Draco sighed as he stared out over the small crowd of people who'd gathered to hear what he had to say. All of the fourth-year Slytherins were there, as well as a few of the younger ones, which was to be expected. Other houses had come as well though. From Gryffindor were the Weasley twins as well as Granger. Luna had come from Ravenclaw, Diggory from Hufflepuff. Draco had spoken to his aunt Bellatrix earlier in the day through the floo, and now that Study Club had gotten out everyone and their mother was demanding to know what she had said.

"Professor Black and Hydrus are both alright," he started, and there was an almost immediate, collective sigh of relief. "Hydrus is suffering from severe magical exhaustion, and we don't know how long it'll be till he's recovered from it. He also lost his arm, but once his magic's back he'll be able to heal it just fine."

"Why'd the goblins attack him?" Diggory asked.

"I don't know." Draco tried not to wince at the pointed question. "Aunt Bella didn't say. She just told me not to worry about it, and that Hydrus would take care of things when he woke up."

"Is it true that the Black Sheep is holding back the war?" Diggory asked, once more driving the impromptu Q&A. "People are saying he all but bitch-slapped the minister."

"I, I mean, I don't know about that…" The Malfoy heir licked his lips. "All I really did was ask my aunt If Hydrus was okay."

"Is there anything we can do for him?" Granger asked. "I've never really looked into magical exhaustion, but maybe I can—"

"No," Diggory answered, cutting her off. "The only thing to do about magical exhaustion is wait it out. I've never heard of it taking more than a few days to recover from though, so why don't they know when he'll wake up?"

"Shove off, Diggory," one of the Weasley twins said.

The other nodded. "Quit pretending like you care just because your daddy is curious."

The oldest one there stiffened at the accusation, before rolling his eyes. "I'm curious myself, thank you very much. Unlike you two, I won't have another year to goof around before potentially getting drafted if there's a war."

That changed the mood of the room rather quickly. Draco glanced over to his housemates. Crabbe and Goyle didn't look particularly bothered, in fact one just leaned over and said something to the other that earned a bored shrug. Michael and Blaise had both tensed up. They could probably worm their way out of a draft if push came to shove, but that was only if their fathers allowed such 'cowardice'. Even the Weasleys had lost their usual smirks at the reminder.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," Draco said, trying to regain control of the room. He thought of what Hydrus would say in a situation like this, and then decided to make the other children do the same. "Let's just wait and see what Hydrus does when he wakes up. The goblins have already put out an apology and called it a misunderstanding, maybe they're right."

Blaise scoffed. "You don't actually believe that, do you?"

"I'll believe whatever Hydrus says to believe." Draco stared down his 'friend', and Blaise backed up a touch. "Until then, just don't worry about it. Either there won't be war, and everything will be fine. Or there will be, and the Black family will lead the charge." He shrugged. "Whichever way it goes, we'll be fine."

He almost surprised himself with how well that worked to drain the tension out of the room. Between Bellatrix, the Black Sheep, and most lately the 'Hogwarts Prodigy' Hydrus, the Black family's notoriety had never been higher. Even taking into account the constant fluctuations in the Prophet's reported numbers, at least hundreds of goblins had been killed by Hydrus and his aunt alone. Add on the fact that the goblins were weaker than ever thanks to the internal war going on, and it didn't paint too dismal a picture for the wizarding world.

"Anyways, that's all I know." He slid off the stage Hydrus usually kept his throne on top of. "You guys go on ahead, I'm going to clean up the Study Hall."

Most of the crowd began to disperse, but the Weasley twins lingered a moment, staring up at the wall where their joke shop's logo was emblazoned onto its massive plaque. After a few seconds, one grabbed the other's shoulder and shook his head.

"Come on."

"Yeah… It's not fair game."

Once the two left, Draco sat about his work. He'd finished activating around half the cleaning charms on the Quiet Side when someone tapped him on the shoulder and startled him into a small jump. When he spun around, he breathed out a sigh of relief to see it was just Luna.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"You looked like the nargles have been getting to you lately," the girl said. "You look tired."

Draco rubbed at his eyes. He felt tired. Everyone around him had been bugging him for the past few days, demanding to know what 'secrets' he had about Hydrus's status and whereabouts. He used to appreciate being the other teen's closest confidant, but now he wanted to tell his friend to just leave him out of it in the future.

"Here." Luna held out her hand. "This should help."

Draco gave a curious frown but held out his own hand, and was left even more confused when she dropped an earring into his palm. He held it up to look at it closer. It was a simple metal hook, and hanging from it were a green bead and some sort of pointed tooth.

"I made it myself to help ward them off," Luna 'explained'. "It took me a while to find a shade of green that would work as well in stopping them as purple does, but I think I got it just right."

Luna's… odd, obsession with creatures that only she and her father were certain existed had baffled Draco. Sometimes it seemed like they were just abstract representations of things like her bullying problem, other times it was like she was seeing them right in front of her. Whenever he pressed her on the subject, it would only serve to confuse her, thus making everything even less sensible.

"Uh… Thanks." Draco nodded his head at her. "I really appreciate it."

Luna beamed at him then wrapped her arms around his chest in a smothering hug. He held back a sigh, having long since grown used to the girl's affectionate nature, and returned the gesture. After a few seconds longer than was strictly appropriate she finally released him, and without saying goodbye turned around to skip away.

Draco watched her leave, then stared down at the gift. He'd never actually be able to wear it, of course, but—

'Says who?' he thought, angrily realising he'd nearly fallen back into his habit of putting his parents' opinions before his own again. 'To hell with them.'

Without stopping to consider the logistics of what he was about to do, he took the earring and plunged the hook through his earlobe. He sucked his teeth at the stab of pain, and closed his eyes before he had to see any blood on his fingertips.

If anyone found out about the way blood made him woozy he'd be a laughing stock. Well, if anyone besides Hydrus found out. The Black scion would probably just come up with some traumatising way of getting him over it like setting him up in a blood-filled dunk tank, or using him as a living practice dummy for his healing spells.

After a few moments to prepare himself, he unclenched one eye and saw there was nothing on his fingers at all. He felt around the piercing, but when he checked again there was still no blood. He had no idea if that should worry him or if it was normal, but he decided quickly not to look the gift horse in the mouth and just finish what he was doing.

"Um, Miss Bones?"

"Yes, dear?"

"Where's Sirius?"

Giannis stared up at the upset looking woman, waiting for her to strike. Sirius hadn't been home in the past week and a half or so, which wasn't strange per se, but it wasn't normal for it to go on this long either. He'd already finished the last two books Hydrus's dad had gotten him, and he wasn't sure if it was safe to ask Miss Bones for more. After another moment or two of staring at the paper she was holding, the woman set it down and swallowed.

"He's… In time out." Giannis frowned. What? "He got into a bit of trouble at work recently. He decided to be very, very, stupid and hit someone he shouldn't have, so now he's in time out."

"What's time out?"

"What?" Miss Bones looked at him like anything she had said made sense. "What do you mean what's… Oh forget it." She mumbled something nearly inaudible, but his runes told him she'd asked 'what's the point?'. "He attacked his boss's, boss's, boss's friend. Threw him against a wall with magic. He's in jail for assault."

"Oh." That made more sense. "Why?"

"Grown-up reasons, dear." Miss Bones shook her head. "He'll be out soon."

Why was she still being so weird? Why was she hiding things from him? Hydrus never hid things from him. "Why aren't you tellin—"

"Because I don't want to, Giannis," she snapped. "I love you to death, dear, but right now I Just don't want to talk about it. I don't want to think about the fact that the man I love might go to fucking Azkaban, I don't want to explain to you the magnitude of how badly he fucked up, I don't want to even try to handle this, so please. Please. Just stop asking questions."

After a few seconds, Giannis slowly untensed and straightened up. "Okay," he mumbled. "I'm sorry."

He turned and went back to his room. If only Hydrus was here. He'd know what to do. So far, no matter how many questions Giannis asked, his best friend always had answers for him. Once he was settled in front of his desk, Giannis stared at the large block of wood he'd been carving runes into. He threw it to the side, and took another one of the ones Sirius had gotten for him instead. It was soft wood, he'd asked Sirius what 'balsa' meant and the man just said it was the name for the stuff, and that meant he could easily carve into it.

His hands moved faster than his brain did. Instead of worrying about whether or not he would get the shapes and curves and lines and dots and depths right, he just shoved his nails and teeth into the wood in ways that felt right. Sirius and Miss Bones had been arguing, or debating as they called it, over whether or not to get him a set of knives to do his work with but now he was afraid that Sirius might not get the chance to win that 'debate'.

Fleur kept up her stoicism as she stared out over the massive crowd of veela who'd gathered to hear what she had to say about 'La Sainte Noire'. Veela of all ages had come, as well as a few other honoured guests, and she probably only had a few more minutes of them just preening and prattling before she'd have to go up. To make matters worse, it seemed like every time she so much as thought about running away her grandmother would catch her eye.

It'd been the old veela's younger sister, Fleur's great-aunt, who'd broken the news to everyone who would listen about Hydrus Black's blessing. To hear the old parrot tell it, he'd summoned Magic herself to light the fires of passage. The flames had 'reached up past the sky and stars'. The boy had 'shone brighter than even the fire itself'.

More likely he'd just put some extra oomph into a fire spell, and there'd been a touch of Magic's glow to it. The older generation loved to exaggerate, and they saw their gods in every little thing that happened around them.

"Next," Matriarch Lille said in French. "Daughter Fleur Delacour will come forward to answer approved questions."

Fleur sighed. Apparently the matriarchs had been going back and forth in the lead up to the Rassemblement Massif since it was first announced to decide what questions to ask. They'd wanted to know everything about the human who worshipped Magic, from his birthday to his blood type. The only one who'd even tried to keep things restrained was her grandmother; though her grandmother had been the one to tell her that, so who knew how true it was.

"Thank you, Matriarch Lille," Fleur said once she was up behind the podium. "I am ready to begin."

The first crone stepped forward. "Have you ever witnessed the Black Saint perform a miracle such as we've heard described today?"

"Non," Fleur said. "Matriarch Lille."

The elders and the crowd waited for Fleur to keep going, but she wouldn't. She hadn't wanted to come to this stupid thing in the first place, and although she'd never lie to her people, she certainly wouldn't go beyond what was needed to get her off this stage either. Eventually the second one in line stepped forward.

"Before today, were you aware of his worship of Magic?"

"Oui, Matriarch Gatineau." There was an immediate hiss of whispers in the crowd. "Once I heard from Matriarch Rennes about what her sister witnessed, I confronted him, and he confirmed that he worshipped the goddess."

Now it was time for her grandmother to step forward. "In your time competing against him, have you observed his abilities to be beyond that of the average human's?"

"Oui, Matriarch Rennes." Fleur wanted to roll her eyes. "I wish I had more to say on the matter, but most of my observations were based on after-the-fact reports."

What did they expect her to say? She hadn't been there to see Hydrus slay the manticore, she'd just seen what it did to him. Her sister had been the only thing on her mind for the entirety of the second task, and it wasn't until after she'd rescued her that she even questioned the giant snake who'd helped to save her life. The only impressive thing about Hydrus that she'd actually been there to witness was his dancing.

"Have you ever witnessed him treating non-human beings differently than others?" the fourth matriarch asked her. "Particularly, have you ever witnessed him treating them poorly?"

"Oui and non, Matriarch Charleroi," Fleur said. "He sometimes acts a bit more patronisingly around non-humans, like he's walking on eggshells, but it has never been in a 'poor' manor."

Excited whispers began to erupt in the crowd now. That was what they were really interested in. A quick scan of the crowd told her it was mostly the older veela that were excited, the younger ones like her had the same looks of exasperation and boredom that she wanted to give. Honestly, it was like her parents' and grandparents' generation thought this was still the fifties. She probably could've said 'He's never called me a turkey or any other type of bird,' and they'd be happy.

"What are his current plans for the goblins' cult-war?"

Fleur frowned. "He said it's not his problem, Matriarch Kinshasa."

The whole crowd fell silent and it made her frown deepen. Why did it surprise them that a human wouldn't want to get involved in a war between goblins?

"A clarification on that question," Matriarch Kinshasa said. "Was that before or after recent events?"

"What recent events?"

The clamour of the crowd had gone far beyond whispers now, and Fleur began to worry. Sure, Hydrus had suddenly gone rather cold with her as of late, but he'd still appointed himself as her friend. What the fuck had happened?

"I will withdraw the clarification," Matriarch Kinshasa said.

"Wait, what happe—"

"Has the Black Saint ever shown a unique magic?" Matriarch Dakar interrupted. "Something not normally possessed by humans?"

"Oui, he speaks to snakes." Fleur's nostrils flared and her power was coming closer and closer to the forefront. "And I will not answer another question until I know what happened."

Her grandmother glared at her and stomped forward, no doubt annoyed to be 'embarrassed' in front of the Rassemblement Massif. When she got close, she leaned in and hissed in her ear, "He was attacked by the goblins."

"What?" Fleur's jaw dropped. "Why?"

But 'Matriarch Rennes' had already left to make her way back to her spot in line. Fleur glared at her with all the fire she could muster, but before too long the next crone stepped forward.

"What are your personal thoughts on the human Hydrus Black?"

"Personal, Matriarch Paris."

Fleur turned on her heel, not caring about the scene and gossip she'd just caused.

Sirius double-checked to make sure he wasn't about to look like an idiot, then told his buddy Aarav to go fish. His 'guard' grumbled and drew the next card from the top of the deck. The two had been playing for hours down in the ministry jail cells; the other man had long since given up on playing war, calling it 'morbid'. The air smelled of steel and stone, and honestly Sirius was just grateful they hadn't put too many ponces on duty to make sure he didn't leave.

"You got any…" he trailed off at the sound of clapping wood. "The fuck?"

The other auror leaned back to look, and his furrowed brows mirrored Sirius's own. "The hell is that?"

Before too long, a dirty and rough looking block of wood had flip-flopped its way in front of the jail cell. Runes were coating the thing, and for a brief moment Sirius worried it was some sort of explosive. That worry doubled then evaporated when it made its way into his cell, and he heard Giannis's voice echo out of it.

"Sirius?" the block said. "Are you there?"

"Uh…" He lifted it up. "Yes?"

"Are you okay?" Giannis asked through the weird construct. "Miss Bones said you were in jail. She tried calling it 'time out' at first."

Sirius laughed. "I'm fine, kiddo. How the hell'd you make this?"

"With runes." He snorted at the boy's answer. "Are you coming home soon? Miss Bones really misses you."

Well damn if that didn't ruin his mood. He'd been nurturing a small flame of self-righteous anger ever since his arrest and his fiancee's part in it, but now that was snuffed out.

"I'm sure I'll be out soon," he lied, not entirely sure when he'd get out at all. "What about you though? You don't miss me at all?"

"I do!" Sirius laughed at the boy's immediate reaction. "Miss Bones wouldn't tell me, why'd you hurt that guy?"

"He tried to stop me from doing something important," Sirius half-answered. "It had to do with Hydrus, so I wouldn't let anything stop me."

He knew the boy well enough to know that an answer like that would completely get the kid on his side.

"Can Hydrus help you?" Giannis asked. "Should I tell him what happened?"

Sirius flinched. "Nah, kiddo. He's dealing with something even more important, so don't bother him, okay?"

There was a moment of silence.

"Is Hydrus okay?"

'Why'd you have to pick a smart kid?' Sirius silently asked his son. "He's fine, kiddo. He's just—"

"You're lying to me."

Sirius pulled the block of wood away a distance, suddenly wondering if there was some veritaserum function in the damn thing.

"Kiddo, Hydrus is a big boy," he said. "He might not be fine, but he doesn't need any help right now. He just needs you, and me, and everyone else to just relax and let him handle things. I promise you that's not a lie."

There was another long silence. "Okay." Sirius breathed out a mute sigh of relief. "Can I come get you?"

Sirius couldn't stop himself from laughing. "No, I'm fine too." His brain practically over heated as he tried to think of something to get his son's 'best friend' to calm down. "Actually, there's one thing you could do for me."

"What?!"

"Is it possible for me to talk to Amelia through this thing?" he asked. "I really miss my Bonesy."

"Yeah!" He could hear the boy's footsteps going stomping. "Hold on!"

After a few seconds of confused dialogue between the boy and his fiancee, the woman gave a tentative, "Hello?"

"Hey, baby," Sirius said. "You miss me?"

"Sirius Black!" his fiance hissed, sending him into another fit of laughter. "What in Morgana's name are you doing?"

"Well our little runes genius sent a block of balsa wood my way," he started. "And, as everyone knows, 'have wood, will use it'."

"You…" He could almost imagine the way her face puckered at being unable to swear in front of Giannis. "Idiot. How did you even get… Never mind. Throw it away!'

"And give up my conjugal floo sex?" He winked at the guard who just shook his head at him and looked away. "Not happening."

He still hadn't figured out entirely how to reliably get his future wife to calm down, but more often than not redirecting her emotions into anger, and then focusing that anger on him, seemed to work. All their years together as captain-and-cop had made such a thing routine, and familiarity seemed to have the best results with her. After a few moments of silence, each of which was punctuated by another slow breath on her part, she spoke up again.

"Are you okay?" she asked. "Really okay?"

"Fine as a fiddle," he said. "One of the Goyles is playing poker with me."

He gave another wink to muggleborn Aarav.

"Well, your father is dragging his feet, but I think you'll be out soon," Amelia said. "And when you are, I'm going to tear you a new… You-know-what."

Giannis must've still been in the room then. "All the more to love you with. Giannis, this little block-thingy of yours is amazing."

"Thank you!"

"Hush, dear." Sirius snickered, making sure he was up close to the block of wood so the boy would hear. "I mean it, Sirius. You can't be doing this to me."

There was the guilt again. "I know. And I'm sorry. Are you at least happy with the fact that I didn't burn Gringotts to the ground?

"You're the luckiest man alive that I am," she replied. "I wish I had an update for you there, but no one's heard from… You-know-who since."

"I already told Giannis that Hydrus got into a spot of trouble," he said, picking up on his fiancee's worries immediately. "Believe me, if anyone's smart enough to know he'll be fine, it's him."

"Did… Did you know anything about this?" Amelia asked quietly. "Sirius, we might be going to war."

The Black Sheep swallowed. He'd been burying that particular thought down into the furthest, darkest, least-touched reaches of his mind ever since it first crossed paths with his brain. Throughout his adolescence he'd heard the bemoanings, and near-orgasmic celebrations, of life-or-death warfare from his grandfather depending on whether or not the man was drunk or really drunk. He'd heard everything from, 'You wouldn't survive ten seconds in those fucking latrines we suffered and died in,' to, 'I'd give the other hip just to feel it again.'

"It'll be fine," he said. "Between me and our boy, what do you have to worry about?"

"Yeah, 'our' boy," Amelia said half-heartedly. "...I love you, Sirius."

"I love you too, Amelia." He meant it with every ounce of his heart. "I love you more than anything else in the entire world."

"More than anything besides going and being a drama queen in front of the minister, you mean."

"I thought that went without saying."

Apophis flared out his crown as he stared out over the serpentine crowd that was slowly becoming his army. It was just an initiation night, where the senior members he'd recruited himself would present him with others to approve or kill. Uncle Francis's head hung high above them all from the lake, his whiskered-face nearly blocking out the moon. The pride within the young basilisk grew ever wider as even more lesser snakes joined the throng, all basking in his greatness.

Soon his forces would be ready to conquer the old queen.

Bellatrix hummed as she massaged more oils into Hydrus's scalp. Her man, her man, hadn't woken up yet, but he was nearly back to his normal self. She had no idea if this hair-growth tonic would have a proper effect on his real form, but she figured it was worth a shot. He'd become a good deal paler, a good deal shorter, and his hair had definitely grown; though that might've just been the tonic. Even the former-nuisance Dobby had said that he was more like 'Master Hydrus' than 'Master Harry', whatever that meant.

She'd been surprised by the house elf. At first his presence had annoyed her, but it was the first time she'd met someone who understood the greatness of her future husband and showed him the proper respect he deserved. Even now the little creature was perfectly trimming Hydrus's toe nails, something her man normally did on his own with his bare hands like some sort of barbarian. Whenever she'd run out of things to do for him, she and Dobby would burn the midnight oil talking about Hydrus.

Suddenly, there was a flare of the floo and Bellatrix drew her wand.

She stalked into the other room and discovered it was just the old codger. "Headmaster."

"Ah, Bellatrix." He turned to face her with a probably-fake smile. "My apologies for the unexpected visit, but as a precaution I didn't think it wise to send word ahead of time."

"What do you want?"

The old man was still a mystery to her. Hydrus seemed to flip back and forth between finding him to be a nuisance or someone to respect. The ancient warlock himself seemed to go back and forth between being an annoying, nosey, holier-than-thou coot, to a dangerous, well-meaning, unpredictable ally. She watched as he took a seat on one of the Winter Home's sofas and folded one leg over the other.

"I would like to bring Sirius here." Bellatrix tensed. "Hydrus's recovery is taking too long. Even between my own influence and the minister slowing things down, the public are clamouring for blood." Dumbledore sighed. "It's why they elected a man like Shacklebolt in the first place, after all."

Kingsley Shacklebolt had a run on a one-issue campaign of being tough on crime, something everyone had believed he was capable of given his history in the DMLE. Although Bellatrix's grandfather had voted against his final instating symbolically, even he wasn't too mad at the man taking the post. He'd just said, 'Everyone can feel how soft they're becoming. We need a hard man at the helm.'

"No," she argued sullenly. "Hydrus is fine. He'll get better on his own."

"Come now, Bella," Dumbledore said. "Don't tell me you're still worried he'll choose a man he isn't even related to over the woman he loves."

She giggled. That was true. But still, Sirius was a filthy mongrel who always wound up sticking his nose where it didn't belong.

"That won't be necessary."

Bellatrix spun around. Hydrus was up, to her delight, but to her horror his wounded arm was unbound and there was a spike of bone jutting out of the wound. A few drops of blood fell from it, but he didn't seem to be leaking too badly. Her boy had on a scowl and trudged through the room before plopping down on the seat across from Dumbledore.

"Tell me what's happened."

She tried not to hold it against him that he'd practically ignored her, a lot had happened since he'd fallen asleep. Still, she couldn't let him continue to ignore her, so she plopped down into his lap and leaned up against his left side. The old man began to explain all the various news pieces that had come out, what various factions and groups' responses were, why Bellatrix knew his little secret, and more. It felt so nice to be able to run her hands through his hair again, his real hair. She really would have to make sure he grew it out if he ever changed back.

"Kingsley will make his move tomorrow," Hydrus said when the old man finished. "I'll take care of it."

"You're quite certain?" Dumbledore asked, frowning. "I thought we would have at least a little more time…"

"Which is why he'll move tomorrow." His nose began to twitch so Bellatrix reached over to scratch it for him. "You underestimate him. He was a valuable asset back in the day. Taught Ron a lot of what he knew."

'Back in the day?' Bellatrix wondered. 'Ron?'

"What are you going to do?" Dumbledore's tone was solemn. "What's your plan?"

"I'm gonna crash the party."

"I meant regarding the situation as a whole, Hydrus." The ancient warlock stared down the younger man. "Are you planning to plunge this world into war yet again?"

Hydrus's brows shot up and he gave the headmaster a ridiculous look. "What the fuck are you talking about? Of course I'm not. This has nothing to do with goblins and wizards, and I already told Death and Magic where they can shove their war."

"Wonderful." The old man gave a relieved sigh and stood. "I shall go and pay your grandfather Orion a visit, then. It's high time he stopped being petty."

Once the old man left, a long silence took hold of the room. Bellatrix hummed as she continued to play with her love's hair. Her little water snake still hadn't looked at her, and was instead staring into the fireplace that the old man had left through. Eventually he closed his eyes, took a long breath, and spoke.

"There's a lot I need to tell you," he started. "About my past. About our 'future'. About everything."

"You don't have to if you don't want to," Bellatrix lied, trying to reassure him. "I told you before, Hydrus, you will always be mine."

"Where do I even fucking start…" He mumbled. "How about the day I killed you." She froze. "I was performing a one-man siege on Castle Black, then known as Castle Lestrange given your marriage to Rodolphus. After I finished killing your husband and brother-in-law, I used a curse I'd invented that spiralized your flesh, and I put the finishing touches on your life by plucking an artery in your neck.

"We were at war. You served the dark lord who'd murdered my parents, as well as countless thousands of others." Hydrus finally turned away from the fireplace, but it was only to stare up at the ceiling. "You were fanatically loyal to him for his power and cruelty. The Black family was extinct, unless you counted me as Sirius's god son having inherited the 'title' of Lord."

"What?" she whispered, finally managing to find her voice. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm just speculating here," Hydrus continued on like he hadn't her. "But I think the stress from the first war put your father's generation into early graves. Regulus died betraying the dark lord. Sirius was in Azkaban after he was wrongly accused of murdering a rat as well as a bunch of muggles. You were there for war crimes. Narcissa was still married to Lucius, Andromeda to Tonks.

"In truth, when I made my fourth bargain, sacrificing the lives of the last remnants of my army to Magic, I thought I would be going back to a similar situation." He shook his head. "Instead I wound up in bed with you under my godfather's, grandfather's roof. The dark lord had never been born, his mother killed just before he would've been. Buried in the Forbidden Forest and degraded into a banshee."

Her head was spinning. Nothing about what her love was saying made sense. A war? A… first war? The Black family extinct? '...and for the finishing touches on your life…'? That banshee was important?

"I've killed far more people than I've saved. I've seen everything I've ever loved crumble around me. I've made deals with gods. I've stared down the entire world from its bottom." Her love sighed. "And I still failed to win the war. So I came back here for another chance at it, only to discover my life's purpose didn't exist anymore."

Bellatrix didn't know what to say. Although none of what he said made sense, she vaguely remembered some time travel nonsense that Sirius had mentioned. Perhaps... Perhaps some things did make sense. The way he fought like a trained duellist was because he had been involved in a war, just like her legendary grandfather. His ability to manipulate and lead people was because he was the leader of his side of the war. All those moments where he'd stare off into the distance as if he was remembering something like an old man…

"What do you think, Bella?" Hydrus asked. "Not quite what you expected, huh?"

"I think…" She slid her hands around either side of his face. "That every last bit of you, no matter who you are, still belongs to me."

And she kissed him with all the love her heart had to offer. He could finish telling her his story later, for now she just wanted him to know, to truly know, just how foolish his fears of her abandoning him were. And he would finish telling her everything. The last true daughter of the House of Black wouldn't allow him to escape his responsibility to tell her everything. But it could wait. For at least as long as his hands gripped her tight and pulled her in so close she could feel his heart thumping against hers.

Hydrus grinned as he stared out across the stunned crowd who'd come to see what Minister Shacklebolt had to say, only to discover the subject on everyone's mind had shown up instead. The bones of his arm still hadn't fully recovered, but he'd at least grown them back down to his wrist and covered them with flesh once more. After this impromptu, high-jacked press conference he'd spend the rest of the day finishing his healing. He turned to see the minister staring at him from off stage, out of sight from the crowd, with his jaw clenched tight and his eyes wide but furrowed in anger.

"Good morning, everyone," he said. "It does my heart good to see how many of Britain's finest were concerned enough about my well being to come out and hear the latest news regarding my little squabble with an unimportant faction of the goblin people."

Immediately the crowd became a whirl of shouting and clamouring to be the first one to ask a question. Taking a page out of Ron's book, he cast a modified sonorous charm on his foot and clapped it against the podium. The massive bang that rang out immediately brought the horde of reporters to a standstill, and he decided to do what the Blacks did best and display some nepotism.

"Weasley, you may have the first question."

Percy stepped forward, completely unfettered by the countless sets of eyes glaring at him from his compatriots. His words came concerned, impassioned, and touching. "Hydrus, are you alright?"

'How the hell did you become so much more likeable?' Hydrus wondered. "I am. The only wound I suffered in my encounter was self-inflicted, a consequence of using a spell that I was twice as confident and half as skilled in using as I should've been." A quick glance around the crowd told him that Xenophilius hadn't bothered coming, so he moved on to his plant in the crowd. "Miss Skeeter, you may have the next question."

The woman's appearance had apparently stunned the crowd. She had to have lost nearly four stone since the last time anyone there had seen her, her eyes had massive bags beneath them, and it looked like she hadn't seen a barber in months. Rather than her usual quick-quotes quill, she was holding a notepad in one hand and a regular self-inking quill in the other.

"Scion Black," she began, her voice hoarse and hardly audible above the murmur of the other reporters. "What was the reason behind the incident with the goblins?"

"It was exactly as they said," he replied easily. "A simple, and unfortunate, accident. A misunderstanding. We all know they are currently involved in a civil war between two minor factions of their people, and they were under the incorrect impression that I held a stance in their conflict."

"And why did they think that?" Skeeter asked, her voice still dull and unenthusiastic, not a single hint of the predatory nature of her past 'reporting'. "Is there anything the average witch or wizard should know to prevent such a thing from happening to them?"

"There's nothing anyone else has to worry about," Hydrus said. "The misunderstanding arose from a uniquity in my personal life, and I plan to seek due and fair recompense from Gringotts directly. This matter in no way, shape, or form involves anyone else besides myself and Bellatrix Black." He wanted to flare his magic to make his next point, but the slowly adjusting runes on his arm told him that would be a bad idea. "Should anyone else try and take advantage of it, to use our personal affairs to further their own agendas, then the Black family as a whole shall take it as a slight and move accordingly."

The reporters stared up at him, frozen. His eyes slowly roamed through the throng of people, daring any of them to question what he'd said, all but commanding their silence.

"Since no one else seems eager to ask another question, why don't you go again, Percy."

"Oh, um." The teen reporter cleared his throat. "Will your… Personal issues affect your participation in the third Triwizard Tournament trial?"

"Not at all," Hydrus asked, bemused that that was the teens next question. "I hate to crush the hopes of my competitors, but I doubt there'll be a mark left on me by this time tomorrow, let alone this weekend."

Just as the reporters were about to whip themselves into another frenzy, he turned to where Kingsley was still watching him from just off stage.

"Allow me now to welcome Minister Shacklebolt to the stage," he said, forcing the man's hand. "To answer any further questions you may have, as well as to receive my thanks for maintaining public decorum and neutrality in this trying time."

To the older man's credit, Kingsley didn't hesitate at all, and his entrance looked as rehearsed as it had been for Hydrus. The minister gave a short wave to the crowd before meeting Hydrus halfway across the stage, and he paused to give the time traveller's shoulder a squeeze before leaning in and saying, "You're lucky I am a patient man, Black."

"I am," Hydrus said with a laugh to help further sell the illusion of geniality. "And you're lucky I don't put you down for putting my father behind bars."

The man gave a laugh of his own, a true professional, and clapped Hydrus hard on the back before continuing on his way to the podium. Hydrus made his own way over to where Kingsley had been watching, then kept going from there, looking for a quiet spot to summon Kreacher to take him back to the Black Winter Home.

Unfortunately for him, it seemed like the Ministry had an odd way of punishing insubordinate aurors.

"Hydrus!" He turned with a contemptuous look on his face as Sirius sprinted towards him. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm making sure the minister doesn't stick his nose where it doesn't belong," he answered as the man came to a stop mere inches away from him. "Unlike you, I didn't need to assault anyone to do it."

His father folded his arms over his chest. "I'd love to see how much 'decorum' you'd have if it had been Giannis in your position."

"Oh, I'd've killed them all," Hydrus answered with a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "But I wouldn't have needed to."

"Come on!" Sirius snapped. "You should be grateful for how well I've handled this."

"If I give you an inch you'll take a mile," Hydrus said dismissively. "You're lucky I didn't tell your father to leave you to rot."

Orion Black's long-tenured stay as Head Opposing Barrister meant he had a lot of sway in the country's penal system, and it was one of the first vacancies Hydrus would make when he was out of Hogwarts. Assuming the old bastard even lived that long, anyways. He wasn't sure who would best fill the man's shoes; he certainly didn't think Hermione would enjoy such a position like he'd blustered to him, but he would figure it out. Maybe Blaise?

"Shut up," Sirius grumbled before, to Hydrus's annoyance, grabbing him and pulling him into a tight hug. "I was worried sick about you, you little shit."

"Pussy."

"Fuck you."

Hydrus couldn't help it, he laughed. The immediate riposte to his childish insult was just too nostalgic for him to keep up his usual facade. Sirius released him with a grin of his own, something that had become a rarer and rarer sight in the years leading up to his death as the war dragged on. Seeing the man now, seeing what all had been stolen from him by a lifetime of battle and hardship, stole Hydrus's smile back away.

"I'll be going now," he said. "Good bye."

"Hydrus, go see Giannis." Hydrus stiffened at the authoritative tone the other man used. "I'm going to be here for a while, it's just him and Bones at her place, and he'll be relieved to see you doing alright."

"...Very well," he said. "But don't say I never do anything for you, or leave debts unpaid."

He made his exit before the Black Sheep could protest that, and once he was in a quieter section of the temporary building they'd erected for the minister's press conference, he summoned Kreacher.

"Young Master Hydrus." The elf bowed. "What can Kreacher do for you?"

"Bring me to the residence of Amelia Bones." With a pop they were in front of her door, and he snorted when he realised a minor insufficiency he had. "Give it a knock for me, would you?"

Once the elf finished he vanished, and before too much longer Amelia Bones appeared in the doorway. She stiffened at the sight of Hydrus, something he enjoyed given the way she'd tried too hard the last time they met, and he bowed his head slightly.

"Amelia," he started. "Your fiance asked me to come and speak with my ward."

"What?" The woman shook her head. "I mean, Hydrus, are you okay?"

He rolled his eyes. "If I weren't, believe me when I say that agreeing to his requests would be at the bottom of my list of things to do."

"I'll take that as a 'Yes, ma'am, thank you for asking,' I suppose," Amelia said, glaring at him. "Come in." Once they were inside, she called out, "Giannis! Hydrus is here to see you."

A veritable thunderstorm of footsteps began and Hydrus laughed as Giannis appeared at the top of a stairwell, saw him, then came bounding towards him like a stallion. "Hydrus!"

"Ooph, hey, kiddo," Hydrus said as the boy slammed into his gut with a hug. "You been behaving yourself?"

"Yes!" Giannis immediately released him and stood up straight. "I've been keeping my room clean, I listen to Miss Bones and Sirius, and I've been working really, really hard on my runes."

"Good." Hydrus knelt down to nearly look the boy in the eye. "Your Uncle Remus told me you're doing really well with the ones on my bones."

The boy looked down at the floor. "Not really. I still don't get 'em. I mean, I get em, but I don't get em, you know?"

"Nope." Hydrus shrugged. "But I'll believe Remus over you, so who cares."

"What?" The boy balled his hands into fists. "I mean it! I don't get 'em!"

"Yeah you do."

"Nu-uh!"

"Yeah-huh."

Hydrus grinned as the boy puffed out his cheeks in frustration. It definitely seemed like Sirius and Amelia had been taking good care of him, not that there had been any doubt about that. He had a much healthier glow to his skin and all of the bruises he'd had the last time they'd talked were gone. It hadn't been enough time for him to properly fill out, but he knew from Kreacher's reports that the boy had never gone hungry since arriving.

"I'll show you!" Giannis grabbed at his sleeve, but there was nothing for the boy to grab. He blinked. "Huh?"

"Temporarily missing that one," Hydrus said as he magically pulled back his sleeve to reveal that his right arm now ended at the wrist. "Was missing practically the whole arm at first, but I'm mostly back together now. Once I'm done here I'll finish healing it."

"Poor runes…" Giannis muttered as he took hold of Hydrus's limb, turning it over in his hand. "They're prolly even more crammed together now…"

"Oh sure," Hydrus said with a dramatic sigh. "Worry about the runes, but not me who took you in and lost his arm."

The muggleborn boy's eyes widened. "No! I just—"

Hydrus laughed, cutting him off. "Relax, kiddo, just fucking with you."

"Language!"

"I'll use whatever language I want." Hydrus stood, glaring at Amelia. "Don't think because you have that puppy I call a father whipped it means that I'll bow to your whims too."

Amelia's mouth moved up and down as her face flushed over, but Giannis spoke up before she could. "What does 'whipped' mean?"

"Means Sirius does whatever Amelia says." Hydrus levitated Giannis into the air, earning a fit of giggles from the boy. "Come, show me what you've accomplished thus far."

That probably wasn't an interaction that his future 'step-mother' had deserved, but like he'd told Sirius, if he gave in even a little to them it would never stop. It was bad enough having Dumbledore gawking over his shoulder at every turn, but at least with the old man there was an unspoken acceptance for his darker side. The headmaster had stood shoulder to shoulder with Grindelwald for much longer than most people realised, saw and even did things that others would be horrified to discover, and had no leg to stand on regarding Hydrus's past. Or future, for that matter.

Sirius though?

Hydrus wasn't sure if he could handle the disgust, disappointment, and disdain that would come from the only man he ever thought of as a father if he found out the truth.

He shook his head and allowed Giannis to guide him upstairs into his bedroom. Once they arrived he raised the boy even higher into the air, then dropped him onto his bed which sent the boy laughing in delight once more. Hydrus grinned even as he had to heal his arm while the Greek child hopped off the mattress and rushed back over to him.

"Look!" Giannis said, pointing at his Greek scribbles. "I think I've mostly figured out what everyone thinks of each other, even if this one and this one are being stubborn. I can't figure out if they love or hate each other, but either way whenever I put them too far apart they get mad."

"You'd know better than I," Hydrus said as he pretended to read through the boy's notes. "I simply tell them what to do and they do it."

"You can't do that," Giannis muttered. "They won't get along…"

Hydrus gave a bemused grin as the boy began to turn away from him and write on the papers once more. It seemed some idea had occurred to him, and much like their 'family' member Hermione he couldn't be distracted from it. Once he was finished, the adopted child turned to him.

"Are you okay?" he asked. "Sirius and Miss Bones said you weren't."

"I'm fine." Hydrus shook his head. "I'm telling you, kiddo, no matter what the situation is or how dangerous it may seem, I will always be on top of it, okay?"

"Okay…"

Hydrus didn't have a hand to ruffle the boy's hair with, but he wanted to. It truly was marvellous just how amazing the results could be when you took a would-be monster and put him into a home where he was actually cared for. The thought of this studious, hyper-active child someday becoming a threat to the entire world was almost preposterous. Almost, but not quite unthinkable given the way that the blocks of wood around his desk continued to flip and flop around on its surface. Maybe… Maybe it was time Hydrus gave a reminder.

"Tell me," he said as he lifted up one of them. "Have you thought about what you're going to do with all this knowledge you're gathering?

"No?" Giannis answered, seemingly honest. "You just said I'd be good at it, so I wanna be good at it."

"You shouldn't just tread down whatever path someone says you'll find gold at the end of." He set the block of wood he'd levitated and observed down. "You should do what you love, no matter where it might take you."

"But I wanna help you!" Giannis grabbed hold of his robes. "Uncle Remus said your runes aren't working right, so I wanna fix them!"

"You may if you wish," Hydrus said, trying not to let the boy's words affect him. "But it's far more important to me that you live free. That you do something that makes you happy, within reason."

"What do you mean?" Giannis asked, head cocked to the side.

"I mean if you want to study runes, then you should. If you prefer to learn about animals, then you should do that instead. If you have a passion for the broom, go for that instead!" Hydrus punctuated his point by waving his wrist. "Just don't be crazy about it. If you decide that you want to kill and hurt people, then we'll have a problem.

"I've long since decided to be someone who protects and helps people, and I won't let anything stand in the way of that." He smiled at his ward. "So just don't do that, and you can do whatever you want."

"I won't!" Giannis grabbed onto his leg. "I promise."

"Good." Hydrus was once again stopped from running his hand through the boy's hair, so instead he simply plopped the stump of his right arm on the boy's pate. "So long as that's the case, you may do whatever you wish, so long as you can suffer other's consequences."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, my little savant," Hydrus said. "That although I would never allow someone to hurt you, truly hurt you, you must still be willing to face the consequences of your actions. If you continue to disobey Sirius and Miss Bones when they tell you about your bedtime, your chores, to not grab people when they don't expect it, you'll have to face whatever reasonable punishments they come up with. Understand?"

Giannis had stiffened. "Not grab people?"

"Do you really think I wouldn't have someone keeping an eye on you?" Hydrus asked, still grinning. "Kreacher!" The elf appeared. "Do you recognize this child?"

"This is Master Giannis Slytherin." The elf bowed his head. "The heir to House Slytherin. The boy you've asked me to watch over in order to make sure he never suffered the way he used to."

"Thank you, Kreacher," Hydrus said. "Dismissed." The elf vanished away. "Get it now, kiddo?

"I've heard of the way you constantly disobey your temporary guardians." Hydrus stared into the potential dark lord's eyes. "And it's fine!" His grin grew wider. "I'd rather you do what you want than be held prisoner by anyone else; just don't come crying to me if you break the rules and get punished for it. Do whatever you damn well please, just be willing to accept the consequences."

Giannis no longer looked like a scared child being attacked. Instead his eyes had hardened, and he was staring back at Hydrus in the exact same manner Harry's old soldiers had when he told them if they wanted food, to go and find it themselves.

"I will always care for and protect you, Giannis," Hydrus said even as his sleeve began to dampen with blood. "But that doesn't give you free reign to do whatever you want. It just means I'll save you if ever the time comes, and you still deserve to be saved." He knelt back down and pressed his forehead into the boy's. "I have Albus Dumbledore, the greatest wizard in the entire world, watching over me to make sure I never fuck up so badly that it can't be fixed. You're stuck with just little old me. Remember that, alright?"

"Okay," the boy said quietly. "Why do you think I might fuck up?"

Hydrus held back the snort that wanted to come out at hearing the child squeak out the word 'fuck'. "Because I know just how powerful you can become. When you're as old as me, you'll have to keep an eye out for such children as well. You'll have to guide them. You'll have to be an example for others to look up to, be someone respectable."

"Why?" Giannis demanded, glaring up at him, to Hydrus's shock. "If I should do whatever I want, why does it matter?"

"Because it's your duty." Hydrus decided to ignore his unstable arm and flared his magic, paralysing the boy. "Because it's the right thing to do. Because men like me and boys like you should guide wizarding kind into a better future, so that our descendants can have an easier time going even further. Do you understand me?"

"Yes, sir," Giannis mumbled. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry, kiddo," Hydrus said as he wrapped his crippled limbs around the boy. "Just always know, and work towards that goal. You were gifted with an ability to understand runes that I will never be able to begin to approach, just as I was blessed by Magic with strength unheard of, just as Dumbledore was given wisdom and a unique perspective that can never be matched." He lost the majority of his upper arm and a good portion of his pectoral muscle as he placed a kiss on Giannis's forehead. "Unless you do something truly horrendous, you will always be my family. Give back to this world twice as much as you've taken from it, that's all I'm asking for."

"Yeah." Giannis hugged him back, sending another rolling wave of pain through Hydrus as his third bargain teetered on the edge of breaking. "I love you, Hydrus."

"I… I know."

He straightened himself up and wished his healing spells worked faster as Giannis finally realised he was bleeding. "Hydrus!"

"It's fine." He magically straightened his clothes and cleaned himself up. "Dobby!"

The elf appeared. "Master Hydrus."

"This is Giannis, the heir to House Slytherin, the family you're responsible for caring for." Dobby's eyes widened. "Take me back to Hogwarts, and be sure to remember that if the boy ever calls for you, come and support him as much as possible."

"Yes, Master Hydrus!"

With a pop, Hydrus reappeared in his future wife's chambers. He was alone, thankfully, and plopped into their bed. It was a miracle that thus far no one from his year had noticed, or at least tried to black mail him with the fact that he rarely spent much time back in his real bunk. After a few moments to allow his body to unfurl and destress, he sat back up and cracked his neck. He'd wasted enough time sleeping and recovering, it was time to get work.

A wave of his wrist opened his nightstand drawer, and another withdrew a stack of parchment containing the details of the third task.

'Should probably give this a look,' he thought as he began to read through it. 'It's nearly time.'

"You made quite the large mistake this time." Hydrus flinched as his mentor pointed out the obvious. "Let's discuss it."

They were in the headmaster's office, as usual for their appointments. A 'teenage' Fawkes had mostly grown back to his normal size, but was still fluttering about the space and re-practicing his flight after his most recent death. Hydrus refused to acknowledge the way the phoenix seemed to drop a particularly large amount of ash over him whenever the flight path just-so-happened to cross over the top of his head.

"Very well," he agreed out of habit. "Where do you want to start?"

"With this."

Dumbledore stood up from his desk and reached for the canvas hanging over the rectangular object which the time traveller could only assume was the painting the man had been working on forever ago. When he pulled the covering down, Hydrus pulled back in surprise to see another version of the same man. The second, painted Dumbledore stared down at him with a bemused grin and a twinkle in his eyes.

"Good evening, Harry," the portrait said. "Shall we?"

BBaRtS

Chapter 38, the longest one yet. Next week will probably be closer to the 7-8k mark compared to this one which might've just barely scraped over 10k with everything going on.

We got further development for Draco, a look into what's going on within the less violent side of the magical-creature's community, Giannis doing Giannis things including the smallest suggestion that he might not quite be JUST a cinnamon role, the answer to who it was that Dumbledore was painting, consequences to Sirius's actions, Amelia Bones being a human being, a brief check-in with Apophis, and Bellatrix getting the 411.

I'm not sure how I feel about her and Hydrus's interaction. A part of me wanted to go hard in the paint with it, show the full discussion between her and Hydrus about his past/'future', but at the same time I felt like it would've devolved into a lot of repetition as he told her everything we already know and just come off as boring and self-indulgent. At the same time tho, there's whole fics dedicated to just random characters reading the canonical books and reacting to it, and people love those. At the SAME-same time tho, this isn't one of those fics, and going too hard into that direction might be going against reader's expectations/desires, and thus be poorly received.

Who knows! If there's a gargantuan outcry for it, I technically didn't say that she would be getting the rest of the info out of him right that second. Next week we'll see why Dumbledore painted himself, the first half of the third trial, and another answer to one of the questions from the other week's AN. On to reviews!

"I hope we see more of Hydrus' older body." - I wish I could've done more with it, but it just isn't time yet. I will say that way down the line we'll get a bit of a further explanation on the matter tho; like we saw with Dumbledore calling out Hydrus's affection for Bellatrix before the second bargain broke, his internal reactions and thoughts aren't always a true reflection of his feelings and desires.

"PLEASE put some sort of obvious denotation between the chapter and your author notes, I was VERY confused at the end there when some invisible gods began criticizing reality!" - This was on the latest chapter of FF. Every chapter (for the past, like, twenty or so at least) on the site ends with a line break, the story's initials 'BBaRtS' centered on the screen, and then a second line break, followed by the AN. Is that not enough?

"Another great chapter. Flow wise I felt like Bella rolled over a bit too quick when the not-a-Black deception was revealed." - I can't say I disagree. I was tryna include her being true to her word that she'd always love Hydrus, her being horny for power, and more. Honestly in general I struggle a bit with her character because it's so bombastic, and I want to stick with the trend of her being bat shit insane and fanatic, but also a fully realised character rather than a caricature. I'm gonna try and push things back in the latter's direction for later POVs and interactions from her since I don't think this one did her any favours in that regard. I don't want her to come off like a pick-me tradwife girl when in reality she just knows 1000% what she wants, and there's literally no line she won't cross to get it.

"Poor Bella just experienced about three years worth of emotional confusion and whiplash in less than 15 minutes. Good thing she's already partially insane or she'd have lost her mind!" - And then she got round two 'fore the bell even finished ringing lol

"Also regarding tags add 'Time travel' and "Time travel fix-it" too." - Since we're throwing tags on here as some might've noticed, I threw these on there too. Thanks to everyone who gave thoughts on 'em, I'm curious to see how this'll impact AO3 stats and what not, or if anyone gets mad at em.

And lastly thanks to those new readers who are currently going through and reading/reviewing the earlier chapters, for if/when you reach this point. One of y'all pointed out some instances where I'd accidentally described some body language where Hydrus would've needed two hands to do what I said, so I went through and fixed those.

And that's all! Like I said, next week will predominantly be the third trial and I'm looking forward to it. Till then, before then, and after then, thank you all! Love you all, lessthanthree, see you next Saturday!