"Dad, the Potters are in Diagon Ally as we speak, the plan is happening now I presume?" Hadrian glanced at his father as he finished packing his trunk. Azura wrapped around his neck and Hedwig perched on top of his head. Hadrian just rolled his eyes as he remembered the first she did it.
~~~FlashBack~~~
'Hatching! Look what I have brought you!' Azura hissed and whipped her tail around, a stick wrapped around her tail. 'It's a wand! Now you have two and can perform twice the amount of spells at once!'
Hadrian chuckled and gently grabbed the stick from Azura's tail. He picked her up and she wrapped herself around his arm and hissed contently. 'Thanks Azura. Are you hungry?'
Days before and after shedding, Azura doesn't eat, so she usually is pretty hungry by this time. 'Indeed I am, a rat please.' She slid down his arm and onto the grass.
She preened up at Hadrian and he couldn't but chuckle as he conjured up at a rat for the snake to eat.
A hooting cause hun to look up and saw Hedwig flying over head. He had gotten close to both his familiars over the past few months and they provide him with warmth and comfort when shit gets to much.
The feeling of the Python slithering up his leg and arm caused him to giggle. An 'oof' escaped him as he felt weight on his head. He glanced up through his fringe and gave Hegwig a huff.
She responded by flapping her wings in his face and settling down, getting comfy on his head. Hadrian sighed softly and shook his head slowly, careful not to disturb the owl.
The door of the Manor opened and Tom walked out. As soon as he saw his son with a owl on his head and a snake around his neck, he slowly began walking away from the sight and dashed into the entrance hall of the Manor before he was spotted.
A few hours and a sore neck later, Hadrian tried to stand up but to no avail. The stubborn owl decided she wouldn't be getting up anytime soon. So that's how he was found walking around with an owl on his head for the rest of the day.
To the amusement of everyone who visited.
~~~End of FlashBack~~~
The dingy little pub reeked of alcohol and vomit since it was the time everyone came into drink. Hadrian glanced up at his father who had his hand on his shoulder, showing none of his worries or concerns for him. His blank mask firmly in place, but Hadrian could see through it.
He saw the fear of Hadrian wanting to be with his birth parents and not wanting anything to do with him. Concern for what might happen to him at Hogwarts with Dumbledore around and the fact that Dumbledore has everyone wrapped around his finger, besides Sev. His father worried for him made Hadrian want to cry.
Turning around to face his father, Hadrian wrapped his arms tightly around his torso and burying his face into his chest. Knowing this will be the last time he will see his father for Merlin knows how long.
Tom who was staring out into the street grunted slightly as he felt arms wrap around him tightly. He looked down and saw Hadrian with his face in his chest and felt his heart break slightly. He crouched down to his level and took his face in his hands.
Tom smiled at his child, who he was proud to say has grown into a brilliant young boy, kissed his forehead. Tom leaned his forehead against Hadrians and whispered, "Hadrian, promise me that you'll enjoy your first year? Don't worry about me alright? I'll be fine and I'll miss you just as much as you'll miss me." Hadrian sniffled and a tear rolled down his cheek, Tom wiped it away with his thumb. His own tears making themselves known. Tom cleared his throat and gave a lopsided grin and ruffled Hadrians hair, knowing how much he hates it and was proven right as said child pouted and tried to fix his hair.
"Hadrian, there's a room called ROR, which stands for Room Of Requirements, which has a Vanishing Cabinet in it, I'll search for the second one and when I find it, we can join them together, put one in your room and one in my office so we can visit each other whenever we want." Tom mummers, sounding like he's trying to convince himself more then his son.
Before Hadrian could respond, the Bar Keeper, whose name is also Tom, called out to him saying that the Potters were here to collect him. Panicking, he tightened his grip on his father and refused to get up. "No dad please don't leave me..." his voice wobbled and more tears gathered in his eyes as he stared at his father.
Tom stood up, picked the eleven year old and placing him on his hip. "Hadrian, if things really do become to much to handle, talk to Severus, tell him to let you use his Floo and come visit me. I'll always be here, waiting for you with open arms. Oh and make sure to mess with the Potters and the old fool as much as you can." Tom added with a wink, earning a giggle from Hadrian who nodded.
They walked out of the Pub and saw Lily and James standing a little ways away from the Pub. A boy, obviously his twin, stood in front of James. The boy had auburn hair and green eyes, quite his own, except his had a slight bit of brown near the middle of them.
Tom began walking over to them, after placing Hadrian down. Hadrian took a deep breath and placed a blank mask on his features. Tom nodded his head in approval which caused Hadrian to smirk, his hand firmly in his fathers. "I love you dad." Hadrian said, a soft smile gracing his features.
His smiles always made Tom melt, he was truely lucky to have been blessed his such an amazing child. "I love you to my son."
Lily was the first to notice the pair and grabbed James' arm, her hand on her mouth, tears welling up in her eyes. James pulled his eyes away from Ryder and his own eyes widened.
"Harry...? Is that really you...?" James asked, reaching over and placing a hand on his cheek. Hadrian resisted the urge to flinch and scream that, no, it wasn't him. But all he could do was nod.
"Hello...dad?" The name came out as a question, it felt unnatural to call this man dad when his real dad was standing holding his hand.
A weird look crossed James' face but shrugged it off. Lily couldn't handle anymore, ran over and hugged Hadrian, ripping his hand away from Toms'. A gasp left the young boys lips and anger began to consume him but with one look from his father, he calmed down. He knew that Tom knew that he would never pick these people over him.
Lily placed Hadrian back down and kissed his head. She turned to Tom, who was in a disguise, and gave him a disgusted look. "You kidnapped our son and decide to give him back, what, ten years later? People like you disgust me." Her lip curled as she tried to guide Hadrian behind her but Hadrian took a step back.
His magic flared around them and Hadrian glared at the women in front of him. "Don't you ever talk about Darius like that! He's the one who found me when I was abandoned and took me in. He fed me, put clothes on my back, a roof over my head, and loved me like his own. It's not our fault that you never put a missing child into the newspapers. The only reason we were able to meet you was from a friend of ours. So keep your opinions of others to yourself until you get to know them." He hissed angrily.
A warm feeling blossomed in Toms chest when he heard Hadrian standing up for him. He smiled down at Hadrian and Hadrian smiled back.
James cleared his throat and shifted awkwardly from one foot to another. He held out his hand and Tom looked at it for a second then shook it, thinking to himself he's going to scrub it hard when he gets home.
When they pulled their hands away, James smiled sheepishly at him. "Darius, I do apologise for how my wife spoke to you. We are just so happy to have Harry back with us. Thank you for looking after our son, we really do appreciate it, and it seems like you taught him great control over his magic. It's amazing for someone his age."
Before anyone could say anything else, the red head boy tackled Hadrian in a hug. "Brother! Hi! I'm Ryder! It's nice to finally meet you. Mum and Dad don't speak of you, but when they told me this morning that we were going to come meet you, I brought you some presents! I mean, this is the first time I'm meeting my twin. I've always wanted another sibling, so imagine how happy I was when I was told about you! Ooh I'm rambling again, I have a habit of doing that when I'm excited. Anyways! Here's your presents!" Ryder bounced from one foot to another as he watched in anticipation. "Come on, open them!"
Hadrian blinked, this was one strange kid he thought. He really didn't know about him until this morning? Hadrian looked down at the beautifully wrapped gifts in his hands and a small smile came onto his face as opened the one on top. It was a book, on all of the mystical creatures in the world. It was beautiful and a quick flip through it, he knew that he'd like reading it.
Opening the next one - there were four gifts - it was a whole bunch of different chocolates and other sugary snacks. The third one was a necklace, it was a crescent moon, obviously missing the other half, and he bet it was his twin that has the other half. Matching necklaces, he mused quietly. Opening the fourth one was a real treat. It was a money pouch, a bottomless one already filled with Galleons, Sickles and Knuts, the Wizarding currency. Not really needing anymore money, since that morning, Tom had gave him some extra money to last him the whole school year. And with this extra money, he has more than enough to spend on whatever he wanted.
Hadrian walked forwards and hugged his brother. "Thank you Ryder, if I knew you were going to bring me gifts, then I would've done the same for you."
After pulling away Ryder shook his head. "No no it's ok, I don't want anything." He glanced up at Tom and held his hand out, a grin on his face. Tom shook his hand, smiling a little as he did so. "It's nice to meet you Mr Darius! Thank you for looking after my brother, it was very nice meeting you."
Tom blinked, this boy was so much different from his parents. He went out of his way to make his brother feel welcomed and for Tom to feel welcomed too, unlike his parents who were just standing there looking like complete utter fools. "It's nice to meet you to Ryder, I hope we get to talk some other time, I best be off."
Hadrian instantly ran over and threw his arms around Toms neck. Tom chuckled softly and lifted him up and placed him on his hip. Hadrian kissed Toms cheek and smiled. "Bye dad, I'll see you soon aye? Don't miss me to much!" Giggling at the looks on the adult Potters faces and the smirk on his brothers faces, told him he indeed said it loud enough for them to hear.
Tom smirked as well and said "Bye my son, we will be seeing each other soon enough." Whispering he said, "good job, your so called 'parents' look like they are about to explode, they don't want you back really, they are probably doing it cause Dumbledick said so and it improves their reputation. So wreck havoc as much as you can."
Hadrian nodded and hugged Tom once more before being put down. Tom then Apparted away leaving Hadrian with the Potters. Ryder pranced forwards and explained that they will be Apparting to Potter Manor, where he will be staying with them for the next month before school starts.
Lily spoke up for the first time in a while. "So Harry, do you have all your school supplies? If not then we can head to Diagon Alley next week."
Hadrian looked from his brother to Lily, "Yes, I already got all of my school supplies."
Ryder looked up at his mother and grinned. "Mum! Can we go to Diagon Alley anyways? For a family day out? It'd be so much fun! We can get ice cream, go and get some new clothes and get some more potion ingredients! Oh, oh, oh! And we can look at all of the Quidditch stuff too! Can we mum please!?" Ryder gives the vibes of a Golden Retriever puppy with how excited he can get over things, and the ramblings too.
"Wait potions? I assumed you would've been more interested in Charms or Transfigurations?" Hadrian muttered frowning. Uncle Sev had told him all about James and his bullying ways and how close him and Lily were. He always assumed that James' hatred for Severus and potions would've been passed down to his son but guess not.
Ryder frowned as well. "Well I mean Charms is good and so is Transfiguration but potions is what I enjoy most. We have a potions lab in the Manor if you wanna come brew some potions with me, sorta like a brother bonding time? Yes that's it! We can do that! Imagine how fun that'd be!"
Hadrian chuckled and placed a hand on the overexcited child's shoulder. "Of course I'd love to brew some potions with you. Potions is my favourite too. It's so interesting and difficult if you don't know what you're doing-" He was cut off by James giving him a stern look and the feeling of being sucked through a tube was the next thing he felt before his feet touched the ground.
Hadrian glared heatedly at James and stormed off hating the fact that James just Apparted him without his permission. Ryder running after him. He heard Ryder yelling at this parents how unfair they were being and how Harry hadn't even been back for an hour and they are already being mean to him. Hadrian smirked hearing his brother sticking up for him, it felt nice having someone who yells at their parents for bullying him as soon as he gets 'home'.
In the lounge room, Hadrian waited for Ryder to catch up and when he did, he asked him to lead him down to the potions lab. Ryder agreed instantly and skipped all the way down to the dungeons, that's were the potions lab was kept.
~~~
James paced back and forth in front of the fire place as he and Lily waited for Dumbledore to Floo through. James stopped pacing and spun around to his wife. "Lily I just don't get it! Ryder is supposed to resent Harry. Harry is nothing but a lonely orphan who was stolen. There's something about him that I just don't trust you know? And that Darius guy? What's up with Harry calling him dad? He doesn't even look a thing like him!" James flopped down onto the couch with a scowl on his face.
Lily just sat there, gritting her teeth, glaring at her hands. Before a response could be given, the fire placed glowed green and out stepped the Headmaster of Hogwarts. Albus Dumbledore.
Oh Merlin! We have 2708 words! That is a lot! I wanna start writing in word lengths like this so hopefully the rest of the chaps are over 2500 words!
Thanks for reading!