Next chapter, yay! It took longer that expected, dear readers, so I apologize for that, but here it is.

Disclaimer: Standard works.

Enjoy!

CHAPTER 15

The toast helped, and Hayden tried to get up and look a bit more confident when Professor McGonagall joined them, but his Tad pushed him back down into the nook, forcing him to stay in his comfort zone for a while longer.

"You want to talk about it now?" Ianto asked after a few minutes of quiet chewing.

Hayden swallowed and shook his head. "No, like I said, there wasn't any real reason. I'm still kind of nervous, but the toast helped. Thanks Dad."

Jack nodded. "No problem, Kiddo."

It was a little while later when Hayden was breathing normally again and his muscles had noticeably relaxed enough for Ianto to let him up. He and his parents, McGonagall having left some time ago, made their way out to the quidditch pitch, where they sat up in a fairly sheltered corner of the benches. A group of Ravenclaws were throwing a quaffle around, which was something Hayden could easily watch when he didn't want to look directly at his fathers and their laughter was a pleasant backdrop.

"This morning's paper had some disconcerting news," Jack started. "You didn't see it, did you?"

Hayden shook his head.

"Voldemort has publicly declared his return. The ministry is apparently trying and failing to deny it. Officially, they're waiting for a sighting."

Hayden pulled his knees up to his chest and watched one of the girls pull her broom in a tight loop.

"Professor McGonagall assures us it's safe here at the school and it's certainly safe at the Torchwood sites, so there's nothing really for you to worry about."

Ianto nodded. "We just need to maintain your identity's cover and keep out of it once things turn into a war.

Hayden returned his tad's nod. "Okay."

"You good, Kiddo? Tell us about the tests you've had so far."

Hayden agreed and launched into a tale about the conclusion of the year-long history competition.

"And then Geoffrey screamed out 'ODDBALL!' and Normina looked at him like he'd lost his mind and said 'Ornery. And undefeated.' And his mouth dropped open because he realized just how wrong he was and Professor Reeks grinned and gave our team the point and he was really excited and said 'that's a fantastic bit of extra knowledge!' and me and Normina high-fived and—"

Hayden paused and Jack turned to look over his shoulder, seeing the Weasley twins coming up the stairs behind him. "Hello, boys."

They grinned. "Hello Captain Harkness, sir."

"Mr. Jones."

Ianto smiled.

"We wanted to ask you—"

"About a new line of—"

"Camouflage darts."

Jack considered it for a moment. "Could be useful. Cobble something together and mail them. We'll see if it works."

Ianto chuckled as the boys excitedly thanked the captain.

"And Hayden-"

"Offer stands-"

"If there's anything you need help with-"

"Always at your service."

Hayden watched them run back into the stairwell before leaning back onto his tad's shoulder. "I should go. I promised Colin I'd help him study for his Astronomy test. If he beats Olwin, it'll be fantastic."

Ianto gave him a brief hug, then let him go. "Alright, be good. You need anything, ask for help."

Hayden nodded and rolled his eyes. "I know, Tad."

ooo

They watched him go, following slowly, and then made their way up to Professor McGonagall's office themselves.

"If this war gets out of hand," they warned, "we'll step in. And that won't be something the wizarding world will recover quickly from."

The professor nodded before waving the couple off.

Ooo

Hayden met his dad at Hogsmead station just before the train left for London and he stood and waved goodbye to his friends on the train before getting into the car.

The summer was foggy and cold and although the Cardiff rift was stable enough, the Scotland team had more field work than ever. At the end of June, there was a mass breakout from the wizarding prison and in July, the first picture of the newly returned Voldemort made the front page of the Prophet. He was tall and handsome, smiling charmingly, but he didn't look entirely human. The dark hair and strong features just weren't enough to cover the lack of care in the eyes. When September came around and Hayden went back to the school, he'd gone completely off of his anti-psychotics, but his anxiety dosage was upped and he had a brand new prescription for anti-depressants.

Ianto seemed worried when he waved his son off at the gate to the school, but the young wizard just gave his Tad a reassuring smile and jumped into the crowd of students moving from the train to the carriages.

Hayden looked resolutely down as he entered the Great Hall and made his way over to the Hufflepuff table, ignoring the ceiling as he plopped down next to Zacharias. His classmate greeted him with a grunt and they ignored the sorting in companionable silence. "So, um, how did your summer go?" Hayden asked when Dumbledore had finished his announcements and they were steadily eating.

"Didn't feel much like summer, what with all the attacks and not being allowed outside."

Hayden nodded. "Right. We're safe here though."

Rias laughed, but in a way that made it very clear he didn't entirely agree with that sentiment.

ooo

It was a week after term started that a group of rogue dementors got past the stationed auror guard and onto the school grounds. The students leaving the Herbology classroom all got very quiet and cold, but Hayden fell to the grass, unable to support himself under the sheer weight of the depression. Another few seconds and he'd passed out, images of a shrill screeching woman and a huge man and their enormous child filling his mind alongside a dark, smelly, spider-filled closet and an oppressive sense of not belonging. He tried to grab onto his head in automatic response to the splitting and contradictorily numbing headache, but couldn't seem to move.

Hayden screamed.

Next thing he knew, he woke up in the hospital wing, a block of chocolate the size of his head sitting on the bedside table.

He swallowed, his dry throat scratching, and pushed a flop of long hair out of his face. "What happened?"

Madame Pomfrey turned around and bustled over, tutting and not answering the question as she broke off a bit of chocolate and tried to get him to eat it.

He shook his head. "I don't—" but then it was in his mouth. He forced it down his throat just in time to see his dad walk through the double doors, coat flaring behind him as he strode and several students coming in behind him.

"Hayden, are you alright? What happened?"

"I just tried to ask that," Hayden managed. "Water?"

Madame Pomfrey forced another chunk of chocolate into his hands and followed it with a goblet of water.

"Dementors," she explained. "Blasted things to start with, but for children of a delicate-" Hayden scowled "nature, they're disastrous."

Jack nodded. "Team's been chasing those down for the last month. Breeding."

Luna sat next to him on the small bed, not touching, but offering comfort through proximity. Ginny hovered a ways away, Zacharias leaned against the doorframe, and Elian, Colin, and Tristan stood behind the Captain. "Anything we can do?" Elian asked when he could get a word in.

"Yeah, Hayden, do you need us to fetch homework?" Colin added.

Hayden shook his head. "No, no I think I'm okay. What happened to everyone else?"

Ginny looked away nervously. "Um, nothing… they… I thought I'd never be happy again but… nobody else…"

Hayden nodded. "'S okay."

"Dad?"

"They sent a letter and I used an experimental teleport. I think your tad's following."

Hayden shook his head. "I guess that means I missed Transfiguration." Tristan nodded. "Great."

"You sure you're okay?" Hayden nodded. "Alright, I need to talk to Dumbledore. I've got half a mind to-"

He walked away and the rest of his words were lost.

ooo

Hayden looked over his shoulder as he left the classroom, immediately after having handed in his most recent essay. Lupin was looking at him oddly. Hayden ignored it at left the room.

ooo

Ianto was leaving the castle after talking to Hayden when the defense professor ambushed him. "Mr. Jones, can I talk to you please?"

The Welshman was surprised by the encounter, but nodded. "Alright."

"I… I'd like to put Hayden on an advanced curriculum."

By the time they reached the gate, the conversation had shifted to things more personal and friendly.

"Hayden is adopted then?"

"Yes, we adopted him when he was six. Took him out of an unsafe home environment."

Lupin nodded. "Muggle adoption?"

"In the most technical sense. Please do give Hayden the advanced work. Thank you for talking to me." Ianto cut off the conversation and slid into his car, leaving Remus to think about what he'd learned. He knew that Hayden was Harry Potter. He had to be. He still smelled like Lily and James, despite the addition of his two adoptive parents. He couldn't explain it but he knew it. There was nothing he could do about it though. Shrugging against the snow, he buried his hands deeper in his pockets and headed back up to the castle.

ooo

It was coming up on Christmas break and Jack and Ianto were sitting in Jack's office.

"How are we going to tell-?"

"I gave him the sex talk last year, Ian. It's not a big-"

"It's a big deal."

Jack shook his head, leaning back in his chair. "He's a smart kid, he knows I'm from the future and that means biological differences, and it's not as though he's completely oblivious to other things either. I give it three months tops before him and that girl Normina start dating."

Ianto dropped his head into his hands.

"He's going to have a sister, Ian. It's not rocket science. Not that he has any problems with rocket science anyways."

"This is insane."

Jack laughed.

ooo

Hayden pushed back his hair and bit his lip. He'd been standing outside Professor Snape's office and he was having trouble working up the courage to knock. Breathing deeply, he raised his hand and hit his knuckles against the rough wood.

"Enter."

Hayden opened the door, shoving his left shoulder against it for leverage, then stepped in. It was dark and the walls were covered in shelves of jars with disgusting things in them.

"Sit."

Hayden gulped and sat down in the hard wooden chair, looking up at the professor nervously. Cold dark eyes with no emotion behind them stared into his for several moments before the head of slytherin spoke again.

"Your report for defense against the dark arts led me to look into your recent potions work. It's adequate. Better done than what I've seen in any but the most obnoxious of know-it-alls in years."

Hayden didn't respond, waiting for a point.

"I've set up a station in my classroom where I'd like you to brew a third year potion."

Hayden nodded, then stood up to follow Snape when the professor moved around the desk and towards the door.

Hayden looked around the dungeon classroom and shivered, but quickly took note of the materials laid out and the instructions written on the chalk board. He walked to the station and set the water to boil. He prepared the ingredients methodically and followed every instruction, just as he would in the classroom several floors above, where he normally took his lessons. The potion was a challenge, requiring more precise timing and order than the ones he was used to, but once he got used to the feeling of Snape staring at him, he started to move more fluidly and it came together just as it should.

When he filled a vial, corked it, and looked up, Snape was frowning.

"No, you don't belong with Wifferdill. Come here for your next lesson. Maybe you can teach whatever group is in here how to follow directions."

Hayden nodded, shakily handed in the vial, cleaned out the cauldron briskly at the sink, and grabbed his bag, gulping in the relatively fresh, if frigid, air when he reached the corridor. He broke into a jumping skipping run on his way to the library, hoping to burn away the adrenalin. Professor Snape was terrifying, even when he wasn't trying.

"Hermione," he said breathlessly, sliding into the seat next to her. "I'm being moved into Professor Snape's class."

Her mouth dropped open in disbelief.

o

Only two traumatizing lessons in, Professor Sprout managed to switch him back to his regular potions class, which Hayden was grateful for. The advanced material was nice, but he much preferred brewing things above ground with a teacher who didn't take away points for odd breathing styles.

ooo

Hayden was eating oatmeal at the Gryffindor table when he turned the page of the Quibbler to see a very detailed account of a weevil attack.

"Your father was attacked by weevils?" Hayden asked Luna carefully.

"Ratspurts, yes. Daddy says Torchwood helped him."

"Okay, um, Luna?"

"Hmm?"

"Could you maybe not tell anyone? Because Torchwood is kind of supposed to be secret and my parents work there."

Her eyes went wide. "Of course, Hayden."

"And Luna? How do I ask a girl out?"

"I don't know. Maybe you should ask Ginny."

ooo

It was December 29th when the Torchwood team came across a group of dememtors, Hayden sitting in the car at the time. He passed out again, and he heard a woman shrieking about mud before that half memory was made blurry in light of his terrible loneliness. He was purposeless, alone, dying. And then there was Tom's voice. "How?" he screeched. "How!? I was careful! My horcruxes! How am I locked inside this thing? There's nothing else here!"

Hayden woke up with a gasp and quickly clutched his winter coat tighter around him. "Tad?" He sobbed. "It was… I-it w-was T-Tom." He buried his face in a wool-covered shoulder and let the team doctor inject the solution into his arm.

Please let me know what you think! Thanks for reading!

-MP

Abby: I really appreciate the support and I hope this helps a little bit in your desire for more Weasleys. It's not much, but a little bit.

Samantha: I definitely have not abandoned this. Absolutely not. Obviously, I'd like to update more often, but it hasn't been even a month since the last one, so I think I'm doing pretty well right now. Thank you for reading, though, and I hope you'll continue to do so.