Hydrus stared out over the Black family, and unlike the rest of his relatives, he held his head up with pride. The non-blood related members all looked more amused than anything at how ashamed the rest were being. The table he'd last held a family meeting at had grown a bit to fit everyone he wanted there and his eyes swam over the 'crowd'.

"Thank you to everyone who came," he eventually said. "I know it wasn't easy for all, so truly, I appreciate it."

No one said anything. Everyone was either aware of their own missteps and embarrassing moments, or just waiting for Hydrus to get this over with. He wasn't one to let a good moment for posturing go to waste, though.

The Tonks family was there, as were the Malfoys. Regulus's boyfriend Octavius had joined them for this one, and even Remus had been shoved into a chair right next to Sirius at the head of the table. Amelia was sitting on the pseudo-patriarch's other side, watching Hydrus like an inquisitor. He would've liked to have invited Albus, even if only for his own comfort, but apparently the ancient warlock was nowhere to be found.

"I've discovered and, with the help of an ally, temporarily declawed the source of our family's recent issues," Hydrus said. "Arcturus Black has grown even more powerful, and has been living in madness ever since his resurrection. It was spreading to the rest of us through him."

"You still haven't explained how he's still alive," Walburga snapped. "It doesn't—"

"Thank you," Hydrus interrupted. "For reminding me of an important subject of discussion, Mrs. Walburga,"

If Sirius was so exhausted, maybe taking a detour to roast his parents for getting the family audited would cheer him up. His 'grandmother' glared at him, but Hydrus turned his attention to the man. He looked tired. Tired, and dehydrated. He thought about making that hangover joke aloud, but decided against it. Probably wasn't the right time.

"Sirius," Hydrus said, getting his father's attention. Once their eyes met, Hydrus returned to focusing on his 'grandparents'. "As the head of our family, I would like your permission to perform legilimency on your parents to assure us of their loyalty."

Orion's face went red, Walburga's went white. They both started shouting at him. Hydrus snapped his fingers to silence their outburst, and as soon as he did so, Sirius's mother leapt to her feet. There was a pitiful burst of magic, probably an attempt at apparition, but then she simply turned on her heel and began to flee. As Orion's head swivelled over to look at her in confusion, Hydrus snapped his fingers once more.

He could've simply paralysed her, but that didn't feel appropriate. Instead the woman's jewellery began to grow. The transfiguration was a rather insidious one, and with the sticking charm he cast after it by jabbing a finger at her, it was a potentially lethal trap. The various gemstones on her person were swelling in size, the metal that was meant to hold them in place was stuck to both her skin and the jewels themselves, and he cut the whole working off just a second or two before it would've crushed her under their weight.

"Interesting," Hydrus said. "Sirius, I ask again. Do I have your permission?"

"Do it."

Hydrus frowned and turned to look at his father once more. It seemed the man was even more tired than he looked. He was just staring at the trembling and smothered form of his mother without any sort of expression on his face. Was he just bored? Or was this actually bothering him? Hydrus wished he could ask, but in a meeting like this—

"Are you alright?" Remus said to Sirius, stealing the words away from him.

"I just want this to be over with already," Sirius muttered. "Do it, Hydrus."

A chill ran down Hydrus's spine. His dad, in this timeline or the other, had never spoken to him like that.

"Right, I'm on it." He made his way over and knelt down in front of the trembling woman. Her eyes were clenched shut, but he hooked his fingernails into her eyelids and pried them open. "Legilimens."

Albus slammed the hammer down, over and over again, pounding the silver into shape. As the red glow of the metal dimmed, he grabbed hold of it and began to reheat it. It was a shame. If he had more time, he would've preferred to have to do this in a more mundane and perhaps muggle fashion. Since time was of the essence, though, he had no choice but to make the work simple.

"Get it hotter this time," his mentor said. "It won't hold through too many more heatings."

'I'm well aware,' Albus thought. "Thank you, Nicolas."

Once the bit of silver was red as a cherry he returned to his hammering. The metal was rapidly cooling already, so he began to heat up the hammer itself. Each strike now was both shaping and relighting the burning presence hiding in his project.

"Finally," Nicolas muttered. "You understand."

Albus chuckled. Of course, even after all these years, the wizened alchemist wasn't done with trying to teach him. And also of course, the much older man couldn't just explain the concept he wanted him to learn. The constant flow of Albus's power kept the metal hot without the fracture-forming potential that the heating-then-cooling process usually brought. It almost became a process closer to die casting than forging.

Curious to see how far he could push this process, Albus sat his hammer aside. He began to just heat and squeeze the silver by hand. It burned a touch, which was saying something, but it wasn't doing true harm to his body. Slowly, or quickly compared to the old process, he was making the concept into a reality.

"You never fail to impress me, child," Nicolas said as Albus continued to work. "No matter what, I don't regret what we've done."

Hydrus pulled out of Walburga's mind, and spat with disgust to the side. "You fucking—!"

"What did you see?"

Now there was a voice that could always bring him back to sanity. He turned to Remus and scowled.

"She's betrayed us," he said. "And I don't mean she tipped off the government for an audit."

Walburga Black had betrayed the family. Hydrus was willing to accept Narcissa's attempt on his life, he could move past that. He was willing to forgive Tonks for betraying his trust and telling Andromeda about their meeting, especially since it was such a small thing. What he wouldn't forgive though, was trying to get a hold of Arcturus Black in order to have the former lord kill his own grandson.

The most pathetic part about it was that the dark lord either never got her correspondence, or he'd ignored her.

"Let's throw her in the dungeon then," Remus said. "Don't kill her."

"I didn't—"

"Silence" Orion roared, leaping to his feet. "You aren't—!"

Hydrus swiped his hand through the air, and his 'grandfather' slammed into the wall. Any sort of positivity in the room vanished as everyone came to realise just what sort of situation they were in. There was a loud crack as Orion's tailbone hit the floor. Hydrus felt some small satisfaction watching the other man's body slump to the ground, though it was diminished by the obvious glowering Remus was giving him in the corner of his eye.

"Hydrus!" the werewolf snapped. "You're not a child, so act like it!"

"I'm trying!" He wheeled around to glare at his returned advisor, and to the man's credit, Remus glared right back. "Do you even comprehend how hard it is to do so?"

"No, but it doesn't change the facts." Remus stood and began striding across the castle's meeting hall. "You want the crown, you want me to be your advisor, then you have to take my advice or else I'll tell you to go fuck yourself."

Hydrus wanted to slam the werewolf against a wall like he did Orion. He wanted to rip Remus's eyes out and feel them pop in his palms… No, palm. He wanted to knee the other man in the gut as he approached him, wrap his hands around his neck, and drive another knee into his face. He wanted to hurt him. He wanted to…

"It's okay, Hydrus," Remus said. The werewolf wrapped him up in a hug. "Just don't kill them. That's all you have to do. Don't kill them."

Hydrus's shoulders heaved up, but he couldn't bring himself to do anything with the tension. Remus was doing exactly what he'd first told Dumbledore to do when he found out the truth and keeping him in check. Slowly he relaxed his muscles, breathing out a long, growling breath.

"Fine." He returned Remus's hug, silently daring anyone to say something so he could get another chance to unleash his wroth. "If you insist."

"I do." Remus pulled away and gave Hydrus a once over. "You've got this. Come on now. No murdering."

Hydrus snorted at the ironic impression of a dog trainer. "Yeah, yeah…"

After a few more hand waves to disenchant and ensure the unconsciousness of his grandparents, he had Kreacher lock them in the same cell Giannis had thrown Sirius and Amelia in. Once that was done he had Dobby bring everyone some food, mostly so he could have an excuse to settle down and have a drink.

"While we're eating," Hydrus said. "Does anyone have less important matters to bring up?"

He snorted when Draco raised his hand. "Did you make Professor Snape my godfather so that I could inherit the Prince family name?"

Hydrus chewed on a particularly grisly bit of fat as he less-literally chewed over that idea. Considering he'd arranged that on a misguided whim, that definitely wasn't the worst answer for it. After a few seconds he gave up on trying to break through the annoying bit of sinew and brought his napkin to his mouth to spit it out.

"Who gave you that idea?"

Draco swallowed, clearly thinking he'd gotten it 'wrong'. "Uh, Michael?"

'Smart kid,' Hydrus thought. "We gotta work on his confidence. I'm sure he figured it out long before he told you about it."

"Wait, that is the answer?" Draco said. "I… I don't know any muggleborns!"

"Then I suppose the branch family I've arranged for you to inherit shall be a laughing stock." Hydrus took a long drink of his wine to enjoy the blush of embarrassment that split Draco's face. "Even after I went through all that effort for you. I even gave you my god-mother's, sister's, husband's family name…"

"Wait, who's your godmother?" Draco asked.

"Lily Potter," Sirius answered, saving Hydrus from having to do so with his mouth full. "My best friend's wife."

"The real fucked up part is," Hydrus said. "My godfather is Remus there. Pretty sure that means if Sirius dies the two of them will have to get married."

Sirius snorted, and Hydrus felt a bit of relief to see a smile finally break on his father's face. "I'd never make Remus your godfather. Even he doesn't deserve that kind of prank."

"To be burdened with glorious purpose is never a prank," Hydrus drolled, doing his best impression of Apophis. "It would be his greatest honour to call himself my father as you currently pretend to."

Sirius finally gave a proper laugh and Hydrus allowed himself a small grin. He didn't like a serious Sirius, and from what he'd seen from the rest of their family, no one else did either. It was like trying to eat dinner with a corpse at the head of the table.

'Think of the devil,' Hydrus thought as Apophis appeared on his shoulders. 'What's he up to?'

"Father," the basilisk hissed. "I wish to go and taunt the traitors."

Before Hydrus could admonish his famil—, his son, Andromeda gasped. "What the fuck?"

He blinked. Oh right. Not everyone here had met the basilisk yet. "This is my familiar, Apophis. He is very friendly, and I do now have a permit for him."

Or at least, Hydrus assumed he did. He hadn't been doing a good job of checking for mail since everything fell apart in this timeline. Back in the day he used to have people for such things…

"Bella," he said. "Did that permit come in?"

She nodded as she cut up another piece of steak for Giannis, who was sitting in her lap. "It did."

He would tell anyone who asked he'd taken Apophis to the Department of Mysteries and, through means he was sworn to secrecy to protect, aged him up from a hatchling to his current size in no time at all. If anyone tried to question him on it, he'd tell them to take it up with 'Gregory Herschel'. It was why he'd gone to visit the man that day when Herpo the Foul had attacked.

"Good." He reached up and scratched at Apophis's feathers. "And no you cannot."

"Can I?" Giannis asked through the mouthful Bella had fed him.

Hydrus froze, then slowly turned to Giannis. "What?"

"I wanna go see what Sirius's mum and dad think of my new and improved cell!" Giannis said. "Sirius wouldn't say anything cus he was being…" the boy paused. "Spiteful! That's the word."

"How did you understand what Apophis said?" Hydrus asked.

Giannis held his wrist up, showing off a bangle not unlike the one he'd gifted to Hydrus a short while back. "My bracelet!"

Hydrus's jaw fell open. He'd had to sacrifice one of his most fanatic and devoted soldiers in order to reclaim the serpents' tongue. Admittedly Karthulf had already been dying, but still.

How had the kid pulled it off with a bracelet?

"You're too much, kiddo," Hydrus said after a while. "Go on. And make your mother a bracelet soon."

"Huh?" Giannis's brows furrowed before his mouth formed an O. "You mean Bella! Okay, sure!"

"Thanks." Hydrus immediately reached up and began vigorously stroking Apophis's scales. "I need you to keep us safe. No matter what Fate says, you are my truest line of defence against our family's enemy."

It was only meant to cut off any complaining about Giannis getting to do something Apophis wasn't allowed to, but it seemed to have awoken something in the snake. Hydrus could practically feel the basilisk's power growing in that moment. The sensation was even stronger than the pride, joy, and love pouring across the familiar bond they shared.

"I won't let you down, father," Apophis hissed. His crown of crimson feathers stood so tall that the quills were shaking. "As the future patron deity of Houses Black and Slytherin, I shall always protect our home."

Those words hung in the air. Literally. Hydrus doubted anyone else in the room felt them, but what little bit of divinity he'd been forced to accept made the words stand out like a living thing. If he chose to, he could've crushed them. Instead he let them settle into reality.

"So be it." He patted Apophis's scales. "What other minor business do we have to attend to?"

No one in the room said anything. They all looked… Perturbed. Maybe they had sensed something off with what Apophis had hissed. It wasn't impossible to imagine, the basilisk had pulled off the deific equivalent of swinging his cock around, but they probably didn't know how.

"I assure you all, everything is fine," he said. "Apophis simply swore once more his eternal loyalty to our family."

"Why'd he do that?" Lucius asked. Hydrus was surprised to hear the usually cowardly man speaking up. "Did… You discuss something?"

'Maybe I should have Giannis make everyone bracelets.' Hydrus shook his head. "He had asked if he could taunt Sirius's parents. I said no. I said yes when Giannis asked. I told Apophis I needed him here to make sure we were safe."

He shot a pointed look at the blonde, a silent warning not to question it further, then stabbed his eyes down at the basilisk like he was pointing at him.

"Despite being less than two years old," Hydrus said, emphasising the snake's age. "He is very strong, powerful, and deservingly proud of his status."

Lucius's eyes widened, then he bowed his head. "I understand completely."

It was strange. In that moment, Hydrus felt a bit of camaraderie with the former death eater. They both had one arm. They both had arrogant sons. They were both married, or in his case going to be married, into the insane Black family. They both thought they were the smartest person in the room despite Remus being right there.

"I don't show you enough appreciation, Lucius," Hydrus said, feeling charitable. "I really am grateful for all the help you've given my father."

"Please," Sirius intercepted. "He's a pain in the ass."

"Then he's doing a wonderful job."

"Fuck you."

"Fuck you, too." They both snorted and Hydrus shook his head. "And Tonks, how have things gone for you at work? Any issues with the Slytherin crest showing up on your uniform?"

He was curious to see if it worked, but also wanted to know if anyone was giving her any flack.

"No," the young woman said. She was very purposefully avoiding eye contact with him. "And better this stupid snake then the crows."

"Apophis definitely agrees with you there," Hydrus said. "And how about you, Andromeda? I know how excited you were to use the bonesaw, I can let you take a swing at my ankle if you'd li—"

"Shush!" the woman hissed at him. "Morganna, you're as bad as your father."

"I don't have a father," Hydrus said, completely at odds with his own words earlier and sending Sirius into a borderline conniption. "Ted. How you holding up? We haven't bothered you too much, have we?"

The man raised his glass and shook his head. "I'm getting a raise now that I'm 'Mediwizard Black'. Here's to political bullshit!"

Everyone drank to that.

"Narcissa, my murderous future sister-in-law," Hydrus said. "How are you? I'm afraid I haven't felt compelled to concern myself with your well being as of late, so I can't ask a more pointed question."

He observed her reaction carefully. There was a flash of madness across her expression, just for the slightest of moments, but it passed quickly now that Arcturus's own logic-defying madness wasn't influencing it.

"I've been well, Heir Black." The woman bowed her head, and kept it low as she continued. "Thank you for your concern."

He gave an appreciative frown, then nodded. "Of course."

At least she'd regrown some decorum. It would probably fold in the face of another assault on her husband, but still. Next time, if such a next time came about, he'd kill her in addition to whatever punishment Lucius earned. Hopefully the man was as studious as Hydrus though, and such punishments would never be necessary.

"Cygnus," Hydrus said. "We did the impossible and got a zero-percent interest loan from Gringotts. Any news on that front?"

He definitely wasn't just asking because he was a fan of the team thanks to Ron.

"Seasons not in yet, but the press is eating it up." Cygnus took a long drink of his spiked punch or whatever it was he was drinking. "People love the idea of a billionaire playboy getting hold of the reins of a team his future in-laws will love."

Hydrus frowned and turned to Amelia. "Bones support the Cannons?"

She rolled her eyes. "We're from Chudley. We don't support anyone."

"You do now," Sirius said. "Didn't buy you a team to waste it."

"Shut up."

Hydrus chuckled at the couple's banter and returned his attention to his future father-in-law. "Good. Play it up. Make it seem like Sirius is desperate to do anything and everything to keep his girlfriend happy."

"Hey!"

"That's the plan," Cygnus said, ignoring his nephew's outburst. "Lucius and I have already made sure that Sirius's schedule is cleared for all the upcoming games. I'm still trying to convince Amelia here to do the same."

The woman opened her mouth to no doubt reignite some well-trodden argument between the two, but Hydrus spoke up first. "Just do it, Amelia. You'll be under a lot of scrutiny as the head of the DMLE, and it'll do you some good to have the undying loyalty of one team's fanbase, and the empathy and appreciation of ninety-nine percent of the rest."

He couldn't remember who the Cannons' rivals were, Sydney maybe?

"That's…" She locked up a bit. "Not a bad idea. I don't have too much in the way of public reputation."

"I know," Hydrus placatingly agreed. "And although I know you only ever wanted to get to the position you're waiting on now, we also both know that you've never been a woman to settle for the bare minimum. Even when it's by her own standards."

It wouldn't hurt to have her as a back up to Draco for the position of Minister of Magic. Hydrus planned to take it as soon as he was seventeen, but he'd need someone he could trust at the helm afterwards. If he could manipulate a situation so that Draco was one candidate and Amelia was the blonde's biggest rival, he'd come out on top no matter what.

"Remus!" he called. "How are things going with the werewolf colony? Any issues that need addressing?"

"Nothing we didn't expect," his advisor said, moving things along smoothly. "Certainly nothing we didn't have plans for. If there's anything we could use, it's just more manpower like we originally discussed."

"I'll see what I can do." Thoughts of who all would want to help, even if only for a stack of coins, began rolling through his mind. "Regulus? Octavius?" Hydrus said, continuing down the line. "How are things in Africa? Sirius hasn't made things too uncomfortable for you, I hope."

Regulus shot a look at his boyfriend who shook his head. "No, we're fine, Heir Black. In truth, Sirius's 'interference' in the matter has helped keep things safe for us."

"Good." Hydrus thought of one of the memories he'd just witnessed, but wasn't sure how to bring it up. "Regulus, come here for a moment."

His uncle locked up a bit, but eventually stood and made his way over. Hydrus threw up a silencing spell around them as Regulus asked, "Yes?"

"I'm not sure how Octavius would react to this so I didn't want to put you in an awkward position," Hydrus said. "But your mother was responsible for his brother's death."

Regulus snapped. It was almost cute the way his pale shadow of power spiked. Hydrus watched him to make sure he didn't do anything too insane, but it seemed he had a better control over his madness than most.

"What?" he demanded. "Why? Are you serious?"

"That'd be your brother," Hydrus quipped. Had he not been so well trained in maintaining a neutral expression, he would've winced when the exhaustive joke did nothing to put a dent in his uncle's madness. "Despite her innumerable flaws, your mother does love you. She loves you more than anyone in the entire world. She wanted you to be a king."

"I don't want to be king!" Regulus shouted. "How dare she—"

"Settle down before I put you down," Hydrus warned. That snapped his uncle back to sanity. "Do you think we should tell him?"

"Certainly not here, certainly not now," Regulus said. "I'll… I'll tell him later. I thought it was cancer?"

"It was." Hydrus sucked his teeth and shook his head. "Real fucked up curse she used."

"Fuck…"

Hydrus gave an upward nod towards Regulus's seat and his uncle slowly moved back to it. He fell more than sat in it and Octavius immediately leaned over to whisper in his ear to check on him. Hydrus gave them some 'privacy' and once more examined the crowd.

"If no one has anything else, allow me to say once more that we are well and truly at war now." He took a long drink of his wine to clear his throat. "Draco was attacked as close to home as Hogsmeade. He was set upon by beasts and bastard alike. Even I found myself at a disadvantage when I went to save him.

"Despite the overwhelming odds, Draco didn't fold. He rose to the occasion and even saved my life thanks to his quick thinking and bravery." Hydrus raised his glass and the rest of the room did so as well, aside from the blonde teen himself who looked like a stunned strawberry. "To Draco!"

In a mix of shouts and murmurs, the crowd echoed, "To Draco."

Draco, still blushing, raised his glass only the slightest bit before sipping along with everyone else.

"I've given standard orders to Kreacher and Dobby both," Hydrus said, moving on. "From now on, if any one so much as thinks there might be danger, you're to alert one of our house elves and they'll bring someone to investigate. Do I make myself clear?"

There was a few quiet 'yeah's and some nodded their heads.

"I said!" Hydrus shouted, flaring his magic. "Do I make myself clear?"

This time there was a much more loud chorus of 'yes' and 'yes, sir's.

"Good." He sat back down and waved a hand over his remaining meal to heat it back up. "Death wants a Black in his court, but I'll be dead myself before I let that happen."

Harry glared at his mother who was very pointedly ignoring his not-pouting. They were sitting in her office in the time between last classes and Study Hall. A photograph of them along with his dad and siblings hung on the wall behind her, and his own self was sticking his tongue out at him. He rolled his eyes at it.

"Please?" Harry said. "I just want to visit Sirius, make sure he's okay. Malfoy got out of school."

"That's because 'Malfoy' was involved in an attack on his person." His mother sat her quill in the inkwell, and Harry winced when he realised this was no longer going to be a 'casual ask'. "He was assaulted by, according to your father, his own, presumed-dead, great-grandfather. Have any of your ancestors come to kill you, Harry?"

"It's not about that!" he argued. "I just—"

"I've already told you, SIrius is fine." His mother wasn't budding. "He's better than before the attack, in fact. So tell me why you really want to leave."

"I can't!" Harry admitted. "Just… Please!"

Why were his parents so annoying? There was so much happening, and so much help he could give if they weren't dead set on wasting him. He'd tried owling Hydrus himself, but the other boy just wrote back saying to focus on his studies. Harry knew the endgame was absolutely revolving around the Slytherin boy, so he didn't want to betray his trust and spill what he'd eavesdropped on, but he just had to get out of here.

"Mom, I'm begging you," he said, pleading with all the emotion he could muster. "I just… I just want to help. I feel like somethings going on, Hydrus won't tell me, I want to be there for him." He took a deep breath, like he was trying to calm himself. "I just… I just want to help him. Like he helped me, and Dahlia too."

He bowed his head low and let his bangs fall forward. It wasn't hard to see through the strands of hair, but he knew his mother couldn't see his eyes. He watched her wince and silently weigh the situation over in her mind.

"Harry…" she started. "If things were really that bad, I would know. I promise. Everything will be fine."

He immediately gave up the act and threw back his head and hands alike. "Come on!"

"No!"

Hydrus smoked the foreign cigarette, tasting the flavours and finding that he didn't quite dislike them. What a strange thing, addiction was. Technically he was in a whole new body, with a whole new bit of brain matter, but he'd seen the little 'cancer sticks' in the goblin he was filleting now's pocket and couldn't help himself. The memories of the smaller details of his love for his children were coming back to him now, and those included the addiction to nicotine that he'd braved the abstinence of in the face of parenthood.

"I can see how I got addicted to these," he said to the goblin. "Really gets your head spinning, don't it?"

"Please…" the being wailed. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

"I know, lad," Hydrus said. "I know."

He stuck the cigarette in the corner of his lip and got back to work. One thing he'd learned in his first war, the cruciatus curse just didn't cut it. Voldemort still loved it, pompous arse that he was. A real expert would've realised that the Cruciatus curse was just too… expectable. You heard someone call the spell's name, you knew what you were getting yourself into.

Doing it all by hand though?

Now there's where the real artistry was. There's where the true experts shone.

Doing it by hand left the victim unsure of what would happen to them next. Would they keep getting filleted like Hydrus was doing now? Would he suddenly snap and cut off a limb? Were the genitals they'd been worrying over needlessly thus far suddenly in danger? Would Hydrus just put an end to it all and end their miserable, pathetic lives…

So many options, such little difference they made.

He was only there for answers, and once he had the one's he needed, everything would be over.

"Where is Arcturus Black?" Hydrus said. "And before you say you don't know, again, I would like to remind you that at any point in time you may lower your occlumency shields…"

He wasn't a complete monster, after all. If they allowed him to raid their minds and get what he wanted, he'd end their lives quick as a fox. It were situations, and stubborn bastards, like these that drove him to such methods. When Walburga had attempted to write to the resurrected Black lord, all she'd addressed it with was 'Wherever such a place as the true Lord of house Black resides'.

Completely useless.

"I can't!" the goblin wailed. "I'm not doing it on purpose, I—"

"Shhhh," Hydrus said. "I already told you. If you're not answering my question, don't, speak, up." He whapped the goblin on the head with the back of his knife. "You know better, uh… Whatever your name is."

"Please…" the goblin repeated for the thousandth time. "Pleeeaaase!"

"No."

Sirius wandered through Diagon Alley, just hoping someone would accost him. The sun was high, there were fat squirrels ready to hibernate everywhere, and most people seemed to be in a mood that was at ends with his own. It was almost Christmas time after all. Everyone besides himself was probably in a jolly mood.

"Com on," he mumbled into his scarf. "Where are ya, ya fuck."

Now that Hydrus wasn't pretending to need to be in school anymore, he'd more or less taken over the family. Sirius wasn't sure when the little shit found time to even sleep with how ragged he was running himself. As much as he'd like to attribute his current agitation to being all but deposed, he was just worried about the kid. There wasn't anything he wouldn't give to put his son's mind at ease.

"Hydrus?" an old woman said. Sirius turned to his attention to her with a frown. "What… Oh! You must be his father."

"I…" Sirius swallowed, surprised to be recognized as 'Hydrus's dad' rather than his own fame. "I am."

"Oh ho ho ho!' The woman crooned, waddling over to him. "Aren't you just his spitting image! That's a might fine boy you raised, mighty fine!"

"I… Thank you?" Sirius shook his head, trying to regain his figurative footing. "I can't claim too much credit though."

"Nonsense!" she huffed at him, jabbing him in the tit with a bony finger. "My hubby's friend told me all about you. Said Hydrus wouldn't be half the man he is if it weren't for you."

"I…" Sirius started for the third time. "Thank you, again. I'm sorry, I'm not quite sure of your name. I'm Sirius Black."

"Agatha Herschel," the old woman said, beaming at him as she said it. "Tell me, Sirius, how's Hydrus doing? I was so worried after he had that poor Zabini boy cut off his arms…"

Sirius reeled back like he'd been slapped. "What?"

"Oh that little!" Agatha hooked her arm into Sirius's, and before he knew what was happening she was dragging him away. "He didn't tell you anything, did he? Oh, that little so-and-so…"

"H-, Hey!" Sirius said. "Were are we going?"

"I need to pick up a few things," Agatha said. "And then i'm taking you straight home to tell you everything, you poor man. I should've known a little thinks-he's-all-grown-up like Hydrus wouldn't…'

The rest of what she said was lost in a mumbled blur, as was most of Sirius's sanity. She drug him from one store to another after another. It was all just a blur of shopping and bag-holding as she took him from one end of the alley to the other, buying everything from food stuffs to enough yarn to actually add to the weight of the load of packages she'd shoved into his arms. By the time she apparated them back to a diner in… Hogsmeade? If he wasn't reading the locale wrong? He was feeling like less of a man and more of a pack mule.

"Foggy!" Agatha cried. "Would you please come take these from—, Oh!"

Sirius breathed a sigh of relief as all the bags and boxes he was carrying suddenly vanished."Thank Merlin."

"No, thank you, dear," Agatha said. "Come on in. i'll fix you some bangers and mash."

Sirius wouldn't have said no to that at this point even if he wasn't desperate to hear about his son. He just wanted some gods damned food in his stomach. He plopped down into a seat at the bar of what seemed to be a closed diner, and was surprised when what might've been the most handsome man he'd ever seen stepped out of a door behind it. The blonde-haired, sky-blue eyed fellow was tying on an apron and flashing him a smile so lustrous it was blinding.

"Hello there," the stranger said. "Er, related to Hydrus?"

"Settle down, love," Agatha said, stepping behind the counter and kissing the young man on the cheek. "This is Hydrus's father, Sirius Black. Sirius, this is my husband, Gregory Herschel."

At first he snapped into a massive frown with his eyebrows raised so high they would've been lost in his hairline, but then something occurred to him. He'd heard that name before. His grandfather swore on it.

"Wait, the Gregory Herschel?" he asked. "Like, the guy who—"

"Yes, yes," the man said, cutting a proper big slab of butter into a pan. "Ah, I don't mean to be rude, sorry. It's just tough being 'the' Gregory Herschel these days. It's an absolute honour to meet you, Sirius. From what Fate has told me, your son wouldn't be half the man he is today were it not for you. Thank you. You saved my life. No, I mean—"

"You're going off, dear," Agatha said, jabbing the man in his side with her finger. "Keep it simple."

"Right, right…"

Sirius was at a complete loss. This young man was Agatha's husband? Her husband's life was saved by Sirius being Hydrus's father? Holy shit, was he putting even more butter in that pan?

"Sorry, Sirius," Agatha's husband said. "You were… Well, I never got the chance to meet you, but when I knew of you all I knew was that you were quite a terrifying figure. They said you were You Know Who's right hand man."

Sirius shook his head like he was trying to get water out of his hair. "Huh?"

"Oh, right, uh…" the blonde man was slicing links of sausage into the pan now, cutting them at the linking point and causing a splash of browned butter as they hit the metallic surface. "I'm from Hydrus's original run-through of this time line. I was his second-year DADA teacher, as a matter of fact, and a piss-poor one."

"Quit focusing on your flaws, Greggy," Agatha said, stabbing him with her finger once more. "Honestly, it's like you really are in your twenties again."

"Sorry!" 'Greggy' said with a wince. "Anyways. I'm Fate's chosen. Nice to meet you. Uh, do you, uh, like your sausage spicier or milder? I can put some more pepper on this."

"It's fine," Sirius said, still taking everything in. "So… You were there/ You went back in time like Hydrus did?"

"Yes."

"Did everyone really die?"

That was the question he wanted answered more than any other. Hydrus stuck to it like concrete and never gave any elaborations, saying that he meant what he said and said what meant. Everyone had died.

"No one lived?" Sirius half-repeated. "Was it really—"

"I don't know." Gregory shook his head. "I left a lot earlier, and came back a lot earlier, than Hydrus did. I gave up as soon as You Know—"

"No!" Sirius snapped. "I don't know who."

"Oh, er…" Gregory's head snapped back and forth for a second. "Voldemort," he hissed. "He was a dark lord who killed a lot of people. Hydrus's parents included."

That name wasn't familiar in the least. Sirius watched as Agatha got to mashing some potatoes, but his mind was reeling from all this new information he was getting. And getting for free, at that.

"I've never heard of him," Sirius said. "Did something happen to him this go around?"

"Hydrus killed him." Gregory was staring down at his pan and Sirius worried until he gave it a flip that the sausages would burn. "Ripped him out of his mother's womb. Or will kill him, I suppose."

Sirius tensed. "What?"

"I met him while I was killing someone myself," he muttered, almost too quiet to hear over the sizzling meat. "Both of us from totally different times. It was odd."

"I… Suppose so," SIrius said. "But—"

"It doesn't matter now though. What matters now is your grandfather." Gregory grabbed hold of some of the sausages with a pair of tongs and dropped them onto a plate that he sat to the side. "General Black is a bastard of a man. Arrogant, pompous, a complete fucking tool. If I weren't so weak I'd be glad to kill him myself."

"What?" He reached for the plate but the apparently older man smacked his hand with the tongs. "Arcturus was terrified of you. How could you be weaker than him?"

"I only pulled off the feat that has him and half of the rest of the world so terrified of me thanks to Fate." Gregory shook his head. "It wasn't me. I'm sure he knows that now, but trust me, I'm nothing to be scared of. I'm a fr—, oof1'

"Coming through!" Agatha said, stepping up to the plate Gregory had put the sausages on with a pot of mashed potatoes. "Sorry, dear."

"Sorry," Gregory parroted. "Anyways. You need to be careful, son. From what Fate told me, Death is a stubborn bastard. You'll be his primary goal for this fight of yours. You're the one who spurned his worship, so you're the one he really wants. He'll settle for another Black if he has to kill one of them, but you're the—"

"I get it," Sirius muttered. He watched as Agatha took the pan and poured the buttery gravy onto the mashed potatoes. "I've known that since day one. I just wish they'd have the balls to attack me instead of my fucking nephew."

'It's not about balls," Gregory said. "It's about opportunity. Hydrus is the obvious target, but who knows what sort of tricks he'll pull…"

Sirius made to demand some information on that front, but he realised he could get that from his son himself. He should focus on things his son refused to tell him. It was like there was a record playing Cygnus's words in his head, remaining him of the proper way to handle business, as he resettled himself.

"Tell me about Hydrus," he said. "What was he like when you taught him?"

"Fantastic. Amazing. Damn right phenomenal," Gregory rattled off. "I thought he would become my own apprentice with how well our paths lined up with one another. Though, well, I suppose—"

Agatha cleared her throat, and Gregory winced.

"I mean. He was wonderful." The blonde bowed his head. "Humble as a house elf, that one. Even though he'd already saved the world… far as we knew, anyways…"

"What do you mean?" Sirius asked.

"Has he really not told you anything?' Gregory asked. "Nothing at all about how he was The Boy who Lived?"

"He's cagey about it, just like you are about how you saved the world." He gave a purposeful nod to Agatha, hoping to get the woman on his side. "Please, tell me everything you know, even if you think it'll be repetitive."

The couple shared a look, so Sirius purposefully set about eating his meal. It was delicious. He'd been scared of how much butter the man seemed to be dumping into the pan, but fuck it was worth it. It tasted like what he could only imagine an angel's jizz would taste like, and that wasn't something he found himself imagining too often. He usually focused on the fairer sex.

"What's Hydrus's real name?" Gregory asked. "From our timeline."

Sirius froze, with a bite hanging in front of his face. It didn't hang for long since it was so delicious, but he really didn't have a good answer for that. He had no idea 'Hydrus' was a fake name to begin with.

"He wouldn't tell me, said it didn't matter," he said. "Said that he picked a new one for convenience's sake.'

That sounded like something Hydrus would say.

"You're a worse liar than your son is," Agatha said, shocking Sirius with how sneakily she'd snuck behind him. When had she even gotten around the corner? "Don't try and bully my Greggy into telling you things Hydrus doesn't want you to know. Have some faith in the boy."

Sirius wanted to argue with that, but much more pressing was what the old woman was doing. "Why are you messing with my hair?"

"I'm not messing with it, I'm fixing it," Agatha said. "I didn't spend all those years learning to how cut Greggy's hair just to let you wander about with this mop. I'm gonna fix it as practice for getting his just right." She laughed. "You know, now that he has hair again."

"Leave it alone!" Sirius demanded. "I like it."

"Oh, sit still." Agatha yanked hard on a particular lock and he yelped. "You're the head of House Black now. Maybe if you actually looked the part, Hydrus might give you the respect you deserve."

"That doesn't—, ow!" he yelped again. "Fine! Just… Don't make me look weird."

"Hurry up and finish your food, dear," Agatha said. "I don't want any trimmings getting in it."

If these were the sorts of old people Hydrus was dealing with on a constant basis, Sirius was beginning to understand why his son hated them so much.

Hydrus rapped the sharp side of his knife against the goblin's skull. It left bright red welts that swelled immediately, and from the centre of each welt, even more crimson lines of blood began to grow. They started as small 'drops' of blood, but after just a breath, each was its own proper cut. He shook his head in mock disappointment.

"Come on, now," he said. "Tell me where Arcturus is."

"I don't know," the goblin wheezed. "I don't know, I don'tknow idon'tknowidnotknowidno—"

"Time's up!' Hydrus shouted. "You're dead to me."

HIs knife sunk deep into the goblins throat, then tore through it.

"And everyone else as well." He straightened up and once more cast a cleaning charm on himself, once more leaving behind blood under his fingernails. "Haa… Fuck. Who else can I visit…"

—-

"It's crooked," Albus said, frowning at his handiwork. "I need to—"

"It's perfect, child," Nicolas interrupted. "If it were flawless, it'd be boring. It'd be repeatable. It'd be quick to pass over in a single glance."

"I understand what you mean," the warlock 'agreed'. "But still. I could've done better."

"If you could've, you would've. Perhaps now you could do better, but now is now and then is then. And this? This is perfect." The alchemist grabbed hold of the work. "And besides, since it has a bend to it, I know if I ever drive my wife insane and she tries to kill me with it, there's a chance it'll deflect in the complete wrong direction."

Albus chuckled and looked over his work one last time.

It was a silver rose. Albus was proud of the details. They looked natural. The petals were spread unevenly, the bumps on their inner-most layers looked like pollen. Everything about it was just about perfect, except for the bend in the stem. Still, he was willing to accept Nicolas's acceptance. A part of him, the part that loved getting gifts from his students, agreed that such a thing was worthy of love no matter what. He still wanted it to be better though.

"I know," the alchemist said. "You want to say you that you understand what I'm feeling but that you want to improve it. I refuse."

"But—"

"It's perfect, Albus," Nicolas said. "Thank you. My one, and only, son."

Those words slammed against Albus's emotional defences, but he was well used to them. Nicolas liked to do that. He liked to drag the emotional into the impartial.

"It's crooked," Albus said. "Let me fix it."

"No." Nicolas threw his chin out. "Now get out of my home. You got what you wanted from me."

BBaRtS

There's 72. Sorry people. I'm in a rough place atm, financially strapped, just tryna get this shit out there. Wanna wrap it up. wanna get this over with so at least I aint' putting out a long, unfinished story. no job tryna make sure I ain't homeless but can't find another job that's wfh and not becase I need to wfh but because I used to wfh and sold my car and now have no vehicle and don't have a vehicle to drive me to job interviews etc. Wanna get this shit done and over with so no one is left hanging. Sorry if the writing ittself isn't good, but I hope the plot comes through. I hope you aren't left hanging. Thanks for reading. This is me giving up, and just dropping words on you for the sake of finishing what I started. Thank you. Love youj. See you next time.