White Heather for Protection

Blood of the Enemy

The Professor turned and walked briskly, clearly expecting Hadrian to follow. "All the Champion's families have been invited as spectators. We will be going to the meeting room to greet them."

Family? Surely they didn't mean the Dursleys. Hadrian hid a disgusted grimace at the thought. No, they would never agree to it. Not even if their lives were at stake. Well, it looked like he was about to find out. Professor McGonagall opened the door she had stopped in front of and ushered him in.

Inside, he first caught sight of Cedric and two people who had to be his parents. He recognised Mr Diggory from the Quidditch Cup match. Fleur Delacour and Viktor were there too, with their own families. The floo in the corner of the room suddenly flared with green flames.

"That must be them now. As always, they never could be punctual," Professor McGonagall said, frowning slightly.

Curious, Hadrian watched the figures stepping out of the fireplace. Before he could process the sight before him, he was almost knocked off his feet by a 170-pound mass barrelling into him.

"Pup! Good to see ya!" his godfather's exuberant voice greeted him. Laughing, he hugged him back, trying to steady himself.

"Let go of him Padfoot, you're suffocating him!" Remus pulled Sirius back by the scruff of his collar before shooting his pseudo-godson a commiserating smile. "Hello Hadrian. It's been a while. How are you and your sister?"

Sirius' pouting look changed drastically at the mention of his other godchild. "Yeah, where is our little fawn anyway? I thought this was for family." He looked about the room, as if expecting Heather to jump out from behind someone.

"She has classes, you can see her later during the task. And we're doing fine. Well, I am. Heather's been driven up the wall because I've been in such 'treacherous danger'," Hadrian said, using his fingers to make air quotations.

Slapping Hadrian on the back, Sirius barked out a bout of laughter. "Just like James and Lily used to be! Your mum used to tear into James so bad when he did dangerous stunts." He smirked wickedly. "Remind me to tell you about that time with the Abraxan."

Remus groaned. "Oh, Lily ignored James for a month for that! He wouldn't stop whining about it either. Of course, that didn't stop him from doing that thing with the hag."

"Yeah, the only thing that got your father to stop had been the 'you're a father now, you've got to set an example'," Sirius said, the last part in falsetto, "card that your mum always played."

Hadrian listened eagerly, always please to hear more about his parents. How his father got into such nonsense in school was a mystery, but he supposed he couldn't point fingers.

"By the way, I heard there's another Hogwarts Champion?" Sirius said casually.

Remus nodded. "Cedric Diggory, right?" he said nonchalantly. "Is that him?" He pointed unerringly to the tall brunet across the room.

"Err, right." Hadrian smiled hesitantly. What an abrupt change in conversation. "Want me to introduce him?" Why did he feel like he'd just signed his own (or likely, Cedric's) death warrant? The feeling intensified when his two godfathers agreed entirely too fervently. Despite his misgivings, Hadrian led them over to his (as yet secret) boyfriend.

He caught Cedric's eye as he approached. Smiling sheepishly, he gestured vaguely to the two men behind him. The older boy paled marginally and his smile looked a bit more nervous. Hadrian was confused, but only because he couldn't see the warning looks of the two intimidating wizards behind him.

"Good day, Mr and Mrs Diggory. Hi Cedric!" Hadrian greeted them politely, hoping to make a good impression on his boyfriend's parents. Mr Diggory didn't have a very good opinion of him, so he hoped to change that.