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Lucius composed himself and said, "Harry, you are not to speak about this to anyone other than Narcissa, myself, Severus or Draco. Do you understand me? You're father has plans that cannot be messed up in the slightest way. Now, let us go boys. We have a train to catch."
Draco and I grabbed onto Lucuis' outstretched hands, and with a pop, the dining room disappeared and in its place was a train station with one scarlet train. In gold lettering the words Hogwarts Express were written, and all around children were saying goodbye to their parents, some more tearful than others.
"Here we are, boys," Lucius looked down in amusement at the two awestruck boys. This time next year they would be running away from him, eager to go back to the castle. But for now they seemed to be content simply staring.
"Good Merlin! Where is that boy? He'll just have to find us here on the platform! I refuse for my children to be late simply for that thing. I heard that he's been with Malfoy! Poor thing! I can't wait until we can get him away from those-" It was a shrill voice that stood out above all other voices. Both Harry and Draco were glaring at the source of the shrill noise while Lucius simply gave it a look of mild interest. The source was a gaggle of redheads. Not just any kind of redheads either, the kind that made it hard to look at for too long because it was just that brightly annoying.
"Molly dear, please, not now. Let's wait until the boys get on the train, and then we can owl Dumbledore about the situation."
"But he said that we were to be the first magical family he met! What if Malfoy is turning him dark! I will not have my Ginny marry someone dark! Ronald is not allowed to associate with such filth!"
The two adults were arguing and ignoring their children. There were so many of them too! One boy looked as if he had swallowed something particularly sour, another two boys, obviously twins, were wearing shit eating grins as they ran towards their friend. The youngest boy looked quite stupid, as if he didn't know what he was supposed to do. The only girl, and the youngest of the bunch was crying about how she wanted to meet Harry Potter, so she could marry him and have a happily ever after. Silly girl, she didn't know what she was talking about.
"Well, well, well. Look at what the cat dragged in, more filth," Lucius placed one hand on Draco's shoulder and the other on my own. His face was impassive and Draco seemed to adopt the look as well. I tried to do the same, but I'm pretty sure I was doing it wrong.
"Malfoy," The redheaded man said in an icy tone. "What do you want?"
"Harry Potter! This is my son Ronald, and his younger sister Ginny, would you like to go talk with them while we wait for the train to leave?" The desperation was obvious in her voice. She didn't even know me, only what she's been told by inaccurate sources and she wanted to set me up with her children. How disgusting.
"I can make my own friends, thank you," The girl seemed to be looking at me as if I was a piece of her favorite chocolate. I stepped closer to Lucius.
"Now, Arthur, if your… wife… is done insulting young Mr. Potter here, I simply wanted to remind you of that deadline that you seem to continue to miss," Lucius' grin was predatory, and began to broaden even more when Arthur took an unconscious step back.
"Of course, I've almost got all of it together now. But you see, we had to get all the children's Hogwarts supplies, and to get the money for you and paying for all of that-" His voice wavered in some places, either in nervousness or in fear, I couldn't tell.
"I don't care for any of your excuses, Arthur. What I want is the money you owe. Have it on my desk by Monday or I'll make sure that you never get another raise, no matter how many more offspring that thing produces." With that Lucius guided Draco and I away from the gaping redheads. Thank Merlin, I don't think I could have tolerated to stay longer in their presence.
Our luggage had already made it onto the train by the house elves, and all that was left was to say goodbye. I was so excited for Hogwarts, but at the same time I couldn't stop thinking about the letter from my father. I have a father!
"Now, Hadrian, Draconis, I need you two to promise me that you are going to stay away from Dumbledore. Do not let him get you alone, or backed into a corner. Do you understand me?" Getting two nods, he continued. "Now, get on the train, meet some friends, and owl me right after the feast. I love you both."
Lucius leaned forward and hugged Draco tightly before giving him a kiss on his forehead. He did the same to me, except after he hugged me, he whispered in my ear, "This time next year I promise your father will be here instead of me." My eyes grew wide at that statement. In a whole year Father is going to be here! I couldn't stop grinning as Draco and I made our way onto the train.
As Draco and I made our way through the train I looked around at the other students. Some stopped and stared when they caught a glimpse of the scar I tried to keep hidden. I really wish they'd stop doing that. I mean, I'm famous for "vanquishing" my own father. Not something to be too proud of. Not that I actually vanquished him, but still.
"Come on Harry," Draco said as he pulled me towards the front of the train. "There's some people here I want you to meet."
After what seemed like forever, Draco finally stopped in front of a compartment. Composing himself, and taking out his haughty demeanor that he gets whenever he tries to act like his father, he walked into the compartment. Unsure of what to do with myself I followed behind him, making sure to stay partially hidden by the taller Draco. I didn't want any more people to stare at me than there already were.
"Draco! You're here! I thought you would never come! I haven't seen you all summer! Why look at you! You look-"
"Pansy, breathe. Hey man. What's up? Have a good summer?"
"Hey Pansy, Blaise, Theo. I'm fine. Who's this?" Draco asked, gesturing to the small boy huddled into one of the girl's side.
"Oh this? This is Neville. Mother told me I have to make friends with all the other purebloods, and it looks like Longbottom is one of them."
"Best part is, he isn't a blood traitor," The dark skinned boy said.
Draco, who had at first tensed at the boy's name, settled back down. Draco sat down, and I fell on his lap and hid my face. I didn't know any of these people. They seemed nice, but, all the other wizards I've met other than the Malfoy's have been horrible. I'm not taking chances.
"Who's your little friend, Draco?" The same boy asked. The other boy that was in the compartment obviously didn't talk much. He was still reading the book he had when Draco and I first walked in.
"This," Draco said proudly. "is Harry."
I peeked my head out of Draco's shirt and looked to see the other children's reactions. There seemed to be no violent reaction, so I gave a little wave to them all.
"Oh he's just the cutest thing! I love him! We're going to keep him, right?" The girl, Pansy I presumed, was squealing. However, it wasn't as bad as Mrs. Weasley earlier on the platform.
I'm not a pet! Draco seemed to be thinking the same thing because he said, "He's not a pet, Pansy darling. He's Harry Potter."
Outraged cries broke out, and I hid my face in Draco's shirt once more, scared of the angry children.
"Shut up! You're scaring him!" Draco began to run his hand in circles on my back. Soon my trembles subsided, and I was calm enough to look at him. He gave me a kiss to my temple and said, "He's not only Harry Potter, but also Hadrian Alexander Riddle. Our Lord's long lost son."
A hushed silence filled the room at his words. No longer were their faces full of fear and anger, instead looks of awe and respect shone on their faces.
"I'm so sorry my Prince." The quiet boy, Theo, had stopped reading his book and gently took my hand in his and kissed it. I giggled at the gesture. I'm not a girl either! "Never shall we show anything other than the utmost respect from now on. My sincerest apologies." He sat back down and looked at me. It was kind of weird to be honest.
The other boy Blaise, and the girl Pansy also apologized. Draco was extremely happy with this turn of events as he smiled brightly and said, "Now, I think we should all play a game of Exploding Snap. Yes? Wonderful!"
I tried to play, but it really wasn't that interesting, so I got off of Draco's lap and instead sat next to him, pressed closely to his side. The boy that Pansy had been talking about was now sitting in front of me.
"Hello," I said, offering my hand in a handshake. The boy timidly accepted it, but continued to curl up in the corner of the seat. "I'm Harry. Your name's Neville, right?" I had already become comfortable with the kids in the compartment and I felt like we would all become great friends. He shook his head slowly. "Well, tell me about yourself. I'm bored and those guys are no fun, playing that horrible game."
Neville gave a small laugh when Draco said, "You do know that I can hear you, right?" I laughed and snuggled closer into Draco's arm as it wrapped around my waist.
"So what are you doing here? This doesn't seem like your type of crowd. And don't tell me that it's because of Pansy, because I'm sure that if you didn't want to be here you would have run off long ago." Looking at his defeated face I knew that I had been right. He does have some sort of reason for staying.
"Well, you see, it's kind of hard to explain. I live with my Gran. And she's, well, she's from a dark pureblood family. My dad, he went light and married my mum, who's also light. They got themselves killed by the Dark Lord. Your father, I guess. And Gran, well, she wants me to be dark, like her. She says that that's where the power and the winning side is."
Neville seemed very nervous as he said all this. He kept fidgeting with the toad that he kept on his lap. It was quite an ugly thing too. Draco, who had been keeping an ear on the conversation, gave my side a slight squeeze, a warning that my next words could make or break the poor boy in front of us.
"Well, you know that no matter what happens, we're friends now," The boy's eyes lit up at the thought of finding his first friend in the big school. "But, I highly… encourage… that you give the dark thought some good consideration before running off to Dumbledore with your tail in between your legs." Neville's face was full of shock as he quickly got the message: Go to the dark side or things will be very bad for you.
Draco placed a kiss on Harry's temple in approval. Harry simply leaned back and basked on his personal pillow.
"We will be arriving at Hogsmeade Station in approximately 5 minutes. Please gather your belongings and prepare to depart the train." Soon enough the kids began to pack up their game of Exploding Snap and change into their Hogwarts robes.
As they walked off of the train and onto the platform, I could already begin to see the castle. It was beautiful from even this far away. I grabbed Draco's hand and we made our way over to Hagrid, who seemed to be in charge of the first years. I could tell already as we made our way onto the small and unsafe looking boats that yes, this was going to be a very, very wonderful year.
I'm getting so excited about this story! In case you hadn't noticed, my chapters keep getting steadily longer and longer! Where on Earth am I finding the time to do it? (I have no idea). So, did you like it? I promise that Luna is going to come in sometime after they finish 1st year.
Hermione. I've been getting a lot of mixed reviews about this so... Ravenclaw or Slytherin? Major or minor but not a Cedric Diggory kind of minor character?
Neville. What house? Because honestly, I have not idea where he should go. HELP!
Should all the Slytherins know that Harry is Hadrian?
How is Lucius going to find Tom? What should happen to them?
Regulus? Any suggestions? It's amazing how much we all love him even though he hasn't made an actual appearance.
20 MORE REVIEWS BEFORE POSTING ANOTHER CHAPTER! PRETTY PLEASE! :D