Hydrus stroked Fawkes and smiled as the bird nuzzled his cheek. He'd flooed over to Dumbledore's office to drop off the ring so the headmaster could use it, in the dead of night to avoid any awkward conversation, but the phoenix had caught his eye as it always did. It had only been a few hours since he'd fallen asleep beside Bella, but he'd never needed much rest. The stone and a note explaining that he wasn't ready to talk yet, but that he'd verified the ring was safe, were left on the desk already but he couldn't help himself.

After the headmaster had passed, Fawkes had left. When Hedwig died of old age a few years later, the phoenix returned to serve as Harry's familiar. They'd both known the other wasn't what they wanted, but they had been what each other needed.

A wizard's familiar was more than just a pet or a letter carrier. It was certainly a great deal more than practice fodder for transfigurations class. It was a constant companion and in the cases of magical beings like phoenixes, they could even transfer some benefits. Dumbledore's fire magic had become much more manageable after he'd fully bonded with Fawkes according to the old man. Hydrus was almost terrified of what sort of 'gifts' Apophis might pass on. He gave the bird one last series of scritches before turning back towards the fireplace, and found Dumbledore standing there with his arms folded behind his back. Hydrus returned his attention to Fawkes.

"You were a distraction," he said accusingly. "Traitor."

"He is quite distracting." Dumbledore conjured a pair of rocking chairs. "Come, sit with me."

Hydrus's eye twitched. "I'm just here to leave the ring so you can use it as we promised. I'm not ready for this talk."

"Then we won't talk." The headmaster sat down and began to gently rock back and forth in front of the fireplace. "I don't mind just having some company."

Hydrus sighed but did as he was told. "Fine. But I have to leave for a vacation in the morning, I can't stay long."

"Understandable."

And so they sat. The fire crackled away, the rocking chairs gently swayed back and forth, and occasionally Fawkes would flutter his wings as if to remind them he was there too. Hydrus knew what his teacher was doing. Holding a silence, not saying anything, waiting for the other person to speak up so as to put them on the backfoot. In this case it would also put the younger man at ease since he'd been the one to choose to talk instead of being forced—

"I heard you've recently gotten engaged to two of your fellow Slytherins."

Hydrus blinked. So much for that theory.

"Nothing brings people together like shared blood and making money. Tamina's the second child of the Dour family head, Hellena is niece to the current Tankle family head." He rubbed at his brow. "Neither house is important in the grand scheme of things, but you need a lot of bricks to build a wall."

"Just be careful here at school," Dumbledore said with a chuckle. "Broom closets aren't quite as private as students believe. A lesson your father, or rather your godfather I suppose, learned many times."

"They're fourteen, believe me when I say it won't be an issue." Hydrus snorted. "I'll be sure to pass on your warning to the two of them, though."

The warlock tilted his head back in understanding. "I see. And how do you plan to collect the rest of your 'bricks', as you put it? Or are you going to bankrupt the rest of us via wedding gifts?"

"Why bankrupt you all when I can simply keep track of IOU's?" he asked bemusedly. "Favours owed and debts left unpaid are powerful tools. If we're to keep up with this metaphor, they are the mortar that holds the bricks together." He realised he hadn't actually answered the question. "And no, I don't plan to marry every pureblood girl who asks. But in this case it brought three families to heel if you include the Shnopps with Michael as their future head, and earned me two… let's call them, 'expectation-less', marriages."

Dumbledore hummed. "And is that what you truly want? Wouldn't you prefer to find lov—"

"Stop." Hydrus shot the old man a hard look. "I said I'm not ready to talk about all of that, but that doesn't mean you have to pretend like you don't know what I sacrificed."

"To love is a powerful thing," Dumbledore said quietly. "To have sacrificed true love, let alone your love for-"

Hydrus stood and his chair exploded in the wake of his flaring magic. He stepped toward the fireplace and prepared to floo away, and took a moment to settle his tone before saying, "I have to go, Professor Dumbledore."


"Scion Black!" A man practically yelled. "What an honour to meet you!"

Hydrus took and shook the man's hand. The Stellavigil lord was a large, tall figure which meant he'd had to stoop down a bit for the greeting. His robes were a few years old, but not entirely out of fashion, and he had black hair with bronzed skin. Once Hydrus released him, the man took Bellatrix's hand and kissed her ring.

"It's an honour to meet you too, Lord Stellavigil," Hydrus said as he wrapped his arm around Bellatrix. "And not just because of how much more beautiful the weather is here compared to back home."

The man gave a boisterous laugh that revealed shining teeth, and suddenly Hydrus wondered what had happened to Lockhart in this time. He'd not heard a single whisper of the man's name, and it hadn't occurred to him until now that it was rather odd. As Lord Stellavigil introduced his wife, Hydrus decided he'd tuck that way for now.

"A pleasure to meet you as well, Lady Stellavigil." He kissed the woman's ring. "I'm sure your daughter is grateful that she takes after you so much."

Stefanos and his wife both laughed. She winked at him. "You're too kind, Scion Black."

"Would you like to come in for some lunch?" the lord asked. "We can have the servants whip something up for us."

"Actually I was hoping we could get business out of the way first," Hydrus said. "Once that's done, I'll finally be able to actually enjoy this winter vacation."

"Of course, of course." Stefanos gave his wife a kiss on the cheek and dismissed her. "I had these prepared for you."

The man reached into his robes and withdrew two bronze necklaces. They were simple chains with a caduceus hanging off each, and although they didn't look impressive, Hydrus could sense magic in them. He levitated them towards himself and examined the pendants. Each was a staff surrounded by two, intertwining snakes, and he vaguely remembered that the symbol had represented the Greek god Hermes long before it had become the symbol for muggle medicine.

"As appropriate as the snakes are, may I ask what they're for?"

Stefanos grinned. "They will allow you to speak in my native tongue. The muggle boy who might've found the snakes is young, doesn't speak English yet, and I wouldn't have you deign to use a translator."

"Wonderful." Hydrus placed one necklace on Bellatrix then did the same for himself. "I'll be sure to cherish the gifts."

The Greek lord blinked. It seemed he'd only wanted to lend the necklaces to them, but Hydrus would make sure he was sufficiently rewarded. "Of… Of course, thank you, Scion Black."

With that they were off. Eventually they reached a field, and Stefanos begged their leave to go and fetch the child. Once he was gone, Bellatrix wrapped her arm around Hydrus and kissed his head.

"And we're really going to stay here?" she asked. "For the rest of our time off?"

"Of course." He leaned against her. "I meant it when I said I wanted to get this business wrapped up."

She hummed at him. "Do you even need this 'rock constrictor' now that you have Apophis?"

The invisible snake he'd printed a weightless rune on hissed in pleasure at the subtle compliment. It rarely ever left his side these days, scared to be 'abandoned' again, and Hydrus had grown tired of the constant ache in his shoulders from lugging the reptile around.

"I didn't come here for the snake in the first place." He glanced back to make sure Stellavigil lord wasn't returning yet. "It's the child I want."

"What?" Bellatrix was looking at him like he'd grown a second head. "The muggle?"

"He isn't a muggle, just muggle-born," Hydrus said. "And one whom I shall mould into a powerful asset for our future."

After all, the boy had grown up to become the only wizard who could claim to have killed more people than even Voldemort. He would either become Hydrus's man, find a proper home and a loving family to call his own after having been denied one as a child. Or he would be used to set an example and cement Hydrus's place on top of the wizarding world.

The Dark Lord Leorex, now and still known as simply Giannis Pappas, would be given this second chance.

"They're coming."

Hydrus turned. Stefanos was leading the way, a tiny and nervous-looking child in his wake. Giannis's eyes were bouncing between all three of them, as if waiting to see which one would attack him first. Charlie Weasley had come away from his time spying on the evil wizard with far too much sympathy for him, but the stories he'd told would finally pay dividends after boring Hydrus so often.

He knelt down to greet the boy. "Hello there, child."

Giannis's eyes widened and he seemed to shrink into himself.

"My name is Hydrus Black." He gestured towards Bellatrix. "And this is someone very dear to me, her name is Bella. What is your name?"

"G-, Giannis." Thank Merlin he hadn't found some other traumatised, Greek, muggle-born wizard child. "You want to find the sneaky rocks right?"

Hydrus gave a bemused grin at the child's name for the magical creatures. "I do, can you please help me find them?"

The boy nodded and Hydrus straightened up. "I'll be right back."

With that the child dashed away.

"There's no need to be so polite to the thing," Stefanos said, chuckling. "The brat doesn't even know what he's found."

"He will." Hydrus had much less mirth in his tone. "He is one of ours." Stefanos blinked. "Muggle-born, clearly, but a wizard nonetheless. How else do you think he'd notice the beasts?"

"Still, he's beneath you, my lord." Hydrus frowned and Stellavigil furrowed his brows. "Have I said something that bothers you?"

"Not directly." The boy was running back to them now. "I'm just disappointed in your lack of business acumen. It takes a special skill to find rare species like these; if you wish to raise your family's standing, you need to be willing to do whatever it takes to spot such talents."

The man didn't get a chance to respond as Giannis nearly ran into Hydrus. The boy grabbed his robes and pointed towards where he'd come from. "One's over there!"

"Lead the way."

It was a short trek, and the boy still hadn't let go of Hydrus's robe. That same feeling Apophis often left him with was creeping up on him, and he was grateful when they finally reached the 'rock'. It was a bit larger than an ostrich egg, though with a far rougher surface and an odd sheen to it. Hydrus smiled and ruffled the boy's hair.

"Well done, Giannis." The boy beamed at him. "Would you like to see how these 'sneaky rocks' have been moving around?"

His eyes widened. "Yeah."

Hydrus knelt down beside it. "Reveal yourselves, my servants."

And like that, the illusion faded away.

What had once been a stone was now a writhing snake pile. The white-scaled serpents were exceptionally thin, thinner even than one of Giannis's pinkies, with comparatively large and flat heads. The boy himself was staring at them slack-jawed, but without any fear. Hydrus smiled at him, then reached into the pile and selected a particularly long one, measuring just over a foot long if he had to guess.

"Bellatrix, hold out your arm." The woman did so without hesitation, but he saw some amount of concern in her eyes. He held out the stone constrictor and it began to slither onto her. "This is my most important follower, and my future mate. You are to protect her at all times and from all threats, even at the cost of your life, is that understood?"

The snake had coiled around the woman's wrist. "Yes, my lord."

And with that it 'transfigured' back into a stone. Without its fellow constrictors to help empower the illusion, it was still clearly in the shape of a snake, but any who saw it would simply call it a well-crafted bracelet. Or bangle. Whatever the name for such jewellery was. Bellatrix stared at it in awe.

"I told a small lie earlier," he said. "The reason we came here for this snake was so that I could give it to you as a gift, something to protect you wherever you go."

"I love it," she whispered. "Thank you."

Before Hydrus could respond, Giannis tugged on his robes. He cocked an eyebrow at the boy. "Can I have one too?"

Stefanos made to shout at the child, but before Hydrus could cut him off, Bellatrix did it with a glare that promised the sort of violence that only the chronically insane could back up. The lord was cowed, and Hydrus was impressed. He turned back to Giannis.

"I'm afraid not." The boy deflated. "These snakes are living creatures that will need to be handled with care. Tell me, Giannis, do you know anything about raising reptiles?"

The boy shook his head, staring down at the ground. "No."

Hydrus made a show of giving a pitying sigh, then thinking for a moment. "Tell you what. I think I might still have something you'll like, but only if you promise to keep what you've seen today a secret, okay?"

Like a switch had been flicked the boy was smiling again, and his head shook up and down so fast it reminded Hydrus of one of his house elves. He laughed, then reached into his robes to pull out his trunk and enlarge it, earning another gasp from the child. After a few minutes of rummaging around inside of it, Hydrus found what he'd been looking for.

"Take this." He handed the diary to Giannis. "Whatever you write in it shall disappear as if it were never there, and will appear on the pages of a matching book that I own.

"I'm afraid that I'm a very busy man, so I don't have time to stay and answer all your questions, but if you write to me later I'll be able to answer them." He once more ruffled the boy's hair. "I don't know what sort of life you're living, but know this. You are not an ordinary boy, you are special, just like me and my friends here."

Giannis stared up at him, awe and wonder practically pouring from him. "I am?"

"Of course." Hydrus closed and shrunk his trunk. "As I said, we'll talk later, but for now just know that you aren't a 'freak'." He pocketed the magical storage. "You're a wizard, and if my intuition is right, someday you'll become a great one. But you must never let the muggles, the normal people, know about it. Understand?"

The child slowly nodded.

"Good." He turned to leave, Bellatrix's arm in his and a mildly annoyed Stefanos in their wake. "I'll look forward to hearing from you."

They returned to the Stellavigil Villa and Hydrus made sure to appease his host with some rather generous gifts, as well as a far-too-kind finder's fee for the snake that was now adorning Bellatrix's wrist. He and the lord spoke for some time together in the bathhouse, discussing the state of the magical Greek economy and what sort of business opportunities there were here. Hydrus had made sure to double down on his certainty towards Giannis's potential as magizoologist, claiming that the job was perfect for muggleborns like him that were too undignified to care about getting their hands dirty, and Stefanos had made sure to show how well he now understood and explained what he had been doing as of late to improve his family's status.

Once that was done, Hydrus fulfilled his promise to Bellatrix and spent the rest of their remaining days together actually being together.

They visited some Greek tourist attractions, magical and muggle alike; went to as many expensive restaurants as she wanted, including one that she'd made him dance at to his dismay. It was still winter so they couldn't go to the beaches, but at least it was warmer here than in Britain. Once their time was nearly up, they partook in a ball that the Stellavigils threw in their honour. If there was a Greek family missing at the gala, then Hydrus had never heard of them. Dozens of pureblood lines that could supposedly trace their roots all the way back to the Hellenistic era had come to pay their respects.

Through it all, he and his new 'pen pal' wrote back and forth. He had the help of Ophelia, the girl he'd initially requested this visit through, to translate the writing for him. For now he was still in the early stages of gaining the boy's trust, so there was no need to worry about her knowing what he wrote. The boy just asked about magic, what it could and couldn't do, and about Hydrus. Giannis had yet to confide in him about what would eventually drive the boy to try and destroy the world.

That would come in time.

Voldemort had needed a part of his soul to try and control Ginny Weasley through his diary, and Hydrus would be damned if he couldn't get it done with Giannis using just a bit of charisma.

Finally, with the dust just about to settle on their journey and the Stellavigil Villa fading behind them as they left on foot for one last walk together before apparting home, Hydrus turned to Bellatrix.

"There's one last bit of business I need to take care of before we return to Hogwarts," he said. "Just a quick trip, would you like to come?"

"Of course," she said with a smile. "Where to?"

"You'll see." He sighed and grumbled, "I'm far too much of a push over."


Hydrus stepped into the Great Hall and found himself immediately the subject of everyone's attention. He hadn't bothered to take the train back to Hogwarts, instead using Bellatrix's floo and then holing himself up in her office until it was time for dinner. There was an obvious tension in the air, nervousness practically pouring off the children besides the ones in his own house. It seemed his announcement at the party, the news of his ability, had spread quickly.

'Let them stew in the fear,' he thought as he made his way towards his table. 'It'll only make what's to come seem that much more kind in comparison.'

Or at least, he hoped it would. For all he knew, being a parseltongue would just lead to them treating him with suspicion no matter what he did. He took his seat beside Draco, and a few of the other Slytherins tensed up. It took him a moment to realise why.

"Have a good vacation, Draco?" he asked.

The boy looked over at him and nodded. "The best."

"Good." Hydrus surprised himself with how sincere the smile he gave was. It seemed he really was growing used to having the boy around, and it relieved him that he wouldn't have to 'take care' of Draco if the boy really had grown to resent him. "I look forward to seeing what you have cooked up for this evening."

The blonde smirked as food appeared on the table. "Won't be long now."

Hydrus began to dig in immediately, having missed the wonderful cooking. The other Slytherins finally relaxed now that they knew there was no feud between their leader and his second command, no matter what sort of maulings the latter's father had gone through. Just as conversation was really beginning to pick up and as Hydrus was beginning his second course, a scream rang out.

He whipped his head around just in time to see a balloon-like fourth-year Ravenclaw begin to drift towards the ceiling. Memories of his Aunt Marge flooded him as he watched more and more of the rapidly panicking students start to change as well. Before long, and despite the teachers' best efforts, two dozen of the children were gently bouncing off the ceiling amidst a growing roar of snickers and giggles.

"It's a good thing our school robes are so bulky," Hydrus said, bemused as he watched the fabric strain to contain the suddenly much larger students. "Else this would be a step too far."

It seemed one of the staff had finally come up with the counterspell to the prank, but rather than just deflating, the seventh-year boy they'd used it on went shooting back and forth across the hall like a balloon with an untied end. Just as he was about to be completely 'empty', his momentum shifted, and he began to fall like a piece of paper until he was gently sat on the floor. Not a second passed before the boy puked from motion sickness.

Draco elbowed Hydrus. "Watch."

Hydrus leaned forward, squinting as something started to show up on the boy's forehead. Once he managed to read what it said, he laughed.

"'Nargle' indeed!"

His laughter didn't immediately catch the attention of others, he was hardly the only one amused by the sight, but he'd allowed the Black madness to come through a touch. After all, he figured it was better to do so now than when he was in a bad mood. Unfortunately it led to him having a very angry Flitwick staring him down. Or would it be staring him up?

"Did you do this?" the diminutive professor demanded.

"N—" He stopped, then smiled. "Actually, yes."

"What?"

Before Hydrus could further lay claim to the 'prank', Dumbledore had approached with Snape and Bellatrix in tow. "Hydrus, I'll see you in my office. Filius, Minerva will be taking care of the students here, so you come along as well."

Hydrus stood and clapped Draco on the shoulder as he went, giving him as much of a smile as he dared without betraying his friend. He followed after the teachers, smiling the whole way. When they reached the headmaster's office, he took his seat before it was offered and folded one leg over the other as the teachers gathered on the side of the room and Dumbledore took his own seat behind the desk.

"I hope you realise this isn't a good look, Hydrus." It was surprising how genuinely annoyed the man seemed. "Would you care to explain?"

He shrugged. "I guess I really am my father's son after all."

Dumbledore glared at him and it actually cowed Hydrus's attitude. It seemed his mentor still had some hold on the leash he'd put on the Boy Who Lived.

"I don't remember your father ever purposely targeting muggle-born students."

Hydrus blinked. Was that what had gotten to everyone? "Forget them for a moment." He waved a dismissive hand at the teachers as if he was brushing away dust. "Do you really think I would do that?"

"As I said, I hope you realise how it looks, and would explain."

Hydrus pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. Of course the headmaster didn't think he did that, he was just mad that was how it appeared. The old man certainly couldn't play it off as Hydrus had tried to, either.

'Oh well,' Hydrus thought. 'I have my own cards to play.'

"Allow me to assure everyone here that was not my motive," he started. "I don't know what sort of school-yard rumours have cropped up in the wake of me announcing my heritage, but I'm not going to go around muggle-hunting just because I can talk to snakes."

"Splendid." Dumbledore's voice was neutral and stoic. "Then tell me why you picked those students in particular to 'prank'."

"Because they didn't heed my warning," Hydrus said, cold and simple. "The others who were bullying my friend did."

"There's no bullying in my house," Flitwick nearly shouted. Hydrus turned to cock a brow at him. "Don't try and—"

"Luna Lovegood," Hydrus interrupted, and the Charms professor's mouth snapped shut. "Are you going to tell me you didn't notice the way they were treating her?"

"I don't—"

"Her homework assignments 'mysteriously' combusting, her ostracization, the way her things constantly went missing to the point where she was forced to walk around barefoot?" It was time to lay it on thick, so he flared his magic. "She and I had become friends after I mentioned loving her father's paper, and she told me all about it."

Flitwick had gone pale, and Hydrus almost felt bad for the guilt he saw in his former soldier's eyes. "I… I didn't know. She never said anythi—"

'Now.'

He borrowed some of Bellatrix's power to give this new wave of magic even more strength. "Of course she didn't! And why—"

He was cut off by Fawkes plopping down on his shoulder. He turned to look at the phoenix, and the bird honked at him. It nearly made him laugh to hear the obnoxious sound come out of the graceful creature's beak, but he restrained himself to just a smile. He pulled his magic back, and gave the bird a light headbutt before turning back to the Head of Ravenclaw.

"And why would she tell you?" he asked, voice quiet but now cold and accusing. "After all, you've never listened to her before."

He sat back down and Fawkes hopped into his lap to receive some petting. Hydrus was more than happy to comply after the phoenix had helped to really sell the 'hero' angle he was selling.

Dumbledore cleared his throat. "And you said you gave them a warning?"

"I did," Hydrus said. "And I'll give you all just one guess as to which students listened and quit picking on her."

"Why didn't you bring it to my attention?" Dumbledore asked. "You know I would have assisted."

"Oh, of course." He turned to look Snape in the eye. "We all know exactly how well this school handles students being bullied." The potions master looked away but said nothing. "Besides, I'm fourteen." He cocked his head at Dumbledore. "Tattling to the teachers is lame."

He wanted to wink at his headmaster to close off that last line, but knew it wouldn't go over particularly well right now. Instead he contented himself by continuing to play with Fawkes.

"And you claim full responsibility for this incident?" Dumbledore asked. "You didn't have the help of, oh, say, the Weasley twins?"

"Nope." He couldn't wait to see the twins' faces when he told them he'd taken all the credit. "And I know what kind of an awkward position that puts you in, given how hard it is to punish your champion, so how about this. I will gladly accept any punishment you give without protest, but only so long as whatever it is, those Ravenclaws each get the same."

Dumbledore cocked an eyebrow at him. "You're seriously trying to negotiate?"

"Of course I am." Hydrus smiled. "I think it's perfectly fair that if they've gotten away with tormenting a girl for years, that either we call this square, or we acknowledge the systemic issues going on at Hogwarts and punish all us bullies together." He cocked his head to the side. "Go ahead and ask them what they prefer, confirm that what I've said here isn't just nonsense, and like I said I'll go along with it if that's what they want."

His staredown with the headmaster went on for longer than he was comfortable with, but he was saved from potentially having to back down when a cacophonous pair of stomping footsteps came thumping up the stairs. Hydrus turned around just in time to see the Weasley twins burst in.

"This is unacceptable!" one shouted.

"Complete hogwash!" the other hollered.

"We won't allow this charlatan to try and take the credit for our work!

"Only the proprietors of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes could possibly have done this!"

Hydrus blinked, then slowly raised a hand. "No, I'm Spartacus."

Snape snorted but covered it up with a cough. Before Dumbledore could respond to the twins' sudden appearance and outburst, another person arrived. It was Adrian Macgruber, the seventh year who'd freed the other Slytherins at Hydrus's command after the failed 'revolt'. The teen cleared his throat.

"Er, excuse me, professors," he started. "But I was the one who did it."

"Nonsense!"

"Balderdash!"

The twins were cut off from continuing they're duelling dialogue by another redhead showing up, their little sister.

"It was me." Ginny looked as confident as Hydrus had ever seen her, her eyes practically daring Dumbledore to try and argue with her. "Luna's my best friend, and I wanted to get them back for her."

After that it was a series of other seventh and fourth year Slytherins trying to take credit for the incident. What surprised Hydrus the most was the very last person to try and jump on the dogpiled grenade, none other than Cedric Diggory.

"Soon as Cho told me what was going on I knew I had to do something." He scratched at the back of his head. "Probably should've used my prefect privileges to take points away, but you live and you learn."

'He really was the best of us,' Hydrus thought as the boy stepped back to join the crowd that had severely over-stuffed the headmaster's office. 'I needed more wizards like him.'

Dumbledore sighed. "Is there anyone else waiting down stairs?"

"Let's see" Fred mimed a quick count.

George held up a finger. "Just one."

The twins had taken seats on either side of Hydrus, arms folded over their chests. They only had to wait a few more moments and the crowd parted for none other than Draco, and Luna herself. The girl had a small smile on her face, and she stepped up to the headmaster's desk.

"Professor Dumbledore," she said. "I believe I know who is responsible for this."

"Oh?" She nodded. "Who would that be?"

"Nargles, of course."

Hydrus's smile grew even larger. Dumbledore hummed, and glanced about the room, before finally looking at Hydrus again. They had another, much more comfortable staring contest, before finally the headmaster turned to Flitwick.

"What do you think, Filius?" The headmaster asked. "Did you see any 'nargles' tonight?"

The half-goblin swallowed. "I didn't see them." He took a long breath. "But if Ms. Lovegood says she saw them, then I believe her."

Hydrus nodded at the man, then stood after lifting Fawkes up onto his shoulder. "If that's the case, then I suggest we not linger here for much longer. Who knows when they might strike again."

"Absolutely."

"Indubitably."

Hydrus bowed to Dumbledore. "At your leave, Headmaster?"

"You may all go," the old wizard started. "But, if any of you have something to help remove nargle ink, my eyes will be closed for the next thirty seconds and I would love to see it on my desk by the time I reopen them."

With that everyone quickly made their exit, aside from George and Fred who began scribbling something on the headmaster's desk. Hydrus made sure he was in stride with Cedric as they left.

"I appreciated you being there," Hydrus said. "Have you given any more thought to my offer?"

"I just wish she'd told me about it sooner," Cedric said, sounding a touch sour about his girlfriend. "Can't believe no one said anything." He shook his head. "And yeah, I'd love to help out."

Hydrus smiled. "Wonderful. I'll see you on Wednesday."

Cedric grinned back at him. "Looking forward to it."

Once they were at the bottom of the stairs, most everyone dispersed, leaving Hydrus with just Draco and Luna once the Weasley twins had scurried away. Them and Fawkes, still perched on his shoulder. Luna spoke up first.

"Thank you, Hydrus." She gave him a hug which he gently returned. "You didn't have to do this."

"I know, and I didn't." Luna pulled back, brows furrowed. "You have Draco here to thank."

The blonde's cheeks flushed. "That's-"

"He asked me why you weren't wearing shoes one night, and as soon as I told him what I thought was happening, he said he'd look into it and take care of it." Hydrus clapped his friend on the shoulder. "The only thing I did was try to take credit for it to make sure Fred and George wouldn't get the satisfaction."

Now it was Draco's turn to be smothered by the flighty third-year, and it brought a cheshire grin to Hydrus seeing how uncomfortable it made the pureblood heir. When she finally broke it off she beamed at them.

"Thank you both then."

With that she skipped away, and Draco turned to glare at Hydrus. "What was—"

"I'm proud of you, Draco." Hydrus bowed his head to the boy who was stunned. "Or should I say, Draco the Nargle Slayer." He wrapped his arm around the other boy's shoulders and started to lead them back to the dorms. "It might seem silly now, but it means the whole world to that girl back there." Their eyes met. "You're finally starting to put some more pieces in that puzzle box."

Draco kept up the stare for a while, then nodded and looked away.

Hydrus turned to Fawkes. "What are you still doing here?" The phoenix 'hissed' at him, and it took him a second to understand, then sigh. "Fine, but if you wind up having to go through an early revival because you wanted to play with the child, then it's on you."

His cousin gave him an odd look but Hydrus ignored it as they returned to the common room.


Hydrus stared out over the crowd of students who'd decided to come and see what Study Club would be about. Most of them were from his own house and Ravenclaw, but there was a smattering of Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs too. He'd not expected so many Ravenclaws after what 'he' had done, but it seemed word got around quickly about the true motives of it. Either that or there really was nothing that they wouldn't do for more knowledge. He was on a small stage he'd raised from the floor not unlike what he'd done at the Black Yule Ball, and had given a brief speech about the hall itself and what the club's goals were.

"Lastly," he said. "Allow me to introduce you all to the Head Tutors who shall be helping to answer questions, give demonstrations, and in general serve as examples for us all. First up, for Defence Against the Dark Arts. He received an O on his OWL on the subject, is well on his way to doing the same for his NEWT, and is genuinely one of only three people I thought could be Hogwarts' Champion: Cedric Diggory!"

The crowd clapped and cheered as Cedric made his way up to the stage. Hydrus pinned the badge onto his robes, shaped into a wand and shield to represent the subject, then shook his hand.

"Next, the Vice-President of the Creatures Club…"

It took several minutes to pass out the badges, thanks in large part to the way some of the students decided to use the opportunity to say a few words. Once he'd finished, Hydrus snapped his fingers, and the one piece of the Study Hall that he'd entirely built and designed by himself revealed itself. A large plaque now hung on the wall behind him, the WWW emblem of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes engraved onto its surface, and below that the words:

Built with love and pride by Fred and George Weasley

founding members of The Hogwarts Study Club

Immediately snickers began to ring out around him. Neither of the twins were around to cry foul, so Hydrus just smiled and announced, "Well then, let's get to studying."

The Slytherins and most of what few Gryffindors had come went to the Practicals side, while the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs went to the other. Hydrus chuckled when he realised most of the older Ravenclaws were marvelling over the desks themselves and the runes carved into them rather than actually studying, but he knew that would pass in time. On the opposite side, almost everyone was already trying out the dummies or even up on the duelling platforms like Draco and Blaise.

He sat down on the edge of the 'stage' to take it all in, and Bellatrix stood beside him, leaning against it and almost touching him.

"I hope you don't think this club means you're getting out of detentions with me," she said. "It just means now you don't have any excuses to waste half our time together."

"I wouldn't dream of it."

Eventually the two hours that had been portioned aside for the club ended and students slowly began to trickle out. Hydrus sighed when he saw they hadn't bothered to reset the dummies before leaving, and decided he'd have to make an announcement tomorrow. Bellatrix helped him get everything back to looking in proper shape on that side, but when they turned to face the other there was still a student studying in the corner of the quiet section.

"I'll go handle that." He needed something that would let him get away with 'wasting' more of his detention, so quickly pecked Bellatrix on the cheek and narrowly dodged the playful slap to the arm she tried sending his way. "I might be a minute."

It was time he nipped this accidental reputation for hating muggle-borns in the bud.

Hermione was seemingly engrossed in her book, but he knew his former right-hand woman better than that. Her eyes weren't moving along the rows of words, her lips kept twitching as she acted out some conversation in her mind, and it filled him with such a strange, melancholic joy to see her again up close. He reached out and deactivated the desk's silencing charm and the girl practically jumped.

"You alright, Granger?" he asked.

Hermione glanced around, finally realising she was the last one in the Study Hall. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, I'll leave."

She tried grabbing her book, but Hydrus pushed it back down onto the table. "Hermione, are you alright?"

The girl blinked at him, looked away, then nodded. "I'm fine."

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," he said. "But I certainly hope its not because you feel uncomfortable around me because of those awful rumours."

"No!" It came too quickly for it to be entirely true. "Ginny told us all about what happened. I… I don't think you hate muggle-borns or anything like that."

"Would it be alright if you gave me a chance to prove that?" he asked. "Tell me what's going on and I'll help you out."

"Nothing's going on."

He wished he could still say 'You know I know you better than that.', but it probably wouldn't come off as well these days. "Did Potter do something?"

"No."

"Weasley?"

"No!"

He smiled at her. "Unlike you, I have all night to keep pestering you, and believe me when I say I will."

She glared at him, but he didn't relent. Eventually she looked away and sighed. "It's Viktor."

"Has he finally given up?" Hydrus asked with a cocked brow. "Resorted to communicating entirely through grunts? I tried to tell him that English wasn't that bad, but…"

"No," she said with a snort and like that Hydrus knew he'd won. "He's just acting jealous, wouldn't come here with me."

Hydrus nodded. "Makes sense. You're probably the first girl he's regularly hung out with who isn't just flinging herself at him, and so you've got him both intrigued and scared."

"It's so stupid!" She thumped her book against the desk and Hydrus couldn't help but smile at how familiar this all was. "And it's like you said, he's constantly got girls trying to get him away from me, but you don't see me acting like him."

"Oh?" he asked. "You haven't done anything at all in jealousy?"

Hermione opened her mouth to respond, but then shut it and looked away with an embarrassed flush to her cheeks.

"Come on," Hydrus said. "No judgement here, but I find that jealousy is something that gets worse when you both feel it. If you're insecure, and depending on how you show it, he might think that you just don't like him all that much."

"I do though." Hermione was playing with a bit of her hair now. "It's… just hard. Everyone here treats him like a god, and I'm just me. He could have any girl he wants." She was looking less and less confident. "It constantly feels like he's going to remember that one of these days..."

'Sorry, Hermione,' he thought. 'But I really need you on Team Hydrus.'

"That's understandable." He turned and saw Bellatrix pouting in the corner, but quickly looked away before she caught him staring. "I don't mean to offend or hurt you when I say this, but he is out of your league." It wasn't true, not in the least, but that didn't matter now. "He's a pureblood, and more than that, he's one who has actually earned his status and reputation. He's not even just a jock, he's the Triwizard Champion. You really don't have anything but your own two legs to stand on."

The girl looked heartbroken to hear him say that, staring down at the desk with a frown and saying nothing. Hydrus had it on good authority that his heritage revelation had caused quite the stir in the world. Purebloods like him were standing taller than ever, and muggle-borns like Hermione were feeling the pressure more than ever before. After all, when the seemingly most powerful wizard of an entire generation came from the purest family, it helped reinforce the status quo that Dumbledore had stood in opposition of as a half-blood.

Of course, that meant there was an entire population of talented people ripe for the harvest.

"I'll ask you again, Hermione." She looked up at him. "Do you want me to help?"

"How?"

"First and foremost, by talking some sense into Krum." He shrugged. "I'm not sure how or why, but somehow I think I've earned his friendship."

She nodded quickly. "You have."

"And there's something else besides that, that would help us both." Technically Hydrus had intended for this to start with Leorex, but he supposed it wouldn't hurt to begin the project early. "You need more backing, something that you can press your back against to stand tall in the face of what the world tells you you're lacking." He made a show of thumbing his ring. "And I need the world to know that I'm not some angry puritan like my ancestors."

Hermione nodded along slowly. "And what did you have in mind?"

"I currently find myself, if not legally then at least in the court of common sense, the future Lord of House Black, the most powerful and 'pure' family in the entire wizarding world." He held up his middle knuckle, careful not to unfold the digit and flip her off instead of just showing off his Scion Ring. Slowly he changed to holding up the index finger. "As well as the last surviving member of a dead one.

"How would you like to be 'adopted' into the latter?" Hermione blinked. "You wouldn't have to change your last name or anything like that. Not gonna tell you can't grow up to be a dentist like your parents. It would be more like a sponsorship of sorts, where you get to have my backing, use my influence as your own."

"How'd you know my parents are dentists?" She narrowed her eyes at him. "And I don't think you'd give all that to me for no reason, even if you need more good PR."

"You think I'd make an offer like that without research? And of course not." He shook his head. "What I'd want in exchange is for you to be great."

"Huh?"

"If you're going to be my family, I shall expect greatness from you." He tapped his rings against the desk. "Just as you will no longer be standing on your own, so too shall your actions reflect, and raise the status of, this 'new' family. As the top witch in your entire year, and the top student overall before I showed up, I would expect you to continue to stand head and shoulders above our peers."

Hermione just stared at him, and Hydrus was reminded of the way Arcturus was always trying to measure people up, so he continued.

"At the beginning, it will just be you and I who claim this sign." He removed the ring and handed it to her so she could look at the symbol he worshipped. "But I will be inviting others, and it would mean that just as you get to rely on me, they will in turn get to rely on you." He took the ring back. "Nothing too extreme mind you, just…"

"What a family would do for one another," she finished.

"Exactly." Hydrus nodded. "I could spend the next hundred years gathering as much political influence as possible and I still wouldn't be able to just abolish the current system. It's too old, too ingrained in our society." He rubbed at his brow. "But what I can do is start trends. If House Black takes on a pseudo-cadet branch of adopted muggle-borns, reaping the benefit of what your side of the world has to offer?"

"The others will follow." Hermione was nodding along again, and Hydrus knew he had her on the hook. "It will become a competition, seeing who has the 'best' muggle-borns." Her nose wrinkled. "It's a bit dehumanising."

"It's a step forward," Hydrus said. "And as long as we keep taking those, things will change."

She gave him one last up-and-down look over. "You really are serious about this?"

"Of course I am." He held out his hand and helped her to feet. "You take a week to think about it, I'll talk to Krum at some point and see if I can't get him to see things straight, and maybe I can walk away from this with a quidditch star for a brother-in-law."

She laughed and Hydrus turned away to rejoin with Bellatrix. He knew she would grill him about the long interaction with the girl, and so began to think of a very different sales pitch for the idea.


BBaRtS


Chapter 18, this fic's finally legal to vote. Been posting for two and a half months now, which is slightly less voting eligible, but still. We got to move forward with some subplots, and saw more of Hydrus's wider goals. Also just a touch of Bellatrix reflecting the influence that Hydrus is having on her. I remember way-back-when someone left a review saying that Hydrus should use his knowledge of his own future to take advantage of this other dark lord, and couldn't say anything lolol. On to more recent reviews!

"Also nah, your headcanon is wrong. It's called football because the wizarding world is based on 1900s I think and back then it was called football too. Football has been around for way longer then the wizarding society."

Britain didn't stop calling it Soccer until the 1970's/1980's if Google is to be believed. Besides, its Fanfiction, whatever I say is my headcannon is correct because it is by definition the cannon in my head lolol

"hope the angst improves soon."

This is one of those things that will come and go. On one hand, a chapter like this has almost no angst in it whatsoever. We see his temper flare for a bit with Dumbledore at the beginning, but nothing all too sad. On the other hand, he's fully aware that being around someone like Sirius distresses him and messes with his emotional stability, which could lead to 'angst' moments down the line when they do have to meet up. You gotta climb the mountain to take in the view.

"Remember, delete your art."

I was so offended by this for half a second, and then I realized it was on the chapter where I mentioned deleting/rewriting chapter 19. For a second there it was so cutting and I was just like 'How DARE' hahahaha

"A nice and accurate prophecy you say? I smell a reference!"

RIP Sir Terry Pratchett, the greatest fantasy-comedy writer of all time.

"only have one problem with Sirius's characterisation. ... Not his plot but his mentality is of still a Sirius who feels immense guilt of his best friends death and another friends betrayal as well as getting locked up due to his anger issues plus his family baggage. This Sirius still acts like that instead of a 35 year old Black hier who has only his family baggage which he should have put grown by now."

I don't really think 'family baggage' is something you can put an expiration date on. Some people get past it quickly, others never do. In this story, at least until Hydrus showed up, he was living a full and complete life the way he wanted. Sure he drank and slept around a lot, but that's what made him happy/fulfilled. His family rarely, if ever, impacted his day to day life at all. Then he discovered he has a son, and any family baggage he might've gotten over was suddenly dumped right back on his doorstep as his son, just like the rest of his family, wanted nothing to do with him. Despite having never been around the other Blacks, Hydrus still rejected him. Maybe Sirius WAS the problem all along. Maybe its impossible for him to ever have a family who loves him. These are the sorts of insecurities, conscious or subconscious, he's dealing with. Maybe not as awful as a stay in Azkaban or war-related PTSD, but it's still damaging.

"Antagonists would fill this gap, except he's already eviscerated Malfoy... I'm cautiously hopeful that you have Plans™ to fill the void."

I'll say this, 'antagonist' is definitely the proper word to use here, as opposed to a 'villain'. You also talked about Hydrus/Dumbledore's relationship moving forward, and it's going to develop further as we go on, and go through some growing pains. Something to keep in mind though, is that Hydrus is harboring a MASSIVE amount of guilt, deserving or not, towards all those he cared for in the past life. Especially those he feels he's failed.