The Third Time is a Charm

I am sorry about the late posting for those of you I promised a Sunday posting. I had to revamp the sequence of events a little before I could proceed. For those of you who thought I had given up the story. NEVER!! Please enjoy. The next chapter will be up tomorrow.

Posted: 03 December 2009

Chapter 53: What are the Men Doing?

Three days later...

There was a crowd of men in the room. The area was so dank and musty; it made you wonder why all the obvious aristocrats would come to a place like this. There was dirt on the floor, dust on the curtains and an eerie sense of foreboding in the room. All the men dressed alike in black robes and masks and the only way to tell the difference between them was in their stance. Aristocrats don't slump, Malfoy remembered his Mother saying many years ago. He looked around the dank room and spotted several of his pureblood associates, even with the masks on.

No one was sure why the meeting was called and Lucius was hoping it had nothing to do with the information they had given the Dark Lord last week. Even now, Severus Snape was training with the other men at Prince Manor and Lucius was just a slight bit envious as Snape was essentially under cover and would not be called. What ever it is that happened this could not be good.

"I called everyone here to find out if someone has had news of Regulus Black. He was on a mission for me and I have not had a report. Can anyone tell me where he is?" Lord Voldemort, in his splendor with his black robes that reached all the way to the floor. His cloak had a snake clasp at the neck holding his robe closed. He kept fingering it, as if it would give him some answers.

Nagini was off to the side of his chair and hissing quietly. No one could understand what she was saying and Voldemort was busy addressing his followers. He had assigned Regulus to find a way into the castle of Hogwarts so he could sneak his men in there to take it over. Since the young man was still in school, it should have been an easy task. So far, the youngest of the Black family had failed him and indeed was missing in action.

Lord Voldemort perched himself back on his 'throne' and stared at all the people before him. Someone must know or must have seen him and he intended to find out. He had sent that stupid rat animagus to infiltrate the Black home, but the next day when he summoned him he didn't return. Now he had another follower that disappeared and he wanted some answers.

Malfoy's hands were starting to sweat. He had spent the equivalent of two and a half months in that crazy time room. He quickly set up his occlumency shields as he had been taught and tried to think of anything other than that day. To take his mind off of it, he started to reminisce about Narcissa and her scan to find out the sex of their next child. It was going to be a boy and they were both excited to have a male heir finally. He knew, from the jerky movements of the other men that the Dark Lord was using Legilimency on a few.

"Lucius Malfoy,” Voldemort directed his attention to the young Lord. “He is the cousin of your wife Narcissa, is he not? What do you hear of our young renegade?

"My most humble apologies, My Lord, I had assumed he would be in school studying for NEWT's. Are we sure he is not holed up in the library as we speak, revising for his end of the year tests. This is his last year."

"I have, by reliable sources, been told that he is no longer at Hogwarts and in fact his mother wrote a letter saying he was going to train somewhere else with real teachers for the rest of the year. Of course certain people at the school thought she was speaking about us. But then he is not here. Lucius, have you seen him around?"

"No my Lord, we had a big Holiday party at the manor and he didn't show up. We had the baby scan done to find out it she was having a boy or girl. He didn't show up for that either although the rest of the family did. I am on the board of governors; I suppose I could make an entrance to Hogwarts and see if I come across any information."

"You do that Malfoy, and while you are there, find me a passage way where we would be able to get into the castle undetected!" He was starting to rant about followers that didn't know the first thing about getting the job done without being led by the hand. He missed Severus and his ideology about children. Dunderheads, all of them. He was surrounded by them.

Lucius ignoring the hissing and spitting the Dark Lord was doing and merely stated. "I will leave immediately to ascertain the whereabouts of Regulus Black." With that bold statement behind him he 'popped' right out of the room.

The relief he felt upon returning to his own home was exponential. His wards were complicated and so far no one had been able to penetrate them. He was sure that the Dark Lord would have commandeered the place a long time ago, if he could get inside without help. As it was, the wards held fast.

Back at Riddle Manor...

"My trusted servant is also missing. I want some of you without missions to find him. His task was to get me information on the Black family." He swept his ruby red eyes across the room. "Do I have any volunteers?" A few new recruits stepped forward and accepted the job.

You could hear whispers in the background about what fools they were to volunteer for a job that could go so wrong. If they failed in their mission, they would be the next to be tortured. Malfoy and Snape had it easy bringing in bits and pieces of information on some entrepreneur. What a waste of time. Not one of them would admit it, but they had all read the book sent to them and now doubted the political platform of the mad man before them.

As the meeting closed everyone could see that their master was getting frantic about his missing people and not having the ability to infiltrate where he wanted to go. They were just glad to leave.

When they were dismissed, another aristocrat dressed in black, immediately went to contact Malfoy.

In the training room at Prince Stronghold Manor...

Harry was in the kitchen having tea. It had only been three days on the outside of the room, but for them it was seventy two days of work. Just when he didn't think he could cram anything else in his head. Another subject would come up. Severus was just as much a slave driver as ever. He pushed Harry to learn more and to get the spells correct, making him do them over and over again until they were perfect. Salazar was not much better.

It was only yesterday in the large DADA training room…

“Stop it, just stop it!” Harry shouted to the Potions Master. “You are pushing too hard, I can’t think straight! Let me take a break!”

“It’s not me pushing too hard” Severus shouted back, “it’s you not pushing hard enough. You have to focus. You lost your focus and now you are not doing your best! You can do better and I am going to make sure you do!” The older man snarled back at the youth. He was tired of his whining about needing a break. If he needed one now, what would happen when they were in here longer?

“Now again!” Severus shouted, they were practicing wandless magic and Harry had as of yet been unable to do a decent shield. Severus threw a stinging curse at Harry but he didn’t move fast enough. The hex caught his arm and made him furious.

“Stop, I said! Just Stop!” Harry shouted with his rage echoing through the chamber. This was not the first time they had this argument, but he was not going to lose this time. He was tired and needed a break.

“Protect yourself!” Severus shouted as he threw another hex at him.

“I said stop!” Harry roared as he dodged the last spell that came at him. He stood there in a terrible rage, his face red with anger and fury building up and needing some outlet before the younger man exploded. Then to everyone’s amazement red flames appeared in his hands and he threw a fire ball right for Severus. It was lethal and the man was so surprised he almost didn’t block it in time.

They hadn’t spoken a word to each other. Harry had even slept in one of the other bedrooms. It was the first time they had ever spent a night separated since coming here.

Harry had spent the morning with Salazar and although he knew Severus was still in one of the classrooms, he hadn’t really seen him after their fight. So he sat here, drinking his tea wondering what he was going to do now. He knew he should apologize for losing his temper, but Severus should have backed off.

After thinking about it for another hour, he quietly left the kitchen and walked into the common room. There he saw a portrait of Sal waiting for something to happen. He told Sal he would be back later and firmly left the time displacement area. He just needed some time to himself and he couldn’t get it with everyone around.

Harry proceeded to the pool area and dove in not even realizing he wordlessly and wandlessly transfigured his clothes into a swim costume just as he hit the water. He didn’t know how many laps he swam before he noticed Severus at the side of the pool. He ignored him and kept on swimming.

“Harry!” Severus shouted to be heard above the water, “You have to talk to me sometime, and it might as well be now.”

Harry kept on swimming; he was not ready for this yet. He had only been in the pool for about half an hour. He needed more time.

Finally, after several more shouts from Severus, Harry decided to stop and tell him to go away. He didn’t want to be aggravated. He got to the shallow end of the pool and stood up.

“Severus, I don’t really want to talk about it right now. I need some time away. I have only been out here about half an hour and even you should realize that I need to relax.”

“Harry, we don’t have time for this, there is much you need to learn and you are not working hard enough. You are not focusing on what needs to be done.” Severus scolded the young man still standing in the pool.

“Severus, we have nothing but time. I need a break and believe me when I say that you are pushing too hard. I don’t need to learn everything overnight.” Harry stood his ground. He was taking ten different subjects and he needed to rest to assimilate the knowledge before going further.

“I got worried when I couldn’t find you. Sal would only tell me you said you would be back.” Severus said quietly. He didn’t want to argue with Harry, he just wanted him to buckle down and learn everything he could.

“I have only been out here about half an hour. I need a longer break than that. Why can’t you understand that?” His tone was angry at the lack of understanding he was getting from his mate.

“Harry, it may have been a half hour out here, but it was twelve hours in there and yes, I was worried. I didn’t know where you had gone.” Severus reminded him softly, his anger of yesterday dissipated. He was subtlety letting Harry know how the time was skewed.

“I need more time.” Harry stated, he was not backing down now. “If it will make you happy, I will use a time turner so I come back right now, but I am not going into the training area until I have rested.” Harry then thought about something else. “You can send First Born out here to stay with me. Also Severus, we are going to break for twenty four hours. The others could use a break too. I know they are not taking as many subjects as I am but everyone needs a rest.”

“Alright Harry, you can have your twenty four hours. What are you going to do with your time?” Severus asked quietly. He had missed Harry in his bed last night and looking at the younger man now, it didn’t seem as if Harry slept well either.

“I am going to watch a movie, have some popcorn and perhaps take a walk. In the meantime I am going to continue my laps in the pool.” Harry stated in a matter of fact tone.

“Would you like me to join you?” Severus asked.

“No, I need to be alone right now. We can talk later after I have relaxed a little.” Harry was firm in his voice, still standing in the pool with the water lapping at his chest. As he started swimming again, Severus winced as he noticed the red mark from the hex that he had thrown at him yesterday. He didn’t think he was being too demanding, but Harry had been so upset. He had never seen the teen exhibit such raw power as he had yesterday. If Severus had not been on the receiving end of that anger, he would have been thrilled by it.

Harry stayed away for three days. He actually went back into the war room and looked through more of Becca's notes and memories about the other time lines. He watched a few movies during that time and he swam in the pool and he talked with Becca. She was going into her third month of pregnancy now and although the morning sickness had subsided a bit, she was starting to eat some strange foods. He even ventured out through the tunnel to do some shopping and looking around. The most important thing he did was miss Severus. He was still mad at him for trying to keep him to such a grueling study schedule, but he missed him just the same.

After the three days, Harry used a time turner to go back to the hour Severus came to speak with him. That was the only time he had seen him in the last three days. As he had spent time with Becca, he could understand they needed to be with her too. They were missing the pregnancy and had wanted to be a part of that. He wondered if that was the motivation behind Severus' demand for perfection and his bull dog determination to finish training as fast as possible.

Severus was waiting for him in the common room when he came through the door. Both of them had hesitant looks on their faces as if neither one knew what to say or how to approach the other. Finally after staring at each other for a good five minutes, Severus let out a huge sign and held out his arms as an unspoken invitation. Harry walked over to him and rested his hands on the older man's chest. Immediately upon contact he whispered "I am sorry. I should not have lost my temper like that."

"I am sorry too Harry. I should not have pushed you so hard. I should have listened to you more." He held his lover close to him and buried his face in his hair. He loved the smell of Harry and he had missed him terribly when he didn't come back right away. "How long have you been gone?" He asked the young man, not knowing exactly how much time he had taken with the time turner.

"Three days." Harry answered stiffly. He didn't want any more lectures or worse a shouting match about his studies.

"Are you hungry?" The older man asked, changing the subject.

"Not really."

"Are you tired?" He didn't know why it seemed so hard to get a conversation going with Harry, but he would try.

"Not really. I want to revise our training schedule. I don't want this to happen again." Harry replied.

"I agree. What do you want to revise it too?" Severus was still worried about Harry, they were not back to the rapport they enjoyed before, but at least they were not shouting at each other.

They called the others including the portraits and all sat to discuss the situation. It was decided every six days inside would have one free day inside. Every seventy two days, they would get an extra two days outside and leave the area to check on other things, using a time turner to come back to their original time. This way Harry and Severus could check on Becca and the others could get a break and go home. Remus was worried about the werewolves cure contracts and Regulus was worried about his mother. Since twenty four days inside were actually twenty four hours, they could check up on family almost on a daily basis.

Harry thought it was almost like having a time pocket where time stood still. In the time room, for some reason they didn’t age, but could gain weight and workout and even grow their hair. But then he supposed that they could grow their hair with a spell too.

After a few meditation exercises that Rowena taught them, Harry was all refreshed and ready to get back to work. He briefly wondered how Becca was doing. She was going to her second meeting to see the ladies soon.

Harry was startled as a loud ‘pop’ was heard when an elf entered the room. Sentry Dobby was standing there in his uniform of royal blue and went directly to Regulus to hand him a very important letter.

“Sentry Dobby, has check for portkeys, hexes and tracers. It was urgent mail and Sentry Dobby wanted to deliver it right away.” You could almost see that the elf wanted to jump up and down or otherwise act like his former self.

Harry smiled and said, “Thank you Sentry Dobby, we really appreciate that.”

“Master Harry Prince, sir.” He stated most reverently. “You are most welcome.”

Just as Harry was about to tell the little elf not to call him master, Regulus interrupted the small conversation and said to the room, “It’s from Lucius. He says You-Know-Who is looking for me. He said he sent a rat animagus to my mother’s house to try and get information on my whereabouts. Lucius has been put on a mission to find me and to find a passageway into the castle that he can get through.”

Regulus looked around the room to see if anyone had anything to say about the matter.

“So that’s what Pettigrew was doing at Black Manor? I think good old What’s-his-name has underestimated the women again. I spent some time with Becca and she said the other day when she met with Lady Black, they had a visitor that Seventh Born discovered.” Harry started to laugh as he could not keep a straight face when he relayed how the situation was taken care of.

It was Snape that spoke next. “Do not underestimate this man, he will stop at nothing to get the information he wants.”

Severus agreed with him but said, “So perhaps Regulus needs to die.”

Everyone looked at Severus with horror until he clarified, “I don’t mean literally. How about we stage an explosion of a curse gone awry somewhere and leave a golem of Regulus so that they will stop the search.”

After many hours of discussion and many different plans, they decided to use one of the caves not too far from Hogwarts. They would start a tunnel as if he was going to tunnel into the castle and the spell would backfire and kill Regulus. It was simple, it was away from everyone but it was close enough to the castle to look like he was doing what he had been told to do. They hoped that would take some of the focus off of Walburga Black.


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