "He's in good hands," Verity assured her. "We'll find a good family for him, I promise you. You needn't worry." She turned to Albus and Minerva. "It was wonderful to see you both again; we must catch up again soon." With one last smile at the sisters, Verity Disapparated.

"And I too am afraid that we must take our leave," Albus said.

"I apologise for any inconvenience I might have caused you," Diana said in a small voice.

"It was no inconvenience," Minerva said dismissively. "Take care of yourselves." She gave the sisters a brisk nod before Disapparating, Albus following her lead before the echo of the third crack had faded.

"Well, I suppose that's that," Isis said.

"Isis!" Clio scolded. "Di just lost her children!"

"It's all right, Clio," Diana said, her tone weary. "It was the only thing I could have done. And besides, it isn't forever. I'll see them again someday." She gave a small sigh and gazed up at the full moon. "Someday soon..."