Watching her face evolve from the usually emotionless, serene expression she plastered on those perfect features, skin as porcelain as a china doll and eyes a blue that remindered him of calm waters, into something so much more ferocious, Mani was taken aback. He could barely seem to recognise the woman standing before him, so different to the girl he loved and adored. The girl he worshipped, heart on a silver platter before she had even spoken one word to him on that fateful day, months previously. Adaline was looking up at him with a spark rushing through her, setting those blue eyes aflame, and he was sure he could have burned right there and then, and enjoyed every moment of it.
Hearing her words, he immediately wanted to refuse, to push her into running home. Cecily could stay, she could take care of herself, he knew; there was something about the older Ulrith daughter that made him believe she had enough venom in her to keep her alive as long as she wanted. Gabriel, his dear friend, was another matter entirely, but he would have no place ordering him around. Adaline? She was the most precious thing to him, the angelic creature that seemed by divine right to have created meaning in his life. Without her, what he would do? Even the thought of her still being in the streets, far from safety, far from him, was enough to have him reeling. He wanted more than anything to say no, but looking at her expression, he couldn’t bring himself to utter the words.
Mani watched her for a moment, still clutching her in his arms, looking down at those eyes that seemed to fixate him so. “ I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if something happened to you. ” The words were so simple, and he spoke them quietly, almost to himself.
He hoped his begging, all but on his knees, would be enough to convince her to obey him. He didn’t want to be the type of man to order his wife around as if she were property, but this was not a subject that he could dare second guess. This was w a r, and it didn’t discriminate between Purebloods and Muggleborns. No, everyone was fair game in the eyes of battle, and there was only one person that Mani could not live with if she were to be taken by Death’s hands.
“ If I tell you to leave, you’re still going to stay and defy me, aren’t you? ” He knew the answer before even asking the question, and if it were any other situation, he would have chuckled at this ferocity and independence his fiancee displayed before him. Adaline was usually all the more willing to do anything he placed, and in return he would dote upon her and give her anything she could wish for. It was everything he wanted, to be able to make her happy, to build a life for her. To make her proud; it even rivalled the voice in his mind, present from childhood, of his mother and her wishes for him. Mani gripped her a little tighter before finally whispering to her, “ You stay beside me, and you don’t go out of my sight. I’ll take care of you, I won’t let them get near you. ”
No sooner had he said the words than a wizard came rushing from behind her, trying to use his focus on Adaline to slaughter Mani. However, the man reacted quickly, and immediately drew out his wand once more, pulling the blonde behind him as he fired a “ Crucio! ” in his victim’s direction. The result was immediately satisfying, and he dared a glance back to check on her face, seeing the groups of men that were beginning to gang up on the group of Purebloods. Immediately, he shouted out, “ Adaline, watch out! ”
