Hogwarts Legacy: The Dark Veins In Time

The Way Things Should Be

**only a little sprinkle of spice, don't worry, there will be more soon for you thirsty lovelies**

AESOP POV

Returning to Hogwarts to find Ominis Gaunt nearly tortured to death with Y/N and Sebastian caught in the crossfire and forced to bear witness was not what I expected after my time in London.

I admitted to not fully knowing how to handle the situation, to offer comfort to either of the two despairing teenagers as Y/N fell into a deep depression and Sebastian grew distant. Even the news of my reluctant agreement to keep her betrothal to Ominis intact brought Y/N no comfort as I watched her crumble from a distance, refusing sleep and food just to stay by his side, blaming herself when she thought no one was around to hear her sobbing. There was certainly nothing I could do about Phineas Black's involvement and Nathairin was barred in his mansion, untouchable as always.

I kept myself settled waiting for Kassia to contact me with the first steps in her plan to usurp her husband - the only revenge I would be able to manage for any of us.

And now weeks later I sit in my office, drinking and trying to lay pieces of several other plans together with Clara Taylor present to help me sort it all out - and keep me grounded. I was thrilled when she was asked to head the security of the upcoming Triwizard Tournament and returned to Hogwarts with me. Of course she had made little use of the accommodations within the faculty tower that were rushed together for her, my finding peace in waking up to the softened beautiful face she only ever showed to me every morning.

I never thought I'd see her again, let alone fall to my knees the way I did the minute we were alone on her second day in London.

"There's a walking mummy and his ridiculously attractive bodyguard hanging around the school, Y/N and Sebastian are no where to be found, and now.." Clara sighed at me, tossing yesterday's Daily Prophet at me from the other side of my desk that displayed a picture of some small shop that appeared to be half-burned to the ground across it's front page, "Red Devil Phantoms in Edinburgh. They destroyed a muggle antique shop after stealing every dusty old book they had. Thankfully no one was killed this time."

"Edinburgh..." I brought a hand to my temples to rub away yet another headache today, ".. they're getting bloody closer to Hogwarts. Did the muggles at least have a catalogue of the books that were there?"

Clara smiled as she tossed yet another document towards me before leaning back in her chair to prop the heel of her boots up on the corner of my desk, lounging as she sipped at her fire whiskey. I took a moment to drink in her beauty stretched out before me, body clad in her unconventionally tight clothing that made every part of her drip with the things that men dream of.

"Luckily, they did. But I don't know much about old tomes to recognize the significance of any of the ones listed. What could Red Devils want with some muggle books?"

I flipped through the pages with nothing among the titles or authors springing out to grab my attention beyond ones that I thought Y/N would enjoy owning herself and perhaps I would have to make time to find other copies for her. "Nothing - it's likely that one or more of these are not muggle works, and somehow something of our world ended up there. I'll send this to Scribner, she will know the difference."

Robbing muggle business, killing needlessly, breaking into wizarding schools.. what the bloody hell is next?

Hogwarts. Hogwarts is next.

"Reggie is sending Levi and a slew of your British Aurors and Ministry Authorities to come help supervise the tournament," Clara said with yet another, and hopefully final, document thrown before me, "He's going to stay with Isaac to deal with the Kessington situation. Sneaky cunt has completely disappeared along with Anne Sallow. Isaac is in tatters."