Darkness is my ally

To Earn the Darkness

"Yes," Hermione replied, "Help me…make me more than what they see me as…and I will serve your Court, Slytherin King."

"In that case," Hadrian remarked, a smile crossing his face just like the one he'd shown when turning Neville, "Let me ask you a question, Hermione."

"What?"

Looking deep into her eyes, Hadrian asked with an almost commanding voice, "What do you know about another dark witch…named Bellatrix Lestrange?"

Chapter 8: To Earn the Darkness

Winter had come to Hogwarts and with it, a feeling of relinquished fate hung over the Slytherins;

Though none of them could understand the how or why of their decisions, the higher year students all began to notice how Pansy Parkinson, Blaise Zabini and Draco Malfoy remained closer to the Slytherin King more than any other members of the man's self-styled Court. As for Hadrian, he just seemed to spend his time studying or wandering and, when he wasn't doing either of those things, he was just sat there, observing his new kingdom and watching for any signs of trouble.

Every now and again, the Snake Pit found themselves joined by their King's dark protégé, Neville Longbottom, who'd spend his own time working with one of the Court on tasks or studying on books that the snakes felt it was better not to ask about in the hands of the Slytherin King. In due time, it became a close battle – though not that close thanks to the ineptness of Weasley and his cohorts – in the points ranking between Slytherin and Gryffindor and, over time, the snakes also noticed that Neville shared the same 'couldn't-care-less' attitude as Hadrian whenever he was complimented for his work or ideas.

However, though there seemed to be peace and a sense of calm in the Snake Pit, the home truths of each member of the select parties couldn't be any further from that…

Darkness Is My Ally

Pansy felt like she'd betrayed Hadrian's trust and, what made it worse was that, if he knew about it, he'd done nothing to punish her for her disloyalty.

Knowing of the closeness of the Zabini and Malfoy Heirs to the King, she'd asked them both for their own oaths of silence before she'd revealed what she'd seen on Halloween Night and, as she'd expected, there'd been looks of horror and disbelief from Blaise and Draco at the prospect of Hadrian shedding any tears. The horror was then shared with Pansy when Blaise explained that he'd neverseen Hadrian cry at the children's home and, as far as he'd known, neither had anyone else, not even his guardian.

So, while she wanted to know more about what could have shattered Hadrian's black-diamond-hard resolve so badly that it brought him to tears, Pansy opted for the second choice to what she could do: she would remain at Hadrian's side, watching over him and, aside from the boys, being his most-loyal advocate and ally.

She would also wait until she was old enough and then, no matter what her pathetic pretender's-slave of a Father would say, Pansy would offer Hadrian her services and the fealty of her place as Heiress of the Parkinson Family.

Even if others worked to try and knock the King from his throne, Hadrian Potter would always, now and forever, have the alliance of Pansy Kristen Parkinson.

Darkness Is My Ally

Though he had been surprised with Parkinson's revelation, Draco was more concerned about how Hadrian was yet to share his deepest secret with anyone else.

Being a Black Heir by birth through his Mother, Draco had been truly surprised when, at his tenth birthday party, his Mother had taken him aside and revealed that his Aunt Bellatrix was not only out of Azkaban, but watching over the Boy-Who-Lived with a mix of interest and protection. She'd also been rather hesitant to even suggest that she had dropped herself from Voldemort's services – revealing a shockingly-bare forearm as proof of that – but, when his Mother had asked why, Draco had felt only confusion with his Aunt's response.