The headmaster's office was just how I remembered it. Filled with trinkets and smelling like lemons and ash. Fawkes was sitting on his perch as we entered, seeming to perk up a bit at our arrival. I briefly wondered if the bird could sense Marco's own phoenix before my attention was taken by the other people in the room.

It wasn't just the headmaster in his office.

"Ah, Harry, my boy," Albus spoke, a very small twitch in his eyebrow the only indication that he was irritated at mine and Marco's presence. "Glad you could join us. Lemon drop?"

I almost smirked when Hadrian just crossed his arms and looked at the old man with an unimpressed look. I taught him so well.

"What is this about, Albus?" I asked, my voice cold and sharp. I sat down on the couch that was unoccupied with my boys on either side of me.

"Miss Potter-"

"Lady Potter," I corrected. This man refusing to use my title was beginning to irritate me. Even if I didn't use it back home, I would be using the full power of that title while we were here.

"Elizabeth, dear, show the headmaster some respect," the red headed woman who I recognized as Molly Weasley chastised.

I let out a huff and rolled my eyes, crossing my legs. "Do be quiet Molly. Since you're here, I assume that this is about the marriage contract I discovered while at Gingots today?"

Both of them bristled at that. So I was right. This meeting was about the marriage contract.

"Now Elizabeth, you must understand-"

"I'm going to stop you right there, Albus." I leveled the man with a cold look as I uncrossed my legs and leaned forward a bit. "I've already looked the contract over. You tried to enact a contract between my son and the Weasley girl in order to gain control of both him and his money. Did you honestly think that you would get away with this? Lucky for the both of you, the contract is void anyway."

I heard Marco scoff next to me and placed my hand on his thigh. He could have his turn soon.

"You made a mistake, headmaster. Not only by appointing yourself as my proxy in order to do this, but by not using the correct name."

"What are you talking about?! His name is Hadrian James Potter! That's the name we used!"

The harpy's voice grated on my ears as I leveled her with a look.

"No, it's not. But thank you for confirming your involvement." I stood up and looked down my bones at her. "You see, not long after he was born, James decided to have Hadrian's godfathers blood adopt him so that no one could deny them the right to raise him if something were to happen to all of us. No one was told, but the paperwork was filed with the goblins." I let a smirk settle on my lips as the realization seemed to set in. "Also, his name is different in our world, anyway."

"You fucked up, old man," Hadrian added.

Sitting back down, I watched with smug satisfaction as Molly's face became a bright red in her anger and Albus finally showed some of his true colors.

"HOW DARE-"

"No, how dare you try and force a marriage onto my son." My magic pulsed with my anger, Marco placing his hand on my shoulder to try and calm me down. "You had no right to do so, and I can assure you that there will be consequences. Whether those end up with you alive or dead is entirely up to you."

"You can't threaten me!" she yelled. "We'll have you sent to Azkaban for this!"

Blue phoenix fire flared up next to me. Marco was not happy, and neither was his phoenix. You didn't threaten his family if you wanted to live. Especially not me or our kids.

"We don't threaten people, yoi," he said, his voice sounding almost bored even as flames still covered his shoulders. "You brought whatever happens now onto yourselves. This is a mere warning to leave our family alone." His flames slowly went out, and I noticed his lazy smirk from the corner of my eye. "Once this tournament is over, we'll be going back home. If you try to stop us, well..."

Marco looked over at me and let out a soft hum, nodding. We both stood up, Hadrian following our lead, and I looked right at Albus. I felt him trying to read my mind and let the memories of one of my fights with the Marines be seen. Watching the old man's face pale ever so slightly was quite satisfying to say the least.

"Now, if you'll excuse us, Hadrian has lessons with myself and Remus before lunch."

With that, I headed for the door, Marco and Hadrian following after me. I knew that he would try again. The old fool wasn't one to back down quietly. The fact that Marco's flames had come out with his anger could be used to label him as a dark creature, but we'd deal with that as it came. For now, we could focus on making sure that our son survived. The first task was soon after all.

~MotP~

Two weeks after our arrival was the Weighing of the Wands. As Hadrian was a minor, and the fact that the Prophet would be doing all of the articles about the tournament, both Marco and I were there to watch how things went. The heads of the other two schools seemed a bit miffed about there being a fourth champion, but I at least got on well with Madam Maxime. Karkarof was just an idiot, and I greatly enjoyed whispering to the larger woman in French about the man. And about Albus.

Mr. Ligands was the one to perform the ceremony. His comments about the others' wands were insightful. If you knew wand lore at least. Then he got to Hadrian's wand.

"Mr. Potter, if I may?" he asked, holding out his hand.

Once the wand was in his hand, he hummed thoughtfully as he examined it.

"Black oak, eleven and a quarter inches, with a-oh my. A duel core of two different phoenix feathers. Very rare, Mr. Potter." He paused with another hum. "Yes, a fire phoenix and a water phoenix. Strange combination."

When he waved the wand, a small jet of fire came out. It similar to Marco's own fire, being a pale blue instead of the usual orange.

The man handed the wand back with a smile. He had always been a kind man.

Finishing up the ceremony, the reporter for the Prophet decided to do a few pictures before interviewing the champions. I immediately disliked the woman. She had horrible fashion sneeze and was too pushy with my son. The moment she tired to interview him alone, I put my foot down.

"Miss Skeeter, if you must interview my son, you will do it with me present," I stated firmly. My voice left no room for argument, and I was sure that Hadrian let out a quiet chuckle when the woman turned to me with wide eyes. "Or, you can simply interview all of the champions together. Out here."

"Ah...I'll just...interview all of you here," she said. The look of fear in her eyes was wonderful as she hurried to get the interview done. She was almost shaking in her heels.

With that out of the way, Marco and I took Hadrian outside to where Haruta and Vista were playing with the twins, a few of the students watching from a ways away. Two of them caught my eye. A set of red-haired twins who I assumed to be Weasley. Maybe they had information on what their mother was up to.

"Hadrian, dear. Why don't you go introduce yourself to those students?" I suggested. It wouldn't hurt for him to interact with teens his own age. "You might make a friend or two while we're here."

I could feel Marco's eyes on me as I gave Hadrian a small smile. The teen raised his eyebrow before nodding. I watched him walk over to the small group of Gryffindors for a moment and then continued on towards where the other two commanders were still playing with the twins.

"Are you sure having him talk with them is a good idea, yoi?"

Marco and I stopped by a tree near our family, sitting down comfortably with a view of both groups. I let out a soft hum and kept my eyes on the teens.

"He'll either make allies or gain information," I told him. "Or both. I'm almost positive that those twins are Weasleys, so it's possible that they're knowledgeable about what their mother is up to. If not, then he'll at least be able to make some friends and allies here."

"I can see the advantage, yoi. We already know a few students that are legitimately wanting to be friendly with him and Ace." He took my hand and kissed it, making me smile. "We'll keep an eye on them, but I do agree with letting him make ties while we're here."

We lapsed into a comfortable silence as we watched our children. Hadrian seemed to be getting on well with the other teens, and the girls were doing their best to tire their uncles out. It was a nice and peaceful moment in the midst of unknown chaos.

"Your love is very bright, you know," a soft, airy voice said.

Looking up, I figured that the blonde girl had been the presence that I had felt walking over to us.

"Thank you," I told her with a smile. I felt no ill intent from this young teen. "Can I help you with something, dear?"

"Not really. I was following the clear winged snarklacks, and they lead me here."

I blinked slowly at her words. Was this Xeno's child?

"They tend to gather around those who love purely, and yours is the purest in the area."

I smiled at her and pat the spot next to me. "Well, I haven't seen any yet, but you are welcome to sit with us for a while. My name is Elizabeth, and this is my husband, Marco."

"Luna Lovegood. No need to introduce yourselves." The girl sat down and stared towards Hadrian. "Hadrian can trust the twins. The whackspurts haven't corrupted them like their two younger siblings."

"Is that right?" I watched my son for a few more moments before looking at the young girl. "I'll let him know that, Miss Lovegood. Knowing who you can trust is important."

"It is. There aren't many like that here, though. Too many daisy imps in their heads."

"Ah yes." I gave her a smile when she looked at me with her wide, blue eyes. "I've had to deal with those before. Nasty things to get rid of, daisy imps."

She didn't say anything, and I could all but feel Marco's confusion at this point. The fact that I could understand what the girl meant was a surprise for my husband, but one never forgot Craos Cant once they've learned it. The hidden tongue of the seekers and seers was a strange one indeed.

"If you see any whackspurts around my son, do tell me please. I fear they may try and make a nest on him."

Luna nodded and smiled back at me before she stood up. "Is it alright with you if I befriend him?"

"Of course, Miss Lovegood." I pat her head gently. "Just be weary of the grubbersaps. They tend to bite when threatened."

With a nod, she got up and walked off, seeming to decide to introduce herself to my boy just as Ace ran up to his side. She was a good ally to have while at Hogwarts. Whether she was a seeker or a deer was still to be known, but that child was lonely. She needed a friend, and I was sure that both Hadrian and Ace would be just as good for her as she was for them.

"Was that code, yoi?"

Marco put his hand in mine and pulled me a bit closer as I looked up at him. His real eyes showed his confusion even if his face remained as stoic as ever. Such expressive eyes if you knew how to look.

"Craos Cant. It's a code used to warn others of deceit and danger." I shifted closer to him and tucked my legs under me comfortably. "I learned it years ago, and it's something you don't forget. Miss Lovegood can be trusted."

"I'm glad Hadrian will have someone he can trust that isn't family. Could you teach me, yoi?"

I hummed and kissed his cheek. It would be a good thing to know. Especially while we're here. Maybe the others, too.

"Of course I can. I'll teach the others too."

~MotP~

That night, I met with Severus in his office, Marco and the boys joining me with Sirius as Padfoot. It was time to meet with Lucious in order to annul his marriage to Narcissa. How he ever survived living with that woman was beyond me, but he got his son out of it all, so there was that. A blessing in such a shit situation.

"Uncle Sev? You wanted to–father?"

I turned my head and smiled at the teen who had just entered. He was the spitting image of his father with the silver/grey eyes that many in the Black family possessed. Including myself, even if the family relation was a few generations back.

"Draco, come sit," Lucious stated. "There are a lot of things we must talk about."

The teen glanced around the room with a frown but listened to his father, moving to sit down next to him on the couch across from us.

"You must be Draco," I started, giving him a polite smile. "Your father and godfather have told me a lot about you."

"Lady Potter. A pleasure to meet you." He nodded at me respectfully, which caused me to chuckle softly.

"You may call me Elizabeth," I told him. "There is no need for formalities here. I heard from Hadrian that the two of you have already met, so I assume you've also met Ace." At his nod, I continued. "This is my husband, Marco. I asked for you to be here for a few reasons, but the main one is that I wanted to meet you. I'm sure that you're aware of the state of things since my son's name came out of the Goblet of Fire. He doesn't have a lot of people that he can trust, but I'm hoping that you might be one."

The three wizards across from us looked at me with varying expressions. Severus looked passive but approving, Lucious seemed a bit released, and Draco looked surprised by my words. I watched the young man and let him see my sincerity. His eyes moved to my sons.

"I would like to be friends, but my mother would find out. She-"

"Do not worry about your mother, Draco," Lucious interrupted him. "I will not let her do anything to you." He placed him hand on the younger's shoulder. "Elizabeth can be trusted, and you should go to her, or anyone in her group, should you need anything and cannot get to me or Severus."

I couldn't help but smile as Hadrian got up and made his way over to the other teen. He held his hand out and gave him a smile.

"Let's be friends," he told him.

It took a moment, but Draco eventually took Hadrian's hand and gave him a very small smile.

"Alright then. Friends it is." He then looked over at me. "There's been talk among the upper years in Slytherin that something is coming. Especially after the attack at the World Cup."

I hummed and nodded. Remus had told me about the Death Eater attack at the World Cup. Things were ramping up on both sides, and we needed to prepare for anything.

"Keep an ear out for anything definitive and come to me if anything happens. Don't worry much about it, though. Let the adults handle the difficult tasks."

That seemed to end the conversation. Severus had his personal elf bring us refreshments before he and Lucious shared a look. Ah, time for the interesting part of our night.

"Draco, you know how your mother and I had an arranged marriage?" Lucious asked, continuing after his son nodded. "And that we are not soulmates?"

Draco frowned but nodded his head again. Dear Merlin, Malfoy was bad at this. He was dragging it out way too much.

"Well, I do know who my soulmate is. And there is a way to annul my marriage to your mother so that I can finally be with them. I know this is sudden, but if I do this, I would like you to be alright with it."

"Father, can you really do that?"

"Well, he'll need a bit of help, but that's the other reason I'm here," I butted in. "Now, why don't you tell the boy who your soulmate is so that we can get on with this?"

"My apologies for not knowing how to tell my son that his godfather is my soulmate," the blonde man snarked.

I smirked as I watched him realize what he had just said and chuckled at both men's faces when Draco just raised his eyebrow at his father.

"Father, I've known that Uncle Sev was your soulmate since first year. You don't hide it very well when you're together," the teen deadpanned.

This caused Hadrian and Ace to burst out laughing and Sirius to bark out his own laugh from his spot near Marco, my husband just shook his head as he tried to cover his own amusement.

"I...Draco!"

"Oh, come off it, Lucious. You're more of a mother hen than my husband is. I'm not surprised the boy noticed. Besides, there's a certain aura that surrounds soulmates that is easy to pick up if the bond is strong enough."

I crossed my legs and leaned against Marco's side slightly, the man wrapping his arm around my shoulders as I did so.

"I am not a mother hen, yoi," Marco countered, which caused our boys to laugh even harder.

"Aw, but you are, my wonderful husband. Just embrace it," I shot back.

He grumbled under his breath but said nothing else. Smart choice. This is an argument I always won.

"Anyway, I told your father of a way to annul his marriage to your mother, and that's why I brought him." I motioned towards Sirius, who had calmed down now, and gave him a nod. "Don't be alarmed by who you see. Not everything the Ministry and Dumbledore spout is true."

As I said that, Sirius shifted back to normal. He was in nice black robes, a maroon dress shirt, black pants, and maroon dragon hide boots. The Black Family vest was over his heart, and he wore the Lordship ring on full display. It had taken a few talks from me and Remus just to get him to agree to help, and I was pretty sure that he was only doing it because Hadrian had mentioned that he didn't think anyone should be separated from their soulmate. The man couldn't really say no to his godson.

"Black. I guess you really did escape from Azkaban," Severus sneered. "Since you're here with Elizabeth, I'm guessing that you weren't their Secret Keeper."

Both men stared each other down until Sirius huffed and looked away.

"I was too obvious a choice, so we changed. That rat bastard is still out there, though," he growled.

"Siri, calm down. We talked about this," I scolded him.

"Sorry Lizzie. Let's get on with this."

~MotP~

The process of annulling Lucious' marriage took a little over two hours. Sirius, as the Lord of House Black, negotiated a return of the dowry given to the Malfoy family, and that had taken almost an hour itself due to the forms that needed to be signed and sent off to Gringots. The man also planned to disown Narcissa, so there was some discussion about Draco's own connection to House Black.

All in all, everything was taken care of relatively easily, and we all left with a promise to speak on things after the first task. Which was only a week away.

I spent that week making sure that Hadrian was as prepared as he could be. Especially after the twins had mentioned that their older brother Charlie, who worked at a dragon reserve, was here to help with the first task. That meant that it was going to be something with dragons, and it would be pretty dangerous. I made sure that he knew how to summon anything he might need, and made sure that he knew not to kill the dragon if he had to fight it. He would only be allowed his wand when he went in, so summoning and conjuration would be his best bet to get through with minimal injuries.

The night before the first task, I could hardly sleep and found myself curling up with a book in the common area. I was too worried about how everything would go. This was different from him fighting Marines and rival pirate crews. He wouldn't have his uncles to help him out. Or me. Or Marco. He could get hurt.

I shook my head and let out a sigh. I was overthinking things. Again. I knew that everything would be fine, but I just couldn't stop myself from worrying about him. He was my son after all.

"Mom?"

Turning to look behind me, I couldn't help but smile as Hadrian walked over to me. He sat down on the couch next to me and leaned his head on my shoulder.

"Hey kit. Couldn't sleep?" I asked. He just shook his head as I set my book aside and wrapped my arm around his shoulders. "Me either. I'm worried about tomorrow."

Hadrian was silent for a moment before he sighed and snuggled into my side.

"I don't know what to think, mom. I know that I'm strong enough to make it out of the task just fine, but what if something happens? What if I get hurt and am vulnerable around the old man?"

I ran my fingers through his hair and just held him like I used to when he was younger. I guess we were both thinking the same thing.

"All you can do is do your best, my little kit. Your family is here to support and protect you. We won't let anything happen to you if you do get hurt."

It was silent again for a moment before he shifted and laid his head in my lap.

"Will you...sing to me like you used to? It's been a while since you've done that, mom."

I smiled softly at how small his voice sounded. He hadn't asked me to sing for him since he was ten, stating that he was a big boy and didn't need it anymore. Even if he did listen in when I did so for the girls.

"Of course I will. You don't even have to ask."

That being said, I started to softly sing an old sailing song my grandfather used to sing to me. It was Hadrian's favorite.

"The king and his men
Stole the queen from her bed
And bound her in her bones
The seas be ours
And by the powers
Where we will, we'll roam

Yo, ho, all hands
Hoist the colours high
Heave ho, thieves and beggars
Never shall we die
Yo, ho, haul together
Hoist the colours high
Heave ho, thieves and beggars
Never shall we die

Some men have died
And some are alive
And others sail on the sea
With the keys to the cage
And the Devil to pay
We lay to Fiddler's Green

Yo, ho, all together
Hoist the colours high
Heave ho, thieves and beggars
Never shall we die

The bell has been raised
From its watery grave
Do you hear its sepulchral tone?
We are a call to all
Pay heed the squall
And turn your sail toward home

Yo, ho, all together
Hoist the colours high
Heave ho, thieves and beggars
Never shall we die"

I hummed for a while longer, gently running my fingers through his hair the whole time. I could sense eyes on me and looked up to smile at Marco.

The man smiled back from his place leaning in the doorway to our room. He'd been there since the first chorus, and I figured that he had woken up not long after I had left the room. He always knew when I left the bed.

"I'll take him back to his room, yoi," Marco said softly, pushing off of the door frame and walking over.
"No. Just grab me a blanket. I don't want him to wake up. He's having trouble sleeping."

I gently moved Hadrian's head off of my lap and stood up. Taking the blanket from Marco, I made sure he was covered and then moved to head back to our room.

"Everything will be okay," Marco told me once our door was closed. He pulled me into his arms and kissed me softly. "Let me worry about things for now, yoi. You know that I can shoulder it for one night. I'll even keep watch if you need me to."

I smiled softly and nuzzled my face into his chest. "Just hold me and I'll be fine, love."

"Anything for you, pretty bird."

A/N: I am so sorry for the delay. So much has happened in my life with my day job and family, and I've finally had the time to get this typed up and posted. I hope you guys like it! Please don't forget to leave a comment! I'm always open for constructive criticism, however, please don't be rude. This is my story, and I have a plan for the plot line. If you don't like something, then you don't have to read it. Anyway! Keep an eye out for the next chapter! I'll hopefully have more time to write in the coming weeks. Love y'all!

~Em