Hadrian Romanoff and the Beginning

Chapter-6

"Are you certain?"

"Yes."

Pepper nodded.

"Sirius, could you bring Hadrian here please?" Pepper called out from the couch where she was sitting next to a tense Natasha.

"No problem," Sirius answered.

He swaggered out of the kitchen with his godson on his back, both of them covered in flour and egg shells - neither of them seemed to have any actual eggs on them however. Remus trailed after them, completely clean and clearly trying not to laugh at them.

Sirius waved his wand in a familiar pattern and seconds later both he and Hadrian were spotless. The young boy thanked him, jumping down from his back, and moved to squeeze between Pepper and Natasha. "Yeah, Auntie?"

Pepper smiled, though the edges of her eyes were tight. "Hadrian, your mother's decided that you're old enough now to make this decision."

Hadrian looked between his aunt and his mother in confusion, his nose scrunching up. He reached out to grasp his mother's hand for comfort. Some of the tension left Natasha's shoulders.

"What is it, Momma?"

Sirius and Remus moved to sit together on the large armchair to the right of the couch, their attention on their godson and the women he was sitting between.

Natasha gazed down at her son intently. "Hadrian, do you want to go to Hogwarts when you turn eleven?"

Hadrian's eyes widened at the question.

"Are we even sure he's going to get a letter from Hogwarts? I thought they only had jurisdiction over the British Isles?" Pepper asked hesitantly.

"That is true but there have been cases where a child born on British soil moves away and still receives their Hogwarts letter. Since Hadrian was technically born in Britain his name would have been automatically added to the book of students." Remus answered.

"So," Sirius started. "What do you want, Pronglet?"

Hadrian sighed.

He had always known it was a possibility for him to go to Hogwarts but it had never seemed real before now. It was just something that was brought up and set aside every once and a while.

Now faced with a choice he wasn't sure what he wanted to do. He had gotten used to seeing his insane family everyday and didn't know how he would handle suddenly being on his own in a strange place surrounded by strange people.

He had just started fourth grade and if he decided to go to Hogwarts he would have almost six years worth of magical education over his year mates. It didn't take much for him to realize that that could cause problems, either by his own boredom or by confusion and resentment from others.

And he didn't know if he could leave his family, leave his mom, and go all the way to another country practically on his own.

Pepper wouldn't be there to teach him manners or how to deal with the press, or watch funny movies in pajamas with him. He wouldn't see Jane run into walls because she was lost in her thoughts or watch her drink circles around even the most coffee addicted of agents. Darcy wouldn't be there to ambush him with a funny hat or goofy shirt and take pictures of him - though that may not be much of a bad thing.

Living in a castle would mean no more sneaking into the lab and letting Tony use him as guinea pig while Bruce watched on in resigned amusement, no more Clint appearing out of nowhere to shoot net launching arrows at him then taking him out for churros.

Pranks wars with Remus and Sirius would be near impossible - they could probably sneak into the castle whenever they wanted but their brand of mischief wasn't exactly subtle. It would only be a matter of time before they got caught.