Chapter Forty
Library, Malfoy Manor, Wiltshire, England, 1 January, 1991
"Achoo!"
"Ade, knock it off!" Draco scolded. "Malfoy's do not sneeze."
Adrian rolled his eyes and continued stacking ancient- and heavy- tomes on the table before him.
Ever since Ron's revelation about the Philosopher's Stone, every Firebrand was busily researching anything and everything they could find on the subject. Each of the friends had a large magical library available to them (except Hermione, who was a Muggleborn), many books in them being either firsthand accounts or family histories.
Adrian and Draco had considered asking their parents to help them in their search, at least to locate books on magical artifacts, but they'd decided against it.
They had so many books that could relate to artifacts, though none that necessarily did, and had been at it for hours. Moving through the narrow aisles between the shelves and walls was difficult, especially if there were two unneeded hindrances following you about…
"Yah!" Marvela cried, digging her tiny heels into the sides of the disgruntled black dog that was carrying her around. She'd learned a few days ago that Loki could easily hold her weight and the poor dog had been carting her around ever since.
He bore his young burden well, however; never once so much as growling at his rider, instead taking her wherever she pleased, so long as Adrian and Draco were in sight.
"Hey Drake, I think I found one!" Adrian called loudly. He hadn't any idea where in the vast library his brother was, so he just yelled at the room at large.
"What is it called?" Draco yelled back, from somewhere to the left of Adrian.
"Ah, Magiks Moste Momentous: Magicians, Sorcerers, and Seers throughout the Ages," he replied, heaving the dusty, unwieldy book off of the shelf. "Compiled by Bertram Buskenshield."
"Good, I'll be right there. I can't see anything relevant over here, anyway," Draco yelled, his voice growing louder as he came nearer.
Adrian lugged the tome to the table- which buckled slightly under all the weight- and dropped his load gratefully.
He sat at the table, removed his glasses, and rubbed his eyes wearily. It had been a long week. A nudge at his knee caused him to laugh harshly.
Loki, the bloody nuisance, had still followed him wherever he went, running into his legs constantly. His mother had hesitantly suggested that Loki was Adrian's familiar, but he had dismissed the idea.
One had to at least like their familiar, didn't they?
And familiars had to go everywhere with their Masters. Even school.
Adrian supposed that having a dog at Hogwarts would be interesting, albeit irritating. He also didn't know of anyone else who had a familiar, so he guessed that would be cool.
Not that he needed- or wanted- any more attention.
Draco sat next to him, and together, the brothers studied their collection; more than twenty books, all told, and each bigger than the thickest textbook at Hogwarts.
Adrian felt himself growing angry and frustrated. It was ridiculous for eight eleven year olds to be doing this sort of work! Why didn't the adults take care of things, the way they were supposed to? Why couldn't children like themselves rest easy, secure in the knowledge that adults would take care of them? It shouldn't be their responsibility!
It. Wasn't. FAIR!
"Ade?"
He could barely hear his brother; winds tore the words from his mind before he could process them, and lightning blinded him. A crash of thunder deafened him.
Why should it be their job?! Why couldn't the adults do ANYTHING right themselves?! It didn't make any sense!
He gripped his head in his hands. If he didn't, he felt certain that it would fly off his shoulders.
"ADE! Calm down! It's alright! I'm going to get Mum and Dad!"
He was unaware as his brother dragged him bodily from the library, shouting reassurances to their panicked sister and casting a shield charm on her as bookshelves began sliding toward the unresponsive boy, the glass panes in the windows shuddering and warping.
Loki, still carrying the toddler on his back, followed the brothers out of the library and hurried up the stairs to a safer location.
"Mum! Dad!" Draco screamed, willing his parents to hear him. "Help me! Please!"
Though his brother had collapsed many times before, he'd never seen Adrian's magic erupt so uncontrollably.
'He could have hurt Marvela, or me. Hell, he could kill us without meaning to,' Draco thought, his ideas whirling wildly out of his control. 'He could do it so easily…'
He shook himself free of such ideas. His brother would never hurt him, or anyone else for that matter, so long as they weren't a threat.
"Draco, what-" Narcissa said, coming out of the kitchens. Upon seeing the state of her sons, she blanched. "Oh, Adrian. Here, Draco, I'll take his arms, and you take his legs. Bring him into the parlor."
They hastily set him on a couch and Narcissa cradled his head in her lap, stroking his flyaway hair off of his pale clammy face. "Thank you, Draco. I'll take it from here."
Draco took that as his cue to leave and quietly left the room. He opened the door and found their dog sitting just outside, looking as mournful as any dog Draco had ever seen.
Draco knelt beside the dog and ruffled its ears. "He'll be alright," he said, though to himself or the dog in front of him, he was unsure.
The dog licked his face and crept into the room, padded feet silent on the plush carpet. Draco stared after him, a calculating look on his face, and dashed up the stairs after his sister.
Loki walked right up to where Adrian lay on the couch and jumped up next to his young master, gently putting his snout on his young master's chest. He howled pitifully.
And Adrian's eyes flickered open. Nacrissa's face paled with shock; Adrian had never awakened like this before.
"Wha- Mum, what happened? I don't…" he mumbled, seeming as though he'd only just woken up rather than if he'd collapsed. He glanced at the dog lying on his chest and smiled, scratching his head dazedly. "Thank you, Padfoot."
The dog sighed and woofed softly and licked Adrian's face. Adrian sat up a moment later, looking dizzy. He'd left his glasses in the library, and everything looked warped, fuzzy. "I didn't even feel it coming this time," he muttered. "I only had a moment's warning, and it was like a typhoon."
Narcissa pulled him to her chest, holding him there tightly. She was trying to keep from shaking uncontrollably. She never liked to see her baby in such a state. "It isn't your fault, Adrian. If anyone's, it ours, your father's and mine; we didn't get you treated early enough, didn't tell your uncle what was wrong soon enough-"
She was cut off by a hug that took her breath. "Don't say that Mum. Never say that! You can't blame yourself for things you have no control over," Adrian said firmly, silver-green eyes meetings his mother's blue ones.
She smiled at him. "Neither can you, Adrian. You can't blame yourself for something that isn't your fault any more than I can."
He narrowed his eyes at his mother, smiling crookedly. "Using my own arguments against me to prove a point? Very Slytherin of you, Mum."
"I should hope so. That's where I spent seven years of my life, after all."
Neither Malfoy noticed the dog creep out of the room and run out the back door.
And no one heard the anguished cry as a man stood, tall and proud, where a dog had been only moments before.
Well, no one except one little girl who was hiding in the bushes…
