I watched as their eyes widened almost alarmingly.
"Yes, I did that that. Now are you ready to listen? Will you keep an open mind?" I asked.
Neither replied in words, but both nodded.
Another deep breath and I began.
"It started with my best mate Ron and I in a dungeon…"
Sirius Black stared at us, the two versions of Harry Potter. Little-Harry, the one rescued from the Dursleys' generous 'care' and me, the almost nineteen year old time-stream 'jumper'. Hearing about my life and how I came to be where I was, obviously scared the collywobbles out of the prankster and left him completely incapable of speaking.
"Now what?" Remus asked.
"Now they move forward." Father answered for me and Ron.
"But…?" Remus objected.
"But what? There are no buts, not now." Father corrected.
Remus tilted his head and frowned.
"But what does that entail? Moving forward, I mean?" The werewolf asked.
"Hadrien?" Father turned me. "Care to elaborate?"
"Sure, why not?" I grinned. "First up… I'll open the shop tomorrow, as per what has become usual for me. I'll send an owl to Ben Cartwright and ask him to man the shop for a week or so, some time in January, to be confirmed when. I'll sit down and work out an offer on the Undergate estate and submit that to Gringotts. Take Ron and have New Year's with the Weasley clan. In January, I'll empty the Undergate estate and store the contents in the new warehouse that I've just bought through Gringotts, probably with the help of Ron. I'll write up a plan for my Hogwarts' classes and get them approved by Dumbledore. Begin to teach said classes." I paused. "Then it's a case of various repetitions. I'll give Ron until the end of February before I start nagging him, in regards to a job. I don't mind if he wants to work with me, go into business for himself, join the Aurors or if it's something completely different. It's fine… as long as he make a call by the end of February." I mock-frowned at Ron. "After that? We wait for Portia to arrive. Once she does, we get her through the process of a new identity and sort out what's happening with her NEWTs and support her through that. Then she'll get the same as Ron, two months of peace, before the nagging begins."
"And somewhere in that…" Ron added. "We'll visit Gringotts to take the Cadet-House Oaths and attend the Wizengamot to formalise the creation of House Potter-Prewett."
"And what of us?" Remus asked.
"Well, before you leave here, I'll be getting an Unbreakable Vow from you both, to not disclose our secrets in any way to anyone, be they living, dead or otherwise. Then-"
"Otherwise?" Sirius cut in.
"Are portraits living or dead?" Ron asked almost seriously.
"Oh… Uh…" Sirius floundered for a moment. "I don't know…"
"Neither do we, which is why we say, 'living, dead or otherwise'." I explained.
"So… that's it?" Remus asked. "You're just going to ignore all this?"
"What would you have me do, Remus? Huh?" I asked.
"I… I… I don't know… but… surely there's something…"
"There is… and we're doing it. We're living. " I assured him.
"But what about the Hallows?"
"What of them? The cloak was handed down to James Potter, who in turn left it to his son, but in this time-stream, Harry Potter is little-Harry, so he get's it, I still have the cloak from my time-stream. It's been weakened a little by the transition to this time-stream, but I still have it. As for the Resurrection Stone, I've claimed that as the eldest magical descendant of the Peverells'. Dumbledore has the wand, now. Even if he leaves it to little-Harry, because I have the stone, little-Harry will never have to go through what Hogwarts told me, was the hell that becoming the Master of Death entails."
"You don't want to be Lord Peverell?" Sirius asked.
"No, Gods, no. But even if I did, it would take a crap-load of finagling for Gringotts, before I could. The Potter's married into the Peverell family, Iolanthe Peverell married Hardwin Potter, son of Linfred of Stinchcombe, who was the first to be called 'Potter'. So, for me to take the Peverell title, there'd have to be a lot changes, to start with… I'd have to denounce the name of Potter and quite bluntly, in this political climate that would be suicide. And I've got no desire to put myself or my brother on some fan's hit-list."
"Huh? I didn't know." Sirius said.
"Why would you? The only reason I know, is because Snaprok and Shatteraxe looked into it, back in March. I wasn't all that polite in my comments in response."
"Like Sunday?" Ron asked laughing.
"Pretty much." I nodded.
"Sunday?" Remus asked.
"We went into Gringotts to get my paperwork done and Snaprok told Harry that Shatteraxe had made a formal petition to recognise Harry as a member of the Axe clan." Ron smirked.
Sirius and Remus didn't react, but given the way they froze, it was obvious that they were not capable of reacting.
After watching them for a minute and seeing no change, I waved my wand and floated little-Harry into the air and slid out from under him. Once standing I lowered little-Harry to the sofa and wandered into the kitchen to make tea.
"You're going to just leave them like that?" Mother asked slightly amused.
"Only until the tea is ready." I assured her.
New Year's eve that year was a Monday. And remember who doesn't open the shop on Mondays? Yep... So Ron was having a lie in and I was enjoying the morning, a mug of tea in my hands. I sat in my ugly armchair, tucked up beside the window, just gazing out into the brilliant morning.
A flicker of blue light caught my eye and drew my attention.
"Um… Hello? Hadrien? It's Bill Weasley. Um… Professor Dumbledore's said that if I can get someone to come and get me and Charlie, we can go home for New Year's and come back on the train on Wednesday. He suggested that we ask you and make it a surprise for Mum and Dad. Will you? Please?" The flames flickered and faded away.
I snorted, I didn't know whether to be amused at Bill or annoyed with Dumbledore. But after a few moments, I decided that it wasn't worth the aggravation, amusement was easier.
"Nuntio expecto." I waited for the flames to build. "Reply to Bill Weasley. No conditions. Message…" I smirked and made sure my voice was overly bright. "Good morning, Bill Weasley! Of course I'll come and fetch you and Charlie. I'll meet you at the school gates, in half an hour. But fair warning, if you're keeping this as a surprise for your parents, you're going to have spend part of the day here, as Ron and I aren't expected at the Burrow until five-ish." I let the brightness leave my voice. "Oh and Bill? The next time you treat me as anything other than a cousin, outside of a classroom, you can expect retaliation… try it and I'll tell your Mother, brat." I flicked my wand and the flames flared and when the flare died, the flames were gone.
I got to my feet and wandered into the kitchen, debating with myself. Should I wake Ron and tell him, or should I just leave a message…? Then I hit me, this was exactly what the Messenger was have been created for, at least as far as we were telling anyone.
"Nuntio expecto." The flames sparked into life. "Message for my brother Ron. Deliver when he enters our kitchen. Message… Morning, mate. Gone to play 'fetch a Weasley' or two, back a.s.a.p. Put the kettle on, please." I flicked my wand and the messenger floated over to the kitchen area.
I snorted in amusement as the flames danced around the space, but I refused to be distracted from my self-appointed task. Downstairs, I dropped floo powder into the floo as I said 'The Three Broomsticks', clearly but not loudly and waited for everything to turn green. Emerging from the fireplace, I gave Madam Rosmerta a small bow and headed for the door.
But I paused before I got there.
"Madam Rosmerta? It's not something I'd given thought to before, but is there a public floo-fireplace in the village, or must you put up with the public tromping through your business, at all hours of the day?"
The blonde woman laughed. "There is, young sir. It's charmed that anyone that lives at Hogwarts can't see it, don't know how they did that, but that's the restriction. To the amusement of a few, that also includes the staff. You'll find it in the 'ruins' of the Cock and Bull, up the Way and turn right, second building on you left. Then there's the station, but that is the other side of the lake, so it's not as useful."
"Thank you, Madam." I gave a second bow and left.
Up Carriage Way towards the castle, I ambled along, pausing at Honeydukes to eye the window, but it was a bit early in the morning for them to be open. A robe in Gladrags caught my attention and I decided that I'd have to make time to get some new robes, muggle clothes and simple robes were fine for the shop, but not for teaching at Hogwarts. Oh, and lookee there, Dervish and Banges, I'd have to make time to check out the competition. But not today.
Today I was playing 'fetch a Weasley'.
As I reached the Gates, I was greeted by the sight of Bill and Charlie standing just inside the Gates with Professor McGonagall.
"Good morning." I chirped brightly and was greeted by two incredulous looks and one rather amused McGonagall.
"Good morning, Hadrien. Thank you for agreeing to collect the Mr's Weasley, although I do think you scared the senior of the two, I distinctly heard an 'eep' from him. Threatening to talk to their Mother is a cruel punishment, I shall have to remember it." She gave a genteel half curtsey and stepped back. "Through you go, gentlemen. And please remember that you will either need to catch the express back on Wednesday, floo to the station or have someone apparate you to the station to join your classmates in the carriages."
"Yes, Professor McGonagall." Both boys said, but Bill added a question. "Should we send a Messenger to you to inform you, what we're going to do?"
Professor McGonagall gave her small, tight-lipped smile. "That would be much appreciated, Mr Weasley. Now, off you go, I've too many other things that require my attention, to just stand here and wait on your departure. Shoo." She flicked her fingers at them.
Both boys gave her a grin and darted through the partially open Gates, backpacks hanging from their hands.
"Good morning, Weasley's one and two." I smiled at them.
"Morning Harry." Charlie was Charlie, as laid back as ever.
"Good morning, Hadrien." Bill was a little hesitant.
"Right, then. Let's get a move on, I need another cuppa." I held out an arm and Bill clasped his hand around my wrist, while Charlie held my hand, tightly. "Ease up, there, Charlie. Apparition doesn't hurt." The grip on my hand loosened but stayed firm. "Ready?" Both nodded and closed their eyes. I focused on the hallway in front of the floo-fireplace near the Lane access to my shop and willed us to be there.
Crack.
I waited for the boys to open their eyes. First Bill, then Charlie, looked at me in surprise.
"What? Were you expecting it to hurt?" I asked.
"It's never been comfortable before, but that was easy." Bill whispered, still slightly shocked.
"Eh, magic's always come easy to me, the only place I struggle at all is theory, but even there, it's not so bad." I replied. "Now, come on, upstairs. Time for breakfast."
First class. Right. I wasn't nearly ready, but hey? I always responded better with very little planning. Entering the room, I saw that there were four separate groups of chairs and desks. Well, that wouldn't do. I flicked my wand into my hand and set about creating the layout I wanted. I based it on a movie theatre, with three rows of raised seating but in a semi circular setting. The lower row held eight seats and the middle row held twelve, but in a staggered format against the lower rank. The third row, was also staggered against the middle row, only this time, with sixteen seats. The idea being that any staff, head of house or concerned parent that wished to attend, would sit in the rear row while the lower two were for the students. I based each seat on the one that Snape had conjured at the quidditch pitch, a comfortable looking armchair with flip up writing desk, that could be moved from one side to another, depending on whether a student was left or right handed. All of them were the darker of their house colour, trimmed in the lighter colour. So, a dark grey with emerald green trim for the Slytherins', Hufflepuff's had Black with yellow trim, Ravenclaw's were dark bronze with a subdued cornflower blue, while the Gryffindors' had dark scarlet and gold. Yes, I split them by house, but only because I needed them comfortable and I couldn't see forcing unwilling students to mingle, would make them comfortable.
A quiet tapping at the open door announce the first student.
"Um, hello?" The little 'Puff's greeting was more a question than a comment.
"Good afternoon, Miss, come on in. And leave the door open, if you would?" I replied and the girl entered the room slowly. "First or second rows, please." I gestured to the yellow seats.
"Yes, sir." She limped across to a seat.
"Miss?" I asked, trying not to be threatening.
"Sir?"
"Please be aware of there being no one else here, just yet, when I ask… Why are you limping?"
"Oh… um… I was injured as a child and the doctors were only able to repair so much of the damage to my leg." She answered.
"Muggleborn?"
"Yes, sir."
"Have you spoken to Madam Pomfrey? There may still be a chance of repairing the damage, even now." I suggested.
"Oh… no, sir… I… I didn't even think about it." She frowned.
"Well, perhaps you could speak with her, I'm not saying that she will definitely be able to help, just that there may be a chance." I didn't want to get her hopes up too much.
"Even if she can only help with the pain, sir, that would be great, I'm used to limping, but the pain sometimes gets too much." She whispered.
"That… she can help with, almost certainly." A noise in the hall heralded the arrival of the rest of the students. As they clustered around the door, I turned to face them. "Alright, everyone in, find a seat, in the first two rows, the back row is for any staff that want to attend. Come on, spread out, make yourselves comfortable, we're here for four hours. I will give you a fifteen minute break in the middle for a trip to the loo's."
Once they were seated and had quietened down again I continued. "Was anyone here, at the quidditch pitch when I did the Messenger class for the Headmaster?" One lonely hand rose. "Good, so you've spoken to your friends, yes?" A nod. "Even better. What we'll cover today will be that Messenger and the restrictions that the Headmaster has put on it's use." A few Slytherins grumbled at hearing there were restrictions.
"To start with… no Messengers during classes or exams. Anyone found to have deliberately sent a Messenger to a student during a class will loose points and serve detentions, anyone deliberately sending a Messenger to a student in exams, will find themselves in front of the Headmaster defending their actions. Anyone that receives a Messenger during class, will be questioned and if they were aware of the messenger incoming, they will loose points and serve detentions. Anyone receiving a Messenger during an exam… will have to provide the memory of the Messenger and may have to resit the entire exam, if it's found that the Messenger provided any information on the examining subject." I flicked my wand and sent a flock of parchment into the air, one settling on each desk. "The security ward around Hogwarts will record each and every Messenger sent orreceived within Hogwarts grounds. That is the entiremessage will be recorded, so think carefully about sending a love-note to your sweetheart, as the Headmaster may read it." There was a few snickers at that and I wondered how many students would send one just to make the Headmaster read it? "Any threatening or abusive Messengers will be treated like threatening mail and will result in the Aurors and you Head of Family being called. Any message that the wards interpret as being detrimental to your health, either physical, emotional or mental, will be forwarded to the Headmaster, immediately. And fair warning, those wards have a thousand years worth of experience to gauge your messages by."
Everyone was focused now, their eyes flicking from me to the parchment.
"You've five minutes to read through the conditions of use, before I continue." I waved a hand and settled myself into a conjured version of my ugly chair, to wait. While I did, two staff members, Professor Sprout and Madam Pomfrey peeked around the edge of the door, I gestured them in and waved them up to the back row of seats.
After five minutes, I tapped my wand against the tiny gong on the end table that sat beside my chair. It took almost another minute, but slowly the students focused on me.
"Okay, you've had a few minutes to study the rules of use for the Messenger. Now, you'll learn how to actually conjure a Messenger of your own. Let's start with the incantation…" I focused on the students and like with the D.A., I got down to the itty-gritty of teaching.
"Alright, Ron. I said I'd give you until the end of February to decide what you wanted to do, before I started nagging." I dropped into my ugly armchair and faced Ron, where he was draped across the couch opposite me. "What have you come up with?"
"Geez, bro, you're a bit slow." Ron smirked at me.
"Yeah?"
"Yeah. I met with Moody last week and he run me through the Gauntlet, before taking me to see Scrimgeour. I start training with Moody this coming Monday."
"Oh… okay." I huffed. "Any reason you didn't tell me? I mean…"
"I wanted to see how long it would take you to figure it out and boy, was Bill right."
"About… what…?"
"You're completely clueless." Ron laughed.
"I am not."
"Yes… you… are…" Ron sat up. "Look, we did the Wizengamot thing and got all the Head of House crap out of the way, right?"
"Yes…?"
"And those wizards, the ones that approached us, they wanted to talk about all sorts of things, and you? You just ignored the whole lot of them, every time one went off on a tangent and tried to get us to visit their homes, you basically shut them down, every single time, but you did it in such a way that the poor buggers can't cry foul, because they weren't being upfront and you were. Then there were the witches that wanted your attention and you just ignored anything and everything personal, you were only focused on the business at hand and everything else was discarded. And like the wizards, they couldn't do anything about it. Not even when they started fronting up to the shop, you were clear that the magical side of the shop only open for those hours and that was it. When the time was up, you politely and firmly escorted them from the premises and refused to even consider allowing them into your private space or personal time." He huffed a laugh. "It was so cool to watch them flounder, they wanted your attention and you couldn't care less and it showed. Then there's the students at Hogwarts."
"Hogwarts?"
"Bill says there's a betting pool. Half a dozen sixth and seventh years girls have approached you for private lessons and you just knock 'em all back. Even the two, so-called, most beautiful girls in the school. And you haven't even seen them. The pool now is, are you gay, would the same thing happen if the boys were to approach you?"
"What?!" I screeched.
"Charlie laughed himself almost sick. He said if Bill wasn't pretty enough to draw your eye, then no one at Hogwarts was."
"What the hell…?!"
"I coulda told 'em, but where's the fun in that? I know you're not gay, I mean, I saw you with Cho and Ginny, but until you meet the right girl, you just don't see them." Ron stood. "Don't panic… they'll figure it out… eventually." He wandered into the kitchen. "Fancy a burger for dinner?"
Easter holidays were a godsend for teachers, I discovered. Not me personally, but all the others were almost as excited as the students, that they had a week off. Me, I got two Sunday's off, as the express headed back to London on the Saturday morning and returned the Sunday evening, a week later. But I still was at Hogwarts.
Who'd have ever thought that I would ever voluntarily spend time with the greasy bat of the dungeons, one Severus Snape? I wouldn't have. Ron laughed himself almost sick when I told him, I was spending the day with Snape. But I really wanted to get that air-freshening pesticide right.
What I'd given Luna was good, but not right, it kept turning her curtains yellow… and not a nice yellow, either.
So… here I was in a potions lab with Snape, working on creating a new potion.
"You're quite correct, Hadrien, a base of Isopropyl Alcohol. But…" Snape nodded as he read my recipe.
"Yeah, but… I know the African Red Pepper needs to stay, as does the horseradish and alihosty, or the pesticide won't work…" I agreed.
"But you also need the dandelion dew and the pomegranate juice for the air freshener…."
"… and to be able to combine the two…"
"… you need the mallowsweet. Why the valerian and the orange blossom?"
"Ah, the first person I made it for suffered from disturbed sleep, whether that was from the insects, magical or general, I don't know. So, I put a quarter scruple of valerian in, just to calm her…"
"… and the orange blossom to mask the bitter scent?"
"Yep." I sat back. "And now…? Yellow curtains."
"That's the clash between the pomegranate, the alihosty and the orange, I think." Snape flipped the pages of a book beside him before continuing. "Yes, the three don't blend well."
"Right. So… definitely not replacing the alihosty and don't particularly want to replace the pomegranate juice or the orange blossom oil, but…"
"… one needs to go." He nodded.
"Yep…" I wandered around the room, thinking as I walked, a listing of the ingredients for a muscle relaxant caught my eye. "Oh… ooh…" I hummed.
"What…?" Snape drawled.
"What would happen if I switched out both the pomegranate and the orange blossom oil for a different citrus oil?" I asked.
"Hmm… You want a pleasant scent but it needs to blend into the pesticide…"
"Not orange, lemon or grapefruit."
"Perhaps kumquat…?"
"Ooh what about yuzu or sudachi?"
"I'm not familiar with sudachi, but yuzu might work…" Snape trailed off.
"Sudachi are tart, really tart and often used in place of vinegar in Japanese cooking, but they smell brighter than lemons or limes." I offered.
"Whereas yuzu is similar to grapefruit with overtones of mandarin." Snape added. "I'd try the sudachi first. The sweetness of the orange seems to be the problem, so the tartness of the sudachi might be sufficient to blend the pesticide and the freshener."
"If not… what about some mandrake leaf oil?"
And so went my Easter holiday…
A scream distracted my class from their notes on the side effects of overusing a the Scourgifycharm. I looked up and saw a first year run passed the door, he obviously stopped and came back a few steps, to look in the classroom door.
"Snakes! There's a swarm of snakes coming into the castle!" He yelled and was gone again.
The eleven students that were my class for the day, all stood up.
"Freeze!" I snapped. "Sit." They all sat, but every one of them was tense, ready to run. "I'll see to this, you lot keep reading."
"But sir…" A seventh year 'puff objected. "What if they get in the room?"
"I'll ward the door, so you'll be fine." I shook my head.
"What if you get bitten?" A little 'claw asked.
"I won't, I've only been bitten once and that was a mistake. Sit. Read. I'll be back." I headed out the door and into the lower castle.
On the stairs down, I met up with Dumbledore.
"Ah, Hadrien. It seems we've been invaded by snakes… the reptilian kind. You might like to head back to your class and secure the door."
"So I heard. And no, Headmaster, I won't be. My class are fine, reading up on overuse of a few charms. And you might need my help with snakes."
"Very well, banishing charms, if you please, send them to the forbidden forest. I'd rather not kill them."
I frowned. "Uh… Headmaster? Why not find out why they're coming in, before getting rid of them?"
"And how would you suggest we do that, Professor Potter-Prewett?" Snape joined us from the viaduct bridge.
I looked at them and made myself gape at them. "What do mean 'how'? I plan to ask them."
"How?" Dumbledore demanded.
"Uh, snakes understand parseltongue." I said in a slow clear voice, like I was telling someone something they should know.
"And how does that help us?" Professor McGonagall joined us, clearly put out.
"Uh, Potters… parseltongue…" I said.
"Which means what, exactly?" Dumbledore asked.
I looked at them as though I thought them stupid, before widening my eyes, seemingly in alarm.
"You mean that Uncle Jimmy never…?" I gasped.
"Never what, Professor Potter-Prewett?" Dumbledore looked at me hard.
"Uncle Jimmy never told you... Canatos Peverell was the Father of Antioch, Cadmus and Ignotus, right? He was the great-great-grandson of Melory Slytherin, the first parseltongue. Ignotus' granddaughter Iolanthe married Hardwin Potter, the first to claim the name, right? All the magical Potters are descended from him."
"And…?"
"And that means that all of us are parselmouths, or maybe I should say we all have the possibility of it."
"Parseltongue?" Dumbledore stumbled on nothing. "You're a parseltongue?"
"I can speak parseltongue, I am a parselmouth."
"Oh, my." McGonagall gasped.
"Me, Ron and even little-Harry. Father isn't, so I suppose it might have skipped a generation, I don't know."
"But that means that you are able to speak to snakes? These snakes?" Snape demanded.
"Yeah." I nodded.
"Good." He pointed in front of us to the base of the stairs. "There they are."
"Okay. Put up a shield to stop them from going any further, please." I stepped off the first step and the snakes swung their heads towards me, raising up into an aggressive position
:§: Hello? Might I assk why you have come into the sschool. It iss not a ssafe placse for ssnakess. :§:
One snake raised itself up higher than the others and hissed.
:§:Sspeaker… sspeeaker. There iss a manss child in our foresst, a sspeaker child, he iss hurt. We have come for the manss healerss. :§:
:§: A what?! :§: I gasped in shock. :§: Take me to him, I will bring him to the healerss where he will be ssafe. :§:
It turned back to Dumbledore, McGonagall and Snape. "There's a child in forest, the snakes say he's a speaker and he's hurt, they've come for a healer. I'll go with them and bring him back." I said, just as a flare of bluebell flames appeared.
"Hadrien, we're got a problem little-Harry's accidental magics blew up and he's apparated, but we don't know where, can you help us search?" Sirius' voice was stressed.
:§: Go I will follow you. :§: I said to the snake as I drew my wand.
"Nuntio expecto." The flames built in front of me, even as I was moving. "Reply to Sirius, no conditions. Message… Have a lead, give me five." I flicked the wand and the flames vanished. I ran after the snakes, tossing a yell over my shoulder. "Tell the students of leave the snakes alone, I'll deal with it."
As I reached the covered bridge between the clock tower and the owlery, I heard a set of feet behind me, a quick glance showed Snape chasing me and the snakes. Who'd have thought the man could run? Not me. But running he was and more importantly he had a healer's bag in his hand.
I turned back and kept going. I knew that snakes could move fairly quickly but I had never realised that magical snakes could move so much faster than non-magical ones. I was sprinting and just barely keeping up with what appeared to be a common adder… holy hell, it could move.
Off the bridge and passed the path to the owlery and we kept running. Down the steps towards the CoMC area and passed the enclosures. And still we were running. The snakes began to slow as we approached the outcrop of forest that met up with the castle's boundary walls. I watched as a snake slithered through a hole in the wall and frowned when I realised there was no chance of me following it and the nearest gate was on the other side of the quidditch pitch.
"Hadrien." Snape huffed as he caught up to me. "Levitate me to the top of the wall. I'll do the same to you, once I'm up."
I nodded and incanted the charm to move objects. "Levioso." Seconds later and Snape had done the same for me and we were both on the ground on the outside of the wall. And running again.
Another hundred and fifty-odd yards and I saw little-Harry, hugging a snake and sobbing his eyes out. Blood was smeared over his hands, face and legs.
"Harry!" I yelled as I got closer to him. "Oh, Harry!" I slid to me knees and reached out towards him.
"Stop!" Snape's voice cut into my panic. "Let me see him first. Make sure he's not badly hurt, then you can blubber over him, Hadrien." The man growled at me.
"Sorry. I know better. It's just… he's so small…" I fretted.
"He is…" Snape allowed. "Far smaller than he should be…. Ah, here we, Mr Potter. Let me clean you up, yes? Then you can go to Hadrien." While he was talking Snape was flicking his wand and muttering things between comments. "Right. Drink this, Mr Potter." He handed little-Harry a phial of pale blue liquid. "That will make the pain go away." Snape turned to me. "Nothing bad, scrapped knees and palms, that all, and he's rubbed the blood onto his face. Nothing a simple episky or some dittany won't fix. Best if you're holding him when I do that."
Now that his pain was gone, little-Harry stopped crying and was just hiccupping.
"Over to Hadrien, now, Mr Potter." Snape gestured and little-Harry scrambled over to me. "Very good, now, hold out your hands and I'll fix them right up." I didn't know that Snape could speak quietly without any nastiness. He pulled a bottle of dittany from a pocket and trickled a bit onto a handkerchief and wiped it over little-Harry's hands and knees. "There, all done. Shall we head back to the school, Mr Potter, Hadrien?"
"Me widdle-Hawwy and 'im big-Hawwy." The small boy firmly grasped in my arms informed the potions apprentice.
"Ah… Very well… Harry's… shall we go back to the school?" Snape looked up at me. "You might want to let Black know that you've found his lost pup."
I looked down at a now tired little-Harry. "Shall we send Uncle Siri a Messenger? Tell him you're alright?"
"U-huh." Harry nodded.
"Nuntio expecto." The flames settled in front of me. "Message to Sirius Black, no conditions. Message… Got him, not hurt, just scared. Meet you at Hogwarts, no hurry, I have to finish my class, he can stay with me." I flicked and the flames vanished.
"Shall we?" Snape offered a hand and pulled me to my feet.
I turned to the snakes still gathered around us. :§: Thank you for helping the hatchling, he iss a sspecsial child to me. :§:
:§: We can ssee that you care for him. Keep him ssafe, our foresst iss not a good placse for manss to come. :§:
I dropped a bright purple handkerchief on the ground. :§: If you have need of help, bring that to the sschool and ssomeone will call me, I will come to your aid. :§:
:§: We thank you sspeaker. :§: The snakes all bobbed their heads and slithered off in different directions. The big adder carefully gripped the handkerchief in it's mouth and headed for the roots of a tree.
"Wanna see where Uncle Siri and Uncle Remus went to school?" I hiked Harry higher in my arms.
"U-huh." He lay his head on my shoulder and closed his eyes, as Snape and I headed for the quidditch pitch gate.
"Thank you, Snape." I said, keeping my voice quiet and calm. "Thank you for following me. I let my fear get the better of me."
"Hadrien, you're only nineteen, it's too be expected, that you will find things beyond your control." Snape replied calmly.
"Maybe, but that doesn't mean I like it."
"No and now that you do know, you won't let it happen again, not to the same degree, anyway."
"I won't." I vowed to myself.
As we walked towards the school, we passed many snakes and lots of them greeted me and asked after little-Harry, I told them he was healed and I was taking him to those who tended his nest. We reached the school with no further alarms and after a quick word with Dumbledore and Madam Pomfrey, little-Harry and I hurried back to my classroom.
I dropped the ward as I entered the room, to be greeted by my almost frantic students.
"Whoa! Settle down, everything's fine now." It took a bit but eventually the students were calm and had taken their seats again. I was amused to see that they were no longer split into their houses but clumped together.
"Sir? What happened? Why did the snakes come into the school?" A Gryffindor girl asked.
"Ah, this would be the reason." I nodded to a sleeping Harry where he lay in my arms.
"Why?"
"Now that requires a little explanation." Professor Dumbledore wandered in the door, closely followed by Professor McGonagall, Snape, Sirius, Remus and whole host of students. "Would you explain again, please? This time I might be able to focus a little more clearly on the subject matter."
"Sure. Grab a seat, if you can. No fighting over seats or you can leave." I waited until they were all seated, or all that could fit in the room. "Okay, so, starting at the beginning. Way back, almost a thousand years ago there were three brothers, Antioch, Cadmus and Ingotus Peverell." I heard a boy snicker. "Well, I'm sure that many of you know their story, right?" Many students nodded. "Okay in brief, they did something that Death didn't like and to try and trick them, Death gave them gifts. Antioch got the elder wand, Cadmus got the resurrection stone and Ignotus got the cloak of invisibility. And one by one Death claimed them, Antioch was murdered in his sleep for his unbeatable wand. Cadmus was driven mad after calling his dead fiancé back from the underworld and he committed suicide. Ignotus used the cloak to hide from Death for years, until he was old and tired. He gave the cloak to his son, waited for Death to find him and went with him willingly. That's the story, right?"
"Yes, sir." The Gryffindor girl answered for the rest of the students.
"So here's where it get complicated. Canatos Peverell was the father of the three brothers. He was also the great-great-grandson of Salazar Slytherin's mother, who was first ever known parseltongue. Ignotus' granddaughter Iolanthe married Hardwin Potter. All the magical Potters are descended from him. Me, Ronson and this little monster. Harry."
"That's Harry Potter? Is he really Lily Potter's son?" A Slytherin asked, leaning forward excitedly.
"He is." I nodded.
"But the snakes?" A Ravenclaw asked.
"The snakes. Right well… Parseltongue is in our blood, handed down to us, from Canatos via Ignotus's granddaughter and Hardwin Potter. That means that all of us are parselmouths, or maybe I should say we all have the possibility of it."
"What's the difference between parseltongue and parselmouth?" Another Ravenclaw asked.
"Ah. A parselmouth is someone who speaks parseltongue."
"Like you? You're a parseltongue?"
"No. I can speak parseltongue, I am a parselmouth."
"And him?" A 'Puff pointed little-Harry.
"Me, Ron and little-Harry. Father isn't, so I suppose it might have skipped a generation, I don't know." I turned to Snape. "Apprentice Snape, Mr Black, Mr Lupin, you were all in the same year as Uncle Jimmy. Did you ever hear him speak parseltongue?"
Remus looked startled. "No… not to me."
Snape shook his head. "Nor to me."
"Uh, yeah, I think so… The uh, Whomping Willow incident? He tore strips off me for that, hissed all the way back to the dorms, I thought he was just grumpy, but now I know what parseltongue sounds like, yeah he was probably swearing at me, all the way." Sirius was grimacing and he turned to Snape. "Sorry, I was an idiot, I knew better, I just couldn't let it go."
Snape nodded. "Apology accepted."
"Ooh, nice one Unca Jimmy. Show me in a pensieve memory and I'll tell you what he said." I laughed.
"Yeah… not sure I want to know." Sirius shuddered in mock-fear.
"Sir?" A Slytherin waved a hand. "If being a parselmouth is in the Potter blood, how did You-Know-Who get it?"
"Salazar Slytherin, was a parselmouth, his Mother, Melory, was the first ever recorded parselmouth. So while Salazar got it from his Mother, his sibling, whom we know nothing about, not even whether they were male or female, handed it down to their descendants, the Peverells, who eventually split into three separate houses. Antioch fathered no children and his line died out. Cadmus had three children, that we know of, all daughters, the eldest married into the Gaunt Family. The second married into the Black Family, but the third, as far as we can track never married or had children. The Black and Gaunt Family histories are well documented and I'm not going into them, if you want to know, you write to Lord Arcturus Black. Ingotus, had only one child, a son, Olwin. Olwin, we understand married and while we found no record of his wife's name, we did find information on his daughter. Iolanthe Peverell married Hardwin Potter, the son of the first wizard to claim the name Potter, prior to that we've no idea what the Family name was." I shrugged. "That lead down the generations to Henry, who was the one that got the Potter's booted out of the sacred twenty-eight, for marrying a muggleborn. His eldest son was Charlus, whom lived a very quiet life, the only record we found on him is his marriage and birth of a single child, Fleamont. Now, Fleamont was a different kettle of nifflers. He wanted to regain what his grandfather had, according to him, destroyed and his father had ignored. So when my Father didn't get a letter to Hogwarts…?"
I raised an eyebrow in question.
"He was disowned?" A Slytherin asked.
"Not disowned, but farmed out. Just in case Fleamont couldn't have another child or that child also a squib, Fleamont wouldn't disown him, just fostered him in the muggle world. Father was lucky, the people that raised him were good people. When Uncle Jimmy was born, Fleamont tested him and luckily for Uncle Jimmy, he showed as being quite strong magically. But… Fleamont was so busy spoiling and raising Uncle Jimmy that he forgot about Father, which means that Father was never disowned, which we do believe was what Fleamont intended to do."
"And James took one look at Lily and destroyed everything that Fleamont was working towards. Thankfully, he didn't do that until the old man was dead, or he might have had a battle on his hands." Sirius added. "Fleamont really didn't like James' infatuation, as he called it, with Lily. He called Lily such dreadful names, sometimes, he and James would have some of the loudest arguments over it."
"Was that why James attempted to attack me? Because I lost my temper and called Lily something I shouldn't have?" Snape mused.
"Yes, I tried to stop him, but… No one stops a Potter in a rage." Remus sighed.
"Ain't that the truth?" I laughed.
"You've experienced it, then?" Remus winced.
"Oh yeah. I got entered in a competition when I was fourteen and Ron lost the plot, went all bombarda-ish, oh man was he wild? Me, I was fifteen before I had my first bout, a good friend had just died and our… well, I suppose you'd call him our educational advisor. Anyway Mr Wulfric told me something that was just one thing too many and I… I might have destroyed his office full of lovely things." I grimaced. "The only things to survive semi-unscathed were the desk, his pensieve and a few paintings."
"You are such a Potter." Sirius, Remus and Snape all said at the same time.
Ron and I sat in the front of the open window and drank our morning mugs of tea. I watched as Ron fidgeted, sipping his tea and twitching in his seat.
"You right, mate?" I asked, I knew something was up, but not what.
He looked at me, but said nothing, for a few moments. I knew that sooner or later it would erupt from him. Ron wouldn't be able to stop it. I gave him to the count of… six, should do it.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Five.
Si-
"IdidadesignforourHouseRings." It burst out in one word.
"Wha… take a breath and say that again, please?"
"I did a design for our House Rings." This time he said it slower.
"Okay… Are… Are you going to show me?" I opened my hands in a 'what?', gesture.
"…um… okay…?" He didn't move, though.
"Okay… so… where is it?" I pointedly looked at his hands.
"… in my desk…" He whispered.
"You want me to get it?" I asked.
"N…" He huffed a sigh. "Yeah…?" He was still whispering.
"Alright." I drew my wand. "Accio Ron's writing desk." I watched as the desk, that Sirius and Aunt Muriel commissioned for him, sailed through the air and settled on the coffee table between us. I looked at Ron, but he was studiously looking out the window, so I leant forward and opened the box/desk. On the main writing surface was a piece of parchment, face down, I lifted it clear and turned it over.
Two simple sketches, both in perfect circles. A lion's paw print and in the middle of the large paw-pad, a sword and an axe crossed, for one and the second just had the sword and the axe crossed. The notes stated – Head of House ring (Gold band. Golden Sphene Stone, brilliant, with paw, sword and axe) and Heir Ring (Silver band. Golden sphene stone, subtle, with only axe and sword).
"Do you have a listing of charms we should be having applied to them?" I asked.
Ron just shook his head.
"Is that because you don't know what charms or you don't want to guess?"
"Both." Ron finally looked at me. "I don't know and because I don't know and these Rings are so important, to us and to our House, I won't guess."
"Alright." I nodded. "That's understandable. As for the rings and their design?" I waited until he looked me in the eye. "Sold." He blinked in shock and I laughed. "Ron, you've always had an eye for the obvious and this is no different. The sword and the axe are both a part of our Principal Houses' crests. But the paw print, that's us, you and me. Lions. Gryffindor. That's who we are. What we are. No one else might know that, but we do. Yes, the sorting Hat offered me Slytherin, but it didn't put me there, it put me in Gryffindor, because I chose Gryffindor and… like Dumbledore said… our choices are what define us. We are Gryffindor."
Ron was looking at me like I'd just said I was the reincarnation of Merlin.
"What? You don't agree?" I snorted. "Ron, think about it. We attacked a troll at eleven. We took the places of the pieces in a life-size battle chess set and played. We flew a car to Hogwarts at twelve, we went into the forbidden forest after giant spiders and went looking for a basilisk, with the most useless wizard in existence as our only backup. At thirteen we confronted an escaped murderer, a werewolf and my parents' betrayer. At fifteen we ran an illegal underground training camp for underage witches and wizards, we rode a herd of Thestrals over six hundred miles to London to save my godfather and fought against at least a dozen Death-Eaters. At sixteen we made the decision to abandon our schooling on the word of a dead man and hunt down historic treasures that held the pieces of a madman's soul. Which we then destroyed with the sword of Gryffindor."
"Holy… crap…" Ron said, barely louder than breathing out.
"Yeah, we did that." I tossed him a smile. "So, yeah, the rings are fine, they're us in a simple design. I've got Ben minding the shop tomorrow, Snaprok has two estates that he wants me to look at, but both are security sensitive, so I have to go to Gringotts to get the details. I'll ask about the charms and once I get a list, I'll go visit whichever makers the goblins recommend."
Ron frowned in thought, his brow creasing. "What are the chances that we could afford to have goblins make them?"
"I… I... don't know… I can ask, but… I don't know." I drew out my answer as I thought about it. "It's worth asking, but…? Really? I don't know." I paused. "I do have a few dozen pieces of really high-end jewellery, I could possibly arrange a special interest sale through Gringotts."
"Talk to Snaprok. If we could afford it, that would be the best option… the safest option, but the goblins' inheritance laws may work against us."
"Hold on… What about…?" I gasped. "What about having the physical ring made in one piece and the signet stone in another and having the goblins put them together and do the charms?" I raised an eyebrow. "Would that work?"
"How the heck am I supposed to know?" Ron screwed up his face. "Talk to Snaprok or Sirius or Aunt Muriel." He climbed to his feet and stomped in the direction of the kitchen. "Anyway, I gotta go, Moody's got us on Wizengamot duty." He grimaced.
"Yeah… good luck with that." Neither of us enjoyed going to the Wizengamot chambers, not because of the chamber, but because the people were so bloody demanding. Talk about attention seekers.
"Yeah. I'm gonna need it or someone's gonna end up hexed. I wish Portia'd hurry up and her butt out here." I knew Ron was talking about Rita Skeeter.
"Same here, bro. Why don't you make a sly comment about bugs, when she's about, see what happens?"
"Bugs?"
"Have you forgotten, Skeeter's a bug Animagus."
Ron froze in mid-movement, of putting his Auror-trainee robe on. "I had, damn. You reckon I should clue Moody in, call it a hunch?"
"Nah, you don't want to draw attention. I'll send Moody a Messenger later, maybe not today though, claiming that someone left a note on the shop's counter. I'll get Father to ask his assistance to write it, that way it won't have a magical signature attached."
"Cool. I'll leave that with you, then. I've no idea what time we'll be done, so don't hold dinner for me, 'kay? Pending on time, I'll grab something at the Cauldron."
"Right. See you, when I see you." As he went down the stair I figured it was time to send Portia's morning Messenger. "Nuntio expecto." I waited for the flames. "Message for Portia, deliver when no humans in hearing distance. Message… Hey Research. The Feathered Nest in the morning and the Snitch's Nest in the afternoon, corner of Niffler's Lane and Stoatshead Hill Road, Ottery St Catchpole. Your cover is the snatcher's are a muggle street gang in Leeds. They caught you and beat you, but you managed to apparate away when they weren't looking. Hurry up now." I flicked and the flames faded away.
An hour later the store was open and ticking along nicely. Wednesday was always a quiet day, few customers, but a consistent flow, none the less. Ben was sitting at the counter while I talked to Molly Weasley, whom I'd begun to think of as Aunt Molly, thanks to her push-push-shove-shove method of working her way into someone's life.
The door to the muggle Road was open and in burst a denim-clad hurricane with brown hair.
"Harry!" The scream barely gave me enough time to brace myself before Portia threw herself at me, sobs wracking her shoulders.