Disclaimer: I don't own HP. JK Rowling owns Harry Potter.
First Floor Girls' Toilets [October 31]
"I'm coming with you." Daphne insisted, running alongside Hadrian.
Hadrian ignored her and flung open the massive wooden door to the bathroom. He abruptly stopped in his tracks and his back became rigidly straight.
"Listen to me, Daphne. Go back near the library. Wait for us there." He whispered through the corner of his mouth.
"But I wan-" She began to protest, but her protests ceased as soon as she caught a glimpse of a massive, muddy green hand.
"Daphne, go. Now." Hadrian said through clenched teeth. Daphne swallowed loudly, and nodded. She shot him a fleeting glance before turning around and dashing off in the other direction.
As she passed by Draco, she whispered urgently, "Don't do anything stupid!"
Draco rolled his eyes. Too late for that. They were risking their lives to save Destiny and a filthy mudblood. How much more stupid could they get?
The group of boys entered the darkly lit bathroom cautiously. The torches that lit up the bathroom were flickering dangerously and the ground shook with each small movement of the troll. The walls and floors were hard stone, and as cold as ice. The stained glass window had shattered and the rain was blowing into the restroom.
Blaise swallowed nervously and adjusted his collar. His gaze slowly travelled up the feet, to the large ugly troll's head. He let out a small whimper. Neville's jaw dropped open in shock, and he stood there like a gaping fish.
"Are you sure this is a good idea? We could just get the professors." Blaise suggested, his voice a couple octaves higher than usual.
"Shut up." Hadrian hissed. "Hermione! Destiny?" He called out softly.
"A little help here?" Hermione's voice snapped from the back of the room.
Hadrian craned his neck so he could see beyond the troll. Hermione was standing in front of the troll, with her wand already out. He quickly fumbled through his robes for his own wand, whipping it out.
"Where's Destiny?"
Hermione wordlessly pointed to the sinks. Hadrian followed the direction and saw Destiny scrunched underneath the sinks. Her eyes were red and tear stains were clearly visible on her cheeks.
"This was such a stupid idea!" Draco groaned loudly. "We could've just called the professors, but no. Now we're stuck here fighting this big lug."
The troll flinched at his voice and turned its large, thick head around. It's eyes locked on the boys, and it let out a loud, unattractive moan. Suddenly, it swung the giant club in its hand, above its head.
"You stupid idio- RUN!" Hadrian shouted as he dived away. Just as the club came crashing down through all the green stalls. In one swing, they were all knocked down to a pile of rubble and wooden splinters.
Hermione let out an ear splitting shriek, and the troll jerked around to face her. She widened her eyes and stumbled back with her hands, sucking in a sharp breath when the cold stone wall hit her back. Her eyes were shut tightly as the troll raised his club once more. Hermione's lips were moving in a frantic motion, almost as if she was saying a silent prayer.
"Acerbus Scindo " Neville shouted, whipping his wand out. A jet black light shot out of his wand towards the troll. The troll froze in place, and its club dropped to its side with a loud thud.
The darkness seemed to twist around the troll, wrapping around its entire body. It coiled around in spirals and weaved through itself. The black obsidian light seemed to solidify and dig into the troll's wart covered skin.
The troll let out a terrifying, strangled scream when the black light began to sink into its skin. It shook with pain as the black completely vanished, and vicious red burn marks became visible in place of the black. The troll twitched violently, but was paralyzed in place for the moment.
Hadrian whipped his head back, and looked at Neville in shock. He frowned at him with suspicion, "Where did you learn that spell?"
Neville pocketed his wand carefully while trying to avoid Hadrian's gaze, "You er, left a book in the common room. I opened it and saw this spell."
"So you just decided to practice it?" Hadrian asked incredulously.
Neville face was hard as he spoke, "I wanted to see what it would do."
"What if it didn't go the way you wanted? What if you made the troll bigger or something?"
"But I didn't. It's only a troll, why does it even matter. Besides it was going to kill us. I did what I had to do." Neville said, glaring at the troll.
Hadrian briefly glanced at Neville, and he could see the slightly maniacal gleam in his eyes. They were bright with magic, and radiated pure power. The way Neville was wearing a smirk made Hadrian realize that the boy felt no remorse, nor any guilt.
Neville (unknowingly) had his first taste of dark magic, and from the looks of it, dark magic seemed to completely suit him. The way he stood, the way he talked, indicated that Neville actually liked the power. Hadrian knew that feeling. He knew that feeling a little too well.
Neville raised his eyebrow expertly, in a way that was almost identical to Hadrian. "The real question is, why do you even have such a book filled with painful curses? Hm?" he paused, "It sounds a bit like dark magic to me. Don't you think?"
Hadrian narrowed his eyes. The boy certainly knew more than he let on. But he chose to ignore it, for now. At least until there wasn't a troll a few feet away from them.
""Yes, whatever. Neville did something bad, but he had to do it. And are we just ignoring the fact that the stupid lump is still here?" Hermione cut in frantically after she had helped Destiny from underneath the sinks. Her hair was frizzier than ever. The more nervous and anxious she got made her hair bushier. Hadrian found this quite amusing, and his lips quirked up into a secret smile.
"Fine. We'll take care of this thing." He said firmly, spinning his wand with his fingers.
"We will?" Blaise paused, and forced a cheerful look on his face, "I mean, of course we will!"
Hadrian turned his attention back to the troll, which was beginning to stir. Hadrian closed his eyes and thought, "Corpora Liquidium"
The troll trembled with pain, and let out a loud groan. The walls shook and the floor cracked when the massive troll fell onto the floor. It was being tortured and it writhed in agony on the stone ground. The troll clawed at itself, trying to get the torment to stop. But it wouldn't.
"What are you doing to it?" Draco asked in an uncaring tone.
Hadrian didn't respond for a minute, concentrating on keeping the curse intact. "It's a body organ liquifying curse." He stated, avoiding the shocked looks he was getting.
"That can't be legal." Hermione muttered to herself.
"Okay, well I think that's enough." Blaise said, exhaling deeply.
But Hadrian didn't listen. His focus was solely on the troll, and the curse. His brows were furrowed, and his heart was pounding in his chest. All he could think about was the control he had over the troll. It was almost twenty times bigger than him, yet he had brought it down on its knees.
He had made it cry out, and he had made it explode to pieces inside. He was controlling it, he was the one creating the pain. He was no longer the scared little child that endured suffering, no, he was the one inflicting it.
And it made him feel exhilarated. He more powerful than ever.
"Hadrian. Stop it! You're going to kill it." Hermione warned.
He did not hear her. He didn't hear anything except for the troll's misery.
"Hadrian! Stop!" Someone else shouted.
He could create such anguish with a flick of his hand. He could do anything. He could kill it if he wanted to. He would see the muddy eyes become glassy and lifeless and the body be crippled like a rag doll.
"Hadrian, don't do it!"
"Stop it, Hadrian!"
He was squeezing the life out of it, and watching it die a slow, painful death. The thrashing and its wails were drowned out by an unknown feeling pulsing in his head. Its screams of torture were in a twisted way, a comforting reassurance. Hadrian knew what he was capable of, and he would make damn sure this troll knew it too.
"Hadrian, please stop."
And by some miracle, the screams did stop. The troll no longer twitched and thrashed. The restroom was dead silent, except for the ominous drip, drip of the water from the faucet.
The troll was dead.
Blaise hesitantly poked the troll with the tip of his wand. It's hand fell down lifelessly.
Blaise jumped back in shock, screaming "Reducto!" His wand was pointed at a random direction, and he gulped as he saw it heading towards Hermione.
"Protego!" Draco shouted, before anyone could react. His shield settled in front of Hermione before he blue beam could reach her. As soon as it touched the powerfully cast shield, the blue spell dissolved.
Blaise sheepishly ran a hand through his hair, "Sorry about that Hermione. Guess my aim was off."
"Your aim was off?" Hermione seethed, "You could've killed me!"
"But I didn't!"
"That's not the point you git!" She snapped. Then she turned to Draco.
"Thank you. And that was a really well cast shield charm. How did you learn it? It's a 5th year charm!" Hermione rambled.
"Shut up mudblood. If it weren't for my quick instincts I wouldn't have saved you. I learned at a young age not to trust Blaise with a wand. It was just a force of habit. I much rather prefer a dead mudblood over an alive one. You just got lucky this time," Draco muttered.
"Hey!" Blaise protested, "I only knocked you into a statue of armor once! Once! And that's all I've been hearing for the past four years!"
"I can't believe this!" Hermione huffed in disbelief, completely ignoring Blaise.
"Save the melodramatics for later, bushy haired mudblood."
"So let me get this straight," Hermione continued, "You saved me from getting hurt, just to insult me nonstop later?"
"Yes." Draco responded in a snobbish tone.
"All of you shut up." Neville said loudly, "We have a bigger problem. How are we supposed to explain this?"
"Yes, that is what we all would like to know Mr. Longbottom."
Neville's adams apple bobbed, and his eyes widened. "Professor Snape!" He exclaimed. Snape walked into the lavatory, along with the Professor McGonagall, Flitwick, and Sprout.
"Mr. Longbottom, would you please care to explain why there is troll laying in the middle of the girls' lavatory?" McGonagall asked, raising an eyebrow. Her expression was haughty, and she peered down disapprovingly at the first years.
"Well, you see- I actually- We-um" Neville stuttered, his mouth working faster than his mind. A soft hand touched his arm, and Neville glanced up. Destiny gave him a reassuring smile, and turned to face the professors.
"I can explain, Professor McGonagall." She said loudly.
"Miss Lestrange!" McGonagall gasped, looking shocked at her appearance. "What are you doing here?"
"This was all my fault. You see, a couple of my housemates ridiculed me and I fled to here in order to be alone. But then the troll came in, and I didn't know what to do. Hadrian and the Slytherins saved me."
McGonagall closed her eyes and nodded, accepting her explanation. She felt ashamed at how her Gryffs had treated Miss Lestrange, when she had done nothing wrong. "Very well then, Miss Lestrange."
Hermione quickly cut in, "It's also my fault professor Flitwick."
"Hermione, dear? What do you mean?" The Head of Ravenclaw asked,
She took a deep breath, and began to spew out some lie. "I came here to fight the troll. Since I had never seen one, I wanted to see what it was like. If they hadn't found me, I would be dead by now."
Her words sounded so sincere, and they were very convincing. The lie rolled off her tongue so smoothly, even Hadrian felt like she was telling the truth.
"Miss Granger! I am absolutely appalled! That was an extremely foolish thing to do! I will not be as forgiving as Professor McGonagall: twenty points from Ravenclaw!" Flitwick chastised.
Hermione nodded solemnly, looking crestfallen. Hadrian felt guilty that she had to lose points since she was the one who had helped Destiny.
"Minerva!" Professor Sprout cried, examining the troll closely. "The troll is dead!"
"What!" McGonagall's voice was filled with disbelief, and she glanced at the troll again. "It can't be. How did a couple of first years kill a troll?"
Hadrian broke into a panic underneath his blank expression. Although the curses they had used were completely legal, they were still very dark. His father would probably murder him if McGonagall found out what curses they were using!
Hadrian shot a panicked look at Professor Snape, and thankfully he seemed to get the message.
"Which one of you did it?" McGonagall snapped, her voice dripping with distrust. No one spoke, nor did anyone step forward.
Professor Snape raised his wand and uttered a spell, and almost instantly, the tip of Blaise's wand glowed bright blue, and Draco's wand glowed white.
"It seems that Protego charm was cast by Mr. Malfoy, and the Reductor spell was cast by Mr. Zabini."
"You two! Explain yourselves!" McGonagall demanded.
Blaise cleared his throat, "I -er, I shot the spell at the troll, and the spell hit the troll in the head or something. After that it kinda fell to the floor. I don't exactly know what happened."
McGonagall seemed skeptical at his answer, but she nodded crisply and turned to Draco. "And you, Mr. Malfoy."
"As soon as Blaise said 'Reducto' I cast the protego charm on everyone so they we would not be injured. Just in case." Draco explained.
"Good thinking, Draco. Twenty points to Slytherin." Snape awarded.
"Absolutely not! They just killed a troll, Severus! Killed! Thirty points from Slytherin!" McGonagall huffed angrily.
"Yes, but may I remind you, they also saved one of your Gryffindors and a Ravenclaw from dying, Minerva." Snape mocked, "And I value a student's life more than a troll's. Twenty points to Slytherin...each."
"I suggest we all depart now. It's been a long night, for all of us." Flitwick said quietly, trying to ease the tension in the air.
"Of course." Snape replied, gesturing to the group of first years. "Come along, we have to collect the rest of the Slytherins from the library."
"Professor, may I go along with them? I have to return a book. It will only take a minute." Hermione asked. It didn't take much to persuade her Head of House, and he nodded reluctantly.
"I also need to go with them since I left my bag in the library." Destiny said.
"Fine. But you must be in bed by an hour, understand?" McGonagall sighed, and pursed her lips into a thin line.
"Yes, professor."
"Shall we go?" Snape drawled. He was impatient when it came to everything, except potions. The first years all piled out of the now wrecked girls bathroom, and followed Professor Snape through the halls. No one dared to speak, for fear of pissing the bat-like potions professor off.
When they reached the library, they all saw Daphne waiting outside nervously. As soon as she caught sight of the group, she ran towards them. After scanning them from head to toe for any injuries, she pulled Hadrian and Destiny into a air-sucking hug.
"I thought you were going to die!" She choked out, burying her head in the crook of Hadrian's neck.
"Gee, thanks." Hadrian muttered sarcastically.
"Control yourself, Miss Greengrass." Snape barked, pulling her away from the two.
"I'm so glad you're okay. I've been worried sick." She smiled a watery smile.
"We're fine, Daphne." Destiny reassured her. "Let's go inside, shall we?"
"Mr. Riddle, wait here for a moment." Snape said, before Hadrian could follow Neville into the library. Hadrian nodded, and waited till everyone left, before turning to face his head of house.
"Care to explain what happened?" He snapped after casting a silencio charm around them.
"You heard what happened."
"I suppose I could just look through your mind, but I'd rather you tell me what actually happened." Snape thought out loud.
"You couldn't even if you tried." Hadrian said under his breath.
"What was that?"
"Nothing, Severus." Hadrian replied cheekily.
"Listen, Riddle. I may respect your father, but you have done nothing yet to deserve my respect. Don't expect me to be your servant." Snape hissed.
"I killed a troll, doesn't that deserve some respect?"
"So it was you."
Hadrian blanched and mentally slapped his forehead. He had fallen right into the greasy professor's trap.
"I'm no dark lord, but I'm not a fool either. Did you really expect me to believe Mr. Zabini killed a troll with the Reductor spell?"
"Well no." Hadrian admitted.
"Then why are you stalling, and attempting to lie to me."
Hadrian sucked in a sharp breath, and blinked. "You're going to tell my father."
Of course, this was why the boy was acting so secretive. It was like a typical first year begging him not to send an owl to his parents. Except this was the dark lord. And the boy was Hadrian Draven Riddle. Severus sighed, and shook his head. "I will not tell your father."
Hadrian narrowed his eyes, as if he was trying to figure out if Snape's promise was legitimate. Finally after a couple minutes, Hadrian spoke. "I didn't make the first move. It was actually Neville."
Not many things could surprise Severus Snape. But the fact that the lumbering, former dunderhead pansy of the Slytherin first years had made the first move, was definitely on his list. Perhaps the boy truly did belong in Slytherin. "What?"
"He cast 'Aceribus Scindo'. It knocked the troll out."
"Acerib- What? How did he even learn that?"
"I left one of my books in the common room and he opened it." Hadrian explained quickly.
"How many times have I told you not to leave your dark magic rituals and parslemagic books in the common room? Just because Slytherin is more lenient with dark magic than other houses, doesn't mean we aren't curious!" Snape scolded, rubbing his temples.
"I didn't think he would touch it! Let alone cast it! I invented the spell myself, I didn't even think he was capable of casting it!" Hadrian protested.
"He actually cast it." Snape repeated, his tone dripping with disbelief.
"So?"
"Think about it, boy. A leather bound, ancient looking journal left in the Slytherin
common room. Obviously Mr. Longbottom knew it would be a curse, or something
painful. And yet he cast it."
Snape rolled his eyes upon seeing Hadrian's blank look. "Dear Merlin, and you want to be the next dark lord? Let me help you get this through your thick skull! Mr. Longbottom was aiming for blood when he cast this curse." Snape elaborated impatiently.
"We've got to keep a closer eye on him." Hadrian concluded.
"Yes, yes. He cast Acceribus Scindo which obviously would not have been picked up by the very basic spell tracker I cast. Now continue."
"Then I cast a wordless and wandless body organ liquifying curse until the troll dropped dead."
"Which is why the spell tracker didn't catch your spell either."
"Exactly."
Snape hesitated before finally asking, "How do you feel now?"
"What are you, my bloody therapist?"
Snape scowled, "Don't be irritating, Riddle."
"Fine. I feel perfectly fine." Hadrian sighed.
"Don't you feel guilty for taking another living thing's life?" Snape pried.
"No."
"Not even a little remorse?"
"It deserved to die. And I gave it what it deserved. Is that all?" Hadrian said in a pleasant tone, as if discussing the weather.
Snape swallowed the lump that had suddenly formed in his throat, "Yes."
"I do have one question for you." Hadrian suddenly said, looking Snape right in the eye.
"Oh?"
"What is my father planning? He only told me vague details, and I want to know what is going on." He demanded.
Snape face remained blank as he spoke in a neutral tone, "Mr. Riddle if your father has not told you any plans, then he has done so with good reason."
"All he told me was something was being hidden in the school, and that Professor Quirrell is here to find said item. What is it that my father so desperately needs?"
"It is not my place to tell you." Snape barked.
Hadrian paused to think for a moment, "It has to do with the third floor corridor, doesn't it? That's why Dumbledore isn't letting anyone go in there!"
"Be quiet, boy. Don't stick your head in business that has nothing to do with you." Snape scolded harshly.
"I'll find out." Hadrian spoke firmly, the determination glowing in his eyes. "You know I will."
Snape did not respond, although deep down he had a feeling the boy was telling the truth. There was a long moment of silence, before Hadrian switched topics.
"Oh and before I forget, I just happened to hear that Potter and Weasel were going to meet someone for a duel tonight at midnight in the trophy room." Hadrian cracked a smile.
"I'll make sure to tell Filch." Snape smirked at the true Slytherin in front of him. They entered the library together and Hadrian at once darted off to find his friends. After Snape sent the rest of the Slytherins to their dormitory, Hadrian slid onto the chair beside Hermione.
Snape glanced at their group said, "Mr. Longbottom, I would like to applaud you on the adequate execution of the Acceribus Scindo curse. Until now, only the creator of this spell could cast it perfectly." Snape uttered silkily. Adequate was probably the most praise Snape had ever given to a student. Neville blushed, and acknowledged the compliment with a crisp nod. Not many things frightened the boy now, but his Head of House sure did.
Snape narrowed his eyes and called out, "Stay as long as you want, but don't get caught. I will not be getting you out of detention again. Goodnight."
Hermione was the only one who responded with a shaky, "Goodnight, Professor Snape."
Snape scowled at her, and with a swish of his cloak left the library. Hermione turned back to the group with a frustrated expression.
"Why doesn't he like me!" She groaned, slamming her head onto the table.
Blaise rubbed her back sympathetically, "It's okay Hermione, it took Snape about seven years to get used to me."
Hermione's face paled, "Seven years?" She repeated. "I'll be out of Hogwarts by then!"
"Teacher's pet." Draco coughed, oh so discreetly.
Hermione glared at him and stuck out her tongue.
"Oh how mature." Draco said sarcastically. "Then again you are muggle..."
"Draco, please. She just helped save my life." Destiny pleaded, already getting annoyed at their childish antics.
Draco sighed heavily, muttering something incoherent under his breath.
"Destiny, how are you doing?" Hadrian asked her.
She smiled a radiant smile. I'm fine now. Hermione really helped me."
"Did she now?" Hadrian raised an eyebrow, turning to look at Hermione.
She blushed under his gaze, "It was nothing."
Destiny gasped, "You talked to me for hours and even stole some food from the kitchen for me, just so I wouldn't have to face the other Gryffindors. I would hardly call that nothing."
"Destiny, I really felt like it was my job as a friend to help you, so you don't need to thank me. I've been through it before, and I know how it feels." Hermione said softly, glancing down at the floor.
Daphne studied Hermione for a minute. "What do you mean?"
She sighed heavily, and began to fiddle with her fingers. "I suppose I should tell you about my not so fun life now."
"You don't have to if you don't want to." Hadrian reassured her.
"No, I want to. I would feel better if my friends knew." Hermione stated firmly. They all stared at her with rapt attention, waiting for her to continue. Everyone except for Draco, who was 'reading' a book.
"When I was younger, I was bullied a lot. I wasn't as smart as others, I wasn't as pretty as others, I was just average. I had no friends because everyone avoided me like the plague. I was teased, mocked, laughed at constantly. Then one day during school, I snapped. I don't know how I did it, but one minute I was wishing for Jason Dempsey to suffer, and suddenly he was. His parents complained to the school, and I was expelled the very next day." She paused and took a shaky breath, "This happened at almost every school I attended. I was bullied, then I got angry, and something bad happened. Soon, my mum decided to just teach me herself at home."
"Okay, so your accidental magic got out of hand, then what happened?" Neville prompted.
"Neville! Stop rushing her!" Destiny scolded. She faced Hermione, "Sorry, please continue telling them."
"My father had to work late nights since my mother spent a lot of her time teaching me. He came back drunk, at an odd our of the night, sometimes he didn't even come home. My mum and him argued so much, all the time and almost everywhere. He told me everyday I was a mistake, and this was all my fault."
"That's terrible!" Daphne gasped.
Hermione smiled wryly, "It's not even the worst part. He started to hit me, beat me and sometimes even my mother. She always put up with him, and never left him. I still don't know why. He hated both of us, he blamed us for everything. When I got my Hogwarts letter, he was overjoyed. Not because I got accepted, but because he was able to get rid of me."
"How did you even manage to hide something that big?" Neville asked.
"I'm a very good liar." Hermione smirked, "Besides no one ever came close enough to me to notice anything wrong."
Hadrian inhaled sharply. Hermione's father sounded a lot like one Vernon Dursely. Her father abused her and treated her worse than one would treat a house elf. "This is why you hate muggles so much." He guessed.
"Exactly. Every muggle I've met is selfish, pig-headed, or a monster. Even my own father. My mother is the only exception, and she's the only one I have." Hermione said sadly.
"But you're not alone now." Blaise blurted out.
"Yeah, now you have us." Destiny added.
"But I'm a-"
"Mudblood, stupid know-it-all, bookworm?" Draco offered snidely.
She scowled at him, "I'm a muggleborn."
"You have talent. You have extremely strong magic. You aren't a prissy brat. And that's all I care about." Daphne said.
Hadrian was silent. Hermione's background was similar to his own. He was lucky enough to have his father adopt him, but she was all alone. He didn't care if she was muggleborn. His father would probably avada kedavra him on the spot if he heard that his son was making friends with a mudblood. But Hadrian didn't mind. Hermione was special, and he would prove it to his father. His father wanted to purify the entire wizarding world, and so did Hadrian.
But in Hadrian's plan, everyone who deserved to be there would be standing in the end. The unworthy would fall and turn to ashes. Hermione deserved to be here, and he didn't care if anyone said otherwise.
"Welcome to the family." Hadrian joked.
"You can't be serious." Draco complained, "She's a mudblood."
"Muggleborn or not, Draco. She is still one of the strongest witches of our year." Neville said gravely.
"Get over it, mate. If Hadrian did, then so can you." Blaise mumbled tiredly.
"Shut up, all of you. Can you even hear yourselves right now? Fawning all over such filth. We are purebloods, way above mud scum! And you Hadrian! Are you insane?" Draco exclaimed.
"Draco. Enough." Hadrian hissed in a cold voice. "Know your place."
Shivers ran down everyone's spines at the icy tone and the chilling words. Draco gulped inaudibly and nodded. He had forgotten who his best friend really was after spending so many years treating him like a brother. He wasn't some ordinary boy. Hadrian was the freakin' dark heir, son of Lord Voldemort.
"Let's head to bed, alright?" Daphne suggested, looking at the clock. Everyone nodded in agreement and the Slytherins said goodbye to Destiny and Hermione.
As they were entering their respective bedrooms back in the Slytherin dungeons, Hadrian stopped Draco from entering his room.
"I would like to apologize." Hadrian said, leaning against Draco's door.
"You have nothing to apologize for, what I said was out of line." Draco admitted quietly.
"No, I shouldn't have used my title to force you to back down. It wasn't right."
"Don't be sorry. I would've done the same thing if I was in your place."
"Can you at least try to be pleasant if Hermione is a part of our group?" Hadrian asked hesitantly.
Draco sighed, "I can't do that Hadrian. I just can't. I hope you understand."
"I do. But can you just go with it?"
"I have to get used to it. But maybe in a couple years I'll be indifferent to her." Draco grinned.
"A couple years, or Snape years?" Hadrian laughed. Draco shrugged, with a smirk plastered on his face.
"Draco?"
"Yeah?"
"No matter what title I might have, no matter what throne I will inherit someday, no matter who's heir I am; I want you to always remember something. Before all of those things, I always be one thing: your best friend."
A/N: 5,000 words exact! (Not counting the author's note) It's my longest chapter and I feel like it kinda makes up for not updating last week. Im sorry! But I had the flu and when I wasn't puking my guts out, I was writing! So I'm better now...hence the update! I hope you like it. And if you didn't...well then I hope you'll like the next one!
A/N2: 200th review can pm me one detail/question about anything in the story/future part of story and I will answer truthfully (if I know the answer as of that moment). Pairings, future events, who kills who, blah blah, all fair game.
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