You could never know me

Chapter 28: What have I forgotten?

In the end, Hadrian spoke to Neville for three more hours, only realising the time when the sun began to rise, its bright beams shining across the room and illuminating their faces. Hade was a little worried his prison guards would notice his disappearance, but decided to focus on his renewed friendship with Nev. They both stumbled back to the dorms, exhausted but grinning from ear to ear. The two boys finally passed out in their beds, and Snake didn't even think about how he hadn't spoken to Vol since his cryptic message yesterday morning. He didn't even consider the worry his sudden absence may have caused.

Severus was just about to add the final crucial ingredient to his potion when a hot burning pain in his arm flared up. Dropping the ingredient into the cauldron, he dived under the table to take cover from the resulting explosion, not for the first time cursing His Lord for bad timing. He rushed to get his Death Eater robes before flooring Dumbledore to inform him of the sudden summoning, as per His Lords previous instructions. Sev walked to the edge of Hogwarts' wards before apparating to Little Hangleton. He arrived expecting to attend a meeting about the upcoming Hogwarts break in. Therefore, he was surprised to see only Narcissa, Lucius and Tom in attendance. Well, Wormtail was writhing on the ground under the Cruciatus, but that barely counts. Cautiously he sidled up to Lucius, asking in a hushed tone "What's happened?" Lord Voldemort was grimacing and pacing wildly, almost seeming to forget about the Death Eater he was cursing. Lucius chuckled at the sight before replying. "I'm not entirely sure, but from what I've gather Our Lord is worried about Hadrian." Ahh. That would explain the smaller presence.

Two days. It had been almost two days since Hadrian had last written in the diary. Anything could have happened: he could have been caught, tortured, brainwashed. Voldemort had never been this worried about anyone or anything, ever. Lucius and Narcissa claimed that their son hadn't noticed anything strange. He'd decided to torture Wormtail whilst waiting for Severus as stress relief. It hadn't worked though. Every part of his brain had become consumed with worry over his ally, his horcrux, his Hade. "Severus, what has happened to Hadrian!?" The sibilant hissing tones that his Hadrian seemed to enjoy so very much, only served to strike fear withing his followers, further reminding him that Hade was gone and possibly in danger.

A sharp elbow directed at his lower gut reminded Sev to answer Their Lord. "My Lord, Hadrian has appeared well. His work is exemplary and e play the part of Gryffindor Golden Boy very well. His three followers seem to be convinced, though Hade has been spending more time with the Longbottom and Lovegood heirs. I believe Hadrian mentioned they were his true friends. Perhaps he has just become preoccupied?" The glare His Lord responded with quelled his doubts of such things. Instead, he promised to speak to Hadrian the following day, before fleeing back to the relative calm and safety of Hogwarts. Wormtail was not let off so easily. His screams followed Severus through the manors halls.....

The next morning, Hadrian woke up rested and pleased with his renewed friendship with Nev. Even Ronald's snores, Granger's nagging and Ginny's blatent flirting could do nothing to dim his bright mood. This only served to convince them that he was the 'same old Harry' as always. However, he couldn't shake the feeling that he had forgotten something, and knowing his reputation it would be something big. Only a minute later, he was proved correct. Hade was just entering the Great Hall for lunch when two pale alabaster hands grabbed his arms, pulling him into the nearest alcove. A muttered "somnum eius cruciabuntur" incapacitated whoever had reached for him. The curse acted like the Stupefy charm, except with painful and terrifying nightmares. Started by a familiar voice crying out, he summoned a non-verbal Lumos, and was startled to see Draco writhing on the floor. Hadrian hastened to release the spell, immediately apologising.

Draco had no idea what was going on when his Uncle Severus demanded he bring Hadrian to his office. Only that it was urgent, and to do with their Lord. This was the reason Draco didn't stop to rethink his decision to grab Hade. After watching his family die over and over, between being tortured by said loved ones, he understood that a different decision should have been made. "Hadrian, what the hell!?" A sheepish shrug of the shoulders was the only reply he got. Sighing heavily he dragged Hade all the way back to the Dungeons and dumped his scary friend in front of the Potions office door. He wouldn't sleep for a week after this.

Hade huffed slightly as he watched Draco storm away, already tired of not knowing what was going on. He entered the office and simply say in Sevs desk, waiting for an answer. There was ten minutes of silence, the potions master was clearly being as stubborn as ever. Just as Hadrian was about to give in, he spoke. "Our Lord is worried about you, it would seem." Nothing more was said, and there wasn't a need to. Instantly he remembered the last conversation he'd had with Vol. Or more specifically its abrupt ending. He needed to write to Vol! "I'll sort it." Hade said over his shoulder as he rushed out from the dungeons. There was no way the upcoming conversation was going to be easy. He honestly didn't know how a pissed dark lord was going to act now that they weren't enemies anymore. How could he have just forgotten?