Quoth the Raven, Nevermore

Disclaimer: See chapter 1. Reviews are welcomed, flames aren't. Also special thanks to Phil for being our Brit-picker. Here's the chapter you all were waiting for: John gets a friend.

Chapter 15: So Faintly You Came Tapping

The sergeant-major settled easily into life at the Tower Compound. With the consent of John Hadrian's tutors and guardians, a new daily schedule was soon set up. Mornings were for books and lessons, afternoons for were for playtime/physical training with Wolf, and evenings were for family time.

Ben and Maggie knew they were getting on in years, and having an active, growing boy around could sometimes be too much for their aging bodies to keep up with. At those times they were especially thankful for the sergeant-major. He had the strength, endurance and the patience to keep up with a soon to be nine-year old.

From the very beginning the sergeant-major insisted that everyone called him 'Wolf.' That took some getting used to but, in the end, everyone did. His reasoning was he was on assignment to be a mentor and body guard to John, and so he felt he really wasn't on active duty.

The focus of Wolf's 'mission' was the protection, training, and well-being of John Hadrian. He took that duty very seriously. As he learned in the briefings, too many people wanted a slice of the boy. Be their aim good or evil, he vowed they would have to get past him first.

He wasn't too happy playing nursemaid, but as the days and weeks passed, the child grew on him. To Ben and Maggie, it seemed that he was growing on the child - if the hero-worship was anything to go by.

Wolf was surprised and delighted to find John Hadrian was a very smart and talented young wizard. The child also had the ability to concentrate on the task at hand and strove to please his instructors. He took to most of Wolf's training like the proverbial 'duck to water' - or perhaps he should say, 'a raven to shiny things?'

However, to Wolf"s dismay, he found it was the ghosts that bothered him the most. He never knew when, or where, they would appear. He was very respectful to Queen Anne and cordial to Sir Walter, but Wendall the weird unnerved him as that ghost took to popping in at the oddest time. He particularly liked to pop up when Wolf was taking a shower, of all things!

The sergeant-major wasn't too sure about the two princes. They had a devilish streak running through them, and they taught his charge many of their bad habits, like hiding to avoid certain lessons. Despite his annoyance at such behaviours, Wolf really couldn't complain too loudly. Such an ability could prove useful in the future. The only problem he had was in teaching the boy when to use this skill.

"Scrapper! Come down here! It's time for your lesson!" Wolf shouted up into a tree. This was the third time the child had ducked out of training and his studies, and Wolf was fed up with the disobedience.

John Hadrian changing into a fledgling had caused several incidents that Wolf would rather not remember.

The first time Wolf had seen the child shift he was taken by surprise – and then awe. John Hadrian was too young to be doing such complex magic. Then he thought about the child's birth parents and what he knew about them. James and Lily Potter were, by all accounts, a very smart and powerful wizard and witch.

"Having troubles, Wolf?" Yeoman Provost asked as several tourists snickered in the background. "Seems Scrapper has got the better of you yet again." He chuckled. Peering up into the tree he politely suggested, "I am sure that the Ravenmaster can help get him for you. Do you want me to call for him?"

"That won't be necessary," Wolf said, leaning against the tree, folding his arms. "I'll wait."

Scrapper cawed and rustled his feathers as if laughing down at the humans. Wolf snorted as the tourists and the Yeoman wandered off, the show being over.

The sergeant-major's patience paid off once the tourists were gone and the ravens were bedded down for the night. A very disgruntled boy was frog-marched back to the barracks. It was one of the few times the child pushed his boundaries to the limit of adult tolerance, much to the frustration and amusement of everyone concerned.

John Hadrian had been very upset that his time with the ravens was cut short with this new study schedule. He really liked spending time with them, they taught him all sorts of fun things! Now that he was older and more secure in his environment, he let his displeasure be known, and loudly.

Of course, for each prank and missed lesson, John Hadrian had to pay the piper, as it were. For the most part, John took his 'medicine' as well as could be expected for his age. Too many times in the past, his relatives' form of punishment was extreme, bordering on torture. They had trained John well to suffer his 'punishment' in silence. All of the adults around John mentally cursed the Dursleys every time their treatment of the child reared its ugly head.

For the most part, John Hadrian adored Wolf. The tall royal marine made most of the practical training fun. Currently John was being taught basic gun safety with paint guns. Of course, such training wasn't allowed in the Tower compound. Paint splatters on the buildings were frowned upon, not to mention the disruption a paint war would cause among the tourists.

There was also the question of how the wards would react to such an activity. Wolf solved that problem by taking John Hadrian to the Palace Guards training grounds. A few of the off-duty staff sometimes joined in the fun. Just to keep in practice as it were.

Sometimes John wished the adults in his life weren't so demanding. He agreed with the ravens. Life was too short not to have a little fun on a wonderful, lazy, sunny day.

Thor, or one of the other ravens, would visit his window and tease him while he was studying or working on the many problems set before him.

He looked over to where Wolf was working on a keyboard. The man's back was to John, so he hadn't seen Thor sitting on the window sill. 'Bugger this,' John thought, quietly sliding his work book to one side. He couldn't resist the urge. He was, after all, a raven at heart. He'd study later; the sun and wind was calling!

"Scrapper John Hadrian McIntyre! Get back here and finish your homework!"

"Caw!" Scrapper fluttered out the open window to freedom.

0o0o0o0

It was a beautiful spring day. A school bus discharged its load of students from a local primary school. Everyone was excited to be out of school for the day. It meant no classes, homework or tests. Everyone, that is, except for one young girl with her nose in a book. The rest of the group around her ignored her as they formed two, chattering lines.

The tour started out fine, but soon the book-toting young girl carefully separated herself from the rest of her classmates. She found a nice spot by the Chapel of St Paul and sat down to finish reading her book which she had found in the school library. She felt she could get more from it than actually trooping past displays in the chaos her noisy classmates would generate.

At first, she wasn't sure she should be sitting here. The bench was nice, sitting as it did in the dappled shade of a large tree. Still, something seemed off . . . but then, this was the Tower of London. She shuddered slightly. Everything about the place felt strangely off to her.

"Excuse me, Miss. Shouldn't you be with your class?" came an amused voice from above her.

She looked up to see a young boy about her age in the tree she was resting beside. He had messy black hair and green eyes and was wearing a green polo shirt and jeans. He seemed to be polite, however experience had taught her that few remained either kind or polite for long. She waited for him to start in on her for her 'bookish-ways' like the other students did.

She shrugged. "They won't miss me until it's time to leave."

John Hadrian scrambled easily to the ground and took a seat beside her. Sneaking a peek at the title of her book he started to chuckle. "You do know that the author of that book has several points wrong about the Tower?" He pointed out.

She hmphed and tried to ignore him. "Do you mind? I am trying to read?" She tilted her head so her mass of bushy, curly brown hair hid her face

"Really? Aren't you feeling a bit uncomfortable sitting so close to the Block?" He grinned. "A lot of blood was spilt on it, and some people are quite sensitive to being so close to it," he intoned eerily.

She looked over at the marker and shuddered. She had just assumed it was being inside this close to the Tower that was giving her that sensation of being watched.

"Come on, I know a better place to sit and read – if you want to? Or I can show you some things that most tourists don't know about." He offered her his hand politely.

Closing her book, she looked into his earnest green eyes and sighed. "I'm not going to get any peace, am I?"

"No, you aren't," he said with a smile as he gently took the book from her grasp. "Come on! Before Wolf comes looking for me! I'm supposed to be revising my math notes."

"Who's Wolf?" she asked curiously.

"Uh . . ." He chewed his bottom lip for a moment in thought. "You could say he's my tutor. Come on! I don't want to be dragged back inside. It's too nice a day." He tugged on her hand urgently.

0o0o0o0

John couldn't believe it. There she was – sitting under his tree. He had asked the Lady for a friend he could talk to, one that was still alive and human.

The princes were fun, but they would never change and he was growing up. He wanted someone to go to the park with, to ride the rides at a theme park and all the other things kids were supposed to do together. Charley was all right, but he was so far away and they only were together for very short visits or on holidays.

The Lady had promised he would meet a very special person. One who loved books and needed a friend as much as he did. She would have bushy brown hair and sad dark brown eyes. She would also be magical as he was, but he couldn't tell her yet. It wasn't the right time for her to know.

John trusted the Lady. She had never lied to him and she always protected him. So he waited and waited and waited. Then, there she was!

"I'm John Hadrian McIntyre," he said with a smile as he led her away from the Block and the heaviest concentration of blood magic in the Tower.

"Hermione Granger." She replied softly. Her warm brown eyes looked at him in curiosity. " Where are we going?" John just smiled happily.

0o0o0o0

As far as we could tell, only one person guessed right as to how John/Harry and Hermione would meet. Now that they have, things will start to pick up a bit. Don't worry about Sirius. You'll see more of him soon.

Thanks for the wonderful reviews and comments.

Until next time. -GF and The Frau