The Third Time is a Charm

Posted 15 October 2009

A/N Alright everyone, here is another chapter. But I have to confess, an evil plot bunny tied me up to overtake me while I was writing this. That bunny just started typing into my computer and wouldn’t let me go until after it was posted. But to make up for my not being attentive in watching out for the evil plot bunny, I will have another chapter up tomorrow to make up for it. OK? The next one I assure you will be about Harry and Severus.

Chapter 33: A Visit with the Potters

When Remus flooed into Potter manor he found Sirius, James and Lily sitting in the living room waiting for his arrival. The former werewolf had already sent the elves, hours prior, after arranging with the only female marauder to give her some help. They greeted him with exuberant hugs upon his arrival.

“Hey, Remus!” Sirius called out. “How have you been doing? What’s new in your life?” Before his arrival, the three had been sitting trying to conclude what had happened since they had last seen their old friend. They were afraid his dark nature had taken over and he had joined Voldemort or one of his followers as he was a werewolf and no one would hire him. He was always poor and wearing old patched clothes but they had all loved him like a brother. But when he walked into the spacious room, he had on nice wizard’s robes of the finest quality and carrying several presents in his arms. It was a strange sight and they wanted to know where the money was coming from, but didn’t want to offend their friend.

“Hi Sirius, there is much that is new. I’d love to sit down and tell you about it, but first, Lily is there anything I can do to help with dinner or anything you need?” Remus asked this question as he handed her the healing lily that Severus had given him for her.

“No Remus, your elves have taken over the kitchen and won’t let us in there. What have you got there?” Lily took the plant from Remus, just as she was about to give him a simple thank him she cried out in exclamation.

“Oh Remus, it’s a Healing Marsh Lily, where ever did you get it? They are very rare and so beautiful. Thank you so much.”

“I can’t take credit for it; I saw them and asked a friend about them. His mate had given him several for Christmas and he gave me one when I told him I had a friend named Lily.” He held out his other arm with the presents he had brought them. “These actually are my presents for you.” Remus handed each of his friends the wrapped books and a box of the new robes from Prince Fashions. He hoped they would like them.

“Wow, Remmy, where did you get these? They must have cost a fortune. What have you been doing lately?” James said as he opened the box with the new robes. “I don’t think I have ever seen robes like these!”

When Lily had opened her package, she found witch’s robes of the finest quality, and then noticed they would adjust with her pregnancy. They were of the brightest and richest color green to match her eyes and had a wonderful cut to them. She thanked Remus along with James.

“Before I tell you, open the other present.” Remus said cryptically. He watched as the three of them opened the books. They noticed that all three books were the same and Sirius just had to joke with him.

“What, couldn’t think of something different?”

“Sirius read the title.” He waited as his old school friend’s looked more closely at the book.

“You gave me a book about Voldemort? Are you crazy or trying to convert me? Remus Lupin, what have you gotten yourself into? This book is about Voldemort and I don’t appreciate the significance of this.” Sirius was shouting about now and Remus and the others flinched at the high pitched noise he was making.

“Sirius, calm down, will you? It does not advocate anything about Voldemort; it tells the truth about him, the real truth. Where he came from, who he really is and what he’s really doing. You will like the book, believe me. I brought it because you need to know what it says. Don’t let the title deceive you Siri, you need to read this.” Remus looked into his friends’ disbelieving eyes and sighed. Sirius was so quick to judge and jump to conclusions before knowing all the facts. Remus sighed again and said. “I saw someone today that you should know about.” All eyes were firmly fixed on him now, not quite knowing where he was going with that statement, “I saw Regulus Black.”

Everyone was silent for a minute as they stared at Remus as if he had grown another head. But then someone got their voice back, “What! What did you do, go to a Death Eater meeting?” Sirius snarled and was getting hysterically angry now. “We have not heard from my brother in over a month and you are saying you saw him? Where?” Remus knew Sirius was worried about his brother but he did not know Reg had left Voldemort’s circle of followers.

“Sirius, you need to calm down and listen. Your brother went against his master, all the Death Eaters are now after him for defying that beast. The people I work for don’t follow Voldemort any more than you do. Regulus is in hiding and working for these people too. I met him today at a Christmas feast I was invited to but didn’t stay for. At least read the dedication page in that book. Maybe you will understand.”

Sirius turned to the dedication page and read it. “What does this mean?”

“It means what it says. These people have made a cure for lycanthropy. I am no longer a werewolf. The reason I don’t look so ill today, is because I no longer have to fight with or change into the werewolf. Regulus no longer bears the dark mark on his arm. These people are powerful; I have never seen anything like it. They have the cunning of Slytherin, the loyalty to each other, and other beings, of Hufflepuff, the courage of Gryffindor to do what is right and defy the rules set by others when they are unfair and the knowledge of Ravenclaw of what to do with their information. Regulus told me to tell you he is safe for now, he has seen the light and ‘it is a Slytherin matter’ what ever that means.”

“He really said that?” Sirius was at least listening somewhat. “It means he is doing the Slytherin thing and staying safe and using cunning and stealth. It means that it is of the utmost secrecy and will be revealed when it is safe. It also means that it is a life or death situation, which cannot be revealed at this time. It was something our grandfather would say sometimes.”

“Just who is this group that you are talking about? I have never heard of such a group and with these expensive presents I worry that you are working for Malfoy or someone like him.” James accused him.

“I don’t know how to prove that you are wrong. First, Malfoy would never hire a werewolf nor try to cure one. I can’t tell you who these people are; I can only tell you I have never seen wizards like these before. They title their house elves; they ally themselves with light elves and dark elves and half bloods and muggleborns and werewolves and goblins and whomever else they deem worthy. They value honesty and caring, they have research centers, and a publishing house and a fashion house and probably a bunch of other investments I don’t know about. They gave me a job, and not because they cured my lycanthropy and coerced me into it, but because they genuinely wanted to help others. Their only request was to get a promise to not join Voldemort.” Remus ran out of breath and wondered it he had given them too much information. He almost let it slip that he thought they were building their own army by keeping everyone away from Voldemort, but his magic flared inside him and he kept his mouth shut. Just at that moment an elf popped in and announced dinner.

“Thank you Valet Nixy, we will be right there.” Remus had addressed the elf and the elf bowed by a small nod of the head and popped back out. Lily thought nothing of it, not having grown up with them, but James and Sirius were speechless at the manner in which Remus addressed the elf and the elf accepted it without comment. He was not exuberant, he spoke very properly and he did not bow to the floor as other elves. Where did Remus get him?

“About the elves,” Remus was explaining. “They come with the job, I don’t own them. They are owned by the company. I often work late hours and sometimes go on business trips and the people I work for want me to be as comfortable and as productive as possible. They said if I didn’t have to take care of the small things and concentrated on the big projects I can get more done faster and it keeps the elves busy too.” Remus saw James and Sirius raise their eyebrows at that and start to say something before Lily interrupted.

“They have been a great help to me today and I want you to know how much I appreciate it.” As she was talking she elbowed James in his side so he chirped up with a “Yeah, thanks.”

The four of them entered the dining room where the elves had out done themselves. The table was brimming with all kinds of the traditional foods, and some that were more muggle than wizard. The place settings had gold trim around the plates, saucers and tea cups and the flatware was gold. The table covering, what little you could see of it, was an embroidered white lace with red and green bells around the edges. There was a bottle of wine sitting on the side, already opened to breathe, waiting to be served. The room was as spacious as the living room. Since Remus flooed in he hadn’t seen the outside to determine how large the house really was.

Along the walls there were boughs of holly and pine with little red bows every meter or so. The room looked beautiful and everyone stopped to appreciate the time it had taken for Lily to decorate.

The four friends had a very nice time eating and conversing as they hadn’t been able to do since school. As if by mutual agreement, they kept the conversation light and didn’t speak of the war, the books Remus brought, Regulus, or anything else that might cause another scene. This was Lily’s first big Christmas in a home of their own as all the other Christmases were at James’ parents’ house who had died earlier that year.

As they went back into the living room, while the men continued their discussion on Quidditch, Lily sat on the sofa next to James, thumbing through the book that she had been given. None of the men were even paying attention to her until she hit James in the arm and exclaimed, “Remus, did you read this book yet?” At Remus’ nod she exclaimed again, “James, there is a chapter in here on muggleborns and it says they don’t really exist. It goes into an explanation of genetics and says that most witches and wizards considered muggleborns are really born from squibs. It says there is an inheritance test we should take at Gringotts or other private clinic to see who we are related to.”

“Remus, is this true?” James asked his friend.

“I told you, you would find the book interesting if you read it.” Remus said dryly not really answering his friend’s question.

“One thing about this book, it really makes sense in a lot of things concerning the wizarding world. I wonder who else received this book today.” Lily was actually just thinking out loud but Remus answered her.

“Over one hundred pureblood homes that are known Voldemort supporters or followers.” Remus said very matter of fact.

Lily gasped, James raised his head up with a jerk from the page he was reading and Sirius just looked at him and said, “Say that again?”

“I said…” he started to reiterate.

But James interrupted this time “Never mind, we heard you. Really Sirius, do I need to clean your ears out?”

“No, I just couldn’t believe what I am hearing. How did these people know who to send the book to if they aren’t death eaters?”

“I can’t really say much Sirius. If any information leaked out about these people, then they wouldn’t have the advantage. I do, however, believe it is a truly Slytherin matter.” Remus replied.

Sirius’ face broke out in a big grin and he started whooping and jumping around the room. “You mean my brother…”

“I didn’t say that, I don’t work in publishing and so don’t know anything and it needs to remain that way.” The statement was more a suggestion to drop the subject. The other three adults in the room respected the unspoken request but continued to further study the book.

Lily spoke up again. “I am going to firecall Gringotts tomorrow, the book suggested we make an appointment.”

“Why?” James snapped. “I didn’t have to when I had my inheritance proven.”

“Actually dear,” Lily opened the book and showed him something on the page. “It says if everyone who received this book went without an appointment, Gringotts might revolt. I can’t say as I would blame them. Can you imagine the panic and chaos if twenty or thirty people went in at the same time? Just call our account head tomorrow and let him know what we want. What was his name?”

“Griphook or Gorbink, they always serve me when I go there.”

“I wonder if any other muggleborns have received this information.” The only woman in the room turned to the former werewolf. “Do you know Remus?”

“As I said before, I don’t work in the publishing division but I do know that the people I work for will make this information available to everyone. The books they sent out this morning were sent at their own expense but they will be on sale tomorrow until the ministry shuts them down or Voldemort attacks. There will be some interesting fireworks soon.”

Sirius brought up another subject again, “I still don’t understand why they are not joining Dumbledore. If they are against Voldemort, they should be working with our side.”

“When I posed that question, I was told to read the dedication page of that book. I don’t understand it either unless they are just waiting for a better time. As it is, this book is the best blow to Voldemort I could have ever dreamed of and not one single hex or curse was fired to do it. I have to wonder why no one else has done this. They can’t be the only ones with this information.”

“Yes, well I wonder what the good old dark lord has to say about this. He must be fuming by now.” James speculated.

“I’m sure he is not happy about it but there is no way to find the publishing house or how it was distributed. These people cover their tracks better than any aurors I have ever seen and they keep their secrets very close.”

“With this kind of knowledge, they would have to. How do you think they did it?” James was asking this time.

“If I had to guess, I would say it might be rehabilitated death eaters. I mean, they are well funded and that almost always means pureblood money, but they don’t act like purebloods so I don’t know for sure. They are very inventive and they know how to hide and keep their secrets. But no one I have ever seen has the mark so maybe it’s the families that were not marked; however Regulus did say his mark was taken away and I saw the unmarked skin on his forearm.” Remus explained. “This is all just speculation however; you don’t want to spread it as Merlin’s truth.”

“Yeah, there seems to be an awful lot of speculation lately.” Lily said thoughtfully. “We will have to see what happens. I am anxious to see what the Goblins have to say about my muggleborn status.”

“Well my friends, I am going to need to leave soon it is getting very late. It was wonderful being here today Lily, James and good to see you also Sirius.” Remus started saying his goodbyes but then remembered. “Oh, I have one more gift for the family, Valet Nixy!”

The elf came and slightly bowed to the man with a “What may Valet Nixy do for you sir?”

“I need you to pop over home and get the box for the unborn Potter.”

“Right away, Master Remus.

As the elf popped out to do Remus’ bidding, the werewolf was explaining. “I have something for the infant that I thought you might be able to use when you set up his room.”

The elf popped back into the room, dragging a large toy box of sorts and left it with Remus.

Everyone thought they had gotten all their surprises already but here was one more. The box appeared to be made of some kind of black substance covered over with some kind of snake skin. It was a most amazing piece of work and everyone wanted to know what it could possibly be.

Remus, as with the other gifts, had to explain this one “This is a toy chest for now. It is made with acromantula shells and lined with basilisk skin. It is surprising light weight but when a master spells it shut, no one else can get it open. It has several compartments that are multi level but I would think the young one would be too small to appreciate that yet. It will however easily transport. It can be used as a toy box, or even be a trunk for school later on. One word of caution; it is spelled so no living thing can crawl into it and hide. You would never hear it if a kid or a pet got in there and the lid closed. The child could suffocate and never be found. Don’t remove the safety features.” Remus warned and then continued.

“Also, you will find a book of new wizard children’s stories in the trunk along with a blanket and what ever else the elves decided to put in there. I think there may be some small baby wizard robes and other clothes in neutral unisex colors; you can take a look later. If James and Sirius are really itching to see what the trunk can withstand, they could take it outside and start firing at it to try and make it crack. In fact I promise to bring the baby another one if they break that one.”

The two pranksters did just that. They threw hexes and curses at it, and the box budged a few inches but other than that didn’t move or crack open. Then they gave up. “Ok Remus, That’s stronger that anything I’ve ever seen. Those employers of yours sure have an awful lot of new ideas. One doesn’t build a company in just a month, how long have they been in business? I have never seen nor heard of any of these products.” Remus had to decline to answer; actually he didn’t really know how long Prince Conglomerate had been in business, it was one of those carefully guarded secrets.

When they had returned to the living room and were sitting drinking tea, Remus told his friends again he would need to leave soon; he had been convinced to stay a while longer the first time. He paused and turned to Lily and said, “When you know the baby’s name let me know and I will spell the initials on the trunk.”

“Oh,” Lily replied excitedly “we forgot to tell you. Last week we found out the baby is a boy and we will name him Harry, Harry James Potter.” She said with some pride.

Remus was in the middle of drinking his last swallow of tea and choked spitting a portion of what was in his mouth back into the cup. “I’m sorry, did you say Harry?” He had to quickly school his face so the others would not see the look of shock that had to be clearly stamped across his countenance. Somehow he knew this had to have something to do with the same Harry he met earlier. It was a common enough name among muggles but not so much in the wizarding world.

“Remus, are you alright? What happened?” Lily asked in concern.

“Nothing, tea went down the wrong way, I’m fine” The former werewolf’s voice was a little rough and he swallowed and tried again to speak. “So, would you like HP or HJP stamped on his trunk?” Remus posed the question as soon as he could school his speech without choking or cause his friends to question him further.

“I would like it to be HJP I think.” Lily decided with a smile on her face. So in deference to her wishes Remus used the spell the goblins had given him to put the initials of the unborn child on the top of the trunk. He wondered what this child might have to do with a certain young man he had met earlier, that had been introduced as the soul mate of the man who had surely saved him.

Remus took his leave of his friends telling everyone to send him an owl if they needed anything and that he would be back to visit. Then entering the floo he softly spoke his destination and was gone in a flash of green flames.

Sirius was watching him leave and as soon as he was sure the former werewolf was truly gone turned to his other two friends. “I don’t care what anyone says,” he ground out angrily “no one gives up being a Death Eater, no one.” He started pacing the room. “Someone needs to tell Dumbledore what is going on and get that werewolf back on track. Anyone who has this kind of knowledge” he picked up the book as he was speaking “and doesn’t side with the light, either has their own agenda or some kind of ulterior motives.” Sirius scowled again. “Did you see the robes he was wearing? Did you look at the robes he brought us? Did you check for any kind of tracking spells? We need to do this right now, we don’t want anyone following us to Order meetings or if we are in hiding. We need to get Dumbledore in here and ask him if he knows what is going on.”

But Sirius was wrong, when they checked the robes there were no tracking spells, or foreign substances on them. There were no curses on the fabric; it was just a very fine quality of one hundred percent acromantula silk.



Thank you to all my reviewers, nari-chan, AnnaRose7,kaasan and kim since the last update. I appologize for the wild evil plot bunny, but promise the next chapter is already written and being corrected as you read. Fresh baked cookies, chocolate cake and other yummies always give me strength and help throw off the evil little plot bunny.

And don't forget, Becca's big secret is coming up soon. No one has guessed it yet. I should tell you that my favorite game is clue and the clues are throughout the story, just to give you a hint.