In his Auror days it was simpler, although there was still Michael there as a reminder. The months at the Ministry seemed to blur into one another. He rarely slept; ate little. Here is one of the things he remembers with the sort of clarity of a vivid dream:
He is with Michael, Williamson, Thatcher, and Weasley, and all around them are the others. They know dark wizards have been gathering around Europe with growing frequency and they do not know why. They are a flurry of spells, trying to catch one of these ghosts, to learn things from them, things Adrien has known all along. A flash of green light snakes just over his shoulder and he turns, firecasting, and sees Ilya there before him. Ilya Zdravkov, motionless amongst the chaos, smiling thinly with the firelight on his face.
And he remembers, after the fighting, in the dark of night when he has left the Aurors: "You nearly killed me."
And Ilya smiles again, serene, framed by his long dark hair, hair which falls now down around his shoulders and past the small of his back; he still has not cut it. He runs his pale fingers along Adrien's face and says, "But as long as he loves you, baby brother, I'll miss."
And they know this is true.
