Whose side is truly the dark one?

Mirror of Erised - 19

Edited - June 11, 2023

   After a panic attack, Hadrian's mind is always at its weakest and nightmares often follow. The need to sleep to recover while riddled with nightmares leaves Hadrian sometimes more tired than he was before the panic attack but he isn't alone. Luckily this panic attack took place on Friday so he was left with plenty of time to sleep in with Draco remaining by his side throughout the entire night. Knowing that it is the weekend, they continue to cuddle all morning and relax under their pile of blankets and pillows. At first, no one thought anything of the pair not being up yet as they tend to stay in bed late when they have no class. However it was later than usual as it is nearly time for lunch and their door remains locked. With privacy charms to prevent anyone from entering someone's room unwelcomed, their friends worry grows as no one answers the door, no matter how hard the knock.

As the most protective of the pair, Blaise and Pansy take matters into their own hands and head to Professor Snape for help dispute their friend's words of disagreement. Being an overprotective worrier himself, Severus is soon seen rushing to the boys room with his cape swooping dramatically behind him. As head of the house, he easily unlocks the wards set and quietly glides in. His eyes fall on the sight of Hadrian's bed that clearly hadn't been slept in and flashes them to Draco's bed. His heart beat slows back down to normal as he sees two bodies buried in blankets together and watches as they slowly rose and fell in sync. He tells his godsons's friends that the boys are simply still asleep and hurries them out of the room.

   He sits down on the edge of the bed after closing the door, and pulls back the covers. His hand moves to sweep some of Hadrian's hair out of his face but falters at the sight of dried tear stains. With a quick spell, he wets the handkerchief Draco had bought him a few Christmases ago and wipes the stains away. He gently grips the smaller boy's bony shoulder and shakes him awake. "Hadrian... wake up little slyther." He watches as Hadrian's eyes flutter open and stop at the sight of his worried face.

"Sev?" Hadrian sleepily slurs. "You want to tell me what got you so worked up last night? It's nearly noon Hades..." The potion master inquires. "Not really..." Hadrian mumbles but answers after faced with the man's famous glare, "panic attack..." Snape sighs and pulls the boy into his chest as new tears develop and he begins to sniffle. "I- I was so scared! I thought- I thought I was going to die! And- and it was so cold and dark!" Hadrian rambles as his tears fall. Draco wakes up at the sound of Hadrian's distress and joins their hug session, wild bed head and all! "Alright, you two just rest and take it easy, Draco I'm assuming you were tired because you stayed up to help calm Hades down?" The man asks and Draco just nods his head while fixing his hair.

   Doing as commanded of them, both boys spend the day resting by reading in the library. What they didn't tell their godfather was that they were researching "Fantastic beasts and where to find them" to learn about the Cerberus and what on Earth it could possibly be guarding. Once they learned music put it to sleep, they scoured the shelves for music charms to put said dog to sleep as neither of them were very good at playing any instruments. They are well aware of the fact that whatever is being guarded by the Cerberus is important, they plan to explore the corridor again before Christmas break so that if they take it, they can hide it at Malfoy manor. After all, if it is discovered missing while they are gone, there is no way the school can somehow create an excuse to come and visit every family to search for the missing object without creating gossip and distrust towards the headmaster.

   With their plan created and research completed, all the boys could do is wait. To keep any suspicion away from them, they continue to act like normal by spending time with friends, studying in the library, and watching the Slytherin quidditch team practices. However the thought of the Cerberus kept Hadrian up many nights and he decided one night to go without his brother. It was well past midnight and most of the teachers including Severus were normally asleep by then.

During their research sessions, Draco and Hadrian had speculated that whatever was attempted to be stolen from Gringotts could be at Hogwarts. Dumbles likes to stick his overly long nose in everyone's business so it wasn't too far fetched to think he had something to do with this as well. After all, he had been the one to warn them to avoid that corridor unless they wished for painful death. Having studied materials used in class and outside of classes as he wanted to excel in, Hadrian breezes through the mysterious course.

   He uses one of the music charms Draco had found in the library on the monstrous dog and trembles as slobber drops from its sharp teeth, near the trap door. He easily uses Wingardium Leviosa to lift the heavy paws off the trap door and recklessly hops down. When he realizes he landed on Devils Snare, he uses his favorite fire spell to create a ball of fire in his hand. Hadrian clumsily drops down onto his feet and uses bombarda on the charmed key room's door. He knows bombarda is an advanced spell but you can never be too careful with a muggle loving, bearded oaf nearby. One of Slytherins key qualities is being cunning and Hadrian uses this skill on the giant chess board and wins with his knight in four moves. He simply walks through the fire in the potion room and holds his breath as he runs through an empty room if you ignore the giant troll snoring in the corner.

   He slows down his pace when he ends up in a room filled with a dark magic that surrounds a seemingly harmless mirror. He slowly approaches it and reads an inscription on its edges. erised stra ehrou oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi. Translating the words in his head by reading it backwards reveals the hidden message, I show not your face but your hearts desire. Looking into the mirror, tears swell up in his eyes. It depicts an older him surrounded by the Malfoys, Severus, his friends, and a tall man who's smile looks more like a smirk and red eyes matching those of what is left of Voldemort. They all look so happy together as smiles and playful smirks flash across their faces. However that was not what made him cry. He cries as his wings are spread out proudly as if on display and not a single scar could be seen anywhere on his body.

   Hadrian prefers to wear long sleeves for a reason. So far he has gotten away with claiming that he enjoys feeling toasty as fire is always warm but it also helps him feel safe. Most of his scars can be found on his back but a few can be found on his arms from times he would try to protect himself from a whip or hot pan and get hit or burnt. The mirror shows his greatest desire, which was to be accepted by those around him and by himself. He hates how his relatives treated him and the way it has left him both emotionally and physically scarred. It leaves him constantly questioning why anyone muggle or wizard treats him with any kindness and still flinched when caught by surprise. He wants so badly to be able to accept their love without wondering about hidden motives but he isn't there yet. Ripping his eyes away from the wonderful scene, Hadrian reminds himself of the dark magic of the mirror and that what he is seeing isn't real and may never be.

   Glancing back at the mirror, it seems to have picked up on his thought process as everyone around mirror him slowly disappear one at a time with sad smiles. Voldemort and the Malfoys are the last to go and Narcissa even gives mirror him a hug. His mirror self sends him a sad smile as well and a stone appears in their hand. Hadrian recognizes it as the philosopher's stone and gasps in surprise. The reflection put it in his pocket and suddenly he felt a weight in his own pocket. So this is the weapon Voldemort wants. With the real stone in his pocket, he needs a fake to keep Dumbles off his back. With a small pebble from the floor, Hadrian uses the skills he has worked so hard on with McGonagall and transforms it into a copy of the philosopher's stone. He places the real one on the floor and faces the mirror again. Winking at himself, he puts the fake in his pocket and wishes for it to return to the mirror. To his happy surprise, it actually works and Hadrian travels back the way he came.

   He runs through the fire and past the troll  like before. He checks on the chess board and this time they let him through. He uses Reparo on the door he had exploded and finds a dark stairwell that he had missed on his way down. Up the stairs he goes and Hadrian finds himself near the door to the room the Cerberus is guarding. With all his tears wiped away and a subtle skip in his step, Hadrian's very early morning adventure comes to an end. He makes his way back to the room undetected and places another privacy charm in his trunk to hide the stone.

   Morning comes and while Hadrian slept well, he didn't get to sleep long. He had made quick work of the course but didn't fall asleep until 3:30 in the morning. He is not very happy to wake up at 6 for breakfast but with his usual excuse from the past week or so of not sleeping well, no one really questions him. However, by his second class comes around, he can barely stay awake in Charms and this doesn't go unnoticed by Flitwick. He has Draco walk him back to the dorms and Hadrian spends the rest of the class period sleeping away in his comfy bed.