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Chapter Text

The smell of death clung to the air and filled the space with a feeling of despair and hopelessness. The castle that used to stand proud on the hill was now starting to wither and crumble, the force of the battle raging on was taking a heavy toll on the majestic building.

Inside it’s crumbled halls, there were still some rooms standing and in relatively good condition. There, medi-witches and healers were running from one patient to another. All in hopes to save as many as the could. Some people where severely wounded, some were relatively unharmed and some others where no longer walking the path of the living.

Standing in the entrance of the great hall; where once upon a time young magical children would have breakfast, supper and dinner, stood the small and lithe figure of a young wizard.

Emerald eyes took in the chaos that seemed to rule in the hall, the despair painting the faces of his comrades, the pain of loosing a loved one. He took this all in and couldn’t help but blame himself for it, even though it was in no way his fault.

Catching a glimpse of red ginger hair, he focused his attention on the several mops of redheads that could only be the Weasleys. Moving silently and slowly he approached them, knowing that what he might see might just bring him immense pain.

Fred, he thought numbly, once he saw who was on the ground Fred is gone. The cries coming from Mrs. Weasley were heart-breaking, after all, what could be more painful than loosing a son?. Loosing your twin this, the young wizard thinks, is more painful than loosing a son. If George’s face was anything to go by.

He looked empty, numb, like something had died in him. And maybe it did, the twins had always been kind of a two-for-one pack in the minds of all his friends. Perhaps this was more painful than not seeing George scream and cry, because his silence spoke volumes that his tears probably wouldn’t be able to.

Green eyes, that once held innocence and wonder, misted over as memory after memory began to cloud his mind. The first time he met the twins, the first quidditch match they played together, the day they saved him from his relatives, them giving him the marauders map. It all came with the painful realization that; he would never see them plan another prank again.

He would never see their mischievous grins, their easy-going banter, their ingenious minds creating new products and spells. It hurt, but he realized that the surviving twin would be hurting even more, as he had not only lost a brother but the other half of his soul.

The raven-haired wizard wondered if he would ever be able to move on. Seeing empty blue eyes, he thinks that it would be unlikely for that to happen.

Heart split in two, he turns away from the heartbreaking scenes, only to freeze on his tracks at the figures he spots.

Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks.

His Uncle Moony.

The very last adult he had loved as a father figure was gone. Tears begin to form in his eyes, but he refuses to let them fall. He’ll have time to mourn when this is over, when he returns… If he returns.

Considering what he had planed to do, that was unlikely.

Taking a deep death, the short wizard makes his way out of the hall and takes the path that will lead him to the Forbidden Forest. He had to end this.

He sensed them before he heard them. After seven years of being around them, he had come to distinguish the sound of their footsteps from the rest of the population in Hogwarts. And the air that they carried around them was pretty hard to miss, at least to him.

“Harry, wait!”

“Wait up mate!”

Harry almost felt a smile form in his lips hearing their voices, almost. With a sigh he turned to face his best friends, for he knew that it would be pointless ignoring them and walk away.

They looked terrible; he probably looked the same if not worse than them. Hermione’s barely tamable hair was covered in dirt and ash, her face sported several scratches and her clothes had seen better days. The same could be said about Ron. His hair was plastered to his face with sweat and grime, his clothes were dirty and torn in several places and he was sporting quite a nasty bruise on his cheekbone. The battle had not been kind to any of them, then again, battles are never kind.

He was pulled from his musing by Hermione’s voice, “Please tell me you aren’t going to give yourself to Him”.

“Guys, we all know he won’t stop until he gets to me” He reasoned. “If I give myself up, I might be able to negotiate and- ”

“Are you nuts?! You can’t trust anything that Voldemort promises!” Ron rudely interrupted him.

 The raven-haired wizard frowned at being interrupted and before he could open his mouth to continue explaining, the bushy haired witch butted in, “Ron is right, Harry. Voldemort’s word can never be trusted; besides, he will likely kill you before you even manage to get a word in with him”

So much for a vote of confidence he thinks sardonically, “Guys, if there is one thing that I know about Voldy, is that he always keeps his word even with his shattered mind” his promise to Severus coming to mind “And, believe it or not, he does have a sense of honor, a strange and twisted sense of honor but it’s there nonetheless. He would honor the last wishes of someone who he considered a worthy opponent” at least he hoped so.

His friends frowned at him. Guess he couldn’t blame them; they had not been the ones to face Voldemort on the graveyard or seen part of his past. They hadn’t seen what he had.

He ran his hands through his hair in frustration, he was getting tired of this and he was wasting time.

“Look, I’m going and that’s final. I don’t need your permission to get this plan going and no” he added when he saw Hermione was about to say something “You are not coming with me, I’m doing this alone”.

Before any of them said anything, Harry casted a mild petrificus to freeze them and make sure they didn’t follow him. Muttering a soft sorry, he turned and left.

Before he got to the entrance, he pulled his shrunken cloak and unshrunk it. Wouldn't want to be stopped by someone else on the road or have hexes and curses sent his way before he made it to the Dark Lord. Once more his father’s invisibility cloak would help him, but instead of getting him out of a pinch it was getting him in.

Pulling the cloak around him, he made his way toward the Forbidden Forest. He found it funny how every year this place was banned from students and should never be approached, and yet, he had probably spent more time in this forest than he should have. Thought that was not his fault.

With swift and sure steps, the young wizard made his way in the forest. Knowing that each step he took was taking him closer to his death. He knew that Voldemort would never let him live, he couldn’t afford to. Maybe in the past, if he had chosen his side, then he would have let him be. Or if he had been neutral. Sadly, that had never been an option for Harry. Not really.

Stopping near the location where the Dark Lord and his followers would be, he took the snitch given to him. Bringing it to his lips, he watched as it opened and revealed a small black stone in it's interior. A stone he had seen somewhere else. In Riddle’s ring.

He closed his eyes in appreciation. After reading the story of the three brothers, he had a fair idea of what he had in his hands. Placing the stone in his hand, he willed it to bring the souls of certain people. He opened his eyes to the sight of his parents, his godfathers and Remus.

Biding his goodbyes, he willed them to leave him. But he kept the stone with him. He put it inside the snitch once more and closed it, pocketing the snitch he steeled himself for what was to come. They stood tall, waiting, confidence coming in waves off of them. And in the front of all the Death eaters was him.

Tom Marvolo Riddle, better known as Lord Voldemort. His enemy.

The creation of his horrocruxes had really done a number on him. His once handsome looks had faded and left behind an ugly serpentine face. Unhealthy pale skin, small nostrils indicating where once stood a nose and ruby red eyes that glimmered in triumph when Harry took of his cloak and exposed himself to them.

“Harry Potter” he said in a breathless and pleased voice. “You came”.

After threatening to kill everyone if I didn’t? No shit Sherlock he kept this thought to himself, insulting him wouldn’t get him good points right now.

“No! Harry! Get away from here!” said a very bruised and very hurt Hagrid. He ignored him, eyes focused only on his nemesis.

“I have” he said and couldn't help to add “wouldn’t want to keep you waiting”. Yeah, he really never had good control over his mouth. How it had not gotten him killed is a mystery, then again, maybe he would get killed for it now.

The Dark lord seemed to ignore his comment as he swept around dramatically gaining the attention of his followers, maybe he was in a good mood and that's why he didn't curse him?. “The Boy who Lived” he paused for effect, gripping his wand in a slight eager manner. “has come to die”.

Dramatic much? he bit his tongue to prevent another unnecessary comment, but as he saw him rise his wand to end what he had started sixteen years ago, he called out in a strong voice “On one condition”.

Voldemort tilted his head in curiosity but didn’t lower his wand “and what could that be?” he asked.

“I want you to swear that you won’t hurt any more innocents. That you won’t hurt my friends or those I consider family” licking his lips and with his heart pounding in his chest, he prayed that he would keep his word.

The snake faced wizard gave him a measuring look before giving a gracious nod “As you wish”.

Harry let a shuttering sight of relief, at least one thing had turned out right, for that he was grateful. With a soft hissing voice the curse was cast, “Avada Kedavra”.

He didn’t move out of the way, even when his instincts screamed for him to move, to put some distance, to run for the hills. But he pushed away those instincts and let it come to him. Time seemed to move slowly as he waited for the inevitable. Memories flashed before his eyes, some good and some bad. Actually most of them were bad. Painful even.  He really had nothing much tying him to the world of living, he realized. His friends might have been his reason to fight before but they had grown apart ever since the horrocrux hunt began. The one thing that could have possibly kept him was moony and he was gone.

And so, closing his eyes, he accepted death with open arms.

*******

Green eyes opened and closed repeatedly in an efford to help them adjust to the sudden light that assaulted them. Once his sight got adjusted to the light, he found himself in what looked like a train station. A white one at that. He had hoped to see Dumbledore here or maybe someone of his family, but there was no one. In fact, the place was empty.

“Welcome” a soft voice said. “At last we meet, Master”.

Chapter Text

“So basically, you’re telling me that I am your Master and have always been, ever since I was a baby, and not only that” he paused his ranting to collect his breath, not that he really needed it he was dead. “But I’m also related to the Peverell brothers, the same ones in the story, who by the way were also necromancers and dark wizards?”

“Yes” was the simple reply he got from the cloaked being watching him pace around the station. Something that the short man had started to do the moment that Death dropped the bomb of him being his master, when he arrived at this white version of King’s cross after being AK by Voldypants.

“And I am able to claim the title now because… I died?” he asked, because if that was the case then shouldn’t he have been able to claim this mastership thing since he was 18 months old?

“Not exactly” he…it...they? Said “the qualifications one has to fulfill to become my master, aside of welcoming death with no fear, is to have seen death and to have seen life”.

Seen life? Harry thought, “what do you mean by having seen life?”

Death stared at him from beneath his hood as if it was obvious what he was referring to before staring to explain, “I mean that you have seen life be brought to this world or that you have helped bring a life forth”.

The young wizard stopped his pacing to process that statement. Had he? He wondered. The only thing that came to mind was that one time in fifth year when Luna had taken him to help in the birthing of a Thestral calf. He smiled a little at the memory, he had panicked when the Thestral had started to give birth. Till this day he wonders how he managed to be of any help to the Ravenclaw in that state.

“I see, so what now?” the young man turned to face the cloaked figure “Am I going to go around the world collecting souls and guiding them to the afterlife? Or why have you told me all this?”

If Death could frown, Harry was pretty sure that that’s what the ancient being would be doing now. “No, you will not be collecting souls, that’s my job and I’d like to keep it if you don’t mind” they informed him in a slightly offended voice, “Guiding them perhaps, but that is not the reason I had for meeting you”.

The raven-haired wizard arched an eyebrow at their direction, waiting for him to explain. He didn't have to wait for long.

“I have a task I wish to entrust to you” they started, “But first…” Death swung his scythe over the green-eyed wizard and a moment later light encased him in a soft cocoon before vanishing, all happening in a matter of seconds. Before Harry could open his mouth to ask what had happened a piece of parchment appeared before the entity and, as the seconds passed by, began to grow in length until it finally stopped. Once it stopped growing; they took it and passed it to the young adult, who stared at it as if it would explode the moment it touched his skin.

Death gave him an unimpressed stare when it noticed the expression he had. Giving the being a sheepish smile, he took the parchment and brought it to him.

“What is this?” he questioned.

“Read it and you’ll find out” was the answer they got.

Not wanting to end on their bad side, he did as asked and almost did a double take at the first few lines he saw in the parchment.

Harry James Potter

Compulsions

Loyalty keyed to the Light side – placed by Albus Dumbledore

Loyalty keyed to Albus Dumbledore – placed by Albus Dumbledore

Loyalty keyed to the Order of the Phoenix – placed by Albus Dumbledore

Hate keyed to the Dark magic – placed by Albus Dumbledore (partially broken compulsion)

Hate keyed to Slytherin – placed by Albus Dumbledore (partially broken compulsion)

Loyalty keyed to Ronald Weasley, Hermione Granger and the Weasley family – placed by Albus Dumbledore

Reckless and impulsiveness character – placed by Albus Dumbledore (partially broken compulsion)

Love keyed to quidditch – placed by Albus Dumbledore

Blockages

Parselmouth - (0% broken blockage)

Parselmagic – (0% broken blockage)

Beast tongue – (100%)

Magic core – (70%)

Magical inheritance – (90%)

Occlumency – (70%)

Legilimency – (100%)

Memory retention – (60%)

Mental concentration – (65%)

Love Potion keyed to Ginevra Weasley administered by Albus Dumbledore, Molly Weasley and Ginevra Weasley (partially neutralized by magic)

The more he read, the sicker he felt at what the man he had trusted the most had done to him. He felt betrayed, sad and angry. He had blocked his magic core, he may never had paid attention to his classes or read much, though now he knew why that was, but Hermione had once mentioned that having your magic core blocked could either kill you or turn you into an Obscural. What had Dumbledore been thinking? Had his friends known? Had they even been his friends in the first place?

He was thankful that he was no longer in the world of living and, in a way, that his magic was partially blocked because right now it was going berserk as it was reacting to his emotions. If he was this powerful with his magic core partially blocked, he briefly wondered how he would be without the blockage. Taking deep breaths, he tried to will his magic to calm down. It took a few minutes but he managed to bring it under control.

When Harry turned to face the old entity, he found that they had not been touched by his rampaging magic, in fact, it looked like it had cast a protective barrier around itself. Perks of being an inmortal being he supposed. Steeling himself he addressed Death “What does this have to do with the task you wish to entrust me?”

Death gave an approving nod, for what the young wizard wasn’t sure, “I want you to save the wizarding world”.

Green eyes stared in confusion at the ancient being. Save the wizarding world? Hadn’t he already done that? By defeating Voldemort?

“Isn’t the wizarding world already saved? I don’t understand”

“You have only bought them time” the inmortal stated “but magic will eventually die out in the next decade or so, that is if muggles don’t find out about the magical community first”

Say what? Harry thought, “Wait, let's backtrack a little. You mean to tell me that magic is dying out in the wizarding world and that we- I mean, they might be discovered by muggles? But how would they- “he stopped in his tracks; he knew the answer of how that could happen. He had lived 10 years among them for Merlin’s sake! Sighing he closed his eyes before opening them and showing resigned green eyes as he said with finality “Technology”.

Death gave him a grave nod “The war brought to much attention from them, it will be impossible to stop the magical community from being discovered at this point”

“What about magic? Why will it die out?” he inquired.

“Because wizard kind has stopped honouring Lady magic, your kind has forgotten that magic is a gift and a gift should be treasured and nurtured. By stopping the practices of the pagan ways, you have all severed the connection you had with Lady Magic” Death explained.

It made sense, if she had given magic to human that later came to be known as wizards and witches, the humans must have had something connecting them to her. That thing being the pagan holidays such as Yule and Samhain. By severing that connection, you are stopping the flow of magic into the world.

“Not to mention the hunting of magical creatures has caused a major shift in the worlds balance” they added.

Harry pondered on what he had been told and his diagnosis results, making a connection that he would not have made before. “Is it safe to assume that Dumbledore had something to do with this?” he suspected he might but, at this point, he was not sure he could trust his own judgement.

The cloaked entity nodded, “By prohibiting the practice of the pagan holidays and rituals as well as banning all he considered dark magic, he promptly broke the connection wizarding kind had with Lady magic” at the frown they got form their young master, they added in a soft and patient tone, “Magic is magic Master, like everything in life, it has a light and dark side. But one is not better than the other, they simply are and none are inherently evil or good”

If he had been told this a while back, he would probably be claiming left, right and center that dark magic was evil and people should be thankful that got banned. But now that he was dead and aware of the compulsions placed on him, he found that he didn’t mind the usage of dark magic. After all, hadn’t his own mother used dark magic to ensure he lived? Hadn’t the Order and Dumbledore used blood wards, wards that are considered dark magic, to keep him safe in Privet Drive? Now that he thought about it, that was very hypocrite of Dumbledore and the Order.

The more he thought about it, the more he realized that, even though the Ministry preached about the evilness of dark magic they let Hogwarts teach dark potions like The Draught of Living dead and Amortentia. One able to kill you if you are not careful, specially if it’s a particularly powerful one, and the other is like a liquid Imperious. Not to mention the fact that Aurors are authorized to use the Unforgivables.

Shaking off all these thoughts off his head, he focused on the conversation at hand, “But why? Why would he do that?” It didn’t make sense to the raven-haired wizard, who do something that would lead to their demise?

“Nothing much just the assimilation of the wizarding world to the muggle one and be the ruler of both worlds” Death replied in a dismissive manner, as if he were talking about the weather and not the destruction of the magical world, uncaring of the shock painting in the young wizard’s face.

“He what?!” Was Dumbledore nuts? Old age might have affected him more than Harry originally thought, or maybe there was something really wrong in that old man's head, because that plan was a terrible one. A deadly onen. He knew very well what muggles were capable of doing when presented with something different and that they could not understand. They would lash out he thought it would start a new witch hunt back when he still went to a muggle school, the teachers had talked about that period of time where all those that were accused of practicing magic and witchcraft, primarily women, were hunted and sentenced more often than not to burn at the stake.

“That won’t happen anymore, the ruling over the world part, but the discovery of the magical world most certainly will” they continued, unfaced by the slight paling of his little master's face “that is where my task for you comes in”.

“I wish to send you to a time where you can prevent him from gaining enough power to pass the laws that will begin the decline of magic” Death pierced the wizard with his black bottomless eyes as he said this, “You have a choice of course, you can move on and not worry about this task or you can be sent to the world of the living and live the little time you have left in the magical world before it comes to and end, or…” they paused, almost in a dramatic way, “I could send you to the past to fix it all”.

Harry pondered over his possible choices, while he was thankful for being given a choice, his options didn’t look particularly good. Although he liked the idea of simply walking away his savior complex, as Hermione had taken to call his need to help people, just wouldn’t let him. His second option sounded even less likable, while he wasn't completly sure if his friends were aware of what Dumbledore had done to him, he knew they were more likely to keep believing in the old man’s ideals than in his word. Not to mention he didn’t feel like dealing with the double-faced wizards and witches of his world, singing his praises to the heavens one moment and stabbing him in the back the next.

That only left him with the final choice really. He ran a hand through his unruly hair in frustration, he really didn’t like the thought of going to the past. During the last world war and during the last wizarding war against Grindelwald to make matters worse. But if he went… he would be able to stop Dumbledore from becoming an influential figure in the magical community and he could stop Tom from creating the horrocruxes that shattered his sanity, he could stop another wizarding war from happening. He could give many people a better future.

“I get that what Dumbledore did was…questionable and should be avoided but, does it have to be me the one to do it? Why not choose someone else with this task?” He asked the immortal in front of him. Surely there was someone more capable for this task than him…right?

“It’s true that there are some souls out there that could be more useful for the task but I’ve always had a soft spot for the Peverell line and, as you are the last direct descendant of the line, it saddens me to watch it fade out of existence. Plus…” Harry got the strange sense that Death was giving him a nostalgic smile, could Death smile? Was he smiling underneath that cloak? He wasn’t sure as he could see nothing but their black eyes, “Ignotus would have a fit if he found out his line completely died out”.

“So, you would want me to continue it’s legacy?”

“Yes”

“Well then” guess his decision what pretty much made, not there was much to choose from “Guess I’ll be going to the past, it’s not like I have much of a reason to stay here” Maybe, he would be able to build a life for himself and have something he always wanted, a family. And who knows, maybe he'd get to see Sirius once again. His heart clenched at the thought of seeing his godfather again.

“Very well” the ancient being took his scythe and began to chant some words in a tongue the green-eyed wizard couldn’t recognize. He began to feel something similar to the pull he feels in his gut when he apparates but not quite it. While he felt his vision blur and darken, he heard Death speak to him once more, “Safe journey little Master, may you find happiness” And with that, the Boy Who Lived was no more.

**************

Near a peaceful manor, surrounded by trees and bushes of different kinds of flowers that would normally be difficult to find in the British Isles, an old couple was making his way towards the manor after a hard day of work taking care of the magical creatures under their care.

They had been happily talking about the new addition to their little family, a pair of young Aethonan calves that they had helped be born earlier that day, when they got the notification that something had breached the wards surrounding their property. Before they even got the chance to do anything, they heard the distinct sound of apparating. Turning to look at one another and coming to a silent decision, they got out their wands and made haste to the location they suspected the sound had come from.

The sight that greeted them was not one they had expected. They thought they would come across one of Grindelwald’s followers or maybe someone from the Ministry, they had not expected a child. A heavily wounded one at that.

The child was dressed peculiarly, like a muggle but the style seemed a bit odd, the clothes were quite a bit big on the small child. Then again, the old wizarding couple had not bothered to know much about muggle fashion so maybe this was normal. He also appeared to be no older than 10 or maybe 11 years old, that was concerning, considering the wounds that were littered around the small body would kill him if he wasn’t treated soon. Blood and dirt caked the pale face and plastered his raven hair to his face. He was so still that, were it not for the soft raising and falling of his chest, they would fear that the child was dead.

The old man rapidly cast a detection spell to check if he had something in his person that could bring them harm, a little cruel to do that before helping but considering the world they were living, it was better to be safe than sorry.

Once the man gave the all clear to his wife, she ran up and cast a simple diagnosis spell on the little being. The results were concerning and made the old woman pale quite a bit, there were some pretty dark spells in that list of results, just who would hurt a child? Children were precious in wizarding culture, it didn’t matter if the child was magical or not, they were the future of their world.

Working rapidly to stabilize him, thanking the fates that she had decided to take on that medi-witch course all those years ago, she spoke to her husband “We need to get him inside Caru, I won’t be able to help him if he catches an infection here”.

The old man just nodded, even if his wife didn’t get to see him, before he ran to take down the wards surrounding the entrance of the Manor momentarily so that the child could be brought inside the building.

“Bring him in Tita” he called out from his place at the entrace of the building, the woman immediately placed a levitating charm on the boy to help her move him and brought him inside the manor. Where she would be able to help him better, hopefully she would be able to save him, she prayed she would.

Chapter Text

It took several hours of work before Mirta finally managed to bring the child into a stable enough position that they would not have to worry about his dying on them any moment now, but he was not out of the woods completely. She had taken the opportunity to cast a simple cleaning charm, letting her appreciate his features better. Pale ivory skin greeted her eyes along with a pair of thin lips, a cute button nose, long dark lashes and to finish it all off, a mass of dark hair crowned his head. Despite the bruises covering parts of his face, it could be said that he had a cute and lovable face.

Covering the child with a blanket the old woman began to think. It would be wiser to call in a healer to treat him but she wasn’t sure if there would be a healer available in St. Mungos at this hour and their personal healer was probably not available at this hour... Not that her husband cared much for that as he made his way to his fireplace. Taking a pinch of floo powder and throwing it he called “Archer Bishop”.

As the minutes passed by, Mirta felt her heart fall thinking that their healer would not answer. That was until a very annoyed face appeared on the fire place, glaring daggers at the man that had called him.

“I hope that one of you is dying because if not then I’ll kill you myself Icarus, oath or no oath!” oh he was pissed, yet the old man didn’t take his comment to heart, instead he chuckled at his friend’s spirit.

Archer had always been an odd wizard. While the rest of the British wizarding community was always weary of his family for their family’s reputation, Archer just brushed it off, he approached everything with a no-nonsense attitude and a frankness that Icarus had come to appreciate a lot. Till this day, he was thankful for his friendship.

“I believe that it is a serious situation, old friend. I am in need of your services” he said once he let his amusement fade, taking on a more serious note.

The healer arched an eyebrow, indicating for him to explain, the old lord obliged at the silent inquiry. “Mirta and I found a heavily wounded child, she did everything in her power to bring the little one to a more stable condition but it would be better if you got a look at him”

The face in the fireplace just stared at him as if he hoped any moment now, he would tell him it was a joke, when that didn’t happen, he disappeared for a moment before returning.

“Move out of the way old man” that was the only warning Icarus got before a tall and dusty figure came from the fireplace, almost colliding with the lord of the manor that barely managed to move away from the place he had been kneeling in.

Taking out his wand, the newcomer cast a simple cleaning spell to get rid of the dust he had gotten coming through the floo network. The man didn’t look a day over thirty, but guessing a wizards age by looks only could be quite tricky, for wizards tended to age at a slower pace than their non magical counter parts. He sported short shaggy caramel coloured hair, a small mouth and big round chocolate brown eyes that were currently a little red from lack of sleep.

“Where’s the kid?” he asked without beating around the bush like usual, he wanted to have a look at his little patient, treat him and then proceed to be on his merry way to the land of Morpheus. And the sooner he finished this, the sooner he’d be in his very comfortable bed.

Icarus for his part just stayed quite and made a motion for his friend to follow him to one of the guest rooms, where they had laid the boy to rest.

The room was simple. The walls were made in a tasteful combination of grey and light blue hues, a desk made in what looked like rosewood was laid on one side of the room, beside it were the doors to a walk-in closet and on the other side of the room were a pair of doors that led to a bathroom. Big windows covered in white embroidered curtains could be easily spotted at the back of the room, beside it was a big bed with light blue and white covers that was currently being occupied by the unexpected guest.

Archer upon catching sight of the boy practically flew to his side, promptly ignoring the old woman sitting beside the bed. Mirta arched an elegant eyebrow at him but said nothing else as he got to work.

His first impression of the child was that it was small, very small, with the covers practically swallowing the kid in the bed. His second impression was that Mirta had done a good job at treating him looking at all the bandages placed on the boy, but it made him wonder, how badly wounded was he before being treated? Well he would find out soon enough, he thought as he wiped his wand and cast a more complex diagnosis spell than the one Mirta had used hours prior. This spell would show him every single injury the child had gotten, this so he would be able to give him a better treatment.

A soft white light enveloped the tiny being before disappearing and, in its place, appeared a piece of parchment that grew as the injuries were listed in the paper. Dread began to settle in Archer’s gut when the list didn’t stop growing until it touched the ground and then grew some more. Taking the parchment, he began to read the results just to lose the little colour he had. The Cruciatus curse? Why would a child be subjected to that?!

And that was not the worst part. Broken bones that had never healed properly, bruises, incised wounds caused by cutting curses, malnutrition, the list went on and on. This were not the wounds that you would expect in a child, Archer had seen grown adults with less injures. He didn't have the potions needed for some of the injuries, but he would do what he could until he could give them to the kid.

The healer had seen many nasty things while working on the field and had developed a strong stomach, but this list results were making him sick or maybe it was the lack of sleep talking, either way, there was absolutely no may he was returning home anytime soon.

Sighting he turned to look at the couple “any chance you have a Pepper up potion on hand? This is going to take a while”. Mirta gave a nod and went to retrieve the potion, leaving the two wizards alone.

“Is it that bad?” Icarus asked his old friend, gave pinned to the boy in the bed. Archer instead of answering his question, just passed the parchment in his hands so that he may take a look. His jade green eyes grew comically in size and a series of colourful curses found their way to the old man’s mouth.

“Who would cast the Cruciatus curse on a child? Multiple times?!” he raised his voice in anger, only to receive a slap in the head from his wife, that had returned with the Pepper up potion, in reprimand.

“Lower your voice Caru, there’s a patient here” retorted Mirta, giving her husband a disapproving look as she gave the potion to Archer, who received it gratefully. Icarus mumbled an apology and softly kneaded the blow he had received previously, no matter how many years passed, it seemed that his wife’s strength never seemed to diminish.

“I don’t know Icarus, but they better pray we don’t find them because if we do, they’ll never see the light of the sun ever again” Archer downed the potion and massaged his temples wanting to relive a bit of the headache that was beginning to form, “Though it is clear the kid is quite strong and powerful, if his little stunt is anything to go by”

The couple nodded at that conclusion, “Do you suspect it was a burst of accidental magic that got him here?” asked the lady of the manor, watching as the healer began to work on the little wizard.

“Highly probable” he said “it’s possible that in a desperate attempt to get away from whoever was causing him harm, his magic apparated to a place where he might be able to get help”.

“Then he must have been attacked nearby” a smidge of alarm settled in Icarus after his wife made the comment, he would have to check the wards around his territory soon and strengthen them.

“Not necessarily” Archer took some blood replenishing potions from his bag and spelled them into the child as he spoke, watching as some colour began to return to the young face “He could have been miles upon miles away from him, maybe even in another country, his magic just wanted to put as much distance between his attacker and him aside of looking for someone likely to help him” which just so happen to be one of the most feared individuals in wizarding Britain he found the notion funny.

Many wizarding families here tended to stay in the Peverell’s good graces, or they simply avoided them like the plague, for fear of what the consequences would be if that was not the case. That did not mean they were not respected, quite the contrary, their opinions were held in quite high esteem. Not that the power couple cared much for it.

The main reason the Peverell’s were both respected, maybe even loved, and feared was because of their family magicks. Necromancy and Beast magic primordially. Both gifts were extremely rare in the British community, only six wizards and witches are born with either of those gifts, let alone the both of them at the same time, every two hundred or if they were luck one hundred years. The Peverell’s tended to pose an exception to this rule, for they tended to give birth to wizards and witches with the gift whenever they felt like it. Sometimes they would go three or five generations straight with the family magicks present or they could go generations without giving birth to a single child with the gifts.

Archer took a bottle with Skele-grow in it and turned to look at the couple “I have to banish a lot of his bones, not all at the same time but some of them” he stated, waiting to see if they would say anything, when nothing came, he continued “He has a few broken bones that can easily be repaired but… a lot of his bone are deformed, probably from the bone breaking and never being allowed to heal properly. Those I cannot fix, it’s better that a vanish them and regrow them, they’ll be weak but that can be fixed with a bone strengthening potion”

The Peverell’s could only nod, trusting their friend to take the best course of action for the child in their temporary care. Having been given the all clear, he began to heal the bones that didn’t to be banished and then moving on to banishing the bones in his left arm. For this night he would only banish the bones in that arm, he didn’t want to overdose the kid. With that done he spelled the necessary dose of Skele-grow on the kid’s stomach. Archer was thankful that the kid was knocked out cold, growing bones anew was a nasty business, he should probably give him a Dreamless sleep potion to make him sleep through the worst of it after he woke up.

Once he bound the arm of the child on a sledge to make sure the arm healed in a proper manner, the healer moved on to check if he needed more wounds to treat, while the couple kept him company. While the man was making a last check-up, the little wizard’s eyes flew open revealing disoriented then panicked Avada kedavra green eyes.

Not knowing what was happening his first instinct was to get the fudge out of there, which was exactly what the young man did, startling the adults present in the room. Looking like a frightened animal, the green-eyed kid looked for a way out, his body hurt and he was in an unfamiliar place he had the luxury of feeling scared.

Mirta was the first to snap out of her shock and approached the panicked kid slowly not wanting to scare him more, the last thing they needed was for the child to reopen his wound or gain new ones.

“It’s okay little one, you are safe, no one’s going to hurt you” she said in a soothing manner, just like she would if she had been dealing with a hurt animal. Unfocused emerald eyes turned to look at the petit woman in front of him. She didn’t look dangerous; she kind of reminded him of Mrs. Weasley with that kind face and warm hazel eyes that were silently urging him to stay calm.

The boy found himself relaxing a little but the moment he saw movement from the corner of his eye, he tensed again and turner to look at his would-be attacker. What greeted his eyes was an older man dressed in impeccable robes and greying brown hair.

When Icarus took a careful step towards the kid, he did not expect him to react so fast to the movement, it spoke of years of having to watch your back. The thought sent a pang to his heart. Taking another cautious step towards the kid he spoke in a soft voice, “You were hurt, we brought you here to have you treated by our healer, we mean you no harm” he paused for a moment, letting his words sink in, the kid seemed to be lucid enough to understand his judging by the frown marring his face, “Can you tell us your name?”

The child stayed quite for a while, looking around the room finding the healer on the other side of the bed, looking at the him with a worried look. Taking a look at his body, he jolted in surprise at the bandages covering him and the bound arm in the sledge among some other things. He supposed the old couple were telling the truth, meaning he was momentarily safe with them.

The Peverell’s waited patiently for the child to adjust to the situation he found himself into. He stayed silent, his sight losing focus for a moment, before he spoke to the couple in a weak and sightly rough voice, “Hadrian…”

Mirta smiled softly at the kid, “a beautiful name, may we approach you?”

After a moment of hesitation, the kid – Hadrian – nodded and watched with hawk eyes the old woman approached his and knelt before him.

“You are still wounded and should rest, would you please return to the bed?” she asked softly, knowing better than to touch the kid when he was obviously not used to strangers and was scared. She was surprised when the kid just nodded again and walked towards the bed, limping a little as he did.

Raising to her feet, she followed the child to bed and sat in the chair she has previously occupied. Hadrian soon found a problem when he noticed he would need help to get to the bed, as it was a little high for him and he had an arm… a little occupied.

Icarus chuckled softly seeing the kid’s predicament and he went to stand beside him, crouching a little to be at his height, “Need a hand little one?”

Hadrian turned to look at the older man then to the bed before looking at the man again, he sighted and gave a small reluctant nod towards the wizard. Letting out another chuckle, Icarus carefully picked the small body and lifted him up on the bed. Letting go so that the kid could get himself comfortable.

“Well then young man, you just gave us all a scare” said Archer looking at the kid, Hadrian calmly turned to look at the man, he thought that the man could probably use a few hours of sleep he looked exhausted, how long had they been working on him?

“Now, I’m going to keep working on you, and I want to ask you if you would like to take a Dreamless sleep potion or maybe a potion for the pain?” His tone professional but friendly as he spoke.

Hadrian considered his options, before turning towards the dark eyed wizard “Why would I need a Dreamless potion? Sir” He added as an afterthought. This prompted the healer to give him a brief rundown of what had been done to him so far and what would happen in the coming weeks as he continued to his treatment, with the couple interjecting every now and then, letting him know again and again he was safe and that he could trust their healer, Archer.

Once he finished his explanation he asked him the same question as before, knowing how painful it had been taking Skele-grow remembering the whole Lockhart fiasco, Hadrian decided to sleep it all off. Maybe it would also help him come to terms with this new reality he would have to face.

Pulling the potion out of his bag, he handed it to the kid “Here you go kiddo” mumbling a thanks, Hadrian downed the potion in one go, waiting for the potion to do its magic. While they waited, Archer checked him to make sure he had not reopened any of his wounds, when he saw that everything was fine, he turned to the couple.

“Everything seems to in order now, he’ll need to be on a potion regime and I’ll have to come every now and then to banish more bones, so I’ll give you a list of the potions he’ll need” he reported and then turned to look at the sleepy face of the kid “Now don’t do anything that may step back your healing, understood?” he waited for the nod before wrote the porions the couple needed to get, giving the list to Icarus he packed his things and stood up.

He bid his friends goodbye, not letting them see him out as he rapidly made his way to the fireplace and going home. He was at last going to get some sleep, and he expected to sleep until late in the afternoon of the next day.

Icarus and Mirta watched as the potion began to work on the kid after his friend left, getting up, Mirta helped the boy get under the covers. Unable to help herself, she brushed his hair away from his forehead in a soothing manner, noticing a peculiar and faint lighting scar there. The touch was comforting to Hadrian, it was such a motherly thing that made his battered heart warm a little.

“Sleep child, you are safe” said Icarus, placing a hand on his thin wife’s shoulder. Those were the last words Hadrian heard before he fell into Morpheus arms, knowing that for the moment he didn’t have to fear for his life, with the Peverell couple watching over him.  

Chapter Text

The sound of chirping birds broke through the fog of Harry’s mind. Slowly opening his eyes, momentarily confused when a light grey ceiling greeted his view, before groaning as flashes of several memories from the night before bombarded his head. That and the pain his body was slowly becoming aware of. He felt like he had been run over by the Hogwarts express then put up as a punching bag for the Womping Willow. Not the best feeling to wake up to.

His death and his talk with a certain immortal being, as well as his other memories from before he was brought whatever Death had thrown him, were all very clear in his mind. It’s his memories from the night before that were blurry, that is if a night had actually passed since he fell asleep, because he was not sure how long he had been out.

What he did remember was being in the presence of three people, two men and a woman, and that he tried to escape before Death told him to chill and let them treat him. He would like to say that he may have imagined those words but no, those were the cloaked figure’s words and Harry didn’t know what to feel about that. They also mentioned that they would not hurt him, so that was a plus. But inwardly he cursed the entity for not healing his body’s wounds before sending him back in order to prevent all this ordeal. Maybe they were not good with healing magic? Did they even know healing magic to begin with?

Harry’s train of thoughts were abruptly put to a stop when he glanced down to his bound arm, that was now in a cast. That was not how his arm looked before coming here. He immediately jumped into a sitting position, regretting his hastiness a moment later as a flare of pain stole his breath.

Taking a few moments to gain back the breath lost; he took the blanket off him and began to take in the appearance of his body – his tiny body. Because of his living situation, Harry had never been a tall guy and he had come to terms with that, but he had gained a few inches and a bit of muscle by the time he had turned seventeen.

Too bad the room didn’t seem to have a mirror on site and he was not about to make his body move looking for one. He may be used to feeling pain and may have a, kind of, high pain tolerance, but that did not mean he liked feeling it. He was not a masochist.

If he had to guess, by the look of his small hands, short legs and scrawny arms, he’s wager that he looked like his twelve maybe thirteen-year-old self. Had Death de-aged him? At this point Harry was sure that it was a possibility and he didn’t know if he wanted to laugh or cry. What he did know was that a certain immortal was kind of bound to him and should be able to answer some questions.

“DEATH!” he called, surprised by his voice, as it sounded like it belonged to a kid not to the seventeen-year-old man he was. Not a second later the very being he wanted to speak with made an appearance in the middle of the room a few feet in front of the bed Harry was currently in, without his scythe. The summoned entity took a look around the room, hooded head nodding in an approving manner before taking his hood of, revealing a pale and handsome face with a pair of obsidian eyes, and turning to face his little master.

“You called?”

The green eyes wizard stared in momentary shock before snapping himself out it and getting to the reason why he called…him he supposed, “Care to explain how did I end up here and why do I look tiny?” because he felt he was on the verge of an emotional breakdown and the only thing keeping him calm was probably the cocktail of potions that he had been given, or the fact that he could not exactly lash out at the Grim reaper without getting hexed for it. Maybe a bit of both.

Death stared at him as if he had just said he was a pink chihuahua, “You got yourself killed and I got called to do damage control” he stated dryly “And because you are a kid again”

Harry gave the ancient man an unimpressed glare, “I was referring as to why am I in a bed, covered in so many bandages that I look like a mummy, potioned to the gills and in a strange room inside a strange house? Also” he added “What do you mean I’m a kid again? Why?!” Harry knew he sounded hysterical, but he believed that it was justified.

“I thought that little master would appreciate having the chance to have a proper education and have a – relatively – normal life” he replied as he approached the window and took a look outside “You have a nice view”

He could care less about having a nice view, right now his mind was running wild “And what about Dumbledore? And don’t even think I didn’t notice you haven’t answered the whole mummy situation” he knew he had been wounded badly in the battle of Hogwarts, he may have had a few broken bones, but not the many that he had heard Healer… Bailey? Brown? he honestly could not remember his last name properly, but whatever his name is, he mentioned a lot of bones that he was sure had not been broken before being brought here.

“You have time to deal with the wizard, besides you wouldn’t have been able to stand up to him with the little education you had before” explained the pale man, he stayed quite for a while before opening his mouth again, “I may have forgotten a tiny detail pertaining sending someone to the past”

“Which was?” he asked, ignoring the sting the previous comment caused, because he was right at the end of the day. Harry was sure he would not have been able to last a duel against the old man – let lone defeat him – as he was before.

“It is preferred to travel when you are healthy or have not life-threatening wounds because… the time jump would give you a backlash and, if you are wounded, there’s a chance that your wounds may double in quantity”

Harry could only blink in astonishment at the entity, incredulity beginning to set in “You…forgot?!” Now he felt like strangling the man in front of him, immortal or not. How could he forget something so important?! Then again maybe he shouldn’t be surprised considering the luck that he tended to carry. It was both a blessing and a curse.

“You would have been fine either way, because you would have ended up here regardless of whether you were completely healthy or not” Death said in a dismissive manner, even though deep down he did feel bad for forgetting and causing his master to deal with more pain than he needed to. He also knew that his dear friend was going to give him an earful when he met him again, as would the Peverell couple when he stopped to talk with them… All of a sudden, a walk through the gardens sounded like a very good idea.

“And where exactly is here?” he asked thorough gritted teeth, before the cloaked being could respond, a knock had them both turning to face the door.

“You’ll find out soon enough” Death said, backing away from his place by the window, deciding to go for his walk now “Have a nice day little master” right after those words were said Death vanished from the room, leaving no trace that someone else had ever been in the room.

Harry could only stare in bewilderment at the place where the entity had been a second ago, before focusing his attention to the old woman that entered the room. Her face didn’t look a day out of forty but her silvery hair gave the impression that she might be older. The smile she gave him when her hazel eyes found him was kind and full of warmth.

“I see you are finally awake” her voice gentle and soft, as if she didn’t want to spook him.

“Were am I?” was the first thing he blurted out, he really needed answers and Death had not been much of a help in that area, he had not even told him what year he was in now.

The witch took a seat in the chair that was beside his bed, calling in the same soft tone as before “Linly” A moment later a house elf dressed in a dark green dress with the family cress embroidered into it appeared. Harry was impressed to see such a well-dressed elf; Dooby had always worn tattered rags while with the Malfoys and so had Winky so this was a nice surprise. He had never stopped to wonder of there were other families that treated their elves well, then again he had not had the time to wonder much about anything, what with his life being threatened all the time.

“Does Mistress need something?” the little elf asked.

“Bring some food and tea for the both of us, something light for little master Hadrian” she added after remembering that the child had been starved and needed to take it slow when it came to food.

The elf nodded before disappearing and appearing a moment later with a tray that contained two cups of tea, some biscuits and a plate with warm soup. Linly floated the tray to the bed and gently laid it down in front of Harry, then she turned to face her mistress, “Does Mistress need something else from Linly?”

“No, you may leave. Thank you, Linly”

Once the elf left, the woman turned to face him again “I thought you might want something to eat before speaking, you have been asleep for two days so you must be hungry” As if his stomach knew it was talking about him, it let out a loud growl in response to the mention of food. This made Harry blush in embarrassment and the old witch laugh lightly. “It would seem I was right”

Instead of giving a reply to that, Harry took the spoon, with his non injured arm, that was in the tray and took a hesitant sip of the soup. It tasted heavenly, probably the best soup he had ever had in his entire life. But that statement might be influenced by his hunger. Nonetheless, he began to eat with relish when he noticed nothing bad happened after eating it.

Mirta noticed the kid’s hesitation to eating the soup, she also noticed how he paused a moment later as if expecting the soup to be poisoned. This brought a pang of sadness and anger to her worn heart. A child should not have to worry if their food was poisoned. If she ever found the people that abused him, she was going to deliver their souls in the most painful way possible to Lord Death herself.

After Harry finished eating, slightly frustrated at his young body that could not stomach to much food, he turned towards the silvered haired woman patiently waiting for her answer his previous question.

“You are at the Peverell manor, I assure you that you are safe here” she added expecting the child to feel a little scared at finding himself with one of the most prominent pureblood family there was in magical Britain. Their reputation could be both a blessing and a curse, specially when children feared them.

Harry to his credit only blinked in surprise at the information given to him. He was with the Peverells, his ancestors. It kind of made him weirded out at the fact that he was sitting in front of his great something grandmother… kinda. The current Peverells, as far as he knew, were descended from the first brother Antioch Peverell. Whereas he - Harry Potter - was descended from the third and youngest brother Ignotus Peverell. Still, they were family, albeit distant family at that.

If he remembered correctly, the Peverell name had died out before Grindelwald was defeated because they had been killed by said Dark Lord’s minions. So, it would seem that Death had sent him to a time the couple were still alive to…what? Prevent their deaths? He was unsure if he would be able to prevent it completely but he could damn well try. If there is one thing that had never changed even while under compulsions -or so he would like to think – is that, once he took upon himself to do something, he saw it through till the end.

Licking his lips, Harry opened his mouth to speak “Are you Mrs. Peverell?” the woman nodded slowly, wondering if the kid was scared and very good at not showing it or he really had no problem with them, “I am Mirta Peverell, but you need only call me Mirta or Mrs. Peverell if that makes you feel more comfortable” she added, waiting for the kid to freak out, but Harry only nodded.

As he took in the wary face of the woman – Mrs. Peverell – he noticed something that made him gape a little. He didn’t have his glasses on. Looking around the bed to see if he could spot them. Ignoring completely the fact that he didn’t seem to need them.

“Is something wrong, dear?” Mirta had seen the distress painted in the boy’s face spiked her worry.

“I don’t have my glasses” he responded, still looking around the bed and beneath the many pillows that were with him. The old witch’s eyebrows shot up in surprise, her wariness forgotten, and then, not being able to help it, she let a light laugh.

Her laugh made Harry pause and look at her, wondering what could have made her so amused. It hit him then, when he finally noticed how he could see every strand of hair in her head, every freckle in face and every detail in her flower-patterned blue dress in perfect clarity. He didn’t need glasses anymore.

“I… no longer need glasses, do I?” He felt his face heat up when the lady of the Manor stopped laughing and pinned him with a very amused stared.

“You would be correct young man” she replied, laughter shining through her hazel eyes. Harry felt like now would be an excellent time for the earth to open up and swallow him whole. Why did he always end up making a fool of himself? he cleared his throat in an attempt to not make this situation more awkward for himself.

“But how? I always had to wear glasses and I had them when…” he frowned, when what? When he was transported to the past? When he died? How was he supposed to explain just up until when had he had his glasses on?

Mirta’s eyes softened at his frown, “We gave you an eye correcting potion, it was one of the potions that Archer told us to get you”.

There’s a potion for that? Harry’s eyebrows rose towards his hairline in surprise. He was aware that magic could do a lot of incredible things, in a way, it could be a miracle worker but – like everything in life – it had its limitations. When he pondered on it, if there existed a potion that could make you re-grow your bones, it was only logical that there was one for correcting his eyes. Which brought the question, why was it never given to him? Or at the very least offered? He had the funny feeling that Dumbledore may have had something to do with that.

“Yes, there’s a potion for that purpose” It would seem that he had not kept that thought to himself, had he said something else that might make this awkward?

“I… was not aware there existed such a potion” then again, he was not aware of many things, as Death had said, his education had been very lacking. “Thank you”

Mirta took a sip of her tea, frowning a little at what little Hadrian had said. How could a magical child not be aware of such a simple potion? Sure, it was difficult to brew and some of the ingredients to make it were difficult to find, hence why it was also expensive, but not impossible to obtain. She began to suspect if he had been with a poor family or… No, the alternative was too scary to consider. But sadly, it could not be completely overruled.

Chapter Text

Leaving her cup in the tray, she wondered if it would be a bad time to ask him what had happened to him. Thinking carefully her words, she began to speak “Hadrian, do you remember how- “

“Tita! Is he awake?”

Harry jumped at the loud male voice and Mirta felt like hexing the owner of the voice. She loved him, she really did, but sometimes he did things that made her want to kick him. Like for example, startling the boy with his loud voice when he was just starting to relax after his ordeal.

A second later, a dirt covered man entered the room with a bright smile on his face and what looked like a vial in his hand. Harry blinked at the sight; the older mage was a Lord… right? So why was he covered in dirt? He had always had a mental image of Lords of important wizarding families being always dressed impeccably and without a speck of dirt in their person, also cold and arrogant, but that may be because of his interactions with Lucious Malfoy. This man… kind of reminded him of a golden retriever at the moment, quite different from what he remembered from the night he met them.

“Caru, honey, lower your voice. You’re going to scare little Hadrian and – why are you so dirty?” She asked, turning to face her very dirty husband. Said man froze on his tracks and mouthed a sorry at his wife, switching his gaze towards the little wizard, he gave Harry an apologetic look. Before cleaning himself with a cleaning charm.

“I had finished to make the bone straightening potion and, on my way here I was… erm, tackled by the new Aethonan calf” The jade eyed man said, looking very sheepish about the whole situation. His wife could only shake her head in amusement, “Animals always go after you” Mirta said, endearment clear on her face.

Harry frowned “Aethonan? What’s that?” his lack of knowledge was becoming more and more apparent by the minute. He needed books ASAP. He hoped the couple would let him read some of the books in their library.

Icarus arched an eyebrow at the child “Instead of asking about who I am you want to know about an Aethonan?”

“That too”

The lord of the manor chuckled at the response; it was good that the kid didn’t seem to fear him, even after making that kind of entrance… But for how long would that last? he wondered, “Well, an Aethoran is a magical creature similar to a Pegasus, they are chestnut colored and are quite friendly to wizard folk in general. The thing that differentiates them from the Pegasus is their coat, it resistant to fire, similar to dragons in that sense” he explained, watching the child’s eyes shine in wonder, too bad that it would vanish with the following words “I’m Icarus by the way, Icarus Peverell”

When he saw a brief flash of recognition in those emerald eyes, Icarus waited for wariness or fear to creep into that gaze, he did not expect the kid to keep looking at him with that wonder intact. Interesting.

“Pleasure to meet you Sir” he said, noticing the same weariness that Mrs. Peverell had shown when she had introduced herself. Did they expect a negative reaction from him at hearing their names? Why? It was just a name and he didn’t know much about the history of the Peverells to be wary of them, plus, they had helped him so - in his book - they were good people. Even thought there was the fact that they were well known dark wizards, Harry felt that he could not judge them just because of the magical nature they had, Death had told him as much.

Icarus shook his head, “None of that now kid, call me Icarus” he had always felt weird when other people called him Sir, it made him feel old. Though, he was kind of old. Not that he’d admit that out loud.

Harry frowned at the request made. How could he call a Lord of a prominent house by their given name so casually? Even when he used to live with the Dursleys he had always refrained from using the given names of other people. When dealing with adults, he referred to them with Sir or Ma’am, he dealing with those of his age group he called them by their last names. That changed a little after arriving to Hogwarts, but not completely.

Seeing his distress, Mirta stepped into the conversation “Or you may call him whatever you feel more comfortable calling him” giving a pointed look at her husband to not pressure the child, specially not now, when it looked like he didn’t fear them. If anything, Hadrian seemed to look at them in wonder and curiosity.

Before Harry could voice out his reference of choice, a loud cough was heard in the corridor outside the room, along with a string of curses that made Harry’s eyes widen.

“Stupid Floo network. Icarus! Where in the name of Merlin are you?”

Mirta felt her left eye twitch “We are in Hadrian’s room, Archer” replied Icarus in a loud voice, earning a jab at his ribs that made him yelp in surprise.

“Must I remind you, gentlemen. That there is a patient in the room that needs peace and quiet” Harry wondered if Mrs. Peverell could hex with her eyes, because with the way they were glowing with anger and annoyance at Mr. Peverell, he thought it could be a possibility.

Icarus mumbled an apology while rubbing his ribs, turning his attention towards the sound of footsteps that were approaching the room. With a wave of her hand, Mirta willed her magic to open the door for their old friend. Said friend offered an apology to the lady of the manor before turning to look at little Harry in the bed. Looking very confused at the situation.

Offering a small smile at Harry, he approached the other side of the bed “Looks like our little patient has woken up. How are you feeling Hadrian?”

“I feel fine” was his automatic response, before wincing. Years upon years of people ignoring him and preying on the tiniest sign of weakness, made Harry develop a kind of shell or cover that only showed some things to the world. All the while, he was suffering on the inside or simply ignoring his pain until he could deal with it in a private place. But he didn’t have to do that now, specially of he wanted to heal faster.

“I… only feel slight pain when I move to much” he said hesitantly, he was not lying when he said that… he just didn’t state the full truth. From the pointed look he received from the Healer, he thought that he may had noticed that. And if he had turned to face the couple, he would have noticed that they were giving him worried looks.

“I see, have you eaten anything?” he asked, pulling his bad on the bed looking for something.

“Yes, soup” delicious soup at that, too bad he could not eat more of it until much later. Or maybe he could ask Mrs. Peverell if he could have more when his stomach didn’t feel like it was going to explode.

“Good, now” the Healer turned to face the green-eyed child while holding his wand in front of him “I’m going to cast a diagnosis charm to see how much your healing has progressed, alright?”

Once he was given a nod of understanding, Archer cast the charm and waited for the list to appear. He took hold of the parchment that materialized in front of the kid and read through the results and gave a satisfactory nod.

“All good. Your bones broken bones have healed properly, your bruises seem to be almost completely healed and the cuts don’t seem to have developed an infection” that sounded like good news to Harry, but he wanted to know about the bones that needed to be vanished “It seems that the nutrient potions are doing their job just fine and the bones in your arm have finally stopped to grow”.

So, I’ll finally have two arms Harry thought with glee, not that he had needed to use them much while he was unconscious, but it still felt very uncomfortable to not being able to use that arm.

Leaving the list aside, he turned to face Harry once again “I still need to vanish some more bones from your body. Now that you don’t have the cocktail of potions that you had two nights ago, I’ll be able to vanish a few more bones than before. Will you still want a dreamless potion after taking Skele-grow?” like before, Archer spoke with a soft and clear voice. He also went straight to the point, something that Harry liked.

“Yes please” he said “how long will it take for my bones to be completely fine, Sir?” he wanted to know for how long he was going to be bound to the bed. He was not going to like it, but it was necessary.

“It will probably take a week or two to complete the whole process. After that you’ll need to be on a potion regime to strengthen those bones” he informed him “Which reminds me…” he turned to face the Peverell Lord “Did you get the potion I told you to get, old man?”

Harry could only gape at Healer Archer – he still could not remember his last name – in astonishment. He called a family head an old man? Either this man was close to them or he had a death wish. He turned a worried glance at Mr. Peverell, expecting to see anger, but was surprised to see him only rolling his eyes at the healer.

“Of course, I did. You disrespectful brat” he proceeded to hand down the vial containing the potion. Archer took the vial and began to analyze the contents of the potion, much to the disgruntled look of the elder wizard, before nodding in satisfaction. “Acceptable”

“Acceptable?!” Icarus looked like he had choked on a sour lemon “That’s a perfectly brewed potion! Perfect I say!”

Archer arched a condescending eyebrow, it was such a Snape move that Harry wondered if they were related in some way, the thought scared him a little “And let you have your ego flying through the roof? I think not”

Mirta laughed at the glare her husband had thrown his friend. It was well known that her husband was an excellent potions master among the wizarding community, and he took great of pride in it, so much so that he needed to be kicked a few pegs down every once in a while, and remember that he was still a mortal at the end of the day. Archer always took it upon himself to give those wake-up calls. Mirta suspected it was done mostly because he found amusement from it.

Harry blinked at the scene he was witnessing. He was pretty dam certain that this was not something that happened normally among the pureblood lords and ladies. He knew they were human at the end of the day and had emotions but… with the masks they wore all the time, it was difficult to imagine them bantering like this or even showing their emotions freely. Just imagining Malfoy junior bantering with Zabini and acting like the teenagers they were made Harry’s mind freeze in shock and awkwardness.

“Ignore him Hadrian, he thinks his potions are the best of the world. Not to mention he already has an ego the size of Hogwarts itself” Archer said with a straight face. Harry suspected he had done it to distract him from the idea of having his bones vanished and make him relax. Funnily enough, it worked.

“Now” he started “I will start to vanish the bones; it might feel weird but I promise that it won’t hurt a thing”. Harry already knew that it would not hurt, his little incident with Lockheart taught him as much, but this people didn’t know about his past – and wasn’t that strange? – so he tilted him head in an acknowledging manner.

He stared in wonder as Healer Archer began to vanish bone after bone in his right leg. I love magic was his constant thought throughout the whole process. Ever since he had come to the wizarding world, he had learned several things, some good some bad. Can’t say he ever came to regret being a wizard or learning about magic, despite the terrible experiences he had lived through. Death, once again, was right. Magic is magic and it’s still a wonderful gift.

Remembering that Harry still couldn’t remember the last name of the wizard treating him, he gathered enough courage – praying he would not make a fool of himself again – and opened his mouth “I… what’s your name sir?”

“Archer, Archer Bishop” he finished what he was doing, took a step back and made an exaggerated bow, startling a laugh from Harry “At you service”

His introduction for some reason reminded him of the twins, making him feel both sad and amused. Sad because he was not likely to meet them again, amused because he had not expected another wizard to remind him of them as they had always seemed one of a kind to Harry.

The Peverell felt their hearts warm up when they heard Harry’s laugh, it gave them hope that the child would be alright. And it reminded Mirta of something that had been bothering her for many, many years now. How good would it be to keep Hadrian with them, see him with the animals and running around carefree. Maybe…

Mirta was snapped out of her thoughts when Archer gave Harry the Skele-grow. The boy scrunched up his nose after drinking it, making him look adorable. At least, he looked adorable in her eyes. Whereas Harry felt like his food was going to make a reappearance on the blankets.

While Archer bound Harry’s leg in a cast, Icarus called for an elf to bring a glass with orange juice for the kid, knowing full well how terrible that potion tasted. The little elf approached Harry with the glass of juice, looking at the elf like it was his savior, he thanked him before grasping the glass and drinking the juice.

“Now, we can take this thing off” taping his wand lightly on the cast, he muttered a spell that made it vanish a moment later “I highly recommend that you don’t strain your arm, as your bones are still a bit delicate. Sadly, I cannot give you the strengthening potion just yet” Harry flexed his fingers carefully, finding that his hand did feel funny without the cast. Not only his hand, his arm also felt weird. Weakened in a way. Still, he could only marvel at what magic was capable of doing.

Harry also understood why he could not take that potion. The purpose of that potion, as far as he knew, was to make the bones stronger than they were before. But potions don’t work the same way that spells do. With spells, you can concentrate on a particular area to treat. With potions that is considerably much more difficult, as it worked on everything. So, if he took the potion now, all of his bones would become stronger – even the ones that were deformed. And that was not what he would like to happen.

“I understand Mr. Archer” he said. Archer just smiled at what he had been called, all the while enjoying the betrayed look on the Peverel lord. It would seem that little Hadrian didn’t call Icarus by his given name he thought too bad for him.

He took another potion from his bag and handing it to the small wizard, giving the old wizard a smug look just to spite him. After Harry took the vial in his hand, he turned his green gaze at the healer, silently asking what it was for.

“Last time you slept a long time, not only because of the potion, but also from all the stress your body had gone through. That won’t happen this time for two reasons. One being that this is a milder dreamless potion than the one I gave you two days ago, and two, your body has recovered a lot during your prolonged rest” he explained “So you don’t have to fear about missing breakfast tomorrow morning”

Harry nodded and downed the potion, setting the vial aside, he finished his juice to wash out the taste. The healer turned his attention to the old couple and gave them a piece of parchment “That will be his potion regime. We will start with strong nutrition potions and strengthening ones too, as he progresses further, we will change them to milder potions. He will also need to get several vaccines, both magical and muggle ones. It seems his magic has been working to the extremes to protect him from sickness” he said the last thing in a low voice, not wanting the child to hear that part just in case it triggered bad memories. The Peverells gave a grave nod of understanding.

“Give him those potions every day. Once before breakfast, once before dinner and once before supper. I would also like to encourage him to eat small meals for at least four to five months with small snacks in between them. Preferably fruit and oats. After that you can begin increasing the portions of the meals little by little” he paused, looking at the couple, he wondered if they would keep the child with them until he got healthy and then give him away. He shook the thought out of his head. That is not something they would do, they cared to much about children to simply let this one just fend for himself, risking that those that hurt him found him again.

“I will visit in two days to see how his leg is doing, until then…” he turned to Icarus with a teasing smile “don’t scare the kid with your ugly face Icarus” not stopping to hear his comeback, he bid Harry and Mirta goodbye and made a hasty retreat to the fireplace.

Harry found himself smiling at the stunt the older man had pulled, he didn’t tend to like doctors – or healers for that matter – but he found that he quite liked this one. Letting go of a yawn and rubbing his tired eyes, knowing that the potion was beginning to take effect. Calling it a day, he began to get himself comfortable in the bed. Letting out a small yelp of surprise when he felt a pair of arms begin to wrap him in blankets, he had completely forgotten that the couple was still in the room.

“Sleep well kid” said Icarus in a soft voice, not wanting to startle Harry again.

“Call if you need anything” added Mirta, giving the boy a warm smile. It felt strange, having someone send him to sleep. Harry had seen his Aunt Petunia do it often to Dudley when they were kids and had felt a strong sense of longing whenever he saw that. That desire simply mellowed out as he grew up, though, it never truly disappeared. Now his ancestors were here, wrapping him in blankets, making sure he was comfortable and making sure he got medical attention.

He covered his face with the blanket, not wanting the Peverells to see his face in case his emotions got the best of him, and mumbled a goodnight to them. He refused to let others see him cry, especially strangers. Even if they were distant family members. Mirta and Icarus chuckled at the actions of the child. Standing up, they bid him goodbye – with promises to see him tomorrow – and left the room to retire to their room.

Once in their room, they went to prepare themselves for bed. Changing into a light-yellow sleeping gown, Mirta went to sit on the bed, braiding her long hair.

“Do you think he will be comfortable enough? Will he need more blankets? The nights can be chilly around here, even during summer”

Icarus gave his wife an exasperated look “Tita, he’ll be fine. It’s not so chilly today, if anything he might take off a few blankets if he feels too warm”

“But don’t children get colder much easier than adults?” asked Mirta, tying of her braid and giving her husband a worried look.

“Mirta- “he stopped in mid-sentence, feeling how the temperature of the room dropped. He turned to look at his wife and she immediately fetched a robe for him and herself to make themselves more presentable.

After a few moments of silence, a very familiar figure appeared in the middle of the room. He always had the bad habit of appearing in the most importunate moments. The newcomer took of his hood and regarded the couple with dark eyes.

“Hello my children, I believe we need to have a chat”

Chapter Text

Two pairs of wide eyes stared bewilderment at their master. Death could not really blame them for looking at him like that, he had just dropped a bomb on them. Sometimes he forgot that some of the things that he took for granted could be very impressive, if not impossible, for mortals. Right now, the couple was in a state of shock but he knew that it was only a matter of time before either or both of them turned to him and gave him a verbal lashing.

Knowing what was awaiting him, he took a seat in a nearby couch, even though everything in his being told him to run for the hills. And wasn’t that a funny thought? He, Death, an immortal being afraid of the wrath of his children.

“Care to explain that again Master? Hadrian is not from this time?” asked Icarus after he brought his thoughts back in order, giving his wife a side glace, he noticed that Mirta still look a bit overwhelmed the information they had received.

“Exactly what I said. Little Hadrian is from the future and I brought him here”

Mirta’s thoughts were running wild in her head. She was quite aware that magic was capable of many incredible things. From being able to make people fly to healing bones and even being able to bring back the dead. She shouldn’t really be surprised that time travel could be possible, after all, time turners exited. But time turners didn’t make you travel more than twenty-four hours, if you were lucky, you could probably use them to go back three or two days, but never more than that.

But to have the ability to bend time to your will, while it sounded incredible, Mirta knew that it was also very dangerous. This was a power that many witches and wizards would kill for. And from what their Lord told them; it was very risky to attempt a time jump. The poor boy.

Wait a second “Death, you brought him here?” Mirta questioned with a deceptively calm voice; Death gave her a suspicious glace before nodding “Wounded?” she continued. Again, Death nodding, this time in a slower motion. He had a very bad feeling, specially when he began to take notice of the older witch’s magic. It felt dangerous, like a snake about to strike and sink its fangs on their prey. He was not the only one who noticed, as he saw how the Lord of the house took a careful step away from his wife.

The Peverell lady closed her eyes and took deeps breaths to make sure her magic didn’t go on a rampage. She knew that her master probably didn’t mean for the little one to end up hurt from the experience, as an immortal, he tended to forget how weak and fragile mortals could be. Still, she was mad that he had forgotten the possible consequences of his actions.

When she finally felt that her magic was calm enough, she opened her eyes and pinned the cloaked figure with a very angry glare.

“What were you thinking?!” the older woman whisper shouted, as she didn’t want to create too much noise. She didn’t want to wake the child with her screams, the gods knew just how much he needed his rest.

“I- “

“You could have gotten him killed?!” she interrupted him; Icarus wisely stayed away from his wife. After so many years together, he had come to learn the hard way that it was best to not get himself involved in her fights, unless he wants to get himself hexed.

“Well, I- “

“Or worse, what if the time skip had shattered his mind?!” just thinking of what could have possibly have happened to the little wizard if things had gone wrong made her panic. Again, she was aware that Death meant no harm, but what he had done was incredibly stupid. 

“I admit that I should have remembered that Hadrian is a mortal at the end of the day, but I was confident that he would be fine” At that statement, Death found himself pinned under two different pairs of eyes glaring at his face “…For the most part”

He really felt bad that he had caused his master more pain, that had not been his intention. Death had only wanted to bring him here as soon as he could. Wanted him to both, fix the future and have a happy future. His little master deserved to be happy after everything the old wizard had forced him to suffer through.

“For the most part? Lord Death, the boy was at death’s doorstep when we found him!” she was very close to throwing hexes at her Lord, consequences be damned.

Death cringed at the mention of the state his little master had been. He really had believed that he would have been fine with the time skip, the wounds his body had shown were not so bad, but the problem was that he had only seen the outside wounds not the inside ones. Wounds like cuts and bruises didn’t bring much harm when one time traveled - but broken bones, nerve damage and internal bleeding could very well kill you if you tried.

In a way, he felt that him being wounded was a good and a bad thing. Bad because, well his little master suffered and good, because now the Peverells were more or less aware that Harry had not had a good life so far and would be able to help him heal. He knew he could have healed him completely, but the truth was that there was a high probably that he would have messed up somewhere along the way.

He could heal broken bones just fine. Treating internal bleeding and cuts were not a problem. And getting rid of compulsion were a piece of cake to him. But nerve damage was something that he had never mastered, his sister on the other hand had. Lady Magic had always had a better handle of healing magic than him. She would have been able to heal his injuries without a problem, as well get rid of all the ones he had received while in the loving care of his relatives. But he had not been sure if she would help, so he came to the conclusion that it would be better to let the wizards take care of him.

And the rest of the immortals wonder why he preferred to carry souls here and there instead of dealing with the living? See this is exactly why he preferred to do his job. It was much less complicated than dealing with the living. They were so… delicate. Fragile even and he didn't know how to deal with that. 

Icarus rubbed his face with a hand in frustration, this was no exactly what he had expected when Lord Death had said he need to speak with them. He agreed that what their Master had done was imprudent and not well thought through, but he believed that there must have been a reason for his actions.

“And pray tell, why did you do it? Because I don’t think that you did this just because you could”

“Because I could not let one of my children suffer and because he would not have had a future there, no one would” was the reply he got for the cloaked figure that began to check out the paintings that were in the room as a way to distract himself from the way Mirta's magic was reacting to her anger. He really hoped he didn't end up hexed by the older witch, she could be quite creative with those. And even though he was immortal, he could still feel those hexes.

Icarus frowned and shared a look with his wife that was also frowning, her anger forgotten for the moment “What do you mean with no one would?” the couple felt that they were probably not going to like to hear the answer to the question, but it needed to be answered.

“I can not reveal much about how the future is, but I can tell you this. The wizarding world would have been discovered by what you call muggles in five or six years after the end of another war against a dark lord” Death told them in a calm voice, secretly relieved that he had evaded a very close call. Mirta Peverell was a terrifying witch when she was angry, almost as terrifying as his sister – Lady Magic “The same war the little one was a part of” he added as an afterthought.

“Pardon? A child was in the middle of a war? As in, was he actively fighting?” disbelief and horror colored Icarus’s voice. Why would a child be fighting a war? Had the wizarding community become so heartless that they would send children to fight an adult’s war? Children should be children; they should not be forced to have their innocence crushed in such a cruel manner.

“Well, he was of age when that battle occurred, but certainly a child when Hadrian began to be – what was the word again? Oh right – groomed to be a soldier” Death found it interesting how his children had focused on the fact that a kid had been forced to fight than the fact that the community would have been discovered. Priorities he supposed.

“What?!” Now her anger was well and truly gone, Mirta could not believe what she heard. What was wrong with the wizarding folk of the future? It was no wonder the child had reacted the way he did when they first met him, he had been conditioned to act fast in case of being in danger. Although she suspected that it was not entirely due to that war. Just what had happened to that child?

“I cannot – and will not - reveal little Hadrian’s past. That is something the both of you will have to ask him about yourselves. But what I can reveal is that he was at the center of both wars, unwillingly - And before you ask, yes. There were two more wars after the one that Grindelwald created” He added when he saw the couple open their mouths to speak. And it was true, he really didn’t want to reveal his master’s past. It was not his place to do so. Plus, he didn’t want his master to be mad at him for telling the couple what his life had been before coming here… or more like he didn’t want to make him angrier than he already was at him.

He found it amusing how his master was torn over being respectful with him or cursing him to the nine hells and back. He was still young and had recently been bundled up with the new title so he supposed that it was to be expected. In time he will learn that he had nothing to fear from him, as his master, he was immune to a lot of things… except perhaps a few stinging hexes. But he was, all in all, safe from being harmed by Death.

“Very well” Mirta knew that Lord Death was not going to tell them anything no matter how much they prodded him, he could be as unmoving as a mountain sometimes. So she focused on the other important matter that he had mentioned, “What about the wars? And the muggles discovering us?”

Now that was safe territory, sort of. Death proceeded to explain how the wars attracted the attention from the muggles, how they would have used their technology to find them and how they would have used their weapons to destroy them. At all times trying to be as vague as he could, no need for them to learn all the details. The Peverells paled the more Death spoke about what had happened in that future. What could happen.

The couple were very much aware of just how dangerous muggles could be when faced when things that they could not understand or control. After all, many of their ancestors had fallen at the hands of muggles so many centuries ago. They were also very much informed, unlike many of their fellow witches and wizards, about the technological advancements that muggles had achieved in the last fifty year or so. Their weapons were terrifying and would decimate them all if they learned about their existence.

If they had found them in the future, then the couple was a hundred percent sure that not a single wizard or witch would have survived the massacre that the muggles would unleash on them all.

After Death stopped speaking, Mirta spoke in a shaky voice “Can it be prevented? That future I mean”

“Yes” was the simple reply she got, not really helpful if she said so herself.

“How?” this came from Icarus. He really did not like the picture his Master had painted for the both of them and he wanted to help prevent that from happening. Being discovered by the muggles is, frankly, the magical community’s worst nightmare.

Death only gave them a cryptical smile. His master would take care of it, of that, he was sure. Harry was quite aware of what was at stake and would fight with tooth and nail to prevent that future from happening. Thought, he was going to need a lot of training and people that could support him. Hence why he had delivered him with the Peverells, definitely not because he was biased and wanted to give them the child they had yearned for a long time. And most definitely not because he wanted to give his master a chance to have a family. Of course not.

“All will be revealed in due time” he said, then he turned to look in the direction that his young master was sleeping peacefully after everything he had gone through. His master had a long way to go and would need a lot of help.

“I want to entrust you both with a task, well, not really a task” Turning to face the couple he continued speaking “I want you to look after that child”

Mirta and Icarus looked at each other in surprise, they were not expecting such a request from him. Not that Mirta minded, she had actually been wondering what would become of the child after he recovered, this gave her the excuse to keep the kid for a longer span of time.

“May I ask why?” Icarus had a feeling that there was a reason for this request. He also believed that Death had delivered Hadrian to their doorstep on purpose.

“Because he will be safer here. I don’t want certain people to learn of his existence just yet. He will have an important role to play in preventing that future from happening”

Icarus gave his nod of understanding; it would be interesting to have a child in the manor. Maybe he would be able to teach him more about the Aethonan? He seemed interested in them.

“Lord Death” said Mirta, remembering something from before “The wounds that Hadrian had were caused by fighting in that war… what about all the other injuries that appeared in his diagnosis results? How did he gain them?”

Death turned to look at a vase filled with beautiful flowers, “As I said before, I cannot say much about the little one’s past. But I can say that it was not pleasant” he turned to face their children “You already have suspicions about what may have happened to him. I suggest that you approach Hadrian carefully when you ask about his past, I also want you to be patient with him.”

Both Peverells had a grim face. Death had been right when he said that they suspected what could possibly have happened to the child, and it left a sick feeling in their gut knowing that it was very possible that they may be right.

“Now, I’ll leave you to rest. I may stop to talk to little Hadrian tomorrow after he wakes up” he said, better that they knew before hand that he was going to be around so that they did not panic if they saw him with Harry.

“Why would you need to talk with the kid?” asked a very confused Icarus, last time he checked, his master didn’t speak with other living beings unless they were on the verge of dying or…

“Because he is my master of course. Do I need to ask permission to speak with him?” after he finished speaking, he left, leaving behind two very surprised faces behind. Death was pretty sure that his statement made their jaws hit the floor. His children always did make the funniest of expressions.

Chapter Text

Harry felt like strangling the immortal being in the room. The only reason as to why he had not done so was because he was being checked over by Mr. Peverell and he couldn’t exactly stand up right now. Death had come hours ago and decided to make himself comfortable while he retold everything that gone down while he had been asleep. He had come at an ungodly hour to wake him up and spill the tea.

A part of him was glad that there was someone else that knew about his situation, another part of him was mad. Which was kind of irrational of him, but he couldn’t help it. He knew that eventually he would slip and have to spill the beans on the couple and, in all honesty, he didn’t want to burden the couple with that knowledge. Didn’t want to cause them unnecessary stress, but it was going to be close to impossible to act like a kid when mentally he was an adult. Sort of.

Plus, there was the fact that he had always had to handle everything on his own, as he could not really count on the adults in his life to do anything. Back in the past – or was it future? This was very confusing for him – his words where never taken seriously. Not only his words, his ideas or plans were also constantly disregarded.

He had prepared himself to lie and tell the couple a cover up story about why they found him in such a terrible state. Being in a time period were there was a war going on gave him enough material to make a convincing story. He didn’t like to lie to other people, he had been lied to for so many years and had come to hate it, but he would have done it if it was necessary to fulfill his mission.

But it would seem that it was no longer necessary to do so thanks to a certain someone.

“Well then” Icarus’s bright voice brought him out of his train of thoughts, but it did not stop him from sending another angry glare at the cloaked figure sitting near the window “I may not a medi-wizard or healer, but I believe that you leg is healing just fine”

Harry glanced at his leg before facing towards the jade eyed wizard “Thank you, Mr. Peverell”

Icarus let out a small sigh, he had been trying all morning to convince the kid to call him by his given name. He wasn’t mad with the boy for deciding to speak formally to him but being called Mr. Peverell made him feel very old, and he didn’t like feeling old, even if he technically was.

“So, Hadrian. How old are you?” he asked as a way to start a conversation with the kid. If they were going to watch over him for however long they needed to, he figured that they might as well get to know each other.

Emerald eyes blinked at the older man; he had not expected that question. Frowning he turned towards the intruder in his room, “Death?” he hoped he had an answer, because he had absolutely no idea of how old he was right now. From his observations he deduced that he might be eleven or maybe twelve, comparing his current appearance to his memories of his younger self.

“Hadrian was seventeen when he died, currently, he is twelve – soon to be thirteen” responded the dark eyed man, knowing without speaking what his master was asking.

The Peverell patriarch stared in surprise at the small wizard in the bed. He didn’t look older than nine maybe ten years old. Pursing his lips, he came to realize that the malnutrition must have stunted his growth, hopefully the potions would be able to help him. Bafflement filled Icarus when he caught on the rest of what was said, did he just say he died?

“WHAT?!” came the shriek from Mirta, having heard what Death had said, as she had just entered with a tray in her hands. Uh oh thought the older wizard as he felt his dear wife’s magic begin to enfold the room, it did not feel like it was happy. He took a step closer to the young wizard, just in case her magic decided to ravage the room.

Harry’s eyes were so wide open, that they almost seemed like they would bulge out of his eye socket. It was the first time he had felt such powerful magic. Sure, he had known Dumbledore was powerful but he had never felt the full extent of his magic. And Voldy’s magic seemed to pale when faced with the display that Mrs. Peverell was having right now. Could it be possible that the horrocruxes had not only shattered his mind but also weakened his magic? Maybe Death might know the answer to that question.

Mirta left the tray with food and potions on the nightstand beside Harry’s bed, casted a protection spell around the bed and nightstand where her husband and Hadrian were, and then turned to glare daggers at the immortal.

“What do you mean with ‘when he died’?” Harry saw how Death visibly gulped when Mrs. Peverell’s gaze met his. And wasn’t that a sight? Harry felt a laugh bubbling in his throat, he had to bite the inside of his cheek to prevent it from getting out.

“Well… Exactly that, Hadrian was dead before coming here” Death was pretty sure he was going to get hexed, the fire shining in those hazel eyes said as much. Maybe he should not have shared that bit of information.

Mirta closed her eyes and took a deep breath before addressing her master once more in a threatening tone, “You have three seconds to get out before I start pealing the skin from your bones”

Death didn’t need to be told twice. With a snap of his fingers - and hasty ‘see you later little master’ – the ancient being vanished from the room. Not being able to hold it any longer, Harry burst into laughter. He just couldn’t help it; he had never expected that the all-mighty Lord Death would look so scared of a mortal witch.

Although, if he was being honest, he would also be scared to be on the receiving end of Mrs. Peverell’s anger. If there was anything that he had learned in his short life was that you should never piss off a powerful witch.

The magic that had been coating the room disappeared the moment that Harry’s laughter was heard. It caught Mirta off guard hearing such a carefree sound, so much so that her anger vanished in a second. She thought that his laughing face suited him better than the glaring one he had supported while Death had been present.

Icarus watched with soft eyes as Harry doubled over in laughter. A part of him was worried for the child’s mental state but another part thought that it was good that he could still find amusement in the current situation he was in. He may have been an adult before coming here, but right now he was a child, and a child should laugh freely when they felt like it.

When the laughter finally left him, Harry lifted his gaze to find two faces looking at him with kind expressions. He instantly felt awkward, he didn’t know what to do when people gave him those expressions. For years he had only received hateful looks or ones filled with contempt – sometimes even greed – and those he knew how to handle, kindness…was kind of an unknown territory for him.

Sure, his friends… if they had ever been his actual friends, had shown him kindness. But he had never gotten used to it. He had been on constant edge that at one point they were going to turn against him and hurt him. Like his relatives.

Harry began to fidget with his fingers and avoided looking at the couple “So… Seems like I’m twelve years old now… wait a minute” awkwardness forgotten, he sat upright on the bed as a thought came to mind, one that had been in head for a while. “What’s todays date?” Harry really felt like slapping himself for not asking much sooner.

“It’s June 20^th, 1941” replied Icarus, an amused glint on his eyes shining through. He had expected the kid to know the answer to that question a while back, seeing as Lord Death had been speaking to him earlier today. But it seems that Death had forgotten to update him on that little fact.

Harry made a sound of understanding “So that’s way he said ‘soon to be thirteen’” he mumbled to himself. Well at least now he knew how old he was and what year he was stuck in. He also became very aware of the fact that there were two wars being fought right now: a muggle one and a magical one. Lovely.

The couple gave Harry questioning looks, not understanding the young wizard’s statement, having heard what he had said. Seeing no harm in sharing that information, he explained in a louder voice “My birthday is on July 31^st”

It kind of felt weird to share his birthday date, back in the … future? everyone pretty much knew when his birthday was. Hell, he was pretty sure that they even knew what size where the shoes he wore. The wizard folk of his time knew so much about him that it was scary. So, yeah, it was weird being around people that didn’t know anything about him. But it was a nice kind of weird.

Both Peverells gave a nod and slotted the information for later use. Mirta thought that it would be nice to do something for the boy’s birthday, they may be strangers at this point but surely, they could still plan something for him?

Shaking her head softly she approached the nightstand, took the tray with food and carefully placed it over Harry’s lap. Harry was quite pleased when he saw the oatmeal with fruit, along with a glass of what he suspected was pumpkin juice, on the tray. He was very hungry, but he knew his stomach needed to take it slow, or else he would end up sick. He had learned the hard way just what could happen if he decided to stuff himself with food.

“Remember to take the potions before eating and don’t force yourself to eat everything” instructed the older witch, handing him the first potion he needed to take. Harry nodded and took the potion, grimacing at the taste. No matter how many times he had been forced to take potions to heal himself, he could never get used to the taste they left behind.

Icarus passed Harry the other two potions he needed to drink; the rest of the potions would come after he ate something. Some potions needed to be drank at a different time compared to the first ones, this was done to prevent potions neutralizing each other. He chuckled at the face Harry pulled after drinking his potions, the kid appeared to be really expressive.

Once he finished his potions, he immediately went for the glass of juice, feeling a little smug at having been correct with deducing which kind of juice it was. Before he began to dig into his breakfast, he turned to the couple, “Have you eaten yet?”

“We have, don’t worry about it and eat little one,” said Mirta. This just made Harry uncomfortable, he had never liked having others watch him eat. It kind of made him feel like he was being like the Dursleys. Depriving food from him while they happily ate away everything that he had cooked.

Sensing that they child didn’t feel fine with being watched he called for one of his elfs, “Nori” not a second later a small elf appeared in front of his master.

“What can Nori do for masters?” Nori asked, eager to serve his masters and their guest.

“Bring us two cups of tea, some biscuits and two copies of The Prophet, please” He hoped that this would make the child less uncomfortable with eating. With a nod the elf vanished to get what was asked of him.

Turning towards Harry, Icarus gave him a small smile “I hope you don’t mind if we make you company for a few minutes”

Before Harry could say anything, Nori appeared with a tray with hot tea and a small pile of pastries. Icarus transfigured one of the empty vases that were in the room into a small kitchen table, placing it near the bed and levitating the chairs towards it.

“Does masters need anything else?” Nori asked after leaving the tray on the table and turning to face the inhabitants in the room.

“No, thank you Nori, you may leave now” With an eager nod, the elf vanished. Icarus motioned for his wife to follow him to the table, extending his hand to help her to her seat. Mirta took his hand a little confused but let him guide her to her seat, she was not about to refuse tea when offered to her. She suspected that her husband may have done this as a way to make little Hadrian more comfortable with their presence.

Seeing as he couldn’t exactly kick them out of the room, Harry shrugged and began to dig into his food. At least now he didn’t feel bad about being the only one eating.

The couple took the copies of The Prophet and began to read it, taking bites of the pastries here and there or sips from their tea. Passing the time in a peaceful silence, or as peaceful as it could be when one was reading news about a terrible war.

When Harry felt like he could not eat anymore, he stared at the plate away with a small pout. He could not wait for the day where he could be able to eat normal sized portions of food, but until then, he’ll have to just deal with it. But he thought that it might kill him to see such delicious food go to waste.

Icarus and Mirta turned their attention towards Harry when they noticed that he stopped eating. Mirta pursed her lips, there was still a bit of food left on the plate, she would have liked it if he had been able to finish the plate but she’ll have to settle with the knowledge that he had eaten a bit.

Seeing the pout, Icarus chuckled and gave the young wizard an encouraging smile, “It’s okay if you cannot finish it Hadrian, it’s better if you don’t overwhelm yourself. Your body needs time to adjust, but you’ll get there” Harry nodded. He knew that Mr. Peverell was right, he needed time but that piece of apple was making eyes at him. Closing his eyes, he pushed the plate away before he fell for the tempting piece of apple, maybe he’ll get to eat it later?

“Hadrian, are you aware of what happened last night?” Mirta asked, Harry gave a nod. Death had come earlier to wake him up and tell him that. He was still angry that he had woken him at such an early hour, specially when he had been enjoying his dreamless sleep.

“Are you okay with that arrangement?” Icarus thought that maybe he wouldn’t like it. He certainly would not like it if he had been dragged to another time and left with strangers to take care of him. He would be confused and maybe scared of everything.

Harry stayed silent. Did this bother him? He was in a strange place, in a different time and with strange people. Yes, he concluded, it bothered him. He may have agreed with Death to come here so that he may change the future, but that did not mean that he had been completely prepared for what he was going to face. Back in his time he had known little of the wizarding community and never got the chance to learn more. How could you when your first priority was to stay alive another year?

He dubbed that, even if he decided to go and leave the Peverells the moment that he was healed, he would survive in this war-stricken world on his own. He barely knew his way around the muggle world back in his time, he knew close to nothing about how it was like to live in the forties. He needed help, and the only one who could help him were in front of him.

“It’s the best course of action for me” Harry said in a relaxed manner “before I came here, I knew close to nothing of the wizarding community. If I were to leave, I probably won’t be able to make it till the end of the week”

Icarus nodded in understanding, his reasoning was sound, he also thought that it would be too dangerous to let him leave. “So, what are your plans? You seem very calm about all this” he observed, the only time he had seen Harry altered was one he first woke up after arriving here.

The green-eyed wizard shrugged “I’m used to weird and crazy things happening to me, plus, I see no point in wasting my energy freaking out when I could use it for something else” although he was pretty sure that if it had been his past self the one sitting before the couple, he would probably have freaked out and ran away from here the moment that he felt good enough to leave, it was a good thing to not have those compulsions. “As for my plans… The first thing that I have in mind is educating myself”

At the inquisitive looks from the couple, he proceeded to explain, “If I want to fit in here, I’ll need to learn everything I can about how everything worked here. I should also go to Hogwarts” there’s a high chance that he would learn everything he need to know, magic related, there. But politics, customs and practices he would only learn little or close to nothing in Hogwarts. Those were things that the Peverells could teach him.

“You didn’t attend Hogwarts before?” Mirta asked with a frown etched on her face, if he came from the future and had been an adult, then surely, he had no need to repeat his education. He would only be taking the same subjects again, maybe a little less updated, but still the same basis.

“I did but…” he paused before continuing “I was never able to focus on my studies. It was kind of difficult when every year I had to worry if I could make it to the end of the year” he shook his head in exasperation, it was truly a miracle that he had managed to evade death for so long, let alone pass his OWLs.

“And, according to Death, my education had been very lacking. I’m hoping to go so I can fill in the gaps in my knowledge”

The older witch shared a look with her husband before turning to face the child, “What were the subjects that you took before? Maybe we can help you catch up on what you missed”

“Transfiguration, Charms, History of magic, Care of Magical creatures, Defense against the dark arts, Divination, Herbology and Potions” he answered, he thought that he might need the most help in potions, because he was hopeless in that subject. Not that Snape had bothered to properly teach anybody that wasn’t a Slytherin, there was also the fact that he had a personal vendetta against him.

The old couple looked at the kid with confused looks, that was short list of subjects and he seemed to have missed a few important subjects.

“What about Dark magic and Alchemy?” asked Icarus, he found it very weird that he had not mentioned those core classes, was it possible that he had not been able to take it because they passed it to a more advanced year?

Now it was Harry’s turn to look confused, he had never heard those subjects before, “Those classes are taught in this time?” he had a feeling that Death might have been getting somewhere when he said his knowledge was severely lacking.

That statement brought alarm to the Peverells. Those were one of the most important subjects that were taught in Hogwarts, Alchemy served as a complementary subject to Potions and Dark arts served to educate the younger generation how to wield it properly.

“Hadrian, can you tell us what are the subjects that were being taught in your time?” Icarus’s voice sounded grave, making Harry feel that this was more serious than he originally thought.

He took a moment to remember all the subjects that were being taught before speaking. After giving the names of the subjects, Harry saw how the Peverells’s faces lose a little bit of color. He didn’t take that as a good sign.

“I take it… that there are more subjects in this time?”

“Yes, quite a bit more” said Mirta in a shaky voice. She was astonished to see how many subjects had been taken down from the curriculum and many of them were very important, specially the one about Dark magic. Even Elementalism had been taken down! How could they let that happen?

For the next following hours, the old couple began to explain Harry every single of the subjects that were being currently taught, at some points they took a break to make sure Harry ate something and took his potions then, they would resume the conversation.

Harry was surprised by the number of classes that no longer existed in the curriculum; he had never heard of a Linguistic class. From what the couple had explained to him, the subject focused on teaching languages like Latin and ancient Greek, languages from where most of their spells came from. Then there was Elementalism, that focused on learning the nature of one’s magic and how to manipulate the magic of the elements. They even had an Arts and Crafts class for Merlin’s sake! Why had they taken that subject down? He could have used with a few hours per week to decompress from the constant stress he was in.

It became pretty obvious that the couple would be torturing him on all the subjects he had missed in the next few weeks. Fortunately, the subjects were not all taken every year. But he still needed to catch up to several subjects, those being Linguistic, Alchemy, Elementalism and Dark magic. Then he needed to fill in the missing gaps of information in Potions, History of Magic, Charms and Transfiguration. He had been surprised to find that DADA was taught only to sixth year students, in a sense he was a quite a bit ahead in his education on the subject.

Harry knew that the next following weeks were going to take a very heaving toll on him, but he needed to get the basis of everything if he wanted to catch up with the other students. Plus, he was actually looking forward to learning these new subjects. Maybe coming to the past had been not been such a bad idea after all, though, he was probably going to think otherwise in the upcoming days. But surely, it could not be worse than facing Voldemort, right?

Chapter Text

“Dealing with a basilisk was easier than this” grumbled a green-eyed boy that currently held a book in his hands, trying for the fifth time to get the spell right.

A month had passed since he first landed on this time and Harry had created a sort of routine for himself. Or more like a routine was made for him, because if he had been to one to make it, he would have disregarded his health just so he would be able to catch up to his future classmates in Hogwarts.

After Healer Bishop had given the all clear that his bones were fully healed and he only needed to take a lot of potions for the next few months, the Peverells had gone all out. The good thing about all this was – aside of not feeling pain every time he took a step – was that he was learning a lot of new things. The bad news of this was, that he felt his head was going to explode with all the information overload he kept getting.

The first week before being discarded by Archer, the couple had started on the theory of the subjects he missed before, those being Alchemy, Elementalism, Linguistics, Dark magic, Wizarding culture and nature of magic. He got the basis of every single one of this subjects with relative ease now that the blockages were gone. But the moment that they decided to move to the more practical side of the subjects and make Harry cast a simple levitation charm, his wand cracked.

Harry had stared at his wand in confusion and panic, this had never happened to him before. He wondered if the time skip had damaged his wand or if he had fallen on top of it when he landed here and that’s why it cracked. In the middle of his mini panic attack, Death had appeared to calm his little master with the help of the couple.

After he had calmed down, Death then went to explain that this was bound to happen. The reason that his wand had cracked was because it could no longer withstand the amount of power he wielded. In the past it had been possible because his core had been partially sealed away, but now that the seal was gone, the power was just too much for the poor wand.

Needless to say, that Harry had needed a new wand before he made any progress with the Peverells. And so, the couple had taken him to get him a new wand. He was surprised when his momentary guardians took him to an alley he had never heard of before, Wisteria Alley. The alley was full of life and color, music could be heard in almost every corner of the alley. And even thought the melodies were all different, they all seemed to complement each other. He soon found out that the alley had everything one could possibly need for any kind of art projects. There were some restaurants, a few candy stores, music stores and several arts and crafts shops.

Harry was taken into a shop called Belldrops where they were attended by two witches, sisters from the looks of it. They looked almost identical with their long black wavy hair, honey colored skin and cute button noses. The thing that differentiated them both was their eye color - one had eyes the color of onyx and the other had almond colored ones – and they height, one being taller than the other.  

With warm smiles they welcomed the three of them into the shop, they later introduced themselves as Asha and Priya Sharma. One of them went to retrieve some boxes and the other began to question who needed the wand.

After taking the measurements of Harry’s arm and his height, they presented him with a couple of boxes telling him to stick his hand inside of it and pull the object that he felt most connected to. Doing as instructed, he placed his hand inside the first box. He let his hand touch every material he came across, waiting for there to be a reaction. Just when he had been about to give up and move on to the next box, he felt a warm sensation from the object he was touching, without thinking twice he pulled it out.

In his hand sat a thick reddish-brown piece of wood that felt smooth to the touch and was no bigger than the palm of his hand. The wood felt like it was pulsing in sink with his heartbeat. Taking his eyes from the piece of wood, he gave it to Asha’s extended hand. Harry proceeded to do the same with the remaining boxes until he was presented with four objects.

The piece of wood, a white feather with gold stripes along it, a piece of golden fur and a purple stone that had some yellow and orange coming through under the right light. He had no idea what each of these elements meant, he barely even remembered the properties of his previous wand, let alone the lecture Ollivanders gave him when he asked what was the difference between each wood and core.

“Fir wood, thunderbird feather, nemean lion fur and ametrine” Priya said in a pensive tone, looking at all the materials chosen by the young wizard, she suspected that the little one was quite powerful and would likely grow in power in the future. Harry still had no clue what that meant.

“We’ll have your wand by tomorrow” announced Asha, staring at the green-eyed kid with curious eyes. They had never done a wand with that kind of combination before, but she was thrilled by the challenge it presented.

After paying for the wand, the sisters exchanged farewells with the small group before they left the shop. Mirta and Icarus then took the opportunity to get some new robes for their young charge, something that had – at first – terrified Harry. But once he remembered that he was no longer the boy who lived – at least not in this time – he relaxed and let the seamstress do as she pleased.

They left the establishment with quite a few bags containing around thirty outfits, they would have been more had Harry not reasoned with Mrs. Peverell that he was going to outgrow those cloths in a few months, so she had settle for thirty. With that done, they apparated to Peverell manor, where Harry spent another ten hours studying magical theory before going to sleep.

The next day, the three of them had gone to pick up Harry’s new wand. Once the wand was placed in his hand, he felt warmth rush through his veins. He felt like he was greeting a very old friend, like coming home after a long, long time. He had barely contained the need to dance and scream in joy. He had never felt that with his previous wand, he wondered if this was exactly how it should feel all the time.

Thanking the Sharma sisters for the wand, they left and returned to the manor, where Harry began the practical side of his summer crash course. For the past two weeks he had woken up, eaten breakfast with the couple in their dining room, spent hours upon hours learning all he could, eating dinner, lectures, supper and then going to sleep. That was de schedule unless he was given worksheets to work through instead of lectures.

Which was what he was doing at the moment.

Earlier that day, Mrs. Peverell decided to give him a more relaxed day, so he only left him some worksheets that he had to do. He had flied through the workload given to him, all thanks to the tutoring he received from them both. There were still some spells that took him more time to be able to perfect but, he could say with confidence, that he had improved a lot. Still, that did not mean that he liked to go through so much material in such a short amount of time.

Taking a deep breath, he tried the charm one more time, closing his eyes and picturing what he wanted to happen to the book in front of him.

“Concelo” Harry felt his magic flow through him and channel itself into his wand, a feeling he had began to be familiar with. Once he stopped feeling the influx of magic, he opened his eyes to see… nothing. He felt a triumphant smile grace his face, the spell had worked as it should.

Concelo was a spell that made objects invisible to people, the interesting part of this charm was that it tricked the senses of other people into believing there was nothing there, similar to the confundus charm. It was a second-year spell that he had never learned in his time and could think of a time or two where it could have been useful. He wondered if he would be able to use it on a person or animal. Harry made a mental note to ask Mrs. Peverell when he saw her for supper.

Casting the counter charm, he took the book and went to sit in – what had now become – his armchair in the library. The Peverell library had become almost like a second room to Harry as he spent most of his time there working over his worksheets and reading books that he found interesting, like the one in his hand.

The book in his hands was one about potions. His years with Snape had pretty much destroyed his previous excitement for the subject, and with the dungeons bat never bothering to teach him properly, he lost all interest on it. Until now.

A week after the incident with his wand, Mr. Peverell had taken him to his laboratory and asked him about what potions he had been taught to make. He then proceeded to make him brew a simple potion to cure boils – with the instructions near by in case he didn’t remember, which he didn’t.

The poor man looked like he was in the verge of having a heart attack when he saw the careless way Harry brewed the potion, which, turned out okay but it could have been better. When Icarus asked him if he knew how to prepare the ingredient, he had not know whether to cry or be very concerned for the safety of the boy when he was met with a confused ‘there’s a way to prepare ingredients?’

Icarus promptly threw everything away that was not to important today and began to teach the very basics of potion making to Harry. From how the thinness of the slices affected the potion to how the position of the stars could help strengthen the potions. He went into particular detain on what not to do while brewing and that one most always, always make sure that the ingredients that need to be added are added, unless you want it to blow up on your face. After that particular lecture he had gone to ask a very amused Archer for a headache reliever.

Thanks to Mr. Peverell drumming that information in his head – patiently of course - Harry began to show a lot of improvement in his brewing. And he found out that he quite a knack for it – not as great as Mr. Peverell’s or Snape’s, but he would get there - the interest and excitement that he had felt so many years ago for the subject returned with a fierce passion. Once again, he cursed Snape to the nine hells and back for never bothering to teach the proper basics of potions.

With his interest for brewing back, he began to read everything he could about potions and make the potions that he was supposed to have learned in his first and second year. Something that had pleased the elder wizard, for he had always wanted someone with whom he could share his love for the craft aside of his dear wife.

Once, Archer had found him in the lab looking for him for his checkup. When he saw him, all hunched up making notes in the piece of parchment he had brought so as not to damage the books, he had muttered that they did not need another Icarus in this household – or world for that matter. Mrs. Peverell had found the whole thing very amusing.

And so, making himself cozy in the big armchair, he began to read and relax. Only for the sound of footsteps to disturb his momentary peace.

Bookmarking the page, he was in, he turned emerald green eyes toward the newcomer. The wizard that he had just been thinking about stood in the doorway wearing a pair of baggy beige trousers a gray button up shirt and a pair of brown leather boots. A casual outfit, one that he had often seen the lord of the manor wear whenever he went to the sanctuary, a place he had not seen yet.

“Hadrian, the wizard I was looking for” he said “come with me for a moment”

Tilting his head in curiosity, Harry shrugged before leaving the book he had been reading on top of the coffee table beside the armchair and raising to his feet – following the older man out of the room.

Throughout the entire journey to whatever their destination may be, Harry spent his time looking around the property. Everywhere he looked, he is eyes were greeted with beautiful green grass and bushes of different flowers that would have made his aunt Petunia jealous. Every now and then he would catch a glimpse of a fountain or the sculpture of a mythological creature or a divinity.

Eventually, both wizards made it the entrance of what Harry thought looked like a coliseum. There were two thunderbird statues at the entrance of the building and several roman styled pillars decorated the outside of the structure, the top of the building had a glass dome covering it. Harry supposed that this place may be the sanctuary that the Mr. Peverell told him about a while back.

Making their way inside the building, Harry confirmed the presence of wards as he felt them brush lightly against his skin. He deduced that they would be necessary to prevent the animals from destroying the place.

He stood at the entrance of the building and took a moment to appreciate the place, it was obvious that an expansion charm had been cast on it because it looked considerably bigger inside than it was on the outside.

The lobby of the sanctuary had its walls painted in cream tones, nice gray tiled floors covered the floor and a simple light brown carpet finished the look. Several paintings depicting flowers, mountains and sea covered the place and the simple wooden furniture added an elegant tone to the room without it being too overpowering. He liked it, maybe he would come here to read when he grew tired of the library.

He was brought back to reality when he heard Mr. Peverell call out to him from beside him, giving the older man a sheepish smile at being caught not paying attention to him.

Icarus just gave him an amused smile before he repeated what he had been saying, “Welcome to the sanctuary Hadrian, this is where he house magical creatures that have been rescued – where we heal and care for them – or creatures that we have adopted over the years” he then turned on his heels and walked towards the hallways that was to his right, waiting for Harry to follow him before continuing on.

“Now, you have never seen an Aethonan before have you?”

“No sir” Harry responded, out of habit adding the sir at the end.

“Oh, don’t call me sir please, the word makes me feel old” he shuttered making the young wizard laugh a little before apologizing “Anyways, how would you like to meet one?”

Harry stared blankly at Mr. Peverell, was that were he was taking him? To where the Aethonan resided? He wouldn’t mind meeting them, he had always liked meeting new magical creatures, but the problem was that he knew nothing of the creature – what if he did something wrong and decided to attack him?

“Don’t worry, they are quite peaceful. And I’ll be near you at all times” Icarus reassured the child after seen the look on his face. He would never bring him anywhere near a magical creature that could hurt him, the aethonans were one of the most tranquil creatures and they rarely attacked humans. The only occasions that that had happened was when their foals had been hurt.

Harry relaced at the words from the elder wizard and kept pace with him as they approached a door that had a silver place that read: Aethonan. Giving the raven-haired wizard a reassuring smile, Icarus turned the doorknob, opened the door and motion for Harry to enter.

Stepping inside, Harry was taken by surprise by the sight that greeted him. Grassland covered the ground instead of the tiles he had seen in the lobby and hallway, trees and bushes instead of columns and statues – there was even what he suspected to be an artificial sun. The air was a little more humid than it was outside, thanking his forethought to wear a short-sleeved shirt today, else he would be very uncomfortable right now. He marveled at the small river that flowed near by with small fishes jumping from it every now and then. He really loved magic.

The Peverell patriarch leaned against the entryway, watching the small child looking around the room. Seeing the look of wonder on the child’s face made Icarus chuckle, if the kid reacted that way to the room, he wondered how he would act when he met its inhabitants.

Pushing himself from his resting place, he placed his fingers on his mouth and gave a sharp whistle – startling Harry in the process. Soon the sounds of hooves hitting the ground was heard, sounding louder and louder as they approached their location. Moving to stand beside the confused kid, he waited for their companions to arrive.

Four winged horses broke through the bushes and came to a halt a couple of feet away from their guests. The all had a beautiful chestnut colored coat that shone in the light and graceful limbs, along with a pair of powerful wings. Three of them were adults, being at least half a foot taller than an average adult. Then there was the little calf that went to hid behind its parents’ legs, peering from behind them the newcomers.

Harry let out a small laugh at the actions of the youngest of the pack, it just looked so cute in his eyes. He admired the rest of the adults with wonder and curiosity – and maybe a dash of healthy caution. The were very beautiful in his opinion and graceful too, he wondered how they would look in the air.

“So that’s an Aethoan” he said in an awe filled voice.

“Yes” Icarus nodded, taking a few steps away, he sat in a nearby rock “And now you just have to let them come to you”

Harry blinked, then he blinked again, “say what?”

Chapter Text

Not moving from his resting place, he spoke to the frozen kid “Take a step forward, slowly, they will come to you when they are ready. Extend your hand when they do, they’ll try to scent you, let them”

Harry stared at the older wizard for a long while before giving a hesitant nod. Doing as he had been instructed, he couldn’t help but be reminded of a similar experience so many years ago. In that moment, he felt like he was back to his third year at Hogwarts, back to his Care of Magical Creatures class. He found it amusing, as he was going to start his third year in this time.

He planned to take CoMC again, he had taken that class to learn more about the new world he was in and not just because of the easy O he could get – back in the day. That class had actually been his favorite – to him – it was the undeniable proof that he was no longer with his relatives. Truth be told, he would have liked a better teacher.

Not that he had anything against the half giant, he was a nice guy with a good heart, but he didn’t know a thing about how to teach children. And more importantly, what to teach them. Introducing a hippogriff – a creature known to get offended easily – to a bunch of dramatic and angsty thirteen-year-old kids on their first class was probably not the wisest of ideas. Specially when they knew nothing of the creature.

Standing a few feet away from the winged horses, he extended his hand and tried to look as non-threatening as possible. One of the members of the pack broke away from the group and approached Harry. The green-eyed wizard thought that the creature was as big as Buckbeak had been, at least it would not shred his arm if he didn’t like him. But it might bite my hand off a voice in the back of his head, not helping his nervous state.

The animal stared at the extended hand for a moment before placing its snout close to it and began to sniff it. After sniffing his hand, the aethonan let out a sneeze that made the young wizard jump in surprise. He began to relax sightly when the creature stepped back, only to freeze when its snout began to sniff his head.

This was so not part of the plan. What was he supposed to do now? Was the Aethonan going to bite his head off? Should he stay where he was, or should he start running for the hills? Running would probably be useless, he was pretty sure that the creatures would outrun him very easily.

He was brought out of his train of thoughts by the two new presences beside him. Harry had not noticed when the other two aethonans had approached him, he began to panic when they began to sniff him everywhere. The newcomers had downright ignored the extended hand and gone for his head, his shoulders and arms. Nudging him one way or another.

Panicked emerald eyes sought for the adult that would offer him some guidance. Emerald made contact with jade, seeing the distressed look on the kid’s face Icarus let out a booming laugh. One would think that the kid was facing a gang of evil wizards instead of a pack of gentle and curious animals.

Getting a hold of his laughter, he spoke “Don’t worry, they are just curious” though he did find if interesting that all of the aethonans – minus the calf - approached him at the same time, they tended to wait until the leader of the pack gave the all clear.

Harry gave a jerky nod “So I just… stay like this until they leave?” he asked in a slightly nervous tone, this was so different from his time with Buckbeak. At least back then, he had only dealt with one individual not three.

“Pretty much, yes” responded the older man, Harry could see that the jade eyed wizard was getting a lot of amusement out of his situation. Guess it was funny from his point of view watching a small child being swallowed by three enormous, winged creatures that seemed like they were a moment away from trying to see if his hair was food or not. “When they leave, you can then try to feed them”

Harry wanted to ask how long he would be in this position but stayed quite when the youngest of the pack finally stood up and made his way to him. Somehow, the young foal didn’t cause him to panic when it approached him, was it because it was a baby or because it barely reached his waist? Either way, he felt himself relaxing a tiny bit, watching as the little one approached him and began to sniff him.

After what felt like hours but was probably minutes, the creatures took a step back from him, making the young wizard let out a breath of relief. Bringing his extended hand down, he mentally celebrated that he didn’t get bitten and they didn’t do anything to him, so that was a good sign right?

The leader of the pack then did something that Harry had not expected, he nudged his hand, kind of reminding him of a dog for a moment. Confused as to why he was doing so, he turned to the only person that could give him answers.

“Rouge wants you to pet him” Icarus explained when he saw the questioning look of the younger wizard. “I’m surprised, he normally doesn’t want to be petted by people he has just met” and it was true. Aethonans in general tolerate the presence of strangers near them, but they didn’t like being touched by them. Not to mention that it was rare for them to nudge a stranger to pet them after minutes of meeting them. His only conclusion for this behavior would be that they liked Hadrian because he was young and made them see Hadrian as one of their own.

The aethonan – newly named Rouge – continued to nudge Harry’s hand, so he went along with what had been explained and carefully began to pet them. His coat felt surprisingly soft with a slight coarse feeling from the pieces of leaves and grass stuck there. Giddiness filled him when the creature let out a satisfied huff, this was a very new experience for him, and he liked it.

As a kid, his uncle and aunt had taken Dudley to a camp where they had had the opportunity of feeding the horses they had there – they had even been taught the basis of horse riding. But as always, he had been left behind with Mrs. Figg and her thousand cats. He remembered feeling jealous of his cousin for being able to be near such beautiful animals as well as sad that he might never have that opportunity.

And now he was petting one, being sniffed by one and would soon be feeding it. Even if an Aethonan was not technically a horse, it was pretty close for him. He let himself smile as the creature bumped his snout on his face when he stopped petting him, asking him silently to continue. Maybe he had overreacted with the creature a bit, even if his reaction had been completely justified, one could not be certain that an animal would not attack you at any moment.

The Peverell patriarch watched with soft eyes as the other members of the pack went to Hadrian, demanding his attention, and said wizard let a small smile at them indulging their demands – finally relaxing from his initial panic and enjoying the experience. Now, he thought, Hadrian looked like what he actually was, a child. One that was going to be overwhelmed by the aethonans of he didn’t intervene now.

“All right now” he said, standing up from his place on the boulder he made his way towards the little group “let the kid breath, we still need to give you your treats”

With a disappointed huff, they aethonans backed away from Harry – all but one. Rouge had decided that Harry’s head was a perfect place to rest his own head on. Harry for his part let him stay there as the weight didn’t bother him in the slightest, making the older man shoo the creature himself with a light laugh.

Now that he was free of them, Icarus motioned for him to follow him to the small cabin that was nearby, the young foal following close behind the both of them. Taking a look inside the building he thought that the place looked like it could use with a little clean up.

A simple table sat in the middle accompanied by two chairs, boxes and big sacks littered the place and there was some equipment used to care for horses. Harry suspected that caring for an aethonan was similar to caring for a horse, he would have to ask Mr. Peverell to be sure. Looking around he noticed some sacks filled with what he assumed would be food and, in a corner… were those riding saddles he saw there? Did the Peverells ride them often? Wasn’t that dangerous for people their age?

His train of thoughts was interrupted by the sound of Mr. Peverell taking a hold of one of the sacks and dragging it to the entrance of the cabin. Remembering that Mr. Peverell was an elder, he hastily went to help him take the sack out. His actions warming the heart of the old man.

“Thank you, Hadrian,” he said once they were outside of the cabin “now, how would you feel about helping me feed these enthusiastic and impatient fellows while I tell you more about them?” he asked, taking out a bucket, filling it with grain from the sack and draining it on one of the feeders.

Nodding enthusiastically, Harry went ahead and took a bucket and repeated the process with another of the feeders. He listened as Mr. Peverell told him about how their coats work similar to the scales of dragons, meaning that they were fire resistant. Making their coats very useful for crafting fire resistant robes, even though they were not as popular as dragon hide.

He told him how they tend to prefer warm climates instead of cold once, as it tended to weaken them. He told him what they preferred to eat – hay, grass or grain, preferably oats -, the treats that can be given to them – apples, peaches and carrots – and how often they needed to bath. This confirmed that Aethonans were cared the same way that normal horses were. How they are not known for being the fastest of their kind, but they compensate than with their ability to wield fire whenever they felt threatened.

Harry hummed in understanding before stopping what he had been doing, finally processing what he had been told “Wait, you’re telling me that they could have burned me if they had decided I was a threat?” now he was thankful that they had liked him because he was not sure he would have been able to evade their fire.

“No” Icarus was quick to say, he bit back a grimace at the look in Harry’s face that said he didn’t believe him. “It was very unlikely to happen. Aethonans are quite gentle creatures and only resort to using flames as a way to scare away their pursuers, it’s rare that they use them to hurt anybody. They mostly just fly away” he explained.

“Well that makes me feel better” Harry deadpanned.

“It might make you feel better to know that their flames are very weak compared to dragon flames. Think of them being like the Incendio charm, small flames that can burn someone but – in the worst-case scenario – they’ll be left with second degree burns. They mostly create flames that just singe your clothes” Icarus said in a soothing manner.

Harry hummed his understanding. It certainly did make him feel better knowing that he would not have ended up being burn to cinders. Still a little warning would have been welcomed. He will admit that this was considerably better than that first class with Hagrid, he was being introduced to a more or less tame creature and being taught about them. He couldn’t remember the half giant teaching them much about the creatures that they saw, just how they were nice and could potentially kill them.

“Do they get scared easily?” he asked, it would be useful to know so he could try and prevent his clothes getting singed. He could also get himself some fire proof clothes or maybe he could just charm them?

“In the wild, yes. In captivity, they tend to be less prone to startle” Mr. Peverell said “More often than not, they will try to burn someone that hurts them. But aside of that, they mostly bite and kick”

So, like a normal horse Harry thought, good to know. Finishing his task in filling the feeders, he felt a sense of accomplishment watching all the aethonans eat peacefully. All his life he had only had Hedwig to look after, and that had been very complicated to do even with her being able to fly and find her own food. So, this was nice, maybe a little therapeutic.

The older wizard approached him and hesitantly laid his hand on the boy’s shoulder, ready to remove it if he felt uncomfortable “Well done Hadrian” he said. Those words made Harry turn to the older man, a bright smile on his lips, warmth finding a place in his heart. He had also noticed how Mr. Peverell had been cautious to touch him, giving him time to reject the touch. He knew that not everybody wished him harm, specially at this time, but he had rarely received a friendly touch – not counting the healer’s touch.

“How would you like to come here to help me a little bit when you want to relax?” asked the head of the family. He knew the young wizard needed to catch up to a lot of knowledge, but he also needed to relax from time to time – maybe this would help him do so.

Harry considered the question, petting the foal that had begun to bump its head on his leg. “I would like it very much” he said with a small smile on his lips.

Later that night, Harry would lay in bed with a satisfied smile on his face. The more time he spent on the past, the more he liked it – even if he had a ton of things to do. Coming here was probably the best decision he had made in a really long time.

*******

“Care to explain to me, why we’re here?” asked a very annoyed Harry as he walked on what he suspected was a cemetery, following the cloaked figure that had rudely woken him up from his very lovely dream.

For the past week he had kept to his schedule of eating breakfast, studying, dinner, studying some more, supper and sleep. But he had added to the schedule a few hours of spending time with his new aethonan friends and Mr. Peverell had taken to introducing him to new magical creatures like the niffler, the bowtruckle and kneazles. He explained patiently what they could do, why they could be considered dangerous, their eating habits and their preferred living spaces. He loved them and thought they were much more appropriate to teach about than a bloody man-eating acromantula.

Yesterday had been a particular exhausting day as Ash, as he had taken to call the young foal, had made Harry chase him across the grassland that was his home. The little one didn’t seem to grasp the fact that Harry did not have the same amount of stamina that he did. So, after finishing his ‘work’ in the sanctuary he had collapsed on his bed.

Only to be awoken a few hours later by the only being that could probably safely get away with disturbing his sleep – aside of the Peverells. But that’s because they were still strangers in his mind, even if he was warming up to the idea of being with them, no way was he going to show his worst side to them.

Anyhow, Death had all but jumped on the bed, making Harry’s sleeping body raise a good three feet in the air before falling back down – by that point Harry had woken up and gotten the scare of a lifetime. After that wakeup call, he had questioned Death why he thought that would be a good way to wake him up. His answer left him speechless for a few moments, apparently Death had seen many humans do that to wake up people and thought that it was normal. In a way it was, just that it was mostly reserved for when you wanted to skyrocket someone’s blood pressure.

Before he could even begin to explain to him that he had cut down a few years from his lifespan, he had grabbed his arm and apparated them both here. For a graveyard, he had to admit that it looked quite nice – it would probably look better if there was sunlight illuminating the place.

From what little he could see with the light of the torches; he saw several headstones raising from the ground accompanied with statues of a creature or deity. In front of every headstone there were plaques that he assumed spoke of the people buried there as well as several flowerpots. Getting closer to one of the headstones, he saw that it was very well preserved and clean – then again, he should not be surprised, with magic it was easier to preserve something.

“Well, there is someone that wants to meet you” Death began, bringing the raven-haired wizard’s attention away from the stone plaque he had been reading “I also thought that you would like to have someone to speak to when the time comes”

Harry frowned “When the time comes? Time for what, Death?”

“Your magical inheritances of course”

Of course, Harry thought, he had forgotten that Dumbles had placed a block on that. He wondered what kind of inheritance he would get, in all honesty he didn’t much about it. He knew that it was possible to become a Seer or an empath but aside of that he was clueless about what he could get.

“And this person that wants to meet me might be able to what – guide me? Wouldn’t Mr. and Mrs. Peverell be able to do the same?” he asked, coming to stand beside the cloaked figure.

“They will be able to help you with a part of that inheritance” Death began “but not all of it. I am almost certain that most of the gifts that you might gain will be rare and there might not be anyone alive in the country that might help you”

Death took his scythe and waved it around the headstone that they were currently facing, “I do think journals may be helpful, but I believe that it is much better to learn from the source”

Harry stared at Death for a moment, pondering on what he had told him. In all honesty, the old being was right. Reading journals written by wixens of old would be able to pave the way for him, but it would be a bumpy ride – particularly because the person that wrote the journal would not be able to answer his questions.

The temperature of the place began to descend as a figure took shape in front of them. In a matter of seconds, an old man stood before them. But it was easy to note that he was not alive as his whole body was see through. Stretching out as if he had just woken up from a nap, he turned to face the pair.

“About time you called old man!” his voice sounded surprisingly strong for someone that was – well dead. Harry noticed that the ghost was glaring daggers at Death, guess one lost their fear of the being after their deaths.

Death merely laughed and spoke to Harry “Allow me to introduce you to the man that had wanted to meet you for a while”

“I can do that myself, thank you very much” grunted the ghost, pinning the younger wizard under a pair of pale blue eyes, he gave the youngster a slightly crocked smile “Hello, Harry Potter. I am Ignotus Achelous Peverell, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you”

Harry was pretty sure that if not for the fact that his jaw was attached to the rest of his face, it would have hit the floor. He supposed being woken up at three in the morning might just be worth it.

Chapter Text

“As much as I loved talking with my ancestor, why did you bring me here Death?”

After Ignotus’s introduction, Harry had been confused as how it was possible that he knew about him, seeing as he had not been born yet. Death later explained that time worked different when you were dead. As time does not limit souls, they can pretty much jump from time period to time period at will.

Because of this, ghosts and spirits tended to lose track of time and not differentiate daytime from nighttime. It certainly didn’t help that they could not see the world as they once did when they were alive, according to Ignotus. He mentioned that he saw the world as if through some sort of fog that made things less vibrant. This explained why Harry had been pulled out of his bed at three in the morning.

This explanation came after Ignotus asked why he had been dressed in pajamas. He had given Death an unimpressed glare before apologizing to the young wizard. Turned out that the ancient being forgot to inform his old friend that it was nighttime at the moment and Harry would probably be asleep.

This prompted the young wizard to give the cloaked figure an annoyed look, he had the vague feeling that Death had not forgotten and decided to simply annoy Harry Potter because he could.

He didn’t spend much time speaking with his ancestor, despite the fact that he had been enjoying himself, after letting out a big yawn in mid conversation. Ignotus Peverel had downright chased him out of the graveyard and ordered him to go to sleep as soon as he returned to his room, saying that he needed to sleep as much as possible so he could grow tall and not be the tiny thing that he had been before.

Fortunately, that was an order that he was more than happy to follow.

“What do you know of magical inheritances, little master?” Death asked instead of answering.

Harry scrunched up his nose at the ‘little master’ comment, it reminded him that he was physically a kid and not the seventeen-year-old man he had been a little over a month ago, “Not much. Just that not many have it and that it’s common to get empath, seer or spell crafting”

Death nodded, “Magical inheritances are indeed rare in your time. They are more common in this time period. Wizards get their magical inheritance between the ages of thirteen and fifteen, witches get theirs between twelve and fifteen – a little bit earlier than their male counterparts”

Harry blinked thirteen he said? “Wait, so you think I might have one in two days’ time?” the cloaked figure gave a nod of affirmation at the frowning young wizard. In his previous timeline he had not had a magical inheritance… or had he? He was pretty sure that the results had stated that it hadn’t been completely blocked. Could parseltongue be considered a magical inheritance? Harry made a mental note to ask Death about it when he didn’t feel like he was about to collapse on the ground.

Once the both of them had reached the entrance of the graveyard, Death took hold of Harry and apparated the both of them to Harry’s room. The young wizard immediately dove under the covers and made himself comfortable on the bed, making the entity chuckle softly at his master’s antics.

“To answer your question, yes. I believe that your inheritance might come in a few days” after all, it was very common for people who had big magic cores to manifest their magical inheritance at a very young age - usually at thirteen, sometimes even younger than that. Death was confident that his little master would get his inheritance as soon as the clock stroke midnight on his birthday.

Harry hummed his understanding “Guess I should get a book about it. To be prepared for what I may face on my birthday”

“Maybe, although it’s not necessary. The process usually leaves you drained and sometimes sick, it varies for everyone. Not going to lie, there have been cases where it was painful”

“Good to know” mumbled Harry, he was so getting a book about inheritances as soon as he could “Can I go to sleep now? Or is there something else I should know?” When Death shook his head, Harry wished him a goodnight and tucked in for the night. All the while knowing that he would need to wake up early for his lessons, oh joy.

**************

“Convenio Misceo”

When the two pieces of metal covered in different runes showed no change whatsoever, Harry let out a frustrated sigh. Shaking himself a little, he tried the spell once more, this time concentrating more on what he wanted his magic to do.

“Convenio Misceo” he said in a clear voice. Again, nothing happened. Harry was very tempered to take the pieces and throw them out, but refrained himself and, instead, went and took a seat in his favorite armchair in the library.

“Relax, Hadrian. This spell is heavily fueled by your emotions and intent, being stressed will not make it work” Mrs. Peverell said in a soft calm voice.

“Here” she placed a teacup in the coffee table that was beside his armchair, “Have a cup of tea, it might help you relax”

Harry gave her a tired and grateful smile, accepting the offered tea, “Thank you, Mrs. Peverell”

The tea did help him relax a little, but sadly, it could not give him back the hours of sleep that Death had taken from him last night. Nor could it magically help him understand the exercise that he was supposed to be doing.

Soon after finishing breakfast, Mrs. Peverell had taken him to the library to finally start practicing the practical side of the spells used in Alchemy. The first five spells had not been complicated for him, but as soon as they came upon the Combining spell, he had been unable to move forward.

It frustrated him.

Harry suspected that his lack of sleep could be playing a role in his current predicament, but he was not entirely sure and had no way of proving it. Still, he did not understand why it was not working. He made sure that he had pronounced the spell correctly, he had checked then he doubled checked that his runes were placed properly on the pieces of metal, and yet, he had failed to make it work as it should.

The exercise was simple really. He just needed to combine two pieces of metal into one using a combination of runes and a spell. The runes needed to be carved or painted with black ink – though carving the runes was very much preferred - on the objects that needed to be combined.

According to what the books said, you needed to picture the two objects merging into one. It didn’t matter if they were not mixed completely on your first try, second years just focused on merging the objects. In Hogwarts, getting to even merge a little of the objects together, is considered quite a feat for twelve-year-olds.

The Peverell couple had told him, on their second year, Hogwarts students use this exercise to help students focus on their intent and to learn to regulate the magic they use. If they pour too much magic too quickly, they will melt down the object or they’ll make it explode. If they pour it too little magic, its very likely that the objects will not even move.

And Harry had spent the past hour trying to make this spell work and so far, he had not even managed to make the small metals to do anything. He would at least feel better if he had managed to make them shake but nop. He got nothing. And he didn’t know if he wanted to punch someone or curl up and cry in frustration.

Mirta had noticed that this morning Hadrian did not seem to be as concentrated as he usually was. His attention kept on being pulled by everything else except the two pieces of metal sitting in front of him. The dark bags under his emerald eyes did not go unnoticed by her.

She sighted, maybe the pressure of learning two years’ worth of so many subjects had finally caught up to him. Hadrian may be very powerful, but he was not invincible and was – at the end of the day – only human.

“Is there something on your mind, Hadrian? You seem a little distracted” she said.

Harry pondered whether he should tell the Peverell matriarch what had happened the night before. On one side he was not used to telling adults anything unusual that he had experienced, even if the logical thing would be to tell them, because they didn’t tend to listen to him. On the other side, Mrs. Peverell might be able to explain him better what he could expect from his upcoming inheritance. 

Shrugging his shoulders, he began to tell her the events that led to sleep deprived state. From the moment that Death dragged him out of bed to his last conversation with the entity. Throughout his conversation, he kept the tiny detail of his true name to himself, only stating that Ignotus seemed to have known about him.

In the few weeks that he had spent in the presence of the couple, he had come to feel comfortable and quite happy. Happier than he had been in a long time actually. But he still did not feel comfortable enough to tell them his past.

After he finished his tale, he waited to see what the older witch would do. He gave a confused look when she shook her head and let out an exasperated sigh.

“He always does this kind of thing. Appearing before us in the most inopportune of times” Mirta explained to the green-eyed boy “Much like spirits and ghosts, he does tend to forget that time works differently for those that belong to the realm of the living”

“So, he really forgot it was nighttime? I thought he had done it to annoy me” Harry said.

“Maybe, Lord Death also likes to do this kind of thing on porpoise” the elder witch said in tired and fond voice. She had lost count of the times Lord Death had almost given her a heart attack just because he had been bored.

Harry scrounged his nose, so he had been right. The ancient being had done that just to get to him. Or more like, it was highly possible that he had done so. He would need to ask the old entity to confirm this.

“Are there books that I can read about magical inheritances? I don’t think Death’s words are enough to prepare me for what may happen” he inquired the elder woman. In the short month that he had spent with her he had learned something important, and that was that if there was anyone that knew this library like the back of their hand, it was Mirta Peverell.

Mirta smiled and gave him a nod before eagerly standing up to make her way to one of the many bookcases that were in the room. Harry watched as she went from bookshelf to bookshelf, taking books as she went. Soon, a piled of books was dropped in front of him. A small cloud of dust made Harry sneeze before reaching out for the first book on the pile.

The title read Magical gifts and legacies by William J. Selwyn, the cover was done in a beautiful royal blue color and the pages looked a little yellow. All and all, it was in perfect condition. The next book that he picked up was titled Wizard kind classification throughout the ages by Erasmus Smith. Now that title picked his interest.

After giving his thanks, he immediately dived into the book. Lesson completely forgotten in favor of learning more about the world he lived in. Mirta chuckled at the child’s behavior, he reminded her of herself sometimes.

His thirst for knowledge and creativity when using spells rivaled her own, she was almost tempted to duel with the kid to see what he could do. Maybe she could ask him for a duel to practice what he had learned. But perhaps at a later date, when he felt more at home with them.

She really enjoyed having Hadrian with them, making the house livelier. She loved teaching the young wizard what she knew, loved seeing him play with the creatures that were in the sanctuary and get on debates with her. The more time she spent with the boy, the more Mirta just wanted to keep him with her and spoil him rotten.

Which reminded her of something she had discussed with her husband the day before.

“Hadrian” she called in a hesitant tone. Green eyes left the book he was devouring and gazed at her with curiosity, he had only heard her speak in that tone when he first met her.

“Caru and I have talked. Your thirteen birthday is just around the corner and – well, we wanted to know if there is anything in particular that you would like as a gift?” she said, a small smile gracing her lips.

Harry blinked. Then he blinked again. “I… Sorry, what?”

“A birthday gift, Hadrian. Is there something you would like for it?” she repeated herself.

Harry’s mind came blank. He had never been asked if he would like something for his birthday, not even the Weasleys or his friends had asked. He was used to just having food sent to him and candy, but they were often sent to make sure he lasted through his hellish summers. And his relatives would sooner die than get him a birthday gift.

Now that he was being asked what he would like, he just could not think of anything. What could he possibly want? He had a room, food and did not have to watch over his back all the time.

“I… I don’t want anything in particular” he began, seeing the smile fall from the witch’s face he hurried to add “I have everything I could need, there really is nothing I want”

“Nothing? Nothing at all?” Mirta was confused, surely a child would want something for birthday. The liked to ask for toys and brooms and the like, could it be that Hadrian felt embarrassed to ask for something?

Harry looked down and played with his fingers while he pondered who to answer the question. Suddenly he remembered something. Whenever it was Dudley’s birthday, his aunt and uncle would sing a birthday song to him while presenting him with a chocolate birthday cake.

He remembered that whenever he saw that, he was filled with an intense sense of longing, wishing his own parents would do the same for him. He remembered how much he craved for someone to wish him a happy birthday and hug him. His godfather had tried to do something for him when he had been alive, but because he was a convicted criminal, he could not do much.

“Well… There might be something I want” Harry watched as the witch seemed to perk up at his words, was it really that important to get him something?

“What is it little one?” Mirta said after the child stayed quite for a while, urging him to continue.

“I…Can I have treacle tart as cake? And could I – Could I also get a birthday song?” Harry felt his face burn the moment those words left his mouth, he rapidly lowered his face to try and hide it; he was sure he looked like a tomato. He had always had pale skin in the past due to not getting enough sun and food, but even if he now sported a more golden color of skin, he’s blushes were still very noticeable.

Mirta blinked and stared in bafflement at the child’s request. Birthday songs were a given and so was cake, even if the ‘cake’ he wanted was unusual. Could it be that Hadrian had never gotten those things before? Not even when he had been an adult before coming here?

The thought sadden the older witch, and what sadden her more what the realization that Hadrian had probably never received a proper birthday present. This made her wonder once again, just what kind of life had he lived before?

Putting another smile on her face, she spoke to the blushing boy, “Then I better start looking for my recipe book. It’s been a long time since I last baked that tart”

Harry rose his head and stared at the witch in surprise. He had expected to be rejected, but it looked like his request would be granted.

“You are going to make it?” he asked in a hopeful tone, he didn’t want to get his hopes high but the look on Mrs. Peverell’s face was making it difficult for him not to.

“Of course! It’s a tradition to always bake the birthday cake of the celebrated one without the help of the elves” she explained.

“Also” she added, “We wish to take you somewhere before your birthday, if you would like to that is”

Harry got curious, where could they possibly want to take him to? And why before his birthday? He asked the lady of the house as much.

“Because of your possible inheritance. You may feel to exhausted to do anything that day” she explained.

Harry blinked, that made sense. “Okay, I would like to go”

Mirta beamed at the reply she got, “excellent, now” she pointed at the two pieces of metal before turning to face the raven-haired child “Ready to give it another try?”

“Sure” Harry put the book aside and went towards the table, now that his mind felt a little bit more relaxed maybe he would get better results this time.

**********

“Are you sure about this Tita? Maybe we should wait a little longer before doing this” Icarus said to his wife. Trying to catch up to her as she walked in a brisk pace towards the office of their Gringotts accountant. For someone her age, she sure moved fast.

“Yes Caru, I want him to have a home that he can return to after going to Hogwarts” Mirta replied over her shoulder, not bothering to slow down to wait for her husband. She had been waiting a long time to do this, she was not going to let the opportunity pass by.

Mirta was aware that she would need to ask the child if he was okay with this, but there was no harm in making the document in advance. If Hadrian wanted to go with this, he just needed to sign it and if he did not want to, he could choose not to sign it. The document could then be stored away for when they could use it again.

“We must remember that before he came here, he was an adult. He might not want to sign the document, Tita” Icarus argued, but it lacked heat. Much like his partner, he wanted little Hadrian to stay with them, he had become quite attached with the little one. They both had.

They had spent many hours debating whether they should take Hadrian in and make him part of the family. Hours wondering if he would the idea of being adopted.

For years, the couple had tried in vain to conceive a child. All their attempts ended with miscarriages and broken hearts. When they finally decided to adopt children, they faced the obstacle that they all feared them.

Whenever one of them tried to approach one of the orphan children in the orphanages, they would cry and try to run away from them. And no matter what they did, it was always the same result. At some point they had given up hope to one day have a child to care for.

But then Hadrian came into their lives. He had known who they were and still had not feared them, if anything, he had looked at them in awe. He was smart, kind and a hard worker. He was exactly what the couple had been looking for all this time.

And they were both aware that Lord Death had tasked them with looking over him and that could be achieved better if they adopted him. That way the Ministry would not take him away from them and leave him in a family that may exploit him or lock him up depending on what his inheritance ends up being.

Mirta and Icarus were also aware of the circumstances that brought Hadrian to their time and could help him with his role as Master of Death. Something that not many wizarding families could do. But they mostly wanted Hadrian for themselves because they were selfish and wanted to be the ones to raise and protect him.

“There’s no harm in trying” Mirta said, knocking on the door where their goblin accountant would have been waiting for them “I don’t want him to be alone in this world, Caru. I can see it his eyes, he had been alone for a long time”

The door opened before Icarus could respond to his wife’s comment. Entering and taking a seat, the Peverell Lord figured that it was a little to late to back down. His wife at the end of the day was right, there was no harm in trying.

As he watched their accountant, Tornak, write the adoption contract that would welcome Hadrian into the family, he began to pray to whatever deity heard him that Hadrian would like this surprise and would accept it.

Chapter Text

To many people, summer is one of the best times of the year to relax. Simply because it’s the time where you can kiss homework goodbye – for the most part – and spend time with family or friends. To most, it’s a time to travel to somewhere nice, preferably the beach, and have some fun. It’s the time where you can finally let your hair down and stretch the wings that had been tied for the better part of the year.

But to Harry James Potter, it was the worst time of the year. And it was not because of the way the sun seemed to have a personal vendetta against every living being. No, it was because to him, it had always been a time of solitude and pain. At least it used to be so while he had been with the Dursleys.

Before finding out he was a wizard, his summers were always filled with chores and bruises given to him by his ‘dear’ uncle and cousin. All of that had been bearable, even the beatings he had received after he began to have bouts of accidental magic. But the moment his acceptance letter arrived his summers turned, from just lonely and slightly painful, to a living hell.

His only respite was when he was tasked to look after the garden. Gardening had been the only chore that allowed him to be able to get out of his cousin’s second bedroom – he never considered it his own – and get to breath some fresh air, as well as some much needed sunlight.

So, it didn’t come as a surprise that Harry began dreading summers, not even the fact that he celebrated the day of his birth during that season help lessen the dark cloud that surrounded that part of his memories.

But ever since arriving in this strange yet familiar world, Harry began to understand why people loved this period of time so much.

Because, as Harry leaned against the thick trunk of an oak tree catching his breath, he could not help but think that, that day had probably been one of the best he had had in a very, very long time. In fact, he was pretty certain that he had never had a more relaxing and fun day before.

That morning he had not planned to go anywhere, he was going to stay in his bedroom (and wasn’t that a weird thing to say) and read the rest of books that were given to him to prepare him for tonight. The first few hours felt relaxing, it was nice to have a day where he did not have to worry about lessons or worksheets, but after what felt like ages of not being able to move on from the same paragraph on the book, he closed the book.

Leaving the book on his nightstand, he pondered going to the Sanctuary to visit his new friends. The Peverells had gone out telling him there was a meeting of the Wizengamont that they had to attend and would probably be kept in the Ministry for a while. Harry was honestly surprised that the Wizengamont had not held a meeting since he arrived here, he expected it to happen sooner – specially with the war going on.

The green-eyed wizard had contemplated calling on Death to keep him company and maybe answer some questions, but soon discarded the thought. Death had better things to do than to spend time with him just because he felt a little lonely.

Making up his mind, Harry stood and made his way towards the place he had been spending most of his time when he was not studying. Harry could say that the enclosure had been aptly named, to him, the Sanctuary was the safe heaven that he had always wanted – and needed.

Passing through several hallways and stairs, he made his way to the one place that he just loved to be. The communal area. This area of the Sanctuary served as a place where different kinds of magical creatures could mingle and – in the case of the younglings – play with. The place was covered with runes and charms that prevented the creatures from harming another, not that they saw much need to do so when most of them were rescued creatures and were often in a bad state that prevented them from harming others, but it was always better to be safe than sorry.

The moment that Harry set foot on the room, his winged friend came barreling towards him. Only his seeker reflexes saved him from being reacquaintance with the floor, with a very energetic aethonan foul crushing him and cutting his oxygen intake. Ash, the youngest of the aethonan herd, had become quite attached to the raven-haired wizard in the few weeks that he had known him.

It had come to a point where the little calf would follow Harry everywhere he went while in their enclosure, something that Mr. Peverell took a lot of amusement from while Mrs. Peverell found it endearing. Not that Harry minded the company.

After evading the bundle of energy that was Ash, he was then greeted by the rest of his little friends. Mily, a small and mischievous niffler that had found his way into his pocket the first day that he and Mr. Peverell had gone to her enclosure. He had gotten a small heart attack when he went to change in his room and found the little creature in the pocket of his trousers fiddling with one of his quills.

Then there was Blue, the youngest of a clutch of occamys – who had seemed to have taken a liking to Harry after feeding him. Titus, a kneazle and the last member of his little group of friends, Merry – a bowtruckle who seemed to believe Harry was a tree, albeit a strange one. There were all very different from one another, but Harry had come to loved them.

Once the greetings were over, Harry went ahead and found a comfortable place for him and his little gang to play in. The rest of the day had been filled with laughter and he chased after his friends (or more like they chased after him) and used a little bit of his magic to play with all of them.

When they all became to tired to do anything else, they all took shelter from the scotching sun underneath the cool shadow of an oak tree. Once he felt he was no longer running out of air, Harry sat down on the grass with his back leaning against the trunk of the tree.

A second later, the young wizard found himself with an armful of black fur demanding affection from him, if Milly’s trills were anything to go by. Harry easily complied to her request, chuckling when she let what could only be interpreted as a contented purr. He had not known that nifflers could purr, it was nice to find out they could.

Closing his eyes and letting himself just bask in the peacefulness of the moment. He certainly felt much more clear-headed than he had been a few hours ago, so he took the opportunity to fully digest the information he got.

Tonight, at midnight, he was very likely to get a magical inheritance, maybe even a creature one. One that had originally been sealed away and had no idea what to expect from it.

On one side, he was excited and curious; on the other hand, he was worried. Many of the books he had read mentioned that the process could be different for everyone.

Some of them were painful, some others were not, it all depended on what kind of inheritance you got. The one thing that they all seemed to have in common was the exhaustion and dizziness. Knowing his luck, Harry would bet all his galleons that his inheritance was going to be painful or at the very least make him so sick, he would not raise from his bed until September 1^st.

From what the books had mentioned, magical inheritances were very varied. Considerably much more varied than he had originally suspected. The spectrum of inheritances went from Seer and Empaths to Symphonies and Elementals, and that’s without mentioning the creature type of inheritances.

Harry seriously had no idea what he could possibly be, he would like to have a Maker inheritance. Magic that focused on enchanting the objects that he made sounded like a fun inheritance, he certainly saw himself playing a lot with that kind of magic.

If he were to choose a creature inheritance, he would honestly say he would like to have a phoenix one. How cool would it be to turn into a phoenix whenever he wanted? Not to mention that he would be able to heal himself much faster – with the amount of trouble he tended to attract - it sounded like the perfect inheritance to have. There was the bonus that he would be able to fly anywhere he wanted whenever he wanted to.

Turning his attention away from Mily, he gazed upon the sleeping form of Blue. He wondered for a moment of he would end up being a Beast mage, that would certainly help him explain why magical creatures just seem to like him. He wound not mind being one, in fact, he would probably be ecstatic if that were to happen.

Then again, he will probably be happy with whatever he got if it meant he could learn a new type of magic.

Harry became so lost in his own thoughts that he didn’t notice that he had other company until he heard the sound of someone clearing their throats. This made Harry let out a little yelp and give a little jump that caused the small niffler to let out a startled squeak.

Amused chuckles made the young wizard turn to face the newcomers, only to stare frozen as he felt a lump form on his throat. Just a few feet away from where he was resting standing in all their glory, were his temporary guardians, the Peverells. But what made him feel like he was being chocked was the look on their faces.

The fondness with which they looked at Harry was not something he was familiar with. That look had often been aimed at other people, never at him, not with that intensity. No one, not even Molly, had ever looked at him like that – and she had been the one to claim that she loved like a son.

“Are we interrupting something?” asked an amused Mirta, stepping closer towards the soon to be teen.

Before Harry could respond, Merry let out a demanding squeak and began to tug at the young man’s shirt, this usually meant that he wanted to be carried.

 “Merry, you’re going to tear the shirt, please let go” the small bowtruckle, as form of reply, began to tug harder. Harry let out a sigh and took the small creature in his hands like it was demanding of him.

“Are bowtruckles supposed to be this clingy, Mr. Peverell?” Harry asked, motioning the small being that was in his hands. This brought upon another round of chuckles from the adults.

“Only with their chosen trees, Hadrian” Icarus replied, “It would seem that little Merry sees you as his tree”

The green-eyed boy scrunched up his nose at the notion of him being mistaken for a tree, “What about nifflers?” he pointed towards the niffler that was currently resting on his lap.

This time, the lady of the house was the one to answer him “Well” she began “More often than not, they are like that towards people they either like or find pretty”

The young wizard frowned and turned to look at the small being in his lap, “Do I look pretty to you?” the niffler rose her head and regarded the young man in front of him – to Harry – it looked like she was contemplating the question. A moment later she began to nod her head a couple of times. This prompted laughter from the adults and a baffled look to grace the young man’s face.

“Okay…” he turned to face the elder couple “Is it time for another lesson?” Harry supposed that the reason that they were with him was because they had finished the business they had to attend to before and would continue with one of his lessons.

Mrs. Peverell shook her head “No little one, the elves told us you missed lunch and couldn’t find you”

“Oh” Harry said, he took his wand and casted a tempus spell to see the time, glaring at him in a soft while light were the numbers 2:35 pm. He had missed the meal by an hour. Scratching his head with a sheepish smile on his face he turned to face his … guardians? Temporary guardians?

“Sorry, I lost track of time playing with everyone” he explained.

“We can see that” said a very amused Icarus, “Now come, you need to eat something before taking you potions” he motioned for the raven-haired wizard to follow them.

Harry felt like hitting himself for forgetting the very important detail that was his potions schedule. He quickly raised from his sitting position and let Mily and Merry on the ground. After bigging goodbye to his friends – and several promises to visit again – Harry hurried after the couple.

On their way towards the manor, the couple went about making small talk with the youngest member in the manor. They asked about his day and how he felt about his upcoming birthday, Harry responded how he truthfully felt – he saw no need to lie or hide how he felt, doing that in the past had costed him a lot.

After they arrived at the dining room, they all took their seats and began to enjoy a nice warm meal. Harry’s portions being considerably smaller than they other members seated, but it was just as delicious. He really loved the food that the Peverell house elves prepared.

All throughout the meal, the young master of death noticed that the couple would exchange some looks between the two of them, he also noticed that there was a certain eagerness and uncertainty in their movements. He found this very strange, was it possible that something happened at the Wizengamont that they felt that he might need to know? Was it something that could possibly make him mad?

Even thought Harry wanted to know that was going on, he decided to wait for a little while more and see if they would tell him themselves. If not, then he would ask them.

Directly in front of the former Boy Who Lived, sat a calm witch. At least, that’s what most strangers would say about Mirta if they saw her, but to those that were paying attention, they would notice the slight twitching of her hands when she moved them. Or the way that they were gripping the silverware with more strength than she should. Or the softly tapping of her foot on the floor. And there was a good explanation for this behavior.

Mirta Peverell neé Bjur was counting the minutes remaining for the meal to be over so that she and Icarus could tell the – hopefully – good news to the young wizard in front of them.

Ever since Mirta and Icarus left Gringotts, the hazel-eyed witch had felt elated and giddy, they were one step closer to officially have custody of Hadrian. One step closer to being a family.

The only thing that kept her from blurting out the surprise to Hadrian, were the pointed looks that her husband was shooting at her.

With one look, Icarus made it clear that it was better to wait until they finished their deserts so as to not overwhelm the young man. Especially when he seemed to be very stressed out by his upcoming inheritance. The Peverell patriarch felt that there was no need to add to that worry just yet, if it were up to him, they would wait until tomorrow to give him this proposal.

But he knew that his wife would not be able to keep her mouth shut until then, so the moment that Hadrian finished his small piece of treacle tart – it was interesting how the boy seemed to have an obsession with the pastry – he cleared his throat to draw his attention.

When those brilliant emerald eyes focused on him, Icarus began to speak “Hadrian, there is something that we both wish to talk to you about” his voice soft and clear, with a slight tinge of nervousness coloring his voice.

Harry tilted his head, curiosity making an appearance on his face, “Is it about the Wizengamont?” it seemed like the most likely reason for the nervousness that was beginning to radiate from the couple that Harry had come to see as his guardians in the past month.

The brown-haired wizard shook his head, “No little one, that is not the reason we want to speak with you”

Harry nodded slowly, “Then what is it?”

Not being able to keep quiet, the silver haired witch jumped into the conversation, “It’s about the reason we had to visit Gringotts”

Green eyes blinked owlishly at the couple; “oh” was all he could say, he had not expected that. He frowned. Why would they need to explain to him why they had gone to the bank? And then it hit him. He was starting Hogwarts next month and he was not sure he had paid for him inscription for the year.

In his past life he had been aware that his parents had paid for the inscription the moment that he had showed signs of having magic. And they had covered his seven years of education, so he never had to worry about his place at Hogwarts. But he remembered vaguely how Hermione mentioned her parents had to pay for the inscription every year. And Ron had alluded to the same thing.

He kind of wanted to hit himself for taking so long to remember that important detail. Did he have enough time to pay for his inscription? He technically had not received an acceptance letter inviting him to Hogwarts, so he did not give them his response that he would take his place there. Which means that he did not know where to pay or the amount he needed to pay, which means that if he set foot on Hogwarts, they would likely kick him out.

Panic began to settle in him, it most have shown on his face because Mr. Peverell quickly began to speak, “It’s nothing bad, we assure you. There was something that he wanted to… propose to you that needed to be first consulted with our accountant” he explained.

Harry’s panic lessened at his words, but the new worry that had appeared on his mind did not leave, he told himself that he would discus it with them when they finished this particular conversation.

“Okay… And what was it?” Harry asked warily.

“Well, you know that you’ll be starting Hogwarts in a month’s time, right?” Harry nodded, “and that you’ll need a new name to blend in” Icarus continued, wondering if the kid knew where this was going.

Harry frowned, “I suppose so, I had honestly not thought about it” and he really hadn’t, but he couldn’t exactly go around using the Potter name anymore, could he? He was no longer in his time, and he technically was no longer Hadrian James Potter, he needed a new identity. Was that what they had gone to Gringotts for? To create a new identity for him?

“We have spoken in length with Tornak, our accountant, and…” Icarus licked his lips and rubbed his hands nervously “we wanted to know if you like to take our name?”

Harry froze, he just froze. That was the last thing he expected the older wizard to ask him. Once the shock passed, his heart began to beat at a faster pace than it normally did, getting an idea of where this conversation was going. Getting his hopes high had never done him any good, more often than not, he ended up disappointed and with a new scar on his heart. But was it possible that they were asking him what he thought they were asking him? Would it be okay to maybe hope that they were-

Before he could even finish that thought, Mirta graved his hands from across the table and took them into her delicate and, surprisingly, soft ones, “We wanted to ask you if you would like to be part of our family” she said with hopeful hazel eyes.

Licking his lips, Harry lowered his eyes to stare at their joined hands, he spoke in a hesitant voice “Part of your family? As a nephew, a cousin?”

“A son” said Mrs. Peverell, “Our son”

Harry closed his eyes, feeling like he was probably going to cry, from sadness or happiness he was not sure. For how long had he wished that he had a mother that could comfort him when he was feeling like shit? How long had he yearned that he had a father to learn play with and learn from? How long had he longed and wished that his parents had never died that night?

Every year of his life he had felt so bitter whenever he saw his friends run to their parents or when they would complain about them, knowing full well that he would never be able to experience that with his own.

Every year with the Dursleys he had hoped for his aunt or uncle to show him even a smidge of the love they showered Dudley on. And every year he was crudely reminded that he was alone that, even if he had some blood related family members, he was – in essence – an orphan.

With them he had been constantly reminded that he was stupid, ugly and unwanted. A freak.

He slowly opened his eyes and stared at the first two people that he had ever met in this world. The two people that had been nothing but patient and understanding with his very peculiar situation. People that had taken him in and had gotten angry on his behalf for what he had been forced to do, that had fretted and worried over his health from the moment he set foot in their land.

In all honesty, he would love to be adopted into their family. He’d get to live in this cozy and warm manor, see his creature friends every day, all the books he could read and learn from and, more importantly, he got to have what he always wanted. A family.

Harry never quite got over the desire of wanting to have parents of his own, not completely. And now that he was trapped into the body of a kid, that desire just got more pronounced. Still…

Harry took a deep breath “but I’m not really a child, wouldn’t you guys prefer an actual child to be your son – or daughter?”

Mirta shared a glace with her husband, silently communicating with each other they way Harry had seen Hermione and Ron do, she then turned to face him.

“We know that Hadrian. And while it’s true that we would prefer it that you were an actual child, we still want you to be our son” she explained patiently, Mr. Peverell nodding along with her wife’s words.

“We could go and find another child to adopt, but it’s very likely that they’ll run away the moment they see us,” said Icarus.

This made the young wizard frown for a moment before he understood. In his time, the Peverell had been shrouded with rumors and whispers of how powerful and dangerous they had been. And, looking at the couple through the eyes of a child, he could understand why children might run away from them in fear. The aura that they tended to portray while in public was cold and serious, not something that orphaned children would want to come close to.

“Hadrian” Icarus began in a soft voice, “we know that we will never be able to replace your biological parents, and we don’t want to, we only wish to give you what you’ll need to make a place for yourself in this time. An education, a safe place and more importantly a home you can return to”

Mirta nodded at her husband and then turned to the youngster on the table, “You don’t need to decide right now, we understand that this announcement is shocking, and you’ll need time to digest it. We just want you to know that the offer is there” she said with a hesitant smile.

Harry nodded slowly, processing their words. He knew that he could no longer use the Potter name, it wasn’t his anymore – not really. He also knew that he would need a new one to integrate in this society. And he needed to get a better education for what he needed to accomplish in a future. He realized something else too.

Here, there was only Grindelwald and his followers to worry about and maybe the world war going on with the Muggles. There was no Voldemort here, no Death Eaters, no Ministry of magic falling to pieces and no expectations on who he needed to become. It hit him then, that this world – time – had no place for the Harry Potter, no place for the Boy Who Lived.

That Harry had died back in 1998 fighting the Dark Lord and protecting his loved ones, but the Harry that had been brought here was someone very different from that Harry. Wouldn’t it make sense for this new Harry to also have a different family?

“Will I have to call you Mom and Dad?” asked the raven-haired boy, watching as his question threw them off guard.

“No” said Mirta, “You could call us whatever makes you more comfortable”

“Then…” Harry bit his bottom lip, “would I have to change my name completely?” he was not sold with the idea of parting with his name, that’s what he had been called for the majority of life. Maybe he would be able to keep the Hadrian part of his name?

Icarus shook his head, “You can still be called Hadrian, you would only need to change your last name” the older man was feeling a little hopeful with each question Hadrian was making, maybe… maybe he would have a son in this lifetime after all.

There really was no need for him to ask these questions, he had already made his decision from the moment that they had asked him to be part of the family. He was only stalling time for the inevitable response.

And so, taking a deep breath he said, “How are you going to adopt me?”

The couple froze for a second, then they turned to stare at one another before gazing back at him with the biggest and brightest smiles he had seen on their faces since he met them. He could almost see the tension that had been resting on their shoulders bleed away, making him realize that they had been worried that he would reject them.

The realization warmed his heart and muffled the small voice in the back of his head that said they didn’t really want him and no one ever would.

Mirta took out the papers that she had hidden under the table the moment that they had returned from Gringotts. She also took out a small vial containing a silvery liquid that Harry thought glittered as if it had small stars trapped in it.

“This are the adoption documents that we all need to sign. The moment you sign them, you will be welcomed into the family and the family magiks” she explained in a patient voice.

“And the potion?” Harry motioned the vial that was standing beside the papers, he already suspected what it contained. He heard about it before, from back when Remus had been discussing having children with Tonks. In his defense he had not meant to overhear their conversation, they should have known better than to leave their bedroom door ajar.

“This is optional” said Icarus “It’s a blood adoption potion. This potion basically rewrites your DNA and replaces it with that if you new parents. Making you their biological child”

So, it was what I had suspected Harry stared at the vial then at each adult in the room. He honestly would not mind losing his Potter looks, they had brought him a lot of trouble during his school years – and it would be difficult to pretend to not be a Potter when he had their trademark untamable hair. His eyes on the other hand… he would mourn losing his eyes, they were the only part of himself that he had actually liked, but… He looked at Mr. Peverell carefully, he supposed he would mind having his jade green eyes.

Making up his mind he stood and made his way to stand between the adults and drag the paper to him so that he could read them.

Mirta and Icarus watched the young man read through the document carefully, feeling proud that he was making sure that there were no mistakes on the document, one should never sign something that you had not read beforehand. But this still did not mean that he would sign it or even take the potion, he could still back down from the offer, they should not be jumping in joy just yet. They knew that, but they could not help the happiness that was spreading in their bodies.

After Harry finished reading the document, he turned to look for a quill which, he soon notices, was nowhere to be seen. He tilted his head towards Mr. Peverell, “I’ll need a quill to sign it”

Icarus blinked a couple of times, “You want to sign it?”

“Yes” was the simple reply he got, “it’s just…”

“Just?” Mirta asked when Hadrian did not seem like he would continue with his sentence, anxiously thinking that maybe he had changed up his mind.

“I’ll need to sign it with my new name, right? I’ll need a new middle name” Harry bit his lip, he really had no idea what other middle name he could choose, should he just honor his godfather’s family tradition? Or did the Peverell’s had one of their own?

Mirta let out a small laugh, “If you want, we can choose one for you?”

Harry turned to face the witch “Does the Peverell family have a name tradition? Like the Blacks?”

Mirta’s eyes widen a little before nodding, “We do”

“We tend to name females based on flowers or trees and males based on mythological figures from the Greek myths” explained Icarus, already thinking of a name that could probably fit Hadrian or that he would like, “Would you… like to follow that tradition?”

Harry nodded eagerly, this way he would be fully able to embrace his place in this time, at least that’s what he felt. “Yes”

Mirta stayed quite for a while before speaking the first name that popped up on her mind, “What about Perseus? It’s a nice and strong name” Harry scrunched his nose up, he did not want to have the same name as one of the Weasleys, it would feel weird.

“What do you think about Orpheus?” asked Icarus, in all honestly that had been a name that he had always wanted to give to his kid if he ever had one. Now, it would seem like he would have a child to call that.

“The storyteller from the myths?” Icarus nodded and Harry took a moment to consider it. He knew a bit about what he had done, not much but enough to know that he was also known as a prophet and was quite well known in the myths. He liked the name, he had never heard anyone with that name while in Hogwarts, it was unique.

Giving a decisive nod, he waited for them to give him a quill to sign in his new name. He really did not like using a blood quill, but he understood that it was necessary and that it would not hurt him like before. In as clear (and elegant) handwriting as he could get, he signed with the name that he would use for the rest of his life.

From this moment on, he would be known as Hadrian Orpheus Peverell.

Chapter Text

The moment that all three signatures were written on the paper; Harry felt the family magik – for that was the only thing that could possibly giving him that feeling – embrace him in a warm cocoon. It was a strange feeling but not quite unpleasant. Quite the contrary. He felt happy and safe and so very loved, it was such a powerful feeling that it managed to bring tears into his eyes.

It felt as thought the family magik was eager to welcome him, as if it had been waiting for him to come home.

Mirta gave a knowing smile when she saw the tears on the child’s face. While she might have not faced the same thing he was going through now, she had faced something similar many years ago.

Back when she had married into the Peverell family, she had expected the family magik to feel heavy, cold and dark. Similar to the Bjur’s magik. She had been surprised when she had been filled with warm magic that had a trace of dark magic but was mostly neutral in nature.

Mirta had found it strange at the beginning but, as time went by, she came to see it made sense. Lord Death was not a dark entity, if anything, he was a neutral being. It would make sense that his favored family would have neutral magik to reflect the entity they followed.

Icarus could only imagine what little Hadrian could possibly be feeling as he watched him drying his tears with the back of his small hands. His wife had once told him what the magik felt like, but there was the possibility that it would feel different to a child that was welcomed into the family.

Family he stared at the small boy that had just become his son, in name and – soon to be – in blood. He could not help the silly smile that formed itself on his lips, not that he would have bothered to hide it had he been able to. A son, he finally had a child to call his own and he felt just about ready to jump around the estate and scream in joy that he had a son. Only his pureblood lessons kept him from doing anything.

Glancing at his wife, he noticed he was not the only one ready to explode in happiness – if they way she was fidgeting with her hands was any indication.

After finally managing to get a hold of his emotions, Harry turned to look at the vial that contained the potion that would make it so the Peverell’s would become his blood parents.

Taking a hold of the potion, he turned to face the couple – his parents “How is this going to work? I mean - what do I have to do to use it? Do I just drink it?” he asked.

Mirta blinked in surprise at the young boy, “You want to take it? It’s not necessary for you to do so little one”

“I know” Harry replied, “but I want to go with it. I will not be returning to my previous time ever again, so it’s pointless to keep my looks. And my looks might just give me away in Hogwarts” he said this while pointing at his messy dark hair, seeing no point in hiding his last name any longer and just wanting to get it of his chest. “Can’t afford to have rumors of an illegitimate Potter child, right?”

This confirmed something that Icarus had suspected when he had first seen that mass of hair. Mirta gave him a small nod, silently telling him that she had also suspected as much. Hadrian had been a Potter before coming to them. Icarus knew that, in a way, this meant that he was related to them in a very distant way. In other words, he was much more family than before.

“You could always change your appearance with a simple glamour or a potion” Icarus pointed out.

Harry shook his head, “It would eventually fade. I would need to reapply the glamour every so often, same with the potion. No, I want the changes to be permanent” he looked at Mr. Peverell straight in the eye, wanting to show him that he was determined to take the potion, “I can only truly be Hadrian Orpheus Peverell by sharing blood with you both and being accepted by the family magik”

“Besides” he added, lowering his head, not wanting them to see the blush that was starting to form on his cheeks, “I want to be your blood son, not just your magical one”

Mirta was more than happy to hear this, “If that is what you want, here is what needs to be done” she then proceeded to explain the young wizard what he needed to do.

It was fairly simple really, Mr. and Mrs. Peverell would drop seven drops of their blood unto the potion and then Harry would drink the potion. Then the potion would do the rest of the work.

Icarus was the first one to add the needed blood drops, with the help of a small cutting hex on his finger, Mirta soon followed her husband’s example. The blood added made the silvery potion turn into a shimmery purple color. The two of them waited a few minutes for the potion to mix and settle before giving it to Harry.

“You can still back down if you wish to” said Icarus, wanting to give the young wizard another chance to be able to back down, he really did not want Hadrian to end up regretting this decision. Although, deep down, a selfish part of him hopped that the young wizard would not change his mind.

Harry gave the older wizard a small smile and took the vial from his hand, “I don’t” and before either of them could say something else that might make him delay more on taking the potion, he drank the shimmery liquid in one go.

At first, he didn’t feel anything happening, he briefly wondered if it would not work, but then he began to feel different. His skin, eyes and even his hair felt itchy, it did not hurt but it was a very annoying feeling. Harry had no idea that hair could possibly feel itchy, it did not seem possible and yet here he was.

He had the urge to rub his eyes to try and relieve some of the itch he was feeling, and he had been about to do so, but a delicate hand stopped him.

“It’s best not to scratch anything, it could end up possibly harming your skin – now that it’s very sensitive” Mirta explained “It will pass soon, just wait for a little while longer”

Trusting her words, Harry opted to close his eyes and distract himself with something else while he waited for the itch to pass. He focused instead on things he had come to like, such as quidditch. He tried to focus on the feeling of the wind hitting his face as he flew over the quidditch pitch or the adrenaline that cursed through his veins when he made a particular risky move on his trusted Firebolt, but every time he was close to forgetting the itch that was building under his skin, the itch became more intense – as if it were demanding Harry to pay attention to it.

When the sensation increased on his eyes, Harry was just about to throw Mrs. Peverell’s words of caution through the window. The itch was beginning to be unbearable and bordering into painful. But just as he was about to raise his hand and bring it to his face, something stopped him.

And it had not been the slight pressure of a hand on his shoulder nor the sudden disappearance of the annoying feeling. Something soft was brushing his face and part of his neck, something that had not been there before and was beginning to feel ticklish on his sensitive skin.

Opening his eyes, he was surprised to find a few strands of silvery hair covering his line of vision. Using his hand, he moved the hair away from his face to get a better look at it.

His eyebrows rose in surprise when he noticed – aside of the pretty drastic change of hair color – that his hair was no longer the bird nest that he had grown accustomed, instead, it fell into soft waves to just a little above his shoulders.

Looking at Mr. Peverell – no, his mother – he noticed that his hair was now the same silvery tone as her’s. He had assumed up until that point that the silver hair that she sported was grey hairs, the ones that you naturally get when you get quite old, but it turned out that he was wrong. Mirta had been born with that hair. And now he had the same hair color as her.

Harry felt warmth spread in his chest with the knowledge that he looked like his new mother and people would be able to notice that with just a look at him. This brought on a new thought, had his eyes changed color? Had his face? He really should have thought about bringing a mirror into the room before taking the potion.

As if sensing his predicament, Mirta summoned a mirror from her room and placed it in front of Harry’s face. All the while a watery smile formed on her face as she gazed at her new son.

The first thing that Harry noticed when he saw his reflection were his eyes. The were slightly bigger than before and with thick dark eyelashes, which was a surprise as he had expected them to also turn silver-white, but what stood out the most was the color they had changed into. They were jade green, with some hints of gold in it.

Harry thought that he would probably mourn the loss of the eyes that had been an almost exact copy of his birth mother’s, he thought he would mourn not being able to look like his father anymore. But he actually felt like an invisible weight had lifted from his shoulders. He was officially no longer Harry James Potter, the mantle of the Chosen one was no longer his.

Icarus felt tears build on his eyes as he watched his son admire his new reflection. He looked like the perfect combination of Mirta and himself, exactly what he had always pictured a child of theirs to look as.

He had his wife’s unique hair color and his own jade eyes, her soft chin and his sharp cheekbones along. His skin color had darkened a little bit, giving him a slightly more honey colored skin – probably inherited from his grandmother, seeing as neither Mirta nor him possessed that complexion.

Icarus had honestly not expected the potion to change Hadrian so drastically, not that he minded, but his little Hadrian might.

“How do you feel Hadrian?” he asked the child that was still busy taking in his new appearance.

“Fine” was Harry’s automatic response, grimacing a little when he realized that his words might be taken the wrong way, so he hurried to say something else “I mean, I feel fine but not completely fine. Surprised really, I guess I was not expecting to change so much but I don’t dislike it, I actually kind of like it but it’s just – are you laughing?” the sound of soft chuckles brought his rambling to a stop.

Gazing at his new guardians, he found that they were looking at him with amused expressions. It was as if they found his rambling endearing. At least he no longer had to worry that they had taken his words in a negative way.

“It’s understandable Hadrian. You were used to looking a certain way so you might need some time to adjust to the changes” Mirta said once she got a hold of her chuckles, she had to admit that Hadrian looked quite adorable trying to appease both her and her husband, it was difficult to imagine that this small child had been fought in a war before coming here.

Icarus cleared his throat, bringing the attention of those present in the room to himself. “Now” he looked at Hadrian “I believe that congratulations are in order”

Harry tilted his head to the side when he saw the older wizard open up his arms not understanding what he was doing, that was until he motioned Harry to come to him with one of his hands, then it hit him. He wanted to give him a hug.

He found it odd that Mr. Peverell had not just reached for him and pulled him into a hug, that’s what everyone else had always done – even Sirius had done that, even if he had come to like his hugs. It almost looked to him like he was asking for a hug. Something he found strange, as no one had ever asked him if he wanted to be touched before they launched themselves at him.

But now he was silently being asked to be touched, which meant he had the opportunity to reject the offer if he wanted to.

Looking at the pair of green eyes that mirrored his, he saw only patience and understanding. Mr. Peverell would understand if he were to reject the hug and would not hold it against him. This made the warm feeling in Harry’s chest grow just a bit more.

With that warmth still in his chest, he came to the decision that he would do what he could to make this new family thing work. And so, with hesitant steps, he made his way towards his new father and awkwardly wrapped his arms around what he could reach of his large torso.

Icarus did not hesitate to then embrace the young wizard in his arms. He had wanted Hadrian to be the one to reach to him first, knowing that if he made the first move, he might not like it. From what little Lord Death had told them of his childhood years – and the results from his diagnosis - he was not used to friendly touches and would make him wary of anyone wanting to touch him.

He wanted to show Hadrian little by little that he had nothing to fear from them both, neither of them would ever bring him harm. Even though he wanted to shower Hadrian in affection, he knew he would probably overwhelm him, so he would be patient and let him decide what he wanted from them both.

Harry had expected to feel tense with the hug, he had never liked other people hugging him out of the blue back in Hogwarts, they made him feel like they were trying to choke him. Hermione’s hugs were some of the worst, he always ended up with a bunch of her hair on her mouth and some pretty big bruises from her tight grip.

But this hug was not like that, it was…pleasant. It made him feel safe and wanted. Upon realizing this, he felt himself relax into the hug, dissolving all the tension that he had been feeling since he took the potion.

The sound of someone clearing their throats made both men turn to look at the silver haired witch watching them with twinkling eyes, “Now that that had been settled, I believe that we should go to the sitting room so we may be able to speak more comfortably” she said, regretting a little that she had to interrupt their bonding moment, but she really did believe they would be more comfortable in the sitting room – especially when they were hours away from Hadrian having his inheritance.

Giving a nod, Harry reluctantly parted away from the man and followed the two adults out of the dinning room. Their way towards the sitting room was mostly silent, giving Harry enough time to digest the changes he had gone through the past few minutes.

He finally wrapped his head around the fact that he officially had a family, one that knew close to nothing about his past. He may not know how healthy and functional families worked, but he always thought that they would know close to everything about each member and would be honest with each other.

Harry wanted that, he wanted to have a family that could be honest with each other and could understand one another. And for that to happen he would need to tell his new parents his past.

A part of him would rather that he forgot about all that he had gone through and focus on this new life so as not to make them hate him, but another part told him that he should trust that they would not treat him differently if he told them his story. He knew, logically, that they are bound to find out about his past eventually and would probably find out from someone that was not him.

He found that he rather preferred to tell them himself his story than let them learn it from somebody else.

So, as he took a seat in a comfortable looking grey sofa across from the adults, he decided to take the time that they would all wait for the clock to reach midnight to begin the long process that would be revealing his past.

********

Harry knew that midnight had arrived when he suddenly felt pain hit him like a train. It came so suddenly that he did not even let out a cry of pain, he collapsed on the sofa that he had been sitting for the better part of the evening.

He curled up on himself to try to fend of the pain he was feeling, but it really was not doing much to help, if anything he thought it might actually be making it worse. He heard Mr. and Mrs. Peverell call out to him, what exactly were they saying was a mystery, for no matter how much he tried to focus on their voices, the words slipped like water through his fingers.

Harry got the vague impression of Mrs. Peverell giving some orders to the house elves as he was carefully lifted from the bed. He thinks he cried out, but he couldn’t be sure, everything hurt so much that he could not concentrate on anything.

He hurt everywhere. His arms, his legs, his bones, he was pretty sure that his nails were also hurting. It just felt like he was being crucioed by Voldemort again and again. In all honesty, he was not surprised by this turn of events. He had always managed to be the exception on important things, being able to survive the killing curse twice for example.

So, he had counted on his dam Potter luck to get him a painful inheritance, which was rare, instead of a normal one. He so felt like cursing every deity he knew for giving him this luck.

And as if the pain was not bad enough, he also began to feel like he was being cooked from the inside only for the feeling to be replaced a moment later with ice running through him veins.

Harry knew, in a detached way, that what he was feeling could be related to what kind of inheritance he was getting. The books that he had spent so long reading and trying to understand mentioned that, in those cases that pain was present in the inheritance, it was common to also get certain feelings that could be related to what type of creature or magical inheritance he would be getting.

There was also the possibility that it could be due to his magical core expanding. Again, this was not common, but it wasn’t incredibly rare either. Some types of inheritances needed the wizard or witch their cores to expand a little more to be able to handle the change. Either way, he did not like being part of the ‘not common’ inheritances one bit.

He suspected that at one point he had closed his eyes, for he was unable to see anything but darkness and strangely enough, he could no longer hear much. It was as if his ears were stuffed with cotton, making everything he sound muffled. Now that symptom had not been mentioned on the books, not that he had enough brain power left to deal with anymore thoughts.

After what felt like an eternity, but had probably been just a few hours or minutes, he finally finally felt the pain on his body lessen little by little until he felt a dull ache. Now that he did not feel like his body was being skinned alive, he noticed that he was not on the sofa he had collapsed into, but in his bed.

He also noticed that his skin felt sticky, he concluded that he must have sweat a lot during the change. Harry began to frown when he opened his eyes but the only thing that he saw was darkness, had the Peverells turn off the light?

But even if they had turned off the light, shouldn’t he still be able to see something in the darkness? Like silhouettes?

Bringing his hand towards his face, he found that – while he could see it – it was covered in shadows. In his exhausted shape, he tried to make sense of the shadows on his hands and his lack of vision of other things. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew the explanation behind his predicament, but his mind felt so sluggish that he could not concentrate.

“-ian, the worst has passed… -you… -rest” Harry recognized the voice belonging to Healer Bishop, he was relieved to find his sense of hearing was back. His tired mind was barely able to distinguish what he was saying, but he could assume that he was saying he needed to sleep.

He was completely on board with that, so he just closed his eyes and let himself be swallowed by blissful unconsciousness, but not before he heard Healer Bishop say something else.

“Congratulations, your son is a Shadow elf, he-“ he did not get to hear the rest as his body just gave out on him and went into a deep slumber.

Chapter Text

Not to far away from where the Peverells were attending to their newest member, a certain being was watching with a satisfied expression on his face. His plan had gone exactly as he had wanted it to be.

Maybe not exactly as he had wanted, but very close to it. He had not expected his little master to have been bed ridden for a little over a week after bringing him here, thought, it had given him the opportunity to treat all his previous wounds and make him as good as new so he cannot say he completely regretted his actions.

But at the end of the day, he had gotten what he wanted: his favorite humans were all together in one place, his little master had someone to guide and care for him and he had more people to bother when he got bored.

He almost felt like rubbing his hands and cackle manically like those cartoon characters he had heard so much about from other souls, the only thing stopping him from doing so, was that he had a reputation to upkeep in the presence of irritating souls. Like the one he had to collect in a few moments.

Alas, such were the burdens of the gods. He would leave the family to adjust for a few days before coming by to say his congratulations. Death was curious to see what kind of inheritance he had gotten, from what he was feeling, it was something related to his realm – as it should have been expected – but there was something else there.

He will have to wait to find out what it was, but he did not doubt that it would be something interesting. His little master had quite the luck after all.

******

Hadrian was not sure if he would be able to get used to his new senses anytime soon, specially not with all the noise that greeted him the moment that he set foot outside of the fireplace.

Everywhere he turned, he would see children running around the platform, all chattering excitedly with old or new acquaintances. Some were talking with older family members that would be returning to Hogwarts for another year and would be tasked with looking after their youngest members.

Some were staring in awe at the imposing picture that made the Hogwarts Express. Hadrian suspected that those could possibly be muggle borns or muggle raised, he briefly wondered if he had looked like them when he had first been introduced to the wizarding world. But he could not really blame their reactions, the train was indeed stunning with it’s vibrant red paint and the Hogwarts emblem standing proudly on the front of the train.

Seeing such a big number of children and teenagers in the platform brought two feelings in Hadrian, one of them being nostalgia and the other being shock. This just made him realize just how much of an impact the wars had taken on the community.

Still, he would prefer that they were not so loud. Pretty sure his ears would thank them a lot for it.

“How are you feeling, Rian?”

Hadrian turned to meet the concerned hazel eyes of his mother. In the beginning it had been difficult to call Mirta Peverell his mother, but as the weeks went by, he found himself getting used to calling her that – although he felt nowhere near close to calling her mom or even mommy. The same thing happened to Icarus. They, in turn, had taken to creating several new nicknames for him, their favorites being Rian and Adri – both of which he had also come to grow fond of.

“A little overwhelmed” he confessed, “I don’t remember the train station being so loud before”.

“That’s to be expected” said Icarus, coming up to stand beside his wife “You are still adjusting to your new senses, it’ll get better with time, just remember to keep meditating”

Hadrian nodded; Healer Bishop had also said the same thing.

After he had woken up a few hours after his inheritance, he had almost gotten a panic attack when he found out that parts of his body were covered in shadows, and everything had felt considerably sharper and louder.

Fortunately, Healer Bishop had been in the room when he woke up and was able to calm him down enough to explain what had happened. After he had been given a low-level pain reliever and a calming drought, he had found out he had gained a Shadow elf inheritance.

That had certainly explained why he had woken up surrounded by shadows and he could only assume that it had something to do with his sharpened senses too. But this reminded him of what he had felt during the change, the ice in his veins and the fire on his flesh, when he asked Healer Bishop why that had happened, he had stared in shock at the healer.

Turns out that his blood adoption had played a major role in what kind of inheritance he should have had. As a Potter, he should have had a Light or Fire elf inheritance, there was also the possibility of becoming a Smith mage – a wizard that was able to craft magical objects with his magic.

As a Peverell, he had been expected to be a necromancer, a Beast mage or a Seer. And, while the elf aspect of his Potter blood had stayed true, his nature had changed. Add in the fact that he was also the Master of Death and it should be no surprise what had caused the change in nature of his creature inheritance.

But that had not been what had caused his shock, it had not even been the fact that his parselmouth had stayed intact or that he had also gained the beast tongue, it had been that he had gotten another kind of inheritance that was not related to either of those blood lines. He had inherited a gift that had more or less become extinct in the Bjur family and that gift was that of a Weaver.

Mirta had practically cried tears of joy when Healer Bishop had given them the list of inheritances he had gained. Icarus on the other hand had dragged his wife into a happy dance around the room, something that had made his old friend roll his eyes at.

From what his mother had explained that day after she had regained her composure, a Weaver was a wizard or witch that was not bound by the same rules of traditional magic like other wizarding folk were. These beings could create any kind of spell, charm or hex they wanted. Their only limit being their energy and their imagination.

She had also explained that it was quite common for Weavers to go through a painful inheritance because their magic cores needed to be expanded to be able to handle the change and they would normally have an affinity or two for certain elements.

Hadrian had thought that this gift was quite convenient for him and was quite excited to know master this type of magic, but he still cursed every deity he could thing of for making him go through so much pain.

Later on, the healer had explained that as an elf, his body would suffer through some minor changes – such as an enhanced hearing, sense of smell, taste and increased strength and speed. Two to three months is the time that it would take for Hadrian to finally get full control of those senses and will be able to turn them on an off at will.

Until then, he was very likely to be overwhelmed by his senses if he was somewhere too crowded.

The days leading up to the start of the new school year had been quite taxing on Hadrian. From continuing his previous lessons to learning how to control his new shadow magic, he had felt more than once the need to scream and through his lessons through the window.

Only his visits to the Sanctuary had helped him keep him sanity intact and, surprisingly, Death’s pep talks also helped him a lot.

Eventually he gained the control needed to be able to attend Hogwarts without worrying that he would accidently use his shadows against someone. So, when September 1^st rolled around, they all made their way to the platform 9^3/4 to bid Hadrian goodbye.

“Now, let’s hurry up and get you all settled on the train. I remember it being quite the task finding good seat” said Mirta, herding her son and husband towards the train, all the while she used a charm to levitate Hadrian’s trunk and owl cage.

Hadrian hadn’t originally wanted to get a new owl, not having gotten over the loss of his precious familiar, but Death had had other plans.

A few days after his birthday, Death had come with a small bundle of dark feathers on his arms. The green-eyed wizard had been very surprised to find that it was a pure black Ural owl chick, such an owl was hard to come by because their plumage made it difficult for them to survive in the wild.

Death had stated that the little one was a birthday present for his master, something that had filled Hadrian with a sense of déjà vu. At the beginning he had been ready to reject the gift, but the moment that he looked into the owl’s eyes, he knew he would not be able to let it go.

After being told it was a female, Hadrian had decided to keep the family tradition and named her Nyx. For her plumage was as dark as the night and her eyes as bright as the stars.

Once they were close enough to the train, Hadrian took his trunk and shrunk it, placing it on his pocket for safekeeping, before getting a hold of the cage.

“Promise that you’ll write to us as soon as you are able to, we want to know what house you’ll be placed in” said Mirta, looking directly into Hadrian’s eyes “And make sure to take your potions”

“I promise, mother”

“And write to us every week” Icarus gave him a pointed look, “don’t forget that if anyone bullies you, use the hex I taught you” he added with a very serious look.

Hadrian laughed at his father’s words “won’t that get me in trouble?”

“If you do, you only need to write to me, and I’ll fix it”

The green-eyed teen could only shake his head with a fond smile on his face. If he was being honest with himself, he liked that they were fretting about him, it made him feel cared for and loved.

The sound of a bell told them that it was time for Hadrian to board the train. Letting go of the cage for a moment, he lent forward to give him father and mother a hug, bidding them goodbye and giving promises to stay healthy and safe.

Quickly getting on the train and finding a window, Hadrian peered his head out to find his guardians waving at him with smiles on their faces. The sight filled him with a warm and giddy feeling, so he returned the gesture as best as he could while the train began to move. He stayed looking out the window until he could no longer see their figures.

Turning away from the window, he picked up his cage and went on to find an empty compartment to seat on. Hoping that he would not run into a certain mini dark lord while doing so.

******

Finding an empty seat was much more complicated than Hadrian originally thought it would be. Back on his time, it had never been difficult to find an empty compartment. Now, he understood why that had been the case. In his time, many families had been whipped out and muggle borns had also been hunted down, making it so there where very little children left to go to Hogwarts.

That is without taking into account the number of children that were sometimes killed for their magic in the muggle world.

Hadrian almost let out a ‘halleluya’ when he finally managed to find an empty compartment. He had a feeling his beautiful owl had the same sentiment, along with his other companions.

Closing the door, he took a seat and peered inside of his robe to find a very annoyed bowtruckle glaring daggers at him.

“Sorry Merry, but you know that if we didn’t want mother and father to find out I had to hide you in my robes” the young teen apologized to his friend, said friend crossed its arms.

“What about your little squared tree? Could you not have hidden me there?” he said to him.

“No, mother checked the trunk before we left. She would have noticed if I put you in there after that” he explained, which was true.

Mirta had taken to check his trunk every hour before the departure after she caught him sneaking Blue and Milly into it. Ash had already been inside the trunk by that point. Icarus had laughed so hard tears had formed on the corner of his eyes when he found out what his son was up to. But the end result had been that none of his friends would accompany him and, instead, they would remain in the state.

A shame that she had forgotten to check the pockets he had on his robes.

Merry, instead of answering, climbed out of his robe and sat on his shoulder – all the while scowling at his human tree. Hadrian found that expression adorable on his small friend, so he could not help but let put a soft chuckle.

“Hatchling, how long do I have to stay in this cage? It’s quite uncomfortable and small” chirped Nyx.

“I can let you out now, but you must promise to stay put until we get to Hogwarts. There you’ll be able to keep practicing your flight,” said the young wizard.

That had been one of the reasons Hadrian had not been able to turn down the little owl. The chick barely knew how to fly, she could handle short distances, but her wings were not strong enough to fly larger distances. If he let Death leave her where he found her, she would not survive.

The dark owl gave a nod and waited patiently for Hadrian to open the cage and let her out. Nyx immediately flew towards her human, clumsily landing on his lap, and puffed up in pride at having managed that small feat.

“Remember, no larger distances than from this seat to the on one in front until we get there” Hadrian reminded the owl.

“Don’t fret hatchling, I know what I’m doing”

Hadrian huffed at the term she used to refer to him. Between the two of them, she would be the youngest one of the two, and yet she kept treating him as if he was the younger one. It was both funny and frustrating for him, but if there is something that he has learned from this small owl, was that once she made up her mind, she would not be swayed to change her decision.

In a way, she was like him.

The next couple of minutes were spent with Nyx practicing her flight and Merry giving out pointers for the small owl to better her flying – even though he knew nothing about flying – while the small teen watched them, enjoying the peacefulness of the moment. That peace was soon interrupted by a red headed teen opening their compartment.

For a brief moment, Hadrian thought it was a Weasley until he saw the boy’s eyes, they were electric blue. Weasleys did not have that kind of eye color. This realization made the teen relax. That is until he realized that the red headed boy was looking at the bowtruckle on his shoulder.

“I’m pretty sure you are not allowed to bring a tree creature to Hogwarts” the teen said, chin pointing at the little bowtruckle that let out an indignant sound.

“I…” Hadrian’s mind blacked out for a moment, not knowing what to do. And then panic began to set in. Should he obliviate him? Would it even work on another wizard? Was it even allowed to cast it on a minor?

“Relax, I’m not going to say anything” the wizard said in calm voice, trying to appease the panicking teen. “By the way, do you mind if I sit with you? Everywhere else is kind of crowded”

Relaxing a little at the other boy’s words, he nodded and motioned for Nyx to return to his side. Giving his thanks, the boy made his way inside with his things and sat opposite from Hadrian after he had closed the door to their compartment.

Keeping his companions close, he took his time analyzing the newcomer. Red head, kind electric blue eyes, freckles and a lean built. He wouldn’t be surprised if he turned out to be a quidditch player, he had the built for one. He also had an open expression, letting Hadrian see the curiosity that the other was feeling.

It was obvious that it was not a Weasley, not with those eyes, so that left another possibility.

“I’m Avalon, Avalon Prewett” the red headed wizard inclined his head as a form of greeting.

And that confirmed his suspicions, he was talking to his Weasley’s grandfather. Well, wasn’t that a shock.

“I’m Hadrian” he replied, imitating his actions. Now he was wondering if he should have read the etiquette book his mother had given him. Maybe he should have.

Avalon raised an eyebrow but stayed silent, as if waiting for something. Hadrian frowned until he understood what he had missed, “Peverell, Hadrian Peverell”

Red eyebrows rose in surprise at hearing that name. The look on the Prewett heir made a small laugh slip from the green-eyed teen’s lips. In all honesty, he had expected the teen to have figured out who’s family he belonged to. He had researched other wizarding families and Mirta Peverell was, so far, the only witch with silver hair in Wizarding Britain.

Then again, he could have assumed he was a foreign student.

“Peverell? As in The Peverell? Soul-sucking Peverell?” Avalon asked, leaning slightly closer to the teen in front of him, eager to know the answer.

Hadrian blinked, was that what people referred to his family as? Sure, they have given birth to many powerful necromancers throughout history, but they did not have the ability to take the soul of someone else.

“Only Dementors can suck the soul of another person, as far as I know. But yeah, that Peverell”

His parents had told him several times that other magicals tended to fear them and would often go out of their ways to not get on their bad sides because of their reputation. They would even fear those that were married into the family for some illogical reason. This served a double-edged blade. On one side, it protected them from people that only want something from them so they could attain true friends. On the other hand, it made it difficult for them to even try to make friends.

They had told him this so that he could decide if he wanted to be introduced with his actual name or use a shortened version of his last name, so that he would be able to blend in until he was comfortable enough to reveal it.

Hadrian had of course thrown the suggestion out the window. He liked his name and had not intentions to hide it. If people wanted to fear him because of it, it was their problem, and if they approached him to be his friends despite the weight behind the name – then they were more than welcome.

He wondered what Prewett would do. Try to form an alliance, run away from him or try to be his friend.

“Huh, then what about eating the eyes of humans?” he inquired, not the least bit perturbed by the question.

Hadrian laughed, surprising the teen across from him, before shaking his head, “We don’t do that. That sounds creepy and disgusting”

“Then…” Avalon paused, “Is it true that you guys can speak to any kind of magical beast?”

Now that was something that was true, “Father can do that, mother can only get a sense of what they are feeling” Hadrian explained in a distracted manner, one hand petting his owl.

“Can you?”

“Pardon?”

“Can you speak with animals? Can you understand what they are saying?” Avalon clarified, eyes sparkling, eager to know the answer.

Hadrian, seeing no point in lying, answered truthfully “Yeah, we call it Beast tongue”

“Incredible” the Prewett said, awe coating his voice.

“Hatchling, why is this red human blocking my way? I want to keep flying!” chirped an annoyed Nyx, the black Ural owl not liking that she had been interrupted in mid practice.

“What did she say?” asked a very eager red-haired teen.

“She is mad that you interrupted her flying session and asking why you are blocking her way” the green-eyed teen translated while also giving a little bit of context of why she was mad.

“Will she understand what I’m saying if I speak to her?” at Hadrian nod, Avalon turned to face the annoyed little owl. “I’m sorry that I got in the way of your practice. If you want, you can use me as a perch to land on. As I am taller than the seat, it will help you practice flying to higher places”

Nyx cocked her head to the side considering his proposal, she quite liked the idea. If the red human stayed on the seat, she would be able to have more places to land on aside of the seat and her own human’s lap and shoulders. She turned to look at her human with pleasing eyes, wanting him to approve of the proposal presented to them.

Hadrian sighed, he could not deny anything to his owl when she looked at him like that, “Make sure to be careful with you claws okay?”

Giving a nod and a cheerful chirp, Nyx began to practice anew with the two humans in the compartment. As promised, she made sure to be careful not to hurt either boy with her claws.

While she flew and played around with their clothes and hairs, the two teens took the opportunity to get to know one another.

As time when by, Hadrian began to understand where his twins had gotten that mischievous streak and love for fun pranks. Avalon Prewett was easy going and cheerful, and just as he had predicted before, he was a quidditch player – a chaser for the Hufflepuff team.

That had come as a surprise to the green-eyed wizard, he had assumed that all Prewetts had been Gryffindors like the Weasleys. But, from what Avalon said, while it is common for a Prewett to be a Gryffindor, they also tended to be either Hufflepuffs or Slytherins.

Hadrian soon warmed up to the teen, finding it easy to talk with him. They spoke about some classes, what house Hadrian would be sorted in, the foods they liked which led to a debate as to what desert was the best.

“I’m telling you; apple pie is the best thing to ever exist”

“And I am telling you, treacle tart is better!”

“It’s good alright, but the sweetness of the apples mixed with brown sugar cannot be compared” Avalon let out a dreamy sigh, already envisioning the pie that he was sure to eat at the welcoming banquet.

“Unless the apples turn out to be too sour and then the pie is ruined. Treacle tart the perfect balance between the sweetness of the treacle and the sourness of the lemon juice, perfect dessert to have any time of the day and any time of the year” countered Hadrian. If there was one thing that he was passionate about, was his delicious and all-powerful treacle tart.

“Why are you fighting over a piece of bread? Rats are juicy and much more tasty!” chirped the owl, while Merry gave the ball of black feathers an affronted look.

“Not true! Insects are better. They are crunchy and tasty”

“Rats are also crunchy!”

When Hadrian translated what his companions said, the Prewett heir burst into loud laughter. As he kept translating the fight between the two creatures and laughter filled the compartment, he felt content knowing that he had made one friend in this new world. This year was looking up.

Chapter Text

By the time the Hogwarts Express arrived at the station, Hadrian felt like he had formed a solid friendship with the Prewett heir. His cheerful nature and calming aura just made it so easy to be around the teen, the acceptance of his identity was also a big plus.

Together they left the train and made his way towards the rest of the students, all the while an exited black owl kept cooing and chirping on the silver haired teen’s shoulder.

It had taken hours of Hadrian trying to convince his feathered companion to get inside the cage, only for Nyx to stay seated on her human’s shoulder in sign of protest – claiming that it was too small and too uncomfortable for her. Hadrian eventually gave up and just let her stay where she was, on the condition that she behaved.

The Ural owl chick had agreed happily, looking very smug at having gotten her way. Avalon had said that he was spoiling the owl and at this rate she would have him wrapped around her pretty little feathers. Hadrian believed that it was to late for him to hear those words.

He could only hope that Nyx would not become too spoiled when she grew up.

As was to be expected, the moment that he got out of the train he had attracted a lot of eyes to his person. Whispers broke out amongst some of the students speaking about the uniqueness of his dear owl, which only made her puff up her chest in pride.

Hadrian stared at her with a raised eyebrow, his little owl turned out to be vainer than any other owl he had ever encountered. Not even Malfoy’s owl had been that vain and his owner used to spend hours deciding on what robe to wear.

“You should go with the first years” Avalon said, coming to walk beside him. “It’s a one in a lifetime experience. And since you are just starting you magical journey-“Hadrian rolled his eyes at the dramatic way his friend was talking, and he had not missed the pun he had used, “- you should get the full package”

“Is it really that impressive?” Hadrian remembered his first year just fine and, while it had left his younger self in awe getting his first glimpse of Hogwarts, it had not been really impressive.

A mischievous glint entered his friends’ eyes, one that he had seen many times on the twins when they knew something that no one else did. “If I told you I would be ruining the surprise, wouldn’t I?”

Before Hadrian managed to give a response to that, his red-haired friend maneuvered him through the crowd of people until he left him with the other first years. It all had happened so fast that Hadrian could only blink at the swiftness of his friends’ actions.

“Enjoy the trip, Adri” with those words said, the Prewett heir left him in a sea of curious eleven-year-old kids.

Seeing all the eyes looking at him, he figured that he had nothing to lose if he went along with it – except perhaps a little of his self-respect in front of his owl, if her thrills were anything to go by.

He patiently stood near the kids and wondered what could be so special about this trip, surely, it would not be that much different from his first year.

Turns out it was very quiet a bit different. For starters, they were getting into the boat at a much earlier hour than it had been in his time. He also took note of the charms placed around the boats that acted as barriers to prevent children from falling into the water. Which brought him to his next point, the boats or more importantly what was pulling the boats.

Hippocampis.

Several of them were tied to the front of the boats.

Hadrian stared, speechless at the sight. The soft light of the lanterns hit their scales, making them glitter in different tones of green, blue and purple. Their fin-like mane started from the top of their heads and came to an end somewhere in the middle of their back and their hypnotic dark eyes stared in curiosity at the little humans that they were going to transport.

His father had told him a little about these creatures. They were kind and docile, much like their earthborn cousins, but when disturbed they could be more deadly than their airborne counterparts. They were known for liking to prank humans by showering them with water or stealing any shinny object that they may carry.

All and all, they were not too dangerous, and it was safe to have them around children – as long as they are trained or there’s an adult nearby.

Speaking of adults, Hadrian turned his head to look around, shouldn’t there be one with us now?

“Wow” a child to his right said, “They are so pretty!”

“Yeah, what are they?” another asked.

Before Hadrian had the chance to answer, a deep voice spoke out, “Those are hippocampi, Miss”

Hadrian turned towards the voice and found a tall middle-aged woman with a beautiful dark purple robe with tasteful details done in silver threat. He could not distinguish clearly her hair color with the light of the lamps, but he could see that it was completely pulled back in a simple bun. She had a patient look on her face and some wrinkles marked the side of her eyes, Hadrian assumed that it could be because she smiled often.

“I want everyone to get on the boats in groups of four please” she instructed them.

While watching over the children getting to the boats, she noticed the green eyes teenager and approached him.

“Are you lost Mister?” she inquired.

“No ma’am” Hadrian shook his head softly, “I was told to come here so that I could get the full experience”

The witch let out a noise of understanding, “That must mean that you are a new student, yes?”

“Yes, ma’am”

“Oh nothing of that young man” she said, “Call me Professor Everett, or Naida will do”

“Yes, Professor Everett”

“Very well, now I believe you have a boat to board” the witch motioned for Hadrian to take a boat, “I’ll believe I’ll see you in the banquet later on, now off you go” Professor Everett made shooing motions with her hands, something that Hadrian found amusing.

He ended up in a boat with a small blond girl and two boys, one brown haired and the other black. As soon as everyone got on the boats, the hippocampi began to move – startling some of the children while others let squeals of excitement, the black-haired boy to his right.

Hadrian expected the hippocampi to take them directly to the back entrance of the castle, that’s what had happened on his time, but that was not the case. Instead, the hippocampi took them further into the black lake and stopped, waiting. For what he was not sure.

“Hatchling, look at the water”

And Hadrian peered at the side of the boat just in time for the face of a turtle to poke its head out and stare at him in surprise, an emotion that was reflected in the teen’s green eyes. But it was not a normal turtle, Hadrian noticed, the delicate greenish glow around his shell told him a such.

After staring at each other for what felt like several moments, taking each other in, the turtle did something he had not seen coming. It created a bubble and threw it at him. He only managed to catch the bubble because of his seeker reflexes, which was a dumb move on his part because it would dissolve the moment it touched his skin. But once again, he was wrong.

The bubble was very much solid in his hand and had something shinny inside of it. He was beginning to think that he was about to be proven wrong many times this day.

The startled squeals of the children accompanying him made Hadrian tear away his gaze from his bioluminescent turtle and strange bubble to look at his companions. He noticed that they were also being fired these weird bubbles and the were all different colors.

Taking a look at the other boats, he saw that they were all experiencing the same thing. Soon, all the boats were filled with these multicolored bubbles. Once they finished, the turtles just stayed put and began to thrill a very peculiar sound.

It was like hearing a bunch of little bells tinkling around the lake. The notes varied a little amongst the group, it reminded him of something he had seen back in his time.

Once, in his muggle school, the teachers played a documentary that spoke about the different animals that lived in the sea. At one point, the video showed a group of whales singing. Hadrian remembered that, to him, it had been the most magical thing he had ever heard – or witnessed for that matter.

Not that he ever said as much when asked what they thought of the documentary. Back then, he knew better than to say anything related to the forbidden word.

But watching the peculiar turtles sing and bob their heads to the sound of the melody, he found that the image was a close contestant to that of his memories.

Wanting to see what the little ones were thinking about this, he turned to look at his companions, finding varying expressions of awe and wonder. Hadrian could not help but laugh when, after the turtles stopped singing, the bubbles floated above their heads and exploded – showering everyone in multicolored sparkles of light. He was pretty certain that he now must look like a Christmas tree.

Many of the children squealed in joy while others stared in wonder as the little sparkles floated around them before settling around them. Now this Hadrian thought, is the proper way to welcome children to the school.

He turned to the side of the boat to see if any of the turtles stayed behind, finding his green one staring at him.

“Thank you, it was beautiful” he said, conscious of the fact he was now speaking its tongue, it felt like he had a bell stuck in his throat.

“Your welcome human –“ the creature blinked small, surprised onyx eyes – finally grasping what had just occurred - before thrilling excitedly, “A speaker! It’s been a long time since one last came here” the voice sounded young to Hadrian’s eyes, maybe he was talking to a child? It certainly sounded like one.

“Phyfi welcomes little Speaker to the ancient castle!”

“Thank you, Phyfi” he said with a smile, “Would it be alright to visit you when I can come to the lake?”

The little turtle nodded his head eagerly, “Little speaker be welcome to visit Phyfi and the Tocumis!”

Hadrian could only assume that the Tocumis was the name given for her species, quite a peculiar name at that, he would have to get a hold of a magical creatures book to look them up as he had never heard of them until today.

“What were you doing?”

The young wizard turned towards the sound of the voice, only to feel a pang go through his heart when his green eye connected with a pair of painfully familiar grey eyes. He only knew one wizarding family in Britain that had those kinds of eyes.

The boy had the characteristic dark hair of the Black family along with those piercing grey – almost silver – eyes. He a very cute child if Hadrian was being honest, what with that button nose and slightly chubby cheeks. And this cute Black child was staring at Hadrian in curiosity.

Getting a hold of himself, he answered the kid’s question, “I was thanking the Tocumis for the beautiful display they showed us”

The child’s eyes sparkled at his words, “You can speak to them? My pére said that it was rare to be able to speak with animals”

Hadrian nodded, “I can, and it is”

“What did it say?” said the blond girl.

“He said ‘you’re welcome ‘” he was going to keep the visiting part to himself, there was no need for the children to know about that. If he did reveal it, he feared that he would end up with a troupe of children following him around the Black Lake.

“Woah” chorused the three children, making Hadrian grin. Did he look like that in the past when he learned something new about magic?

After the sparkles came to an end, the hippocampi turned towards where the back entrance to the castle was. The boat belonging to Professor Everett was the first to arrive at the small port, quickly getting out of the boat, she began to help all the first years get out of their vessels.

When it reached Hadrian’s group, the young wizard made sure to help the little one get out of the boat before himself – not wanting to risk them slipping and falling into the water. He remembered well how slippery the ground was in this area of the castle.

From that point on, the journey to the great hall was the same as it had been on his last life. They passed the same elegant archways and columns, the same torchlit corridors and the same set of stairs that – thankfully – were not the moving ones.

Just like in his last life, they all came to a stop on a landing near the great hall, where they were instructed to make themselves presentable while the professor went to inform the headmaster they had arrived to bring them to the hall for the sorting.

Soon enough, all the first years were hastily tried to dust off the sparkles that were still clinging to their hair and clothes. Hadrian himself did feel the need to brush off the gift given to them, at least not completely, but he needed to look at least a little presentable.

On that note, he casted a light cleaning charm on his robes and hair, so that he wouldn’t be too shinny when he got sorted. When the children noticed what he had done, the clamored around him begging them to also cast it on them. Specifically, because every time they tried to brush off the light, it would stick on their hands or just be moved somewhere else.

Grinning a little, he casted the charm on them. Now it did not look like they were human sized fireflies but more like someone had thrown a slight pinch of glitter around all of them, giving them a more presentable and innocent look.

“How are they going to sort us?” a chubby brown-haired girl asked once everyone had stopped staring at each other in awe and delight over the slight glitter around them.

“I heard they used tests to sort us” a dark blond-haired boy whispered conspiratorially at the children that were close to him. This prompted several kids to gasp.

“But we haven’t even started lessons!”

“I barely know any spells!”

“I don’t know anything about potions! Do you think they’ll make us brew something?”

“Maybe they’ll make us fight dragon?”

“No way!”

Hadrian watched in amusement as they kept trying to find out how they were going to be sorted, but after seeing some of the first years begin to show signs of fear, he decided it was time to step up.

“I don’t think they’ll make us fight anything. You are all to young for that” he spoke in clear and calm voice, loud enough to be heard by all – if not most – of the students. “If they do test you all, it’ll be with something that you guys will be able to do”

Even if he wanted to clear away their fears, it would not be fair to ruin the surprise that they will face with the Sorting Hat. Besides, his words had the desired effect. Many of the first years began to relax now that someone older than them had assured them that they would not be forced to fight. Mission accomplished.

Moments later, Professor Everett returned with a scroll on her hand and instructed them to form two lines – one for girls and one for boys – and follow her. When they reached the entrance of the hall, she instructed Hadrian to stay behind, telling him he would be sorted until the end.

This surprised the group of children, they had assumed that he had been an older student sent to help with the first years, like the prefects that had guided them to the boats. They had not expected to find that he was a new to this school as they were.

Hadrian just nodded and watched as little ones went ahead of him for their sorting. Making an estimate of around a hundred to a hundred and fifty children on this generation, he concluded that this was going to take a while, so he got himself as comfortable as he could.

Knowing that he would not lose control, he condensed the shadows behind him to make a seat for him to wait on, feeling quite smug about it. Being able to gain some control over the shadows had been a nightmare at first.

Many thought that manipulating any element was easy and he seriously did not understand why they would think that. It was hard. You were supposed to be able to use elements that could be found in nature and were quite well known for not bowing down to anybody.

You could not force your will upon an element, if you do, it will rebel against you. That had been his first mistake when learning how to bend the shadows, Death and Ignotus told him as much. Once he had understood that it had become fairly easy to manipulate the shadows as he willed – at the expanse of his energy.

One by one, he watched as Professor Everett called for a student and the Hat was placed on their heads. Sometimes the Hat screamed their house even before he touched a hair of their heads, other times it would take a long time before it announced their house, but the end result was the same.

Students running towards their new house and them being welcomed with open arms.

“Black, Alphard”

Hadrian watched as the black-haired boy from his boat walked unsurely towards the small wooden bench and gingerly sat on it. He already knew where he would end, from what his godfather had told he would end up in…

“SLYTHERIN!”

As expected, he thought with a small smile as he watched as he practically sagged in relief before he took the hat of and made his way towards the Slytherin table joining those of his year there.

After what felt hours of waiting for his name to be called, the time finally came.

“Peverell, Hadrian”

Dissolving the cluster of shadows that he had been sitting on, he kept his head high as he walked towards the stool, ignoring the murmurs that were circling around the tables and the pointed stares he got for keeping Nyx on his shoulder. The Ural owl seemed to be reveling in the attention she was gaining.

On his way to the stool, he spotted a familiar red head giving a big encouraging smile on the Hufflepuff table. He was probably the only one in his house that did not look at him with wary eyes. Nope, not the only one he said to himself after spotting the same brown-haired boy from the boat ride waving at him when his eyes settled on him.

A smidge of warmth settled in his chest at the sight. Taking a seat on the stool, he murmured Nyx to get on his lap so as to not get in the way of the sorting. Soon enough, his sight became obscured by the Hat being placed on his head, covering his view of the curious and slightly fearful glances that were being thrown his way.

“Well, well we meet again Mr. Potter, although Mr. Peverell would be more accurate now”

Hello Hat, indeed, it would Hadrian said on his mind, not surprised that the Hat knew who he really was. He always suspected that the Hat was considerably more than just a magical talking hat.

“Will you let me place you where I see you fit this time?”

Yes, he responded but I believe that I’ll be in a very different house than last time wont I?

“You are no longer the man you were before Mr. Peverell. While there is still plenty of bravery you are no longer as reckless as before” The Hat stated.

Hadrian stayed quiet. He knew that the compulsions made him be a certain way, plus the things that had been told to him about the house of the snakes had made Harry reluctant to end with them. He wondered if he would end up there this time. He mentally grimaced at the idea of being there, but this time for a different reason than in the past.

“Not eager to be in the House of snakes still I see”

I don’t want to deal with Riddle just, yet he explained, plus Dumbledore would pay to much attention to me if I ended up there. He was pretty certain that the old man must already be wary of him for being a Peverell, a family famous for their neutral and dark wizards and witches. And he knew full well what the old man thought about anything relating to the word ‘dark’.

Getting sorted into the Slytherin might just help paint a bigger target on his back than he already did.

“Yes, that would disturb some of your plans” The Hat agreed, “With your sharp mind you could fit just fine with the eagles, plenty of tranquility in that house to plan away”

He had a point there, it would certainly allow him to have space to plan what he needs to do with much more freedom than if he had been left with the lions or snakes. But, while he did value knowledge, it was not the most important thing for him. The Hat seemed to have caught up with that too.

“You need somewhere where you can build your connections easily and where you can recover from everything that happened in your past while also helping you keep yourself below the radar of your enemies. A place filled with the cunning of the snakes and the bravery of the lions”

Harry stayed quiet, letting the Hat come to a decision on its own, thankful that this was finally going to be over. He could feel the teaching staff and some of the student body fidget the longer the Hat took to come to a decision, so it would be best to wrap this up fast.

“I see, better be…HUFFLEPUFF”

Chapter Text

Time seemed to be running much slower than it had done in years past, to Albus, it felt like the list of names was getting longer instead of shorter. He suspected that it was due to the hunger he had been feeling since he entered the Hall, nonetheless, he always made sure to clap and smile politely whenever the Sorting Hat announced the placing of a child.

His smiles were always bigger and brighter for each new lion he gained, his eyes twinkling happily with the knowledge that there were brave and righteous children in the world still. And Merlin knew that they needed those types of wizards now more than ever.

He felt a pang of disappointment every time the Hat sorted a child into Slytherin. This just made another generation of young minds fall into the hands of Tom Riddle, giving him the chance to shape and mold them as he saw fit. Poisoning them with his sweet words and false smiles.

That was if they had not already been poisoned by their parents, after all, most of the new students were children of prominent dark pureblood families. It’s possible that all those in that house no longer had any chance of redemption.

The house of the snakes had always been dark, or so Albus believed, but it had always been on a tolerable level. Sadly, anything dark was bound to be evil, no matter how much they tried to deny it, but they still had the opportunity to turn away from the dark path. Now, with Tom here, he feared that this generations were lost.

He clapped once more when the final student was sorted, another Gryffindor to his delight, silently relieved that this was finally over, and he would finally get to eat.

But he had not expected another name to be called.

“Hadrian Peverell”

The twinkle in his baby blue eyes vanished in an instant and, if anyone were paying close attention to him, they would see that their precious Deputy Headmaster had turned a couple of shades lighter than he usually was.

He knew that name quite well, everyone in his family did. He had spent hours upon hours hunched over books in his family home’s library, studying the achievements that those that carried that name did. That name had been his sole focus for the better part of his teenager years.

The Peverells, he knew, were a very powerful and fearsome family. Often remembered because of the children tale that spoke of three of their ancestors. They were quite well known for their necromancy magic and for their typical dark affinity with magic. Albus knew that they had other gifts aside of that terrible magic, gifts that he considered much more light and good, but as far as he knew they rarely used them. Hence why he did not trust them.

And the current head of the family, he was sure, was as dark as they come. He was unsure if Lady Peverell was neutral or dark, but he was almost certain that she had to be dark. Else, who would accept marrying a dark wizard?

Dark wizards and witches tended to stick together.

But it was strange for he knew that the family had not been able to give birth to an heir for many years, there even rumors that the lady was infertile and that was why the family would soon become extinct – unless the couple adopted a child and gave him the Lordship.

Yet, the child that sat on the wooden stool possessed the same unique hair color that Lady Peverell had. Albus knew that it was impossible for the child to not be related to the current Peverells, perhaps a child from a branch family? No, he shook his head. He knew quite well that the other branches had died out completely, the only one remaining being the Potters and they did not have much of the family’s trademark characteristics.

Albus pondered on the possibility that the child could have been hidden from the rest of the world because of Grindelwald. It would certainly make sense if that were they case, there had been many reports of his followers killing of complete families that stood on his way or he considered as a threat to his cause. And the Peverells were quite the threat to him.

But because they had been with out an heir, Albus was pretty sure that he had seen no point in trying to hunt them down immediately.

Never once did Albus Dumbledore considered the possibility that the child could have been blood adopted as he himself considered blood adoption a form of dark magic, and lately, the Ministry of magic had been trying to ban the usage of blood magic – thanks to a little nudge on hid part. Making blood adoptions illegal unless you were given explicit permission from the Ministry to perform it.

Knowing who his parents were, even if he had never spoken to them face to face, he was certain that the boy would end up in Slytherin. The thought made cold sweat appear on his forehead, which he discreetly wiped with the back of his sleeve.

He risked a glace at the Slytherin table, seeing Tom Riddle gazing at the Peverell heir curiously – assessing him. And he was not the only one, many members of what Albus believed to be his followers were also giving him appraising looks.

This was worrisome, but he seemed to be the only one that thought so, judging by the intrigued looks that his fellow teachers were sporting – even Armando looked curious over this turn of events!

Silence reigned in the Hall, with the exception of the few stray murmurs that came from the four tables, everyone sat at the edge of their seats to see just where this new student would be sorted in.

“HUFFLEPUFF”

To say that Albus was surprised would be a big understatement, it was only through sheer stubbornness that his jaw did not hit the floor, the announcement had felt like a slap to his face – not that he let it show on his face, that would be very unbecoming of him.

He made sure to clap politely alongside his coworkers, to help him recover from his shock, watching as the young man let Professor Everett take the Hat off with a small smile on his face and said something to her before making his way towards his table with that peculiar owl on his shoulder.

He watched as he was called by one of his most talented students in transfiguration – Avalon Prewett – and sat down besides him. Albus was at a loss. Could it be that the boy was not as tainted as he originally thought? Or was it possible that he had fooled the Hat into sorting him there?

He was not sure, but for now, he would keep a close eye on the boy. And if he ever showed signs of turning dark, he would put a stop to him before he could become a threat.

********

“Glad to know you decided to join the awesomest house of all of Hogwarts” said the Prewett heir with a big smile on his face.

Hadrian arched an eyebrow at his friend, “awesomest? Is that even a word?”

“It is now” he stated nonchalantly.

The green-eyed teen shook his head softly and took a seat besides the only familiar face he knew in the school, together they turned to face the headmaster – listening to a rather interesting welcoming speech. At least, to Hadrian it was.

The beginning of the speech sounded like what Dumbledore used to say every single year. Study hard, respect your teacher and fellow classmates as they were – from this moment until graduation – the family that you will have here. A basic rundown of important rules (such as curfews, the points assigning system, detentions, etc.) and, to his surprise and delight, they were all given a map of the school.

It was nothing like the marauder map, but it still showed the way to every classroom and recreational area that existed there. Predictably enough, the room of requirements was not depicted in it nor was the Chamber in it, which made sense to him, there was a reason why it was called the chamber of secrets after all.

What had been interesting to Hadrian was the lack of warning for any particular location of the castle that could hold potentially deathly danger for the students. The Forbidden Forest was not so forbidden as it was in his time, thought, they were indeed asked not to wander there alone or else they could get lost. The headmaster also asked that the new students be respectful to the inhabitants of the forest.

Hadrian suspected that the reason why it was not so dangerous to go to the forest was because there was not a nest of man-eating acromantulas waiting for any unsuspecting student to feast on.

Another thing that he found different to what he was used to, was the class that the headmaster asked every wizard or witch who had undergone an inheritance to assist, something called Core Skills. Hadrian could only assume that it had something to do with mastering their new magical gifts, a class that he was sure as hell had not been taught in his time, thought he was still curious to see what it would be like.

Once the speech was done, food appeared on the tables, and everyone began to eat. Hadrian stared wide eyed at the variety of foods that were presented to him, a lot of them were new to him while others were ones, he was familiar with. He remembered that back in his time, the banquets in Hogwarts often consisted of very greasy and fried food and tended to lack on the vegetables and fruit department.

Now the table had a healthier selection of foods, something that Hadrian was more than happy to see. Healer Archer had been quite insistent that he should make sure to avoid greasy foods until he gave him the green light to do so, or else, his body might just end up rejecting the food and throwing back his progress a few days or so.

Nyx immediately jumped down from her perch on his shoulder and landed gracefully besides his plate, wanting to get a taste of a very tasty looking piece of fried bacon a few seats away from her human.

“Nyx…” said Hadrian, already suspecting what his owl might be up to.

“I’m only getting the piece if meat and then I’ll return”

“Wouldn’t it be better if I brought it over to you?”

The owl tilted her head, considering the question, before she shook her head and went ahead towards the big plate of bacon. This made her human sigh in exasperation, “if you end up falling into any of the food plates, I am not cleaning you with the water spray”

For some reason, his Ural owl developed a love for the object and always demanded Hadrian to use it when she wanted to clean herself, claiming that the spray made her feathers softer. His words earned an amused look from his friend which he pointedly ignored, focusing on his feathered companion.

Nyx froze for a second before going ahead with her plan. Her hatchling had told her that he would take her personal rain cloud away from her if she got dirty, so that meant that she only needed to be very careful with where she stepped.

In other words, her hatchling would not take her cloud from her if she came back with her feathers clean. With that in mind, she made her way towards the plate of bacon that had been calling for her name ever since she entered the room. No one, not even her human, was going to keep her away from the crispy meat!

Said human arched an eyebrow as he watched her tiptoe her way towards her goal, a little surprised that she could be so careful with her feathers. He also noticed that many of the students on the table were watching the owl in bafflement and others in amusement, his friend included.

He supposed he should be thankful that they were not shrieking for his owl to be taken away from the table. In his time, it had been normal to have you owls on the table with you after delivering something to you, he had not been sure that it was the same in this time – hence why he had not wanted her to walk or fly towards the plate – but it seemed like it was not too unusual to have her walking around the table.

“Looks like she paid attention to your threat” Avalon said, placing some roasted potatoes on his plate along with a piece of turkey steak.

Hadrian shrugged, opting to serve himself what he assumed was a kind of soup before turning to face the ginger teen. “Sometimes she does, sometimes she doesn’t. It really depends on how stubborn she wants to be”

The soup was creamy looking and had a somewhat sweet aroma, he honestly had never had anything like it and figure now would be a good time to taste new things. He was pleased to find it actually tasted quite good, different from what he was used to, but it was a nice kind of different.

Just as he was taking another spoonful of his soup, he heard a triumphant squawk come from further down the table. A moment later, a small ball of black feathers settled besides his plate and began to eat her price with gusto.

Ignoring her muttering about tasty meat and bones, he concentrated on finishing his food and the conversation that was beginning to flow throughout the table. It was mostly the younger years talking though, the elder years were casting mildly interested looks at his direction – maybe even some wary ones – but none was giving him the stinky eye.

This made him feel quite optimistic. Maybe the house of the badgers was not so different from what he was used to seeing in his time. Granted, he had not spent much time among Hufflepuff (or any other house really) but he vividly remembered that the students from this house had never treated him in a polite manner and had been mostly indifferent towards him.

At least they were until the whole Triwizard tournament debacle. That year had been a nightmare.

“Hatchling”

“Yes, Nyx?” he answered.

“The twinkling human is looking at you” she stated. She did not like how the human was staring at her hatchling and she did not like the feathers he was wearing, the bright purple and yellow colors made her want to scratch his face, to wear that kind of brilliant colors meant that he was dangerous. Poisonous. Or was he? Were humans poisonous?

Hadrian knew exactly who he was talking about, thought, he was surprised she commented on it now when he had felt his stare from the beginning. He had known this was going to happen, his name was bout to bring his attention to him, but that did not mean he liked it.

He turned to face the table where the teaching staff were conversing amongst each other while keeping an eye for the students and settled his eyes on the one teacher that stood out like a sore thumb. A part of him was baffled to see a coppery haired Dumbledore, he had known that the Dumbledores used to have red hair – like the Weasleys and the Prewetts – but somehow, he had expected a greying Dumbledore. The other, bigger, part of him was annoyed to see those cursed twinkling blue eyes.

Eyes that were staring at his own straight on.

Hadrian felt a slight pressure form on his forehead, but it soon vanished, as if it had been kicked out, and had to fight back the smug grin that wanted to make an appearance. It would seem that the old man had never learned to respect the privacy of other people’s minds.

Not like Hadrian was worried about his secrets being revealed, Death and the Peverells had covered that part just fine. Before his inheritance, Death had advised him to start working up on his Occlumency – something that the couple had agreed to when he brought it up to them.

He was by no means anywhere near close to Snape or even Tom Riddle, but he could at least determine when someone poked around in his head and be able to kick them out. He knew that it would take him a while to master the skill and at his current level he would not be able to fight Dumbledore off on his own, which was why his parents had given him the Peverell heir ring.

The ring was soaked in so many protection charms and runes that would protect him from close to everything. Poison, the majority of love potions, compulsion and – most importantly – legilimens attacks. Which pretty much guaranteed that no one would learn his secrets without his consent.

The only downside of the ring was that it could not protect him from potions like amortentia.

Hadrian turned his eyes away from the wizard and spoke to his companion “don’t worry about him, Nyx. He won’t do anything to me” yet went unsaid. He knew that the man would not do anything against him unless he gave him a reason to do so, which he wouldn’t, but one could never be certain as to what would trigger him.

“He looks like a poisonous frog” Nyx grumbled, “a big one”.

Her comment made Hadrian laugh, that was an aptly put comparison of Dumbledores in his opinion.

“What did she say, Hadrian?” asked Avalon, having been distracted from his conversation with another housemate by his friend’s laugh.

Hadrian was not about to reveal what his conversation had been about, so he opted to say something else, “Nyx keeps insisting that a water spray is a rain cloud”

“It is!”

The red headed teen tilted his head, placing one of his hands on his chin, a contemplative look taking a hold of his face. “She is not completely wrong, it kind of works like one”

Nyx puffed up her feather in response to his words, giving her human a triumphant look as if to say ‘see? I was right’. The teen could only sigh in exasperation.

“I think you just stroke my owl’s ego” Hadrian said dryly, gaining a chuckle from the Prewett heir.

“Wait, you can understand what the owl is saying Peverell?” said a male voice across from where he sat.

A boy with chocolaty brown hair and freckles stared at him in confusion when he turned to find the owned of the voice. There was something about the boy that seemed familiar but could not put his name on it. It was possible that he was the father or even grandfather of someone he knew in his time, but the question was who?

“We just heard him chirp like the owl, what do you think Abbot?” chimed in a black-haired girl to the right of the boy.

Hadrian blinked, well that answered his question. The boy was Hanna’s grandfather. Now that he knew who it was, it was easier to see the similarities between the two of them. Same button nose, eye shape and chin. Hanna had softer cheekbones than the ones that her grandfather possessed, but not by much.

“Well yeah, but he could have only been imitating the owl” retorted the boy before pinning Hadrian in place with his chestnut-colored eyes, “So? Can you?”

“Yes, I can understand what animals say” he responded.

“So, it’s true then” the girl said, “Peverells do have Beast tongue”

Hadrian nodded “yes, it’s true Miss...”

“Cromwell, Olivia Cromwell” she said, jutting her chin out and staring at Hadrian with defiant grey eyes – as if daring him to say anything about her family’s reputation.

From the way she introduced herself, he suspected that she could be a pureblood, but her defensive posture made him lean more on her being half-blood. Mostly because he had never heard that last name before, then again, it could be due to the war wiping the family off – making it an extinct line.

He should probably find a book about magical families living in the British Isles soon.

“Pleasure meeting you Miss Cromwell” Hadrian inclined his head in sign of respect, ignoring the stunned face of the girl, he turned to ask the boy “and you are?”

The brunet straightened his shoulders before answering, “Eryol Abbot, a pleasure meeting you, Heir Peverell”

“Hadrian”

“Pardon?”

“I would like it if you could call me Hadrian, Heir Peverell feels like a mouthful” explained the green-eyed teen. Even if he understood why it was necessary that he addressed him like that, he would never feel comfortable being called by his last name.

“Oh” was the boy’s reply, “in that case, you may call me Eryol”

“And you may call me Olivia” the girl hurried to add after recovering from her shock. What she had shocked her Hadrian was not sure, maybe he would learn that later.

“Deal” he said, a small grin plastered on his face.

“Now that the introductions are out of the way...” chimed in the familiar voice of the Prewett heir, “Hadrian, what is your opinion on the upcoming match between the Wimbourne Wasps and the Falmouth Falcons? I say the Falcons will win the match”

“You’re being delusional, Prewett” Eryol retorted, “It’s clear that the Wasps have this match on their bag”

“But don’t the Falcons have a better seeker this year?” asked Olivia

“The Wasps’ seeker is still better”

Avalon rolled his eyes and gave Hadrian an inquiring look, “What do you think, Hadrian?”

Expectant eyes stared at him from three different people, all of them waiting for his verdict. Back in his time he had read Quidditch through the Ages (thanks to Ron thrusting the book at his face every chance he got) but he had honestly never bothered to absorb the information in provided, he had had more important things to cram onto his head than date dictation when which team won which match.

So, he was almost as blind as everyone else in this time regarding the outcome of the match. And based on what he had heard on the radio…

“I think the Falcons might win this one” he began, “they have better beaters, and their keeper is very good. It’s very difficult to get pass him. The Wasps’ chasers would need to catch him off guard to score, that, or the seeker would need to pull a miracle catching the snitch during the first half hour”

“Ha! Knew it, Falmouth Falcons for the win” Avalon looped an arm around his silver haired friend and pulled him close, “I knew I liked you for a reason” he said in a good-natured way.

“Good to know I passed the test” he replied dryly.

“I don’t buy it; you wait and see the Wasps will win” said Eryol in a sulky tone.

Olivia shook her head and gave an exasperated sigh “Boys”

The rest of the meal was spent with Eryol and Avalon bickering between themselves about the teams while Olivia and Hadrian spoke about the subjects they would like to take. He would often ask her questions about the teachers and the way the liked to teach she, in exchange, would ask about his favorite subject and what he thought about certain charms.

It was a pleasant atmosphere; Hadrian had honestly not expected to make two new acquaintances so soon after returning to Hogwarts, but he was not about to complain. He hoped that they could actually become friends in the future, but only time would tell.

Dessert came and went, as soon as the last bowl of muffins had vanished, the prefects called for the first years so that they may guide them towards their dorms. Hadrian went with them, seeing as he would need to go with them to learn the house rules. To his surprise, Avalon walked besides him, telling the other two that he would see them in the common room.

The trek towards the common room was the same he had used back in his time, they crossed paths with the Slytherins that were also on their way to their sleeping quarters but nothing relevant happened, except young Alphard almost falling flat on his face due to him stepping on his robe by accident.

Fortunately, Hadrian and Avalon had been close by and managed to catch him before he hurt himself. Hastily thanking them, he ran to catch up with his fellow snakes.

In the common room they were greeted by their head of house, who turned out to be the same professor that had welcomed them to Hogwarts – Professor Naida Everett. Now that they were being illuminated by more than just a few lamps, he could see that she had light brown hair and surprising purple eyes, he had never met a person with that kind of eye color before.

She gave a fast rundown of how thinks worked in the house, which he was thankful because he felt the several hours of traveling on the train catching up to him. She said things like ‘always be respectful to your teachers and fellow classmates’ and ‘keeping an eye that their familiars don’t end up causing trouble’ amongst other things.

Finally, she directed where each group would sleep, girls right and boys left; with that she bid them goodnight and left them to their own devices. But not before informing Hadrian that he would be rooming with Avalon and, surprisingly, Eryol.

Feeling that he was about to collapse on his feet when his exhaustion finally made itself be known, Hadrian gave no complain as Avalon dragged him by the arm towards their dorm.

Once inside the dorm, Nyx flew towards and owl perch that was in the room while Hadrian hurried to take his trunk out and unshrink it. He placed it beside his bed and took out his pajamas and bag of toiletries, making a bee line for the bathroom for a quick shower.

He refused to go to sleep without first washing away the grime of the day, regardless of how tired he may be.

Finishing his business, he returned to the dorm and quickly dove under the covers of the bed. Wishing Avalon and Eryol goodnight, he closed the drapes and let himself be dragged to Morpheus’ realm.

Completely forgetting a certain bowtruckle that had been hiding on the pocket of his robe.

Chapter Text

“Merry, I already said I was sorry. What more do you want me to do?” Hadrian whispered to a very sullen looking bowtruckle.

“Well, if I was Merry, I would also feel very cross with you for forgetting that I was in your robe pocket” Avalon pointed out, taking a bite of his toast to hide the grin that he had been sporting all morning.

“Not helping Avalon” retorted Hadrian.

“He still has a point Hadrian, how could you have forgotten you had a bowtruckle with you?” said Eryol from his place across from him in the Hufflepuff table, “More importantly, how did you manage to sneak him inside Hogwarts without anyone noticing?”

“Well, I was not as successful as I should have been” murmured Hadrian, drinking the nutrition potion that he was prescribed, if the other two boys noticed they said nothing about it “you guys know that I brought him. I can only hope that the others in the dorm did not notice him”

Last night he had gone to bed without remembering that he needed to get Merry out of his pocket or else he would be easily found by his roommates, he had been too tired to think of anything but his bed – and he had paid the price for that.

He and Eryol actually.

Back in his time, Hadrian had had the habit of waking before any of his roommates. On his first year, he would wake half an hour before anyone, as the years progressed, he began to wake earlier and earlier. It came to the point that there would be days where he would not have a wink of sleep, this was mostly due to the nightmares that would plague him.

And, while he no longer spent days with no sleep or had any particular reason to wake up early, he was still an early raiser – the difference was that he now woke up at a much more reasonable hour.

But this nice habit of his had been thrown to the wind in favor of letting his body recover from the tiresome trip from King’s Cross to Hogshead. Something that his dear little friend had not liked at all.

When morning came, Eryol woke before Avalon and Hadrian and did his morning ritual before coming to wake them up. He had gone to Avalon first, gaining a pillow to the head as a reward for disturbing his ‘beauty sleep’ and a lot of incoherent mumbling from the red headed teen. But the problem rose when he went to wake Hadrian.

Merry, having spent all night trying to get out of the robe pocket, had not been pleased to find his silver tree’s face poking through the gap of the drapes blissfully asleep on the bed. He knew that he must have forgotten him and that was a big no no for Merry. So, he climbed the bed with the intention to wake him up and give him a piece of his mind.

Sadly, his plan did not go as he had wanted.

The moment that he got close enough to Hadrian’s face the drapes opened to reveal the face of a brown tree that he did not recognize. The newcomer froze when he saw Merry a breath away from the silver haired teen.

Eryol had been prepared for any kind of scenario possible. He was prepared to face a drooling Hadrian, a snoring one, maybe with his thump stuck in his mouth. He had been prepared to find him in any kind of position, splayed on the bed, on his side with his hands tucked beneath him, face down with the pillow over his head. But the last thing he had expected to see was a tiny tree like creature inches away from the sleeping teen.

He froze in shock before ever so slowly raised his wand, intent on getting the creature away from the one housemate he had come to like the night before. But before he could even cast a spell, Merry jumped up on him and stole his wand.

The small bowtruckle then proceeded to run away with the wand with a pissed Eryol chasing after him.

Avalon, more awake now, saw his dark-haired friend chase after the little one and could not help but laugh at the scene.

“Don’t just stand there Prewett, help me catch it!” whisper shouted the dark-haired teen.

Realizing that they were probably going to get in a lot of trouble if anyone else managed to see the creature in the dorm, he clumsily got off his bed and scrambled to catch Hadrian’s creature. Silently thanking whatever deity there was that their other roommates appeared to have left the dorm a while ago.

Moments later, when the noise forced Hadrian to wake up from blissful unconsciousness, he was faced with the most bizarre scenario: two teenagers whisper yelling to a very pissed looking bowtruckle, the three of them fighting for dominance over the piece of wood that they were all holding.

“What is going on?” he asked, looking very confused at the scene in front of him.

All three individuals stopped fighting and slowly turned to face the owner of the voice, all of them looking sheepish to have woken their friend – minus the bowtruckle, he still looked annoyed.

Avalon took it upon himself to explain the situation, “Morning Hadrian and erm…” he looked at Merry, “Eryol is getting acquainted with Merry?”

Hadrian blinked “Oh, I see” then he blinked again, feeling as if he was missing something important, then it hit him like a train.

His eyes widened as he stared at Merry and then at Eryol, who casted a confused look at the boy beside him before giving Hadrian the same look, “Merry?”

“Upps?” was his helpful reply.

The dark-haired boy arched narrowed his eyes, “something you forgot to mention last night, Hadrian?” he asked coolly.

Seeing that he had no way of getting out of giving the other boy an explanation, he spilled everything. He explained who Merry was, his relationship with him and how Avalon knew him. Somewhere along the way, Eryol got his wand back and Merry returned to Hadrian’s side, but not before whacking him in the back of his head for abandoning him in that pocket.

Avalon had found the entire thing quite amusing, now that the danger of being discovered by others had passed, snickering every now and then as Hadrian was forced to listen to his bowtruckle lecture him on how to properly treat one of his kind –  with Nyx chiming in every now and then to tell them to let her sleep.

After convincing Eryol to keep the secret of Hadrian bringing a magical creature to the school, they all got ready to head to the Great Hall for breakfast – the bowtruckle included. Even if he still looked quite cross with being placed inside yet another pocket so that he could accompany them to breakfast.

“I doubt it” said Avalon, “we were the only ones in the dorm when Eryol tried to wake us up”

“I still haven’t received a thank you for doing so”

“Sorry” replied the teen, “thank you for taking me away from the claws of the most wonderful dream ever” his voice was dripping with sarcasm, making Hadrian cover his mouth with his hand to hide his snickers.

This gained an unimpressed look from the other boy, “next time, I’ll let you sleep but don’t come complaining to me that you missed breakfast”

“Yes, sir” Avalon made a mocking salute and returned his attention back to his food.

A familiar dark-haired girl made their way to them and sat besides the annoyed looking teen, “morning boys, slept well?”

She was greeting with a round of good mornings before Hadrian answered her question, “I’d say so, I slept like the dead until some people” he glanced at the other two boys “woke me up”

“In my defense, it was Eryol’s fault” said Avalon, hands in the air in sign of surrender.

“Oi! It’s not my fault that you guys are sleepy heads!” defended Eryol, “besides, how could I have known there was a- “he quickly cut of remembering that Merry was supposed to be a secret, sadly the damage had been done.

“a what? Was there something that woke you up?” she inquired; her curiosity picked.

“A spider” Hadrian said before any of the boys could say anything, “there was a spider near my face when Eryol came to wake me up” he faked a shudder to make the act more credible, using his memories from back in second year to help get the best performance. He was not comfortable with telling her about Merry’s existence, maybe in a future he’d tell her but until then, she would be kept in the dark.

“Yeah” the dark-haired teen said, playing along to the innocent lie that the green-eyed teen came up with “it was quite a big one at that, gave me a big scare”

Avalon snorted, “pretty sure your terrified shrieks could be heard all the way to the forbidden forest, my poor ears have not recovered from them yet” he made a big show of rubbing his ears, as if he could hear them ringing.

Eryol’s jaw fell as he stared in indignation at his roommate, “I did not!”

“Yeah, you did, it even made Hadrian fall from the bed in panic! It was a miracle that the spider run away when it heard you” he said, mirth shining brightly in his eyes

“I did not shriek! I screamed” the boy clarified

“a very high pitched one”

“No, I did not!”

Olivia shook her head as she watched the two roommates fight with each other, grey eyes twinkling in amusement as she turned to face the only calm member of their group “good luck dealing with them for the next seven years”

Hadrian grinned, already getting an idea of how chaotic things will be in their dorm from this point on, “I think I’ll manage”

“Just scream if you need to be saved from them” she said with such a straight face that Hadrian could not help but laugh, he was soon joined by Olivia’s giggles.

The two of them had engaged into a nice conversation about herbology, leaving the pair to continue with their bickering, and were just finishing their cups of tea when Professor Everett, dressed in a simple dark blue robe with pastel pink details, came to stand behind Avalon with their timetables.

“Good morning students, I hope you all had a good night of rest” she let her purple eyes land on each of her students as they all gave an affirmative response, her gaze stayed a little longer on the young Peverell pleased to find that he appeared to be adapting well with his housemates. It seemed that assigning him to Mr. Prewett’s dorm had been a very good idea.

With a pleased smile she began to give them their timetables “The list for the elective classes will be published on Monday afternoon on your common room’s notice board. They will all have a small description of what each elective entails. Once you have chosen an elective, you may come to my office to inform me of your choice. You’ll have until Saturday night to inform me of your choice – Yes, Miss Cromwell?” she inquired when she saw the girl raise her hand.

“How many electives can we choose? And can we change them? If we don’t like them that is” Olivia said. Hadrian and the other teens stared in interest at his head of house waiting for her to answer the questions that had also been swirling in their heads.

“You may choose a maximum of three electives” the professor responded, “Yes, you may change them. You have two to three weeks to change electives if you don’t find it to your liking, but after that you may not be able to change it, although you will still be able to drop them. Sadly, you would have to wait an entire year to choose new electives, so I must emphasize the importance of being very careful with what elective you will choose”

Hadrian nodded in understanding, it made sense, their timetables were quite busy as it was, so taking too many electives would be quite exhausting. He quite liked this system better than the one in his time. Back then, you were given the list just before the end of second year with all the electives available and had to write to you head of house that same week so that you could get the material needed for the subject before school started.

The big difference was that they were not given a summary about what they were about, you kind of went blind to the elective. And, while you could drop them if you felt like you did not like them, you could not change it for another one. That had actually been the main reason why his ex-best friend Hermione had used the time turner. Not the best decision to make on her part.

Professor Everett peered at the small group, “be wise with what you choose because they will help you shape your future. If you have any other question, my office if always open to all of you. Have a wonderful day” with those last words, the brunette woman left them and moved on to the next group of students.

With the professor gone, the wizards and witch present focused their attention on their timetables. Green eyes widen at what they saw plastered on the paper. He had been aware that there would be many more subjects to take and some that could be dropped if you felt like it, like Astronomy or History of magic but he was still surprised with the number of subjects he would be taking. His current schedule would be as follows:

Monday

-8:00-8:55am Herbology

-9:00-10:55am Potions

-11:00-11:55am Elementalism

-12:00-12:55pm Alchemy

Tuesday

-8:00-8:55am Linguistics

-9:00-9:55am Transfiguration

-10:00-10:55am Dark magic

-11:30-12:30pm Elementalism

Wednesday

-8:00-8:55am Herbology

-9:00-10:55am Charms

-11:00- 11:55am Arts and music

-12:00-12:55pm Core skills

Thursday

-8:00-8:55am Linguistics

-9:00-9:55am Transfiguration

-10:00- 10:55am Dark magic

-11:30-12:30pm Elementalism

Friday

-8:00-8:55am Linguistics

-9:00-9:55am History of magic

-11:00- 11:55am Arts and music

-12:00-12:55pm Alchemy

-3:00-3:55pm Astronomy

He noticed that all his core subjects were taken on mornings, except for Astronomy. He was just about ready to jump in joy at seeing that he had the subject on Fridays and on a very very reasonable hour. Hadrian definitely felt that the added workload was a price he was willing to pay if it meant that he would get to actually sleep at night instead of climbing to the Astronomy tower at midnight to see stars. Thought, it made him curious as to what did they use for the class. Did they use a spell that mimicked the night sky, or did they use something else? He would have to wait until Friday to find out he supposed.

Judging by this schedule, it was pretty clear that the electives would be taken after lunch or maybe they would be taken on weekends. He felt pretty exited about the new subjects that he will be able to take and was curious as to what he would find in the Core skills class and the Art and Music one. First things first, he will use this first week to see how his workload would be and from there decide what electives to take and if he should drop a subject or two.

With that plan in mind, he turned to face his housemates, “Do you all have the same schedule?”

Avalon and the others nodded. “We all have the same schedule when we first enter Hogwarts in our first year and it stays like that until third year” Olive explained, “After this first week, our schedule will change a little bit to accommodate our electives”

“Now that we have that cleared out, who wants to go play a round of Exploding snap in the common room?” said Avalon, looking very eager to play now that he had finished his food.

“I’m in” Olive turned to face the red headed wizard and gave him a challenging smirk, “you’re going down Prewett”

“You’re on, Cromwell”

“I am so not missing this” said Eryol, “What about you Hadrian?”

Hadrian considered the proposal for a moment, “I have a letter to write, but after that I’d like to join you guys”

“What are we waiting for?” Avalon quickly got up and dragged Hadrian to his feet so fast, he almost fell backwards. “The faster we get to the common room the faster you’ll finish your letter and – therefore – the faster that you’ll get to join forces with me to crush Abbot and Cromwell together”

“I- I will?” asked a baffled Hadrian.

“Yep”

“But- “

“Nah-ah, he’ll join me” Olive said in a singsong voice, getting a hold of the arm that was not in Avalon’s grasp.

“But I- “

“In your dreams, he’ll join me” insisted a very confident looking Eryol, already pushing the green-eyed teen towards the exit to the great hall.

Before he even got a chance to question when he had agreed to do so, he was dragged away from the hall with a witch and a wizard clinging to both of his arms and one wizard holding his shoulders pushing him towards their common room. Just what had he gotten himself into?

********

Dear Mother and Father,

I hope that you are both well. I was planning to write this letter last night after the feast but my body just kind of… shut down the moment I touched the bed.

To start with, Father you should get Healer Bishop before you continue the letter. Believe me you want him with you guys for this next part. Now that you have floocalled him and told him to come to whichever part of the mansion you guys are, here goes nothing.

You owe my father twenty galleons because I, your favorite patient, was sorted in Hufflepuff.

Before any of you ask, you both are not as quite as you think you are when you make bets. Also, I think I’ve made some friends…? I met the Prewett heir on the train ride to Hogwarts and we just kind of hit it off. He is also in Hufflepuff with me so that’s great.

Last night on the feast I met two other housemates: Eryol Abbot and Olivia Cromwell. Eryol is my roommate, along with Avalon (the Prewett heir), and he and Olivia as both nice. As I’m writing this letter, I am sitting in the common room watching as the three of them play Exploding snap. They seem to have a competition on who gets to pair up with me to make teams and they look… quite enthusiastic.

So, there’s that and Archer you can rest assured that I am taking my potions and that I’m eating healthy. Oh, and Albus tried to get into my head like I suspected, but he didn’t manage to get anything, again, thanks for the ring.

This is as far as I’m writing because it looks like Eryol just managed to set the table on fire with one of the cards and Nyx is making the situation worse by trying to help blow out the flames.

Love,

Rian.

P.D. Death owes grandpa Ignotus a bottle of cherry wine, Dumbles was wearing bright purple and yellow robes.

*****

“How did you even get the colors right? I am the immortal here not you” said a very confused Lord of Death.

“Yeah, but I, unlike you, am not busy collecting souls all around the world. It’s easier for me to go and pay the old man’s room a visit” retorted a very amused spirit.

“That’s cheating”

“No, it’s called keeping watch of our enemy” replied Ignotus.

“Or being a stalker” Death pointed out.

“Look who’s talking” mocked the spirit, “So, where’s my wine?”

“You cannot even drink it!”

Ignotus crossed his arms, “says who?”

“Ignotus, you’re dead, you cannot taste drinks or food” he tried to reason.

“I don’t know who told you that, but I assure you that I can taste wine just fine” Ignotus rubbed his hands in anticipation, “So, my wine?”

Lord Death stared at his old friend for a long while before pulling a bottle of wine from his cloak, just why did he have to become friends with the youngest of the Peverell brothers?

Chapter Text

It was inevitable, he knew this was going to happen at one point of the week – they were both living in the same castle for Merlin’s sake. He had toyed around with the idea of encountering him on the hallways or classrooms, maybe even on the way to the Forbidden Forest. But the moment that he saw Tom Riddle walk through the doors of the greenhouse, he felt like it was way too soon and way too early to deal with this.

He didn’t look much different from his horcrux self, the one that had been trapped in the dairy. If Hadrian was being completely honest with himself, he would admit to understanding why teachers believed everything that he said, with that angelic face how could they not?

Pale skin with a pink undertone, dark wavy hair perfectly combed away from his face showcasing his aristocratic features for all to see paired up with two seemingly innocent looking blue eyes – though Hadrian knew that Tom was anything but innocent. He still had a little bit of baby fat on his face, and he did look a smidge skinnier than his horcrux self but aside of that, he looked the same.

He looked like someone that would offer to help an old lady with her to carry her groceries home instead of the psychopath that like to throw crucios at people as if it were candy. The only one that noticed the dark side that lived in Tom had been Albus and he had done nothing to help him stir him away from the very dark path he took.

He had known he had killed his remaining relatives and done nothing, he could have called the aurors on him but no, the great Albus Dumbledore could not be bothered to make a simple floocall or gone to talk with Headmaster Dippet. Hadrian could not really understand what the old man had been thinking and he did not think he ever would.

When the last student had finally made it to the greenhouse, the same professor that had welcomed the first years on the welcoming feast cleared her throat. “Good morning students. Welcome to another year of Herbology, please take a seat around the tables”

Everyone made haste to find a seat near someone they knew near the tables where several flowerpots containing peculiar bell shaped blue and green flowers; Hadrian blinked in confusion before turning to face Avalon when he heard something come from the flowers. “Avalon, correct me if I’m wrong, but did those flowers just… giggle?”

“You would be correct in that observation Mr. Peverell” Professor Everett said pleasantly, “you have a good sense of hearing, their giggles usually go unnoticed due to the noise students make when in the greenhouse”

She then proceeded to face the rest of the group, which had gotten quiet to try and listen to what Hadrian had heard. “Can anybody guess the name of this peculiar flowers?”

“Aren’t they called Joy drops?” said a soft male voice directly in front of Hadrian.

When he raised his head to look at the boy, he felt like cursing every deity in the world. Just his luck to have Tom Marvolo Puffing Riddle sit across from him, staring at him in what could only be described as mild interest.

He calmly turned to face the professor, making it seem like a normal move and not one born from wanting to evade the teen’s stare. What next, was he going to have him as a Potion’s partner next? Maybe he should be careful with what he thought or else they gods might just decide to do exactly that.

Professor Everett nodded and smiled at Riddle “Correct, 5 points to Slytherin”

“Now, can anyone tell me what are Joy drops commonly known for?”

Now this was something that Hadrian knew, he might be terrible to identify the herb by what it looks like (because he had never seen it before) but now that he had a name to work with, he sure knew what they were used for. His father had more or less drilled the basic properties of several herbs that were often used in potions.

“They are most well known for their ability to make whomever breaths their pollen laugh, hence why they’re called ‘Joy Drops’” he said, his voice clear and steady as he spoke. “Joy drops possess antibacterial, antidepressant and relaxing effects. It’s because of this that they are often used in Healing to treat minor wounds as salves or calming potions”

He could feel everyone’s eyes on him and did his best to ignore them, particularly the eyes of his once upon a time enemy. For some reason, his gaze felt heavier than it had been in the past, was it because he was so conscious of his presence or because he was sane now? Either way, it made him feel like there was a spider crawling over his skin and he did not like it one bit.

The brunette witch gave him an impressed look, then again, maybe she should not have been knowing who his father was. “Well done Mr. Peverell, indeed you are correct. Five points to Hufflepuff” she showed him a small, pleased smile before turning to face the rest of her students. “Well then, as you all have noticed, this week we are all going to work with these lovely flowers.”

“Each one of you will be assigned a flowerpot with a Joy drop and your job will be to take care of it for a week. Throughout this week I will instruct you how they should be looked after, how to transplant it, how to identify it in the wild and how to preserve it when used for a potion ingredient. Today I’ll focus on its characteristics, properties and uses”

She took her wand and traced a swirling pattern while murmuring a spell that he could not catch, a small yellow glow latter and big projection of a Joy Drop appeared beside her. Green eyes widen at the sight, the projection was impressive and quite detailed too, he could even make out the small thorns that were under the leaves of the flower that he had not noticed in the one that was sitting in front of him.

“Pretty cool, huh?” whispered Avalon from his right side, entertained by his friend’s reaction.

“Very” Hadrian murmured back. He had never seen a spell like that, and he wondered if they would learn to do it in their charms class.

“To start with, Joy Drops also known as Giggle bellflower is a plant that is native to the British Isles, Norway, Sweden and Denmark, but can be found almost everywhere in the world due to its ability to adapt easily to new environments. As you have all noticed, its second name was given in honor of its peculiar ability to sound like a human giggle” the tall woman pointed with her wand the stem of the flower, “the stem is known to secrete a sweet-smelling substance when suffering an injury, the color can vary from clear to bright yellow. This substance is what contains the antibacterial properties that Mr. Peverell mentioned previously -”

The progressed with the professor going every property the plant had, her voice clear and soft, to Hadrian, it didn’t feel like she was actually teaching them something. It felt more like she was telling them a story, one that she knew by heart; her voice had a lure to it that made you want to pay attention to what she was saying.

He made sure to write down anything that he was not familiar with on a piece of parchment to check out later. From time to time, the witch would be interrupted in her lecture by a student asking a question and she would patiently answer the question, always making sure that the student understood the explanation she gave.

All and all, Hadrian could see Herbology becoming a new favorite subject. Not that he did not like it before, Professor Sprout had been a great teacher, but the range of herbs that had been taught had been short and some of the herbs that were learned in first and second year should not have been taught until, at least, seventh year according to his mother. Other herbs should not have been taught at all, only Herbology and Potion Masters were meant to work with them, it was a miracle that nobody in his time had died while taking the class.

The class would have been perfect if not for a tiny little detail. All throughout the lecture, Tom kept looking at him as if he was a strange specimen that needs to be examined. He avoided looking him in the eye again, not because he feared he would bypass the protections that he had, but because it was difficult for him to see him as he was.

In his mind eye he still saw the demented man that had wanted to ravage the world and paint its street red with the blood of his enemies and the muggleborns, even when he knew that this Tom still had a whole soul and had not committed mass murder. But he still tortured several children in that orphanage supplied his mind in a voice that sounded suspiciously like Hermione.

He knew that it was wrong to torture people as a whole but he had to admit to himself that there were some people that deserved it, like Bellatrix for example. But those kids did not… Or maybe they did? Hadrian had only seen Albus’ memories of a young Tom revealing that he could make the other kids hurt but had not said why he did it, he had only ever seen his point of view of the story that made Voldemort.

While he knew some general details about Tom, such as him being a legilimens from a young age, not afraid to do what it takes to get what he wants, is cunning, is a genius with magic and hates Dumbledore. But aside of all that, he did not know who Tom Riddle had been before the whole horcrux thing.

As he packed his things on his bag and made his way to the exit with Eryol and Avalon close behind, he kept thinking if perhaps Tom had not been a truly bad person in the past and had only been just a desperate kid screaming for help that wanted to survive.

*******

“That was a very close call Peverell” muttered a grumpy looking Eryol that was now sporting electric blue colored hair, “I thought you said that Merry was going to behave? Trying to eat the ingredients of the potion is not behaving”

“He was behaving” insisted Hadrian, “but beetles are kind of his favorite food, and he cannot resist the temptation of having so many close to him”

“On the bright side” said Avalon in a cheery voice, coming to stand beside the teen. “The color suits you, maybe you should dye the rest of your hair to that color. It brings out your eyes” he made a show of blinking rapidly, making Olivia snicker and earn a mild stinging hex at his arm as retaliation.

“Keep it Prewett and I’ll curse you bald for the rest of the week” he threated the boy, feeling satisfied when the red head swallowed in trepidation and stepped away from him and went to stand behind Hadrian.

“Still, thanks for the distraction, Eryol. I promise to repay you later” promised Hadrian, feeling bad that because of that distraction he had messed up the potion they had been making. Thankfully it had been just a simple hair altering potion, so it did not cause any harm, but he would be stuck with that hair color for at least another day.

“A little help with the Potion’s essay would be welcomed”

Hadrian grinned, “deal”

With that resolved they entered the classroom where they would be taking the one subject that Hadrian had come to like very much. Elementalism. It was interesting seeing how the elements came to play such an important part in the creation of new spells. Take the simple charm Lumos for instance, they had to use two elements to make this charm work and that had been fire and light.

To say that this had been his most anticipated class of the day was an understatement.

Inside the classroom they encountered a short bronze skinned man with beautiful curly hair and a short beard. He was a little on the short side with a slight bulky form and possessed kind amber colored eyes. The moment the wizard saw them enter the room, he gave them a bright friendly smile, making some wrinkles appear beside each of his eyes.

“Welcome, please take a seat where you feel most comfortable” he said in a soft smooth voice, it was quite an appealing voice for Hadrian, one that reminded him a little of Remus back when he had been a teacher on Hogwarts.

They hastily chose a seat near the front of the class and waited for the rest of his classmates to arrive, while they waited, the unknown professor made small talk with the three of them. Asking if their holidays had been fun, how their classes had been up until now and if Avalon had gotten into problems.

According to Olivia, Avalon had made a sort of tradition in which he starts the first day of the year with someone becoming the victim of a prank or him getting himself covered in something. Last year, he had somehow covered from head to toe in silver goo. The exercise had been to cover the stone they had been given in with the small amount of silver dust they had been given.

While he had succeeded in completing the task, when it was time to revert the process, his magic had decided that the way to achieve it was by converting the stone and the silver into liquid. Avalon had panicked when he saw the stone become gooey and the result of his panicking was him falling on his but with a bunch of stone-silver goo falling over him. The good news was that it was resolved quickly, the bad ones were that he got an earful from Professor Frawley.

“Good morning students, I will be your professor for this class. My name is Kian Whittaker” announced the smiling man. Hadrian got the impression that the wizard looked happy, as if he had been waiting for this moment for a while now. Could be because he really like to teach? Or perhaps he was always like that?

“Today I have prepared a small quiz to see how much you remember from the previous year” protesting groans were heard all across the classroom, no one liked quizzes, specially not one done on their first day of classes.

“But it’s our first day” whined a Ravenclaw girl to his left.

With a simple swipe of his wand the sheets of paper were delivered to each student, “Now now, it won’t be so bad, I promise that it’s an easy one. You’ll be able to solve it in half an hour” Professor Whittaker said in a cheery tone.

They did not solve the quiz in half an hour.

Hadrian had known from the moment that he read the questions that he would not be able to solve the forty questions in just a thirty-minute time span. He was very much thankful for the crash course that his guardians had put him through this past two months because, otherwise, he would have not been able to even answer a quarter of the questions on the quiz.

His suffering had all been worthwhile.

When he and his friends left the classroom with an exhausted air around them, the bronze skinned wizard gave them a good-natured smile as he bid them goodbye – reminding them to write a three-foot-long essay on the different ways that lightning could be stored. Hadrian could only think that for someone who looked so friendly he sure as hell was merciless with his students.

******

“I think my brain hurts” said a drained looking Olivia, holding a cup of chamomile tea in her hands pouring a questionable amount of honey in it.

“You brain hurts? Mine feels like it just melted” retorted Avalon, coping the dark-haired girl’s example, he poured himself a cup of chamomile tea.

“I don’t think I can feel my brain anymore” Eryol whined, his own cup of tea forgotten in favor of just letting his head rest on the dinning table. Not even having the energy to lift his head to eat his lunch.

Hadrian munched on a piece of roasted beef as he watched his friends complain about the last two tests they had had to put through. He did not think the tests had been that bad, sure they had been extensive but not really heavy, not like the ones Mirta had put him through. Then again, if he had known nothing of the subjects his thoughts would be different.

Had it not been because of his parents, he would have probably been as tired or worse than how his friends were right now. Plus, there was a high chance that he would have left the parchments in blank.

The last class of the day had been Alchemy and a petit strict face witch with ice-colored eyes, who had introduced herself as Professor Isolde Denhart, had greeted them all with another test. This one had been considerably longer than the one they had taken in Elementalism, the good part was that she did not make them take a practical one – mostly because she had run out of time to do so. Thought, that did not stop her from assigning them a five-foot essay about how the cycle of the moon affected certain metals.

That had been a relief for Hadrian. He may be quite competent with the theorical part of the subject but he when it came to the practical part, he was a disaster.

Olivia raised a questioning eyebrow at the strangely relaxed silver-haired wizard, “you seem to be doing fine Hadrian” she said.

He blinked, “well I don’t think the quizzes were that bad, just… a little extensive that’s all” he took a sip of his tea, taking a small piece of beef and offering it to his owl who had decided to pay him a visit before returning to the dorm to sleep.

“A little?!” exclaimed the three teenagers, turning to look at Hadrian as if he had just lost his mind.

“Some of the ravens were not even able to finish the elementalism test, others left the classroom looking as if a dementor had sucked their souls, I’m pretty sure I saw a Gryffindor girl cry while doing Professor Denhart’s quiz. And you say it was just a little extensive?!” Avalon cried out, incredulity painted all over his face as he gazed at his peculiar friend.

“When you put it like that…” he made it sound like he was acting like a pompous git, the same thing that Snape had accused him of being. The memory of his ex-professor made him wince; he could actually picture him sneering at him for his words.

“I swear the professor do it on purpose” Eryol said, finally raising his head and scooping a serving of shepheard pie. “They just like to see us suffer”

The rest of the members of the small group, minus Hadrian, murmured their agreement to the statement and continued eating. Or in Olivia’s case, raising the probability of getting diabetes with all the sugar she began to eat, insisting that she needed to sugar to get her through the day or else she would collapse.

“Your nest mates seem to be less energetic today, hatchling” chirped Nyx from her perch on Hadrian’s shoulder.

“We just had two very elaborate exams and that drained them” he explained to his feather companion, doubting that she understood what exams were or why they would make them this tired.

The dark owl tilted her head to the side, “What are these exams you mentioned hatchling? Are they dangerous?”

“No, Nyx. They are pieces of parchment or paper that have a series of questions that help to see who well you know something”

“Oh, then why are they so tired?”

“Hadrian, what is she saying?” asked Avalon, noticing that his green-eyed friend had slipped into Beast tongue.

“She was asking what exams were and why you guys looked like you were about to drop dead on your feet”

“Well you see dear Nyx” the red headed teen turned to face the small owl, the small innocent smile gave Hadrian a bad feeling. “Exams are energy sucking creatures that feed on the hopes and dreams of students, leaving them only with frustration and despair”

“What?!” she squawked, whipping her wings in distress and turning to stare at her human with alarmed eyes “Hatchling is this true? Did that creature take away your energy and dreams?”

“No Nyx, Avalon is only exaggerating because thinking about the answers of the quizzes left him tired. I’m alright” he placated his owl, who settle a little after being reassured by her human. He proceeded to give his blue eyes friend a glare. “You scared her”

“Hey, I was only telling her the truth” defended the boy, hands in front of him in sign of surrender.

“And he was not that far away from the truth” murmured Olivia, “they do leave us feeling like we are nothing but a cloud of despair”

Hadrian sighed deciding to drop the subject, “do you guys think that the elective list has already been posted?”

“Sure hope so” replied Eryol, “Professor Everett did say that it would be posted on the afternoon”

This seemed to perk up Olivia, “we should hurry to the common room to take a look at it. The faster that we see the electives, the faster that we will be able to decide which one we want” with that said, the young witch pretty much inhaled the food and almost choked on her glass of water with how fast she drank.

The three boys stared in shock at the girl and only managed to snap out of it when she began to drag them away from their seats, pushing them towards the common room.

“Wait, Olivia, my pie!” exclaimed Eryol as he was dragged away from the table. With a quick flick of her wand, the unfinished piece of pie was wrapped in a napkin and levitated behind them.

“Done” she stated, “Now let’s not waste more time, we still have homework after this”

Her statement was met with a chorus of displeased groans. No matter how old he was supposed to be, he will always hate doing homework.

*******

The only sound that could be heard in the relatively silent library was the continues scratch of quills against parchment or the occasional scraping of a chair as it was pulled back from a table. Now that he was not filled with compulsions, he could appreciate the peaceful feeling the library provided for the students.

The smell of new and old books gave a sense of calm that was very much welcome after all the chaos from his classes. As he wrote the Elementalism essay (which turned out to be easier to write than he had suspected), he let his thoughts wander on the elective list he had seen a few hours ago.

Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, Muggle studies, Care of magical creatures and Divination were still in the curriculum but there were some other electives that had caught Hadrian’s attention. There was Healing Arts, Warding, Spell crafting, Curse breaking and – surprisingly – Magical Law.

On one hand, he was happy to have such a big diversity of classes that he could take. On the other hand, he was aghast to know that he could only take a maximum of three electives. He now understood why Hermione had gone to such extremes to be able to take all of the elective classes.

He knew that he wanted to take CMC, he had loved the subject before, and he knew he was going to love it now. Specially when he was going to have a decent professor to teach him. Healing Arts would be a very useful, with his history it would help relieve a lot of burden from Healer Bishop’s shoulders.

Now he needed to choose between Warding or Curse breaking, they both sounded interesting and would become very useful in a future. The problem he had was that he wanted to take both electives, and the Spell crafting one was very tempting. It was possible that the elective would help with his Weaver inheritance, give him a better understanding of how his magic would work when creating new spells.

Maybe he could try to convince the head of house to let him take just one more elective? There was no harm in trying. In the worst-case scenario, he would self-study the subject and then take the OWL on his fifth year.

Stretching out and massaging the muscles on his right arm, stiff and softly aching from being stuck in one position for a long time. He finally decided that he needed a break from writing, so he closed his book and rose to his feet.

This action brought the attention of his friends.

“You finished already?” asked the still blue haired Eryol.

Hadrian shook his head, “I’m going to stretch my legs for a moment, then I’ll come back” he turned and walked away.

“If you pass the kitchens on your way, bring me a custard cream please!” Avalon whisper-yelled after the silver haired wizard, writing the essay had left him feeling quite hungry.

“Okay”

As much as he liked the calm and quite of the library, after a certain amount of time he would begin to feel suffocated, it did not help that the windows around the room were often times closed. So finally, being able to feel fresh air hit his face made Hadrian relax quite a bit, it also chased away the sleepiness that had begun to set on his bones while he had been doing his homework.

Having no true direction, he just wandered the hall of the place that he had considered his home for many years. Ever since he had turned eleven, this castle had been more of a home than any other place in the whole world – aside of Peverell manor. He took his time passing column after column and suit of armor after suit of armor, waving to any painting that saw him.

Everywhere he turned he saw shadows of what had become of the castle during the last battle. Crumpled stairs, blasted columns, torn paintings. The hallways were either filled with debris or with dead bodies that were sometimes bleeding and staining the floor red, He even remembered how … empty the castle had felt during and after the battle.

The warm and vibrant magic that was coating every inch of the building during this time was nowhere to be seen in his. It had been as if Hogwarts had been sucked dry, in a way, it had felt as if the castle had died with all those students that had died inside its walls.

Hadrian stopped walking and closed his eyes, trying to get those images from his head. In moments like this, he would prefer not to remember anything about the damage that the war had caused.

Shaking his head, he kept walking opting to go to the kitchens and get the custard creams that his friend had asked. The advantage of having used the Marauder’s map for so long was that he had come to memorize the majority of the shortcuts to pretty much everywhere, so quickly picking a route, he made his way to the kitchens.

While letting his mind run wild with how he should approach the house elves he did not notice a piece of rock that was jutting out of the ground, promptly making him yelp as he lost his balance and fell face first on the floor.

He closed his eyes bracing for impact, not noticing his magic reaching out to help him. Had Hadrian paid more attention, he would have noticed that the hallways that he had been trekking had been covered in shadows and – when he had tripped – his magic reached out to them to help him. His magic, more specifically his shadows, had taken it upon itself to bring closer to the last destination he had in mind.

A surprised yelp was heard underneath the silver haired boy when Hadrian crash landed on the floor, or what should have been the floor. It felt much too soft to be considered to be the ground and far to hard to be a cushion.

Green eyes opened in confusion and shock, finding that underneath him was a body. A male body. Slowly raising his line of sight, he came upon a very familiar looking pair of pained silver-grey eyes, who raised a dark eyebrow at him.

“Would you mind getting up? You are digging your elbow on my diaphragm” said the dark-haired boy in a flat voice.

Hadrian’s eyes widen before hastily getting to his feet and offering to help the teen up, “I’m so sorry, it was not my intention to – erm, fall into you” he said, looking very embarrassed about what had happened.

“Apology accepted” replied the boy, “but why did you just fall from the ceiling?”

“Honestly? I think my shadows tried to save me from having my face be acquainted with the floor” he said in a sheepish tone.

The silver eyed wizard blinked, a frown slowly forming on his face. “Your… shadows?” he inquired. He would admit that he did see a flash of darkness seconds before the silver-haired teen fell on his arms and made the both of them fall to the ground. He suspected that he was going to have a bump in the back of his head in a few hours.

“Yeah, um- I’m Hadrian by the way, Hadrian Peverell” he introduced himself, offering a hand for a shake, he might had just crashed into him, but he was not going to drop his manners – Mirta would hex him is he did.

The dark-haired wizard stared at his hand and then at his face, after a moment to deliberating what to do, he took the offered hand and gave a polite shake “Orion, Orion Black”

Chapter Text

An awkward silence settled over the two boys; the crackling of the torches filled the space between them as they took a moment to appreciate each other. One boy trying to make sense of the situation he had found himself in and the other not being sure whether he should be thankful for his shadows’ intervention or not. On one side, they had prevented him from falling face first. On the other hand, they thought it would be okay for someone else to take the landing.

Orion Arcturus Black had all the trademark characteristic of the Black family. Silky shoulder length the color of a clear midnight sky, aristocratic cheekbones, an aquiline nose and, of course, eyes that resembled liquid mercury.

And as he studied the wizard before him, a pang of heartache hit him at seeing so much of his deceased godfather in the Black heir. Although, he supposed that he was no longer dead – Sirius was not born yet. There were still some decades left before he could see his godfather again, a less miserable one if things went as he hoped.

“You said that your shadows brought you here” Orion began, watching the Peverell heir with sharp eyes. “How?”

Hadrian blinked, “that is a very good question” one he was not sure how he was going to explain it. He could always go with being blunt, worst-case scenario would be that Black would feel offended with the way he spoke.

“My shadows they – erm, they kind of transported me here” he said bluntly and saw as the Black heir frowned at the answer he was given.

“Care to elaborate?” he asked.

“Well, my shadows kind of have a mind of their own sometimes. When I tripped, they thought I was in danger, so they tried to help me get somewhere ‘safe’ which just so happen to be here” that last statement brought another thought to his head, “by the way… where is here?”

Orion stared blankly at the confused teen; did he really not know where he was? “You’re in the dungeons, close to the Potions lab”

“I am?” Hadrian turned around in a circle trying to find something that could confirm what the other boy had said. It was not that he did not believe him to have told him the truth, but it was always better to confirm his words.

There had been a lot of rumors going around Hogwarts concerning the sudden appearance of the young wizard that was standing before Orion. Some of them were good, some were bad, and some others were just pure nonsense. What they all seemed to agree on was that Hadrian Peverell was a mystery, an enigma, that everyone wanted to unravel.

While many in the house of snakes had begun talking about trying to approach the wizard, Orion had chosen to keep to himself. He had not seen a reason to hurry into approaching the boy, knowing full well that sooner or later he would see him in class. His plan had been simple, watch him from the sidelines and, if he showed promise, extend his hand in friendship, if not, he would just ignore him.

Orion had not known what to expect from the Peverell heir when he first saw him in Herbology class, maybe another arrogant and prideful pureblood, he was pleasantly surprised when he saw a confident and knowledgeable young man. A dedicated one too, if his taking note during class was anything to go by.

What he had not expected was to face a sheepish, confused and blunt wizard that had some sentient shadows following him around.

“So it seems I am in the dungeons” Hadrian frowned, the shadows had taken him even further from the kitchen than he originally was. Then again, he supposed that he should be thankful that they had not dropped him in the Ravenclaw tower – the shadows had a terrible sense of direction.

“You were originally headed to the kitchens?” Jade green eyes widen at the dark-haired boy who was looking very amused now.

“Erm, did I say that out loud?”

“I’m afraid you did”

Hadrian winced and lowered his head to gaze at his shoes, his face burning from embarrassment, he hoped Black had not noticed it. What a way to make an impression with his godfather’s father he thought bitterly.

“I’m just going to see myself out of here” he stated, better to leave now before he did or said another thing that would embarrass him. “Sorry again about falling over you and ruining you afternoon, so -erm, bye!” he then proceeded to walk away in what he was sure was the direction that would take him out of there.

Orion raised an eyebrow at the other boy’s antics, “That corridor will take you to another lab room”

“I already knew that”

The Black heir was filled with the biggest urge to laugh at what was a very bad lie but immediately squashed it out, he could not show weakness with someone that was a stranger. But all his self-discipline could not prevent the small smirk that made its way into his face as he watched the silver haired wizard all but stump his way out of the dungeons.

Hadrian Peverell was a very peculiar wizard; not what he had expected. He was somewhat... refreshing. He supposed he should keep an eye on the wizard and see what he did, it would at least provide good entertainment.

*******

“That was your doing wasn’t it Ignotus?” accused Death when he went to take a look at his little master.

“Bold of you to assume that I’m the only one that can manipulate shadows while dead” was the reply he got from his friend. “You do realize that many Peverells of the past could do it, right?”

Death gave an exasperated sigh and rubbed a hand over his face in frustration, “Yes, but you’re the only one that has attached itself to my master like a leech”

Ignotus stayed quiet, Lord Death was not wrong … but he was also not right. Then again, he was not aware that he had been gushing about his brilliant great grandson with his older brothers. He was also ignorant to the fact that his older brothers had decided to pay little Hadrian a visit.

The hooded man narrowed his eyes at his old friend, “why had you stayed silent? You are not usually this silent”

“I just felt like seeing what you would do if I shut up”

Suspicion began to bloom in the back of Death’s mind, just what could he have been missing? No other Peverell spirit had bothered to try and contact his master as far as he knew, and the living Peverells would have needed Hadrian to carry a special pendant that would notify them if he was in trouble for them to command the shadows like that. That only left Ignotus as the culprit, but why was he not being smug about it?

Just when he was about to interrogate the spirit once more, another spirit puffed up beside Ignotus cackling madly at what he had seen.

“Oh Iggy, your great grandson is a real piece of work” the newcomer had the same blue eyes as Ignotus and looked considerably younger than the other ghost and was currently holding the older spirit in a one-armed hug.

“No wonder you like him so much, he is a lot of fun to have around”

The ancient being could only stare in bafflement at the newcomer, the spirit that he lest expected to be responsible for his master’s incident. “Antioch?”

The oldest of the brothers turned and gave the cloaked figure a roguish smirk, “Hello, Lord Death. Lovely day, isn’t it?”

“You made my little master land in the dungeons of Hogwarts?!”

“I was just hastening the process, plus” he paused, “I wanted to see what Iggy saw in the boy that would make him sing his praises”

Ignotus snorted, “It’s not like you were not already thinking of bringing those two closer from the start” he pointed out.

He was not wrong; Death had planned for their encounter to happen. Him and his sister actually, but he had planned for it to happen much later. Oh well, what’s done is done, he just hoped this did not affect his little master’s path too much.

******

Ever since his regression in time, Hadrian had slowly come to terms with the fact that he was not longer in his time. But nothing had driven the point home harder than the last week had.

Spells gone wrong, hexes wrong aimed, inheritance gifts making inopportune debuts on the classrooms or hallways. It was chaotic, still, this were things he was used to seeing on the first few weeks after school starts (minus the inheritance part) but then there were the magical instruments that could chase you around the school if you pissed them off.

He did not know that they could be pissed off. He did not even know they could feel. Which was why Hadrian had been more than a little shocked to find just how fast a flute could smack someone when called old and rusty.

There was, of course, the other side of the spectrum where the instruments liked you. When that happened, they would also chase you, the difference was that the notes that they played were soft and pleasant to the ear. They would also cling to you until class was over.

Eryol had laughed so hard he had fallen of his seat when he saw Hadrian’s panicked face at being surrounded by so many violins. He was pretty sure that none of his friends were ever going to let him live that one down.

But that had not been him most ridiculous class, no, that place was occupied by what was rapidly being referred as ‘The Mushroom Incident’. This occurred on his last Elementalism class of the week.

That day, several students and a professor had entered the classroom looking impeccable with not a hair out of place and, at the end of the lesson, they all walked out of that same classroom looking like their hair had gotten into a fight with a blow dryer and lost. Not even the Professor had been spared from the new hair look.

Turns out that Olivia feared cockroaches and Avalon had the brilliant idea to enchant a piece of paper to look like one, while they were learning how one could channel lightning in spells or runes. The end result was a scared Olivia creating a thunder cloud with accidental magic and zapping the ‘insect’, thus charging the air around the classroom so much so that their hair just went into ‘mushroom mode’ as Avalon liked to say.

Needless to say, that, when Professor Whittaker said that the class was going to be enlightening for all of them, that had not been what he had in mind.

And so, all the third year Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws (along with the professor) attended lunch displaying adorable puffy hair and slightly charred robes. Wordlessly, they had all come to the agreement that food was more important than the possible hit their reputations would take.

Everyone had their priorities, food was theirs.

Too bad that Slytherins did not share the class with the Hufflepuffs, otherwise Hadrian would have had the chance to see a budding Dark Lord with puffy hair. But alas, it would appear he would not have such luck.

Speaking of budding Dark Lords, Riddle had turned out easier to tolerate seeing as he spent the week giving him a few critical glances before returning his attention to whatever he was doing. Hadrian knew that he was curious about him and would eventually approach him or send someone in his stead.

But so far, Tom had been the least of his worries. Too bad he could not say the same about Albus Too Many Names Dumbledore.

In fact, he was the reason why he was currently sitting surrounded by several transfiguration books in his common room while his friends shot him sympathetic looks from their respective places in the table.

The old codger had left him a pile of assignments that he needed to finish by the end of the month to ‘bring him up to speed’ with his peers, but not before drowning him in piles of exams the last two sessions of the class to see how well versed he was in the subject.

To say that he was pissed with the old man would be an understatement and he was not the only one. His friends had not liked that the professor had singled him out like that, on the first class of the semester. The rest of his housemates had looked baffled at the treatment, because not even the Slytherins had been treated like that.

Hadrian deduced that he did it to see what kind of reaction he would get from him, or he already had a vendetta against him. Which made no sense to him as he had never spoken to the man until that moment. So, it begged the question as to why he did it.

Regardless of what his reason was, he was reluctantly thankful for what he had done. The old geezer had given him the perfect excuse to use as a way to explain why he disliked and distrusted the wizard. He was not confident in his abilities to keep his expressions in check when around Dumbledore.

Shacking his head to clear his head, he let his quill drop beside the last piece of homework he had finished. He had been working on them since Tuesday afternoon, using every free period he had available, intent on finishing the pile of assignments before the designated date.

For now, he had had enough of parchments, quills, ink and hand cramps. He needed fresh air and seeing as it was a beautiful day outside, a visit to the Forbidden Forest like an excellent idea. He could also use this chance to take Nyx on a fly and Merry would get to be around him without being stuffed in a pocket.

Having made up his mind, he called for his owl. “Nyx, would you like to spread your wings for a while?”

“Are we going outside?”

Hadrian nodded, making the owl chirp happily and glide to perch on his shoulder. “What are we waiting for Hatchling? Let’s go”

“Give me a sec” he turned towards his friends, “You guys want to come with us?”

“Where are you going?” Eryol asked.

“Forbidden forest, Nyx wants to stretch her wings and I could use a little bit of fresh air”

“Sorry, Hadrian. I promised to help Jennings that I would help her find her pet” Olivia said mournfully. “Maximus escaped again, hopefully he is still somewhere inside the common room”

“I know Abbot has to see Madam Blackwood to get a look at his head and I need to finish this essay, maybe I can catch up to you later?” Avalon asked hesitantly, he felt bad that he would leave Hadrian on his own, knowing that the teen was still adjusting to his life in Hogwarts. He feared that he would feel like he was being abandoned.

Hadrian gave him a small smile, “it’s fine Avalon, do what you need to do”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, besides I’m not going to be away for long” he picked up his things, seeing no point in leaving them in the table. “I’ll see you guys at dinner, okay?”

He received nods from his friends, “be careful”, “take the map with you”, “don’t get eaten by a hippocampi on your way”. The three teens turn to look strangely at their red headed friend.

“What? My uncle said they liked to eat humans” he defended himself.

Hadrian gave a slow nod, he was pretty sure that they were not man-eating creatures and suspected that his uncle had played a prank on him, but he was not going to be the one to point it out “right, well I’ll – erm, be careful. See you guys later”

He turned and made his way to his dorm to drop him stuff. By the time he was leaving the common room, he could hear Olivia trying to explain what hippocampis’ diet consisted of. Hadrian laughed when he heard the indignant squawk that Avalon let out just before the door closed behind Nyx and him.

*******

Getting out of the badger’s den had been an excellent idea, just feeling the fresh air hit his face was doing wonders for the headache that had been forming. Not to mention that his owl was having the time of her life jumping from one tree branch to another and flying from where he was laying on the ground to another tree.

Merry was just as happy to jump around the small meadow that Hadrian had found for them to relax in. Watching the little bowtruckle chirp happily to Nyx made him feel a little bad for not taking them here earlier. Bowtruckles were creatures that loved being around nature and, while the common room had plenty of plants spread around the room, it was just not the same.

Sooner or later, they would feel like they were being caged.

While his companions played around, he decided to take the time to practice his magic for a little while.

Sitting cross-legged on the soft grass, he closed his eyes and tried to clear his mind like Mirta had instructed him to do. After weeks of doing this, it came easily to him. He became aware of his surroundings, the coolness of the shadows, the rustling of the tree leaves, the chanting of the cicada, the cawing of the birds, the bumps on the ground he was sitting on. And slowly, he began to turn his attention towards himself.

He took note of his breathing, of the way his lungs expanded and contracted with each breath, of his calm and steady heartbeat. Noticing the feel of the fabric of his clothes on his skin, the slight itch he was feeling in the back of his left hand, the pressure building on his spine. He ignored all of this and began to fall deeper and deeper into himself.

That is until he felt that small ball of darkness just above where his heart was supposed to be. His core, the source of his magic. Now that he felt it clearly, he pulled at it and willed it to travel towards his right hand.

When he began to feel a tingly and cool feeling on his hand, Hadrian opened his eyes. A small mass of swirling darkness danced around his fingers in a playful manner, the sight of it made Hadrian smile.

Well then he thought, let’s see what you guys can do.

Hadrian brought both of his hands together and tried to compact the shadows into a ball. With a small twist of his wrist, he changed the shape of the ball into that of a star and then to one of a simple flower.

Ignotus had explained that manipulating the shadows is sometimes like creating a sculpture. The shadows being the marble and the will of the wizard or witch the chisel. The big difference being that stone and marble tends to be less slippery.

Wanting to challenge himself, he took the shape of the flower and tried to give it more details. A slightly crooked stem, seven curved petals turning inwards, as if wanting to cover the center from the world, delicate and small thorns in random places of the stem.

Hadrian frowned, the shadows just kept slipping from his fingers and the end result was not bad, but it was not completely good either. The basic shape was fine, but the thorns… they looked more round than pointy. It looked like the flower had been stung by several bees, not what he had been hopping to achieve, so he tried again.

He lost track of time as he concentrated on creating different shapes, he focused on small things for the most part, knowing full well that if he pushed himself too hard, he would end up collapsing.

Eventually, he became frustrated when the owl he had been trying to make kept turning up like a three-dimensional painting of Picasso. He ended throwing the thing away from him, knowing that it would fade into nothing the moment it touched the floor.

A pained hiss made Hadrian freeze.

Gingerly getting to his feet, he approached the place where he heard the hiss. Looking around the area, Hadrian tried to spot what has caused the sound. He did not have to look for long, there, poking its head from underneath a thick three root, was a small snake.

It did not look to be much longer than his hand and was a thin as a noddle, portraying beautiful brown-green scales. The most remarkable feature of the snake was the peculiar set of yellow scales that circled around its head, like a neckless. It was a cute snake if he was being honest with himself.

And it was now glaring daggers at him.

“Who do you think you are human?!” it hissed angrily at him

Chapter Text

Voices of children and young adults filled the Great Hall as they chattered with their friends or relatives about their days. The noisiest of the tables being the one belonging to the house of the lions and the most subdued being the Slytherin one.

In said table, there was a particular section in which sat one of the most brilliant students Hogwarts had seen in many years. Tom Riddle sat quietly with a blank face gazing at the table in front of him, more importantly, at the newest member of the badgers.

From a very young age, he had known that he had been different from every other child in the orphanage. He would be able to do things no one else was able to, from making make small things levitate to making people do what he wanted. The children called him a freak, the matron and the sisters called him a monster – a demon wearing human skin. He hadn’t been any of those things of course, but he had indeed been different.

Tom had always known that his strangeness made him special, someone destined for greatness.

It was not until the old crow came to visit him that he found out why he was so different, why he was so special. He was a wizard, a being who could wield magic as they pleased to make incredible things – things that should be impossible – happen.

He had been ecstatic when he finally understood why the muggles, as he had learned people without magic were called, always treated him like a monster. It was because they would never understand him because they feared him. They would never accept him, nor would they love him, how could they when they feared what they could not control?

He would admit to hoping that, once he came to Hogwarts, he would be accepted by his kin. Loved even.

He had been sorely disappointed when he was faced with more discrimination, most of them he did not fully understand at the beginning, for being a muggleborn or being poor. Most of his classmates made it seem like it was his fault he had been born like that when, in truth, no one had control over such matters – as much as it pained him to admit it.

Despite that, he tried to make a place for himself in this new world. He made his classmates respect him as well as fear him, he made his teachers love him and he found his true lineage.

As a child, he had taken great pride in being able to speak with snakes, after finding out that his gift was called Parseltongue and that it marked him as a direct descendant of the great Salazar Slytherin he felt even more prideful. His discovery opened so many doors to him and helped solidify his position amongst the Slytherin. It gave him a sense of belonging.

Tom Marvolo Riddle was special, powerful, and everyone could see it. He had felt so confident in his knowledge that he was the only Parselmouth (not counting his disgraceful uncle) that when he heard the Peverell heir hiss to one of the snakes he had grown fond of earlier that day, he had frozen on his hiding spot behind a boulder and gaped like a fish at him.

He had seen as the silver-haired boy tried to calm the snake with soft hisses, he had not known Parseltongue could sound that soothing, offering his apologies for hurting him. He had seen Thanatos, as he had named him, perk up at the sound of the noble tongue of the serpents. He had watched as Peverell sat beside his snake and made small talk with him, uncaring of the fact that it could bite him at any given time and possibly poison him. After all, he could not know it Thanatos was poisonous or not.

He had left before he gave himself away, obviously, but on his trek back to the castle, his mind had become numb with shock. Once he had made it back to the Snake Pit, he went to his dorm and sat on his bed. Only then did he feel his shock fade into panic.

Peverell was a Parselmouth, he was like him, that would mean he was also related to Salazar Slytherin. Which meant that he was also an heir, and to make things worse, he had a bigger claim to the title because he – unlike Tom – was a pureblood.

Tom’s mind began to spin with the possible implications this revelation would have amongst the Slytherin if they found out. He would lose his place in the snake pit, all the respect, the loyalty and power he had cultivated for the past two years would be moot.

Did Peverell know what he was? Was he a threat to his safety? Should he try to get rid of him? He had not killed anybody as of today, he had no need for it, but he was pretty sure he could do it without getting caught.

Just as he was beginning to think of a way to kill him, his mind hit the brakes. Weren’t the Peverell related to the Gaunts? Wouldn’t that mean that Hadrian Peverell was a relative of his? A cousin of sorts? He stayed frozen to his spot at that realization.

Peverell could be a distant cousin, said cousin shared the same gift with him and he had just planned his murder when he could use the time wasted thinking about bringing him to his side. He felt like hitting himself, the Peverell name had just as much influence as the Slytherin name, maybe even more so than the latter one due to the Peverells being more ancient than the Slytherins.

By the time he finally got himself sorted out, dinner time had arrived. He, like the rest of his classmates, had made his way to the great hall and took a seat. The same seat where he was currently staring at his – probable – cousin laughing with the Prewett heir.

A small smile drew itself on his angelic face while his eyes gained a calculating look. If he won Peverell to his side, he might gain more power and respect, gaining a familial connection was just a plus. But first, he will need to do some research before approaching his dear cousin.

*********

Hadrian felt like skipping out of sheer excitement as he approached the teaching staff room, he could not wait to see what the other teachers would do when they saw what he had on his trusty bag.

As a kid, he learned that he had to act a certain way to prevent people (usually the Dursleys) from seeing what he wanted to keep to himself.

At the Dursleys, he acted obediently and submissive so as to prevent gaining the attention of his relatives, and thus, preventing him getting beat up. At Hogwarts, he acted like it was expected of him, outgoing, brave, confident – although – there was a big possibility that him acting like that was more so due to him being filled with compulsions than out of true free will.

Regardless of it being the case, Hadrian was able to portray a certain mask to the world while he kept his true thoughts and feelings inside. And today, he was planning to play a certain role, one that he was sure would get him the results he wanted.

Composing himself the moment that he reached his destination, he reached out to knock on the door, just loud enough to be heard over the voices that he could hear coming from the inside of the room while also sounding just a smidge unsure – like he was afraid of doing something wrong.

Let the show begin Hadrian thought as he heard the voices grow quiet and the sound of footsteps coming closer took their place.

Amber eyes widened in surprise at seeing the very same silver-haired student the teachers had been discussing just a few seconds ago. Hadrian Peverell, a surprise that none of the professors had seen coming, not even the divination professor, Basil Lennox, had seen his arrival to Hogwarts occurring.

More specifically, he had confessed to some of the teaching staff that he had seen two possibilities that made him hesitate from telling them of his existence. Something about him choosing a path that set him towards Hogwarts and another one that led him to a grim end, but no matter how much they asked him for more details, Lennox kept his lips sealed shut – something that had bothered Albus quite a lot.

During the welcoming feast, they had all kept an eye on the mysterious teen, many of them wary of his presence there. The only one that had been as cool as a cucumber had been Madame Everett, who had exchanged some words with the boy before and had taken a shine to him.

As the days passed by, they all came to the same conclusion: Hadrian Orpheus Peverell was a brilliant student. If he had to compare him to someone, he’d say that Peverell was very similar to Tom Riddle – another brilliant student of his.

He was smart, polite and took to spells easily, not to mention that he was dedicated and, in Kian’s opinion, a very curious boy. It was always a nice feeling to see his jade green eyes light up in wonder whenever he learned a new piece of information, or a new spell was performed.

Kian had seen a mostly happy and easygoing boy most of the time, sometimes he saw him make frustrated or bored expressions, but he had never seen him nervous like right now. The boy was standing outside of the door fiddling with the straps of leather on his bag and biting his lower lip while looking at everything but him.

“Mr. Peverell is there something wrong?” he asked in a soft voice, trying to ease the teen’s worries as best as he could without knowing what was bothering him, concerned over what could make his student this nervous.

Hadrian smirked inwardly when he saw his elementalism professor give him a concerned look, his act had been bought, the first phase of this plan was done now time to move to phase two.

“I… Is, is Professor Dumbledore here? I’ve been looking for him since yesterday morning, but he was not in his office nor was he in library, I tried going to his quarters, but he was not there either so…” he began to ramble things like it would be expected of a kid that was clearly panicking about something. Everything he said was the truth, he had indeed looked for the professor in the places he would be expected to be – one could never be certain there was not another Legilimens in the room that would be able to detect the lie.

He was stopped from continuing his ‘ramble’ when a warm hand came to rest on his right shoulder, making him look up to the teacher with seemingly worried eyes.

“Professor Dumbledore is indeed here, is there something you wish to tell him?” Kian inquired, worried when the kid looked a few seconds away from having a panic attack.

Hadrian let his shoulders drop in ‘relief’, “I was meaning to give him some assignments that he had left me do last week, but I was never able to catch him, not even after his classes”

The professor blinked. How strange, that man was always available right after he finished a lecture – the man had a free hour after them. He would usually go back to his office to grade his student’s work or enjoy a cup of tea with some strange muggle candy that Albus liked at the moment. If not there, he would be in his quarters, maybe taking a stroll around the school grounds, but students were always able to find him if they needed him.

The wizards and witches in the room, upon hearing the words of the student, turned to look at the Transfiguration professor with questioning looks. Professor Everett looking more than a little cross with the wizard, she had heard what Hadrian’s classmates had whispered around about his treatment on Albus’ class and she was less then impressed with what she heard.

Albus felt a little flush appear on his face upon feeling the questioning gazes directed at him, he could only pray that his beard would cover it. He even felt like squirming in his seat when he dared to look at Professor Everett but there was no way, he was actually going to tell her that he had been actively avoiding the boy much less the reason why he did it.

“Well, you came here at the right time, do come in Mr. Peverell” Kian stepped aside to let the teen enter the room, curious to see just what he needed to deliver.

Hadrian gingerly entered the room; he bit the inside of his cheek to prevent the delighted smile that threated to overtake his face when he saw that all of the teaching staff was currently in the room. They all stared at the young wizard as he made his way towards the frowning Transfiguration professor, intrigued as to why he had come.

Albus was also curious, if not a little wary, to know what the teen had come to deliver. He had a fair guess as to what it may be, but it did not seem likely, he had given him so much work that it would be impossible to finish it before the end of the month.

“Good afternoon professors” Hadrian greeted them respectfully.

“Afternoon Mr. Peverell, what brings you here?” asked his Alchemy professor, her voice made Hadrian stare at her in surprise for it no longer sounded cold and harsh as it did back in her class.

“I came to find Professor Dumbledore” he answered before he turned to face said wizard with an uncertain look, “I have finished the assignments that you gave me, sir”

Assignments? The adults all exchanged looks with each other, all of them taking note that the head of the badgers pursed her lips in displeasure, why would that be? Had Mr. Peverell forgotten to deliver the assignment of this week? They supposed that they would find out soon, so they turned to look at the show.

Albus’ eye twitched, “is that so, Mr. Peverell? Then I believe we should take this to my office” he did not believe for one second that the boy was telling the truth, it was too much work to complete in just a week, but he needed to get him to a more private setting to gain control of the situation.

But as he made to stand, he was interrupted. “That is not necessary Albus, he only needs to give you the assignment does he not? Surely, it can be done with us present” said Filius Flitwick, giving his coworker a once over, trying to decipher the wizard’s odd behavior.

“I agree, go ahead Mr. Peverell” encouraged his head of house.

Hadrian gave a nod and proceeded to ruffle through his bag, taking out three thick stacks of parchments, taking a great deal of pleasure in seeing Albus’ eyes widen in disbelief. He knew the old man did not expect him to finish the workload given to him and, had he not received previous tutoring and had studied this subject before, he would not have.

It also helped that he had a trusty bowtruckle to lend a hand with drawing the diagrams that needed to be done and a peculiar owl that made sure he did not fall asleep as he worked. The past all-nighters that he had subjected himself to had been all worth it.

Albus was not the only one to be surprised with the stacks, all the teachers were, but more than surprised they were appalled at their coworker. Those stacks looked like a month’s worth of work! And they were assigned on his first week on Hogwarts, not even their OWL and NEWT level students had that much workload on their first week. If anything, it looked like the workload they would receive in their final weeks.

Professor Everett was furious, but she kept her mouth shut, she would not be making a scandal while her charge was still in the room, but once Hadrian left the room, she would be giving Albus a big piece of her mind.

“If there is something wrong with the assignments, please let me know Sir. I answered everything to the best of my knowledge, but I could have written something wrong somewhere and I would like to correct my wrongs before they affect my performance in class” Hadrian placed the stack of parchments on the coffee table that was just a few feet away from the older wizard, all the while speaking in an eager voice, as if he was not cursing the old crow on the inside for his lack of sleep and the cramps his hand suffered.

Albus tried to smile at Hadrian in a grandfatherly way, but it did not quite have the effect wanted as it looked much to forced on his face. Having his bulling put on display had bothered him and Hadrian could not be happier about it.

“I will do so after I’ve read through your work, my boy. Do forgive me if it takes a while” he said, internally cursing the boy for his actions. He had pretty much cornered him, he would be forced to read through every single one of his essays and grade them, else the teaching staff will find it weird. This was exactly why he wanted to bring the boy to his office, then it would have been easy to ignore the assignments and pretend he was too busy to check them.

There went his free time, all because they young heir in front of him had actually done the work given to him and finished it before the deadline.

Hadrian kept his expression open and pleasant, but in the inside, he was gritting his teeth. He had never liked being called a boy, to many bad memories attached to the word, and he had never felt fully comfortable when Dumbledore called him his boy. He was not a boy, and he was definitely not his in any way, shape or form.

Seeing as he had no more reason to stay, he concluded that his business was done and over with. “Thank you, professor” he said before turning to face the rest of the adults in the room, “and forgive me for interrupting your meeting, I’ll take my leave now and hope you have a nice day”

He was met with several nods of acceptance and Kian guided him towards the door, “off you go mister, I’ll see you in class, until then, do try to stay out of trouble” the man said, giving Hadrian a funny look that reminded him a little of Professor McGonagall when she suspected that he had done something.

He could not help the grin that formed on his lips, “I’ll try sir, but I’m afraid that trouble is the one that tends to find me, not the other way around” he said in a helpless tone. “See you in class, Professor”

As he made his way back to his common room, a content smile on his face, Hadrian thought he was pretty sure he heard his head of house voice snap at Dumbledore before the door closed. Can’t say he envied the man for being on the receiving end of Naida Everett’s anger.

Chapter Text

“Someone is in a good mood” said Olivia, observing how Hadrian seemed to be glowing as he sat down in front of her. “Had a good dream?”

“Something like that” replied the silver-haired teen in a cheerful tone while he busied himself with buttering his toast to his taste before taking a bite. For some reason the toast tasted so much better than it did yesterday or the day before that.

His response earned him an arched eyebrow from her friend, who turned grey eyes towards the other two boys, hoping one of the two would know why their friend looked as if he was in cloud nine.

“He’s been like this ever since he woke up” grumbled a sleepy Eryol.

Avalon nodded from his place beside Hadrian, “Adri was humming and skipping around when we woke up” he gave his friend an appreciative look, “I’m guessing that sleeping twelve hours straight did him so good”

“I was not skipping around” mumbled Hadrian, munching on his toast “I just… feel that today is going to be a good day?”

He knew that he was acting a little bit off, Avalon was usually the energetic one of the four of them, but he just felt good. The past week had not been his best, thanks to all the all-nighters he had to pull to finish the work that was assigned to him. He had probably slept an hour or two these last few days and, while the twelve hours of rest did wonders for his sanity, he still felt like he could a few hours more. Maybe he’ll do that after his first elective class

“You were Adri and I’m pretty sure I heard you singing to your owl” Avalon said good naturedly. He was happy to see his friend so full of life after walking around the castle looking like a raccoon and getting easily distracted at class, plus, he looked like he was a breath away from glaring at anything that moved. The good part about this situation, was that they all now knew how he would be when exam season began.

Hadrian blinked, his breakfast forgotten, “I was singing?” he asked, part of him dreading the answer. While he did remember singing at one point of the morning, he did not remember what songs he sang and he dreaded to know which one they had heard.

“Yes” replied the brunet wizard after swallowing a mouthful of bacon, “pretty sure the lyrics were ‘Super trouper lights are gonna find me, shining like the sun’” Eryol gave Hadrian a smirk, when he saw the wizard freeze, “didn’t know you could sing Peverell”

“You’re forgetting the ‘sup-p-per troup-p-per’ in a lower key” added Avalon, making Olivia laugh and Hadrian’s face flush into a lovely red color.

Groaning, he let his heated face fall into his hands, wishing that the earth would swallow him up. So far, the last few days, he had noticed that his roommates were quite heavy sleepers – his friends included – and he had thought that it would be okay to sing a little. He figured that, so long as he sang in a low voice, everything would be fine. Clearly, it had been a terrible idea.

“Maybe you can give us another performance in the common room” Olivia suggested, her grey eyes shining with mirth. This earned her another embarrassed groan from the wizard.

“Teasing aside,” started Avalon, “what song were you singing? I don’t think I’ve ever heard anything like that”

Hadrian felt himself freeze at the question; breakfast completely forgotten. In hindsight, he should have expected this to happen sooner or later. It was close to impossible for him to not slip and do something that would show he was not from this time.

Back in his time, whenever he was with the Dursleys, he would turn on the radio for two reasons. One, to keep track of what was going on in the world and two, to listen to music. Thankfully, the Dursleys never made much of a fuss whenever he turned the radio on while he worked. Probably because they could change the channel whenever they felt like it or maybe because they liked what they were listening.

So, during those summers, he learned quite a few songs. Some he liked, others he didn’t, and some others were just downright irritating to listen to them. Later, Sirius had introduced him to some muggle bands and singers that he and his father had liked.

The Beatles, AC/DC, Queen, Bon Jovi, were some of the bands that Siri had discs of. All of them were introduced by his mother after being horrified by the lack of music diversity in the wizarding world – at least in Britain. All of the marauders had a favorite band, group or artist. His father loved Michael Jackson, Moony had Bryan Adams and Siri was a Queen fan. Still, they all lost their minds whenever his mother’s favorite group appeared on the radio – ABBA.

Much like his mother, he loved the female group. Their songs just had something that made his gloomy days a little brighter. So, it came as no surprise that, whenever he feels like singing something, he instantly turns towards ABBA’s songs.

Hadrian knew that Avalon did not mean to make him uncomfortable with his question, but it did. If he told them that it was a muggle song, he was sure they would buy it, but what if they tried to look for the song themselves? And wasn’t Olivia a half-blood? Wouldn’t she be able to call him out if she was familiar with muggle music?

‘You could always tell them it’s an original song that your parents sing to you’ said a voice in his mind that sounded an awful lot like Death’s voice.

Hadrian bit the inside of his mouth to stop himself from screaming bloody murder. He was sure that making a scandal on the Great Hall would not endear him to the school population. How did Death manage to speak into his mind? No, actually, he didn’t really need to know. He was Death, an immortal deity, of course he can do things that normal mortal beings cannot.

‘Indeed, you are learning fast Little master’ said Death in a very pleased tone.

Doesn’t mean I have to like it, he projected to the being, a little unsure if that would work. For all he knew, maybe it was not necessary for him to send a particular thought and he was already listening to everything he was thinking. Wait, was he?

‘No, little master. I do not read all of your thoughts; you can conceal some thoughts from me. Although, I would appreciate it if you did not project your thoughts too loudly, they are quite… startling’

Oh, sorry Hadrian apologized. The good news was that he could keep some things to himself, he’ll just have to figure out how to work that out. But Mirta and Icarus don’t know these songs, he pointed out, bringing them back to the original topic of conversation.

‘But they don’t know that and will not have a way to find out’ the entity responded.

Hadrian nodded, that made sense, not many wizards and witches had the guts to write to his parents. And he doubted that they would try to contact them just to inquire what songs they sing to him.

‘I shall take my leave; your friends are trying to get your attention and I have some souls to collect’

Thanks. Death said Hadrian.

You’re welcome little master.

Hadrian shuddered as he felt something cool slip away from his mind that he had not noticed when Death had entered it, now that had felt very odd. He focused on his friends that were waving hands in front of his face and giving him concerned looks.

“Back with us yet?” inquired Avalon, who was about to take the treacle tart that was in his friend’s plate to see if that would bring him out of his trance like state.

“Yeah, sorry, I was a little lost in thought” Hadrian gave them a reassuring smile to help ease their worry. “I don’t know if the song has a name, but it’s one my parents like to sing to me from time to time” he said to them, keeping himself a little vague with the details and giving them the impression that his parents often sang something in their home, which was not a complete lie, Mirta did like to sing when working with animals.

So, if they ever felt the need to write a letter to his parents or if they ever met them, then they would be able to back up the lie. But he would have to write them a letter explaining what happened just to be on the safe side.

Olivia blinked. Somehow the image of the Peverell couple singing original songs to their son seemed like a bizarre thought, it went against many of the stories that were often told about the couple, stories that his magical relatives told her. But what Hadrian was saying made them look more… human.

“Must have inherited their musical talents then, if this morning’s performance is anything to go by” Avalon smirked when his friend blushed and gave him a light shove, Hadrian made it a little to easy to tease him sometimes.

Said teen huffed and stood up from his seat, “I’ll take my leave before you three decide to tease me to death” he announced and took the treacle tart that he had noticed Avalon had been reaching for moments earlier, “or before someone steals my tart, I’ll be in the common room if you need me”

As he left, he heard his friends snickering at his behavior but paid no mind to it. If they could not understand the special relationship that the treacle tart and he had, then that was their problem, but he will not hesitate to start throwing hexes if someone tried to take his tart away from him.

When it came to his tart, not even Lord Death was speared from being hexed by him.

********

Monday afternoon could not have come sooner enough in Hadrian’s humble opinion, he felt like the core classes were taking forever to end. A part of him wondered if the professors were doing it on purpose, because if so, he was less than impressed with them.

All morning he felt restless and kept staring at his wristwatch almost obsessively, and he was not the only one. Eryol was pretty much hovering over Hadrian’s shoulder constantly asking for the time. The Ravenclaws were not in a better state, and that was probably due to all of them being eager to have their first elective classes.

Hadrian had almost jumped in joy when he saw the plates in the great hall banish, indicating that lunch was over, and it was time to go to their next class. His friends had watched in amusement as he picked his bag and all but ran towards the infirmary, where it was stated that they would hold their classes.

At the end of the day, he had decided to drop COMC, figuring that if he wanted an OWL for that subject, he could always self-study – plus, he had his parents to tutor him if he wanted. Instead, he had decided to replace the subject with Ancient Runes, which would serve as a complementary subject to Warding and Spell crafting.

Taking those changes into account, the electives that he had ended up choosing were Healing Arts, Ancient Runes and Spell crafting. CoMC and Warding being the subjects he would self-study on his free time.

Hadrian was quite satisfied with his decision, specially because these electives opened more job opportunities for him. If he achieved his OWLs and NEWTs on these subjects, he could try his hand as a Healer, Magizoologist, Crafter, Auror, amongst other jobs. That was something that he never had the opportunity of doing before.

Back in his time, he had been pushed into becoming an Auror after the war was over, if he survived that is. No one made any mentions of other possible jobs around him, it was by pure chance that he learned about curse breaking, dragon tamers and unspeakables. Sure, he knew that being a Medi-witch or wizard and a Healer was a profession, but he had absolutely no idea how one could become one and never had the chance to ask. Until he got here that is.

But everyone, from his previous friends to his teachers and godfather, had pushed him to become an Auror. It almost got to the point that it would be a grievous crime of he did not follow his father’s footsteps. Thankfully, that would not be the case here. He did not believe he would be able to live fighting and chasing after wizards or witches that had gone dark, he had had enough of that.

Once he dealt with Grindelwald and Dumbledore, then he would finally retire from his hero days and let the rest of the world to fix their problems.

A whimper brought him out of his thoughts. The sound made Hadrian frown, wanting to figure out if he had imagined the sound, he stood still and paid close attention to his surroundings. There, coming from the corridor to his left, came the sound once more.

Worried that someone may be hurt, Hadrian hurried towards the corridor. He turned around the corridor and, crouching on a darkened corner of the hallway, he found a small kid – probably a first year - with dark hair folding into himself. As he got closer to the kid, he noticed the green lining on his robes, marking the first year as a Slytherin student.

Knowing that he was dealing with a Slytherin made Hadrian have a bad feeling. Carefully he made his way to the kid and knelt in front of him, “Are you alright?” he asked softly, not wanting to startle the kid.

The first year rose his head, allowing Hadrian to be able to identify who the student was and what had happened to him. It was the same boy from the boat, Alphard Black, and his face was covered in quite a concerning number of blisters, tears flowing from redden and puffy grey eyes.

Cursing under his breath, he called fourth his shadows to help him lift the body of the boy and place him in his arms. He kept the shadows around the black-haired wizard knowing that they would be cool to the touch and, seeing as the blisters seemed to originate from being burned with something, would help relieve some of the pain.

“Hurts…” whimpered the boy in his arms as he tried to fold into himself once more. The sight made Hadrian’s heart break a little, “everything will be alright, Alphard. I’m going to bring you to the infirmary” he soothed the younger wizard and willed his shadows to become a little cooler, this made the younger wizard let out a small sigh of relief.

Hadrian made his way towards the infirmary at a fast pace, almost running, all the while murmuring soothing words towards the kid and willing his shadows to help him keep a better hold of the body in his arms.

While he was no longer as thin as in the past, the nutrition potions doing wonders for his body, he was not exactly the strongest person around. He could barely carry Ash, and the aethonan calf was not really that heavy. So, carrying the body of an eleven-year-old wizard, a healthy one at that, was straining the little muscles Hadrian had in his arms.

He almost sagged in relief when he saw the doors of the infirmary were wide open. At least he would not have to push the doors open himself. The moment he set foot on the room, several pairs of eyes zeroed on him and the body he carried in his arms.

“Madame Podmore, we need your help” he grunted out and moved towards one of the unoccupied beds, where he carefully placed the Black wizard into – completely ignoring the curious looks being sent his way. All of them taking notice of the shadows that were surrounding the silver-haired wizard and the charge in his arms.

The witch in question, a petit dark blond-haired witch, quickly went towards him, not the least bit bothered by his shadows, calling for one of the students that were in the room to accompany her.

“What happened?” she asked, watching as the Peverell heir she had heard so much about called back the shadows that had been wrapping themselves on the first-year student. The student that she had called, a bulky and tall boy with dark hair cut close to his scalp and obsidian eyes, began to cast a diagnosis spell as soon as the shadows vanished.

“I’m not sure. I was making my way towards the infirmary for my Healing arts class when I heard whimpers of pain and opted to follow the sound, and I found Black. When I found him, he was sitting on the ground already covered in blisters” he explained, giving the young wizard a concerned look as he still looked to be in pain.

“No one was with him when you found him?”

“No Ma’am, he was alone when I found him” he answered. He himself was wondering who had been the one to curse the youngest of the Black members. Whoever had done it probably had a death wish or were powerful enough to get away with those actions.

“And they shadows? Why were they covering the Mr. Black?” she inquired.

“I… I’m not really strong ma’am, I called my shadows to help me carry him” he explained, a little flush on his face appearing on his face at admitting that little detail in front of an audience. “Plus, when I saw his skin, it looked like he had been burned. From some experiences I’ve had before, I know that pouring cold water on a burn helps lessen the pain and reduce its size. As I didn’t have any cold water available, I used my shadows and willed them to cool down. Although, I was not sure it would actually be of much help”

The healer rose a blond eyebrow, impressed with his fast thinking and resourcefulness. Thought, she found it curious that the young wizard was able to make an element have a temperature, especially an element like shadows. Usually, the manipulation of temperatures was reserved for elements like water or fire, sometimes even wind, so this was quite a discovery.

“Professor, Mr. Black was hit with the Ignis hex” said the deep voice of the older student. He handed a piece of parchment to the matron which contained the results of the diagnosis spell, he had previously cast. “It seems he was subjected to it for a short time, thankfully” his lips were pursed, and his dark eyes showed his dislike at the results.

Hadrian’s eyes widen at his words. He recognized the spell. It was a spell that was often used to treat certain fabrics that needed to be boiled to be able to use them, usually leather from magical creatures. When used on a person, it would burn the skin, if subjected to it for long enough, it could actually melt the victim’s skin off.

No wonder Alphard’s skin looked the way it did, those blisters had appeared because his skin had been burned. Cooling his skin with his shadows seemed to have been a good idea.

The healer nodded and turned towards Hadrian, “Mr. Peverell, get me a mild pain reliever and a container of Aceso paste from the cupboard” she ordered and turned her back turned to him, her hand weaving her wand to summon some bandages.

When she noticed that Hadrian had not moved from his spot, she gave turned to him and gave him a pointed look. “Well, don’t just stand there young man. Get moving! We don’t have all day”

That prompted the teen to get moving, fortunately, the layout of the infirmary was pretty much the same as if had been on his time. Allowing him to know in which cupboard they potion and paste would likely be. Hadrian, once again, was grateful for the tutoring his parents had made him go through else he would never have known what an Aceso paste was or what it looked like.

A moment later, he was hurrying towards the matron with a vial with light green liquid and a clear container filled with a pastel orange paste in his hands. The petit witch gave him a nod and promptly gave the pain reliever to the younger wizard before instructing Hadrian how to apply the paste and handing him some plastic gloves.

Hadrian stared in complete confusion at the woman. “Ma’am, wouldn’t it be better to let someone who already knows how to treat these wounds to do this?” it made no sense why she would put him to work when he knew close to nothing in healing.

“Then how are you going to learn to do it yourself when I or one of your classmates are not around?” she shot back, “I’m a firm believer of learning on the go, now get moving”

The teen turn to look at the taller man, who just have him a sympathetic smile and motioned for him to get on with the job. Seeing as he was not getting out of it, he went ahead and put on the gloves supplied to him to apply the paste all over Alphard’s arms and legs, being as careful as possible to prevent causing more pain to the child.

This was not how he imagined his first Healing Art class to go, but he supposed he could not complain much about it. For as he was busy applying the paste and wrapping Alphard in bandages, Madame Podmore began to lecture about the hex used on him. Speaking the usual function of the hex and the consequences it caused as well as they ways to treat it.

Hadrian supposed that, at least, he would leave this class learning a lot. Exactly what he wanted.

Chapter Text

A couple days later found Hadrian making his way towards the infirmary, carrying with him a small bag of candies in his hands that had been kindly supplied to him by the house elves that worked on the kitchens.

After his healing class, Madame Podmore declared that she would keep the youngest of the Blacks in the infirmary for a few days – to make sure the wounds healed properly she said. Therefore, for the past few days he had made it a habit to visit Alphard whenever he had the time to spare.

Sometimes his friends would accompany him, Olivia had been particularly angry when he told her what had happened on his way to the infirmary and made it her life’s work to figure out who had been the one responsible for hurting a small kid. Avalon and Eryol were quick to lend her their help, both planning what kind of hexes they would use on the person responsible.

Some of the jinxes and hexes he had heard being discussed amongst his friends made him suddenly glad that he was their friend and not their foe. Who would have thought that hufflepuffs could be so creative when it came to hexing someone?

At first, Hadrian had figured that the best way to figure out who was the culprit was by asking the victim himself. Sadly enough, Alphard did not know who had been the one responsible as his back had been turned to them and he had only managed to hear a male voice utter the spell and then laughter.

When the little first year began to feel guilty for not being able to help point them pointing out the culprit, Hadrian was quite to reassure him that it had not been his fault. Still, he felt pissed that someone would be as cowardly as to attack someone with their backs turned. They really had no honor.

In all honesty, Hadrian did not really need Alphard to tell him who had hexed him, he already had his suspicions. Like in his past life, the enmity between Slytherin and Gryffindor was very prevalent – although not as strong as in his time. Out of all the houses, Gryffindor seemed to be the only house that was constantly preying on the younger students in such a manner.

Still, there were only suspicions, he could be wrong. But that did not stop him from recounting his thoughts to his friends, knowing that they wound not dismiss his suspicions like a certain know-it-all that he knew before used to do.

Hopefully, they would be able to find something.

Once he reached the entrance of the infirmary, he plastered a cheerful smile on his face and entered the room, only for him to falter on his step when he saw who was sitting on a chair besides the dark-haired boy.

Orion Black sat staring intently at his youngest cousin as he babbled away about something, expression warm and amused at what he was saying. Hadrian was surprised to see such a gentle and relaxed expression on his face when the pureblood usually wore a mask of complete indifference, sometimes one of dark amusement or curiosity, but he had never seen him be warm with anybody.

It suited him, without the tense lines around his face he looked more like his age. He felt a little bad that that relaxed expression would vanish the moment that he made his presence known, oh well.

Turns out, Hadrian did not have to do anything to make himself known for the youngest of the Black quickly spotted him. “Hadrian!” he called out, a delighted smile on his face at seeing his savior.

The smile that had dropped from Hadrian’s face moment ago was quickly brought back when he saw the delight exuding from the younger boy at seeing him. It was weird, having someone that was actually happy to see him, aside of his parents that is. Not even his past friends looked particularly happy to see him whenever he was around them.

“Hello, Alphard. How are you feeling today?” he asked as he approached the bed and took a seat on a chair, all the while ignoring the weight of a certain pair of silvery-grey eyes. Knowing how the young patient was feeling was more important than greeting whoever was also in the room, that was what Madame Podmore had said.

“I feel great! Madame Podmore said that I could leave the infirmary tomorrow morning” he informed the silver-haired wizard with a grin on his face.

“That’s great, I suppose that this will count as a congratulations gift” said Hadrian, presenting the younger wizard with the bag filled with the goodies that he had been carrying.

With a happy ‘thank you’ the kid accepted the offered bag and began to see what was inside. Leaving Alphard to ruffle through the bag, he rose his head to look at the other wizard in the room.

“Hello again, Heir Black” he had not been given permission to use the other’s given name, so he had to call him by his title, unless he was told otherwise. He had finally decided to read up on the etiquette book his mother had insisted he read, and it had been quite informative.

“Heir Peverell” Orion inclined his head, his pureblood mask back in place. Hadrian felt a little remorseful that he had been the cause for him loosing his relaxed expression, but at the same time he did not get it, why was it necessary to always put on that mask? Surely, it must be tiring to always carry it around.

“I heard that you were the one who brought my little cousin to the infirmary, you have my thanks for that” he had been beyond pissed when he first found out his youngest cousin had been hexed in a random corridor, especially a hex that could have very well been a deadly one. When word reached him that the Peverell heir had been the one to find him and bring him to get treated, he felt both grateful and suspicious of his actions.

After all, who would not want to have a connection with the most noble and ancient house of Black?

“It was nothing” Hadrian dismissed him, “I was passing through, saw a kid hurt and had the common sense to bring him here to get treatment. It really is nothing to be thankful for”

Orion blinked, “but you did not have to do that, you could have left him there and called for help” he pointed out.

“And leave him to suffer there in the meantime? I think not” if he knew any spell to numb the pain, then perhaps he would have done that. But a part of him believed that, even if he did, he would not have been able to leave a vulnerable child on his own without knowing if his assailant would return to hurt him again or not.

Yes, Orion wanted to say, you could have done that, and no one would have judged you for it. Instead, he said, “Then why did you do it if you won’t accept my thanks?”

What do you want from my family went unsaid, but Alphard heard it, causing him to ignore his gift and glare at his cousin. Orion was making it sound like Hadrian had had an ulterior motive for helping him and he could not help but feel offended on his behalf. Hadrian Peverell had been nothing but kind to him from the very first moment he met him, and not only him, but also other classmates of his – some of them from his own house and some others from different houses.

Thought, a small part of him – the one that was unsure of people wanting him just for him and not because he was a Black – was curious to hear the green-eyed wizard’s answer.

Hadrian looked at Orion as if he had spouted a second head, “because that is the right thing to do. When someone is hurt, you help them, especially when it’s a child that has been hurt” he shook his head, an amused smile on his face, “you slytherins and your paranoia that people cannot be kind or compassionate just because”

Now it was the Black heir’s turn to look at Hadrian as if there was something wrong with him. He helped Alphard because it was the right thing to do? despite knowing that he was a member of the house of snakes?

While Orion did understand that helping children was the moral thing to do, it was a strange concept what Peverell had presented him. Helping others without expecting something in return. No Slytherin worth their name would do that and risk being seen as weak by the rest of his housemates.

But Alphard did not have the same problem that his relative did. He already knew that the teen was kind, he had proven that the first time he met him and when he kept on visiting him, listening to his answer just solidified the fact in his mind.

“Hadrian is it true that your family has an animal sanctuary with magical creatures?” the younger Black asked, wanting to divert everyone attentions from the somewhat heavy atmosphere.

Green eyes blinked at the abrupt change of subject but went along with it. “Yes, the building is divided in different wings and one central area where the creatures can mingle for a while. The animals are divided by categories, from more dangerous to least dangerous” he explained the little kid.

Alphard stared in awe, before he began to babble questions at a fast speed “have you seen them? Have you ever tried to pet them? Don’t the hurt each other when they mingle together? Can you understand what they say? Have-“

“Woah there kid, one question at a time.” Hadrian interrupted him, “Let’s see, yes I have, some of them, there are some protective charms and runes that prevent that from happening and yes”

“Sorry Hadrian” the Peverell hair did not believe that the kid was actually sorry for bombarding him with so many questions, but he found that he didn’t really mind.

“Any other question?” he asked.

Immediately the youngest wizard perked up and let his mouth run a mile per hour, Hadrian almost regretted asking the question, almost. But seeing the little snake so exited was worth the hours that he was sure to spend sitting in the not-so-comfortable seat.

Silvery eyes watched the scene unfold before his eyes. Back home, Alphard was often considered irritating because he was not the typical Black member. Unlike the rest of the family, he was friendly and carried his heart on his sleeve – something that Orion had been taught was not a good thing to do in public.

He was impulsive, loud and too energetic for most of the family’s taste. Not that it had ever truly bothered him, he only worried that he would be easily taken advantage because of it.

Which was what he was worried that Peverell would do.

But as he watched the warmth with which the other teen was listening to his little cousin, how he seemed to hang on to each and every single word he said, made him think that Peverell might actually not have an ulterior motive for getting himself involved with a Black.

A calculative glint entered his eyes. Having someone like Peverell as an ally, maybe even a friend, seemed like a beneficial move for his family. Plus, if he cared about Alphard, then he would have someone to keep an eye on his little cousin outside of his house. He did not believe he would accept his hand in friendship just yet, he would need to work on that first, for now, he will let the idea to rest.

******

“Peverell” a voice called. “May I have a word with you?”

Green eyes stared up in surprise and suspicion at the newcomer. Tom Riddle stood in front of him, dressed impeccably like he always did and with a strange expression on his face. He could feel the eyes that focused on the both of them from his fellow housemates, his friend’s stares being the heaviest of the lot.

Had Riddle approached him during or after class, they would not have garnered so much attention, but he had approached him in the Great Hall. He had come to the Hufflepuff table. No snake had ever done that before, at least, not ones that were not family members of those in his house.

Hadrian felt like cursing Riddle when he felt rather than saw the deputy headmaster focus on the both of them. Now the old man would probably be more insufferable with him than before and it would all be Riddle’s fault. Then again, it’s not like he could not handle him just fine.

He could always ignore the teen’s request, but then he would probably offend him if he did that and hold a grudge against him. Making Riddle his enemy would just make his plans considerably more difficult, if he wanted to prevent another war from breaking out, he needed to be – at least – on friendly terms with the dark wizard.

“Sure Riddle, you want to talk here or somewhere else?” he inquired, trying to keep his tone open and friendly, no need for him to know that he was wary of him.

“Meet me in the library after lunch, the alcove near the back of the arithmancy section, the one facing the window” with those instructions given, he turned and went back to his table. Leaving behind four intrigued yet confused teenagers.

Eryol turned to Hadrian, “what was that about?” he asked.

“No idea,” he answered, “guess we’ll find out soon enough” with that, Hadrian went back to eating his lunch.

“So” he began, “any luck in finding out who hexed Alphard?” he asked, changing the subject.

Hadrian was quite aware that, so far, his friends had not made much progress in their investigation. They had asked members of other houses to see if they could find anything but came up empty handed. He had proposed asking the ghosts or maybe the portraits, seeing as they were everywhere in the castle and heard conversations that most people didn’t.

He watched his three friends exchange looks amongst each other before nodding. “Your suspicions were right Hadrian; it was one of the Gryffindors who casted the spell, Julian Fawley” Olivia was the one who answered, her lips pursed in displeasure.

“We stumbled upon him bragging about showing a snake ‘their place’ to some other Gryffindors” Avalon scowled when he remembered just how smug the bastard had looked and the laughs that he’d earned from his housemates.

“After asking around for a bit, we found that some of the portraits around the corridor where you found Alphard reported the happenings to a prefect and she went to Gryffindor’s head of house, only to be dismissed as a misunderstanding and that he would take care of it” Eryol reported, a resigned expression on his face.

That caught his attention, “Did he get punished?” Hadrian asked, even when he already suspected what the answer would be.

“No” the three badgers chorused, all looking frustrated, and a smidge resigned about it. They were aware that the Transfiguration professor always showed favoritism to his students. Even if they confronted the headmaster with their findings, the professor would find a way to save his students from punishment.

Again, Hadrian was not surprised about this. Even in his time, Dumbledore had been based, in his eyes, Gryffindor could never do any wrong. Hence why he never punished his father and the rest of the Marauders when they almost killed a student, or when a prank went too far. He always turned a blind eye when one of his precious lions harmed a student that was not from the same house, especially when it was a snake that was hurt.

Still, this did not mean that he was not pissed about it. What would it take for the old man to finally realize that his students were no pure angels, the death of another student? Of a staff member? Just were did he draw the line?

“Did the prefect approach any other head of house?”

“No, apparently Dumbledore told her that he would inform them” Avalon answered, not buying the old crow’s words.

“Very well” Hadrian said, he pushed his plate away, appetite gone after learning that Dumbledore was as bad as he was in his time. He was so not going to let the old man sweep this under the rug.  “Here’s what we are going to do…”

******

Tom looked up from the book he had been reading when he heard the sound of footsteps getting closer to where he was. He felt pleased to see Peverell emerge from behind a bookshelf with his school bag thrown over his shoulder, thought, he did wonder why he had a frown decorating his face. Had something happened?

“Peverell, you came” he said, his charming smile firmly in place. The very one he used to bring so many people to his side.

Hadrian blinked, “of course I did Riddle, why wouldn’t?”

Tom shrugged, “you could have decided not to come at the last minute, or you could have been called by one of your friends, or maybe even someone might have told you not to come” he explained.

In reality, Tom had not truly sure that Peverell would actually want to speak with him. In class, whenever he sat near him, he would look at him with a wary glint shinning in his eyes. Which he did not understand the reason behind it, it’s not like they had ever crossed paths and he certainly had never been anything but polite since he first met him.

He heard the silver-haired teen hum before taking the unoccupied seat in front of him. “Well, I’m here. What do you want to talk about?”

“Actually,” Tom began, “I wanted to ask for your help with something”

Hadrian stared in complete confusion at the dark wizard before him, “you need my help?” he clarified.

“Yes” Tom made a show of bringing a couple of parchments out of his own bag, while subtly taking Thanatos out of his bag and letting him slither around the table. Setting the first part of his plan into motion.

He presented the parchment to the other teen, “I’ve seen that you have quite the knack for Herbology. I’ve been having trouble with our assignment; I cannot quite understand the difference between Difflejolks and Kralgoons” he pointed out the two illustrations of the plants on his piece of parchment.

Green eyes stared at the pictures, one being of a blue mushroom with a star shaped head and the other, while it was also star shaped and had a similar coloring, it also had some thin indigo stripes at the very bottom of the stem. It also had the terrible habit of biting fingers off when pissed.

Hadrian, while he did have a better handle on the subject, found this whole situation a little hard to believe. Tom Marvolo Riddle, genius extraordinaire of the Slytherin house, future Dark Lord, had trouble understanding the compatibility properties of two plants? That sounded suspicious.

Still…

“It depends, are you talking about the physical differences or about their properties?” he asked.

“Both”

Hadrian gave the other teen a skeptical look, but nevertheless, he took out his wand and made a projection of the two plants to start explaining their differences. He felt quite proud that he had managed to get the spell right after so many tries, Professor Everett’s efforts at teaching him the spell had not been in vain.

Tom, for his part, actually did pay attention to what his classmate was saying. He had a way of explaining things that made it very easy to understand, making him think that he would probably make a good teacher.

It was not a complete lie that he had been having trouble with knowing how to differentiate the two plants, Herbology was – probably – his weakest subject. And it was not because of a lack of understanding the theory behind it, it was the practical part that was the problem.

He absolutely hated working with anything that consisted in dirtying his hands, which happened often in Herbology, and he also lacked the patience to look after any kind of plant. The only reason why the plants that had been left to his care had not died was because he didn’t want to fail the subject. But if someone were to ask him to look after their plants, chances were that they would end up dead.

So, did he actually need Peverell’s help? No, not unless it was about asking how to make sure his plant did not die. Did he have to be near Peverell to start paving the way to form a connection with him? Yes, which is why he enlisted Thanatos’ help and made sure to have the window near the alcove open.

If he outed himself as a parselmouth in front of him, Tom was certain that Peverell would make the connection between the two of them and point it out to him, giving Tom the perfect excuse for wanting to be near the Peverell heir. After all, Peverell did not know anything about aside of being a classmate of his and that he was a snake.

All he had to do was wait and his plan would soon bear fruits.

Sure enough, as Hadrian began to list all the properties of each plant, Thanatos began to crawl around Hadrian’s seat until he reached the boy’s lap. This made the teenager frown and look down, green eyes widening when he saw a snake wrapping itself around his waist and peering at something in his clothed chest.

Just when Tom was about to tell Thanatos to come to him, a panicked squeak was heard. Tom watched in shook as a tree-like insect jumped out of Hadrian’s breast pocket and ran towards the end on the table they were using, with an eager snake following close behind.

“Shoot – Merry, stop! He’s not going to eat you, Merry! Mr. Snake! Stop chasing my friend!” Hadrian whisper shouted, raising to his feet and going to his bowtruckle’s rescue.

Tom blinked as he watched the heir of one of the most prominent pureblood houses in wizarding Britain chase a shrieking plant-like creature and a laughing snake, at least thats what he thought those hisses were because they did not translate into any comprehensible words, around the small alcove.

This was not how his plan should have gone down.

Chapter Text

Half an hour later, Hadrian found himself seating across his once-upon-a-time mortal enemy with, a now calm, bowtruckle in his lap and a pleased snake enjoying some scratches from his owner.

When the silence became too uncomfortable for him, he opened his mouth to speak “So…” he began.

“So?”

“You’re a parselmouth” he stated, referring to the moment where he heard Riddle call the snake – Thanatos – to his side.

“And you have a magical creature as a pet” Tom gave an accusatory look at the other teen, still feeling disappointed that his plan had not worked out the way he had hoped and blaming the creature for his failure.

“Friend”

“Pardon?”

“Merry is a friend not a pet” Hadrian clarified, petting his friend’s head and ignoring the offended squawk he let out at being called a pet. “There’s a big difference between the two”

Tom raised a dark eyebrow, “that being?” he asked. He honestly could not see what the difference was.

“A pet is just a creature you take care of and spend some time with, and yes, you also come to love them. But a friend is a being with which you have a special bon with” Hadrian explained, giving his little companion a small smile. “A friend is a being with whom you can count on to have your back and will be understanding with you, but will also kick your arse when you do something stupid”

He watched as the angel-like teenager before him frowned at his explanation, looking at him as if he did not understand what he was talking about. Maybe he doesn’t, he thought, hadn’t Dumbledore once mentioned that Tom never had friends only followers?

Hadrian felt his heart ache for the wizard before him as he remembered all those memories that Dumbledore shared with him, where Riddle was constantly flocked by people who had false smiles painted on their faces. Witches and wizards that sang his praises to the heavens but, behind his back, they disdained him for his blood. And the other boy had constantly been aware of this, with him being such an observant person, how could he have not?

He had thought that he had had a very lonely childhood, but Riddle had had a lonely life despite being surrounded by some many followers. He could not even begin to comprehend the level of loneliness that the dark-haired wizard suffered every day. It made him wonder if that same loneliness was the reason behind his strong attachment to his snake.

“Riddle” he waited for the other boy to pay attention to him before continuing, “do you have friends?” he asked softly, already knowing the answer.

Tom took a moment to ponder on his answer, mentally shrugging as he replied to the teenager. “No, I have no need for them” he said, being partially honest with his answer. He’d noticed how Peverell tended to take a straightforward approach to things, if he wanted to keep himself in his good graces, it seemed like talking to him the same way would yield the best results.

Yet, he was not about to go around and tell the other boy that he didn’t have them because he did not know how to gain them. Plus, even if he still had the ridiculous desire to have one (which he did not, he told himself) he had given up on ever making one a long time ago.

“And yet, you have Mr. Thanatos with you”

Blue eyes frowned, “Thanatos is a pet not a friend” just where was Peverell trying to get with this conversation? In his mind, having friends was a waste of time, time that he could be using building more alliances. Alliances that would ensure his survival.

Bitterness filled him at the reminder of what his fate would be the moment this school term came to an end. How lucky was Peverell to not have to worry about dying somewhere where no one would find him, where he would only become one more body in a pile of bodies. Where he would end up being forgotten and scratched as someone unimportant.

He gave himself a mental shake. He was not going to end with that fate, he would change it, wasn’t that the reason why he had approached Peverell in the first place?

Hadrian gave the other boy an exceptional look but let the matter drop, “well then, so-“

“Why did you have a magical creature in your pocket?” Tom interrupted, not yet ready to speak about their connection and curious to know why he had it and for how long. He was pretty sure that students were forbidden from bringing pets or other kind of creatures that were not listed on the list of materials they get on the beginning of the year.

“That’s because, erm, Merry does not like to be away from me” he replied, “and I could not bring myself to leave him home so I, kinda, sneaked him in with me” he explained the other teen with a sheepish smile on his face.

Tom stared at the silver-haired teen facing him, respect and intrigue shinning in those blue eyes. Hadrian Peverell had managed to keep his little creature’s existence a secret for close to a month now, that was quite an impressive feat to accomplish, especially if he always kept it hidden in his robe pocket. Then again, maybe it was not such a difficult thing to fulfill with those shadows of his.

But now that he learned this, maybe he could use it to his advantage.

Hadrian saw the exact moment where Riddle’s eyes began to twinkle and knew he was planning something. With a resigned sigh, he said, “go ahead, ask”

Tom blinked, “what do you mean, Peverell?”

“I’ve seen that look before; you’re looking for a way to use this to your advantage. So, what do you want in exchange for keeping Merry being in Hogwarts a secret?” Hadrian may not have ended up in Slytherin in his past life or in this one, but there was a reason why he would have been a good snake. He sometimes thought like one too.

Well well, Tom thought in glee, Peverell has a snake side. A charismatic smile drew itself into the angelic teen’s face. “No need to look so defeated Peverell, it won’t be anything bad. I just ask that you partner up with me in Herbology and keep on helping me with the assignments” on the inside, Tom felt like thanking all his lucky starts for this opportunity that had presented itself.

Just when he thought that his plan had fallen to ruin, another one was handed to him in a silver platter. Not to mention that with this new arrangement, he would improve in the subject, therefore covering his academic weakness, and keep himself in Peverell’s company, killing to birds with one stone.

Jade green eyes blinked slowly, giving his mind time to process what had been requested of him. That had not been what he had expected from Riddle, he had actually hoped for him to ask him to join his knights, but now that he thought about it… he did not even know if his knights were already a thing. In fact, Dumbledore had never said when Riddle finally coined his followers as the Knights of Walpurgis, a part of him told him that even he had not known that little detail. All that he knew was that by his sixth year, Riddle had already formed his knights.

He shook his head. Riddle was still a thirteen – soon to be fourteen – year old teenager not the evil dark lord he had fought before, he was still just a student – albeit one that had no qualms of hurting others for his own gain – but nonetheless a student.

Hadn’t he taken upon himself to prevent the future he had lived through from happening again? Wouldn’t it be best for him to take this as an opportunity to keep an eye on Riddle? This way he would be able to prevent him from opening the Chamber and letting the Basilisk out, therefore, preventing him from creating all those horcruxes.

Tom watched as Peverell’s eyes gained a glazed look while he pondered the price he would pay for his silence, green eyes that gave him the strange sensation that his mind was miles away from there. Just when he began to wonder what could possibly cause him to look like that, Peverell focused on him once more. His glazed expression replaced by hard determination.

“You got yourself a deal Riddle”

The cheshire smile that appeared on the dark-haired wizard made Hadrian wonder if he would later come to regret his decision.

*********

“You guys ready?” Hadrian asked his friends, all of them standing before the wooden door that led to their head of house’s office.

“Yup!”

“Yeah”

“As ready as we’ll ever be”

The three replied before falling silent. Unsure of how to proceed, they all turned to look at each other’s eyes, silently questioning who would knock on the door. Rolling his eyes, Hadrian took it upon himself to get this situation over with by approaching the door and knocking three times on the door. When a muffled ‘come in’ was heard, he pushed open the door and allowed his friends to enter before him.

They had all visited this room before to tell Professor Everett which electives they wished to take, so they were all quite familiarized with the several plants that were spread around the office.

The big window that covered almost the entirety of one wall allowed plenty of natural sunlight to flood through the room, said window had several pots of flowers sitting on the windowsill. The floor was covered by a nice, soft light brown and white carpet with details made in dark yellow, that matched perfectly with the cream-colored loveseat and armchairs. Cherry wood bookshelves filled with books and some stacks of parchment were placed on either side of a big desk, of the same wood, where their head of house sat behind watching their entrance in interest.

His friends made a beeline for the loveseat while Hadrian calmly sat on one of the armchairs near their professor’s desk, not interested in fighting for a place on the comfortable looking sofa when there was a perfectly available seat for him.

“What can I help you all with today?” The witch asked, finding it odd that so many students had come to speak with her. Her lips twitched when she saw how the three teenagers on the loveseat turned to stare at the wizard that had quickly come become one of her favorite students, waiting for him to speak.

Hadrian refrained from rolling his eyes, of course his friends would leave him to bring the issue, guess he deserved that for proposing the idea. Still, it would have been nice for them to not throw him towards the teacher.

“It’s about what happened to Alphard Black” Hadrian said, watching as the smile that had been forming on the witch’s lips vanished and a serious expression replaced it.

“If I remember correctly, you were the one who found him and brought him towards the infirmary, yes?”

Hadrian nodded, “I also helped with his treatment and have been visiting him whenever I had free time” he informed her.

Amethyst eyes gleamed with approval at his words, “that was very kind of you to do Mr. Peverell. Has something else happened to young Black?” she inquired, assuming that that was the reason for their visit.

“No, nothing has happened to him” he quickly assured the witch, “but when we noticed that all of the professors were having a hard time figuring out who the culprit had been, we decided to help in the search” he explained, sensing his friends nodding along to his words.

“Oh?” she arched an eyebrow, “and I am to assume you guys found something?”

This time, Avalon spoke from his spot on the loveseat. “We did, professor”

“It was Julian Fawley professor, he casted the hex on Black and left him alone on that corridor” said Eryol, an angry scowl marring his normally calm face.

Dark eyebrows rose in surprise, “that is a serious accusation, Mr. Abbott. I hope that you have evidence to back up this statement”

“We asked the portraits around the corridor where Black was attacked and they were kind enough to tell us that they heard Black scream in pain and Fawley’s laugh coming form that corridor” Olivia explained, “they also mentioned that the following day, he and his friends passed by near the portraits and they heard Fawley brag to his friends that he had shown that snake his ‘place’” she made quotation mark with her finger all the while her face showed how she felt about that statement.

“Oh my”

“That’s not all professor” Hadrian said, “some portraits mentioned that a prefect had heard Fawley’s bragging and went to report it, but the professor to who they reported Fawley said that they had nothing to worry about and that they would take care of it. And yet, no one in school has head of Fawley being punished for his actions, if anything, he looks as carefree as ever”

Professor Everett narrowed her eyes at that, “Do you know, by any chance, who was the professor to whom this was reported?” she already had a gut feeling who it could be. And she was not pleased with it.

“Professor Dumbledore”

Purple eyes flared in anger at having her suspicions confirmed, taking a calming breath she asked. “Have you informed anybody else about this?”

When they all shook their heads in negative, the witch wiped her wand out and casted patronus. Hadrian watched in fascination was a small swan formed and stared at his professor.

“Go to Professor Galanis, inform him to meet me on the entrance to the headmaster’s office” with those words, the swan gave a small bow and swiftly departed.

“Mr. Peverell, Miss Cromwell, Mr. Prewett, Mr. Abbott, come with me”

Hadrian and his friends stared at each other in surprise before scrambling to their feet and following their teacher. All of them surprised that his professor was going to take immediate actions. Hadrian for his part, wondered if this wound help destroy more of Albus’ reputation, even just a smidge would do. Anything that would make the headmaster not think of appointing Dumbledore as the next headmaster.

**********

Light brown eyes widen in surprise when his wards notified him of two of his professors standing outside of his office, along with four students. With a wave of his wrinkled hand, he allowed his wards to let them pass, curious as to what could have happened. His surprise grew when he saw just who was amongst the students that had accompanied the professors.

“Professor Everett, Professor Galanis” a breathy voice greeted them before turning to face the children, “Mr. Prewett, Miss Cromwell, Mr. Abbot and… Mr. Peverell, what a surprise. To what do I owe this visit?” he inquired, intrigued to see why some of his most promising students had decided to come to his office. Had they done something wrong? He rather hoped not.

“I would also like to know that” the smooth and velvety voice of the potion’s teacher said, razing a dark eyebrow at the college that had called him here.

“Well Everett, don’t keep us waiting”

Giving his coworker an unimpressed glance at the tone he just used, she went ahead to explain what the four teenagers had discovered. She spoke of their desire to help them find the culprit, their investigation and the results of said investigation - all the while keeping to herself Albus' involvement, as Everett figured that it would be better to wait for Albus to be present before releasing the information. Everyone could notice the pride that lit her eyes up when speaking of her badgers caring for a fellow student and their swift course of action.

Armando could say that he was both impressed and ashamed that these thirteen year old children had been able to solve the case when several grown up wizards and witches had not been able to. If he was being completely honest, he and the rest of the teaching staff had forgotten that portraits tended to be aware of close to everything that went on in this castle.

Because they all knew there were not portraits in that particular corridor, they had discarded asking the portraits what they had witnessed or heard. Completely forgetting that there were some in the other hallways surrounding the corridor.

Still, even with this statement presented to him, he needed to speak with the young Gryffindor to get his side of the story – as well as Albus.

Amber eyes flashed in righteous anger the moment he heard that a Gryffindor might be the one at fault for one of his youngest snakes getting hurt, “Why am I not surprised? Dumbledore’s lions are always the ones going out of their way to harm my snakes” he spat, “I wonder which excuse he is going to use this time to defend his precious lions this time”

Alexander Galanis considered himself a fair person that, while he did go out of his way to give his snakes a boost in their studies, he did not go around showing his favoritism the way Albus did. If his students did something wrong, he punished them accordingly, if they did a terrible potion, he made sure to inform them so and point them where they had gone wrong. And if a student of another house performed better than one of his snakes, he praised them for it and even went as far as to give them some pointers to become even better.

Unlike Albus that just let his lions do as they pleased and never bothered to put a limit to what they could and could not do. Not to mention that he always turned a blind eye when his snakes were harmed by one of his charges, he even did the same when it was a student from another house that had been a victim to his lion’s pranks.

When he had first arrived at Hogwarts, Galanis had never experienced hatred for a person, he never had a reason to. But since coming here, Albus had quickly become the object of his anger and he could not pray enough to all the deities out there to kick the man out of the school.

Armando, with a heavy heart, wrote two short notes, one for young Fawley and the other to Albus, asking them to come to the headmaster’s office as soon as possible. He’d would like for all of this to be a simple misunderstanding, created by the hasty judgment of four students that had a special connection to the victim, but with the research that they had provided him, it would be difficult to cross it as a misunderstanding.

He let out a tired sigh and rubbed the bridge of his nose, he had a feeling that the upcoming confrontation was going to leave him very exhausted. He was going to need a very strong tea after this.

Chapter Text

Albus had been enjoying a nice cup of tea, paired with his new favorite muggle treat, lemon drops, when a piece of parchment popped into existence in front of him. Intrigued, he took it and read it, his eyebrows raising when he saw his old friend’s writing asking him to come to his office.

Which he found odd, as he had seen him earlier that day to discuss when should the next Hogsmeade weekend should be scheduled. How many teachers should go to watch over the younger students, which teachers would be the best suited for the task and what instructions should they give the prefects when in the village.

Nonetheless he left his tea and treats and made his way to Armando’s office, figuring that the old wizard had probably forgotten to discuss something with him.

But he was quite taken by surprise to see one of his lions standing outside the headmaster’s office holding a small piece of parchment in his hand. And it was not any lion but one of his star pupils from fifth year, Julian Fawley.

“Julian, what are you doing here my boy?” he asked, his outward expression a mask of concern while on the inside he was only confused.

His chubby student extended his hand holding the piece of parchment to him in leu of an answer. Taking the parchment, Albus got the answer to his question, but it did nothing to dissipate his confused state. Why would Armando have any need to ask for Julian’s presence in his office? The boy had done nothing wrong. He had decent grades in all his classes, was friendly towards the students and showed the proper amount of respect towards the professors.

“I see” he mumbled, before turning towards his student with a cheerful smile plastered on his face, “well then, better not to keep the headmaster waiting my boy”

With an understanding nod, Albus knocked on the door to notify Armando that he was already there. A moment later, the door opened, allowing them both entrance to the office.

Albus’ smile dropped the moment he saw who was also in the room. Naida and Alexander where not much of a concern to him, he could deal with them both just fine, it was the badgers that were sitting in one of the loveseats that were giving him pause. Particularly, the silver-haired and green-eyed teenager that was looking at him from over the rim of his teacup.

A bad feeling began to settle in his gut, the last time the Peverell heir had been inside a room with several adults things had not gone well for him. He mentally winced when he Naida glare at him, his ears still remembered what it was like to be on the receiving end of the witch’s rants.

He gently motioned Julian to take a seat in one of the armchairs facing the headmaster’s desk while he took the one besides it.

“Good afternoon, Armando, Naida, Alexander” he inclined his head towards his coworkers, pointedly ignoring the irritated glares the last two sent him and the fact that they were not the only individuals inside the office that he should have greeted.

“Afternoon Albus, Mr. Fawley, thank you for answering the summons so quickly” Dippet said, “I’m sure you are both wondering why I have called you to my office, I promise I’ll explain soon, but before that, would any of you like some tea?”

When both wizards shook their heads in negative, the headmaster sighed. Better get this over with, he thought. “I have received a report relating to Mr. Black’s attack, before I tell you what that report said, I’d like Mr. Fawley to answer some questions for me” he instructed, giving the teenager a pointed look he added, “I must insist that you answer truthfully or the consequences will be severe”

Alarm bells began to ring in the back of Albus’ mind, this was not good, not good at all. Now it made sense why Alexander was also in the room, he was not here as a professor, he was here as the head of house, as temporary guardian of the youngest of the Black clan. A guardian that wanted to deliver judgement on the culprit that had harmed his charge.

And Peverell had something to do with this report, he was sure of it. If only he knew exactly what this report entailed…

Before he could ask for the headmaster to tell them the specifics of the report first, Julian had gone ahead and responded, “go ahead headmaster”

Albus could only hope that this would not end up too badly for him.

**********

“Tell me what you did the day of the attack” the headmaster instructed the student.

“I woke up, went to get breakfast and attended my classes. On my free periods, I went to the quidditch pitch with my friends and did some homework once we stopped flying” Fawley replied, all of it was true but the full truth. Not that the headmaster needed to know that.

“And where were you when the attack took place?”

“In the dinning hall, finishing my lunch before going off to my elective class” the Gryffindor fifth year replied, his stance relaxed, and his response had not been delivered too fast nor too slow. But his eyes avoided looking into the headmaster’s face.

Where it not because Hadrian already knew the truth, he would have thought that the teenager was telling the truth, Fawley was a good liar. Which made him wonder how often he had had to lie to develop the skill.

The headmaster frowned slightly having also noticed the lie, he was not as skilled a legilimens as Albus, but he had enough skill to detect when someone was lying to him. “I see and what is the elective you were taking that day?” he inquired.

Fawley internally panicked for a moment, he hastily remembered the timetable of electives he saw on his common room before answering. “Healing Arts”

Lies, Hadrian thought. He had to bite the inside of his lip to keep himself from showing how happy he was that the Gryffindor had committed such a major slip. He knew for a fact that he was lying, not because the portraits had said as much, but because Healing arts, unlike the other electives, did not have the luxury of having several classrooms to teach the subject.

They were all taught in the same place, the infirmary. After all, they were learning how to heal people, they needed to be somewhere where they could have free access to patients, so having class in the infirmary was the obvious choice. The place was divided into two areas, the actual infirmary where students went if they get hurt or sick, and the actual classroom where they learned the theory part of the subject.

The two areas were divided by sliding doors made of glass that allowed the student to have a full view of the infirmary. The classroom area itself was also divided into five rooms by thin white walls covered in soundproof charms to prevent disturbing the other classes.

The point of the matter was that, because every student had classes in the same place, it was close to impossible to not become acquainted with students from other years. Plus, for convenience’s sake, every year takes classes at the same time. And Hadrian had never seen Fawley come to the infirmary for class.

Dipped nodded, “and you did not have to pass through the same corridor the attack took place to get to your class?”

“No”

Hadrian let his teacup land on the small table in front of him loudly, making everyone present in the room turn towards him.

“Is there something you’d like to say Mr. Peverell?” Professor Galanis asked.

“Very much so Professor” he turned to stare at the chubby fifth year, “he is lying, he does not take Healing Arts” he proclaimed.

“Of course I do Peverell” exclaimed the teenager, “a third year like you would not know of that of course, we fifth years don’t share class with third years” he said with a nasty sneer on his face.

“I would know that you do not take Healing Arts” Hadrian said calmly, “because all of the Healing Arts students take classes in the infirmary, pretty much at the same time, and,” he took a sip of his tea, wanting to build a of a momentum for the next part, “I take Healing Arts and I’ve never seen you in class before”

“Besides,” he continued, acting as if he did not noticed the other teenager begin to lose color on his face with his revelation, “if you were to actually go to that class, you would have had to pass near the corridor, maybe even go through it, if you were coming from the great hall”

“And one more thing” Hadrian he felt Avalon shake with suppressed laughter beside him and could have sworn to have heard Eryol and Olivia snicker at his actions, “I know for a fact that you take Care of Magical Creatures, Divination and Ancient Runes. Many of my housemates share class with you and they all informed me that none of those classes are taken on Mondays” he finished happily, taking a sip of his tea gracefully.

Beside him, Avalon began to shake harder, Hadrian wondered if his friend would lose it any time soon.

Professor Galanis could only stare at the Peverell heir at the information he has supplied, “that… was quite helpful Mr. Peverell, thank you” with such a thorough investigation, he wondered if the teenager was really a badger and not an eagle in disguise.

“Indeed… oh well, that will be all of my questions then” the headmaster announced, “now to the report that I received, it would appear that the culprit for the incident has been discovered, thanks to the help of Mr. Peverell and his friends”

“And who may that be?” Dumbledore asked, acting as if he did not already know the answer.

“Why it would be Mr. Fawley himself of course” Galanis said.

“Lies! I did not do it!” the fifth year bellowed, going as far as to rise from his seat to make himself be heard.

Dumbledore frowned, “that is a serious accusation to make Alexander. Young Julian would never hurt another student in such fashion, there must be a misunderstanding” internally he knew there was no misunderstanding, but he was not about to let one of his lions be punished.

The boy had only been pushing a dark wizard to mend his ways, what was wrong with that? If they started to correct those young wizard’s behaviour when they were young it will be easier to bring them to the light. Young Julian had only been doing the right thing and nothing more.

“A misunderstanding?” Everett spoke for the first time since the wizard and teenager walked into the room, staring incredulously at her co-worker, wondering if her co-worker had gotten hit by something before coming here or if her muggle sweets had diluted his mind.

“Mr. Fawley, we have testimonies from the portraits that you were near that corridor when the incident took place. A prefect even heard you bragging about your actions to your friends” Everett said, giving the teenager a disappointed look, “your lying to the headmaster, and Mr. Peverell calling you out on your lie, has just solidified your place as the culprit”

Dumbledore’s heart froze for a moment when he heard the part about the prefect, “Naida, there are no portraits in that corridor” he reasoned.

“But there are portraits near it, Albus” countered the headmaster, “something that we forgot to remember, but these young badgers certainly did”

“Armando” Dumbledore said in a deceptively calm voice, “portraits can be charmed and young teenagers can have quite the imagination”

Hadrian felt his eyelid twitch, the audacity this man had to act as if Fawley had not just sold himself out during his questioning was outstanding, not to mention the audacity to act as if he had not been the teacher the prefect had reported Fawley to.

“Are you insulting us or prizing us?” inquired Hadrian, his tone polite despite feeling like he wanted to wring the old wizard’s neck. A part of him wondered why his friends were letting him run ahead, didn’t they want to say something too?

A look towards them showed him that no, they were quite comfortable drinking their tea and eating the biscuits on the table, content to let Hadrian take the initiative to lead this show. Traitors, he thought.

Blue eyes blinked, “I beg your pardon? Insult you?”

“Yes” he replied, “you are implying that us four have the power to charm the portraits of Hogwarts, which are protected by the castle and the headmaster’s magic, while also saying that we all imagined the same conversation” he explained, happy to see Dumbledore’s eyes loose some of their twinkle.

“I-“

“Furthermore” Hadrian interrupted him, “the charms that could do as you suggested professor, are not taught until fifth or sixth year. It is quite impossible for us, third years, to know how to cast them, let alone have the power to make it work”

Technically Master, you do have the power to cast said charms Death’s voice echoed in Hadrian’s head. Hadrian had to bite very hard the inside of his cheek to keep himself from jumping and screaming bloody murder.

Not being very helpful Death, he thought back at the immortal, and this is so not the time for you to come talk with me in my head!

Why wouldn’t it be?

You do realize that I’m in the middle of an important conversation, right? What do you think would happen if all of a sudden, I begin to act weird because I heard a voice in my head? Hm? He said, now stop distracting me, please.

And here I was trying to be helpful, Death sniffed or, at least, he gave the impression of doing so, you are so cold Little Master.

Hadrian ignored his comment in favour of focusing on the conversation taking place, thought he did wonder, since when do immortal like to worm themselves into another person’s conversations?

“You could have gotten help, my boy” Albus replied easily.

Hadrian had planned to drag the conversation a little longer, sensing that his head of house had plans to use the information given to her for later, but after hearing the old wizard use that term again, he could not bring himself to stay quiet. “Like you helped Fawley keep his actions a secret?”

Silence fell in the office, briefly interrupted by the munching of his friends. The headmaster was the one to break the silence, “what do you mean, Mr. Peverell?”

“You all remembered that my head of house mentioned that a prefect has overheard Fawley’s bragging? Well, they reported him to a professor. To professor Dumbledore to be more specific and he told them that they would handle it and inform the rest of the teaching staff” he looked at Dumbledore’s rapidly paling face, “as you can see, he did not such thing”

Silence fell once more after he finished talking. Just as Hadrian was reaching for teacup again, the room began to grow saturated with to magical signatures, making the room temperature raise a few degrees.

“Albus Dumbledore, you better have a good explanation for this” Dipped snapped angrily at his long-time friend, “and you better do it fast before I hex you black and blue”

Hadrian could not have felt happier to see the his former headmaster and the teenager, that had dared to harm a defenceless eleven-year-old child, squirm when being the focus of a very angry headmaster. Besides him, his friends were exchanging victorious looks. Finally, things were beginning to work as they should.

*************

Or they should have been. Hadrian stabbed at another bean and angrily shoved into his mouth the following morning, his jade eyes taking on a darker shade as they glared at the Gryffindor fifth year that was currently eating breakfast at the lion’s table.

He should not be there, he should no longer be in Hogwarts, period. His actions should have warranted him getting expelled, maybe even a one-way ticket to Azkaban. And yet, the little piece of hippogriff dung was still walking around in the school as if nothing had happened.

The fact that the headmaster had actually been convinced to not publicly inform the student body of Fawley’s actions pissed him of more than anything else.

He stabbed a carrot.

“Hadrian, what has that poor carrot done to you?” Eryol asked him, wincing when his friend angrily stabbed at another carrot.

“Be on my plate”

Avalon sighed, “Hadrian, he got punished and Dumbledore lost his position as Headmaster Deputy. That is a miracle in itself”

“He got too light of a sentence”

“Sentence?” Olivia stared incredulously at her friend, ““Sentence he says. Hadrian, this is not a court case” She reasoned, gently taking the teenager’s plate away from him before he managed to break the plate.

“Should have been one” he mumbled.

“Adri!”

Four pairs of eyes turned towards the sound of the voice, watching in amusement and confusion as the youngest of the Blacks practically ran towards Hadrian. Behind him, Orion and two first year slytherins.

Said first years were looking at Alphard in wonder and horror at the way he approached the Peverell heir, as if he was an old friend instead of a powerful wizard capable of cursing nine ways to the afterlife. The silver-haired teen was not really surprised by their reaction, he knew his family’s reputation was kind of terrifying. Hopefully they would learn that they had nothing to fear from him.

Hadrian’s bad mood vanished as soon as the young brunet reached the seat where he was seated. It was truly impossible for him to stay made when the kid was around him. He gave the young dark-haired boy a warm smile and stared in surprise when said boy hugged him.

The little snakes stared in pure horror at their friend, feeling like their hearts burst out of their chest when the saw the Peverell return their friend’s hug. While Orion just watched in amusement as the little snakes suffered a heart attack.

Hadrian found it odd that the child would want to show affection so freely and in a public place when most purebloods tended to avoid doing so. He was pretty sure that everyone must be staring at them now, or well, maybe not everyone. It was a Saturday and not many students liked to have breakfast so early in the morning. Still, people were so going to talk about this after they leave.

Glancing at his friends, he noticed that he was not the only one that thought that.

“Hello, Alphard” he greeted the kid before focusing on the rest of the group, “Heir Black, little snakes. What brings you guys here?” he asked.

“Is it true?” one of the first years bravely asked, having overcome the terror that had gripped him moment prior.

“Is what true?”

“Is it true that you made Fawley get detention for two weeks?” asked Alphard, his grey eyes looking at him expectantly waiting for the older teen to answer.

Hadrian blinked; how had they even learned of tha- oh. They were snakes, they lived in the dungeons, near the potion labs, the very place where the gryffindor was having his detentions. He felt like hitting himself for his stupidity.  

“Technically speaking, we four did that, but yes” he replied, not seeing what the big deal here was. He had done what needed to be done so as to prevent Fawley from doing something similar again in the future.

Although he had not completely achieved that. His aim was expulsion, maybe a long suspension paired with having to go to a mind healer, not two laughable weeks of detention.

“Should have gotten expelled” Hadrian mumbled, a slight pout forming on his lips.

Avalon rolled his eyes, “Not this again Hadrian!”

“He should have!”

“You got him to pay for what he did, that is more than enough” Orion said, even though on the inside he agreed with the silver-haired wizard. But he would take what he could get, he could still curse the sorry excuse of a wizard for what he had done, which helped to lessen the bitterness he felt.

Hadrian scrunched his nose, “Still not enough, I doubted that he will learn his lesson not to do that again with just that detention” he commented, absentmindedly petting the head of the dark-haired kid that was still clinging to him, who reveled at the attention he was receiving from the older teen.

Usually only his mother and his cousin Orion petted him like this, so this was nice. Hadrian was nice, probably the nicest person he had ever encountered in his whole life, he really could not understand why his friends had been so scared about approaching him.

Everyone, minus Alphard, noticed when the teenager’s green eyes began to glow as a thought occurred to him, while the younger snakes looked wary about it – even Orion felt a little apprehensive about that look – his friends gazed at him with small smiles.

“What has that pretty little head of yours just thought of?” inquired Eryol, recognizing that look as the very same one that Hadrian had gotten when he planned how to get Fawley caught.

Hadrian gave his friends a mischievous smile that made Orion grateful that he was not on the receiving end of whatever the other teen was planning. “How do you guys feel about pranking people?”

Chapter Text

Dear Mother and Father,

I hope this letter finds you well, I humbly ask for forgiveness for not having sent any letters until now, I swear I had a good reason for it. Plus, I have it good authority that Lord Death or one of our ancestors have been keeping you informed on what’s been going on with me.

Still, there’s no harm in updating you in a few things and ask for your advice on something.

You see, ever since I arrived at Hogwarts, I’ve been having a blast with almost all of my classes (thanks to you guy’s putting me through two months of hellish work tutoring), minus Transfiguration. Did you know that Dumblepants is the Transfiguration professor? Well, now you do. And let me tell you it’s not great.

To start with, the old fool thought it wise to assign me a month’s worth of homework plus some exams to determine if I’m ‘up to par’ for his class. Which I handled just fine if I do say so myself, you can ask Death for the details. But the thing that probably pissed me off, more than the plain favoritism he displays in class, was the incident that happened with a first year Slytherin student.

Alphard Black, the first-year kid, was hit with the Ignis curse and I just so happened to find him after the attack took place. I took him to the infirmary and helped heal him (I took Healing arts by the way, do make sure to tell Healer Archer that, bet he will be happy about it).

Anyways, after the incident I got frustrated that the teachers were unable to find the culprit, so I enlisted the help of my friends to find out who had done it. Turns out that, the reason it took so long to find out the identity of Alphard’s attacker was because he was being shielded by none other than Albus Too-Many-Names Fucking Dumbledore. Why you may ask, well it’s because the attacker was a fifth year Gryffindor student, and guess who is the head of the Gryffindor house?

So, the student in question was Julian Fawley, a fifth-year student that thought it would be okay to curse an eleven-year-old child just because he was from the house of snakes. And, long story short, I went to my head of house, exposed my findings, went to the headmaster, made Dumbles loose his Deputy Headmaster position and I would have gotten Fawley expelled were it not because of the old crow’s interference. Instead, he was left with to week of detention.

But the thing is that I am not satisfied with the result, hence why I decided that I should take on the mantle of my predecessors and prank the hell out of the jerk. So, do you guys have any suggestions about pranks so that I may try them out?

I should probably write more than I did but right now, Avalon is pressuring me to hurry up with the letter or else we’ll be late for elementalism. So, I’ll have to end up here, but I swear I’ll write to you guys again soon.

I miss you guys; do you think it would be possible to see you during a Hogsmeade weekend?

Love,

Rian.

P.D. If I make it into the hufflepuff quidditch team, would you guys be able to come watch the game?

P.D.D. Can someone tell Death to stop talking to me in my head when I’m in class? I almost made my cauldron explode last time he did that.

******

Dear Rian,

We are happy to see that you are settling well in school, although, we would have appreciated you writing to us more often. But was this about that man assigning you so much work, you can rest assured that the Board of Governors will be having some words over this.

Son, you were being to humble when you said you handled the situation well. You did more than well, you were fantastic! If something like this happens again, do not hesitate to retaliate and, if you get in trouble for it, make sure to call me and I’ll set him to rights.

And whatever do you mean with ‘hellish work’ young man? It was a perfectly reasonable amount of work, in fact, I still believe that it was too little. Which we will rectify during the Yule break my dear.

Your Father and I are proud that you would choose to help a fellow student when in help, and I can assure you that Archer was more than pleased to hear about your choice of elective, was that the only one you chose?

As for the young heir Fawley, why prank him when you can just set any and all animals after him? I’m sure it would give you a much better result, and if someone has a problem with it, they can take it up to us. I know for certain that Lady Fawley would be delighted to find out what her perfect son has been up to recently.

Make him go bald, bribe the elves so that they spike his drinks, I don’t know if you know the way to the kitchens, if you don’t do tell me so I can pass on the knowledge, the boy deserves hell for his actions. Where it not because I’m old, I would be storming towards Hogwarts and cursing the boy to an inch of their life, rules be damned. By the way Rian, what do you mean with predecessors? And what position do you want to try out for? Because I assure you kid, nothing will keep us away from watching out son play.

We also miss you sweetheart; the manor feels empty without you here. Your friends have been feeling down since you left as well, Mily in particular has been quite sad over your departure. I believe it is allowed for guardians to visit their children during the Hogsmeade weekend, how about we meet in the Three Broomsticks for lunch?

Love,

Your Mother and Father.

P.D. Hadrian, any chance that you know where Merry is? I have been unable to find him since you left for school.

P.D.D. What did Lord Death mean when he said that that you fell for a boy? What boy Hadrian? Please tell me it was not this Riddle boy. - Your very worried father.

P.D.D.D. You are not allowed to date until you’re forty.

******

Dear Mother and Father,

First off, I do not know what you mean, Merry was definitely in the Sanctuary when I left for the train. You checked my luggage before we left mother, so he definitely did not come with me.

Second of all, what in Hades did Death tell you father? I had an incident where I accidentally shadow traveled and I… well I kind of landed on top of a boy. And no, it was not Riddle, it was actually Black, Orion Black. And before you ask, no one got hurt. Also, why am I not allowed until then? You do remember that I was an adult before I came here, right? Actually, who said anything about dating?! Dad, I’m still getting used to the workload of my classes, how in havens would I even have time to think about dating?

With that out of the way, I’ll take your suggestions to heart and tryouts are next week. I plant to try out for the seeker position, it’s what I used to play as back in … well before coming here.

Also, I’m taking Ancient Rune and Spell crafting aside of Healing Arts. I’m also self-studying Warding and Care of Magical Creatures.  Do you guy’s think it would be too much if I also pick up curse breaking?

As for your other question father, my biological dad was a big prankster. He and three others of his friends created a group that often-played pranks on others while in Hogwarts. They used to call themselves the Marauders and they made quite the name for themselves while in school back in the day. So I would be taking on their mantle, thought, I would not be making the same pranks that they used to make. In all honesty, their pranks were… dangerous.

I’ll tell you both more when we meet, also, would be okay for me to bring some friends?

Love,

Rian.

P.D. Would it be possible for you guys to sneak Mily out of the Sanctuary? Please?

******

“At last! Someone will be able to take my burden and let me rest” exclaimed the healer that had been tending to the Peverell patriarch’s scratches (courtesy of a rather pissed off niffler that did not want to be returned to the Sanctuary) as he read the letters his son had sent. “Maybe I’ll make him my apprentice when the time comes”

Mirta laughed softly at their friend’s reaction, “you would first need to ask Rian and see if he will accept” she was quite proud that he son had taken Healing Arts as an elective. She was sure that her little one would benefit a great deal from the subject, much like she had. “I must say that Hadrian picked some very good electives, thought, we should probably caution him from taking curse breaking for self-study. He’ll tire himself with so much work that he will likely collapse from the strain.”

“Never mind the electives, Tita. What I want to know is how is it possible that the student was not expelled!” Icarus said, his face a mask of fury at what his son had written three days ago, the pain from the scratches no longer registered by his mind. “While I am quite happy to learn that Dumbledore was punished, I would have liked him to have gotten sacked, sacked I say!”

“Caru, you and I both know that Dumbledore has always been quite the sweet talker. We would need more than just him not taking actions to punish a student to have him sacked” reasoned the witch, taking a bite of the biscuit that the house elves had brought for them. “The poor dear, he must have been in a lot of pain from the hex” how cruel must a person be to harm a eleven-year-old child? Maybe Mirta should write to the boy’s parents to try and convince them to find a mind healer for their son.

“It was quite lucky that Hadrian was passing nearby, he may as well have saved the boy’s life” Archer shivered at the mental picture of a faceless black-haired boy covered in boils, he had seen cases where the patient had been a victim of the hex sometimes due to an accident, sometimes intentional, and the screams of pain from these patients were some of the worst he had heard. He could say that they were a little less horrible than the ones produced by those under the cruciatus curse for a few seconds.

He finished his work patching his friend up and put away his tools, “I wouldn’t be surprised if the Blacks declared a life debt between Hadrian and them. In all honesty, I almost expect the head of the family to write you a letter soon, Icarus” he said, his face serious.

Icarus nodded, thought his face had a funny expression that the healer had not seen before. “I also think so too Archer” he muttered, “can’t say I would be mad if that happened. Having a friendly relationship with the Blacks is better than to have them as our enemies”

“It would also make things easier for Rian in school” Mirta pointed out, more than happy to see how this situation could be beneficial for her son. “The Blacks would like to make sure their benefactor was safe, therefore protecting him from anyone who would like to hurt him. Plus, Hadrian could do with having more friends.”

“Agreed” Archer said, already putting his things away after finishing with the Peverell patriarch’s wounds, while Icarus grumbled something intangible under his breath.

“What was that dear?”

“I said it was fine to be friends with young Alphard but Orion Black better stay far away from Hadrian” Icarus said, his tone mulish. His son may have said that he had fallen on top of the boy by accident, and he trusted his word, but he did not trust the intentions of the Black heir. He did not want that boy to have any ideas with his son.

Archer stared at his friend like he was missing a screw, “why would he need to do that Icarus? The boy is closer to Hadrian age wise, I’m sure that they would be able to become good friends”

The man crossed his arms over his chest and narrowed his eyes, “Alphard is not likely to have any funny ideas about my son” he said.

Mirta rolled her eyes, “Caru, my love, the boy is thirteen. What funny ideas would the boy have about Rian?”

“Tita, he could want to date him maybe even court him!” Icarus exclaimed, horrified at the image his mind conjured of a faceless child asking him for permission to court his little Rian. “My son is to young to have people wanting to court him, no, he is too young for dating, period”

The healer exchanged a glance with the Lady of the manor, as if to verify that what he had heard was correct, gaining a subtle nod from the witch. Archer turned towards his friend once more, “you do realize that Hadrian will eventually want to start to date someone right?”

“And he can do that” the healer let out a sigh of relief, “when he turns fifty.”

Archer felt his left eyelid twitch while Mirta just let a loud laugh. It would seem that his old friend had entered that part of parenthood where he did not see the young man Hadrian was but the child he had been when he first met him, not to mention that he was getting overprotective of his little son.

He knew that it would have happened, whether it be with a biological child or an adopted one, eventually. He had known that he would have been particularly protective and even clingy of his first child, but he had not expected it to happen so soon.

Archer could already picture it in his mind. The future sleepless nights he would have because he would be forced to comfort his friend when Hadrian introduced him to his first boyfriend or girlfriend, the hours of his friend’s whining over the partner that Hadrian chose, the possible plans to intimidate the boy or girl into leaving his son he would probably witness…

As he zoned out the conversation Icarus and Mirta were having about their plans to see Hadrian during the Hogsmeade weekend, Archer thought it wise to start building a wine cellar in his study and maybe start his own collection of firewhiskey because the future seemed to indicate that he was going to need the alcohol to help keep his sanity intact.

Chapter Text

Hadrian hid the smirk that was threatening to make an appearance on his teacup as he watched the show that was taking place a few tables from him, on the Gryffindor table. Beside him, Avalon was biting the inside of his cheek to keep himself from laughing and giving themselves away, in front of him, Olivia and Eryol were having much more success than them both at keeping their glee contained.

Hadrian seriously wondered how they were able to do that when Fawley was walking around with his skin being the color of all of the four houses and was sporting a nice pair of cat ears, having just sprouted a tail after taking a drink of his pumpkin juice. Half of the school was giggling over the fact or downright laughing; some were even pointing at the fifth year. So how exactly were his two friends able to keep such a good poker face? Maybe he should ask them for some pointers after this.

For the past week, he and his friends had done exactly as he had told his parents he would do, he pranked the hell out of Fawley. Mind you, he never went as far as what his dad and his friends had ever done, he mostly stuck with color changing potions mixed with his shampoo and conditioner (he had been surprised that conditioner existed or was even actively used in this time) and spiking his drinks during breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Needless to say, that all their pranks had been successful and that Fawley had not been having a pleasant week, just like Hadrian had planned, thought, he had a feeling that he would have had an easier time planting his pranks with the Marauder’s map in hand. Sadly, the map had stayed behind in his past timeline and creating a new one would take a long while, as he did not know what enchantments his dad had used to make it.

As it was, the reason for their success with their pranks was all due to the cooperation they got from the house elves, it was all thanks to them that they were even able to place the tampered bottles of shampoo and conditioner on his bathroom. Not to mention that they were more than happy to help them spike his drinks during mealtimes. Turns out that being friends with the elves allowed you many privileges and that house elves were very protective of the younger students.

He had originally thought that being protective of their charges was just one of Dobby’s quirks as he had never seen Kreacher be particularly protective of any of the Blacks, except his precious master Regulus, but it turned out that that was the norm for the elves and Kreacher had been the odd one. Hadrian blamed it on Walburga, that woman had been a terrible master, both in life and even after death.

A big part of him wondered what would have happened to her to become like that or if she had always been like that. And, since she was a sixth-year student, he did not share any classes with her and could not, therefore, confirm if she was any different from the bitter and cruel witch he met in the past.

A hand waving in front of him brought him back from his mussing.

“How long are the ears and tail going to last?” Avalon whispered once his friend’s jade green eyes stopped looking clouded by whatever his friend had been thinking on and settled on him.

“If the potion was brewed correctly, and I believe it was, it should last until tomorrow morning” Hadrian replied, taking a bite of his pancakes and frowned when he noticed that the lack of honey to them.

“Confident in your brewing skills Peverell?” Eryol said, the small smirk on his face showing that he was only teasing the teenager.

“Very much so Abbot” Hadrian found the bottle of honey a couple of seats away from him, so he willed a tendril of shadows to bring him the bottle, pouring a generous amount of it when he finally had it in his hands.

As Harry Potter, he would have felt doubtful about the potion but as Hadrian Peverell, the son of a talented potion master, he had no need to worry about the effectiveness of his potion. His father had made sure to fill in all the gaps that had been in his knowledge of potion making.

Olivia eyed his friend’s pancakes and snickered, “I think you just poured a little too much honey into your pancakes Hadrian.”

Said teenager just looked at his honey drenched pancakes, “I think I actually poured too little” he took a mouthful of pancakes to verify and made a pleased sound, “never mind, they’re perfect now.”

His friends only stared in open bafflement at his friend’s statement. The pancakes were practically swimming in honey, and he said that he thought he poured too little of it? The three friends were beginning to worry that Hadrian’s sweet tooth would get him sick one of these days, that and that he was probably insane to eat that much honey.

“Adri!” a childish voice called out.

Hadrian glanced up to find Alphard’s little group coming towards him with the little dark-haired boy leading the entourage. The wizard smiled made some space in the bench for the children to sit, his friends doing the same on the other side.

It had become a bit of a habit to have Alphard and some of his friends sit beside them during, at least, one meal a day in their table. During the first few days of this happening, the little snakes that followed after Alphard had been tense and cautious, some even fearful, around Hadrian. That tenseness had slowly melted away with each meal they shared with the Peverell heir when they saw that the wizard was not about to suck their souls out of them or curse them five ways to Sunday.

They still kept a respectful distance from Hadrian, the kind you would have when facing someone older than you and let Alphard chatter the teenager’s ear off with no fear of their housemate being hurt for doing so.

Hadrian considered that a big improvement from their first interaction with him, some of them had been close to tears the first time he asked one of them how their school year had been so far. As he said, big improvement indeed.

“Hello Alphard” he greeted the boy with a smile, watching him take a seat beside him. “Your brother’s not accompanying you today?”

That had been a development that they had not expected, mostly because Slytherins tended to keep to themselves. Since that day where Hadrian announced his plans to his friends, the Black heir had taken to accompanying his little cousin whenever he felt like eating with Hadrian’s group.

The first day it had happened, Avalon had been the one to ask him why he was there with them.

“I’m accompanying my cousin of course” he had replied, his tone calm and even, ever the perfect pureblood heir. “I cannot in good consciousness let him eat in a place full of strangers, can I?”

And so, for the past week, Orion Black had shared a meal with Hadrian’s group with his little cousin. This of course shocked the entire school, except perhaps the Hufflepuffs. His housemates had only batted an eye when they saw them the following day sitting in their table and turned back to their meals. To badgers things were simple, treat them with respect and they will treat you the same, cross them and you pay the price, so if you don’t bother them then you will be more than welcome to their table.

During the week, Hadrian had found that Orion had turned out to be good company and interesting to talk with. Whenever the firsties had a question regarding their assignments, Orion was more than willing to help them along with Hadrian. When not helping the younger snakes, he would strike a conversation with Avalon and Eryol about quidditch and always looked curious when Olivia explained something about the muggle world. Something that he had never expected the pureblood to look like.

Hadrian could sincerely say that he enjoyed Orion Black’s presence around him and that he was very much confused as to how he ended up becoming the bitter and uncaring man his godfather had described. Only time would tell he supposed.

“Not today,” Alphard said, plating some fruit on the empty plate that appeared in front of him, “said he was busy with an assignment and to extend his condolences for not being able to join us.”

“Shame, guess that means that the little snakes are stuck with us badgers huh? Think you’ll be okay on your own?” Avalon said in a teasing manner towards the children.

One of the kids, a scrawny black-eyed boy, made a show of looking at the older teen up and down in a considering manner before he drawled, “I’m sure we can handle you badgers fine on our own, besides,” he stared intently at Hadrian that was beginning to pile some eggs on Alphard’s plate, “heir Peverell is very likely to hex you all if you try to harm any of us”

“He’s not wrong on that” Olivia muttered; her friend was ridiculously protective of the little snakes. Not that he didn’t care for the kids in their house or in other houses, but he seemed to have a soft spot for the slytherin first years, one that many believed came to be after finding Alphard.

“Hadrian is a big mama badger with you firsties” Eryol said, yelping in surprise when a strawberry hit him in the side of his face, courtesy of an unimpressed Hadrian.

“Instead of talking about my ‘protective’ habits, we should probably discuss our next project, found anything Avalon?” he asked placing the bottle of honey near the first years and promptly ignoring their questioning looks over his own plate of breakfast.

“You’ll be pleased to know that you father’s idea is viable” Avalon reported in a low voice. He really had no need to worry about their housemates rating out their plans to prank Fawley for as long as Hadrian deemed it necessary, badgers kept the secrets of their housemates close to their chest, but it was still better to try to keep it to themselves so as to let them be able to claim deniability if asked.

“There are a few potions that can make someone bald, some of them are used in healing when the head needs to be operated but there are also of pranking potions too. Those ones come with a time limit, meaning that they will stop working after some time has passed” he explained.

Alphard looked up at Hadrian, “so this morning was your doing as well?” he asked, not feeling the least bad for Fawley’s situation. In his opinion, the older wizard was being relatively light about this, he was sure that if his older cousin had been allowed to, he would have cursed Fawley to the underworld and back.

But looking at the shrieking form of Fawley, he supposed that Hadrian was trying to avoid getting expelled. Thought Alphard doubted that his parents would allow the headmaster to expel Hadrian when the person who should have been expelled in the first place was allowed to stay in school.

Hadrian just hummed and looked at him with his most innocent face, “I do not know what you mean Alphard, we have been occupied with our homework, how could it have been our doing?”

The looks he received from the other first years told him that he had not been as convincing as he had hoped. Either he is losing his touch, or these little snakes were very good at reading people, Hadrian would like to believe that it was the later.

“Anyways,” he cleared his throat and turned to his friend, “you got a list of the potions?”

Avalon gave a look at Eryol, and he produced Hadrian with a piece of parchment, upon closer inspection, he noticed that they had written the name of the potion as well as the time limit they possessed and how long it took to brew them.

The smile that appeared on the third year’s face was positively chilling as he read the details on the parchment, “excellent, so we will need to get the ingredients for the potion and then…”

*******

It was a cold peaceful Saturday night when Hadrian decided to set his final prank, as the following day would be the last day of detention Fawley would have, and he supposed it would be fair to also end the pranks on that same day.

He felt quite proud of himself for being able to plan so many pranks in the span of two weeks when, in the past, he had not done more than help Fred and George plan theirs’. For two weeks straight, the school had seen Fawley turn all the colors of the rainbow, seen a Fawley become a walking and breathing lumos maxima, gain animal body parts, walk around with his class notes plastered to his skin like tattoos and, his personal favorite, be chased around the school grounds by bees, squirrels and ducks.

His father had really inspired him with that one and it had been pretty easy to convince the animals to chase after the fifth year after giving them some treats. And it had been easier to mask his actions by brewing some potions and them asking the house elves to pour them on the teenager’s school robes, only for him to stage a little accident where he ended up drenched in pumpkin juice that would further mask his actions.

Now he was going to use another of his father’s ideas, which, he believed would pair up nicely with what Death said was likely to happened tomorrow morning. The potion had taken four days to brew, hence, why he had not used it until now. It had not been a complicated nor difficult to brew one, but many stages took a lot of time specially the last stage where the potion needed to settle for two days before being used.

Now it was done, and he only needed to do one thing.

Hadrian checked for the umpteenth time to see that there was no one on the dorm before he called, “Sammy.”

A soft pop was heard and then there was a small elf with bright caramel-colored eyes standing beside the young wizard, looking at him in interest.

“What can Sammy bes doing for young master Hadrian?” he asked.

“Hello Sammy, I need you to do me a favor” he took out the vial with the potion, along with a few other vials containing something else and offered it to the elf, “can you pour this in Julian Fawley’s drink in tomorrow’s breakfast?”

The elf nodded and took the potion, not even questioning what it was for, Sammy knew that the little wizard would not hurt any student unless in self defense. So, he trusted Hadrian to not give him something that could not be reversed later on.

“It shall be done, young master Hadrian”

“Thank you, Sammy, I promise to pass by the kitchens tomorrow afternoon to chat” he promised, already thinking of bringing his friends with him.

Sammy nodded with a pleased smile and popped away, leaving Hadrian to pick up some parchment and leave the room to finish his Ancient Runes assignment before calling it a night.

*******

“Ry, wake up, we’re going to be late!”

Hadrian grumped some unintelligible nonsense before turning to his side and burrowing himself deeper into the blankets, wanting to chase after the fantastic dream he had been having.

“Hadrian! Come on!” Avalon said, coming to stand beside the bed where Hadrian resided in, gently but firmly shaking the sleepy teen. “We’ll be late to breakfast and, if we are late, we’ll miss the great finally!”

One jade green eye popped open to glare at his friend, he was currently not pleased with him, “what yu talking ‘bout? What finally?” he only cared about the warmth of his bed, the fluffiness of his pillows and the fact that it was Saturday, a weekend day, he was more than allowed to sleep in on this day. Plus, he had gone to bed quite late because his assignment had taken more time than he had originally expected, so how dare his best friend interrupt his beauty and rejuvenating sleep?

The red headed teen gave his best friend an unimpressed look, “did you forget that today is the last day of Fawley’s detention?”

And just like that, thoughts of wanting to curse his friend for waking him vanished from Hadrian’s mind. Instead, he jumped off the bed, took his toiletries and practically ran towards the bathroom.

Avalon stared in amusement as his friend emerged from the bathroom with clothes a little rumpled, likely from the haste in which he dressed, and with his silvery hair dripping wet. He was actually surprised that it seemed like he had actually managed to wash the shampoo completely from his hair, the teenager had been on that bathroom for less than five minutes for Merlin’s sake!

“Ready?” he asked.

Hadrian just took his friend’s arm and dragged him out of the dorm – thought not before collecting a sleeping Merry from his place on Hadrian’s extra pillow – in leu of answer. Avalon laughed the whole trip to the dining hall at his friend’s antics, earning a few looks from the students that were also making their way to breakfast, only coming to a stop when they reached their table. Which was full, just how much had he overslept?

“Wow, Hadrian calm down, the food is not going to disappear” Eryol said after taking in his friend’s appearance, from the way his tie was tied in a sloppy manner to the droplets of water falling from the teenager’s hair.

“Has Fawley come down to breakfast yet?”

“Good morning to you too Hadrian,” Olivia snickered, “don’t tell me that is why you look like a drowned rat this morning.”

Hadrian rolled his eyes, “yes, yes, good morning to you both. Now answer my question!”

“No Hadrian, Fawley has not arrived yet” Eryol said, “and won’t for a while. People tend to sleep in on weekends remember?” or at least they used to, but for some reason the dining hall was filled with students from all houses. Eryol could spot some upperclassmen Gryffindors reading the Daily Prophet at their table.

He heavily suspected that it was because they all wanted to see what would happen to Fawley now.

“What? But everyone is already here!” he exclaimed, his gaze landing on Alphard’s little group that had taken a seat on their table once more. “What time is it?”

“I believe that it’s 8:30 am, Peverell” a voice behind him said, making him turn to face the newcomer, not surprised to see Orion dressed as impeccably as ever.

Orion, for his part, blinked in astonishment at the state the other teen was, “were you hit with an aquamenti on your way here?” he asked, wondering who would have the gall to do so to a powerful wizard such as Hadrian.

Avalon laughed at the question, having taken a seat beside Eryol and making Orion look at him questioningly, “Hadrian wanted to come here as fast as he could” he said as if that explained everything.

Hadrian narrowed his eyes, “you said that we were going to be late.”

“I said that if we were late, we would miss the show.”

“So you let me believe that we would not make it time for the show?”

“You did not ask for the time.”

Hadrian grumbled as he finally sat down beside Avalon and reached out for piece of toast, munching on it morosely and ignoring the snickers going on around him. “Next time you do that to me Avalon, I’ll hex you black and blue” he pointed at his friends face with his toast to highlight his point and then focused to making his tea to his liking.

He considered if it would be a good idea to prank his friend as payback for what he had done, maybe having some owls chase him.

Orion’s lips twitched upward and sat across from the green-eyed teen, beside his little cousin, finding the other’s actions amusing. Judging by the giggles coming from the other first years around him, he was not the only one.

“Adri, what have you planned for today?” an excited Alphard asked.

Hadrian gave him an innocent smile that did nothing to fool anyone, not with those jade green eyes twinkling with a mischievous light, “why Alphard, you make it sound like I know anything about what had been going on with poor Fawley.”

“Do you?” he asked.

“Maybe” was the cryptic answer he got.

“Could you not give us a hint? Please?”

“Nop”

The little first year pouted and turned to look at Hadrian’s friends, hoping one of them would spill the beans. Only for him to scowl when the three of them gave him sympathetic, yet unrepentant looks.

“Sorry, Hadrian made it clear not to reveal anything beforehand” Olivia said, “said it would ruin the surprise.”

“Which shouldn’t take long to arrive” Eryol commented.

A pout appeared on the eleven-year-old, “Oh come on! just a tiny clue will not-“

“Here he comes” as soon as those words left Avalon’s mouth, Alphard closed his and spun as fast as possible to get a look at the boy that had landed him on the infirmary. And he was not the only one.

Conversations around them either died down or just continued on a lower tone, as people began to notice the appearance of the star of the show for the past two weeks. Julian Fawley looked normal, no colored hair or skin, no animal tails or ears on his body and did not appear to be followed by an animal today. So that led many to conclude that the prank would take place here with one of the drinks perhaps, his food maybe.

From what Hadrian could see, the teenager looked like he always did: arrogant and carefree but with a good dose of caution, if his tense shoulders were anything to go by. Hadrian watched as he took a seat near the end of the Gryffindor table and began to pile food on his place, along with the few friends that still followed him around.

The moment that the boy reached for his drink, everyone on the hall fell silent, all of the anxious to see what would happen to him now. Hadrian almost laughed when he saw Orion’s eager face fall when Julian hastily swapped his drink with one of his friends, showcasing his disappointment over the Gryffindor possibly escaping the prank that Hadrian had planted.

Said disappointment grew when Julian did not take a bite of his food until he swapped it with his friends but it quickly changed into chuckles when, after taking a bite of the food due to Fawley’s insistence, the fifth year gryffindor’s hair began to grow at a rapid pace from every part of his body – which would have been amusing enough as it was, but the fact that it puffed up and turned a bright pink color after in finished growing, added to the fun.

“That was the great finally?” Avalon whispered at Hadrian, drawing the attention of the rest of their little group, “don’t get me wrong, it’s a great prank but… Fawley did not fall for it”

“No” he took a sip of his tea and ignored the inquiring looks thrown at him, “just watch” he said, as if that would explain everything.

And it did.

As soon as Julian, saw his friends fall victim to the prank that he was sure had been aimed at him and, believing that he was now free of danger, when ahead and took a bite of his ‘not contaminated’ food and a drink of his new goblet. Not a minute had gone by before a chunk of the teenager’s light brown hair fell onto the floor.

Conversations came to a swift stop when a second chunk of hair fell on the floor and Fawley’s only reaction to it was to scratch his head, taking a few more strands of hair of his head in the process. It was not until another gryffindor asked what was wrong with his hair that he noticed that he was going bald.

The shriek of surprise and his face struck with horror would forever be imprinted on Hadrian’s memory as one of his best memories. Judging by the laughter that began to spread around the dinning hall, he was not the only one thinking that.

He had chosen this prank as his great finally for two reasons, the first being that it would take time to have the potion ready to be used and the second being that he wanted Fawley to be hit where it hurt him the most. The boy was quite proud of his looks, particularly his hair, reminding him constantly of Malfoy with the way the teen seemed to ward his hair with a passion and the fuss he would make when someone touched it without his permission.

He hoped that this last prank would finally let it sink into his thick skull that what he had done was wrong and he should never do it again, else he would start cursing the teenager in earnest.

When Hadrian noticed that the laughter that had been echoing against the walls of the room had diminished, he focused his gaze back on Julian, only for him to blink at the regal looking owl that was standing before said wizard with a red envelop tied to its leg.

His eyes grew wide as he recognized the envelop, how could he not when his ex-best friend had received an envelop just like that one when he had been twelve years old? Now that he thought about it, hadn’t her mother mentioned that she would contact the Fawley family to inform them of what had happened? It would seem that she had been true to her word.

Julian, for his part, looked terrified at the envelop his family’s owl was carrying. Knowing that if he did not open it fast enough everyone would hear what his parents had to say, he made quick work of freeing the owl of its burden and fumbled to get the letter open. Sadly, before he actually got a good grip of the piece of parchment, it flew away from his hand and began to float a few inches away from the teen’s face.

“JULIAN NICOLAI FAWLEY” a high-pitched voice shrieked, “YOU BETTER HAVE A GOOD EXPLANATIONS FOR YOU ACTIONS YOUNG MAN! HOW DARE YOU LIE TO US ABOUT YOUR ACTIONS! HOW DARE YOU HARM A YOUNG CHILD, A BLACK CHILD AT THAT! YOUR FATHER AND I ARE SO DISSAPINTED IN YOU, YOUNG MAN, WE TAUGHT YOU BETTER.

WE WERE FORCED TO LEARN FROM STRANGERS THAT OUR VIRTUOUS AND KIND SON HAD CURSED AN INNOCENT AND DEFENSLESS CHILD, DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT A DISGRACE YOU HAVE BROUGHT TO THE FAMILY? LORD BLACK HAS THREATENED TO PRESS CHARGES AGAINST US IF WE DO NOT REPAY HIM FOR THE SLIGHT CAUSED TO HIS FAMILY, AND IT IS ENTIRELY YOUR FAULT!

YOU WILL LEAVE HOGWARYS IMMEDIATELY, WE HAVE ALREADY NOTIFIED HEADMASTER DIPPET THAT WE WILL PULL YOU OUT FOR A FEW WEEKS OUT OF SCHOOL, AND YOU WILL COME HOME AND AM I UNDERSTOOD? WE WILL DISCUSS YOUR PUNISHMENT WHEN YOU GET BACK” with that said, the red envelop began to tear itself into pieces until it became a pile of useless parchment pieces.

Silence reigned in the dinning hall after the howler said what it needed to say and destroyed itself. A moment later, a very pale and very bald Julian, made way for the entrance hall – practically running to get away from the dinning hall and the praying eyes of the student body.

Noise resumed as soon as the doors closed behind the escaping teen and Hadrian startled when someone dropped themselves beside him. Turning towards them, his eyebrows rose when he was met face to face with none other than Tom Marvolo Riddle. Since when does Riddle sit in other people’s tables? As far as he knew, he never left the snake’s table, not even to try and form connections with other students.

Before he could open his mouth to ask him what he wanted, Riddle beat him to it.

“That was an interesting performance” he said casually, a calculating gleam in his eyes than made Hadrian get a bad feeling about this conversation, “very cunning of you, Peverell”

Hadrian eyed Riddle warily, “well, Slytherin may be the cause of the cunning, but we badgers know when to be cunning too”

“Indeed,” the smile the angel-like boy sent his way made his bad feeling intensify, “I guess I should have expected it. There’s no possible way that any cousin of mine is not cunning in some way.”

Orion, who had noticed when Riddle had left the Slytherin table and made his way towards them, could not help but voice out his surprise. “Cousin?” he asked, staring between the two wizards before him, trying to find any physical similarities they may possess with each other.

Hadrian could only stare at Riddle with his jaw hanging on the floor. Well, fuck.

Chapter Text

“Is everything alright, cousin? You look a little pecky” Tom asked, internally feeling smug at having caused the other teen to be shocked. It was a nice expression for the wizard to have, an entertaining one for him.

But from his reaction, Tom could conclude that the teenager was really taken a back by the news, maybe Peverell really had no idea that they were related and that made the angry snake inside his chest settle. Then again, he should have expected this kind of reaction, it’s not like his muggle last name would make it easy for Peverell to connect the dots.

Though, now that he knew, he wondered what kind of attitude the teenager would take with him. Would he be glad that they were related? Would he get angry and begin to shun him? Would he act like it never happened like most purebloods tended to do?

So far, the silver-haired teen had been nothing but respectful and friendly with him. He had been patient with him whenever they paired up in Herbology and more than willing to explain anything he did not understand, plus, he had a feeling that he felt amused every single time Tom made a face at having to dirty his hands while they worked. All this made him believe that, if he were to be rejected, Peverell would at least do it as gently as possible.

Still, he convinced himself that he would not care either way if that did happen.

Hadrian on the other hand had one thought echoing in his head, and that one brilliant thought was fuck. He knew they were related, as most pureblood families were related to each other in some shape or form, but he had not stopped to consider how they were related.

Upon closer inspection of Riddle’s family tree, the Gaunts were related to the Slytherins because a few daughters married into the family and somewhere in the timeline a Peverell married into the family as well. Then, around five or four hundred years ago, they stopped marring outside the family choosing instead to resort to marrying amongst each other.

But the point was that, the Peverell that had married into the family had been a descendant of the second brother. Taking that into account, it would certainly make Riddle a cousin of sorts of him… albeit a very very distant one. Unless it turned out that his muggle father had shared blood with one of his parent’s parents, which he doubted, but did not discard.

“Death?” he asked.

Yes, little master?

Well, that was fast, he though to himself, “Is Tom related to me in some way? Aside of being descendant from Grandpa Cadmus that is”

Well, I do believe that Tom Riddle Senior’s mother, Mary Riddle was the daughter of a Squib from the Campbell family. He said, as if that answered Hadrian’s question. Spoiler alert, it didn’t.

“And that is relevant because…?”

Well, said Squib had an aunt, who had a daughter that married your great-grandfather on your father’s side, Death explained, I believe that makes you cousins once or twice removed, maybe thrice, I’m not sure how you humans keep a track of all that.

Hadrian blinked, “So basically we have enough blood relation from both sides of his family to be considered distant relatives?”

Yes, I believe so.

“Great” he deadpanned. Just what he needed, to be related to Riddle from two sides of his family. Thought he found it interesting how he ended up being descended from a Squib line of the Campbells, they always seemed to pride themselves on not giving birth to one since their family settled themselves in Ireland.

Looks like they, like many other pureblood families, had some skeletons hidden on their closets.

I’m actually surprised that it took him so long to confront you over this little discovery, I’d thought he would have said something the moment he connected the dots.

Harry frowned, not caring how this might the seen by his audience, “So you’re telling me that Riddle has known that we were related for some time? I thought he was not aware of his heritage until sometime around his fifth year!”

Technically, he became aware of his heritage during the Yule break of his third year in your previous timeline, you just hastened the process. Death said, sounding curious over this turn of events with an edge of giddiness, a giddiness that Hadrian did not appreciate one bit.

“Okay so my being here changed things a bit” Hadrian mentally grumbled, “now what?”

“Well, you could always start with bringing him along your Hogsmeade outing to meet your parents and maybe speaking with him more often, that sounds like a good start”

Bringing him to meet his parents? Last he checked that would happen one day before the Halloween Feast, which was a week or so away from now. It also meant that there was a small chance that something could happen to any of them due to his ‘Halloween curse’ as he liked to call it. He would need to write a letter to his parents to warn them that there would be one more person for them to meet.

Or you could just make it a surprise, Death suggested, I’m sure that they will like it.

“Sounds like you want them to have a heart attack, or have you forgotten the last time you gave them a ‘pleasant surprise’?”

You cannot deny that they liked it

No, he supposed he could not, at least not now but Hadrian suspected that at the moment they had certainly not been happy with the surprise Death had gifted them. The only reason why he believed that Mirta or Icarus had not done something against Death was because he had basically gifted them with what they had wanted for a long while to placate their anger.

That thought made his mind stop for a moment as an idea formed in his head.

“Death…why does it feel like you are trying to place house with us four?”

Silence was all that met his question before Death’s voice resurfaced with a strange tilt to it, I think you need to start playing attention to your friend’s little master, they are getting worried.

“This conversation is not over” he sent to the deity before bringing himself back to the present, finding himself face to face with the face of Tom Riddle. Who was looking at him as if expecting him to explode any moment now.

Hadrian took a deep breath and slowly let it out, “so, we are cousins? How?” he asked the boy beside him.

“The Gaunts” Tom quickly replied, feeling himself relax a little now that Hadrian seemed to get over his shock. “I was in the library reading up on family lineages and I found this particular book that stated that there were only two known families in Britain that could speak in parsel, the Peverells and the Gaunts” he began, keeping his eyes fixed on the Peverell heir’s face, keeping track of every emotion that was passing through him. So far, it had not shown anything bad, making him relax just a little bit more.

“Some generations ago, some members of the Peverell family married into the Gaunt before they opted to keep their line ‘pure’. And since I have the gift and so do you, I figured that we must be cousins of some sort” he finished his explanation with a charming smile.

“That would be impossible” both boys turned towards Orion, finding the teenager frowning at Riddle. “It is well known that Lord Peverell did not have any siblings, so it’s impossible for you to be related to Hadrian like that. And all the branches of the family having died out a couple of years ago, although Lady Peverell’s family, the Bjur, were very distantly related to the family and they tend to stay in Sweden” he paused, “so the chances of being related to them from either side of Hadrian’s parents is unlikely, especially as it is well known that the current Lord Gaunt is not married and has no children.”

Hadrian thought that the smile that Riddle sent Orion looked a little strained, as if he did not like that Orion had inserted himself into the conversation, which was ridiculous. If he had not wanted other people to interrupt them, then he should have cast a privacy charm or maybe taken him away to speak in private.

“I never said I was the son of the current Lord Gaunt” was all Tom said, enjoying how the Black heir’s frown got more pronounced.

“What?”

“I said that I was not the sound of Morfin Gaunt, but I am a Gaunt” he repeated himself, “my mother was Merope Gaunt, sister of the current lord, and she married a … muggle by the name of Tom Riddle, hence the reason behind my last name.”

Hadrian felt like he officially had no idea what to do. He knew who his mom was? Since when?! Death said he knew about his Gaunt heritage, kind of, but how did he actually learn his mother’s name or that his father was a muggle? Did he already meet him? His mind felt like it was going to explode from the overload of information, and lack of answers to his questions, and it was just nine in the morning.

Not a good way to start his day. Especially not when he later had to go to the quidditch pitch for the tryouts.

Hadrian sighed, “I guess that explains how we are related, albeit distantly, but why did you tell me this now Riddle? Actually, scratch that, since when have you known this?” he inquired.

“For a month or so, thought, I had my suspicions that I was a Gaunt since last year. But, since the matron of the orphanage said my mother’s last name had been Riddle, it took a while to connect the dots” Tom easily replied, happy to answer Hadrian’s questions as this would make it harder for the teen to deny their connection. “It was not until I heard you speak to Thanatos that I began to find some leads.”

“Right” Hadrian said with a nod and took a sip of his drink, “well, I believe my parents need to learn about this discovery, but you still have not answered my question” he retorted.

Tom tilted his head and weighted out his options. On one side, he could say that he had wanted to form a familial connection in the wizarding world (which would not have been a lie) in an effort to actually fulfill his dream of having a family (even if that dream had kind of dried out a couple of years back) or, he could be direct with Hadrian an tell him that he wanted to find refuse with him from the bombs.

I wonder, he thought as he gazed into wary green eyes, what would make Peverell more receptive to helping me. A glance towards the youngest of the Blacks gave him his answer.

“I want to ask for asylum from your family.” He said, just as Hadrian took another sip from his tea.

The green-eyed boy proceeded to choke on his drink, drawing the attention of Avalon, who was quick to pat him in the back to get the tea out of his lungs. With slightly tearful eyes and voice a little rough he asked, “I’m sorry?”

“I want asylum, that way I won’t have to return to the orphanage” he explained, his voice having gone a little tight, making Hadrian remember that London was in the middle of the Blitz.

“Why Riddle?” Orion asked, “do they do not bow down to you?”

Tom stared coldly at the Black heir, “because I don’t want to end up dead.”

That made all those in Hadrian’s little group grow quiet, the first years looking at the older ones in confusion, Hadrian’s friends not looking any better than them as they had no idea what had caused this conversation.

On the other hand, Hadrian was very aware of what Riddle was talking about, he was surprised that the teenager had decided to admit that. Still, he had seen Dumbledore’s memories of the time he went to give Tom his Hogwarts’s letter, so he understood better than other’s the severity of the statement.

Even though the memories had been seen from the point of view of the old man, it had been impossible for him to see all the wrong that had been done to Tom. He had seen how a prejudiced old man was quick to pass judgment and condemned an innocent kid for fighting to survive in a war-stricken place. Had seen how Dumbledore pushed and pushed Riddle further and further into a path that would only lead to death and destruction.

And wasn’t that what he had been tasked into preventing? Hadn’t Death said that he needed to prevent Dumbledore from gaining the same level of power he had amassed in his time? Wouldn’t lending Riddle a hand help him on that front? Guess that made his decision an easy one.

“Okay”

“I know my request is a little sudden, but I assure that- wait, what?” Hadrian snickered when he saw the way Riddle tripped over himself over his response, it was not everyday that people got to see Tom Riddle so thrown off.

“You agree?” he asked, thinking that he must have heard wrong, because there was absolutely no way that Peverell had actually decided to buy that selfish –

“Yeah, I do” Hadrian said nonchalantly, “I am aware that London is not the safest place to be right now with the muggle war being in full swing, it’s only logical to lend you a safe place for you to go instead of that place. But now I need to ask, why me? Why not someone like the Malfoys or the Rosiers? I know that they are your friends so why not ask them?”

Riddle blinked, ducked his head and murmured something in such a low voice that Hadrian was not able to understand what he said.

“Come again?”

“Dumbledore” he answered in a louder voice, looking a little like a caged snake about to strike, “he would not let me leave with them during the yule and easter break stating that they could not take someone that was not family with them, same excuse when I tried to go with them during the summer break.”

That made everyone in their group stare at each other before sending a cautious glance at the head table to look at the Transfiguration professor, who was currently looking intently at Hadrian and Tom – much to their increasing confusion.

Hadrian pursed his lips in anger, he was not even sure why he was surprised to learn this, as a Deputy Headmaster he did have the power to make people stay behind on the school during the breaks, but only of there was a good reason for it. The rules never stated that it was not possible to leave with a friend if the family invited you to spend time in their home and a Deputy had no say over where a student could go during the summer vacations. The old mad had clearly abused his position to make sure Tom returned to that awful place year after year.

Well, not anymore, “I see, good thing that we are actually related them” Hadrian finished the rest of his food and tea and stood up. “I hope that you are free during the Hogsmeade weekend, Riddle”

Tom stared at the silver-haired teen with caution, “I am, why do you ask?”

Hadrian smiled, “why, to meet the rest of you family of course” he turned towards his friends, “I’ll be on the quidditch pitch practicing my flying if you need me”

“Hadrian, the tryouts are not until after lunch” Avalon argued.

“Precisely, I only have five more hours to polish my technique before the big event” he pointed out, “plenty of time to improve and before you come at me Eryol” he said when he saw his friend open his mouth, “I promise not to overdo it, that being said, I’ll see you guys later.”

The teenager practically ran towards the exist after he finished his sentence in direction to the quidditch pitch. He needed to process all the information he had just gained and the best way to do that was by flying, and if it also helped him calm down before the tryouts, well that was only something between him and the gods.

*******

“Hadrian Peverell, your next”

Hadrian took a fortifying breath and mounted his broom that, while it was not his trusted and beloved Firebolt, it was still a decent broom. Strong and stable, surprisingly considering that he had been used to there being faulty broom in school. Still, he lamented that this Comet 160 could not go half as fast as his old nimbus could, he could only swallow his sorrow and try to make the best of the situation.

Once he was in the air the captain of the team, Elizabeth Brown, came to fly close to him with a snitch in hand.

“I’ll keep this simple” she began, “your job will be to catch the snitch before our current seeker, the catch will be that our beaters and chasers will purposely try to block your path towards it, weather it be by sending you a bludger or by throwing you the quaffle, amongst other things, understood?”

He gave a curt nod, “yes, ma’am.”

“Good, the snitch will have a five-minute advantage, do you have any questions?” she asked.

Hadrian thought for a moment before shaking his head, the instructions had been quite simple and clear, plus he had seen the aspiring seeker before him, so he had a good idea of what to expect.

“Very well” the girl opened her palm, letting the golden ball spread its wings more comfortably and speed away from her reach into how knows where.

The hufflepuff took out her wand and casted a timer charm, showing that the five minutes had already begun to run, then she turned to face him, “as soon as the five minutes are up, you begin.”

The young wizard nodded and positioned himself at the edge of the field, ready to chase after the snitch as soon as the timer was up. He made sure he had a good grip on his broom and, as soon as the alarm went off, he sped towards the sky and positioned himself in such a way that his eyes could see the entirety of the pitch – a tactic that he had favored since his first year whenever he wanted to find the snitch fast.

The only times were that tactic did not work as well as usual, were when it was a very cloudy day or a rainy day, as it was very difficult for the snitch to catch a ray of light to determine its position. That is not to say that it did not ‘shine’ in that climate, as it’s made of metal it always gave a glint of reflective light, but it was just not as bright as it was during sunny days.

But today was one of those days where this tactic would work perfectly for him, and he was not the only one, as the official hufflepuff seeker – Damian Bones – came to fly a couple of meters away from him.

He was not sure how much time passed before he finally caught a glint of gold near the hoops, but when he saw that glint, he tried to spot where Bones was in a discreate manner, not wanting to notify him that he had seen the snitch in case that he had not seen it just yet. Once he determined that he was nowhere near him, he pushed his weight forward and promptly began a quick decent towards the snitch.

Hadrian relished in the feeling of the wind hitting his face as he flew, making sure to keep his eyes on his prize, but just when he came close enough to the hoops, a bludger came his way, forcing him to evade it by pushing his weight to the side of the broom, forcing him to lose sight of the snitch for very few precious seconds.

Seconds that ended up costing him for when he tried to device the snitch, he could no longer find it where he had last seen it. Calmly, he looked around himself to see if he could spot it once more.

Just when he thought he had spotted, he saw Bones make a sudden dip towards the ground. On instinct, he chased after him, pushing his broom to catch up to him, but then he noticed that ahead of Bones there was only green grass and finally it clicked in his mind. It was a faint, there was not actual snitch to catch, and he was wasting precious time by chasing after the teen.

Hadrian pulled firmly on the wood to stop his decent and skillfully redirected himself so that he was once more above the pitch, have a bird’s eye view of the field. In a matter of seconds, he caught the glint of the snitch and did not hesitate to go after it, dipping downwards when one of the chasers got in his way catching a quaffle that had been thrown at him before redirecting himself. The snitch not having moved much from its position while he evaded his obstacle.

Just as he was getting close to snatch it, it snapped up and sideways into the sky, forcing the green-eyed wizard to chase after it – along with the current seeker that had begun to catch up to him.

They both chased after it as best as they could whenever it swerved into another direction, the evaded when it led them directly into a teammate or a bludger, at one point he got hit in the shoulder by a quaffle that he had been unable to dodge while his opponent had crashed into one of his teammates, making them both lose sight of the snitch.

This process was repeated three or four more times where Hadrian was careful to note how the chasers and beaters worked around each other, noting how after a beater sent a bludger their way, a chaser would soon follow either by crossing their path or by throwing the quaffle around them, getting familiarized with their pattern and that of his opponent.

Eventually it all came to an end when, while both seekers were chasing after it, the snitch made a sharp turn downwards and the seekers followed it. Soon they both came to be shoulder to shoulder and began to push each other away from the snitch, neither of them wanting the other to get the prize. But when the snitch kept going with no sign of stopping, they stopped pushing each other opting for seeing whose broom would be the fastest.

Hadrian could feel the tension build on Bone when he saw how close the ground was beginning to look, pretty sure he also heard some of his friends make some remark about pulling up from their places on the stands, but he had no plans to do that. He was confident in his control over his broom, he would pull out when he felt it absolutely necessary, until then, forwards it was.

When the ground was around forty meters away from them, he felt Bones begin to pull up but he kept going, even going as par as to pushing the broom to go even faster, determined to get the snitch.

Thirty meters, he stretched his hand to reach for the snitch that was just inches away, ignoring the way people were beginning to scream for him to pull up and letting adrenaline fill his veins.

Twenty meters, the voices became louder as did the blood pounding on his ears, and he could begin to feel the very slight breeze the snitch’s wings were producing and pushed his broom just that little more to go faster.

Ten meters, his fingertips brushed against the wings of the snitch, and he could see that he was running out of time, but he was sure he would pull this off just fine.

At five meters he pushed the broom just a smidge more and finally, finally, caught hold of the snitch in his hand and began to pull up just in time for him to end up flying less than a meter or so above the ground, much to his disappointment as he had wanted to end up brushing the grass bellow him, but he deduced that this was good enough.

Bringing himself to a stop where he was, he went ahead and landed before raising his head he to look at the team and captain, finding all of them speeding towards him at a considerably less dangerous speed than the one he had used. When he turned towards the stands, he noticed that everyone had fallen silent, while his friends were practically shoving people out of their way to get towards the pitch, much to his surprise and amusement.

When they all landed with him, he was quick to present the snitch to Brown. He jerked a little in surprise when she, instead of taking the object from his hand, slammed both of her hands on top of his shoulders and began to shake him violently.

“That was a Wronski feint, a perfect Wronski feint!” she exclaimed, her hazel eyes wide in a strange combination of awe, fear and anger. Hadrian understood the first emotion, the other two he did not, why would she be afraid or angry? “I thought you were going to turn yourself into a flat pancake!” oh maybe that’s why, upps?

“Ummm, does this mean your postponing the second test for later?” he asked in an unsure tone, not knowing what else to say.

“Forget about other tests Peverell, if Eli does not make you our seeker I am going to riot” exclaimed one of the older looking chasers, probably a fifth or sixth year. His comment earned him the noises of agreement of the rest of the team, especially the seeker that he had defeated.

“Of course, he’s in, I’ll be dead before I let such talent slip through my fingers” came the strong response of the captain, who was beginning to have a slightly maniac look in her eyes, “the house cup is as good as ours” she said with a very concerning laugh, that made Hadrian take a step back.

Great, I got another Wood, he thought miserably, any chance that they are distantly related?

Well, Miss Brown used to be his grandmother on his mother’s side if that answers your question, came Death’s helpful remark.

Shit, he thought and before he could say anything else, two weights collided against him – one from each side - and threw him to the floor, knocking the breath of him.

“Hadrian Orpheus Peverell, what in Hella’s realm was that?! Are you trying to get me killed?!” Avalon growled at his very disoriented friend.

“Yeah! We thought you were a goner Adri!” Alphard’s words were a little muffled due to his face being shoved into Hadrian’s chest, but the still were loud enough to be able to distinguish the worried note to it.

Said teenager was a little busy trying to stop making the world spin and gain back the oxygen that had been taken away from him, to close to no success. “I think it’s you guys that are trying to get me killed” he wheezed out, “get off me both of you.”

As soon as they scrambled off of him, Hadrian took a deep breath and coughed a little before he finally felt like he okay. Once his breathing was back to normal, he took in just who had come to watch his tryout, finding himself surprise to see Riddle standing beside Orion a few steps away from where he was still laying on the ground.

He was not sure who he was more surprised to be seeing, his one upon a time enemy now cousin or the uptight pureblood heir. For the moment they both seemed to be on a tie for the spot.

“Now that I have oxygen back in my lungs, what do you mean get you killed Avalon? I was in the pitch doing a Wronski feint! Not to mention that you are my best friend, why in hades would I want you dead?” he questioned his red headed friend.

“Oh I don’t know, maybe because you almost made me have a heart attack when you did not pull up no matter how much we screamed that you did?” he retorted in calmer tone.

Hadrian blinked, “oh”

“yeah, oh Hadrian” Avalon sighed and placed both of his hands on his shoulders, “don’t do that next time, pretty sure that Eryol fainted the moment you pulled up and Black cracked one of the back seats by accident” he frowned, “or was it Riddle?”

“Both, it was both” came Olivia’s response with a small smile, now that the danger had passed, she was finding the whole situation funny. “I never thought I’d see the day Eryol fainted, thank you for the gift Hadrian.”

“I did not!” Eryol squeaked, his face blushing in embarrassment. But in his defense, his blood pressure had dropped so suddenly that it was only logical he fainted, and his friend’s stunt had been the one at fault.

Hadrian’s lip quirked up, “always happy to help, Olivia” that made the four friends and Alphard burst into laughter.

“Peverell” Orion began to say, coming to stand closer to the teen that had caused him to experience to many emotions in the span of a few minutes.

“Hadrian”

“Pardon?”

“I think it’s about time you start calling me by my name, you already did this morning remember?” he said, finally standing up from his position and looking at Riddle, “same goes to you cousin, it would feel weird for a relative to call me by my last name.”

Tom could only blink, “only if you call me Tom as well.”

Hadrian smiled at him, “sure thing” he said agreeably.

“Now I don’t know about you guys, but I’m officially exhausted and would love nothing more than to sleep until next week” he said with a yawn building its way into his mouth, “how about we call it a day and postpone the celebration for tomorrow?”

“Sounds reasonable” Tom agreed, wanting to take some time to get rid of the stress that his relative had put him through, solidifying in his mind that those brooms were just fancy death machines. He wondered if he it would be possible to convince Hadrian to step back from playing.

Everyone else was quick to agree and begin to make their way back to their dorms, but not before the captain instructed Hadrian to be back in the pitch next weekend at the same hour to start practice. After that, Hadrian did not remembers much of what he talked about with his friends or what he did, he only remembered that as soon as he finished washing up, he crashed landed on his bed and was out like a light, not waking up until the next morning.

Chapter Text

Albus Dumbledore was not having a good week, maybe it would be better to say that he was not having a good school year, and the reason for his current position was none other than Hadrian Peverell.

Ever since the boy arrived at Hogwarts, things have been going from bad to worse for him, starting with making his colleagues distrust him, all of them deciding to stand with the boy instead of him. Him! Their coworker! Someone who has been spending their time with someone who has been there to lend an ear whenever they complained about a certain student’s performance or their bad behavior.

And yet, the moment that an entitled child decides to complain about some little work, they take their side! His ears could still feel the echoes of Nadia’s rant about bullying her precious badger, that witch had a very colorful language for someone belonging to a noble family, then again, it could be due to her muggleborn heritage.

Still, he had had a very justified reason for giving the boy the work he gave, he had actually been concerned that he may have been lacking on his education. After all, Transfiguration was light magic, and he doubted that a dark family like the Peverell’s would bother teaching proper magic to their only son. How was he supposed to know that the boy had actually been properly educated?

Every other dark family had proven to him that they neglected to teach their children proper light magic and every single muggleborn had taken to Transfiguration like ducks to water as they had not been contaminated by the dark teachings of a wizarding family.

To make matters worse, Riddle had approached the boy, probably with the intention of bringing further into the dark side. Thankfully, he had only seen them together once or twice in the library going over Herbology work, a proper and good form of magic. But perhaps that was just a cover for Riddle to fool the Peverell heir into a sense of security, that way he would not put up much of a fight when Riddle finally showed his true colors.

He had been keeping a close eye on the pair just to be on the safe side, ready to intervene when things got bad. But those plans had been put on hold when the pranks began to happen.

For two weeks straight, one of his best students, Julian Fawley, had been the victim of some very cruel pranks. From changing the color of his skin, hair and clothes, to gaining animal parts and being chased by animals! The poor lad had been inconsolable after getting stung by so many bees and the matron had only given him a salve to treat the swelling before sending him on his merry way. The witch had not even bothered to help him apply the salve one!

Really, Albus did not understand why she was being so cruel towards a child that had done nothing wrong. Sure, he could have done something better to use against the Black boy, but surely his actions did not deserve him such cold treatment? How could she call herself a healer when she refused to treat her patients justly?

For two weeks he had tried to track down the ones responsible for the pranks but he had always came empty handed, even when he tried to question the portraits and the elves, they would always respond the same way, claiming that they had not seen anyone plant the pranks.

But he was sure that Peverell had something to do with them, he had been particularly incensed when he managed to lower the punishment given to young Julian and had been quite vocal that day that he was getting a too light punishment, which was echoed by his little group. But unfortunately, he had not been able to prove his suspicions against the boy, he was too sneaky.

It did not help that over the weeks, the whole student body had taken to getting early to the dining hall during mealtimes, just to watch poor Julian get tortured. Really, children were very cruel, and the teaching staff did not seem to want to do anything to correct that behavior.

But this morning he felt like he was going to get a heart attack when he saw Tom stand up from his place on the Slytherin table, the one place he had never left in all these years and came to seat beside the Peverell boy. It was at that point that he also noticed, much to his growing horror, that a small amount of first year slytherins were sitting with him as well, all of them accompanied by the Black heir.

Young Alphard he could understand the need to seat near his ‘savior’ but Mr. Black? For what purpose would he seat near Hadrian if not to form an alliance? This just spelled disaster, and nobody seemed to be taking notice of it!

As he took a drink of his pumpkin juice and watched the retreating form of the bane of his existence, he decided that maybe it was about time he started to try and put a stop to this nonsense.

************

“I do not think this is going to work Hadrian” Tom said in a very unsure way, as they made their way through the tunnel that would lead them directly to the Shrieking shack, that was not jet the shrieking shack but was still just as abandoned as it was in his time.

“And I think you are worrying too much Tom” Hadrian chirped back, “everything is going to be fine.”

“How? The moment that Dumbledore sees me in the village he will throw me back to the castle” was the boy’s bitter remark, “and he would be justified because the matron did not sign my permission slip.”

“And yet, the rules state that if a family member requests the student to meet them, they had no option but to obey” Hadrian countered, reaching to push the hidden doorway that would let them enter the shack and tugging at the teen behind him to follow him, “Dumbledore can do nothing about it, plus, I made sure to send a letter to my parents asking to, well, write to the headmaster that they wished to meet you after hearing that we may be possibly be related. Dippet was kind enough to inform me that he had given his full permission for me to drag you to this family meeting.”

Tom stopped short in the middle of the hallway they had entered, staring at Hadrian as if he had grown an extra limp, “and when did you do that?” he inquired.

“The following morning after the quidditch tryouts” carefully, he pushed the door that would lead them towards the castle grounds that faced the town and picked his head out, Merry pocked his head out from his pocket to do the same thing. Once they confirmed that there was none in sight, the opened the door fully and beaconed Tom to come out, “all clear, let’s go. They must already be waiting for us.”

Tom could do nothing but let himself be dragged around by his too relaxed cousin. The moment that they reached the town square he felt himself tense, there were a lot of people around and the likelihood of Dumbledore standing somewhere where he would be able to spot them arriving was very high. The last thing he needed was for the wizard to find him and keep him from meeting the Peverells.

Despite the measures Hadrian had gone to ensure he would not be punished for being in Hogsmeade, he could not help but feel that the other shoe would drop on them any second now.

But nothing happened.

The two of them made their way calmly through the crowd without bumping into someone they knew, except perhaps some older year students, but they cared little for the little third years that came to the village to have fun. It was not until they arrived at the entrance of the three broomsticks that Hadrian finally felt Tom begin to relax.

The moment that the stepped inside the building, warmth settled into their bodies as the warming charms took hold and the smell of spices filled their noses. They were also greeted by the cacophony of noise that the other patrons were creating.

Together, the approached the kind looking witch with dark curly haired kept away from her face with a blue and pink headkerchief that was standing behind the counter.

“Hello dearies, what can I do for you?” she asked in a cheerful tone.

Hadrian hopped that she would not loose after he finished speaking, “we have a reservation under Peverell” he informed her.

He had to give it to her, the witch only blinked at him a couple of times before nodding slowly and taking a look at a book that he supposed was used to keep track of the reservations.

“Peverell…ah yes, room six” she said, “take the stairs to the second floor and the third door to your left will be your room. If you need anything, just write it in the book that’s inside the room and I’ll make sure to bring it to you.”

After giving their thanks, they made their way to the room following the instructions given to them. Once they were in front of the door that would lead them to his parents, he felt Tom stand a little taller and put on a blank face. He honestly looked like he was squaring himself up a fight.

Hadrian could not help but let out a small laugh, earning himself a glare, “sorry, sorry, but you’re being ridiculous. You are going to meet my parents not face a dragon, relax Riddle, everything is going to be fine.”

He heard the boy murmur something under his breath that he couldn’t quite catch but decided to ignore as he opened the door and ushered him into the room.

“Hadrian” two voices said at the same time.

Said wizard turned toward his parents finding the two of them smiling at him, both of them looking every inch the pureblood Lord and Lady that they were dressed in expensive looking robes that had the Peverell crest delicately embroidered on their chest. But it was not the regal appearance of his guardians that caught his attention, but the goblin that stood a little behind of them carrying a small trunk with him, he had been unaware there would be a third party invited to the meeting.

“Mother, Father, Master Goblin” he bowed to the three of them, shoving his questions aside for the moment, “I trust you have been well”

“Indeed, we have” Mirta replied in a soft voice, “please take a seat as there is much to discuss, I also believe an introduction is in order”

Hadrian nodded and guided Tom to sit beside him on the dark grey loveseat that stood opposite of the one his parents were sitting, kept apart by a rather simple wooden table with a tea set standing in the middle of it.

Once they were comfortable, Hadrian spoke, “Mother, Father, this is Tom Riddle, the young man I wanted you to meet” he motioned towards the teen, making the two adults look at him in interest.

Tom offered the couple a polite smile, showing none of the nervousness that was eating away at his soul since Hadrian had said that he would introduce him to them, “it’s a pleasure to meet you, Lord Peverell, Lady Peverell, Master Goblin”

“Oh, none of that lord and lady nonsense from you, young man” Icarus piped in, “Icarus and Mirta will do”

At the startled look on the teen’s face, Mirta opted to say something, “I’ve been told that you are a Gaunt”

“I am, my mother was a Gaunt before she married my … father.”

“Then that makes us family, distant as that may be” she gave him a small smile, “and there is no point for family to be so stiff with one another”

Tom could only blink and stare at the Peverells before turning his gaze back to the smiling cousin of his. He had thought that it was a Hadrian thing to be so open to others, so friendly and unbothered by what purebloods tended to be like, but he was beginning to wonder if it was a family thing.

For he had been more than ready to make his case known with the couple, thinking that he would need to defend his reasons for reaching out to them and wanting them to take him under their wing, but then they just do this. This just solidified in his mind that the Peverells were a weird family, and it was not just Hadrian that was like that.

“That is left to be seen” came the sharp remark of the goblin that had been quiet up until now, “now that the pleasantries had been exchanged, we can now move into talking about business.”

“Of course, Master Tornak” Icarus said diplomatically, he then brought his attention back to the two teenagers sitting across from him, “This is our family accountant, and he is here to make this whole process as swift as possible.”

Tom frowned, “process?” he asked. Could it be that there were more steps into gaining asylum than he originally thought? Was that the reason why the Peverells had brought their accountant?

“You wish for us to take you into the family, yes?” Mirta waited for the teenager to nod before continuing, “in that case we need to first see if you have any other possible family members that could act as your magical guardian in the case that you don’t have one, which I doubt, so that we may decided out next course of action.”

The boy nodded in understanding, “and how do we find that information?” he asked.

Icarus smirked, “with an inheritance test, of course”

Well, that explains why Tornak is here, Hadrian thought and watched as the goblin opened his trunk and took out a large piece of parchment and a ceremonial dagger with diamonds and onyxes incrusted in the pommel of the blade, laying the object on the table and handing the blade to Riddle.

“It shall also serve to see if your statement of being a Gaunt is true” the goblin grunted, “you only need to pour seven drops of blood into the parchment, cutting your finger should do”

Tom took the blade and quickly sliced his finger, not flinching at the slight sting that action caused, and poured the amount of blood on top of the parchment. After a few moments, the paper began to glow and letter started to spread around the surface.

The pale wizard could not help the smug smirk that made its way into his face upon seeing the confirmation that he was not a muggleborn wizard, for there in black bold letters was stated that his mother was Merope Ophelia Riddle nee Gaunt and his grandfather was Marvolo Hamish Gaunt. He knew that there was nothing for him to worry about, his research had been very through, but it was still nice to have his discoveries confirmed by a stronger source.

But as he kept reading, his smirk dropped, and anger began to rear its ugly head.

Everyone in the room noticed the change in the teen’s expression, Hadrian, being the closest one to him, peering over the angry boy’s shoulder to have a look at the word written. The first part consisted of parts that he was already aware of: his name, his parent’s names, his grandparents and his uncle (who was listed to be alive, so maybe that angered the teen), the lordships he had to his name and the vaults he had access to (not that there was much of anything in the Gaunt vaults, there was a reason why Merope had been desperate to marry Tom Riddle Sr.). It was not until he reached the part about magical guardian that he understood what had made the teen angry.

Written in the section of Tom’s magical guardian was the name of the one man that Hadrian had not wanted to see there.

Albus bloody Dumbledore.

Hadrian was quick to also get angry but for a slightly different reason than Tom likely was. He had seen all the memories that the old man had of Tom, he had seen the state he had been when he was found in that gods awful orphanage, how he had been while in school, but most importantly, he had seen when Riddle would approach Dumbledore asking to be able to stay in Hogwarts – safe from the war that was ragging in the muggle world. He had seen when Dumbledore had put on a remorseful expression and told him time and time again that he needed to return there as he had no power to let him stay.

Had no power his arse! The wizard had been his magical guardian, meaning that he could have bloody well been able to let him stay in the school, hell, he could have been able to take him in or left him with one of his followers and no one would have objected because he had authority over Riddle. And yet, he had chosen to let him return to the one place where he was more likely to get killed than to be cared for.

Dumbledore had let Tom return to the one place that would leave him with such a strong fear of death that he would tear his soul into pieces just to avoid. Such a strong fear that would lead him to become the worst Dark Lord Britain had ever seen since Grindelwald.

All that death, all that pain, all those needless sacrifices that were made during his time did not have to have happened, should not have happened, if only an old meddling and prejudiced wizard had done his job as he should have.

He supposed he now had one more reason to hate the man and Riddle probably had one more reason to want him dead.

Hadrian settled his eyes on the goblin, “is it possible to change Tom’s magical guardian?” he asked, taking the parchment from Tom’s stiff fingers and passing it to his parents so that they may read it.

Tornak arched an eyebrow at the anger that showed in the teen’s eyes, “it depends.”

“On what?”

“On whether or not his guardian had fulfilled his role appropriately”

“And what would that entail exactly?” Icarus inquired, his face going grave as his gaze lifted from the parchment. He needed to change who the boy’s guardian was, for he doubted that Dumbledore would allow young Tom to come with his family for refuge even if they were the only human beings around to be able to do so.

Tom’s gaze snapped to attention at the question, wanting to know what Dumbledore should be doing as his guardian and just how much power did the man had over him.

“A magical guardian has the obligation of taking in the child that has been entrusted to him or her, meaning that they need to live with them. In the case that that is not possible, the guardian is obligated to constantly check up on their ward to unsure their safety and health” the goblin began, “they are also tasked with providing the child with anything that they might need until they come of age, such as food, clothes, toys, education, health, amongst other necessities. The expanses for all of that is covered by the guardian.”

“As a guardian, they have complete authority over where their ward can go and which school they can attend, they can even draft marriage contracts for them if it were necessary. In the case that the ward has a lordship or ladyship with seats in the Wizengamont, the guardian becomes the automatic proxy of the house and can vote on behalf of their ward’s house, taking into account the principles of the family and voting as those principles dictated. They also are obligated to teach their ward all they need to know about their lordship or ladyship so that they may be ready to take the mantle when they come of age” Tornak added.

Hadrian gave a slow nod, “and if the guardian fails to do all this? If the guardian has kept their ward ignorant of their heritage?”

The accountant gave him blank look, “then that would be grounds to demand the guardian’s removal.”

“Then I wish to ask for Albus Dumbledore’s removal as my magical guardian” Tom was quick to say, wanting to get rid of the man’s influence now. He was honestly terrified of how much power the man had over him, particularly the part about marriage and Wizengamont seat had scared him, he wished to take away the opportunity of the old man using him to form an alliance with any family and ruin his future.

“Do you have anything to prove Mr. Dumbledore slaking on his duties as a guardian?” Tornak asked.

Tom bit his lips as he thought for a moment, “would my memories serve as prove? Or a statement done under veritaserum?”

Mirta frowned, “I believe veritaserum cannot be administered on a minor without their guardian’s consent” she said.

“Or a family member” Tornak said, a smirk appearing on his face, “the inheritance test states that Morfin Gaunt is still alive, not to mention that you are related to the boy, albeit distantly, so if you were to give your permission, I’ll be able to administer the potion to the boy”

Hope bloomed inside Tom’s chest as he stared at the couple before him and prayed with all his might that they would say yes. He could have jumped in joy when he saw the two Peverells give their go ahead to the goblin, who was quick to a small vial containing clear liquid from his trunk.

He may not like the idea of becoming vulnerable to the other three individuals in the room, specially knowing the risk that as soon as he took that potion, they could ask him about anything, and he would be forced to tell the truth. But he thought it was a worth while risk he needed to take in order to get out of Dumbledore’s control, which was why he obediently opened his mouth when the goblin instructed him to and let the potion do its work.

Hadrian watched as the accountant approached Tom and administered three drops of the potion, watched as the teen’s gaze became unfocused and his body relaxed. He watched as the goblin asked about each and every duty that Dumbledore had ever failed to complete while Tom was his ward, writing down in another piece of parchment the answers that the teen gave him.

At the end of it all, he was given the antidote and the next course of action became easy to make.

Tornak was swift in scratching off the name of Dumbledore from his test and write a file with the switch in guardianship that would be sent to the Ministry and Gringotts. The Peverells were quick to ask that they be listed as his guardians, as they had the closest claim to him aside of Morfin who was psychologically incapable of taking care of Tom.

“It will take a while for the change to be approved, two days at most, as it will need to be signed by the head chief of Gringotts and the head of the magical law enforcement department” Tornak informed them as the Peverell finished signing the document with blood quills. “but unofficially, congratulations Heir Riddle on becoming the ward of the Peverell family”

Tom blinked, “thank you, Master Tornak, for your help” he said, watching as the goblin picked up all his stuff and shoved in into his trunk.

“You’re welcome, young heir” he grunted and gave the wizards a nod, “have a good day” with that, he went for the door and left the room, leaving the four wizards to process the events of the past few hours.

“Well then, now that the serious business has been taken care of, how have you two been lately?” Mirta said, preparing herself a cup of tea with the tea set that was in the room.

“Indeed, Hadrian” Icarus leaned forwards and gazed at his son, “how did the quidditch tryouts go?”

Both teens looked at each other at the abrupt change of topic, but Hadrian was a little more familiar with this happening, so he shrugged at Tom before facing his father. He gave him a small grin before schooling his expression into a more serious one.

“I am pleased to announce that you are looking at the new Hufflepuff seeker” he said in an exaggerated posh voice.

Icarus beamed at the news as did Mirta, both of them not doubting that Hadrian would succeed in getting the position, they knew that he had been a seeker back in his time. A very talented one according to Lord Death, so it really was no surprise that would be one again in this time.

“Yeah, and he gave us all a heart attack when he did so” Tom murmured into the cup of tea that he had prepared for himself. He gave Hadrian an innocent look when the teenager sent a glare in his direction.

“We are very proud of you my son, I knew you would make it into the team” Icarus said, “I supposed this means that we will be coming back soon to watch you play.”

“and get some heart attacks with the rest of us” Hadrian rolled his eyes at Tom, he was exaggerating, he had perfect control of his broom and what he did during the tryouts was nothing to be so impressed (or horrified) about.

Just when he was about to tell Tom to stop being such a drama queen, a blur of black fur tackled Tom, making his cup fall to the ground, before turning towards him. The impact made Merry – who had been hiding in his chest pocket – peak out of his hiding place and let out a sound of indignation at being woken from his nap.

It was not until he realized that the ball of fur was thrilling and chirping that he realized just who did he had in his arms. “Milly!”

“What is that Peverell?” Tom asked, staring at the hipper ball of energy jumping around in his cousin’s lap.

“A niffler, she is a very dear friend of mine” he happily informed him, while giving Milly some got scritches in her head “she usually spends her time with me, but since I cannot have her around me in Hogwarts, she has had to stay in the Sanctuary along with my other animal friends.”

“But not all of them, as I see” Hadrian froze and slowly turned to face his parents, who were currently looking at the creature that was speaking from his pocket.

Mirta arched an unimpressed eyebrow, “is that Merry I see?”

Hadrian gulped and gave the couple a sheepish smile, “I… am sorry?”

He messed up, he so messed up and now he was going to get a lecture from his mother. And judging by the way his father was sliding slowly away from his position next to mother, he was not going to help him out of this situation.

Somewhere in another real, Death was laughing at his little master’s predicament.

Chapter Text

“Black, there’s mail for you.”

Orion let his gaze leave the book he had been engrossed in and rest upon the Slytherin prefect that was standing before him, noticing the envelop that was in their grasp. Placing the book on the coffee table beside the armchair he was currently occupying, he took the offered letter, upon further inspection, he saw the Black family coat of arms sealing the envelop.

At least he had an idea of who was writing to him, even if it confused him not getting the letter during mealtimes, “Thank you Prefect Montague”

As if the prefect could read his mind, they said, “apparently, your mail got mixed up with your cousin’s and asked me to deliver it to you when they noticed the mix up”

“My cousin?”

“Walburga” Montague replied, “I’ll leave you to it”

The young heir frowned but said nothing, instead he opened the letter to see what it contained, mentally telling himself that he should write to his parents about using a new owl from now on.

Orion,

I trust that you have been well and have been keeping up with your studies, you know you can always write to your mother and me if you think you are having troubles in any of your subjects, especially for your electives, Arythmancy can be quite a difficult subject to understand, and would be more than happy to send you some books to help improve your academic performance.

I find it interesting that the young Peverell heir was sorted into Hufflepuff, but not completely surprised, from what my connections have told me, Lord Peverell was once a member of the same house. Although it isn’t well-known weather the Peverells have always been sorted into that house or another, it is very difficult to get a hold of information regarding that family.

Speaking of the young heir, your mother has voiced wanting to send an invitation to the Peverell family to spend the Yule holiday with us, she feels that it would be wise to start forming an alliance with the family, given what has happened, and I’m inclined to agree.

That boy has protected a member of our noble house and he should be rewarded for that. You mentioned that there will be a quidditch match this Friday, your mother and I decided that, that day would be the perfect day for us to meet the young heir and his parents, should they attend the match.

I encourage that, in the meantime, you continue to nurture that friendship you have formed with Hadrian Peverell.

Sincerely,

Lord Arturus Black.

Orion blinked, he was not really surprised by the actions his mother wanted to take or his father for that matter, if anything, he was more taken aback by the fact that they had acted in a much slower motion that he was used to seeing. Could be that his parents were wary of approaching the Peverells at first, much like he had when he first interacted with Hadrian that day in the infirmary, or it could be that they were bidding their time so as to not appear desperate towards the family.

Either way, it matter not, for his parents were finally going to make their move and he himself was more than happy to go along with his father’s subtle request. It really was no pain being Hadrian’s friend, the teen was easy to talk to and very open minded and, more importantly, he was not a fool.

And it there was one thing he could not tolerate; it would be a fool. Something that his parents tended to agree to, it was one of the reasons why none of them could tolerate Dumbledore’s presence.

That and his terrible fashion sense, along with his cologne. Orion had no idea who gave the wizard the idea that the cologne he used smelled good, but whomever did, he was certain that they had not done it out of the goodness of their heart.

Nodding mentally to himself, he proceeded to take out his wand and cast a spell that would burn the letter in his hands. It was a habit that had been drilled into him from before he started his education in Hogwarts and he was not about to break it now.

As the heir of an ancient and most noble house, it was normal for him to have… admirers of sort as well as enemies. And said enemies would love nothing more than to get a hold of any kind of information that they could potentially use to hurt him and his family. It was because of him that his parents had been very clear that he, Orion, needed to be careful with what kind of information he let laying around while in Hogwarts.

It was why he had come to the habit of burning his letters after he finished reading them whenever he felt that the information inside could be used against him in some way.

Secure in the knowledge that nobody was ever going to read the letter, he picked up his discarded book and began to read, already plans to sit beside Hadrian tomorrow breakfast. He was going to make sure to sit beside Hadrian this time and Riddle would be forced to sit in front of him.

It was his turn to be beside Hadrian after all, and Riddle would just have to deal with the fact that his cousin needed to share his attentions with other people aside of himself.

**************

“Ow”

“Do stand still Mr. Peverell” Matron Podmore commanded, “now remember, Miss Walker, sure and gentle movements. If you hesitate when applying the balm, you will only prolong your patient’s pain. And do be mindful of the pressure you exercise; the point is to heal not to aggravate the injury.”

Hadrian could only grit his teeth and endure as Paulina Walker, a fellow third year classmate from ravenclaw, applied the muscle relaxant balm unto his sore shoulder blade with more pressure than she probably should – at least that’s what his shoulder was telling him. The good news was that the girl was considerably surer of her movements, reducing the time he would spend in pain, so that was a win.

Although, admittedly, he would not have been in this position in the first place if he had not been so reckless during practice.

But if I hadn’t, I would not have caught the snitch on time, his mind helpfully pointed out.

After the whole mess that had spiraled after his mother found out about him sneaking Merry into Hogwarts with him (which had indeed gotten him an hour-long speech of why you should not bring magical creatures to Hogwarts without the permission of an adult, more specifically his parents. But to be fair, it was not necessary in his case. He was, after all, an adult trapped in a teenager’s body, so that could be taken as him being responsible enough to bring Merry with him as far as he was concerned) and having fixed the whole issue with Riddle not being able to live withing the magical world, Hadrian had managed to talk his mother out of the idea of giving Merry back to her at the cost of him being banned from eating treacle tart for a week.

Which had not been so bad of a punishment, at least it wasn’t until his mother said she would inform the house elves of his new dietary restriction. At first, he did not think that it would be possible for her to do that, but the next day he had found that every meal had been absent of treacle tart in the area surrounding his seat.

He then had tried to work his way around the order his mother must have sent (he still had no idea how she had done that) by asking housemates or classmates from other houses to pass him the plate containing them and by walking towards the seat where the tarts were located. He even went as far as to ask his friends to take one and pass it to him.

But it didn’t work.

Whenever someone passed the tray to him, the tarts would vanish and be replaced with oatmeal cookies and when he was close enough to reach them, he would find the tart frozen and stuck to the table. That or it just popped up in another place in the table. And when his friends took it, they would also find it stuck to their hands with a slight shield around it that zapped his fingers every time he tried to take it. Either way, it soon became a very cruel punishment.

As would be expected, his friends found the whole ordeal funny, he had also seen the little first years snickering and laughing. Glaring at them did nothing but make it all the more amusing for them. Really, it made him miss the times where the kids would be too afraid of him to dare laugh at him – just a little.

Then there was Tom, who had taken to sitting close to him during mealtimes with only one purpose in mind, which was to be in the perfect line of sight – Hadrian’s sight – so that he would be able to see whenever the little devil ate one of his precious tarts. Rubbing into his face that he could not eat them with such an innocent look in his eyes, that Hadrian had been very tempted to hex the living daylights of his cousin.

He was getting far too comfortable in his role as his cousin for his liking, but he supposed this was better than wanting to plan mass murder and word domination.

As if being punished by his mother was not bad enough, he got hit by a bludger in the shoulder during practice, making him fall from his broom and land painfully on the ground. The good thing was that he did not fall from to high of a height so he did not break anything, the bad part of it all was that he now had to be the new study patient for his Healing Arts class.

That and he was probably going to be confined to the infirmary for the next three days, that is if Matron Podmore did not decide to keep him there for a week to monitor his health. For, while it would let him be released in time for the match, he would be going blind as he would not have had time to practice any more.

Not like you need the extra practice little master, Death pointed out, much like he always did when he felt like saying something.

I sure as hell do, he countered, these brooms are not like the ones back in my time! These are no Nimbus 2000 or Firebolt brooms they used; these are Comets very old ones at that. I feel like a snail when I’m in one of them.

You do have the new broom your parents gifted you. A Silver Arrow if I remember correctly.

Yeah, and it is indeed faster than the comets. But it can not compare to my dear Firebolt, he projected to the god, not even bothering to hide the despair he felt over that little detail of his past life. He loved flying because of the speed he could reach while in a broom, it made him feel truly free.

The fact the school brooms were probably a fifth of the speed his nimbus had possessed killed him a little inside.

Hadrian could practically feel Lord Death roll his eyes as he said, now that’s your teenage dramatics talking. You have a perfectly good broom that is quite fast, and you could probably find a way to make it go even faster while playing. Hadrian had to forcefully suppress the urge to grin, as Death was not entirely wrong with that observation. He had done exactly that back in his first year, with the whole rememberal ordeal, and then again with the brooms that the Weasley’s owed.

Still that did not mean that he did not miss his precious Firebolt.

You should take this time to go over your Runes notes, don’t you have a quiz coming up soon?

Well, yeah and an Alchemy one too, Hadrian replied.

Then do take advantage of your momentary confinement on the infirmary and study all you can, Death declared, show that woman that you have what it takes to be a decent alchemist. With that, Hadrian felt the god leave his mind.

He let out a groan, since when do gods care about one teenager’s studies?

**********

A soft knock on his door made Albus raise his head from the essay he had been grading.

“Come in” he called out to whomever was outside his new office.

Blue eyes began to twinkle in happiness upon seeing seven of his lions enter his office with their brooms in hand, just as he had instructed the week before. He pushed the essay aside and motioned for the boys to sit in his – tragically – small loveseat.

Really, he had never realized just how big his office had been before, until he got kicked out of his position of deputy headmaster. In the process of moving his things here, he had been forced to part ways with many artifacts he had collected over the years and send them over to his brother.

It was a good thing that Aberforth could care less about his trinkets and tended to keep himself as far away as possible from anything that had to do with him. At least he did not have to worry about his brother using or, heavens forbid, breaking his things.

“You wanted to see us, Professor?” the leader of the team asked.

“Indeed, I did my boy” he replied and pushed the small plate containing a few strawberry flavored candies from the muggle world towards the teenagers, silently inviting them to take one, “I asked you all to come here with your brooms because I’m concerned over the state they may be in”

One of the beaters leaned forwards with an eager look on his face, taking the opportunity of leaving forwards to take some candies for himself and his teammates, “so you want to check the charm work on our brooms professor?”  

Albus smiled at the scene of his young gryffindors sharing the candies, it was beautiful to see them sharing amongst each other, “I do, and I want to reestablish them if they need them. You all need your brooms to be in top shape for your upcoming game”

The team turned to look at one another with big smiles and happily handed over their brooms. Albus waved his wand over their brooms, he knew that the Gryffindor house had an excellent quidditch team, they were all talented young men that would become someone great one day.

Really, the Hufflepuffs did not have a true chance of winning against his team. They were a dedicated team, of that he had no doubt, but they just were not made for quidditch. He also knew that his team would be able to win this coming match, it was the natural outcome, but he still wanted to ensure they had the best brooms they could have.

Placing some speed increasing charms was not a crime, he was just ensuring that his boys would be able to showcase their talents with more ease and to spare the poor badgers the disappointment they would feel if the game lasted long enough to give them false hope of winning.

Yes, he thought as he watched his quidditch team leave his office with his slightly upgraded brooms, it will be less cruel like this.

Chapter Text

Hadrian waited patiently as Madame Podmore went over the results of the diagnosis charm, she had cast on him moments ago, but by Merlin, it felt like the witch was taking her sweet time going over everything that piece of parchment had. He was certain that hours had passed before he saw the matron give a nod and turn his attention to him, finally uttering the words he had been waiting to hear for the past three bloody days.

“Everything is in order; you are free to go now Mr. Peverell.”

Say no more, Hadrian practically ripped the blankets away from him, bending down to reach for his shoes and promptly putting them on before reaching for his bag – which contained all of the books and writing supplies he had been using to get his homework done.

It had been a good thing that he had not broken his wrists during the fall, else he would have been unable to get anything done, and he did not want to give Dumblepants the opportunity to use this a chance to either decide he should not take his class or take points from his house.

At times, Hadrian thought that the old wizard was worse than Snape in terms of teaching attitude, not even he had been petty enough to get him kicked off his class for a ridiculous reason as to having gotten injured during practice. The only time he had been kicked from his class, was when he messed up with a potion to a point where it because toxic if anyone were to inhale the potion fumes and when he got an EE in his owl, which had been more than a justified reason for kicking him out.

Although in terms of favoritism, he was still not sure who was worse.

The clearing of a throat brough his attention back to his professor, who was looking at him with an unimpressed look making him feel a little sheepish over his behavior. But really, if the matron had been visiting the infirmary from the very moment she set foot on Hogwarts as a student, he was sure that she too would have developed a dislike for the place – at least as a patient.

Especially when the circumstances leading to him being there were not often pleasant.

“Do take it lightly for the rest of the day Mr. Peverell and don’t destroy my hard work” she said, a slight smile forming at the edge of her mouth.

Hadrian nodded, “I promise” if only because I don’t want to be used as a practice dummy again.

The witch snorted and made a shooing motion towards the teenager, “off you go”

Hadrian was more than happy to comply to the request and made himself scarce, practically running for the door in his haste to leave and get himself to his dorm room, he needed a bath ASAP. Cleaning charms were all good and nice for an emergency, but magic could only go so far in keeping you clean.

That and cleaning charms did not mix well with his hair. While he had been on the run, hunting for Horocruxes, water had been on a relatively low supply. Sure, he could summon water with a wave of his wand and cast a warming charm on it so he could use it to wash himself. But when you are constantly looking over your shoulder, not knowing when a Death Eater may find a trail that led them to his camp, wasting your magic on two extra spells seemed like a stupid thing to do. So, he resorted to cleaning charms.

And they always made his hair look like a racoon and a squirrel had a party on his head.

One would have thought that after the blood adoption, that particular quirk of his hair would have either vanished or lessened to a more manageable level, but no, one last remnant of Potter hair had to survive despite the adoption. The first time it had happened, matron Podmore’s eyes had grown so wide that he had feared the witch’s eyes would pop out of her eye sockets, then she snickered for a good while as Hadrian had tried to gain some control of his hair.

While he did not enjoy the feeling of having his hair being a mess, he had to admit that a part of him mourned the fact that his friend’s had been in class when it happened, he would have loved to see their expressions when his hair went kaboom after any of them casted the charm.

Hadrian found it curious that when he finally made it to the dorm, he found it completely empty, he would have thought that at least Nyx would have still been there at this hour, he knew the owl loved to take a nap in her perch at this time of the day. Could it be that she had finally made a friend in the owlery? Come to think of it, Merry was nowhere to be found either. Weird.

He shrugged and proceeded to get some clean clothes and a towel, before running for the bathroom. He would ponder over his missing companions later, cleaning himself took priority at the moment.

**********

“Fresh air, at last!” Hadrian exclaimed and promptly dropped himself to the ground, ignoring the snickers that his friends were making.

“Hadrian, you’ve only been there for three days, surely it was not that bad?” Olivia arched an eyebrow when green eyes stared at her with a blank look.

“It felt like three months” he replied, with the most serious expression on his face.

The witch rolled her eyes, “now you’re just being a drama queen.”

“I am not! I seriously though I would never be able to leave that place” Hadrian had actually feared that he would never have been able to see the green of the grass again. It was a very genuine fear of his, yesterday had been considerably cooler than the previous two days since he was admitted to the infirmary, which meant that summer was pretty much loosing his grip on the land and autumn would take its place. By then the trees would begin to turn red, yellow and orange and, before you knew it, it would be buried under piles upon piles of snow.

A bit dramatic perhaps, but with his luck anything was on the table.

“You make it sound like the air in the infirmary is not fresh, dear cousin” Tom said, coming to seat a little bit away from the light-haired teen, very much amused by his cousin’s dramatic behavior.

“Because it isn’t”

Avalon rolled his eyes, “Rian, the windows of the infirmary are always open, I’m pretty certain that you got plenty of fresh air while in there.”

Hadrian huffed, “if that were the case, the infirmary would not smell as strongly of antiseptic charms and potion fumes. I’m pretty sure, correction, I’m certain that the infirmary smelled of brise paste the whole time I was there. That means there was not fresh air circulating there, therefore, I am right”

You are worse than Icarus when in St. Mungos, were it not because I was the one who brought you here, I would be very much convinced that you were Icarus’ spawn. Death complained in a despairing voice, but Hadrian brushed it aside. Had he lived through what he had, he would understand, perhaps.

Orion arched an eyebrow, having taken a seat beside Riddle, “you sure did not say anything like that whenever you take class in there.”

“That’s different”

“How so?”

“I am there to learn.”

“In other words,” Eryol chimed in, “Hadrian is a terrible patient.”

This caused everyone to burst out laughing, and when Hadrian meant everyone, he really meant it. He was thankful that his gaping could be attributed at Eryol’s comment and not the fact that seeing a young Tom Riddle laughing was a very strange sight to see.

Although seeing a laughing Orion was also disconcerting, but in a good way, he had a nice laugh.

Hadrian blinked, where had that thought come from?

“Leaving Hadrian’s dramatics aside,” Avalon turned towards his best friend, “how are you feeling about tomorrow? Nervous?”

“Not really, no” he answered truthfully, he had done this thousands of times, so really, it was nothing new for him to be nervous about. If anything, he was excited to be able to keep playing the one sport he was great at.

Orion frowned, “really? Not even a little?” he knew the teen was good with a broom, great even, but it would do him no good if he let arrogance get the best of him. It was one of the lessons his father had taught him, one that he had seen logical to follow. “What if something goes wrong in the game?” which was a possibility, he was going to play against the gryffindors, and while they liked to proclaim that they always played clean games, he had heard of them sabotaging his fellow slytherins’ brooms a couple of times.

That or they would simply aim the bludgers at any member of the team they could.

Maybe it was his paranoia talking, but he could not help but feeling like things were going to go very bad tomorrow, he was just certain that the lions would try something, and he would hate for his new… friend? To he hurt.

“Then I’ll deal with it when it happens” Hadrian said, “and if I were to, say, be pushed from my broom, I’m sure my shadows will make sure I don’t get flattened like a pancake.”

The reminder of his inheritance magic eased Orion a little, and from what he could see from the corner of his eye, he was not the only one reassured. The Black heir supposed that Riddle cared about his cousin’s wellbeing, he had cracked that seat when the light-haired teen performed the Wronski feign, as weird as that had been.

“Just be careful Hadrian” Tom said, “wouldn’t want my favorite cousin to get hurt due to him being an adrenaline addict now, would we?”

“Last I checked, I am your only cousin” Hadrian deadpanned.

“All the more reason for you to be mindful of your actions tomorrow.”

Hadrian rolled his eyes, leave it to slytherins to show concern in the most roundabout way. Still, it left him feeling a little warm knowing that they cared, in their unique way. Specially when taking into account that, according to Dumbledore, Tom had never understood what it meant to care for someone that was not himself, this last conversation just proved him wrong. Tom did in fact care about others and he showed it, but the problem was that he did not show it the conventional way.

Hadrian suspected that had been why Dumbledore had thought what he did.

The rest of the evening was spent laying on the ground, talking about anything that came to mind, before they had to get back to their elective classes. But even after having been given reassurance from Hadrian that everything would be alright tomorrow, the two elder slytherins could not help but get the niggling feeling that something did not feel right.

********

Green eyes stared at the familiar sight of the quidditch pitch, one that was no longer torn to shreds, like the one in his time had been. The hops had been polished to a shine and the grass had been trimmed, the banners in the stands had been put in place and he had been a little surprised to see that all the stands had a sort of barrier surrounding it.

Which really, it made sense. If a beater where to hit a bludger and send it towards the stands by mistake (like it often happened in his time, although sometimes it had been done on purpose) it could seriously hurt the spectators. Specially the family members that had come to watch the game.

Speaking of visiting family members, the young seeker was currently trying not to have his yaw touching the floor, for sitting just a few seats away from his parents were what could only be Orion’s parents. In other words, the Lord and Lady of the Black family.

As far as he knew, which was not much really, the Blacks had never really made a habit of visiting the school grounds, not even when their children studied here. Unless they were summoned by the headmaster or headmistress, and those instances were very rare and far between. So, it really brought to question was they were doing here. The Slytherins were not playing, and Orion was not even a part of the team, had something happened to one of the Blacks that were currently attending Hogwarts? Actually, just how many Blacks were currently in the school?

I believe there are five currently attending, Death said.

Hadrian frowned, really, who?

Well, aside of young Alphard and Orion, there’s Dorea Black who is a fifth year, Walburga Black a sixth and Cedrella Black who is currently in her last year. He replied, uncaring of the existential crisis he had just put his master in. Not that he really understood it either, hadn’t he already gotten over the fact that he was in the past?

Hadrian for his part was trying to digest the information bomb he had been dumped. If he remembered correctly, Dorea Black married Charlus Potter around the late 40s and had a son very late in life and that one son had been none other than James Potter, his dad. Which meant that his grandparents were currently walking around the school he was in, and he had never seen them!.

Then again, it’s not like he would be able to stumble upon them, they did not even share the same classes nor house. So really, he could not be blamed for not putting two and two together much sooner.

Although, this just opened a once in a lifetime opportunity of being able to see just how his grandparents had been when they were younger. Hell, he might even be able to see James be born and wasn’t that a weird thought. Come to think about, he would live to see the marauders be born.

His eyes widened as his mind caught up with something else, Walburga was also here. Did that mean that the marriage contract between Orion and Walburga had already been made? Was Sirius condemned to having the same horrible witch for a mother? Could that be changed?

Theoretically speaking, it could but there was a chance that in doing so, Sirius might not be born, or he might, but it could be that he was born a girl instead of a boy, or he could be born much later than he should, or-

Little master you are going to give yourself an aneurism, relax, some people are just meant to be born, your Sirius is one such.

That certainly put a stop to his train of though. But what if I were to, say, stop Orion from marrying Walburga, would Siri still be born? What of Regulus? He asked.

It would not change a thing, Sirius Black and Regulus Black would still be born, who their bearer ends up being is really of no consequence, Death replied, now I believe you should focus, your team captain is talking.

True to his word, when Hadrian left aside the conversation for later and focused on what was going around him, he did it just in time to listen to his captain’s instructions for him.

“-and Hadrian, if you can, help your fellow chasers by distracting the enemy, try not to get hit by a bludger or be pushed off from your broom and more importantly,” the witch placed both hands on his shoulders and pinned him under a very serious, if not a little maniacal, look, “get that snitch as fast as you can, I don’t care how you do it, but get that snitch.”

The teen gave a slow nod, slightly unsettled by Brown, “understood”

“Good”

With that, they all made their way to the quidditch pitch, coming to stand in the very center of it where the Gryffindor team was waiting for them, along with their flying instructor, their respective head of houses and, most surprisingly, matron Podmore. Hadrian found it weird as that had never happened in his time.

Once they were all facing each other, the matron casted some diagnosis charms to ensure that every single player was up to par for the game and that there were no potions in their system. Hadrian had to admit that it reminded him a lot of what muggles would do when competing in any sport, and he felt like slapping himself for never thinking that the same thing could happen in the wizarding world. Not that he could be blamed for thinking otherwise, in his time teachers in general seemed to care little for their students, or about fairness.

After that, their respective heads of houses wished them luck and retired themselves to the teacher’s stand. Although he got an uneasy feeling when he saw the smug looks on the opposing team’s face after listening to whatever Dumbledore had said to them, where they that confident that they would win? If so, why was that?

All of a sudden, he got the feeling that Orion and Riddle’s worrying might have been fairly justified.

Hadrian kept a close eye on the players as their flying instructor went about listing the rules of the game, what was and what was not allowed in the game along with the punishment for breaking any of the rules, wanting to decipher just what the lions were plotting.

Not that he managed to get anything out of looking at them before they were all zooming to the air. Normally he would feel impatient for the game to start, eager to fly as fast as possible just for the sake of the thrill, but now he only felt wariness. Surely, the gryffindor team would not try to cheat right?

He got his answer pretty soon after the quaffle was released into the air.

Brown had been the one to catch the ball before passing it on to one of their chasers, quickly setting forwards towards the opposing team’s hoops. But they never managed to get to the goal for one of the lion chasers had flown past them and ripped the quaffle from their grasp.

That in itself was not a strange occurrence, it happened all the time during the game, else, how were they supposed to get the ball from their opposing teams? What was strange was that their brooms seemed to have the speed of a Comet 300, which were known to be the fastest broom in the market… In 1952.

Frowning, he decided to get a bird’s eye view of the game to see if it was only the chasers that had brooms that were acting strange or if it was the whole team. From the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of the gryffindor seeker imitating his move, probably to help him find the snitch better.

Keeping an eye out for the snitch, he watched the name unfurl. From the looks of it, the brooms the lions were using where the very same ones that his own team possessed, Comets 250, which were decent brooms to have in this time. But from the way the lions were zooming past the hufflepuff chasers and beaters, he could only assume that they had tempered with the speeding charms of their brooms.

Which was not illegal and was not really against the rules as the company that fabricated the brooms had the added service to personalize the speed lever of the broom, should the client wish for that that is.

Most people never bothered to do so, mostly because nobody wanted to waste more money on the broom than they had to, not to mention that there was always the risk of destabilizing the charms that allowed you to not have your broom jerking all the time or being unable to pull it to a stop.

As for how much they messed with their brooms was left to be seen.

Seeing as the snitch was nowhere in sight, he decided to test just how fast the brooms were compared to his Silver Arrow.

Brown did say that I should help my fellow chasers if I could, didn’t she?

Setting his sights towards the chaser that currently had possession of the quaffle, closely being followed by one of his teammates (or as closely as one can be with a slower broom), he angled himself towards them and plummeted downwards, briefly enjoying the feeling of the wind rushing towards his face.

To say that he was surprised at the speed of the lion’s comet compared to his Arrow, would be an understatement. Despite his broom being built for speed instead of, say, stability or durability, Hadrian had a hard time catching up to the chaser, that in itself set alarm bells in his head.

A Comet 250 was only capable of reaching an average speed of 20-25 km per hour, 30 if you really pushed it. His Silver Arrow on the other hand reached the 30 km per hour mark on an average, if he were to push it, maybe he could reach the 40 mark. Right now, he was probably flying close to top speed and yet the chaser was still a few paces away from him, telling him that his broom was probably flying at around 35 maybe 40 km per hour. Way above the limit recommended for the broom.

Well, now I know why they all looked so smug before.

Taking this into account, he decided to go for a rather unorthodox method of retrieving the quaffle.

Hadrian poured a little of his magic into the broom to give it a push of speed, positioning himself just a smidge above the player. When he felt he was close enough to the chaser, he secured his hold on the broom with his legs and turned his broom so that he was upside down.

Startled sounds echoed around the pitch, he really hopped he was not going to get an earful from his guardians when the game was over. After that it became quite easy to take the quaffle out of his grasp, as the surprise of him catching up to him lessened the hold the teen had over the ball and tossing out to his teammate, who was quick to get to fly away towards the hoops, with him warding him from the lions taking the ball. Helping secure ten points for the hufflepuff team.

Good deed of the day done, he turned away from the game and towards his captain.

“Nice move there Peverell, you could make a good chaser if you wanted” Brown commented once he got close enough to her.

“I think the chasers have applied speeding charms to their brooms.”

The witch pursed her lips, “I suspected as much, but seeing you going after the little lion just solidified it. Comets are not meant to be as fast as an Arrow” she sighed, “all the more reason for you to find that snitch fast before they overwhelm us with the points.”

Hadrian nodded, “you should probably have the beaters focus on the chasers, if you can distract them, it might not do much, but it could give a little time to be able to reach the hoops.”

Hazel eyes blinked, “not a bad idea Peverell, very well, tell Smith and Zhao to do that”

With another nod, he flew to get towards his teammates, quickly regaling the new instructions for them. Once that was done, he took to the sky again and began to locate the snitch, keeping one eye on his surroundings and another on his fellow seeker.

Just as he was passing near the Slytherin stand, his eyes caught a glint of gold. Turning towards its source, he found the snitch fluttering around the base of the stands reserved for guests that came to watch the game.

Cautiously, he glanced at the gryffindor seeker to see if he had caught it, finding that the teen was too busy looking at the other direction. Not knowing if only the chasers had placed speeding charms to their brooms, or if all of the team members had done so – which was very likely - he could not just recklessly fly towards the snitch and catch it, not when there was the chance that the other seeker might just turn out to be faster than him.

Which meant that he had to distract him.

Guess I’m going to give my friends another scare, he thought amused. Glancing at the place where he had last seen the snitch, feeling reassured to find it was still there, he angled himself towards the sky, giving the impression that he was going to go for another bird’s eye view, earning the other seeker’s attention and swiftly imitating him.

Seeing as he was still quite a bit away from where the snitch was, he took advantage of his position to try and make the other seeker think he was catching glimpses of the snitch. He would dive down from time to time, slowly getting closer to his target, that had thankfully moved very little from where it was, and also making the lion start following his movements.

Once he felt he was close enough that it would be possible for him to make a sharp turn and get the snitch, he dove down towards the ground, hoping that the other seeker would chase after him. Just when he was beginning to doubt that the lion would follow him, he heard the sound of robes fluttering in the wind and felt himself grow more confident of his move.

In his mind, he calculated how close he would need to get to the grown before pulling up to get the snitch. He knew he would have to pull at the last moment to avoid the snitch from noticing he was onto it, but not enough for the gryffindor to see that there was no snitch in front of them to catch, so his timing needed to be perfect.

Just as he felt that the other seeker was close to being shoulder level with him and saw that there were probably less then forty to thirty meters left to reach the ground, he pulled sharply on his broom and turned side wise to the left and towards the snitch.

He heard a surprised yelp from behind him, but he ignored it in favor of pushing his broom to top speed to get to the snitch. It was not as fast as his Firebolt, he could not feel the air stinging his eyes at the speed he was going, but it was close enough. From the corner of his eye, he saw a bludger come towards his side and did the first that came to mind.

As this broom was not as fast as he was used to, he knew he would not be able to dodge the bludger, and from the angle he thought it was coming from, it was probably going to hit either his back or shoulder. So of course, he would turn the broom in such a way that he would still be flying straight to the snitch, but he would be flying upside down. Effectively avoiding getting hit or being thrown of course from his path.

With one last burst of speed, he stretched his arm out and caught the snitch, twisting his broom around to get upright once more. He focused his attention to his surroundings once more, only to catch the urgent screams of several people on the stands telling him to get out of the way.

Baffled, he turned around to find that one of the Gryffindor beaters was heading towards him, coming at top speed with a panicked look on his face. Hadrian had a moment to swear in a very colorful language before he abruptly pulled his broom upwards and away from the line of fire.

Fortunately, he did it just in time to prevent being crashed unto, the gryffindor was not so lucky, as he crashed painfully against the lower part of the stands that were not protected by the barrier, creating a big hole in it. Hadrian winced and hopped the teen had not been hurt to badly, but he had to admit it would have been worse if he had crashed against the barrier, that would have probably caused him to be bounced away and make him loose complete control of his broom – which could lead to him hurting other teammates of simple falling from his broom.

Slightly worried, he began to look for his fellow seeker, only to find him not being able to pull away from his dive. It dawned on Hadrian what was wrong almost immediately. Either the boy lost control of the broom, or the broom had finally began to malfunction, either way it was not good,

Because at the speed he was going, he was going to end up flattening himself to the ground.

Chapter Text

Hadrian did not think twice before diving after his schoolmate. He could blame it on his ‘hero complex’ or maybe on his unwillingness to witness another person crash to their deaths due to the machinations of another, but either way he was already moving with no intention to turn back on his broom.

The small teen did not need to call for Death or his ancestors to know that his schoolmate would end up dead if he ever made it to the floor. Leaving behind two very distraught parents and siblings, and a bunch of traumatized teenagers and kids. He wondered if Dumbledore would feel guilty should the teenager die, he was the head of the teen’s house after all and, last he checked, he was also supposed to look after the well being of the quidditch team, which included making sure the brooms were working as they should.

He certainly hoped the old man would feel terrible for this horrifying exercise of negligence. In fact, he hoped it gave him nightmares.

Pushing the broom to it’s limits, Hadrian fought to make himself reach the gryffindor before they both ended up dead, pouring as much magic as he was capable to the broom without losing control. Ignoring the sound of his teammates calling out to him or to one of the professors, he honestly was not sure who they were calling for.

Twenty meters.

Hadrian was close, but not enough to be able to drag him away. Sounds of alarm began to echo around the pitch. For a moment there he thought he heard his mother call out for him, but that was probably the wind roaring in his ears and the knowledge that his parents were somewhere in the stands looking at him distorting his sense of hearing a little.

Fifteen meters.

Green eyes dilated as he focused on his target, adrenaline pumping through his veins, drowning out the alarmed sounds coming from the spectators and sharpening all his senses. He was a breath away from the seeker and was beginning to reach his arm out to him when the gryffindor begins to scream.

Ten meters.

He gets a firm hold of the seekers arm and briskly pulls him from the broom and towards his, beginning to move away from the broom.

Five meters.

He takes a one-handed death grip on his broom’s handle and begins to pull it to a stop, lessening the speed of his broom as fast as he could without losing control of his own broom, all the while the Gryffindor he is holding was screaming bloody murder. He managed to pull up just shy of a meter above the ground, the gryffidor’s broom all but crushed into pieces a few paces away from their position. The teen let go of the handle to cover his face as some of the splinters fell over him and his schoolmate.

Letting his hand fall away when he no longer felt anything touch him, Hadrian let go of a sigh of relief at having succeeded in getting them both out of danger with minimal damage - safe for the high blood pressure that he was sure they had gotten after the scare both received. The gryffindor more so than himself.

The silver-haired teen stared unimpressed at the gryffindor in his hold that just kept on screaming, which made him believe that he had his eyes shut, otherwise he would have grown quiet as he saw their descent getting slower and slower. When the screaming did not seem to stop any time soon, he rolled his eyes and let him drop. Certainly, serving to shut the other player up and save his ears from the torment.

He yelped when he a spike of pain come from his arm as he pulled it towards himself, the very same arm that had been recently healed. Hadrian gingerly moved his arm to get a better feel of the damage done, then stopped when he felt another flash of pain flare up.

Matron Podmore is going to skin me alive

Not if your mother gets to you first, Death said, sounding awfully amused at his predicament.

Grimacing, he carefully maneuvered his broom so that it would land as softly as possible, so as to not move his injured arm too much. He was not looking forward to the reprimand he was very likely going to get and the possible punishment, but if his mother got to him first, then he would be saved from being the practice dummy of another student. For that alone, he was more than willing to endure another hour long lecture from Mirta Peverell.

It was as he got both of his feet on the ground that he noticed the lack of noise. Frowning, he rose his head immediately feeling heat flood his face when he saw that pretty much everyone was staring at him. Not even when he caught the snitch in his first year did he have this much attention centered on him, hell, even during the task with the dragon people did not pay him this much attention. Looking at him with such intense stares that made him squirm in place.

You should be used to it by now Little master, Death pointed out, by the way, marvelous flying.

Well I’m not and I don’t think I ever will, he replied, and thanks, I think.

Hadrian coughed to help him get rid of some of the weight he was receiving from the looks aimed his way. Seeing as nobody was about to start moving, he turned towards the stand where he was sure all the visiting parents were, wanting to avoid getting caught in the Matron’s hands.

Incoming

Incoming? What do you mean-

He never got to finish that thought as he was a little too busy getting tackled to the ground by – surprisingly – Tom and getting his access to oxygen restricted.

“You’re alive, you really are alive” the teen breathed out.

Not for long if you keep crushing my lungs, “Tom,“ he grunted out, “let go”

His request seemed to have the opposite effect, as the arms wrapped around him squeezed him harder. Had he not been so busy trying to fight for some air, he would have noticed the way the older teen trembled as he held him or the sound of hurried footsteps running towards them.

“Tom” he tried again, a little more desperate this time, “air, air!”

That seemed to snap the older teen out of it, loosening his hold on his cousin, letting Hadrian take some very much needed mouthfuls of air that felt like heaven to him. Although it did not last long, as he was promptly crushed in a dog pile made of his badger friends plus Tom.

He was sure that he felt someone’s elbow hit his rib and another one his stomach when they landed on him. Either way, Hadrian was certain that they were all causing him more harm than anything he had faced during the game or when he had been trying to save the gryffindor seeker’s arse, as they had all pushed away the little air he had managed to breath into his lungs.

“What were you thinking Hadrian?! Pulling a stunt like that!” Eryol called out from somewhere to his right, perhaps.

“You gave us all a heart attack!” that was Olivia’s voice.

“You could have died!” Avalon added, “could have ended up becoming a human pancake.”

“And I will become one now if you do not get off me now and let me BREATH” Harry wheezed out as best as he could, already feeling a little lightheaded from the lack of air flow.

They all scrambled to his feet after that and Hadrian made himself comfortable on the ground while he recovered. As much as he loved to see that they cared for him so much, he loved being able to breath more. He only rose to a sitting position when he felt more than heard the crowd making their way towards his little group, the matron being at the head of the crowd.

Oh no.

“Peverell”

“Professor…”

“Do step away from your friends” she said in her usual crisp manner, “it will only be for a moment, then you can have him back Mister Riddle” she added when the dark-haired teenager did not relinquish his hold on the Peverell heir. Now when had Tom managed to grab a hold of him? Because he did not remember him doing so.

Giving the matron a hard look, the slytherin reluctantly let go of Hadrian but utterly refused to take more than one step away from his reckless younger cousin, opting to watch like a hawk as the matron casted a few diagnosis charms and read the results. Much to his relief, the parchment did not seem to grow more than what it should have considering that the teenager had not gotten wounded during the match.

“I trust everything is alright with my son” Hadrian blinked at hearing the sound of his adoptive father’s voice, when did the man get here? Did that mean that his mother was also nearby? Well that saved him from looking for them.

The witch nodded, making everyone around sigh in relief, “miraculously, Mr. Peverell has not suffered any serious injury” she informed them, “at the moment he is only a little winded., most likely due to everyone throwing themselves at him, and a torn muscle from his arm” at this, the healer gave the green eyed teen a hard and meaningful look that spoke of what awaited him in the infirmary.

Hadrian shuttered.

“Now, if you’ll excuse me, there’s another student I must look after” she said before turning away from them and walking towards the gryffindor that seemed to be frozen in shock.

“Are you really okay Hadrian? Really, okay?” Eryol asked, brown eyes shining with concern.

Hadrian nodded, “yep, although I am feeling a little tired.”

“An understandable effect to suffer after what you just had to go through, although I must say, that was some impressive flying you did, heir Peverell”

Everyone turned to look at the wizard that had spoken. Hadrian was quite taken aback by the man for despite having all the trademark traits of the Black, namely dark hair and grey eyes, he looked nothing like his friend Orion or even little Alphard.

For starters, the man had a painful looking scar that ran from beneath his sharp cheekbone to the side of his neck, he had never seen a Black with a scar on their face before. Then there was his jaw structure that, compared to Orion or Alphard’s, looked much more pronounced, giving the man a square like face shape. The bushy eyebrows, the thin lips that were mostly hidden by the short mustache and beard he possessed, hell, even the shape of his eyes were different.

There was no denying the man was handsome, devastatingly so, for someone in his forties. Then again, weren’t all Blacks devastatingly handsome or beautiful? It certainly looked like it. It made him wonder just who the man was.

“I – thank you sir, but it was nothing special I just made my broom go faster and then slower, anyone can do that” Hadrian replied.

‘Anyone can do that’ my foot.

No one asked for your opinion Death.

The older Black chuckled, “humble one I see, you forgot to mention that in your last letter Orion.” He gave a small smile to the dark-haired teen that was standing beside him, looking much paler than usual.

It was that smile that caused something in Hadrian’s mind to click.

Oh, that’s Orion’s dad, Siri’s grandfather, Arcturus Black. He thought, his eyes falling over the man’s right hand finding the Black family Lordship ring resting comfortably in his hand, proving him that he was indeed who he thought he was.

“My dear, I believe you are forgetting your manners” a light female voice said. A moment later a tall and delicate looking woman with light brown hair and honey brown eyes came to lay her hand over Lord Black’s arm. “Orion, would you be so kind as to introduce us to your friend?”

Said teen cleared his throat, “mother, father, this is heir Hadrian Peverell” he motioned at the silver haired wizard that had just cut several years from his lifespan, “Hadrian, these are my parents, Lady Melania Black nee Macmillan and Lord Arcturus Black”

One look at his parents made him automatically paste on his best charming smile as respond in a calm voice, “it’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Lord and Lady Black. May I introduce you to my parents, Lady Mirta and Lord Icarus Peverell?” a hand on his arm made him turn and then add, “and this is my cousin, Tom Riddle.”

Tom squeezed Hadrian’s arm in surprise at having him introduced to such prominent figures in their society. Then again, this had been what he had been aiming for when he decided to cozy up to his younger relative, for it would help him in the future, specially when he finally entered the world of politics.

Still, having Hadrian introduce him as his cousin made warmth flood through him akin to how he felt when drinking a nice hot drink on a cold day. He had included him in that introduction because he saw him as a part of his family, in Peverell’s eyes, he was one of them despite not having the same last name or not having a too close blood connection.

“Tom”

“Yes, Hadrian?”

“You took the wounded arm, could you please, erm, let up a little with your hold?”

Tom glanced down at the arm and immediately let go, “sorry” he said, feeling slightly bad for causing him pain but not too much. Let that serve as a lesson to not scare the living daylights out of them all.

“We can continue with the pleasantries later, let us first bring my son to the infirmary to have his arm sorted out” Mirta chimed in, having been reminded of the torn muscle in her son’s arm.

“Or, we could let me have a look at my favorite patient” a familiar voice drawled, “seriously you two, did you both really forget that I was here as well?”

“Archer?”

“The one and only, now how about we all get to somewhere less crowded hmm?” he asked, coming to stand beside the Peverell patriarch. Only then did the teenagers truly noticed the noise coming from all around them, as well as the eyes on them.

Seeing as this was not the best environment to have some small talk with two noble families, nor was it the best for a wounded patient, the teenagers helped get Hadrian back on his feet and promptly took the lead of their group. Guiding the adults back towards the castle.

************

“-and there we go, you’re good to go. Now remember, no quidditch for the next two weeks and no carrying any heavy weight under that same period of time, else, you will ruin my hard work” Archer said as he finished wrapping Hadrian’s shoulder and part of his arm with a light bandage, just to prevent the paste from dirtying his clothes and allowing his body to absorb it.

“Archer, you just put some paste on my arm.”

“And wrapped it! That’s a lot of work too.”

“It takes less then five minutes to do it, thirty seconds if you use magic.”

The older wizard placed a hand on his chest and looked at him with suspiciously moist looking eyes, “look at him, only a couple of classes and he speaks as if he knows everything there is about healing” he turned towards Icarus, “before we know it, he will be trying to use you as his practice dummy whenever you get sick or hurt.”

“Erm…” was the intelligent response his friend gave him while his wife laughed.

“When the moment comes, I demand to be present.”

“I- and if you have other patients to treat?” Icarus asked.

“Then we can always let him borrow our pensive” was Hadrian’s reply, “and bold of you to assume I would not drag you from wherever you were at the time to watch, Archer.” He paused, “I will need someone aside of mother to help him immobilize him else he flees.”

At that he got a pointed look from Avalon, “what, like you did when you dislocated your shoulder during quidditch practice?” he asked innocently.

“I did not flee when it happened.”

“It certainly looked like it when you were given the ‘all clear’ to go” Eryol pointed out.

“I needed the fresh air.”

“Hadrian we’ve gone over this already, you had fresh air in the infirmary!” Olivia rubbed at her temples, as if there was a headache forming there.

“And I said it before, if I can still smell the antiseptics, creams and other fumes, then there was no fresh air circulating there.”

“Oh gods” Archer whispered, exasperation seeping away from his body in waves, “just what I needed, there’s two of them now”

“Hey! I am not as bad as father!” Hadrian exclaimed. “I let you treat me just fine”

“Point”

A clearing of a throat made them all turn to the Peverell matriarch, who was casually sipping on a warm cup of tea, along with the rest of the Blacks that had come with them. Now that she had everyone’s attention, the older woman turned her hazel eyes to the Black Lord.

“While I am pleased to meet you, as are everyone else, I believe that you did not just wish to introduce yourselves to us” she commented, subtly inquiring them for their reason to approach them, although she had a fair suspicion on what it was.

“Indeed, it was not” Arcturus acknowledged, “we came here for the… incident that took place here, more importantly to meet those involved” he motioned to the other two adults that had come with him.

The man looked like an older version of Alphard, albeit a sterner Alphard at that, while the woman beside him was clearly not a Black. For one, she lacked the natural grace that Blacks often portrayed since they were young, for another her hair was a dark blond and her eyes a pitch-black color. And to make matter more obvious, the woman was not beautiful by any stretch of the word, but she was not exactly ugly either, Hadrian could only describer her as average looking.

It was the woman that spoke, her voice soft clashing a little with her serious demeanor, “Well met, I am Irma Black nee Crabbe and this is my husband Pollux Black, we are Alphard’s parents” she turned to her husband, probably waiting for him to say something, but he mostly stayed quiet, eyes flickering over the other teenagers standing with Hadrian.

With a sigh, she continued, “we both wanted to thank you, Heir Peverell, for saving our son’s life and for bringing his attacker to justice.”

Hadrian’s eyes widened, “I- thank you but I did not save him, Matron Podmore did. I just found him and brought him to the infirmary, nothing more” he rubbed the back of his head, “and I only managed to get him detention, not much justice in that really”

The woman’s face softened at how genuine his words sounded, and the frustrated look on his face at admitting he only got the boy detention, told her what the boy thought about the punishment given. Her nephew had been smart to strike an alliance with this boy, and her own son for clinging to him.

“You do not believe it was a just punishment?” The Black Lord arched an eyebrow in inquiry, also noticing the frustrated look on the teen.

Hadrian’s face turned to stone as he responded with a clear, “of course not.”

“Oh, and what do you believe would have been a proper punishment?” Lady Melania asked, curious to know what the younger wizard thought. Curious to see why her son had been so adamant in their letter to form an alliance with the Peverells.

“At the least? Suspension for six months, maybe the rest of the year. In the ‘worst’ case scenario, expulsion”

All the adults present nodded at that pronouncement, save for Pollux, who was staring at Hadrian as if held the answers to the secrets of the universe.

“So, you pranked him” Arcturus stated, not asked for he was sure that it had been this boy who had caused these delightful pranks that his son wrote about. The innocent look that graced the young heir made him snort, scaring his sister-in-law and brother as he had never snorted in their presence, but oh he recognized that look all to well. He had seen it in his own son’s face when he was much younger.

“I have no idea what you mean Lord Black” Hadrian said, “it was unfortunate what happened to Fawley, but I cannot say I am saddened it happened.”

“Ha! Saddened, you? More like he was cackling with glee” Avalon snickered at the glare his friend was sending him. The look did not have the weight it should have, he looked more like a grumpy kitten than an intimidating young heir of a noble family.

“And you are fooling no one with that look Hadrian, we saw you with the letter your father sent with suggestions on pranks” Eryol added.

Hadrian frowned, “I never showed you guys those letters…”he trailed off.

Olivia inspected her nails, “we raided your trash bin.”

“You what?!”

“Children” Mirta called out, stopping any possible fight that might had taken place, “behave”

A chorus of ‘sorrys’ were heard, along with a sigh of defeat from Hadrian.

“Fine, I created the pranks and convinced my friends to help me make them” he admitted, “and before you say it, I am not going to apologize for my actions, they were well deserved. Too bad I could not get him expelled” he murmured the last part, pulling exasperated sighs from her schoolmates.

The oldest Black’s twinkled at that pronouncement. Their son had not been wrong at all, if this was what the young heir was willing to do for their family despite being complete strangers, then it brought to question what he would do if they were his allies, maybe friends.

“Then you have our gratitude” the lord said and gave a low bow to the child, his wife doing the same beside him. “I do hope that my son and nephew could be good friends of yours.”

Icarus eyes turned sharply at that last comment, having sensed the hidden intention behind the comment. The Black patriarch met his eyes and gave him a subtle nod, confirming what he and his wife had been suspecting for a while. The Black family wanted to form an alliance with the Peverell family.

Meh, he saw no harm in it. Who knows, maybe he’ll find a drinking partner in the Black Lord and his dear wife could do with more female friends. It would certainly get boring being around Archer and him all the time.

As long as he doesn’t have any funny ideas with his son and my son, an alliance sounds like a nice idea.

Chapter Text

Soon enough, the heat of the incident in the quidditch pitch lost strength, in its place, plans for the Yule break began to flutter around the school population. In each class, you could feel the restlessness building beneath the bones of the students – and professors. The young wixens were not the only ones that were tired of the workload they had, watching over a big group of teenagers was a very taxing job. They needed the break, or they would hex someone.

Probably the headmaster as there would be less legal trouble if they did.

Granted, nobody truly forgot what had happened, certainly not the headmaster. Which was why an investigation had happened and, much like Hadrian and his little gang had suspected, Dumbledore had turned out to be the culprit behind the abnormal speed of the brooms. His own lions being the ones stepping forward to share this bit of information.

And much like they had expected (but had secretly hoped that it would not happen) the transfiguration professor was able to wiggle himself out from getting punished for his actions. Claiming that while, yes he had modified the brooms to make them faster, he had done so a day earlier to the match, insisting that he had given his students enough time to become familiar with the new speed of the brooms.

Coming to the conclusion that the lions had been too confident in themselves by not testing their brooms beforehand, and the only crime that could be attributed to Dumbledore was his failure in ensuring his students had done as they should have. In the end, Dippet had given the man a good scolding before letting Dumbledore continue on his marry way.

And while Hadrian did feel pissed off at Dumbledore and his uncanny ability to talk himself out of trouble, he figured that it was only a matter of time before the old man gave him another opportunity to see him fall. He only needed to be patient and wait for him to mess up.

Furthermore, he had other important things occupying his mind, such as finishing last minute assignments and packing his things for the yule break. Oh, and figuring how it would be best to sneak Thanatos out of Hogwarts. Tom may have said nothing about it but a part of him believed that the slytherin would feel happy to have a companion with him while staying with the Peverells.

Besides he wanted Thanatos to meet the other snakes that lived in the Sanctuary, he was sure that the snake would love to lay around their warm enclosures.

With that in mind, he picked up another book and began to see which warming charms would be best to cast around his trunk for a snake to sleep in.

**************

“Eryol, is you don’t finish soon, the train will leave without us” Hadrian said, foot tapping on the floor and arms crossed as he watched his friend flutter around the room looking for his things and all but throwing them into his trunk. Beside him, Avalon was looking just as impatient to leave as him.

“I’m almost done, I swear. Has anyone seen my flute?” he asked, his voice slightly distorted from speaking underneath his bed.

Avalon arched an eyebrow, “you mean the one that’s sitting on your bed?”

“No! I mean the other one, the one that blows bubbles when you use it”

The redhead sighed, “you lend it to Olivia, remember?”

“Oh! Right” Eryol wiggled himself out from underneath the bed, not before his head got intimately acquainted with the sturdiness of the frame and rose to his feet. Grabbing hold of the wooden flute on his bed and throwing it into his trunk, which was overflowing with clothes, shoes, books and other personal items, he went to close the trunk. Despite knowing that the trunk had expansion charms placed in it, Hadrian worried for a moment there that Eryol would not have been able to close the lid.

Soon, their dark-haired friend was standing next to them, much to their relief. “Right, I’m ready now, let’s go”

Neither teen needed to be told twice before grabbing their trunks and cages and making a beeline for the exit, barely even waiting for Nyx to land on Hadrian’s shoulder before they were off. Lucky for them, there were still some carriages left for them to take them to the station and the thestrals were kind enough to trot at a faster pace when Hadrian asked.

Once inside the train, they had to look for an empty compartment, which turned out to be a much harder task than they had expected despite the fact that not every student had decided to return home. Logically, that would mean that there would be more available carts for them, and yet, everywhere they looked they would find them occupied.

Their salvation came in the form of one Tom Riddle, who looked to have come from the direction of the restroom.

“Lost little cousin?” Tom asked, glancing at the trunks the trio were carrying.

“No, just looking for a place to sit” he replied, internally pouting at being called ‘little’, he was perfectly withing the average heigh a boy his age should be, Tom was just a giant, “any chance that you have some free space for us?”

Tom merely hummed and made his way towards the compartment he was currently using, confident that Hadrian would take the silent cue and follow him. He internally smirked when he heard footsteps following him.

Hadrian let a sigh of relief when he found that the compartment Tom was using was empty save for the slytherin. There was more than enough space for the four of them, or rather five of them, if he counted Nyx.

Six, he corrected himself when he felt the slight movement coming from his robe pocket.

“Shouldn’t she be in her cage? Or better yet, making her way to the state?” Tom asked, looking at the dark owl that had settled over the silver haired teen after he placed his trunk in the rack above him.

Nyx, for her part, glared at the teen, ‘shouldn’t you be in one too? Snake’s hate the cold, don’t they?’ she argued back, clicking her beak in distaste.

Hadrian sighed, “Be nice Nyx, she is not strong enough to fly to the manor on her own and she prefers to be outside instead of the cage, to stretch her wings” he absentmindedly began to preen the owls baby feathers that had started to sprout along her neck, “besides, I quite like having her in my arms.”

‘I also like being with you hatchling, you give the best scritches’

The older teen nodded, “you have a thing for carrying animals with you” he recalled the bowtruckle that his cousin carried on his pocket and the way he would sometimes take Thanatos in his arms when they went to the Black Lake.

Hadrian snorted, he supposed he did, but could they blame him? Most of the creatures he petted were soft to the touch or very cuddly or adorable, and as far as he knew, it was human instinct to pet anything that looked remotely adorable, even if it was potentially dangerous to your health. If anything, his ‘carrying animals thing’ was perfectly normal.

He watched as the teen took out a book and began to read, noticing how his foot tapped the floor every now and then, not stopping even when the train finally began to move. His lips tilted upwards in amusement. Well, someone was excited for the holidays, an understandable feeling as he had never gone anywhere during the holidays. This was a new experience for the teen, one that he looked more than happy to welcome.

He left Tom to read in peace and instead focused on the conversation going with his friends, letting them rope him in a game of chess – which he still sucked at. They were visited by Olivia at one point of the trip and stayed with them a few minutes before returning to her female friends.

The two Blacks that they had grown familiar with ended up winding up in their compartment and stayed there for a long while. Alphard running Hadrian’s ear dry with stories about his friends, his classes or his family, while Orion quietly debated with Tom about whatever rune sequence they had seen in class.

All and all, it was a warm and peaceful atmosphere. The easy companionship surrounding the area, the clicking of Nyx’s beak as she napped and the lulling motion of the train, made for the perfect combination of elements to make one sleepy Hadrian Peverell.

At one point of the conversation, he lost his battle with himself and ended up taking quite the long nap, arousing only when he felt a hand on his arm gently shake him awake.

Opening his eyes, he found Tom standing over him with his and Hadrian’s trunk in hand. He frowned at the sight, then he noticed that the train was no longer moving.

“We have arrived?” he asked, he could have sworn that he had just closed his eyes for a few seconds.

“Only just, your friends went ahead of us”

Hadrian took the trunk offered to him and carefully rose to his feet, Nyx protesting the sudden change of posture, but otherwise stayed where she was. “How come they all left, and you stayed behind?” he walked towards the exit, Tom following him closely behind.

“I believe that they did not wish to earn your ire for waking you and fled while they could.”

The younger teen groaned. He had only hexed them once for waking him up, just once, and yet, it seemed like that was more than enough for them to suddenly fear waking him up. In his defense, they had woken him up by playing a trumpet above his head, of course he was going to wake up cursing everything on sight! Ripping the covers from him would have been a much better way to wake him or maybe a tickling charm would have done the trick but no, they had to go for the most heart-stopping option.

The bright side of that incident was that they had learned just how fast his shadows could be when scared shitless.

Tom’s lips twitched, “I hope one day you will share what happened for them to flee like that?” it sounded like an interesting story and one that could help him learn more about his cousin’s usual behavior, which in turn would tell him what he should avoid doing to make him displeased with him.

“Perhaps” Hadrian said before an idea struck and an innocent smile found its way on his face, “or you could learn from personal experience.”

Before Tom could even utter a reply, Hadrian found the figures of his guardians and all but dragged Tom towards them. It was until they were before the two adults that they noticed they were not alone.

“Lord Black, Lady Black” Hadrian inclined his head to both of them and sent an inquiring look at Orion, who was standing beside his mother, straight backed and face a perfect blank canvas. It was a big contrast to how he had looked in the train and made him feel a little strange seeing such a serious expression on his face when moments prior (or what he felt where moments before when it had actually been hours as he had slept most of the ride away) he had been laughing at a joke he had said, he could not understand why that was the case.

“Heir Peverell, Mr. Riddle, I trust you had an uneventful trip?”

“Melania will do dearie, today I am just another mother welcoming her son home, not the lady of a noble house” The smile that was gifted to them was small, but it changed the woman’s face, melting away the unapproachable look she had been wearing moments ago, giving her a gentler and loving look.

Nevertheless, Hadrian mirrored the smile and gave a small tilt of his head, “Melania then, but only if you call me Hadrian too” he had always hated formalities, both in his past life and in this new one (even if he now understood why they were in place), so it was all too easy for him to drop them when given the green light to do so.

From his side, Tom turned to look at his cousin as if he had gone mad. Hadrian had saved a member of the family and had befriended their son, sure, but they were still Blacks, surely some level of formality needed to be kept, right? They would not curse his cousin for being so familiar with them, right? He remembered them being quite tolerant of him a few weeks ago.

The pleased glint in the woman’s eyes made him relax. Dear gods this was exhausting, was this what it was going to be like being around his cousin all the time? He was beginning to dread how Hadrian would be after leaving Hogwarts, especially if he decided to enter the political arena.

“Rian, Tom” Mirta called, coming to stand close to the boys and passing her hand through their hair affectionally, much to the surprise of the blue-eyed boy “welcome back.”

“Got everything with you?” Icarus asked, eyeing the trunks in their hands and the owl on his son’s shoulder. Their nods made him arch an eyebrow but let it slide, “well then, let’s get going.”

“Before you go Lord Peverell, I’d like to extend an invitation to you and your family to spend Yule with us.” Lord Black said, his posture deceptively calm and his face carefully blank, making it hard to discern what the man was thinking, not that Icarus needed that when the invitation said more than enough to him, “if you and yours are amendable to it, that is”

Tom’s eyes widened. The Blacks had only met the Peverells once and they were already inviting them to their home to celebrate one of the most important celebrations of their kind? Clearly, he had underestimated the sense of debt the Blacks felt over the Peverells. But he believed it was a honest mistake, after all, this actions would be reasonable had it been their son – their heir – that had almost been killed. Apparently, the Blacks cared very much for each of their members.

And he would love nothing more to visit the Black family home in hopes of getting his hands in the infamous Black library, and he was not above begging his new guardian to accept in order to get what he wanted.

Hadrian, seeing the downright pleading look Tom was directing his father, made him want to snicker. He could already imagine what it was that he wanted, Tom’s thirst for knowledge made him a bit predictable. Although he would also not mind visiting the Blacks, it would do them good spending some time with their friends.

There was also the upside of finally seeing what the Blacks used to be like before they fell. He was particularly curious about Walburga, Sirius’s mother. He wanted to know if she had always been a harpy or if something had happened after her marriage that made her one.

Mirta and Icarus exchanged looks, silently coming to a decision before turning to the lord, “we would be honored to join you and your family” Icarus said, looking at his boys (for they were his indeed) he added, “it would be good for the boys to spend some time with their friends”

A bright smile appeared on Melania’s face, “I agree”

By the time they finally left the train station, a date had been set for their yule gathering, floo directions had been exchanged and promises to exchange owls had been made. All and all, Tom believed it was an incredible way to start his winter holidays and reaffirmed his belief that he had made the right decision in getting close to Hadrian.

***********

“Hadrian, do something”

“I’m kind of busy right now”

“Well, get un-busy and help me!”

“Kind of difficult to do when you have an armful of occamys trying to choke you to death” Hadrian countered, his voice a little breathless from the tight grip of the feathery snakes clinging to him had. If he ever needed a sign to that they had missed him, well, he had received it.

Loud and clear.

Now if they could just let up a little, he would be very thankful and so would his lungs.

“They are going to eat me Hadrian!” Tom protested, his eyes focused on the beasts before him, particularly on their rather sharp teeth.

“Tom, they are Puffskeins, they won’t hurt you. But they sure as hell will ensure that you have a clean nose, so stop panicking!”

Blue eyes glanced at the other teen, who had thought it a brilliant idea to bring him here, “then why do they have fangs?! The books said nothing about them having fangs!”

Hadrian did not answer, he had managed to free one of his hands and he went ahead and very softly scratched the underside of one of the occamys – coincidentally the one that was most restricting him - a gentle caress, which had the effect of making the occamy let go of him, fall to the ground and twist around like a worm being covered in salt. He was quick to repeat the process with the remaining occamys and his reward was the sweet sweet air filling his lungs.

“Hadrian!”

Bloody hell, he is worse than Ron when dealing with spiders! Hadrian thought and turned towards his panicking cousin, isn’t he supposed to be a buddying Dark Lord? Why the hell does he get his pants into a twist for some balls of fur!?

Technically, he is not a buddying dark lord, just a troubled boy, Death clarified. As always, appearing in the least appropriate of times.

Who could still become a Dark Lord, he paused for a moment, a less murder one perhaps. At least he hoped so, last time he had become quite happy with murder after finding out he had been abandoned by his father and a strange witch stole what he had considered his property. He did not include Mirtle’s death in the list as that had mostly been an accident, not a premeditated murder.

Said mini–Dark Lord had finally decided to run towards his cousin and hide behind his back. The coward.

“Tom, just give them their treats and they will leave you alone”

“They have fangs Hadrian! Fangs!” Tom mumbled, completely ignoring his cousin’s words. He was not moving from his spot, specially not now that those things were beginning to chatter amongst each other, for all he knew they were planning his murder. The least the teen could do for dragging him here was act as a shield for him, it was only logical for him to do so as he knew how to handle the beasts after all.

“Oh for Merlin’s sake, give me that!” he took the small bag he had given the older teen before entering the enclosure and, using shadow manipulation for he refused to touch what was inside, took a handful of wiggling insects that were thrown at the fluffy army that had gathered around them. He made sure to throw another handful when an all-out war broke between the creatures in an attempt to get some of the goods.

When the chaos lessened and the puffskeins began to clear, having sated their hunger, he turned unamused green eyes on the angelic teen that was still cowering behind him. “You are a terrible assistant” he declared.

“I’ll have you that I’m an excellent assistant when not dealing with bloodthirsty menaces” the older teen countered, not ashamed of the actions he had taken to keep himself safe. Self-preservation was a revered skill amongst slytherins he’ll have you know.

“Bloodthirsty? Tom, the only insects and buggers! They are as harmless as a newborn fawn!”

“Then why in Morgana do they have fangs? Hm?”

“Snakes have fangs, and I don’t see you complaining about them” Hadrian pointed out, closing the bag in his hold and making his way back to the occamys, who had stopped twisting around, and offering them some of the bugs inside the bag. At least now he would not be squished to death.

“I’m a parselmouth, they would never used their fangs against me” Tom looked at the retreating forms of the puffskeins, “can’t say the same about those things”

Hadrian felt his eyelid twitch. When they returned to the manor, he would look for a book in magical creatures and throw it at his face, maybe then he would stop running away from every single creature they encounter and finally help him feed them. One would think that he would have listened to his instructions if only because he could bloody speak to them.

Suddenly an idea came to mind and made him give the other teen a sweet smile. One that made Tom feel wary.

“Then, I’m sure you won’t have any problems feeding the reptiles in the reptile enclosure, right?” he asked, his voice dripping with false cheer, already guiding the teen towards the door leading to said enclosure.

“I- Wait, Hadrian-“

“Thank you for offering to take care of them, you’ll be a lot of help there Tom” the silver-haired wizard kept going and opened the door, letting the sound of different hisses to reach their ears.

“I didn’t-“

“Make sure to feed Susan first, she will make a big fuss if she sees you feeding another before her” Hadrian advised him, handing him a bucket containing mice and a few other rodents.

Tom blinked, “Susan?” he asked, still very much confused over the turn of events and the way Hadrian was acting.

“Our Komodo dragon, the magical variation of course, she is usually a sweetheart but quite a menace when hungry or in heat” he explained, handing his thick gloves now, “just evade the spikes and you’ll be fine”

“Spikes?!” Tom squeaked, outright squeaked, already digging his feet on the ground and wanting to turn back. Too bad that that was the moment Hadrian closed the door behind him, “Hadrian!” he called.

“Good luck Tom, make sure to put that parseltongue to good use” with that, Hadrian turned back to continued feeding the creatures he had been supposed to be feeding alongside Tom and maybe sneak in a cuddle session with his dear Blue, now that her siblings were not trying to choke the life out of him. All the while he ignored Tom, the teenager would be fine, he had made sure to put him in an enclosure with the least dangerous of the reptiles and pretty much all of them understood parseltongue to some extent, so the boy would be fine.

Once he saw the snakes, he doubted he would like to leave that place.