Impedimenta

The Dementors were swirling, conspiring in thick shrouded masses outside the windows.

Adrian could see them dance in his peripheral vision, startling students who sat nearest the windows with sudden bouts of frost and dread. An impressive fire had been charmed to blaze cheerily in all classrooms, dancing the shapes of phoenixes and unicorns running in and out of the smoke.

Aurors were more present, less to protect the populace and more to figure out why the Dementors had suddenly congregated at the school instead of the borders along the property. They still worked at Azkaban, at least a portion did, securing the prisoners and feeding on their faint tastes of hope and longing.

Perhaps that was why they were near Hogwarts, just beyond the wards of the castle. The hopes and aspirations of children would be as delightful as a suckling pig to a butcher.

"They're creepy," Draco muttered under his breath, sitting next to Adrian in Potions although not actually sharing his cauldron. Instead Adrian worked with Goyle, trying to save the potion as much as possible.

"I think they're beautiful," Adrian countered, slapping away Goyle's grubby fingers who were reaching for beetle eyes at the wrong time.

"Yeah but that's you," Draco argued, deftly slicing poppy roots while instructing Crabbe how to stir the concoction, "I wouldn't be surprised if you had a taxidermy pixie collection at your home."

Adrian shot him a wounded look, "A pixie collection? If you're asking about my dragon claw collection-"

"What, no skulls?" Draco drawled, "Missing the pickled two headed baby squid in a jar?"

Adrian chuckled under his breath, shaking his head in amusement as he added in the beetle eyes Goyle had been pawing at the proper time.

"I wouldn't object to a dragon skull," Adrian mused, "Especially if it had been in battle."

"You mean with scales?" Draco asked with one eyebrow raised, "An Opaleye would be interesting."

Adrian hummed, pointing out how to stir the cauldron to Goyle as he started peeling hopping seed pods, "A live dragon would be even better."

"If they weren't illegal." Draco added with a frown, "I have a feeling you wouldn't follow the law anyways."

"What, me?" Adrian gaped in mock surprise, "Never."

They continued chatting, Draco offering animals that gradually grew more and more ridiculous. Adrian then named the proper living conditions or how he would contain it, or mount it on his wall. Potions class was let out, thankfully with no unfortunate accidents from Longbottom or Potter (Who managed to lose forty house points). They rose from the steps, heading out across the covered bridge towards Hagrid's hut where Care for Magical Creatures took place.

Dementors swooped in the air around them, kept out by a near invisible shimmering sheen like glossy fish scales.

Draco shivered, "I don't see how you find such monsters, beautiful."

Adrian frowned, "Look at them. They look so effortless, so powerful in the air." Adrian explained, eyes glazing as they danced in the air swooping down and up again, "They look like wind itself."

"More like a nightmare." Draco muttered, "If you like flying so much, why don't you just ride a broom? I'd take you flying again if you want."

A dementor looped in the air, its cloak trailing behind like elongated shadows of smoke.

"No," Adrian mused, not regulating his words, "I want to fly like that. Without a broom. Just the wind and your own body twisting in the air."

Draco laughed out loud, "Better luck riding a Griffon, you dolt."

Adrian smiled faintly, "Bet you ten galleons I'll do that too, someday."

Red sparks shot up from the rough area of Hagrid's hut, from the various pens and wooden fences along the side. Hagrid was nodding in the distance, talking to someone with unmistakable bushy hair.

"Oh look, your mudblood girlfriend." Draco sneered, causing Adrian to jolt.

"Excuse me?" Adrian blinked, "She's a Gryffindor snob along with a pushy bookworm. I despise the air she breathes."

Draco looked as if he had been struck, "Why do you hang out with her?"

Adrian blinked in bafflement, "I have debts to fulfill. Besides," He paused, smiling slightly in amusement, "She's friends with Potter. Never know when that will be handy."

Being close to Potter would be handy.

He'd be able to spy and-

Adrian exhaled in a single large rush of air, his eyes widened as slots of ideas slid together into a cohesive idea.

"Look, I've got to go," Adrian breathed, stepping backwards towards the castle.

"What?" Draco snapped, "No, no, you are not skipping Care-"

Adrian had already turned and bolted, running into the castle with determination in his steps.

He ran up the stairs, waiting impatiently for a specific moving stairwell. A group of upper year Hufflepuffs shouted angrily for him to slow down.

Adrian first checked the classroom, swinging the door open to look in the quiet room. Dementors flicked beyond the high stained glass windows in the back.

"Selwyn?" A baffled but obnoxious voice questioned, curiosity thick like molten chocolate.

"Potter," Adrian monotonously responded, pausing to form a pleasant smile as he observed the Gryffindor boy, "What might you be doing here?"

"Er," Skylar blinked, eyes half hidden behind mousy bangs. His rounded cherub looking face looked cursable, "Remus wanted me to get his lesson plan for tomorrow-"

"Remus?" Adrian asked dryly, "Really feeding out of your teacher's palms, aren't you."

Skylar blushed, then flushed angrily.

"I don't know why Hermione likes you!" He blurted suddenly, "You're always so rude-"

"But I'm helpful." Adrian sniped out cockily, "Much more than you are."

"You snake faced-"

Adrian snorted at the insult. His father may be, but thankfully he hadn't inherited those genes.

"Is he in his quarters?" Adrian asked, already walking to Lupin's desk to grab the lesson plans in question, "I'll take them to him."

"You-" Skylar started to question before pausing abruptly, "Aren't you supposed to be in Care right now?"

"Aren't you?"

"I'm on-" Skylar winced suddenly, "Official Saviour business-"

Adrian tilted his head back and laughed, "Oh Merlin," He wheezed, nearly crying at the ridiculousness of it, "Is that really what you're telling people?" He gagged, inhaling too quickly for his lungs to accomodate, "Oh, no wonder you're the joke of the Wizarding World."

"I am not!" Skylar shouted, flushing up to his ears in embarrassment, "I really am doing important-"

"Listen here, Potter." Adrian's smile became wickedly sharp, "You may think you know what you're doing, but in this castle, I'm the one, who's one step up."

Skylar frowned and looked ready to punch Adrian in the face.

"You're not the boss of me." Skylar prickled, nearly sending spittle on Adrian's face. Skylar was in an unusually grumpy mood, generally he wasn't this easy to rile up.

"No, I'm not." Adrian agreed, "But remember that when the time comes for you to need information or help, I have blackmail or dues for nearly everyone in this castle."

Adrian's eyes nearly glowed, "And that's something even you, Golden boy, don't have."

He shoved past Skylar, taking great satisfaction with how his bony shoulder clipped the other's.

"Professor?" Adrian asked politely, elevating his voice to speak through the door, "Professor Lupin?"

The door opened slowly, revealing a sickly looking man who was still unmistakable.

"You look terrible." Adrian blinked, ever so blunt with his observation.

Lupin still looked baffled, stepping back to allow the door to open further, "Mr. Selwyn, why are you-"

"You're having Skylar Potter do your errands?" Adrian arched one eyebrow, "Really?"

Lupin blinked, large bags under his bright golden eyes, like melted galleons, "Don't you have class?"

Adrian ignored it and walked further into the room, stumbling as he slammed into the strong smell of incense in the air.

"Mr. Selwyn, I feel morally obliged to send you back to your class-"

Adrian sighed audibly, "I have your lesson plans, I'm more useful than Skylar."

Lupin smiled thinly, dropping onto the opposite chair with a small wince.

"Well, Skylar is a good boy-"

"Also your godson," Adrian pointed out, causing Lupin to frown.

"Mr. Selwyn, I'm not sure where you get this information-"

"I have a lot of good information," Adrian slyly added, "I'm sure you'd find it useful."

Lupin rolled his eyes with a strange fondness Adrian hadn't ever seen directed at him before.

"Well, I'll let you know next time I want to know the newest gossip wheel in the Slytherin house." Lupin smiled, "Maybe Professor Snape and I can discuss it over tea."

Adrian gave a bark of laughter at the thought.

"Anyways, thank you so much for delivering my lesson plans. I'm feeling a bit under the weather, I'm afraid I won't be able to teach tomorrow." Lupin apologized with a sincere expression of regret.

"I'm sure that Snape would like teaching for a day, since he can't get the position." Adrian blinked slowly, "The position is cursed, you know."

"It's such a strange expression considering real spellwork and curses exist." Lupin smiled, running one hand through his limp brown hair.

"Oh," Adrian blinked slowly, "It is cursed. The Dark Lord cursed it himself, only misfortune falls to those who attempt to teach more than a year."

Lupin froze, his hand stilling in his hair. He looked at Adrian with a sense of utter disbelief, "Mr. Selwyn where did you hear such a silly rumor-"

"I know a lot of things," Adrian swallowed, "Can you swear to me what I say won't leave the room?"

"Mr. Selwyn-"

"Please?" Adrian paused, stomaching his pride to try and assume the persona of not his father's son. "Please, Remus?"

Remus melted like the paternal sap he was. "Of course, I swear what we talk about won't leave the room."

Adrian smiled, a gentle expression formed on Lupin's face. Adrian stomached his doubt, briefly wishing Lutain was with him to egg him on, "I know about the Order of the Phoenix."

"What?" Lupin jumped to his feet in alarm, "What are you-"

"I know a lot of things," Adrian added, "Things that a boy my age shouldn't. People overlook me," he pointedly stated, staring with all seriousness into Lupin's eyes, "Bellatrix underestimated me."

Lupin paled more than it seemed he possibly could with his complexion, "Mr. Selwyn exams are fast approaching, you should be better using your time-"

"The dementors are so close, Professor." Adrian spoke, lowering his voice to a whisper as he looked out of the nearest window, it was already getting dark out, "they're leaving Azkaban."

"Listen to me, Adrian," Remus Lupin growled, a low rumbling noise in his throat that was distinctly canine, "Bellatrix Lestrange cannot get out-"

"Students are whispering," Adrian pointed out, still gazing out the window, "They're saying things that Azkaban is going to fall."

A complete lie. Or perhaps it was truth, Adrian didn't know for sure.

Remus Lupin leaned back, rubbing his eyes and looking considerably worse off, "That's...Let me think on it, Mr. Selwyn-"

"If I'm helping you, you can call me Adrian." he pointed out, green eyes finally meeting gold, "anonymously of course."

Lupin smiled tightly, "This is dangerous work, Adrian."

Adrian smiled back, eyes sharp, "This is a dangerous world we live in, Professor."

The chill was rising with the moon. Adrian didn't have that much time, not to mention his detour to the Slytherin rooms to retrieve Lutain.

"We heading to the forest?" Lutain hissed eagerly, peering around and scenting the air as an early warning, "Heading to Adalonda?"

"Adalonda first," Adrian mumbled to himself, walking purposefully through the dark passageways of the castle. Paying the Weasley twins for the secret pathways was well worth it.

"Yes! The forest for demon-tears." Lutain cheered, purposefully messing with the word.

Adrian smiled and slid out into the washroom, opening the Chamber to slide down.

The Chamber was just as he left it, although it had been tidied slightly. The huge snake skin had been pushed out of the way, trampled by something roughly the same size.

"Adalonda?" Adrian shouted, his hisses reverberating oddly in the large room.

Ginny's skeleton was moved as well. Only her hair remained.

(Lutain had mentioned it to Adalonda, who moved it one day without further questions. Adrian hadn't seen it since.)

"Lutain?" A larger much deeper grumble sounded, echoing off the many pipes and statues, "Cerestes?"

That had been an argument in itself. Adalonda had quickly fallen into a mothering relationship with the two, constantly wrapping them under her coils like she was nesting a clutch. She refused to call Adrian by his name, instead falling into her self proclaimed tradition of naming serpents.

Adrian had absentmindedly mentioned his title was to be Cerestes, a mythological serpent which survived by disguises and ambushing; Adalonda instantly took to it, only calling Adrian that.

"We're here." Adrian responded, walking into the main chamber just as Adalonda finished slithering out of one of the massive pipes, "Where were you?"

"Swimming," Adalonda blinked, moving aside one of her many eyelids, "Not long, helps with shed." she explained briefly tilting her massive head to one side, "You travel to the forest?"

"Yes!" Lutain writhed eagerly, "I will strike centaurs! I am faster now!"

"You have shed many times since I slept last," Adalonda commented, "You are nearly unseen, night-scales."

Lutain wriggled excitedly.

"Which pipe exits in the Forbidden Forest?" Adrian asked, peering through the many twelve foot tubes.

"The Lost Forest is old," Adalonda tisked, "Not forbidden, only Lost. This path, little Cerestes. Exits near clearing, but long have abandoned. Giant spiders flee, like worms." Adalonda explained, pausing before making the oddest grunting noise.

"I make the hiss of a spider," Adalonda explained, looking as if she had done something obvious, "It was accurate."

"That was one of the worst impressions I've ever heard." Adrian added goodnaturedly, patting her side affectionately.

"Such rude hatchling," Adalonda huffed, peering at Lutain tiredly "Does he always speak so rude."

"I did not understand your hiss." Lutain confessed, "Sounded like frog."

"It did not!" Adalonda huffed, a smile in her voice, "You all have leaves in ears."

"I don't!" Adrian argued.

"I don't have ears!" Lutain argued as well, "Your tongue is limp!"

"His tongue is a fish!" Adalonda pointed out, flicking her own forked tongue for emphasis.

Adrian smiled and wrapped one arm a third around her neck in a quasi hug before climbing carefully into the dark tunnel.

"Lumos," He murmured, alighting his wand before turning back to the clouded eyes of Adalonda "You be safe, okay?"

"'Be safe'" She mimicked, tossing her head, "You are one who awakens a sleeping queen without knowing what will happen! If anyone needs to 'be safe' it is you! My scales will fall out with stress!" She ranted, "Stay away from Centaurs! They are fast and will shoot you with arrows!"

"I'll bite if they do!" Lutain boasted, causing Adalonda to huff in amusement.

"We'll be safe," Adrian smiled, "We're only going to offer a treaty to Dementors by giving them the soul of Hippogriffs."

Adalonda blinked slowly, "You're worse than Salazar."

"We'll be back!" Lutain promised, darting into the tube ahead of Adrian, forcing the wizard to run after.

Ever so quickly the tube stretched off, leaving Adrian with the disorienting sound of his own feet echoing all around him.

"Master, what happens when we reach the forest?" Lutain asked, slithering quickly with the casted heating charm around his body, "I can't bite dead."

"Well you could, but they're already dead so it wouldn't do anything." Adrian pointed out, relishing in his parseltongue, "I brought my cloak. I don't know where father got it, but I think the dementor material sewn into the bottom will help. It should keep them away."

"Should?" Lutain picked up on the hesitancy, "You have no idea do you."

"I am entirely certain a portion of the time."

Lutain paused a second to comprehend what Adrian had said, "You're as smart as a rock."

Adrian blinked and scoffed, angling to the left and upwards slowly as the tube ramped up, "That was rude. Should I use large words to confuse you?"

"Master I think you are being very rude." Lutain spoke with a fluid eloquence that could only exist from practice, "Nagini taught me that phrase,"

"I wonder why she knows that so well." Adrian chuckled, recasting Lumos to carry on in the darkness of the pipe.

Adrian was starting to doubt if Adalonda had been right before the tube started to widen, creating a funneling opening in the ground near an uprooted tree. They stumbled out, crunching on stiff grass as before their eyes, the tube melted into the dirt.

"Open," Adrian tested, feeling relief as the depression slowly melted away into the opening of the funnel once again, "Alright, Lutain you're up. Can you find the Hippogriffs?"

"You could if you were serpent." Lutain slightly barbed, "I could take you hunting!"

Adrian snorted, "You know I can't change into that. I'll need Wormtail to help me."

"Then you can eat him!" Lutain cheered, "He smells bad. You should eat him."

"You know, you can't always just bite and eat people you don't like." Adrian noted, stepping over a branch and offering an arm for his friend to climb up. Lutain slithered up, only using it as a crutch to be dragged over the large log, then he was on the prowl once again.

"I can't?" Lutain asked in surprise, "We always bite what we don't like. Or what scares us." Lutain added afterwards, gazing off into the distance as if lost in thought.

"We never had so many words either. So many sounds and meanings..." Lutain mused, voice trailing off quietly.

"Serpents?" Adrian clarified, "Do you like having more words?"

"It's strange." Lutain added, shifting under a fern and out of sight for a moment, "So many ways for saying what food wanted. Rat or mouse. Small or large." Lutain huffed, "I like words."

Adrian smiled, "It's nice to talk to you," he smiled, helping his friend over another log, lowering down a ravine carefully, "Are you sure this is the right way?"

"Are my scales black?" Lutain hissed in amusement, sliding up Adrian's leg before he got the message and lifted him to his throat, "Horse-birds that way."

"Horse-birds, right." Adrian nodded, "Have you ever seen a horse before?"

"Yes Master." Lutain hissed, peering around in the dark, "Hatchling in strange house of many prey and predators."

That was true, Lutain had come from a zoo.

"We are close." Lutain reported, uncoiling to allow Adrian to fish around in his expanded robe pocket to retrieve his cloak.

It fit him snugly, even through another robe than normal. The clasp clicked shut around his sternum, the edges flaring out like wings before settling gently around his legs.

"It's cold." Lutain complained, flicking his tongue at the off coloured grey tendrils at the bottom of the cloak, "It smells sick."

"That's how you know it works." Adrian smiled, pulling up his hood in one swift movement, activating the sticking charm interwoven with the fabric.

Lutain struggled to slither up the fabric, finding himself sliding down every time he tried to grip. "Allow me," Adrian offered, gently grasping his friend around his midsection. Adrian distantly marveled over how large Lutain had grown, he must have been nearing four feet.

Lutain coiled snugly, gripping tightly around his neck. Amazingly, no matter how much Lutain tightened, the cloak didn't press against his throat.

Adrian spotted what looked like a wooden fence in the distance, as he drew closer he could identify it as the edge of Hagrid's pasture. Although the Hippogriffs could fly, Adrian had noticed they stuck to the pasture where they were for sure to be fed.

"There!" Lutain hissed, tugging towards the right with his body, "I scent!"

"Well I don't see anything." Adrian retorted, squinting in the distance, "I know, I know, pathetic human eyes and all. Not everyone can smell body heat."

"That's why you should shift into a serpent kind." Lutain smugly added, "We wouldn't have this problem."

Adrian chuckled at Lutain's words. He moved carefully, taking a few moments to jump the fence carefully. He slid his wand into his hand, stopping his lumos spell as he drew closer.

He spotted the first Hippogriff, standing in a strange mixture of hunkering into its wings and curling its cloven hooves under it.

"Now we need the dementors." Adrian muttered, peering off into the distance.

There was something wrong with it, something was tickling his neck the wrong way.

The clouds over the full moon dispersed and as soon as he saw the light, he realized why.

"Lutain," Adrian snapped, drawing his wand and hunkering into a defensive stance, "Do you scent anything strange. Like a dog."

"Never scented a dog before." Lutain cheekily replied, but obliged by tasting and scanning around repeatedly.

It was likely that Lupin wasn't even at Hogwarts anymore- he had even seen Lupin looking so terrible.

"Stupid, stupid!" He cursed to himself, scanning around in the bleary dark anxiously, "Let's just find the dementors. Can you smell them?"

"No," Lutain hissed, "They fly near lake. Not big lake, small one." Lutain instructed, looking over to the side.

Adrian faintly knew of a smaller lake, one that Unicorns went to for drinks and to bathe. Hagrid had spoken of the place, it seemed ironic that a place once full of light and hope had been pushed out by the non-living.

Adrian hurried off, running in a sprint. Once he found a dementor, he had to hope that a Patronus would show he was serious. Then he'd have to bring a Hippogriff to him- perhaps they just needed permission before feasting on a soul?

Adrian suspected Dementors worked on a system of permission and loyalty binds. They were neutral in alliance, only serving those who had the highest profit to did wonders to confirm his suspicions. Although Adrian could go and drag a Hippogriff all the way out, he really hoped he just had to formally grant permission.

He stopped, his heart fluttering in his throat, when he heard the lone howl of something larger than a wolf.

"Bollocks," Adrian gasped, looking at Lutain who had frozen in fear as well.

They were out in the middle of the Forbidden Forest with a werewolf on the loose.

Adrian rolled his shoulders, twisting his wrist and held his wand before him. He had in practice, learned many different spells to fight off magical creatures, although he hadn't ever executed them against something. Practice was one thing, but actually performing?

He was hesitant to use his patronus now that Lupin was out and about, there was a chance that he could recognize it later.

"Let's go and get out of here." Lutain hissed, "You do not stop the hunt if the prey is formidable."

Adrian sighed but started running again, jumping over fallen trees and off mossy boulders when he could. He could hear the whispers in his ears, his breath drawing mist before his mouth, and he knew he was in the right place.

The lake was frozen, dementors dipping down low enough to brush against the lake and cool it once more. It was beautiful in its own way, the swirling pattern like a tornado of black, illuminated by the full moon.

Adrian walked out, trying to quell his hammering heart, watching the phantoms of reality dance before his eyes like a private show.

"Sonorus," Adrian cast with a sliding motion, pressing his wand to his throat to amplify the sound, "Dementors," He addressed, hoping his voice didn't warbel.

They spun, swooping to somehow curve around him, wrapping him in the center of the cyclone. The temperature dropped drastically, numbing his exposed fingers. The cloak appeared to neutralize the other effects, they seemed to realize it as well.

One swung forward, pausing just out of his grasp. It tilted its hood, creaking groans and gasping parted from what was its vocal chords. It reached out one hand, long and bony with scaled rotting skin flaking off.

"Dementors," Adrian addressed once again, "I come offering a token of peace, and a sample of what My Lord can offer."

It tilted its head, drawing closer with the grace of death itself.

"Master," Lutain shivered, tensing closer as the monster pressed nearer.

"There is a- a herd of Hippogriffs on the outer rim of this forest," Adrian stumbled, feeling his hands start to shake from the cold. His instincts crying at him to get away-

He wanted to reach out and touch it, to see if it's hand felt as it looked.

'Bestow them,' the voice whispered in his skull, 'A gift of gratitude.'

"I bestow to you and your kind, a gift of gratitude and a-an offer, for future compliance with the D-Dark Lord Voldemort," Adrian started again, feeling lightheaded from the pressure of so many monsters, so many beautiful creatures-

It tilted its head as if considering. They swept back, bowing with arms extended in a circle around Adrian. The one in charge rattled loudly, it's cloaked hood seeming to lower as the bottomless black depths of…

Sound seemed to pulse slowly, even the feeling of Lutain drifted.

The black depths seemed closer, ever so close to Adrian. It swallowed him, the edges of his vision creeping black as his breath rattled hollowly.

It inhaled and Adrian felt so very dizzy...

"Expecto Patronum!"

And it was broken.

A shaky antelope bolted out across the ice, skittering playfully and dispersing the Dementors.

Adrian knew that shaky creature. He knew that creature and why was this happening?

"Potter!" Lutain hissed, who tucked himself to Adrian's neck, disguising himself better. Lutain seemed oblivious to the disorientation Adrian felt, how the very air itself stung and burned his lungs.

Adrian felt like teetering to the ground, he couldn't. Not when somehow Skylar had followed him.

How? How did Skylar follow him? He couldn't have, but the likelihood that the two of them would venture into the forest at the exact same time…

Where was Skylar, anyways?

And then Adrian saw. Across the pond, there were two people, laying in the grass exhausted and shivering. Looking worse for wear, shaking and trembling on the pond stones bordering the frozen pool.

"The female," Lutain warned, "Potter's Den-mate."

Hermione and Skylar were a shaking mess, the epitome of pathetic and lucky.

To make matters worse, a huge black dog barreled into the area, skittering across the ice with a yelp before crashing and sliding, it hit the bank as a man.

"Skylar! Hermione!" Sirius Black shouted, grabbing the two and pulling them to their feet, "Let's move, Moony's on his way and Prongs can only-"

Moony? Prongs?

The trees smashed open with the strange sight of a huge twelve point stag tossing its head, trying to warn back a humongous bipedal creature, short fur interspersed with pale silvery skin. Large gruesome scars and claw marks decorating its shoulder and face in a recognizing pattern...

Lupin.

"Move move!" Sirius shouted, scrambling back and pushing the kids behind him, "Run!" He shouted, jumping into a mid-air animagus transformation.

It was amazing, to see skin be replaced with fur in a smooth transition of wax melting on a candle burning too hotly. The stag- Prongs, Sirius had called it, bleated out an angry noise, stomping its hoof angrily. It was too intelligent for a normal animal, avoiding its prey thought process.

Lupin's golden eyes met Adrian's through the hooded cloak with the savagery of a wild animal.

The werewolf howled, a long single note that rang true through the trees and on the wind. The lonely sound of a wolf without its pack.

Adrian held his wand in front of him, and exhaled slowly.

This was no worse than Bellatrix.

This was no worse than his father.

'You have held your own against the Dark Lord,' he thought with an intoxicating softness, smoothing and depressing his anxiety, 'You can hold you own against a mindless beast.'

He could. Adrian exhaled, and smiled.

The Werewolf jumped over the stag, its face pinching in violent intent. Its long hooked claws dug into the ice like hooks, pulling it across the surface towards Adrian before Sirius Black or the stag could redirect him.

"Master," Lutain warned, tensing close to his neck, "I'm ready."

Adrian shook his head, "Let me," He hissed quietly, holding his wand in a dueling pose parallel to his jawbone.

His father could curse him, but a werewolf could not.

"Impedimenta," Adrian casted flawlessly, hitting the Werewolf in its chest right as it lifted its left arm to slash through Adrian's chest.

Adrian stepped to the side, exhaling softly as the slowing spell allowed him to duck under the werewolf, pointing his wand at the wolf's back, "Reducto."

The spell collided and blasted the wolf into a tree. It groaned, wood flaking off as the entire trunk shook under the weight of its impact.

"Good strike, Master." Lutain hissed excitedly, "Black fur creature, behind you!"

Adrian slashed his wand over his shoulder without looking, "Flagrate"

Fire spells always were Adrian's specialty, it was Black's fault that he jumped right into the fire line burning strongly in the air.

Black yelped, landing on the ground in a strange sprawl. The dog fur started to shift, receding; extinguishing the blaze.

Lupin growled and shook himself free from the tree. He lowered himself into a stalk, long claws dragging as he approached Adrian cautiously.

Black paused, then grimaced and resumed his canine form to combat the werewolf.

Adrian didn't need to watch Sirius, he had his best friend to do that for him.

"Behind!" Lutain warned, giving Adrian the split second needed to duck into a roll and send the Werewolf jumping over onto the yelping black dog. Adrian's side somersaulted over a large rock, sending a throbbing pain through his chest which would most likely bruise.

A stag tossed its head angrily, each of its prongs sharp in the moonlight.

Adrian cracked his neck and pointed his wand once again, this time at the stag instead of the canine dog fight.

The deer charged, the Werewolf jumped, and Adrian casted the strongest shield he knew he could execute.

The deer recoiled from whiplash, snapping its head back with enough force it collapsed on the ground. Lupin slid down the shield, blinking in animal confusion before Adrian sent another blasting hex at the wolf, sending it skittering across the iced pond.

Lupin skittered, scrambling before his claws punctured the ice.

Adrian inhaled, and focused with a serene calmness.

Inhale.

The werewolf's lips pulled back into a silent snarl, long strands of saliva dripping from its maw as its gums twitched.

Pressure built behind Adrian's eyes, pinpointing like a thorn inside his ears digging deep, deep, deep…

Exhale.

The ice shifted, the water below bubbling unnaturally.

Crack.

Lupin froze, the hair on his back rising in instinctual fear as something was most definitely wrong.

The ice broke. Melted from a boiling fire.

Lupin fell through the ice with a high pitched yelping noise; Sirius Black instantly began to yelp in response, belly crawling across the broken ice to try and get to the shattered spot.

The stag jumped, shifting halfway through- it was an animagus like Adrian expected.

"Moony!" James Potter shouted, fumbling in his robe's pocket for something, likely his wand.

Adrian lifted his wand one more time, pointing it at James Potter's unprotected backside.

"James! Your back!" Sirius shouted suddenly human and still wiggling across the ice.

James spun, raising a shield just in time to stop a blasting curse.

"Get Moony! I'll take the Eater!" James hollered, spinning and shifting into a dueling stance.

Shite.

Adrian had dueled Bellatrix on multiple occasions, of course at that time the focus was to get Adrian to successfully cast a specific curse or spell in question. Dueling with his father was much harder, although those duels focused on Adrian's agility and ingenuity; he wouldn't ever be seriously hurt.

James Potter holding nothing back, he may be hurt.

He was out of his league.

"Stupify!"

"Protego!" Adrian summoned his shield, thankful again to his father for making sure he had mastered it.

"Stupify!" James sent again, the curse was bright red and lit up the clearing, "Stupify!"

"Diffindo!" Adrian shouted, using the moment Potter dodged to hiss under his breath to Lutain, "Dry bite!"

"But Master! My venom!" Lutain complained, getting no response he grumbled but coiled in preparation to strike.

Lutain would not kill him.

Only Adrian would be granted that pleasure.

But for now, Adrian couldn't do that. He had to just bide his time and get away.

"James!" Sirius shouted, scrambling to try and levitate the thrashing howling werewolf out of the water, "I need help!"

"Hold on!" James shouted, wanting to help his friend.

"Accio, James Potter's robes," Adrian rushed hurriedly, swishing before stepping to the side as suddenly as a matador.

James Potter pinwheeled, trying to slow his speed.

He brushed nearly right next to Adrian.

Lutain struck- his body a single well oiled machine. Fangs as white as bone needles, piercing flesh...

James Potter shouted, scrambling back with his hands flashing to his neck- blood was pouring out at a dangerously fast pace.

Lutain hadn't- Lutain hadn't injected venom...

"Dry bite," Lutain assured, feeling his tension, "Let's go. Adalonda awaits."

Adrian paused, watching as James Potter collapsed, eyes wide and horrified. He paled, not from blood loss but from horror of the situation.

"James! James help me-"

"It bit me," James choked out, stumbling backwards, "I- A snake- A snake bit me."

A pause before more muffled swearing and a keening suffering werewolf still trapped in icy water.

"Let's go!" Lutain wailed, tugging towards the vague direction of the castle, "Flee!"

With how dark the night was, even with the full moon, Adrian doubted he could have found the recess in the ground that led back to Adalonda's cave. They would have to run for it, thankfully both Potter and Black were occupied, allowing him to slide back in the trees. There was still the chance that Hermione and Skylar was lingering in the woods- come to think of it, why were they out there anyways?

The moment he was hidden behind an ancient Oak, he took off in a loud sprint. Trees and fallen leaves from the autumn crunched under his shoes; Adrian abandoned all attempts of stealth as he sprinted through the underbrush, occasionally running into reaching tree branches.

He wasn't sure how long he had been running, adrenaline pulsed through his deafening heartbeat. His legs burned yet he forced them to move faster- branches whipped at his face leaving him teary eyed and stinging.

The forest broke in a clean line- he had run off course from Hagrid's corral and ended up nearly out of sight. The castle of Hogwarts loomed high in the sky, looking something of mythology under the stars and moon.

"The Hippogriffs," Adrian strangled out, resisting the urge to vomit from his unexpected sprinting.

The plan was that Adrian would sneak back to Adalonda, informing her that the Hippogriffs had been sacrificed. She was the one adamant in making sure the bodies were not wasted. With how the night had turned into a disaster, Adrian doubted that was possible.

"Leave them," Lutain complained, making a sigh of defeat when he knew Adrian wouldn't listen anyways.

He lumbered across the uneven grass, his cloak snagging on a few small shrubs of scottish heather. The tendrils of Dementor's cloak were more durable, drifting over the branches like silk on skin. The rest of his cloak was the problem. Small barbs from prickly forest plants stuck around his hips, pieces of broken twigs and bark clung to his shoulders and arms.

He hobbled over, finally having his breathing under control. The wooden slats for the fence were frozen, decorated with the thinnest layer of frost.

The Hippogriffs were sprawled in odd positions; a normal person would assume them dead if not for the deep breathing and moving chest.

Adrian placed one foot on the lowest rung of the fence, already hiking himself up and over.

"Master! No." Lutain yelped, "Master no! Back to the castle! Do not!"

"Relax," Adrian mumbled, hopping onto the soft grass on the other side, "I only want a feather."

"A feather?" Lutain squawked, "You risk our scales for a feather!"

Adrian wisely didn't respond to his fuming familiar, and approached the nearest Hippogriff. Something mahogany brown with speckled feathers around its neck. Adrian reached out, pressing a hand to the warm fur by its flank. He could feel its heart, such a strong heart to send blood to the wings and its massive body, constrict and beat with a distracting calmness.

"Master! If you want feather, fine! But be fast!" Lutain hissed, flicking his tongue quickly, "Not safe here."

"Right," Adrian blinked, pulling his hand away as he walked up to the Hippogriff's giant wings, tugging at the primaries uselessly.

"Stop playing!"

"I'm trying! It won't come off!" Adrian complained, scowling at the beautiful speckled object as if it had offended him. He tried another, using his leg to hold the wing to the ground.

It came free with a cracking noise- he had pulled too hard and broken the bone. The bone had been weaker than Adrian expected.

"Look what you done!" Lutain hissed, his tail twitching in agitation, "Broke it!"

"It's already dead!" Adrian defended, holding the feather reverently in his hands, "Completely worth it."

"You're a worm," Lutain insulted, "With a useless collection."

"My collection is not useless!"

"Will you ask Adalonda for a fang?"

"Okay," Adrian paused, trying not to cave so easily, "Do you know how amazing that would be? A real Basilisk fang?"

"Master?"

"Yes, Lutain?"

"You're a worm."

Somehow through the anxiety and rapidly fading adrenaline, Adrian found it in himself to breathlessly laugh.