Winter and spring passed quietly away, Draco and Hadrian working on their lessons, their apprenticeships, and finalizing their plans for handling Hogwarts and Dumbledore. They had been involved with the monthly meetings at Gringotts since Hadrian's arrival at the manor, and they were finally ready to begin enacting some of their plans. They had not been able to get anything moving on freeing Sirius as they currently had no proof and the trial transcripts were suspiciously missing, not to mention there was no record of a trial occurring in the logs. But all that was far from from the two boys' minds as Draco's eleventh birthday had come and he had received his Hogwarts letter. Today they were going school shopping to get both their things, though Hadrian would likely have to go again with whoever Dumbledore would send to retrieve him.
Hadrian was returning to the Dursleys next week and he was not looking forward to it. He knew that the doll version of him would not be enough to fool wizards, and they had to get his active magic built up in the residence as the magic he forced into the doll every year would not be sufficient if Dumbledore sent anyone with any degree of magical sense. He understood all this, and had agreed to the plan, but he was sad to be leaving the Malfoys and would miss his brother while being stuck back at Privet Drive from Dudley's birthday on the 23rd until he left for school on September 1st.
But that depressing day was still a week away and the Malfoys had decided they would go to France to shop at the Place Cachée. Narcissa had raved about Maison Capenoir and their wonderful French fashions, and Hadrian was interested in seeing their work and possibly getting ideas for his own. He had made a number of things for himself, Severus, and the Malfoys during his time with them, but one could never have too many ideas.
Lucius had arranged a portkey to bring them to Place Cachée. Hadrian did not like the feeling of portkeys, but he managed to keep his feet when they landed. He had wondered if it would feel different from Diagon Alley, but was somewhat disappointed to see that it was all very similar, though with an obvious French flair. While the architecture was cleaner and more grand, he thought Diagon Alley with it's oddly-shaped storefronts, leaning buildings, and the tall white marble of Gringotts far more magical looking.
Their first stop was Mercier's for the boys' trunks. Draco had selected a five compartment trunk which had two compartments for clothes, a temperature controlled compartment for potions ingredients and supplies, a library compartment with preservation and sorting charms capable of holding five hundred books, and a compartment full of shelves, chests with drawers, and various other sorting methods for his other miscellaneous supplies like parchment, quills, telescope and the like. He had it done up in Malfoy blue with his initials in silver, with silver trimmings and alternating sapphire and diamond compartment buttons. He could tap a specific spot by the lock with his finger or his wand to shrink or enlarge the trunk, and it had a convenient retractable handle with inset wheels like the muggle rolling luggage, to make it easier to pull if they needed to keep the trunk at full size. Each compartment was password protected, and the trunk lock itself was protected so one had to know both the compartment password as well as the trunk password to gain entry.
Hadrian's took a bit more time as they had decided that he would live in his trunk which would be placed inside the cupboard under the stairs for his time at the Dursleys. Therefore he had selected an 8 compartment trunk which he elected to keep the standard black and silver so as not to draw too much attention. It did have silver-set jewel buttons, but each was a different jewel. The biggest difference in features between the two trunks was that Hadrian's had a compartment which he could step into and down a set of stairs into a six room flat which boasted a living room, kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, potions lab, and office. Within each of these rooms was a fixture linked to the corresponding compartments of the trunk so he would not have to exit the trunk flat to access other items stored within it.
He had the same five compartments and other features Draco had selected though all of his compartments were larger than Draco's since his trunk was meant to be lived in. His two closet compartments were linked to the sapphire and aquamarine buttons, potions storage to the emerald button, his two thousand book library compartment to the ruby button, and his miscellaneous school supplies to the onyx button. In addition to those five compartments he had his flat compartment linked to the diamond button, a sectioned compartment with adjustable temperature controls in each section for kitchen and food storage which was the amethyst button, and a general household storage compartment for his linens, like bed sheets and bath towels, and whatever other items he might have a need to store linked to the citrine button.
One entered the flat into the living room which was an open shared space with the kitchen. The living room was equipped with a fireplace which could be connected to ten specific floo locations, password protected of course, and anyone calling or visiting him would need the password as well. The kitchen had standard wizarding appliances like an oven and cooktop, as well as what he thought might be the wizarding equivalent to a muggle microwave. It also had a pantry with an amethyst knob to access the food storage compartment. In the middle of the shared space a hallway branched off on both sides, with the bedroom and bathroom to the right on either side of the hallway, and the potions lab and office to the left. The bedroom included a walk in closet with two different pull handles-one sapphire and one aquamarine to select which closet to open. The bath had a linen closet with a citrine lever style handle for the miscellaneous storage. His potions lab was equipped with extensive ventilation and protection charms and had a storage closet with emerald handles to access his ingredients and equipment. The office was interesting to Hadrian as one opened a ruby twist handle to enter the office which was really the entire library compartment. Within the room a comfortably sized desk could be linked to specific shelves or drawers within the general school supplies compartment for things like parchment, ink, and quills, but there was also a small closet with an onyx lever handle which would open to the entire storage compartment.
Neither boy set their passwords while they were shopping, opting to set them back at home where they could ensure their privacy. They both also decided on feather-light, undetectably extended, messenger bags in emerald green for Draco and sapphire blue for Hadrian. The bags had two large pockets that could hold 20 books each, as well as two narrow pockets under the flap which would hold four bottles of ink and eight standard size quills. They wanted to be able to carry their things around safely, but also not injure their backs as both of them were still rather small. Lord Malfoy nodded approvingly at their trunk and bag choices and paid the clerk. They all left the shop very pleased with the selections.
After the trunk shop, they went to Monsieur Sanfin Chaudrons for their new cauldrons, the ones they purchased so long ago for Severus' tutoring having long since been replaced with larger and better materials. Though they were required to have pewter for school, they also purchased a small selection of gold, silver, copper, iron, and crystal for various uses along with their requisite accoutrements like stirring rods, ladles, and a large set each of glass and crystal phials. Finishing with cauldrons quickly, they headed off to Dr. Aziz Branchiflore for their ingredients. Severus had provided both boys a very specific list, and though he was on an ingredients trip himself, had trained them very meticulously in the selection of fresh or appropriately stored, dried, or otherwise prepared ingredients. They were certain to have the best ingredients of all their yearmates. They also purchased dragonhide gloves, steel and silver knives, and several cutting boards of wood, bone, and various metals. Draco had found a passion for potions that was quickly coming to rival Severus' and while Hadrian was not enamoured of potions, he was good at it, and knew that potions skill could come in handy in the future and so had resolved to have all the equipment and tools he might need to produce a large number of many types of potions.
They next went to Cosme Acajor for wands, knowing Hadrian at least would need to visit Ollivander's with whomever the school sent as his introductory representative, but thought perhaps a backup would be useful. Draco had decided to take a look as well, though he thought it would be grand to have a French wand when everyone else would have Ollivander's wands. They were each handed two clear crystals which slowly pulsed, sucking in magic, and continued pulsing for several minutes before returning to their starting clear coloration. The attendant looked quite abashed at seeing the clear color return, never having had two individuals come in at the same time which they were unable to match with a wand, but with many apologies for being unable to assist, bowed them out of the shop politely as the family took their leave.
They paused for lunch at Griffon Buveur, which Lucius said was similar to the Leaky Cauldron, only cleaner...and more French. After lunch they visited K. Rammelle's Enchantée for pastry, and stocked both boys with a selection of sweets to take with them to school. The Malfoys promised both they would buy sweets at home for them to take as well, so neither was terribly put out by all the unfamiliar candy, but simply happy to have something new to try.
They made a very brief stop in Luna and Aurore Jumelle for their astronomy supplies, where both boys decided to get working models of the solar system along with various star charts and their required telescopes. Lucius actually bought a rather large telescope as well saying he had enjoyed astronomy in his youth and was interested in picking it back up again at the manor for something to do while the boys were at boarding school.
Their next stop was Maison Capenoir for new robes. Hadrian was delighted with all the options, and thought he thought he might be able to make them even better, bought enough to nearly fill one of his closet compartments without even blinking. He was ecstatic to see they made nearly everything in silk or with silk linings as he loathed the wool present in so many of England's designs. While he liked linen, tweed, and twill, he loved the feeling of silk against his skin. And if it got too cold, he could always embroider charms for warmth into his things, Draco's too if necessary. The shop was excited to be making Hogwarts robes as so few English visited France for school shopping. Recognizing the light of desire in both boys' eyes, the Malfoys were more than happy to have their school robes made in much finer fabric than anything that would be available for school robes at home. They had gotten the standard uniform requirements, but Narcissa had decided they also needed specialized cloaks which would change the inner lining color to match their sorted house. They were excited by this, not having been looking forward to the unrelieved black, but at least they'd have a bit of color.
After their somewhat lengthy sojourn into French fashion, they wandered into the Animalerie thinking perhaps Hadrian would find an animal which would perhaps become his familiar, but he felt nothing and they left the shop only buying owl treats for Draco's owl, Nox. They next visited Gaston McAaron, a rather well known quidditch shop, both boys independently deciding to buy the other a Nimbus 2000 for their birthdays. When they both received their packages, handed them over to the other, and unwrapped them to realize they had both gotten the same broom, the small group began laughing at their parallel thinking.
Exiting the shop with giggles on the part of the boys and well disguised chuckles from the two adults, they made their way to their final stop in France, the boutique d'écriture. Draco and Hadrian had not expected to find shopping for parchment, quills, and ink so entertaining, but they each found a number of different colors of ink (Harry had at least one bottle to match every jewel color on his trunk, and sometimes two or three), and a couple of specialty inks like invisible, color changing, and a couple of bottles of rather expensive metal inks which could only be used on special black paper, which of course they also purchased. All four of them fell in love with a set of five magical peacock feather quills, specially spells to write in a variegated form of the colors in the feathers, including the slight gold, silver, or bronze shimmer. Draco and Hadrian got a set of spelled note-taking quills, as well as some rather basic quills. Then Draco spotted a set of white peacock quills which he and Lucius just had to have a set of, while Hadrian found a very expensive set of three phoenix feather quills, one gold and red, one black and green, and one purple, blue, and silver. He dipped into his own money to purchase them, he had to have them. Lucius was subtly pouting about this, having wanted to buy them for the boy, but unable to say anything in the face of Hadrian's awe over having light, dark, and extremely rare water phoenix quills. He very carefully took the wrapped crystalline box the quills were nestled in and placed them lovingly in a drawer of the storage compartment all by themselves. He didn't want anything to happen to them. Narcissa had selected a very serviceable parchment for their school work, and Lucius had handled the choice of correspondence parchment and stationary.
Once they paid for their items and left the boutique, they returned to the apparition and portkey area and Lucius activated the portkey to take them home. Both boys spent the evening unwrapping and organizing their new things with the help of their elves. Dobby especially was quite pleased with Hadrian's trunk and commandeered a spot on the floor under a set of shelves in the storage compartment to be his nest and raided the Malfoy linens for a couple of sheets, blankets, and pillows to make his chosen spot his home.
Hadrian had grabbed Draco and wandered through the unused parts of the manor selecting furniture for his trunk's flat and was quite pleased with his wrought iron four poster bed with its gem encrusted flowers leaves with rails for both sheet and velvet curtains. He had immediately instructed Dobby to find him sparkling white and silver sheer for his inner curtains and silver spangled blue velvet for his outer curtains. He also found a small round dining table with four chairs in a pale wood, an extremely comfortable set of a sofa, chair, and chaise in a silvery grey with deep blue pillows which reminded him of the furniture in his room in the manor, and another pale wood coffee table for the kitchen and living room. Then he located a small darker wood table which nearly matched the included desk in his library cum office and a couple of wingback chairs to create a small sitting area. Dobby had made himself useful selecting silk sheets in silver and blue for his master's bedroom, and a larger selection of jewel tones towels, washcloths, and mats for the bath. Hadrian looked through his trunk flat and all the nice things he had and was well pleased with the day.
Saturday, June 22, 1991A week later, nearing midnight, Lucius, Severus, and Hadrian made their way down Privet Drive and towards Number 4. Hadrian had his new trunk shrunk in his pocket. Over the course of the week a few more items had made their way into the trunk-the blanket he had brought with him from the Dursleys, the plush stag, grim, and wolf, some family jewelry from his vaults, as well as new from another shopping excursion with Draco and Narcissa, and a wizarding photo album of their little family. Narcissa had also contacted various friends and acquaintances requesting pictures of Sirius for the young "Mr. Rigel Black" and had wound up with quite a few of Hadrian's second father/godfather as well as his biological parents, and the werewolf Remus Lupin. Hadrian had been told he was a werewolf by Lucius and Severus, Lucius who had known due to Greyback having been the one to bite Remus, and Severus by retelling the horrid events of his fifth year run in with the Marauders which culminated in James saving his life. Hadrian had appreciated these stories and small glimpses of his parents and their friends, and while he didn't like how they had treated Severus, who he viewed as a father, he did appreciate them sharing their memories to give him a clearer picture of more of his family.
They were all rather dejected as the prepared to leave Hadrian with the Dursleys until Hogwarts and Severus was hovering over him like a worried mother hen, checking to be sure he had everything he needed, and though he would deny it, making sure he got one last hug from the small boy. His potions regimen after his eleventh birthday had done wonders for filling him out and removing the effects of malnutrition and the blocks, but he was still very petite and his build was willowy rather than somewhat lanky or bulky like most other boys his age.
They snuck into the Dursley residence, Lucius unlocking the cupboard under the stairs and pulling out the doll Harry to be refilled with Hadrian's magic. This time, however it would take much less magic since it only needed to function until September 1st. They completed the magical transfer the same way they had every year since they had removed Hadrian from the horrid muggle's care, and placed his enlarged trunk in the cupboard. It had been further improved with the addition of muggle repelling and notice-me-not charms, as well as Lucius placing wards on the trunk to prevent any magic he did from being detected by the ministry. It was a variation on the ward which existed on Malfoy Manor, but was made for movable locations. Harry had kept both his family wands for practice and backups and Lucius had bought him a specialized holster to wear on his left arm which held both wands for easy access. Once he got his "official" wand, he could get another holster for his right arm, but until then, he had the Slytherin wand on his right arm and the Black wand on his left calf like usual.
The only downside to this transition was that Lucius would need to take Doll Harry to the goblins to be updated and wouldn't be able to bring it back until the following evening. They had discussed taking it to the goblins before repowering it, but that was not an option. Hadrian would have to handle one day at his relative's mercy. Hadrian thought it was best for that day to be Dudley's birthday as they always took Dudley somewhere with a friend for the day and he would only be required to make breakfast and would otherwise be locked in the cupboard or sent to Mrs. Figg. Severus and Lucius had seen the wisdom of that, and promised they'd check on him tomorrow. Severus reminded Hadrian that he had a full stock of healing potions in his trunk if they were needed, and he would bring him another selection of them the following evening just in case. All of their hearts were hurting at the thought of separation, Draco and Hadrian had spent the entirety of the previous day cuddled up together in the cozy corner of their playroom, snuggling their stuffed animals and each other while wrapped up in blankets talking and soaking up the feeling of each other before their separation. Severus was very nearly shocked at himself for how much emotion was coursing through him at the thought of Hadrian being back with his horrid Aunt, and his final hug before leaving was rib-crushing. Hadrian didn't mind though, and snuggled into the Potion Master's robes with a sniffle. Lucius was a bit more stoic, but also held Hadrian in a firm embrace, admonishing him to be careful and floo call or use the communication mirror which had been enlarged and hung on the living room wall in the trunk if he needed assistance. Hadrian's tears were falling silently as he watched the two men depart through the Dursley's living room window. He went to the cupboard, placed his hand on the lock and hissed out §Unlock§ to gain entry to the trunk and pressed the diamond button and hissed §I want to go home§ to activate the flat compartment. He lifted the lid and descended the stairs to curl up in his beautiful bed with soft covers and cry, completely forgetting to summon Dobby to him in his growing grief.
Chapter 16 Notes§Parseltongue§