"Friends?" Adrian echoed, barely aware of the hysterical tears that slipped from the corner of his eye, "Skylar Potter, I hate you."
Skylar paused on the other side of the door, then leant his entire weight against it. He slid to the ground, dark shadow from under the door slit.
"C'mon mate," Skylar's voice was lighter, "Come on out and we can floo Hermione..."
Adrian grabbed the nearest thing he could see- a porcelain mug Remus had offered him hot chocolate in. He let it fly, crashing and shattering against the door. It suitably scared Skylar, who jolted away from the wood.
The sound attracted someone else, heavy footsteps of an adult and a faster speed than Remus.
"Skylar?" James' voice was unmistakable, even through the wood, "You alright?"
"Fine dad." Skylar assured him, "Was being a bit rude, my bad."
James paused, obviously not sure and well experience with Adrian's snark, "You sure?"
"Fine," Skylar's voice was bright and Adrian could tell he was smiling, "I've got this."
How could Skylar Potter be so inherently good?
Adrian jolted to his feet, toes stinging pins and needles from his seated position for such a long time. He stalked across the wood, ignoring its obvious creaking to warn the others that he was nearing the door.
Adrian grasped the handle and flung it open, deactivating its privacy ward. Skylar fumbled forward, nearly getting hit by the fast moving doorknob.
"Why," Adrian nearly growled out, glaring at the backside of Skylar, "Don't you leave me alone?"
Skylar held his hands out and turned slowly, his mouth opened obviously in an awkward attempt to peacefully fix the situation.
Adrian was taller; he had to look down at Skylar.
Skylar met Adrian's eyes, then his eyes wandered.
They widened, his mouth dropped into a small shape of expressive horror.
Adrian's jaw twitched, and Skylar watched transfixed how it stretched the painful purple scaring over his cheekbone.
"What..." Skylar cleared his throat, not sure of how hoarse it had gotten, "What happened…."
Adrian smiled a wicked grin, it made his face look terrifyingly sick.
"You mean your dad, didn't tell you?" Adrian almost crooned, his expression sending the hairs on Skylar's neck standing upright, "This was a welcome home gift."
Skylar's face expanded into horror once again. Adrian found he rather liked the power that emotion gave him.
Then it switched to pity, and Adrian temper flared like the angry maw of a Chinese Fireball. His magic didn't react, but his fist did. It was painfully muggle, and he had no practice with melee combat to begin with; his knuckles cracked loudly and his thumb ground against his bone, threatening to snap. Skylar's jaw snapped to the side, but Adrian suspected he had done more damage to himself than to the Golden Boy.
Skylar gave a loud cry of pain, although it was mostly surprise. He fumbled to the ground, a jumble of gangly limbs he hadn't adjusted to yet.
Adrian fell with him, nursing his throbbing hand close to his face. Adrian noted the way Skylar paled when he saw the fine reddish blemishes continued down the back of his hand.
"Sweet Merlin," Skylar shuddered, hesitating before he cautiously pulled down on the neck of his shirt, stretching it beyond the point of return.
"I know it's not the same..." Skylar paused, tugging further to reveal the fine white scar directly over his heart, "but I have one too..."
Skylar thought that the tiny mark over his heart- a flesh wound, could dare compare to everything Adrian had endured?
Adrian saw red.
It was blur of movement and disorientation. Adrian couldn't hear- he couldn't see. He felt the stinging tingle of his scars itching, his magic boiling and tugging on the Keloid tissue in attempts to heal what could not be fixed.
Adrian's head snapped around when large hands and arms snagged him under his armpits, yanking him up off the ground and for a split second, he was entirely weightless.
Then he crashed to the ground, skidding across wooden floor as sensations returned quickly.
"-rian!"
Adrian blinked, stumbling backwards on his elbows as he clumsily tried to get to his feet- struggling at how his body stung.
"Adrian!" Remus tried again, relief spreading across his face briefly, "Thank Merlin; I don't know what happened but your curse scar activated..."
"What?" Adrian asked dumbly, looking past the werewolf where Skylar was sporting a large burn across the bridge of his nose and cheekbone, narrowly missing his eye. James was holding him securely, face stony with the professionalism of auror's having seen this before.
"A curse scar," Remus explained, lowering himself to kneel on one knee and soften his voice, "When very dark magic is used, often it leaves behind scars which can temporarily manifest similar magic to what was cast. Didn't the healers talk to you?"
James nodded stiffly, "Assuming your curse was the lightning curse, it was activated by whatever Skylar said or whatever you felt."
"Dad," Skylar urged, knocking aside James' wand with a small pout, "It was me. I showed him my own scar-"
"You what?" James gaped, "Skylar Charlus Potter, you know the risks of exposing curse scars to one another..."
....
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