Chapter 20 - Chapter 20: First Year (Part 2)

Charms (Ravenclaw/Gryffindor) - September 3, 2001

Hadrian sighed as Ron and Hermione sat down in their first charms lesson. This was going to be annoying. Ron was sitting on his right, and Hermione was sitting to Rons right. The only good thing was that Theo was sitting on his other side so they couldn't put him between them.

Nem moved from his hood to one of her many special pockets. She chose the one on his left side. Hadrian smirked as he felt Nem's dislike for the two Gryffindors.

Since this was a double session that was meant to serve as a practical period, Flitwick only spent the first hour giving them a lecture. While they had been taking notes, Hermione had kept shooting Hadrian's quill nasty looks. While many in the class were writing with rather large feather quills and an open pot of ink, Hadrian was using a fountain pen that had actually been designed by Arthur Weasley's team at JT. Percy had told him that he had had his own set but didn't think they would be allowed at school, Hadrian just pointed out that there were no rules against them.

The pen was charmed to have a years supply of ink in the cartridge, and the ink was spelled to dry instantly to avoid smearing. Hadrian knew that over half of the Ravenclaws had already sent out orders for their own.

But Hermione seemed to be taking his pen as a personal insult. Hadrian could only wonder why she thought he would let her dictate his life.

When the lecture came to an end, and Flitwick set them to work practicing the wand movements to levitate a feather Hermione finally snapped when Hadrian pulled out his wand.

"That isn't a proper wand."

Hadrian just looked at her.

"Yeah mate, what's wrong with your wand? It looks different." Ron added, his eyes caught on the jewel at the end of the handle, he wanted that.

"It's my wand. It looks exactly like it was designed to look." Hadrian told them before he turned back to keep practicing.

"But wands don't look like that. Why does it have a jewel in it. There's no need to brag about having money by putting diamonds on your wand, it will just make it unbalanced." Hermione said haughtily.

"Is there a problem over here?" Flitwick asked them.

"Not really, Granger just seems to think she gets to dictate what my wand should look like." Hadrian told him.

"Professor, his wand isn't right. Just look at it. It's different colours and he's had jewels added to it. That's just going to unbalance it and make his spells uncontrolled." Hermione's voice held a whine to it.

Flitwick looked at the wand in the young boys hand and drew in a breath. he could feel the power emanating from it. "Ms. Granger, Mr. Potter-Black's wand is none of your business. His wand looks like it does because it has two different types of wood. And that jewel is called a focus stone. Some people require them in their wands. If this is the wand Mr. Potter-Black has, then I can only assume that it is the wand that selected him. It is not up to you which wand he has. Now, back to work."

"But sir, what about his pen. We are supposed to use quills, not pens. it says so in Hogwarts: A History?" Hermione really wanted to gain some control over the boy. Maybe she could give him lessons on how to use a proper quill.

Flitwick looked over the pen like quill that Hadrian had. He thought it was ingenious and was going to see about getting his own. "There is no rule against using a quill like his. You are only required to use feather quills that the school supplies during exams. Now, Ms. Granger, start practicing. Or I will have to start deducting points."

Hermione spent the rest of the lesson huffing every time she looked at Hadrian's wand. Neither she or Ron really spent any time practicing their movements.

Charms (Ravenclaw/Gryffindor) - September 6, 2001

Hadrian almost ran down the hall as he headed for the charms classroom. He knew that he was going to be almost half an hour early, but he needed to get away. Hermione and Ron had been following him around and annoying him since their herbology lesson their first day. They kept pretending like they were all good friends. Hermione had even started lecturing him about how he needed to send Nem away, that he needed to use a proper quill, and trying to give him a study schedule. She had practically demanded that he give her is assignments so that she could go over them. Ron kept demanding that he play chess with him. He also kept going on about quidditch.

The first week of school hadn't even ended and they were driving him crazy.

Filius Flitwick raised a bushy eyebrow when he saw one of his ravens coming into class so early. "Is there a problem Mr. Potter-Black?"

Before Hadrian could respond Theo and Nox came into the room, not noticing the professor.

"Their coming. They saw you leave. We saw her grabbing him and trying to force him away from his food, so we came to warn you. They will be here soon." Nox huffed out.

"Boys? Who's coming?" Flitwick asked. He didn't like how this was sounding. Three of his students had had to leave a meal early. One, to avoid someone, and the other two to warn him.

"It's…" Before Hadrian could get any further, Hermione and Ron came barging into the room.

"Oh, hi guys. We didn't realize any one would be here already." Hermione said in a fake happy voice.

Theo and Nox had no idea how to answer the professors question now, but Hadrian smiled slightly.

"It's them. They follow me everywhere." Hadrian said in flawless gobbledegook. "All they do is harass my friends and I while trying to separate me from others. One of the other lions, named after a white flower, told me that they had been making up stories about how I was their friend and that I didn't want to have to deal with anyone other than them so they should all just stay away from me.

Bushy has even tried to take my furry little friend from me, saying that I had to get rid of her because she wasn't allowed at the school."

Hadrian had to make sure that he didn't use any proper names, because those didn't translate.

Filius was surprised by all of that. Not only that Hadrian was so skilled with the goblin language, but what he had said. The idea of someone trying to take away someone else familiar, let alone a true familiar, was unthinkable. "I was told that the three of you were best friends and that I should group the three of you together during assignments to protect you."

"I didn't even know their names until plant class on the first day of classes. My best friends have furry friends like me. But I also like my raven classmates, but I don't know any of the lions well enough to make a judgment, but from the ones I've met, other than these two, I like them well enough. It's just these two that won't leave me alone."

"I will ensure that you are kept away from them." Filius told him, already reworking the seating plan he had made up, as well as the groups for any group assignment they did.

"Thank you sir." Hadrian was happy that he would be able to get away from them and they couldn't even link it back to him.

"What kinda language is that?" Ron, who still hadn't gotten over the fact that he had been dragged away from his food, was confused. That sounded like a stupid language.

"It's gobbledegook, I wanted the professors help with a problem that I've been having with the tenses." Hadrian said, giving an excuse for he and the professor speaking in the language.

"Wow. I didn't even know a language like that existed. You will have to teach me it." Hermione thought this would be perfect. If she got him to teach her the language, they would have to spend a lot of time together. Not that she really wanted to learn such a disgusting guttural language. Goblins were just violent creatures after all.

"He can't do that Ms. Granger. The only way to learn gobbledegook is with special permission from the goblin king. If he even attempted to teach you a single word he would be subject to goblin justice." Filius told the demanding child.

Hermione was once again annoyed. Who were those creatures to say what she could and couldn't learn. She was just going to have to force Harry to teach her.

When the lesson started, Filius assigned the students to their desks. The students were arranged so that it was a Gryffindor, then a Ravenclaw, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw. It would be a good way to keep the two of them away from his raven without anyone being able to accuse him of creating division between the houses.

He put Hadrian in between Lily Moon, since Hadrian had mentioned talking to her, and Seamus Finnigan. The irishman seemed laidback enough not to annoy the boy.

Ron was furious as he sat next to two stupid Ravenclaws. He was supposed to be sitting next to his best friend. Why was everyone keeping him from his best friend?

Hospital Wing - September 8, 2001

Hadrian went in for his health scan the weekend after they arrived, just like he was supposed to. He had already had his meeting with Professor Flitwick. They had discussed his issues with Granger and Weasley, but other than that, everything was fine.

"Mr. Potter-Black. My name is Healer Forsythe. I will be conducting a full health scan. It will show your full medical history, from the day you were born until today. Do you understand?" A short, slightly round man with thinning hair said.

"Yes. Um… You can't tell anyone anything I tell you, right?"

"I will have to report it if you are in danger, but other than that, everything you say to me will be kept confidential. I had to take binding oaths when I became a healer. Is there something you need to tell me about?" As a healer that had identified many abused children over the past few years he knew how important it was to get a child to talk. Not all abuse was strictly physical.

"Um… When I was little I was in a bad home. I ran away when I was five. I've been living with my godfathers since then." Hadrian told him.

Healer Forsythe nodded. Casting the scanning spell, he waited until the scan was complete, then he looked at it. He saw instantly what Hadrian had been telling him. There was evidence of severe malnutrition and abuse starting from just after Samhain 1991, until March 1996. But, since then, the scan showed that the boy had been well cared for and there was no residual physical issues caused by the abuse. The only things on the scan after 1996 were typical for a child. There were a few childhood illnesses and a few bumps and scrapes, but nothing severe.

"Well, I don't see any new issues. It is clear that your current guardians have dealt with the physical side of the abuse. But I must ask. Have you seen a mind healer? And, do you have any concerns?"

Hadrian smiled at the man, he knew he was just trying to help. "When my godfathers arranged getting my custody they went to Cecilia Perra and Edward Brown. My family has always been really open with me about what happened, and they made sure I knew I could always go to them for any issues. Whenever Cecilia and Edward came to do my home checks, Uncles Siri, Remy, Bast, and Sev, made sure that I sat down with Edward and talked through any problems. I'm ok. It will always bother me, what happened I mean, but I got through it, and I'm happy now."

"Siri, Remy, Bast, and Sev?"

"Sirius Lupin-Black and his husband Remus Lupin-Black blood adopted me at the request of my father when I was a baby. Severus and Sebastian Prince-Peverell blood adopted me a few years ago. Their my family. So, if I'm ever brought in here you should probably call Uncle Sev first thing, they can all be a little over protective."

"Ok. Then there isn't anything else we need to discuss. You are healthy and well cared for, so, my job is done. And I will make sure to call Severus if anything happens. I don't think it would be a good idea to not inform him if anything happened to you." Healer Forsythe didn't want to risk getting on the bad side of Severus, he had heard horror stories about that mans temper.

Hadrian knew that he had told the healer a great deal, but he didn't want it to look like he was holding anything back. Plus, he had ensured that if anything happened to him, and he ended up in the hospital wing, that his papa would be called right away. It would help to make sure that neither Dumbledore or his followers could do anything to him.

Staff Room - September 29, 2001

Severus went into the staff room to attend the first meeting since the new school year started. He knew this was going to be fun.

While most of his students were actually doing well, Granger and Weasley, weren't. He assigned papers at the end of each week, and they were both struggling with them. Weasley, because he didn't put any effort into them. And Granger, because she didn't follow the instructions, wrote almost word for word what was in the books, and her refusal to stay within the length limits. She also kept challenging him over her grades, and wouldn't accept what he told her.

Severus knew that soon she would be bringing the issue in front of the board.

Albus had separated the staff meeting into two groups. The first group was the teachers that taught the first years and the fifth through seventh years. The second group was the those that taught second through fourth. It kept the meetings from being to large.

After everyone had settled down with a cup of tea, Severus taking a place between Aurora and Filius, Albus finally arrived. It seemed that he still hadn't learned to arrive to meetings he scheduled on time while Severus was away.

The first half of the meeting was spent on typical issues. Problem students, and any problems they were having. Eventually Minerva brought it around to the headmasters pets.

"Severus. We need to discuss how you mark. The school board has given strict guidelines for marking. You need to mark my lions the same way you mark your snakes."

"What do you mean by that Minerva? I have been following the guidelines." Severus wanted to ensure that she told everyone the issue she was having with his marking. It would allow others to know how and why he was handling Granger and Weasley the way he was.

"I have gotten multiple complaints about your in class behaviour and bias in marking from my lions."

"I will assume that you mean you have been getting complaints from Ms. Granger and Mr. Weasley. The reason they keep getting in trouble is because they keep yelling out and interrupting class. The reason their grades are low is because Weasley doesn't seem to think the assignments I give are worth his time to do properly. And Ms. Granger refuses to follow the guidelines I set out. I have spoken with her multiple times when she has challenged me about her grades that if she wants to get better grades then she needs to do the assignment I give, not the one she wants." Severus said in a cold voice.

"What is that supposed to mean." Minerva was almost hissing like the cat she was in her animigus form. "Ms. Granger told me about how you keep yelling at her and took away points whenever she answers a question."

"No. I have not raised my voice at her, or any other student. I have spoken to her, but never yelled.

And, yes. I have taken away points, but not because she answered a question, but because she was yelling out the answers. I have repeatedly told her that when I ask the class a question, if she knows the answer, she must raise her hand. I will not always pick her to answer a question, because there are 27 other students in the class that deserve a chance to try. She feels that she shouldn't have to abide by that rule and shouts out the answer over anyone else that I ask." It was taking everything Severus had to not just kick the little know-it-all out of the classroom every time she did that.

Many of the other professors voiced their agreement with Severus. They had all been having the same issues with Granger shouting out answers.

"I'm sure it is just a slight misunderstanding. Hermione is just excited to learn. We should be encouraging her, not punishing her." Albus's eyes were twinkling.

"A desire to learn is a good thing, but not at the expense of the other students. As I said, there are 27 other students in her potions class. I can not prioritize what she wants over what the rest need. Every other student deserves a chance to learn, just as much as she does." Severus wasn't about to back down.

"I must agree. We need to allow all of our students to learn, not just one. Ms. Granger needs to work on her know-it-all attitude. She even interrupted me last week during a lecture and started to lecture the class. Then she started talking back to me when I pointed out that I was the one with the mastery, not her. I have already warned her that I will be starting to take off points and giving her detentions the next time she does it." Aurora Sinistra was not impressed by the girl.

"And the grades you have been giving her on her assignments." Minerva knew that she wasn't going to win on Hermione's shouting out. She had gotten annoyed more than once herself at the girl. "She has let me read her work, and even I can tell that it is exceptional."

"There is no denying that Ms. Granger is bright, but in her effort to prove how smart she is, she doesn't follow instructions. The last assignment that I received from her was supposed to be an essay between 1-2 feet long, on the proper preparation of fairy wings for use in glamour potions, why they are prepared that way, and why you cant mix them with any potions that contained pixie dust.

Instead I received 5 feet on whatever came into her mind while she was writing. There was even 7 inches on how to crush a moonstone. None of the glamour potions we were discussing even involved moonstone. In all, she had less than half a foot that actually focused on what I asked for, and she never even mentioned the pixie dust. Her inability to focus on the topic of the assignment shows a distinct lack of understanding.

Then there is her plagiarism issue. Much of her assignments are almost word for word what is in the text book. I don't need her to quote the textbook to me, I have read it before. These assignments are to help develop critical thinking skills, but she just repeats whatever the book says, even if it's wrong. The first year potions book, as I have pointed out before, is out of date and has multiple errors.

She can not claim ignorance of how the assignments are marked, because I posted the marking scheme on the notice board at the back of the classroom and pointed it out to the students during their first lesson. She knows what is expected of her, but she doesn't think she should have to follow the same rules as the other students. She will not be receiving special treatment from me.

I will also say, I have informed my classes that, though my assistant and I currently read their entire assignment, after Yule, we will stop reading the excess. If I ask for an essay with a minimum of 1 foot, and a maximum of 2, then that is what I expect. If it is shorter, we will not be reading it, and if it is longer, we will put a mark at the maximum I requested, and we will not be reading beyond that point." Everyone was staring at Severus, he normally didn't talk that much during an entire meeting, let alone all at once.

After that, Minerva and Albus both kept trying to make excuses for the girl, but Severus wouldn't budge. Pomona, Filius, and Aurora, all backed him up, going so far as to say they would start following some of his ideas about giving maximum lengths, as they too were already sick of her extra long essays.

Great Hall - October 31, 2001

When it came time for dinner on Samhain, Hadrian was paranoid and on edge. He had believed at the beginning of the school year that he wasn't going to have to worry about a Voldemort possessed teacher, he was wrong.

Walking into his first DADA lesson he had been happy to have a competent teacher, but then Professor Mitchell started to speak, he had that same merlin awful stutter. Hadrian figured he knew exactly where Voldemort's spirit was.

Now, it was Samhain and he was worried about a possible troll attack. The only good thing was that his papa knew to be on guard, and they had already made plans to make sure that none of the students would be in danger.

Hadrian kept glancing from his papa up at the head table, to Fred and George, who were sitting just behind him at the Hufflepuff table. All three of them, like him, were trying to keep an eye on everything.

Over the past two months, Hadrian and the twins, had become close. For Hadrian, it felt like he had known them all his life. He couldn't imagine his life without them there to make him smile and laugh anymore.

Fred and George had introduced him to their secret identities as Mischief and Mayhem, they even gave Hadrian his own nickname, Chaos. Hadrian had thought it was hysterical when they had given him his new name.

The three of them were also often joined by Lee, Mercury, Draco, Slither, and Neville, Wasp. Both of the boys had rolled their eyes at their nicknames. But, they did have a side benefit. While many members of staff disagreed, McGonagall and Dumbledore were convinced that inter house rivalry wouldn't allow for the pranksters to come from different houses, so they were looking in the wrong direction whenever a new prank was being set up.

None of the pranks they pulled could be seen as bullying. They tended more towards colour changing pranks. The entire head table had even ended up in tie dyed robes for a day. It actually toned down Dumbledore's robes.

When the twins had noticed Hadrian getting more and more worked up the closer they got to Samhain they had originally thought it was because of his parents. Hadrian hadn't told them about his dad and papa yet, he was planning on waiting until they were away from the school, just as an extra precaution. When they had asked him, Hadrian had told them that Samhain was when Voldemort had let the troll in as a distraction.

Since then, the twins had been just as worked up as Hadrian. They had both mentally agreed as soon as they heard this was when their little soul mate would face a troll, that they would do whatever it took to protect him. Even if he was proving himself to be exceptionally skilled. They didn't want to take any risks with their soul mate.

Glancing over to the Gryffindor table, making sure to slide his eyes across the entire table to make it look more natural, he saw that Hermione was sitting next to Ron. Since Dumbledore had made Flitwick arrange the students so that none of the students were sitting next to someone in their own house, Hermione and Ron hadn't had the fight that had resulted in her skipping dinner. Hadrian didn't know if he was happy she wouldn't get clobbered to death by a troll, or upset.

Just as the desserts were appearing on the table, the Voldemort possessed DADA teacher, Mitchell, came running into the hall screaming about trolls in the dungeons. Hadrian had to admit, he was a better actor than Quirrell had been.

This time, when Dumbledore ordered the students back to their common rooms, Fred and George both jumped up onto the table and let of loud bangs from their wands calling for everyone to stop.

"Misters Weasley. 50 points from Hufflepuff, each. You have been told what to do, now do it, or I will start taking more points." McGonagall shouted at them.

"Take all the points," Fred started in a calm, yet loud voice.

"You want." George's voice, while similar to his twins was colder. How dare this woman yell at his twin.

"You do realize,"

"He said the trolls,

"Were in the dungeon,"

"You know,"

"The same place,"

"Both Hufflepuff and Slytherin,"

"Have their common rooms,"

"The same common rooms,"

"You just ordered us to go to?"

"Are you trying,"

"To get us killed?" Fred finished while George glared at the transfiguration professor.

"Enough of this. Students. Sit down and stay here. We will seal you in. Active casters on staff, to the dungeons. Ghosts, search the castle for any other trolls, warn any student you find to get to a safe place." Severus ordered, making sure the students would be safe, the stronger casters would be able to deal with the trolls, and any other trolls would be found. "Oh, and Misters Weasley. 75 points to Hufflepuff, each. For quick thinking that may have just saved your classmates lives."

With that, Severus and the stronger teachers left the hall, sealing the door behind them. As soon as the doors were sealed, the students started talking.

Fred and George went back to their seats, spinning away from the table, Hadrian doing the same, so that they were sitting facing each other. Draco and Neville joined them. Out of the corner of his eye, Hadrian watched as Mitchell slipped out the staff entrance.

It only took the staff half an hour to round up the four trolls that had been released in the school. As big and strong as they were, they were also incredibly stupid.

Once the staff returned the students were free to carry on.

Much to Dumbledore's dismay, Hadrian and the other boys headed off to join in the traditional Samhain ritual. Dumbledore did everything to discourage students from taking part.

Hogwarts, School Board Meeting Room - December 5, 2001

James was excited. Since he was already at the school, he was going to be able to spend lunch with his son. And soon, it would be Yule brake and Hadrian would be able to come home for a few weeks. He had missed his baby boy so much. He just had to get through this meeting.

James looked around the room at the other governors. He once again had plans that were going to upset the headmaster, and he couldn't wait.

"Albus, I do have a question that I feel we must address first." James said as soon as the meeting had been started. "How in Merlin's name did trolls get into the school?"

"It was probably just some pranksters playing a joke my boy. There is no need to worry. It was handled." Albus hated having this man questioning him.

"So you think, school children pulling a prank managed to make a large enough hole in the wards, in what is considered by many to be the safest place in Britain. Unless the wards are in complete disarray, there is no way even the best student in this school could do that." James knew exactly who had done it, but he wasn't about to tell anyone that.

Others started adding their agreement. Most were furious that trolls had gotten so close to their children. Eventually, after Dumbledore had been dressed down multiple times by angry parents, James spoke up again.

"I also feel that we need to address the privacy of the students. Would you like to explain how a reporter managed to get onto the school grounds, took photos of the students, conducted multiple interviews, and then managed to leave the school all undetected. And I am hoping that it was all undetected, because if the staff knew what was going on I will be filing a lawsuit on the school, like the ones that have already been filed against the papers that feel a child doesn't deserve privacy."

When Hadrian had had his first flying lesson, things had once again gotten complicated. Neville's broom had not responded properly and rose high into the air, Neville swore that he thought the broom had been cursed. When the broom had started to shudder and jerk it had thrown Neville off. Hadrian, reacting to his friend being in danger, flew up and caught Neville as he fell. Once Hadrian and Neville had been back on the ground, Minerva had come out of nowhere and whisked Hadrian off to the headmasters office. Hadrian had been offered a chance to join the Ravenclaw quidditch team. He had refused. Stating that it wasn't fair to the other first years that were barred from trying out, or to the team that had already been selected. He wasn't going to accept special treatment.

The real issue was that, somehow, Rita Skeeter had been there when it happened. She had gotten pictures of Hadrian catching Neville, and had even managed to find out that Hadrian had refused the offer of being on the team. She had made a huge deal about it in the multiple stories that she had written for both The Daily Prophet, and Witch Weekly.

Severus and James were furious that a reporter had been on campus and was using their son to sell papers. Not only that, but they hadn't given anyone permission to publish anything about him. There were very strict laws that dictated what you could and couldn't report about a child. That was why both papers had already been forced to print an apology for the invasion of a minors privacy.

"Now my boy, it was just a silly little article. There is no need to make a big deal about it." Albus had personally arranged for the 'accident' to occur when he knew the reporter was there. He needed everyone to see the Potter boy as a Gryffindor like hero.

"It isn't just a silly little article. It is a clear breach of privacy for a minor. As the headmaster of this school, it is your job to provide a secure and safe environment for your students… And that means all students. There is no reason that a reporter should have been allowed on campus and around the children. It is clear there is an issue with security at this school, and I feel we must address it. I take the privacy and safety of my heir seriously. It is clear from that incident that this school has almost no defences if any random person can gain access to the campus. It could have been anyone that walked onto the grounds, what if it had been someone that wished harm on the students, there was no protection for them. I am also suggesting that the school be required to buy all new brooms, since the ones that the students are currently using are clearly unsafe." After that the meeting carried on in typical fashion. Dumbledore was issued a warning about ensuring the safety and privacy of the students.

When the meeting ended, James went and found Hadrian. They spent as much time together as they could until Hadrian had to go to class. James couldn't wait until Yule. Once his son came home he didn't know if he would ever be able to let him go again.

Headmasters Office - December 14, 2001

Hadrian sighed as he walked up to the headmasters office, once again between his papa and Flitwick. He knew that this was going to be both fun and annoying. So far this year he had managed to stay away from his pawns, so he expected this would be something about trying to force them together. Fred and George had told him that for some reason Molly was insisting they stay at the school, but their dad was arguing with her about it. Hadrian expected this meeting to be about trying to force him to stay at the school over Yule.

Going into the office, Hadrian and Flitwick sat down in the two chairs in front of the headmasters desk, while Severus took his place against the wall, next to Phineas's portrait.

"Ah, my boys, lemon drop?" Albus offered up the sweets. It was taking a great deal of effort not to growl. He had wanted to speak to the brat alone so that he could start spelling and potioning him, instead the brat had brought the others.

He knew that neither of the adults would take one of his candies, they never did, but he had hoped that the brat would. The drops were coated in potions. It would have weakened the brats mind enough to let him get him to agree with whatever he said. Instead the brat refused.

"What is it we can do for you, headmaster?" Filius asked. He knew that what ever the headmaster was trying to do wasn't going to work.

"I noticed that Harry hadn't signed up to stay over the Christmas holidays." Albus said.

"Why would he have? He and I will be heading home to spend Yule with our family." Severus told the annoying old man. He wasn't going to let this man stop his son from coming home, James would kill him, not to mention how much he would miss him too.

"I was hoping that he would stay over the holidays. You understand how dangerous it is for him. He would be much safer here." Albus threw out a slight compulsion under the desk towards the brat.

"No, thank you headmaster." Hadrian felt the spell brush against his magic, but his heir and lordship rings warmed up and the magic dissipated. "I have missed my family. So I will be going home."

"Now, my boy, I feel that it is just to dangerous for you. I really think you should stay here. You must be protected, and there is nowhere safer than here." Albus was annoyed at being denied.

"No, headmaster. Personally I don't think this school is as safe as you claim. Just in the past few months 4 trolls and a reporter managed to get into the school and onto the grounds without anyone noticing until after. That is not what I consider safe. None of that has ever happened when I have been with my family, so… I think I am actually safer with them than I am here." Hadrian just had to rub the old goats crooked nose in the schools lack of security.

"Detention Mr. Potter. Words have consequences. You will serve a week of detention with me during Christmas Break." Albus hated having so many people questioning him about the schools security.

"No he will not." Severus snapped back. "He did nothing wrong. He merely pointed out facts. You can not punish him because you don't like having a student pointing out the shortfalls of the schools security. He will becoming home for Yule Albus, and that is final."

"Now Severus, I really must insist. The boy must stay here." Albus didn't even bother to keep up his grandfather act. "He isn't safe with people we don't know. He must stay here. As his magical guardian, the decision is mine, and he will be staying."

"He isn't going to stay with people we don't know. He is going home to his family. A family that includes me, my husband, and his godfathers." Severus growled at him. "And you are not his magical guardian, and have not been so since his custody was assigned to us. The decisions about what happens to him is not yours to make, it is mine, and it is the right of his other fathers."

"His custody belongs to his aunt and uncle, and they named me as his magical guardian. You and the others have effectively kidnapped him. You should be grateful that I haven't filed charges or you and the others would all be in Azkaban. The only reason I haven't is because of your children." The more Albus thought about the idea, the more he liked it. Send Severus, Sebastian, Sirius and Remus to Azkaban and take custody of the children. Then he would have all of the seats, and money.

"You can try all you like, but we legally have Hadrian. Sirius and Remus are legally Hadrian's fathers. He was never supposed to go to those people. You would actually be the one charged as you effectively kidnapped him from his family when you had him taken from Sirius and denied Remus the right to see him. Hadrian's custody was assigned to us by Amelia Bones personally." Severus told him with a smirk.

Albus wanted to curse his spy. How dare he deny him. He also wanted to kill James again. That stupid man, allowing the wolf and his husband to blood adopt the boy. There was nothing he could do, and he knew it. If he tried reporting them for kidnapping the brat, he would be charged and not them. Amelia had never been fond of him.

"I do say, that is enough, from both of you. There is a student here, remember." Filius agreed wholeheartedly with Severus, but he didn't think Hadrian should be here for this. "Severus, Hadrian doesn't need to be here for this. Why don't you take your son and go and relax.

And Albus, you are a grown man, act like it. Severus and the others are the boys fathers, legally and biologically. You have no right to deny them their rights as his fathers. Hadrian has said that he doesn't want to stay, so he will not be staying. If you attempt to punish him to force him to remain against his will I will personally be filing a grievance with the board. And something tells me, given the fact that one of his fathers serves on the board, they will most likely rule against you. They are his guardians, not you. You are his headmaster, that is all. I will not allow you to deny one of my students his rights."

That was the last that Severus and Hadrian heard as they left the office, but they heard the little man continue his lecture after they left. They were going to have to ask Phineas about what happened when they went to visit Regulus during the break.

Severus and Hadrian followed Flitwick's suggestion and went back to Sev's office. They spent the rest of the evening just relaxing with each other. Severus did some marking, and Hadrian started working on some of the holiday assignments that had already been assigned.

The Burrow - December 22, 2001

Arthur sighed as he looked around the table at his family. Things weren't going the way he had expected his life to go when he was younger. Years ago, he had thought he was the luckiest guy around, then reality came knocking.

He learned that the woman he had thought he loved had been drugging him with love potions for years. Then he started looking closer at his family. His eldest two boys had had to leave the country to get away from their overbearing mother. Percy had lived in his books, though he had made some good friends in school and was a bit more outgoing now. The twins spent most of their time with the neighbours. And Ron and Ginny behaved like spoiled brats.

Arthur was still confused about Molly's latest oddity. She had spent weeks insisting that the kids needed to stay at the school over the break so that they could go and visit Charlie. Only to change her mind and insist they come home. When Arthur asked her if they were still going to visit Charlie she had acted like it was a crazy idea.

Many things had changed since he first started to look closer at things, but many things had also stayed the same. Now he was watching as the twins got ready to go to a friends place for the weekend, and he could tell just by looking at them that they were keeping secrets.

Going into their room, he put up a privacy spell. "What are you two trying to hide?"

Fred and George shared a silent conversation before it was decided that George would be the one to speak, he had always been the better lier. "Nothing dad."

Arthur gave them a look. "Just tell me, will you be safe where ever it is your going?"

"Of course." Fred reassured their father.

"We're just going to a friends." George added. They didn't want to scare their dad.

"So if I were to floo call the Jordan's, they would tell me that you are staying with them." Arthur noticed the slightly panicked look the boys shared. "Just tell me the truth. I promise I wont get angry."

"We are going to a friends, but," Fred knew they couldn't lie to their dad now.

"It's just not Lee's place."

Arthur waved for them to continue.

"That kid that Bill asked us to keep an eye on,"

"The one with the kitsune familiar."

"We became really good friends with him,"

"And he invited us to come over to meet his family."

"Then why didn't you just say that in the beginning?" Arthur was confused, why would they hide something like that.

"Ron." Fred said.

"And Ginny." George added.

"What do they have to do with it?" Arthur was even more confused now.

"Well. It's just…" Fred didn't know how to say it, but George didn't have any issues with it.

"Our friend is Hadrian Potter-Black. We're going over to Hadrian's place for the weekend."

'Why wasn't Ron invited?" Arthur was surprised the twins were so close to the boy hero, Ron had never mentioned them when he told his stories about his friend. "Wouldn't he want his best friend to come too?"

"That's just it," George almost snarled. He hated listening to his little brother go on and on, making up lies about their soul mate. "They aren't friends."

"Ron and the Granger girl follow Hadrian everywhere."

"It's kinda creepy how much they stalk him."

"Hadrian does everything he can to avoid them."

"Then there's Ginny."

"Dad, she has a scrapbook dedicated to a boy she's never even seen."

"She is a stalker waiting to happen."

"We just want a weekend with our friend without,"

"Our little brother yelling at us."

"He says we are trying to steal his best friend."

"Ok, I understand. I won't say anything." Arthur sighed, he hadn't realized that the older boys had noticed that much about Ron and Ginny's issues. "I will be going with you to drop you off, but I don't see any problems with not telling Ron or Ginny. I have been concerned about them for a while now."

Peverell Manor

After the twins had finished packing, Arthur flooed with them to his office, and then on to Peverell Manor. Since Molly was in the kitchen, they didn't want to risk her knowing where the twins were truly going.

When they arrived, they were led out to the back balcony. It was pure chaos.

The balcony was on the second floor and looked out over the back yard. Sitting just a little ways away from the balcony was a giant, 3 story jungle gym. From where they were standing they could clearly see a group of adults and children swarming all over, throwing water, and paint, balloons.

"Hello Arthur, Fred, George. Welcome to insanity." Remus was sitting off to the side, watching the chaos unfold with a cup of tea in his hands.

"Remus, good to see you again." Arthur went over to where Remus sat and joined him. "I figured I would bring these two over."

"We thank you for that, Hadrian has been missing them." As Remus spoke, Hadrian made his way across the rope bridge that connected the jungle gym with the balcony.

"Hey guys." Hadrian quickly hugged his two friends. He had missed them over the past few weeks. "Come on, come play. It's kids against adults. Except for the whiny ones that claim injury." Hadrian said, giving Remus a look before he grabbed hold of the twins and started to drag them behind him.

"Injury?" Arthur asked Remus.

"I have a twisted ankle. Or, at least, I do until I finish my tea." Remus said with a self satisfied smirk.

"Is that safe?" Arthur asked, indicating the young children running around like mad men high above the ground.

"Safe enough." Remus said with a smile and slight shrug. "It was a yule gift for the kids. Sebastian and Sirius spent over an hour 'testing' it while the kids were over at the Malfoy's. If those two didn't manage to kill themselves then the kids will be fine. The kids at least have some basic self preservation instincts. Besides, the entire thing is layered in protection and cushioning charms. They couldn't fall off even if they tried, and yes, Bast and Siri did try, 'just to be sure', or so they said."

The two of them talked for a few minutes until Severus came out on the balcony. They watched as he carried a large, hot pink, cauldron to the railing and tipped it over. Dumping the white, fluffy contents directly on to Sirius, who was standing on the ground below. Sirius shrieked like a little girl.

"What did you just dump on my husband Sev?" Remus asked when Sev turned to greet Arthur.

"Iced marshmallow fluff." Sev said with a small grin.

"Why?" Both Remus and Arthur asked at the same time.

"He dyed my lab neon pink, caldrons and all." Sev said with a raised eyebrow.

"Fair enough." Remus watched as Sev made his way across the same bridge that Hadrian and the twins had used. He slid his finger around the inside of the cauldron Sev had left on the table and tasted the soft, gooey, fluff that had been charmed to be ice cold.

"I must admit, that was not something I expected from Severus. I never thought he was one for pranks." Arthur glanced at Sirius, who was trying to get the sticky mess out of his hair.

"Oh, Sev has always pulled pranks, he just never got caught. He used to prank us just as often as we pranked him while we were in school, but unlike us, he never got caught." Remus told him.

Before Arthur could say anything else, Amelia Bones walked in with a stack of paper. She was followed by two young girls.

"Arthur, pleasant to see you." She smiled at the red head. "Sorry to interrupt… What looks like an epic battle. But I have some paperwork that needs Frank's signature. We need it by tomorrow. Oh, and this is my niece, Susan, and her best friend, Hannah Abbott."

"Hello girls, it's nice to meet you." Remus smiled at the girls, as he sent a patronus message to Frank. "Please, have a seat."

"Susie, Han." Came Neville's voice from the third story of the jungle gyms tower. "Come play. It's adults versus kids."

The two girls turned pleading eyes on Amelia who just waved them off. While they were waiting for Frank, a toddler popped in with the help of an elf. "Uncle Remy, I's sleepy." The boy mumbled as he lifted his arms.

Remus bent down and took a good look into the boy's eyes before picking him up and snuggling him in his lap. "Then come here Alex. I'll keep you safe while you sleep."

"Why did you look at him like that Remus?" Arthur asked.

"Because the Malfoy twins are both metamorphmagus's." Remus told him. "Athena loves to copy Kali's dark curls and Hadrian's green eyes, but Ares and Alex are already best friends. Ares loves to make himself an almost perfect copy of Alex. The only thing he has trouble with is the eyes. Alex got Alice's eyes which have gold flecks in the brown. Ares just can't get the gold flecks, so we have to look closely at the eyes to tell them apart at times."

They all were laughing when Frank came over. "You said Amelia needed me. Ah, so this is where Alex got too."

"I still don't know how you can always tell the difference between him and Ares." Remus said as he handed the boy off to his father.

"The same way you can tell the difference between Cassie and Ari. When it's your kid, you just know." Frank said as Amelia handed over the papers she needed his signature on.

They talked for a bit. Amelia realized that it was going to be a while before the girls were ready to leave. They were having the time of their lives playing with the boys. She had seen them being directed by little Athena who was sitting comfortably in Susan's arms.

But, eventually the war ended. It coincidently happened just after the elves brought out dinner. The children all claimed victory, and after seeing the soaked, multi-coloured, exhausted adults, no one was willing to challenge their claims.

Hogwarts - April 1, 2002

Hadrian had plans. Today was the twins birthday, and Hadrian wanted them to enjoy it. They couldn't do to much, Fred and George still hadn't been caught by the teachers, and Hadrian didn't want to draw too much attention towards them.

He felt so close to the twins. He had told them the truth about his fathers during the Yule break, and they had offered him nothing but support. They had told him that they would always be there for him, and that they would never betray him, and Hadrian believed them completely.

Hadrian, Neville, Draco, and Lee had all snuck out of their common rooms the night before to prepare the school. Each floor of the castle was now a different colour. They had coated the floor outside of each common room with a special type of glue that would stick to the students shoes, the glue would randomly become sticky every few minutes and stick people to the floor for a few second before it would release, just to do it again. Hadrian had even convinced the house elves to include a few canary creams at each table for dessert that night, not that it had taken much to convince the elves to help out. The elves adored Fred and George, so they were always willing to help out.

The entire day was spent having fun, even when they were in classes. Hadrian had been a little surprised when his papa had told their class that rather than a long boring lecture, they would instead be brewing a potion that would change a persons hair colour.

Since it was also April Fools Day, none of the teachers really questioned the large amount of pranks that day. They just assumed that the students had really gotten into the spirit.

Fred and George had loved their birthday this year. Not only because it allowed them to prank people, but because they had their soul mate right there with them. They knew that much of what had happened that day had been planned and set up by all of their friends, but just the fact that their soul mate was a part of it made it that much more special.

Everyone in there little group of friends had taken special joy when they saw Ron greedily grab one of the canary creams and stuff the whole thing in his mouth. He had started yelling angrily after he moulted and ended up losing 20 points, and got a week of detention, for his language. Ron had never been able to take a joke.

Hogwarts, School Board Meeting Room - May 11, 2002

It was a month after the twins birthday when Severus walked into the school board meeting. Granger had finally gotten angry enough at her low grades to file a complaint. Severus wasn't the only one that had been summoned to this meeting. Filius, Aurora, and Samson, the english teacher, were all sitting next to him.

"Ok, our next complaint was filed by Hermione Granger, first year Gryffindor, against Filius Flitwick, Aurora Sinistra, Samson Thrace, and Severus Prince-Peverell, claiming unfair and biased grading. Headmaster Dumbledore and Deputy-Headmistress McGonagall have come to speak in her support. Sebastian has said that he will not be voting on this due to a conflict of interest as Severus is his husband."

Alice stated as she looked over the eleven page complaint. Really, all a student needed to do was state their name and issue. It took less than a single paragraph to file a complaint. "Ms. Granger, as you are the one filing the complaint you may explain your issues first."

"Thank you Mrs. Longbottom. Over the past few months I have found that my assignments have been being marked harder then my classmates. It doesn't matter how much information I provide, nothing is ever enough. I have repeatedly gone to the professors to show that I have done the work, but they just won't listen.

I study and research the best ways to cast spells, but it still isn't enough. I do the readings, but when I answer the questions in class I get in trouble. It isn't fair that I am being marked down for no reason…"Hermione read from a sheet of parchment.

She then continued on for almost half an hour. But it was basically just her whining that she wasn't getting the marks she wanted.

When she finally finished, it was Minerva's turn. She spoke about how bright Hermione was, and how she should be receiving better grades. Dumbledore said that it all must be a slight misunderstanding. He felt that Hermione's lower grades were just a mistake of the teachers, because Hermione was obviously the brightest witch of her generation. Hermione preened at that.

When the time came for the professors to speak, Samson was the one selected to speak for them.

"As we have all told Ms. Granger, repeatedly, if she wishes to improve her grades, she must follow instructions, and do the assignments that we assign, not the ones she wishes we had assigned.

It was this board that gave us the marking scheme that we use. It dictates how we are to mark. We have only been following those guidelines. We have repeatedly explained to Ms. Granger what we expect from her assignments, but she won't listen. We can not give her top marks when she doesn't do the work properly.

None of us deny that Ms. Granger is highly intelligent, but it takes more than that to get top grades. We are trying to teach our students to be able to critically think about things, but she just keeps repeating what the books say.

Ms. Granger refuses to stick to the assigned topics or lengths. For the first two months, we all made allowances, as she and the other students were all just starting, but after then we expected that they would learn how to properly structure their work. Most of the students did learn from the comments we put on their assignments, as well as from the lessons I have taught in my own class. But every time I have broached the subject with Ms. Granger she informs me that I am wrong, and that she shouldn't have to follow the rules I set, even though all the other students do.

The reason she gets in trouble for answering questions in class is because she is shouting out. If we attempt to give the rest of the class a chance to answer a question she gets angry and shouts out the answer over the other students. Yes, we know she knows the answer when she raises her hand, but some of the other students do to and it isn't fair to them to only pick her.

We can not give her special treatment because the headmaster and deputy-headmistress, along with her, seem to think that she should be above the rules."

After Samson finished, Filius stood up.

"I have also spoken to her about her practicals almost every lesson. While Ms. Granger is usually among the first 5 to accomplish the spells we are working on, that is where she stops. Once she has managed to accomplish the spell once, she pulls out her book and starts reading.

But just being able to accomplish a spell once is not enough. I am trying to teach how to master the spells. Research has shown that the true mastery of a spell can take over one hundred successful castings in a row. Ms. Granger may have accomplished the spell once, but that isn't enough. To pass her exams, she will need to be able to cast accurately, with the appropriate amount of power, on the first attempt.

Reading is beneficial to her work, but not at the expense of practice. That is why we have 2-hour practical sessions every week. It is to help students begin the long process of mastering their spells. She gets marked down in her practicals because she refuses to practice. Whenever I have brought it up with her, she will just tell me that she did the spell and that should be enough.

Like Samson said, we can not give her top grades just because she feels like she deserves them. To get the grades she wants, she must earn them."

After a back and forth between Hermione and the teachers, the governors put up a privacy ward to discuss the issue. It didn't take very long to come to a decision, even with Molly, Doge, and Vance trying to make excuses for the girl. Alice was once again the one to speak.

"Ms. Granger. After a discussion and looking over some of the assignments you provided, we have decided that there is no evidence of bias or unfair treatment. If you want to improve your grades, do the assignments you are given.

I would recommend looking at the marking scheme that I am told is hanging on the bulletin boards at the back of most of the class rooms. That will show you the break down of how you will be marked. If you want better grades, you must earn them."

Hermione was furious as she left the board room. How dare they tell her she wasn't earning top grades because she didn't deserve them. She knew that she was being treated unfairly. And, she knew it was because she was muggleborn. When she became minister she would throw all of those death eaters into Azkaban.

Hogwarts - June 18, 2002

Ron Weasley was sitting with Hermione Granger in the common room of Gryffindor tower. He knew that their potions professor was going to try and steal the philosophers stone tonight, and nobody but he and Hermione could stop it.

They were going to be heroes. Then he could show Harry how to act like a true hero. His friend wouldn't spend all that time with those dark wizards in the other houses once he saw just how much people loved a hero. He would show him, the stupid git even got them in trouble earlier that day.

Hermione was thinking along the same lines. They needed to protect the stone. And, since Harry was proving to be a coward, she and Ron were going to have to do it without him. Honestly, she really didn't even need the boys there to help, she knew she could do all of it on her own.

After the last of the students went to bed, Ron and Hermione got up and slipped out the portrait whole.

Severus had been walking down the halls on the third floor. It was the one weekend a month that he was required to do rounds. He knew from what he had learned in the journals that this was when the traitors forced his son to face a Voldemort possessed teacher.

The first years had just finished their exams the afternoon before, and Albus had made a big deal about his being away for the next two days for business at the ministry. If things stayed true in this instance, the morons would be attempting to go through the trap door tonight.

Over the past few months, ever since they returned from Yule, Albus and the idiots had been practically force feeding Hadrian 'clues'. Almost as soon as Hadrian had gotten off the train, Albus had called him up to his office. The excuse had been to discuss if he was safe during the holidays, but Albus just so conveniently had the Mirror of Erised in his office. He had even managed to repeatedly bring up the mirror and had even given a ten minute lecture on what the mirror did.

Shortly after that, Granger and Weasley started bringing up the break in at Gringotts. They kept bringing up different things that Hadrian knew were a part of this little trial. Granger kept going on about Nicholas Flamel. While, Weasley, spouted random facts about Cerberus's and how music was known to help calm the savage beast. Hadrian had told Severus every time they brought it up. Earlier this evening Hadrian had even mirror called Severus to tell him that Granger and Weasley had physically tried to drag him to the third floor. Professor Sprout had seen and taken 20 points from each of them and assigned detention for the rest of the school year for assault. Severus knew that the idiots would not let it go, he had overheard that Weasley boy going on about how he would have been a much better saviour than Hadrian.

As Severus had expected, when he walked past the forbidden corridor he found the door slightly open, and Fluffy was attempting to dig his way down through the open trap door. He knew that he couldn't do it alone, it would allow Albus to cover what happened up, so he sent off a patronus to Filius and Leon York, the other DADA teacher. They were both skilled enough with a wand that he trusted them to have his back. He also sent for Healer Paul Forsythe, he knew that the fools were probably injured.

"Severus, what is the issue?" Healer Forsythe was looking around for an injured student.

In answer Severus pushed open the door so that they could all see the Cerberus.

"This is bad." Filius sighed.

"Hadrian told me that Mr. Weasley and Ms. Granger attempted to force him up here earlier today. Pomona, thankfully, stepped in. I warned Minerva to keep a close eye on those two, but I think we have two little lions that are off on an adventure." Severus said as he cast a music spell that he often used for the girls when they were little. "I figure between Filius, Leon and I we can get past whatever obstacles the old man has created, and Paul, you can make sure the children are uninjured before I give them a lifetimes worth of detention."

"How did you know how to put that beast to sleep?" Paul asked.

"That, is Fluffy." Filius said as they walked towards the trapdoor. "He belongs to one of our former groundskeepers, Hagrid. He used to love to brag about his 'puppy', I think everyone who worked on staff with him a few years ago when he got him knew everything there was to know about him."

They transfigured Fluffy's food dish into a ladder and made their way down.

"Pomona is not going to be happy about this." Severus said as he took a good look at the devil's snare.

"Why?" Leon asked.

"Her devil's snare has been burned. She's had this plant for over twenty years. Pomona dotes on this plant." Filius told the two newer staff members.

They walked into the next room and saw the flying keys and a clearly damaged broom. Luckily the fools didn't seem to understand how to close a door. They went over to the door and pushed it the rest of the way open. Filius muttering that this obstacle was far easier than the one he had created.

As soon as they stepped into the next room they could all see Ronald Weasley laying unconscious on the floor. Paul rushed over to him and started casting spells.

"How is he?" Leon asked.

"Concussion, hairline skull fracture, and a few bumps and bruises. He is very lucky, there doesn't seem to be any excess swelling or blood build up. With some skelegrow he should be fine in an hour or two. I'm going to send him up to the ward with one of the emergency portkeys I brought with me. My assistant stayed in the ward while I came here just in case." Paul wrote out a quick note on what the boy needed and triggered the portkey. It would lay him out in one of the beds in the ward without causing any further damage.

When they tried to get past the chess pieces on the other side, the pieces pulled out their blades and blocked the way. Filius cast a freezing charm on them, Severus followed that up by sending a blasting curse at them. The chess pieces shattered.

Stepping into the next room they were all hit with a disgusting smell. It was a combination of body oder, rotten garbage, and blood. A fully grown mountain troll lay dead on the floor.

"I guess we know how the trolls were able to get into the school undetected." Severus growled. "The idiot must have removed the ward that would banish them in order to put this one here."

Filius snarled under his breath. It was the first time Severus had ever seen the little man so angry.

In the next room Hermione Granger lay on the floor, showing no signs of breathing. Paul rushed to her side and started running scans to see if there was anything he could do for the girl. It was only then that he noticed her unique colouring. Her skin was a sickly puke green colour with vivid orange letters spelling out the word 'thief' on her forehead.

Severus gave a little grin as he picked up the potion bottle that lay in her hand and sniffed it. "Relax Paul, she's just fine."

"Severus, she isn't breathing." The healer almost screamed back.

"Albus came to me to create an obstacle for this little farce. He told me he wanted vials filled with poison, wine, and a potion that would get the drinker through cursed flames. I thought that was stupid. Only a fool leaves a whole that big in 'so called protections. I gave him a combination of potions, but they all included different amounts of the draught of living death. She's just sleeping. She should be up and annoying people by lunch time tomorrow." Severus told the panicking man, who almost instantly relaxed as his scans came back with the same results. The girl was just going to be getting a very good nights sleep.

"And the colour?" Filius asked with a small smile.

"That's just cause I was feeling mean while I brewed it." Severus smiled back. "If someone did try to steal whatever it is the headmaster decided to try to hide here, it's the perfect way to identify who it was. That colour isn't coming out for a week, and it can't be covered with a glamour. She should be back to her normal colour just in time to leave."

Paul once again wrote out a note for his assistant, and sent the girl to the ward by portkey. Then, they all got ready to see what was in the next room.

A few quick spells and the black cursed flames were banished. Severus went first. As he had expected, the stuttering fool, Mitchell, was staring avidly into the Mirror of Erised.

"I would like to say I'm surprised, but I'm really not." He drawled to the man.

"You, what are you doing here, traitor." Mitchell snarled back.

"We're here to collect a few lost students and deal with a thief." Filius said, already in an attack position.

"Sssseverussss." A hissing voice said from under the mans hat. "My clever little ssspy."

Mitchell took of his hat and turned, showing them all the disgusting face growing out of the back of his skull. Hadrian's journals really hadn't done it justice, especially since Mitchell actually had some hair. Severus actually thought he looked a bit like a mutant snake crossed with a lion, due to Mitchell's hair looking like a mane around the face.

"Tell me Ssssseverussss, when did you betray me? What made you turn against your master?" The thing hissed.

"I was never yours. From even before you placed that mark on my arm I worked against you. And, I have no master." Severus said with a sneer.

Rather than saying anything back, Mitchell turned around and started throwing curses at them. The fight was quick and brutal. Mitchell was no match for two defence masters and a dueling master, even with Voldemort supporting him.

As Mitchell started to cast the killing curse towards Filius, Severus sent a cutting curse at the mans throat.

When Mitchell fell, a black smoke came from his body, forming an incorporeal version of the former self proclaimed dark lord. Not wanting to take any risks, Severus quickly banished the spirit into the mirror.

Seeing what he was doing, Leon conjured a sheet over the mirror to block all light. As soon as that was done, they all relaxed. Paul came from the other room where he had stayed, he was a healer, not a fighter.

Paul gave them all a once over. Severus had a six inch gash on his shoulder, Filius had a fractured arm from when he hadn't managed to get completely out of the way of a bone-breaking curse, and Leon had some minor burns on his hands and arms. Other than that, they were just fine. Paul used the last portkey he had brought with him to take them all to the hospital wing.

Hospital Wing - June 19, 2002

It was almost 4 in the morning when Albus and Minerva arrived in the hospital wing. Neither really knew what was going on. Ron and Hermione were supposed to get Harry down into the obstacle course. They were to find away to separate from him before they reached the end so that the boy could face the Voldemort possessed teacher on his own. After they left him, they were supposed to come back out and get them. It would allow Albus to show up and safe the foolish boy, thereby making him trust and rely on Albus.

But, none of that happened. They had waited up most of the night in the Headmasters office, but they had never come to get them. Then, they were summoned to the hospital wing.

Going into the ward, the first thing they saw was Healer Forsythe and his assistant applying burn paste to Leon York. Severus was sitting on the next bed, with a bandage wrapped around his shoulder, and Filius was next to him with a splint on his arm.

Then they noticed the last thing they wanted to see. Amelia Bones was standing off to the side, with Frank Longbottom and Kingsley Shacklebolt talking. They all had their note books out. They had clearly been conducting interviews.

The last thing they saw was two small bodies laying in the beds at the back of the ward. So that was why they hadn't come to get them. They looked around, but neither of them could see Harry.

"What has happened my boys?" Albus asked the three injured professors.

"Two students felt that they didn't need to follow the rules and decided to have an adventure." Severus said. "They are lucky we got to them when we did. Mr. Weasley had a fractured skull, and Ms. Granger took a potion that she must not have known. She won't be waking up for a while."

"But how did you three get injured?" Minerva asked.

"I will answer that." Amelia said as she came forward. "It would seem placing valuable objects in a school that has already shown to have a lack of security will draw in thieves. Your now former professor Ulysses Mitchell was being possessed by a malevolent spirit. They decided to try and steal whatever it was you were hiding here. Severus, Filius, and Leon put a stop to it."

"And where is Mr. Mitchell now?" Minerva asked as she didn't see him in the ward. "Has he been taken in to custody?"

"He's dead." Severus said in a flat voice.

"What? How did that happen?" Minerva was shocked. None of the traps could have killed him, they were set up so the children could get past them.

"When Mr. Mitchell attempted to kill Filius, Severus was forced to respond with lethal force." Kingsley said.

"Really my boy. Surely you could have captured him, there was no need to kill a man." Albus said in a scolding tone. Severus just raised his eyebrow.

"Are you kidding me, Albus." Filius was furious that this old fool was scolding Severus for saving his life. "That man attempted to use the killing curse on me. If Severus hadn't reacted the way he did I would be dead. As we all know, there is no shield against that. I am also going to assume, given his clear lack of morals against killing, that he was the one that let the trolls into the school. The man was a clear and present danger to this school. I, personally, applaud Severus for doing what he had to do to protect others."

"As do I." Was repeated by all the other adults in the room besides Albus, Minerva, and Severus himself.

"Oh, and Minerva, Albus, Mr. Weasley and Ms. Granger will be serving detention until they go home for the summer. They have also lost 20 points each for being out of bounds, and out past curfew." Severus said.

"Now my dear boy, I'm sure it was just a slight misunderstanding. It was just a youthful mistake. You know how children can be. They just wanted to protect the…" Albus cut off when he saw Amelia snap to attention when he was about to say what he had been hiding in the school.

"No, Albus." Filius said. "They broke multiple rules last night. They risked their lives for nothing. They will be punished, or I will be filing a complaint with the board and requesting that they are suspended for a week at the beginning of next year. Every other student that we caught looking into that corridor lost points and served detention, they will not be getting away with it just because they actually made it inside. Also, they would have been serving detention anyway after Pomona caught them assaulting another student earlier today."

Minerva knew they were stuck. She and Albus had been particularly harsh with the students from the other houses they caught going near that room as they hadn't wanted any rumours to leak out about what it was. The school governors were already making things difficult. But she thought she might know a way to protect her students.

"They are in the hospital wing. They need time to recover. It isn't right to make them serve detention while injured."

"They will be fine by lunch." Paul said in a flat voice. He had seen far too much tonight to let those two get away unpunished. "Mr. Weasley is already healed, and Ms. Granger just needs to sleep of the effects of the potion, though, I don't think there is anything I can do for the colour."

"The colour will be gone by the time she gets on the train." Severus said with a small smile. He was glad Healer Forsythe was siding with them. Poppy always sided with Minerva or Albus.

"Surely you can get rid of it Severus?" Minerva said. She didn't want anyone to know what had happened, and Hermione's current look made a pretty bold statement.

"Nope." Severus said, popping the p. "There is no counter to that potion. She will have to let it wear off naturally. It will only take a few days, there is nothing to panic over."

"She's green and has 'Thief' written on her forehead. That is something to panic over." Minerva snapped back.

"No, it isn't. It isn't hurting her, it might actually teach her a lesson about following the rules." Leon said. He had no problem leaving the girl green. He had heard horror stories about what she was like in class and wasn't looking forward to teaching her next year.

Before they could argue anymore, Pomona arrived. Severus had sent for her when they arrived in the hospital wing.

"Severus, what has happened? Why did you summon me? Are you three ok?"

"Ah, Pomona my dear." Albus was confused, why summon the herbology teacher, there was nothing she could do. "I really don't think Severus was thinking clearly when he summoned you."

"Actually." Severus interrupted, he didn't want Albus to send her away. "Two little lions decided to go on an adventure into the forbidden corridor. They must have gotten caught by your devil's snare. One of them most likely cast a sun beam spell. The poor plant was burned rather badly. I know how delicate that plant is and thought you would need to tend to it right away if you wanted to save it. Plus the auror's are going to need to get passed it and I didn't want to put it in any more danger."

"A sun beam spell. What kind of fool uses a sun beam spell on a devil's snare. My poor plant. Albus, you told me that my plant would be safe. And Minerva, you can bet I will be having a discussion with you and your students once I have made sure my poor little plant is ok. And if that plant dies, so help me Merlin, you won't want to be around me."

Pomona rushed off after that. Other than Severus, all the others in the room were surprised. Pomona was usually one of the sweetest teachers, most didn't even know she knew how to get angry. But it was clear right now, she was furious.

Then, things got worse for the headmaster. Hagrid arrived after being summoned.

Hagrid, who was seen a lot like Pomona, kind and gentle with out a mean bone in his body, was even angrier than Pomona had been. Albus had apparently told him that the care of magical creatures class was hoping to study Fluffy.

When he found out that his poor puppy had been locked in one small room for the entire school year he was enraged. He couldn't believe that the man he had looked up to for so long had done something so cruel to his poor puppy, and lied to him by telling him that his puppy was enjoying playing with the students.

Hagrid, like Pomona, prioritized his pet first but promised that he and the headmaster would be having a nice long talk when he was sure his puppy was ok.

Hermione slowly blinked her eyes clear. She remembered being in the chamber with the flames. The headmaster had told her which potion to take. She was supposed to use that room to force Harry to go on, on his own, but Harry had been to cowardly to go with them. She remembered taking the potion, and then, everything went black.

Looking around, she saw that she was in the hospital wing and Ron was sitting up in the bed next to her stuffing his face. She slowly sat up. Looking down, she screeched.

Her arms were a disgusting green.

"Ah, Ms. Granger. It is good to see you awake." Healer Savoy, the female healer that had done her physical at the beginning of the year said.

"What happened?" Hermione asked.

Ron finally started to pay attention, though he never stopped eating. Madame Pomfrey had been the one to get him his food when he woke up about ten minutes ago.

"You decided to break the school rules and ended up drinking a potion that you didn't know." Healer Savoy said, her tone reproachful. "You should know by now Ms. Granger, never drink a potion that you don't recognize."

Healer Savoy did a health scan and nodded. "Good news is, you and Mr. Weasley are all healed and will be able to leave once you finish your lunch."

"But I'm green!" Hermione almost screamed.

"And there is nothing I can do about that. Like I said, never drink a potion you don't know." Healer Savoy said. "There is no counter to that particular potion, but don't worry, it will wear off by the time you are ready to get on the train and head home."

Hermione and Ron ate their lunch and talked quietly. Neither of them knew exactly what had happened with the stone.

Just as they finished their lunch Professor Sprout walked in. "Good good, I see you two are finished. You will be with me for the next few hours, until dinner."

"What do you mean Professor. We were just going to go back up to our dorms to relax. All our exams are finished so we have nothing else to do." Hermione said in a sweet voice.

"Oh no, Ms. Granger, you have plenty to do." Pomona wasn't a naturally strict person, but she wasn't about to let these two off easy, they had almost killed her poor devil's snare. "The two of you will be spending the rest of the week, until you get on the train to go home, in detention."

"But we didn't do anything wrong." Ron shouted.

"So you didn't sneak out after curfew? You didn't go into the forbidden corridor? Well that is interesting, because that is where you were both found." Pomona said.

"It wasn't our fault Professor. We were just trying to protect the philosophers stone." Hermione didn't think they should be punished for doing the right thing.

"Then you should have come to a teacher. You broke the rules, now you pay the price." Pomona smiled on the inside. Albus was still refusing to tell anyone what he had been hiding in the school, now she could tell Amelia.

"It was that snakes fault. Prince was trying to steal the stone to give to his master." Ron complained.

"Two points from Gryffindor Mr. Weasley, for disrespect of a teacher. Professor Prince was one of the teachers that found you and brought you here. If he hadn't who knows what might have happened." Pomona said. "Now, let's go. You have plenty of work to do."

"But we were just trying to help." Hermione whined.

"Well, now you will be helping me by fertilizing all the pots for next year, without magic." Pomona told them. Normally she did it, but her devil's snare was going to need a lot of attention this summer if she wanted it to survive so she didn't have the time.

"WHAT!" Ron was furious. "We shouldn't have to do that. Make the snakes do it. It's all their fault. The only reason Prince found us was because he is the thief."

"Two points from Gryffindor Mr. Weasley, for disrespect of a teacher. Professor Mitchell was the one that attempted to steal the stone, it was Professors Prince, Flitwick, and York, along with Healer Forsythe that saved it." Pomona was getting annoyed. "And, you have no one but your selves to blame for being in trouble. You two were the ones that felt rules didn't apply to you, now you are learning that they do. No Slytherins had anything to do with what you did. Now, that is enough. Move."

Hermione and Ron complained the entire way down to the greenhouses. They carried on complaining the entire time they were working. Things didn't get any better for them that week. They were given the worst and nastiest jobs by the teachers. Professor Prince had them pickling ingredients for next year, Professor York had them cleaning out the grindylow tanks, Professor Kettleburn had them cleaning out the paddocks, and Filch and the other caretakers had them scrubbing the bathrooms. And all of it had to be done without magic. They barely had a free moment the entire week. The only times they were able to relax was when Professor McGonagall or either of the Professors Tonks took their detentions.

Headmasters Office - June 22, 2002

Only two days after Albus and Minerva were confronted in the hospital wing, Albus was sitting alone in his office. Somehow Amelia had found out about the stone, and she was furious. Now, Albus was having to defend having something like that in the school. How had things gone so wrong? His pawns were supposed to have gotten the Potter brat down there, not gone themselves. He didn't doubt that the brat would have been able to handle it.

Just as he was turning the page in his paper, the entire school board came storming into his office.

"What can I do for you all this fine day? Lemon Drop?" Albus was confused. They had already had their meeting earlier in the month and weren't scheduled to meet again until September.

"We are here to give you this." Narcissa snarled as she put a piece of paper on the desk in front of the old goat. She was almost losing complete control of her pureblood mask she was so angry. This man had risked her precious boys life with what he had done this year. "It is to inform you that you and Minerva McGonagall are on official probation for the next two years. If anything, and I do mean anything, like this happens again you will find yourselves out of this school before you can say quidditch."

"I beg your pardon?" Albus picked up the paper and started to read it. It was indeed a letter of probation signed by the needed 3/4 of the governors.

James almost grinned. He had seen the lime green beetle sitting on top of Sophia Zabini's hat. This was too perfect. Albus had managed to use his people in the DMLE to keep what had happened quiet, and had forced his staff to be silent, but he wasn't going to be able to stop this.

"You risked the lives of every student and staff member in this school with what you did Albus." James said, his voice only showing some of the anger he felt, but he was so angry he was almost perfectly calm. "This is a school, not a bank vault. What made you think that it was ok to endanger the students of this school by bringing a valuable artifact here and hiding it?"

"It needed to be protected. Gringotts had already been broken into." Albus said, trying to placate the governors.

"And they captured the culprit, he is currently serving his sentence at the bank for attempted theft. They proved that whatever it was was safe there. Instead, you brought it here. As we have already discussed this year, you can't even keep reporters out of this school. And you thought this was safer than the bank that has never been successfully broken into. Are you daft. There are children here. Two of them were almost killed, because they thought it would be fun to see what you were hiding. There is no excuse for that." James told him.

"The children are fine. They were out of the hospital wing the next day. You're really over reacting." Albus knew this was bad, he just hadn't realized how bad. Severus and Frank must have told Sebastian and Alice.

"Overreacting, overreacting. You think we are over reacting. You brought a Cerberus and a troll into this school. It's no wonder those trolls were able to get in here on Samhain, you had to have completely dismantled that ward to bring that thing in here. How dare you say we are overreacting when you knowingly put our children in danger. And, we are not the only ones. You may have stopped the DMLE and the staff of this school making your errors public, but you forgot about the students. It would seem that the youngest Mr.Weasley and Ms. Granger have been very free with the story of their little adventure. Students have been sending letters home telling their parents all about what happened. We have gotten over 300 complaints in two days." Alice was so far beyond angry.

"Not to mention, you had a possessed teacher teaching here. I know for a fact that there are wards against possession in this school. Who knows what that man could have done if he hadn't been stopped. As it was three teachers were injured protecting the students because you couldn't be bothered." James said, his voice rising. Severus had told him that the old goat had actually tried to make him feel guilty over what he had had to do.

"Now my boy. I understand that your upset. It must be hard knowing that your husband killed a man, but…" Albus tried to continue on but Alice interrupted him.

"Don't you dare try and make this about what Severus had to do. Yes, Severus responded with lethal force. He responded with lethal force against a man that had previously allowed four trolls in to a school full of children and was in the process of using an Unforgivable Curse on one of his colleagues. If he hadn't done what he did, Filius Flitwick would be dead. Not to mention, if the man is willing to kill one person, what do you think is going to stop him from killing others. How many people would he have had to kill before you thought it would be ok to respond in kind? Would he have had to start killing the students?

Our laws state that a person may use lethal force in self-defence, and the defence of another. Severus, to me, is a hero, once again. How many times does Severus have to risk his life before you acknowledge everything that he has done? He worked for you as a spy during the last war, but you still treat him with distrust. Severus has always done the hard jobs because you seem to think you are above them, you do not get to judge him for it."

"It is very simple Albus." Helen Davis said, raising her hand to stop the others. "You endangered the staff and students of this school. As such, we will be monitoring the school much closer for the next two years until you can prove to us that this was a one time mistake. As Minerva was involved in your little plan, she will be sharing in your punishment. With that said, it is time for us to leave."

"And Albus." Francis Bole, father of a Slytherin 5th year, said. "I do so hope that you don't make up some ridiculous excuse to give those two Gryffindor students the points they lost back." Lucien had written his father telling him that the two Gryffindors had been heard saying that it would all be fine because the headmaster would make sure they won the house cup for Gryffindor by giving them extra points.

Everyone left after that.

Albus sat and seethed in his desk for half an hour, until Minerva arrived.

Minerva was sitting across from Albus, reading the probation order and getting angrier. They had done what needed to be done, what about that didn't those stupid people understand? Harry needed to be tested to ensure that he could kill Lord Voldemort when the time came.

They were both just sitting and silently seething when Molly came through the floo.

"I'm so sorry. I tried to stop them, but they just wouldn't listen to us. Elphius and Emmeline tried too, but we were out voted. Thankfully we were able to stop those from the dark that were trying to just have you both fired. Honestly, I don't even know why they are walking around free, they should all be in Azkaban. Everyone knows they were death eaters."

"Thank you for trying Molly." Albus said as he took the tea she handed him. "I should have expected it. There is no way Severus wouldn't have told Sebastian. And since Frank was there right after, he would have told Alice. Plus the students telling their parents. I hadn't expected so many people to go to the board."

"How is my poor Ronnie." Molly hated that her baby boy had gotten in trouble because of Severus. "He wrote to me and told me all the awful things they are forcing him to do. How dare they treat my poor baby like that. He and Hermione were just trying to help and their being treated worse than a dark wizard would be treated."

"We know Molly." Minerva sighed. She didn't have the patients to listen to Molly whine about her son. "We have tried to protect them as much as possible, but there is only so much we can do. The good news is that they will be going home the day after tomorrow.

Hogwarts Express - June 24, 2002

Hadrian was sitting between Fred and George on the train home. It had been a good year. He had been able to avoid the traitors for the most part. He now had a lot of friends in all different houses. He had even managed to rank second in the year.

His dad and papa had made Dumbledore look like a fool repeatedly, and now the man was on probation. It would help to ensure some basic protection for the students. Although, since the diary was now gone, and Sirius was free, the major events of the next two years wouldn't happen.

Hadrian shifted so that he was laying with his head on Fred's lap and George had his legs.

"Comfy on your twins couch Hadrian?" Neville asked.

"Yup." Hadrian popped the p as he snuggled in, grabbing Freds hand and bringing it up to his hair. The others all liked to tease him about it, but Hadrian liked it when Fred or George ran their fingers through his hair. Fred and George said he had gotten Nem's love of being petted.

Half way down the train, Ron and Hermione were once again locked in the compartment across the hall from the prefects. They had been searching for Hadrian again. They had wanted to arrange for him to come and visit them over the summer, but he had disappeared again.

Ron couldn't wait to tell his mum that Percy was being mean to him again. Last time, when his mum had sent him a howler at the beginning of the year Percy had used some kind of spell to make the letter revert back to a regular letter so he hadn't gotten to hear his mum yell at him.

Hermione was furious. Nothing was going right. She hadn't gotten the top spot, even though she knew she deserved it. She and Ron had been punished for doing the right thing. And Harry was avoiding them, and everyone knew it. This was not what she had planned.

Platforme 9 3/4

Ginny Weasley was as excited as a girl could be. She had made her mum get ready and leave over an hour before the train was set to arrive. There was no way she was missing her chance to see her fiancé. It was about time they were properly introduced.

She was dressed in her best dress and her hair was perfect. Harry needed to see her at her best.

When the train pulled in she took deep breaths and forced herself to stay calm. She couldn't let Harry think she was still a silly little girl.

Hadrian could see Sirius standing off to the side of the crowds. His papa had told him that they had decided that Sirius would pick him up at the train station, and they would portkey home. If the entire family came there was no way they would be able to avoid the crowds, or the press. But if just Sirius came, they could get in and out quickly.

He made sure to say goodbye to all of his friends. He said goodbye to most before he had even gotten on the train. Now, he said his goodbyes to those that sat with him, though it really wasn't necessary. Neville and Draco would be over that night. And Lee, the twins and Percy had been given an open invitation, so long as they didn't tell the floo address to anyone else. And the twins didn't tell their younger siblings, not that they had even considered it.

So, when the train pulled in to the station he was ready to go. He had shrunk his trunk before they left the school, so he just needed to walk directly to Siri. Saying one final goodbye, Hadrian walked with the rest of the students off the train. He never took his eyes off Siri. He walked directly to him, Siri took his hand and guided him to the apparition point, and they portkeyed out.

Ginny was ready to scream. She had gotten to see her fiancé but he hadn't seen her. He had walked off the train and then directly to another man. She and her mum had started to walk towards him as soon as they saw him, but he made it to the man first, and then they were gone. All the work to look perfect and get there early, and it was for nothing.

Now she had to wait while her stupid brothers took their time getting off the train.