"You broke your word."

"Yep."

Hydrus glared at the ancient wizard, but Aberforth didn't look the least bit concerned, let alone sorry. He was just drying off a glass he'd grabbed from the half-rusted sink behind him, and after he was finished squeaking the cloth around its surface he set it upside down on the bar. It was only a little after eleven, and the pub had yet to lure in one of its seedy customers.

"I believe," Hydrus started. "I made myself very clear."

"You did," Aberforth replied. "Just don't really care."

If Albus Dumbledore, if not in this world then at least in the other, was the greatest master to ever live at manipulating people's emotions, then his brother was the exact opposite. Rather than moving others to his will, he simply refused to be moved himself. At least, not by any one besides the master himself. The man just kept tidying up his bar like Hydrus wasn't even there.

"I could kill you, you know." Hydrus sipped the rum he'd ordered. "Legally a bit dodgy, but morally?" He sat his cup down with a clink of glass hitting wood. "Morally, I think I'm in the clear."

"Believe whatever you want."

He waited for the man to keep going, but he didn't.

Damn it, he hated old people.

"Fine." Hydrus stood, finally coming to a decision about how to handle the barkeep. "I'm telling Albus."

"Pft." He ignored Aberforth's dismissal. "Like I care."

With his warning, and attempt to offer the man a chance to repent, out of the way, Hydrus left. The air outside was warm and it took a second for his eyes to adjust to the sunlight. He strolled through Hogsmeade, as dead as he'd ever seen it outside of when it was in rubble, and greeted the few business owners and inhabitants who were still around. Despite the fact that he'd wanted to get back to the school and then home quickly, he couldn't stop himself from interacting with the village. He'd spent too much time getting to know the people here for ambitious purposes to be uninterested with the various stories and anecdotes that had built up since he'd last seen them.

Marianne and Timothy WIlliams' mother was there, greeting him with a tired but attempted smile as she invited him to swing by Snapwhip's whenever he wanted. That old nonce from the stationary store tried enticing him into another purchase. Zonko came out to once again teasingly chastise him for investing in the Weasley twins. Before too long his progress towards Hogwarts had grinded to a halt, and he was surrounded by various people who came out to greet him.

It was just too hard to turn them all away. Hydrus had spent half his life holding a secret grudge towards those who called him their leader, knowing that they had or would someday blame all their woes on him. For every ounce of celebration that came his way, there was a pound of resentment on its way when things didn't turn out perfectly. And these people weren't like that at all. They just came up to tell him about the children he'd asked about the last time he visited their shops. They made sure to remind him of promises he'd made about future purchases. They asked him about how his own summer break was going away from the school that had drawn them all here. They… They treated him like family. It had only been several weeks since he was here for Hogwarts' last Hogsmeade weekend, but he felt like a distant relative come home after years away.

Still, he really did need to get to Dumbledore.

Like Magic herself had sent the blessing, the crowd parted. Hydrus's head swung towards the gap, and he realised that it probably had been Magic who caused this, though how much of a 'blessing' it would be had yet to be seen. A centaur, the same centaur who'd introduced himself to him months ago in the Forbidden Forest, was approaching.

'Shit,' Hydrus thought. 'What was his name again? Something with an E or an A…'

"Lord Hydrus." The centaur bowed his head. "It is my honour to greet you once more."

"Ah, it's good to see you again," Hydrus started, still desperately trying to remember. "What brings you all the way out here?"

The villagers had backed away, but weren't leaving. It was almost cute the way they were staring at the newcomer, suspicious and defensive, like they would be able to do something if he made a move against Hydrus. Slowly the centaur raised his head and nodded.

"Magic has tasked us with impressing upon you her divine knowledge," he said. "Will you come with me?"

'Why the hell doesn't she just come herself?' Hydrus wondered. "Very well. Everyone! It was good to catch up, but there are other matters to attend to."

With his hasty goodbye out of the way he started to leave, but the centaur knelt. Hydrus's eyes widened as the horse-like man got onto his knees and nodded at him.

"It would be my honour to carry Magic's chosen, Lord Hydrus," he said. "And time is of the essence."

"Why is it that every centaur I meet is either in a hurry or doesn't know the meaning of the word," Hydrus mumbled. "Fine. But keep it slow while we're still in the village."

Despite the magical being having lowered himself to the ground, it was still a bit of an embarrassing affair trying to get up onto his back with only one hand. Once he'd gotten that damned numbing spell down his next goal would be to figure out how it was Voldemort and his followers had been able to levitate themselves. It took a second to settle, the centaur was a large being and it stretched his hips to get his legs on either side of him properly, and once he had he took a handful of the hair running along his spine.

"Alright," Hydrus said. "Ready."

They left the crowd of stunned onlookers behind, and following Hydrus's request… Adole? Andwele? He still couldn't remember the centaur's name, but he kept up a slow pace until they were outside of Hogsmeade and on the road to Hogwarts. From there the time traveller had to change his grip so that his handless arm was wrapped tight around his fellow believer's torso, not wanting to potentially yank off a handful of mane and fall on his ass. He'd have liked to use his good arm to hold on, but that would leave him unable to grab his wand if need be.

Shortly after they entered Hogwarts' grounds the centaur veered to the side and began making his way to the Forbidden Forest, still galloping at a speed that strained every last muscle in Hydrus's core. Before his thoughts could go too far into whether or not this saddle-less ride was worse than the time he'd ridden a dragon over the channel, the rest of Magic's pack thundered out from the trees to greet them.

"Hale, Ayodele!"

"Ayodele!" Hydrus exclaimed, finally 'remembering' his guide's name. The centaur turned to look back at him, and he cleared his throat. "You can set me down now."

'Good cover,' he thought to himself sarcastically.

The others gathered in front of them as Hydrus got down and brushed himself off. Ayodele stood and manoeuvred himself around the group so that he was facing him, at the front of the herd.

It felt like once again he was standing in front of his soldiers. All eyes were on him, their backs straight and heads high. They didn't have wands or enchanted robes like his troops, but they almost all had bows or lances hanging from their flanks and paint drawn across their chests. Ayodele, like a stand-in for one of his lieutenants, glanced back at the others just like they would have; checking to make sure that those he was responsible for weren't making him look bad in front of his leader. Had this been the rebellion, had their war been his, Harry would've given a subtle nod of approval when the centaur looked back at him.

But it wasn't.

The whole thing made Hydrus's skin crawl.

"So what's this all about?" he asked. "Why have you brought me here?"

"We have heard the whispers," Ayodele started. "Our goddess has sent us signs. A great and ancient evil is coming for you, my lord."

A few of the centaurs further back began pawing at the ground. Although their faces were stoic masks of duty, their tails were snapping back and forth and tendons in their necks kept bulging and settling. Even the bass in Ayodele's voice had quieted before he finished speaking.

"I don't suppose she's said anything…" He nearly said 'actually useful'. "With more specificity, has she?"

"No, my lord. Or if she has, I have failed to understand." The centaur looked down at the ground, obviously ashamed of himself. "If I may, though, I believe it would be wise to assume that it is an agent of Death."

"For fuck's sake." He couldn't stop the annoyance from coming out as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "Why can't—" He could stop himself from blaming both of the deities. "He leave the fuck out of it."

"You have my condolences, Lord Hydrus." Ayodele bowed. "If it would put you at ease, my family and I would be honoured to act as your guards."

'Honour, honour, honour,' Hydrus thought. It felt like everything to do with this strange, foreign herd resolved the concept. "It would be to my own honour's detriment to allow such a thing. It would be shameful if…" He hated to call himself this, but it would be the best thing for settling the herd. "If Magic's chosen could not protect himself."

"As you say, my lord." The centaur bowed his head once more, as did those behind him, and it seemed like at the very least his words had settled them. "We have done as you asked and mostly assimilated within the grounds of the forest, as have the others."

'Others?'

Before he could ask it out loud, Ayodele kept going. "There were some minor incidents with the followers of Fate who live here, but Friend Hagrid settled those matters."

"Friend Hagrid, he's a good man." Hydrus nodded to himself, wondering if perhaps he should just ask Hagrid if he wouldn't mind watching over Giannis when he could. "Be sure to work directly with him if there are any further issues, and tell him that he can rely on me should the need arise."

Hagrid could babysit Giannis occasionally, Hydrus could bankroll any sort of zoological pursuits the half-giant had; it could be a balanced relationship. Although his oldest friend in the world had no idea, to Hydrus the scales were still deep in the other man's favour. Hagrid might not've ever been able to truly catch up with the other senior members of the rebellion offensively, and was oftentimes passed over by the new recruits that survived long enough to do so, he did have an edge that the rest of them could never surpass.

He was an unstoppable force on the battlefield. His half-giant heritage protected him from some of the darkest and most dangerous spells imaginable, so much so that even the 'masterpiece' of Severus Snape, Sectumsempra, had only been able to lob off a single one of his fingers in Malfoy Manor. Offensively he was second-rate at best, but oftentimes that was more than enough to wear down the foes he faced. Add on his knowledge of animal handling, and the affable and patronly nature he maintained outside of when he was too deep in his cups, and it led to him being one of the most trusted members of Harry's forces.

'Make sure the first thing ya do is put some meat on yer bones, 'Arry. Er, Hydrus.' Hagrid's last words came to him. 'Ya look like Sirius after Azkaban. Sneak over and snag some biscuits from me iffin ya 'ave to, I always left 'em to cool on the window sill.'

When the time traveller finally broke from his musings, he found that unlike most people who would awkwardly watch him when he did that, the centaurs had all joined him in staring at nothing in particular. Their heads were aimed upwards, as if in some silent prayer. Now that he thought about it, it probably was a prayer.

"If that's the only word from our goddess, I shall take my leave." Hydrus bowed to the herd. "Be well, and may Magic watch over your path."

A sweeping gale swung past him, ruffling the centaurs' hair and fur. The wind seemed to swirl around them, dust and leaves marking its progress as it almost embraced them before moving past. Hydrus took a deep breath, and once more stopped himself from letting his true feelings show as Magic yet again used him as a way to… He didn't even know what to call it, 'acknowledge' her followers? Of all people, he knew best the effect small gestures like this could have on soldiers, but it didn't stop him from feeling like a living piece of propaganda.

Without waiting for the display to end, he made his exit. The walk back to the castle gave him enough time to settle down, and by the time he was inside properly and had run into the first student staying there for the summer he was able to give them a pleasant smile and greeting as he passed. He'd never been afforded the privilege of staying in the school thanks to Dumbledore's paranoia, but at least now the jealousy he felt for the few remaining students was petulant and self-indulging rather than well-deserved.

When he finally entered the headmaster's office it was quiet and empty. Without waiting for them to give some snide comment at 'yet another improper and inappropriate' visit, he blinded and deafened the portraits. With them gone and Fawkes apparently off with Dumbledore, Hydrus was left with no other option regarding keeping himself from boredom.

"Good afternoon, Headmaster."

The portrait, who'd no doubt been waiting for him to come to the conclusion of freeing him from the spell that had trapped his peers, smiled back. "Good afternoon, Hydrus."

"I'm still working on re-mastering my spellwork," he reported. "Spells that don't have an upper-limit or precise range to work in seem to be doing fine. Others, like the featherweight charm, are all but impossible still without 'limiters' like not using my wand, no verbalisations, and only the faintest amount of visualisations."

"It's understandable," the painting said. "I remember when I was first trying that spell in charms class, and accidentally left Professor Tankle stuck to the ceiling." It chuckled. "Luckily I was able to come up with the idea of casting the same spell on his wand, so that he could cast the counterspell on himself."

"Was practise all it took for you?" Hydrus asked. "To reign in your strength."

"Of course," it said. "The expression of perfection making practice exists for a reason."

"The other you is better at butchering idioms," Hydrus grumbled. "What about Grindelwald? Did he struggle with it?"

"Ah, that's actually quite an interesting thing." The portrait began stroking his beard as his version of Fawkes flew around him. "I've been pondering the nature of power as of late. What separates those like you and myself from even the most powerful of those below us, such as Sirius Black or Filius Flitwick."

Hydrus nodded along, feeling like he was back in his original apprenticeship under the man and listening to one of his lectures.

"I believe there are two types of us at the top of the proverbial food chain: those like me, and those like you," the painting said. "Men such as myself, such as Tom, such as Merlin; we were all born with innate gifts and talents that left us with no alternative but greatness.

"Then there are people like you, like Gellert, like Morgana; who fought broken tooth and bloody nail for their supremacy." The pastel version of Fawkes landed on the ancient warlock's shoulder. "That isn't to say I didn't work hard for my skills, you of all people know that I have, but you could imagine it as a mountain to climb. You started from a decent ways up, and slowly over time acclimated to the lack of oxygen as you grew closer and closer to the top. I was born far higher, near the peak, and was forced into adapting immediately or perishing."

Hydrus tried to process that, tried to find the extra meanings in his master's words. Dumbledore had described it as lack of oxygen, but the problem was the exact opposite of that. It felt more like…

"To me, it seems more like our wells of power are bodies of water," Hydrus tried. "And each of us sits at the bottom of our various puddles, lakes, and oceans. I started with something like… I don't know, Loch Ness? Where as you were born at the bottom of Aegean Sea.

"From there, it's like you said. I was able to adapt slowly as the loch grew into an ocean, and it was a much harder struggle to get to even just where you started, but your own immediate start was much more perilous." Hydrus took a deep breath. "And now that I've got a proper visualisation for all these families' magics coming together, although the size of the ocean itself hasn't changed, it's like the pressure has more than doubled, becoming something more akin to what you yourself dealt with."

"I suppose." Hydrus blinked at the way the portrait was pouting. "But as a wizard who's own power is fire at its core, I prefer to avoid such aquatic metaphors."

"Another difference between you and the real Dumbledore," the time traveller said. "He would never allow a joke or, if he really was that childish, a personal preference to stand in the way of doing the best job he could when it came to helping and educating others." Honestly, it was getting more and more apparent that this version of the headmaster was nothing like either of the versions he knew. "You need more... I don't know what to call it, passion for teaching."

"But that's not what you gave me, is it, Hydrus?" The portrait stared at him with an unnatural stoicism, and the faux-phoenix on his shoulder cocked its head almost entirely upside down. "You gave me failure." The painting held up its rotting hand then slowly began stroking its beard. "A permanent reflection of my arrogance and abandonment. Your only other touch, a token gesture towards my vanity and social manipulation."

"Are you saying I was wrong to do so?" Hydrus demanded. The portrait's sudden change in demeanour had sent shivers down his spine, and he was unconsciously gripping his wand. "You know you better than anyone else, did you not deserve such things?"

"I'm saying that you're quick to blame those besides yourself for the failings around you," the artificial warlock said. "The 'real' me might be trying to convince you to be kinder to yourself, but unlike him, I've not just witnessed your memories."

Hydrus frowned. "What do you mean?"

"What do you know of the origin of horcruxes, Harry?" the painting asked. "How were they first discovered, invented?"

"Can you get to your point?"

"Herpo the Foul, one of history's greatest and most vile minds, was the first to break his soul," the portrait said. "He is, most likely, one of Slytherin's ancestors. People only ever recognise him for his, for lack of a better terms, more foul devisings; but horcruxes and basilisks were not his only creations. He was also the first man to create a magical portrait."

'I swear I'm going to feed this stupid thing to Francis if there isn't a point to this story,' Hydrus thought. 'If this is just a lecture on how great portraits are—'

"I won't bore you with the details of his apprenticeship under Daedalus, but suffice to say, he first noticed a unique connection between souls and creation when the mosaics he decorated the Minotaur's Labyrinth's walls with were far more vicious than his fellow apprentices." Hydrus blinked as the vaguely familiar name and much more memorable Greek legend went racing through his mind. "He eventually realised that in the process of creating magical art, a part of the artist's soul went with it. A small part, so small so as to be completely unnoticeable and easily recovered. But still.

"It was that knowledge that led to the first enchanted portraits being created, and then eventually, the first horcrux." The portrait folded its fingers together. "So when you stabbed at my canvas with the purest and rawest vitriol you held for me inside you, you gave me a true measure of who, and what, you are.

"I know that you're a man who will destroy anything and everything that gets in his way. I know that you are a dark lord in all but deeds, but for how long will that last?" The portrait cocked its eyebrow at him. "How long until something happens that your pride won't allow to pass? How long until you refuse to accept your own failure, and burn the whole world down to 'rectify' whatever new mistake you make?"

Hydrus released his wand and allowed it to fall out of his sleeve; his hand was trembling too much to keep holding it. He and the current Dumbledore might've failed to perfectly recreate the ancient warlock from Hydrus's timeline, but the thing definitely had a complete mastery of manipulating his apprentice. It would've been easy to write the words off as some act of childish frustration with Hydrus for any number of perceived slights, but the intentions behind them were meaningless when they stabbed so deep.

"Why don't you finish telling the story of Herpo the Foul?" a voice said. Hydrus glanced up to see Gellert Grindelwald had stepped out of Dumbledore's private room, connected to the opposite side of the office, and the real headmaster was waiting in the doorway behind him. "Wasn't that always your favourite part?"

"Wasn't it you who decried it as uncredited hogwash?" the portrait snarked back. "What are you doing out of your—"

Hydrus's eyes shot wide open when the real Dumbledore successfully blacked out the portrait without using his wand or verbalisation. Even though he'd been the one to invent the damn spell, one of the only ones he had made without the help of Hermione or Remus, he'd yet to be able to pull that off. The headmaster, who moved to take the seat behind his desk, had done it easily.

"Herpo's experiments led to the creation of enchanted portraits and horcruxes, yes," the ancient warlock said. "But let us not forget his final gift to the world: the basilisk. With vile intentions and unbridled curiosity he created a method for internal life, but with repentance and rectification in his heart he bred a beast of death to put an end to his tale."

"According to the social gadfly's secret oral histories, anyways," Grindelwald added, smirking slightly. "Personally I think it's all hogwash, as you said."

"That thing is not me," Dumbledore grumbled. "Not yet, anyways. Hydrus, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"I came to get ideas on how to torture your brother since I doubt you'd want me to kill him," Hydrus said. He reached down to recover his wand and tucked it back into his sleeve, but balanced on the tip of his finger since Grindelwald was around. "More importantly, what's he doing here?"

"Well, I promised to visit more in gratitude for his help with attempting to solve your problem." The headmaster cocked a brow at him, a quirk to his lip that the painting had been missing with his own chastising. "When I discovered a new guest at Nurmengard."

"A temporary bit of decoration," Hydrus said dismissively. "Just needed a place to put her while I wait for her father to come and pick her up."

"Be that as it may, I felt it best for our inmate's sanity to separate the two."

"And do you think that's the smartest thing to do?" The former war leader cocked his own brow now. "Don't you think you're giving him too much trust?"

"It's you I trust, not him," Dumbledore said, eyes twinkling. "After all, what's the point in having history's foremost expert in slaying darklords as my apprentice if not to keep my flights of fancy in check?"

Hydrus snorted. "You're lucky this new me is weak to flattery."

It was something he needed to get a better grasp on. Throughout his life he'd gone from being an adored infant, to an abused child, to a burned teen, to an undisputed leader, to a self-imposed vagrant, to whatever the hell he was now. All in all it had him in an awkward position regarding his self esteem and expectations from others.

"He's as bad as you." Hydrus glanced up at Grindelwald. "Always drifting off in conversations."

Dumbledore just chuckled. "I find it eccentrically charming."

"Yeah right," Hydrus said, rolling his eyes. "Anyways, any ideas?"

"Please," Grindelwald said. "Knowing that mewling brat, he'll still cry foul if you claim he can't read."

The time traveller glanced at Dumbledore who shrugged. "He does still feel rather insecure about that."

"Kreacher!" The house elf appeared. "Write up a flyer for me requesting a reading tutor for a senior citizen, and that compensation will be provided by the House of Black. Advise that applicants should go directly to the Hog's Head in Hogsmeade to submit their resumes, and to ask for Aberforth Dumbledore. Once that's done, bring it to me, and I'll make copies."

Hermione had been the one to invent a spell that acted as a copy machine; that replicated inkings on multiple sheets of parchments.

"Yes, Lord Master Hydrus."

"Oh, and where's Sirius?"

"He is being at the Lord and Lady Potter's home, Lord Master Hydrus."

"Damn." He sucked at his teeth. "Alright, that'll be all, Kreacher."

The elf bowed and popped away. Hydrus had been hoping his father was off at some bar again, or even getting back into the game and hooking up with some stranger, but that had been a foolish hope. It seemed like every second the man wasn't working, complaining about working, or sleeping; he was over at the Potters. This time Hydrus would just have to go there and get him.

"Well, I'm sure you two have a lot of catching up to do." Hydrus stood. "By the way, where's Fawkes?"

"I'm not sure," Dumbledore said with a hum. "He's at that age again where he just does whatever he pleases."

Hydrus laughed and waved what was either the truth or a pointed jab aside as he stepped into the floo.

"Potter House, Godric's Hollow."

The emerald flames whisked him away. When he arrived in the Potter ancestral home, it felt… Like anywhere else. He glanced about the den. There was a sofa set surrounding a large living room table. Paintings and pictures were hung up along the wall, stationary and moving alike. A shelf on the wall opposite of him held a few trophies and other knickknacks. There was a faint smell of incense in the air, some cinnamon and vanilla concoction.

It was all extremely normal.

Hydrus didn't know what he'd expected to feel when he came here. The past hadn't given him the chance. This home, along with the rest of the surrounding magical neighbourhood, had been one of the first things Voldemort had destroyed in his initial rampage across magical Britain. Being here now didn't leave him feeling morose or guilty, it all just felt too distant from him, from who he was and where he'd come from. His 'siblings' being in most of the portraits alongside him, the thumping of footsteps above his head as children ran around, it all completely separated him from this version of what should've been his home.

"Right, where's Sirius…"

He began to explore. The house wasn't large like any of the Black properties, only two stories tall, and it was obvious that the first doorstep he leaned against only held the youngest Potters, Remus and Sirius, by the sounds of their playful shouts and squeals. The next one he eavesdropped on was much more interesting.

"Would you leave me alone!" Dahlia's voice said. "You're the worst!"

"I'm just curious." It was the eldest Potter daughter, Iris. "You've already wasted so many of mum's fancy parchments."

"I just don't want to sound stupid like you." Hydrus bit his tongue to stop himself from laughing at the girl's poor attempt at Slytherin House's trademark snobbery. "You'd understand if you kept better company."

"I quite like my company, thank you very much." He had no idea where Dahlia's self-important arrogance came from, but it was obvious that Iris took after their mother. "I certainly don't have to worry about things like that when I write them letters."

"Whatever, everyone in Slytherin writes to him," Dahlia said. Hydrus could almost hear the way she was jutting out her chin. "Everyone who knows what's good for them, anyways."

'Wait, what the hell are they…'

"Yes I'm sure Hydrus just loves everyone writing him letters." He stiffened. "If you really want him to notice you, you shouldn't respond at all. That way you'll stand out."

'Right, time to nip this in the fucking bud.'

He rapped his knuckles against the door. It almost took him by surprise when Dahlia called for him to come in, but he supposed the girl wouldn't be expecting any visitors. When he opened the door, both of the Potter daughters' eyes widened.

He smiled. "Good afternoon."

"Hydrus!" Dahlia squeaked. "What are you doing here?"

Iris, on the other hand, had furrowed her brows. "Yes, what are you doing here?"

"Does your elder god-brother need a reason to visit his little sisters?" Hydrus asked, putting on airs and a bemused tone. "To be more honest, my house elf told me my father was here. There's something I need him for."

"We're not your sisters," Iris argued, sounding like his past self had all those months ago. "I—"

"Of course you are," Hydrus interrupted. "I would hope that the lengths I've gone to in order to protect Dahlia, to ease the tensions between Harry and Draco, to quell any insults against your mother, show that I see you all as family."

The apprehension in Iris's eyes had faded, but she still didn't look happy. Dahlia definitely didn't, with the way she was glumly staring down at the floor. He didn't feel the least bit guilty stomping over this childish crush of hers like he had with Fleur's, this time he hadn't done anything to warrant such affections, but he still felt bad for her.

"Could you tell me where he is?" he asked, wanting to offer them a way to get him out of there quickly.

"Probably in the yard with Harry," Iris answered softly. "They like to play quidditch together."

"Got it, thank you." He bowed his head. "I'll look forward to your letter, Dahlia, I'm never too busy for my housemates, let alone siblings."

With his last hammering home of his message out of the way, he left. He made it to the backdoor and when he stepped out, he was panged with jealousy.

Sirius and Harry were darting about in the sky like looping swallows. They were both riding Firebolts, but his younger self's talent was obvious even after just a few seconds of watching. Where his godfather carved through the air slowly and properly, Harry shot through it with unnatural turns and angles that anyone else would've baulked at the thought of trying to pull off. Anyone besides maybe Victor Krum, anyways, another source of jealousy.

"He's something on a broom, ain't he?" his father asked. "I bought him a toy broom as a babe as half a joke on Lily, but it seems like it really paid off."

"It's where he belongs," Hydrus answered. "The Potter family has always represented freedom, and what could possibly be more freeing than flight itself?"

"I know every dad says this," James said. "But I really do think he can go pro. His mum's worried we don't make him study enough, but he's just so damn good."

"Let him do what he wants," Hydrus near-whispered, wishing he himself could have had that opportunity. "You and yours have far too many cushions to worry about where he'll fall if he flies too high."

James snorted. "You sound like my father."

"It's merely…"

Wait. He turned to the Potter Lord, his father, suddenly realising the man had managed to sneak up on him and start a conversation as naturally as the sun rising. James looked back at him, raised an eyebrow, then no doubt realised what was running through his mind. After the mischievous smile on his face formed but before words could come to the man's mouth, Hydrus envisioned a massive phoenix beating its wings at the man and he went flying.

Directly at Sirius.

To his godfather's credit, Sirius noticed the sudden and shocked wailing sound heading his way and pulled his broom around just in time to 'catch' the Potter lord. To his idiotic parents' detriment, Firebolts weren't meant to take that sort of impact, and both started plummeting to the ground. Hydrus watched it all with curiosity, but his wondering over whether or not the two idiots would need him to heal them was cut short when his mother's voice called out the cushioning charm.

Instead of hitting the relatively hard turf that made up the majority of the backyard, the pair bounced against the ground like it was a trampoline. After a few more skittering 'jumps' they came to a rolling stop. Hydrus put on his best frown and 'glared' at his mother who stepped out beside him.

"Way to ruin the fun," he said. "I was hoping Sirius would at least chip a tooth."

His mother huffed at him. "They could've gotten seriously hurt!"

"Please." He rolled his eyes. "Those are two of the most powerful wizards in the world, and apparently I'm so good at healing magic that I've got Hogwarts' nurse herself awe-struck. It would've been fine."

Harry landed his broom in front Hydrus and Lily with a grin. "What was that all about?"

"Your father annoyed me," Hydrus said. "How's your summer break going? Getting ready to duel Draco next year?"

The least he could do for his 'cousin' after their vacation to Mexico was a bit of reconnaissance, after all.

"Not really." Hydrus blinked, then stared at his past self out of the corner of his eyes as the teen watched their fathers untangle themselves and straighten up. "Its been nearly a year since I got to practise quidditch, that's way more important."

"Right," he agreed without thinking about it too much. "Well, I'll tell Draco not to worry too much then."

Harry barked out a laugh, just like Sirius would've. "Oh trust me, I'll do just fine."

That wasn't true. Despite the Malfoy heir's fumbling about with the chupacabra, he was still head and shoulders above Harry as far as Hydrus could tell. Still. Still, this was what he'd wanted, wasn't it? To not have to worry about silly little things like being the best wand in the entire world, like being capable of—

As if he still had a hand attached to it, he used his cripple arm to wave away the pair of curses that came at him from where the two older men attacked. Out of instinct his wand snapped up and launched a quintuplet of spells that would, in order if all five hit, silence, paralyse, deafen and blind, tie up, and tickle them. Sirius managed to avoid the first one, but the other four hit him like bludgers and left him a cackling mess even as his best friend was being more silently tortured beside him.

"Honestly," Hydrus grumbled. "Accio idiots."

The improper labelling of the two dragged down the spellwork enough to bring them to him without breaking their necks, but they definitely got some grass stains on their robes. He began casting the counter curses on Sirius even as his mother did the same for his father. He helped Sirius to his feet and the Black Sheep glared at him, rubbing at his back.

"Couldn't you have just let us win?" he asked. Before Hydrus could respond, the man gestured at Harry. "I let him win all the time!"

And like that, the circus was off. Harry shouted at Sirius, Sirius teased him back, Lily butted in, Sirius was interrupted by James finally being free of all the spells, to the surprise of everyone Harry got a verbal lick in on his father. The whole… The whole family was just bantering and laughing together. Sirius and James had banded together almost immediately against Harry, Harry was doing his best to hold his own against them, and although Lily was obviously trying to give off the impression of a neutral party she was clearly on Harry's side.

Hydrus took it all in with an indescribable melancholy.

"Sirius," he finally butted in, catching everyone's attention. "I need you to go and visit Lord Stellavigil."

"Huh? Oh." Sirius rubbed at the back of his head. "Why?"

"Because he's all but begging us for attention, and unlike the rest of the sycophants he's earned it." Guilt stabbed at him for crushing the atmosphere of the family gathering, but once he was finished speaking he could finally leave. "Just drop by for a surprise visit and tell him how excited you are for him that he won the election. Tell him I was the one who told you the good news, but that I kept putting it off, and you decided to just visit without me, that way he'll feel closer to you than me."

The Potters were all looking at him like he'd grown a second head, but Sirius just had the same wrinkled nose and surly expression he always wore when Hydrus gave him 'missions' like this.

"Fine," he said. "Do I have to stay long?"

"Only if he wants you to," Hydrus answered. "He probably won't though. He'll take it as an insult that I didn't come myself, and it won't be until you leave that he'll realise that this means he can use you to get closer to me."

"Oh good, I was worried people might take me too seriously." Hydrus ignored his father's classic punmanship. "Do I have to do it right this second? I was in the middle of—"

He was interrupted by the arrival of a terrified looking Kreacher. The house elf had practically his entire hand in his mouth, blood pouring out from between his fang-like teeth.

'Great, something else to deal with,' Hydrus thought. "Kreacher, I order you stop punishing yourself and tell me what the matter is."

The elf popped its hand out with a sickening grating of bone against flesh. "Kreacher is s-, s-, sorry, Lord Master Hydrus. Th-, th-, the-, there is someone to see you."

"What the hell is the matter with it?" Sirius demanded. "What's going—"

"Don't fret," Hydrus ordered. "The centaurs already warned me about this. Could've given me a little bit more heads up though…"

"Centaurs?"

"Just go put your sword on and deal with Stellavigil," Hydrus snapped at his godfather. "I'll worry about the 'great and ancient evils'." He turned to Kreacher. "Take me home."

With a crack they appeared back at the Black Summer Home, in the foyeur, and Hydrus didn't waste even a second before throwing open the front door.

Standing in front of him was a vampire. Unlike most of their species, this one was almost indistinguishable from the canonical lore regarding his people. He had slicked back, black hair, a pencil-thin moustache, and clothing that couldn't have been designed let alone made in the past five centuries. If it weren't for the most obvious display of power Hydrus had ever seen distorting the air around him, the time traveller would've written this off as a joke.

"Greetings, Scion Black," the vampire said, exposing two sets of massive, double pointed fangs. He spoke in a continental, distinctly blended accent that Hydrus couldn't quite pinpoint. "I believe you have something that belongs to me."

Hydrus sighed. "Come in, Lord Arnold."

"It's Arnulf."

Hydrus led the vampire into the Black summer home's den, and plopped down into the couch as he processed the fact that he himself had summoned the warning-worthy being. He'd have to apologise to his goddess tonight in his prayers. Although 'Arnulf' had followed after him, he didn't take the seat opposite of him, instead choosing to stand.

"You have my daughter," the ancient vampire said. "I demand to know where she is."

"Nurmengard," Hydrus answered with cavalier abandon, completely willing to destroy this whole home in the ensuing battle if it came down to it. "She was annoying me, so I put her somewhere I wouldn't be disturbed."

"How dare you!" An actual chill ran down Hydrus's spine when the vampire flared his power even further. It wouldn't be able to suppress his own, but they were definitely comparable. Even for a magical being, that was saying something. "For what affront do you dare to attack my family so?"

Hydrus cocked his head to the side and stood, no longer willing to allow that advantage to the foe. "You sent your daughter to threaten my uncle's life. He passed along the message to me."

"I didn't threaten him!"

"You 'invited him to dinner'!" Hydrus snapped. "Zara or whatever her name was made it very clear what that meant!"

The vampire blanched, and although the former war leader thought it was due to his own flaring of power, when the Death worshipper's power faded and Arnulf pinched the bridge of his nose he began to reconsider. The ancient being's shoulders heaved upwards, then came back down like a guillotine. After a few seconds, he looked Hydrus in the eyes.

"Keep her."

"...What?"

"Keep her!" Arnulf threw up his hands. "Keep that idiot I call a daughter! She deserves whatever she gets!"

Now it was Hydrus's turn to blanch and he wheeled around as the vampire stomped back towards the door. "Wait, what do you mean?"

"It wasn't a threat, I just wanted to make sure my little magpie was okay!" Hydrus's head reared back when the vampire punched a hole in his brick wall. "It was literally just an invitation to dinner. That… That air-headed little…"

He couldn't hear the rest of what Arnulf muttered, but he wasn't sure he wanted to.

"Lord Arnulf," he started. "To be clear then, you don't want to—"

He was cut off by the floo going off, and he rolled his eyes when he saw Sirius step out. The supposed lord of House Black had his wand gripped tight in his hand, as conspicuous as possible, and he took in the scene with as much as subtlety as a bull. Hydrus watched his eyes go from his son, to the vampire, to the hole in the wall, back to the vampire where they lingered. Before he could ask any questions, the time traveller made introductions.

"Lord Black, this is Lord Arnulf." To the irate vampire's credit, he performed a perfectly regal bow. "He is the father of our recent 'guest' at breakfast."

Sirius's eyes widened. "Oh."

"I hope you will forgive the transgression, little one," Arnulf said. Hydrus grinned at the demeaning title. "I had no idea that my daughter had such… Misconceptions regarding my intentions. I merely wished to make sure that my little magpie was alright."

"Magpie?" Sirius asked. "Regulus?"

"Mm," Arnulf confirmed. "More like a crow I suppose. He'd bring me little trinkets, I gave him a little money, it was cute."

Sirius was stunned, but Hydrus couldn't stop himself from laughing. His uncle had such high opinions of what he did and his actions' consequences, and here this ancient vampire was treating him like a well-trained carrion bird. Even he himself hadn't belittled the man's efforts so thoroughly.

"It does my heart good to hear you so thoroughly dismissing the notion of bad blood between our families," Hydrus said. "If I had more time to prepare for your arrival, I would invite you to dinner."

"No, no…" Arnulf said with a sigh. "I wouldn't dare to impose upon you, Lord Hydrus. Still, if you would please, accept an open invitation to accompany your uncle to my own castle. I assure you that you and yours will be safe. I just want to make sure that little Reggie is doing alright."

"He is," Hydrus assured the ancient being. "But I will still take you up on that offer, I look forward to seeing you again soon. Kreacher, escort our guest out. Have a good evening, Lord Arnulf"

"You as well, Lord Hydrus."

The house elf appeared and did so. Hydrus watched them leave, then turned to his father and rubbed at his forehead. "Well, at least that's one headache avoided."

"What the fuck even happened?" Sirius half whispered. "What did I miss?"

"Your brothers delusions of grandeur, as usual." He shook his head. "Go and do what I told you, you're lucky you at least got the sword before coming here or else I'd kick your ass." Hydrus yawned and began to make his way upstairs. "I'm getting some sleep."

He was exhausted. Today had been as long a day as he could remember having since coming to the past, and the siren's song of his silken sheets was calling him. He couldn't even look forward to tomorrow since he had to go accept that stupid reward. It was a long trudge up the stairs to where his and Bella's room lay, but he was determined to make it there without any further interruptions.

Hydrus stepped past Giannis's room, paused, then walked backwards to make sure he wasn't going crazy.

His ward was sitting on the ground, inside of a large doughnut-shaped bit of wood that had obviously been expanded from some sort of wristwear. That in and of itself wasn't too surprising, the boy's prodigious talent for runes had stopped catching him off guard a while ago. Dobby sitting on the bed behind the Greek child, carving what looked like a chair, was also pretty normal, as was Apophis coiled up and sleeping beside him. No, what was strange was Fawkes sitting on the rim of the 'doughnut' watching. What was even stranger was the chickcharney sitting on the desk against the back wall, sleeping with its beak tucked under its wing.

"Giannis?" The boy looked up, eyes wide, then beamed. "What's—"

"Hydrus!" With more effort than grace Giannis climbed out of the oversized bracelet and ran over. "Isn't this so cool? I was having trouble trying to fit everything I wanted on this one, so I thought I should make it bigger, and I did, and now I'm able to fit so much! I'm going to have to meet up with Hellena again so she can help me reimprint—"

"Wait, wait, wait…" Hydrus shook his head, for once genuinely unable to keep up with Giannis. "What do you mean meet up with Hellena again? When on earth did you meet her in the first place?"

The Greek frowned at him with furrowed brows. "What do you mean? You were there, remember, when we went to that island?"

"No, I mean…" Now all four of the non-human beings were looking at him, heads cocked to the side just like Giannis, and he felt like the odd man out. "Whatever. Just don't… Do anything stupid, okay?"

"I won't." He gave Hydrus another hug and then ran back and hopped inside his ring. "Just wait! I'm gonna make this into something really cool!"

"I'm sure you will," Hydrus muttered. He spared one last glance at the chickcharney who was giving him an uncomfortable mean-mugging and left. "I don't even know anymore."

Giannis was… Giannis was a bit terrifying. Even the time span to gain his skills that Charlie had informed him about in the past was nothing compared to this. It made a bit of sense, he supposed. He wasn't hiding and skulking in a third-rate family's library to learn this time around, he had the grandest swath of resources available to him. He wasn't starving and haunted, he was healthy and safe. It was like Hydrus had taken a stubborn, poisonous weed and potted it in a greenhouse rather than letting it try and split concrete.

But it wasn't like he couldn't handle it. He had to keep reminding himself of that fact even as memories of the rare battles he waged against the dark lord's constructs came back to him.

Leorex's golems were pieces of art. Monsters and creatures made of everything from wood to stone to glass to metal. Anything and everything the demented teen could get his hands on and tools in was twisted to suit his purpose of destroying everything that he deemed to have wronged him. They felt no pain or fear, and it was only through unresolvable, mechanical failure that the creations could ever be stopped. Some were massive juggernauts that could kill a wizard just by stepping on them, others were smaller than a kiwi and designed to pass on poison and disease.

It was only because of their unreplicatable nature and the relative swiftness with which Tom put an end to their creator that the entire world wasn't wiped out by their devastation.

And now he was battling with his vows to a goddess not to think of that creator as his son.

'Magic preserve me,' Hydrus thought as he kept heading towards his own room. 'I can handle this.'

When he got inside, his better and slightly more insane half was waiting for him. Bella was sitting at her desk, already looking back at him like she had expected his approach. Perhaps she had. He still hadn't figured out how she was tracking him wherever he went.

"Hey, Bella," he said. "I'm gonna lay down for a bit."

He undid and dropped his robes, kicked off his shoes, and climbed into bed. Before he'd even finished getting under the covers Bella had joined him, snaking one arm beneath him and pulling him into a tight embrace. It was obvious she was purposefully teasing him as she pressed his face into her chest and he had to fight just to finish adjusting the blankets.

"Having fun?" he asked.

"Are you?" she parried, shifting herself and thus the 'pillows' he was being smothered by. "I missed you."

"Clearly." Finally getting comfortable he was now able to actually enjoy the embrace. "I missed you too. I needed this after today."

"Poor baby," she cooed. "What can Bella do to make it better?"

"Just keep on keeping me warm," he said, already beginning to drift off. "Keep loving me."

"Isn't there anything specific I can help with?" she asked. "Any problems I can solve for my little water snake?"

"I'm good, dear…" The world began to fade away. "I love you."

Bella sighed. "I love you too."


BBaRtS


Forty-Eight, not so late. Oof, this chapter is another one where I was trying something and stretching myself/my comfort zones. As anyone who's read this story this long knows, I usually do like, at least 3-4 line breaks/pov-switches a chapter, this go around I wanted to try and do a whole-ass, 8-9k word chapter without one. Whether or not people like it has yet to be seen. Ive seen a few posts on the fanfiction subreddits talking about people complaining about long chapters, where long is anything over 5-6k, but I've never had that happen to me and I've always just assumed that it's because of the good 'stopping' points put in throughout.

Guess we'll see.

This chapter we find out that another name fell off the list. We saw Hydrus receiving attention and devotion, deserved or not, and a chastising that actually effected him, even if he quickly buried it away. Gellert is getting an actual reward, at least until Hydrus remembers to free his new roommate. A great and ancient evil arrived and left in quick order, though something tells me that's not the last we've seen of him. That scene was paced the way it was for a reason. Some fun interactions with the Potter family. A quick scene with Bella at the end to cap it all off.

Next week we'll be getting Amelia Bones, some hens coming home to roost, another participant's 'reward', though this one might actually benefit them, and more.

On to reviews!

"Poor Lucius. He has no idea what madness he just involved himself in..." - Yet another bit of debris caught up in the chaotic storm known as House Black~

"Gods Hydrus is just being a complete troll in this chapter and it's glorious." - I wanted to have him have a talk with Dumbledore about that this chapter, but portrait Dumbeldore kinda ruined the vibe. Had to set up the Aberforth fliers to at least keep the vibe going this chapter so when I do get to have that 'therapy' session it'll still be relevant, might do it next week.

"Surprised he didn't want to keep and use the corpse for something else" - Hydrus is one-hundred percent the sort of guy who will go on a trip to the magical wilderness of Mexico's swampy coasts in order to hunt a cryptozoological monster for the sole purpose of sending a message. (This does give me an idea for a future interaction Draco's going to have though lolol)

"And I mean this in the nicest way possible but [Hydrus is] a such a man child" - You're not wrong. It's a guy who became not just a soldier, but the figure head, later the actual head, of an entire rebellion for his people's survival at just 14. His social-skills were purposely warped and weaponized by jaded mastermind to suit that purpose and nothing else. He has the best of intentions, but when you're a hammer...

"Helena was Rowena's daughter. ROWENA was the founder." - It's been so long I don't even remember if this was just a typo or a genuine mistake I made; I'll prolly go back and fix it either way.

"i love how stefanos thinks he is such a great player of the game while he is just a regular bad guy archetype lmaoo" - He's trying his best, leave the (not so) lil guy alone! Lololol

There were a few things said/questions asked that I would want to respond to but can't for the sake of avoiding spoilers, I had to delete a few responses I tried giving before just deciding I couldn't even talk about it without giving too much away lolol

Anyways! Thank you all so much for the reviews and readings and everything else. As FF continues to die a slow and painful death, again just want to remind folks that if Monday rolls around and you don't see a chapter, check AO3 before worrying. I promise, FF is going to break before I do lol. That's all for this week, love you all, see you all next weekend, lessthanthree~