Of Lightning Bolts And Green Eyes

11 - Hope for the future

Harry stared at the man, his hand still on Asmodeus, trying to calm his companion down. Thing that didn't seem to be happening, as the snake continued to hiss threateringly to the one who seemed to be the owned of the circus. "Let me bite him! How dare he come up behind you?!" the Familiar said angrily.

"Shh, calm down, beautiful. He's done nothing wrong, it's his circus. We were the ones who came in without permission." the teen said calmly. The snake finally calmed down, closing his mouth and pushing his head into Hadrian's hand, eyes still on the stranger.

The man looked at the two, blue eyes narrowing slightly when, at the boy's words, the snake immediately listened. "Who are you?" he asked calmly, taking another step into the tent and letting the flap close behind himself.

The boy gulped, but opened his mouth to reply anyway. "I'm Hadrian. He's my... pet snake, Asmodeus." he said, knowing that his companion would probably feel slightly offended. A couple of seconds later, his friend proved him right.

"Pet snake, he says." if a snake could grumble, Harry was sure Asmodeus would be at this point. "You know I didn't mean it as an insult, beautiful." the boy chuckled lightly, scratching the snake under his head.

The man paused for a second before speaking, "He seems to understand you..." he mused silently before shaking his head. "What are you doing here? The show isn't starting until 9pm this evening." he asked, flipping his long black hair over his shoulder before huffing and tying it in a high ponytail.

Harry was silent for a few seconds before replying. "I was... curious. It's the first time I see a circus and I wanted to see the performers train."

The black haired man smiled slightly, his eyes loosing some of their hard edge, "I can understand that, but the training isn't something we usually do with an audience, and aren't you too young to be here alone? Where are your parents young man?" he asked with a kind tone. He was, admittedly, curious about the boy and his snake but he still had to be cautious in case he was someone dangerous; after all, not everything is what it seems.

The question seemed to worsen the boy's mood and the ring master watched him lower his head. "My parents... well, my adoptive parents died when I was a baby and I was raised by my aunt and uncle. But they decided that I was old enough to live alone and threw me out of the house a couple of days ago." he wasn't exactly lying... sure, he was omitting that his parents were apparently two Gods and that his adoptive parents had magic, but he was sure that it wouldn't end well is he told the man.

"What about your birth parents than?"

Hadrian wasn't sure the man should be asking such personal questions, but he didn't really mind answering. "I just found out that I was adopted. I did a bit of research and they live in America." the boy shrugged, looking happier than before.

The ring master hummed lightly at what Harry said, looking at him up and down. "And, tell me, who is your friend there?" he asked, looking both curious and a bit doubtful.

"Oh, Asmodeus?" Hadrian asked, scratching under the snake's chin, "You could say he's my best friend." the boy said, smiling. Asmodeus preened under the attention, lifting his head up from where it was laying on the boy's shoulder. "I'm pleased to be so important for you, hatchling" Asmodeus hissed lightly.

When Hadrian laughed at the snake's hissing, the man narrowed his eyes slightly. "You seem to have a way with snakes. Is he the only one or do the others listen to you as well?" he asked, raising a hand to scratch his chin.

The boy's eyes widened, not sure how to reply without revealing the existence of magic to the muggle man. "I- uhm- it's not..." he stammered, looking around at anything but the ringmaster.