Chapter 11: The Games had begun


As time passed, Hadrian could be found wandering the gardens with Murdock by his side. The two were inseparable. They went everywhere together, and Voldemort couldn't be happier. The wolf had taken to growling every time the brothers were so much as mentioned. Which wasn't helped by the toys and treats that would appear after each incident.

Hadrian was unaware of Voldemort's ulterior motives. He had assigned a house elf specifically to Murdock. Whenever he threatened the brothers, the elf would give him a bone and when he kept the brothers away from Hadrian, he would receive a toy.

Voldemort smirked. The brothers were currently following Hadrian. But they were at least 20 feet away from his son. Every time they tried to get closer, Murdock would growl until they went back to their 20 feet. That was as close as they were allowed to Hadrian.

After this past week of only being able to see Hadrian, the brothers were very frustrated. They didn't know what to do. Every time they tried to get close, that blasted wolf would growl at him. Their dear Hadrian was still unaware and would only pet Murdock lightly on the head and continue on with their walk. Nothing they did gained his attention.

Hadrian had grown more comfortable at Riddle Manor. His days were spent wandering the grounds with Murdock in the mornings and visiting his father in the afternoons. They two had bonded through their daily talks and their relationship had strengthened.

The more Voldemort learned about his son and his upbringing, the more fiercely he wanted to protect him. This was his son, his precious son, and he wouldn't let any harm come to him. This was especially apparent with his feelings towards the Lestrange brothers.

He couldn't help but delight in their suffering as they continued to try and gain Hadrian's attention. Hadrian was too besotted in Murdock to even notice when they were near. If he didn't know any better, he would have thought Murdock cursed Hadrian to only pay attention to him.

He chuckled. How he enjoyed having the wolf around. He remembered when he was first introduced. It was the day after Murdock was found.

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Hadrian walked with Murdock into the dining room for breakfast. He was apprehensive over what his father would say about his new companion.

He had awoken alone and decided to make his way to the dining room himself. He felt that he was familiar enough with the manor to not get lost on his way there.

Oh, how wrong he was.

The second he opened the door, he uncertainly started going right down the hallway. He was pretty sure that this was the way there. But yesterday he had been distracted by the brothers.

He spent much of the short walk gazing in amazement at their joined hands and enjoying the affection he was being given than paying attention to his surroundings.

But he still thought he would have a better sense of direction. As they continued down the hallway, they made multiple sharp turns and ended up hopelessly lost.

Hadrian began panicking. He had no idea where they were and the rooms around them were covered in dust. It was obvious no one had been there is a very long time.

He didn't know what to do. As he looked around him, he felt panic begin to overwhelm him.

He teared at his hair and felt his eyes fill with tears of frustration.

They were lost and nobody knew where they were.

Hadrian had never felt as alone as he did then. He regrated not waiting for someone to take him to the dining room but breakfast was fast approaching and his father and the brothers hadn't arrived yet. He hadn't wanted to be late in case they were expecting him to make his own way there.

While he was overwhelmed with panic and with tears blurring his vision, Hadrian leaned against a wall. He sunk to the ground and drew his knees to his chest. His father was going to be so mad.

He felt a nudge to his arm and looked up. There was Murdock, standing proud and strong. He felt even more guilty. He had made Murdock lost too.

But Murdock only wedged himself between Hadrian's arms and pulled him up. Murdock latched onto Hadrian's sleeve with his teeth and pulled.

He began leading Hadrian back down the hallway. Hadrian was too emotional to protest as Murdock led him further away from where he collapsed. He figured the least he could do was follow Murdock.

After a while, Hadrian found himself back in front of his room. Murdock had led them back. A smile overtook Hadrian's features and he hastily dried his tears.

"Lead the way boy"

At that, Hadrian allowed Murdock to guide them to the dining room. Once they reached the doors, Hadrian crouched down and hugged Murdock fiercely.

"Thank you" Hadrian exclaimed.

Together, they walked through the doors and sat next to the head of the table. This is where Hadrian had sat the first day and he wanted Murdock to have enough room.

He cautiously glanced at his father. When he had arrived, the chairs were already full except for his seat and a seat in between the Lestrange brothers. He hadn't noticed the other seat and had scrambled for the closest he could find, which just happened to be next to his father.

"Good morning father" Hadrian said cautiously.

"Hello Hadrian and who is this you've brought with you?"

At once the low murmur of conversation stopped as the Death Eaters focused on their lord.

"This is Murdock, father. I found him in the garden yesterday." Hadrian remarked earnestly.

He looked so innocently up at Voldemort that Voldemort couldn't help but smile. Even if he hadn't already decided to keep the wolf, he would have melted at the adorable expression his son made.

"Well, Murdock, we will get along fine now won't we." Voldemort threatened.

Hadrian remained oblivious to the threatening tone Voldemort used but everyone else did not. The Death Eater shivered in fear. But Hadrian continued smiling, happy that his father was accepting Murdock.

Murdock whimpered while looking into the red glare his human's father had. He wouldn't threaten Voldemort like he had the brothers.

Upon hearing the whimper, Voldemort knew they had an understanding. Voldemort would not tolerate the wolf keeping him from his son as he did for the brothers.

But what solidified his acceptance of the wolf was hearing about how he guided Hadrian through the manor when he was lost. When originally hearing he got lost, Voldemort was very concerned. He had lost a few overly curious followers that way.

They had wandered off after a meeting and never returned. He later stumbled across their corpses in abandoned hallways months later. If that had happened to his son, he would have been devastated.

He nodded solemnly at the wolf, and thus their partnership in protecting Hadrian began.

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After that day, Voldemort and Murdock held many secret meetings together after Hadrian fell asleep. Together they plotted on how to keep the brothers away from their precious Hadrian.

Murdock slowly grew to accept Voldemort and listened to his many ideas. He refused to listen to Voldemort without proper compensation.

Thus, Voldemort began rewarding him with treats and toys. It helped that it also allowed Murdock to spend time with his human uninterrupted by others.

He was very possessive over Hadrian, just like Voldemort. It was a miracle that they were able to work together but they compromised. Murdock would get the mornings and nights with Hadrian, and Voldemort would get the afternoons and meal times.

After that a routine was born. In the mornings, Murdock would walk in the gardens with Hadrian. Whenever he saw he brothers he would growl and steer Hadrian in a different direction. Then they would have breakfast with Voldemort where Murdock steered him to the chair next to Voldemort and far away from the brothers.

After breakfast, Murdock would lead Hadrian to new parts of the gardens and surrounding woods to explore. Hadrian greatly enjoyed finding new areas to explore and creatures to see.

Then, they would have lunch with Voldemort where Hadrian would follow his father back to his study for their daily talks. They spent the entire afternoon together bonding over shared interests. Voldemort had even taken to telling him stories of his youth and gifting him books on creatures that they would read together.

Then Voldemort would walk Hadrian to his room to spend the evenings with Murdock. He would make sure to prevent the brothers entry into his bedroom by adapting the wards to give them shocks when they touched the door handle.

Murdock would then snuggle with Hadrian until he fell asleep. Then, he would sneak out to meet Voldemort, where he was rewarded for a job well done.

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Meanwhile the Lestrange brothers were growing increasingly frustrated with their forced separation from Hadrian. But they hadn't found a way to ever see Hadrian. That blasted wolf was keeping them away and they wouldn't dare interfere with their lord's time with his son, no matter how much they wished to.

It seemed that wherever he went, Hadrian was always protected.

One night they had tried to enter Hadrian's bedroom, but upon touching the door handle, Rodolphus was thrown into the wall. He had received such a powerful shock that he was violently thrown across the hallway.

Rodolphus growled as he though of that night. It was very frustrating being kept from their love and they conspired together to find a way of gaining Hadrian's attention.

Rabastan proposed the most insane plan. But it was so insane that it might just work.

After breakfast they requested to meet the Dark Lord, claiming they had news about their mission to recruit the werewolves.

Entering the study, the brothers sat in front of their Lord's desk.

"My Lord, we have made great progress with the werewolves. They are amendable to meeting with you to discuss a possible alliance. But they were unwilling to discuss anything with us and will only accept your offer after meeting with you personally." Rodolphus claimed. At that he looked down to hide his smirk.

They were so close to seeing Hadrian again. They just had to convince the Dark Lord to meet with the werewolves.

"I see." Voldemort replied.

He sat pensively as he contemplated their words.

"You are dismissed." He finally stated. "I will just have to convince them myself."

Internally the brothers cheered. Now they only had to occupy the wolf and Hadrian would be theirs.

At once the brothers rose and exited the study. The door slammed closed and they glanced at each other with identical smirks present on their faces.

The games would begin. The wolf better watch out because the brothers would not stop until Hadrian was theirs.