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Chapter Text

In the dungeons of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, there is a young man packing a portion of his clothes into a suitcase. Behind him, his dad was packing more of his belongings into a magical trunk. He was getting ready to leave Magical Britain and head to America. He couldn't pack everything just yet, since he didn't want everyone to know he was leaving.

The young man in question is Hadrian Potter-Black-Prince-Lupin, but most know him as Harry Jamss Potter. He was adopted right before his third year at Hogwarts had ended. This school year, he had been asking for people to call him Hadrian, and for the most part they complied. The only ones who continued to call him Harry was the Headmaster and his 'best friends' Ron and Hermione. It was November 17th in his sixth year at Hogwarts, and not once did something or someone try to kill him on Halloween.

Voldemort was dead. He had defeated him at the end of his fifth year, and was able to save Sirius as well. All thanks to his dad, Severus Snape. Against the express wishes of the Headmaster, Severus had trained his son in dueling and some of the spells he had created. This resulted in Hadrian killing Voldemort by accident by using an extremely overpowered protego, which reflected the killing curse upon its caster.

The September after that, Hadrian returned to Hogwarts to find everyone basically ignoring him. Even Ron and Hermione hadn't spoken more than ten words to him by the end of the first month. That hadn't bothered him however. He'd simply focused on his studies, and his grades were better than ever. He'd been expecting someone to explode over his grades, or the 'way he was acting'. But no one had said anything yet, and Hadrian could see Ron's face turning red every time they saw one another. Naturally, things just had to come to a head on Halloween.

FLASHBACK

During the feast, Hadrian had been sitting by himself at the end of the Gryffindor table, reading a book and ignoring everyone. Towards the end of the feast, Ron and Hermione got up and sat themselves down on either side of Hadrian. Since they didn't say a word to him, he didn't say anything to them. One by one the five tables seemed to get quieter and quieter until the great hall was completely silent. Hadrian hadn't noticed at first because he was very invested in a book about potions. He did notice when the book was smacked out of his hands by Ron.

"Is there something I can help you with?" He asked with annoyance creeping into his tone.

"Yeah, there is. You can tell me why you've been ignoring us Harry. Do you think you're too good for us now that You-Know-Who is gone?" Ron said, glaring at him. Hadrian stared at him, flummoxed. Was he being serious right now?

"Have you forgotten the past three months? I sent both you and Hermione letters, but neither one of you answered, so I left it alone. I figured you'd rather talk in person. After you said hello at the Welcoming Feast and nothing else, I finally figured out that you wanted nothing to do with me, so I left you alone. I wanted to get a job after Hogwarts, so I started studying more."

"Even if you have been studying more, like you claim, there's no way you've jumped ahead of me in the rankings for our year, you're not smart enough for that." Hermione said, her nose high in the air. Hadrian had to admit, that hurt a bit.

"Yeah, everyone knows Hermione is the smartest witch of our generation. So you have to be cheating somehow. I know, they don't want their precious Boy-Who-Lived to fail. That is the only way you would ever beat Hermione" Ron snarled. Hadrian started. Is that really what they thought?

"First of all- my name is Hadrian. Nobody calls me Harry. Second, I haven't cheated on any assignments or quizzes or tests. Didn't you ever wonder why we were provided with quills this year? They are spelled with anti-cheating charms and the parchments are soaked in truth potions. And also, all of my assignments are being graded outside of Britain this year to prevent favoritism.

Third of all, our generation is not made up entirely of witches. Or I should hope not, otherwise I've been lied to my entire life. Hermione isn't the only person who is allowed to be smart. I never tried my best in the past, and now I am. That's why my place in the rankings jumped this year." Hadrian explained calmly, knowing that everyone in the Great Hall was watching, including his dad. Ron just snarled in response.

“Quit lying- you’re almost as stupid as Longbottom. You would be dead if it weren't for Hermione and I. You have never figured out anything for yourself, not even with clues just left for you to figure out. Merlin, you’re so stupid.” Ron began to rant before Hermione hit him with a silencing spell.

“What Ron means to say, is that you’ve never displayed any sort of intelligence before, Harry, so it’s hard to believe that you would be so smart all of a sudden. And I think I know your name, we have been friends for years, and it isn’t Hadrian. It never was.” Hermione said condescendingly, and Hadrian felt his temper rise. But right before he exploded into a rage, he caught a twinkle in the Headmasters’ eyes. And in that instant, he knew that Dumbledore had sent up this confrontation, and he would not let himself be painted in a bad light again. Last year was bad enough.

“Did you think that just maybe my childhood had anything to do with that? After all, I was beaten and starved anytime I did better than Dudley in primary school or when I did accidental magic for that matter.” Hadrian said. He had spoken to his fathers about what had happened to him, he found it came out rather easily in the moment.

“Harry please. No one would force anyone to get bad grades. Either you’re smart or you’re not. There is no in between.” Hermione said, speaking slowly as if to a child. Hadrian just rolled his eyes, used to her saying that almost every week.

“Hermione that is so wrong it’s not even funny. First of all, not every single person you meet is going to be booksmart. Second of all, even if someone is booksmart, like you, they might not wish to flaunt it all of the time. Third, if I ever did better then Dudley in class, I got beat- badly. After the first time, I learned that lesson pretty quickly.

“I just decided to do better this year- because it was expected of me and I was tired of hiding myself. Somehow you, Ronald and Dumbledore are the only people to believe that I'm cheating. If none of the other professors believe that I’m cheating, why do you? And why are you and Ronald so interested anyway? I was under the impression that we weren’t speaking.” Hermione just gasped at him silently.

Up at the head table, Severus had taken note of the confrontation and was watching it intently. He, like his son, had been expecting this to happen for weeks now, but wasn’t entirely surprised that it happened tonight. This was not shaping up to be a good year for his son.

“Minerva, I have been meaning to speak to you about young Harrys’ grades. Are you entirely certain that he hasn’t been cheating? The substantial rise in his grades is slightly concerning to say the least. He has never shown any aptitude in any other class other than Defense Against the Dark Arts and flying after all.” Dumbledore said, a twinkle in his eyes. Minerva turned to look at him, unimpressed.

“I am certain, yes. I have watched him take placement tests in all of the subjects here as well as the ones Hogwarts doesn’t offer, except for Divination. I graded them as he handed them in. By all means, he should have graduated by now, but he wanted to remain with his yearmates. So we all give him additional work.” she explained, voice completely even.

“Even Severus’ class?” he asked, unable to hide the doubt in his voice.

“Yes, even potions. Albus, you know Severus doesn’t hate Hadrian, he never has. For Merlin's sake, you both created the cover of Severus hating Hadrian. It was an act for Voldemort's benefit.”

“Yes, I do recall. I just find it hard to believe, that’s all.

“Albus, if you doubt him, then you doubt me.” she said, her voice as hard as stone. Dumbledore didn’t say anything else after that.

Severus smirked inwardly at that, but his face on the outside was absolutely stoic. His attention turned back to the ‘conversation’ at hand, and he began shaking on the inside. His son was being accused of cheating and insulting him at the same time. He knew that Hadrian could handle himself, but he was still insulted on his behalf. He knew that Hadrian wasn’t cheating, as he and Remus checked over his homework briefly before they let him turn it in.

Back to Hadrian, he was just about finished with Hermione yelling at him.

“You know what? I’m finished with this. If you two are going to keep accusing me of cheating just because you don’t like the fact that for once someone is doing better than you, then this conversation is over. It’s clear that you are not my friends, and never have been. If you were, you would realize that I would never use my fame for something so frivolous. So don’t bother me anymore, and I won’t bother you.” Hadrian said and walked away. Although he knew they had ignored him for almost four months, this whole thing still hurt. They had been his first friends after all.

He ran down to his dads rooms, which took about five minutes. He wasn’t going to stay in Gryffindor tower tonight, not with his emotions running high. He said the password, stargazer, and went directly to his room, not even stopping to say hi to his papa. He threw himself dramatically onto his bed. After tonight, he was ready to be done with Hogwarts. The only reason he had stayed was so that he could see his dad.

A knock sounded on his door and he rolled over to see his papa standing there with a solemn look on his face.

“You okay, pup? I heard about what happened in the Great Hall.”

“How? I literally just got down here.” Hadrian said, surprised.

“Your dad. He sent a patronus as you made your way down here, said you might be upset. And given the fact that today is Halloween, we figured that something might happen tonight, even though Voldemort is dead.” Sirius explained, and Hadrian grumbled to himself. One would think that with Voldemort being dead, all the excitement would die down. That person would be wrong.

“Papa, do I have to stay here? I can always take my exams at the Ministry, and with Dumbledore still here as Headmaster I will never get a moments peace.” Hadrian said, and Sirius could tell he’d been thinking about this for a while.

“If you really don’t want to stay here, you could always go to America. Lily had a cousin who lives there. From what I seem to remember, she works in the muggle government, the F.B.I if I remember correctly.” Severus said and both Hadrian and Sirius turned to look at him with twin expressions of surprise on their faces.

“I never knew that.” Sirius said, and Severus shrugged.
“I never had a reason to mention it. She’s a muggle and Lily never mentioned her a lot.”

“So, in theory, instead of going to live with Petunia, I could’ve lived in America, potentially not getting beaten multiple times a day for every little thing?” Hadrian asked, face blank.

“....yes.”

“Wonderful. So, do we write her a letter or give her a phone call?” Hadrian asked, eyebrow raised in an inquisitive manner.

“Phone call first. I got her number before Lily died, and if she doesn’t answer then we’ll send a letter. MACUSA will be getting a letter from us anyway, asking for political asylum for the three of us, but you’ll be going first just to throw off suspicion.” Severus explained, as he walked out of Hadrians room to the main room. There, they found Remus sitting in one of the chairs in front of the fireplace with a cup of tea in his hands.

“Hi pa.”

“Hi cub. I heard about what happened during the feast. Are you okay?” Remus asked.

"I’ve been better. We were just talking about going to America. I guess mom had a cousin who lives there. She works in the muggle government."

“Oh really? And what brought this on?” Remus inquired, looking at Severus and Sirius.

“I had been thinking about leaving for a while, but if I stayed then I would get to see dad. The scene in the great hall just made up my mind. I just don’t think I can stay here anymore. Dumbledore will never leave me alone, even though Voldemort is dead and his followers all in prison. And with Ron and Hermione changing their opinion of me every time I turn around, I just can’t deal with it anymore.” Hadrian said as he sat down on the ground by the fire. Remus began to absently run his fingers through Hadrian's hair.

“If that’s what you want to do cub, then I’m all for it. And the laws against werewolves are much more friendly and lax in America as well. I take it you will be contacting this cousin, Sev?”

“Yes. I will call her in the morning. I just hope she’ll be willing to take him in- I don’t want him running around the U.S by himself.” Severus said, giving Remus a small, soft smile. He didn’t want his son to go without him, but they couldn’t leave all at the same time, otherwise Dumbledore would get suspicious and find the adoption papers. He would do everything in his power to get it overturned.

“I’ll start packing tonight. Do you think I could leave by the weekend? I don’t think I could take much more of them.”

“That’s fine. Hopefully she says yes. But you just worry about going to class and making it seem like nothing is different.”

“I can do that.” Hadrian nodded to himself. He had been acting like everything was fine for years. He could make it a couple more days. “I’m going to bed. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight son.”

“Goodnight pup.”

“Goodnight cub.”

The three adults stayed up for another hour or so, making plans and backup plans before going to bed. The next morning, Severus was the first one awake. He stretched out as much as he could, seeing as he was trapped in between Sirius and Remus. He laid there for a moment, before getting up and pulling on a royal blue bathrobe over his nightclothes. He walked into the kitchen and straight over to the teapot and started boiling water for coffee. It was too early to function without it.

He sat, listening to the teapot and the quiet of the dungeons and thought about Lilys’ cousin Jennifer. He hadn’t seen her since the summer before his fifth year. That summer, Lilys’ parents had taken him with them to America to visit family. Jennifer was friendly, and as beautiful and as intelligent as Lily. She had stuck close to her cousin all summer, with Petunia going with them occasionally. Severus had only spent maybe a quarter of the summer with them. The rest of it was spent hanging around one of the magical alleys, drooling over all the different potions ingredients.

Whenever he did spend time with the girls, Jennifer was always polite and kind to him. If she is the same now as she was then, then Hadrian would be fine.

“Elmer!” Severus called for his personal house-elf. Elmer had been gifted to him by his grandfather upon the gaining of his second mastery.

“Take me to the nearest muggle settlement that has a payphone.”

“Yes sir.” Elmer said and grabbed Severus’ hand and popped them out of Hogwarts. The nearest place was two hours away by foot. Thankfully he didn’t have to walk. Severus grabbed the piece of paper that had Jennifer's phone number onbit. He subtly cast a notice-me-not in the area surrounding the phone. He picked up the phone and dialed the number, all the while holding his breath. It rang four times before someone picked up.

“Hello?”

Chapter Text

The voice on the other end of the line sounded tired. Extremely tired.

“Might I ask to whom am I speaking to?” Severus asked, fingers crossed.

“Jennifer Jareau. Who is this?” Severus let out a sigh of relief.

“Severus Snape. I was a friend of your cousin, Lily.” he said to her, and she let out a small noise at the mention of her cousin.

“Right, you came with them one time, I remember. How did you get this number? And why are you calling me at five in the morning?”

“I got your number from Petunia, and I am calling because of Lilys’ son.”

“Is that true? If it’s about her son, then why isn’t she calling?” Jennifer asked, voice full of trepidation. On her end, she heard Severus let out a breath. The churning in her stomach did not lessen any with that breath.

“I am truly sorry to do this this early, especially on the phone. I wish this were easier to say, but Lily was killed fifteen years ago.” he said in a voice full of remorse. Jennifer gasped audibly, and Severus felt bad. He knew it was a dick move to tell her something so important over the phone, but she needed the information before he asked her to change her routine so drastically.

“Jennifer, listen to me. I know you’re upset, but her son needs your help. He cannot stay here. I was hoping you would be willing to take him in until he turns eighteen.” Severus said urgently, the tone of his voice helping to take Jennifer out of her shock. She drew in a deep, shaky breath.

“What about Petunia, is she still alive? Could he maybe go to her?”

“He will never step a single foot back into that house as long as I am alive. She and her husband are abusive, and Hadrian has been through enough even without the abuse stacked on top.” Severus said, growling under his breath. His tone raised the hairs on the back of neck. This sounded like a very dangerous man- almost like a father defending his child. It reminded her of Hotch.

“Abusive? Petunia? There weren’t many indicators from when we were younger.”

“Indicators?”

“Sorry, force of habit. It’s what I do for work. What kind of abuse, and has he gotten any kind of therapy?”

“She was mainly verbal, her husband and son were the physical ones. Both were neglectful. We have tried to get him into therapy, but there are some circumstances preventing it at the moment.” Severus said, and Jennifer gasped. That was a lot to handle for one person, even with therapy. She couldn’t imagine what it would be like without it. The boy was bound to have trust issues, so why was Severus sending him here?

“Severus, I can’t guarantee that I can help him.”

“I know. But he needs protection more, and I really think you can provide that. My partners and I cannot protect him for much longer. Please.” he said desperately.

“Call me JJ. Will and I will do our best. I promise. Will you tell me what’s going on, and why he needs protection?”

“Thank you.” was said with a huge amount of relief. “He should be there Saturday. I’ll give you a call when his flight leaves with all of the flight information. One of my partners will fly over with him, and he’ll explain.” Severus said, and JJ could tell he was relieved.

“You’re welcome. By the way, when you said partners, did you mean workplace or romantic?”

“Romantic, there are three of us, all male and in a triad. Would that be a problem?”

“No, no, not at all. It’s just not really heard of that often, that’s all.” JJ hastily explained.

“Hadrian will be able to explain.”

“Good to know. Well, it has been nice to hear from you again, even if it didn’t bring the best news, but I’ve got to get ready for work. I’ll talk to you soon. And thank you for telling me about Lily.”

“Of course. Goodbye JJ.”

“Goodbye Severus.” The both of them hung up at the same time. Severus called for Elmer and had him pop them back to Hogwarts. Meanwhile, JJ slowly put her phone down and sat down on the bed she shared with her husband. She put her head in her hands and began to cry. Will had no clue why his wife was crying, but he comforted her as best as he was able. She turned her head into his chest and started crying even harder. ‘She would pull herself together in a few minutes’ she thought to herself. For now, she would mourn the loss of her cousin.

And that is exactly what happened. She sobbed for about ten minutes, then she pulled herself together and got her son ready for the day. At one point Will had pulled her aside and asked her what had made her cry. She just told him “after work” and left it at that. After dropping off Henry at school, she managed to push the mornings revelation to the back of her mind- or so she thought. She took the elevator up the BAU floor and was greeted with the always bright sight of Penelope. She was holding onto Derek tightly in a hug. JJ laughed, causing Derek to turn around and look at the elevator.

“Morning JJ. You okay?” Derek asked, noticing the slight redness around his friends eyes. His question caused Penelope to let go of him and envelop JJ in a hug instead. JJ rolled her eyes, but gratefully accepted the hug nonetheless.

“I’m okay, I just got some shocking news this morning, that’s all.” she said, and Penelope gasped.

“Oh no! Is your mom okay?”

“She’s fine, it was about a cousin of mine. I can’t talk about it right now. Is there a case?” JJ responded. Penelope shook her head while checking her phone.

“So far, no but we all know that evil never sleeps. C’mon, lets go see Reid.” she enthused, and walked quickly into the bullpen. JJ could see that everyone else was bustling around while Reid was at his desk and Emily beside him. As they got closer they saw that they were talking about old Russian movies they could go see. They both turned to look at the trio as they approached. Spencers’ eyes narrowed. JJs’ eyes held a slight redness to them and she was holding herself stiffly, as if she was going to collapse on herself if she wasn’t so stiff. Emily also noticed this, but decided against asking when she saw Derek shake his head slightly. Spencer also saw this and decided to listen to his advice for once. Maybe Hotch or Rossi would be able to get what happened out of her.

“Hey Spence. Do anything exciting last night?” JJ asked her adopted little brother. Reid beamed happily at her.

“I managed to read six books last night and Garcia and I managed to catch part of a ‘Doctor Who’ marathon. They were showing the episodes with the fourth doctor.” he exclaimed excitedly.

“You’re right, that is exciting.” she said, letting his ramblings distract her from everything that had happened this morning.

“JJ” said Hotch and he beckoned her to his office. She looked after him, confused before turning to the rest of her teammates, who looked as confused as she felt. Derek looked at his partner who just shook his head. Hotch couldn’t tell them just yet. She set down her purse and jacket at her desk next to Spencers’ and went up to his office. When she got there, she saw that both Hotch and Strauss were waiting for her.

“Hotch, what’s going on?” she asked reservedly.

“This morning, you got a call from Scotland correct? Asking you to take in the son of your cousin?” Strauss asked with shrewd eyes.

“Yes. Is that a problem for some reason?”

“It could be. What is your cousins name?”

“Lily and Petunia Evans. And as I found out this morning, Lily is no longer alive.”

“Yes, Lily Potter neé Evans was killed October 31st fifteen years ago alongside her husband James Potter. Their son Harry was the only survivor. Was there a reason given as to why you are being asked to take him in? He is sixteen years old, after all.” Strauss said, and JJ raised an eyebrow.

“No offense, ma’am, but what does my family matter to you? And how do you know so much about my family?”

“Your family was very special. Did she ever seem different to you after she turned eleven, withdrawn at all?” Strauss asked, for once not minding being questioned. The entire revelation she planned was going to be shocking, and if she got a direct line to the Boy-Who-Lived, then she would deal with the questions.

“I mean, sort of. She seemed happier, talked about school more often. And there was some sort of rift between her and Petunia that seemed to grow bigger every time they visited, but other than that, no. Why is that important?” she said, bewildered.

“Because the age of eleven is a very important age in Britain for one reason. Eleven is when a witch or wizard receives their letter from Hogwarts.” Strauss said, looking first at JJ then Hotchner. He looked severely unimpressed while Jareau was looking at her as if she’d lost her mind, which she didn’t appreciate.

“I’m sorry, is this some sort of joke to you? Witches and wizards don’t exist! They are fantasy, and seriously. You couldn’t come up with a better name than Hogwarts?” JJ said incredulously. She was sure Strauss was pulling her pigtails- metaphorically speaking. She began to rise from her chair even though she hadn’t been dismissed when Hotch leveled her with a look that made her reconsider what she was doing and sat back down.

“Agent Jareau. I have no reason to lie to you. Especially not when it comes to your family. Witches and Wizards are real. There is an entire magical society hidden from a vast majority of the world. We non-wizarding folk, or no-mages, were deemed far too dangerous to be around, so they managed to successfully hide themselves from us. Only those deemed important would be informed, and even they have been bound to secrecy. I was informed because I answer directly to the director of the bureau and I screen cases that might have any sort of magical involvement. Aaron knows, but for a different reason, one that I will let him tell.

“Now, your cousins child is a very famous wizard. He defeated Magical Britain's greatest Dark Lord twice. Once when he was only a year old, and again for the second time in June. Magical beings are considered to be ‘of age’ when they turn seventeen years old, and Hadrian is sixteen years old. Now, you must understand that Hadrian is now even more famous than he was before. From the sound of the phone call this morning, he needs protection that only you can provide. Are you willing to do that, knowing what you know now?” Strauss asked, and watched as a multitude of emotions flew across the younger womans face. JJ pondered for a moment. Was she willing to take on an abused teenager? A picture of Lily laughing flashed in her mind.

Yes. Yes she was.

Chapter Text

“Of course. But what am I protecting him from?” she asked. Hotch and Strauss exchanged an unreadable look that set JJ on edge.

“We don’t know. However, the director has informed us that he can come with us on any cases if he chooses to do so, and will be able to get into the building on his own without any need for an escort. The team will be informed about his magic when Hadrian deems it necessary. Until that comes around, we are asking that you don’t tell anyone else except for Will about Hadrians’ magic.” Hotch informed her. JJ thought about it for a moment. Could she really keep such a huge secret from her team, from her family? A mental picture of Lily flashed in her mind. She would, for both Hadrian and Lily.

“Okay. I can do that. But what if Hadrian doesn’t want the team to know? I don’t like keeping secrets from them, especially after the whole Emily thing.” JJ askerd, and Hotch gave her a small smile.

“If it comes down to that, we’ll worry about it then. For now, don’t worry about it.”

“Okay.”

“Good. Now, I’ve arranged for a different team to take over the out-of-state cases until next week. Hadrian is arriving Saturday, and I want you all to get used to each other. I know that your team frequently visits your house, so I do believe that you should get used to one another before you leave out of state for unknown amounts of time.” Strauss said as she rose from her chair. She gave both Hotch and JJ a small nod before exiting the room. Once she was gone, Hotch turned to JJ.

“I know you’ve had a lot thrown at you in less than three hours, so why don’t you take the rest of the day off? We’ll take care of things here.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. Don’t worry, I’ll explain to the rest of the team. You just go.” he said firmly and she nodded. She left, stopping by her desk to grab her purse, and left the building, ignoring the others calling after her. When she got to her car, she sat there for a minute gathering her thoughts and composure before calling Will.

“JJ? Are you okay? Are you leaving on a case?” Will asked as soon as he picked up the phone, voice concerned.

No, I’m on my way home actually. Do you think you could take the rest of the day off? There are some things we need to talk about before Saturday.”

“I think so. Let me tell the captain real quick. What should I tell him if he asks why?”

“Tell him there has been a sudden death in the family and that we’re getting ready to welcome a new family member.”

“A new family member? You’re not pregnant again, are you?” he asked worriedly. JJ gave a small laugh, ruefully shaking her head even though he couldn’t see her.

“No, I’m not. But the new family member is part of the reason I was crying after the phone call this morning, and I can’t wait to tell you. I thought it could, but it can’t.” She started the car, pulling out of her parking spot smoothly and starting her drive home.

“Okay. I’ll text you when I’m on my way home. Love you.” he said

“Love you too. Bye.”

“Bye,” he said, and ended the call. He made his way over to his captains’ office. He had to tell the captain that he was taking the rest of the day off due to a family emergency. He would tell his partner after he told his superior. When he got to his captains’ door, he saw that it was open, but Will still knocked anyway because it was polite. He heard the captain yell “Enter!” and he went inside and closed the door.

“Detective LaMontagne, is there something wrong with your case?” Captain Warner asked. He was a tall, physically imposing man with brown hair and eyes. He was also the most respected man in the department.

“No sir. It’s just that my wife has had a death in the family and the last thing she wants is to be alone right now. And we’re also getting ready to take in a new family member on Saturday. Is it alright if I take the rest of the day off? I know we just started not too long ago, but she got sent home too.”

“Of course, just be sure to let Ketelsen know, and give your wife my condolences. Take all the time you need.”

“I will. Thank you, sir.” Will said gratefully, and exited the office. He made his way to his desk and saw his partner sitting there, waiting for him.

“Hey man, is everything alright? You don’t normally talk to the captain,” he asked, concerned.

“I just went to ask for the day off. JJ’s going through some family stuff right now, and it’s bad enough that she got sent home. She even asked me to come home. Will you be okay by yourself, at least for today?”

“Yeah. I’ll be fine. Go be with your girl.

“Thanks. I’ll see you later.”

“Anytime.” And with that, Will packed up his things for the day and left. He made it home in fifteen minutes. When he got there, he saw JJ sitting on the front porch with a cup of coffee in her hands and a forlorn expression on her face. It lightened a bit when she saw him get out of his car. He rushed over to her and swept her up into a massive hug when he reached her. She huffed out a tiny laugh and nestled her face into his neck all the same. They stood there, taking comfort from each other for about ten minutes before they both took a step back.

“So what’s this about taking in a family member?” he asked, hoping slightly that she had been kidding.

“Come inside, it’s a bit of a story,” she said, holding the door open for Will. He entered first and really taking in the smell of coffee, jokingly asked

“Am I going to make the coffee into an Irish coffee?” and the reply didn’t really lighten the dread he was feeling.

“If we didn’t have to pick Henry up later, this would be an Irish. And the fact that it’s only eight in the morning doesn’t help either.” ‘Well damn’ Will thought. ‘This isn’t going to be fun.’ They sat down on the couch, with JJ sitting sideways and her legs crossed underneath her.

Chapter Text

She began to talk in a steady voice, yet it slightly tremulous at times. JJ explained about her cousins from England, with whom she spent most of her summers. She explained that she and her younger cousin, Lily drifted apart a bit after Lily turned eleven. She told Will about Lilys’ friend Severus and how he came to visit once and about how Lily got married at seventeen to a man named James Potter. That’s when Will stopped her.

“Wait. James and Lily Potter, as in the parents of Hadrian Potter?” he asked incredulously. JJ just stared at him, nonpulsed.

“How do you know about Hadrian? I just found out about him this morning!”

“Do you know about the magical aspect of your extended family?” he asked in lieu of an answer.

“Yeah, Hotch and Strauss told me this morning. How do you know?”

“I’m what the magical world would call a squib. It means that I was born to a family that has magic, but I don’t have magic. And to answer your first question, almost everyone in the magical world knows about Hadrian. The people in Magical Britain worship him, and they watch every single move he makes- it’s bad.

“So this family member you were talking about- it was Hadrian? He’s moving in with us?” Will said, then sat quietly to let his wife process all of the information he just threw at her. He felt bad for not telling her, but after Henry didn’t show any signs of accidental magic he wasn’t as worried about it. If Henry had shown any signs of having magic, he would have told her in a heartbeat.

JJ filed away the information he just told her into a mental box to talk about later and focused on giving him the information she had.

“Yes, Severus said that he’s not safe over there anymore. I can’t imagine how that’s one hundred percent true, but I couldn’t say no,” she explained. Will nodded thoughtfully and motioned for her to continue her story. She told him everything Strauss told her, and then explained her fears about not being able to help Hadrian in the ways that he needs. She told him about the abuse he suffered at the hands of her other cousin and her family. Will got an angry look on his face when she told him what happened.

“That’s a lot of information to digest- for the both of us. I can see why they told you to take some time off. We don’t have much time to get a room ready for him. He’ll be here Saturday, you said?” Will finally said after they had sat in silence for a while, digesting everything.

“Yeah. One of Severus’ partners is coming with him, most likely to explain to us now that I think about it. I wonder if we should call him and let him know that we know about magic…” JJ said thoughtfully.

“I’ll ask my mom. She lives in the magical world permanently, which is why we tell people she’s dead. She went back after having met and married someone else. Luckily, I don’t have any half-siblings. She writes me a letter every week and sends it by owl, so it gets here faster than the normal mail. Maybe she’ll know a way to send a letter quickly enough so it’ll reach them before they leave to come over here.” Will told his wife. She nodded her acceptance of that plan.

“You know, Hotch never explained how he knew all of this. I wonder if hes’ told Morgan.” JJ mused aloud and Will looked at her.

“Why would he tell Morgan before the rest of the team?” he asked cluelessly and she looked at him, surprised. Then realization dawned on her face.

“Oh, that’s right, I forgot to tell you. Hotch and Morgan are dating, they told the team a few weeks ago. Garcia is bemoaning the loss of her ‘chocolate thunder’, Reid is slightly confused, Emily is amused and Rossi claims he saw it coming for a while now.”

“Really? Never would have seen that coming, and when did they start dating?”

“They started dating about six months ago, after Hotch came back from Foyet. According to Morgan, having Hotch in trouble and not knowing where he was opened his eyes. He said that he just grabbed him and kissed the life out of him after dinner. Said he couldn’t stand the thought of losing Hotch without making his feelings known. After that, they just kind of blended seamlessly together. At work, you couldn’t really tell that their relationship had changed at all.” JJ explained to her husband. He looked gobsmacked, but accepting nonetheless.

“Okay then. I didn’t think they had that kind of chemistry but if it works for them then I’m cool with it.”

“None of us thought they had that kind of chemistry except for Rossi. Hell, we didn’t even know they were both bisexual. You can sort of tell they’re happy together though. Morgans’ eyes tend to wander over to Hotch even when someone else is talking and I’ve seen Hotchs’ eyes do the same. The only thing that the team or I care about is if they’re happy or not, and it seems to me like they are.” JJ said, giving her husband a hard look to make sure he wasn’t going to say anything before they wanted him to know.

“Okay, I won’t say anything before they’re ready for it.”

“Good. Now, lets figure out how this whole thing is going to work. And I need to think about what I’m going to tell the rest of the team and Henry.” she said. So, for Henry they planned to tell him that someone was going to be staying with them for a while, so maybe he could be like an older brother if they liked each other enough, but he had to be nice either way. JJ had no clue what she was going to say to her team, but left it for another day. It was time to pick Henry up from the sitter, and seeing as she couldn’t do it as often as she’d like she would do it today.

She left to get him, and on the drive over she couldn’t help but to be excited for this opportunity. Hadrian is sixteen sure, but she would love to get to know her cousins’ son and help him in any way she can. Once she got to the sitters' house she paid the sitter for the whole day, even though it was only eleven in the morning. Henry was very excited to see her.

“Mommy!” he yelled, leaping at her. She laughed and caught him in mid-leap.

“Hey little man. Wanna spend the day with Mommy and Daddy?” she asked and laughed again when he started cheering excitedly as she put him in the back of her car. She thanked the sitter, got in the car, and started the drive home. Henry chattered on about random things on the way home, just like his Uncle Spencer in that aspect. She pulled in the driveway and cheered with Henry when he saw Will. Will opened the door and got Henry out of the car.

“Hey little man! Momma and I are gonna be home for the rest of the week. How do you feel about that?” Will asked him once Henry was in his arms. Henry turned to JJ excitedly.

“Really Mommy?”

“Really baby. Daddy and I have some news for you,” she told him, running her fingers through his blonde hair, and he nodded with a solemn look on his face. So Will and JJ sat down with him and took turns explaining it to him simply enough for him to understand. By the end of it, Henry seemed to be fine with it, even getting excited about having someone else staying in the house.

Chapter Text

Wednesday

Severus hung up the payphone and sighed. He should’ve figured that Petunia wouldn’t have told her extended family about Lilys’ death. That would be nice of her to do and one thing Petunia isn’t is nice. He sighed again because talking about Lily was hard. A majority of people who were in the same year as him and his mates assumed he was in love with her, but he wasn’t. She was his closest friend- the one person he told everything, including his crushes on Sirius and Remus. And when she named him Hadrians’ godfather, well, he broke down crying because she really had forgiven him for his blunder in their fifth year. He blinked, coming back to awareness, and looked at the time. His phone call ended five minutes ago- his mates were expecting him back any time now. He walked back to the apparition point and left.

He arrived back at his rooms to find his partners and son waiting for him, trying and failing to hide their anticipation. He raised an eyebrow at them and stayed silent while pouring himself a cup of coffee and adding some sugar. His son pouted at him, vibrant green eyes mixed with amber and gray, wide and doe-like, pleading with him to say something. After working with children for sixteen years, he was immune to puppy dog eyes, but his sons were very impressive- he almost gave in. Thankfully he held strong and didn’t say a word until after he had sat down and drunk some of his coffee. Then, Sirius broke the silence.

“So, were you able to reach her?” he asked impatiently.

“Yes, mutt, I was able to reach Jennifer. She has agreed to take Hadrian. I would like for one of you to go with him and help him explain things. He can’t explain everything by himself.” Severus said, eyeing his two partners. Normally he would’ve sent Remus, as he was the calmer and more logical of the two, but with him disappearing at the same as Hadrian it would’ve been too suspicious. As it was, The Order thought Sirius was at another Black property, making it livable for him, Remus, Hadrian, and the rest of the Order. And he had been, for a bit. A majority of the Black properties were surprisingly livable- the wards just had to be adjusted to let Remus, Severus, and Hadrian in- but the order didn’t need to know that.

Even though all the manors were ready to be lived in, Sirius and Remus spent most of their time in Severus’ quarters at Hogwarts. The three men didn’t enjoy being so far away from one another- it was painful at times due to their bond stretching to its’ limit.

“I’ll go. So when do we leave?” Sirius said calmly.

“Saturday. We’ll make it look like Hadrian went for a walk and never came back. You’ll have to write a note saying something to that effect, Hadrian. Do you think you can do that?

“Yes. I’ll tell Neville Friday night in the common room, that way they can’t say I didn’t tell anyone.” Hadrian replied, thinking of ways he can phrase it so it wouldn’t sound so suspicious. Remus eyed his cub, knowing what was running through his mind. His pup could be such a Slytherin sometimes, it made him proud, and he was a Gryffindor.

“Good. Now, go get ready for your classes- you have Charms in fifteen minutes and it’s four floors up.” Remus said, shooing his cub out of the room while handing him his school bag.

“Alright, alright. I know when I’m being chased out for gross adult reasons.” Hadrian said jokingly, causing Remus to growl playfully.

“Not this time, cub. Sev has a class as well and he needs time to drink his coffee,” he said, and Hadrian just laughed as he walked around the corner and vanished from sight. Remus walked back to the rooms and carefully warded them against everything he could think of at the moment, which was a lot. Then he turned to face Severus and Sirius.

“Are we really going to do this? Send away our cub to a whole new country? And have him live with a woman who could be like Petunia for all we know!” Remus ranted while pacing back and forth. Sirius got up to stand in front of him and put his hand on his shoulder.

“Rem, we have to. I don’t like this any more than you do, but Hadrian decided to do this, and it’s his decision. We have to respect that.” Sirius told him, with a sad yet proud tone to his voice. Sad, because his pup was choosing to leave their home, but proud because his pup chose to rid himself of the unnecessary people in his life. He knew that it took a lot of courage to leave behind everything he knew. Sirius did not doubt that Hadrian would find a way to communicate with the people he actually likes. Severus stood up as well and pulled both of them close to him.

“Don’t worry. Jennifer is a good person, she wouldn’t let anything happen to Hadrian.” With that being said, he gave them one last squeeze, let them go, and went into his classroom, where fifth-year Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs were lined up outside, talking quietly amongst themselves. He opened the door to his classroom and gestured them inside. As the students passed him, Luna Lovegood whispered something to him take took him by surprise.

“His soulmate will help protect him.” He stared at nothing for a few seconds when he heard that, then he pulled himself together. He still had a class to teach, he could worry about what she said later.

“Turn to page 217 and read about the potion you will be brewing in the next class. Take thorough and detailed notes,” he said and watched as they hurried to follow his instructions.

Five floors up, in the Headmasters’ office, Albus Dumbledore was sitting in his throne-like chair behind his desk, his half-moon spectacles resting beside him on his desk. Although he had no expression on his face, he was seething on the inside.

His pawn, Harry Potter, was not dead. He wasn’t stupid or broken mentally nor physically. He wasn’t friends with the right kind of people, like Ronald Weasley or Hermione Granger. He wasn’t even infatuated with Ginny Weasley, which didn’t make sense considering the number of love potions focused on Miss Weasley. He’d even had that stupid soulmate bond with that damn Muggle that showed up on the test he’d forced Hadrian to take before he dropped him off at Petunias’. He had wanted to get rid of the Muggle, but it resided in America and he had zero influence there, so he couldn’t.

He cursed Riddle in his head. That damn man couldn’t even do the one thing he was supposed to do. He didn’t even try to take away the boys’ sanity- which might’ve been better for his plans anyway, but no. Riddle is dead and his pawn is alive and well. Not even the boys’ relatives could break him like they were supposed to, even with the free reign they had this past summer. Then there was the whole matter of Black not dying as he had wanted him to. His spy was no longer needed, so he’d have to arrange an accident for him and he’d have to find a way to put that damn wolf down too. This year was shaping up to be busy and irritating at the same time.

With that thought, he sat forward and began to plot.

Chapter Text

The next two days flew by, with a vast majority of the students avoiding Hadrian- not that it bothered him. They had done the same thing for half of his second year, when they all thought he was the Heir of Slytherin, and in the beginning of his fifth year. One good thing about this year was the fact that he didn’t have to deal with Umbridge or her blood quill. A tragic accident had befallen the Ministry employee at the end of the school year the previous June in the Department of Mysteries whilst the students were fending off Death Eaters she fell into the Veil of Death, in turn saving Sirius from the same fate.

Hadrian paced the length of the abandoned classroom he was in anxiously. His nerves were starting to get to him- after tonight he wouldn’t be seeing a majority of these people again. He couldn’t wait to leave Hogwarts and see another country and meet another member of his family. Hopefully, she wasn’t anything like Petunia or Vernon. He wouldn’t live there if they were. He’d find somewhere else to live. Hadrian then cast a ‘tempus’ and swore- he was late for dinner.

Surprisingly, he was able to make it through dinner without the faint tickling sensation that happened whenever Dumbledore tried to get into his head. He turned his head just enough to see the Head Table from the corner of his eye. Scanning it quickly, he saw that Dumbledore wasn’t at dinner that evening, odd but he wasn’t complaining. He turned back to his food and ate it, then got up to return to the common room. Hadrian saw that it was empty due to the fact of everyone was at dinner, and claimed his favourite chair by the fireplace. He hasn’t been able to sit in it much this year, because Ronald sat in it whenever he was in the common room knowing that it was Hadrians’ favourite chair. He sat there happily as he could be in the castle, basking in the warmth of the fire. The common room was silent, a rare occurrence, but luckily enough everyone else was still at dinner or out and about before curfew. Around fifteen minutes later Neville sat in the chair to his left and said a quiet hello. As Hadrian looked around he saw that most of the house was back from dinner. Perfect timing.

“Hey Neville, I’m going to head to bed. I plan on getting up early tomorrow morning and go for a run so I need sleep.” Hadrian said softly, but just loud enough that the people who were within hearing distance could easily hear it.

“Okay Hadrian. See you tomorrow. We’ll try and keep Ron and Hermione away from the dorms.” Neville said, giving him a small smile. He went up the stairs as quickly as he could and then entered his dorm room. He lept onto his bed, relishing in its comfort for the last time. He closed the hangings around his bed with a lazy wave of his wand, then proceeded to put locking charms and a disturb me not charm on them for good measure. Luckily, he had a permanent silencing charm on them due to his night terrors. Hadrian lay there and thought. After tomorrow, he would be done with Hogwarts. Done with the Dursleys. Done with the ridiculous amount of chores, no more punishments that left numerous bruises at the very least.

Instead, he would be in America with his mums' cousin and her family. Maybe he’d have a normal year for once. Dad seemed to trust this person, and Hadrian trusted his Dads judgment. He would wait and see for himself, however. Either way, he was glad his papa was going with him. He was nervous to fly on an airplane for one, and he couldn’t imagine trying to explain everything by himself. There were too many things that he didn’t know.

Hadrian silently cast a ‘tempus’ and saw that it was a little after midnight. He then decided that he should get some sleep, since America was in a completely different time zone, and he didn’t know exactly how long things would take once he got to America. He set an alarm to go off at four forty-five, rolled over, and fell asleep.

A few hours later, Hadrians’ eyes snapped open, instantly awake when he heard a faint buzzing noise, which was his alarm. He groaned, but got up from his bed and stretched until he heard a pop. It felt great, his back had been a bit tight after sleeping on his back for so long. He normally awoke in a completely different position than he fell asleep in. He then lay there until he remembered why he was up at four forty-five in the morning- his body clock would always wake him up at five fifteen. He then got up as quickly and quietly as he was able to. He threw on a pair of comfortable sweatpants and a soft, dark green jumper- not one that Molly Weasley had knitted for him, he didn’t have any of those anymore. He had been given this one by his pa. He then shrank his trunk so that it could fit into his pocket. He looked around, just to make sure he hadn’t left anything out. He cast a silent summoning charm to be sure, but after waiting for a couple of minutes, nothing showed up. He cast one last look at his dorm, said a silent goodbye to Neville, Seamus, and Dean, and left. On the stairway, he took a deep, shuddering breath, and took out his map. Just as he had thought, no one else in any of the houses was awake. The only dots he could see moving were those of his Dad, Papa, and Pa. Not even Dumbledore was awake at this time of day. Hadrian made his way down the stairs, quiet as a mouse. He decided against wearing his cloak because he didn’t want anything to draw attention to the fact that he wasn’t really going for a run.

He left the common room and when he turned around, he saw the portrait of The Fat Lady was still asleep, and he thanked Magic for small mercies. He swiftly made his way down to the dungeons, passing the entrance to the Slytherin common room to get to his Dads rooms. Just when he was almost to his dads' rooms, he passed by Peeves, and he cursed his luck. However, just as Peeves was about to yell, the Bloody Baron floated past and gave him such a severe look that Peeves abruptly shut his mouth and disappeared as quickly as he could. Hadrian gave the Baron a silent nod of thanks which was returned before he drifted off somewhere else. Hadrian then quickened his pace to his dads' rooms. He couldn’t wait to leave.

When he got to his dads’ rooms, he pressed his hand to the portrait guarding them and the silent knight nodded, his sword sheathed at his side. Had someone else, like Dumbledore been there, he would’ve made noise to let Severus know that someone unwanted was trying to enter his rooms. Hadrian relaxed fully for the first time in three days as he stood in his dads rooms.These rooms were the only place Hadrian could let down his guard anymore, and as much as he hated being in Hogwarts sometimes, due to Dumbledore and his unrelenting schemes, he would miss these rooms. Hadrian once again cast a ‘tempus’ and saw that it was almost time to leave. His papa walked out of the bedroom to his right, dressed in formal clothing consisting of a mundane business suit- a bit too formal for the long plane ride they were about to embark on.

“Papa, I know we’re going to America the muggle way, but if you want to dress like one, I think that’s too formal for what we’re about to do.”

“And what are we about to do?”

“Sit in a metal tube hurtling though the sky faster than any broom could ever go, surrounded by people just to meet my mums cousin that I’ve never heard about until reccently. Now, you can change into a suit at the airport once we’re in America, or you can be uncomfortable in a suit the whole way there.” Hadrian explained, not taking a breath until he was done saying what he wanted to say. His papa blinked at him, taking a moment to digest what his pup said. Then his eyes softened and he pulled him into a hug. Clearly Hadrian had been holding back his emotions regarding the situation for a bit too long. Hadrian accepted the hug gratefully, not realizing he needed one until he was being hugged. They stood there for a minute, then pulled away slowly. Sirius conceded to his pups knowledge of the muggle world and pulled him towards the closet, because he was at a loss for what to wear.

Hadrian smirked at his papa before walking into the closet, pulling out a t-shirt, sweatpants and a jumper, all dark grey in colour. Sirius gave Hadrian a dark look when he saw the colour scheme- he preferred blue and his pup knew that. Hadrian giggled at the look before taking a last look around while his papa changed his clothes. Even if his cousin didn’t want to look after him, he wasn’t going to come back to Hogwarts, not even England. Not if Dumbledore, Ronald, Hermione and Molly are still active in making decisions in the community. Although Hadrian was the one to defeat Voldieshorts, Ronald and Hermione adamantly claimed that they were a large factor in defeating him, one that Dumbledore backed up even though not a single person could recall seeing him at the battle at any point in time.

“Is this better, pup?” Sirius asked, pulling Hadrian out of his thoughts. He turned to see that his papa had changed into the clothing he’d handed him, only applying a colour changing charm to switch from dark gray to a cobalt clue shirt and jumper, leaving the sweatpants dark gray. He looked much more comfortable in them than he had in the suit.

“Looks good papa. Is dad and pa awake yet?” Hadrian said, wanting to say hi before they have to leave.

“They are meeting us at the airport pup. They wanted to see us off, and Dumbledore thinks that they are hunting for potions ingredients that Remus found a couple of days ago. He thinks they left last night.” Sirius told his pup, grabbing his things and shrinking them. He grabbed his pups hand, pulling him towards the floo. Sirius grabbed a pinch of floo powder, threw it down while yelling “The Leaky Coludron” pulling Hadrian with him, knowing his pups tendency to get either lost in the network or stumbling when exiting the network. Lily was always the same way.

There wasn’t anyone in the front of the pub, but they could hear clanging noises from the back- it was Tom the barman getting ready to serve breakfast to his patrons. Hadrian and Sirius hastily exited the pub, not wanting Tom to see them, lest anyone ask if they’d been seen outside Hogwarts. They then went to an apparition point just outside of the Leaky Coludron, and went to apparated to an alley just a bit further from the airport. Both Sirius and Hadrian took a deep breath, hands still clasped together, and smiled. They were really doing this. They were about to leave England, leave the only place they’ve called home. Hadrian couldn’t wait.

Chapter Text

Hadrian was a bit nervous getting onto the plane. His loving ‘family’ had never taken him on local trips, much less international travel, so he’d never even seen a plane up close before. His papa walked next to him, drawing more than a few glances from both men and women alike, even though he was only dressed in a hoodie and a pair of sweats. They managed to pass through security without any problems, and by the time they reached their gate, the plane was boarding, so they didn’t have to do a whole lot of waiting.

His papa grabbed his hand softly, giving it a light squeeze when he looked up at him, slightly confused. Hadrian was glad that his papa was coming with him. If his aunt turned out to be anything like Petunia, he knew his papa would get him away from her. Plus, he had someone beside him who hasn’t flown before either. Hadrian knew he would be okay with his parents, even if two of them were coming to America after him.

The speaker above them called out their flight number for boarding, and he squared his shoulders. This was it. He was leaving behind those arseholes who apparently only listened to anything Dumbledore said, looked up to him as if the sun shone out of his arse. It was sickening really. While Hadrian was packing, he thought back to his introductions to his friends, and came to the conclusion that they were just terrible friends, not even good enough to use that word. They just used him for something, he wasn’t sure what for yet. He didn’t have a lot of money that he knew of, just his trust vault, but Ron had seen that already, so that couldn’t be it. Either way, he’d have his pa or dad ask the goblins about it before they get to America. It couldn’t hurt anything, really.

Hadrian and Sirius got onto the the plane without any problems and managed to get seated fairly quickly. They were seated fairly close to the front of the plane, just behind the exit. Hadrian had no idea how his pa managed to get them that kind of seating, but he wasn’t complaining. Everyone else managed to board in a timely manner, so the plane was able to take off on time. Hadrian paid close attention to what the flight attendant said during the safety instructions, hoping that it would calm his nerves. It did, but just a tiny bit. He was still trapped in flying metal tube- he wasn’t going to be calm since he couldn’t see anything from where he was. His papa was calmer- he was reclined in his seat, eyes closed, humming with a slight grin on his face.

Sirius was happy as could be when missing two of his partners. He and his pup were out of the cursed castle, away from the bastard of a headmaster and controlling, manipulative ways. They were gonna be in a whole new country, this would be good for all of them. His pup could meet some new family members and could heal, even see a therapist for everything that had happened to his poor pup. He too would see someone- the mind healers in America were some of the best in the world. Severus could finally join the potions guild that had been begging him to join them for years. And the final nail in the coffin, so to speak, was that werewolves were not considered sub-human. Any werewolf could get any kind of help they need, free of charge- Sirius did a lot of research in the week they had to prepare. To say he was excited about the move would be an understatement. Right now, all he had to worry about was two things- actually landing in America, and this JJ person, and wether or not she would be good for his pup. All in all, not bad for running away early in the morning.

The flight passed quickly enough. Both Hadrian and Sirius managed to get some sleep, long enough that by the captain was calling for all seats to be in the upright position, they were wide awake and kind of hungry. But that could wait- they were finally in America.

JJ woke to the sound of her phone ringing. Conditioned as she was, she was instantly awake.

“Jareau.”

“JJ? This is Severus .”

“Oh, good morning Severus. I’m sorry, i thought work was calling. It’s early here.” she looked over her nightstand it was true. It was 12:55. Fortunately, she was no stranger to early morning phone calls.

“My apologies. I had briefly forgotten about time zones.”

“It’s alright. Anyways, how are you? Has Hadrian left on his flight yet?”

“Indeed he has. He and my partner should be landing about…” he paused, and JJ could tell he was doing some quick mental math. “5:30 this evening at Richmond International Airport at gate 17.” he told her.

“Thank you. I can’t wait to meet them. You have to tell me what they look like, I haven’t seen any pictures of either of them.” she said excitedly, yet quietly. She got up out of her bed, and pulled on a robe as she walked into her kitchen. On the other side of the phone, she could feel Severus hesitate.

“Severus? What is it?” He sighed, and it was as if he were bracing himself for something.

“The thing is, you have seen one of them, possibly. My partner, Sirius. He would’ve been in the news for escaping prison. He was accused of murdering twelve people.” He said quietly. JJ racked her brain, something about what he said was familiar to her. Sometimes she wished he had Reids’ memory. Then it hit her.

“Wait, Sirius. As in Sirius Black? He hasn’t been caught yet? It’s been over four years! How is he flying?” she said in rapid succession. Severus huffed out a small laugh.

“I guess it hasn’t made the news there, but he was never actually charged with anything. He was just thrown in prison without anyone except for a few people being aware of it. He hasn’t murdered anyone. I would tell you more, but it is not my story to tell. I’m sure he would be more than willing to tell you what happened- Hadrian has a lot to do with it too. Anyways, Sirius has been pardoned by the Queen, so he is allowed to fly as he pleases.” he told her, keeping it somewhat simple. He should’ve figured that she would immediately ask those kinds of questions, seeing as she works in the government.

“Okay. That is a lot to process. But I will save my questions for when they get settled.” she said, slightly overwhelmed with the information, but not letting it phase her for now. She took a deep breath, then another.

“What about Hadrian? Any defining features to look out for?”

“Well, he has a large scar going across his face, it ends just below his right cheekbone. His eyes are quite unique- one is a bright, vivid green and the other is a dark, stormy grey. Sirius has the same shade of grey.” Severus explained, feeling a bit of pride. He had made the potion that resulted in Hadrians’ eye change. No one at Hogwarts had noticed because his son had put on a glamour, not wanting to stand out even more than he already did. His eyes had changed just after his fourth year, and not a single person noticed, except for Neville and Luna. Hadrian hadn’t worried about them knowing though. He knew he could trust them.

“Well, they sound beautiful. I can’t wait to meet them. I will be at the airport this evening. I have to get back to sleep, but have a good rest of your day, Severus.”

“You as well, JJ. I shall call you soon.”

“Sounds good. Goodbye.”

“Goodbye.” As she hung up the phone, only one thought was running through her mind. ‘I hope I can help Hadrian in any way he needs.’ And with that she went back to bed for some more sleep before her baby boy got her up at six.

Chapter Text

HOGWARTS, SCOTLAND HIGHLANDS

Albus Dumbledore was mad. No, he was beyond that. He was livid. His magic was slowly filling the room he was in, dancing with malice. He had just gotten a report from the hidden portrait in the fifth years dormitory, for protection of course, saying that the damned brat was nowhere to be seen. Naturally, the portrait didn’t know when the brat had left, just that he was gone. It was too early, around six-thirty in the morning, so not many people were awake at this time. Which made Dumbledore all the more mad. He knew that Ronald was still asleep, without a doubt but maybe Hermione would know something. He resigned himself to making the walk to Gryffindor tower, and his anger was building the entire way there.

When he arrived at Gryffindor tower, the portrait of the Fat Lady was shocked silent at the sight of the headmaster. She was normally an exceptionally verbose person, but this morning, early as it was, she couldn’t summon any words at the sight of the blinding image of the Headmaster. He was wearing an extremely bright purple robe with highlighter green polka dots peeking through every time the robes shifted. It was murder on the eyes. To spare her eyes even more pain, she opened up her portrait to allow him entrance into the common room without the current password. Dumbledore stalked through the entrance, eyes rapidly searching around the common room, hoping to spot the brat, but with no luck. There was only two students in the main area at the moment, one of the being Hermione Granger. The other was a student whose name he couldn’t be bothered to remember at the moment. He stood there a moment, gathering up his anger and shoving it down for the moment. He walked over to stand besides Hermione, gently clearing his throat to get her attention.

“Headmaster! I didn’t see you there! What can I do for you?” she asked him eagerly, and he mentally smirked. Ah, to have the devotion of such an intelligent witch would never get old. She would’ve done a lot to change the world had he not gotten to her first.

“Good morning Miss Granger. I was simply wondering if you have seen young Mister Potter this morning?” he asked with his usual grandfatherly tone, aware that someone else was in the room with them.

“No, I haven’t. I think he’s still asleep. He normally gets up at seven I think.” Hermione said, glancing at the headmaster questioningly. Why should she care where the brat is? She doesn’t have to pretend to like him anymore, or ‘correct’ his assignments anymore. She got all the money and books she could want from him, so he was of no use anymore. She was just waiting for him to die at this point, so she and Ronald get get the rest of his money and all of his properties.

“I was made aware that he wasn’t in his dormitory, and since breakfast hasn’t yet begun I was hoping that he wouldn’t be out causing any trouble.” The Headmaster said, just barely keeping up his persona.

“Hadrian said he was going to go for a run this morning, Professor Dumbledore. He’ll be back by breakfast, he usually is.” said the unknown student. Dumbledore turned to look at this student, nonplussed. How did this student know when his best informant didn’t?

“No, he isn’t. Harry always sleeps until seven, Lucas.” Hermione said condescendingly. Lucas looked her in confusion.

“Maybe. But last night he told Longbottom that he was going for a run this morning, which is why he turned in early.” Lucas said, not caring for Hermiones’ lack of knowledge. With that, he turned back to his book and proceed to ignore both Hermione and the headmaster.

“Well then. When he comes back, send him up to my office, Miss Granger.”

“Of course, Headmaster” With that, Dumbledore walked out of the common and down the hall. When he got far enough away from the common room, he began releasing the tight hold over his anger. His magic began to react accordingly, filling the hallway with oppressive malice. He apparated to his office before it could properly explode like he was about to. A run? Please, as if the brat could come up with something that would have him doing more work than he had to. The brat was lazy, selfish, and conceited. Why else would he stop being around his informants, why else would he not be with the female Weasley? The potions should’ve been working by this point, even accounting for the bloody soulbond with the blasted muggle!

‘It’s quite simple, really. When the boy comes up to his office, he’ll put him under with an enchanted sleep, then use some of the more…old fashioned rituals to make him more malleable for the moment, just long enough for the Weasley girl to get pregnant with the next male Potter, then he’ll compel the boy to poison himself with a potion from Severus’ stores. Then he will call the Aurors on Severus, he’ll be thrown in Azkaban or given the Dementors Kiss, which will take care of that problem. The wolf and Black will be so devastated by Potters’ death, perhaps they’ll die as well’ Dumbledore thought to himself maniacally. Fawkes watched the insane man laugh to himself with sad eyes. Hogwarts was his home, the place where he was born, but he can’t stay here any longer, not with its current headmaster. With a quiet trill that went unnoticed, he flashed away, not to be seen by the residents of Hogwarts again, with the exception of Severus and Remus, for now.

Hours passed. Dumbledore was now anxiously waiting for the Potter brat to arrive in his office. It was now close to eleven in the morning, and there was no sign of the boy anywhere. He was starting to get mad again. Then, his statue chimed, announcing the arrival of someone coming up to his office. He quickly sat behind his desk, grandfatherly smile in place. His door was quite forcefully shoved open by Ronald, followed quickly by Hermione. Both were panting quite heavily.

“HE’S GONE!” Ronald yelled, red in the face. Hermione nodded furiously behind him. Dumbledores magic exploded out of him, shattering everything possible and knocking down both Ron and Hermione.

He quickly summoned all the teachers in the school. He also fixed the room, he couldn’t have anyone realizing that anything was amiss. They all arrived in quick succession.

“We have a problem, ladies and gentlemen. A student seems to have gone missing.” he said gravely, and chaos erupted. He let it go on for a few minutes, enjoying the chaos before letting off a few bangs.

“Quiet! We must figure out how, and when the student left.” he said authoritatively. There were a few murmurs of consent, when a voice from the corner of the room spoke up.

“Who is missing? It will help us to know who to look for.” Snape asked, and Dumbledore mentally cursed the man. He hadn’t wanted to announce who they were looking for just yet.

“Young mister Potter is who we are looking for.” Dumbledore said sadly, making all the teachers look at one another, confused.

“How do you know he is missing, Albus? It is the weekend, students do not have to be seen if they do not wish on the weekends.” Minerva said, her accent seemingly more pronounced than usual.

“I had asked Miss Granger to send Mister Potter to my office around six-thirty, and her and Mister Weasley just came up to my office to let me know that they haven’t seen him. I am concerned.” he explained gravely.

“And you didn’t think that maybe Mister Potter is avoiding the two? They haven't been very kind to him this year, always trying to start arguments with him. I would ask others who have been around him more often this year wether not they’ve seen. We have no reason for concern at this moment.” Professor Sprout said, and most of the other professor nodded in agreement. Only Professors McGonagall and Snape seemed to disagree, but didn’t say anything.

“Very well then. If you would be so kind as to ask these students, I would much appreciate it.” he said in dismissal, and the professor left.