After breakfast the next morning, Hadrian and Gomez found themselves walking down Diagon Alley towards the tall Gringotts building at the end of the road. Hadrian had visited the New York branch with his parents a few times, but as the London location was the original, the building was older and much more impressive. This was also most likely because it wasn't a hidden building like the one in New York.

Gomez led him inside, and they walked up to one of the tellers. "Good morning. I have an appointment with Griphook." Hadrian was gazing all around the building, as his father spoke with the goblin.

"Your name, please?"

"Gomez Addams. He's expecting me and my son." The goblin disappeared into a back office for a few minutes before reappearing.

"Follow me, Mr. Addams. Young Master Addams." Gomez laid a hand on his son's shoulder as they followed the goblin into the office. "Griphook, the Addamses for you."

"Thank you, Ragnok." The goblin quickly left, leaving them alone with Griphook. "Mr. Addams. Tully let me know to be expecting you."

"Yes, he told me there were some things left to my son that I would need to pick up in person."

"That's correct. I understand that you don't have the key to his vault here, but a simple blood test will suffice."

"But I was blood adopted. Will it still work?" Hadrian looked at his father curiously.

"Blood adoption doesn't affect the test. You still have traces of your birth parents in you." Griphook handed him a small knife. "Just a drop if you please."

Hadrian took the knife and made a small nick in his finger, letting the blood drop onto the parchment. After a moment, the parchment read Hadrian Berilo Addams, né Harry James Potter. Once the goblin was satisfied, Gomez immediately vanished the parchment.

They were led down into the vaults, where they got into a small miner's cart. "We need one of these for the playroom!" Hadrian whooped as they zoomed further underground. Gomez just chuckled.

The cart stopped in front of a vault and they got out of the cart. "Vault 687. If you'll stand back, please." Griphook put a small gold key in the lock, turning it. Hadrian gazed into a large vault, but there were only three packages inside. The goblin stepped out of the way, allowing Hadrian to enter.

"What is it, son?" Gomez watched as his eldest picked up one of the few packages.

Hadrian opened one box, shocked to find two wands inside. "It's their wands. And a pair of glasses." He set the box aside before picking up the other two things. "Can we take them back to the Leaky Cauldron? I want to look at everything there."

"Of course. Let's go." Gomez took the largest of the packages as Hadrian climbed out of the vault. "Will this vault be sealed, Griphook?"

"If that's what you'd like, we certainly can. All the young master's money was transferred to your home branch years ago."


Hadrian walked back down Diagon Alley with his father, lost in his thoughts. His parents' wands. "Father, do you know whose glasses they were?"

"They were James'. When we found him, his glasses had been knocked off." Gomez sighed, placing a hand on Hadrian's shoulder as they walked. "Every detail of that night remains permanently etched in my memory. The night I became a father." Hadrian smiled sadly at Gomez, who returned the smile. "Let's get this stuff back to our room, then we'll step into the wand shop, alright?"

After leaving the packages on his bed, they went back out, headed for Ollivander's Wand Shop, which they'd seen on their way to Gringotts. The window only held a single wand on a pillow, and there didn't seem to be any movement inside. A bell rang as they opened the door, but no one immediately appeared. "Hello? Anyone here?" Gomez called as they walked up to the counter.

"Hello, there. I'm Garrick Ollivander." A white haired man stepped out from the back. "Looking for a wand, I take it?"

"Yes, sir. I have one back home, but I need a spare." Hadrian shook the man's hand.

"Of course. Now, if you don't mind, I need to take some measurements." Mr. Ollivander waved his wand and a tape measure started measuring all different parts of Hadrian's body, all on its' own. Gomez watched from the sidelines as Mr. Ollivander started pulling boxes down from the shelves, piling them on the counter. "That's enough. Right then." The tape measure crumpled to the floor as Mr. Ollivander handed Hadrian a wand. "Try this one. Beechwood and dragon heartstring. Nine inches. Nice and flexible. Just take it and give it a wave." Hadrian's eyebrow raised, but he took the wand and was about to give it a try when it was snatched back out of his hand. "Maple and phoenix feather. Seven inches. Quite whippy. Try…" Again the wand was immediately taken away.

"Hey! What's the deal?"

"No, no, here, ebony and unicorn hair, eight and a half inches, springy. Go on, go on; try it out." Hadrian tried again, but each wand kept being taken back almost immediately. After what seemed like a hundred wands, Mr. Ollivander pulled out a rather dusty box from the back of the store. "Tricky customer, eh? Not to worry, we'll find the perfect match here somewhere - I wonder, now - yes, why not - unusual combination - holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches, nice and supple."

As soon as Hadrian's hands wrapped around the wand, he felt the familiar warmth in his hand. "That's it. This is the one, Father."

"Very good, son. How much, old man?" Gomez quickly paid the man, and they turned to leave. Hadrian couldn't help overhearing the wandmaker muttering to himself, though.

"Curious… very curious."

"What's that? What's curious?"

Mr. Ollivander shook his head as if debating on whether to say anything or not. "That wand. There's only one other wand that has a core like that one. The phoenix that gave that feather only gave one other. That feather is contained within the wand of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named." Hadrian gave pause at that. It seemed everything kept pointing him back to Voldemort.

"Thank you, Mr. Ollivander. We'll be going now." Gomez quickly guided his son out of the shop and back to the Leaky Cauldron.

Once safely in their room, Hadrian pulled his new wand out. "The same core as Voldemort's? How can I use this, Father?"

"It may have the same core, son. But that wand is the one that chose you. Had we not adopted you, I assume it would have chosen you when you went to get your first wand for school. Wands carry a deep magic. I'm not very well versed in wand lore, but it may come in handy one day."

Hadrian sighed, setting it down on his bedside table. He threw himself onto the bed, picking up the long package and opening it. He smiled seeing a toy broom just like he'd had as a toddler. "You think this was mine?" Gomez smiled, nodding. "Pubert can have it. I think I've outgrown it," Hadrian chuckled. He set the toy broom aside and picked up a soft, bulky package. He ripped the paper off and a cloak flowed out of it. "A cloak?" He stood and threw the cloak around his shoulders, trying it on. "How's it look?"

Gomez' eyes went wide. "Hadrian… Do you realize what that is?"

Hadrian moved to look in the mirror, shocked to find his body had disappeared. "An invisibility cloak? Wicked!" There was a knock on their door and Gomez moved to open it.

"That is an incredible heirloom, son. As Lily was from a No-Maj family, I'm assuming it was James'. Ah, good morning, Severus."

"It was his. Potter and his friends used it to sneak all over the school when we were students." Severus stood in the doorway for a moment before closing the door behind him.

"Thank you for coming back, Severus. We appreciate it."

Severus merely nodded. "Why do you call him Potter, sir? Why not James?" Hadrian asked, curiously.

"We were not friends, by any means. We rather detested each other, in fact." Severus sneered as he sank back into the wing chair he'd occupied the night before. He looked up as Hadrian brought the small box containing his parents' wands over.

"Do you know which one…?" Hadrian held the box out to him and Severus opened it, immediately picking up the wand made of a lighter wood.

"Lily…" Severus whispered. "This was Lily's." He looked up at the father and son. "How'd you get these?"

"They were in my Gringotts vault. We went to get them this morning." Severus nodded as he reverently laid the wand back in the box. "Thank you. I've never had anyone who could tell me about them before."

"You're welcome. Now, I have an area in mind for us to test the diary, if you'd like to do so."

"Of course. Where are we going?"

"North. There's a large field near a wizarding village, but still far enough away that we won't be disturbed. I can apparate us all there." Severus stood again as Hadrian grabbed the diary, along with a quill and ink.

"Bring your new wand, Hadrian. You might need it." Gomez reminded him.

"Yes, Father," Hadrian replied as he slipped it in his pocket. The two men took each of Severus arms before disapparating with a small pop.

The trio reappeared in the middle of a field, and Gomez immediately began putting up defensive charms. Hadrian laid the diary down on a large rock, waiting for his father to finish. "How should we do this, Severus?"

"Hadrian, I think you should write in it, and your father and I will stand by in case something happens." Gomez rejoined them as Hadrian opened the diary carefully.

"What should I say?" he asked as he dipped the quill into the ink. After pondering for a moment, he touched the quill to the paper and saw the ink spot disappear. "Whoa!"

Gomez was a little shocked, and raised his wand just in case. Severus copied his mannerism. Hadrian took a deep breath and wrote, My name is Hadrian Addams.

The three watched in awe as the ink disappeared and reappeared lower on the page, as if in response. Hello, Hadrian Addams. My name is Tom Riddle. Hadrian looked up at his father, shocked.

"It has a mind of its' own?" They watched as another line appeared.

How did you come by my diary?

Hadrian quickly dipped his quill again and responded. I bought it in a shop in Knockturn Alley called Borgin & Burke's.

I wonder how it ended up there. I always knew that there would be those who would not want this diary read.

"Keep him talking, son. See what he can tell us."

Hadrian nodded. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that this diary holds memories of terrible things. Things that were covered up. Things that happened at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." Hadrian looked up at Severus.

"I'm not familiar with what he means. See if he will tell you." Severus replied.

"What happened, Tom?" Hadrian wrote back.

The writing came quickly as if he couldn't wait to tell him. "Have you heard of the Chamber of Secrets, Hadrian? In my day, they told us it was a legend that it did not exist. But this was a lie. In my fifth year, the Chamber was opened and the monster attacked several students, finally killing one. I caught the person who'd opened the Chamber and he was expelled. But the Headmaster, Professor Dippet, ashamed that such a thing had happened at Hogwarts, forbade me to tell the truth. A story was given out that the girl had died in a freak accident. They gave me a nice, shiny, engraved trophy for my trouble and warned me to keep my mouth shut. But I knew it could happen again. The monster lived on, and the one who had the power to release it was not imprisoned."

"Who opened it?"

"Let me show you." Hadrian looked up at his father.

"What do I say, Father?" Gomez nodded at him and Hadrian wrote back. Ok.

Gomez and Severus watched in shock as the teen was sucked into the book. "Hadrian!" Gomez jumped forward, but it was too late. "Severus, what happened?!"

The two men tried to figure out what had happened for several minutes, afraid that casting spells would trap Hadrian inside, until Hadrian flew back out, landing hard on the ground. "Father!" He was breathing heavily and pulled out his own wand, pointing it at the book.

"What happened, Hadrian?" Gomez immediately ran to his son's side, helping him up.

"There was this girl. She had been killed by something. But Tom turned in this guy named Rubeus who was bigger than Lurch. He had this spider he called Aragog. The spider went by me, and Tom tried to kill it."

"Rubeus? Hagrid?" Severus asked incredulously. "Impossible."

"Alright, I think it's time we destroy this thing. Severus, if you wouldn't mind standing back in case it gets out of control." Gomez pointed his wand at the diary as Severus and Hadrian backed away. "Exsecratus ignis." Immediately, fire leapt from his wand in the shape of a giant snake. They watched as the fire devoured the diary, a scream emanating from its' remains. Gomez cancelled the spell, the fire dying away.

Hadrian stepped forward and saw the diary had been completely obliterated, with nothing remaining. All that was left was a mark on the stone where it had laid. He nodded, satisfied as he gently rubbed his scar. It had been tingling ever since they found the diary, but seemed to have stopped.

"My scar stopped hurting, Father. I think it's gone."

Severus whirled around. "You say you have feeling in your curse scar?" Hadrian nodded as the man came closer. "May I look into your mind?" Hadrian glanced at Gomez, who nodded.

"Alright," he said hesitantly.

Severus pointed his wand at Hadrian. "Legilimens." Hadrian wasn't expecting the sudden rush in his mind as his memories were rifled through. After a few short minutes, Severus pulled back out of his mind carefully. "How long have you been dreaming of the Dark Lord?"

"Since late last year. My scar hurts whenever I wake up from one." Hadrian looked back and forth between his father and Severus. "Is that bad?"

"Gomez, are you a Legilimens?" Severus asked.

"No, it never was something I studied."

"Hadrian needs to learn occlumency. Otherwise, the Dark Lord will be able to enter his mind, possibly even control it. He's an accomplished Legilimens. As the Dark Lord gets stronger, it is likely to become more frequent."

"Would you be willing to teach him, Severus? If I could, then I'd certainly do it. But…"

"I have to be at Hogwarts. But I may be able to come to him on holiday breaks."

"Would that be sufficient?" Gomez asked, beginning to seriously worry about his eldest son.

"It would be better if he was able to practice consistently, but as I'm the only one who has knowledge of his past and of the skills needed, I will do it."

"You're welcome to stay with us anytime Hadrian's home from school, Severus. Why don't we head back to London?"

Hadrian clutched to his father's arm as they apparated back to the Leaky Cauldron. Once back in their room, Hadrian decided to lie down, feeling exhausted from the morning's events. Having someone rifling through your mind wasn't easy.


Once he'd fallen asleep, Gomez decided to use the opportunity to speak with Severus alone. "I truly appreciate your help, Severus. I've been worried about him since last summer. Morticia and I told him he was adopted after the World Cup and he's taken it pretty hard."

"For what it's worth, Gomez, I think you've done a good job with him. He's not at all like I expected a son of Potter's would be."

Gomez smiled. "We're very proud of him. We had only been married a couple years when we adopted him, but as soon as we got him home, he was an Addams." He pulled a cigar from his pocket, taking a puff. "When Dumbledore found out Hadrian was gone, what happened?"

Severus snorted. "He was absolutely devastated. He thought that because he'd survived the Dark Lord's initial attack, that he would be the one to ultimately defeat him. But as the wizarding world believes him to be dead, Albus set his sights on another boy who the prophecy could have referred to."

"There was another?" Gomez was intrigued. "Then why my son?"

"The prophecy referred to a child born at the end of July. Both the Potters and the Longbottoms had a child then. I'm not sure why the Dark Lord focused on the Potters, but it was who he thought the prophecy referred to. Based on what I've seen the past two days, I believe he was right. Longbottom is not strong enough to stand up to the Dark Lord. He doesn't have it in him. Hadrian might be."

"Do you think Dumbledore will tell you the rest of the prophecy?"

Severus nodded. "I believe I can convince him."

Gomez looked seriously at Severus. "If Voldemort comes back and this comes down to a war, as I believe it will, I will be at my son's side. As will my wife, and possibly my brother, Fester. I'd prefer to keep my three youngest out of it if at all possible."

"Understandable. How old are they?"

"Pugsley just turned twelve. Our daughter, Wednesday, is ten. Pubert, our youngest, he was just born earlier this year. Wednesday will be starting at Ilvermorny next year."

"Do his siblings know he was adopted?" Gomez shook his head. "They should."

"We've left that up to Hadrian to decide when or if he tells them. He was upset at the thought of not actually being a true Addams, but he really is. Morticia and I have been trying to make sure he understands that completely."

"Is there fear that his siblings will reject him?"

Gomez chuckled. "Not from our point of view, but I believe that's what Hadrian's worried about." Hadrian walked up behind the two men and sunk into the other chair. "Hello, son."

"I guess I do need to tell them, huh?"

"Hadrian, I don't want to push you into it. It should be your decision if and when you tell your brother and sister. But I do have to admit, it would make things easier when it comes to Severus coming to visit and any trips we may have to take for you." Hadrian nodded, pulling his knees to his chest. "Son, you are the Addams heir. An Addams is always an Addams. You know this."

"I know, Father," he mumbled, as he twisted his signet ring around his finger. "But what if they don't want me around anymore? Mother didn't have me like them. Pugsley might want the title."

Gomez sighed and glanced at Severus before kneeling in front of his son. "Hadrian. Look at me." The teen slowly looked up and Gomez smiled sadly. "You are our son. You may not have been born an Addams, but we chose you to be an Addams. We could have ignored Lily when she asked us to save you. But we didn't. There was no question about it. You were going to be ours. And you always will be. Alright?"

Hadrian nodded. "Will you and Mother stay with me when I tell them?"

"Of course. And if they don't like it, you can always take them into the playroom for a while." Gomez smirked, making Hadrian chuckle.

"They might like that too much."

"Your mother and I won't allow them to do anything against you. I swear to you on my life."

"Thanks, Father." Gomez grabbed him in a hug and Hadrian leaned into it.

"How touching…" Severus rolled his eyes as the two broke apart. "Hadrian, we need to discuss your occlumency lessons."

"Yes, sir. What do I need to do?"

"I'm going to send you a couple books on the subject so you can read up on it once you're home. But you need to start working on controlling your emotions and your thoughts. So, have you tried meditation before?" Hadrian shook his head. "How about we start there?"

"Zen yogi!" Gomez grinned and hopped up. "That's more my speed!" Hadrian rolled his eyes as his father swung his body up, standing on his head.

"Gomez, as ridiculous as you look, that might not be a bad idea…" Severus stood and directed Hadrian to stand next to his father. "Have you done this with your father before?"

"No, I've never been into it."

"Maybe we should try something a bit easier, Gomez. He might need to work up to standing on his head."

"Of course! Alley oop!" Gomez flipped himself back down, easily landing with his legs crossed. "Come on, son."

Hadrian settled himself onto the floor next to Gomez, crossing his legs like his father. "What now, Mr. Snape?"

"I want you to completely clear your mind of everything. Just imagine a blank slate and if a thought comes into your mind, push it out." Severus knelt in front of the two men. "Gomez, you as well. This way you can help him when I'm not able. Close your eyes and just clear your minds."

Hadrian closed his eyes, trying to clear his mind of any and every thought. When thoughts like 'this is stupid' and 'what is Father doing?' entered his mind, he would take a deep breath and push them away.

"Good, Hadrian. Take deep breaths and focus on my voice." Severus pulled out his wand. "Now, I'm going to attempt to break into your mind. Try to push me back out, Hadrian. Legilimens."

Hadrian felt the assault on his mind begin, just as it had previously, but this time Severus was being more forceful about it. He saw images flashing through his mind and tried to push them back away, while at the same time, forcing Severus back out. When Severus stumbled upon a memory of him training with his father, he felt a surge of pride and was able to bolster the energy to push him out.

As soon as he felt Severus leave his mind, he opened his eyes, realizing how much it had taken out of him. "That was a good try, Hadrian. You were able to force me out, but it took a while. You need to work on controlling your emotions and disciplining your mind. But it was a good starting place." He turned to Gomez. "Now you, Gomez. Are you ready?" Hadrian watched as his father nodded. "Legilimens."

Gomez winced a bit, but took a deep breath and let it out slowly. After a few moments, he suddenly drew his wand and sent a stinging jinx at Severus. "Nobody sees that but me!" Gomez' eyes flashed at the other man, a tinge of fury evident.

Severus quickly backed off, shaking his hand where he'd been hit, a bit of color on his face. "I sincerely apologize. But that was an excellent example for your son."

"What happened, Father?!"

"He stumbled upon a memory of your mother. That's all." Gomez stood, anger still etched on his face. "Perhaps we should stick with my son's mind from now on, Severus."

"Good idea. But what your father did there was good, Hadrian. I saw something he didn't want me to see and he forced me out. Using both his mind and his wand. When your mind isn't enough, sometimes using your wand is necessary." Gomez stalked across the room to the window, pulling a cigar from his pocket. "Alright, let's try again. Prepare yourself." Hadrian took a deep breath, closing his eyes. "Legilimens."

Hadrian immediately felt Severus rifling through his mind and tried his best to focus and push him out. But again, it wasn't until a memory of speaking to his birth parents the previous Halloween appeared that he was able to push him out.

"Was that… Lily?" Severus stared at the teen in shock as Hadrian bent over, trying to catch his breath. "You talked to her?" Hadrian nodded.

"We had a séance on my birthday. I got to talk to them both." Hadrian took a deep breath, shaking himself. "Can we stop for the day?" Severus nodded, pocketing his wand. "Thanks."


A/N: What do you think the memory of Morticia that Severus stumbled upon was? I'll leave it up to your imagination... 😈