Power of Three (Tripletes)

[Linette "Linny" Sanders]

Sure, dont read into it. Linette couldn't understand why Callie insisted on comming off the way she did, intimidating and all. She knew her sister could be kind and passionate about things, like animals and little kids. Linette quietly wondered how this "toughness" would effect Callie.

She occasionally did this, worried about her "little" sisters. She worried about Callie the most, but lately, Bobby has been on her mind a lot too. Linette was the last person to lecture on what guys to pick when it came to dating and...other things. But she wondered if Bobby was maybe a little too nieve about guys and their intentions. Oh great, now she was beginning to think like Callie...

"Yea, sounds good to me," Linette said, refering to the Charms exam. "What about you Bobby?"

[Callisto "Callie" Sanders]

Callie was actually rather annoyed with herself. She should have known better than to bring up Dierks in the conversation. She had only just met the guy, after all, and it was far too soon for her to show any partiality to him. After all, most of her past crushes (and yes, she'd had them) had ended in disappointment when she learned that the guys were not at all the people she had imagined them to be. That was why she put on the act that she did... most people were not who they pretended to be anyway. And this way she could keep herself from getting hurt.

While Linny turned Bpbby's attention to the upcoming Charms test, Callie began to fill her plate with food. Although she was trying to be a vegetarian, she was finding that the school's meal choices were rather limited when it came to vegetarian foods. But they always had plenty of macaroni and cheese, and she began piling some on her plate.

[Linette "Linny" Sanders]

"You're really only going to eat Mac and Cheese?" Linette asked, turning to her sister with a raised eyebrow. "Come on Cal, it's called protien." she herself, took a piece of chicken, some salad, and a little bit of mac and cheese for herself. Linette truely believed in eating healthy with the 4 main food group, and then complementing with lots of exercise to stay healthy.

[Callisto "Callie" Sanders]

Callie rolled her eyes. Linny was so good at playing the “big sister” card, and sometimes it really frustrated Callie. She didn’t need a babysitter.

“Fine,” she said, irritated, as she grabbed some salad and added a scoop of tuna salad on top. She had given up meat, but she still ate fish most of the time. “Happy now?”

[Linette "Linny" Sanders]

"Yup," Linette smiled at Callie. "thank you very much." She put her napkin in her lap and began eating her dinner. She hadn't realized how hungry she actually was untill she started. She reached out to pour herselfa glass of pumpkin juice when she turned to Bobby.

"Come on Bobby, grab a plateful," she said, now moving to pick on her other sister. Was it so bad that she wanted to watch out for her two favorite girls?

[Roberta "Bobby" Sanders]

"I'm eating, jeez," Bobby said, nudging Linette's side. "When did you become such a mother hen?"

She lifted her plate, giving Callie a look that said she completely understood, and then smiled at Linny and she piled some food on her plate, a decent array of what was laid out on the table.

"Anyway, about the Charms exam, we can study together. I feel pretty confident about the test, so I can help either of you if you need it."

[Chester "Chip" Gardner]

(Time to shake things up with some boys! And yes, I seriously did create this character just for this purpose)

Chip was sitting nearby, but had been too busy talking to his friend Jonesy to notice the triplets right away. But during a lapse in the conversation, he heard Bobby's voice and turned to look at her, a sort of sly grin on his face.

Like most of his classmates, he was somewhat in awe of the triplets, but he also wasn't obsessed with them or intimidated. He liked all girls, really, and never hesitated to flirt just a little.

"Hey there, ladies," he said. "Glad you came to join us. You're looking fine as always."

[Callisto "Callie" Sanders]

Callie, typically, was unimpressed. Her distrustful nature was inclined to see the worst in people, especially guys, and she thought Chip's flirting was just another attempt to get one of them into bed. It never occurred to her that he might just be a friendly guy who liked to flirt and joke around.

She looked at Chip and rolled her eyes at him. "Thanks, but if you don't mind, this is a private conversation."

The fact that the conversation had pretty much run out at this point hardly seemed to matter. It wasn't like he had been paying attention to their conversation, anyway.

"Anyway, Bobby, as I was about to say, I think maybe I could use a little help in Charms. I like Professor Macrae, but I have the hardest time paying attention in his class. His voice kind of lulls me to sleep."

[Roberta "Bobby" Sanders]

Bobby was just opening her mouth to say hello to Chip when Callie cut in.

Like most of the boys in the school, especially in Gryffindor, Bobby considered Chip a friend, and Callie's cold and quick dismissal just made Bobby roll her eyes. "Callie, be nice," she said, nudging her sister in the ribs before she turned her head and smiled at her fellow sixth year.

"Hi, Chip. What'd we miss? Anything exciting?"

[Callisto "Callie" Sanders]

Callie groaned and rubbed her side. She was used to being told to “be nice.” And maybe she had been unnecessarily rude, but Callie knew what happened whenever boys got involved in their conversations. After a while, it stopped being about them, and more about the boys showing off for each other to make themselves look cool. But usually, their attempts to be “cool” just made them look like losers. Callie was not impressed.

Sighing softly to herself, she reached into her bag and pulled out a book, preparing to ignore everyone and shut out the rest of the conversation, which she was sure to find annoying.

[Chester "Chip" Gardner]

Luckily, Chip wasn't fazed by Callie's attitude. Everyone had come to expect it from her, actually, and would probably have been more shocked if she had suddenly greeted them with an enthusiastic smile.

"No, you didn't miss much," he told Bobby. "We were just talking about the Hogsmeade trip this weekend. You are going, right? Maybe we could see you there. We were all gonna investigate the Shrieking Shack to see if we could find a way in. You ladies interested?"

[Roberta "Bobby" Sanders]

"Cal, come on." Bobby rolled her eyes, nudging her sister, who now had her nose buried in a book. "Don't be antisocial."

She left it at that, knowing that Callie wasn't likely to join the conversation again anyway. When the prospect of the Shrieking shack was brought up, she wished her other sisters were more like her. Linette probably wouldn't be interested, and Callie would be, but just not with them.

"I'd love to, but we'll have to see, okay?" She liked to reserve Hogsmead trips for her sisters, but that didn't always work out. "But We're definitely going to Hogsmead."

[Jonesy Duggan]

"Don't tell her she didn't miss much!" Jonesy slid over to join Chip's conversation with the girls. "It'll make us seem boring," He laughed, smiling.

"Hi Linette, Hi Callie, Hi Bobby," Jonesy said, waving to all three of them. "How are the loveliest girls in school doing this fine day," he said with a charming tone.

[Linette "Linny" Sanders]

It wasn't really a big transformation, but Linette definatly changed personas a little when guys were around. When Jonsey and Chip joined their conversation, she leaned forward a little, leaning on a elbow and twirling her reddish hair around her finger absent-mindedly.

"Hey guys," Linette smiled at them. She looked between Callie and Bobby before turning back to Chip. "Yea, we'll have to check about Hogsmeade," she agreed. He number one loyalty was to her sisters, no matter how adorable the guy was.

[Callisto "Callie" Sanders]

Callie hated the way Linette seemed to change whenever boys were around. It was like her IQ dropped about a dozen points. Was that how you were supposed to flirt? Did boys actually like girls to act stupid like that? If so, it was disgusting. Callie would never change her behavior to impress a boy. If they didn’t like her just the way she was, then she had no use for them.

Bobby, at least, didn’t change her behavior much when boys were around. She was always the same, whether talking to boys, girls, or just her sisters. But that still worried Callie. She saw everyone as equal, and she didn’t seem to realize that some people were just not to be trusted.

She still had her nose buried in her book, but she wasn’t really reading. It was just an excuse to stay out of the conversation and avoid eye contact. It allowed her to observe without being forced to participate.

[Jonesy Duggan]

He must have been feeling his Gryffindor bravery today, because Jonesy leaned past Chip a little more and faced Callie. "What'cha reading there Callie?" Jonesy asked, trying to get her as a part of the convorsation between he, Chip, and the sisters. He figured that, if she didn't want to talk, she'd just give him a look like she usually would.

"Check? what do you have to check?" Jonesy asked the other two. "Three beautiful ladies, two handsome chaps like us, I'm sure Chip and I could find someone to even us out if you like." He winked at Linette and nudged her arm a little. "Come on, it'll be fun."

[Callisto "Callie" Sanders]

Callie slowly lowered her book, just enough to peer over the top of the pages at him. It was a stupid question, she thought, since the title of the book was printed quite plainly across the front. So she knew the real point of the question was to get her to talk.

"The Feminine Mystique," she replied. "Have you read it? It's all about gender roles and how women are treated like little more than slaves and baby-makers until they lose a sense of their own identity and individuality. Maybe you should give it a read."

She held it out to him, her eyebrows raised in a challenging expression. "And just so you know, Bobby and Linny have already promised that this Hogsmeade weekend will be just the three of us. I intend to hold them to that promise."

[Roberta "Bobby" Sanders]

Bobby rolled her eyes. Callie was in a mood today, and as much as Bobby loved her sister, she was being a bit harsh.

"Cal, put the book down, honestly," she said, reaching over and pushing the book down from Callie's hands. She sometimes wondered if Callie had even read the book or if she just liked to flaunt it around to intimidate guys. Either way, it was rubbish. Not to mention, had their father been around, Bobby liked to think he would have said something about her being so rude. They were always taught not to read at the dinner table..

"She is right though. This weekend is girls only. Next time, though, okay?"

[Callisto "Callie" Sanders]

Callie rolled her eyes. Maybe it was rude to be reading at the table, but she thought it equally rude for people to butt in on their conversation without asking. She did not appreciate that she was essentially being forced to be sociable. And besides, the kid had asked her what she was reading, and she did answer. What was so wrong with that?

“Fine,” she grumbled. “No reading at the table.”

It was a small victory that at least Bobby had confirmed that the upcoming Hogsmeade weekend would be girls only. What usually happened was that they would all start out together, then Linette would see a cute boy and go off with him, and then they’d run into a group of Bobby’s friends, and she’d invite them to come along, and then Callie would slip off and end up sitting alone in the Three Broomsticks. Callie just didn’t want that to happen again.

[Jonesy Duggan]

Jonesy would have taken the book if Bobby hadn't made her put it down. Joesy had three older sisters and was raised by his mother, he was all for feminism and things like that. He half wanted to see the look on Callie's face if he grabbed the book.

"Indeed, next time," Jonesy said. "We'll have to hold you three to that, right Chip," he nudged his friend.