Hydrus glanced around the Study Hall. "And Tonks?" he asked. "Don't tell me she's given up."

"She sent me a message earlier today," Dumbledore replied. "She'll be graduating from the auror academy this week, and doesn't have time to attend. She did send along some ideas she came up with though."

Hydrus frowned. It was Sunday evening, only the third meeting of his 'task force', and already people were skipping out. It wasn't even the rat, who he had been hoping wouldn't be brave enough to show up again. He supposed he couldn't blame the girl, but it still rankled his ego, something he was struggling more and more to keep in check these days.

'At least this will be good practice,' he thought. "Very well. Kreacher!"

The house elf appeared. "Lord Master Hydrus."

"I need any information you've found on muggle gods." With a snap of the elf's fingers, at least two dozen tomes appeared on one of the Quiet Section's tables. Hydrus tried not to laugh at the proud glint in the cantankerous being's eyes. "Well done. Go inform Bella that I need her to find out when her niece Nymphadora's graduation from the auror academy is."

"Yes, Lord Master Hydr—"

"Wait." A thought had occurred to him. "Tell her I don't need the information right this second, and this isn't me giving her permission to interrupt me."

"Yes, Lord Ma—"

"And remind her not to cause any scenes, and that we can talk about it later if she has an issue with it." When he realised the elf was waiting for him this time, he laughed. "Sorry, Kreacher, that's really all this time."

"Kreacher shall see it done, Lord Master Hydrus."

Finally free, the elf popped away, and Hydrus once again started the meeting off by checking in on the runes team. Remus and the rat had apparently both been regulated to note takers and errand boys. Grindelwald was arguing with Quinn over whether or not a rune had been aligned to the north-northeast or north-northwest in the original carving, and both were left disappointed when Hydrus lied and said he wasn't conscious for the process.

He had been. It hurt a lot.

The problem was that he had been floating in an ethereal void that Magic had whisked him away to, and although there had been several thousand stars in every direction for him to potentially map, none of them were familiar given that they were various shades of blue, purple, and green.

When he finally got away from the two ancient and ornery wizards, he peeked over Flamel's shoulder to see what he was working on.

"What's that?" Hydrus asked. "Looks Greek."

"Ah," Remus spoke up. "Those are Giannis's notes. Your father said he's been going nonstop with his 'homework' ever since we told him you needed help with them."

"He's a good kid," Hydrus muttered. "What do you think, Flamel?"

"Huh?" The alchemist looked up as if noticing him for the first time. "What do I think? I think this child is an idiot."

Hydrus's eye twitched, his wand fell into his hand, and the only thing that stopped his mouth from verbalising a spell to end Flamel's life was Remus's foot slamming against the old man's shin.

"Ow!" The ancient alchemist glared at the werewolf, but Remus just glared back. "It's true! None of what he's written is even close to making sense!"

"Then why are you still reading it?" Hydrus asked, voice cold. "Since you think it's so 'idiotic'?"

Flamel's nose wrinkled. "Well, it's… Not entirely worthless."

"Considering your own results thus far have been worthless." He leaned in close to speak directly into the other man's ear. "I wonder what exactly that makes you, hm?"

There was tension in the air, even Quinn and Grindelwald had stopped their argument and were instead watching him posture. Flamel was tense, and Hydrus could almost feel Dumbledore's eyes boring into his back. He'd not flared his magic, not finding it necessary to prove his point, and the way the alchemist's hands had begun to tremble proved his point.

"I suggest you set your pride aside before I remove it from you entirely," Hydrus said, straightening up. "Alright, let's hear what ideas the rest of you have come up with, and if nothing fits, we'll get to reading."


Albus stared across his desk at his apprentice, wondering where to even begin. He'd been forced to cut the night's plans short and actually take Gellert straight back to his castle, but now he didn't even know how to start the talk that had demanded such action. Hydrus was cradling a frail and feeble Fawkes, the phoenix's feathers were almost ashen with how close he was to being born again, and it wouldn't be a surprise if he caught fire any second now. He'd expected the one-time warleader to be upset at still not getting to go to bed early despite the quick wrap up, but he'd not even said a word once he got the phoenix in his hands.

It still sent shivers down the warlock's spine to think back on the memories he'd witnessed. Memories of 'Harry' standing on the front lines of pitched battles against countless others. Slaughtering men and women en masse who were trying to do the same to him and his, casting spells like an orchestra conductor and drawing the enemies' own attacks to him like a lightning rod. Using transfigurations and the elemental aspect of his magic the exact same way Albus himself did, just like he'd been taught.

The one that haunted him most was one of his duels against 'Tom'. One of the lethal ones. It was some time after the dark lord's second revival, and the younger man had wielded the elder wand like it was made for him. Voldemort had, arrogantly, tried to make a move against Harry far too soon after his return. The dark lord had attacked in the open, one against one, without any preparation at all.

It had been a fair enough duel, one that would've gone down in history were there anyone around to write about it. Voldemort had a wide variety of curses and hexes that could've defeated anyone else besides Harry, Gellert, or Albus himself. He only managed to land a single attack, but even that had left half of Harry's face degloved.

The younger man hadn't been slowed though.

He just kept pressing the other wizard back. Kept conjuring up new items to distract and drop atop him, kept transfiguring their wreckage into new weapons, kept hurling gales of wind back and forth to deflect and deter, kept walking his opponent down like he wasn't facing off against the most dangerous man in the world. Or second most dangerous, as the case was proven to be. The dark lord had even tried apparating away, but Hydrus had caught each and every last trail the man left behind and hunted him down until there was no magic left in his foe to flee with.

And then he killed him for the third time.

Their later battles had been far more contentious, and well planned on Voldemort's part, so none had quite affected Albus the way that one had. In those moments he'd seen just how dangerous, just how monstrous, of a progeny he'd left behind in Harry. And now the boy seemed to be looking more and more like that juggernaut who'd walked down a dark lord with half his face missing.

Albus had thought that by breaking his love-sacrificing bargain, it would reintroduce a softer and kinder side to the man. Instead it had freed a new arrogance from within him. Whereas before his bouts of anger had felt like temper tantrums, now they were… Colder. More vicious. There was an unspoken cruelty in his eyes that, unlike before, didn't just promise violence; it was like he was seeing exactly what he would do to someone who bothered him.

His musings were interrupted by Fawkes finally catching flame. Standing in stark contrast to Albus's fears, Hydrus didn't so much as flinch. His hand swam through the harmless fire, stroking the phoenix's feathers as he whispered to it and as its body crumbled away. When the fire and smoke finally died down, he gently cupped the now infantile bird and began running his soot-covered thumb over its featherless skin; the ashes would help insulate and protect Fawkes until his feathers regrew.

"I sometimes forget how well you looked after our dear friend there once I was gone," Albus said quietly. "I also think he can sense the connection you once shared."

"Perhaps," Hydrus agreed. "Bonds on a spiritual level such as that aren't something I'm particularly familiar with. I was surprised at first to discover how obedient Kreacher was when I first 'met' him."

Albus chuckled as Hydrus tucked Fawkes into his pocket to keep the newborn warm. "Tell me, Hydrus, how are you feeling since your bargain broke?"

"Better than ever." The boy actually smiled at him. "Certainly a lot happier than I was before. Much less anxious about the future."

"Oh?"

"I was overwhelmed with uncertainties and choices. Paralysed by the thought that I might make a mistake, just one mistake, and ruin everything." Hydrus ran his hand over his jaw. "I had forgotten just what it means to be a man like you, a man like me. 'Watch where you walk, but never hesitate to take the next step', just like you taught me."

Albus frowned, wishing that he had some new, supplanting phrase to argue with that.

"I will make mistakes. I will ruin things." Hydrus shrugged. "But that's the price we must pay."

"And just what is it that you're 'stepping' towards?" Albus asked. "What is your endgame?"

"To improve and protect this world we call our own." The time traveller stared out the window, across the Great Lake to who knows where. "It'll start locally, with our Ministry, the Wizengamot. I'm already well on my way to having half of the future seat holders in my pocket, and the other side will mostly agree with the policies I push forward of their own volition.

"I'll keep the ones who don't naturally agree with me loyal with my power and prestige. I'll eventually install one of them to take my place at the head of things and move on to the international stage." He took a breath. "From there it will be trickier, but once the first domino falls it'll be hard to stop. The rest of the world will either step in tune or be left behind."

"Do you even realise how many steps you're skipping over?" Albus asked. "Things rarely, no, things never go that smoothly with plans of such a scale."

The 'teen' just shrugged again. "I will deal with the problems as they arise."

"Hydrus—"

"Albus." He leaned forward. "Stop worrying so much. I understand where you're coming from. You've already watched one, young, powerful wizard with dreams of changing the world become a monster. I get it."

Albus winced.

"But I am not Grindelwald." Hydrus stood and moved over to Fawkes's nest. He tucked the fledgling into the feathered bed and muttered a warming spell. "I have already seen this world burn once, and I will never allow such a thing to come to pass again."

"Power corrupts, Hydrus." Albus folded his fingers together. "When you install yourself as whatever king you seem to think you should be, what happens then?"

"Then I shall hope that I still have people like you around to worry over and advise me." The ancient warlock winced and his apprentice's eyebrow raised. "Is that what's got you so worried? That you're going to be the one to fall?"

"I have gone to great lengths to avoid such trappings," he muttered. "Hydrus—"

"You can't do this to yourself." The younger man approached him and rested his hand on his shoulder. "You're not allowed to play Jiminy Cricket in one breath and then say you can't be trusted to advise me in the next." To Albus's shock, the boy he'd begun to think of like a grandson actually gave him a one-armed hug. "You're a good man, Professor. For all the self-doubt you flagellate yourself with, you still always picked the right choices in the end.

"If you have a problem with something, something specific, with how I'm handling things, we can talk about it. I know damn well that if Flamel would allow anyone to use his stone, it would be you, so you can't even use the far-off future as an excuse." The younger man released him and clapped him on the back. "So take a page out of your own damn book. Watch your step, but don't hesitate to take it."

"...Very well." Albus nodded and Hydrus grinned at him. "Thank you, Hydrus, for having patience with me."

"It's what us kids have to do for old folk like you," he replied, his grin turning cheekier by the second. "I hope you have a good evening, Professor. I'll see you tomorrow."

With that the man waved and left. Once the door shut behind him, it took several more moments before Albus realised just how deftly the boy had manipulated the conversation. It was supposed to be his job to comfort and help Hydrus, and instead the boy had assuaged his own fears and put himself in control of the discussion.

'Fine.' He reached out to grab and ink his quill, then began to write on a roll of a parchment. 'If the boy wants a list of things I take issue with, let's make one.'


Tonks sighed but accepted her father's embrace. She held back a giggle when he hefted her into the air a ways then spun her around before sitting her back down, still squeezing her tight. It was a touch embarrassing, but that was fine on a day like this. She snorted though when she realised the man had no intention of letting her go, and finally shoved him away. He laughed and beamed back at her.

They were outside the Auror Academy in the underground courtyard, surrounded by other families who were celebrating graduation. The artificial sky was bright and cheery with the occasional pure-white cloud swimming across it. The air smelled a bit musky from the fact that everything down here was artificial, but things like that had long since faded into the back of her mind.

"Look at you!" her mother said, laughing. "Your hair's green, Nymphadora."

Tonks huffed at being called that, but she doubted even that was enough to change her hair back to the pink she'd been trying to keep it as lately. Not only had she finally graduated, she'd actually managed to earn the spot at the top of the class. The instructors had been keeping their ranks secret ever since the end of their first semester, and now she couldn't help but wonder if they'd done that on purpose to try and put her down.

"Yeah, yeah." Her smile grew until she saw her mother's fade away into a scowl. She turned to see what the woman was looking at, and immediately understood. "Hydrus?"

The teen was approaching with a small smirk on his face, arm entwined with her 'aunt', Bellatrix Black. The pair were both smartly dressed in ebony robes that flared out towards the bottom, and there was a slight shimmer to the older woman's garment. They didn't stop until they were just a step away, and even then Hydrus just released Bellatrix to hold out his hand.

"Cousin," he said with what looked to be a genuine smile. "I'm so proud of you."

"Er, right." She awkwardly took and shook the appendage, trying not to remember how bloody she'd seen it before. "Thank you."

"And you must be Edward!" Hydrus held out his hand to her father now, and after a moment the man shook it. "It's such an honour to finally meet you. You wouldn't believe the sorts of things your daughter tried saying about you, absolutely shameful."

"I've never mentioned him once!" Tonks shouted, her hair no doubt finally abandoning its joyous green glow and turning to something far more embarrassed. "Would you stop!"

Hydrus just laughed, and it almost annoyed Tonks that it seemed his little 'joke' had actually worked in relaxing her parents.

"It's good to meet you too," her father said, smiling hesitantly. "We, uh, read about you in the papers."

Hydrus waved his hand. "Not a thing to believe there, only ones worth reading are the Quibbler and the Weasley Word." He turned to her mother. "Andromeda. It really, really is a pleasure to meet you as well. May I?"

Her mother frowned, but eventually she held out her hand, and to Tonks's utter bafflement Hydrus leaned down and kissed her wedding ring.

"I'm sure your daughter had nothing but awful things to say about me, probably lying and saying I scared her," he said. "But I assure you it's been a pleasure getting to know her."

Unable to take it anymore, Tonks slapped the teen's arm. "Hydrus!"

A crowd had begun to 'subtly' gather around them at the arrival of the two celebrities. At first people just noticed Bellatrix. The woman's duels were frequently shown off at the academy, and even if they hadn't been, she was still a two-time champion who hadn't been defeated in years. Once people realised she was with the prodigal Hogwarts Champion, their excitement doubled if not tripled.

Finally her mother broke and laughed. "Well, I certainly don't think there's any questioning over whether or not you're Siri's son."

"So people keep telling me." Hydrus held out his arm, and Tonks tensed as Bellatrix approached. "Tonks, I'm sure you've heard of your Aunt Bellatrix. Bella, I've told you all about Tonks."

"A pleasure, dear." Bellatrix nodded at her. "Hydrus is quite certain you'll become as… Well-known, as Sirius someday. I look forward to it."

The metamorphmagus swallowed, and nodded back. "I'll, um, try."

"Bellatrix." Tonks winced as her mother chimed in, a threat not at all hidden in her tone. "I certainly didn't expect to see you here."

"Hydrus insisted." The most talented duelist in the world's nose flared as she spoke, despite her neutral tone. "And we are family, are we not?"

Just as her mother's mouth snapped open to respond, her father's foot pressed down on hers. "Well we appreciate your being here."

"Hmph." Bellatrix looked away, frowning. Hydrus looped his arm around hers, and Tonks didn't miss how tightly he squeezed the limb. "What? I'm being good!"

The scariest schoolboy she'd ever met just snorted. "You're as bad as Apophis, I swear."

"Apophis?" Tonks asked.

"My familiar; you've met." Her eyes widened at the memory, and she shivered. "Andromeda, I'm sure you have a litany of feelings about our being here, but I hope you don't resent it too much."

Her mother gave a hard sniff. "It's Nymphadora's day, not mine."

"Still, I—"

"Well, well, well!" Tonks turned and gasped. "Ain't this a happy little reunion!"

The Black Sheep had arrived, grinning a wide smile that was solely aimed at Hydrus who scowled back. If the crowd had at least been trying to maintain decorum before, now they were practically frothing at the mouths. Both Sirius and the woman he was with were in uniforms that matched Tonks's own, though theirs had both clearly been broken in. It didn't even register for another second that the woman with him was actually a captain, the badges on her chest were well polished and glittering in the artificial light.

"Siri!" Tonks jumped as her mother yelled, and her shock was doubled when the woman rushed over to give the Black Sheep a hug. "Look at you!"

"Hahaha!" The man returned the affection with aplomb. "Look at you! You're practically ancient, now."

There was a ringing crack, and the newly graduated auror's jaw dropped when she realised her mother had just slapped the most powerful and dangerous auror in the world upside the head. To her relief, the man just laughed and rubbed the spot. He flashed a sheepish grin at her.

"Still got a mean streak in you, eh?"

"Oh, so I'm the mean one?" Her mother glared at the man who just grinned back, and very quickly Tonks began to see the resemblance between him and his son. That just made her horrified by the implication that perhaps she might resemble her mother though, so she quickly stashed it away. "You're lucky I don't tell every last one of these future coworkers of yours some stories I remember."

"If only he had enough shame for that to be a threat." The auror captain stepped up now, and held out her hand. "Amelia Bones."

"Andromeda Tonks," her mother said. "Are you…?"

"I'm this idiot's fiancee."

Her mother gasped. "Siri! How could you not tell me you were getting married?"

"Please," he scoffed. "You really wanna get into it about hiding engagements?"

For the first time in Tonks's life, she got to see her mother embarrassed. The older woman's cheeks flushed over and she glared at Sirius, who grinned a wolven smile back at her, teeth showing victoriously.

"That's what I thought." The man finally turned his attention on to Tonks, and she really, really wished he hadn't. "And you must be Nymphadora. I've heard all about you."

"J-, Just call me Tonks." She swallowed. "I hate that name."

"Nymphadora!" Her mother huffed. "It's a perfectly—"

"Awful name," Sirius interrupted. "I love it. Nymphadora, you wouldn't believe your AIs. The bastards wouldn't leave me the hell alone lately, kept going on and on trying to get me to 'admit' that I trained you in secret."

Her jaw dropped. The AIs had been nothing but monsters to her. Everything she did was a failure in their eyes, whether it was a small mistake that they'd blow up into a mountain, or a near-flawless performance that they'd make things up to complain about. What on earth had the Black Sheep been smoking to try and lie to her like that?

"What?" he asked. "Don't tell me you actually bought their act, I'll be disappointed."

"Act?"

"Let me guess," Hydrus chimed in for the first time in what felt like forever, and to her surprise it was actually relieving to have someone closer to her own age speak up. "They told you that you fucked everything up. Never gave you any compliments. Pushed you harder than everyone else."

"Y-, Yeah?"

"Welcome to being the best of the best." The teen rolled his eyes. "You have to keep the ones like you humble, or else you'll be insufferable."

"Hey!" She snapped. "What would you know?"

"I mean, he's right." Tonks turned her glare onto the boy's father. "Shoulda seen the way they tried to bully me back in the day."

"And look how that turned out." One of the AIs had approached, Terrence Yaxley. The man was 'as old as stone and twice as hard'. "Black Sheep. Captain Bones."

"Yaxley." Captain Bones gave a short salute. "I forgot you were still down here."

"Ain't no where else for me to be." The man turned and spat on the ground. "Far be it from me to push for nepotism, but you should keep your eye on this one."

"I always keep my eyes on the top graduates," Captain Bones shot back. "Just like you did."

"And look where that got me." The man grumbled something under his breath. "Auror Tonks."

She straightened up. "Sir, yes, sir."

"Knock that shit off." He waved his hand. "Ya did good. Keep it up, or else you'll make us look bad."

"I, uh, I mean, yes, si-, er—, no no I—"

Her fumbling words were lost amidst the Black Sheep's laughs as Yaxley just walked away without waiting for her to finish.

"What a tosser," Sirius said. "Don't worry about him, Nymphadora, he's always like that."

She wanted to snap at the man, but unfortunately it seemed like the oldest Academy Instructor's arrival and departure had signalled to the rest of the crowd that the 'family' was free game to talk to. Before long half of her fellow graduates and way too many of the younger AIs had swarmed them to try and talk to either Sirius, his fiancee, or Bellatrix. Her breath began to hitch at the sudden pressing and swarming crowd, and her eyes shot back and forth till they landed on Hydrus who met her gaze before looking away and flaring his magic.

Immediately the crowd came to a frozen halt.

"That's quite enough." His voice echoed through the underground hall, almost deafening Tonks thanks to the lack of distance between them. "Give us some breathing room."

The teen reeled in his magic and to Tonks's relief she hadn't reacted half as bad as many of her peers had. Everyone around them backed away, and the knot of anxiety in her stomach finally came undone as she took a deep breath.

"Well, I think Bella and I shall take our leave. Andromeda, Edward, it was a pleasure to meet you both." Hydrus turned to her. "I'll look forward to seeing you on Sunday, and again, congratulations."

"Thank you." She nodded. "See you then."

"Wait, Hydrus." Sirius stepped up and it was impossible to miss the way his son's composure faded for a moment, revealing a scowl. "Er, Giannis said he was hoping you'd visit soon…"

"I'll try and find a moment to visit while he's with the Weasley's then." The teen began to walk away. "Good day."

'Sheesh,' Tonks thought as the Black Sheep stared after his son, frowning and wilting. 'And I thought me and mum didn't get on…'


Hermione blushed as yet another person stopped to stare at her and Viktor as they made their way through Hogsmeade. She'd never admit it out loud, but internally she was screaming at the way he'd grabbed her hand as soon as they left the castle and hadn't let it go since. A part of her worried that the boy would finally notice just how sweaty her palm had become, but it was hard to pay that part of her too much attention.

"This way?" Viktor asked before grumbling, "I hate how nothing was built in the right directions here."

"We're almost there," Hermione assured him. "I promise, the ice cream is— Oof!"

Someone, someone very small, had nearly tackled her with what was apparently a rather honest attempt to squeeze the life out of her. She and Krum both froze as the little boy beamed up at her then began to shout at her in… Greek?

"Giannis!" A woman ran up to them, huffing as she came to a stop. "What did I tell you about running off?" She straightened up and offered an apologetic smile. "I'm so sorry, you two. I promise he doesn't mean any harm."

She looked to be about her parents' age, with long, black hair that curled down her shoulders. Despite her age and the fact that she'd just been doubled over from running, she appeared to be rather athletic. Her robes were some kind of uniform, and it took Hermione a second to recognize them as being what aurors like Harry's dad wore.

The boy said something else in the foreign language, then grabbed Hermione's hand and lifted it up. He was pointing at her ring, still grinning a gap-tooth smile. It took her a moment to realise the boy was wearing a matching ring.

'He'll be coming to Hogwarts shortly after we graduate,' Hydrus's voice reminded her. 'He'll take whatever you make, and improve it ten-fold.'

Finally the woman knelt down and picked the boy up, forcing him to release his grip on Hermione. She bowed her head. "Again, my apologies, you two. He gets a bit over excited sometimes." The boy pouted at her. "Would… I be correct in assuming you know Hydrus Black?"

"Oh, um, yes." Hermione straightened her back, squeezed Viktor's hand for support, and tried to come off as confident as she could. "My name is Hermione Granger. I am a scion of House Slytherin."

The woman couldn't even react before the boy began to shout some more, tugging her shoulder excitedly. "Giannis!" The boy stopped with a flinch, then scrunched himself up like he expected to be struck. "Sweety, I love you, but you can't just grab people like that. Okay?"

He mumbled something in response.

"My name is Amelia Bones." She reached out and Hermione was suddenly forced to release Viktor's hand. It wasn't until their palms met that she remembered how sweaty her hand had been, but if the woman noticed or minded she didn't show it. "I'm Sirius Black's, Hydrus's father's, fiancee."

"Oh!" Hermione stiffened. She hadn't even known the man was engaged, neither Hydrus nor Sirius's godson Harry had mentioned it. "It's, um, it's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Bones."

"It's a pleasure to meet you too, lass." She gave the boy in her arms a squeeze. "C'mon, sweety, let's get going."

The boy, who'd still been tensed up and nervous looking, suddenly came back to life. He was apparently trying to argue something woman, and she just sighed.

"They can't even understand you, remember?"

The boy hesitated, then said something.

"Oh." Bones cocked an eyebrow at the boy. "So now you don't mind?"

Hermione cleared her throat. "Um?"

"Don't mind him," Bones said, turning back to her. "He's been stubborn for weeks now about not wearing a translation artefact, because he wants to make one of his own, but now he suddenly doesn't mind."

"But he can understand you?" Hermione asked, confused. "How?"

Bones sighed. "Because he did make something that can do that on his own."

She shook her head, mumbling something about 'kids should be kids', before removing the bracelet she was wearing and sliding it onto Giannis's wrist. As soon as it was on, he beamed at Hermione.

"Hi!" he chirped. "I'm Giannis! What's your name? Are you really my family, like Hydrus? How do you know Hydrus? He's my best friend!"

As the boy's words came pouring from his mouth like water from a fire hose, Bones just laughed. "Slow down, sweety." She smiled at Hermione and her kinda-sorta boyfriend. "He gets a bit excited sometimes."

"It's alright," Hermione said. She glanced at Viktor, worried he'd be annoyed at their date getting interrupted, but was instead surprised to find him giving a small smile to the boy. "My name's Hermione Granger. This is Viktor, he's… my…"

"Boyfriend," the quidditch star finished, setting off a whirlwind of feelings inside her. "Hydrus has big words for you. Said you will be big man someday."

The boy's smile could have lit up a room. "He's the best! He's the one who showed me Sirius and Miss Bones! He told me all about magic!"

It seemed like the boy was about to continue to list things off that made Hydrus 'the best', but Bones cut in. "Would you two like to get lunch with Giannis and I? I'd hate to interrupt your date, but I promise to pay."

"Oh, um—"

"We would love to." Viktor bowed his head. "We were going to ice cream place that Hermione had told me about."

"Ice cream!" Giannis turned to Bones and began to tug on her robes. "Can we, Miss Bone? Please!"

"Yes, dear, yes." The woman looked absolutely exhausted. "Were you planning to go to Sylvester's Swedish Sweets?"

"Yes, actually." It was stupid, but Hermione felt a bit pleased that the woman had heard of her choice. "I really love their vanilla."

"Why don't we meet you there?" Bones had to quickly keep talking when a panic flitted across Giannis's face. "We won't take long, but we do need to get Giannis his medicine."

"Promise it won't take long?" the boy pleaded.

"I promise if you behave yourself." Giannis's head rapidly bounced up and down in a nod. "We'll meet you two there."

As they left, Hermione turned to her boyfriend. "I'm surprised you didn't mind eating with them. Usually you hate being around other people."

"Do you know who she is?" he asked.

"No." Hermione frowned. "Should I?"

Viktor shrugged. "I don't know. But Bones is big family, and." He tapped his chest, right below his shoulder. "She had a lot of medals and badges."

"Badges?" She supposed the woman's auror uniform did have a few, but she hadn't been paying much attention. "What's that mean?"

"I don't know." Viktor shrugged again before taking her hand once more. "But probably it means she's important."

Well, he was probably right about that. Unfortunately that just made her more nervous. What if it was someone very important, and she was about to embarrass Hydrus? Before she had too much time to panic, they'd arrived at Sylvester's and were settled down into a booth after ordering.

"You should worry about boy, though," Viktor said, snapping her out of worries. "He is the one Hydrus is concerned about."

"Giannis?" she asked, frowning. "He's just a kid."

Her boyfriend shook his head. "Hydrus pick Triwizard Champions before Goblet did. He knew what second task was as soon as he heard mermaids. He perfectly set up you and me to get what he wanted. He knows things."

Hermione thanked who she could only assume was 'Sylvester' as the man sat down their bowls of ice cream, then turned back to Viktor.

"So you think Giannis will, what?" She took a bite. "Become some runes master?"

"I think he'll become something great enough to inspire someone like Hydrus to adopt him." The boy looked away. "Just like you."

Hermione smiled and laughed. He always did that, as if he was too embarrassed to give her a compliment while looking her in the eyes. The famous wizard could stare down an entire crowd of interviewers but was too shy to meet her gaze when he said something sweet.

"I'm back!" At least she had a warning this time before Giannis ploughed into her side, and at least Viktor was there to be bumped into. "What did you guys get? What should I get?"

"Giannis!" The boy flinched and looked down at the floor. "We just talked about not doing that!"

"I'm sorry," the boy mumbled. "I was just excited…"

Bones approached, rubbing her forehead once more, and sighed. "Just please listen to me in the future, dear." She turned to Hermione. "I'm just going to run to the restroom, I'll be right back."

"Sure, no worries," Hermione said, feeling pity for the clearly exhausted auror. "So, Giannis, what do you need medicine for? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," the boy said as he moved over to the opposite bench and began to kick his feet out. "Miss Bones said its for malnourishment, that means I didn't eat enough food and stuff, and it'll help me grow up better."

"Oh." Hermione blinked. "Why were you malnourished?"

She'd just been curious, but the look Viktor shot her told her immediately she was being too nosy, and she winced.

"My parents hated me," Giannis answered, as casual as if she'd asked for his favourite colour. "They used to throw me down the stairs and lock me up whenever I did something bad and there wasn't any food down there." The boy seemed to notice their horrified expressions and quickly added, "Oh, oh, but it's fine! Hydrus promised me he made sure nothing like that would ever happen again, and Miss Bones and Sirius are both really, really nice!"

"I… See." Hermione swallowed, wanting to change the subject. "So you made something that lets you understand English?"

That should be a much safer topic.

"Yeah!" The boy removed a tweed-strung necklace that ended in a chunk of wood with runes covering it. He pointed at one of the markings. "This one is friends with this one, and so they work together. They don't like this other one though so I put it on the opposite side, but I had to make sure they still knew each other were there, so I put in these other ones and…"

Hermione was stunned at the child's esoteric and almost cartoonish way of describing how the runes worked. As he continued to explain it all, she could almost piece together how the matrix worked, but some of the runes he'd used were completely foreign to her. Maybe they were? Maybe different languages used different runes?

At some point during his 'lecture' Bones had returned, and once the boy wound down she said, "Now you see why we have a rule at home that says no runes talk at the table."

"I can still talk about animals though!" Giannis said. "I love animals, especially magical ones."

Hermione wasn't sure she was ready for another explosion of childish education, so she turned to Bones. "By the way, we were wondering what are all those badges on your uniform?"

"They're annoying is what they are." The woman turned as Sylvester returned with two more bowls of ice cream, and as soon as Giannis began to attack his Hermione wondered if perhaps the boy really was related to Hydrus somehow. "The Captain's Star is the only one that really matters, but I keep the rest on to make a good show for the brass."

"Oh, so you're a captain." Hermione had no idea what the ranks were for the ministry's police force, but that certainly sounded important, and it was familiar. "I think one of my housemates' fathers is a captain as well. Longbottom?"

Bones nodded as she took a delicate bite of her ice cream. "That would be Frank. He got promoted a few years after me. Unlike my future husband, he actually has goals in life."

Hermione laughed. "I've met Sirius a few times when I was visiting Harry. He's a nice man."

"He's the best!" Giannis suddenly added, ice cream covering his face. "He buys me lots of books and always helps me read them when I don't know a word. Hydrus told me that he was a good guy, and that I could trust him with my life like he does, and he was right!"

That seemed to catch Bones off guard, but she quickly regained her composure and looked back to the two teens. "He's definitely the best auror you could ask for, even if he doesn't live up to his name."

Giannis giggled. "Get it? Cus his name's Sirius and it sounds like serious?"

Hermione couldn't help but laugh at the way the boy actually thought it was funny. She'd only met her best friend's godfather a handful of times, and even she was sick of that joke.

The rest of their dessert-filled 'lunch' was spent with Giannis dominating most of the discussion. Hermione didn't even know when the boy had time to breathe between how much he spoke and ate; it was like the child was some kind of machine that converted ice cream into conversational energy. Before long, and to Giannis's very obvious disappointment, he and Bones had to leave and Hermione was left alone again with Viktor.

"Well that was certainly something," she said, earning a chuckle from Viktor. "He's definitely got some… Unique ideas on runes."

Viktor grunted. "Was nice, not being the one swarmed by a fan for once. How'd you like it?"

"Hush," Hermione laughed. "Come on, let's enjoy the rest of the day together in peace."


Arcturus Black sat in pain. Agonising pain. For once he didn't even have the excuse of being able to blame it on the rain, either. It was just one of those days where every last inch of him; every last scar, wound, and pseudo-bone, was crying out in agony like the chorus could get him to give up the ghost and put an end to his miserable life.

Unfortunately for both them and him, however, he had work to do.

There had been an obnoxious uptick in letters recently. Every Tom, Dick, and Harry had been asking to meet with Hydrus lately, with absolutely no reasons given. At least usually they would have the decency to come up with a lie, or even more comically pointlessly, a 'real' reason for the meeting.

'Oh, we'd love to have a chance to interview Hydrus about his placing in the Triwizard Tournament, wink-wink, and if the subject of art investments comes up then so be it, nudge-nudge.'

Lately it'd been nothing but people he'd never even heard of, let alone met, asking for an invitation to some luncheon or rendezvous or clandestine meeting with Hydrus. There was never any purpose mentioned. Never even an explanation of why they deserved to meet with his great-grandson. Even back when Bellatrix had begun to finally make a name for herself on the duelling circuit and every half-cocked punk with a sickle to his name came asking for her hand in marriage it hadn't been this bad.

'What the hell have you gotten yourself into, brat,' he thought. 'And why the fuck couldn't you have done it in a real country?'

Half the letters were in languages he hardly recognized, each of which was immediately sat in a 'to burn' pile. Arcturus supposed he couldn't resent the boy too much for finally making global moves, something their family hadn't done much of over the centuries, but it still wrinkled his nose. Couldn't he have at least started with America or Australia or somewhere else that spoke a real language?

There was a scratching at his window and he looked up to see the boy's owl had arrived, a letter clutched in her talons.

"Hmph." Arcturus stood, and nearly fell back down when his hip screamed in pain. "Speak of the devil."

He hobbled over, pride refusing him the use of his cane. If the pain wanted to beat him, to break him, then it'd have to try a damn lot harder than that. As soon as he opened the window the owl hopped up onto his shoulder and held out its leg. He took the letter, and allowed the bird to rest a moment longer as he retook his seat.

Lord Arcturus,

I'm going to be starting a row with the Longbottoms at the end of the school year. The heir to their house, Neville, is a pathetic specimen of a wizard. Were you to meet him, you'd never again accuse my or Sirius's uncles of being 'spineless little shits'. I intend to use this to my advantage.

When school is out, I will be 'kidnapping' him to correct his current nature. I have the boy's consent, but I imagine his grandmother, Augusta, will pitch a fit. I'm sure you of all people know how much of a menace that woman can be. If any of the important members of their family actually try to make it into an issue, have Sirius or Bellatrix deal with them.

I'm sending this so you can't complain later that I didn't warn you ahead of time.

Respectfully yours,

Hydrus S. Black

"Hmph." Arcturus made to burn the letter out of habitual covertness, but stopped himself at the last second. It was the first time his heir had bothered writing to him directly. He tucked it into a locked drawer on his desk instead, and began drawing up a letter in return to acknowledge the boy's words.

Hydrus certainly had a unique way of handling things. Most proper lords treated their assistance and companionship as a privilege, something to be coveted and earned by their lessers and offered to their superiors. The future lord of House Black had instead chosen to apparently give it to anyone who wanted it. Arcturus didn't have the faintest idea if it would work out for him, if the supposed power base he was building would stand firm when harsh winds came his way, but he also didn't know if Hydrus even needed them to.

A touch of madness fluttered to the surface of his consciousness as he thought of how the boy had beheaded the gargantuan manticore. The way he'd removed that pissant Malfoy's arm like a house elf carving a slice of ham from the bone. The destruction of that same fool's manor in a burst of power. The sight of the boy's familiar, a legendary and lethal basilisk, draped around his shoulders like a house cat.

He cackled as the madness grew stronger, but it was cut short when the damned hole in his chest protested.

"Hmph." He settled back down, sealed the short letter he'd written, and handed it to the owl. "Go on. Git."

As the owl flew out the still-open window, Arcturus leaned back in his chair to rub the old wound. He had Kreacher bring him a new bottle of whiskey and began sucking it down to try and drown out the pain. Normally he tried to maintain a certain, lower level of inebriation whilst working, but just this once he'd let the agony win and force him deeper into his cups.

It would be fine in the end. Soon the idiots and sycophants and cowards and annoyances would be Hydrus's problems. Soon he'd be dead, and finally rid of all this damn pain.


"Relax, love," Bellatrix said, leaning over to kiss her little water snake. "I don't know what's got you so tense."

"Something's wrong," Hydrus repeated. "They never take this long."

They were in an office at Gringotts, withdrawing far too much money for that oaf Hagrid, to pay him back for his care for Apophis. And so she could pick up the gift she wanted to give Hydrus. She'd been wanting to find something for her love ever since he said he loved her, and she'd finally found something in their ledgers. Something he'd love.

The branch's president had come down to greet them in the lobby and escorted them here before leaving with a promise to find someone suitable to handle their affairs. Although the future Lady of House Black had been quite pleased with the treatment, her Lord had been anything but.

At first he'd paced about the office like a caged animal but she'd pulled him into the chair beside her. He'd pulled his arm away the moment he sat down, however, and had turned his seat around to face the door. She could see his wand was unholstered in his sleeve; its butt pressed against the fabric and its tip was currently balanced on the end of his finger, just waiting to drop down into his palm. Even now as she wrapped her arms around his neck and gently kissed the skin of his neck he didn't so much as glance at her, and instead was staring down the door like he expected it to be blown open any—

Knock, knock, knock.

"Back up a touch, Bella," Hydrus muttered. "Come in."

It was either the same goblin who'd led them in here or one who was wearing the exact same hideous, pinstripe, sized-for-an-infant suit. There was another goblin with him, one without a strand of hair on its head and soot-ringed eyes. Bellatrix's nose wrinkled.

"What is this?" she demanded. "I expected—"

"Bellatrix." She tensed. Hydrus never called her by her full name anymore. "I'll take it from here, my love." Her heart fluttered. "Steelgorge. Have things truly fallen so far?"

The little cretin bared its fangs at her love. "You only have yourself to blame, Black. You're lucky I could find anyone at all who doesn't have a side in this war, directly or familially."

The goblins crossed the room to sit and stand behind the office's desk, and Hydrus turned his chair around to face them. Bellatrix couldn't help but notice the way his hand continued to balance the wand up his sleeve.

"And you're lucky I don't pull the entirety of my own family's assets, as well as the Malfoys', from your 'hallowed vaults' and leave a quarter of your investments to rot." The goblin tensed. "Is it even safe for my bonded and I to go below ground?"

"I will see that it is." The goblin had finally seemed to remember its place, and was speaking much more meekly now. "Holdbridge will escort you to your vault, and no other employees will be allowed on the tracks."

'Holdbridge' turned and spat onto the office floor, wrinkling Bellatrix's nose. To her bafflement, Hydrus in turn spat on the desk. "Don't think just because I haven't made a move myself that it means I'm a pacifist. I will raze, till, and salt the earth you rest on if something happens down there."

"I assure you it won't," Steelgorge said. "My head and honour."

"Your honour means shit to me." Hydrus stood then leaned across the desk, towering over another being for once, to Bellatrix's delight. "Your head, on the other hand, I will mount on the inside of a urinal."

The goblin frowned, nodded, then held out its hand.

Hydrus shook it. "Let's go, Bella."

She looped her arm into his, and the two were led down into the tunnels. Their vault was, of course, nearly as deep as the earth could possibly allow such passage. The Ministry's was just a bit further down, as well as a few dead families', but there were no others who could claim such prestige as the House of Black. The ride down was even more quick and chaotic than usual, but it was hard to mind such things when she had her Hydrus beside her.

He was so cute, the way he had his eyes clenched shut. Perhaps once he was done learning numbing spells he could move onto something for his motion sickness.

Before hardly any time at all had passed they reached their vault. Hydrus got out immediately, then helped her exit as well. Bridge Holder or whatever the stupid goblin's name was went through the meticulous steps of opening the door, and then they were inside the largest and most fabulous collection of wealth and artefacts the world had ever seen.

"Just you wait," Bellatrix said. "You're going to love what I picked out for you."

She worried he wouldn't though. It seemed like ever since Hydrus finally relented and agreed to come to Gringotts he'd been as sour as a lemon. Even now, when she glanced over her shoulder to check, he was just standing there with his lame arm bouncing against his side and the other still palming his wand. His lips weren't turned down into a frown, but his eyes were as torrential and charged a thunderstorm as she'd ever seen one of her family members' get. She hadn't seen him this wound up… Well, ever.

Still, she had come here for a purpose, and she'd be damned before she let it get away from her. After a few minutes of rummaging around the sixteenth-century's holdings, she found what she had been looking for. It was an almost-flat, ribbon-sealed box roughly the size of her hand if she splayed out her fingers. As soon as she found it, Bellatrix went bounding back.

"Here!" She beamed at her love. "See for yourself."

Hydrus smiled a fake smile at her, and pulled the ribbon loose. Before opening the box he wrapped the ribbon around his fingers, but when he removed the lid his eyes widened.

"It's…" he started. "A dream catcher?"

"A true dream catcher," she corrected. "Directly from the Americas before magical kind was forced to go into hiding there.

"I know you've been having nightmares lately. You've got the most awful eyebags and… And you say odd things when you sleep. This should help you. This will help you." She lifted it up out of the box, and the ring of wood, thunderbird feathers, and the hair of sacrificial virgins spun in the air. "I'll hang it over my bed so that you can have a good night's sleep."

Hydrus took it from her, and gently sat back into its box before placing the lid back into place. "Thank you. I really appreciate it."

"Hmph." She pouted. "It doesn't seem like you appreciate it."

"I promise I do, Bella." It took all her mental fortitude not to growl at him. "But I think you'll be the one who doesn't appreciate it soon."

"What do you mean?" She frowned. "Why wouldn't I—"

"Come on." He tucked the box into his pocket. "Grab enough money not to embarrass us if Professor Hagrid shares stories of our generosity."

Bellatrix's shoulders slumped down.

He hated it.

She did as she was told and collected a few hundred galleons, sliding them into her purse with a jangling clamour. After a moment to make sure she wouldn't accidentally snap, she made her way back over to Hydrus and found him magically tying the ribbon that had kept the box shut around his hand. His wand was tucked into his palm which was slowly being constricted by the fabric.

"Hydrus?" she asked. "What are you doing?"

"Fucking hate this place," he mumbled. "Never wanted to come back here…"

"Hydrus!" she demanded. "What's going on?"

"Don't you fucking die on me." Her whole body locked up with the look he gave her. If his cloud-grey eyes had been a thunderstorm before, now they were a cosmic hurricane. "Or I swear to Magic I'll…"

He took a breath, interrupting his own words.

"Come." He pushed open the vault door. "Before I completely lose it to this awful madness of yours."

Bellatrix swallowed, but did as she was told.

They stepped out of the vault.

She glanced around.

There was only a second to react to the dozens of barbed and glittering arrows shooting towards them.


BBaRtS


36, time for Wartortle to evolve into Blastoise.

You know it's funny, when I think about the over all... Idk what to call it, 'fat' on this story, I know it needs to be cut down. Too, too many things going on all at once and there's no real 'theme' or like, HOOKING point for someone to latch onto. Like, I've been browsing fanfiction communities lately and there'll be a post that's like "What's a good fic about politics?" and it's like... I mean, there IS politics in this story, but there's also a weird and illicit yandere/tsundere relationship going on. "What's a good fic with magical creatures?" Well there's hydruses, chickcharnies, stone constrictors, and a deeper exploration of veela and goblin cultures (to come), but it's also got family-dynamic exploration. "What's a good angst fic?" Well boy oh boy do I apparently have a lot of that, but there's also murderous raccoons and gremlin-esque basilisks and whatnot.

And yet, on the other hand, when I read back through it I"m like "Man I really wish I did even a QUICK scene of Hagrid shunning Hydrus for killing the manticore before their rendevous" or "I wish I showed the meeting between Narcissa and Arcturus where she makes her complaint about Hydrus cutting off Lucius's arm" or "Man I STILL need to go back and finish rewriting chapter 15 and make it from Dumbledore's POV" lol

I will say I've more or less put a hard moratorium on further like... Idk what to call it, 'side quests' in this story. I've got enough plot points to juggle between:

Hydrus's self-discovery/recovery
Hydrus's plans for the future
Sirius's own journey/'antagonism' towards Hydrus
Bellatrix's becoming a better more balanced & sane person/the romance plot in general
Dumbledore wanting to 'fix' Hydrus
Arcturus struggling with his family's future
Regulus/'The Shadow's' plot
Draco's growth/rehabilitation
Giannis's plot
Apophis's dream for glorious conquest
Neville's growth and 'training'
Tonks's insecurities and adulting
The Gods Plot
That prophecy that Hydrus and Dumbledore are playing hot-potato with
Who was the third body beside the Riddles/Gaunts?
Why did that ring curse Harry/Hydrus's hand?
Who was/is Dumbledore painting?
Where's Lockhart?
What the hell is Stefanos Stellavigil up to?
Where did the Catholics get all those inferi?!
Where does all the food Hydrus eat even GO?!
NO SERIOUSLY, WHERE THE FUCK IS LOCKHART?!

And more!

Anyways, next chapter will be the fallout of Hydrus being forced to interact with the war he acccidentally'd, and who knows what else. On to reviews!

"I'm very curious about how the family magics will play out ... It feels like channeling should ideally be synergistic, becoming more than the sum of its parts." - I'm looking forward to when we get to that point. I can't imagine we're too many chapters away from it now, this has been building for like, idk, at least over half the story, so I'm going to try and make it climactic and cathartic.

"your wish to experience the snow : P" - It finally cooled back down to the mid nineties this week at least, I still be melting tho lessthanforwardslashthree

"Hydrus: "I fail to see how that's a 'me' problem." " - Well, its definitely becoming a problem for him now lolol

"I guess it takes a literal death threat on his loved ones to get Dumbledore to back down. I kinda felt bad for both of them honestly." - And now Dumbledore's kinda bounced to the other side, where he's worried about the negative sides of Hydrus's bargains breaking. This time we got to see Hydrus react more maturely, though, and we'll see where and how they go from here.

"I have to ask though, did you borrow that food bit from Eragon?" - Someone help me out here, it's been a hot minute since I read the Eragon books. This comment was on chapter 2 where Hydrus 'banishes celery to the corner of the plate where such awful vegetables belonged' just as a random quip cus I don't like celery either, but now I'm wondering if I accidentally copied something lol

And that's that! Love you all, thanks for the kind reviews, see you next Saturday, lessthanthree!