"So what now?" Sirius asked, breaking the silence. "What am I supposed to do?"

"We'll wait for Kreacher to finish cleaning up your grandfather." The thought of what all that entailed brought on a new wave of self-disgust. "Once that's done, we'll start to summon relatives to break the news, starting with Cygnus."

Merlin, he hadn't even considered that. What… What were you even supposed to do when someone died? He knew what to do when someone was murdered, but Hydrus expected him to pretend like that wasn't what happened here. Were they still supposed to notify someone? Was there a department in the ministry for something like that?

Hydrus broke up his thoughts. "Quit worrying, and go take your seat."

"My seat?" His son gestured towards where Arcturus's office was. Where… Where his office was. "Oh. Right."

After another second to settle down, he left.

The smell was the first thing that hit him. Cigar smoke, alcohol, books older than anyone alive. When he was younger, before he'd finally broken free of the chains he was now again being strangled by, he'd told himself that when he was head of the family he'd burn all the books. Throw out the cigars. Drink all the liquor. Then go and find a candle that smelled exactly like the caramel cream cobs he and his friends used to eat down by the Great Lake.

They didn't even make caramel cream cobs anymore.

Sirius sat down in his grandfather's chair, and tried to ignore how wrong it felt. It brought on a bitter snort to realise how far off the ground the chair's seat was, yet another little affectation of his grandfather and his need to be above everyone else. He took the half-full glass of whiskey left on the desk and threw it back with a hiss and shake of his head. It left a bitter and smoky taste in his mouth that he wanted to wash down with something else, but for now the taste was distracting him from his thoughts as the minutes passed by.

"Alright." Sirius looked up to see Hydrus had come in. "I've told Kreacher to summon Cygnus. Just tell him that Arcturus gave you the ring directly because time was limited. I don't think he'll push back too much."

"That's it?" He blanched. He wasn't ready for this. "Be more specific, what should I—"

He jumped when he very distinctly and clearly heard the floo going off, like he'd been sitting right next to it. Arcturus must've enchanted the chair somehow to notify him of when someone arrived, but did it have to be so damn loud?

After a few seconds his uncle Cygnus walked in, and his face went from a formal stoicism to a shocked pallor. "I… Oh dear."

"Arcturus is dead," Sirius said, even though it was obvious his uncle had already figured that out. "He… He said that I should…" He swallowed. "He told me to tell you—"

"Stop." Hydrus shot him an annoyed look. "Don't try to come up with a comforting lie, Lord Sirius."

'Lord Sirius.' It made him want to puke. 'Just when I thought he was going to start calling me dad.'

His son turned back to his uncle. "Lord Arcturus said he didn't want the last thing he sees to be 'a spineless little shit like Cygnus', and so gave the head position and ring directly to Sirius." After a moment, he added. "I'm sorry."

His uncle had huffed out a breath at the teen's words. It almost surprised Sirius that he actually felt some amount of pity for the man. The fact that he hadn't even questioned that his own father's dying words had been an insult…

"I… Appreciate your honesty." The older man rubbed at his cheek, as if it had been a less verbal backhand. "And I understand. He had made it very clear that I was just a placeholder."

"My father is still processing everything," Hydrus said. "As I'm sure you are beginning to as well. Please, for the time being, continue to do exactly as you have been for this family and have some patience for him while he adjusts to his new position. If there's anything you believe he should know, don't hesitate to tell him, Bella, or myself."

"Right." Cygnus gave a slow nod, hardly reacting to what was being said. "I… Damn. Some part of me thought he'd outlive us all."

'What a nightmare that would be.'

"I think some part of him thought that too," Hydrus said with a rueful grin. "He's still in his bed, for the time being, if you wish to say goodbye."

"No, no I… I should prepare. Move some funds around for the funeral." Cygnus started to turn away but stopped, then removed the Heir Ring from his finger. "Here, Hydrus. It should've been yours to begin with."

"Thank you for not making me ask for it," his son said as he took it. "You should really take this chance to make your peace with him though. When you're finished, Kreacher will let us know."

Cygnus gave him a confused look, but nodded and left.

"No matter how good the mortuary spell is, they never quite look right at the funeral," Hydrus muttered. "Always have an odd tinge to the skin."

"You sound like you've experienced a lot of funerals," Sirius said, not at all hiding his prying tone. "If you're talking 'never' and 'always'."

His son snorted. "Too many."

After a few seconds, Sirius sighed. He didn't know why he expected the teen to keep going. A part of him wanted to keep pressing for more information, keep digging into that possibility his son was some sort of time traveller or something, but now wasn't the time or place. Hell, this was probably the most time they'd ever even spent together. The absolute last thing he wanted was to scare his son off.

"Master Cygnus has left," Kreacher said, startling Sirius with its silent arrival. "Shall Kreacher call on Master Orion and Mistress Walburga next?"

"Yes, but warn them ahead of time that the family head is in a bad mood, and that he has ordered them to be on their best behaviour."

"Yes, Lord Master Hydrus."

With that the elf popped away and Sirius frowned.

"Why does it call you lord master when everyone else is just master?" he asked.

"Because although you wear the ring, he considers me to be the true lord of this house." Hydrus shrugged. "House elf magic isn't governed by law or title, it's about the soul."

"...Right." He seriously wished he had more of that whiskey right about now. "By the way, did you ever—"

Once more he jolted at the sound of the floo going off in his ear. Just how deaf was that ancient fuck for him to have set the alerts to be so alarming?

When his parents entered the office, the reaction was much more animated Cygnus's. His father didn't say anything, just turned and slammed his fist into the wall. His mother went red as a tomato and immediately began to scream.

"This is—!"

"Silencio," Hydrus cast. "There will be none of that."

Well if he didn't love the little shit before… "Father, Mother. Arcturus is dead. I am the new head of this family, and I don't particularly care if you have a problem with that. Take it up with him, his body is upstairs in his bed."

"How?" his father asked. "What happened?"

"The man was over ninety and had more health problems than most could name, let alone bear," Hydrus said with a sneer. "Take your pick of the lot."

"Oh I'm sure you were in quite the rush to take care of him," his father snapped. "Did you even try to summon a doctor?"

"We were busy listening to his dying words and parting insults." Hydrus still had his wand drawn and was slowly turning it over in his hand. "He called you a half-baked pisspot and your wife a mad cow, if you were curious."

Sirius coughed to pretend to hide his bark of a laugh as his mother practically turned purple. "We have Uncle Cygnus preparing the funeral. Go say your goodbyes."

"You don't deserve that ring, you ignorant welp," Sirius' father snarled at him. "You abandoned this family and have been ungrateful for every blessing you've ever been given."

"Then do something about it." The Black Sheep flared his magic and both his parents took a step back. "Please, give me an excuse."

He'd already killed one of the repulsive relatives he shared a name with today, and Hydrus was doing a fine enough job of cleaning that up.

His father looked like he wanted to say something else, but after a second he just grunted and left with his mother in tow. When the two of them were gone he relaxed and sagged even deeper into the old man's chair. He at least had to give the seat one credit, it was a very comfortable piece of furniture.

"After they're gone we'll call for Narcissa and Draco," Hydrus said. "When they go up, you'll leave to give the news to your cousin Andromeda in person."

"You really think she'll come?" Sirius asked. "She was more on spitting terms than speaking terms with the old man."

"Then invite her to come and spit on him," his son said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "It doesn't matter whether she accepts or not, it's the thought that counts."

"Right." He shook his head. "I don't know what I'd be doing right now if it weren't for you, kiddo."

Hydrus snorted. "You'd have gone crying to Remus and James, who are both looking for you by the way, told them everything, and probably have made a huge mess of things."

"Probably," Sirius agreed. "As soon as I heard them coming I came here to avoid dealing with things."

"See what happens when you run away from your problems?" Hydrus said with a mock-patronising tone. "You end up making more problems." He paused. "For me. You got a damned promotion out of all this."

"Ha," Sirius barked. "Right, my cunning plot to become the most miserable bastard in the whole world."

Kreacher reappeared. "Theys have left, Lord Master Hydrus."

"Good." Hydrus stretched. "Go get Draco and Narcissa."

"Yes, Lord Master Hydrus."

Sirius desperately wanted to find something else to talk about, to keep this conversation going, but now he was just paranoid about the damned floo sound going off again. After a few minutes his paranoia paid off and he didn't jump too badly when it once more wooshed through his mind. After a few seconds, his cousin and her son entered, the latter with a massive smile on his face.

"Hydrus!" Sirius blinked and was shocked to see a Malfoy of all people look so jubilant. "Where have you been?"

"Recovering," his son answered simply. "I actually came back to school earlier today, but unfortunate matters have brought me away again."

"What?"

Draco turned to his mother, who's reaction was much more in line with what Sirius had expected. She'd just been standing in the doorway, staring at Sirius, staring at the gaudy new ring he wore, and realising what must have happened.

"Lord Arcturus passed away," Sirius said, facing Draco. "He gave me the position as family head before he did so. We called you and your mother here to say goodbye."

"Oh." Draco looked like Sirius felt as he gave a half frown and his eyes nervously darted between everyone in the room, as if trying to figure out how to react to the news. "I'm… Sorry."

"Thank you," Hydrus said. "He was your great-grandfather as well which is why we invited you, but don't feel pressured to go up and see for yourself."

The kid really did have a terrible poker face; the relief in his expression was palpable. "Thanks."

"Come, Draco." Narcissa turned. "You need to pay your respects."

Once more, just like back at Malfoy Manor, Sirius found his respect for the child growing when his eyes went hard. "I'll stay here. Go ahead without me."

His cousin's hands balled up into fists, but she shot a look at Hydrus then left. Sirius scratched at his beard.

"That's surprising," he said. "She's usually a bit more… Bratty. No offence, kid."

Draco winced. "None taken."

"She knows better now," Hydrus said. "Once Draco turns seventeen he'll be taking over their family, and she and Lucius will be moving to the states."

"You're doing, I suppose?" Sirius asked, not even surprised anymore at the things his son could pull off.

"Mm," Hydrus confirmed. "Punishment for her trying to kill me."

A wave of… Something washed over Sirius. His magic practically began to strangle the room, and if it weren't for how recently he'd gone through this, he'd have been at a loss as to what that 'something' was. He'd been the one who told Hydrus in the first place that the curse was a slippery slope, but it wasn't until now that he realised just how treacherous a precipice it was.

"Fuck," he snarled, trying to pull it back in. "Sorry, I—"

"You're fine," Hydrus said placatingly. "I'm holding it off so you don't scare Draco."

After a few more seconds, he finally managed to reel in the madness. His heart was pounding, a few beads of sweat had formed on his forehead, and a deep sense of shame filled him to the brim.

He'd spent his entire life burying away his family's ailment. Constantly looked down on the others for not doing the same. Even when his own son had broken, he'd felt… disappointment, in the teen. It made him hate himself to admit it, especially now that he'd done the same thing with far more vile intentions and for a far more pathetic reason.

"Don't mind him," he heard Hydrus say. "He's just getting up there in years. Starting to go a bit loopy."

"Shut up," Sirius grumbled.

"Make me."

He chuckled, and to his relief that helped a lot to finish locking the madness away again. When he gave a grateful smile to his son, the teen just rolled his eyes and looked away. 'Right. Still the same old Hydrus.'

"So, um…" Draco started. "Dead relatives aside, how are you doing? You alright?"

"Of course I am," Hydrus said. "Better than ever in fact."

The blonde teen grinned. "You were seriously incredible, man. Flitwick and Potter are both getting harassed by everyone to figure out what that second spell you used was, the one to control the fiendfyre."

"I made it myself," his son said. "Well, with Dumbledore's help."

"Of course you did." Draco shook his head. "Aunt Bella called it Black family magic."

Hydrus snorted. "I mean, I suppose it is family magic, wrong family though."

Draco's brows furrowed and he cocked his head, but that reminded Sirius of something.

"Oh yeah," he said. "I was trying to ask, how is your mag—"

Once more he was interrupted, this time by Narcissa returning. He was surprised to see that there was actually a tinge of red to her eyes, and she had to give a hard sniff before speaking.

"Come, Draco." She took a deep breath. "Let's… Let's have dinner together tonight."

The boy quickly bowed to Sirius, yet another thing that made him feel weird and uncomfortable, then shook Hydrus's hand before leaving. Sirius watched them go with an unusual feeling in his stomach. He couldn't even remember a time when his cousin didn't look at him with some form of nastiness, whether it was looking down her nose at him or making disgusted expressions. Today she'd almost looked… Relieved that it was him behind the desk.

'The man was a bastard. He abused and nearly ruined this family with his parenting.'

Hydrus's words returned to his mind. Sirius had always known, and hated, that Arcturus liked him the most, but he'd never really considered what that meant for the other 'kids' in his generation.

'There's finally someone in this family who loves me more than you!'

Now it was Bellatrix's deranged and delighted 'insult' that came to him. If Sirius was the first place winner of their grandfather's affections, then his insane cousin was without question the second place, but even she had apparently been desperate for more.

'I don't need you or your pity!' Regulus had shouted at him, back in that restaurant years ago. 'I don't need any of you self-absorbed bastards.'

He didn't even know where his brother was now. Something told him the ministry wouldn't have caught him yet, but he should probably still ask.

"What about Regulus?" he said. "Has Amel—, have they found him yet?"

"No," Hydrus said. "While you're talking to Andromeda I'm going to send Kreacher to get him, and if he still refuses I'll drag his ass here myself."

Sirius flinched. "I don't think he'd be much interested in saying goodbye."

"Too damn bad for him." His son shook his head. "I'm not making enemies with the Bones just because the two of you decided to be idiots. Orion should have a proper legal strategy worked up for him by now, so even if he doesn't want to gloat over the old man's body, he at least needs to turn himself in directly to your ex."

'Your ex,' Sirius thought bitterly. "I just… I just wanted to help him. I wanted to do what I should've done years ago.

"I ran away from this family to get away from their awfulness, but I just left him behind." He took a shaky breath. "I should've stayed to make sure he didn't get treated like I did, but—"

"Please," Hydrus interrupted with a scoff. "Do you really think that banshee you call a mother let Arcturus and Orion abuse him the way they did you? You think she let them torture her little baby boy?" Sirius stiffened. "Arcturus never once acknowledged him as his heir, never even considered it. And your father? He talks a big game, but he'll never cross his wife. I'd say he's as whipped as you were with Bones, but it's obvious now that you still retained some part of your own independence."

"That's…"

"The truth," his son finished. "I know you've spent most of your clinging to this guilt, but Regulus is a grown man now. Call what you did in the Sahara your last act of coddling, and do what he did years ago: move on." Hydrus gave him a hard look, and Sirius nodded. "Now, go talk to Andromeda already."

"Fine." Sirius stood. "But don't bother Reg, not yet. I want to be there."

"Deal. I'll go to Bella instead." Sirius winced. "And for the record, you need to start being nice to her. I'm doing my best to get her to be nice to you, so return the favour."

"Right," he muttered. "I'll try."

Bellatrix hummed as she graded papers. There were only a few left to go before she was finished, and then she'd be free to go back home to her little water snake. If her future husband weren't so distracting she could do the work there, but that was the sacrifice she'd made in order to be closer to him while he was stuck going through school again.

Just as she was about to giggle at the thought of some teacher-student roleplay, the floo flashed green and her man stepped out. "Bella."

"Hydrus!" She leapt to her feet. "I'm almost finished."

"Come on." Her delight fell away. "There's something I need to tell you."

"What happened?" She'd already stepped around her desk to do what he asked, but she wasn't going to waste time. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." He wrapped an arm around her waist, but the lack of smile when he did so left it uncomfortable. "Come on."

When they stepped back through the floo and into the summer home, immediately she could smell something was wrong. The den smelled of smoke and viscera. Nothing looked out of place, but she knew Hydrus well enough to know he never left messes sitting for long. She expected him to let her go, but instead he gripped her tighter.

"Bella…" he started. "Arcturus is dead."

She tensed up. Her eyes immediately shot to Hydrus's hand, fear filling her and then redoubling when she saw he was only wearing the heir ring. "What happened?"

"He broke Sirius." His grip on her tightened once more, almost beginning to hurt. "Sirius killed him. I told Sirius to become the new lord."

"Why?" she whispered. "Why him?"

"Because he's my father," Hydrus said. "I love him."

Bella sagged down. Unlike her now apparently-dead grandfather's affection, Sirius actually deserved her love's love. He'd gone to kill the rat who'd gotten Hydrus's parents killed. When the false lord that tried to kill her love sent a killing curse his way, Sirius had died in his stead. There was no way she could ever dissuade him from leaving a spot in his heart for the dumb bastard.

"What if he messes it up?" she whined. "He's no good at this sort of thing."

"He won't be going at it alone," Hydrus said. "You'll be helping him. I'm going to have someone replace you at Hogwarts so you'll have the time."

"What? No!" Bellatrix broke free of his grasp to face him properly. "I don't wanna be away from you!"

"I need you to be wherever you're most useful," he said. "Right now that's being the guiding hand to steer Sirius where he needs to go. Besides, I already spend ninety-five percent of my class time away from you." Her love grinned. "And I shouldn't need to tell you I don't plan to spend a single free moment away from you."

She giggled despite herself, but quickly caught it and locked it back up. "Still! I don't want to spend any more time around him than I have to."

"Please, Bella?" he mock-pleaded, stepping up close to her and pressing himself against her chest as he wrapped his arms around her. "I need someone to make sure nothing goes awry. Plus, unlike before, you'll actually know and feel like you're making this family the best it can be."

She whined and pouted. Her love had more or less convinced her by now, but that was no reason to let him off easy.

"Will you take me out on dates?" she asked. "To make up for this?"

"Hmmmm…" The fingers on his hand dug deeper into her side, making her bite her lip. "Maybe. Will you be good for Sirius?"

"Maybe." She leaned in to whisper in his ear. "Will you—"

They were interrupted by the floo going off, and she turned to glare at Sirius and her sister Andromeda as they appeared. Andromeda's nose wrinkled as soon as their eyes met, but before she could open her fat mouth Sirius did.

"Oh for-, come on, kid!" Bellatrix glared at the Lord's Ring that hung on his finger as he threw his hands up. "I don't wanna see this!"

"Too bad." To her delight, although Hydrus broke off the hug he kept his arm wrapped around her. "Andromeda, it's good to see you again."

"I can't say the same, given what you just made me see." The woman stuck out her tongue like she was gagging, and Bellatrix's anger nearly made her scream. "Seriously, Bell?"

"Shut up," she snapped. "You don't understand."

Andromeda rolled her eyes. "Oh I understand alright."

Before the future lady of House Black could launch back a barb of her own, her little water snake spoke up. "Bella, go say goodbye to your grandfather so I can talk to my future sister-in-law in peace."

A smile split her face at the roundabout declaration of their love, and she gave him a long kiss on the cheek for his reward. "Okay, dearest. I'll be back."

Hydrus sighed as he watched Bella leave. Once she was up the stairs, he turned back towards Andromeda. "Sorry about that, but I'd prefer to give her time with him without your spit on his face."

To his relief the woman snorted. "Pretty sure you're the one with spit on your face."

"I'm fine with that," he said. "Anyways. I already know your answer, but I wanted to give you the opportunity to say no. Would you like to come back to our family?"

To his surprise, she actually hesitated. At first her mouth opened, but then there was a pause as her lips worked themselves up and down. After a second, she said, "No. Thank you, though."

"Of course." He bowed his head. "The offer is always standing."

"I know." Andromeda leaned over and bumped her shoulder against Sirius's. "I'm glad this idiot's running the show now."

"Me too," Hydrus agreed. "Oh, and if you could, tell Tonks the offer's open to her too if she wants. Also, that Operation Phoenix is over, and that I appreciate her help in searching for an answer."

Andromeda cocked an eyebrow at him. "I'm sure that has nothing to do with that massive fiendfyre phoenix you used to kill the inferi?"

"Tangential at best."

Sirius snapped his fingers. "No distractions this time. Is your magic fixed?"

"Obviously," Hydrus rolled his eyes. "And I'd appreciate it if you learned about the concept of 'there's a time and a place'." Sirius flinched. "Andromeda just rejected the offer to rejoin our family, and you're babbling on about my former deficiencies right in front of her? If you're going to be the lord of this house, you need to learn to use your brain."

"Right," Sirius grumbled, looking down at the ground. "Sorry."

Andromeda had watched what happened with a bemused smirk on her face. "Which one of you two is the other's father again?"

"Neither," Hydrus said with a twitch in his eye. "I've already told him he's not my father."

"You called me 'dad' earlier."

"I said that to manipulate you."

"You—!"

Andromeda laughed and it brought a small smile to Hydrus's own face. The woman hadn't lived long after the war started; she and her husband had originally worked under Pomfrey with the other survivors from Voldemort's attack on Saint Mungo's, but around a year later died in an assault on the rebellion's main camp.

Just another casualty of the war.

"You two are ridiculous," she said, wiping a tear from her eye. "I might've said no to coming back, but don't let that stop you from inviting me and Ted over sometimes, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah," Sirius said. "You, uh, might wanna leave your daughter out of it though. I'm sure she's catching hell at work because of me."

That thought hadn't occurred to Hydrus till now. He'd done a little bit of digging into Tonks's situation at the auror academy and knew she'd been forced to try and step into a giant's shoes, but now that 'giant' was persona non grata at her work. He had a vague idea about how to fix that, but he'd need to confirm the plan with the Dumbledores; they'd know better than him about manipulating people's opinions.

"I'll take care of that," Hydrus said. "I've got enough clout to put her back in the department's good graces."

"Well," Andromeda said, shifting her weight back and forth, looking a bit uncomfortable. "I won't tell you not to, but, well, try not to tell her that's what you're doing. She's definitely going through it, but you know Nymphadora. Stubborn as a mule, and won't be happy that you're trying to help her."

"Gee," Sirius said with sarcasm practically dripping from his lips. "I wonder where she gets that from."

"Shut up." Once more the woman bumped her shoulder into Sirius's, this time hard enough to nearly knock him off balance. "You're worse than me."

"Nu-uh."

"Yeah-huh."

Hydrus rolled his eyes. "Which one of us is the child again."

Before his future sister-in-law could respond to the call-back insult, the woman who would tie them together returned. It made his heart ache to see tears in Bella's eyes, and he wrapped her in a comforting, one-armed hug. She leaned into him and nodded.

"I'm okay," Bella said. "It was his time."

"Right," Hydrus said. He gave a nod to Andromeda as he continued to gently run his hand up and down Bella's side. "Go on."

The woman nodded back and left. Once her footsteps faded up the stairs, Bella wiped her tears away and glared at Sirius before saying in an almost bored tone, "Couldn't you have waited three years?"

Hydrus snorted as Sirius's jaw dropped. "What?"

"If you'd done this in three years it would've been fine," Bella said with an exasperated sigh before she gave another sniff to clear her nose. "Then Hydrus could've taken over and I wouldn't have to put up with you."

"I, you…"

"I told you," Hydrus said, bemused at the insane woman's ability to switch and prioritise her feelings. "I would've done it myself eventually."

Sirius groaned and rubbed at his forehead. "I need a drink."

"Not yet you don't," Hydrus said. "We've still got one last lamb to wrangle up."

"Maybe I should go by myself," Sirius said. "I could… No. No, you're right. I'll just screw it up again."

"It's true." Bella nodded. "He would."

Hydrus pinched her and she jumped. "None of that. I told Sirius to be nice to you, you need to be nice to him."

Before she could argue, Andromeda returned. "Alright. Said my piece and made my peace. I'll get out of your hair."

"It was good to see you," Hydrus said. "Sirius will probably be busy for a while, but if I never need a babysitter for him, I'll be sure to send him your way."

Andromeda laughed as Sirius gave a 'hey!'. "See you all later."

Once she was gone, Hydrus gave Bella another squeeze. "Thank you for being polite.'

"Of course." She leaned in and gave him a quick kiss. "Anything for you."

"Last but not least is Regulus." An idea suddenly occurred to him. "Actually, why don't you two go together to get him." When they both immediately made faces and tried talking over each other to say 'no', he kept going. "Enough. You two need to learn how to work together.

"Sirius, I don't care if you need to tie him up and snap his wand to get him here, just get it done," he said. "Bella, show the new Lord Black how capable you are, and that you deserve to be his advisor."

Without waiting for either to respond, he turned and started making his way back to Arcturus's office.

Regulus turned back a page in his book as he realised he hadn't really absorbed anything he'd just read. He was draped across his office's daybed with a book in one hand and a cherry-flavoured cigarillo in the other. He drew in a large mouthful of the smoke, running his tongue through the fumes before slowly puffing them back out. He had the window beside the daybed open to try and help eliminate some of the smell for Octavius's sake, but it wasn't like his boyfriend ever came in here. The whole reason he had an 'office' in the first place was so he could have some peace and quiet while Octavius played the piano he'd bought for him.

He loved that fool to death, especially since he hadn't broken up with him even after he'd gotten caught trying to steal the Goblet of Fire, but the man couldn't hold a rhythm to save his life.

With an annoyed growl Regulus tossed the paperback book, some trashy romance novel he'd picked up on a whim, to the side. He was too anxious to try and read right now. Every little noise or movement outside his window sent him spiraling towards thinking it was the aurors finally come to pick him up. Sure, maybe his family could do something to mitigate what would happen, but he was the Shadow, the most infamous criminal in the world. There was no way they could—

Knock, knock, knock.

Regulus pulled something in his neck with how quickly his head snapped towards the door. "Who is it?"

"It's Sirius." He winced. "Open up."

A part of him wanted to say no, to flee. But he knew for sure now that it would be a waste of time. He sighed and got up from his lounging, taking one last puff of smoke and blowing it out the window before going to open the door. Standing there wasn't just just Sirius though, their cousin Bellatrix was with him, and it looked like she'd been crying.

"What's going on?"

"We need to talk." His brother jerked his head back. "Come on. To the summer home."

"Wait," Regulus grabbed his shoulder. "What's going on?"

"Mind yourself, Cousin." Bella grabbed his wrist and yanked it away. "You do not touch the lord of House Black so casually."

He blinked. "The…"

"Come on, Reg." Sirius started walking back towards the floo. "We've got a lot to talk about."

If Sirius was the head now, then... "Oh shit."

Hydrus accidentally shattered his glass of rum when the sound of a floo going off nearly ruptured his eardrum. He fixed the glass and vanished away its former contents before shooting to his feet and picking the up the chair he'd been sitting in, then placing it on the desk. When his father, fiancee, and uncle walked in they looked at him like he was crazy, except for Sirius who immediately grinned.

"Ha!" he barked. "Got you too, didn't it?"

"Yeah, it did," Hydrus said as he looked the piece of furniture over for the rune matrix. "I'm turning that shit down." He looked away to give the trio a once over. "To be honest I thought that would take you longer, perhaps I'd even have to come looking for you."

"Regulus was very cooperative," Bella said. "Once he realised what was going on."

"I still don't know what's going on," the only person in the room smaller than Hydrus said. "Why is Sirius 'Lord Black' now?"

"Cus he killed Arcturus." Sirius tensed up like he'd been struck by lightning. "The ancient fuck pushed him past his breaking point."

"You…" His father looked like he was on the brink of having a panic attack. "You're just telling them that?"

"Everyone in the family already knows. Well, everyone except maybe Andromeda." He refilled his repaired glass with the light rum he'd been drinking and handed it over. "You heard what I said to Kreacher: to clean him up just good enough so that no one who doesn't go looking will notice what happened. Do you really think any of your family members wouldn't be that nosy?"

Sirius shakily took the drink and swallowed it down immediately. "Why didn't they say anything?"

"Because they know better," Bella answered. "You might be a…" Hydrus could practically see her swallow down whatever insult she'd been about to say. "Ugh, whatever. No one's ever thought you were weak. Now they've seen for themselves that goes for more than just with your wand."

"I fucking hate this family," Sirius said before meeting Hydrus's eyes. "Can't you just let Bellatrix take over?"

"Unlike you or I, her reputation isn't sterling thanks to her performances on the duelling circuit," he answered. "She's respected, but very much considered a quintessential Black. With you in power, it'll cause a dynamic-shock in the political landscape, and I'll use the rebound from that to my advantage when I take over."

Sirius and Regulus were both looking at him like he'd just tried explaining that black hole thing Tonks had told him about, but Bellatrix frowned. "Are you sure that's the best move? Wouldn't it be better to capitalise on his recent betrayal of the ministry and then allow you to be the lesser evil?"

Sirius looked like he was about to fall apart again at her cold, but much better, suggestion, so Hydrus said, "If you could get that wimp to pretend to be evil, I'd be all for it."

"Hey!" Sirius glared at him. "I'm not a 'wimp', you little shit."

Hydrus grinned and Sirius blinked as he no doubt realised that once again he'd fallen into a 'trap', been manipulated by his son into cheering up. "Anyways, let's not waste any more of my uncle's time.

"Regulus. You need to turn yourself in to Amelia Bones." The man's shoulders slumped down. "Go speak with your father about the legal strategies, and if you have any genuine concerns I can get you someone better. I don't know who yet, but I will."

"Fine," Regulus said. "How… How long do you think I'll go away for?"

Hydrus laughed. He was putting more enthusiasm into the laughter than he probably should've, but he didn't mind showing his ass a bit for his uncle's benefit. "Please. Go check the name at the top of the family tree in the living room, and then ask yourself if you think you'll face any real punishment for this."

Regulus glared at him. "I am the Shadow. The most wanted—"

Sirius cleared his throat. "You're a punk who ruined my future marriage and had the fucking stones to act like I was the bastard for helping you get away." The man gave his brother a hard look, and immediately the weaker sibling wilted. "You wanted me to quit pitying you and babying you? Fine. But you have to actually act like you deserve it."

"Perfect," Hydrus said. "Keep pretending to be tough like that and you'll do great as the head of the family."

"I'm not acting!"

"Keep it up!"

"Enough!" To Hydrus's surprise, Bella was puffing out her cheeks and glaring at him. She looked adorable. "This is not how the lord of House Black is supposed to act."

"It's how a family acts, Bella," Hydrus said placatingly. "It's something all the three of you are going to have to start getting used to.

"For the past few decades, centuries even, the House of Black has been run more like a business than a family." He turned to Sirius. "That's why you're going to run the show for now, because I know you'll set the proper tone." Next he focused on Bella. "That's why you're going to be there to fill in for where he lacks." Finally was Regulus. "That's why you're going to accept this help with gratitude, because it doesn't come from a sense of pity or arrogance, but from a place of duty and love."

All three of his family members looked at him, and he knew from the stares he'd done his job at inspiring them. Sirius was smiling, Bella was blushing, and Regulus was pouting but nodded.

"It's far past time that this generation of Blacks took over for their predecessors," he said. "We might've tripped, stumbled, and bumbled our way into where we are now, but we are here."

He finally gave up on the stupid chair and obliterated it with a flick of his wrist.

"And there's nowhere to go but forward."

Molly Weasley hummed as she tasted, then salted, the large pot of oatmeal she'd been brewing for her family. Giannis seemed to have caught a bit of a cold while they were away in the desert, so she figured a nice warm bowl of this would help him start his day. The studious little thing was already up and in 'his' seat at the table, right between where the Potter twins would soon be sitting. It wasn't until she sat the steaming bowl of porridge right in front of him that he even seemed to realise she was there.

"Thank you!" he said. "And milk? …Oh, I mean, may I please have some milk?"

Molly laughed at the boy's ever-growing grasp on manners. "Of course, dear."

Once she'd retrieved and set down the glass pitcher of milk, a knock at the door forced her to go back to the stove and cover then move the pot of oatmeal to make sure it didn't burn. With that done and after she opened the door, her eyes widened at the sight of Hydrus Black.

"Hello, Lady Weasley." The teen bowed his head far too low for comfort. "It's a pleasure to see you again. I've come to retrieve my ward."

"Your ward?" She shook her head. "I mean, it's good to see you as well, Hydrus. Or, um, Scion… Black…"

"Please, if you heard half the names your sons called me, you'd know I don't stand on such propriety." The teen rubbed at his jaw. "I think it was George who called me a 'roll-rocketing, penny-pinching, snobbenly son of a bitch." He laughed. "I'm fairly certain that's not how you turn 'snob' into an adverb."

Molly's face had gone pale as the porridge she'd just been cooking. "I'm so sorr—"

"Don't be!" The teen held up his hand and bare wrist. "Fred, George, Ginny, Percy; I've gotten along swimmingly with each of them. The former two are some of my closest business associates." He hummed. "I'd love to be able to get Ron on my side as well; but I think we need to wait a bit longer for him to mature, hm?"

Before Molly could respond to that, she was nearly knocked off her feet as a certain 'ward' came barreling past her.

"Hydrus!"

Giannis launched himself at the teen and the other boy laughed as he practically scooped him out of the air. She half expected the poor thing to get knocked off his feet, but he slid half a step back and managed to keep his balance. After a few seconds of the little Greek child babbling so quickly she couldn't make heads or tails of it, Hydrus brought his head down and tapped their foreheads together.

"Slow down, kiddo," he said. "To answer your questions, no I won't be teaching you that spell. No, I didn't technically win. No, I can't get you a phoenix of your own. And… No, no you're not going back to Miss Bones' house."

"Come on, Giannis," Molly said, feeling as sad about that last answer as she was confused about Hydrus even understanding what the child had rattled off. "Why don't you go finish your breakfast, hm?"

"It's so good!" The boy tugged on Hydrus's collar. "You gotta try it."

"You're lucky I've been working out lately," the Black Saint said as the boy rocked their balance. "May I come in, Mrs. Weasley?"

"Oh, of course!" She stepped aside. "Come in, come in!"

She about wanted to smack Charlie and Bill for adding to the already chaotic mess of her house with them staying here temporarily, but Hydrus didn't look the least bit concerned or offended by it. He just sat Giannis back into his chair and took the one beside him, shooing the boy towards his bowl before looking back up at Molly.

"Don't worry about me," he said. "I would eat you out of house and home with cooking like yours. Tell me though, is Bill around?"

"Bill?" Molly blinked at him. "Well, yes, but what do you need him for?"

"I'm aware that he was a part of the team responsible for ensuring the safety and danger in the third trial." The old matriarch's heart nearly stopped. "I wanted to make sure he knows that I don't blame him for what happened, and knowing the Weasley family's stubborn pride, tell him that if he wants to make it up to me he can offer some tutoring to little Giannis here."

"Tutoring?" the boy asked. "What for?"

Hydrus chuckled. "Bill has been around the world three times over and then some. He's seen runes from here to Timbuktu. I'm sure he has plenty to teach you."

"No way." Giannis glared at his bowl. "He acted like you were gonna die back then. He's dumb."

A little bit of guilt welled up in Molly then. She'd been there praying along with the rest of her family when the inferi showed up, and Giannis was the only of the bunch who'd never doubted his 'best friend'. Even when Hydrus had all but said he was about to die, the little thing just kept smiling and watching.

"How about this then." Hydrus was beginning to… shimmer? Molly gave the teen a once over, and wondered why on earth he had heat lines pouring off him. "You and me will bully Bill into bullying Charlie into showing you something cool instead."

"No!" Giannis pounded his spoon against the table. "I don't want to—"

"Enough." A pulse of magic nearly knocked Molly on her arse and her mouth fell open at Hydrus. "If you wish to reject these generous proposals, that's fine. But I won't allow you to insult the Weasley family again. Do I make myself clear?"

Unlike her, Giannis looked more put out by the words than the power as he grumbled, "Okay."

"Good." Hydrus let out a long and dramatic sigh. "I'll just find some other way to comfort Bill then, since you aren't interested in runes or dragons…"

Giannis froze. "Dragons?"

"Yeah," Hydrus said with another, smaller sigh. "Charlie is a dragon wrangler over in Romania. He's helped to raise and preserve everything from Hungarian Horntails to Norwegian Ridgebacks…"

"Norwegian…" Molly almost had to bite her lip to hold back laughter as she turned back to the stove to stir her oats. "Wait, hold on—"

"I was going to try and ask him to take you on a trip to see them all," Hydrus said, shaking his head. "You're far too young to ride one like I once did, but you could certainly have fed one, or held one of their eggs."

"You rode-, held a-, wait I—"

"It's fine." Hydrus waved his hand. "I'll figure—"

"Wait!" Giannis finally cried. "I want to see the dragons!"

His 'best friend' just laughed. "Alright then. I'll see what I can do."

It really was adorable to see the two kids interact with one another, even if Hydrus acted twice his age. Then again, he was as powerful as someone four times his age. Giannis had begun to rant and rave once again about the various animals he'd learned about since the last time they'd apparently met, and Hydrus listened to it all with a bemused grin.

"Here, dear." Molly sat down the largest bowl of porridge she could in front of Hydrus. "Knowing my little Bill, he won't be up for a while yet."

The teen looked like he was going to argue with her, but he quickly thought better of it as he stared at the meal with an almost animalistic hunger. "Alright.

"But don't say I didn't warn you."

BBaRtS

42, answer to the ultimate question of life, everything, the universe, et al. This chapter was super dialogue heavy, but after the last two I hope y'all'll forgive me. If I'm being honest, this sort of chapter is exactly what like... Idk how to put it; it's what I like to write. It's what I'm comfortable writing. When I'm lying in bed telling myself stories to go to sleep; it's like 90% dialogue, so that's what I'm best with. I know that means I need to get out there and practice all the OTHER things in writing because of that, but after the last two weeks I figured I deserved an 'easy' chapter.

We got a lot of Sirius/Hydrus time, some Bellatrix fluff, and further exploration of Giannis. I'm enjoying putting him and Charlie back together after the talk of Charlie being the far-too-sympathetic spy in his camp back in the previous time line. In regards to Bellatrix , I feel like the line: "Her love had more or less convinced her by now, but that was no reason to let him off easy." is setting the tone for where I want things to go from here with her. As for Sirius and Hydrus's interactions, well, I'm hoping to explore that soon in the next Dumbledore therapy session lol.

Anyways, on to reviews!

"I adore the unexpected "grand-patricide" and the Sirius Black madness development." - I think it's going to be a bit more fun writing Sirius for a while. Less of him and Hydrus conflicting, and more of him wrestling with himself like we saw this chapter. (It was also fun getting to do a parallel where he locked up the madness thanks to the laugh Hydrus gave him, while Bellatrix had to lock up the laugh Hydrus gave her cus she wanted to act tough lolol)

"I would have loved a little more description of the total and utter annihilation of the tomb" - This is something where, with more time, I would've done just that. I (from an objective standpoint) know it was lacking there and in other places. It's just tough for me to write those scenes cus I don't find them as 'fun' like I do with the dialogue and what not, and that chapter was running late as is.

"Also damn you are just abusing the shit out of Sirius in this fic" - Hopefully this chapter shows that better things are on the horizon for him, at least.

"i can't wait to see the reactions of hydrus' peers to his total decimation of the third task plus the little aftershow." - Wanted to show more of this, this chapter but hopefully managed to hint at what's to come between Draco and Molly's words/thoughts

"There's also the stupidly forced info dump after info dump after info dump you keep dropping... " - Proof you can't please everyone, most people like those little mini-dumps *shrug emoji*

"I am a little curious about what deity you'd have chosen for Hydrus magic" - That makes two of us. When I first settled on that I knew I had plenty of time to find one, and at the time I switched the closest I'd come was an Aztec god: Xiuhtecuhtli. 'He was the lord of volcanoes,[6] the personification of life after death, warmth in cold (fire), light in darkness and food during famine.' according to Wikipedia; he checked off a lot of boxes except for the Potters' magic, but I probably could've wrangled it if I didn't find a better one.

"Not super excited about Hydrus and Albus continually butting heads" - I felt like it was a bit forced too; I really wanted to show off another beat to the prophecy references and could've done a better job of fitting it in.

"Hi, I wanted to stop by and say how much I'm loving this fic. The writing the pace, and the world building. Though I am leaving at here since it will be harem" - This was posted on chapter 19 lessthanforwardslashthree

And that's all! Thanks so much for the reviews, thank you for reading, love you all, and I'll see y'all next Saturday. Lessthanthree~