A/N: Words in italics are spoken in a different language. In this case: French.
Hadrian stumbled out of the floo, even after all this time he still wasn't able to fully grasp how to land properly. At least he was still upright this time. Progress not perfection.
He looked around at the bustling Ministry building he had arrived in. It seemed the French Ministry was just as busy as Britain's.
He began making his way towards the exit, he wasn't here on a vacation, even though he'd like to be.
He arrived at the security gate where a guard stood, ready to inspect him.
"Please, place your wand and any materials on you on the counter, sir."
Hadrian complied, taking off his lordship rings and placing his wand on the table in front of him, so the guard could examine them. He made his way to a rune circle and stood in the center so it could scan him.
The rune circle would send the information from its scan to a piece of paper that the guard had. It would contain details such as age, name, blood status, and similar information.
As he was being scanned, the guard began asking him questions.
"What is the purpose of your trip?"
"I am visiting some friends."
"How long is the duration of your stay?"
"I don't know, for as long as I'm needed."
"Oh, come in high demand, do you?" The guard joked.
Hadrian smirked, he enjoyed it when people didn't realize how he was, but this guard was in for a surprise when he read the scan results.
"Sometimes." Hadrian replied.
The guard was writing down his answers and hadn't actually looked at him this whole time.
"How long have you had this wand?" The guard asked, picking up the wand in question. Hadrian was trying to keep the huge smirk from showing on his face. If that guard just took a glance at the wand he was holding, he'd shit himself. His elder wand was easily recognizable with its white color.
"For around two years now."
"What happened to your old one?"
"Nothing. This one just suits me better."
Currently his old wand, the one he got from Ollivanders and was the brother to Voldemort's, was on display in his bedroom. It rested in a nice case. He could've placed it in the family vault where all the other wands of his family were but he didn't for two reasons.
One, sentimental value and two, he never knew when he'd need a backup.
The rune circle glowed gold signalling the end of his scan. The guard grabbed the sheet of paper and upon reading the information, his eyes bulged in their sockets. He slowly raised his head to look at Hadrian and gasped when he met his eyes. Hadrian just gave a lazy grin.
"Everything ok?" He cheekily asked.
"Uh, yes, sir, I-I mean… Lord Potter…"
"I take it everything's in order? I'm good to go?"
"Uh, y-yes, yes everything is fine! You are definitely cleared to enter!" The guard's demeanor seemed to instantly change to being a mix of starstruck and disbelief.
Hadrian put his rings back on, once he did they disappeared from sight, placed his wand back in its holster and gave the guard a wink before leaving.
Yeah, he hated his fame, but sometimes it was too good.
Exiting the Ministry building and walking onto the streets, Hadrian soaked in the beauty that was France.
'Daph's gonna kill me when she finds out I went here without her.' He thought.
Daphne's parents would take her and her sister on trips to France when she was younger and she had mentioned wanting to take another vacation here sometime.
"Harry!" A voice called his name.
Hadrian turned in the direction of who called and smiled when he saw the man walking towards him.
"Hey, Bill." He greeted, shaking the man's hand when he arrived in front of him.
Bill and Fleur Weasley had temporarily moved to France. Given all the rebuilding needed in Britain, and all the cleanup from Voldemort's takeover, the couple wanted a clean slate and to distance themselves from all that happened. So, they had taken temporary residence in Fleur's home country. Her parents were most happy to hear they would be seeing their daughter more often.
"Where's Fleur?"
"Back at home. Why? Am I not enough?" Bill teased.
"No, you're not. I was expecting to see a beautiful veela, not a grumpy Curse Breaker."
Bill laughed. "Yeah, I get that. I'd prefer to see her too than this mug." Bill pointed up to his face which was marred by the scratches along his face, given to him by Fenir Greyback.
Thankfully, Greyback hadn't bitten him so Bill wasn't transformed into a werewolf himself. He did however get grumpy during full moons and preferred his steak a lot more blooder. Hadrian noticed similar features in his godson, Teddy.
"Honey, I'm home. And I brought home a stray, he looked lost." Bill called out.
Hadrian smacked him on the shoulder.
A beautiful woman with long blonde hair steeped into the kitchen and greeted Hadrian with a wide smile.
"Harry!" She gave him a huge hug.
"Hello, Fleur. You look as beautiful as usual."
Fleur let go and looked at him in surprise.
"Your French is really good! Have you been practicing?" She asked.
Hadrian shrugged. "It comes in handy."
A crash from the other room interrupted their reunion. Fleur let out a groan.
"Victoire! Honestly, she's your daughter, William Weasley!" She scurried away to deal with the problem.
"Like that's an insult." Bill muttered. "Some advice for the future, Harry, when they do something right, their her children, when they do something wrong, they're yours."
Fleur reemerged holding a little infant wearing light blue pajamas. With the little amount of blond hair on her head and the blue eyes along with her pajamas, Hadrian thought she matched how her mother looked when he first met her.
"Is this…?" Hadrian asked, slowly moving towards mother and daughter.
Fleur smiled and nodded. "This is little Victoire."
Hadrian extended his hands a bit, as if asking permission. Fleur gently placed her daughter in his hands and Hadrian gained a huge grin looking at the little toddler.
He could feel a faint pull in his mind, it was so small that if he wasn't concentrating he probably wouldn't have noticed it. It obviously wasn't as strong as her mother's, but Victoire would definitely be attracting attention.
"I can already feel her allure. She's gonna be turning heads. Just like her mother."
"I hope not." Bill said. Fleur giggled at her husband's protectiveness.
Victoire smiled up at Hadrian and began reaching out to him. Hadrian waved his wand and created a plushy of a dog with black fur. He had done this before with Teddy.
It worked again, as Victoire grabbed the plushy and giggled at her new friend. She began sucking on the plushy's ear.
Fleur took Victoire from Harry's hands and went to put her down for bed, as well as make sure the guest room he would be staying in was set up.
Once she left, Bill spoke up. "I feel like I should thank you."
"What, for the plush? That's nothing, I do it for Teddy all the time." Hadrian waved off.
"No, not that. Though, yes, thanks for that. What I mean is, thank you for defeating him."
Hadrian understood who Bill was referring to.
"I sometimes find myself thinking about what if he won. What would our life look like? What type of life would my wife have lived? Would I even have a daughter?"
"I think about it too." Hadrian admitted. "How could I not? It was so close it could've gone the other way. But whenever I find myself thinking like that, I think about how my friends and family are now. How happy they are, and how the people who are no longer with us gave their lives for our happiness. And that we shouldn't be thinking about what could've been, but on what is."
Bill smirked. "Well said. Ever thought about going into politics with that kind of speech? You'd be Minister in no time."
Hadrian stuck his tongue out in disgust. "Ugh, please… the Wizengamot sessions are enough as it is. I'm leaving all the politics to Daphne."
Hadrian stopped on his way to the kitchen to look at the sunrise outside. The French countryside made it look even beautifuler. And he had a pretty good view from Potter Manor.
Hadrian greeted Fleur, who was cooking breakfast and Victoire, who was seated in her high chair and still hugging onto her new dog plush, laughed upon seeing him and reached out to him.
Hadrian smiled and picked her up out of her chair causing her to giggle with glee.
"Someone's happy to see me. Hello, Victoire, I see you like your present."
Fleur chuckled from her place at the stove. "Oh, she wouldn't let it out of her sight. She held it the whole night."
"I'm glad you enjoy it!" Hadrian tickled the toddler who laughed. After the tickling stopped, Victoire reached up and grabbed Hadrian's glasses off from his face.
"Oh, going for the glasses. Great." Hadrian deadpanned.
"Get that often?" Bill asked as he entered and took a seat at the table.
"Teddy does it all the time. I've been thinking about getting contacts to get him to stop." Hadrian admitted.
"It would make it easier to see your eyes." Fleur chimed in.
"But, think about how it would destroy the branding. The glasses are just as iconic as the scar." Bill said, with false worry.
"You're not making me reconsider." Hadrian said.
Victoire placed one of the ends of his glasses in her mouth, but Hadrian quickly pulled them from her grasp.
"Sorry, cutie, I kinda need those on my face. Don't need slobber in my hair."
Victoire responded with a blank stare, and turned her attention back to her new favorite toy.
"How old is she?" Hadrian asked.
"She's almost a year old." Fleur answered.
"Hmm, maybe next time you guys are around you can bring her over to visit Teddy. I'm sure they'd both love to make a new friend." Hadrian suggested.
"Oh! That's a wonderful idea!" Fleur praised.
"What do you think, Victoire?" Hadrian asked the toddler. "Would you like to make a new friend? I know Teddy would like to meet you."
Victoire responded with clapping her hands.
After breakfast, Bill took Hadrian to the Delacour Villa. Hadrian whistled seeing the place, impressed with its architecture.
As he walked closer to the villa he could feel a tug at his mind similar to Fleur's only doubled. This was probably because there were two veelas in the house instead of one.
Bill knocked on the door, which was opened by a beautiful woman with long blonde hair wearing a white dress.
"William, how wonderful to see you!" She greeted giving him a hug and a kiss on the cheek.
Her gaze turned to Hadrian and she greeted him with a smile. "And is this…?"
"Apolline, may I introduce to you, Lord Hadrian Potter. Hadrian, this is Apolline Delacour, my mother in law." Bill introduced.
"We've met at your wedding. Hello, Mrs Delacour, nice to see you again." Hadrian extended his hand which Mrs Delacour took, once he had her hand in his, Hadrian placed a kiss on the back of hers.
Mrs Delacour let out a little laugh at his gesture.
"Hello again, Lord Potter. I must say you have truly grown since I last saw you. You've become quite the charmer."
"I wouldn't say that."
Mrs Delacour led them in and began taking them to her husband's study.
"I'm afraid you've missed Gabrielle. She'll be so upset that she missed you, Lord Potter."
Hadrian chuckled. Fleur's younger sister, Gabrielle had a bit of a crush on him ever since he saved her from the Merpeople in his fourth year. Thankfully her crush wasn't as obsessive as some others and was actually quite cute. The few times he'd met her since she'd hide behind her parents like a shy child. She even asked for his autograph.
It was the first one he'd ever signed and told her as such.
"This is the first autograph I've ever signed. And it's special, only for you." He then gave her a wink to sweeten the deal.
The poor girl looked like she might faint on the spot.
"That's ok. I'm sure I'll be able to see her later." Hadrian assured.
Mrs Delacour let out another laugh. "You'd better. Gabrielle wouldn't forgive herself if she didn't see you while you were here. I have no doubt if I told her you here right now, she'd drop everything and rush over."
"Let's leave her be. There'll be plenty of time later."
They arrived at a wooden door and Mrs Delacour lightly knocked on it. "My love, William and Lord Potter have arrived."
"Oh? Well, please, let them in." Said a voice from behind the door.
Mrs Delacour opened the door and both men walked into the office. It wasn't huge, just the right size for a home office, it reminded Hadrian of Lord Greengrass'. There were shelves filled with books and sitting behind a large oak desk was Sebastian Delacour.
He stood up from his seat and shock both their hands, before addressing his wife. "Thank you, my darling."
Mrs Delacour gave him a smile and left the men to their business, closing the door behind her.
Sebastian Delacour was very different from the rest of his family. While his wife and daughters were veelas with long blonde hair, and blue eyes and had the trademark allure. Sebastian had curly black hair, a goatee and was a heavy set man. Not as much as Hadrian's uncle Vernon, but he definitely had a rounder physique.
"Lord Potter," Mr Delacour began. "Thank you for coming to our aid."
"No need to thank me, Mr Delacour. They're our problem after all, it's our duty to round them up wherever they're causing trouble."
The other day, the Minister of Magic, Amelia Bones, received a plea for aid from the French Minister concerning the appearance of some wizards causing trouble in France wearing Death Eater regalia.
Minister Bones was going to send some aurors over to deal with it but after discussing it with Kingsley Shacklebolt, the Head of the DMLE, she approached Hadrian with the task. The chance to see the beautiful sights of France and spend time with friends won him over.
The reason he was meeting with Mr Delacour was that the man just so happened to be the Head of France's DMLE. Funny how things worked out.
"So, what's the situation?" Hadrian asked.
"The Death Eaters have been targeting veela covens the past few weeks. Destroying homes and… violating… the residents." The man ended with a disturbed look on his face. His fists curled into fists.
It was understandable, the man was married to a veela and his daughters were veelas themselves. Of course he would find this treatment of their species horrible.
Hadrian found his own brow lowering with building anger. Even after all this time some Death Eaters still persisted. Either they were remains of Voldemort's old forces or new ones inspired by them.
"I think I have an idea." Hadrian spoke up after a slight silence.
Both Bill and Mr Delacour's heads shot up to face him in surprise.
"Really?" Mr Delacour asked. "Do tell."
Hadrian smirked.
"You really just wanted to show up the French aurors didn't you?" Bill asked.
His plan was to create a fake veela coven and lure the Death Eaters, once they were there, they would spring their trap and capture them.
It worked just as he hoped, including the part where he took them out himself single handedly with just a single spell.
Currently the Death Eaters were wrapped in chains that glowed bright green, courtesy of a binding spell from Hadrian. Bill and Hadrian walked to Mr Delacour who was watching them with some of his aurors. The others were dismantling the fake coven and trying to help the veelas with little success due to the allure.
"I'm afraid you've rendered me and my officers useless, Lord Potter." Mr Delacour laughed, while the two officers next to him shared a look.
Hadrian chuckled. "That wasn't my intention. I just wanted to deal with this quickly."
Hadrian looked at the four men in black robes and skull white masks. He couldn't wait for the day he never had to see them again.
He crouched down beside the nearest one and took off his mask.
"This can go two ways: One, you tell us where your base is. Or two, we take it." He threatened his voice lowering, losing its usual joyfulness.
The man sneered at him and scoffed. "Like hell I'd tell you!"
Hadrian sighed, he unholstered his wand and prepared to cast a spell.
"I want it on record. I gave him a choice."
Mr Delacour nodded. "Noted."
Hadrian stared into the man's eyes and…
"Legilimens."
For a couple of seconds, Hadrian and the Death Eater entered a staring contest. Eventually the Death Eater started riving and thrashing. Screaming in pain.
The two officers looked on in minor horror, the screams were unsettling them.
Eventually the Death Eater broke eye contact, signalling he had been let go. He was sweating and breathing heavily.
"Mr Delacour, got a map?" Hadrian asked.
With the newly acquired information, Hadrian was able to jot down where the Death Eaters base of operations was.
The French Ministry was able to conduct a successful raid and captured the remaining Death Eaters. They would be tried under French law for their crimes.
Hadrian sat on the couch of Fleur and Bill's sitting room, sipping a cup of noisette. It was a French version of a macchiato, which Hadrian had never drank either. Fleur loved it though, so he wasn't going to make a fuss.
"So, what now?" Bill asked as he sat across from Hadrian on a loveseat, Victoire was resting on his knees playing with her plushy.
"Don't know." Hadrian answered, as he took a macron from the plate. "Maybe I'll go sightseeing for a bit before heading home. Although, if Daphne finds out…"
"You'll be sleeping on the couch." Bill laughed.
Hadrian sighed as he bit the macron. Raspberry. …Or maybe strawberry? He couldn't tell.
"Somehow I get booted out of my bed."
Bill laughed again. "It stopped being your bed when you invited her in it."
Hadrian looked outside at the view. It was overcast, but not dark out.
"Hey, Bill?" Hadrian asked. "Got any restaurant recommendations? Preferably in Paris."
Bill smiled in understanding. "Trying to wine and dine, Potter?"
Hadrian shrugged with a grin. "Call me romantic. It's the city of love after all."