Power of Three (Tripletes)

[Callisto "Callie" Sanders]

Callie shook her head. "I'm the one who's always got her nose stuck in a book. If any of us is a borderline Ravenclaw, it's me."

She had mostly been joking about sitting with the Hufflepuffs. First of all, the Hufflepuffs were mostly terrified of her. But also, she was fully aware of the power that the three of them had when they were together. It was just that she thought that, of the three of them, she was the least popular. She didn't care; in fact, she was kind of proud of it. She certainly wasn't going to pretend to be something that she wasn't just to make friends. She really had all the friends she wanted, anyway.

She headed for the door, with the others following close behind her. "Maybe I can sit with Casey, though... Remember him? The cute little boy I sat with at the Yule Ball? He was adorable.... it's such a shame that boys have to grow up and become guys, before they can become men."

[Linette "Linny" Sanders]

Linette thought about what Callie said for a moment, thinking it through. "Honestly Callie, I don't really know what your problem is with every teenaged boy. They aren't all bad," of course, Callie and Linette's idea of the male gender was very different.

"And Casey was a sweetheart," Linette said as she and Bobby followed Callie out the door. "I bet he was really happy you invited him as your date," Linette said with a smile.

[Callisto "Callie" Sanders]

Callie didn’t even really have a reason for why she was so negative about boys. She hadn’t been hurt; she wouldn’t allow herself to be. She wasn’t letting any guy get that close. And contrary to popular belief, Callie was attracted to guys. There were a lot of guys she secretly thought were cute, and she sometimes wished that one of them would decide that he wasn’t afraid of her and take the chance to get to know her… not because she was one of the triplets, but because he was genuinely interested in her.

“Look, I’m just going with the odds here. Most guys… let’s face it… suck. We’re all just looking for the few that don’t. I can acknowledge that there are a couple of OK guys out there. But in my opinion, it’s better not to trust any of them, than to trust all of them and risk getting hurt.”

[Roberta "Bobby" Sanders]

"You know that's not how Dad wants you to look at things. And you know that Mum wouldn't have wanted you to, either." She gave Callie a look. Usually, when she brought up their long deceased mother, she got yelled at. None of them had the oppertunity to ever get to know the woman, but Bobby felt like she was close to her, anyway. She would have had to been strong and passionate and beautiful and wonderful for their father to have loved her.

"Besides, I can list off thirty boys in the school that are all good guys. I think you're just scared, and I haven't figured out why."

[Callisto "Callie" Sanders]

Callie couldn't help it; she started to laugh. "Really? Thirty good guys? In this school? I think you're highly overestimating them. I'd say the number is closer to three. Maybe five. Unless you'd care to list all thirty of them for me? Really, I'm very curious."

She folded her arms over her chest and smirked at her sister. If she was too cynical, Bobby was too naive. It was going to get her hurt one day.

Of course, all of this was a sort of defense mechanism to switch the topic away from herself. Bobby had accused her of being scared, and maybe she was.

[Roberta "Bobby" Sanders]

"Merlin, why are you so angry at men?" Bobby asked, frustrated. She gave Linette a look, wondering how, with a father like they had and no real broken heart, Callie ended up so distrusting. Maybe it didn't have anything to do with their dad, but Bobby felt like it should. She wondered if, deep down, Callie blamed their Dad for their mum being gone. If she did, she better never say it outloud.

"Fine. Casey is a doll. That boy Linette went to the dance with, Micah? Neil, Glenn, Jeremy... You know, Nolan's not a bad guy, either. Jamie and Liam Ferrera. Rabastan Lestrange. Apollo, that Ravenclaw boy. Jonesy, Dierks, Bryce, Cameron. I think I've gone well over five, but would you like me to keep going?"

[Callisto "Callie" Sanders]

"Casey doesn't count. He's under 13," Callie said. "Most boys are sweet until they hit 13. I'll give you Micah, Neil, and the Ferreras. Dierks is nice, too. Glenn annoys me, and didn't Jeremy insult you at the ball? I don't know Apollo, Jonesy, or Bryce, so I can't judge. Cameron showed up at the ball with that slag, Brenda, so he's out. And Rabastan Lestrange? Seriously, are you kidding with that one?"

She didn't bother to point out that the list was considerably smaller than 30. The fact that her sister thought Rabastan Lestrange was a good guy was very disturbing to Callie. Had she been talking to him?

[Roberta "Bobby" Sanders]

"Casey does too count. We didn't put an age limit on it. It's not like they hit 13 and some switch is flipped and they go bad. Besides, can you honestly picture Casey being bad when he's our age? Glenn just has a hard time knowing how to deal with people. Jeremy probably didn't mean it in a bad way. And so Cameron has poor taste, that doesn't make him a bad guy. And Rabastan is not... bad." She blushed a little when she said this, wishing she hadn't, and quickly moved on. "And anyway, I still proved my point, because we're over five. And you still have more." Callie was still arguing her, so she started ticking more guys off her fingers.

"Dean Fisher. Elliot Lyons. Anyone in Hufflepuff, like the Jordan twins. Reese. I bet you can't even name half as many boys that are bad."

[Callisto "Callie" Sanders]

But Callie was done with this part of the argument. There were alarm bells going off in her head now. She saw that blush when Bobby said Rabastan's name and it frankly scared the hell out of her. Rabastan was pretty much the poster boy for why boys couldn't be trusted. Of all the boys... why did it have to be Rabastan that made her sister blush like that?

"Bobby, listen to me. Forget everything else I said, OK, but believe this. Rabastan is not a good guy. I don't care what you heard or what he's said to you, he is not misunderstood, he is exactly what everyone says he is, and you need to stay away from him. Any of those other guys... they're fine. But not him."

[Roberta "Bobby" Sanders]

"Oh, God, Callie," Bobby said, rolling her eyes. She realized instantly that she had made a mistake mentioning Rabastan's name. He had been flirting with her for about a week now, and she swore she wasn't going to tell Callie. So much for that.

"Okay, you're right. I'm sorry I mentioned him. Even without him, though, I named way more than five." She wanted to turn the conversation back so that Callie would leave her alone. She wasnt going to admit to having a new crush on Rabastan or anything of the sort, and she didn't want to fight with Callie about it.

[Callisto "Callie" Sanders]

Callie eyed her sister for an extra couple of seconds, trying to see if Bobby really was agreeing with her about Rabastan, or just trying to change the subject to avoid talking about it. She wasn't entirely convinced that Bobby was going to give up just like that. Maybe she would have to have a little talk with Rabastan Lestrange to make sure he knew to stay away from Bobby. Of all the boys in this school he was, without question, the one boy she was sure would break Bobby's heart if she let him get too close.

"Fine," she said at last, scowling. "But most of the good ones are taken, you have to admit that much, at least."

[Roberta "Bobby" Sanders]

Bobby forced a laugh and shrugged. "Yeah... well, I'll give you that. Most of the good ones are taken."

Actually, she was pretty sure that the majority of the guys she had listed off were single, and her brows knit for a moment while she thought about it... it was probably pretty even. "And you're rarely ever attracted to the ones that are good and not taken. It's such a shame."

She casually nudged Linny as they walked, trying to get her to join in on the conversation. She knew Linny had an opinion about boys.

[Callisto "Callie" Sanders]

"Speak for yourself," Callie said. "If a guy is taken, I don't look twice at him. And because I think most boys are bad, I'm not interested unless they show themselves to be otherwise. But for the record, just because I don't trust boys doesn't mean I don't find them attractive. And if just one guy would stop being afraid of me and actually try to talk to me, I might even go out with him. But don't go spreading it around, will you? I don't want to ruin my reputation as a man-hater."

They had almost reached the great hall by this point, so her voice was a little bit lower than it had been before, and she kept looking around to see if anyone was nearby.

[Linette "Linny" Sanders]

Linette sort of just sat back and let her sister's argue for the time being. Merlin knows she had her own opinion about boys, but she wasn't really a serious relationship kind of girl. A date or two to Hogsmeade, an invite to a ball, but not a relationship. Therefore, she didn't really spend enough time to decide if they fit Callie's regiment of good guy vs. bad guy.

"No, I wouldn't even think of flirting with a guy I KNEW was taken," Linette said, "And as to Bobby's little list," she pointed out. "I agree with most. Casey, though young, I'm sure will grow up to be one of the sweeter guys. Micah was nice, Niel is a sweetie, Glenn....eh, he's kinda wierd in my eyes, but not dangerous wierd like that Rafe boy, the one who follows Sam all the time..." She thought more into Bobby's list. "Nolan can be a nice guy, when he wants, Jeremy is nice, but he's dating Alenna, The Ferrera boys, Apollo, i agree with ALL of them except Rabastan." Linette said. She knew Rabastan's reputation, just like everyone else at the school. "Bobby, you know I'd never blatently tell you what to do, but watch out for Lestrange. Please? He's not all he's cracked up to be."

[Roberta "Bobby" Sanders]

"Wow, you both completely misunderstood what I was trying to say. I'm not used to that happening. I'd never flirt with someone who was already dating, either. I'd never flirt with someone who was even interested in someone else. I'm just saying, when the nice ones comes along who aren't attached, I'm not generally interested."

She was going to lose it when Linny commented on Rabastan. "Look, Lin, really, you of all people shouldn't make that kind of judgement. But fine, I already said I take him back from that list. Can we please be done talking about it now?" She just didn't want her sisters bearing down on her anymore about it. It taught her not to ever bring him up again, though, and that might turn out for the worst.

[Callisto "Callie" Sanders]

"OK, we can drop it," Callie said. "We just want to be sure, that's all."

She shot a worried look at Linny. Bobby was extremely defensive about the Rabastan issue, and she had given in too easily. If Bobby was getting a crush on Rabastan, something would have to be done quickly.

But she also knew not to push Bobby too much at once. The best thing to do was give Bobby a gentle nudge in the other direction. Maybe if she and Linette "talked up" one of the other guys Bobby always hung around with, they could get her to forget about Rabastan.

"Hey, listen... That guy Dierks. What do you know about him? Is he... seeing someone?"

[Roberta "Bobby" Sanders]

Bobby gave Callie a strange look. "Why, are you interested?" she asked, half joking because Callie didn't like boys. Well, she did, but she would never show interest in one.

She shrugged. "I don't know. I think he's single. He's new here, anyway, but he's really nice. From Texas, loves animals." She trailed off, unaware of what Callie was trying to do. "What do you want to know about him?"

[Callisto "Callie" Sanders]

Callie frowned. “No, I am not interested,” she said, hoping her sisters couldn’t sense that she was lying. “I just… was wondering, that’s all. I mean… I was talking to him the other day. He just… sat down next to me and started talking to me. Nobody does that… I thought maybe he thought I was you and didn’t want to look like a jerk, so he stayed. It’s not a big deal; I just… Nevermind. You said he was nice, that’s all.”

For all of her apparent confidence and hostility, when it came to boys, Callie was actually very insecure. She just covered it in the only way she knew how. Unfortunately, her way was to keep all boys at a distance. If they were scared of her, they would have no idea that she was actually scared of them.

[Roberta "Bobby" Sanders]

"He is nice," Bobby said. "Southern charm and all that romance novel stuff you and I read, Callie." She knew Callie liked to seem smart by reading the classics, but she always picked up Bobby's romance novels when she was done with them.

"And he's actually very good at telling us apart. Why are you asking, anyway? He's not interested in me, if that's what you're getting at, either." She wasn't sure why Callie asked, actually, and ran a hand through her hair, sort of lost in a direction for the conversation. She just didn't want them to bring up Rabastan again.

[Callisto "Callie" Sanders]

Callie frowned and avoided Bobby’s eyes. Yes, she read Bobby’s romance novels, and they all knew it, but she always tried to deny it anyway. The fact that Callie was secretly a romantic at heart was something she always tried very hard to keep hidden. “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she said in a lofty tone.

“And anyway, I just asked because I was talking to him the other day, that’s all. Don’t go reading into it or anything, OK? I mean, yeah, I guess he’s kind of cute if you like that type, but I just… nevermind, just forget I said anything.”

They were almost at the Gryffindor table now, and Callie was eager to silence any conversation about boys, in case anyone got the idea that she might actually like one. Picking a seat near the end, she sat down and continued as if they had been discussing the subject all along, “So did you guys want to study together for that Charms test or not?”