Adrian did, he walked out with her mighty girth near his shin. Her presence both soothed him and warped his perception. There was dangerous magic in the air, tingling and pressing on his skin lovingly.
"Master missed you too." Nagini mentioned casually, "He hunted prey alone and did not look happy."
"He missed me?" The idea tasted like honey, saccharine and sick. "Father missed me?"
"He did," Nagini confirmed, her body climbing over the fallen corpse of something Adrian couldn't remember, "He misses you.'
That sounded wonderful, it sounded perfect.
There was a voice to Adrian's left, something ugly and sharp which shattered the tranquility Adrian had surrounded himself in.
A flash of red shot over the ground, directly at Adrian's chest.
"Protego," Adrian cast, jerking the movements and blurting the incantation out of reflex. Nonetheless, he waved his arm just as how his Father had taught him. The spell held, deflecting the stunner without danger.
"Prey!" Nagini spat, sounding offended and infuriated at the same time.
Adrian shifted into his dueling stance, Nagini tensed at his heels.
The chaos Bellatrix had created and the smell of fire brought sudden clarity in a way nothing else had before.
The man fired another spell, not a stunner but something Adrian recognized as a body bind. He sidestepped, swinging his arm with the momentum to send his curse back.
It left his wand a violent lavender, cast perfectly without a hitch despite how long it had been.
The moment the spell was cast, [1] it did something. Adrian groaned, his legs collapsing as he crumpled onto the waiting form of Nagini.
"Little One," Nagini prompted patiently, "Rise,"
His entire body spasmed, breathing felt electrifying. His nerves and muscles tensed in preparation and in need.
'More more more'
"Abrumpo!" He hissed, nearly switching to his other tongue. The dark cutting curse sped into the dark, removing a portion of the man's cloak. The spell sent euphoria down his arm, pulsating as adrenaline pumped and made everything so much sharper. It was good he already was shaking on the ground- his legs would have collapsed from under him.
He sent it again, rising unsteadily to continue his dance. Nagini's tail twisted excitedly, watching with rapt attention.
"Abrumpo!" He sent again, slashing over and over through the night and darkness as his body hummed. His magic sang happily, pulsing in beat to his heart as it danced through the air.
Was this why Bellatrix laughed when dueling?
He would laugh as well.
The man tripped over something, collapsing on the ground as his eyes bugged out. He mouthed something, the words unheard behind the rushing of blood in Adrian's ears.
Adrian didn't think, he slashed his wand through the air once again. The word tumbled from his lips, foreign but oh so practiced.
It hit its mark.
Something warm splashed over Adrian's face, deflected by the spell on his hood yet soaking the fabric around his throat. Wet and hot, it spread downwards slowly in intrusive rivulets.
Adrian could hear again, he could see again.
The man was gurgling feebly, one hand clutching his chest where he…
"Why did you stop?" Nagini complained, slithering over curiously towards the man. He screamed, either in horror or pain. Maybe the man was screaming because of Nagini, or perhaps it was-
"I-" Adrian choked off, body shaking either from such a glorious bliss leaving him so soon, or due to the blood staining his clothing. "I didn't-"
The man's eyes were bulging, his hands were gasping against his torn and butchered chest.
"He is prey," Nagini simplified, "Prey are eaten."
The man gasped something wetly, it sounded faintly like a plea.
What had he done.
What had he done?
"You!" Someone shouted, racing over the battlefield in the distinct cloak and armor of the Ministry Aurors.
Adrian stumbled upwards, jerking a step backwards. Nagini hissed displeased at the interruption, flexing her muscles.
"He cannot stay," Nagini surmised, thinking clearly for Adrian since he struggled to remember how to speak.
Adrian stomach lurched, "Nagini don't-"
The giant snake lunged forward, fangs sinking into muscle and jugular with a sound of wet parchment tearing.
Adrian flinched. The man on the ground didn't plea anymore.
"No!" The auror shouted, flinging a stunner across the distance in anger, "Leave him alone!"
Adrian raised a shield on automatic, protecting Nagini. Her maw was coated in gore.
The auror threw another spell, Adrian blocked and sent a blindness curse in return. It sang and tingled in his blood, threatening to overwhelm him as his spells before. It tempted him to begin another frenzy of dark magic.
He restrained himself, turning to run only when he saw the auror scream and clutch his eyes in pain.
"Nagini!" Adrian hissed, prompting for the serpent to lead the way back to where Bellatrix had been.
He didn't dare look back, he couldn't afford to look back.
If he dared to, he couldn't pretend that he hadn't-
Adrian kept running.
"Master!" Lutain shouted, flinging himself off of Bellatrix's neck like a leaping dog.
The large snake made the distance, wrapping heavily around Adrian's forearm albeit clumsily.
"Master!" Lutain repeated with the same intensity, despite the reduced distance, "You're here!"
"Lutain!" Adrian responded with equal enthusiasm. He couldn't help the smile that spread across his face, leaving him breathless and thrilled, "I have so much to tell you!"
"I have much to tell you!" Lutain countered smugly, "Many sheds! One shed entire strip!"
"Well that's impressive," Adrian admitted in good humor, smiling shakily.
Lutain stared, cocking his head in interest, "You look sick."
"I'm not," Adrian assured, swallowing the lump down his throat, "You remember Remus? Well, he's pretty much promised us into the Order."
Lutain cocked his head the other way, interested, "Of the birds?"
"Phoenix," Adrian corrected, helping the long serpent coil around his throat and neck like an elaborate necktie, "and yes. Lutain, it worked. Everything worked, oh I've missed you so much."
"As I you, Master." Lutain flicked his tongue against the ridge of his knuckles, "I missed you much. Never leave again?"
"I won't," Adrian swore, eyes prickling and throat clogging, "Never again."
....
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