"Oh my god, she's such a bitch." Hydrus snorted at his uncle's boyfriend's flamboyant exclamation. "Seriously, the absolute worst. Trust me, whatever you did, it wasn't enough."
The pair were strolling along a South African trail to an auction, and Hydrus was grateful for the opportunity to connect with his potential future in-law. Octavius was a tall, handsome, muscular man and it was obvious that no matter what glue had kept the couple together, the man's appearance was the reason why Regulus first paid him any mind. That was made abundantly clear with the way he continued on.
"I mean it." Octavius stepped over a small puddle in the trail. "She'd burn down an orphanage if she thought the lights would be pretty. One time she tried telling me that her father was over a thousand years old." The man scoffed. "She thinks I'm some kind of an idiot."
It took every ounce of willpower and familial admiration he had for Regulus to let that remark slide. So far the 'eighteenth son of a prince who couldn't afford to raise even two', as Bella had called him, had proven himself to be twice as nice and half as intelligent as the vampiric woman he was ranting about. For every compliment he paid to Hydrus, which were all too back-handed and flippant to have been an attempt at flattery, he had an insult for someone else; everyone from the farmers and ranchers they passed to the muggle and magical presidents of the country got them. All in all there were worse things for a man of such… regal heritage to be like.
"Don't get me wrong, I'm sure you were, like, super scary and strong and… Whatever." Octavius waved his hand through the air dismissively. "But oh my god she is going to be so much worse when she comes back. And trust me. She always comes back. She's like a bad case of—, Oh! Here we are."
They'd arrived at a massive, rickety-roofed pavilion. People dressed in all sorts of clothing flitted about the place, wearing everything from beige muggle suits that probably cost more than half the items up for sale to vibrant dresses of more colours than Hydrus could possibly name.
The air smelled more familiar to him now than anything he'd experienced since coming back to the past, with perhaps the lone exception being the dungeons of Castle Black. It smelled of people. It smelled of animals. It smelled of wilderness. It smelled of blood.
Hydrus gave a small smile. "It's like being home again."
"What?" Octavius turned to him with a grimacing look of nausea. "It's like standing on the wrong side of the fence at the zoo."
"I suppose." He was struggling to put his usual pureblood ponce persona on. "You better be right about this."
"Please, there's always at least one for sale." The 'nobleman' shivered. "Hate the things."
Hydrus grunted and the pair fell in with the rest of the crowd as the mass of people began to circle around a stage. A few artefacts went for spare change, a sun-mummified corpse was sold for a king's ransom, and a brawl or two broke out amidst it all. Hydrus watched the proceedings with waxing and waning interest, and it wasn't until the sun was beginning to dip that what he was looking for came up.
"There." Hydrus stood and called out a price that had every head turning to look at him with shock and awe. "He's perfect."
Octavius squinted. "If you say so. Certainly wasn't worth—"
"It's about shaming everyone who comes before and after me," Hydrus interrupted. "If you're going to be a part of this family someday, you'll have to learn how to do that."
With that line, something that should hopefully cement his place in his uncle's boyfriend's heart, out of the way, he headed towards the centre of the pavilion to claim his prize.
Lucius Malfoy stepped out of the Black summer home's floo, and his head snapped back and forth as his son stepped out from behind him. Despite Draco saying it wouldn't be necessary, the house lord had tried to request permission first by simply putting his head through the network. No one had bothered to respond, and after a few attempts to politely call for someone, the pair had been forced to simply walk through.
Just after Lucius had finished brushing himself off, the man he'd been looking for stepped into the room. The Black Sheep seemed… Ill-put together. He had on cotton pants that looked more like sleepwear than something to be entertaining guests in. He wasn't wearing a shirt at all, and the Lord of house Malfoy was forced to acknowledge the much more athletic form of the other man, even if he did have a small gut.
"What do ya want?" the other patriarch demanded before grumbling, "…supposed to be my one 'day off' this week…"
Lucius cleared his throat. "I was hoping to speak with you about some business matters. I tried—"
"Hydrus!" The older blonde jumped at his son's sudden call. "You home?"
"He's home," the Black lord said, rolling his eyes. "He's been cooped up with your aunt ever since he got back from 'bonding time' with my brother's boyfriend."
Lucius's head snapped towards the lord. Brother's… Boyfriend? He waited for the notoriously mischievous man standing across from him to crack some sort of smile but he just… Didn't. Instead he watched the stairs until his son, the teen most were calling the Black Saint, descended towards them.
Unlike his father, Hydrus was wearing proper trousers and a button up shirt with its sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He smiled at the sight of Draco, ignoring both his father and Lucius, and held out his lone hand which the younger blonde took.
"There you are," Draco said. "How're you doing?"
"Fine, just got back from South Africa." Lucius and Sirius both shot looks of confusion at the teen. "How about you? What's got you haunting my doorstep?"
His son laughed at the insult. "Shut up, you should be grateful."
Draco leaned in close and whispered something that Lucius couldn't quite hear in the other boy's ear. Hydrus pulled back and cocked an eyebrow at him.
"Are you sure?"
Draco nodded.
"Alright." The one-handed teen turned to his father. "I owed my cousin a favour and he's calling it in. Lucius wants to set things right between our families, and help you out now that you're going to be going to Wizengamot meetings.
"This means you'll now have two advisors, between him and Bellatrix." Hydrus snapped his fingers and a house elf appeared. "Kreacher, tell your mistress to join the two of them to discuss how things will go, once she's finished with whatever her and Giannis were up to."
"Yes, Lord Master Hydrus."
"C'mon, Draco." The Black heir began to leave. "Let's see if I can't get you to help me with something."
Sirius sighed, and Lucius tried to be at least a little subtle with his look of amusement. At least he wasn't the only one dealing with a son who'd suddenly decided he was king of the castle.
"I'm going to go get dressed," the Black Sheep said. "Wait for me in my office."
'His office…' Lucius thought. 'Never thought I'd hear him say that…'
He made his way towards the place where he'd fought tooth and nail for his wife's hand in marriage, thinking back on what he remembered about the new lord. The two had never interacted much outside of some passing, and oftentimes rude on the part of the younger man, greetings at parties and balls. That had come to an end after Sirius had been disowned. From then on if they met it was either by chance or because of some school event that both Draco and Sirius's godson attended.
Still, hopefully this would work out. Despite his son's nonsensical assumptions, there was no way he could have ever gotten close enough to Arcturus Black to make a difference. The ancient lord had been as cantankerous and fiercely independent as they came, and he'd take it as an insult and an annoyance if Lucius even tried to assist him in some manner.
When Sirius finally entered, the Malfoy lord began to worry that perhaps the new lord had inherited more of his grandfather's vitriol than he'd expected.
"I don't like you, Malfoy." Sirius plopped into his chair and threw his feet up on top of his desk, crushing some unopened letters. "I think you're an arrogant wanker, a pompous ass. The only reason I haven't told you to fuck off is cus that adorable little shit I call my son asked me not to." Lucius winced. "Kreacher! Get me a—"
The elf cut him off by appearing with a full glass of whiskey, and for what felt like the thousandth time Lucius was reminded of the embarrassment of being disallowed from owning one of the creatures anymore.
"Here's you is, Master Black." The elf bowed. "Is there anything else Kreacher can do?"
"Fill it up again." The Black Sheep threw back the drink and Lucius winced at just the thought of downing that much of this family's fiery reserve so quickly. The new lord hadn't even finished setting the glass down on the table before it was magically topped off. "Oh. Good job, I guess."
The house elf bowed once more and disappeared.
"Lord Black," Lucius said. "While I understand we've had our… Personal differences, in the past, I believe I can be a useful asset for you in the coming months, years." He took a breath and straightened himself up, trying to bolster his bruised and battered confidence. "If I remember correctly, you've only been to one session of the Wizengamot before, and it ended rather... Bombastically."
"Yeah, yeah." The lord looked away, rolling his eyes. "Trust me, I don't need someone watching to make sure I don't set anything on fire this time."
"My sister-in-law has never been to a meeting," Lucius continued, undeterred. "I'm sure she or even yourself could figure out where the lines are drawn between the blocs just by looking around the room, but there are other, more subtle things I can help with. Members' tics and tells, pointing out which members look out of sorts, things of that nature."
"Do things like that even matter?" Lucius's eye twitched at the man's bored and dismissive tone. "Nothing ever gets done in those sessions. I may not be some 'politician' like you or my cousin, but even I know the only way things happen is with back-room deals." The Black lord gave a wolven grin that sent shivers down the Malfoy lord's spine. "Or you just go and threaten the Minister of Magic into doing what you want."
"Never again."
Sirius spat out some of his whiskey and Lucius jumped at the sudden exclamation from the doorway. Bellatrix Black had arrived. She was, as always, dressed impeccably. The only thing out of place about her were a few loose strands of hair, and looking closer, a small bit of ink on her cheek. She strode into the room with far more confidence and bearing than Lucius or Sirius had shown respectively.
"If you ever do something that stupid again," the woman continued as she leaned against the desk. "Hydrus has promised me we can get rid of you."
"Please." Sirius rolled his eyes. "He probably said something totally different to get you to quit bitching at him, and you twisted it around in that insane brain of yours to mean what you wanted it to mean."
"How dare you—!"
Lucius cleared his throat. "Lord, and madame, Black, perhaps we should return to the original subject?"
"Don't even get me started on you." His sister-in-law turned to him with a sneer. "You should be down on your knees thanking Hydrus for every moment you still breathe after what my bitch of a sister did."
Bellatrix Black was looking at him like some sort of wild animal. He'd occasionally witnessed, and even caused, some bouts of madness with his wife but they were nothing in comparison to the two-time champion duellist. Too nervous to do much else, he turned to the Black Sheep for some sort of support.
He found none.
Sirius Black was staring at him too. Unlike Bellatrix, there was no ferocious and feral animalism to his eyes, there was just… Coldness. Emptiness. It was like staring down death itself. The man usually had some sort of smile, whether mocking or genuine, and even if he wasn't smiling it was usually just because he wore a look of dim boredom. His expression now was completely focused, completely neutral, completely terrifying.
"I forgot about that," the Lord of House Black said. "My cousin… Your wife tried to kill my son." He stood and Lucius suddenly realised what a fool he had been to come here. "My fucking son—"
"Quit calling me that, ya deadbeat." Hydrus had poked his head into the room, and the two very different, very dangerous forms of madness faded from Lucius's in-laws' eyes. "Draco and I are going on a trip for a few days to settle a bet. We'll be back."
"Wait, what?" Bellatrix rushed over to the teen. "What do you mean a few days, you can't—"
"I'll be back soon, dear." Lucius's eyes widened when Hydrus leaned up and gave a kiss to the much older woman. "You've got lots to do or else I would bring you along."
Bellatrix, who'd looked like she was about to eat the Malfoy lord alive a moment ago, was pouting. "No fair."
"Sirius." The man had plopped back into his chair and was back to looking dull and bored. "Make sure to actually read those letters Bellatrix sorted out for you, and try to at least write the responses yourself this time; even if you don't come up with what to say on your own."
"Fine."
Lucius took it all in with more relief than surprise. He… He needed to reevaluate Hydrus's position, both in this family and in the wider scheme of things. Obviously he'd witnessed and experienced the boy's power first hand, but some part of the Malfoy lord had always wondered if it was his own failings that had him so firmly beneath his thumb. But that wasn't the case. Hydrus had everyone dancing to his tune.
"As for you." Lucius stiffened when the teen turned his attention on him. "All you're responsible for while I'm gone is keeping these two from killing each other."
"Responsi-… Wait, Scion—"
"See ya!"
With a wave the teen left, and Lucius turned back to the two of the most deadly figures in the entire world. Sirius was sipping his whiskey again, Bellatrix was still just pouting at the door. The question that came to his mind was immediately answered with self-reproaching consternation.
'Of course they're all mad, they're Blacks,' he thought. 'What the hell have I gotten myself into?'
Amelia glared at the newspaper announcing that yet another family had withdrawn the charges they wanted to press against Regulus Black, formerly known as the Shadow. There were now just three families and one institution that hadn't folded under the weight of bribes, fiscal or otherwise, from the dark juggernaut that tormented her. She threw the sheets of paper aside and stared up at the ceiling.
Everything in her life had gone to...She sighed. Nothing at all had changed. Scrimgeour had been understanding, and since she'd immediately fired Sirius, had let the internal issue go right away. The rest of 'her' aurors hadn't said much besides congratulating her on the 'bust' once Regulus turned himself in. The other captains offered her commiserations, or joked that they'd finally have the chance to catch up with her now that the Black Sheep was off her team.
Still, for all that hadn't changed, so many little things had.
Scrimgeour hadn't called her in for one of their weekly lunches once since the third trial, no longer offering her that silent proclamation that she was going to be the next department head. If the bust had been a success it would've driven the members of her team that weren't involved to work even harder so that they could stand shoulder to shoulder with her for the next one. Instead it'd left them feeling resentful, like it was obvious they should've been chosen instead of Sirius. And the other captains…
Knock knock knock.
"Come in." Frank Longbottom entered. "Hey, Frank."
"Amelia." He nodded at her, closing the door behind him as he entered. "Just wanted to tell you, about the thing this weekend, you don't have to—"
"I'm fine, Frank." Amelia glared at him. "It's not like Hydrus did anything wrong. I deserve to be there."
"Right, right." The Longbottom heir held up his hands. "Just didn't want you to have to… You know…"
"Get out." She looked down at the unimportant papers on her desk and picked up her quill to start 'signing' them. "I have work to do."
"Right."
She ignored his sigh as he turned and left, and once the door was shut, she snapped the quill between her fingers.
The other captains pitied her. Even that oaf Goyle hadn't said a word to her since Sirius's betrayal, in his own offering of condolences. They all knew, every last one of them, that she'd fallen. That she was damaged goods now. For half her career she'd thrown her full backing behind the Black Sheep, reaped the rewards for his once impeccable record. Now a different kind of reaping had come for her.
Her floo flashed green and Amelia almost snapped at whoever it was to go away until she saw who it was.
"Giannis?"
The diminutive thing brushed himself off, mumbling something about how cool floos were. It hadn't been long since she'd last seen the boy, but it still seemed like he'd grown a bit taller, filled out a bit more. He was certainly wearing a lot more wooden bracelets and bangles.
"Miss Bones!" He rushed over and she was too stunned to stop him from practically strangling her with a hug as he hopped into her lap. "I missed you! Did you miss me? This is where you work right? How come there's a newspaper on the ground? Are you—"
She hugged him back, pressing his face into her shoulder both because she had missed him, and because it was the nicest way to get the bundle of energy to be quiet. Once she'd had enough time to ensure he knew that she'd missed him, and to compose herself, she loosened her grip.
"What are you doing here, dear?"
He cocked his head to the side. "I came to see you. I asked Sirius if we could come visit, but he said no cus you were working, so I came to your work!"
"I see." She held back a rueful smile at the boy's typical, off-the-wall line of reasoning. "Giannis, I'm sorry but I'm busy, you can't—"
"Can I ask you something?" he interrupted, reminding her far, far too much of his 'older brother' Hydrus. "How come you and Sirius broke up?"
She stiffened. "Dear…"
"I asked Sirius, but he said it made him really sad so he didn't want to talk about it," Giannis continued. "I asked Hydrus, but he said Sirius let some bad guy go because he's an idiot. But that doesn't make sense."
"Giannis, it's—"
"Cus I messed up all the time, and you never made me leave." Giannis shook his head. "So how come you two broke up?"
Amelia took a breath. This was way too much whiplash, changing from feeling morose over her career to the… feelings that this was bringing up now.
"Giannis, Sirius is an adult. You, on the other hand, are a child," she said. "You don't know any better. He should."
"But you called him a child all the time!" Giannis argued. "So why do—"
"Come here, dear." Amelia pulled him in tight once more, having seen the tears in his eyes. "Shh, shh. It's okay."
As the boy continued to sniffle, it felt like her heart was being torn up all over again. At the time, taking him in had just felt like the obvious thing to do, and an extremely easy decision to make. Sirius might've more or less made that decision for her, but it wasn't like he was wrong to do so.
Just like she wasn't wrong for having made the decision she had in Egypt.
"I'm sorry," she said. "This is just something that happens between grownups sometimes. I know it hurts, I know it isn't fair to you, but that's just the way it is. I promise I still love you, I promise Sirius still loves you. We just don't… We just can't be together."
"Fine." The boy slowly clambered down from her lap, and again her resolution was tested as he didn't even look back at her before trudging over to the floo. "I'll go."
"If you ever want to visit me, you can, okay?" she said, trying to at least cheer him up a little bit. "Just… Come to the house instead, okay? I'm busy at work."
Again, he didn't look at her, just nodding his head. She watched him floo back home with a call of 'Black Summer Home', so at least he wasn't in that supposedly awful home Sirius had grown up in, Grimmauld Place. And at least he looked healthy. And at least he'd looked happy, or at least he had before…
Amelia sighed, glanced down at the same unimportant paperwork she'd used to shoo off Frank, and decided that if her career was already going down the toilet she might as well take her first (willing) half-day at work.
Giannis stepped into his room as he finished rubbing his eyes.
"Did it work, Master Giannis?"
"No," he replied with a sigh as he took his seat around the oversized desk he'd pushed to the middle of the room. "We'll have to move on to the next plan."
It had been a long day. First was breakfast, that was fantastic. Then he'd went to visit that girl Hydrus was apparently pretending to marry so she could help him with his latest project, another artefact to wear on his wrist, this one to allow him to speak Spanish. Bella had insisted she go with him for some reason, but Hellena had said he could visit whenever he wanted, so he'd go over when he was ready to imprint another language. Then just now it had been off to Miss Bones's work so he could try and get her to come back.
Dobby was sitting to his right, carving the base for his next bracelet, and nodding at his words. Across from Giannis was Apophis, coiled atop a small chair that Dobby had also made, and the basilisk had his head cocked at him.
"I don't think she hates him," he said to his brother. "She's just really mad at him. Maybe. I'm no good at understanding people like Hydrus can do."
The snake nodded with what Giannis liked to think was an understanding of his own.
"What do you think, Fawkes?"
The phoenix was standing on the desk to his left, eating a pile of pepper seeds that Giannis had picked out of his dinners. He cooed something back, but it wasn't like the human could understand that either. Still, he nodded along and turned his attention to the list of ideas he'd written up.
"Alright," he said. "Next time, let's try…"
"I hate you."
"That's unfortunate. For you."
Hydrus grinned as he dismissed yet another complaint from his cousin. The pair were schlepping through a swamp that smelled of sulphur and rot. Every step they took was a fight between them and the muck that tried not to let go of their feet. Plants of all shapes and sizes were everywhere, scratching and groping at them as they passed. It wasn't even raining yet the air was so full of moisture that it had Hydrus worried for a post-'vacation' bout with pneumonia.
It had all started when Draco, no doubt just trying to make conversation, brought up how confusing it was trying to understand the things Luna wrote about to him in her letters. After some good-natured teasing about the 'love letters', Hydrus made sure to reaffirm that not everything she talked about was made up. When the blonde had asked why no one else had ever seen or heard of them, the time traveller 'offered' to show him. And made a bet.
He felt the magical and malicious swamp they were now 'trapped' in was doing a fine enough job of exemplifying why people rarely went chasing after these supposedly mythical animals. Everything about the place screamed 'death', but he had actually looked that bastard in the... Well, not the eyes, but he'd certainly felt his power. He knew what Death really felt like. Still, this swamp was a fair enough facsimile of it, especially with the unending attack on his nerves that he had been able to ignore even when they were apparently driving Draco mad.
Poor thing. Oh well. He'd planned on coming here anyways.
They were on the coast, the real coast, of southern Mexico where things looked nothing like they typically showed in muggle movies. The beast they were looking for was one of the rare sort that muggles 'knew' about, even if they dismissed it as a cryptid. As per usual, they just didn't know where to look, and couldn't even if they wanted to.
"Seriously," Draco said. "I get it, some things are real, we don't need to—"
"Shhh…" Hydrus held up a finger to his lips. "I have to keep an ear out for this thing, or else it'll get us."
"Get us?" the blonde hissed. "Hydrus, what the fuck are we even hunting for?"
"You'll see."
It was just too much fun getting to mess with the teen. Sure, he wasn't the same death eater scum he'd been in the past life, but that didn't mean he was some angel. And sure Hydrus now had a fondness for him after taking him under his wing, but that didn't mean there weren't some pent up frustrations he could tap into to enjoy times like these.
He was so caught up with his remembering of their original school-age spats while they trudged that he nearly missed stopping Draco from being disembowelled.
A hideous, bipedal canine bounced off the protego shield Hydrus had erected. It landed on its feet and immediately ducked away, completely untethered by the mud that had his own limbs firmly planted on the ground, before he could get too good a look at it. Draco had fallen on his ass, something Hydrus would mock him for soon, and had drawn his wand.
"What the fuck was that?"
"That, was what we are hunting," Hydrus answered. "It'll probably be a few hours before it tries to hit you again, let's set up camp."
"Hit me?" Draco was struggling to get back onto his legs, so Hydrus jerked him into the air with magic, setting him back down slightly more gently. "What do you mean hit me?"
"You're the bait." Hydrus began to transfigure the swampy earth into something more solid, and was surprised to find that it was actually a bit difficult. It was like this place really was alive. "There's no way it'd be stupid enough to attack me, but if I have you around it'll keep showing up no problem."
He'd originally planned on bringing his prize from the auction for this, but Draco would work too. Soon this complicated and hastily-constructed plan would come to fruition.
The next few hours went by quickly and as uncomfortable as they seemed to be for his friend, Hydrus had to stop himself from enjoying it too much. Once again he was getting to 'relive' the… Not the fun parts of the rebellion, but at least the parts that didn't involve his people getting injured or even dying. He was just making the little space they'd claimed inhabitable. Taking from the world what he needed and transforming it into whatever he desired.
He set up a hut with bent and split mangrove trunks, filled in the grooves and cracks with mud, and carved a few charms into the walls to expand the interior and regulate its temperature. With a hissing call he summoned up a pair of wild pythons that were happy to bring him back something to cook that night. Yet another one of Hermione's countless shield spells was cast via runes to keep any rain that came through off their heads.
"Just think of it like camping," Hydrus said. "That's what kids are supposed to do during their summer break."
"I've never been camping," the teen muttered. "Don't think I ever want to."
Draco was barely even awake as the sun set, the only thing keeping him up was probably the mud-boar Hydrus had roasting on the fire they sat in front of. Between the time-zone crossing and the swampy hike, it had certainly been a long day, especially since the blonde had no experience with such things. It would be a good, character-building experience for him.
When the monster next struck, it certainly left a mark on him at least.
The Malfoy heir screamed when it latched on to his shoulder, just below the neck it had been aiming for, with an awful and toothy, lamprey-like mouth. Hydrus tried to snap its neck with a clench of his fist, but the thing had vanished into the orange-tinted night as soon as he'd raised his hand. Draco had a few scratches on his back as well from where the thing had kicked off him with odd, kangaroo-like legs.
"Damn it," Hydrus said, sucking his teeth. "So close."
"It bit me!"
"Yeah, yeah, calm down." He moved over and pried the boy's fingers away from where they were clamped down on his wound so he could heal it. "It's not that bad… Might leave a scar though."
"A what?"
Despite the boy's cosmetic concerns regarding his skin and the ring of dashed marks now just out of sight thanks to his shirt collar, he was too busy eating the gamey pork Hydrus had fixed to complain. It didn't taste particularly good, but since he didn't have a house elf and the Black heir didn't mind the nostalgic taste of wild meat, it was all he could use to fill his 'starving' belly. Hydrus could still feel the anger pouring off his cousin though.
It was fun to use the old trick of keeping his followers too tired to complain again.
That night was a rather pleasant one, all things considered. The beast only attacked two more times, and despite surviving the traps Hydrus had set up both times, the time traveller was at least convinced that he'd be able to get it next time. Draco was far less convinced of anything positive happening thanks to the way he'd nearly gotten killed two more times.
When morning came and the blonde awoke, Hydrus was camouflaged in the mud just outside their makeshift camp. He watched as Draco yawned, stretched, then looked around for him. Then looked some more. Then panicked.
"Hydrus!" Draco called, his eyes wide and his hands cupped around his mouth. "Where are you?"
'Perfect, just like that,' Hydrus thought. 'Keep on bleating for— ,there!'
He snapped his fist shut, and the monster that had nearly jabbed its clawed and boney fingers into Draco's eyes was killed. It went slack midleap, just short of where it would it would've reached the teen, and Hydrus used magic to pull himself out of the muck. Once again his cousin had fallen down, but at least this time it was on the solid earth he'd made.
"I swear to Merlin I'm going to kill you!" Draco roared at him. "Fuck you, fuck this stupid…" He pointed at the dead being. "Whatever it is! Fuck everything!"
"Settle down, you didn't even get hurt this time," Hydrus said. "Look!"
Now that it was finally still they could see it properly. It 'stood' about two feet tall, with arms so long that its hands would've dragged across the ground. Its head was like that of a coyote's, except instead of extending into a snout it ended with a more leech-like mouth with rows of shark teeth inside. The creature's skin was a hairless, motley brownish-beige with an uncomfortable pallor to it that gave off the appearance of mange.
"Finally." Hydrus knelt down and tried to lift the thing, but it was surprisingly heavy so he had to use magic instead to put it into the bag he'd brought. "Now we just need to go pick something up in South Africa and—"
"No!" Draco snapped, lifting Hydrus's eyebrow. "This whole thing has been the worst 'vacation' that I've ever had, take me home."
"Okay." He'd spoken in an agreeable, pleasant tone that had obviously caught his cousin off guard. "I guess you're in a rush to write that letter, huh?"
"W-, Wait."
"You remember, don't you?" Hydrus asked, leaning in close and laying it on thick. "If I proved that some of the things Luna and her dad write about are true, you'd confirm she was your girlfriend?"
"Well, I mean, come on I don't even know what that is, for all I know—"
"I know someone you can ask," Hydrus teased in a sing-song voice, channeling his inner Bella. "You have to write to her anyways, so…"
"Fine! I'll go to North, South, Whatever Africa with you." Draco's cheeks were as bright red as the sun rising behind him. "I don't know what the hell has gotten into you lately, man."
"Who knows," he said as he began to tear down their temporary lodgings. "I guess I'm just getting used to things."
A rapping at his door startled Quinn and he jerked his arms up to protect himself. The glass of goat milk he'd been drinking went flying, drenching the various papers he had scattered around his table. Without wasting another second he began casting spells, securing his home and wards. Next he burned the documents he'd been working on, they could be replaced. Finally he turned to face his door, marched towards it, and after casting a few more spells to make sure nothing could hurt him through the glass he peered through the peephole.
There was nothing there.
This was bad.
"Who could it be?" he muttered. "Or what?"
If it wasn't one thing, it was another. First was that damned sphinx who'd injured Barnabuss. He'd lured the beast into a trap that disintegrated it into ash which he quickly decontaminated and buried in manure. Then it was the way the wind kept blowing north-north-west. Very suspicious for this time of year. Now this?
After several more hours of precautions and protections, he cracked open the door.
"Who is it?!" he called. "Show yourself!"
There was nothing.
Or at least, nothing that he could see after slamming and re-locking the door to stare out the peephole again.
"Tricky, tricky, tricky…" he muttered. "Fine, you want to play it like that?"
He went back inside and began to prepare. First came the elixirs and concoctions, various potions that he could ingest to protect him from all manner of poison and venom. Next was his armour, a set of robes made from the silk-like shed skin of an ancient salamander, covered in the feathers of an Atlantic garuda. Finally, to top it all off, he said a quiet prayer to Fate.
"Right…" His breaths came in short bursts as he gripped his wand with one hand, his doorknob with the other. "En Garde!"
He slammed the door open, wand up, ready for anything.
There was still nothing.
Until he turned his head and saw what was hanging from his door.
Quinn fell backwards onto the ground, any comfort he'd found in his safeguards lost to him. There, dangling from a noose, tongue hanging out of its mouth, was a bestiafin. He'd… He'd always known they were real. Always knew they'd someday come for him. The demons had haunted his nightmares for longer than he could remember, for they were the one thing that could destroy his ultimate shield.
"No…" he muttered. "No…"
Who could have done this? Where had it come from? Why had they…
Carved above the hanging corpse, written in the exact same fake-handwriting he'd used back when he'd foolishly allowed Albus to drag him back to Hogwarts for Magic's chosen, was one word.
Hircus.
"But why?" Quinn muttered. "What have I done? I have done nothing to—!"
He was interrupted by Barnabuss. Slowly, mechanically, like each notch his neck turned was another crank of a crossbow aimed at his head, he looked at his beloved protector. Barnabus stared back blankly from the mountain of pillows Quinn had set up for him to recover on, and bleated again.
'If your signature goes missing,' Hydrus's voice reminded him.'I will find you, and depending on what the circumstances are, I may kill you.'
"Oh no…" he whispered. "What have I done?"
He'd… He'd just been talking about anything to distract his poor guardian. Barnabuss wasn't a human, so he'd assumed it would be safe. He hadn't meant to, to…
Another, louder, stronger, bleating interrupted his despair. Quinn's head whipped around. On the horizon, striding towards him with powerful and commanding footsteps, was what he could only assume to be an angel. It's fur was neat, short, and white as virgin snow everywhere except around its head. From the neck up it was a thick, wooly brown that hung down to its legs in a striking beard. Two horns jutted out from the back of its head, still visible thanks to their size despite the angle, and its ears dangled down to its jowls just in front of them.
Quinn watched with reverence as the massive boerbok approached him, and soon its nose was nearly touching his.
It licked him.
"Oh, oh, oh…" His heart finally began to still, and he reached up to press his hands against its cheeks. "So… So perfect."
The goat bleated at him and pulled away, shaking its head, revealing more of its horns and the runes carved into them. He'd only managed to steal a glance, but they seemed to be recently carved, and were apparently designed to give the creature strength, speed, and longevity. It was a clumsy attempt at what Dumbledore himself was no doubt doing to the goats he summoned to protect his old friend, but it was still… It was still a clear and obvious message.
He was to be spared for his folly, since he'd only spoken of the secrets to a noble and sacred being, but he was still being warned. As a reward for his service, he was being given this magnificent specimen of hircine sanctity. The newest member of his divine choir turned and left, and Quinn watched him go for as long as he could. Once… Isihlangu, as he decided to name him, left, he turned back to the horrific spectre of destruction left for him.
"Black Saint indeed…" he muttered. "To have slain a bestiafin…" The name that muggles called them by came to him, and he snorted. "Chupacabra indeed."
BBaRtS
There's 47. Despite a surprise Saturday OT shift and The Fall of the House of Usher's best efforts to steal away the rest of my weekend with how good it was, we got in at the last minute. In my time zone. And that's what matters.
This chapter we got to see yet another 'punishing reward' from Hydrus for those who helped him with his problem. The Black family's antics continuing with the addition of some of their in-laws. A check-in/guilt-trip for Amelia Bones. Giannis hosting the weirdest tea party/plotting session imaginable. And last but not least a little bit of tortu-, I mean, character building for Draco.
Anyways, I'm rushing to get this in before it's technically late, so let's get to reviews!
"Bella stunning Umbridge is perfectly in line with her impatient personality, her not covering up afterwards with an Obliviate not as much... She's borderline insane, not stupid..." - It's not about being stupid, it's about feeling powerful. She said, and was right, that it would be far more damning for Umbridge to give away that she'd lost the files that she wasn't even supposed to have than it would be for Bellatrix. She's much happier knowing that Umbridge remembers being humiliated than she would be if she erased the memory.
"The comment about the ending worries me…this isn't ending any time soon, right? RIGHT?!" - Not for a while anyways, I still got so many threads to tidy up lolol. I just now have perfect clarity on the ending, like the difference between knowing what city you're going to vacation in vs knowing the specific hotel you need to book reservations for.
You left a well-appreciated comment on my dialogue as well, regarding characters beside the speaker performing actions interspersed with the dialogue, leading to confusion regarding who's saying what. That's not something I want to STOP doing, but it is something I can work on doing better. Writing wise, dialogue is definitely what I like doing most and something I get the most compliments on, but that doesn't mean there isn't room for improvement. I insert the actions the way I do because, in my opinion, it makes the actions feel more interconnected, more smooth-flowing. I struggle a lot with my prose feeling like a salad of "This paragraph is a description", "This paragraph is actions", "This paragraph is internal reactions", etc. Instead of blending together into a more cohesive blend.
"Ooooh I bet Neville is going to come back with some frightening skills!" - We'll see~
"I wonder if Harry is busy training or just goofing off? How much of Hydrus' skill set is because of survival and how much drive will Harry have without that pressure? That's interesting" - I'm looking forward to checking in on the Potters soon.
"Truth be told I didn't realize Luna was a half-blood" - I think its ambiguous, or at the very least the wiki said she could be either that or pureblood. I don't do much research besides a cursory glance to check the wiki before including things like that lolol
"You never really know what lengths she'll [Bellatrix] go to to reach her goals, and she's such a wildcard. " - We didn't get to see too too much of her this chapter, but I am looking forward to where this specific mini-summer-plotline is going between her and Hydrus.
"Oof, Giannis asking the tough questions." - I'm starting to think he's doing it on purpose, the little shit...
"Can you consider adding the tag 'Alternate Universe - No Voldemort'?" - You got it 👍
"please i want more information on how this mfer fights certain opponents and whats spells hes developed/had others developed to combat magical creatures and different types of wizards" - This is one of those things where it's tricky to balance. On one hand, yeah it's fun and cool to show off the skills and techniques he has, especially since they're very like... Practical? I guess? Like we saw in this chapter, he's a swiss army knife when it comes to setting up a camp, that's his bread and butter. On the other hand, if I go too hard in that direction, it'll come off as something I already get accused of a ton which is that I'm making him into a Gary Stu/Power-fantasy trope. Once school's back in session, I think I'll be able to do a little bit more 'showing off' since he'll also be confronted with having to actually study for other classes now.
"Hydrus just being a giga troll" - Sirius is such a bad influence. Or he was, anyways. We got to see more of this this week between him and Draco, I'm going to explore a bit of why next weekend with another visit to Dumbledore.
And that's all! Thank you all for your patience, for your reviews, for all the reading. Love you all, see you all next weekend, lessthanthree!
