Hallowe'en. It was always this day. Against her better judgment, Heather had again been persuaded to attend the Feast - this time by Fred and George. If she'd stayed in her room in the dungeons, perhaps she'd have been able to prevent Hadrian from encountering such a sight.
Someone, or something, had petrified Mrs Norris. Words had been scrawled onto the wall in what seemed to be blood.
THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED
ENEMIES OF THE HEIR, BEWARE
Now everyone was looking accusingly at her brother - as if he had anything to do with it except its discovery. Really, Hadrian wasn't even a Slytherin. He couldn't possibly have opened the Chamber of Secrets. Of course, because it was the logical conclusion, no one else thought so.
Heather also recognised that gleam in her brother's eyes. That damnable look that spoke of curiosity of an unsolved mystery. After spending the whole of last year looking at it, she was quite familiar now. Hadrian would snoop around relentlessly until he puzzled out this new conundrum.
He and his friends had asked for help brewing Polyjuice Potion, for goodness sake! Heather had agreed to help, if only to prevent them from messing up the finicky potion themselves. She knew how tenacious her brother was. He would have found the recipe elsewhere on his own and attempted to brew it himself.
She'd extracted a promise from him to use it carefully though. What she hadn't done was ask him what he needed it for. She didn't think her heart could take it.
~~~
The first Quidditch match of the term was Lions versus Snakes again. She had always wondered why this was so. Pitting the two rivals against each other for one of the most anticipated matches of the season only engendered more hatred.
Oddly enough, Heather was sitting in the stands during the match. She wasn't on the team this year - not necessarily by choice, but she wasn't much bothered by it. She finally got her reason to quit the team without garnering even more disdain from her housemates and, more importantly, disappointing Hadrian. She really had much more important things on her plate. Between her regular schoolwork, personal research and correspondence with Gringotts, Quidditch wasn't really a priority.
It was a funny story, really.
When Heather had heard rumours of Lucius Malfoy ordering new brooms - Nimbus 2001s! - for the Slytherin Quidditch team, she knew that it wasn't for altruistic purposes. It came as no surprise when Draco Malfoy declared himself the new seeker. His resentment for her brother was no secret. To her knowledge, Hadrian hadn't done anything to propagate such negativity. Other than being a Gryff.
So Heather had heeded Professor Snape's veiled prompting to forfeit her position. Mr Malfoy was on the Board of Hogwarts Governors and a very well-established politician. The Professor could hardly have spurned his generous donation and minor request. She refused to throw the try-out though - she had more self-respect than that. She simply elected to skip it.
Any lingering reluctance on Heather's part had been quelled by Professor Snape's obvious contempt at having to accommodate the spoilt purebloods. It was apparent that he would rather her remain on the team.
Rightly so, of course. Malfoy, while an adequate flier, didn't hold a candle to her Hadrian. Everyone could see it. Rian was flying circles around the frustrated blond. Besides matches against Heather herself, Rian caught the snitch every time.
His unique flying style allowed him to dodge bludgers easily. He weaved around players and projectiles alike, easily evading any collisions. Even if there was a wild bludger that seemed to be attracted to him like thestrals to raw meat. Wait a minute...
What was it about the first match that compelled everyone to make attempts at her brother's life?
They had to call off the match! The bludger was clearly tampered with. Heather found herself being thankful for the haphazard way Hadrian flew.
She got out of her seat. She had to get onto that pitch. The Professors could give her all the detentions they wanted. Squeezing out of the crowded stands, she rushed as quickly as she could to the field. Summoning a school broom, she kept her gaze locked on Rian.
Too late! The bludger glanced by him, for the second time. Thankfully, the ruby amulet was working to repel it. Hadrian made a grasping motion. Unbelievable. He was still aiming for the snitch. He would drive her crazy one day! He was gripping - just barely - his broom between his thighs. Jerkily, he descended to the ground as Heather rode across the field. He fell off his broom a few yards off the ground, faster than she could catch him.
Heather reached her barely-conscious brother just as Gilderoy Lockhart brandished his wand and took aim. She didn't hesitate to disarm the inept wizard. It would be just Hadrian's luck to have their DADA Professor banish all the bones in his arm or some such rot. She overcharged her spell and the man was propelled some 20 feet backwards. What could she say; she was anxious. Everyone made mistakes...even for spells they had mastered long ago.
"Back away! Give Hadrian space to breathe!" she ordered loudly. The whole Gryffindor team had gathered around him, as if that was helping matters. Well aware of her protectiveness, they all stepped back hastily.
She cast a thorough diagnostic spell as she spoke soothingly to her brother. "Hadrian, can you hear me? You're alright, relax. Don't fall asleep, okay?" Several broken bones in his right arm from when he tried to break his fall. A couple of abrasions where the crazy bludger had brushed by him. No concussion, thank Merlin.
"'Eather?" her brother slurred confusedly, "Hurts."
"Hush, I know. I'll heal you now; it's nothing serious. Or would you like Madam Pomfrey?" she asked needlessly. He usually came to her for any injuries he couldn't heal himself.
Instead of answering the redundant question, Hadrian closed his eyes and succumbed to unconsciousness. Heather let him, now that she was sure that he hadn't sustained a concussion. The spell to mend broken bones took a matter of seconds, to heal the other scrapes, even less.
When all of Hadrian's injuries were taken care of, George offered to carry him to the infirmary. The situation was so similar to the one last year that, for a wild moment, she contemplated the possibility that Voldemort had attached himself to Gilderoy freaking Lockhart.
Surely even Dark lords had higher standards than that?
~~~
Heather woke instantly when her ward spell was triggered, not sure when she had even fallen asleep. Someone had approached Hadrian. She peered into the magic net that had formed at the foot of the hospital bed. She hadn't actually expected the culprit, whoever it was, to make their move right under her nose.
Stopping short, she stared at the intruder in confusion. It was a house elf. Not a Hogwarts one, it looked too bedraggled. Hogwarts elves were treated much better than this one was. It was just clad in a tattered pillowcase and looked much too thin, even for a house elf.
"Dobby is sorry! Dobby meant no harm to the Great Hadrian Potter, Ma'am!" the elf, Dobby, squeaked miserably.
She looked dubiously at the elf. Perhaps he was here on his master's orders to hurt Hadrian. "Why are you here, then?"
"Dobby is protecting the Wonderful and Brave Hadrian Potter. Dobby thought Mr Potter would go back home after missing the train, but Mr Potter finds another way here!" Dobby groaned piteously.
Dobby was responsible for that? Mr and Mrs Weasley had had to obtain special permission from the Ministry of Magic to apparate them to Hogsmeade! In the end, they had missed the Welcome Feast and Ginny's Sorting into Gryffindor because of the messy bureaucracy. (She had also learnt that apparition was as unfriendly to her as flooing was.)
"Dobby! Why did you try to prevent Hadrian from coming to Hogwarts?" The elf seemed sincere enough, but house elves were known for their loyalty to the family they served, often going to drastic measures to fulfil orders.
To her horror, Dobby started banging his head on the nearby bedframe. "Dobby is sorry, but Hogwarts not be safe for Mr Hadrian Potter! Dobby thought his bludger would send Mr Potter home, but Mr Potter was well-shielded!" The mad elf had the gall to look accusingly at her.
She glared furiously. "That bracelet saved my brother's life! You could have killed him with that bludger!"
"Heather?" Hadrian sat up gingerly on the bed. "Wha's goin' on?" Her exclamation must have woken him.
Dobby's eyes bulged out adoringly. "Oh Master Hadrian Potter sir! It is Dobby's honour!"
Staring flatly at the elf, Heather said icily, "Dobby is the one who spelled the portal at the train platform and the bludger."
"Only for Mr Potter's safety! Dobby burnt all his fingers and ironed his feet for his actions! Hogwarts is not safe! Great danger awaits Mr Potter! Mr Potter needs to go home!" the hysterical elf screeched. "Terrible things will happen now that the Chamber of Secrets is open once again!" The elf gasped at his unintentional admission and moaned painfully.
Picking up a bedpan, Dobby slammed it against his head, muttering, "Bad Dobby! Disobedient, useless Dobby!"
"Stop it, Dobby!" Hadrian exclaimed as Heather tightened the magical bindings. If that was what stopped the elf from punishing himself, she had no qualms about restraining him.
"So this danger is related to the Chamber of Secrets? Is it Malfoy? Is he the Heir of Slytherin?" Hadrian questioned. Dobby, however, gave a shrill cry at the mention of Malfoy and disappeared.
Heather started at the elf's sudden departure. If Dobby had been able to do that, why had he stayed trapped for the whole conversation? The whole thing was suspicious. It was unlikely that Dobby would go against his bonded family to help Hadrian, even if he was the Boy-Who-Lived. Still, the whole business with the Chamber of Secrets...
"Did you see how he reacted at the mention of Malfoy? He must be the Heir of Slytherin!" Hadrian concluded decisively. "Looks like we won't be needing that Polyjuice after all!"
Giving her brother a dubious look, she said, "That's what you needed it for? I can safely say Draco Malfoy is not the Heir. Believe me, he would be bragging about it in the common room if he were." Plus, Malfoy wasn't nearly sly enough to have pulled off such a stunt.
"Right," her brother said, unconvinced. "What's dangerous about the Chamber of Secrets, though?"
"It's rumoured to house Slytherin's Monster. The last time the Chamber was opened, a few muggleborns were petrified and one even died." Frowning heavily, she continued, "Her name was Myrtle Warren and her ghost haunts the first floor girl's bathroom."
Hadrian tensed. "Slytherin's...Monster?" he said worriedly.
She narrowed her eyes. "What do you know, Rian?"
"I, well, heard. A voice," he stuttered, "No one else can. Once, after dinner. And again right before we found Mrs Norris. That's how we found her; I followed the voice."
"Hadrian," she said gently, "what did it say?"
She could feel him shudder faintly before he answered. "It sounded murderous. 'Rip...tear...kill...soo hungry'." Her arms encircled him as her mind raced with possibilities.
Just then, Professor Dumbledore rushed into the infirmary, carrying a statue-like object with Professor McGonagall's assistance.
Colin Creevey had just been petrified.