Chapter 3

A/N: Thank you so much for the reviews, they inspired me so much that I might be able to release two chapters today. My fingers just couldn't stop themselves from typing!

daithi4377 mentioned in a review that when the Dark Lord messed with Hadrian's clientele, it reminded them of a boy pulling a girl's pigtails on the playground to get her attention and I have had that image stuck inside my mind the entire time as I was writing, lol. It really does seem like that!

…Two weeks later…

Hadrian had been surprised when the Dark Lord actually left him alone, he had been expecting Death Eaters to knock on his door more than once, but nothing had happened, and he returned to his easy routine although he now resided in a town close to London for the next week or two. The clients whose appointments the Dark Lord had cancelled had all stated that they received a fantastic job offer and that they had rushed to get ready for it right away. They rescheduled right after the interview, and this frustrated Hadrian even more because now the Dark Lord probably thought he had anger issues when Marvolo had actually done a good thing for his clients while furthering his own agenda.

But what did he care about what the man thought of him? A little voice in his head laughed mockingly at him in response and he sighed in frustration. He absolutely refused to admit to himself that he still harbored the slight crush on the sixteen-year-old Tom Riddle that he had developed after his second year and seeing him as a man that was a few years older instead of the decades-old man with pale, snake-like skin, kind of messed with his mind.

There was a familiar knock on the door, and he was slightly surprised to see Severus when he opened it, he did not usually come during this time of the day. The man looked slightly frazzled, but before he could ask him if everything was ok, the man stepped forward and grabbed him hard on the shoulders. "What did you say or do to the Dark Lord?! The man's got most of his Death Eaters out on looking for information about you and now he has even gone so far as to ask me to make an appointment for him under my name! He also announced that no one is allowed to touch you!"

Hadrian froze. "So, he wants to kill me himself?"

Severus gave him the look again. "If he wanted to kill you then he would have ordered me to kidnap you and to place you in his dungeons. Instead, he asked us to make sure your business runs smoothly and that none of your clients or their relatives try to attack you."

Harry grimaced. He had, in fact, noticed that most of his more dangerous clients or clients with dangerous family members had not turned up for their appointments, and those that did seemed to be extremely subdued while he worked with them. Usually, there would also be at least one attack on his temporary house as well, but things had been very silent, and he had assumed that they simply got tired of having him throw them out on their arses.

He suddenly could not help himself and he laughed. Severus seemed to worry though and he felt his forehead for a fever, but Hadrian merely pushed his hand away and tried to get his laughing under control. Once he finally managed it, he turned back to Severus. "Don't you find it ironic? The guy who killed my parents and who tried to kill me, and kind of later did in a way, is actually sending out his Death Eaters to protect me. Even more ironic is the fact that they are doing a better job of it in two weeks than the bloody Order ever did."

Severus glanced around frantically but Harry shook his head. "Don't worry, listening spells won't work here, the Twins managed to make me a few items that would ensure my privacy with that at least." With that Severus sank down into the nearest seat and Hadrian noticed that the man looked tired beyond belief.

He turned around to make some tea for Severus and he gratefully accepted it before pulling Hadrian down next to him. "Why did you never say anything to anyone about the attacks? We could have helped you." Hadrian looked awkward at that, but he couldn't find an acceptable excuse, so he decided to tell the truth instead. Well, some of it at least since there was a large chunk of it that no one would believe or understand unless they were shown proof.

"I didn't grow up with the luxury of people worrying about me, you know that. I guess I just got so used to fighting that not having these attacks happen would make me lose my edge. Mind-healers don't use their wands for almost anything other than healing and the attacks kept me on my toes." He knew it sounded lame, but it is what it is. Mostly.

Severus closed his eyes and sighed in exasperation. "So, you couldn't just ask any of the multiple dueling champions that you know, or any of your other friends to duel you? You have also been the mind-healer of many Death Eaters over the past few years, I'm sure they would have helped as well."

Hadrian wanted to answer but he gave a sheepish laugh instead. He had not really thought about it in that way, but it made sense. It also made him feel very embarrassed that he'd allowed the attacks to continue so he changed the subject. "So, the Dark Lord wants you to make an appointment, but he wants to turn up instead because he expects me to reject the appointment if it is made under his name."

Severus gave him an exasperated look, but he let the obvious subject change go and nodded. "Yes, and that brings me back to my first question."

Harry felt his sheepishness return under that gaze. His friends were right, he was a danger magnet. "He cancelled my appointments for the day when I refused to talk to him while I was busy and I kind of grabbed him by the shirt, shouted at him, forcibly apparated him out then summoned all of my stuff and moved to the opposite end of town."

The potions master became paler and paler as he spoke and at the end, Hadrian had to take the cup of tea from him before he spilled it. The man closed his eyes and he seemed to be counting but Hadrian couldn't be sure as it seemed to last for a full three minutes. He then took a deep breath and looked Hadrian straight in the eye.

"I thought the idea was to get him to talk to you, not to drive him away. He has even started to completely ignore the soul ritual to read the reports on you and I am sure that at least half of the people who violently tried to attack you in the past are now in his dungeons. He isn't just interested in you for some silly reason, the man is obsessed, and I hope you know what you are doing because, at this rate, you might find yourself tied to his side whether he finds out about your true identity or not. He is not used to someone defying him this way."

A chill ran through Hadrian at those words, but he steeled himself while placing a comforting hand on Severus' shoulder. "I lost my temper and I'm sorry. I will try to find a way to either undo this or to work with him while slowly withdrawing myself, is that ok?"

Severus didn't seem convinced, but he nodded, and Harry moved to his desk to get an appointment card and wrote on it. "Tell him the appointment is for tomorrow afternoon at six. If he has a problem, then you can tell him it's because you didn't want other appointments to interfere if our discussion continues for longer than just an hour."

The potion master's eyebrow rose at that, and Harry sighed. "He seemed like he badly wanted to talk, whether it was about the connection or something else, I don't know but I might as well give him a chance seeing as he helped out some of my clients, and who knows I might be able to turn it into a session that might jump-start future visits and then I will hopefully have him off the whole soul-ritual thing by the end of it."

Hadrian could see that Severus doubted it would work, but he was determined. When Severus left, Harry pulled a journal closer to him. On the top of the page, he wrote L.V.T.M.R.G. (A/N Lord Voldemort Tom Marvolo Riddle Gaunt). He doubted that Dumbledore would ever have thought that the Light's 'Savior' would use the memories he showed him in this way. He cast a few repelling spells on the book, just in case, and starting writing down everything he knew about the Dark Lord's past. He kept it in Parselscript though because it would be dangerous if someone broke into his office and took it…not that it would happen, but Hadrian was still paranoid, and trying to figure out the Dark Lord was damn near impossible.

Besides, it sounded like something the Dark Lord would order his minions to do for the sake of information. That thought had Hadrian glancing around warily before scowling at himself. He really needed to stop watching those James Bond movies that Ron had taken to renting out whenever he came to visit him with Hermione.

He barely noticed when he fell asleep at his desk and he almost cursed the person who tried to shake him awake, only to find a grinning Draco at his side. He glanced at the clock and let his head thump onto the table. It was way too early for this. Then he remembered the book and noticed, to his relief, that it had fallen onto the floor during the night, and it was closed. He hurriedly placed it in his drawer, he was going to burn the book as soon as Draco left, it was too much of a liability, before glancing up at his enemy turned friend. Severus had forbidden him from dragging the blond into his secret for his own safety and so Draco knew him only as Hadrian, the young mind-healer his mother had sent him to after the war.

Draco had his Auror robes on, Harry noticed, as the blond placed a coffee in front of him before crossing his arms. "You really need to stop working so late Hadrian, you're going to end up at St. Mungo's." The blonde usually lectured him like this, and Hadrian allowed a small smile as they started to banter. The subject turned to the annual ball that the Dark Lord held at his manor and Hadrian wasn't surprised when Draco asked him to attend this year. He assumed that it was one of the fail-safes the Dark Lord had decided on just in case something happened at the meeting that afternoon.

He forced himself not to roll his eyes as he told Draco he would go, but the blonde still looked anxious, and this made Hadrian frown. "What's wrong Draco? You look like someone stole your wand." The blond gave him a dry look before flinging a mild tickle spell at him, which he dodged easily since the blonde's heart wasn't in the spell.

Draco then lowered his wand and sighed before fully turning towards him. "You know everything about me regarding the war and you know that I was, am, a Death Eater right." Harry nodded but he still could not see where this was going. "You also know that we still follow our Lord faithfully and his orders are law. Two weeks ago, he ordered everyone to find information on you and that can end up being very good or very bad. I don't know what you did to catch his attention like this, it could just be because you have the same hair and eye color that he had, but I have never seen him this obsessed with anyone except for Harry."

Hadrian noted the pained grimace as Draco said his old name and he felt the truth wanting to spill out of his mouth again. They may have been enemies, but they never truly hated each other. It was only his promise to Severus that kept him strong, and he gripped the blonde's shoulder in comfort. "Don't worry too much about it, I'm sure it's just some passing thing. As you said, it could be because we look similar but that would be all."

Draco nodded though he didn't look very happy about it and removed an envelope from his pocket before enlarging it. "Mrs. Bones asked me to give you this and to let her know what you think. It should have been an open and shut case, but they found strange wave patterns in the woman's brain and one of the healers suggested a mind healer before any further steps are taken." Harry nodded and looked through the file as Draco greeted him then left.

A/N: Let me know what you think…