The Third Time is a Charm

Posted: 06 January 2010

Chapter 61: Salazar Learns Something New

It wasn’t until nearly eleven the next morning that the members of the Prince household were blearily shuffling their way into the dining area. That is everyone looked bleary eyed except for Harry. The young Gryffindor was so ecstatic to have his old friends back he was still bouncing around. Severus merely groaned at the sight.

“Must you be so cheerful in the morning?” He asked in a very grumpy manner.

“But Remy and Tonks are here, and did you see their little boy. Wasn’t he just the cutest thing?” Harry responded with that ‘I am a morning person and love the world’ type demeanor. Severus thought it was particularly sickening. But then he had gotten less sleep than the others just thinking about the other time line and worried about what Salazar’s presence meant to them now.

He had grown fond of Becca and welcomed her into his family. Indeed, she was carrying his and Harry’s child and he had not thought of her as having a spouse or moving on. She just had seemed to be an extension of his and Harry’s life. Now it seemed as if all of that was changing. What if she wanted to leave them and let them raise the children on their own and make a new life with Slytherin? Could they do this alone? What were the chances of success without her? He groaned at the headache his spiraling thoughts were exacerbating.

He carefully replaced his mask of expressions when the subjects of said thoughts entered the room. Becca came in from her bedroom, dressed and ready for the day and then Lord Slytherin came in right behind her. They sat down at the dining table together and were in an intense conversation that only the two of them could hear.

From what he could see, if there had not been some kind of privacy bubble you could have heard them across the manor. He wanted to know what was going on so he sent a little spell their way to break the bubble.

"...how you could have experimented with UNSTABLE transference magic at a time like that. You could have killed yourself and then where would we be." Salazar was shouting to the younger woman. "You cannot control that kind of power and I bet you didn't even tell them how dangerous it would be for you to try it. Have you no sense woman!"

"ENOUGH" Severus shouted into the room. "What is going on here that we have to have all this dissention so early in the morning?"

Becca got a cheeky grin on her face and said, "A Sev? It's not early in the morning, it's almost noon."

"I suggest you sit down now, young lady!" Severus did not want to deal with all this drama today. He had a headache from all the questions running around in his head and now he had to settle an argument between the two people that created the pain in the first place.

"Now, what is all of this racket about?" Severus asked sternly as if he were reprimanding one of his former students.

"Sal is upset about the fetus transfer. He says I took unnecessary risks." Becca said quietly as the elf put her morning snack of pickles and dipping chocolate in front of her. She always ate that when she was upset.

"I was not upset about the fetus transfer." Salazar stated evenly, the evidence of his discord in his voice. "I was upset about the RECKLESS use of borrowed magic to do it. You don't have the power to keep it stabilized! You could have killed yourself!"

"I didn't have a choice. There was no other option. He was dying!"

"Why didn't you take Doc with you when you went to that muggle home? He could have done it with just a few simple instructions."

"I didn't know I would need him for that, remember, it was not meant to happen!"

"And that's the other thing I have an issue with. I am willing to bet, you didn't tell your Grandfathers how much power you were borrowing to send the dreams either."

"There was no need to worry them." Becca retorted to Salazar's more than accurate accusation.

"There was EVERY reason to worry them. You can't sustain borrowed power. You know that. It was a dangerous stunt and I don't want you doing it again." Salazar interjected to refute her statement.

"Fine, I won't do it again!" Becca almost shouted to the aristocrat. "It’s over and we don't have to worry about it again."

"What is going on here?" Severus and Harry had been watching the exchange like watching a tennis match with their heads going back and forth to keep up with who was shouting at whom.

It was Salazar that turned to answer him. "I understand that Becca needed to interfere and get both of you here, but borrowed power is not stable with her diminished core and she could have caused an explosion and/or killed herself trying to do things by herself without seeking the proper help." Severus thought that sounded like someone else he knew.

"Alright," Becca said "but nothing happened and everything turned out fine."

"Just don't do it again, I like you better in one piece." Salazar said.

Severus looked at Becca and asked, "Why is it we are just hearing about this. You could have used one of us or the elves to help."

"Severus, I usually do have an elf to help me or I would have brought someone else to help. I was not expecting Harry to be pregnant, so I didn't arrange any contingencies in case he was. I have already said I am sorry; please don't make an issue of this. Someone else already has and it's giving me a headache." She glared at Salazar as she spoke that last sentence.

Salazar watched as Becca dipped her pickle in the chocolate sauce sitting on the table in a sort of fascinated horror.

Harry grimaced as he too watched, as he did on every occasion he saw this, and said, "You know that can't be healthy for the baby. How can you eat that?"

"If it wasn't healthy for the baby, I would not be craving it. The baby likes it. It calms him down." Becca smirked as her words took on a pious tone before she took an extra big bite of the concoction.

Salazar, Severus and Harry all groaned at the site just as Regulus and the Lupin family came into the dining room.

"So what are we having for breakfast?" Regulus asked as he walked into the room. Then he noticed what Becca was eating and turned to Tonks and said, "I think we should go somewhere else and eat. I don't know if I can watch Becca eat and hold down my breakfast at the same time."

Tonks looked over his shoulder to the woman in question and laughed. "You should be glad you weren't there when I was pregnant for Teddy. I was much worse."

The food was set on the sideboard so everyone could serve themselves and then sit at the table. There was a mixture of breakfast and lunch items as it was closer to noon than anyone realized. As they all served themselves, Harry noticed that Sal had asked Becca what she wanted and he fixed her plate. There was a grimace on his face at the combination of foods that no one would dare touch. As they talked and ate Harry and Severus tried to get the older Remus and Tonks up to date about the company and the facility they were currently housed in.

As they were walking around taking a tour, First Born and Sixth Born followed.

"Uh, Harry? What's with the snakes?" Remus asked cautiously as he picked up Teddy before he could 'pet' one of the creatures.

The child just pointed at the slithering creatures on the floor and said “Pretty”.

"They won't hurt him Remy. They are part of a group called The Seven and this is First Born, he is my familiar." He said as he picked up the snake from the floor to drape around his neck. "The other is Sixth Born; I guess they decided to come along to make sure we would be safe. I wonder where the others are. Of course they may have come along because Sal is here. He was their mother's master."

"Didn't you tell me that snake you killed in second year was the familiar of Slytherin? Then that would make these BASILISKS? You have basilisks here where my son is housed? Harry! What are you thinking?" Remus suddenly realized how much danger they were in if the snakes decided to stare at them and kill them.

"Relax Remy, they won't hurt us. They can turn off the killing feature and they come in handy if someone breaches the wards. You should have seen Malfoy and Snape the first time they put in an appearance here uninvited. All seven snakes were guarding them when the younger you had to portkey in several werewolves because they were attacked. They were being administered the cure potion when Fenrir and his cronies attacked the group. The younger you had to use the emergency portkeys and Snape and Malfoy just so happened to be there. I think both men stood still and didn't move a muscle for hours while waiting for us to finish tending the injured." Harry laughed at the memory.

"Well, quite the little set up you have here. Can we speak freely now that Regulus has left for work? I am at a loss as to what to do now that I am here. We can't exactly go out and work or help the order. We are not supposed to be seen if I remember the rules correctly, although arriving in the middle of your party wasn't exactly a subtle move."

"We have the means to establish identities for you. We have contacts at some of the foreign ministries that can help. Gorbink is really good at that sort of thing too. We can get you set up don't worry. The not being seen rule doesn’t exactly apply in this case so you don’t have to stay hidden. You will have to decide what you want to do though. Does Tonks still want to be an auror or a stay at home Mom? Do you want to teach or do something else? It will be over a year and a half before Harry Potter defeats Voldemort so we have plenty of time to figure out what you want to do. You always have a job at Prince Conglomerate too."

"Harry, I have already accepted more of your help than you know, I don't want to be a burden on your resources here."

"It is not a burden to hire a good employee that will bring more fruition to our labors." Severus said. He was standing next to Harry with an arm around the younger man's waist. "We need good employees that we can trust and I think you have proven that much."

"Really Remy, you were an Order member and maybe you have some insight as to how to get Dumbledore off our backs. Also we want to save more of the Order members that died during the first war. What about the Boneses and the Prewitts or even Marlene McKenna and her family. These are all people you might be able to help. We could even help the Longbottoms so they don't end up in St Mungo's forever. There is plenty to do and we are trying to end the war with Harry Potter defeating Voldemort the first time. That is the only thing we are not allowed to change. It was one of the conditions of us coming here."

"Alright, that is enough talking shop." Becca interjected. She thought they all needed a little break from work and she could see little Teddy was bored with the adult talk around them. "What we really need is to go shopping. Sal needs some different clothes to be able to mingle in public. I say we take the tunnel and go to the mall. Severus, you are about his size, can you lend him something muggle to wear?"

Severus smirked at the shocked look on Salazar Slytherin's face. Evidently he did not agree with Becca's suggestion, but when she pointed out she was going anyway he acquiesced and told her to lead the way.

Shopping was a whole lot different than when he was younger. Salazar was in awe at the muggle shops all bunched together, one on top of the other, in what Becca called a mall. They had taken that little cart to the secret entrance of the stores and ridden the lift into the shopping mall. Now Becca had him trying on trainers of all things. He didn't like them; they were bulky and looked funny on his feet and yet they were comfortable to stand in. But the young woman said they were a must have in any human's wardrobe.

They went everywhere and shopped for hours. Becca wanted Tonks and Remus and Teddy to all have new clothes to wear so they could go out and circulate in the neighborhood. She had already had one of the few empty houses assigned to them and they were going to be able to live as muggles but also as witches and wizards when under the house in their private quarters. Much the same as Regulus had.

The next day, a strange man came to their door. Becca had called him to teach them all how to… Drive a car. Salazar looked at the contraption in the driveway and sighed. He really didn’t want to familiarize himself in so much muggle technology. It was much easier and faster to just floo or apparate. Why did Becca want to get him to learn this? Even Severus said he didn’t really have a license to drive and neither did Harry.

They were put on the list for driving instructions with the rest of the group.

If the driving instructor thought it strange that so many men in their late teens and mid thirties, in the case of Sal and Severus, were getting instruction for the first time he didn’t say anything.

It was a month before all the men were proficient at it. Becca just laughed at them and kept reminding them it could be detrimental to their lives if they could not hide in the muggle world, and that included driving. Even Regulus, younger Remus and Snape were taken in hand and taught. Becca and Tonks laughed at them and told them it was all part of their training.

One day after a particular hard day for Sal, Becca giggled at him and said “You know, it just seems strange that the few women we have here already know how to do this and all the men don’t.” He then considered it a challenge of the sexes and learned very quickly after that. Tonks had been great company for Becca and she liked her a lot. Tonks had learned to drive from her Dad who was muggle raised. Everyone had thought Mr. Tonks was muggleborn, but his parents were squibs too.

One sunny afternoon, Tonks and Becca had gone in the car to the plant nursery to get some bulbs and flower seeds for the front of the properties. They wanted to make their little front yards more muggle friendly and decided they needed some color.

At the nursery Becca stumbled on a woman berating a young man that seemed to be slightly mentally challenged. He had dropped her bag of fertilizer and some of it spilled on the floor. The woman was actually threatening to fire him.

Becca, who could not stand abuse in any form, was very upset to see the young man take the verbal abuse from this woman. Evidently she was the shop owner and had hired the boy to do small chores around the shop because he was her nephew. After the woman left, Becca went up to the young man.

“Do you think you could help me with some plants?” she asked. “We want to plant some flowers at our new homes.” She looked at him and then held out her hand. “My name is Becca and this is my friend Tonks. We live a few streets away on Privet Drive. What’s your name?”

“My name is Buddy, everyone calls me Buddy.” The young man shook her hand with quite a strong grip and then said in a whisper. “You’re friend has funny hair to go with her funny name.”

Tonks who overheard the last comment laughed at what he said and replied “Yes I do, but it is what makes me special.”

“How would you like to come work for us Buddy? We need someone to help plant the gardens.” Becca offered. She really wanted to give him a job and get him away from that woman that didn’t appreciate him. In her opinion, she was just using him like a house elf and most of them were treated better than that.

“I live with others like me.” The young man said slowly. “I have to get… per…per… permish…”

“Permission?” Becca supplied the word for him.

“Yeah, that from the house dir… direc… oh like the boss.” Buddy supplied his own word that time in a slightly frustrated tone. But Becca didn’t take offense, she knew what it was like to have a hard time expressing one’s self.

Becca took a card out of her pocket and handed it to the young man. “Give this to your director and tell him we want to hire you. Can you do that for us Buddy?”

“Yes Miss, I can do that.” Buddy replied, again speaking slowly.

“Good, put that in your pocket and don’t forget. For now, we will take this tray of flowers and we also need some gardening tools.”

As Becca and Tonks started piling up items on their list, Buddy helped them to put it all in the car. When they were finished Becca again admonished him to remember to give his Director her card and call her about wanting to hire him. From what she gathered, he lived at a home for the mentally challenged and one of the conditions was that they had to work. The job with his aunt was the only one he could find.

When they returned home, the men had to unload the car without magic. Harry seemed to be the only one who knew what was going on as the others just grumbled at how heavy everything was (especially the bags for mulch for the garden) and not being able to use magic. When Becca pointed out that they could use a wandless featherweight charm to lighten their load and move the things with less effort they groaned about muggle work.

When they started moaning about the amount of work it was going to take to plant all the stuff they had brought back, Becca then interrupted their rant with the news that she was hiring someone to do the yards on a regular basis. When she explained about the home and hiring the young man from the shop, Salazar was a little leery, but Harry knew about the home and thought it was an excellent idea.

Later that evening the Director of the home called Becca’s phone and asked her about the work she had for Buddy. He had explained that Buddy had been unhappy working for his aunt but that was the only thing they had found him so far. Becca then explained that it would be several houses that needed gardening work on a regular basis. She would supply all the tools and then gave him references so they agreed that Buddy could start work the next day. It was his day off from his aunt’s shop and they needed to get the flowers planted as soon as possible.

Of course she didn’t tell him she was a witch and could cast a preservation charm on the little plants she had bought that day. She was happy to be helping someone in the neighborhood and establishing friends among the muggles. It would be needed later when the children got older.