Hogsmeade - October 14, 2006
Hadrian was walking with Fred and George towards the Shrieking Shack. He knew at this time of year most would avoid going away from town since it was too chilly. They just wanted to be alone together.
They had only been at school for six weeks, and they were all already ready to go home. Having to stay apart was less than pleasant. They had gotten so used to being able to just hold each other. But, as much as they hated not being able to be public with their relationship, they figured the twins not being in the school would be worse.
Because of the marriage contract Hadrian was able to go into the twins quarters, a fact that he took advantage of almost every day. Many days, while the twins were working on marking or something else for their apprenticeship, Hadrian would join them just to be around them, doing his homework while they worked. Just spending time together settled their bond.
"We are being followed." Fred whispered when he saw a flash of colour as they turned a corner.
"I know." Hadrian sighed. "It's Tonks. I thought I saw her in town. She must be here on Dumbledore's orders as my so called guard. You know what this means, don't you?"
George subtly glanced back and saw pink through the trees. "Yes. We're going to get called up to his office. He's going to want to try to break us up."
Fred held the other two up for a moment, bending down like he was tying his shoes. When he stood back up he left a little present for their spy. It was a trap capsule. When she walked past it it would trigger and cover her in stink sap that was mixed with a neon orange colouring potion. It would take a minimum of a week to get rid of the smell and colour.
Only a few moments after they went around the next bend they heard the pellet release and the scream as the woman was caught, followed by the pop of her apparition.
"Well that deals with her for the moment." Fred smirked before leaning down to give Hadrian a quick kiss.
Once at the shack they quickly hopped the fence and went inside. The place had been fixed up a bit over the years and now had some extremely comfortable furniture. Sirius liked to slip away and visit the place when Dumbledore was annoying him.
"I am not looking forward to going back." Hadrian was, as usual, snuggled between the two older men. "You know he's going to be impossible about this."
"We know." Fred grinned. "It might be fun to rub his crooked nose in the fact he will never be able to force you to get together with our dear sister."
Hadrian smirked at Fred before turning to George. "What do you think, George?"
"I think it could be worse." Seeing the look the two were giving him he continued. "It could have been Ginny who caught us. You know she would have a complete meltdown. Then, she would run to Molly and Dumbles. Just imagine a meeting with the three of them. I'm getting a headache just thinking about it."
Hadrian and Fred shivered in horror at the idea of the two females joining the meeting.
"I don't think Dumbles will tell them." Fred said thoughtfully.
"Why?" Hadrian had figured that would be the first move the man made. It would be another way he might try to force him together with the red headed harlot.
"You saw how Gin reacted last time." Fred hugged Hadrian closer just thinking about it. "She would be even worse if she knew we had a marriage contract. And molly would be just as bad, if not worse. You know she would start sending us howlers every day. And that would just make him look bad because everyone knows he is allied with her."
Hadrian had to agree with that. Molly and Ginny would be a complete nightmare if they knew. Deciding that was enough of thinking about those two traitors, Hadrian turned back to his boyfriends, or, he guessed the were is fiancé's now.
Headmaster's Office
Fred and George shared a commiserating look as they slowly made their way up to the headmasters office. They had known it was coming, but they had only been back in the school for less than 5 minutes when an elf arrived with the note.
Arriving at the bottom of the stairs they both let out a breath of relief seeing Hadrian coming their way, with Severus next to him. They had been worried that they were expected to be alone with the man, and they didn't trust him enough for that, or, at all.
"Worried it was just going to be the two of you and him?" Hadrian smiled at the looks on their faces.
"Yeah." "Kinda." They replied at the same time.
"Let's get this latest torture session over with. Shall we? Kinder Egg." Severus said, reluctantly stepping on the spiralling stairs.
"Come in, come in." Albus said in a grave voice when Severus knocked. "Please, take a seat. Lemon drop?"
Hadrian looked at the set up of the office as he ignored the sweet that he was offered. Two seats were off to the side, clearly for the twins, and another one was on the other side of the desk. It was clear Dumbles wanted to keep the three of them separated. It was also annoying that there wasn't a place for his papa to sit. Even though he knew the man preferred to rest against the wall, making sure no one could sneak up on him from the door, it still would have been polite to have enough chairs.
"What did you want Albus?" Severus already knew, his son had told him about Tonks on the way to the office, but he still wanted to make the old coot say it. "I feel I should also mention that Iona and Lucien should have also been invited to this meeting as it seems to involve their apprentice's."
"Yes yes, a slight oversight, I just didn't want to take them away from doing their jobs." Albus tried to smile, but he was just too angry. "I will speak to them after this."
"You still haven't told us what you wished to speak with us about." George said, never taking his eyes off the old man, not trusting him for a moment.
"Unfortunately I will have to ask the two of you to leave my school. Your apprenticeship contracts are going to be revoked." Albus gave the two a very disappointed look. "Mr. Potter, you will be serving detention with me every weekend for the rest of term."
"On what grounds?" The four others in the office all demanded at the same time.
"It is against the rules for a member of staff to be in a relationship with a student. You three really should have known better. "Albus looked over the top of his glasses at the three young men. "You will be off school grounds by the end of the day, I will also be speaking with the DMLE to ensure that you are kept away from my students.
Mr. Potter, you are getting detention for the rest of term because you knew what you were doing was wrong. Really my boy, you need to spend more time with your fellow students. There are plenty that would love to be in a relationship with you. Being in a relationship with an adult is wrong."
When the three went to start yelling at the old coot, they were stopped by Severus who spoke for them. "Relax you three, nothing is going to happen.
Albus, you really need to read the school charter. While yes, it is forbidden for a professor to have a relationship with a student, the same is not true for an apprentice. So long as the younger partner is over 16, which Hadrian is, and the apprentice(s) are no more than 5 years older, then they can be in a relationship. They have met the qualifications, so it is perfectly acceptable for them to be in a relationship.
Also, just to ensure there was no impropriety Iona and Lucien insisted there be a marriage contract in place to ensure it wasn't just a fling. The boys are no longer dating, they are now engaged."
Severus and the boys all smirked at the look of horror on the old mans face.
"Marriage contract?" Albus whispered.
"Yes. James and I signed off on it, and so did Remus and Sirius since they are also legally his parents. It has been in place for months." Severus actually smiled.
"But… But that can't be." Albus could practically see as his plans fell down around him once again.
"It is. The boys will be getting married when they get older, but that isn't relevant to what is happening today. Despite what you seem to think, you have no ability to cancel the twins apprenticeship. Since they haven't done anything wrong, they will not be going anywhere. If you have a problem with their behaviour, then you need to speak with their masters, not them.
And, Hadrian will not be serving any detentions with you. He also hasn't done anything wrong. It is perfectly acceptable for him to be in a romantic relationship with his fiancee's."
Albus tried to think of a new approach to this. "They will still have to be punished for their attack on Nymphadora. Attacking an auror is highly illegal."
"Did you three attack Nymphadora?" Severus turned to the three in surprise.
"Maybe.", "It's possible." The twins responded at the same time.
Severus looked to his son.
"In a way." Hadrian smiled at his father's bland look. "We were walking around and noticed someone was following us. We weren't exactly sure who it was, and since everyone is always saying I'm in danger, I had the twins deal with the threat. If she's the one who was stalking us, then yes. But it wasn't an attack, it was merely self protection.
I didn't know that the aurors had someone tailing me. I would have thought Madame Bones would have informed you."
Severus saw the innocent look on his son's face. "As far as I know, there has been no order for any auror to follow you, but you can bet I will be looking into it. And, I completely agree with what the three of you did. If you have someone stalking you, especially given what's going on right now, give them all you've got.
Now, the three of you should head back to your quarters. Clearly, this meeting was just a waste of time. I will let you know if there is anything worth knowing."
Hadrian hugged his father before leaving the office, closely followed by the twins. Once they were gone, Severus turned on Albus.
"Would you care to explain to me just what that was all about?"
"Severus, surely you must see how inappropriate it is to allow your son to be involved with those two?"
"I see no such thing. I see my son happy and well protected by people that love him for him, and not his name, his titles, or his vault size. Fred and George are intelligent, kind, and extremely loving.
As I know I have stated before, you need to read the rules of this school, then you might want to go over the apprenticeship contracts the twins are under. Then you might understand they have done nothing wrong.
As for this so called attack on Nymphadora, have you lost your mind. You're the one always going on about how much danger Hadrian is in, going so far as to try and bar him from Hogsmeade weekends, and when something does happen, and the twins protect him, you want them charged. I know James and I already warned you about having members of the Order following our son. They were well within their rights to attack, they could have done a lot worse and I would see no problem with it.
You will not be going to the DMLE about anything in this situation. You do understand this could get Nymphadora fired. If she was doing this on duty then it can be seen as corruption or dereliction of duty since I have no doubt that stalking my son was not her orders. If she was off duty, then it was still stalking and she can be charged for it. We went over this during the summer when you had people following Hadrian to work everyday.
Just leave my son alone."
"Severus." Albus said in a placating voice. "Nymphadora was just trying to ensure H… Hadrian stayed safe while he was walking around undefended.
But I really must question this relationship you seem so accepting of. You must see that it isn't healthy for him. He can do so much better. He has the potential for a great future, and I don't feel that is possible if he is involved with those two. They just don't have what it takes to go far. I know that was always Molly's complaint about them, their lack of work ethic."
"Albus, I don't know how many times I have to say it until you finally understand, you have no say in my sons life. As for the twins, are you kidding. Those two are wonderful for Hadrian. They make him happy, and that is all that matters to us.
And Molly's opinion of the twins means less than nothing. I have seen what she considers perfect children in the form of her two youngest. I would hate for the twins to sink so low. They are both also extremely well accomplished. They are highly intelligent, were accepted for apprenticeships right out of school based on merit rather than anything else, and, they already have their own business, which is very successful."
"Own business?" Albus was startled by that.
"Yes. They opened their own shop while they were still attending school here. So, I really don't know how you can say they lack work ethic given everything they have already done. But, as I said, the most important thing for me, is that they make my son happy.
There is a marriage contract in place, so that is that. They will be marrying after Hadrian finishes school. So that is all that matters. Stay out of my sons love life.
Is there anything else you wish to discuss with me?"
Albus just stared at the man for a moment. How had he missed so much? The twins had a business, when had that happened? He also really needed to read the charter, and now those stupid apprenticeship contracts. They also had a marriage contract and he couldn't get them out of his school.
He actually winced as he thought about the reaction Molly and Ginny were going to have. No, he couldn't tell them, ever. He needed to think of a way around this, but how? He needed a copy of the marriage contract so he could figure out how to break it.
"Albus?"
Albus looked up when he heard his name called, seeing that Severus was still there, watching him. "Sorry my boy, got lost in thought for a moment. That is all, I will look into what you have mentioned, see you at dinner tonight."
Severus knew he was dismissed and left the office. The old fool really was losing it. He had been so focused on trying to rebuild his plans that Severus had been able to read everything he was thinking. He was going to discuss it with James and the others. Dumbledore was really going to regret trying to mess with their family again.
Hogwarts - November 4, 2006
On the first Saturday in November Hadrian could be found, once again, hiding in the ROR with Fred and George. Ever since Dumbledore had learned that they were still seeing each other he had been doing everything he could to try and separate them. They had even found wards around the twins rooms that would alert the old meddler if Hadrian entered the room.
Which was why they were back to using the ROR.
All three of them were frustrated with what was happening and once again wishing that they could just be done with the school. Thankfully for the twins their masters had absolutely no problem standing up to Dumbledore.
Iona Fabbri was from Italy, and therefor had no connection with Dumbledore. She was 68 years old, and had a very abrupt demeanour. She was a strong woman that wasn't about to let herself get pushed around by anyone. Lucien Zarno, although younger by about 30 years, was much the same. But he was even less likely to side with Dumbledore about anything. The reason for that was a very little known fact, Lucien was the great-great-great-great-grandson of Nicolas and Perenelle Flamel. The two had told him about what had happened with the fake stone they had given the man, and Lucien, like every other member of their family, took it personally.
Then there was how Hermione, Ron, and Ginny were back to following him around, but at least they were finally calling him by his name. Hadrian just did what he could to avoid them. Ginny was really just her usual self, trying her best to flirt before going and snogging some other boy to deal with the rejection.
Lately, Dumbles was going out of his way to separate the three whenever he saw them together. The three of them were more than a little confused by that, since it wouldn't stop their relationship. He knew they had a contract, they didn't really understand what they thought he could do to counter it.
They knew that he was hoping that he would be able to break their contract, and then making a new one with Ginny, but it wasn't going to happen. They had made sure their contract was near impossible to break. The only real way to break the contract was for them to say they wanted to break it.
One thing they were grateful for was that he had, so far, not let Ginny or Molly know about the engagement and contract. But, they also knew it was only a matter of time before the two learned the truth somehow. With how Ginny was following Hadrian she would see something eventually.
Hermione, Ron, and Ginny were also going out of their way to be annoying. They had even tried to get Fred and George in trouble for doing their jobs. The three of them wanted Fred and George to be out of the school since they thought once they were gone Ginny would stand a chance at being in a relationship with Hadrian.
Choosing to ignore all the annoyances in their life, the three just held on to each other tighter.
Undisclosed Location - November 15, 2006
Augustus Rookwood knelt in front of the creature that called himself his lord as he worked on the band around its wrist. He had known, based on the calculations he had worked up, that the band was set to release within the next few days. He had gotten permission from all those involved too finally 'find the release' before it did it on its own. It would help him to secure his place.
With a few final adjustments, he released the band and removed it. "You are free my Lord."
Voldemort was ready to cackle as he picked up his wand and cast a brief crucio on his follower for how long it took. Although he kept it on for only a second before he released it since the minion had done his job.
"Give me your arm." Once the minion did as instructed Voldemort pressed his wand to his mark and called his followers. "It is time we plan our next move. You will find me an appropriate target. And then, we shall all have some fun."
Voldemort sneered as his followers bowed to him as they were pleased. Many started offering different ideas.
Tower of London - November 17, 2006
A few days after Voldemort was released from his binding he and the Death Eaters attacked the Tower of London. They had waited until a Friday evening since many people would be out.
Unfortunately it didn't really work out the way they had planned. Since it was November there were far fewer tourists in the area. Also, there weren't many people that randomly hung around the Tower during the evenings. If they had attacked at the hight of tourist season, there would have been hundreds of people around, but as it was, there were only a couple dozen or so people walking past.
But they went ahead with the attack, focusing more on doing damage to the infrastructure since there was a lack of people.
What made it worse for them was that Augustus had tipped off his contacts and there were over 50 soldiers inside the tower just waiting. As soon as the attack started they moved out from behind the battlements and returned fire.
The attack was over in less than 20 minutes when Voldemort called the retreat.
Undisclosed Location
Voldemort was furious when they arrived back at his lair. Somehow they had known.
Oh, he remembered how the military operated during the last war, and he was not looking forward to having to deal with them while his forces were still so small. He needed to gain more followers, but he wasn't sure where to look. All the changes the ministry had been making since his downfall had created far fewer disenfranchised citizens that he could recruit. He was just going to have to look harder, there were always people that were angry about something, it was just about tapping into that anger.
His small amount of followers was the only thing that stopped him from killing those who had planned this attack. Although he did torture them severely.
Augustus watched from the back and watched everyone around him. He was pleased that the attack had failed, and, although a few had been injured, no one had died.
In truth, he was surprised just how easy things were going this time. He figured it had something to do with the horcruxes. A horcrux didn't just divide the soul, it divided the mind. With so many having been destroyed, the thing wasn't even really human anymore. His mind was no longer tethered to reality.
Although he had always been a brilliant tactician, his lack of sanity made him do stupid things. It was actually very useful since he couldn't focus on things for too long. It had allowed Augustus to get away with a great deal, including walking into places he really had no reason for being. He would just do something to distract the man, and he could pretty much do as he pleased.
Augustus had also gotten reports that when he had been possessing a member of Hogwarts staff he had drank the blood of a unicorn. While it hadn't been his body, it had still been his soul and magic that had fed from the life force of a pure creature and, as such, his very soul and magic carried the curse even if his body didn't.
The combination of the curse and the destroyed horcruxes might just help to make this a very short war.
6th Year NEWT Potions Class - November 21, 2006
Severus was making his way around his class, checking on the potions the students had been making in their practical lesson. There had been about 20 students that had managed to get a high enough grade to continue in his class, however only 14 wanted to carry on.
As Severus had tried to explain to Dumbledore, the NEWT classes were for those that wanted to become potions masters or those who wanted to work in jobs that required the brewing of higher level potions, like healing. That meant that only the students that were planning to follow those career paths needed a potions NEWT.
Just by talking to those in his class he knew that of the 14 there, 9 wanted to go into some form of healing or were just studying healing, like Hadrian and Neville, 2, including Draco, wanted to become potions masters, a set of twins from Hufflepuff and Slytherin came from a family that owned apothecaries, and then there was Granger. He really didn't understand why the girl wanted to be in his class, he actually just thought it was because she was obstinate.
As he checked the potions he found that many were close, with only Hadrian, Draco, and one of the Ravenclaws being perfect. Grangers was another story.
Todays task had been to make a lung clearing potion, but tailoring it for someone of a certain age and weight. The recipe in the book they were using was intended for someone that was 25 and 11 stone. They would need to adjust it to account for the different measurement they were given. If done correctly, the potion would come out a light blue with vanes of green swirling through it.
Grangers potion was a split pea green and was as thick as tar. He knew that meant that, while she managed to adjust the different amount of each ingredient mostly correctly, she hadn't adjusted the temperature or stir time to account for the different potion volume.
"If you have completed your potion pleas place it in a vial, attach the age and size card you were given, and place it on my desk." Severus said as he walked to the front of the class. "Once that is done, you are free to go."
Severus wanted to sigh as he saw the others hand in their work and leave. Once everyone else was gone, including his two lab assistants, Granger stomped up to his desk.
"You made me fail." The girl glared.
"And just how did I do that Ms. Granger?" Severus raised his eyebrow at the girl.
"I know you did. You set me up to fail because you don't want me in your class." Hermione just couldn't accept that she couldn't do something. "I adjusted for the size difference right, I know I did."
The girl shoved multiple sheets of calculations at him. "Yes, you did. But, as I reminded everyone at the beginning of the lessons when you all started to work on your calculations, you also need to calculate the different stirring methods as well as the temperature of the fire."
"It's the same potion, we already know the temperature and stirring from the recipe." Hermione took back her calculations, not wanting to leave any of her work.
"One of the key steps is that the potion needs to be brought to a boil slowly but consistently. If you had less potion you would need to lower the heat from the recipe, and if you were making a larger potion you would need to raise the heat.
We covered that very topic during the lecture yesterday, were you not paying attention?" Severus knew if he snapped at the girl she would go crying to Dumbledore and Minerva.
"You did it." Hermione had tears forming in her eyes. "You made me fail because you hate me because I'm a muggleborn you are nothing but a disgusting Death Eater!"
Severus stood up when the girl screeched at him. "5 points from Gryffindor for disrespect of a professor, another 5 points for screaming at a professor, and a week of detention with Filch for accusing me of being a Death Eater. Now, leave my classroom before you get your self in even more trouble."
The girl turned and stormed out, Severus knew she was going to go running to Minerva. He knew that meant he was going to end up having a meeting with her and the Headmaster this evening, but he wasn't about to let the girl get away with what she had done.
Headmaster's Office
As Severus had expected, he was called up to a meeting with Albus and Minerva just after his last class of the day.
"You wished to see me?" Severus drawled as he leaned against the wall once he was in the office.
"Yes my boy." Albus was less than pleased. He had been dealing with Minerva and Hermione's whining for months now.
"You need to stop failing Hermione." Minerva turned from her seat in front of the desk to glare at him. "Just because you didn't want her in your class doesn't mean you can just fail her."
Severus knew why they were doing this here. "I have been giving her the grades she has earned. And, since we are doing this here and not in front of the school board you also know that.
Every single grade she has gotten in my class was exactly what she earned. As I said before all this began, Ms. Granger does not have the aptitude for potions that is required to do well in my class."
"And your taking points and giving her detention for no reason?" Albus asked. He had heard the long winded explanation of why she didn't deserve the punishment from Hermione right after the class.
"She lost points for claiming that I made her fail when she was unsuccessful in making her potion and then yelling at me. Her detention was because, and I quote here, I failed her because I hate muggle-borns and am 'nothing but a disgusting Death Eater'. She should be grateful I only gave her a week of detention." Severus's lip curled in anger.
Albus sighed, he should have known the girl had lost her temper. He really didn't understand where he had gone so wrong with her. He had had such high hopes for the girl. She was intelligent, strong willed enough to keep control of Ron and Ginny, and had a complete faith in authority. He had thought she would be the perfect muggle-born friend for Ha… Hadrian. But it just wasn't working out.
Hadrian wanted nothing to do with his pawns. The girl was proving to be too stubborn for even him to control, and her grades were nowhere near where he wanted them to be because she couldn't accept someone knew more than her, even when it was her teachers.
"Thank you Severus, that is all." Albus dismissed the less than pleased potions master.
"I am getting sick of these little meetings every time one of your pet's doesn't get there way. I do so hope I am not going to be called up here again when Ms. Weasley comes whining to you about the fact that she failed the quiz her class had today. If this keeps happening I will take it to the board." Severus turned with a flourish and marched out of the office with his back straight and his robes billowing.
"I thought you had arranged for the girl to get tutored?" Albus looked at Minerva.
"I did, but the two just didn't get along." Minerva wasn't going to mention that Hermione had shoved the girl she had selected out of her chair when she tried to show her what she was doing wrong. The girl was now refusing to tutor Hermione. "I have been trying to do it myself, but between my own classes and having had to spend the last month getting the quidditch team ready, I just haven't had the time."
Minerva had finally managed to get Ronald to understand that, as quidditch captain, he needed to be the one to set the schedule and book the pitch. She had done everything she could to get her team time to practice, once they had managed to get a team, but since Ron hadn't booked any time the only time they could get was early morning, and both Ron and Ginny, who were on the team, hated mornings.
The first match between Gryffindor and Slytherin had been played the week before and had been a complete blowout. Gryffindor had lost by over 300 points.
"I was thinking I might speak with Molly. She has always been good at potions and she's as stubborn as Hermione." Minerva told him.
"That might work." Albus thought it might be a good idea, Molly just might be able to handle the girl. "I will speak with her, but we will need to set up a time for them to meet here rather than just when the students are in Hogsmeade."
"We might want to get Ginny into those lessons with her too." Minerva sighed.
"And Ronald, how has he been doing?"
"Struggling." Minerva rubbed her eyes. "It takes a lot of work to be quidditch captain, and his grades are suffering because of it. So far he's still passing, but he's going to need to work harder if we want him to pass his NEWTs."
"I will see what I can do." Albus was less than pleased that his children were so stupid. "I thought he was doing well a few years ago, what happened?"
"Molly took custody." Minerva didn't want to insult Molly, but she knew the woman was doing the children no favours with how she treated them. "Arthur used to make them study Percy's old notes for an hour everyday during the summer, but when Molly got custody she stopped making them spend any time at all studying."
"I will speak with Molly." Albus was not looking forward to that. "She has asked to speak with me on Friday anyway, so I will just bring it up with her then."
Molly's Flat - November 24, 2006
Albus stepped out of the floo Friday evening. He had made sure to wait until after dinner before going over as he didn't want Molly to try and feed him. While Molly was actually a really good cook, he also knew she had a habit of adding potions to peoples food. He knew she had done so to a few of the patrons of her restaurant to get them to do whatever it was she wanted them to do.
"Thank you for coming Albus." Molly smiled happily as she directed him to the table and served tea and biscuits.
"Happy to be here Molly." Albus shot a quick detection spell at the food and drink just to be safe. "There was actually something I wished to discuss with you."
Molly was a little startled by that. "What is it?"
"The first thing I needed to speak with you about was Hermione. Severus is being extremely tough on her in his potions class and I was hoping that you might be willing to come to the school a few evenings a week to help tutor her." Albus said as he dipped his biscuit in his tea.
"Of course." Molly grinned. "I'd love to help her. I really don't know why you still allow Severus to be so mean to the students."
"I understand, but he has a contract, and nothing he has done violates it." Albus wished more people still distrusted Severus like Molly did. "Now, to the next thing I needed to speak to you about, Ron and Ginny's grades."
"What about their grades." Molly was instantly defensive.
"They are both not preforming to their full potential. As it is, some of the professors have expressed concerns to me that Ronald may not be able to pass his NEWTs. Ginevra is also falling behind in her classes. Neither of them consistently hand in their homework.
I was hoping that you might use the time you are working with Hermione to ensure that they do their work. I also think it might be prudent for them to return to the habit of studying during the summer, they aren't little anymore and need to do well in their last few years of school."
"But they're still so young." Molly didn't want to deny her babies their fun.
"No, they'er not." Albus really didn't understand this woman. "Ronald has less than 2 years before he is supposed to graduate. And Ginny only has a year more than him. They aren't babies anymore, and haven't been for a long time.
If they do not do well then they may fail, and we can't allow that. Arthur would use that as an excuse to regain custody."
Albus knew using Arthur like that would force Molly to act. She wouldn't want Arthur having custody.
"He wouldn't dare." Molly growled.
"He could, and he more than likely would and you know it." Albus challenged.
"Fine." Molly pouted like a petulant child.
"So what is it you wished to discuss with me? Did you overhear somebody saying something in the restaurant?" Albus really wanted information. That was one thing he missed about his brothers pub, other than the library, Aberforth always used to have access to the best information through his clientele.
"No, that isn't what I wanted to talk to you about." Molly shifted out of her pout and got ready to argue for her babies to get more money. "I think it is time Ronnie and Ginny got a raise. As you just said, they aren't little babies anymore. They need more money to make sure they can get what they need."
"Why would they need more money, there should be plenty in their accounts?" Albus questioned suspiciously. He had no intention of wasting anymore than he had to on those two until they started to prove they deserved it. Especially since he was having to pay with his own money.
"They have plenty of needs." Molly brushed the question away, she was not going to admit that they had spent it all already. "They have worked hard, and they deserve a raise."
Albus knew it was a trap. If he said they hadn't worked hard, then Molly would throw a complete fit, that he really didn't want to have to pretend to care about. The only other option was to agree, and he wasn't willing to do that either.
"We will allow their grades to determine if they get a raise or not." Albus smiled happily. "If they can get straight EEs then they will receive a raise, if they don't, then they will continue to get what they are getting now. But, if they fail anymore classes they will get less.
I was less than pleased to see that Ronald failed 3 OWLs. There is no excuse for that. And I will not accept it from Ginny. She is more than smart enough to pass everything, but she will need to actually do the work."
"Fine." Molly readily agreed. She was sure she could get her babies grades up.
Albus quickly left, leaving behind a full cup of tea and multiple soggy biscuits.
Hogwarts, ROR - December 6, 2006
Hadrian was sitting with Neville in the ROR as they both tried to get rid of the headaches that they had gotten in transfiguration. After they finished their OWLs, their class size had decreased by a fair amount as not everyone wanted, or was able, to keep going. That meant that all four houses would normally be represented in the class, but that was not the case with them.
There was about 30 students all carrying on in transfiguration, so the class had been divided into two. It was pretty obvious what McGonagall had done. All the Slytherins, the children from Knockturn Alley, and anyone from a dark family was in one class. All the students from light families were in the other.
Both Hadrian and Neville had been less then pleased to find they had been placed in the light oriented class. It got even worse when McGonagall assigned the seating. Hadrian was between Granger and Weasley during the lecture classes, Neville was on Granger's other side. And, during the practical lessons the two boys were always assigned to work with the two of them.
Today had been one of their practical lessons. Hadrian had been forced to work with Granger and Neville was with Weasley. Unfortunately today was one of the days they were working on human transfiguration.
Granger had spent most of the class lecturing the three boys on everything they were doing wrong, even when the spell was cast correctly. She had even tried to lecture Hadrian on pronunciation of the spells even though they were working on silent casting.
By the end of class they had both had major headaches and Neville had had to make a quick stop at the hospital wing since Weasley had somehow managed to split his eyebrow rather than change its shape. They had both picked up some headache potions, and were now just waiting for them to kick in.
Neither really understood what Weasley and Granger were trying to do. They seemed to be trying to be friends with them, but clearly had no idea how to be friends. Weasley seemed to think being a friend was just to agree with them about what they were saying before completely ignoring them and carrying on doing whatever he wanted. While Hermione's version of being friends was to ask what they were thinking about or what they thought just to start debating about why they shouldn't think that and why her thoughts were somehow better.
What made everything worse was that both Weasley and Granger were now always bringing Up Voldemort and the Death Eaters, although they still called him You-Know-Who or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. It was mainly the typical all Slytherins were evil incarnate rant. They especially went after Draco.
Hadrian and Nevill had discussed it and both agreed that it was a less than subtle attempt to separate Hadrian from Draco. They figured Ron wanted to take his place in their group of friends just based on how he was practically frothing at the mouth every time he even said the other boys name.
The more the two tried to be their friends, the more they pushed them away. Hadrian just wished Yule would come so he could get a break from them. Ginny was back to her stalker mode, and had a tendency to pop up and try and sit next to him every chance she got. Even going so far as to try and hold his hand. He had also recently heard a rumour that she was telling people they were secretly dating, something he had made sure everyone knew was false as soon as he had heard it.
Fred had just finished up his last class of the day and was packing up his things so he could head up to the ROR when Albus Dumbledore walked into the classroom and closed the door. Fred couldn't help but let out a sigh, he was just pleased that Iona was just in the closet putting up a few of the diagrams she had been showing the students.
"Can I help you headmaster?" Fred questioned, loudly enough to be sure that Iona heard.
"Yes my dear boy. I was just checking to make sure everything is going well." Albus smiled, full grandfather act in effect.
"Yes, everything has been fine." Fred knew he wanted something.
"Wonderful, wonderful." Albus quickly glanced around to make sure they were alone, not seeing anyone he dropped his wand from his sleeve as he clasped his hands behind him. "Now, I was hoping you could do something. You see, your younger brother was very sad that he just missed out on being able to take this class and was hoping you would be willing to help him.
It wouldn't take much work on your part. Just keep him up to date on what you are covering in your classes so he can take the end of year test to prove that he can handle the material. It shouldn't take more than a few hours a week. I'm sure your sister would also love to take those lessons with you, it would help her to revise for her OWLs and be ready for next year and you would be able to spend some time with them."
"I can't do that headmaster." Fred denied, seeing as Iona stepped out from the closet just behind Dumbledore.
"And why is that my boy?" Albus twitched slightly at being denied.
"Well… First, Ron didn't qualify for the class, there is nothing I can do about that. Just giving him the material wouldn't be enough to get him into the class. He can self study if he chooses, but any testing for him to get into the class would be required to be administered by someone with their mastery, which is not me.
I am not licensed to teach anyone anything on my own, and what you are asking me to do is to teach a student the class work. You can call it tutoring all you want, but it is teaching. I am also not allowed to combine my apprenticeship with my family. I am barred from using my apprenticeship to benefit my family in any way. That includes holding private tutoring sessions for my younger siblings.
But, most of all, my contract won't let me. The apprenticeship contract states that I will be required to do a certain amount of work that is assigned by my master, and I can not take any outside work without the permission of my master. That includes other jobs, including tutoring.
Everything is up to Madame Fabbri, not me. If you want me to do something, then you would have to address her."
"There is no need for her to know, it would be our little secret." Albus smiled, knowing just what the young man in front of him thought about rules. He was ready to cast a quick compulsion to get his way. The benefit was, that if the boy was caught breaking the terms of his contract it would break the apprenticeship contract and give him a way to force at least one of them out of the school. He was going to be going to the alchemy class to do the same thing next.
"Oh, I feel I must contradict you on that Albus." Iona Fabbri said from behind the man. "As my apprentice just said, it is up to me if he can tutor anyone, and I am not giving him permission.
I especially am not giving him permission to basically teach the entire course to his younger brother. Especially since I know that the boy didn't 'just miss out' on being able to take my class. He failed his OWL, as you well know. If the boy wishes to rewrite the test he can, but only if he attends a course instructed by a master of the field. And, it can't be me since I already have a full time job.
As for the Weasley girl, if she would just get her head out of the clouds and paid attention in my class she wouldn't need tutoring. If she does, then she can attend the regular tutoring sessions I hold every Saturday evening, like many other students in the class do when they are struggling with something."
"Of course." Albus forced a fake smile on his face and nodded his goodby before leaving the room. He couldn't do anything now and he knew it. The woman might not look that tough, she was a small dumpy sort of woman that reminded him of Pomona, but he knew she was incredibly dangerous with the spells she had created.
"That man needs to learn when his big nose is needed." Iona muttered.
Fred laughed and went back to packing up. Truer words were never spoken.
Hogwarts, Potion Lab - December 12, 2006
Molly was sitting in one of the older, unused, potions labs with her children and Hermione. She had been coming to the school twice a week to help get the three children ready for their midterm exams.
Her main priority had first been Hermione's potions skill. The young girl could do the basics, but was too stiff for Molly's taste. Molly had learned most of her potions skills from her mums great-aunt.
The woman had taught Molly how to tell when a potion needed a little something extra. Madeline Wilson had been the woman Molly had based her life plan on. The woman had been married four times, all to extremely wealthy men. Her parents had always tried to keep her away from the woman, but Molly had idolized her. Molly just wished that she had been better at saving money since she had left everything to Molly, but it had only ended up being a few hundred galleons since Madeline had lived such an extravagant lifestyle.
It was a skill that she had tried to pass on to her daughter, but Ginny just hadn't wanted to learn. Now she was getting the chance to teach the girl she knew was going to be her future daughter-in-law. A little dangerous, but she trusted Hermione.
She really didn't understand what Severus was teaching the students. He clearly wasn't a good teacher. So she had set to work to fix his error. It was just difficult to get the girl to take her nose out of the book and brew a potion. Hermione wanted to follow what was in the book, but that wasn't how Molly worked. She had decades of brewing all manner of potions that she had needed, so she was fine without a recipe.
It had only been two weeks, but Molly was sure she was going to start seeing an improvement soon. She just needed to rebuild the confidence she was sure Severus had destroyed.
While that had been her priority when she had started, it changed the week before. She had decided to start checking her babies work like Albus had said, and she had been horrified.
None of the assignments were complete, they didn't follow guidelines, their sentence structure and spelling were barely passible and that was all before you got to the handwriting. She knew she had taught all the children how to do that, sure, Ron and Ginny had only done the work in the afternoon when they got up, but she was sure it had been enough. Her babies weren't stupid like Arthurs were.
Now she made them check every assignment with her. She knew it was upsetting them, but they needed better grades. It was the only way they were going to get any extra money, and she had made sure to privately ensure they knew it.
Headmaster's Office - December 16, 2006
The evening before the train was set to leave to take the students home for the holidays Hadrian found himself once again on his way up to the headmasters office. The midterm exams had finished a few hours before and Hadrian had been in the process of packing when an elf had arrived to give him the note.
He had, like usual, gone and gotten his papa. Severus had been less than pleased since he hadn't received his own note. He was going to have to remind the man to stay away from his son again.
Over the year they had had a few of these meetings. Most had been extremely short as they had been about Dumbledore attempting to stop Hadrian from attending the Wizengamot. But, since it was illegal to stop a Lord or Lady from attending a session he was limited as to what he could do. Really, all he did was try to get Hadrian to assign him as his proxy, something that was never going to happen.
Once they were in the office, they sat silently and waited for Dumbledore to get to the point.
"Thank you for coming." Albus had been annoyed to once again see Severus hovering behind the boy.
"What is it that you would like to speak about this time, Headmaster?" Hadrian said, annoyance clear in his voice.
"I was just hoping to speak to you about Christmas break. I really think it is for the best if you stay here for the holidays. It is just too dangerous for you to leave school grounds."
Hadrian didn't say a word, choosing to let his papa deal with the man.
"Albus." Severus growled. "You need to stop doing this. Hadrian is not yours to control. And, as we have covered, multiple times, Hadrian is perfectly safe at home.
No one knows where it even is. The manor has ancient family wards, as I have already told you. You will not be keeping my son."
"Severus, I am just trying to keep him safe." Albus tried again.
"No, you are trying to control him." Severus snapped, he had reached his limit with the man. "I am done with this. If you attempt to try and force my son to stay, or go, somewhere he doesn't want again I will be speaking with the DMLE about filing charges.
We have put up with your attempts to control Hadrian for years, and I am done. Hadrian will be coming home to spend the holidays with his family, and that is final.
You will stop calling my son up here for these nonsense reasons. You have tried every single month to deny him the right to leave the school, even going so far as to attempt to revoke his Hogsmeade privileges. We will not be putting up with it any more."
"I have just been trying to protect him." Albus gave him a sad dejected look. "We have had intel that there will be an attack on the train. I just don't want him in danger."
"If you believe there will be an attack on the train, then you should be worried about all students, not just my son." Severus knew the man was lying, it was just a story that had been made up by the man and Minerva and he knew it since they had been talking about it in the staff room of all places. "If you are that worried then I will just have Hadrian floo home."
"There is no need for that." Albus didn't want the boy to leave like that. If he had to leave it would be on the train, where his pawns could reach him. "He may take the train, if you insist on taking such a risk with his life."
"Is that all, Headmaster?" Severus asked, not really wanting to, but knowing he had to.
"Hadrian, you haven't stated your opinion on the danger?" Albus turned to the boy, hoping he wouldn't want to take the risk.
"Mostly, I'm just thinking that if you feel it is so dangerous for me to do anything while here at school maybe I should look into home schooling." Hadrian kept his face blank, but inside he was grinning as he saw horror flash across the old mans face.
"No, no. There really is no need for that. It really is for the greater good for you to continue to attend Hogwarts. It would send the wrong message if you were to leave. Many students might follow your example and that really wouldn't be good since their homes won't have the same protections yours does. Not to mention it would make Voldemort more confident."
"Then I guess we are done here. If the school and the train is safe enough, we won't have a problem." Hadrian smiled.
"I must agree." Severus was proud of his son.
Hadrian was just starting to get up when Dumbledore spoke again.
"There is something else I wished to discuss with you, Hadrian."
"And what is that?" Hadrian let out a heavy sigh.
"I feel it is time that you were given a clearer picture on what is truly happening. I have gotten hold of some memories that I feel you would benefit from seeing. It will help you to understand the history of this conflict and Voldemort's origin." Albus thought these lessons might be his way in. The boy seemed to love to learn, so offering him knowledge might work.
Hadrian already knew everything he needed to know, but he also saw an opportunity. Holding his hand up to stop his papa from snapping at the man, Hadrian spoke.
"I will make you a deal. I will attend these lessons of yours on two conditions. First, my papa or Uncle Sirius will be present as well. After everything that has happened I have no intention of being alone with you for any extended period of time.
And second, you will make Professor McGonagall stop forcing Neville and I to spend time with Weasley and Granger. She forces us to partner with them every week and we are both sick of it. If I am to do this, then Neville and I will be free to partner with each other in her class and our seats in the lecture periods will be moved to the other side of the room."
"Now my boy." Albus gave him a disappointed look.
"No." Hadrian said before he could get any further. "Those are my terms. I know you want me to be friends with those two for some reason, but it isn't going to happen. Forcing me to spend time with them just makes me dislike them more. I am tired of Weasley's less than subtle hints that he thinks my friend Draco is a Death Eater and just trying to get close to me so he can hand me over to Voldy. And I don't need Granger lecturing me on how I'm doing a spell wrong even when I am successful.
I am not going to allow my grades to suffer because both Professor McGonagall, and you, feel you have the right to determine who I have as friends. Draco, Neville, and I have been best friends since we were children, and that isn't going to change any time soon."
Albus tried to stare the boy down, but the boy never flinched. "Fine." He growled out. "I will agree to your terms my boy, even if I do not agree. Ronald and Hermione could be great friends, if you would just give them a chance."
Hadrian chose to ignore the second part of what the man said since he knew the man's opinion would never change on the subject. "Then we are done here. I will expect for you to speak with Professor McGonagall before I return from Yule. If the seating arrangement hasn't changed then I will take that as you deciding that I don't need these so called lessons."
Hadrian was up and out of the room before Albus could say anything.
"Severus, you might need to have a conversation with your son about manners." Albus said, anger clear in his voice as he knew he had lost to a 16 year old kid.
"When I have a problem with his manners, I will." Severus turned and left the office, smirk and all.
Platform 9 ¾ - December 17, 2006
Hadrian was ready to cry in joy as the Hogwarts Express arrived at the platform to drop the students off for Yule break. He wanted to be at home with his family. He wanted to be able to be around Fred and George without having to hide their relationship.
The train ride had almost ended in disaster. Dumbledore had assigned some professors to take the train with the students since he said he had gotten information that there was the possibility of an attack on the train. McGonagall had been one of those professors. And, she had been assigned to the area where Hadrian's usual compartment was.
She had searched every one of the secured compartments in her area. Hermione, Ron, and Ginny following behind her. Everyone knew that she was trying to make it so the three could spend the ride with Hadrian.
Thankfully, when Edna heard that McGonagall was going to be on the train she had arranged a different compartment at the very back of the train for Hadrian and his friends. She had heard enough from the children over the years when she had stopped by to give them their food to not trust the woman.
Professor Flitwick was the professor that was assigned to their area and, after checking on them, had left them to their peace. Like Edna, he knew what Minerva and Albus wanted and wasn't about to let anyone harass his student any more than they already did.
Getting off the train Hadrian saw what Dumbledore was trying to do. He thought he could see every single Order member. Dumbles was trying to get people to associate his group with the protection of the children.
Too bad for him it wasn't going to work. Since the Order was supposed to be a secret group, they all wore normal, everyday clothes. They looked just like everyone else, so no one who didn't know about them would have even realized they were there.
Just to make it even better, there were over a dozen soldiers placed around to increase security as well since the platform had been deemed a likely target since all the children going home would be there. The soldiers were dressed in their typical uniforms which made them stand out.
When people thought back about who was on the platform, it wouldn't be the Order members they remembered, it would be the soldiers.
Since November there had been a few small attacks, and they had all been stopped by the military before there could be any loss of life. All of these attacks had been reported and people were relaxing slightly since they saw how successful the military had been at protecting them.
That fact had been driving Dumbledore mad. He had repeatedly tried to get another meeting with Kensington in the hopes of reversing his decision, but hadn't managed. Kensington was going out of his way to avoid him. The devision between the two was something that Rita was taking great joy in gossiping about.
But as Hadrian was moving towards his parents the Potter luck kicked in. Molly and the annoying trio stepped in-between him and his family.
"Hadrian, darling. So wonderful to see you." Molly simpered as she moved closer.
"Mrs. Diggle. If you would excuse me, my family is waiting so we can go home." Hadrian said in a flat voice. He knew they just wanted to be publicly seen with him, and he hated how they were always trying to use him like that.
"There really is no need to hurry my dear. I'm sure you and Ginny want to say a proper goodbye. You know that you're more than welcome to come and stay with us for a few days if you find you miss her too much or you want to spend some time with Ron." Molly was speaking loudly so everyone would hear, not realizing that James had put a silencing and secrecy ward up around them. He had spotted one of Dumbledore's pet reporters and didn't want anything showing up in the paper about Molly's lies.
Hadrian took a deep breath. He was done playing nice with these idiots. He had felt the ward go up, so he knew it was safe for him to speak his mind.
"Allow me to make myself perfectly clear. I am not in a relationship with your daughter, and I never will be. I. Am. Gay.
I want nothing to do with her, and I never will. Pretending we are together, lying to people about some secret relationship, and staging little meet ups like this in the hopes it will end up in the paper just makes your daughter look desperate and pathetic.
As for spending time with your son, no thank you. I have been forced to listen to enough of his Death Eater tirades already. I do not want to ruin my holidays by having to listen to more.
Please, just leave me alone."
"Harr… Hadrian, how can you say that?" Ginny started to cry. "We have a marriage contract, you know that."
"No, we don't." Hadrian snapped. "If I hear anyone talking about us having a contract I will have no choice but to publicly deny it. It is true there once was a contract, but it was a highly illegal one and was dissolved years ago."
"You can't do that." Ginny said in horror.
"Yes, I can. The so called contract between us should never have existed, and was destroyed as soon as it was discovered." Hadrian told her.
"Then we will just make a new one." Ginny glared at him. "You are meant to be mine. You should be grateful I am willing to even put up with you after your disgusting behaviour with my brothers."
"I've been reading up on the subject Ginny, and did you know that you can actually use a marriage contract to bar one member of the couple from ever even seeing certain people. That should stop his disgraceful behaviour." Hermione added nastily.
"I do agree." Molly glared at the boy who was being so rude.
Hadrian couldn't help it, he laughed. "If you knew anything about marriage contracts, Granger, you would know that if someone is underage, their parents would need to sign on their behalf. Tell me, what do you think the chances are that any of you would be able to convince my parents to force bond me to the harlot.
But, in the end, none of it matters. Because I already have a valid marriage contract that my parents signed off on. And, news flash, it isn't with her. Just so you all understand that it will never happen, I have a marriage contract for after I graduate with Fred and George. They are, after all, my soul mates!"
"NO!" Ginny screamed.
"That is enough!" James said in a very stern voice. "Molly, take your children and leave. I don't want you anywhere near my son, ever."
"How dare you James Potter?" Molly was furious. "How could you ever sign off on letting your brat marry Fred and George? I won't allow it."
"YOU have no say in the matter. Your opinion means nothing to me." James walked forward until he stood right next to his son. "Hadrian, come. It's time to leave these… people."
"I agree." Hadrian shot the four a poisonous glare. "Just stay away from me and out of my life."
Hadrian turned and left with his dad. The privacy bubble dropping only once they were gone.
The people on the platform knew something had happened, but they weren't sure what. All they really knew was that whatever it was, Hadrian had been furious, and so had his father.
Molly was still cursing James and Hadrian as she took her children and left. Hermione, who went to find her own parents that still hadn't forgiven her for her actions over the summer.
In all, it was a less than stellar way to begin the holidays.