Edited - April 28, 2023
The two brothers happily made their way to the back of the train where most Slytherins sit. They glanced around at the open cabs and soon Draco took the lead and dragged Hadrian into one already partially filled. Inside sat four boys that he had all met once or twice before as they had come over to hang out with Draco over the summer. To the left sat a dark skinned Italian boy known as Heir Zabini or Blaise and a slightly smaller boy beside him with light brown hair and a book in front of his nose. His name is Theodore Nott but he prefers to be called Theo by his friends. To the right sat two larger boys that are more of the silent type and extremely overprotective of their friends. Their names are Vincent Crabb and Gregory Goyle though they preferred to go by Vince and Greg.
All four looked up as Draco dramatically entered the cab with Hadrian smiling at them sheepishly from behind. Having known Draco for years and used to this kind of behavior they just smiled and laughed as Draco huffed in mock annoyance. "Hello Draco, fancy seeing you here." Blaise joked as he made room for the two to sit. "Are the dramatic entrances really necessary every time you see us?" Theo drawled out in attempt to sound like Snape. Hadrian just stifled a chuckle as Vincent and Gregory just smirk. "Well at least my little brother appreciates them, don't you Hades?" Draco claimed spinning around to look at him only to see his face turning red from trying to hold in his laughter and a teasing look in his eyes. Draco just gawked at the betrayal before closing the cab door and sitting down with a pout. "Here Hades," he grumbled as he passes his shrunk trunk into his brother's awaiting hand. All five boys watch with eager eyes as Hadrian does his wandless magic, unshrinking both trunks and floats them around until he sets them down on top of the four trunks the boys had struggled to put up earlier.
Before they could complement Hadrian, the door to their cab is flung open and a very angry red head was screaming his head off yet but not a sound came out. The silencing charm Arthur Weasley had placed on his son was yet to be canceled as none of his brothers wanted to deal with him. None of the prefects he had ran into would help him either so he had tracked down what in his mind was the cause of his problems. Still being jumpy towards loud noises because of his past, Hadrian's magic was quick to react. Before the rest got the chance to pull out their wands, Hadrian had flung the weasel into the door of the cab across from them and hit him with several embarrassing jinxs.
When the Slytherins in the cab across them went out to see the commotion, they were met with the sight of a rash covered, green haired, pig nosed Weasley who was still silently screaming curses while in pain due to more rashes hidden beneath his robes. "Would one of you boys like to tell me what... this is?" A female Slytherin with wavy black hair asked. It was Draco who decided to speak up. "Well miss, the youngest male Weasley spawn has now attempted to attack my honorary little brother three times and I believe his magic acted out to protect him as none of us had even pulled out our wands before he got flung back." The Slytherins just glared as Ron finally realized the severity of his actions and silently whimpered in fear and pain.
As the older girl dragged Ron over to the teacher's cart to be dealt with, one of the guys in the cart went to find Marcus Flint as he was the fifth year Slytherin quidditch captain and a prefect. When Flint arrived, he promised to keep an eye out for Weasley to make sure he doesn't try and attack them again before ruffling Hadrian's hair and walking away with a wink to the other boys. They just hung out and talked for a while as Draco gently ran his fingers through Hadrian's hair to fix it and help calm him down. Hadrian was content to watch Vince and Greg get blown up in a game of exploding snap and would comment on occasion in Draco, Blaise, and Theo's discussion in what their favorite class will be.
But the peace didn't last long as soon a bushy haired, buck toothed girl slammed the doors open and demanded if they had seen a toad. Hadrian was so surprised that he slipped off of Draco's lap and fell to the ground. At the same time Vincent and Gregory were both shot in the face by their cards, covering up the sound of a sharp hiss from Raven as Hadrian's fall jostled her from around his tiny waist. Blaise just stood up at his full tall height for boys his age and glared down at the girl. "First of all, it is rude to interrupt a conversation. Second, you didn't even knock or ask permission to enter. And thirdly, you seem to seriously lack the intelligence to hold a conversation as you don't even know how to introduce yourself!" The girl just gulped and stared down at her shoes. A small nervous boy who still had some baby fat on his face walked up behind her. "I apologize for her behavior heir Zabini, I asked her if she had seen a toad as I lost mine and she then dragged me around rudely demanding if anyone had seen him." He stuttered nervously and fiddled with his robe.
Theo then decided to intervene, "Well if that's the case heir Longbottom we accept your apology but it is not your fault that this girl has no manners, but if you can't find your toad why not ask a prefect for help? They know spells to bring him right to you." "Thank you! You all can call me Neville if you wish, after all you did help me." He said with a shy smile. Seeing that she was being ignored and insulted, the girl huffed angrily and stormed off. "Then you can call us by our first names as well but only around each other." Theo responded, ignoring the girl's hissy fit and then proceeds to introduce the group to him one by one. Neville left soon after and found his toad which he said was named Trevor and had been given to him by his grandmother. He stopped by after to thank them again and asked them what houses they wanted to go into. All six boys mentioned Slytherin but Draco claimed he wouldn't be surprised if Hadrian or Theo ended up in Ravenclaw. Hadrian glared to him for that and turned his nose away at the very thought as Draco's dramatic nature had rubbed off on him a bit. He smiled as he made Neville laugh but frowned when he told them his grandmother wanted him to be like his father and be in Gryffindor. "While it is quite brave of you to mention that to Gryffindor's opposite house that that is where you want to go, I don't believe you." Hadrian boldly claimed without breaking eye contact with Neville.
They all watched as Neville's shoulders sagged and he mumbled about wanting to be in Hufflepuff but also wanted to make his grandmother proud. At this Hadrian just huffed and declared that he should be who he wants to be and shouldn't let anyone tell him otherwise. "People will claim we are all evil just because we have dark cores, but do you really think that makes us evil?" Neville just stood still for a moment as he pondered Hadrian's wise words and shook his head. "So called evil or not you have been very kind to me and I wish to remain friends regardless of your house!" Neville gave Hadrian a one handed hug to not squish Trevor and went to return to his cab after telling them they should change into their robes soon. "He's lucky he decided to remain our friend, Raven was threatening to eat Trevor if he said otherwise" Hadrian claimed as he pulled his robes on and acted as if he said nothing at all.
An hour later and a half giant was yelling about first years and four to a boat. As they followed the booming voice to the boats, the boys met up with the girls Hadrian had been introduced to over the summer. On the first boat sat Draco, Hadrian, Vincent, and Gregory. Second was Daphne, Tracey, Blaise, and Theo. Pansy and Neville got stuck on the third boat with the bushy haired girl and Ronald who was looking quite sick. Hadrian blamed this on Ron's appearance as his hair was still slightly green and not all the rashes had disappeared. He watched happily as the boats magically pulled themselves across the water and he ran his hand through the water. Draco held onto his robes tightly as he feared his tiny body would fall overboard but he knew the giant squid wouldn't let that happen. He felt one of the tentacles teasingly splash him with some water and giggled at Draco's yelp. The squid's single eye winked at him from below and swam away as they reached the castle.
Hadrian watched as the man Draco told him was called Hagrid, knocked loudly at the door. The man reminded him of his dreams but he didn't have time to focus on that at the moment. The door swung open and a stern looking woman led the group up some stairs and told them to wait. Hadrian giggled as he listened to the kids around him question how they will be sorted. Lucius had told him and Draco it was with a hat and he found it absurd that some of the kids thought they would have to fight a troll to get in. He jumped when screams were heard and looked around to see some ghosts floating through the walls.
The lady he now knew as McGonagall, re-enters and ushered them down to the front of the hall in front of a stool where the sorting hat sat. He zoned out a bit as all the 'what if's ran through his head and only focused when his friend's names were called. He smiled at Neville's happy face when sorted in Hufflepuff and snickered at the smug look in Draco's face when sorted before the hat even touched his head. Pansy had just been sorted into Slytherin when his name was called. "Hadrian Peverell" He froze as all the gasps and whispers began and felt his breathing increase. Blaise just squeezed his hand and gave him a little nudge forward. He took a deep breath and put on his pure blood mask as he sat down on the stool. But he had to fight his shoulders from slouching when the hat was so big it fell over his eyes and most of his nose.
His eyes widened as a voice that wasn't his chuckled in his head. "Do not fear little heir, it is just me the sorting hat. No one but you can hear me." "Do you have a name Mr. Hat?" Hadrians asked, not wanting to be rude. The hat just chuckled again which felt very weird inside his head. "My name is Alistair and I can not sort you as you are heir to all of Hogwarts so you must tell me where you want to go."
"This one goes to... SLYTHERIN!"