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Chapter Text

Elizabeth Owens sat at her desk in the ministry staring at the name at the head of the file for her new assignment : Harry Potter. Flipping the file open and skimming through it everything seemed normal, well as normal as it could for The Harry Potter. And then she got to the end where stamped in big bold letters was Emancipated. So that would be her task then helping young Harry transition from being a child into a fully functioning adult. Flipping back to the beginning of the file she checked the address: number 4 privet drive, Little Whinging, Surrey. Elizabeth gathered her things and made her way to the apparition point.

On July 9th in the village of Little Whinging everything was normal, and in number 4 on Privet drive was the most normal family of all. All except for the boy in the second bedroom, one Harry Potter. Harry had just returned from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for the summer. He had only been back for a week and he was already to go back to school. His relatives, the Dursley’s were awful, locking him in his room, barely feeding him and forcing to do all the chores. Not to mention he had to deal with the nightmares from being forced to compete in the triwizard tournament, and witnessing the death of Cedric and the resurrection of voldemort.

Harry was cleaning the kitchen when there was a knock on the door. As he was about to answer the door when his aunt came in and told him to keep cleaning. As she went to the door Harry snuck after her to eavesdrop.

“Hello my name is Elizabet Owens and I’m here to see Harry Potter.”

Harry listened with bated breath as his aunt denied his existence.

Eventually the woman said “if Harry isn’t here can you please have him contact me as soon as possible, I need to speak to him about his future place in wixen society.”

At this Harry rushed forward and shouted “I’m here, what about my place in the wizarding world.”

The woman looked surprised and then sighed in relief and said “ ah, mister Potter, my name is Elizabeth Owens is there somewhere we can talk privately.”

Harry gaped and nodded before leading Elizabeth up the stairs to his room.

Once they got to his room Elizabeth looked around and conjured two chairs, a table and a tea set. After serving the tea she gestured to the second chair “have a seat, Mr. Potter. Now as said before my name is Elizabeth Owens and I work for the social service department of the ministry of magic, I was just assigned to your case this morning.”

At this Harry nearly choked on his tea “ Since when does the wizarding world have social service, why haven’t I heard from you before? I told Professor Dumbledore that I didn’t want to come back here, that my relatives hate me. Why didn’t you get involved then?”

Elizabeth closed her eyes and sighed “ I’m very sorry that you haven’t been connected before Mr. Potter, unfortunately the social security department is very understaffed and underfunded, as for what you told Professor Dumbledor there is no mention of it in your file which means that it was never reported. I can assure you that if it had been reported there would most certainly have been an investigation.”

“So,” Harry asked, “why are you here?”

Elizabeth replied “well Mr. Potter, first I would like to offer my condolences for all you have been through in the past year and the loss of Mr. Diggory.”

She paused when Harry jumped up shouting “so that's what you're here about the ministry doesn’t believe me about Voldemort, if that's the case then you can just leave.”

“Mr. Potter” answered Elizabeth “I assure that is not the case.” She patiently waited for Harry to calm down before continuing “Whether or not I or the ministry believe you about you-know-who is irrelevant to why I am here. However I am here about the results of the triwizard tournament.”

At this Harry got up to pace around the room before turning to her and asking “what do you mean? I didn’t want to compete and I didn’t kill Cedric, I promise.”

“I believe that Mr.Potter” breathed Elizabeth “I am here because you are an underage wizard that was entered into a competition that was meant for of age wixen only. As a result of your competing magic and wixen law has decided to emancipate you. My job is to assist you in transitioning from a dependent child into an independent minor.”

Harry’s eyes were wide as he perched on the edge of his seat. “Does this mean that I can leave and that I don’t need to stay with the Dursley’s anymore? Can I do magic outside of school now” He asked.

Elizabeth smiled “absolutely, you can live wherever you would like and do magic on your own, however there are some things that we will need to take care of first.”

Harry grunted “of course it's not that simple. What do I need to do?”

“Well” replied Elizabeth “the first thing that we will need to do is go to gringotts for an inheritance test. This will tell us about any vaults, lordships, properties and even creature inheritances and marriage contracts that you may have. Once we have that information I will be able to help you decide what to do next. Do you have any questions?”

Harry thought for a moment before asking “what's a creature's inheritance?”

Elizabeth turned to her bag and pulled out several pamphlets and handed them to Harry, “here is some basic information on creature inheritance, basically many old wixen families have creature blood and some members of these families get a creature inheritance this means that they may have attributes or abilities that come from a creature. Wixen that do have a creature inheritance are either a dominant or a submissive. People usually go through their creature inheritance when they reach their majority at 17, because of your emancipation you may go through a creature inheritance early providing that you have one. You can read more about it in the pamphlets I gave you. Any more questions?”

“No” replied Harry “just when can we go to gringotts?”

Elizabeth looked at her watch “It's getting quite late, perhaps we can meet at gringotts tomorrow morning. Does eight o'clock sound ok?”

Harry looked away and sighed “yeah that's fine I suppose I can stay here one more day”

Elizabeth narrowed her eyes, “Mr. Potter, Harry you do not have to stay here if you do not want to and especially if you do not feel safe, if you need a place to stay there is always the leaky or any of the other inns in diagon alley. If you need a way to get there simply raise your wand hand and the night bus will come pick you up. Now would you like me to show you how it's done?”

Harry laughed as he jumped to gather his things, not that there was much to gather just his school trunk and hedwig's empty cage. “Alright,” he smiled, “let's go and never come back.”

Elizabeth vanished the chairs, table and tea set, then led the way out the door out of the house and led Harry right into his future.

Chapter Text

Harry watched as Elizabeth led him to the street and raised her wand. He jumped at the loud crack that echoed through the air and then gaped at the large purple triple decker bus that had appeared in front of them.

Elizabeth patted him on the shoulder to get him moving “come on Harry, this is the night bus, it will get us to the leaky then you can get some sleep before our busy day tomorrow.”

They got on the bus and Harry looked around while Elizabeth paid and spoke to the driver. He was surprised to see beds instead of seats, he wandered down the aisle and chose a bed.

Once Elizabeth finished she joined him all she had time to say before the bus took off was “hold on.”

The ride was unpleasant but at least they were there quickly. After leaving the bus Elizabeth asked him if he needed help getting a room at the leaky.

Harry paused for a minute before replying “no I can do it.”

Elizabeth nodded once and said “good, I’ll see you tomorrow morning at 8 o’clock on the steps of Gringotts.” Then she smiled and waved before turning away to go home for the night.

Once Elizabeth was out of sight Harry went into the leaky cauldron, asked Tom the barkeeper for a room, paid and headed up to his room for the night. When he reached his room he had just enough energy to open the window for Hedwig to enter through before falling into bed and falling asleep.

The next morning Harry, being an early riser woke at 6 o’clock. Upon waking Harry blinked and confusion about where he was and then laughed when he realized that yesterday had not been a dream. He stretched, rolled over and smiled when he saw that Hedwig had returned in the night.

“Hedwig” he whispered “we never have to go back to the Dursleys again.” Since it was so early Harry decided to take his time getting ready. He went to the bathroom, brushed his teeth and then took a long bath.

After his bath Harry chose some of his best clothes before heading down to have breakfast. By the time Harry finished his breakfast it was time for him to meet Elizabeth at Gringotts.

Once Harry arrived at Gringotts he spotted Elizabeth waiting for him on the steps. “Hello Elizabeth” he called as he walked up the steps to meet her. At his call Elizabeth turned and waved hello.

When he got closer Elizabeth greeted him “ hello Harry, are you ready to find out about your inheritance.”

Harry nodded “ as ready as I’ll ever be.” With that they both turned and walked into the bank and got in line to meet a teller.

When they reached the front of the line Elizabeth said “hello I have Mr. Potter here to meet with his account manager for an inheritance test.”

The goblin looked to Harry and replied “very well, Heir Potter will this woman be joining you in meeting the Potter account manager.”

Harry nodded his head yes. The goblin turned and waved for them to follow him down a hallway. They walked down a long hallway, when they reached a door with the name Ironclaw engraved on the door the goblin knocked and opened the door and gestured for them to enter. Inside the room was a very old goblin seated behind a large desk.

The goblin looked up and exclaimed “ah Heir Potter, welcome my name is Ironclaw I have been the Potter account manager for the last 100 years, what can I do for you today.”

Harry stepped forward and asked “I’m here for an inheritance test? Miss Elizabeth said I should get one since I’m emancipated.”

Ironclaw grunted “of course Heir Potter you and Miss Elizabeth may have a seat.” As Harry and Elizabeth took their seats Ironclaw reached into a desk draw and pulled out a piece of parchment and a dagger.

“Now Heir Potter all you need to do is put seven drops of blood on the parchment.”

Harry gulped, picked up the dagger, pricked his finger and carefully squeezed seven drops of blood onto the parchment. As the last drop of blood hit the parchment text slowly started to appear.

Name: Hadrian James Potter - Born: July 31, 1980
Father: James Flemont Potter - Born: March 27, 1960 - Died: October 31, 1981
Mother: Lily Evans Potter - Born: January 30, 1960 - Died : October 31, 1981
Godfather: Sirius Black III - Born: November 3, 1959 - Incarcerated(illegal)(escaped)
Godmother: Alice Longbottom - Born: August 14, 1960 - compromised
Magical Guardian: AWPBD - (illegal) broken with emancipation

Lordships

• The most noble and ancient house of Potter - Father
• The most illustrious and ancient house of Peverell - Father
• The Founders house of Gryffindor - Father
• The most noble and ancient house of Black- Godfather
• The Founders house of Ravenclaw - Mother
• The Founders house of Hufflepuff - Mother
• The Founders house of Slytherin - Conquest
• The house of Gaunt - Conquest
• The Royal house of La Fey - Magic
• The Royal house of Pendragon - Magic

Vaults

• Potter
• Main - 2 million G, 100 S, 38 K, artifacts
• Trust - 3,000 G
• Black
• Main - 5 million G, 800 S , 20 K, artifacts
• Trust- 5,000 G
• Peverell
• 20 million G, 200 S, 5 K, artifacts
• Gryffindor
• 1 million G, 300 S, 500 K, artifacts
• Ravenclaw
• 6 million G, 40 S, 80 K, artifacts
• Hufflepuff
• 8 million G, 60 S, 20 K, artifacts
• Slytherin
• 10 million G, 500 S, 60 K, artifacts
• Gaunt
• 50 G, 10 S, 8 K
• La Fey
• 500 Million G, 800 S, 90 K, artifacts
• Pendragon
• 900 Million G, 700 S, 800 K, artifacts

Properties

• Potter
• Potter manor - Scotland 
• Potter cottage - Godric's hollow
• Black
• Grimmauld Place - London
• Black Castle - Unplottable
• Peverell
• Peverell Estate - Unplottable
• Cabin - Black Forest
• Gryffindor
• Lions Den - unplottable
• Ravenclaw
• Ravens Nest - Unplottable
• Library - London
• Hufflepuff
• Badgers Set - Unplottable
• Slytherin
• Snakes hollow- Unplottable
• Gaunt
• Gaunt shack - Little Hangleton
• La Fey
• Fairy Islands - Unplottable
• Pendragon
• Camelot - Unplottable

Abilities
metamorphmagus - Black
Parseltongue - Slytherin
Parselmagic - Slytherin
Master of death - Peverell
Eidetic memory - Ravenclaw

Creature Inheritance
Creature Dark Elf - dominant- to come in at majority - 15 after emancipation

Marriage Contracts
Ginny Weasley - signed by APWBD and Molly Weasley - 1980 (illegal)
Potter Family and Nott Family - Signed Lord Ignatius Potter and Lord Thorfinn Nott - 1567

Transaction
APWBD - 1,000 G - yearly - 1981
Molly Weasley - 500 G - yearly - 1991
Ron Weasley - 300 G - yearly - 1991
Hermione Granger- 300 G - yearly - 1991
Ginny Weasley - 200 G - yearly - 1992

Blocks, Spells, and Potions
Intelligence block- APWBD
Metamorphugus block - APWBD
Love potion keyed to Ginny Weasley - Molly Weasley
Spell for distrust keyed to slytherin - APWBD
Loyalty Spell keyed to Weasleys, APWBD , Hermione Granger- Molly Weasley, APWBD

Chapter Text

Harry stared, shocked at the results of his inheritance test. Time seemed to slow, it could have been minutes, hours, days and even years. How could this happen, Ron and Hermione were never really his friends were they. Ron was always jealous and Hermione was always telling him what to do. They always seemed to be there to push him toward danger.

In first year if he had just done nothing Voldemort never would have been able to get the stone.

Then second year, why didn't Dumbledor close the school.

Once again the whole thing with Sirius and Peter could have been avoided if Dumbledor just said something.

The only good thing to come out of the triwizard tournament was the fact that he was emancipated and found out about all of this.

And having to marry Ginny, yech until now he had thought of her as a sister, and he didn’t even like girls.

Distantly he became aware of the sound of sobbing. Was someone crying?

As he became more aware he realized he was the one crying. Turning his head to the side he saw that Elizabeth was kneeling next to him rubbing his back. “Are you alright Harry? It will be alright, I know it's a lot but we’ll take it one thing at a time and I’ll be right here to help you through it. Alright?”

Harry took a big breath and whispered “alright, what do we do first?”

With this question the both turned to Ironclaw for the answer. “Well Lord Potter” grunted Ironclaw “the first thing that needs to be taken care of are the blocks, potions and spells in your system. Gringotts will take care of this for a small fee. Is this alright with you, Lord Potter?”

Harry smiled in relief and nodded yes. Ironclaw reached into his desk and rang a small bell. Another goblin appeared at the door. “Ah, Bograd, please take Lord Potter to the ritual chamber for a cleansing.”

Bograd bowed “right this way Lord Potter, I’m afraid that your companion will need to wait here as her presence could disrupt the ritual.”

Harry got up, said “goodbye” to Elizabeth and followed Bograd to the ritual chamber. In the ritual chamber there were several goblins in green robes that Harry presumed were healers.

One of the goblins approached him with a potion “Lord Potter please take this potion it will assure that you sleep through the cleansing ritual.”

Harry took the potion, gave it a whiff before swallowing it with a grimace. “Can’t they make those taste any better?” Harry complained before everything went black.

When Harry woke up both Elizabeth and Ironclaw were in the room with him. Elizabeth leaned forward and patted his hand “how are you feeling Harry?” she asked.

“Fine” Harry replied “better, Do you think you could call me Hadrian?”

“I would be happy to call you Hadrian,” laughed Elizabeth.

“Ahem, Lord Potter, if you wouldn't mind returning to my office we have much to discuss,” said Ironclaw.

“Alright” Hadrian nodded before getting up and following Elizabeth and Ironclaw on the return trip to the office.

Once seated in the office Hadrian noticed 8 boxes on the desk in front of him plus one larger one. “Lord Potter, the next thing that you will need to do is claim your lordship rings. Please start with the Potter ring on the left and move left down the line ending with the Pendragon ring. Unfortunately the Gaunt ring has been lost, if you ever come across it please let us know. Now the rings should all be placed on your right middle finger, as you place them they will merge together.”

Hadrian slowly began placing the rings on his finger starting with the Potter ring and watching as they merged together. With each ring placed he felt the magic wash over him as if wrapping him in a blanket. As the last ring was placed Hadrian felt a rush of power that made him gasp. When he was finished he asked what was in the larger box.

“That is a very good question, Lord Potter.” replied Ironclaw “this box contains protkeys to each of your properties. Now that you have claimed your lordship rings you will be able to use these. As your cleansing and healing session took longer than expected I took the liberty of providing them. After such a long healing session you should take the time to go home and rest. We can schedule to meet tomorrow after lunch if that is alright with you Lord Potter.

Hadrian nodded tiredly “that would be great. I could really use a nap.” Looking back at his inheritance test Hadrian searched for a property that was close to diagon alley. Spying Grimmauld place Hadrian pointed it out and said “can I stay here, it's close to the alley.”

Elizabeth patted him on the shoulder “I think that's a wonderful idea Hadrian. Do you need help using the portkey?”

Hadrian thought for a moment before replying “I’m not really sure how to use a protkey, I’ve only used the one before and that was with loads of other people.”

At this Ironclaw interjected “Simply choose the portkey with the name of the property you need and say the family motto, for example you would take the grimmauld place portkey and say Toujours Pur. Do you have any other questions, Lord Potter?”

Hadrian thought for a moment I left my things at the leaky. Do you think someone would be able to send them to me if I leave here?” At this Elizabeth jumped in. I can see to your things Hadrian, do you need me to accompany you to Grimmauld Place?”

Hadrian yawned "no I’m just going to lie down for a nap as soon as I can. My owl is at the leaky so if you could just send my things with her that would be great.”

“Very well Lord Potter” Ironclaw said as he rang the bell to summon Bograd again “if that everything is settled I can have Bograd show you to the portkey room.”

At this Bograd stepped into the room, “right this way Lord Potter will your companion be joining you?”

Hadrian looked to Elizabeth who nodded “I’ll see you off and then see to your things, lets go.”

Once they reached the portkey room Hadrian searched his protkey box and found the one for Grimmauld Place. Before saying the activation phrase on impulse Hadrian hugged Elizabeth and exclaimed “thank you so much Miss Elizabeth, I’ll see you tomorrow, goodbye.”

Hadrian stepped away and after uttering “Toujours Pur” the last thing he saw was Elizabeth smiling and waving goodbye.”

The next thing he saw was a shabby attic he was just looking around when he jumped at hearing a loud pop. Turning to the location of the sound he saw a very old house elf.

The house elf blinked up at him before shrinking “Master Black has returned. What can Kreacher do for Master Black?”

Chapter Text

“Kreacher?” questioned Hadrian “is this Grimmauld Place?”

Kreacher gave him a withering look “Master Black comes home and Master Black doesn’t even know where he is.”

“oh, I suppose it is,” Hadrian laughed with embarrassment. “I just went through a cleansing ritual at gringotts. It really took a lot out of me, is there anywhere I could lie down for a while?”

Kreacher just stared at him for a minute before turning and directing “Master Black will follow Kreature.”

Hadrian followed Kreature as he led him out of the attic. Once they reached the landing between the second and third floor they ran into someone. “Sirius” Hadrian cried before launching himself into his godfather's arms.

“Harry” shouted Sirius “what are you doing here, did Dumbledore send for you already?”

Hadrian pulled back and looked Sirius in the face, “what do you mean did Dumbledore send for me?”

Sirius stared down at Hadrian “if Dumbledore didn’t send for you then how did you even get here you’re meant to be with your relatives until the end of summer.”

Hadrian sighed in frustration “we have a lot to talk about” he growled. He slapped the results of his inheritance test against Sirius’s chest and snarled “Go over this, in the meantime I am going to take a short nap.” “Kreature, Please show me to my room.”

Once they reached a large room on the second floor Hadrian groaned when he saw that the room contained a large hippogryph. He turned to Kreacher and asked “why is Buckbeak here.”

Kreacher gave him a sly look before turning to the door and shrieking “The blood traitor thinks he’s the master, put the big bird in Master Black's room, tried to take Master Black's rooms and give Kreacher orders.”

Hadrian started in surprise at Kreacher's loud shriek. “Ookay, then, do you think you can find a more appropriate place for him.”

Kreacher snapped his fingers and Buckbeak disappeared, Kreacher snapped once more and the room cleaned and straightened itself out.

“Thank you Kreacher, please wake me up in an hour for a late lunch, Sirius and I have a lot to talk about.” yawned Hadrian.

“Kreacher will do as Master Black asks” the old house elf croaked before popping away. As soon as

Hadrian's head hit the pillow he was sound asleep.

Hadrian woke up upon hearing Kreature returning to his room. “Master Black will eat lunch in the dining room?” Kreature asked.

“Sure Kreature, show me the way” replied Hadrian.

In the dining room Hadrian found a large feast and Sirius pouring over the results of his inheritance test looking dejected.

As Hadrian sat down Sirius looked up “I’m so sorry Harry, If I had any idea what Dumbldore was doing to you I never would have agreed to let him use the house for Order of the Phoenix meetings.”

Hadrian sighed and put his head in his hand, “First, I know that you didn’t know so that's fine, second what is the Order of the Phoenix, and third Dumbledore has been using the house, has he done anything to it? Also I’d like it if you could call me Hadrian”

Sirius looked down at his plate and nodded, "Dumbledore has been here, he wanted to use it for the group that fought you-know-who during the last war.” Sirius sighed and put his head in his hands “he was coming tomorrow to put the house under fidelus.”

Hadrian took a deep breath and slowly blew it out, “Ok then, we have a lot to do before tomorrow. Is there any way to prevent people from coming into the house?”

Sirius grinned “yes there is a warding book in the basement, it logs everyone that enters the property, only the Lord can use it to prevent entry.”

Hadrian nodded “Alright we can do that after lunch, then I would like to discuss some of the things in my inheritance test, such as the creature inheritance, and the marriage contract. But first let's eat.”

After lunch Sirius and Hadrian made their way down to the basement and Sirius showed him the warding book. “This is the warding book if you want to prevent someone from entering the property just write no ingressum next to their name, if their name isn’t there you can add it.”

“Thanks Sirius” Hadrian said as he stepped forward to prevent Dumbledore and his former friends from invading his new home.

Once he was done he and Sirius retired to the sitting room. As they settled in Sirius asked “what did you want to talk about?”

“My creature inheritance I’m a dark elf do you know what that means?” asked Hadrian.

Sirius sat back and thought for a moment. I do know that once your creature inheritance comes in you will have a change in appearance, since you have a elf inheritance you will most likely get pointed ears and because you are a dominant you will grow taller. I’m not sure about anything else but we can check in the library for any books on the subject. Do you have any other questions?”

Hadrian grimaced “yes about the marriage contracts you don’t think that I’ll have to marry Ginny do you?”

Sirius scowled at the thought of his godson being forced to marry that girl. “No I don’t think so, your inheritance marked the contract with her as illegal and the contract with the Nott family predates it. From what I remember older marriage contracts take precedence over newer ones. The contract with the Nott family is very old though I would need to see the actual contract before I can tell you more.”

Hadrian nodded once “Good I really didn’t want to marry Ginny. Tomorrow when I visit the bank I’ll see if I can find out more information on the Nott contract.”

Sirius got up “great” he exclaimed “how about we head up to the library to do some research.”

Hadrian got up and followed Sirius up to the library where they settled in for a long day of research.

Chapter Text

Hadrian and Sirius reached deep into the night, stopping only when Hadrian began to yawn and drift off before jerking himself awake. After bidding good night to Sirius, Hadrian retired to his room where once again he fell into bed and drifted off into a deep sleep.

The next morning Hadrian woke to the sun coming through the window. He sat up and stretched before getting up to get ready for the day. When Hadrian opened the wardrobe he found it full of new clothes that were his size. He grinned and silently reminded himself to thank Kreature later. As he headed down for breakfast he thought about all he learned in his research. He would be going through his creature inheritance early, on his fifteenth birthday, in just 20 days. He also learned that he would most likely need to get married, most likely sooner than later. He would learn more about that when he went to Gringotts later today. He ate breakfast with Sirius before running off to explore the rest of the house until it was time to leave.

As he was leaving to go to Gringotts Sirius met him in the hall.

Hadrian turned to Sirius and said “I have a meeting at Gringotts, I’ll see you later.”

Sirius exclaimed “what you do mean you’ll see me later, I’m coming with you.”

Hadrian blinked “Sirius you do know that you're still a wanted man, you can’t be seen.”

Sirius just laughed and transformed into Padfoot.

Hadrian sighed “fine you can come.” As they stepped outside Hadrian took in the beautiful weather and decided to enjoy the nice day on a walk to diagon alley.

As they arrived at Gringotts Hadrian noticed Elizabeth waiting for him on the steps. “Miss Elizabeth” he called in greeting.

Elizabeth turned at his call, “Hadrian it's so nice to see you again, oh and who is your friend?”

Hadrian startled at the question and turned to look at Sirius, “oh ah Padfoot” he blurted, “he’s my dog, I have a dog.” Elizabeth nodded “I can see that, It’s lovely to meet you Padfoot. Shall we head inside.”

Once they got to the front of the line Hadrian stepped forward and said “excuse me, I have a meeting with my account manager Ironclaw.”

The goblin peered over the counter at him “very well Lord Potter, please follow Burgock.”

Harry, Elizabeth and Sirius followed Burgock to Ironclaws office. Inside the office Ironclaw rose to greet them “good afternoon Lord Potter, please you and your guests take a seat.”

As they sat, Ironclaw pulled some papers out of his desk. “Lord Potter '' said Ironclaw “here I have a copy of both marriage contracts and an inventory of items that have been taken from your vaults. Which would you like to see first?”

Hadrian thought for a moment “the inventory please, that shouldn't take too long, then we can do the marriage contracts.”

Ironclaw handed a parchment over to Hadrian “this inventory lists your vaults, what items were taken and who withdrew the item.”

Potter
Invisibility Cloak - APWBD
Grimoires - Hermione

Peverell
Elder wand - APWBD
Grimoires - Hermione

Gryffindor
Sword - APWBD

Gaunt
Ring - Tom Riddle

Hadrian sighed and leaned back in his seat “Is there any way I can get my things back?”

Elizabeth patted his hand “don’t worry Hadrian, I can help you find a solicitor that can help.”

“Gringotts takes theft seriously, I will see that goblin solicitors take action as well” grunted Ironclaw. “Now, which Marriage contract would you like to see first?”

Hadrian gulped nervously and answered “the one for Ginny please.” Ironclaw nodded and handed over the contract.

Marriage Contract
Harry Potter and Ginevra Weasley
Mr Potter and Miss Weasley will be married upon the elder coming of age
Upon marriage Miss Weasley shall obtain the title of Lady Potter
Lady Potter shall take over all financial and political responsibilities
Lord Potter give up all access to any and all vaults and properties in his possession
Lord Potter will receive 50 Galleons per week
In the event of divorce Lord Potter will not regain his financial or political power or access to any and all vaults and properties
Signed APWBD and Molly Weasley

After reading the contract Hadrian had to take several deep breaths to prevent panic. Once he calmed down he asked “This is illegal right? I won’t actually have to marry Ginny will I? If I have to go through with this she’ll take everything I have.”

At this Sirius growled in displeasure and Hadrian reached down to pet him.

“No Lord Potter” replied Ironclaw “you will not have to marry Miss Weasley. Apart from being illegal the other marriage predates her contract by over 400 years. This means that it takes precedence. Would you like to add it to the list of things our solicitors need to look into?”

Hadrian nodded “yes please, can I see the other contract now?” This time the parchment Ironclaw handed him was yellowed and cracked with age.

Marriage Contract between Potter and Nott Houses
To be between a dominant and submissive
A dominant must be in either the potter or nott house
A submissive must be in either the potter or nott house
The marriage must take place a fortnight from the dominant gaining their creature inheritance
Afterwich the submissive if they have not done so will gain their creature inheritance
The submissive will become and act as the lady of the house taking on all responsibilities of that of a lady
If the lady has any lordships they will turn that lordship over to the dominant and take up the position of lady of that house
The lady will obtain all access to all and any vaults
The dominant will respect and care for the submissive in all things
A child must be conceived one year after marriage
This contract is magically binding
Signed Lord Ignatius Potter and Lord Thorfinn Nott

Hadrian stared down at the contract in shock. Looking up he asked “there's no way out of this one is there?”

Ironclaw sighed “I’m afraid not Lord Potter. This contract is magically binding, this means that if you don’t marry both you and Heir Nott will lose your magic.”

Elizabeth leaned forward “Hadrian I know this is a terrible situation and that you probably didn’t want to get married so soon, but I promise to help you through it and if you need someone to talk to I will always be there.”

Hadrian nodded “I suppose that I should meet him shouldn't I? How can I do that?”

“I can send a letter to Heir Nott requesting a meeting, you may use one of the meeting rooms here at Gringotts.”

Harry nodded, “That would work. Can we meet at tea time? Meeting the person I’m supposed to marry for the first time might go better with tea.”

Ironclaw took out a calendar and looked at it “very well Lord Potter how does tea tomorrow sound?”

Hadrian nodded “that sounds great, I’ll be here tomorrow then.”

As they were leaving Elizabeth asked “Hadrian, do you want me to come to your meeting tomorrow?”

Hadrian thought for a moment “No, I think this is something that I need to do on my own. Thank you so much for everything Miss Elizabeth, I’ll see you later.”

Elizabeth smiled and nodded “ok Hadrian I’ll see you later and please write if you need anything or have any questions.”

Hadrian waved goodbye to Elizabeth. Turning to Sirius he smirked “come on Pads, lets walk home shall we.”

Chapter Text

On the north side of the island of North Ronaldsay in Scotland stood Nott manor. Late at night on July 11 sat Theodore Nott. He was curled up in an armchair by the fire going over the essay he had just written for potions, when he heard pecking at the window. He got up to let the owl in and took the letter. Looking at the letter he noticed that it was addressed to him. Theo wandered back to his seat and flipped the letter over and startled at the Gringotts seal. What was Gringotts sending him a letter for? He didn’t have anything to do with the care of their family accounts, his father took care of that. With shaking hands he opened the letter.

Dear Heir Nott,

We at Gringotts are writing to inform you that your betrothed has recently been emancipated. During the emancipation process the marriage contract between you and your betrothed was discovered. A meeting has been scheduled for you and your betrothed at tea time, tomorrow at Gringotts.

Signed, Gringotts Goblins

Theo stared at the letter, shocked. Why didn’t he know anything about this? Surely his father would have said something. His father may be a terrible person, but even he wouldn't negotiate a marriage contract for him and not say anything. 

The next day Theo worked on finishing his summer homework while nervously waiting for the time to leave to meet his betrothed. Eventually he settled on switching between reading and watching the clock. When it was finally time to leave he made his way through the manor to the floo room, where he flooed to the leaky cauldron, and made his way down diagon alley to Gringotts.

In the bank he made his way to a teller and asked “excuse me, I got a letter letting me know about a meeting scheduled with my betrothed.

The goblin teller looked at him “yes we are expecting Heir Nott, please follow griphook.”

Theo turned to follow the new goblin to the meeting room. They went down many long hallways, and past many doors before finally reaching your destination. Griphook opened the door for him and as Theo entered he noticed the boy, about his age waiting for him.

When the boy noticed him he stood up “it's so nice to meet you Heir Nott, please join me for tea. We have a lot to discuss.”

When Theo finally took notice of the boy’s face he stepped back in surprise “Potter” he exclaimed. 

Hadrian and Sirius enjoyed their walk home. Unfortunately their enjoyable walk was ruined as soon as they got home. Kreature met them in the entryway screeching about the evil headmaster sending letters. Sirius and Hadrian looked at eachother and before going to the dinning room where two owls sat.

Hadrian took the letters from each of them, before handing one to Sirius “this ones for you.”

Sirius opened the letter and silently read before declaring “Dumbledoor tried to get into the house to set the fidelius today. He wants to know why he couldn't get in. What should I tell him?”

Hadrian scowled “Tell him that you changed your mind or make something else up, just don’t tell him that I’m here.” Opening his letter Hadrian's scowl only got deeper as he read.

Harry my boy,

Why have you left your relatives? I can assure that they miss you and are quite worried for your safety. Please return home as soon as possible. You need to be there to maintain the blood wards. I’m afraid without the bloodwards both you and your family will be in danger. Harry my boy you need to return home for both yours and your family’s safety. You wouldn’t want them to get hurt because of you. 

Sincerely, Albus Dumbledore

Hadrian was so angry after reading Dumbledore's letter that he had to restrain himself from tearing it. After a few deep breaths Hadrian managed to calm down enough to think.

After sitting down at the table he stared at the letter in deep thought muttering “what should I do with you? Ah, I know.”

Hadrian resealed the letter and reattached it to the owl's leg before telling it to go find Dumbledoor.

Sirius looked at him quizzically, “Why did you do that?” he asked.

Hadrian smirked “If the owl returns with an unread letter it means that it couldn’t find the recipient and I want Dumbledoor to think that the owl couldn’t me.”

Sirius and Hadrian spent the rest of the day together, just being in the same room reading their own books.

The next morning Hadrian went down for breakfast with Sirius.

During breakfast Sirius asked “are you ready to meet the person you're going to marry today?”

Hadrian groaned “no, I’m pretty nervous, what if he hates me?”

Sirius grabbed his hand “it’ll be fine, who could hate you, you’re awesome. I know you said you wanted to go to this meeting yourself but if you want I could go with you as padfoot.”

Hadrian sighed “no I think this is something that I really need to do myself. I think that I’ll do my homework until I need to leave.” 

Hadrian made sure that he arrived at the bank 30 minutes early. He made his way to a teller “excuse me I believe that I have a meeting room scheduled for tea time.”

The goblin behind the desk grunted “Please follow Griphook.”

Hadrian turned “Griphook it’s so good to see you again.”

Griphook grinned “and you as well Lord Potter?”

As they walked to the meeting room Hadrian decided to ask “Griphook does Gringotts have something I can use like a credit card?”

Griphook answered “you can use your lord ring, simply press your ring into the payment plaque found at the register.”

Hadrian nodded and questioned “what about in the muggle world.”

“See a teller before you leave, they will set you up to work in the muggle world.” Hadrian thanked Griphook just as they reached the meeting room.

The room was of medium size with a crackling fireplace and several comfortable arm chairs. There was a low table laid out with tea between two of the chairs. As Hadrian took in the room he settled in to wait. 

Hadrian stood when the door cracked open “it’s nice to meet you Heir Nott, please join me for tea. We have a lot to discuss.”

The boy who just walked through the door jumped and backed away before exclaiming “Potter” in surprise.

Hadrian just sighed “I'm sorry I know I’m probably not the person you wanted to see. Please sit down. I have a copy of the marriage contract for you to look at. It’s Theo right, you're in slytherin.

Theo nodded and sat, he took the papers that Potter handed him and began to read. As he read Potter began serving their tea.    

The marriage contract was from the 16th century, know wonder he didn’t know about it. He briefly wondered if there was any mention of it in his family records. After reading the marriage contract he flipped to the second parchment Potter had given him, an inheritance test. Theo gasped in surprise at the information on Potters inheritance test, it seemed that he wasn’t willingly going along with Dumbledore's plans.

Once he finished reading he looked up and asked “by showing me this I take it you’re telling me that you are no longer going to go along with what Dumbledore wants.”

Hadrian shook his head “no, I don’t want to follow anyone else's plans for me.”

Theo nodded “does this also include the Dark Lord?”

Hadrian scowled “yes is this going to be a problem for you?”

Theo leaned back in his chair “no that's great I want nothing to do with the Dark Lord. Should I call you Hadrian, or Lord Potter?”

Hadrian breathed out a sigh of relief “that's good, please call me Hadrian. I know that this situation isn’t ideal, but I would like to make the best of it if that's ok with you.”

Theo chuckled “there are worse people that I could marry. According to the contract we need to marry two weeks after your birthday. I propose that until then we date and get to know one another.”

Hadrian smiled “I’d like that, would you mind if some of our dates took place in the muggle world?”

Theo bliked “oh ah I suppose I’d be okay with that, how about you plan dates for the muggle world and I’ll plan dates in the wixen world.”

Hadrian grinned “that sounds great. May I plan our first date?”

Theo nodded “that would be alright, but only if I can plan our next one.” 

“Great” Hadrian beamed “please meet me at the leaky tomorrow at 2. Wear your best muggle passing clothes.”

“Okay, I can do that” answered Theo with determination.

“Alright, I need to see the goblins before I leave. So goodbye and I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Theo smiled and waved “goodbye, see you tomorrow.”

After saying their goodbyes Theo headed out of the bank on his way home, and Hadrian headed to the front of the bank to speak to a teller. 

Hadrian joined the line to speak to a teller. When he got to the front of the line he spoke “I was told that I could get something that works like a credit card in the muggle world here.”

The goblin reached into the desk and pulled out what looked like a black piece of glass. Handing Hadrian the glass the goblin directed “press your lordship ring into the corner to activate the card. Using it will automatically pull funds from your vault.”

Hadrian did as directed and once he pulled his ring away Lord Hadrian Potter was embellished in gold on top of the card. “Thank you” Hadrian said as he turned away to head home. 

When he got home he found Sirius waiting for him in the entryway.

“How did it go?” Sirius asked.

Hadrian tiredly smiled “I think it went well, we are having a date tomorrow.”

Sirius smiled “that's great, I’m happy for you pup. Do you want help planning your date?”

Hadrian nodded “that would be great.”

Hadrian and Sirius wandered into the sitting room and spent the rest of the night making plans for Hadrian’s date.

Chapter Text

   Hadrian and Sirius discussed where to take Theo for their date over a light dinner. Eventually they decided that they would see a movie, go shopping in the muggle world and if they were feeling hungry after shopping stop into a cafe for something quick to eat. Hadrian planned to let Theo choose the movie and buy him a gift during their shopping trip.

The next morning during breakfast Hadrian asked Sirius if he had any suitable muggle clothes that he could borrow.

After breakfast Sirius brought Hadrian up to his room and showed him a chest. “You can choose anything in there, it should be fine for the date that you have planned today, but you might want to think about getting your own muggle clothes. After all you should have a wardrobe that has something appropriate for all occasions."

“Thank you, Sirius. These will do for now until I can get my own.” Hadrian looked through the chest and eventually chose an old band shirt, a leather jacket and acid washed jeans. He decided that he could at least wear his own shoes.

Once he was dressed he hugged Sirius goodbye and left for the walk to the Leaky caldron.

The morning of their first day Theo was nervous. He had no idea what to wear, he had gone through his wardrobe and just couldn’t seem to settle on anything. Eventually he just picked something at random. Some black trousers, and a deep green button down shirt with his dragonhide boots. Looking in the mirror, he thought that he looked fine and hoped he could pass as a muggle. Quickly he flued to the leaky caldron before he felt the need to change clothes again.

When Hadrian arrived at the leaky caldron he found Theo waiting at the bar. “Theo” he called “are you ready to go?”

At Hadrian's call Theo turned to look at him. He frowned when he noticed what Hadrian was wearing. “Did I wear the wrong thing? I don’t have anything like what you're wearing. Should I transfigure my clothes to be more like your’s?”

Hadrian chuckled “No, please don’t change anything. You look great, I’m just dressed a little more casually than you.”

“Oh Ok then, that's good. This is my first time in the muggle world, I guess I’m more nervous than I thought I was.”

Hadrian smiled, “that's fine, I’ll be with you the whole time. Take a deep breath to calm down and then we can go.”

Theo took several slow deep breaths “Ok lets go”. As Hadrian led Theo out of the leaky cauldron he explained “I thought we could see a movie before doing some shopping and then grabbing a bite to eat.”

Theo blinked “I know about shopping and going to restaurants, but what’s a movie?”

Hadrian thought for a moment about how to describe what a movie was. “It’s kind of like our moving photographs, except there’s sound, they last about an hour and a half and they tell a story.”

“Oh” said Theo, “that sounds interesting.”

After a short walk they reached the theater Hadrian showed Theo the posters of the movies that were playing. “You choose what you want to see.”

Theo gulped and stepped forward and began to examine all the posters before pausing on Pocahontas. “Why does this one look different?”

“That's a cartoon, it's made using drawings instead of actors. Would you like to see it?”

Theo nodded “I think I would.”

Hadrian went up to the counter “two tickets for Pocahontas, please.”

The ticket agent entered the information into the till “ that will be ￡6.96.”

Hadrian nervously handed over his Gringotts card.

The ticket agent took the card and ran it through the credit card machine, printed the tickets and handed them over with his card. “Here you go, enjoy the show.”

Hadrian sighed in relief that his card had actually worked as he returned to Theo. “I got the tickets, let's go get some snacks.”

They made their way over to the concession stand and looked over all the candy that was available. Hadrian explained the sweets as best as he could, after all he hadn’t had much while living with the Dursleys. In the end they chose to share a large bucket of popcorn and get some soft drinks. After getting their snacks they went into the theater and found some seats.

Hadrian heard Theo jump and gasp next to him as the previews started. He leaned over and whispered “these are just previews, they show what will be available to watch later.”

Theo just nodded completely entranced by what was going on on the screen.

During the movie Hadrian couldn’t help glancing over at Theo, it was sort of cute how he was completely engrossed in the movie, and how he made little noises at what was going on up on the screen.

After the movie as they were leaving the theater Hadrian asked Theo “well did you enjoy the movie?”

Theo exclaimed “I loved it, I can’t think of why we don’t have anything like that in the wixen world.”

Hadrian grinned “I’m glad you liked it, we can come back and see another one sometime. I thought we could do a little shopping and get something to eat on the way back to the leaky.”

Theo nodded “That sounds nice. Do you think we could go to a bookstore?”

Hadrian nodded, “Sure, do you like books, what kind do you like?”

“Yes,” answered Theo “I love books, all kinds but I especially like to get lost in a good novel.”

“Alright then, lets go the the bookstore” said Hadrian.

Once they reached the bookstore Hadrian held the door open for Theo. Hadrian silently followed Theo around the store as he looked through everything. When he noticed Theo sadly putting a book back on a shelf Hadrian went and grabbed and asked the person behind the till to please hold it for him.

After looking around for a few more minutes Theo mentioned he was ready to get something to eat.

Hadrian nodded “Ok I’m hungry too, can you wait outside, I just need to grab something real quick.”

Theo looked a bit unsure, “Ok but be quick.” When Theo stepped outside Hadrian went to the till and purchased the book.

Stepping outside he asked Theo “Ok are you ready to get something to eat?”

Theo looked curiously at his bag before nodding “ok, lets go.”

After walking around they eventually found a small cafe that looked good. Entering the cafe took a seat and looked at the menu.

After a few minutes Hadrian asked “do you know what you want. I think I’ll have the turkey sandwich with some chips and tea.”

Theo took a few more minutes to scrutinize the menu. “Hmm, I think I’ll have a cheese toastie, with tomato soup and tea as well.”

Once they ordered, Theo asked “what did you buy in the bookstore.”

Hadrian hummed “Oh just a small gift.” Hadrian handed the bag over to Theo “for you.”

Theo stared at Hadrian with wide eyes “Thank you, can I open it now or should I wait?”

“You can open whenever you like, Theo,” responded Hadrian.

Just as Theo was about to open his gift their food arrived. “Oh” said Theo, “I’ll open after we eat, this smells heavenly.”

As they ate they made small talk, just getting to know each other. As they were finishing their meal Hadrian asked “how did you like your meal, you seemed to enjoy it?”

Theo looked up from finishing off his tomato soup, “it was delicious, I’d like to come here again and try something else on the menu.”

Hadrian looked pleased as he replied “I’m glad, do you want to open your gift now?”

Theo nodded, picked up the bag and pulled the book out. When he saw that it was the book that he wanted, the one that he was so sad to have to put back he practically launched himself across the table to hug Hadrian. “Oh, Hadrian, I love it, this is just what I wanted, thank you so much.”

Hadrian laughed “I’m glad you like it so much, would you like me to walk you back to the leaky cauldron?”

“Yes,” grinned Theo, “let's go.”

Hadrian paid for their meal and once they were back outside Hadrian offered his arm to Theo. Theo barely took a moment to think before latching on to his arm and allowing himself to be led back toward the leaky cauldron. Once inside the leaky cauldron the new couple made their way to the floo.

At the floo Theo turned to Hadrian “I had such a great time today and so many good new experiences. Is it ok if I tell my friends?”

“Your friends are Malfoy and Zabini right?” Hadrian sighed at Theo’s nod. “I don’t really like Malfoy but, I'm sure some of that dislike came from the people around me and the spells and compulsions on me. However despite my dislike, they are your friends so you can tell them. Just make sure that they keep it to themselves. I don’t want Dumbledore or my former friends finding out about us and trying to do something to you.”

Theo nodded in understanding “ok that makes sense, I don’t really want Dumbledore to find out either, at least not yet.”

Before Theo left Hadrian leaned in and gave him a hug goodbye, “you plan our next date, you can write to me or foo call me at Grimmauld Place, I had a really nice time with you today Theo.”

Theo stepped back and grinned “I will, see you soon” before flooing home.

Once Theo was gone Hadrian turned and headed home himself.

At the Burrow, Albus Dumbledore had gathered the Order of the Phoenix. They had gathered together to discuss what to do about Sirius and Harry.

To start the meeting Dumbledore announced “I would like to thank Molly and Aurther for the use of their home. It seems that Sirius has had to rescind the use of his home due to a case of spattergroit.”

“Oh” gasped Molly “someone should be there to at least check in on him.”

Dumbledore waved her concern away “not to worry Molly, Sirius has assured me that his house elf is happily caring for all his needs. Now onto the real issue at hand it appears that young Harry has disappeared from his relatives and the letter I sent him was returned unread. Have his friends heard from him at all?”

Molly shook her head “no, they haven't heard anything, when I spoke to them they seemed worried as well.”

Kingsley leaned forward “I’ll have the auror’s keep an eye out for a boy fitting Harry’s description.”

“Thank you Kingsley” Dumbledore twinkled “Molly, Aurther can you have the children write Harry letters, he may be more inclined to answer letters from friends.”

As the meeting went on no one noticed the pair of small ears lying on the floor near the door.

Chapter Text

When Hadrian returned to Grimmauld Place, Sirius was once again waiting for him in the entryway.

“How did it go pup?” Asked Sirius.

“It went great” gushed Hadrian “Theo is so cute, I could really see myself falling for him.”

Sirius grinned “that's great pup, I’m happy that you at least wound up with someone you like.” Sirius spent the rest of the evening listening to Hadrian talk all about his date with Theo.

When Hadrian woke the next morning he felt lighter than air, like nothing could bring him down. Until he got to the dining room and saw Sirius glowering at several owls crowding the table.

Hadrian scowled “what now, please tell me that at least one is from Elizabeth or Theo?”

Sirius gestured to a large owl that seemed to be glaring at the rest “I think that one might be from Elizabeth”

Hadrian took the letter from Elizabeth to read over breakfast. Once he read the letter he told Sirius “Elizabeth got me a meeting with a solicitor for today at one o’clock. Do you want to come as Padfoot?”

Sirius smiled “I’d love to Hadrian. Who is the solicitor you're meeting?”

Hadrian looked back at the letter “Jacob Brown. She left a floo address so we won’t we’ll be able to go straight to his office.”

“Hmm, never heard of him, I hope he’s good,” muttered Sirius.

“Well” said Hadrian “if Elizabeth is recommending him I’m sure he’s good.” Hadrian looked at the clock “we have a few hours before we need to leave. I’m going to finish up my homework.”

“Ok, pup” said Sirius “let me know if you need any help.”

When it was time to leave Hadrian and Sirius gathered by the fireplace. Sirius transformed into Padfoot and together they flooed to the solicitor's office. Hadrian stumbled out of the floo and would have fallen if Padfoot had not caught him by the back of the shirt with his teeth. As he looked up from his stumble he saw Elizabeth and a young man approaching from an office.

“Hadrian” Elizabeth greeted “it’s lovely to see you again. May I introduce you to Mr. Jacob Brown, your new solicitor.”

Hadrian shook Jacob’s hand “It’s lovely to meet you, thank you so much for your help.”

Jacob smiled “It’s lovely to meet you as well Mr. Potter. Now if you don’t mind, let's head into my office and get to work, shall we.”

Hadrian, Elizabeth and Padfoot all followed Jacob Brown into his office. Elizabeth and Hadrian took their seats in front of the desk while Padfoot laid down by Hadrian's feet.

As Jacob took his seat behind his desk he pulled several papers from a drawer. “Now Mr. Potter, I understand that you have had several spells and compulsions put on you as well as several items stolen from your vaults, is this correct?”

Hadrian nodded “it was Dumbledore and who I thought was my friends.”

Jacob sighed “yes I know, the Weasley’s and Mrs Granger should be fairly simple to deal with. However Dumbledore is another story altogether. He is a decorated and respected wizard, and with him being the Chief Warlock of the Wizengomot and the Supreme Mugwump of the ICW, it could make dealing with any lawsuits against him very difficult and lengthy.”

Hadrian nodded “I understand, what can I do?”

“you can save any letters that you receive from Dumbledore, the Weasley’s or Mrs.Granger. It would also help if you started keeping a journal of any interactions you have with them.

“Oh” Said Hadrian “I already got a letter from Dumbledore, I resealed it and sent it back.”

“That’s ok, as long as you save any letters from here on out.” assured Jacob “I will be drafting letters ordering the return of your things, however with Dumbledoor's power this case will most likely be brought before the wizengamot.”

Hadrian nodded “that's ok, is there anything else I can do.”

“Apart from keeping meticulous records of all your interactions, you could try to recall and write down anything from your past that you think might be relevant.” Suggested Jacob.

Hadrian nodded “Ok I can do that, do you think you could also help my godfather Sirius. I promise he’s innocent, he was just sent to azkaban without a trial.”

Jacob stared at Hadrian in shock “oh wow, yes, If your godfather is proven innocent in a trial after all these years it could also help your case against Dumbledore. Why don’t you have your godfather write down what he remembers from that time and I’ll look into any information I can find about his arrest.”

Hadrian grinned “Thank you, I’ll get to work writing everything I remember down as soon as I get home.”

“Very good, Mr.Potter, how about we meet again in two weeks at the same time. Does that work for you?”

Hadrian stood to shake Jacobs hand “yes that works for me, I’ll see you in two weeks.” Hadrian said his goodbyes to both Elizabeth and Jacob before he and Padfoot left the office. Instead of going through the floo he stepped out onto the street. Noticing a street sign on the corner he walked toward it and read Parallel Street and Diagon alley. Looking toward Parallel Street he decided to do some shopping before going home.

As he and Padfoot wandered up Parallel Street looking in windows he came across a clothing shop. “Padfoot you did say I need to get my own wardrobe right?” Padfoot snorted in confirmation. Hadrian nodded and entered the shop. He bought a full wardrobe, robes, shirts, trousers, shoes, and even socks and underwear.

Stepping back out onto the street with his shrunken packages he said to Padfoot “I got a wizarding wardrobe nothing too fancy but it will do for now. Are you ready to go home?” Padfoot barked in approval and they headed back down the street, down Diagon alley and through the leaky cauldron to the muggle world. Once they reached home Hadrian went upstairs to put his new clothes away.

After he met Sirius in the dining room where Kreacher had provided some snacks so they could go over the rest of the letters that had been sent to Hadrian. Hadrian gathered the letters and split them between himself and Sirius. They took turns reading them outloud.

Sirius read Ron’s letter first.

Harry,

Where are you? Dumbledore said that you had left your relatives. If you want you can stay with us. It would be loads of fun if you did, we could play quidditch in the back garden every day. Hermonie is here, she keeps nagging me about doing the summer homework. And the twins are so annoying. They're working on something for the school year, they keep using me as a test subject.

Can’t wait to see you, Ron.

Hadrian snorted “ugg, he asks me to come over and then spends the rest of the letter complaining. I’ll read the next one from Hermoine.”

Harry,

Where have you been? Why would you leave your relatives? It's not safe with Voldemort back. You should at least let Ron and I know where you are, we could come get you and bring you to the Burrow. Although I do wish you had just listened to Dumbledore and stayed with your relatives. I’m sure if you had we’d all be together now. Have you done your summer homework? If you come to the Burrow I can look it over for you. Please if not Professor Dumbledore then at least let your friends know where you are.

Your Friend Hermione Granger

Hadrian threw his head back and groaned “All she did was ask about where I am and tell me to do my homework. And then she offers to look over my homework as if I don’t know how to do it on my own. Tch! Go ahead and read the next one Sirius.”

Sirius nodded and opened the next letter. As the letter opened a small box popped out. Sirius and Hadrian stared at the box in shock. Hadrian raised his wand and waved it over the box checking for poisons and love potions. The box flew open and the chocolates inside glowed a bright pink.

Sirius nodded “love potion.”

Hadrian grumbled “Ginny. Don’t even bother reading the letter. It will just be about how she loves me and wants us to get together.”

Sirius nodded “ok should I read the next one, I think it's from the twins?”

Hadrian muttered “sure, I really hope that they aren’t in on this.”

Sirius patted Hadrian on the shoulder “me to pup.” Sirius opened up the letter and read.

Harry mate,

Dumbledore was here last night. He had a meeting with our parents and a bunch of other adults. We managed to listen in on them. Dumbledore said that they were originally going to meet at Sirius’s place but he was sick, so they were meeting at the Burrow instead. They also kept talking about you going missing. Good for you for running away from your awful relatives mate. This morning mom had us all sit down and write you letters. We’re supposed to be finding out where you are or convincing you to come to the Burrow. We’re starting up a business with the prize money you gave us, Weasley Wizard Wheezes! We’ll see you this school year, in the meantime let us know if you need anything.

Your friends Gred and Feorge

“Well,” said Hadrian “I don’t think they had anything to do with Dumbledore's manipulations.”

Sirius sighed in relief “I’m glad that you still have some friends, Hadrian. Do you want to read the last letter?”

Hadrian nodded and opened the last letter. “Oh, Um it's from Theo, I don’t think I’ll read this aloud.”

Sirius laughed “That's fine, Hadrian, why don’t you put these letters away in the study and then read your letter from Theo.”

Hadrian grinned, gathered up the letters and scampered off to the study. Once the letters from Hermione and the Weasleys were put away he sat down to read Theo’s letter.

My Dearest Hadrian,

I loved our date and look forward to the next. The book you got me is wonderful. I imagine that what the main character is experiencing is similar to how muggleborns feel when they first enter the Wixen world. On the subject of our next date please meet me at the leaky cauldron on Sunday July 16. Please wear simple wixen robes. I look forward to seeing you once again.

Your Betrothed, Theodore ‘Theo’ Nott

Chapter Text

Hadrian and Sirius spent all of Saturday writing down their past interactions with Dumbledore, Hermione and the Weasleys. Sirius wrote about the first wizarding war, how the Potters went into hiding and the betrayal of Peter Petigrew. Hadrian wrote about how he first met the Weasleys and his subsequent years at Hogwarts. He also included a copy of his Inheritance test, his marriage contract with Ginny and the letters he had received. Once they had managed to compile everything that they could remember Hadrian sent it off to Jacob Brown with Hedwig.

Theo spent his Saturday the same way he spent every Saturday, with Draco and Blaize. Today they met at Blaize's house. They were in the middle of a game of exploding snaps with Draco and Blaize lounging on a couch while Theo sat across from them in a chair.

“I have something to tell you, '' Theo announced.

Both Draco and Blaize sat up and looked at him. “Well, go on, tell us,” said Draco.

Theo gathered his courage “I have a betrothed and we’re probably getting married sometime in the middle of August.”

“What” exclaimed Blaize “is your father making you marry someone?”

“You’re still underage. Why would you get married so soon?” asked Draco.

Theo put his head in his hands “there's a marriage contract, it's from the 16th century. We both meet the criteria for the contract so there’s no choice.”

“Oh well tell us who it is” demanded Draco.

“First you need to promise you won’t freak out or do anything crazy.” begged Theo. After extracting both of their promises Theo told them “Potter, I’m marrying Potter.”

“P-p-potter” Sputtered Draco “are you all right with this, you’ll let us know if he mistreats you won’t you?”

Theo blushed “he's not what we thought at all guys. He's actually really sweet. We already went out on a date and it was amazing.”

“What do you mean he’s not what we thought?” pressed Blaize.

“Oh well he was emancipated by the triwizard tournament and had to get an inheritance test. It turns out that he had a bunch of spells, potions and blocks on him, all done by Dumbledore, the Weasley’s and Granger. Also not only did they put spells and blocks on him they were also stealing from him and the Weasley girl had an illegal marriage contract with him.”

Draco and Blaize sat there stunned. Draco recovered first “I take it he had a cleansing ritual done, and he’s different without the spells and blocks?”

Theo shook his head yes “loads different, I can really see myself falling for him.”

Sunday morning Hadrian got up and went down to breakfast with Sirius. “Good morning pup” greeted Sirius, “are you ready for your date?”

“Good morning Sirius” yawned Hadrian “I’m looking forward to our date.”

As they were finishing up an owl flew in and landed in front of Hadrian. Hadrian took the letter and opened it. After skimming the letter he announced “it's from Jacob Brown, he got you a trial on August 12th.”

Sirius gaped at him “Already, that was faster than expected.”

Hadrian nodded “he said it's because the lack of records made it easy to prove that you never had a trial in the first place.”

Sirius jumped up with a loud whoop. He rounded the table and scooped Hadrian up in a hug. “Thank you so much Hadrian. I’d never have this chance without you.”

Hadrian returned the hug “I’m so happy for you Sirius.”

When it was time for Hadrian to leave for his date he dressed in simple wizarding attire and flooed to the leaky cauldron to meet Theo. When he arrived at the leaky cauldron he had to wait a few minutes for Theo to arrive.

When Theo found him he was carrying a basket with him. “Hello Hadrian, I thought we could go to the park for a picnic, is that ok with you.”

Hadrian smiled “that sounds lovely Theo. Shall we go now?”

Theo nodded and grabbed his hand as they walked through the entrance to Diagon Alley. They walked down the Alley and Hadrian hesitated when they got to the entrance of Knockturn Alley.

Theo stopped and asked “what's wrong?”

Hadrian stuttered “oh um i-i-isn’t Knockturn dangerous I heard it’s full of dark wizards.”

Theo gave him a flat look “and who did you hear that from?”

Hadrian groaned “The Weasley’s, they lied about that, didn’t they?”

Theo nodded “It’s just a poor neighborhood, with a lot of second hand shops, in fact I wouldn't be surprised if the Weasley’s do some of their shopping there.”

Hadrian gave Theo a sad smile “I’m sorry Theo, I guess even though I know the Weasley’s lied about things there are still some things that I need to unlearn, I’ll try to keep an open mind in the future.”

Theo grinned “good, that’s all I ask, let’s go there’s a great park at the end of Knockturn."

Hadrian looked around as they entered the park. It seemed like any other park he had been to, people walking around, admiring the flowers and resting on benches. And then they passed the quidditch pitch, or rather the mini quidditch pitch. Hadrian pulled Theo to a stop as he stared. There were several children flying no more than a foot off the ground playing a game of quidditch.

“I used to come here to play with Draco and Blaize when we were little.”

Hadrian had a look of absolute delight on his face, “this is great, maybe someday we’ll bring our own children here.”

Theo ducked his head shyly “yeah I’d like that, come on I know a good spot for our picnic over here.”

Theo led Hadrian to a grove of willow trees surrounding a pond. The trees were in bloom with tiny bright purple flowers, while the pond was like nothing he had ever seen before. It was floating, a large ball of water floating in the center of a grove of willow trees. As Hadrian looked up at the pond he noticed that there were plants floating near the top and brightly colored fish swimming among the plants. As Hadrian gaped at the pond Theo was busy setting up their picnic.

“Hadrian” Theo called, “are you ready to eat?”

Hadrian jumped at Theo’s call and hurried over to their picnic blanket. “Theo” Hadrian breathed “this place is amazing.”

Theo grinned “I know I thought you would like it.”

As they ate they talked about their future and what they wanted. Hadrian asked Theo to accompany him to Sirius’s trial.

“I’d love to come to the trial with you, but you know that Dumbledore is likely to be there. If I go he’ll find out about us.” Theo explained .

Hadrian frowned “I know, but he’s going to find out eventually.”

“You’re right” agreed Theo “we do need to be married two weeks after your birthday, what if we got married the next day, that way Sirius can be there?”

Hadrian beamed “that’s a brilliant idea. Do you mind if I invite Miss Elizabeth also? She’s my social worker and I wouldn’t have found out about Dumbledore and the others without her.”

Theo bobbed his head in agreement “is it ok if I invite Draco and Blaze?”

“Of course, they are your friends after all,” said Hadrian.

They spent the rest of the day lounging beneath the willow trees and watching the fish in the pond above him. As they were packing up to leave Theo pulled out a book,

“Hadrian, I got you a gift.” He handed the book over. “It’s about lordships. I know it's not as special as the book you got me, but most Heirs to noble families have read it, and I know you weren’t raised to be a lord so I thought that this might be helpful.”

Hadrian leaned forward and hugged him, kissing the top of his head he murmured into his hair “thank you Theo, it means so much to me that you would think of this, so thank you so much.”

Theo grinned at Hadrian “you’re welcome, lets head back.”

They held hands all the way back to the leaky cauldron where they both flooed home for the night. Over the rest of July they had many more dates, where they got closer and closer, until they spent most of their time together.

Until July 31st, Hadrian’s birthday when Theo flooed directly into Grimmauld Place. They had breakfast together before Theo gave Hadrian his birthday present. Hadrian pulled the paper off to reveal a small glass tank. Looking into the tank he saw a very tiny snake barely an inch long that had beautiful gold scales.

“Hello” he hissed “whatsss your name?”

The snake picked its head up and stared at him “a sssspeaker, never sssseen one before. Ssssnakess have no need for a name, but sssspeaker may give one.”

Hadrian thought for a minute “I will call you aurum.''

Aurum nodded his head “that is acceptable, ssspeaker.”

Hadrian looked up at Theo, “he’s brilliant Theo, I love him”

Theo grinned, "I thought you might, he won’t get much bigger than he is, so I thought if you wanted you could carry him with you on your finger, his coloring would make people think he’s a ring.”

Hadrian pulled Theo to him and kissed him “you are the best fiance ever.”

Theo blushed and looked away “you’re pretty great too, I think Sirius has a gift for you.”

Hadrian turned to Sirius and took his gift from him. Opening the gift revealed a book with squiggles on the cover, as he studied the cover the squiggles became clearer until he could read the title as parselmagic for the new parseltongue.

Hadrian looked to Sirius “Thank you Sirius, where did you even find this?”

Sirius chuckled “It was in our attic. I guess someone in the family thought that they could learn parselmagic without being a parseltongue.”

Hadrian hugged Sirius “Thank you so much Sirius for everything.”

Hadrian, Theo and Sirius spent the rest of the day together, playing games, eating good food and celebrating Hadrian.

At the end of the day after Theo had gone home Sirius gave Hadrian a potion. “This is dreamless sleep, you’re going to go through your creature inheritance tonight and this will make sure you sleep through it.”

Hadrian nodded and took the potion,”it’s getting late so I think I’ll just head up to bed now. Good night Sirius, see you in the morning.”

Sirius hugged Hadrian goodnight “goodnight pup, sleep well.”

Chapter Text

The first of August dawned bright and early. The sun was shining and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. In the master bedroom of number 12 Grimmauld Place, Hadrian Potter blinked his eyes open. As he put his glasses on he squinted. Why is everything blurry? He took his glasses off. Huh, everything is clear now. So I guess my eyesight is better now, that's nice at least. Hadrian stretched and got out of bed, legs wobbling, grabbing onto his bedpost to steady himself. Stumbling into the bathroom, he looked, shocked, at himself in the mirror. His creature inheritance had changed quite a bit about him. Obviously he had better vision. He had grown taller, that would account for his stumbling. He now stood at a whopping 6’6”. Even his hair had changed, it was now much longer, and fell down around his shoulders in soft waves. Running his hand through his new hair, a finger brushed over his ear, pausing he felt around the tip of his ear, it felt different. He turned his head to the side and brushed his hair to the side. Yup, just as he thought, pointed ears. Finally coming to terms with his new appearance, he turned away from the mirror and stepped into the shower. 

After showering, he stepped back into his room and opened his wardrobe. “Shit” he muttered, after realizing he now had nothing to wear. Pulling out his wand he transfigured his bedsheets into something suitable for the day.

Turning to the bedside table where he had placed Aurum’s container he hissed “do you want to spend the day with me?”

Aurum looked up at and flicked his tongue out “yesss, ssspeaker, I would like that very much.”

Hadrian held his hand out for Aurum to climb onto. Aurum flicked his tongue over his fingers before climbing up his hand. To Hadrian's surprise he didn’t wrap himself around his finger, but continued slithering up his arm and into his hair. He stifled a giggled when he felt the tiny snake wrap himself around his ear.

“Iss thiss ok ssspeaker?” questioned Aurum.

Hadrian giggled “It ticklesss a bit, but you will be fine there.” 

When Hadrian went down for breakfast, Sirius stood up when he saw him, “Whoa pup, look at you, you look great.”

“Thanks Siri, I feel great too.” Answered Hadrian. “Haven’t got any clothes to wear though. I had to transfigure my bedsheets.”

Sirius snickered “I’ll bet. You’ve gotten so much bigger. Are you going shopping later?”

“I’ll have to.” Hadrian groaned. “I think I’ll ask Theo to go with me.” 

After breakfast Hadrian floo called Theo and made plans to meet up for a shopping trip. Hadrian hugged Sirius goodbye before heading out to meet Theo. Arriving at their meeting spot Hadrian looked around and spotted Theo. “Theo” he called as he walked over to him.

At his call Theo looked up and moved to meet him halfway. “Hadrian, wow! You got your creature inheritance, you look amazing!” exclaimed Theo.

Hadrian laughed as he hugged Theo. “Thanks Theo. Are you ready to do some shopping?” T

hey decided to start their shopping trip in Diagon alley and its neighboring alleys. Hadrian once again needed to purchase a full wizarding wardrobe. Although this time he was happy to have Theo’s help. Once they finished their shopping in diagon alley they left to have lunch and finish shopping in the muggle world. During their lunch Hadrian and Theo discussed their upcoming marriage. They chose to get married at Grimmauld Place and then spend the next two days at the Peverell cabin in the Black Forest. Hadrian agreed to go out to the cabin the next day in order to make sure everything was in order. After the shopping was done they thought that they would end the day with a movie. 

As they were sitting down in the movie theater Theo turned to quietly speak to Hadrian, and jumped in surprise at the sight of his eyes. “Hadrian” he hissed, “your eyes.”

Hadrian turned to Theo. “Is something wrong,” he whispered.

“Your eyes,” Theo breathed, “they’re glowing.”

Hadrian frowned “my eyes are glowing?”

Theo nodded “glowing, like a cat, we should probably leave, we can’t let the muggles see.”

Hadrian scowled but agreed to leave. Once they were back out on the street Theo turned to look at Hadrian, “huh, they're not glowing anymore.”

Hadrian stopped and looked back at the theater “now that I think about it, I could see really well in there, like the lights were on. Maybe I have night vision now. Could that make my eyes glow in the dark.”

Theo paused a moment before nodding in affirmation “yea, I think that may be it. Shall we head home now?”

Hadrian yawned “all right, I’m getting pretty tired anyway, I’ll walk you back to the leaky before heading home myself.”

At the leaky cauldron Hadrian walked Theo to the floo. Before Theo left Hadrian pulled him into a hug. “I’m really starting to fall for you Theo, and I’m looking forward to marrying you.

Theo pulled out of the hug and kissed Hadrian on the cheek, “I really like you too, Hadrian.” Theo stepped away. “I look forward to our wedding day as well, I’ll see you soon.”

Hadrian blushed and waved as Theo flooed home. 

Sirius was once again waiting for him in the entryway when he arrived home. As he came through the door Sirius bounded forward and pulled him into a tight hug. “Hey pup, how did it go?” Sirius asked.

“Great” grinned Hadrian, “for the most part.”

“What do you mean for the most part?” Sirius grimaced.

“Well” Hadrian started, “We went shopping, had lunch, made plans for the wedding, we’re having it here by the way, and then we tried to go to the movies.” Hadrian pouted “but then we needed to leave because my eyes were glowing.”

“Your eyes were glowing?” questioned Sirius.

Hadrian nodded “Theo said it was like a cat’s, I couldn’t even tell that the lights were off in the theater.”

“Huh” murmured Sirius, “that must be part of your creature inheritance.”

Hadrian nodded “it must be, how about we have supper, I’m starved.” Sirius and Hadrian ate a hearty meal before spending the rest of the evening discussing Hadrian’s upcoming nuptials and then retiring to bed.

Chapter Text

At breakfast Hadrian and Sirius talked about Hadrian's plans to clean the Peverelle cabin. “Would you like to come help?” Hadrian asked Sirius.

“I would love to, Hadrian, when do you want to leave?” Answered Sirius.

“After breakfast” said Hadrian, “I don’t know what shape the cabin will be in so I want to get started as soon as possible.” 

After breakfast Hadrian went to the study and retrieved the Peverelle cabin portkey. Then he headed up to the attic, the only place portkeys could leave or arrive from in the house. In the attic both Hadrian and Sirius grabbed the portkey and Hadrian muttered the family motto inscribed on the portkey, “Magisters De Mors.” With that Sirius and Hadrian were whisked away.

When they landed they both coughed as a cloud of dust puffed into the air. Looking  they found that they were in what looked like a floo room. It contained a large fireplace, a few chairs, couches and tables. Everything was covered in a thick layer of dust. Luckily it looked like all the furniture had been covered in drop cloths before whoever was here last had left.

“Well I guess here is as good a place to start as any,” said Hadrian and began casting scourgify around the room.

Sirius moved further into the cabin and began starting the next room.

The cabin consisted of three floors, the basement, the ground floor and a second floor.

The basement contained the floo room and a potions room. The potions room was well stocked with many potions ingredients under a strong stasis spell, some of them even looked to be hundreds of years old.

As they moved to the second floor they discovered a large den with many paintings that for some reason weren’t moving. “Why aren’t the paintings and portraits moving?” Asked Hadrian.

Sirius examined a painting of some deer in a field, and answered “It's been hundreds of years since anyone was here. The paintings are probably just asleep. You can wake them up by pushing some of your magic into them."

As they moved on from the den they found a small kitchen, they cleaned there quickly and didn’t find anything unusual. The last room on the ground floor was a large study. This room was very interesting to both Hadrian and Sirius. On the wall behind a large desk was a map of the property. Studying the map showed that the property that the cabin sat on was far larger than Hadrian had expected. It also mapped out where different potions ingredients could be found. Looking closer Hadrian noticed that there were several things moving on the map. He squinting, he leaned forward to try to make out what was moving. In leaning forward he accidentally touched the map and jumped back in surprise as the map zoomed in on the area he touched. After a few minutes the map went back to normal. Trying again he touched on a group of moving dots, and discovered a herd of centaurs. While Hadrian studied the map, Sirius was busy exploring the extensive bookshelves. Most of them contained books that would typically be found in a study, such as financial ledgers. But a few were ancient and rare, possibly even the only ones in existence. There were books on potions, history and magic theory. But the most exciting find were the journals. They went back centuries, maybe even thousands of years before the statute of secrecy was put into place. It took them a few hours but eventually they managed to pull themselves away from the study and ascend to the second floor.

There were only two rooms on this floor. The first was a large bedroom, with the second being a bathroom. The bedroom contained the largest bed that either of them had ever seen. It also contained a chest of drawers, a wardrobe and a trunk. Both the chest of drawers and the wardrobe contained clothes. Going through them they seemed to be very old and outdated, but in good condition. They decided to bring any clothes back to Grimmauld Place to go through later. The trunk contained extra bed sheets and blankets that would fit the large bed. The bathroom was not that unusual, apart from the large tub that could really be considered a small pool. It took them all day but eventually they managed to clean the whole cabin and return to Grimmauld Place just in time for dinner.

Albus Dumbledore sat in his office pouring over a very special map.This map was meant to let the school headmaster know when any of the students used magic outside of school. He had hoped that Harry would use magic, and the map alerted him to his location. So far there had been several incidents of children using magic, but none of them had been Harry. He knew that Harry had used magic, after all one of his trinkets that he had monitoring the boy had gone off several times already, however the map had never shown him where the foolish boy was. Just as he was about to give up, two owls flew in and landed on his desk. One was the standard ministry owl, the other he had never seen before. He opened the one from the ministry first. 

Albus,

Sirius Black will have a trial on August 12 at 8 am. If Sirius is having a trial, his godson may show up.

Kingsley Shacklebolt

Dumbledore grinned, surely the potter boy would want to see his godfather finally proven innocent. If he went he could convince him of the importance of returning to his relatives. He may have to make sure that the Wizenmogot understood that everything with Sirius was a big misunderstanding, after all things were so confusing at the end of the war. He needed to make sure that everything went according to his plan. After all, anything for the greater good. Next he opened the second letter.

Headmaster Dumbledore,

It seems that you have taken several items and galleons from my clients vaults. Please return the Elder wand, Gryffindor’s sword and 14,000 G to my client Lord Hadrian Potter. If action is not taken in the next two weeks legal action will be taken

Sincerely Jacob Brown

Albus growled upon reading the letter from Jacob Brown. How had Harry found out about his vaults and that he had taken anything from them? He closed his eyes and sighed he would just have to show Harry that what he had done was in his best interest, and impress upon him that he was his magical guardian and that he knew best. 

At the Burrow the Weasleys and Hermione were just finishing up breakfast when four owls flew in and landed in front of Molly Weasley, Ron, Ginny and Hermione. Molly opened her letter first

Mrs. Molly Weasley,

It has come to my attention that you have removed 2,000 G from my clients vaults. Please return the galleons to my client Lord Hadrian Potter. If my client’s money is not returned within two weeks legal action will be taken

Sincerely,

Jacob Brown

Molly frowned and told the children in her care to open their letters. If they had received similar letters she would need to notify Dumbledore immediately. Ron was the next to open his letter. 

Mr. Ron Weasley,

It has come to my attention that you have removed 1,200 G from my clients vaults. Please return the galleons to my client Lord Hadrian Potter. If my client's money is not returned within two weeks legal action will be taken.

Sincerely,

Jacob Brown

“Mum, what's this?” asked Ron.

Molly patted him on the back “Don’t worry about it dear, I’m sure it's just a misunderstanding. Dumbledore will take care of it.” Hermione was next to open her letter.

Miss. Hermione Granger

It has come to my attention that you have removed several items and galleons from my clients vaults. Please return 1,200 G and all Grimoires taken from the Potter and Peverell vaults to my client Lord Hadrian Potter. If my clients items and galleons are not returned within two weeks legal action will be taken.

Sincerely,

Jacob Brown

Hermione frowned down at the letter “Lord Hadrian is Harry isn’t it. How could he do this? He should know that I deserve those grimoires, after all it's not like he could use them, he never even tries to do his homework. And why would I return that money, he clearly owes us for all the trouble he's put us in. I’m going to write him a strongly worded letter that should put things to right.” As Hermione left the table to write her letter Ginny opened her letter.

Miss. Ginevra Weasley,

It has come to my attention that you have taken 600 G from my clients vault, as well as having an illegal marriage contract with my client. Please cancel the marriage contract and return the 600 G to my client Lord Hadrian Potter. If no action is taken within two weeks legal action will be taken. I would like to inform you that the marriage contract that you have with my client could be considered line theft. This means that if legal action is taken you could be looking at a hefty fine and a stay in Azkaban. 

Sincerely,

Jacob Brown

“Mum” Ginny shrieked, “this says that I can’t marry Harry. You promised that I could. Doesn’t Harry love me?”

Molly bustled over to her daughter and hugged her. “Don’t worry Ginny, I’m sure that Harry does love you and wants to marry you. This is all just a big misunderstanding. I’ll let Dumbledore know what's going on right away and I’m sure that he’ll fix it.” As Molly hurried over to the floo to inform Dumbledore of the events of the morning, no one noticed the twins slipping away to write their own letters to Harry.

Chapter Text

Thursday evening saw Hadrian and Theo curled up together by the fire at Grimmauld Place. With only nine days to Sirius' trial and ten days to their wedding they had much to discuss. Jacob Brown had flooed into Grimmauld Place early that afternoon and was currently holed up in the study with Sirius going over the information on the trial. Theo and Hadrian were making last minute plans for the wedding. As they were discussing the marriage contract inevitably came up.

“I wonder why we got the marriage contract” wondered Hadrian “surely there were others that could have fulfilled the conditions.”

Theo snorted “I had wondered the same thing, so I looked into it. It seems that there has been creature inheritance in both our families. And both families have had dominants and submissives, but they always seemed to just miss each other, sometimes even by just a few months. So in the end we have to fulfill the contract by just dumb luck.”

Hadrian grinned “well I’m glad, without the contract I wouldn’t have got to know you.”

Theo blushed and looked away. “I’m glad too, but there is one thing about the contract that I’m concerned about.”

Hadrian frowned in concern “what is it?”

“It's the part about children, we have to conceive one a year after we get married. As the submissive I’ll have to be the one to get pregnant, I don’t think I’ll be ready for that, even in a year.”

Hadrian tossed  his head back and sighed, “ I’ve had that concern as well. I spoke to Jacob about it, he said he’d look into it, see if he can find a way to at least delay having children.”

Theo nodded “good , hopefully he can find something."

“Have you gotten your inheritance test yet?” asked Hadrian.

“I did” answered Theo “It wasn’t anything too surprising. I’m of course a submissive, and the only lordship I’ll inherit is the Nott Lordship. But you’ll be the one to actually get it according to the contract.”

“Sorry about that,” muttered Hadrian.

Theo grinned over at him “I’m finding that I don’t really mind giving up my lordship, it's not like I really wanted it in the first place. The only really interesting thing is my creature inheritance, I’m a forest nymph.”

"What's a forest nymph?” Questioned Hadrian.

Theo explained “its a type of nature spirit, no one is quite sure what they look like, but their said to have power over plants. Other than that I couldn’t really find anything. So I guess we’ll just have to wait till the morning after our wedding to find out. Now let's get back to talking about the wedding. What do you want at our wedding feast?”

As They were discussing the food for the wedding, Kreature popped in “Master Black has a letter.” and thrust the letter into Hadrian's hands and popped away.

“Thank you Kreature,” Hadrian said into the air. He looked at the envelope “Oh, it's from the twins. Do you mind if I read this?”

Theo nodded “go ahead, I’m curious about what they have to say.” With that Hadrian opened the letter.

Harry mate,

Or is it Hadrian. What do you want us to call you? We just wanted to let you know, mum, Ron, Ginny and Hermione got letters from your solicitor. Wow, we have never seen them so angry. Did they really steal all that money and stuff from you? It would explain some of mum’s behavior over the last few years. Ron and Ginny have both been whining to mum since they got their letters. They don’t want to return the money. And Ginny keeps talking about how you have to marry her. It's pretty disturbing really. Currently mum is talking to Dumbledore about what to do. She promised Ron and Ginny that he would fix it, whatever that means. You should expect a strongly worded letter from Hermione. We can hear her muttering about it through the walls, honestly she may be writing a book in there instead of a letter. We hope that you know that we had nothing to do with this. If you need anything don’t hesitate to ask. Even if you need us to speak as witnesses against our family. We really don’t like how they’ve been behaving. 

On a more positive note, our product line for WWW is going great. We plan to start with just owl orders at first. When we leave school we plan to look for a place in Diagon alley.

Your Mates,

Gred and Forge

Theo smiled “I’m happy that you didn’t lose all your friends. You should invite them to the wedding.”

Hadrian grinned and leaned over to kiss Theo, “I like the way you think. I’ll send an invitation to them through the owl post tomorrow.”

In the study Jacob Brown explained to Sirius what would happen at his trial. When he arrived at the ministry building Aurors would escort him to the trial room. Once in the trial room he would be brought to the chair where criminal trials were held. Before the trial began he would be asked whether or not he would consent to veritaserum.

“I strongly suggest that you agree.” advised Jacob.

After the veritaserum is admonished they will ask several questions to assure that it is working. Then members of the Wizengamot will take turns asking questions after which, any witnesses if there are any will be asked to give their statements. Once all statements and testimonies are given the Chief Warlock would normally be the one to act as judge and give out the verdict. However because Dumbledore is the Chief Warlock and will be acting as a witness he cannot act as judge. Therefore the head of the Department of Magical Law enforcement  Madame Amelia Bones will be acting as Judge.

“Do you have any questions?” asked Jacob.

Sirius sighed and leaned back in his chair “no, I just want to get this over with, and be a free man again.”

Kingsley Shacklebolt met Dumbledore at the Burrow. “Well, what was it that you wanted from me?” he asked as he took his seat at the table.

Molly shoved several letters in opened envelopes into his hands. “Harry somehow got a solicitor to write just awful letters threatening me and my children, demanding we return money and items that are rightfully ours.”

Kingsley raised an eyebrow “This seems like a personal matter. I’m an auror not a solicitor, what do you want me to do.”

Dumbledore leaned forward “you may not be a solicitor dear boy, but as an auror, you are able to offer legal advice.” He gestured toward the letters, “if you would please.”

Kingsley narrowed his eyes “very well then, lets see what we have.” Shacklebolt took the letters out and read them one by one before replacing them into their envelopes. “Well it seems pretty clear what you need to do,” said Kingsley. Molly and Dumbledore leaned forward in anticipation. “You need to do exactly as the letters say” The auror said to their surprise. If you can't afford to pay all the money back right away, I’m sure just returning the items would be seen as a gesture of good will and show your intentions to return everything in good time.”

“B-b-but what about Ginny’s letter?” sputtered Molly.

“Ahh, yes” acknowledged Kingsley, “the marriage contract, you need to cancel it, of course if both parties are agreeable, a new contract can be made in the future.”

Molly nodded in resignation “Ok, I’m sure Harry will want to make a new contract and marry Ginny. But what about the solicitor that the letter came from? It was addressed to Ginny and she’s just a little girl, she didn’t even make the contract in the first place, I had to do it for her because she was too young.”

Kingsley gave her a flat look “did you not read the envelope the letter came in? It was addressed: To Ginevra Weasley For Molly Weasley. This means that the letter may have been in her name, but you were meant to open and handle the contents for her.”

“Well they should have made it more clear” Blustered Molly.

“It is confusing but this is just how legal documents are addressed to minors,” responded Kingsley. “Now if neither of you mind I need to return to work.” 

“Don’t worry Molly,” assured Dumbledore. “Sirius is having a trial on the twelfth, I’m sure that both Harry and his solicitor will be there, I’ll make sure that they understand how they have put your family in a bit of a tight spot making demands like they have. I’m sure once he realizes how ungrateful he has been he’ll agree to come stay at the Burrow.”

“Yes,” sniffed Molly. “I’m sure once the boy is here we can make sure that he behaves and listens to the adults that know better.” Once again neither of them noticed the children had been listening into their conversation.    

Chapter Text

The morning of August 12th dawned foggy and wet. Hadrian and Sirius had a light breakfast before Jacob, Elizabeth and Theo flooed over to meet them before the trial. Once everyone arrived Jacob herded them all out the door and into the car that he had waiting for them. Everyone was tense and silent on the way to the ministry, as they listened to Jacob explain how the trial would be conducted. They all piled out of the car when it stopped in front of what looked to be an old abandoned red telephone booth. Elizabeth held the door as they all squeezed in after Jacob. After Elizabeth had squished in behind them and shut the door Jacob picked up the receiver and dialed 6-2-4-4-2 and said all their names into the receiver.

“Welcome to the Ministry of Magic. Please put on the visitors badges," echoed a woman's voice from the phone held in Jacobs hand.

Jacob hung the phone back on the hook and five small badges popped out of the change return. Jacob grabbed them and passed them around. Hadrian looked at his, it read Lord Hadrian Potter, before pinning it to his robes. When they had all pinned on their badges the inside of the phone booth began to sink into the ground. At this point Hadrian nervously reached over and squeezed Theo’s hand. After what was probably only a few seconds, but what felt like minutes the phone booth turned elevator came to a stop with a gentle bump. As they all spilled out Hadrian looked around amazed. The ministry atrium where they had just arrived was just absolutely breathtaking to look at. It had dark highly polished wood floors, with dark wood paneled walls. The ceiling was blue with golden symbols that seemed to move and change. Along each wall were fireplaces that had witches and wizards coming and going from them and at the far end it looked like there were several lifts that were taking people to different floors of the ministry. But probably the most interesting of all was the large statue in the center containing golden statues of a wizard, a witch, a centaur, a goblin and a house elf. Each statue spouted a stream of water into a pool below it. Hadrian found it fascinating if not slightly strange to look at.

Just as he was contemplating why the statue seemed strange to him Theo tugged him forward. “Come on Hadrian, we’re next.”

As they stepped forward, two aurors walked over and took Sirius by the arms. “Right this way Mr. Black,” they said.

As Jacob turned to follow after Sirius he called over his shoulder, “we’ll see you at the trial, it's in courtroom ten, I’m sure that Elizabeth knows the way.”

Elizabeth nodded her head, “we’ll see you there Mr. Brown.”

When they approached the desk at the entrance of the atrium the wizard took each of their wands, examined them, placed a tag on the wand and returned it to its owner. Once they got through security Elizabeth led them into the lifts and and pressed the button for the basement. The lift arrived in the basement with a small bump and a soft ding. As soon as the doors opened they all piled out and rushed after Elizabeth to courtroom ten.

“Ah, here we are, with just enough time to spare,” muttered Elizabeth as she held the door open for Hadrian and Theo. They entered the courtroom and made their way over to the gallery seats. The courtroom was made of dark stone with several raised seats in a semicircle around the edges of the round room. These seats were filled with two witches and two wizards on either side of the center seat. Hadrian recognized one wizard as the minister Cornelius Fudge and thought one of the witches might be Neville’s Gran. The seat in the center of the semicircle was a seat that was slightly raised. This seat contained a witch wearing a monocle with a serious look about her. A single straight backed chair sat before this gathering of witches, and behind this was several rows of benches. This is where Hadrian sat with Theo and Elizabeth. Just as they sat down the aurors escorting Sirius burst through the door at the side of the room, quickly followed by Jacob. Sirius sat down in the chair at the center of the room while Jacob stood behind him just to the right.

The serious looking witch banged a gavel on the bench in front of her. “Beginning the case of Sirius Black, on the charges of the murder of James and Lily Potter, The murder of Peter Pettigrew, the murder of 12 muggles and being a death eater. Sirius, how do you plead?”

Sirius cleared his throat, “innocent, Madame Bones.”

Madame Bones peered down at him “and do you consent to the use of veritaserum?”

Sirius nodded, “yes Madam.”

“And do you consent to answer questions that will verify that the veritaserum is working?” asked Madame Bones.

“Yes madam,” answered Sirius.

“Very well, please administer the veritaserum,” directed Madame Bones.

An auror came forward and placed a few drops to the truth potion on Sirius’s tongue. As soon as the potion was administered Sirius adopted a vacant expression and his eyes seemed to glaze over.

“Mr. Black?” asked Madame Bones “what is your full name?”

“Sirius Orion Black III” droned Sirius.

“Very good Mr. Black, and when were you born?” returned Madame Bones.

“November 3rd, 1959.” intoned Sirius.

“Purfect, Mr. Black,” spoke Madame Bones. Turning to the gathering of witches and wizards she directed “ask your questions, but please remember to be respectful of each other and Mr. Black.”

Cornelius Fudge was the first to ask “are you a death eater Black?”

“No, never,” mumbled Sirius.

The next question was “the deaths of the Potters, Peter Pettigrew and those 12 muggles is your fault, is it not?” This question was asked by a woman in pink, who Hadrian secretly thought looked a bit like a toad.

Sirius blinked in confusion, “yes, no, I don’t know, I don’t know” he mumbled.

Jacob stepped forward “Objection, leading question.”

Madame Bones nodded, “Sustained, please rephrase the question.”

The toad lady scowled “very well, Mr. Black, did you kill the Potters, Peter Pettigrew and those 12 muggles?”

Sirius frowned, “no, of course not.”

“Mr. Black, If you did not kill them, then who did?” asked an old man.

Sirius squinted “Voldemort killed the Potters, Peter killed the muggles.”

The witch Hadrian thought might be Neville’s Gran leaned forward and asked “Who was the Potters secret keeper, Mr. Black?”

“Peter Pettigrew,” intoned Sirius.

The witch nodded “And who killed the muggles?”

“Peter Pettigrew,” answered Sirius.

The toad lady spoke up “And you killed him for betraying your friends, didn’t you Mr. Black?”

Sirius shook his head “no, he got away.”

The old man asked, “Do you mean that Peter Pettigrew is still alive?”

Sirius nodded, “yes.”

At this a bunch of mummers broke out in the courtroom. Madame Bones banged her gavel on the desk, “order in the court.” As soon as everyone quieted down Amilia directed the others to continue their questioning.

Mrs. Longbottom asked, “Mr. Black, who set the fidelis spell on the Potters home?”

Sirius blinked back tears, “Albus Dumbledore”

At this another shocked ripple of whispering echoed about the courtroom, but quickly died out, when the toad lady cleared her throat.

“Hem, hem, Mr. Black if Peter Pettigrew is still alive, surely you know where he is?”

Sirius scowled “I don’t know.”

Jacob stepped forward once again “Objection, relevance.”

Madame Bones frowned and turned to the toad lady “please explain the relevance.”

The toad lady simpered “Mr. Black and Mr. Pettigrew were old school friends, surely they kept in touch, they could be working together.”

Amilia blinked in shock “Miss. Umbridge, Mr. Black has spent 12 years in Azkaban, I doubt he kept in touch with anyone. Objection sustained, no relevance. Continue a different line of questioning.”

Cornelius Fudge took this opportunity to ask “Mr. Black, how did you escape Azkaban.”

Sirius droned “as an animagus.”

Miss. Umbridge grinned gleefully, “are you an unregistered animagus, Mr. Black?”

Sirius quietly murmured “yes.”

Lady Longbottom leaned forward “And was Mr. Pettigrew an animagus also?”

“yes” answered Sirius.

The old man questioned “what type of animagus is Peter?”

“A rat” scowled Sirius. After answering the last question Sirius blinked and eyes seemed to clear, “Madam Bones, I believe that the potion is wearing off.”

Amelia Bones peered down at him over her desk, “very well, I believe that we have enough information to come to a verdict. Please clear the courtroom while the council comes to a decision.”

Aurors stepped forward and led Sirius and Jacob into a side room.

Elizabeth got up and stretched “come on boys, we can join Sirius and Jacob in the waiting room.”

As soon as they entered the room Hadrian launched himself into Sirius’s arms, “you did great Siri, I’m sure that everything is going to work out just fine.”

While waiting to be called back into the courtroom they kept the conversation to light subjects, mostly Hadrian, and Theo’s wedding. They were all surprised when they were called back into the courtroom after only an hour of waiting. As they filed back into the room and everyone had taken up their seats Dumbledore burst into the room.

“Ahh, Amilia” said Dumbledore, “I’m so glad to see you presiding over this trial. Now I’m sure that this is all a big misunderstanding, I’m sure that If we just talk it out, we can all come to an understanding.”

Madame Bones just stared blankly at him “Professor Dumbledore, this trial was scheduled for 8 am, it is now 11 am. The trial is over and I was just about to read the verdict. If you would like to hear the verdict you may take a seat and hear it along with everyone else.”

Dumbledore twinkled “of course Amelia '' he took out his wand, and summoned a large plush armchair right next to Sirius’s chair. “Please continue with the proceedings, Amelia” he directed.

Madame Bones narrowed her eyes at Dumbledore “Very well, Sirius Orion Black III is innocent of all charges, this includes the murder of the Potters, Peter Pettigrew and 12 muggles, and the charge of being a death eater. Mr. Black will be rewarded 50,000 G for the false imprisonment of 12 years. Mr. Black will be required to register as an animagus and pay a fine of 2,000 G for failing to register. Mr. Black will also be required to attend bi-weekly mind healer meetings at Saint Mungo's. Court Dismissed.”

As everyone began to file out of the courtroom, Hadrian, Theo and Elizabeth moved to meet Sirius and Jacob on the courtroom floor. As they finally reached them Hadrian and Theo both ran to hug Sirius in congratulations, momentarily forgetting about Dumbledore's presence.

That is until Hadrian heard Dumbledore say “Harry my boy, If I may just have a moment of your time, that would be lovely.”

Hadrian turned from thanking Jacob for his help in the trial “If you need to speak with me, then we can speak here.”

With a twinkle in his eyes Dumbldore implored “my dear boy, what I have to say really does need to be said in private.”

Hadrian pinched the bridge of his nose “whatever you have to say to me, you can say in front of my friends and family.”

Dumbledore's eyes seemed to twinkle even more “Harry, I must ask that you return to your relatives, or at least come to the Burrow, with Voldemort back it simply is’t safe for you…”

As Dumbledore was talking, Aurum who was once again curled around Hadrian's ear, hissed “I don’t like the longggg beard man, sssmellsss like liesss." 

“I am safe, I am not going back to my so-called relatives, nor will I be going to the Burrow,” interrupted Hadrian.

“Harry, my dear boy, please listen” Dumbledore tried again.

“No, we’re done here,” Hadrian grabbed Theo’s arm and pulled him toward the exit while the others trailed behind.

“See you in school, professor, I hope we won’t have to see you in a courtroom again,” Theo called over his shoulder.

When everyone made it back to the atrium they all used the floo to return to Grimmauld place where Kreacher had a congratulatory feast waiting for Sirius. As they ate, they laughed and joked, looking forward to the next day, when Hadrian and Theo would wed.

Chapter Text

Hadrian blinked awake on Sunday the 13th, finally, his wedding day. He giggled in excitement at the thought, after tonight he would spend the rest of his life with Theo. Hadrian was so enthused that he practically skipped down to breakfast.

As he and Sirius finished up with their breakfast, Sirius asked “are you ready for tonight pup, not too nervous are you?”

Hadrian grinned “I am a bit nervous, but absolutely looking forward to everything.”

Sirius returned the grin “well then, I’m glad you’re looking forward to it as we have a full day today. First , we have to go to Twilfitt and Tattings for the last minute fittings for your robes, then we’re having lunch with the twins and finally you need to get your hair done before coming back here to get dressed.”

“Oh, ah, when did you find time to plan all this Siri, surely you didn’t have time with your trial,” Hadrian sputtered.

Sirius smirked “you and Theo did plan a lot, but it didn’t seem like you were planning on what you would actually need to do today before the wedding. I wanted to help so I spoke to Elizabeth, she was happy to help me make sure that everything for today went according to plan.”

Hadrian rushed to hug Sirius, “Thank you so much Siri. You’re right I didn’t think about the final fittings for my robe, or getting my hair done. Oh but what about Theo, I don’t think he planned any of that either?”

Sirius chuckled as he patted him on the back. “Don’t worry pup, I may have written to my little cousin to make sure Theo’s ready.”

Hadrian grinned in relief “Thanks Siri, I don’t think I could do this without you.”

Sirius laughed “of course pup, without me you’d probably wind up getting married in your school robes.”

Hadrian chuckled “you’re probably right. Should we head out to get my robes fitted now?”

“Yes” shouted Sirius as he practically bounced toward the door. Hadrian chuckled as he followed after his overly excited godfather.

Sirius grinned bashfully as Hadrian joined him on the stoop. “Sorry pup, I think I’m just excited to be going out as me and not Padfoot.”

Hadrian patted Sirius on the shoulder “it’s alright, I know what it’s like to be cooped up all the time. Now let's get going, we’ve got a lot to do.” 

In Twilfitt and Tattings Hadrian and Sirius were led to a private room in the back. Sirius took a seat off to the side while the seamstress, who introduced herself as Maria, brought out Hadrian's new robes.

“Now, Lord Potter, if you would please go behind this screen and change, we can get right to fitting your robes. I’ve included a suit to wear under the robes as well.”

Hadrian took the clothes from her, and went behind the indicated screen to change. As he stepped out Sirius gasped “wow, pup you look great!”

Hadrian did a small spin “Thanks, I feel great in these robes, they're so light and fancy.”

Maria chuckled, “I’m glad you like my work. Why don’t you hop up on the riser so we can make those adjustments?”

Once Hadrian was on the riser Maria directed him on how to move. As he moved she checked the measurements, letting it out in some places, and taking it in in others. Once she had finished with his robe, she had him remove it, and got started on making adjustments to the suit. In the end the final fitting for both his dress robe and suit took about three hours. After Maria packed up his finished wedding attire, and Hadrian paid for the fitting, Sirius and Hadrian left to meet the twins for lunch.

As Hadrian and Sirius approached the table the twins were sitting at outside the tea room the twins both leaped to their feet, gave Hadrian sweeping bows, “Oh, Lord Hadrian, we your humble servants beg you, please, join us for lunch.”

Hadrian laughed, “That's enough guys, you’re hardly servants, more like menaces.”

The twins smiled and looked at each other “well - we - aim - to - please, Don’t we Gred, That we do Forge,” they replied switching back and forth on who spoke.

Hadrian grinned “and you certainly do please, I don’t know what I’d have done without your letters this summer. Now have you met Sirius?”

At this the twins turned to Sirius “we’ve heard a lot about you, most of it not very nice, but that was from Mum and Dumbledore.” At this they looked at each other and grinned “so we guess that means we like you already.”

Sirius grinned “And I like you two already. Thank you so much for your support of Hadrian. Now shall we order.”

Once their food arrived Hadrian asked Fred and George how things were at home. They both sighed and looked at each other, “not great” said Fred. “Mum and Dad are letting Dumbledore use the Burrow for Order of the Phoenix meetings” answered George. “Mate they are obsessed with you” they said together.

Hadrian sighed and put his head in his hands, “why can’t they just leave me alone,” he muttered.

Sirius patted him on the back “there, there pup, don’t worry about that right now, we’ll take care of it later, lets just worry about your wedding and making sure that everything goes perfectly today, alright.”

Hadrian nodded, “Thanks, Siri.”

After that the twins caught Hadrian up on what they were doing with their business and Hadrian took the opportunity to gush about Theo to someone new. Once they finished eating Sirius insisted on paying with a “but I can now, pup.” After their lunch was paid for they said “goodbye” and “see you tonight” to the twins and ventured into the muggle world to get Hadrian’s hair done.

When they arrived at the hair salon Sirius went to the front desk to check Hadrian in, while Hadrian went to the seating area to wait. After checking Hadrian in, Sirius joined Hadrian in the waiting area, together they looked through the many books of hairstyles provided by the studio. When Hadrian’s name was called he showed the hairstylist several different pictures in one book that he liked.

“If I could have something like these please?” he asked.

The hairstylist smiled, “I think we can work something out sweetie.”

They led Hadrian to one of the chairs in the studio and got to work. As they worked on Hadrian’s hair the stylist made small talk, and Hadrian did his best to answer without talking about his wedding too much. After all this was the muggle world, they wouldn’t understand why a fifteen year old was getting married. When Hadrian’s hair was finished he had a series of intricate braids that were bound together at the back of his head, and came together in a twisting pattern that gave the appearance of a rose. Before they left Hadrian used his Gringotts card to pay, and made sure to leave a healthy tip. When they finally arrived home the wedding guests were just starting to arrive. As Hadrian went to greet the guests that had arrived Sirius grabbed his arm and began to usher him up the stairs. “We don’t have time to socialize now pup, we need to get you dressed. Don’t worry about your guests, Theo is here to greet them. And Kreacher will take care of any refreshments” 

 Theo blinked awake on the morning of his wedding, stretched and smiled. Just as he was about to get up Draco and Blaize burst into the room.

“Theo, you need to… oh you are awake, well get ready and come down to breakfast,” demanded Draco.

“Good Morning Theo. Hurry and get ready, we have much to do today,” instructed Blaize as the pair left the room.

When they left Theo hurried to get ready and down to breakfast. As he got ready he thought about how glad he was that he had stayed at Malfoy Manor with Draco and Blaise, instead of alone with just his father at Nott Manor. After all Draco and Blaise may be a bit dramatic, but they were far better company than his blood purist father.

When Theo arrived at the breakfast table he looked around and asked Draco, “where are your parents?”

Draco grinned “They left to spend the week in France last night. So we can spend all day getting you ready for your wedding to Potter.”

“We won’t have to explain to anyone why you’re getting married, or who you’re marrying.” interjected Blaize.

Theo blinked and nodded “oh, ok, so what is it we have to do today?”

“I received a letter from cousin Sirius,” Draco drawled, “it seems that while you and Potter did well planning your wedding, you seem to have forgotten a few tasks that you would need to do on the day of.”

Theo slumped in his chair “what did we forget?”

“Not to worry,” Blaize assured, “it was only the final fitting of your robes. Draco has made an appointment with his family’s tailor, they’ll be coming to the manor in a few hours.”

“Yes and we need to make sure you arrive at Grimmauld Place in time to greet your guests,” said Draco.

Theo nodded and grinned “thanks guys, you're the best, I am so glad that you are both able to be there with me.”

The three boys lounged in the garden while they waited for the tailor to arrive. Draco lazed over Blaize’s lap, both boys indulgently listened to Theo gush over his betrothed. They smiled at each other, happy that their friend finally had someone in their life that they loved so much. About one and a half hours after they entered the garden a house elf popped out to tell them that the tailor had arrived and would be waiting for them in the drawing room. They all got up and returned to the manor for Theo’s fitting.

As they entered the drawing room the tailor greeted them, “hello, my name is Eric Rose, and I am the main tailor employed by the Malfoy family. You must be Theo, I believe young Master Malfoy asked me here to tailor your wedding robes. Is that correct?”

Theo shook Eric's hand “yes, thank you so much for coming.”

Eric smiled “you are most welcome young man. Now I have collected your robes from Twilfitt and Tattings. I have left them behind this screen here. If you would just step behind the screen to change, then step up onto the riser, we can get started.”

Theo nodded and did as instructed. When he stepped out from behind the screen both Draco and Blaize gasped.

“Theo those robes are amazing, they look great on you,” Draco raved.

Theo beamed as he stepped up onto the riser, “thanks Draco.”

The boys quieted down as Eric got to work on Theo’s robes and the suit that he wore under the robes. By the time all the alterations were done it was time for them to head over to Grimmauld Place. 

When Theo arrived at Grimmauld Place Kreacher greeted him “future consort Black.” He eyed Theo’s clothing, “must change to greet guests.”

Theo chuckled, “don’t worry Kreacher, I have my robes right here, I just didn’t want to wear them in the floo.” 

Kreacher gave Theo what he thought might be a smile, but what really looked more like a grimace “future consort Black will change to greet guests, Kreacher will take care of the garden and feast.”

Theo nodded “thank you Kreacher.” Kreacher snorted and popped away to complete his tasks.

Theo turned to his friends, “Come on, I know a guest room that we can use.”

In the room Theo put on the suit he would wear under his robe, he would put the robes on when it was time for the actual wedding. Once he was dressed Draco got to work on his hair while Blaize did his makeup. Once his hair and makeup were finished he went downstairs to start greeting guests. There was a small table with drinks and snacks in the floo room for people when they arrived. As Theo entered the floo room the first guest arrived. 

As Elizabeth stepped out of the floo into Grimmauld Place she was greeted by Theodore Nott. “Hello Miss. Elizabeth, welcome to Grimmauld Place, would you like some refreshments?”

“Oh, how lovely to see you Mr. Nott, and congratulations on your happy day,” replied Elizabeth.

“Thank you Miss Elizabeth. If you would like, you may follow Draco and Blaize out to the garden, our other guests should be arriving soon.” Greeting the rest of the guests went similarly. Once all the guests had arrived Theo went back upstairs to put on his robes. 

By the time Hadrian was finished dressing, and Sirius had calmed him down it was time to go downstairs and get married. Turns out being both nervous and excited made him jittery. When he entered the garden he gasped at how beautiful it was. Kreacher had outdone himself. Chairs were lined up with an aisle down the center. The chairs were facing an arbor that was made of two lilac trees that had been bent towards each other forming an arch. Despite being August the lilacs were in full bloom, with deep bluish-purple flowers. In the lilac trees and all the surrounding trees and bushes were tiny twinkling lights. They almost looked like stars. Lining the aisle leading to the lilac arbor were small yellow flowers that seemed to be sparkling. Standing in the center of the arbor was a man from the ministry, who was here to officiate the wedding.

Hadrian walked up the aisle to join the ministry man, as he reached him he shook the man's hand “Hadrian Potter, thank you so much sir, for being here to officiate my wedding.”

The man returned the handshake, “Mark Barber, it’s my pleasure to be here Lord Potter.”

Hadrian turned around as music started to play and gasped as he watched Theo walk down the aisle. Theo’s robes matched his perfectly. While Hadrian wore forest green robes with a gold trim, Theo robes were a soft pastel green with tiny gold embroidered flowers that seemed to move and flow as if caught in a breeze. His hair had an undercut with the locks on top of his head left long and pinned at the back of his head. His hair was much longer than it was and fell down his back in loose curls. He wore light makeup, just what looked to be blush and some eyeliner. Hadrian thought he looked stunning.

As Theo joined him in front of the arbor Hadrian took his hands in his own. “You look absolutely stunning,” he whispered.

Mark began to speak, but if Hadrian was honest with himself he was too busy staring at Theo to really pay any attention to what was being said. He only came out of his stupor when Theo squeezed his hand. It was just in time for Mark to ask Hadrian if he promised to care for Theo for the rest of his life.

“I do,” enthused Hadrian. Then Mark turned to Theo and asked the same question.

“I do!” exclaimed Theo.

“Now for the exchanging of vows,” directed Mark “Theo.”

Theo took a big breath “Hadrian, I never expected to get married so soon. I always knew that my spouse would be chosen for me, but I never expected that I would love the person I married as much as I love you. I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you.”

Mark smiled and turned to Hadrian “Lord Potter your vows.”

Hadrian nodded and gave Theo’s hands a quick squeeze. “Theo, over these last few months I have truly fallen head over heels for you. Before I met you I didn’t think I could love anyone as much as I do you. At this point I don’t think I could live without you. I want to spend the rest of my life making happy memories with you.”

“Very good,” said the officiant, “now for the rings.”

At this Ironclaw stepped forward with a tray of small ring boxes. “Lord Potter these are the consort rings, they are a smaller version of your lord rings. Please place them on your consorts left ring finger starting with the Potter ring on the right moving left and ending with the Pendragon ring on the left."

Hadrian nodded and began placing the rings onto Theo’s hand, as he placed each ring they merged into each other. As the last ring was placed onto Theo’s hand both Hadrian and Theo shivered as they felt the magic brush over them, binding them together.

Mark smiled, “Now for the best part, you may now kiss!”

Hadrian leaned forward and put an arm around Theo’s waist, he pulled Theo into a deep kiss. As they kissed the guests stood and began to cheer. Pulling out of the kiss Theo and Hadrian grinned at each other before linking arms and striding up the aisle. When they reached the top of the aisle they turned to face everyone.

“Everyone” Hadrian announced “if you could please vacate your seats so Kreacher can have room to bring out the feast.”

Once everyone was up and out of the way the chairs began to float in the air and a large dining table popped into existence and the chairs floated down to seat themselves at the table. Once everyone was once again seated a feast with all of Hadrian and Theo’s favorite foods popped onto the table. In the center of the table was a large cake iced in their wedding colors of green and gold. As everyone dined they took turns congratulating the new couple and offering them advice on keeping their marriage alive. As the night wore on it became harder and harder for Hadrian and Theo to keep their hands off each other.

When Sirius noticed this he whispered to the two “why don’t you head to the cabin. I’ll take care of everything here.”

Hadrian gave Sirius a quick hug, “Thanks Siri, you’re the best.”

Hadrian went to the study to grab the portkey and then met Theo in the attic to portkey out to the cabin.

When they arrived at the cabin Hadrian pulled Theo into another kiss. “Let’s head up to bed,” he whispered in Theo’s ear.

As they stumbled up to the bedroom, they could barely keep their hands off each other long enough to make it to the bed. When they made it to the bedroom they climbed into the massive bed and began undressing one another. Starting with their robes, then their shirts and trousers.

When they were down to their underthings Hadrian asked “are you ready for this?”

Theo leaned up and kissed him before breaking away “I want nothing more.”

Hadrian nodded and began to take off their underthings, then reached into the bedside drawer and pulled out some oil. Using the oil he first entered Theo with one finger, adding another once Theo gave him the Ok. When he was able to enter him with three fingers he kissed Theo deeply and entered him with his member as Theo moaned into the kiss.

Once he had fully entered him Hadrian whispered in his ear “I love you so much,” before kissing him deeply again and beginning to move.  When they finished they lay beside each other basking in the afterglow.

When Theo began to yawn and rub his eyes Hadrian rolled over and fished a small bottle of dreamless sleep out of the bedside table. Rolling back over he gave it to Theo “take this, you’re going to go through your creature inheritance tonight and this will help you sleep through it.” Theo took the bottle “thanks,” downing the bottle he rolled over to curl against Hadrian's side before drifting off to sleep. Hadrian smiled and put his arm around Theo and pulling him closer before drifting off to sleep himself.     

Chapter Text

Theo blinked awake, yawned, stretched and rolled over to peek at his new husband. Hadrian was still asleep and he took this opportunity to silently admire him. Wow, Theo thought, I sure did luck out, Hadrian is so kind and handsome. Theo gently kissed Hadrian on the cheek and slipped out of bed to pad into the bathroom. As he began to brush his teeth he frowned and looked around. Something was wrong, he just couldn't put his finger on what it was. Then he noticed the mirror above the sink. Why couldn't he see himself? He usually could, had he shrunk? He looked around the bathroom for something to stand on. Seeing nothing that would be of use, he poked his head back into the bedroom. Spying a large full length mirror in the corner of the room, he walked over to it to see how much his creature inheritance had changed him. He groaned at what he saw, he was so much shorter than he had been. Whereas before he was a healthy 5’3”, he now appeared to be about 4’9”. And then he glanced at the top of his head, he had horns. The came out of the top of his head and seemed to bend back slightly before curling up. The were approximately 5” in length while their coloring was black at the base and faded to a bright green at the tip. As he leaned closer to the mirror to try to examine his horns more he noticed something in his hair. He reached up to pull it out, and gave a quiet “ow” when it came loose. Looking at what he had just pulled from his hair , it was a leaf, by the shape of it ivy. Theo looked in the mirror again, this time paying more attention to his hair. Woven throughout his hair was ivy. As he reached up to examine the changes his fingers brushed his ears, and they wiggled. Brushing his hair aside to see his ears, he noticed they were pointed and if he concentrated he was able to wiggle them. After a few minutes of working on moving his ears he heard a “Theo'' come from behind him.

“Hadrian, good morning.” said Theo as he turned around to take in Hadrian’s sleep tousled head. “Oh” he gasped as he covered his mouth and blushed deeply. Not only did he receive physical changes with his creature inheritance it seems his voice had also changed. While he had retained his accent his voice had gone from one that had slowly been deepening, to one that was now light and airy, almost musical.

Hadrian chuckled as he walked over to Theo and scooped him up in his arms. “You are the most beautiful person I have ever seen. Before you looked amazing, but now,” Hadrian kissed his cheek, “absolutely breathtaking. And I love your voice, I think it's probably the best thing I've ever heard.”

Theo smiled shyly, “you don't think I've changed too much, I'm not too small now?”

“No, you're perfect, just the right size to cuddle. Now what do you say we go downstairs for breakfast. Kreature promised to have something waiting for us when we got up.”

They found a full English breakfast under stasis waiting for them on the kitchen table. As they tucked into their meal they made plans to spend the rest of the day exploring the cabins grounds. Just as they were finishing up with their meal two owls started pecking at the window. When Hadrian opened the window to let them in they were joined by a third.

Hadrian took the letters from the owls and returned to the table. Flipping through them he handed one to Theo “here this one's for you, looks like our Hogwarts letters.”  Then set the second one aside “Huh, this one’s for both of us, looks to be another Hogwarts letter. Shall we open them?”

Theo nodded in agreement and picked up his letter and gave a squeal of excitement when he saw that it was addressed to Theadore Potter née Nott. Glancing at Hadrian he explained “I know when I married you my name changed, but knowing it and seeing it written on a letter addressed to me just… feels different. I like it, it really solidifies that we’re really together and no one can separate us.”

Hadrian smiled indulgently “I understand, I felt the same way the first time that I received a letter with my real name on it. Now go on read your letter” 

Dear Mr. Potter née Nott

Please note that the new school year will begin on the first of September. The Hogwarts express will depart from King’s Cross Station, Platform 9 ¾ at 11 o’clock. The list of books for fifth year is enclosed. 

Yours Sincerely,

Prof. McGonagall

Fifth year book list

 The Standard Book of Spells Grade 5 by Miranda Goshawk

Defensive Magical Theory by Wibert Slinkhard

Intermediate Transfiguration by Emeric Switch

Spellmans’s Syllabary

Numerology and Grammatica

A history of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot

Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling

One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore

Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger

Once Theo had finished reading his letter he looked to Hadrian “I only need to get two new books, and refill my potion kit. What about you?”

Hadrian put down his own letter “me too, just the fifth year spell book and the new DADA book. Shall we read the third letter together?” Theo nodded in affirmation and came to stand beside Hadrian as he opened the letter. They both bent over the letter and read:

Dear Lord Hadrian Potter and Theodore Potter née Nott

Congratulations on your marriage. As a married pair you will be provided with a couples suite for the remainder of your school career. You will find your suite in the third floor corridor behind the painting of a knight barring the Hogwarts crest. The password is Gata Domum. 

Sincerely,

Hogwarts

When they finished reading Hadrian and Theo both looked at each other, “So,” said Hadrian, “Hogwarts is sending us letters now?”

“Huh, I guess so. Maybe because you're the lord of all four founders now?” Theo speculated.

“Maybe” Hadrian sighed, “let's worry about that latter, after all it's our first full day as a married couple, I just want to spend the day with you.”

“Alright,” Theo grinned, “why don’t we head out to explore the grounds, and then tomorrow we can go to Diagon alley to get our books.”

“That sounds wonderful,” enthused Hadrian.

As they stepped out into the garden Theo gasped “Oh, Hadrian, do you feel that.”

Hadrian stared at Theo, “No love, what is it?”

Theo crouched down to run his fingers through the grass “I can feel the forest. It’s like it's singing, like every tree and animal has something to say.”

“Oh, it’s probably from your creature inheritance, do you think you’ll be alright, or do you want to go back inside?” Hadrian worried.

Theo furrowed his brows in thought, “it’s not that bad, mostly it’s just background noise. I think I was just surprised, that's all.”

Hadrian sighed in relief “good, should we continue on then?”

Theo nodded, “lets go”

They spent the rest of the day exploring the cabins grounds, breaking only for lunch. As they were getting ready for bed Theo climbed up onto the bed so he could reach, and kissed Hadrian “I had a wonderful time today, and I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you.”

Hadrian grinned before scooping Theo up in his arms and climbing into bed with him. “I had a great day as well, I’m so happy that I get to wake up with you every day.”

Theo grinned and leaned up to kiss Hadrian's jaw line “goodnight Hadrian, I love you.”

Hadrian kissed him at the base of one of his horns, “I love you too, goodnight Theo.”

With that they both drifted off to sleep in each other's arms.    

Chapter Text

The next morning Hadrian and Theo ate breakfast and then readied themselves to head to Diagon Alley. As Theo got ready to leave he looked in the mirror and frowned, as much as he liked his horns, he couldn’t go out with them. Concentrating he attempted to make them disappear, they flickered out of existence before reappearing a few seconds later.

Scowling he turned to Hadrian “What should I do about my horns? Creature inheritances aren’t exactly common, and I’m not sure I want the attention they’ll bring.”

Hadrian walked over and ran his hands gently over Theo’s horns in thought. “Ah, I know. Kreacher,” He called.

Kreacher popped into the room with a small crack, “What can Kreacher be doing for Master Black?”

“Can you please fetch Theo a hat that will cover his horns?”

Kreacher eyed Theo for a moment before popping away. When Kreacher returned he had a large knit cap with him. Handing the cap to Theo Kreacher asked “will this be working for Consort Black?”

Theo put the cap on and it perfectly covered his horns. “Yes, this is great, thank you Kreacher.”

Kreacher turned to Hadrian “anything else Kreacher can be doing for Master Black?”

Hadrian smiled “no, that will be all Kreacher, you may go.” Kreacher gave them both a nod and apparated away.

In Diagon alley Theo and Hadrian decided that they would both get new trunks for the new school year. As such their first stop was the trunk shop. As they entered the shop they were greeted by the shopkeeper, “welcome to Roberts Trunks, what can I do for you young gentlemen this fine morning?”

“We’re looking for new trunks for the upcoming school year, something with separate compartments for our wardrobes, books, and potions supplies.” answered Hadrian.

“Ah,” smiled the shopkeeper, “right this way gentlemen.”

The two boys followed the shopkeeper deeper into the shop. When the shopkeeper came to a stop he gestured to a shelf.

“These are our selection of three compartment trunks. First at 100G, you have our basic trunk, which has no additional features. Next you have our nobel trunk at 500G, this trunk comes with a shrinking charm and the most basic of security spells. The third trunk is our royal trunk at 900G. This trunk is equipped with the shrinking charm, mid level security and an expansion charm. Lastly we have our imperial trunk at 1500G. The imperial trunk comes with a shrinking charm, the highest level of security spells and wards, a full wardrobe, and your choice of a potions lab or library. Of course all trunks sold are equipped with a featherlight charm. We also offer to make any additional cosmetic changes for 30G each.” 

After hearing the sales pitch Hadrian and Theo stepped away to discuss their options. After some discussion they decided to go with two imperial trunks, both with the Potter crest on the lid. Theo’s would be in Slytherin colors and have a potions lab while Hadrian’s would be in Gryffindor colors and contain a library. Once their trunks were ready Hadrian paid and they made their way to Flourish and Blotts.

Inside the bookstore they first picked up their standard book of Spells Grade five then went to pick up the new book for DADA. As they made their way to the register Theo skimmed through their new books.

“Look at this Hadrian,” he whispered, “The new DADA book is absolute rubbish. Who the hell could have approved this?”

At this Hadrian opened his DADA book. “Well,” he groaned, “looks like we’ll have a shit year for DADA. I guess we’ll have to do a lot of self study to pass our OWLS.”

Theo nodded as they reached the register.

Next they headed over to Slug and Jiggers to restock their potions supplies. Hadrian let Theo take the lead in the Apothecary; just buying what he was told. As they made their way to the apothecary’s register they met Snape.

“Mister Potter” drawled Snape, “doing your school shopping I presume.” Snape's eyes raked over Theo “And Mr. Nott, so surprising to see you with Potter. Whatever could the two of you be doing together?”

Theo and Hadrian looked at each other, taking a careful look around before Hadrian leaned down and whispered in Theo’s ear “you know him best, you go ahead and tell him.”  

“Hello professor,” said Theo. “I’m a Mr. Potter now, and Hadrian is actually Lord Potter.” Theo grinned “We’ve been courting this summer, and we were married this past Sunday. I trust you can keep all of this to yourself, won’t you Professor. We want to be able to tell people in our own time.”

With each word Theo said Snape’s eyebrow just seemed to rise higher. “This is most unexpected,” uttered Snape. “I will remain silent, provided you both come see me in my office the morning after the welcoming feast. I will want the full story on how this came to be.”

Hadrian nodded “yes sir, we’ll be there.” Snape sneered “good, off you go then.”

Both Hadrian and Theo wished the professor goodbye before hurrying off to pay for their items. After leaving  Slug and Jiggers they wandered the alley, buying a few odds and ends before ending their day at Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream. 

On the night of August 14 The Order of the Phoenix was once again gathered at the Burrow.

As their meeting began Dumbledore announced “I attended Sirius trial. Unfortunately I arrived too late to take part in the proceedings, however even without my input Sirius was proven innocent. After the trial I was able to make contact with young Harry, it is to my relief that he is safe and that he has been staying with Sirius all this time. It was to my regret that I was unable to convince Harry to return to his relatives or to accompany me here to the Burrow.”

“Well,” interrupted Kingsley, “he’s probably just enjoying his time with his godfather. And then there are those letters some of us received, I don’t think anything has been done about them yet. So it’s not that surprising that he wouldn’t want to spend time with certain people.”

Dumbledore glanced at Kingsley and put a look of concern on his face “yes Kingsley you are unfortunately right, and I am working to remedy that situation. Now as I was saying, at the trial Harry and Sirius were accompanied by an unknown woman and the young Mr. Nott. I am afraid that they are influencing the poor boy to reject his friends and run away from home. To my sorrow they also seem to have a hold on poor Sirius.”

“Oh poor Harry,” wailed Molly as Arthur gently patted her shoulder in comfort, “he has so many poor influences in his life, and now living in that awful house with just Sirius. That can’t be good for the poor thing and I doubt he’s getting enough to eat.”

“Not to worry dear,” assured Arthur, “I’m sure once he’s back in Gryffindor tower he’ll start behaving again.”

“I have to agree with Mr Weasley.” replied Dumbledore “I’m sure once Harry is back in school he will see the error of his ways and return to being the boy we all know and love.”

As Dumbledore assured the Weasley’s Madeye Moody spotted Snape smirking in the corner. “Do you know anything, Snape? You certainly look like you have something to say.”

“I know nothing,” droned Snape, “I’m mearley thought it was funny that anyone could think that the boy has ever behaved correctly.” Snape began to head towards the floo, “now if you excuse me, I have brewing to do.”

Kingsley got up from the table “I need to leave as well; work in the morning, you know how it is.”

Chapter Text

The rest of the summer seemed to fly by. They spent time with Sirius and their friends, or just spent time together. And finally September first arrived. That morning Hadrian and Theo trooped downstairs for their last breakfast with Sirius at Grimmauld Place. After breakfast Sirius accompanied them to the train station. 

At platform 9 ¾ Theo and Hadrian hugged Sirius goodbye. “I’m going to miss you two so much,” sniffled Sirius.

“We’ll miss you too, Sirius,” Hadrian murmured into Sirius’s shoulder.

“We promise to write everyday, and we’ll be home for Christmas,” assured Theo.

“And you can always visit during Hogsmeade weekends,” suggested Hadrian.

Sirius nodded and took a deep breath before hugging them one more time, “Ok, boys better get on the train. You want to make sure you get a compartment before they're all full.”

With one last hug goodbye Hadrian and Theo got on the Hogwarts Express. 

On the train the young couple found a compartment with Neville and a young girl wearing a ravenclaw uniform.

“Hi Neville, do you mind if we sit with you?” Hadrian asked.

Neville looked up from the plant he was studying, “Oh, hello Harry, sure you can sit with us.”

Theo and Hadrian looked at each other as they sat down. “Boy do we have a lot to tell you,” smirked Theo.

Neville looked at Hadrian in confusion “What does he mean by that, Harry? And why are you with him and not Ron and Hermione?”

“Well…” Hadrian started glancing nervously at the girl sitting with them “how about you introduce me to your friend first.

The girl looked up from her magazine “my name is Luna,” she said in an airy voice, “it’s so nice to see that the nargles are no longer bothering you, Hadrian.”

Hadrian blinked “It’s nice to meet you Luna. Ah, how did you know about my name?”

“Oh the wrackspurts told me,” answered Luna before going back to her magazine. “You can tell Neville, I won’t tell anyone what you say.”

Hadrian nodded, turned back to Neville and told him everything that had happened that summer. 

As Hadrian finished explaining there was a knock at the door, followed by it opening to reveal Draco and Blaize. “Potter, would you mind if we join you and your friends? Asked Draco.

“Sure,” said Hadrian “if that's alright with everyone else.”

Once everyone had agreed to let Draco and Blaize join them, Theo moved from sitting next to Luna to Hadrian's lap. While Theo moved seats Blaize sat next to Luna. Draco flopped across both Blaize and Luna with his head on Blaize's lap and his legs flung over Luna's thighs. Neville seemed about to protest but Luna just rested her magazine on Draco's shins.

“Oh Draco how nice to see you again” she said before going back to reading.

As they all settled in Blaize asked “what is that plant you have there, Neville?”

Neville, seeming delighted by the question, explained “this is the mimbulus mimbletonia. My Uncle Algie got it for me over the summer. It has a very interesting defense mechanism, watch this.”

Neville pulled out a quill and just as he was about to poke the plant with the nib, Theo lunged forward shouting “NO” and grabbed his arm. “If you set off the defense mechanism you will cover this entire compartment in stink sap,” explained Theo.

“How could you possibly know that?” Neville questioned "After all I’ve done this before and it didn’t produce anywhere near that much stink sap.”

“Oh, well, ever since I got my creature inheritance I’ve been able to hear and understand plants. Yours seemed pretty angry about being poked, it was practically screaming about covering us all in sap,” said Theo.

After Theo’s explanation everyone gave a sigh of relief at not being covered in stinky sap. As everything settled down from the excitement they began to talk about what they had done over the summer, and what they were looking forward to in the upcoming school year.

When they were nearly to the castle the door to their compartment slammed open to reveal Ron, Ginny and Hermionie who all began talking and shouting over one another.

Hermione zeroed in on Luna and what she was reading. “Why on earth would you be reading the Quibbler, surely a ravenclaw like you would recognize what utter nonsense that is,” she whined.

Meanwhile Ron was shouting “Harry mate, what are you doing here with a bunch of slimy snakes?”

At this Draco got up and snarked “well weasel, Hadrian is just smart enough to know how to make friends with the right sort, unlike you.”

This managed to draw Ron’s attention from Hadrian to Draco.

While Draco and Ron argued, Ginny darted forward and yanked Theo off of Hadrian's lap and quickly took his place, where she attempted to kiss him. This caused Hadrian to quickly put his hand up and push her face away, standing up he pushed Ginny off of him. Then he bent to help Theo up off the floor.

With Theo back in his arms Hadrian shouted “ENOUGH, you three,” he gestured to Hermione, Ron and Ginny, “you’re done here, get out.”

“But Harry…” the three whined.

“NO,” interrupted Hadrian as he moved forward to push them out of the compartment. When the compartment door was finally shut Hadrian turned to his companions “I am so sorry about them. I honestly have no idea what I ever saw in them in the first place.”

“It’s alright Hadrian, we’re just glad that you’re finally getting away from them,” assured Neville.

Just as everyone calmed down from the excitement, the train pulled into Hogsmeade station. As they exited the train and made their way to the carriages, Hadrian stopped and stared at what was pulling them. Pulling the carriages were black skeletal horses, with leathery wings, a reptilian hide and white eyes. Luna and Theo both stopped with him.

“Don’t worry, Hadrian, I can see them too, they're called thestrals” assured Luna.

“Me too,” said Theo, “only those who have seen death can see them.”

“Oh,” mumbled Hadrian, “so when I saw Cedric… and now I can see them.”

“I saw my mother,” shared Theo.

“And I saw my mother as well,” murmured Luna.

Hadrian wrapped his arms around both of them “I’m sorry, none of us should have had to see that, let's join the others in the carriage's shell we.”

Hadrian and Theo paused before entering the great hall. “Do you want to sit at the Slytherin table or the Gryffindor table?” Theo asked Hadrian.

“ I think we should sit with our own houses, just for the opening feast. After tonight we’ll eat at the Slytherin table or just find somewhere else to eat,” replied Hadrian.

“Ok” said Theo “I’m going to sit with Draco and Blaize, you make sure you sit with Neville and the twins.”

Hadrian leaned down and kissed Theo “I will, and I’ll see you in our suite after the feast.” 

Theo hugged Hadrian “Ok, I’ll miss you, it’ll be so strange to eat without you.”

With that the young couple went their separate ways.

At the Slytherin table Theo sat across from Draco and Blaize, unfortunately that left an opening for Pansy and Tracy to sit on either side of him.

“So, Nott, what have you been up to this summer?” asked Tracy.

“Nothing much,” responded Theo, “I just got married. Oh and it’s Potter now by the way.”

At this Pansy whipped her head around and shrieked “What, you got married and to Potter of all people, why would you ever marry that freak.”

Theo frowned at the girl, “don’t call him Pansy, Hadrian’s not that bad, in fact he’s probably the best thing that ever happened to me.”

“Theo, I think you should tell them everything, it will help them understand what's going on,” mentioned Blaize.

Pansy narrowed her eyes “what does he mean, Theo?”

So Theo explained once again everything that had happened over the summer, from their marriage contract to Hadrian’s lordships and the thefts.

“Oh, wow,” muttered Pansy, “my father was at Black’s trial, he said that Dumbledore acted wholly inappropriately, but I didn’t think it was this bad.”

“I have to say I’m not really surprised about the Weasleys or the Granger girl,” Added Tracey.  

Over at the Gryffindor table Hadrian had wedged himself between the twins and Neville had managed to snag the seat across from him. He glanced over at the Slytherin table and smiled when he saw Theo animatedly talking with his housemates. Then he scanned the teachers table and frowned when he saw the pink toad lady.

“That woman was at Sirius’s trial” he whispered to the twins and Neville. “She didn’t seem to like Sirius at all.”

Neville looked up at the table and grimaced at the sight of her “She must be here to teach DADA,” he said.

Hadrian nodded, “but why? I thought she worked for the ministry.” 

As the feast came to an end Dumbledore rose to give his speech “ now that we have all finished with another wonderful feast, may I have your attention for the usual start of term announcements. Our first years should note —-- and a few of our older students as well that the forbidden forest is strictly out of bounds. Mr. Filch has asked me to remind you that magic is not permitted in the corridors between classes. There are two changes to staff this year. First we are welcoming back Professor Grubbly-Plank, who will be taking on the role of our Care of Magical Creachers lessons.”

At this Hadrian wondered what had happened to Hagrid, but quickly tuned back in as Dumbledore introduced the pink toad.

"Second, I am happy to introduce our new defense against the dark arts professor, Professor Umbridge.”

There was a small round of polite but uninterested applause. Once the applause had abated Dumbledore continued his speech only to be interrupted by a “hem, hem” from the new DADA professor as she got to her feet, clearly intending to make a speech. Dumbledore grudgingly stepped aside to allow her to deliver her speech.  

“Thank you Headmaster for the kind words of welcome,” Hadrian grimaced at her high pitched grating voice, “ It is so good to be back here at Hogwarts. I am looking forward to getting to know all of you and I’m sure that we will all be the best of friends.”

At this the crowd of students began to look around and mummer together.

“Hem, hem,” Professor Umbridge cleared her throat before continuing. “The ministry of magic has always considered the education of its young people to be of the most importance. The rare gifts that all of you were born with will come to nothing if not given proper guidance. The most ancient and unique skills of our community must be passed down through the generations lest they be lost forever. Our treasure trove of knowledge gathered by our ancestors must be guarded, replenished and polished by those called to the most noble profession of teaching.”

Here Umbridge paused to give a small bow to her fellow professors. Of which none returned the bow, some even looking positively furious at her speech.

The new professor continued her speech with another little “hem, hem. Every headmaster has brought something new to the difficult task of governing this historic school. And that is as it should be, for without progress comes stagnation and decay. However, we must discourage progress for progress’s sake…”

As Hadrian listened to Professor Umbridge’s speech his scowl got deeper and deeper. The ministry was interfering at Hogwarts, what could this possibly mean. Looking over at the Slytherin table he saw that Theo and his friends were whispering furiously with each other. They must have realized what’s happening, Hadrian thought. As the speech came to an end the hall burst into uproarious applause.

Hadrian muttered to the twins “they're probably just happy it's over.”

Fred and George laughed and patted him on the back “right you are, mate.”

As Hadrian walked with his husband up to their new suit Theo exclaimed “Hadrian, can you believe it. The ministry is interfering at Hogwarts. Can they even do that? I thought the school would belong to you.”

Hadrian pinched the bridge of his nose and sighted, “I’m not sure, I do know that the ministry and Hogwarts are supposed to stay separate. However, whether or not I own the school, well I frankly have no idea. I am the lord of all four founders' houses, but I don’t know if the founders intended for the school to be inherited. I do know that for now I just want to go to bed, and deal with all this in the morning.”

As they reached the painting at the entrance to their rooms Theo said the password “Gata Domum.”

The painting swung open to reveal a sitting room done up in shades of purple with several doors leading off in different directions.

Theo turned to Hadrian and yawned “I’m tired, what do you say we sleep now and check this out tomorrow morning?”

“Good idea,” said Hadrian. The pair opened several doors before finding the one with their bed and trunks. With their room found they quickly got ready for sleep before climbing into the large bed and falling asleep in each others arms.

Chapter Text

Hadrian and Theo woke up early the morning after the welcoming feast.

Theo rolled over to smile at Hadrian, “good morning, love.”

Hadrian yawned and stretched, “good morning to you too. Would you like to explore our new rooms before going down to breakfast?”

Theo smiled, “I’d love to.”

The young couple exited their bedroom and began to look through the various rooms provided in their suit. First there was the sitting room, with a large fireplace. A couch, a pair of chairs and a low table all situated around the fireplace. The whole room was decorated in shades of purple with gold accents. The Hogwarts crest was hanging above the fireplace.

Theo walked over to the fireplace and picked up a letter. “What's this?” he asked as he handed the parchment to Hadrain.

“Lets see,” Hadrian said as he opened the letter.

Hello Young Lord Potters,

Welcome to the Founders Heir Suite. You may use the floo in this suite to conduct any business related to your lordships. Floo powder can be found on the shelf to the right of the fireplace. We ask that you please use this privilege responsibly. You will notice that there are six doors leading out of the sitting room. The door located directly to the left of the fireplace is the master bedroom including its own ensuite bathroom and dressing room. The door directly to the left of the fireplace is a guest bedroom. The door on the right side of the room closest to the entrance painting is a study. Next to the study is a small library. The library contains every textbook and reference book past and present required for Hogwarts students. The last two doors lead to a bathroom, closest to the fireplace. Next to the bathroom is a kitchenette. We hope that you enjoy all that the Founders Heir Suite has to offer.

Hogwarts

P.S. Lord Slytherin may want to take a trip to his chamber.

Hadrian and Theo looked at each other. “Huh,” said Hadrian “I guess we don’t need to look around.”

“Yeah, but I would still like to anyway,” answered Theo.

“Alright, anything you want to look at first?” asked Hadrian.

Theo referred back to the letter, “let's start in the study and make our way around.” 

After exploring their suite Hadrian and Theo headed down to the Great Hall for breakfast and to get their schedules for the year. At breakfast Hadrian sat with the slytherin’s, who after hearing Theo’s story from the morning feast were happy for him to join them. As they were eating the Slytherin prefects began passing out class schedules. In their year it was Draco and Pansy.

Draco handed Theo his schedule and then turned to Hadrian. “Potter,” he said, “I retrieved your schedule from McGonagall for you. Figured you wouldn’t want to have to see Weasley and Granger.”

“Thanks Draco, I really appreciate that,” Hadrian sighed in relief.

“No problem Potter,” Draco said as he turned away “Oh and Professor Snape told me to remind you to meet him in his office after breakfast.”

As Draco left to continue handing out schedules, Hadrian and Theo went back to eating. As they ate they compared their schedules. They both sighed in disappointment when they found that they only shared three classes together, Double DADA on Monday, Double Potions on Thursday and Potions on Friday.

“Hey, at least we have meals together, right,” said Theo.

“Right,” agreed Hadrian. Just as they were finishing up an owl flew down and dropped a note onto Hadrian’s empty plate. Hadrian picked up the note and read:

Harry my boy,

If you would be so good to give an old man some time it would be most appreciated. I very much like the taste of lemon drops.

Professor Dumbledore

Hadrian groaned, “ugh, I have to go see Dumbledore.”

“Oh, do you want me to come with you?” asked Theo.

“No, you go ahead to Snape’s office, let him know where I am ok,” suggested Hadrian.

“Alright,” said Theo. Hadrian leaned down to kiss Theo goodbye, “I'll see you soon.”

And for now the young couple went their separate ways.

When Theo reached Snape's office he knocked on the door and patiently waited for Snape to call “enter.” When given permission Theo walked into the office and sat in front of the desk.

“Young Mr.Potter, where might your other half be?” Professor Snape asked. “He didn’t think he was too good for this meeting,did he?”

“No, Professor, he got called up to Dumbledore's office. He said he'd be here as soon as he was done,” answered Theo.

Snape raised an eyebrow, “very well, that gives us time to discuss some things without him.”

“Like what?” Theo asked.

“Like your treatment by Mr.Potter. He's not mistreating you in any way, is he,” pressed Snape.

“What, no, of course he's not mistreating me,” Theo exclaimed. “Why would you think that?”

“The boy is an awful lot like his father, isn’t he,” sneered Snape.

Theo frowned “is he? I guess that means his father was pretty great then.”

Just as Snape was about to reply there was a knock on the door.

Hadrian sat across from Dumbledore in his office, carefully eyeing him, waiting for him to speak. When Dumbledore just sat there smiling at him with his twinkling eyes, he just asked “well, Professor, was there something that you needed?”

At this Dumbldore seemed to come alive, “ah, Harry my boy, lemon drop.” He pushed a bowl of lemon drops toward Hadrian.

Hadrian pushed to bowl back, “no thank you Professor. If you don’t mind I believe I’ve told you my name is Hadrian. I would really appreciate it if you would use it.”

“Ah, yes of course Harry. How was it staying with Sirius this summer?” replied Dumbledore.

At this Hadrian mentally facepalmed, and sighed “my summer was just fine. But that’s not what you really wanted to talk about is it?”

“Of course my boy,” twinkled Dumbledore, “I know that you may have had a fun time with Sirius over the summer, but you will be returning to your family over the summer.”

Hadrian just stared at him blankly, “Professor, if you mean the Dursley’s, then I will never be going back to them. If you mean Sirius then of course I will be spending the summer with him.”

“Harry my boy,” implored Dumbledore, “I absolutely must insist that you return to your muggle family.”

Hadrian grimaced, “I will not.”

Dumbledore’s eyes twinkled as he smiled sadly  “now, Harry, I understand that they may be a bit hard on you, but I must insist as your magical guardian that you return to your relatives.”

Hadrian leaned forward in his seat and all but growled, “you are not my magical guardian, not anymore. I was emancipated by the tournament last year.”

Dumbledore sat back in shock “Well then I still must insist that you return to your relatives. You may be emancipated, but there are still things that you do not know.”

“Oh yeah,” asked Hadrian “like what?”

“There are blood wards on your relatives' home. When your mother sacrificed herself to save you her love left a blood protection on you. That protection only works if you live with someone of your mothers blood.”

Hadrian scowled “well that protection sure did a shit job. After all, my family caused me harm everyday while living with them.”

“Now, Harry my boy I don’t think you fully understand with Voldemort back we must ensure that you are kept safe. The best way to do that is for you to stay with your relatives.”

Hadrian stood to his feet and made to leave, “I’m not returning to my relatives. If that will be all I’ll be leaving.”

Just as Hadrian reached the door Dumbledore stood up and said, “But the prophecy demands that Voldemort end your life.”

Hadrian turned back “what prophecy?”

“It was made a few months before you were born,” explained Dumbledore. “It strongly implied that it was about you. I believe that Voldemort somehow heard it, and it led to the deaths of your parents.”

“And that's why he wants to kill me, is it?” asked Hadrian.

Dumbledore nodded sadly “The end of the prophecy states that neither can live while the other survives.”

Hadrian nodded “Thank you Professor. If that will be all, I’ll be leaving.”

With that Hadrian walked out of the Headmasters office and headed down to the dungeons. 

When Hadrian got to Snape’s office he knocked on the door and waited for permission to enter. Once in the office he took the seat next to Theo.

Theo grabbed his hand and smiled up at him “how did go with the Headmaster?”

Hadrian squeezed his hand “about as well as you would think.”

“Now that we’re all here, do you think we could get started?” Snape drawled from across the desk.

Theo turned from Hadrian to Snape “sure, where do you want to start?”

“How about from the beginning” suggested Snape.

“Well, it started when a social worker came to my relatives house,” explained Hadrian. “She told me about how I was emancipated due to the triwizard tournament. Then helped me get an inheritance test, that's where I learned about how Dumbledore and my former friends were stealing from me, and about my marriage contract with Theo.”

Theo nodded, “Gringotts sent me a letter about a meeting with my betrothed, I had no idea who it was. When I showed up and saw Hadrian I was honestly a little nervous, after all I knew he didn’t get along with most Slytherins, but he turned out to be more open minded than I was led to believe.”

Hadrian smiled down at Theo, “I was worried that I wouldn’t like you as well. I have never been more happy to be wrong.”

“If we could get back on track please,” Snape droned.

“Right of course,” said Hadrian. “The contract said we had to get married a fortnight after my creature inheritance; so we dated for a while then got married on the 13th of august.”

“It was the best night of my life,” gushed Theo, “and I got my creature inheritance the night of our wedding.”

Snape held up his hand “wait just a minute, you mean to tell me that both of you have creature inheritances.”

Hadrian and Theo both looked at each other and turned back to Snape. “Yes,” they said together.

“I am a dominant dark elf,” said Hadrian “and Theo is a submissive forest nymph.”

Snape looked between the two of them “this explains the sudden change in height. Have there been any other changes?”

Theo hesitated a moment before reaching up and pulling off his hat, revealing his horns. “I can also hear and understand plants, at least a little bit.”

Hadrian smiled down at Theo “I love your horns, they really suit you.”

Theo grinned up at Hadrian. “Thanks, and I really love your pointy ears.”

“Pointy ears?” interrupted Snape.

Both boys turned to look at Snape. “Yes” Hadrian answered, “we both have pointy ears now. Mine have more of a point than Theo’s though.”

Snape put his head in his hands, “I see. I believe that this is all the information I will need. As I stated when we met over the summer, I will not reveal what you have told me without your permission. However I will Advise you to keep any nonhuman shaped appendages hidden. After all, you never know how someone will react.”

Hadrian and Theo smiled as they stood up to leave. “We will, thank you Professor,” said Theo. 

As the two boys made their way out of the dungeons Hadrian bent to whisper in Theo’s ear. “How do you feel about eating lunch in the kitchens and then exploring the chamber of secrets?”

Theo reached up and pulled Hadrian into a kiss. “That sounds like a marvelous idea.”

Chapter Text

When Theo and Hadrian entered the kitchens every house elf present stopped to stare at them. Hadrian and Theo stared right back. Privately Hadrian thought it was a bit creepy; how they all held perfectly still and unblinking just looking at them. After a few seconds of staring a ripple seemed to pass through the crowd of elves, as they all turned to whisper to one another. Hadrian smiled when an elf wearing a large stack of hats that Hermione had knitted last year popped up in front of them.

“Dobby,” he said, “it’s so good to see you.”

Dobby gazed up at them and tilted his head in thought. “Mr. Harry Potter sir,” he squeaked, “is Master Hoggywarts now?”

Hadrian grinned “I am, but my name is actually Hadrian.” Dobby narrowed his eyes, “Master Hoggywarts is Master Hoggywarts.”

Hadrian sighed as Theo snorted in laughter behind him. “Yes, but in public could you please call me Hadrian or at least Master Potter?”

Dobby seemed to think for a moment, “Dobby can do. What can Dobby bes doing for Master Hoggywarts?”

Hadrian put his arm around Theo, “first I would like to introduce you to my husband, Theo.”

“Two Master Hoggywartes,” squeaked Dobby, congrtylations Mr. Hadrian Potter sir.”

“Thanks Dobby, do you think we could have our lunch here?” asked Hadrian.

“Master Hoggywartses always bes welcome in the kitchens.” With that Dobby turned to the rest of the elves, “Master Hoggywarts has returned!” he announced.

At the announcement the elves immediately began bustling around the kitchen preparing lunch. Dobby led them over to a table and snapped his fingers. With his snap a generous lunch of roast chicken, vegetables, and sandwiches filled the table along with tea and pumpkin juice.

“Thank you, Dobby,” Hadrian said as he and Theo took their seats.

“Master Hoggywarts is most welcome,” exclaimed Dobby. “Dobby must bes going back to work now. Masters Hoggywartses bes calling Dobby if they bes needing anything.” 

After Dobby popped away Theo asked “wasn’t that one of the Malfoy elves?”

Hadrian nodded “he was, but I tricked Lord Malfoy into freeing him at the end of second year.”

Theo burst out laughing, “I remember that, Draco and his father spent almost all summer pouting about being tricked.”

Hadrian grinned, “oh they did, did they?”

“Yeah,” giggled Theo, “you should call Dobby in front of Draco at some point. Can you imagine the look on his face?”

Hadrian laughed at the thought. They spent the rest of lunch giggling at imagining Draco and Lord Malfoys over dramatic antics at finding out Dobby was now loyal to Hadrian.

After lunch Hadrian and Theo left the kitchens. “Ready to see the Chamber of Secrets?” Hadrian asked.

Theo was practically bouncing on his feet, “yes,” he exclaimed.

Hadrian put his arm around Theo as he led him up to Moaning Myrtle’s bathroom. When they reached the second floor Theo asked, “why are we going up? I thought that the Chamber of Secrets was below the dungeons.”

“It is, but the entrance is actually up in the second floor girls bathroom,”explained Hadrian. 

As they entered the bathroom they heard a watery voice shriek “boys in my bathroom… oh it's you. Hello Harry.”

“Hello Myrtle,” smiled Hadrian. “My name is Hadrian now, and have you met my husband Theo?”

Myrtle peered down at Theo “ohh it's so nice to meet you Theo. Have you boys come to visit me?”

“ah er… no actually we're here to go to the Chamber of Secrets,” said Hadrian.

“Oh so I’m not worth visiting am I,” wailed Myrtle. As the ghost continued her wailing and crying the toilets began to overflow and flood the bathroom.

Eyeing the water that had begun to form a puddle on the floor Theo cleared his throat “Miss Myrtle, we apologize that we are not here for a visit. We do however have some pressing business in the Chamber. If you could please calm yourself, we promise that we will visit at a later date.”

At Theo’s promise to visit Myrtle immediately stopped her moaning and Theo suddenly found himself with a face full of a very enthusiastic ghost.

“Really,” Myrtle implored, “you really will visit me later, you promise.”

Hadrian sighed as he pulled Theo away from Myrtle. “Yes, Myrtle, we promise that we will visit you later.”

“Oh goody,” shrieked Myrtle as she flew off into her toilet. 

“Well about time,” Hadrian muttered as he walked over to the sink. When he reached the sink Aurum poked his head out of his hair. “What isss that? Sssmellsss like a big sssnake.”

Hadrian blinked at Aurum’s question. “You can sssmell that? The Basilisk?” Hadrian asked.

“I don’t know. I certainly sssmell sssomething,” hissed Aurum.

“What is Aurum saying?” asked Theo.

“That he smells something like a snake, but doesn’t know what,” answered Hadrian.

“Well let's find out, shall we,” said Theo.

Hadrian gave a determined nod before hissing “open.”

With that the sink opened up to reveal that pipe that led down to the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets. Hadrian sat on the floor at the top of the pipe then turned and offered his hand to Theo. Theo grabbed Hadrian's hand and climbed into his lap. Once Theo was properly seated Hadrian pushed off.

“AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH,” they screamed as they went flying down the pipe. When they reached the end of the pipe Hadrian tucked himself around Theo and rolled. As they came to a stop Hadrian panted “Are you alright?”

Theo took a moment to catch his breath. “I’m fine, but I sure hope that we don’t have to do that again.”

Hadrian laughed “me too. Come on, I'll take you to where I killed the basilisk.”

Theo followed Hadrian through the tunnels, occasionally using their wands to remove rubble or strengthen the walls and ceiling. When they reached the main chamber Hadrian and Theo stopped in surprise, the basilisk was still there. It didn’t appear to have rotted at all.

“Wow,” said Hadrian “I thought for sure that it would be at least a little rotten by now.”

“Isss thisss what you sssmell?” Hadrian asked Aurum.

Aurum poked his head out and flicked his tongue, “yesss, big sssnake.”  

Theo stared in disbelief at the shear size of the snake. “Shite, that's big,” he muttered. “Oh…maybe there are preservation charms. Maybe they keep away rot in the chamber, after all it is pretty damp here, but I don’t see any sign of mold or mildew.”

Hadrian nodded “Maybe, what should we do with it?”

Theo grinned “basilisk parts are expensive, mostly because they are so rare. And that means that any potions made with those parts are also rare and expensive. This one should be worth millions.”

Hadrian stared dumbly at the large snake, “Oh I didn’t know it was worth that much, how do we harvest and sell the parts?”

Theo sighed “I don’t know, but Professor Snape would.”

“Of course, well that blows, I guess we’ll have to ask Snape for help. Do you think he’ll do it?” Hadrian huffed.

Theo grinned “for something like this, definitely.”

“Alright, I guess we’ll be bringing Snape down here tomorrow. For now let’s split up and look for clues to what else might be down here. The basilisk can't be the only reason we were sent down here.”

The two boys split up and began exploring the chamber. After searching for about an hour Theo called “Hadrian over here, there’s a little snake on the wall.”

Hadrian made his way over to Theo and examined the small snake carving. “Open,” he hissed.

There was a deep rumbling as a door slid open to reveal a sitting room in deep greens and silver. Oddly everything seemed to be clean, as if the room saw regular dusting.

“Wow, I really wasn’t expecting that,” whispered Theo. The room contained a few tables and chairs, a very comfortable looking dark green couch and a fireplace. Above the fireplace was an inactive portrait of Salazar Slytherin. On closer expectation Hadrian found floo powder on the mantle.

“Do you think the floo works?” asked Theo.

“No idea,” Hadrian answered, “it would be nice if it did though.”

“We could activate the portrait and ask,” suggested Theo.

“Do you think he would know?” wondered Hadrian.

Theo shrugged, “maybe, he would know how strong the spells in here are anyway, so maybe he could make an educated guess.”

Hadrian pursed his lips in thought before nodding, “Ok, we’ll activate the portrait and ask about the floo tomorrow, for now we’ll explore the rest of these rooms.”

Theo nodded, “Sounds like a plan.”

They discovered that the layout was very similar to their own rooms. On the left side of the room was a bathroom that had frankly seen better days, with a cracked bath and a toilet that seemed to have flooding issues. The door next to the bathroom seemed to be locked and no amount of spells they tried would open it. On the left of the fireplace was a guest bedroom. On the right side of the room was a library, which immediately excited Theo until he realized that most of them were written in parseltongue.

“Don’t worry,” Hadrian whispered in his ear, “I’ll read any books that you can’t to you.”

Theo turned and kissed Hadrian at his promise, “thank you. You are the best husband.”

Next to the library was a study. This seemed to be where Salazar kept meticulous records of class grade averages and schedules.

Going through some of the papers Hadrian frowned, “why are there so many classes that aren’t even offered anymore?”

Theo came over and took the papers going through them. “I have know idea, look here's a class on warding, we barely touch on that in ancient runes, I’d love to take an actual class on it.”

Hadrian groaned “I guess that’s something else we’ll need to look into.”

Theo put the papers down and went over to the desk. “Hadrian, look at this” Theo said as he held up an envelope.

Hadrian took the envelope and opened it. He pulled out a letter and an ornate key with a snake wrapped around the handle. Unfolding the letter Hadrian read:

Lord Slytherin

Welcome to your chamber. So sorry about the bathroom, water degrades the spells you see. We hope you are able to make use of the library and study. I’m sure you’ll find some very interesting books and documents stored there. The key may be used to enter and exit your chamber through the locked door. 

Hogwarts

P.S. Lord Gryffindor may want to find his Den.

Hadrian and Theo looked at each other “so,” said Theo “another letter from Hogwarts.”

“Yeah,” nodded Hadrian “at this point I don’t think we should be surprised.”

“You're probably right. I’m starting to get pretty hungry. What do you say about using this key and heading up to dinner?” asked Theo.

Hadrian grinned, “That sounds perfect.”

The young couple used the key to unlock the door and reveal a hidden passage. They followed the passage out of the chamber and up several floors to another door. They pushed the second door open and found themselves in the back of their closet in their rooms.

“Oh we're back in our rooms, do you just want to eat here?” asked Theo.

“Sure, shall I call Dobby for our meal?” answered Hadrian. At Theo’s nod of conformation Hadrian called out “Dobby.”

Chapter Text

Dobby popped in with a crack “master Hoggywarts sir, what can Dobby bes doing for yous?”

“Hello Dobby. Could we please have dinner here in our rooms?” asked Hadrian.

Dobby nodded his head enthusiastically “Dobby can do!” He began snapping his fingers rapidly, when he was done he blinked up at Hadrian and Theo and squeaked, “dinners is beings served in Master Hoggywartses kitchen.”

“Thank you Dobby,” said Theo, “we really appreciate it.”

“Oh” squealed Dobby, “Masters Hoggywartses is being mosts welcome. Do Master Hoggywartses bes needing anything else?”

Hadrian smiled down at the house elf, “No, we’re good for now, Dobby. We promise to call you if we need anything else.”

Dobby gave a sharp nod before popping away.

After Dobby left Hadrian turned and kissed Theo deeply. Theo wrapped his arms around Hadrian's neck and returned the kiss. They only broke apart when they heard both their stomachs start to rumble. They broke apart with a chuckle. “I guess we better go eat,” said Theo.

“Yes,” agreed Hadrian, “and then we can get back to what we were just doing.”

Theo blushed and looked away. “I’d like that,” he mumbled.

As Hadrian and Theo enjoyed a peaceful dinner and their rooms Hermione and Ron enjoyed a less peaceful dinner in the great hall.

“Have you seen Harry at all today?” asked Ron.

“Honestly Ron, we were together all day. If I had seen him you would have as well,” said Hermione.

“Oh,” muttered Ron, “he wasn’t in the dorm room last night either.”

At this Hermione's shot up, “what do you mean; he wasn’t in the dorm?”

“Well,” muttered Ron, “I didn’t see him last night; and I stayed up really late.”

Hermionie sniffed “you most likely fell asleep before he got back…”

“But, Moine,” said Ron as he gnawed on a chicken leg. “He wasn’t there when I woke up. His bed didn’t even look like it had been slept in, and none of his stuff was there either.”

At this Hermione’s face took on a panicked look. “Oh, ok then,” she squeaked, “maybe Neville knows something.” Hermione looked down the table at Neville. “Neville,” she called. When Neville looked over with a frown Hermione put on the sweetest most innocent voice she could muster, “you wouldn’t happen to know where Harry is, would you?”

Neville’s eyes widened in panic, “I-i d-d-don’t know.”

“Oh come on mate,” said Ron “surely you know something.”

Neville scowled at Ron, “I told you I don’t know where he's staying.”

“Ha,” exclaimed Hermione “you said you didn’t know where he’s staying, that means you do know he has somewhere to stay outside of the Gryffindor dorms.”

Neville's frown deepened “Hadrian is my friend, I’m not telling you two anything.” With that Neville got up and left the great hall.

Hermione sighed “so much for that, maybe Professor McGonagall knows something.”

“Great idea, Moine,” Ron enthused, “we can ask her after dinner.” 

When dinner in the Great Hall had ended and just before they headed off to bed Hermione and Ron found Professor McGonagall in her office.

“Miss. Granger and Mr. Weasley, to what do I owe the pleasure?” asked McGonagall.

“We were wondering if you knew where Harry was?” asked Ron.

“Mr. Weasley as far as I know he should be up in Gryffindor tower with the rest of the lions.”

“That's the thing, Professor,” said Hermione “Harry hasn’t been in the common room at all, his things aren’t even in the dorm.”

“Well,” said McGonagall in surprise, “that is most unusual. I will bring this up at the staff meeting tomorrow morning. The Headmaster and Professors will see that it's taken care of.”

“Thank you Professor,” said Hermoine.

As the two friends turned to leave, Mcgonagall spoke “Oh and 5 points to each of you for bringing a missing student to a professor's attention.” 

The Next day Hadrian and Theo woke up curled around each other. Theo leaned up and kissed Hadrian good morning. “Shall we eat breakfast here, or go down to the Great Hall?”

“hmmm” Groaned Hadrian, “I don’t really want to but I think we should head down to the Great Hall.”

Theo sighed, “I think you might be right, we can ask Professor Snape for his help after breakfast if we go to the Great Hall.”

Hadrian kissed Theo’s cheek, “you are right, love. Let's get ready to head down,”

As they approached the Great hall Hadrain spotted Hermione and Ron loitering outside the doors. Hadrian let out a groan, “they're probably waiting for me, I’ll bet that they noticed I haven't been in the common room.”

Theo looked around, tugging on Hadrian's wrist, he pointed out a group of seventh years headed for the Hall. “I’ll bet we can sneak in with them, then we just have to sit with the Slytherins and we should be fine.”

Hadrian gave a determined nod, “good idea.” 

The boys gave a sigh of relief once they were safely seated at the Slytherin table.

“Why did you two look so nervous coming in?” asked Blaize.

“Hermiones and Ron were waiting for me,” answered Hadrian.

“Ah, that would be something to be nervous about,” replied Blaize.

Theo shook his head in agreement “we would have eaten in our rooms or the kitchen but we need to ask Snape about something.”

Blaize eyed the head table “well you better hurry, it looks like he just finished his meal.”

Hadrian and Theo glanced up at the head table. When they saw Professor Snape begin to leave they jumped to their feet and started after him.

“Professor Snape,” Theo called “could you please wait just a moment.”

When Snape reached the hallway outside the Great Hall he turned to the young couple, “is there something that you need, Potters?”

“We wanted to ask for your help in harvesting some potion ingredients,” said Hadrian.

“And you need my help because?” questioned Snape.

Theo and Harry glanced at each other before Theo answered “there is quite a lot and they’re very rare ingredients, we wouldn’t want to accidentally ruin them.”

Snape's eyebrow tilted up in interest, “very well, I have a staff meeting now, meet me in my office in an hour.”

As the Professor turned to leave both boys called out a “Thank you, Professor.”

Chapter Text

As Severus Snape entered the staff room at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry he noted that he was the last Professor to arrive.

As he took his seat Dumbledore spoke “Ah, Severus my boy so good of you to join us.”

Snape raised an eyebrow in Dumbledore’s direction. “I was held up by some students.”

Dumbledore twinkled in Snape's direction “it is so lovely; the curiosity of young minds. Now that we have all gathered I believe that Minerva has a concern to bring to our attention. Minerva if you would?”

Minerva McGonagall seemed to sit even straighter in her chair as all attention shifted to her. “It has been brought to my attention by Mr. Ron Weasley and Miss. Hermione Granger, that Mr. Potter has gone missing.”

At Mcgonagall’s proclamation Snape’s lips gave a slight twitch upward. “And what,” he drawled, “could possibly make Mr. Weasley and Miss. Granger think that Mr. Potter is missing?”

“Mr. Weasley stated that Mr. Potter has not been sleeping in his dorm room, and Miss. Granger mentioned that they haven’t seen him in their common room,” Mcgonagall answered primly.

“Seeing as he was one of the students that held me up after breakfast, I highly doubt Mr. Potter is missing,” Snape said.

“Oh, dear,” sounded the overly sweet high pitched voice of Dolores Umbridge, “we can’t have that; students sleeping outside of their dorms. Headmaster I will endeavor to find out just where Mr. Potter has been spending his nights and ensure that he is returned to his dorm, safe and sound.”

Dumbledore turned to her “Oh thank you Dolores. I admit that I met young Mr. Potter after breakfast yesterday. He didn’t mention anything about his sleeping arrangements while he was staying in the castle. However he did happen to mention that he was emancipated over the summer. Perhaps that has something to do with his new sleeping arrangements.”

Dolores Umbrige’s face took on the look of someone who had learned the most juicy of details. “Oh yes, Professor,” she simpered, “that is most helpful.”

When the interaction between Dumbledore and Umbridge came to an end Snape got to his feet. “If that will be all, I have lessons to prepare,” he droned.

“Yes, yes,” Filius Flitwick spoke up, “I’m so glad that the poor boy isn’t missing, but we all do have lessons to prepare for. Classes do start tomorrow after all.”

At Flitwicks statement Dumbledore inclined his head “right you are Filius, I believe this meeting is dismissed.” 

While the teachers were in a staff meeting Hadrian and Theo sat in an unused classroom near the potion master's office. They were deep in discussion on which entrance to the Chamber of Secrets they would show Snape.

“I really don’t want to have to talk to Myrtle again; but I also don’t want to show Snape our closet,” said Theo.

“Oh, but just think of Snape's face when he slides down the pipe,” suggested Hadrian.

This had Theo bursting into a peal of laughter. “That would be great to see. Do you think it’s worth dealing with Myrtle potentially flooding the room?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” answered Hadrian, “perhaps we should just bring him through our room entrance, we’ll have to come back that way after all.”

As Theo was about to reply the sound of a door opening and closing sounded from down the hallway. “I guess Snape’s back,” Theo said. 

When Theo and Hadrian entered Snape’s office they were directed to sit.

Snape eyed the two boys sitting before him, “I believe that the two of you should explain yourselves.”

When Theo and Hadrian just looked at him blankly he sighed “the rare potion ingredients, what are they?”

“Oh, ah, a basilisk, sir,” answered Hadrian.

Snape gave Hadrian a flat look “a basilisk, where on earth did you come across one of those?”

Hadrian grinned “the Chamber of Secrets; I killed it in second year.”

“Well then surely it's not in any condition to be harvested," sneered Snape

“I believe that there are very strong preservations charms on the chamber, sir. When we were down there yesterday there was no hint of rot or mold.” said Theo.

Snape eyed them both thoughtfully, “very well I will take a look and determine how much of this so-called basilisk is usable.”

Hadrian and Theo got to their feet.

“Thank you so much, Professor,” said Theo.

While Hadian said “shall we go now.”

Snape scowled “lead the way.”

Theo and Hadrian left Snape’s office and led him up to the third floor corridor.

When they entered their rooms Snape drawled “I presume this is where the two of you have been staying in lieu of your dorms.”

Theo turned to Snape, “yes, these are our rooms. The entrance to the Chamber of Secrets is just through here in our closet.”

Snape raised his eyebrow, but remained silent as he followed the two boys into their closet. His eyebrows seemed to climb even higher on his forehead when a door at the back of the closet opened. He dutifully allowed himself to be led down a long passageway, and let out a quiet gasp when they reached the end and the door opened into green and silver living quarters. When Hadrian and Theo heard Snape let out a gasp they both turned to grin at him.

“Welcome to Salazar Slytherin’s private quarters,” Said Hadrian.

Theo began pointing out different doors, “the bathroom’s through there, those two are both bedrooms, that's the office and the library is in there.”

Hadrian noticed the look of longing on Snape’s face when the library was mentioned. “Do you want to see the library first or get started on the basilisk? We can always come back later.”

Snape sighed “show me the basilisk. Coming back later would be appreciated.”

Hadrian walked over to the entrance door “the basilisk is through here, in the main chamber.”

When Snape finally took in the basilisk he stumbled back in surprise. “Bloody hell,” he swore under his breath, “how on earth did a twelve year old kill this monster. When he was done marveling at the sheer size of the monstrous snake in front of him, he began to look at it with a more critical eye. Despite being down here for so long the corpse was in remarkably good condition. He would be able to extract the venom first. The skin could also be used in some potions as well as making spell resistant clothing. Unfortunately it looked like the eyes had been destroyed, but the brain and other internal organs were still mostly intact. Not to mention the blood that was a key ingredient in many potions that were no longer in use; due to the main ingredients' rarity. Then there was the flesh; while it was not used in any potion’s he had read in many old tomes that it was a rare delicacy. All together there were millions, possibly billions worth of ingredients and materials here. Snape whirled around when he heard a call from behind him.

“Professor,” Theo called “will you need our help? We know it's quite a lot.”

“No, I shouldn’t need any help. You did well to get me, two fifth year students would never be able to harvest this.” Snape answered.

“Alright” said Hadrian “We’ll be in the living quarters if you need anything.”

Snape gave a sharp nod, conjured the tools he would need for the job and got to work. Theo and Hadrian watched him for a moment before going back into the sitting room.

“He almost looks like he’s having fun, doesn’t he,” chuckled Theo.

“He does,” laughed Hadrian, “should we wake up Salazar or take a closer look at the library and study first?”

“Hmm,” thought Theo, “let's take a look at the study. I’m very curious about all the classes that they aren’t offering anymore.”

“Alright, I’m curious as well,” said Hadrian.

The young couple went into the study and began to sort through all the paperwork. They worked in companionable silence occasionally stopping to discuss something interesting that they had found. They also began to compile a list of classes that were no longer offered.

“Look at this,” Hadrian exclaimed, “muggle studies wasn’t always just one class, but a series of different classes. Some of them were even required.”

Theo came over to have a look as well, “well that makes so much more sense. Muggle studies isn’t just learning about muggles but also learning about the things muggles study. Also requiring latin would make learning spells easier and arithmetic would make arithmancy easier as well. We should add all of these to the list.”

By lunchtime they had amassed quite the list of classes that needed to be added to the curriculum.

  Classes to Add

• Warding
• Alchemy
• Wixen politics
• Healing
• Recognizing magic materials
• Rites and rituals
• Conjuring
• Incantations
• Magic and the arts
• Muggle studies
• Writing
• Arithmetic
• Science
• Muggle history
• Muggle fashion
• Muggle politics
• Latin
• English
• Physical education

When Hadrian’s stomach started to growl he cast a quick tempus. “Theo it’s time for lunch, could you get Snape, while call Dobby to fetch us lunch.”

“Sure,” Theo said, “maybe we can wake up Salazar while we eat.”

“That’s a great idea, love” Hadrian called as Theo headed out the door.

When Theo left Hadrian called “Dobby.”

Dobby popped in and looked around with wide eyes, “Master Hoggywarts calls Dobby to Snaky chambers.”

“Er, yes,” answered Hadrian, “you know about the Chamber of Secrets?”

“yes,” squeaked Dobby, “all elvses know about snaky chambers, but can not enters unless wes is beings called.”

“Oh, are you able to get us lunch down here?” Hadrian asked.

Dobby tilted his head to the side in thought “Dobby can do, if Mater Hoggywarts asks.”

“Oh good,” said Hadrian "then in that case can we please have lunch for three down here in the chamber”

Dobby snapped his fingers, “Master Hoggywartses lunch bes in the sittings room. Does Master Hoggywarts be needing Dobby for anything else.”

Hadrian smiled down at Dobby, “thank you Dobby, I don’t need anything else right now.”

When Dobby popped away Hadrian went to sit down in the sitting room and wait for Theo and Snape.

When Theo walked out into the main chamber he had to stop and stare at what he was witnessing. Snape had his robes off and the sleeves on the black jacket he wore under his robes rolled up to his elbows. He had conjured a large table that contained all the tools he would need and already at his feet were many large jars containing various fluids. On another large table were stacks of what appeared to be skin. What was left of the basilisk was a pale grotesque figure that appeared to have been drained of blood, with no skin, eyes or teeth. But what was most surprising of all was the grin on the potion master's face. Theo had never even seen his lips so much as twitch in a smile, to see him grin in joy like this was shocking.

“Professor,” he called “would you like to take a break it’s lunch time?”

At Theo’s voice Snape spun around in surprise; scowling he straightened the sleeves on his jacket, casting a quick tempus to check the time “Yes, a quick lunch would be fine.”

“Well come on then," said Theo, “we’re going to wake Salazar Slytherin's portrait while we eat.”

This seemed to pique the Professors interest and he made a visible effort not to hurry.   

Chapter Text

As Snape and Theo entered the sitting room, Hadrian walked up to the portrait of Salazar Slytherin; pushing a small amount of magic into his lord ring he willed it to switch from the Potter ring to the Slytherin ring. Pressing the ring into the bottom frame of the portrait, Hadrian pushed his magic into the portrait. When he was finished he stepped back and joined Theo on the couch. Together with Snape they watched as the painting of Salazar Slytherin blinked his eyes open, stretched and gave a big yawn as if he had just woken up from a long nap. Blinking slowly, and smacking his lips he looked at the three people gathered having tea. “Hello” he said, “did one of you wake me up?”

Hadrian raised his hand, “I did.”

Salazar beamed at him, “Oh it’s so good to meet you. How long has it been since I was last activated? It feels like it's been hundreds of years since I last spoke to anyone.” 

“When did you last speak to anyone, sir? '' asked Hadrian.

Salazar tillted his head to the side, and began muttering under his breath before speaking up, “I believe it was somewhere around the 13th century.

Theo blanched, “Merlin, that's at least seven hundred years.”

Salazar blinked down at Theo, “yes I believe you are right, the last person I spoke to was a young boy named Merlin. Was it really that long ago?”

Surprised Hadrian asked, “you knew Merlin?”

“Yes,” supplied Salazar, ”he was in my house, you know. He somehow managed to find his way down here even though he wasn’t a parseltongue. What a lovely young man he was…” At this point Salazar just seemed to be reminiscing about how much he liked Merlin.

“Ahem,” interrupted Snape, “I don’t mean to interrupt, but perhaps introductions are in order.”

“Ahh, yes introductions, I knew I was forgetting something. I am Salazar Slytherin. I helped found this school and am the potions master.”

Snape nodded and introduced himself next, “I am Severus Snape, the current head of the Slytherin house and potion master of Hogwarts.”

“And I am Hadrian Potter,” introduced Hadrian, “and this is my husband Theodore.”

“Ah, how nice it is to see young love again.” sighed Salazar. “Mr. Potter, would I be correct in identifying you as the parselmouth to open my chamber?”

Hadrian bowed his head “yes sir. I am.”

“Oh, good,” Salazar said as he clapped his hands together, “then I take it you met my little forþecce?”

The three humans glanced nervously at each other.

Theo timidly spoke up “do you mean the basilisk?” He grimaced at the painting's nod.

“I’m very sorry sir,” apologized Hadrian, “I was forced to kill her in my second year.”

Salazar frowned, although his eyes looked more sad than angry. “Please tell me what transpired.”

Hadrian nodded and began his explanation of second year. “In my second year, something began to petrify muggle-born students. With some research my friends and I discovered it was a basilisk, so we guessed it must have come from the Chamber of Secrets, with it being a big snake and all. Then we needed to find the Chamber and answer the question of who was opening it. After all you have to be a parselmouth and as far as we knew I was the only one in the school. It turned out that my friend's little sister had been possessed by the diary of Tom Riddle. We followed her down to the chamber where I confronted Tom and learned that he was Lord Voldemort. Eventually he commanded the basilisk to attack me. I tried talking to her, but I don’t think she was listening. Eventually I had to kill her to save both myself and my friend's sister. I’m very sorry sir, I wish I could have saved her.”

Salazar listened intently through Hadrian's explanation. “I wish you could have saved her as well, but I understand that you did what you needed to. Now I have several questions. First, who are Tom Riddle and Lord Voldemort?”

Snape cleared his throat, “perhaps it is best if I answered that one. Tom Riddle was a half-blood student here from 1938 to 1945 and was sorted into Slytherin house. Later in life he styled himself as Lord Voldemort and became a Dark Lord. With his followers, the death eaters, the Dark Lord waged war on muggles and muggleborns. Until he attacked the Potters on Halloween of 1981. That night both of Hadrian's parents were killed. When the Dark Lord turned his wand on young Hadrian to cast the killing curse; the curse rebound on the Dark Lord. Most believe that he is dead, but some believe that he is still alive.”

After Snape’s explanation Salazar blinked in surprise. “Gosh,” he said, “this Tom Riddle fellow sounds truly insane. You said that he was a parselmouth? I hope he wasn’t one of my descendants?”

“He was one of your descendants,” said Hadrian “but, I’m Lord Slytherin now by right of conquest.” 

“You seem disappointed in the Dark Lord? Didn’t you hate muggles and muggleborns as well? Everyone says that you did,” asked Theo.

Salazar tilted his head to the side in confusion. “What are muggles and muggleborns?” 

“A muggle is a person with no magic and a muggleborn is a person with magic born from parents with no magic,” answered Snape.

Salazar glanced around at the three wizards, “why on earth would I hate those people? Hogwarts is meant to be open to anyone willing to learn. Haven’t you realized that the majority of magical people are these so-called muggle-borns? In my day there were many of these people in my house, not to mention a few of the people you call muggles as well.”

At Salazar’s words Theo began choking on his drink, while Shape let out a loud snort and subtly spit his drink back into his cup. While Hadrian turned to help Theo, Snape asked, “Muggles at Hogwarts, surely not! But what about the Statute of Secrecy?”

Salazar narrowed his eyes and huffed “And just what is the Statute of Secrecy?”

“The Statute of Secrecy prohibits wixen from doing magic in muggle areas and from disclosing to muggles that magic exists. There is an exception of course for muggle-borns and their parents. The Statute helps protect us from muggles who may want to harm us. After all, surely you remember the witch burnings? Everyone says that you and the other founders wanted to protect magical children from them.”

Salazar gave them a flat look,”If you mean burnings as a method of execution then yes that was fairly common. However it happened to both magical and non-magical folk. And I can assure you that everyone that was burned was guilty of a crime. My friends and I did oppose burnings as a method of execution, however no one was burned for merely having magic.”

Hadrian gave a resigned sigh, “I suspected as much. When I was doing research over the summer I compared the dates in magical history books with those in the muggle ones. Muggles didn’t even really start witch trials until the 1500’s about 100 years before the Statute was enforced. Then I started to wonder how much muggles knew about magic before the Statute of Secrecy began being enforced.”

Salazar gave Hadrian a wide grin, “Oh it’s so nice to see that at least one Lord of my house is thinking things through and looking at the world and magic as a whole rather than just separate parts.”

Salazar turned his gaze to Snape, “now as Hogwarts potion master and the head of my house I take it you have found my private potion lab?”

Snape raised an eyebrow in question, “I don’t believe I have.”

Salazar frowned in disappointment, “really. No? Huh. No one’s found it? Behind the fireplace in the Slytherin common room?”

With wide eyes Snape silently shook his head no.

“Oh well,” Salazar spoke softly, before imploring “there is a small snake carved into the left hand side of the fireplace, pressing it will open the fireplace to my private potions lab. The only person who can open the fireplace is the head of house. Please make use of it as you wish.”

Snape bowed his head to the portrait, “thank you.” Then muttered into his tea, “how the bloody hell has no one found that yet.”

Salazar beamed at him, “I’m so glad that someone else will get to make use of my wonderful lab.” Glancing around at his audience Salazar said “It looks like the three of you have finished your meal. I presume you all have tasks to get back to?” When they all nodded in agreement Salazar said “well what are you waiting around here for, you best get to it.”

As They all began to get up to go about their tasks Theo asked “sir, is the floo for the chamber still working?”

Salazar tilted his head and thought before kneeling on the bottom frame of his portrait and attempting to lean down to peer at the floo below him. It was one of the most ridiculous positions Theo had ever seen a painting in. “Hmm,” thought Salazar, “It should work, I’d replace the floo powder, and maybe test it by sending an object through first, but I think it will work.”

Theo grinned “Thank you sir.” 

After lunch Snape gleefully returned to finish harvesting the basilisk parts, even though he now felt a bit guilty at using what seemed to be Salazar Slytherin’s beloved pet. Hadrian and Theo headed into the library.

In the library Theo and Hadrian browsed through the book each creating a stack that they wanted to take back to their rooms. Hadrian collected books on beginning parselmagic and a few of Salazar Slytherins diary’s. Theo collected books that he thought would help him in his electives. Mostly on arithmancy and ancient runes. He did manage to find a few books on beginning warding that he was eager to get started on. Together they chose some potion books that Snape might want to barrow. Once they had finished gathering books they headed out to the main chamber to see how Snape was doing.

Luckily it seemed that he was nearly done, with just the packing up left to do. After Snape had finished packing up his tools and had banished them back to his rooms, he began explaining to Theo and Hadrian what he had harvested.

Walking over to several large jars of clear fluid, “first we have the venom, this is used in several very rare potions.” Gesturing to the folded skin he explained, “next there is the skin while it is occasionally used in potion brewing, it is more commonly used to construct spell proof clothing. Then perhaps the most useful for potions is the blood and other internal organs, they are used in several exceedingly rare potions. Lastly we have the meat, while it is not used in any potions, I have heard that it makes for a very good meal.”

Theo and Hadrian gazed around at everything that Snape had managed to harvest from the basilisk. Hadrian offered his hand to Snape.

When Snape exempted the handshake, Hadrian said, “thank you sir, for your hard work. Theo and I would like to offer you 25% of each venom, skin, blood and organs, and the meat as payment.”

For a moment Snape stared in shock, before sputtering out “thank you.”

Hadrian grinned “Good, now there's a few hours until dinner. How about I have Dobby put everything away, then we can head upstairs.” At Snape and Theo’s agreement Hadrian called “Dobby.”

“What can Dobby bes doing for Master,” here Dobby glanced over his shoulder at Snape, “Potters.”

Hadrian grinned “thank you Dobby,” Hadrian gestured to Snape's portion of ingredients, “can you please bring these to Professor Snape’s room, the rest can be brought to our rooms. Please make sure that anything perishable is left under a stasis spell. There are also some books that need to be delivered to our rooms left out on a table in the library, any potions books should go to Professor Snape.”

Dobby saluted Hadrian, “Dobby can dos.” Then began furiously snapping his fingers. With each snap another item disappeared from the chamber. When Dobby had finished he asked “bes there anything else Dobby can bes doing for Master Potters.”

Hadrian smiled gently down at the elf “thank you Dobby, that will be all.” When Dobby popped away Hadrian turned to Theo and Snape, “shall we head back upstairs?’

When they all exited the closet and entered the sitting room Snape turned to Theo and Hadrian, “thank you for the…unique opportunity, I’ll be seeing myself out.” Just as Snape was about to exit through the portrait into the hall he turned around and warned, “Potters, you may want to  consider making an appearance at your house tables for the next few meals. Certain parties have noticed you missing meals and your common rooms.”

Theo scowled at the thought of who would have noticed them missing, “thank you for the warning, Professor.”

Chapter Text

After Snape left, Hadrian and Theo curled up by the fire together and went through the books they got from the Chamber of secrets.

A few hours later; when their stomachs began to growl, Hadrian asked, “Do you want to go down to dinner?”

Theo groaned, “no, but we should. If we don't, the people Professor Snape warned us about might make more trouble for us.”

“But if we don’t go, then they won’t know where to find us,” said Hadrian.

“Yeah, for now,” sighed Theo, “but what about when classes start. I’d rather get it over with sooner than later.”

Hadrian leaned down and kissed Theo, “you’re right. Let’s go and get it over with.”

As the pair approached the Great Hall, Hadrian drew Theo into a tight hug. “Sit with Draco and Blaize. And I’ll try to sit with the twins and Neville. Good luck and I love you,” said Hadrian.

Theo beamed up at him. Leaning up he kissed Hadrian’s cheek, “I love you too. Good luck with the terrible trio.”

With that the young couple went their separate ways, Theo to the Slytherin table and Hadrian to the Gryffindor table.

Theo quickly found a seat with Draco and Blaize. The three friends struck up a conversation about which classes they had the next day and what they were looking forward to in the coming school year. 

Over at the Gryffindor table Hadrain groaned when he saw that neither the twins and Neville nor the terrible trio had arrived yet. He took a seat and decided to pray that Neville or the twins arrived before his former friends. Alas it was not to be, for just a few seconds later his friends turned enemies walked through the doors. He bit back a groan as they joined him at the table.

Ron immediately began shoveling food into his mouth. “Where have you been, Harry?” he asked through a mouthful of roasted chicken.

Hermione looked at Ron in disgust, “Ron, that’s disgusting, you really do need to learn to not speak with your mouth full.” Turning to Hadrian she said, “he is right though, where have you been? We looked for you all weekend. I wanted to go over the summer homework, and I know Ron wanted to go flying with you.”

When Hadrian just gave her a blank stare Ron prompted, “go on mate, tell us where you’ve been. We know you haven’t been eating your meals in the great hall, or staying in the dorms. No one has seen you in the common room at all. Tell us why.”

Hadrian scowled at him. “If you must know,” he said, “I was emancipated over the summer. Because of that I am now Lord Potter and was given my own rooms. I’ve simply been eating in my rooms.”

Hermione frowned, “but that's not fair, just because you’re supposedly a lord now doesn’t mean you should get special treatment.”

At the same time Ron said, “That's so cool mate, we can use your rooms as a secret meeting place.”

Hermione turned to Ron, “seriously Ronald, is all you can think about is having fun? Can’t you see how unfair it is that the nobility are given special treatment? Besides, Harry may be emancipated, but he is still underage. He should be treated like all the other underage students.”

“Well, he’s not being treated like every other underage student,” argued Ron, “I don’t see why we can’t just enjoy it.”

Hermione grumbled “fine, but I’m still asking Professor Mcgonagall about it.”

Ron turned to Hadrian, “So mate, where’s your new rooms?”

Hadrian raised an eyebrow. “Why would I tell you?” he asked.

Ron frowned in confusion, “we’re your best mates, of course.”

“And your girlfriend,” Ginny piped in. “Oh I’m so happy you got your lordship. I can’t wait to be Lady Potter,” she said.

Hadrian’s scowl deepened, looking down at his half full plate he realized that he had lost his appetite and pushed it away from himself. Getting up from the table he frowned at his former friends, “friends don’t steal from each other.” Then looking at Ginny he firmly stated, “and I am not, nor will I ever be your boyfriend. Hell, I don't even like girls.” Then he turned on his heel and made his way over to the Slytherin Table.

At the Slytherin Table he bent over and kissed Theo’s cheek, “hey love, the terrible trio made me lose my appetite, I’m just going to head up to our rooms. Meet me there?”

Theo returned the kiss, “I’m sorry to hear that. Do you want me to bring you some dessert?”

Hadrian smiled, “that would be lovely.” Hadrian waved goodbye to Draco and Blaize, then left the Great Hall. Hadrian was in bed reading when Theo returned. After changing into his pajamas Theo climbed into bed with Hadrian. The two young men had quite a lovely makeout session before falling asleep.

The next morning Theo and Hadrian opted to have breakfast in their rooms. As they ate an owl flew in and landed in front of Hadiran. Hadrian took the letter from the owl and flipped it over to check who it was from. “Oh it's from Jacob Brown,” he told Theo before opening the letter to read aloud.

Lord Potter,

I am writing to inform you that I have secured a trial date for the Weasley’s and Miss Granger.

The Weasley trial will take place on November 9th at 9:30am.

Miss Granger’s trial will take place on January 4th of 1996 at 2pm

Unfortunately I was not able to schedule a trial for Dumbledore as of yet.

As for the information on options with your marriage contract pertaining to children, you have three options.

The first option of course is that you and Theo conceive a child in one year.

The second option is adoption, is adoption, in this case you can adopt anyone; even an adult

The third option is unlikely to happen. It seems that the contract may be changed if both Lord Potter and Lord Nott are in agreement. 

Sincerely,

 Jacob Brown

“Well,” said Theo, “he’s certainly given us a lot to think about.”

Hadrian nodded, “you can say that again. How about we take the week to think about it. Then we’ll discuss it over the weekend.”

Theo gave him a soft smile, “that sounds good.”

Once breakfast was done the boys got ready for their first classes of the day. Today was Monday and they only had one class together today. 

Theo spent his class time with Draco and Blaize. As he passed Hadrian in the Halls he would grin and wave, and if they had time the couple would stop to chat. Somehow Hadrian managed to succeed in dodging Ron and Hermione’s advances throughout the first half of the day. When lunchtime came, Hadrian and Theo met at the kitchens where the house elves made a picnic that they then took out onto the grounds to eat beside the black lake. They had a lovely lunch hour lounging in each other's arms by the lake; watching the clouds float by. When lunch finished they headed inside to go to their one shared class of the day: DADA. 

When they reached the DADA classroom they sat together and waited for the Professor to arrive.

The toad entered with a high pitched “Good afternoon, children.”

There was a mumbled, “good afternoon, professor,” from a few students.

“You can do better than that. Good Afternoon Children.” Somehow her voice was even higher pitched this time.

This time the whole class echoed back “Good Afternoon, Professor.”

“Very good class,” the Toad squealed, “now put those wands away and take out your textbooks. Today you will be reading chapter one.”

As everyone got out their books to start reading Umbridge made her way over to Hadrian. “Mr. Potter,” she said in a sickly sweet voice, “please move to sit with your housemates.” She gestured to a seat next to Hermione.

Theo gave Hadrian's hand a gentle squeeze under the desk. Hadrian squeezed his hand back, gathered his things and moved to sit next to Hermione.

As Hadrian sat down Umbridge turned her attention to Theo. “Mr…” she said

“Potter, Professor” answered Theo.

“Potter?” Umbridge questioned, “I don’t think so young man,  Mr Potter is sitting with the Gryffindors. Want to tell me your real name.”

Theo turned to look at Hadrian, who gave him an encouraging nod. “My name is Theodore Potter née Nott, stated Theo. “I married Hadrian over the summer.”

Umbridge narrowed her eyes, “very well, in my class you will be Mr. Nott, to avoid any confusion.”

Theo looked down at his hands in his lap. “Yes professor,” he muttered.”

“I’m sorry dear, what was that?,” the toad said in a high pitched voice.

“Yes, Professor, I understand,” Theo said in a louder voice.

Umbridge smiled at Theo, “very good, Mr. Nott. I’m going to have to ask you to remove your hat.”

Theo reached up and gripped his hat, “I’m afraid I would rather not, Professor. I have a rather embarrassing scar.”

“I understand Mr. Nott. Even so, I must insist that you remove your hat when entering my classroom.”

At this Theo turned and gave Hadrian a desperate look.

Hadrian stood and firmly said, “my husband is uncomfortable removing his hat in anyone's presence, it would be much appreciated if you did not force the issue.”

The fat toad’s face looked like she had tasted something sour, “Mr. Potter and Mr. Nott, please leave my classroom. You will only be welcomed back when you have learned not to make a disturbance in my classroom. Oh and Mr. Nott, detention, I’ll see you in my office after dinner every night for the week.”

Both Theo and Hadrian gathered their things and left the DADA classroom as fast as they could. They did not see Hermione turn to Ron, who sat behind her, and begin to furiously whisper. 

Chapter Text

Hadrian wrapped his arm around Theo as they walked away from the DADA classroom. “Do you have any other classes today?” he asked.

“No,” said Theo.

Hadrian hugged Theo even closer, “good, how about we head back to our rooms and cuddle beside the fire. Then we can have a nice dinner, just the two of us.”

Theo looked up at Hadrian with adoring eyes, “that sounds lovely.”

In their rooms Theo and Hadrian settled down by the fire, with a book each. They read for several hours until it was time for dinner. When it was time to eat, Hadrian asked Dobby to make sure the meal included all of Theo’s favorite foods. They ate in the kitchen; Hadrian made sure to keep the conversation light and happy. Eventually despite all attempts to ignore the passage of time; the time came for Theo to go to his detention.

“I'll walk you to Umbridge's office,” said Hadrian.

Theo looked down and shuffled his feet. “I'd like that,” he said in a small defeated voice. 

As they walked toward the fat toads office Hadrian could see Theo getting increasingly nervous the closer they got.

Hadrian wrapped his arm tightly around Theo’s waist, “it will be alright, she'll probably just have you writing lines. And tomorrow morning we can talk to Professor Snape. I'm sure he'll make sure that you’ll be able to wear your hat.”

As they reached the DADA professors office Theo turned to Hadrian and wrapped his arms around him in a tight hug.

“Oh Theo” murmured Hadrian as he rubbed Theo’s back, “it’ll be alright. Do you want me to pick you up when you’re done?”

Theo heaved a large sigh and gave Hadrian a wobbly smile, “no, I’ll be alright, its just a few hours writing lines. That's not so bad is it?”

Hadrian kissed Theo’s forehead, “alright love, I’ll see you back in our rooms.”

Theo gave Hadrian one last hug. “I love you, I’ll be alright. See you later,” he said before turning to knock on Umbridge’s office door.

“Come in,” called a high pitched voice.

Theo opened the door and entered the office giving Hadrian a small smile over his shoulder. When the door closed Hadrian stood there for a few minutes, unsure of what he should do. With a deep sigh he turned around and headed back to their rooms. 

The inside of Umbridge's office the was bright pink with plates containing portraits of kittens hung on the walls.

“Ah, Mr. Nott. Have a seat,” the professor squeaked as she gestured to a desk, “no need for a quill, I have one for you.”

When Theo sat at the desk she explained, “you’ll be writing lines dear,  you will be writing I must not tell lies.”

“What have I lied about, Professor?” asked Theo.

“Why being married dear, and to the Potter boy no less. There is simply no way that the ministry would allow two underaged boys to marry. And I highly doubt that your father would allow it either.”

Theo scowled but wisely did not protest, after all he didn’t want more detention. Picking up the quill he looked for the ink. “Professor,” he said, “I don’t have any ink.”

Looking up from her desk Umbridge said “oh you won’t need one, dear.”

Gulping Theo began to write, with the first line he felt a sharp prick on the back of his hand. Looking he noticed the letter ‘I’ engraved into the back of his hand. “Professor, how many lines do I need to write?” he asked.

With a sly smile Umbridge answered, “Just until it sinks in, dear.”

Taking a few deep breaths he managed to calm himself down. Slowly he began to write I must not tell lies. After a few lines his hand began to ache. Biting his lip he began to speed up. ‘Maybe if I get it done faster it won’t last as long,’ he thought. Detention stretched on for hours, and the cuts on the back of his hand got deeper. Theo tried not to cry, he didn’t want to give her the satisfaction, but a few tears slipped out anyway.

After three hours Umbridge came over to check his hand, “very good, I think that will do for today. I’ll see you again tomorrow night Mr. Nott.”

Theo gathered his things and left the room as fast as he could. Holding his hand close he rushed up to his rooms. The only person he wanted to see right now was Hadrian.

Hadrian went back to his rooms, already missing Theo. In their rooms he tried doing homework, reading, anything to distract himself from the worry. He didn’t like Umbridge, didn’t even trust her, but she was a professor, surely she wouldn’t hurt a student. After numerous attempts to distract himself he gave in to pacing the sitting room. As time wore on he became more and more worried. After the three hour mark the portrait door swung open to reveal a sobbing Theo clutching his left hand.

Rushing over to him Hadrian keeled in front of his husband and asked “Love, what's wrong? What’s Happened to your hand? Can you show me?”

Theo sobbed as he held out his hand for Hadrian to take, “s-s-she ma-made me use a-a-a bl-blood quill.”

“Oh love,” soothed Hadrian “it’ll be alright. Let's get you to the Hospital Wing and then I’ll make sure that you never have to see her again.”

Theo sobbed even harder as he wrapped his arms around Hadrian and buried his face in his neck.

“Would you like me to carry you?” Hadrian asked softly. Theo nodded into his neck. Hadrian scooped Theo up into a bridal carry and rushed off to the Hospital Wing.

In the Hospital Wing Hadrian gently deposited Theo on one of the beds.

As he set Theo down, Madam Pomfrey bustled over. “Oh dear” she said “what seems to be the problem?”

“Theo just had detention with Professor Umbridge, she used a blood quill on him,” answered Hadrian.

At this Theo started crying again.

Madam Pomfrey looked horrified at the thought of a Professor using such a dark item on a student. “Oh my, let me get you some calming draught, then we can see about treating the injury.” With a quick wave of her wand a potion vial flew into her hand. Offering it to Theo she said “here dear, drink this it will help calm you down.”

When Theo’s hand shook too much to grasp the vile Hadrian took it for him and helped him drink it. After a few seconds Theo clamed, and even started doze off.

With Theo dozing, Hadrian turned to Madam Pomfrey, “do you mind if I use your floo, I’d like to call our solicitor.”

“Of course Mr. Potter. I’ll be contacting the Aurors as soon as I’m done treating Mr. Nott. And I’ll make sure that everything is well documented as well,” replied Madam Pomfrey.

“Thank you ma’am” said Hadrain, “Oh and Theo is Mr. Potter now. We got married over the summer.”

The nurse blinked at him for a moment before gushing “Oh, congratulations Mr. Potter. Now off with you, you have a floo call to make and I have a patient to treat."  

In Madam Pomfrey’s office Hadrian grabbed a pinch of floo powder and called Jacob Brown.

“Hadrian,” Jacob said in surprise, “I wasn’t expecting to hear from you. Do you have questions about the upcoming trials?”

“err, no” said Hadrian, “actually I think it would be better if you came through, do you mind.”

Jacob’s eyebrow rose in question, “alright, if you think it's best.”

Hadrian pulled his head out of the fire and stepped back as Jacob walked out of the fire and into the Hospital Wing office.

Jacob looked around “we’re in Madam Pomfrey’s office, I recognize it from when I was in school.”

Hadrian grimaced, “Yes, somethings happened with Theo. I’ll need your advice on what to do.”

Jacob frowned in worry, “alright, shall we sit down and you can tell me about what's going on?”

Hadrian and Jacob sat down at Madam Pomfrey’s desk; Jacob borrowing a bit of parchment and a quill to take notes.

“When we were in Defense Against the Dark Arts,” Hadrian started, “Professor Umbridge asked Theo his name, she didn’t believe he had married me and wanted him to remove his hat. When Theo explained that we were married she said that he’d be Mr. Nott in her classroom. When he refused to remove his hat I confirmed our marriage and asked that she allow him to keep his hat on. After that she told us both to leave the classroom and gave Theo detention.”

Here Jacob interrupted, “I take it that I’m here because of something that happened in detention.”

Hadrian nodded, “Yes, she made him write lines with a blood quill.”

Here Jacob paused in taking notes and stared at Hadrian in horror, “pardon me, did you say a blood quill.”

Hadrian grimaced, “yes, she made him write I must not tell lies for three hours.”

Jacob leaned back in his chair, “Merlin, how could someone do that to another person I’ll never know. My recommendation is that you contact the Aurors.”

Hadrian nodded, “Madam Pomfrey said she would do that when she's done treating Theo. Is  there anything else that I should do?”

Jacob looked down at his notes, “yes, tell the Aurors everything that you told me; I’ll make a copy of my notes that you can give them. And when they ask if you want to press charges, say yes.”

Hadrian sighed in frustration, “Ok, I can do that, when I ask to press charges what will happen?”

“Hmm,” Jacob murmured in thought, “in this case she will likely be arrested, however depending on who she knows, she may be released quickly and may even be able to return to teaching.”

Hadrian groaned, “she knows the minister. He’ll probably have her released.”

“In that case” reassured Jacob “I would suggest that you avoid her if she returns to Hogwarts. If you need to, you can hire a private tutor for DADA. Now if everything goes the way we want it to she will plead guilty and we can demand reparations; how much can be discussed later. Unfortunately if she pleads innocent and knows the right people it could become a lengthy trial that she could string along for months or even years.”

As Hadrian moaned “let's just hope for a quick trial,” Madam Pomfrey entered the office.

“Oh good, you've reached your solicitor.” she said, “I’ve just finished with Theo if you want to see him. He does need his rest so please try not to upset him if you can. Now if you could excuse me, I need to floo the Aurors.”

Jacob got up and shook Madam Pomfrey’s hand. “Thank you Madam, for the use of your office. If it's not too much trouble I’d like Theo’s medical report. Just pertaining to this incident of course.”

“Yes, yes, of course, it's on the board at the foot of his bed,” muttered the nurse as she grabbed a pinch of floo powder.

She had just stuck her head into the fire when Hadrian and Jacob left her office. Theo was sleeping when they reached his bed. Hadrian sat down and took Theo’s right hand in his.

“It will be alright,” Hadrian whispered.

Jacob took Theo’s medical report and began taking notes on his injuries. After a few moments Kingsley Shacklebolt and Nymphadora Tonks entered the ward.

Chapter Text

Tonks spotted Hadrian immediately. She bounded forward, tripped over her own feet, landing on her face in front of Hadrian. Rolling over she grinned up at him, “wotcher, Harry!,” offering her hand she announced “names Nymphadora Tonks but you can just call me Tonks.”

Hadrian bemused, reached down to shake Tonks hand, “nice to meet you Tonks, my name is Hadrian.”

Getting to her feet as Kingsley joined them she asked “so what's this I hear about a professor using a blood quill on you, Har-hadrian?”

Hadrian squinted up at them in confusion before looking over at Theo. “Not me,” he mumbled, then looking up at the pair or Aurors he stated, “Professor Umbridge used a blood quill on Theo, my husband.”

As the pair of Aurors stared at Hadrian in shock Jacob, having finished his notes, came over. Clearing his throat, he offered his hand to Kingsley, “Jacob Brown, solicitor for the Potters. And you are?”

This shook Kingsley out of his shock, grasping Jacob’s hand and giving it a short pump, “Kingsley Shacklebolt, Auror, this is trainee Nymphadora Tonks.”

Tonks grinned and waved, “please, call me Tonks.”

Kingsley turned back to Hadrian, “now Mr. Potter, I understand that your husband was injured by a professor. Can you please tell me more about that.”

As Hadrian explained what had happened to Kingsley, Jacob passed on his notes corroborating Hadrian's statement to Tonks. After Tonks read through Jacob’s notes on Theo’s medical condition and Hadrian's explanation of the events surrounding his injuries, she passed them over to Kingsley. When Hadrian had finished giving his statement the two Aurors retreated to the other side of the room and began a furious discussion on what their next move should be. After about thirty minutes of discussion and going over both their own and Jacobs notes returned to where Hadrian and Jacob were waiting.

“Well Mr. Potter,” said Kingsley, “it looks like we have enough information to make an initial arrest. Would you like to press charges?”

Hadrian gave a sharp grin, “yes, absolutely.”

Kingsley gave a sharp nod, “very well, as I’m sure Mr. Brown explained to you, we will be making an initial arrest and bringing Umbridge in for questioning and holding. However that doesn’t necessarily mean that she will stay in prison, or that she won’t return to Hogwarts. In the event that she does return to Hogwarts we recommend that you stay away from her as much as possible, and report any interactions to your solicitor or me and Tonks at the Auror department.”

Hadrian frowned, “yes, I understand. If she does return to Hogwarts I intend to hire a private DADA tutor for me and Theo.”

Tonks grinned, “great idea, Hadrian. Well me and Kingsley will get out of your hair. Wish Theo well for us, alright.” Turning to Kingsley she said, “let's get a move on, Kingsley. We need to go arrest a Professor.”

Hadrian couldn’t be sure but he swore he heard one of them mutter, “I never did like that old toad,” as they left the Hospital Wing.

Turning to Jacob, Hadrain asked, “is there anything else that I need to do for tonight?”

Jacob patted him on the shoulder, “for tonight, nothing. Just get some rest. I’ll keep you updated on any information relevant to the upcoming trials.

“Ok. Thank you, Jacob. If you don’t mind I think I’d like to get some sleep now,” Hadrian yawned.

“You do that Mr. Potter,” chuckled Jacob, “I’ll see myself out.” As Jacob left Hadrian laid down in the cot closest to Theo’s and drifted into a restless sleep.

In Dolores Umbridge’s office the Professor was having tea and writing up what she called her first educational decree when there was a knock on her door. She frowned in confusion as she looked up from her work. ‘Who could that be,’ she wondered, ‘it’s too late to be a student and I’m not scheduled to patrol the corridors tonight.’

At the second more forceful knock she squeaked in her sweetest most innocent voice, “come in, the doors open.”

At her words the door opened to reveal two Aurors. Getting up from her desk the asked “what may I help you two dears with?”

The man stepped forward, “ma’am, you are under arrest for the extended use of a blood quill on a student. You’ll need to come with us for a bit if you don’t mind.”

Umbridge gasped in horror, “someone used a blood quill on a student. Who could do such a thing?  Of course I’ll come with you, we must get to the bottom of this immediately.”

The two Aurors looked at each other seemingly having a silent conversation before the girl said, “thank you so much Miss. Any information you have would be a great help. Right this way.”

As Umbridge followed the pair down the corridor she grinned to herself, ‘this is too easy, it would be childsplay to convince these idiots that the stupid boy was framing her and  had done it to himself.’

In the Gryffindor common room Hermione, Ron, and Ginny sat near the fire discussing what the older two had learned in DADA. “I can’t believe that Harry would betray us like that and marry a slimy snake,” complained Ron.

“I can’t believe he would marry a boy instead of me,” whined Ginny, “I mean look at me. I’m obviously way better than boring old Theodore Nott.”

“You’re both right,” assured Hermione, “Harry would never betray us like that. So that means Nott must be manipulating him in some way.”

Ron looked at Hermione in surprise, “Merlin ‘Moine, I think you might be right.”

“If my Harry’s being taken advantage of then we have to help him,” said Ginny.

“But how?” asked Ron.

“Hmm,” Thought Hermione. “Professor Umbridge didn’t seem to know that they were married, that seems odd.”

“What’s so odd about a professor not knowing about it?” asked Ginny and Ron.

“Well,” reasoned Hermione, “if the professor’s don’t know, then that means that they weren’t notified, and Dumbledore typically notifies the other professors about status changes.”

“So maybe Dumbledore doesn’t know,” Ginny said as she caught on.

Hermione gave a nod, “right so maybe we should go to Dumbledore about this.”

“And he can set Harry right,” finished Ron, “after all the-boy-who-lived can’t be married to a slimy snake and the son of a known Death Eater, he’ll make sure that they get a divorce.”

Hermione grinned at him, “right, and if that doesn’t work maybe we could have Rita Skeeter write an article about the ministry allowing minors to marry, I’m sure people would be outraged.”

“Maybe we should go with the Skeeter plan first,” suggested Ginny, “after all Professor Dumbledore seems to have a lot going on with running the school and helping the order with you-know-who, besides an article might help give him leverage to do something within the ministry.”

“Gin, has a point there ‘Moine,” said Ron.

“Alright then, first we’ll write to Rita Skeeter first then we’ll go to Dumbledore after the article comes out,” agreed Hermione.

“Alright, sounds good,” said Ron and Ginny.

“Good, let's try to get our letters to Rita out tomorrow morning,” directed Hermione, “then the article should come out by Wednesday morning.”

With that the three friends went their separate ways to write letters to Rita Skeeter.

Chapter Text

It was after midnight by the time Tonks and Kingsley escorted Umbrige into an interview room in the Auror Department. The room contained a rectangular table with two chairs on one side and one on the opposite side and nothing else.

“If you wouldn't mind waiting here ma'am,” said Kingsley, “Auror Tonks and I will be with you in just a moment.”

“But of course dears,” simpered Umbrige, “take all the time you need.”

As the two auror’s left Tonks said, “thank you ma'am, we'll be with you as soon as possible.” 

When the two Aurors left Umbridge began to plan how she would answer their questions. She would of course need to appear horrified by what had happened to the boy. She briefly debated on who she could pin her actions on. She could claim it was another professor; but no that wouldn't work. There would be a record of the detention. Yes she decided that would be perfect, the poor boy had forgotten his quill, and had taken one of her ministry approved blood quills by accident. This was all just an honest mistake, that's all. A few minutes after she made her decision the pair of auror’s returned to the room. 

Pushing a piece of parchment and a quill towards her, Kingsley requested “please sign this parchment indicating that you are here of your own free will and that you intend to answer any and all questions truthfully to the best of your knowledge.”

Umbridge picked up the quill and quickly signed her name. “Yes, yes. Of course, let's get on with it,” she muttered.

Once she signed Tonks took out some parchment,ink and a quill, and prepared to take notes on the interview.

Kingsley began the interview, “do you understand why you are here?”

Umbridge nodded her head, “yes, I believe one of my students has accused me of using a blood quill on them.”

“Did you use a blood quill on any of your students?” asked Kingsley.

At this a look of horror came over Umbridge's face. “No, of course not. I would never do such a thing,” she insisted.

Careful to keep his face blank, Kingsley asked, “do you have any idea why a student might accuse you of using a blood quill on them?”

“Hmmm, no, oh wait, muttered Umbridge, “there was a student in my afternoon class. Oh, what was his name…n-something. Ah it was Nott, Theodore Nott, he refused to remove his hat when I asked him to. And then his little boyfriend Mr. Potter started telling me that I should just let him wear his hat. So I asked them both to leave and gave Mr. Nott a detention.” Here she gave a little shrug “Maybe Mr. Potter or Mr Nott is upset with me?” she suggested.

Kingsley nodded solemnly, “Maybe, and did Mr. Nott show up to detention? What did you have him do?”

“Oh yes, he showed up right on time, I just had him write lines.”

“Ah very good, a typical detention,” said Kingsley. “And can you tell me what you had him write?” he asked.

Umbridge shrugged, “Oh I don’t really remember, does it really matter?”

Here Tonks shuffled her notes, “I wouldn’t happen to have been ‘I shall not tell lies’ would it?” she asked.

Umbridge raised her eyebrow, “possibly, that does sound familiar.”

Just then there was a knock on the door; at Kingsley’s word a junior Auror entered the room, handing a box to Kingsley he said, “here you go sir, we found it.”

Standing up Kingsley took the box grinning, he thanked the young Auror. When the Auror left, Kingsley placed the box onto the table and pushed it across to Umbridge. “Professor,” he asked, “do you recognize the contents of this box?”

Peering into the box she found it contained the four blood quills she kept in her office. Swallowing thickly she answered, “I believe these are blood quills, wherever did you get them?”

Raising an eyebrow Kingsley replied “you don’t recognize these particular quills? They were found in your office. Can you tell me what a Hogwarts Professor would be doing with blood quills?”

Umbridge’s eyes darted back and forth in panic as she attempted to come up with an answer. “I-I-I may be the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor but I am also the under secretary to the Minister. Sometimes I must use a blood quill to sign important documents,” she said slowly.

Leaning forward Kingsley asked, “so if we were to check, we would find that all of these blood quills have been properly signed for and approved?  And that they have only been used by you yourself and no one else?”

Umbridge began to tremble with nerves at Kingsley’s question, but decided to stick to her story, “Yes, they are all signed for and approved, and of course I have been the only one to use them.”

Here Kingsley grinned, “Good, then you won’t mind if we check?” he asked as he picked up the box and began to leave the room followed by Tonks.

Just as Kingsley reached for the doorknob Umbridge squeaked out a panicked, “WAIT.”

Turning back Tonks asked “yes is there anything else you have to add?”

“Y-y-yes,” stuttered Umbridge, “w-w-when the Nott-t boy came to detention…” she trailed off.

“What about it?” pressed Kingsley.

“He…didn’t have a quill…so I told him to take one from my desk. Perhaps he accidentally used one of the blood quills?” she postulated.

At her claim Kingsley and Tonks came back over to the table. “Ma’am” said Kingsley, “you realize that this means that admitting to keeping blood quills where a student can easily get to them is the same as admitting to endangering students?”

Umbridge's face took on a sorrowful look, “yes,” she said as a tear slipped down her cheek, “and I’m so sorry. I’ll do whatever I can to make it right.”

Kingsley’s grin sharpened, “I’m afraid I’m going to have to arrest you ma’am. Please state that you understand that you are being arrested for endangering students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.”

“I understand,” whimpered Umbridge.

With Umbridge’s admission Kinglsey and Tonks led her off to the holding cells.

As she was placed in a cell Tonks informed her, “we have to hold you here for 72 hours while we continue our investigation. At the end of our investigation you will either be let go or face a criminal trial. If you would like to speak to a solicitor please let the guards know.”

When Hadrian he felt stiff and groggy due to the poor sleep he had gotten. It seems that it had become difficult for him to sleep without Theo in his arms. In the next bed Theo was blinking awake.

“Goodmorning,” Hadrian whispered, “how did you sleep?”

Theo shrugged his shoulders, “I was on a lot of potions, so I guess as well as can be expected, I missed you though.”

Hadrian smiled, “I missed you too. How does your hand feel?”

Theo frowned as he flexed his fingers, “it aches, but not as bad as yesterday.”

Hadrian rolled out of bed and kissed Theo on the forehead, “good, I’ll get Madame Pomfrey for you.” 

When Hadrian returned with Madame Pomfrey, the nurse got right to work checking on Theo’s hand. “Hmm,” she said as she worked, “it looks to be healing nicely, but I’m afraid there’s nothing I can do about the scar. How does it feel, dear?”

“It still aches a little,” Theo said softly, “but it’s better than it was last night.”

“Good, good,” said Pomfrey, “I’d like to keep you for today, but I think you’ll be alright to leave by tonight.”

“Ok, Madame Pomfrey,” muttered Theo.

“Oh don’t worry about missing class,” assured Madam Pomfrey, “I’m sure your friends and Hadrian here will take notes and get your homework for you.”

Hadrian gave a sharp nod, “and if you ask Dobby will get any books that you might want.”

As Madame Pomfrey bustled off she let them know that breakfast would be delivered shortly.

Hadrian and Theo had a light breakfast in the Hospital wing, in the middle of which Draco and Blaize burst in.

“Theo, what happened?” exclaimed Draco.

Theo scowled, “I had detention with that fat pink toad, she made me write lines with a blood quill.”

“Merda,” Blaize swore, “that explains the rumors this morning.”

“Oh what rumors?” asked Hadrian.

“Some people are saying that she got arrested last night,” said Draco.

“Or that she’s got called away on important ministry business.” added Blaize.

“I think the best one is that it was discovered that she was a real toad that got transfigured into a human,” mentioned Draco.

Theo snorted at the last rumor before falling into a full belly laugh, “I could see that, it's hilarious.”

It wasn't long before the rest of them joined in with Theos laughter. 

At the racket they were making Madame Pomfrey came and shooed them all out, “well go on, I think it's time for you to get to class. Hadrian, you can come back for lunch.” 

Other than missing Theo throughout the day Hadrian had a fairly uneventful day. No one seemed to bother him at all, even the terrible trio left him alone. There were of course the rumors about Umbridge that seemed to keep everyone busy. And unsurprisingly there were also a few rumors about him and Theo. Some people were happy for them while others were upset. Some believed that they were married, while others thought they were just dating. What was surprising however was that other than a few people wishing him and Theo well, everyone seemed content to just leave him alone. At lunch Hadrian collected Theo’s notes and homework from Draco and Blaize before returning to the Hospital Wing to have lunch with his husband.

The young couple went over their homework while they ate lunch. “How has it been today?” asked Theo.

“I’ve missed seeing you in the halls, but other than that, surprisingly ok,” answered Hadrian. 

The rest of the day was just as uneventful, yet tiring. By the time the day ended Hadrian was ready to take Theo back up to their rooms and cuddle by the fire before heading to bed. And that is exactly what they did.

It wasn’t until morning when they were sitting down to breakfast in their kitchen that things started to get annoying. Just as Dobby had delivered their breakfast and they were sitting down to eat, a strange owl delivered a copy of the Daily Profit.

When Hadrian opened the paper and  caught sight of the front page article he muttered, “oh shit.”

“What is it?” asked Theo as he peered over Hadrian’s shoulder. “Oh,” he murmured, “well, I guess we won’t have to tell anyone else huh?” 

Boy-Who-Lived Married at 15

Chapter Text

Boy-who-lived Married at 15

That's right Dear readers, I received an anonymous tip that Harry Potter has been Married. Of course as a reporter I did my due diligence and checked the public records office at the ministry of magic. It's true, Harry Potter was married this summer on August 13th to Mr. Theodore Nott. I am sure that all the young girls across Wizarding Britain are crying their eyes out over losing their chance with the boy-who-lived. As the boy-who-lived appears to prefer the company of men,  it seems that these young girls never stood a chance of catching our young savior’s eye. I asked the officiant, (Mr. Mark Barber) of their wedding. All he had to say was that it was a beautiful ceremony and that they were a lovely couple. He refused to say anything more. Of course it is not unusual for people in our society to get married at a young age. It is however unusual for someone to get married while they are still students. And to not announce their engagement or marriage in the paper is highly unusual. I can only speculate on why this could be. Why the rush on marriage, could they be expecting? Was there some stipulation in their marriage contract that required an early marriage? Digging deeper I found that at the beginning of this summer Harry Potter was emancipated. It seems that when Mr. Potter competed in the Triwizard Tournament, he was made an adult by magic. Could this be what led to the marriage between Mr. Potter and Mr. Nott?

Mr. Nott was seen with Mr. Potter at Sirius Black’s trial. Witnesses say that the two were seen speaking to Headmaster Dumbledore and I quote “things seemed rather tense between Harry and Dumbledore.” This of course made me curious. The-boy-who-lived has always been a loyal follower of Headmaster. What could cause this tension? Now my dear readers, I as a reporter have been given access to the court records and appointments. Taking a closer look at these records I found something very interesting. It seems that the golden trio has had a falling out. There are appointment on the court records of Mr. Potter taking several members of the Weasley family and Miss. Hermione Granger to court. What could have caused this? Could it have something to do with Harry and Theodore’s Marriage?  I, my dear readers, will attend these trials and keep you abreast. Now we know that Harry Potter was due to inherent the title of Lord Potter from his father, and Sirius Black made no secret that young Mr. Potter was his Heir.  Unfortunately due to his unfortunate stay in Azkaban Mr. Black is unable to inherit the title of Lord Black. So is it possible that our boy-who-lived is both Lord Potter and Lord Black? Could he possibly hold other titles? Did his new husband inherit any titles alone with him? This reporter can only hope that she can find out.

Signing off, Rita Skeeter

Chapter Text

In the Great Hall at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry both the students and Professors were reacting to Rita Skeeter's article on the boy-who-lived. Up on the Professors table Dumbledore was silently fuming as the professors around him began to quietly whisper.

‘How could this happen,’ he wondered, ‘all his plans that he had worked so hard on to achieve, dashed against the rocks. And all because the stupid boy couldn’t just do as he was told. Why on earth did he have to go and marry a Slytherin, and the Nott boy of all people? Everyone knew that his father was a known Death Eater.’

“If he had to get married, why couldn’t he marry a Gryffindor?” he grumbled to himself “Even a Hufflepuff would have been preferable to a Slytherin.”

“What was that?” Minerva Mcgonagall  asked him with a frown.

“Oh nothing dear,” he replied, “just a bit shocked about this business of Harry getting married.”

Minerva raised an eyebrow, “I’m sure we’re all a bit shocked, But I suppose if he’s happy…”

“But I worry about his friend’s. Why would he take them to court? Harry must get along with his friends,” Dumbledore butted in.”

“Well, I suppose that is a concern,” agreed Minerva, “but all we can do is support him the best we can.”

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled sadly, “yes, of course Minerva, I suppose that is all we can do.”

At the other end of the staff table Snape silently sipped his coffee as he listened to the other Professors gossip. As he listened he smiled into his cup, ‘oh what fools’ he thought. ‘Why not just ask the boy if they wanted to know more?’ the Potion’s Professor wondered with a sigh.

Down at the Slytherin table things were much calmer. As the Slytherin students finished reading the article they turned to Draco and Blaize with their questions. They were friends with Theo they thought, so they should at least have some information.

“The paper got his name wrong. It’s not Harry, but Hadrian,” announced Blaize.

“Is it true,” asked Graham Montegue, “that Potter had a falling out with the Weasley’s and Granger?”

“Yes for the most part,” answered Draco, “he had a falling out with the youngest two Weasley's, their mother and Granger. He’s still friends with the twins though, and I’m not sure about the rest of the Weasley’s.”

“Well at least he learned about how awful the Weasley family is,” grumbled a seventh year student from somewhere further down the table.

“Is it really true that he married Nott?” squeaked a tiny first year.

“Yes, he did,” grinned Blaize.

“It was quite the beautiful ceremony,” mentioned Draco.

“You were there,” breathed Astoria Greengrass, “oh, please tell us about it.”

All the younger years and a few of the older years listened in aww as Draco and Blaize regaled them with the tail of Hadrian and Theo’s wedding.

Across the room at the Gryffindor table things were quite different. Fread and George scowled at the article.

“They got Hadrian’s name wrong, Gred” said one twin.

“What do you think he’ll do about it, Forge,” asked the other.

“I don’t know, but I think we know who gave Skeeter her anonymous tip,” said the first twin while looking down the table at their younger siblings and friend.

That morning Ron, Ginny and Hermione had eagerly gotten up and headed to breakfast. They couldn’t wait to see the article that would be written about Harry, surely it would bring attention to the fact that he shouldn’t be married. When an owl from the Daily Prophet landed in front of Hermione, she lunged forward to snatch up the paper, nearly scarring the poor bird off in her eagerness.

As Hermione read the paper with Ron and Ginny leaning over her shoulder, she began to scowl. “This doesn’t say anything about how terrible it is for Harry to be married so young,” complained Hermione.

“Um, Hermione,” muttered Ron, he pointed at a section of the article, “look at this bit here, what does it mean trials. I haven't heard anything about that. Have you?”

Hermione scanned down the article. “Oh,” she murmured, “this can’t be true, if it was your mum would have said something, wouldn’t she?”

“I don't know,” said Ginny, “she didn’t want us to participate in Order meetings, she might think we’re too young to know.”

“Yeah, that sounds like mum, besides that part of the article probably isn’t even true, you know how Skeeter is,” mentioned Ron.

Hermione took a deep breath, “you’re right Ron, this is just Rita Skeeter sensationalizing the fact that Harry has not been himself.”

“Yeah,” said Ginny, “besides what would Harry even take us to court for, we haven’t done anything.” 

Up in Harry and Theo’s room the young couple were reading the article.

“Well, the only thing that she got wrong is your name.” muttered Theo, “Other than that it’s really just speculation.”

Hadrian sighed as he got up, “I’m going to give Jacob a floo call to see what he says, just in case.” Hadrian went over to their floo took a pinch of floo powder and called his solicitor. When Jacob answered Hadrian said “Good Morning Mr. Brown, Have you seen the article?”

“Ah, yes. I was expecting to hear from you after reading it. I take it you want my advice on what actions you can take?”

Hadrian nodded, “ yes, is there anything that I can do?”

“Unfortunately,” Jacob sighed, “everything in the article,, aside from your name, came from a public record or was from a record that was obtained legally by Miss. Skeeter.”

Hadrian groaned, “so there’s nothing that I can do?”

Jacob grimace, “now I didn’t say that. What I will do is write to the paper requesting that they make a correction on your name. What I would recommend is that you and Theo come up with a list of subjects that you don’t mind answering questions about. Then in a few weeks agree to an interview.”

Hadrian grumbled, “I guess we can do that. Thanks for your help Jacob.”

Jacob smiled, “you are most welcome, Mr. Potter. Now I think you need to get going to your class.”

Hadrian grinned, “alright, Mr. Brown. Thank you, Goodbye.”

Returning to Theo he gave his husband a hug. “Jacob said to come up with subjects we’re willing to talk about, then we’re going to have to do an interview,” he grumbled.

Theo patted him on the back, “ok, it’ll be fine. We’ll get through it together, yeah.”

Hadrian grinned into the top of Theo’s head as he pulled him closer, “yeah, together. Thanks Theo.”

Theo smiled up at Hadrian, “come on, we should get to class.” 

In number 12 Grimmauld Place, Sirius Black sat down to breakfast. When he had finished eating he opened the paper and was shocked to find an article about his godson. As he read his frown deepened.

‘Had Hadrian seen this?,’ he wondered.

“I hope he’s alright. Maybe I should give him a floo call,” he muttered to himself.

Glancing at the clock he saw that Hadrian would be in class by now, besides it was almost time for his mind healing session.

“I’ll call him tonight,” he said, “but first let’s write him a letter,” he said into the air.

He went up to his room, sat at his desk and began to pen Hadrian a quick letter. 

Hello pup,

I read that article this morning. Are you alright? How about Theo? I hope you're having a good time at school. I’ll give you a floo call tonight after dinner.

Sirius

As Elizabeth Owens sat down at her desk at the Ministry of Magic in the Social Service Department, she was surprised to discover a newspaper sitting on her desk. Opening the paper she frowned when she saw the article on Hadrian.

“This is the last thing those boys need,” she muttered to herself. Pulling out a sheet of parchment she began to pen a letter to Hadrian and Theo.

Hadrian and Theo,

I saw the article when I got to work. I hope that you are both doing well. If either of you need anything at all please let me know. If you would like, I am willing to act as a witness for the newspaper or the courts on your behalf.

Elizabeth Owens

At the Burrow Arthur Weasly sat down to breakfast and opened the newspaper. Noticing the article on Harry he frowned as he read.

“Dear,” he said to his wife, “look at this article about Harry. Do you know anything about this? Why on earth would he be taking us and Hermione to court?”

Molly Weasley came and leaned over his shoulder, scanning the article she scowled. Plastering a fake smile on her face, “I’m sure it’s nothing dear, just a misunderstanding. Why don’t you drink your tea? I’ll make sure to clear everything up.”

Arthur frowned and before he began to protest he took a sip of his tea. His eyes briefly fogged over before clearing. ‘What was he about to say?” he wondered. Shrugging he agreed with his wife, “yes dear, of course,” before returning to his breakfast.

At Malfoy Manor, in Wiltshire, Lord and Lady Malfoy were sitting down to breakfast. Lord Lucius Malfoy opened his paper as he ate. Raising his eyebrows as he read the article on the Potter boy.

“It seems that the Potter boy has wed Heir Nott.” He told his wife.

“Oh,” said Narcissa, “that is most surprising. Isn’t he friends with Draco?”

Lucius scowled, “yes, you don’t think our Draco has become friends with the Potter boy as well, do you?”

Lady Malfoy frowned, “it's possible. The article doesn’t mention it?”

Lord Malfoy glanced back over the article, “it doesn’t make any mention of it. It does however mention that Potter has had a falling out with his little friends. Evidently he’s taking them to court. Although it doesn’t mention why.”

“Perhaps Draco knows,” suggested Narcissa, “I’ll write to him after our meal.”

Lucius gave a curt nod, “If Draco has become close to Potter as a result of his marriage…” The Malfoy Lord heaved a sigh, “we will need to take some precautions. With the Dark Lord returned, things could become dangerous for us.”

In Nott Manor, Lord Tiberius Nott was reading the paper when he came across the article about Harry Potter. As he read his face turned beat read with anger.

‘I must ensure that my idiot son gets a divorce, as soon as possible,’ he thought as he headed towards the floo.

With each step he became angrier. And perhaps because of his poor diet, or his drinking habit, or it could have been some unknown genetic condition, Lord Nott clutched his right arm as he felt a shooting pain go through it and fell to the floor unconscious. The Nott house elves of course rushed him straight to St Mungo’s where as a Lord he was given his own private room. The Healers did everything that they could for him, but it seems as though he had an unknown heart condition that had gone untreated for too long. Five hours after he arrived at St. Mungos Lord Tiberius Nott was pronounced dead.

In Little Hangleton, Lord Voldemort sat on his throne in Riddle Manor. One of his Death Eaters came in and handed him a newspaper open to an article on that blasted Potter boy.

Skimming over the article he hissed at the Death Eater, “how could this happen, the son of one of his Death Eaters, wed to my greatest enemy.” Pulling out his wand and pointing it at the Death Eater he cast “CRUCIO…CRUCIO…CRUCIO,” until the Death Eater was just a withering mess on the floor.

Calling all his Death Eaters together he announced, “The Nott family had betrayed us and our cause, they are now our enemy. Anyone who associates with them will also be my enemy. You are dismissed.”

As Lord Malfoy left the meeting he was pale and shaking. ‘Draco is friends with the Nott boy. I must find a way to protect my family,” he thought.

Chapter Text

Despite their best attempts to avoid it, eventually Hadrian and Theo had to leave the safety of their rooms and go to class. Before they went their separate ways they kissed each other goodbye.

Theo called “see you at lunch, Hadrian,” over his shoulder as he skipped off to herbology.  Despite the newspaper article that morning he was looking forward to the class. He wanted to test how well his new forest nymph powers would work on the plants in class.

Hadrian waved goodbye as Theo skipped off. “See you later, love. Have fun in herbology,” he called after his husband.

At the end of the hall Theo spun around and waved and shouted, “I will. have a good time in transfiguration,” before turning and hurrying off to class.

When Theo was out of sight Hadiran gave a soft smile. “Merlin, I fall more and more in love with that boy every day,” he whispered to himself before heading off to transfiguration.

In transfiguration Hadrian made sure to sit between Neville and Dean Thomas.

Before class began, Dean whispered to Hadrian, “I saw the paper this morning mate. Is it true?”

Hadrian nodded, “she got everything right, except for my name.” At Dean’s raised eyebrow Hadrian explained, “my name is Hadrian, not Harry.”

“And do you prefer going by Hadrian?”

At Hadrian's nod Dean grinned and offered his hand. “Nice to meet you Hadrian. My name’s Dean,” he said.

Hadrian laughed as he shook Dean’s hand. A few minutes later Professor McGonagall walked in and began the lesson. Today they were working on vanishing spells. After an explanation and a demonstration the students began to attempt to vanish snails.

Hadrian was surprised at how quickly he got his snail to vanish. ‘Maybe my inheritances make me better at transfiguration, or just magic in general,’ he thought to himself.

As Mcgonagall made her way around the classroom she stopped in front of his desk and inspected his work. “Very good, Mr. Potter, quite a strong vanishing spell you’ve got there. 5 points to Gryffindor. Why don’t you spend the rest of class assisting Mr. Longbottom and Mr. Thomas?” she suggested.

For the rest of class Hadrian tried to help Neville and Dean accomplish the vanishing spell. By the time class ended Neville had managed to make the snail's shell vanish but not the snail and Dean was able to vanish the snail but not the shell.

“Hey Neville,” Dean said as they left the classroom, “maybe we should both just try to vanish the same snail next time, eh.” 

Just as Hadrian was about to exit the classroom Professor Mcgonagall stopped him, “Mr. Potter, a word if you may.”

Turning to the Professor,  Hadrian asked, “Yes Professor?”

“I’ve read the article in the paper this morning and I just wanted to let you know that if there’s anything at all that you need help with, please don’t hesitate to ask.”

Hadrian stopped and stared, “actually Professor, there is one thing.” Here he took a deep breath before telling her, “my name is Hadrian and I would prefer to be called that if it’s ok.”

Mcgonagll gave him a sharp nod, “very well, I’ll see to it that your name is corrected in the school records.”

Hadrian let out a relieved breath, “thank you, Professor.”

“It’s not a problem Mr. Potter,” assured Mcgonagall, “now I believe you have another class to get to.”

Hadrian smiled and waved goodbye to Mcgonagall as he headed off to his next class.  

In herbology they were learning how to safely collect bubotuber pus from bubotubers. Theo could only stare at the somewhat gross plant in dismay. It was shaped like a large black slug and covered a multitude of shiny bumps. Not only did it look like a slug but it moved like one as well.

It was only when Theo paid closer attention that the plant was moving like that because it was uncomfortable. It seemed that the pus sacks that it was covered in had become overfilled, making it move in discomfort.

Professor Sprout instructed everyone to put on their dragon-hide gloves before handing out bottles that they could collect the pus in. Once she was sure that everyone was wearing their gloves and had their bottles the Professor demonstrated how to squeeze the pus out of the bubotubers.

When Theo first tried to squeeze the pus from the bubotuber it wriggled away from his hands. Theo frowned before he had an idea. This time he pushed some of his magic toward the plant while thinking about helping it. His idea seemed to work as the plant stilled and then wiggled in his direction. By the time he was finishing up the plant was now wriggling happily and even moving its fuller protrusions closer to his hands.

Draco who was working next to him looked over at what he was doing, “merlin, Theo, how did you get it to work with you like that?”

Theo grinned, “I think my creature inheritance has something to do with it.”

At Draco’s look of disappointment at being unable to replicate Theo’s work he leaned over and pushed some magic into the plant; this time thinking of Draco helping it.

When the plant wriggled towards him Draco let out a relieved sigh, “thanks mate, that was a big help.”

Blaize leaned around from Draco’s other side, “mind helping me out too, Theo.”

Theo grinned and did the same for Blaize. As they continued to work Theo asked “so, did you see the article this morning?”

“Yeah mate,” said Draco, “everyone saw it.”

“Don’t worry though,” assured Blaize, “we already answered the other Slytherin’s questions, so no one from our house should bother you too much.”

Theo sighed, “thanks guys, at least I won’t be bothered by people from my own house. Now I just have to worry about the other houses.”

“Well, it’s not like that’s unusual for slytherin,” joked Draco just as Professor Sprout came to check on their progress.

“Oh, well done boys, 5 points each for a job well done.”

“We couldn’t have done it without Theo,” mentioned Blaize.

“Oh, then in that case Mr… I’m sorry dear, do you prefer Nott or Potter?” Asked the Professor.

“Potter, please Professor,” Theo requested.

Professor Sprout smiled at him “then 5 points to Mr. Potter for helping his classmates.”

By the time class ended Theo and his friends all had a large jar of bubotuber pus and a happily wiggling bubotuber in front of them. As they left the greenhouse they dropped off their jars of pus onto Professor Sprout’s desk.  Leaving the greenhouses the three boys headed back up to the castle for their next class.

When it was time for lunch Hadrian and Theo returned to their rooms, where they found three owls waiting for them in the kitchen. Hadrian took the letters from the owls while Theo gave them each a few treats.

When the owls left Hadrian handed one of the letters to Theo, “this ones for you, Theo.”

The two boys sat down at their kitchen table to eat their lunch and read their letters. Hadrian opened his letters first. The first was from Elizabeth. “This one’s from Miss. Elizabeth,” he told Theo, “she saw the article and is offering to speak to the newspaper for us or act as a witness in the trial against the Weaslesy’s and Granger.”

“Oh, good,” said Theo. “That is very nice of her, and I’m sure as your social worker she has paperwork that will confirm your emancipation,” he continued, “if you need it, of course.”

Hadrian let out an aggravated thought, “that’s a good point, knowing them they’ll try to prove that I’m not actually emancipated.”

Theo reached over and patted Hadrian’s knee, “lets not worry about that now. What does the second letter say?”

Hadrian opened the second letter and grinned, “it’s from Sirius. He wants to know if we’re alright after the article and that he'll call us tonight after dinner.”

Theo returned Hadrian’s grin, “oh, it’ll be so nice to see Sirius again. But I’m afraid that I might have to leave before the call is over, I have astronomy tonight.”

“That’s alright, love,” Hadrian assured, “I don’t mind if you have to duck out early, and I’m sure Siri won’t either. Now what does your letter say?” 

Theo opened his letter and frowned, “it’s from ST. Mungo’s.” Reading further his frown deepened, “it’s my father,” he whispered.

Hadrian reached out and squeezed Theo’s hand in comfort, “what happened dear, is he alright?”

“No,” Theo murmured, “he’s dead, they said it was an untreated heart condition.” When he finished speaking he burst out in uncontrolled sobbing. “Why am I so upset? I hated my father, he was a terrible person,” he sobbed.

Hadrian pulled his husband into a hug and gently rubbed his back. “Oh, love, it's alright to be upset. He may have been a terrible person but he was still your father.”

Theo continued sobbing into Hadrian’s shoulder for what felt like hours but was really only minutes. Hadrian did his best to comfort his husband, holding him and rocking gently from side to side while rubbing his back.

When Theo let out a last hiccup of a sob he sat back and gave Hadrian a sad smile. “Your right he was my father,” taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, “and that means he’s my responsibility.” Glancing back at the letter he read, “St. Mungos will be holding his body until Monday. I think I’ll go Saturday to make funeral arrangements. Then on Sunday we can go to Gringotts to get our lord rings.”

Hadrian patted him on the shoulder, “do you want me to come to the hospital with you?”

Theo gave him a wobbly smile, “I’d really like that, thank you. At least now we can change our marriage contract, at least the part about having children.”

“You’re right, at least there is that,” said Hadiran, “we can do that when we go to Gringotts as well.”

Theo leaned up and kissed Hadrian’s cheek, while shoving the letter from St. Mungos away, “let’s not talk about this anymore.”

“Alright, in that case how did herbology go, were you able to use your powers on the plants at all?” Hadrian asked.

“Yes,” Theo replied enthusiastically, “we collected pus from bubotubers. I found that they were uncomfortable with how much pus buildup was in their protrusion and that they were much more cooperative when I pushed some magic toward them while thinking about helping them. I was even able to help Draco and Blaize.”

Hadrian laughed, “that's great, honey. Do you think I could do that as well?”

Theo pursed his lips in thought, “maybe, I don’t see why you couldn’t try.”

The rest of their lunch was spent in pleasant conversation talking about their classes. 

After lunch they went back to class. Hadrian made sure that he sat with Neville and Dean in every class, staying well away from Hermione and Ron. Theo of course sat with Draco and Blaize in all of his classes. Eventually it was time for dinner and the young couple returned to their rooms to eat. As they ate their dinner they conversed about what they had done since lunch. When they finished eating they retired to the sitting room to wait for Sirius’s floo call. At eight o’clock sharp their floo went off and Sirius’s face appeared in the fireplace.

“Hadrian, Theo, it’s so nice to see the two of you. How have you been?”

Hadrian grinned, “It’s nice to see you too, Siri. We’ve been alright. We have had a few problems, but we’re getting through them.”

“Ah, That article I presume?” questioned Srius.

Hadrian and Theo looked at eachother, “well not just the article,” answered Theo, “the DADA professor used a blood quill on me. Theo held up his hand to show Sirius his scar.

Sirius’s eyes widened, “what, who could do something like that? I hope she’s not teaching anymore.”

“Don’t worry,” assured Hadrian, “she was arrested. I’m not sure who will replace her though it’s only been a few days.”

“Anyway how have you been, Sirius?” asked Theo. “I’ve been alright, my mind healer suggested that I clean up Grimmauld place. She said it would be good for my mind to get rid of all the dark objects.”

Hadrian gave a pleased smile, “that sounds like a good idea. How’s it been going?”

Sirius grimaced, “there is much more crap in this house than I originally thought. So far I haven’t even gotten around to getting rid of the dark objects. It seems like my mother was just hoarding everything she ever got. I don’t think that woman ever threw anything away. I swear every closet in the place has an extension charm on it and they're all packed full.”

Hadrian and Theo were a little stunned at Sirius’s outburst.

Theo cleared his throat, “well thank you, Sirius, for cleaning the house. We both really appreciate it.” Glancing at the clock, “but I’m afraid that I need to duck out, I have astronomy tonight.”

Sirius nodded, “that’s alright, have a good time in class, Theo.”

Theo said goodbye to Sirius and kissed Hadrian goodbye before heading out to the last class of the day. When Theo left Hadrian continued to talk to Sirius for several hours. It was late at night when Sirius and Hadrian ended the call. After the floo call ended Hadrian got a bool and headed to bed to read.

Hadrian was reading in bed when Theo bounded into the room, “HADRIAN, I FOUND GRYFFINDOR’S DEN!!!”

Chapter Text

Hadrian sat up in bed and put his book to the side. Grinning, he asked, “What? You found it? Where?”

Theo returned his grin as he climbed onto the bed, “in the astronomy tower, near the just below the highest level. I found a lion carved on either side of one of the windows, figured that must be Gryffindor’s Den.”

Hadrian put his arm around Theo in a sideways hug, “well then, how about we go take a look. Maybe tomorrow? At lunch?”

“That sounds lovely,” yawned Theo.

Hadrian kissed the top of Theo’s head, “Alright then love, let's get to sleep.”

“Ah, good night Hadrian,” Theo murmured softly as he drifted off to sleep.

“Good night, love,” Hadrian returned before going to sleep.

The next morning an owl delivered a newspaper as the young couple sat down to breakfast. Hadrian opened the newspaper and grinning turned the paper toward Theo. “Look, Theo, it looks like Jacob came through,” he said while pointing out the correction. 

We, the Daily Prophet would like to make a most sincere apology to Lord Potter. in yesterday's article on Mr. Potter's marriage we printed the wrong name. We would like to correct Mr Potter's name from Harry to Hadrian. Once again Mr. Hadrian Potter we sincerely apologize for the misprint of your name in yesterday's paper.

“What do you think?,” asked Hadrian.

Theo shrugged, “it's good, as far as an apology from a newspaper goes.”

Hadrian nodded, “you’re right, it’s actually the only time I’ve ever seen a newspaper make an apology… or a correction. I should write Jacob a letter thanking him for all his help.”

Theo leaned over and kissed Hadrian on the cheek, “I think that's a great idea, love. Now we should get to class.”

Hadrian glanced over at the clock hanging on the wall, “right, we don’t want to be late. I’ll meet you for lunch in the astronomy tower, we can have Dobby bring us some lunch. Something easy to eat while working.”

Theo grinned up at his husband, “yes, I can’t wait to see what’s in Gryffindor’s Den !”

The Mail was also being delivered in the Great Hall. Draco Malfoy was sitting at the Slytherin table eating his breakfast when a large Eagle Owl swooped down and landed in front of him. Draco, who was used to his parents writing to him often, eagerly took the two letters from the owl. One was from his mother, the other from his father. He opened the one from his mother first he read:

Draco my love,

Your father and I saw the article about the Potter boy yesterday morning. We are quite concerned. Are you still friends with Mr. Nott? If you are, we don't want you to have to give up your friendship with him. But we need to know if you have become friendly Potter. I assure you my love, it’s alright if you have, your father and I just need to know what precautions we need to take. Please write soon. I miss you everyday that you are away.

Your loving Mother,

Narcissa Malfoy

After reading his mother’s letter he opened his father's letter.

Draco, my son

I hope this letter finds you well. I am writing to inform you that I have just returned home from a meeting with the Dark Lord. I must warn you that he saw the article about Potter and the Nott boy. He has declared the Nott family and their associates enemies. I know that you are friends with Nott; I would not ask you to betray your friendship, but we must take steps to protect our family. The only way I see forward is with Potter's help. The only thing I ask of you son is that you please arrange a meeting with Lord Potter. And please be careful, you never know what could get back to the Dark Lord.

Your Father,

Lucius Malfoy

As Hadrian went about the first half of the day he made sure to stick as close to Neville, and Dean as possible. In the first class of the day they were joined by Seamus Finnigan. After spending just a few hours with the three boys from his house he found himself becoming fast friends with them. After the last class before lunch he waved goodbye to his new friends before starting off towards the astronomy tower. As he walked he briefly wondered why he had never spent any time with Neville, Dean and Seamus before.

Shaking his head he scowled to himself, ‘Ron and Hermione never would have let me spend time with them.’

As he rounded the corner near the top of the astronomy tower he found Theo sitting on a step with a scowl on his face. Sitting on the step above him were Draco and Blaize.

As soon as Theo saw Hadrian he launched himself into Hadrian's arms. “Sorry, they followed me,” he whispered in Hadrian’s ear, “Draco says he wants to talk to you.”

Hadrian reared his head back, raising an eyebrow he asked, “what? Why?”

In response Theo just shrugged, “I don’t know. Should we take them to Gryffindor’s Den.” He nodded his head towards the window, “it's in that window.”

Hadrian peered over Theo’s shoulder, and spied the small carved lions on either side of the window. “Ah, you’re right, that is likely it,” he muttered. Glancing up at where Draco and Blaize were sitting he said, “I think we can trust them, let's take them with us.”

Placing his hands on Theo’s shoulders, he spun them around in the narrow staircase so he was closer to the window. “Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart,” he muttered while inspecting the window. Glancing up the stairs at Draco and Blaize and then down to Theo he called, “I’ll be right back, love,” before jumping out the window. 

When Hadrian jumped through the window he could only pray that he was right. Luckily it seemed that his thinking was correct as instead of falling to his death he landed in a sitting room that was identical to the one in the Chamber of Secrets but for the red and gold colors. Taking a cursory look around it seemed that the layout was also identical to Salazar's Chamber.

When Theo saw Hadrian jump he rushed to the window while screaming, “HADRIAN.” Throwing himself against the window leaning out in the hope of catching his husband, he felt Draco and Blaize grab his waist. Reaching for Hadrian he let out a sob when he found nothing.

Suddenly, someone grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him back inside. Looking up his eyes widened when he saw Hadrian leaning into the hallway from the window. Reaching up hugged Hadiran. ”Hadrian, I thought you were gone,” Theo sobbed into Hadrian’s neck.

Hadrian gently rubbed Theo’s back, “I’m so sorry love. I should have given you a better warning. Now do you want to see Gryffindor’s Den?”

Theo gave Hadrian a wobbly smile, “yes, now how do I get in.” Hadrian smiled, and looked behind Theo at Draco and Blaize, “right one at a time, just jump out the window. I guess?” 

Theo smiled softly at Hadrian, “okay, I’ll go first.” Hadrain grinned down at his husband and offered his hand. When Theo took his hand Hadrain pulled him up onto the window sill, Theo glanced behind him at Draco and Blaize before jumping off into the void. 

Once Theo went through the window Hadrian turned to Draco and Blaize, “well, are you two coming?”

Draco stepped forward, muttering, “if this is the only way I get to talk to you, then so be it.”

Blaize followed after Draco. “Ah, well, curiosity and the cat and all that,” he muttered as he leapt out the window.

To the surprise of both Draco and Blaize their leap of faith didn’t end in their untimely death but in a sitting room decorated in shades of red and gold with a portrait of Godric Gryffindor hung above the fireplace. Looking around the found Hadrian and Theo poking around what appeared to be a study.

“What is this place?” asked Draco.

Hadrian looked up from rifling through papers on the desk, “this is Gryrrindor’s Den, it’s like the Chamber of Secrets, except for Gryffindor.”

“And what,” asked Blaize, “are we doing here? How did you even know this was here?”

“We are looking for information on the founders and what Hogwarts was like when it was first built,” explained Theo.

Hadrian continued, “It seems that it was a lot different than it is now. There used to be a lot more classes offered.” Here Hadrian looked directly at Draco, “And did you know that muggles used to go here?”

Draco gave him an incredulous look, “What? No, that's impossible. What about the muggle repelling wards?”

Theo looked up from the paper he was reading, “it’s true. Muggles did go here before the words were established in 1692.”

Blaize raised a questioning eyebrow, “and just how did you find that out?”

Hadrian gave a frustrated sigh at all the questions, he really just wanted to go through Godric Gryffindor’s papers. “We spoke to Salazar Slytherin’s portrait in the Chamber of Secrets. Was there something you wanted to talk about Draco?”

Draco looked around the room,”Well I’d really like to talk about what the hell is going on here. But I suppose that can wait. My father wanted me to talk to you. He wants me to set up a meeting with Lord Potter.”

Hadrian choked on his next breath in surprise. “Why don’t we sit down for lunch while we discuss this,” he suggested. Moving out to the sitting room while the others followed him he called for Dobby.

Dobby popped in with a crack “what can Dobby bes doings for..” Dobby looked over his shoulder, narrowing his eyes at Draco and Blaize… “Master Potter?”

Hadrian smiled gently down at Dobby, “hello Dobby, can we please have lunch for four?”

Dobby nodded as he snapped his fingers, “Dobby can do. Does Master Potters bes needing anything elses?”

“No, that will be all Dobby. Thank you for the lunch,” said Hadrian.

“Master Potters is being most welcomes,” said Dobby as he popped away.

When Dobby had left Draco shouted it disbelief, “that was my elf, wasn’t it? Potter, why do you have my elf?”

Chapter Text

Hadrian sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose, “yes Draco, that was Dobby. He was your family's elf until second year. He's a free elf now, and chooses to work for me. Now what was it that you wanted to talk about? Something with your parents?”

Draco cleared his throat, “yes, well, I expect a more detailed explanation about the elf later.”

Blaize nudged Draco in the side, whispering in his ear, “get to the point Drac.”

“Right,” said Draco, “my father wants to have a meeting with you.”

“And why does your father want to meet me?” asked Hadrian. “He hates me.”

“The Dark Lord saw the article about you and Theo,” explained Draco. “He declared the Nott’s and anyone who associates with them enemies.”

“And since you’re friends with me that makes you and your parents enemies of the Dark Lord also,” finished Theo.

Hadrian frowned, “So they want me to keep them safe?”

Draco nodded his head, “yes, and for what it's worth I’d really appreciate it.”

Hadrian turned to Theo, “he's your friend. What do you think we should do, love?”

Theo looked up into Hadrian’s eyes, “The Malfoy’s have done a lot for me. They always gave me a place to stay when my father was being… unreasonable,” said Theo. “I think we should help them.”

Hadrian smiled gently down at his husband, “alright, love, we can do that.” Turning back to Draco he sighed, “when do your parents want to meet?”

Draco swallowed, “my father would like to meet as soon as possible.”

Hadrian frowned in thought, “Hmmm, let them know I can meet with them tomorrow at lunch. Tell them to use the floo address Founders Heir Suit.”

Draco took a deep breath before expelling it, “Thank you, Hadrian. You’re a good friend.”

When Draco finished speaking Theo popped up from where he was sitting, “good, now that's done with why don’t you two help us go through everything here.” Theo gestured to the library, “Draco why don’t you and Blaize start in the library. Hadrian and I will work in on the study.”

“Oh uh ok,” muttered Blaize, “we can do that. He grabbed Draco’s hand and pulled him towards the library. 

As their friends headed off into the library Hadrian scooped Theo up and carried him off into the study where he planted him on top of the desk and pulled him into a deep kiss. Hadrian gently pushed Theo to lay down across the desk.

Theo pulled out of the kiss. “Wait,” he said as he reached under himself, “there’s something hard under me that’s uncomfortable.” Theo pulled out an envelope addressed to Hadrian. Sighing he flopped back against the desk as he handed the envelope to Hadrian.

Hadrian took the envelope from Theo and went to set it aside when Theo grabbed his wrist. “No wait,” Theo said, “we should read that and get to work here.”

Hadrian grumbled as he rested his forehead against Theo’s. “You’re right, love. But we are going to continue this later,” he said as he pressed small kisses over Theo’s face.

Theo gave Hadrian a chaste kiss and replied, “hmm, I’d love to continue this later tonight. Now what does that letter say?”

Hadrian opened the letter and a key topped with a lion fell out along with a letter. Pocketing the key and opening the letter Hadrian read:

Lord Gryffindor,

Welcome to your den. It was very brave of you to take the leap of faith needed to find these rooms. We hope you make good use of the materials found in the library and study. While you may have noticed Lord Slytherin was responsible for curating classes, Lord Gryffindor is responsible for the security of our hallowed school. Here you will find all the materials needed to do that.   

Hogwarts

P.S. Lord Ravenclaw may want to take a look at his nest.

“So I guess we need to find the Ravenclaw chambers next?” asked Theo.

“Yeah,” answered Hadrian, “Where do you suppose we’ll find that? The Library?”

Theo shrugged, “probably. Let's worry about that later and go through everything in here.” 

They went through everything on the desk and shelves and found a lot of information about the security of the castle. Apparently the moving staircases had a purpose. They were meant to make it more difficult for attackers to move about the castle. The fact that they were moving while not under attack, however, was a bit concerning. Looking into it farther they found that the stairs could be turned off by accessing the warding stone that was hidden somewhere in the school. It seemed that the moving armor knights and trick stairs were also all parts of Hogwarts security.

They also found detailed diagrams for putting protection runes on the school. These diagrams showed where to put each rune in the school, what runes to use and even how and when to renew them.

“Ugh,” groaned Hadrian, “this is all great, but what would be really helpful is if we could find where the wording stone is.”

Theo sighed “I know it doesn’t seem like the location is kept here. Maybe Godric Gryffindor knows. We could always wake up his portrait and ask.”

Hadrian snorted, “it looks like we’ll have to. I’m not that surprised though, I don’t think the location of the ward stone is something you’d want to have written down.”

“That makes sense,” replied Theo as he cast a tempus, “we only have a few minutes left of lunch. We’ll have to wake him at another time.”

Hadrian looked at Theo’s tempus, “shit, we should get Draco and Blaize and go. We’ll have to run to make it in time for potions.” 

Draco and Blaize entered the Library and began to look around. A few minutes later they both heard a thump and a low moan from the next room over.

Draco snickered, “yeah, they really wanted us in here so they could explore the study alone.”

Blaize smirked at him, “maybe we should explore the library.”

Draco pulled a sour face, “no thanks, if we can hear them then they’ll be able to hear us. Don’t really fancy that.”

Blaize laughed and leaned down to kiss Draco’s cheek, “alright love. How about we each choose a shelf and see if we can find anything interesting.”

They each chose a shelf and began going through the books. Blaize found himself looking through what felt like centuries worth of Defence against the Dark Arts textbooks. Draco on the other side of the room let out a quiet gasp when he found himself looking at a whole shelf of books written by Godric Gryffindor himself. There were of course books on warding and DADA. But then there were also some more unusual books, with titles such as Protecting Oneself Using Household Spells or the one entitled Muggle Vs. Muggle: How Muggles Defend Against Other Muggles. Just when Draco was getting drawn into the books he found Hadrian and Theo burst into the room.

“We have to go guys,” shouted Hadrian.

“If we don’t go now we’ll be late for potions,” said Theo.

Chapter Text

The four boys ran as fast as they could to the potions classroom. Unfortunately they arrived a few minutes late as the distance from the astronomy tower to the dungeons was too far for them to run and get there in the time they had left before class started.

As their group stumbled into the potions classroom Snape turned to them with a raised eyebrow. “5 points from each or you; for being late. Do at least attempt to make an effort to arrive on time,” he drawled.

Each of the boys muttered their apologies as they shuffled off to an open table.

Snape walked to the front of the classroom where he spelled directions for a potion up on the board. “Can anyone tell me what this potion is?” asked the professor.

Several hands went up. As Hermione waved her hand about she shouted out “The Wiggenweld Potion!”

Snape sighed, “Miss Granger, while you are correct, I did not call on you. Five points from Gryffindor for speaking out of turn.” Tuning to the rest of the class he explained, “you will be revising and brewing the Wiggenweld Potion today. It is imperative that you learn this potion as you have a rather important examination coming up in June.” As the students sat there and stared at him Snape shouted “well what are you waiting for. Get going!” 

To Hadrian’s absolute delight, having Theo for a partner in potions was worlds better than partnering with Ron and Hermione. Ron tended to be a bit of a slob at potions, honestly at this point Hadrian was convinced that Ron was purposely sabotaging him.

While Ron was a slob who often ruined their potion, Hermione was so controlling she might as well not even have a partner. Looking back it was clear that neither of his former friends wanted him to succeed in potions. For what reason Hadrian had no idea, however he was away from them now and partnered with his lovely husband.

Theo was by far the best partner he could wish for. He was patient and explained things he didn’t understand, and also he shared the work equally with Hadrian. Honestly it made Hadrian fall even more in love with his husband. Hadrian added the ingredients while Theo stirred. Hadrian couldn’t help but think that they were perfect as partners.

About halfway through brewing their potion Ron began to try and get his attention. “Pisst, Pisst, Harry, mate over here,” Ron loudly whispered.

Hadrian studiously ignored Ron’s attempts to get his attention.

After several attempts Hermione must have gotten fed up because she shouted across the room, “Harry, Ron is trying to speak to you. It's rude to ignore your friends when they’re talking to you.”

Hadrian closed his eyes in exasperation. “You’d think they’d take a hint by now, wouldn't you?” he mumbled to Theo.

Theo snorted, “you’d think that they, wouldn’t you? They must be impossibly dense.”

At Hermione’s words Snape marched over to her and Ron’s table. “Mrs. Granger, Mr. Weasley, if you have something to say to Mr. Potter rather than shouting across the classroom and disrupting other students; it would be prudent of you to wait until class is over,” Snape droned.

“But Professor,” complained Ron, “Harry’s sitting with the Slytherins when he’s meant to be sitting with us Gryffindors.”

Snape glanced over at Hadrian and Theo, who were quietly talking as they worked on their potion. “There are no assigned seats in my classroom,” he said. “If Mr. Potter wants to sit where he is, he is welcome to do so.”

“But…,” started Hermione. “Detention, Mrs. Granger,” interrupted Snape, “for disrupting your classmates from their work and questioning my authority in this classroom.”

As Snape walked away Hermione let out a huff of air. Ron patted her on the shoulder, “Don’t worry Hermine, you know what a git the old dungeon bat can be.”    

As class came to an end Hadrian asked Theo, “do you have any classes after this?”

Theo grinned up at Hadrian, “no. Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

Hadrian returned the grin, “that we head up to our rooms and finish what we started earlier?”

Theo grabbed Hadrian's hand and began pulling him out of the classroom, beaming at Hadrian over his shoulder he said, “yes, lets hurry up shall we.”

With a laugh Hadrian scooped Theo up into his arms and began to run up to their rooms. As he was lifted Theo shrieked and grabbed Hadrian about the shoulders and began to laugh and giggle all the way up and into their rooms.

Hadrian burst into their rooms, rushed into their bedroom and tossed Theo onto the bed. Theo laughed in delight as he bounced on the bed.

Hadrian climbed up on the bed and drew Theo into a deep kiss.

Theo moaned into the kiss as he wrapped his legs around Hadrian’s waist.

“MMMM. You are so gorgeous,” Hadrian groaned as he pulled out of the kiss.

“Humm, you’re beautiful too, love,” breathed Theo as he pulled Hadrian back into a kiss and began to struggle to take off both their shirts at the same time.

Hadrian chuckled gently. “Let me help you with that, darling,” he said as he pulled off his shirt and then helped Theo with his.

They had just gotten into what was turning out to be a very pleasant makeout session that also involved some heavy petting when there was a knock on the portrait entrance.

Hadrian rolled over onto his back flopping his head against the pillow and groaned, “ugg, what now.”

Theo rolled over and rested on Hadrian’s chest gently kissing his chin he whispered, “maybe if we ignore them, they’ll go away.”

When another knock came Hadrian rolled out of bed and pulled on his dressing gown. Kissing Theo on the head he murmured, “I don’t think they're going away love. I’ll be right back.”

Walking out to the sitting room and swinging the portrait portal open, Hadrian came face to face with Kingsley Shacklebolt and Nymphadora Tonks.

“Watcher, Hadrian” said Tonks as she looked him up and down, “is this a bad time.”

Hadrian looked down at how he was dressed, and blushed a deep red. “No, no, it's okay,” he mumbled, “what did you need?”

Shacklebolt cleared his throat, “We just need to ask Theodore a few questions. Do you mind if we come in?”

Hadrian nodded his head and stepped to the side. When the two Aurors entered the room Hadrian closed the door and rushed back into the bedroom. “Theo,” he hissed, “the Aurors are here. They want to ask you some questions.”

Theo sat up in alarm “What? Why?”

Hadrian gently rubbed Theo’s arm in an attempt to calm him, “it’ll be alright. I think it’s about Umbridge. It’s the Aurors that arrested her after all.”

Theo blew out a breath of relief, “alright, I’ve sort of been expecting this.” Theo slid out of bed and began to get dressed. When Hadrian just stood there Theo looked at him in confusion, “well are you going to get dressed, or are you going to talk to the Aurors in your pants and dressing gown.”

Hadrian looked down at himself. “Oh, right,” he said as he scrambled to get dressed as well.

Once they were dressed Hadrian grabbed Theo’s hand and gave it a squeeze, “are you ready for this. If you’re not, I can always go out there and tell them that now isn’t a good time.”

Theo took a deep breath and let it out slowly, “I’m as ready as I’ll ever be. Besides, I'd rather get this over sooner than later.

Chapter Text

Hadrian and Theo entered the sitting room hand in hand and took a seat with the Arurors who were waiting for them.

As they sat down Tonks glanced over their hastily dressed figures, eyes landing on the bruise forming on Hadrian’s neck. “Are you sure we aren’t interrupting anything,” she smirked.

Both Hadrian and Theo felt their faces heat up and turn bright red.

“No, it’s fine,” muttered Hadrian.

At the same time Theo squeaked “No. We weren’t doing anything.”

Kingsley and Tonks both stared at them in disbelief.

In the ensuing awkward silence Theo cleared his throat and asked, “you had some questions you wanted to ask me?”

“Right,” grunted Kingsley as Tonks pulled out some parchment and a quill to take notes on. “In your own words, can you tell us about the events of the night of September fourth?”

Theo took a deep breath. “I had detention that night with Professor Umbridge. I was really nervous so Hadrian walked me there. When I entered her office she had a desk ready for me. She told me I would be writing lines and that she had a quill for me. She told me to write; I must not tell lies. When I asked for ink she said that I wouldn’t need any. I thought that it might be a self inking quill, but when I started writing; it was a blood quill. I asked her how many lines I had to write, and she said ‘until it sinks in’.”

“I’m so sorry that happened to you, Theo,” said Tonks.

“So just to confirm, Professor Umbridge gave you the blood quill, you didn’t take it from her desk by mistake?” she asked.

“Yes she gave it to me. She specifically told me that I wouldn’t need a quill, that she had one for me,” answered Theo.

“Do you know why she had you write I must not tell lies?” questioned KIngley.

Theo paused for a moment, swallowing in nervousness, “she said I was lying about being married to Hadrian. That the ministry would never allow that, because we’re underage, and maybe because we’re both boys.”

Kingsley nodded, “Thank you for answering our questions, Mr. Potter. You have been very helpful. Unfortunately we will not be able to keep Miss. Umbridge in our holding cells any longer. It seems that the Minister has pulled some strings for her, so she will be returning to work tomorrow.”

“Don’t worry though,” added Tonks. “The  Auror department has forbidden her to issue any detentions until after her trial. And you don’t have to attend her lessons, you can hire a private tutor if you want.”

Hadrian got up to shake the Auror’s hands, “Thank you, for your help. May I ask when Umbridge’s trial will be?”

“There won’t be a trial date until we finish our investigation, your solicitor will be in touch when a date is set. You should also receive a notice from the ministry if you are needed in court,” explained Kinglsey.

“You can also personally sue her for damages. If you choose to do that you will have a separate trial date from the criminal hearing,” mentioned Tonks. 

As Hadrain saw the Auror’s out Theo slumped back in his chair in exhaustion. He found that recounting the incident with Umbridge was more tiring than he expected.

When Hadrian returned Theo tiredly asked, “is it alright if we just have dinner and go to bed? That was more tiring than I expected it to be.”

“Sure, love,” Hadrian said with a gentle smile.

They had a quiet dinner before retiring to bed. 

The next morning Theo pulled out a sheaf of parchment at breakfast.

“What’s that,” asked Hadrian.

“We have a meeting with the Malfoy’s at lunch today. They expect us to protect them from the Dark Lord. I figured in order to do that we would need to hide them in a place that the Dark Lord doesn’t know about and can’t get to. So this is a list of your properties. We can use one of them to hide the Malfoys.”

Hadrian stared at Theo with a blank look. “Oh, right,” he blushed, “I don’t know what I would do without you.”

Theo chuckled, “you’d probably do alright, but I’m glad I’m here to help. Do you have any idea where you might want to send the Malfoy’s?”

Hadrian took a moment to think, “Hmm. I don’t want to send them to any properties we haven’t seen yet.”

Theo nodded, “Ok, then that leaves just Grimmauld Place and Peverell Cabin.”

“Definitely not Grimmauld Place. I don’t think they would get along with Sirius very well,” said Hadrian.

“Really?” asked Theo, “Lady Malfoy is Sirius’s cousin. You don’t think they would get on?”

“Huh, I guess they might,” conceded Hadrian, “but I still don’t think Mr. Malfoy and Sirius would like living together. And I don’t want to make Sirius uncomfortable in his own home.”

Theo frowned, “that's a good point. In that case it leaves the Peverell Cabin.”

Hadrian sighed and scowled, “Yeah, I suppose we’ll have to let them stay there. Wish there was somewhere else for them to stay though.”

Theo gave Hadrian a questioning look, “may I ask why?”

Hadrian took a moment to get his thoughts in order. “Well, isn’t Mr. Malfoy supposed to be Voldemort’s right hand man or something?” At Theo’s nod Hadrian continued, “Then that must mean he has a lot of information on Voldemort and the Death Eaters. Information that he could share. I want him close so I can ask if I have any questions.”

“Ok, that makes sense. But couldn’t you just send an owl or floo call him?” asked Theo.

Hadrian nodded slowly, “I could but owls can be intercepted. And I know that there’s a way for the muggle’s to listen in on phone calls, so couldn’t the same thing happen with the floo?”

“Huh,” muttered Theo, “I hadn’t thought of that. So we need someplace that we can reach them during the school year, but also someplace where no one else will find them.”

Both boys sat in silence as they thought. Eventually Hadrain mumbled into the quiet, “I wish we could just let them stay in the Chamber of Secrets.”

“Well, why don’t we?” asked Theo. “They could stay in the Chamber during the school year and the Cabin during the summer.”

Hadrian beamed at his husband, “thanks love, for helping me figure this out. That's a great idea.”

That day was mostly uneventful. The news that Umbridge had returned from her absence made the rounds. The prevailing rumor seemed to be that she had been called away on some sort of urgent ministry business. Hadrian quietly suspected that she had started that rumor herself.

Eventually it was time for lunch and Hadrian and Theo returned to their rooms to meet the Malfoys. When they entered their rooms Hadrian called for Dobby.

Dobby popped into the room with a loud crack. “What can Dobby bes doings for Master Hoggywarts?”

“Hello, Dobby. Can we please have a light lunch for four in the study?” asked Hadrian.

“Dobby can do,” said Dobby as he snapped his fingers. “Is there anythings else Master Hoggywarts needs?”

“Hmm,” Hadrian hummed as he thought. “No, I have a meeting with the Malfoy’s today. So I think it would be best if you stayed out of sight.”

Dobby narrowed his eyes at Hadrian, “Dobby will stay when Master Hoggywarts sees old bad Master.”

Hadrian raised his eyebrow at Dobby and sighed, “you can stay, just in case. But don’t let them know you’re here, alright.”

Dobby gave Hadrian a sharp nod and popped away.

Hadrian looked around. “Dobby?” he asked.

Dobby let out a unsettling disembodied giggle, “Dobby is here, Master Hoggywarts!”

“Thanks Dobby,” Hadrian called into the air. Turning to Theo he asked, “shall we head into the study and wait for the malfoys?”

Theo shook his head, “you go ahead, I’ll wait here and show them in when they arrive.”

Hadrian leaned down and gave Theo a quick peck on the cheek, “alright love. If that's what you think is best.”

Theo returned the kiss, “I do.” He gave Hadrian a gentle push towards the study, “now get going. They’ll be here soon.

Hadrian laughed as he headed off into the study.

A few minutes later the floo flared as Lord and Lady Malfoy stepped through into the sitting room.

“Lord Malfoy, Lady Malfoy, welcome. If you would just come right this way, Hadrian is waiting for you in the sitting room,” Theo greeted.  

Chapter Text

As Lord and Lady Malfoy took their seats in front of the desk in the study, Theo took his place beside Hadrian behind the desk.

Hadrian stood to shake Lord Malfoy’s hand then gestured to the meal laid out on his desk.  “Please help yourself to whatever you’d like,” he said as he began serving himself. 

The Malfoys hesitated for a moment but began serving themselves once they saw Theo do the same.

As they began to eat, Hadrian asked, “I understand that you are asking for protection from Voldemort. But what exactly are you expecting me to do?” 

Both Malfoy’s shivered at hearing the Dark Lord's name.

Lord Malfoy recovered quickly, “Unfortunately the Dark Lord has declared the Nott family and anyone who associates with them his enemies. Due to my son’s relationship with your husband, our family is no longer safe in our own home.”

Hadrian tilted his head to the side, “Oh, does your home not have wards to keep unwanted guests out?”

Lucius signed, “it does, however I fear that the Dark Lord could break through our wards.”

“Or he could just have his Death Eaters wait for you to leave the wards,” added Theo.

Lucius Malfoy gave a sharp nod, “right, that is also a concern.”

“In that case I suppose you want me to hide you from the Death Eaters and Voldemort,” stated Hadrian.

Once again both Malfoy’s gave a deep shudder and scolded at hearing you-know-who’s name.

This time Lady Malfoy spoke, “yes, that would be most appreciated.”

Hadrian nodded in acknowledgement, “you understand that I can’t help you  for free, I will need something in return,”

“I expected as much,” said Lord Malfoy. “I am prepared to give you information on the Dark Lord’s plans, and to give you names of Death Eaters.”

Hadrian leaned back in his chair, giving the appearance that he was thinking very hard about something. Sitting up abruptly he spoke, “very well, for now you can stay in the Chamber of Secrets.”

Narcissa Malfoy raised her eyebrow, “the Chamber of Secrets? But isn’t that where Salazar Slytherin kept his monster? Surely it’s not fit for human habitation?”

Hadrian let out a soft chuckle, “Don’t worry ma’am, Slytherin’s monster is no longer living, and there are rooms for humans there.”

Lucius put a hand on his wife's arm, stifling her protests, “very well then, if the safest place for us, then we’ll take it.”

Hadrian grinned as he stood, “great, right this way then.

Theo and Hadrian lead the Malfoys out of the study and into their bedroom.

When they entered their closet Lord Malfoy asked, “Lord Potter, what on earth are we doing in your closet? This is highly inappropriate!”

Hadrian turned to him as he pushed the door at the back of the closet open, “the Chamber is through here.”

Both Lucius and Narcissa passed him and stepped into the tunnel with a raised eyebrow. They spent the few minutes it took to make their way through the tunnel to the Chamber of Secrets in silence.

When they reached the other end of the tunnel Hadrian opened the door with a flourish, “welcome to the Chamber of Secrets.”

As the group entered the chamber Salazar perked up in his portrait, “ah, Hadrian and Theo, welcome back. And who might your guests be?”

“Hello Salazar. This is Lord Lucius Malfoy and his wife Lady Narcissa Malfoy,” Hadrian introduced. “They’re going to be staying here for the foreseeable future. Is that alright with you?”

“Is that alright with me?” laughed Salazar. “Of course it is. I would love nothing more than to have people stay in my chambers once again.”

Hadrian and Theo both grinned up at Salazar's portrait in thanks.

Hadrian turned to the Malfoy’s. “I hope that you both understand that I’ll need the two of you to make an unbreakable vow that you won’t tell anyone about anything you learn while under my protection?” he asked.

Lucius gave a somber nod, “we understand and accept your terms.”

“Alright then, shall we get started on that. Then Theo and I will leave to let you two get settled in.” 

Lucius Malfoy made his vow first. He and Hadrian kneeled before each other and grasped each other's right hands. Theo stood close to them with his wand touching the grasped hands.

Hadrian spoke, “Lord Malfoy, do you vow that you will not speak, write or let anyone know in any way anything that you learn while under my protection.”

“I do,” agreed Lucius.

At Lord Malfoy’s words a thin stream of fire came from Theo’s wand and wrapped around their hands.

Hadrian asked once again, “ “do you vow that you will not speak, write or let anyone know in any way anything that you learn after leaving my protection.”

Lord Malfoy scowled but agreed.

Once again a stream of fire left Theo’s wand and wrapped around their hands.

Hadrian was about to let go of Lord Malfoy’s hand but suddenly thought better of it and gripped his hand tighter. “Do you vow to…er keep an open mind, at least while under my protection?” he asked.

Lucius raised his eyebrow in confusion but ultimately agreed.

For the last time a stream of fire wrapped around their hands. Once they broke apart Lucius got up and his wife took his place.

They repeated the same ritual with all the same vows for Lady Malfoy.

When they finished making their unbreakable vows, Hadrian stood and wrapped his arm around Theo’s waist. “We’ll let you both get settled in. I’ll have a house elf send meals from the kitchen. We'll meet again next week. Does that work for you?” said Hadrian.

“Yes,” said Lucius, “that will be fine.”

“Thank you, Lord Potter, for your help,” added Narcissa.

Hadrian grinned, “you’re welcome.” Turning to Salazar’s portrait he asked, “Salazar we’ll be going now, can you keep an eye on things here?”

“Of course, Hadrian. It was so nice to see you and Theo again. Thank you so much for bringing people to stay in my rooms once again. I’d be happy to keep an eye on them.”

Theo grinned up at the portrait, “thank you Salazar. We’ll see you later.”

As they headed back through the tunnel to their rooms Theo asked, “do you have any other classes today?”

Hadrian took a moment to think, “No. Do you want to go talk to Godric Gryffindor’s portrait?”

“Yes,” said Theo, “I’m very curious about what he has to say about how the school has been protected in the last few years.”

“Me too,” said Hadrian, “I also wonder if he has any advice on finding the ward stone.”

Theo nodded, “yeah, you’re right. I hope he does know where it is.”

After they reached the entrance to Gryffindor’s Den and jumped through the window entrance, they were surprised to find the remnants of a meal left out in the sitting room. Searching the rooms they found Draco and Blaize looking through the library.

“What are you two doing here?” asked Theo.

Draco looked up at Theo from the book he was reading. “Oh hello Theo. We just came here for a little privacy. You know how little there is when you’re staying in the dorms.”

“Ah, yeah,” said Theo, “we were about to wake up Godric Gryffindor’s portrait. Would you like to join us?”

Draco and Blaize both looked at each other and grinned. “Sure,” exclaimed Blaize.  

Chapter Text

As Theo, Draco and Blaize sat down, Hadrian woke up the portrait of Godric Gryffindor. The four boys watched as the portrait stretched, blinked and yawned.

“Oh, hello, children,” said the portrait. “I see that you have found my Den. May I ask which one of you was able to wake me?”

Hadrian raised his hand, “it was me, sir.”

“Ah, so I take it that you are my heir?” asked Godric.

Hadrian nodded, “yes sir.”

Godric laughed and waved him off, “Oh, there’s no need for any of that Sir business. Please call me Uncle Godric. And that goes for all of you as well, understand.”

While Theo, Draco and Blaize gave him hesitant nods, Hadrian gave the founder's portrait an incredulous look, “Oh er, alright Uncle Godric.”

“Great,” Godric beamed, “now why don’t you introduce me to your friends.”

“Of course,” grinned Hadrian as he put his arm around Theo’s shoulders, “This is my husband Theo.” Gesturing to Draco and Blaize he introduced, “and these are our friends Draco and Blaize.”

Draco and Blaize each raised a hand and waved as they were introduced.

“Oh, it’s so wonderful to meet you all. It’s been absolute ages since I last spoke to anyone,” Godric gushed.

Draco eyed the portrait with suspicion. “Exactly how long has it been since you last saw anyone?” he asked.

Godric cocked his head to the side in thought, “you know I’m not quite sure. Lets see the last person I spoke to was…” Godric began pacing his portrait and muttering to himself in thought. “MERLIN!!!” he shouted, “the last person I spoke to was a boy named Merlin.”

Theo glanced over at Hadrian before asking, “so Merlin spoke to you as well?”

Godric focused on Theo, “What do you mean as well? Did Merlin speak to one of my friends as well?”

“Yes,” answered Hadrian, “he also spoke to Salazar. I’m not sure if he met Rowena Ravenclaw or Helga Hufflepuff.”

“Merlin met Sal,” muttered Godric, “well I suppose that makes sense, he was in his house after all.”

Draco leaned forward to stare at Hadrian, “How do you know that Merlin spoke to Salazar Slytherin’s portrait?”

“He told me when I activated his portrait,” answered Hadrian.”

“When you activated his portrait,” muttered Draco. “Wait a minute! You have to be the lord of the house to activate its portraits. Are you suggesting that you’re the lord of two of the founders' houses?”

Hadrian glanced at Draco out of the corner of his eye, “er, maybe. Can we talk about this later?”

Draco crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back in his seat with a huff, “I’m holding you to that Potter. I want an explanation.”

Hadrian gave Draco a flat look, “fine, but later alright.”

Draco gave a sharp nod and sat back, “fine.”

Theo, trying to get the conversation back on track, asked Godric, “we noticed that you seem to be responsible for the school's security. Can you tell us more about that?”

“Oh yes, when the school was built our country was just beginning to be invaded by the Danes and  it was imperative that the students be kept safe. So I built many defenses into the building itself and layered even more on the grounds and surrounding lands.”

Hadrian tilted his head in question, “the surrounding lands? Do you mean the forbidden forest or Hogsmeade?”

Godric nodded, “yes, for the most part. When my friends and I first built this school, what you call the forbidden forest was just a small grove of trees. And Hogsmeade was just a tiny hamlet, consisting of only a few merchant stands, and an inn. I believe there was also a monastery at the time and quite a few farms.”

“Hadrian and Theo claim that there were muggles attending when you built this school. Is that true?” asked Draco.

Godric looked at Draco in confusion, “what is a muggle?”

“A muggle is a person with no magic,” explained Blaize.

“Ah!” exclaimed Godric, “then in that case of course there were muggles going here! Why wouldn’t they?”

The four boys shared a look with each other before Hadrian explained, “muggles are no longer allowed to attend. In 1692 the Ministry of Magic enacted the Statute of Secrecy, officially dividing the muggle world and the wizarding world.”

Godric frowned “oh that's disappointing. Do you boys have any other questions?”

“Yes, are you able to tell us where the ward stone is?” Theo and Hadrian asked together.

Godric furrowed his brows in thought, “that’s a very good question boys. Unfortunately I couldn't tell you if I wanted to. The ward stone was designed to move. Every time a new headmaster is appointed the location of the ward stone changes. That way the only one who knows its location is the headmaster.”

“But what if the headmaster’s not doing his job, is there a way for someone else to find the ward stone?” asked Hadrain.

“Humm,” Godric hummed in thought as he leaned against the frame of his portrait.” “Well, I suppose you could, my dear, if you could find Rowena and Helga’s Heirs.”

Hadrian glanced over at Blaize and Draco before asking, “oh, uh, and what would we have to do once we find them?”

“Just find their rooms, we kept the ward stone in the center of all four rooms.” answered Godric. “We had a treaty with the King when we built the school. My friends and I were meant to retain ownership over Hogwarts, and would be passed down through our Heirs. If there were no Heirs ownership would be held by the Headmaster until new Heirs could be found. The King would not interfere in the running of our school and in exchange Hogwarts would aid the kingdom in times of need.”

Here Godric grinned, “as my heir and Sals heir you, Hadrian, already own half of this school. Rowena’s and Hega’s Heirs just need to be found and their rooms opened for you to find the ward stone.”

Theo grinned “thanks Uncle Godric, you’ve been really helpful. But you wouldn’t happen to know why Salazar didn’t tell us about the treaty?”

Godric waved them off, “Oh Sal was never really interested in that stuff. He probably didn’t remember.” Godric leaned forward, “if you really want to know about the treaty Rowena is the one you want to talk to. She is the one who negotiated it after all. In fact I’ll bet she has a copy somewhere in her room.”

Theo and Hadrian grinned at each other before Hadrian turned his grin to Godric, “Thanks, er, Uncle Godric. We need to head to bed now but we’ll be back to see you soon.”

Godric smiled gently down at the four boy’s, “goodnight boy’s. Sleep well and I’ll be here should you need anything else.”

“Draco, do you and Blaize want to stay with us tonight? You are right, you do deserve an explanation, we could talk over breakfast tomorrow morning,” asked Hadrain.

Draco and Blaize shared a look. “Sure, we’ll stay with you,” answered Draco, “we’ve been curious about where you’ve been staying.”

Hadrian took Theo’s hand and led the way to the locked door. Pulling out the lion topped key he unlocked the door and then he and Theo led the way into the tunnel; Blaize and Draco quickly behind. Eventually they reached an intersection, with one tunnel leading straight ahead and the other bearing off to the left.

“Huh, this is new,” mumbled Theo.

Hadrian glanced around, then pointed to the floor. “Look, there’s signs.”

There were mosaic signs on the floor; Chamber of Secrets was mosaiced on the floor of the tunnel leading to the left while Heir’s Suite was on the floor of the second tunnel. Once they had established which tunnel was the correct one they pressed on, eventually coming out in Hadrian and Theo’s closet.

“Potter, is this your closet?” exclaimed Draco, “why on earth are we in your closet of all places?”

Hadrian sighed, “this is just where the tunnels lead, I couldn’t tell you why.”

Theo yawned, “there’s a guest room next door, why don’t you two head to bed and we’ll see you for breakfast tomorrow morning?”

Draco and Blaize left the room waving good night to Hadrian and Theo. Once they were alone Theo and Hadrian got ready for bed and drifted off to sleep.

Dolores Umbridge had returned to the school early that morning. She was very grateful to the Minister for making sure she could return to teaching. And although she was disappointed that she would not be able to give detentions for the foreseeable future, she was very pleased that she had retained her position as Hogwarts High Inquisitor. Not that anyone was aware of that yet. She had spent the day teaching and in her opinion the day had gone very well. After all her classes she got to work penning an educational decree. If she spent all weekend working on her new decree, she should have it ready to be enacted by Monday morning. She tittered to herself as she wrote a new line in the decree that she planned to enact on the students.

Chapter Text

The next morning the four boys gathered for breakfast in Hadrian and Theo’s kitchen.

A few minutes into their meal Draco pointed his fork at Hadrian. “All right Potter, explain,” he demanded.

Hadrian sat back in his chair and sighed, “I suppose that you’ve guessed that I’m the lord of more than just the Potter and the Black families?”

“No shit,” Blaize muttered into his toast.

At the same time Draco deadpanned, “you think? What I want to know is how many houses you are lord of? And which ones?”

Hadrian paused with his fork halfway to his mouth, “oh, uh, you want to know that?” Hadrian got up, “wait right here.” He walked off into the study and returned with a piece of parchment. “Here, this should answer your question,” he said as he handed it to Draco.

Blaize and Draco leaned over the parchment; each silently reading.

When Draco finished he looked up at Hadrian, “well, from last night I sort of expected you to be Heir to all four founders, but some of these others…” he trailed off.

“But to have the Pendragon and La Fey Lordships, and granted by magic no less…” muttered Blaize.

“And then he is also Lord Peverell,” Draco whispered to Blaize.

“He must be the most powerful wizard in Britain,” breathed Blaize.

Hadrian cocked his head to the side, “well I’m not so sure about that.”

“What do you mean you’re not sure about that?” asked a wide eyed Draco.

“Just that I may have a lot of Lordships, but it’s not as if I know what I’m doing, is it,” Harian shrugged.

Theo patted Hadrian on the shoulder, “it’s alright that you don’t know what you’re doing right now, you have plenty of time to learn. And I can help you with whatever you need.”

Hadrian smiled down at Theo, “thanks, Love.” Casting a quick tempus he turned to Draco, “Theo and I need to get going. If you want to see your parents, they’re staying in the Chamber of Secrets.”

Draco’s eyebrow arched in surprise, “my parents are in the Chamber of secrets?”

Hadrian shrugged, “yeah, if you want to visit them just take the tunnel in our closet.”

Draco nodded slowly, “alright Potter, I’ll do that.”

With that the four boys got up from the table. Hadrian showed Draco and Blaize back to the tunnel.

Once Draco and Blaize were seen off; Hadrian turned to Theo. “Shall we floo to St. Mungos?” he asked.

Theo nodded, “yeah, the quicker we get there the quicker we’ll get done.”

Hadrian leaned down to gently kiss Theo on the forehead, “alright then, let's get going then, shall we?”

The young couple flooed into the lobby of St. Mungos; Hadrian stumbling a little as he exited behind Theo. Theo approached the front desk.

“Welcome to St. Mungos’! How can I help you?” asked the secretary 

“Um, hello, my name is Theo Potter, I received a letter about my father’s passing on wednesday?” questioned Theo

“And what is your father’s name?” asked the secretary.

“ Tiberius Nott,” answered Theo.

The secretary typed the name into her typewriter and waited for the information to appear. “You’re going to want to take the lift to the basement, the morgue is room 006,” she directed.

“Thank you,” Theo said as he turned away.

“I’m sorry for your loss,” the secretary called as Theo headed back to Hadrian.

Theo latched himself onto Hadrian's arm and pulled him towards the lift. They took the lift down to the basement and quickly found room 006. Theo shivered slightly as they stepped into the morgue.

As soon as they entered the room an attendant looked up from the desk they were working at. “Hello, how may I help you?” he asked.

“I-I’m here a-about my father, Tiberias Nott,” Theo’s voice shook as he spoke.

“Ah, just a moment please,” said the attendant as he rose from his desk.

The attendant walked into the next room and returned with an urn and some papers. Placing the items on the desk he explained, “your father has been cremated in accordance with his will and the Nott family traditions, I will just need you to sign the release form and then you can take your fathers remains.

Theo stepped forward and signed on the indicated line. As soon as Theo finished signing the attendant snatched up the paperwork and duplicated it.

“Perfect,” he declared handing a copy to Theo, “this is your copy, this copy will be filed in your family’s medical records.”

Theo picked up the urn and together he and Hadrian headed out of the morgue. Returning to the lift they headed back up to the lobby.

Leaning down Hadrian whispered in Theo’s ear, “doing alright love?”

“I’m feeling a little upset. I-I don’t-t know why. I-I r-really didn’t care for him that much,” Theo sniffed.

Hadrian gently rubbed Theo’s back “I know love, you may not have liked him, but he was still your family. It’s ok to be a little sad about it.”

Theo gave Hadrian a watery smile “Thanks Hadrian.”

Hadrian pulled Theo close, “how about we stop at Florean Fortescue’s on the way to Gringotts?”

Theo leaned into Hadrian's side, “that sounds like a great idea.”

Hadrian and Theo left St. Mungos’ hand in hand and headed off to get their ice cream. 

At Florean Fortescue’s Theo got a table while Hadrian went to the counter to order their ice cream. He ordered himself toffee apple while Theo got strawberry.

Hadrian carried their orders to the table and sat Theo’s ice cream down in front of him. Theo immediately began digging into his ice cream.

Hadrian smiled as he watched his husband enjoy his treat; slowly beginning to eat his own.

Hadrian reached across the table and took Theo’s hand in his own, giving it a gentle squeeze. “I’m sorry about your father, is there anything you want to do? A funeral or something?” he softly asked.

“Hmm,” Theo hummed into a spoonful of ice cream. “It’s tradition in my family to spread half of someone’s ashes in the sea by our home then to entomb the rest in our family's columbarium. I suppose we could do that.”

“That sounds nice,” murmured Hadrian, “we can do that whenever you’re ready, alright.”

Theo gave Hadrain a sad smile, “Thanks, I think I might want to wait awhile before spreading his ashes.” Theo took a deep breath and let it out slowly, “now eat your ice cream, we still have to get to Gringotts.”

Hadrian grinned and began eating his ice cream more enthusiastically. When they had finished with their ice cream they started walking to the bank.

In Gringotts Hadrian and Theo got in line for the teller.

When they reached the front of the line Hadrian said, “My husband and I are here to see our account manager Ironclaw. Is he available?”

The goblin behind the desk squinted at him, “yes,” he grunted and pointed to the side, “follow Gornuk.”

The two boys turned and followed Gornuk to Ironclaws office.

When they entered the office Ironclaw stood to greet them. “Ah, Lord Potter’s, so good to see you again,” he greeted. “I presume you are here due to the death of Lord Nott.”

Hadrian nodded as he and Theo took their seats, “yes, we were hoping to claim the lord rings, and change our marriage contract a bit if we can.”

Ironclaw gave them a toothy grin, “yes of course. But first I’ll have you both take an inheritance test again, just in case anything… unexpected happens.”

Theo and Hadrian both gave a sharp nod; a look of determination on their faces. They each dropped seven drops of blood on the parchment Ironclaw placed before each of them. For the most part everything remained the same for Hadrian. The only changes were in the Lordship , Property and Vault categories. 

Lord Hadrain Potter

Lordships 

• Lord of the most ancient and honorable house of Nott - Husband

Properties

• Nott Estate - St. Ronaldsay Island
• Nott Manor House - Canada

Vaults

• Nott vault - 3 million G, 800 S, 40 K, artifacts

Theo peaked over at the changes to his husband's inheritance test. “Huh, I didn’t know we had a house in Canada.”

Hadrian looked at Theo in puzzlement, “you didn’t?”

Theo shook his head, “no. I always spent time at the estate, or with the Malfoys. I’ve never been to America before.”

“Well then, we’ll just have to go this summer won’t we? Now what does your test say.” 

The couple bent their heads over Theo’s inheritance test and stared in shock at the changes.

Lord Theodore Potter née Nott

Lordships

• Lord of the most ancient and honorable house of Nott - Father (transferred to husband)
• Lord of the magical house of Emrys - Magic (non transferable)

Properties

• Nott Estate - St. Ronaldsay Island (transferred to husband)
• Nott Manor House - Canada (transferred to husband)
• Avalon - unplottable (non transferable)

Vaults

• Nott Vault- (transferred to husband)
• Emrys Vault- 40 million G, 400S, 80K, artifacts

When the young lords failed to hand over their inheritance tests Ironclaw cleared his throat, “young lords, if you may,” he asked, gesturing to the parchments. When he looked at their tests he gave a wicked grin, “well you two are going to make things interesting, aren't you?”

Ironclaw rang a small bell on his desk, after a few minutes a goblin entered the office. Ironclaw wrote out a note and handed it to the new goblin. “Fetch these rings from the vaults,” he directed.

Once the goblin had left Ironclaw pulled an old piece of parchment out of his desk. Placeing it in front of Hadrian and Theo along with a quill and ink he explained, “this is the original contract that you can make changes to. To remove something simply cross it out. To add something, write it in the margins. You may look it over for now, however I ask that you wait to make any changes until you have your lord rings on your fingers.”

Theo and Hadrian bent over the contract, each reading silently. “The only part that I have a problem with is this bit about having children,” said Theo.

“Just that bit?” asked Hadrian, “what about your lordship, you don’t want it?”

Theo shook his head, “honestly, I never wanted it. It was a relief to find out that my lordship would be transferred to you, I was dreading having to take the Lordship over from my father.”

“And how do you feel about having the Emrys lordship?” Hadrian asked.

Theo shugged, “it's alright I suppose, not what I expected.” Smirking up at his husband he teased, “at least I only have to deal with one lordship and not a million.”

Hadrian gasped in mock horror, “I do not have a million Lordships, it's only like…” Hadrian took a moment to count, “ten, eleven now with the Nott Lordship.”

Before Theo could come up with a reply the goblin returned with the rings. Placing them on Ironclaw’s desk he left.

Ironclaw placed a ring box in front of both Hadrian and Theo. “These are the Nott lordship and consort rings, place them on the same finger as your other rings.”

Theo and Hadrian did as directed. As soon as the rings were on their fingers they merged with the other lord rings and a warm feeling washed over the pair.

“Now for the Emrys rings,” said Ironclaw, placing the ring boxes in front of them. “This will be a little different. Theo is the Lord this time and Hadrian is the consort. Instead of going on your ring finger these rings will go on your middle finger next to your other rings.”

Once again Hadrian and Theo did as they were directed.

This time magic crackled over their skin, rippling into the visible spectrum before fading away.

Ironclaw packed away the boxes and pushed the marriage contract towards them, “you may now make any changes you wish.”

Hadrian picked up the quill, “so we’re just taking out the bit about having children?”

Theo nodded, “you can add something like: they may have children whenever they are ready, or something like that.”

Hadrian bit his lip and began scratching away at the contract. Pushing it toward Theo, he asked, “how’s this?”

The contract now reads, the dominant and submissive shall have children in their own time.

“Theo grinned “perfect.”

With Theo’s approval Hadrian returned the contract to Ironclaw.

With the contract returned Ironclaw asked “will that be all, young lords?”

Hadrian glanced at Theo who nodded, “yes that will be all for today. Is there a floo we could use to return to school?”

“Yes, I will have someone lead you to our floo room. But before you go,” Ironclaw pulled a box out of his desk, “here are the portkeys to your new properties.”

Hadrian took the box, “thank you.”

Ironclaw gave a sharp grin, “you are most welcome Lord Potter.”

Ironclaw once again rang the bell on his desk summoning a goblin. When a new goblin appeared Ironclaw directed, “please show the Lord Potters to the floo room.”

Hadrian and Theo waved goodbye to Ironclaw as they followed the goblin out of the office and down corridor after corridor eventually coming to a room where the walls were lined with fireplaces. The boys thanked the goblin before stepping into the floo and returning to their rooms at Hogwarts.

Waiting for them in their rooms were two owls. 

Chapter Text

Hadrian took the letters from both or the owls. “This one’s for you,” he said as he handed a letter to Theo. “And the other one is for both of us; looks like it's from Jacob. Do you want to open your letter first?” 

“Sure,” Theo answered as he opened his letter and read:

Mr. Theodore Potter née Nott,

This letter is to inform you of Mrs. Dolorus Umbridge’s trial. You are being informed because it has been determined that you may be needed as a witness in this case. Please present yourself in courtroom 4 at the ministry of magic on 30, Oct. 1995 at 2:30pm. Please make sure that you arrive at least 15 min early. We encourage you to consult a solicitor. You may also additionally have your solicitor present at the trial.

Thank You,

The Ministry of Magic

Auror Department

After reading the letter Theo looked up at Hadiran, “I guess we know what the letter from Jacob is about, Huh.”

“Yeah,” groaned Hadrian. “Jacob probably wants to meet with you to go over questions.”

Hadrian opened Jacob’s letter and read:

Dear Lords Potter,

I am writing to inform you that the Ministry has set a date for Umbridge’s trial. The trial is set for 30, Oct. 1995 at 2:30 pm; to be held in courtroom 4. I would like to meet with both of you about a week before the trial to answer any questions that you may have and to go over anything that may come up during the trial. Please contact me with a date that you would like to meet.

Thank You,

Jacob Brown, solicitor

When Hadrian finished reading the letter he sighed in relief, “well, I’m glad it was just about Umbridge’s trial and not something new we have to deal with.”

Theo let out a dry chuckle, “you can say that again. Should we set a date to meet with Jacob?”

“Yeah, let’s go to the study,” suggested Hadrian. 

In the study Theo sat at a desk and began to pen a letter to Jacob while Hadrian pulled out a calendar.

Hadrian flipped to October and began to look for a date that would work for their meeting. “How about the 27th?” asked Hadrian, “it’s a Friday, neither of us have classes in the afternoon and it's only four days before the trial.”

Theo nodded as he scratched away at the letter, “that sounds good.”

After a few minutes Theo had finished penning the letter to Jacob and handed it off to Hadrian for his input.

Hadrian silently read the letter. When he had finished grinned at Theo, “This is perfect, thanks Love. I’ll send this with Hedwig tomorrow.”

Theo sat back in his seat, “do you want to go look for Ravenclaws nest, I’d really like to find that treaty. I have a feeling that we may need it.”

Hadrian perked up, “you think it could be useful in the trial?”

Theo nodded slowly, “it could be, if we could get proof that she’s interfering on the ministry’s behalf.” Theo leaned back in his chair and heaved a sigh, “but it could also open us up to more trouble than it's worth.”

Hadrian cocked his head in interest, “what do you mean?” 

“Wel-l-l,” Theo spoke slowly, “How will people react when they find out that the ministry broke a treaty signed by Hogwarts founders? I think people would be really angry. Not to mention the ministry might try to cover the whole thing up.”

Hadrian scrubbed a hand over his face in frustration, “you’re right, we do need to think about it carefully before enacting the treaty. I’ll also have to come out as Lord Hogwarts, huh.” 

Theo eyed him critically and gave a firm nod, “you’re right, once we find and read the treaty, I think we’ll need to think about what we want to do. Do we want to let people know that you're the Heir to all for founders, or keep quiet. Whatever you decide, I’ll support you.”

Hadrian swooped down and picked Theo up in a hug, kissing his cheek and whispering into his ear, “you are the best husband ever. Putting him down Hadrian said, “and we’ll make decisions like that together, but first we need to find Ravenclaw’s nest. Should we check the library?”

“yes, let's go,” Theo said as he grabbed Hadrain’s hand and began heading for the door.

In the library Hadrian and Theo went in opposite directions; each carefully checking one half of the library. They spent several hours examining tables, tapestries, walls, and bookshelves. Eventually they met at a table in the center of the library.

“Find anything?” asked Hadrian.

“No. You?” answered Theo.

Hadrian signed in disappointment, “no, nothing.”

Theo peaked around Hadrian at the far end of the library, “did you check the restricted section?”

Hadrian twisted around to look at the entrance of the restricted section, “no, do you think we can get in there?”

Theo shrugged, “it wouldn’t hurt to try.”

The two boys silently approached the gate that blocked students from accessing restricted books.

“You try to open it,” said Hadrian, “I’ll keep an eye out for Madam Pince.

Theo gave a determined nod and turned to the gate. At a single touch the gate swung open. “Huh,” Theo muttered, “that was easy.”

“Hogwarts must want us to go this way,” smirked Hadrain.

They entered the restricted section; nervously glancing over their shoulders for Madam Pince. Hadrian went right while Theo went left, each continuing their search. When they met again it was at the back wall, where they found a small raven carved into the wall.

Theo and Hadrian looked at each other.

“Looks like we found it,” grinned Theo.

“But how do we get in?” questioned Hadrian.

Theo shrugged and poked at the raven.

At Theo’s poke the Raven spoke “ Turn me on my side, and I am everything. Cut me in half, and I am nothing. What am I?”

Theo and Hadrain both tilted their heads to the side in confusion.

“So it’s like the Ravenclaw common room,” said Theo. “Any idea what the answer is?”

Hadrian shook his head, “no. Maybe we can work it out. What's a symbol for everything?”

Theo pursed his lips in thought “oh, the infinity symbol means everything. And if you cut it in half it's just two zero’s”

“And when you turn the infinity symbol on its side it’s the number eight,” finished Hadrain.

When Hadrian finished speaking a door opened in front of them. 

Chapter Text

Once again the layout of Ravenclaw’s Nest was identical to the other founders' rooms. Hadrian and Theo made a beeline to the study. There waiting for them on the desk was an envelope and sitting front and center the treaty they were looking for.

“Huh, it’s almost as if the school wanted us to find this,” wondered Theo.

Hadrian picked up the envelope, “and it looks like Hogwarts left us another letter. Which do you want to read first, the letter or the treaty?” 

Theo put a finger to his lips. “Hmm,” he hummed, “the letter first I think.”

Hadrian nodded and tore open the envelope, pouring the letter along with a key topped with a raven out onto the desk. Picking up the letter he read:

Lord Ravenclaw,

Welcome to your nest! We hope that you find the contents of these rooms helpful. 

Hogwarts,

P.S. Lord Hufflepuff may want to find his den.

“Well, Hogwarts is definitely trying to tell us something,” muttered Theo.

“Do you think Hogwarts knows what Umbridge is up to?” asked Hadrian “And wants us to do something about it?”

“Oh yeah,” answered Theo. “I feel like at this point the school is pretty much just giving us what we need.”

“Shall we read the treaty?” suggested Hadrian.

At Theo’s nod both boys bent their heads over the treaty. They frowned when they found it was in a language that neither of them could read. But before they could voice their disappointment the letters began to shift and move. Before long they had a perfectly legible document in front of them. 

Treaty for the Deregulation of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

This treaty shall be followed by the contracting parties and after its signing by the King or any other governing bodies or Scotland, Ireland, Wales or England. 

Article I.

The King will give up lands located in the Scottish Highlands to:

i.Lady Ravenclaw

ii.Lady Hufflepuff

iii. Lord Sylytherin

iv. Lord Gryffindor

A school for witchcraft, wizardry and the mundane will be built upon these lands 

Article II.

The Kingdoms of Scotland, Ireland, Wales and England or any future governing bodies may not interfere in the running of the school.

Article III.

In exchange for the lands the school will provide the kingdoms of Scotland, Ireland, Wales and England with assistance in both magical and mundane matters.

In times of war the school shall act as a stronghold for the protection of civilians. 

Article IV.

If this treaty is broken by the school, the Kingdom of Scotland will regain the lands in which the school resides.

If one or more of the Kingdoms of Scotland, Ireland, Wales or England or any other governing body is found to be interfering with the running of the school or its surrounding lands, the kingdom(s) or governing body must pay reparations in the form of land or monies or a combination thereof to the school.

Article V.

A map of Hogwarts lands, including what would become the Forbidden Forest and Hogsmeade.

Signed

Cináed mac Maíl Coluim; King of Alba

Lady Rowena Ravenclaw

Lady Helga Hufflepuff

Salazar Slytherin

Godric Gryffindor

 When Hadrian and Theo finished reading; for a moment they stared at the treaty before them in astonishment.

“It looks like this treaty will be a lot of help,” whispered Theo.

“But how do we want to use it?” asked Hadrian.

Theo took a big breath in and let it out slowly. Pulling out his wand he made three copies of the Treaty. “There,” he said, “we should leave the original here. But I've made a copy for us, and one we can send to Jacob. He’ll know best; on what to do with it. The third copy is just in case we need it.”

Hadrian grinned at Theo, “Thanks love. I couldn’t do this without you. Do you want to explore the rest of the rooms here?”

Theo returned Hadrains grin, “let’s continue exploring here, then tomorrow morning we can mail that letter and a copy of the treaty to Jacob.

Hadrian and Theo continued to explore Ravenclaws nest. They found many documents pertaining to the running of the school. It looked like Rowena Ravenclaw was in charge of scheduling classes and hiring teachers. Tucked away in a desk draw Hadrian found a list of professors and other staff members.

“Theo, look at this,” he called.

Theo came over from where he was going through a shelf. “What did you find?” he asked.

Hadrian handed the list to Theo, “look, there used to be so many more professors than there are now.”

Theo took the list from Hadrian, “this makes so much more sense, it looks like there used to be multiple professors for each class, plus more than one of every other staff member as well.”

Hadrian snorted, “you know I always thought it was strange that there’s only one professor for every subject. When I was in muggle primary school there were always at least two professors for everything.”

Theo put the desk back on the desk, “I guess that's something else we’ll need to fix, isn’t it.”

Hadrian patted him on the shoulder, “yes, but it can wait.” Casting a quick tempus and taking note of the time, he said, “we should go, it’s getting late.”

“Alright,” Theo let out a cracking yawn, “gosh I guess I’m more tired than I thought.”

“Then let's head back and go to bed,” Hadrian chuckled.

Hadrian used the raven topped key to unlock the tunnel door. The boys left Ravenclaws' Nest through the tunnel. About halfway down the tunnel they reached the intersection. What was a three way intersection; now had four branches. On the left the Slytherin tunnel sloped down while on the right the Gryffindor tunnel sloped up. The Tunnel leading to their rooms was directly across from them. They headed up the tunnel to their rooms.

As soon as they exited the tunnel Theo flopped onto the bed. “Lets just go to sleep,” he mumbled into the blankets.

Hadrian tugged Theo into a sitting position. “Come on, love,” Hadrian chuckled as he tugged at Theo’s shirt, “I know it’s been a long day, but let’s at least get your pajamas on.”

Theo slumped against Hadrian’s chest and raised his arms up, “you do it then.”

“Alright love,” Hadrian whispered as he began to help his husband undress and put on his pajamas.

When he finished Theo layed back on the bed. “Thanks Hadrian,” he mumbled, “sleep now.”

Hadrian grabbed Theo again and pulled him up, “hold on love, you need to clean your teeth first.”

Theo heaved a dramatic sigh, “alright, wand please.”

Hadrian handed Theo his wand.

Once his wand was in his hand Theo waved it and muttered, “Recens Spiritus.”

With that done Theo handed his wand back to Hadrian and drifted off to sleep. Hadrian carefully tucked his husband into bed before getting ready for bed himself.

Chapter Text

Hadrian and Theo spent Sunday morning catching up on what little homework they hadn’t finished during the week. When they had finished their work they returned through the tunnel to Ravenclaws Nest. Once they were in the sitting room Hadrian called Dobby.

Dobby popped into the room and looked around, “Master Hoggywartses has found another secrety room?” he asked.

“We did,” chuckled Hadrian, “do you think we could have lunch here?”

“Yes, Dobby can do!” Dobby squeaked as he snapped their lunch into existence. “Is there anythings else Dobby cans do for Master Hoggywartses?” 

“Do you know how the Malfoy’s are doing in the chamber of secrets?” asked Theo.

Hadrian grimaced at having forgotten about the Malfoys.

“Dobby asks Winky to takes Old Masters theys meals. Winky bes telling Dobby that Old Masters are fine, and are being very happy to see Old Little Master.”

Hadrian had to stifle a snort at how Dobby described Draco.

“Buts,” Dobby continued, “Old Masters bes wondering when Master Hoggywartses will be visiting.” 

Theo smiled, “thank you Dobby. We’ll have to find time to visit them.”

Hadrian nodded in agreement, “thank you Dobby, I think that will be all.”

Dobby nodded and popped out of the room. 

As soon as Dobby left, Hadrian activated Rowena Ravenclaw’s portrait. Rowena stretched and yawned as she woke.

Blinking her eyes open she gazed at the two boys in front of her, “shit,” she muttered to herself before walking out of the portraits frame.

“What was that?” asked Theo.

“No idea,” shugged Hadrian as he attempted to peer around the frame to see where Rowena had gone.

A few seconds later Rowena returned holding a pipe. She sat in a chair that was in her portrait, lit her pipe and took a big inhale of whatever it was she was smoking before slowly letting it out; the smoke gently circling around the portrait. “Well, which one of you brats woke me up?” she asked.

“Hello Miss, Ravenclaw,” Hadrain tentatively started, “it was me, my name is Hadrian Potter, this is my husband Theo and I’m your heir.” 

“Oh, and I take it, you need something from me?” the portrait asked. “Well, out with it, what is it you want?”

“We found the treaty that you and the other founders signed with Cináed Mac Maíl Coluim.” started Theo.

“And?” interrupted Rowena “you dunderheads didn’t go and break it did you?”

“No of course not, but we believe the ministry of magic has,” answered Hadrian.

Rowena sat up in her chair, and took a long drag on her pipe, “oh please do explain.”

Theo and Hadrian glanced at each other, before Theo began to explain. “The Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor; Professor Umbridge, is also the Undersecretary for the Minister of Magic. Hadrian and I got kicked out of her class, and haven’t returned since, but we do hear rumors. Everything she teaches is Ministry approved. And we suspect she is planning on interfering with the running of Hogwarts.” 

“And is the Headmaster aware of this woman's teaching methods,” asked Rowena.

Hadrian scowled at the question, “I would assume so,” he answered, “he hired her after all.”

Rowena nodded and leaned forward resting her elbows on her knees, pointing her pipe at them she spoke, “all you have right now is circumstantial evidence, it's not against the treaty for the headmaster to be an idiot or for the professors to be terrible. What you need now is real evidence. Have you got any of that?”

Hadrian and Theo leaned towards each other and began whispering.

Eventually Hadrian responded, “the headmaster is the Chief Warlock of the Wizenmagot and the Supreme Mugwump for the international Confederation of Wizards.”

Rowena once again gestured to them with her pipe, “there you go, I don’t know what those things are, but it at least sounds like interference.”

“So, what should we do?” asked Theo.

Rowena sat back and to another drag from her pipe, “I take it the two of you have a solicitor?” She continued when they nodded in affirmation. “Send your solicitor a copy of the treaty, then keep a close eye on that professor and headmaster, write down everything they do that could be considered interference, the minute you have solid evidence let your solicitor know. Your solicitor will know who to contact about the treaty breach, then you’ll have to enter into reparations negotiations with your ministry. You’ll negotiate for money, artifacts or land, or some combination of the three. Your ministry will try to get out of it, but stay firm. It’ll most likely take a while, but you’ll get there.”

Hadrian gave a determined nod, “Thank you, is there anything else we should do?”

Rowens puffed on her pipe as she thought, “you’ll need to replace that professor and unless you want the job the headmaster too, you might want to start looking.”

Hadrian smiled “Thank you Miss. Ravenclaw. We really appreciate your advice. Theo and I have to go now, but we promise to come back and visit.”

Rowena waved them off, “don’t rush on my account.” 

Hadrian and Theo left Ravenclaws' nest through the door to the Library. Madam Pince, gave them surprised look at seeing them pass her desk on the way out of the library. They left their library and hand in hand began to make their way up to the owlery.

“Who do you think we can replace Umbridge with?” Theo asked as they walked.

“Hmm,” Hadrian hummed, “maybe Lupin would want to come back, or I’m sure Sirius could do it. Do you have any suggestions?”

“Snape has always wanted to be the DADA professor, but then we’d need to find another potions professor,” Theo answered.

“I suppose we could always interview people,” muttered Hadrian.

Theo shugged, “we’ll have to anyway, if we want to hire more professor’s for every subject.”

Hadrian sighed, “ugg, don’t remind me, I’m not looking forward to that.”

Theo chuckled, “I’m not either, but we’ll get through it together.”

Unfortunately as they rounded the stairs to the owlery they ran into none other than Professor Umbridge.

“Oh, Mr. Potter, Mr. Nott,” the Professor squeaked, “so nice to see you. Are you off to send a letter?”

“Yes, to my godfather,” Hadrian lied.

“Oh lovely dears, I’ve just come from sending a letter myself,” Umbridge tittered, “I’ll let you go now dears.”

Umbridge pushed past them and smiled slyly to herself, she just couldn’t wait for the next day. After Umbridge left, Hadrian and Theo continued their way up to the owlery.

“Merlin she creeps me out,” muttered Theo.

“Me too,” agreed Hadrian.

As they reached the top of the tower Hedwig flew down to greet them.

Hadrian reached up to pet her, “hey girl,” he whispered, “I have a few things I need you to take to Jacob, alright.”

Hedwig hooted in agreement as Hadrian affixed the letter and the copy of the treaty to her leg. When Hadrian finished Hedwig flew off to deliver her letters.  

A few hours later Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge opened a letter from his undersecretary. 

Minister,

I have finished writing the first of our planned educational decrees. It is ready to be enacted tomorrow. Tomorrow our campaign to take control of Hogwarts begins. I look forward to seeing a future with a ministry run Hogwarts.

Your Undersecretary,

Dolores Umbridge

Chapter Text

While Hadrian and Theo were talking to Rowena Ravenclaw's portrait Lord and Lady Malfoy were having an enlightening conversation with Salazar Slytherin.

As Salazar and Narcissa watched, Lord Malfoy paced the sitting room. “So I am to believe,” he fumed, “that when this esteemed school was built; there were bloody muggles attending.”

Salazar nodded, “I suppose you could say that. Although we didn’t call them muggles, to us they were just people.”

Narcissa raised a hand and rested it on her husband’s shoulder. “It does make sense dear, Hogwarts was built long before the statute of secrecy was established.”

Lucius calmed slightly, “you may be right dear, but what on earth could a muggle possibly learn in a school for magic?”

Salazar raised an eyebrow at Lucius, “while non-magical folk may not be able to do magic there are many subjects that they are still capable of studying, herbology for example.”

Lucius' face twisted up in a scowl, “I suppose so.” With that Lucius turned around and headed off into the library. “I need some time to think. If you need me, I’ll be in the library.”

When Lucius left, Narcissa turned to Salazar's portrait, “if you don’t mind, I would like to hear about what the school was like when you were teaching.”

“Of course my dear, When this Hogwarts was first built…”

As Salazar began Narcissa settled down in a chair to listen. 

After sending Hedwig off to Jacob, Hadrian and Theo left the owlery and headed to the kitchens where they asked the house elves to pack them a picnic. The two boys left the kitchens with their picnic and settled down to eat beside the black lake. After eating they spent the rest of the day lounging by the lake watching clouds go by. Once it was dark they headed back inside to go to bed.

The next morning Theo and Hadrian left their rooms and headed down to the great hall, intending to eat breakfast with the slytherin’s. However when they reached the Great Hall they found a large sign outside the door. In curiosity they stopped to read:

PROCLAMATION

EDUCATIONAL DECREE NO. 1

ALL STUDENTS ARE

TO RETURN TO THEIR

ASSIGNED DORMS AFTER CURFEW

Theo pointed to the decree, “look, Hadrian, Professor Umbridge signed it.”

Hadrian grinned, “perfect, she practically handed us the evidence we needed. Let's go eat breakfast, then we can call Jacob.”

Theo smiled up at his husband, “sounds like a plan. Should we let the professors know we’ll probably be missing class today?”

As Hadrian was about to reply a hand came down on his shoulder. Whipping his head around he found Ron grinning at him. “Weasly,” he growled, “what do you want?”

“Come on mate,” said Ron, “don’t be like that. I know it's too bad that you’re going to lose your fancy private room, but it’ll be good to have you back in the dorm. Me and the guys have missed you.”

Hadrian raised an eyebrow at Ron, “well, too bad for you I won’t be going back to the dorms.”

“But Harry mate,” Ron whined, “you have to, the educational decree says so.”

Hadrian smirked, “don’t worry about that.” He hooked his elbow around Theo’s and began to lead them away into the Great Hall. Just as they passed the doors Hadrian called over his shoulder, “Oh and Weasley, I’m not your mate. Don’t ever call me that again.” 

As Hadrian and Theo sat down at the Slytherin table, Blaize asked, “did the two of you see the educational decree?”

Theo sighed, “yeah, we saw it.”

“What are you going to do about it?” asked Draco.

“We’re going back to our rooms to call our solicitor after breakfast,” answered Hadrian. “Do you think the two of you could let the professors know we won’t be in class today?”

Blaize and Draco glanced at each other before nodding. “Sure mate, we can do that,” said Draco.

After breakfast Hadrian and Theo left to call Jacob. And Draco and Blaise approached Professor Snape at the high table.

As they reached the table Snape looked up from his meal. “Is there something the two of you need?” he drawled.

“Hi, professor,” Blaize sheepishly waved.

“Hadrian and Theo saw the educational decree,” answered Draco.

Snape arched an eyebrow, “and?”

“They requested that we tell the professors that they wouldn’t be in class today.”

“Hmm,” Snape hummed into his coffee mug, “very well. I’ll let the other professors know.”

Draco and Blaize grinned. “Thanks Professor,” they said together. 

In their rooms Hadrian called Jacob on the floo.

“Hadrian,” Jacob said in surprise when he answered the call. “I just got your letter. What can I do for you?”

“Did you read the letter?” Hadrian asked. When Jacob nodded in affirmation, Hadrian moved back from the floo, "you might want to come through then, I think this will take a while.”

Jacob came through, brushing the soot off of his robes, “I take it that you didn’t call about any of the upcoming trials, but about the copy of the treaty you sent me.”

Hadrian sighed, “Yeah, have you had a chance to read it yet?”

“No not yet,” answered Jacob, “I was just about to start when you called.”

“Shall we head to the study?” asked Theo. “Jacob can read the treaty, and then we can discuss what to do moving forward.” 

In the study Jacob sat down to read the treaty. When he had finished he looked up and asked, “I presume you have called me here because this treaty has been broken? At Hadrian and Theo’s silent nod he continued, “Do you have any particular goals in bringing this to my attention?”

“Yes,” answered Hadrian, “we want to make sure that the treaty is upheld, and get Umbridge sacked. Possibly Dumbledore as well.”

Jacob nodded, “very well. You do understand that this will reveal you as the heir to the founders?”

“Yes, I understand,” said Hadrian.

At Hadrian’s answer Jacob continued, “We’ll start by sending a copy of this treaty to Dumbledore and the Minister. Hopefully they will make the necessary reparations without much prompting. In the event that they do not act to correct their errors on their own we will take this to the Wizengamot. There is of course the chance that we may need to escalate this further by taking it to the ICW. Are the two of you alright with this.”

Hadrian gave Theo’s hand a gentle squeeze before replying, “we expected something like that, so yeah we’re alright with it.”

Jacob grinned, “great. In that case what evidence do you have of the treaty being broken?”

At Jacob’s question Hadrian and Theo launched into their explanation of how Umbridge had broken the treaty.

“This morning,” Theo explained, “when we went down to the Great Hall for breakfast, there was an educational decree posted outside of the doors, Professor Umbridge had signed it.”

“Why do you think this is ministry interference?” asked Jacob.

“Professor Umbridge is also the Undersecretary to the minister, and the speech she gave at the start of term feast highly suggests ministry interference,” answered Hadrian.

“There’s also the fact that she called her lessons ministry approved,” added Theo.

“I see,” muttered Jacob as he got to his feet, “if you don’t mind I’d like to see this decree.”

“Alright, let's go then,” said Hadiran. 

The trio stopped just outside the doors to the Great Hall.

Jacob stepped forward and examined the decree. After a few minutes he turned to Hadrian and Theo, “This most certainly appears to be ministry interference, let’s return to your rooms and make a plan for moving forward. We need to discuss what exactly you want as reparations. I’ll also need a copy of your memories from the start of time feast and any memories you have of Umbridge.”

“alright,” agreed Theo with a determined look on his face, “let’s do it.”

Chapter Text

Jacob, Theo and Hadrian retreated to their rooms and entered the study. They spent hours discussing the outcome they wanted to see in regards to enforcing the treaty. As they discussed Jacob took detailed notes.

Theo asked “do you think the letter Umbridge sent last night could be used as evidence?”

“Possibly,” answered Jacob, “we would, however, need to know the contents of the letter.”

“Hmm,” Hadrian hummed in thought, “we could ask Rowena if there's a way to see copies of letters sent from hogwarts.” 

Jacob nodded his head in agreement, “that’s a good idea.”

Theo stood up, “why don’t you two continue discussing while I go ask her.”

Hadrian grinned over at Theo, “thanks, love. That would be helpful."

Jacob and Hadrian continued their discussion as Theo left the room.

Theo went down the Tunnel to Ravenclaws Nest.

As he entered the sitting room Rowena looked up from where she was reading in her portrait. With a small scowl and a raised eyebrow she sighed, “what now?”

“Hello ma’am,” Theo said, “we were wondering if there is a way we could see letters that have been sent from the school.”

Rowena's eyebrow climbed even higher, “that's all. Go up to the Owlery, there should be a door to the left. The room beyond makes a copy of every letter sent or received.”

“Oh, thank you ma’am,” answered Theo, “I’ll just go look for that now.”

Rowena waved him off as she went back to her book.

Theo left through the library entrance and made his way up to the owlery. Once there he easily found the door to the left. When he entered the room, he was surprised to find just how large it was. Towards the back of the room were rows and rows of shelves filled with scrolls and in the front of the room was filled with file cabinets.

Out of curiosity Theo began to wander the room. As he explored he found that the letters were organized by date, and the farther back he wandered the older they got. When he reached the back of the room he found letters dated from the year 990, the year the school opened. Unfortunately he was unable to look at any of them, he was here for a reason after all.

Going back to the front of the room he found the file cabinet labeled september 1995. Pulling it open he quickly found the file labeled September 10th. Luckily it hadn't been too long so it was right at the front. Inside the file there was another file labeled Professors. Opening this he quickly found a file labeled Dolores Umbridge. “Aha,” he exclaimed as he pulled the file out. Opening it he found correspondents between Professor Umbridge and the minister. Theo grinned. “This is perfect,” he whispered to himself. Closing the file he gathered the whole thing in his arms and hurried back to Hadrian and Jacob. 

Back in their rooms Theo burst into the study. “I found it,” he announced, “Umbridge and the Minister have been writing letters about taking control of Hogwarts!”

Hadrian swept Theo up in a hug. “Thanks love,” he exclaimed before planting a kiss on Theo’s cheek.

Handing the file to Jacob Hadrian and Theo retook their seats.

Jacob opened the file and began to go through the letters. With each letter his eyes widened. “This evidence is damning,” whispered Jacob in astonishment. “There’s no way for them to deny interference with this.”

After some more discussion they had drafted a letter that would be sent to Dumbledore, the Minister and Umbridge. Included with the letter would be a copy of the treaty.

To whom it may concern,

It has come to my clients attention that there has been a breach of a treaty signed by the Hogwarts Founders and Cináed mac Maíl Coluim; King of Alba. My client Lord Hadrian Potter; Heir to Hogwarts would like to meet to discuss reparations. My client would like to avoid involving the Wizengmot or the ICW. Please join us at Brown solicitors on 16, Sept. at 9am to discuss possible resolutions to help all parties come to a satisfying outcome.

Sincerely,

Jacob Brown, Solicitor

Once the letter was written Jacob returned to his office through the floo. From his office he sent the three letters off to their recipients with his law office's owls. After Jacob had left Theo and Hadrian decided to visit the Malfoy’s in the Chamber of Secrets.

Once again going through the tunnels the two boys made their way to Slytherin’s chambers. Coming up to the entrance they knocked on the door before entering. Upon entering the chamber they were greeted by Salazar and Narcissa Malfoy.

“Oh hello, how are you boy’s doing?” Salazar said from his portrait.

“Hello Salazar, it’s good to see you again,” Theo returned.

Narcissa rose from where she was sitting and gave Theo and Hadrian a small bow in greeting. “Theo, Lord Potter. Thank you for allowing my husband and I to stay in the Slytherins Chamber, it has been most enlightening.”

Hadrian grinned, “you’re welcome. I’m glad you’re enjoying your stay. I hope you and Lord Malfoy are settling in alright.”

Narcissa smiled gently “We’ve been settling in alright, although Lucius has had a bit of… a difficult time coming to terms with some new information.”

At this Hadrian and Theo turned grinning at each other, Theo letting out a soft giggle.

Narcissa gestured to the couch, “but please have a seat. Lucius is just in the library, I’ll go and fetch him.”

As Narcissa left Hadrian and Theo settled down on the couch.

A few hours later Dumbledore was sitting in his office when an owl flew in and landed on the desk in front of him. Taking the letter from the owl he opened it and began to read. His eyes widened at the information that was revealed. 'Harry was the Heir to Hogwarts, how could this be,' he wondered.

Flipping to the copy of the treaty that was provided he carefully read it over as he paced his office. 'Perfect,' he thought to himself, this treaty provided him with the perfect opportunity to get rid of that blasted toad of a woman. And at the same time would stop the minister from interfering with his plans to defeat Voldemort. As for Harry being Hogwarts Heir, perhaps he could offer himself as a mentor to running the school. After all no one knew more about Hogwarts than him. Sighing in relief he whispered to himself, “finely a way to get that boy back under control.”

Dolores Umbridge was just sitting down to tea when an owl landed in front of her. Taking the letter and opening it she began to read. As she read her face got redder and redder. Standing up she went to her floo and tossed a bit of floo powder into the fireplace; calling the Minister.

When the Minister answered she shrieked, “did you get a letter from the Potter boys solicitor? I just can’t believe the nerve of that boy first, that farce of a trial I need to deal with and now this.”

“Relax Dolores,” replied Fudge, “they won’t be able to do anything, we’ve been careful. After all, it's not like they could possibly have any proof of our plans.”

Umbridge nodded her head, “you’re right Minister. Perhaps we can use this to discredit the Potter boy and Dumbledore.”

The Minister grinned, “an excellent idea, Dolores. You know I suspect that Hogwarts has broken this treaty of theirs first.”

Minister Fudge was sitting in his office going over various papers when he received a letter delivered by an owl. Opening the letter he began to read. The more he read the tighter he gripped the parchment; crumpling it around the edges.

‘They can’t do this,’ he thought to himself, ‘they have no proof.’

Just then his personal floo went off. “Oh, good,” he sighed, “that must be Dolores. She’ll know what to do.”

Chapter Text

Hadrain and Theo took a seat as Narcissa left to fetch her husband.

When Narcissa left the room Hadrain asked Salazar, “is Mr. Malfoy having trouble with the fact that muggles went to Hogwarts?”

Salazar smirked down at them from his portrait, “he didn’t seem too happy about it.”

A few minutes later Lord and Lady Malfoy returned to the sitting room.

Hadrian greeted Lucius, “Lord Malfoy, lovely to see you again. I trust that you have been settling in well.”

Lucius gave a solemn nod, “yes we’ve been settling in just fine. I presume you are here to learn about the information I have on the Dark Lord?”

“We’d appreciate anything you can tell us,” answered Theo.

Lucius let out a slow breath through his nose. “Currently the Dark Lord is holding meetings at Riddle Manor. He was planning to use my influence within the ministry to gain a foothold in the governing of the wizarding world, however with my absence, I couldn’t guess as to what he may do now.”

Hadrian scowled, “what about the diary from second year, it had some kind of ghost in it? Of Tom Riddle. Do you know anything about that?”

Lucius took a moment to think. “The Dark Lord entrusted the diary to my father, and my father handed it down to me. I’m not quite sure what it contained but when I held it, it seemed to have a great influence over me.”

“Do you think there could be others?” questioned Hadrian. Lucius nodded, “if the Dark Lord created one, he most likely created others.”

Theo cleared his throat, “if he did create others, do you have any idea of what they might be? Or where they could be?”

Lucius sighed in defeat, “the Dark Lord would most likely have used objects that meant a lot to him, but where he may have hidden them… I haven't a clue.”

Hadrian and Theo got to their feet. “Lord and Lady Malfoy," said Theo. “Thank You for your time.”

“Thank you for your help,” Hadrian called over his shoulder as they left the room.

Back in their rooms they found an owl waiting for them. Theo took the letter and handed it to Hadrian. “It's for you. Looks like it’s from Dumbledore,” he grimaced. Hadrian groaned as he read the letter.

Harry my boy,

Please come to my office. I would like to discuss some new information. The password is acid pops.

Dumbledore.

“Guess I better go get this over with,” grumbled Hadrian.

Theo sighed sadly, “yeah, I had hoped we'd get to spend the rest of the day together.” Theo smiled up at him, “but I suppose it can wait.”

Hadrian leaned down and kissed Theo on the forehead. “I promise I’ll be as quick as I can.”

At the door Theo hugged Hadrian goodbye. “Come back soon,” he whispered as Hadrian headed down the corridor.

“Oh Harry my boy. Come have a seat,” greeted Dumbledore as Hadrian entered his office.

“My name is Hadrian, Professor,” he corrected as he took a seat.

“Yes, yes my boy,” the headmaster placated.

Hadrian grumbled “not your boy,” under his breath as he slipped into a seat. “Did you need something, Professor?”

Hadrian asked. Dumbledore looked him over with twinkling eyes. “My boy, it has come to my attention that you are Lord Hogwarts.”

Hadrian raised an eyebrow, “so you got the letter from my solicitor.”

Dumbledore bobbed his head once in agreement. “Yes, and I just called you here to offer my services.”

“Your services?” questioned Hadrian.

“Why of course my boy. Who  else could guide you in the running of this esteemed school than the headmaster?” Dumbledore asked.

Hadrian gave Dumbledore a flat look, “no thanks.”

“But my boy, surely you at least have some questions.” cajoled Dumbledore.

Hadrian smirked, “I guess I do have some questions.”

“Well ask away, my boy. And I shall do my best to answer,” Dumbledore twinkled.

“Alright then. The diary from my second year, what was it? And do you think there’s more?”

Dumbledore reared back at the question. “Now, now Harry, I meant questions about running the school.”

Hadrian started to get up from his chair. “That's alright, I can just find out on my own. Goodbye Professor.”

Dumbledore's eyes briefly lost some of their twinkle. “Sit down my boy, I’ll tell you what I know.”

Hadrian sat back down and gestured for Dumbledore to continue. “I fear that the diary from your second year may have been a Horcrux.”

Hadrian leaned forward, “what’s a Horcrux?”

Dumbledore blinked at Hadrian “Oh my boy, nothing you have to worry about.”

Hadrian narrowed his eyes, “I’ll decide what I need to worry about. Now what is a Horcrux?”

Dumbledore's mouth twisted in a scowl, “a Horcrux is a dark object that holds a fragment of a wizard's soul.”

Hadrian sat back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest, “how many Horcrux do you think Voldemort made?”

Dumbledore gave Hadrian a sad look, “oh I’m afraid he made at least seven, and I’m sorry to say my dear boy. But one of them is you.”

Harry an unimpressed look. ‘Well that explains a lot,’ he thought to himself.

“And how would you destroy these Horcrux?” he asked.

“Unfortunately, my dear boy, the only known things to destroy a Horcrux is fiendfyre and basilisk venom. I do caution you against using fiendfyre, it's notoriously difficult to control. I am unsure where one might find basilisk venom, no one has seen one in the last hundred years.”

“Thanks Professor, " Hadrian  said as he got to his feet. “I think that's all I need for today.” 

Hadrian returned to his rooms only to find Theo watching as Sirius paced in front of the fireplace waving what looked like a necklace with Kreacher following him trying to snatch the necklace and shouting something about Master Regulus.

“What's going on here?” he asked.

At his words both Sirius and Kreacher froze and then rushed to explain themselves, talking over each other.

Hadrian held up a hand, “one at a time please.”

Kreacher started, “Young Master Regulus orders Kreacher to destroy. Kreacher failed. Kreacher is a bad elf. Kreacher burst into tears.

Hadrian turned to Sirius for his explanation. “I found this locket while cleaning.” Sirius held the locket up. “I felt like a very dark object, and then Kreacher got mad when I moved it.”

“So you came here,” Hadrian finished. “Let me see the locket please,” Hadrian held out his hand.

When he held the locket he felt a wave of anger wash over him, it felt very similar to the diary from second year.

“Kreacher,” he asked, “would you like to destroy this?”

Kreacher nodded tearfully up at him.

“Dobby” Hadrian called. Dobby arrived with a pop.

“What can Dobby bes doing for Master Potters sirs.”

“Can you please bring one of the jars full of basilisk venom, Dobby.”

Dobby snapped his fingers and a jar of venom appeared on the table by the fireplace.

“Thank you Dobby,” said Hadiran.

He handed the locket to Kreacher. “Just put this in the jar. I think that should work.” 

As soon as the locket was submerged in the venom it let out an unholy shriek and popped open. When it opened a black sludge poured out and the liquid began to bubble. After a few minutes the bubbling stopped and the black sludge was gone. All that remained was the locket.

“What in Merlin's name was that?” Theo asked from the couch.

“That was a Horcrux being destroyed,” answered Hadrain.

“A Horcrux,” Sirius said in disgust. “Who would be dumb enough to make one of those?”

“It was the Dark Lord. Wasn’t it?” answered Theo.

Hadrian nodded. “And there's probably more,” he said grimly. 

Later that night as they were lying in bed Theo asked, “So what did the headmaster want?”

Hadrian chuckled, “he wanted to mentor me on how to run Hogwarts.”

“I take it you turned him down?”

“Of course,” Hadrian answered, “but I also got him to tell me about Horcrexs.”

“That's how you knew what to do with the locket?” asked Theo.

Hadrian kissed the top of Theos head, “Yup.”

Chapter Text

The week leading up to the treaty meeting was fortunately uneventful. Hadrian and Theo kept their heads down and did their best to keep away from the terrible threesome, Umbridge and Dumbledore. 

The morning of the 16th of September started out foggy and wet. Hadrian and Theo woke just as the sun was beginning to burn off the last of the morning fog. Leaving the weather sunny, yet brisk. That morning the young couple ate breakfast in silence, before flooing into Jacobs office.

Jacob met them as Hadrian and Theo flooed into his office. He led them to a meeting room that had been prepared for today’s meeting. While they waited for the others to arrive the young couple began to discuss what outcome they wanted from the meeting.

Hadrian didn’t really care what kind of reparations he received, so long as Umbridge was replaced and the ministry stopped meddling in Hogwarts affairs.

Theo agreed with Hadrian for the most part, although he did want to see the ministry pay hefty reparations for their meddling. 

A few minutes after nine o'clock Umbridge and the Minister were shown into the meeting room. When Dumbledore failed to show up fifteen minutes later Jacob Brown started the meeting without him.

“Thank you, all for attending this meeting today. It has come to the attention of my client, Lord Hogwarts, that the treaty between Hogwarts and the Ministry has been broken. We are meeting with you today to come to an agreement for paying reparations.”

“Hem, Hem,” coughed Umbridge. As soon as she had everyone’s attention she continued, “thank you Mr. Brown for bringing it to the Ministry’s attention that the treaty has been broken. As the treaty states control over Hogwarts will return to the Ministry. We would be happy to finalize any paperwork today.”

Hadrian, Theo and Jacob all looked at her blankly.

Eventually Theo spoke up, “Professor, Minister. Do you think that Hogwarts is the one that broke the treaty?”

Umbridge smiled sweetly at him, “Why, of course Hogwarts broke the treaty dear. The Ministry would never do such a thing.”

Theo tilted his head and blinked at her, “how?”

“How what, dear?” simpered Umbridge.

“How did Hogwarts break the treaty?” Theo flatley asked.

“Why my dear boy, Hogwarts did not help at all during the last wizarding war, now did they?”

Theo looked exasperatedly at Hadrian and Jacob.

Jacob shuffled some papers in front of him “actually the Order of Phoenix was active during the first wizarding war. It consisted of several Hogwarts professors and alumni. The Order of Phoenix was formed to defeat you-know-who.”

Minister Fudge scowled, “The Order of Phoenix may have helped but Hogwarts did not provide sanctuary to the citizens. The Treaty states that Hogwarts was required to do so during times of war.”

Jacob once again glanced down at his notes, “that may be the case, but as neither Minister Eugenia Jenkins or Minister Harold Minchum officially declared war, Hogwarts was not beholden to the treaty at the time.”

“Hem, hem,” coughed Umbridge. “The minister may not have declared war, but you-know-who certainly did.”

Jacob nodded, “that may be the case. However you-know-who was a citizen operating under a pseudonym. The only person legally able to declare war is the Minister. Therefore at the time of you-know-who was in power there was no official war.” 

“But then,” the Minister sputtered, “if Hogwarts didn’t break the treaty then why are we here?”

Jacob, Hadrian and Theo all blinked slowly at them in shock.

“Minister, Miss Umbridge,” Jacob spoke slowly and clearly. “We are here because the Ministry has broken the Treaty.”

“What,” blustered Minister Fudge, “how in Merlin’s name could the Ministry possibly have broken the treaty?”

Jacob pulled out several sheets of parchment and placed them before the Minister and Umbridge. “Do either of you recognize any of these documents?”

Fudge and Umbridge peered at the documents before them. There were several letters documenting their plans for the ministry to take over Hogwarts as well as a copy of Umbridge's first educational decree.

Umbridge smiled sweetly at them, “This was necessary, the ministry must be able to control what the citizens are learning.”

Jacob gave them a flat look, “And if the ministry wants to control what its citizens are learning then the ministry may start its own school. But according to the treaty the ministry has no business in the running of Hogwarts.”

Minister Fudge scowled, “Well then I suppose we will need to make reparations. Unfortunately there is not much money in the ministry's coffers. I can offer ministry employees as staff?”

Hadrian spoke up, “do you not see that, that’s exactly why we’re here today?”

“Now, Mr. Potter,” Umbridge tittered.

“Lord Hogwarts for today,” interrupted Hadrian.

Umbridge frowned but continued, “I don’t think you quite understand. The ministry can’t possibly afford the type of reparations you are clearly expecting.”

“We haven't even asked for anything yet,” argued Theo.

“And just what are you going to ask for,” demanded Minister Fudge.

Hadrian leaned forward, looking Umbridge in the eye, “my first request is that Professor Umbridge resign from her position at Hogwarts.”

Umbridge's face screwed up in anger.

Hadrian suspected she was about to refuse when the Minister agreed, “fine, will the Ministry need to replace her?”

Hadrian shook his head, “no, I can find someone.” Turning to Theo he asked, “do you have anything to add, love.”

Theo nodded, “the Ministry owns a large patch of land in Northumberland. If that land is added to Hogwarts lands and Umbridge leaves her post as Professor, we would be willing to see this matter closed.”

“If you’ll just give us a moment to speak about this?” asked Fudge.

When Theo, Hadrian and Jacob voiced their agreement the Minister and Umbridge moved to the other side of the room.

Hadrian watched as they appeared to argue about something before returning to the table.

Umbridge looked anything but happy, grumbling under her breath.

“You may have the land in Northumberland, and Miss Umbridge is willing to resign from her position. In exchange can we trust that any legal troubles between the two of you will come to an end.”

Hadrian and Theo both stared at the Minister in shock.

“Minister Fudge,” started Jacob, “the legal issues between Miss Umbridge and my clients is a  separate issue from the treaty and is not up for discussion.”

“Well then,” grinned Umbridge, “I suppose that I’ll be seeing you in class next week.”

At Umbridge's words the Minister began to sweat, “now Dolores, let's not be hasty shall we? We already agreed that you would leave Hogwarts.”

Umbridge eyed the Minister. “If that’s what you think is best Minister,” she giggled.

“Excellent,” announced Jacob, “if that's all, I have the paperwork right here for everyone to sign.”

First he passed the papers to the Minister, who begrudgingly signed on the indicated line. Next Hadrian happily signed the documents.

Just as Hadrian was finishing up signing, Dombledore entered the room.

Gazing around the room Dombledore’s eyes twinkled, “good we’re all here, let’s get started now shall we.”

Jacob stood up and gathered his papers, “Professor Dumbledore, how good of you to join us. Unfortunately we are finished here. If you had arrived at nine o'clock when the meeting started you would have been able to join in.”

Dumbledore twinkled again, “oh, dear, so sorry I’m late, I’m very busy running a school. Now if you don’t mind I’ll see that these boys get back to Hogwarts.”

Hadrian pulled Theo close, “Thanks Professor, but we can see ourselves back.”

And with that the young couple stepped into the floo.

Chapter Text

When Hadrian and Theo flooed back into their rooms Hadrian asked, “love, can I ask what you wanted that land for?”

Theo smiled up at his husband. “Well, I thought that we could use it to build a wizarding primary school.”

Hadrian picked Theo up by the waist and spun him around before kissing him. “Oh, that's a wonderful idea.” 

They spent the rest of the day discussing Theo’s idea of starting a primary school. 

The next morning the young couple dressed, ate breakfast and headed down to the Entrance Hall. At the doors stood Filch checking permission slips for students heading to Hogsmeade.

When Hadrian and Theo got to Filch, Filch eyed them with contempt. “Permission slip, Potter,” he spat.

Hadrian raised an eyebrow, “I don’t have one.”

Filch sneered at him, “no permission, no hogsmeade.”

Theo looked up at Hadrian, “do you even need permission to go to Hogsmeade?”

Hadrian shook his head, “I don’t think so.”

“Maybe Potter doesn’t,” he jabbed a finger towards Theo, “but he does,” snarled Filch.

Just as Hadrian was about to reply Professor McGonagall walked up.

“What seems to be the problem here,” she asked.

“These two miscreants are trying to get to Hogsmeade with no permission,” sneered Filch.

As Filch spoke, Hadrian thought of an idea. “Professor,” he asked McGonagall, “do you have any permission slips i could have?”

Mcgonagall raised her eyebrows at him but gave her wand a wave, conjuring two permission slips. Taking them from the Professor, Hadrian pulled out a quill and quickly signed both. One for himself and one for Theo. Handing the permission slips to Filch, Hadrian stared him down, daring him to object. Filch glanced down at the slips then glared up at Hadrian.

Behind him Hadrian heard Mcgonagglal say, “Well it seems that everything is in order now. Don't you agree, Mr. Filch.”

Eventually Filch grumbled out, “fine,” and stepped aside.

With that Hadrian and Theo were able to head across the grounds and into Hogsmeade. 

In Hogsmeade the young couple started shopping. They started in their second hand book shop and made their way up and down the street, eventually pausing to eat lunch at The Three Broomsticks. While they were eating Cho Chang approached their table.

“Oh, uh, hey Cho,”stuttered Hadrian, “is there something you need?”

“Hi Harry” Cho breathed, “I was wondering if you wanted to come have lunch with me?”

Hadrian glanced at Theo, “Well, Theo and I are just finishing up with lunch. But maybe on the next Hogsmeade trip. Ask me again then, yeah?”

“Alright, Harry,” Cho replied with a pleased look.

As Cho walked away Hadrian muttered, “well that was awkward.”

Theo snorted, “you could say that. Why didn’t you correct her on your name?”

Hadrian shrugged, “I don’t know, I guess I might just feel a little bad for her.”

Theo nodded, “alright, you’re not actually going to go on a date with her are you?”

Hadrian looked at Theo shocked, “of course not! Why would I do that? You’re my husband and I love you!”

Theo raised an eyebrow at his husband, “well I’m pretty sure that Cho thinks you just agreed to a date.”

Hadrian looked at Theo in surprise, “I did! Well I didn’t mean too. I thought she’d just want to talk about Cedric or something.”

Theo gave Hadrian a pat on the shoulder, “it’s alright, maybe she won’t ask again.”

Hadrian nodded his head, “yeah, let’s hope so. Are you ready to go?” 

After leaving The Three Broomsticks Hadrian and Theo continued their shopping. They went into any shops that peaked their interest. Theo picked up a few books that looked interesting. Hadrian picked up some extra quills, ink and parchment.

At the end of the day they made their way to Honeydukes, where they planned to pick up a few sweets. Theo and Hadrian spent a few minutes perusing the isles of sweets. Hadrian picked out a few chocolate frogs and Theo got some sugar quills.

Unfortunately as they headed up to the till, Ron popped out from around the end of the isle.  “Hey Harry, funny running into you here, huh,” he said.

Privately Hadrian suspected that Ron had been waiting for them.

“Where have you been?" Asked Ron, 'me and Hermione haven't seen you in a while.”

Hadrian scowled at him, “for the last time my name is Hadrian.”

He wrapped his arm around Theo’s shoulders and pushed them both past Ron.

“I’ve been avoiding you,” muttered Hadiran as they passed Ron.

They paid for their sweets then hurried back to the castle before Ron could catch up to them. 

“How is it that he always seems to catch us?” Theo asked on the walk back.

Hadrian frowned, “I suspect that Dumbledore is monitoring my location and telling him and Hermione where I am. Or they're just following me.”

Theo shook his head in dismay, “I’m not sure which is worse, being monitored or followed.”

Hadrian shrugged, “honestly I'd rather be followed, that way I can at least keep an eye on them.”

“Good point,” agreed Theo. 

Back up at the castle, the two boys returned to their rooms to put their purchases away. Then they headed down to the Great Hall to eat supper with the Slytherins.

As they sat down with Draco and Blaize; Draco asked, “where have you two been?”

Theo smirked at Draco, “Oh just making sure Umbridge leaves and never comes back.”

Blaize perked up, “so the pink toad is gone for good?”

Hadrian nodded “yeah, now we just need to find a new DADA professor.”

Theo scrunched his nose up, “I know he was a werewolf, but Professor Lupin was probably the best DADA Professor we’ve ever had. Do you think we could get him back?”

Both Draco and Blaize made noises of agreement.

Hadrian sighed, “I don’t know if he was under Dumbledore's control. But that's something we could definitely look into. I can send a letter to Sirius tomorrow morning; they were friends in school, so maybe he knows something.”

“Perhaps if Lupin is unable to take the position then Sirius might be able to,” suggested Blaize.

The suggestion sent Hadrian and Theo into a fit of giggles.

“Oh can you imagine,” gasped Hadrian.

“I think he’d actually be a pretty good professor, but I also think he wouldn’t be able to resist causing some kind of chaos,” said Theo.

“It’d probably piss Dumbledore off,” Hadrian grinned, “I’ll ask him.”

Chapter Text

When Sirius Black arrived at breakfast on Monday morning he was delighted to find a letter from Hadrian waiting for him. Sitting down he popped open the seal and began to read.

Padfoot,

I’m writing to share some good news. We have successfully done away with Umbridge. We are delighted that we will no longer have to deal with her or her scheming. However we are now short a DADA professor. I have discussed it with Theo and our friends and came up with two possible solutions. We could rehire Lupin, depending on how deep he is into Dumbledore’s pocket. Or we could just hire you. What do you think? Are you up for the job?

Your Loving Godson,

Hadrian

Sirius nearly spit out his tea when reading Hadrian’s proposal. ‘Ha. Me a teacher,’ he thought. ‘I could spend more time with Hadrian.” With the thought of spending more time with his Godson in mind, Sirius hurried through the rest of breakfast. After eating Sirius borrowed Hadrian’s study to write an acceptance letter for the DADA position.

Hey Pup,

It’s great to hear that you finally got rid of that old toad.Of course I’ll be your DADA professor. Sounds like a fun way to get back at Dumbledore. I will also write to Remus. I’ll admit that lately I’ve been missing my old friend. It would be good to see him again and I’d like his advice on teaching. I’ll floo into your rooms tonight. See you later!

Your loving Dogfather

Sirius

A few hours later when Hadrian and Theo were sitting down to lunch an owl landed in front of Hadrian. Hadrian took the letter from the owl while Theo fed it a piece of sausage.

Hadrian skimmed the letter and grinned. “Sirius is going to be our DADA Professor,” he announced in excitement.

Theo gasped in delight, “oh that's great. Sirius will make an amazing professor.”

Across the table from them Pansy snorted in disbelief. “Sirius Black a Professor. Why in Merlin's name would Dumbledore hire him.”

Hadrian raised an eyebrow at Pansy, “What's that supposed to mean?”

Pansy smirked at him, “just that he spent years in azkaban. Is he even sane enough to work with students?”

Theo and Hadrian looked at each other, having a silent conversation with their eyes.

“I think it will be fine,” Theo said after a long pause.

Pansy’s eyes narrowed as her gaze bounced between Hadrian and Theo. “You both think a decision that Dumbledore made is fine. At the start of the year you two thought he was an incompetent fool and now what…” Pansy’s eyes widened in realization, “unless, Dumbledore didn’t actually hire him at all did he?”

Theo leaned over the table and whispered, “and if he didn’t, then who did?”

Pansy glazed from Theo to Hadrian; a thoughtful look on her face. “It was you, wasn’t it?” she whispered.

“If you wouldn’t mind keeping quiet about this, we would both appreciate it,” said Hadrian.

“Fine, I can keep quiet. But I want to know what’s going on.”

Theo glanced at Hadrian before turning to Pansy, “alright, I’ll tell you. Meet me at the bottom of the astronomy tower after dinner.”

Pansy pursed her lips, but nodded in agreement. 

The rest of the day went by without incident. When the two boys had finished eating their dinner they went their separate ways; Hadrian to meet Sirius in their rooms and Theo to meet Pansy at the bottom of the astronomy tower.

Pansy was already waiting for him when he arrived at the bottom of the astronomy tower.

“Well, are you going to explain now,” she asked when she spotted him.

Theo smirked at her, “I will, but first follow me.”

He started heading up the astronomy tower stairs.

Pansy heaved a sigh before following after him. About halfway up she asked, “do you want to at least tell me why we’re climbing the astronomy tower.”

Theo looked over his shoulder to reply, “you’ll see, we’re almost there.”

Pansy shook her head and grumbled something under her breath, but continued to follow.

When they reached the floor just below the top floor Theo stopped. “We’re here,” he said.

Pansy looked around, “there’s nothing here.”

Theo walked up to the window and climbed up onto the sill. “This way,” he called as he jumped out the window.

Pansy ran towards Theo screaming in terror. Just as she reached the window Theo leaned back over the sill holding out his hand, grinning at her.

“Theo,” Pansy shrieked. “What are you doing? You nearly scared me half to death.”

Theo's grin lessened, “sorry, Pans. I promise it’s perfectly safe.”

Pansy screwed up her face. “Fine,” she mumbled as she gripped Theos hand.

Theo pulled his friend up and over the window sill. Pansy stumbled a little, before looking around.

When her eyes landed on Godric’s portrait she murmured, “what in Merlin's name is this place?”

“Pansy,” started Theo, “welcome to Gryffindor’s Den!” “And this,” he said gesturing to Godric’s portrait, “is Godric Gryffindor.”

Pansy stared wide eyed for a moment before dipping into a curtsy “pleased to meet you sir.”

Godric let out a booming laugh, “pleased to meet you as well, young lady. Now none of that bowing and curtseying stuff. Please call me Uncle Godric.

“Oh, er alright,” said Pansy hesitantly.

“Come on Pansy, we can sit down here, I’ll explain everything.”

The two friends sat on the couch in front of Godric’s portrait and Theo began to explain everything. They talked for several hours with Theo answering any questions that Pansy had. Occasionally Godric added his own input. When they had finished talking Pansy sat still in stunned silence.

"You do realize that if Hadrian is Lord Hogwarts he could just force Dumbledore out?”

Theo nodded, “yes, but Dumbledore still has a lot of political power, not to mention how most of the public feel about him. Also Hadrian's not really ready to take over as headmaster, so we’re just going to take our time with that.”

Pansy nodded firmly, “alright, if you need any help, I’m here. Just let me know.”

Theo leaned forward to hug Pansy, “Thanks for understanding, Pans.”

Meanwhile, Hadrian was meeting Sirius up in his and Theo’s rooms. As soon as Sirius came through the floo Hadrian jumped up and wrapped him in a hug.

“Hadrian,” shouted Sirius; returning the hug, “it’s great to see you.”

“It’s good to see you too, Siri, and now you’re going to be one of my professors.”

Sirius grinned, can’t wait, when will I see you in class?”

Hadrian frowned, “unfortunately, you'll have to wait until next week. Theo and I don’t have DADA until Monday afternoon.”

Sirius nodded, “that’s alright, I'll just have more time to practice being a Professor then!”

Hadrian laughed, “Now would you like to see your office and classroom?”

“Sure pup, lets go!”

Hadrian and Sirius left the room and headed over to where Umbridge's former office and classroom were.

On the way to the classroom Hadrian asked, “Is there anything that you need?”

“Not right now. I’ve written to Remus for advice, but he hasn’t gotten back to me yet. In the meantime I think I’ll just review what should have been learned in past years.”

Hadrian nodded, “that's a good idea. Let me know when you’ve heard from Lupin, yeah.”

“Of course, Pup,” said Sirius. 

When they reached the office they fortunately found it devoid of pink or kittens. All that remained was a desk and a few chairs and what looked like some lesson plans that Umbridge had left behind.

Sirius went to leaf through the lesson plans and wrinkled his nose at what he saw. “These are terrible, that woman really wasn’t teaching you anything was she?”

Hadrian smirked, “No she really wasn’t. If you want you can go through that door, Hadrian pointed to one of two doors in the room to see your classroom, the other one most likely leads to your rooms.”

Sirius peeked into the classroom and then closed the door. “It needs some rearranging, but otherwise it’s just a classroom. Let's check out the living space.”

Sirius went through the other door and Hadrian quickly followed after him. The DADA instructor's living space consisted of a sitting room with a fireplace and several plush chairs, a bedroom with a large canopy bed and a bathroom.

“Sorry it’s not bigger,” Hadrian apologized with a yawn.

“It’s alright pup, you’re looking tired. Why don’t you head off to bed? I’ll have Kreature bring my things over.”

“Alright, let me know if you need anything,” said Hadrian.

Sirius hugged Hadrian, “I will, goodnight Hadrian.”

“Good night, Siri,” yawned Hadrian.   

Hadrian and Theo arrived back in their rooms at nearly the same time, and promptly headed off to bed. After all, tomorrow the whole school would find out about the new DADA professor and it was sure to be an exciting day.

Chapter Text

In a forest somewhere in Europe, Remus Lupin received a letter.

Hey Moony,

I’ve missed you, and wish you were here. I could really use your help right now. Hadrian, our little pup has grown up so much. He’s Lord Hogwarts now, if you can believe it. And he hired me as a professor. HA! Bet you didn’t see that coming. That’s what I’m writing to you about. I have no idea what I’m doing. I could really use your advice. What do I do? If you could come or even just reply to this letter; I would be eternally in your debt.

Yours truly,

Padfoot 

As soon as Lupin finished reading, he packed up his things to head to Hogwarts.

When Hadrian and Theo arrived at breakfast on Tuesday morning they were amused to find Sirius holding court at the professors table. He was engaged in a lively conversation with Professor Mcgonagall and Professor Flitwick. Professor Snape was looking on with what appeared to be a grudging interest. All the while Dumbledore sat in his chair at the center of the table with a sour look on his face. Every now and then he would shoot a look of irritation at the conversation happening at the other end or the table. 

After breakfast they headed out of the Great Hall and were unfortunately accosted by the Granger-Weasley trio.

“Harry mate.” Shouted Ron as Hadrian rolled his eyes.

Hadrian turned to Ron and growled, “what do you want? Ronald.”

Ron clapped Hadrian on the shoulder, “can you believe Dumbledore hired Sirius? I mean I know he’s your Godfather an’ all, but he is a bit; you know.” Ron twirled his finger near his head, miming that Sirius was insane.

Hadrian raised an eyebrow, “if that’s everything you have to say, Theo and I are going to head to class now.” 

The rest of the day was uneventful. Hadrain and Theo attended their classes with their friends and successfully avoided meeting Ron, Hermione and Ginny again. At dinner they met with Sirius in his office. As they sat down to eat there was a knock on the door.

“Come in”, Sirius called. When the door opened Lupin entered the office.

“Moony,” Hadrian shouted as he jumped up and rushed to hug the man.

Lupin returned the hug before pushing Hadrian back to get a good look at him. “Oh look at you pup, you really have grown up. Now Sirius tells me that you're Lord Hogwarts. Why don’t you tell me about it.”

Hadrian grinned “I will, but first, I want to introduce you to Theo. Hadrian pulled Theo up next to him, “my husband.”

Lupin looked taken aback, “you’re husband, you got married, when.”

Hadrian laughed, “come, sit down, eat and we’ll tell you all about it.” 

By the time they had finished eating they had told Lupin their whole story. From Dumbledore's manipulations, to getting Umbridge disposed of and hiring Sirius to replace her.

At the end of their story Lupin took Hadrian’s hands. “I am so sorry for everything that’s happened to you, and that I couldn’t be there to help you through it.” Then he looked to Theo, “and I am so glad that Hadrian found you. If there’s anything I can do to help please let me know.” 

Theo and Hadrian looked at each other. “Well about that,” said Theo, “Sirius is unfamiliar with teaching, if you could help him.”

“I would love to,” agreed Lupin. 

As Theo and Hadrian made their way back to their rooms they ran into Dumbledoor. “Oh Harry my boy, I’m so glad I ran into you.”

Hadrian scowled, “did you need something Professor? You could have asked me to come up to your office if you did.”

Dumbledore’s eyes twinkled in grandfatherly concern, “oh no my boy, I couldn't bear to interrupt your studies any further…”

At Dumbledore's words Hadrian turned to Theo and rolled his eyes. “And now he suddenly cares about my studies,” he whispered to Theo.

Theo snorted, “not likely.”

Turning back to Dumbledore he asked “And what didn’t you want to interrupt my studies to talk about?”

“Harry, you should have spoken to me about hiring a DADA professor before hiring Sirius. If I had known about you giving Sirius the position; I would have cautioned you against it.”

“Why?” Theo and Harry asked at the same time.

“Well,” Dumbledore patiently explained, “Sirius has spent many years in Azkaban, it can’t have been good for his sanity. And I’m afraid to say, but even before his unfortunate imprisonment, Sirius has never been the best at making decisions.”

Hadrian and Theo both gave Dumbledore a flat look. “Are you suggesting that I fire Sirius?” Hadrian asked.

“I’m afraid it would be for the best,” Dumbledore said softly, with an air of sadness.

“I’m not doing that,” Hadrian answered.

“Then I am so sorry my dear boy, that as Headmaster, I will have to do it myself.”

“No,” Hadrian flatly refused. “You may be Headmaster, but I am Lord Hogwarts. If you try to get rid of Sirius, or anyone else I hire. I will override your decision."

With those words the two boys pushed past the Headmaster and continued on to their rooms, where they went to bed. 

The rest of September passed quickly and moved into October. And with October came the next Hogsmeade weekend. That morning as Theo and Hadrian were entering the Great Hall, they were met by Cho Chang.

“Hadrian, there you are,” called Cho.

“Well, at least she got my name right,” Hadrian muttered to Theo.

Theo gave Hadrian a teasing look before turning to Cho. “Hello, Cho. Was there something you needed Hadrian for?”

“I wanted to ask him to Hogsmeade weekend with me. He said he would go with me last time if I asked again.”

Theo turned to Hadrian, “what do you say to that, Hadrian?”

Hadrian glanced from Theo to Cho, swallowing thickly, “um, do you mind if Theo comes with us?”

Cho looked at Theo and shrugged, “It’s always good to bring a Chaperone.”

Hadrian stuttered, “Oh um Ok, I’ll see you later Cho.”

As they walked away Theo huffed angrily, “I can’t believe you, you said you weren’t going on a date with her.”

“I’m not,” Hadrian said in confusion, “you’re going to be there.”

“Yeah, and she thinks I’m going as a chaperone, that means a date,” corrected Theo.

Hadrian’s face screwed up, “but I didn’t know that. I thought she'd turn me down if I asked if you could come. I’ll correct her as soon as we see her again, I promise.”

Theo stood on his tiptoes and kissed Hadrian on the cheek. “Good as long as she knows that it’s not a date and that you and I are happily married.” 

Chapter Text

After breakfast Hadrian and Theo met Cho in the Great Hall. Together the three students walked down to Hogsmeade. When they reached the wizarding village the two boys followed Cho into Madam Puddifoot’s. When they took their seats they sat in awkward silence for a few minutes, until their tea was served.

Hadrian broke the silence by first clearing his throat. “Listen Cho, I’m sorry but I have to ask. Do you think this is a date?”

Cho blinked at him from across the table before tearfully asking, “ yes ? Why do you ask? Is it not?”

Hadrian glanced over at Theo before answering, “you do know that Theo and I are married? It was in the Prophet. I thought we were just going out as friends. If I had known this was a date I would have said something sooner.”

Cho glanced between Theo and Hadrian before her face crumpled and she burst into tears.

Hadrian looked over at Theo in alarm. Theo had a look of panic on his face. Seeing as Theo would be no help Hadrian turned back to Cho and awkwardly passed her his napkin. Cho took in and used it to dab at her eyes.

“I’m so sorry,” Cho sobbed. “I think I did know that you were together. I-I-I just haven’t been paying much attention to what's going on lately. I just thought that with everything that happened with Cedric… Oh I don’t know what I was thinking. I’m sorry,” she finished wetly.”

Hadrian reached across and patted Cho’s hand. “It’s alright, I understand. Grief can really mess with your head, huh?”

Across from him Cho nodded sadly.

“If you ever need to talk about Cedric or anything else I could listen. If you wanted. And I bet Theo would too!” Hadrian looked at Theo, “right Theo?”

“Oh, sure, of course. What are friends for?” said Theo.

Once Cho had calmed down they continued to sip their tea in awkward silence only interrupted by a few small sniffles from Cho.

When they had finished their tea Cho softly said, “thank you for coming, Hadrian, and you too Theo. I think I’ll go back up to the castle now.” And with that she turned around and headed back to the school.” 

Theo and Hadria n spent the rest of the day walking around Hogsmeade hand in hand. They looked into shop windows but never went in, simply enjoying each others company and looking at the items for sale. Eventually they wandered back up the path to Hogwarts, just in time for supper. When they got to the Great Hall they sat down at the Slytherin table.

“So I heard the two of you went on a date with Cho Chang,” Draco snarked as soon as they sat down.

Hadrian let out an aggravated sigh. “I didn’t know she was asking me on a date. I corrected her as soon as I could. Honestly I don’t think she’s interested in me, mostly she’s just upset about Cedric.”

Hadrian turned to Theo, “What did you think about Cho, Theo?”

“Yeah, that's right,” Theo absently mumbled while staring at something just behind Draco and Blaize.

Hadrian put his hand on Theo’s shoulder, “Theo, love, what is it?”

“The carving on the fireplace,” Theo spoke slowly, “What does it look like to you?”

Hadrian turned to look at the fireplace, “it's just a bunch of badgers playing in a field.” He turned to look at the other fireplaces, they all had the Hogwarts crest.

His eyes widened as he realized what Theo had found, “Oh that’s Hufflepuffs Den. How didn’t we notice that until now?”

At Hadrian's words both Draco and Blaize whipped around to stare at the fireplace.

Turning back Draco asked, “So when are we going to check it out?”

“We can’t go while anyone’s here,” answered Theo. “We’ll have to wait until after curfew.”

“Alright,” said Blaize, “Draco and I will meet you here after curfew.” 

After eating the boys returned to their rooms where they sat down by the fire to read and wait for curfew. They waited until half past ten to be sure that everyone had cleared out of the hallways. 

Hadrian and Theo used the Marauders Map to avoid any teachers on patrol as they made their way to the Great Hall, where they found Draco and Blaize waiting in front of the now dampened fireplace. The four boys quietly whispered to each other as they discussed how to open Hufflepuffs Den.

Theo studying the carving of playing badgers mumbled, “there doesn’t seem to be any sort of clue here. Does anyone else have any ideas?”

Draco shrugged, “it's Hufflepuff, why don’t we just knock?”

Hadrian glanced around and when no one voiced any other ideas, reached up and knocked on the mantle. The fireplace gave a small shake before swinging open to reveal Hufflepuffs Den. 

The room they stepped into was laid out identical to the previous founders rooms they had found. Hufflepuffs rooms however, were painted in a warm yellow and every available piece of furniture was covered in cozy cushions and blankets. A tea set sat ready to be used on the coffee table. 

The four boys spread out and began to explore the chamber. Like the other three founders Hadrian and Theo found a letter in the study. When Hadrian opened the letter a badger topped key fell out. Setting the key aside Hadrian read:

Congratulations Lord Hogwarts,

You’ve found all four of the founder's suits. Hogwarts strongly suggests that Lord Hogwarts find the Warding room.

Sincerely,

Hogwarts

Chapter Text

After reading the letter from Hogwarts, Hadrian and Theo began to explore the study. They found files detailing the flora and fauna living on Hogwarts grounds. As Hadrian began to read over the files, Theo was busy exploring the other side of the room. As he pulled open a file drawer he gasped at what he found. Hundreds of menus, a different one for every day of the month. And almost all of them had notes scribbled in the margins. Things like use vegetables growing in greenhouse #4 or the students seem to like the venison, be sure to serve it more often. What's more is it looked like mixed in with the menus were request forms that students could submit for specific dishes. Looking through a few menus and request forms it seemed like the request was always used sometime in the next month.

“Hadrian, you need to come look at this,” Theo called.

Hadrian turned to Theo, “Alright, and you need to come look at these files.”

Theo and Hadrian switched places and began to go through what the other had found.

After a few minutes Draco and Blaize walked through the door, “We were just in the library,” said Draco, “it's full of books on cooking.”

“There are books on plants and animals as well, both magical and muggle,” added Blaize.” 

“Well that's not surprising Hadrian called from where he was pursuing a menu, “it seems that Hufflepuff oversaw Hogwarts grounds and meals.”

“I wouldn’t mind going back to the way meals were served,” yawned Theo, “there seemed to be a lot more variety.”

“When are you planning to wake up Hufflepuff’s portrait?” asked Draco.

“I thought we could stay here tonight and have breakfast while we wake her up,” answered Hadrian.

“Perfect,” Theo said sleepily, “I’m off to bed then.”

“Theo and I are going to take the Master bedroom,“ Hadrian said as he followed after his husband. “You two can have the guest room.”  

The next morning Hadrian called Dobby for breakfast. As his husband and friends took their seats and began to eat he woke up Helga Hufflepuff.

As she woke, Helga stretched and yawned. “Oh hello children, it’s so nice to see your smiling faces,” she gushed as soon as she noticed them. “Now which one of you was able to wake me up?”

Hadrian raised his hand, “It was me ma’am.”

“Oh, how lovely dear, now can you please tell me what year it is.”

“It’s 1995, ma’am,” answered Hadrian.

Helga waved her hand at him, “now none of this ma’am stuff, please call me granny. That goes for all of you as well. Now my dear why don’t all of you introduce yourselves to me, I must get to know my grandbabies.”

“My name is Hadrian,” wrapping his arm around Theo he introduced, “and this is my husband Theo. And these are our friends Draco and Blaize.”

Draco and Blaize each raised their hand and waved as they were introduced.

They spent the rest of the morning talking to Helga. She told them stories about what the Hogwarts grounds were like when the school was first founded. She was also very upset that her way of serving meals was completely abandoned.

“Children need variety in their meals and the opportunity to try new foods. Hadrian dear, you must promise me that you will fix this as soon as you are able.”

“I promise, er Granny,” Hadrian said.

“Good,” Helga nodded, “now I believe you four need to get to class.”

As they left through the door that led back to Hadrian and Theo’s rooms they all made sure to say goodbye to Helga.

At the crossroads to their rooms and the other founders' rooms Hadrian turned to Draco and Blaize, “why don’t the two of you just head to Gryffindor’s den, I know you’ve been staying there instead of your dorm room.”

Draco shrugged, “there’s more privacy than in the dorms, plus we get our own bathroom.”

Theo giggled “we understand, after having our own private rooms I don’t think I could go back to living in a dorm."

With that the two couples parted ways, and headed to class. 

The day went quickly and with most of October. The four boys spent the month unsuccessfully looking for the warding room. Then before they knew it it was October 29th, the day before Umbridge's trial.

That morning, after breakfast Jacob Brown joined Hadrian and Theo in their study to go over what to expect at the trial.

“I want the two of you to understand that Umbridge and her defense will do their best to make it look like Theo is at fault for his injuries. It is important that you both stay calm and don’t react emotionally. Do you think you are able to do that?” asked Jacob.

Theo and Hadrian both grimly nodded their heads. “But I thought we'd be using veritaserum? How would she be able to lie?” Theo wondered.

“She won’t be able to lie, but her defense may ask questions that are designed to make her appear innocent.” Jacob explained.

“What else should we expect?” Hadrian asked

“Theo and Umbridge will be asked questions about the event. This will help the Wizengamot form an idea of what happened. Then Theo’s memory of the event will be shown, if this makes you uncomfortable in any way, you will be allowed to leave the room. Afterwards Hadrian, Madam Pomfrey and any auror’s involved in the case may be interviewed. Then we will leave the room while the Wizengamot makes their decision.” Jacob disclosed.

“Why do we need to answer questions and view my memory?” Theo asked.

“That's a very good question, Theo,” said Jacob. “We do this because no one's memory is perfect. There may be parts of a memory that are blurry, especially if one is under a great deal of stress. Furthermore, veritaserum is not perfect. If someone believes something to be true they will still be able to answer. For example, if you were asked what color the sky is and you believed with all your heart that it was green, then you would answer green. Does that make sense.”

Theo and Hadrian both nodded.

“Good,” said Jacob. “Do you have any more questions?”

Both boys shook their heads no. “Alright then,” Jacob said as he stood up, “the trial is tomorrow afternoon, be sure to get a good night's sleep, and I'll meet you tomorrow in the ministry atrium at two pm.

Jacob shook both Theo and Hadrian’s hands before heading to the floo and going home for the night. Hadrian and Theo spent the rest of the day relaxing before heading to bed.

Chapter Text

Monday morning, on the day of Umbridge's trial Hadrian and Theo did not attend their classes. Instead they slept in before eating a hearty breakfast. Just after lunch they flooed into the ministry atrium where they met Jacob Brown.

Jacob led them to courtroom 3. The two boys and their solicitor took their seats on the right side of the courtroom. A few minutes later Umbridge and her own defense team consisting of three people filed into the right side of the courtroom. At the same time several wizards and witches filed into the semi circle of raised seats at the front of the room.

Amelia Bones sat in the center, flanked by two wizards and witches on either side of her. One of the witches was Augusta Longbottom. Hadrian didn’t recognize the other witch. The witch was tall with a pinched looking face, as if she’d smelled something particularly bad. One of the wizards was an old man with a ruddy complexion, who looked like he would rather be anywhere but here. Hadrian groaned when he saw the last wizard, Dumbledore, how on earth did he manage to pull this off.

Sending a questioning to Jacob, he saw that the man was just as bewildered as he was. “What in Merlin's name is that man doing? How did he manage to replace Lord Loftus?” Jacob muttered to himself. 

As soon as everyone was seated the doors at the back of the courtroom opened and the press, followed by members of the public began to file in.

When the doors finally closed, Amelia Bones banged her gavel against the desk. “Attention people of the court, we will now begin the trial of Potter vs. Umbridge."

Jacob stood up, “Madam Bones, before we begin may I approach?”

Amelia raised an eyebrow. “You may,” she nodded.

Jacob, along with Umbridge's three solicitors moved to the front of the courtroom.

“What is the issue Mr. Brown,” Amelia asked.

“Why was I not informed about Professor Dumbledore replacing Lord Loftus?”

Ameia turned to Umbridge's team “Were you gentlemen informed of this replacement?”

The three men took a moment to confirm amongst themselves before answering, “yes ma’am, we were.”

Amelia’s eyes slid over to Dumbledore. “Would Professor Dumbledore like to explain why he saw fit to inform the defendant of this change, but neglected to inform both the plaintiff and myself?”

Dumbledore’s eyes twinkled as he turned to Amilia with a grandfatherly smile. “I’m afraid Lord Loftus was called away at the last minute my dear, something to do with his sister living in America I believe. I saw Miss Umbridge in the lobby when I arrived and informed them then. Unfortunately I did not see you, my dear, or Mr. Potter. I am so terribly sorry about the sudden change.”

Amelia narrowed her eyes “very well, please be sure that it doesn't happen again. Does this satisfy you Mr. Brown.”

Jacob scowled, “I object to Professor Dumbledore’s presence. He has a conflict of interest with my client.”

“I see,” said Amelia “would you like a continuance?”

“May I discuss it with my clients?” Jacob asked.

Amelia nodded in agreement.

Jacob returned to Hadrian and Theo, “Madame Bones has offered us a continuance, that means we can postpone until Lord Loftus returns. Is that alright with the two of you?”

Hadrian and Theo looked at each other.

“It's up to you, love,” said Hadrian.

Theo took a big breath in and let it out slowly, “I’d just like to get it over with today, if that's alright.”

Jacob nodded, “that’s perfectly fine.”  Returning to Amilia Bones he answered, “Madame Bones, my clients would like to continue with the trial.”

“Very well Mr. Brown, this trial will continue as planned,” she eyed Dumbledore, “despite some unexpected changes. We will start with the plaintiff, Mr. Potter, do you consent to veritaserum?”

Theo nodded his head, “I do.”

Theo was given a small sip of veritaserum after which his eyes took on a far away foggy look.

“Mr. Potter,” can you state your full name please? “Requested Amelia Bones.

“Theodore Potter Née Nott” Theo droned.

“And when is your birthday?” asked Amelia.

“April 8, 1980,” stated Theo.

Madame Bones nodded “the veritaserum is working.”

Turning to the witch on her left she said, “Lady Anderson you may start the questioning.”

Lady Anderson nodded to herself. “Mr. Potter, did you bring your own quill and ink; as is required of all students, to the detention in question?”

“Yes,” droned Theo.

Lady Anderson nodded and made a note on the parchment in front of her, “you may ask the next question Lord Stewert."

Lord Stewert who looked like he was completely bored with the proceedings asked, “did you use the quill your professor gave you?”

“Yes” answered Theo.

Next Lady Longbottom asked, “Dearie, did professor Umbridge instruct you to use the quill that she provided?

“Yes,” intoned Theo.

Meanwhile Umbridge's team of solicitors shouted their objections to the wording of the question.

“The wording of the question is too familiar,” one objected.

"She's trying to elicit an emotional response,” cried another.

“What exactly is too familiar about the question?” asked Madame Bones.

“The use of the word dearie shows familiarity with the plaintiff.” said the last solicitor.

Amilia looked at Lady Longbottom. “Would you like to reword your question, dearie?” she asked.

Lady Longbottom with a small smile on her face asked, “did professor Umbridge instruct you to use the quill that she provided?”

“Yes,” Theo answered once again.

Dumbledore asked the next question, “Mr. Nott, could it be possible that Professor Umbridge didn’t mean to give you a quill? Perhaps it was just left on the desk, as a mistake?”

Theo hesitated for a moment, long enough for Jacob to shout his objection.

“Objection,” he shouted, “badgering my client by purposefully using the wrong name and asking leading questions.”

Madame Bones narrowed her eyes at Dumbledore. “Care to amend your question, Professor?” she asked.

Dumbledore briefly scowled before a look of grandfatherly confusion washed over his face. “I’m so sorry Amilia. You see I have known young Theodore as Mr. Nott for many years now. It is difficult for an old man to get used to the changed name. Now Mr. Potter, did you say anything to Professor Umbridge when you realized you were given a blood quill?”

“How many lines do I need to write,” Theo answered.

Dumbledore opened his mouth as if to ask another question.

But Madame Bones quickly asked “how many lines were you told to write.”

“Until it sinks in,” he answered.

“Until what sinks in?” asked Lady Anderson.

“I must not tell lies,” droned Theo.

“What were you lying about?” Lord Stewrt questioned.

Theo blinked and his eyes seemed to clear slightly, “She thought I wasn’t really married to Hadrian. Madame Bones I believe the veritaserum is wearing off.”

Madame Bones nodded, “Thank you Mr. Potter. We’ll be moving on to the defendant now. Miss. Umbridge, do you consent to the use of veritaserum?”

Umbridge got a smug look on her face before answering. “No, I do not consent to the use of veritaserum.”