Lily smiled as her twins shouted 'Mum!' and ran into her arms. She scooped them up with a loud oof, then turned her attention to their baby-sitter. The Weasley matriarch beamed back at her.

The Burrow was just as 'homey' and warm as ever. It was a tad bit more organised than normal since the Weasley children were all off at school, but Arthur's assortment of non-magical items were still littered about the place and Lily's own sons' handiwork was obvious as well, a few toys and scribbled-on parchments lay on the floor and on the table Molly sat at.

"Won't be much longer before they're too big to be doing that, you know," Molly said. "Enjoy it while it lasts."

"Oh I think we're already at that point," Lily agreed, ignoring the boys' looks of horror at the thought of her no longer picking them up. "They behave themselves?"

"You know they did." Molly laughed. "Compared to my own set, they're practically angels."

Had Lily not taught the Weasley twins herself, she might've doubted that. Remus and Sirius might not be quite the terrors she imagined that their namesakes were at that age, but they were definitely a figurative and literal hand-full. Finally giving into her arms' and back's demands, she set the twins back down. "Good."

They almost always started their conversations with that same back and forth, and Lily quickly shooed the boys into the floo. Once they were gone, she joined her fellow red-headed mother at her massive dining table. The twins would be fine on their own for a short while, and James was technically home, even if he was locked in his office with Sirius.

"I might need to leave them here late a bit more often for a while," she said. "James and Sirius are working overtime for the foreseeable future, and apparently its enough of a job that James isn't even skipping work anymore."

"You know that's fine," Molly assured her. "Truth be told I don't know what I'm going to do with myself once those two are off at Hogwarts themselves."

"You should tell that to Arthur." Lily put on a mischievous smile. "See how pale he gets if you say you want to adopt another one."

Molly giggled. "You're as bad as your husband, I swear."

"Hey!"

They chatted about nothing important for a little while, before Lily remembered what it was she'd been excited to talk about.

"Oh, that reminds me," she said. "Your twins are on their way to earning some early masteries."

"What?" Molly looked like Lily had just said the moon was purple. "What do you mean?"

"I can't believe they didn't tell you," Lily said, though she could easily believe it with those two miscreants. "They've got Bathsheda, the Runes professor, practically begging them to apprentice under her."

The Weasley woman still looked confused. "How? Why?"

"Get this."

Lily had kept Molly in the loop with regards to Sirius's new-found parentage, but hadn't had the chance to tell her about how the boy was getting to start his own club. She described Hydrus and the Weasley twins' plans for the Study Hall, and Molly looked twice as nervous as she and Filius had been when the trio had first explained their runesmithing ideas. Of course, Lily's own fears had been put to rest when she'd studied the plans for a bit, but Molly didn't seem quite so easily convinced.

"They didn't blow anything up did they?"

Lily laughed. "Not yet, but believe me, I don't think they will. I had no idea they were so talented."

"I've always told those two that if they just applied themselves they could be fine young men like Bill," Molly said. "It's just hard to imagine them actually doing it, and to help make a 'study hall' of all things…"

"Hmmm…" an idea was forming in her mind. She'd need James's help, but he'd never say no to her, let alone for something like this. "Would you like to see for yourself?"

"What?"

Lily glanced at the clock, the proper one not the Weasley familial one, to confirm the time. "I bet they're working on it right now. Would you like to come see?"

"Is that allowed?" Molly asked, practically twiddling her thumbs. "The only times I've been back to Hogwarts since graduating were to go deal with those two's messes or big events."

"I mean…" Lily started. "Technically no? But no one will ever know."

Molly bit her lip. "How's that?"

"Come on, I'll show you."

With that the pair flooed back to Potter Manor, then Lily led them to James's home-office. She knocked on the door. "Honey?"

"Give us a sec," James called back. There was a loud shuffling of papers and the vague warmth of his magic, then the door opened. "Hey Lils- Oh! Hey Molly!"

The man beamed at her and Molly smiled back. "Hello, dear."

"James," Lily said. "Can we borrow one of your invisibility cloaks?"

Her husband blinked. "Really?"

Even Sirius had come around the corner to look at her with a cocked brow. The office was a mess of papers, all of which were blank, but Lily knew that was just some auror magic. Her husband and her 'husband's boyfriend', as people liked to tease her, had been spending almost all of their time together in his office as of late, and if it weren't for just how exhausted her poor man had seemed these days, she would've been suspicious that they were up to something Marauder-ish.

"I wanted to show Molly what her and Sirius's boys have been working on," she said. "You don't mind do you?"

"Of course not," he said quickly. "I just never thought I'd see the day my wife ever broke a rule." He gave her an over the top look of smouldering passion. "I didn't think it was possible to love you even more than I already did."

She rolled her eyes, but it didn't stop the smile from growing on her face. "You're an idiot."

"Poppums!" James called. With a pop the house elf appeared. "Could you get cloak number…" He paused to think. "Twelve for me? Should be in the second drawer of my workshop."

"How many of those do you have?" Molly asked as the house elf vanished.

James shrugged. "I make sure to always keep at least seven in proper working condition, one for each Potter. Beyond that it varies depending on how my tinkering is going."

"I swear," the Weasley huffed. "You're as bad as Arthur with all his muggle doo-dads."

Poppums popped back in and held out a large stretch of invisible fabric to the witches. "Here's you being!"

"Thank you, Poppums," Lily said warmly. "And thank you, James. I promise to bring it back."

"I hope so," James said, wigging his eyebrows at her. "I'd hate to see it wind up in the hands of mischievous students. Who knows what kind of chaos that would cause."

"Oh I'm sure you'd be devastated." Lily rolled her eyes. "Well, Molly, shall we?"

For the briefest moment, she decided that perhaps the woman wasn't as different from her twins as she let on with the look she received in turn. The pair quickly made their way back to the floo and then to Lily's office at Hogwarts. Lily helped her get the cloak properly settled, then nodded.

"There. Just make sure to keep quiet," she said. "Just because you're invisible, doesn't mean people can't hear you."

James had given her the same warning when they'd used his family cloak, years ago. That had been the same one that had driven him to the madness of making so many more in an attempt to replicate its everlasting nature. Back then they'd just used it to sneak out to the lake for a late night snogging session when they were in Seventh Year. She still couldn't believe she'd let him do that with her, but the memory was definitely one of her favourites.

"Right," Molly said. "Lead the way."

The assistant Charms professor kept her pace slow so as to make sure Molly wouldn't lose her. There were a few students still milling about the halls, but classes were done for the day so there weren't any proper crowds. She only stopped once for a nervous looking fifth year who looked like she was about to cry, a clear sign of OWL-nerves, in order to give her a 'random' compliment on how well she'd been doing. That seemed to help the poor thing out and she quickly continued on to their destination.

Once they reached the door, she looked around to make sure no one was watching. "Still with me, Molly?"

"Yes," came a quiet whisper. "This it?"

Lily nodded, then held a finger to her lips. She opened the door and was herself surprised to see the newest additions. On one side of the hall were countless rows of wooden tables and comfy chairs. Balls of light hung in the air every few dozen feet. An entire wall of the room, the one opposite from the tables, now had a row of target dummies stationed every four or five feet apart, with long rows of 'lanes' before them. Hydrus and the twins were in the corner with one dummy now, clearly debating over something. She approached, and tried not to laugh at the 'hard hats' all three boys were wearing.

"Hey, Professor Potter!" one twin called.

The other glanced up from where Hydrus was lying on his back carving up the dummy. "Come to see if we've messed anything up yet?"

Their hard hats were 'normal' to start with, red for one twin and yellow for the other while Hydrus's was green. From there though, the red-hatted twin had a mechanical halo floating above his with several balloons attached to the ring. The yellow one was glowing and had a propeller sticking up from the top, with streamers billowing upwards despite the fact that it wasn't moving. Hydrus's had a simple, floating crown and the words 'Champion of Construction' above it.

"Of course not," she said. "I like the hats."

Hydrus finally pulled away from where he'd been carving. "They wouldn't let me in without wearing it, the insubordinate wretches."

"Safety first, Black."

"We've got to set a good example after all."

"Right," Hydrus said, rolling his eyes. "What can we do for you, Professor?"

She gave him a smile that he didn't return. Lily hoped the boy was just stand-offish because he knew she was friends with his father, and that he didn't actually dislike his assistant Charms professor. Who knew what kind of influence Bellatrix was having on him.

"I just wanted to see how things were coming along," she half-lied. "What are you three working on now?"

Hydrus gestured towards the dummies. "Trying to figure out a way to connect these to a central rune network without having to keep them tethered to the ground."

"Need them to be able to move around freely."

"Dodging hexes and jinxes and what not."

"And so they can dance!"

"They don't need to dance!" Hydrus snapped. "I swear you two…"

"Right, right, forget that, definitely no dancing."

"Definitely not."

"Just inappropriate."

"Totally unprofessional."

Lily laughed as Hydrus suffered the twin's terror. "Have you asked Professor Babbling for help?"

"Not yet," Hydrus said before the twins could. "In theory, it shouldn't be possible, not without a living focus to 'maintain' the whole thing, but at that point we might as well just charm them as needed."

"We think we can get it though," red-twin said.

Yellow-twin nodded. "How could we not with the illustrious Champion of Construction here to help?"

"What else have you managed to get done?" Lily asked. "Did you work out the protection wards?"

"Wait till you see this." One of the twins pulled Hydrus to his feet. "Go on, Black. Really give it your best shot this time."

Hydrus glared at the older boy. "I already told you, the windows don't need to survive my best shot."

"You're just scared you won't be able to break them," yellow-twin said.

Red-twin puffed out his chest. "The Slayer of Seventh Years bested by the Weasley Twins."

Lily worried the vein on Hydrus's forehead was about to burst as he took several steps away from the wall. He drew his wand, then pointed it at the window stationed a dozen or so feet above the dummy they'd been working on. She almost gasped when she felt the boy's magic wash over the room.

"Confringo!"

The mobile explosion that shot out of his wand nearly deafened her as she braced and shielded herself (and hopefully Molly) with a protego charm. After a few moments she dropped it, and watched as Hydrus cleared the smoke he caused with a swish of his wand. There was now a hole in the wall the size of an elephant. Pieces of brick and mortar were still falling to the ground around it, and Lily couldn't manage to close her jaw at the sight of it. The twins stepped over to stand on either side of Hydrus, staring up at his handiwork.

"Way to go, Black," one said accusingly.

"Yeah, talk about overkill, ya bastard."

"Language!"

That shut Lily's mouth, and she groaned as both twins shouted 'Wasn't me!', only to realise what had just happened.

"Mum?"

Lily placed a hand over her face as Molly's own face appeared, looking sheepish. "Hello, dears."

There was a clicking sound as pebbles continued to drop against the ground, and Lily wished she were anywhere else in the world right now. That desire only grew stronger when another, much older, much more bearded face stepped up beside her.

"Well now," Albus said. "What a lovely surprise to see you again, Molly."

"Oh, um, hello, Albus." The woman had removed the invisibility cloak entirely now, and once more Lily was reminded that she was in fact the twins' mother the way she squirmed. "How are you?"

The clicking finally came to a stop, and Lily sighed. "I'm sorry, Albus, I just wanted to show Molly how well her sons were doing."

"Given the usual reasons we have for her wonderful company," he said. "It's certainly a far nicer excuse. Perhaps we'll wait until the boys have finished their work to give any more tours though, eh?"

Lily blushed under his twinkling-eyed stare and nodded. "Right, sorry again."

"Tell me, Molly, what do you think?" Albus cast his arm across the room. "Young Gred and Forge have done a marvellous job, wouldn't you say?"

The twins snickered, but Molly just nodded. "It's really incredible." She turned to her boys. "If only you two could apply yourselves like this to your school work."

"C'mon, mum."

"Where's the fun in that?"

Hydrus snorted. "If we could merge you two into just one wizard, I wouldn't be stuck as the Hogwarts Champion."

"What's the matter, Black?"

"Two Weasleys too much for you?"

"Should we be worried?"

"Gonna stick us together with Black magic?"

"Please," Hydrus scoffed. "If I was going to fuse any two wizards together, it'd be Crabbe and Goyle. That way we'd have one full troll instead of two halfies."

A snicker erupted a few feet away from Lily. A very familiar snicker.

"Damn it, Sirius!" James's voice hissed.

'Oh no.' Just when she thought today couldn't get anymore humiliating, her husband and Sirius revealed themselves. The humiliation was made worse when she realised the clicking sound had probably been from the camera her husband was holding. 'I should've known they'd follow me.'

"Hello, Albus!" James said in his 'auror voice'. "I'm sorry that you've gotten involved in this, but we were just tracking down some ne'er-do-wells. We had it on good authority that they were planning on sneaking unauthorised personnel onto Hogwarts' grounds."

Sirius nodded along. "Once our sources told us about the plot, we knew we had to act."

"Would you two stop!" Lily shouted, her face hotter than she could ever remember it being. "Honestly!"

Albus just laughed, however. "And here I'd thought, perhaps even hoped, I was rid of you two. I don't suppose I should be keeping an eye out for Peter and Remus?"

Lily winced along with her boys at the mention of Peter. If it weren't for the fact that the man seemed to hardly notice their discomfort, she'd wonder if he'd brought up their estranged friend on purpose as payback.

"Fraid not," James said. "We just wanted to see what Lils was up to. But it was still fun seeing Sirius's boy blow a hole in the wall."

"Yes." Albus turned to the boy now. "Why did you do that, anyways?"

"We were testing out the protective wards the twins put up for the windows," Hydrus said. He was as stiff and stoic as Lily had ever seen him. "They were a touch overconfident in them it seems. Though it was certainly interesting to feel the effects of the Hogwarts-bond so soon."

"Quite," Albus agreed, though Lily wasn't sure what they were talking about. "As soon as I felt the disturbance I was worried that I'd jinxed us by saying I'd yet to feel that particular effect myself."

"When you were going over the merging-runes with us," Hydrus started. "You'd mentioned that one of the effects of Hogwarts' innate system was that the castle walls were self repairing, will that apply to the windows as well?"

"A fine question." The headmaster turned to Fred and George. "Boys, would you mind escorting our auror guests and their 'fugitives' to Professor Potter's office?"

Once more the embarrassed flush returned to Lily's cheeks. She just had to hope and pray that her friend Severus didn't hear about this, or even worse, Bellatrix. Knowing that awful woman, she'd start a petition to try and get her fired over it.

"Of course, Professor." Red-twin took his helmet off and held it to his chest.

Yellow-twin did the same. "It'd be our pleasure."


Hydrus watched them leave, and once the door was shut in their wake, finally relaxed. "I don't suppose you're about to share some grand secret about our school that you couldn't have others knowing, are you?"

"I'm afraid not," Dumbledore said with a chuckle. "I simply didn't want you to pass out from keeping your knees locked."

"Fair enough." The headmaster seemed to be trying to figure out Hydrus, the way he stared at him. "Yes?"

"Forgive me," the older man mumbled. "I don't mean to pry, but I can't quite seem to understand your relationship with your father."

"There isn't one," he said, as casually as he could manage. "And it should stay that way."

"Why?"

'So much for not meaning to pry, huh?' he thought. "Because he's better off. I'm sure you're aware of what his relationship with his family is like, and I don't intend on dragging him back into that vipers nest."

"As surprised as I am to hear you call them that," Dumbledore said. "I feel I might be better served asking why you're so convinced that your father would be happier without his son than with him, regardless of where that 'drags' him off to?"

"Because no matter what he says, he's not flexible enough for his morals to bend long enough to stay silent for once in his life. Even if he did try and put himself 'back into the fold', he'd get himself kicked right back out the first family dinner we have once Arcturus goes off on another rant about 'blood traitors' and 'that old coward Dumbledore'." Hydrus rubbed his brow. "He isn't called the Black Sheep because he's soft. He'll try and pick a fight, then I'll be the one to break his heart by standing against him." He sighed. "Despite what countless failing marriages have whispered in people's ears, having a child doesn't magically fix all your problems. I certainly won't be fixing any of his."

"I see…" Dumbledore let out a hum. "I'll move along, but before we get to my lecture on the school's repair-wards, will you be staying for the winter break?"

"I wish that I were." Hydrus sighed again, both in relief that he would finally be done talking about Sirius and in disappointment that he couldn't make use of that time to work on the Study Hall. "I'll return for the Yule Ball, obviously, but beyond that I have a Black family ball to attend. Much more time-consuming and pressing, there's a personal matter to see to."

Hydrus had followed in Dumbledore's wake as the man began to look over the work he and the twins had been doing on the practice dummies. "Oh?"

He nodded without much thought as the problem of how to make a connected-but-unconnected rune scheme work plagued him. "I'd invite you along if I weren't so worried you'd get yourself killed."

Dumbledore laughed, and Hydrus winced at what he'd let slip. Merlin, he needed to work on his ability to maintain his composure around the mainstays from his past life. It was especially difficult in his former mentor's presence; he'd been taught and trained to never lie to him, after all.

"I should warn you, young Hydrus," the headmaster said. "Not from any bruised pride of mine at your saying that, just out of concern for you, not to get too ahead of yourself."

"That's not what I meant," he said defensively. "If I could have a wizard as knowledgeable as you, but not actually you, I'd gladly take the help." His arm seemed to ache as he stared at it in annoyance. "Even if only so I don't lose another hand."

Dumbledore stared at him, his curiosity palpable. "Unfortunately, I'm afraid the only one of those I know of is preoccupied."

A thought suddenly occurred to Hydrus. "I know your Grindelwald is locked up in that tower of his, but I don't suppose there's the slightest chance Nicholas Flamel would be interested in a bit of ancient, unknowable sorcery, is there?"

If the man had been curious before, now he was practically salivating. Hydrus felt bad for inadvertently tormenting his former mentor, but he really wanted some extra help with that blasted ring. He'd acted confident in front of the Blacks that his plan of sticking it in a basilisk's belly would work, but whatever Gaunt, Slytherin, or perhaps even Peverell magic had stolen his arm from him may very well still be living on inside of it. If anything, he might've just made his 'pet project' even more powerful, and the last thing he needed was a juvenile basilisk with a god complex running around.

"I'm sorry to say that he is the very wizard I was referring to," Albus murmured. "I certainly wouldn't have mentioned my former friend like that, even as a joke."

Hydrus nearly pulled a Hagrid, but stopped himself at the last second from grumbling 'He's the only person I'd want less than you for the job.'

"What about your father?" Dumbledore asked. "The man might not be quite as knowledgeable as I, but he is a decorated and accomplished auror, and one with experience dealing with… Let's just say, all sorts of magic."

"I don't need an auror," Hydrus grumbled, wishing Dumbledore would quit bringing Sirius up. "I need a cursebreaker. Or at least someone who can do a better job of deciding whether or not a ring is cursed before I stick it on my finger than I did."

And Hydrus doubted many, if any, of those existed. Half the war against Voldemort had been spent on the backfoot just trying to find and set up places to live safely. That meant he and his closest allies had gotten very, very good at finding places to hide, and turning them from haunted crypts and cursed hovels into shelters and safehouses. The hardest part about the process was figuring out what all would kill them for trying, and Hydrus could think of a dozen ways to check for curses, jinxes, and hexes just off the top of his head, let alone after the days and days of study and precaution he'd taken with Salazar's ring.

"And why is it that you are so certain it shall be a fatal venture for me?"

Hydrus rubbed at the stump of his arm. It rarely bothered him all too much, but today it seemed to ache like he was an old man.

"I'm sorry, headmaster," he said. "But unless you'd be willing to take an unbreakable vow for me, something that I would never ask you to do, I wouldn't be able to trust your self-control."

"Then allow me to offer it so that you don't have to ask." Hydrus blinked. "I can't say I know you well enough to swear blindly, but tell me what you'd like me to swear."

"Well…" Put on the spot like this, he wasn't quite sure what to ask for. He'd thought the ancient wizard would scoff at such a request. "First would be an assurance of secrecy. Although what I have already done to try and break the curse isn't morally reprehensible, it would certainly be something I'd prefer not to be spoken of to others, nor would the implications of the item and what else you might see be ready for public knowledge."

Dumbledore nodded for him to continue, and Hydrus drew another breath.

"Secondly would be an assurance that you won't do or touch, anything, that I don't give permission for you to do if you were to come with me. I don't need you to be… I don't know how to phrase this. I don't need your servitude, I just need to feel safe with the certainty that you won't allow your greed to get the better of you." He stared hard at his old mentor, the man who'd practically taught him everything he knew, the man who'd died upon a pyre of his own creation, and looked deep into his eyes. "I don't say that out of a lack of respect for you or a misjudgment of your character, but I won't be able to explain further, either."

"I suspect," Dumbledore said after a moment's wait. "That I can already guess what it is you're referring to." The old man drew his wand. "I, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, do solemnly swear upon my magic to never speak, write, or otherwise communicate about whatever secrets that Hydrus Sirius Black shares with me in expected confidence, in regards to this venture."

Hydrus drew his own wand. "I… I accept this vow."

"So mote it be," they spoke in time.

"I shall swear the next oath after some more consideration for the wording," the headmaster said. "Tell me, in confidence, have you found the Resurrection Stone?"

Hydrus almost chuckled. Maybe he hadn't managed to avoid the Hagrid Maneuver quite as well as he'd thought he had. "Yes."

"Where?" Dumbledore almost sounded desperate. "How?"

Hydrus sighed but conjured them up a pair of chairs. He took his, and the headmaster did the same without breaking eye contact. The time-traveller still couldn't bear to spill all of his secrets, not when so many of them would break his "grandfather's" heart, but at least this one he could share and bring joy to him, or at least, catharsis at having a long-journeyed quest come to its end.

"I am a parselmouth." Dumbledore blinked for what felt like the first time since Hydrus had confirmed the nature of their quarry. "Before I ever made my way to the House of Black, I first went to the home of one Morfin Gaunt. There I had expected to be welcomed as family.

"Instead I was given a test, to put on his family ring. The same one that Salazar Slytherin once wore." Hydrus scowled now, feigning the emotions his story needed. "It immediately began to destroy my hand and, without a second's thought, I removed the limb and thus the ring. Despite my gift, the man still saw me as a liar and a cheat, and attempted to kill me." Now came an actual truth, one that Hydrus worried might destroy his burgeoning reacquaintance with the headmaster. "I killed him instead."

He waited for some sort of reaction, but the man either didn't care or, much more likely, simply restrained himself from showing any emotion at the knowledge.

"Attempts to regrow the limb only lead to the curse returning, and a further shortening of my arm each time I was forced to detach it again, so I've given up on that hope for the time being." He once more rubbed at the stub, attempting to garner some sympathy to help soften the news of his killing of the last Gaunt. "But the ring itself, or at least the stone set in it, is without a doubt the Hallow. It does not bear the mark of Slytherin, but the Peverell's sign instead."

Dumbledore said nothing, but now he seemed deep in thought rather than waiting for more information. Hydrus summoned up a piece of rubble from his earlier demonstration, and after a moment to visualise, transfigured it into a replica of the ring. He handed it over to the headmaster who took the copy with reverence, as though even just that was holy.

After a few moments of turning it over in his hand, the man spoke. "I see."

"Although I clearly no longer have need of that 'family', I would still like what I am owed." Hydrus was back to putting on his pureblood persona, which was largely based on how Tom Riddle had conducted himself in Dumbledore's memories, long before his descent from 'mere' sociopathy and into true madness. "The ring currently resides in the belly of a basilisk I have carefully hidden away, and I intend to collect it over winter break. I'm hoping that its time spent there will have destroyed any magics, aside from the one Death itself cast upon it."

"Extraordinary." Dumbledore finally seemed to unfurl, sitting back into the chair Hydrus had conjured and taking a deep breath. "We never even thought to look for the stone in such a place."

"What I would need from you is the certainty that it's safe to put on once more," Hydrus said. "I won't try and stop you from using the stone afterwards, if only as payment for your help, even if not simply out of good will, but I will not permit you to wear the ring first."

The headmaster furrowed his brows. "It would be far safer for myself to-"

"Which is why I won't allow it." Hydrus made sure his tone brokered no room for disagreement. "I will happily hold my own well-being hostage to ensure your surety that the stone is safe. As I said before, I won't allow you to kill yourself on this venture."

"How crafty…" Dumbledore said. "Well, young Hydrus, this has certainly been a far more pleasant visit than I had first anticipated when I felt a hole blown in my school's wall."

Hydrus smiled. "Speaking of which." He glanced up to see the wall had mostly repaired itself. The lone exception was a section in the perfect shape of the missing window. "Perhaps I won't need that lecture on runes after all. What shall we do about the window?"

"The window is perfectly fine," Dumbledore said, grinning ever so slightly. "Its been floating on the Great Lake where your spell blew it to, completely unharmed."

Hydrus sucked his teeth. "You better not tell the twins about that."


Sirius slunk away at the sound of his son and former headmaster making their way to the door he'd been listening from. He was wearing one of James' spare invisibility cloaks, and had mastered the art of (and magic required for) silent steps many years ago. He made his way back to Lily's office where he hoped she wouldn't be waiting for him. Unfortunately, his hopes were dashed when she looked up from her book as soon as the door 'magically' opened.

"There you are," she said with a smile. "I was worried you were going to spend all night talking with him."

"I didn't talk to him," Sirius said as he threw off his cloak and let it fall to the ground. "Let's go."

"What? Why not?" She slammed her book shut and quickly tried to catch up with him as he made a beeline to the floo. "Sirius what-"

He tossed in the powder and practically shouted, "The Leaky Cauldron."

Once he'd arrived and taken a single step out of the floo, he apparated back to his apartment. From there he grabbed a jug of something strong, then a second one as he reconsidered the state he was in, and apparated to another bar he frequented in Ireland. Not even feeling the drain on his magic for once, he used their floo to take him to his final destination.

It was a simple home. There was a mismatched sofa and recliner set, something that had once worried him until he'd had a chance to sit in each of their comforting embraces, as well as the faint smell of something floral in the air. The walls were a warm beige with a few photos on them, and the only other noticeable feature of the living room was an owl cage far too large for the annoyed-looking raptor who glared at him for the early wake up.

"Remus!" he called. "You home?"

Without waiting for a response, he collapsed into his other best friend's couch. He'd already popped the cork and taken a large swig from his first bottle when the werewolf came into view, wearing pyjamas and scratching the back of his head.

"What're you doing here?" The man asked. "I thought you and James were up to your eyes with that new op of yours."

"Just needed to be alone," Sirius said, then took another sip of his drink. "Without actually being alone, of course."

"Of course," Remus agreed, chuckling. He took the bottle from Sirius and threw it back to drink like it was just a water bottle. "What happened?"

"Overheard some shit I wasn't supposed to," he mumbled. "Hydrus talking to Dumbledore."

"He's not in trouble, is he?" the Marauder's favourite worry-wart asked. "You said he was doing well in school, didn't you?"

"He's not in school-trouble, but…" Sirius took another deep swig. He didn't want to betray his son's 'trust', but he could also hardly stand to keep it in. "I don't know. I don't know what to do."

"Take a minute to just sit then," Remus said gently. "Relax."

Sirius did just that. He didn't know about James, but now that they no longer needed their 'boy genius' Remus to figure out the 'how' portion of their pranks, it was moments like these that made him love his friend. James was like the niffler their current job was named after, always hunting for the galleon of information, while Remus was patient and didn't mind just waiting for him. He took another sip from the jug before speaking.

"Hydrus made Dumbledore swear an oath of secrecy before he told him anything," he said. "I don't know if I should share or not."

"Would you like me to swear one?" Remus asked with a quirked brow. "I promise to not be too offended."

"I don't even want to tell James."

"Clearly," the werewolf said. "Hence why you've come to drink on my couch instead of his. If you don't want me to tell him, I won't. You know that."

Sirius did know that. Remus had known just how deep his hatred for his family went long before James had. He'd been there to put the former-heir back together whenever he came 'home' to Hogwarts, time and time again. It had been his idea to ask the Potters for a place to stay in the first place, even if James had offered it before Sirius could get the words out of his mouth.

"His mom was a Slytherin." That seemed a fine enough place to start.

"I hope you're just getting started," Remus said. "Honestly, we're not schoolboys anymore."

"Not like that," Sirius snapped, even if he had accidentally set his friend up for that. "I mean a Slytherin. As in, straight from Salazar himself." Remus's mouth formed an O-shape, his eyes widening. "Or at least he's a parselmouth."

"I mean…" Remus swallowed. "That proves it, doesn't it?"

Sirius explained the boy's encounter with the Gaunt man. "And Hydrus… Apparently Hydrus killed him. In self-defence, obviously."

He'd said the last part too quickly, but Remus just nodded along. "If that 'Morfin' fellow really did try to kill him, of course it was self-defence," he said. "I guess we finally know what happened to his arm, at least."

"It's not fair…" Sirius finally tapped into one of the new-found sources of anger that had been eating him up since his eavesdropping, finally understanding it. "The boy just wanted a family! He deserved a family!"

"Calm down." Remus jerked the bottle away from Sirius, pulling it away before he could throw it, and before Sirius even realised that was what he was about to do. "He has one now."

"My bastard of a grandfather and cunt of a cousin." Sirius's nostrils flared, and now he really wanted to throw the glassware. "He deserves better."

"Just like you did."

Sirius sucked in a breath. He hadn't expected Remus to say that, and for the verbal dagger to strike so true. He took a long, deep breath, but moisture still formed in the corner of his eyes as his own childhood pain continued to paint itself over how he imagined his son had felt, being rejected by someone he thought would take him in and care for him.

"It's not fair," he repeated, half-whispered. "It's not fair."

Remus began to rub his back. Sirius contemplated turning to his animagus form so that it didn't feel so patronising, but couldn't bring himself to care all that much. Remus had always been there for him and he wasn't about to get shy now.

"What else happened?" Remus asked, his voice kind and gentle. "I could've seen you bringing in one bottle of 'Madame Corking's Ruinous Rum' for that, but certainly not two."

Sirius laughed. Leave it to Remus to get a smile out of him at a time like this. "I think Dumbledore knew I was listening. He kept bringing me up."

"And what did they say?"

Sirius shrugged. "Asked him why he hated me, basically."

"He did not."

"Might as well have."

"Sirius."

"He asked him why Hydrus doesn't want anything to do with me." Sirius took a breath. "And he said it's cus he doesn't want to have to deal with choosing the family over me."

Remus once more just waited for him to continue on. Sirius motioned to get the bottle back, and the werewolf relented. After another sip that left him coughing, he'd probably gone on a bit too long with that one, he continued.

"Said he thinks I'll pick a fight with them the first time they say something foul, and that he'll 'break my heart' when he doesn't take my side."

Remus just nodded. "He doesn't know you're with Bones now, or your Yule plans."

"I shouldn't bother," Sirius mumbled. "He doesn't want me."

"Don't lie to me, Sirius," Remus said. "Did he ever actually say that?"

"He said, quite clearly, that he'd choose Bellatrix and them over me." Sirius barked out a bitter laugh. "If Arcturus isn't blowing smoke up my ass, he even wants to marry her."

"Isn't this what you were signing up for?" Sirius hated when Remus put on the parental tone he himself had yet to develop. "You knew what you were getting yourself into when you decided to try and earn yourself a spot back in the family.

"My father's family might not be a Sacred Twenty-Eight, or of any sort of note really, but even I know that marrying your father's cousin isn't exactly a stretch in the pureblood circles," the werewolf continued. "You told me he wanted all the things a powerful family like yours has to offer, and he might just be willing to do what they want to get it."

"Still," Sirius argued. "What am I supposed to do? 'Oh yes, I totally agree, werewolves are the worst, let's kill them all!' Is that what you want?"

"Again, isn't that what you already agreed to?" Sirius flinched, finally realising just what his plans must've sounded like to Remus thanks to his own example. "I doubt you have too many friends with kids in Slytherin, but what about Amelia, James, or Frank? Have you tried asking them what their kids think about Hydrus? The way he acts?" Remus paused. "Actually, you do have such a friend with such a child, what's Dahlia said about him?"

"I don't know," Sirius confessed. "I haven't really tried to find out."

"Then ask," Remus insisted. "You mentioned before that Lily said he was friends with the Weasley twins, maybe he's not like that either." He paused again. "I know what's really bothering you is that your son might be the exact sort of person that made you hate your family in the first place."

"No," Sirius lied. "I saw him tonight with them, the Weasley twins. He's a bit stuck-up, but he wasn't like them at all."

Remus cocked an eyebrow at him. "He wasn't at all like the stuck-up Black family?" Sirius flinched. "We fear the unknown. So quit trying to bury your head in the sand, and ask about him, find out what he's like. I know you're terrified about being like your own mother, but its okay to be interested in your own child, to ask about him and see how he's doing."

"I know." Sirius looked away, back into the slowly dying fire he'd caused with his flooing over. "I would never stalk and torment him the way she did."

"And I know you'd never actually do anything to hurt a werewolf that wasn't trying to eat you." God, Sirius wasn't sure if he loved or hated the way Remus always picked up on everything that went through his head. "Give it here."

Sirius handed over the jug, and watched as his friend polished it off. It amazed him how well his friend handled his liquor; 'dark passenger' or not, the man could drink anyone under the table, and he reached for the other bottle to keep it safe. He opened and took a sip from it before continuing on.

"They also talked about some old fairy tale," he said. "Treated it like it was real."

"Which one?"

"Three Brothers." This was a much easier portion of the conversation, and since Sirius was already feeling better, he hoped it would finish off their night. "They think that ring that stole Hydrus's arm has the Resurrection Stone on it."

"Dumbledore didn't disagree?" Remus asked. "Maybe they're right."

Sirius scoffed. "Come on, Remus. Some pebble, enchanted by death, that can bring people back to life?"

"Didn't old Grindelwald use their symbol as his crest during the war?" Remus shrugged. "Maybe he and Dumbledore, and now Hydrus, know something we don't."

"Right." Sirius snorted. "And James's cloak is the invisibility cloak, and I've got the death stick."

"Aren't the Potters and Peverells related?" Remus asked, cocking an eyebrow. "Maybe you're not so far off."

Sirius snickered, and took a sip from the jug. He was well and truly drunk at this point, and struggled to come up with more things to whinge to Remus about.

"This is what I love about two-bottle problems," the rosy-cheeked werewolf said as he took his turn with it. "Rarely do they actually require the full two bottles, and we can simply drink the rest in peace."

Sirius laughed in agreement.


"Fred, George," Hydrus said. "I was wondering if I could ask the two of you for another favour."

He'd sent Bellatrix off to look for some book he remembered reading back at Arcturus's home, and knew it would take her some time to even get past talking to her grandfather let alone finding it based on just his vague description. The twins were working on a pair of bookshelves on the 'study' side of the hall, adding a few more charms that Madam Pince had insisted on, and they finished the individual runes they were working on before looking up.

"If it pays as well as this one," George started.

"We don't see why not." Fred finished.

Hydrus smiled. "I'm not sure what you'd want to charge for this, but I want it off the books since technically Bellatrix has access to those."

"Oh?"

"Really?"

"Thinking of getting into some trouble?"

"We finally rubbing off on you, Black?"

"Not quite," he said with a laugh. "Quite the opposite; I simply wish to have a gift to give her for Christmas, and will take some small amount of pleasure in knowing I got it from some of those 'filthy blood traitors' that she despises so much."

Both twins' grins grew in both size and mischievousness. Hydrus had done his best to drop 'hints' towards his true feelings about such things to them, a difficult task thanks to the ever-looming presence of his future bride, and thus far he hadn't heard any rumours come back to him about it. Either the twins hadn't picked up on them, which was unlikely, or they simply enjoyed being privy to the 'prank' despite its subtlety.

"And just what did you have in mind?"

"A pair of blank journals," Hydrus said. "One for me, one for her. When a message is written in one, it shall appear in the other, and once read will disappear." Those were both things that he knew were possible thanks to his time in the war, but he wanted more. "That's all I need for one of the journals. The other, I'd like some more features."

Fred rubbed at the back of his head. "Yeesh, want it to scratch your arse too?"

"Not quite." He took a breath. "I would want to be notified whenever a message arrives, so long as its on my person. Even just something simple like the journal heating up or shaking. I'd also like as much information about the 'other side' as possible, but at the minimum I'd need to know if anyone else was reading it."

"What colour would you like the dragon to be?" George asked.

"Pardon?" The twins snickered and all Hydrus could do was roll his eyes at whatever joke had gone over his head. "I'm sure the two of you can do it, but not much beyond that."

"Sure don't know if we can do it before Christmas."

"Seriously, couldn't you have given us more heads up?"

He shrugged. "You try coming up with a gift for a woman that already has everything she wants. Like I said, name your price, and I'll agree without haggle."

The twins mirrored each other as they placed their hands to their chins, then looked away from one another to the floor. After several moments, they looked up in sync.

"One-hundred and fifty galleons."

"Each."

"And another hundred on top of that."

"For the rush order."

Hydrus clapped his hands together, or at least, tried to then wanted to slap himself. "Done." He reached into the pocket of his robe, then into the hidden pocket folded within that, and drew out a handful of coins. "Here. Should be around thirty galleons there for materials, and I'll send a draft note through Gringotts this weekend. Just make sure the journals aren't conspicuous, I'll want my money back if they show up looking like the necronomicon or covered in hearts and glitter."

"Damn," George sighed.

Fred shook his head. "Woulda asked for more if we knew you'd ask for that."

Hydrus just laughed and allowed them to get back to work. Four-hundred galleons wasn't a small sum, but it would be more than worth it, especially if they actually pulled it off and got the journals back to him before winter break.

Now he just needed to come up with an actual Christmas gift for Bella.


BBaRtS


Chapter 9 in the books. Not too much to say about this one/the reviews, just more compliments (Thank you 3) and complaints/concerns about the arm and Bellatrix romance, both of which are fine by me. I did get one person asking why Snape's a teacher, which I didn't even think about/remember him potentially only teaching because of Voldemort. It's easily handwaved away the same way you could ask why anything at all is still the same given the tornadoes the butterflies should've kicked up by now, or just saying "Lily became an assistant professor, he followed along." Snape doesn't play a massive role in this timeline, he's just a guy who was an insecure dick as a kid, then DIDN'T have a war to be caught in the middle of thus exacerbating his bitterness and general distaste for life.

Another asked what the 'endgame' is, but that's kind of the problem Hydrus faces. His endgame with coming back in time was to stop Voldemort, only now he's stuck here in a peaceful world without the dark lord. He's a man who's only known war for over half his life, and now he's left without a war and without his 'destiny'. We've heard him say that he intends to make sure no other dark lords rise to power, but does he know how to do that? Or rather, does he know how to do that in a way that wouldn't horrify the people he's trying to 'protect'? Will he be able to achieve his goal, will he become the very thing he hates, will he find another way to live his life here, will he ever stop over-indulging in food in order to justify my rhymey title choice? We'll see!