Chapter Text
Hadrian Potter-Black was usually a very patient wizard. He was a Slytherin after all, cunning, clever and good at getting what he wanted no matter how long it took. It was difficult to make him lose his temper, but the Ministry of Magic seemed to fail and/or target his family at every turn. (He couldn"t decide which was worse, as they failed even in targeting them and in failing them painted a target on their back for others.)
Fred and George Weasley had been friends of his since his first year. He had met them, their mother, and three of their siblings trying to get onto Platform 9 3/4 his first year. They"d helped him with his trunk, introduced themselves, asked who he was and gone about their business. That was one of the things about them he had liked immediately. They never bought into things they"d been told without proof. And they"d seen "the boy who lived" was just a scared eleven year old, and done him the great mercy of not asking any more about the night that orphaned him.
Other students and even some teachers didn"t bother to give him the same courtesy. They wanted to know everything about him. Everything he remembered- everything he was. What could be so special about him that he had survived? The simple answer was nothing. It was Lily Potter née Evans who had saved his life. His mother"s love that kept him alive. Her genius use of a blood ritual using her own death as a sacrifice that had made him untouchable by a creature so foul as Voldemort. The memory of someone who loved him so much she had died for him had kept him going for years. Even when the people he lived with lied to him and looked down on his parents. His mother had loved him. So there had to be a way for him to live a life that meant he was worthy of that kind of love. That kind of sacrifice. And he was determined to live it.
That said, the twins were some of the few people privileged with that knowledge. He was not some mystical savior, he was just a boy. One who had parents just as self sacrificing as he was growing up. He was working on overcoming that particular trait. It tended to get him into trouble. Still, the twins found themselves among the few few counted as friends, and they quite liked it that way. When Harry made it to the front doors of Hogwarts, he was met with identical looks of worry.
"Are you two okay?"
Fred huffed at him, arms crossing over his chest.
"It"s you we"re worried about,"
George mirrored his expression and continued.
"Especially after Charlie told us-"
"-he"s here for the tournament."
They finished together and shared a look each taking one of Harry"s arms and turning him around, heading towards the forest.
"We"ve got something you need to see."
Much as their twin speak amused him, he could tell they were genuinely worried. After all, it was rare they just grabbed him like this. He wasn"t one who generally liked to be touched, but he supposed he didn"t mind terribly just then. He"d trust the twins with his life without hesitation. But it seemed odd they should choose the tournament as a time to start putting theirs on the line.
It didn"t take long to figure it out. The clearing they led him to was full to bursting with activity, and both Fred and George crouched, pulling him down with them. Gracefully, he bent and blended in with the scenery, likely much more than the twins with their identical bright ginger hair. Thankfully though, everyone in the clearing was far too busy to notice them. They ran around frantically, restraining and trying to calm massive creatures that could only be one thing.
" . . . Dragons." Harry breathed out the word with an air of wonder. It took his mind a moment or two to pull to the forefront the reason they were here. His face fell back to an impassive mask, and a low growl rumbled in his throat.
"We need to tell the others."
The twins nodded easily, not even needing to ask who he meant. Simultaneously, they all faded into the underbrush and disappeared from the site just in time to be missed by one of the handlers looking over.
"Huh . . . Coulda sworn I heard something over there."
Charlie, a younger handler, just pat him on the shoulder.
"Probably just a centaur or something. They tend to be wary of new visitors to their territory."
The elder of the two just nodded.
"Yeah . . . Yeah, you"re probably right."
Silently, Charlie breathed a sigh of relief that there were no other creature blood handlers. Otherwise his brothers and Hazz would"ve been made for sure.
~~~~~
When Hadrian returned to the other champions, who were still lazing about near the lake, he flopped onto the ground next to Viktor, who automatically let a hand wander to play with his hair, scratching gently at his scalp. A soft sigh passed the younger"s lips, and he threw an arm over his eyes. This tournament was already proving to be a real nuisance. Of course they would bring in creatures to face creature bloods.
" . . . They brought in dragons. I think they intend to have us fight them."
Viktor"s hand stilled for a moment, but resumed his actions shortly. There was silence for a moment, and Draco sighed heavily.
"I suggest we all do some training then. Hazz, do you think Aunt Bellatrix and Aunt Andy would help us study up on some defensive spells with a little more kick to them?"
The Black Heir just nodded, peering out from under his arm.
"I"m certain of it. I"ll bother Professor Snape for some floo powder to call them later. I"m sure Aunt Andy will floo to us herself. Aunt Bella will probably owl us some spells to work with and ask for regular updates."
Draco just rolled his eyes.
"Like you don"t owl each other every other day."
Harry just chuckled.
"True, but she has essentially stepped into a parental role for me. The least I can do is keep her apprised of my actions. Besides, she"s quite busy working to get the others out of Azkaban. Otherwise she"d likely come herself."
Mildly jealous, a slight frown tugged at the blonde"s expression. Harry nudged his cousin"s leg with his foot.
"None of that, Aunt Cissy would come in a heartbeat. You just don"t want to floo call her because she"ll either have to leave Capri with an elf or bring her with and you know she"s stressed as it is."
The blonde easily nudged him back.
"I liked you better when you couldn"t read my mind."
Hadrian stuck out his tongue childishly, finally finding it in himself to sit up and give a playful grin.
"I still can"t, I just know you."
"True enough."
~~~~~
Andromeda Black was a force to be reckoned with. After dressing down both the Ministry Officials and Dumbledore in the great hall for letting her nephew be pulled into yet another dangerous plot liable to get him into danger, and quite possibly kill him, she had joined Draco, Hadrian and the other tri-wizard champions, as well as Neville, Luna and Hermione at the Slytherin table. She had owled Professor Snape ahead of time and he had gladly offered her a place to stay for the duration of her visit to Hogwarts. So now, here she sat at the table with the children discussing what seemed to be an alliance of some kind.
"Alright, so we"ve got three Veela,-" Draco, Fleur and Cedric nodded in agreement. "-two dragonkin,-" Viktor and Hermione both put a fist to their chests in salute. "-an elf,-" Neville grinned impishly, rubbing at the back of his neck. "-a fae blooded seer,-" Luna waved his way with her dreamy grey eyes, a soft sort of knowing in their depths. "-and three imps of varying elements." Hadrian himself, plus the Weasley twins nodded. "Did I get that right?"
Everyone seemed to agree easily.
"Alright, now that we"re all aware after Hermione"s inheritance test thanks to her parents finally telling her Misses Granger is from a squib line, it"s time we start planning."
Andromeda was a little shocked at the fact that all the champions were some sort of creature. Even more so that Harry had managed to collect so many together at once. Even if he"d known that protecting them was important, she"d never expected him to find so many. Let alone be on good terms with all of them.
"Hazza dear, can I ask you a question?"
He grinned playfully. "You just did Auntie Andy, but go ahead anyways."
She flickered his nose, and he scrunched it, and she was once again brought to anger over how he"d been placed with muggles instead of given to his Wizarding family where he belonged. She should"ve been there to teach him as a child. Learned all the things that made him laugh or get that adorable little nose scrunch when he thought too hard or thought something was a little odd. Known what he liked to have for dessert and taught him to bake, and bought him his first broom! The idea of all she and her sisters and cousin had been robbed of stoked her temper dangerously. But she pushed that aside and arched a singular brow.
"How did you manage all this?"
Her nephew, troublemaker that he was, just grinned at her.
"That"s information for after dinner."
Still, he briefly tapped his nose and she nodded. That would explain it. Teenaged creatures, especially those in their early stages or getting close to their first mating seasons, tended to have stronger senses of smell. Especially dominant or "Alpha" creatures, as submissive or "beta" creatures tended to release stronger pheromones during that time. Seeing as how Hazza and Draco were just beginning to present and the others weren"t too much older, it actually made a good deal of sense for all of them to be gathered like this. She was actually a little surprised not to see the youngest Weasley there too, the girl.
Her nephews seemed to anticipate this question when she glanced over to study the twins a moment. Harry sighed, and Draco held in malicious giggles.
"Please don"t-"
Draco shook his head wildly.
"No no, absolutely do. I"m begging you to ask, I"ve been waiting ages for this to come to light!"
Andromeda took a moment to consider, but looked to the twins and arched a brow.
"Your younger sister isn"t presenting yet?"
Fred snorted.
"Course not. Ginny isn"t even a creature. The Prewett line doesn"t have much creature blood, but the Weasley does. Ginny turned out more Prewett,-
George continued on gladly.
"-Considering she"s only our half sister and all. Not only that, but the poor delusional kit is under the impression that she and Hazza are going to get married and have a whole litter."
The twins, together, made another point.
"Which just isn"t going to happen."
She watched as Harry followed their verbal tennis match easily, a soft grin across his features. Huh. That was interesting.
"For one, Hazz is a rarer creature. Meaning even if he didn"t have a mate assigned to him by Lady Magic-"
"-the council for imp society would insist he take part in the hunt anyways. So he would still eventually end up with a creature mate to ensure we don"t die out."
Harry sniggered, covering his face with his hands. He knew what the end of their little tirade would be.
"And even if he didn"t, there"s no way we"d let Hazz mate with a girl who stalked him for three years."
Draco wasn"t even trying anymore, basically cackling, and he wasn"t the only one. Hermione and Luna were covering their mouths to stifle their giggles, Fleur had buried her face into Cedric"s shoulder to the thoroughly amused boy"s unending smugness (He was being glared at by half the Great Hall.) as he chuckled alongside Viktor and Neville.
Harry just groaned.
"Stalker is right. She"s been following me around since the basilisk incident, not to mention the notes. She wasn"t so bad second year. I was trying to figure out a good bit of wizard culture at once. Not to mention that once my creature inheritance was unblocked by the spell purge I had to undergo for the blood adoption, I had an even more difficult time here."
Andromeda rubbed her nephew"s back and once again had to push down her rage. Still, he was alright now. That was what mattered.
"Alright, let"s finish up here. We have a good bit to discuss. Tomorrow, we"ll begin having breakfast in the room of requirement. You will need to call for house elves to take you in small groups and I will outline The next few weeks for you all. We will begin training after your classes."
Harry grinned mischievously. Oh, this was going to be fun. He"d made the right call. No one wanted to face the ire of Andromeda Black. And married or not, she was most certainly a Black.