The rumbling whispers of confusion went silent at his cry. For the briefest of moments nothing happened. Hydrus hoped that this wasn't going to be a repeat of his time in Switzerland with Dumbledore, when suddenly the lake began to ripple and bubble.

Francis appeared.

The hydrus's head rose up out of the water like a breaching whale, and the man who shared his name with the species had to keep himself from smiling at the screams that rose up from the crowd. The sea serpent continued to rise until it stood nearly two stories above Hydrus. He could feel the pleasure rolling off Apophis as the juvenile snake 'reunited' with his uncle, even if his familiar couldn't reveal himself. After shaking off some water and nearly soaking Hydrus, Francis leaned down.

"Is it time, my Lord?" he rumbled.

"Yes," Hydrus confirmed. "Just as we discussed. Go and retrieve my hostage, and then ensure that the male isn't able to succeed until the female has."

"As you wish."

With that, Francis sunk back into the depths.

Although Hydrus had initially ignored the sea serpent's plea to come with him, Apophis had flamed the small amount of lingering guilt in his chest. The little snake had continued to complain about how much he missed his 'uncle', and although Hydrus knew the thing was just manipulating him, it still worked. At the end of his winter break, he and Bella had gone to retrieve the beast.

'Thank god he doesn't have scales like yours,' Hydrus thought as he subtly petted the invisible Apophis. 'Else I never would've been able to apparate him close enough to sneak in.'

As it turned out, there were parts of the Forbidden Forest that even Hogwarts' legendary anti-apparition wards couldn't reach. Admittedly, such parts happened to also have acromantula living in them, but Apophis's 'terrifying' presence cleared such problems up quickly. It had taken time, bribes, and no small amount of wanton worry towards being caught to get the Giant Squid to allow Francis to move in, but eventually the cephalopod had relinquished some space for the serpent, and Hydrus's plans for the second task were taken care of.

Now he just had to wait.

His mental clock was slowly ticking down, and he was relieved when the hydrus re-emerged from the water, a massive post like a ship's mast clenched in its jaw. Draco had been taken as his hostage, and the boy's eyes had just begun to flutter open when Francis dumped the post he was tied to on the dock. Hydrus bit his lip for a moment to stop himself from laughing at the other wizard's man-handling, scared of ruining the stoic aura he was trying to put off.

"Well done," he hissed. "Now see to the rest of your task."

Francis nodded and dove back down, his elongated body dipping in and out of the water as he went. For a brief moment Hydrus wondered how many muggle borns had now come to a decision about how the legend of the Loch Ness Monster had begun; that a hydrus like Francis must have lived there. The legend wasn't actually based on hydruses, of course. Nessie would never share her territory as the Great Squid had.

Hydrus snapped his fingers and ignored the shooting pain it sent up and down his arm and part of his back. His magic burst out and disintegrated the post Draco was tied to.

If there was one thing that happened during his time with Sirius that he couldn't turn a blind eye too, it was the man pointing out that his magic was fucked up. Hydrus had been trying to tell himself that it would go away eventually, that it would settle once his body had grown into it. But it hadn't. It wasn't. The mis-sized power was getting worse.

Draco took the seat beside him and gave a nod which Hydrus returned. "You weren't kidding about me getting picked, huh?"

"Nope," Hydrus agreed. "And this moment in the spotlight should keep us even for me having you hold that homing rune for Francis to track."

"Right…" Draco started. "How come with people like Luna, you just do things to help her, but with me it's always gotta be a transaction?"

Hydrus blinked. Now was hardly the time for such questions, but he supposed there really wasn't anyone listening in. He shrugged. "You wouldn't believe me otherwise."

The blonde opened his mouth to argue, paused, then closed it and looked away. Hydrus wouldn't have snapped at the boy if he disagreed, but it wasn't like what he said was a lie. Draco had spent his entire life being groomed to be a politician; if Hydrus had shown up with presents and open arms, the boy would've stared down the gift horse like a dentist.

"How are you doing?" Draco asked to Hydrus's surprise. "You haven't been around much."

"Fine," Hydrus lied smoothly. "Just been working on something tricky."

"Anything I can help with?"

Hydrus shook his head. "Not unless you don't mind me sacrificing your life for potentially nothing."

Draco snorted and Hydrus chuckled. That was one of his favourite tricks that Dumbledore had taught him. Sometimes, the best lie was the truth. You just had to say it with a tone that implied the other person would have to be an idiot to believe it.

The two settled down on the makeshift pier and just waited. Hydrus's nerves were just beginning to fray with worry when Fleur appeared, half-dragging and half-carrying her younger sister on to the shore. Draco quickly looked away from her far-too-exposed skin, and Hydrus regretted the fact that he didn't feel up to the task of helping her the rest of the way up and out of the water. Every spell he cast these days left him aching, and tended to have slightly more caustic effects than he would've preferred.

Fleur got Gabrielle back onto land and dropped onto her knees. The crowd, or at least a large portion of them, were hooping and hollering at her arrival. Hydrus's own victory had gone almost without note thanks to how anticlimactic it was, but it wasn't like he hadn't intended for that to be the case. His love for Fleur might've been lost to sacrifice, but the woman was still his friend, still another life who weighed on his conscience. She deserved this boiling celebration that was slowly spreading onto the smaller portion of the crowd who'd been put off by the initial group's over-enthusiastic outburst.

"Can you do that?" Draco asked as he watched Fleur cast a drying charm on herself and her sister. "I could really use it."

"Pussy." Hydrus ignored the involuntary cough his shivering friend gave at the crass insult and cast the spell, swallowing the pain it caused him. "There."

Draco began to glare at him, but the glare quickly turned to fear as a massive reptilian head appeared once more from the lake. Francis leaned in close till the tip of his chin was resting in Hydrus's lap, half his whiskers splayed out and slopped upon Draco's lap. Hydrus laughed and leaned in close to give the serpent a good rubbing as Apophis took the opportunity to slide up onto his uncle's head.

"The deal is done?" Francis asked. "I may stay here, my lord?"

"Of course, my friend," Hydrus confirmed. "Thank you, for everything you've done for me."

Francis hissed in pleasure. To Draco it no doubt sounded like any other sssss'ing sound the serpent made, but to Hydrus it left a warm feeling in his chest. He might've failed old friends, been misleading new ones, but at least in this instance he had succeeded in something.

"Uncle Francis!" Apophis called as he slithered back onto Hydrus's shoulders. The basilisk's weight-reducing charm was fading, and he knew he'd have to replace it soon. "Now that you have cemented your place at my father's side, you must join me in my crusade!"

Hydrus blinked. Crusade?

"And what 'crusade' would that be, young one?"

The hydrus's tone was bemused and parental. The gargantuan serpent even looked bemused, if that were possible.

"There is an ancient queen resting within the castle walls," Apophis said. "I intend to take her nest for myself. It will take time for my army to grow, but you must be a part of it!"

Francis's tongue flicked out and swam through the air in 'laughter'. "Of course, child."

Hydrus winced as his magic flared up for no reason, and burned a touch of his skin. Luckily he kept it from actually leaving his body, but that didn't stop Draco from noticing his sudden discomfort. The boy was clearly making to ask about it, but was interrupted by a beautiful throat clearing. Hydrus turned to see Fleur had approached, Gabrielle hidden behind her now towel-covered legs.

"Is it yours?" Fleur asked. "The snake."

"He is," Hydrus confirmed. "His name is Francis. Sorry if he caused you any problems, I told him to be a pain in case they were timing us."

That was a lie. He'd instructed Francis to stop Krum from getting his hostage before Fleur got hers. Part of it was because it was unjust what they'd done with this task, another part was that she was his friend. Or at least, she had been.

"He saved me," Fleur said. "From some grindylows."

Hydrus stopped himself from sucking on his teeth. He turned to Francis. "Pull back a touch, like I'm scolding you." The serpent did as he was told, though the rest of his body language expressed curiosity rather than anything else. Hydrus turned back towards Fleur. "He's always had a soft streak. Consider yourself lucky for your heritage on top of that."

Fleur chuckled and looked away shaking her head. "Right, I'll be glad they soaked me."

"Just imagine what he did to Krum, then count your blessings." Hydrus patted Francis's snout. "If you hadn't been so charming, I'm sure he would've gobbled you up."

If Hydrus's past experiences with this version of Fleur had been him walking a tightrope between 'offensive' and 'flattering', then what he was doing now was basically spitting in her face. He'd flat out said the only reason she came in second was because of her abilities. Those were the sorts of words and accusations she'd been dealing with her entire life; if he wasn't exactly right about what she thought of him, or hadn't managed to set his tone properly, or hadn't properly laid the foundation…

To his relief she laughed. "Whatever you say, Black."

He smiled and laughed along with her. Fleur and Gabrielle were eventually gathered up by their parents, so Hydrus and Draco just kept sitting along the edge of the pier. Draco was bending his knees slightly to keep his feet from getting wet, but Hydrus was content to keep his toes dangling in the water. That had been part of his signal with Francis to arrive, and it felt good to have that small connection with the cold water helping to keep his temperature down.

His thoughts were just about to drift back to the acidic power that was eating him alive every time he touched it when a shark-headed Krum emerged from the water. He was carrying Hermione bridal style, and Hydrus hoped the teen had enough sense to have carried her a different way when he was actually swimming with her. Krum shook his head and the transfiguration undid itself just in time for Hermione to awaken.

The crowd gave a much smaller cheer for the quidditch star's arrival. Hydrus couldn't blame them, this had to be the least spectator-friendly event possible. Krum took one look at Hydrus and his hydrus before scowling and storming off.

"I'll have to get going now," Hydrus hissed, patting the massive snake's scales. "Apophis and I shall come visit when we can."

Francis just nodded, and slowly dipped back beneath the surface of the water. Draco stood and offered Hydrus a hand, which he took with genuine need. He probably should've expected that a leviathan doing its best impression of a lap dog would leave him with dead legs. Once he was up on his feet, he moved to join the other two champions, and an impatient looking Bagman who seemed like he was about to explode with anticipation.

"And there we have it folks!" A few polite cheers rang out. "Once more, Hogwarts' own Hydrus Black has claimed first place!" Now there was a proper roar, and Hydrus allowed his ego to bask in it. "Of course, with a stunning second place, Fleur Delacour was no slouch either!" Now there was an even louder roar, and Hydrus did his best to ignore it. "And I don't know about you all, but I can't WAIT to see what legendary quidditch star Viktor Krum has in store for us to try and reclaim his place on top of the world!"

A fair enough epitaph for the boy's performance today. Hydrus would've felt guilty for Krum's teeth, which were currently being ground together like mill stones, if that weren't so ridiculous. He'd won this tournament, this very same event, without Francis's help decades ago. This time around he just went about it smarter.

Besides, he wanted Krum good and pissed off. It would make his next move easier.


Sirius was sitting on the edge of the enchanted table that the Goblet of Fire rested atop. James and Amelia were nearby somewhere, under invisibility cloaks like him, but as the crowd began to fade it was looking more and more like this would be another bust. At the beginning, before things had kicked off, a few people had stopped by to get their pictures taken with the trophy but that was all. Each and all of them were marked for it, of course, and would be thoroughly investigated by the trio as soon as they were done staking out the prize.

Sirius had made sure to make silly faces in each of the photos, just in case there was someday a technology to develop old photos in such a way that it would reveal him.

Just as they were about to call the bust a bust for the night, one of only two members of his family that he wasn't disgusted with wandered up: Regulus. There was another gentleman with him, no doubt a date, who looked rather bored despite Sirius's brother's glimmering eyes. The younger Black stepped up towards the cup, and ran his thumb across the nameplate down at the bottom.

"The last one was carved in over a hundred years ago," Regulus said. "Whoever wins will be the seventh, and then they'll pry it off and replace it with a fresh one for the next champion." He shook his head. "They shouldn't have left it at just six, not a proper number at all."

"Right." The other man's boredom was practically palpable. "Can we get going now?"

Regulus sucked his teeth. "It could be my nephew's name going on there, you know."

"I thought you hated your family?"

Sirius winced, and his shame only grew larger when Regulus shrugged and said, "He's never done wrong by me."

'Unlike me,' he thought. 'Only two of them I can stand, and I abandoned them both.' He really hated that he couldn't sigh right now. 'And I don't even have the excuse that I didn't know about Reg.'

"Fine," his brother said with a sigh that wasn't half as strong as the one Sirius wanted to let loose. "Let's go to that spot in London you told me about."

They left, and Sirius let out the breath he'd been holding. He slumped down in on himself and was glad his brother had decided to stop by just before the end, rather than earlier on in the stake out. The whispering voice of his best friend helped break through the cocoon of self pity he'd been about to wrap himself up in.

"You alright, mate?" James whispered. "Can't imagine…"

"I'm good," Sirius lied. "Thanks."

Amelia probably wanted to shoosh them, but the normally stern woman seemed to be giving them some leeway. He'd yet to have any real deep talks about his family and his feelings for them with her, none deep enough to say she knew more than James or Remus at any rate, but she knew enough. She knew his brother wasn't all that bad, and that it was no thanks to Sirius that the boy managed to have the leeway he'd weaselled out of their mother.

'Right, "the boy", that's what he is,' Sirius thought sarcastically. 'Still haven't changed.'

The last time he'd seen his brother, or rather, the time before this one and the first trial, had been a coincidental meeting at a classy bar that he'd only gone to because it had been the only place his date would let herself be called his 'date' in. He couldn't even remember her name now, just some witch with a large chest he met at a conference, but he remembered the run in with Regulus well enough. It had started awkward, then he was apologetic and his brother was offended, and it ended with the younger Black storming off and Sirius nursing a nasty welt on his jaw.

"Don't be offended that we gotta put him and his friend on the priority one list," James whispered with only the slightest teasing wilt to his voice. "Rules is rules, after all."

Amelia quietly cleared her throat before Sirius could respond. That was about as close to a 'shut the hell up, idiots' as she could manage given their position. James tried to pat him on the back, or at least that's what Sirius hoped he was going for when he ended up 'petting' the tender part of his chest. The snort James let out confirmed it had been an accident, the puff of air that came bursting between Sirius's lips earned the ire of their boss, and the slightly louder clearing of her throat she gave? Well, Sirius wasn't sure he wanted to try and interpret that.


Arcturus Black sat in pain. The Irish coffee Kreacher had made for him wasn't working its usual magic on his mood and aches, so he was stuck dealing with the latest reports unaided. There really wasn't anything that he had to get done right away, but he'd long since stopped falling for that trap. If you let the little things pile up, you wouldn't have room on your plate for the big ones. Not to mention the little devils that hid in the details of such minutia.

He doubted there were any pitfalls waiting for him in the 'Quarterly Earnings Report for St. Murdoch's Murderous Statues', though. He'd invested in the business some fifty years ago, and thus far the only unexpected turn of events had been the time Turkey's marble exports went to shit. Even then, Old Murdoch… Or was it Young Murdoch? When did Geoffrey die again?

He shook his head and set the report aside onto the 'done' pile without going down that rabbit hole. It was getting harder and harder to keep his mind on track these days. It almost made him grateful for the pain he was constantly saddled with; the aches kept him distracted from the distractions. His hip especially had been throwing fits lately, and it was a constant debate between replacing the damned thing again or saving the money and not wasting any more of his descendant's inheritance.

It didn't take a diviner to tell he'd be dead soon, after all.

A part of him was scared, far more scared even than he was during the war. Another was relieved, like a runner who could see the finish line cresting over a hilltop. All of him, no matter which chunk you asked, was just about ready to throw in the towel on today's business on account of all the pain when suddenly the fireplace in the other room whooshed.

Arcturus straightened his back. He organised the papers on his desk, slid the whiskey he'd topped up his coffee cup with under the desk, and glared at the door to await the knock. When it came, he cleared his throat loud enough to tell them to enter.

It was Bella. His granddaughter swept into the room like she was queen of the world, and no doubt in her mind she soon would be. A part of him wanted to beat the arrogance out of her, but his aching hip and back quickly put a quash to that. Hell, even on a good day he wasn't sure he could still put up much of a fight against her.

"Grandfather," Bella said with a smile and an informal curtsy. "We missed you at the second trial."

"Hmph. No point going to that dog and pony show," he said. "I'm glad Hydrus allowed you to pass on what his plans were."

Bellatrix flinched. She'd honestly thought she'd been slick, as if he wouldn't notice the change in her demeanour when making reports about his grand-grandson. Arcturus had expected something along those lines to happen the moment Hydrus had stared down Bella for reporting about the trips he was planning to make over winter break.

"It's not like he's hiding anything," she managed to get out smoothly. It seemed like it was the truth. "He just doesn't like being surprised."

"Hmph."

The brat really had her wrapped around his finger it seemed. The Black patriarch was almost jealous of him; back in the day his own wife had been as much a threat as a partner. Especially when he got back from the war. He could empathise with her annoyance at having to hand the reins of the family back over to him, but that didn't mean he would let her keep control. It was actually kind of nice, having someone second guessing and sneering at all his decisions, it led to him having at least one person in the room who wasn't a glad-handing nincom-

"Well, the plan went as Hydrus said it would." Arcturus glanced back at Bellatrix as she interrupted his train of thought. "At first the minister was furious, but my little water snake set things up at the press conference properly. The French should settle down, the Ministry won't cause any more fusses, and Hydrus was invited to the Feuille Verte Galla in Bordeaux this summer."

"Bah, nothing in that country but cowards and whores." Arcturus rubbed at his jaw, even more old memories flooding back to him. "I remember when Grindelwald first moved across the Rhine, in the muggles' shadows. The bastards practically let him in.

"Operation Suspirium they called it. Let the fuckers get across the river, then come at them from the north and south while they're 'recovering'." Arcturus shook his head. "Hmph. Damned fools. We're wizards. Who needs to recover after crossing a river?" He scoffed and paused as the wound on his chest, the one that the best mediwitches in the world hadn't been able to restore, pulsed in pain. "It was a damned massacre, and those fucking frogs just watched it happen, said it wasn't 'strategically sensible' to continue with the plan. Called us 'acceptable losses'!"

"And what a shame it is you weren't actually lost."

Bellatrix jumped, but Arcturus had heard the floo. Sirius had arrived, and was leaning beside the door with his arms folded over his chest. The reports had said that his grandson had been injured in some rune malfunction at the Ministry, but if it was still affecting him then the lad had the good sense to hide it. Hide it well.

"Hmph. What do you want, brat?" Arcturus demanded. "I didn't summon you."

Sirius sneered back at him. "I wouldn't come if you did. I just need Regulus's new address."

"What do you want with that weak-spined child?" Arcturus demanded. "Just because you're back on the family tree doesn't mean you can waltz in here whenever you want."

"Unlike you, I actually care about the people who I'm supposed to care about." His grandson's voice was cold. "I've already warned you before, old man. Don't test me."

Arcturus looked Sirius up and down. There was something off about him. The Black Sheep had always been aloof at the best of times around him, downright hostile at the worst. Now it was something else entirely. It was like the boy… No, it was like the man had suddenly matured over night. He wasn't slouching for once, his storm-grey eyes were stone-cold, and he was dressed in a manner befitting a man of his station; or at least one that had just gotten off work.

For the first time in years, the consideration to make Sirius his heir wasn't just some flight of fancy.

"Hmph. You're lucky I'm in a good mood." Arcturus snapped his fingers and Kreacher appeared. "Give him Regulus's address."

To his surprise, the elf actually hesitated. It was only for the briefest of moments, but never before had the elf ever even considered disobeying him. Before even a second passed Kreacher bowed, then popped away. What the hell had gotten into the thing? The Blacks had been breeding them for their loyalty for centuries, why would Kreacher suddenly…

"Here you is, Lord Master Black." The elf had reappeared, and was holding out a scrap of parchment. "The little master's address is here."

Sirius strode over and snatched the note from Kreacher. He read it once and tucked it into his pocket. "Good."

His grandson strode away without so much as a goodbye. Sirius might've been back in the family charter, but he was making it very clear he didn't like that fact beyond what it got him. In his defence, that was how Arcturus had raised him.

"What's gotten into you?" he asked Bella. The girl looked away. "You actually kept your mouth shut for once."

She opened her mouth, paused, then answered. "Nothing. Unlike the rest of this family, I've just finally realised he's not worth the effort."

Arcturus cocked his eyebrow at her. That was dangerously close to criticism. 'First Kreacher, now Bella?'

He grunted. "Was there anything else you needed to tell me?"

"No." Bella stood. "Cissy was hoping to meet with you soon, though."

"Oh I'm sure she was." Arcturus grimaced. "She acts like that pissant husband of hers didn't deserve exactly what Hydrus gave him."

Bella smiled. "Oh I'm sure she knows. She'll understand better once you explain it to her, though." She made to leave. "I'll see you next weekend, grandfather."

With a curtsy she took her exit, and finally Arcturus had his peace once more. Of course, with that peace came the loss of distraction for his pain. He sighed and rubbed at the old wounds once again. Had he still been just a few… No, quite a few, years younger, he'd be offended at this obvious shift in power that was beginning to blossom.

'Hurry up and take this damned ring, Hydrus,' he thought. 'Before I have to give it to you.'


Hydrus watched the other students begin to trickle out of the Study Hall. It was the day after the second trial, so he could no longer use the excuse of preparing for it to hide away from them. Thus far he hadn't had to use any magic, saving him from the burning sensation it left him with these days, but it was going to be difficult moving forward. Finally his eyes caught the duo he was looking for.

"Krum! Hermione!" he called, waving them over. "Wanted to talk to the two of you real quick."

His old friend had apparently finally convinced her boyfriend to come to one of the meetings. The look the quidditch star was giving him, the same one that had been plastered across his face since the trial, more or less revealed the reason. Everything had been set up perfectly.

"What?" Krum demanded as the duo approached .

Hydrus sent the signal to Apophis, and the snake which had been transfigured into a cobra, this time by Bellatrix, appeared. Both of the other two teens flinched and Hermione even took a step back. His familiar reared up its head until it was level with Hydrus's.

"I was just curious as to how you enjoyed playing with one of my friends." Hydrus reached up and scratched Apophis's neck, to the little thing's delight. "You have to admit they're quite useful."

Krum growled and Hermione flinched. "It was coward's move." The boy's accent was thicker than ever as he turned to spit on the ground. "You didn't win."

"Oh, no, I definitely did." Hydrus put up the smuggest grin he could manage, a skill he'd finally mastered from spending so much time with his 'cousin' Draco. "It's in the papers and everything. I'm surprised you of all people still get so hung up on losing, after what happened this summer."

Krum snarled something in what Hydrus could only assume was Bulgarian. Hermione grabbed his arm to try and settle him back down, which was the exact opposite of what Hydrus needed her to do.

"Well hey, at least Fleur's happy." He laughed to himself. "Somehow she got the idea in her head that I asked Francis." He paused and gave the couple a patronising smile. "That's the name of my hydrus. She had the idea that I told him to look out for her, can you believe that?"

Again Krum swore at him, or at least that's what Hydrus assumed he was saying. "Coward! You" Something, something, something. "For some pussy!"

"Some pussy?" Hydrus laughed. "She could look, and smell, like the wrong side of your ass and I'd still have played that the way I did. Unlike you, she's actually worth a damn."

The Bulgarian went from looking like he was about to punch Hydrus, to as cold as ice. "What?"

Hydrus had to give the boy credit. Seekers were supposed to be lean, mean, snitch-catching machines. Viktor Krum spat on the sensible tradition with his massive frame, and the bulky teen looked like a troll who couldn't believe that a goat had just blown a raspberry at him.

"I said Fleur's actually worth a damn." Hydrus cocked his head to the side. "Unlike the rest of the sycophants you surround yourself with, I prefer to look at the long term for my investments." He wagged his finger at Krum. "Let's say you finally turn your quidditch career around and win the big one.

"What then? Hm? Where will you even be in, oh, I don't know, fifteen, twenty years?" Hydrus shook his head. "You'll be right back where you started as soon as your quidditch career's over. A worthless wash-up who's family can only call themselves 'pure' because the records didn't bother tracking unimportant nobodies like you and yo-"

"Shut up!" Hydrus held back his grin as Hermione shouted at him. "I don't know who the hell you think you are, but Viktor is worth ten of you! He's sweet and caring, honourable and generous! He doesn't look down on the people around them just because of their family, unlike you, clearly." She took a breath. "Viktor is more than just some quidditch player. Just because you don't understand the value in someone who takes care of the people around him, protects those who need protecting, and so much more, doesn't mean the rest of us don't. He's a better man than you could ever hope to be!"

Hydrus grinned and nearly giggled at how perfectly that went, and Hermione clearly noticed the change in his demeanour, even before he said, "See? Was that so hard?"

He jerked his chin towards Krum who looked away, which did absolutely nothing to hide the teen's bright red ears. Based on the look of shock and embarrassment that flooded across Hermione's face, the girl somehow hadn't picked up on what he was doing at all until now. It seemed love really was blinding.

'Glad I did away with the stuff,' Hydrus thought as he glanced over at Bellatrix who was staring at him from across the hall, clearly impatient. 'Gone and forgotten.'

"Allow me to apologise, Krum. I promise I didn't mean anything I said, and was just trying to get Hermione to quit being stupid." The Gryffindor girl made to protest but he cut her off by directing his attention to her. "As for you, I even gave you extra time so you'd just talk to Krum directly on your own, but I do need an answer. Will you accept my proposal?"

"Proposal?" Krum finally allowed his face to be seen, though there was still a strawberry tinge to his pale cheeks. "What proposal?"

"You weren't the only one in your relationship feeling insecure."

"I wasn't-"

"Hermione was tired of feeling like she wasn't good enough for you. I was tired of people thinking I'm actually the guy I just pretended to be, which she didn't even hesitate to believe, by the way." He threw that last line in on purpose and relished the wince it earned from her. "So I offered to adopt her into the family I'm refounding."

Krum's jaw nearly dropped, and Hermione noticed it immediately. "What?"

"You mean Slytherin?" the Bulgarian asked. "You… You would adopt her into the Slytherin family?"

"Would? I already did." Hydrus shrugged. "Thus far she's ignored my pleading."

The quidditch star's head snapped to Hermione, who looked as uncomfortable as he'd ever seen his former lieutenant. She almost squirmed under her boyfriend's disbelieving look. "What?" she asked again.

"Unlike Godric Gryffindor or Helga Hufflepuff, Salazar Slytherin's fame extends outside of Britain." Hydrus gestured at Krum. "He's a well respected, and more important to you I'm sure, often-cited figure even at Durmstrang."

The quidditch star just nodded.

"I'll need powerful, intelligent, competent people like you to help build the family up to the status it deserves." He held out his hand, and cradled in his palm was a steel ring. It had a wide, jewelless top with the symbol of Death carved into the metal. "I ask for the final time. Would you like to join House Slytherin, and cement your well-deserved spot in this world?"

Hermione stared down at the ring, and Hydrus knew she wanted it. His little stunt earlier had been carefully set up and prepared, but it had also been a calculated risk where the downside was her potentially deciding against joining hands with him. If the information he'd sourced on Krum, the things he'd done and the hard work he'd put in to get himself and his mother out of the life they led, was true though, the boy should be just about to…

"Do it," Krum said, almost whispering. "It is worth it."

Hermione swallowed. Then nodded. "Alright."

She took the ring and Hydrus grinned. "Wonderful. As the patriarch for your new family, allow me to bestow upon you your very first task."

Hermione owlishly blinked at him. "Task?"

"I told you I'd expect things from you." He grinned. "Enchant that ring. As of now it is completely inert, which is hardly befitting a family of our status. Come up with any sorts of protections, charms, curses, and more that you think would suit such a thing." Hydrus held up a fist to show his Black scion ring. "This one will kill, yes kill, anyone who isn't a Black that tries to wear it. It can also function similarly to a blood quill and 'sign' the family crest onto any documents, heat and seal wax for envelopes, and…" A thought suddenly occurred to him. "I believe it also allows you to track the family members wearing it."

He hummed. "Let's not add that last one, at the very least."

"I don't think I'll be adding the first one either," Hermione said, wrinkling her nose as she stared at the Black ring. "What else do you think it should have?"

Hydrus shrugged. "That's for you to decide. I'm entirely leaving the task of making them in your hands."

"Them?"

"Of course." Hydrus chuckled. "I told you, didn't I? I plan on inviting others. The designs you start will be the foundation for all our future family members' rings."

"Was there anyone else you had in mind?" Hermione asked.

"Just one for now," Hydrus confirmed. "He'll be the one who will take whatever you make, and improve upon it ten-times over."

His old friend puffed up a bit at that. "And who would that be?"

"I doubt you'll be meeting him anytime soon." It was a battle to keep his expression unchanged as his magic chose that moment to flare up and singe the inside of his elbow. "He'll be starting Hogwarts shortly after you and I graduate."

"What?" Hermione deflated a bit. "Then how do you know…?"

Hydrus turned to Krum. "If Hermione is Barnabus Beetlesworth, then the boy I'm planning to adopt is Viktor Krum."

The Bulgarian nodded in understanding, but seeing Hermione's look of confusion explained, "The Beetle was best at everything." He glanced at Hydrus. "I am best seeker."

"Damn right you are." Hydrus nodded. "Unfortunately for me I lost my hand, so you get to keep that title."

Krum snorted and Hermione smiled, clearly a bit lost amongst the quidditch talk but going along with it. The quidditch phenom nodded at Apophis, who had been quiet throughout it all. "You bring snake everywhere?"

"He spends some time with Francis at the lake, some time with the Creatures professor Hagrid." Hydrus ran his fingers over Apophis's much duller cobra scales. "But for the most part I like to keep him close."

Again his magic flared up and he had to ignore it.

"Is that safe?" Hermione asked. "What if it bit someone?"

"Apophis wouldn't bite anyone, would you?" Hydrus channelled his inner Hagrid and made an over-exaggerated kissy face at the snake, who took it in with unironic delight. "Magical snakes are a great deal more intelligent than mundane ones."

"And I'm the smartest of them all."

"Right, of course you are."

Apparently sarcasm didn't translate through parseltongue all that well, as the little transfigured basilisk basked in the 'praise' once more.

"If you say so…" Hermione didn't seem convinced. "We should get going."

Hydrus nodded. "I'm really, really glad to have you with me Hermione." He winked at Krum. "Maybe I'll get to call you a sibling someday too."

He laughed as both teens rolled their eyes in spite of the blushes on their cheeks. He watched them leave with a smile, and as soon as the door was shut behind them Apophis shook his head and the spell Bellatrix had placed him under faded away to reveal his true basilisk form.

"I did well, did I not, father?"

"You did," Hydrus agreed as he rubbed his aching limb. "I'm proud of you. Keep it up."

The little basilisk's tongue flickered out of his mouth in joy, and Hydrus smiled as his fiancee approached. Bellatrix jerked her head towards the door. "She took the ring?"

"She did," Hydrus confirmed. "She'll be a valuable asset to you and I's future."

"If you say so." Bellatrix leaned against him and wrapped her arms around his chest. "I love you."

"I love you too," he lied. "By the way, is the reason you're able to track me because of my scion ring?"

Bellatrix blinked at him, then giggled. "Oh, sweetie, as if I'd ever use something so mundane."

"Right."

Hydrus sighed as Bellatrix continued to giggle to herself.


BBaRtS


And there's chapter 21. Uploaded later than I usually do, but still on Saturday. If there's one thing I'll take away from this week, it's that the negative reactions can hit you when you least expect them, but that you gotta keep an eye on the over all trend. Most people were bugging out over the general 'angst' undertones of the story, and I'm really not sure what to say in response to that. I know this story (on FF, I don't know the Ao3 tags well enough to use them properly yet) doesn't have the 'Angst' tag, but it does have the "hurt/comfort" tag, and I thought what we've gone through thus far succinctly fits into the 'hurt' half of that tag. People wanted Hydrus to communicate with Sirius, I tried giving that, and it got 'too angsty, dropped' in response lmao. I refreshed the stats page and was S.H.O.O.K when I saw the amount of follows had actually gone down, not up, for once.

BUT, as I said, you gotta go off the general trends and this story went from like, 1970 follows to just shy of 2000 (literally, 1999) by the time I'm writing this AN right before uploading it. As someone who would like to someday be a professional writer, this has really just been an experience to learn form, and I've just battened down the hatches and said to myself "You still like the story, you still know where it goes, if not everyone that started the ride with you wants to finish it that's fine."

That being said, as I started, the negative reviews caught me off guard and I didn't put as much time into writing this week as I usually would. If this chapter feels a bit rougher than normal, it's because I didn't spend a dozen hours reading it a dozen times to make all the sorts of 'little' changes that I usually make. I'm going to put on my big-boy pants and read the reviews to react to the ones that need a response beyond what I've already said.

"it wasn't it's the other 10% where it talks about setting up an empty sit at the table for a god and other stuff like that"

Idk what this one means, but I feel like its in relation to the other AN where we talked about the prophecy, but Idk how to interpret it.

... That's about it. Just a lot of wonderful compliments which helped me not be a sad-sack, and a lot of people complaining about how the story is going. At the VERY least, now y'all know for sure that even with the power of being able to delete comments over on Ao3, I wouldn't delete genuine criticism, just the sort of nasty shit that isn't particularly useful to anyone involved lol.

(Also, to be fair to the amount of earlier ANs I made saying "Y'all are supposed to be offended by the Bellatrix/Hydrus romance", can we cool it on the horny for Bellatrix comments? I ain't even trying to kink shame, but some the DMs I've gotten? You guys don't even KNOW ;_; )