The day it happened had been a typical day for Donovan.
He had woken up in Gryffindor tower, taken a shower, woke up his roommates, and waited in the common room for Neville to join him to go down to breakfast.
Over the years Donovan had drifted from being the spoiled brat that his parents had wanted him to be, by making friends with all the right light families and taking advantage of his fame to create the right connections at the right times.
Now Donovan was seen as a disappointment in the eyes of his 'fans' and his Father. Donovan spent as little time in the spotlight as he could, he was friends with people in all four houses (even the Slytherins), and he didn't go on wild adventures or produce any stunning feats of magic. He was just a regular fourteen-year-old trying to avoid any connections with his Father and the Headmaster. Donovan spent most of his days with his best friend Neville Longbottom, their friend from Ravenclaw Luna Lovegood, Susan Bones from Hufflepuff, and on rare occasions, Theodore Nott and Astoria Greengrass would join them as well.
It was after breakfast when his group gathered outside the great hall to head down to the abandoned classroom they had found last year so they could study in peace when it happened. Donovan was in front of his group, listening to Luna and Astoria debate the usefulness of taking care of magical creatures in the long run when he bumped into someone and it cause a spark of electricity to feel like it was running through him.
"Oh I'm sorry-" Donovan started to say but he was looking into the face of the champion for the Gibraltar school, and Draco Malfoy's brother. Which would have been shocking on its own except there was also a weird familiarity in that face that Donovan couldn't name.
"Watch where you are going, Potter." Draco sneered at him as he steadied his brother.
"Dray, be nice. It is no problem Heir Potter and I apologize for my brother's behavior." Hadrian said in a nicer tone than they had ever heard come out of Draco's mouth. When everyone had heard that Draco had a brother in the visiting school, rumors had run rampant and everyone expected another obnoxious Malfoy to be gracing the school halls. Instead, they were surprised to see a blind kid that was soft-spoken and often calmed Draco's harsher character traits.
"Ah it's okay, we are pretty used to Malfoy. It was my fault for not paying attention to where I was going anyway. It's nice to meet you." Donovan laughed nervously.
Hadrian laughed and smiled a real smile at Donovan and his group. "Malfoys are all bark and no bite. You just have to know how to manipulate them properly." Hadrian teased. "It is nice to meet you as well Heir Potter.
"Oi!" Draco protested with a frown causing the others to laugh.
"Uh just call me Donovan, or Donny if you want, everyone else does."
"Then you can call me Hadrian, and of course, you know Draco. No need to be yelling for Malfoy when there are two of us around."
Donovan looked to Malfoy… Draco glared which made Donovan shift nervously before clearing his throat. "Uh yeah, I'll try. Um with me is Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood, Theodore Nott, Astoria Greengrass, and Susan Bones."
"Oh wow, a lot of you. It is nice to meet all of you." Hadrian grinned as the others replied with their own greetings.
"Would you like to join us? We are just going to go study together since it is too cold to be going outside." Susan Bones offered, living up to her Hufflepuff name making both Theodore and Draco roll their eyes.
"You wouldn't mind us intruding?" Hadrian asked curiously, tilting his head much like a cat would.
"Of course not! Although you might be bored, I heard you are ahead of where we are in school." Neville butted in with.
"Hmm I am, but a refresher is always good and I've been trying to keep Draco up to speed to where I am as much as I can being 2,000 miles away normally. Depending on where you all are at maybe I can teach you all something new?" Hadrian offered, squeezing his brother's hand to keep him from making any comments.
"That would be good. We all chip in with what we are good at to help the others keep up." Astoria Greengrass chimed in.
"Then that sounds wonderful. We would love to join you during your study sessions. I promise to keep Draco friendly." Hadrian grins.
"I will tell Tom about your secret journal," Draco growled, making Hadrian's cheeks turn pink.
"You tell Tom anything and I will contract those delightful Weasley twins I met last week to dye all of your things Gryffindor red and gold." Hadrian huffed. Everyone laughed at the two brothers bickering but it loosen some of the tension between the two groups.
Something about watching Draco and Hadrian interact with each other made something inside of Donovan ache. He wondered if he and his twin would have been as close as the Malfoy brothers were if he had gotten the chance to know him. Neville seemed to know where Donovan's mind had wandered and he squeezed his shoulder to reassure him. Neville had promised to help Donovan to look for his lost twin, no matter what the results ended up being or how long it took.
Once the brothers had calmed down, they followed Donovan's group down to the dungeons, quietly chatting among themselves. Draco was interrogating Theodore on how long he had been hanging out with Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs. Hadrian found himself trapped between Luna Lovegood and Susan Bones discussing the benefits of combing ancient runes with arithmancy to create better warding schemes. Donovan and Neville grinned at each other seeing such a complex group mixing.
"Astoria why aren't you saving Theo from Malfoy?" Neville asked the girl that was being suspiciously quiet.
"Or aiding the girls in torturing the other Malfoy by picking his brain?" Donovan added.
Astoria huffed at both of them. "Theo and Sue teased me all morning because I got a date for the Yule ball already and they didn't"
"Wait you have a date already?" Donovan asked surprised.
"Ugh Boys, you are all the same. You have to get a date early enough so you can get the right outfits. You don't want to wear something that will clash with your date's dress." Astoria insisted.
"Oi I heard that! I am not a boy and I still say you are being ridiculous." Susan called to them.
"Well, you are too much of a tomboy to understand so you get to be lumped in with the boys now!" Astoria declared back.
"Ah, I forgot about the Yule ball," Hadrian said with a slight frown.
"You still have plenty of time Rian" Draco muttered.
"I'm afraid I have to side with Astoria on this. I may not be able to see my clothes, but one of the champions I cannot be clashing with my date." Hadrian insisted.
"Finally! Someone with sense in this group!" Astoria said happily, hugging a rather surprised Hadrian, who just patted her back amused.
"Is there any girl from your school that you are interested in asking to the ball Hadrian?" Neville asked as they reached the classroom they normally used. It was pretty deep in the dungeons but the classroom looked like it used to be used for duels so there was plenty of room for all of them inside. They conjured pillows to sit on in the center of the room.
Draco couldn't help but chuckle at the embarrassment of his brother. "He is interested in someone alright but it's not a girl from his school." Draco teased.
"Shut up Draco!" Hadrian whined. "It doesn't matter anyway. I just have to find someone willing to go with me as just a friend."
"That will be hard to do. A yule ball as big as this? Plus you are one of three champions, I may not be on the same page as Astoria but people will be chomping at the bit to get a piece of you Hadrian." Susan pointed out.
Hadrian groaned and covered his face with his hands. "Fighting monsters will be so much easier than navigating teenage hormones."
"You probably aren't wrong." Theodore agreed with a grimace.
Luna smiled dreamily and patted Hadrian's shoulder. "It's okay. You'll find someone to go with. But your other half will be quite jealous."
That made the others raise their eyebrows curiously but it made Draco cackle evilly.
"Oh, I can't wait until the Yule ball now." Draco grinned.
"Oh shut up Dray! Who are you going to take then?" Hadrian questioned.
"Nope. It's a secret. You'll find out during the ball."
"I think you are just hiding the fact you haven't asked anyone and are too afraid to do so," Hadrian grumbled
"Whatever you want to believe Rian. You better hop to it before the masses start to tackle you in the halls. I've seen Victor Krum slinking around to avoid the Hogwarts girls." Draco teased.
"Well, I think we should get started on studying. Donovan, what are you all studying right now?" Hadrian redirected making everyone else laugh but finally get down to work.
By the end of their study session, they were all much closer, even Draco was less prickly by the end and joking with the others.
Hadrian thought this was good for his brother, and maybe he could gain a friendship with his biological brother still. He seemed to be pretty decent, although he knew Draco was still wary of letting themselves get close to the Potter Heir at all.
Hadrian just had a good feeling about it and Draco knew he couldn't dissuade him even if he really, really wanted to.