Chapter Text
When Hadrian and Pugsley returned to school, their dynamic was closer to what it had been before the previous summer. Over the Christmas holidays, Hadrian had tried to spend more time with his brother and sister, knowing that his father was working on their Voldemort problem.
Of course, that didn’t mean that he wasn’t worried. He still worried about what would happen if he had to face the famous dark wizard. His parents and uncle going with him was a comfort, but he had no idea what would happen, or when.
The dreams continued as well. Hadrian started making it a habit to put up a silencing charm around his bunk before falling asleep so as to not wake his roommates. He tended to wake up suddenly, scratching at his forehead and breathing heavily.
One night in early February, Hadrian watched as Voldemort tortured the short, balding man with the cruciatus curse until he was howling in pain. As normal, he woke up with a start, but rather than being able to go back to sleep, he lay there for several minutes thinking. Edgar noticed the change in his master and joined him in the bunk, slithering past the curtain. “Master?”
Hadrian gulped for air, still trying to calm down. “I’m okay, Edgar. Just another dream. I think I should call Mother and Father, but I don’t want to wake them up.”
“They would want to know, master.”
“I know…” Hadrian hesitantly pulled the mirror from its’ hiding place as Edgar settled himself around his neck. The familiar weight of his familiar helped to calm him, but he needed his father’s wisdom. After a moment of hesitation, he called his parents. “Gomez Addams.”
Within seconds, a bleary-eyed Gomez stared up at his son, worriedly. “Hadrian? What’s wrong?”
“I’m sorry I woke you, Father. But I had another dream. Bad this time.”
Gomez’ demeanor quickly changed. “Tell me about it, son.”
Hadrian sighed, nodding. “It was in the same room as it’s been in recently. Seems like an old house. The short guy had done something to make Voldemort mad and he tortured him.” Gomez nodded for his son to continue. “I felt the power from the cruciatus curse like I was the one doing it.”
The Addams patriarch sighed, glancing to the side, presumably at Morticia. “Thank you for calling me, son. Is this the only dream you’ve had since you’ve been back at school?”
The teen gulped, a little guiltily. “No, Father.”
“I told you, you need to let me know when you have these dreams, son. Even if it’s only by letter.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Are you alright?”
Hadrian took a shaky breath as Edgar curled tighter around him, as if trying to ground him. He gulped again before nodding. “I’ll be okay, Father. I just wish they’d stop. Or that I knew what they meant.”
“I know it’s frustrating, son. I’m still working on it, I swear. Try and get some rest. Call me in the morning if you need to.”
“Okay. Thank you, Father.”
“You’re welcome, my boy. We love you.”
“Love you too. Tell Mother I said hi.” After hanging up with his father, he lifted Edgar from around his neck before lying back down. “Will you stay with me tonight, Edgar?”
“Of course, master.” The ball python curled up into a ball next to Hadrian, who ran his fingers gently over the snake’s back.
“I’m worried, Edgar.”
“What about?”
“What if I’m the one hurting these people? What if I’m the one doing these things?”
“You have not left your bed, master.”
Hadrian sighed, “I know. But I’m seeing them from Voldemort’s point of view.”
“This Voldemort, you say he has a snake?”
“Yeah, and he can speak Parseltongue too. Father said there was a part of him in me…” Hadrian broke off, thinking. “What if that’s why I can speak it too?”
“Could be, master.”
“Edgar, if we have to go to war, will you go with me?”
The snake gave what Hadrian could only assume was a chuckle. “I will be with you. Do not worry.”
Hadrian smiled, contentedly. “Thanks, Edgar.”
While he continued to have dreams on occasion, he made sure to let his father know about each and every one of them. Sometimes by mirror call, other times he would just write a letter. He noticed his grades starting to slip, and he even started being distracted on the quodpot pitch.
As the days wore on, he tried to double down on his studies, while also making time for both his little brother, Joel, and quodpot. Thankfully, his skill on a broom meant that practice and games came fairly easily, but he did make a few more errors than he would have normally. One even causing them a loss to Wampus, which caused the team to give him the silent treatment for the next week.
Joel had noticed the changes in his best friend too, but was trying not to press him too hard for answers. When he asked, all Hadrian would say was that he had a lot on his mind. If Joel asked any further, he’d just say he didn’t want to talk about it. After a while, Joel just decided to leave him be, but resolved to confront him about it if it didn’t change soon. They still spent time together, but there was a difference in Hadrian that he just couldn’t put a finger on. He seemed more distant, and would fall into quiet moods frequently. That wasn’t like his best friend at all.
As a result, Joel found himself spending more time alone, which opened him back up to the dating world. He’d gone through a growth spurt over the summer break and it started drawing more attention from the opposite sex. Susannah had started flirting with him again, but he often found himself in the company of Chelsea Stone from Wampus. Even Madison Lane from Thunderbird had been bugging Ethan for a date with Joel. While he enjoyed the female attention, he missed the way things had been with his best friend the previous three years.
Hadrian had noticed how suspicious of him Joel had been. He wanted so badly to tell his best friend what was going on, but knew that he couldn’t. When he saw Joel going out with random girls around the school, he felt almost relieved that he had something to occupy his mind with. However, it still bothered Hadrian that he couldn’t be honest with him.
“Father, I want to tell Joel the truth.” He and his parents had set up a weekly schedule for their mirror calls, when Hadrian knew he’d be alone in the dorm. Of course, Gomez and Morticia made sure their son knew he could call at any time, but it was nice to have a time set aside each week for their chats. “I believe I can trust him.”
“How much do you want to tell him, son? I think it would be okay to tell him you’re adopted, but beyond that, it might be better to keep to yourself.”
“I can’t tell him everything? I know he suspects something, but he’d never turn against me. I just know it.”
Gomez and Morticia shared a serious look. “We understand, son. Really. But would he really understand everything?” Hadrian shrugged. “I know you want to share things with your best friend. Keeping secrets is difficult. But it’s for your safety. For all you know, his family could be sympathizers of Voldemort.”
“They’re not, though!” Hadrian felt compelled to stand up for Joel.
“And you know this how? Have you discussed it?” Gomez gave him a serious look. “After the war, many who sympathized with him kept it very quiet. The same with Grindelwald’s followers.”
The teen sighed, “I know. Can I at least tell him I’m adopted?”
Morticia smiled sadly. “I think that would be okay. What will you tell him if he asks about your birth family?”
“Just that they died, I guess,” he shrugged. “He doesn’t need to know who they were, does he?”
“I don’t think so, son. Maybe once this whole thing’s over with, you can tell him, alright?” Hadrian nodded, reluctantly. “There we go. Feel better?” He nodded again. “Alright, let us know how it goes, son.”
Just then, Hadrian heard Joel coming up the steps calling for him. “Hadrian!”
“Gotta go. Bye Mother. Bye Father.”
“Talk to you later, son.”
Hadrian quickly tucked the mirror into its’ hiding spot before dropping the silencing charm and opening the curtain. “Hey, Joel.”
“Hey, man. We’re going out flying and I was wondering if you wanted to come?”
Hadrian gulped as he sat up, swinging his legs off the side of the bed. “Actually, can we talk?”
Joel looked taken aback, but nodded, sliding onto the bed next to him. “Sure, what’s up?”
“I’m sorry I’ve been so distant this year.” Hadrian pulled his knees up to his chest, as he always did when he felt nervous about something. Joel noticed the mannerism and turned to face him. “I have something to tell you, but I don’t want anyone else to know.”
“I won’t tell anyone, dude. I promise.” Joel noticed how serious Hadrian was, and looked at him concerned. “What is it?”
“I found out this past summer that I was adopted. I was orphaned as a baby, and my parents adopted me when I was a year old.”
Joel looked at him in shock. “Wow. That’s just… wow. Is that what’s been bothering you all year?” Hadrian nodded, worried that his friend would reject him. “Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”
“I’ve still been trying to come to grips with it myself.” He wrapped his arms around his knees, pulling them up to his chest. “Are we okay?”
“Of course! Why would that change anything? It’s not like it changes you. You’re still my best friend. Does your brother know?”
Hadrian shook his head quickly. “No! Please don’t tell him. I’ll tell him and Wednesday eventually, I just… I can’t yet.”
“I won’t.” Joel hesitated as if wondering if he should ask. “Do you… remember anything about them? Your birth parents I mean?”
“No. I didn’t even know I was adopted until Mother and Father told me.”
“Wow. I couldn’t even imagine. It must be hard to find that out now.”
Hadrian nodded. “It is. But, I’m glad they adopted me. I love my family, and can’t imagine life without them.”
“I get that. My family drives me crazy sometimes, but I wouldn’t trade them for anything.” The two teens were silent for a moment. “You… want to go fly?”
A smirk crossed Hadrian’s face. “Sure. Let’s go.”
Now that Hadrian had shared his secret with Joel, the two boys were back to spending a bit more time together, although Hadrian was still watching Skye from afar as she dated his quodpot rival, Tobias Riggs. Joel and Hadrian were walking through the nearby town of Adams, MA, not far behind the couple as they were on a date. “Why don’t you just tell her you like her, dude?”
“Keep your voice down! She’s happy with him, Joel. I’m not going to split them up.” Hadrian’s face betrayed his feelings about the couple, but Joel wasn’t going to let him off that easy.
“I’m telling you, you should go for it.”
“I can’t do it.” Hadrian shook his head as the couple walked into a coffee shop. As it was the Saturday before Valentine’s Day, all the couples were out on dates. The two teens glanced into the coffee shop as they passed, and Hadrian sighed. “I just don’t get why she’d go for Riggs anyways.”
“He’s popular.” Joel shrugged. “And a quodpot star, even if he is a Thunderbird.”
“I’m good at quodpot too…” Hadrian said grumpily. A few gasps behind them caused Hadrian and Joel to turn around, curious. “Zelda?” A couple students jumped out of the way as the vulture dove down at the Addams teen, who held his arm out for her. “What is it, Zelda girl?”
The vulture cawed loudly, holding out her leg. Hadrian quickly took the letter which was clasped in her talons. Joel watched on as he ripped the letter open. “What is it, dude?”
Hadrian grinned as he read the letter. “Mother had the baby early! I’ve got a little brother!”
“Congrats, man. What’d they name him?”
“Pubert.” Hadrian grinned as he patted the vulture on the back. “Thanks, Zelda.” She flew away as Joel gaped at his friend.
“Pubert? Like puberty?”
“Guess so. Come on, I have to tell Pugsley!” The two teens raced back up the mountain to the castle, where they found the younger Addams boy playing a game of wizard chess with Dexter. “Pugsley! Mother had the baby!” Hadrian held the letter out to his younger brother.
Pugsley looked up from his game, grinning. “No way!” He quickly scanned the letter before grinning back up at his elder brother. “Wicked.”
Joel smirked, looking at the joy on the two brothers’ faces. It was good to see his friend back to normal for once.