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Chapter Text

Sirius honestly didn't know what he expected to see when he walked into Hadrian's room on the day they were supposed to leave for the Arctic Ministry. The mess he walked into certainly didn't surprise him though. Clothes and toys were strewn everywhere, books were stacked in messy piles near his chests appearing to have been hastily dumped there, and Hadrian himself was half inside a chest flinging all sorts of things that had been packed the night before all over his room in a mad quest to find something. If Sirius were to place a bet on whatever Hadrian was looking for it would probably be on what Kreacher was actively holding with an unimpressed look on his face.

Looking around at the mess, Sirius sighed when he saw Mammon unhelpfully sitting on Hadrian’s bed with a gleam in his eye. Ever the instigator.

“My little hatchling, what are you looking for?” He asked, stepping towards his son, startling him from his progress in digging through what appeared to be chest number three out of the five they were taking with them today.

“The Slytherin fountain pen Uncle Thomas gave to me for my eleventh birthday! I can't go to school without it! I promised Uncle Thomas I would use it to take notes with in class!” Hadrian looked close to tears, green scales growing more prominent on his face in distress.

“Would it perhaps be the golden pen that Kreacher is holding?” Sirius said as gently as he could so as to not provoke Hadrian into a temper tantrum right before they were supposed to leave. The green scales were never a good thing to see on his face unless he was actively shifting between forms.

Hadrian, however, whipped his head towards Kreacher, visibly brightening when he saw the aforementioned pen in his hands.

“You found it!” Hadrian scampered over to Kreacher, “Where did you find it? I must have missed it when I went through the chests.”

“It bes on little Masters desk.” Kreacher replied, handing his son the pen before moving to clean the mess so they could leave on time. Sirius watched in mild amusement as Hadrian froze before slowly turning to look at his familiar who was now looking very nervous from his position on the bed.

“You! You little shit! I am going to feed you to the first dragon we find when we get to the Arctic!” Hadrian's skin on his face went green again, scales starting to pop out spread down his arms, and Sirius honestly hoped that his son would go through with his threat, if only so that this wouldn't be as common an occurrence as it was. But alas, his son would be very sad if he did and Sirius would gladly put up with Mammon if it meant that his son was happy.

He was pretty sure a good majority of the gray hair he had started to notice recently was because of the snake and his antics. And hadn’t that been a horrific moment, Sirius had about cried when he saw the gray hairs as he was brushing his hair a few months ago.

“As much as that would speed up the time you take getting ready every day, I think you would be very sad if you actually went through with that.” Sirius responded, watching as his son comically deflated before scowling and hissing under his breath at the snake who was now slithering towards his travel cage.

“Now,” Sirius said as Kreacher finished putting together the last chest again, “let's go! We have an adventure to go on!”.

His son visibly brightened again before happily running off to the floo and Sirius levitated the now packed chests and sent them after him. Walking over to Mammon, Sirius leaned down and whispered, “You do that again and I promise you that the next molt you have will be painful, do you understand me?”. The snake nodded. “Good.”.

Whistling cheerfully, Sirius walked down the hall towards the floo, Mammon's travel cage floating behind him.

Lucius was really starting to curse Lady Fate's decision to send his son to Arcane as he looked around the visitors center. There were parents and children everywhere, a few kids that were running from their parents had already bumped into him, and Narcissa had by chance run into the Italian branch of the Black Family and now had roped everyone into a now hour long chat as they waited to get their bags checked and wands registered. It wasn't even noon and he already wanted to go back to bed.

“Ah Lucius, how nice it is to see you braving the chaos of a school rush.” Lucius’ almost got whiplash at the sound of an eerily familiar voice. The Dark Lord was standing behind him with a smirk on his face, Sirius not far behind him but apparently not paying attention to his surroundings as he was saying something to Hadrian.

“Yes, we've been here for an hour and it hardly feels like we've moved.” Lucius responded, hating that he was in public and had to speak to his lord this way. Speaking to him without using pleasantries and his proper title just felt wrong to Lucius no matter how many times he had now spoken to him in public since his lord had assumed his new public persona.

Sirius seemed to get his message across to Hadrian and looked up at that moment, meeting Lucius’s eye before smirking, obviously having scented fresh blood in the water. Or more accurately, Lucius’s discomfort.

“Lucius, lovely to see you here. I would have thought you would be out of security at this point” Sirius said, looking past him towards Narcissa and the other members of his family, smirk widening.

Lucius was about to respond only to be cut off by his wife who had obviously sensed Sirius’ eyes on her. “My Lord Black, it's lovely to see you! You remember Lepus and Gabriella” she said, gesturing towards the pair.

“Of course he does, he passed out drunk in my orchard after he graduated from Hogwarts.” Lepus said with an amused stare.

“Yes, well-” Sirius grimaced, “that wasn't the best situation.”

“It may not have been the best situation,” Gabriella interrupted with a smirk, “but I did get more ammunition against that bitch Walburga by the time you two passed out.”.

Narcissa smirked as she admired the new nail polish on her fingers and Lucius shivered, that meant she had either done something with that information or had something she was still holding onto to put to good use later on. Neither was a good thing and both Sirius and Lepus seemed to catch onto it as well based on their now deepening grimaces.

The Dark Lord just seemed to be more amused and Draco and Hadrian were now off in their own world. Some days, Lucius wondered what was going through his younger selves head when he thought marrying into the infamous Black Family would be wonderful and the only odd one of the family was Sirius. Now he knew better. They were all mad, just in different ways. He’d never say that to his darling Narcissa though, he valued his life too much. Plus his Slytherin self preservation wouldn't allow that to happen. Lucius shuddered thinking back to all the times his wifes insanity came out, it was never a pretty thing.

He must have spaced out for a bit thinking about it because by the time he tuned back into the conversation the Notts, Longbottom's, and Greengrass's had joined their group and they were significantly further up in line. Looking at Sirius, who gave him a sort of confused shrug, it seemed he wasn't the only one who had been reminiscing about the past. Frowning, Lucius noticed that Lady Greengrass wasn't a part of the group and he shifted where he was in line so he could speak to Sirius without it being blatant.

“As it appears that I wasn't the only one who missed quite a bit reminiscing about the past, would you perhaps know why Lady Greengrass isn't here?” Lucius hoped Sirius wasn't gone as long as he was, it was truly odd for a parent to be absent when sending their child off for their first year of school.

“I believe she is protesting Daphne’s placement here. I tuned in just as Narcissa finished asking so take my interpretation with a grain of salt, I was still pretty confused since I was suddenly not in the same place as I was when I tuned out of the conversation.” Sirius replied to him under his breath and Lucius nodded, that made sense. Narcissa had come back from one of her society group meetings a few weeks ago ranting about how she didn't get any new information because Lady Greengrass had spent the entire time expressing her disapproval about her daughter's school placement. Though, not showing up, even if they were not at platform 9 ¾ and surrounded by a bunch of reporters, was still a huge statement. It was basically telling your child that you don't support them on their upcoming journey and was a huge confidence dampener. Especially for a child that is going away for school in a different country.

One glance at Narcissa told Lucius all he needed to know about her thoughts on Lady Greengrass, none of them being good. In fact, he would bet if not for his wife's high standing in society, she would be one of the first people to send Lady Greengrass a howler. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on the person, there was more than one way to make it clear to someone that you disapproved of their actions. Lucius was sure that by the end of today a letter would already have reached Andromeda and Bellatrix about the situation and plans would already be in motion to shame Lady Greengrass.

And based on Daphne's poorly hidden crestfallen expression, Lucius was of the strong belief that Lady Greengrass deserved everything she had coming to her. Once his wife took someone under her wing she would protect that person from everything, even if it was their own family. So yes, Lucius had no pity for Ambrose Greengrass née Rosier.

Fortunately for everyone's mood, the line moved rather quickly after that. Or it seemed to move quickly for Lucius, he still didn't know how long he had spaced out for. A good thirty minutes later they were out of security and heading towards the legal department to get their children set up with school dual citizenship papers and a place to live while they attended school.

Looking back at the line they had just got out of, Lucius thought that maybe his little jaunt through memory lane wasn't a bad thing as the line to get through security now had at least five hundred more people in it than there were when they arrived earlier in the day. He grimaced again when he heard Draco excitedly start to talk about all the different options he had to choose from when picking a place to live. Today was going to be a very long day.

Chapter Text

Draco ran through his new house with glee, it was huge and he would have it all himself! It had taken ages to get here, first, his parents had the elves go through his chests three times to make sure they had it all. Then, when they had gotten here they had had to wait in line for what seemed like days! Though his friends showing up halfway through was nice. But, they didn't even get to spend actual quality time with each other because once they got out of what was apparently just the line for security everyone split up again to get in another line! And this one was worse! He had to answer all these serious legal questions and it felt like it took another day just to get through it all with how boring it all was.

Picking out his new house was fun though! He got to pick where he wanted to live and what type of house he wanted, though he was told he couldn't switch until he graduated but that was fine! His house was awesome! He was up in what was called the Hallelujah floating mountains, which, according to the guide, was a former mountain range that had risen from the earth when wix first settled here due to the sheer influx of magic they brought to the area. Well, that and the amount of magical creatures that came with them. He had briefly thought about living in the oceanic caverns but decided against it. He didn't want to get his wings wet and even though the biome had a lot of glowing crystals that illuminated the region he still wanted to see the sunshine when he got up in the morning.

The house he picked out was cool too and they had so many choices to pick from! It had taken him a bit of time but he had picked a traditional French style manor out from what he was presented with. The other options he could have picked were to either have his house be built into the inside of his floating island, a massive treehouse, or a smaller home that had an expanded interior. However, Malfoy’s deserved only the finest and so he had chosen the French manor as it was the most regal of the bunch. He couldn't be seen living in a cottage like a poor person, no matter how magical the inside was. He was a Malfoy, not a Weasley!

Though, Draco had heard from listening in on his parents gossiping a few years or so ago that there were some Weasleys that attended Arcane. It apparently had been big news in the social circles his mother was a part of and the main topic of the meetings after the initial report for months, especially with how Molly and Arthur Weasley had conducted themselves afterwards. Nevertheless, no matter how happy that news had made his parents, he would have to stay away from them. He couldn't be seen interacting with a Weasley, what would his father say! It wouldn't matter that he was in a different country, he would be grounded for at least a year if word ever got back to his father that he had talked to a Weasley.

With that last horrifying thought, Draco shook his head and skipped off, determined in his mission to find everything his new house had to offer before his mother dragged him back out into the public so they could go shopping.

Theo was happy with his choice of residence. The plains biome was rather bland in comparison to the numerous other biomes that made up the Arctic Ministry but Theo wouldn't have it any other way. It was rather peaceful and he had a feeling he would need a peaceful place to come home to once he got his inheritance.

Lord Time sure liked to make his chosen suffer that was for sure. According to the family archives, the last Nott that had been blessed by Lord Time lived about six hundred years ago and had gone insane by the time he reached his thirties due to the sheer amount of timelines he saw; he died a year after that by taking his own life. Theo’s stomach had sank the first time he read about it in his ancestor's son’s journal after the man's own journal had devolved into mad incoherent ramblings of death.

However, according to his ancestors' depressing writings before he lost his mind, Lord Time’s blessing gave his “children” glimpses into the different paths Lady Fate can take before she has determined on a certain thing. Though, it also seemed that Theo would not be privy to all of those paths as his ancestor appeared to only see a few out of the billions of available paths. His ancestor did not specify how many a “few” was but considering the age he went insane Theo would say he had to have seen a few hundred at least. Which did not bode well for his sanity in the future. Hence, the peaceful biome he chose to live in.

Call it what you will but Theo was rightfully determined to outlast his ancestor and he wasn't ashamed to seek preventative measures early. He had also told his friends and was pretty sure that they shared the information about Theo’s ancestors' unseemly demise to their parents because after that the adults watched him a lot more closely. He wasn't going to lie, it made him feel better that he had people in his life that cared enough to look after him. Neville also gave him a pretty looking plant that he said would reduce the amount of migraines he got due to his impending inheritance and Theo had put it next to his bedside table. He hadn't really noticed a difference in his migraines since he got the plant but it was the sentiment that counted so he let Neville believe that it helped.

He also had Hadrian and Luna to commiserate with since they were going through similar situations. Luna had Lady Fate hovering over her shoulder every waking hour of the day and plaguing her dreams at night while Hadrian had Lord Death constantly watching him from the shadows, occasionally whispering to him how the people around him might die. He honestly didn't know how the two were still standing when they had two gods whispering horrible things into their ears. He at least wouldn't have Lord Time’s focus on him all the time, there were other children of time to manage afterall.

“Theodore?” His grandfather's voice shook him from his musings, “Are you done up there? We should get some of your shopping done so you have a proper bed to sleep in before your next migraine hits.”.

“Yes Grandfather, I'm coming!.” Theo yelled down the stairwell, taking one last look at the plant Neville had gotten him with a smile before rushing down the stairs. He hoped they would make it through most of today's shopping list before his next migraine struck.

Hadrian looked around the biome his new home was in with a frown, “So was there a reason you made me pick…this?” He gestured to the dark forest that surrounded them.

“You’ll see, eventually.” Was all he got from the specter looming behind him.

“Was that a joke?” Hadrian sometimes wasn't sure when the god he was bound to was being vague on purpose or making an ill timed joke. They tended to go hand in hand so it was hard to tell.

“You don't like my jokes?”

“Not when they are at my expense and not when I can't tell if you are making a joke or are just vaguely responding to something I asked.” Hadrian responded with no small amount of irritation.

“Can they not be both?” Hadrian could sense the self satisfied smile in the gods' words and scowled, exhaling sharply.

He heard Death shift behind him, his staff thumping on the wooden porch of his new house. “I do not see what you are so angry about,” the tip of a boney beak appeared in his peripheral, “so do enlighten me.”.

“Well I would have liked a place that was a little less depressing.” Hadrian said, pursing his lips and not wanting to talk but knowing he had no choice. “And maybe to wake up to the sun shining and birds singing like I do at home. Not this…macabre forest of eternal darkness.”. He turned around to face the god, exasperation written plainly to see on his face.

“I don't even know what that thing is!?!” He gestured to an odd looking shadowy creature that was perched in a tree adjacent to his house to make a point.

“That's a nocturnal harpy.”.

Hadrian startled at that and looked in the direction of the creature with no small amount of trepidation, “Well what the hell is it doing here!?!” According to every creature book in existence, and Death himself, Harpies were not supposed to live outside the Mediterranean.

“Living here” Death responded, sounding amused.

“You know what I mean, they are not supposed to exist outside the Mediterranean, you told me that yourself, so what the hell is it doing here?!” Hadrian was not having it today. First, Mammon decides to pull a prank on him and then this?!

“And as I said before, it is living here. I am unsure of what you want me to tell you.” Oh, Hadrian knew full well that Death knew what he wanted, he just wasn't going to tell him. The arsehole.

Sensing that he wasn't going to get anything but vague answers he stomped inside, nearly running into his father in the process. “Hadrian! Is something wrong? You were yelling.” His dad asked.

“I wouldn't go exploring outside in your animagus form.” Hadrian said, too pissed off with Death at the moment to utter any reassurances.

“Umm…why?”

“There's a harpy perched in one of the trees outside and I honestly don't want to know what else is out there if a harpy can sustain itself in this demented biome.”.

“Ah,” His father looked into the gloomy darkness outside with a worried look on his face, “I see, well thank you for warning me.”. They stood in silence for a moment, his dad opening and closing his mouth a few times, struggling to get whatever he wanted to say out of his mouth.

“Should we be concerned about the fact that the teleportation pad is outside?” He finally said.

Hadrian glanced through a window towards the faintly glowing teleportation pad in the distance, “Probably.”. His father grimaced.

“What are we all worried about?” His uncle appeared in one of the doorways, coming from somewhere in the magically expanded cottage Hadrian had picked as his home for the next twelve years.

“There’s a harpy outside.”, “The teleportation pad is outside and we don't know what is out there with it.”, they both said at the same time.

A few emotions flickered across his uncle's face before returning to its normal impassiveness. “I see…I will add outdoor mage lights to the shopping list then. We don't want your friends to be eaten by any dangerous nocturnal creatures when they come to visit. Especially if Harpies can sustain themselves out there”. Hadrian grimaced before nodding his head.

Draco would be a prime target of the resident harpy population. Veelas and harpies did not get along, the two species were technically related but no one was stupid enough to say that out loud; Veelas viewed themselves above everyone else and regarded their wild cousins as uncultured, and no one approached harpies due to their mindset of attack first and ask questions later. Plus, they were just as intelligent as veelas but unlike their veela counterparts they did not like to associate with other species. His new house would also end up on fire and he didn't want that.

“Have you found every hidden nook and cranny yet?” His father asked his uncle in a saccharine tone of voice, hands on his hips and a smug expression on his face. For whatever reason his father found this funny, Hadrian couldn't tell why.

“Yes, I have.” His uncle scowled back at him, “I also took the time to add a few hidden passageways that Hadrian can use to hide in should Dumbledore or any of his followers find out about him and try to come here and kidnap him.”

“...Good idea.” His father replied, letting his hands drop to his sides, happy mood obviously crushed.

His father had told him how he came to be blessed by the gods the moment he was old enough to understand. Though, Hadrian really wouldn’t call Lord Death's presence a blessing. More of a curse in disguise if he had to be honest with himself.

The specter behind him loomed closer in a silent warning. He ignored it.

“-wouldn’t that tangle the current ward bindings?” His father was saying, the conversation having moved on. His uncle opened his mouth to reply with a frown on his face.

“Hey! Can we go shopping now?” He interrupted, his father and uncle could go on forever about magic and its many unique applications, “I don’t know about you but I would like to sleep with at least a blanket and I’m sure you would like to sleep on a bed rather than the floor.”. He had peered into one of the guest bedrooms earlier on a quick walk through to check if there was any other furniture in the house besides his bed and had found nothing.

The two startled, obviously having forgotten that he was there before looking around at his rather furnitureless house. “Yes, that's probably a good idea.” His uncle said with a grimace, whether it was due to his father perking up at the word “shopping” or the general appearance of his house Hadrian couldn’t tell.

“Oh! Let’s go! Let’s go!” His father said with excitement, shooing them with his hands towards the direction of the front door. “Hadrian, grab a jacket incase we have to go to a shopping district in one of the snowy biomes. And Tomas, quit pouting, shopping is fun.” The scowl had now depended on his uncle's face, red eyes practically glowing in anger, and Hadrian scampered off to find a coat in one of his trunks before his uncle could let loose a curse.

With a backwards grab at the directory pamphlet he had set on the mantle, Sirius had the two people he had arrived with out of the deceivingly small cabin and onto the teleport pad that was glowing with an almost ethereal light. One person very happily smiling with a coat hung over his left arm and the other fuming in anger with his arms crossed. How someone who prided themselves on their appearance both physically and politically could hate shopping so much was beyond him.

Daphne mindlessly picked up a price tag that was resting on an ornate looking bedside table. Her father was elsewhere in the furniture store most likely fluttering about as he looked for just the right piece to complement her new home. She was just glad he was leaving her alone for the time being; he was starting to hover.

Her mother could be a real bitch when she wanted to. Especially when she wasn’t getting her way. Even so, she had thought that her mother had enough sense to at least show up to see her off to school. Instead, her mother had decided to make the worst statement she possibly could have by staying in Britain. Her family's name would be in the gossip circles for months until some drama goes down at Hogwarts that's a large enough of a scandal to cause everyone to forget about how Ambrose Greengrass nee Rosier absconded tradition and failed to show up in support to see her eldest daughter, heir to the Greengrass family, leave for school.

She hoped the humiliation her dearest mother had just put upon their house would show her the error in her ways. Though considering she had heard Narcissa snark under her breath one day that her mother was, “Walburga 2.0 but lacking the bite to back up her bark”, or something along those lines, she doubted her mother would be too fazed by the whispers that would follow her for the next few months. Or again, however long it took for Hogwarts to have a bigger scandal than this in the eyes of high society.

But it also meant that her father was now hovering over her, afraid that any small inconvenience would trigger Daphne into a full on meltdown because her mother hadn't given her any love or support before her journey to a new country. Even if both of them knew that the love and support would have been fake anyway. Her mother only cared about herself and her family's appearance in society. In fact, for the past two years her mother had been telling Daphne that when she got into Hogwarts she was to be sorted into Slytherin House, like Daphne had any control of the sorting ceremony proceedings, and that her duty to House Greengrass while she was there was to look for an upstanding pureblood boy to one day marry so that their house would finally have male heirs.

In her mothers eyes, Daphne's biggest mistake was not being born a boy and she had no problem reminding her of that through thinly veiled comments each and everyday. Again, something of which she had no control over.

Her father normally lectured her mother anytime he was around and heard her speaking to Daphne like that but, unfortunately, he wasn't always around and she and her little sister were left primarily in their mothers care. So, anytime she put one foot out of line the lecture would begin again. Needless to say, when her letter from Arcane came midsummer her mother was furious and Daphne couldn't have been more happy.

Yes she was leaving her little sister in the direct line of her mothers ire but she honestly could not care at this point. Besides, her mother and Astoria actually kind of got along with each other because her sister liked all the girly stuff Daphne hated and as such that made her more favorable in her mothers eyes. So yes, she wasn't worried nor was she sorry about leaving.

“Do you like that one my dear?” Her father had returned.

“It's alright, the mahogany at least matches my bed frame.” She had decided to live in one of the castles that resided in jagged peaks mountain biome so they had quite a bit of furniture to buy to make the big empty place look comfortable enough to live in.

“It looks a little too flowery for you dear.” This is why she loved her father, even though he could be a bit of a smother at times. He never criticized her likes and dislikes, even going so far as to get her two hissing cockroaches for her ninth birthday after she had started her bug collection a few years prior, she named them Edith and Earl and they were some of her prized pets. He had even had the elves bring her entire collection of insects with her to Arcane so she could keep her collection going while she was here. It was nice.

“It's not really me is it?”

“No, not really.” Her father replied, “However, I did find one with some carved animal skulls on it that is further into the store if you want to take a look at that one? It's not mahogany but we can always ask if they can make one in mahogany.”

“Sure, let's go look. Maybe we can find some cool side tables that have different insects painted on them for the sitting rooms.”

“Oh! I can have some of your great aunt's gold embellished furniture pulled from the family vault; it's mahogany and has gold leaves painted on it. The set will match if we pick right, plus it's not like your mother will miss any of it, she was the one that demanded they be removed when she redecorated after we got married.” Her father said, staring off into the store with a light scowl on his face.

“I'd like that,” they would have to choose wisely indeed, “great aunt Theresa’s set is the one in the southwest corner of the vault right? Next to great great grandmother Florence's wardrobe?” Daphne’s guess was right apparently because her fathers face lit up like a fireplace being ignited.

“Yes! That's correct! Good eye my dear, it's a shame they don't have Quidditch here, you would be a shoo in for seeker!” Her father then started off in the direction of the bedside table he had seen, every so often checking behind him to make sure she was following with a fond smile.

“Neville! Leave the plants where they are! We have an entire afternoon of shopping still to do!” His grandmother said from the doorway to his new greenhouse, “They will still be there when we come back, it's not like any of them are going to sprout legs and run off.”. Neville turned to his grandmother with an eyebrow raised at that statement to which she amended.

“Well the mandrake might but it would be stupid to do so. Besides, the elves will watch over them and will make sure they all have what they need to live. We will only be gone for a few hours.”.

“But grandmother! I can't possibly get everything done tonight!” Neville said, wanting more than anything to get all his plants situated and comfortable. “Plus they can't stay in these tight transportation pots for long, they'll get uncomfortable!”.

“I'll be uncomfortable if I have to sleep on anything other than a bed!” His grandmother retorted with a huff, “ have you seen the rest of the house? It's empty Neville! Empty! I will not allow my only grandson and heir to live with just plants and a lone bed in his bedroom. No matter if you think that's all you need.”.

Neville sighed and restrained from rolling his eyes, “Fine, I'll go shopping with you.”.

“Good, now go wash your hands and put your shoes back on, and hurry! There's probably a hundred plus kids out there shopping for furniture with their parents, and who knows how much stock the stores have in storage here. For all you know, you will want something that's on display only for it to be on backorder.”. Neville sighed again as he heard his grandmother grumble under her breath, “And for the gods sake, when I come back to visit my room better not be overrun by plants, I swear!”.

Neville turned and took one last look at his precious plants before scampering off when he saw his grandmother glaring at him. Why couldn't she understand that his plants needed his attention! So what if he spent all day taking care of them and making sure they were comfortable, his plants deserved the best! If he got less sleep than usual then so be it, the elves would just carry him to his bed anyway. But no! He had to go shopping and deal with the public, the two things he hated the most.

On the bright side though, none of Britain's reporters would be here so it's not like he would be accosted while out in public like in Diagon Alley. For some reason, the reporters all thought he was friends with the supposed Boy-Who-Lived Charles Potter just because their parents both fought on the same side of the war together. He had taken to only going out now with some of his friends and their parents because the reporters tended to stay away from them. Especially if Hadrian or Draco’s parents were with them, no one wanted to deal with a pissed off Black. According to his grandmother, they tended to get curse happy when that happened.

“Ah, good, are you ready to go?” His grandmother was already waiting for him in the receiving room.

“Yes grandmother,” he responded.

“Good, now hold my hand and let's get a move on!”. His grandmother said.

“What shopping center are we heading to?” Neville asked as he got on the big crystal platform that teleported them places. He wasn't sure he'd ever understand how they worked.

“The furniture district dear, they have clustered the majority of the shops together in certain areas depending on what they sell. Of course, there will always be areas where you will find everything but I think those are more designed for people that have been here awhile and only need to grab a thing or two.” His grandmother explained before calling out, “Furniture district!” and in a beam of bright but not blinding light they were off.

Arriving in the shopping district Neville was greeted with a scene taken straight from his nightmares. People were everywhere, kids were running from shop to shop, parents running after them, and what seemed to be a constant stream of people were coming from all different biomes.

“See, what did I tell you? We’ll be lucky if they have anything left in stock at this rate.” His grandmother very unhelpfully said, before gripping his hand tighter as if reading Neville’s innermost thoughts of fleeing and pulled him forward into the throng of people.

Neville wasn't quite sure he'd ever had to elbow that many people out of his way just to keep up with his grandmother, who seemed quite determined to get through shopping in a timely manner. If that was even possible with the amount of people here. Stumbling up the steps of a store, he didn't get the chance to read the sign, Neville was sure that his shoulder would be dislocated by the time they got back to his new place. Hearing the jingle of a bell and finally landing on solid ground he wrenched his hand free, rubbing his shoulder and sending a glare his grandmother's way before looking around.

Of course, a bedroom furniture store. Figures she would prioritize getting a bed for the guest bedroom first, it's not like she couldn't just ask the elves to send one over for the night.

“Neville?” He heard from somewhere off to his side.

“Draco?” He said when he finally spotted a familiar shade of hair.

“Oh thank the gods you're here! I've been stuck here for ages, mother wont make up her mind and we haven't even started to look for anything else.” Draco hurried over to him, his voice sounding near hysterical.

“Well at least your parents have been looking for a while. My grandmother and I just got here and who knows how long it will take for her to find a style she likes. I’m just happy I don't have to pick myself, I wouldn't know what to choose.” He looked around the store with disdain, “This is why I owl order everything, it's less hassle and I'm less indecisive that way.” Neville said, giving his friend a pat on the shoulder.

“True, owl ordering is so much easier. Plus if you don't like it you can just send it back, easy as that.” Draco conceded with a nod before pointing in a direction off to the side, “There's a bench over there that a few other kids were sitting on a few minutes ago, do you want to go wait over there until the adults are done?”.

“Sure.” And with that they walked over to the bench and sat down, each of them taking a bet as to how long they would be stuck in the store for. He did eventually ask Draco which biome he ended up choosing to live in after his friend stopped ranting about how many people were here and he wasn't really surprised. The floating mountains would suit Draco well. Draco also did not appear surprised by his choice of the Dark Forest, though he did have to specify that it wasn't the eclipsed version and that he could in fact see the sunshine.

In the end, however, they both were wrong. Draco had bet twenty minutes and Neville himself had bet thirty, they should have known better, as it ended up being another hour and a half. Neville was nearly asleep on the bench by the time his grandmother came over and wacked his knee so they could get going.

“Good afternoon, heir Malfoy.” His grandmother greeted before turning to Neville, “I found a bed set that should suit me and any other guests you have over. I have also already had the elves take it to your new house, now, let's get a move on. We still have the rest of the house to do.”.

Saying goodbye to Draco for the time being, Neville followed his grandmother and resigned himself to an afternoon of being dragged around by his arm from store to store. He made the mental note to ice his arm when they finally were able to go back to the house. He wouldn't be able to give his precious plants the attention they deserved otherwise.

Chapter Text

“-ou’ll carry this book from this day forward and should someone go off track.” Death said, lifting a black colored journal from the side table next to the chair the god was sitting in. Hadrian was asleep at the moment and being who he was meant that every night he was stuck chatting with Lord Death in his mind. He didn't think he had ever actually had a dream, the closest thing he could think of was when Death would show him some event in the past that was pertinent to his studies.

“Will this appear with me once I wake up?” Hadrian asked. There were things he had in this sort of dream limbo that he didn't have when he was awake.

“Yes.” Interesting, Death had never actually given him something that he would have with him when he was awake. Well, unless you counted the creature inheritance but something told him that was more of a joint gift from Death and Lady Magic.

“Now, there are several other things we could go over but it would seem you are about to be pounced on.”. Hadrian frowned at that, “What do y-”

A sudden impact of paws on his stomach jolted Hadrian awake and he now understood what Death had meant. Cracking an eye open he saw his father in animagus form wagging his tail happily, not a care in the world that his front paws were now digging into Hadrian's intestines.

“Okay I’m up! I'm up! Get off, your paws are digging into me.” His father got off the bed and shifted back.

“Good morning Hadrian!” His father said with glee, as if he hadn't just rudely awoken him. Hadrian briefly scowled before looking around his room in confusion, “We’re in the Arctic.” His father said, giving Hadrian’s mind the jolt it needed to remember that they were not at home in Britain anymore. It must have shown on his face because his father snorted in laughter at him before heading out of his room.

“Oh! Your school schedule has arrived and Kreacher has breakfast ready!” He called from down the hallway and Hadrian scrambled out of bed. Hurriedly getting dressed he dashed down the hallway and practically vaulted into his chair at the dining table.

His father snickered at his excitement while his uncle simply raised an eyebrow. “Your pants are on backwards.” His uncle said in greeting, making Hadrian flush in embarrassment and his father break out into full bodied laughter, before going back to the article he was reading in the paper. Clearing his throat, Hadrian mumbled a “thanks” before fixing his pants and properly righting himself in the chair he was sitting in.

Sirius chuckled a few more times, amusedly watching as his son was now quietly shoveling food in his face and trying not to draw more attention to himself so as to not get embarrassed again. Taking a few more sips of his tea, Sirius looked back down at the newspaper and frowned. Dumbledore was trying to rouse more public support for an amendment to the werewolf registration law he had gotten passed a few months ago. Unfortunately, Dumbledore had gotten more than a few Dark votes in that session and it had been enough to pass the law. Voldemort had not been pleased with that and according to Lucius he had made that very known to those that voted in support. Hopefully this time Dumbledore wouldn't get enough support to pass his new amendment.

Hearing the scraping of a utensil on a plate Sirius looked back over to Hadrian and saw he had finished breakfast and so Sirius passed him the letter, watching with a smile as his son lit up with excitement as he read the letter.

“How does your schedule look?” He asked and out of the corner of his eye he saw the Dark Lord snap his attention onto the letter Hadrian held in his hands.

“It looks so cool! This place is awesome!!!” Hadrian was practically vibrating in his seat in excitement.

“Can I see what you are so excited about then?” Sirius asked and laughed as the letter was shoved in his face. Taking the letter from the shaking hand of his extremely excited son, Sirius quickly skimmed the letter and then grumbled to himself; Why did his son get to go here? Why didn't he get to go here when he was a kid? This place was like every kid's fever dream!

Dear Lord Hadrian Eridanus Peverell-Black, Honored Master of Death,

Once again we welcome you to Arcane and hope you are ready for an exciting first year with us come September 2nd! Below is your schedule for the upcoming two semesters and a list of the classes you will be taking over the course of the year, including the summer semester. Since the summer semester is a short one you will be sent your schedule for the summer semester on the night of your last day of summer break, portkeys will be sent out the day before and will be set to go off that morning. Once again, we are thrilled you have chosen to attend Arcane and look forward to seeing you on September 2nd.

Best Wishes,
Deputy Head Alicent Hoffman
Deputy Head Liam Murphy
Headmistress Inkeri Johannessen

First Year Class List

Fall, Spring, & Summer Classes:
Light Magic with Professor Bryce Farren
Dark Magic with Professor Roslyn Hollis
History of Magic with Professor Valian Brakker
Magical Religion with Professor Devran Barrin
Charms with Professor Theodore Blanchett
Potions with Professor Belon Draganov
Herbology with Professor Stephan Noble
Etiquette with Professor Natalia Selwyn (Summer)
Dragon Training with Professor Aerys Taritheos (Ends Summer Semester)
Mind Magic with Professor Naelana Arennis
Astronomy with Professor Lail Rahim (Night class)
Flight with Professor Marilla Mavra (Ends Spring Semester)
Time Management with Professor Sigmund Abbott (First two weeks of Fall Semester)

Fall & Spring Schedule:

Monday: Time Management (9am- 9:45am), Light Magic (10am - 11:45am), Lunch (12:00pm - 12:45pm), Dark Magic (1:00pm - 2:45pm), Flight (3:00pm-3:45pm), History of Magic (4:00pm-4:45pm)
Tuesday: Magical Religion (9:00am-9:45am), Charms (10:00am-11:45am), Lunch (12:00pm - 12:45pm), Potions (1:00pm - 2:45pm), Herbology (3:00pm - 3:45pm), Dragon Training (4:00pm-4:45pm)
Wednesday: Time Management (9am- 9:45am), Light Magic (10am - 11:45am), Lunch (12:00pm - 12:45pm), Dark Magic (1:00pm - 2:45pm), Flight (3:00pm-3:45pm), History of Magic (4:00pm-4:45pm)
Thursday: Magical Religion (9:00am-9:45am), Charms (10:00am-11:45am), Lunch (12:00pm - 12:45pm), Potions (1:00pm - 2:45pm), Herbology (3:00pm - 3:45pm), Dragon Training (4:00pm-4:45pm)
Friday: Time Management (9am- 9:45am), Light Magic (10am - 11:45am), Lunch (12:00pm - 12:45pm), Dark Magic (1:00pm - 2:45pm), Flight (3:00pm-3:45pm), History of Magic (4:00pm-4:45pm)
Saturday: Mind Magic (10:00am - 11:45am), Lunch (12:00pm-12:45pm), Flight (1:00pm-2:45pm), Dragon Training (3:00pm-3:45pm), Astronomy (9:00pm-10:45pm)

“Alright, go call your friends. We have quite a bit of school shopping to do today.” Sirius grumbled before passing the letter to Voldemort.

“Really? Saturday?!” Sirius heard the Dark Lord mumble under his breath and mentally agreed with him. When would Hadrian have time for pranks?!

Hadrian was bouncing where he stood by the front door anxiously waiting for his father and uncle to get ready to go meet up with the others so they could go school shopping. “Hurry up! We're going to be late!”.

“We're not going to be late.” His uncle said, rounding the corner, “If anyone is going to be late then it will be the Malfoy’s.”. Hadrian heard his father chuckle at that from further in the house, “With how Lucius is over Draco’s appearance and comfort level then you can always count on them being late. No matter what Narcissa threatens.”. His father mumbled some other things but all Hadrian could make out was a quiet “mother hen” before it became unintelligible again.

“Alright, I’ve got the shopping list. Let’s go!” His father finally said, and Hadrian ran off to the teleport pad. He heard his father snort in laughter again before joining him and calling out, “School Supplies District!”.

Augusta looked over from where she, Lord Nott, and Lord Greengrass were waiting to see the teleport pad for the eclipsed forest go off. “Well it would seem they did get ready faster than the Malfoy’s.” Gerald said, voice practically dripping with amusement.

“I assume you'll be telling Rodolphus of Lucius’s mother henning?” Thaddeus asked.

“Of course! Who do you take me as, it would be beneath me if I kept it to myself.” Gerald replied, sounding both scandalized that Thaddeus had to even ask and smug that he now had more ammunition against Lucius.

“Hello everyone,” Sirius said as he approached the group before noticing Gerald's satisfied face, “you look pleased.”. If possible, Gerald’s face became even more smug at that.

“You beat the Malfoy’s here and Gerald now gets to tell Rodolphus about Lucius’s tardiness.” Augusta said, explaining the situation.

“You were going to tell Rodolphus without me?!” Sirius said to Gerald, sounding hurt. Gerald deflated somewhat, before conceding, “We’ll tell him together and maximize Lucius’ suffering at the next gossip meeting we are invited to.”. Sirius perked back up at that before slightly jumping as the teleport pad for the floating islands went off; the two schemers schooled their faces into neutrality as the Malfoy’s stepped off the pad, Narcissa visibly irritated with Lucius already.

“Hello everyone, apologies that we are late. Someone took forever to get ready today.” Narcissa said with a sharp glare towards Lucius who backed up some at his wife's anger. Sirius pushed his amusement behind his occlumency walls before he became a victim of his cousin's ire, out of the corner of his eye he could see Gerald's face become blanker as he did the same.

“Oh it's no trouble Narcissa,” Augusta said, “we weren't waiting for long, Sirius, Tomas, and Hadrian arrived a few minutes ago.”.

“Ah, lovely.” Narcissa replied, shoulders loosening some. Looking over at the children and seeing they were preoccupied chatting about their new houses, Narcissa turned back to the adults. “Well shall we get the longest part of this trip over with now or shall we save it for last and get all their supplies first?”.

“We should probably get their uniforms done first and then do wings.” The Dark Lord said, staring at the gigantic mass of people walking from store to store.

“Yes, I agree.” Thaddeus replied.

Narcissa nodded and then turned back to the children, “Alright children, we are going to go get you all fitted for your uniforms and then we are going to the wing store. After that we are going to get the rest of your school supplies, does that sound okay?”.

“Mother, I already have wings.” Her son said with his usual snootiness, “Do I have to go into the wings store if I already have wings?” Narcissa made a mental note to send the etiquette teacher a letter about Draco’s attitude and overall imperiousness, with an add on about his tendency to forget to support his friends. “Yes dear, you still have to be there. We can't have you running off to another store, we don't know how long it will take.”. She said with a pointed stare, hoping he got the message that he couldn't run off and go do whatever he wanted.

It seemed so as he mutinously glared at her before ducking his head when Lucius frowned at him. “Any other objections?”, the rest of the kids shook their heads no, “good, then let's go!”. And with that they were off to the uniform store the Dark Lord had picked out the day before on his walk through of the shopping district so that they could get done with today’s shopping with relative ease. Though she expected one of the kids to either want to go into the saddle store to look at all the different saddles they could pick out for their future dragon companions or the pet store to find a pet or familiar.

Fortunately the uniforms didn't take long, the store was magically expanded on the inside and it seemed the attendants worked fast as they didn't have to wait long to get fitted. Honestly, Narcissa thought, Madame Malkin's could take a pointer or two from this place. She did have to intervene when the attendant that was assisting her son asked what color he’d like his other winter cloak to be in so they wouldn't be stuck in the shop for the rest of the day as Draco mulled over color swatches. She told the attendant to make it in light winter blue with silver accents and ignored Draco’s furious glare as she did so. They were already getting all of his clothes in that damn spider silk he insisted on dressing in so he had no right to complain, she was not going to let him spend more money than his clothes were already going to cost.

Sometimes she wished she could trade children with Augusta for a week just so that Draco would learn to keep his mouth shut. Neville never argued back and while that was partly due to Augusta’s parenting style it was also due to his general sweet personality. She wouldn't mind having a gardening buddy for a week.

Walking over to the wing store with the others, she silently silenced Draco with a quick flick of her wrist so that his complaints didn't destroy the others' excitement. She made eye contact with Lucius as she did so so that he knew not to undo her spell work. She also saw Lucius saddle up beside Draco just to make sure he didn't bolt to another store while they were waiting for the others.

The shop owner was interesting but not as kooky as Olivander was. The moment they entered the store her eyes zeroed in on Hadrian and Theodore and after she greeted everyone she ushered the two of them off to platforms and let her attendants deal with Daphne and Neville. Apparently Octavia, as she was called, had some connection to Lady Magic as she knew exactly who Hadrian was and what was awaiting Theodore in the future because she addressed Hadrian as Deaths chosen and Theo as Time’s child.

Draco was slowly trying to inch his way off the chair he was sitting in and she sent a sticking charm his way. “You are going to sit here and support your friends, do you understand me?” She furiously whispered. Draco shrunk back into the chair he was sitting in and rapidly nodded. Nodding to herself, she got comfortable in the chair she was sitting in and watched with a smile on her face as the others were getting cloaks fitted to their person.

Daphne got hers done first and wobbled a bit in pain as they took their form. Her wings seemed to be a type of magpie and Narcissa watched in fascination as she moved them back and forth, the black parts of her wings glistening a bluey-green. Walking with them proved to be more of a challenge as they practically dwarfed her in size and Daphne ended up holding on to her fathers hand as she walked to the front to wait for the others.

She saw Draco lightly bob his head up and down as he admired Daphne's wings and withheld her laughter. She did lightly chuckle under her breath however when she saw Lucius pinch the bridge of his nose at Draco’s actions.

Theodore was done next and barely had a reaction to his wings forming, Narcissa attributed it to the fact that his migraines often caused him more pain than that did. He seemed to have gotten hawk wings, though what kind Narcissa wasn't sure, and she watched in amusement as he struggled to properly fold them behind his back. Eventually he did get it and then very slowly walked over to where Draco and Daphne were while Thaddeus was being helped by an assistant at the front desk to pay for the wings.

Neville was led over the mirror on the back wall next, and it took a few minutes for the poor boy to pull his wings forth but the form they took shocked everyone in the shop. Well, mostly everyone, Augusta didn't look surprised and neither did the attendant that was helping Neville. For little meek Neville had received a gift, huge earthy brown colored dark fae wings unveiled themselves. Poor Neville was so shocked he started to tip backwards only to be caught by the attendant, who was careful enough to not damage any feathers as they straightened Neville back up. Eventually the assistant got him to fold the wings and Neville, with the help of his grandmother, walked over to his friends. All of them immediately talked about how cool it was that Neville's wings had horns, though, to Narcissa it looked more like a big claw that came out of the top of each of his wings.

Hadrian took a little while longer, Octavia having to do some more intricate designs in silver on what looked to be more of a poncho than a cloak, before she led him over to the mirror that took up the back wall of the store. Hadrian for his part got his cloak to shift into his wings fairly quickly, no doubt due to some of Lord Death’s teachings, and everyone watched as black crow wings formed. Narcissa discreetly snorted in laughter as she saw her cousin fish some galleons out of his pocket and hand them to the Dark Lord; she wondered what Sirius thought Hadrian wings would have been. Crows' wings made sense for Hadrian as crow’s could sometimes symbolize death as they were scavengers, plus she heard from Sirius that Lord Death had a bird skull for a head so it made sense that Lady Magic would choose this type of wing for Hadrian.

Standing, she unstuck and unsilenced Draco who briefly looked at her in caution before immediately bombarding his friends with compliments and promises to help them take care of their wings. Letting the children excitedly chat for a bit as Sirius paid and collected the wing care supplies that Hadrian would need going forward, Narcissa turned to the other adults and together they decided which store they would be going to next.

They let the children chat for a few more minutes before ushering them all out of the store and back into the crowds to head to the bookstore. The bookstore took awhile, her son taking great pleasure in flying up to the other levels and showing off his wings to his friends. Eventually they coaxed him down, although they did have to get him a higher level potions book he found while he was flying around.

The potions store was next and Draco took a good long while looking at all the potions ingredients. Narcissa had a bet with Sirius on how long it would take her son to get a lab all to himself that he could experiment in. She had bet that it would be before Yule break and Sirius had bet that he would get a lab sometime during the summer semester. Fortunately, everyone else didn't take long and it took little prompting to get Draco going again.

The astronomy store was next and was quickly done with. The armory store was next and Thaddeus had to drag Theodore out of the store before he stole one of the axes that lined one of the walls. For some reason the school required the first year students to have a learners bow even though they didn't start working with weapons until their third year. Or that was what Narcissa remembered from the information packet that they got when they signed Draco up, she'd have to look again when they got home.

After that, as a reward for being good and not stealing anything, they took the children to get something to eat at one of the restaurants they had wanted to go to earlier in the day. It was surprisingly good and Narcissa was a little sad that she wouldn't be able to dine there very often.

Once everyone was full and the children had started to fidget in their boredom they decided to give the children the option of where to go next, the pet store or the saddle store where they could look at dragon saddles and weapons mounts. The children voted for the pet store.

The children practically ran over to the pet store while the parents followed at a more leisurely pace, listening fondly as the kids chattered about animals and owls as their wings fluttered every once and a while in excitement. Walking around the pet store, Narcissa found Draco looking at the owls with a concentrated look on his face.

“Looking for a specific owl my dear?” She asked.

“Kind of?” Draco answered, “I want to have an owl to send letters with but I was hoping I would feel a connection to one of them.”.

“Oh my dear,” she sighed, “You’ll find your familiar one day, it doesn't have to be today. Just be patient, they will come to you when they are ready.”. At Draco’s crestfallen face she continued, “How about we look at the eagle owls? Porthos has always enjoyed your attention.” Lucius’s Eagle Owl always perked up when he saw Draco, whether that was due to him knowing he was about to get pets or Draco’s inheritance she didn't know.

The moment they got to the eagle owl area, however, a pretty looking Eurasian eagle owl swiveled its head to look at them before launching off the stand it was on and flying to Draco’s outstretched arm. “Well my dear,” She began with a smile, “I believe your familiar has found you!”.

“What should I name him?” Draco asked, hesitantly looking up at her.

“Whatever you want to name him. Though remember, he has to approve of the name as well.” She replied and watched with a proud smile as Draco started to list off names to his new owl. Eventually, the owl approved of the name Apollo and Narcissa walked alongside her son and the newly dubbed Apollo to go find Lucius and tell him the good news.

Across the store, Daphne and Theo were looking in the cat area. “Are you sure we are in the right section?” Daphne asked.

“Yes,” Theo replied, “I have a hunch and you know my hunches are rarely wrong.” And Daphne nodded at that, it was true. Theo had a tendency to be right when he had a hunch, the only issue was that his hunches were vague at best and misleading at worst.

“Well what about this one?” She picked up a surprisingly docile tiger cub.

“No,” Theo said, staring at his friend warily. He had a feeling the reason she kept picking out big cat species was that she wanted to send one after her mother when they all returned to Britain. Fortunately, for what sanity he had remaining, his hunch was telling him that big cats were not the way to go. “Big cats are not the direction we should be heading in.” At her disappointed face he asked, “Is the reason you keep picking out dangerous predators because you want to send one after your mother when you go back to Britain?”.

“Yes.” Well at least she was honest with him.

They headed towards the more reasonably sized cats after that and after picking out a few they moved on to the house cat area. Daphne was predictably disappointed. “Theo,” She began and Theo grimaced at her tone, “why are we in the house cat area?”.

“Because this is where my hunch is leading me.” Theo replied before quickly adding, “And don't complain, you can still send a house cat after your mother. Maybe you can train it to rip her clothes up and chew on her shoes.”.

He watched as she contemplated his words, no doubt imagining the amount of anger her mother would be in if she did train her familiar to go after her expensive shoes and clothes. “Alright, that sounds good.” She said before stepping into the cat enclosure and wandering off. Theo went in the opposite direction, knowing he couldn't help her anymore as she now had to wait until her familiar noticed her and came to her. It ended up taking thirty minutes before Theo found a black cat that was staring at him from a cat tree. Raising a hand to the cat Theo held still as the cat stood before jumping off the cat tree and on to his shoulder. He smiled and scratched the cat by its ears as it started to purr.

“Why hello there,” He said, “You must be my familiar.” And it was as Theo could not feel the alluring pull of a hunch anymore.

“What name would you like?” He asked, getting the cat to focus on his face.

“What about midnight?” The cat hissed. “Nox?” It hissed again. “Eclipse?” Another hiss. And so it went for about five minutes before the cat finally approved of the name Lucky. “Well then Lucky, let's go see if we can find one of my friends and see if she’s found a companion of her own.”.

He didn't have to search for long before he spotted Daphne cooing over a short white cat that was currently purring at her feet. “I see you found a friend.” Theo said in greeting. “I see you found one of your own.” Daphne replied before lifting the cat up, “This is Riceball.”.

“Riceball?”

The cat hissed at him. “Yes, Riceball. It's a perfectly acceptable name.” She said before eyeing Lucky who was still lounging on his shoulders. “What is your cat's name?”.

“Lucky.” She hummed in response and Theo got the feeling he was being judged. “What, it's a good name!” She hummed again and smirked at him before saying, “Sure it is.”, and sauntered off. Theo stood there for a bit, frowning at the space his friend used to occupy before walking off to find his grandfather. He had a cat to pay for after all.

Hadrian was aimlessly wandering around the store with Neville, not really looking at the pets as both of them already had familiars of their own. Neville had gotten a toad for his eleventh birthday and it ended up being his familiar. He had named it Trevor.

“Should we look at the owls?” Neville asked, “We both still need message carriers.”.

“Sure.” Hadrian said in response. To be honest, he had just been planning to use Kreacher as his personal messenger.

“You were planning on using Kreacher, weren't you?” Neville asked with a knowing tone and a grin. “Maybe.” He responded with a sly smile.

Neville huffed a laugh before hooking his arm around his own and dragging him off to the owl area. They looked for awhile before Neville ultimately settled on a handsome looking white-throated screech-owl he named Mustard. “Mustard and Trevor?” Hadrian asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Oh shut up! It’s not like you're any better! You named your familiar Mammon, who need I remind you is one of the seven princes of hell in the muggle bible.” Neville retorted.

“Well you have to admit, he is very greedy.” Hadrian grumbled before stalking off around the corner to get away from Neville's laughter. He didn't get far before his head was accosted by a massive pair of gray talons. Gently lifting the bird that had landed on him off his head he saw that it was a snowy owl, a very pompous looking snowy owl.

“Well hello.” Hadrian said, “Who are you?” All he got was a hoot in response before he felt the familiar warm feeling of a bond forming in his chest. His eyes widened in response, he had another familiar. “Well then,” he said after standing in shocked silence for a bit, “ what should I call you?”.

Before he could start listing names, however, he felt a familiar presence at his back. “She looks like a Hedwig.” Death said in lieu of greeting him and Hadrian sighed when the owl hooted appreciatively. For some reason his familiars could see Lord Death when he appeared and Hadrian was pretty sure it was because he was literally bound to the god.

“Can you let me name one thing?” Hadrian said, turning to face the god. “You basically got to name Mammon when I got him.”.

“Apologies,” Death said, “Fate was excited so I figured I would pop in and see what was going on.”. Hadrian’s anger left him at that, he couldn't fault the god when Fate got excited about something. She would leave the other gods with little snippets of information that would cause them to get curious and then they would speak whatever was on their mind when they found Fate's newest thing she was excited about. Usually it was some poor mortal that couldn't see them that had just died or had something unfortunate happen to them, but on occasion it was something happy like an important wix getting a familiar.

“No you're fine. I know how Lady Fate gets when she's excited about something.” Fate had visited Death on occasion when they were having their nightly lesson. It wasn't something Hadrian was ever prepared for and tended to leave him with a headache when he woke up. Lady Fate was a lot to handle, even in a short amount of time.

“Oh!” Neville had caught up to him, “You found an owl!”.

“Um yeah,” Hadrian said, turning around to face his friend, “this is Hedwig.” Hadrian lifted his arm to better show Neville his owl.

“Is she a familiar? Or a normal owl?”

“Familiar.”

“Oh! Congratulations!” Neville lit up again before asking, “How did you come up with the name Hedwig? Doesn't quite go with Mammon.”.

“I didn't. Come up with a name that is.” Hadrian said and watched as Neville scrunched up his face in confusion before understanding and looking at the surrounding space around Hadrian with apprehension.

“Ah, I see.” Neville swallowed nervously, “Well that's a nice name Lord Death.”.

“Tell him thank you.”. Death said from behind him.

“He says thank you.”

Neville smiled hesitantly in response before turning around at the sound of footsteps. “Ah Hadrian there you are!” His father said upon seeing him. “And you found a new friend! Who is this lovely lady?”.

“This is Hedwig.”

“Oh what a lovely name!” His father said at the same time his uncle said, “Doesn’t Hedwig mean battle and fight in German?”.

His father turned to glare at his uncle while Neville’s face turned into one of unsurprised exasperation and Hadrian heard him murmur “of course it does.” under his breath.

“I thought it represented her well.” He heard Death say to himself and watched as Hedwig puffed up with a sort of smug pride. He elected to ignore the both of them.

“Well,” His father said with one last glare towards his uncle, “everyone else has found the animals they want so we should probably get going so we can eat dinner at a reasonable time.”.

The two of them nodded and walked off towards the front of the store, smiling as they saw their other friends cooing over their new animals. Daphne appeared to have a short looking white cat in her arms and an interesting looking reddish owl on her shoulder. Draco had a pompous looking eagle owl on his arm and appeared to be gloating to his father about it. And Theo had a black cat in his arms and an unrecognizable looking brown owl on his shoulder.

Sirius smiled as Hadrian and Neville walked over to their friends to tell them about their new animal friends. All of them now talking excitedly as each insisted that their owl looked the best and that all the others were below them.

Eventually, all the animals were paid for and everyone went their separate ways. Well, after the children all talked over each other as they promised to send letters to each other with their new feathery friends.

Dinner was a quiet affair and Sirius watched as Hadrian pushed the food around on his plate. “What's wrong, my hatchling?”.

Hadrian mumbled something quietly, too quietly for Sirius to hear, and stopped pushing the food around on his plate in favor of visibly holding back tears.

“Oh my dear.” Sirius said, scooping up Hadrian as the dam broke and the tears started flowing. “I-I don’t w-want you to leave!” Hadrian cried into his shoulder before letting out some heart shattering sounding sobs, crying in earnest now.

“Oh my hatchling, we won't be gone for long. Remember, we can visit on weekends and on holidays.” Sirius said, rubbing Hadrian on the back in soothing circles. He glanced at the Dark Lord and saw that the man had a vacant and painful look on his face, clearly unsettled or upset at Hadrian’s cries.

“Y-yeah but y-you’re b-both busy on the w-weekends!” Hadrian said.

“Oh my sweet boy, we will never be busy enough to not be able to visit you on the weekends. We will always have time for you.” Sirius stood, making sure Hadrian was secure before walking to Hadrian's bedroom.

“How about we go lay down in your room and dad will sleep with you for the night, how’s that sound?” He felt Hadrian hiccup into his shoulder before giving him a jerky nod. “Okay, we’ll go do that.” Sirius rubbed some more circles into Hadrian's back. “You are okay, you will be okay.”.

Hadrian held on to him as he cried for another thirty minutes before passing out in exhaustion and Sirius himself fell asleep feeling like there was a pit in his chest. Tomorrow was not going to be a good day.

Chapter Text

Dumbledore was troubled. He had checked the book of names yesterday for any potential trouble students and had found that a glaring number of pureblood names were not on this year's list even though they all had children that should have been going to Hogwarts this upcoming year. A few prominent names missing normally wouldn't have worried him, under normal circumstances he would have smiled, less little dark cretins to keep an eye on was always better in his book. Unfortunately, there were some dark families he would rather keep an eye on due to their ability to derail his plans.

Of the high ranking dark pureblood families that were all but guaranteed to be sorted into Slytherin, only Parkinson, Crabbe, Goyle, Zabini, and Bulstrode would be attending this year. However, the families Lestrange, Greengrass, Nott, Malfoy, and most importantly Black were all glaringly missing and that could only mean that they enrolled their children into a different school. Which was admittedly something he had not accounted for in his plans.

He had initially been counting on the Malfoys little pompous brat to be one of Charles’ main adversaries during his time here. He hadn't a doubt in his mind that Lucius would want Draco to get close to the Boy-Who-Lived in a bid to improve their family name, only for young Draco’s offer of friendship to be rejected causing the young Malfoy to target Charles for the rest of their Hogwarts career. The Malfoys being as powerful as they are would cause the other pureblood children to rally around Draco, drawing a clear line between dark and light families. It would also cause the gray families in the same houses to choose a side, further dividing the next generation.

The Black heir was the unpredictable one of the group he had been watching out for. The Blacks were a notoriously dark family and had once been likened to royalty among the dark faction, but that was before Tom had arrived at Hogwarts and climbed the Slytherin social circles. The Blacks had kept up appearances after that of course, but the family had been booted to second best. Back then they were also semi predictable, their pride in their blood status and their standing in the wizarding world only allowing them to associate with a few people. People that Dumbledore could manipulate. Sirius’ sorting had admittedly come as a surprise. He had been the Black family heir at the time and considering that even muggle loving Andromeda had gone to Slytherin it was expected that young Sirius was a shoo in for Slytherin as well.

Fortunately for Dumbledore, Sirius had not gone to Slytherin and had instead gone to Gryffindor. It was like a perfectly wrapped present had just been gifted to him, and he sure used the gift that Sirius was very well. The Blacks had even done the isolating for him! And things had been going so well up until the point James made Sirius godfather to one of his children. At the moment it had seemed like a good idea, Sirius would have never betrayed James at the time and Regulus had recently passed making Sirius heir presumptive of the Black family since he was the last living male from the main line.

Unfortunately, it would seem he couldn't erase all of Sirius’ pureblood teachings as the blasted man had not gone after Pettigrew in a rage like Dumbledore had planned and had instead rushed to the house to check on the children and his friends. Furthermore, Sirius would not let young Harry go to Petunia’s, like he had been planning if Voldemort had chosen to go after the Potters, and Sirius had the gall to be enraged when James had suggested disowning Harry as Potter heir and giving the heirship to Charles instead. Why Sirius couldn't just let Harry go for the greater good was beyond him. Oh he knew Petunia would have most likely tried to beat the magic out of young Harry, but it was all for the greater good. If Charles was to be targeted then Harry would have to step in to take the blow for his brother and the only way for that to happen was for one of them to be beaten down enough that they would do anything to save the other.

But of course, that didn't happen and Sirius had whisked the child away with him. Most likely the oath Sirius took to be Harry’s godfather, that Dumbledore had tried to stop him from taking, compelled him to adopt the child into his own family since the Potters were not going to take care of him. This caused a problem, a big one. With Sirius gone the Black fortune would be permanently out of reach and Dumbledore had been forced to alter his plans revolving around Harry since the boy would most likely grow up just as spoiled as Charles, if not even more so. Sirius’ estrangement also meant that Dumbledore had far less power in the Wizengamot and with the old pureblood families, no matter their allegiances considering Sirius’ more liberal views.

Now Sirius had further detailed his plans by sending his son, because old Arcturus would have demanded a blood adoption no matter their legality, to a different school. And considering Sirius’ familial relations and political alliances the Blacks were involved in, he had no doubt this had been concocted by the Black family as a whole. Sirius had a spine but it only went so far, the others in the family must have persuaded him to send young Hadrian away. Further keeping the future of the Black family out of Dumbledore's reach.

He would have admired the ingeniousness of the plan if it wasn't being used against him and wasn’t so goddamn irritating. And with that, the Blacks had effectively ruined what would have been a splendid morning. The only bright spot was that he didn't have to deal with Lucius Malfoy’s pompousness in Hogwarts board meetings but he had a feeling that Lady Zabini would soon become another headache he would unfortunately have to deal with.

The Black’s and their schemes were not the only things to derail some of his plans. The Weasley twins being sent to Arcane was continuing to be a problem. Molly couldn't go one order meeting without mentioning their school placement and Arthur seemed to have lost some faith in him after he couldn't get his parents to change their minds even though he told him that it was unlikely to happen. Dumbledore also had a sneaking suspicion that Cedrella wasn't satisfied with just being able to get the twins away and had a feeling that little Ginevra was next on her list.

Ginny being the only girl to come of Arthur and Molly’s union made her especially precious. Both to Dumbledore’s plans and the girl's family. That girl was to be the next Lady Potter, he had made sure that Lily and James took Charles over to the Burrow so the two could get acquainted but according to both Lily and Molly, Ginny was apparently having none of it. Going so far as to not speak to Charles and her elder brother Ron, who had become Charles’ best friend, when Charles was visiting. Dumbledore had been there recently for one such visit and the tension in the room was palpable. Unfortunately, Charles, the idiot boy, had opened his mouth and said something to piss young Ginevra off and in her anger she turned his hair Slytherin green.

They hadn't been able to dispel whatever Ginny’s accidental magic had done and so Charles had had to deal with green hair for a day or two. It had not endeared either of the children to each other.

As such, at this stage in the two’s relationship it would be disastrous if Septimus and Cedrella were to send Ginny away to Arcane for schooling. Sadly, there was nothing Dumbledore could do since the elder Weasley’s had not made a move yet and since this was primarily a family situation there was little he could actually do should they try to send Ginny away.

He couldn't even take them to court given the fact that Ginny most likely had none of the training she was supposed to have and that the courts would side with the elder Weasleys. This train of thought was interrupted, however, as Minerva walked into his office.

“Minerva my dear, what brings you by?”

“I just got back from tea at Potter Manor and figured I would update you on some developments.” Minerva said, sitting down in one of the chairs on the other side of his desk.

“Oh? Do tell, what do James and Lily have to say.” Dumbledore hoped it was better news that what he had discovered this morning.

“Charles seemed to have another disagreement-,” and Dumbledore already did not like where this was headed, “- with Ginevra while he was over visiting Ron and ended up having his skin break out in yellow and purple spots. Fortunately it was just a color change and not something more malicious like the time she pushed him into a bush that had poison ivy growing in it.”.

“And the other developments?” Dumbledore really needed to fix the mouth on that one.

“Sirius sent James another howler with a sonorus charm somehow attached to it and it seemed to have touched a nerve in Remus because he hasn't spoken to James in a week.” That wasn't good. He would need to talk to Remus as soon as possible, he couldn't have him running back to Sirius.

“Oh, and Septimus and Cedrella have committed to sending Ginevra to Arcane like they did with the Twins.” And there went another ten years of planning down the drain. He would have to do some serious modifications now that Ginny was going to be sent away.

Dumbledore rubbed the bridge of his nose and sighed, “I presume the reason they are getting away with this one is because Ginny has not gone through the training required of a daughter of the house Weasley.”.

“It would appear so. Molly is still apocalyptic in rage and Arthur even screamed at his parents according to Lily.” Minerva replied.

“And I presume the twins are still not answering their letters?”

“Yes, they have refused to answer any of their parents' letters. Though the family owl is still not coming back with Molly and Arthur’s letters so that is some good news, they are at least reading the letters.”

“That is something at least. Hopefully Ginevra does the same when she begins school there.” Dumbledore said, before asking, “Did you ever get the reason as to why they are telling her so early in comparison to the twins?”

That was the only odd thing about this whole situation, the timing of this announcement was a year away from when she was actually going to school.

“I believe that it is so she gets the whole Arcane experience and will get to go on a tour before she starts school. And if I know Cedrella as well as I do then it will also mean that she will be permitted to visit the twins on weekends and give Cedrella the time to mold Ginevra however she wants.” Minerva responded.

“Further isolating the girl from her parents.” Albus stated.

“Indeed.” Minerva quietly replied.

“Bloody hell!” he muttered.

“ALBUS!” Minerva’s screech made him wince.

It was indeed looking to be the start of a very bad day.

Chapter Text

Hadrian winced as the sun hit his eyes. The switch from complete darkness to immediate sunshine was jarring and it was starting to become irritating. The teleport pads were nice and all but the only people that took them were first and second years that either didn't have dragons or their dragons were not big enough to ride, and international students' parents. Everyone else that lived here flew on dragon back or used their wings.

“Hadrian!” Draco called, snapping Hadrian from his internal grumblings.

Draco was a little further into the courtyard with Daphne and Neville. Theo was nowhere to be seen however.

“Where's Theo?” Hadrian asked when he got to his friends.

“I don't know, I think he's still getting ready.” Neville said.

“No migraine?” Daphne asked.

“He said he was fine when I mirror called him this morning.” Neville replied.

“We will see if he shows up today. I know the school is aware of his condition.” Draco said.

“Didn't our parents have to tell them all of our medical and magical preexisting conditions?” Daphne mused.

“I think so. They were already aware of my inheritance and my titles when I got my acceptance letter.” Hadrian said, before adding, “That or Lady Magic informed them.”.

His friends nodded in response and then watched as more students arrived as they were waiting for Theo to show. Theo ended up arriving fifteen minutes before their first class was about to start, running over to them in a huff.

“Sorry! Lucky was mad that I was leaving so early this morning and ripped up the shirt I was going to wear this morning in retaliation. I sent Moss to the seamstress to get it fixed.” Theo said as he approached.

“You know you can bring your familiar to school with you?”

“Yes but then she would dash off to gods know where and end up attacking someone.” Theo then noticed Draco staring at him. “What?”

“Why did you name her Lucky if she is so aggressive?”

“Because it's the one she chose! Stop questioning my cat!”. Draco backed off after that with one last mutter under his breath about Theo’s cat. What it was Hadrian didn't know but it did cause Theo to scowl at him and Neville to laugh.

“Should we get to class?” Daphne said, snapping everyone's attention back to their upcoming first class.

“Yes we should probably get going.” Hadrian replied and started to walk in the direction of their time management class.

Time management was extremely boring but that was to be expected. Their professor, Professor Abbott who was a relative of one of Susan’s friends, would also be their politics teacher when they got to their eighth year which did not bode well if his politics class was as boring as he made their time management class. They would also apparently be assigned a student mentor during their next class after their professors got to know them a little better so they could determine which students to pair together. Which was a little nerve racking but made the class something to look forward to by the time they got out of class.

Their next class was on Light Magic which got Theo excited. Draco on the other hand groaned and dragged his feet all the way there in silent protest.

Walking into the class they were met with a light airy room that had tiered rows of tables going downwards so everyone could see. They claimed a spot in the middle of the classroom so that they weren't too close to be seen as teachers' pets and not far away enough to not learn anything.

“Hello everyone! I hope you all are still awake enough after time management class to pay attention to your first magic lecture.” The class chuckled, “And don't worry, this class won't be as boring as your first one. Now, my name is Professor Farren, I will be your Light Magic professor from this day onwards. Usually there are two teachers for a subject but considering most magical beings are not insane enough to get masteries on a whole type of magic there is no one else to take my place when you get to your eighth year, so hopefully we don't have any disagreements that would make learning in my classroom uncomfortable. Do we agree?”

“Yes, Professor Farren.” The class chorused.

“Wonderful! Now! Let's have some fun! If you all would kindly take out your books, we will be starting with the lecture portion of the class first so you all can practice some magic before you go to lunch.” Professor Farren said, and the lecture began.

Professor Farren was cool! He used his magic to demonstrate what he was saying and then when it was practice time he came over and spent one on one time with each student and showed them how to connect to their magic and how to draw it out so they could use it. By the end of class they were all exhausted but Professor Farren said that that was normal and that after lunch they would be bouncing off the walls once again.

“You really think we will have our energy back after that?” Neville asked, sounding exhausted.

“I don't know, no accidental magic has ever made me feel this worn out.” Daphne replied, sounding unsure.

“Well, let's just hope Professor Farren was right because I feel like I need a nap as humiliating as that sounds.” Draco said, speaking up from where he was resting his head on the lunch table they had commandeered.

“Well well well, look what we have here Gred! Some ickle firsties back from their first magic lesson!” A voice spoke up from behind them and Hadrian heard Draco groan in despair.

“Yes, Forge, and look! A little Malfoy too exhausted to be concerned with his dignity!” Hadrian watched as two identical red headed boys sat down in front of Draco, looking very amused with themselves.

“Fuck off Weasleys.” Draco muttered into the table, not bothering to look up at them and Hadrian now understood why these two upperclassmen had sat down with them. The Malfoy-Weasley blood feud was legendary and he had no doubt that the two boys, identical and perhaps magical if they way they were talking was any indication, had seen Draco’s signature blond hair and made a beeline for them. If only to heckle Draco in his moment of weakness.

“Ohhhhh, the little bird has a mouth on him! What would your father say if he heard you?” One of them said, grins widening on both their faces.

“He would say the same thing.” Draco snarked back, briefly lifting his head to glare at them.

“Hmmmm perhaps,” The other twin said before directing their attention onto the rest of them, “and who might you all be?”.

“Umm, I’m Neville Longbottom” Neville said, before pointing to each of them, “That's Daphne Greengrass, Theodore Nott, and Hadrian Black-Peverell.” Each of them waved as their names were said.

“Lovely to meet you all!” They said at the same time, though their eyes lingered on Hadrian for a few seconds before they got distracted by food appearing on the tables.

Everyone ate in silence for a while, the first years too tired to speak and the two Weasleys too absorbed in their own thoughts to even think about breaking the silence. Eventually though, as everyone slowed their eating pace, the twins broke the silence again. “You wouldn't perhaps be Lord Death’s chosen would you?” One of the twins said quietly, trying to not draw anyone else's attention.

Hadrian paused, fork halfway to his mouth, “Yeah, and what of it?” He really didn't want these two to be a problem he would have to deal with, they were funny and he really wanted to be friends with them.

“Oh nothing much, our brother is Charlie and we were just wondering if we had the right guy sitting in front of us.” One of them responded, tone light but Hadrian was hardly paying attention to that.

“You know Charlie?! - wait no of course you do, what am I saying,” Hadrian stumbled over his words and he ignored a, “Oh great, here he goes again”, from Neville as he tried to reign his now jumbled thoughts together.

“What's he like? Is he okay with creatures? When’s his birthday? Does he snakes? How about-” And Hadrian began rambling off questions to a now very amused pair of twins.

“Alright alright, one question at a time mate!” One of them finally interrupted the stream of questions.

“He’s nice, if a little headstrong. You’ll like him. He wants to be a dragon keeper so yes, he is more than fine with creatures. His birthday is December 12th. We don't know his opinion on snakes but if you have one then we're sure he’ll love it.” The other twin answered, before continuing, “ But that's all you’ll be getting today because we have a feeling that if we tell you anymore then we won't be making it to our next class on time.”.

“Oh! What class do you have next?” Daphne jumped in, steering the conversation away from Hadrian's future soulmate before they would all get stuck here for an hour.

“We have potions next with Professor Draganov.” The same twin answered, Hadrian really needed to ask what their names were.

Draco, however, had perked up at the word potions and immediately launched into his own set of questions; apparently not caring that he was now making conversation with two Weasleys.

Neville, fortunately, saved them all from another one of Draco’s potions rants and finally asked for the twins' names. “Oh, dear me we forgot! How silly of us!” The one on the right said, “I am Fred, and the handsome lad next to me is George! Pleasure to make your acquaintance!”.

Anything else that anyone wanted to say, however, was cut off as the food vanished from the table and a soft chime sounded in the room. “Bloody Hell! Lunch is over, what a shame. Well, it was nice to meet you all, we should sit together tomorrow. Perhaps we can get a little further in our conversation!”. And with that, the twins vanished and the rest of them were left scrambling out of their seats and to their next class.

Dark Magic class ended up being just as fun and exhausting as Light Magic class. Professor Hollis was very nice but was a little hard to understand as she had an unfamiliar accent. Hadrian snickered when he saw Draco reel back in shock, apparently he did not expect anything other than British English to be spoken which was dumb because this was an international school and there were people here from everywhere. When she introduced herself she told them she was from Louisiana and before any of them could ask if she practiced Voodoo she flat out told them that she did not. Voodoo apparently was not as widely practiced in the North American south as the rest of the world believed and then she went on a thirty minute explanation of what voodoo actually was, along with its origins, and different sub-branches after someone in the class asked.

“Now, I believe y’all have side tracked me enough so we will mosey along with our lecture so we can get to the practice portion on time.” And so they did. Practice was the same as Light Magic class although Hadrian could tell that the kids that struggled in Light Magic were having an easier time drawing their magic forth since they were using a different technique. Draco and Theo were one of the first two to get the hang of it, something which Hadrian and Neville could tell Draco would be gloating about for the next few days.

“Now, we’ll stop here for today.” Professor Hollis said once everyone had shown some form of progress. “Y’all skedaddle along to flight class now, Professor Mavra will give ya some snacks so y'all have some energy to use those little wings of yours.”. It was a testament to how tired they all were that no one glared at that statement.

Though to their dark magic professor’s credit, the flight professor did have snacks for them when they arrived in the classroom. If it could even be called that.

The classroom was a huge stone dome that was burrowed into one of the mountainous sides of the floating island. Towards the center of the room was a circle pit that went through the bottom of the island, exposing the room to the outside elements. Hadrian watched out of the corner of his eye as Neville shied away from the pit with a look of fear on his face. This was going to be an interesting class.

“Hello everyone! Come in, come in! I see Professor Hollis let you all out early, that's good. I have snacks prepared for you all, and yes you will need to eat them if you wish to get through your first day of classes. You still have your history of magic class to attend after this class and Professor Brakker does not like people falling asleep on him.”. Professor Mavra said, gesturing to the table full of food that was set up by the door they had all been loitering in.

They all sat against the far wall with their stuff and ate, though, looking at some of the other students, it was clear Neville wasn't the only one who was afraid of heights. Once they were all done Professor Mavra ushered them to the other side of the room, opposite to where she was standing on a jagged outcrop of rock over the hole in the floor.

“Now, I know a fair few of you are worried about the gigantic hole in the middle of the classroom and I will tell you now that you have nothing to fear. There are runes woven into the rock that will float you back up here if you fall in. We actually use this pit to create an updraft of air so that it is easier on your wings when you try to lift off of the ground. Well, that and the upperclassmen use it for their flight practice as they are experienced enough to fly outside.” Their professor said, before asking, “Do you all have your bird boots? I know Octavia should have pointed you in the direction of that store to get some. If not, then I have some spares that some of you can borrow for today.”.

A few kids shuffled over to the pile of boots in the corner and grabbed some before quickly filing back in line.

“Now I am going to take you through the motions of getting your bird feet to appear, you will need them to properly grip onto things and keep your balance when you summon your wings. And don’t feel bad when you don't get it on the first try, it takes some practice. Just like summoning your wings did when you all went school shopping.” Their professor said before walking them through the motions of getting their feet to change.

Draco, the pompous ass, just took off his shoes and shifted his feet before looking at them with a smug face.

“Ah, Mister Malfoy!” Draco swiveled around to find their Professor behind them, “I had wondered if you had been bestowed with one of your families creature inheritances when I saw you on this year's roster. You are a Veela correct?” Their professor said, walking over to Draco.

“Yes, Professor.” Draco answered.

“Have you flown before?”

“No Professor, my mother made me wait so I could learn with others my age.”. Professor Mavra smiled at that.

“That was very smart of her, you'll learn better when you have others to compete with.”. She walked off after that to go help someone else who couldn't get their feet to shift. Daphne snorted at Draco who was now frowning in the direction their professor went.

“That was very unlady like Heir Greengrass.” Draco snarked back at her.

Daphne glared at him, “I will push you into that hole and make sure the runes are deactivated before I do so.”.

Draco shuffled away from her, a look of mild fear on his face. Neville and Theo rolled their eyes from behind Daphne and Hadrian held in a snicker at Draco’s face.

“Now, if you all would summon your wings we can begin the lesson.” The professor waited for everyone's wings to appear before continuing, “How many of you have attempted to fly with your wings already?”

Almost everyone's hands raised. Even Neville, who was the most rule-following person of their little group, had caved to the allure of trying to get into the air with his wings.

“Okay, did any of you actually get off the ground and stay off the ground?”. No one raised their hands.

“Okay, good. You all are at the same place then.” She said before instructing them to space out and open their wings. “Now flap as hard as you can! Aim on getting off the ground, you don't have to stay in the air either, just get used to how that feels as that is how you are going to get off the ground from now on. Also, for those of you that are nervous about hurting your wings I am just going to tell you now that they are a lot more durable than they seem so don't worry if you collide with someone, it happens to everyone at some point.”.

There was silence for a minute or so before one of the more brave students started to flap their wings, this was followed by a few more students, and then the flood gates broke and everyone started to practice. Hadrian had managed to get a few inches into the air before being blown sideways by the gusts coming from Draco's wings. Looking over, Hadrian saw that Theo was also on the ground and was glaring at Daphne who appeared to be in some sort of competition with Draco on who could get into the air faster. Hadrian caught Theo’s attention and his friend merely rolled his eyes in response before getting up and trying again. Draco ended up winning a few minutes later.

By the end of the lesson quite a few of the students had managed to get into the air. Draco, Daphne, and, shockingly, Neville were among them.

Everyone, however, was dead on their feet by the time they all slunk into History of Magic class. Much to the amusement of their professor.

“I see Professor Mavra wore you all out in flight class, hmm?” Professor Brakker said with a smile and the class groaned in response, backs aching from the exercise they all went through during the last period.

Their professor chuckled, “Alright, let's get started. Take out your books and turn to chapter one.”

Once the sound of page flipping stopped their professor continued, “Now, I want you to read the first chapter by yourselves and after that is done we will discuss what you read.”.

It ended up taking half the class period to get through the first chapter and Hadrian spotted multiple students trying to not fall asleep as they did so. Discussion wasn't any better as a good majority of the students barely knew the subject and everyone was relieved when class finally ended.

“By the Gods! I thought that class would never end! And that's coming from someone who likes history!” Theo said, voice sounding somewhere between scandalized and depressed.

“What did he say the homework was again? I think I spaced out half way through the discussion.” Daphne asked.

“We are supposed to write two paragraphs about the origins of the first creatures and the events that led up to the Great Joining.” Hadrian replied, “Oh, and we are supposed to read chapter two before class on Wednesday.”. He heard Daphne grumble under her breath in response.

“What's chapter two about?” Draco asked.

“The Drawing of the First Blood and everything that led up to it.” Theo answered automatically, and Hadrian got the feeling that Theo had already read the entirety of their history book already.

Draco and Neville groaned in response.

Their lack luster mood quickly dissipated, however, when they saw a pair of familiar redheads approaching them.

“Look George, the ickle firsties are all brain dead from history class!” Fred said with an amused smile on his face. “Oh yes, they look simply despondent!” George replied, sounding far too happy about their suffering.

“Please tell me it gets better!” Theo said before any of them could say hello.

The twins laughed, “Oh don't worry, it gets better. You just have to get through the boring stuff first and then history class will get fun. Professor Brakker has periods of history he favors more than others, class will get more fun once you get to one of them. He can only do so much to make the Great Joining and the Drawing of the First Blood interesting.”.

Theo seemed to relax at that.

“Now, what are all you up to now that the school day has ended?” George asked. They all looked at each other, they hadn't thought of what to do once school was over.

“Well, since it appears you all have some time to kill before one of your elves drags you home for dinner, would you like to meet our dragon? They're very nice!” Fred asked with a smile that only widened at their ecstatic reaction.

“Well come on then! No time to waste now!” The two chorused together, ushering them through the crowds of students and to a rust colored two headed dragon.

“This is Chaos!” Fred said as he pointed to the head on the right, “and this is Mayhem!” George followed up, pointing to the other head who was curiously sniffing Draco. Mayhem and Chaos did end up being very nice and they accepted all the pets everyone gave them but unfortunately, Kreacher popped in as Draco was starting to ask the twins questions about Dragon Training class and immediately ushered them away the moment he saw the dragon.

“Young little masters and mistresses should not be beings so close to such a dangerous creature! No, yous will be going home nows, yes yous all will.” Kreacher said, ignoring the laughter coming from the twins and the complaining from the rest of them.

With the mood effectively ruined, everyone went their separate ways and Hadrian made sure to grumble extra loudly about being separated from the nice dragon to Kreacher for the rest of the night in retaliation.

Chapter Text

Ron’s complaining was starting to get really annoying and the Hogwarts Express hadn’t even departed from platform 9 3/4th yet.

Ron and his family had recently been told by the Lord and Lady Weasley that Ginny would be going to Arcane just as they did with the twins and the entire family had been in an uproar since then. Well most of the family, Ron’s eldest brother Bill had apparently supported the decision, Charlie had left Britain to pursue his dream job of Dragon Handling before the announcement had been made, and the twins didn't count since they attended Arcane.

The baffling thing was that his own parents had expected him to be angry about the decision! They had even taken him aside and told him that they wouldn't blame him if he was angry and that if he had any concerns or questions to not hesitate to ask them. He didn't understand why they thought that he would be angry, Ginny was Ron's sister, not his! Plus he didn’t even like her! She targeted him everytime he came over and it would always end with him being spelled with something that his parents couldn't get off so he would have to stay home for a week till whatever she had cursed him with disappeared.

So no he wasn't angry about the decision, he was thrilled. He wouldn't have to see her at Hogwarts at any point in the foreseeable future and she wouldn't be at home for the summer. It was perfect and he would have hugged the Weasley grandparents if he had been there for the announcement and if his parents weren't so outraged about the decision.

Now if only Ron could see his side of things.

“-just standing there with her smug grin like she's not going to go suffer next year at her school full of disgusting dark wizards!” Ron was still ranting by the time he tuned back in and a quick glance out the window told Charles that they had left the train station and were on their way to Hogwarts now.

Wait, hang on, what did Ron just say?

“Did you just call the twins dark wizards?” Ron stopped in his tracks, eyes widening.

“I- I -NO! NO! I just-” Ron stuttered, face growing panicked and pale.

“Mate, chill. You look like you are going to pass out, it was just a joke.” Charles said, watching as Ron relaxed, looking relieved.

“Bloody hell mate! Don't scare me like that!” Ron said, pulling Scabbers out of his pocket to pet.

“They already don't like coming home ‘cause of mum’s rants about their school, don't make it worse by adding me to their list of people to avoid!”.

Charles stared, “Mate, they are halfway across the Atlantic ocean in the Arctic Circle, they can't hear you.”.

“You don't know that! Who knows what dark magic they've learned while at Arcane! They could be listening in on us right now and we wouldn't know it!” Ron said, glancing at every shadow in their train compartment with paranoia painted across his face. Charles rolled his eyes in exasperation.

Scabbers skittered across the table closer to him.

“I cant believe your parents actually gave you that disgusting rat as a pet.” Charles said, scooting further away from the rat in disgust.

“Percy had ‘em when he went to Hogwarts and now that he’s a fancy prefect now I guess he's too good for Scabbers so mum gave him me when they got Percy his new owl.” Ron sneered before leveling the rat with a look of guilt and pity, “He’s not so bad, at least I have a pet.”.

Charles hummed, “Yeah I guess, but could you keep him away from me? He’s kinda gross Ron.”.

Ron blushed and snatched Scabbers off the table.

Charles opened his mouth to say something else to Ron but was interrupted by the door to their compartment suddenly opening, it was the trolley lady.

“Hello dears, would you like anything off the trolley?” She asked and Charles eagerly got up to peruse through the candy.

Handing over the money he owed, Charles dumped his stash on the table. “This is awesome! Normally mum doesn't let me buy all the candy I want!”.

“Really?” Ron asked, peering at the pile of candy with a wistful look on his face.

“Yeah, normally she only lets me get a few chocolate frogs when we go to Diagon.” Charles frowned, remembering all the times his mother had stopped his father from buying him more than three chocolate frogs when they went to the candy shop after running errands.

“Oh,” Ron said, “well would you like to try a box of Bertie's Botts? We can take turns trying all the different flavors!”.

“Sure!” Charles said, and Ron reached for the box to take a handful of candy.

They ended up getting through half the box before they were disturbed by the door to their compartment slamming open. It was a girl with bushy brown hair.

“Hello, you haven't happened to see a tan colored cat wandering around have you?” The girl asked.

“Uhhhhh, no.” Ron said, mouth full of jelly beans. The girl scrunched her nose up in disgust.

“You’re going to get cavities eating all that candy you know.” She said imperiously, staring down at their candy pile with disdain.

“What’s a cavity?” Ron asked and pieces of chewed jelly beans flew out of his mouth.

“Eww Ron, close your mouth!” Charles said as he scooted further into his corner of the compartment in an attempt to keep Ron from getting any chewed food on him.

The girl looked absolutely disgusted, “Nevermind, you probably already have them.”.

“Are you guys attempting to try every candy on the trolley?” She asked, looking at Charles now.

“Uhh, yeah, my mom doesn't normally let me get this much candy and I wanted to try everything.” Charles answered.

“Oh? Are you a muggleborn?” She sounded so hopeful, Charles huffed a laugh.

“No, I'm a halfblood and Ron’s a Pureblood.” Charles said before asking, “What’s your name by the way? You never introduced yourself when you barged in.”.

The girl blushed, closed the compartment door, and sat down. “My apologies, my name is Hermione Granger, what's yours?”.

“Charles Potter,” he said and jabbed a thumb in Ron's direction, “and he's Ron Weasley.”.

Hermione’s eyes widened and she stared at Charles in shock, “You’re Charles Potter?! The famed Boy-Who-Lived!”.

“Just so!” Charles said, sending Hermione a smug grin.

Hermione looked ecstatic, “So you've been trained by Professor Dumbledore! That's brilliant! I've read all about him in Hogwarts: A History!”.

Charles' smile fell at the mention of his practically non-existent training and Ron murmured “Bookworm” into the crook of his elbow before disguising it with a cough.

He wasn't fast enough though and Hermione heard the comment, turning to Ron with a cold look on her face. “What did you just say?”.

Ron looked like a deer in headlights and was just about to stutter out a response before the door was once again slammed open. It was Pansy Parkinson and a lanky dark-skinned boy.

“Rumor on the train says the Boy-Who-Lived is in this compartment, and it would seem the rumor was right.” Parkinson said with a vicious grin.

“What do you slimy snakes want?” Ron snarled.

“Oh me and Blaise here just wanted to introduce ourselves to the savior of the wizarding world!” Parkinson said, eyelashes fluttering with false adoration. “We will be sharing quite a few classes together after all.”.

Well that answered the question as to who the boy next to Parkinson was. Blaise Zabini, son of Lady Zabini, who was infamously known worldwide as the Black Widow for the men who have mysteriously died while married to her.

“Zabini, I didn't know they were letting the children of murderers into Hogwarts nowadays.” Charles said, glaring at the Zabini who was now glaring daggers at him.

“That's a low blow coming from the boy whose only friends are blood traitors and sycophants. How does it feel to have no genuine friends? No one you can truly confide in less it gets back to your precious headmaster and your ass kissing parents.” Zabini retorted.

“YOU LEAVE MY PARENTS AND THE HEADMASTER OUT OF THIS!” Charles roared, standing up in fury. Who did this slimy snake think he was?!

“Mmmmm, it's true though.” Parkinson said, “And you did insult Blaise in the first place, what did you think was going to happen Potter? That he would take the insult lying down? Not everyone in Britain worships the ground you walk on.”. Parkinson appeared to then notice Hermione’s presence.

“Oh and who is this? New follower, Potter?”

“Ah,” Hermione cleared her throat nervously, “My name's Hermione Granger, I was just passing by and stopped to talk.”.

“Granger, eh? Any relation to the Dagworth-Grangers?” Blaise asked.

“Um I wouldn't know. My parents are muggles, I just found out I was a witch.” Hermione nervously answered under the scrutiny of the two future Slytherins.

“Hey don't pick on her you Death Eater blood purists!” Ron said, finally gaining some confidence and speaking up.

“I’m not picking on her.” Blaise said, lifting his hands up to show he meant no threat, “I just wanted to know who the unknown in the room was and if they were related to the Dagworth-Grangers. I meant no harm by it.”.

“What's going on here?” One of the Hufflepuff prefects had arrived.

“Ah, we were just introducing ourselves to the Boy-Who-Lived.” Parkinson said, “Is the train getting close to Hogwarts?”.

“Yes, you ought to get back to your cabins and get changed, we will be arriving soon.”.

“Well then, it was good to meet you, Hermione.” Parkinson nodded to her before glancing at Charles and Ron and disappearing down the hallway with Blaise and the Prefect in tow.

“I think that's my que to get back to my compartment as well. It was nice meeting you both.” Hermione said and then disappeared, closing the compartment door behind her.

Ron collapsed back onto the bench he had been sitting on and groaned. “Why can't those slimy Slytherins stay on their side of the train?”

Charles looked over at Ron, “Just be grateful that Malfoy and Black are not going to be at Hogwarts. Who knows how bad our seven years at Hogwarts would be with them attending as well as Parkinson, Zabini, Crabbe, and Goyle.”.

“Bloody hell mate, that would be awful!” Ron said, shivering at the image. They lapsed into silence for a bit afterward, before Ron spoke up again. “Isn't Neville going to a different school as well?”

“Um, I think so. I can't remember where his grandmother sent him, my parents weren't too happy about it though.”

“Yeah,” Ron replied, “Neither was mum.”.

“Beauxbatons?”

Ron snorted, “Probably, he always was pretty closed off whenever he’d come over to play.”.

Charles nodded, “His grandmother probably thought he wouldn’t live up to his parents legacy’s and sent him away to spare the family the embarrassment.”. Ron laughed at that.

Their amusement quickly turned to panic, however, as Charles suddenly spotted something in the distance, “Is that Hogsmeade?”

“Bloody hell, they could have given us a warning!” Ron said before scrambling for his uniform with Charles not far behind him.

They barely got dressed by the time the train came to a stop.

Stepping through the throngs of people, their attention was drawn by a hulking figure calling out “First years! First Years!”.

“Is that Hagrid?” Ron asked as they made their way over to the hulking figure in the distance.

It was indeed Hagrid.

“‘Ello Charles! You alright there?” Hagrid said and Charles just nodded in response.

“Alright then, C’mon everyone follow me!” Hagrid said, leading all the first years down a narrow path, the only light source guiding their way coming from the single lamp Hagrid held and the moon high above them.

“Oooohhh!” Some of the first years chorused at their first glimpse of Hogwarts in the distance. Tearing his eyes away from the castle, Charles saw that they were coming up to Black Lake.

“Now, no more’n four to a boat!” Hagrid said, voice booming. Everyone quickly scrambled to get into one of the boats. Charles and Ron were in a boat with Hermione and another kid who was clutching a tan cat. Apparently this was the person she had been helping out before the Slytherins had interrupted them.

“Everyone in?” Hagrid said, looking at the assembled first years before him, “Right then - FORWARD!” The boats gave a lurch and then they were off.

The boats glided over the glass like surface of the water in silence, everyone too absorbed by the sight of Hogwarts all lit up to think to say anything.

“Duck!” Hagrid suddenly said, and everyone ducked their heads to avoid the upcoming ivy.

Eventually they were led to a set of doors and Hagrid did one more check to make sure everyone was here before knocking twice on the doors. The doors opened to reveal a stern looking witch, it was Professor McGonagall.

“The first year’s, Professor McGonagall.” Hagrid said, gesturing to all of them.

“Thank you Hagrid, I’ll take them from here.” Professor McGonagall said, escorting everyone inside.

They were led to some form of antechamber where they were then given a short speech by Professor McGonagall and then told to wait for a moment. The chatter of hundreds of students filtered through the doors in front of them as they waited in silence. The silence was shattered when a few students screamed, and everyone whipped around to see the ghosts of Hogwarts float into the room.

They chatted with the ghosts for a bit, who after a bit of prompting had finally introduced themselves. They dispersed however, when McGonagall came back into the room.

“Now, follow me and we can commence with the sorting.” McGonagall said and then walked out, everyone rushed to follow her.

Chatter died down as they entered the great hall, and Charles looked around in awe of the grand space. He could faintly hear Hermione say something about the ceiling and he looked up and gasped. A thousand twinkling stars stared back at him, a perfect copy of the night sky outside, and Charles wondered which founder had been responsible for the grand display.

McGonagall cleared her throat and all attention was brought back to her. She set down a ratty looking hat on a wooden stool next to her and Charles was only left in confusion for a moment before a seam ripped open on the hat and it began to sing.

“Oh, you may not think I'm pretty, but don't judge on what you see, I'll eat myself if you can find a smarter hat than me. You can keep your bowlers black, your top hats sleek and tall, for I'm the Hogwarts sorting hat and I can cap them all. There's nothing hidden in your head the sorting hat can't see, so try me on and I will tell you where you ought to be. You might belong in Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart, their daring, nerve and chivalry set Gryffindors apart; You might belong in Hufflepuff, where they are just and loyal, those patient Hufflepuffs are true and unafraid of toil; Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw, if you've a ready mind, where those of wit and learning, will always find their kind; Or perhaps in Slytherin you'll make your real friends, those cunning folk use any means to achieve their ends. So put me on! Don't be afraid! And don't get in a flap! You're in safe hands (though I have none) for I'm a Thinking Cap!” (1) Everyone in the hall burst into applause and the sorting hat bowed to the crowd.

McGonagall stepped forward holding a long roll of yellowed parchment, “When I call your name you will sit on the stool and the hat will sort you into your houses.”, She unrolled the parchment, “Abbott, Hannah” was the first name called.

A small blond girl stepped out from the crowd of first years and quickly ran up to sit on the stool. McGonagall placed the sorting hat on her head and it didn't take long before the hat called out, “HUFFLEPUFF!”.

The yellow and black table next to the first years erupted into cheers and the students on the end of the table slid over to make room for their newest member.

“Bones, Susan”

The hat deliberated again before calling out, “HUFFLEPUFF!”.

“Boot, Trevor”

“RAVENCLAW!” The Ravenclaw table cheered for their new member.

“Brocklehurst, Mandy”

“RAVENCLAW!”

“Brown, Lavender”

“GRYFFINDOR!” The Gryffindor table gave the loudest cheer so far for their newest member, patting Lavender on the back in congratulations when she sat down.

And so the sorting went on, Hermione went to Gryffindor and so did the kid she was helping, Seamus Finnigan. Parkinson ended up going to Slytherin and Charles made sure to glare at her as she took her seat at the Slytherin table.

Finally, Professor McGonagall said, “Potter, Charles” and the entire room went silent.

Charles nervously stepped up to the stool, smiling at the professor before turning around and sitting down. He briefly got a glance at everyone craning their necks to see him before his vision was obscured by the sorting hat.

“Well, well what do we have here?” the sorting hats voice boomed in his head, “Oh I see, you're the one the old man won't shut up about.”.

Charles pressed his lips together to keep himself from arguing out loud with the hat. “Heh, I see he’s got his claws in you already but enough about the headmaster. Where should I put you?”.

Gryffindor, Charles thought.

“Gryffindor? Are you sure? You’d fit in well that's for sure but I think perhaps a different house would suit you better.”

No! Put me in Gryffindor, Charles all but screamed at the hat.

“Jeez kid, no need to be that loud. I just think you might fit in better in Slytherin that's all, goodness knows you need some actual friends.” A spike of panic shot down Charles' spine at the sorting house's words.

NO! Don't put me in that house! Their evil!, Charles desperately thought, trying to get the hat to listen to him.

“Why not? You would finally have people that appreciated you for yourself and not the title you carry. I can see it, you would be happy.”.

No, my parents would disown me if I went to that house! I would be proclaimed the Dark Lord the moment you utter that house's name! Charles thought back.

“Hmmmm, I see. Yes your parents were rather insistent on you going into Gryffindor weren't they. It is truly unfortunate that they don't see you for the person you actually are.” Charles didn’t know what the hat meant by that.

“No I suppose you wouldn’t, perhaps in time you will understand.” Charles felt the hat shift on his head and Charles shut his eyes and braced for the worst.

“GRYFFINDOR!” The hat called out and the room exploded into deafening cheers, the loudest among them coming from where the Gryffindors were.

Charles sighed in relief, took the hat off and walked over to the Gryffindor table. He further relaxed at the smiles he got from his new house mates and turned to pay attention to the sorting once more.

It didn't take long for the last few kids to be sorted, Ron joining him at the Gryffindor table and Zabini joining Parkinson at the Slytherin table.

Headmaster Dumbledore stood up, silencing the room and whatever Dumbledore had said after he introduced himself was lost to Charles as the stress of the sorting ceremony caught up to him. He faintly heard Dumbledore warning them to stay away from the third floor corridor unless they wanted to die a very painful death but for the life of him he couldn't get the sorting hat's words out of his head.

What did it mean when it said his parents didn't see him for who he was? He was their son, how could they not?

Charles was finally pulled out of his trance-like state as the food appeared on the table, Dumbledore apparently having finished his speech. Shaking his head, he started to fill his plate up and talk to his new housemates.

He’d figure out what the hat meant later, right now he was just going to enjoy being at Hogwarts.

Chapter Text

Charlie anxiously clutched his school bag he had stuffed all his belongings in the night before as he waited for Bill to pick him up from what Charlie assumed was their immigration and security island. When he had told his brother that he had fled home to pursue his dream of dragon handling he didn't think he’d end up in the very country his siblings went to school in.

Fortunately his job didn't seem to care that he had arrived a month earlier than he was supposed to and Charlie had gotten the feeling that this wasn't the first time this sort of situation had happened. Charlie had then spent a few weeks getting his feet back under him after he very abruptly uprooted his life to escape his overbearing parents and then finally got to work once he figured out how to stop his mothers howlers from finding him. Or well, he thought he was finally going to be able to work. Instead his job made him take a placement test of sorts to see what he knew and what he did not know and then decided to send him to their branch in the Arctic Ministry to get some proper training.

Apparently even with the improvements to Hogwarts education system over the years the Brits were still hundreds of kilometers behind every other country when it came to creature classes. His employers then hurriedly reassured him, as if they could physically see the cloud of depression settle over him, and told him that they were not letting him go, he was still employed, and he was just going to learn and work in a far safer environment. Apparently a Hogwarts employee a few hundred years ago had almost died on the job while assisting one of their more experienced employees with the care of a new dragon in the facility. It was then mandated that any and all Hogwarts employees were to be sent to the Arctic to get proper training before they were let near any sort of dragon, including the babies.

Charlie had been more than a little relieved to know that he wasn't the only Hogwarts graduate the company picked up this year and that he wouldn't be the lone former Hogwarts student to be sent back to school.

“Charlie!” A familiar voice called and Charlie snapped his head up to see Bill walking towards him with a big smile on his face. And wasn't that another surprise, when he had sent a letter to the twins telling them he would be joining them at Arcane for job training he hadn’t expected getting a letter back not from them but from Bill. Bill had apparently also been sent to Arcane for job training when he signed on with Gringotts and had just decided to stay put in the Arctic after he finished rather than returning to Britain. Charlie didn't blame him in the slightest.

“Bill!” Charlie said, hugging his brother.

“How was getting through customs?”

“It was good. Security took awhile to get through but after that it was smooth sailing.” Charlie replied.

“Good! Glad to hear it! Did you pick a place to live after getting your dual citizenship figured out?”

“Ah, yes. I picked the normal coniferous forest biome.” Charlie replied as they walked to one of the crystal pads people were appearing to use to teleport places.

“Aww not the redwood biome,” Bill whined, “Now I owe the twins money.”

“You guys bet on me? No-wait of course you bet on me.” Charlie said, shaking his head in amusement.

“I bet you would pick the redwood biome like the rest of us and the twins bet that you would pick something different.” Came Bill's response before he hopped up onto one of the crystal pads with a gesture for Charlie to follow him.

“So how this works is that you think of the location you want to go and push a little bit of magic into the pad and then it teleports you to the corresponding location.” Bill explained.

“Do we both have to do that or just one of us?” Charlie asked.

“Both, otherwise the pad would teleport other people to the same location as you instead of where they intended to go.” Bill replied before adding, “Now, to go to your place, just think home and it will know where to take you. Trust me it works, it won't teleport you back to Britain if that's what you think of when you think home. I did that quite a bit when I arrived here and it got me back to my place in the redwood biome just fine before I started to associate my place here as my home.”

“What about you? How will you get to my place?”

“I will just think of you and it will get me there. That's what I do when I visit the twins.” Bill responded before disappearing in a beam of light.

“Great, thanks for the warring Bill.” Charlie murmured under his breath before clearing his head, thinking of home, and with a worrying feeling of his stomach dropping, he was gone.

Bill was smirking at him from a little ways away with a knowing gleam in his eye when he reappeared in what he assumed was his new place. “YOU COULD HAVE WARNED ME THAT IT WOULD FEEL LIKE I WAS FREE FALLING UPWARDS YA DICK!” Charlie yelled, not at all liking the smile on his brother's face.

“Oh but where’s the fun in that, eh Charlie?” Bill’s smile widened.

“You're such an ass I hope you know that.” Charlie brushed past his still smirking brother and into what looked like a giant open space. There were dragon motifs carved into the stone columns that held the room up and unlit braziers at their bases.

“Oh, I know!” Bill said, smile still not wavering as he turned his attention onto his surroundings. “Sooooo, any reason you picked a castle?”

“Well, my options were a castle, a log cabin, a posh looking manor, and some weird American country style house, so I picked this once cause it looked the coolest.” Charlie answered before broadly smiling, “Well that and it looked like I could fit a dragon in here and I was right.” He heard Bill sigh in exasperation at that.

“Yes Bill?” Charlie innocently asked.

“Just make sure you know the dragon isn't going to kill you in your sleep if you do that.” Came the exhausted response.

“Twins driving you up a wall with their experimenting antics?” Charlie knowingly glanced beside him.

“THEY HAVE A SAFE PRIVATE LAB AT SCHOOL TO EXPERIMENT IN AND YET THEY STILL DECIDE TO BLOW THINGS UP AT THEIR HOUSE!” Bill shouted, threading one of his through his hair in stress.

“Mmhmm, is that gray hair I see?” Charlie said, poking at the roots of Bill’s hair. His hands were swatted away with a sharp glare in his direction.

“Yes, please don’t contribute to its growth. I swear the twins give me a new one every two weeks or so.” Bill said.

“Oh don’t worry, I won't. Now, Ginny on the other hand…” He trailed off with a smile.

“Oh, please don't remind me. I've been destroying howlers all week.” Bill said, running a hand down his face in exhaustion.

Charlie made a noise at Bill’s statement, “I thought you told me that Grandmother and Grandfather weren’t going to tell mum and dad until the summer before?” He got a pissed off sigh in response to his question.

“Soooo, plans changed and nothing good happened, is what I'm hearing?”

“Yes, plans were forced to change and nothing good has happened in my world since. Mum and dad were going to sign a marriage contract with the Potters betrothing Ginny and Charles to each other without Ginny or Charles consent.” Bill began, and Charlie felt the sudden urge to punch someone, “They cant make a legal contract without the head of house’s approval so the one they signed at the bank was flagged as fraudulent and was reported to both me and Grandfather.”

“What the absolute fuck?!”

“Yes, that was my reaction. We decided then and there to sign Ginny up for school at Arcane immediately and then stripped any right they had in making a decision about Ginny’s future away from them.” Bill looked over at him, “I was tempted to just take Ginny and have her live with me from then on out but a fraudulent marriage contract, unfortunately, isn't something that I could get her removed with since it happens frequently and the courts just dismiss those cases when they come up.”

“Goddammit! That’s such Ministry bullshit!” Charlie kicked the nearest wall.

“Yes, but me and Grandfather now have full control of Ginny’s education and future relationships, so now if someone wants Ginny’s hand in marriage they’ll have to send a marriage proposal to Grandfather instead of just asking mum and dad.” Bill said.

“Well that's good at least. Plus don’t they go to school here in the summer?” Bill nodded yes.

“So she’ll be away from them for the majority of the year besides when holidays roll around. Good.”

“Yeah, and she can make the decision for herself on whether she will want to go home for the holidays anyway. Something tells me the moment she gets a taste of freedom here there will be nothing mum or dad can do that would lure her back home to Britain.” Bill said.

“Yes and something tells me that mum is already starting to hover over Ginny more than she already was and that it is already starting to taint Ginny’s view on going home for the summer.” Charlie said, earning another sigh from Bill.

“That bad huh?”

“Apparently mum is screening any mail Ginny gets from the twins because the last time they sent Ginny a care package of sweets and a few of their prank supplies mum sent back a howler accusing them of being the primary cause of Ginny being sent to Arcane and not the fact that she signed a fraudulent marriage contract without Ginny’s consent.” Bill replied before continuing, “So not only will she be missing Ginny for the holidays, mum will also be missing the twins ‘cause they did not take that accusation well. Not that they should, they are well within their rights not to go home if that's how our parents will be acting.”

Charlie rubbed the bridge of his nose in frustration, “So mum is lashing out at anyone and everything?”

“Yes.”

“And I presume she's already tried to get Dumbledore to change Ginny’s school placement?”

“Our parents AND the Potters BOTH have had Dumbledore talk to Grandmother and Grandfather about Ginny’s school placement.” Bill said, and Charlie sharply turned to look at him.

“The Potters?! Really?! Do they not know that just tells Grandfather that they were in on the contract and didn't simply just go along with one of Dumbledore’s ideas.” Charlie didn’t know what they were thinking by doing that.

“Yeah, I don’t know what their thought process was. Grandmother in fact seems to be enjoying this turn of events, she’s apparently getting plenty of new info to blackmail people with.” Bill responded.

“Of course she is.” Charlie said before murmuring, “And mum wonders where Ginny gets it from.”

“But,” Bill clapped his hands together, “enough of that, we should explore your new place and get your stuff all put away. We might have to extend our shopping day to tomorrow as well since something tells me that you have more than the standard number of rooms in this place.” Bill said, walking further into the castle.

“I think it comes with a throne room.” Charlie added and watched as Bill stopped in his tracks to stare at him before sighing, “Of course it does.”

“Were you given options of different castles?” Bill resumed walking.

“Yeah, I just picked what I thought was the coolest of the bunch.”

“So should I be expecting anything interesting from this layout that I should know about? Torture rooms? Dungeons? Armory?” Bill opened one of the doors leading into a room and looked around. “Ah, a ballroom. Why do you need a ballroom?” Bill turned to look at him.

Charlie shrugged, “It's just what came with the design.”

“Okay, please tell me what other extra rooms this massive place comes with.” Bill said, gesturing to the ballroom next to him, “Because I would like to not get lost and we need to furnish this entire place.”

“Um, it comes with a throne room which should be off the main entrance, the ballroom we just ran into, a training ground, armory, dungeon, I do think there is a torture cell somewhere in this place, it comes with a forge, a few different greenhouses, two different ritual spaces, a private worship room, an animal stable, a public garden and a private garden.” Charlie answered.

Bill stared at him for a moment before rubbing the bridge of his nose and murmuring, “Of course it does.”

“I wont tell the twins or Ginny about the possible torture chamber and will ward it so no one can go in there but me,” Charlie said when it looked like his brother was starting to internally freakout, “but I think we both know that at some point Ginny will go exploring and end up finding that room.”

“Yes, and I'll help with the warding so she doesn't find it till she is in third year at least.” Bill said, looking down the hallway with a look of dread.

“Third year? Really? I would have thought she wouldn't find it till at least her sixth year.”

Bill raised his eyebrow at him, “First off, they teach some advanced stuff at Arcane pretty early on. Wards are one of them even though the students can't take the actual class till their seventh year since it's an elective. Second off, this is Ginny we're talking about, if anyone can get into a class they're not supposed to take until later in their schooling it's her. Especially if she has motivation.”

Charlie winced, “Okay, I see your point.”

“Plus most classes besides history, religion, and flight class teach basic runes in the first year classes.” Bill said, beginning to walk down the main floor hallway again.

“What?!” Charlie exclaimed, “All we learn in our first year at Hogwarts is just basic spells and potions!”

“Yeah no, I was surprised too. The twins took to it like ducks to water and it was mildly terrifying to watch. It was a little harder for me since I wasn't using a wand but since I was older and knew more runes the professors let me pick which runic language I wanted to use.” Bill said.

“Were you the only older student in the first year classes?” Charlie asked, now nervous that he was going to be the only adult in a class full of small children.

“Oh gods no! There were about ten other adults there with me that had been sent to Arcane for further education by their employers and I wasn't the only Hogwarts student there either. Plus even though their first year classes and the majority of the students are children the professors are super nice and will talk to you like the adults you are instead of treating you like children like the Hogwarts professors are prone to do.” Bill responded and Charlie sagged in relief.

It ended up taking about an hour and half to tour the castle, lingering in some rooms like the before they finally came upon the throne room.

“Gods be good, Charlie…” Bill said as they stepped into the dimly lit throne room. The room was by far the largest in the castle, with high ceilings held up by massive geometric columns that were built into the cool gray walls. A triangular throne sat at the back of the room, made from the same sharp slanted rock that the very castle was built upon.

“When does Ginny get here?” Charlie asked, eyes still stuck on the imposing chair on the far end of the room.

“She has her first visit six months from now.”

“Would you mind?” Charlie gestured to the chair.

“Yeah I can do that.”

“Thanks” Charlie really didn't want to find Ginny perched menacingly in his throne room one day and if he and Bill had to resort to less than legal wards to manage that then so be it.

After a bit of silence Bill spoke up again, “Well, we should get to shopping. We need to get a crap ton of furniture to make this place presentable.”

“Yes, lets!” Charlie said, turning to leave, his brother close behind him.

They walked in silence for a while before Charlie spoke up again, “You think the twins would be able to meet us for a late lunch?”

“Oh yeah, they can do that.” Bill answered with a chuckle as the teleport pad hummed underneath their feet as they stepped on it.

“Brilliant! Where do you think we should e-” Charlie was cut off as the teleport pad activated and they disappeared. The castle grew dark as the light from the pad dimmed and silence reigned once more as its new tenant left.

Chapter Text

It was a fine Tuesday afternoon and Voldemort had just sat down at his desk in his office to start working on some Wizengamot legislation when his head elf popped in and announced that Lord Black had arrived and was requesting to meet with him. After lamenting for a moment on how nice of a day he had been having up until Sirius Black’s arrival, which he had felt and had been doing his best to ignore up until his elf had decided to make Black’s presence official, he waved his elf off and focused back on his work in a last ditch attempt to get something done before Black got to his office.

Two minutes later, Voldemort briefly glanced up as the doors to his office slammed open and Sirius walked with an irritated scowl on his face.

“Let me guess, the Potters?”

Black sighed and he ungracefully threw himself into one of Voldemort's office chairs. “Actually, it's Dumbledore, the Potters, and some of my dearest family members. I think I have some more gray hairs now.”

Voldemort stared for a moment before responding, “...How tragic.”

“I KNOW!!!” Sirius lurched forward, validation shining in his eyes, with hands outstretched before catching the look on his face and slowly lowering his hands, the light dying in his eyes as he did so, “… you don't really care do you?”

“No.”

There was a beat of silence before Sirius spoke, “Thanks for that.”

“You’re welcome. Now, was there something you wanted to talk about other than your irritation with Dumbledore, the Potters, and your relatives?.”

“Yes actually, but it does have to do with some of my relatives. You know how Cedrella and Septimus had to break it to Molly and Arthur that they were going to send Ginny to Arcane?” Sirius said, and Voldemort nodded. “Well, I just got a lovely little owl from Cedrella in the mail asking if I could go down into one of the vaults to get some protective jewelry that Ginny could wear, and of course I said yes, so I sent some over to her but that got me thinking.” Sirius paused to take a breath. “Charlie is Hadrian’s soulmate, and as such that makes him one of the most at risk people in Wizarding Britain the moment people find out Hadrian is the actual Boy-Who-Lived. Hadrian is also Lord Peverell and Heirs Slytherin and Black on top of being the Boy-Who-Lived-”

Voldemort cut Sirius off, “Which would make young Charlie one of the richest Lord Consort’s in-waiting in nearly a century and he has nothing protecting him at the moment besides a very small Hadrian and the siblings that currently reside with him in the Arctic.”

“Yeah, not exactly a good outlook for Charlie's future safety even if we factor in the dragons both he and Hadrian will have by the time Dumbledore and the rest of Wizarding Britain find out who the actual Boy-Who-Lived is.” Sirius said.

“Does the boy even know he has a soulmate?” It was a valid question to ask. It would look quite odd for two Lords of two of the wealthiest noble houses in Britain to just send a random Weasley jewelry laced with protective spells out of the blue.

“Cedrella and Septimus are going to speak with him in detail about it later this week but I do know his elder brother talked to him about it shortly after he arrived in the Arctic Ministry.” Sirius responded, and Voldemort reclined into his chair in thought.

“I assume you have something in mind that would suitably protect him and not look out of place? I know most of the protective jewelry I have in the Slytherin vaults is necklaces and hair accessories rather than rings and things that wouldn’t look out of place on a guy.” Voldemort said, and then tacked on, “and I can’t just waltz into a jewelers and commission something, the whole of wizarding Britain would then be speculating if I have a significant other and sticking their noses where they don’t belong.”

Sirius grimaced, “No offense, but as disgustingly and sadistically amusing as that would be-“

“None taken”

“- I think we can get around that by finding something in one of my vaults that you can put some extra family enchantments and runes on.” Sirius said and Voldemort nodded.

“That would work, when are we planning on getting it to him? Some of the family spells I have in mind take a few days due to how old they are and I know we both have quite a few meetings this week that will make getting any sort of spell work done impossible.”

Sirius’ eyebrows scrunched up in thought, “Do you have Arcane’s extracurricular schedule by any chance?”

“Yes I do,” He opened one of the drawers in his desk that he kept all of Hadrian's pertinent information in and quickly grabbed the calendar, “Here”, he handed it to Sirius.

Voldemort reclined in his chair for a moment, savoring the silence as Sirius flipped through the calendar.

“Can you have your stuff done by October 26th?” Sirius glanced up at him.

“Oh yes, they don’t take that long.”

“Okay good, then that will give us plenty of time to get this done.” Sirius said, flipping the calendar shut and handing it back to him.

“What’s so special about the 26th?” Voldemort asked, curious about why Sirius picked that day of all days.

“That’s the next time Septimus and Cedrella will be heading to Arcane after this week. The twins have a dragon race they are competing in and Septimus makes it his mission to attend every single one.” Sirius responded, leaning back in his chair.

“How sentimental.” Voldemort drawled and Sirius huffed a laugh.

“Just wait until Hadrian starts competing in races, you’ll make sure to be at every one of them too.”

Voldemort scoffed, “Of course, I do so love watching people cry in despair when they lose. Especially when the person I am cheering for is the one that has made them cry.”

“You like watching anyone cry in despair.” Sirius said.

“No, I like watching people's dreams die. There’s a difference.” He clarified, “What I don’t like is when my acquaintances cry, then I have to deal with their disgusting sticky selves and attempt to fix whatever problem they are having so they’ll stop crying.”

Sirius stared at him for a moment before speaking, “You mean you don’t like comforting people in the moments that they are down for the count and needing comfort.”

“Yes exactly!”

Sirius pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes across from him before muttering, “Of course you do, why am I not surprised?”

Voldemort waited until Sirius composed himself and looked at him again before asking, “Was that all you came to speak to me about?”

“Um, no, I had a chat with Moody a few days ago and got some interesting information.”

Voldemort raised an eyebrow at that, Moody tended to be tight-lipped on any and all information so it was rare that Sirius would get anything substantial out of his meetings with the man.

“Oh? And what did the DMLE’s best auror have to say?”

“Apparently Amelia got wind of the Potter-Weasley betrothal attempt and has opened an investigation into the two families along with Dumbledore since he stood in as witness.” Sirius said, and Voldemort smiled.

“I assume Dumbledore pulled some strings that only he can pull and got them out whatever minor consequences Amelia could have given them for their actions.” Voldemort asked.

“Yes, yes he did. But now Amelia is apparently on a warpath since what Dumbledore did constitutes as bribery and manipulation and Moody apparently gave Dumbledore a good yelling at the last order meeting and blatantly told the old goat that if he did something like that again he’d resign from the order.” Sirius said, and Voldemort's grin became even wider.

“So she’s planning on somewhat leveling the playing field and Dumbledore is now scrambling for a way to stop her?”

“Yep” Sirius said.

Voldemort chuckled, “I’ll send word to Lucius and Thaddeus and get them going on a plan to stop Dumbledore.”

“I’ll speak to Gerald and Augusta.”

“Wonderful!” Voldemort made a mental note to speak to the Black sisters about getting some public blackmail about Dumbledore’s underhanded dealings in the paper.

“You’re planning on getting my cousins involved aren’t you?” Sirius said, now looking at him wearily.

“Why of course! The public deserves to know this and the many more underhanded dealings Dumbledore applies on a regular basis when working in the ministry.” Voldemort said, watching in amusement as Sirius inched away from him.

“Yes well, leave me out of it and on that note I am going to take my leave. Have a good rest of your day dealing with Wizengamot legislation!” Sirius scampered out of his office and he was once again left in silence.

“Lyla?”

His head elf popped back in, “Yes Master?”

“Could you grab me a scotch on the rocks? I have a feeling I’ll be needing it.” He said as he looked down at the pile of papers he now had to work through.

“Of course, will there bes anything else master requires?” Lyla asked.

“No, that will be all for now, thank you.” He said, reclining in his chair once more. The drink appeared moments later.

Taking a sip of his scotch, he sighed as he perused through the pile in front of him. There were days when we wondered if he was truly one of the only competent people left in the country.

Chapter Text

Sirius woke up to the sound of hooting. Blearily glancing over he saw it was Hadrian’s owl, Hedwig.

Rolling out of bed, Sirius walked over to the owl that was now having a standoff with his own owl, Erebus. “What does my little hatchling have to say, Hedwig?” Hedwig extended the letter that was attached to her leg.

Dear Father,

Arcane is so cool! All my classes have been so fun, actually that's not true, both history and religion are boring and time management sucks but all the other classes have been fun! The astronomy observatory is cool and the flight classroom is a big dome like room with a big pit in the center of it. It was kind of intimidating when we first went into the room but our teacher, Professor Mavra, is super nice and always has snacks waiting for us!

Sirius chuckled at that, nothing could get Hadrian more motivated than food.

I met some new friends too! Their names are Fred, George, and Astrid. Fred and George are the Weasley twins that you told me about, they like to pester Draco a lot but I know he likes them too, he just doesn't want to admit he doesn't find some Weasleys annoying. They are in third year and said their favorite classes were potions, transfiguration, and potions. They even have their own personal lab they get to experiment in! Isn't that cool! I know Draco is aiming to get one of those by the end of the semester but I don't know if he will manage that. I bet that he would get one by the end of spring semester but who knows, the twins got one in their first week but that was because they like to experiment. Oh, they make their own prank supplies like you do! I think you would like them a lot.

The other person we made friends with is a girl in our year named Astrid, she's from Wizarding Scandinavia and her and Theo like to talk about their axe’s a lot. She even has her own one that she carries around with her! Apparently if we have weapons the school lets us carry them on us, she likes to use hers to threaten people and I am a little concerned that Daphne is taking notes from her. She approached us Wednesday when she heard Theo lamenting that his grandfather didn't let him take the family axe and told him of a place he could get his own done and until we get to sixth year and get to make our own weapons. She has since then been sitting with us in classes and at lunch and is super nice! She even told me that my scar was cool and then showed me one she got when she was a kid! She's not even afraid of my eye when it changes colors at night!

Sirius made a mental note to contact Thaddeus and Gerald about Daphne and Theo’s newest friend.

Oh! We also got to meet the twins dragon, it's a rust colored Hideous Zippleback whose names are Chaos and Mayhem. I think it's very suiting. They like to make explosions and pester other dragons in the aviary while the twins are attending classes. Kreacher doesn't like him for some reason though and always interrupts us and makes us go home when we are giving Chaos and Mayhem pets.

Sirius could think of a few reasons why Kreacher would not like an unfamiliar dragon near his precious little master. He had a feeling that he'd be hearing from Kreacher when Hadrian himself gets his own dragon.

I hope you are doing well back home and are not lonely! I told Kreacher to take some of the biscuits he made earlier this week to you! I hope you liked them!

He did like them but he could have done without Kreacher's grumbling.

I sent some to Uncle Thomas as well but for some reason Kreacher wouldn't deliver them for me so I had to call one of uncles elves and have them deliver the biscuits.

Sirius could think of a very good reason why Kreacher would refuse to give “Uncle Thomas” biscuits.

The homework here sucks, it's very hard. I don't know if your homework was hard when you went to Hogwarts but it's really hard here. Kreacher and my upperclassmen mentor, a vampire named Sapphire, have been good help though.

I will say, we are relying on Theo to get us through this first part of History class. Even our history teacher, Professor Brakker, doesn't like the Great Joining and the Drawing of The First Blood very much though I understand why they teach it.

Sirius could empathize with Hadrian on that. He hated that period when his tutors covered it.

But! Dark and Light magic homework is fun! They have us practicing on drawing our magic forth so we can start learning and casting spells and I got some little firework-like sparks to appear! They were bright green!

Sirius made another mental note to talk to Voldemort about that if Hadrian hasn't already mentioned it in his letter to the man. He wondered if the killing curse had more effects on Hadrian then they thought. That or it could be his bond with Lord Death that was making his pure magic appear that color.

Religion class had us visit Temple Island as our homework and we had to write a paragraph of a specific god or goddesses temple that we found interesting. Lord Death was hovering over me the entire time so I took that as the pretty blatant hint that it was and wrote my paragraph about his temple. He had some attendants but not as many as the other temples on the island.

I also saw that Theo winced in pain when he tried to approach Lady Hestia's temple instead of Lord Time’s temple so I have a feeling he wrote about Lord Time’s temple to stave off any migraine Lord Time would have given him if he wrote about Lady Hestia’s temple instead of his.

That poor child, Sirius thought.

All we've done in Charms so far has been reading theory and studying specific runes that are used along side charms and since we cant use our magic to cast spells right now so it's been a bit boring. Our homework is usually writing paragraphs about whatever we were studying the day previous.

Potions has been fun though! We got to try our hand at some lower level potions and our teacher, Professor Draganov, is super cool! Draco even says he's better than Snape at teaching-

Sirius didn't doubt that. Any potions class not taught by Snape would be better.

-though by the way Draco describes Snape's teaching I think anyone would be better than that man. Death says he agrees with that sentiment. Our homework for that class has been to use our potions lab at home and recreate the potion we made in class on our own with our house elves supervising us so that we don't make any potentially dangerous mistakes. I'm just happy to finally use the potions lab at my cabin now, it's relaxing, even with Kreacher’s hovering.

Herbology is boring but that's to be expected, I am not the best with plants. Neville is having a great time in Herbology though and is one of the best students in the class. We were given some creeping heart vine to keep alive as our homework and Neville gave us some tips on how to keep it alive but mine isn't doing so well. I don't think it likes me. It's still alive though and that's all that matters. I did send Kreacher to get some grow lights for the greenhouse since it didn't come with those even though I live in a biome of eternal darkness so hopefully it starts to look a little healthier.

Sirius thought it was more him being Death's chosen then any light problem. Magical plants tended to be sensitive to a person's magical aura.

We had mind magic on Saturday but we didn't do much other than meditate. I have my upperclassmen mentor to practice with since we have to do it with someone we trust and because apparently you can't build proper shields without trusting the person you are practicing with. Also Death told me she can't really betray or harm me at all since she's a subject of Death and I am above her on the totem pole. Whatever that means, I think he meant it to comfort me but it came out kind of weird. But all we've been told to do for homework in that class is meditate for thirty minutes at home so that class has been fine.

Oh! And for astronomy class we were told to draw star charts for our homework so I've been doing my astronomy charts at Draco’s since he has the best view of the artificial sky here.

I think that's about it, I'll send you another letter when I have more to talk about! I love you!

Your Son,
Hadrian

He sniffled for a moment, he really missed that kid.

“Are you going to write back?” A familiar baritone voice suddenly said from the standing mirror across from him.

“HOLY SHIT!” Sirius jumped, clutching his chest. “Are you attempting to give me a heart attack?!”

“No, not yet at least.” was the response he got from a very amused God of Death.

Sirius stared, “Thanks… I guess.”

“You’re welcome.”

They lapsed into silence for a bit, both staring at each other. Sirius thought they could have kept staring at each other in silence if it wasn't so damn awkward and terrifying, for Sirius at least.

“Was there something you needed from me, my lord?” Sirius figured he’d be polite today, Hadrian’s letter had put him in a good mood.

“Oh I just wanted to see if you were going to respond. My charge is very eagerly awaiting a response.” came the gods' response.

“I just got the letter. I'll respond to him after I eat some breakfast.”

“Good. Now-” Ah, there it was. Sirius had a feeling this visit wasn't just because Hadrian wanted to hear his response. “- I assume you heard from Hadrian that his student mentor is a vampire named Sapphire?”

“Yes he mentioned something like that.”

“I would be expecting a letter from Count Dracula then, Sapphire is his youngest daughter and I am sure he will send you a letter trying to court favor with the father of my chosen.” Death said and Sirius wanted to start crying. He thought he was done dealing with over eager vampires when he secured Hadrian a lifetime supply of blood pops to keep his appetite somewhat in check.

“Should I be expecting a visit then?”

“I would keep that in mind as a possibility. You never know with vampires.” Death said nonchalantly, like he hadn't just set Sirius in the sights of the most powerful vampire in the world… again.

“Of course, thank you for the warning, Lord Death.” Sirius said as politely as he could now muster.

“Was that all?”

“Yes, I believe so. However, I will reach out again if something comes up that you will need to be prepared for in advance.” Sirius gave the god a grimace of a smile at that.

“Thank you, it means a lot.” And Sirius meant that, but he wished it wouldn't come in the form of a god appearing in his bedroom at eight in the morning.

Lord Death fortunately disappeared after that and Sirius collapsed back in bed. Blankly staring at his ceiling he called his house elf, “Mimsy?”

Mimsy popped in, “Yes Master Black?”

“I think I'll have breakfast in bed today.”

“Of course Master Black, yous bes feeling okay?” She asked.

“Ah yes, I’m fine. Lord Death decided to pay me a visit to inform me of some information pertaining to Hadrian and his new student mentor.” The small elf visibly relaxed at that.

“I’s see. You just lay there and Mimsy’s will go get yous breakfast, you no’s need to worry about anything today, Mimsy will take care of it.” She said before she popped away to get Sirius his breakfast and no doubt inform the rest of the elves about their Lord's unexpected guest.

Sirius sat up as his tea service popped in next to him and got comfortable before serving himself a glass. The rest of his breakfast and Mimsy popped in a few minutes later.

“Would Lord Black bes needing anything else?” She enquired.

“Could you have any incoming owl directed to my office please? I won't be working on anything until after lunch.” Because fuck it, if Lord Death was going to scare the shit out of him at eight in the morning then he deserved to laze around for awhile.

“Of course, Master Black” she disappeared after that, leaving Sirius to his breakfast in bed.

Sirius sighed, he was going to go gray by fifty, he could already feel it.

Chapter Text

Charlie nervously paced in front of his foyer-teleportation room, Charlie wasn't quite sure what to call it. His grandparents were supposed to talk to him more in depth about the utter bombshell that Bill dropped on him a few weeks back.

The twins kept giving him shit eating grins and he didn't know how to feel about them. He knew they had made friends with his supposed soulmate and had invited the kid and his friends over a few times since the school semester had started but Charlie was keeping his distance. He had seen the kid in a few of his classes but so far Charlie had not been noticed and he was completely fine with keeping it like that for now. He was sure the kid wasn't bad but for starters, he was eleven, and secondly he was heir to the Black family and for all he knew the kid hated his family's guts. The twins didn't count because they could get literally everyone to like them, even the Malfoys kid liked them, or at least he thought the kid did. He couldn't quite tell.

Apparently he was so engrossed in his thoughts that he didn't even notice the crystal pad in front of him go off and his Grandparents arrive.

“Well, if you are that lost in thought and concerned to not notice us arriving then i’d say we have our work cut out for us.” His grandmother suddenly said, startling him out of his thoughts.

“Grandmother! Grandfather!” He went and gave them both hugs, “How are you doing?”

His grandfather huffed a laugh, “I think we should be asking you that. You look one revelation away from a crisis.”

Charlie let out a miserable laugh, “I feel one revelation from a crisis.”

“Oh my dear, let's go to a sitting room and get comfortable. I promise you that this isn't as bad or concerning as you think it is.” His grandmother said, patting his shoulder, before absently tacking on at the end, “-well most of it isn't concerning. Some parts are initially.” And Charlie sent her a concerned look that she ignored.

“And look at this place! A castle! Good pick Charlie! Much better than your brothers, I'll say that!” His grandfather said, grinning widely, distracting Charlie from his inner plight as he led them to the closest sitting room.

“Septimus!” His grandmother chided.

“What?! It's true! This is way cooler!” His grandfather replied, and Charlie chuckled under his breath.

His grandmother, however, sighed. “Septimus, Bill and the Twins’ homes are perfectly fine. By the gods, they live in giant trees. How is that not cool?”

“I never said it wasn't cool. I just said that this was cooler. Besides, their houses are one breath of fire away from becoming kindling wood. This place, in contrast, looks like you could fit a dragon in here.” His grandfather said in true Gryffindor fashion, giving Charlie a good pat on the back.

Charlie laughed, “That was my thought process when I picked the place!”

“You see! He gets it!” His grandfather chortled, looking at his grandmother with a broad smile.

His grin widened when his grandmother finally huffed a laugh, “As you say, dear.”

His grandfather clasped an arm around Charlie and gave him a good jostle as he chuckled. A few seconds later, Charlie pushed the doors to the sitting room open.

“Oh my goodness! Charlie dear, this looks lovely! You definitely got your decoration skills from my side of the family.” His grandmother said, walking further in to admire one of the tapestries Charlie had gotten from one of the décor shops in town.

His grandfather huffed from beside him and whispered, “That’s a load of hippogriff dung if I ever heard it! Her family can't decorate for shit, and what they do put up as decoration has a fifty fifty chance of killing ya if ya touch it!”

Charlie smothered a laugh. His grandfather, however, didn't.

“What are you two laughing at?” His grandmother turned to look at them with a smile on her face.

“Oh, nothing love. Just saying how your side can't decorate for shit and what they do put up as décor always comes with the chance of death if the wrong person touches it.” His grandfather said and then laughed at his grandmother's affronted face.

“Excuse you! I'll have you know that not all my family's decorations are cursed!” His grandmother had her hands on her hips now, “None of the decorations at my family home were cursed, you just had your introduction to my parents at Grimmauld Place. That's why you think everything is cursed, because everything in that townhouse is practically cursed.”

“And I pity anyone that has had to live in that hell hole. Especially when old Wally lived there.” His grandfather said, scrunching his nose up.

“Yes well, I’d say she was one of the only people in the entire Black family that actually enjoyed living in that wretched place. Even Druella, as cruel as she was, never wanted to live there. It takes, and pardon my language, a certain kind of fucked up person to actually enjoy living in that mausoleum.” His grandmother said, finally sitting down in one of the chairs.

“Now, enough of my horrible relatives. Charlie dear, come sit. Let us chat and dispel all your worries.” His grandmother patted the seat next to her and he nervously walked over and sat down.

“I take it Bill dumped a bunch of information on you and didn't really elaborate, hmm?” His grandmother asked.

“Um, kind of. He told me that I have a soulmate and told me who it was but besides that he didn't really elaborate.” Charlie said and watched as his grandmother's face scrunched up in disappointment.

“Mmmmm, that boy really needs to take some speech classes. He’s going to say something one day and piss off the wrong person.” His grandmother said and turned to his grandfather, “He’s enrolled in etiquette and society class correct?”

“I believe so. I can have the bank check his grades the next time I go in.” His grandfather replied.

“Good. If they are not up to standard then I want a tutor assigned to him. He can't just dump information on people and expect them to be fine with it all. Especially when it concerns something as delicate and precious as a soulmate. Especially, when the soulmate in question is as important as Charlie’s is.” His grandmother said, and Charlie would normally pity his brother if he hadn't just lived the past three weeks in a state of existential dread.

“Now, on the topic of soulmates. They are the other half of yourself Charlie, they are the only person on this earth that has the ability to make you truly happy. A soulmate is what the twins are to each other, they are the literal other half of your soul. They are the only being on this earth that will make you feel well and truly whole.” His grandmother began, “Now I’m not saying no one else can make you happy, what I am saying is that no matter who you are with you will always feel as if you are lacking something. I don't think I’m wrong in my assumption that you have felt that numerous times before.”

It must have shown on his face because his grandmother hummed in sympathy and patted his leg.

“You want me to let you in on a little secret?” Charlie looked at his grandmother curiously.

“Your grandfather and I are soulmates. Did you ever wonder how a Weasley and a Black ever got past the generations of instilled animosity to ever form a lasting relationship with each other?” Charlie gave his grandmother a little embarrassed smile and his grandmother chuckled.

“Now, do you know how one is bestowed a soulmate by Lady Magic?” Charlie shook his head no.

“Soulmates are only bestowed if you come into a creature inheritance at age sixteen or are a magical being from birth. Do you know what the Black family creature inheritance is?” His grandmother asked and Charlie numbly shook his head no again.

“It's a siren, dear. That's why your grandfather calls me his ‘lovely siren’, it's not just a term of endearment. I was the only one of my siblings to receive a creature inheritance and my family knew it was coming because I was tested at a young age by the Goblins and they absolutely knew who my soulmate was. Now, while everyone was very proud that I had gotten the family inheritance, they were less thrilled about who I was destined to and decided to not tell me. Instead, they betrothed me to another pureblood family. I believe their hope was that if I didn't know then me and Septimus would never come to pass.” His grandmother paused to take a breath.

“Well, unfortunately for them, you can't just subvert Lady Magic and Lady Fate’s decisions and I fell for Septimus anyway. As such, when we got married I was burnt off the family tapestry and disowned from my birth family. No matter how many attempts my parents and Septimus made at getting along, it was just too much for the main branch. Now, you don't have to worry about this because my situation is very different from yours. Do you know why?”

Charlie shook his head no.

“Because, this is a very different time period then the one I grew up in and you are going to be joining a very different Black family.”

“How are they different?” Charlie spoke up for the first time since the conversation began.

“Contrary to popular belief and the media nowadays, Sirius Black has not betrayed the light and turned dark like Dumbledore would like everyone to believe. He left the order and his former friends for a person. The very person you are destined to. Did Bill tell you his name?”

“Hadrian?” Charlie guessed, he hadn't been paying very good attention when Bill had told him all this.

“Yes, Hadrian Eridanus Black-Peverell. He is Lord to the Peverell family, yes the one from the story books, and he is heir to both the Black family and the Slytherin family.” She paused, watching as Charlie's eyes widened in shock.

“He’s Slytherin's heir?” Charlie said.

“Yes, but he's not the only one of the family left alive, he's just next in line for the Lordship. His uncle, Lord Thomas Aurelius Slytherin-Gaunt, is the current Lord of the Slytherin family and while he's also Lord of the Gaunt family that doesn't really mean anything. The Gaunts were destitute and poor by the early nineteen hundreds and had lost any credibility they had in the wizarding world way back in sixteen hundreds when they became hermits and started marrying siblings to siblings in their desperation to keep their bloodline pure but that's besides the point. Hadrian is a child and while, yes, he does hold the heir of Slytherin title it doesn't really mean all that much when the Lord is still alive and has control of what the family does and doesn't do.” His grandmother explained.

“Lord Slytherin won't harm you either.” His grandfather suddenly piped up, “You are infinitely precious to the continuation of his family line and the sanity of his only heir. Lady Magic has effectively given you the entire protection of the entire Dark faction in wizarding Britain. But that is not all, I am sure by now you have latched onto the fact that one of the people in a soulmate pairing has to have creature blood of some sort?”

Charlie nodded.

“And as I am sure you know you do not have any active creature blood in you, which means Hadrian is the one that has the creature blood out of the two of you. Hadrian’s inheritance is not normal. He already has it but he was not born a creature, rather he was brought back a creature. His inheritance was bestowed upon him by Lord Death, one of the major gods of our religion, upon his death and rebirth.” His grandfather chuckled when he saw Charlie's concerned and confused face, “I see you are confused.”

“Um yeah, how does someone die and come back, and what did Lord Death bestow upon him?” Charlie asked, because as far as he knew, people didn't just come back after they died.

“One dies and returns if they are struck by a killing curse cast by an unstable person and that killing curse rebounds.” His grandmother said, rejoining the conversation.

Charlie's mind blanked out for a bit, “Wait, are you talking about what I think you are talking about?”

“Yes, we are talking about the Boy-Who-Lived and yes, that means Charles Potter is not the Boy-Who-Lived like the world has been led to believe.” His grandmother answered.

“But…You-Know-Who attacked the Potters?” It wasn't meant to come out as a question but Charlie wasn't even sure anymore. His entire world, what he thought he knew, was crashing down and burning in front of him.

“Yes, he did, but Hadrian Black was not known as Hadrian Black back then. Rather, his name used to be Harry Potter, fraternal twin to Charles Potter.” His grandfather spoke up again, “Upon the Dark Lord's attack on the Potters young Harry was struck with the killing curse and it rebounded, destroying the roof of the nursery and causing the Dark Lord to flee. Dumbledore then arrived on the scene, took one look at Charles who was awake and had a V-shaped cut on his head from the destroyed ceiling, and proclaimed him the Boy-Who-Lived then and there. Completely disregarding young Harry, who had passed out due to magic exhaustion and was being fussed over by his Godfather, one Sirius Black.”

His grandparents paused, letting Charlie take some time to absorb the absolute bombshell he was hearing.

“So your telling me, that the kid the ENTIRE WORLD believes is the Boy-Who-Lived is in fact not the actual Boy-Who-Lived, and the actual one is Lord of the Peverell family, one of the most infamous families in wizarding Britain along with the Slytherin family which he is also somehow heir to, as well as heir to the Black family which is one of the most powerful pureblood families in the world. Oh, and he’s also MY SOULMATE and has a mysterious creature inheritance that was bestowed upon him by one of the most powerful gods our people pray to because he somehow accomplished something that should be impossible.” Charlie ranted, “I hope you know how batshit crazy this sounds.”

His grandmother raised an unimpressed eyebrow at him, “I swear upon my magic that everything we have told you is the truth and nothing but the truth.” She raised her wand and lit it with a silent Lumos.

Charlie slumped back into his chair, dumbly staring at his grandmother's lit wand.

“As crazy as all of this has no doubt sounded, it is the truth.” His grandfather said, drawing Charlie's attention. “And yes, as you said the actual Boy-Who-Lived is not only your soulmate but is also Heirs Slytherin and Black, as well as Lord of one of the most mysterious families in our world.”

“How?”

“How what?” His grandfather prompted.

“How is he Heir of Slytherin if he was attacked by the Heir of Slytherin?”

His grandmother smiled, “Think. Think back on what we have already told you. What sticks out to you?”

Charlie thought back on what he had been told for a moment. “Unstable. You said he was attacked by an unstable person and that's the reason the curse rebound.”

“Good. Glad to see those seven years of schooling, no matter how subpar, did you some good. And yes, that's part of the reason the curse rebound. The Dark Lord was unstable, do you know what that means?” His grandmother asked.

“I assume it doesn't mean what I think it means.”

His grandmother chuckled, “Yes, you are correct. It does mean something different than what most would think. Now firstly, the only reason both me and your grandfather know about this and the information you are about to be told is because Lord Black and Lord Slytherin thought it prudent to tell us rather than it be a shock down the line when you two inevitably would have ended up with each other. Do you understand?”

Charlie nodded.

“What is about to be said is not to be repeated without express permission from both me, your grandfather, Lord Black, and Lord Slytherin. Do you understand that? I dont give a shit what Hadrian or you think in the future. You get our permission first before you say anything, do you understand that Charles Septimus Weasley?” His grandmother gave him a very pointed stare and he rapidly nodded. This was serious if his grandmother was cursing and dropping full names in the same breath.

“Has Bill ever told you what Horcrux’s are?” His grandfather asked.

“Uh, he mentioned something called that a week ago. He said it was a soul container.”

His grandfather hummed, “He's getting further in his training then, that's good. And he's right, sort of. It's an object that a wix can put a piece of their soul in but it's not as simple as that. To tear a piece of your soul off of the main piece for safekeeping then you have to murder someone in cold blood. Voldemort had a few of these, his moniker literally means ‘flight of death’ or to flee death. But as one makes more of these soul containers, the main soul that is housed in the body gets smaller and smaller causing the individual to go more and more crazy. I think you can see where this is going.”

Charlie nodded, “So Voldemort hears of a prophesied child and decides out of the Longbottom's or the Potters he would go to the Potters and eliminate the threat.”

His grandmother nodded, “Precisely, now, just because the Dark Lord was insane doesn't mean he was stupid. After the killing curse rebounded he went into hiding determined to figure out what went wrong because by all accounts, Harry Potter should have died that night and Voldemort would have gotten both a horcrux out of it and his enemy out of the way.”

“Another horcrux?” Charlie asked.

“Yes, he had already begun the process the night before and all he needed was the murder to once again split his soul and put it into the prepared container he had brought with him. However, that didn't happen. What did happen, not that he realized it at the time, was that a sliver of his soul did indeed separate from the main piece but rather than go into the nonliving object the Dark Lord had on his person at the time of the attack it attached itself to a living being. One Harry Potter to be precise.” His grandmother answered and then stopped talking, letting Charlie stew in his own thoughts for a moment.

“So my soulmate, the one I am destined to be with, has a literal piece of the Dark Lord inside him.” Charlie was wondering why his grandparents didn't seem more concerned about this.

“He did, when Dumbledore proclaimed Charles as the Boy-Who-Lived the Potters and Dumbledore immediately moved to send young Harry away. Determined to give their now famous son all the attention he could possibly need as he was now the assumed prophecy child.” His grandfather said, “Sirius, however, took a godfather's oath to always care for the child and step in incase the parents were no longer able to take care of the child. That very oath caused him to have a falling out with his former friends and leader as they were talking about disowning Harry, a process that would have killed him given the extremely vulnerable state he was already in, and as such the oath compelled him to take Harry into his own family as his birth parents had proven they could not care for the child. Sirius then used a blood adoption potion to bring Harry, now called Hadrian, into the Black family which gave Hadrian enough family magic to rely on to survive the Potter family magic ripping itself from him.”

His grandfather paused, watching emotions swirl on Charlie's face.

“WHAT THE FUCK!” Charlie screeched in anger. Children were sacred, to harm one was to commit the ultimate sin in their world. It was an immediate sentence to Azkaban.

“Indeed,” His grandmother took over again, her voice cold. “However, to get a blood adoption done without the ministry finding out one has to go to the Goblins, and with the already precarious state Hadrian was in, the Goblins admitted him to their healing ward and discovered the horcrux lying dormant within his scar. The process to remove the shard was intense and it did not go without a fight. This fight caused the relatively small jagged scar on Hadrian's face to split open and expand, cutting through his eye and down his face, forming the scar everyone is now familiar with today.”

Charlie both relaxed and tensed back up, “Is his eye…okay?”

He had seen the scar on the kid and it wasn't easy to look at.

“His eye is fine, the goblins saw to it that his vision would not be impaired. It just now looks a bit different.” His grandfather said and smiled as Charlie relaxed.

Silence reigned for a moment before another question came to him, “Wait, so how did he end up with the Heir of Slytherin title and who is the current Lord Slytherin? Because I don't think You-Know-Who would take kindly to someone taking the title he held onto for so long.”

“Good question, Charlie.” His grandfather said, “As for how Hadrian ended up with the Slytherin heirship, Hadrian earned the rite of conquest title when he survived the killing curse and the Slytherin family magic bequeathed him the title of Heir Slytherin. As for Voldemort, why do you think that Lord Thomas lives when it's pretty much known that Voldemort would very much not like anyone taking his place or getting the lordship before him?”

Charlie sat for a moment and mulled that over before a terrible realization came to him. “Lord Slytherin is Voldemort,” he said quietly.

“Yes he is.” His grandmother said equally as quietly.

“Why isn't my soulmate dead if that's the case?” That was the only thing that Charlie was confused about, well that and how the upstanding and charming Lord Slytherin wasn’t batshit insane if he was indeed Voldemort and had split his soul so many times that he thought attacking a child was the best route to victory.

“Because,” his grandmother started, “Sirius found the other horcrux’s before the Dark Lord could even figure out what went wrong and gave him an ultimatum. Swear not kill Hadrian and reabsorb the soul pieces and Sirius would not immediately destroy every single horcrux the Dark Lord had ever made which would render him mortal once again. Something that he did not want to happen since it would mean he could die and that is what he fears the most.”

“Why not just kill him when he had the chance?” Why didn't Sirius kill him when he had the world's worst person at his most vulnerable in front of him.

“Because Voldemort is the lesser of two evils in this situation. Sirius knew that once his sanity was regained that the Dark Lord would shift gears, even partially insane he knew that too much magical blood had been spilt in pursuit of warped goals. Dumbledore, however, will sacrifice as many people as he needs to to get what he wants.” His grandmother said, which led him to another question that he had a feeling he wouldn't like the answer to.

“And what does Dumbledore want?”

“Total assimilation of the wizarding world into the muggle world. Total exposure, no more secrets.” His grandmother answered and Charlie suddenly got it.

“And the only thing Dumbledore needs to happen to get what he wants is for the only one that can defeat the only person stopping him to fulfill that prophecy he heard and get rid of that last barrier so that Dumbledore can expose us and every other wizarding government in the world.”

“Precisely.” His grandmother said grimly. “And I assume you know why that is a very bad thing?”

“‘Cause muggles hate what they can't control and they have bombs that can eliminate whole cities.”

“Yes, Dumbledore is delusional if he thinks our two people can get along. There is a reason we obliviate people that would expose our world or otherwise harm our people.” His grandfather said, “Well that or he's planning on taking the world over which wouldn't work either, the muggles would just be more determined to rid our kind off the planet, no matter the cost to their own.”

Charlie slumped back in his chair and let out a long sigh, covering his face with hands and letting loose a long drawn out “Shit.”

They sat in silence for a while before Charlie realized something and let out a huff of a laugh.

“What's so funny?” His grandfather prompted gently.

“You never told me what Hadrian’s creature inheritance was.”

“Oh!” His grandfather barked out a laugh, “I guess we forgot.”

“He's some sort of crocodile demon, I think.” His grandmother answered.

“You think?!”

“It's something that's never been seen before and probably has something to do with being Lord Death’s chosen as he is the only one to ever come back from the dead before.” His grandmother said.

“Ah, I see.” He didn't really see but he figured he would understand if he ever saw his soulmate shift.

His grandmother hummed, “It's honestly kind of cute, Sirius calls him his little hatchling.”

Charlie chuckled at that and the room lapsed into a more comfortable silence once more.

“Well I hope we didn’t completely ruin your day with the semi-depressing topic.” His grandmother suddenly said, patting his knee.

“I mean, I feel a little more comfortable about the soulmate thing if that's something.”

“Yes! Yes, that means something!” His grandmother broke out into a wide grin. “If you have any questions or concerns going forward don't hesitate to send us a letter or give us a call.”

“A call?”

“Yes,” His grandmother pulled a mirror out of her purse, “I had Sirius make a pair of these for us. You can face call through these by saying the name of the person you want to contact and the other person will get a notification that you want to call and have the option of accepting or declining the request.” She handed him a mirror and Charlie admired the hundreds of tiny runes etched into the frame.

“Huh, cool. Thanks, grandma!” Her face lit up.

“Oh don't mention it, you just make sure to call us every so often and update us on how things are going. And it can be about anything dear! We just want to make sure you are having fun and enjoying yourself in this new period of your life.”

“Of course grandmother! I'd love to chat with you both more.” Charlie assured her.

“Lovely! Now why don’t we treat you to some dinner in town!” She said, standing and Charlie laughed.

“That sounds amazing, thank you!”

“Oh don’t mention it, Charlie.” His grandfather said, clapping him on the back. “We’re your grandparents, it's our job to spoil you all.”

“Heh, if you say so.” Charlie escorted them back to the teleport pad, “Will you be staying the night?” The talk had lasted a while longer than Charlie had anticipated and it was growing dark out.

“I think that would be lovely Charlie!” His grandmother said, “We can invite your siblings over after dinner and have a game night, how does that sound?”

“That sounds great grandma, what should we play?”

“Oh! I love a good game of exploding snap!” His grandmother said and his grandfather laughed uproariously at that.

“That's because you cheat!” He said pointing at her.

“No I do not! Don't listen to him Charlie, he doesn't know what he's talking about.” She said as she looped her arm around his and Charlie chuckled.

“Oh that's such hippogriff dung! I've seen you do it!” His grandfather insisted.

“Nonsense! Your eyes deceive you.” His grandmother retorted and his grandfather laughed.

“My eyes work perfectly fine, you can't work any of your charms on me, no illusion you use works on me remember?”

“Hogwash! You-” his grandparents continued to argue with each other as they stepped onto the teleport pad and Charlie whispered the name of a little restaurant he knew. He had a feeling that this was going to be a fun night.

Chapter Text

Dumbledore sighed as he entered the order meeting room at Potter Manor. Molly and Arthur were still fuming about Ginevra’s school placement and he could see Severus was already one snide comment away from causing Molly to have an utter meltdown.

“Good afternoon everyone! I hope you all have had a good day so far!” He said, announcing his presence and causing whatever argument was happening to stop.

“Albus! Oh, thank goodness you’re here! Have you heard anything from Septimus and that wretched bitch Cedrella? I still believe she has him under some kind of love potion or spell. I just can’t believe an upstanding light wizard such as him would send his poor granddaughter away to a disgusting dark school filled with dark creatures and wizards.” Molly said, and Dumbledore could already feel a headache coming on.

“They are refusing to budge Molly, I’ve tried everything,” he hadn’t but he wasn’t going to waste his breath, “but they are technically in the right as young Ginevra has had none of the pureblood training that is required for a girl in the house Weasley.” Dumbledore said as he took his place at the head of the table. Losing Ginevra was a blow but she wasn't the only option, there were many other light oriented girls he could choose to be Charles’ future Lady Potter. He would just now have to look harder, Ginevra would have been easy if she wasn’t so difficult, any of the hero worship surrounding Charles that might have been instilled in her seemed to have died the moment she met him and with the mouth on that boy sometimes Albus couldn’t blame her.

Molly's face, however, was turning red, “She shouldn’t need any of that Pureblood crap!”

“Now, Molly-”

“Didn’t you have the same training you were supposed to give your daughter as you yourself are from House Prewett, which I remind you is a noble pureblood house in case you’ve forgotten after living in that hovel you call a home for the last twenty three years?” Severus interrupted, and someone must have shot a silencing spell at Molly the moment Severus started to speak because no sound came out as she yelled back at Severus.

“Severus. That was uncalled for.” Dumbledore said in reprimand.

Severus sneered before muttering, “Apologies Headmaster”, under his breath.

“Now,” He said, looking at Lily, “have there been any new developments in your ongoing research into Voldemort?” He really hoped there was because the man was really starting to get irritating.

“Unfortunately not Albus, I hear the same things you do at board meetings and none of the people I talk to have any new news about him in the political sector. You would honestly probably hear any political news first with you being Chief Warlock.” Lily said, and he frowned. “However, I did overhear that during that odd silent period before the start of the school year he was out of the country but I didn't manage to hear where.”

He hummed and stroked his beard, it was never good in the first war against Voldemort when the man would leave the country because that meant that he was off finding more recruits. “Keep your ear to the ground then, we cant have him getting more recruits to his cause.”

“Of course, Headmaster, I'll keep an ear out.”

“Wonderful dear, keep up the good work.” He said and then asked to the general table, “Does anyone else have any information pertaining to Voldemort that might be useful?”

“No Albus,-” Alastor started to speak and Dumbledore lightly scowled, his old friend was starting to become more of a thorn in his side than the Dark’s side. “- besides knowing where Lord Slytherin has frequented in the past week none of us know any more than Lily does. We don't even know if the man is Voldemort or not. He’s given us no sign that he is, your spy doesn’t get any useful information anymore out of any of his contacts that might be close to the man, and everything he's done either behind the scenes or in full view of the public has been to our world’s benefit.”

“Now my old friend, perhaps-”

“Don’t you ‘my old friend’ me, Albus! We can't keep watching the same man week after week. A good majority of us have actual jobs we have to do and we can't keep sidelining them just to investigate some new rabbit hole Lily finds that ends up going nowhere!” Lily sputtered at that, “If you want to keep looking into the man then fine, but count me out. Amelia is starting to notice and I know you don't want to end up more on her radar then you already are for that stunt you, Molly, Arthur, Lily, and James pulled regarding Charles and Ginevra.”

“Alastor you must see-”

“Albus, he's right.” He was once again interrupted but this time it was surprisingly James.

“We can't keep going out when someone finds a hint of suspicious information. At this point I'm surprised his lawyer hasn't sent in a restraining order on us with the amount of times we’ve searched his manor and followed him while he’s out shopping in Diagon.”

He frowned at that, “Is that what you all think?” He looked to the few remaining Auror members he had and they all nodded.

He sighed, “Very well, Lily if you wouldn’t mind, keep looking for useful information. Any we get on him is useful. The rest of you can move on, focus on your jobs, we don’t need any more scrutiny from Amelia.”

There were murmurs of thanks and he nodded.

“Now, does anyone have anything else to share? Anything at all?”

Remus stood with a resolute expression on his face.

“Yes Remus?” He asked with a foreboding feeling in his stomach.

“I am resigning from the order, Albus, effective immediately.” Gasps of shock rang out across the room.

“Now, my boy, what brought this on? We still need your assistance in talks with the werewolf packs in Central Europe.” He couldn’t have Remus leaving, he was still valuable to his goals.

Remus’s face contorted, “Albus, I can't get a job due to the new werewolf restriction law you got passed. Before, being a werewolf was bearable since I could at least earn a living wage but now I can't get a job anywhere, people stare at me and hide their kids behind their backs as if I am some slobbering monster, I cant even shop at some stores now or else I get chased out, and now I've had people spit at me while I was merely walking to the bank to withdraw some savings since I can't legally get a job anymore. All thanks to you and your werewolf restrictions.”

“Remy, bud, we can give you some cash if that's what you need.” James said, a desperate look in his eyes.

“James, I don't want your handouts. I just want to live normally and thanks to your cooperation in-” Remus pointed at Dumbledore, “-the headmasters law I can't hold down a job anymore and the already terrible view people had of werewolves is worse than it has ever been!”

Remus looked back at the headmaster, “I’m done. Don’t contact me unless it’s to say you're sorry and you’re going to repeal that law.”

Remus walked out to utter silence and Albus watched in dread as he did so. Remus was his way into the werewolf packs and without him he couldn’t insure that any of them wouldn’t take Voldemort's side when the man finally resumed the war.

“I told you that that werewolf law would cause him to resign once it took effect. You relied on public support to get that passed and to do that you turned the entire wizarding population against him. I’m honestly surprised you couldn’t foresee that he would take offense to that.” Minerva finally said, offended on her former students behalf.

“It was for the greater good. He’ll come around Minerva,-“ he ignored Severus’s huff of a laugh, “- you’ll see. Once Voldemort makes a move he will realize and return to us.”

No one said anything after that but he felt more than a few judging stares. “Now shall we carry on? Does anyone else have anything they want to talk about?”

Dumbledore hid a grimace as he watched Arthur’s mouth open. He really wished they’d realize how futile it was trying to get Cedrella and Septimus to change their minds.

~

Remus was seeing red as stalked down the hallway on his way out of Potter Manor. The gall of James to simply offer him money, as if he was something he could buy.

He had thought James wasn’t stupid enough to support that bill after the first time it failed to pass years ago and Sirius had sent that howler but apparently James was so far up Dumbledore's ass now that he would support it no matter the impact it had on Remus. He had to wonder what James was thinking when he raised his wand in support of that bill. Did he think Dumbledore had written an exemption into the bill for him or something? Did he think that since Remus was Charles’ godfather that maybe he would stick around out of duty?

Granted he loved Charles and would always look after him and support him but it’s not like he had sworn an oath like Sirius had. He wasn’t compelled by his very magic to look after Charles. He could leave whenever he wanted to and no one could stop him.

Which was what he was going to do now. He was going to go to his apartment, pack all his stuff up, and flee the country. There was nothing holding him here now since he couldn’t get a job, couldn’t have a bank account in Gringotts with more than a few sickles in it now, and basically had every last one of his human rights stripped away from him.

He was also going to write Sirius one hell of an apology letter. Sirius deserved it for trying to save Remus’ few remaining rights even though he hadn’t seen him in years.

Well he had seen glimpses of Sirius from afar but he always had Harry, or well Hadrian with him so Remus hadn’t approached him. He admitted to himself that he was too much of a coward at the time to approach Sirius. He also knew that Sirius wouldn’t have wanted to see him anyway, not with how Remus basically threw away ten years of friendship within the span of a few minutes and a few bad decisions.

Sirius could hold a grudge as good as Snape and he didn’t forgive easily.

“REMUS! WAIT!” That was James, “LET ME EXPLAIN!”

Yeah no, he didn’t want to hear anything James had to say. Remus already knew that it would be a bunch of bullshit pandering and attempting to get Remus to see James (or more accurately Dumbledore’s) side of things in an attempt to stop him from leaving.

So without a backwards glance at James, Remus said, “I think you already made your decision very clear to the world when you supported that bill, James. I don’t need to hear any false pandering when you’ve made it very obvious what you really believe.” And disapparated out, leaving James standing in a hallway a few paces behind him.

Chapter Text

Hogwarts was not all that his parents told him it was going to be.

Being in Gryffindor was great! It was just like his parents had promised him it would be, but unfortunately the rest of the student body wasn’t so great.

The Slytherins sucked, they didn’t respect him and they hated him for defeating You-Know-Who, but he had expected that. What he didn’t expect was for the Ravenclaws to look at him like he was some creature to study and more or less for the Hufflepuffs to not really care about him.

Like come on! He was the Boy-Who-Lived! He defeated Voldemort! Why wasn’t everyone paying attention to him like they normally did?

The only people that consistently really paid attention to him now were the professors and a good portion of the muggleborn's in his year. Thankfully, Ron seemed to get where he was coming from so he wasn’t the only one who thought the lack of people fawning over him was odd.

Unfortunately, his dorm mates didn’t have the same sentiment as him and Ron and would even leave the room now when he would start talking. He had gone to Professor McGonagall about it when Seamus told him to shut up one night but she hadn’t really done anything about it.

He had tried to talk to Headmaster Dumbledore about it too, but he couldn’t do anything either! All the headmaster said was to try to get along with them and if he couldn’t then to ignore them but it was impossible! They were his dorm mates! How could he ignore them when they went out of their way to leave when he entered the room with Ron or told him to shut up when he was telling Ron about how some slimy Slytherin had shot a tripping curse at him?!

They were Gryffindors! They were supposed to be on his side!

The teachers weren't as great as he was promised either. His mom was awesome! She was the muggle studies teacher and gave him all sorts of compliments and attention when he got a question right! The only other teacher who paid as much attention to him as his mom was Snape and all Snape did was take points from Gryffindor and insult him.

Professor Flitwick was fine but he complimented the Slytherins on their spell work far more than Charles thought was necessary when he himself would also get the spell right.

McGonagall though was the biggest disappointment. She was too uptight and strict and would take points off Gryffindor house - her own house! - when he tried to get the Slytherins back at something they had done earlier. It was so disappointing and he had written to his father about it but he hadn’t gotten a response.

Quirrell also picked on him sometimes like Snape but was such a stuttering fool who was scared of his own shadow that it was hard to take him seriously. Plus, every time he entered the class it was like getting punched in the face by the smell of garlic and caused him to have a raging headache by the time he exited the class.

The absolute worst thing though had to be the Slytherins in his year! Everyday they would go out of their way to insult him and a good majority of the time he was the one that would end up getting in trouble and punished for it when he was only finishing what they started! He had already gotten detention three times because of them and October had barely begun!

There were also a lot of snooty, holier-than-thou people at Hogwarts that seemed to think they were smarter than him just because they had read some book in the library.

The girl they had met on the train, Hermione, was one of those people. She always corrected them in class and for some reason always had her hand in the air. Didn’t she know that if she just shut up that the teacher would eventually give them the answers? She didn’t have to guess everything all the time. The Ravenclaws were like her too and for that reason he didn’t hang out with them, they were all bookworms and nerds. The only redeeming quality about Hermione was that she was a Gryffindor and paid attention to what he said but other than that she was extremely annoying.

She even tried to correct him and Ron on their spell work even though they had been in the magical world since birth and she had only been in their world since she got her letter!

The really odd thing though was that some of the Slytherins would stick up for her in class when Ron or him would snap at her to get her to shut up and he didn’t understand that. They were Slytherins! Why did they care how they treated another Gryffindor? They had to have some ulterior motive to infiltrate Gryffindor house or something.

It was bloody ridiculous! And now thanks to them, even the other girls in Gryffindor had stuck up for her even when he knew that Hermione annoyed them too! It was ridiculous! No one was acting like they were supposed to act!

And none of the adults would listen to him! His dad was too busy for him these days, his mom was often grading papers and didn't have much time to spend with him, and he had even tried to ask Uncle Moony for help and all he had gotten back from the man was him telling Charles to be nice as if he wasn’t already being nice to people! No one was taking him seriously anymore!

“Hey Potter!” Charles frowned, the Slytherins had arrived for their daily heckling, “Where’s your little red headed follower? I thought you two were practically married at this point!” Parkinson said and the Slytherins around her snickered.

Charles could feel his face going red. “Awww, look guys!” Parkinson cooed, “He’s blushing so it must be true! Where’s your husband, Potter?”

“We’re not married!” Charles ground out through clenched teeth.

“Oh really!? Could have fooled me!” Zabini chimed in with a grin that widened as he spotted something behind Charles.

“Hey Charles! Sorry I’m late!” Ron called from where he was running towards him further down the hallway and Charles grimaced.

“Oh look!” Parkinson chimed, “There he is! Potter aren’t you glad? You don’t look glad that your husband's back.”

“What?” Came Ron’s confused voice.

“Oh how tragic he-“ Zabini started and Charles grabbed Ron’s hand and tugged him away, cutting Zabini off.

“Come on Ron, let’s go.”

“Awwww, where are you going? Did the little lion get embarrassed?” He heard Parkinson say in false sympathy.

“Charles?” Came Ron’s even more confused voice.

“Shut up and keep walking, Ron.”

Chapter Text

Hadrian felt too jittery to eat, he thought as he looked down at the food Kreacher had prepared for him. Professor Taritheos, their Dragon Training Professor, had finally announced last week that they would be taking a trip to one of the big dragon nests so they could finally have the chance at claiming a dragon or a dragon egg for themselves. He knew he shouldn't be getting his hopes up as most did not find their dragons on the first trip but it was hard not to. Not when he was so close to finally getting a dragon.

“Young Master must eat if hes is to be looking for his dragon today!” Kreacher said, snapping his fingers in front of Hadrian's face to get his attention once more.

Hadrian flushed, “Sorry Kreacher, I'm just so excited!”

Kreacher frowned, “Yous is going to faint if yous dont eat and I’s don’t think that youses dragon would appreciate it if yous fainted.”

Hadrian grimaced at the thought and then finally started to eat.

Kreacher huffed, “Little heirs be too excitable”, and then popped away.

Hadrian quickly finished his breakfast and grabbed the fireproof riding clothes that their professor had them all commission earlier in the year. Dragon’s, their professor had said, were temperamental and had the tendency to breathe fire at anything that disturbed them even if it was their destined rider. And so with that in mind, everyone sent in orders to the local tailors and seamstresses for riding clothes that could withstand fire that could melt metal and stone. It wasn't total protection, as their faces were still uncovered, but it was something at least. They would also have dragon handlers paired up with them so if a dragon decided to act then they had a professional with them that could handle the situation.

Getting dressed, Hadrian dashed to the teleport pad and thought of the school, eager to get there so as not to be left behind.

Fortunately, it seemed that half of the class had yet to arrive when he got there so he relaxed into his seat next to a vibrating Draco as they eagerly waited.

“How long do you think we will have to wait before everyone gets here?” Draco asked impatiently.

“I don't know, I hope not long.”

The doors to the classroom opened again and Hadrian was relieved to see another wave of students come in along with Neville and Theo.

“Hey guys!” Neville said, “Where's Daph?”

“I don't know, probably making sure her hair is perfect.” Draco said much to the amusement of the rest of them.

“You did not just say that.” Theo said, very pointedly staring at Draco, “You, the one who stares into the mirror every morning making sure your hair is picture perfect for at least an hour.”

Draco squawked, “I do not!”

“Yes, yes you do.” They all deadpanned together much to Draco’s dismay.

“Traitors, the lot of you.”

“Oh? Are we humiliating Draco without me on this fine morning?” Daphne said as she approached.

“We were just reminding our dear Draco of how long it takes for him to get his hair ready every morning after he commented that you were taking longer than usual to get your hair all ready for today.” Theo replied and then smiled as Daphne lightly wacked Draco on the shoulder.

“Hey! Okay I get it! No need to slap me.” Draco said, rubbing his shoulder with a scowl.

Daphne snorted and rolled her eyes.

“All right everyone! Take a seat! I want to go over a few of the rules now that we have all arrived.” Professor Taritheos announced from the center of the room.

“Does everyone have their riding gear on?”, everyone nodded, “Good. Now, rule number one, do NOT, and I mean this seriously, DO NOT go off on your own. You will be burnt alive or eaten if you do so and no one will be able to interfere to save you. Rule number two, listen to the handler that is assigned to you. If they say a dragon is not to be approached then do not approach it. They are there to keep you all alive, I don't think any of your parents or young mister Peverell would appreciate it if they have to preside over a funeral in the near future because one of you didn't listen and got yourselves killed.”

Everyone sneaked awkward glances at Hadrian at that statement.

“Rule number three, make sure you pay close attention to your surroundings. Different dragon species have different abilities and many blend into their surroundings to better hunt. If the handler assigned to you stops then you stop, even if you can't see anything amiss about your surroundings. Just because you can’t see the dragon doesn't mean it can't see you and isn't actively hunting you. Rule number four, if you suddenly feel your magic pulling on you then alert your handler. This means that your destined dragon is nearby. You will be defenseless when this happens as it will draw all your attention away from your surroundings so you will need your handler to protect you in case any other dragon decides to take advantage of your moment of weakness. Just because you feel a pull does not mean you are bonded to your dragon yet, you have to ride them for that to happen and to ride them you have to get to them first. Your dragon will not protect you if you get attacked by another dragon before you get a chance to ride your dragon.”

Everyone tensed up at that.

“Lastly, rule number five, have fun. There will be lots of dragons to look at that you have not seen yet as some can be reclusive so enjoy the day you all have there even if you do not return with a dragon. We will take as many visits as we need until each and every one of you finds your dragon or dragon egg. Don't fear getting behind in your class work if you do not find a dragon on the first trip. These trips are scheduled beforehand and your teachers won't make anything due till two days after the trip so you all have a chance to get homework done. If you bond with a dragon then you get the other trip days off to relax at home with your dragon and solidify your bonds. Now that that is done, is everyone ready?!”

Everyone cheered excitedly.

“Excellent! Now, everyone to the teleport pad! The dragon handlers are eagerly awaiting our arrival.”

Theo gasped along with the rest of the class when they arrived at the dragon nest. There were hundreds of different dragons of varying colors flying around in the sky. A movement nearby startled everyone out of their shock and everyone lurched back instinctively as a dragon moved away from where it had been resting behind the teleport pad and took off into the sky.

“Now you see the reason you all have to pay attention to your surroundings?” Their professor said with amusement. Everyone hurriedly nodded.

Smiling once more, their professor turned his attention to the large group of people obviously waiting for their arrival. “Ah, Alerie! How lovely it is to see you! I hope all is well here?” He said, and one of the older handlers stepped forward with a smile to shake his hand.

“Everyone is doing well here at the nest. We have a few sick dragons we are keeping an eye on, we will take everyone who doesn't have a dragon by them at the end of the day to see if we get a match to any of them. Other than that, everything has been as it is normally.” Alerie, who Theo assumed to be the head handler in charge, said with a smile.

“Lovely to hear. Now, I assume you have made a list of pairings based on the information I have sent you?”

“Of course,” Alerie said, unrolling a piece of parchment, “Now, when I call your name you may step forward and go with your assigned handler. I assume Professor Taritheos has already gone over the rules with you?”

At everyone's nods she smiled, “Good, now will Ajax André and Lucas Reed step forward?”

The two aforementioned people stepped forward, “You two are group number one, you may go.”

Ajax skipped away with the handler and Theo tuned the handler out, turning his head to look at the dragons flying by.

“... Daphne Greengrass and Voth Ren, please take your leave.” The handler said and Theo watched as Daphne greeted an intimidating looking man before walking off to find her dragon. Theo had a hunch that she would be successful today.

After Daphne left, it didn't take long before Theo heard Neville’s name, and then Draco’s get called.

Finally he heard his name, “Theodore Nott and Selene Orwaith.” Ah, he now understood why their professor sent information to the head handler before they arrived. Selene was another child of time and he had seen her a few times when he made the journey to Temple Island.

“Hello again, brother.” Selene greeted.

“Hello sister, I have a hunch I won't be in luck today.” Theo responded.

“Ah, you never know. Our Lord works in mysterious ways and even though your hunches have gotten stronger the closer you get to your inheritance day they are still not totally accurate, nor will they ever be. It is not our Lord's job to choose which path Lady Fate takes but to give more options.” Selene replied and Theo hummed.

“So I will find my dragon today?”

Selene smiled at him, “Oh, I didn't say that.”

“But-” Theo started and then sighed, “nevermind.”

His sister chuckled, “You will see in time, my dear brother. Do not worry about the path ahead, that is Lady Fate’s high seers responsibility, focus on the present while you still can, for you will soon join us in the temple.”

“That's not ominous at all.” He said and Selene chuckled again before shooing a dragon that had been getting a little too close off.

“If it makes you feel any better, the pain passes quickly.”

“Oh lovely.” Theo drolled, eliciting a laugh out of Selene before continuing on in search of a dragon.

Neville was pleasantly surprised to be paired with a Dark Fae for the duration of their trip today. He didn't realize that the handlers would take into account their bloodline history when pairing them together, it was nice.

His partner's name was Talos and he was a desert fae, his feathers a mix of tans, oranges, and golds.

“Do you think I’ll find my match today?” Neville asked.

“You never know, even Selene, who is a daughter of Lord Time, didn’t know when she would get her dragon.”

“Aren’t the children of Lord Time supposed to have pretty accurate hunches about the future?” Neville said, thinking about the numerous times Theo had been correct about a future event.

“Ehhh, there are things even they get wrong. Lady Fate is ultimately the one that chooses what is to happen and sometimes she likes to lead Lord Time's children astray to give them a surprise every now and again.”

“Oh…what dragon did she get then?”

Talos chuckled, “Selene was convinced she would be paired with a Deadly Natter but Lady Fate paired her with about fifteen Terrible Terrors instead.”

Neville's eyes widened, “Fifteen?! Why that many?”

“I’m not sure why but,” Talos paused to shoo a monstrous nightmare that was leering at them off, “- now she gets to be transported around in a palanquin by a veritable hoard of tiny green dragons. It’s pretty cool honestly.”

Neville could imagine that being cool. “You think Theo will get something like that?”

“I assume he’s the little child of time that’s in your year?”

“Yeah, he’s one of my best friends.”

“Nice, but yeah he might. For some reason Lady Fate likes to pair Lord Time’s children with terrible terrors but not all of them have them. The rest that are not paired with terrors get paired with some ridiculously overpowered dragon.”

“So he’s either gonna get a hoard of small dragons he can sic on people or a big overpowered dragon that he can sic on people?”

“Yep”

“Heh, I can't wait to see what he gets. We all bet on what dragons we were most likely to get based on our personalities and hobbies. We put Theo’s down as a Timberjack due to their docile mannerisms.” Neville said with a chuckle.

Talos, however, hummed in contemplation, “Does he live in a forest biome?”

“No, do the dragons care where you live?”

“Most do. Timberjacks tend to favor people that live in forest biomes, particularly the redwood biome as they blend in exceptionally well there.”

“How can they tell where a person lives?”

“All the biomes here are saturated in magic due to the massive amount of magic that was used to hide this place from the muggles' eyes and their technology. Not to mention the copious amounts of expansion runes and spells that have been used over the years to expand the amount of land we have as our population increases. Which ends up meaning that each biome has a specific magical fingerprint that sticks to the people that live in them and the dragons can pick up on that.” Talos explained and Neville nodded.

“Makes sense, Theo lives in the plains biome. I don’t think a Timberjack would particularly enjoy a biome with no trees.”

Talos chuckled at that, “No, no they would not.”

They walked in peaceful silence after that, watching out for dragons that either were leering dangerously at them from nearby perches or ones hiding in their surroundings. It took another hour of walking before Neville felt something pulling at him.

“Talos, something is pulling at me.”

His guide’s eyes briefly snapped over to look at Neville before he nodded. “Well then, lead the way. I'll look out for anything that might attack you while you walk and shoo them off, wouldn't want you getting eaten before you meet your dragon.”

Neville gave a weak, distracted chuckle and followed the pull. They ended up walking for a bit before Talos suddenly grabbed him by the shoulder and told him to wait as he sniffed the air.

“Why are we waiting?” Neville’s head was starting to cloud due to how close they were.

“Because I smell chocolate. How are you feeling? Still a small pull or are we getting a little foggy up in the head?”

“Foggy.” Neville responded and his guide let go of him.

“Well then… I may or may not pull you out of the way soon if the dragon we are coming up on isn't yours. It’s a Snaptrapper, they lure people in with the smell of chocolate and have four heads so they can be tricky to defend against.” Neville just hummed and continued forward, right towards the Snaptrapper up ahead.

“Hello” Neville called to the green four headed dragon that closed its many mouths when he approached. Two of the heads cocked to the side at his words and the other two lowered to get a closer look at him.

“Careful Neville, I wouldn't get much closer.” Talos hovered at his back, hands outstretched to grab him if need be.

“It's okay, this is him.”

“Him?” Talos asked.

“Yes, he's a pretty boy, aren't you?” Neville said sweetly and the dragon let out a multi-toned cooing noise, extending all four heads towards him.

“Would you like to come home with me?” Neville asked, and started to pet the dragon. He got another coo in response and Neville took that as a yes.

“Heh, nice job kid.” Talos said, “Now, you need to fly with him to complete your bond and then your head will clear up.”

Neville looked at his four headed dragon, “Would you like to go for a fly, bud?”

The dragon folded his wings up and lowered himself to the ground, allowing Neville to climb on and he could instantly start to feel his head begin to clear.

“Um what do I hold on to?” He asked Talos in concern. The back of his dragon had a ridge of leaf shaped spines that looked rather delicate and Neville hated that he had to sit on them to fly with his dragon.

Talos fortunately conjured some rope and helped Neville tie it around the necks of the two center heads. “Now, hold on tightly and don't worry about the spines you are sitting on. I promise you he is not in any pain and that you probably weigh nothing to him.”

“Okay, how do I get him to fly?” Neville said, awkwardly holding onto the rope that was his only tether to his dragon.

“Say fly in your head and direct the thought to the still cloudy part of your brain. That is your dragon attempting to form a bond with you. Once you take flight that part of your head will clear and you will be able to feel your dragon's emotions in the back of your head, albeit quietly because of how new your bond will be. The longer the two of you are together the stronger your bond and you will begin to feed off of each other's emotions and sometimes feel what the other is feeling.” Talos said, backing away from Neville and his new dragon as the dragon lifted himself onto his feet in preparation to fly.

“Alright, um do you want us to come back here once we are ready to land?”

“Preferably” Talos said with a smile, “Now go on! Have fun!”

Neville nervously chuckled before tightening his hold on the rope as his dragon suddenly jerked forward with surprising speed and lifted off into the air.

“I DIDN'T SAY FLY!!!!” Neville screamed as they ascended with frightening speed and Talos chuckled. Newly bonded dragons tended to respond to subconscious thoughts in their excitement to fly with their new riders and it always resulted in amusing situations.

“You think he’ll fall off?” he asked his dragon as the creature came to stand next to him, both of them watching as Neville’s screams reached a higher pitch when his dragon dipped into a steep dive, poor Neville hanging on for dear life.

His dragon responded with the feeling of amusement and a chattering sound. “Yeah we should probably follow them just in case.” He said as Neville’s dragon sharply turned, almost flinging the boy off his back.

Catching up to the pair he asked, “You alright?”

“WHAT DO YOU THINK?!” Neville screeched, sending a glare briefly his way.

“Okay, calm down! Take deep breaths and command your dragon to slow down and fly straight!” He called to Neville, who held on tightly as his dragon went into another excited dive.

“I'VE TRIED THAT! HE DIDN'T LISTEN!”

“Okay then tell him verbally!”

Neville’s dragon took another sharp turn around a rock pillar and disappeared before Talos suddenly heard Neville screech, “OH SHUT UP AND FLY STRAIGHT!”, and Neville appeared on the other side of the pillar, finally comfortably sitting on his dragon that was now serenely gliding through the air like it had not just been flying around screeching like a maniac.

Talos steered his dragon next to Neville’s. “Well, that's one way of doing it.” He said and chuckled at the angry glower Neville sent him.

“Yeah, well, you could have told me he would do that.”

Talos huffed a laugh again, “Now why would I do that?”

Neville glared at him again, “Alright, alright. You had your laugh, now how do I land?”

“Well, we have options now that we're both in the sky. Would you rather land where you took off and walk back? Or would you rather fly there on your dragon and show off to everyone? We havent been gone long so it’s highly likely that you are the first that has found their dragon out of your class.” Talos said and watched in amusement as Neville’s eyebrows raised.

“Fly back, definitely fly back.”

“Alright, just follow my lead then.” Talos said and steered his dragon towards where Professor Taritheos and Head Handler were waiting, Neville following close behind.

“Ah!” Neville heard his professor loudly exclaim in excitement when he saw them on their dragons, a smile blossoming on his face as they landed.

“Good job Neville! I haven't seen anyone bond with a Snaptrapper in twenty years!” His professor said, helping Neville off his dragon with a smile.

“Thanks!” Neville mumbled, blush spreading across his face at the praise.

“Have you given him a name?” The head dragon handler, whose name Neville couldn't remember, asked.

“Uhh no. Didn't really get the chance to think about names before we took off flying.” Neville answered and his professor and the handler chuckled.

“Well, you will have the rest of the day to figure that out. You are the first one back and most people don't bond with their dragons on the first day we come out here so we will be here until around four in the afternoon.” His professor said and Neville nodded.

“You think someone will end up getting stalked by their dragon all the way home this year?” The head handler suddenly asked Neville’s professor.

His professor hummed in contemplation before shrugging, “Probably, tends to happen at some point every year or so.”

“I wonder who it will be this year…” The head handler contemplated and Neville’s professor smirked, “I have an idea of who it might be”.

Draco felt like he was getting stalked.

He had commented on it to his guide, a fellow Veela, and he had agreed. So now they were just walking around aimlessly to see if the dragon that was following them would show itself. Draco could feel the slight pull that indicated his bonded dragon was nearby but it had not strengthened or gone away so they knew it was the one that was following them. They had even stopped numerous times to see if they could spot it but neither of them had seen any sign of a dragon so they had continued to walk after they realized it wasn't going to approach them and that it wouldn't let them approach either.

“How long do you think this will go on?” Draco asked, he really wanted to meet his fated dragon.

“Depends on how skittish they are.” His guide said and looked behind them again, “Considering we can't see them even with our heightened eyesight means that it is a dragon that can either turn invisible or one that can take the appearance of their surroundings.”

Draco raised an eyebrow at that, “And that means what exactly?”

“It means that it is one of two dragons, a Light Fury or a Changewing, and that we're not gonna see them until they decide to show themselves.”

“So we are stuck being stalked by an invisible dragon for the foreseeable future.”

“Yep!” His guide said, smirking down at Draco, and Draco just sighed. They resumed their walk in board silence as Draco’s dragon stalked them.

“Hey, do you think anyone has found their dragon yet?”

Daphne stared at the hulking, seemingly breathing pile of bones in front of her.

“Are you sure this is my dragon?” Daphne whispered over at Voth, and the dragon handler nodded.

“Is your head still feeling foggy?” he asked and Daphne nodded, her head still felt like it was underwater.

“Then that's your dragon,” he whispered back to her and Daphne raised an eyebrow.

“It looks like a pile of bones! How is a pile of bones supposed to be my dragon?!” She furiously whispered back at him.

“Because that's what Boneknappers look like when they are asleep!” He replied and pointed to the femur bone that rested beside her, “Pick that up and poke the pile!”

Daphne’s other eyebrow raised at that, “You want me to poke a sleeping dragon?!? Are you crazy!?”

“Yes to both, now do it!”

She stared at him incredulously and he rolled his eyes, “Just do it! It won't hurt you! It's your dragon!”

“Fine, but if I die I'm haunting you for the rest of your life!” She said and he raised an unimpressed eyebrow as Daphne turned and picked up the femur bone.

“Alright dragon, please don't eat me! I was told to do this!” She said and jabbed the sleeping pile of bones. The pile gave a sharp jolt and unwound itself revealing a massive snarling dragon that was covered head to tail in bones. Just as Daphne felt the pull towards the dragon strengthen, she winced and covered her ears when it let loose a screaming roar at point blank range.

“That wasn't very nice!” Daphne said, her ears ringing as she smacked the snoot of her dragon with the femur bone she was still holding. It jolted back, staring at her like she had grown a second head but no longer snarling.

“Don't look at me like that, you’re the one that decided to scream at me in the first place.” Daphne said, and then took a brief moment to analyze the dragon Lady Fate chose for her.

It was a large grayish white colored dragon whose face was covered by the flat alligator-like skull of a former dragon that had large gazelle-like horns. The rest of his body was sparsely covered with more bones of various origin to make some sort of mishmash armor covering and the end of his tail had four large spikes coming off of it.

“Well, he certainly chose a formidable dragon's bones to wear.” Voth said from somewhere behind her, she couldn't tell where from, it was starting to get hard to focus on her surroundings.

“Um…what kind of dragon is the skull from?” Daphne asked, attempting to focus on Voth for a moment and failing.

“A Great Firewrym, they have horns like that, are bright red, and resemble large horned serpents with wings. They are not a dragon you want to encounter.”

Daphne hummed and focused back onto her dragon. “How would you like to go for a fly?”

The dragon perked up at that, eyeing Daphne with renewed interest.

“Yes, I think you and I would like that.” She said, and approached her dragon again, which lowered itself so that Daphne could climb on.

“Do you need some rope to help you hold on?” Voth asked.

“No, I think I'm just going to hold on to his neck armor real tight.” Daphne said, and hooked her feet around the base of her dragon's long neck, gripped some of the bones in a death grip, and all of a sudden they were moving.

Voth launched himself out of the way as Daphne and her new dragon took a running start before launching into the air, the behemoth that she bonded to quickly gaining altitude with a few pumps of its wings. Faint screaming could be heard and he smirked as he spotted her holding on for dear life, looking like an ant on the massive dragon's back.

“Alrighty Silverwing, shall we go rescue her?” He said looking towards his dragon who cocked her head at him, an unimpressed air wafting his way. He looked back to where Daphne and her dragon last were and saw that they were rapidly speeding out of sight.

“Yeah we should catch up to them.”

Theo’s feet were starting to ache. It was almost three in the afternoon, he hadn't stumbled across his dragon yet, and he was starting to think that his initial hunch was correct and he wouldn't be going home with a dragon today. Though it had been fluctuating all day so he wasn't quite sure what was right anymore. It was maddening and he was quite done with Lady Fate playing with him.

“Getting frustrated?” Selene asked as they stopped for a moment at a rocky outcrop to rest.

“Yes, this is horrible!” Theo exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air, “I don't know how you got through this sane!”

Selene chuckled, “Determination and spite.”

Theo grumbled, spite sounded about right at the given moment. He wasn't quite sure about determination though, he was feeling more worn down then anything.

“This is so stupid” He mumbled to himself.

Selene chuckled again, “Oh don’t worry, you’ll find your dragon.”

“Yeah, I guess…”

“Come on, let’s head back, we’ve gone far enough in that it’s gonna take an hour to get back.” Selene said and Theo groaned again, “Hey, don’t be like that. Dragons move around a lot. You might encounter your dragon on our way back.”

“We shall see about that.” Theo said and they began the long trek back… only to get about thirty minutes in and have their hair stand on end.

“Hey, so, um, this is bad right?”

“Yes, very bad.” Selene said with an air of nervousness as she surveyed their surroundings.

“Come on, I’m not seeing it in our immediate surroundings. Let’s get a move on before it decides we’d make a good early dinner.”

They walked a few more steps before Theo felt compelled to stop.

“Theo? Come on, we’re okay but only if we keep moving.” Selene said, holding her hand out.

“Um… it’s not that. My head feels fuzzy, is this something that normally happens around this dragon?”

Selene stared at him for a long moment. “No, not unless you get hit with lightning from it and I know you haven’t. Why don’t we take a few more steps forward and you tell me if the feeling increases, okay?”

Theo nodded and took a few more steps forward. “It’s getting stronger.”

Selene sighed, “Of course it is…why is it that it’s either terrible terrors or death dragons? Why can’t Lady Fate give us a normal dragon for once?” Selene looked down at Theo again who was vacantly staring ahead, “Did you hear a word of what I just said?”

Theo blankly looked up at her, “What? Sorry I was…um…it's getting hard to think.” he said and Selene sighed, “Just keep moving forward.”

Fortunately, Theo seemed to hear that and started walking forward, Selene following a few feet behind him. Low and behold, a couple meters ahead of them was a Skrill, looking very much like it would like to make a snack of Selene and the few her dragons that she had taken with her.

“Alright Theo, this is as far as I am going to go. Remember, he won't hurt you” not intentionally at least she mentally said, “ and to properly bond with him you have to fly on him.” Theo nodded at her words so she at least knew he was attempting to listen.

“And hold on tight! Skrills are only beaten in speed by Furies!” Theo did not nod or give any sign that he was listening anymore as he approached his dragon so she sent a mental prayer to Lady Magic and Lord Time in hopes that Theo wouldn't be launched off or electrocuted by his dragon.

“Hello, nice dragon,” She heard Theo greet, ‘nice’ wasn't what she would ever associate with a Skrill but to each their own, her own dragons could hardly be considered nice on a good day as well. Theo was saying something else but she wasn't really paying attention to his words, the Skrill was lowering itself to where Theo was and she could see the lightning crackling up its back spines. She loosened the tight grip she had on her magic just in case she had to douse that dragon in water. Fortunately, her prayers were answered and he got on the dragon with minimal difficulty. His hair was still standing on end though.

Selene smiled when Theo waved to her, a broad smile etched on his face. “Selene I did it!”

“Yes you did! Now go fly, just make sure you come back so we can walk back together. I don't have enough of my terrors with me to fly alongside you.” She said, amusement coating her words as Theo nodded and then commanded his new dragon to fly.

And fly it did, the Skrill launched itself into the air, little Theo holding on to its head crest for dear life. Maybe the gods half answered her prayers, the lightning had at least gone away. It ended up taking thirty minutes for Theo to get his dragon to calm down and land again. “You look a little windswept,” she said to Theo as he hopped off his dragon.

“That was awesome! I'm so going to beat Draco in dragon races now!” Theo cheered and his dragon gave an agreeing sound from behind him.

“Well, let's get moving, we only have an hour to get back now.” Selene said and Theo joined her at her side, his dragon lumbering behind them at a leisurely pace.

Draco was mopping next to Hadrian as they waited for a few stragglers to get back to the meeting place. “I don't see what you're so upset about, at least your dragon found you.” Hadrian said. Daphne flying in on her monstrous behemoth of a dragon hadn’t helped the mood Draco had arrived back with and it was starting to get on his nerves now.

“Well yes, but that doesn't mean it’s fun being stuck with a cloudy head.” Draco grumbled and Hadrian scowled.

“Just be grateful you didn't come back empty handed.” Hadrian sourly snarked back and Draco winced. He was about to open his mouth and utter an apology when all of a sudden everyones hair stood on end and the dragon handlers all shifted nervously.

“Hey guys!” Theo’s excited voice rang out and everyone turned to see a big spiky dragon lumbering after their friend. “Look who I found!”

“Well done Heir Nott!” Their professor jovially said, welcoming Theo back and Draco winced at the low rumble that was now echoing out of Hadrian's closed mouth. This was bad, very bad. He was happy for Theo, he really was, but everyone needed to go home now or else Hadrian was going to explode into a rage and unintentionally kill someone.

“Um… Draco?” He heard Neville cautiously whisper.

“Yep, I know.”

“Should we, you know, do something?” Neville asked and Draco risked a glance at Hadrian. His skin was starting to turn a corpse like ashy grey color and Draco could see that his friends hands were slowly transitioning into claws. Okay yeah, Draco was going to make an executive decision.

“Kreacher! Get him out of here!” Draco whispered as quietly as he could. Fortunately, Kreacher heard him, popped in as silently as he could, grabbed Hadrian, and popped away. Hadrian would thank him later… he hoped. They stood in tense silence for a moment, “That was close…too close.” Daphne said.

“How mad do you think he will be when he get to school tomorrow?” Neville asked.

“Depends. He’ll either be fine or we won't see him ‘cause Kreacher’s trapped him at home for everyone's safety.” Draco said and turned to see Theo approaching when the smell of ozone got stronger. “Hey guys! Where’s Hadrian?” Theo asked and Draco grimaced.

“He’s at home throwing a fit.”

“Oh.” Theo said despondently and Draco smothered a wince again.

“Don’t worry about it, nothing any of us can change. I kinda egged it on with my complaining, I was upset my dragon hadn’t shown itself and was instead stalking me. Hadrian didn't take that well.”

Theo stared at him with an unimpressed look, “What?! I know it was uncouth of me to do so! I’ll apologize when I see him next.”

“You better, or I'll sic my dragon on you.” Daphne said with a glare and Draco ignored Neville who was mocking him out of the corner of his eye.

“Yeah, yeah I understand.” Draco said mulishly and half listening as the professor was telling everyone who had a dragon how to get home. “Lets just go, it's been a long day and I would like to see if my dragon will finally stop stalking me when I get home.”

It did stop stalking him when he got home and now he had several new bruises along with a bright new bond warmly humming in the back of his mind.

Chapter Text

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Granger,

I send my deepest apologies as I send you this letter.

An incident occurred at Hogwarts this Halloween and I regret to inform you that Ms. Hermione was caught up in it. A troll, a three and a half meter tall creature, somehow made its way onto the property while the students celebrated Halloween in the great hall. Ms. Hermione had an altercation earlier in the day with two of her housemates exiting Charms and it is to my knowledge that the two other students that were involved insulted her after she tried to help them in class. She regrettably spent the rest of the day in one of the bathrooms upset, I did not know of this until after the whole incident on Halloween occurred, if I had known she would not have been left in the bathroom that day. Unfortunately, she was and she had an encounter with the troll. She is okay, she had no injuries, and she is resting in the hospital wing at the moment.

The headmaster did not wish for me to inform you of this incident but you are her parents and have a right to know. It would be hypocritical to inform the other parents of what occurred, especially since one of the parents of the students involved works at our school, and not inform you as well.

The safety and care of my students is my top priority and I am saddened and deeply apologetic to say that I have failed where your daughter is concerned. I do not make this recommendation lightly but considering our countries current political climate, I would look to transfer Ms. Hermione to an alternate wizarding school. While it is my opinion that none are as special as Hogwarts, a child's safety and learning is my utmost priority as a teacher, and as such I have included brochures to all the other wizarding schools that take international students.

This incident occurred involving a student that our world regards as their savior for his defeat of a very evil wizard ten years ago, as I have no doubt Ms. Hermione has informed you. I fear events like the one that occurred this Halloween will continue to happen considering the amount of enemies he has. Your daughter has recently made a friend of him, and while I normally encourage friendships, I believe with the target that is already on his back it would only endanger your daughter further than she already has been.

I cannot change what has already happened, no matter how much I wish I could, but the actions I take in the current moment can influence the future. It is my recommendation that Ms. Hermione NOT continues her education here at Hogwarts after this school year. I implore you to enroll her in an alternate wizarding school. She is a witch, there is no changing that, if she were to attend a muggle school then she would have to have the last year of her life erased from her memory per our laws and I do not wish for that. It would do more harm to your daughter than good. I recommend Beauxbatons, as it is the second closest wizarding school to the United Kingdom. However, it is ultimately your choice as you are Hermione’s parents.

Again, my deepest apologies.

Regards,
Deputy Headmistress Minerva McGonagall

“Ms. Granger, a word if you please.” McGonagall said, drawing the girl away from whatever conversation she was having with Ron and Charles.

“Yes, professor?” She asked as they entered her office.

“Take a seat, Ms. Granger.” Hermione took a seat in one of the chairs, “I take it I am right that you have not informed your parents about what occurred on Halloween night as the Headmaster no doubt requested?”

“No, Headmaster Dumbledore didn’t think they should be informed since I was okay in the end and that it would only worry them.”

McGonagall hummed disappointedly, “Oh Albus…Ms. Granger, do you not see anything wrong with that? Mr. Potters parents and Mr. Weasley’s parents were both informed of the incident.”

“No? I figured it was because their parents are wizards and mine are muggles and wouldn’t understand.” She replied hesitantly and Minerva frowned. She could see what Albus was attempting to do, he had done it with Lily after all, and she was not going to see another family ripped apart. Not on her watch.

“Ms. Granger, if any incident occurs at Hogwarts that endangers a child, it is protocol for the parents of the child to be informed. Even if the parents are not wix. The only time we do not inform the parents is if the home life of the child is volatile.” Hermione looked down at her hands and McGonagall could see the gears turning in her eyes, “Now, because the Headmaster failed to inform your parents of the incident I took it upon myself to send them a letter.”

Hermione startled at that and looked up at her in shock. “Oh, don’t be shocked dear. I may follow the Headmaster in most things but you are one of my lions and that means your health is my top priority. Just because the Headmaster did not think it wise to send a letter to your parents does not mean they do not have the right to know what happened to their daughter.”

“Oh…” Hermione murmured before her eyes suddenly widened in alarm, “But, they’ll take me out of Hogwarts! They won't let me come back next year!”

“Dear, I wrote to them about that as well. I know that you and Mister’s Potter and Weasley are looking into what the Headmaster is hiding on the third floor corridor.” Hermione’s face blanked at that, “Don’t worry, I’m not mad. Mr. Jordan has already attempted to get in as well and he is not the only one. Just stay away from the third floor, Ms. Granger. It’s not meant for a first year like yourself. As for your parents, if they chose to take you out of Hogwarts then that is their prerogative. However, I think you will find them more considering of your education than you believe.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that they know you are a witch, they allowed you to come here after all. They had all the right to keep you on the muggle education track. If they decide to take you out of Hogwarts then they will most likely send you to a different wizarding school. Hogwarts is not the only one after all.”

“There’s more than just Hogwarts?” Hermione asked and Minerva nodded, flicked her wand, and handed the little girl the brochures to the other schools.

“There are many schools that take international students. Some of the schools' student bodies are primarily international students. I would look through those, if you truly believe your parents will unenroll you from Hogwarts upon receiving my letter.”

“You gave them these as well, didn’t you?” Hermione said, looking up at her from the brochures.

“Smart girl. Yes, I did. I felt that if they did indeed choose to withdraw you from Hogwarts then they should at least have every option available to them when making that decision.” Hermione looked back down at the brochures again, “Now, I would go write them a letter if I were you. I would also refrain from going on anymore adventures with Mister’s Potter and Weasley. They’re bound to get themselves in more danger by the year's end and I don't want to see you caught up in it. Do you understand me?”

Hermione quickly nodded at that, cheeks flushed in embarrassment.

“Oh, and do try to make some more friends than those two. I would start with your dormmates. They may be into different things then you are but that doesn’t mean you should give up on them. Keep an open mind and try again, I think you will find them more receptive that way.”

“Yes, Professor.” She whispered, clutching the brochures to her chest.

“Good, now, you are free to leave. Oh, and send Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley up after you. They are in need of a good talking to.”

Minerva sighed as little Miss Granger left. It would be a shame to lose such a smart girl. She would be better off for it though. It would be best to keep that kind of intelligence away from Albus’ schemes. He didn’t need another fanatically devoted and talented witch under his command. He had Lily, she was enough.

“Professor McGonagall? You wanted to see us?” Charles' voice snapped her to attention.

“Yes Mister Potter. Both of you, please sit. I believe we have much to talk about.” She said, giving both of them her sternest look of displeasure.

They both gulped. Good. Maybe this will teach them not to bully other students.

Hadrian wasn’t surprised to get a letter from his headmistress a few days before Samhain informing him that he was excused from class for the holiday and the day after. He was pretty out of it for most of Samhain day. The amount of spirits crossing the veil was overwhelming, especially since they were beings of pure emotion.

So instead of celebrating like most of the world, Hadrian would resign himself to staying in bed with a pounding headache. The day after was typically better but his head would still be sensitive to noise and light. He was, for once, grateful that Death had made him live in a biome of eternal darkness.

His dad usually stayed with him during the night after he had completed his Samhain ritual and his uncle would occasionally come by and check on him the day after to see how he was holding up.

This year was no different as his dad made the trip to the Arctic to stay by his side instead of staying at Black Manor and Hadrian was happy he did. He didn’t want to spend Samhain alone. His uncle didn’t visit him this year though. Something about the Headmaster at Hogwarts scheduling a board meeting on a holiday, his father didn’t sound too happy about it so he could only imagine that his uncle was furious. Hadrian could already see the angry red flashing his uncle's eyes would be doing at the thought of going to a meeting on a sacred holiday.

Death had just chuckled when he heard his father mention that. Hadrian wasn’t about to pry as to what made the deity laugh, something told him he wouldn’t want to know.

Speaking of Death, the god was sitting next to him, radiating amusement.

“Something funny?”

“You’d think you were on your death bed by how your father hovers.”

“Oh shush, you. You don’t currently have the migraine of your life at the moment.”

“You know it would be better if you shifted, right?”

Hadrian sighed, “And you know I can’t stay in that form for long.”

“Temporary relief then?” Death rumbled, “You’d last longer in your other form if you just shifted more often and not just when your emotions got the best of you.”

“I have no reason to shift. Plus, it's not like I can just walk around casually in that form. People would run in the opposite direction.”

“Your friends don’t.”

“My friends call Kreacher to come get me when I shift.” He grumbled and rolled over in bed, back now facing the primordial deity.

“Your friends call your elf because you only shift when you’re angry. Try shifting just for the sake of being in that form. I think you’ll find them completely comfortable in your presence.” Death said and Hadrian ignored him.

“Alright, fine. Be that way. You know I’m right.” The god rumbled before disappearing.

“I brought some food!” His father chorused, happily lifting up a plate of food. Hadrian grumbled a thank you.

“What’s up, hatchling? You were fine when I left.” His father said, sitting down next to him on his bed.

“Death’s being a bitch.”

His father hummed, “Well, they are an omnipresent god. I’m sure they have their reasons.”

Hadrian sighed, “I know. They're just irritating.”

His father smiled at him, “Probably doesn’t help that you have a headache the size of Mt. Everest right now.”

“They said something like that too.”

“Oh? Did they finally tell you how to make the migraine hurt less?”

“Something like that, they said I should shift on Samhain and that it wouldn’t hurt as much.” His father hummed at that.

“Well, I’d say the idea has merit. I can’t think of anyone else who would know how to relieve your current symptoms then the God of Death and he did give you that form.”

Hadrian grumbled again and he heard his father chuckle.

“It’s not funny.”

“It’s mildly funny.” His father retorted.

“Now, eat something, get some sleep. You’ll feel better tomorrow. And keep in mind what Lord Death says, you’d be surprised how little people care about appearances here. You’re not in Britain anymore, Hadrian, remember that. You comfortably go to school with werewolves, vampires, and dozens of other beings. You’ll be fine in your other form, trust me on that.” His father said, giving his leg a soft pat before leaving the room.

Hadrian sighed and stared at his food.

Chapter Text

“Oh, don’t be a show off Draco!” Theo said, pumping his wings to gain some more height. Draco just laughed.

“Maybe you should practice more at home if don’t want me to beat you in every flight class.”

Theo snarled, “You little- I’m gonna kick your arse in exams this year. We’ll see who's laughing when daddy dearest gets your report card.”

“Now boys,” Daphne cut in and they looked around only to find that she had flown higher than them in the time they were arguing, “the only place you both will be is beneath me.”

Draco’s face scrunched up in a silent snarl and he flapped his wings harder, attempting to catch up to Daphne.

“Are we just going to let them argue all day?” Neville asked Hadrian who was standing next to him on the ground watching their feuding friends with a smile.

“And ruin our free entertainment?”

Neville shrugged at that, “Fair, they won't be beating me in herbology though.”

Hadrian huffed a laugh, “Mate, I don’t think anyone can do that.”

A squawk drew their attention back to their friends above them to see Draco stuttering in the air, hands held above his head for protection. Daphne had whacked him with a wing.

“Mister Malfoy, do stay away from your fellow classmates. We don’t want you to break a wing now do we?” Professor Mavra said, swooping over to where they were.

Draco’s face went beet red, “No, professor. Sorry, professor.”

Their professor smiled, “No need to say sorry, just keep your distance.” Draco quickly nodded, adjusting his tail feathers to take him away from Daphne.

Professor Mavra flew off to help someone else in the class and Theo snorted, causing Daphne to laugh from where she was above them.

“I hate both of you.” Draco said, still beet red and glaring. “My only friends now are Hadrian and Neville.”

Neville laughed at that while Daphne reared back in the air in mock offense.

“And who would you gossip with? Me and Hadrian?” Neville asked.

“I do not gossip!” Draco squawked only to duck his head and stutter in the air when they all looked at him with eyebrows raised.

“Yeah, and my grandmother doesn't have a subscription to witch weekly.” Neville retorted and Hadrian chuckled.

“Alright everyone, class is almost over.” Their professor called from near the front of the cavernous flight classroom, “Lets land and get your stuff together for your next class, you all have progressed admirably.”

“Oh great, history time.” Daphne drawled, picking her bag up off the floor.

“And what’s wrong with history of magic?” Theo asked in mock affront.

“Oh, shush you. We can't all be good at history.” Daphne said, sticking her tongue out at him.

“I thought you said you were going to beat me and Draco in grades?”

“No, I said your place was beneath me. There’s a difference.”

Theo’s eyebrows scrunched up in confusion and Hadrian let out another soft chuckle, “She meant socially and literally.”

“Excuse you?!” Draco exclaimed, wings flaring in offense, “You are not above me socially!” and Daphne cackled, taking off down the hallway.

“Hey! Come back!” Draco called, running after her.

Theo, Hadrian, and Neville made their way at a slower pace, “I mean, she is technically above me socially.” Theo said after a moment and Neville laughed.

“She’s above both of us mate.” Neville said before glancing at Hadrian, “Hadrian doesn't count, he’s not normal.”

“Hey!”

“What? It’s true, you’re heir to three ancient and noble houses. That’s not normal.” Hadrian grumbled at that.

“Don’t remind me. I’m not looking forward to it.”

“Sucks to suck mate.” Neville said with a smile before going to join Draco and Daphne who were still arguing.

“How boring do you think Professor Brakker is going to make class today?” Hadrian asked Theo who was setting his stuff down.

“Ummmm… I don’t know. We are near the end of the drawing of the first blood so I think things should be getting interesting soon.”

“Good, because I don’t know how much more I can take of boring pre-civilization politics.” Hadrian said as their professor motioned for everyone to take a seat.

“Good afternoon everyone! I hope you had a good flight class! We will be finishing the drawing of the first blood section today so get your books out and turn to page two-thirty-two.”

“Oh thank the gods!” Draco murmured under his breath and they all muffled their laughter.

“Now, as I was saying in the last class period before we were rudely cut off by the bell, the wolves of Northern Mongolia…” Their professor began and Hadrian tuned him out. He could care less about the werewolf packs of Northern Mongolia, no matter how relevant to their homework they would be. He didn’t know how long he spaced off for but it must have been awhile before Death pulled on his sleeve to get his attention.

“You should listen to the lecture.”

Hadrian ignored him.

“It gets interesting soon. The wolves won't take well to the wix’s invasion of their territory.” Death continued to talk and Hadrian pushed down the instinct to talk back to him. He was pretty sure that their professor wouldn't like Hadrian interrupting his lecture to speak to the air behind him. Instead he tuned back into the lecture, if only to get Death to shut up.

“-The Alpha at the time did not take well to this intrusion onto his land and after talking to the invaders failed he decided to force them to leave. I can imagine most of you can interpret that this did not end well, yes?” Their professor asked the class and they all nodded.

“Good, you are correct in that assessment. The wolves ended up losing a good half of their territory and tensions between the wix and other territories that were never acted on before ignited and war broke out. So ends the period leading up to the drawing of the first magical blood. Now, does anyone know what happened next?”

A few people in the class raised their hands, Theo included, and their professor waited for a second before picking on a girl in the front row.

“The wix were forced out by the collective magical forces of the local Wolves, Fae, and Centaurs.” She answered and their professor nodded.

“Yes, correct, good job Ms. Levan. The wix were forced out and the Wolves got their territory back but not without a price. Nearly half of their pack were wiped out by the wix and similar fates befell the Fae and Centaurs that helped them. This loss would not go unanswered by the wix though and they soon returned with more people, eventually forcing all three parties from their land. This land dispute eventually would blossom into the Two Hundred Years War that would envelop much of the continents of Europe, Africa, and Asia. This is what your homework will be on tonight. I want you to write a short essay about how many people were affected by this war, the reasons it grew to consume three continents, how it eventually ended, and what the world looked like after it was over. Do we all understand?”

Everyone nodded.

“Does anyone have any questions?”

“How long does the essay have to be?” Someone from the back of the classroom asked.

“I want it to be at least two feet in length, this won't be a hard thing to manage as the war is a hefty subject, but don't exceed four feet. I don't want to read someone’s ten foot essay, if you write more than four feet then I will mark a red line on it and grade what is above that line. You wont get credit for writing more.” He answered.

“When do you want the essays by?”

“I want them by next Wednesday. You should have plenty of time then to get it done along with the rest of the school work from your other classes. If you don't then I would have a chat with your upperclassmen mentor about drawing up a better time management schedule.”

No one said anything in response to that. They all had done that at least once already. That or they had gotten a stern talking to from their mentors when they inevitably didn’t turn an assignment in on time.

“Any other questions?” He asked and no one answered him this time.

“No? Okay. You all know when my office hours are, feel free to stop by if you are struggling. That’ll be all for class today, you all get to leave early. Go have some fun or eat an early dinner if you have a lot of homework to get done tonight. I will see you all next Monday!”

Everyone raced to stand, putting books and notepads away in a hurry to leave.

“Thank goodness class is over. I don't know how much more of that I could take.” Daphne said, slipping her book bag over her shoulder.

“The end of class was interesting,” Theo spoke up.

“Yeah, only because a fight finally broke out after three hundred years of tense peace.” Draco said and frowned before shrugging.

“I guess. I liked the last hundred years before the drawing of the first blood though. The political moves were starting to get really interesting.”

They all stared at Theo in response.

“What? Why are you all staring at me like that?”

“That was the most nerdy thing to come out of your mouth yet,” Daphne said, jabbing a finger in Draco’s direction, “That was almost as bad as Draco potion rants when we get out of potions class.”

“Hey!” Draco exclaimed.

“What?” She turned to him, “It’s true. Your eyes get stars in them and you don't shut up for thirty minutes after class ends.”

“Well, sorry if you don't understand the finer intricacies of potion making.” Draco snootily said and Daphne just gave him an unimpressed stare before walking off in the direction of the dragon aviary.

“Hey, wait up!” Draco said, running to catch up with her. The rest of them followed at a leisurely pace.

“You think she’s gonna sideswipe him on their way home?” Neville asked and Theo snorted.

“Oh definitely.”

The three of them smiled as they entered the aviary, which was more of a pit in the earth with holes extending into the caverns walls than anything. Daphne was cooing to her boney monstrosity of a dragon, talking to it like it was a small cat and not something that could swallow you whole in a second.

“See you guys later,” Hadrian said, moving towards one of the lower passages and Neville and Theo smiled heading off in the opposite direction to where their own dragons were waiting.

He walked for a bit before he got to where he had left his own recently acquired dragon. He had found her after a few hours on the last dragon nest field trip of the semester. She was big and green with small horns framing her jaw. Their professor said she was a cross between two different dragon species but he wasn't sure what type other than that they were big dragons. His dragon seemed to be only five or six years in age but already towered over most medium sized dragons and Professor Taritheos had said she probably would continue to grow all her life.

“Hello, my sweet! Are you ready to head home?” He asked and his dragon trilled, pressing her nose into his chest.

“Alright then, let's head up and then we can go.” He said and directed his dragon out. Being mindful of staying in front of her so she didn't accidentally squish him under wing or foot.

Hadrian squinted as they came back to the entrance of the dragon area. Astrid was hopping onto her dragon but it seemed the rest of his friends had already left or were still getting their dragons as he didn't see anyone else he knew.

“Ready Viridis?” He asked and his dragon trilled in agreement.

“Alright, let's go!” Hadrian said, climbing up into the saddle on her back.

“Fly, Viridis!” he commanded and Viridis roared before lifting off into the sky.

Dragons were so cool. His dad was going to freak when he visited next.

Chapter Text

With a crack Draco appeared in the foyer of his ancestral manor.

“Dragon!” His mother called, walking over to give him a hug.

“Mother,” he greeted.

“Good to have you home again, son.” His father said, standing in the entryway to the foyer with a faint smile.

“Thank you, father. It’s good to be home too.”

“You didn’t bring your dragon with you?” His mother asked, and Draco could have sworn she sounded just the tiniest bit disappointed.

“Ahh, dragons don't like to travel by portkey. Opal will show up in a few days.”

“Oh, poor thing. We will have to have some fish ready for her when she appears,” his mother said, taking him by the shoulder and leading him further into the manor. “You will have to tell us how your semester went! Last time we checked in with you, you sounded like you were having so much fun!”

“Perhaps over a late lunch,” his father said, “you must be tired, Draco. The Arctic Ministry is two hours behind Britain after all.”

“Oh, yes! It’s six in the morning over there isn’t it. How about we retire to the greenhouse and drink some tea while the elves get your stuff settled and then have a light breakfast,” his mother said and Draco nodded, “Brilliant! Rose?”

Rose, one of his mother elves, popped in, “Yes mistress?”

“Rose, gather some of the other elves and see to it that Draco’s things get put away in the heir’s apartments. Also, we will be retiring to the greenhouse so if you could have some tea and a light breakfast sent that way that would be wonderful,” his mother commanded and Rose nodded before giving them a shallow bow.

“It will bes getting done, mistress,” Rose said and popped away.

“Well, shall we?” His mother asked, looking towards his father.

“Yes, let's,” his father said, leading the way to the greenhouse.

It was good to be home.

Daphne regretted coming home as she stared her mother down in the foyer. “Mother,” she greeted.

“Daphne,” her mother said, imperiously looking down her nose at her, “welcome home, my child.”

“Daphne!” Astoria exclaimed, bouncing over to her to give her a hug.

“Astoria! How are you? How have you been?” She asked with a smile.

“Good! Mother got me some new dresses for Yule!” Astoria broadly grinned, swishing her dress around in excitement.

“Oh, it’s beautiful! You look lovely!” She complimented and her sister blushed, dropping her gaze to the ground for a split second.

“Yes she does,” her mother said, ruining the moment, “as will you. The Malfoy’s are hosting their annual Yule ball and I will not have you disgracing our family name.”

Daphne sent her mother a glare and went to respond, only to be cut off by her father entering the room. “What is this I hear about Daphne disgracing the family name?” he questioned her mother.

“Ah, I was just saying that we must look our best for the Malfoy’s Yule ball. It wouldn’t do to show up looking anything but our best.”

Nice save, Daphne thought.

“Ah yes, the Malfoy Yule Ball. The girls will look fine, I have no doubt about that,” her father said to her mother before directing his attention towards her, “Now, how are you my dear? No ill effects from the portkey I hope?”

“No father, the portkey was just fine,” she answered.

“Good, I see you brought your familiar!” He said with a smile, having spotted Riceball’s cat carrier among her luggage.

“Yes, Mort will also be arriving in a few days' time. Dragons don’t take well to portkey travel.”

“Ah,” her father said, eyebrows raising in surprise, “Well we will have to plan accordingly then. Mort is rather large is he not?”

She went to answer only to be cut off by her mother’s outraged exclamation, “A dragon?! You can’t have a dragon! Gerald! This nonsense must cease, immediately! What will the other families think when they hear our daughter has a dragon? They will be horrified! No self respecting family will take her to wife now!”

Her father’s face had slowly turned red with anger at her mother’s hysterics, “Ambrose! Cease your hysterics at once. Every child at Arcane gets a dragon familiar and if they don't then more often than not they bond to some other magical creature that can fly. Our daughter is bonded to a dragon and that is final. When it arrives you will treat it with the respect it deserves and you will leave it alone. If I hear one whisper about you plotting against that dragon then you will get a one way trip to a vacation house and you will not return until Daphne leaves for school. Do you understand me? That will not only hurt an innocent creature but your daughter and this family's heir as well. Besides, heirs Malfoy, Nott, Black, and Longbottom also have dragons of their own. I highly doubt any family would look down upon our daughter for bonding with a magical creature.”

Her mother merely sniffed in contempt before stomping off as elegantly as she could.

Daphne’s father sighed, “Apologies my dear, you know how your mother is. Trust me, she won't touch your dragon. I will make sure of it. If she attempts to get close to him then I’ll have the elves teleport her away.”

“Thank you, father.” Daphne whispered.

Her father hummed and kissed her on the forehead, “Welcome home, my dear. I am glad you are back.”

Looking to Astoria her father said, “Now my sweet, why don't you show your sister all the lovely dresses you got while the elves put her stuff away in her rooms?”

Astoria brightened at that, “Of course, father! Come on, Daph! I have so much to show you!”

Daphne grabbed Riceball’s carrier and let her sister drag her off to her rooms. Gods, she couldn’t wait to go back to Arcane.

“Hadrian!” his father exclaimed, enveloping him in a hug as soon as his world stopped spinning.

“Dad!”

“Ohh, how are you?! Was your portkey okay? No nausea? Headaches? Lightheadedness?” His father asked, looking him over for injuries and ailments.

“No no, I’m fine!”

“Good, that's good.” His father said, ruffling his hair fondly, “Ready for the best Yule holiday yet?”

Hadrian gave his father a broad grin, “Yes! What are we doing?”

“Well… at first I wondered about just dropping in on the Malfoy’s Yule ball to stir up some chaos, but I figured I could always bribe someone to do that for me. Then I thought, what would Hadrian like to do? And I figured we could go out of the country for Yule! Would you like to go out of the country?” His father asked.

“Yes! Where are we going?”

“Well, we have options. We could either go to the Italian coast and stay at the vacation house there, we could go to the one in the french alps and go skiing, we could go to the one in Crete and lounge around there, or we could go across the world and impose ourselves on our relatives in upstate New York. Your choice.” There were other vacation houses they could go to as well but Sirius figured he’d save going to those in the future. Some of them were remote and would be good places to get away to once the rest of the world figured out they had the wrong Boy-Who-Lived.

“Hmmm…” Hadrian contemplated, swaying in place as he thought.

“Can we go to the one in Italy?” He asked.

“Of course, Hatchling! To Italy we shall go!” Sirius said, ushering his son further into the house.

“Can Uncle Tomas come with us?” Hadrian asked and Sirius paused, thinking that over.

Personally, he’d rather the Dark Lord stay the fuck away for the holidays, but he knew that was unrealistic. The man was, unfortunately, a part of Hadrian's family and he knew his son would be despondent if his favorite uncle did not show up for at least a few days.

“I can ask,” Sirius said carefully, not wanting to commit to anything just yet, “but you know how busy your uncle is. He might not be able to commit more than a few days.” There, now Hadrian couldn’t be too sad if the Dark Lord doesn’t stay for more than two days. If he doesn’t show at all Sirius’s Yule would be perfect.

“Oh, okay.” His son said and Sirius winced. Yeah, he’d have to suffer the Dark Lord’s presence for a few days.

“It’s okay, hatchling. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure he shows for a few days. Now, why don’t you and Kreacher go get your stuff all ready and I will go call your uncle and see what he says.” Sirius said, ushering his son off to his room where Kreacher was most likely already getting Hadrian’s stuff ready to go.

Sirius himself disappeared to his office, he had a call to make.

The last thing Voldemort wanted to hear at nine in the morning was Sirius Black’s voice coming from his office floo.

“Yo, mister tall, dark and scary. I have a question to ask you.” Black said and he sighed.

“What do you want Black?”

“So, me and Hadrian, you know, the heir to your house and your beloved adopted nephew, will be going to celebrate Yule in Italy at the family vacation house there. Hadrian was wondering if you would like to celebrate with us? If not that's totally fine, I would prefer that actually, but Hadrian was rather despondent when he heard you might not come, even for a few days, so I figured I would ask.” Black rambled and Voldemort paused in his motion to douse the floo’s flames with the glass of water that was on his desk.

“Despondent?”

“Utterly despondent.” Black confirmed.

He sighed again, “When will you be departing?”

“In a few hours.”

He flipped through his calendar and said, “Dumbledore has scheduled an impromptu board meeting two days from now so I will not be able to join you until after that.”

“Doesn’t he have to give the board a two weeks heads up?”

“He does but I fear that little tidbit of information has slipped his mind. Which means I get the honor of reminding him of that fun little tidbit during the meeting as it seems he has forgotten what powers the position of headmaster does and does not grant him. I also have a Wizengamot meeting after Yule, as do you, but I have a feeling Hadrian’s break does not last that long.”

Black hummed, “No it doesn't, he only gets two weeks off. Just enough to cover Yule and New Years.”

“Very well then,” He said and marked some days off in his calendar, “I shall join you both in three days time, if you would be so kind to send a portkey over with one of your elves day of that would be much appreciated.”

“Yeah, I’ll send one over. Are you attending the Malfoy’s Yule Ball?” Black asked.

“I will be. Unlike you, I cannot abstain from going.”

Black hummed again, “Sucks to suck. I’ll give you floo access when you get to Italy then.”

“Much appreciated, Black. Tell Hadrian he will see me in a few days then.”

“Will do, your esteemed lordship.” Black sarcastically said before cutting the connection.

Well, looks like he would have to start Yule shopping sooner rather than later. Curse that man's avoidance of politicians on the holidays. Why couldn’t he just make things simple and stay in the country? He already saw enough of the man on the weekends when he went to check in on how Hadrian was faring in school.

Wait, Black had said he was going to the Black vacation house in Italy. Voldemort smirked, he could have sworn Bellatrix got the right to that vacation house when she married Rodolphus.

He tossed some floo powder into the fire and called out for Lestrange Manor. If Black was going to make his holiday a misery then he would just have to make his one as well.

“Bellatrix my dear, a word if you please.”

“My Lord? Is everything alright?” She answered.

“You got the right to visit the Black vacation house off the Italian coast in your marriage agreement didn’t you?”

“Yes, my lord. Would you like to use it for the holidays?”

“Ah, no. But, it would seem your cousin is flexing his right to use it as head of the Black family. As that is the case, I am now apparently going as well as Hadrian was despondent to hear that I would be staying in Britain for the Yule holiday. So, in the spirit of the holidays, I figured I would extend that invitation to you. After all, you are his family and it would be such a shame to spend the Yule holiday apart from family.” He said with a smile. Oh, Black was going to hate him.

“Oh, that would be simply lovely! We would love to join you all there! Oh, I’ll have to call Cissy and Andy, they would love this as well. Thank you for the invitation, my lord!” She said and Voldemort could hear the grin in her voice.

“Lovely, then I shall see you all there in a few days then.”

“Of course, my lord. See you then.” She replied and he cut the connection.

There, now Black couldn’t make his life a living hell.

“Ohhh, Rodolphus!” Bellatrix sang, walking to where her husband was entertaining their daughter outside.

“Hmmm?” Rodolphus turned to look at her questioningly.

“Go get packed, we're going to Italy for the holidays!” She said with a smirk that softened when Indus started jumping around in joy.

“Were going to Italy for the holidays?! We never go to Italy for the holidays! This is going to be the best Yule ever!” Indus screamed before running into the manor.

They waited for a moment, listening to Indus’ excited screams as she made her way further inside. “I am sensing an ulterior motive to this impromptu vacation.” Rodolphus said, walking over to her.

She hummed in agreement, “Sirius is going there for Yule with Hadrian to get away from Britain. You know how he hates to deal with politics on holidays.”

“And I suspect that is not all?”

“Mmmm, no. Hadrian was just absolutely despondent to learn that his favorite Uncle would not be joining them for the holidays so Sirius had to ask our Lord if he could spare a few days out of his schedule to go with them.”

“Ah,” Rodolphus said, realizing where this was heading, “So our Lord invited us so he wouldn’t have to deal with Sirius’ bullshit more than he already does since you got the right to that house in our marriage agreement.”

“Yes, yes he did. I, of course, accepted. It would not due to refuse such a gracious offer from our lord to spend the holidays with him and it would be such a shame if Sirius and Hadrian were to spend the holidays alone, don’t you think?” Bellatrix said with a smile.

Rodolphus huffed a laugh and kissed her on the forehead, “Absolutely terrible, my dear. It would be just blasphemous to spend the holidays alone. How dare Sirius exclude us.”

“Mmmm, indeed. Anyway, I’m off to call Cissy and Andy. Can’t have a Black family Yule without the rest of the Black family!” With that, Bellatrix walked off.

Sirius wasn’t going to know what hit him, Rodolphus thought with a smile. Devious, absolutely devious. He’d have to give his lord a good present this Yule, sticking one to Sirius during the holidays was genius. Even if Hadrian was the one to initially demand his lord’s presence.

Narcissa got off the floo with a smile. She hadn’t known what her sister wanted when she called but she was more than happy to go through with her plan. Sirius, while intentions pure, was an idiot for not double checking who could and couldn't access that property.

“Lucius, my love,” she called as she returned to the greenhouse where her husband was raptly listening to Draco talk about some prank the Weasley twins had pulled.

“Yes, dear?” He turned to look at her and immediately got a weary look on his face when he spotted her smile.

“Bella invited us to spend a portion of the holidays in Italy with her, Rodolphus, Indus, and the Dark Lord.”

Lucius’s face went through several emotions at her statement, “And, uh,” he cleared his throat, “What did you say?”

“Oh, I said we would go. All we would need to do is return the day of the ball to get everything in order.”

Lucius hesitantly nodded, looking both thrilled and terrified that he would now be spending the holidays with the Dark Lord and the Lestranges.

“Anything else I should be aware of before we go? Also when is this happening?” He asked.

“Well, initially it was just going to be Sirius and Hadrian there. Sirius is using his position as Lord Black to spend the holidays elsewhere, you see. Always one to avoid politics if given the chance. As such, our dear Hadrian asked if our Lord would be coming along, he is the boy’s uncle after all, and Sirius couldn’t stand Hadrian being so despondent so he asked our lord and so our lord will be spending the holidays in Italy now to appease young Hadrian.” She said, taking a break in her explanation to sit back down before continuing, “Now, our lord remembered that my dear sister Bella had gotten the right to visit that vacation house whenever she wanted in her marriage agreement to Rodolphus as an escape if she ever needed it. You remember she used that right quite a bit when she was pregnant with Indus. As such, our lord extended a holiday invitation to my sister and her family since he knows Sirius can’t bar her from the house.” Lucius and Draco stared at her for a long moment before her husband spoke up.

“And now Bellatrix has invited us?”

“Yes, and I accepted. We are going to Italy in a few hours to spend the holiday with my side of the family,” Lucius’s face was starting to morph from calm and collected to despair and anguish, “Oh, don't give me that look Lucius. You don’t have any other family in the country besides Xenophilius and Luna and they barely go anywhere unless they go on one of their invisible creature expeditions.”

“We could go visit my family in France? We have relatives there and in the States we could visit!” Lucius said desperately and Narcissa frowned at him. Draco was just sitting there with an amused look on his face.

“Lucius, we are going to Italy with my family and that’s final. I already have the elves packing our things. If we dont show then our lord will be greatly disappointed and will probably make that displeasure known at the ball. You don’t want to be the new hot gossip in the Daily Prophet for slighting Lord Slytherin, do you?” Lucius rapidly shook his head no, “Well then, its final. We're going to Italy. If you want to take it out on someone then take it out on Sirius, he was the one to ask our lord in the first place.”

Lucius frowned, no doubt contemplating what he could get away with doing to a marauder. One that was still pranking Severus to this day all without being near the man.

“Invite Xeno and Luna if you want to spend some time with your side. Sirius would never begrudge their presence and Luna is a lovely girl. They never come to the ball, not since Pandora passed.” She said, patting his knee.

He grumbled for a moment before conceding, “It would be nice to see my brother for the holiday’s.”

“Good, go floo Xeno and convince him to come along. He needs to get out of the house more. Draco?” Her son turned his attention to her, “Will your dragon be able to find us there? Is she okay flying a little further?”

Draco nodded, “She will be fine. Most of the international students don't come from nearby areas so Italy won't be much more of a stretch than Britain. Plus, Hadrian’s dragon has to fly just as far.”

“Good, glad to hear it. Now, go freshen up. We have family to meet.”

“Ted?” Andromeda said, knocking on his office door, “Are you busy?”

“No, my dear, come on in.” He said, and his wife entered and sat in one of the chairs in front of his desk.

“Everything okay?”

“Oh yes,” His wife said, waving off his concern, “Everything is fine. Bellatrix called, they're going to Italy for the holidays and wanted to know if we wanted to join.”

Ted stared at her for a moment, Andromeda was being too nonchalant about all this. This was a trap and he knew it.

“Oh?” He said, not agreeing to anything.

“Mmmm, yes.” She said, looking at him with a coy smile. He didn’t like that smile.

“And what did you say?”

“Oh…I said that would be lovely.” She said, dancing around what he really wanted to know.

“That answers nothing and you know it.” He said and they lapsed into silence when she didn’t answer him.

“You said we would go, didn’t you?” He asked after the silence went on for longer than he would like.

Andromeda nodded, smile widening.

He sighed at that, “Who’s all going to be there? Because if Bellatrix calls us then she’s going to call your sister as well.”

She sniffed before saying, “The Malfoy’s, Sirius and Hadrian, and the Dark Lord.”

Wait- what was that last one?

“Dear? What was that last one again? I could have sworn you just said the Dark Lord.”

His wife just hummed, examining her nails. He sighed, someone was going to get cursed over the holiday, he just knew it.

“When is this happening?” He asked.

“In a few hours. I've already called Nymphadora and told her what was happening. She’s taken the rest of the holiday season off of work though she is on call if they need her.”

He sighed again, “I guess I’ll take off as well, since I assume I’m not getting an option in this.”

“No, you're not.” She unhelpfully answered.

He gave her a blank stare, “Thank you for that, truly.”

“You’re welcome!” She said, before happily sauntering out of his office.

This was Sirius’ fault and he knew it.

Sirius happily flooed into the Italy vacation house, Hadrian in tow, before pausing after taking three steps out of the fireplace.

“Hello, cousin!” Bellatrix said, skipping over to him with a smirk before ruffling Hadrian’s hair, eliciting a giggle out of his son.

“Hello, Auntie Bella!” Hadrian said, and Sirius jolted out of his frozen state.

“Hello, dear!” Bella said and Sirius slowly turned to stare at her.

“What are you doing here?!” He questioned. He could have sworn Rodolphus said they were celebrating in Britain this year.

“Well, mummy and daddy gave me the right to this house when I married Rodolphus and when I heard you were going to spend the holiday here I decided we would spend it with you.” She said with a smile that promised suffering and Sirius muttered a curse under his breath as Hadrian scampered off to play with Indus.

“He told you that we would be here, didn’t he?” Sirius didn’t feel the need to elaborate on who he was talking about, knowing his cousin would understand.

“He did.” She said before turning back to the floo as it lit up again, Lucius appearing out of the fire, shouldering his way past Sirius.

“Out of my way, Black. I need a drink.”

“Cissy!” Bella exclaimed, giving Narcissa a big hug.

Sirius made eye contact with Draco as the kid came through the fire and the boy smirked. Fuck, there went his quiet holiday. He knew exactly who to blame for this too and he couldn’t retaliate unless he wanted to get cursed seven ways to sunday. Damn Hadrian for insisting on Voldemort's presence.

Well, if he was going to be stuck here with the rest of his insane family for the holidays might as well make the most of it.

“Ohhhh, Lucius!” He called in a singsong voice and grinned when he heard a muffled curse followed by a laugh. Oh good, Rodolphus was with him. He could kill two birds with one stone.

Bellatrix and Narcissa walked from the floo into the living room, the sounds of their husbands screaming bouncing off the walls.

“To the beach dear sister?” Narcissa asked.

“Yes, let's. Andy said they wouldn't be here until tonight when little Nymph gets off work.” She said.

“Oh lovely, I persuaded Lucius to invite Xeno and little Luna so they’ll be arriving around that time as well.”

“This is going to be so much fun, Cissa!” Bellatrix excitedly said, skipping off towards the beach, Narcissa following at a more leisurely pace.

This was going to be a great holiday.

Chapter Text

Sirius was starting to think that leaving the country was a terrible idea. He should have double checked who had rights to the houses he offered up to Hadrian. He was a right fool to think his relatives would leave him and Hadrian alone for Yule. Who was he kidding, he was a bloody fucking idiot for not seeing this coming. He was a Marauder for magic's sake! It was kind of insulting to be honest. How dare they! How dare they pull one over him!

He’d normally take the issue up with the main conspirator and prank them into submission but…he’d likely not survive even attempting to do that. Especially considering who’s grand idea this was.

Speaking of tall, dark and scary…

The man himself had shown up a few days ago and Hadrian had been over the moon ever since. It made suffering through his relatives almost worth it. Almost. If he heard one more bad dad joke from Rodolphus then Bella was just going to have to find another husband. Hell, he might just be able to persuade Lucius to help him if the man would get over the little hair dye prank he pulled on day one.

He’d taken a jaunt into town and bought some muggle hair dye that was just this sickening mustard yellow color and then replaced Lucius’ high end shampoo with it. The scream Lucius let out was glorious and Sirius had rode the high of it through the rest of the morning.

Rodolphus snorting his coffee through his nose after choking on it was plus as well. Same with the three curses that flew out of Lucius’ wand after Rodolphus had the audacity to laugh. Andromeda had had to whack Ted on the back a few times to keep the man from asphyxiating on a piece of Kreacher's famous coffee cake he inhaled down the wrong pipe and Nymphadora, either intentionally or unintentionally, changed her own hair color to match him. If Lucius had been trying to forget what color his hair had been turned then he had a hard time of it.

When the rest of the kids had come down for breakfast the laughter started up again. Or well, Indus, Hadrian, and Luna had been laughing. Draco had been aghast. The look of horror in the boy's eyes was something Sirius was going to remember for a long time. The kid had even grabbed a nearby mirror just to make sure he had not fallen to the same fate.

In fact, Draco still couldn’t look his father in the eyes with a straight face since the color didn’t come out all the way thanks to a few drops of a special potion Sirius created in his spare time. It didn’t make the dye totally spell resistant, but it made it just enough that the color would still faintly be there no matter how hard someone tried to get it out. So now Lucius had to wait a week or so before the dye would naturally wash out and his hair was now stuck a beautiful piss yellow color.

The sheer disappointment that the dark bastard himself leveled at Lucius’ appearance when he had arrived had been great. Not enough for Sirius to forgive the man for ruining his tranquil holiday plans but good enough that his smug smile didn’t leave his face till dinner.

But, back to the more pressing issues at hand, his supreme darkness had arrived, Rodolphus would not stop making dad jokes, and Yule was fast approaching. Which meant that Sirius had to find some presents… and find a way to shut Rodolphus up before someone murdered him. He’d normally bet on the Dark Lord snapping first and cursing Rodolphus into oblivion but he was currently distracted with Hadrian and the other kids at the moment so he was out of the question for now. Well, unless he suddenly got sick of teaching the kids new spells. Which Sirius doubted would happen, the man was a surprisingly competent teacher and had the patience of a saint when it came to teaching the kids magic.

Sirius couldn’t quite blame his lack of patience when it came to adults, however. He himself got irritated when people that should know better did not, in fact, know better.

Back to the matter at hand though, stopping Xenophilius from murdering Rodolphus. He would probably be more shocked if he hadn’t gone to school with Xeno. The man was a Ravenclaw through and through, for all his talk of invisible creatures that may or may not exist, and he prided knowledge. Rodolphus was just making himself out to be an idiot that couldn't read the room. Ted wasn’t too far behind in reaching his limit but he was close enough that Sirius had begun to eye the man wearily.

“Lucy! How are we today!” Sirius greeted, smile on his face growing wider as the man glared at him.

“What do you want Black?”

“Oh, don't be like that. I’m not up to anything nefarious at the moment-”

“Shocker.” Lucius interrupted.

Sirius glared but continued, “-and I was just wondering if you would be up to lending your assistance in a rather urgent matter.”

Lucius raised an eyebrow at that, “You have an urgent problem…on vacation?”

Sirius hummed in acknowledgement, “Yes, very urgent. You see, I don’t know if you’ve been paying attention but our dear Rodolphus is about to find himself placed in the Lestrange family crypt far sooner than thought.”

“I assume this is due to the near continuous terrible dad jokes he’s been spouting.”

“Ding ding ding! We have a winner,” Sirius finger gunned in Lucius’ direction, earning an eye roll from the man, “But yeah, Rodolphus has got to stop or one niece of yours will be without a father and another will lose the only parental support she has left.”

“What?” Lucius said, confused.

“Lucius, you blond idiot, use those Slytherin observational skills of yours. Your brother is going to murder Rodolphus.”

Sure enough, Xeno was actively looking as if he was plotting Rodolphus’ death.

“Ahh, I see.”

Sirius just hummed from behind him, “Yeah, I personally would like to never see your normally kind hearted brother snap. I saw it once back in Hogwarts when someone hexed Pandora and I never want to witness that kind of brutality again.”

Lucius smiled at the reminder, “Dumbledore never did find out what happened to that Gryffindor did he?”

“No, no he didn’t. But, that's besides the point. I don’t think your lord would be too thrilled at the death of one of his best fighters.”

That gave Lucius pause, “...no he would not. Bella even less so,” he sighed, “damn it. I wanted to see Rodolphus taken down a peg.”

“I mean… that can still be arranged. We just have to stop Xeno from committing murder first.”

Lucius stared at him for a bit, “...Alright, fair point. Do you have something in mind?”

“I mean…besides kidnapping him from the beach and hiding him somewhere for the rest of the break? No, I don't really have anything in mind that will stop the jokes.” Sirius said and Lucius looked at him weirdly.

“What?! I prank people, I don't permanently shut people up!”

Lucius rolled his eyes, “How about casting a tongue tying curse on him?”

Sirius hummed, “Already tried that, he was free of it within thirty minutes.”

It had been a blissful thirty minutes too.

Lucius pursed his lips, “...would there perhaps be some family spell you know that could do it? There are some that I know but none of them are particularly kind and they all leave some sort of permanent repercussions.”

“No, all I know are the ones that mother dearest used on me and well… I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.” Sirius replied and Lucius grimaced.

“Yes, let's not stoop to that level.”

They stood in silence for a few more moments before Lucius spoke up again, “Would it be too drastic to suggest one of the ladies tell him to shut up?”

Sirius gave him a long look, “I guarantee you Bellatrix has told him to shut up already.”

“But Andromeda? Narcissa?”

“They’d want something in return.” Sirius said, looking over to where the three Black sisters were relaxing in the sun together.

“And that concerns you, why?”

“Are you kidding? I’m Lord Black, they could do practically anything with a favor from me. Anything they’d want done I could feasibly get done with the amount of power I have at my disposal. Do you want the world to go up in flames?”

Lucius stared at him for a moment before conceding, “... I see your point. Would you like me to ask?”

Sirius stared at him, “What do you want in return?”

Lucius gave him a faint smile that was more of a grimace, “I want you to fix my hair.”

“No can do, the potion I put in the dye has to run its course.” Sirius smugly replied and Lucius’ eye twitched.

“Well then what can you do? I can't show up to my Yule Ball with my hair looking like this, Narcissa would geld me!” he hissed and Sirius made a face to appear that he was looking like he was thinking about it.

“Hmmmmmm, don’t know! Not my problem!”

“Sirius!”

“Alright, alright fine! I’ll make you something that will temporarily fix your hair.” Sirius grumbled with a scowl and Lucius huffed.

“Was that so hard?”

“I hate you so much.” Sirius said.

Lucius just smiled at him and walked over to Narcissa, getting her attention and then pointing to where Xeno was sat with an irritated scowl on his face. They had what seemed to be a small discussion, Lucius’ smile dimming the more Narcissa spoke, and he briskly turned away and walked back over once it appeared a consensus had been agreed upon.

“Well?” Sirius prompted.

“I want another favor.”

“Nope, no can do. Our deal is already made, no take backs or alterations. You persuade one of them to interfere and save Rodolphus from his impending grisly fate and I get you a fix for your hair for the ball.” Sirius said and Lucius scowled at him.

“What’d she want?”

“I have to help her set up for the ball and she gets to sit in on the next Wizengamot meeting.” Lucius murmured and Sirius whipped his head around to stare at him.

“What in the nine circles of hell made you conceded to let her sit in on the next Wizengamont meeting?”

“She wouldn’t talk to Xeno otherwise.”

“...How are you one of the best politicians in the Wizengamot at spotting loopholes and yet you can't find a way out of her sitting in on a Wizengamot meeting?” Sirius questioned.

“Ah, see you seem to forget that she is my wife and I live with her.”

“Okay, and?”

“And she’s been eyeing Draco’s dragon with a suspicious gleam in her eye ever since it arrived. I particularly don't want to find myself face to face with that fire breathing menace, not that I think she would feed me to it, but she certainly is not above threatening me with it.”

Sirius stared at him for a little bit, “...You just don’t want any of your precious peacocks to suddenly disappear into thin air.”

“That too,” Lucius mumbled before slowly turning his head to look at Sirius, “-Wait, has she said anything recently about feeding my peacocks to Draco’s dragon? Sirius? Sirius, don't walk away! I need to know if any of their lives are at risk!”

Sirius disappeared into the house.

“Damnit Sirius!”

“Are you sure you don’t want to come to the Yule Ball this year?” Draco asked Hadrian, who had shifted into his other form and was currently floating on top of the pool water.

Hadrian just gave a hissing growl and sank beneath the water.

“I am going to take that as a no little cousin.” Nymphadora said, appearing from somewhere to sit beside him.

“But it’s so much fun! He’s going to miss out on all of it!” Draco whined.

Dora just stared at him, “You are the only person I can think of that thinks pandering to politicians is fun.”

“Daphne, Blasie, and Pansy like to as well…”

“And you all are weird.”

“Hey!” Draco squawked.

Dora put her hands up in defense, “Hey, I'm just saying! I work with some of them and I can tell you, they suck and they are stupid.”

“But that’s why it's so much fun! They’re stupid and gullible!”

“You just want to see if you can convince enough people to get something dumb passed in the Wizengamot don't you?”

“Nooooo…”

Nymphadora just stared at him.

“Alright fine, I want to see if I can get something dumb passed in the Wizengamot.” He admitted.

Dora just snorted, “Well if that's the case, see if you can use those puppy dog eyes to good use and up the Auror paycheck.”

“And what am I getting from this deal?” Draco asked.

“I’ll get you a Falmouth Falcons jersey and two boxes of Honeydukes chocolates.”

“Three boxes, Daphne figured out where my stash is.” Draco countered.

“Deal.” They shook on it and Nymphadora walked off.

“Isn’t taking government bribes frowned upon?” Hadrian asked, surfacing in his human form.

“Oh shut up!” Draco snarked back and walked off towards the house, leaving Hadrian floating in the pool.

“...well that was rude.” He mumbled and disappeared back under the water.

Fred and George couldn’t tell if being home this Christmas vacation was the right move.

Bill had fucked off to gods only knows within two days, citing some Gringotts emergency and abandoning them and Charlie to the tender mercies of their mother. Charlie looked like he was going to strangle someone, this was one of his first holiday’s home after leaving to pursue his dream job and their mother was making her opinions known on that. Ginny wasn’t helping anything, though she had seemed to finally figure out when to stay silent when their mother got into a mood.

It was a shift from her usual argumentative nature but they would have been more panicked about foul play if they hadn’t seen the fires of hell burning in her eyes.

Ron was his usual irritating self and had spent the majority of the break ranting about slimy Slytherins and how he and Charles were going to make them pay. Which sounded right out of their mothers play book but Ron had been parroting her for years now so it wasn’t all that surprising.

Percy was still being a fucking twat. The bastard was still riding the high that his prefect badge gave him and was still bossing everyone around. Charlie had cursed him a few times for it already, which would set their mother off again, then Charlie himself would blow up and it would turn into an hours-long screaming match.

Oh and they all had to persuade their dragons to stay away, lest their mother try to get rid of their dragons, so they couldn't even get some free time in the skies anymore.

Christmas vacation was going great.

Fortunately, they had gotten through the actual Christmas night argument free. Presents had been given, no one had complained too much, and dinner was a mostly peaceful affair. Ron still had no table manners so they had been put off their appetite fairly early into dinner, but that was normal.

Gods save them, this was hell on earth.

At the moment though, they were contemplating whether going downstairs was the right move. The Daily Prophet had just arrived and last night was the annual Malfoy Yule celebration. Which they technically could have gone to, but that would mean they would never be able to come home ever again.

Which was starting to sound more and more appealing as the days went by.

Potential banishment from Britain aside, they could already hear their mother ranting and it wasn’t even nine in the morning yet.

If they just could block her out they could get thirty more minutes-

“BOYS! GINNY! GET DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW! BREAKFAST IS READY!”

Nevermind.

“How much pain would we be in if we just didn’t move?” Fred asked.

“Mental or physical?”

“Both.”

George hummed, “Large migraine by noon due to maxed out occlumency barriers and a minimum of four mild stinging spells sent our way.”

Fred just sighed.

“Gods, when will this be over?”

Abruptly, their door slammed open and they scrambled to get out of bed. Fortunately, it was just Charlie.

“Bloody hell, Charlie!” George grumbled.

“Gave us a right heart attack!” Fred said, glaring at him.

Charlie just folded his arms over his chest, “Vacations over, pack your shit. I can’t stand this any longer and I’m not about to leave you both behind to suffer mum's rage.”

“Wouldn’t that just set her off again? Especially since she thinks you work in Romania.” George said.

“Nope, the official story will be that I am staying at your place for the last days of vacation and then I am portkeying back to Romania once my time there is up.” Charlie said and they both just stared at him.

“Won’t that just get us screamed at instead of you?”

“No, cause while you two are packing I'm going to go start an argument and get myself banned from coming back. Her focus is going to be so zeroed in on me that she won't be able to think about where we’ve disappeared to.” He said and they raised their eyebrows, mildly impressed.

“One question-” Fred started while George just held up a finger in emphasis.

“Shoot.”

“-What does getting yourself banned entail and how can we do that down the road?”

Charlie sighed, “I’m going to tell her she's never getting adopted grandchildren from me if she continues to act the way she does, and when she zero’s in on the adopted part I am going to tell her I’m gay.”

The twins just stared before exhaling in unison.

“Bloody hell Charlie, she’s gonna have a stroke she’ll be so mad,” Fred said, and George continued, “ -Bloody brilliant diversion though.”

“That will only leave the world a better place.” He mumbled and the twins choked on their spit.

“Gods dammit!”, “Jesus Charlie!” They chorused and their brother huffed a laugh.

“It’s true and you know it!” Charlie said, halfway out the door.

“Godspeed,” they said, saluting him on his way out.

They heard a mumbled “Thanks,” from the other side of the door and then Charlie’s fading footsteps.

They sat in silence until the muffled sounds of angry chatter started below them.

“You think we're gonna have to send Hadrian a condolence letter?” Fred mused.

George hummed as the sound of angry screamed words reached them.

“-WHY I WOULD NEVER?!” came their mothers screeched defense to whatever Charlie had just insinuated.

“OH YEAH, CAUSE THAT’S NOT WHAT’S CURRENTLY HAPPENING! I SWEAR, I AM NEVER BRINGING ANY CHILD I ADOPT IN THE FUTURE OVER TO THIS FUCKING HOUSE SO LONG AS YOU CONTINUE TO BE THE WAY YOU CURRENTLY ARE!” Charlie yelled back.

“ADOPT?! WHAT DO YOU MEAN ADOPT?!-” their mothers said before saying something in a lower voice that they couldn’t make out.

“WE BROKE UP TWO WEEKS AFTER I SENT THAT LETTER, DO YOU NOT LISTEN?!” Ah yes, Charlie’s uncomfortable two week relationship with the girl that stalked him once he started playing quidditch.

“I LISTEN PERFECTLY FINE! HOW DARE YOU ACCUSE ME OF NOT PAYING ATTENTION! AND BROKE UP? WHAT DO YOU MEAN?! YOU CAN’T BREAK UP! I HAD YOUR WEDDING ALL PLANNED OUT!”

Whatever Charlie said in response was lost to the sound of footsteps rapidly stumbling down the stairwell.

“We should probably start packing…” George said and Fred nodded.

They stood, levitating their stuff from their dressers and into the chests they brought with them, only for their door to slam open again. It was Ginny.

“What the bloody hell is going on down there?!” Ginny said before realizing what was going on in the room. “Where are you two going?”

“-GAY! WHAT DO YOU MEAN GAY?!” Their mother screeched, and they all winced at the disgust in her tone.

“We're making our escape.” Fred said, levitating the last of their stuff into the chests. They hadn’t brought much with them.

“Charlie’s covering for us.” George said, answering their sister’s earlier question.

“GAY, AS IN I LIKE GUYS! WHAT THE HELL ELSE DID YOU THINK I MEANT?!” Charlie yelled back.

“NO SON OF MINE-” Their mother said before being cut off.

“SON?! DO NORMAL MOTHER’S SCREAM AT THEIR CHILDREN JUST BECAUSE THEY DON’T APPROVE OF THEIR JOB CHOICE? DO NORMAL MOTHERS HURL INSULTS AT THEIR CHILDREN AND SHOOT STINGING SPELLS IF THEY SO MUCH AS BREATHE WRONG?! NO! NO THEY DON’T! I THINK YOU’VE MADE YOURSELF VERY CLEAR THESE PAST FEW YEARS THAT YOU ONLY CONSIDER ME TO BE A NUISANCE, A BLIGHT UPON THE PRECIOUS ‘NICE AND LIGHT’ FAMILY IMAGE THAT YOU FORCE US TO UPHOLD! BECAUSE GODS FORBID THAT WE GO DOWN A DIFFERENT PATH THEN THE PREDETERMINED ONE YOU DECREED FOR US THE MOMENT WE WERE BORN!” Charlie screamed and the house went silent.

“Got any more room at that house of yours?” Ginny faintly whispered.

“I… I think she’d report us to the Auror’s for kidnapping,” George replied in his own faint whisper while Fred absently nodded.

All of a sudden the hush that had fallen on the house was shattered by their mothers screams, her words reaching a volume and pitch that no one in the house had ever heard from her before, “HOW DARE YOU?! HOW DARE YOU BESMIRCH THIS GOOD FAMILY WITH YOUR FALSE LIES AND ACCUSATIONS! GET OUT! GET YOUR THINGS AND GET OUT, NOW! RUN BACK TO YOUR DARK AND DISGUSTING ROMANIAN DRAGON PRESERVE AND STAY THERE! IF YOU SO MUCH AS DARKEN THIS DOORSTEP WITH YOUR PRESENCE BEFORE MY DEATH THEN I WILL CALL THE AURORS ON YOU!” Their mothers voice was practically shaking the house at this point and if Ron wasn’t awake before then he definitely was now.

“And that's our que. See ya Gin Gin!” The twins said, scrambling to shrink their trunks before they could become their mothers next victims.

“Wait, how are you leaving?!” Ginny said, panicked, “She’ll banish you too if you are seen walking out the door with Charlie!”

“And that's why she wont notice us being missing until she cools off,” they said, holding up their emergency portkey, “Emergency portkey, can activate through wards and is almost silent. She won't hear the crack that will signal our disappearance with how loud she is projecting her thoughts right now.”

“You all better pay me back for the amount of damage control I am going to have to do!” She said, angrily pointing at them.

“We’ll send you a care package after she cools off some.” They said in unison.

“I want twice the supplies you got me last time and whatever new stuff you two are working on.” She bartered.

“Deal,” they shook on it, “Good luck Gin!”

Their portkey went off the moment the door slammed downstairs. Their mother none the wiser that she was now down three children instead of just one.

“Bloody hell!” Ginny whispered in the doorway of the twins' now vacant room.

“Jesus Gin, language!” Ron muttered, wiping at his eyes as he came down the stairs, “-What’s all the yelling about? I was having a good dream.”

Ginny just stared at him in disgust, “You’re an idiot Ron.”

“Wh- Hey?! What’s that for?” He stared after her, confused as she went to face the music downstairs.

Ron never got a response from her as their mother then yelled up the stairwell again for them to come down for breakfast. He’d soon learn what the whole fuss was about the moment they sat down for breakfast and the twins refused to show.

Ginny resolved to send Charlie a strongly worded letter the moment she got a chance to. The next eight months before she could join them all for school were going to be hell on earth based on the contorted angry scowl her mother was giving the missing occupants chairs.

She was going to have to tread lightly. Perhaps an extended stay at Luna’s was in order. Her mum couldn’t get too mad at Luna, it was Luna for God’s sake.

Chapter Text

Sirius was having a lovely day. Key word there, ‘was’.

“What are you three doing here?” Sirius sighed as his cousins all piled into the chairs in his office. How they got in the manor without the wards telling him was concerning but he knew they wouldn’t tell him.

“Hello to you too, Sirius,” Narcissa greeted while Andromeda just smiled and Bellatrix snickered.

“Yes, Hi. Now, what are you doing here?”

The three of them put on false faces of hurt, “What? Is it a crime to visit one’s family unannounced? I thought you’d be pleased to see us.” Andromeda said and Sirius raised an unimpressed eyebrow.

“If we were part of a completely different family and had a completely different upbringing then yes, I would probably be delighted. However, I grew up under threat of being Crucio’ed for any perceived mistake mother dearest thought I made. You, Andromeda, were burnt off the family tapestry and stripped of the family magic for marrying the wonderful person that is Ted and not Lucius like your parents wanted. Narcissa, you have blackmail books that are bigger then most books in the Hogwarts library because that is your way of fighting back against those that would constrain you and don’t get me started on you, Bella. No offense to any of you, but our family is fucked up seven ways to Sunday and I have a distinct lack of trust of anyone in it.” Sirius said, exhausted by his families bullshit. “So, if you would kindly say what you are here for and not beat around the bush that would be great. I am in no mood for it today, I was having a good day.”

“Ooh, the kitten has claws!” Bellatrix said, smile stretching ear to ear, “Don’t worry, we're not here to ask you of anything. We came with news!”

Sirius slowly blinked at them.

It was Narcissa that smiled next, giddy joy in her voice as she spoke, “Word is that Molly Weasley just disowned one of her sons! Or, well, as close to disownment as she can get since neither she or Arthur actually have the power to do anything within their family.”

Sirius sat up straighter in his chair, “Which son?”

“The second eldest, Charlie, I think his name is?” Narcissa said and Sirius knew damn well that she was faking the confusion. Narcissa knew all of those children’s names, birthdays, the hour they were born at down to the last second, and the day on which they were conceived. She was creepy like that and no one in this family hated the Weasley’s as much as she did. But that was also besides the point. Charlie Weasley, Hadrian’s Charlie, had just been as good as disowned as he would ever get.

Sirius felt sorry for the kid. He knew what that was like.

But also he was curious, “I didn’t think Molly was that mad at his choice in job that she’d go so far as to disown him? Banish him? Is it banishment if she can’t actually disown him?”

“More of a banishment than anything,” Andromeda piped up, “According to our source she told him that she would, and I quote, call the Auror’s if he ever darkened their doorstep again.”

Sirius raised his eyebrows in astonishment and reclined in his chair, “Bloody hell…”

“I could see her doing it too,” he said, thinking back on all the times Molly had threatened people with things like that. Narcissa and Andromeda hummed in agreement while Bellatrix cackled some more.

“What’d he say to set her off like that?” He asked again.

Narcissa examined her nails in the posh way she does before dropping bombshells and Sirius mentally winced. This wasn’t going to be good.

“He apparently told her that he was gay and that the only way she’s ever getting grandchildren from him is if he adopts. He also yelled at her for her treatment of them as children and her less then stellar listening skills.”

Sirius sat in mild shock and outrage. That poor boy.

“Please tell me someone has gone and talked to that poor boy? And not to scream at him, but to console him and tell him everything’s going to be alright.” That boy needed someone in his corner right now and Sirius was more than prepared to be that person.

Fleamont and Euphemia had opened their home and family to him when his own mother kicked him out and disowned him and he was more then prepared to open his own to Charlie. No kid needs to go through that alone. No matter if they are technically adults. Being the black sheep was bad enough but getting disowned was a whole new level of pain that no one ever should experience. Even if it wasn’t a full disownment, having your mother scream at you and look at you like you are the scum beneath her shoe is something no child should experience.

Narcissa broke him out of his rapidly spiraling thoughts before he could do something impulsive, “Yes, Cedrella and Septimus have already visited to proclaim their support and love for the boy. That and the boy’s siblings are all supportive of him. Well, most of them. Percy is keeping his thoughts to himself so I haven’t heard of his opinion and Ronald parrots anything his mother says. Everyone else is being as supportive as they can be without smothering him. Ginevra is trapped in that house still so not much has been heard from her end but the last time I saw the two of them out on Diagon the little girl was glaring at her as if she could set Molly on fire. It was… lovely to see.”

Sirius narrowed his eyes at that last, ominous sentence but moved on, “And who’s your source?”

“Oh, Aunt Cedrella requested to visit and then spent a good three hours ranting to the high heavens about what a terrible person Molly Weasley is.” Narcissa was smiling far too widely for that to be the only topic of his grand aunt's visit.

“And…what else did she have to say?”

Out of the corner of his eye he could see Bella barely restraining herself from laughing again and Andromeda’s own smile turn cruel.

There was a smug light in Narcissa’s eyes as she answered, “Oh, nothing much. Just that her and Septimus want me to teach the girl the moment they can rip her from that dreadful hovel they call a home.”

Bella’s cackles reverberated around the room.

Cedrella had just handed Molly Weasley’s most precious child to her most hated enemy. Oh how fitting a punishment. For the action of unofficially disowning a son, Molly had not only further alienated the other three boy’s that were currently at Arcane but unknowingly cost herself her only daughter in the process. Whatever plan Molly had for that girl’s future would be ripped out, root and stem, once Narcissa got her hands on her.

“I assume you already have an education plan written up for her?” Sirius asked, already knowing what her answer will be.

“Why of course, who do you take me as? You should know better than to ever doubt me, cousin dearest.” Narcissa said with far too much glee in her voice for her to be actually offended.

“My sincerest apologies.”

“Apology accepted.”

“Now, anything else to share?” He asked.

“That was about it, Molly’s whole argument with her son has of course spread throughout the societal circles so don’t be shocked if you hear about it in the newspaper. You know how Rita likes to gossip, especially when it concerns those less fortunate.” Narcissa said, standing to leave.

“I’ll keep an eye out for it.” Sirius said and watched as his cousins took their leave.

“Mimsy?” He called.

His house elf popped in, “Yes, Lord Black?”

“Reschedule my five pm meeting, I have someone I need to visit.” He said and she bowed and popped away. He had a Dark Lord to visit and some jewelry to deliver.

Chapter Text

“Make sure to check out Lysandros’ book on the histories of wandless magic, it's not a big book since it’s ancient but it nevertheless is interesting and pertains to your homework! You don’t have to read it, but it would be helpful.” Professor Brakker said, vanishing the notes on the chalkboard as he dismissed them from class.

Daphne practically oozed out of her chair, “Oh thank the gods, I thought that would never end!”

“You and me both Daph, you and me both.” Neville said, earning a glare from Theo.

“Well I think it was interesting and that you all don’t appreciate history enough!” Theo said, leading the way out of the classroom, “Besides, I’m your ticket to passing this class so you all are coming with me to the library so we can get the book Professor Brakker recommended.”

“Aw c'mon mate!” Draco whined from the back of the group, “I want to go home and do my potions homework and you’re going to make us stay here for the next hour searching for a book.”

“Have you ever been to the library?” Theo asked, eyebrow raised.

“Ummm, yes?” Draco answered with an awkward smile.

“Real convincing Draco,” Neville deadpanned.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” Theo murmured mostly to himself and Daphne snorted in laughter from beside him.

“How have you not been in the library? We're more than halfway through the semester.” Hadrian quietly asked and Draco just gave him a glare.

“Oh, shut up, I know you haven’t been in there either,” Draco said, shouldering past if only to get away from all the heckling.

“Oh c’mon mate, it was just a question!” Hadrian exclaimed, sighing when Draco didn’t answer him.

“Oh don’t worry, he’ll get distracted by the potions section and we will never see him again.” Neville said, slowing down so he could walk with him.

“He doesn’t need to be an arse about it though, it was an honest question. How’s he never been in the library? I know I haven’t but that’s just cause I have Kreacher go steal whatever I need from the twin’s home library.” Hadrian said, and Neville slowly turned to stare at him, “What?”

“And they just let you?!”

Hadrian shrugged, “Well they didn’t exactly have a choice. It’s Kreacher, if he’s after something then he's going to get it, doesn’t matter who’s standing in his way.”

Neville made a noise of understanding, “That’s terrifying.”

“They stopped trying to resist around the third time I sent Kreacher over there.”

“I bet, mate. I wouldn’t want to stand in Kreacher's path either.”

They finally made it to the library. It was a gigantic room on the north east side of the castle with a reinforced glass roof to let in the natural light. Bookshelves extended five stories into the air, metal perches spaced apart every two meters for a person to access the books. Coves of comfy chairs and lounge spaces were littered about in the areas between bookshelves and tables were packed with students furiously studying or working on homework. Every two meters on the walls there was a window nook that students could sit at and as they passed what had to be the sixth nook in search of Theo’s history book a familiar flash of red-golden hair caught Hadrian's eye.

It wasn’t the twins though. Instead, lounging in the nook was the most perfect person Hadrian had ever seen. He couldn't quite see all of the mystery person's face as they were holding a book inches from it but that didn’t matter. Whoever they were, they were gorgeous and the logical part of Hadrian’s mind thought that they had to be a siren. Or perhaps a veela?

Unfortunately for his new and amazing evening plan of staring at the pretty stranger, Neville noticed his absence almost immediately.

“Um, hey guys?” Neville said, getting the others' attention.

“What now, Neville?” Draco said, before pausing at the sight of an entranced Hadrian.

“That can’t be good,” Daphne said as Draco stalked over to where his friend was stuck.

If there was another veela playing tricks on Hadrian they had another thing coming to them. Or gods forbid a siren. Whoever they were, they were about to feel his fiery wrath, that was for certain. No one messed with his friends and got away with it.

Draco’s rage induced thoughts came to a screeching halt when he saw just who was sitting at the nook.

Gods damn it, they just had to stumble upon Hadrian’s soulmate in the one place he wasn’t technically allowed to burn someone alive. He totally would in defense of his friends, but this wasn’t some upperclassmen veela playing cruel tricks on a poor defenseless first year.

Plus, Hadrian would eat him alive if he even took one hostile step towards Charlie Weasley.

Fortunately, Weasley hadn’t realized he was being gawked at yet or this would be ten times worse. Just for his cousin and his soulmate, not for the rest of them. They would just laugh.

However, they had a book to find and Draco wanted to go home, like, thirty minutes ago, so Hadrian would just have to keep moving. Plus, while he normally didn’t care what the Weasley’s thought, he’d rather his friend's first impression to his soulmate not be that he was a creepy little stalker that would just stare at you. Black’s had class and Hadrian was currently letting them all down.

He’d have to inform his mother once they got out of here. Hadrian needed to make the best first impression possible and trance like staring was not it.

Walking past Hadrian, Draco felt his hands shift into claws. He was going to have to tackle his cousin to get him moving again and he was going to need all the grip strength he could get. He was about to have five stones of angry lizard demon under him and unless he wanted to be his cousin's next meal then he needed to keep a tight grip on his mouth.

Downside of having a crocodile head, once someone had a good grip around his cousin's mouth then he couldn’t open it again. He could still kill you with his claws but at least he couldn’t use his mouth.

Predictably, Hadrian shifted the moment he hit the floor and all hell broke loose as Draco clamped his hands around Hadrian’s jaws. Daphne was saying something but Draco wasn’t paying attention as he tightened his grip on his cousin. All of a sudden they went toppling over as Hadrian’s feet got pulled out under him and Draco briefly looked back to see Daphne and Neville pulling Hadrian by the tail back towards the entrance to the library.

He sighed in relief as they got clear of the nook, hands still clamped around Hadrian's jaw as his cousin dug nail shaped grooves into the stone floors. He could hear Theo faintly apologizing to Weasley for the commotion and looked up as his friend dashed of in search of the damn history book he had dragged them all to the library for.

Hadrian started mulishly hissing from under him, “Oh shut it, Hadrian. You can’t just gawk at people, that’s rude. What would mother say if she knew you were gawking at your soulmate. Hmmm? She’d be furious, that’s what.”

Hadrian hissed louder from under him and Draco ignored him.

“You know, you should really be thanking me. I saved you from being perceived as a creepy stalker. Did I humiliate myself? Undoubtedly. But are you free of the stalker label? Yes.”

“Would you shut up?!” Daphne all of a sudden spoke up, causing Draco to look back at her and Neville, “We have to haul both of your arses back to the aviary now and you both weigh far too much. Or did you forget we can't levitate him? He’s resistant to foreign magic in that form and unless you want to be crocodile food then you have to keep his mouth shut.”

“Sorry Daph, sorry Nev. I’ll have Silk bake you some pastries!” He said, and winced when he got glared at.

“You’re doing more than that! I want your potions and your charms notes for the next two months as well!” She said and he winced again.

“Fine, notes for the next two months and some pastries.” He conceded and tightened his grip again as Hadrian tried to get free.

“No! No, you lost your chance at freedom when you slammed my wings into a bookshelf!” Draco said, shaking his cousin's head a little as they were dragged away.

“You four okay?” Someone asked and Draco looked up to see Bill standing a few meters away.

“We're fine!” Neville said in a strained voice, “You might want to go check on your brother though, we had to tackle Hadrian to get him to stop staring at him.”

“Ahhh, I see. I’ll go do that...Do you want some help with this first though?” Bill offered, and Daphne looked back at him.

“If you want to pull 7 stones of struggling crocodile demon then be my guest!”

Bill snorted, “Wouldn’t be my first time hauling someone off manually!”

The trip to the aviary took a lot less time with Bill helping them.

Finally, they dropped Hadrian on the ground in a thankfully mostly empty atrium and scattered out of striking vicinity. Hadrian scrambled to stand, snarling and hissing all the while.

“Yeah yeah, we get it, you're mad. Go home, cool off, and process who you were staring at you bloody idiot!” Daphne said, crossing her arms and raising an unimpressed eyebrow. While it was still a little unnerving to be in the same room as Hadrian when he was in his creature form it was getting easier. Hadrian had made it a point to be in the same room as them in his other form since Samhain passed and they were all slowly getting used to it through exposure therapy. Draco was fine, the bastard had long since gotten used to his cousin's other form, but before this recent Samhain Hadrian had made a point to shift back into his human form if he was in his other one.

Hadrian hissed at them again but it wasn’t as loud as the one before so Daphne was going to take that as a win. Draco seemed to as well as he then made shooing motions with his hands, and Hadrian allowed him to push him to where they knew Viridis nested.

They stood there for a moment, waiting to hear any sound of fighting, before they went to do anything else. The sound of footsteps running towards them made them turn from the dark tunnel they were staring into.

“Hey guys! I got the book!” Theo said, out of breath and half-assedly jogging over to them.

“Great job Theo,” Daphne drawled, “now we can all go home.”

“Where’d Hadrian go?”

“Draco shepherded him to his dragon, he went without too much of a complaint,” Neville said and Theo nodded, looking in the direction the other two disappeared to.

“Well, it seems that's been handled. I am going to go deal with whatever internal crisis Charlie is having,” Bill said, beginning to walk off.

“Wait, what are you even doing here anyway? Don’t you get off an hour early?” Daphne asked and Bill turned back around with an amused grin.

“Ah, I was on my way to drag the twins out of their lab and hunt down Charlie, our Grandparents are coming by for a visit. Thanks, by the way, for finding Charlie for me.”

Theo snorted, “Unless he's moved from that nook he took over then it should be fairly easy to find him, just follow claw marks in the floor till you get there.”

Bill snorted and sauntered off, “Thanks again!” he called.

“Well,” Neville started, “I don't know about you two, but I am going home. I’m exhausted.”

“Great idea,” Daphne said, already walking in the direction her dragon was in.

“I assume you all don’t want to work on the history homework then?” Theo hesitantly asked and then dodged two stinging spells that were sent his way, “Yep, alright, shutting up!”

Chapter Text

It wasn’t often that they had time to sit down and do nothing. More often than not they were either doing homework, studying for some midterm exam, practicing mundane everyday magic under the watchful eye of their house elf, or making prank supplies. Sometimes it was a little bit of both.

And that was just the normal after school stuff.

However, as their classes progressed and they learned more and more, they were starting to long for the silence their home brought. It was something that their upper class mentor mentioned way back in first year that they would feel at some point and they hadn’t believed them. First year was just so much fun, if not a little lonely, but Bill was around and would make sure to visit at some point everyday so it wasn’t too bad. They made new friends and kept up with Hogwarts drama through letters with Lee so it wasn’t like they had any shortage of people to talk to. Plus, everyone learned pretty quickly that they could just visit each other whenever they wanted so more than a few weeknights doing homework ended up becoming impromptu sleepovers.

Second year was a little more intense. They knew more magic now and they could do little spells with ease but they were still so excited! Everything was still new, they were still making friends, and they had a new extracurricular to draw their attention as well. School politics.

The school politics at Arcane wasn’t like the rumored Slytherin hierarchy that existed at Hogwarts that you got sorted into on day one. Arcane school politics was basically Roman politics but dialed up to ten. First years are banned from school politics and it's forbidden to talk about it to them, all they needed to be focused on was making friends and learning magic. However, every second year, no matter what age they are, starts out as a Plebian. Lowest of the low on the political spectrum of the school but with nowhere to go but up.

Most students don’t particularly care about school politics in second year, what with school still being so new and all. But there are some that do pay attention and well, once something piques their interest then they just had to know everything about it.

They were never good at leaving things alone.

What they ended up finding out was that there were generally two paths second years took. One, they follow the vast majority of students and ignore everything that is happening around them and focus on the normal things like homework and hanging out with their friends. Or two, they try to gain power. By any means necessary.

What they also found out was that they had an advantage over the vast majority of their year. Because they had a school sanctioned lab where they made prank supplies. Prank supplies that they could sell for money to upperclassmen, or they could give them out for favors.

By the end of second year they had made such an impact with their inventions that they were Patrons to a good fourth of the third years as well as half of the students in their year. They also made a good deal of money but let it never be said that Ginny was the only snake in the Weasley family. As patrons, they gave their clients whatever supplies they needed and when the twins needed something then their clients would have no choice but to do whatever was needed.

The twins could say “jump” and their clients would have to say “how high”.

It was exhilarating, the amount of power they had. But, they also couldn’t do much with it. The upperclassmen were the ones with real power, the most the twins could do was slightly influence the beginning of the year vote. Having hundreds of people at your beck and call was nice and all but that's all they had. You didn’t get to be a senator until eighth year, unless of course you had some religious affiliation. Which they didn’t. Meaning no special senate position at second year for them, no they had to start at the bottom like every other normal person. Also, the one route to the senate, the cursus honorum, didn’t begin till fifth year.

By the end of second year they realized they were stuck in plebian purgatory. At least until the end of third year or the start of fourth. Then you could get elevated to equestrian rank by whoever was the current Censor that year.

So, they slowed down. Plus, some promising new people arrived with the start of third year.

While it was against school rules to get first years involved in politics, it wasn’t against the rules to be their friend. And so, they made friends.

Hadrian was a sweet kid, if a little shy and easy to embarrass. That’s not to say the kid didn’t live up to the Black family name. Poor little Trevor Jones, a scrappy little kid from somewhere in North America, decided to pick on Neville for his love of plants only to end up nearly mauled to death by an angry little crocodile demon. That had not been the last student in the first year class to be sent to the hospital wing by Hadrian. Just one of many. They kept an eye out for him, commanding a few promising second years that owed them to keep an eye on the kid but to keep their distance. What they learned was that, while pretty docile most of the time, if you picked on those he considered his then you would find yourself with a one way ticket to the hospital wing. No one had ended up dead just yet as Hadrian’s house elf would step in and whisk him away to cool off when it got particularly bad but it was only a matter of time. What they also found out was that that nifty little creature inheritance was given to him by Lord Death, making Hadrian the new Pontifex Maximus the moment he starts second year.

The twins knew they weren’t the only ones eyeing Hadrian because of that. Poor kid was going to get dumped in the proverbial lion's den that was the senate on day one. Was it fucked up? Absolutely. But was the kid already fucked up? Yes and they’d be fools to think that that inheritance was the end to Hadrian’s suffering. They may be young, but they were not blind. Hadrian had been marked by Fate with that scar and by Death with that inheritance. Shit was only going to get worse the older he got. The least they could do was take the edge off. Hadrian may not get a relaxing or normal life but that didn’t mean it had to be all suffering. So they took Hadrian and his little group under their wings. Gave them a place they could hang out besides their own houses and people that they could ask for help from if they were having trouble with homework.

And if anyone asked, well, then they were just doing their duty as future brother-in-laws. Nothing more, nothing less.

Plus it was fun to watch his ears burn red when they mentioned their brother.

Draco was a snooty little shit but that was to be expected with Malfoy’s. The kid strutted around like he owned the place half of the time and damn if it wasn’t fun to rile him up. Their finest achievement had been during lunch one day when they needled him enough with stupid questions that he literally burst into flames and one of the staff had to dump water on him so he didn’t set the whole table on fire in his rage. The kid couldn’t meet their eye for the rest of the week and they knew that one of his friends, probably Hadrian, had written home about it as they had gotten a congratulatory letter from one Sirius Black not a week later along with a nifty little piece of parchment that when used with the right password showed all of Hogwarts.

Lord Black had challenged them, up and coming pranksters and inventors just like himself, to recreate it. To figure out how it worked, how they made it, and to recreate it using the Arcane castle instead of Hogwarts. It was way above their skill level but the man apparently had confidence in them and if they had learned anything at their school it was the value of patience. That’s not to say they didn’t spend nights on end staring at it and tracking where Ron and Charles disappeared to after hours.

Bill had joined them once he found out what it was and they sometimes had dinner together watching the map. Speculating on what stupid thing their siblings were getting up to at school.

The rest of Hadrian’s group was fun as well.

Daphne was a spitfire and had made friends with another girl in her year named Astrid. Together the two of them terrorized those who sought to restrict what they could and couldn’t do. More than once they had heard the two of them taking issue with some kid in their class or on occasion an upper year and beating them into the dirt. It would be more hilarious to them if it wasn’t also horrifying. Ginny would fit right in.

Neville and Theo were the level headed ones of the group. Neville liked to plant and the herbology professor, Professor Noble, was starting to eye him. The twins would bet that by the end of the year Neville would have his own greenhouse at the school to grow new and dangerous plants in. A future advantage the kid didn’t realize yet.

Professor Draganov also had his eye on Draco. The kid was a potion’s prodigy and the twins had placed a bet that he’d have his own lab to work in soon enough. Just like they themselves had done.

Theo was quiet but incredibly smart. Especially in history and surprisingly in astronomy. Not many people liked either of those classes so it was fun to watch his friends hound him for notes at the end of the day. Theo had also corrected them on a few occasions and now whenever they had a history question they just either cornered him at school or sent a letter his way if it was later in the day. They knew better than to barge into his little sanctuary of a house when they needed something, he was a Time child and they knew from one of their own friends the kind of pain that awaited him in the near future. The kid got a cool dragon though and they had heard from Neville on more than one occasion that Thor, Theo’s dragon, would put Theo to sleep by spawning a thunderstorm over his house when he got a particularly bad migraine.

Theo was also not going to like second year and the shiny new senate seat he was going to be tied to but at least he wouldn’t be alone. Hadrian would be there suffering with him as would the rest of Time’s chosen.

Third year was going well for them so far. It was much harder than first and second year but that was to be expected. This year though, they got to start their first combat class. They technically had started it over the summer but that was just basic information on how to properly punch without breaking a finger as well as how to kick someone properly.

Fight classes were some of the most popular classes in school. It was basically violent playtime where everyone could get their adrenaline out. The muggleborns in their year had likened it to, “recess just with more punching then there normally is,” which made zero sense to the twins but got a good commiserating laugh out of all the muggleborns that heard it. It made sense why they had the fighting classes though, the school took in everyone else that the eleven private magic schools didn’t want. Which was also a shock to learn. Arcane was basically the wizarding world's version of a muggle public school. Unfortunately, that meant you had to keep thousands upon thousands of children, all from different backgrounds, occupied at all times of the day and night. It was also the reason Arcane didn’t house everyone together at the school like the private boarding schools did.

You can only put the children of dozens of different magical species in the same room for so long before one or more end up dead.

Hence also why the Ministry and the school had them all get house elves. You can't sneak off and murder someone for some perceived slight when you're being watched all day long. The twins were pretty sure the house elves were the only reason an international incident hadn’t occurred. That’s not to say people don’t die attending Arcane, they do, but it’s not like attending one of the private schools is any better. People die there too but that’s just what you get when you put magic children in the same building for seven or more years. Arcane actually has the lowest yearly death count of all of them, of course that was adjusted to student body size but still. It was impressive that the biggest school in the world could keep more people on average alive than private schools that maybe get one hundred or less incoming students per year. The fight classes, while violent and frowned upon by a good majority of the private schools, served a purpose. To get all that leftover rage and adrenaline out before it boiled over.

But damn if it didn’t leave them exhausted by the end of the day.

Again, they were starting to see what their former upperclassmen mentor said back in first year, “Don't worry, that exuberance will die down. You won't feel lonely in that big house of yours for long. Soon, you will make loads of friends and be so busy with school work and activities that you won't even think of being lonely. Besides, you’ll long for the silence and quiet soon enough.”

Sometimes they hated when she was right.

“You two look like shit.” A voice suddenly said and Fred lurched off the couch in shock while George jolted, neither of them having heard that someone had decided to pay them a visit.

“Bloody hell, Charlie! Warn a guy next time, won't you?”

Charlie just snickered, “No but seriously, you both look like shit.”

George just sighed and Fred glared as he flopped back onto the couch, “We got our arses handed to us in fighting class.” George said and Charlie snorted.

“I see that,” Charlie sat down in one of the open chairs, “Can I treat you guys to dinner then? Since it looks like you two have just been sitting here in the dark since you got home.”

The twins shared a look before shrugging, “You know what, sure. We’ll take you up on that offer.”

Charlie smiled and then stood, “How’s the street taco place on vendor street sound?”

“That sounds brilliant,” George said and Fred made a noise of agreement.

The walk to the teleport pad was silent until Fred spoke up, “Hey Charlie? How long were you just standing there, staring at us?”

Charlie snorted, “Far too long.”

They both groaned as Charlie laughed at them. At least the bastard hadn’t taken pictures.

Chapter Text

The twins had made the, debatably bad, choice not to go home for Easter break.

Yule had been a shit show, what with Charlie getting as disowned as he would ever be able to get, Bill disappearing two days in, Percy being a prat, and Ron being himself. So they just made the executive decision to not go home. They sent in a form to the ministry saying that they were staying this upcoming break and that no portkey needed to be given to them and that was that.

They should’ve known that their mum wasn’t going to take that lying down.

Of course, they sent a letter home with an excuse. They said they had a big school project that they needed access to the school library for and had some other homework to work on. Their dad had sent a letter back wishing them good luck and for them not to worry.

Which made them more than a little suspicious. Their dad still hated their school and while not outwardly hateful towards it like their mother they could still tell he didn’t like it. So it was a little odd that he was okay with them not coming home but they weren’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

The deactivated howler sitting in front of them was starting to make them regret not sending a follow up letter. It had apparently arrived soon after they didn’t arrive home but Tills hadn’t wanted them to worry so she deactivated it and didn’t notify them before they got back from the vacation Bill took them all on.

The vacation was great! Best trip they’d ever had since coming to the Arctic Ministry! Bill had taken them to South America for a tour of all the magical cities and religious sites since none of them had ever had a proper vacation before. They got some little bobbles and things for Ginny while they were there but didn’t send them her way. She could get them when she showed up for the school year and for once they were having fun without their mother putting a damper on it and hadn’t wanted that to end.

Of course all good things must end and here they were. Sitting in front of a gleaming red howler from their mother.

“Did dad not tell her that we were going to be gone?” Fred asked.

“Who knows Freddie, who knows.” George answered and snagged the letter from where it sat on their living room table, “At least it wont scream at us in her voice anymore.”

HOW DARE YOU NOT COME HOME FOR EASTER BREAK! It began and George sighed.

YOU’RE FATHER IS SO WROTH WITH YOU TWO! STAYING AT THAT DARK SCHOOL! YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELVES! YOU SHAME THIS FAMILY BY NOT COMING HOME, POOR RONNIE WAS SO DISTRESSED AT MISSING YOU! AND YOUR SISTER! SHE BARELY CAME OUT OF HER ROOM SINCE YOU TWO DIDN’T COME HOME!

“I see that he didn’t tell her we were going to be gone. Or if he did then he lied about the reasoning.” George said and Fred groaned and slumped further into the couch he was sitting on.

“See this, this is exactly why we didn’t come home. Does she think this is going to change anything?”

“I don’t know,” George said, sounding exhausted, “maybe since it works on Ron and Percy she thinks it’ll work on us? We're not even in the same country as her, I don’t know why she thinks her guilt tripping has any weight to it.”

“Is there anymore or was that it?”

“Oh no, there's more,” George said and continued to read.

THE HEADMASTER IS SO DISAPPOINTED IN YOU AS WELL! YOU RISK YOUR LIGHT SELVES GOING TO THAT SCHOOL AND NOW YOU DON'T COME HOME? IT'S YOU'RE ONLY TIME AROUND ANYTHING LIGHT! DON’T YOU KNOW WHAT THAT WILL DO TO YOU BY STAYING THERE? YOU’LL BE TAINTED! DOOMED TO FOLLOW A DARK PATH THAT WILL LEAD YOU NOWHERE! MY PRECIOUS BABIES, YOU MUST COME HOME FOR YOUR NEXT BREAK! I DEMAND IT! YOUR FATHER DEMANDS IT! THE HEADMASTER DEMANDS IT! AS DO YOUR SIBLINGS!

YOU NEED TO BE THOROUGHLY CHECKED FOR ANY TAINT! THE HEADMASTER SAID THERE IS STILL TIME TO REVERSE IT AND THAT YOU CAN REST IN THE CASTLES HOSPITAL WING UNTIL YOU HEAL. WE CAN ALSO GET YOU ADMITTED TO HOGWARTS AND AWAY FROM THAT NASTY DARK SCHOOL! YOU’LL NEED TO PLAY SOME CATCH UP BUT THAT’S OKAY! YOU’LL HAVE PLENTY OF TIME WHILE YOUR RECOVERING! YOU NEED TO COME HOME IMMEDIATELY! DON’T WAIT FOR THE NEXT BREAK, YOU NEED TO COME HOME NOW! I AM SERIOUS YOU TWO OR I WILL CALL THE AURORS AND HAVE THEM DRAG YOU BACK HERE!

COME HOME NOW!

“...and that’s it.”

“Soooo… never go home again?” Fred asked.

“Never go home again,” George agreed.

All of a sudden they heard the teleport pad activate, it was Bill.

“PLEASE TELL ME,” came his voice from the other room, “-THAT I AM NOT THE ONLY ONE THAT GOT A HOWLER?”

“Oh you got one too?” Fred asked with a mirthless grin as Bill entered the living room.

“Unfortunately,” He answered.

“What was yours about? Our’s was apparently sent on day one of break even though we sent a letter home and dad responded that it was okay and wished us luck.” George said and Bill sighed.

“Do you have the response he sent?”

“Yeah, Tills?” Fred called.

Tills popped in, “Yes Misters Weasley?”

“Can you go get the response letter that our dad sent us before break?”

“Yes, Tills bes doing that,” she said and disappeared only to appear seconds later with the letter.

“Thank you!” Fred said and Tills nodded before disappearing again.

He handed the letter to Bill who read it and then sighed, “See this, this is why we all have trust issues. I’ll send a copy to grandma and grandpa and have them deal with it. Can I see your howler?”

They handed it over.

“Okay, what the fuck?! He said you were fine and then she said that he’s mad?! You know what, I’m not surprised.” Bill said, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

“Yeah that was our reaction too,” Fred replied.

“Ughhh, I swear. One of these days I am just going to go off on her like Charlie did.”

“Your restraint is admirable,” George complimented and Bill huffed a laugh before continuing to read.

“Okay, I understand Ginny not coming out of her room but I highly doubt Ron was distressed at you guys not making an appearance. Also, what’s this bullshit about being tainted? I know that the Headmaster knows that's not how that works! That’s just some ploy to get you to go to Hogwarts like they all wanted,” Bill gave another big sigh again, “- okay well, I guess don't go home. As terrible as that is to say. She can’t get the auror’s to drag you home no matter what she thinks so just ignore her from now on.”

“Duly noted and appreciated,” They chorused and Bill plopped down in one of the chairs.

“Sooo, what’d you get?” Fred asked and Bill’s displeased expression worsened.

“Well, it was similar to yours but mine was that I was abandoning the family and that I was betraying the house values by agreeing to send Ginny to Arcane. It was basically the standard howler I receive on a monthly basis. There was also a part where she mentioned the headmaster was disappointed in me like she did in yours but it wasn’t as extensive.”

“How lovely,” George mused and Bill grimaced.

“I also got a letter from Ginny,” He said, lifting up a sheet of paper that looked like it had had better days, “She is none too pleased with being left home alone for break but also apparently she got a letter from grandma and grandpa. Was told to keep it a secret from mum and dad.”

“Oh?” The twins chorused, sitting up a little straighter.

“Apparently, with Charlie’s banishment from Britain, grandma went to Lady Malfoy to set up etiquette lessons for Ginny. She’ll be teaching her at Ginny’s place when she gets here a month before school starts.” Bill said and the twins raised their eyebrows at that.

“Ginny? Being taught etiquette by Lady Malfoy? The same Lady Malfoy that hates our family more than anything?” Fred incredulously asked.

“Yes, that Lady Malfoy. She was part of the Black family before she married into the Malfoy family, like how grandma was a Black before she married grandpa if that makes it any better.”

“You know, sometimes I forget that grandma was a Black before she was a Weasley.” Fred grumbled.

Bill snorted, “Besides, I think Ginny will do just fine under her. Draco is a nice kid once you get past all the pompousness and Hadrian is a Black as well and has had nothing but good things to say about her.”

“Are we just forgetting the fact that she’ll probably murder anyone that comes near them if they are in any way threatening?” George clarified.

“Or the fact that Draco has said that his mum has blackmail on everyone back home and then some?” Fred added.

“I try not to think about that.” Bill admitted.

Ginny was going to become a right terror. They just knew it. She already was a force to be reckoned with, now she was just going to become downright terrifying.

“Did she say anything else?” Fred asked after a moment.

“Not much. Ron and Charles came over for Easter and made a fuss about how they’re being bullied by Slytherins. Mum and Lady Potter took that and ran with it so the Headmaster is now doing damage control since Snape won’t do anything about it. Not that that’s surprising. The Slytherins pick on any unsuspecting Gryffindor.” Bill said and the twins hummed.

“We figured, Lee sent us something similar but with less dramatics. We sent him some prank supplies, harmless stuff that won’t get anyone permanently hurt.”

“You mean the stuff you’ve flooded our school with?”

“Yes exactly!” They chimed.

“I figured,” Bill said, “Ginny mentioned Ron and Charles saying that someone’s been indiscriminately pranking groups of people but whoever it is hasn’t been caught. Good job. I’m sure it’s driving Professor Snape insane, especially since you two aren’t there for him to blame.”

“Lee mentioned him looking particularly mutinous on occasion. Should we send him some of our experimental stuff?”

“Have you tested them?” Bill asked wearily. Sometimes they didn’t test things and just gave random untested products to random students. Usually this had disastrous consequences that couldn't quite be tied back to them from a faculty perspective but was widely known to be them from a student perspective. They had gotten detention a few times during second year after some students caved and ratted them out and those students learned to keep their mouths shut after that. Bill didn’t pry as to what the twins had done to instill such a fear but so long as none of them ended up on the schools in memoriam list he was fine with it. It’s not like he never maimed someone in revenge for some slight during his time at Hogwarts.

“Oh yeah,” George said, snapping Bill back to the present, “they’ve been tested. They just aren’t necessarily where we want them to be before we mass produce them. Colin and Ben came by asking for some things for revenge purposes and who are we to deny our precious clients products when they ask for them. We made a few tweaks after the results made themselves known and have been sitting on them since.”

“When was this?” Bill asked curiously.

“Ehhhhh, a little after Christmas break.” Fred answered.

“Mmmm, I think I know which products you two are talking about. I don’t see a problem with Lee having them. So long as he keeps himself from getting caught. Did you fix the chronic hives that kept breaking out afterwards?”

“In theory,” they chorused, “We figured we would tell Lee to send us a play by play of the results. If the chronic hives make a reoccurrence then we know that more tweaking needs to be done. One round of hives is fine, but if it keeps coming back then that’s an issue.”

Bill squinted at them, “One round of hives?”

“Colin asked for pain. It was the only thing he explicitly demanded of us and we figured hives were relatively easy to get rid of. Much easier than boils.” George said.

“Of course, we didn’t know exactly what would happen but Colin and Ben didn’t care. We were just happy that no one went into anaphylactic shock.” Fred added much to their brother's horror.

“That was a possibility?!”

They peered at him for a bit and Bill felt as if they were silently calling him stupid. They probably were.

“Bill, why are you even remotely shocked at this point? This isn’t even the worst we've done. Seven hells, Samson has to get a new Proconsul again. You know what that means.”

“Well- yes, I mean-,” their brother floundered for a bit before scrubbing his face with his hands, “You know, there were no murder plots when I went to school!”

“Yeah and your graduating class was barely 80 students towards the end. Also, Hogwarts isn’t much better. Six people died in a potions accident during the year you graduated. They were all in your graduating class. That’s seven percent of your year Bill, and that was just during your final year. That’s not counting the people that died or got irreversibly maimed during the previous six years. At least people don’t die here due to incompetence.” Fred said and Bill glared at him.

“No, people die here because someone had the bright idea to incorporate Roman politics into the largest magical school in the world. How this school averages the lowest death to student population rate in the world is beyond me.”

“Seven hour average school day six days out of the week along with summer school tends to do it.” George murmured and he could sense Fred’s agreement in the air before he ever heard his twin's response.

“Mmmmm, can’t plot someone’s death when your school work is actively trying to kill you.”

Bill just sighed for what felt like the fiftieth time. “Sometimes I wonder what’s wrong with our world, and then I remember that this is the only public school in the wizarding world for some gods forsaken reason and things start to make sense. That and every private school is somehow worse in some way shape or form. Be it from staff incompetence, willful ignorance of their students actions, student neglect, petty vengeance, or just general staff and student stupidity.”

The twins smirked at him, “Aren’t you just glad that Ginny’s coming to Arcane then? Less chance she’ll end up dead by the time she graduates! Especially considering who she would have been attending Hogwarts with.”

Bill gave them a look, “Oh that’s not what worries me. I’m more worried that by the time she’s done with school here that she will have long since gotten used to the feeling of scrubbing blood out from underneath her nails.”

The twins hummed in sync, “She won’t be the only one. Not with whom she will undoubtedly make friends with here. Besides, most of the students don’t bat an eye when the in memoriam list gains a name. Especially if you engage in student politics. Which you know Ginny’s going to get involved in, she’s too much of a Slytherin to not be interested in it and too much of a Gryffindor to leave it be.”

Their brother just stared at them for a moment, “You know, I hate when you two make sense.”

They smirked.

Bill sighed and stood, “Well, I'll be off. I’ve got to write grandpa a letter and sic grandma on mum once again.”

“You have fun with that!” They said and watched Bill shake his head in exasperation as he left.

They waited for the flash that signaled their brother leaving before moving off the couches.

“So...want to drop some supplies off at John’s house, leave an anonymous letter at Louise’s telling him that Anais is cheating on him, and then swing by Sung-Min’s to blackmail him into causing Professor Selwyn to go on a ten minute rant about how our etiquette skills are a disgrace to our families names?” Fred asked with a smile and George grinned in response.

“Freddie, you read my mind!”

Chapter Text

Ginny was in the garden getting a much needed break from her mum when she heard her grandparents arrive. And by heard she meant her mothers furious screams and her grandmother's responding snarky comments.

Perhaps if she stayed still then she wouldn’t be noticed.

She heard the backdoor open and close. So much for going unnoticed.

“I see we’ve decided to hide in the garden this time around. Good spot, I much preferred the hidey hole in the old cottonwood tree down south of the pond though. Can’t hear as much screaming down there.” Her grandfather said nonchalantly.

“Thanks, I’ll try to remember that for Christmas break, something tells me I'll need it.” Ginny responded and her grandfather snorted.

“There's mage lights in the attic that should still work. I’ll give you one of the blankets from the manor that has a runic array for warmth stitched into it.”

Unfortunately their conversation was cut short when her grandma screeched out the door, “Septimus, Ginavera! Come along! We've got shopping to do!” You could barely hear it over her mum's own protests.

“Well, you heard the lady! Come on, up ya get! We’ve some school shopping to do! You’ll love it, I promise ya dear!” Her grandfather said and Ginny felt her mouth quirk up into a smile.

“Can we get ice cream?” She asked.

“Of course, dearie! Shopping wouldn’t be complete without it!”

This was not school shopping, Ginny thought as she stared up at the intimidating form of Lady Malfoy.

“Narcissa, dear! How are you?” Her grandmother greeted with a smile.

“Simply lovely, Cedrella, simply lovely.” She said before glancing down to Ginny, “And who’s this?”

“This is my granddaughter, Ginavera. Ginny, dear, say hello.” Her grandmother introduced and Ginny hesitantly smiled and uttered a hello.

Lady Malfoy tittered, a gleam in her eye that Ginny really didn’t like, “Oh what a charmer! Just like her brothers. Dear, you don’t need to be afraid of me. We will be best friends by the end of your first year, I assure you!”

She just gave her another hesitant smile. Lady Malfoy didn’t seem dissuaded by it at all. Perhaps if she did something particularly gross then she wouldn’t have to be taught extra things by Lady Malfoy.

As if hearing her inner thoughts, her grandmother briefly shot a glare at her. Ginny glared back. Lady Malfoy's smile widened ever so slightly and her grandfather nervously shuffled his feet for a moment.

“Well, shall we?” Her grandmother prompted and Lady Malfoy nodded and they all started walking. To where, she had no idea. She hadn’t been paying attention to her grandparents or their plans since they arrived in the country her brothers went to school in. There were far too many dragons and cool things to see.

“We will have to put a schedule together, especially for when classes begin. Perhaps Sunday mornings for the first two years and then we can reevaluate once things start to get harder at school?” Lady Malfoy said.

Her grandmother made a sound of agreement, “Sunday mornings definitely, I will endeavor to visit when I can and when Ginny has time. Summer semester is more open time wise-” and Ginny tuned her out. Not like her opinion would matter anyway- and oh, what's this? A whole store dedicated to swords!

She tugged on her grandfather's hand to get his attention and pointed at the store. He chuckled at her. “We can go in after lunch, but you wont need those till your summer of third year.”

“What was that dear?” Her grandmother asked.

“Oh, Ginny here wanted to check out the sword store, I told her we could after lunch.”

Her grandmother smiled, “I think you’ll much prefer knives, dear. It’s much easier to hide those in clothing.”

Wait, what was that?

“You see this, this is why you scare me to this day,” her grandfather was saying with a smile but Ginny’s mind had gone into shock. Oh she knew on some level that everyone in her family was a little unhinged and prone to violence but having literal weapons concealed on your was an entirely different thing.

It was wicked cool though and Ginny mentally gave her grandmother some more points in the favorites column. Sorry gramps, but you simply can't compete with someone that hides literal knives on their person.

She’d have to see if she could get her grandmother to buy her some. To hell with waiting for third year, she wanted to stab people now.

She still wanted to visit the sword shop though, they had some in different colors- and was that a whole battle axe strapped to some older students back?!

Her grandfather was definitely dragging her by the hand now but oh my gods that was so cool! She wanted a battle axe! Imagine how cool she would look with one of those! Ron was going to be so jealous. She got to shopping and look at cool dangerous weapons and he had to sit in class back in Britain and repeat the levitation spell over and over again. He was going to fail one of his classes this semester, she just knew it.

They quickly got to the restaurant they were going to have lunch at and Ginny was not sorry at all for dragging her feet the entire way there. There were too many cool things to look at.

Ginny spent the majority of lunch staring out the window at the people passing by. Some people were dressed in clothes Ginny knew she would never be able to afford, some people had custom armor, some had cool weapons on them, and some people had a combination of all three. Almost everyone had jewelry on them. The only people that didn’t were kids that looked to be her age or younger.

She did tune into the conversation when Lady Malfoy or someone else had asked her a question or said her name but she mostly ignored them otherwise. They didn’t seem to care that she wasn’t paying them any attention either. Just more amused then anything else. Which was a welcome change because her mum would have already started screaming at her for not paying attention to the conversation that was going on. Even if it was about corruption in the ministry or her dad’s job.

Lunch sped by and soon they said goodbye to Lady Malfoy. Apparently her own son attended school here and Ginny made the mental note to stay the fuck away from him. She didn’t want more Malfoy’s in her life, she was already stuck with one now.

“Can we go to the sword shop now?!” She asked, turning to her grandparents with a pleading expression. Her grandfather gave a booming laugh.

“You would have been a shoo in for Gryffindor lassie! I can’t wait to see what kind of hell you raise when you start school here!” He said and her grandmother lightly slapped him on the arm.

“Septimus! Language!”

“What?! It’s not like she doesn’t already know every curse word under the sun! She has six older brothers!”

“That’s no excuse for bad language!” Her grandmother admonished but she had a smile on her face as she said it.

“Oh hogwash, Cedrella! Those kids haven’t heard a curse free sentence in their life! It’s ingrained into their sentence structure, it's only natural at this point. No need to filter when they’ve already heard it!” Ginny sensed they were talking about a specific person but she didn’t know exactly who as her grandparents were doing that polite adult thing where they talk about someone without actually saying the person's name.

Either way, Ginny didn’t care. All she cared about was that they were headed in the direction of the cool sword store they passed earlier.

Oh! Maybe if she convinced her grandma to get her the knives she was talking about earlier then she could go over to Luna’s and show her!

Chapter Text

The semester was almost over and exam season had officially begun. It was chaos. Students were running around like their heads had been cut off and everyone had only had a few of the eleven or so exams that had to be taken over the course of two weeks. Most of them were practical exams but you couldn't be in the same room as anyone else when doing them and their professors couldn’t get through everyone over the course of one week, hence the two weeks of exams.

Honestly, it was a little funny. If not foreboding. The older students were completely stressed out and they had spent more than a few hours laughing at them. Oh they were all aware that that would most likely be them in the future but for now their own exams hadn’t been hard. Though, they had History of Magic on Thursday, which was one of their only exams that wasn’t a practical and they were all more than a little worried about it. Theo had shut himself in his house for the past two days and none of them could reach him for help, the only time the rest of them saw him was when he was coming to the school to attend one of his practical's. Hadrian had only had two so far but he knew Neville had already completed four.

Which brought Hadrian where he was now, picking himself off the ground after running into the back of his soulmate as he had been paying attention to the point me spell and not his surroundings. Fortunately his friends weren’t here to overreact again and Hadrian could actually talk to the guy now. Well, now that he could actually talk. The trance basically paralyzed him last time he saw him. He’s not sure how that encounter would have gone if his friends had just abandoned him there or if he would have just continued to stare. It was a little mortifying to think about.

“Oh my goodness! Are you alright? Here let me-” His soulmate was saying as he helped Hadrian up and oh my gods, his voice was so pretty. He could just stand here and listen to him worriedly ramble for hours and– NO! Nope! Not happening! Hadrian shook his head to get the foggy feeling to dissipate, he wasn't going under another trance again if he could help it! He had already suffered through that once, he didn’t want to do it again!

He absently could hear Death chuckling in the background and mentally told the god to fuck off. He was ignored and the chuckling continued if not a little bit louder now.

“-Do you need me to call anyone? The twins? Your friends? Maybe Bill?-” His soulmate continued to worriedly ramble on after helping Hadrian up and he should probably say something. If only to get him to stop worrying and to not summon his friends. He didn’t need another half hour rant like he got from Draco two hours after he had gotten to his house about proper first impressions. Like the hypocrite wasn’t also going to freeze up the moment he saw his soulmate.

Hadrian made a mental note to flip his shit if he was in the same room as Draco when it happened. Bloody hypocrite was going to get a taste of his own medicine if he had any say in it. If he missed it then he’d just barge over to Draco’s and lecture him for a good three hours like the fucking idiot did to him.

Yes he was still mad with Draco no matter how many times the idiot apologized once Theo got through his thick skull with some logic the day after the Tackle Incident, as it was being called, happened. Daph was on thin fucking ice as well but she took him out for ice cream, wrote him a apology letter and delivered it in person. As such, she had been absolved of her crimes. Neville just apologized in person and he couldn’t stay mad at him no matter how hard he tried so Neville was fine.

Anywho, he should probably say something before his soulmate summons them.

“Um, NO! No, I’m fine! You don’t need to call them!” Smooth Hadrian, real smooth.

“Are you sure? I can send them a patronus, it’s no trouble on my part to do so!” The panic must have shown on his face because his soulmate quickly amended that, “Or not! I can also not tell them if that makes things better!”

“Yes, please don’t! I already deal with one heckler on a twenty-four-seven basis, I don't need any more.”

Of course, his twenty-four-seven heckler that he was unfortunately stuck with for all eternity decided to speak up the moment he was mentioned, “Your face is so red right now, I’m surprised your scales aren’t showing!” The deity laughed.

Hadrian muffled the curse he wanted to let loose and instead glared at the spot Death was inhabiting.

“Twenty-four-seven heckler?” His soulmate asked, sounding confused and glancing at what Hadrian assumed was empty air for him. Great, thanks Death, now his soulmate was going to think he was crazy.

“Oh, I’m not crazy!” He stated only for Death to start laughing again, “-Would you shut up and go do something else!” He said before turning back to his soulmate who- Oh no, his eyebrows were raised and he was starting to get stared at now, “I-uhh, sorry about that! Death like’s to hang over my shoulder when he gets bored...which is most of the time. That’s-um-that’s who's in that empty spot of air.”

His soulmate stared at him for a bit, “Death? Like, the deity Death?” He asked and Hadrian winced a little bit at the incredulous edge in his voice.

“Yeeeahhhh, the deity...” He confirmed and gods this conversation was going as horribly as he imagined it would.

“Huh,” his soulmate said and glanced at the spot Death was lounging in now, bastard had completely ignored Hadrian's demand to leave like he always did. “So is he just standing there?”

The question startled him a bit and he floundered before answering, “He’s um, he’s just lounging there right now.”

“What was he doing earlier?”

“Doing a jig.” Death mockingly said.

“Laughing at me,” Hadrian said instead.

“That’s um, that’s kinda rude.” His soulmate said and this is not what Hadrian imagined what this conversation would be like when he was younger.

“He’s taking this a lot better than most mortal’s do. Fate did a good job with this one, not that I’d ever tell them that.”

Hadrian once again ignored Death’s musings, “Yeah, unfortunately the heckling is a constant. Telling him to stop doesn’t make him stop and physically attempting to just makes you look insane so I’ve just learned to live with it.”

His soulmate hummed at that before jolting at something, “OH, I never introduced myself! I’m sorry! I just ran into you and started to ask you random questions!” Hadrian was pretty sure he was the one to run into his soulmate but he guessed that didn’t really matter anymore, “-I’m Charlie! Charlie Weasley, that is! My brother’s are Fred, George, and Bill who you’ve already met. Shite, you've probably already heard all the embarrassing stories about me, haven't you? Oh, I’m going to geld the twins when I get ahold of them next! Jesus! I MEAN GODS! I meant gods!” His soulmate, Charlie, he’d have to get used to calling him Charlie, shot a fearful glance to where Death was still standing.

Death snorted and Hadrian ignored him. Charlie continued on after a moment of him not reacting, “Bill probably hasn’t been helping either...Oh my goodness! I am so sorry about them! I’ll tell them to stop! Or-wait-No, that’ll just get them going even worse than they already are and then they’ll tell your friends and they’ll start heckling you!”

His friends would always heckle him but that's besides the point, he should probably stop Charlie before he passed out due to worry.

“Charlie, it’s fine! I’m fine! You don’t need to threaten them or anything! And don’t worry about Death, he won’t do anything to you!” At least he hoped the god wouldn't. They were going to have problems if he did.

“Oh! Oh good! That’s good!” Charlie sounded far too relieved by that statement for Hadrian to be comfortable with.

“Oh, I’m sure you’ve also heard but my name’s Hadrian. Black that is. Don’t be nervous about that though! No one would hurt you! My dad will probably give you an awkward shovel talk though.” He said and Charlie didn’t seem more relieved by his words but that was less worrying. His family had a reputation and until you actually met them the fear didn’t go away.

“Ah, that’s um…relieving to hear…I’ll-uh-I’ll let you be now. I’m sure you have lots of studying to do.”

“Oh! Yeah-um-yes I do. Have studying that is! I’ll just…be going then…” Hadrian awkwardly said and slipped past him and onto the book he was going to grab.

He was pretty sure his face was burning red but he didn’t care. He finally got to talk to his soulmate!

Now, if he could only stop bumping into him in the library.

Hermione nervously stared down her parents. The brochures to the eleven other wizarding schools sat in front of them.

“Do I have to? I’ve made so many friends! I don’t want to go to a different school!”

“Hermione, we've been through this. You almost DIED this year due to a TROLL ATTACK and then got roped into consuming some mystery potion by one of your so-called friends so he could get into a room that NONE OF YOU WERE EVER SUPPOSED TO BE NEAR!”

“It wasn't that bad…” she murmured before wincing at the incredulous look on her parents' faces.

“IT WASN’T THAT BAD?! HERMIONE YOU ALMOST DIED! DO YOU UNDERSTAND THAT! WE ALMOST LOST YOU AND THE HEADMASTER OF YOUR SCHOOL DIDN’T GIVE A BLOODY FUCK ABOUT IT! NOR DID HE EVER THINK WE HAD A RIGHT TO KNOW!” Her dad yelled, “I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU THINK, YOU ARE GOING TO A DIFFERENT SCHOOL!”

“But!-”

“No buts young lady!” Her mom said, “If you want to say in this world of yours that’s fine. We would much rather you go back to school at your old school, but we also know that that would be difficult considering you now are one year behind your peers and that you would need to be obliviated of your memories. That is the last thing we want for you to have to go through. However, you are not returning to Hogwarts next year. That is final. We will get you an owl so you can keep in contact with all your new friends, but you are not going back to that school.”

Her mother pushed a few of the brochures towards her.

“Pick one. We aren't the ones learning magic so we can’t choose for you as we don’t know which one is best. But, we did look through them all and these looked like they would offer you the most opportunities in the future.”

Hermione mulishly accepted the brochures. They were some of the ones that Professor McGonagall had given her earlier in the year.

One was to the French school, Beauxbatons Academy of Magic. It’s classes were like Hogwarts but with an added emphasis on etiquette. It wouldn’t be her first time going to France, they went skiing every other year there, but she could say with certainty that she didn’t want to go to school there. She glanced up at her parents and she saw her mother gazing hopefully towards her.

Yeah, France was out.

She tossed the brochure aside and heard her father snort.

The next one was to the American wizarding school, Ilvermorny. It looked like an Americanized version of Hogwarts just without the quidditch obsession. She tossed it aside as well. If Hogwarts was out then Ilvermorny was out as well.

Castleobruxo was the next school her parents had approved of. It was in the Amazon rainforest and offered world class magical creature classes. It had been one she had been interested in earlier in the year but the school seemed too remote. Her parents wouldn’t be able to visit and the school fees were more than what she knew her parents were paying to send her to Hogwarts.

The last brochure they had picked out for her was Arcane. It took students all over the world and school fees were relatively cheap considering some of the other schools' prices. They offered all the classes the other schools offered and more. There were a few things though that she wasn’t sure about.

First, they didn’t use wands. They used wandless magic. She would have to give up her wand if she went there. Secondly, they practiced dark magic. Which isn’t to say that the other schools didn’t, a vast majority of them did, but she had gone to Hogwarts. Where dark magic was reviled and you would be thrown in jail if you were under suspicion of using it. Would she be able to return to Britain if she went there?

“Do you like that one?” Her mother asked.

“I like all the classes it offers…”

“But?”

“But will I be able to come back home? They practice dark magic mum. You get thrown in jail here if they think you’ve used dark magic.”

Her mother quirked an eyebrow, “Who told you that?”

“Well Ron and Charles said-”

“Ah, so your friends Ron and Charles are experts on this foreign school?” Her dad asked and she grimaced.

“Well no, but-”

“Hermonie, have you read the rest of the brochure?” He asked and she flushed. She admittedly hadn’t read the entire thing. Ron and Charles saw the brochures in her book bag and had gone on an hour rant about the school. Ron’s brothers went there and he’d had an awful lot to say about Arcane. None of it good.

“Dear, the brochure covers that topic. You’ll be a dual citizen while you attend school there. The British ministry can’t arrest you for practicing dark magic so long as you don’t do it while in the country. If you do want to practice magic or read your books then we can always do holiday’s elsewhere. Ireland doesn’t care what magic you use, so long as you don't hurt anyone with it then you will be fine.”

“So if I chose this one, you wont be mad?” She hesitantly asked.

“Dear, why would we be mad? We couldn’t care less about what school you choose, so long as you are happy.” Her mother said and her father huffed a laugh.

“Hermione, I would rather you be prepared in the future than not. I may not be of your new world, and I probably will never understand it no matter how much I try, but that does not make me blind to what goes on in your world. We have a subscription to the Daily Prophet, we got one at your wizarding bank while you were talking with Professor McGonagall on your tour. I read it every day. I am not ignorant as to what your Headmaster is doing nor what the British Wizarding government is doing either. I may not have rights in your world but that does not mean I am going to stick my head into the sand like an ostrich, that would be stupid. You are my daughter, I would have you prepared for what you are going to face then not.”

Hermione smiled at her parents but didn’t say anything else. She didn’t have the words. Instead she just ran over and gave them both a hug and hoped that it was enough.

It was.

Chapter Text

“Hogwarts is out for school. Percy sent us a letter asking if we’d be coming home for a week or if we’d be staying again.” One of the twins said as they waltzed into Neville’s greenhouse like they owned the place. “Apparently Ron is making himself a pest and hasn’t stopped bemoaning the torrent of pranks that came him and Charles’ way after Dumbledore gave Gryffindor the house cup for their bravery during their trials in the forbidden corridor.”

Draco snorted, “We heard, Pansy was wroth in her letters to us.”

“Will you be going home this summer?” Neville asked, looking up from a plant he was tending to.

“Maybe,” They chorused, George tossed the letters onto the table and Fred continued, “We haven't decided yet. We might get Professor Draganov to assign us something challenging over the summer so we have a legit excuse to not go. That or we might camp out at Lee’s for a week.”

“Won't your sister be here at the end of summer?” Daphne asked.

“Yeah, I think grandma said something about sending her early for an adjustment period,” George said, rolling his eyes, “whatever that entails. We think she just wants to get Ginny away from our mum. Maybe get her into etiquette lessons early.”

“Oh yeah, my mother said something about that.” Draco said.

“Yeah, I don’t really know what that will entail.” They said together and Draco grimaced.

“My mother is nothing if not thorough with her teachings. She won't take no for an answer and will drag lessons out if she thinks it’s needed. I have no doubt that by the end of the year that your sister will have completely different mannerisms.”

The twins furrowed their eyes, “Is that necessary?”

Draco shrugged, “I don’t know what your grandmother has asked to be taught. If it’s the bare minimum of high society etiquette then she won't be that different other than table manners and how to talk to high status people. That and how to dance.”

“And if our grandmother asked for more than that?”

“Then expect drastic changes. I expect she’ll end up more a Black than Weasley by the end of her instruction. But, you never know. I have no doubt your grandmother has instructed her to go over the sacred twenty eight and what her status as the only girl of House Weasley means to the wider world. As for house specifics, most noble houses have special instructions for the girls born to them. What they need to carry with them at all times, how they need to behave, stuff like that.” Draco said and Daphne nodded.

“Most of the house specific stuff will be taught by a family member though. So it will be your grandmother or grandfather doing the house specific teachings. Houses tend to also have special spells that are only for the women of the house to know. Your grandmother will probably teach her those as your grandfather can't.”

“Huh,” The twins said, looking a little overwhelmed.

“She’ll be fine.” Draco said, “From what I've heard of your sister then I have no doubt my mother and her will get along.”

“I hope you know that that does not make us feel any better.” They said.

Draco just smiled, “Oh I know!”

Hadrian and Theo snorted in laughter and then valiantly tried to muffle it when the twins turned to glare at them. It was going to be an interesting summer.

Blaise grumbled as his mother once again began reorganizing the house.

They had ordered everything ahead and had it sent to the house he picked out over Yule so they wouldn’t have to suffer the summer crowds. Unfortunately, that meant that his mother had far too much time on her hands and very little to do besides move furniture around. So far, she hadn’t been totally satisfied with her layout of everything which meant that things would get set down only to be picked right back up and placed elsewhere later on. They had been doing this for a few hours by this point and Blaise was beginning to think that this would never end.

“Mamma, can we finish this?” He asked in exasperation. The sooner they were done with this the sooner he could go see his friends.

“Soon, dear. I want this to be perfect for you and perfection can’t be rushed.” She responded, amusement coating her words, and Blaise sighed. That was a no.

Gods help him. It was going to be dark before he was ever set free to go see his friends.

“Now, what do you think about this? I feel like there's something off but I'm not sure what. Maybe we should revisit the owl catalogs. The furniture is right but I am not so sure about the decoration…Perhaps we should go visit your grandfather and go to the family vault. I have faith we will find something there that will make this room look right. Then we can move onto the sitting room.” His mother said and Blaise groaned. There went the rest of the day.

His complaints fell on deaf ears as his mother turned and lightly smiled at him, amusement and laughter dancing in her eyes, “Oh, hush you.”

“Why hello! You are new here, yes?” A pale, soft spoken, blond haired girl said to Hermione as she was rather aimlessly walking around the bookstore. She was a little overwhelmed. There was so much new stuff she would have to get used to in this new country and she honestly felt like it was before first year once again and she was tutoring Diagon with Professor McGonagall again.

Except this time there was no professor to guide her and it was just her and her parents. Fortunately, the lady that had helped her with her new school robes had told them where to go and what order to go to them in. Unfortunately, Hermione hadn’t taken that lying down and demanded to go to the bookstore immediately afterward.

She soon learned that that was a mistake. Hence the aimless wandering.

The little blond girl was still staring at her, waiting for an answer. “Um,Yes!” Hermione rushed out, “Yes, I’m new! I just transferred from Hogwarts so everything’s a little new to me. How about you?” She asked, maybe this girl could help her find her way back to the front of the store so they could find her parents and do this whole thing in order.

“Oh, yes! I am preparing to attend my first year. Daddy and I decided to get a head start and get everything set up before more new students decide to show up and it gets hectic.” The girl said before her eyes lit up and it seemed she remembered something she was forgetting, “Oh, my name is Luna! It’s lovely to meet you! You’re Hermione, yes?”

“Um…yes, how did you know that?”

“Oh, I know lots of things!” Luna said with a bright smile, “I also think you will like the wing store better than the library. The library is a lot better after you’ve gotten most everything else.”

Hermione just nodded, not knowing what else to say to the odd girl. Fortunately, that seemed to be enough as her smile widened, “I’ll see you in class in September! I’d stay like you are but Daddy and I are going Humdinger hunting so we won't see each other for a while!” And with that ominous parting word, she skipped off, and Hermione ventured back to the front of the store, thoroughly weirded out.

“You didn’t find anything interesting dear?” Her mother asked, looking surprised she didn’t come out with arms laden with books.

“Um, no. It was a little overwhelming to be honest,” She admitted with a grimace.

Her mother nodded then, “Well then, let’s just go about this how the lady that made your robes said to and perhaps the library will be better later.”

Hermione just nodded in acquiescence. Hopefully Luna wouldn’t be there when they came back. One weird and mildly ominous interaction was enough, she didn’t need to go through it again.

Chapter Text

Hermione was thoroughly enjoying herself at Arcane. Her parents had enrolled her at the beginning of summer so she could start right away and not be too behind her peers. Fortunately they had special classes meant for transfer students specifically meant to build off the knowledge they already had rather than starting everyone over from the beginning. It was a fairly large class of students that were in the same boat as her so she didn’t feel as alone in being behind as she thought she would be.

Unfortunately, it seemed she wasn’t the only Hogwarts student to be attending over the summer.

“Granger?!” Pansy Parkinson said, staring at her in what Hermione could only say was shock with no small amount of horror mixed in. She tried not to be insulted by it.

“Parkinson,” She greeted civilly.

“What-what are you doing here?! Shouldn’t you be gallivanting off into the sunset with Potter and Weasley?” Okay, rude.

“No, why would I be hanging out with them over the summer? I have muggle parents, remember?”

Parkinson opened her mouth to say something but decided better of it and simply stared at her. The odd spell of awkward staring was eventually interrupted by a new arrival.

“Pansy, have you found a spot yet?” Blaise Zabini said, approaching the pair of them with a stack of books in hand. He paused in surprise once he realized Pansy wasn’t alone.

“Granger?!”

“Zabini,” She greeted, she was starting to think this was a poor choice in school.

“What are you doing here?!”

“Learning, what else would I be doing here?”

Zabini floundered, “That’s not!-I mean, what I meant to say is why are you here? Like why aren't you in Britain hanging out with Potter and Weasley?”

Hermione crossed her arms, “As I told Parkinson over here, my parents are muggles. Why would I be hanging out with them over the summer if the only place I can freely go in the wizarding world is Diagon? Also my parents had me transferred if you simply must know.”

“Transferred?” The two chorused dumbly.

“Yes, transferred. What’s so hard to understand about that?”

Pansy shook her head, “It’s just you, Weasley, and Potter seemed so inseparable that it’s a little shocking to see you here. Muggles don't normally enroll their children in different wizarding schools after the first year, especially since they know so little of our world. We weren’t expecting to run into you till September.”

“Well, you’ve run into me. Now, can we sit down and stop staring at each other? Class is about to start.”

“Oh! Um, yes! Yes, let's do that. I-um… you can sit with us if you want. Or you can find a seat elsewhere if you don't.” Pansy awkwardly said, gesturing to the empty seats next to her in the rapidly filling auditorium.

Hermione quickly glanced around at the sea of students, none of them standing out as someone she knew. She mentally sighed and glanced back at Parkinson and Zabini, “I’ll sit with you two if you don't mind. Just don’t hex me while the teacher is talking. I’d like to catch up with the rest of the people my age so I’m not a year behind everyone else my age.”

They rapidly nodded and let her slip past to claim a seat. They followed suit a few seconds later after exchanging an incredulous glance.

Unfortunately, sitting in silence till the teacher started talking appeared to not be an option as Parkinson opened her mouth to ask another question, “So your parents transferred you?”

“Yes, I’ve already said that.”

“No-” Pansy sighed, “You know that’s not what I meant and I know you know it.”

Hermione pursed her lips and stared at them a bit before answering with a sigh of her own, “They were none too thrilled with my extracurricular activities at Hogwarts and so they made me choose where to go for the next year.”

“You mean almost getting yourself killed twice?” Zabini bluntly said.

“Yes, that’s exactly what I mean. Thank you for clarifying Zabini.” She said through gritted teeth and Zabini backed off.

“Huh,” Pansy said instead, “I’ve never heard of muggles taking their kids out for that reason before.”

“Oh?” Hermione asked, curious as to what she meant by that.

“Well, my older brother once mentioned that muggle parents don’t get informed when their kids end up in the hospital wing. Hence not taking their kids out of school when something dangerous happens.” Pansy answered.

“That's…that’s commonly known?”

“Well, it’s not shared out loud but anyone who's anyone in Britain knows that that’s what happens and why muggle parents don't take their kids out of school after the first sign of something sketchy occurring. Especially since kid’s don’t normally like including that sort of thing in letters home.”

Hermione stared at her in mild horror. She had known the Headmaster hadn’t said anything to her own parents because he had asked her not to but she didn’t know that that applied to every muggleborn. Professor McGonagall said that it was standard policy to inform parents when something happened so she figured that her situation was just a one off occurrence.

“But…Professor McGonagall said that it’s standard policy to inform the parents when an incident occurs…”

Pansy gave her a look, “She said that?”

“Yes…”

“Huh, never heard of her sending letters to parents before. If that were the case there would be a lot more angry muggles pulling their kids from school. Especially for any kid that gets sorted into Gryffindor.” She sounded perplexed.

“Oh?” Hermione was a little concerned now.

“Yeah, Blasie’s mum is on the school board and they never deal with muggle parent complaints. I don’t know why she said it’s school policy because I know it’s not. Muggles aren’t to know more than they are made aware of when muggleborns are first approached about attending Hogwarts.” Pansy said and Blasie nodded. Hermione felt sick. Why was she here then? Why did Professor McGonagall tell her parents when she got hurt and not the other students' parents when they had been hurt during the year as well? Why did she tell her parents to transfer her when she didn’t do that for others?

“-ranger? GRANGER?!” Pansy said, snapping her fingers in front of her eyes. She looked concerned.

“You alright Granger?” Zabini asked.

“Fine!” She said, she perhaps said it a little too fast because their eyebrows raised in concern, “I’m fine!” She reiterated. She ignored the small voice in the back of her head that asked if she was trying to convince them or herself.

“If you’re sure…” He said uncertainty and Hermione nodded. Masking her spiraling mind with as blank a face as she could manage.

Fortunately the teacher, Professor Barrin, their Religion teacher, chose that moment to begin their lecture. Hermione got out her notebook and started writing, focusing as much as possible on the teacher's words in a bid to shut everything else out.

It worked…after a bit.

It, however, didn’t stop her from noticing the concerned glances sent her way from the two next to her. It also didn’t stop them from hovering behind her as the class made their way to Temple Hill for an impromptu field trip.

Temple Hill made her worries fly away as she took in the various stylized temples strewn about on the floating island. She’d not been here before now. Hadn’t seen a reason to since she wasn’t a practitioner.

It was beautiful. Flowers were in a constant state of bloom around several temples. Braziers' were lit with flame that gave off a comforting feeling of belonging and welcome that Hermione greatly needed in that moment. It was peaceful.

Dare she say it she felt at home. More so than she ever felt before. Or at least ever since she was told she was a witch. Muggle Britain had never felt right afterwards.

Her peace was shattered after they entered Lady Magics temple.

The priests and priestesses enthusiastically greeted them. No one acted like that was out of the ordinary so Hermione accepted that that was the norm and chorused a greeting back with the rest of the class. She was fine, until one of them walked up to her and dumped a large scaly egg into her hands and walked off without another word.

Hermione stood deathly still. Panic and confusion warring in her mind as she held the scaly rough egg that had been dumped into her arms.

“Ummmm…” She eventually mumbled in overwhelmed confusion, holding the egg away from herself as if it were to explode.

Their Professor just looked to what Hermione assumed was the head priest in silent question. The priest just smiled pleasantly and nodded to him. Like this was in any way shape or form normal.

Their professor was of no help it would seem as he enthusiastically smiled back before turning to her with a beaming smile proclaiming, “Congratulations, Ms. Granger! It is yours!” and continuing on with the lecture.

Hermione stood in numb shock before slowly turning her head to Zabini and Parkinson. A billion questions flying around her head as they hesitantly smiled and shrugged.

The rest of the trip seemed to fly by in a matter of minutes while also seeming to drag for hours. Hermione mechanically followed the rest of her classmates in a shock induced haze for the rest of the tour, Parkinson and Zabini bracketing her in on either side. Why they were sticking around she didn’t know but she had bigger concerns now.

Like taking care of a fucking egg apparently.

Oh she knew what it was. She had been to dragon class already. She had known she was going to get a dragon of her own at some point.

What she had not been prepared for was for an egg to be dumped on her at the beginning of her class field trip and to have to carry the unhatched dragon egg around for the remainder of her day. Oh and also having the rude mental reminder that she apparently wasn’t supposed to transfer from Hogwarts at all and she should be enjoying her summer in muggle Britain like all the other muggleborns.

Her father would be ashamed at the amount of mental cussing she had been doing today.

They took one of the teleportation pads back to the school and class summarily dismissed. Hermione stood there, dragon egg in hand, mind screaming.

“Soooo… you want to come over to my place?” Zabini asked, Parkinson shrugged sure and then they both turned to look at her. It took her an embarrassingly long moment before she realized they were waiting for her to answer as well.

“Oh! Were-um, were you asking me as well?” She asked and Zabini nodded.

At that, she faltered and looked down at the egg still sitting in her hands, “I should-uh, I should get this back to my house I guess?” She said, unsure of what to do.

“How ‘bout this, we, as in you, me, and Pans, go back to my place after the rest of our classes and I invite some other friends over as well and you can pick their minds about your little dilemma? How’s that sound?”

Meeting new people was perhaps the last thing she wanted to do right now. She wanted to go home, dump her egg into her living room, and cry in bed. However, she could tell they were loath to leave her alone from the concern that had been etched into their faces since earlier this afternoon and probably would follow her to her house if she said no.

“Sure I guess…”

“Great!” Zabini said way too cheerfully for the situation at hand and then dragged her and Pansy to their next class of the day.

Hermione wasn’t going to admit it, but Zabini’s friends were helping.

Oh she still had major concerns rattling around in her head. But, the minor ones that could be solved had been and she no longer wanted to cry herself to sleep from stress.

She had been expecting only those she had heard Ron and Charles occasionally rant about. Draco Malfoy, Hadrian Black, and Theo Nott but along with those three came Daphne Greengrass, and Neville Longbottom. Neville was someone Charles had actually spoken fondly of so she was admittedly a little thrown to see him here, at a notoriously dark school, and not somewhere like Beauxbatons. The place everyone at Hogwarts thought he had been sent to when he failed to show up for the sorting ceremony.

Zabini’s friends were also nice. Which is not what she was expecting in the slightest. They didn’t seem to have a problem that a muggleborn like her was good at magic. So different from her peers at Hogwarts. They didn’t look at her weird when she shared the facts she’d learned in her books. Neville and Theo actually shared some of their own. They didn’t even get insulted when she said something insensitive. They just politely corrected her. No sneers. No glares. No scorn.

Draco, of all people, had even assured her that getting a dragon egg dropped into her lap at Lady Magics temple was something that happened relatively frequently! He’d gone on to tell her how to care for it, where to go to get supplies, who to ask for help if she needed any, and what to do once it hatched!

It was…weird. Ron and Charles had been so assured in their views of who these people were. That they were dark, evil, and that they would only wish harm upon her.

All she saw in front of her were nice people. Sure they were spoiled beyond reason, but they weren’t evil. They were kids just like her.

So, she forced herself to relax, to take a breath, and attempt to forget the warnings whispered into her ears. She told them stories of her time at Hogwarts. Stories of Ron and Charles’ escapades, of Pansy and Blaise and their reign of terror, and of her classes and professors. She told them of her dormmates. Parvati and Lavender. How Parvati and her learned to be friends and of Lavender’s unrelenting wish to be with Charles. She also told them of Ron and Charles’ lack of manners and how the whole of Gryffindor table would make sure to be there before them so they could get some food down before losing their appetite.

Her new potential friends both laughed and grimaced at that. Draco going as far to make a note to mention it to Ron’s older brothers the next time they see them. Apparently not just Ron’s twin brothers attended Arcane. The two eldest did as well and they would all soon be joined by Ron’s younger sister, Ginny if she was remembering correctly, at the end of the summer.

It was close to nine when she got back to her place, her cheeks aching with laughter and heart happy, that she realized she might not be so alone after all.

Chapter Text

“Good morning, students! My name is Professor Sigmund Abbott, you may call me Professor Abbott. For the next two weeks I will be your Time Management professor. After your two weeks with me you will be in the hands of your upperclassmen mentor who will monitor your progress during the next few years. Should problems arise and your upperclassman’s advice to you falls on deaf ears then we will be having a meeting. Said meeting will include myself, you, your parents, one of the deputy headmasters, and should it be necessary the headmistress will also be included. Trust me, this is not something you want to happen. Listen to your mentors, be smart, and as always, have fun!” Professor Abbott said, sternly looking out upon the sea of first year students. Some were writing down every word he was saying, others were nervously exchanging glances, and a few of the students rolled their eyes.

“Now, we only have forty five minutes everyday together. However, as it is your first day I will only keep you here for thirty minutes. This is a big school, it is easy to get lost on your way to your next class and I want you to be able to get there in time should you have troubles.” Their professor said after giving those that were writing a few minutes to get everything down, “Additionally, as you might have noticed, not all of you are the same age. Our school accepts any who wish to learn. Those of you that are just beginning your education or are here due to your jobs will be going to Light Magic class next. As for those of you that are transfers, you will be going to your wandless magic class. We here at Arcane practice magically differently than most schools in the world. We don't use wands, we view them as a hindrance here, a handicap. Your first bouts of magic were done wandlessly, our ancestors used magic wandlessly, some of the most powerful magic in our world was created by people that used their magic without the aid of a wand. The only time we use wands here are in specific rituals that require one. Should you use your wand to do magic here when it is not required to use one then you will be punished. You are here to learn how to use magic wandlessly, we are not about to tolerate those of you that wish to use your wand in the face of hardship when it is not necessary to use one. You will get three warnings before things get serious.”

A ripple went through the crowd. Those who had grown up using magic with a wand shifting nervously.

“Should you be here for a job then your job has signed all necessary forms that parents normally sign upon their children's enrollment. You are not exempt from punishment. Should you use your wand when not allowed to after being given your three warnings, you will be getting a visit from an Arctic ministry official from our wand regulations department if you are a fulltime citizen. International students will be getting a visit from ICW officials. Those of you who were sent here by your parents will get your wand confiscated from you if you are not old enough, per our country's laws, to have one. Said wand will either be put in a bank vault where it will be guarded till the time you are allowed to have it or your parents can choose to keep it at their home, where it is to be kept out of reach of your hands. Additionally if it is found that you have a wand when you are not supposed to then your parents will be getting a fine of one hundred galleons for ignoring our country’s wand policy and they will be getting a visit from the ICW as well.” He said, staring out at them with a serious look on his face. The auditorium had become completely silent. None having truly realized how serious the school would take violations to their wand policy.

Ginny looked around at the sea of students around her and caught a few looking pale.

“I do not say this to scare you. I say it to prepare you. After all, if you do not know the rules then how can you ever be expected to follow them?” Their professor said with a faint smile. “Moving onwards so I do not make you late to your next class, you will also be taking summer courses while enrolled here. These are not optional. Wandless magic is hard to master. It is every bit of who you are. You cannot be emotionless and use wandless magic for wandless magic is driven by emotion. Do you remember your first bout of magic growing up? Everyone’s first instance of magic is based on emotion. Whether it be frustration of not getting your way, joy at getting a gift, or anguish after getting hurt. Your magic is tied to your feelings and it expresses itself based on those feelings. The reason I call wands a handicap is cause they sense your intent, draw your magic forth, channel it, and then spit it out when you say a spell. You don't need emotion to cast with a wand. You just need willpower and strength. You may be thinking, well if it's easier to use and learn magic that way then why do we demand that you learn wandless? Well, first things first, you will never know what you are capable of if you use a wand. A wand takes a certain amount of power to be used, they are temperamental, fickle things and will not work unless you bully them to work. While some may get a spell to work on the first try using a wand, most don't. The reason for this is your body is used to using magic wandlessly when you first start school. As such, it is putting out what you would need to make something happen wandlessly, while your wand requires more to make that same thing happen. A wand inhibits you, it does not strengthen you.”

There were murmurs at this. The older students looked at each other, shaken, as if their whole world had been built on a lie.

“You often hear of the best wix in our world being capable of great and powerful things. Do you know what connects them all? Their ability to use wandless magic. A wand is no match for wandless magic, which is why it is so hard for those using wands to go up against people that have the ability to use their magic without. It's why Grindelwald was only defeated once Dumbledore took a stance against him. It is why Dumbledore was the only person capable of going against the most recent Dark Lord of Great Britain. It’s why the America’s have never been conquered by an outside force and why the African and Asian countries have reigned supreme in global dueling championships for centuries.” Professor Abbott said, pausing to take a breath before continuing, “You are here to be taught wandless magic. You are here to be taught what your limits are, what your strengths are, what your weaknesses are. You are here to be molded into the very best. As tainted as this phrase has become, it still is true. Magic is might.”

The older students and those younger students that understood, gave sharp inhales. For what reason, Ginny didn’t understand.

“Oh, hush. That phrase has a different meaning here than it does elsewhere. Here we are not threatened. We do not have the need to hide ourselves when we go out. We do not need to conform to a world so different from our own just to survive and live another day. That saying is simply a truth here. Our magic is our strength. It is our being. It is the truest form of who we are. It is why we are able to ride beings capable of great destruction without being harmed, it is why we are able to survive illnesses that would normally kill, and it is why we can bend reality to our very wills if we so wish.”

He paused, letting the class take in what was just told to them, and Ginny took the chance to look around once again. Taking in the gobsmacked looks on the older students' faces and the younger ones like herself that were staring at Professor Abbott with eagerness vibrating from their bodies and awe in their eyes.

“This is why, out of all the schools in our world, ours takes the longest to graduate from. Wandless magic is a discipline that is hard to learn. Every form of magic has a different feel to it, they all have different processes needed to be taken to call them forth. One may be more passive in its expression while another may be naturally explosive. For example, potions and herbology require passive expressions of magic while defensive and offensive magic is like standing in a hurricane. It is a maelstrom of chaos and power that if not used properly can cause great harm to everyone in the nearest vicinity. This is why it is important to listen to your mentors when they give you advice. If you do not listen then you run the risk of getting yourself hurt. Please, please listen when a teacher or mentor tells you you are doing something wrong. Do you all understand me?” He asked and all two thousand of them murmured some form of yes.

“Good! Now, I believe that is all I want to cover for today. Go! Be free! Tomorrow we will be going over general school rules so please bring something to take notes in. You should memorize these and know them by heart by the time you are done with this class!” Their professor said, dismissing them from the giant lecture hall they had all gathered in.

Ginny grabbed Luna’s hand so the two of them would get separated and they started walking to their next class, Light Magic class with Professor Farren.

It was fun, well the practical part of the class was. The lecture not so much. Professor Farren was nice, certainly not as strict as Professor Abbott appeared to be, and he tried to meet each and every one of them. He had six assistants. Three boys and three girls. Ginny had tried to remember their names but she forgot by the time the lecture was over. They split the class into sixths and went around to each student in their sectioned off area, helping everyone with drawing their magic out along with occasionally asking students questions.

She had managed to light her hand on fire out of frustration when the assistant's tips and tricks to help them draw their magic outward wasn’t doing anything after thirty minutes. Professor Farren, who was finishing helping another student, had run over and put the fire out. It hadn’t hurt, the fire that is. But their professor explained that while it might not hurt her it would hurt other people. She watched as he made a note on a notepad under what she assumed was her name in a different language but she didn't know what he wrote. He’d then asked her if she had frequent bouts of magic as a child and if she was related to George and Fred Weasley. She had answered with a yes to both and he had grimaced at that, made some more notes, and wandered off to help someone else.

Luna just gave her a bright smile and then spouted some nonsense about nargles. Luna wasn’t much better than her at bringing her own magic forth either. Eventually, towards the last minutes of the class, she’d managed a few green sparks and gotten a compliment from one of the assistants.

She was so going to grill her brothers when she saw them next. She was going to be so mad if they had done something to impact Professor Farren's view of her.

She got her chance at lunch time.

“Ginny!” Her brothers chorused while Charlie just smiled at her.

“What did you two do?!” She said instead, and the twins blinked, smiles dimming and confusion appearing in their eyes.

“What do you mean?” Fred asked.

“We’ve done lots of things, you're going to have to be more specific.” George said at the same time and she scowled at them both.

“Professor Farren! He asked if I was related to you when I lit my hand on fire after getting frustrated in class!”

The twins merely blinked at her while Charlie exploded in laughter. “Ahhhh, she’s got you there.”

The twins gave him a look before turning back to her with sheepish smiles, “Ah, well, you see we also got quite frustrated, but instead of lighting ourselves on fire we lit the chair in front of us on fire…along with the person in it…”

“You what?! You lit someone on fire?!” Ginny exclaimed.

“They were fine! No harm done! Professor Farren was right there when it happened!” Fred said while George nodded.

“Yes, no harm done sis! We probably should have warned you before your classes today. Sorry ‘bout that…”

Ginny just grumbled, shoved some food in her mouth, and stared at them in contemplation for a second. “Anything else I should be prepared for then?”

“Professor Hollis is fun, she teaches Dark Magic. You’ll like her. She’s probably already heard from Farren that you lit yourself on fire during his class so you’ll probably get a pat on the back from her.” George said and Fred continued “-yeah, Professor Draganov is nice too. Super excited to teach potions. He’s fun as well, so is Flight class with Professor Mavra. You’ll love her class since you like flying so much-”

“Any classes I should be worried about?” She said cutting them off.

“Ehhhh, not in your first year.” Fred said, “In your second year you’ll have Diane as a teacher. She’s good…but-um…her field trips suck.”

Ginny blinked, “Diane?”

George hummed, “Yeah, she doesn’t like being called Professor Anderson. Insists everyone calls her Diane. She’s nice, strict but nice. Make sure to take notes in her class, she’ll call on you if she thinks you're not paying attention and embarrass you.”

“What class does she teach?”

“History. She’s the second and fourth year history professor. Professor Brakker, who you’ll have later, teaches first and third year. He’s boring but he at least leaves on time for the field trips he takes the class on.”

“Is it really that bad?” She asked apprehensively.

“You have no idea…” They chorused together, looking both incredibly frustrated and incredibly exhausted.

“Suck’s for you then.” She said and they morosely nodded, looking as if they wished the world would just swallow them whole.

“Ignore them, they’re just being dramatic.” Charlie said, earning theatrical reactions from the twins before the bell went off, signaling the end of their lunch period.

“Welp, see ya Gin Gin! Have a good rest of the day!” The twins said, scampering off to their next class while Charlie leaned over the table, ruffled her hair and gave her a smile before heading to his own class.

“I believe we have flight class next.” Luna said, looping her arm around her own and dragging her along to their next class.

The twins ended up being right, Flight class with Professor Mavra was awesome! She had even gotten a compliment from the Professor herself after she successfully stayed in the air for a full three minutes! It was also cool to see all the different varieties of wings people had in the class. There were only a few in her class that had owl wings. A total of maybe a hundred students out of the roughly eight hundred that were in her class. Eagle wings were rarer and those that had them were separated from the rest of the class due to how large their wingspan was. Professor Mavra had fifteen student assistants. The class was split into groups and then an assistant helped them in their attempts to get into the air. The professor came around to them all and if they were especially struggling then she spent some one on one time with them. Walking them through how to use their wings and encouraging them to practice at home.

“Now, I believe it is time for you all to have a snack and head off to your next class! Eat up!” She said, gesturing to the tables of snacks the house elves had brought in moments earlier. “You’ll need it! You have history next and then dark magic!”

Ginny paused mid chew of the sandwich she picked up. Wings bunching up and fluffing out in her anxiety. One of the student assistants saw her and snorted. She shot him a glare.

“Ignore him,” Luna said, appearing by her side, “He’s so infested with nargles he’s likely to fly straight into a cliff.”

“Is that so, Lady Lovegood?” Professor Mavra said from behind them and Ginny startled, whirling around to face their professor. Luna just hummed in response, turning her attention to the table of food.

That seemed to be enough of a confirmation for their professor as she then turned on her assistant with a baleful glare, “Richard? Why is it that the High Seer of Lady Fate says you’re so infested with nargles that you're likely to fly into a cliff?”

The assistant stuttered, cheeks flushing, and the others around him shuffled away, casting weary glances between their professor and the student in question. When he didn’t have an answer for her, her glare turned into one of disapproval. “I expect you in my office once you are done with your other classes for the day.”

The student flushed again, ducked his head in embarrassment, and practically ran out of the room. Their professor merely glared at his retreating form before turning and walking off when a student called her name.

“What the bloody hell was that?!” She whispered to Luna.

“What was what?” Luna said, confused.

“What?! What do you mean, what was what? You just got a student helper sent from the classroom!”

Luna blinked, as if it was the first she was hearing of the situation, “Oh…yes that. I did that…yes…” Luna’s eyes went unfocused and glassy and she turned away again to pursue through food she had already looked at.

Ginny sighed. There was no use when Luna got like this.

“Alright, fine! You win!” She murmured, finishing her sandwich and snagging some pretzels as they headed off for their next class.

History ended up being a bore. Their professor’s voice just monotone enough to almost put the class to sleep. The bell couldn’t come soon enough and everyone just about stumbled to their Dark Magic classroom.

“Welcome! Welcome, come in come in!” Their professor said in a thick southern accent, “I see you’re all nearly asleep from History class, that’s alright, we’ll get your blood flowing again, don’t you worry!”

“Welcome everyone, to your first Dark Magic class! My name is Professor Hollis, I’ll be your professor for the next twelve years. I am sure some of you are nervous for this class. Don’t worry, you wont get into the stuff you hear rumors about until third year. Right now, we will just be practicing drawing our magic out, just like you did in Light Magic a few hours ago! This will be a little different though, instead of focusing on your magic and clearing your mind like Farren told you all to do we will be focusing on our emotions. All those bottled up feelings you normally don't let out we will be letting out! While you do that you will focus on your magic, just like before, and hopefully you can make your magic do something. Don’t worry about making it do anything specific, you’ll just stress your core out and we don't want to go to the hospital wing on the first day, do we?” She said and everyone shook their heads no, “That’s what I thought. Now, since ya’ll did this in your previous class, I’m just going to let ya’ll get started. Me and the others will be around to help or put out any fires you may cause. And don't be alarmed if something dangerous does happen! It happens to everyone at some point!”

Ginny took a deep breath and tried to do what Professor Farren had told them to do. Valiantly trying to not focus on his words at the end of class and how she was actually here, learning dark magic.

She could practically hear her mother screaming herself hoarse.

“Nervous, hun?” Her Professor said, startling her out of her trance.

“Um, I-uh…” Ginny eloquently said, not having expected anyone to come up to her till the end of class.

Her professor chuckled, “Don't worry hun, Dark Magic isn’t as bad as those idiots across the pond think it is. Just depends on how it’s used. Same as Light Magic. Now, Professor Farren said you lit your hand on fire, yes?” She asked and Ginny faintly nodded.

“Good job! Now, I assume you were feeling frustrated when you got that to happen?” Ginny nodded again.

“Okay, now I want you to focus on that feeling again. Don't clear your mind, you want it loud if you want something to happen. Especially with Dark Magic. It fuels itself off your emotions, most magic does, it’s why most complex magic is Dark Magic. Light Magic doesn’t have the complexity needed to do big things. It’s more useful if you're using charms or little things like that.”

Nodding again, Ginny focused on her emotions. If only to forget the fact that her professor was hovering over her, that she knew what she had done in Light Magic class and was thrilled about it. Instead of emotions of anger and frustration, it was nervousness and shame she felt this time. As she searched for her magic she batted away her mothers accusing words, her thoughts a black cloud of desperation and depression. Eventually, she felt a hand lay on her shoulder, “Look dear,” her professor said, excitement and wonder coating her voice, “-you’ve done it! Open your eyes and see!”

Doing as her professor bid with no small amount of trepidation she opened her eyes and at first didn’t see anything. Well, not until her professor brought a lock of her hair in front of her eyes. It was pale white.

“You’ve bleached yourself of color!” Her professor said and the happiness in her voice had the shame and horror welling up in Ginny war with embarrassment.

What a freak of nature she must look like now.

Her professor chuckled again, “Oh, I know I shouldn’t be laughing, but dear, you’re shifting colors faster than an embarrassed changewing!” And she was right. Her magic was taking her emotions and running with it, causing her skin and hair to change all sorts of unflattering colors. Ginny could feel herself start to hyperventilate.

“Oh, okay! Lets focus on clearing our minds now, otherwise you won't have much energy to do much else today!” Her professor said, a smile on her face and Ginny let her lead her through some breathing exercises. It took a bit, but she calmed down after a few minutes and the wave of exhaustion that hit her almost caused her to pass out.

Her professor snorted and patted her shoulder, “Alright, that was a good show for your first try at purposeful magic. Well done, hun! I’ll call an elf to get you some food and I want you to eat everything on the plate they give you, you hear me? Magical exhaustion is not a joke.”

Ginny just nodded, too exhausted to do much else. Her professor gave her another smile and pat before heading to the next person that needed help, Luna leaning over to her as she walked off. “That was brilliant!” She whispered, a kind smile painted on her face.

Ginny just gave her a weak smile in return, “...Thanks, I guess…” She just hoped she could go home after this. Luna squeezed her hand and Ginny felt tears well up in her eyes and she fought not to cry.

Why did her grandparents damn her to this? Why?

Chapter Text

“-furthermore, his callous and outrageous attempts at tampering with the election has damaged the representation of this year's glorious senate.” Some random senator was saying, spittle flying from her mouth in rage, Hadrian wasn't sure what was happening. He just got a summons to attend as he apparently was automatically given a seat of honor as the student with the second highest priest hood. Death had made sure to tell him he had to attend and that attendance was mandatory.

“Esteemed members of the senate, do you feel slighted by this year's abhorred representation? By all accounts we should have had Marcus Laurent as elder consul! Not this…this fraud!” She said, extending her hand to point at the man who was sitting in the elder consul’s seat. The guy was glaring at the senator and looked half a step away from interrupting her.

“Objection!” Someone called from the upper chairs of the senate house. The guy looked to be about the same age as the twins and, from what Death had told him of how the school politics worked, he wondered how much support he’d had to amass to get a seat. “James Ingram deserves his position as Elder Consul! You besmirch your position in this esteemed body with your baseless attacks, Senator Rabena!” He said and a good portion of the room bristled in anger. The lady that had been talking, Senator Rabena, looked close to spitting fire.

“It is amusing you would speak in defense of the Elder Consul, Christian. Wasn’t it you that blackmailed several outgoing senior senators into giving you a position on this esteemed body? You think yourself sly, but you’re nothing more than an idiot con man masquerading as a genius. You think we, the senate, do not know how you elevated yourself to such a high position so early? You think us fools? We, who are going on two to four years your elder, fools? No. It is known far and wide what you have done to get your seat. Sit down, hypocrite and let those who traverse the proper path to power speak.” An older senator said from the section Theo was sitting in. Hadrian presumed this was another child of Lord Time.

The guy flushed and scowled at him, a very ugly combination of expressions, and began to say something before the Younger Consul stood, “That is enough, all of you! This esteemed body has more important things to focus on than last year's election. Senator Rabena, if you and your faction see issue with how the election went down then perhaps draw something up to be debated upon. It does none of us any good debating when there is no changing the outcome. Now, Senator Baasch, if you would start us off on our debate today. I believe the factions of our esteemed senate have wasted enough of this session's time today.”

The Senator who was called upon, Senator Baasch, a tall muscular man with a thick German accent stood and addressed the consul, “Many thanks, Consul Sarwar. I come before this esteemed body as a humble servant, only wishing to better our great school in any way I can. You all know, I came to be on this esteemed body after serving as a Quaestor the year previous where I made my strengths known, helping students of all ages procure the necessary funds to further their plans for the future or to help them in their studies. Unfortunately, while serving I came across a most egregious slight to our school. One that harms students wishing to carve their legacy’s out. A privilege, I remind you all, that has allowed us all to ascend to where we are today.”

A great many started to murmur at this.

“Senator Oliveros, you were elected to the Quaestor position the year previous were you not? A position, I remind you, that is purely there to enable our students that which we have the honor to govern with the freedom to practice their magic how they wish, with funds given to us to distribute by the esteemed faculty of this illustrious school. Yet, you saw your position as a way to hinder education. You used your position, granted to you by the very students you were elected to serve, to withhold funding and stymy projects from being completed in a timely manner! You dishonored your position and used it to influence who was ultimately chosen to be moved up in rank. Picking and choosing who you pleased, promoting allies and holding back those you disagreed with. Ultimately, interfering with the Censor’s choice of who was promoted to this esteemed body! A most egregious crime that must be rectified!” He said, pounding his fist into the armrest of the chair next to him and rousing the senate chamber to cry out. Senator’s began screaming at each other to get a word in, accusations being thrown from one side of the room to the other.

The senator who had been called out in Senator Baasch’s speech was red in the face, screaming with his cohorts that he had done nothing of the sort and that he would get Baasch’s baseless accusations struck from the senatorial record.

Eventually, order was restored to the senate building, though both Consul’s looked like they wanted to strangle everyone in the room. “Senator Oliveros, do you have anything of use to add to Senator Baasch’s accusations?” Elder Consul Ingram said, looking as if he wished he hadn’t.

“A great many things, O esteemed Consul. Many thanks for hearing my concerns and many thanks to those senators, my brothers and sisters that stood by my side in the face of these baseless accusations!” Senator Oliveros said and Senator Baasch snarled from where he sat, eyes flashing an amber color and, oh…he was a werewolf. Good to know.

“Let it be known that Senator Baasch is wrong! I did everything in my power to elevate those worthy to their proper seats of power. Without bias and without baseless judgment I dispersed funds to those that the professors wished without so much of a hint of protest. If I saw concern then I brought it up. If the student was likely to harm themselves and others then I brought it up. If my concern, and make no mistake my brothers and sisters that it was concern that drove my decisions, held someone back then they are only better for it. A good many of you had funds withheld out of concern due to safety. A great many of us, myself included, were forced to go back to the drawing board, to find where we went wrong and fix our mistakes before we were ever awarded a position on this esteemed body. It was the actions of the past I was acting on, nothing more! Or is it now wrong to act upon the precedent that our elders set before us?”

The senate broke out into murmurs. Some on Baasch’s side looked contemplative while the man himself looked ready to rip Senator Oliveros’ throat out.

“It is wrong when you set a new precedent!” Baasch argued, “When you say one thing and do another! You think I would argue without evidence? You think I would put things on the docket without information to back my argument up? You say you were acting within the best interests in heart, then I ask you where are the twins? Both the Weasleys and the Mikhaylov twins should be sitting with us today but they instead languish in their previous positions, necessary funds having been withheld on account of their growing power bases. I consulted with the professors, their research was due to go into testing and yet funding was withheld all the same. They could have already had patents put in place for their inventions, but no! Now they have to wait and see if this year's Quaestor’s will give them the funds they need. Their names will no longer be etched in history as some of the youngest to ascend to the rank of Senator and Patrician! They are not the only ones to be slighted by Senator Oliveros’ actions.” Senator Baasch said, holding a written list up for all the senate to see, “Here I have the names of the students that should have joined our ranks! Fifty students! Their intellect and strength slighted in favor of weaker, less deserving members! We gained twenty new members this year, a pittance of what we should have gained! Senators, I call upon you to condemn Senator Oliveros’ actions, to give the censor the ability to request information on actions taken by the Quaestors so that this may never happen again!”

The room erupted, insults flying from one side to another once again. Eventually, order was regained and the elder consul rose to speak. “Senator’s, let us not fight amongst each other! Let us vote! To condemn Senator’s Oliveros actions and put the amendments Senator Baasch proposes in place or for the positions to remain as is and Senator Oliveros to not have a condemnation on his record.”

The senate settled, senators pushing their magic and their will into the runes on their chairs. Once everyone had voted, a great green wall of flame erupted in front of the consuls and religious representatives, obscuring them of their view of the senators before diminishing. Their seats were rearranged, one side voting in favor and the other against. The number of senators sitting on one side or the other appeared in glowing letters above their heads, the votes cast and counted, the senate's will revealed. Senator Oliveros would not be condemned and no amendments would be put in place. Oliveros looked smug while Baasch looked like he wanted to bash the other's head into the armrest of his chair.

“By the will of the Senate, Senator Oliveros is to not be condemned and the amendments are not to be put in place. Things will remain the same.” Elder Consul Ingram said, “I call this meeting to a close as we are out of time. May Lady Magic bless us and may you all have a good rest of the day.”

And with that, the consuls stood as one and exited the Senate building, the Senator’s staying seated as the Sacredos Vitae Maximus stood, followed by Hadrian. As one, the senator’s dipped their heads in respect, the youngest members looking to their elders to make sure they were doing things right, as Hadrian and the poor guy that had gotten…blessed? With holding the position of Lady Magic’s High Priest left the building.

Hadrian turned to Death and asked, “Is that what they're always like?”

Death just chuckled, “Usually they're worse.”

Hadrian groaned and chose to ignore the commiserating grimace Lady Magic’s priest gave him.

“Soooo…how was it?” Daphne asked as Theo and him walked into their first class of the day. Whoever decided their year was the year to put society class as the first class of the day deserved to go to a special place in deaths realm. A painful special place.

Theo just sighed and rubbed his temples.

“That bad, huh?” Neville asked.

“Hey, at least you didn’t have to get bowed to by the entire assembly.” Hadrian grumbled.

“Oh you thought it was bad getting bowed to? How about getting to be the one bowing, that wasn't awkward at all!” Theo snarked back at him.

“Wait wait wait, you get bowed to?!” Draco exclaimed, horrified.

“Unfortunately,” Hadrian confirmed.

“Un-no-no no no, you don't get to say unfortunately! You're not the one who has to bow to someone! I’m going to have to bow to you when I get a seat! This is awful!” Draco continued, dramatically sprawling out in his chair as if he’d been struck.

They all watched for a few moments, letting Draco lament his future in typical dramatic fashion before Daphne broke the silence, “Would your mother approve of the way you’re acting?”

Draco sat up like he’d been hit with a stinging jinx, “Don't say that!” He furiously whispered, “She had eyes and ears everywhere!”

“Well then don't sit like a distressed regency lady who's just got the news that she’s to be married off to someone she doesn’t like.”

“I don't sit like a distressed regency lady…” Draco grumbled.

Neville just stared at him with an unimpressed look on his face, “Sure, Draco, whatever you say.”

Draco glared at him while Daphne snickered. He opened his mouth, probably to say something unsavory, only to think twice about it when their society professor entered the room.

“Good morning class, I hope all of you are having pleasant starts to your day! My name is Professor Cerean. I’ll be your society teacher for the next two years. I hope to see you all become outstanding members of society once I am done with you all! If you would all open your notebooks we will begin with the societal expectations of wix in this country. Over the course of the next two years we will progress from country to country so that when you visit you will not make fools of yourselves. Furthermore, I will be working along with your Etiquette teacher and we have made it so that the things you learn in both classes build off of one another. Make sure you pay attention in both classes because I will be expecting you to know things taught to you in your Etiquette class and Professor Selwyn will do the same with the material covered in this class. Expect information from both classes to be on your end of year exam. Now, shall we begin?”

Everyone rushed to take out notepaper and quills as their professor started talking. Not waiting to make sure everyone had their supplies at the ready. Out of the corner of his eye Hadrian could see Daphne and Neville exchange grimaces.

Death chuckled, Hadrian fought to ignore him, “I do believe you owe those twins of yours ten galleons.”

I owe them nothing till grades come out at the end of the year! Hadrian mentally said to the deity.

Death snorted, “We’ll see about that.”

Hadrian shook his head and focused on his professor, he was going to get straight O’s even if it killed him. He was not losing a bet to the twins!

Chapter Text

It had taken Charles far too long to realize that Hermione was missing.

Though, to be fair, he and Ron had been barred from entering platform nine and three quarters for some reason and had taken Ron’s dads flying car to Hogwarts, so it wasn’t until the next day at breakfast that they both realized their friend was missing. Not their fault they didn’t realize immediately! Not when Snape was trying to get them expelled!

Turning to Seamus he asked, “Have you seen Hermione?” Maybe she was in the library already.

Seamus swallowed his food before answering, “No, haven’t seen ‘er, why? She not come to breakfast?”

“No, we haven’t seen her.” Charles answered and Seamus shrugged.

“Maybe she’s sleeping in, who knows…”

Charles frowned down at his breakfast, it wasn't like Hermione to be late to anything. Ron jabbed him in the side, “Ehh, don’t worry mate. Mione probably got up early to get a head start on course work, we’ll just pick ‘er schedule up from Professor McGonagall when she hands ‘em out.”

That made Charles relax, “Heh, yeah she’s probably got our whole year planned out by now…”

Ron snorted before shoveling more food in his face, making those near him scooch further away and Charles grimaced. “Eat with your mouth closed, mate. That’s gross…”

“Mmmm?” Ron mumbled through his food and Charles elbowed Seamus to move further down the bench and out of firing range. Charles just shook his head and Ron went back to his food.

Everyone around him looked down at their own food before pushing it away, appetite thoroughly ruined.

By the time McGonagall came around to pass out schedules only Ron was still eating, well he was until the food vanished before their eyes. Ron whined in frustration and Charles rolled his eyes.

“Here are your schedules, Mister Potter, Mister Weasley. I expect you to be on time to your classes this year, and to stay out of trouble. Goodness knows you’ve already caused enough and the year’s only just begun.” Professor McGonagall said, handing them their schedules and moving down the table before Charles could ask for Hermione's.

Charles eventually got a moment with her as everyone was getting up to go to their first classes of the day, “Professor McGonagall?” Professor McGonagall peered down at them, “Hermione wasn’t at breakfast, we think she’s in the library, we were going to give her her schedule.”

“I’m afraid that’s not possible, Mister Potter. Miss Granger elected to withdraw over the summer and as such will not be attending Hogwarts this year.” Professor McGonagall said and Charles felt the world freeze for a moment.

“W-what?” No! No that can’t be! “But-” He started, only to get cut off.

“Now hurry along, Mister Potter. I believe you and Mister Weasley have potions to get to.” Their professor said, walking off to start her own class.

“What happened, mate? Did you get Hermione’s schedule?” Ron said, wandering over to him.

“Hermione’s not attending Hogwarts this year…” Charles said quietly, as if not believing what he was saying.

“What? What’d’ya mean she’s not attending Hogwarts this year? It's Hogwarts!” Ron exclaimed.

A snort of laughter was heard behind them and they turned to see Parkinson and her sycophants, “Oh no! Has the golden trio been reduced to the golden duo? It seems you’re missing someone, Potter. Care to share with the crowd as to why?” Parkinson said, cruel smirk on her face.

Charles snarled, “I swear Parkinson, if you had anything to do with this…”

“Me?! What could I have possibly done to get Granger of all people to withdraw? I was out of the country all summer long!” Parkinson said, with an accusing look on her face, “What about you? What did you do all summer, you two are her best friends after all. You had to have known something about this, what with you three probably exchanging letters all summer long.”

Charles froze again and Ron sputtered angrily. Zabini chuckled at them, looking like the cat that got the cream, “Ohh, you didn’t! You didn’t send any letters to her, did you? Some friends you are…” He said and the rest of the Slytherin second years behind them tittered.

Charles opened his mouth to protest but the words died on his tongue. They didn't send Hermione any letters, did they? Him and Ron had hung out numerous times but never did they think to include Hermione. In his guilty haze he absently heard Ron saying something before he was cut off by a looming shadow. Looking up, Charles saw Professor Snape glaring down at them, as if they had personally offended him.

“Twenty points from Gryffindor… for holding up students trying to get to their classes.” Professor Snape drawled and Charles felt a cold bolt of panic go down his spine.

“What?!” Ron protested and Charles sent him a desperate look, mentally praying his friend would shut up, “But professor! They were making us late by antagonizing us with lies about our friend!”

“Who?” Professor Snape asked, looking around and the almost empty great hall. The Slytherins had vanished.

“What?! But they were right there! The Slytherins were right there!” Ron whined and Snape raised an eyebrow.

“Ten points from Gryffindor…for spreading lies and false accusations…” Snape said, looking all the more gleeful the more Ron argued.

Ron sputtered and Charles chose that moment to butt in, lest they start the year with negative points. “So sorry about that Professor, we’ll be going to class now!” He said and grabbed Ron’s hand, tugging Ron along while he angrily sputtered.

“Why those…nasty, dark Slytherins!” Ron finally got out and Charles nodded mutely as they entered the potions room to smug stares from the Slytherin side of the room.

Nasty Slytherins indeed.

“Come on Hadrian!” Draco said, speeding off down the hallway only to stop abruptly when they ran into a group of students huddled around what Hadrian presumed was a fight based on the screaming.

“What’s going on?” Hadrian asked the nearest student, a third or fourth year by the looks of it.

“Some first year is beating the shit out of Brock Mason.” Was the response he got.

Brock Mason was one of the Charms teaching assistants for the first years and was an absolute asshole. He was also a senator and a pain in the senate's ass. Hadrian smirked and wormed his way to the front, dragging Draco along with him.

Hadrian's eyebrows raised when he saw just who was kicking Mason's ass. Ginny Weasley was towering over a curled up Brock, absolutely wailing on him. Brock’s nose was bloody, he already had two black eyes from presumably not shielding his face in time, his ankle appeared to be broken along with one of his hands if the way he was cradling it was any indication.

Unsurprisingly, the twins were already in the crowd of observers and cheering their sister on. Professor Blanchett, the first, third, and fifth year charms teacher, was also nearby and staring down at Brock with an unimpressed look on his face. Brock definitely deserved the beating he was getting then.

Hadrian was distracted from the beautiful beat down happening in front of him by the faint smell of smoke. Turning to Draco with a frown he was about to ask what was wrong when he caught the awed look of adoring admiration on Draco’s face and he started to grin. His grin got larger when waving a hand in front of his friends face did nothing to distract him from the sight in front of them.

Hadrian was going to have so much fun with this.

Getting the twins' attention off their sister was hard, but not impossible after a few stinging curses snapped George’s attention off Ginny and onto the crowd around him. He smiled when he saw the two of them before frowning when Hadrian gleefully waved a hand in front of an oblivious Draco’s face. It took George a moment, but then comprehension dawned on his face before he grinned.

Hadrian looked at the crowd around them before motioning for those closest to them to back away. When they did, Hadrian shifted, his change in form distracting everyone from the fight that was still going strong. He towered over Draco, a good two heads taller in this form, and he slowly crouched down allowing those behind him to get out of the way without making too much commotion. Draco wouldn’t react but he didn’t want to stop the fight happening in front of him just yet.

All of a sudden, without warning, he grabbed Draco’s feet with one hand and pulled, bringing him down and causing him to burst into flames. Draco flailed in his grasp, shrieking enraged bird calls echoing down the hall as Draco tried to free himself, wings flailing and flinging fire all around. Shields were hastily conjured and Hadrian amusedly noted that while Ginny had been pulled away to safety, Brock was still lying there on the floor, a weak shield flickering around him. Apparently not able to do more in his injured state.

Hadrian started to move, slowly dragging him down the hallway and towards the exit. A low, vibrating rumble was the only indication of his amusement as people stopped and stared.

He would have to write to his uncle before Draco got a letter off to his parents. Bastard deserved the same looks and snickers he got for weeks after they hauled him off when he fell into the trance. Revenge was a dish best served cold and Hadrian was going to ensure that Draco was whispered about for weeks.

Dear Uncle,

I hope this letter reaches you in time. I had to persuade Kreacher to deliver it before Draco got his own off but if I’m lucky then he will send his by owl rather than elf.

Draco found his soulmate. A glorious occasion and one that will bring you much amusement. Draco’s soulmate is Ginny Weasley. Hilarious, I know. Uncle Lucius will despair. As payment for the weeks of poorly concealed whispers that I endured when I found my soulmate I decided to repay the favor by dragging him away by his ankles. Slowly and for all to see.

I took the longest route possible to the aviary. An angry Veela is a visible Veela and he made more of a scene than I. Fire flinging all over the place in his rage.

Draco is, of course, furious with me, but I don’t care. The only thing he’s done since the incident is glare. Theo pointed out a few hours later that he couldn’t complain because he did the same to me. Daphne has no shame though and laughed at both him and me. Neville isn’t taking sides and Theo seems done with both of us.

I hope all is well and that you found as much amusement in this as I did. The next dragon race is next Thursday, the twins are racing. Brock Mason was going to be in the race but Draco’s soulmate beat him up in the halls so he’s pulled himself from the competition. The humiliation. A fourth year being beat up by a first year. Aunt Narcissa will probably attend just to congratulate her.

And embarrass Draco some more.

If I don’t see you then I hope you have a good week.

Sincerely,
Hadrian

Chapter Text

Hermione didn’t know what to think of her new school. The year was flying past and it was a little mind boggling to think it was almost Halloween already. Her first Halloween without a Halloween feast or any of the familiar celebrations she grew up with. Her friends had promised to walk her through Samhain, the wizarding world's version of Halloween, and all that it entailed so she at least wouldn’t be spending it alone.

She had finally caught up to where they were in classes. Her new friends had been surprised but had then thrown a huge celebration for her that made her feel all warm inside and it was nice. It was nice to be appreciated for her intelligence. Everywhere else she had gone to school she was scorned for being too smart or too much of a know-it-all. It was nice to not be seen as that.

She had sent a letter to her parents after the party and her mum had even braved floo calling to tell her how proud she was of her and how happy they were that she was happy. She had sobbed for about an hour on call with them.

Her dragon was also growing fast.

It had hatched about a month after she had gotten it at Lady Magic’s temple and it hasn't stopped growing since. His name, because she had asked Professor Taritheos and he had confirmed her dragon was a boy, was Nazalath. Her dad had been the one to name him. He’d tried to find something out of the Lord of the Rings that would work and her dragon had enough of a foul temper already for her dad to liken him to the mounts of the Nazgul. She’d initially refused the name for him but her dragon appeared to like it and now would only respond to Nazalath so Nazalath he was now called.

Nazalath about about the size of a medium sized dog and could roast whole pigs and sheep alive. He couldn’t eat them all in one sitting but he’d tried on numerous occasions and always seemed frustrated when he couldn’t.

She’d asked her professor how big he’d grow when he’d hatched and Professor Taritheos had admitted he didn’t know. The species of dragon she’d bonded with could grow to dwarf mountain ranges in their long lives and it varied from dragon to dragon with how big they could grow. Hadrian’s dragon was the same species as hers, just very different looking, and was already the size of a large Monstrous Nightmare. Viridis was older than Nazalath by a few years but her rapid growth was a testament as to how fast Nazalath’s species could grow given the right conditions. In contrast, one of the seventh years’ dragons could only saddle one person and was a little larger than a draft horse and had been since he’d been found.

Professor Taritheos had said in about a year she would be able to ride him if his rate of growth didn’t abate. Though he did mention she’d have to have her saddle updated frequently which she was not looking forward to doing. She’d seen a few people getting new saddles fit on their dragons and it was a lengthy process that normally ended with people singed and bruised.

She thought about sending a letter to Charles and Ron about her studies, her new friends, and her dragon but she’d not gotten any responses to her last three letters asking about Hogwarts so she didn’t see why she’d bother when they clearly weren’t going to respond. She had gotten responses from Parvati and Pansy when she’d written to them and they were all too happy to inform them about the going on's of Hogwarts when she’d asked.

Ron and Charles were apparently driving the student populous up a wall with their antics and Hermione had despaired when she'd heard they’d gotten detention on the first day of school. She wasn’t all that surprised, with how much of a trouble magnet Charles was, but she at least hoped they’d get through the first week without getting in trouble. Apparently that was too much to hope for however.

Her mum had told her not to dwell on it though so she was trying her best not to. Her mum had said something about how their decisions were their own and if they wanted to do something that would get them detention on day one then that was their prerogative. Not hers. And definitely not something she needed to try to correct. According to her mum, if detention couldn’t fix them then not much could so she’d be better expending her energy elsewhere.

It was hard though. Considering she’d spent the previous year trying to keep them out of as much trouble as possible. Not that her efforts really amounted to much.

She just hoped that Charles and Ron would stay out of major trouble. Like evil professors and child murdering trolls. Hopefully, they’d have a calmer year.

Hopefully.

It had been a long time since he’d been to Hogwarts in a non-official fashion.

But, needs must and he can't have that brat have a semi decent year. Especially with the unauthorized stunt Quirrell pulled last year. He’s not sure why he ever thought to bestow that man with the dark mark.

Albus was still having him tailed and if he hadn't found the time to curse Quirrell to basically burn alive if Potter touched him then the man might have actually managed to kill the kid. Which would not do. Especially when Dumbledore’s attention needed to be kept off Hadrian for as long as possible and he needed to make sure Dumbledore still thought he’d split his soul to keep himself alive.

It’d taken most of the summer but he’d managed to make a pretty good double of the first horcrux he’d made. He’d had Lucius slip it into some random kids cauldron at the beginning of the year when he went to get his little brat some more quidditch supplies.

Hadrian had mentioned in a letter that Lucius was trying to bribe Draco into getting back into quidditch when the kid mentioned in a letter that dragon racing was far superior.

He hadn't heard anything was happening at Hogwarts from Lucius, however, so he figured it was high time to check in and see if his fake horcrux was working.

The feast was in full swing. Pumpkins and fake bats littered all over the place. Children loudly and revoltingly talking in merriment. Tables almost breaking under the weight of all the food. From his hidden alcove he could see the Slytherin table was more subdued. The younger children were picking at their food while those old enough to not care what their headmaster thought were openly glaring at the high table where Dumbledore sat, eye’s twinkling.

He could see a few at the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables that were similarly not joining in on their fellow classmates' fun. Though they were eating the food, so as to not to appear like they were participating in the Slytherin’s outright silent protest, there was no joy on their faces. Nor did they appear to be making much conversation, even when prompted by those around them.

It was towards the end of the feast that a commotion happened.

Those that had begun to tire and head to their dorms had come running back, ashy grey pallor to their skin and horrified looks in their eyes.

Walking down the secret passages to where the commotion was the loudest, he tapped the wall with his wand, activating a lookout hole, and saw words that looked to be written in blood upon the wall across from him.

The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the heir… beware.

Filch, the wretched caretaker, was clearly distraught as his beloved familiar was found petrified beneath the macabre scene.

Dumbledore eventually made his way over to the little group that had found it and Voldemort amusedly noted that Potter and his sycophant was among them. Dumbledore eventually got everyone away from the scene but not before Filch appeared to accuse Potter of petrifying his cat.

Just Potter’s terrible luck that he was the first on scene.

Lily Potter seemed incensed that her son was accused of this and started an argument with the caretaker before Dumbledore could say any placating words. Fingers were pointed and voices raised but he couldn’t quite make out what was being said. The mob of children loitering around looked scandalized so he imagined that nothing kind or children appropriate was being said.

Dumbledore looked perturbed and exhausted when everyone eventually left. Snape appeared next to Dumbledore after a moment, they had a brief conversation, and he once again lamented that he couldn’t hear what was being said. Not if he wanted to stay hidden. He had no idea what the wards would alert him to if he tried to listen in and he didn’t fancy being on the receiving end of the elder wand, especially if the old bastard decided the best course of action was to blow the wall open to get to him.

He’d have to get Narcissa to listen in on Lucius’ and Snape’s next meeting. Lucius appeared to be too distracted with bribing his little heir to actually give him any substantial information. There was also the chance that Snape was doing something nefarious and having Narcissa hiding away somewhere would be advantageous if that was occurring.

As much of a pompous airhead Lucius was at times, he was a loyal follower and that was a rarity that needed to be kept close and safe.

He eventually left the grounds, but not before dropping Black’s newest prank off in Snapes personal potions lab. He’d have to be on the down low for a while, especially since the Slytherin name was now put back into a bad light. Not that people viewed it favorably to begin with. He’d draft a public statement when word eventually spread enough for it to be printed in the newspapers.

He’d also check and see if he had some mandrakes growing in one of the many greenhouses that had fallen into disrepair over the centuries. Sometimes he wished he hadn’t taken up his rightful position on the Hogwarts Board. It made doing things so much harder than they needed to be.

Hadrian was not having a good day.

He’d decided to brave school today, even though it was Samhain and he was stuck in his other form. The day started okay, most people were giving him a wide berth. The Senate was on its best behavior and no arguments devolved into a screaming match.

Light magic class was where the day started to go downhill. He couldn't do anything besides read theory and the words swam around on the pages of his textbook, giving him a headache. He got frustrated, the book burst into flames, and he ended up having to leave early to calm down. It didn't help that the veil was actively thinning, Death was breathing down his neck, and spirits were already starting to bother him with their problems.

He didn’t eat at lunch. Everything he tried to eat tasted like ash.

Dark Magic was better. They hadn’t fully moved onto purely Dark Magic so he could kind of use his magic. Samhain was neither a Dark holiday or a Light one. Death didn’t take sides so that meant that he couldn’t either. Which meant he could only use grey magic that didn’t tilt too much to one end or the other.

Everything came to a head when Mathieu Savatier, some kid in their year from France, made a backhanded comment to his group of friends about how it must suck that he couldn't use his wings in his other form and he’d snapped.

As the group tittered and Theo held Daphne back from cursing them, he lunged. Grabbing one of them and flinging them into the wall. A sickening crack was heard and the person slumped to the ground.

The rest didn’t scramble away fast enough.

The next few crumpled in the same way and then all that was left was little Mathieu, eyes wide in fear as he watched his friends go down like bowling pins. In the end, the only thing that saved Mathieu’s life was Daphne and Neville piling onto his tail, knocking his balance off so that the only part of Mathieu he managed to get in his mouth was the boy’s midsection.

Hadrian didn’t know how long they stayed locked in that struggle. Only that, in his haze of rage and squished as he was underneath his friends, Mathieu didn’t taste like ash like everything else he’d tried to eat that day and he was oh so hungry. They could’ve been all laying there for a few seconds to an hour but the moment when he went to adjust his grip on the other boy, Mathieu was suddenly snatched from his jaws after someone sent a well timed stupefy at him. The spell didn’t last long on him but it didn’t need to. By the time he could move again a few minutes later the boy was free and on his way to the hospital wing with his friends, Daphne having shifted her grip on him to snap his jaws shut so he couldn’t take a bite out of anyone else.

A glowing, hazy figure appeared just outside his field of vision. This one far more corporeal than the rest of the spirits that had been floating around him today. Thoroughly irritated with everything happening around him he went to let out a hiss towards the spirit when a familiar aristocratic chuckle stilled him into silence.

“Well, I dare say you’ve made quite the mess, grandson.”

Hadrian didn’t make a sound, mind flying with questions he could not voice given Daphne’s iron grip on his jaws. It seemed he didn’t need to though, for his grandfather spoke again.

“Oh, don’t you worry, your father and Lord Death will sort everything out. I wouldn’t worry about young Savatier either, he’ll live, he just won't be very mobile going forward without some hard work on his part.” His grandfather gave another chuckle, “Fitting! Wouldn’t you say? Only an idiot would insult the avatar of Lord Death in his most dangerous form.”

They lapsed into silence for a moment, watching as people ran to and fro around them.

“I’ll have to have a conversation with your father if he tries to summon me for advice tonight. It seems everyone’s forgotten that you’re not human. Yourself included. That’s alright though, I wouldn’t expect you to remember the diet you had when you were a mere babe. So cheer up, grandson! The day’s not lost yet!” His grandfather said before disappearing, his warm glow fading from sight with the faintest smell of leather, sage, and cigar smoke.

As his friends began to drag him to the nearest teleport pad, he couldn’t help but fall asleep. His rage having sapped every ounce of energy he had in him away once it disappeared. The last thing he heard before drifting off was the sound of his friends muffled curse words as he suddenly went dead weight in their arms.

Chapter Text

Blasie was a man of many talents. He was good at potions, charms, and surprisingly Herbology. He was also good at stabbing people in the back without getting caught, thank you mother, which was helpful when one was forced to attend Hogwarts instead of Beauxbatons or Arcane.

Or even Durmstrang! He could’ve gone to school with Indus! Not this…poltergeist infested school full of sycophants and people that wanted you dead!

However, Hogwarts did have its occasional upside. Making Charles Potter’s life worse was one of them. The angry, ugly mob of hair was currently glaring at their table, trying with all his might to will it on fire with just his gaze.

As if. Daphne, he could see easily doing it. Draco had an unfair advantage due to his inheritance so he didn’t count. Theo and Neville definitely couldn’t. Hadrian…Hadrian probably could, if he was hungry enough.

Blasie had heard what happened on Samhain. He wasn’t sure how his friends didn’t see something like this coming. Hadrian constantly snacked on blood pops, and not the wizarding candy, the actual blood pops that vampires used as supplements. They’d all seen him go without food on a normal day and the only reason someone wasn’t ripped apart by a hangry crocodile demon was due to the Dark Lord's swift interference. Honestly, it was only a matter of time.

Blasie was pretty sure Pansy sent a scathing letter back to Draco when he had the gall to complain about the incident in a letter. Draco was no better when someone interrupted his wingcare time.

Even better, the kid that got bit was still alive. Would he probably have a limp for the rest of his life and some major trauma? Yes. Medi-wix and magic can only do so much for someone with a crushed pelvis. Draco would’ve just set someone on fire and watched them burn. Blasie would take an angry croc demon over an angry veela anyday. At least with Hadrian you can dodge out of the way.

Anywho, his friends eventful Samhain aside. Someone had…conveniently leaked some rather sensitive information around the school, after Potter had found a threat from Slytherin's Heir on the wall, that Potter could speak to snakes.

Now whether this was true or not had yet to be seen. Potter had tried to rebuff the rumors, insisting he could not speak to snakes, but the rumor had already taken multiple forms via various retellings so no one knew if it was true or not. Dumbledore had even pulled him aside about it, much to the ire of Professor Potter.

Now as for why Potter would be glaring hatefully at their table, well…Blasie glanced down at the Daily Prophet that was sitting in front of him.

SLYTHERIN'S HEIR, ON THE LOOSE AT HOGWARTS! FOUR STUDENTS AND CAT PETRIFIED IN HOSPITAL WING! CHARLES POTTER, BOY WHO LIVED, FIRST AT THE SCENE! CAN HE SPEAK TO SNAKES? IS THE BOY WHO LIVED SLYTHERIN'S HEIR?

Needless to say, people were giving him a wide berth.

All the students in the Great Hall had turned to stare at Potter's incredulous sputtering when the paper had been delivered. He hadn’t been able to get a word out, and the Gryffindors sitting around him had slid further away from him. As if brushing shoulders with Potter would condemn them.

Now…how to capitalize on this? He exchanged a glance with Pansy and the rest of the Slytherin second years.

With a barely heard whisper and flick of his wand, a snake appeared near the Gryffindor table. Screams erupted and pandemonium broke out. Faculty scrambled to maintain order, insisting it was just a Serpensortia spell that had been cast, frantically trying to banish the poor snake that was now freaking out due to the screaming and bright spells being cast at it.

Multiple wands were being brandished at Charles and Professor Potter had run from the head table to defend her son.

Blasie saw one of the older Slytherin students discreetly snap a few pictures of the chaos and smothered a smile.

Draco was going to die laughing when he saw the Prophet in the morning.

If Voldemort was being honest with himself, this isn’t the backlash he had prepared for when he’d told Lucius to slip that fake Horcrux into some kids cauldron at the beginning of the year.

PROFESSOR POTTER THREATENS STUDENTS AT WAND POINT AFTER MORNING EDITION OF DAILY PROPHET IS DELIVERED TO HOGWARTS! PANDEMONIUM ERUPTS AS SNAKE IS SPOTTED IN GREAT HALL!

He had no doubt one of the Slytherins was responsible for the snake. Lily Potter’s reaction to the students' paranoia, however, was something he hadn’t considered. Having a wand pointed in your face at Hogwarts was a daily occurrence. Most barely blinked when it occurred, only reacting once a spell was actually cast.

A professor pointing their wand at a student was an entirely different thing.

Unless demonstrating a spell, the professors at Hogwarts were known to barely have their wands out. The professor for muggle studies, even less so. Muggle studies wasn’t a class that had magic involved. It was just note taking. Often being seen as boring as Binns history class.

For the professor of muggle studies to threaten students, mere children, from her former house no less? Blasphemy. Outrageous.

Fire worthy.

Especially when it warranted a special evening edition of the Daily Prophet. Now, was it in part due to the fact that Charles Potter was the one being held at wand point by his various peers? Most likely. There was also the added drama that the muggle studies teacher was none other than Lily Potter, mother to the boy who lived. A noteworthy and famous individual herself, with a fiery disposition that often led to juicy drama pieces that someone like Rita Skeeter could not pass on.

Hence the evening news piece. Rita was probably cackling back at the Daily Prophet headquarters.

If his own house name wasn’t currently implicated in this mess he probably would’ve sent her a congratulatory letter.

He’d had to put up with the Aurors this morning, which meant putting up with James Potter. Fortunately, Amelia personally came out with one of the Unspeakables to inspect his manor as well. Which meant that it had to be done by the book and Potter couldn’t attempt to pin him with something or harass him.

Nothing of note was found. All the books that had any dark subject material were put out of reach in the library and layered with dozens of wards. No one but the lord of the house could touch them and considering the dust caking the upper shelves, it was clear he hadn’t used any of them. His wand was tested as well and nothing suspicious came back from that either. As was planned.

Potter had been frustrated, as per usual, but hadn’t said a word since Amelia was there. It was nice. He ought to invite her over for tea sometime. He could just imagine Dumbledore’s face at the news. The Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement having tea with Lord Slytherin. Or as Dumbledore rightly suspected, Lord Voldemort.

He might just have a heart attack and keel over. Minerva would be a better Headmistress anyway.

He’d have to remember to do that the next time Dumbledore pushed another god's awful bill in the Wizengamot. Stage a little Dark and Grey faction meeting in one of the larger sitting rooms. They might even manage to get something done.

Oh, but then he’d have to deal with Lady Longbottom… Nevermind. He’ll just get rid of Dumbledore the long painful way.

Now…how to get Lily fired and make that little brats' life worse? Hmmm…

Perhaps a trip to the Manor in Goular? Some of Salazar's books were up there. Plus he could get some peace and quiet without it looking like he’s running. Realistically, the manor on the North African coast would be the best. The whole library there was focused on parseltongue and its branch of magic. It wasn’t the largest library he had access to but it was the one that was most dedicated to the language and its arts.

Hell, there just might be a spell there that allowed someone to speak parseltongue…

Wait…

Potter cant speak parsel. If he can't speak parseltongue then he can't be Slytherin's Heir, and then Dumbledore would start to doubt.

Charles will slay his fake horcrux. Of that he has no doubt, if only to stop the endless rumors. He honestly doubts that the child cares about the petrifications happening. He only cares when the school starts to turn on him, when the fame he’s had all his life becomes useless. But without the parseltongue ability? Without a connection so damning to the Slytherin house? Dumbledore would start to doubt if he had the right twin. The Potter’s wouldn’t, not without damning proof, but Albus would. Albus knows that Horcrux’s change their vessels. Bloody hell, the creation of them changes the person making them. Albus would know that a sliver of a soul, no matter how small, would have huge impacts on a living host.

Parseltongue is a dominant trait in his family line. Even near squib like, his own mother had the ability. Without a doubt, and given the fact that Hadrian could speak it, he knew that Albus was expecting Charles to have the ability.

A Charles Potter that is unable to speak parseltongue? The red flags and warning bells would start screaming in Dumbledore’s rotting brain. The man may be insane, but insane does not mean stupid.

Hadrian would be threatened. Far earlier than any of them had counted on. Far too early for him to be prepared to take Dumbledore on.

Bloody fucking hell…

“Lyla?”

His head elf popped in, “Yes, master?”

“Tell Lord Black he is needed in my office immediately! We have a serious problem on our hands.” He said and she nodded, disappearing to do what was told.

Ten minutes later, Black waltzed in, looking thoroughly irritated with the world. “What does his high and mighty lordship want on this fine evening that is so important? Need I remind you that I am currently dealing with the fallout of Hadrian’s attack on that french kid. His parents are none too happy with the school's lack of punishment after their son was nearly crippled. Not to mention Hadrian could have killed the kid if he’d bitten down any higher.”

Voldemort sighed, “I am aware. However, this directly impacts Hadrian. Or would you rather me do something that impacts him and not inform you?”

Sirius glared at him, “If you so much as try that then i’ll find a way to kill you that doesn’t anger the gods!”

“That’s what I thought. Now, as you well know, if you’ve read the evening paper-” Black snorted in amusement and some of the tension leaked from his form, “-that Lily Potter is soon to be fired. You don’t just raise your wand at students without their being repercussions. Beyond that, we have an issue. Charles Potter is suspected by the public and Hogwarts at large to be Heir Slytherin. As you know, one cannot claim the heirship without being able to speak parseltongue. Which Charles cannot. This would put him in the clear of being my house’s heir.”

“I don’t see how that would be an issue for you? Don’t you not want to be associated with them? Wasn’t that the whole reason for creating a new identity and becoming the Lord of the Ancient and Noble House of Slytherin? Of distancing yourself as much as you could from Lord Voldemort and the stigma from the last war while also keeping your influence?” Black said, sounding frustrated and confused.

“Yes, the less I have to see the Potter’s the better. However, the lack of the parseltongue ability in Charles would set alarm bells off in Dumbledore’s decrepit mind. Parseltongue is a dominant trait in my family. Even squibs have the ability. He knows this with how much research he has done into the founders' families. So, -” He said, preparing to continue on, only to be abruptly cut off by Black.

“So if Charles is proven to not have the ability then the Headmaster would start to doubt that Charles is the Boy Who Lived. Especially since he knows that Charles is a twin and Hadrian has his own scar from the night.” Black said, losing the irritated slouch he was sporting earlier, now sitting ramrod straight in the chair across from him. An alarmed look washing over his face with the realization.

“Indeed.” Voldemort said.

Sirius frowned, a stormy look overtaking the alarm, and hunched forward in his chair. Elbows on the armrests and fingers clasped. “So…what do you want me to do about it? How do we give him an ability he wasn't granted by the gods?”

“That is what I need to find out. However, to do that I need to go to my property in North Africa. The entire library is dedicated to parseltongue and its magic. If a spell exists that would be able to do that then it would be there.”

Black’s eyes narrowed, “How long would you be gone for? James and the whole DMLE would get suspicious if you weren’t here if they decide to raid your manor again.”

“That’s what I need you for. I need you to stage something so headline grabbing that it would allow me to be absent for a week or two at most. The library isn't large, it won't take me long to go through it. The house is more of a vacation house than a permanent home. Parseltongue doesn’t have the same bad history there as it does in Europe though, which is why the library there is dedicated to it.”

Black sighed and leaned back in his chair, “Let me think of something. Narcissa has countless years of blackmail material that would send the press into a tizzy for weeks if just one thing got leaked. Problem is, if I have anything I could offer her that she would let me use some of it?”

Voldemort briefly smirked, “I don’t believe that is a problem I can help you with.”

Sirius scowled at him and got up to leave, “Oh fuck off! You’ve got your own mess to deal with. Once again, of your own making.”

Voldemort clenched his jaw, wand appearing in his hand, an ominous red glow emitting from it.

“Oh, dont pull that bullshite with me!” Black said, appearing to brush his nonverbal threat aside as if he was nothing more than an irritating speck of dirt on his coat, “You know you can't salvage this without me and you know Hadrian would damn you to the afterlife you so fear if you dare use that wand against me!”

He snarled, his grip tightening around his wand, red glow fading away. Black’s sneer turned into a wolfish grin, “Now, I am going to go humiliate myself in front of my cousin so that MY SON stays safe for a few more years. You, on the other hand, best get to researching! Or BOTH of us will be in a position we really wont like!”

With those parting words, Black stormed out. The doors to his office slamming shut behind him.

Voldemort snarled, every bit of pent up rage he’d bottled up over the past month oozing out of him, his magic whipping around the office in an angry whirlwind of death and destruction. If the gods wouldn’t kill him then Black would’ve been the first on his list to die! If only to wipe his irritating, grating presence from the face of the earth!

Lyla popped back in, warily glancing around the office before speaking, “Lord Black bes gone, Master. Does yous need anything?”

“GET OUT!” He yelled, slamming a fist on his desk, magic lashing out in his rage. She vanished in a rush, no doubt to the furthest part of the manor from him. A Crucio hit the floor where she was standing mere seconds after she disappeared.

He stood, his eyes a burning red, wand smoking as he left the ruins of his office in search of someone to torture.

Sirius apparated to Malfoy manor in an angry haze. The wards surrounding the manor groaned in displeasure but let him in, their apprehension at his mood only serving to irritate him further. Stepping into the foyer he was met by a very nervous looking elf who was looking at him warily. As if he’d strike if not given the answer he wanted.

“My cousin. Where is she?!” He demanded and the elf shrunk into itself even further.

“Mistress bes in the main library with Master.” It hesitantly said and scampered out of his way when he started for the library.

The doors to the library slammed open, the little elf that had met him in the foyer jumped from its position next to his cousin, its eyes blown wide in fear and large ears drooping before disappearing after Narcissa motioned it to.

“My Lord, welcome. What brings you to Malfoy Manor?” She said respectfully but firmly. Her grey eyes not hinting at any of the emotions she might have been feeling.

“You are going to help me get us out of the mess his royal hissiness has gotten us into, do you understand?” He said instead, ignoring the way Lucius’ face paled and his eyes grew wide.

“And what situation would that be?” Narcissa asked.

“I’ve no doubt you’ve heard of the going on's at Hogwarts, what with how it’s been plastered all over the paper in recent days.” He said and Narcissa nodded, “However, due to the cursed artifact that your bloody dark dipshit made that he told your spineless husband to plant at the school, Hadrian is at risk of being outed as the real Boy Who Lived!” Sirius spat, ignoring how the wards groaned in warning to him.

Narcissa for her part, didn’t react much more than giving a slight audible inhale. Lucius, on the other hand, gave a shaky sort of inhale or gasp, backing up further from the two of them. Pale hair and ashy skin making him look like a sickly noble from the Victorian era ill with consumption.

“And what does the Dark Lord have in plan?”

“His high and mightiness has to take a trip to his home in North Africa to see if the library there has something that could help. Otherwise, Dumbledore is at risk of finding out Charles can't speak parseltongue, something he should be able to speak if he had been the one that was hit with the killing curse.”

“And what of us?”

“He had the gall to tell me to get the press off the Slytherin name for a week or two so he could go research. As if he doesn’t know I already have my hands full dealing with the Academy and that French kids' parents after Hadrian crippled their son.”

“Is a limp classified as crippling someone now?” She asked rather insensitively. As if she also wouldn't want to skin a person alive if a single hair was touched on her precious son's head.

Sirius glared at her, “He has to use a cane to walk now, Narcissa, I’d classify that as crippling.”

She hummed, neither in agreement or disagreement.

“Now, you are going to help distract the public while I explain to these people, for the umpteenth time, that Hadrian cannot be punished for his actions due to the laws surrounding creature inheritances in the Arctic Ministry, the fact that he's Lord Death’s chosen, and the fact that their son provoked the attack.”

“Sounds like they don't have much of a case.” She commented, idly examining her nails.

Sirius sighed in irritation, “They don't. Ted is as frustrated with them as I.”

That had her perking up, “Ted is involved?”

“They filed an aggravated assault and intent to kill charge through the ICW. The only reason they couldn't file through the British wizarding courts is due to the incident happening on Arctic soil, and all those involved being dual citizens of the same country. The Arctic courts can’t be involved due to a conflict in interest, the Academy already sided with us, and the ICW didn't want an international incident to spark between the French and British Ministries so they took the case. If this happened on British soil then we would’ve had an international incident on hand and Hadrian would be front page news. Fortunately, the ICW has some respect for the age of the individuals involved and so the case isn’t public.” Sirius said, rage now leaving and exhaustion taking its place.

Narcissa hummed and Lucius started to creep back over to them. Only for Narcissa to notice and dismiss him with a few short words, “ Luci, dear? Why don't you go lend some assistance to Ted while Sirius and I rile the public up, hmmm?”

Fortunately, Lucius listened and strode out of the room. Leaving Sirius alone with Narcissa. She walked over to some chairs that Lucius and her were no doubt occupying before he arrived and beckoned him to sit.

Sirius sat with a frustrated and exhausted sigh. “What am I going to do with him, Cissa? It’s only his second year and this is the fourth time he’s lashed out at someone.”

“The three previous occasions did not result in bodily harm though.” She said, if that made it any better.

“No, but this can’t continue. I know he’s just a kid, but there has to be a way I can curb this. This isn’t like when we lashed out as children. He doesn’t have neglectful adults around him that won't care if he hurts another student. He’s gotten detention for each event and if it continues he’ll be expelled. No matter his status as Lord Death’s chosen.”

She stared at him for a bit before finally speaking, “Did Hadrian ever mention Draco lighting someone on fire?”

“What? No! No he didn't!” Sirius exclaimed, looking alarmed.

“Mmmm, yes, well…he did. Some fourth year shoved Ginevra Weasley to the ground in a rush to get to his classes and Draco saw the whole thing. The poor boy didn’t even get to mumble out an apology before Draco lit him on fire…Fortunately, he survived. He’s got third degree burns and is now extremely disfigured but he’s alive.” Narcissa quietly admitted, “The gods must have been looking over Draco. One of the boy’s parents was a Vampire and understood the situation immediately. They didn't press charges and we made a vow to cover any medical needs the boy will need for the foreseeable future. Which will be a long, long time. The boy is half vampire, his lifespan is hundreds of years longer than ours.”

She looked at him, a soft expression on her face. “Hadrian will be alright. The gods wont let him get expelled. Not when Lady Fate went through the trouble of getting Pandora to tell us to send them all there.”

Sirius gave her what he hoped was a smile as he choked back a sob. If she noticed then she didn’t mention it, she just gave a wobbly bitter smile of her own.

“Now,” She said, her voice a near whisper, cracking with emotion as she held back tears, “let's go find something embarrassing in my books. We’ve got to keep Rita occupied for weeks after all.”

Sirius barked an ugly sounding laugh and Cissa made an ugly snorting sound in return.

“Gods, could you imagine my mother? Seeing us like this?” Sirius said and his cousin gave a loud laugh.

“She would’ve cursed us till we couldn't cry anymore!” Narcissa exclaimed. “That’ll teach you brats!” She spat in a perfect imitation of his mother, “The Most Ancient and Noble House of Black shows no weakness in front of others!”

Sirius snorted before the wall holding back his anguish broke and he sobbed as his cousin doubled over in a manic laugh that trailed off into broken tears.

“What miserable excuses-” a sob cut her off, “W-what m-miserable excuses y-you all are! Such sh-shameful disgraces! W-what WASTES OF GOOD BLOOD, PURE BLOOD, YOU ALL ARE!” She screamed, the broken imitation of his mother's voice echoing down the hallway Lucius had left through moments prior as they both devolved into ugly sobbing.

What miserable wastes indeed…

Chapter Text

Blaise came to an abrupt halt as he entered the common room. Having been rushed from dinner as another ominous message written in blood appeared on the walls.

Her skeleton will lie in the Chamber forever, was what was written. Sending the staff into a flurry of activity ushering those they could into the safety of their common rooms for the second time this year.

Pansy had struck up a friendship with Hermione’s old dormmates for some reason halfway through the year. At first the rest of the Slytherin second years were adverse to the idea, why should they be associating themselves with the Gryffindors on a former Gryffindors word? Parvati and Lavender were nice, however, and it didn’t take long for the rest of the Slytherin second years to start warming to them when they started to rag on Charles and Ron. Lily Moon, a half blood in their year, had struck up a friendship almost immediately with them due to her raging dislike of Lily Potter. The girl had been heard numerous times saying that Professor Potter gave a bad rap to girls named Lily everywhere. She was often picked on by Professor Potter due to their shared name in class and it drove Lily Moon crazy. Especially since Professor Snape wouldn’t do anything about it, no matter how much they complained to the man.

The second year girls had become inseparable, irritating both Potter and Weasley, as well as any unfortunate Slytherin in the nearest vicinity. The other Gryffindors seemed to think it was funny. Especially, when Lily then roped Susan Bones and her Hufflepuff friends into the mix.

Now, when Lavender hadn’t come to dinner after having missed her previous class as well? That had set alarm bells ringing in all the girl’s minds. It was only when the message was found that the worry for their friend turned into sheer panic.

Which also meant that their common room had turned into an inter school common room as two upperclassmen Gryffindors had accompanied Parvati down to the Slytherin common room as she was too distraught to let go of Pansy, who had rushed to comfort her friend in an equal state of panic. The Hufflepuffs, along with one Cedric Diggory, had joined them as well. Apparently not wanting to leave their two friends that were in such distress.

Gemma Farley, a sixth year Slytherin prefect, was staring at the group of sobbing second years with a thousand yard stare that Blaise had been feeling since Pansy had introduced herself to the two Gryffindors that started this whole mess. One of the Gryffindors was rubbing Parvati's back in quiet consolation, while poor Cedric seemed to be on his own trying to comfort the two sobbing badgers.

The other Gryffindor seemed to not know what to do with himself and just kind of stood there. Awkwardly staring out at the sea of Slytherins that were awkwardly staring right back at him.

Professor Snape looked like he wanted to be anywhere else but in the common room with them.

Blaise sat down next to Goyle and watched the chaos unfold before him with a blank face. He got about two minutes of dissociation in before a sniffle next to him startled him from the peaceful nothingness his mind had wandered to.

“Are you crying?!” He said incredulously to Goyle, who appeared to hold it together for five more seconds before starting to sob as well.

Crabbe followed soon after and Blaise locked eyes with a tired Gemma. She pursed her lips and lightly nodded in mutual suffering and understanding.

Theo was going to get a long letter from him. How dare he and Draco leave him to deal with these two…buffoons. These two disgraceful excuses for Slytherins!

Gods, if his mother could only see the situation he was in now… She’d be horrified.

If they got out of this mess unscathed then he was so going to rant to Hermione when he and Pansy got sent to Arcane for the summer.

Hadrian was startled from his homework when the floo flared in his foyer.

“Dad!” He exclaimed as his father exited the floo.

His dad chuckled, “Hello, my hatchling!” and gave him a hug.

“Why are you here?” Hadrian curiously enquired, it usually wasn't like his father to visit out of the blue or without warning.

His father opened his mouth to answer only to be cut off as the floo flared again and his Uncle Thomas stepped through the flames.

“Uncle Thomas!”

His uncle gave him the briefest of smiles but Hadrian could tell he was happy to see him. His father brought his attention back to him when he spoke. “Hadrian, we have some news we’d like to share with you. We figured it would be best to tell you in person rather than over the floo or in a letter. Plus, we heard there was a dragon race coming up so we figured we’d go root for twins if they are competing.”

Hadrian nodded, “They are.” before leading them into the living room.

“As you might’ve heard,” His uncle began, “Hogwarts has been having a petrification issue on hand related to House Slytherin. Now, as you know, you are my heir. This has not changed and will not change. However, to convince Dumbledore that Charles is still the Boy Who Lived we needed to make him believe that he had some connection to our family. In addition to the Hogwarts rumor mill spreading rumors that he was the Slytherin heir, which he is not, I found a way to make it so that Charles could understand Parseltongue. I could not find a way to give him the ability, as it is purely dependent on being connected to the family magic.”

Hadrian nodded, this wasn't the first time his uncle had explained the Slytherin family ability to him.

“Now, at the beginning of the school year I had your Uncle Lucius plant a fake horcrux, like the one that was in you, at Hogwarts. Honestly, it's a stroke of luck that I was able to get the Basilisk to heed the cursed objects commands. Could I have probably reverse engineered the spell work on the fake diary to work on Charles but I was under a time crunch so it is what it is…though, that basilisk is at least a thousand years old so it may just be partially deaf with age. Anyway, Charles defeated the fake horcrux at the end of this year and saved a fellow student. Dumbledore still believes Charles is the Boy Who Lived and is convinced of a connection between me and him.”

“Was there a chance of him doubting his choice?” Hadrian interrupted.

“There was.” His father said, “If we hadn’t figured out a way for Charles to understand the basilisk and find a way to open the chamber of secrets then the fake horcrux would’ve eventually killed someone, Hogwarts would’ve been shut down, and Dumbledore would have been forced to look into why his boy wonder failed to stop the Basilisk. This would’ve led him to the conclusion that he picked the wrong child the night of the attack and would lead him right to you.”

Hadrian rounded on his Uncle with an angry glare, “You almost exposed me?!”

“It did not happen!” His uncle started but Hadrian cut him off again.

“But it could have!”

“It will not happen again!” His uncle argued, parseltongue coming out in an angry hiss.

Hadrian let out a low pitched, vibrating hiss. His uncle's eyes narrowed, but he stayed quiet. No doubt knowing if he argued anymore then he’d have an angry demon on his hands.

“It won't happen again, hatchling.” His father placated in a soothing voice, “Next year we don't have anything planned. Right?” His father asked in a stern voice, turning to face his Uncle who was sitting stiffly in his chair.

His uncle nodded, “Next year Charles won't have anything to worry about other than the swirling Hogwarts rumor mill. Though something tells me he’ll get himself into his own brand of trouble at some point.”

His father huffed a laugh, “Given Lily’s current unpopularity? They are likely to make the papers at some point during the school year.”

“Did she get fired?” Hadrian curiously asked. Lily Potter was technically his mum, but only in blood. Aunt Cissa, Aunt Bella, and Aunt Andy were more like parents to him then Lily Potter ever could be.

“Nearly.” His uncle grumbled, “Molly and Dumbledore vouched for her enough for the moderates on the school board to vote in her favor. The general public is still unhappy with her and Rita is still dragging her name through the mud.”

“It wont be long.” His father said, sounding very sure of himself, and his Uncle raised an eyebrow at him. “Cissa.” His father then said which seemed to be enough for his Uncle to nod in understanding.

Aunt Cissa was pretty scary when she wanted to be so Hadrian had no doubt she had something on Lady Potter that she was currently waiting on releasing to the public.

“Anyway, enough of the serious talk!” His father said, grinning at himself for the joke while his uncle sneered at him, “We didn’t interrupt you from your studies did we?”

Hadrian shook his head, “No, I was just working on some magical religion homework. They are piling it on in preparation for the end of year exam at the end of summer.”

His father nodded before standing, “Well, why don’t you go finish your homework and then we’ll all go out to eat, hmmm?”

Hadrian gave them a big smile before running back to the kitchen to finish his homework.

“Don’t speed through it!” His uncle called after him, “Just because it’s easy for you, doesn’t mean you are not going to make a mistake!”

Hadrian’s smile fell. There went his chances for an early dinner.

“So, what are we looking for again?” Ginny asked for the umpteenth time.

“Bowtruckles!” Luna happily exclaimed, not appearing to be bothered by the repeated questioning Ginny was putting her through.

Ginny hummed and peered up at the large dark canopy above her, sunlight barely getting to the forest floor as Luna looked under a large boulder she was levitating. “Why are we not looking in the trees?”

“Why would we?” Luna questioned, genuinely curious. The boulder ceased its floating, slamming to the ground and sending debris flying. Ginny grimaced, shielding her face with her arm. Luna seemed unperturbed by the mud, pine needles, and sticks that covered her.

“Aren't they…y’know…tree creatures?”

Luna blinked as if it was just occurring to her that she was looking in the wrong place, before broadly smiling at her as if she had just solved all the world's problems. “That’s brilliant, Ginny!” She said, wings materializing behind her before lazily lifting herself into the air and to the nearest tree limb.

Ginny huffed a faint laugh, staring up at her friend's form as she looked around for the shy creatures. Her form was comically dwarfed by her large speckled wings. If she didn’t have her bird boots on and the tree limb wasn't so large then Ginny envisioned her stumbling off. As it was, Luna’s tail feathers were splayed in curiosity and her wings tilted, valiantly trying to keep her balanced as she ambled around in the canopy.

Ginny was just about to join her before a hiss stole her attention away from her friend and back to the forest floor. There was an odd looking tree a ways away from her with a bulbous growth on the side of it. Ginny summoned her wings forth, legs bending and morphing as her talons formed under her. Ready to take flight at a moment's notice if need be.

“Luna? Did you hear that?” She called her friend, briefly looking up into the canopy. The sunlight shining through illuminating Luna’s form, white feathers gleaming brightly.

“Hear what?” Luna’s voice echoed down to her, muffled by the foliage and the distance.

Ginny glanced back towards the odd looking tree. The bulbous growth was gone.

“Ummm, I don't think I’m alone down here!” She said in alarm, feathers fluffing out in anxiety, as she backed up a few paces after spotting a boulder that definitely wasn’t there before.

“Oh? Did you find a bowtrukle?” Luna enquired from somewhere above her.

“No…I don't think it's a bowtruckle…” Ginny wearily replied.

“Oh…what a shame…” Ginny faintly heard her reply in disappointment.

Luna continued to peruse through the trees above her. In no way sounding concerned that there might be a strange creature on the forest floor with her friend.

The strange boulder had moved closer to her. It had an odd pattern to it, Ginny noticed. Almost like it was scaly…

Shit! She reeled back in alarm, wings flaring out to lift her in the air. The dragon, realizing it had been found out, dropped its camouflage. The grey stone color bleeding into a bright red, willow like tendrils curled threateningly in the air behind its flat head.

The changewing lurched forward with startling speed and Ginny stumbled back with a scream. Just managing to dodge the missile of a angry dragon.

Luna whirled around, frantically looking around before spotting Ginny on the forest floor, changewing not far behind her.

“Tell it to stop!” Luna called and Ginny barely hear her through the haze that had overtaken her.

“What?!” She replied in a panic. Dodging again as the dragon pounced where she had just been.

“Tell it to stop!” Luna repeated from above.

“What the fuck is that going to do?!” She huffed, flapping her wings to gain some distance from the dragon behind her.

It let out a frustrated screech. Ginny ran faster before stumbling on a tree root. Whirling to look behind her, eyes widening in alarm as the dragon descended upon her. She fruitlessly covered her face with her arms, as if that was going to deter a changewing from eating her, closed her eyes and screamed.

“STOP!!!”

Ginny lay there, muscles tense and wings hunched around her, waiting for the biting sting of acid and sharp teeth. It never came.

Slowly, she lowered her arms and opened her eyes. The changewing was almost nose to nose with her, standing stock still. Ginny shook her head, desperately trying to clear the fog from her head, as she scooted herself away from the beast.

“Yeah!!! Let’s go, Ginny!” She faintly heard Luna call from above her and she blinked in confusion.

“What?” She called back in a confused and disoriented voice.

Luna didn't respond right away and the dragon didn’t move from where it was in front of her. She heard Cloudjumper, Luna’s dragon, land distantly in the trees.

“Ginny!” Luna called, “That’s your dragon! Hop on it!”

Ginny blinked, staring at the dragon in a new light. “What?” She asked again, just to make sure she heard her right.

“That’s your dragon!” Luna said again and Ginny hesitantly stumbled into a standing position. The dragon raised its head to match her height.

“Please don't let this be a trick…” Ginny whispered, slowly creeping around to the dragon's back as it turned its head to stare at her. It didn’t move as she approached it, nor did it whirl around to snap at her when she climbed on its back. Ginny took a sharp breath as she felt her mind start to clear.

Her dragon shook its head, as if it was feeling its own head clearing up, and Ginny held on tight before commanding it to fly.

The dragon lurched forward, wings flapping as they sped through the canopy and into the open air.

Ginny laughed and her dragon roared in joy as they felt the bond snap into place. Looping through the clouds for a while before descending to where Cloudjumper and Luna waited.

“I found my dragon!” Ginny said, voice brimming with excitement.

“You found your dragon!” Luna replied just as excitedly, grinning broadly at her while Cloudjumper cocked its head curiously at the pair of them.

Ginny laughed in relief and exhilaration. She finally had a dragon! After a year of searching she finally had found her match!

Luna fondly smiled back at her. A knowing look in her foggy blue eyes.

Ginny finally calmed down after a moment, and they sat on the tree tops, basking in contented silence. Eventually Ginny spoke.

“Hey, you want to go buzz Neville’s house?”

Luna laughed and hopped on Cloudjumper’s back, “Sure!”

Ginny laughed and they took off, flying in the direction they had come from a few hours previous.

Neville cursed up a storm at them from his garden as they passed overhead in a blur before realizing what had occurred and joining them in the sky.

They never did find a Bowtruckle. Nor did they return to the dark forest to search.

Instead they parted ways once they hit the mountain range Daphne called home. Luna turned, climbing to higher altitudes to get to the snowy cliffs floating in the sky somewhere that she called home while Ginny continued forward. Over the mountains and grassy plains before passing a rocky, steep cliff face. Cold dark ocean waves angrily crashed against the cliffs and she guided her dragon higher into the sky to steadier winds, away from the turbulent low winds that were coming from a nearby storm.

They eventually turned south at the rocky spires that served as dragon nesting cliffs further into the dark cold ocean that the selkies, sirens and other merpeople called home. Traveling for another hour, Ginny perked up when the dark ocean below her lightened into a bright crystal blue. Warm winds signifying her arrival to the coastal ocean biome she called home. Houses and manors spread about on white sandy atolls. Where the weather was usually pretty tame, the temperature was always nice, and the sun was always shining.

After flying for a bit she spotted her manor. White stone glistening in the sunshine. Gentle waves lapping up on the landing pad that extended off the back of her home that was meant for her dragon. She sighed in contentment when they landed. Muscles loosening as she relaxed to the sound of the waves. Her dragon looked around curiously before looking back at her and she gave him a warm, contented smile.

“Welcome home, bud.”

The twins stared down at the latest letter from their parents with dread. Summer had just started, classes were still going, and yet again, their mother was demanding they come home.

Shockingly, not via a Howler.

They were surprised she remembered how to send normal letters. Considering the last few sent their way were howlers.

Poor Erol was resting his long flight off in their office. Their parents really needed to retire him.

Dear Fred and George,

How has your year been going? It’s been a terribly long time since you two have sent us a letter.

Suspiciously nice to start out. Their hackles were raised instantly. She never was nice to them unless she wanted something and pandering wasn’t her style.

Bill said your studies were going well when he last came home. You two must come home soon, it's been so long since we’ve seen you! Your brothers miss you terribly. Poor Ronnie and Percy had the worst year ever at Hogwarts. Children were being petrified by You Know Who all year, Percy’s girlfriend was one of them, the poor girl. You need to send her a letter expressing your well wishes. She would appreciate support from the whole family after her ordeal and it would do well to ease the people. What with you two going to that school full of dark wizards and witches.

Yeah right. More like it would appease her and her worries.

You two wouldn’t happen to know anything about the petrifications would you? The headmaster said those little brats from the Malfoy and Black family went there as well. I bet they weren't quiet in their support of the petrifications! Oh I so wish the both of you could transfer to Hogwarts! That way you two would be safe from those disgusting dark families! Stay away from those boys! They are nothing but trouble! You hear me? They are disgusting little Slytherins and nothing will change that!

Ah, so that's how it was going to be. Not quite accusing them of being involved but also fishing for information. Lovely.

You two need to come home immediately!

Yeah no. Not happening.

It is summer, your brothers miss you, the headmaster misses you.-

What?! The twins looked at each other incredulously.

- There is no reason for you to be away!

Do send Erol back with your response. We are eagerly looking forward to hearing from you and seeing you!

Love,
Mum

“Freddie?”

“Hmmm?”

“Has she forgotten that we only get our break at the end of summer?”

Fred sighed, “She either forgot or is willfully ignoring it in favor of trying to get us to come home in a panic by telling us of Ron and Percy’s year at Hogwarts.”

They sat in silence for a bit before chorusing together, “Probably a bit of both.”

They turned to look at each other then. “Fancy to elect to ignore it?” Fred asked.

George nodded, “Sounds lovely!”

All of a sudden, the door to their library, where they had been working before Erol barged in with a letter, flew open and Ginny waltzed. A red letter held in her hand.

“Let us guess, letter from mum?” They asked in unison.

Ginny sighed and threw it on the table. A haggard look in her eyes.

“Oooh, a howler!” Fred said.

“How exciting! First one of the year?” George asked at the same time.

Their sister glared at them. “No. She sent one at Easter when I elected to stay instead of go home.”

“Oh? She didn’t send us one.” They said together, before Fred blinked as if he just remembered something and then said, “Oh, well we did use the big project excuse again. Bill probably had a chat with them when she sent a Howler about that last year.”

“Yeah, last Easter wasn’t fun.” Ginny glowered at them and they sheepishly grinned back at her.

“So, what did she say?” They asked.

“She screamed at me for not coming home for Easter. Again. Then she went on a thirty minute rant about Ron and Percy’s year of hell at Hogwarts. Then she spent a good ten minutes telling me how chivalrous and brave Charles was for saving everyone at Hogwarts and how I should send him a letter congratulating him on his brave deed. Because for some reason that's something I need to do. Oh! As well as send a letter to Percy’s girlfriend who got petrified and tell her how sorry I am that she got petrified. As if I had anything to do with that. Once she got all her fake tears out of the way she then went back to yelling at me about how if I didn’t come home for summer then they would all be coming here.” Ginny said and the twins stared back at her with wide eyes.

“Oh and then she said she loved me and broke down crying that I was going to such a dangerous and dark school. That's where it ended. Mid-sob. Who knows when she realized she’d stopped the spell.” Ginny continued and the twins winced. They’d gotten one and only one Howler in which their mother broke down crying. It was at the start of first year when it had become official that the headmaster couldn’t stop their grandparents from sending them to Arcane.

Nowadays she was just angry with them. Always angry. In fact, they hadn't gotten a normal letter in over a year. Not from her at least. Their dad sent one with Erol every few months or so. Usually before holidays, if only as a gauge to see if they were coming home.

“Sooo…” Ginny started, “are we going home at the end of summer?”

The twins looked at each other before looking back at Ginny.

“Only if we get to go someplace other than Britain.” They said in unison, “We're not getting trapped at that house for a whole week.”

Ginny blinked at them, “So no?”

They nodded, “No.”

Ginny grinned and stood from her seat, “Cool! I’ll let Bill know then, he sent a letter asking what our plan was!”

“Wait, Bill wrote?” They asked.

“He sent a letter asking last week. Said he’d be in Egypt for the foreseeable future if we needed anything.” Ginny replied on her way out, “See you guys later!”

“George?”

“Yes Fred?”

“Pink or neon green?”

“Neon green. Definitely neon green.”

“Do we spare Charlie?”

They glanced at each other before looking in the direction Ginny had disappeared in.

“Nah.” They chorused.

Chapter Text

Bill loved his family. He truly did. But sometimes… sometimes he really hated being a part of the Weasley family.

His father had got some cash prize and instead of saving it or making much needed upgrades to the burrow they’d chosen to blow it all on a trip to see him in Egypt.

And somehow, even after telling their parents no, Charlie, the twins, and Ginny all got roped into coming along with. How? No idea, but from the disgruntled look on all their faces he was going to guess that they couldn’t figure out a reasonable excuse not to. Especially when their parents probably phrased it as a trip to visit him.

So far, no one had been set on fire. Which, considering how fractured and toxic his family had become, was a miracle.

“Bill, dear, pass the jam,” His mother asked, tone as sweet as can be. As if she was still the loving mother he’d had in his childhood and not the monster she’d turned into.

He passed the jam. It wasn’t even nine in the morning and he already had a headache. Ron was seated further down the table, whining about being up so early. Percy was lecturing Ron about the advantages of being an early riser, as if that would ever change their little brother's terrible habits. Ginny looked to be contemplating murder. Though, to be fair, he would also be contemplating murder if he was stuck sitting between Percy and their mother. The twins were mocking Percy, riling him up further. Charlie looked like he wanted to bash his head into the table and their father was busy reading the paper. As if the chaos happening around him was absolutely normal and there weren’t four children currently sitting at the table who didn’t want to be in Egypt.

“Ginny dear, do please eat some more. You look so gaunt since you were forced to go to that awful dark school.” Their mother said, pushing more food onto Ginny’s plate. Bill closed his eyes and sighed, the twins heckling seemed to get louder and more targeted, and Charlie got up with a huff and stalked off. Bill opened his eyes just in time to see Ron spout out some awful curse against the Slytherin's he went to school with, as if they were at fault he was up so early, and watched with horror as the twins rounded on him. Eye’s gleaming with the prospect of a new target to take their growing displeasure out on.

Ron screamed as he was turned, head to toe, Slytherin green and silver. Snakes merrily danced on the shirt he wore, Bill felt his headache throb as their mother started to yell at the twins. Ginny chose that moment to escape, darting off like a bat out of hell. The twins started to argue back and his father continued to read the paper in silence.

Gods, he hated this family.

Breaking News! Azkaban Prison Breakout! Thaddeus Nott Jr, infamous death eater accused of murdering his own wife, has broken out of prison! How did this happen? The Ministry for Magic goes silent as DMLE scrambles to get the situation under control!

Voldemort read the headline over and over again, hardly believing what he was seeing.

Thaddeus Junior was insane. Even he knew that. It’s the whole reason he didn’t attempt to get the man out when he’d been sent off to prison for murdering his wife and why he’d never concealed the dark mark on his arm. There was no reason, he was already in prison by the time Voldemort got his soul put back together, a convicted death eater, who’d turned his own wand against his family in a rage.

Voldemort didn’t even twitch when he felt the wards shift, notifying him of an unexpected guest. Though, given the circumstances, he figured this was going to happen. A roiling, angry wave of magic was the first thing he noted before the doors to his office flew open. Thaddeus, his old friend, storming in, face contorted in rage.

Before the man could even open his mouth, Voldemort spoke, “This wasn’t me.”

That stopped Thaddeus short. The wrathful magic swirling in the air stilled.

“What?!”

Voldemort just sighed again, “This wasn’t me. I don’t know how he got out but you can be assured that I didn’t do it. This wasn’t on my orders.”

Thaddeus slumped into a chair. Neither of them spoke for a moment.

“What do we do?” His old friend finally whispered after a moment. Seemingly at a loss and terrified.

“We start looking. He won't stay hidden for long, but I don't have a clue as to what he could be planning. Azkaban is brutal on the mind and he’d already lost his before he was sentenced.” Voldemort replied, taking a fortifying breath. “Fortify your wards. Turn them against him, protect yourself. If you at all feel in danger then you are always welcome here.” Thaddeus nodded gratefully. “Go to Theodore. Put the IWC on high alert, tell the Arctic Ministry to not let Theodore out of their sight.”

“And you? What will you do?” Thaddeus asked.

“I’m going to have Lucius light a fire under the Minister's arse and then I’m going to go layer some more wards on Hadrian’s abode.”

“And what about the Boy Who Lived?” Thaddeus asked, sneering Charles Potter’s nickname like a curse.

“I’m sure Dumbledore has something up his sleeves. Who knows? Maybe the Potter’s will do something rash. For once, I am not going to do anything. Those idiots can endanger him themselves.”

Thaddeus stayed for a bit after that before heading off to see his Grandchild. The manor was silent for a bit before an incessant knocking on his wards started up. His head elf popped in, wringing her hands and shifting from foot to foot.

He already knew who it was, she didn’t have to even say anything.

“Let the Aurors in.” He commanded, letting the wards ease to permit them access and so that his elf would stop nervously hovering.

Gods, Thaddeus Junior was a dead man if he ever saw him.

Sirius sighed.

Dementors. That was the ministry’s plan. Dementors around Hogwarts to protect the Boy Who Lived. As if there weren’t other children that were in danger due to Thaddeus Juniors escape. Poor Theo chief among them.

Last he’d heard, Lord Nott had practically locked his manor down. Refusing entry to all but himself and his grandson. Any attempts to get onto the grounds were immediately reported to the aurors. Thaddeus Junior had tried twice to get onto the grounds of his ancestral manor with no such luck. Whatever Lord Nott did to the wards must have worked because he’d almost been caught by the aurors the two times he’d tried to get in.

Amelia said it had looked like the wards nearly fried him alive. He’d not been spotted around the manor since the second attempt three months ago. Moody had just grunted in approval, slamming his staff on the ground, spooking the junior aurors lingering nearby when he’d talked to the pair in the ministry atrium.

Since Thaddeus Junior couldn’t get into his old home, he’d seemingly turned to Hogwarts. Those poor students. Hogwarts had been turned into a jail overnight.

Quidditch had already been canceled due to the dementors and their insatiable appetite. Charles, according to the Daily Prophet, had almost gotten his soul ripped from his body playing against Hufflepuff.

No apology had been made by the ministry for the mishap. Sirius would have been shocked if they had. Dumbledore has been scrambling ever since to regain lost footing yet again as the public rioted.

He was losing the public’s trust. Good.

No attempt to break into Black Manor had occurred. Though Thaddeus, insane as he was, had to know that attempting to break any Black family property wards was just asking for a swift but agonizing death. He had kind of hoped the man would try, just to get rid of the threat he posed.

Beyond the dementor threat to the students of Hogwarts. No actual arrest had been made, none of the dementors had caught him yet, and the aurors were useless as always. Sirius would be shocked if anything substantial happened till after the new year.

The ministry was incompetent like that.

Hadrian was well into his third year. Viridis was now the size of a London townhouse and horrifying to be around. His boy had grown a good fifteen almost 16 centimeters over the summer and now stood at one and a half meters. Nearly the tallest in his class and thoroughly enjoying his combat class.

There had not been one incident of him attacking someone outside of class since the year started. Sirius had his fingers crossed it would last the year. Society classes had started this year as well and Hadrian had told him it was downright torture.

He was sure his hatchling was exaggerating. Maybe.

Sirius had made sure to give Hadrian a head start from an early age so he shouldn’t get yelled at too much. At least not to the extent Sirius’s own tutors had when he was younger. He wasn’t worried.

He wasn’t.

He’d seen Remus last week. They’d had an awkward brunch in Paris and sat in silence for a good majority of it. Remus, too nervous and shame filled to start the conversation, and himself, content to let Remus suffer under the weight of his decisions. He wasn’t the one who’d forsaken years of friendship to kiss Dumbledore’s ass. He had a child to take care of and that’s what he was going to do, he wasn’t going to let anyone tell him how to do that.

Especially someone who thought placing a wounded one year old with magic hating muggles was a good idea.

They eventually managed a stilted conversation about the new joke shop the twins had opened up in France. Not that Remus knew who owned it. He’d apparently started a job there, Sirius was glad he was doing something.

Sirius returned to Britain late afternoon and sat in the Lords solar until Bellatrix had come to find him. Dragging him out to shop with her and quote, “Quit moping in the dark about your failed situationship.”

Sirius had scowled at her but let her drag him out to Diagon. Him and Remus would never repair what they had. They were too different now, taken too different paths. Remus had chosen Dumbledore, though he’d eventually seen the rotten bastard for what it was, and Sirius had chosen Hadrian and all the dark that came with him.

He wouldn’t change that decision for the world.

Sirius could see them being friends again though, granted it might take awhile, but Sirius could see it. Whether it would weather the storm when the truth came out was another thing entirely.

Bella had made it an enjoyable evening out in town though. Rodolphous had popped in two hours after Bella had found him to make sure they hadn’t burnt anything down and Andy showed up soon after to fan the flames of chaos.

They took their chaos back to Black Manor and had a nice dinner afterwards. Lucius and Narcissa joining after dinner for a few rounds of cards and drinks late into the night.

It was nice.

Was it immediately ruined by the Wizengamot meeting the next day? Yes. But the peace was nice while it lasted.

Sirius was snapped out of his thoughts as the floo flared green. Tall, dark and spooky stepping through with an irritated scowl on his face, a stack of papers stuffed under his arms and Sirius groaned seeing Umbridge’s latest bill attacking dark creatures.

So much for a quiet afternoon.

Chapter Text

This was the third night in a row that they’d had to sleep in the great hall due to a break in. The break ins were never in the same place.

Thaddeus Nott Jr had tried to enter the Slytherin common room twice in the past few months. Other times they’d been interrupted mid class period, the school going into lockdown as school staff tried to find the Azkaban escapee. They never succeeded. The death eater always managed to escape back into the forbidden forest.

It appeared he was getting desperate as the past few days there had been four break ins. Two when all the students had been asleep, one mid day. And one, the break in this evening, during dinner.

The headmaster had resorted to making them all sleep in the great hall so the professors weren’t spread thin around the school. If a kid went missing then they’d notice immediately. So far though, no one had vanished. It was clear he was after Theodore Nott, his son, after his failed attempts at breaching the manor.

It seemed no one had told the insane death eater that his kid didn’t even attend Hogwarts, or if someone did, it must have not registered because he kept breaking and kept trying to get to the Slytherin common room.

The only highlight is that nothing too bad happened on Halloween. No, his Halloween curse must have either figured it couldn’t top the misery of the dementors or just decided to be a few days late cause the very next quidditch match he nearly got his soul sucked out and had to relive the worst night of his life.

Adding insult to injury, quidditch was then cancelled and his broom got destroyed.

Sure his dad bought him a brand new broom, the top of the line Firebolt, but it wasn’t the same. Memories had been made on that Nimbus and it was just gone now. Splintered into a thousand little pieces.

Charles huffed out a sigh and scowled at the stars projected onto the ceiling of the great hall. His back hurt, the cushioning spell Dumbledore cast to get them all to stop complaining wore off thirty minutes ago, and it was cold. Christ, tomorrow was going to be a disaster, he could already tell.

Dumbledore, somehow, still knew how to be his irritating self. Even when a good two hundred dementors flew above the castle like vultures. Once again, their regularly scheduled board meeting was coming to an end with nothing of note happening and no new news about Thaddeus’ presence on the school grounds.

Voldemort could feel the smugness coming off the man in waves. He refrained from grinding his teeth in front of the man. No need to fuel the fires of suspicion in the old bag.

“Dumbledore, if you are just going to waste our time then why don't we wrap this meeting up, hmmm? Maybe then you will have the time to inspect the wards like we asked you to months ago.” Lady Zabini said and Voldemort noted with no small amount of glee that the smugness radiating from the man all but vanished.

It was no secret the headmaster of Hogwarts was having to fend off dozens of howlers by the day written by concerned parents.

Dumbledore gave her a brittle smile. “If that is the board’s wish.”

“It is.” Amelia Bones said, narrowing her eyes on him. Oh to be a fly on the wall in the rant session she was about to have with Moody.

“Then I shall see all of you at the next meeting!” He cheerfully said, opening the doors to the hallway only to be greeted by screaming portraits.

“Headmaster!” One screamed once they noticed him standing stock still in the doorway, “Headmaster there’s been another break in!”

Amelia shoved the headmaster out of the way, “Where?!”

“The Dungeons! Where else?!” The portrait said, as if that should have been an already known fact. Amelia sent her Patronus shooting off with orders to get as many aurors to the grounds as possible but not before sending Dumbledore a look.

“Dumbledore, Lord Slytherin, come with me! Everyone else, find the children! They need all the protection they can get!” With those orders, Amelia set off towards the dungeons.

They ran for a good fifteen minutes before footsteps could be heard coming at them. Turning around a corner in the direction of the noise, their target appeared. The crazed Death Eater scrambled to stop, extending a wand that was glowing with a sickening red light.

All three of them ducked out of the way of the unforgivable curse, wands raised to defend themselves. Amelia sent a Confringo towards the man that he dodged while Dumbledore cast a Bombarda, sending fragments of stone from the walls flying. Shields were raised before being dropped immediately to resume the fight.

A volley of spells were exchanged, Thaddeus’ repertoire growing darker and more desperate the longer he struggled, while the three of them continued with their bombardment of mostly grey to light spells.

Eventually, the man made a mistake, not shielding in time when Amelia sent a cutting curse his way. It missed its original target, his neck, but managed to nick him on the ear. Thaddeus winced, his focus breaking just enough, for Voldemort to dismiss the shield he’d been holding for the other two and cast a curse. It was a family one, inspired by the gorgons of old. “Πέτρα Αναπνοής!”

The spell, a sea foam green, struck true, and Thaddeus jolted from the hit. Stone rapidly started to encase him and Thaddeus flailed in a panic before freezing entirely. His crazed panic frozen on his stone face.

Dumbledore and Amelia turned to him as they all heaved breaths from the non-stop spell work. “He’s alive. Just trapped.” He explained before Dumbledore could spout some dark magic bullshit.

The spell wasn’t even dark.

Amelia huffed out a faint laugh, “Thanks.”

Voldemort just nodded, leaning against the cool stone wall next to him. “Thank you for nicking him. I wouldn’t have been able to get that spell in if he’d not lost concentration.”

Amelia nodded, too exhausted to say anything else. Dumbledore stayed quiet but he could feel his beady eyes boring into his back.

They waited for a good five minutes before the sound of footsteps once again reached them and a team of aurors, led by James Potter, rounded the corner only to stop short at the sight of the stone death eater.

“Where the fuck have you all been?! Taking a smoke break?!” Amelia yelled, having recovered enough from the fight to scream at the very late team of aurors.

The guilty party opened their mouths to respond but Amelia didn’t give them the opportunity to start spewing excuses. “Make yourselves useful and get this waste of space to a holding cell before the spell wears off!” That got them all moving and they scrambled to start moving the living statue.

Once the aurors got the statue off its feet and moving towards the exit, Amelia turned to him again. “Thank you once again for your help in apprehending him, Lord Slytherin.”

Voldemort nodded, “No need to thank me, Lady Bones. I am merely doing my duty as a founder’s heir. The students' safety is paramount.”

Amelia gave him a grateful nod before following the team of aurors. Voldemort glanced back at Dumbledore, who’d not said a word since he’d frozen Thaddeus. The headmaster was staring at him suspiciously, his irritating smile and twinkle nowhere to be found.

“The children can sleep in their beds from now on.” Voldemort said, before sweeping past the decrepit wretch in the direction of the nearest floo.

An emergency Wizengamot meeting was called the next day. The spell having worn off sometime during the night, and a bound Thaddeus was brought before the chamber.

It was probably one of the fastest trials on record. After dosing the man with Veritaserum, Thaddeus had explained how he’d gotten free. Help from a rat. Pettigrew had slipped by the dementors and guards unseen by shifting into his animagus form. Of course, only a few in the courtroom were aware of this. There was a warrant out for Pettigrew's arrest but after he’d slipped away back in 1981 no one had seen him since.

Thaddeus hadn’t known who it was either and spent a good thirty minutes screaming about how “That rat! That rat left me to the mercy of the dementors!” Along with what kind of revenge he’d exact on the rodent in rather gruesome details. If he still had only a sliver of a soul left then he’d have probably been all for Thaddeus mad ramblings.

Thaddeus then started rambling about culling his line, starting fresh from good stock, and making children with good strong blood. Pure blood. Good soldiers for his lord’s crusade.

Dumbledore and his little group of sycophants had glanced over to him when the mad man had said that but even he couldn’t withhold the disgusted look that crept onto his face. To kill one’s own wife simply due to dislike of your own child was sacrilege. Old magic weddings bound you together by magic, there was no divorce in the magical world, the only way out was death. The only acceptable death was to grow old with them, you didn’t just bind yourself to someone and then decide you didn’t want to be bound anymore. Thaddeus’ madness was twofold. One from dementor exposure, the second from having brutally torn a sacred bond apart with his own hands.

Even worse was to turn on your own blood. To try to kill your own son? Because your one year old wasn’t strong enough? There weren’t words for that. Children were cherished in the magical world. There were so few of them in the world that every child was a miracle.

He knew he had a brand on his soul for daring to mark Hadrian. He was lucky his family magic didn’t cast him out entirely for that.

In the end, Thaddeus had gotten sentenced to death. Twelve aurors had then walked him to the veil in the department of ministries and shoved him in when the crazed man tried to escape. He had whispered a prayer to Lord Death as Thaddeus went through.

Not for Thaddeus. He’d not besmirch his old friend or little Theo like that. No, he prayed Marie Rosier nee Nott would never see her wretched spouse the moment that miserable excuse of a man entered death's realm. He prayed that she was told her son would never come to harm's way by his own blood again.

He prayed in hopes she could find some semblance of peace in her afterlife now that her tormentor was gone.

Thaddeus, the elder, had not attended the trial of his disgraced son. Not that any but perhaps a few of the light sect had expected him to. He went to be with Theo. The poor boy had apparently taken to bed, overcome with another migraine.

Amelia had made sure a letter was sent his way. So that he would know the outcome of the trial before the news went out. If only so he could mourn in his own way before the rest of the world celebrates. Dumbledore, the wretched bastard, had questioned the action when Amelia announced her intent, only to choke on his words the moment Amelia rounded on him with a withering glare.

The Wizengamot was dismissed soon thereafter. A few people had clustered together, chatting like it was the end of a normal session and not an execution. Most had gone home though. It was late, no one had had dinner, and a good majority of those in the room had to go to work tomorrow. The world never ceased to stop moving.

Voldemort sat in a darkened office nursing a drink. Not a candle was lit. The fire in the hearth now nothing more but smoldering embers. He’d dismissed all his elves for the night. He could find his night clothes just fine, he didn’t need any of them to hover around him. He sensed through the wards and family magic that his head elf Lyla was still awake, he knew she’d not sleep until he was himself.

The wards shifted. Someone that he’d given free access to the manor had just arrived. That list was small, a total of five people had that privilege and only one on that list ever came over without prior warning.

Voldemort didn’t bother looking up from the faint glow of the fireplace as the doors to his office opened.

Black let out a heavy sigh as he surveyed the gloomy scene. Voldemort ignored him.

“Well this is depressing.” Sirius said, helping himself to the decanter of firewhiskey and plopping down into the seat in front of the Dark Lord’s desk.

Sirius watched as the man in front of him took another sip of his drink, finger faintly tapping on the edge of the glasses rim as he stared into the smoldering fireplace. The only sounds in the office for a while were the faint, Tink Tink Tink of Voldemort’s finger tapping on crystal, and the occasional snap of cooling embers.

“I blessed young Theodore when he was born. Once visitation was permitted.” Voldemort said, his voice rough from firewhiskey and emotion, “I held a prayer for them both. Marie and Theo. Thaddeus was in the room…” Voldemort trailed off, Sirius could see the hand holding the glass start to lightly shake.

Sirius didn’t dare interrupt.

“He was in the room…” Voldemort tried again, the words were hissed out of clenched teeth, the rest of what he was going to say appearing to get stuck in his throat, and Sirius watched as the Dark Lord tried to choke down emotion but his mask was cracking. Whether it was from anger, alcohol, or something else, Sirius didn’t know.

The Dark Lord glanced at him then, eyes blazing red, and Sirius watched as his mask shattered. His eyes burnt with confusion, with desperation, a thousand questions that would now forever go unanswered swirled within them. His lips pursed, eyebrows furrowed, and his jaw clenched with the effort of not biting down on his tongue. The normally stoic man crumpling before his eyes, choking down what Sirius knew would be an anguished sound.

Sirius didn’t say anything, he let the man quietly wrestle his emotions down, back into the box they were spilling out from. He knew from personal experience that if he said anything right now, that the man in front of him would break.

“Did I–” Voldemort choked out, voice cracking and cutting off as he visibly swallowed again, “Did I say something that made him think Theo weak? Did I doom Marie that day?”

Sirius winced, “You couldn’t have known what was going to happen…” He eventually said. Watching as Voldemort’s knuckles turned white around his glass.

“But he was one of my followers, one of my soldiers…” Voldemort’s teeth ground together, “I should have-”

“No. Don’t start that.” Sirius cut him off. “You couldn’t have known.” He said firmly, watching as Voldemort glanced at him before looking away, thoughts visibly churning away like a black cloud just waiting to release its wrath on those below.

“Tom, look at me.” Sirius said, because it was Tom sitting before him, not Voldemort, not the Dark Lord, not Thomas Slytherin. Tom Riddle was breaking apart in front of Sirius for what had to be the first time in who knows how many years. “It wasn’t your fault. Thaddeus' actions are his own. You didn’t tell him to kill his wife. You didn’t tell him to turn his wand on Theo. You prayed for them, anyone with a brain would have seen that as a blessing. Thaddeus was insane. He was that way when I was in school with him. There was no redeeming quality about him, even Bella kept him at an arms length when around him, and she’s got the Black madness coursing through her veins.”

“But-”

“No.” Sirius stared him down, desperate red eyes locked with cool determined grey, “You. Didn’t. Know.” Sirius said with finality, “No one could have known. No one could have predicted what he would do.”

Tom fell silent. Jaw tightly clenched, eyes now back on the dying embers in the fireplace, both hands clutched around his drink like it would stop them from shaking.

Sirius sighed, “Come on.” He said standing, setting his drink down.

“What?!” Voldemort startled, gaze snapping back to him.

“You're not staying here to drink in the dark till you can’t think anymore.” Sirius said, reaching over, taking the drink from his hands and gesturing to him to follow. “Come on, Hadrian should be still awake, we can go stay there, he’d love to see his favorite person.”

Sirius didn’t move until Tom stood to follow, wide eyes peering at him as if he couldn’t comprehend what was now happening, “And go get that snake of yours, she’s looming ominously at the end of the hallway. She snapped at me when I snuck around her, and I don't appreciate the near death experience when I have done absolutely nothing to earn that.”

That elicited an amused huff from the man and Sirius cheered in his head while carefully keeping his face blank. “You probably startled her.” Tom said, walking towards the doors.

“It’s been twelve years, she should not be startled by my presence.”