...
'He raised his hand and she flinched.'
...
"Fucking hell."
Alec shifted in his seat at the bar... since the old man had left, Hadrian and Alec had drunk in silence. Alec looked over at Hadrian, the green eyed wizard was playing with his drink, swirling the contents, his eyes distant. The drinks weren't as bad as Alec had suspected, but when he had asked for an old fashioned, Rose the barmaid had flipped him off. Alec had raised his hands in air, as if to surrender, she hadn't found that funny either.
"You get what you wanted?" Alec asked Hadrian, breaking the silence.
Hadrian blinked out of his thoughts, lowering his glass to the table. Hadrian had learnt a lot tonight, the meeting had gone better than planned. The movies gave covert meetings a bad name, they had successfully completed theirs and they hadn't even been followed.
"Yeah, I did." Hadrian nodded, his eyes sparkling with curiosity.
Hadrian's dark gaze swept over Alec's smooth, severe appearance - everything seemed normal. But that was just it, is wasn't, it was all a trick. Anyone else would think Alec looked like his usual callous self, but Hadrian saw it. Hidden behind those dark black eyes, a blizzard howled. Hadrian hadn't forgotten about what happened earlier, the narcotic was still working its way through Alec's bloodstream, igniting the cells.
"You're still high." Hadrian stated, it wasn't a question.
Alec watched as the something akin to treachery passed through Hadrian's eyes. He had muted his earlier anger, dampening it down until it could no longer be seen. The meeting had been important, too important to disturb. Now, however, now was different. Hadrian should have been red with suppressed rage, he wasn't, of course not. He had gotten too good at hidden his feelings, he was a master at it.
"Yeah." Alec didn't deny a thing.
Hadrian lifted his glass and drained it. Alec watched as heated currents of unrefined anger filled Hadrian's corrupt gaze. It wouldn't be long before he exploded, it was only a matter of minutes. Hadrian was sat casually on the bar stall, his body neither slouched nor particularly tense.
"Fuck." Hadrian muttered to himself, gritting his teeth.
Rose watched Hadrian from her position by the edge of the bar. Hadrian jaw was clamped shut, while his eyes glinted with a kind of fury only close friends could provoke. This dark gaze slid over to Alec, the silent boy. There was a significant amount of tension between them, Rose watched carefully as their eyes battled each other.
"Rose.." Hadrian called out, not even looking her way.
Rose stiffened at his tone, her stomach tightening in both fear and pleasure. The short hairs of her arms raised in warning, subconsciously aware of the power that resonated within that cool hard voice. Rose swallowed down her terror, dropping the rag and moving over to where Hadrian and Alec sat.
She glanced at Alec, looking for some sort of support - she felt too weak to face Hadrian alone. Alec regarded her impassively and Rose couldn't see anything in those dark eyes to suggest he felt a thing towards her - not even human compassion. A painful strike of reality hit at her heart - when it came down to it, he wouldn't help her.
"Another." Hadrian uttered, simply.
Rose looked up to see Hadrian's gaze now rested on her, causing her chest to ache, flooding her body with cold. There was a dreaded iciness in Hadrian's gaze, it caused Rose to feel uncomfortable in her own body - in way she looked, to how she acted. Rose had succumbed to the realisation long ago that she was in love with Hadrian Potter. Despite, also knowing, that neither of them had made any promises, his dismissiveness and lack of interest was still a painful reality.
She had guessed, it was short, sweet, and fulfilling for him. Or perhaps it was only fulfilling. She had no clue, trying to understand Hadrian was next to impossible, he was something untouchable, like trying to catch smoke in your hands. Rose's throat tightened, she was afraid of Alec but that was nothing compared to the terror that gripped her when Hadrian looked at her through those fathomless black eyes. And yet, an exhilarating ripple joined her fear, stopping her from truly running from the green eyed boy.
"How much do I owe you?" Hadrian asked, his dark eyes capturing her.
Rose didn't like his tone, it was bordering on hostile and expectant and she wasn't sure why. She started to panic, asking herself, had she done anything that would justify such attitude? Hadrian reached into his trouser pocket and pulled out his silver lighter that Rose had seen many times before. He played with it, spinning it between two fingers, to shiny metal gleaming seductively.
Alec noticed the shift in Hadrian's psyche, the girl, Rose had seen it too. Alec didn't give the girl another second thought, his gaze remained with Hadrian, his mind retreating back to the first time he had seen his friend plummet into the dark.
.....
"When a snake's about to strike... what do you do?" A low quiet voice asked.
The common room, was pretty much empty, only a small group sat around the fire. A young man was positioned at the centre, sat casually in a large black armchair. The attention he gained, from the rest of the group, suggested he was the one who had spoken. The boy's dark hair, reflected the flames, the smooth, raven silk forebodingly potent.
"Do you run?" The dark boy asked.
"Or do you hide?" he continued, like stone, glimmering from the light.
"Most just stand and admire it and how could they not? The snake is beautiful and captivating..." The boy began to smile.
"But of course that's exactly what it wants you to do." The smile became enthralled.
"You see, that's when it gets you..." A pause.
"It gets you when you want to look so hard, you don't care what's next. You want whatever pain it inflicts on you, just to be able to keep looking..." The boy finished in a hiss.
The room fell silent. Hadrian Potter's cold and green met instantly with Alec's derisive black... they persisted there for a moment, to only then turn and fall into the flames.
...
"How much?" Hadrian asked a second time, his dark eyes impatient.
At a first glance, everything about him seemed calm. He was sat on the bar stool, his limbs falling loosely in a lazy arrogant sprawl. The expensive white trousers he wore, made him look refined and unaffected by everyday struggles of real life. However, as Rose looked closer, she could see the coiled tension was noticeable in every muscle in his body.
Rose's brown eyes clashed with Hadrian's, his eyes were literally glittering in a challenge, the green was bright and the black was black. She had to admit she didn't know very much about magic, she had never been good at it, she had never tried hard. But, being around Hadrian she could literally tastes it, it was tangible and it was consuming.
Rose swallowed tightly, clenching her hands as they began to shake. She had thought long and hard about her feelings for the Potter heir and the truth was she didn't really know why she loved him. Of course, he was physically attractive, in fact, he was drop dead. She had always struggled to look away from the boy, his silky yet severe appearance was beyond beauty. However, it was something else which only incited her need to touch him.
Hadrian Potter had a severity that would appear out of nowhere, as if it was hidden in a shallow pool, lingering just under the surface. It would always shock you at first. Rose, would always feel struck, as if winded, because when he was warm, it was like summer itself. There was no preparation for the onslaught of his winter. It was never a large performance with Hadrian, he was too sly for that. He couldn't ever be obviously cruel, because then it be known he was the worst one out of them all.
For someone to say that they understood Hadrian Potter, was in a damn dream world. To confine Hadrian to what he was - is - or could be, into boxes and categories, was impossible; implausible, unthinkable. When Hadrian Potter released his demons, Rose felt threatened. Hadrian's light hearted humour would vanish, his smile along with it. His eyes would turn dark and his laughter would become wicked. Things became uncertain and life became dangerous. Hadrian Potter, became a predator in a matter of seconds.
"It's on the house," Rose managed out.
Rose, despite feeling as if she was about to disappear, was still able to force out a smile. She didn't know why she chose to smile, it didn't feel particularly comforting. Her fingers yearned for the rag, she needed something to hold, to stop her hands from shaking. If she opened her mouth, they would hear her gasps for breath, ragged and desperate. Rose's hands went to reach for her throat, attempting to scratch at the place she felt her heart. She stopped herself, her fingers finding the chain of her necklace.
"It always is, isn't it." Hadrian smiled.
Hadrian's face was full of shadows, his mouth lifted into a sordid smirk, as if laughing at his own inside joke. There it was, the slap, the figurative punch, Rose unknowingly anticipated that sting. She was not stupid and neither was Alec, the true meaning of what Hadrian had meant was only just about masked behind the innocent smile on his face.
She knew what he meant, he was labelling her as a prostitute. An easy whore, his go to. She stilled, fully acknowledging the force of what was said. She would not show her emotions, she wouldn't cry about it. Yet she could tell that he wanted her too, because this was just another one of his games. It was one he wanted to win, one he would do anything to win. Hadrian Potter had meant what he had said. Rose was aware of what the student of Hogwarts claimed. Slytherin's were known for their cunning cruelty and Hadrian Potter was the worst of them all.
....
'Have you seen his scars?'
....