The Third Time is a Charm

Chapter 37: No Rest for the Weary

One would have thought that the day after Christmas was a day of rest. Not in the Prince household. Yesterday was all the excitement about the book and now two days after the holiday Harry and Severus were sitting at the table with Becca again. Since Becca realized that her two men hadn’t read everything in the war room, she pulled out the journals and her notebook of plans and after breakfast started going over the highlights of what needed to be done, and what they wanted done and what was nice but not important. She had all three categories nicely printed on three pieces of paper and had Severus and Harry sitting at the table with her.

“Merlin Sev, she reminds me of Hermione, with her lists and checking the list and what to do list… Merlin...” Harry moaned as he plopped into the chair next to his fiancé. He liked that word, fiancé, yes he could get used to that. Focus Harry, focus. Harry shook his head, pulled his eyes away from staring at his engagement ring and looked back to the pages Becca was furiously writing on.

“I hope you meant that as a joke!” Becca fussed at him. “I am nothing like that know-it-all. I would never accept money to befriend someone and I have never been the one to answer all the questions in class, and I never thought I knew better than anyone else. You bred it out of me by the time I was six.” She finished her rant with a smirk.

Harry and Severus laughed at the woman before them. Severus could see what Harry was talking about but knew this was not a Hermione Granger. This female had poise, and class, and an ethereal beauty and knew when to keep her words to herself, even when you could see she wanted to add her little bit to a conversation. She was also much quieter than his former student.

“I’m sure Harry didn’t mean it the way it sounded. He only meant it in a good way.” Severus smirked at his younger lover. Then he leaned over and softly whispered in his ear so Becca would not hear him, “Never upset a pregnant woman, Harry, you may not live to regret it.”

Harry kicked Severus with his foot under the table but focused his attention back to the pages in front of Becca. “So, what are we going to do for the next few days?”

“It has occurred to me that we have moved up the time of events I had originally set. I was going to come here on the night the Potters were attacked and replace baby Harry with a small golem baby in his place till the idiots threw it in the cupboard and it disappeared. I really don’t want to let those people touch our baby Harry. The problem is in letting other people know things, we risk changing the events that are not to be changed. Namely the Potters.”

"Yeah, about that..." Harry started to say.

"We cannot change those events Harry. I can't stress this enough." Becca looked kindly but determined. She had an idea of what it was costing him to stay out of that matter.

"I know." Harry replied solemnly. Severus placed his arm around his lover and gave him a gentle squeeze. He, too, would like to save the Potters, if only for Lily.

“But I’m getting off track. We have moved the time frame up; I was not going to start the recent changes to Prince Conglomerate till after baby Harry was settled. I can only imagine what plans the old coot will have up his sleeve now the book is out. I do know Dumbledore successfully blocked all people trying to get Harry back into the wizarding world. Remus for one tried really hard and Dumbledore reported him as a werewolf. He was almost detained by the ministry to go to a werewolf camp that was little more than a prison camp. They even have a few dementors stationed there. He had to leave for a few years for things to settle down; every time someone recognized him, they called for the aurors. It was really bad for awhile, I’m glad you got him the cure already Sev. Next thing to do in that sector is to clear out all those camps. You should talk to him about it.”

“So I guess my question is what do you want to do? I had originally thought to have the horcruxes destroyed by Harry’s first year in school so when he faced Quirrell then Voldemort would die. Now I am wondering if there isn’t time to take care of all of them before he attacks the Potters. He doesn’t seem to know when they are destroyed so he wouldn’t be aware of it if we did it beforehand. But then we have to ask ourselves, what put the piece of Voldemort in Harry in the first place? Will having the other pieces of his soul gone make him die when the avada kadava backfires or will a piece of his soul still splinter off? Then what about his followers? Do we let them die or do we try to give them a chance at redemption before that night?

Becca gave a thoughtful look to the two men in front of her. “You are the ones who have to decide what can be done. We know where the rest of the horcruxes are, well except for Nagini. All we need to do is collect them and destroy them.

“I think this is something Harry and I will need to discuss and think about for a few days. What else is on the agenda?” Severus asked.

“The mini floo, I would like to set up one in the Weasley home and let everyone use it and say how wonderful it is.” Becca suggested slyly.

“You want to WHAT?” Harry jumped out of his chair and was enraged after hearing what she wanted to do. “Why? They betrayed me.” Harry was shaking he was so mad thinking about how they had stolen from him. He noticed Severus sitting in the chair beside him with his arms folded across his chest not saying a word.

“Calm down Harry, I don’t want to give them anything, but have you ever heard the expression ‘Keep your friends close and your enemies closer’?” Becca looked at him pointedly. “Just think about it, the Weasleys that are here are not the same ones that stole from you in that other time. They are not members of the Order yet. This family may be different, and if not, you will be able to tell long before baby Harry starts school."

“Why can’t we just advertise it? We already know it works, we use it here.” Harry said, still tense at the thought of using the Weasley’s for anything that could benefit them.

“We don’t want to be in the spotlight, and we certainly don’t want the Prophet people here to take pictures and talk. We need people that are respected and need some financial help at the same time. I doubt we could find another pureblood family that would do that. They have a bunch of children and could use the funds for schooling. I think Dumbledore may have started manipulating them because they are not financially able to provide a good education for all those kids. After Bill starts school and Charlie follows, they have to pay tuition for the next eight years in multiples of three and four. I think Dumbledore may have preyed on their need for school funds.”

“Which brings me to the next step, how many of us do you want to be teaching at Hogwarts when little Harry and Evan start school? We have ten years to be thinking about it but we can’t all show up one year at the same time. It should be slow and gradual with one of us joining one year and someone else the next. Remember baby Harry and Evan will be in school at the same time. Two parslemouths will already be noticeable without an influx of new teachers, and we will definitely want to be there if Dumbledore is still there.”

“What subjects would we teach? My other counterpart will be teaching potions, do we want to interfere with that?” Severus’ mind was quickly going through various scenarios wondering what they would teach.

“I could teach Muggle studies, History, Ancient Runes or Arithmancy, any subject that does not require a large amount of magic. I will have to get certifications for this time line in the next coming years. That was the other thing I needed to speak with you about. Our certifications should not all be in the same year or from the same country either. We want to look as random as possible and remember we were home schooled, that way we won’t need school records or have to explain why we were never at Hogwarts.”

“Why do you have so many muggle degrees? Obviously this place is more muggle than wizard. I wanted to ask that before but didn’t.” Harry asked curiously.

Becca smirked, “My great grandfathers wanted me to be able to function if they were gone. Remember they had been fighting a war for most of their lives and many of our family had died. I was taught in a muggle school and then tutored at home for the wizard stuff. They said it made me ‘a well rounded individual’. It was after finding Doc and discovering sound therapy that we started to mix muggle and wizard on a larger scale. It worked out well. The idea now is to teach the wizarding world that squibs can function here and to stop pushing them out of our world. The plan is to eventually teach squibs at Hogwarts too. They will be taught those subjects that don't take much magic and how to survive in our world.”

“OK,” Harry said, “I think Severus and I need to discuss this in the next few days and make a decision. I haven’t finished school yet and can’t teach any of these subjects so I guess I am going to be home schooled?

“Well, since we have more time than I originally planned, I was thinking that maybe Reg and Remus might like a little training too. Reg hasn’t finished at Hogwarts either, although he is in his last year. They are only two and three years older than you. We can use the training room on the second level; it’s another time displacement room. They will not be learning everything that you will Harry, but they can help with DADA and give you sparing partners. I also thought you might want to learn some martial arts skills and a few other things you have never taken before.”

“You mean you have another one of those rooms like the war room? I could study for years and only really be a few months? Brilliant!” Harry was amazed.

“Glad you approve, I thought I had already told you about that.” Becca retorted.

"Sorry, I guess I forgot."

“Now how do you want to approach the Weasleys?

Severus started speculating. “I think the best thing is to let the two of you approach them. My counterpart may already be known to them and I haven’t had Doc change my looks yet. I was going to do that after the holidays. You should be safe enough just visiting there with one of the builders to take measurements.”

“Will they let a goblin on the property? How are they going to feel if we show up with one?” Becca asked him.

But Harry answered “I don’t think there would be a problem with that. We would just need to send them an owl asking them to meet, but I don’t know if they would meet us as strangers just for a business opportunity.”

Becca looked thoughtful, chewing on her bottom lip. “She is pregnant for Ronald right now and might except a little gift for the baby when we send the note with the owl. If we tell her she was recommended for a job maybe that would work. How about we ask Gorbink if he knows who handles their accounts. We could say one of the Goblins thought they might like the idea of working from their home. We would have to pay them a generous salary and give them some perks. Let them use it for two weeks and then, get the newspaper involved. Sound like a plan?”

The men nodded and they set to work wording the note to Arthur and Molly and finding a little present for the new baby. They worked like that for the rest of the day making plans and deciding what they wanted to put into the contract for the mini floo. Then they spent the remainder of the morning working out details for the other aspects of Prince Conglomerate.

One of the details was Prince Pharmaceuticals. Severus asked Becca after her afternoon nap. “What about all these rare herbs and other ingredients for some of these potions? Some of these recipes call for very rare ingredients and to make these in potions in any kind of volume, they must have known where to get them.” He was still in shock about the lilies Harry had given him.

"Every year for about fifty years, some of our family would form a group of volunteers and work with a few muggle non profit organizations to help people that are underprivileged and have been in disasters that need to rebuild their homes or help replant their crops or some other form of help. We have never failed to find some folk remedy, ingredient that can be used or something else. That is how I knew where to find the lilies. We also have been all over the world and find rare ingredients from Africa, Asia, Australia, the Scottish Highlands and many other places. We help the people and they have always helped us in return. We were willing to listen to their recipes for home remedies and their legends. Some of those ‘rare ingredients’ you are talking about grow in abundance in other places and countries. Most people just don’t know where to find them or what they can be used for. Most of their legends have turned into books or fictional stories that have sold all over the world in both muggle and wizarding society too. It is another way the company grows and helps others.”

“How did you find them?” Severus was just amazed that they could find everything he was looking at in the journal. Some of these items were very rare and priceless.

“I once asked my granddad why we were able to find these things. He told me, we keep our eyes open, we keep our ears open and we keep our minds open. The only thing we shut is our mouth as much as possible. Just because someone doesn’t have the same magic or is a muggle does not mean we can’t learn something from them, if only to find we don’t want to be like them or do what they do. It has been the trademark of our company and our family for a long time.”

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Remus was home when he received an owl asking him to meet with the headmaster of Hogwarts School at four that afternoon. He was surprised that they wanted him so soon and he sat and contemplated on what he knew about the company and what he could tell them. He realized there was nothing he was not allowed to say that he knew for sure except about Severs Masterson Prince being an older time displaced Severus Snape. He knew he had already taken an oath to keep that secret.

The former werewolf immediately sent word to the Prince household to inform them of the time and place of the meeting. When Valet Nixy came back it was with another note from the eldest Prince.

Remus,
If the opportunity presents itself in the near future, please give your business card to Severus Snape. We would like to offer him a position in potions and wish to speak to him directly.
We would like to meet with you also about a possible training schedule.
Thank you,
SMP

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Later that evening the Prince family called Regulus to eat with them as usual. He was alone in his living quarters so they often called him to dine with them. They wanted to approach him about what he would like to do. He could either stay working with the publishing company, even writing a book if he wished or he could start training with Harry at the first of the year. Regulus would be ahead of Harry but he still needed to take his NEWT's and could work on his Mastery in anything he wanted.

Everyone was happy to see Regulus. He had been working on the distribution of the new books they had published, including the book on Voldemort and another children’s story book titled ‘Children’s Stories of the Old Ways’ and another called ‘So They Call You Muggleborn?’ as well as some others including the book Remus gave the Potters for baby Harry. They had taken the book about Voldemort and made several smaller books with different titles. Let’s face it, anything about wanting to be a Death Eater was not appealing to the general public and not all the information was wanted. The smaller books made it possible to reduce the price and let the public get the specific information they wanted.

As they were sitting down for supper, Regulus was regaling them with the efforts of keeping a ‘vending machine’ in the middle of Diagon Alley.

“You should have seen those aurors, trying to remove the vending contraption. We used the acromantula shell material to make it with this time and had extra security so it could not be moved. One of the aurors tried to blast the thing and the curse went wild and hit the building behind the auror. He ducked so fast then kept looking around to find out who shot a curse at him. Shashi was telling me the first vending machine was designed to be taken by them to get their attention and get the books inside the ministry, but now we own an empty building and put the machine in front of it. This way none of our people are attacked and the books are still selling.”

“That auror was looking everywhere and interrogating people to see who was throwing blasting curses and the whole time it was him throwing them at our selling thing and them bouncing back. I don’t think I have ever seen anyone so mad and it was his own fault.” Reg put another piece of roast in his mouth and started chewing, but as soon as he was swallowed he started laughing again. “Those mirrors that were set up to see the area without being there are really great. You should see the funny things we see. Harry, you have to come and take a look. You would have a great laugh.”

“You know, Reg, I would love to come and see the publishing building, I haven’t seen it yet and this sounds like fun.” The young man turned to his mate, “What do you think Sev? Could I get out of here and follow Reg around one day?”

“I don’t see why not Harry, you don’t start training for another few days. It would be good to get out before you have to buckle down to your studies.” Severus knew his young mate would be taken care of and he was more of an outdoor person to begin with. He needed a change of scenery to help him settle down to his lessons.

“Wait till you see, Harry,” Regulus was saying. “People come from the alleyway behind the building and crouch to the machine hoping not to be seen to feed it money and get a book, the whole time we are watching and they are looking around trying not to be spotted.”

“How about tomorrow? I think I can get away from here for a little while. They tell me I have to start school again after the first. I didn’t finish Hogwarts.” Harry had a typical look on his face that all teenagers have when the mention of going back to school comes up. He scrunched up his face and winced at the thought.

“Be careful brat.” Severus remarked, “or you won’t get to go at all. I can use you for potion ingredients. I am sure I can find a recipe that could use a few parts.” Severus joked with his lover. “Just make sure to be careful and don’t get into trouble.” He paused and slapped his hand on his forehead. “Oh no, what am I saying, your middle name is trouble. Maybe you should just stay put.”

“That’s not fair Sev, I don’t go looking for trouble, it just finds me.” Harry pouted at Sev all in good fun.

“I still don’t want you in trouble no matter how it finds you.” Severus was getting serious about this now. No more joking around he was thinking about the last time they went to Diagon Alley. “Reg, you better take emergency portkeys with you and maybe a guard. I don’t want anything to happen to Harry.”

“We will be careful, we will portkey to the publishing house and have fun over there. You know if you own it, it has got to be safe.” Reg assured the former professor.

“Reg, one of the reasons we wanted you to come to dinner was to see if you wanted to train with me. I have to complete my NEWT’S and need a sparing partner. You could take about a month or two off of work and help me finish school. It will be here with tutors.” Harry was trying to assure him that he would not be off work long and they could train together for a few subjects.

“That sounds great; I haven’t finished Hogwarts yet either. It’s my last year, but now I guess I have to stay away as the Dark Lord’s followers will be after me. But Harry, how are you going to train for NEWT’S in a few months? You have two years to make up for to be able to take your tests. Unless you want to take only one or two subjects then you might be able to finish.” Reg was puzzled about exactly Harry was doing.

“I take it you have not been introduced to the training room on level two? It’s a time displacement room. One hour here equals 24 hours there. If we really stick to it we could finish two years worth of training in the month of January.” Harry explained.

Reg, Harry, Becca and Severus talked well into late evening about the training. Becca had previously set up several instructors for Harry through Gorbink. The two young men were getting excited about the martial arts and some of the other subjects. Regulus was going to join Harry for quite a few subjects. It turns out that he loved Runes but didn’t have the time to study the subject while in Hogwarts and he was already good at Arithmancy too.

The next evening Harry and Becca received an owl letting them know that they were welcome to come to the Weasley house for afternoon tea that Friday which was the next day.