BloodBath

what horrified Adrian more in the last couple days wasn't how he fainted under the pretense of his 'Curse scar', or the fact that he had to share a tent with Twins, or even the fact that he was being dragged with the Potters to a Quidditch match.

It was that the box they were seated in, was also occupied by the Malfoy Family.

The entire Malfoy Family.

Under different circumstances, Adrian may have enjoyed how Draco's expression went through an alarming array of emotions in such a short time. It ended on gob smacked confusion, alternating between cruel sneers directed at Adrian's company.

Remus was unsettled by the display, although he never steered Adrian away which would have only further escalated it.

"Potters," Draco's father spoke smoothly, eyes sharp as he observed the entire group, only pausing for a short while on Adrian, "How charitable to grant the Weasley's a place in such lavish decorum."

The Weasley's in question flushed, although civilly returned the jab with another clipped remark. Adrian didn't overly care to listen, nor was he interested in Draco's attempts to gain his attention. He stared blankly out of the enchanted glass.

He didn't like quidditch. He didn't like being there.

Adrian wanted to go home, he missed Lutain. He missed the strange system he had with his father...

He missed the unspoken environment that screamed mutual respect- he missed the independence and the freedom to cast spells or curses whenever he pleased. He missed knowing that any questions he had could be answered immediately, even the simplest inquiries answered with an exasperated sigh but a well instructed answer.

He missed all of it, he missed his father.

Adrian should be excited with the inevitable fruition of the plans, slowly growing closer and closer with every quidditch point scored.

His nerves twitched and sparked unsettlingly, twisting his stomach until he felt queasy. He knew what was going to happen, he knew and nobody else did.

But he missed Lutain, he missed Nagini. It was depressing to try and communicate with the mentally handicapped tattoo that only held the faintest impression of the giant snake.

As teams competed and the hours ticked on and on, he found himself contradicting his desires.

Adrian was anxious. As much as he missed his family and as dearly he wanted his companion once again, he was dearly dreading when the attack was to actually happen.

There was something comforting, about the role he had found for himself in the presence of the Werewolf. Something gentle and homely in a way nothing else was.

The sun descended, throwing long shadows on the ground. The sun glittered orange and illuminated torches as if they caged phoenixes. The stadium began to empty. The stands were a disorienting swirl of colour as hundreds of people began to leave for the Floo or Portkey stations. Others traveled still, moving to prepaid campsites where they would stay for the festivities.

The box Adrian was in rose, stretching cramped muscles and chatting excitedly about the stunts and skills they had just seen. The quidditch players had barely registered to Adrian, they were only points which marked the passage of time.

The sun had descended below the horizon, tainting the air with the fading glow of twilight.

"Adrian?" Remus asked gently, not prodding the younger boy, "We're leaving."

Adrian didn't want to get up and leave his chair. It meant that it was going to happen, it meant that it was really going to happen.

He distantly noticed that the Malfoy's had vanished from sight, was Draco's father already preparing for the raid?

How would he find Bellatrix, how would he not be targeted…

He flinched largely as something stretched and silently tore near the flesh of his left hip. It snaked upwards, chillingly cold as it caressed his bones and wormed its way to his throat.

"Are you okay?" Remus frowned, resting one large hand between Adrian's shoulder blades.

Adrian nodded, pulling his cloak closer to his body and under his chin.

They were all so oblivious…

"I'm fine," Adrian spoke, giving a small cough to try and disguise his shivering, "Just cold."

Remus smiled reassuringly, "It gets colder at night, I always underestimate it as well. Did you pack a warmer cloak?"

Small talk, they were making small talk.

"I did," Adrian smiled weakly, thankful that the sudden darkness disguised how shaky he felt, "It's in the tent."

They were making small talk.

(And they were all going to die.)

Adrian felt sick.

Remus opened his mouth to respond before his head jerked upwards peering in one direction frozen.

"Moony?" Sirius barked teasingly, his smile faltering when he noticed how intent Remus' expression was.

"What is it?" James asked, removing one arm from around his wife, "Moony, what-"

From the night rose a chaotic medley of screams. Beautiful in its synchronous movements, it spread outwards in a half circle around the perimeter of the campgrounds.

From the ground burst dragonfire, spreading molten wings and roaring soundlessly into the night sky.

"Fiendfyre!" James shouted, barely audible over the dark magic, "Run!"

Adrian's skin tingled as Nagini's phantom tongue lovingly flickered against the hollow of his throat, "Find us."

"Go!" Remus shouted, drawing his wand and ushering Adrian with the younger children towards the emergency Portkey stations.

"Stay with Lily!" He shouted, pointing with his wand directly at Adrian. Remus' eyes flickered golden, reflecting fire roaring in the sky.

Adrian nodded without seeing, sprinting after the crowd on autopilot.

He heard the screams and cries of people; women and men alike. Tents were on fire, spells of purple and yellow flung around the clearing, fending off the acrid green.

Adrian'd father always said his eyes looked so similar.

Another group of panicking family melded with Adrian's group. In the chaos of screaming and pushing bodies, Adrian ducked behind a tree. The bark pressed sharply through his thin cloak, leaving temporary indents against his skin.

Nagini twisted disgustingly on his chest, tugging against his body unnaturally. Lovingly she danced, grotesquely pulling and persuading nausea to rise.

Adrian pulled out his wand, thankful he had it on him at all times. He held it flat in his palm, staring at the wood blankly before he focused enough to think.

"Point me…" He trailed off uncertain. Would Lutain be possible to cast? He wasn't sure if the spell could find a snake.

He would find the next best thing.

"Point me Bellatrix Lestrange," He mumbled under his breath, half expecting the spell to not work.

It did, and pointed him towards the chaos.

He should have known.

Adrian hadn't ever seen a battlefield.

He had dueled with Bellatrix, he had fought off various malicious curses and spells. If he was ever struck, she would speak the counterspell or heal it afterwards.

He had never ever considered that those targeted wouldn't be as fortunate.

It was a childish thought in hindsight, a innocent mindset that crashed to the ground the moment he saw the first body.

It was slashed open, hip to hip, and from the gash silvery purple organs spilled out like a ruptured pastry.

Adrian had never seen organs before. He had never ever thought about what they would look like even as he himself learned the same spell.

They were darker than he expected, slimy like an eel yet shimmery like Nagini in the dark.

They stank something warm and putrid, foul enough for Adrian's stomach to clench.

The man's eyes were glassy and clouded, but not to the obscure degree he had always imagined.

He stepped over the body, not even feeling the bloodied grass as it caressed his ankles and left red trails in wake. He kept walking, past smoldering tents and remnants of a tree.

Something far off in the distance exploded with a spectacular bang.

He could see them swarming, the Death Eaters. They moved as a unified front, black cloaks melding with the night while bone white masks stared hauntingly into the dark. They were experienced duelers, moving and casting, soundless except incantations. Some moved so fast, Adrian didn't even see the movement.

He was closer, and that's where he drew to a stop. They moved past him silently, not seeing his body shrouded by the trees.

He did not see Bellatrix, instead his weakness was not of human eyes. He was found by the heat scenting eyes of a mighty snake many times his size.

"Cerestes?" Nagini crooned, slithering across the battle torn grass faster than he had expected she could, "Little one!"

"Nagini?" Adrian asked back, feeling foolish at once. Who else would be of her size and actively seeking him out?

"Yes!" She hissed happily, reaching his hiding place and coiling around his lower legs in an embrace, "I have wand for you."

"What?' Adrian blurted, feeling far too slow for the rapidity of the situation, "How could you have my wand…"

And Nagini spasmed, jerking and wheezing sickly to vomit a brown bag roughly the size of a rabbit. It was covered in bile and other bodily fluids, slick and flattened by her muscles.

"Wand," Nagini agreed pleasantly, "And human scales! Come! Lutain awaits!"

"Lutain?" Adrian echoed numbly, unfastening the slimy bag to reach into its expanded depth. He felt his wand, holly and phoenix feather. The one void of the Ministry Trace. Although it mattered not, not with all of the magic in the air.

"Yes!" Nagini excitedly informed him, "Over with the mad lady. Across the fire, hurry! He misses you so, hurry Cerestes!"

Adrian almost argued that he wasn't Cerestes.

His hands felt the chilling material, sewn to the lower hem of his cloak. He pulled it out carefully, trailing fingers over its clasp and silken lining. It felt very heavy in his hands.

He pulled it on, tugging it over his head.

'What am I doing?' he thought hazily to himself, lethargically pushing his brain to think.

Nagini turned, slumping to the ground in preparation to move.

"Nagini?" Adrian spoke mutedly, his head buzzing loudly as he traced the wood of his wand.

She turned her head and glanced at him questioningly.

"I missed you," Adrian confessed, feeling very much like a child.

"I missed you too," She crooned back, her voice lilting and alluring as her scales reflected firelight, "Come, Cerestes."

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."