Meeting of Heirs
When it comes to Noble houses, the Heirs meeting is a moment of great importance. Introductions are normally planned weeks in advance if not months. It can be as formal as a Ball for introductions to all the heirs or it can be more of a formal brunch between two families. Regardless of how the heirs are introduced, protocols must be followed. Do not forget rankings within the noble house holds. Making sure that one has a gift for the hosting House can be something small if an informal meeting or a more expensive gift depending on the event you will be attending. Insulting one’s heir at an heir meet and greet is a big taboo.
----Excerpt from Wizengamot and You by Francis Silverling---
The date for brunch with House Potter arrived and Orion was nervous about how Sirius and James would get along or not. He hoped they would be friends so that they would be able to allow Hadrian time to get to know his grandparents without knowing it. As it became 9am Orion made sure that his sons were up and getting ready.
Hadrian was laughing as he sat there and eating a small snack with Regulus as they watched Sirius enact a story that he had come up with to entertain the two younger boys. Orion watched as the children had a good morning snack.
“Good morning boys, we are going to try and visit Lord Potter and his family. They have a son about Sirius’ age so you three can play with Heir Potter okay,” Orion said as he watched his sons think about it.
“Yay a new friend,” Hadrian said as he clapped and smiled brightly.
Orion smiled softly as he watched the children react and could see how much brighter Hadrian was now as he was getting the help from the structure of a loving family. He was glad to see how much a bright playmate was drawing Regulus out of his own shell as he saw his second born son smile and clap alongside Hadrian.
“So go put on the clothes that Kreature has set out for you,” Orion said as he saw the boys jump up from their seats and rush up to their rooms. He was glad that he could get a third bedroom on the same level as his other two heirs. He had not wanted Hadrian to be alone on another floor nor to have either of his sons feel upset at either having to share or move into a new room. Through enough expansion charms and construction charms, he was able to make a room fit for Hadrian. He had let Hadrian pick the colors that he liked to be in his room and he had chosen a dark sapphire blue and silver.
When he saw the boys reemerge from their rooms, he could see each was in their respective colors. Sirius in silver and black as he was the primary Heir. Regulus was dressed in forest green and silver and Hadrian was dressed in the same sapphire blue and silver he had picked for his room. Each wore the silver that was associated with House Black. He saw how they each stood ready to be inspected and to see if they could get their cloaks.
Orion nodded to each in turn. “Well done, gather your cloaks,” he said to the three heirs as they smiled and started to gather their own cloaks and started to put them on. Once each had their cloaks on they all stood in the Floo room and then carefully went to Potter Manor.
Once they arrived, Lord and Lady Potter were waiting for them with Heir Potter standing a little behind them.
Carefully the Black family banished the soot before then greeting the Potter family.
“Good morning Lord Potter,” Orion said and was mirrored by his sons, then he turned to Lady Potter.
The small family stood there in their nice clothes. The Lady of the house stood there with silver hair done up in a bun on the top of her head. She was wearing a set of robes that were a deep violet trimmed in silver. She stood a little over 5’6. She had gray gloves on her hands that had lace at the wrist. She also had a few pouches along her belt done in a triad formation that held anything she needed easily at hand delicately curving along her right hip. She was a Lady of a Noble House after all and did not need her hands occupied should trouble arise.
Beside her Standing at 5’10 with brown hair streaked with gray was Lord Potter, he was wearing a striking set of Gray robes trimmed in deep violet to mirror his wife. He had a deep nearly black dragon hide holster on his right wrist to hold his wand. He also sported a pair of dragon hide boots that matched in color. He had his hair pulled back into a small tail at the base of his head.
The last one that was hiding was the Potter Heir. He was dressed in a pair of black pants, a purple shirt with gray embroidery. He was dressed more simply to be able to entertain boys around his age. They would need room to move and being restricted by formal robes would be no fun. So he was dressed more for comfort and less for the formal meeting. His outfit in the muggle world would be classified as Sunday best, good for meeting new people but able to be played in should there be a moment.
Their floo room was a lovely room that was done up in light charcoal gray and violet. It had a few seats about the room in case someone was waiting for someone to come through the floo. It did not have any decorative vases or needle point that would break if the person stumbled out of the floo.
“It is wonderful to meet you Lady Potter, I hope you are doing well today,” Orion said as he took her hand and placed a kiss on her knuckles as etiquette dictated. He saw the three boys watch him greeting Lady Potter then moved to the side motioning for them to greet her as well.
“Greetings Lady Potter, Thank you for inviting us over today,” Sirius said as he did his best to mimic his father’s kiss on her knuckles. It was not bad for a six year old boy. Orion could already see the flirt that his son would be starting to peek through.
After Sirius moved to the side, Regulus stepped up and gave Lady Potter a slightly wobbly bow but that could be overlooked as he mirrored his brother’s words.
“Thank you for inviting us over Lady Potter,” Regulus said as he then moved to stand with the other two and give Hadrian time to walk closer.
Orion watched to see if Hadrian had any triggering moments.
“You are very lovely Lady Potter, Thank you for letting us visit,” Hadrian said as he shyly gave her a smile and a bow like Regulus a little unbalanced but he was four. After he rose from his bow he hurried over to his brothers who seemed to close rank around him and quietly praised him for a job well done.
“Thank you Lord Black and you have very handsome young gentlemen growing up under your wing,” Lady Potter said then carefully pulled her own son forward.
“I would like you all to meet our Heir James,” she said, her hand on his shoulder as she gently guided him forward just slightly before his parents.
James looked at the three children and bowed to Lord Black. “Thank you for coming to our home. Would you and your family like to retire to the dining room?” James asked a slight waver to his words betraying his nerves.
Orion nodded. “We would be glad to dine with your family, Heir Potter,” Orion stated, knowing that the three boys were excited to be able to explore the grounds of Potter Manor with the Potter heir as soon as possible. So he motioned for Heir Potter to lead the way.
Both families made their way through the halls to the dining room. Once everyone took their seats it seemed that a light conversation went about the room. Soon enough excitement for meeting someone new won out and food was taken away.
“James be a dear and show our younger guests around while we entertain Lord Black for a time. We will have Trixie come and get you when it's time to return to the Manor okay,” Lady Potter said as she saw the boy look nervous as he nodded and stood up.
“If you will follow me,” James said to the three boys close to his age. He took a deep breath as he led them out to the side lawn. Once the door was closed Orion looked at Fleamont and Euphemia to see what they had to say.
“My wife was correct that you are raising fine young gentlemen, especially Sirius as he gets older and learns the effect his charms have on the young ladies. You will have to tie him down with a marriage contract possibly to find him a wife,” Fleamont said, laughing a bit.
“No doubt, he will be a menace when the time comes, I fear it will come sooner rather than later with the rate these boys are growing up,” Orion said
“Why don’t we go to the small sunroom that is charmed to allow us to see the children and keep an eye on them?” Euphemia suggested as she smiled to the two lords.
“Of course we have much to discuss and knowing the children are safe would make it all easier to talk about,” Orion said as he stood and offered his arm to the hostess.
“Orion you scoundrel don’t be trying to take my Effie away now,” Fleamont said as he stood as well.
“No one could steal me away Monty, you are the only Lord I want,” Euphemia said as she took Orion’s arm and led the way to the sunroom. It was one of her favorites and being able to watch her son play outside alone from time to time just made it better in her mind.
As the adults moved to the sunroom, James had the three Heirs with him outside. They were standing there not sure what to do.
“What do you want to play?” James asked as he looked at Sirius and his brothers.
“Oh I know why don’t we enact the tale of the three brothers?” Sirius asked.
“But who would be the three brothers? And who would be Death?” asked Regulus.
“Why not find out who the oldest is first?” Hadrian asked as he looked at James.
“Or we could be the Knights of Camelot on a Quest?” James offered.
“Camelot?” Hadrian asked curious
“Yes, the first Wizarding Kingdom. Merlin helped King Arthur rule the land in a time of peace until the First Dark Lord came and tried to kill the King. The king was then whisked away by Lady Morgana and Merlin to the Isle of Healing, Avalon. They say that the reason that muggles cannot find Avalon is that it is a wizarding space that is unplottable after the King arrived on the isle. Merlin was the last known person that could come and go freely while Lady Morgana worked on healing Arthur.” James said excitedly.
“Oh you have done it now, they are going to want to hear more stories about Camelot now,” Sirius said smiling.
“Can we? Can we hear more?” Regulus asked alongside Hadrian.
“Sure, I don’t know how many stories I remember but I can tell you some of my favorite ones about the Court of Camelot,” James said, finding his place in the group with these heirs.
“I’m Sirius by the way, The mini one with gray eyes is my brother Regulus and Green eyes is our brother Hadrian,” Sirius said as they all took a seat.
“Nice to meet you all,” James said as he saw the sparkle of excitement in the two youngers eyes.
“Now our stories begin in a small village,” James started as he tried to capture the boy's imagination with his words.
The adults smiled as they saw the story circle as they settled down on the chairs that were provided.
“Now Monty tells me that you have some information that I would like to know,” Euphemia started as she saw the tea service already set for three. “Nimmie,” She called out, “please take a small drink setting to the boys on the side lawn so they can talk without thirst,” she said and smiled as she saw a small setting arrive to the boys who carefully took drinks and listened to the story James was telling.
“Yes Lady Potter,” Orion started, “Hadrian, my youngest, is not just my third heir but also heir for the Potter line from the future,” Orion said, letting it be said quickly.
“You may call me Euphemia or Mia,” she said, then thought about the rest of his words. “You mean to tell me that my grandson jumped back in time? Why did he not recognize us then?” she said, worried about what could have happened to the young heir.
“I don’t think he has been raised in House Potter, or by his parents either. He was not in a very good home if the reports I have are anything to go by,” Orion answered. “Now I know he’s a bit young now but once he is a bit older I think we can talk to him about the Potter part of his heritage. We don’t want to overwhelm him right now, he’s just getting adjusted to being in House Black right now and having others his age around,” Orion added as he watched Euphemia get angry then a look of understanding on her face.
“He might not have known about his magic or was taught to see it as a bad thing, so telling him he is not in the time that he knows would cause him to be unstable then,” Euphemia said, realizing what the healers had told Orion. Hadrian just needed a family right now.
As the Adults took a moment to look at the windows they saw the children watching James as he enacted a scene from his favorite stories about Camelot. It was interesting to watch as he moved and flowed through the story.
“What can we do then to help our little Potter-Black?” Euphemia asked as she looked at Orion.
“For now just let him grow up as any child, letting him learn to make friends and the skills he will need later in life. As for telling him anything about his travels that will be carefully monitored for the time being by his personal healer and when they say that he can be told we will tell him what happened,” Orion said which seemed to pacify Euphemia for now.
“As for what to teach him, we can discuss that more in depth now if you have any traditions that you will want him to take on from the potter line, we will have to arrange….”Orion started talking with the other adults about plans moving forward about educating Hadrian without letting him know what was happening just yet.
While the adults were talking, the quartette of boys decided to explore the grounds after a few stories about Camelot. As they were moving about the grounds Hadrian started hearing an angry voice talking about striking the two legged that came near next.
As Hadrian listened to the grumbling he spoke up. “Why would you hurt a two legged?” he said in Parsel, not realizing he had slipped into the serpent's tongue.
“Because the two legged killed my nest mate, “ the voice said.
“Why? Were they hurting the two legged? Or was it an accident?” Hadrian asked back confused why someone would kill someone else for no reason.
“Two leggeds are stupid, they fear us because we are different and they cannot understand us, my nest mate was trying to get a nice juicy mouse when they hurt them badly then took him away. I have not seen him since so they killed him and I will have justice!” the voice said in rising tones.
As Hadrian finally saw the serpent, it had deep-blue base scales with a lovely circle of purple right on the crest of its head. Along the body of the serpent were a pattern of iridescent deep purple and rich pinks in what could only be described as rune clusters with the spotting of flame colors along the side near the ground, that he was talking to he saw that James was almost within striking distance.
“Please don’t hurt my friend, you look beautiful, why don’t you come over to me and I can keep you safe? If you hurt my friend, my new nest mate then the bigger two legged will come and take you away like your friend,” Hadrian said his words flowing from him in steady hisses coaxing the serpent away from James.
“Why would a small two legged want to help me?” the voice said as it turned to look at him.
“Because I can hear you, I can see you, and you have a lovely design across your scales,” Hadrian said.
The serpent seemed stunned as it moved away from the clumsy two legged that it had been looking to bite towards the smaller one that was knelt down with his arm out fearlessly.
“Okay I guess I can let you keep me safe from clumsy other two leggeds,” it said as it moved and wrapped itself up along Hadrian’s arm. It moved along and draped along his shoulders watching the others around as Hadrian stood up.
It took the older boys a moment to realize that Hadrian had stopped. They had been quiet as they realized that he was talking in a magical language. When the snake slithered away from James they were shocked to see Hadrian pick up the snake and let it sit across his shoulders.
“Hadrian, is that snake safe?” James asked as he looked at the snake. He couldn’t be sure he wanted to get closer.
Hadrian hissed a few things between himself and the snake then turned with a smile then said “He will behave and not bite anyone unless they threaten me. He says I am warm and comfy. He says sorry for almost biting you,” Hadrian translated to James who went pale now.
“Drian, did he tell you what kind of serpent he is?” Sirius asked worried they would need to get the adults.
Again Hadrian and the snake talked for a few moments until Hadrian smiled and nodded softly, not moving his shoulders too much.
“He says he is a Demoncrown Runescale. He is royalty among snakes and his nest mate was stolen while they were traveling to find a new home after their mother died protecting them from a Hippogriff attack.” Hadrian said. Then added “And that his bite would have hurt like his mother’s on the hippogriff even if he is a little small right now.”
Sirius paled a bit as he held Regulus back against him. A Demoncrown was a rare breed of serpent and could only become a familiar with someone with the parseltongue ability. It seemed that Hadrian had that even if it unnerved him. But now he had to figure out how to get them all back safely as he knew that the snake was dangerous.
“We should go inside,” James said as he noticed the time of day. He was also worried about the Demoncrown that was draped so carefully across his new friend’s shoulders right now, he knew that one of their grounds keepers found a young demoncrown after stunning it he had called in a dragon reserve to take the serpent knowing it could be considered sacred to another culture. They had thought it was the only surviving member of the clutch that the hippogriffs had attacked. Apparently they were wrong and now there was a slightly larger one across a young boy’s shoulders.
So with that the quartette of children made their way back to Potter Manor. Sirius found himself on edge as he listened to his youngest brother hiss back and forth with the serpent. He knew that he would protect Regulus with everything in him and normally would do the same for Hadrian but right now Hadrian’s gift was putting Regulus at risk so he was not sure how to deal with this and as such kept Regulus close to his side as they walked.
Once they arrived at the Manor James went carefully but quickly to find his parents.
Euphemia looked up when she heard James knock. She saw how pale the boy was and worried something had happened while they had been busy talking about Hadrian.
“What’s wrong James?” she asked as he looked stunned then turned to look at the others in the room.
“Hadrian….found another serpent, he…he can talk to them…its taken to draping across his shoulders right now,” James said a little choppy as he didn’t know how to explain that it was a Demoncrown.
“So he has a snake friend now?” Orion asked as he looked up at the pale boy.
James shook his head. “No Lord Black, he found a serpent,.....he found a Demoncrown Runescale,” he said which had both lords up on their feet.
“Is he okay right now?” Fleamont asked and saw James nod in the affirmative.
“He has been talking with the serpent for the entire walk, says he won’t hurt his nest mates, says he will protect the entire nest at Hadrian’s request,” James said as he looked at the adults.
“I see, that is very generous of the serpent to provide protection for our house,” Orion said as he thought about all he knew about Demoncrown Runescales. It wasn’t much as they were a rare dangerous species not native to Britain, so for there to be some on British soil meant it was a lost shipment from a black market dealer.
When James finished talking, Euphemia took James and two of the remaining boys to the kitchen while one of the house elves started to make food for the young boys. Sirius kept Regulus tight against his side as they walked with the Lady Potter not looking back at Hadrian or the serpent once.
Orion looked at Hadrian and knew this would be an interesting moment as he stood there not sure how to interact with him while the Runescale sat there across his shoulders.
“Hadrian I see you found a new friend,” Orion started as he stood there trying to relax as he felt himself being watched by the serpent.
“Yes I did, He doesn’t have a name yet he says but I told him I would find him the perfect name,” Hadrian said smiling at Orion.
“Yes, a name is very important, but also naming this lovely Serpent would mean you have taken responsibility for him as well, are sure you want that?” Orion asked as he watched Hadrian think about it.
He then got to listen to Hadrian talk to the serpent in parseltongue. It was clearly something they would have to get used to around the house and he wondered if it could be taught or had a written form.
“He says he doesn’t mind belonging to me, says it is an honor to be with a speaker and he would have no other companion for his lifetime,” Hadrian said in response now to what Orion said. He took a moment to look at the two of them, they would be interesting come time for Hogwarts.
“Alright then, we will have to go to a menagerie to see about getting supplies to help take care of such a noble creature,” Orion said thinking about the trip now. It would be dangerous if anyone tried to harm Hadrian now as he had a serpent for a fledgling familiar now.
Life with Hadrian would never be dull it seemed, he had indeed inheiritate the Potters' luck. Orion smiled as he then carefully led his youngest to the kitchen for a snack. This would be the start to wonderful friendships, Orion could see that already. He would have to say that his thought to bring the Potter family and the Black families into friendship was a good choice as it would give his boys somewhere to go if something should happen to him or the other way around as well, James would always be able to call Grimmauld place a new secondary home.