Never Trust A Snake

Chapter Twenty-five

'The Tournament'

Albus Dumbledore entered the chamber, a grimace on his face, followed by James and Evan Potter. The latter two strutted into the room, Evan grinning smugly at the Champions. All eyes in the room trailed after James and Evan.

"What the fuck are they doing here?" Hadrian growled out, scowling at his so-called family. Madam Maxime and Professor Karkaroff, along with Fleur, were stood in shock at the interaction. While they were confused with the appearance of the Potter's, they we more so shocked at how Hadrian dared to speak to the Headmaster. Victor, on the other hand, was less shocked. He had heard the rumours that circulated the Slytherin house of Hadrian's family situation.

"Evan Potter will be competing in the Tournament as practice for his fight against Voldemort and to display to the magical world his abilities," Dumbledore continued, ignoring Hadrian and proceeding past him with the Potters.

"Myself and James Potter will act as his mentors and he will represent Hogwarts," Dumbledore explained to the staff and champions. Hadrian could only stare at the old man in disbelief.

"Hogwarts cannot have two champions!" Madam Maxime yelled, gesturing towards Hadrian.

"Oh, yes. Black..." Dumbledore muttered, turning to Hadrian with an expressionless face. The other members of the room quickly grew shocked at Dumbledore's treatment of the boy, understanding his earlier rage. Victor took a step forward, standing besides Hadrian, whose green eyes were shining with fury. Albus continued in a exasperated voice.

"He will do fine with no mentor. He can represent a fourth party." Hadrian glared at Dumbledore, wanting more than anything to end his miserable life. Imagining slitting the old man's neck, or breaking his bones, killing him in so gruesome, horrible way, was all the stopped him from attacking Dumbledore.

"But Dumbledore-" Madam Maxime started, obviously about to reiterate the rules of the tournament to the Hogwarts Headmaster, before she was interrupted.

"The boy will be fine on his own." James Potter said firmly, turning quickly back to Evan with a proud grin on his face.

Hadrian was about to say something when a sharp burning pain shot up his forearm. The Dark Mark. Voldemort was signalling him, and he was angrier than ever. The mark hadn't hurt like this before, it had been this painful. Luckily, the only sign to anyone else of his pain was a slight flinch that he soon masked.

"Well, if we're done here, I have other business," snarled Hadrian, pushing past the Potters.

***

Hades paced outside the hall of Malfoy Manor, anxiety building within him. He had missed a lot of meetings, he had been avoiding the Dark Lord since their last interaction at the Yule Party. The assassin had, of course, been killing over this time, but had been absent amongst the Dark side. However, meeting the dark lord had become unavoidable.

With a final sigh, Hadrian pushed open the door and stalked into the room. Tom was sat alone in the room, watching him intently as he entered.

"None of the inner circle joining us?" Hades enquired, annoyed at the prospect of being alone with Tom. However, he had been suspecting this for a while. The Dark Marks burn had been slowly growing stronger, signalling Tom's impatience with him.

"I'm afraid not." Tom said slowly, his eyes trailing up and down Hadrian. An uneasy silence settled between them once more.

"You've been missing meetings, Hadrian," The Dark Lord stated suddenly, breaking the silence. His footsteps echoed around the empty hall as he stalked closer to the assassin.

"All over one kiss," He hissed, his voice morphing into parseltounge as he got closer and closer to Hadrian. The assassin's eyes flickered towards Tom Riddle as he approached. He couldn't deny that the man was handsome, with his strong features and piercing eyes. Those piercing eyes that were locked on to Hadrian as he stood only a few centimetres away.

Riddle leaned forward, his mouth next to Hadrian's ear as he whispered in parseltounge.

"How will you react after this," he hissed, chuckling slightly. A shiver went down Hades' spine as Riddle started trailing his tongue down Hadrian's jaw, biting and sucking as he did. Soon their lips connected, in a desperate mix of lust and power. Tom had his arms wrapped around Hadrian's waist, pulling the assassin closer to him. Unfortunately, it didn't last long. The two darted apart as they heard footsteps outside the door. This action was only just completed in time as a Death Eater rushed into the room. It was Barty Crouch Jr, Hadrian had seen him around the Manor occasionally, however his presence was becoming more prominent.

Turning to Tom, Hadrian had to contain his laughter. The man's expression was that of pure anger at being interrupted. Luckily for Barty, the cruciatus only lasted a short while. The two then continued on to talking business, Tom had something big planned for the Tournament.

Hadrian apparated away, after saying quick goodbyes. A small smile grew on his face as he left. After all his doubt as to how Tom would've reacted to the kiss, it had turned out alright. Better than alright. Now, he could concentrate on the Tournament and his work for the Dark Side. There was only one thing he needed to sort out. Draco Malfoy. Hadrian had grown quite attached to the boy, yet he felt the same about Riddle. With a sigh, Hadrian pushed that issue to the back of his mind. The first challenge was very soon, and he had no doubt that the other champions were already ahead. Evan, being Dumbledore's favourite, would receive every advantage possible and Madame Maxime and Professor Karkaroff would attempt to ensure the same advantages for their champions. That, however, left Hadrian with a great disadvantage. He had no mentor, not that he needed one, and no one outside of Slytherin would support him.

Growling in annoyance, he set out to find Victor. Surely, the Durmstrang champion would know something. That or he could easily persuade Fleur to give him some information.

***

"You're a murderer, no matter how beloved"