a f t e r
Snow peppered against their skin, but Draco couldn't feel a lick of cold. He was relieved it had worked, not particularly fond of dying of hyperthermia anytime soon.
Alexandre was ahead of them, leading the way with Adeline only shortly behind. Dean was in the back, apparently taking his time to walk up the snowy slope. They all had packs with them filled with food and water, and any other mundane hiking things they may need. It hadn't taken too long to get to the start of the hike they'd began after they left the house. The sun had only just begun to peak up behind them, throwing some light to where exactly they were walking.
They had emerged from the dense parts of the large forest of lush green trees, the sunrise waiting for them, birds chirping into the new day. Tall, pillowing pine trees still scattered around them, branches covered in snow. Draco looked up, quietly admiring the patterns of the trees above them, a portrait of snow spirits and shadowy ghosts of branches.
There was a fallen trunk he could spot, covered in snow and partially hidden away. He could only see it if he squinted but it was there.
The longer they walked, the brighter the snow at their feet appeared. Soon it was shining crystals and blinding light.
The incline steepens and his breath comes out in short puffs, the wound on his chest beginning to throb. It had healed quite well considering, but after hours of exertion, his body was aching. It must have been after midday by now. Alexandre had been talking on and off throughout the day, mostly to himself since no one else would listen. Sometimes Adeline would respond, just to tell him to shut up, as Dean still hung back walking in silence.
The trek feels never-ending and Draco's beginning to feel fatigued when the afternoon sun reduces the crisp feeling of air growing through his lungs. His body is sore and his chest hurts, but he won't be the reason they stop. He keeps himself occupied with thoughts of last night – the guys who had jumped him just as he rounded the corner from the house, dragged him away and kept him in some abandoned shop for hours. They'd drugged him when they had the first chance and when he finally came to, he'd fought his way out. It was rather annoying when they pulled out a sharp butcher's knife, but still, he managed to get back.
Into the grasps of Adeline's healing hands while he bled out on her brother's desk.
That Alexandre was a real peach.
Eventually, as the sky coloured with oranges and pinks, they stop beneath a tightly packed group of trees, branches hanging low and crooked like hands reaching out for them. They set up camp, Draco making a fire as Alexandre lounged on his pack and Adeline spoke lowly with Dean.
When the fire was finished, they all sat down and quietly began eating their food. Adeline sat beside Draco, finding a wooden stump to sit on near him.
"How are you holding up?" She asked him, taking a small bite of her packed food. Her eyes were bright from the reflection of the fire, and it was like there was a glowing lustre in the air around them.
Honestly, he felt like shit, but he wasn't about to tell her that.
"All good." He lied, smiling tightly. Adeline nodded but he didn't think she believed him.
Draco felt Alexandre's stare across the fire.
"I don't suppose you feel so terribly you need to stay behind." He called, glowering at him. Unlike Adeline, the reflection of the fire only seemed to darken his eyes with a gloomy malignant.
"Don't suppose you'll shut up." He called back, growing irritated by the grating sound of his voice.
"Putrid waste of space," Alexandre muttered darkly, to which Draco responded with a single-fingered hand gesture.
When they all decided it was time to sleep, Adeline volunteered for the first watch.
"I'll wake you up when I need to." She said to him, giving him a reassuring smile and Draco believed it enough to fall into sleep soon after.
Yet when he woke up, the sun was up and so was Adeline. She was standing to pack her things, stretching as she finished.
"I thought you were going to wake me." He said, sitting up from his pack's blanket.
Adeline shrugged. "You needed the rest. Dean took over."
She nodded her head in Dean's direction, seeing him standing by one of the trees in the distance, leaning against it as he waited.
When they head off, the incline up the mountain only gets worse. It's hours of pushing against falling snow and aching limbs. Throughout it all, Alexandre won't stop his incessant talking. Draco was somewhat close to him as Adeline stood at the back next to Dean. It had grated against Draco for hours, knowing that she was back there with him. So when Alexandre was on his third hour of still talking about himself, he snapped.
"Just do us all a favour and shut the fuck up." He bit out.
Alexandre turned on him, eyes dark with hatred and disgust.
"Don't tell me what to do, you stain on life." He growled, stopping his walking to shout. "I am your superior and you will treat me with that such respect."
"My superior?" Draco gawked. "You're a delusional ghost with a god complex!"
Alexandre snarled at him, fierce and ugly, and then promptly punched Draco in the face.
He groaned, cupping his nose, but before he could retaliate Adeline was pushing them away from each other and demanding they stop acting like children.
From then on, Draco hung back from the rest of the group. He watched Adeline tire over and over, but she never faltered in her step, her eyes shining bright and determined. But he's the first by her side when she slips, bracing her fall with her hand and slicing her palm open. She winces as blood begins to trickle down her wrist.
Alexandre turns, the same injury on his body and he looks alarmed until he sees Adeline had just fallen over.
"Do be more careful, little sister. I don't want your clumsiness reflected on my skin." He reprimanded, wiping the blood off his palm and continuing his walk.
Draco helped her up by her uninjured hand and he got out some of the bandages he's packed for himself to give to her. She took it gratefully, wrapping her palm.
"He's charming today," Draco muttered, hoping to pull a smile out of her. They hadn't really spoken much since the other night.
It worked, her smile bright. "I can't believe my dead brother got to punch you in the face before I ever did."
This pulled a sudden and loud bark of laughter from Draco, his breath visible in front of them. "Well, if it makes you feel any better, you can tell people you did when we get back."
Adeline's smiled tightened, but a bubble of laughter still rose from her chest, unexpected albeit a touch sad.
"Sure."
The snow was a field of bright diamonds and sleek footing. Draco would often have to squint to be able to see anything much clearly. It was sometime in the afternoon, Adeline had reclaimed her position steadily behind Alexandre and Dean was at the back of the group. Draco hadn't even heard him fall into step beside him until he spoke.
"How's your nose?" Dean pondered.
Draco peered at suspiciously. He looked annoyingly unbothered by the amount of travel they've endured, his breathing even and cheeks hardly flushed. He didn't look tired or drained from the snow or their sleep on the hard ground. There even appeared to be some kind of glowing sheen of luminosity around him, like even the snow wanted to put him in the spotlight. Draco hated him
"What do you care?" He glowered. He hadn't even heard Dean speak for over twenty-four hours and he wasn't sure why he'd chosen himself to start a conversation with.
"I don't.' Dean stated, shrugging with indifference. "It was funny, though."
Draco rolled his eyes.
"Just, don't fuck up the plan, okay?" Dean's tone was patronising, and it sparked a new kind of hatred in him.
"Why don't you go crawl back into whatever hole you've been in for the past year."
He refused to look at him, his stupid bright eyes and annoying smirk.
"I'll be sure to bring Adeline with me." Dean's amusement was laced into his voice.
Draco turned on him, his fists desperately wanting to hit his smug face. "Draguar, I swear-"
"For Merlin's sake," Dean chuckled, exasperated and mocking. "We never slept together. She was too busy mourning her dead boyfriend or worrying about you."
Draco stopped and during this hesitation, Dean started walking again with a shake of his head. He exhaled, a stupid sense of relief uncurling in his chest while shame laced with thoughts. He caught up to Dean and Draco found he was already talking to him by the time he fell into step.
"Whatever happens, don't get in the way of the plan." He was saying.
"I won't. I'm going to keep her safe, no matter what."
Dean sighed and turned to him, stopping Draco with a quick hand to his chest that he didn't even feel. Dean looked over at Adeline and Alexandre, who were in the middle of a conversation and waited until they were further away until he spoke.
"Listen, I know you've got this weird lifetime oath because you're dealing with this fundamental shame of being a dick you're whole life, but you've got to let her do whatever she's going to do."
Draco squinted at him, worry bubbling in his chest. "What's that supposed to mean? We have a plan."
He snickered like Draco had said something funny. "Yeah, believe me, I know."
"So, what's the problem?"
Dean licked his lips, looking down at his feet quickly before he looked back at Draco.
"I'm not too sure if she was ever planning on getting out alive."
Dread curled around Draco's body, his heart quickening at the words. He looked over at Adeline, quite a while away now still engrossed in conversation with her brother. He needed to talk to her, his brain spinning with worry and dread. The thing is, no matter how much he didn't want to believe whatever Dean said, Draco wouldn't put it past her.
Adeline was beginning to feel the cold, her body growing tired and her brain fuzzy. Adrenaline pumped through her body faster than she'd ever felt, her heart pounding at her efforts. She could see Dean and Draco had stopped quite far back, but she didn't turn back.
"How can I be so sure you won't just kill us all when we're untethered?" She asked Alexandre, who seemed pleased they were talking.
"I've saved your life countless times, I wouldn't kill you after all this time." He responded, sincerity laced into his words. "Besides, I love you, little sister. You're my family."
Her heard gave a dull thud, the glow around them shining bright.
"I'm not sure I can take your word for it," She sighed. "You do love trickery."
Alexandre grinned, preening at her. "It is my native tongue."
She let out a laugh and it seemed to please her brother more.
"Have you thought much about what we spoke of?" Adeline thought she detected a hint of timidity in his confidence.
"You mean about me standing beside you as you take over the world?"
"Yes, I believe that was it." He smiled. "Although, when you put it like that, I sound mad."
Adeline hummed, bumping her shoulder into his.
"You? Mad? Well, I never!"
Alexandre looked down at the snow when he let go of his laugh and Adeline could see the carefully protected endearment that bloomed over his face.
Draco never got the chance to speak with Adeline. She spent her time glued to her brother's side and even as night fell and they set up camp, it was too dangerous to talk about anything. She once again took first watch and even though Draco didn't want to, tried to fight it, he somehow fell asleep quite quickly.
He got his chance the next day. It was bright early mid-morning and Alexandre had surprisingly hung back with Dean as Adeline and Draco led the way. He supposed they knew the direction they were going, considering it was the same they'd be on for the last three days.
Adeline walked close to him, her shoulder brushing his. Draco looked back and saw the other two far enough away.
"Why do I get the feeling you're lying to me?" He asked, his breath coming out in puffs.
"Paranoia perhaps," Adeline suggested lightly, a small smile on her lips.
"Delilah, I'm serious," Draco spoke tersely. "Why does Dean think you're not getting out of here alive?"
She looked at him and a spark of true surprise blossomed over her features until she covered it quickly, but he saw and he understood.
"Adeline."
"I need you to do me a favour." She said, her voice strong and her chin high. "If none of this works, I need you to make sure it does."
Draco stared at her, brows creased together. "What does that even mean?"
She steeled herself. "If it doesn't look like we're getting out of here, I need you to make sure Alexandre stays down."
Draco looked at her, baffled and disturbed. Understanding flickered in his mind.
"Don't you dare put me in that position," He uttered, staring at her and her bright eyes and glowing skin.
"I just need you to trust me!" She shouted. "The decision's been made."
"Your decision sucks."
Adeline sighed, stammering for a moment. "It's not mine – I just, I don't have a choice. I never have."
"Of course, you do, Adeline. I'm not going to kill you!"
Draco hadn't realised but they were speaking rather loudly, and Adeline looked at him for a moment, like she knew exactly what was about to happen.
"Say you don't love me." She muttered quietly, and for the first time in a while, Draco saw the secrets that she held close to heart, the pleading in her eyes and complication in her words.
He hardened. "No."
It was like her final blow, the one thing she wanted and couldn't get. And during all of this, Draco hadn't even realised how close the others had gotten.
"Well," Alexandre spoke from behind them. They all stopped, a tremor of fear shaking the lustre air. "This does put a damper on our relationships."
Alexandre looked at his sister with a flash of hurt, like he really couldn't believe she'd do something to betray him.
"Was this your plan all along?" He sneered at her, disgust blooming in his eyes. "Whatever scheme you have, it won't work now."
"Alexandre-" Adeline tried, but his wrath interrupted.
"How dare you? I would have given you everything! I loved you! And you're trying to kill me? Your own brother?!"
"You don't love me, you wish to control me." Adeline bit back. "There's a difference."
Alexandre scoffed, running a hand through his thin yellow hair. Anger coloured his cheeks, his eyes darkening.
"You don't want me to survive just because we're family. While you don't want to be alone, I know that tethered together or not, I'm the only thing keeping you here." Adeline muttered. "Your life is bound with mine, but I'm guessing that's the reason you're trying so hard to separate our blood. I'm killing you slowly, aren't I?"
Alexandre seethed, his hands balled into fists and he advanced on her. Draco started to step in between but Adeline grasped his wrist tightly, pulling it behind her back. She squeezed twice, sharp and bruising.
Trust me.
"It's too bad you've been hopped up on those elixirs for so long." Alexandre spat, nose practically touching hers. "Now I'm so locked into your magic, you won't survive without me either. Whatever you plan to do, it won't work. Your tricks will never, ever work on me! Maybe if you grew to your real potential, you'd be worth my time." He laughed, vile and cruel. "You could have ended this a long time ago if you weren't so useless."
Adeline stayed where she was, her lip quivering slightly as he sneered and spat at her. He took a step back, fixing his jacket and taking a breath.
"I have grown tired of your antics, little sister." He spoke, bored and disgusted. "And you're right. Your life is draining mine, but that's okay. Do you think I didn't have a plan for that? The world needs a balance, and I had hoped on using your handsome bodyguard, but plans change I suppose. Your stupid prince will do, as well as all the other worthless children in your school."
Alexandre turned, facing Dean with a sincere smile.
"It's a shame. We were becoming such good friends." He sighed. "I guess all good things must come to an end."
Then Alexandre reached into Dean's chest and pulled out his heart.
Adeline's scream pierced the air as his body slumped against the ice, dead.
His blood was a potent red against the snow, his hair looked dark chocolate against the pallor of his skin. Even in death, Dean's open eyes still seemed to shine with brilliance. Adeline knelt over him, with tear-streaked cheeks and a wobbly bottom lip. Draco could only watch as Alexandre tugged his sister by the back of her neck and pushed her away from his body.
The problem was, when Dean's body hit the floor, Alexandre spelled some kind of paralysis on him. He wished to move and run to Adeline, to push Alexandre away from her and to keep her close, but all he could do was stand there, face slack and waiting. Just waiting for Alexandre to tell him to move, to follow like a puppet. His entire body was controlled by Adeline's brother, and when he wished for Draco to march forward and follow him as he dragged her behind him, all he could do was obey.
Draco didn't even think to look back at Dean's body.
It seems like they weren't far from their destination since the commotion. They'd only walked another hour or two, in terrible and tragic silence, until they could see the wooden cabin atop the incline.
It was odd. Draco had expected something horrid that lay waiting for them over the last few days but when he looked at the house sitting alone atop the trees and snow, it seemed just like any other cabin.
Trees were peppered around them, white snow covered the branches, clawing toward them like hands. Draco scanned the sparse land around them as they neared their final destination. His heart was beating out of his chest, the knowledge that his death probably lay behind that door. He hadn't understood much of the conversation Adeline and Alexandre had had, but he did comprehend that he had planned on using Dean to restore nature's balance of Alexandre being alive, handy considering Dean was the only one untethered to him, but now Dean was dead, and Draco would be too. He and the entirety of his peers, of the wizarding youth, just because some evil guy got off on the world's attention.
He was growing rather ill just from the constant sight of snow and cold and he nearly didn't look around any further, his worry for Adeline too distracting. But something caught his eye, far off in the distance was a fallen tree, coated in snow and practically hidden. It looked identical to the one they'd passed on the first day.
He couldn't think much about it, because his body was being forced to the front door. Adeline had stopped crying hours ago as she was pushed ahead of Alexandre for their entire journey, a tight grip on the back of her neck. Whatever plan they had was gone, Draco was immobilised and couldn't do anything but watch in horror as Alexandre lead them to the front door.
It was awful. He'd failed once again, and now he was going to die, and Adeline would be sentenced to life as her brother's prisoner. Alexandre wouldn't allowe her death. He wouldn't allow himself to be alone like that.
The door opened before they even reached it and Alexandre's sneering grin looked back at Draco as if to taunt him, to say ready?
He pushed Adeline inside and Draco was pulled quickly behind them. The cabin itself was warm, a fire crackling in the corner, benches full of herbs and caldrons, her pest corpses and potions. It was crowded with hanging herbs and plants, smells of rotten egg, mould, death and too-sweet freesias.
The door slammed shut behind them. They all waited, a silence beating against his skull. Alexandre and Adeline stood in the middle of the house, while Draco was forced to stop in front of the fireplace. Even out of the snow, the air had an unusual lustre to it.
Alexandre, who still held his sister tightly, looked around. He looked confused, clearly expecting to see his friend, and then he glanced down at their feet. Sharply he looked at his sister, rage and hurt battling his features, seething sneer pointed at her.
"No." He snarled, gripping Adeline's face in his hand with a harsh hand.
Draco watched in bewilderment as the cabin around them begin to shake and fade, black wisps of darkness curling from the walls, vanishing everything around them. The fire disappeared, the tables of spells and potions, cauldrons and hanging plants, even the smell left. Quickly all three of them were standing in the shell of an old rotten house with nothing inside but them, the glowing lustre in the air vanished.
"You bitch!" Alexandre spat, his grip tight against her. "I'll destroy her."
Suddenly the air around him vacuumed any light from his surroundings and a brilliant, grotesque pair of coal wings sprouted from Alexandre's back, his eyes completely black, no iris or whites, just pure darkness.
He pushed Adeline but as she fell back an invisible wall stopped her and Draco quickly saw the circle of white powder that surrounded him and Adeline.
"What is this?" Alexandre spat.
The door opened once more and, to Draco's eternal confusion and shock, Dean Draguar walked in, alive and well.
"Didn't I kill you?" Alexandre questioned as the door behind Dean closed.
Adeline rubbed the handprints on her face.
"You may not have realised, big brother. But you taught me a few things while you spend all that time in my head." She said, a tilt to her face. Draco saw it, that part of her that had appeared so often lately, the one that feeds of chaos and trickery. It licked at her skin and made her shine brighter. "You're still trying to isolate me; you have been my entire life."
Alexandre's grotesque boney wings surrounded him, his black gaze penetrating with hatred.
"You're weak," He spat. "You won't fool me."
"But I already did." Adeline smiled. "Don't you understand? It's over."
His wings beat and it made the house shake, but the invisible cage they were trapped in continued to hold him.
"You once told me that I lost hold of time and memory, that I'd wake up in odd places because we belong together. But you know that's not true. Whether I knew it or not, my magic was connected to death – not just yours, but histories. You're not supposed to be here Alexandre, nature wants to be restored. It wasn't my own guilt that brought me to the river behind Arthur's house, nor was it my mind looking for you when I woke in the pond at school. Our family wants you dead and they knew that killing me was the best way to do it. I've never been in control of my own life. After Arthur died, they started visiting me in my dreams – but you suspected that, didn't you? Grandpa Jo and great aunt Cathy. Every person in our entire lineage told me what I had to do."
Alexandre was shaking his head but even Draco saw the beginnings of fear furl in his chest. With this slip of control, Draco felt his body begin to ease with pull, he felt it be released from Alexandre's hold.
"I needed you to think I was considering coming with you. That when all of this was said and done, I'd stand by your side as you ruined the world. I knew if you'd thought I betrayed you, you'd lash out and kill Dean. I hate to say it but you're quite predictable. Dean was never here. He needed to get away, get to the witch before we did. He could teleport there because his magic isn't susceptible to anyone. We've barely travelled a day; it was all a trick. In fact, if you were to look outside, you might even see your own house."
"No..."
"Your little witch is dead, Alexandre. Dean unlinked everyone from you, thanks to my clumsy fall," Adeline explained, holding up the bandaged hand that she had cut when she tripped, the same wound mirrored on Alexandre. "It's just us now, and I don't care to die if it means I'll be taking you with me."
"Adeline." Dean started, taking a small step forward, weariness in his face. Draco didn't think this was part of the plan he had been unknown to.
Alexandre was shaking his head, his wings flickering and dancing with darkness. "Why couldn't I see past such trickery?"
"You're arrogant." She said, a small, sad smile touching her lips. "And because not even you believed me to be anything but a weak, ticking time bomb."
Adeline's heart was beating hard in her chest, the pull of her power thrumming in her veins, the clamouring of her ancient ancestors' voices pumping through her brain.
"Adeline, we have a plan," Dean said, stepping closer to them. She looked over at him, his pleading clear on his imploring face "The spell, you said you had a spell."
She smiled at him weakly. "I lied."
Adeline turned to her brother and pulled out the delicate, heavy dagger with its patterned floral design, the ivory bone handle was cool in her palm and heavy in her heart. The Levier family motto inscribed in both French and Latin into both sides of the blade.
et une orchidée sur tes lévres et l'óbsunté tombe.
Cadit et labia tua et Tenebrae super orchita
With an orchid on your lips, darkness falls.
"Know that I did love you, Alexandre." She told him, sadness tugging at her heart as she saw the realisation and hurt cross his face. "But know that it was not enough."
She plunged it into his heart, his choking sounded the air as blood began to pool from his mouth.
"No!" She hears from behind her, but she knows the barrier that traps her inside won't allow anyone to stop her. Alexandre gripped onto her as he fell, his slick wings dissipating into black smoke as Adeline placed him onto the floor, his head resting on her knees. She touched a hand to his yellow hair, a tear slipping down her face. The eternal blackness of his eyes receded and Adeline stares into his bright, blue gaze, unshed tears pooling around them.
"Adeline," He said, grabbing hold of her hand and squeezing tightly. "Don't leave me."
The cabin around them begins to fade too, her last strings of illusion fading away. They all stand in the snow, the house they left only a few kilometres away.
"I am here." She whispered as his skin began to burn. His final exhale of breath fluttered against her skin as his lifeless eyes stared at her. Snow bled into her pants, freezing her body. Alexandre's body then crumpled, fading away like ash.
Thank you.
Adeline feels the bloodline of her ancestors speaking with her, slowly receding from her brain and with it all of the powerful magic she has ever housed inside her body. Everything fades away from her, black ichor pooling around her own shirt, a dull thud of her wounded heart beating one last time. Her body hits the snow and she's faced with the blue sky, peaceful and at rest.
She thinks it's quite a nice place to die.
The last thing Adeline hears is the echo of a desperate plea, a shout of pain and mourning that follows her into death.
Delilah!