Headmaster's Office
As Severus had expected, he was called up to a meeting with Albus and Minerva just after his last class of the day.
"You wished to see me?" Severus drawled as he leaned against the wall once he was in the office.
"Yes my boy." Albus was less than pleased. He had been dealing with Minerva and Hermione's whining for months now.
"You need to stop failing Hermione." Minerva turned from her seat in front of the desk to glare at him. "Just because you didn't want her in your class doesn't mean you can just fail her."
Severus knew why they were doing this here. "I have been giving her the grades she has earned. And, since we are doing this here and not in front of the school board you also know that.
Every single grade she has gotten in my class was exactly what she earned. As I said before all this began, Ms. Granger does not have the aptitude for potions that is required to do well in my class."
"And your taking points and giving her detention for no reason?" Albus asked. He had heard the long winded explanation of why she didn't deserve the punishment from Hermione right after the class.
"She lost points for claiming that I made her fail when she was unsuccessful in making her potion and then yelling at me. Her detention was because, and I quote here, I failed her because I hate muggle-borns and am 'nothing but a disgusting Death Eater'. She should be grateful I only gave her a week of detention." Severus's lip curled in anger.
Albus sighed, he should have known the girl had lost her temper. He really didn't understand where he had gone so wrong with her. He had had such high hopes for the girl. She was intelligent, strong willed enough to keep control of Ron and Ginny, and had a complete faith in authority. He had thought she would be the perfect muggle-born friend for Ha… Hadrian. But it just wasn't working out.
Hadrian wanted nothing to do with his pawns. The girl was proving to be too stubborn for even him to control, and her grades were nowhere near where he wanted them to be because she couldn't accept someone knew more than her, even when it was her teachers.
"Thank you Severus, that is all." Albus dismissed the less than pleased potions master.
"I am getting sick of these little meetings every time one of your pet's doesn't get there way. I do so hope I am not going to be called up here again when Ms. Weasley comes whining to you about the fact that she failed the quiz her class had today. If this keeps happening I will take it to the board." Severus turned with a flourish and marched out of the office with his back straight and his robes billowing.
"I thought you had arranged for the girl to get tutored?" Albus looked at Minerva.
"I did, but the two just didn't get along." Minerva wasn't going to mention that Hermione had shoved the girl she had selected out of her chair when she tried to show her what she was doing wrong. The girl was now refusing to tutor Hermione. "I have been trying to do it myself, but between my own classes and having had to spend the last month getting the quidditch team ready, I just haven't had the time."
Minerva had finally managed to get Ronald to understand that, as quidditch captain, he needed to be the one to set the schedule and book the pitch. She had done everything she could to get her team time to practice, once they had managed to get a team, but since Ron hadn't booked any time the only time they could get was early morning, and both Ron and Ginny, who were on the team, hated mornings.
The first match between Gryffindor and Slytherin had been played the week before and had been a complete blowout. Gryffindor had lost by over 300 points.
"I was thinking I might speak with Molly. She has always been good at potions and she's as stubborn as Hermione." Minerva told him.
"That might work." Albus thought it might be a good idea, Molly just might be able to handle the girl. "I will speak with her, but we will need to set up a time for them to meet here rather than just when the students are in Hogsmeade."
"We might want to get Ginny into those lessons with her too." Minerva sighed.
"And Ronald, how has he been doing?"
"Struggling." Minerva rubbed her eyes. "It takes a lot of work to be quidditch captain, and his grades are suffering because of it. So far he's still passing, but he's going to need to work harder if we want him to pass his NEWTs."
"I will see what I can do." Albus was less than pleased that his children were so stupid. "I thought he was doing well a few years ago, what happened?"
"Molly took custody." Minerva didn't want to insult Molly, but she knew the woman was doing the children no favours with how she treated them. "Arthur used to make them study Percy's old notes for an hour everyday during the summer, but when Molly got custody she stopped making them spend any time at all studying."
"I will speak with Molly." Albus was not looking forward to that. "She has asked to speak with me on Friday anyway, so I will just bring it up with her then."
Molly's Flat - November 24, 2006
Albus stepped out of the floo Friday evening. He had made sure to wait until after dinner before going over as he didn't want Molly to try and feed him. While Molly was actually a really good cook, he also knew she had a habit of adding potions to peoples food. He knew she had done so to a few of the patrons of her restaurant to get them to do whatever it was she wanted them to do.
"Thank you for coming Albus." Molly smiled happily as she directed him to the table and served tea and biscuits.
"Happy to be here Molly." Albus shot a quick detection spell at the food and drink just to be safe. "There was actually something I wished to discuss with you."
Molly was a little startled by that. "What is it?"
"The first thing I needed to speak with you about was Hermione. Severus is being extremely tough on her in his potions class and I was hoping that you might be willing to come to the school a few evenings a week to help tutor her." Albus said as he dipped his biscuit in his tea.
"Of course." Molly grinned. "I'd love to help her. I really don't know why you still allow Severus to be so mean to the students."
"I understand, but he has a contract, and nothing he has done violates it." Albus wished more people still distrusted Severus like Molly did. "Now, to the next thing I needed to speak to you about, Ron and Ginny's grades."
"What about their grades." Molly was instantly defensive.
"They are both not preforming to their full potential. As it is, some of the professors have expressed concerns to me that Ronald may not be able to pass his NEWTs. Ginevra is also falling behind in her classes. Neither of them consistently hand in their homework.
I was hoping that you might use the time you are working with Hermione to ensure that they do their work. I also think it might be prudent for them to return to the habit of studying during the summer, they aren't little anymore and need to do well in their last few years of school."
"But they're still so young." Molly didn't want to deny her babies their fun.
"No, they'er not." Albus really didn't understand this woman. "Ronald has less than 2 years before he is supposed to graduate. And Ginny only has a year more than him. They aren't babies anymore, and haven't been for a long time.
If they do not do well then they may fail, and we can't allow that. Arthur would use that as an excuse to regain custody."
Albus knew using Arthur like that would force Molly to act. She wouldn't want Arthur having custody.
"He wouldn't dare." Molly growled.
"He could, and he more than likely would and you know it." Albus challenged.
"Fine." Molly pouted like a petulant child.
"So what is it you wished to discuss with me? Did you overhear somebody saying something in the restaurant?" Albus really wanted information. That was one thing he missed about his brothers pub, other than the library, Aberforth always used to have access to the best information through his clientele.
"No, that isn't what I wanted to talk to you about." Molly shifted out of her pout and got ready to argue for her babies to get more money. "I think it is time Ronnie and Ginny got a raise. As you just said, they aren't little babies anymore. They need more money to make sure they can get what they need."
"Why would they need more money, there should be plenty in their accounts?" Albus questioned suspiciously. He had no intention of wasting anymore than he had to on those two until they started to prove they deserved it. Especially since he was having to pay with his own money.
"They have plenty of needs." Molly brushed the question away, she was not going to admit that they had spent it all already. "They have worked hard, and they deserve a raise."
Albus knew it was a trap. If he said they hadn't worked hard, then Molly would throw a complete fit, that he really didn't want to have to pretend to care about. The only other option was to agree, and he wasn't willing to do that either.
"We will allow their grades to determine if they get a raise or not." Albus smiled happily. "If they can get straight EEs then they will receive a raise, if they don't, then they will continue to get what they are getting now. But, if they fail anymore classes they will get less.
I was less than pleased to see that Ronald failed 3 OWLs. There is no excuse for that. And I will not accept it from Ginny. She is more than smart enough to pass everything, but she will need to actually do the work."
"Fine." Molly readily agreed. She was sure she could get her babies grades up.
Albus quickly left, leaving behind a full cup of tea and multiple soggy biscuits.
Hogwarts, ROR - December 6, 2006
Hadrian was sitting with Neville in the ROR as they both tried to get rid of the headaches that they had gotten in transfiguration. After they finished their OWLs, their class size had decreased by a fair amount as not everyone wanted, or was able, to keep going. That meant that all four houses would normally be represented in the class, but that was not the case with them.
There was about 30 students all carrying on in transfiguration, so the class had been divided into two. It was pretty obvious what McGonagall had done. All the Slytherins, the children from Knockturn Alley, and anyone from a dark family was in one class. All the students from light families were in the other.
Both Hadrian and Neville had been less then pleased to find they had been placed in the light oriented class. It got even worse when McGonagall assigned the seating. Hadrian was between Granger and Weasley during the lecture classes, Neville was on Granger's other side. And, during the practical lessons the two boys were always assigned to work with the two of them.
Today had been one of their practical lessons. Hadrian had been forced to work with Granger and Neville was with Weasley. Unfortunately today was one of the days they were working on human transfiguration.
Granger had spent most of the class lecturing the three boys on everything they were doing wrong, even when the spell was cast correctly. She had even tried to lecture Hadrian on pronunciation of the spells even though they were working on silent casting.
By the end of class they had both had major headaches and Neville had had to make a quick stop at the hospital wing since Weasley had somehow managed to split his eyebrow rather than change its shape. They had both picked up some headache potions, and were now just waiting for them to kick in.
Neither really understood what Weasley and Granger were trying to do. They seemed to be trying to be friends with them, but clearly had no idea how to be friends. Weasley seemed to think being a friend was just to agree with them about what they were saying before completely ignoring them and carrying on doing whatever he wanted. While Hermione's version of being friends was to ask what they were thinking about or what they thought just to start debating about why they shouldn't think that and why her thoughts were somehow better.
What made everything worse was that both Weasley and Granger were now always bringing Up Voldemort and the Death Eaters, although they still called him You-Know-Who or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. It was mainly the typical all Slytherins were evil incarnate rant. They especially went after Draco.
Hadrian and Nevill had discussed it and both agreed that it was a less than subtle attempt to separate Hadrian from Draco. They figured Ron wanted to take his place in their group of friends just based on how he was practically frothing at the mouth every time he even said the other boys name.
The more the two tried to be their friends, the more they pushed them away. Hadrian just wished Yule would come so he could get a break from them. Ginny was back to her stalker mode, and had a tendency to pop up and try and sit next to him every chance she got. Even going so far as to try and hold his hand. He had also recently heard a rumour that she was telling people they were secretly dating, something he had made sure everyone knew was false as soon as he had heard it.
Fred had just finished up his last class of the day and was packing up his things so he could head up to the ROR when Albus Dumbledore walked into the classroom and closed the door. Fred couldn't help but let out a sigh, he was just pleased that Iona was just in the closet putting up a few of the diagrams she had been showing the students.
"Can I help you headmaster?" Fred questioned, loudly enough to be sure that Iona heard.
"Yes my dear boy. I was just checking to make sure everything is going well." Albus smiled, full grandfather act in effect.
"Yes, everything has been fine." Fred knew he wanted something.
"Wonderful, wonderful." Albus quickly glanced around to make sure they were alone, not seeing anyone he dropped his wand from his sleeve as he clasped his hands behind him. "Now, I was hoping you could do something. You see, your younger brother was very sad that he just missed out on being able to take this class and was hoping you would be willing to help him.
It wouldn't take much work on your part. Just keep him up to date on what you are covering in your classes so he can take the end of year test to prove that he can handle the material. It shouldn't take more than a few hours a week. I'm sure your sister would also love to take those lessons with you, it would help her to revise for her OWLs and be ready for next year and you would be able to spend some time with them."
"I can't do that headmaster." Fred denied, seeing as Iona stepped out from the closet just behind Dumbledore.
"And why is that my boy?" Albus twitched slightly at being denied.
"Well… First, Ron didn't qualify for the class, there is nothing I can do about that. Just giving him the material wouldn't be enough to get him into the class. He can self study if he chooses, but any testing for him to get into the class would be required to be administered by someone with their mastery, which is not me.
I am not licensed to teach anyone anything on my own, and what you are asking me to do is to teach a student the class work. You can call it tutoring all you want, but it is teaching. I am also not allowed to combine my apprenticeship with my family. I am barred from using my apprenticeship to benefit my family in any way. That includes holding private tutoring sessions for my younger siblings.
But, most of all, my contract won't let me. The apprenticeship contract states that I will be required to do a certain amount of work that is assigned by my master, and I can not take any outside work without the permission of my master. That includes other jobs, including tutoring.
Everything is up to Madame Fabbri, not me. If you want me to do something, then you would have to address her."
"There is no need for her to know, it would be our little secret." Albus smiled, knowing just what the young man in front of him thought about rules. He was ready to cast a quick compulsion to get his way. The benefit was, that if the boy was caught breaking the terms of his contract it would break the apprenticeship contract and give him a way to force at least one of them out of the school. He was going to be going to the alchemy class to do the same thing next.
"Oh, I feel I must contradict you on that Albus." Iona Fabbri said from behind the man. "As my apprentice just said, it is up to me if he can tutor anyone, and I am not giving him permission.
I especially am not giving him permission to basically teach the entire course to his younger brother. Especially since I know that the boy didn't 'just miss out' on being able to take my class. He failed his OWL, as you well know. If the boy wishes to rewrite the test he can, but only if he attends a course instructed by a master of the field. And, it can't be me since I already have a full time job.
As for the Weasley girl, if she would just get her head out of the clouds and paid attention in my class she wouldn't need tutoring. If she does, then she can attend the regular tutoring sessions I hold every Saturday evening, like many other students in the class do when they are struggling with something."
"Of course." Albus forced a fake smile on his face and nodded his goodby before leaving the room. He couldn't do anything now and he knew it. The woman might not look that tough, she was a small dumpy sort of woman that reminded him of Pomona, but he knew she was incredibly dangerous with the spells she had created.
"That man needs to learn when his big nose is needed." Iona muttered.
Fred laughed and went back to packing up. Truer words were never spoken.
Hogwarts, Potion Lab - December 12, 2006
Molly was sitting in one of the older, unused, potions labs with her children and Hermione. She had been coming to the school twice a week to help get the three children ready for their midterm exams.
Her main priority had first been Hermione's potions skill. The young girl could do the basics, but was too stiff for Molly's taste. Molly had learned most of her potions skills from her mums great-aunt.
The woman had taught Molly how to tell when a potion needed a little something extra. Madeline Wilson had been the woman Molly had based her life plan on. The woman had been married four times, all to extremely wealthy men. Her parents had always tried to keep her away from the woman, but Molly had idolized her. Molly just wished that she had been better at saving money since she had left everything to Molly, but it had only ended up being a few hundred galleons since Madeline had lived such an extravagant lifestyle.
It was a skill that she had tried to pass on to her daughter, but Ginny just hadn't wanted to learn. Now she was getting the chance to teach the girl she knew was going to be her future daughter-in-law. A little dangerous, but she trusted Hermione.
She really didn't understand what Severus was teaching the students. He clearly wasn't a good teacher. So she had set to work to fix his error. It was just difficult to get the girl to take her nose out of the book and brew a potion. Hermione wanted to follow what was in the book, but that wasn't how Molly worked. She had decades of brewing all manner of potions that she had needed, so she was fine without a recipe.
It had only been two weeks, but Molly was sure she was going to start seeing an improvement soon. She just needed to rebuild the confidence she was sure Severus had destroyed.
While that had been her priority when she had started, it changed the week before. She had decided to start checking her babies work like Albus had said, and she had been horrified. None of the assignments were complete, they didn't follow guidelines, their sentence structure and spelling were barely passible and that was all before you got to the handwriting. She knew she had taught all the children how to do that, sure, Ron and Ginny had only done the work in the afternoon when they got up, but she was sure it had been enough. Her babies weren't stupid like Arthurs were.
Now she made them check every assignment with her. She knew it was upsetting them, but they needed better grades. It was the only way they were going to get any extra money, and she had made sure to privately ensure they knew it.
Headmaster's Office - December 16, 2006
The evening before the train was set to leave to take the students home for the holidays Hadrian found himself once again on his way up to the headmasters office. The midterm exams had finished a few hours before and Hadrian had been in the process of packing when an elf had arrived to give him the note.
He had, like usual, gone and gotten his papa. Severus had been less than pleased since he hadn't received his own note. He was going to have to remind the man to stay away from his son again.
Over the year they had had a few of these meetings. Most had been extremely short as they had been about Dumbledore attempting to stop Hadrian from attending the Wizengamot. But, since it was illegal to stop a Lord or Lady from attending a session he was limited as to what he could do. Really, all he did was try to get Hadrian to assign him as his proxy, something that was never going to happen.
Once they were in the office, they sat silently and waited for Dumbledore to get to the point.
"Thank you for coming." Albus had been annoyed to once again see Severus hovering behind the boy.
"What is it that you would like to speak about this time, Headmaster?" Hadrian said, annoyance clear in his voice.
"I was just hoping to speak to you about Christmas break. I really think it is for the best if you stay here for the holidays. It is just too dangerous for you to leave school grounds."
Hadrian didn't say a word, choosing to let his papa deal with the man.
"Albus." Severus growled. "You need to stop doing this. Hadrian is not yours to control. And, as we have covered, multiple times, Hadrian is perfectly safe at home.
No one knows where it even is. The manor has ancient family wards, as I have already told you. You will not be keeping my son."
"Severus, I am just trying to keep him safe." Albus tried again.
"No, you are trying to control him." Severus snapped, he had reached his limit with the man. "I am done with this. If you attempt to try and force my son to stay, or go, somewhere he doesn't want again I will be speaking with the DMLE about filing charges.
We have put up with your attempts to control Hadrian for years, and I am done. Hadrian will be coming home to spend the holidays with his family, and that is final.
You will stop calling my son up here for these nonsense reasons. You have tried every single month to deny him the right to leave the school, even going so far as to attempt to revoke his Hogsmeade privileges. We will not be putting up with it any more."
"I have just been trying to protect him." Albus gave him a sad dejected look. "We have had intel that there will be an attack on the train. I just don't want him in danger."
"If you believe there will be an attack on the train, then you should be worried about all students, not just my son." Severus knew the man was lying, it was just a story that had been made up by the man and Minerva and he knew it since they had been talking about it in the staff room of all places. "If you are that worried then I will just have Hadrian floo home."
"There is no need for that." Albus didn't want the boy to leave like that. If he had to leave it would be on the train, where his pawns could reach him. "He may take the train, if you insist on taking such a risk with his life."
"Is that all, Headmaster?" Severus asked, not really wanting to, but knowing he had to.
"Hadrian, you haven't stated your opinion on the danger?" Albus turned to the boy, hoping he wouldn't want to take the risk.
"Mostly, I'm just thinking that if you feel it is so dangerous for me to do anything while here at school maybe I should look into home schooling." Hadrian kept his face blank, but inside he was grinning as he saw horror flash across the old mans face.
"No, no. There really is no need for that. It really is for the greater good for you to continue to attend Hogwarts. It would send the wrong message if you were to leave. Many students might follow your example and that really wouldn't be good since their homes won't have the same protections yours does. Not to mention it would make Voldemort more confident."
"Then I guess we are done here. If the school and the train is safe enough, we won't have a problem." Hadrian smiled.
"I must agree." Severus was proud of his son.
Hadrian was just starting to get up when Dumbledore spoke again.
"There is something else I wished to discuss with you, Hadrian."
"And what is that?" Hadrian let out a heavy sigh.
"I feel it is time that you were given a clearer picture on what is truly happening. I have gotten hold of some memories that I feel you would benefit from seeing. It will help you to understand the history of this conflict and Voldemort's origin." Albus thought these lessons might be his way in. The boy seemed to love to learn, so offering him knowledge might work.
Hadrian already knew everything he needed to know, but he also saw an opportunity. Holding his hand up to stop his papa from snapping at the man, Hadrian spoke.
"I will make you a deal. I will attend these lessons of yours on two conditions. First, my papa or Uncle Sirius will be present as well. After everything that has happened I have no intention of being alone with you for any extended period of time.
And second, you will make Professor McGonagall stop forcing Neville and I to spend time with Weasley and Granger. She forces us to partner with them every week and we are both sick of it. If I am to do this, then Neville and I will be free to partner with each other in her class and our seats in the lecture periods will be moved to the other side of the room."
"Now my boy." Albus gave him a disappointed look.
"No." Hadrian said before he could get any further. "Those are my terms. I know you want me to be friends with those two for some reason, but it isn't going to happen. Forcing me to spend time with them just makes me dislike them more. I am tired of Weasley's less than subtle hints that he thinks my friend Draco is a Death Eater and just trying to get close to me so he can hand me over to Voldy. And I don't need Granger lecturing me on how I'm doing a spell wrong even when I am successful.
I am not going to allow my grades to suffer because both Professor McGonagall, and you, feel you have the right to determine who I have as friends. Draco, Neville, and I have been best friends since we were children, and that isn't going to change any time soon."
Albus tried to stare the boy down, but the boy never flinched. "Fine." He growled out. "I will agree to your terms my boy, even if I do not agree. Ronald and Hermione could be great friends, if you would just give them a chance."
Hadrian chose to ignore the second part of what the man said since he knew the man's opinion would never change on the subject. "Then we are done here. I will expect for you to speak with Professor McGonagall before I return from Yule. If the seating arrangement hasn't changed then I will take that as you deciding that I don't need these so called lessons."
Hadrian was up and out of the room before Albus could say anything.
"Severus, you might need to have a conversation with your son about manners." Albus said, anger clear in his voice as he knew he had lost to a 16 year old kid.
"When I have a problem with his manners, I will." Severus turned and left the office, smirk and all.
Platform 9 ¾ - December 17, 2006
Hadrian was ready to cry in joy as the Hogwarts Express arrived at the platform to drop the students off for Yule break. He wanted to be at home with his family. He wanted to be able to be around Fred and George without having to hide their relationship.
The train ride had almost ended in disaster. Dumbledore had assigned some professors to take the train with the students since he said he had gotten information that there was the possibility of an attack on the train. McGonagall had been one of those professors. And, she had been assigned to the area where Hadrian's usual compartment was.
She had searched every one of the secured compartments in her area. Hermione, Ron, and Ginny following behind her. Everyone knew that she was trying to make it so the three could spend the ride with Hadrian.
Thankfully, when Edna heard that McGonagall was going to be on the train she had arranged a different compartment at the very back of the train for Hadrian and his friends. She had heard enough from the children over the years when she had stopped by to give them their food to not trust the woman.
Professor Flitwick was the professor that was assigned to their area and, after checking on them, had left them to their peace. Like Edna, he knew what Minerva and Albus wanted and wasn't about to let anyone harass his student any more than they already did.
Getting off the train Hadrian saw what Dumbledore was trying to do. He thought he could see every single Order member. Dumbles was trying to get people to associate his group with the protection of the children.
Too bad for him it wasn't going to work. Since the Order was supposed to be a secret group, they all wore normal, everyday clothes. They looked just like everyone else, so no one who didn't know about them would have even realized they were there.
Just to make it even better, there were over a dozen soldiers placed around to increase security as well since the platform had been deemed a likely target since all the children going home would be there. The soldiers were dressed in their typical uniforms which made them stand out.
When people thought back about who was on the platform, it wouldn't be the Order members they remembered, it would be the soldiers.
Since November there had been a few small attacks, and they had all been stopped by the military before there could be any loss of life. All of these attacks had been reported and people were relaxing slightly since they saw how successful the military had been at protecting them.
That fact had been driving Dumbledore mad. He had repeatedly tried to get another meeting with Kensington in the hopes of reversing his decision, but hadn't managed. Kensington was going out of his way to avoid him. The devision between the two was something that Rita was taking great joy in gossiping about.
But as Hadrian was moving towards his parents the Potter luck kicked in. Molly and the annoying trio stepped in-between him and his family.
"Hadrian, darling. So wonderful to see you." Molly simpered as she moved closer.
"Mrs. Diggle. If you would excuse me, my family is waiting so we can go home." Hadrian said in a flat voice. He knew they just wanted to be publicly seen with him, and he hated how they were always trying to use him like that.
"There really is no need to hurry my dear. I'm sure you and Ginny want to say a proper goodbye. You know that you're more than welcome to come and stay with us for a few days if you find you miss her too much or you want to spend some time with Ron." Molly was speaking loudly so everyone would hear, not realizing that James had put a silencing and secrecy ward up around them. He had spotted one of Dumbledore's pet reporters and didn't want anything showing up in the paper about Molly's lies.
Hadrian took a deep breath. He was done playing nice with these idiots. He had felt the ward go up, so he knew it was safe for him to speak his mind.
"Allow me to make myself perfectly clear. I am not in a relationship with your daughter, and I never will be. I. Am. Gay.
I want nothing to do with her, and I never will. Pretending we are together, lying to people about some secret relationship, and staging little meet ups like this in the hopes it will end up in the paper just makes your daughter look desperate and pathetic.
As for spending time with your son, no thank you. I have been forced to listen to enough of his Death Eater tirades already. I do not want to ruin my holidays by having to listen to more.
Please, just leave me alone."
"Harr… Hadrian, how can you say that?" Ginny started to cry. "We have a marriage contract, you know that."
"No, we don't." Hadrian snapped. "If I hear anyone talking about us having a contract I will have no choice but to publicly deny it. It is true there once was a contract, but it was a highly illegal one and was dissolved years ago."
"You can't do that." Ginny said in horror.
"Yes, I can. The so called contract between us should never have existed, and was destroyed as soon as it was discovered." Hadrian told her.
"Then we will just make a new one." Ginny glared at him. "You are meant to be mine. You should be grateful I am willing to even put up with you after your disgusting behaviour with my brothers."
"I've been reading up on the subject Ginny, and did you know that you can actually use a marriage contract to bar one member of the couple from ever even seeing certain people. That should stop his disgraceful behaviour." Hermione added nastily.
"I do agree." Molly glared at the boy who was being so rude.
Hadrian couldn't help it, he laughed. "If you knew anything about marriage contracts, Granger, you would know that if someone is underage, their parents would need to sign on their behalf. Tell me, what do you think the chances are that any of you would be able to convince my parents to force bond me to the harlot.
But, in the end, none of it matters. Because I already have a valid marriage contract that my parents signed off on. And, news flash, it isn't with her. Just so you all understand that it will never happen, I have a marriage contract for after I graduate with Fred and George. They are, after all, my soul mates!"
"NO!" Ginny screamed.
"That is enough!" James said in a very stern voice. "Molly, take your children and leave. I don't want you anywhere near my son, ever."
"How dare you James Potter?" Molly was furious. "How could you ever sign off on letting your brat marry Fred and George? I won't allow it."
"YOU have no say in the matter. Your opinion means nothing to me." James walked forward until he stood right next to his son. "Hadrian, come. It's time to leave these… people."
"I agree." Hadrian shot the four a poisonous glare. "Just stay away from me and out of my life."
Hadrian turned and left with his dad. The privacy bubble dropping only once they were gone.
The people on the platform knew something had happened, but they weren't sure what. All they really knew was that whatever it was, Hadrian had been furious, and so had his father.
Molly was still cursing James and Hadrian as she took her children and left. Hermione, who went to find her own parents that still hadn't forgiven her for her actions over the summer.
In all, it was a less than stellar way to begin the holidays.