Disclaimer: HP and Co. belong to J.K. Rowling, not myself. Adrian is mine however =]
A/N: Hope you guys enjoy this chapter!
R/R!
Chapter Seven: First Week Drama
Draco grinned as Marauder soared into the Great Hall with the many other owls delivering the morning post. The large owl landed in front of the blond, earning an outraged cry from the Gryffindor table, though most ignored it. Accepting the letter, Draco fed the owl a piece of bacon off his plate before the owl took off again, completely avoiding the Gryffindor table. Adrian laughed at the expression on his twin's face, trying to stifle his giggles as Draco glared at him.
"What?" Adrian teased, chuckling lightly, "I can't help it, you look so excited" Adrian defended himself.
"I just like getting letters from him" Draco defended, unfurling the piece of parchment, his eyes roving over the paper excitedly.
"He's going to meet me in Hogsmead next time we go there" Draco said, his cheeks flushing lightly, though it was only discernible to those who knew him rather well. Adrian grinned, rather happy for his twin, he knew that Draco would miss Fred during the school year, and it was only the first Wednesday back, Yule was a long way off.
"Maybe you can invite him to the valentines day dance that Uncle Sev was telling you about?" Adrian teased.
"Don't remind me of that travesty. Although, it would be nice if he came, it'd give me something to look forward to, instead of dreading the pink hearts" The blond said with a small chuckle.
"You'd have to get permission, but I bet Dumbledore wouldn't care, I mean it is an inter-school dance" Adrian said, nibbling on his bacon as he looked around the hall.
"What class do we have?" He asked curiously, looking around at his year mates.
"Potions" Draco responded, sipping his pumpkin juice and finishing off his toast.
"Lovely, we get to watch Uncle Sev terrify some Gryffindors" Adrian said with a grin, ever since his encounter with Ron Weasley, Adrian had taken more of an interest in the inter-house rivalry between Slytherin and Gryffindor.
"He's been rather harsh lately, hasn't he?" Pansy commented, placing her napkin down on her plate as she finished eating. Severus had been vicious towards the Gryffindors in their first potions class Monday, even more so then normal.
"Who cares?" Draco asked, flicking his blond bangs from his eyes.
"Come on, we're going to be late if we don't hurry up" Blaise said, standing up and swinging his book bag over his shoulder. The others followed suit and followed the Italian teen out of the Great Hall and into the dungeons.
As usual, the door was closed and they were required to stand in a tight knot, waiting for the Potions Professor to come unlock the door.
Slowly more and more students filed down the hall, though far less then the previous year, as Severus only accepted students who had received an 'O' on their OWLs into his class. Of course, Dumbledore had forced him to allow certain students in, otherwise the class would have been filled with just Slytherins, a few Ravenclaws and perhaps one Hufflepuff and Gryffindor.
"So did you read the chapter?" Hermione Granger asked Harry as they rounded the corner and joined the small group of students waiting to get into the Potions lab.
"Yea, looks like a complicated potion" Harry commented, hands shoved deep in his pockets.
"I can't wait" Hermione said gleefully, a slightly crazed light entering her eyes at the prospect of making a difficult potion.
Draco resisted the urge to snort in disdain as he overheard Granger and Potter, Weasley hadn't gotten the accepted grade to get into the NEWT potions class.
Severus swept down the corridor, his dragon-hide boots making no noise on the cobbled corridors.
"Well what are you waiting for?" He hissed, once the door was open. "Get inside"
The Slytherins carefully made their way inside, however the other houses scrambled for their desks, terrified of the 'dungeon bat'.
Adrian took his seat next to Draco, resisting the urge to giggle at the other students as Severus swept down the aisles before taking his customary place at the front of the room.
"For those of you who read the assigned reading, you know that the potion we will be preparing today is Amortentia" Severus said, tapping his wand against the black board, the instructions appearing from where his wand tip had touched.
"Now, can anyone tell me what Amortentia is?" Severus sneered at the class, deliberately ignoring Hermione's frantically waving hand.
"Mr. Zabini?" He asked instead, ignoring Hermione's irritated huff.
"Amorentia is the most powerful love potion in the world to date" Blaise responded.
"Excellent Mr. Zabini, take five points for Slytherin. Now, what is the problem with love potions?" He asked.
Hermione, unable to hold back, suddenly blurted out the response, ignoring Snape's glowering expression and the sigh that escaped Harry.
"Love potions create an allusion of love, but its not the real thing. Its manufactured love, and once the potion is no longer given to the recipient, the effect is lost" She blabbered in one breath, suddenly quelling under Severus' angry expressions.
"Correct Miss Granger, however you weren't called upon to answer the question, so I must take ten points from Gryffindor for sheer rudeness" Severus said, his tone silky as he returned to the front of the room.
"Well? What are you waiting for? Begin" He snapped, resisting the urge to chuckle as a mad scramble ensued as the students rushed to get to the ingredient cupboard.
"You set up the cauldron, I'll get the ingredients" Draco murmured to Adrian, as the potion was done in pairs, instead of separately.
"Sounds good" Adrian murmured as Blaise and Pansy paired up and Theo worked with Crabbe while Goyle was helped by Daphne.
Adrian set the cauldron up on the small fire, prodding it lightly with his wand to bring the cauldron water to a boil. At the table across from Adrian, Harry was setting up his and Hermione's cauldron while she joined the throng of students getting ingredients.
"Here we go" Draco murmured, setting the vials and bits of plant parts. Adrian smiled at his twin, double checking that Draco had grabbed everything before he glanced up at the instructions.
"First we need to add the vanilla extract" Adrian said, nodding to Draco whom quickly added the small vial of clear liquid.
"You should be adding the final ingredients to your potions now" Snape drawled after about an hour. Hermione was furiously stirring her and Harry's potion while he carefully added three drops of Ashwinder venom.
"Now your potion should be a light purple colour with steam spiraling off of the surface" Snape said, sweeping through the aisles and examining potions. He sneered at a few, particularly those made by Harry and Hermione, though he didn't comment.
"If made correctly, your potion will smell distinctive to each individual depending on what attracts you" Snape explained.
"Please bottle your potions, label them and put them on my desk" He added, watching students ladle their potions into flasks.
"We will be testing your potions next class and I expect a three foot essay on the dangers of using love potions to be handed in next class as well" He drawled, watching the students clean their stations before filing out of the classroom and towards whatever class they had next.
"Adrian?" Severus called as the group of Slytherins made to leave, the blond turned, glancing back at his godfather, a curious expression on his face.
"Here" The Professor said, handing Adrian an extra seizure prevention potion, though the teen had taken one with breakfast.
"Thanks Uncle Sev" Adrian said, sliding it into his book bag.
"Just in case, you should be fine with the one you had at breakfast, but since we don't know what could set them off, so I'd like you to carry them with you" The dark-haired man said, smiling at his godson.
"Draco has them as well" Adrian reassured his Uncle, before following his twin and friends out of the classroom.
"What's next?" Blaise asked, slipping his textbook back into his book bag.
"Herbology" Pansy said, pulling a face.
"Lovely, at least we'll have time to change at lunch" Draco muttered, already scowling at the idea of getting dirt all over himself. Adrian rolled his eyes, his brother and Pansy were always so concerned about clothing. While he cared to some extent, he wasn't nearly as bad as Draco, or their mother for that matter.
HP/AM
"Stupid bloody Weasley" Draco said, sitting down roughly at the Slytherin table for lunch, an uncharacteristic smudge of dirt on his left cheek.
"What happened?" Theo asked curiously, he had dropped herbology after OWLs, having no desire to continue with the class.
"Weasley managed to piss off the Venomous Tentacula, causing it to start flailing madly and grab pretty much everyone in class that it could reach" Draco groused, rolling up his sleeve and showing Theo the scratches from the stupid plant.
"That sucks" Theo murmured, sliding down the bench to let Adrian sit down exhaustedly on the bench as well. The younger blond slumped forward, his head resting on the table tiredly.
"You too eh?" Theo asked, watching the rest of his bedraggled classmates slump onto the bench. Adrian nodded, he had an angry scratch on one cheek and receding blue lines indicating that he had suffered an attack.
"Should you be in the hospital wing?" Theo asked worriedly, glancing at Draco.
"Uncle Sev was down by the greenhouse he sorted him out" Draco said, glancing at Adrian who was pretty much asleep at the table.
Theo nodded, still looking worriedly at the young Malfoy.
"If you're sure" He murmured, taking a sip of his juice, eyeing both Malfoys for a moment before he returned to his food.
Draco eyed Adrian, sighing softly as he saw just how exhausted his twin was, episodes always took a lot out of Adrian and he still wasn't fully healed from his surgeries after the incident at the World Cup.
"You know Uncle Sev wouldn't mind if you went and rested in his quarters, you're not supposed to strain yourself, healers orders" Draco said, rubbing a hand over Adrian's back lightly. The young man sighed, nodding his head and forcing himself to sit up.
"I'll ask him" He mumbled, rising shakily to his feet. Draco put a hand out, gently pulling Adrian back down.
"I'll ask him, you wait here till I come back" Draco said, standing up and shooting a furious glance over at the Gryffindor table before he carefully made his way to the head table. Severus saw Draco coming and rose, meeting the teen off to the side of the table, where they held a rather hasty conversation. Severus glanced up, staring intently at Adrian before nodding to Draco.
"I have a spare class after lunch, I'll go down there with him" Severus murmured, "See if you can get him to eat something, even if its just some soup" Severus murmured, before going back to the head table. Draco nodded, sitting back down at the Slytherin table, nudging Adrian lightly and rousing him.
"Uncle Sev will take you to his quarters after lunch, he wants you to try and eat a little bit though" Draco said, putting a bowl of soup down in front of Adrian.
"Not hungry" Adrian mumbled, yawning.
'To damn bad" Draco muttered, looking pointedly at his twin, who seemed to deflate slightly in front of the irritated glare and began carefully spooning soup into his mouth. Draco nodded, keeping an eye on Adrian while he ate.
Harry watched with mild interest as Malfoy made his way down the aisle behind Slytherin table to speak with Professor Snape. Both Slytherins were looking down the table at Adrian Malfoy, who looked half dead. Everyone knew he had experienced another one of his weird episodes in Herbology thanks to Ron stirring up one of the psycho plants.
"Whats the deal with Ferret junior?" Ron grumbled, taking a vicious bite of his chicken, ignoring Hermione's pointed glare at his atrocious table manners.
"He probably feels pretty sick" Hermione commented, eyeing Ron's plate with near disgust.
"Sick from what? That little incident in herbology? He needs to get the hell over that" Ron muttered, spearing the food on his plate angrily.
Harry rolled his eyes, but didn't bother responding, Ron was completely unwilling to listen to reason when it came to the Malfoys.
HP/AM
Severus helped Adrian lie down on the couch in his private quarters. He frowned, he had written a note excusing Adrian from afternoon classes, Draco would deliver it to the teachers his Slytherin six years had that afternoon. He settled a blanket over the exhausted teen, frowning lightly as he let his hand rest on Adrian's slightly damp forehead. The teen felt a bit warm, though the healers had said that illness could be expected after episodes until his immune system was running up to par again.
"Damn" He murmured, no sense in taking Adrian to the hospital wing, he had everything to treat the teen here, and Adrian would probably feel more comfortable in his quarters.
Grabbing a fever reducer from one of his many potions cabinets, Severus gently roused Adrian, who looked around, a slightly dazed expression on his face.
"Uncle Sev?" He murmured, rubbing a hand over his eyes as he looked at his Uncle.
"Just take this alright?" Severus said, letting Adrian take the vial from him, his hands only shaking slightly as he lifted the vial to his mouth and drained it, only pulling a mild face as he did so.
"Get sone sleep kiddo, you can spend the night here" Severus murmured, transfiguring the couch into a small cot.
Later that evening, after classes had finished and dinner was over, Draco wandered down to his Uncle's quarters, a frown on his face. He hadn't spoken to Adrian since lunch, but his twin had been rather exhausted and ill looking at that time and he wanted to make sure he was alright.
Knocking on the portrait, carefully of course, he stood back and waited. After a few moments he heard someone moving about inside and the door opened, revealing a slightly tired looking Severus. Draco frowned, he knew his Uncle had had classes all afternoon, barring his break directly after lunch, but that shouldn't have worn him out this much.
"Come on in Draco" Severus murmured, stepping aside to allow his godson entry to the room.
"How's Adrian?" Draco asked, stepping into the modestly decorated living room, immediately glancing around for his twin.
"He seems to have gotten a bit of a cold due to the episode. The healers did mention that could happen, but its not really helping him recover from the surgeries or anything" Severus murmured, nodding at the figure curled up on the cot. Draco wandered over, sitting down on the edge of the bed and carefully pulling the blanket back. Adrian was sleeping, his breathing slightly labored, hinting at the congestion in his chest. His cheeks were flushed slightly, and he had a thin layer of sweat on his upper brow.
"Fever?" Draco asked, glancing worriedly at his Uncle.
"Yes, I gave him a fever reducer earlier, but when he wakes up I'll give him another one" Severus explained, smoothing the blanket absentmindedly.
"Have you told Mother and Father?" Draco asked, still frowning down at his twin. Gods he was going to kill Weasley.
"Yes, they wanted to come over immediately but I told them there was really little they could do. He'll probably miss classes tomorrow, which is fine" Severus murmured, "I already cleared it with Professor Dumbledore, he was already aware of the situation from this summer" The Slytherin Head of House said with a sigh.
"I know he'd prefer to stay here instead of go to the Hospital wing, but I wish someone could stay with him tomorrow" Severus muttered, he'd prefer to keep Adrian in the safety of his quarters, to many people could get into the Hospital wing. Call him paranoid, but he was allowed to be paranoid, having been a spy during the Voldemort wars.
"I have a two spares tomorrow, I could sit with him then, and I'm sure some of the others have breaks at different times" Draco suggested, "Otherwise I'm sure Mother could come to Hogwarts for the day" He shrugged, looking at his Uncle with a small grin.
"I'll speak to the Prefects, but you're welcome to come during your breaks. I should probably floo your mother, she doesn't like being away from Adrian when he's ill" Severus murmured, pouring Draco a mug of tea, he had been about to have a cup when Draco knocked on the portrait.
"Thanks Uncle Sev" Draco murmured, sipping the hot liquid contently, still keeping a careful eye on his twin as he did so.
"Has he woken up at all?" Draco asked curiously, reaching over to smooth the hair out of Adrian's eyes absentmindedly.
"A bit, he's been sort of in and out of it, the fever isn't to high, it's just tiring him out" He explained at Draco's anxious expression.
"Hopefully all the sleep helps" Draco muttered tiredly, finishing off his tea.
"I'll see you in the morning Uncle Sev, come get me if anything happens" Draco said, slipping out of the room and heading towards the Slytherin Common Room.
HP/AM
Adrian woke early, a tickle in his throat rousing him. Man he felt crummy, why was he so sick? Uncle Sev had explained, along with the healers, that he was more susceptible to sickness until his health was at a hundred percent and he had fully recovered from his surgeries.
"Hey" Uncle Sev muttered, handing the sleepy teen another fever reducer and a mild pepper-up potion.
"Hey" Adrian rasped, rubbing his eyes tiredly and smiling half-heartedly at his Uncle.
"You're excused from classes today" Severus murmured, taking back the empty vials, placing them in the sink to be sterilized for re-use.
"Good, I'd be asking for a pass to get out of class otherwise. I feel like garbage" Adrian muttered, looking tiredly at his Uncle. Sev smiled lightly, pushing Adrian's bangs out of his face absentmindedly.
"Draco's going to sit with you during his breaks this morning, and your mother said she'd be here for a couple hours this afternoon" Severus said, gathering up his things for his first class.
"Sounds good Uncle Sev, I'll probably just sleep" Adrian admitted tiredly.
"You have to eat something, at least for lunch" Severus admonished sternly. A knock on the portrait indicated that Draco had arrived. Severus left the room for a moment, letting the teen inside the small quarters.
"Morning Dray" Adrian said tiredly, playfully rolling his eyes as Draco immediately began to check him over.
"You look a bit better" His twin commented, silver-grey eyes scanning Adrian closely.
"He's had his potions for this morning, I'll give him the rest at lunch. I'll see you two later" Severus said with a small smile as he slipped out of his quarters. Normally he'd never leave students alone in his quarters, but he trusted his godsons, and had been housing them in his chambers since they were small boys.
"Bye Uncle Sev" Both blonds called, Adrian sliding down on the couch and getting comfortable as Draco began to fuss again.
"Dray" Adrian whined, trying to pull away from his twin.
"Fine, fine" Draco grumbled, grabbing his charms text book, beginning his homework while his twin drifted off to sleep.
When Adrian woke later, Severus had returned and was holding a small bowl of soup while his Mother spoke to his twin.
"Wassgoingon?" Adrian slurred tiredly, rubbing his eyes.
"Have something to eat please?" Severus murmured, "I don't want to give you your potions on an empty stomach" Adrian just looked confused for a moment before accepting the bowl of soup and slowly beginning to eat. As the lunch period ended, Draco and Severus took off to classes, while Narcissa settled herself in a comfortable chair next to Severus' fire and looked at her son. Adrian was still tired, having finished the soup and taken the potions, he was already beginning to fall asleep again.
"Sleep baby, you don't want to miss to much school" Narcissa said, carefully rising and smoothing Adrian's blankets before pressing a light kiss to his forehead. Adrian nodded, eyes slipping closed as he drifted off.
HP/AM
Draco sighed, sitting in history taking notes though he was barely paying attention. Weasley was making faces at him, though Draco didn't particularly care. While he was annoyed with Weasley, pissed actually, he was more concerned about Adrian. He hadn't realized how sick his twin was until he had spent the morning with him, it was a bit daunting to see. He had honestly thought that Adrian was doing better, but seeing how sick he was reminded him of how fragile Adrian's health was.
"Draco?" Pansy whispered from beside him, disturbing his slightly morbid thoughts.
"Hmm?" The blond asked, rubbing a hand over his face, rousing himself slightly.
"Whats wrong?" She whispered, though its not like Binns would really notice students not paying attention in class.
"Just worried about Adrian, I never realized just how bad the surgery was until now" Draco admitted.
"I guess its difficult, you saw him at his worst during the surgery, but when he was released from the hospital I'm sure you expected him to just be fine, well as fine as Adrian can be" Pansy murmured. Draco nodded, his cheeks flushing slightly, he had sort of assumed that. Adrian, despite his illnesses, tended to bounce back, but that was in the safety of Malfoy Manor with their overprotective parents and house elves, not at Hogwarts with psychotic Weasleys.
"He'll be fine Draco" Blaise murmured, "He'll bounce back" He reassured.
"I know" Draco murmured softly, "I just worry" He admitted.
"We know" The group of Slytherins chorused teasingly. Draco rolled his eyes, resisting the urge to stick his tongue out at his friends.
From the other side of the room, Ron Weasley was glowering in the Slytherins directions.
"They're plotting something" He hissed at Harry and Hermione, "Probably some prank to screw up our Quidditch chances" He added, glowering darkly at the group again.
Harry glanced up from where he'd been doodling on his parchment, shaking his head at his friend in mild disbelief.
"Where do you suppose ferret Junior is?" Ron added, his tone harsh, "Probably breaking into our dorm and stealing your firebolt. Harry, this is serious" Ron added, realizing his friend wasn't paying any attention to what he was saying.
"Ron, there's no way Adrian Malfoy is breaking into Gryffindor Common Room and stealing my firebolt" The raven-haired teen said with a groan. Hermione made a hushing noise, looking pointedly at their transparent teacher.
"I'm taking notes" She glowered, "And you two should be as well" She warned, "Adrian Malfoy is probably in his own Common room or in the Hospital Wing, he looked pretty sick yesterday at lunch" She muttered, shaking her head as she primly turned her attention back to the lecture.
"Stupid Malfoy, always getting special treatment" Ron hissed viciously. Harry just bit the inside of his cheek, it seemed the summer hadn't cooled Ron's hatred for Adrian, if anything the teen was even more vicious. He sighed, wondering if he should warn Malfoy, though he already seemed aware of Ron's attitude, plus he still wasn't sure Ron would do anything besides complain and rage. He mentally resolved to just keep an eye on the situation, hopefully he could prevent something disastrous.
