29. The Dual Birthday (?) Prank

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You might be questioning the presence of the question mark...well, it might be because the pranksters in question themselves are not sure if it was a prank or not! XDXD

You'll have to discover and judge it yourself!

Enjoy!

~~~~~~~~~~~

Ages-old battle instinct had Marvolo ingrained the habit of sensing and feeling out his surroundings with his Magic before he opens his eyes. And for the last couple of months, sensing out for his son as well. So when, on the morning of New Year Eve, Marvolo noticed he can't feel his son anywhere in the Slytherin Castle, his first reaction was alarm and dread. And then, when he noticed he can't feel Nagini as well, he felt as if his heart stopped beating.

HOW?! He NEVER felt anything at the night!

What did the hell happen?

As Marvolo recognized a full-blown panic is starting to settle in his bones, he slammed his shield up and threw his blanket off to rush towards his son's room to check out physically and maybe find a clue on what happened, who dared to kidnap his son and decades-long companion. He will tear the World apart if anything happens to either of them! On the verge of freaking out, he almost ran into his son's House Elf who appeared at his side just as he threw open the door of his son's room.

"Master Harry has requested Master Lord sir's presence in the Manor for his surprise birthday celebration and asked Bailey to place his birthday gift on the nightstand table. Happy Birthday, Master."

Marvolo gaped for a second before his half-sleep half panic-addled brain geared up and he remembered that this is indeed New Year Eve, his birthday. Is that what's happening? They're preparing a surprised birthday celebration for him while giving him an aneurysm?

Clearly, neither of them realized that they will be responsible for Hell is to be loose on Earth if something happens to either of them! The first Wizarding war or even the World War is nothing compared to what Marvolo would do if that happens.

As he finished processing everything, he immediately reached out towards the Horcrux links on both his preciouses to find them rather excited and giddy with anticipation. No trace of distress, no alarm, or any sensation of pain coming from either of them. He was tempted to see through their eyes but refrained himself. No, they're fine. And if they're working so hard to give him something like a birthday surprise - as repugnant as that sounds, he will indulge them and not ruin their delight.

Marvolo took a deep breath and calmed down. Well, no one has ever wished him on his birthday other than Nagini, heck people didn't even know when was his birthday. So that's a bit unexpected and unusual for him. But even so, how come he never felt the tingling of the Wards shifting in the Manor? Is his son truly that proficient in sneaking inside the Wards that he placed, or he is losing touch? He even sneaked inside his bedroom the other night as well! Even now, when he reached towards the Slytherin Manor wards, he can't feel them. What is happe - OH!

Mother Castle is blocking him. That little twit probably asked the Mother Castle to block him out until he reached the Manor. And he didn't even know that Mother Castle was capable of doing that until now.

If Marvolo was a lesser man, he would have smacked his face. Of course, even the Mother Castle would prefer to listen to his son's request and block Her Lord! Note the sarcasm here.

Hold on, did the Elf just say his son left him a present?

Marvolo turned on his heels and managed to keep his dignity and not stomp towards his room to find out, anticipation bubbling inside, a tiny little part of his heart jumping up and down in sheer joy of having his first birthday gift ever. Speaking of which...he thought he grounded the child. And Marvolo knows Hadrianus will not disobey him like that. Then why did he...?

Marvolo saved the thought for later to find out when he went to the Manor and picked up the silver wrapped gift from his bedside table carrying his son's name tag. Quickly tearing through the wrappers, he opened the lid of the box to find a gift basket made of bamboo in there, which contained multiple gifts that are decorated rather artfully. Marvolo slowly placed the basket on the bed, his eyes roaming from one to another. The first gift that caught his eyes was a beautifully created crystal crown that seems to change color with light and time, magic is radiating from it, which he examined to find unbreakable charm, anti-dust, resizable charms, and some basic protection charms which Marvolo recognized Barty had been teaching Hadrianus. It was so artfully created that, if it wasn't for the 'Wiggle Lord' written on it with familiar handwriting and his Magical signature in the crown, he wouldn't have believed it was his son who made it.

Next what caught his attention was multiple medium-sized photo frames made of twigs and pieces of cardboard, armed with preservative, waterproofing, fireproofing, and anti-dust charms, holding several beautiful moments of his life. Like the photo of him standing in the Slytherin Common Room wearing his Prefect badge and holding Slytherin Court, his graduation day, and some random photos like him hanging out in Slytherin Common Room with his first Knights! There also were photos of just him, Hadrianus, and Nagini casually chatting in his Study or the photo where they all are cuddling and Marvolo teaching Hadrianus how to draw a ball of light, followed by Hadrianus who summoned his own ball.

Marvolo stared at the photos for a long time. He can tell every photo was taken from memory, judging by the blurriness around the edges. While he knows some of those memories are from Hadrianus's own memory, that doesn't explain how he got a hold on the memories of his school time. Who could have supplied him with these memories? A memory of a flustered young boy looking up at him with wide adoring eyes came to his mind, but Marvolo shook his head. No, he knows Theonel Nott doesn't remember his face anymore. And the photos clearly say whoever is this remembers him. They clearly were involved in the secret of Fidelius. And he has no idea who they are.

Marvolo sat up straighter uneasily. Whoever is it, he must get to them first and make sure they're under a strict secrecy oath. While he can give credit to Hadrianus for his efforts, he can not let them ruin his plans.

Marvolo saved the gift basket on his shelves, taking the snacks from them (All his favorite snacks!) and ordering Cece to save them, he went for a quick shower and then put on some nice clothes. If his son is arranging some kind of surprise for his birthday, he might as well be prepared for it.

When Marvolo reached the Manor, he was prepared for...maybe some kind of private celebration. What he wasn't prepared for was a glitter bomb to set off as soon as he stepped out, then several voices rose in the air, "Happy Birthday My Lord/father!" making Marvolo breathe deeply and curled his hand into a fist which was itching for his Wand with several curses already on his tongue. Okay, he wasn't prepared for this. At. ALL!

Damn it, he is not a simple and regular Wizard! He is a battle-hardened war leader with paranoia dialed up to nine and his instincts consist of shooting a killing curse at anything that catches him off guard! What were they thinking?

No, he can't blame the child! The innocent wee Naga has no idea what a monster his father is!

When he was calm enough, he looked around to find his son, Nagini, Barty, Narcissa, Severus, Lucius...and Walburga? Everyone is grinning up at him, though he can see the wariness in the adult's smiles. Good.

The last one's present was totally unexpected. Never in a million years, he thought his son will find out about Lady Black and reach out to her. Well, that explains how he was able to get a hold of memories of his school time. This also means Walburga knows who is he, but at least it made him relieve some tension. Walburga and Orion were fiercely loyal to him even if they didn't take his Mark, though he would acquire some oath from her later.

Marvolo took his time to look around the room to find it decorated with Slytherin color and a big 'Happy Birthday' written in golden and white glitters floating in the air, which changed the next second to form 'Wishing you a day filled with happiness and next 364 days filled with joy,' and then 'I love you' and many more. Thankfully there was no balloon, or else Marvolo wasn't sure how he would react. He can hear Nagini cackling at the sight of him, which made him wipe whatever expression he was sporting but not before shooting a glare at her. He can tell it was Nagini's idea about the glitter bomb.

Marvolo stood tall and nodded at them, sighing when he failed to brush off the glitters from his robes, face, and hair. If it was anyone else, they would be dead! "Thank you, everyone."

He made his way towards the Head of the table where his son is almost bouncing on his feet in excitement, grinning from ear to ear. As he took his place, he looked at the sneaky child and raised an eyebrow. "Was it a prank on me?" The glitter bomb had to be a prank!

"What are you talking about?" The child's eyes were wide and innocent. Marvolo snorted and decided to let it go, for now.

"Someone ignored me grounding them."

Hadrianus blushed, tugging at his left wrist letting him know where is the blasted creature hiding. "Well, you said I couldn't 'cross the river for a month'. And technically, I didn't cross the river, I used the Floo!" He shrugged, face set into a guilty grin making several voices snort at that. Marvolo resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose. Of course! That sneaky little imp! Barty covered his mouth with the box he was currently holding to hide his smile while Narcissa, Lucius, and Severus bit the inside of their mouths to stop their lips from forming into a treacherous smile of their own. Only Walburga outright guffawed.

Marvolo pinched the cheeks of his son making him exclaim 'Ow! Ow! Ow!' for the sheer cheek, then looked back at his old classmate, "Good to see you, Walburga. I haven't known you were acquainted with my son."

"I wasn't, My Lord," Walburga smiled fondly at the child pouting and rubbing his sore and red cheeks, "However, I did express my desire to learn about the current Lord Slytherin to dear Narcissa. Then this morning, Narcissa appeared and welcomed me for an afternoon tea with Heir Slytherin in the Slytherin Manor on his behalf. I obviously accepted and then learned the truth from him and then I was invited for dinner and additionally for your private birthday celebration. And I have to say, he is such a delightful and polite little chap, reminded me of my son Regulus, he truly is a perfect Heir."

"Indeed?" Marvolo snubbed the rage at the mention of the traitorous Regulus and turned towards his son who ducked his head, his cheeks burning, "Aunt Cissa told me Grand Aunt was your old classmate, so I thought you'd like to meet up with some old friends for your birthday."

Hold on, did he just say... "Grand Aunt?"

It didn't escape Marvolo's eyes how Walburga puffed up at the title, "I instructed him to call me that, which I am through dear Narcissa. He makes a much more desirable descendant than I had the displeasure to meet, I wish you had some Black blood in you, little Adrian. I would have petitioned to Arcturus to disown Sirius and make you the Heir Black." The House of Black will be honored if their Lord accepts the name.

It was Barty who spoke up next, "Isn't Sirius the Lord of Black?"

"I would never let that blood traitor become the true Lord of Black, not when I am still breathing! He is the acting Lord at the moment, the true Lord is Arcturus. And Sirius had vowed that he will never have a child, let that Potter spawn have the inheritance after Arcturus's dead! Can you believe it? The Noble Black family is in the hand of the disgusting Light family! Not only that, a blood traitor family responsible for our Lord's fall!" Walburga was outraged, her voice taking a shrilly note which had Marvolo almost cringed. Though he is relieved at the news, as the Potters has gained too many Lordships. Many people gave their seats to Jim Potter as an appreciation for ending the war or to save themselves from going extinct. He doesn't need to add Black seats added in the pile as well.

Marvolo smirked inwardly, knowing his son does have some Black blood in him. But he is not interested in gaining the Black Lordship, he already has too much work to do. "If you want, Walburga, I can plan for some alternative. Unless you want to name Heir Malfoy as your Heir?"

"Dear Draco has been in my mind as the last hope, but I didn't want the Black House to be merged with another House, despite their rank. So yes, I would like to learn your plans, My Lord. Can you save the House of Black from going extinct or merge with others?"

Marvolo inwardly rolled his eyes at the hypocrisy. She doesn't want to merge Black with Malfoy, but wants to merge it with Slytherin? And then she says 'despite their rank'. Does she honestly believe Lucius is a feeble-minded WIzard to not understand that? Not that he can blame her. Lucius himself wanted to merge Malfoy with Slytherin, although using another approach! "Well, I have some of my side projects under consideration, if everything continues as designed, our dear Bella can provide you a spare as Heir of Black if you concede the female line to serve House of Black."

Stillness surrounded around the table, before everyone exclaimed together, "How?!"

"My Lord, sister Bella was - "

"I know," Marvolo nodded, "Have some faith in your Lord. And if what I am planning for Bella meets success, I can arrange something similar for Narcissa as well." That is if Lucius lets go of his family pride and agree with a surrogate. Maybe he will when he sees the result. Marvolo is aware that the most pureblood line is going extinct because of their prejudice to accept change and welcome a surrogate. They think it will bring unwanted and impure ancestry to their Heir, refusing to accept further knowledge on the topic and learn the truth. (This has been one of the reasons he didn't clarify the issue on his son's bearer during the Wizengamot session - because they might accept him 'marrying another' after the 'death' of his 'former wife', but then will start questioning why he's not doing the same again after the 'accident' with his wife. Learning that bit of news from Rita Skeeter had been an eye-opener for him, and made him extra wary for his next moves. After all, he can't have eerie fangirls stalking his every movement and then realize who he is underneath!)

But if they notice fanatic pureblood like Blacks accepting it and producing pureblood and powerful Heirs, (and he knows Bella will do anything her Lord suggests) they might start accepting it. After all, the more Magical people, the merrier! And the products of Malfoy-Black, and Lestrange-Black will be truly powerful.

Walburga almost cried in happiness with Narcissa, even Lucius and Severus looked excited and awed at the prospect.

  

  

After the brief gift giving - though none of them were as precious compared to what his son gave him - it was time for the dinner (or breakfast, in Marvolo and Hadrianus's case), Marvolo couldn't stop himself from widening his eyes looking at the delicious-looking matcha green tea and pistachio flavored cake with 'Happy Birthday' written on it with familiar handwriting; which told him who made the cake. There was also a great albino cobra (his Naga form) with berry eyes coiled up around the cake and flaring its hood proudly over what seems like a snowman in front of two simple winterberry bushes - made of original winterberry and cake cream foundation. He remembered fondly the day they were roaming the previously unexplored wintry part of their garden in their half serpentine form and Hadrianus discovered the big and charmed snowy section full of bushes of hollies and other winter plants and squealed in ecstasy before demanding they make a snowman together. Hadrianus had been very proud and over the moon for having his first snowman that no one will destroy, he probably never realized that it has been the first snowman for both of them. After that, they made several detours to the snowy section to make snowmen and snow angels whenever they're free. (After all, Hawaii is a warm country, the temperature doesn't drop below zero so they can't have the real snow.) This memory has been among the photo frames as well - both of them proudly grinning as their respective charmed carrot-nosed snowmen preened, surrounded by the holly bushes under heavy snow.

"You made it?" Marvolo raised an eyebrow at his eight years old. How? He is a child!

Hadrianus squirmed on his seat and blushed under everyone's attention, while Nagini giggled softly from where she is perching on the lounge chair. It was Narcissa who spoke up, "I caught him baking alone yesterday, the whole face smeared in flour."

Baking alone? Where did he learn to - Oh! Of course. His son has stopped being a child since he was a toddler and in care of those muggle scumbags! Marvolo took a note on a detour to the headquarters dungeons.

"Is that what you've been doing for yesterday's lessons?" Marvolo raised an eyebrow as he picked up the knife on his insistence. Hadrianus ignored him and prompted him to cut the cake, which he did reluctantly.

The cake vanished and then appeared as several pieces in front of everyone's plates. Marvolo cut a bite-sized piece and ate it, surprised to find how moist and fluffy it is. Not too sweet and the flavor is perfect - his favorite, as always. It made him realize how observant his little son is. No one ever knew him at this intimate level before.

"The cake is awesome, Little Prince. Kudos!" Barty waved his own piece before taking a huge bite, followed by affirmative murmurs from Lucius and Severus. Hadrianus blushed shyly but beamed happily, pleased. The Dursleys never complimented him, under their care - or lack, thereof - he was only acknowledged for his mistakes.

"I will teach you some of my mother's recipe," Walburga smiled and cooed at the child.

Narcissa smiled into her wine. Coming from Aunt Walburga, that is practically a compliment. "I am sure little Adrian will be delighted to learn them, Aunt Walburga."

"My Lord, if we may," Severus spoke up when a comfortable silence was fallen as they all got busy with the excellent dinner.

"Yes, Severus?"

"You had asked me to find someone worthy of the trust to look out for the Dark Prince while Barty is in Hogwarts."

"Yes," Marvolo looked up eagerly, "You found someone?" Because heaven forbid if that child can go one day without scratching or bruising himself. Marvolo feels like if he wraps the child in bubbles and cushioning charm, he still will find a way to get in trouble when no one is around to supervise the trouble magnet. He had left him alone for few hours yesterday (to celebrate the win with his inner circle of the Knights and inform them about his return as 'Lord Slytherin'), and then returned home to discover the imp running around with a possible class XXXXX Dark creature flapping from his sleeve as if cemented with a permanent sticking charm. He still can't believe he had allowed him to keep it, not that he can actually retain a familiar from its wizard after the bond has already formed, no matter how much he tries. But at least he can nurture and guide the connection between

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