Chapter 2: Blast from the Past (Literally)
Summary: How the quartet got stuck in the past and the morning after the goblet.
Evie's Notes: Happy Thursday! I hope you all are having a wonderful week ! Thank you so much your support of this story, it really and truly means the world to me ! I hope that you all enjoy the this new update .
Being fourteen again had not been high on Neville Longbottom's to do list. Unfortunately being close friends with Hadrian James Leo Potter-Black meant that one was exposed to the infamous Potter luck. Neville had swung by St. Mungos on his lunch break, excited to spend some time with Hadrian. The pair hadn't seen each other in a couple weeks due to their vastly different schedules. The best part was that Luna had just arrived back in town from her latest creature hunt and would be joining them as well.
He had stopped by the Janus Thickey Ward planning to say hello to his parents before hunting down Hadrian. Clarissa Starling, was the only mediwix working on the ward. Clarissa was Neville's favorite Mediwix who worked with his parents. She had a kind and loving way with her patients treating them all with respect and dignity despite their spell damaged state. Such behavior was horrifically rare within the magical community. Aside from being an amazing medical professional, the witch was also strikingly beautiful. Neville had spent the last couple months trying to psyche himself up to ask out the gorgeous woman. Hadrian found the whole thing hilarious of course but assured him that he would love for his two best friends to be together.
Unfortunately before he could summon his Gryfindor courage his world was turned upside down… literally. He had been speaking quietly to his mum when he spotted a hooded and masked figure entering the ward holding a mysterious wooden box. The mystery figure placed the box on the table beside Gilderoy Lockhart's bed before tapping it with his wand causing a noxious green vapor to pour out of the container. Clarissa, who had been running diagnostics over Lockhart, began to cough as she breathed in the fumes.
"Clarissa, move!" shouted Neville as rushed across the room pull the mediwix away from the fumes. The girl had just enough time to cast a bubble head charm on her patients before Neville yanked her away from the danger. The masked figure cast a tripping hex towards Neville causing him to stumble and hit the floor with Clarissa trapped under him. As Neville tried to get to his feet the pair were hit with a body-bind hex.
The doors to the ward loudly burst open as Hadrian and Luna raced into the room. Hadrian began throwing hexes the masked figure's way as Luna moved toward the box. She cast a containing bubble around the leaking box but not before breathing in some of the fumes. The masked figure switched gears and threw a cutting curse Luna's way, slashing through her wand arm and popping the bubble around the box. Hadrian stunned the man and scrambled over to Luna's side. He threw up another shield around the box but also breathed in some of the green smoke. Charming a bandage around Luna's arm, Hadrian helped her to her feet before freeing the pair on the floor.
"You guys ok?" asked Luna as she took in the damage the mini duel had done to the ward.
"Yeah, we're fine. He just caught us by surprise" said Clarissa as Neville helped her to her feet.
"Well he's all yours Auror Longbottom" smirked Hadrian, gesturing to the stunned figure.
"Thanks Hades" sighed Neville annoyedly. "I've got to bring him in for questioning so I guess we'll have to reschedule our lunch for another time".
"Don't worry about it Nev, this sucks but I'll see you at the Wizengamot session next week. There's no way Lis and I are getting away for our break anytime soon either" shrugged Hadrian.
"Yeah, Motsfoal is going to have us working overtime today with all the paperwork and clean up" bemoaned Clarissa.
"Oh the perils of adulthood" laughed Luna airly. "Makes one long for the simplicity of childhood".
"Hah! That's a good one Lu, I'd take adulthood over the first eighteen years of my life anyday" snorted Hadrian.
"Cheers to shitty childhoods" joked Neville as he made his way over to the stunned attacker. "What on earth were you doing?" he muttered quietly. Pulling the man to his feet, Neville placed a pair of magic restraining cuffs on the masked man before casting rennervate causing the man to jerk back into consciousness. "On your feet" ordered Neville, yanking the suspect up.
"Fuck you" spat the man, stepping backwards to try and stomp on Neville's foot.
"Not a good idea to assault a law enforcement officer" sighed Neville, internally compiling the various charges he would be ringing up once he got to the office. "Give it up and come peacefully"
"Never" yelled the man, slipping off one of his rings and throwing it on the ground. The glass disk shattered, spilling out a familiar golden dust which began to pulse a golden glow.
"Luna? What's going on?!" called Hadrian worriedly. Whenever something strange happened it was always a good bet that Luna knew what was happening.
"Brace yourself! We'll see each other soon" said the girl before the room began to spin and Neville blacked out.
* Loyal Brave & True - Loyal Brave & True *
"I can't believe that fuckin' show off. You ok mate?" grumbled Seamus Finnegan as he offered Neville a drink, shocking him out of his memories of the past.
"Hmm?" asked Neville.
"Potter, every year it's something with that tosser. Can't believe he got past the age line. Still it's a win for Gryfindor so drink up!" shrugged his Irish roomate.
This seemed to be the general mood of the gathered Gryffindors. The Weasley Twins had raided the kitchen and snuck in a large supply of butterbeer and firewhiskey to celebrate this surprising turn of events.
This meant that by the time Hadrian had wrestled himself free from the teachers, the party in the common room was in full swing. This time though when the crowd cheered and demanded to know how he had done it, the dark haired boy kept walking. It wasn't worth it to fight and deny that he had put his name in. They wouldn't believe him anyway… they never did. As Hadrian passed the corner where Neville stood, he reached out and grabbed the other boy's wrist tugging him along up the stairs.
"No way in hell I am doing this again by myself" muttered the disgruntled time traveler
"Hades, you never have to do anything again by yourself" Neville assured him, squeezing his hand encouragingly. The pair paused outside the door to the fourth year dorms to take a few steadying breaths. "You've got this Hadrian. Operation Better Life is just a door away".
Hadrian nodded anxiously, it hurt Neville to see his friend like this so small and sickly. It wasn't until Hadrian had come of age and the war was over that he had been able to get the potions he needed to try and fix some of the damage that had been done to him during his youth. Unfortunately it was too late to fix everything, but a mix of nutrition potions and other health supplements made it so that Hadrian was able to overcome most of the damage from his lifetime of malnutrition. He had also happily gotten his eyesight fixed meaning he was no longer relying on his glasses.
When the gang had originally landed in the past the first thing Hadrian had wanted to do was order a variety of nutrition and pain relieving potions to fix the damage he had sustained from a summer in the Dursley's "tender loving care".
Unfortunately the potions he required were restricted purchases meaning he wouldn't be able to purchase them until he came of age. Clarissa had then suggested that they just brew the potions themselves, given that three out of the four of them were gifted brewers, Neville had never gotten the hang of brewing himself. Here they ran into another issue, some of the ingredients they needed to brew the potions were age restricted purchases as well. Clarissa had suggested they go to Madam Pomferey for help but was quickly shut down as the others pointed out the numerous times Hadrian had ended up in the Hospital Wing, had a diagnostic run on him and yet she never helped. Hadrian had been upset at the lack of options but in the end they agreed that they would approach Professor Snape as soon as they made their move.
"Tomorrow we go see Snape," Neville whispered to Hadrian.
The young man nodded, throwing back his shoulders. He schooled his expression into one of shocked disbelief as he declared "It's go time!"
* Loyal Brave & True - Loyal Brave & True *
Pushing open the door to their dormitory the pair entered chatting quietly but loud enough that the scorned redhead sulking on his bed could hear. "I'm telling you Neville. I didn't do it"
"I believe you, Harry. It seems like every year there is someone out to hurt you" replied Neville moving over to his trunk and beginning to take out his night things.
"Thanks Nev. I know I sound paranoid, but it's not paranoia if everyone really is out to get you!" grinned Hadrian shrugging
"Sooo… Congratulations I guess" drawled Ron.
"What d'you mean, congratulations" asked Hadrian, staring at Ron with a carefully schooled face.
"Well, no one else got across the Age line" replied Ron. "Not even the twins. What did you use - the Invisibility Cloak?"
"The Invisibility Cloak wouldn't have got me over that line" said Hadrian slowly, as he shifted towards his own trunk. He wanted to get this confrontation over with so that he could get to bed.
"Oh right" said Ron. "I thought you might have told me if it was the Cloak since it would have covered both of us. But you found another way did you?"
"Listen," snapped Hadrian, rapidly losing patience with his ex-fair weather friend. "I didn't put my name in that Goblet. Someone else must have done it"
Ron raised an incredulous eyebrow at that. "What would they do that for?"
"I dunno" snapped Hadrian. "Probably to kill me. It's kinda a yearly tradition at this point".
Ron's disbelieving eyebrows rose so high that they were in danger of disappearing into his hair. "It's OK, you know, you can tell me the truth. If you don't want everyone else to know, fine, but I don't know why you're bothering to lie, you didn't get into trouble for it did you? The portraits already told us all that Dumbledore's letting you enter. A thousand Galleons prize money, eh? And you don't have to do end of year tests either"
"You're not listening to me!" yelled Hadrian. "I didn't put my name in the goblet!"
"Whatever. You forget that you told me and Mione that you would have done it at night so that no one could see you. I'm not stupid you know".
"Well you're doing a really good impression of it. And being a bad friend to boot" snarled Hadrian, all of the old feelings of betrayal coming right back to him in this moment.
"Yeah, well if I'm such a bad friend then what are you?" scoffed Ron. "Get to bed Harry, I expect you'll have to be up early for a photo shoot for your adoring fans…" with that parting shot, Ron yanked his curtains closed ending the fight.
Of course Neville wasn't going to let the stubborn redhead have the last word. Striding into the room and with a wink to Hadrian, he loudly proclaimed, "I don't care what Ron says, I believe you Harry".
"Thanks Nev, you're a good friend" grinned Hadrian, before heading towards the washroom to get ready for bed. Despite the fight with his old friend, Hadrian's heart felt the lightest it had since he was unceremoniously blasted into the past. Tomorrow his new life would begin.
* Loyal Brave & True - Loyal Brave & True *
Hadrian and his friends got to work implementing changes bright and early on November first. Hadrian woke early and allowed himself to put time into his appearance instead of rolling out of bed and racing to breakfast like he would have done with Ron. Instead, Hadrian made his way to the Great Hall at a decent hour at a sedate pace with Neville walking proudly at his side.
Over breakfast the pair chatted quietly about a theory that Hadrian had discovered the other day in one of the defense books he had been secretly reading. Now that he no longer needed to keep his knowledge secret from Hermione and Ron, the book was levitated in front of them. Hadrian happily gestured to certain sections as the pair ate and debated. Most of the students and all of the teachers were pretending not to be watching and listening to them as they awaited a typical Harry Potter blow up.
Halfway through their meal the pair were joined by their time traveling Ravenclaw. Luna floated over to their table humming an enchanting tune and took the open seat on Hadrian's left. "Good morning Hadrian" greeted Luna.
"Hadrian? Who's Hadrian?" asked Hadrian, playing along for the benefit of the room.
"Why you are silly. Hadrian James Leo Potter Black. I guess you were always meant to be a lion. Though if what the nargles tell me is correct you would also have made a fine snake".
"Nargles?! And that isn't my name. My name is Harry James Potter" protested Hadrian, fighting to keep a bewildered look on his face.
"Uhh, actually mate, she's right" cut in Neville hesitantly. "Well maybe not about the whole Nargles thing. But she is right about your name".
"What do you mean!?" demanded Hadrian loudly.
"Your parents named you Hadrian James Leo Potter Black, but Gran said that they called you Harry for short" explained Neville.
"How do you know that?"
"My Mum, Alice, was best friends with yours when they were in school. So when you were born Lily asked my mum to be your godmother. Because of this my family was there for your naming ceremony. Gran said that your father, Sirius, argued something fierce for you to be named after a star which is Black family tradition. Your dad, James, finally agreed when your father suggested Leo. Apparently it was Gryffindor-ish enough for him"
"My head is spinning," groaned Hadiran, trying to channel the emotions he had felt the first time he learned this news, which hadn't been until he was nineteen and had gone to the bank himself and gotten a blood test. "Why do you keep saying that Sirius Black is my father? James Potter was".
"Harry, we're magic. You're thinking like a muggle again" teased Neville good naturedly, bringing a smile to the 'overwhelmed' boy's face.
"I'm sorry, how about you go spend ten years of your life being told that magic is "freakish" and "not real". See how well you handle your whole world constantly shifting".
"Peace Harry. I know. I know" chuckled Neville. "Though everytime you bring up your piece of shit guardians it makes me want to kill them more"
"Ehhh, honestly I'm not even all that surprised that I apparently didn't know my own name. Until I was five, the only thing I was called was "boy" or "freak", I only learned it because the Dursleys were forced to send me to school or face questioning by Social Services. Not that Social Services has ever helped me anyways".
Neville's rage at Hadrian's horrendous guardians led to him bending a fork as he tried to breathe through the rage and not explode in front of Harry. Years of being the boy's friend had taught him that the boy would react badly to yelling or sudden movements. "Well, now you know. You are Hadrian James Leo Potter Black, and to answer your earlier question… Sirius Black blood adopted you. This makes you James', Lily's and Sirius' kid genetically"
"That's so cool! Good to know I'm not an orphan… even if my father is on the run for being falsely accused of mass murder".
"Glad you could find the upside" chuckled Clarissa as she slid into the open seat across from Neville. "Now what is this about Sirius black being falsely accused?"
"Good morning, Harry. How are you today, Harry? Can I join you, Harry?" mock scolded Hadrian as he raised an eyebrow in a scarily good impression of their resident potions master.
"Good morning, Hadrian. How are you, Hadrian? Can I join you, Hadrian?" parroted back Clarissa with a troublemaking grin.
"Thank you! Good to see you have some manners, Liss" fake sniffed Hadrian, putting on his best 'Draco Malfoy' look. "My world is once again being rocked so please do join in the explosion".
"Gladly, I never miss a good explosion," chuckled Clarissa.
"Then you should be in our potions class" remarked Neville. Leaning in he mock whispered, "Seamus and I are competing to see who has the best explosion this year. So far I'm winning".
"No you're not!" protested Seamus further down the table.
"Uh, yeah I am. I lost 50 house points so far, got two weeks of detention and made the professor pull his hair out. I think I'm winning" winked Neville.
"Oofff! Those are tough stats to beat Finnegan" remarked Clarissa as she helped herself to some yogurt, fruit and granola. "I'm Team Longbottom. Is there a betting pool?"
"If there is then you don't get to play" snapped Smith from the Hufflepuff table.
"No fair! If Luna gets to bet then so do I" yelled back Clarissa. "After all…"
"The future isn't set in stone" replied the whole of the Hufflepuff table.
"Gosh, you would think that us seers never get to have any fun, Lulu"
Luna just giggled and turned back to her copy of the Quibbler.
"Back on topic" drawled Hadrian. "You were asking how my apparent father is innocent. Well last year we caught him in the shrieking shack, only to find out that Weasley's rat was an unregistered Animagus… named Peter Petigrew".
A gasp filled the hall as the student body gave up pretending that they weren't paying attention. "That's right, Pettigrew apparently hadn't been killed by Black along with all those muggles. Instead he was actually the Death Eater who sold out my parents and then framed my father by killing all those muggles, turning into his rat form and disappearing into the sewers. From there he was adopted by the Weasley family and lived there for 12 years! Ugh!"
"That's unbelievable" gasped Clarissa, playing her role well.
"I know! I didn't believe it at first either, but I checked his arms myself, no dark mark. Apparently the minister, head of the DMLE and the Chief Mugwump at the time decided to just send him to prison with no questions asked. He never got a trial for heaven's sakes".
"No way!" muttered Luna as she flipped a page of her magazine.
"Way! And when his innocence was brought up to Fudge, instead of admitting his mistakes and those of the previous minister he just ordered Black kissed immediately. Luckily my father got away and is now on the run… god knows where though".
"If only he was here and had his name cleared, then you wouldn't have to live with your awful relatives".
"If wishes were horses, Nev" sighed Hadrian, getting to his feet. "Come on, we have Charms first period. See you in Transfiguration Clarissa and you at lunch Lue".
Waving to their companions the boys exited the now loudly chattering hall which was frantically discussing what they had just over heard.
"Think that'll spark anything?" asked Hadrian.
"I saw Susan looking rather intrigued. Bet you 3 galleons she approaches you by dinner to run the facts by you before owling her Aunt Amelia. Perks of going to school with the beloved niece of the head of the DMLE".
"You're right. Hopefully she hits up Liss first and then me" agreed Hadrian as the pair wound their way up the moving staircases. "Step one of Operation Better Life, Check!".
Evie's Notes 2: Thank you all so much for reading ! I hope you enjoyed this update, let me know your favorite part of in the comments! I hope to see you all next week !
I love hearing from y'all! Let me know what you think of the chapter and the story as a whole in the comments or my Tumblr Find-y0ur-j0y! Have a great week and stay safe! - Xo Evie