Making dumb decisions
Once Hadrian had left the shop, he was assaulted with a sea of red so bright that he had to squint to see. Once his eyes adjusted, he looked around at the different Weasleys. Three of them were speaking with his brother Evans, two twins who were his brother's age, and a younger boy around his age. Molly Weasley, the mother, was talking with his mother and his sister. One older boy was standing separate from them with his sister looking disgusted at his family. The girl he was with was younger than him and looked around awkwardly fidgeting with her sweater. Ah so they weren’t those kinds of purebloods. Hadrian quickly introduced himself to the two Weasleys, apparently named Percy and Ginevra (don't ever call her that apparently), he deemed okay to talk to them and made small talk with them. Apparently, Ginny was betrothed to Evan which has to suck. This also confused him because the Weasleys didn’t follow tradition so why bother with a contract? Hypocritical asses. A couple minutes later Lily and Molly stopped talking and turned towards the cluster of kids.
“Okay kids, me and Molly have important business with Augusta Longbottom so we’re going to leave you to do your shopping alone”. His mother turned towards her kids and handed them money pouches. “Hadrian, take your sister with you”. He internally groaned but nodded dutifully. Rose skipped over towards him and grinned evilly. He just rolled her eyes. After Molly gave instructions to her kids Hadrian turned towards Percy and Ginny. “Bye you guys it was nice speaking to you”. After the two said goodbye, Percy grabbed Ginny and walked away.
Once everyone left, he sighed. “Come on Rose”. He quickly summoned a lead-like thing and tied it to her wrist and then to his so he wouldn’t lose her. She huffed at him. God if she kept acting like this, he was going to roll his eyes out of his head. Walking to where he last saw Malfoy and Nott he pulled Rose along with him.
When they saw him, they almost burst out laughing and did a poor job of covering it with a fake coughing fit. “Oh, shut up. My mother's way of taking her anger out on me is forcing me to bring her along.” He looked at Rose whose eyes were as wide as saucers. “What?” He asked.
“You-you…. You’re talking to Nott and Malfoy….” She stammered out. “Yeah so?”. She smiled a little.
“Mom and dad are going to ground you so bad when they find out! You can’t be talking to Reapers!” She laughed quite evilly like she always did. “Oh, shut up!”. Hadrian quickly silenced her with a wave of her hands. Now everyone had wide eyes. The boys quickly schooled their expressions, but Rose’s face stayed the same.
“Did you just do wandless, nonverbal magic?” Malfoy asked. Hadrian almost shook his head no but then remembered to answer verbally to be polite. “No, it was an accident. She’s just so annoying you know?”. The other boys didn’t look fully convinced but ultimately accepted it. The boys exit the shop dragging Rose along and doing their shopping. The conversation is just polite but pleasant small talk when Malfoy decides to bring up his ancestry.
“Of course, mother is a Black and father is a Malfoy so if I go anywhere other than Slytherin something might be wrong,” Draco said while rolling his eyes.
“Oh, you're a Black?” Hadrian asks.
“Yes. That is what I just said isn’t it?” Malfoy said with a lift of his perfect brow. Nott just rolled his eyes at the attitude. Hadrian also had to try not to roll his eyes. “It’s just that I also have black blood”. He said matter of factly. Malfoy's eyes widened. “How much?”. Hadrian giggles “My great-grandmother is Dorea Black, and my godfather is Sirius Black.”.
Malfoy just nods dumbly before visibly shaking his head and reminding himself of his propriety. “Well, I forgot about that. I’ve studied ancestral lines, and I knew that.”. He sniffs and puts his nose up. Hadrian tries to hide his smile but fails earning a glare from Malfoy. “Whatever, call me Draco then. We ARE related”. Hadrian nods.
“Yes, from the same branch in the family too”. Nott looks intrigued at this.
“Oh really? Who in the black family makes you related?”.
“Well, Cygnus Black the second was my great Grandmother's father. Cygnus is Draco’s mother's great-grandfather. So, he’s my Great, Great Grandfather and Draco’s Great, Great Grandfather. Were third cousins”. Both Draco and Nott's eyes widen once more.
“Wow! You know the Black line well!”. Hadrian smiles at the praise.
“Thank you! Did you know we are also related to the Weasleys and Longbottoms? Which is very sad, but interesting nonetheless…”. Draco just looked horrified. “Don’t worry, it's very distant. It’s through Cygnus again but his father, Phineas Nigellas Black who was a Hogwarts Headmaster back in the 1800’s. So Weasley’s my brother-in-law technically and your third cousin. Then Longbottom is my third cousin and your fourth cousin”.
“You’re interesting Potter. Go ahead and call me Theo”. Hadrian smiles and sticks out his hand. “Call me Hadrian or Harry then. That goes for both of you!”. They shake hands and then move on. A couple minutes later before they enter the apothecary Draco turns to Rose. “Never call me by my name Potter”. And then enters the shop. Hadrian giggles.
Later when Hadrian and Rose meet back up at Madam Malkin’s, after leaving Theo and Draco, to get Hadrian school robes and Rose's new dresses they run into their mother and Evans. As soon as they see them Hadrian unties the leash from their waist and cancels the silencing spell. Rose darts towards their mother and starts crying hysterically and very dramatically. She is crying so much her words are unintelligible and their mother is very confused. She looks up and sees Hadrian staring at them with a blank look and seems to make a connection that he did something. Her face turns dark, and her eyes harden. She storms over to Hadrian, grabs him by the arm, and pulls him into Madam Malkin's with his siblings trailing behind. She pays for the clothes and then pulls him to the apparition point and takes them home. As soon as their home she turns to him and starts yelling.
“I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU DID BUT YOU BETTER BET THAT YOU'RE IN DEEP TROUBLE! Why couldn’t you be normal…” she sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose. The sounds of Roses's sniffles in the background are the only thing to be heard as his mother shakes her head in disappointment or regret. “Go to your room and do not come out until we call you down. Your father will be home soon so don’t go to sleep” and with that, she shoos him off and turns around to try to get answers out of Rose. Hadrian does as he’s told and goes to his room.
Once he’s there he decides to write Draco and Theo letters.
Dear Draco,
I hope you made it home safely after leaving Diagon Alley. I am in trouble obviously for silencing my sister. My mother sent me to my room to await my father's arrival. I don’t know what my punishment is but just in case they take my owl I thought I’d let you know.
I was hoping we could meet up on the Hogwarts express. I would prefer not to sit with my siblings, or worse the Weasleys.
How are your parents by the way? I’m hoping to meet them soon. Especially your mother since she’s family of course.
Please write back quickly
Your cousin, Hadrian.
Heir to the most ancient house of Potter
Dear Theo,
Thank you for entertaining me and my sister today in Diagon Alley. I hope you made it back home safely and happily.
I’m in trouble for silencing Rose obviously. Though I think it was worth it. I’m waiting for my father to get home from work to receive my punishment. I decided to write to you and Draco in case I get my owl taken from me. Wish me luck.
You mentioned earlier that your family specializes in runes. I was wondering if you could send me books on the topic. My family library unfortunately doesn’t have any books on “dark” branches of magic. Which is stupid but whatever.
Please respond quickly.
Hopefully your friend, Hadrian
Heir to the most ancient house of Potter
Once he sent his letter off with Hedwig, his snowy owl, he decided to pick up a book on Black ancestry and await his punishment.
One of the house elves came and told Hadrian to come downstairs to the drawing room. Hadrian sighed, time to face his doom. He sent the elf away and put a bookmark in his book. Once he stood up, he straightened his clothes and hair and walked downstairs to the drawing room.
When he entered the drawing room, he realized there were more people than his parents. Sitting in the drawing were his parents, Dumbledore for some reason, Sirius, and Remus. He walks in slowly looking around in confusion. Sirius pats the spot next to him on the couch in between him and Remus so he sits there.
They all sit there in awkward silence for a couple of minutes before his mother clears her throat and asks him a question. “So, are you going to tell them what you did, or do I have too?”. Hadrian stubbornly doesn’t respond and just glares at him. Lily’s eyes harden at that. “Well then! Hadrian here silenced his sister the entire time they went out shopping today”. Hadrian just rolled his eyes.
“Harry, Bambi, why did you do that?” Sirius looks at him when asking it. Hadrian shifts awkwardly. “She was being annoying”. Hadrian ignores the shout of “HADRIAN” from his father.
“Bambi, do you know why that was wrong?” Sirius is still looking at him. “No not really…” he looks down at his hands, fidgeting with his fingers “I get it’s mean or whatever”. Sirius just nods slowly. “It’s not my fault she was being annoying!”.
“What was she being annoying about?” It was Remus this time. “My friends”.
Dumbledore sat forward in his seat and asked “Who are your friends? Rose seemed to think it was Reapers?” Sirius put his hand on his shoulder and squeezed. Hadrian just rolled his eyes. “I was talking to Theodore Nott and Draco Malloy”. Sirius squeezed his shoulder tighter. Dumbledore just shook his head in what seemed to be sadness. His parents' faces grew in anger and disappointment and Remus just had a mask of indifference on.
“Why don’t you make friends with any of the Weasley kids?” Dumbledore asked. “I am! Percy and Ginny are very nice and excellent conversationalists! I even learned that Ginny and Evans are betrothed!” Hadrian then thought for a moment “I also have a question about that by the way…”.
“What is it?” His father asked. “Why are Evans and Ginny in a contract? I thought your family had denounced that when you and mother married. Also why are we marrying into families we are already related to?”. Sirius snorted beside him.
“Well first of all” his father started “The Weasley family is a nice light family to marry into and has been allies with the Potter family for a long while now. Secondly, the Potters never denounced the tradition, it was just skipped with me and Lily because I refused to marry anyone else, and they didn’t have another option. Thirdly, what do you mean by “related”?”.
“Well, the Weasleys, at least for me, are fourth cousins”. His father shook his head “No they’re not”.
“Yes, they are. Arthur Weasley's mother IS Cedrella Black. Whose father was Arcturus Black the Second? Great Grandmother was Dorea Black. Whose father was Cygnus Black the Second? Which is the older brother of Arcturus. Funnily enough, they are Phineas Nigellus Black sons”. Sirius snorts again and Remus just looks impressed. “Where did you learn that from?” Dumbledore asks. “Blood doesn’t lie headmaster”.
“Whatever” His mother interrupts “we’re here to discuss your punishment for one, silencing your sister, and for two, consorting with Reapers!”
“I think removing his ability to speak would be a good punishment…” Okay, so Dumbledore is crazy. His parents nodded their heads and Sirius just squeezed his shoulder again. “For how long” he asked. “How about till the day before you leave for Hogwarts?”. It was only the middle of July.
“For 2 months?” Remus gasped out. His parents just nodded their heads. “This is a punishment for doing the same to his sister and for speaking to people he was forbidden to speak to. I think removing his ability to speak would be the correct punishment”. Dumbledore nodded gravely. Sirius stood all of a sudden.
“I need to have a conversation about his schooling really quick”. He grabbed Hadrian and quickly pulled him out before anybody could ask about anything.
Once they were out of the drawing room Sirius let him go. “ you alright kid?”.
“Yes. I’m fine. This just means I don’t have to speak to them”.
“You know me and Remus don’t agree with this right?”. Hadrian just nodded.
“Don’t worry Sirius, The Dursley’s punishments were much worse”. Sirius just shook his head sadly.
“They love you. You know that right?”.
“Yes, I’m sure they love me. Just not more than Evans and not more than Rose. And definitely not more than the disappointment they have in me”. Sirius frowns. He seems to try to find the correct words to say but can’t. Finally, he just settles on “I’m sure that’s not true”. Hadrian just gives him a deadpan look and shrugs.
Hadrian turns around and walks back into the drawing room done with the conversation. Sirius silently follows behind him. “Ah there you are my boys! Here let me get this over with. I’m afraid I have a meeting with the Minister for Magic”. He casts the silencing charm on Hadrian and then turns around and says his goodbyes. He walks out of the room without a second glance at Hadrian. Then Remus and Sirius say goodbye to his parents. Remus hugs and Sirius ruffles his hair and then leaves. His parents just wave him off and tell him they don’t want to see him for a while and to go to his room. Hadrian nods and does as he’s told, walking up to his room without any fuss.
When he’s back in his room he sees two letters waiting for him. He opens the one from Draco first.
Dear Hadrian,
Thank you for asking, yes I did make it home safely.
I figured you’d be in trouble but at least it was funny. Hopefully, your owl is not taken. Let me know as soon as you can what your punishment was or is.
You can definitely join me on the Hogwarts Express! Me and a couple other friends and acquaintances are of eeting up as well. I hope to introduce you to them. Oh I forgot to mention Theo will be with us too.
About meeting my parents maybe, you can come over during Yule or spring equinox break to meet them. We always have a Yule ball so maybe you can come then.
Good luck.
Your cousin, Draco.
Heir to the most ancient and noble house Malfoy.
Hadrian smiled at the letter thankfully his parents didn’t say he couldn’t send letter to them. Well maybe forbiddence of contact with Reapers was supposed to be it but Draco and Theo were just CHILDREN of Reapers sooo;. That sucks for them! Next he opens Theo’s letter.
Dear Hadrian,
Thank you for the well wishes. Yes I did make it home happily and safely.
Hopefully silencing Rose like that was still worth it after your punishment. I’m hoping they aren’t too harsh on you. It would be very displeasing if they were. Hopefully your owl isn’t taken!
Yes I did say my family were rune specialists! I’m happy you remembered, especially since it was offhandedly mentioned. I will send you a couple books on the topic as soon as I can! I’m glad you’re taking interest into them! Also that’s very sad about your library. Mine doesn’t have much light books and is mostly filled with runes so I kinda understand the feeling.
Hoping you can write soon.
Definitely your friend, Theo
Heir to most ancient and noble house Nott
Hadrian smiled again! He was going to get some good books finally and he was able to send letters back to his friends! He decided to write quickly before going to bed.
Dear Draco,
Thankfully my owl was not taken! All my punishment is, is just silence. I’ve been silenced until the day before leaving for Hogwarts. Which isn’t that big of a deal to me.
I’ll be happy to meet your friends and acquaintances Draco! I trust your information on people. I’m very glad I met you and Theo. Me and Theo are already speaking as well.
Hopefully I’ll be able to at least go to your Yule Ball, but it might be difficult to do so. Maybe I can meet up with someone who’s also going so I can go because if my parent know I’m going to your manor for it they definitely won’t let me!
See you on the train!
Your cousin, Hadrian
Heir the the most ancient house of Potter
Hadrian wrote basically the same thing to Theo before sending them off with Hedwig.
After that he changed into his pajamas and went to bed. Hoping tomorrow will be just the same!