The Rise of Harry Potter

The large doors to the main corridor swung open, being led by Professor McGonagall with a large pointy hat. The first years all looked a mixture of terrified and amazed by the thousands of floating candles and enchanted ceiling.

"Hey," A slytherin slid down the table, one of Pansy and Daphne's friends, if Adrian remembered correctly. "You hear Potter fainted?"

Draco's neck snapped around in surprise as his jaw dropped.

"What? Tell us!" Pansy shrieked in a whisper like a baby banshee, looking enraptured in the story already.

"Yeah!" The girl giggled, a noise more dignified on Millicent. "Somethin' bout the Demen-tor stalkin' him! He was at front o' the train so it got 'im and 'e fainted! Shrieked somethin' and passed ou' righ' there!"

Draco looked positively gleeful

Something twisted warmly in Adrian's chest. Skylar had fainted, hell, he could wager that Skylar didn't know a single thing about Dementors.

He wanted to search out the other boy and laugh at his face.

The first names were called and the students walked across the stretch to get to the sorting hat.

"But tha's no' the bes' par'!" The girl continued, leaning inwards with a whisper."They said 'e shouted ou' a name o' some guy-"

"Potter's a poofer?" Draco gasped, eyes growing wide in surprise.

"Nah, nah!" The girl hushed, eyes gleaming with excitement. "Be'er!"

They were on the C's now for students.

"Better than that? I doubt it." Draco sniffed, losing interest already. "Isn't that right, Selwyn?"

Onto the D's.

"I get better information from the Hufflepuffs." Adrian baited, watching the girl scowl and rise to prove them wrong.

"Fine! Bu' hear this," She grinned at each face, waited, then dropped. "Shou'ed somethin' abou' a brother."

Adrian's heart jolted.

In the shocked silence of the table, the name of the next student rang loud and clear in the quiet of the Great Hall.

"Forestar, Suzan!"

Adrian's heart stopped.

A girl in pigtails- her face was unmistakable, sprang across the ground looking excited and nervous all the same. The hat fell over her head, contemplated a while before shouting loudly to the expectant hall, "Slytherin!"

Adrian's life was falling apart.

It was her.

It was her.

How? How? Adrian thought she was dead- she should have died in the fire. There was no way that she could be alive, not to mention here.

Suzie was younger than Adrian, but she hadn't ever expressed accidental magic. If she did she could have stopped him from pushing her down the flights of stairs, she could have stopped him from destroying her bear, she should have stopped him from-

David's cold empty eyes stared at him. His corpse had stiffened and glowed orange in reflection to the fire-

Adrian clutched his head harder and tried to keep from curling into a ball.

His father...his father could help. Yes, his father would help, because he was important to his father.

But was he really? Perhaps his father would scoff and find it a nuisance.

No, no, no he had to think that his father would help him.

Unless he had to deal with her alone.

Against his will, a flash of red hair and pale skin filled his mind.

He shook his head violently, hair whipping his face at the near manic movement. Draco coughed around his roll, eyeing Adrian as if he was possessed.

Oh Merlin, what if his father wanted him to kill her.

Oh god no, no he can't do that…

He felt bile twist and surge against his throat, stinging his chest painful enough tears welled in his eyes. He forced it down, gagging on the acrid taste as his knuckles curled and he struggled to ease his breathing.

In through his mouth, out through his nose.

The air stung his nostrils.

This? Was a disaster.

The rooms for the Slytherin students were finally moved upstairs. Theo had graciously agreed to be Adrian's roommate this year. He'd even already moved everything onto his one side, decorating the walls with earthy tones after a simple spell. Adrian had waited until the other boy left before he locked the door.

He managed to unpacked one chest before he crumpled to his knees.

It was Suzie, it was her. He could recognize her face and her voice anywhere, even as it was older. She still had those ridiculous pigtails, although she had filled out much more. Had she been adopted? Was David a squib?

Suzie had seen Adrian speak parseltongue-

If Suzie exposed Adrian, then the only student who could possibly be the heir to Slytherin would be him. They could threaten him with expulsion, they could take Lutain away from him in an attempt of a threat. Worse yet, it would give the headmaster a reason to finally start to look at Adrian, to really look at him. It was suspicious how similar Adrian already looked like to his father, he knew that Professor McGonagall was uncomfortable but had dismissed it.

But Suzie could ruin everything.

Not only that, but now a rumor spreading around that Skylar Potter had a brother?

"This is bad," Adrian choked out, clutching his head in a panic-induced mess. "Lutain, this is bad."

"I can bite!" Lutain offered, even as he was shivering with equal levels of anxiety. "Get rid of girl-"

"No no, they have tracking spells, analyzing spells, they'll trace it back to you and me both." Adrian gulped, pausing before his eyes widened even further, "Lutain, she's seen you before. She's seen you before."

Adrian crumpled, bracing his forearm against his bed as his stomach twisted and he gurgled pitifully. His jaw jolted open to near serpentine proportions as he gagged, nearly retching out the dinner he had just consumed.

Adrian Selwyn was, utterly and entirely, screwed.

....

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