Chapter Text
Eskel rubbed his face as he walked up to the uniform line of houses, it irked him, honestly. Such uniformity was unnatural, even for a Witcher such as himself. Amber eyes checked each number and his medallion twitched as he passed the first, second, third- and it finally tugged at his neck when he was in front of number 4.
There. This one has his Child in it. The Witcher approached the building, preparing himself for the immediate rejection that he would no doubt receive from the inhabitants. But he would do this. For his Child.
He reached the front door and knocked, waiting and listening. Hisses and a cut off whimper reached his ears and caused a small frown to form. That had better not have been his boy.
The door opened to reveal a thin, long necked woman who immediately sneered at him and tried to slam the door in his face, “We’re not interested in your kind.”
Eskel rolled his eyes and easily stopped the door, “I’m not with Dumbledore and his merry band of followers. I’m also not with the people who murdered Lily and James Potter. My name is Eskel and I'm here for Harry. You’ll give him to me without a fuss and you’ll never see him, or me again if you so wish.”
The woman gave Eskel a sharp look, scowling at him. She jerked her head, moving and allowing the Witcher to enter the house, “Take him and get out. I don’t want either of you here.”
Eskel grunted, walking into the entry hall, nose taking in the sterile scent of the house and the faint odor of young children. He sighed as he spotted the very boy he was here to collect. Wild black hair, big green eyes and an almost solemn expression drew him in quickly. This child would have the whole damn keep in his little hand with a single look. Eskel walked over, listening to the long necked woman grumble and stalk around, grabbing what few things belonged to Harry.
He crouched by the boy, smiling at him with a warm look, “Hello there, little one.” He held out a hand, letting Harry touch him with all the curiosity of a proper child, “Want to come with me, little guy? Away from this house?”
Green eyes stared up at him and two small hands reached towards him, little fingers grasping at air. Eskel kept his grin back, not wanting to scare the boy with his twisted, scarred smile, and he gently scooped the boy up, holding him securely against his chest, “There we go, kiddo.... aren’t you cute? Bet you’ll get Lambert spoiling you rotten...” He glanced over at the woman, eyebrow raising as she shoved a bag of baby clothes and diapers at him.
“These are too small for my son, and they’ll only be thrown away if they stay here.” She said shortly, “And the blanket he came with is in there as well.”
The witcher eyed the woman, taking the bag and easily settling it on his other shoulder, “Thank you. We’ll be out of your hair now, ma’am. If the wizards start poking around, tell them to contact Master Vesemir. I assure you, they’ll know exactly who they’ll be dealing with.”
He left the house quickly after that, smiling slightly down at the little boy that was chewing on his medallion, “Yeah, chew on that. It’s mostly clean. I think.” He walked down the street, glancing around as he checked for anyone watching him too closely before he briefly formed a Sign to destroy a charm protecting a hidden portal.
A hand gently covered Harry’s eyes as Eskel quickly hurried through the portal, though the boy hardly cared. A giggle reached Eskel’s ears as he entered the courtyard of Kaer Morhen and a full smile pulled at the scars on his face. This little boy was going to be good for him, it seemed.
Eskel made his way through the courtyard, holding Harry closely as he went. His senses were all on high alert, in case one of his brothers decided to tackle him while he held his Child Surprise. Fortunately for him, and little Harry, Geralt was the first one to see him.
The White Wolf wasn’t quite what he’d once been, since his bard had died nearly four hundred years ago, but Eskel knew for a fact that Geralt had quite the soft spot for small children. Especially one as young as Harry, who didn’t have the inclination to be scared of a witcher like most others did.
“...You collected then?” Geralt’s voice was rough from disuse, and his golden eyes were fixed on the bubbling boy in his brother’s arms.
“I did. His parents were murdered... I think about a year ago, maybe two. I wasn’t going to risk him being stuck in a home worse than ours. At least here he can learn to protect himself.”
Geralt hummed, nodding, “He’s not at all scared of you, I see.”
“Not a damn bit. Probably something to do with the fact that he’s my Child Surprise, but still. Kinda nice to not have a child instantly scream at me. Where’s Vesemir and Lambert?” Eskel cocked his head curiously.
“Out doing who knows what. Let’s get the kid inside. It might not be winter, but it’s fucking cold up here.” Geralt hummed, “Kid’s gonna need proper clothes up here.”
“mhm.” Eskel followed Geralt inside, holding Harry closer, a smile still very much in place as the boy cooed up at him, green eyes bright and curious as they walked into the keep, “This is gonna be your home, Harry. Pretty sure you’ll love it here, bud. We’re not conventional by any means....”
“Esk, he’s barely three. Let’s not try to give him big words to try right yet?” Geralt snorted, approaching the dining hall, ”Has he eaten?”
“Probably not, honestly. His ‘guardian’ didn’t even have him in a high chair to eat. But her child had a huge pile of food.” Eskel grunted, “Find us something he can eat? Pretty sure he’s teething a bit ‘cause he keeps chewing on my medallion.”
“Hm. So something soft. Give me a minute. Yenna should be here somewhere too, working on some kind of project. She didn’t say what she was doing” Geralt walked out of the hall, leaving Eskel to sit with Harry.
The scarred Witcher settled Harry on the table, watching him fondly as the boy wiggled and cooed at him, “I’m already smitten, kiddo. No one’s gonna be taking you from me, not without a fight.” He chuckled as Harry seemed to agree with him, squealing and waving his arms happily.
“Why the fuck do I hear a baby?” Another Witcher walked into the room, going still upon seeing Eskel sitting with a small child, “.....Oh my god, You actually collected your Child Surprise. Fucking shit, Esk, I didn’t expect you to actually do it... After, you know.... Deidre..”
“Maybe I wanted things to go differently this time... Actually not fuck with Destiny this go around.” Eskel shrugged, chuckling as Harry tried to grab his hair, “Ah, not the hair, kiddo. Come say hi, Lambert. He’s gonna be here for the foreseeable future after all.”
The other man eyed his brother and walked over, sitting beside him, watching the child flail and giggle, “He’s really small … You sure he’s a three year old?”
“Well, I’m pretty sure. He’s also been in a house where he’s not getting properly fed. Pretty sure that’s had a hand in his growth. We’ll fix it though. Won’t we, Har? We’ll get you good and fed and you’ll be happy as can be.” Eskel smiled as Harry babbled happily, “Come on, Lamb. Get used to him, he’s not going anywhere.”
Lambert rolled his eyes, but moved closer to let Harry reach out and grab at his shirt, “He’s not scared of us at all, huh...”
“Well, he’s been tied to a Witcher, I don’t know what you expected, Lambert.” An older witcher walked into the room, eyebrow raising as he sat at the table, “So this is him, hm? Little Harry Potter.... the magicals are all worked up about him. Supposedly he somehow destroyed that Voldemort character we were watching.”
“...What?” Lambert looked at Harry, then back to the old witcher, “No fucking way, Vesemir. He’a fucking baby!”
“I’m well aware that he’s a baby, Lambert. I’m just telling you what Yennefer and Triss have been hearing through the magical grapevine.” Vesemir snorted, “Fortunately, they both think that the Wizarding folk are too wrapped up with their own troubles to even realize that they’ve lost him. Especially since it seems he’s not even been around magic for the last few weeks.”
Lambert scowled, nodding and rubbing his face, “Right. Right. I keep forgetting that our witches have the brain cells of the entire magical community. Okay, so what now? We keep the kid and train him to be a Witcher?”
Eskel growled instinctively, shaking his head, “....Only if he wants to, when he’s old enough to choose for himself. We don’t need more witchers now a days. It wouldn’t be right to change him for no reason.”
“I’m sure that he won’t need to be dealing with the monsters at least.” Geralt had returned with a bowl of what looked like leftover stew, “We could teach him how to fight at least. When he’s big enough to do so.”
Eskel glanced at the boy, watching Harry happily pat at Lambert’s shirt and medallion, “I guess. It won’t hurt to teach him what he needs to know... to protect him.”
“Already smitten with the kid, are you? This one is much younger than Ciri was when Geralt brought her to us. We can start from the beginning with him.” Vesemir watched Harry play with Lambert’s medallion, amusement showing as the boy attempted to eat the medallion for the third time, “Give the boy his stew. He’s clearly starving if Lambert’s medallion is appetizing.”
Eskel laughed, gently pulling the boy away from his brother, helping him stand so he could be fed more easily. Geralt had warmed up the stew just enough that it would interest Harry but not burn him. And interested he was. He tried to grab the spoon as Eskel scooped up some broth to give him, “Heh, no, bud. You can’t have the spoon. Easy there...”
The other Witchers watched Eskel carefully feed the small child, watching the smile that formed as Harry accepted the broth with minimal spillage. It was this sight that Yennefer witnessed as she walked into the dining hall. Four witchers watching a small child messily eating stew broth, all four smiling warmly as the boy ate.
What a sight, Yennefer thought, keeping back for the moment to watch the four Witchers curiously. The child in their midst was eating happily, babbling as he went and getting various sounds of affection and amusement from each adult surrounding him.
She smiled and left the room... they would discuss the potion she had worked on in the morning.
---
The following morning, Yennefer sat across from Vesemir, Eskel, Lambert, and Geralt, waiting for the four to absorb the information she had given them about the potion she'd made.
"So...basically..." Lambert spoke up first, thoughtful, "We'd be normal-ish humans until we hit the age that we went through the Trials, which then we'd basically have a series of night terrors involving them until our abilities were returned."
"Yes, that's the gist of it." Yennefer nodded, head tilting, "It's essentially permanent. Your Memories will be muted, to allow for your body to properly adjust... and of course, all of this is entirely your choice. None of you have to do this."
Eskel cleared his throat, "I'll do it. I... I'd like to have a break."
Vesemir nodded, leaning back, "Fortunately for us, Harry is young enough that it won't make much of a difference to him. Lambert? Geralt?"
Lambert shrugged, "Why not? We'd get to be normal-ish kids for once."
Yennefer nodded and glanced at the White haired Witcher, "Geralt?"
Geralt hummed quietly, clearly in thought, "....I'll think about it." He was reluctant, clearly.
"Alright. I'll make two batches, for you and Lambert, Eskel." The Sorceress nodded, "It'll be ready in a few days."
The next morning found Yennefer perusing the potion ingredients in Diagon Alley, collecting the materials for the second part of her potion. She had collected the last few pieces and paid for them when scampering feet caught her attention.
A small boy in deep blue robes ran right into her legs, wrapping his arms around her legs and clinging to her.... Yennefer blinked at the child, surprised. Most magical children avoided her, as her Chaos made them uncomfortable... but this child.... Her Chaos almost surged out and surrounded the boy.
Yen knelt down, gently making the boy look at her. Shock rang through her as her eyes met a very familiar cornflower gaze. She swallowed and spoke quietly, "....Jaskier...?"
The boy, very much a young version of the White Wolf's bard, blinked up at her and tilted his head, "....Nenna?"
Yennefer returned to Kaer Morhen, holding Jaskier close. She sent for Geralt, quickly going for the sitting room to wait for him, "Geralt's missed you so much, little bard...."
Jaskier looked around, blue eyes wide as they walked through the halls of the Keep, his hands clutched Yennefer's cloak and the boy spoke quietly, "Gealt? Want Gealt."
Yen quietly laughed, "Don't worry, Jaskier... he'll be here soon for you."
Sure enough, a blur of black and white shot towards them and the miniature bard was scooped up and held close to a purring witcher, "How- Yen how did you-?"
"He was in Diagon Alley. ran right up to me." Yennefer said, "I didn't see any parents around."
“He was alone? You're sure?" Geralt's eyes fixed on her, alarmed.
"Positive. I even did a magic ping to try and find anyone who's magic lined up with his. No one did."
Geralt growled softly, holding the boy close, “....Yen… Could you make that potion for me? I....”
Yen nodded, giving a faint smile, “As you wish.”