(AN sorry it has been so long since i have up a chapter up. I have been taking a mental health break while i moved. So now i am more settled into my new place and ready to write this again chapter should be coming out a lot more often i have about two chapter already pre written that will be coming out soon as well as one more that is mostly done.)
Chapter Eight- Wizengamot and Wake up
Potter Manor, Hadrian's Room- April 14, 1986
The last two weeks have been hectic to say the least, James and Sirius had been cleared to leave by the healers, though they were still on restrictions, which led to 4 very sexually frustrated males, due to malnutrition and weekend muscles that needed to heal naturally.
They had then moved them all to Potter Manor. Hadrian was brought along even though he was still in the coma. This led to the men spending most of their time in his were papers and memories all over the place from the men's research and planning.
Severus was also having a hard time of it. He had classes, head of house duties, brewing for the hospital wing, rounds, and now his tutoring sessions with Bill Weasley. He was exhausted and still tried to get home as often as he could just to spend a few hours with his husband and son before he had to leave again. As it was he hadn't been able to get away today so they had one of the mirrors propped up so that he could see them and Hadrian.
Right now they were all trying to help prepare James for his entrance into the Wizengamot which was scheduled for the next day. James had never gone to the court before, stupidly trusting Dumbledore to do what was best, he was kicking himself for that now.
They had decided that they needed to do something that would get people to sit up and take notice. They just needed to make sure that whatever they did couldn't be misconstrued by the public.
They had rented two dedicated mail boxes from Gringotts that allowed them to send documents and small objects back and forth in the blink of an eye, it had the added benefit that the goblin magic made it untraceable, unstoppable, and completely safe. As they were working Severus noticed that Remus was staring at him. "Is there something I can help you with Remus?"
"I was just thinking. You should come and work for Gringotts with us."
Severus didn't even bother to try and stop himself from rolling his eyes. "Oh yes, like that's going to happen. I am under contract with Hogwarts. The only one that can break the contract for me is Dumbledore, and he'll never let me go."
"I think there might be a way." Remus mused. "As soon as James walks into the Wizengamot, Albus is going to want to know everything he can about him right?" They all agreed. "But he won't be able to find anything because we just made him up. Who better to gather information than his favourite spy. A spy that he still thinks is completely loyal to him. If James mentions that our curse breaking team needs a potions master then he might just be willing to let you go."
"He might." Severus was a little unsure. He would love to get away but he didn't want to get his hopes up. "The problem is that he made me sign an exclusivity contract that isn't up for another 10 years."
Now it was Sirius's turn to come up with an idea. "We use the goblins contracts. The reason it took me so long to sign up to work for them was the contract negotiations. One of the few things that I learned from my paranoid family was that you have to read every line of a magical contract, especially if it is with the goblins. Goblin contracts supersede almost everything and they don't leave loopholes. My grandfather always told me that Dumbledore was a fool because he never bothered to read the contracts he signed, he always thought that no one was brave enough to try and cheat him, and for the most part he has been right. If we hand him a contract and tell him that it's just a standard contract he won't bother to read it. We just need to make sure that it includes clauses that will nullify any other contracts you are under. I even used mine to make James the proxy for the Black seats. We know from the voting records that he is using the Prince seat, so we could use it as another way to mess with him."
"It could work." James was starting to get excited, he might just be able to save his husband from that old man. "Even if it doesn't, what do we have to lose, it can't get much worse."
Remus gave Severus a look. "It is the best thing I can think of that would allow you to be with your husband and watch your son grow up Sev. You all deserve that."
"Then we give it a try." Severus smiled as the others all cheered when he agreed. "Now we just need to make sure that we make a big enough show of it to interest him."
"I was thinking about that too." Remus was really getting into his planning mode. "We need to do something that he feels is a threat to his little kingdom that we can be sure that people will support. We make it something about the kids. We already know that kids from that school are being returned to abusive homes, so we can get everyone's attention and help them at the same time. It has the added benefit that no one is going to want to be seen as voting against the protection of children."
"Ok, then let's get to work. The sooner we do this, the sooner I get my husband back from that old man." James' smile quickly fell. "EWWW, bad mental picture."
Wizengamot Chambers - April 15, 1986
James walked next to Amelia, heading towards the Wizengamot chambers. He had gone to her to request that she be the one to introduce him. She was seen as light leaning neutral and that would help his image.
She had also helped him seal his proxy of the black votes. Other than that his biggest worry was if the chamber would acknowledge his name change. The chamber had a magic all its own and if it didn't accept him as Sebastian Peverell then he was in a lot of trouble. The goblins had assured him that his name change was all completely legal and accepted by magic already, but he couldn't help but be nervous.
Stepping into the chamber he and Amelia went their separate ways. Looking around he could see that he wasn't the only new face. Across the room from him was Narcissa Malfoy, sitting in the Lestrange seat. Hadrian had mentioned that Draco was going to suggest she take conservatorship over her sister. It seemed like she had listened.
The session started a few minutes later when Albus Dumbledore, Chief Warlock, came in and in all his glory. James really wanted to know who thought maroon robes was a good fashion choice.
After the session was officially called to order and the minutes of the last session were read they came to the new introductions. Lucius went first, announcing Narcissa. There were more than a few hostile looks, particularly from Dowager Longbottom and the Chief Warlock himself, though he was better at covering it, Narcissa didn't show any acknowledgement of those looks and held herself tall with the haughty grace the Malfoys were known for. Then it was his and Amelia's turn.
"Chief Warlock, members of the Wizengamot it is my pleasure to introduce Lord Sebastian Peverell Gryffindor. Common name Sebastian Peverell. He holds the seats of the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Peverell, Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Gryffindor, the proxy of the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Ravenclaw, and one other house, though that house has been sealed by the head of house."
Almost the entire chamber wore shocked faces. Then the murmurs started. To have not just one but two of Hogwarts founders' seats active was incredible. It hadn't happened in over 200 years, and for one person to hold both was stunning. James was thrilled when the chambers magic accepted him.
Standing at his podium Dumbledore was stunned and furious. Just who did this man think he was coming in here with those titles. This was his Wizengamot, and he wasn't about to share it. Then a thought struck him. Peverell.
That would mean that he would hold primary over his Harry Potter. This man could step in and take his best pawn away before he had even gotten a chance to use him. This was not good. It also meant that the Potters were almost broke, at least in comparison to what they had had. Pretty much all of the Potter money came from the Peverell vaults. The vaults that now belonged to this man, if he wanted to he could take it all back. This one man coming into these chambers had almost completely destroyed any value that James Potter served. Oh, the Potters still had money and influence, but it was almost cut completely in half now.
James was jumping for joy, internally, as he watched the expressions flash across Albus's face. The old man had just realised how much influence he had lost.
After him there were no other introductions. They got right into it then. James quickly started to question the intelligence of these people as he listened to speech after speech about pointless topics. It seemed some of them just wanted to hear themselves speak.
He almost lost his temper when a toad-like woman in disgusting pink put forward a bill that would make werewolves have to join a registry and wear a tracker. Her reasoning for this was all the attacks recently. It was James that shot her down when he simply asked her where she was getting her information. She had no answer to that, she had just made up the statistics, no one had ever bothered to call her on it before. He then asked Amelia how many attacks had been reported. The bill was almost immediately dismissed when she said that they hadn't had a single report of a werewolf attack in over a year.
Then it was his turn. Standing up James got ready to make his motion, and hopefully piss off a certain old goat.
"Ladies and gentlemen there is a matter of great importance that we need to address. I am proposing that we establish a new department in the ministry. This department will be focused on the welfare of children. As many of you know, in our society children are sacred. But that does not mean nothing bad ever happens to them. When I originally took my lordship I decided to start looking into the school one of my ancestors helped to establish and what I found astounded and terrified me. Looking at the school registry I noticed that about 15% of the students that attended Hogwarts left. Many of the students that left had the name of the school they transferred to listed. But some did not. I decided to investigate why some students did not return to school but did not transfer to another school. What I found was the death certificates of these children. It would seem that many of our muggleborn students are being returned to abusive homes. I have only had a few days to look into this problem and what I have found so far is over two dozen students that have been killed by a member of their family. One of these was the case of 13-year-old Emily Winters. She was found beaten to death by her father less than two weeks after summer vacation started. When asked why he did it the muggle aurors reported that he said she had demonic powers and needed to die. He has never shown any remorse. When we say children are sacred it means all children regardless of blood status. According to the muggle government there were over 50,000 children reported to have been abused in Britain last year. I am willing to bet my fortune that at least a few of them are magical children. We cannot standby and allow this to continue. I believe we should establish a department whose sole focus is to ensure that the children of our world are safe."
As he had been speaking James spelled the different reports that they had compiled to the different members. This included statistics on abuse as well as files on individual children that were verified to have magic. He was glad that Hadrian had made sure to include reports like this in the trunk; there was no way they would have been able to gather them in time for the meeting if he hadn't.
The room broke out in a cacophony of noise. To most of them this was unthinkable. They did not even want to consider that something like this could be happening. Even those houses in the darker faction that did not support muggleborns were sickened when they read the reports, the idea that children were sacred was more than just a theory to a majority of the magical world.
"Surely the Auror department can handle this. There really is no need to finance and staff an entirely new department." Fudge said. He really didn't like to have to spend money on something that would not benefit him.
"Actually, and I mean no offence to any Aurors, I do not believe that they can." James had expected someone to say something like this, though he was surprised it was the minister, he had actually figured the man would be better at understanding the politics of a subject like this. "Our Aurors are trained to stop crimes, not work with children. In the muggle world, those that work in their child welfare offices are specifically trained to work with children and how to spot abuse."
"I must agree with Lord Peverell." Amelia added. "We are already understaffed and don't have the budget for anyone else, as it is. We can not hire and train more people with the budget that we receive."
With a flick of his wand, James had reports from mind healers appear in front of the members. "As adults we understand that when someone hurts us, they are the ones responsible, but children don't. If you look over these mind healer reports you will see that when a child is abused most of them will internalise their pain and blame themselves. Because of this shame, when asked if they are being abused, they will more often deny it. Then, of course, there are those that deny it out of fear as they have been threatened by their abuser. One of the major problems for the muggles is that unless they can prove abuse they can not remove the child. We don't have that problem. All that needs to be done is to perform a medical history spell and we will know. We need people that are trained to do that."
Once James had finished Gerald Greengrass stood up and seconded the motion. As soon as Dumbledore called the vote it was automatically passed. Not a single person was willing to vote against it, just like they had predicted.
The next thing that they had to deal with was staffing. James knew that there would be those that would try to get one of their relatives in place so that they could control a department that was more than likely going to be very popular with the public. He knew he needed to head them off.
"If I may," when he was acknowledged he proceeded. "I have brought two people with me today."
As he said this an older man and woman were escorted into the room from the antechamber. This is Cecilia Perra, and Edward Brown. Mrs. Perra has worked in the muggle children's welfare office for over 40 years. Mr Brown has worked as a mind healer for victims of child abuse for close to 50 years. I would like to nominate them to be co-heads of the new department."
Lucius had watched the proceedings with a blank look on his face. But he had also watched as his wife fought to maintain her mask. Children were infinitely precious to Narcissa, and listening to these self important fools bicker about what to do, how to do it, and when to do it, was not helping to ease her temper. The idea that there were children being abused and they were worried about politics was very dangerous. Narcissa was naturally a very calm person until it came to the safety of a child, then she was even more dangerous than Bellatrix.
Oh, he understood the issues that some were having. It was clear that Perra and Brown were either muggleborn or half blood. In the history of the ministry every single minister and department head had always been pure blood. There was no denying that even though Dumbledore and the so-called light had been in power since the fall of the Dark Lord they had done nothing to stop the blatant blood supremacy issues. But it seemed Lord Peverell was planning on making a name for himself, he may as well use that to start improving his own family's image.
He and Narcissa had already talked about everything they had learned from the message orb. They were going to do what they could to make sure their son never had to suffer like that again. Though they both did not believe muggles capable of much, mainly due to their own upbringing, they decided to follow Draco's advice and seek out one of those fertility clinics. It had only taken a few tests for them to tell them that Narcissa's fertility issues were actually quite common and, they believed, completely fixable. The healer they had seen had said with a few treatments and a bit of luck Narcissa may be able to be pregnant by the end of the year. Despite what he had been raised to believe about muggles, if they could help them in this he would never say another word against them.
Making his decision, Lucius got everyone's attention. "I second Lord Peverell's nomination." Stunned silence. No one even seemed to be blinking. "As Lord Peverell has already shown there is a real and serious threat to some of the magical children in our world. Given the fact that we, as a governing body, weren't even aware of this problem shows that we do not know how to handle it. Mrs. Perra, and Mr. Brown, on the other hand have spent decades working in this field. This is not something we can risk failing at, there are literally the lives of children on the line here. We need this department to be run by competent individuals, not someone out to make a political name for themselves. When it comes to the lives of children we must leave politics at the door. Moreover, we need competent people involved because they will be able to get everything ready faster. I hope I don't need to remind everyone here that the Hogwarts term is set to end in just over 2 months, and as we have already covered, some of those children leaving are going to abusive homes, we have no guarantee that they will all make it back. There is no room for mistakes."
When Lucius took his seat the silence continued for a few seconds before others started agreeing with him. Then the vote was called, Perra, and Brown were confirmed. There were still a few people that voted against them, but they had a comfortable margin.
They debated for a while longer about different aspects of what the department was going to do. When the issue of what to do with any children that needed to be removed from their homes was brought up James once again took the floor. He explained how, since the Peverell's had so many properties, he was willing to rent one of the manors to the new department for 1 galleon a year so long as the property was used as a home for the children in need of a safe home.
Eventually they agreed on as much as they could and the session was called to a close. James was glad. He, Sirius, and Remus had been up all night planning this. The only reason he was even still standing was because he had taken 3 grand pepper up potions. He really wanted to go home and crash.
But that was not to be. He had to play the game and meet with the other Lords and Ladies, and they all seemed to want to speak with him.
Many yammered at him about how nice it was to meet him, how he had done such an incredible job, how he was so generous. They all seemed to think that they could get him on their side if they said nice things to him. When James had first been introduced he had informed them that he would not be joining any of the established parties as he needed time to figure out which party he most agreed with, until then he would be independent.
When Lucius came over they shared a few soft words. Lucious thanked him for the information he had passed on, though he only said 'talk' in the chamber, no need for anyone to know about the orb. And James thanked him for supporting his nomination.
Then he met up with Amelia and asked if he could have a private word with her in her office. It was just when they were about to leave that Dumbledore came up to him. James groaned internally as he sent Amelia on a head, promising that he would meet her as soon as he could.
"Sebastian, it is a pleasure to meet you my dear boy."
James held back the sneer that wanted to come out when his title was dropped. Although he preferred not to be so formal, the dropping of one's title without permission was a subtle sign of disrespect that all those of noble birth knew.
"Lord Dumbledore. The feeling is mutual I assure you. I must admit that I have been interested in meeting you. There are just so many stories about you, I have always wondered just what was true and what was merely rumour."
"Indeed my boy. Please call me Albus. I must admit that I was surprised by the issue that you brought up today. You were very skilled in how you manoeuvred to get your bill and proposals through."
Out of the corner of his eye James caught sight of a reporter that was clearly listening in. He had no clue who she was, but this was perfect. She would most likely report every word she heard.
"Yes. I was surprised when I learned of the issue myself, and when I found that nothing was being done I was thoroughly disheartened. So I decided to do it myself. But, on the topic of children. It has come to my attention that you are the only one that seems to know the location of my heir, Hadrian Potter. I was hoping that you would be able to arrange a meeting for me."
Albus's jaw tightened. "I am afraid that will not be possible my dear boy. There are those that still threaten the boy's safety, that was why I arranged his current living accommodations. I would not risk the security of the poor boy now."
"I understand your worry, and I thank you for being so cautious with the safety of my heir. I will accept having you bring a message to the boy from me so long as you can guarantee that he is safe and happy. That is the most important thing, after all? As my heir I must ensure that he is being properly looked after and learning what is expected of him."
"I would be happy to pass on any information for you. I can assure you that the boy is safe and is learning everything that he needs to know to be a great light wizard, just like his father was. I have made sure that his guardians teach him all the lessons that he needs."
"Then I shall write a letter to him and give it to you at the school board meeting next week. Now, if you will excuse me, I have a meeting to get to."
With that James walked away, completely furious. How dare that man, how dare he. To someone who had no idea of what was actually happening, what Dumbledore had said would be comforting. To someone who knew the truth it was disgusting. 'Teach him all the lessons that he needs.' How dare he, he had basically just confirmed that the abuse was on his instruction. And bringing him in to this, though it wasn't like Dumbledore knew that he was James.
Just before James could stalk out of the room the reporter he had seen stepped in front of him.
"Lord Peverell, my name is Tamsan Dove, I'm an intern reporter with the Daily Profit. I was wondering if I could ask you a few quick questions."
"Certainly Ms. Dove." James was glad this wasn't Rita Skeeter, from what Hadrian had written about her she was a horrible reporter. "Although, like I said. I have a meeting so it will have to be fast."
"Ok, so let's go quick, you said that Harry Potter was your heir, correct?"
"No," seeing her confused look he smirked a little. "I honestly don't know where the idea came from that the Potter child was named 'Harry'. All one would have to do is check the birth record to see that his name is not Harry James Potter, but Hadrian Jameson Charlus Potter. I personally find it interesting that he is celebrated as a hero of the people yet no one ever even bothered to learn his name."
"Really, ok that's interesting. Next question. What do you intend to do with him?"
"Well, as you just heard me and Lord Dumbledore say, I want to make sure that he is safe and knows about who he is in our world and what his responsibilities will be as a future lord. To put it simply, my intentions towards him are to make sure that he is safe and loved. Lord Dumbledore has assured me that that is the case. If I learn that that changes at any time in the future I will not hesitate to step in, as anyone would do if they saw a child in need. I am also planning on making sure that people stop taking advantage of him."
"Taking advantage of him? Who would dare to take advantage of him?"
"Apparently a lot of people. I have only been back in Britain for a few weeks and I have seen plenty of books, memorabilia, and products claiming he recommends them. Tell me Ms. Dove, do you truly believe that a 5 year old is out battling trolls like it says in some of those books, do you think that he is old enough to have given consent for dolls to be made of him. Although I might add, how do they know what he looks like, he has been hidden away since he was only a year old. I also don't think that a 5 year old knows enough about quills to recommend one, but I saw signs saying just that. I do not like that there are people exploiting the tragedy of a war orphan. Given that he is a member of my family I intend to contact a barrister and make sure that that exploitation stops. Now, I really must be going, if you have any other questions send me a letter and I will see what I can do."
Tamsan thanked him. James was then, finally, able to get away. He was glad that he himself had once been an auror because the ministry layout could be incredibly confusing to those that didn't know it. Walking the familiar route to the DMLE he thought of what he was going to say. They had all agreed on the story that they were going to tell. The last thing they needed to do right now was bring any suspicions.
Entering the office he greeted Amelia. Once they were both settled with tea she asked what she had been wondering ever since she left the Wizengamot chambers.
"Sebastian. What is it that I can do for you?"
"Amelia, I believe that I might need your expertise on something. I will let you know that I have been bending the truth a little." When she nodded he decided to just go for it and tell her the story they had worked out last night. "When I was originally hurt in a curse breaking accident I decided to spend my medical leave on a nice, hot, sandy beach. Instead, I was contacted by the British branch of Gringotts and summoned here. On the evening of March 4th an unidentified man brought a small child into the bank. All that he told the goblins was that it was a wizard child and that he was being abused. Although not overly fond of wizards, goblins are very protective of children so they agreed to help the child. They ran an inheritance test to get a proper identification of the child. When it showed that the child was related to the Peverell's and I was one of the few living relatives they summoned me. The child was Hadrian Potter." As he spoke James had handed her a copy of Hadrian's health scan and watched as she glanced over it while she listened to him, her face darkened as she read and James knew that he wasn't going to have much trouble from her now.
"Don't you mean Harry Potter?"
"No, I mean Hadrian Potter. As I just explained to a young reporter that asked me the same question, the boy you know as Harry James Potter is actually Hadrian Jameson Charlus Potter. I really don't know how the entire British magical world seems to have gotten the boy's name wrong, but they have."
"That's interesting, but back to your issue. Are you asking me what you need to do to gain custody of the boy, because that's simple. To gain his custody you just need to file a petition for custody. I will however warn you it will probably end up in front of the Wizengamot due to his fame."
"Actually custody is not what I'm worried about. You see, James Potter was a smart man. He knew that he was a target, and he knew that there was a good chance he might die. As a layer of extra protection he went to 2 of his best friends, Sirius Lupin-Black, and his husband Remus. The two of them were named godfathers in a bonding ritual where they also blood adopted the boy with his parents permission. Sirius and Remus are legally and magically his fathers. So custody is automatically theirs, with no need to file any paperwork. If Sirius had been legally convicted then they would've lost custody, but since there was no trial they were never stripped of his guardianship."
"So that's why you were so adamant that Sirius be freed. It would mean that there was no need to involve anyone else in saving Hadrian from an abusive home."
"Yes. They are currently with Hadrian at my manor. They have both agreed to join my curse breaking team and we will be leaving the country in July after my medical leave ends. I will be using a dedicated portkey to attend the Wizengamot and any other meetings I have in Britain but Sirius and Remus do not intend for Hadrian to return to this country until he starts Hogwarts. They want to give him a chance to be a normal kid, and that isn't going to happen here. My issue is Dumbledore."
"Dumbledore? What does he have to do with this?"
"If you will remember after the attack at Godric's Hollow it was Albus Dumbledore that took custody of the boy, even though he had no legal right as Sirius and Remus were both still alive. He then put the boy in an abusive home, though I do not know if he knew about the abuse or not. What I do know is that I just asked him to arrange a meeting with Hadrian, as he is my heir. Dumbledore just told me that that was not possible because the boy is in hiding. He told me that he checks on him and is ensuring that he is learning everything he needs to know. It is clear that, given the state of the boy when he arrived at the bank, and what he said to the goblins he had no knowledge of our world and if anyone was checking up on him they should be charged with child endangerment. I was hoping that we would be able to handle this between ourselves and leave him out of this. He has too much power, and even with me backing them, we don't want to risk Hadrian being placed back in that kind of environment for Dumbledore's 'Greater Good'."
"Can I go with you and speak with him? It might help if I can see him so that if it ever comes out we can say that I approved his placement."
"It will have to wait until the weekend at the earliest. Hadrian must have been a powerful child because Lily Evans placed a binding on his core. It is not overly common but it can be done if an infant is too powerful and it endangers them, as you know. But those bindings are legally required to be removed by the age of 3 because of the danger they pose to a growing core. But since he was placed with muggles after the attack the binding was never removed. Removing a binding like that can be extremely painful if it's been left on for too long. That coupled with them having to fix the physical abuse issues, the goblins decided to put him in a magically induced coma and he isn't scheduled to be woken up until Saturday."
"Are you telling me that Albus Dumbledore abandoned the magical world's saviour to muggles with bindings on him." When James nodded she seethed. "If he hadn't been brought to the goblins and had them removed those bindings could have killed him."
"We know. Lily never even informed Sirius or Remus what she had done, so they wouldn't have known even if they had instantly retained custody like was intended."
"That is just reckless. Now, if it is ok with you, and Remus and Sirius, I will stop by the bank on Saturday. If I can verify that Hadrian is safe and healthy then I will be able to help. Given his importance, and as Dumbledore is always saying that he needs to stay hidden as he is in danger, I will be able to classify Hadrian as being in protective custody. With Sirius being a former auror I can have him listed as a trained guard. I can seal it for up to 10 years if we need to. That way no one will be able to take him away, or claim that he was kidnapped. Will that work for you?"
"That would be perfect Amelia. I am also planning to go to the new department, once they are up and running, and explain things to them just to cover my bases. Would you be willing to back me up with them?"
"Of course."
Knowing that they now had the head of the DMLE on their side and sealing Hadrian's file James said his goodbyes and left.
Hogwarts, Headmasters Office - April 15, 1986
Minerva was worried about Albus. She had been so busy last night that she hadn't been able to see Albus after the Wizengamot meeting. and he wasn't at breakfast when she got there. She decided that she would go and make sure everything went well yesterday. She knew that Deloris was supposed to propose a new bill during the session. They didn't really work with Deloris but she was easy to manipulate into doing what they wanted.
Reaching his office she knocked sharply before going in.
Albus was sitting at his desk, stroking his beard, and staring out the window.
"Albus, is everything ok."
"It's been better. Yesterday a new lord was introduced to the Wizengamot. He is the lord of the houses of Peverell and Gryffindor, he also sits as proxy for Ravenclaw and another house."
"He represents two of the founders!"
"Yes. And he looks like he is going to pose a problem."
"What did he do?"
As she asked her question an owl flew in the open window with the Daily Profit clasped in its talons. After he paid, Albus took the paper and handed it directly to Minerva after glancing at the front.
Looking back at them from the front page was a picture of Sebastian Peverell and Amelia Bones. Quickly skimming the articles Minerva understood why Albus was so upset. This man could clearly be trouble.
There were 4 separate articles dedicated to the Peverell Lord. All of them were glowing. They went over the new department that he had gotten confirmed, the history he had made by nominating the first muggleborn heads of department, his offering of a family home to be used as an orphanage, and his connection to Harry Potter, now confirmed to actually be Hadrian Potter as well as how he would be protecting the child from those that would take advantage of him.
"Well, he looks like he will be trouble." Minerva said with a sigh.
"Oh, you have no idea how much trouble he could be Minerva. This one man has the potential to upset everything we have worked for over the last few decades."
"What else could he possibly do?"
"He has legal rights to the Potter boy. My placing him with his relatives and assuming control of his magical guardianship was technically illegal."
"But you are trying to save our world, surely no one will oppose you. We need to ensure that the boy will be what we need."
"I agree with you about what we need to do, but the public won't. You know as well as I do that the people are to weak to do what needs to be done. If it were up to them they would sacrifice our world to the darker forces rather than make the needed sacrifices. Just what he did yesterday has made him a darling to the people but a menace to us. He single handedly demolished Deloris's bill. And then weakened our control over the children. Now every child that has strict parents will go crying to his new department. They don't understand that a little adversity will make them stronger, it also makes them more malleable to our cause. The orphanage being his will also give him control over the children."
"Isn't there anything we can do? Surely we will be able to gain control of this new department. If we can do that then we will have access to the orphanage and by extension of that, to the children."
"No, I don't believe that we will be able to gain control of the department. The two in charge were a Hufflepuff and a Ravenclaw, so we wouldn't have had much to do with them. Plus they have been out of the magical world for so long I know nothing about them so there is no favours that I can use to sway them to our side. The fact that it was Lucius Malfoy that seconded their nomination just makes things harder."
"I have no idea why that monster would have supported them. Everyone knows that the Malfoy's are the darkest of the dark."
"He was probably trying to curry favour with them and Sebastian Peverell, while also rehabilitating his image to the public. This coupled with his Imperius claims will make the public truly believe that he had no choice and is actually a good person. It is sickening how gullible people are sometimes. Then there was this whole Harry, Hadrian mess, and he even threatened lawsuits"
"What is the difference between Harry, and Hadrian? And just who is he planning on filing charges against?"
"It was Lily's idea to change the boy's name to Harry. It was her own fathers name, meaning that he was named after a muggle rather than a traditional pureblood name. We wanted the muggle connection. There is also the fact that we don't know who his mother is. James never spoke of anyone around us. When we got James and the boy there was no evidence of a woman in the house. We figured that it was a one night stand, but we didn't want her to be tempted to come back. As for the lawsuits. Since I took over the role of guardian for the boy I have allowed for books and commemoration items to be made. Since I can not access too much of the Potter fortune due to the ridiculous rules of those disgusting goblins, I set up another vault for that money to go into so that we would be able to use it as needed to better our world. He seems to be planning on suing anyone that was using the boy's name, image, or likeness without the proper permission."
That was one of the more important aspects to Albus. They needed that money. If Lord Peverell became involved then they would lose that money too. The goblins had restrictions on how much money you could remove from a vault so he couldn't even remove all the money and move it into his own vaults. It wasn't that he was poor, he just preferred not to spend his own money on something like this.
Albus popped a lemon drop in his mouth before he continued. "Thankfully I have managed to convince him not to interfere in the boy's life, I convinced him it was safer for the boy. But he is going to be sending him a message through me. So I will just have to forge a response from the boy. No, the part that truly worries me is that he is planning to get involved on the school board."
"But he doesn't have a child here at school. Don't you need one to be considered for the board? And how much damage can he actually do? He's just one person on a board of twelve parents and you."
"As an heir of a founder, and a proxy of another, he automatically gets a place on the board. With two houses of the founders backing him up it means he can effectively render the board useless. The way I arranged the board was 4 light, 4 dark, and 4 neutral. 2 of the neutrals lean light while the other 2 lean dark. Since there is almost always a tie, I have the deciding vote. It makes people think that they have a say when they actually don't. He actually holds more power over the running of the school than the board and I put together now, and I do believe he knows it. No, this is going to take some thinking."
"This could be bad. We need to learn as much as we can about him. See if there's anything we can use against him."
Albus huffed, annoyed. "That's another problem. I spent the rest of the day yesterday, and most of the night gathering as much information as I could on him. There is almost nothing."
"What do we know?"
"We know that he is a pure blood that was homeschooled and has worked for the goblins for years. Other than that, I have found nothing."
"We will just have to wait until the school board meeting and see if there's anything we can do or learn then."
"I agree. I just really don't like having an unknown in our midst."
Gringotts Bank, Healing Ward - April 20, 1986
The day had finally arrived. Today was the day that they were going to wake Hadrian. James, Severus, Sirius, and Remus were all basket cases. They were all terrified that something would go wrong, or Hadrian would hate them.
Severus was pacing the ward. He had argued with Albus for over three hours the night before about having to leave the school grounds. He had ultimately left a note with Filius about needing ingredients and snuck out at 5:00am. He was not sure what was going to happen. From reading the journals he had been given, he had been completely awful to Hadrian in his past life. What if Hadrian wanted nothing to do with him. Sev didn't think he could survive that.
Eventually Cora said it was time. Cora, Vessra, and Ragnock had all joined them for this. After a few minutes of chanting Cora and Vessra stepped back saying that he was just sleeping now. The three goblins decided to go and talk in Vessra's office to give the wizards some alone time with the little one before they scanned him to make sure all was well.
It took a few minutes, that actually felt like hours to the men, before Hadrian started to wake. Severus couldn't help but think that he woke up like James as he watched the small child fight to go back to sleep.
Hadrian's little nose crinkled as he tried not to wake up. James leaned over and called to him. "Hadrian, come on baby boy. It's time to get up."
Harry was comfortable for what felt like the first time in his life. No… Not Harry. His name was Hadrian. That paper and the goblins said his name was Hadrian, not Harry. That was ok, he liked Hadrian better. Then he heard a voice calling. Oh no. He must have slept in. He was going to be in so much trouble. What if he didn't manage to get breakfast ready in time.
"I'm sorry aunt Pe…tunia." Hadrian shot into the sitting position expecting to see his aunts scowling face. Instead there were 4 men.
He knew that he knew the men but he didn't know how. The man with the blond hair didn't look like anyone he knew, but there was some type of energy around him that made Hadrian feel loved.
"I know you, don't I?" Hadrian asked more than said. "I remember you from somewhere but I don't think I've met you."
James, Severus, Remus, and Sirius were all startled. When Hadrian had first woken they had seen the fear in his eyes. That look alone made the men want to hunt down the muggles that had hurt him. Then that fear had turned to confusion, and a slight amount of recognition. His speech was also far more advanced than it should be at 5.
It was clear that some things had transferred over from his past life, but he couldn't clearly remember it. His recognizing them slightly could be from his past life, or just from when he had been a baby.
Sev sat down on the edge of the bed and took Hadrian's hand. "Hadrian. My name is Severus and this is James." As he spoke he reached out and took James's hand and held it between his and Hadrian's.
Hadrian's eyes went unfocused for a moment. "You're my dad and papa. The bad man with the white hair took you away from me, and hurt us."
James was shocked as he sat on the other side of the bed, still holding onto the hands of his son and husband. "You remember that?"
"No, not really. It's like a story that I was told. There's all this stuff in my head. I know it's real, but it hasn't happened. Does that make sense?"
"Yes, Hadrian. That makes perfect sense. Yes, James and I are you fathers. and these two other men are you godfathers and honorary uncles Remus and Sirius." Severus said as he indicated the other two.
"Ok." That was more than enough for Hadrian. The energy and colours around these men said that they were safe, he had never seen the colours before but somehow he just knew them.
The others watched in shock as Hadrian crawled out from the blankets and into Severus's lap. He then burrowed into his chest, latching his arms around him like a baby koala.
Severus could only wrap his arms around his son and lean back on the bed, tears forming in his eyes. Even after everything Hadrian had been through he clearly felt safe in his arms. And Severus couldn't have felt happier if he tried.
James looked at his husband laying his cheek on top of their son's head as he held him wrapped in his arms and he had never felt more love for anyone in his life. They were all safe. So long as they all had each other Dumbledore could never hurt them again.
Feeling left out, Sirius and Remus crawled up on the bed too. James and Sev sat squished together at the top of the bed, their backs resting on the pillows and headboard, while Sirius and Remus took their place at the footboard. Hadrian stayed where he was, wrapped around his papa, but one of his hands had reached out for his dad, and was now wrestling in his.
This was the view the three goblins saw as they came in. It was clear just by looking at them how much these 4 men loved the small youngling.
Before they could say anything however, a messenger goblin came running in saying that Madam Bones had just arrived. All the adults in the room knew what they had to do.
It did take a few minutes to convince Hadrian to release his grip on James and Severus. But they did eventually manage it. They explained to him that he couldn't mention Severus, and that he needed to call James Sebastian. Eventually everything was set.
When Amelia came into the healing ward she saw a completely different sight than the goblins had just a few minutes earlier. A small, practically skeletal child, was curled up in Sirius's arms as a goblin healer ran scans.
"Amelia. It's good to see you again." James said, charm oozing from his voice. "As you can see, Hadrian has just woken up. It will take a few more minutes for the healers to finish before we can go and talk to him. Do you have any questions that I might be able to answer?"
"Why is he so small?" Amelia was stunned at the small size of the child. Susan was small for her age, but this boy couldn't way even half of what she did, and they were only a few months apart in age.
"Ah yes, that. It would seem that the muggles he was with did not think he needed to eat more than once a day, if that. The healers have been giving him nutrient potions but those are not enough. They only provide the body with what it needs to function. He will need to actually eat real food if we want him to gain any weight. As it is, it will be difficult. He has a shrunken stomach from the lack of food and that isn't something that can be fixed by magic. He is going to need to eat small meals every few hours for the next few months to gain weight and hopefully allow his stomach to grow to what it should be."
"It is times like these that I wish we could charge muggles in our courts."
James could only nod at that. When the goblins finished they went over and took the two empty seats.
"Hello Hadrian. My name is Amelia bones. I'm here to make sure that you're ok and want to stay with Sirius and Remus."
"I don't want to go back. Please don't make me. I want to stay with uncle Siri, Remy, and Bastian. Please." Sirius was almost being strangled by the grip that Hadrian had around his throat.
"Don't worry Hadrian. I will never send you back to those… People. I just wanted to make sure that staying with your uncles was what you wanted. Now that I know that I can help your uncles make sure that you are safe and no one can try to take you away."
They talked for a few more minutes. Amelia was quickly put at ease with how much Hadrian seemed to want to stay with the men. As she was leaving she assured James that they would be safe. She would ensure that their custody of Hadrian was legal and stayed secret until they were ready to release it.
As soon as Amelia had left Severus came back into the room. Once he was close enough, Hadrian launched himself into his arms.
Severus didn't know what he was going to do when it came time for him to return to the school. He had to return tomorrow after dinner. It was clear to everyone that Hadrian wasn't going to like his leaving. Severus knew that he wasn't going to like it anymore then he would. He had just gotten his son back, he didn't want to have to leave him again. He really hoped that Albus took the bait that they were going to be laying out after the school board meeting.
James stood next to Ragnock and worried. He knew that things were going to get even more difficult.
He had confronted the goblin earlier about how much the goblins had helped them. Ragnock had just laughed. He explained that Hadrian had brought back goblin contracts that ensured it.
Hadrian had been named as a goblin friend and they had signed a contract saying as much. That contract ensured that if Hadrian was ever in need the entire goblin nation was honour bound to help him. There were other contracts that ensured that they could not take advantage of him, no matter his age. It didn't matter that the contracts were from the future, the simple existence of these contracts bound them to them. That was why all goblin contracts were spelled to ensure they couldn't be destroyed. The binding magic was in the ink, as soon as they were signed using a blood quill they were blood bound, and so long as those whose blood was used lived the contract would be enforced by magic.
There was also the fact that one of the contracts was a business deal that gave the goblins information on how to make and use cards like the muggle credit cards. This was a completely new idea, and according to the statistics they had from before the future attack on the bank, an extremely successful one. Hadrian would receive 25% of the profits while the rest would go to the goblins. It was a good deal on both sides. Plus he was also the Master of Death, so…
No, Ragnock had assured him, none of the goblins would risk betraying this young wizard. They would do what they could to aid him as they knew that it would aid them as well.
Once the healers cleared them to leave they headed to Peverell manor. While they had originally wanted to live in James's childhood home of Potter Manor they knew it was too much of a risk. Dumbledore had ordered the Potter elves to Hogwarts to work and they didn't want him to notice the absence of the elves.
Although the elves were sad that they would have to leave their masters, they were excited for their new orders. They weren't fond of the old headmaster that had hurt their master and his son, no they weren't. They were more than happy to return to the school so that they could spy on those that had hurt their masters. They were also going to work to ensure that the castle would be in the best condition for when their young master arrived.
Peverell Manor was a large, beautiful home. It sat on a cliff on the southern coast of Britain. There were 15 bedrooms, a formal and informal dining room, 4 separate sitting rooms, and a library that held over 10,000 books. There was also a staff of 10 elves that worked at the manor so they knew that they would be well looked after.
Hadrian seemed to like the house, but he still wouldn't let go of them. He was always holding on to one of their hands or up in their arms, not that any of them would complain. It was clear that he was touch starved.
Severus was sitting with Hadrian on his lap once again, reading one of the children's fairytale books that they had had the elves pick up when James saw Sirius casually dragging Remus out of the room. He couldn't help but smirk.
Both James and Sirius had been cleared by the healers just before Sev had gotten there. James had convinced the others not to let Sev know so that he could surprise him later.
Sirius led Remus to the room they had chosen for themselves. Once the door was closed silencing wards were thrown up and a locking charm was on the door. They didn't want to risk Hadrian coming looking for them and seeing something he really shouldn't.
They both stripped as fast as they could. They had been apart for so long that neither of them could wait. Remus could feel Moony pushing to reestablish the bond with their mate.
As soon as they were naked Sirius pulled Remus down on top of him on the bed. Sirius had missed the feel of Remy's body so much. The goblins had worked miracles with healing him, but there were just some things that would need time. He needed Remy to make him forget all the bad in the past 5 years, even if just for a little while.
Remus knew that Sirius needed this just as much, if not more, than he did. He also knew that neither of them had the patience to take this slow. Muttering spells under his breath, he had Sirius prepared in seconds.
Knowing that he wouldn't hurt Sirius, thanks to the spells, Remus thrust completely in.
"Fuck… Remy."
Remus set a fast and brutal rhythm. Sirius could only moan under him as he pleaded for more.
It didn't matter that they had been apart for years, they knew each other's bodies better than they knew their own in some cases. It was due to this familiarity that Remus was able to quickly find Sirius's prostate and hit it over and over with each thrust.
Sirius dragged his nails down Remy's back as he hitched his legs higher up Remy's body so that he could go deeper. Looking up he saw how Remy's eyes shifted back and forth between his own and Moony. It was clear the wolf had missed this.
As Remus felt his release coming he pushed himself up a bit so that he could slip his hand in-between their bodies. Clasping his fingers around Siri's rock hard cock he started to pump up and down. Swiping his thumb across the tip so that he could spread the pre cum on his shaft.
Pumping his hand in time with his thrusts he leaned down and whispered to Siri. "Cum for me love."
That was all it took. Sirius came hard and fast. Remus quickly followed after a few more thrust.
Remus rolled over and collapsed into the bed. For a few minutes the only sound in the room was their hearts racing and their heaving breaths.
Once they had calmed enough Sirius couldn't stop himself from letting out a few chuckles. "By the gods I've missed this."
"Me too."
Soon enough they had themselves cleaned and dressed and slipped out of the room. As much as they wanted to just spend the day lazing away in bed together they had a god son whose fathers were just as frustrated as they had been.
Going back downstairs they saw that they were just in time for lunch. Hadrian could only stomach half a bowl of the rich vegetable soup, but it was a start. They didn't want to overwhelm him with too many new spices or too much food at once since it could hurt him.
After they finished their lunch, Sirius suggested that he and Remus take Hadrian for a walk around the grounds to give James and Severus a chance to plan out what they were going to do at the upcoming board meeting.
As Sirius walked out he turned back and threw James a wink. Luckily Sev was looking the other way and didn't see it.
James waited until the other three were out of his line of sight before he walked over to his husband and pulled him into a deep kiss. Then, like Sirius had before him, James pulled Sev up the stairs to their new room.
"James, we can't. You aren't healthy enough for this." It took everything Sev had to deny his husband. As much as he wanted to, he couldn't bear the idea of doing anything to hurt him.
"It's ok. Vessra gave me a clean bill of health just before you arrived this morning." James said as he pushed Sev's robes to the floor.
"And you're not lying to just get your way. Because if you are, you will be in so much trouble."
"I promise. Now please. Fuck me."
Sev snapped. He wanted this so bad. He also had no patients. With a wave of his wand they were both naked. He then directed James to the bed and made him lay down.
Climbing on to the bed, Sev started to reacquaint himself with his husband's body by slowly moving up from his toes. Running his hands all over he placed kisses at the points that he remembered made James melt. By the time he reached James's lips James was already a babbling mess.
Deciding to torment him a little more Sev went back down to his cock, nipping at his nipples along the way. James was so turned on his cock was standing up on its own. Not giving him a chance to prepare he took the flesh into his mouth and straight to the back of his throat.
James practically screamed as he thrust his fingers into Sev's hair. Sev went to work.
Sev had always known just how James liked it. Although they both did enjoy their gentle love making sessions, they only happened on occasion. Mainly because when they ended up in bed together they were just too turned on to go slow.
As Sev deep throated James, with one hand he massaged his balls, and reached his other hand up to pinched his nipple. That added sensations of the pleasure and pain overloaded James's senses and he came swearing and screaming Sev's name.
Sev kept sucking for a few more seconds before he released him and climbed back up his body. Leaning down kissed James deeply, allowing him to taste himself.
Grabbing his wand Sev muttered the spells needed to prep James. He entered his lover slowly, drying it out.
James moaned in exhausted pleasure. Sev had always loved to wear him out. It was like he derived pleasure from bringing James pleasure. That clearly hadn't changed.
Sev took his time. He did so love to watch as James reacted to every sensation. As Sev moved James felt himself getting hard again. It had always surprised him just how many times a night that Sev could get him off. They had actually tested it once and they had gotten to 5 before James had passed out from the pleasure.
As Sev moved he started to bite and suck hickeys up and down James's neck. He could feel as James's cock became hard between them.
James was thrusting up against him in an attempt to get the friction he craved. Deciding to help him, Sev held himself up on one arm and reached down. Sev made sure to keep his touch gentle. Enough to stimulate, but not enough to get him off.
"Sev… Sev… Please. I need you. Please let me cum. Fuck, please."
Sev smirked as he got to watch James meltdown. Deciding to give him what he wanted, he never really was good at denying him, Sev picked up speed until he was pounding into him.
For the second time that afternoon James screamed his release before Sev finally gave in and came into him.
They both had stupid happy grins on their faces as they lay next to each other. Then a thought hit Sev.
"Did you cast a silencing ward? Cause I didn't."
They looked at each other in chagrin as they realised that neither of them had.
"We're gonna have to start making sure we do. There are little ears in this house now, and I really do not want to have the sex talk with my 5 year old." James said with a shive. He actually never wanted to have the sex talk, the one he had received had been traumatising enough.
They finally left their room half an hour later to find that, thankfully, Sirius and Remus still had Hadrian out in the garden. It was clear however, from the wink that Sirius sent them, that someone had come into the house at some point and heard them.
Once Hadrian saw them he came running over happily. Again taking his place in Sev's arms while James leaned over and kissed him on the top of his head.
The rest of the afternoon was spent talking to Hadrian and trying to explain as much as they could. Like they had predicted he was more than a little upset with the idea that his papa was going to have to leave the next day.
Later that night everyone all went into Hadrian's room and tucked him in. They had shown him where their rooms were just in case he needed them during the night. They also told him that if he couldn't get to them then he was to call one of the house elves and have the elf get them.
Hadrian lay in the big bed for hours. He wasn't used to having something this comfortable. Or having so much open space around him. He missed his daddy, papa, and uncles.
Finally building up the courage he slipped out of bed. He grabbed his baby blanket and the stuffed wolf that uncle Remy had got him. Remus had thought it extremely funny when he had given it to him.
James and Sev had gone back to their room after putting Hadrian to bed. Sev decided on having a shower before going to bed and James had happily joined him.
After they finished up they lay down to go to sleep wrapped in each other's arms. Just as they were drifting off to sleep they heard a soft knock on the door.
Sev used his wand to light the room with a dim light, while James spelled the door open. Standing in the light from the hallway was their nervous looking son.
James moved a little bit away from Sev and patted the bed in between them, inviting Hadrian to come lay with them. Hadrian gave a small smile as he ran across the room and crawled into bed with them. He curled up and was asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow. James and Sev shared a smile over his sleeping body before they too went to sleep.
It was half past 10 the next morning when Sirius slipped down the hallway heading for his friend's room. Sirius had always found it hysterical to walk in on James and Sev. He loved to tease them about it.
He had decided that it was high time he embarrass his friends again so he was hoping to catch them in the act. Instead he found one of the cutest things he had ever seen.
James and Sev were wrapped around their son. All three of them were sleeping like they didn't have a care in the world. Quickly, Sirius summoned his old instant camera and snapped a few pictures before he slipped back out of the room.
When he reached the dining room Remus asked where the others were. Rather than answer he just handed him the already developed pictures. Remus just smiled as they sat down to eat alone.
Hadrian woke up with a start. It wasn't that someone had made a noise, it was the opposite. He so rarely heard silence. It made him suspicious.
Slowly he opened one eye. Rather than being in his cupboard he was in a big comfy bed. His dad was behind him and he was wrapped around his papa.
He was so hungry, but he didn't want to wake his parents. No, he decided that he would wait until they were awake before he got up. After all, he didn't know what they liked, so how would he know what to cook for breakfast? So he burrowed back under the blankets and rested his head on his papa's chest, trying to ignore his hunger.
James and Sev had both woken when they felt Hadrian tense as he woke up. They had been waiting for Hadrian to get up but when he didn't they just thought that he was still tired. That was until they heard his stomach rumble. They knew that Hadrian was not used to being able to eat when he was hungry but they intended to change that.
Sev wrapped his arms around their son and sat up. This had the effect of having Hadrian end up sitting in his looked down at his son and smiled.
"Good morning little one. Why didn't you wake us? We clearly need to get you something to eat."
"I didn't know what you wanted."
"What do you mean little one?" Sev thought he understood what Hadrian was saying, but wanted to ask to make sure.
"I don't know what you want me to cook for breakfast."
James understood what had happened as soon as he had said that. Reaching forward he took his hand.
"Hadrian, it's not your job to cook for us. As your parents it's our job to make sure that you have what you want, not what we want. Besides, do you remember the elves you met yesterday, Tipsy and Topsy?" Hadrian nodded. "Well, their cook elves. It's their job to cook, and that's what they want to do."
"But… I don't understand. How am I supposed to earn my keep?"
At this both men were furious, but they made sure that they didn't show it. It was Sev that got his rage under control fastest having had a rough childhood as well.
"You don't need to earn your keep little one. This is your home, you don't need to earn it. Now, your dad and I might give you little jobs, like keeping your room tidy, but we don't expect you to work around the house. That's what the elves and the adults are for."
"But… I… Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon… They said…" Hadrian was so confused. Something inside him told him that his papa was right, but that went against everything he had been told by his relatives.
James had never wanted to hunt someone down so much. "Your papa is right. Those people weren't your aunt or uncle. They were just bad people that had no right to tell you what to do. Now, do you want to know what your papa and I want you to do?" He watched as Hadrian nodded, a confused look still on his face. "We want you to forget all the things they said to you. You don't have to remember any of the rules they gave you because they were wrong. If there is something we want you to do, or you do something wrong, we will tell you. You never have to be afraid here. And if you need or want something all you need to do is tell us and we will discuss it. I promise, you never have to be scared of us. Your papa, uncles and I will always do everything we can to protect you because we love you."
Hadrian just stared at him. He couldn't remember anyone ever saying they loved him. Oh, he could remember Petunia and Vernon saying that to Dudley, but never him.
Looking back and forth between his daddy and papa he saw that it was the truth. These people truly loved him. Tears formed in his eyes and he started to sob into his papa's chest.
Sev rubbed his son's back. "What's wrong little one?"
"You… You guys love me. No one has ever loved me before."
James joined in, hugging his son and husband. They just sat there for a while and hugged each other. It wasn't until Hadrian's stomach gave another disgruntled sound that they remembered that they needed to get down to breakfast.
Hadrian leaned back in his chair at the breakfast table. He had eaten a full egg, a piece of toast, and 3 pieces of bacon. He had never felt so full in his life.
His fathers had watched him out of the corner of their eyes the entire time and he could see that they were happy to see him eat something. He felt all comfortable and warm. This was a feeling that he hoped he would get the chance to get used to.
The rest of the day was spent with his papa. They went everywhere together. Hadrian knew that he was going to have to leave after dinner, but he didn't like it. It had been explained to him that his papa was still trapped by the bad man with the white hair and that his daddy and uncles were working on a way to save him.
That night, after Severus had left Hadrian had been inconsolable. It was clear to the others that there was a special bond between Hadrian and Severus.
As James lay in bed, missing his husband, he heard the same hesitant knock they had heard last night. Once the door was open Hadrian came right in without needing any encouragement and crawled into bed next to his daddy. Cuddling up he cried.
James couldn't even bring himself to try and tell Hadrian that it was ok, as he didn't think his son was feeling any better than he was at that moment. Instead, he just wrapped his son in his arms and cried with him.
Far away, in the dungeons of an old castle, a pale, dark haired man went to bed. Wrapping his arms around the two pillows he had placed next to him he let his own tears fall.