Lord of time (chapter 41-107)

69 (tehe)

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Hadrian stretched out, his hand automatically checking the bed next to him, the bed felt slightly warm, but the warmth was fading fast, and Tom was already up. Abruptly sitting up, he realized why Tom was up earlier than usual, it was the day the exam results would be posted to each and every Hogwarts students who were taking either their O.W.L's or N.E.W.T's. A smile worked its way onto his face, almost every day he found out something new about Tom than he hadn't known before. He was actually worried about the results, the smartest guy he knew, was anxious. Maybe anxious was the wrong word, Tom wanted to be the best, and anything less than the best was unacceptable to his OCD husband. He'd deny it, but Hadrian knew he had some sort of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and a fixation with the number seven - which admittedly wasn't all that new to him.

The last few weeks at Hogwarts had gone by extraordinary fast, between the prelim exams and preparation for the real deal. Hadrian had been bemused by the fact he was worrying over exams, especially ones he'd taken already, then again he'd never admit to anyone how poorly he'd done in most classes. He hadn't taken an active interest in his academics. No, it wasn't that he hadn't been interested, there had always been something happening at Hogwarts that took precedence. Something he'd been encouraged in, Dumbledore hadn't wanted him to be smart and studious, he needed him to die at the right moment. No, he thought sternly, he wasn't going to live his life ruled by what happened in his past or Dumbledore. He had a life here, a husband, real friends; his past was just that, his past. Clearing his mind of all the bad things, he stretched out before climbing out of bed, only to blink at the sight of the new robes he'd ordered up against the wardrobe, the see through plastic still covering them to protect them from dust. A groan left his lips at the reminder, it was tonight, the Malfoy's were hosting grand ball, a party.

Grumbling under his breath, he left the bedroom, going in hunt of Tom, and actually quite eager to see his own results, not that he'd admit that of course. He knew Tom had done very well just by stepping into the living room, he was puffed up and extremely smug sitting there with a coffee at his lips.

"Good morning," Harry said wryly, moving over, giving him a quick kiss, avoiding the wandering hands green eyes gleaming in amusement. "You did well then?" he could see the Slytherin Prefect badge shining on the table, declaring Tom once again Prefect for Slytherin. No surprise there, Slughorn thought the sun shone out of Tom's ass.

"Of course," Tom declared smugly, as he drank from his mug, it was just the way he liked it.

"I don't suppose you'd let me off the hook tonight? Tell them I feel too sick to go?" Hadrian asked hopefully, as he reluctantly brought his own pile of mail close to him, not bothering with the newspaper.

"You must come, snubbing the Malfoy's is a very dangerous thing to do, they are the elite at the moment," Tom told him pointedly. You didn't just decline an invite from them, not without a very, very good excuse.

Hadrian snorted, "That would matter if I cared about social climbing," he pointed out, the downside of becoming known and powerful even being leaving Hogwarts - having adults vying for your attention so they could say they were there from the start, and to feed of their own popularity the whole idea was pathetic. "Plus anything they throw at me, I could throw back with much more accuracy," he wasn't just climbing up everyone's social ladder; he was also becoming richer than them all. Their need to stick to wizarding companies was preventing windfalls; there were so many more Muggles than wizards, so it was no surprise that he was able to overtake the purebloods with their vast estates so quickly. When the war was over and everything got back to normal...it would expand further than even he could imagine. He was investing in companies like steel manufacturing, which was bringing in a lot of income, from the various companies that were interested in steel, from the navy, the army to boat building companies. The only downside to having so many investments was the paperwork. The goblins did most of it thank Merlin, and were compensated very well for their time and effort, but it didn't make it any less annoying for him to oversee everything. His portfolio was expanding so much each month.