Hello everyone :)

I began writing this story about six months ago, basically because I thought it would be fun and I wanted to give myself a writing challenge. At the moment I'm up to about chapter 5 with this story, and I want to remain ahead with my chapters, so hopefully, there won't be any huge gaps between updates.

As for why I chose now to upload this story. Well, I wanted to publish it on the 29th of February since that date only comes around once every four years. Right now it's 3:45 pm on the 1st of March here in Tokyo, but I think it's still the 29th somewhere in America, so if I publish it now maybe it'll still say the 29th as the day it was published? Guess we'll find out.

Anyways, I put a lot of time into this chapter and I'm fairly sure it's well-edited, but if anyone notices something, please let me know and I'll fix it up.

And now, without any further comment, we'll begin the story. I hope you enjoy it!

St James Park, London

August - 1934

Arthur's POV

Arthur Kirkland let out a yawn, stretching his stiff limbs as he embraced the fresh outdoor air. It had been a long meeting, but finally, it was over. Well, not exactly 'over'; the meeting with the other nations itself was over, but all that had been achieved was the more arguing and bickering. The personification of Britain knew that if the past was anything to go by this only meant he was in for more meetings in the future, which like this one, would likely lead nowhere and would only succeed in wasting his time.

Actually, Arthur considered as he stepped off the curb, calling the meeting 'a wasted of time' was an understatement. What with relations — particularly those with Germany worsening agai– there was a sudden screech and an angry shout, jolting Arthur back to reality as a motorbike swerved to avoid him. At the same time, he felt himself being grabbed by the arm and hurled back onto the curb.

"Dude," came an annoyingly familiar voice from behind Arthur. "I know going to those meetings is a drag, but there's no need to do yourself in like that – not that getting yourself flattened would actually be much of a problem for you," the personification of America added with a laugh.

"I didn't do it on purpose you git."

"Well that's nice, insulting the guy who just saved your life."

"Alfred, you just admitted that it was hardly life threatening."

"Well, for you maybe. I doubt that citizen of yours would have walked away as easily."

"Ok, fine," said Arthur with a hint of vexation. "Thanks for pulling me out of the way. Now would you let go of my arm?"

"Sure," Alfred smiled, loosening his iron-like grip from around Arthur's arm. "How about we cross now that the road is actually clear?"

Arthur rolled his eyes but fell into step beside his former colony anyway. They crossed the road and entered the nearby park.

"So, what are your thoughts?" Alfred asked after a while.

"Well," Arthur considered, not bothering to ask what Alfred meant. "It's as annoying as ever, isn't it? We can never go five minutes without an argument breaking out, so nothing ever gets done. I had hoped that since it's been sixteen years since the Great War, we might be able to get along, even if it is just a little better. But if anything, it's the opposite. Every meeting we have, relations between the nations seem to be getting worse."

"Hmm, I can't really argue that one," Alfred agreed, resting his hands in his ever-present bomber jacket. "Though we both know those 16 years haven't exactly been easy. It took a few years for us to recover after the war, and just when it seemed everything was getting back on track that dammed depression hit. I know I wasn't the only one to get sick because of that, and judging from today I reckon some of the guys are still getting over their depressions. Did you notice how tired Germany looked? He was acting even crankier than usual."

"Well, that's hardly surprising," commented Arthur. "He also had to deal with everything getting ridiculously expensive. Remember when he was complaining about a loaf of bread costing his people something like a billion Marks? They had to bring in a new currency to finally solve that problem."

"And on top of that, you and France are still making him pay for the Great War?"

"Well yes, he lost. Of course Germany and his people have to pay for it."

"When his people have no money themselves? No wonder he was cranky today."

"Well cranky or not, he knew what it meant he signed the treaty at Versailles. He can't back out of it now simply because it's a bit hard — you said it yourself Alfred, the last few years have been hard on all of us."

The two nations walked over a small bridge above a stream. "Speaking of Germany…" Alfred continued after a while, moving to the side as a group of school children ran past. "Have you heard about one of his new politicians? Looks like this could be the guy to take the next top job in Ludwig's country. Ahh, what was his name again…? A Golf Hitter?"

"Adolf Hitler?" Arthur commented dryly. "Yes, I've heard of him."

"Well, Germany and his people seem to like him. Maybe he'll be what they need to get the country on its feet again. He could end up really helping Germany."

"Yeah, maybe," said Arthur doubtfully.

"What's with that tone?" Alfred looked back to see Arthur had stopped, hands resting on the guardrail, unfocused eyes staring at the flowing creek below.

"I don't know," Arthur began. "Hopefully nothing. As you said, Germany and his people seem to really like the guy and maybe he will be good for Ludwig's people..." he turned back to Alfred and sighed. "But then again, I've been around for over a thousand years and I've seen what can happen when a new influential person with big ideas inspires a desperate group of humans. It doesn't often end well."

A small frown flashed across Alfred's face before he turned and continued walking. "Well, here's hoping nothing happens this time, 'cause there's no way I'm dragging my people into a second Great War."

"Yeah, here's hoping," Arthur agreed, letting a slightly uncomfortable silence fall as the path lead them down a gentle slope.

"I met your citizen Tina Goldstein a few days ago. She was with her fiancé – Newt Scammander," Arthur ventured a few minutes later. Ignoring the way Alfred suddenly tensed he continued, "I think they were here to gather new information for a third book Newt's working on."

Silence.

"Tina said something about helping Newt with the editing – you know – fixing any mistakes that somehow didn't get picked up on in the first two editions. That said – I enjoyed reading Newt's first book. It's full of all sorts of fantastic beasts and even tells you where to find them."

Silence.

"He's a really good writer you know."

Arthur was just beginning to think that he wouldn't get a response at all when Alfred replied stiffly, "Good for him."

Arthur tried not to roll his eyes. "I must say," he pressed on, legs working hard to keep up with Alfred's new pace. "Newt and Tina make a nice couple. I'm hoping they stay in England."

"Dude, so do I – two fewer problems for me to deal with."

Arthur couldn't stop the eye roll this time. "Tina's become quite famous in her own right over the last couple of years. I would have thought that as a self-proclaimed hero, you would have been proud of the fame that Tina has gained. In fact, I would even suggest that the union of Tina and Newt may help to strengthen the relations between the English and American wizarding communities."

Ignoring the final comment, Alfred retorted. "They're hardly 'world famous' when only a fraction of the people around the world are even aware of their existence."

And there it was. Arthur sighed, "Are you still going on about that? The wizarding community lives all around the world, including in America. I've told you before; you should be more accepting of your wizarding citizens."

"I am accepting. I let them do it don't I?"

"Well, I don't think you'd be able to stop them using magic," Arthur scoffed. "Especially considering you can't let them know who and what you are. And even if the wizarding community were allowed to know about us, it wouldn't make any difference, they'd still do it anyway— it's who they are. Which is why I say you should be more accepting of them."

"When most of them don't accept my Muggle community — which is about 95% of the total population I might add—why should I be accepting of them? Seriously, just because they have a bit of magic, they all get this superiority complex and think they're better than those that can't use magic. Even the ones who treat Muggles decently still think they're better than them. I've got enough on my plate with the stupid segregation thing my Muggle people are still going on about and it just pisses me off that so many of the wizarding community are magicist."

"I'll agree with you on that one," Arthur admitted reluctantly. "But that's still no reason to ignore the magic in your country."

"I'm satisfied with just letting my Minister for Magic deal with it," Alfred said. "I'm busy enough just dealing with Muggle politics without having to deal with the magic crap as well."

"Again, that's a hard one to argue," Arthur smiled. "It's probably still worth it though. You could be missing a lot of important things in your own country if you keep ignoring the magical part of it."

"Ok, look," Alfred compromised. "If anything does happen, I'll make sure to get in contact with whoever the Minister for Magic dude is in my country—"

"You mean you don't even know who she is?" Arthur interrupted incredulously.

"—and if it looks like any big magic crap is going down, I'll deal with it then," Alfred continued as though he had not been interrupted. "In fact, I think I might even have an address I can use right here in my… Oh damn it," Alfred stopped, looking down at his side at the spot where his bag should have been. "It looks like I've left my bag at in the meeting room."

"You'd better not be using that as some dumb excuse to get out of this conversation."

"Nah dude, I actually did leave it there," the younger nation said, turning around to head back in the direction they had come.

"How did you not notice before now? It's the only thing you'd be carrying," Arthur commented incredulously. "You really are a git."

"Whatever, I'll just go and get it," Alfred replied whimsically. "You gonna keep going?"

Arthur considered this for a moment, he didn't have anywhere else to be and it'd been ages since he'd spent any decent amount of time outside. "Actually, it's a pretty nice day. I think I'll just wait over there by the fountain. I wanted to tell you something else when you get back anyway."

"If it's something else about magic, I'm taking a different way home," Alfred replied defiantly.

"It's not, I promise."

"Alright then. I shouldn't be too long." Alfred turned and jogged down the path, back towards the road.

The fountain was surrounded by several park benches, which proved to be surprisingly comfortable. Arthur sat back, nodding a small greeting to a young couple who were passing by and let out a sigh of pleasure, fully enjoying this rare moment of peace.

After a few minutes of having the area to himself, a small group of grey uniformed children rounded the bend. Stopping only long enough to remove their shoes, they climbed over the fountain wall and began playing in the shallowly depths. Arthur smiled, enjoying the sight of some of his youngest citizens cooling off in the summer heat.

The children continued playing for a while, jumping in the cool water and splashing each other. Eventually the eldest child, a blonde boy whom Arthur guessed to be in his early teens, sighted something toward some nearby trees. He said something to the younger children who also stopped playing and peered in the direction he was pointing. Looking over, Arthur saw a younger boy who wore the same uniform walking towards them. Upon seeing the boy, the other children turned and quickly began exiting the fountain. Arthur frowned slightly at this. He had seen children act this way before — deliberately leaving others out of friendship groups. He sighed; kids really could be nasty to each other.

"No, wait! Don't leave just because he's coming," the teen said, causing the others to look back.

Oh good, thought Arthur. Perhaps the older boy would be able to convince his peers not to reject the newcomer.

"I say we stick together and make him pay for everything he's done!"

Never mind. Arthur felt himself becoming annoyed. He didn't usually intervene in children's squabbles, but he would if an unfair fight was going to begin. And considering what the teen was suggesting, he might have to do just that.

The idea to gang up on the approaching boy seemed to be a popular one among some of the children who began voicing their approval of the plan.

"You can stay and deal with the little psycho Jack, but I'm leaving," a girl of about twelve said as she climbed over the wall of the fountain. "And good luck with getting him to confess to anything. You remember what happened last time someone accused him of something," she added, causing the children who had only just been voicing their agreement with the teen to shift their view to the point she had made. One by one they began climbing out of the fountain and away from the approaching boy.

The teen—Jack—muttered something that sounded suspiciously like, 'Scaredy cats' as the last of his peers left the area. Moving to the edge of the fountain, he sat on the wall and allowed his feet to dangle over the other side, waiting as the younger boy finally arrived.

Arthur watched, feeling perplexed. He had hoped that the other children would decide against ganging up on the boy and he supposed he was glad that they had ultimately left. But their reasoning was odd.

Why would a group of children be afraid to confront a single younger boy?

"Hi Jack, you didn't go with the others. You have something to say?" Arthur looked at the child as he stood in front of the fountain, hands in his pockets. With jet black hair falling just short of dark brown eyes, Arthur inwardly acknowledged that he would have been a good-looking kid – had it not been for the smirk playing around his lips. It was a strange expression for a child to have.

"Pretty smug for a five-year-old aren't you Tom?"

"Six actually," Tom said coolly.

"Like that actually matters," Jack replied with obvious dislike. "You have some explaining to do. Maybe the teachers at the orphanage ignore the weird things you do, but us kids don't. To be honest, I wouldn't actually care about how you do those freaky things, so long as you kept them to yourself. But we both know you don't do that."

Arthur continued watching from the bench with growing interest. The boy called Tom made no effort to deny the accusation that he could do 'freaky things'.

Jack continued, "I've seen the way you treat the other kids, making them do your chores and giving them nothing in return. And now you've started nicking other people's things. Sure, none of us have actually caught you at it, and to be honest, I don't know how you get the things that are locked away. But it's bloody clear you're to blame when someone's belongings go missing just after they've had an argument with you."

"Yeah, what of it?"

Jack blinked. "You mean you're not even going to deny it?"

"Why bother? You haven't caught me at it, and without that, you have no evidence to show the teachers," Tom said with the confidence Arthur had rarely seen in such a young child. "So, since you've got nothing to show against me, there's nothing you can do about it. Oh," Tom added smugly as he went to turn away, "and I wouldn't suggest trying to find that evidence you'd need to show Mrs Cole, it won't end well for you. I can promise you that much."

"Oi! You little brat," Jack yelled, jumping off the fountain's wall and grabbing Tom by the shoulder. "Was that a threat?!"

"A warning. Now let go of my shoulder," Tom said coldly.

"Like hell I'm going to do that," Jack spat back, losing his cool and raising a fist. "As if I'm just going to sit there and listen to all that shit you say. I don't care if I don't have any 'evidence', you're getting what's coming for you right here, right now!"

"I said, 'Let go of my shoulder!'" Tom commanded spinning around and grabbing Jack by the arm.

Jack instantly went ridged. His face contorted, looking as though he was letting out a silent scream, eyes bulging. He fell to his knees, his arms shaking violently.

Arthur froze in momentary shock at how quickly the scene had changed from the slightly unusual to something drastically wrong. He leapt over to the pair, breaking Tom's hold on Jack and catching the older boy as he fell limply forward.

"What the bloody hell is wrong with you?!" Arthur demanded of the black-haired boy as he positioned himself in-between the pair.

Tom however, was looking at his hands with something akin to shocked awe on his face. "I really don't know," he breathed.

Arthur shook his head. There was something seriously not right about this kid. However, instead of pursuing the topic, Arthur chose to focus his attention on the semi-conscious teen he was supporting. Leading Jack to the fountain, Arthur sat him down.

"Hey, kid. Are you ok?"

Thankfully the effects of whatever had happened were already wearing off – though the boy was still shaking. "Y-yeah… I-I'm ok – thanks," he said before taking a few deep breaths to calm himself. Standing, he turned to face the black-haired boy. "Tom Riddle," he stated. "There's something fucking wrong with you," and with that he turned, quickly leaving the area.

Now that the other child had left, Arthur turned and regarded the boy, Tom Riddle, with a mixture of intrigue – and wariness.

The boy had just displayed some form of magic – that much was obvious. But that only raised more questions; for one thing, why would a wizard be living at a Muggle orphanage? Perhaps he was Muggle-born? That would be the most likely explanation. In that case, this kid probably had no idea about the wizarding world he'd soon become a part of. Arthur considered telling Tom the truth behind the abilities he'd demonstrated, but quickly decided against it.

Sure, it looked as though it was just a case of accidental underage wizardry that Tom had used against the other boy. But then again, accidental magic was rarely so… Dark. And the total indifference Tom had demonstrated in response to what he'd just done through unnerved Arthur more than he cared to say.

"Well?" Tom asked Arthur after a few moments.

"Well what?"

"Are you going to say anything or are you going to just stand there staring?"

"Oh, umm…" Arthur hadn't realised that he had been staring. What do I say? He thought.

He closed his eyes for a moment and frowned, thinking through the best course of action. There were times when meeting a citizen of his, that the person's most prominent trait could be sensed. For some it was determination, others courage or loyalty. Occasionally he'd met a full-blown narcissist. What Arthur felt now was far more nefarious than simple ambition and all his instincts were telling him not to become further associated with the boy by being the one to tell him of the wizarding world.

However, he also couldn't simply ignore what he'd seen. Tom had almost seriously injured another child after all, and if Arthur didn't do anything about it, wouldn't that make him partly responsible if it happened again?

Maybe I could just send the school a letter telling them to keep an eye on him.

"Yes, that's what I'll do," Arthur said to himself.

"What? You'll just keep staring?" Tom asked.

Arthur silently cursed himself for letting that slip. "Ahm…" he began.

"Hey Iggy!" Alfred called, coming out from behind the fountain. Holding up his bag he added somewhat unnecessarily, "Found my bag!"

"I told you not to call me that," Arthur replied, gratefully turning his back on the boy to meet Alfred.

"Whatever," Alfred said dismissively. "Actually, I'm surprised you waited. I was gone pretty long. I ran into France. And unfortunately, by that I mean I literally ran into him. He of course took it as a hint and starting hitting on me."

"That'd be rig-" A movement in his peripheral vision reminded him that the boy was too close. "Alfred, we should probably get going."

"Oh," Alfred continued as though he hadn't been interrupted. "And France said that another world conference has already been scheduled for next month, apparently Germany was peeved that we got nothing done today so insisted—"

"Alfred, shut up!" Arthur made his best attempt at gesturing at Tom without the boy noticing. He didn't appear to be listening to their conversation, but Arthur still didn't feel comfortable discussing such highly classified information around humans—this one least of all.

"What?" questioned Alfred before realising who Arthur was gesturing to. "Oh right. It's just a kid, does it really matter?"

"Of course it matters, you idiot!" Arthur hissed. He pulled Alfred away from the fountain and the strange child, who now giving them a questioning look, and in the direction they'd originally been walking. As soon as they were out of earshot Arthur continued. "What the hell were you thinking? Talking about that kind of stuff in front of a human, I thought you knew better!"

"It was just a kid and a little one at that. It's not like I'd say that kind of stuff in front of an adult," Alfred replied defensively as they followed the footpath under some trees.

"Are you really that stupid?" Arthur began crankily. "Kids don't stay kids for long. What if that boy figures out what we are because of your big mouth? Next thing we'll know he'll be an adult, knowing our secret and causing problems – not just for you and me, but for all of us. Bloody hell. You'd think that after nearly 400 years I wouldn't have to explain something so basic to you. I really thought I'd raised you better than that."

"Dude, calm down. Look, maybe you've got a point and I'll be sure to use our human names next time. But I still think you're overreacting a little."

"I hope so," Arthur said a little doubtfully, "It's just… there's something about that kid. To start with I don't think he's a Muggle child—"

"Ahh! No!" Alfred jumped, flinging his hands to his head. "You mean I nearly blurted out our secret to one of those arrogant wizards you love so much?!"

"Oh shut up and listen!" Arthur scolded before Alfred could launch into another rant. "The fact that the kid's a wizard is only a minor detail. The issue is the vibe I got from him; seriously, there's something really wrong about that kid. I've only felt that sensation from a few people before and each time I've felt it, that person has only meant bad news — and I mean very bad news for my country and my people."

Alfred frowned at this. "Are you sure about that? Maybe you just ate something bad. Your own cooking perhaps?"

"No, I know what I felt Alfred. It's only something I've felt a few times before and even then I haven't felt it this strongly since a certain man, who was around a few centuries before you were born. He went on to become a tyrant and caused the deaths of hundreds of my citizens. If that kid is anything like what he was – it's not going to end well."

Alfred remained silent for a while. The fact Arthur hadn't retaliated when he had a go at his former guardian's cooking only confirmed Arthur's seriousness about the situation. Looking back towards the fountain he noted that the child had also left. "Well then," he said, "for all our sakes I hope that this time you're wrong."

And there we have it. The first chapter is done. This is the first fiction I have written for either Harry Potter or Hetalia so please let me know how I've done with characterisation (though at the moment the only characters involved are the Hetalia characters).

Thanks for reading and reviewing ;)

(And for those of you wondering, I do not own either of these stories)

Next Time: Several decades have past and the First Wizarding War has already been over for more than a decade. However when Arthur wakes with an uneasy feeling and is asked to meet with Fudge and his muggle counterpart, Arthur becomes aware that while the First Wizarding War is behind them a new war may be on its way...

Update 2: 31st October 2017

I just did another edit to fix a few things and thought I'd leave a small author's note to any new people reading through this story. Last chapter I posted was on Christmas day – and today is Halloween…. Opps.

Don't worry about this being a dead fic though – the next chapter is being written and future chapters are being planned. Also I wouldn't waste my time editing a dead story. So please feel free to read what is here and know that it hasn't been abandoned. (Also a quick review does a lot for motivation)

Finally, regarding the Newt Scammander part. When I first wrote this chapter, I had thought that he was American. This part is important to include as it introduces the plot point that Alfred has issues about wizards and magic in general, so it's a little difficult for me to correct it. I probably will eventually, but I want to focus on writing new chapters first.

Update 3: 25th February 2020

Well after nearly 5 years it finally happened. I've fixed the Newt Scammander section! It was a little difficult as in order to fix Newt's nationality, I needed to change other things too – Arthur was trying to bring up topic of magic in a positive manner (as his long term goal is to help improve Alfred's view of the wizarding world), so having him boast about one of his own citizens wouldn't have worked in this case. I figured the best way to fix this was to include Tina – it's eight years after the first movie was set, so I'm assuming Tina and Newt will be at least engaged by this time. I may do a small update edit once the third or fourth movie comes out if they are actually married by 1934.

So on the third (and hopefully last) edit of this chapter, I have finally made it right – I hope you picked up the reference to this I added to the dialogue during this section ;D

Thank you to those of you who read the 2017 update and were patient with me fixing it up. I value the fact you took the time to read my author's notes.

Update 4: 22 September 2022

Back again, this time with more of a rewrite than an edit (though that did happen too). Both versions are very similar, but I'm happier with the wording of this one.

Also, chapter 15 is well underway. It's been a busy year for me, but I will make sure it's up before the end of the year.

Thanks again for reading and reviewing!