Disclaimer: I do not own Wizards of Waverly Place

A/N: I saw the latest episode of Wizards, and I must say as much as I don't really like Juliet, I'm glad Justin got his girlfriend back. That means Harper can move on to…I don't know…the other cute wizard boy.

"Third"

"Third times the charm"

It wasn't everyday that you heard the expression, "third times the charm."

Harper despises that phrase.

Charm actually meant something in her vocabulary.

Charm was actually something that her best friend and her two brothers could do. It was something that was real. It was something that should have been stuck in a fantasy novel.

It should have just stayed there from the beginning.

Harper never quite got the whole 'the-Russos-are-wizards'. It wasn't that she didn't get it. It was that she never got use to it. Magic used to be so pretty and fairy-tale like. Now it was dangerous, chaotic, and real.

Recently, Justin, Alex, and Max used the help of Alex's new boyfriend (who turned out to be a pure blood werewolf) to track down Juliet. Juliet was a nice person, for a vampire. She was the soul mate of her now former love, Justin.

Harper was jealous.

She thought she had a chance, but when Alex said that a wizard must give up their powers for the love of a mortal, she then realizes that she really didn't stand a chance. She really didn't when Justin mentioned he would be the one to probably win the contest.

Now here she was, all alone cleaning up the shop at closing time.

Alex was out of work for a while, due to Mason breaking her heart. The stupid dog boy just had to go and claim that he was still in love with Juliet.

Thankfully, Juliet was still in love with Justin.

Alex's heart was broken, making both her brothers attend to her for a while to make sure she was okay. Harper fully believes that Mason had broken her heart.

She tried to comfort Alex, only to have her best friend push her away.

Justin was too busy with Juliet to have Harper reach out and ask him to check up on Alex. There was no one really left except Mr. and Mrs. Russo.

"Harper?"

A voice interrupts her thoughts.

Max comes down the iron steps, walking towards her.

"Oh hey Max," she puts the sponge back on the table.

"What are you doing? You've down here for two hours now cleaning," Max's brown eyes look at her curiously.

"Yeah I know," Harper gets another strange look, "I have to do something. Alex won't talk to me and Justin…well…yeah."

"Mind if I help you?"

"You don't really need to – "She's interrupted by him taking the mop and proceeds to finish where she left off.

"Yeah but it beats doing it all by yourself."

Harper watches the younger Russo proceed to finish the moping. He does it a short amount of time, before watching her finish up the tables and stacks the chairs.

"Here," Max moves behind her, picking up a chair.

Her backside bumps into his chest, making her feel awkward. She would have started laughing if Max hadn't move away from her.

"Max?"

"Yeah?" the younger wizard looks up at her.

The heart inside her chest starts to pump a little faster. Okay, that was a weird reaction she was getting. It was especially weird since it Max that was making her heart do crazy things.

"Are you happy that Justin is back with Juliet?"

"Sure," he moves back over to take the bucket from her, "why wouldn't I? She makes him happy."

Harper bites down on her lip, "did…I never stood a chance of having a romantic relationship with Justin, did I?"

Max puts the bucket down, "No Harper you didn't."

"I figured," Harper sighs, "I just wanted to hear it from someone who wasn't Alex."

"I still don't see what you ever saw in him," Max grumbles, "he's such a prick to begin with. I mean, I love him because he's my brother and all but all he ever did was treating you like crap."

Harper's mouth hung open at the brown eye boy.

"And don't even get me started on Zeke! I mean, the guy was two screws short of a pencil."

The comment didn't make any sense but Harper ignored it due to the stare she was giving Max. Max shoves the bucket across the floor to the corner with his foot. He looks back up to Harper.

Harper finally gives him a good, long look.

Max had shot up for the past few years, for now he was just about as tall as Justin. His features were very boyish yet handsome. His brown eyes made a lot of girls at swoon at school. Her eyes drift downwards from his face to the rest of his body.

Her whole face was turning the same shade of red as her hair.

"Harper? Are you alright?" There was concern in the boy's voice, "your face is all red and stuff."

Max rushes up to her, putting a hand on her forehead.

"No, wait…what did Justin say to do?" Max puts his forehead on hers.

"M-max," Harper felt herself squeak at the closeness of Max to her.

"You don't have a fever, do you?" His brown eyes look down into her eyes. Harper gulps, shaking her head as best as she could. Usually she would start laughing in awkward situations. But this was more then just awkward.

"Hmm…" was all he mumbles, with his chin just near to her forehead.

She gulps again. Her mouth went dry. Her face was red. Her hands were sweating and now she was pretty much all but out of ideas on what to do in a particular situation such as this. Max's hands somehow manage to find themselves at her hips.

"Harper?"

"Hmm?" She finally has enough courage to look up in his face.

"Am I making you nervous?"

The look on his face wasn't innocent at all. It was actually making the whole situation inside her head a lot worse. He had a playful smirk playing across his handsome features. It just kicks in that Max was actually a lot better looking then Justin.

"No-no, you're not." Harper tries to escape only to have a pair of long arms wrap around her.

"Are you sure? Your face is still…" Max smiles, "red."

"Haha," was all she could laugh out.

"Justin was your first love, right?"

"Yes, he was."

"Zeke was second?"

"Yes."

"And what does that make me?" Max leans down, "third?"

"I…I don't know," she couldn't concentrate. Those eyes of his were making her feel all giggly and warm inside. It wasn't at all how she imagines to be stuck in the arms of a handsome guy, let alone a wizard.

"I should be," Max smirks, "third time is always the charm."

"M-max?" Her voice comes out in a gasp, as Max touches her cheek. Her chin is lifted to where he's staring deep into her eyes.

"I want to be the third time."

"Max…" Harper realizes what he was trying to tell her.

"I always wanted to be first, then second…but now I'm third." His voice had some resentment for the two before him.

"But you know what? It doesn't matter if I'm third. You know why that is?"

"No, why?"

"Because," Max leans forward, "I get keep the girl."

The kiss was soft, gentle. Harper hadn't realized that he had kissed her. The shock went through her body like static electricity. It flows over her face, through her body, and over her hair. It must be what magic felt like to a wizard.

"Harper," he whispers before she pulls him into a kiss.

Max opens his eyes, blinking at the red headed girl pulling on his neck for a deeper kiss.

He hadn't thought for her to be a passionate kisser. It threw him off on him trying to be romantic; hoping maybe he would get a date.

After kissing for a few minutes, Harper pulls away to see that Max was also blushing.

"Was I too much?"

"For a first kiss, I don't think so." He sounded breathless.

"I'm sorry. I sort of got carried away."

"It's fine," He looked dazed, yet a huge smile was on his face.

"Oh. My. Gawd."

Both Max and Harper turn to see Alex standing there with her mouth hanging open like a gaping fish. Justin stood just a little ways behind her looking just as equally shock. Juliet seemed to be the only one smiling.

"H-hey everybody, what's up?" Max smiles, throwing an arm around Harper's shoulders.

Neither Alex nor Justin spoke a word. Anything that came out of their mouths were incoherent words and noise. Juliet seem to be the one only out of all three to speak a complete sentence.

"Aw! That was so sweet, adorable, yet dorky at the same time."

"Thanks?" Max and Harper stare at each other before turning to Juliet.

"I'm happy for you both," the vampire smiles at them, absolutely giggling over the fact that Harper finally notice Max's affections towards her. It didn't take long for her to notice just how much Max gave Harper all the attention that Justin had not.

"Thank you Juliet," Harper couldn't help but let a huge grin be plaster on her face.

"We'll leave you two alone," Juliet giggles, leading Justin outside to which he could only mutter some endearment to her alone.

The newest couple turn their attention to Alex, who was still standing there with her mouth hanging open in shock.

"Alex?" Harper had the urge to poke her best friend.

"I'm…I'm…I'm…going to go to bed and pretend this was all a dream." Alex finally speaks, getting back up the stairs.

"She's…"

"…it's going to take a while for her to adjust."

Harper stares happily up at Max, "so does this make us official? I mean you haven't really ask the question so I was wondering if –"

"Harper, would you like to be my girlfriend?"

"Yes!"

"Wow, that was easier then I thought," Max gets a look from Harper, "what? I had Justin to compete with. And it is as bad as you think it is, because one day I'm going to have to battle him in the Wizard Competition and – "

"Max, third times the charm." She kisses him again.