"Dinner, Nagini."
"Thisss tassstesss nothing like chicken…" Nagini complained as she digested the small creature. It had screamed when she'd first sunk her fangs into its bony neck, its droopy ear flaps flailing, yellow eyes spinning wildly. It was now a large bulge in her stomach, slowing her as she slithered toward her master.
Chickens were Nagini's food of choice. Master gave her chicken as a treat for when Nagini had been good. Today, however, Master had ordered her to eat one of the creatures that ran the house they were to be nesting in and to terrorise the rest. She had done so with pride.
Master was standing over three cowering humans. They were pale, like Master, with patches of golden fur. They stank of fear and magic, their heartbeats pulsing rabbit fast. Nagini raised her head and butted Master's outstretched hand before scenting the air, tongue flickering.
"Well done, Nagini."
Nagini preened under Master's praise.
"Chicken, massster?"
"Sssoon, Nagini. Are you not full?"
The creature in her stomach had finally stopped twitching. It would last her as long as two chickens, maybe three.
"Yesss," she allowed. She twined around Master's legs, settling herself so that she could watch the humans that Master was terrifying.
"There are birdsss on the groundsss that you may hunt and kill," Master hissed. "But do not attack the humansss… yet."
Draco whimpered as the Dark Lord's snake slithered past him. She'd been inactive the first few days following the Dark Lord's arrival to Malfoy Manor, curled up smug and lazy at the Dark Lord's feet.
She hadn't had to move because she'd eaten her fill already. She'd eaten a house-elf, at the Dark Lord's behest. A tear trickled down Draco's cheek and he swiped it away.
Poor Mimsy. She'd been his nanny, his confidant, his friend. She'd held him when he'd fallen and bruised his knees and made him laugh with dancing lights to distract him from the arguments his parents had had. She'd always snuck him one more lemon cake than Father had said he was allowed. She was the reason his bed was always neatly made, the linens fresh and clean.
Now she was dead, settled in the snake's belly. The lump had finally shrunk and Draco could no longer see it, but it didn't take the knowledge from him. He hated that snake with a passion, even if he wasn't foolish enough to do anything about it.
Why couldn't she have eaten one of the cooks or one of the gardeners? They weren't as important; Draco didn't care about them. But no, the Dark Lord had instructed her to terrorise the house-elves into submission, or so he had said, and Draco could imagine all too well Mimsy standing between the frightened elves and the snake, wielding a frying pan and trying to protect them all. He sniffed, tears welling up in his eyes once more, but he was determined not to cry. Instead, he steeled himself, glaring at the snake's retreating back.
The snake slithered on, uncaring or oblivious to Draco's hatred. His fist tightened around the wand in his pocket, although he knew he would do nothing.
He decided to follow her, telling himself it was morbid curiosity. She was heading for the gardens, occasionally tasting the air before continuing. He'd never seen a snake so large, nor so self-possessed. It didn't make him hate her any less.
Nagini wound through the grass, her scales affording her easy camouflage. She could smell the birds only a few lengths away. They were not chickens; they were larger, prouder, with more feathers than sense.
"Come to me," she hissed, "Nagini isss hungry and you ssshall be my dinner."
She could feel the vibrations through the ground as the nearest bird pecked in the dirt. As she drew closer, she coiled her strength, the bird foolishly unaware of a predator nearby as dangerous as she.
Nagini attacked, sinking her fangs into the bird's body. It squawked, beating feeble wings and flaring its tail in dominance. Her venom weakened its resistance and Nagini curled herself around it in loops of muscle, squeezing the life from its breast.
Distantly, she could hear one of Master's humans gasping, its heart beating faster and faster, its weakest points exposed and leaking body heat as it watched her. When she was satisfied the bird was dead, she swayed her head, eying the human, and hissed.
"Thisss isss my prey," she warned it. It skittered back.
Satisfied that the human had been scared off, Nagini unhinged her jaw and began working her mouth around the bird. The feathers were a nuisance, and it wasn't as tasty as chicken, but it was good enough.
One of Father's prized albino peacocks had disappeared down the Dark Lord's snake's gullet faster than Draco would have believed possible. There were just a few tail feathers sticking out of the end of the snake's mouth, pristine ivory stark against the dark green of her scales. The sight would have been comical if it hadn't been so terrifying.
When Aunt Bella had whispered to him that the Dark Lord fed people that displeased him to his snake, Draco hadn't believed her. She'd been cackling and swearing and screaming her love for the Dark Lord, alternating between wild praise of his name and threats against his enemies.
Draco believed it now. Her jaw had stretched so wide. Peacocks were no small birds. He'd not seen her eat Mimsy, but watching her devour that bird chilled him to the bone.
He still hated her with every fibre of his being. If he were to kill her, now would be the time, while she was fat and full of food.
"Magnificent, isn't she?"
Draco choked down a startled gasp, grateful for once to drop to his knees and avoid the Dark Lord's gaze. His hands shook where he placed them in his lap, clenched together.
"Yes, my Lord," he stuttered. He cleared his mind and ducked his head. "Majestic and deadly."
The Dark Lord chuckled. "Indeed." With a flick of his wand, the feathers spewing from Nagini's mouth disappeared. The snake hissed, inching toward them. Draco kept one eye on her, wary.
"Come, Nagini," the Dark Lord said. The snake followed the movement of his hand with her gaze, before curling its upper neck around his wrist. Once the Dark Lord had rested his hand upon the scales of her head, they Disapparated together with a crack.
They were gone.
"Fuck!" Draco gasped, sagging with relief. He fell onto his hands, digging them into the dirt. Salazar, what had he been thinking?
The Dark Lord prized his snake above all else and Draco served the Dark Lord. To think of harming her was tantamount to suicide. He allowed himself one final moment to grieve Mimsy, before pushing all thoughts of her away.
Draco could allow no weakness, no dissent, not even in the privacy of his own mind. The Dark Lord was a powerful Legilimens and would not hesitate to pry into Draco's mind or order for him to be struck down. Draco had to remember that.
He did not want to become the snake's next snack.
Word Count: 1,198
QLFC Round 4 Captains Prompt: "This tastes nothing like chicken."