A/N thanks for your reviews and support.
kirsty21: thanks for your review my friend.
DarkRavie: thanks for your review my friend.
shadewatcher: thanks for your review my friend. So glad you enjoyed it. He will not enjoy the consequences.
It was a Saturday morning and James Potter had been quietly eating his toast while his wife labored away in the garden when a beautiful and majestic owl landed on their windowsill. With one talon, it knocked on the glass and waited patiently for James to let him in. The Head Auror did so with some confusion. None of his friends used owls as obviously expensive as this one and no one from the ministry would ever justify the expense of having one for official business. With all that said, he wondered just who it could be. Quickly, he detached the letter from the owl and turned to look at the front of the envelope, his eyes widening as he recognized it for what it was.
A courtship letter…from Lord Thomas Riddle.
Personally, James didn't know much about the illustrious Thomas except for what his daughter had told him. In her words, he was apparently "drop-dad gorgeous", rich – "Heir of a founder!" and powerful magically speaking.
He was the most eligible bachelor in the whole school. Rose had been crushing on him ever since he had accidently bumped in to her and helped her gather up her books.
"A true gentleman," she had gushed.
James resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the memory. Merlin save them all from teenage girls and their "crushes."
"Oh Merlin," James muttered to himself as he regarded the letter, "She's going to be insufferable when I tell her that her crush has sent her an official courtship letter."
Despite being more then a little happy for his precious princess, James couldn't help but wonder why now of all times. Rose had already passed 16 for some time and it was usually then courtship letters were sent out.
"James?"
James was torn from his contemplations when his wife entered the room, hands still dirty from her previous activity.
"Courtship letter," James told her with a big smile, "From Thomas Riddle."
Lily squealed uncharacteristically as she came over, grabbing the letter from James' hand. The Auror actually tried to push himself away from the table when he noticed the almost manic look in the usually calm woman's eyes.
"Rose will be so delighted," she said happily, "Come, let us inform Sirius and Remus. We'll also inform Dumbledore so that he can let the children come home tomorrow. We will open this letter together!"
"That's a wonderful idea Lily," James told her as he made his way towards the floo.
"Wonderful."
"Oh my sweet princess is growing up," Lily cooed, twirling around the room like a little girl, "About to get engaged."
"You know," James said, gathering up a handful of floo powder, "She can still say no."
"Of course she won't," Lily replied with a roll of her eyes, "She had confessed to me that she had been dreaming about marrying the boy for some time now."
"If you say so," James said, and threw the powder in to the fireplace followed by the call of Sirius' name.
It took about 5 seconds before his best friend's face appeared amidst the flames.
"James?" Sirius sounded alarmed, "Is something wrong?"
"You know that Riddle kid that Rosey had been crushing on? Well, he just sent over a courtship letter for her?"
Sirius' eyes widened in surprise.
"That's wonderful," he said sincerely before grabbing someone by the arm and pulling him over, "Remus! Rosey got a courtship letter!"
"Really?" Remus said with a big smile, face appearing next to Sirius', "What does the letter say?"
"We haven't opened it yet," James admitted, "We were planning to get everyone – the children included – together so we can open it tomorrow."
"If you haven't opened it yet," Remus started slowly, "Then how do you know it's for Rose?"
"It's addressed to us, and we only have one child eligible for marriage."
"But Harry just turned 15," Remus pressed, "He's eligible too."
That gave James pause. Harrison did just just become old enough for courtship. A deep frown crossed his face. The boy was barely more than a squib and he was in a special school for them. They were currently at Hogwarts by the grace of Albus. Even if he was an the Heir of the House.
"No way," he finally decided, laughing a little, "Only Rosey is magically talented enough to attract this boy's attention. Don't be silly Remus. Come over tomorrow and you'll see."
But little did they know, things won't go exactly as planned.
Two weeks had passed since he and the others joined Hogwarts. The usual challenges had been made against him. All had been defeated easily though he felt the eyes of a certain Slytherin on him the entire time.
For whatever reason Riddle seemed to always be watching him. As if waiting for something to happen. Not that it ever did. Harrison kept tight control over his magic so that what happened his first night would not happen again.
During that two weeks he had also taken to wearing two spacial rings and his communication bracelet. The first time he had walked out with them curiosity had bloomed in the dark blue eyes of Riddle. He never asked questions about instead choosing to research on his own. It would be next to impossible for him to learn about the bracelet though. Communication bracelets were still in the testing stage and he had yet to authorize them for public use. Only the Black Hawks Battle Mage Squad, Master Keller, and Headmaster Durant had one.
He missed his Master. Keller was still unconscious from the battle. At least when he last heard from the healer. As was their Headmaster. Both men had nearly been killed in the battle trying to protect students.
Currently he sat in the Great Hall with his inner circle around him. They were eating when the owls came in. A familiar brown barn owl headed straight for him. It was the Potter Family owl. A letter stamped with the crest was dropped in front of him before it flew off towards the Gryffindors.
XIII questioned as he opened the letter, "What does your family want?"
"Mom wants me to go home tomorrow."
"Did something happen?" He asked worriedly as he peered at the content of the letter over Harrison's shoulder.
It was short and to the point, offering no further information than the time the portkey would activate and where to go to access it. He and his sister would need to go out of the Hogwarts Gates. There they would be out of the protective wards.
"I hope everything's alright," XIII said softly, glancing over to where Rose was sat, also looking confusingly down at her letter.
What he really meant was that he hoped they didn't try anything. There was a reason Harrison didn't go home for Yule. Trusting his parents wasn't something he had for many years.
"She doesn't sound frantic," Harry shrugged, putting the missive out of his mind for the moment, "I'm sure everything will be fine."
XIII gave him a look telling his sworn blood brother exactly what he thought of that. Harrison simply gave him a grin.
