The library had earned him a loss of points so great that he was now in the negatives, he should have known eating with Margaret in a public place would get back to his aunt, and whenever the points are below five, he gets locked up in his cupboard. Thankfully he had managed to hide his new belongings, because none of the proper Dudley's would ever go into the cupboard, and for some reason, never even reach in. The food Margaret had gotten the rabbit was enough to last the entire punishment, and still have a little left over. Which was great, because Hadrian only got a small cup of water, toast, and half an apple every other day. Since he had gotten water bottles with Margaret, he was able to make that the rabbits water, and only ate half of the toast so he could save it for later, when he really needed food.
He had only been let out for school, and didn't even have to do the chores. By the end of his punishment, it was the summer holidays. Dudley already breaking many of his new toys, which then got thrown into his second bedroom. Hadrian was sad school was over, because even if he couldn't get a higher grade than Dudley, it was still one of his favorite places to go. Even more than that though, he was scared that Dudley's gang would get him one of these days. Hadrian wasn't able to run very fast, because he had gotten the belt for every point he lost, which was a lot, and hurt a lot.
Luckily, Hadrian was able to work near aunt Petunia, so that Dudley couldn't hurt him too bad. You see, aunt Petunia was his favorite, because not only did he feel the most drawn to her; the only times she punishes him was if he broke something, or interrupted her. And every time she punished him, she always goes into her room, slamming the door shut. One time he thought he even heard her crying, although aunt Petunia had no reason to cry, because she was the nicest most amazing person ever.
Today was his third day out of the cupboard, and he's happy to finally be able to cook, and garden again. That was the one thing he hated the most out of this entire thing. That and he was worried about the rabbit, weren't rabbits supposed to be outside? He recalls overhearing a conversation about how it's bad to stay inside all the time. What if I'm hurting him more? I don't want him to be in pain because of me!
Yesterday he was able to sneak the rabbit outside, because he had been locked outside for a few hours when they went to lunch with their friends. So the rabbit was able to be outside, and while he had tried to let the rabbit go free, it had refused to run away. The rabbit must still be hurt, why else would he stay with me?
Today though, he probably wouldn't be able to go outside, his list of chores was about the size of his arm. The brunt of the work being cleaning Dudley's second bedroom. He was rather excited for that though, because aunt Petunia didn't care if he took the older things. Just as long as he didn't say anything to uncle Vernon, or cousin Dudley. Just another example of how amazing his aunt Petunia was.
Right now though, he was cooking breakfast, uncle Vernon reading the newspaper. Uncle Vernon and Dudley were going out for the day to the movies and whatever it was fathers and sons did to bond. The reason was because Dudley had gotten his acceptance letter from uncle Vernon old private school, Smeltings. Hadrian on the other hand, was going to the local public school, Stonewall High.
Sometime in July, aunt Petunia had taken Dudley to London to buy his uniform, meaning he was left with Mrs. Figg. Mrs. Figg wasn't as happy as she was before, because she had tripped over one of her cats and broke her leg. She had let him feed her cats, and watch television. It was a very peaceful, and calm four hours.
When aunt Petunia and cousin Dudley had returned home, Dudley had walked around the living room in his new uniform. Along with his uniform, he had a knobbly stick, which was apparently used for learning to discipline others later in life.
Uncle Vernon and aunt Petunia had both gotten teary eyed, and said this was the happiest moment of their lives. Hadrian wasn't sure that was true, but he wasn't going to be the one to say anything.
Anyways, as Hadrian is making the breakfast he is also trying very hard to not gag. You see, his uniform was to be grey, and Dudley's old clothes were being dyed, and didn't smell good at all.
He finished breakfast, placing it on three separate plates for the Dursley family, before putting them on the table in front of them. Taking a few steps back, he wipes down the cooking tools, and stands by the kitchen door in case he is needed again.
When uncle Vernon and Dudley are done, they drop the plates into his arms before putting on there shoes and coats.
"I'm off Pet!"
"Bye Mom."
"Have a good time boys!"
The minutes drag on, leaving an awkward silence to fill it. Finally, aunt Petunia sighs and looks toward Hadrian.
"Sit down boy, no use standing when nothing is happening." Aunt Petunia snaps, rubbing her eyes. Startled, Hadrian stands frozen for a few seconds before hurriedly sitting down across from aunt Petunia.
The woman in questions looks at him for a few long moments. Abruptly standing up, Hadrian lets out a squeak in surprise. Blinking in shock as she puts a piece of toast, banana, and a glass of orange juice.
"Don't just sit there like a fool, eat."
"Y-yes aunt P-petunia."
Hadrian slowly starts to eat, making sure not to eat fast enough to give himself a bellyache. Pausing when the doorbell rings, and the click of the mail slot followed by the flop of letters falling onto the mat. Hadrian starts to get up, only to stop at the sound of aunt Petunia's voice.
"Foolish boy, just keep eating, i'll get the mail."
"Y-yes aunt P-petunia." So he keeps eating his meal.
A few minutes pass before aunt Petunia returns, her face pale and worried.
"Aunt P-petunia?"
"Be quiet boy, I'm thinking."
Hadrian shrinks down, looking at his half finished plate. I shouldn't have asked, I don't deserve to know anything. It's not my right.
"Boy, look at me." Aunt Petunia says suddenly, looking into his eyes when his head snaps up in answer. "You will listen to me, and listen close. Do you understand? You will not interrupt me, you will not ask questions until the end, and listen to me. This is the most important thing, you will not talk about this conversation with Vernon or Dudley. Under no circumstances are you to tell them. Do you understand?"
Wide eyed, Hadrian nods his head. "Y-yes aunt P-petunia."
Aunt Petunia eyes him for a long while, judging if he was truthful. "Alright," She looks down at the letter in her hand, taking a shaking breath. "Alright, good."
"When I first saw you mother, my first thought about her was gorgeous, your mother was beautiful, probably was until her last breath as well. When the two us were younger, we were close; as close as siblings can get." She looks up, gazing into his eyes.
"You have her eyes, her nose," She smiles then, weary and old before whispering. "Her smile." A heartbreaking laugh escapes Aunt Petunia. "God, I loved her, more than anything; I was so proud to call her my sister."
Hadrian sits still frozen to his seat as he looks at Aunt Petunia.
"Then, one summer he came. The boy who changed our lives, Severus Snape. I'm sure it would have happened eventually, but by God was he that one to start it all." She sets the letter on the table, pausing for a moment.
"He called her a witch, which was, and is, a slur. We later found out, he didn't mean it that way. She was magic, and so was he; real, wand waving, broom riding magic." She laughs in envy.
"I was so jealous, not of magic, but that my beloved sister would be taken away." She closes her eyes. "Taken away… she was indeed. That boy, talked to us like we were less. Muggles, he called us, with scorn heavy in his voice. We were like insects in his eyes, disgusting, yet useful." Her voice trembles with rage.
"She went away, to a school called Hogwarts. She made friends, and enemies, and through it all; that damn boy was there, whispering in her ear. Every year, when she came back from her school, she got worse, and worse, until finally she snapped."
She takes the letter in her hands, holding it to her chest. "She yelled, and shouted about how I could never understand that struggles she was going through. How she knew I was jealous of her, and how I wish to be in her place."
A tear falls down her face, her lips shaking. "That's just it though, I just wanted a sister. She was all I had."
Hadrian furrows his eyebrows in confusion. All I had?
"My mother and father did not love me. I wasn't beautiful, or a genius, and most certainly not magical. My flaws caused them to attempt to conceive another child, yet they were unable to. My birth was a traumatic one, for my mother. She couldn't carry anymore children. So they adopted. Lily was the result of that, an unnamed child abandoned at the orphanage. A family member who was untainted by my parents. Yet, that boy took her away. It was only a few years later that I realized he wasn't around anymore."
"Yet, she wasn't alone; someone else had taken that boys' place. A one James Potter, your father. In her later years, she all but ignored me. She married your father, went into hiding because of a war she had no reason fighting in; then she had you, and then not long later died, murdered by a mad man."
Hadrian begins to shake, tears falling down his face. Murdered? My mother was killed? Adopted? I'm, I'm not related to aunt Petunia?
"During that time, I was married off by my father; to Vernon Dursley a new upcoming worker in his business. Without my consent, I was told to have his child. Mother wasn't the only one traumatized during my birth though, I was underdeveloped. It took me three years to have Dudley, and he's the only child I'll ever have."
Aunt Petunia didn't want to marry uncle Vernon?
"I can't leave Vernon though, because I have no life skills. My father made sure of that when it was found that I was not a genius. Anyways, I don't think I could ever leave Dudley, my own flesh and blood. Then you showed up, in a basket on a cold october day. They didn't ring the bell, they just left you there, with a thin blanket, and a letter."
Aunt Petunia looks up, her eyes blazing in rage. "They left a child, who could have gotten up and wandered off, who could have gotten kidnapped, who could have gotten killed by an animal, or a person, alone, abandoned on a porch in the middle of the night!"
"The letter left was threatening, and only told me that my sister was dead, killed by the leader of their enemy, and that I'm now tasked with taking care of you. A letter that said if we don't keep you, we'll wish we would have, that I'll lose what's most precious to me. He, that Albus Dumbledore, threatened me. That man who manipulated my Lily, who didn't let me go to her funeral, who abandoned her child. That man, whom I hate even more than my father, even more than that boy, Severus Snape."
"Now, a new letter has come. Again, from that world of magic. To summon you, Lily's child, to that world. To learn about magic, from the school of Hogwarts. I'm not telling you, not ordering, not to go. Instead, I will tell you this. Do not trust anyone. You are on your own there, you will have no one who is beside you."
Aunt Petunia stands up, leaning over the table, her hands flat against it. "You listen close boy, do you understand."
Hadrian shivers, nodding his head. Anything, I will do anything.
"You will will go to that school, you will learn all you can. Then, once you do, you will blow them all away, you will not be manipulated, you will not die. You will not return to this house, you will not be under the care of Vernon Dursley. You will find your home, a home that is filled with love, and you will live. You will live a life with love, with happiness. You will be free."
Hadrian begins to cry, shaking with emotions he does not have a name for.
"You will do what I cannot, and say no. You will stand up for yourself, you will not hurt, and you will love yourself." Aunt Petunia pauses, leaning down to gaze into his eyes; smiling softly, sorrowfully. "You will go to that school, and you will not come back. And I will stay here, I will do my best with what I have, and maybe someday, I will see you again. Yet, even if I don't know this, I have always loved you, but I am a coward, a weak and powerless human. Someday, I hope when you grow, you will forgive for my weakness, but even if you don't, I want you to be free."
Aunt Petunia stands, placing the letter in front of him.
"I will take you to London in three days. From there, I will show you Diagon Alley, I will go with you to the bank, I will go with you to the stores, then we will go out of the Alley. I cannot show you where to go, I cannot tell you what to do, but at that moment I will leave you. If you need me for anything school related you will send it to the mail office. I will leave you the address."
With that said, aunt Petunia leaves the kitchen. Hadrian behind her, gazing down at the letter with tear blurred eyes, and a face flushed red.
Mr. H. Potter
The Cupboard under the Stairs
4 Privet Drive
Little Whinging
Surrey
I understand aunt Petunia, I'll live no matter what. I'll find my home, and be free. Hadrian looks up the the doorway, aunt Petunia long gone. One day, I'll be strong enough to rescue you too, and you will be free like me. I promise you, aunt Petunia, I promise.