Third Time's The Charm

Third Time’s The Charm
Three - Part 1


Shortly after their second time together, Lucius was in the Ministry of Magic and pitted against those damnable children. Then he was in Azkaban before he could blink, much less bribe or coerce he way out of it. At least he had the memory of their short night in Iceland to wandlessly conjure a Patronus here and there, keeping the Dementors at bay.

As the months passed by, there was little else to focus his attention on, so he went over every detail of their encounter. He had memorized every change of breath, every movement of her body, every little sigh and moan. His confidence grew as he realized the few small clues she had given him. Then he started plotting for the next time they would meet.

Not quite six months into his stay, packages started arriving for him. At first, he thought they might be from his wife, or son, or still-free fellow death eaters. Upon opening the first one, Lucius was shocked. All the seals were in place, so the guards had not even been into it. Chocolate, an envelope of newspaper clippings, soap, small plastic bottles of Muggle origin, and a folded note.

He read the note first.

Though not what you are expecting, these items will still be of use to you. All are Muggle, but high quality. The chocolate for the obvious. The small bottles - you need to read each one - shampoo, mouth rinse, cologne, lotion for basic hygiene. The red and white tube is toothpaste and the small orange box contains a toothbrush. The loo tissue is the softest found. Another box of the same items will be sent each month. If you have special requests, write them on the back of this parchment and place it in the box, as it will return to me overnight.


After carefully removing all the items, he found all that were listed. He checked the labels on all the bottles and found an odd glass one with brown liquid. Unscrewing the metal cap, he cautiously sniffed. Merlin! Alcohol! Taking a small sip, he smiled and secured the cap. Whoever had done this was a gifted - getting any contraband past the wards and the guards into the prison was next to impossible.

The envelope of clippings was next. Lucius stared at them in disbelief. Every article dealt with his stocks and investments, or banking, or the scant news of attacks and Ministry response since his incarceration. He had no clue who knew this much about him, yet would still send such gifts.

Through the next year, the boxes arrived regularly. Each of his requests - and he tried to not ask for much - had been answered. A favorite candy longed for - in the next box. News of a few Muggle stocks - in the next box. The name of his benefactor - that small parchment was returned with “you will know soon enough” written on it. Ah, so there were a few limits to what he would be granted.

The last box that arrived was large and filled to the brim -- enough to last several months. The note was short and to the point.

IT is upon us soon. Unknown who will win and who will survive. If the fates allow, we will meet again. And you can give it one more try. Third time’s the charm, they say.


Athena. Lucius had no clue how she found out about his investments. Or his grooming habits. Or anything else she had to know to keep him informed. He unpacked the large box and searched for the fountain pen that was always in the bottom, eager to write a long missive to his now-known box sender. But he didn’t find one. Frantically he shook and moved everything around, thinking it was stuck to something. Still no pen.

Then he paced. Back and forth in the cell as his mind raced for anything of use as ink. Nothing. Berating himself for never setting a pen aside for future use, he put one foot into the box. Possibly it was under a flap at the bottom.

It was then he had his “you are a bloody, stupid git” moment. If Severus had been nearby, it would have warranted being called a dunderhead. The box! It was charmed to disappear overnight and return to her. She had almost overestimated his keen, Pureblood brains. Almost.

Thankful that this epiphany occurred to him before nightfall, Lucius set about stuffing all the items from the box under his blanket. He did stow a few favorites into the pockets of his robe, though. No use leaving behind perfectly good alcohol and chocolate.

After the dinner tray was collected and the guards gone for the night, save for a few rounds, Lucius set the box in a far corner out of sight of the door. He bent and folded himself into it and waited.

The midnight shift of guards making their checks woke him. Joints protested, muscles ached and limbs were asleep. Still, he didn’t dare stretch or stand. There was no telling when, exactly, the charm on the box would activate. Just as he finally gave in to his protesting body and started to rearrange his legs, he felt it. The swirl of magic was slight. His heartbeat increased and he felt as if he were being spun like a top.


It was bright. Very bright. Far too bright to be real. He must be dreaming. Hardly any light filtered into his dank cell in Azkaban. Something was wrong - it was far too quiet. And bright. Lucius shielded his eyes and squinted. This was definitely not his prison cell.

As his eyes adjusted to sunlight again, he took note of his surroundings. And from the odd angle of being on the floor. What in the name of Merlin? Gods, everything hurt. It all began to make sense as he remembered the previous night.

The place seemed to be a proper house, even though the room he was in was small. That meant a proper bathroom! Ignoring the pops and creaks of joints, he stood up and started to explore.

He had been in a sitting room with bookshelves, a desk and a couch. It opened onto a foyer, which led to a formal room with antique furniture - the upholstery matching the drapes and paint of deep blue. Double doors opened to a formal dining room with dark, heavy furniture and large tapestries adorning the walls. A swinging door went into the kitchen, which was fitted with Muggle appliances. Through the doorway on the other side of the kitchen was a long hall. The doors were all open along the hall and the second one was a bathroom.

A short pause in the tour to make use of the facilities, and he continued his exploring. The perfunctorily furnished bedroom off the hall must be for guests. Another small room held an oddly overstuffed chair with a wooden handle on the side and more bookshelves. At the end of the hall, double doors revealed a large bedroom. The bed was large enough to rival his at the Manor. The décor was coordinated in sage green and deep coral throughout.

A movement to his left made him jump back and automatically reach for his wand, or where it should have been. Damn. He forgot he did not have it with him. The movement was only a parchment, now hovering in front of him. He snatched it out of the air and sat on the bed to read it.


If you took advantage of the opportunities presented, you are here and safe. Thank the Goddess! This house is safe and unplotable. There is enough food in the cabinets and the refrigerator to last a month. The wardrobe next to the bath door in this room has new clothes in your size. Each bath has a well-stocked cupboard of towels and hygiene items. On the desk in the room you arrived in is a red binder. In it you will find instructions for use of every Muggle item in the house, a floor plan of the house, a list of all the books in my collection, and a few other things you need to know. For now, bathe, put on clean clothes (I would suggest throwing out the old ones) and rest.


This was all well and good, but where the hell was she? He was too tired to think on it and the lure of a hot bath and clean clothes was too great. And hour later, a freshly-scrubbed Lucius was padding around the house in silk pajamas and lambs wool-lined slippers. Thank Merlin the stove had flames - that he knew how to use without instructions. Tea, eggs, toast and tomatoes (which looked garden-grown) were the best meal, made sweeter with the taste of freedom, that he had ever had.

For the next two days, he only slept and ate and bathed. He could not remember a time when he had been so idle, or so content. No summons to the feet of the Dark Lord. No harpy, er.. , wife nagging about mundane things. No businesses to attend. But finally he was well-rested, had eaten his fill and ready to do something.

There had still been no word from Athena, where ever she was. He decided to explore outside and see if there were any clues. Well, at least that was the plan. The front door was heavily warded and would not budge. The backdoor in the kitchen only allowed entry into a small cooking garden, which was enclosed with high stucco walls. The French doors in the master bedroom required a key to open. Lucius railed at the fact that he had only exchanged one prison for another. He resigned himself to finally reading the dreaded notebook.

Actually, there were three items of interest on the desk. The red notebook, which was a detailed and well-organized manual that covered every unfamiliar item in the house, an inventory of contents and a complete menu of meals for a month with recipes. A green journal with entries dating from his first week in Azkaban, which seemed to be addressed to him from Athena. And a tablet of blank parchment.

He sat back and just looked at the desk top. The amount of time it had taken to organize all this information -- she must have been working on it all along. Amazing. He leaned forward to flip through the red book and stopped at the section labeled “Important Things”.

Important indeed. There was a wand in the house! He ran to the location and almost groaned with delight at the feel of his magic being channeled again. Back to the den and more revelations. The wards could only be opened or removed by her. The words “for your protection” made him scoff. As if a Malfoy ever needed a woman to keep him safe.

Then the words jumped out at him. “When he tries to summon you”. He had wondered about that. Even locked away in the North Sea, he’d felt twinges or burning. Astonishing -- she had developed a spell to dampen the effects of a summons and worked it into the wards of the house.

All of these safeguards meant a double-edged sword for Lucius. He could not be summoned. The final conflict would happen and he would be no where near the scene. Depending on which side won, this was very good or very bad. No doubt Voldermort would subject him to hours of Crucio and then kill him for ignoring a summons to the battle. On the other hand, the Ministry could not put him on trial for fighting against them if he was not there -- only for breaking into the Ministry and breaking out of Azkaban. Well, there would be time enough to think of it later while stuck here in his new prison.

“You can communicate with me by writing on the tablet here. Just write L- and what you want to say. I will respond as soon as I can.” He blinked and read it again. Was that possible? And was it that easy? One way to find out.

L- Where the hell are you and where the hell am I?

He waited. It seemed to take forever, but truly it was only a few minutes.

A- Finally! Were you injured? I was so worried when I did not hear from you the first day!

L- No. I slept the first few days.

A- I hope you bathed before you availed yourself of my clean sheets.

L- Of course. Where am I?

A- In my home.

L- Do not try my patience!

A- Spain.

L- And you are?

A- On British soil.

L- Indelicate as it is to ask, where are my wife and son?

A- Safe.

L- WHERE?

A- I cannot tell you because I am not their Secret Keeper and before you ask, I am under a Wizard’s Oath to not reveal the name of that person.

L- At least someone who can be trusted by them and who will keep them hidden for the duration?

A- Yes. No harm will come to them. Shite. I have to go. I know you have many questions. Read the red book. I will write down a time when I can be back to answer you.

The page went blank.

He went back to the red book and glanced at every page. Then took a closer look. Several of the sheets of paper were encased in thin plastic film with an opening at the top. There were more pages behind the one which could be seen. Lucius should have known that it would not all be cooking and recipes.

That evening found him in the small reading room ensconced in the stuffed chair -- now reclined since he read the instructions for use of the wooden handle. With his newly-acquired wand, he had located the sex magic books right where the house plan indicated. Athena had numbered them. He wondered what the woman did for a living to have so much free time as to be able to put the books in the order she wished him to read them.

The first book covered the magical use of sex toys -- Muggle and Wizarding ones. It had moving illustrations that were charmed to look like Athena and himself. Before long, Lucius had a problem that could not be ignored any longer. For the first time in months, he had a raging erection. Watching the drawing of Athena using a Muggle dildo with a clitoral stimulator was what caused him to pull his cock out and fondle it. The sight of her pussy being assaulted by the bright pink device was all he needed to bring himself to completion quickly.

As he lay in the chair gasping for breath it occurred to him that he needed to build up his stamina and become physically active again. Especially if he had any hope of making a good impression on his third try.