The Third Time is a Charm

A/N I know I usually post these at the bottom, but there was a message from Sly about translating this story into German. I was so excited, but then I couldn't get in touch as the email address didn't work. Anyone who wants to get in touch with me can reach me at yahoo.com with the same author name.

Oh and Sly, yes, I am flattered someone would want to go through all that trouble to translate my story. Yes! that's great! Oh did I say YES!!!!! Thank you.

While I am here, thanks to my other reviewers since last chapter nari-chan, kaasan and Kim. We are now over 13,100 hits. So thanks to my readers and all you voters out there. You guys ROCK! Next Chapter will be up on Friday evening CDT.

Posted: 18 November 2009

Chapter 48: Information Gained and Lost?

The dead silence in the room would have been funny, if it had not been so serious. The four men sitting in the common room that had heard the news for the first time were not moving. They looked like a muggle picture in 3D, expressionless faces, and not even twitching. Severus wondered when they would come out of their stupor.

Harry, who was still somewhat emotional, slid into Severus’ lap and placed his arms around his neck. Severus unconsciously held him while watching the quartet to see who would move first. Salazar was doing the same thing, occasionally taking a sip of tea as he watched.

Severus determined that the four men were in shock and needed something to help them. He slowly pulled out his wand so as not to disturb Harry and then remembered his conversation with the other founders about his powers. He quietly called for a house elf instead and asked the elf to serve the men some of his finest firewhiskey. The poor elf, after placing the drinks on the table, had to put each glass in a man’s hand and bring it to their mouth. Remus was the first to sling the glass back and drink the liquor in one big gulp. The others soon followed and started to move and lose their statue like appearance.

“I’m sorry.” Lucius said as he recovered from his stupor. “Did you just tell me that an underpowered witch is a Time Spirit?”

“Yes.” Severus replied. He would have expounded on his answer, but they didn’t seem to be able to comprehend more than the one syllable. He waited.

“And she is your great grand daughter?” Lucius spoke again.

“Yes.”

“Do you have any idea how impossible this sounds?”

“Yes.”

“Is there anything else you can say besides yes?” Lucius smirked.

“The Third Time Charm was used.” Lucius dropped his glass. It was a good thing it was empty. Severus had the house elf (he had forgotten his name at the present) pour all the men another drink.

As the men were trying to compose themselves, Severus ask Harry if he wanted a drink, only to find out the young man had fallen asleep. His smile softly graced his lips before he hefted Harry up in his arms and gave a nod to Salazar before leaving the room. With a swish of his hand the bedcovers were pulled down and he placed his young lover onto the bed. He stayed there for a few minutes then slowly tried to pull the covers up over Harry so he could return back to the room with the other men. Harry wouldn’t let go. He clung to Severus like a limpet and it was amazing he had that much strength while still sleeping.

Severus spied his cologne on the bedside table, Accio-ed it into his hand and quickly splashed a little on the pillow. Then pushing the pillow into Harry’s arms, he extricated away from the young man, covered him and after a gentle kiss on his forehead returned to the common room.

The men were still sitting in a state of shock, but were starting to move a little.

“What is a Third Time Charm?” Snape asked Severus as he entered the room.

But Lucius answered for him. “It is ancient magic, mostly attributed to legend rather than anything else. It is said that only a Time Spirit, one who can manipulate the magic of Time, can use it. It is used when history has a great wrong and two smaller attempts have been unsuccessful in changing events. It is used only when a dramatic change in current events or past history needs to be made. It was rumored that Salazar Slytherin was also a Time Spirit and that is why he disappeared. There has never been any proof of it however and is believed to be merely myth. Some stories about it can be found in the oldest of children’s fairytale books. I have never seen any other references in any non-fiction works.”

Remus looked at the portrait of Salazar Slytherin and after seeing the stoic look on his face, declined to ask if the story was real. The man looked as if he may hex the first person to question him, even if he was only a portrait.

“So, what does that mean for us?” The former werewolf asked Severus instead.

“It means there are some events we can change and others we can’t. It means that even though Regulus died in the other time lines, we could save him. There are some other events we can deter to save other people also. We came back sooner than originally planned because of an unexpected pregnancy. Essentially, however, we are here to try to restore the old pure blood ways. To stop the violence that created this war, to make sure squibs are seen differently, and to teach the harmonic way of keeping the magical world separate from the non-magic without the killing and torment that is now so prevalent.”

Severus looked at the four men then reiterated something he had said before entering the training rooms. “Anyone who does not want to participate and would like to continue the way they have been is more than welcome to go back to their own lives. I will obliviate you so this information is kept secret. It is much to process and I will understand if you want to think about it first. Each of you had something very wrong happen in the other time line we came from. You and several others mostly die. We would like to avoid that but cannot make any promises. The only thing I can tell you is that we are here to succeed.”

First Born came into the room at that time and slithered up to Severus hissing loudly. “Master, something is wrong, my Master is not sleeping well. Please come quickly, I tried to talk to him but something is wrong.”

“Go, Severus, it sounds like Harry is having a nightmare. I will speak with the others a few more minutes before they retire for the night. We will see you in the morning.” Salazar said to the Professor. But Severus was already halfway out of the room and hurrying to his lover’s side.

Harry was thrashing from side to side and tangled up in the covers trying to get loose. His arms pulling and twisting in the fabric, with one arm nearly pinned to his side. Severus didn’t know what he was dreaming about but he slowly got closer. The last time Harry had a nightmare was a few days ago and he hit Severus some kind of accidental shield before he woke up.

“Harry?” The older man said gently. “Harry, come on wake up for me.”

“No, please, I’ll be good. I won’t do it again. I didn’t lie.” came the mumbling from the turbulent young man. “I didn’t lie.” He said again. “No, please, No.”

Severus was sitting on the bed now, peeling the covers away to free Harry from his perceived confinement. He finally got close enough to pull Harry into his arms and whispered soothing, calm, nonsense into his ear while rubbing his back to quell the images he knew must be horrific.

“Wake up, my Harry. It’s over and you never have to be there again.” The young man started sobbing into the warm chest, but had stopped thrashing about and was settling down. Severus didn’t know at what point he actually woke up from his nightmare, but he was glad to see him take a calming breath.

“Sev?” Harry asked hesitantly, “Please don’t leave me.”

“I am right here and I won’t leave. Let me get ready for bed, and then you can curl up next to me. Alright?”

“Alright.”

Severus went through his nighttime routine in record time and with only a pair of sleep pants on he slipped into the bed next to his fiancé. He straightened the covers and pulled them up to cover the both of them. Harry was clinging to him as if his life depended on it, but he didn’t mind. As Harry moved around to get comfortable, Severus asked him, “Do you want to talk about it?”

“No” came the muffled reply and soon the young man was back to sleep. Severus knew this was brought on by some of the lecture Salazar had given. Harry hearing how he was literally thrown into a world he was unprepared for and how everyone neglected to teach him was probably what brought this on. They would have to be more careful in the future.

In the next room…

Salazar Slytherin was getting a little exasperated at having to explain so many things to these people. Three of these men were Slytherin and he was shocked at how little they knew about the old ways. He should have expected this, but somehow he thought the purebloods would have at least some of this knowledge. Lucius Malfoy seemed to be the most knowledgeable, but he was also the eldest of the group. Some of the things Sal had told them should have been taught from the cradle.

The man in the portrait cleared his throat and asked, “How much of this information is new to you?”

Lucius, who had decided he was the spokesman for all things Slytherin answered. “All of it sir, none of us have been taught this. None of this information is contained in the Malfoy library either and some of those books go back several hundred years.”

“Well then you have much to learn. Are there any questions you have so far about the information you heard this evening?”

“Is everything we heard true? I mean what Mr. Prince said. How can a Time Spirit be an underpowered witch?” Lucius asked the man.

“Everything Severs Prince said is true. The power to manipulate time is not a power Tom Riddle would have known to look for. It is separate from the magical core. It is ‘an ability’ like parsletongue. He couldn’t take that gift away from her either. It is difficult to explain, but if you chose to remain acquainted with these people, then you can ask her yourself.”

“If she is Mr. Prince’s great grand daughter, then the Dark Lord must rule in that time. Is there still a war going on?”

“Tom Riddle was defeated several times. His followers would… take a piece of his spirit and fashion him a new body. So you could say the war was still on, but there have been… spaces… between battles. That is the best way I can explain it without going into a long story of details. Everything will be explained to you, but not tonight. It is too much information to go through in one day.”

“How did we get chosen?” Remus asked. “And are we the only ones learning this?”

“You would need to ask Severs Prince how he chose you. I was not involved in the process. I can tell you that you are the first people I have spoken to about this.”

“I know how I was chosen.” Regulus said. “But I don’t know if I can say anything about it. I was sworn to secrecy with a wizard’s oath. Maybe tomorrow we can ask Harry and Severus about it.”

“Why didn’t he make us take the oath?” Lucius asked.

Salazar smirked and said, “You haven’t left yet. Maybe he plans to obliviate you before you leave if you don’t.”

Lucius could see the reasoning behind it. Regulus let out a big yawn and said, “My mind is a whirlwind of questions and information. I think I am going to take some dreamless sleep and go to bed. It sounds like tomorrow will be another illuminating day and I need to be awake for it.”

The others agreed and bid Salazar Slytherin good night before retiring to their self appointed bedrooms.


At two the next morning, or the middle of the same night depending on how you look at it….

Severus woke up to Harry moaning in his sleep. He already knew this was going to be one of the young man’s ‘bad nights’ that happened every now and then.


He woke Harry up and tried to get him to talk about it, but the younger man didn’t want to do anything but go back to sleep. Severus got up and procured some Dreamless Sleep potion from their bathroom as well as a pain potion for the headache he knew Harry was suffering from. After he administered the potions, Harry started to settle down to a much better and restful sleep. Severus slid back under the covers and pulled his lover close so he could get some sleep too.

The next morning, he left the bed before Harry woke up. The younger man would sleep late today; he always did after one of his bad nights.

When Severus entered the kitchen, the other men were already enjoying breakfast and discussing the previous day’s surprises.

“Severus,” Regulus said as he saw the older man first in the doorway. “We were wondering about some of the other things that came up yesterday. I know Remus and I took an oath not to reveal anything that happened, but since Malfoy and Snape are here, we didn’t know if we could tell them anything about how we came to be here.”

Severus looked thoughtful for a moment and then said, “We will have to go into that later. I will need to find out from these two men if they want to continue their relationship with us and get an oath not to reveal anything that has been discussed here. We have divulged more information that I really wanted to and some of ‘reviewing our time line’ has upset Harry. In fact he will not be joining us until later today.”

“Is he going to be alright?” Remus asked.

“He will be fine; he just needs to sleep off the Dreamless Sleep potion.”

After they finished breakfast in relative silence, the five men went back to the common room to where the portrait of Salazar Slytherin was still hanging. In the picture, they found Sal had transfigured a bed with bed curtains surrounding it. Severus tapped on the portrait frame with his wand to get his attention.

“Can’t a person get some sleep around here.” grumbled the voice of the great founder. Suddenly the bed was gone, the chair was back in place and Salazar was sitting regally staring at the group of men.

“Where’s Harry?” he asked the leader of the group.

“Still sleeping, I had to give him a potion last night. He should be feeling better a little later this morning.” Severus replied.

"Well then, I say we get to work." Salazar was ready to lecture these, 'the first few recruits' on the OLD pureblood ways and to see if they could actually grasp the concept. He knew that Lucius Malfoy and Severus Snape would be the hardest to convince. They could not be relieved of the dark mark on their arms, yet, without retribution from What-his-face. They had not been 'saved' as the others had like Regulus with his life and removing the mark and Remus with the cure for the curse he had suffered through every month for many years.

It wasn't until Salazar got to the part about all magical creatures living in peace and respect for one another that Malfoy objected and looked like he was going to burst a blood vessel.

"You want us to WHAT!" he shouted to Salazar. Then he realized what he had done and composed himself into the Malfoy mask. "I will not allow myself or my family to be contaminated by filthy creatures and half-bloods. This is not the pure blood way I was raised with."

"That's right; you haven't and look where it's gotten you, a dwindling world and a war!" Salazar couldn't help but point out. "All magic has energy, the more energy you have concentrated in one area, the more you have access to. If you are busy dividing it up then it becomes scattered and you lose it to others. Even that mad man you call Lord knows that. He uses you all and your homes to collect the magic together so he can be more powerful. He drains it from you and from your properties. Your manor is a wealth of magical power from generations of magic being used. If you keep pushing out the other magical creatures, you are pushing out their free energy. Even that mad man is trying to get other dark creatures on his side. You can't deny that."

"He does it to help win the war, not to bond with them."

"Are you defending him? Are his actions more acceptable because he intends to deceive them into giving up their power and then destroying them? Do you think they are that moronic? Who said you had to 'bond' with them. They just want to live in peace not in your home." Merlin, Salazar thought, Malfoys have always had the most stubborn streak.

Severus had just about had enough of this attitude. It was too much like Voldemort's views and he had been hoping that after explaining everything, the aristocrat would know that this was better. Maybe it was not ideal in his opinion but better than following that sociopath.

By mid morning they had taken tea in the kitchen and Severus moved the portrait there also. Since they had stayed in the dining area after tea, their voices had carried to the bedroom where Harry was sleeping. That was what woke him up; they had gotten very loud at some point.

It was almost lunch time when Harry finally made an appearance. Severus and the others had been arguing one point or another and for the most part, everyone else seemed to be on board. Lucius was the most verbal about the idea of sharing his world with other magical creatures. Severus needed to make a decision soon on what he was going to do.

When Harry entered the kitchen dressed in blue jeans and a t-shirt he raised one eyebrow to Severus who was facing the doorway as he sat at the table.

“Harry!” Severus said as he rose out of his chair to stand by his lover’s side. “How are you feeling?”

“Fine, Sev,” the young man answered, “but what is going on here?”

“Just a friendly discussion nothing to worry about, love.” Severus didn’t want to go into details at the moment, so he gave Harry a look that was meant to convey ‘later’. The younger man seemed to understand because he nodded his head and entered the room.

“I don’t suppose I could get something to eat? I apologize for missing breakfast, guys.”

Remus answered for the group. “It’s quite alright, Harry, we understand.” He really did like the boy and he didn’t blame him for not being there. It wasn’t like he didn’t know the information anyway. He wasn’t sure why, but something in the wolf instincts wanted to claim Harry. Oh, not in a mate sort of way, but like an uncle would claim a nephew or a father would claim a son. The werewolf’s cure did away with the transformations at the full moon, but some of the more basic nature remained.

Severus looked around the room and announced, “Why don’t we all take a break and have an early lunch.”

When lunch was over and the dishes disappeared, Severus addressed the men. “Gentlemen, if you don’t mind, I would like to take a break so that I can spend some time with Harry to bring him up to date. Please feel free to peruse the book shelf or play some chess. If you can’t find what you need, call for the elf and he will get it for you.” The men all nodded their heads and made way to the common room while Harry and Severus turned in the opposite direction to go back to their bedroom suite.

As Severus and Harry entered their room, Severus took out his wand and warded the door and threw a silencing spell around them. He knew the other men would probably think he and Harry were having more fun than anything else. He was not opposed to that either, but he needed to discuss Lucius Malfoy’s views with his partner.

Before Severus could get his thoughts together, Harry had already started talking. “Sev, I was awake for over an hour before I made an appearance. I know what most of the men said and I believe we will have to take part of Malfoy’s memory away and let him think about this for awhile. What would happen if we only obliviate everything after the Occlumency lessons?”

“You mean, leave his memories of us until we started talking about being from the future? I don’t know that the others won’t reveal something later. I also don’t know why he is having such a hard time with this. It’s not like we are asking him to live with them.” Severus shook his head in confusion. “I didn’t really want to resort to this. I don’t want to meddle in anyone’s mind too much. If I lost control of the power, he could be a mindless husk of a person.”

“How about this,” Harry interrupted, “you go back and say you want to check everyone’s shields. Then you find the memories and build a wall around them. That way you aren’t obliviating, you are blocking. Can that be done?”

Sometimes Severus wondered how he ever thought Harry was just like all the other dunderheads he had to teach. “Now, that could work. That way if I use too much power, I am not trying to remove anything. A block can be broken by me at anytime.”

“What about the others?” the young Gryffindor asked. “Do you think they are going to accept this? What about the other you?”

“I believe he will accept this. I didn’t join the Dark Lord for blood supremacy, I joined to get respect and to earn my mastery while I was with him. I was treated different than the others though. He liked to Crucio me more often. By the time I was Snape’s age, I was already trying to find a way out. I think he will take it.”

“I’m so sorry Sev.” Harry said just before he moved to put his arms around the man. Harry had been on the receiving end of that particular curse and knew it wasn’t nice.

“Don’t worry,” the older man answered. “It was a long time ago.

“I still want to be able to help the Malfoy twins. I can’t imagine what he is going through with those problems.” Harry knew his own child would not have to suffer that kind of problem, but he still felt bad for the others. The children were innocent.

“I think we can work that in. What if we block Malfoy’s memories, then talk to the others one on one. After we can all go to the pool, and maybe we can get Malfoy to owl Narcissa to come with the twins and I will see if Doc is available. Becca can get to meet everyone and we can see what happens from there. If nothing else, we can remove the mark from Narcissa. Voldemort won't miss her and the Malfoys could always say she is having problems with the pregnancy and can't come to meetings. Voldemort didn't often call them anyway. There are other pregnant women that may want the mark removed. She can talk to the other women about it. The others don’t want their children to be in the same situation as the twins.”

“You mean we could win her over first and then let Lucius have another chance?” Harry looked thoughtful for a minute then smiled. “The muggles have an expression ‘Behind every great man is a great woman’. I wonder how much influence Narcissa has on Lucius.”

“I guess we will find out. Let’s get out there and speak with the others.”