The Third Time is a Charm

Posted: 28 February 2010

Chapter 81 The Box

The day had been rather anticlimactic but gratifying for the men on their return to Prince Manor. No one was injured, except for a few Death Eaters but some of the other darker creatures considered the attack too easy.

“Let’s not get complacent” Severus warned the group when one of the goblins said something about it. “They were not expecting anyone but perhaps the Order and they don’t have our resources to execute a mission like this. They will find out about our strategies eventually and it will only become harder from then on. We must not let down our guard at any time.”

“We need to find out how many followers Tom Riddle has.” Salazar said.

“I know he had about a hundred when I was in there. Is that about right, Snape?” Regulus said.

“Agreed, but there have been some that have already been freed from the mark so it would be fewer if our numbers are accurate. Of course we don’t know how many he has recruited since then.” Snape replied.

“We only captured twenty-four today. Remus Sr. had ten in his trunk, Gorbink had eight and Severus and I ended up with six. I thought we were expecting at least twenty-five.” Harry summed up the count and noticed they were missing a Death Eater.

Salazar explained, “We could have miscounted, or something happened to prevent one from coming. The mirror shows the events from that point forward, but they are always subject to change.”

Suddenly an elf popped in to tell Becca the children were waking. It was Harry however that answered, “I will be there in ten minutes. Becca you stay, Sev can catch me up later. Excuse me everyone, it seems my children are in need of my presence.” Harry left the room, took a quick shower and arrived in the nursery just as Evan was giving out a hearty yell.

“Oh, come here my little one.” Harry answered his son’s cry. When he settled down into the rocking chair, the elf handed him his daughter also. They were getting bigger and harder to handle at one time, but Harry loved spending this time with them. He had never seen himself as a Dad when he was younger, but that was probably because he hadn’t seen himself alive after Voldemort. Now he had two precious babies that he would give his own life for, in a heartbeat.

As he fed and changed them, he started thinking about the box in the back of the wardrobe. He felt like he might be ready to open it soon; perhaps tonight depending on when the meeting finished and how Severus was feeling. Today was a victory, but they could not rest on this one success.

Evan was banging on some infants musical instrument they had bought him from a muggle store when Severus walked in and saw Harry sitting on the floor with the children. Lillian was trying to ‘help’ Evan by holding his hand so she could bang with him. The soft squishy piano with the over sized keys, was taking a pounding as the two made a song. It seemed like they had only started to sit up, but now at eight and seven months they could scoot and crawl around quite a bit, and if you weren’t keeping an eye on them they would pull up on the furniture and try to walk; Evan more than Lillian, but she would try to copy her brother as much as possible.

Remus Sr. and Tonks often let Teddy stay with the younger children. They were spending several months in the training room with the founders’ portraits, but not all at one time. They were keeping it to eight hours a day, which was really eight days of training and then coming out to take care of their son. Severus had arranged with the Australian Ministry for them to take their Master tests in a few months so that they would have valid certification in the current time line. They already knew most of what they needed, if not all, but the time with the founders would give them a refresher of the material and also let them test for more than what they had before.

They stayed in the nursery, watching the children play, until both Evan and Lillian had drooping eyelids and nearly fell asleep on the carpet.

Severus picked up his son from the floor mat and lifted him into his arms. “Come here my little sleepy one, Papa is going to put you to bed.” He couldn’t help but hold him for just a few minutes, when he turned to Harry and said, “I don’t spend enough time with them.”

“We both have been busy, but you will be able to spend more time with them as soon as this war is over.” Harry assured him.

“The war between good and evil is never over Harry.” Severus said quietly. “There will always be some conflict in the world.”

“Yeah, but like you have pointed out to me so many times before, not every conflict is yours to fight and you can’t save everyone.”

“This must be the example of the student teaching the Professor.” Severus chuckled and felt Evan burrow closer into his chest. Harry with Lillian in his arms snuggled close to Severus and they had one big group hug. There was a small thrum of magic, as if to say that the children were happy, safe and protected.

The two men put their sleeping infants down in their cribs and set the alarms for when they awoke. They quietly left the room, closing the door behind them.

“Are you ready?” Harry asked his husband.

“Ready for what?” Severus asked with a devilish grin.

“Not that” Harry said in exasperation. “Ready to open the box with me.”

“Are you sure you want to tackle that tonight?”

“I’m sure.” Harry responded.

“Then lead the way.” Severus said with a sweeping gesture of his arm for Harry to precede him.

Harry was nervous as he entered their bedroom. His hands were shaking slightly and he could feel his heart pounding in his chest. He went to the wardrobe, all the way to the back and pulled out the shrunken, old cardboard box.

Inside the box was another box. It was wooden with beautiful, intricate carvings in the top and on the sides. It was polished to a glossy mahogany but you could see the layers of dust collected on it over the years. Harry wiped away some of the dust and grime to see what was carved on the top. In the center was a roaring Griffin flanked by a snake and eagle on either side in smaller carvings. On the sides of the box were little badgers all around the box. Each carving of the animal had a crown on their head and a cloak around their neck.

“Sev, look, it’s so beautiful.” Harry said as he breathed a sigh. He never expected something so ornate to be in the old dilapidated cardboard box.

Severus put his arm around his husband. If the truth were known, Severus’ heart was pounding just as quickly and unsteadily as Harry’s. But of course he wouldn’t show it. His hands were steady as a rock and the mask on his face was of complete control. He watched as Harry held the box for a few minutes just staring at it.

“So are you going to open it?” Severus finally asked after about fifteen minutes.

“Huh? Oh, yeah, I guess I should do that” was the distracted reply from the younger man.

Harry slid his thumb over the clasp in the front of the box and jerked his hand back as he felt a prick. “Ouch!” He said as he quickly brought his thumb to his mouth. “That hurt!”

“What happened? Here let me see.” Said Severus.

“No, it’s alright. It just pricked me so it must have some kind of blood test. Could be why no one has opened it before.” Harry looked at his thumb to see if it was still bleeding and then gently lifted the lid on the box.

On top was a small hand sewn quilt with Harry’s name on it. It was blue with figures sewn into it. A snitch, a broom, a ball, a dog, a stag and a werewolf all sewn into the cloth with a dark blue background. It had his initials at each corner and he could see it was packed carefully with tissue paper wrapped around it. The paper was old and faded and nearly fell apart as he took it out.

Under the quilt, were a few vials that looked like memories. There were also what looked to be miniaturized books as well as letters on old parchment. Harry looked at the books that were no bigger than a deck of cards and set them aside for later. He looked toward his husband, but Severus was already asking Kreacher to get a pensieve that they could use. Harry hadn’t even heard him call for the elf.

He picked up the first letter and opened it to read,

…………………………………………………………………………………………….

My dearest Harry,

It is unfortunate that when you were born it was during a time of war when there is so much turmoil in the world. Just in case something happens to us and we are separated from you, the information in this box was to let you know you are very much loved. My darling, the memories are numbered as well as the journals and we suggest you look at them in order.

If you are opening this without us, then know that we miss you very much. If we are there with you, then you can laugh at us a call us paranoid. Either way our love for you endures forever.

Love
Mom and Dad

……………………………………………………………………………………………

Harry looked at the memories and picked up the vial labeled number one. He turned to Severus with tears in his eyes and Severus just held him for a few minutes before indicating the pensieve in the room.

As if in a trance the young man slowly took the few steps to the bowl sitting on a small table in the room. He gently poured the contents of the vial into the bowl and stood there for a few minutes, saying nothing. He looked at his older husband and still without saying a word tugged on his hand and they both fell into the memories that had been stored nearly eighteen years.

They landed in a sitting room, looking at a very pregnant redhead sitting on the sofa calling for James. He came into the room carrying a tray of tea items, as well as chips, chocolate syrup, ice cream and mustard. Harry and Severus both felt like intruders into the little scene.

“James,” the young woman said, “I thought I told you I wanted pickles!”

“We are out of pickles, but I called Sirius to bring some later this evening.” The young man replied.

“Just make sure that he does, or your hair will be green again.” Pouted the young woman.

Harry laughed at the similarities of the conversation he had with Severus during his pregnancy. Then the scene changed.

They were in a hospital room and the nurse was just handing an infant, wrapped in a blue blanket to the young woman in the bed. Her hair was plastered in a mess around her face from sweat and she looked completely exhausted, then her face lit up like the sun when the newborn was settled into her arms. Her husband, at her side, was cooing over the child and announcing to the nurse that his name was Harry James Potter.

Then the scene changed. The young couple were sitting in a room at what Harry presumed was located in the house at Godric’s Hollow. Young James Potter was holding his son, who appeared to be about six months old, and was looking straight ahead as if talking to the phantom Harry standing in the room.

“Son, we both had a dream and put this together so that you would know the truth when it came time.” The man started, he swallowed hard and started talking again. “In the dream we were told that you would inherit our powers upon our death and have the power to vanquish Voldemort. Please know that we would give our lives a hundred times over just to keep you safe.” James then chocked up and Lily took over the conversation.

“We love you with all our heart, Harry. Please do not be sad for us. We know that with our death, Voldemort will be neutralized until a time that you can defeat him. It will save so many people. We have made provisions to our will if this really happens. You are to go to Sirius Black or Alice Longbottom. We want you to find happiness and honor our sacrifice for what it is. Someday you will have children and will know that a parent will do anything to protect their child.”

James had recovered at that point and picked up the conversation. “The box we used to place this information in is called a founders’ box. It has been passed down in my family for generations. It contains a copy of our will and what information we thought necessary for your continued safety and happiness. Only another Potter can open the box, so the information should not be tampered with. We wish you well, and remember we are always keeping an eye on you from above.”

The memory ended and the men left the bowl and climbed back into the bedroom.

Harry was in emotional shock when he climbed out of the bowl. Severus got him ready for bed and put the young man down to sleep, after giving him a half glass of water with a small amount of sleeping draft mixed in. He then climbed into the bed himself, pulling his lover to his side, neither one saying anything and slowly drifting into slumber.

Severus woke up around two in the morning with the alarm telling him one of the children was awake. He extracted his arms from around Harry, knowing he wouldn’t wake, and went to see the children. Lillian was standing in her crib with little fat tears running down her face as she hugged her favorite stuffed hippogriff. When she saw Severus in the room, she held out her little arms and he picked her up. It didn’t take long to find out what was causing her unhappiness, so he changed her nappy and settled in the rocking chair to lull her back to sleep.

“There should be a law against beautiful little girls creating that much of a stench.” He said quietly so as not to wake her brother. She giggled and cooed at him and was once again a happy little girl.

He didn’t often get to do this. Obviously when they were younger they had to feed from one of the carriers. Now they were weaned and he could help take care of them. He loved the feeling when one of the babies would snuggle into his chest, just like Lillian was doing now. She was so cute when she was sleeping and making little sucking noises as if she were trying to feed from the bottle. Severus gently touched her face and brushed her hair away from her eyes before setting her back down in the crib. He placed her blanket over her and, after a few minutes, silently headed back to his bedroom.

He smiled when he noticed that Harry had twined his arms around the pillow on Severus’ side of the bed. He gently pulled it out of his grasp and lay back down on the bed and Harry unconsciously curled up to Severus and settled back down without ever waking up during the night.

The next morning when Harry woke up, he slid out of the bed, went through his morning ablutions, and made his way to the nursery. He watched both of the children, lying in their cribs, and Evan with a thumb in his mouth.

He then made his way to the dining room where Severus was already seated as well as Regulus, Moony and the Lupin family. Becca came in a minute later and Salazar about five minutes after that. Once everyone was assembled, the breakfast was served and Severus conducted a meeting.

“Harry and I have some unexpected things to do today. I called you guys here to see if someone wanted to go to Between Manor and interrogate the prisoners. They may be willing to tell us how many followers Voldemort has left and what he is planning. See if they have any information we don’t already have.”

Moony spoke up first. “I would love to go, is it alright if Snape comes with me? I was wondering why he wasn’t here. Usually you call all of us when something like this comes up.”

“I did call him, but he was in the middle of brewing something that had to sit overnight.” Severus replied. He didn’t want anyone to think they were not trusted. “I told him that you or Reg would fill him in later.” Regulus also nodded his head in assent to going.

“If you don’t mind, I would like to go too.” Salazar stated to the group. “I want to see if there is anything we need to do for the arrival of our guests and what provisions need to be replenished.”

“If they are going then Tonks and I will spend the day in the training room. I never would have thought there was so much I could learn and teach on. Those portraits are amazing.” Severus nodded his head. There were plenty of elves to help Becca with the three children if she needed it.

As breakfast came to a close, Severus looked at the group, “Thank you for helping with this. I didn’t want to put off the interrogations, but Harry and I have more pressing matters. We will see you again tomorrow.”

When the others left, Becca looked at the two men remaining with a raised eyebrow in askance of an unspoken question.

“We are going through the box.” Severus said softly as Harry was leaving the room. Becca nodded her head but didn’t say anything. ‘About time’ was the expression on her face.

Severus nodded and followed Harry into the bedroom to go over more of the things his parents left. When he entered the room, his husband was already putting in the vial of memories marked number two. They entered together and landed in the same room as before.

“Harry” James was saying. “In our dream, someone said that you may be soulmated to Severus Snape. You should know that our little group at school did not treat him well and I am afraid that this may complicate your relationship. Please tell him for me that I was a jealous prat and apologize for everything we did. We don’t know how old you will be when viewing this, but you need to seek him out and let him know. There are spells and potions to confirm the existence of a soulmate and who they are.”

Lily said, “We know that he may be bitter and that he was leaning towards Voldemort’s group, but perhaps you can help him to see the light. Please tell him for me that I am very sorry.” There was sadness in her eyes that confirmed her statement.

The memory continued in this vein. Giving Harry instructions on who to talk to and to ask for help if he needed it.

The third memory talked about the box. There were only four of them, one for each house descendent. Gryffindor of course had the Lion in the center of the lid. The one for Slytherin had the snake in the center as did Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. It was to show unity and how every difficult decision is solved by using all four aspects held dear by each house.

The third memory showed different scenes of Harry growing up. Of course it didn’t go beyond his first birthday, but it was fun to see his mother getting very aggravated with James for buying the baby a broom and letting him fly around when he could barely walk.

The fourth and fifth memories were about the war and what they were doing on a daily basis for the war effort. I contained some information about the Order and a few of their friends. At the end of the fifth show, James said, “Harry, you cannot trust anyone completely. I don’t know who you have around you, but please be very careful. We believe Dumbledore is orchestrating some of the war effort for his own agenda. If you tell no one your secrets, no one can tell them to anyone else. Please be careful son, we love you.”

By the time they had finished all the memories and looked over the diaries, it was well past lunchtime. Harry set aside the books and letters to look at another time when he was a little less emotional.

That evening when he and Severus went to bed, he fell right to sleep. It had been a long and emotional day.