Me: *after returning from a weeks-long impromptu holiday from Civilisation to tour the Himalayas with my favourite cousin* Hi there!! Missed me?
*****
Forbidden Forest
20th April, 1943
":Heads up, there's a bush of stinging nettle to our eleven!:"
Tom hummed in answer, noticing the almost four feet shrubbery gleaming under light from the conjured ball of light. Tom stepped to his right, avoiding it by at least two feet, being careful to ensure he didn't lose his path. It was nearing midnight, the Full Moon was shining brightly in the sky, though its rays dimly illuminated the thick Forbidden Forest.
Hadrianus was walking ahead of him, using his experience and apparently enhanced sense to warn Tom about the dangers and routes to the cave of the Mooncalves. Tom hadn't believed him at first when Hadrianus said being an Animagus enhanced people's senses, not until he saw the proof before him, still, he would have preferred if Hadrianus stayed in his Animagus form, even if Hadrianus refused, arguing with him that his form was that of a predator, and it might tick off the Mooncalves.
Tom had yet to determine whether he should focus on rituals to enhance his senses or learn to be an Animagus, which has its own perks. Maybe he would do them both?
He would like to have enhanced senses as Hadrianus did. Being able to smell the cave of Mooncalves from miles away like a predatory animal was certainly not an easy feat, especially when Hadrianus was still in his human form. Tom was torn between worry and pride. Worry for his future son who must have explored the Forbidden Forest regularly to completely map out the forest in his head. And pride, knowing his son was raised to be better than most magicals, someone who could easily navigate tricky places like the Forbidden Forest.
Hadrianus called out to him, warning him to stay off the path frequently walked by centaurs and trolls, jokingly saying he knew from experience that treading onto their lands wasnt pleasant.
Dear Merlin, how did the child survive this long?
That thought didn't sit with Tom very well.
He swore he would be putting every tracking charm he knew on his son the moment he took his first breath.
He would lock him in a tower in the middle of the ocean and lock it with various enchantments until he was old enough to go to Hogwarts. Tom sighed, Hadrianus would just find a way to break free and go find trouble under the ocean. Probably befriend a kelpie or some other man-eating creature.
At least Tom had enough sense to research beforehand and put some notice-me-not, smell-neutralising and silencing charms on themselves to avoid the predators.
":I hope my Animagus form is similar to yours.:" Tom hissed softly, looking around the forest as he walked briskly, following Hadrianus.
Hadrianus sniffed in response, ":I'll have you know your Animagus is an adorable kitty cat.:"
Tom flared his nostril, flickering a hex at Hadrianus's back as punishment even when he merely deflected it without even glancing towards the incoming hex.
":I'm not!:"
":Are too!:"
":I refused to participate in these childish squabbles!:"
":Only because you know that I know the answer.:" Hadrianus replied, before pausing in realisation, ":Wow, how the tables have turned! I'm really liking being the mysterious one with all the answers!:"
Tom glared at him, before crossing his arms over his chest and looking away with a scoff
":How much longer?:" Tom deflected. rolling his eyes when Hadrianus snorted, knowing very well what he did.
":Another ten minutes of the walk towards the South now that we've reached the North Ford bog entrance."
Tom hummed with a nod, walking after Hadrianus silently, resulting in almost bumping into him when the other teen suddenly stopped.
"What is it?"
"You may want to back off a bit, I'm about to unfurl my wings."
"Why?" Tom asked, baffled, but he did obey and backed off a feet when the majestic pair of gleaming wings unfurled from Hadrianus's back. The dark forest almost lit up from the brilliantly luminescent wings as they fluttered and stretched out behind Hadrianus's back, then folded back in to hang off his shoulder like some sort of fluorescent cape made of pure white feathers.
"I've noticed that all the creatures like my wings, and I'm hoping to befriend one of the shyest of all creatures at the moment." Hadrianus shrugged, the feathery cape moving with the gesture, before he started walking again.
Tom gripped his wand tightly, now on high alert, trying to notice even the slightest change of environment that indicated a bigger predator nearby. If Hadrianus's wings could charm shy creatures like mooncalves, it may attract predators as well. Besides, the light from his wings may capture unwanted attention!
":We're here.:"
Tom followed Hadrianus's eyes to the herd containing at least fifteen mooncalves a few feet ahead in a glade. Their bodies were smooth and pale grey, with bulging round eyes on top of their heads and four spindly legs with enormous flat webbed feet.
As the boys stepped on the glade, they had their attention immediately. A ripple of caution, wariness and intrigue spread across the herd.
To Tom's further surprise, all Hadrianus did was spread some sopophorous beans around himself and then sit down on the glade, folding and arranging his wings to cover himself from the cold midnight breeze.
"What are you doing, sitting on the ground?" Tom hissed, utterly disgusted with such behaviour. "You'll get dirt all over your clothes and wings." Oh, the poor wings!
"Ssh, you'd scare them away. Sit down."
"No." Tom refused to sit on the dirt. Merlin knows what kind of creepy crawlies are roaming on the forest floor.
"Fine. At least stand still, no sudden movement."
That, he could do. Tom sighed, but agreed to do so. Tom stood leaning against the oak tree behind him, switching between watching Hadrianus and the herd. Hadrianus was simply staring at the herd as if waiting for them to make the first move. The only movement was the luminescent feathers swaying with the gentle breeze.
Minutes flew by. The moon rose higher in the sky, the sounds of crickets grew louder as the night slowly progressed. Yet neither the herd of mooncalves, nor the teenager had moved. Tom was admittedly confused.
Slowly but surely the herds' curiosity overcame their wariness, or maybe their interest in the sopophorous beans made them bolder. The biggest mooncalves of the herd cautiously approached Hadrianus, sniffing around him and his wings, before eating the beans from the grounds.
On noticing the humans had not harmed them, the shyer of the herds grew braver. They soon started to approach Hadrianus, eating the beans he had spread just by him while Hadrianus had simply sat on the ground, and stared at them with all the patience of a nun.
Tom watched the scene unfold in awe. It was like watching a master at work. He was mesmerised by those multitudes of colours and patterns of furs on the mooncalves - like, deep blue striped, light blue striped, brown striped, black-spotted, and the silver-white colouration, all gleaming from both the moonlight and the light coming off Hadrianus's wings. He had never seen one so close. He was half tempted to touch them, but did not care enough to actually do so.
As if knowing what Tom had in his mind, Hadrianus raised his own hands slowly, as if not to startle them, showing more beans in his hands. By the time, the mooncalves had realised they meant no harm, and easily approached him and started to eat directly from his hand.
"Hello there, beauties!" Hadrianus whispered, earning a pleased mewl as he petted their smooth-looking body.
"Thank you, thank you so much."
Tom frowned, looking back at the other teenager. Why was he thanking them?
Then he noticed it. There, under the bright moonlight, a fistful of grey furs gleamed right on Hadrianus' palms.
*****
The Grand Staircase, Hogwarts
22nd April, 1943
Tom was walking down the stairs briskly from his Arithmancy class, ignoring his followers tailing behind him which reminded him of Hadrianus's gleeful observations about how they "...always resemble a pile of ducklings following the mommy duck."
"..."
"Well, papa duck, in your case!"
"I do not resemble a papa duck! And a male is called a drake, not a duck, you foolish brat!"
"Anyway, so-"
Tom ignored one of those many headache-inducing conversations he had with the imp in order to ponder whether he should attend the useless History class or skip it. He could always order one of his followers to give his attendance to the stupid ghost and do more important things that require his attention, like checking on Hadrianus and making sure the imp is staying out of trouble until he returns to his timeline.
From what he heard this morning, the runes to activate the Who's TARDIS Circle (Hadrianus really needed to rename that stupid thing) were nearly complete, even though Hadrianus hadn't let Tom watch him draw it, as it was still a surprise birthday present for his future-self. If everything went smoothly, Hadrianus would leave tonight.
Tom didn't know how he felt about that.
To be honest, Tom was jittery and full of nerves, a feeling he had not felt since coming to Hogwarts. He hadn't thought this before, but now Hadrianus has completed the runes for the rituals and completed his brewings, and it suddenly became too real.
After all, it was true that time travel was a fickle thing.
Not that Tom was not happy to help the boy reach the time where he originally belonged, under the protection of Lord Voldemort, where Hadrianus could cause mischief to his heart's extent while Lord Voldemort looked after him.
But on the other hand, Tom didn't want to lose him to the unknown.
What if Hadrianus made a mistake and ended up in a time where Tom didn't exist to help him out, like further in the past?
What if they lost Hadrianus to some different Timeline?
What if he ended up in a different dimension altogether?
What if...
":Tom! Wait for me!:"
Tom immediately snapped up hearing his name in Parseltongue, looking around to find the only other Parselmouth he had known. As the Parselwords travelled further than normal words, he wasnt sure where Hadrianus could be.
Why was the imp out in public?
Tom squinted his eyes, noticing a tiny green mamba waving his tail maniacally from the topmost stair of Arithmancy class, beautiful emerald scales shining under the sun rays coming from the windows.
"Avery, give my attendance in History class, I'll see you all at Great Hall." Tom decided, dismissing his followers who murmured a quiet 'Yes, My Prince,' as they hurried off. Tom waited until all of them had left.
Looking around and making sure he was the only student left on the Grand Staircase, he turned towards where he had last seen the green mamba. Tom blinked when he noticed the serpent version of his future son was replaced by his human form who was running down the stairs to Tom, grinning like a Cheshire cat.
Then everything happened so fast.
As Hadrianus was running down the stairs, jumping across the stairs, it was the moment the stairs of Hogwarts had decided to move.
Hadrianus let out a yelp as he skidded to a halt to avoid tripping over the edge, but he was running too fast, and the marble staircase offered very low resistance to stop him. Which resulted in Hadrianus tripping over the rim despite his best attempt at stopping.
"No!" Tom let out a piercing scream on noticing Hadrianus falling freely from the sixth floor, pulling his wand out to cast cushioning charms on him, or at least slow his descent. Anything to reduce the lethality of the situation. To save his future son. He would never let the menace die like this!
But all of it was for nought. Tom watched, mouth agape as Hadrianus, recovering from the shock rather quickly, rolled his body and spread his wings, completely stopping his descent midair. He then beat his powerful gleaming pure-white wings, raising himself to Tom's level on the grand staircase, flapping his wings slowly to lose his momentum before landing lightly on his feet as if he were weightless.
Tom stared blankly as Hadrianus unfurled his wings and flashed him a smug grin as if he was proud of what he had done. Proud of the stunt he had pulled.
Tom clutched his wildly beating heart, glaring murderously at Hadrianus. At that moment, he knew, he absolutely knew that if he had to face a Boggart, what it would turn into.
It was going to be Hadrianus' dead body.
"What the fuck do you think you were doing?" Tom snapped harshly, a tone he had never used on Hadrianus before.
The smug smile on Hadrianus's face vanished on seeing his murderous glare. His proud face slowly morphed into a look of horror when Hadrianus realised the person right in front of him was none other than his future father.
Clearly, Hadrianus was familiar with the punishments for pulling such stunts if his father caught him!
As he should, Tom thought fiercely, glaring at him. Merlin, he needed one of those fine bottles of firewhiskey from Malfoy's stash that he was showing off last night! He was sure Malfoy would forgive him for this, not that he really cared even if he didn't!
"Oh shite!" Hadrianus mumbled, looking like a deer under a headlight. "Oh my god! I totally forgot about rule 7! Oh my God! Er, Tom? I promise I will behave. I won't pull that stunt in front of you ever again."
Too late for that, Tom thought. He already has enough nightmares for the coming decades.
Wait, does that mean he would pull that stunt behind his back?
He was so angry and stressed to the point that he even lost his ability to swear or even talk intelligently. Not that he should swear, it is unbecoming to do that in front of his future child, even if the said menace is his age at the moment! How on earth did he survive raising this menace in the future? He must have had all his hair white by the time Hadrianus was eleven!
"Uh, Tom?" Hadrianus asked hesitantly when Tom didn't speak for a couple of minutes after the end of his rant. "Am I in trouble?"
Tom breathed deeply, trying to get his thoughts together. "Take a guess!" He snapped.
"No?" Hadrianus was hopeful.
"Take another guess." Tom deadpanned.
"But... I don't trust the stairs, neither should you! They're evil!"
"What do you mean, you don't trust the stairs?"
"They're always up to something. And if they're not, they let you down."
Tom stopped, blinked, and then pinched the bridge of his nose. This was completely unbelievable. What did he do to piss off Lady Fate so tremendously to be cursed with such an absurd child?!
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are," Hadrianus replied with a bit of a hysterical giggles.
Tom sighed and looked up at the ceiling, praying for patience. Fuck one bottle, he was going to need at least five bottles after this was over. What kind of nightmare-inducing child he had produced in the future?! That stunt he just pulled, Tom just knew he was going to have nightmares about it for decades!
Lord Voldemort is absolutely locking the boy in his bedroom if he finds out Hadrianus is practising parkour in the future.
Fuck this shit, it's his future self's problem. If Tom thought more, he was going to spiral.
"Come on, I'll call Nagini. It's time for your return so my future self can punish you properly." Tom stated sternly, ignoring the way Hadrianus's shoulder slumped in defeat.
Tom promised himself to raid the whole trunk of firewhiskey in Malfoy's stash after all of this was over.
*****
Nagini looked around the ritual room nervously, clearly not even she wanted to lose Hadrianus in something completely unknown, like Tom.
"Are you sure about this?"
"Relax, ma'am! Contrary to popular belief, I know exactly what I am doing." Hadrianus flashed her a confident grin, "And trust me, the future you wouldn't even know I was gone, because I'll be returning a couple of minutes after the incident."
That doesn't sound as relaxing as Hadrianus thought it would be.
Tom exchanged an equally worried look with Nagini, both thinking the same thing. Neither of them liked the fact that their future self would be unaware of this spectacular shenanigan of their son. Lord Voldemort would need to keep a really close eye on the child's every breath.
"Alright, ma'am, I need your help with this step."
"Sure, what do I do?"
"Cover this area after I write down the date. No peeking."
Tom glared at Hadrianus, knowing very well why Hadrianus asked for Nagini's help for this. Tom wouldn't have trusted even himself to not peek at the date.
Nagini, knowing that, flashed him a smug smirk and covered the square with her long gown immediately as Hadrianus wrote the date and activated the circle.
Noticing their increasingly worried looks, Hadrianus hugged Nagini, flashing her a broad smile, "I'll see you on the other side, soon."
"You better." Nagini sniffed, but she did hug him back, her arms wrapping around Hadrianus tightly, afraid to lose him to the Unknown. "Do you have everything?"
Hadrianus patted his holsters and made a show of looking at his hands, "I have my wands and all my limbs attached, if that's what you mean."
Nagini sighed, "Be careful."
"When am I not?" Hadrianus asked cheekily, grinning when Nagini shot him a pointed look. After all, Hadrianus was in the mess because of his carelessness!
On seeing the Temporal Magick at work, the almost forgotten worry started to form knots in Tom's stomach again. Tom was feeling increasingly nauseous in worry, he was really this close to opening his mouth and stopping Hadrianus from entering the circle, when the other teen suddenly turned towards him and hugged him next, out of the blue.
Tom was startled at the sudden show of affection. Why does it awfully feel like a goodbye?
Hadrianus flashed him a last cheeky grin before he entered the circle at the last moment.
Within a minute, he was gone with another whirl of wind and a flash of colours. Tom could feel their connection fading fast, making his heart squeeze painfully at the loss. He was alone again, no cheeky brat to silently accompany him in the middle of the night to chase away nightmares, or defend him fiercely from the bullies, or irritate him constantly.
That was anticlimactic.
Did Hadrianus reach his own Timeline?
What if he made some mistakes?
What if he went to a different Timeline altogether?
What if he went further past, before Tom came to Hogwarts, and was stuck there with no way to return?
Tom burrows his face deeper into his hands, trying not to think about the potential for Hadrianus getting lost in time, or winding up in Hogwarts, lost in time.
Tom should have stopped him. Why did he let him go? Tom should have chained him in his room to keep him out of trouble and safe, but instead, he agreed to let the boy go to his unknown fate. Why did he do that?
What if Hadrianus never returned home?
A soft hand pressed down on his shoulder, grounding him and pulling him out of his dark thoughts.
"Hadrianus is a smart kid, he will find a way home before you know it." Nagini smiled gently, sounding more confident than she probably felt.
Yes, he is a smart kid, Tom has no doubt of that. He was Tom's son, after all. But Tom would not know if Hadrianus reached home safely, not until probably decades later. He has no way to learn.
Tom could have stopped him. But where would he keep his son?
No, he shook his head. It's best for his son to return on his time. Especially when he has nothing to protect him at his time. Tom will focus on his studies, build his inheritance and claim his Lordship. He will create the best and safest world for his son to bring chaos in.
"'home' doesn't exist yet." Hadrianus had said, which means it had been Tom who built the home. For that, he would need to build a fortune at first. And buy a furry bean bag for him - Tom added mentally. Clearly, his son adored cuddling against something soft and warm. He would buy the best one he could find and add it beside his chair in his office. He will let his son cuddle and rest and maybe read a book beside him as he worked on his estate in his study of his Manor, and Nagini would rest near the fireplace of their manor.
Tom smiled wistfully, just imagining his future. It's a dream now, which he will make into reality.
Then he will search for the perfect candidate with eyes of the exact shade of Avada Kedavra and have his son born in a world safe for him. And then he will never let go of him. He will make him create his own Horcrux and together the father and son, the immortal duo will rule the World. He will never feel alone again, not even in death they will be separated, and nothing will take his son away from him.
*****
That night when Tom went to his dorm to get ready for bed, he noticed one of his comfortable but old pairs of pyjamas was missing, the one Hadrianus seemed to love, and there was something else in his robe pocket. Tom pulled out to find a leather pouch which he remembered as his son's. He had seen him use it.
Tom frowned, not knowing how it came to his pocket. He thought Hadrianus took it with him when he went, he even assured Nagini that he had everything.
No, that was not true. His exact words had been, "I have my wands and all my limbs attached, if that's what you mean."
Does that mean Hadrianus left it deliberately?
Confused, Tom checked the pouch, surprised when he noted some magic coming out of it. Magic of his son, he recognised immediately. He glanced inside the pouch and sharply inhaled.
At least ten - or maybe more than ten thousand galleons were in the clearly extended pouch. There also were a couple of parchments and a magazine called Business Through The Century inside, with all the dates of publications scrubbed off, Tom noticed while scrolling through it.
There is also the shrunken bag that Hadrianus brought from Diagon, inside which all the clothes that Hadrianus brought were also there, neatly folded. All of them were new, not even opened from their package after Hadrianus brought them.
How could the boy forget them here, in the past?
Sighing at the forgetful nature of his son, Tom grabbed the parchments, opening to find one of them was a letter to him, written in Parselscript so no one other than him could read it. Tom widened his eyes, grabbed the letter, and opened it.
To my most favourite superhero in the World,
Words can not describe how incredibly grateful I am for your help both here and back in my home. You truly deserve the title of being 'Most Brilliant and Powerful Wiggle of the time'. And I know if I try thanking you in your face, you'd probably hex me six ways to Sunday. That's why I planned to play a little trick, here's to hope your anger will mellow down by the time I am born.
You will still let me be born, right? :P
Anyway, I know you're living in a muggle orphanage now, and a crazy war is still going on in the muggle world. I am sorry I couldn't do anything to help you out there, but at least I can give you something that will help you. You can at least stay in the Leaky Cauldron if it becomes too much, right? Technically, it's your money that you gave me as an allowance during my Hogwarts time. And now you need it more than I ever did. And of course, the Business Magazine from my time, should help you set up some investments nicely, giving you steady earnings. I am sure you will find it most useful to earn more money and start your fortune early.
Stay safe and thank you once again! I love you. Have fun terrorising the muggles!
From,
H.
PS: I traded your comfy pyjamas with the clothes I bought. As you mentioned before, they're going to be out of fashion for me! :)
*****
A/N::
Don't you worry my dear readers...The Dark Prince with his mischief-filled shenanigans will be returning very soon! Stay tuned and happy reading!