1978-1979
Severus waited a little impatiently on platform 9 ¾, wondering if this is how his dad felt when he had waited for Severus to return from Hogwarts before he began teaching. However, he couldn’t help his impatience; due to Severus’s few weekends off and the school’s Hogsmeade weekends not lining up, Severus hadn’t seen his boyfriend since he left for Hogwarts in August four months ago. They had, of course, exchanged letters, but it just wasn’t the same. It was because of this that he had decided to surprise his boyfriend by meeting him at the platform when he returned home for Yule. As far as Regulus knew, Severus was still working on his mastery and they wouldn’t be able to see one another until the week of Yule when Severus would have had a break.
The eighteen-year-old was brought out of his thoughts at the sound of the Hogwarts Express coming up to the platform. Severus had to resist bouncing on his toes in excitement as he waited. After a long minute, the train finally stopped, and the students flooded out onto the platform. He scanned the crowds until his eyes finally landed on the man he was looking for. Only a moment after he saw Regulus, the Slytherin looked in Severus’s direction as he headed for the apparition platform. Grey eyes locked with his, widening in shock. Severus smirked at the younger man, causing Regulus to snap out of his shock and pick up his pace to meet him.
As soon as the younger raven was in reaching distance, Severus was happily surprised when the Slytherin pulled him in for a deep kiss, not caring where they were. The former Ravenclaw eagerly kissed back, wrapping his arms around his boyfriend. After a long minute they parted, matching smiles on their faces.
“What are you doing here? I thought you would be busy until Yule?”
“I am officially finished with my Potions Mastery,” Severus smirked, “I will be beginning my Defense Mastery in the beginning of the year, so I have from now until January 2nd entirely free.”
Regulus’s eyebrows raised in surprise, “This is because you were so ahead while in Hogwarts, isn’t it? You worked on some mastery work to keep from being bored.”
The older man simply smirked wider, causing the seventeen-year-old to laugh.
“I should have known,” Regulus then pulled Severus down for another deep kiss, releasing him with a smile after a moment, “Congratulations. Does Hadrian know yet? How long will it take for your Defense Mastery?”
“Not yet. I want to surprise him that I am working for Defense Mastery so as far as he knows I am still working on potions. I should have my Defense Mastery finished by Yule of next year, according to my teacher. Now come on; I made a deal with your grandparents to let you stay at mine this week if we come to dinner on Thursday.”
The younger smiled, “I’m guessing you went to my grandmother rather than my grandfather for permission.”
“Of course, I did. You and I both know that she is secretly hoping we will get bonded right after your graduate,” the former-Ravenclaw snorted.
Regulus laughed in agreement, “Shall we, then? I would very much like to show my boyfriend how much I missed him and how proud of him I am.”
Severus grinned at him, and quickly apparated them away.
***
Albus Dumbledore was a shrewd man. After everything that occurred with his family as a child and then the Global Wizarding War*, he had learned to read people’s intentions fairly well. Well enough, at least, that he had been able to predict Tom Riddle’s fascination with Dark magic that ultimately led the boy to become Voldemort. He also typically knew the ways to influence people into supporting his ideas – it was how he had become leader of the light, after all.
At least, he had been able to before Hadrian Peverell appeared.
Somehow, Peverell had been able to turn his being one of the most influential people in the wizarding world, to one of the least popular. The man had quietly come out of seemingly nowhere, only to suddenly dismantle every sphere of influence Albus had created for himself following his victory over his former lover.
To make matters worse, Albus couldn’t for the life of him get a read on Peverell like he could others. The man had seemingly gone from quiet wizard to over-protective parent only to then turn into an aggressive political adversary without Albus being able to detect so much as a hint of Peverell’s intentions. It was as if this man had come from a completely different world with how good he was at stopping Albus’s every move. It both baffled and irritated him.
Never in his life had Albus felt so unknowledgeable about someone.
It was because of the frustration that kept building within him every time he lost to Peverell that, when happening upon the man in Diagon Alley, he just couldn’t resist a confrontation.
“Lord Peverell.”
The man in question turned to face him, the mildly friendly face instantly going neutral upon seeing him, “Mr. Dumbledore.”
Albus resisted frowning to the response, still not used to the less than friendly greeting despite the hit his name had taken recently, “It is good to see you outside of the Wizengamot.”
“What is it that I can do for you Mr. Dumbledore?” the Peverell Lord responded with a raised brow.
“Nothing at all, Lord Peverell. I was just hoping to speak with you and perhaps clear the air between us. I fear we may have gotten off on the wrong foot and had hoped to we might discuss each other’s stances on certain topics to see if we might come to an agreement on some of them. After all, it can’t hurt to have a little less strife in the Wizengamot?”
The other man’s brow raised even higher if that was possible, “I hardly think either of us has misunderstood the other’s stances on things, Mr. Dumbledore. You have your opinions and I have mine. I don’t feel the need to discuss those with you since we both have laid out those opinions for the rest of the Wizengamot.”
“Perhaps,” Albus conceded, barely stopping himself from calling the man ‘my boy’ as he had taken to calling most of the younger generations – it had not gone well the last time he used the endearment with the man a few years ago when he was still Headmaster, “But I fear the views of the dark have begun to take control and I believe we might be able to balance things out between the light and dark views if we were to just discuss some of those opinions, one leader to another.”
“In case you have forgotten I am the leader of the grey, not the dark. I most certainly doubt that our disagreement means the dark faction is ‘taking over’, as you put it, and if they were I hardly see that as an issue as the dark faction is not made up of evil witches and wizards, but rather people trying to make the Wizarding World better just as the light and grey factions are.”
“Of course not. All the factions have the capacity for good and bad witches and wizards; however, I have noticed that despite your supposed neutral leanings, you have supported more dark faction proposals than light. It has only made me concerned the grey faction is not as understanding to many light side views as they have been in the past. I had hoped to correct some of that if we might agree on some things.”
Suddenly Peverell’s eyes narrowed, and his voice became a bit icier, “You forget yourself, Dumbledore. You are not in a position to accuse me of misleading my faction, especially when your observation is so blatantly false. In case it has escaped you, I have agreed with quite a few light ideals, including the most recent proposal put forth by Lord Longbottom – a long standing member of the light faction. I have no issues with supporting light ideas just as I have supported dark ones. The only light ideas I have consistently argued against have been yours; unless you consider your ideas to be the only light ideas?”
“Of course not–” Albus quickly denied, but Peverell did not let him finish.
“Then I hardly see a reason to discuss my voting habits or possible biases, especially as the only one who has shown to have bias here is the one you have against the dark. Now, if you will excuse me, my son is expecting me.”
The older man was slightly taken back as he watched the young lord stalk off. That conversation had not gone at all how Albus wanted. He had of course been insulted or disagreed with in his long years, but to be called biased? No, he had always tried to protect witches and wizards from bad influences that could create another Gellert Grindelwald or Tom Riddle and the wizarding world had recognized that. Until Peverell had come along at least.
Albus sighed to himself as he considered his next steps. There had to be a way to get a bit of his popularity back, and with it the ability to help the Wizarding World from being preyed on by dark influences. (Albus firmly ignored the whisper in his mind that told him how biased that thought would sound out loud.)**
***
When Lucius found out about Hadrian’s confrontation with Dumbledore just after Yule, he had become concerned. Granted, he didn’t know the full story of what happened with the old man – he had only heard that it had occurred from Severus, who had only brought it up to ask him if he knew whether it was the first time Dumbledore had confronted Hadrian. Not knowing what the younger was talking about, Severus told him that when Hadrian showed up to their lunch plans that day clearly irritated, the older man had called Dumbledore a nuisance.
So, Lucius was worried. He did not know if it was the first time Dumbledore had confronted his husband, nor did he know the specifics of what the man had said to Hadrian to get him so irritated. To make him even more concerned, Hadrian had not brought up what happened – Lucius didn’t know if that was because his husband was trying to keep him from worrying, or if the older man had simply brushed the encounter off after he focused on spending time with Severus while he had a break from his mastery. Either way, Lucius only worried even more.
“What are you thinking about so hard over there, Lucius?”
The blonde pulled out of his thoughts to look over at the very subject of his thought. Hadrian had looked up from the essays he was correcting to look at him curiously. Suddenly Lucius realized he hadn’t read a single word from the paperwork he was supposed to be working on as Chief Warlock while he stewed in his worry.
With that thought in mind, the younger man decided he would bring up what happened all those weeks ago himself, “What happened between you and Dumbledore when you were to have lunch with Severus?”
Hadrian blinked a bit, obviously a little caught off guard, before he scoffed, “Nothing much, though Dumbledore’s thinking astounds me.”
“Oh? How so?”
“He confronted me to try and get me to sit down and talk through some ideas with him but when I wasn’t inclined to do so, the man had the audacity to accuse me of leading the grey faction closer to the dark and no longer maintaining our neutral status. As if my party, but especially me, doesn’t ever support light ideas. Granted we have supported more dark proposals than light, but that is because there haven’t been many light members besides Dumbledore making proposals, and we both know how ridiculous his ideas have been, especially recently as he has lost power.”
Lucius frowned a bit, “So he basically called you his version of dark?”
“He hinted at it me turning that way anyways,” the older man said in exasperation, “His perception of the dark has gotten even more biased than I realized. While he admitted that all of the factions have good and bad wizards and witches, the way he was concerned about the dark ‘taking over’, indicates that he believes the dark faction are all only a step away from becoming the dark lords he fears.”
The twenty-four-year-old only hummed in response. He agreed with Hadrian that Dumbledore’s thinking only continues to reveal how biased the man is; however, it was the old man’s accusations that held his attention. While Dumbledore’s words meant nothing considering he ridiculously believed dark to mean evil, his actions did make Lucius realize the sort of position Hadrian now held. As outspoken of his ideas as he’s been and considering he holds multiple positions of power (Grey faction leader, ICW representative, and professor), Hadrian has and will continue to make enemies.
“Lucius,” the blonde focused on his husband once more, only this time the man was frowning at him, “What about my encounter with the old goat has you so distracted?”
He snorted a bit at Hadrian’s nickname for the older man, “At first I was worried something happened or that Dumbledore might be planning something when Severus told me the man stopped you.”
“And now?”
Lucius sighed a bit, “I am worried that the next time someone gets upset with your actions in the Wizengamot, or even in the ICW if something big happens, that they will confront you with a wand instead of words.”
Hadrian looked at him softly before taking one of Lucius’s hands and squeezing softly, “I’m fine. I have protected myself from witches and wizards who disagree with me for over twenty years now. As much as I appreciate your concern and love that you worry over me, there is no need for you to get all overprotective, alright?”
He nodded, conceding his husband’s point, though it only made him feel marginally better.
“Besides,” Hadrian continued with a smirk, “With a big bad Malfoy of my own and a soon-to-be Potions Master for a son, I hardly think I’ll need to worry about someone risking their wraths to come after me.”
The younger man couldn’t help but chuckle at that description of him and Severus, before he smirked at his husband and began to lean more towards him, “Big bad Malfoy, hmm? I’ll show you how big and bad this Malfoy can be.”
Lucius crashed his lips into the older man’s, finally letting his worry to be pushed aside.
***
The days where Hadrian was surprised by his Hogwarts living room being taken over by paperwork had long since passed. Between Severus’s tendency to take the area while attending Hogwarts (especially during his fifth and seventh year), Hadrian’s need to grade essays, both him and Lucius going through political paperwork at various times, and Regulus deciding to follow Severus’s example for study location since the two began dating, the living room had hardly ever become a paperwork-free zone. Since Severus graduated, it seemed Regulus had become determined that the living room would be even more used than ever, despite the youngest Peverell’s absence.
It was because of this that Hadrian was entirely unsurprised to find Regulus studying in his living area upon finishing his classes for the day.
“If you plan to study here all weekend as well as during Easter hols, you may as well take Severus’s room during that time.”
Regulus looked up to smirk at him but neither confirmed nor denied the plan to take over Hadrian’s living room for the small break. The Peverell lord snorted at the seventeen-year-old and continued to the kitchen to make tea for them both. The Black heir had taken to studying there more than even Severus had (apparently Severus was not the only one to think his classmates run around like chickens with their heads cut off during their OWL and NEWT years). Though, to be fair, it was clear that Regulus’s closest friends (Lily and Remus, as well as their respective partners) have all graduated with his boyfriend so the seventeen-year-old had more time to stop by than Severus. Not that Hadrian minded Regulus’s company. Although the seventeen-year-old’s visits had been a surprise at first, Hadrian realized that if he had thought this school year was going to be difficult without Severus, next year was going to be so much worse with Regulus gone as well.
And Abraxas and Acacia had thought he had empty nest syndrome when Severus first left for Hogwarts before he became a professor. His friend will soon be rolling in his grave in laughter at him.
The Peverell lord couldn’t help but snorting at his thoughts as he handed Regulus his tea, causing the young man to look up at him curiously. Hadrian shook his head to dismiss the thoughts and brought up another thought his musings had made him consider, “It occurred to me, Regulus, that I never asked what you wanted to do after you graduate.”
“Honestly, I don’t really have a plan per say,” The seventeen-year-old shrugged a bit, “As long as I’ve known him, Severus has had this whole plan on what he’d do the minute he graduated and I admire him for it, but I’ve never felt like I had a calling like that.”
Hadrian chuckled, “Sev is a special case. Most don’t have a set plan the way he has had, and for those that did, it likely changed as they got older.”
Regulus nodded in agreement, “It wasn’t until Grandfather made me heir a year and a half ago that I had an idea of what to do. I’ve always like politics, so I thought I’d mostly just join Grandfather in the Wizengamot and take over the Black seats when it’s my time to do so. Otherwise, I’ll just help Severus with his potions shop.”
The Peverell lord hummed in understanding. It made him wonder if Arcturus would have given the Regulus in his past the Black seats if the young man hadn’t died trying to get rid of Voldemort’s horcrux. Hadrian shook the thought off to smile at the Slytherin.
“I am glad Severus has you, Regulus. Your help will mean the world to him.”
“I’m glad I have him too,” Regulus murmured with a small smile before focusing back on his studying.
Hadrian smiled a bit wider at that response. His son had picked a good one for sure.***
***
Regulus said his goodbyes to his year mates as he made his way off the train. He wouldn’t be joining any of the parties the rest of them would be, not feeling the need to celebrate with them. He didn’t feel nostalgic about leaving school like most of them, but more relieved to be done, especially since he was the last of his closest friends to graduate. Instead of partying with his year mates, he was going to be moving his things from Black Manor to Peverell Cottage today (much to his grandfather’s reluctance and grandmother’s delight); Regulus felt excitement begin to bubble up in his chest – he’d finally be living with Severus full-time. While he very much enjoyed the letters and few Hogsmeade visits he has had with the other man, he was more than ready to be able to see Severus every day again. As sappy as it made him sound, Regulus had no problems admitting that he had missed the older man.
With a sense of déjà vu, Regulus turned to walk towards the train station apparition point only to find the very subject of his thoughts waiting for him. Much like he had been for Yule break, Severus was standing there, a smirk appearing on his face the minute he saw Regulus. The eighteen-year-old returned the smirk and quickly headed over.
“Come to be my escort from the station again?”
Severus laughed, “Something like that.”
Before Regulus could respond, the nineteen-year-old pulled him into a deep kiss. Regulus had no issues returning such an enthusiastic greeting.
“How much time do you have until you need to return to your mastery?” The Black heir asked once they had separated, hoping he’d be able to celebrate a bit with his boyfriend.
“Until the day after tomorrow,” Severus easily replied, “But before you start to make any plans, I have a surprise for you.”
Regulus raised a brow, but Severus only smirked again before pulling him closer and apparating them away. When the world came back into focus, Regulus was surprised to find that they were at the cottage. Before he could question his boyfriend, the older man opened the door and led him inside.
“Congratulations!”
Regulus blinked in surprise. Remus, Lily, Sirius, and James were all standing in the living room smiling in excitement. Before he could say or do anything, Lily spoke up.
“This is both your graduation party, and your housewarming party. Your grandmother agreed to have a house elf move your things from Black Manor so that we could celebrate tonight, and everything is just waiting for you and Severus to unpack tomorrow. In the meantime, we party.”
As soon as the red-head finished Sirius and James cheered again and began pouring drinks, their respective partners rolling their eyes at them.
Regulus just chuckled and turned to his own boyfriend, “You planned this?”
Severus shrugged, “You celebrated our graduation with us so I figured we could do the same for you. We have all of tomorrow to spend time just the two of us and unpack your things.”
“You are amazing,” he smiled at his boyfriend, pulling the older man in for another kiss.
Regulus ignored the sound of his brother making gagging noises and the Potter heir catcalling the two of them. After a long moment, he pulled away from his boyfriend with a smirk and quickly sent a few hexes at Sirius and James. At the sound of the two’s yelp, Severus, Lily and Remus laughed at the pair’s predicament. Regulus smiled at the sound, elated to finally be able to spend more time with his friends and boyfriend again now that he’s graduated.
***
“Where are we going, Sev?”
Severus ignored his father’s question and continued to lead the small group he was with through Diagon Alley, bypassing Knockturn Alley****, and into Horizont Alley. He led them only a couple of blocks down the alley before stopping in front of one of the smaller buildings in the area. It was two stories just like the surrounding buildings were, but it was slightly thinner which meant it had a little bit less floor space. Between that and the fact that it was not located in Diagon itself meant the purchase price was much lower than a few other buildings nearby.
The nineteen-year-old turned around to see his dad, Lucius, and Regulus all looking at him in curiosity and slight exasperation (probably because he dragged them all here without explanation). He sent them all a small smirk before proudly announcing, “Welcome to what will soon be known as Black and Peverell’s Potions and Brews.”*****
His family broke out into excitement as they began to congratulate him all at once. Severus felt his smirk widen into a grin at their reaction when he was suddenly pulled into a hug.
Surprised, he returned the hug automatically before Hadrian pulled back to beam at him, “I am so proud of you Severus.”
The younger Peverell couldn’t help but beam back, “Thanks, Dad.”
“How did you find this place?” Lucius asked him curiously, drawing his attention.
“I came across it when running an errand for my Master. I closed the purchase only yesterday before I went home for the day.”
“No wonder you stopped going through the property folders from the Goblins with me,” Regulus dryly quipped. The Peverell heir shrugged sheepishly making the younger man chuckle at him, “At least I can start cleaning the place up and start getting things in motion while you finish your mastery.”
Severus grinned at his boyfriend. The two had talked about what each of them wanted to do out of Hogwarts multiple times in the years they had known one another but it wasn’t until just after Regulus graduated that he told Severus he wanted to help him with his potions business when the Black heir wasn’t working the Wizengamot. Since then, he and Regulus had not only been going over properties together, but also discussing a business plan – though they both quickly realized Regulus was much better at that side of running a business and agreed the younger would be in charge of that while Severus was in charge of the actual potion-making and stocking the store.
The nineteen-year-old couldn’t be more grateful for his partner.
“So, when are you wanting to have this place up and running?” Hadrian drew Severus’s attention away from his boyfriend.
Severus shrugged, “I am hoping in less than a year. Regulus and I agreed the worst time to open up would be around this time of year with Hogwarts letters going out and everybody focusing on school shopping, so anytime between now and next year would be ideal.”
“Reasonable,” Lucius agreed before smirking a bit, “Now, I believe it is time to really celebrate.”
Hadrian rolled his eyes, “As if you’d ever be one to let the chance to celebrate something pass by.”
Lucius feigned being wounded at Hadrian’s sass, causing Regulus to roll his eyes at the blonde. The eighteen-year-old then took Severus’s hand and began leading them out of the alley, but not before commenting over to the Malfoy lord, “Peacock.”
The Malfoy lord instantly looked affronted as they passed, while Hadrian snickered beside him. Severus laughed at the entire interaction and followed his boyfriend out of the alley.
***
“I believe that is everything we need to cover before the students arrive next week, unless anyone else had anything to add?”
Hadrian looked around and saw the other heads of houses as well as Poppy shake their heads at the Headmistress.
“Alright, as always we’ll have one more meeting the morning of September 1st before we are bombarded by the students,” Minerva smiled at them all before turning to Hadrian with a smirk, “So, how does it feel to know your quarters will no longer be bombarded by teenagers every weekend now that Regulus Black has also graduated?”
The thirty-three-year-old responded drily, “Not much different considering Lucius’s paperwork will be sure to take the place of the boys’ homework assignments all over my living room.”
Minerva and the others chuckled but Poppy snorted at him, “As if you’d have it any other way.”
“Of course not,” Hadrian smiled, “Though I will admit, it will be odd to not only have the extra room in my quarters not being used, but also have much more free time on the weekends without having Severus or Regulus staying over all of the time.”
“Perhaps more baking will be in your future?” Filius asked him innocently.
Hadrian laughed, “If it is I will be sure to share. We wouldn’t want you to miss out on your addiction.”
The charms professor beamed at him while the others immediately looked interested, making the defense professor snort at the looks on their faces.
“I better leave now before I dig myself deeper into promises of baked goods for all of your sweet tooths.”
The professors all laughed, and all said their goodbyes as Hadrian stood and left the room. He made his way to his quarters, mind still on the topic he had been trying to ignore before Minerva brought it up. Hadrian knew as much as he joked about the lack of teenagers studying in his rooms, he would miss the times he got with Regulus or Severus. His family meant everything to him and being a Hogwarts professor for ten months out of the year suddenly made him feel restless. Restless because he was likely to see his son and his partner much less than were he not a professor. Logically, he knew the two were off making their own lives now that they were out of Hogwarts, and so would see him less regardless of where he was. However, that did not make it easier to miss the time he could spend with them. Hadrian couldn’t help feeling like a new chapter in his life was beginning and he had no idea where it was going.
“Hadrian?”
The thirty-three-year-old blinked, and realized he was standing in the living room of his and Lucius’s quarters. He hadn’t even realized he had walked into the room he had been so wrapped up in his thoughts. Hadrian looked over at Lucius, who was sitting looking at him in concern from the couch.
Before the younger man could stand up, Hadrian shook himself out of his distraction and approached his husband, sitting next to the man with a quick kiss, “Sorry, I was lost in thought.”
“Oh? What about?”
“Mostly just how I am going to miss the boys taking over our quarters after classes or on the weekends.”
Lucius snorted, “Yes, that will feel different this year. Though I wouldn’t be surprised if either one or both of them decided to show up unannounced to have some of your cooking.”
Hadrian chuckled, “True.”
When he didn’t say anything more, the older noticed the blonde looked at him consideringly. Before Hadrian could ask him why he was looking at him that way, Lucius spoke up once more.
“You know, just because we are at Hogwarts a good portion of the year, does not mean that either one of them will stop coming to see you. They have our floo address and I’m sure they will bombard us with letters when they are unable to come in person.”
Hadrian smiled at his husband, loving that the man knew him so well and knew just what to say to make his feel better. He leaned over to kiss the man once more, “Thank you.”
“Always,” Lucius smiled at him. The blonde then looked thoughtful, “You know I never asked before because I know how much you love teaching, but do you want to be a professor forever?”
The thirty-three-year-old paused in thought, “I don’t know. As you said, I love teaching and I honestly wouldn’t have any idea what to do instead. As much as I enjoy making political movements with you, I am not in love with politics the way you are. It took me a long time to figure out that I wanted to teach. I don’t know if you remember because we hadn’t been talking yet, but I spent the first 2 years that Severus was in Hogwarts trying to figure out what I wanted to do. Abraxas thought I was ridiculous, trying out a bunch of different things, only to move on to something new within a few days.”
The Malfoy lord smiled at the mention of his father, “I remember hearing him telling my mother how absurd he thought it was that you gave up some things he hoped you’d finish. I believe he mentioned something about you writing a Defense book?”
Hadrian laughed, “Yeah, that one lasted longer than a few others. I only have a few more chapters and I’d have everything I’d want in it, but I was undecided about actually publishing it.”
“Well, if you ever decide to, I’d love to read it.”
He smiled at the younger man, “Maybe one day.”
“And if you do decide to stay as a professor, our children won’t be able to get away with anything with their dad as professor,” Lucius smirked.
Hadrian gave a startled laugh. His brain froze for a split second at the blonde’s mention of children. He hadn’t really thought about having any more children after Severus had become his son. The more that he thought of a blonde-haired green-eyed little girl or a dark-haired grey-eyed little boy, the more he felt himself wanting that. Wanting his little family to grow more. Perhaps he did have an idea where the next chapter of his life was going. And for the first time, he didn’t need a plan of what part of the timeline needed to change.******
***
“Alright Sev, you got us all gathered here like you did when you bought the building for your potions shop. What is your next surprise for us?”
Severus raised an eyebrow at the older man, “You mean I am not allowed to just invite my family over for dinner just because?”
Lucius scoffed, still waiting for the reason they were there while Hadrian rolled his eyes at him, “Of course you can but you are not fooling anybody here.”
Regulus chuckled next to him while the nineteen-year-old smirked at the two, “As of yesterday, I officially hold a dual mastery in both Potions and Defense.”
There was a split second of silence before Severus watched the shock on his dad’s face turned to pride before the older moved to hug him.
“Congratulations, Sev!”
When he was released from his dad’s hug, he saw Lucius grinning at him, “Congratulations. Not only youngest Potions Master ever recorded, but two masteries in only a year and three months. Very impressive, Severus.”
“Thank you,” he grinned at the pair.
“What made you decide to get a masters in Defense?” his dad asked him curiously.
“You did,” Severus responded honestly. At his dad’s surprise, he continued, “Defense had been my second favorite subject at Hogwarts after you started teaching. Your passion for it inspired me and actually made me have some ideas on how I could combine that knowledge with potions. So, I decided that since I was ahead for my potions mastery before I even graduated, I’d get a Defense masters so that I could make you proud.”
Hadrian looked at softly, grin splitting his face even wider than it already had been, “I’d have been proud of you even without the Defense mastery, Sev. You are amazing.”
The younger blushed slightly at his dad’s praise, “Thanks, Dad.”
“Are we passed the mushy stuff then?” Regulus asked them then, passing drinks around.
Lucius’s eyes brightened at the sight of the alcohol, making Hadrian roll his eyes. The blonde pouted at his husband, causing Severus to laugh at the two.
“So, what’s the plan now that you’ve finished your masteries?” His dad turned to ask him.
Severus shrugged, “We’ll be focusing on trying to get the shop up and running. Otherwise, it will be nice to get a bit of a break.”
The blonde looked over to him and Regulus curiously, “You said a couple of months ago that you’d hope to have the potions shop opened before the letters for the next school year are to go out. Do the two of you have much left to do before you can open?”
Severus looked to his boyfriend, knowing the younger man would have a better idea of their timeframe.
Regulus easily replied, “All we really have left is actually stocking the shop and then advertising our opening day once we set one. Between Severus brewing our start-up stock and actually ordering everything we need we should be ready to open in February or March.”
Lucius raised his eyebrows in surprise, “That quick?”
Regulus shrugged, “I’ve been a bit bored recently.”
Hadrian laughed at the eighteen-year-old, “You mean you haven’t had Sev around to distract you.”
Severus felt his cheeks go a bit pink as he groaned at his dad’s teasing. The man only laughed more.
“I don’t know why I wanted to have you over to celebrate,” he groused at his dad.
The older man made a mock-wounded noise, “I’m hurt. My only son not wanting to even celebrate with me. Next thing we’ll know you two will be bonded with no warning.”
Severus rolled his eyes, “One thing at a time, Dad. Let us get the shop running first.”
Lucius then smirked, “I didn’t hear a denial in there, Sev.”
When he went a bit pink again, Regulus chuckled at him. When Severus sent a wounded look the younger man’s way, Regulus only smirked at him.
“You did walk straight into that one. But I do agree, one thing at a time; shop first, then bonding.”
Severus could only stare at his boyfriend’s casual agreement to their eventual bonding. Lucius and his dad only laughed even further at his dazed expression.