"Quite the headline," Dumbledore said, handing the copy of the Daily Prophet over to Hydrus to examine. "Your doing I suppose?"

Written across the top of the paper was 'Goblin War Over! Are More Battles to Come?' He skimmed through the rest of the article as Fawkes lazily circled around the headmaster's office, always just out of reach of Apophis's near-standing form as the snake stretched up as high as he could. Despite Hydrus wanting the basilisk to watch over Giannis, apparently the two had an argument recently about some mouse toy Apophis had eaten.

"Yeah, we set up a deal that'll annoy the shit out of Sirius, but that's his problem." He set the paper back on the desk. "If you ever see him not wearing a sword they lent him, let me know so I can smack some sense into him."

The older man leaned back in his chair for a moment. "Would you happen to be referring to a Hill Blade?"

"Never heard of that," Hydrus said. "It's just some sword he has to carry around, and if the goblins want to start tussling again, they have to beat him in a duel. He has to wear it everywhere he goes so that way anyone who sees him knows he's the guy."

"That would be the one. I'm glad to see you better utilising the people around you," the headmaster said. "I certainly wouldn't want any uninvited guests showing up and causing trouble in my school."

Hydrus rolled his eyes at the reminder of Dumbledore's scolding from the initial Greyback incident.

"They wouldn't let me or anyone who wasn't my family hold it," he replied. "Since that basically left me choosing between him or Bella, I went with the guy who's survived the killing curse and won't accidentally start a new war with how he 'handles' the challenges."

Honestly just the thought of his fiancee's reaction to some goblin challenging her to a duel on the streets made Hydrus cringe. She'd probably start doing all her banking in person just for the chance to kill more of the creatures.

The portrait of Dumbledore cleared its throat. "I wonder how the gods will react to your ending of their skirmish."

The real version winced, but Hydrus ignored him. "So long as it doesn't affect me and mine, I don't care."

"I think it goes without question that any actions that they take will." The portrait shook its head at him. "You can't just keep hoping you'll be left alone, you need to—"

"You need to realise that we're not at war anymore." Hydrus fingered the end of his wand, wondering if he should just blackout the portrait like the rest of them. "Since they seem content to work behind cats-paws like me, I'm confident that I can handle anything that comes up."

Voldemort was never born, Grindelwald was little more than a breathing corpse, Dumbledore was staunchly opposed to the gods as a rule, and Giannis… He could deal with Giannis. There were some other heavy hitters from the war out there, but they were either kittens in comparison to their past selves like Lucius, or on the other side of the world like the man he'd soon be visiting. Or they were constantly pestering him to commit blasphemy of all sorts like Bella…

"By the way," Hydrus said, snapping his fingers. "I just remembered what I came here for in the first place. Bella is going to retire after this year, and I have the perfect replacement for her."

The headmaster gave him a bemused grin. "Is that right?"

"Remus Lupin." Dumbledore blinked and his smile turned to an appreciative frown. "He's as fantastic a teacher as you could ask for, and it would help me out a lot with some things I have planned for the werewolf community if he held such a position."

"Would he agree to take the job?" Dumbledore asked. "It's quite the commitment, despite what your past experience with Defence teachers might've led you to believe."

"I already offered him the job."

The portrait of Dumbledore chortled while the real one just shook his head. "I know I allow you a great deal of leeway, Harry, but could you at least allow me to make my own staffing decisions?"

Hydrus flinched at the use of his real name. Even now that he had a version of his own Dumbledore to compare this one to, the ancient warlock sitting in front of him was still a master at pushing his buttons to get exactly what he wanted. It made him want to ask Bella to start calling him Harry in private to acclimate to it, but that would bring on a whole new slew of discomfort.

"Right, sorry." He rubbed at the back of his head. "Well, I also wouldn't mind telling him he ain't got the job if you don't want him, but I knew you would."

"Be that as it may." Dumbledore sighed. "I'll schedule a meeting with him to discuss the matter, but I certainly hope you don't plan to make any other employment decisions on my behalf."

Hydrus turned to Apophis. "Sorry, kiddo, you won't get to become the new school mascot just yet."

The basilisk just cocked his head at him, then went back to slowly swaying in circles to try and 'ambush' Fawkes.

Draco rolled his shoulders and turned his head back and forth, trying to keep the heat in his body going before the duel began. He'd done his warmups in the Study Hall, mentally ran through his preparations more than a few times on the walk over, and all that was left now was the waiting. Soon he'd either regain his spot at the top of the year for the Duelling Club, or once again he'd lose. His eyes swam through the crowd of watchers, starting with the Ravenclaws.

He looked away immediately when Luna caught him staring and began to enthusiastically wave.

Hoping no one noticed the tinge to his cheeks, he kept looking till eventually landing on his Aunt Bella and Hydrus, in the exact same seats they were in the last time he was up on this stage. Unlike last time though, it was Daphne beside Hydrus, and she was talking past the Black heir with their Defence professor. As soon as he and his cousin's eyes met, Hydrus began to wave at him the exact same way Luna had and Draco had to turn and cough to hide the laugh that nearly came out at the sight.

"Competitors!" He blinked in shock at Flitwick's voice already coming out. "Stand at the ready!"

Draco turned to face Potter properly, and found the other teen wearing his usual confident smirk. The same smirk he'd worn for each of their duels since the first time he beat him. The blonde smiled back.

"Bow to your opponent!"

They both did so.

"Begin!"

And like that, Draco began his looping combination. Flitwick had taught them several spell pairings that flowed from the first to the second well, and Hydrus had helped him pick a pair of the combos that could be repeated indefinitely without losing much efficiency. It started with the clangorous jinx, a spell that set off a bang loud enough to potentially deafen your opponent, then its natural follow up was a stunner. After that was the disarming charm, followed by a shield to catch anything your opponent had sent your way.

His cousin had worked him over like some sort of drill sergeant in the weeks leading up to this. Every small flaw, slight slip-up, and forgotten movement was taken like an insult and corrected harshly. Every time they finished practising, Hydrus would ask him if he was ready to stop preparing, and for some reason he didn't quite understand Draco kept saying no.

He'd been worried that he might not have the speed to get four spells out before Potter got one, but his opponent's agility hadn't increased nearly as much as his own had this year. Before long they got into a rhythm that rapidly picked up its pace once Harry finally quit flinching at every cast of the clangorous jinx, but that too settled into a routine. Once Draco was certain that the pattern was engraved in both their minds, he broke it.

"Diffindo!"

He'd aimed the spell a few steps in front of Potter's feet, and the other teen had thrown up a shield as soon as he heard or saw the first syllable being called, just like the blonde had expected. He sprinted forward after his spell, and as soon as it crashed into the floor and demolished part of the platform, he leapt over the gap and fired a stunning spell that the Potter heir had no time whatsoever to avoid or shield. It caught him square in the chest, shutting his motor control down and sending him flying off the stage.

Draco grinned.

He'd finally done it.

He'd finally beaten the boy who'd been his rival for so long, finally gotten the edge back in their game. He was better than Harry. It felt… With a swallow, he recalled the words Hydrus had used so long ago. It felt 'fucking unimportant'. Especially with the way no one at all had cheered for his win.

It was a bit rude, but that was fine. He turned back around, careful not to look at the crowd, and repaired the duelling stage so he could walk back across to his starting position. The thought of people staring at him dumbfounded just because he beat Potter was too much for him to want to deal with. It wasn't like he was that far behind the other boy, he had still been the second best in the year, he was still—

Some sort of magic washed over Draco, and he blinked when something in his ears changed and sound finally came roaring in around him. He looked up at the crowd with the same befuddlement he'd internally accused them of having, and found them all up on their feet cheering. The only person who was still sitting was Hydrus, and it was hard to miss the way he was tucking his wand back up his sleeve.

'The jinx deafened me as well…'

"Duellists!" Flitwick's voice called. "Face your opponent!"

Draco turned back around, and saw Harry still clambering up onto the stage. Other than the pained wince he gave while rubbing his back, he didn't seem at all broken up by the loss. Even as Flitwick officially announced the Malfoy heir's victory, Potter just met him halfway across the platform and shook his hand with a grin.

"Not bad," he said. "But I ain't lost twice in a row yet."

"I'll look forward to showing you something new, then."

He half expected Potter to retort, but he just laughed and began to climb off the stage. Draco did the same, back at the end where he started from and close to where Hydrus and his aunt were sitting. Aunt Bella stood to embrace him but someone beat her to the punch, grabbing Draco by the shoulder, spinning him around, and kissing him.

"Lu—"

Luna's lips had cut him off, and after a brief moment of panic as he wondered what people would think and more importantly how to actually kiss someone back, he at least managed to put some pressure back against hers. It felt like he was supposed to turn his head further to the side next, but she'd already pulled away and was beaming at him.

"I'm so proud of you," she said. "I know how hard you worked for this."

"Uh," he stumbled. "Yeah."

Some weird sort of butterflies bloomed inside of him. He'd never expected to care about words like that from a girl like her, but now they felt like the most precious things he'd ever received. Before he could truly take it in, his aunt had wrapped him up in a hug of her own.

"Well done, dear," she said. "I knew you would do it. How could you not with Hydrus backing you?"

Draco looked at his still sitting cousin, but was quickly distracted by the sight of Pansy Parkinson making her way down the stands that had been set up for the duels. She didn't make it too far however, thanks entirely to the subtle foot Daphne had stuck out to trip her. A few people, mainly their own housemates, laughed at the sight.

Before he had to figure out what to do about the girl slowly getting to her feet, Hydrus got to his, and he motioned for Draco to follow him. The blonde fell in line at his right, Bellatrix on his left, and the whole of Slytherin moved behind them. Draco couldn't see it, he didn't want to look back and seem like a fool, but he could hear the drums of their footsteps. There wasn't an older Slytherin in the years above him that were competing in these 'finals', and even if there were he wasn't sure that they'd have stayed behind with the way they all almost marched behind Hydrus.

Behind him.

"You did well," Hydrus said. "But that's your last easy win from him, mark my words. You've broken the school motto."

Draco almost bit his tongue, but he was beginning to feel the well deserved confidence from such a victory. "I swear, after Potter, the only one whose ass you want to kiss more is Diggory's."

"Diggory is a good man," Hydrus replied, luckily not at all bothered by the comment. "But make no mistake. If their years were equal, Potter could eviscerate him."

"And what about me?" Draco asked, suddenly feeling all too bothered himself. "I'm the one who won the bloody duel."

"We'll see." Hydrus pushed open the doors to the study hall, revealing a sea of tables and chairs that may very well have come from the Great Hall itself, and enough food to fill an army. "All depends on your next duel, now that he knows how hard he has to push himself to keep up."

Sirius grinned at the look of surprise on Hydrus's face. They were around a dozen paces, and a few dozen more people, apart from each other at the London stop for the Hogwarts Express, and it was obvious that his son hadn't expected him to be here. He began to make his way over, and was surprised at the company he kept.

The less surprising factor was Bellatrix, the woman was practically magnetized to the teen. Besides her though were two far less familiar faces. The first was some lanky girl with hair so pale-blonde it was almost white, he thought he might've recognised her from the Black Christmas party but he wasn't sure. The other he was certain was a Longbottom, and if he remembered the pictures he'd been shown right it was probably Frank's son.

Giannis broke free of his grasp on his hand and sprinted towards them.

"Hydrus!"

He made it into Hydrus's arms in record time, and the teen scooped him up while Bellatrix began to try and fix his hair. Sirius approached more slowly, still grinning in spite of his shock.

"It's been so long!" he said with a teasing lilt. "Look how big you've grown!"

Hydrus gave him a once over and just nodded. "Good. You're wearing the sword."

Sirius winced. The damned thing was heavier than he'd first felt, or at least it was after wearing it for more than a few minutes. It even fucked up the way he walked to have it hanging off one side of his waist. He felt like some sort of pirate the way it tilted him back and forth.

"You still haven't told me why I have to hold on to this stupid thing," he said. "It better not just be because you think it looks nice."

"It isn't, but I'm still not going to tell you." Hydrus had a small grin of his own now. "It'll be more fun for me if you find out on your ow… Shit, I forgot to tell you."

Hydrus was looking past him now, and the Black Sheep turned and saw a sight that had terrified more than a few aurors before him. Augusta Longbottom was striding towards Sirius, and something told him that as surprised as he was to find his son hanging out with… Ned? Nate? Something, Longbottom, the boy's grandmother was twice as furious. He turned back to his son and saw the boy had an apologetic look on his face.

"Sorry, but we're kidnapping Neville for the summer." He turned to Bellatrix. "Now. Go. Go. Go now, please, no—"

With a crack they apparated away, and Sirius realised he'd been left with a waking mandrake root in his hands.

'Oh fuck me.'

Bellatrix winced at the sudden sunlight. It might've been nearly five and overcast in London, but here in the Dominican Republic it was nearing noon and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Her robes and dress had gone from keeping her warm in the underground, to practically smothering her in the Caribbean heat. She glanced about for their supposed welcoming party, but the only living being around them was that ugly owl thing that had once delivered Hydrus a letter.

"Woah." Bellatrix spun and was shocked to see Giannis was with them. "Where are we?"

"Giannis?" She immediately grabbed either side of the child's face and began looking him up and down. "Are you alright? Are you missing any toes? Wiggles your toes for—"

"He's fine," Hydrus interrupted. "I wouldn't have brought him along if I thought you were incapable of apparating with an unexpected passenger."

Bellatrix huffed at her love. He could've at least given her a warning, even if she should've noticed beforehand. The time-travelling war hero was being far too confident that nothing had been splinched in the process; poor Giannis could be missing his willy far all they knew.

"Oh my gosh!" The boy practically leapt out of Hydrus's arms to run at the weird penguin-owl that that half-breed Hagrid had called a chickcharney. "He's so big!"

The bird made a swipe at the boy with its wing, but he ducked underneath it and wrapped it up in a hug. Hydrus grabbed her wrist before she could kill the thing, and even when it bit down on Giannis's shoulder with its awful, tubular beak he didn't let go. At the very least it didn't seem to be hurting too much as Giannis continued to laugh and rub his face against the bird's feathers.

"Don't worry," Hydrus said. "The thing's practically harmless with him holding it so tight."

"It's a chickcharney," Giannis said. "They're from the Caribbean, so I guess that's where we are, and they're omnivores! That means they eat meat and plants, just about anything. They're magical cus they can put a curse on people that makes 'em unlucky and stuff."

The boy continued to rave about the bird as Bellatrix lowered her guard. "I don't like it."

"No one does," Hydrus muttered back as the bird finally stopped trying to bite Giannis. "But that's the point. You treat 'em nice in spite of them being little shits, and they'll treat you better."

She looked over the scene of their son and the bird once more, and started to see it as more of a cat. Even now as Giannis continued to practically strangle the thing while he shouted about how 'cool' it was, it just glared down at the ground and waited for him to release it. The boy didn't seem of any mind to do so.

"Giannis," Hydrus said. "Come here. That's our guide, and he can't do it with you hanging off of him."

The boy pouted, but when Hydrus didn't budge released the chickcharney and wandered back over, taking Bellatrix's hand. The group set off with the creature waddling ahead of them, and she imagined spending some more time in a place like this with her love. The air smelled of the ocean, a gentle breeze teased her hair, and it made her giggle to think of catching Hydrus taking peeks at her in a bikini. Perhaps if their schedules allowed it they could really take a vacation this summer.

After nearly half an hour of walking, a length of time more than ample enough to make her sick of the country thanks to the heavy clothes she wore, they arrived at a rather rundown looking building. It was around two stories tall and made of concrete walls, with two large industrial doors serving as its entrance. Its roof seemed to be made of sheets of metal, and both they and the doors were rusted. Her little water snake made to step towards the entrance, but the awful bird thing started screeching at it, and the doors slowly began to roll open with an equally cringe-inducing squeal.

When they entered, she was once again deciding against this whole region of the planet as the heat became even more sweltering than before. The whole gym reeked of body odour and other filth, and it was cram packed with half-dressed men and women who were obviously the cause of it all. The ugliest looking duelling lanes she'd ever seen were set up so close together that they were almost touching as they went from one end of the building to the other. An eclectic mix of seating was set up along the walls, including a couch with two women sitting on either side of it who quickly made room for the chickcharney who waddled over and flapped up to sit between them.

"Buenos Dias!" A large, barrel chested man was approaching them. "Debes ser el Santo Oscuro."

"See?" Hydrus said, turning to Bellatrix. "It sounds so much better in other languages."

"It's a bit of a mistranslation though," Hellena added. "What he said means 'the Dark Saint', actually."

"Whatever." Bellatrix's love waved his false fiancee off then gestured at Neville. "Tell him this is the boy we discussed."

The Tankle girl did so, and the massive man nodded. He rattled something off in Spanish, which Hellena translated as, "He said that they'll put him to work as soon as you pay."

"Put me to wo—?"

"Tell him that I don't deal with lackeys," Hydrus said, interrupting Neville's stammering confusion. "And for his boss to get off his ass back there."

Hellena was already translating, but Bellatrix was looking where Hydrus was. Sitting in a folding chair on the opposite side of the building, one of the only people there not staring at them, was a small man. If it weren't for the wrinkles on his forehead she'd have assumed he was a child with how tiny he was. Her love had said that the wizard who ran this place had been her equal in his original world, so she didn't break from her observations even as the 'lackey' who was talking to him apparently took offence to what he'd said.

Hydrus and the big man kept arguing, and even when the 'teen' sent him flying backwards into one of the duelling lanes, she wasn't bothered. Finally the stranger stood and the moment he leapt up onto the same lane she recognized him.

"Nineteen-eighty-seven." His swaggering walk towards them just further jogged her memory. "Would-be world champion duellist, disqualified for killing his opponent in the finals."

It had been a memory she'd spent a lot of money to get a hold of, and one she'd studied in great detail. She hadn't bothered remembering the man's name but she definitely remembered the way he'd fired off spells faster than anyone she'd ever seen before. He used his small size to his advantage, often standing sideways to be an even smaller target, and had minimised his wand movements to hardly anything with no verbalisations whatsoever. Before Bellatrix had learned who this was, she thought Hydrus had been exaggerating to say he was her equal.

Now she knew he was only slightly off.

He'd stepped off the stage to reach them, and had gotten so close to Hydrus that when he looked up at her love their chins nearly touched. "¿Tenemos un problema?

"He asked if we have a problem."

Hydrus leaned back and cracked his head against the smaller man's nose. The Dominican stumbled back, Neville gasped, Bellatrix and the nearly three-dozen trainees around them all drew wands. The future lord of House Black sneered down at his opponent, who was grabbing his now broken facial feature.

"Now that I don't have to smell his breath we don't." The tension in the room didn't rise at first, even when Hellena translated, but when Hydrus reached into his pocket everyone began to hold their breaths. "Like I told your man there, I don't deal with lessers, Jasiel."

Jasiel caught the bag and nodded along to Hellena's words, and he responded through her saying, "It's light."

"I'll break one of your bones for each missing dragot then," Hydrus said. "Should be enough of you here to make up the balance."

The Dominican man laughed, then shook his head. "Big words for a little boy. Are you gonna have your mom there back them up?"

Bellatrix nearly snarled something, but Hydrus's response melted her heart.

"A 'little boy' like me is a better match for you." He flared his magic, and everyone in the building beside him and her, Giannis and Jasiel, and the stupid bird in the corner all locked up. "After all, she's a two-time world champion, and you're just a washed up old man."

Hydrus had warned her that he wasn't a hundred percent certain he could handle Neville's trainer if things got out of hand, and that there was no way to earn his services where that wasn't a risk. He was at least positive he could kill him, but that would be a waste of a trip to this way-too-hot island. Plus if they killed him, the rest of the man's trainees wouldn't take it lying down, so Bellatrix kept her grip on her wand tight.

Jasiel just laughed though.

"The fucking balls." Bellatrix snorted at Hellena's squeaking voice repeating such harsh words. "Alright, but I'm taking it out on this one's hide."

Nevile's face paled, but Hydrus just cocked an eyebrow as he relented on his magic. "That's what I'm paying you for, isn't it?"

The Dominican laughed again and held out his hand. Hydrus shook it, then slapped Neville on the shoulder. "Good luck, mate."

"Wait, I don't think this is a good idea." The Longbottom boy was literally shaking in his boots. "We should—"

"Bye, Nev," Hellena said with a broad, unconcerned smile as they left him behind and stepped out of the building. "Remember to roll your R's!"

"Roll my-, wait, there's still—!"

This time Hydrus cut him off by slamming the massive, rolling doors shut with a flick of his wrist. Her love took a long breath, released it slowly, then said. "Fuck that hurt!"

He was rubbing his forehead, which was bright red from where he'd headbutted Jasiel, and Bellatrix cooed at him. "Poor baby, come here."

"Not now," he said with a sigh, annoying her with how he pulled away. "We still need to drop Hellena back off at her place, and then we should probably make sure Sirius hasn't started up an inter-familial war between us and the Longbottoms."

"Strawberry pop sticks."

Remus grinned to himself at the headmaster of Hogwarts' choice of passwords, and began to make his way towards the office proper. It wasn't his first time having to make this journey, but it was certainly his first without one of the other Marauders alongside him and an authority figure escorting them. When he got there, he was greeted with a warm smile from the ancient warlock, and a trill from the man's phoenix, Fawkes.

"Hello, Professor," Remus said. "It's good to see you again."

"It's good to see you too, Remus." Dumbledore stood and after they shook hands Remus took his 'usual' seat from back when he was a mischievous youth. "I'd say it's been a while, but..."

The werewolf grinned. "I hope our young friend didn't impose on you too much for this," he said. "He kind of sprung it on me too, if that helps."

The headmaster chuckled. "He has a habit of doing that to people."

Remus looked around the office for a moment and took it all in with a nostalgic reverie. Not much had changed from the last time he was here, and it still smelled of soot and books with just a hint of lemon. When he caught Fawkes' eyes, the phoenix flared its wings as if to welcome him back. Dumbledore brought the attention back to himself by taking and unwrapping one of his candies.

"Well, like you guessed, he did 'spring' it on me, but that's alright." He popped the candy into his mouth. "You would certainly make a fine addition to my staff. I seem to remember you did rather well for yourself in Defence Against the Dark Arts during your time here?"

The werewolf blushed slightly. "Well, it wasn't my best class."

"You were still at the top of the year," Dumbledore said, revealing he remembered exactly how well Remus had done. "You would've been head and shoulders above them all had it not been for the likes of Severus and your friend, James."

"I guess," Remus mumbled. "But yes, I like to think I know how to defend myself, and would love the opportunity to help pass that on to others."

"And what else drove you to want this position?" the headmaster asked. "And let's be candid with one another, Hydrus already informed me that he wanted to use your status as a werewolf to your people's benefit."

Remus blinked. The teen had mentioned that he trusted Dumbledore, but he didn't realise how open he was the headmaster. It made him wonder what else the man was aware of…

"Did you know he didn't lose Greyback that night?" he asked. "That he made him into his servant?"

The ancient warlock frowned. "I did not. Though, to be honest, I am not surprised either. I had thought it was strange he lost him, and your explanation makes more sense."

'Strange for a fourteen year old not to capture or kill the most dangerous criminal in the world?' Remus wondered. "Right. Well, that's what happened. He also got a large amount of magically-hidden land from the goblins, and we're going to put Greyback's pack there." He took a breath, still not used to being this optimistic about his future. "We're gonna build something special with them."

"I see." Dumbledore was stroking his beard. "Well, so long as it won't interfere with your teaching, I don't see any reason to worry about your extracurricular activities."

"Speaking of interfering with teaching," Remus said. "I promise I'll be taking the usual potions each month, and I'm assuming the Shrieking Shack is still a safe place for me."

"Of course." A small grin appeared on the old man's face. "And if you're ever feeling too worn out from your ailment, we of course already have the perfect substitute teacher lined up." He began to speak more to himself than the werewolf now. "After all, if Hydrus is going to volunteer away my staffing positions, than the least he can do is allow us to borrow Miss Black's time."

Remus grew a matching grin of his own. "I think that would work just fine."

Regulus was laying back in a cot that made his back hurt only slightly less than the floor would've and wore a hideously plain set of grey wool robes. His father had told him to expect his initial bail to be denied, but that he'd get to meet with a magistrate today to set things straight. He'd have gone insane with all this waiting had it not been for the fact that the guards brought him cigarettes and books whenever he needed.

A tapping at the bars told him his next delivery was here, and he grabbed the latest novel he'd read from under his pillow before standing. When he saw who it was knocking, however, he paled.

"Hello, my little prince." Zara was standing there in ridiculously oversized imitations of the robes his guards wore. "What a shame to see you."

"Z-, Zara." He tossed the book back onto the bed and approached. "What are you doing here?"

"Didn't I tell you to get away from here?" She said with a mocking tone and over the top pout. "Now look at you, all dressed up like some sort of poor person."

She made a gagging sound and Regulus rolled his eyes. "It's temporary. Again, what are you doing here?"

Now her look of pity looked a lot more genuine.

"You really should've listened to me." Zara held out a roll of parchment. "Daddy wants to see you."

Regulus paled. Zara's 'Daddy' was a German vampire with more money than half the continent combined, and up until his would-be retirement, the Shadow's number one customer for stolen goods. With trembling hands he unrolled the missive, and saw it was a rather formal invitation to dinner. The only thing 'out of place' about it compared to their past communications was the option to bring a plus one.

"What's that about?" he asked, finger pressed against the words. "What does he want?"

Zara gave him a gentle smile that did nothing to ease his concerns. "You know I have a soft spot for you, little prince. I convinced him to spare your life."

'In exchange for someone else's.' He began to smoosh his face back and forth as the stress began to eat away at him. 'What the hell should I do?'

"You should bring that cute brother of yours," Zara said, back to her usual toxically cheerful self despite Regulus's own distress. "Who knows, maybe he'll even put up a good fight."

"No. No." He took a deep breath. "Go meet my nephew, Hydrus Black." He swallowed and reached for the pack of contraband cigarettes tucked into his robes. "He'll take care of this."

The vampire cocked her head to the side with an 'are you serious?' expression on her face. "I don't remember agreeing to be your errand girl."

"Please, Zara?" he pleaded. "You still owe me for taking the bullet with that fat French fuck."

"Ugh, whatever." She rolled her eyes. "But we're even after this." With another huff she spun on her heel, but paused and looked back. "No matter what though, it's too late to run away now. You're on the board."

Without the faintest idea of what that was supposed to mean, Regulus stumbled backwards and fell into his cot. He lit his cigarette with a snap of his fingers, and for once didn't cough at the bitter, minty flavour. It only took a minute or so to puff through the whole thing, and when he was finished he flicked it into the toilet and lit another.

Maybe his family had been right to scoff at his worries over the legal proceedings from his arrest, but this was a whole other bag of cats. Now that the world knew who the Shadow was, even if he tried telling them he'd destroyed each of the artefacts he'd stolen they'd be looking into other explanations. They'd find out every last person he'd ever interacted with, and that meant his platonic trysts with Zara could lead to the unveiling of one of the most powerful monsters in the European underworld.

"I'm so sorry, Hydrus," he said. "Please, be safe."

Hydrus rolled his eyes. After dropping off Hellena, he and the members of his family had gone to the Black summer home to wait for Sirius. Eventually Bellatrix and Giannis had gone to bed, but Hydrus kept waiting, until eventually he got fed up and demanded Kreacher take him to the Black Sheep.

They'd apparated directly above the living room couch he'd been sitting on to the house's roof.

Sirius was sitting on the edge, a bottle of whiskey beside him, staring up at the stars. With a sigh Hydrus made his way over and sat down next to him. He was surprised to see the bottle was unopened when he went to take a sip himself.

"Wasn't in the mood," Sirius answered without being asked. "Thought I would be, but then I just couldn't be bothered to open it."

"That's what we have a house elf for," Hydrus said in spite of the way he popped the cork himself with magic. "What are you doing up here?"

His father sighed. "Just thinking. About everything."

"Isn't that what Remus is for?" the time traveller asked. "I don't trust you to sort out your own thoughts."

"Ha," Sirius barked. "Yeah, me neither sometimes."

Hydrus expected him to keep going, but he didn't. Taking the opportunity to multitask, he cleaned out the grime and half-decomposed leaves in the ancient gutters and destroyed most of it, leaving just enough for him to make a glass. After giving it a sniff to make sure he hadn't overpowered it and left the glass cup still dirty, he poured himself some of the whiskey and began to sip on it. After a few more minutes, Sirius spoke again.

"I killed my own grandfather. I hated the bastard, but that sentence alone makes me feel rotten." The man brought his hands together and began to pop his knuckles, an old nervous tic of his. "And nobody but me seems to care. I keep waiting for some other shoe to drop."

"Mm," Hydrus acknowledged as he finished swallowing his latest sip. "I killed a woman you could more or less call my wife, and you ain't disowned me yet either."

Sirius scoffed. It looked like he rolled through several different ideas about what to say next, but eventually his shoulders sagged down and he shook his head. "Can I just… Can I just ask you one question? Just one question, you won't run away after, I won't press on any more for the rest of the night."

"You can ask it," Hydrus said. "But I can't say I'll answer it."

"How old are you really?" The time traveller winced. "Just tell me that, please."

Hydrus supposed he should be grateful that he'd gotten this far without having to expand on that nugget of knowledge his father and Bella had worked out. The man was still mostly in the dark, still didn't know a fifth as much as the two people he trusted most did, but it was enough to make things awkward. Although he wanted to run away, he figured he should at least throw him a bone for being so patient. Especially with how depressed he seemed.

"I don't know for sure." He finished off his glass. "But let's just say you don't need to be worried about my relationship with your cousin. All three of us are in the same ballpark."

Sirius let out a breath, then laughed. It was unenthusiastic and a touch bitter, but he nodded when he finished. "Still doesn't change the fact that my son is dating my cousin."

Again they fell into silence, no doubt as Sirius processed things. The former auror made to speak a few times, but each time he just shook his head. Before too long his father took a sip from the bottle, and the pair just stared up at the stars together for a while. The night air was warm, though nowhere near as much so as it had been in the other hemisphere, and Hydrus enjoyed just getting to relax with Sirius again.

The two had practically been inseparable when he was a kid; before he'd had to take on more and more responsibilities in the rebellion, before his godfather had died. Sirius had been the one to give him his first beer, the one to give him advice on courting Ginny. He'd even been the best man at the couple's ramshackle wedding after Ron had insisted Harry give the older man the honour.

And now here they were again.

Sirius set the bottle back down, and shut down yet another question he wanted to ask. He'd already pieced together a lot of little things on his own, and he wasn't about to break his promise to his son. Like Dumbledore had told him, what mattered most was building and preserving the trust that the boy-, the man, was doling out to him.

For one thing, Sirius was almost positive that he himself was the father 'figure' Hydrus had told him about, the one that had died saving his life. He was less certain of how he died, but considering the way Hydrus had tried to keep him away from their family, he suspected it had something to do with them. Considering the fact that Sirius had murdered his own grandfather, it wasn't like familial murder was outside the realm of expectations.

What had Dumbledore said? That Hydrus hadn't told any lies, but that he should think back on what he said? Even before the whiskey he hadn't been thinking quite clearly, so he'd definitely need to revisit that memory in a pensieve some time. The one thing that stood out was Hydrus saying that neither he nor Magic could turn back time. But then how did he…

'Wait,' Sirius thought. 'Didn't he say it was some other god's business or something?'

Fuck, he really needed to figure this god shit out. Apparently he had 'Death' or whoever's fucking brand stuck to his forehead like some sort of sponsorship logo, so he probably should've done that by now. Just how many gods were there? Did he have to worry about any besides the ones he and his son had apparently shagged up with? How come Hydrus's was so much hotter than his?

His didn't even have a face.

So far Death hadn't paid him any house calls, but the fact that he'd survived the killing curse told him something was up. He wondered if that was just some passive benefit to being linked up with the fairy tale character, or if he'd begun to wrack up some sort of tab. Hydrus had made bargains to get his perks, so what the hell was he supposed to do for his?

He knew he'd promised not to ask any more questions, but that one just stuck in his craw. "So what the hell is going on with this god stuff?"

"No clue." Hydrus shrugged. "Kinda figuring it out as I go."

"Great." Sirius sighed. "So you ain't chatted with them lately?"

"I pray to Magic every night," his son said. "Just a tip, don't come knocking on my door to give any bedtime stories. You might catch me painting the floor with my blood."

The Black Sheep snorted, then realised Hydrus probably wasn't joking. "Fuck."

"Yeup." The apparent time-traveller shook his head. "Told you to leave me alone; you made this mess yourself."

Sirius groaned and took another long drink from the bottle. Something about the way his son had spoken told him he wasn't lying, they really were flying in the dark here. Maybe he should start praying too or something. Praying to death itself kind of sounded cool if he acted like he wasn't a thirty-something year old man, and instead was an angst-filled teenager again. Maybe he could start wearing eyeliner like Regulus liked to do.

Hydrus shot him a look when he began to laugh. "Having fun?"

"Nope." Sirius shook his head. "Just giving up on trying to worry."

"Welcome to the club." Hydrus sipped his glass, and Sirius snorted when he realised how many times he had worried about the teen's drinking. "I promise, if things get real bad between Death and Magic, I treat my hostages well when circumstances allow."

Again the Black Sheep laughed, and again he earned a smile from his only son.

BBaRtS

Chapter 45, still alive. This time the late-ish upload isn't my fault, like I said we're gonna keep trying to upload on Saturdays, just FFN was acting up today. I swear the site is on its last legs, and as much as I love it, if you're reading on it and I ever stop uploading this story check AO3 for future updates cus it means its given up the ghost for me. It's been, like, 2+ weeks now that the view counter has been broken, and just refreshing it on the internal story page is a dice roll to see if it'll load.

This chapter we got some Sirius/Hydrus bonding, the explanation behind what Hydrus did to disrupt the gods' plans, the cost of it, and more. If anything was wrong with the Spanish bits, just like the French bits in past chapters, let me know and I'll fix.

Anyways, I'm already rushing to post this now that (presumably as of the time of my annoyed-writing this AN) both of the sites I post on are working, lets get to reviews.

"Bella continues to be besta" - My Brazilian homie who also reads this fic saw this review and said besta can mean stupid, beast, or crossbow in Portuguese, so I MSPaint drew him a quadruped crossbow with googly eyes lolol

"I know the Remus scene was supposed to show just how dark Hydrus has become from the perspective of Remus, but the fact that he mixed up the order was hilarious to me!" - I irrelevantly made it clear Hydrus wasn't used to working with pensieves earlier on, so I figured I could do a fun call back to that. I try to make sure even with my blatant twisting of cannon, I at least maintain enough internal-logic landmarks to point to to say everything makes sense within the fic itself.

"yeah, this is one of the best Time Travelling Harry fics...probably ever." - I still say the title of best time travel fic goes to Delenda Est, my favorite Harry Potter fanfic of all time, and another Harry/Bellatrix story. One of the absolute greatest fanfictions ever, and a clear influence on this fic with the way I messed up the Black family tree lol

"I was surprised to read about the Catholics and their inferi army. Seemed quiet ironic to me that they would be the ones prepared to raise an undead army" - One hundred percent inspired by the fact that they dug up a pope to put him on trial for blasphemy or however that history lesson goes. Within the cannon of this fic they just found the undead army beneath the tomb, like Hydrus did, but didn't disturb it until they had to. I do like the idea of them having necromancers though, and literally 'waking' that pope up to judge him lol

"I also really liked your take on Emelia cooling off, somehow it feels like shes sticking to her chops while also feeling genuine remorse for how she handled things and hurt sirius (even though he kinda deserved it)." - We'll definitely see more of her going forward. I need my 'grounded' characters around to bring home the realism when characters like Bellatrix don't even blink at Hydrus planting a Glasgow kiss on strangers and characters like Regulus are just running around with 'airheaded' vampire heiresses like this Zara person.

"I definitely wasn't feeling the god thing, its better than what it was but it needs something else" - Yeah I'm still struggling when featuring the big cheeses themselves. It's a weird hesitancy I have for 'em, where it comes from a combo of people in general being a bit polarised at the god plot, and also internally not really wanting people to relate to/like them even in spite of their seemingly charitable actions for the humans. They very much aren't like, personally malicious and vitriolic towards normal people, they just literally don't see them as being on the same playing field as them. Idk, still working on that, but I appreciate the feedback.

"I'll be honest, I think the subplot with the Deities is really boring." - See what I mean?

Lololol anyways, that's all for this week. Thank you all so much for the reviews, I promise I really do look through them for feedback and advice. I can't promise to always take advantage of those tips, but I definitely take them into account. Either which way, even if you just read and never click a button besides next chapter, thank you. Love you all, see you all next weekend, lessthanthree!