Inheritance - The Courting

Chapter 4

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"Okay so, before you freak out and try to apologise, let me finish first, if I stop I don't know if I will be able to continue" I say. They both nod their heads and move a bit to sit more comfortable. "So I don't know how I ended up there, but I my 'parents' died when I was little. I was raised by my aunt and uncle. They are muggles and didn't want anything to do with magic. They didn't exactly like me." I begin to get teary eyes at this point. "I had to help around the house a lot at the age of 4. At the age of 6 I had almost all the chores except for ironing and cooking. At the age of eight, I was also forced to do those. When I did something wrong I would get no food and I would be locked up in the cupboard, which is where I slept." At this point I was full on crying and my parents looked like they just wanted to comfort me, but they remembered what I said at the beginning and didn't interrupt me. "I would also get yelled at, get degraded and get abused. My cousin and his friends bullied and kicked me whenever they got the chance. When I was eleven, I got my letter. Or at least after the umpteenth try from the school to contact me. Hagrid actually had to come to give me my letter in person, because my uncle kept destroying them. I was very excited for school and I had never even heard of the wizarding world before then. Everything was new and exciting. I got sorted into Griffindor, even though the hat said I would do good in Slytherin. I made friends and got pretty popular. I also had an enemy, but that doesn't really matter for now. Most teachers liked me, but you," I said with a nod in my dad's direction "you really hated me." My dad seems to realize now who I had been and tried to interrupt me, but I just send a glance his way and he immediately shut up. My father seems a bit confused but lets me continue. "In my first year I got on the quidditch team, as seeker. I did quite well, but by the end of the year my 'friends' and I found out about something suspicious with dad. We went down to protect the philosopher's stone from dad, but it turned out that I had to defend it from you, father.". And finally father understood who I had been. He looked at me with sad and unbelieving eyes. He didn't want to believe that this was the truth. "You were Harry Potter, weren't you?" he asked me. I'm only able to give a little nod. 

My throat is squeezed shut with tears, but I continue nonetheless. "I indeed was Harry Potter. Up until now I lived with my 'aunt and uncle'. I almost never got any food or water. And last night just before I got my inheritance...". I'm not able to get the words out of my throat. I can't even think about it without having my breath getting laboured. My parents scoot over to the poof I'm sitting on and just hold me in their arms for a few moments. Then my dad holds me at arm lengths and looks me straight in the eyes. His eyes are filled with tears and they are bloodshot. He has been crying the whole time. "We are so, so sorry for what we did to you and for what you had to go through. We know that what we did is unforgivable, but we would like to try again and win your trust." he fortunately doesn't mention the sentence I wasn't able to finish. He knows I will tell when the time is right. Then he goes back to hugging me.

We just sit like that for some time. "So how are we going to continue?" I ask my parents. "Well I would say that you must be exhausted from today's events, and that you should get a good night sleep. We will talk tomorrow in how we are going to continue. Then we will also talk about your inheritance and how things are arranged around here. Is that okay with you?" my father asks. "Yeah, I would love to do that." I say with a little smile at my lips. I don't think they will put me in a cupboard here, so maybe I will finally be able to sleep in a proper bed. 

"Poppy will lead you to your room now, sleep well, we will talk tomorrow." my father says. My dad also wishes me goodnight and I wish them goodnight back and then I follow the house-elf called Poppy to my room. We go upstairs and arrive at a large white door with my name written on it. 'Hadrian Riddle' it says. We go inside and Poppy says: "If master Hadrian needs anything just call Poppy sir.". "I would like for you to drop the master for now Poppy.". "Yes mas- Hadrian." she quickly corrects herself. Then she leaves. 

I get a good look around the room. It's huge. It has large windows with a beautiful view of the gardens and the forest behind that. Silky curtains hang on either side of the windows. In the middle of the right wall is a large king size bed. There is also some kind of couch. It's a rounded couch and it looks very comfortable. On the opposite wall of my bed is a fireplace with a tv above it. I feel a little out of place in this luxury in my second hand, to big clothes from Dudley. I walk around my room and find two doors around the corner in some kind of corridor. It's well lit. I walk through the first door and find a very luxurious walk-in-closet. I marvel at the sight of so much clothes, shoes and accessories. 'This is all for me?' I ask myself in my head. There are 'boy' and 'girl' clothes. For now I will stick with the 'boy' clothes. (This is between 'single quotes', because clothes should have no gender associated to them, but it's easier to say this way). I quickly change into a casual pair of joggers and an oversized hoodie. I also put on some socks, and I call Poppy, because I have idea no what I should do with my old clothes.

"Do you want to keep them, or can I throw them out, Hadrian?" Poppy asks me. (Btw. Poppy is a free elf, just like the other elves in the Riddle Manor). "You can throw them away Poppy, I don't need or want them anymore." I say friendly. "Yes Hadrian" and with that she pops away. 

I exit the closet (hehe my first pun, get it? No? Okay) and enter the room behind the second door. It's a dazzling bathroom. There is a luxurious bath, a rain shower, a toilet (of course) and a washtabel. I take a quick refreshing shower, before I go back into my room. I take of my hoodie, but leave my joggers on. I plop on the bed, and almost as soon as my head hits the cushion I'm out.

~1980 words