The Third Time is a Charm

Posted: 22 February 2010

Chapter 79 Meeting the Potters

It was the next day and Becca had just floo called the Potters to see if she and Harry could arrive in an hour. It was already nine in the morning and they needed to get this completed today as Harry would be getting ready for the battle tomorrow. Lily was so excited to have them come so soon, she was not at all put off by the short notice.

James was not there when they arrived. Lily had told them that he had a meeting to go to but would be back by lunch. It would give them enough time to create the runes and visit for a few minutes before they needed him for the ritual itself.

Lily hadn’t known how many people were coming, but when Becca had flooed, she had said several people wanted to see how the crest was done so they could learn. It didn’t matter; she was most welcoming to every one.

When she was introduced to Harry, she looked at him and then said, “I have the feeling I should know you.” Harry was just staring at her and was having a hard time composing the turmoil of emotions. Becca tried to distract Lily by introducing the others.

“This is my fiancé, Salazar and these elves are Sentry Dobby and his assistants. They are with the security sector at Prince Conglomerate. The children’s father would not let them out without protection, especially after someone tried to kidnap me from the bookstore.”

“I heard about that from one of the other ladies, but there was nothing in the paper about there being any kind of attack.” Lily said.

“Just some fan throwing a portkey at me. Sal got it instead, but managed to return a few hours later.” Becca said jokingly to diminish the seriousness of the situation.

“Now, this bruiser here is Evan and his sister is Lillian. It’s kind of a complicated story, but Harry had been injured when carrying Evan, he was only a few weeks pregnant. We did a fetus transfer to me so the baby would survive while Harry was being treated. Then after he was better, he got pregnant again and this little one was born a month after Evan. We are not quite sure how we will explain it later, other than there were two different carriers.”

“Wow, interesting story. They all have a strong family resemblance; so are you and Harry siblings?” Lily asked politely.

“Something like that, I am definitely closely related to Harry. His husband wanted to come, but something came up and he was not able to make it.”

“Male pregnancies are very difficult to conceive, or so I hear. Did you have to take a potion? I am sorry if I am being so personal, but I have never met a wizard that gave birth.”

“That’s alright, I don’t mind really.” Harry said, finally getting his voice back. “I didn’t have to take a potion. In fact both Evan and Lillian were definitely an unplanned surprise.” Once he got around the fact that Lily was almost his age, he started to see her as more a sister than his mother. He guessed it might have something to do with the fact that he was not from the same time line she was from.

Becca, who knew they needed to get started, said, “Shall we go to the basement and see the crest and what else needs to be done?”

They had just started to bring the children downstairs, when the floo flared again. When Lily returned to her guests, she was followed by Moony. This was planned so that it didn’t seem as if Becca came with a huge entourage of people and they felt it would be as if Moony came to visit the Potters instead of following Becca there. Thank Merlin; Becca had talked Severus out of sending The Seven. She remembered the reaction Walburga had the first time she brought a snake and that had only been one!

When they arrived in the basement, the first thing they did was put all three children in a playpen with a few toys. Now to get to work.

Moony sat in a chair next to the playpen the children were placed in. He was given strict orders by Severus to stick close and be ready for anything. When he sat down, he made sure his wand was easily obtainable from his robe sleeve just, as he had promised. He knew nothing was going to happen in his friend’s home, but he would stand guard and watch. They had all learned about several different rituals involving family crests and protection spells when studying with the founders’ portraits, but he had never actually seen one.

Salazar was more knowledgeable than Becca at the runes and the arrangement. Becca usually referred to a book when doing difficult work with the symbols, but Sal just sat and spaced them out like he had been doing it for years. It only took him about half an hour after a few questions to Lady Potter. She was most impressed with his work. Of course one could not know everything, so Becca didn’t try to help. He had after all, set the symbols in Hogwarts and placed the crests in the foundations of the school over a thousand years ago.

“That was… amazing,” Lily said to Becca when Sal was almost finished. “You are a very lucky woman, Becca. When is the wedding?”

“We had sort of planned it one year from Christmas day when he proposed. He is very old pureblood and wants to do things the ‘proper’ way. We have loved each other for many years but lost contact when I moved to help Harry and his husband. Now we have found each other again and it has been wonderful to have him around.”

Becca could see Lily’s mind moving a mile a minute, trying to sort everything out in her head. There were several times Becca had sidestepped her questions so she would not have to tell a blatant lie, but if the questions continued, she wasn’t sure what she would say.

They heard a noise from upstairs and a voice call out.

“Down here Alice, we are almost finished with the runes.”

Alice Longbottom came into the basement and looked around. She had not expected so many people to be in the house.

“Where’s James?” Alice asked when she saw Lily alone with all these people.

“At a meeting.” She didn’t have to say Order meeting, Becca had already worked that out on her own.

“Who are all these people, Lily?”

“Oh, I’m sorry. Let me do the introductions.”

“Moony and Becca you already know, this is her fiancé, Sal, her brother Harry and the little ones are Harry’s children Evan and Lillian.”

After exchanging greetings, Alice pulled Lily to the side and whispered, “Uh, Lils, did you just hear what you said? These kids have a version of your name and the younger man has your son’s name. Are they for real?”

“I’ll talk to you later about it, not now. I think I know who they really are, but it’s going to be hard to believe.” Lily whispered back. Then she raised her voice, “I agree with you, the runes are beautiful and so perfectly set surrounding the crest. James should be home soon to join the ritual.”

She walked over to the others, “Would any of you like tea? I can bring it down here so we don’t have to disturb the children.”

“That would be wonderful; do you want me to come and help?” Becca asked.

“No, I am sure Alice and I can manage. You can see what else we might need to do the ritual. I will be back in a few minutes.”

Lily left the room with Alice in tow, while Harry looked at the two climbing the stairs. As soon as they were out of sight, he turned to Becca. “I think she knows something, or at least suspects. Perhaps we should have told her different names for the babies or even me.”

“Harry, you name doesn’t matter; it’s the family resemblance that has her intrigued the most. I know that she won’t say anything to anyone if we ask her not to. Everything will be fine. Trust me.”

Harry gave her a skeptical look and then turned around to sit back in the chair he was using while he watched all three babies sleeping.

Up the stairs……………….

Alice was in the kitchen with Lily and put up a privacy spell so they would not be over heard.

“Alright, Lily, what is going on?”

“Did you look at Becca’s fiancé? She only introduced him as Salazar, no last name. Did you get a good look at him? I swear he looks like the pictures I have seen of Salazar Slytherin.”

“That’s just crazy. He may look like the man, but can you explain to me how someone who lived a thousand years ago ended up in your basement?”

“Something I remember reading, back in fifth year, said he was rumored to be a time traveler or a time… something I can’t remember. He was purported to be able to manipulate time.” Lily crinkled up her forehead in concentration. “I think they are time travelers. I think the younger man in there is somehow my Harry or a counterpart from another time line. He has James’ hair and my eyes and chin. He is a little on the small side, but he definitely looks like I would imagine the baby to look in fifteen years or so.”

“Lily, this is a little far fetched, even for the wizarding world. I can not believe you are even entertaining this idea for a minute!”

“That’s not the only thing I think. I believe Harry is married to Severus Snape.”

Alice’s eyes got as big as saucers. When she found her voice again she looked at Lily and said only one word. “How?”

“His husband is Severs Prince and I know that Snape’s mother was a Prince.” Lily said very firmly.

“So you are trying to tell me that Harry and Severs Prince, the owners of Prince Conglomerate are actually your time traveling son and Severus Snape?”

“That’s what I think.”

Alice put her hand up to Lily’s forehead and said, “No, no fever. I think perhaps you are delusional.”

“Well, the tea is ready so we need to go back downstairs, but you watch for yourself and tell me what you think later.”

James flooed in just as his wife and Alice were going down with the tray of tea and scones for their guests. He volunteered to carry the tray and walked down the steps with Lily and Alice.

“Sorry that took so long,” Lily said as she entered the room. “James arrived just in time to carry the tray for me.” She then made the introductions, even the children. He got a funny look on his face, but didn’t say anything. He did however take a second look at the children and commented.

“Oi, they look like they could be siblings.” He laughed at his own foolishness and turned back to the others in the room.

Alice left soon after tea and Becca sat down with James and Lily. She was going out on a limb she knew, but there were seven Potters in the room and she knew the seal would be more powerful with all of them participating.

“I have to tell you something. But I need a wizard’s oath that you will not say a word to anyone else.” Becca started her conversation with the Potters.

Salazar looked at his fiancé, got her attention and very slightly shook his head no. He had an idea of what she planned, and he didn’t want her to go through with it. However, Becca’s Gryffindor side was clearly taking charge when she continued to speak to the Potters.

After the Potters each took out their wand and swore on their magic that they would not reveal their secrets, Becca explained further.

“Your crest will be much stronger with seven family members instead of just three. I would like to propose that you allow Harry and me to join you in the ritual as well as the children. With four adults and three children, we would have our seven.”

“But how are you related to us?” James asked the woman.

“Harry and I are direct descendents of Rowena Ravenclaw and are related to Lily through her. We are also descended from Godric Gryffindor and related to you that way.” Becca said. “You know that many families are interrelated as cousins of some sort in the magical world. It is not that unusual.”

Becca had several reasons for saying this. She didn’t want to tell them they were her Great-Great Grandparents; she thought that would be a little hard for them to believe. Also she didn’t want to say too much in front of Moony although she trusted him completely. Also, if they used her and Harry for the crest ritual, then they would be able to enter the house after Voldemort attacked. In Harry’s time line the house was sealed for many years and he was never allowed to see it. She was hoping that with the Seven Soul ritual, the baby would have a better chance of surviving without Voldemort’s soul splitting off into his little body.

“Lily, I do have some cousins that are from the Prince family, so this is not as farfetched as it might seem.” James said to his wife.

“I would agree to this, but what do you think?” Lily asked James.

“I will agree to it, if it keeps our son safe.” James agreed.

So without having to tell them how they were related, the ritual began.

Salazar was the one directing as the others took their places, three of the adults carrying a baby each. James had never been a part of something like this, although he could remember his parents talking about blood protection spells and renewing them every so often.

When the last of the magic was invoked, there was a bright white light and the participants in the room could feel the magic settle into the very foundations of the house. James, who was the only one not holding a child, was nearly knocked on his rear as the magic whooshed by to settle into the crest.

“That was interesting” James said as he walked over to sit in a chair. “Which of you is powerful enough to create all that magic whooshing through the air?”

Becca and Harry just looked at each other and shrugged.

Lily made the observation, “I didn’t feel that kind of power at the Longbottom house. What is the difference?”

Becca could have told her having the most powerful wizard for a son was the difference, Severus coming in second, but instead she just replied, “It is the difference between having three and seven for the ritual.”

“I know my magic and I know Lily’s magic, but that was some other power.” James insisted.

“It doesn’t matter where the power came from, as long as you stay safe for now and the baby is safe.” Harry said. “We should be leaving soon as my husband will be wondering about where I am and if I have managed to get into trouble.” He finished his comments with a smirk.

“Wait” James requested. “I was wondering what your views of the war are.”

Harry raised an eyebrow at the abrupt change of subject but he carefully thought out his reply. He shifted Lillian, who was sleeping in his arms and finally said, “I believe the war is upon us and things will start happening fast. I think that those of us with children should do all we can to protect them and leave them a legacy if we can.”

Harry looked at the man that was his father’s counterpart and hoped he would not offend him in what he had to say next. “Everyday I put a memory away so that my children can use a pensieve to see how much I love them. It is a small thing, but if something were to happen to me, it would be all they have. I also have a muggle life insurance policy on me for each child. If something happens and the wizarding world collapses, I want my children to survive in the muggle world. I have an indestructible trunk to put all the memories in so they won’t get lost or destroyed. My husband has the same thing. We are also having our portrait done. It may seem extreme to you, but the war took my parents when I was very young. I was left with nothing but a vault and there is not a thing in it that will ever bring them back.” Harry finished saying, blinking furiously while desperately holding back the tears. He just hoped the Potters got the message. He then turned to Becca.

“We should go now and let the Potters rest. Using that much magic can be exhausting.”

Harry had never really given James an answer about the war; instead focusing on the families that were being destroyed. He wanted to tell the whole wizarding world that this war was nothing but a couple of powerful wizards trying to see who had the bigger stick. That this war didn’t really solve anything, but they wouldn’t listen to him and he was here to protect Baby Harry as well as others. He would not waste this opportunity.

Moony who had watched silently to see how the whole thing played out, was very proud of Harry. No one had told him if he was actually James Potter’s son. But he was more certain now than ever these people had come back because of Baby Harry. There had been references to abuse in Harry’s childhood, but he got the impression it was way more than a few incidences. It had to be very major to have Time and the Fates allow all these people to travel back to fix a problem.

The Prince family went upstairs to floo back to their manor after the Potters said their goodbyes and thanks for the help with the protection crest. When they flooed out with the children, the elves picked up the other things for the kids and popped back to the manor.

Moony said his farewells and left as well. He needed to get back to the office and see to a few things before the day was over.

“How can that young man be so old and sensible?” James asked his wife as they were standing, staring at the place where the three adults had been.

“I think that he has had to grow up very fast. He doesn’t look to be more than sixteen but he acts as if he were twice that age. His eyes have a wisdom that I have never seen in one so young. What he said makes sense. We should think about what would happen if our son were left all alone.”

“Lily, nothing is going to happen to us. We will be fine.” James said while putting an arm around his wife.

“You don’t know that James, I have a feeling we need to take some of those same precautions.

“I don’t want to think about it, but I agree with you. Let’s go get our son and make some memories to leave him. He smiled at his wife and picked up his son that was trying to crawl (more like scoot) across the carpet.”