Chapter 12

After concluding all of his business in Gringotts, Hadrian walked out of the bank. It had been a very productive morning. He was walking calmly through the alley, showing no outward emotions as the people started to gather around him. Reporter's were hurling questions towards him left right and center, while the rest of them, mainly females, were trying their best for Hadrian to look at them. He was starting to get really irritated as he once again found his path blocked by more and more people. Thankfully, he made it out of Diagon Alley and entered the Leaky Cauldron, where he immediately headed towards the floo point. However before he could do anything, he heard someone calling his name from across the room.

"Lord Greengrass!" said a shocked Hadrian. Despite not showing his emotions, Hadrian was already feeling very nervous in the inside.

"Hadrian, or should I say Lord Black?" questioningly greeted his ex-girlfriends father.

"Hadrian is find sir. How are you finding your return back to England? Daphne had mentioned that you are the rest your family were returning back from France." he responded.

"Indeed. Britain seems a lot more peaceful and happier than it was four years ago. A lot of bad and hurtful things happened that year." calmly replied Lord Greengrass.

"Yes, a lot has changed." said Hadrian awkwardly. He perfectly knew what the man he was conversing with meant by in his last sentence. He had hurt their family badly. Cyrus and Roxanne Greengrass, thought of him as another son. While for Astoria and Damien, he was their big brother. To Daphne on the other hand, he was the love of her life. He was the only one who had managed to thaw her Slytherin Ice Queen persona and understand her. He had loved her, and to this day he still did. He just hoped that there was some way that they could start mending the bridge between them and rekindle the fire.

Both men stood their awkwardly. Cyrus then decided to say something. "Look Hadrian. I know about everything that happened during your trial, and to say the least, I was deeply surprised. When Daphne told me you were exonerated, I was very angry. She then showed me the trial, and her entire side of the story since your break-up with her." Hadrian just nodded uncomfortably.

"I think we need to clear the air between all of us. So what I'm proposing is that on Friday night, your entire family, that includes the Potters, Blacks and Bones are invited to Greengrass Manor for dinner. So what do you say?" proposed Cyrus.

"Yes sir. I think that would be a good idea." agreed Hadrian barely hiding his shock. He was not expecting that.

"Brilliant! Well I should be off." said Cyrus. He greeted goodbye and then went his way while Hadrian remained standing there flabbergasted.

Once his wits returned, he immediately grabbed some floo powder and clearly said, "Potter Manor!"


Rose was lying down on the sofa in the living room in front of the fireplace. She was waiting patiently for her brother's return. She couldn't feel a bit put out at the way her brother was behaving during breakfast. He had always favoured doing things with family over anything else. He was always a happy light-hearted person, with a smile always on his face. However, now she could not but help notice that Hadrian was no longer the same. He was a bit cold and was now very guarded. His face did not wear the smile that once made other people want to smile back. Instead his face remained impassive.

She had planned to go flying with her brother and show him some of the new tricks that she had learned through years. However, he went to Gringotts instead of spending time with the rest of his family. She remained pondering on her thoughts when the fireplace in front of her burst into life. She immediately sat up, with her wand in hand, on guard.

To her relieve, it was her older brother Hadrian, who stepped out of the fireplace. She could still not fully comprehend the difference in his looks. He looked very different and menacing. She now fully understood, what I meant when you meet a black.

"Hello Rose," he greeted when he noticed his sister sitting there. "What are you doing?"

"Hello Harry. I was just sitting here waiting for you." replied back Rose whilst relaxing herself back in her seat. She then sent him a glare, "After all, almost all the family had wanted to spend some time with you, however you had some important business to do at Gringotts."

Hadrian couldn't help but feel a bit guilty at what his sister had just said. "Yes, I know. I'm sorry. Don't worry though, I've got nothing to do for the couple of days. So I'll be spending my entire time with the family." Rose glared immediately retracted however he could still tell that she was not in a good mood.

Deciding to cheer her up, he proposed, "How about we go flying? Just like the good all days, eh?"

Rose's face immediately beamed with happiness. "YES!" she shouted before promptly jumping out of the sofa and grabbed Hadrian's hand. She then forcefully started dragging him outside, ignoring Hadrian's protest of letting him go. The Potters and Marauders couldn't help but smile when they saw Rose drag Hadrian outside.

'Just like the old times' they all thought.


Cyrus Greengrass calmly walked into Greengrass Manor. To him it felt amazing returning back home. Greengrass Manor was the place full of happy memories, and he was glad that he was back. His time in France was good, it was like an extended holiday. However, after a while he did start to get board, with nothing to do except for reading books and enjoying time with his family. He was after all, a family man.

He made it into the living room and what he saw made his heart burst with happiness. His entire family laughing and enjoying themselves. Daphne was standing behind the chair her mother sat on, brushing and braiding her hair, while they both were laughing at the argument that was happening between Astoria and Damien. While they were arguing, they still had smile on their faces, clearing trying to annoy the other whilst enjoying it at the same time.

They all noticed Cyrus come in and smiled at him in greetings. Cyrus smiled back and made his way towards the empty seat next to his wife on the sofa. Daphne had just finished with her mothers hair. Cyrus talked with all of them for a few moments and after a moment of silence he cleared his throat.

"I ran into someone, whilst I was at Diagon Alley." His family were looking questioningly at him. "It was Har- Hadrian."

There was a few moments of silence. All eyes remained on him. Feeling the need to continue he added, "We exchanged a few words and he has agreed to come for dinner with the rest of his family on friday."

"Okay," slowly said Roxanne. "What do you mean the rest of his family? I'd have thought you would want to meet him all alone."

"Well I thought it would be a good idea to start meeting old friends such as the Potters and re establish the alliance between the two houses. We haven't talked between each other since the war started. And I couldn't just invite the Potters. So I invited Sirius and the Bones as well as they are also part of Hadrian's family."

"It will be good to see him again I suppose, however I cannot wait to meet Rose. It has been quite a long time since I've seen one of my good friends." said Astoria.

"Well I can't wait!" shouted Damien excitedly. Everyone raised an eyebrow questioningly at him. "What? I mean who did you think taught me the fine art of pranking? Plus it would great to finally talk to someone around my age, who is british. Hadrian was always a fun guy."

"So your saying that all the pranks you pulled were helped by Hadrian?" demanded Daphne.

"Yep!" said Damien. "In exchange for him helping me prank, I was to prank you with his ideas. He was too scared to prank you, so it was always me who did it. Hadrian was always the one with the idea. I was the one who executed them." he said with a smug smile.

"I cannot it believe it!" Daphne fumed. "No wonder he always had that proud smirk on his face whenever I ranted about how you had pranked me!"

Everyone present started chuckling. "It's not funny!" glared Daphne at everyone however she too was fighting not to smile.

"Yeah right!" snorted Damien. That was the last straw, and Daphne burst out laughing. Which was soon followed by everyone else.


Hadrian and Rose entered back into the manor, in good spirits. Both were laughing happily. They had been flying for about three hours and still, they both were still of energy. Hadrian didn't know how much he missed spending time with Rose or flying in the air with a broomstick. The rush of adrenaline when himself and Rose raised against each other, or the jokes and laughters they shared between them, was something that he would always cherish.

"You cheated!" argued Hadrian for the hundredth time. Rose had caught the snitch before him, which should not have been possible because he was a seeker. He only found out later that she too was a seeker for her house team.

"I did not!" heatedly replied back Rose.

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Did- "

"What is going on between you two?" questioned James. Rose and Hadrian hadn't realized where they were going whilst their were arguing like children. They had ended up in the living room where everyone present in the house was currently in.

"Nothing!" they exclaimed at the same time. Both looked at each other in shock.

"Then why were the two of you arguing?" prompted Sirius.

"Its fine," said Hadrian whilst waving his hand dismissively.

"Yep. Nothing to worry about." added Rose, as she sat down on the sofa next to her mother while Hadrian walked over the seat next to Remus and sat down.

"If you say so," said James slowly. He then went back to what he was doing, which was soon followed by everyone else.

Hadrian and Remus were in a middle of a difficult chess match when one of the Potter house elves popped into the living room declaring Lunch was ready. Agreeing to a draw, both honorary uncle and nephew got up and followed the others into the dining room. Lunch immediately began. Everyone were chatting loudly with each other, enjoying the conversations and the wonderful food, cooked by the elves. As lunch carried on the conversations slowly began to get quiet. Whilst dessert was served Hadrian suddenly remembered something.

Once clearing his throat, which brought everyone's attention on him, he announced, "We have been invited to dinner on this upcoming friday by the Greengrass's. Lord Greengrass, has invited all of us to dinner."

"What do you mean, he has invited us? When did you meet him?" questioned Lily.

"I ran into him on my back from Gringotts. I think he wanted to reastablish the alliance between the house Potter and Greengrass. Also I think it has to do with myself, hence why he invited Sirius, the rest of the marauders, Susan and Mum." Hadrian hadn't realized what he had just said until it was too late. Amelia positively beamed at him. "Plus it will help me knock out two birds with one stone," he said at the end.

"What do you mean 'knock out two birds with one stone'?" asked Alexander.

Hesitantly Hadrian answered, "I want Daphne to work for me."

"What do you mean, you want Daphne to work with you?" questioned Amelia.

"I can't say anything for now. However I promise to tell all of you, the first moment I can." he hastily proposed before things could get out of hand. He needed everything finalized by Gringotts before he could safely tell everyone about his upcoming venture.

"Fine. However you better tell us all what ever you have planned. The way you went to Gringotts and want Daphne, who is a lawyer, to work for you, means that it is something big." ordered Lily. Hadrian swiftly nodded his head.

Once dinner had ended, Hadrian asked his mother and cousin if they wanted to have their discussion to get to know each other, now or later. They immediately agreed to do it now. The sun was still out and the weather was still nice and warm, so they decided to sit outside. Once they were all seated. He couldn't immediately tell that it was either going to be an awkward discussion or a fun one. He hoped it would be the latter.

AN - Hope you liked this chapter. Next Update will be in a few days. Please leave a review and follow if you want to see more. Thank You!