Harry Potter: Hydrus Black

"Well, you were right, he got fired, but, Fleur moved them to France and he's now working for the Unspeakables there," George answered with a bright smile. He was happy for his brother. Then a frown marred his brow. "Mum was right gutted when that happened. She complains that she was losing more of her family. She puts all the blame on Fleur, which is stupid, since the goblins made Dad close their vault too."

"Oh, well, I'm glad Bill got away, but saddened that your Mum has more to deal with."

George waved it away. "Not your fault," he said firmly, "Mum has always hated it when one of her chicks flies on their own. She'll always blame someone and usually not the right person."

"Still, if we hadn't stolen from Gringotts your family wouldn't be suffering," he complained.

"Don't be daft, you had no choice. I understand that and so does Bill. Remember, he was there when you made your plans. He's right chuffed that you didn't heed his warning about trusting goblins, still he knew it was something that needed to be done," George said firmly. Bill had told him the whole story before he moved. George was thankful to his older brother for trying to make everyone realize Harry wasn't at fault. Bill couldn't tell them why the Golden Trio had to steal from the goblins, only that it was needed to end the war.

"Fine, I didn't come here to fight. We'll just have to disagree on this," the younger man said, still feeling like he was to blame. Maybe he should look into getting professional help; all these guilty feelings can't be healthy. That and his nightmares about the war were getting worse. He almost hurt Kreacher the one time the old house elf tried to wake him. He was having flashbacks of all the times someone died due to his negligence or the many times his life had been in danger at Hogwarts.

"One of these days, Harry James Potter, you are going to see that you have nothing to feel sorry for, but you're right, so I'll let it go for now." It was about that time that the worker came back with the order and the total. Magic summoning was a wonderful thing, making everything take less time. The employee left and George handed the feather light bag to his friend. "The total comes to 1,565 galleons," he said.

"Okay," Hydrus said with a shrug and called for the money from over his shoulder. "I better go," he said after the transaction was complete. "I've got stuff to do. You get a hold of me when you've got new inventions," he politely reminded the other man, he got up and went to the door.

"Harry," George said, "don't be a stranger, okay?"

"I won't," he promised, "you don't be either. If you need a place to get away, call Kreacher. I'll give him permission to tell you the secret." And with that he made his way out of the shop, feeling a little better about his friend. He did some shopping, getting robes, books and potion ingredients. Not spending too much time in the Alley, since he was still hearing gossip about Harry Potter being a Dark Lord.

Some witches were speculating that since he wasn't returning to Hogwarts it only confirmed their beliefs. The young man had no clue how that information got to the populace, but he knew they were grasping at straws. Anything he did would be seen in a bad light, making the young man more determined to be shot of these stupid people.

Oh, not everyone thought he was the new Voldemort, most of the Muggle-born beggars felt that he was their savior, but since the camps killed a lot of them, they were the minority. Hydrus made a mental note to do what he could for them, before he completed his plans. Maybe offering up one of his houses as a sanctuary, or leaving money to charity in the will he was going to write. Not that he could leave much, as he needed his fortune with him. But he could part with a few thousand galleons.

Shaking himself out of those thoughts, the new Black left the Alley. He made his way back to Grimmauld Place and started his research once again. He was determined that the absurdity of the wizarding world wasn't going to put him off his path.

Hermione and Ron didn't come to see him before they went back to Hogwarts. They did send him a joint letter explaining that they made up and were still together. Hydrus shook his head and washed his hands of that particular bit of news. Hermione was a big girl and could make her own decisions. He did have a feeling that it was Ron's whining that kept the two away. Molly owled him and invited him to the Burrow again, and this time had Arthur state that Harry was welcome anytime. He turned down the offer, stating he needed to keep up with his studies.

George was a constant visitor. He used Grimmauld Place as a refuge from his Mum, who was trying to get him to move back to the Burrow. The two men spent a lot of time on the inventions, going over the notes and getting a better understanding on how it was done. It only took days for them to make a magical joy buzzer that was based off the research. It was a small, yet useful start.

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