Issues, so many issues
Hadrian's POV -
~Flashback - One day during the summer break at 12 Grimmauld Place~
Hadrian stared at the large tapestry that covered hundreds of generations. At the bottom was Pollux Black, who married Irma Crabble, which would make him and Vincent very, very, very, distant cousins. They had 3 children—Walburga, who was currently a portrait in the hallway. Hadrian got a headache remembering her screeches. Eventually, Hadrian managed to shut her up long enough to explain everything, which then instantly turned Walburga into a “loving grandmother”, if you ignore her long rants about his godfather, Sirius, and how his dead uncle Reglulas, would have been a better godfather. But then again, Hadrian guessed, that was just the Black family madness.
Next to her was Alphard Black, who had blast marks next to his face, so Hadrian guessed someone (Walburga) probably blasted Alphard’s picture, but over time the portrait repaired itself. Connected to Alphard’s picture, was Cygnus Black, who married Druella Rosier. They had 3 daughters.
Bellatrix Lestrange was the eldest. She was married to Rodolphus Lestrange. Next to her is Andromeda Tonks. There were blast marks next to her face, so Hadrian guessed her portrait got the same treatment as Alphard’s. Andromeda married Ted Tonks and had their daughter Nymphadora Tonks. Hadrian heard she was an auror and that Ted was a lawyer.
Next to Andromeda, was Narcissa Malfoy. She is married to Lucius Malfoy, and their son, Draco is connected to the tree.
“Hey Kreacher,” Hadrian called out.
“Yes Master Hadrian?” Kreacher asks, popping into existence. Hadrian had finally managed Kreacher to call him Hadrian, after a long chat with the old elf.
“Why was Andromeda blasted off the tree?”
“She’s breaks marriage contract. Could have ended bad if not for Mistress Narcissa.”
“What do you mean?”
“Perhaps I could explain this?” Walburga cuts in, sounding remarkably sane for someone Hadrian knew was prone to long, insane rants about family members she didn’t like. Hadrian stepped out into the hallway.
“Okay.”
“Lucius and Andromeda were born the same year, in 1953. The marriage contract for them was originally for Bellatrix and another Malfoy, however, was madly in love with Rodolphus at the time. So we talked with the Malfoys and we moved it to Lucius and Andromeda. Then we made one with the Legstranges for Bellatrix.”
“Why did you make another?”
“It’s insurance so to speak. It ensures that Rodolphus won’t dump Bella at any point and that they are serious about their relationship. That it wasn’t a fling. Anyway, when Andromeda went to Hogwarts, she presumably fell in love with that muggleborn. Lucius and she were set to have a wedding 2 years after they graduated from Hogwarts. A week before the wedding, she and that muggleborn eloped together and left the country. Since it was a marriage contract if a family broke it for whatever reason, the other family could ask for anything in reparation within reason. That’s how the Weasleys got their family seats demoted, one of their ancestors broke a marriage contract by getting another woman pregnant even though he was set to marry a Malfoy. The Malfoys demanded that the offender be disowned, and when the Weasleys refused, there was a blood feud declared. The current Weasleys made the situation worse by being infatuated with muggle objects, which ended up with them being declared blood traitors. Narcissa, thankfully stepped up to the plate and married Luicus in Andromeda’s place. We still had to pay the Malfoys a hefty sum for the last-minute change, but at least it all ended fine. The problem with Andromeda and why she ended up disowned, is that she didn’t tell us. Being of the House of Black has some perks. If she didn’t want to marry Lucius or fell in love with that muggleborn and told us, we could have easily changed it to Narcissa. But she chose to leave us in the dark, ignore our letters afterward, and leave one week before the wedding. She was there when Bella got her contract changed. While I may not have approved of her choice of partner, I wasn’t going to stop her from marrying the supposed love of her life. We didn’t even know she was married until her name changed on the tapestry.”
“Oh,” Hadrian said.
~Flashback end~
“What if we called her Professor Black since you know, she famously hates her family,” Blaise suggested.
Hadrian, Theo, and Blaise sat in the second-year common room. Vincent and Greg were in their shared room snacking on candy that they’d saved up from Halloween. Draco was doing quidditch practice, and the girls were all in Pansy’s and Daphene’s room, probably scheming something. Not that Hadrian, Theo, and Blaise weren’t.
“That would fall under disrespecting a teacher, which she could use to invalidate all of our claims, so no can do,” Theo said. Hadrian nodded.
“So then what can we do!? There’s another month left in the school year and I can’t deal with her for that long!” Blaise asks exasperatedly.
“At least you're not the one who has to sit next to the walking encyclopedia and the redhead who calls himself smart,” Theo points out.
“For all we know, Dense is smart,” Hadrian says. Blaise and Theo stare at him.
“Ronald Weasley, the epitome of stupidity, smart? In what century?” Blaise says sarcastically.
“I’m just saying, while Dense and Ignorant are the most annoying people I’ve met, and that’s saying something considering Lockhart, Dense could be smart. Supposedly he’s good at chess,” Hadrian adds.
“That’s cause everyone else in Gryffindor can’t tolerate Dense when he loses,” Blaise replies.
“What do you mean?” Hadrian asks.
“You're lucky you’ve never been around Dense when he loses,” Draco cuts in, entering from their shared dorm. “All he does for days on end is moan about losing and demanding a rematch with the opposing party.”
Draco slumps down on a chair in the common room. His hair is slightly damp from coming out of the shower.
“Narcissa would go into full-on lecture mode if she sees you now,” Hadrian says.
“Oh shh. I just had an exhausting quidditch practice with the rest of the team. I have the right to slump in a comfortable chair to relax before dinner.”
“Sure. How do you know how Weasley is when he loses?”
“The better question is how do you not know?” Blaise asks Hadrian.
“Because for the past year, the only other place Hadrian has been besides the common room, classes, and the dorm, is the library. He was buried in a pile of books taller than him, remember?” Theo asks.
“Right, we had to pull him out every day for dinner,” Blaise says.
“Wait, if you were in the library for most of the year, did Thorne join you?” Draco asks.
“Whose Thorne?” Hadrian asks in response.
“You don’t know who Thorne is!?” Blaise almost yells.
“Should I?”
“YES!” All three boys yell.
“Then tell me about him.”
“Edward Thorne was last year's Ravenclaw king,” Draco says.
“Wait, other houses have the crown system?”
“Not really. Gryffindor has abandoned it. They used to have it I think. According to my mum, they had the system but then slowly phased it out. Hufflepuff never really had the crown system. They relied on prefects to keep their students in line. Ravenclaw has the crown system still in place but is far more lax with it. They have the king, the prince, and the prefects. There aren’t any other positions besides those, I think,” Theo explains.
“Okay, so why is it important to know the Raven’s king?”
“Because we have an alliance of sorts with the Ravens. We defend each other. The Kings of each house meet up at a certain point and talk about any issues they may have with the other house. This way, issues are resolved peacefully and in private, kind of like in the real world,” Theo continues.
“Since the Slytherin house is the home of most politicians, we created this system that reflects the old system before the Pendragons stepped down. The era of the Pendragons is an important part of our history and is still somewhat in effect today,” Draco says.
“The lordship system,” Hadrian says.
“Yep,” Blaise responds.
“So, then who talked to Thorne?”
“Probably Rowle, the former Slytherin king, remember him?” Blaise asks. Hadrian nods.
“He probably acted as a regent of you since you were a first year,” Draco says thoughtfully.
“So I need to find out who the new Raven King is?”
“I think it's Julian Alfraye. He’s a sixth year I think,” Theo states. Hadrian nods.
“So I should go and talk to him at some point?” Hadrian asks. Draco, Theo, and Blaise nod.
Draco Malfoy’s POV -
Hadrian left to go to the library with Theo. Blaise stared at Draco for a solid minute.
“What?” Draco asks sharply.
“Why did you explain all this stuff to him last year?”
“Who said that was my job?”
“You did.”
“What do you mean?”
“When Hadrian said you were his prince. It showed that he trusted you.”
“Yeah, everyone got that. What does that have to do with Hadrian not knowing anything about the crown system.”
“When he called you his prince, it was understood that you would tell him everything he needed to know, since, you know, his parents aren’t exactly here to tell him.”
“Oh… I royally screwed up, didn't I.” Blaise nods.
“And since you screwed up…”
“People may start to doubt my place in the hierarchy and his.” Blaise nods. “Guess I better prove them wrong.”
“How might you do that?” Blaise asks, somewhat curious.
“My father gave me some books that should have some good spells in them. That, and I’ll have to try to show the others my worth to our king. In the meantime, you should warn Hadrian.” Blaise nods and runs off to the library, grabbing a pair of Slytherins on the way to the library.