He almost felt like crying as suddenly everything was too much, noises were too loud and his ears rang loudly and he felt the tickling urge of hysterical giggles press on his chest anxiously.
"Master?" Lutain looked up, wriggling eagerly.
"Let us not pressure your young master." His father spoke slowly, the red eyes observing him in such a way Adrian knew he could see the impact of his words.
Adrian tucked his hands below his thighs and out of sight to disguise the way they shook ever so slightly.
"And let us not be hasty, Lutain. The change is quite permanent, and I would not proceed without your young master's permission."
The red eyes slyly met Adrian's own, "After all, Lutain is your familiar."
Adrian said nothing, mostly because he was not sure how his voice would remain steady. He couldn't think.
His father rolled his eyes, Adrian's eyes prickled as he felt the stifling weight of disappointing his father lay heavy on his shoulders.
"I found Nagini in a pet store, located in Hogsmeade," His father started, his tone affectionate as he gently ran his fingers over the ridges around Nagini's eyes, "The store has long since closed. She was quite young at the time, and the staff obviously didn't know her species."
Adrian leaned forward subconsciously, watching his father's face with the utmost concentration. The way he spoke was so gentle, so proud and fond. Adrian hoped that someday he would talk about Adrian that way.
"I purchased her for two galleons." his father continued. "I had to sneak her back into the castle, of course. I kept her beneath my bed with a warming charm, as at the time I had to be very careful. The Chamber of Secrets had just been opened-"
"Why didn't you return my letter?" Adrian blurted, twitching as his father looked at him questionably, "The letter I sent, about the chamber."
"My useless follower, Wormtail, destroyed the letter prior to me receiving it, something about it being hexed."
Adrian had heard that name before, he knew who that was. He was the man who was an animagus, the one who knew the Potters before everything had happened.
His father wasn't happy with the man; Adrian could imagine how his flesh would have been slowly cut away in ornate ribbons and spiraling twirls- like the peeling of an apple.
(Adrian had only seen it once, watching his leg unravel towards his knee like a Christmas decoration, feeling his wand shaking in his hand and bile rising up the back of his throat. It was only a second before his father spoke the countercurse. His muscle looked wet and purple in the chandelier light.)
"Nagini is very important to me." Voldemort continued, speaking in soothing tones Adrian had never imagined the man capable of. "She holds a piece of my soul."
Adrian blinked at the odd expression. He hadn't ever heard of it, although it did convey affection appropriately.
"As do you," his father finished, turning and locking his eyes to Adrian's wide ones
His father stood and left his room, walking with footsteps too poised for how startled Adrian felt.
He was...important?
He knew that he was- what other logical reason was there for his treatment and care? Adrian still felt the doubt, irrationally gnawing anxiously inside- was he important?
His father didn't speak to him in those soothing tones, he didn't trail a finger along his jaw affectionately as he did to Nagini. He pushed him and twirled him, cursing him and praising him and it gave Adrian the sick idea that he was simply a marionette dancing on strings.
He choked on how badly he wanted to be the best marionette his father had, he wanted to make him so happy.
Adrian didn't know how, and he was beginning to doubt he ever would.
"What type is she?" Adrian asked quietly, sitting curled in a couch while Lutain and Nagini reared playfully on the carpet- each rising into mesmerizing dances and learning what the other could perform. Nagini had the benefit of height and girth, able to tense and move the muscles along her throat and belly until her entire body was undulating while her head remained still.
Lutain in contrast was thin and fast. He reared to a less impressive height, yet could dance with cobra grace into an almost hypnotic rhythm.
Adrian's father looked up, peering over his desk at the two serpents.
"I'm not sure; she was advertised as a reticulated python, although it's more likely that the owner didn't know either."
Adrian tilted his head and observed her body, "She's a python for sure. She has the heat pits and the other trademarks."
His father gave a small hum of agreement as he quickly finished whatever paperwork he had been writing. He set the quill down in its holder and crossed his arms on his desk.
"She didn't always appear the way she does now," his father explained slowly, in a tantalizing way he did when he was telling Adrian something he should remember.
"She's been enchanted and enhanced. I...boosted her potential, gave her abilities others would never have."
Adrian couldn't imagine what else he could have done to a python. She was obviously more intelligent, perhaps he aided her in serpent abilities?
"Did you give her venom?" Adrian asked, peering at Nagini who was now flicking her tail stiffly in attempts to mimic Lutain's whiptail.
"Partially," His father hummed, avoiding the question and leaving the answer tantalizingly out of reach, "I imbued her with magic. Her body strengthened and enchanted itself and she developed the venom herself."
....
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