Whose side is truly the dark one?

New year, new names - 25

Hadrian smiled at the newly named Lord Marvel Thomas Gaunt from across the room as he enters the room. The rest of his family walks in shortly after him and they all looked quite regal. Hadrian was dressed in a smart pair of black pants and a silk, black button up with his emerald tie. Draco was practically matching with black slacks and shirt with grey tie. Both had on dark grey dress robes with thread on the edges to match their ties and held matching smirks. Lucius and Narcissa looked amazing as well. Lucius wore a suit similar to the boys and Narcissa looked like the queen she is, in a lace black dress and a pair of high heels.

The entire family had received their invite to the New Year's ball being sponsored by the young Lord on the day after Christmas and immediately accepted. Hadrian looked around the room and recognized several people from both the dark and light side. Most of his friends and their parents were scattered about as was some light families including the Weasleys. Hadrian struggled to hold back a sneer at the red hair but paused when he noticed the worst members to be missing. Dressed in a slightly worn out button up dress shirt and tie, stood Arthur Weasley looking quite proud of his older sons Hadrian had yet to meet.

Letting his curiosity get the better of him, Hadrian slips away from his family and towards the disappointment of a pure blood lord who had yet to claim his titles. Had the man claimed his title as one of the oldest pureblood families out there, his family would not struggle so much financially. While it is true that they lost most of their fortune by a family member running from an arranged marriage with the Malfoys and had to pay a fine, it didn't leave them completely bankrupt. Arthur's ignorance towards their customs and not claiming his title is what truly created so much hate towards his family and Molly's constant bitchy actions don't help either.

The red head with long hair and a fang earring saw him coming first and kindly addressed him. "Hello Lord Peverell, I must apologize for my youngest brother's actions. Had I been home when he acted out, I would have helped father punish him more harshly. I am William by the way, but everyone calls me Bill. I am the oldest of the seven Weasley children." Surprised by the amount of respect and power the Weasley heir held, Hadrian took a few seconds to gather himself again before speaking. "Well Heir Weasley it seems there is no need to introduce myself but it is nice to meet you. You hold yourself much better than Ronald ever will."

   The slightly shorter Weasley with shorter hair as well snorted at this comment and tried to cover it up with a cough. He cleared his throat and began to speak, "Sorry... um, I am Charlie Weasley, the second oldest child and it is a pleasure to meet you Lord Peverell." Hadrian nods and turns to acknowledge the nervous Weasley. "I must say Arthur, these two young men and your older three still in Hogwarts are much more enjoyable company compared to Ronald... I wonder what went wrong with that one..." Hadrian mumbled the last part to himself but loud enough for all three to hear. "Oh well" Hadrian just shrugged and continued his conversation with the men as Arthur nervously chuckled.

   Half an hour later, Hadrian is happy to consider Bill and Charlie allies and quite pleased when they confessed to having darker cores compared to their light core family. Bill was amazed when Hadrian confessed to being a friend with the goblins as he worked for them and they weren't known for being friendly. Charlie on the other hand, had more fun discussing dragons and their fires as he and Hadrian compared it to his phoenix inheritance and fire control.

   Eventually Hadrian excused himself to socialize with some of the others and left to find his father. Seeing as how not many tall aristocrats had blond hair and favored a cane, Hadrian found him easily. The proud pure blood was talking to the minister and ignoring a huffy looking headmaster as he discussed old classes that were no longer available at Hogwarts. Fudge looked quite surprised and occasionally gave Dumbledore a questioning look which Dumbles would glare at when he looked away.

   Making sure to walk up to Lucius from the left, Hadrian placed his right hand on the man's arm to politely gain his attention. As he did so, Hadrian smiled at the minister as his Malfoy and Peverell rings were proudly shown for all to see. "Lucius I apologize for interrupting but is that a family ring I see on young Lord Peverell's hand?" Hadrian shyly beamed a smile at Fudge as Lucius turns to smile at Hadrian. Several conversations around them quiet down as the nosey wizarding families try to listen in. "Yes it is Cornelius, we wanted to blood adopt Hadrian as well but he wanted to keep his current looks to remember his birth parents so we gave him the ring for Yule instead." Lucius pauses to place a hand on Hadrian's head as he looks up at the man smiling brightly, "He truly is one of the family now."

Hadrian shakes Fudge's hand as the man congratulates him and looks to see the headmaster looking as if he had sucked on a very sour lemon drop. The look worsens as Fudge begins to question Dumbledick about the lack of classes from the past. Honestly the man was just making it way to easy to tear down. Maybe his old age was causing him to slip up more as his mind slowly failed him from too much manipulation to keep up with. Hadrian pushed his wondering thoughts aside as his father introduced him to several Lords in Wizengamot.

For the rest of the night, after Fudge finally left Dumbles alone, the old man trailed Hadrian. But at this point he had made many allies and they would find one way or another to keep the foot away. The Parkinson and Greengrass Lords helped by sending their daughters to dance with Hadrian. Charlie jumped in once or twice with another fire question and Bill would talk about the Goblins. Fudge even unknowingly helped when he asked him if he planned to work in the ministry in the future.

One of the best moments, however, was when he met Xenophilius and Luna Lovegood. They both loved talking about Nargules and the Quibler which Xenophilius wrote for. They made quite good company despite their unique quirks and Hadrian was happy to hear Luna would be joining Hogwarts next year. Not that Hadrian didn't enjoy the company of his Slytherin friends, he loved them. Hadrian has always been different and hated himself because if it and here was a girl unafraid and unashamed to completely be herself.

   The best part about the unique father daughter duo was how well they distracted him from the calculating eyes of his stalker. He enjoyed their company so much, he didn't even realize the old man had stormed off in a tizzy fit all the way back to the floo to go back to Hogwarts. He didn't fret too much about missing it however, as he knew Lucius would save the pensive worthy moment to rewatch many times over in the future. By the time Hadrian was done with that man, they would have a whole movies worth of memories to enjoy!