Fixing the Future

Hadrian and Severus returned from France the day before classes were due to start, but the day after the other students returned from Yule break. It was because of this that, almost immediately upon arriving back at Hogwarts, Severus left with Sayah to go catch up with his friends. Hadrian didn’t blame him, amused by the boy’s excitement to share their trip with his friends. He probably would have done something similar with Abraxas had the man still been alive. As it was, outside of Arcturus (who was on his own trip abroad for the time being) and the few professors (Minerva and Filius mostly) who he was tentatively learning to call friends, Hadrian didn’t currently have people he felt the need to catch up with. Instead, the twenty-eight-year-old was on his way to a meeting he had arranged with two people he had been wanting to speak to since he witnessed Severus being bullied first-hand.

Hadrian was going to confront James Potter’s parents.* He was going to meet the couple he should have known as grandparents and find out why they have allowed their son to become a bully.

The professor apparated to the coordinates of Potter Manor that Fleamont Potter had given to him when he requested a meeting. Once there, a house elf apparated him in past the wards, took his coat, and then led him to a sitting room where Potter and, presumably, his wife were waiting.

“Lord Peverell. Welcome, to Potter Manor,” the lord stood and greeted him, “This is my wife, Euphemia.”

She smiled at him in greeting, “It is nice to meet you, Lord Peverell.”

“And you as well, Lady Potter. Thank you both for agreeing to meet with me,” Hadrian politely replied.

“Of course, though I will admit I am not sure why you requested for us to meet. Your letter was a bit vague on the matter.”

The younger lord nodded at the other man, “I apologize for that, but the reason for my request to meet is rather sensitive and best to explain in person rather than between letters.”

“Oh? What is it that we can help you with then?” Lady Potter spoke up.

Hadrian swallowed and hesitated to respond. He had no reservations about what he had come to talk to them about, however, he wasn’t entirely sure how to bring it up without causing any offense, “As you are in the Wizengamot, Lord Potter, I presume you both know about the bullying that Dumbledore encouraged while still Headmaster of Hogwarts?”

Potter frowned slightly, “Of course. Though I was not there when you showed the evidence, or at Dumbledore’s trial due to Euphemia and I being out of the country at the time. Lord Longbottom assured me that what that man had done was undeniable and that Dumbledore deserved the punishment he got and more. I am inclined to believe him as I trust my friend.”

He nodded in understanding, thankful that the two at least seemed to be more reasonable than Hadrian expected them to be, considering James’s love for the former Headmaster, “Are you both aware that I am the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, as well as the new Head of Gryffindor house at Hogwarts this year?”

“Yes, James, our son, informed us through a letter at the beginning of the year. Why are you asking us?” Lady Potter spoke up.

“I am sorry to have to tell you that one of the people Dumbledore encouraged to bully was your son,” Hadrian swallowed after deciding to just say it, “I have caught him and another student in the act, though it is not the first time I have heard about what James has been doing.”

Euphemia brought her hands up to her mouth in shock while Fleamont stared at him in disbelief. Hadrian easily met the man’s stare without flinching, hoping to convey that he was telling the truth. After a moment, the older man seemed to believe him as anger began to take over his features. The man stood up and angrily began to pace next to where Euphemia and Hadrian were still sitting.

“Please, it can’t be true. You must have made a mistake,” Euphemia nearly begged him, obviously not wanting to believe her son could do such a thing.

The professor shook his head, “I’m sorry, but I haven’t.”

Fleamont finally stopped pacing and turned to him, “You decided to come tell us in person, rather than just writing us a letter about it. Why?”

Hadrian swallowed again, “Because, strictly speaking, I am not here as a professor, but as a father. It was my son that I caught him bullying.”

The older man clenched his jaw, obviously still angry, “You said it was not the first you had heard about James’s actions.”

The younger man nodded in agreement.

“How long has my son been bullying yours?”

“Since the beginning of their first year.”

The Potter lord closed his eyes and took a breath. Hadrian glanced at the man’s wife to see she was watching Fleamont, tears in her eyes. The man in question opened his eyes and looked at Euphemia. After a silent exchange by the two, the woman nodded, and blinked the unfallen tears away in favor of a look mixed between anger and resigned acceptance. Meanwhile, Fleamont turned to him, calm look on his own face.

“Lord Peverell, I formally apologize for the actions my son and heir has taken against your own. James’s actions do not reflect that of my house, and I assure you that I will do everything I can to rectify what he has done. I humbly ask you to accept my apology in place of my son’s, until the day that I am able to get him to formally and sincerely apologize to your own son.”

“Though unnecessary, accepted, Lord Potter. I had not come seeking an apology, but I appreciate it, nonetheless. I wanted to tell you what has been occurring in the hopes that you would confront your son about his actions and discourage them from continuing.”

“Of course, we will do that. Had we known James was acting the way he had been, we would have acted much sooner. Thank you for telling us,” Euphemia told him. Fleamont nodded in agreement.

Hadrian smiled slightly, extremely glad to find that his magical grandparents are better people than he had begun to believe due to what James had been able to get away with. He stood and thanked the two for listening to him, making his way out of Potter Manor and back to Hogwarts. Hopefully, confronting James’s parents will lead to the boy realizing how badly he had been acting, discouraging him (and therefore Sirius) from continuing to bully. As much as he was disappointed in the two boys, and angry about how Severus was being treated, Hadrian still hoped the two would grow up and be the good men that he had been told they were when Hadrian was a boy himself.

Lucius was the first to speak, “I agree with Lord Peverell. I was still attending Hogwarts when Dumbledore began removing classes and the celebrations of magical holidays, and I remember wondering why we needed to change in order to make Muggle-Raised witches and wizards comfortable. The answer is that we shouldn’t have to – when we go to the Muggle world, we are expected to fit in, so the same should apply here. According to what my father told me, Dumbledore used to say that it was our culture that made Muggle-Raised witches and wizards uncomfortable; My father, and now I myself, believe it is not our culture that is the problem, but the fact that we do not have classes to teach about it. Instead, we expect them to understand our culture from day one, and when they don’t, they are shunned for it. I know because, when I was too young and ignorant to know any better, I was one of the many pure-bloods who act in such a way. Lucky for me, I had a father who taught me better. If we have classes that teach about our world, there will be less pure-bloods and half-bloods who will spurn the Muggle-Raised, simply because they would be learning our culture rather than disregarding it.”

The five other board members in the room were nodding their heads in agreement. Hadrian shoved down the excitement he felt at seeing them all appear to be ready to approve of his plan. He had been working on the presentation for a while – pretty much since he and Severus had returned from France two months ago – and had been beginning to be disappointed by the lack of visible reaction from the school governors when Lucius had finally spoken up. Not wanting to get his hopes up, he patiently waited for the board to decide.

“It seems to me that we are all in agreement, so allow us to make it official with a vote. Those for?”

Lucius and the board members raised their wands in response to Lord Longbottom’s request for a vote.

“It is unanimous. The classes and holidays will return starting next school year. I believe that is all we have today. Thank you, Professor, for bringing this presentation to us.”

Hadrian nodded as the others in the room began to stand. He turned to leave, barely able to keep the happy grin off his face.

“Hadrian.”

The professor stopped just outside of the meeting room and turned to see that it was Lucius who had pulled him out of his mental celebration. Still thrilled with his success and knowing what the blonde had said had been what convinced the board, he smiled in greeting, “Lucius. Thank you for your help.”

“No need to thank me. It was your doing, I just agreed with everything you said,” the younger man smiled back at him.

Hadrian blinked slightly, not having expected the smile – Lucius seemed just as happy about his success as he did. He couldn’t help but think that the man looked very handsome when he was smiling. Hadrian shook the thought away, “That may be, but I’m pretty sure what you said is what convinced everybody.”

“I don’t think you give yourself enough credit. You were pretty convincing all on your own.”

“Perhaps,” He smiled a little wider when Lucius chuckled slightly, “Not that I am not enjoying your company, but was there a reason you stopped me?”

The blonde just shook his head, “Not exactly. I just wanted to offer congratulations, and perhaps suggest that we make an alliance of sorts. I am sure you have other ideas to put to the board as I know I do, so I thought we could run those ideas by each other, considering our respective positions of professor and school governor.”

“I’d like that,” Hadrian nodded. Finding he was enjoying the man’s company Hadrian decided to ask, “I find myself in the mood for celebrating. Would you like to join me for a drink?”

An emotion quickly flashed through the blonde’s eyes – excitement, maybe? – before Lucius nodded with a small smile, “I’d love to.”

Hadrian beamed in response and began leading the way out of the ministry. The other man easily followed. The professor was surprised to find that rather than become awkward like he thought it might, the silence that fell between them was comfortable. Companionable, even. He couldn’t help but wonder why that was, considering they hadn’t always been friends. Hadrian blinked at the thought. Were they friends? They had been acting like they were since Lucius had delivered the letter from Abraxas after the man’s death. Perhaps they bonded in their grief without realizing? Hadrian internally shook his head at himself. Surely, he’d have noticed that. Then again, he’d only just noticed that they were possibly friends. Before he could berate himself for being oblivious to whatever it was that had changed their relationship, the ministry floos came into sight.

“So, where to?”

Hadrian paused, realizing he hadn’t exactly thought of that, “To be honest, I don’t know. I don’t keep very much alcohol in my home and, in the past, when I felt like celebrating, I usually joined your father at Malfoy Manor for a drink.”

Lucius nodded, “Well, we can still go there. If Mother is home, I’m sure she would be glad to see you. We missed you at our ball and on Boxing Day.”

Suddenly Hadrian felt guilty. He had sent Acacia a letter saying he and Severus were going to be out of the country in December, but in avoiding the Malfoy Yule Ball because of his unsure position with Lucius, he hadn’t exactly thought of how the two might miss him and Severus during the first winter holidays without Abraxas. No doubt the holidays had been hard on them and they could probably have used a friend. Before Hadrian could apologize, Lucius held the container of floo powder out to him. He swallowed and took a pinch, then, after the blonde had flooed out of the Ministry, followed the younger man to Malfoy Manor.

After Lucius stepped into his home, he spelled the ashes off himself as he waited for Hadrian to follow. Finally, he would be able to spend some quality time with the dark-haired man and get to know one another better outside of the Wizengamot. At first he thought he’d be able to do so when Hadrian joined him and his mother at their Yule Ball and then again at their usual dinner on Boxing Day like every year, but then the man had decided to go out of the country with his son. Lucius had been extremely disappointed but resolved to work up the courage to ask the man over for tea. When the older man had asked if he’d join him for a drink, he had been ecstatic, as he had only hoped to walk the man out of the Ministry since he hadn’t yet worked up the courage to ask the man out.

“Lucius?”

The young blonde turned to see his mother enter the foyer just as the floo flared green and Hadrian stepped through. Upon seeing him, his mother beamed in excitement.

“Hadrian! It is good to see you,” the man looked up from spelling his robes clean to smile at her. Before he could say anything in greeting, however, his mother looked at his sternly, “And why haven’t you been by recently? I expected you at least to stop by and tell me how you and Severus enjoyed France.”

“I… uh, wasn’t sure of my welcome,” Hadrian said with a sheepish expression. When his mother frowned, the other man glanced at him before continuing, “I know I should have known better, but Lucius and I haven’t always seen eye-to-eye and with Abraxas gone…”

Hadrian shrugged without finishing the sentence. Lucius felt his heart drop to his stomach. It was his own fault that the older man hadn’t been around much since his father died after those first few weeks. Not just because he was teaching like he and his mother had thought. It seemed Lucius hadn’t quite convinced Hadrian that he had changed like he thought he had.

Lucius watched as his mother tutted at Hadrian before hugging him. After she pulled away, she sternly said, “You are always welcome here. While Abraxas may have been the one you befriended first and who you were closest to, I consider you a friend. As for Lucius–”

“As for me,” he interrupted his mother, ignoring her withering look at doing so, “I am sorry that you didn’t feel welcome, but I promise you that I have changed. I never should have treated you like I did before, and I was hoping that we would be able to become friends like I know my father would have wanted.”

The older man scrutinized him a second. Lucius didn’t break eye contact with those piercing green eyes, hoping to convey the sincerity of what he had said. Hadrian finally nodded slowly, and Lucius had to keep himself from releasing a breath of relief. He was unable to stop himself from smiling lightly, however. Hadrian returned the smile and Lucius felt his heart skip a beat as it always did when the man smiled at him. Hopefully, this meant that they would be able to move forward from the past, and, maybe one day, be as close as Lucius was hoping for them to be.

Severus walked into his dad’s quarters and heard a loud thump followed by muffled cursing. He frowned and walked through the living room to knock on his dad’s bedroom door.

“Dad? Are you okay?”

“Uh, yes?”

The boy narrowed his eyes at the door, not believing his dad for a second, “You better be decent because I am coming in.”

When Hadrian didn’t respond, Severus frowned and apprehensively opened the door. He stared in shock at the sight he was met with. His dad was sitting on the floor, look of resignation on his face. However, the shocking part was that instead of arms, Hadrian had brown and white checkered wings, with the feathers at his shoulders being a rust red color before turning into skin.

His dad moved a wing, breaking him out of his shock, and he burst out in laughter.

“Yes, yes. Very funny.”

“What happened?” Severus asked, still giggling slightly.

Hadrian rolled his eyes at him but explained, “I was practicing my Animagus form earlier, but it tired me out since I hadn’t changed in so long, so I decided to take a nap until dinner. When I woke up, my arms had changed into wings and I was so startled that I fell out of bed.”

Severus laughed again, causing his dad to glare at him slightly. He just shook his head at his dad, not at all intimidated by the glare, “Can you change back, or do you want me to go get McGonagall?”

“I can change,” the older man said quickly, a look of horror at the mention of telling McGonagall washing over his face. The boy bit his lip to stop from laughing, causing Hadrian to glare again, “Just… Give me a second.”

He watched as his dad closed his eyes in focus. Slowly, Hadrian’s wings morphed back into arms. As he did the last time that he saw his dad transform, Severus watched in awe, wishing that he could be an Animagus. Unfortunately, unless he was able to get a better understanding on Transfiguration, it would be years before he would be able to become one. Otherwise, he would end up stuck in a half form like his dad had just been in, but probably not be able to change back. The boy bit his lip to stop from laughing again at his dad’s partial transformation.

When there was not a feather in sight, Hadrian sighed and opened his eyes. The man immediately stretched his arms before looking up at him with narrowed eyes, “Not a word to anyone about this.”

Severus couldn’t help an amused smile but nodded, “Promise.”

Hadrian further narrowed his eyes at him suspiciously, making the boy grin wider and walked out of the bedroom. He heard his dad let out a resigned sigh from behind him, probably guessing that Severus planned to use it for a little black mail later on, before standing up and following him out of the room. Severus couldn’t wait until he figured out what he wanted for his silence.

Severus was looking for his dad on the platform like he did at the end of every year when Lily spoke up next to him.

“I see my parents. As always, you are all invited to visit whenever you want this summer. Sev, like I told you last year, you are welcome to come stay with us when your dad goes to Hogwarts early if you’d like.”

The boy swallowed a little in panic but lightly said, “I’ll let you know.”

The girl smiled before rushing off. Severus was relieved she once again didn’t notice his panic.

“There are my parents, also. I’ll see you guys later,” Remus smiled and left in the opposite direction of Lily with a wave.

As soon as the other Gryffindor of their group was out of hearing range, Regulus grabbed his arm. Severus turned to the boy in confusion and was surprised to see the Slytherin was frowning at him.

“That’s the second time I’ve seen you panic when Lily has invited us over. What’s wrong?”

Severus’s mouth instantly went dry. He should have known Regulus would catch on quickly. His best friend had been suspicious after making his excuse not to go to Lily’s for Yule, but Severus hadn’t thought he had given himself away a moment ago. The older boy glanced around, at the people near them nervously. As he did so, he saw Hadrian was now waiting in his usual spot near the floos. Seeing his dad calmly standing there, Severus remembered what his dad had said about Lily not looking at him differently for his past. While he thought the man was probably right about her, Severus knew Regulus would be even less likely to do so, simply due to his own experience with his parents. Severus, swallowed, resolved to tell his friend. He pulled his gaze away from his dad and looked at the Slytherin, who was frowning even more in concern.

“Not here,” he told the younger boy. When Regulus looked like he was going to argue, Severus glanced at the people around them again, hoping it conveyed what he was saying, “I promise, I’ll tell you, but not here.”

It was then that the younger boy seemed to remember where they were and nodded. Regulus released his arm and glanced into the crowd again, before looking at him again, “I see my parents. I’ll write when they let me come and visit.”

Severus nodded and watched his friend walk away. He released a breath, surprised when he felt relieved that soon he’d no longer be keeping anything from the other boy. Severus looked at Hadrian again, who was now watching him curiously, and made his way over so that they could go back to Hogwarts until his dad was finished with his teaching duties.

Hadrian looked outside his window and watched as a few birds enjoyed the beautiful day outside. He sighed and looked down at the lesson plan he was working on. Classes had ended and Severus was reading in his quarters, waiting for him to finish so that they could finally go home for the summer. July was only a few days away, so he really needed to finish up. If he could finish the lesson plan today, he and Severus would be able to go home tomorrow. Another look out the window and he saw a soft breeze was gently rustling the leaves.

Just five minutes. He hadn’t gone flying (he had transformed in April, when he accidentally partially transformed, but he hadn’t actually gone outside and flown) since just before he confronted Voldemort at the end of 1972 due to other things taking his attention (ousting Dumbledore, spending time with Severus, Abraxas’s death, becoming a Professor). He’d go out and fly for five minutes, and then finish the lesson plan.

Hadrian nodded to himself and set his quill down. He opened the window before quickly transforming into his Red-Shouldered Hawk** form and flying outside. Hadrian relished the feeling of the air beneath his wings as he glided through the sky. This was freedom.

Like he promised himself, Hadrian stayed outside for no longer than five minutes before flying back into the open window of his office. The door to his office opened just as he began to transform back.

Once he was human, Hadrian smiled a little sheepishly at the woman in the doorway, “Uh, surprise?”

Minerva snapped out of her shock and asked disbelievingly, “You felt comfortable telling us you were a Parselmouth, but didn’t think to mention that you were an Animagus?”

Hadrian ran a hand through his hair nervously, “I’m, uh, not exactly registered.”

The Headmistress raised her eyes to the ceiling in exasperation and shook her head before returning her gaze to him and giving him a deadpan look, “Again, you felt comfortable telling us you were a Parselmouth, but didn’t think to mention that you were an unregistered Animagus?”

He looked back at her sheepishly. Minerva rolled her eyes.

“If you are going to be changing where someone might see you, please register your form before the school year begins so that a student doesn’t catch you and report you, costing me a Defense Professor and a Head of House.”

Hadrian chuckled slightly and nodded at the woman. Satisfied, Minerva moved topics to what she had come by his office for.

It was only a few days after he and his dad left Hogwarts that Severus got the letter he had been waiting for. Regulus was going to be able to come over to visit the following week. Severus was going to tell the other boy about Tobias. For the next week of waiting, he hadn’t been able to decide if he was more relieved or anxious at the thought.

He was of course nervous because he would be revealing the worst part of his life to someone other than Hadrian. Regulus wouldn’t be the first person to know outside of Hadrian (his tutor before Hogwarts had known), but he would be the first person that he decided to tell himself. Therefore, it was no surprise that he was nervous, even though he knew that Regulus would be the last person to judge him for his past.

However, like he was when he first promised the Slytherin, Severus was confused about the relief he felt. He didn’t understand why he would feel relief when, up until he made that promise, all he felt was fear at telling any of his friends. The best he could figure was that he didn’t feel right keeping things from them, even though Severus didn’t think he would feel relieved had he decided to tell Lily or Remus.

“Severus?”

The boy looked up from the fireplace he had been anxiously staring at as he waited for Regulus. His dad was looking at him in concern from the doorway to the sitting room.

“You okay?”

Severus nodded, “Regulus is coming over.”

“Yes, I remember,” when Severus didn’t say anything in response to that, Hadrian frowned, “Did you two get into a fight or something?”

The boy shook his head and swallowed a little nervously, “I’m going to tell him about Tobias.”

His dad’s face cleared of its frown as he nodded in understanding, “That’s good. I’m proud of you for choosing to tell someone.”

He nodded but otherwise didn’t reply, looking at the fireplace again. He heard his dad walk over and shifted so that the man would have room to sit down. Hadrian did so, but surprised Severus when the man then put an arm around him so that he was leaning into his dad not unlike he used to when he was younger. In his state of anxiety and confusion, Severus easily leaned into the man.

“Why don’t you tell me what’s going on in that head of yours while we wait, hm?”

So, he did. Severus explained what happened on the platform. Then he explained his nervousness and the confusing emotion he felt then and now. As he was doing so, he felt himself begin to relax at getting it off his chest.

When he finished his story, Hadrian nodded, “It’s okay to be a little nervous and it’s not surprising you have a few conflicting emotions. Telling someone about Tobias is a big thing for you so a little internal conflict is normal. I can’t tell you why you feel the way you do, Sev, you’ll have to figure that out on your own one day, but I think you are right about Regulus being someone who will have a better chance of understanding. Even if he doesn’t understand, Regulus is a good friend, so you have nothing to worry about.”

Severus nodded, accepting the comfort being offered to him. He felt better knowing that his dad had been willing to just listen to what he had to say and supported his decision to tell Regulus. It made him feel just a little more confident about deciding to tell his friend.

Just as he thought that, the floo flared green, signaling Regulus’s arrival. Severus stood up quickly, still a bit nervous. His dad stood up next to him at a much slower pace, just as the other boy emerged from the floo.

Regulus smiled crookedly upon seeing the two of them standing there, “How nice, a welcoming party.”

Severus snorted and rolled his eyes, unsurprised by his friend’s comment. Hadrian laughed beside him, “It’s good to see you, Regulus.”

“You as well, sir,” Regulus smiled, nodding in thanks as the older man spelled the ashes off him.

“Well, I’ll leave you boys to it, then. Sev, I’ll be in the library if either of you need me, but otherwise I’ll see you both in the dining room for lunch in a few hours.”

The older boy nodded, knowing Hadrian was informing him where he’d be in case Severus needed him. He watched his dad leave and swallowed thickly in trepidation. The Ravenclaw turned back to his friend to see the younger boy was looking at him curiously. He cleared his throat nervously, not really sure how to start the conversation. He didn’t think that he’d ever been so unsure around the other boy.

“Let’s go to my room.”

Regulus frowned at him and stopped him before he could pass, “Severus, if you really want to go to your room to talk then we can, but don’t stall. You know you can trust me with whatever it is you need to say.”

Severus looked into the boy’s grey eyes and saw only concern. He nodded slowly, knowing he was right. The Ravenclaw moved to sit on the large couch in the sitting room. Regulus joined him, sitting sideways so that he was facing Severus. The older boy shifted to look at his friend.

“I’m not exactly sure where to start,” he carefully admitted.

Regulus nodded in understanding, “Simple questions first then?”

The Ravenclaw hesitantly nodded in agreement.

“How long have you been avoiding going to Lily’s home?”

“Since I met her,” Severus immediately responded. After a small pause, however, he continued, “But I’ve been avoiding her hometown since my dad got custody of me.”

The Slytherin tilted his head in a way that he knew meant the boy was trying to remember something, “You said you did the blood adoption when you were eight when Lily and Remus were asking you about it, right?”

He nodded, “Yes, but he found me less then a month after my sixth birthday and adopted me on paper later that year. We didn’t do the blood adoption until I was older because I had still been a little unsure about my place with him, and hadn’t known about the possibility – though, if I had, I probably would have jumped at the chance, but my dad doesn’t know that.”

“Found you?” Regulus questioned, confused.

Severus nodded, knowing he had told the boy the same half-truth to what Lily had been told: that his parents had sent him to live with other family since Hadrian was better able to provide for him. However, he and Remus were never told that he was originally from Cokeworth. Surprisingly enough, Lily had never said anything about it. He’d have to ask her about it after he told her the truth about his past. Eventually.

Regulus’s frown snapped him out of his thoughts., “How and where did he find you?”

“I literally ran into him. He asked for company, so we had lunch together. I brought my mother to meet him only a couple of hours later and, after a small discussion between the two of them, my dad took me home with him,” Severus smiled lightly as he remembered meeting Hadrian.

While everything leading up to the moment that he accidentally ran into the man’s legs were not very happy, he was still fond of that first day with him. It had been terrifying, long and emotional, yet one of the best days of Severus’s life. After all, that was the day he gained a dad in favor of a father. The boy shook himself out of his thoughts and refocused on Regulus. The other boy was frowning slightly. No doubt, with a few of the details missing, the story sounded very odd.

“It happened in Cokeworth,” Severus reluctantly admitted before his friend could say anything.

The younger boy stared at him in shock. Clearly, Regulus was beginning to make some conclusions as to why he would be avoiding the town that he first grew up in, when, if his situation was different, he should be wanting to go there to visit his parents.

Not wanting the Slytherin to draw any wrong conclusions, Severus looked just to the left of his friend, finding himself unable to look at the boy directly. He took a calming breath and began to explain, “I ran into Hadrian because, while my mother was brewing bruise paste for the two of us, I had asked her why she stayed with Tobias – my father. The night before, he had come home drunk as usual and, not for the first time, got violent. I didn’t understand why we didn’t leave, knowing Tobias was going to come home each night and hit us, even if he was sober, which was usually worse than when he was drunk.”

Severus closed his eyes, trying to keep the memories of Tobias from overwhelming him. He felt a hand carefully find his and gently squeeze. Severus took a shaky breath and opened his eyes to look down at Regulus’s hand holding his. He was vaguely surprised and curious about the other boy’s decision to hold his hand, but too immersed in his past for it to be more than a fleeting thought. He kept his gaze on their hands, thankful for the comfort, and continued his story.

“She told me I wouldn’t understand. I got angry and said a few things I shouldn’t have, and ran out of the house, not watching where I was going. Hadrian immediately noticed the bruises when I ran into him and, when we were having lunch, asked me about them. He made me feel safe for the first time in my life and offered to take me and my mother away,” Severus finally moved his gaze up to meet Regulus’s eyes once more and admitted, “I still don’t completely understand why my mother just gave me up to a stranger – even if she did recognize the Peverell name – outside of our earlier argument and wanting me safe, but I am so grateful she did. I got my dad out of it.”

He felt Regulus squeeze his hand again as the boy nodded in understanding. Severus felt a small amount of relief fill him at seeing the understanding written on his face. Regulus broke the silence that had fallen over them when Severus had finished talking, softly saying, “Thank you for telling me.”

Severus nodded and looked away, not really sure what to do now that he had finished.

“You should tell Lily and Remus.”

The Ravenclaw quickly turned to his head back around to look at his friend with a frown. Before he could say anything in response, however, the younger boy continued.

“I won’t break your trust and tell anyone or push you if you aren’t ready, but I told you what my home life is like and you were there when I told them bits and pieces. We know that they are trustworthy. You don’t even have to tell them the whole story, just enough to clue them in. They are smart enough to eventually realize something is wrong, and I don’t want you to get hurt before you get the chance to explain.”

Severus nodded in understanding, “I’ll think about it.”

Regulus smiled slightly and easily switched to a much more light-hearted topic. Severus felt only gratitude for his friend, knowing the boy did so in order to give him a little time to regain him composure after his confession. He let the younger boy’s voice push away the thoughts and memories of Tobias that had been swirling in his head since he had begun talking, squeezing Regulus’s hand in thanks as he joined into the new conversation. Severus smiled slightly when the Slytherin squeezed his hand in acknowledgement but didn’t pull away.

Lucius stepped through the floo and into Hadrian’s home at the same time he had been nearly every morning for the past two weeks. Once Hadrian and his son had returned home from Hogwarts for the summer, the older man had invited Lucius to come over so that they could work on ways to get Dumbledore out of the ICW, both of them agreeing that there should be someone else representing the British Wizarding World. The blonde had immediately agreed, excited at the prospect of spending more time with the other wizard, even if it was for professional reasons. Since then, they had fallen into a sort of pattern. He would floo to Peverell Cottage after breakfast, and then he and Hadrian would discuss ideas until lunch. After they’d eaten lunch with Severus, Lucius would usually head home. Every now and then, the dark-haired man would invite him to stay longer, and they would just spend a bit of time together, enjoying each other’s company outside of business, like Lucius hoped they would.

The blonde smiled, remembering how much he had been enjoying spending time with Hadrian, and made his way to the kitchen – now very familiarized with the cottage – where he found Severus trying to wake himself up with coffee (now that his dad allowed him to drink some), while Hadrian finished cooking breakfast for him and his son. Lucius smirked at the picture the boy made. Hadrian smiled at him, drawing his attention away from the sleepy teenager.

“Good morning, Lucius.”

“Good morning. I’m not early, am I?” the blonde asked.

Hadrian shook his head, “No, I woke up late today and let Severus sleep in a bit since he is becoming less and less of a morning person as the years pass. There is extra, if you’d like some.”

“Thank you, but I already ate. Some coffee would be nice, though,” Lucius smiled in response before looking back at Severus, “Good morning, Severus.”

“Morning,” the boy mumbled before taking another sip of coffee.

Lucius chuckled and slid into the seat to the right of the older man’s usual seat at the counter just as Hadrian placed a cup of coffee in front of him. Lucius thanked him and took a sip, before pulling out and unshrinking a book that he had in his pocket and set it down next to the boy.

“When you are more awake, here is the book I promised to lend you.”

Severus blearily looked over before visibly perking up as he read the cover of the book. A little more awake the boy looked over at him, “Thank you.”

The blonde nodded and turned back to watch Hadrian finish plating their breakfast. The other man then placed a full plate in front of Severus, and another at his own seat. When Hadrian sat down, he asked, “Have you heard about the bill Yaxley is rumored to be putting forward?”

“The one about legally making blood purity into our class system?” When the older man nodded as he took a bite of his food, Lucius shook his head, “If the rumor is true, then Yaxley is a fool if he thinks that bill is going to pass. Over half of the Wizengamot are half-bloods.”

“Agreed. Don’t take this the wrong way, but it did make me wonder about your stance on blood purity.”

Lucius paused with his mug halfway to his mouth to look over at Hadrian. He saw Severus, who was sitting on the other side of the older man, look up at him in curiosity and a bit of trepidation at the turn in conversation.

He frowned, “You don’t know?”

Hadrian shook his head, “From what I understood, before I petitioned the board to bring back classes that teach wizarding culture, you were a pure-blood supremist. But what you said about your father teaching you better wouldn’t line up with that if you were.”

“I see,” Lucius nodded and swallowed, “Well, I will admit, while I was still attending Hogwarts, and a bit after, I was. It was part of the reason I acted so foolishly towards you before. Just after the Dark Lord was defeated, however, my eyes began to open a bit, and then my father stepped in further and… er, shall we say, slapped some sense into me.”

Severus snorted at his use of the metaphor while Hadrian chuckled, probably imagining the scolding he had received from his father. Lucius smiled a bit wryly but continued.

“He pointed out a few undeniable flaws in my believed superiority, which made me appreciate some of the values of new blood. Don’t get me wrong, I am still proud to be from a pure-blood family, and I am still anti-muggle, but I have come to understand that our culture is more important than our blood status.”

“Hmm,” Hadrian nodded in consideration as he continued to eat his breakfast. Lucius took another sip of his coffee as he waited for a response.

“What exactly do you mean when you say you are anti-muggle?” Severus asked, sounding much more awake than earlier.

Lucius shrugged a bit, “I don’t believe that they should know of our world unless they have produced a muggle-born or are intending to be married with a witch or wizard, both of whom should sign a magically binding secrecy contract. If they are intending to be married-in but, for whatever reason, the couple breaks up, they should be obliviated of the knowledge of magic just as any unfit muggle parents should be obliviated after the child is removed from their care. Either way, however, parenting or married-in, muggles should have absolutely no active role in our society, and our society should not cater to muggle-raised beyond teaching them wizarding culture. In no way am I genocidal about them as I know some believe I am due to my family’s traditional dark leaning. I would just rather not have… association with them personally.”

Severus snorted at his last sentence, but otherwise didn’t say anything as he returned to his breakfast. Lucius smirked in amusement. While the boy was generally quiet, he knew Severus’s limited involvement in the conversation thus far – and lack of further questions – was because it was still early. From what he had noticed in the past few weeks of coming over, it wasn’t until after breakfast that the boy was fully awake.

“Did you know,” Hadrian spoke up again, breaking Lucius out of his thoughts, “That there is a theory – a theory that I am inclined to believe – that says muggle-borns are actually the descendants of squibs?”

The blonde blinked in surprised and considered the idea. If it was true, it would vastly change views about blood status. While some (the strictest) pure-blood families would still consider children of squibs to be ‘Mudbloods’, many more would be delighted or even thankful if the family has no heir.

“If that is the case, muggle-borns should take inheritance tests upon entering our world. Doing so would provide them with more connection to wizarding tradition, if not completely revive dead lines, such as the Gaunts.”

Hadrian smiled at him, “I agree. It is why I intend to offer to pay for inheritance tests for some of this year’s first year muggle-borns. When I have my proof, I am going to have it published and then make a deal with the Goblins to create some sort of discount for first year muggle-borns, before presenting everything to the board to make it mandatory for professors who introduce muggle-borns to suggest that the test and explain why.”

Lucius blinked in surprise. This man was unbelievable. Not only was he was about four steps ahead and planning on using his own funds in order to make his plan possible, but the way he spoke so confidently about the theory made the blonde believe Hadrian had already seen proof. It made him inclined to believe the older man’s entire plan was going to work very quickly. He wouldn’t be surprised if Hadrian presented the idea to the board before Yule.

As the younger man further considered the significance of the other man’s plan succeeding, Hadrian and Severus continued to eat their breakfast in the comfortable silence that filled the room. After a few minutes, Hadrian drained the rest of what was in his coffee mug and took his and Severus’s dishes to the sink. He set them washing and walked back around the counter.

“We’ll be in the library if you need us, Sev,” the man said quietly as he placed a quick kiss on his son’s head. Severus nodded without looking up from the book Lucius had given him (which he had opened as soon as he had finished eating) and Hadrian turned to Lucius, “Let’s go continue to conspire to remove Dumbledore, shall we?”

Lucius smirked, “Nothing better than scheming to start off your day.”

The blonde relished the sound of Hadrian’s laugh as he followed the man out of the room.

“So, have you decided whether you are going to come stay with my family while your dad goes to Hogwarts early?”

Severus blinked and looked up from the collection of different colored inks he was looking at. On the other side of Lily, he saw Remus had looked up at him curiously for his response. For once, he wasn’t caught off guard by the question, more surprised and curious on what made her think to ask it in the writing supply shop they were in. That’s not to say he wasn’t any less nervous to truthfully answer the question, even if he had no intentions of explaining why in a crowded place like Diagon Alley while they were shopping for next year’s school supplies.

“Thank you for the offer, Lils, but I decided to go with my dad again.”

“Okay,” Lily nodded in understanding and smirked as she teased, “If you’re not careful though, Sev, I might think you are avoiding coming over to my house.”

The Ravenclaw blanched a bit, not having expected that response, “Uh, well, you see–”

Remus frowned at him while Lily narrowed her eyes, “Are you avoiding coming over?”

“Not… not exactly,” Severus saw the girl beginning to get angry and open her mouth to question him, so he quickly continued, “Please, I can explain. Just not… not here.”

He watched as the red head opened her mouth to reply and began to panic slightly as he worried that Lily would demand his explanation in the middle of the store. This conversation was not going as smoothly as he hoped it would.

Remus put a hand on Lily’s arm and asked in concerned, “Are you okay, Severus?”

The question had Lily pausing and looking at the Ravenclaw. Whatever she found had her frowning at him. Severus wondered if his panic was that obvious.

“I’m fine. I just… I can’t talk about it here. Please, I promise I’ll explain when we aren’t somewhere as public as Diagon.”

“Okay, that’s fine. We can wait until we are all at Hogwarts. Right, Lily?” Remus nodded in understanding before turning to the other Gryffindor. Lily scrutinized Severus for a moment longer before nodding. Severus felt relief flood through him. Remus smiled at them, obviously trying to diffuse the situation, “Great. We still have to go get our books before we are due to meet up with Severus’s dad, so we should get going.”

Severus nodded and quietly followed the other two to the till. He quickly purchased his supplies after his friends and followed them out the door.

Once they were outside, Remus broke the tense silence that had fallen over them, “Do you think your dad will let us go to Fortescue’s after we meet up with him, Severus?”

Lily rolled her eyes before he could respond, “You just bought a bunch of chocolate from Sugarplum’s, Remus. You don’t need any more sugar.”

When the other boy pouted, Severus smirked at him, “I’m sure between the two of us we can convince him.”

The Gryffindor boy beamed at him while Lily rolled her eyes at the two of them.

“Your guys’ sweet tooth is ridiculous.”

“Come on, Lily, you know you want some ice cream too,” Severus grinned at her, nerves from the confrontation finally fading away. Absently, he couldn’t help but be glad that they were willing to wait until they were at Hogwarts for him to explain. It meant that Regulus would be there as well. For whatever reason, Severus found the other boy’s presence comforting. The dark-haired boy shook the thought away and continued to banter with his friends.