Finding Hope in Darkness
Chapter 10
...
Hadrian was sitting by the kitchen table, comfortably nursing a cup of steaming tea. It was very early and everyone else in the house was asleep. Or at least had been, Hadrian thought as he heard the sound of feet padding down the stairs.
"Good morning, Harry." He smiled in the direction of the stairs.
"Morning, Arian." Harry responded sleepily.
"Did you sleep well?" He had always wished for someone to greet him as such when he was little. As he talked, he rose and quickly prepared some breakfast for the boy. "Here." He placed a bowl of porridge in front of him, as Harry climbed into a chair.
"Yup." He answered contently, picking up a spoon and beginning on his breakfast. Hadrian poured him a glass of orange juice and then returned to his seat. "Footy chased the bad dreams away." Harry announced proudly.
"Did he remember to let the nice dreams passed?" Hadrian asked, a smile tugging at his lips.
Harry nodded vigorously.
Hadrian was just about to ask something else, when a tapping sound interrupted him. He tilted his head, pinpointing the source in a matter of seconds. He walked over to the window and let the owl in. It circled the table once and then landed on the back of an unoccupied chair. Hadrian shook his head wistfully, grabbed a glass and filled it with water, which he offered to the owl. It drank it's fill and then settled down peacefully.
"I wonder who you're from." Hadrian murmured to himself, returning to his seat. Harry slowly finished his breakfast.
"Aren't you hungry, Arian?" He asked.
"I already ate." Hadrian answered with a smile, taking a sip of tea. "I wonder how long we have to wait for those two lazy uncles of yours." He smirked into his cup.
"Lazy!" Harry exclaimed with a giggle.
"Exactly. Why don't you run upstairs and wake them up? There's a letter here they need to read." He smiled innocently at the child.
Harry pressed his hands against his mouth, grinning like a little devil and giggling hysterically. He managed to stay in his seat for all of a heartbeat, before he was racing up the stairs. It sounded like someone had let a hippogriff loose in the house. Hadrian got up with a smirk and prepared breakfast for the other two. He even remembered to put on coffee for Sirius. He really should thank him for that. By the time two bleary eyed Marauders made their way into the kitchen, Hadrian had already returned to his seat, and there were two bowls of porridge waiting on the table for them.
"You cruel, cruel bastard." Sirius muttered under his breath as he stumbled into his seat.
"I'm sure I have no idea what you're talking about." Hadrian answered cheerfully. Sirius merely groaned in response, grabbing for his sacred coffee.
Remus was more collected and dignified than Sirius, if only a little. "Whaz 'bout th' letter?" He slurred incoherently.
Harry skipped into the room, returning to his seat, demanding a fruit. Hadrian obediently summoned a knife and peeled and cut an apple for him, handing him the slices as he cut them. Harry happily munched away, looking expectantly from Sirius to Remus.
"It's lying on the table." Hadrian coughed, trying to cover a snigger.
"...better cut your finger." Sirius muttered darkly, glaring at him over his cup. Hadrian grinned; he was quite proficient with a knife. As if to prove a point, he flipped the knife over in the air, catching it without any trouble. Much to Harry's squealing delight.
Sirius flinched at the sound. "Please have mercy on me!" He practically begged, rubbing a hand over his face.
"You really shouldn't stay out so late at night, Sirius." Hadrian quipped. Sirius had been out last night. Probably getting drunk and flirting shamelessly with girls; he must be feeling miserable right now. "Now, what's that letter saying?" He turned to Remus, who had remained quiet after he had picked the letter up.
"It's actually an invitation." Remus said slowly, eyeing the parchment carefully.
"To what?" Hadrian asked curiously. Who did they know that would invite them to anything by letter?
"Dinner. From the Weasleys." Remus took a long swig of coffee, as if hoping to clear his head. Sirius was already on his second cup. "It's for tonight." He added thoughtfully.
"Hm." Hadrian didn't know what to say. He felt rather torn, really. A part of his mind bounced around with excitement. The other half cowered with anxious trepidation. He hadn't seen any of the Weasleys since he had gone to their house to retrieve Pettigrew. And he hadn't told them anything beforehand. In fact, that had been the first time they'd met him... Hadrian stomped down on a groan and tried to focus on the positive. He really wanted to get to know them in this time. "Why don't we accept?"
"You think? I'm not really familiar with the Weasleys." Remus sounded hesitant.
"Don't worry. They never had a problem with you being a werewolf in the future. I don't see why it should be different now." Hadrian assured him with a smile.
Remus didn't look fully convinced, but gave a weak smile back. "I suppose you would be eager to get to know them again. And didn't they have a son Harry's age?"
"They do. Ron." Hadrian smiled wistfully.
Sirius frowned. "Why would that matter? He's got us!"
Remus sighed. "Padfoot. Harry can't just spend time with us! He needs friends his own age, too." He said exasperatedly.
"He's got Neville." Sirius pointed out stubbornly.
"Yes. You, of all people, think that one friend is enough for your precious godson?" Remus glared at his friend. The object of their conversation, slowly turning argument, was sitting calmly in his seat, munching on apple-slices, looking at them curiously.
"Who're the Wesles?" Harry interrupted. He was used to Sirius and Remus bickering.
"The Weasleys." Hadrian corrected. "They once were my friends." He told him. "And they asked us if we want to come over for dinner."
"Oh."
"They have a lot of children. And a boy your age named Ronald."
A spark lit in Harry's deep green eyes. He squealed with delight. "Let's go!" He jumped up to stand on his chair, demanding to be heard over the bickering.
"And there it's been decided for us." Hadrian stated with a grin, turning to the two Marauders. Sirius blinked sheepishly while Remus chuckled.
"Alright. Let's sent the reply back with their owl." Sirius surrendered good-naturedly.
"Errol, come here." Hadrian turned in the direction of the owl. Errol was nothing like the tired old owl he remembered. Of course, the owl must be rather young at the moment, considering it had been over ten years in the future before he had met him the first time. "Remus, you're writing a response?"
"Mhm." Remus answered distractedly as he scratched down a quick reply. "Here."
Hadrian thanked him and then tied the slip of parchment to Errol's leg. "There. Fly back home and let them know." He smiled as he walked over to the window, launching the owl into the air.
"So when do we go?" Harry asked excitedly.
Hadrian laughed. This would be an interesting day, if nothing else.
...
"Are we ready?" Remus asked, sounding faintly nervous.
"I believe so." Hadrian answered evenly. He might not sound it, but he strongly suspected he was far more nervous than Remus was. The only difference was years of practice in sounding indifferent.
"Alright. Let's go, then." Sirius walked up to the fireplace.
"Maybe I should Apparate with Harry?" Hadrian muttered, frowning. He hated the floo.
"That's right! I forget you've been there before." Sirius slapped a hand over his forehead. "Sure, take him side-along. I always feel better when we don't take Harry through the floo." He paused briefly. "I mean, what if we dropped him or something?"
"You make a charming, responsible adult, Padfoot." Remus remarked dryly. "Honestly. I would like to think you'd rather splinch than loose Harry in the floo-network!"
"Of course I would!" Sirius responded indignantly. "But accidents happen, Moony."
Hadrian sighed. Remus had been nervous all day, which effectively resulted in more arguments. "Let's just go, or we will be late." He said pointedly.
Sirius grimaced apologetically. "Right. See you there, Hadrian." And he threw a pinch of floo powder into the fireplace, shouted "The Burrow!" and then disappeared in a roar of green flames and magic.
"I'm sorry, Hadrian." Remus sighed. Hadrian just shrugged; he knew why Remus was nervous. And then the werewolf followed his friend. Hadrian let out a miniscule sigh, picking Harry up.
"Come along, runt. Let's go." And he walked outside, continuing beyond the wards before turning on the spot, effectively disappearing with a faint pop.
...
"Welcome!" Molly greeted them warmly by the door. "Sirius and Remus are already in the sitting room." She informed him with a bright smile. Hadrian forced out an answering smile.
"Thank you. For inviting us, I mean." He stepped inside, taking note of the fact that all the Weasley children where present in the kitchen. He internally smirked. Right. They were about to meet the famous Boy-Who-Lived. Not that Harry knew he was called any such thing. He took hold of Harry, held him in the air in front of him, facing him with a stern facial expression.
"Now. Listen here, runt." He began gravely. "No mischief, you hear me?" Harry nodded solemnly. "Alright. Then off you go." And he set him down on the floor. Harry bounced over to the other children but hesitated, suddenly shy. Hadrian suppressed a smirk as he followed Molly into the next room.
"Sirius, would you believe it? Your godson is shy!" He sniggered.
Sirius let out an indignant sound in the back of his throat. "Not on my watch, he isn't!" He made to get up from the chair he was sitting in, but Remus caught his arm.
"Honestly, Sirius." He began exasperatedly. "Harry needs no help from you to embarrass himself."
Sirius grinned sheepishly. "But it would be fun, don't you think? And break the ice." He defended himself without really trying.
Molly looked torn between wanting to laugh and scold him.
"Don't worry. I think they'll get to know each other soon enough." Hadrian shrugged and took the seat offered to him by Arthur.
"Welcome, Mr Orsus." Arthur smiled.
Hadrian nodded in greeting before grimacing. "Please, call me Hadrian." The smiled came more naturally after that.
"Of course. We insist you call us by first name, too." Molly chirped in happily. "Now if you excuse me, I must run to the kitchen to make sure dinner doesn't burn." And she was off before anyone could object. Not long after that, a sound that reminded Hadrian of a wild stampede told him the children had gotten over their temporary awkwardness.
Hadrian grinned. "Looks like Harry mustered up some of that Gryffindor courage you're always bragging about." He said cheekily, turning to Sirius.
"Of course! Harry will be a Gryffindor, just like his parents and us." He mentioned towards himself and Remus with a wave of his hand.
"Hm. I'm not so sure." Hadrian smirked. "What if he ends up in Slytherin?"
Sirius choked on his drink. "He wouldn't!" The man spluttered. "I-I mean, we love him no matter which house he ends up in." He amended hurriedly with a nervous glance at Remus' darkening face.
"Of course we do!" Remus snapped. "Merlin! Lily would hex you senseless for that if she was here." He scowled. Sirius squirmed uncomfortably in his seat.
Thankfully, he was saved by Arthur's amused chuckle. "You guys are arguing for nothing." He informed them merrily. "The children will be Sorted like everyone else, and placed in the House most suited to them. Nothing more to it than that."
"I thought all Weasleys were Gryffindors." It seemed Sirius couldn't help but point out.
"Generally." Arthur shrugged. "But the Twins are far too sneaky to not at least be considered for Slytherin." He added thoughtfully.
"And you're fine with that?" Hadrian asked curiously. He had thought so himself, but never really voiced it out loud. It had been a very sensitive matter, in the middle of a war with the self-proclaimed Heir of Slytherin and all.
"They'd be a commendable asset and improvement to the house." Arthur grinned. "Of course, Molly might need some time to cool down afterwards." He added mischievously.
Sirius barked out a laugh. "I like you already, Arthur!" His eyes shone with mirth as he grinned. Hadrian smiled. Soon enough, Bill entered the room, nervously approaching the adults.
"Bill." Arthur acknowledged his son.
"The kids are playing hide and seek." He said, as if that perfectly explained why he wasn't playing it with them. At the questioning look from his father, he continued. "I'm too old to play that." He answered calmly. Sirius blinked, and Remus looked doubtfully amused.
Hadrian internally smirked. "That's right." He offered a way into the conversation for the eleven year old. "You're beginning school in a few days. Looking forward to it?" He asked lightly.
"I suppose." Everyone could tell Bill was trying to act indifferent, but no one said anything. Although Remus had to discreetly kick Sirius in the shin to stop him from opening his big mouth. Bill turned all of his attention to Hadrian. "You're one of the teachers." He stated.
"I am. At least once the term starts." He smiled, accepting the drink Arthur held out for him and taking a small sip.
"What will you teach?" Bill blurted out, unable to contain his excitement any longer.
"Defence Against the Dark Arts." Hadrian answered, even though he knew that wasn't what the boy meant.
"I know that!" He visibly collected himself, and tried again. "I meant more specifically." Bill looked hopefully up at Hadrian. The remaining wizards in the room all had to suppress their smiles when Hadrian put on a thoughtful expression.
"You know, I haven't really thought about that yet."
Bill looked horrified at the thought. "B-But! Term starts in three days!"
"Really? That's loads of time to think of something. And if I don't, I can always wing it." He shrugged, unconcerned.
After a long pause, Remus sighed. "Stop it, Hadrian. You and I have been sketching up lesson plans all summer." Remus finally took mercy on the disappointed kid.
"Oh, that's right. I forgot." Hadrian drawled unconvincingly.
"Hey!" Bill exclaimed indignantly.
"Sorry, Bill." Hadrian grinned. "Couldn't help but pull your leg a little." He took another sip from his glass. "I suppose I'll start by giving you a rough overview of what I intend to teach you the next seven years of your lives. And then start you on basic defence." He shrugged. "I'll have to see how much your class can handle." He smiled again, and there was something almost challenging there.
"I heard there's a curse on the DADA position. Is that true?" Bill asked innocently.
Hadrian shrugged, unconcerned, even as the other adults looked slightly worried on his behalf. "I think it'll have its' hands full trying to get me away." He smirked into his drink. "It'll no doubt try."
Bill eyed him thoughtfully, before breaking out into a face-splitting grin.
"You talk as if it's alive." Arthur commented soberly.
"I suppose it is, in a sense." He shrugged. "Just think about it." He continued when he noticed that the others weren't convinced. "It's gotten rid of every professor every year, but in vastly different ways. Some have been critically injured or even died. While others have simply had other things to call them away, like Mr Telum, who is now married, I believe."
Remus looked to be deep in thoughts, mulling his words over.
"You seem to know a lot about it." Arthur commented, and Hadrian couldn't help but notice the approving note in his voice.
"It's my job to know, isn't it?" He smiled wryly. "And I might not seem concerned, because I'm really not, but it's still my health on the line." He shrugged again.
"So will you get rid of the curse, then?" Bill asked eagerly, leaning forward.
"We'll see. Maybe it will admit defeat after a few years." Hadrian grinned. As amusing as the thought was, he sincerely doubted it. No, the curse would most likely remained firmly in place until Voldemort was dead and gone for good.
"At least you're confident." Sirius said after taking a swig from his drink.
"So what's the first spell you'll teach us?" Bill resumed his earlier questioning.
Hadrian chuckled lightly. "I don't know if that's fair to tell you, Bill. You'll have a clear advantage over your classmates." He smiled thinly. Bill crossed his arms in front of his chest and pouted. This young eleven year old Bill was so different from the Bill from his time it made him laugh. He had always seen Bill as a cool older brother. He'd probably have to redefine his inner picture, Hadrian thought amusedly, suppressing the twinge of grief.
"Go keep an eye on your siblings, if you please, Bill." Arthur spoke up with a warm smile for his eldest. "I hope they haven't managed to turn Harry into a cat or something."
"Ok." Bill didn't put up too much of a fight. He simply cast Hadrian a last, intense look and then left.
"That would be impressive." Sirius commented.
"What?" Remus asked with a frown, clearly confused.
"Impressive bit of accidental magic, that, if they'd managed to turn him into a cat." Sirius grinned. "Imagine how much easier it would be to take care of him."
Remus smacked the back of his head, only half-jokingly. "Oi! That's your godson." He admonished.
"It's a good thing he has you too, then. Eh, Moony?" Hadrian chuckled.
"A very good thing." Remus agreed, still eyeing Sirius disapprovingly.
"I was only joking!" Sirius finally caved in under the stare.
Remus huffed out a laugh. "Oh, I know. It's just fun to mess with you." He shrugged, not the least contrite. Now it was Sirius' turn to look scandalised.
"I think you've finally corrupted him, Sirius." Hadrian stated amusedly. "James would be proud." He smirked. He hadn't known his father, no, but he had heard enough about him to guess a reaction.
Sirius was saved from having to think up an answer to that as Molly re-entered the room, looking slightly flushed.
"Dinner is ready." She declared with a smile. "Arthur, if you could bring the children down? I just have to put Ginny to bed." She mentioned towards the fussing baby in the crook of her arm.
"Of course, dear." Arthur got to his feet and hurried after his wife.
"Let's go and help him." Hadrian said, putting his glass down. "The little monster won't exactly make things easier." He smiled.
"True." Remus chuckled. Sirius just emptied his glass and followed, grinning.
Fifteen minutes later, everyone save Ginny was seated at the large kitchen table. Hadrian had to admit that dinner smelled delicious. Molly beamed at him when he told her as much.
"So, did you make any mischief?" Hadrian turned his face towards Harry, who was sitting between Sirius and Remus, Sirius sitting beside him.
"I didn't." Harry shook his head, blinking innocently.
"Hm. Is that so?" Hadrian wasn't convinced. Instead, he turned to Charlie. "Did he?" He quirked a half smile.
"Not really." Charlie shrugged, unconcerned. "He's practically harmless compared to Fred and George." He glanced briefly at the twins, who were both whispering quietly to each other. Hadrian nodded, satisfied.
"Let's not just look at the food." Molly clapped her hands together, drawing everyone's attention. "Please help yourselves."
Sirius readily did so. Arthur helped serve his children as Molly filled a plate for Hadrian. Hadrian accepted it gratefully; he could smell the food, sure. See it? not at all. Hadrian spent dinner enjoying the meal, listening to the conversations and relaxing. Remus and Arthur had struck up a conversation about the wonders of the latest muggle inventions, while Sirius was telling the children about some of the many pranks he had done in school, much to Molly's dismay. When the children were practically falling asleep in their seats, Molly let out a contented sigh.
"I think it's time to put these ones to bed." She smiled at her sons. Even Bill was nodding in his chair, struggling to stay awake.
"And time for us to leave." Remus nodded. "Thank you very much for the lovely dinner, Molly, Arthur." He smiled.
Sirius nodded his enthusiastic agreement. "Dinner at our house, next time! Hadrian can cook."
Hadrian grinned, not minding at all that Sirius had volunteered him for the job. "Sure. But I think I'd have to recruit help from Remus to make it look nicer than my cooking usually does." He chuckled. Sirius had teased him to no end about the fact that his cooking looked outright repulsive from time to time. It always tasted great, though, so Hadrian wasn't overly concerned. The whole visual impression wasn't his strong suit.
"You can cook?" Molly sounded pleasantly surprised.
"Yes. I've known how to cook since I was very young. I was always helping out in the kitchen." He shrugged, not too keen to elaborate.
"We'd gladly accept." Arthur said with a heartfelt smile. "Now we really need to get the children off to bed." He stated when Percy looked like he was about to plant his face on his plate.
"Of course." Remus rose, picking up Harry, who actually had fallen asleep some time ago. So while Molly bustled around the children, Hadrian helped Arthur to clear the table. Sirius and Remus decided to wait by the door, Remus because he didn't want to wake Harry up, and Sirius because... well, quite frankly, he was a hazard in the kitchen. When they were done, Hadrian turned towards the door to leave.
"Wait a moment, Hadrian. I'd like to talk to you." Arthur caught his arm. "Would you come with me to the sitting room?"
Hadrian's stomach clenched. "Of course." And he slowly followed the man he had seen as a father-figure for most of his life. He knew the evening had been too good to be true. He took a deep breath and steeled him for what was to come.
"I'd like to talk to you about when we met." Arthur began firmly. Hadrian nodded; he had known what this was about from the beginning. "When you came here to-"
"I apologize for that." Hadrian interrupted. "I know it was a rude thing to ask when we hadn't so much as met yet, and I didn't even tell you the real reason behind it." He continued before Arthur could say anything. "I should have told you and Molly, I know. But I didn't want to give the rat any warning. If he had noticed either of you acting even a little bit different, he might have suspected something and run off. I couldn't risk that." Hadrian gulped down a breath. "So I'm not really sorry for my actions, but I am sorry that I didn't warn you first." He finished lamely, somewhat contradicting himself.
Arthur stared at him. "...you think I'm angry with you?" He sounded incredulous.
Hadrian paused. "Aren't you?"
"No!" Arthur all but exclaimed. "I wanted to thank you! That's why Molly and I invited you over." The man smiled, but the look in his eyes was steely. "I never could have guessed that rat was an animagus. If you hadn't interfered, who knows how long he would have stayed here? In out house." He shuddered at the thought. "And having free access to our children, in addition to that." He spat out angrily. Most people forgot that Arthur Weasley had quite the temper once he was pushed far enough. Everyone always thought of Molly's fiery anger, but their children knew to really look out for their father if he ever snapped. Arthur's quiet, smouldering fury was nothing to just brush aside.
Hadrian blinked, truly shocked.
"So I simply wished to thank you personally." Arthur finished, smiling once more. "I would have done so months ago, but the office was a mess after that trial. Then there was the attack on Longbottom manor, and then the children all caught colds at the same time." He explained with a shrug. "It's been a hectic year." He summed up. Hadrian nodded; he had had his fair share of things to get used to and take care of, too.
"It was my pleasure." He smiled grimly. "Pettigrew is finally where he belongs. In Azkaban, without his cowardly soul."
Arthur eyed him intently a moment. There were several questions he wanted to ask. Like, how had Hadrian known where to find him? He hadn't even known the rat was more than it seemed, and he had had it right under his nose. And everyone except Sirius had been convinced Pettigrew was dead. He didn't though. He knew there were several things he hadn't been told, but Dumbledore trusted Hadrian explicitly. So he would too. And he didn't sense any harmful intent in this man, so scarred by life and war. He almost felt as if Hadrian ought to be darker, somehow, than he really was.
"Thank you." Arthur said.
Hadrian fidgeted awkwardly a moment, before giving a jerky nod and then turned to leave. "It was my pleasure." He said over his shoulder, joining his family in the kitchen. "Good night." And Hadrian was out the door. Remus and Sirius both smiled and nodded their farewell before following him.
...
This was going to feel strange.
No, that was actually an understatement. He hadn't participated in a Welcome Feast in... years! And never while sitting at the staff table. Hadrian let out a silent sigh, steeling himself. Most of the students were already seated and chatting happily with each other, their murmurs filling the Great Hall. They were all waiting for the first years to arrive. Hadrian brushed his hand against one shoulder, regretting the fact that he had asked Albe to stay in their rooms. He didn't want to shock the entire school with her presence before the year had even begun. No, that could wait until tomorrow. But she would have been comforting to have close, now.
Another reason Hadrian was so tense was sitting beside him. He couldn't believe he had forgotten! Stupid of him, really. But Snape didn't feel the same as the man he remembered. This Snape had just lost the one important person in his life, not even a year ago. Lily had been Snape's everything. It irked him a little to admit it, but his mother had been the love of Snape's life. She had had the power to utterly change him, without ever intending to do so. Her death had led Snape to Dumbledore, and Dumbledore had taken him in. Not without a price, of course. Nothing comes free of charge. Hadrian had learned that the hard way, already at a young age. Snape had thrown his lot in with the Death Eaters, to begin and atone for that he would work for the Order, for Dumbledore. Hadrian also knew that Snape had sworn on his life to protect Harry in any way he could. The man had honoured that promise all his life, finally sealing it with his death.
His thoughts were interrupted as the doors to the Great Hall opened and a line of small children trooped inside, following professor McGonagall. The Sorting hat proceeded to sing his song, and then sorted the students. Hadrian listened only with one ear, still somewhat lost in thoughts. He was jerked out of his thoughts when food suddenly appeared all around the Hall, filling the air with tantalising aromas. Hadrian realised he had even missed Albus' traditional 'speech'. He sheepishly felt around the table around him, to find out what was offered. He eventually made his choice and slowly consumed his meal, focusing more on the hall in general than on his food. There really were a lot of students at Hogwarts. Would he be able to do this? By himself? Sure, it had been fun to help Telum with his lessons, but be completely responsible for it all by himself? The thought was terrifying.
And wasn't that amusing? Hadrian had spent most of his life fighting against Death Eaters and Voldemort himself! He had found himself in situations most wizards would despair in, and he had still managed to fight his way out. He sighed. So why was he so frightened of a bunch of brats? Once again, he was interrupted in his thoughts.
"Well!" Albus stood up and addressed the students. The food had already been cleared away. "Now that we've all been fed and watered, I have a few announcements to make." Albus let his eyes wander the four tables in front of him. "Firstly, to our old students; welcome back! And to the first years, Welcome to Hogwarts. I hope you'll all have a wonderful year, filled with learning and fun." He smiled. "The Forbidden Forest is, as always, forbidden." He eyed the Gryffindor table a moment longer than the rest; there were usually a few who wanted to prove themselves braver than others, there. "And Mr Filch has a list with banned object, which you will find on the door to his office. He has also asked me to remind students that it is forbidden to use magic in the corridors between classes." His eyes twinkled merrily as they momentarily darted over to Hadrian. "Secondly. I have two new professors to introduce this year. Professor Hadrian Orsus will be taking over Defence Against the Dark Arts. I'm sure most of you recognize him from last year. And professor Severus Snape, will be taking over Potions, as professor Slughorn is now happily retired." He made a brief pause. "If the two of you could please be so kind and stand up so the students can get a look at you." He felt like grinning at the dark glower Severus sent him and the slight, disapproving scowl that flashed over Hadrian's face. It took a moment, but they reluctantly obliged. The students clapped politely to welcome them both. Hadrian nodded towards the faces turned up to look at him with a faint, thin smile. While Snape simply stared stonily at the children. It would be a great adjustment for him, Albus knew, going from spending his time with Death Eaters who were just as likely to hurt him as protect him, to teaching children. But the man was undoubtedly skilled, already a potion's master at such a young age.
"Well then. Prefects, lead the first years to their new dorms and make sure they settle in for the night." And with that, Albus dismissed them all. The professors all watched the students leave and then silently followed Albus to the staff room.
"Welcome back, everyone." He took a seat around the large table in the room, waiting for the others to sit before he continued. "I trust everyone's been introduced to our new editions?" Some of his teachers nodded, but no one objected, so he soon continued. Albus flicked his wand towards a stack of papers in the corner. "Here are your finished schedules. There's hardly been any changes from the preliminary schedules you recieved at the beginning of summer." He said and then nodded towards his deputy headmistress.
"You have all sent in your lesson plans and I have no objections. And the board of governors have approved, as well." She stated easily. "I look forward to working with all of you this year." She gave them one of her rare smiles. "I've also brought the schedules for patrolling the castle at night." She added, and a second piece of paper joined the first in front of each. "Any questions?" No one spoke up. "Then I suggest you all go and prepare for tomorrow."
The witches and wizards rose and began to murmur to each other, no doubt discussing their summers. Hadrian picked up his schedules and was about to rise when the sound of his name caught his attention.
"Hadrian, wait a moment, if you please." Albus spoke softly. Hadrian nodded and sat back down, leaning back. He could feel Snape's gaze on his skin; the man was no doubt curious. Albus was humming a merry tune to himself, where he sat in his chair. Most people would have thought it odd, but Hadrian knew he was waiting for the room to empty completely.
"So how are you feeling about all of this?" Albus finally asked, waving a hand, encompassing the entirety of the castle in the motion.
"Frankly? I'm scared half to death." Hadrian admitted ruefully. "I think I'd rather face Voldemort again." He let out a sigh.
Albus chuckled. "You'll get used to it soon enough. Most of the children already know you. And your stunt from last year will ensure that most of them treat you with respect."
"What stunt?" Hadrian frowned, trying to figure out what he was talking about.
"Remember when you broke up that duel during exam week? Well, so does most of Hogwarts." Albus seemed far too amused by all this, for Hadrian's taste.
"Was there something in particular you wanted, Albus?" Hadrian asked tiredly. He really wasn't up to this right now.
"Ah, yes." Albus sobered quickly. "I will talk to Sirius and Remus first thing tomorrow, and I'm sure Alastor will inform Mr Black as well. It appears Bellatrix Lestrange has managed to completely vanish. The Aurors in charge of tracking and capturing her can find no traces of her." He told him gravely.
Hadrian stilled. "And she will most likely seek out Voldemort." He finished. "Or try for Harry's life." He tilted his head questioning, turning towards Albus.
"That strikes me as most likely, yes." Albus nodded. "Sirius' house already has the best protection I can give it, without relying on the Fidelius charm." He let out a sigh. "And Sirius refused that. He didn't want to hide, and seeing as it failed the Potters, he didn't really see the point." He sounded every bit his age when he spoke of the death of the Potters. Hadrian blinked. He hadn't known Sirius had refused the Fidelius.
"What about Longbottom Manor?" Hadrian asked. "Harry spends a lot of time there, as well."
Albus nodded. "After the Death Eater attack, Frank made sure to increase the protection, as well as fortifying the already existing wards."
"This is very serious." Hadrian commented softly.
"It is."
"I can't help but feel as if it will come back to bite us in the future." Hadrian sighed, yet again.
Albus gave him a sad smile. "Harry has three formidable guardians."
"But no blood-wards." Hadrian pointed out. "At least not any that aren't dependent on skin-to-skin contact."
"Which is still very important protection." Albus said. Hadrian simply nodded. "Try not to think about it at the moment, Hadrian. Remember; you have classes to teach tomorrow!"
Hadrian groaned. "You just had to do that, didn't you?" He frowned accusingly. "I had momentarily forgotten about that." He muttered.
Albus chuckled, suddenly merry again. "Of course I did. How else is an old man supposed to amuse himself?"
"...please tell me not all year will be like this?" Hadrian groused. Albus, however, either ignored him or didn't hear (probably the foremost) as he strolled over to the door and left for his chambers. Hadrian glowered at nothing a moment longer, before giving it up as a lost cause, and followed Albus' example. He'd need all the energy he could get tomorrow. A quick spell let him know that his first class would consist of the seventh years; the N.E.W.T class. Great. No need to go easy on him, or anything! He didn't doubt for even a second that Albus hadn't done it on purpose.
...