Disclaimer: If you want to read it, go to the first chapter, cause I'm too lazy to copy and paste.
This chappie is dedicated to wind for their review!
Destiny Awaits:
Chapter Three: Pranks, Diagon Alley, and Malfoys. (Oh my!)
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Adrian stretched slightly from his bent-over position. The potion he had been stirring was a dark purple-blue; the flames under the gray cauldron were a soft lilac color. Twisting his back, he felt and heard several pops and cracks. Gently rolling one shoulder, he slowly loosened the tight muscles, checking over the potions book propped up next to the cauldron. He picked up a vial of blood and was just about to add some in when the door slammed open, startling him so badly he poured the entire vial in, instead of the two drops it called for. The potion sizzled for a moment before a loud popping sound and voluminous clouds of pink exploded, billowing gently out into the hallway.
"Uh oh," the Weasley twins and Ginny looked at each other, blinking comically. Adrian coughed, before growling.
"You better run!" he shouted, staggering to his feet. The three Weasleys didn't hesitate; they ran like hell down the stairs. He had told them before, that when his door was closed, it meant he was brewing or sleeping, and he wasn't to be disturbed. They had done a similar trick as this time when he was asleep, making him fly out of bed and land on the floor in an undignified heap. He had chased and shouted at them for hours after that, no doubt this would be worse.
He coughed a few more times, finally escaping his room. He didn't notice his hair and clothes, which used to be black, were now covered in bright pink powder, his face and bare arms were streaked with the pink concoction. Growling, he headed downstairs; not noticing he left pink footprints on the floor, nor did he see the entire wall, ceiling, and his door was a matching pink.
"Where are they?" he hissed, storming into the dining room. Remus, Molly, Moody, Snape, McGonagall, and Dumbledore looked up and gaped at his new appearance. In moments however, Remus, Moody, and Dumbledore were laughing and chuckling, while the other three groaned softly.
"Ginerva Weasley! Fred Weasley! George Weasley! Get your behinds down here NOW!" Molly yelled. They heard several people scrambling upstairs before everyone in the house came in to see what happened. The three guilty slowly crept in, the others peeking in through the door. For several moments, the students stared at him, ignoring the glare, before they too burst into laughter. Adrian growled softly, drawing his wand. He pointed to the floor, twirling his wand in intricate swirls.
"Esira Seniv." he chanted softly. The floor creaked and groaned, before suddenly vine-like branches grew up and coiled around their legs, arms, and waists. Needless to say they shut up after that. No matter how much they struggled, they couldn't get free of the plants. Adrian checked his watch, frowning thoughtfully. "I think an hour will suffice, next time, I'll make it three," he muttered a Cleaning Charm on his hair and clothes, then brushed past the three trapped Weasleys.
"Mum! Help!" Ginny squealed. Molly frowned, before cautiously casting an Incendio Spell. The fire crackled around the plant before disappearing, the plant unaffected by the spell.
"Finite Incantatem!" Dumbledore flicked his wand, but like Molly's it just fizzled before disappearing.
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Adrian smirked, listening by the door. He had paused just before entering, ready to free the three Weasleys, but decided to listen and watch for a while. The witch and wizards were struggling to get free while the others tried everything to help. They had even gone into the library to search for a few spells that could help.
"Reducto!" the red blast hit the plants, but was merely absorbed.
"Diffindo!" this spell took a moment to vanish, specifically tuned to plants, ropes, and other such materials.
"Meht esaeler," he murmured, grinning when the vines shriveled up, causing them to fall onto their backsides painfully. "Time's up," he announced. "Next time you interrupt a delicate potion, you'll be taste-testing some of my poisons and being hung up by the ceiling, in your underclothes. Got it?" They murmured quietly under their breath. He glared icily at George. "I heard that," George flushed slightly. He turned away, preparing to walk back up to his room when he paused. "You think I'm bad, you wouldn't last three seconds in the Training Circle at Arcane, the teachers there would show you true pain, and not that simple Cruciatus Curse either." He continued up the steps, ignoring the astonished looks on their faces.
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Adrian stirred his potion, then glanced suspiciously at his door. He had cast a complex spell to enable him to see through the door, to see if any troublemakers were nearby. Twice already, the Weasley twins had jumped him. They seemed determined to get him to talk to them about different ingredients they could combine to create prank potions. After the "Incident" which they now called it, they had tried everything they could to get him to replicate it so they could make different colored smoke paint bombs. He wasn't buying into it, refusing to even let them come near his stash of potion ingredients, let alone look at it and use its contents.
Checking again, he added the two drops of blood and watched the potion turn to a dull brown-orange. He stirred it twice counterclockwise before adding in a pinch of fervor weed. The weed immediately disintegrated turning the potion into a beautiful sky blue with lighter and darker blue swirls. Sniffing it cautiously, he waited until it smelled the perfect faint scent of the ocean before extinguishing the flames and bottling it. Rubbing his shoulders again, he groaned at the knots that had already formed in his muscles. Wishing desperately that Bliss was there, he slipped the vials into a large box with smaller boxes, which the vials were placed gently into and then packed with charms and cotton for protection. Checking his watch, he waited a few seconds before tapping the box. It disappeared instantly, being transported to Arcane and to Sin's room. Yawning softly, he laid down on his bed, falling asleep in moments.
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Mrs. Weasley bustled around the kitchen, preparing a quick breakfast. The students, Remus, Adrian, and Mrs. Weasley, were going to Diagon Alley for their school supplies. After the breakfast, they Flooed to the Leaky Cauldron before heading to the bank, retrieving enough money to buy their supplies. Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Harry, and Adrian were walking together; Mrs. Weasley and Remus were ahead of them. The four Gryffindors instantly went on alert when they spotted the familiar white hair. Adrian watched, silently, as the blonde boy strode up to them, sneering.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't Pothead, the Weasels, and the Mudblood. Oh, and what's this? Another kid hanging onto your every word, Scar face?" Malfoy taunted. Harry tensed, trying to keep his temper under his control.
"How original," Adrian commented, rolling his eyes. He coolly studied the blonde Slytherin. "Draco Malfoy, correct?"
"That's right," Malfoy sneered.
"My father's told me about you, of course he didn't tell me how childish you were," Adrian smirked faintly at the small red tinting his pale cheeks.
"Ha, your father is probably some low-life who isn't worthy of kissing my boots." Malfoy snapped.
"I thought I was worth more than that in your eyes, Draconis," Malfoy whirled around, paling when he saw Severus. His raised one brow, then glared at them. "Adrian, will you accompany me to the Apothecary? I'm certain there are a few ingredients you would be interested in."
"Of course, father," Adrian brushed past Malfoy, following his father, leaving the blonde to gape at his back. The others snickered before heading off to finish their shopping. The two members of the Snape family perused the Apothecary's stores, debating over the freshness, price, worth, anything about the ingredients the other grabbed. It was amusing to say the least, so long as you didn't comment about it in their hearing range. By the time Severus and Adrian left, Severus was scowling and Adrian was looking smug, having bartered with the storeowner into lowering his price sufficiently after making a secret deal with him. Severus, who had tried for years to get some sort of discount from the cranky old man, was quite upset that his not-even-seventeen son had managed to accomplish this.
News had traveled fast though; everyone was talking about Adrian and his sudden appearance. Several purebloods, most likely Death Eaters, had stopped them as they shopped, politely trying to get the dirt on them. Adrian found it fun to test his tongue in the pureblood art of speaking. Say the wrong thing at the wrong time, and ancient pureblooded tradition dictated penalties or even debts. Adrian, like everyone else at Arcane, was taught how to speak this deadly language, and others, with swift yet deadly grace.
Arcane wasn't just about survival, or learning magic, it was the art of magic; and how everything in the world could be taught to be done in such a delicate and dangerous way, it could be considered a dance. Speaking, moving, even just watching could be done in such a beautiful and graceful way, that opponents could be distracted by the beauty of it, and defeated by the deadliness of it. A single split second, that's all it took to set an Arcanus on guard, while even less could cause a reaction, not necessarily a non-fatal one to the aggressor. Even with the school only accepting the best of the best students, very few of them could perform every action, movement, or even thought, as a dancer would perform a dance. Not because of incompetence, but because so few witches and wizards could connect with the earth, sky, and water completely, forming true harmony.
Witches and wizards felt only a brief moment of harmony, during their maturity or while performing an art, and reported it as the most wonderful sensation through words, songs, music, or whatever instrument they mastered. At Arcane, every student has the ability to connect with at least one aspect completely; it was the first thing they learned. Some fancied the natural elements: fire, water, earth, metal, wind, etc, and were able to manipulate them. Others were more adept to the stronger elementals: light, shadow, cold, heat, gem. Fewer others learned to actually take strength from the elements or elementals. Fewest of all, barely three students in over fifteen hundred, could master what was known at Arcane as Perfect Harmony. In which they could summon any element or elemental to them, unlike the others who could only use and manipulate the element if it was around them.
The Headmaster and Founder of the school taught the few able to perform Perfect Harmony themselves. Adrian, despite all odds, was one of them. Normally only those with powerful ancestors could even deem themselves able to have the ability, Adrian's power came mainly from his Mother and Father, but on his mother's side was a secret he couldn't tell anyone except one. The one he would spend the rest of his life with, would be burdened with the secret of his past…
"Books?" Adrian piped, smirking at his sulking father. Severus looked at him, pouting in his own way, before nodding with a sigh. Adrian's eyes lit up, a true smile flickering on his lips as he gave a happy squeak, and shot off to Flourish and Blotts. Severus watched, stunned. He hadn't thought his son liked books that much. He had never seen him in the past week with a book, unless he was working on a potion, but considering he stayed in his room except for meals or to talk with the other students, it shouldn't have been surprising.
When he had strolled into the store, he was met with wide-eyed customers and a clerk, staring at his son. For good reason too, the boy was jumping from bookshelf to bookshelf, tugging down several books from each, and dumping the piles onto a table that was starting to sag under the weight. Though he was only a minute or two ahead of him, he had at least fifty books out by the time his father had entered the store. Stranger yet, Adrian was humming as he grabbed seemingly random books and plopped them onto the poor table.
Managing a quick glance however, showed that the majority of books were potions, defense, history, and ancient runes. A few others were different languages. Watching, amused, his son nearly took two hours to stop his frenzied search for books. After the two hours, he slowed and began perusing at a normal pace, muttering as he looked at books. It was, odd, to say the least, his five-step habit of checking books. He would 1) read the summary, 2) flip the pages without looking at them, 3) stroke the spine, 4) re-check the author, then finally 5) glance at the beginning of each chapter. Some of the books were tossed aside after the third step, others at the second, but most after the fourth. Very few were stacked with the others on the table that was about to collapse.
"Adrian, I don't think you can afford to buy all these books," Severus said gently, trying not to provoke his temperamental son. Most of the time he was calm, collected, and patient, however, certain things like books, potions, and others set him off like an angry snake. He'd lash out at anyone who tried to change his mind about something or defended the provoker.
"Yes I can," Adrian chirped, happy and content. Severus breathed a sigh of relief; glad his son wasn't in a grumpy mood. Severus, at first, was disgusted with himself. Why should he, a spy, be afraid of his sixteen-year-old son? But he quickly answered himself, Adrian was odd, yes, but the few things he said about Arcane, his experiences and studies, absolutely terrified him. Adrian mentioned things in passing, as though they were unimportant, but it still took a week for all of them to accept the fact that he had undergone training far worse than the Cruciatus curse in his quest for knowledge. Severus had never been so glad to not be invited to Arcane, he thought his years at Hogwarts were terrible, but Arcane was hell compared to Hogwarts.
What bothered him deeply though, was that Adrian was content with being an Arcanus, as though he had discovered something to make the pain worthwhile, to make him go beyond the limits his body had set, just for that one precious thing. Whenever he was asked about Arcane, he would smirk and shake his head, repeating one line: 'We never speak, we always listen. We hold our secrets, and learn the Wisdom.' But when he was particularly content, he would say one thing that puzzled everyone: 'I'm in Perfect Harmony,'
"How?"
"I work, and save," Adrian looked at him, smirking at his seemingly idiotic question.
"You work?" Severus nearly gaped, but since he was in public, he merely raised his eyebrows.
"What do you think I do when I'm locked in my room all day? I make potions and send them to Arcane, which my friend Sin then sells to his father, who sells them to his customers. I get forty percent from Sin's father, and half of Sin's income. However we split our income together so we only get a fourth of the profit while half of it goes to buying ingredients for other potions. That's one job, my other is that I search for specific spells and charms for companies, or I translate ancient scrolls for others. I get paid a large sum of money from that alone, not counting Sin and my Potions work." Adrian shrugged at his father's stunned face. "I save almost all of it, in an account. I only use it to buy books and supplies, or occasionally clothes if mine get too worn-through. I've got plenty saved up so when I leave school I'll get by."
"That's amazing Adrian, I'm impressed," Severus looked at the pile of books though, still slightly uncertain. Adrian said he had enough, but how often did he buy so many books?
"Don't worry, this pile is nothing compared to the usual amount I usually buy," Adrian seemed to sense his unease, looking at the pile. "It's rather small, perhaps I should look for more," he mused aloud. Severus and the clerk immediately began to protest. Shrugging with a sigh, he shrunk all of the books until they were the size of a stamp, gathering all of them and carrying them to the counter. The clerk was astonished that all he had to do was tap his wand against each stack of books, there were fifteen stacks of maybe thirty books each, about a foot tall, and the combined price of all the books in the stack would appear. Counting it all up took awhile, the clerk nearly fainted at how much it cost.
"3,759 Galleons, and 14 Sickles," the clerk said, his mouth dry. Adrian pulled out a type of debit card, which was connected to his account at Gringotts. The clerk tapped the card, the amount instantly transferring to the store's funds, as Adrian pulled out a shrunk box. Tapping it twice, it enlarged to the size of a small chest. He put all of the books inside, it was obvious he had done this before, and shrunk it again. The box went into his pocket along with his other purchases, as he took his card back. Humming cheerfully, he lead his stunned father out of the store, heading towards Knockturn Alley.
Severus didn't protest as he followed his son down the dark alley, he had a feeling that despite his thoughts, Adrian could take care of himself easily. The two Snapes went to several of the bookstores, Adrian collecting more and more books, before heading to another Apothecary. Both of them bought some of the more rare and/or the more dangerous ingredients for their potions studies there, before heading back up. Heading back to the Leaky Cauldron to Floo back to Headquarters, they were stopped again, this time by the entire Malfoy family. Lucius, looking as proud and arrogant as ever; the beautiful Narcissa; and of course, the still-sulking-but-hiding-it Draco.
"Severus, I heard rumors, but surely you would have told me of a son, especially one Draco's age," Lucius said coolly and calmly, studying Adrian with a smirk.
"I would have told you, had I known myself, Lucius," Severus replied, placing his hands behind his back. "Unfortunately, his mother only informed me a few weeks ago of his presence."
"I see, and you've been adjusting well with him?" Lucius inquired politely. Severus nodded gingerly. Adrian, sensing the cue, stepped forward, looking Lucius in the eye.
"Adrian Snape, sir, a pleasure to meet you," he gripped the blonde's hand as they shook gingerly.
"Pleasure," Lucius said stiffly, eying him cautiously. Adrian, knowing the problem, smirked faintly.
"My mother's from a long line of purebloods, Mister Malfoy," he said quietly, enjoying the slight flicker of surprise.
"Ah, someone who knows the importance of our bloodlines," Lucius smirked, eying him in a much better mood. "Tell me, where did you learn your magical education, since surely it wasn't at Hogwarts."
"Indeed not sir," Adrian nodded slightly, "I've just recently been transferred to Hogwarts, to meet with my father. My Master thought it would be a good experience for me to see how Hogwarts taught her students, especially since at Arcane, we're mostly isolated from the rest of the world." The shock on all three of their faces was permanently engraved into his memory; he doubted anyone else had the honor of surprising or shocking the Malfoy family so openly.
"Arcane? I'm impressed young Snape, I hope you've been studying hard?"
"Quite sir, I've spent most of my time reading and studying, the rest was training and sleeping," Adrian waited patiently, seeing Narcissa and Draco staring at him with twin looks of disbelief.
"My son, Draco, claims that you were with several prominent Gryffindor students earlier," he paused, watching Adrian critically. Severus looked about to respond, but Adrian smirked coolly as he replied.
"The Headmaster, unfortunately, has taken a liking to me, and he wishes me to befriend several of the students before I actually enter Hogwarts' grounds when school starts."
"Ah, understandable, however if that is so, then you are certainly welcome to spend a few days at Malfoy Manor, to befriend Draco, and his friends as well."
"You are very kind sir," Adrian bowed slightly, showing his respect. Lucius smirked, understanding that he knew the old ways perfectly. He bowed the exact measurement, not higher, or lower. Higher could be taken as an insult, of too little respect; while lower meant he was a spineless coward, and gave too much respect. "I appreciate your offer, but it is my father's decision as I have yet to come of age," Severus smirked just barely at him, respect flickering in the onyx depths.
"I will arrange a few days, and inform you of my decision," he replied. Draco smirked; he always enjoyed his godfather's visits. The young blonde Slytherin had been studying the younger Snape throughout the conversation, amused and delighted with the way he knew the pureblooded ways. He was certainly making Draco remember every etiquette lesson he had been forced to learn. Not to mention he actually had plenty of brains to challenge him. Draco liked his friends, certainly, and though they weren't the same people most took them for, he grew tired of them occasionally.
Pansy was a nice girl, who enjoyed helping you out when you had a problem, but she was obsessed with her clothes and looks, and sometimes acted so silly. Greg and Vincent were smart, despite their reputations and looks, but they weren't very talkative, plus they were smitten with each other. Blaise was a good conversationalist, a one-end conversationalist. He just couldn't shut up once started on something. They were good friends, but they had their faults; Adrian Snape sounded like a good person for him to try and challenge. He frowned briefly though, the young Snape had been following the Golden Trio, and even embarrassed him slightly. Though, looking back, he realized he had given him plenty of opportunity. He, foolishly, insulted the boy's lineage, and gave him plenty to comment about with his silly insult.
"Excellent, I'll be awaiting your owl," Draco was snapped out of his thoughts by his father's finish. Watching Adrian closely, he saw the boy was listing slightly to one side. His eyes were exhausted, but a content smile played at his lips. Blinking, Draco was astonished to see that the gentle debate had exhausted him so much, yet he found it to be so much fun.
"Excellent, until then Lucius," Severus gently touched Adrian's shoulder, who straightened up slightly. Adrian politely nodded to them, following his father on to the Leaky Cauldron.
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Third chapter, this story is becoming more and more fun! -
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Thanks to my reviewer: wind, I now have one pairing for this story. Harry/Adrian! So happy! -dances around joyfully- This chappie is dedicated to wind for their review!