Draco looked out into the much more intimate crowd than the tournament's first trial had brought in, and found his cousin Hydrus. They were in the Great Hall and the other teen was sitting in the front row with one leg crossed over the other and his arms splayed out behind him along the bench's seat-back, taking up twice as much space as his diminutive frame actually needed. Aunt Bella was just to the boy's left, the side missing its forearm and thus he technically didn't have the limb wrapped around her. In Draco's usual spot on Hydrus's right was Blaise Zabini, and behind them were the other fourth year Slytherins. Hydrus met his eyes and gave a short, almost unnoticeable nod.

'You've got this, Draco,' the Malfoy heir thought to himself. He turned back to face his final opponent of the calendar year for Dueling Club. 'You've finally got this.'

Harry Potter was standing across from him on the stage, and was completely ignoring him in favour of making faces at his youngest siblings who were sitting in his mother and fathers' laps. The other Potter children were sitting around them, except for Dahlia who had the sense to stick with her fellow Slytherins after greeting them. Draco's own parents hadn't had time to come and see the year-end winter duels, not that he could blame his father.

After all, he'd lost this exact same duel each time they'd had it for the past two and half years, every single one except their very first match which he'd won on account of his use of the snake summoning spell catching the other boy off guard.

Potter was always just one step ahead of him. Every time that it seemed like Draco had managed to close the gap, whether it was in duelling, quidditch, or seemingly anything else; the Potter heir was just that little bit better. Their last duel at the end of third year had been the biggest gap in skill they had, and Draco hadn't managed to last a full minute against his rival.

Now it would be different. The past three months had been some of the most educational he'd had in his life thanks to Hydrus, and he was going to put everything his best friend had shown him to use. He could cast the disarming spell as fast as anyone besides the smaller teen himself, he had been slowly learning to deflect spells rather than just shielding or dodging them, and his magical reserves had nearly doubled. Today was the day he finally ensured that his father would never again miss one of his duels.

"Competitors, stand at the ready!" Flitwick called. Draco was already in position, but Potter finally straightened up and fixed his glasses before nodding. "Bow to your opponent."

Draco bowed to a perfect forty-five degrees and his opponent did a sloppy imitation of it. If the Malfoy heir didn't know it was just incompetence, he would've thought the other teen was mocking him. Once they were both standing straight again, Flitwick raised his wand into the air.

"Begin!"

With the word and the light that flashed up from the Charms professor's wand, the duel began.

"Expelliarmus!" Draco shouted. The spell went shooting off towards Potter whose eyes snapped open as he dodged by a hair's breadth. "Stupefy!"

"Protego!'

Potter's shield went up and came down just as the second spell would've crashed into him, and his own stunner came flying back towards the blonde who deflected it with a grin. He'd yet to be able to do that with one of Hydrus's casts, but Potter's had left him plenty of time to pull it off. Compared to his 'duels' with his friend or even some of the other Slytherins who studied with them, it was like Potter was a year behind. Deciding to further mimic his cousin, he began to try and walk his rival down.

Once he'd closed around half the gap between them, the duel truly began to take off. The duo were launching spell after spell at and in reaction to one another faster than they'd ever done before. Draco couldn't stop the smile from splitting his face as they went; never had it felt so easy to keep up with Potter, let alone to have such an advantage. He still hadn't managed to land a proper blow against the Gryffindor, but he'd come a lot closer than Potter had at landing one on him. It was impossible to know how much time had passed, but the sweat dripping off his opponent's face told him he wasn't the only beginning to grow weary.

He whipped his arm back to launch a nettle knot curse, a spell that would 'braid' nasty, itching vines and leaves into the other teens hair, only for his wand to go flying out of his hand. The Malfoy heir gasped as he realised Potter had used a silent disarming spell. He put every ounce of 'intent' into all the magic he had left as he made a pulling motion.

"Accio wand!"

All it did was make the wooden implement wiggle in the air as it made its way into his opponent's awaiting palm.

"Winner! Harry Potter!"

Cheers rang out, Potter nearly collapsed with a lopsided grin on his face, and Draco wanted to die. Like a bit of clockwork he walked over and took his wand back from Potter, returned to the end of the duelling platform he started on, and gave another bow. Finally steeling himself, he turned and saw Hydrus's expression hadn't changed at all and Aunt Bella was whispering something to him. Swallowing what little pride he had left, he made his way over.

"Another loss," he said, trying to get ahead of things. "I'm going to go back to the dorms."

"We still have three more matches to watch." Hydrus gestured to the empty spot beside him, Zabini had apparently moved further back. "We'll go when they're over."

Draco wanted to argue, but knew he had no right to after failing like that. He sat down silently and half-watched the rest of the duels, the scenes from his own replaying in his mind. His wand had been faster. His magic had been stronger. His spell variety was wider.

He had been so, close.

Thank Merlin his father hadn't been there to see it. If he had, Draco would've been verbally torn apart by the older blonde, told what a disappointment he was and how it was disgraceful for a Malfoy to lose to a Potter. He'd still probably wind up with a letter on his plate tomorrow, some short writ saying they'd 'discuss' it when he was back for winter break.

"Watch, Draco." The Malfoy heir started slightly at Hydrus's reprimand, but returned his focus to the duel about to begin. "There is much for you to learn here."

"What's the point?" Draco muttered. "Clearly I—"

Hydrus interrupted him with a sigh. "Fine. Come along."

The shorter boy stood and Bellatrix followed immediately. Draco suddenly worried he actually would end up getting a tongue-lashing, but joined them as they led him out of the modified Great Hall. Silence was all they shared until they arrived at a door he didn't recognize.

"What's this?" he asked.

"This." Hydrus pushed open the door. "Is what I've been working on."

Hydrus had seriously undersold the project. Draco was fairly certain he'd never been in whatever room this had been built from, but if it had been anything like most of the school's classrooms, then it was mind boggling to see what it had become. The hall itself dwarfed even the Great Hall, and he was certain almost half of Malfoy Manor could fit within the expanded walls.

One side of the room was set up almost like the library, with countless individual desks and long tables scattered about. If there was supposed to be some sort of order to the way they'd been arranged, it was lost on the Malfoy heir, but he doubted they'd have remained very organised anyways once the students set about moving them around however they liked. Two empty bookshelves sat against the back wall, and he vaguely remembered Hydrus mentioning a system to return and request library books without having to actually leave the Study Hall. On the opposite side, as far away from the bookshelves as possible, was a massive vat and another shelf which was filled with parchment scrolls and quills.

Almost directly down the middle, the hall 'split'. The second half was much more in line with Draco's interests. There were ten elevated duelling lanes, all made up to the exact specifications the pros used and just like what his Aunt Bella had competed on countless times before. Compared to the plain wooden one he'd been standing on a short while earlier, these were incredible. There were dozens practice lanes with intricate runes carved before them on the floor as they led to the wall as well. A few wide, ringed circles were scattered about with singular pillars in the centre of each one.

The most distracting part of it all was the way the whole room exuded power. Perhaps it was because of the near-empty levels his own magic reserves were at, but it felt almost like he was wearing a weighted blanket the way the magic pressed down on him from all sides. It didn't feel at all like Hydrus's cold and dark magic or anything that resembled what he could recall of the Weasley family magic; for the first time it felt like he was truly able to recognize the underlying, chaotic force that powered the school he'd lived in for the past 3 and half years or so. It was… firm. Reliable. Strong. Beyond that it felt almost impossible to describe, like a kaleidoscope compared to the monotone of any family magic he could think of.

"What do you think?" Hydrus asked. "Not too bad for three teens and a watchful pair of eyes, eh?"

"It's amazing." Draco turned to his cousin. "How did you manage to get all this done so quickly?"

"If you were to ask Fred and George, we apparently had a pack of brownies who'd come in every night to work on it." He smirked. "I, on the other hand, think those two need to work on their pepper up potions. I caught them asleep in here far too many times to count."

"Still…" Draco had wandered off towards one of the duelling platforms. "Do these have all the proper enchantments?"

"Of course," his aunt chimed in. "They're directly from the same workshop who creates them for the circuit."

"With a few added extras." Hydrus climbed up onto the stage with a surprising amount of grace for only having the one arm. He drew his wand once he was settled. "Confringo!" The spell roared towards the opposite side of the stage but just a few feet past the edge it fizzled away into nothing. "Normally they ward the arena walls themselves to increase the area for spells to operate in, but we had to work it into the base itself."

"That sounds… difficult." Draco didn't know the first thing about runes, arithmancy, and all the other sorts of things that would go into that. "How much did all this cost?"

Hydrus snorted. "Of course you'd ask that."

"What's that supposed to mean?" he snapped. "I was just curious."

Hydrus stared down at him and Draco tried not to look away. His cousin holstered his wand and sat on the edge of the platform, his head still just a few inches higher than the Malfoy heir's, and folded one leg over the other.

"Draco," he started. "What are you?"

"Pardon?"

"What. Are. You?"

"I'm…" Draco's brow furrowed. "A Malfoy?"

Hydrus waved his hand the way he would to cast a spell. "Poof. You're not a Malfoy anymore. What are you?"

"I… I don't know, just a wizard?"

"I see." He turned to Aunt Bella. "Bella, what are you?"

"A Black," she said with a smirk.

"Poof. You've been disowned. What are you?"

"A professor."

"Poof. You've been fired. What are you?"

"A duelist."

"Poof."

"Powerful."

"Poof."

"Famous."

"Poof."

She giggled. "Yours."

Hydrus snorted and Draco could almost feel his cousin rolling his eyes. "I could ask her that question a hundred more times, and knowing the way her mind works, she'd come up with a hundred different answers." He turned back to Draco. "You gave up as soon as you were no longer a Malfoy."

"I just—"

"And that's your problem." Hydrus finally slid off the stage and moved towards him. "If you aren't a 'Malfoy', you're nothing."

"I—"

"And who gets to decide what being a Malfoy is? What it means to succeed or fail as one?" The other boy leaned in close. "Your father. A man who will never be proud of you unless there's someone listening in. A man who will be disappointed in you for the rest of your life."

Their aunt cleared her throat. "Hydrus…"

"You will never be good enough for him. Just like he was never good enough for his father, nor his father to his father, so on and so on all the way back to whatever platinum-blonde wizard was chuffed enough with himself to call his family the 'proper sort'. And do you know where that leaves you, and the fact that you're nothing if not a Malfoy?

"It leaves you on the ledge whenever you fail the impossible task of truly making dear old daddy proud." Hydrus finally leaned away. "People are meant to be complex, Draco. If Bellatrix ever did something to disappoint Arcturus, would she be miserable? No. Because she'd still be powerful, still be famous."

"Still be yours," she added.

This time Draco clearly saw Hydrus roll his eyes. "Still be mine. You though? If we take away the singular piece in your puzzle box? You're left. With. Nothing."

The Malfoy heir couldn't think of anything to say. He looked away, down at his feet, and wished he were anywhere else in the world.

"You were still the second-best duelist of your age group, and you have all of the rest of our school year to overtake Potter. You are still the assistant captain of the Slytherin quidditch team. You are still going to be one of the founding members of Hogwarts' Study Club." He reached out and squeezed Draco's shoulder. "You have a bright future ahead of you, whether it's because you're at my side or because of your own talents that have begun to develop this year.

"You have so much more that you can be besides just the Malfoy heir, Draco," Hydrus said. He released him. "And once you learn to accept that, to strive for that, you'll realize how fucking unimportant a silly dueling tournament is."

Draco swallowed and tried to come up with a response, but all he could manage was, "Right."

"Either way, maybe you'll finally put some effort into working on your wandless, nonverbal magic." He felt his face heat up. "Now get back to the dorms. I have detention." Draco turned to leave, but Hydrus stopped him one last time, "Actually, wait."

The other boy fished around in his pocket before pulling out an envelope. There was no writing on it, just a bit of black wax sealing it closed with the Black family crest emblazoned on it.

"Could you give this to Ophelia for me?" Draco took it. "The second year of ours, not the Ravenclaw fifth year."

"What is it?"

"I heard she's visiting family in Greece for winter break, and I wanted to ask her to have her family find something for me." Hydrus rubbed at his jaw the way an old man would stroke his beard. "A rare species of serpent, a stone constrictor."

Draco's brows furrowed. "What do you need a snake for?"

"Perhaps you'll find out," Hydrus said with a smirk. "Be sure to look forward to the Black Yule Ball."

"Well that was certainly something," Bellatrix said as she leaned against her Hydrus. "Don't you think you were a bit harsh on him?"

"It was both what he needed to hear, and what I needed him to hear," her little water snake replied. "It'll be best for him in the long run to develop his self esteem beyond its current borders, rather than just piling it all atop his family name. By diminishing his father and 'subtly' putting myself in his place, I can better ensure his future loyalty."

"He's your cousin."

"In so much as you are my aunt."

She hummed at that. Honestly she didn't get why he always made such a big deal about their familial ties, the boy's mother was a Gaunt after all. If they were still around he probably would've wound up married to his own sister, or perhaps even a daughter from a less 'pure' first marriage. The thought of cute little mini-Hydruses brought a smile to her face, but suddenly another thought struck her.

"Do you do that to me?" she asked, cocking her head to the side. "Figure out ways to manipulate me into being loyal?"

"You'll remain loyal so long as I am a Black." He wrapped his arm around her. "I do, however, still manipulate you."

"Oh?"

He smiled and it gave her an odd assortment of butterflies in her stomach. "When we first met, I attempted to be your nephew, and it backfired tremendously. After that I attempted to be just your 'friend', despite your displeasure at such a notion, and clearly that's not gone to plan."

"So what are you trying to be for me then?" she asked, giving an exaggerated flutter of her eyelashes.

"I'm not trying anything." His magic washed over her and she gave a pleased gasp. "I simply am your Lord. The more I emphasise that, the happier you seem to be, and the smoother things seem to go between us."

Bellatrix giggled and tried again. "Does that make me your Lady?"

"Someday you will be." She deflated a bit. "I'm certainly closer with you than anyone else."

"Even that veela girl?"

"Fleur is a friend. Nothing more, nothing less," he said. "She's a powerful witch too, with important connections in France, so show her respect."

His eyes seemed to glaze over as he said that. He did that a lot, and it reminded her too much of that old codger Dumbledore. Sometimes he would just drift off to think about what he claimed was nothing, then return to the conversation as if he hadn't just practically dozed off in the middle of speaking with her. Every time it left her wondering just what went through his handsome little head.

"Yes, m'lord," she finally responded. She laughed at her own teasing and nuzzled her face against the side of his. "Just so long as you're sure there's nothing for me to be jealous over."

"There isn't." He sighed. "The graves are filled."

"What?"

Hydrus shook his head and seemed to regain his focus. "Never mind that."

"Hmmm..." She would this time. Honestly, he was starting to get on her nerves the way he never told her anything. Aunty Bella might just have to teach her little water snake a lesson soon. "If you say so. What about the stone constrictor? What's that for?"

"Unlike Draco, you might actually find out the truth for that one." He chuckled. "But certainly no sooner than he'll figure out the falsehood."

Oh yes, Aunty Bella would definitely have to give her student a proper detention soon.

"It truly is wonderful," Albus said as he unwrapped another one of his beloved lemon drops. "I'm incredibly impressed with your work, Hydrus."

The boy shrugged. "Fred and George did all the heavy lifting. I mostly just helped with conceptualizations and powering the various rune arrays."

They were in Albus's office on the morning of the students' departure back home for the holiday. Fawkes was newborn, and it had left the headmaster tickled pink to see Hydrus stop to give the 'young' bird some affection before the meeting began. He seemed incredibly fond of the phoenix, almost preferring to stare at the familiar rather than Albus himself whenever the trio met, and even in the bird's wrinkly and featherless form Hydrus seemed to admire him a great deal.

"You give yourself too little credit," he said. "The Weasley twins have made sure to give you almost as much praise as you give them."

"Oh I'm sure they have." Hydrus snorted. "I wouldn't be surprised to hear those two try and blame me entirely for the success, so as to avoid any expectations being hefted upon their own shoulders."

The headmaster gave a hearty chuckle at that. The twins did indeed seem to try their best to avoid any and all accolades, but thus far the younger boy had done a marvellous job of putting them in the front and centre of it all.

"As much as I would love to discuss Hogwarts' latest generation of pranksters at length, I called you here so that we could talk about our winter plans." He folded his fingers together with his elbows resting on his desk and placed his chin upon them. "Have you—"

Hydrus interrupted by clearing his throat. "Forgive me, professor, but perhaps this conversation would be best held in private?"

"We are alone, are we not?"

"We are not." Hydrus drew his wand, and after a complex set of wand movements who's result Albus was only fairly certain of, he said, "Absconditus."

The current headmaster's eyes shot up as the portraits of his predecessors 'slammed shut' with a bang like a bard-back tome being dropped on the floor. Their frames nearly fell off the wall and were left shuddering as their faces vanished into inky voids.

It was rare to see a spell he'd never heard of, let alone from one as young as Hydrus, and he had to lean back in his chair to appreciate it. He stroked his beard as he ran through the boy's wand motions, breaking down each one to imagine the way his magic must've flowed out and contorted to produce the blinding and no doubt deafening effect it would've had on the magical pictures. It probably could've been a much more subtle bit of magic if he hadn't put so much power into it, but the headmaster would have to try it himself to be completely certain.

"I once had the misfortune of dealing with a particularly nasty and loud portrait," Hydrus said. "I've spent a great deal of time working on a solution in case such a matter arises again."

"Hmmm…" He wondered what sort of portrait it could be, but then another thought occurred to him. "Does Phineas Black perhaps have a second portrait somewhere?"

Hydrus grinned. "Perhaps."

How strange. To give away such a valuable piece of information like that, instead of simply making some excuse to hold the meeting elsewhere like the new Study Hall, had odd implications. Sometimes and according to many sources the boy was nearly as proud of his heritage as his 'aunt' Bellatrix; other times and especially around Dumbledore himself it seemed as if the family was just something he tolerated. Which was the true face of the future lord of House Black?

"To answer the question I believe you were about to ask," Hydrus said. "I have a week between the Yule ball and my family's own holiday party, and I believe that might be our best window for this little venture. Would that work for you?"

"Certainly." Albus reached out for yet another candy. "Do you know how long it will take us to have at least retrieved the stone?"

"Depending on how familiar you are with Switzerland, or if you can turn a blind eye to a bit of underage apparition, we should hopefully be able to retrieve it in a single day"

"You're capable of apparating as well?"

Hydrus shrugged.

It was becoming harder and harder to believe that the boy was entirely self-taught. If it weren't for the fact that Albus had personally taught all but one living member of the Black family, he'd have thought they'd raised and trained him in secret. But even that old bear Arcturus wouldn't have the patience to hold out on not showing off the boy's skills for so long. Especially not since the family had been on the precipice of falling ever since Hydrus's father got himself disowned.

"So it's in Switzerland then?"

"I wanted somewhere with a relatively low magical population, but not so far away that I couldn't apparate to it at a moment's notice." Hydrus pointed towards the candy bowl and Dumbledore gave him a 'be my guest' gesture. "It's protected by a guardian, another magical snake."

"I see."

"Besides, I love Swiss chocolate." The boy's eyes turned to the window as he popped the lemon drop in his mouth, a twinkle in his eye that many often attributed to the headmaster himself. "It was such a rare treat back then. Nearly got myself killed over it on one occasion."

"I don't think anyone would kill a child over a bit of pilfered chocolate, Hydrus." The boy blinked and shook himself from his reminiscing. "Things are oftentimes scarier in appearance than in actuality."

"Perhaps." Hydrus shrugged. "But I get the feeling you've never found yourself facing such a circumstance."

"Perhaps," Albus mirrored. "Tell me, do you struggle with over-powering your spells?"

Hydrus's lip twitched into a half smile. "You really don't believe in segues, do you?"

"I find them to be superfluous," he said. "If you'd like, I could try and conversationally bring us back to when you performed that fascinating bit of magic with the portraits."

"No, no." Hydrus sighed. "It's fine. And yes, I do."

"Why is that?"

The boy nearly gave an honest answer. His mouth opened, he froze, then it closed. "Don't know. Just got a lot of magic I guess. Nurse Pomfrey should have told you that I suffered from malnourishment for most of my childhood, so maybe my power just grew faster than my body did."

That wasn't how that worked. If the boy's growth had been stunted, it should've affected all of him, not just his physical form. Poppy had indeed kept the headmaster up to date on his health, especially after that first trial and his complete immunity to the normally lethal manticore venom, and Hydrus was practically half the size he should've been at his age. That meant that either his magical core actually was just as underdeveloped as his body, which was a staggering proposition considering the boy was only a few levels below Albus himself. Or it meant someone had done something to artificially inflate it.

Hydrus stood. "Well, headmaster, I should get going before I either miss breakfast or rob you of all your sweets."

'I shall have all the time I need to study him later.'

Albus pushed his candy bowl forward. "Take one more for the trip." He winked. "Just one more."

The Black summer home hadn't changed at all since Hydrus was last there, still stuffy but well-kept, and just oozing malignancy. The wards he'd help set up passed over and cloaked him like, well, a cloak. There was a faint smell of rot in the air, an 'unintended' consequence of one of the protections, but for the most part the place just held a musty odour with an undertone of alcohol. When he ruled over this family he'd have to pay an exorbitant amount to get things up to snuff.

Technically he was supposed to have ridden the train back home, but Bellatrix had it on good authority that his mother brought his other self and 'siblings' home in her own floo, so it wasn't as if anyone could say anything about her doing the same for Hydrus.

Hydrus bowed as the man he would someday replace entered. "It's good to see you again, Lord Arcturus."

"Welcome back, child." Arcturus patted him on the shoulder so Hydrus straightened up. "I'm glad to see you've recovered. You've been eating well, Bella says?"

"Trying to, at any rate," Hydrus agreed. "I've been taking some elixirs that the school nurse provided to try and help my growth, but there's no way around the time it will take."

"Yes, yes, Bella has made sure to keep me informed." Arcturus turned and made his way towards his study so Hydrus followed, Bellatrix in tow. "Are you prepared for your proper debut?"

"As I'll ever be."

Although he'd technically already made an appearance at the Malfoy's summer gala, since that had been a quiet affair for Hydrus he wouldn't have been recognized in 'high society' as a debutant. He'd spent most of it holed up with Draco and Bellatrix rather than showing off and strutting about like a peacock. Between the press members who would be there to subtly get scoops about him, the minor celebration planned for his slaying of the manticore, and some other event that Bellatrix hadn't wanted to talk about; he'd have to be front and centre throughout all of the Black Yule Ball, and making sure to keep up the most menacing and majestic mask he could manage.

"The taxidermists have informed us that the manticore trophy shall be ready by tomorrow afternoon." Arcturus sat down in his chair with the slightest twinge in his nostril. "I plan to display it on the mantle above the fireplace in the audience hall of Castle Black."

"Careful it doesn't catch fire," Hydrus said with a grin as he sat down himself "It'd make me look awfully silly if it ends up being so easily immolated after all the effort I went through to kill it."

"Hmph, half of what's taking them so long is the various protection enchantments we ordered for it. Without the beast's magic source the hide loses most of its protective abilities."

Hydrus nodded. "Makes sense."

Bellatrix was standing behind Hydrus, leaning down on the back of his chair. "I've got your robes picked out already, both for the school ball and our own," she said. "I suspect that Tankle girl will wear something light, so your robes for that will be dark, and we'll go for a shade of silver for our own party."

"Right." He hadn't the faintest idea how Bellatrix was able to come up with such a deduction about Hellena, but he certainly wasn't about to shine any more light on the fact that he'd not done what he said he would with regards to the dance. "Let me guess, you'll be dressed to match me for both events?"

Bellatrix just giggled.

Arcturus tapped his cane against the ground. "That reminds me, Bella mentioned you had other plans for this break?"

"Yes." He spared a glance at Bellatrix and didn't see any guilt in her eyes, so he'd have to have a proper talk with her later about what she was allowed to report to the patriarch. "I'll be away for at least a few days after the school ball, but will without question be back before our own."

"Why?"

"I need to retrieve my heirloom." Arcturus tilted his head back in understanding. "I have another project as well that I'd like to begin working on, but I don't have quite the time table for that. Might not even get around to it."

"What would that be?"

Hydrus hummed. Fred and George had promised him the journals would be ready by Christmas shortly before he left, but he really had cut their work out for them. "I'd rather not say, not yet at least. As I mentioned, I might not even be able to truly begin it until the summer break, and there's a chance it won't be a success even then."

"Very well." Arcturus turned to Bellatrix. "Will you be accompanying him?"

"Yes."

"No." Ignoring his 'fiancee's look of betrayal, Hydrus continued. "Bellatrix may be an accomplished duelist and witch, but that won't save her from the basilisk's gaze. The beast will obey me, but it is still a wild animal."

"Hydrus, you can't—"

"It's not up for debate, Bella." He gave her a cold look and she wilted. "I'll be sure to bring you back a souvenir."

"I would also feel more comfortable if you didn't go alone," Arcturus said. "You're a valuable member of this family's future."

Hydrus wanted to try and order the ancient soldier around too, but he'd have better luck trying to intimidate a snapping turtle. At least this old reptile could be reasoned with.

He'd known next to nothing about the patriarch before coming back in time, Remus said he died around the point Harry started Hogwarts and thus the only information about him the werewolf had given was in passing. Mostly his former Defence teacher stuck to talking about how the Black family as a whole operated so as to prepare him for what to expect when he came back, and many of the stories about his new-found family had come from casual reminiscences about Sirius's childhood.

From what he'd heard from Bellatrix, Draco, and any general rumours that he'd managed to dig up, the old man was as fearsome as they came. He was a pure blood hardliner and one of the rapidly depleting veterans from Grindelwald's war. He led House Black like a particularly racist drill sergeant, and one with a love for corporal punishment at that. Even in what little time he'd spent around the man, Hydrus could see so many reminders of what his last-surviving senior officers had been like. The bitterness, the jumpiness, the way every little task he gave someone was expected to be done without question. He couldn't hold it against the man considering how much worse for wear he was, what with all his lingering and near-crippling injuries, but he certainly couldn't hope he lived for too much longer either.

If Arcturus hadn't already passed, or at least abdicated, by the time Hydrus graduated from Hogwarts, the younger man would have to start making moves. It wouldn't be all that hard to get Bellatrix to support his potential 'coup', though it might cost him his restored virginity, and between the two of them the other members of the family were inconsequential in comparison. The only one who could truly oppose it would be Sirius, but that was like declaring that Voldemort could've been stopped if Merlin had returned from the dead.

"Unless you know of someone else who can speak parseltongue, any help you can find will only become a hindrance." He'd probably spent too long thinking about his 'great-grandfather', but it wasn't like the older man wasn't prone to his own drifting. "I assure you I'll be more than safe. I survived for fourteen years outside these walls, a week or less won't kill me on top of that."

"Hmph. You survived as an urchin." Arcturus stared him down. "Now that you're a Black, you face a great deal more danger."

"If Bella has kept you as well informed as you claim, you'll know that I am capable of handling myself just fine." He refused to back down from the older man's gaze. "Unless you, her, or Dumbledore decide to try and off me, it will be perfectly safe."

"Or your father." Arcturus rapped his cane against the floor and Bellatrix flinched. "Perhaps the man isn't as enthusiastic about your return as you think."

Hydrus couldn't help it. He laughed. "Please, my lord, come up with a better threat than that. My father is an accomplished auror and you might be right in terms of his skills compared to my own, but I'd sooner expect Bellatrix to try and kill me than him."

"I would never."

"There you have it then."

Arcturus looked him up and down, as if measuring him for the umpteenth time. It seemed every moment in the old man's presence he expected you to prove yourself to him, and Hydrus thought it must've been rather exhausting for him. The younger man preferred to simply assume and expect the best from those around him, and if they failed, he would show them how to do better next time. It was how Dumbledore taught him. It was how he'd led his army once the old wizard passed. It was how he now tried to guide his classmates.

"Very well." The old man waved his cane through the air. "You're dismissed. Keep me in the loop regarding your other venture. I'm giving you this measure of privacy for now, but should it cause me any issues…"

"You'll be the first to know."

Hydrus bowed and left. Bellatrix probably had some report of her own to give regarding himself and Hogwarts, but it wasn't exactly like he could pull her aside to give her the lecture on privacy now. He wandered back to what was supposed to be his bedroom, but had somehow become he and Bellatrix's, and settled down onto the foot of the bed. The thing was still far too comfortable for him, but it wasn't as distracting as it had been during his first stay here.

"Kreacher." The elf appeared with a whip-like crack. "Have you done what I've asked you to?"

"Yes, young lord master." Kreacher bowed his head, and with a wave of his hand a stack of papers appeared beside Hydrus. "Alls of old lord master's goings and comings are there. His meetings with the lords Orion and Cygnus and Lady Walburga, the times he went to visit the nasty ones who was attacking you, all of it."

"Good, very good." Hydrus took the stack of papers and slid them into his nightstand before casting a locking spell along with one that would set the papers on fire if someone tried to open it. "And how's Regulus been?"

Kreacher tensed. "Little lord is fine, h-h-he's is doing fine."

There was still something the little shit wasn't telling Hydrus about his 'uncle', but he didn't want to press too hard; not yet anyways. From what he'd heard the youngest son of Orion wasn't a threat, just another unfortunate soul caught up in the Black family's prejudices. Part of what had won over Kreacher was the 'young lord master' reassuring him that his favourite member of the family would be much more welcome when he supplanted the 'old lord master'.

Unlike so, so many of the dark lord's followers, his uncle had lived up to his older brother Sirius's legacy and broken free in order to fight for what was right. Regulus had been the first one to die in the hunt for the horcruxes, long before Harry and his companions had even known they'd existed, and for that Hydrus held him in the utmost regard.

Merlin, if they could've just found those damned things, he could've put a stop to it all without this time travel nonsense. He could've killed Voldemort without the unknowable timer looming over his and the other fighters' heads as they waited for his return afterwards. He could've…

Hydrus took a deep breath. It seemed that his burst of madness at the trial really had just been a band-aid on things. He buried away the feelings that were creeping up inside him for what felt like the thousandth time. After all, the last thing he needed was to have a breakdown in front of Kreacher and give the elf an excuse to go running to his family.

"That's all then, Kreacher." He gave the little elf's shoulder a squeeze. "You're dismissed. Keep up the good work."

"Yes, young lord master." The elf bowed nearly two dozen times in rapid succession. "Kreacher will bring you drink."

The elf cracked away and Hydrus sighed. He'd have to wait on the original plan he had for the time before Bellatrix finished, who knows how long it would take the elf to brew a pot of te—

"Here's you is."

He blinked. Kreacher had reappeared with a bottle of whiskey and a multi-sided glass. Hydrus took them using magic and nodded his head at the servant.

"Thank you, Kreacher." He popped the cork. "That will be all for the evening."

Another round of genuflections and the elf was away. Hydrus poured out a shot's worth of the drink and resealed the bottle. He threw it back and almost spit it back up on instinct.

'How the hell did I forget what kind of liquor Arcturus drinks?' He finally managed to swallow it, but was making a face that would've humiliated him at a party. 'What sort of fucking Magic bargain did he make to stand this stuff?'

After a shiver and shake of his head to try, and fail, to clear his head, he reached for his knife. The blade wasn't anything special, just something he'd purchased during a Hogsmeade visit with Draco and the other Slytherins, but he'd gotten it for times like these. It had a wooden handle that had been sanded into smoothness with a groove for his index finger to lie in, and the blade that unfolded from it was just a few inches long with a steep bevel. He took off his shirt and drew the edge across his crippled arm.

At school his prayers had been short things before bed without any ritual, he couldn't risk looking like a maniac in front of the other students, but now that he was home he had no excuse not to show the utmost devotion. He got down on his knees, drew out the symbol for House Peverell on the floor, and began.

"Evening," he started. "Finally back home with the Blacks. I'm sorry I haven't been able to do this properly, but—"

"You need to stop." His blood went cold. He hadn't heard Her voice since before returning to the past, but it was just as awe-inspiring and primordial as he remembered. "You push too far, Harry."

"It's Hydrus, now," he whispered. "And I don't know what you mean."

"An agreement cannot be broken by just one side," She continued. "You push too far, and risk undoing what should not be undone."

"What do you mean?" he demanded. "Why can't I see you?"

"The bargains aren't the only thing about to break, Harry."

"I said—"

"You need to stop."

And then She tried to leave. Hydrus clawed out towards the goddess's presence, the fingers on his remaining hand contorting like a cat trying to hook a mouse, and for the briefest of moments he held Her. The entire room began to shake as their powers struggled against one another, but it was like trying to compete against a hippogriff in a game of tug of war. Eventually She broke free.

'Well fuck you too then,' he thought as his magic began to drain away. 'The one being who actually knows who I am and you won't even spare me the time of day.'

Magic might've always appeared without his knowing, but in Her absence She left a vacuum that his own power was forced to fill, like water filling a sudden gap. It left him exhausted and he was nearly incapable of vanishing away the blood he'd painted with or seal his wound. If She wasn't going to have a proper talk with him, he sure as hell wasn't going to finish his prayer properly. He certainly wasn't going to lose any more sleep over his lack of proper rituals while he was at Hogwarts, either.

He'd only just finished pulling his shirt back on when Bellatrix burst in. She gave him a once over and slammed the door behind her. Her chin was tilted upwards, her eyes were narrowed, and he wondered just what had gotten up her ass tonight.

"What were you doing?" she demanded. "What's going on?"

"Nothing." He crawled into bed and under the covers, eyes already beginning to droop. "Come here and keep me warm."

"Hydrus, I heard you talking to someone, who was it? What happened?"

"I'm fucking exhausted is what happened." He shifted his head about to get the pillow properly shaped. "Get in or get out, I'm going to sleep."

He could deal with whatever temper tantrum she decided to throw later.

BBaRtS

We're over 1K followers, which is super cool to see. Thank you all so much for the kind reviews, let's get to some responses. Be warned, I'm really enjoying getting to respond to these as it gives me a chance to really examine my writing and get my thoughts straight, so they might go long when there's lots of reviews like this time. Plus, I want to give something back for the reviews I love so much, and so want to respond to topics that people bring up. That being said, a review that just says 'love it' or something similar, know that I appreciate it with all my heart. If it just says 'went shit', then: no u, less-than-forward-slash-three.

Can you use em dashes? Let's find out. If this chapter has only regular dashes, we'll know FF doesn't like them. Thanks for feedback about the writing!

'Why doesn't Hydrus use his knowledge of the future?' Because his world's future is entirely different from this one's. You mentioned that he'd only used that knowledge to invest in the Weasleys, but he specifically states that they never even got to open their business because of the war that broke out at the end of the year he's repeating now. You'll get to see him use the knowledge of his own future later on, but in terms of financial investments he's got no insight whatsoever. He bought into the Weasleys because he likes them/feels like he owes them and because he knows they can be useful, not because he thought it would make him money.

A couple reviews talking about how Hydrus seemed dumb for getting stabbed. Again, he's very arrogant. I thought it provided a fun contrast between him mentioning being paranoid that the muggle bombs would eventually penetrate Hermione's shield, but didn't at all think that the manticore would break through HIS shield. He thought he was untouchable. Hydrus isn't a flawless character, nor do I want him to be. He's exceptionally powerful, yes, but he's arrogant, self-centered, and oftentimes misses the trees for the forest.

Tangential to that though, 'what was Hydrus's backup plan for the fight if he hadn't snapped'? Well, canonically he was certain the shield wouldn't fail. In reality, I think I failed at this part in my writing. He didn't directly have a back up plan, but I did try and 'trick' readers into thinking they'd know what would happen, I Just didn't set it up properly. These two bits of text:

"Hydrus moved away to take a seat on a chair he conjured from the floor, still trying to mimic the work he'd seen his headmaster do in the Study Hall. It still wasn't quite as smooth or malleable as the stairs Dumbledore had been able to work up, but he was getting closer."

and

"The manticore would've sent them on the retreat if it weren't for Frank, the man hadn't earned a mastery in both Defence and Creatures for nothing, and he'd been able to subdue it by conjuring a series of chains and ropes that Sirius couldn't even dream of trying to untangle. The feat had helped him earn his captaincy a few years later. Poor bastard.

Considering there wasn't anything for Hydrus to use as transfiguration fodder, not to mention the manticore was massive in comparison, Sirius doubted his son would be using that particular strategy."

Were meant to set things up to have people believe he would make that breakthrough and transfigure chains from the earth fluidly to surround the manticore. I didn't start it far enough back, didn't emphasize it enough, didn't make it that 'obvious'. Part of the problem too is that I also didn't do enough to differentiate transfiguring things up from the earth/ground and the way he 'conjures' up chairs. Funnily enough, even before I learned that I failed there, I'd already written a full explanation of his chair-charming ways in chapter 14. Next time I'll do that sooner. I'm sure there's other things I did wrong too with this'ne, but that being said, I don't think that's enough of a plot hole that it derails the story, so I won't stress myself too much about it.

What does Hydrus actually get out of dating Bella? He gets the support of one of the most ardent, famous, powerful witches in the entire world. We saw her flub a bit with the example she tried making in Defence class, but even Hydrus believes she could probably beat him in a life-or-death duel in his current state. Well, he did before he learned he could effectively take her magic from her, but that's still a massively high evaluation. Add on the fact that she provides body heat and is pretty? It's a no-brain deal as far as he's concerned. As for the last bit of your particular comment, you should check out my AN at the beginning of chapter 3 ;)

"We know he is an old man in a kids body, but the story characters are seeing a 14 kid wanting alcohol to the point of almost demanding it." He comes from a long line of famous alcoholics in this fic, as seen with Arcturus and Sirius, so people ain't surprised. Also, he's primarily talked about it with and in-regards-to the French. The French. Furthermore, its antiquated HP world and fourteen was more than old enough for someone to have a taste for the drink. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, I myself am an alcoholic, and one who firmly believes in writing what I know.

Again, thank you all so much, and I'll see you guys next week. We'll be breaking the 100K words mark then, the second-to-last 'filter hurdle' for fics on this site (just behind in-progress vs complete), so we might get an even bigger cavalcade of reviews then. Looking forward to it.