The Third Time is a Charm

Posted: 27 October 2009

Chapter 39: What’s a Mini Floo?

Harry and Becca had just received a floo call that morning from Gorbink. Apparently the Weasleys had checked with the bank about them. They had initially received a letter of introduction from Gringotts but it seems one of the kids had gotten to it and they couldn’t find it. Both of them were surprised that they had checked up on them, but since they had a family to protect it was understood. Severus joined the conversation as he sat down for breakfast.

“Harry, are you sure you are up to this? You can’t afford to lose your temper while visiting. Perhaps we should send Shashi or maybe Regulus. You don’t really have to go.” Severus had been thinking about this since the nightmare last night. He was not sure Harry would be able to rein in his temper or worse being intimated by them. Seeing these people for the first time since they had come would be very difficult for the young man.

“No Sev, I don’t want to send someone else. I don’t even want Becca going, but if we are to do this, this is the best way. Becca and I are going to pose as brother and sister. We will have some glamour on. I will not look so much like a Potter, just in case they know the family. I can face this, it should be fun. It’s like with Petunia; every time she sees us she can’t get away fast enough and goes into the house.”

Severus could see that Harry was determined to do this so he did not press the issue. “So you are leaving me here alone? My own fiancé is not even going to be here for the entire day?”

“Sev, you know I promised Reg I would go with him today. You could come too, you know. You don’t have to be here making potions and working on the werewolf’s cure all the time. I will be home as soon as I can, but I am looking forward to going. I want to see more of the company and look at Diagon Alley and some of the customers using the vending machine. Then after I will come back here to clean up before I have to face the Weasleys. It should be quite a nice day, and Regulus can come over and keep you company while I am gone this afternoon.” Severus winced, not because he didn’t like Reg but because it would be the first time since Harry was healed that they had spent that much time apart. Or he should amend that to ‘that much time apart when leaving the building’. He had spent time away from Harry in the lab when getting the potions for Remus. He mentally winced at how Harry had felt neglected and had thought he was unwanted. He sighed and looked at the younger man.

“Alright, I guess I will have to suffer through it. Be safe, take some portkeys and make sure you have your wand and Becca?” he turned to face her. “Don’t do anything to attract attention. I don’t want anything to happen to you either.” She had decided to go along with the boys to get out of the house too.

“Yes sir. I’ll be careful and I will make sure Harry does the same.” Becca agreed with Severus, this afternoon was going to be difficult for Harry and she hoped he could pull it off.

After breakfast, when Harry and Severus finally got up and dressed for the day, Severus faced his young lover and asked him, “Am I going to have to worry about you spending all day without my company? Today with Regulus and this evening with the Weasleys, whatever shall I do with my time?” Severus was sporting a smile on his face and put his arms around the green eyed beauty.

“I imagine you won’t really miss me once you get back into your lab. You have spent the last few days with me and I think you may want more intelligent conversation, even if it is with yourself.” Harry joked and ducked as Severus tried to smack him lightly on the back of his head.

“Watch it brat, you may find yourself on the outside of our bedroom door if you don’t play nice.”

“I already played nice this morning; you will just have to wait till this evening for a repeat performance.” Harry volleyed back as he left the room, Severus was trailing behind him.

Hummmmm yes, nice perky bottom, too bad Harry had other people to meet because right now Severus wanted to go back for that repeat performance, now not later. Damn if that young man didn’t wiggle it just because he knew Severus was looking at him. Severus reigned in his inner emotions (he refused to admit it was hormones at his age) and walked up to Harry to pat his 'nice perky bottom' as they made their way out of the kitchen. It was going to be a long day without him here.

Regulus was already at the table with Becca when Harry walked back in, ready for his day out. All three of them had on Prince Conglomerate robes that signified them as upper management. Becca and Harry had not been to the printing company and they didn’t want to have issues with security if they separated.

Harry called for Kreacher as he had entered the dining room. As the wizened elf appeared before him, he stated, “Kreacher, we will be gone most of the day. Don’t let anyone in this area and please make sure Fawkes is fed. I noticed his treats were running a little low.”

“Very good, Master.” Kreacher responded with a slight bow and popped out. He had a much better attitude now from being around the other elves. No mumbling under his breath, no comments about mudbloods and blood traitors and his vocabulary seemed to have improved.

“Harry,” Regulus was saying “I don’t know what you did to that elf, but I think I need to bring the other one here so you can do that to him too.”

“Oh no, Reg, one Kreacher is about all anyone can handle. We have enough elves thank you.” He replied with a smirk. When they were all ready, Harry, Becca and Reg took off to see the publishing house. Becca wanted to gather a few gifts for tonight’s meeting and Severus went to the lab to work on a few potions that he found notes for in the war room.


The trio had a great time. The publishing house was similar to the houses they lived in, muggle up top and the underground was the wizard area. This seemed to be the theme of Becca’s entire placement of businesses. She certainly didn’t take any chances in the wizarding world. Considering her background, it was no surprise.

Harry had wondered for some time why Becca had so many escape routes from the underground manor and the other businesses, but now he realized that it was because she didn’t really have the power to fight in a battle. Her escape routes allowed her some form of security in case they were attacked.

So the company had the muggle publishing house as a cover for the wizard. It wasn’t a bad idea, and if someone caught on to the dynamics of this, they still wouldn’t know everything else. If someone tried looking for them, they would have to find out what the muggle businesses were first to track down the company. When the businesses were bought, most of the former names didn’t change with the sale. To find Prince Conglomerate, you would have to know what muggle business was bought and what muggle name they were currently under, literally. The whole company was buried under a mountain of muggle politics and paperwork.


The two younger men were laughing and reminiscing about the day, when they entered the dining room where Severus was having a late lunch. He noticed the happy open expression on his lover’s face and could not remember ever seeing him so relaxed and carefree, even before they found out about the lies and deceptions. A small part of his heart constricted in jealously as he saw Harry and Regulus interact like two teenagers should, which they were, but it was something Sev wanted for himself. No sooner had the seeds of jealously started to unfurl when Harry caught sight of his lover and jumped over to him and squashed the jealously completely.

“Sev,” Harry sighed as he ran over to his lover. “You should have been with us. We had such a good time.” Harry put his arms around his lover’s neck and whispered in his ear, “I missed you terribly, did you get a lot of work done in the lab?” Harry laid his head on the older man’s shoulder to listen to his heartbeat and absorb some of its love and warmth. He felt so safe in this man’s arms.

“I missed you too, Harry, and yes I did get quite a bit of work completed today.” He leaned back to look at the young man’s face. “Did you have fun today?”

“It was really funny and interesting to see the vending machine in Diagon Alley without us being there. Did you know we have a mirror like the ones at Hogwarts that shows the immediate area of the kiosk? Then we watched all the printing presses going, you should have been there. Next time we go, I want you to come too.” Harry’s face was flushed with excitement and rushing around. He leaned up to kiss Sev who gratefully took the younger lips in a brief passionate kiss letting everyone in the room know just who this young man belonged to, as it they didn’t know already. He was happy Harry was back in his arms. They would be talking about the wedding date soon.

They had a small lunch in the dining room and conversed about the upcoming meeting that evening.

Harry was the first to point out “Sev, do you think the headmaster might be there? I don’t really know when the relationship between the Weasleys and the Headmaster started. Are they a part of the order? The more I think about it the more I realize that we may end up facing him today. The last time I saw that man he wanted to pour a potion down my throat and make me fall in love with that girl." Harry felt a shudder run up his spine just thinking about being with a girl instead of his Severus. "Do you think we should be worried?"

“Remember, Harry, he doesn’t know who you are, but I was working on a potion today that would render the effects of veritaserum completely nil. You may try it if you think it will be a problem.” Severus informed him.

“Constant vigilance, that’s what Moody would say and it’s not a bad idea. Is it safe for Becca to take with being pregnant?” Harry wanted to know.

“It won’t be necessary, Harry. I can do a spell to check the food, anything that doesn’t seem right I can just say something about morning sickness that lasts all day. It would get sympathy from Molly and the men will just groan about it being woman troubles.” Becca smirked.

“I also will spell the food and see if there is anything in it. I think I could just vanquish it off the spoon as I am eating, but just in case I will take the antidote with me. We can’t be too careful. I know the headmaster had asked Remus to meet him to find information on us.”

“About Remus, he came over here today while you were gone. I do believe the old coot is trying to find us and he seems pretty desperate from Remus’ report.” Severus changed the subject of the meeting to go over everything Remus had spoken to him about. “One thing he asked Remus, that I haven’t given much thought to yet, was about the cure. He asked Remus if a werewolf were to bite someone who had been given the cure, what would happen. It sounded like he thought he could make Remus a werewolf again.”

“Would he really try that? Have Remus attacked by another werewolf?” Becca asked in horror.

The three of them looked at each other and all spoke at one time. “Oh, yes.”

"Another thing is that Severus Snape was also there, he arrived at the end of Remus' meeting. Evidently the headmaster asked for a meeting with him too. I am assuming that he connected the name Prince and wanted to ask the Severus of this time line questions."

"Does he know anything about the family that might affect us?" Harry asked in response to Sev's statement. "Would you even talk to the old coot at that age?"

"I would be about nineteen now, and no I don't think there is anything he would know that would effect us." Severus thought for a moment and shook his head as if in deep thought. "No, I am sure I didn't know anything that could expose us. Remus did say that he was able to get him a message and a portkey. Maybe he will do the smart thing and get in touch with us."

When they finished Harry and Becca freshened up and put on another set of suitable classy work robes and presented themselves in the sitting room. Both had on royal blue robes with the Prince Conglomerate buttons with a light blue silk shirt for Harry and a more stylish blouse for Becca. Harry wore black pants while Becca had on a royal blue skirt to match the robes. Both outfits were very high quality silk and they both had their wands strapped to their arms with a hidden holster up the sleeve. One of the head builders named Castings had already arrived in his best royal blue company uniform to make his way with the Princes.

Once they all had taken hold of the scarf they portkeyed into the front yard of the Burrow.

As soon as they landed, Molly and Arthur Weasley were at the front door greeting them. You could see Molly was about six months pregnant and there were several children surrounding them as well. They were ushered into the living room and asked to sit down and tea was already placed on the small table in the room. Just when everyone was introduced (including the kids), Harry was able to start to relax, he was thinking 'I can do this, they don’t know me and I can do this'.

“Hi Mr. and Mrs. Weasley I am Rebecca Prince and this is my brother Harold Prince, we have come to tell you about a mini floo we would like to test in your home. The goblin is Supervisor Castings and, with your permission of course, will take a look at the house to see what would need to be done to accommodate something we call the mini floo.”

“I am very please to meet you, Mister and Mistress Prince. You look younger that I had thought and I do not believe I have ever seen you at Hogwarts?” Mr. Weasley said.

“No sir,” Becca replied “We are from Australia and have been home schooled. My brother recently was married to Severs Prince and as our home was attacked and destroyed we have joined him in expanding his business to other countries. My brother and I were traveling through Baden in Germany visiting various vineyards when he met his mate, so now, to cut a long story short, we are here to help expand in the UK .

“That’s an interesting story Mistress Prince; you said your home was attacked?” The man queried.

“War is every, Mr. Weasley, you should know that.” Becca said in a tone that didn't allow for any more questions on the subject.

“Yes, quite. So tell us what is a ‘mini floo’?”

It was Harry’s turn to speak. “It is a smaller version of the fireplace that is connected to the floo but is about waist high. You don’t have to kneel on the floor to answer the floo or to make a call. Since it is smaller you also don’t have to worry about unwelcome visitors. No one can come through the mini floo because of its size and the large floo can be shut off to not accept visitors but you can still get messages. My sister thought of it one day after hearing our great grand father complaining about getting down on the floor to talk to someone.” Once Harry got into the explanation of the idea, he was really excited about it.

“How about we have some tea and discuss this further.” Molly said as she got up and started serving tea to everyone. Harry could see three children staring from around the door in the kitchen. He smiled at the younger versions of Bill, Charlie and Percy and wondered where the twins were.

As they were each handed small plates with biscuits, Harry unobtrusively ran his hand over his plate with a silent spell. It glowed clear in color so he quickly cast another spell at Becca’s plate to make sure she would be safe also. Once he could see the plate was clean, he bumped her with his foot to get her attention, but she nodded just a fraction to indicate she understood.

They spent the next hour discussing details and what the company wanted. It was going to be a lot of work because Supervisor Castings had slipped them a report on what needed to be strengthened in the house just to be sure it didn't fall on anyone. It was smaller than he remembered and he thought that was because they added as the family grew. Harry started wondering if this was not the problem in the first place; them needing repairs and Dumbledore taking advantage of yet another person in need. He decided he would help them fix the house without them knowing about it under the guise of repairs for the floo system, if they accepted the contract.

As the meeting came to a close, Becca handed Molly a jar of their special healing paste, saying it was excellent for diaper rash and scrapes and scratches. It was a fairly large container so it would last a very long time. She also gave Molly two children's story books to read to the children and a book of lullabies for children. Then the subject changed to the publishing company.

“These biscuits are really good.” Becca mentioned after tasting one. “And the pastries are just mouthwatering, too. Do you like to cook?”

“Well, with out growing family, it is a necessity.” Mrs. Weasley chuckled as she was patting her stomach, and indicated with the other hand the kids in the doorway watching them.

“My Molly’s the best cook around.” Mr. Weasley interjected. “Everyone loves her cooking.”

“Maybe you should write a cookbook. We have a publishing company and would welcome a chance to do one. I think it would go over really well.” Becca suggested.

“I never thought about it. I am so busy and who would buy one? I don’t really see that many wizarding families wanting a cookbook. Most of them have elves that cook for them.”

“Mrs. Weasley, there are more and more squib born and muggle raised coming into our world everyday. They don’t know the spells and how to cook with magic. I understand that it is not even taught at Hogwarts either except for a few charms. I think it would be a really great idea, and there would be no hurry. I won’t say do it in your spare time, as I can see you don't have any. But if you would like we could send a writer over here to watch you cook and they could write your book for you. We publish books all the time.” Harry looked at Becca as she said that. She always seemed to have another project going and a solution for everything. She really seemed sincere in doing this for the Weasleys.

"We did publish a book of facts about Voldemort." Harry said and watched as they cringed. He smirked at them. "Perhaps you have read it?"

Mr. Weasley shook his head, a sheepish look on his face and explained. "I did get one while at work the first day, but I am afraid our second oldest son Charlie demonstrated a wonderful bout of accidental magic while playing Dragons." Arthur slightly smiled at the memory. "He burned it before we could stop him and get a chance to read it."

Harry smirked at that, knowing how much Charlie loved dragons. "I think we can make sure another one is sent here if you are interested in reading it." Harry assured them.

Harry and Becca stood up and bid their hosts farewell. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley thanked them for all their kind help and promised to look over the final contract that weekend and talk it over.

When the two Princes arrived at Prince Stronghold, Severus was anxiously waiting to see how things went. He was actually trying to see how Harry was doing after having faced those people for the first time. But when Harry stumbled and nearly fell (into the waiting arms of Severus) he had a grin on his face.

"That was brilliant!" Harry stated as Severus helped him stand upright again. "I didn't realize how much fun this could be when no one knows me and I know all this stuff about them. It's like having a secret and pranking everyone all at the same time. I pretend I don't know them and they don't know I am pretending or that I know anything about their family." Severus gave a little chuckle at the exuberance on Harry's face. Harry was babbling so much about his trip; Severus almost didn't understand everything he was trying to say. He was hoping things would turn out this way, but wanted to be ready for the worst. This was the same reaction he had with Petunia for the first time too. The idea of being anonymous hadn't quite sunk in yet, but he was starting to learn.

Severus put a stern mask on his face and turned to Harry, who was still clinging to him for balance. "I believe you made a promise this morning and have forgotten your obligations." He used is cold Professor Snape persona that he knew would rattle the most obedient of students.

"What? What did I do wrong?" Harry asked hesitantly.

"You, Mr. soon to be Prince," Severus growled as he picked Harry up, holding him firmly in his arms, "are forgetting about a repeat performance that you are commanded to provide immediately."

Harry waved goodbye to Becca and actually laughed as Severus started tickling his side as he held him. The older lover was making his way around, down the hallway, to their bedroom and was ready to extract his repeat performance as he had missed his Harry all day.

However, just as they were entering the bedroom, alarms started going off, an almost deafening sound reverberating through the manor. Becca rushed after them and screamed above the noise.

"We have incoming! Someone has activated the emergency portkeys and I think there are Death Eaters among them! A dark mark has entered the first level!"


A/N Next chapter will be posted on Friday evening 30 October. Hope you enjoyed it.
Thank you to those who reviewed, nari-chan, Severus_is_Mine (please don't stop writing, someone might get mad at me), tamiklee, kim, kaasan and fanny malfoy. I also want to thank the others momoko, mithrilandtj, qwerty, Neji.s_Soulmate, AnnaRose7, Anon, MrsCakeAkaJane, dominique1, MeToo, Makovaso, Hotaru, Mya Malfoy, llyoung, DeathDancer, suzuki1969, Sandra, cocoke5 and morganabythesea and I hope I got everyone in this time. I have noticed a few times I lost the greeting to everyone in posting the chapter.

*** Anyone wanting to be on an alert can email me at yahoo (same author name) or at least know I try to update three times a week on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday although like today it may be a day early.***