Thanks for all the feedback, favorites and follows. Truly appreciated.
To answer a few questions:
One the Potter fortune- Hadrian does not know he is the potter heir and just assumed he was an orphan he had no reason to have his blood checked therefore no reason to find out he was actually the potter heir.
This was part of the reason I had people disregard Iztal's own visit to the bank with the blood test. It was a mistake that would not work for the plot line.
two-Don't give up on iztal and hadrian's relationship yet...yes iztal is dark but hadrian is not white. Their meant to temper each other.
Hope this helps. As always read and review and ENJOY!
Chapter 10: The art of reconciliation
This thing I am feeling, I'm almost certain, is the closest I'll ever come to standing somewhere in between truth and reconciliation."
― Raquel Cepeda, Bird of Paradise: How I Became Latina
The next two months passed in a bit of a blur for Hadrian. He had fallen back into old habits when dealing with emotions and events that he did not wish to deal with, he ignored them. Instead he threw himself into his books, learning and those relationships that were not involved with the current upset in his life. He found himself once again going into overdrive, at the neglect of scheduled meals and sleep, all in order to inundate himself with acquiring new knowledge.
This had of course both positives and negatives, of which he chose to ignore the negatives and focus on the positives. The positives of course being that his learning and understanding of magic had exponentially increased. Once he had managed to really connect with his magical core (something that took him the better part of a month) everything else just seemed to make sense. Concepts that he had struggled to understand, intrinsically became natural, his access to his pure magic seemed limitless, and the ease and boredom he had found in class increased. The best part of this new understanding was the relaxation and comfort it gave him. Hadrian had never really known acceptance or unquestioned love from anyone much less a parent, being really, truly connected with his magic almost gave him the feel that he would attribute to a mother's love and care.
He could not explain this feeling but knew better then to look a gift horse in the mouth (a saying by muggles he really did not understand). Even his distance from Iztal came with a few benefits. It gave him time to strengthen his friendship with both Draco and Hermione, although even these friendships could not be deemed normal. From what he understood most friendships were based on loyalty, trust and acceptance on both parties. While their friendships definitely had undertones of loyalty and acceptance, there was no real trust, well at least on his part. Similarly the loyalty was more one sided from them to him, though he would not deny he felt the need to protect and defend them in his own right. He would classify his bond with them as more of a mentor-student one, while they seemed to feel that it was more of a friendship one.
Either way it didn't really change much. Although he had found the bushy haired brunet a little odd and a tad annoying, her persistence had eventually won him over along with her obvious reverence for knowledge. He could appreciate both characteristics in her, similar to how he appreciated the snarky blond for his power and less obvious cleverness, especially in potions. Both relationships were initiated out of convenience and mutual benefit, but he could admit he did not mind that they had slowly morphed into something deeper. Draco and Hermione where not the only ones that he had given extra attention too. He had quietly and discretely branched out to other students of interest, not limiting himself to his own house.
He had successfully started positive alliances with both Theodore Nott and Blaise Zabini, other Slytherin year mates with valuable skills. Theodore had several worthy connections in both the wizarding and muggle less savory worlds, this partnered with the fact he had a calm, calculating nature made him useful. Blaise Zabini on the other hand was very charismatic and had strong ties with his indigenous magic making him a powerful individual that would be unwise to overlook. He had taken one look at Millicent Bulstrode and Pansy Parkinson and decided that their personalities weren't worth any benefits they might have brought. He had extended a tentative hand in friendship to a 6th year Slytherin by the name of Francois Roux, a shy boy who had strong ties to the French monarchy, the boy's birth given power were easily overlooked by most because of his quiet nature and lack of magical strength.
Outside of Slytherin, Hadrian had endeared himself to almost all of the Ravenclaws simply because of his academic brilliance and his willingness to help others with their own attainment of knowledge. He had managed to befriended a good number of Hufflepuffs as well given that he was not confrontational and the fact that if you had no reason to dislike him, you could not help but be drawn to the powerful aura that swirled around him. Gryffindors were another story completely. Most of the Gryffindors were of loud, out spoken, brash natures and they did not take the quiet, calculating air of the little Slytherin as a necessarily positive thing. That and Ronald Weasley took pulled no shots in spouting his anit-Slytherin opinions to all that would listen, generally his housemates.
Ron had eagerly lumped Hadrian in with Malfoy when it came to dealing with the two Slytherins. He saw Malfoy as enemy so naturally he assumed Hadrian was as well, despite the fact that Hadrian had never actually done anything to him other then break up him and Malfoy. This was enough however for the short tempered red head and it had made a significant impact on how the other Gryffindors reacted to him.
This being said not ALL of them were of this opinion. He had managed to make a positive impression on the quiet, clumsy Neville Longbottom, and more surprisingly the two Weasley twins, George and Fred. When he had suspiciously questioned them on their reasoning for this during an afternoon that had found them plunking their rather bright and gaudy set of robed bodies next to him, they had simply stated that Ron was a prat and they liked him. No amount of stern looks, prickly replies or cold shoulders had dissuaded them and like with Hermione their persistence eventually won out. Years later they would eventually admit that they had instinctually known he was going to throw a wrench in wizarding society and they just wanted to watch everything blow up. Given the twins own predilection for causing mayhem this really wasn't that large of a surprise.
So, yes while he was starting to feel rather worn down physically, he had never felt stronger magically or politically. Once again a small sacrifice. Hadrian pulled himself from his musings and pushed the pounding pain in his skull away, years of being on the receiving end of physical pain had essentially numbed the effect that it had on him. As such, it was a small matter to push his current physical discomfort into the back of his mind and seal it off. He would later discover that it was a form of occlumency that his mind had naturally adopted that permitted this.
Hadrian discreetly surveyed the Slytherin common room from his corner position. While he had been gaining allies at a fairly fast rate he was smart enough not to do so obviously, thus kept his distance from the 'power' position lent to the center of the room. It was a well known fact that the ideal position of power was as Prince of Slytherin. This unofficial title said it all. The 'Prince' was the Slytherin that controlled the rest of them; it was his word that was 'law' so to speak. His favor could make or break you . This position came with many perks and powerful alliances, even after Hogwarts and was viciously defended by the one that held it.
Iztal of course had taken the position with little trouble after the initial in-fighting. From how everyone automatically deferred to the teen and what he knew from basically growing up with him, Hadrian was glad he had not been there to witness the domination fights.
Speaking of which, Hadrian would be amiss not to notice Iztal's unusual increasing absences lately. Even now the boy was deliberately working his way through admirers to escape the room.
'Just what is he up to? Hadrian wondered following the careful maneuvering with his eyes. Most people he was disengaging himself from did not even notice that he was doing so, Iztal was a rather skilled manipulator in his own right.
Curiosity flared inside Hadrian's chest. He had been careful to keep his distance since the night several months ago but that did not mean his awareness of the other boy had diminished.
Convincing himself that this curiosity was directly related to his own plans and political maneuvering, rather than a lingering wish to 'fix' their currently broken relationship, Hadrian quickly arrived at the decision to follow the boy and determine just where it was he kept disappearing to.
Hadrian quickly and quietly gave an excuse to Draco before slipping out of the common room after Iztal. He resolutely ignored the warning voice telling him he was being an impulsive Gryffindor as he kept a careful distance between them, sticking mainly to the shadows.
Something intrinsic to his self told him that this night would change things, not only between them but the current course of the wizarding world...
Whether for better or worse, remained to be seen.
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Iztal quietly stalked through the deserted halls. The past two months had been nothing short of infuriating. Yes, he had decided to distance himself from Hadrian, but it did not stop him from being rather vexed when the other boy resolutely took to ignoring him.
He had found himself carefully observing the boy after their spat and was not sure how to feel about what he found. The only thing that he could define was that what he was worried. The type and reasoning behind this worry varied greatly. Some small, smothered part of him found itself worrying over the boy's physical state.
It was becoming more and more apparent that Hadrian was not taking care of himself, something Iztal had always sniped at him about in the past. He knew full well that the younger boy could easily get caught up in his obsessive need to learn and push everything else away. This was apparently what Hadrian had been doing if the dark shadows under his eyes and increasingly prominent cheekbones were telling. This worry was accompanied by something akin to guilt and Iztal was quick to shove both into the locked portion of his mind.
The other part that worried him, he was not sure what to do with. He had discovered that Hadrian had been quietly and rapidly expanding his influence. Had it been anyone else doing so, he would not have hesitated to crush them, Hadrian however….
No, it didn't sit well and he was not entirely sure what he wanted to do about it. This brought him back to what he was doing tonight. He had taken to searching the school at night, in part for a distraction and partly because he really did want to find it.
He had read about 'The Chamber of Secrets' in his first year, and it had intrigued him ever since. He had pushed his desire to find this mysterious center of undiluted Slytherin power aside while he was busy shoring his own position inside the house, but now that he had time…
He had unfortunately failed to find even a hint of it. Most frustrating indeed. He had found another room of interest however. Almost by mistake, he had stumbled upon the room it, nearly passing by as he had assumed it to be a broom closet. Something had made him stop and take a closer look at the non-descript door. He had most decidedly Not been expecting a three headed dog to be on the other side.
At first he had excitedly thought that perhaps this could be the entrance to the Chamber, after all it was thought that the chamber contained a great monster. It was not that far of a stretch to think that there could also be a monster guarding the entrance. He had eventually dismissed this possibility however; just given what he knew of Salazar Slytherin, somehow he did not see the founder of Slytherin using a beast as plebian as a dog, regardless of its magical attributes.
He had found this room only a few nights ago and had not had the chance to return before tonight. He stealthily made his way up to the third floor corridor, debating on whether or not to try and get to the trap door under the dog that he had noted earlier. While yes, he was curious as to why the dog was there and what it happened to be guarding, he also did not particularly have a death wish.
He came to a stop before the door in question, reaching out with his magic to confirm that he was indeed alone. He almost didn't catch the second presence. He was sure that had he not already been so familiar with the currently very repressed aura, that he would have dismissed it for one of the magical paintings.
Iztal quickly spun around and leapt forward, effectively trapping his prey between him and the stone wall.
"What are you doing?" he hissed, careful to keep his voice quiet as to not alert anyone else.
The smaller body stopped squirming, realizing that it was truly trapped, "I could ask you the same" Hadrian replied, after a pause he continued his voice mocking, "Just what is so interesting about this hallway, to garner the precious interests of the Prince?"
"And just what concern is it of yours?" Iztal bit back annoyed that it had taken him this long to detect his shadow.
Hadrian did not answer but stubbornly jutted his chin out and stared him in the eyes. Iztal had to bite back the smile that wanted out. It was such a familiar gesture from the younger boy. He had always used this mulish expression to get what he wanted from Iztal, something about it always made him cave.
And once again he found himself doing so. Iztal let out a long, exasperated sigh. "I thought you weren't speaking to me?" he questioned quirking a brow.
The incredulous expression on Hadrian's face made him want to laugh. "I was not talking to YOU?" he asked in disbelief. "Excuse me if I am mistaken, but it was you that decided to be an ignorant, nasty prick and then decided to have nothing to do with me"
"Language, Hades" Iztal admonished automatically, without realizing what he was even doing.
Both froze at the familiar use of Hadrian's nickname. One which he had only ever allowed Iztal to use. The continued to stare at each other, each trying to force the other to speak next.
Finally, Hadrian broke, "So, are you going to continue being an asshole or was that a phase?" he asked with a sigh, tiredly rubbing his eyes.
Iztal paused, he could answer two ways. The first he could continue with his resolute dismissal of the boy or secondly he could seize this figurative olive branch and mend things before it was too late. He quickly thought back to his initial reasoning that had led him too breaking things; the reasons he had had were still present. But the little voice in his head rationalized, distancing himself from Hadrian really hadn't solved anything. If anything it had made it worse.
He had been more edgy lately, he had also found himself distracted from his goals and spending more and more time brooding on the broken friendship. So really his plan to remove Hadrian's influence on him had backfired.
Iztal was generally rational and so he went with the only rational decision that he could.
"Phase" he replied, mentally holding his breath to see if Hadrian would accept this as it was meant to be, an apology.
Hadrian studied him for a long moment, and finally it appeared he had found what he was looking for. "Good" he replied, then allowed a small grin to grace his face, "Are you planning on letting me free?"
Iztal scrunched his brow briefly in confusion, before blushing as he realized Hadrian was still pinned to the wall. He quickly took a step back and turned towards the door he had originally been looking for, giving himself a chance to compose himself.
"So, what ARE you doing wandering the halls" Hadrian asked, straightening and walking forward to look at whatever had caught Iztal's attention.
Iztal took the next several minutes to explain about his search for the 'Chamber of Secrets,' his subsequent discovery of the three headed dog and his theories. When he had finished Hadrian looked perplexed but thoughtful.
"Well, I would assume whatever it is guarding would be valuable but why on Earth would someone place something valuable inside a school? It's rather moronic" Hadrian offered his opinion.
"Indeed" Iztal replied, "There is something that feels off about it, I can't say what exactly but it's similar to the whole troll situation at Halloween, there is just something not quite right."
Hadrian hummed his agreement before speaking "Honestly, my gut feeling is telling me to leave it be."
Iztal stopped to think about what Hadrian was saying and found that he really could not disagree. Now that he took the time to think about it, his Slytherin, self preservation instincts were screaming the same thing. To stay away. He sighed, he hated to leave things unresolved but he was too much a Slytherin to disregard his own well being. "Alright, let's head back then, I'd rather not be on the receiving end of Filches detentions for no reason"
Hadrian nodded his agreement, and the two boys quietly made their way back towards their common room.
After a few moments of companionable silence Hadrian once again broke the silence.
"Hey, you know how you were saying you felt something off with the Cerberus and the troll?" he asked.
"Yes?" Iztal replied, slowing his pace to give them time to finish the conversation before reaching their intended destination.
"I….well…I get that feeling from two of the professors" Hadrian said hesitantly.
Iztal stopped grabbing Hadrian's arm to spin him so they were facing each other, "What do you mean?" His innate defense of the smaller boy flared, no one had the right to hurt Hadrian. Well, he amended no one but him.
"I can't say exactly, but it's that same feeling you were describing earlier, there's something off about Professor Quirrel, and I get a almost malevolent feeling from the headmaster, I don't know" Hadrian replied pausing to think, "they haven't done anything to explain it, I mean other then the fact that I get the feeling they are watching me closer than everyone else, but it just feels….off" he finished lamely shrugging.
Iztal had noted the same thing. He had dismissed it with the headmaster, for some reason Dumbledore had always seemed to dislike him, but he had noted that Professor Quirrel's stuttering nervous personality seemed to slip at times, almost as if he was wearing a mask himself. He wasn't sure why a professor thought it necessary to don a mask of that extreme, but he wasn't sure he really wanted to know.
He shook off the feeling of unease at the thought, "Just stay away from them" he told Hadrian before turning to continue walking.
Even while saying this, Iztal somehow knew that this might be easier said than done.
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Snape leaned back in his seat watching the first year Slytherin/Gryffindors attempt to brew Blemish Blitzer and tried to remind himself why he was forced to endure such agony. Ah yes, he thought bitterly Albus. For a man supposedly so white, he had little compunction in guilting him to serve a side which was so ill suited to him. And all because he had happened to fall in love with a young, stubborn, red headed, green eyed witch. Well at least he had ceased with the pointless search for one Harry Potter he thought moodily.
This fact bothered him more than he thought it should, well maybe not more than it should, given that he had made a blood oath to Lily that he would protect her son. The thing that really worried him was that the blood oath had not been reacting as it should. He had felt little if no pain, pain that should have been a given due to the fact that Harry Potter was missing. If the blood oath was working properly Harry's current assumed danger or death should have had SOME effect. But there had been nothing. In fact since the start of the year the constant dull ache that Severus had felt for the past eleven years had all but vanished.
It was troubling in the fact that it did not make sense, and Severus hated when things did not make sense. The only logical assumption that he could draw was that wherever Harry was he was happier and in less danger then he had been in the last decade, something that did not sit well in how he had fared the last decade.
If there was one thing that Severus hated more than confusion, or even dare say his blasted childhood nemesis, the Marauders, it was failing at something. And when it came to the missing Harry he could not help but feel that he had failed some way.
The second thing that had been causing him stomach ulcers was Albus's sudden disinterest in locating the Potter heir. While initially he took this as a good thing (he did not trust Albus in the least and this distrust was growing by the day) he was now left to be concerned about Albus's newest interest.
Severus was dreadfully protective over his own house's students, partially because it was the responsibility of each head of house, but mainly because most of his snakes came from unstable home environments and were overlooked by the people they needed most.
Their pasts were often what made them want to prove themselves, to stand on their own. This trait was so misunderstood that the students that often needed the assistance were tossed aside by the other Professors simply due to a century long prejudice. Given his own history, Severus had risen to the challenge and had become not only his house's biggest champion of defense but also their protector.
This was a role that he took quite seriously; it was also the reason that he did not like Albus's new fascination with Hadrian Jameson. He had successfully kept Albus's meddling away from the second year student, Iztal Kuruo and now he had to add yet another student to try and distract Albus's attentions from.
He would not admit it to anyone outside of himself, but for some reason he felt incredibly protective over the young Mr. Jameson. He had initially dismissed this instinct due to the fact that Hadrian was one of the few students he did not wish to boil alive in a draught of astute augmentation, but when he had heard Albus's little to keen of questioning about the boy these instincts flared into overdrive.
It did not make sense…..unless Mr. Jameson was somehow….Harr….NO! no way, there was absolutely no way that the son of James Potter would be a quiet Slytherin prodigy instead of a blundering brash Gryffindor, just no way. A little voice in the back of his head whispered….but Lily…..No! No! NO! Severus's conscience rejected this line of reasoning vehemently.
It's too big of a coincidence the voice whispered insistently. If Severus could have glared vehemently at his own brain at this moment he would have, since this was not exactly possible he settled on glaring at his class.
He would not let his mind play games on him. No. There was just no way he could ever find himself actually liking James Potter son.
Even Fate could not be THAT cruel.
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The day before Christmas had Albus Dumbledore staring in disbelief at the mirror in front of him. There was NO WAY! This was NOT possible.
When his Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher had suddenly vanished the week prior he had put it down to the man's odd quirks and thought little about it, he was after all a rather busy man. As the week wore on however he started to feel as though he had missed something crucial. In an attempt to settle this restless feeling Albus had quickly dismantled his traps and gone to check on the stone. This was what had led him to this horrible discovery.
But no matter how hard he stared at the infamous Mirror of Erised, the answer did not change.
The Philosophers Stone was gone.
