the heir avoids his peers like the plague โธป the confrontation with lord voldemort, his other self, haunts him still; knees pulled up to his chest as rhaegar leaned against the winged mountain โโ large, serpentine tail corralling him so affectionately, so protectively. not a duel between two powerful wizards / more two vicious monsters trying to test the limits of each other's immortality. ( betrayal, rage, hatred โโ all released upon the other ) what were they but a two - headed snake feasting on itself. and the DA, who he foolishly called his friends, saw. they saw gaunt for what, or who, he truly was. and like vermin exposed to sunlight, he fought hard the urge to scurry off and hide. a losing battle.
a soft hiss left trenchant maw; crowned head lifting from a winged claw when eva approached. the urge to hide; to not be seen, caused the emerald beast to position herself between wizard and witch. an impenetrable wall of sharp scales. slitted ruby eyes watch eva intensely, not unlike a parody of a rugged guard dog.
until โโ the she-dragon returned to her comfortable position, leaving an opening for the witch to come closer. even if rhaegar could not possibly fathom why she would. โ if i had told you who i truly was โโ โ tom marvolo riddle. โ would you have believed me? โ he might change his name, burry the past beneath wool's moldy floorboards, but his roots remain rotten.