Chapter Text
Manoeuvring around the city trying to get to Islington was a lot harder compared to earlier in the day when there weren't as many people. There were a few people who came up to him and asked where his parents were, but Hadrian assured them all that he was just waiting for them and they’d be with him any second, albeit, reluctantly having to play the role of a teary-eyed child sometimes with the persistent people. After all of the dodging and people-avoiding, he was finally stood across the road from the familiar house. He noticed that the exterior of the place was marginally better than how he grew to remember it 7 years in the future. It was weird to think of what was yet to happen.
He was back at Grimmauld place.
Hadrian could feel a dull sort of pull on his magic, a kind of tug whilst looking at the house that made his steps drag as he slowly crossed the quiet road; something was beckoning him up towards the house.
Listening to his instincts, he allowed himself to walk up the worm steps, feeling the pull get more intense now.
Trying to shake off this uneasy feeling, he decided to inspect the surroundings for anything that seemed off. The familiar black door was beaten, that was no different, the paint was shabby and scratched, there was still no keyhole on the door, and it was still lacking a letterbox plate. The door only had a singular door knob and a centrepiece. The door centrepiece in reality, was a doctor door knocker that had an intricately displayed snake that seemed to twist in a fluid and random pattern.
Hadrian never really paid too much attention to it before, but for some reason, after actually seeing it properly, he could feel that the draw on his magic was somehow tied to this knocker, it was calling him.
Foreign to this new tugging feeling, he reached out to touch the knocker, hoping that the connection would stop the uneasy feeling that was making his magic jittery. As his fingers brushed against the metallic underside of the snake, he felt an electric sensation where the brief contact was made, it felt cold, almost unnaturally cold. The Black ring was making his finger go numb with the new magic radiating off of it, the old magic coming out of it. A thought practically jumped out at him.
He knew how to open the door.
Slowly placing his hand up against the dark wood, he closed his eyes and allowed for some of his magic to trickle into it, shivering as he felt the building's magic flow back inside of him.
A voice, not unlike the one he heard during Hogwarts, filled his mind, leaving whispers of broken conversations in his mind before dying down.
“ Who…are you…” It asked quietly, “ You… who wears the ring of the House of Black…?”
He hesitated for a short moment before he gave the magic a response.
“I am Hadrian Potter-Black, Heir to the Ancient and Noble House of Black.”
The house shuddered as he finished the sentence, Hadrian feeling the sensation spread throughout his body, before it sent out more tendrils of magic, reaching out and feeling him. The magic ran through his hair and over his face, down his back and up his arms, as if it was checking every in ch of him to make sure the statement was true, leaving that same icy feeling he got from the ring behind in its wake.
“ ...You are… my Heir… my successor, welcome…You are home. You are here…Grimmauld place.”
He couldn’t help but smile at the last two, he was home.
Just as he went to move his hand to pull away from the door, the snake from the door knocker struck out, its fangs sinking into his hand, drawing some blood for itself, and also a pained sound from his throat. The snake's fangs didn’t stay embedded in his hand, it was only latched on for a second or two, but it still hurt.
Once it had pulled away, returning to the fluid state it was in before, the door slowly opened, eventually shining light on the gloomy corridor. The door knocker made sense in a way, though it served a different purpose - using blood as a way of maybe keying him into some of the safety measures and wards put up around the house as an heir.
Pushing the thoughts aside, he made to walk into the old house, stepping through the threshold and into the darkened interior of the hall. As he looked around the dingy area, he took note of the damp and dusty smell that clouded his senses, it was almost nauseating. The dark magic of the house permeated the air, almost in a welcoming way, washing over him before promptly shutting the entrance behind him and inwardly sighing to itself.
Surprisingly, Hadrian’s ring wasn’t going haywire with all of the familiar magic surrounding him, likely due to the fact that this was his home, and this is where the ring wanted to be. This was where the ring needed to be. Home.
“Thank you.” Hadrian said softly, hoping the house could still hear him, before letting his eyes close and his head fall forwards slightly.
The popping sound of apparition startled him, forcing him to open his eyes once again, his gaze landing on the ancient-looking house elf, who had his eyes firmly set on the Heir ring around the boys finger.
Kreacher seemed more reserved now than he did from what Hadrian remembered from before, the elf not making any snide comments or giving him any horrible looking expressions. He was actually eyeing him up, as if contemplating whether or not Hadrian was worth his time, or if he was anything like Sirius. Hadrian was not. As with most of the people he had met after coming back, Kreature was much the same, with his droopy ears and bloodshot watery-grey eyes, although his eyes seemed to be watery with actual tears.
“Heir Black…” the elf whispered reverently, tears starting to fall down his cheeks for a moment before he looked up at Hadrian properly, dropping into a deep bow, “Kreacher lives to serve the Noble House of Black… What is young master’s name?”
“It’s Hadrian.” he manages to say after a moment, knelt down at Kreature’s height, holding the hand bearing the ring out cautiously. The elf looks at the hand for a short while before gently taking Hadrian’s hand in his own, gently squeezing his fingers. He realised he needed to make it seem like he had never been here before, trying to think of a cover-up or feign ignorance. “Kreature, what exactly is this place?”
“Grimmauld Place, home of the most Ancient and Noble House of Black,” Kreature said with a nod, “Where Master, Mistress, and young Masters lived. Now only Kreature be here, young Master.”
Hadrian felt bad for the elf, neglected and left alone in the darkened ancestral home, with nothing to keep him company barring the family paintings. “Kreature, I have a request. It may be… odd, but I don’t suppose you could show me to the painting room?”
“It be Kreature’s pleasure, Master Hadrian.” With that, the elf took Hadrian up the dusted stairs and onto the first floor, turning towards where he knew the library was; There were only two rooms on this side of the hallway, and they were the library and the study, which he never cared to go into before. Instead of going off into the room on the right, the elf carried on forwards, opening the study door at the end of the hall and waited at the threshold.
Squeezing past the elf and entering the room was easy work, they were both fairly small in size, so no extra room was needed, but nothing could have prepared him for how different this room was to the rest of the house, the entire room was bigger than he thought, clearly expanded with charms, and the room was filled with warm walnut furniture. There were floor to ceiling bookshelves covering the expanse of one wall with a nice solid wood desk in front holding a couple inkwells and quills, and also a few books sitting at one end of it, most definitely important ledgers or something similar. There was a comfy-looking plush chair sat behind the desk, clearly to give someone comfort during their long hours sitting doing their work.
Along the other walls were a few shelves, home to some oddly mismatched trinkets and whatnot, some childlike in origin, and others were filled with expensive looking ornaments that still somehow fit the theme of the room.
The most intriguing part of the room that drew Hadrian in more was the sheer expanse of paintings and portraits that filled up the rest of the wall space. He knew of Phineas, he’d seen him enough times in Dumbledore’s office to know that man anywhere, but the rest were a mystery. Every single person on these walls was a part of him, part of his real family, descendants of the Black family line.
If he was going to live in this house this time around, he’d need some people to talk to in the years before Hogwarts, people to teach him things he should have learnt before. The only problem was that he couldn’t alert anyone that he wasn’t staying with the Dursley’s, lest he want a manhunt for him, so he’d need someone else to make the first move, someone he trusted enough to actually listen to him and not ask too many questions; he needed Sirius.
——
Walking into the library was second nature at this point, he knew every nook and cranny like the back of his hand. Once inside, he summoned a piece of parchment and a quill and placed himself on the chair he’d grown accustomed to, wanting to start the process of getting Sirius back, he’d be damned if he said he didn’t miss the man. He’d need to write to Remus first, that man was friends with him after all and would be the least suspicious person to bring up Sirius’ time and unnatural stay in Azkaban; So he started writing, albeit, not much, but he wrote what was needed to get his attention.
‘ Moony,
I know we haven’t seen each other in years, but I miss you. Terribly. You’re one of the only things left that reminds me of them. I can remember you, even after all the years apart, and I want you in my life again.
I hope when you get this letter, you too, will agree, even if it’s halfheartedly, but I would really love to see you soon.
If you agree to meet me, I only ask for it to be as soon as you have finished reading this letter, and that you come alone, there is too much at stake right now.
Meet me at ‘The Grim Place’, you know of it.
I hope to see you soon, Moony.
- Enfant de Noir’
Hadrian hoped Remus would understand the hints that he’d left, otherwise it would be a wild goose chase on his end. Surely ‘The Grim Place’ would be obvious though, there was only one place Sirius would really dislike enough to dub as such.
Sealing the letter with the Heir ring, he made for downstairs this time, going into the kitchen and calling out for Kreature again, hoping the elf had calmed down now.
The elf appeared and looked up at him, looking almost…hopeful, “Kreature, have we got an owl, by any chance?’
Kreature shook his head at this, “Lord Arcturus Black be having the owl, Master. No owl be in the house for years.”
“Wait, Arcturus Black is still alive!?” He said with genuine surprise, he thought the man had died years ago.
“Correct, Master Hadrian, Lord Black be living in Black Castle before Mistress was born.”
Huh, well that was some new information that he could work with. Reordering his mind briefly, he looked at Kreature again before asking his next question, “Well, I don’t suppose you know of a way to get this to Remus Lupin, do you?”
The elf's eyes widened before the name had fully finished leaving his mouth, “Kreature shall send the letter, if Master Hadrian be letting him?” he offered, “It be Kreature’s pleasure.”
He mulled the thought over for a minute before coming to a decision, “Perhaps you could send it after we’ve sorted the house out a bit? We don’t want the house looking like a state when guests arrive, hey?”
“Kreature will get started, sir.”
“Don’t worry, Kreature, I’ll help where I can.” Hadrian said, feeling kind of sorry for the elf, he didn’t want the poor guy working himself too hard after years of not being given orders.
——
After about 4 hours of continuously casting charms and spells, the house looked a lot better than what it had done before. The Black’s really did let this house go downhill over the years. That wasn’t the case now though, as the house was miles better, all of the walls were now clean with new paint or wallpaper, courtesy of a lovely charm Hadrian had discovered. The floor was looking almost brand-new with the great thinking of Kreature and his use of the Scourgify charm, and the furniture wasn’t moth eaten anymore; They’d gotten all of the damaged furniture and curtains and put them all up into the loft, taking out anything that looked unbroken or clean from up there and gave it a well-needed spruce up once it was put where they wanted it.
It truly did look better, and the house seemed to think so too. She wasn’t sulking in the shadows anymore, she was looking and feeling radiant, evident with the light flowing in now and the warmth coupling it, encompassing the house in a new atmosphere. She was glowing and she couldn’t have been happier.
After all the hard work around the house, Hadrian was enjoying some nice quiet time in the newly decorated library, enjoying just sitting in a chair with a book in hand. The book was one he’d never actually been able to read before, most likely due to Molly Weasley’s grand detox of all things ‘dark’ in the house, but he thoroughly enjoyed reading a new book for once.
Thinking about books, it dawned on him that he was still yet to send the letter off with Kreature, he’d been too entranced with the contents of the book to even think on it. Calling out softly for the little guy, he waited patiently for the pop, which followed not even a few moments later.
“Yes, Master Hadrian?”
“Would you be willing to send the letter to Remus now, please, Kreature? I feel like the house is suitable for visitors again.”
“Of course, Master Hadrian, Kreature will give letter to Wolf man now.” Hadrian actually had to stifle a laugh at the name, partly burying his face in his book. Never had he heard of Remus being referred to as ‘wolf man’ before, and he laughed at the thought of it definitely not being the last time.
Taking the letter, the elf bowed deeply before silently popping away this time, possibly so he could arrive and deliver the letter more quietly, who knew? He’d have to find a book about house-elves to find more about them.
——
Remus was walking home when he felt an eerie presence following him, a familiar one too nonetheless. Abruptly stopping and turning slightly, he noticed the elf trailing him quite closely, and quietly too. Turning around completely now, he looked the house elf up and down properly this time, his heart skipping a beat when he saw the crest on the elf’s ‘clothing’, it was the Black families.
“What do you want, Kreature?” he asked, knowing the elf wasn’t known for his niceties.
To his surprise, the elf didn’t speak right away, he only held out the letter for Remus to take, a serious look on his face as he done so. “Wolf man is to take it and read. He must make a decision.”
Feeling a mix of curiosity and concern, wondering what the letter was about, Remus nodded, steeling himself and levitating the letter out of the elf’s grasp and towards him, throwing spells at it to make sure it was safe for him to touch. When he deemed it safe to read, he turned the letter over in his hand, brushing his fingertips over the wax seal on the back, letting all possible thoughts run through his mind, trying to make some sense of the situation.
With shaking hands, he broke the seal of the envelope, sliding the parchment out from within. Exhaling a shaky breath, he started reading the words spooled out on the paper, feeling almost every possible emotion as his eyes skimmed the pages, forcing himself to read it over countless times. It just couldn’t be. It just couldn’t. Sirius had escaped and wanted to speak to him, after all these years.
The words written filled him with a sense of urgency, he wanted answers. No, he didn’t want answers, he needed them. Now.
Without wasting any more time, Remus nodded to the house elf, signalling that he was in fact ready to go. What made him cringe though, was the overly toothy smile the elf gave him as he finished signalling, what was he agreeing to in all actuality? Was he signing up to his death, or was it finally time he understood why Sirius betrayed them all? And why use the name ‘Child of Black’ as if he wasn’t next in line for a lordship?-
Cutting him off in thought, Kreature started talking again, “Wolf man be going to Master now.”