5th Year
The tri wizard tournament and the events that followed left a mark on Hadrian. Sure he hadn’t directly been involved nor had he been close with Diggory before his death but he had felt a sense of dread during it all, as if something was bubbling under the surface fighting to break free.
Hadrian struggled to sleep during his last few days at Hogwarts, his housemates reassuring looks having more of an effect in keeping his calm then he had ever thought they would have. That in and of itself made Hadrian feel as if his skin was crawling, he hadn’t accepted their friendships yet here they were calming him down. No one had ever paid attention to him like that before. Case in point, when he returned back to the orphanage, which he was coming to feel more and more of a stranger in, he knew he had plagued the halls with echoes of his sharp screams at the nightmares that followed the death he had seen.
No one checked on Hadrian, not the sisters whose stares were starting to unsettle him with every passing day a full turn from how said stares used to bring him comfort, nor did the other children though he had expected as such.
Hadrian felt painfully more alone than ever and that accompanied with his over thinking mind was draining him. He spent more hours in the chapel, eyes closed clutching his rosary praying as much as he could from the furthest pew. Over the years as Hadrian came to slowly somewhat accept his wizarding blood he felt more and more unsettled with sitting so close to Father Michael who stationed at the end of the church during mass and felt far too wrong to be sitting so close to the people he knew hated anything resembling his life as it now was.
Despite his feelings since the tournament came to its conclusion, a part of Hadrian was itching to be back in the familiar walls of Hogwarts. At least there he had people around him who could really understand what had happened. Over the years, Snape had become far more tolerable to be around, having reigned in his comments though not stopping them completely. In a weird way it was a sort of routine, get up and eat then go to class and get insulted slightly by Snape. It was something he could rely on to happen, something he both was and wasn't in control of. His housemates were a blessing he didn't know to pray for, he ached for their friendship more and more as the years passed, knowing they didn't hate him as the kids he was stuck with now did.
With every year, it became easier to leave his once loved home to make the move back to Hogwarts as he was doing now. Snape picked him up meticulously at the same time and spot as he had that first year and disappeared without a word just the same.
As Hadrian sat on the Hogwarts express, the tiny compartment he had practically claimed as his own, his trunk in the shelf just above his head, The pit in his stomach that had lessened over the weeks away returned.
Hadrian peered out of the widow of the train feeling an itch at his skin from worry. Oh this year was going to be as unbearable as the last wasn't it.
Hadrian boarded the carriage to Hogwarts, painfully aware of each bump in the trail as they headed to the welcoming feast. Distracting himself with eavesdropping on the two Hufflepuff girls in the carriage with him, who couldn't stop their guesses of just who would be joining the teachers this year. Hadrian quietly hoped they'd have someone sane at the very least, apparently that was a lot to ask of Hogwarts though, their criteria for employing teachers seemed to just be ‘are you going to cause trouble? yes? oh well welcome to the staff’.
The new teacher wasn't exactly calming Hadrian's nerves, Dolores Umbridge was a vomit of pink on a small overconfident woman. Funnily enough she did seem to share his dislike of the headmaster, interrupting the man at least twice during his speech. She was apparently a ministry appointed teacher, another worry, he had heard from multiple houses including his own that the ministry recently was a rather pathetic group of people.
Ok Hadrian took it back, the school was one twig snap away from an uproar. Umbridge was apparently insane. Two days, that's how long classes had been in session, and she'd already affected the school. Apparently the minister and Umbrige herself thought it best to not actually use their wands, for anything it seemed. According to the mad woman, The theory behind it all was far more useful than actually learning the spells and knowing how to use them in the real world, the woman was insane.
Of course Longbottom and the terrible two had all but publicly challenged the woman. At Least the woman had one thing going for her in Hadrian's eyes she seemed to absolutely despise not only gryffindors as a whole but Longbottom and his shadows especially. After her confrontation with the insane three, she made everyone aware just how foolish his cry for the dark lord's return was. After his return Dumbledore and Neville had apparently not been quiet in their opinion or so he was told. Surprise to no one, the ministry didn't believe him. Did Hadrian fully believe the dark lord to be back? Sure, it was definitely a possibility. But he understood the want for such a horrible man's return from the dead to not be taken seriously, Afterall he had been dead. As crazy as the wizarding world was, that wasn't a normal occurrence, Thank God.
Umbridge's situation aside, the last two days in Hogwarts had been stranger than usual. Hadrian Wouldn't lie, he was probably a little paranoid what with being back from having been ignored in the orphanage and especially after last year but he was sure he wasn't overthinking now.
The last two days, Hadrian had felt eyes watching him. It had taken Hadrian so long to get used to the very much alive and talking portraits that lined the walls of Hogwarts and he knew that unlike their painted eye stares that the ones he was feeling were real.
It didn't take him long to notice that apparently the teachers had taken an interest or something or other to him. In the two days he had been back he had felt and seen Snape, Lupin and unsettlingly Black's eyes on him more then once.
Hadrian felt his skin crawl, the added attention making him sweat. He hadn't done anything wrong he was sure of it, by the angels he hadn't even spoken much since he had arrived two days prior so he definitely didn't deserve the pin prick stares he was being given.
While everyone was distracted with Umbridge, Hadrian wracked his brain for answers, each time coming up short of any reasonable answer. Something must have happened in the summer, that's the only explanation, but what exactly that could have been to involve him Hadrian had no clue.
No one, especially the teachers, didn't speak to him any further than class work and it wasn't exactly as if he lived in the wizarding world to know anything of interest. He had no family, as far as he knew anyway, so no tragedies could have happened to warrant the stare downs. Sure his parents were dead and that may have warranted some sympathy but he had been at the school for five years now, plenty of time for the stares to come and have gone by now. No that wasn't it. Black's eyes were the problem, Lupin he had caught staring at him a few times during the last two years and Snape was always paying attention to his snakes so those two don't really worry him. No Black had never even turned his eyes away from Longbottom, Hadrian had jokingly thought that the man had a fog across his eyes that would only fade when he stared at Longbottom.
Black's gaze accompanied with quick flashes on Dumbledore and Mcgonagall’s eyes, no that was too much. Especially when Black had on an expression Hadrian couldn't place.
Hadrian had only one option for answers, and he’d be damned straight to the fiery gates before approaching the teachers themselves. It took him a few attempts of walking in their direction for Hadrian to gather enough courage to actually do what he wanted to. With hesitant steps, in the afternoon of their third day at Hogwarts, Hadrian approached his housemates.
Draco and his group of friends had all but claimed a set of sofas by the fireplace as the years passed, everyone knowing that it was their place. Hadrian knew where to find them, spotting them easy enough as he made his way to the final steps from the boys dormitory.
Ok so maybe Hadrian had overthinked the whole speaking to the purebloods thing. In first year and onwards he had taken to reading up on some pureblood traditions, not wanting to insult his housemates at any point. Mostly because it was the next best choice after his revelation that purebloods didn't exactly have a set religion for him to work his way through. He knew to address them by their titles of heir, though he had never seen them refer to each other as such.
With that in mind he made his walk over, his hands tightly clenched at his sides, trying to conceal his anxiousness as best he could.
Millicent Bulstrode was the first to notice him, the only one somewhat facing his direction; she sat up from her titled position at the end of the sofa as he approached, a smile on her face. Her hair was perfectly straight, always pushed back by a hairband that she had to reposition as she moved. They were all so casual in the confines of the dorm.
“Well hello Hadrian, how are you?” She said, far more friendly then Hadrian had ever had directed towards him.
With her words, Hadrian saw the rest of the group quickly turn to face him. Not one face was without at least a small smile, some more capable of it then others. Hadrian had their full attention as he came to the foot of the sofas, just at the corner where they nearly met.
Hadrian had never had so much kind attention on him before, squeezing his fists and releasing them so as to calm himself he finally was able to speak.
“I’m good thank you heir Bulstrode, how are you?” Hadrian spoke, feeling a bit hesitant as he did. Millicent just smiled.
“I’m good thanks, You can call me Millicent or Millie if you want. All my friends do.” Hadrian was slightly stunned, though he tried to hide it. He couldn't form a sentence. Luckily someone spoke before he humiliated himself even more.
“Did you need something Hadrian?” Draco chuckled out, an even larger smile appearing on his face as he settled further into his seat. Hadrian broke out of the trance he hadn't realized he was in. He had come over for a reason after all.
“I- uh. I just wanted to ask. Has something happened?” Hadrian was able to get out.
“Happened?” Theodore chimed in, confusion displayed full force on all of their faces.
“What do you mean by that?” Millicent asked, moving to the edge of the seat.
The slytherins knew that Hadrian was more on the quiet and reserved side, they also knew after years of watching over him from a distance that the boy wouldn't have physically come to them all if this wasn’t something serious. Though they hid it well, thankful for their years of picking up how to display a decent mask as to not show Hadrian just how concerned they were. They never pushed Hadrian for a friendship, though unaware of why the boy was so hesitant, but he was a snake just like them and they always took care of their own. Hadrian was a young snake just like them and if he was worried then they would do whatever they could to make that worry disappear.
“You see, i’m not exactly up to date with what's happened since the summer, what with not being in the wizarding world but has something happened?” Hadrian didn’t know where to look, he felt stupid for not having the answer that he normally would have had.
The slytherins had all near enough moved to the edge of their seats, Not in the wizarding world? They'd have to come back to that, but why was Hadrian convinced that something had happened?
“Nothing has happened as far as we know. What makes you think something has happened?” Draco questioned, his attention not moving from Hadrian despite the looks his friends were passing between each other.
“It’s probably nothing, I'm probably just overthinking it.” Hadrian tried to reassure them, maybe he was being dramatic.
The slytherins passed looks between themselves, ok something was clearly up, Hadrian had never been what someone would describe as dramatic before. Pansy moved to stand next to Hadrian, placing a hand on his arm, the movement unconsciously causing Hadrian to calm his nerves and release a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding.
“What is it?” Pansy said with the calmest tone Hadrian had ever heard her speak in, moving to sit on the arm of the chair as she spoke.
“Yeah Hadrian what is it?” Zabini spoke from his place beside Pansy from the arm of the sofa she was on.
“The teachers. I know it sounds utterly stupid but I feel like they're all .. watching me. Dumbledore, Mcgonagall and Black have all been staring at me, Possibly Lupin and Snape too. So I thought maybe something had happened, I don't know what but thm paying attention to me as subtly as they have is insanely weird and unsettling.” Hadrian spoke, finally able to straighten himself up to speak confidently.
The slytherins didn't even try to hide their looks of confusion, Why were the teachers watching him? Hadrian hadn’t done anything and it was highly unlikely that their quiet snake had angered anyone or done anything to get noticed. Draco was a little agitated at the news, Hadrian was just starting to come out of his shell even subtly and now the teachers were watching him with eagle eyes? It made no sense. His friends were also in the same boat as Draco, very concerned for Hadrian.
“Have they tried speaking to you?” Tracy spoke, trying to come up with some idea of what was happening.
“No. That's what's so annoying about the situation. I've never even spoken to Black or Dumbledore and only spoken to Mcgonagall about homework once or twice. And I haven't done anything to gain their attention. But since the feast they’ve stared at me a worrying amount.” Hadrian didn't know how best to describe it all, it seemed his housemates didn't either.
“I think it's best we make sure they don't talk to him.” Draco spoke to them all, standing as he did so, moving around the chairs to get at Hadrian's side as he continued. “You haven’t done anything, Hadrian, don't worry. Why don’t you stick by us for a while this year? That way we can all keep watch and work together to figure out what's going on.” Draco smiled out, He wasnt wrong, Hadrian knew that.
Hadrian felt a sort of guilt, he had pushed at their attempts to be friends and here he was all but forcing them to help him.
“It’s okay, I don't want to bother you all. I’m sure it's nothing.”Hadrian tried to reassure them.
His housemates gave Hadrian their own looks as if to say ‘seriously?’.
“You're not bothering us, Hadrian. While we may not all be close, you're a snake just like us and we help our own. Plus we’ve been wanting to be friends since first year. maybe now you’ll accept our friendship.” Draco spoke calmly, his statements met with nods from the rest of the group.
Draco was right, Hadrian was a snake, it was time he really took that to heart. He had people he could rely on and he could finally have friends. The regret he had felt after declining their friendship in first year all floated away. Hadrian watched as Draco stretched out his hand.
“My name is Draco Malfoy. Would you like to be my friend?” Draco said with a laugh, his hand outstretched towards Hadrian, his other hand in his pocket. Hadrian smiled.
“Yes, I'd like that alot.” Hadrian gripped Draco's hand, returning the handshake he had been offered. He actually had a friend. If you told him a few years ago that not only was he a wizard but that he’d have a group of friends, well Hadrian would've believed the wizard part way quicker then the friendship part.
The rest of the group soon jumped up to offer their hand in friendship just as Draco did, polite and well worded just as Draco had been. They all insisted he sat with them, after all Hadrian had missed out on four years of this and he needed to catch up. Pansy and Tracy’s words, not his.
It calmed Hadrian, settling the still present pit in his stomach. Whatever disaster that was going to happen this year, maybe it wouldn't be as tough as it would have been had he been alone. Hadrian looked around at the people he now called friends.
Yeah, maybe it won't be as hard as he first thought.