Early/mid 1927

She stared at the poster, unable to tear her gaze away from the offensive word. Maledictus. The bright red word stuck out like a sore thumb amongst the sea of French words, much like she did amongst the circus' other acts. Her eyes remained fixated on that same spot, even after one of the workers removed the poster and took it away. Maledictus. She gulped, the blood in her veins practically frozen.

"Hey, you!" the ringmaster shouted, making her jump out of her skin. She quickly turned her head in the direction of his voice, releasing a shaky breath when she saw the ringmaster stomping towards another circus freak.

Knowing that it did her no good to just stand there like a fool, she lowered her head and made a run for it, bumping right into someone. "Sorry!" she exclaimed, rubbing her arm as she looked up and saw him standing right in front of her, doing the same.

"You okay?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at her. She could've sworn that there was a hint of amusement in his eyes, something that would've pleasantly surprised her if it were any other day but today.

"Fine," she replied flatly, eager to get back to her cage for once in her life. Without so much as another glance at him, she stepped past him and headed for her cage.

Feeling slightly bad about dismissing his concern for her, she didn't stop when she heard his footsteps hot on her heel. Stopping right outside the cage, she turned and pressed her back against the bars, steadying herself. Maledictus. The word was still playing on her mind.

"Do you know what Maledictus means?" She almost laughed hysterically at the seemingly innocent question. Clearly, the fates were conspiring against her.

"It means cursed to eventually turn into a beast," she answered, glad that her fellow English-speaking freaks weren't in their cages at the present moment. "Eternally."

He said nothing, reaching down and taking her hand in his. It was a gesture of goodwill, meant to be of some comfort to her, but all the sympathy in the world wouldn't be able to expunge the curse from her body. While he didn't appear to openly pity her after this new revelation, she just knew that he wouldn't look at her in the same way anymore; he'd see her as someone who was ill, someone who needed help, someone who needed protection. He wouldn't see her as an equal. He wouldn't see her as a friend.

Still, she squeezed his hand in return, silently thanking him for just being there. Everyone needed someone and for her, he was it, at least for the moment.

.:. QK .:.

Days after she first saw the wretched poster, the ringmaster still hadn't paid her the visit she'd long been dreading. Tired of the constant anticipation, she decided to go and confront him herself. That was how she found herself standing in his 'office', squirming as the large man took his time attending to other tasks before actually acknowledging her.

"So, Nagini," he began, his back turned to her as he fed some pet of his. She bit her lip, trying not to let her irritation show. "Why did you want to see me?"

It was now or never. She had to know what he was planning to do to her now that he knew about her condition. She had to know if she'd be forced to follow in her mother's footsteps. The disgusting thought of the possibility made her skin crawl but she urged herself to focus. "Who told you that I'm a Maledictus?" she came right out with it, hoping she sounded confident.

"No one!" he answered cheerfully, finally turning around to face her. She watched as he leisurely sat down on his office chair, resting his elbows on the desk in front of him. "I just thought it sounded good. Better than 'Snake Girl' or 'The Animagus', don't you think?"

She refrained from sighing in relief. She'd been worrying for days over nothing. She fought the urge to smile. The ringmaster didn't know her secret yet but if she looked too happy about him not knowing, even he'd be able to figure out the truth. She decided to push on, feeling the need to throw him off. "Don't you know think that telling a lie like that is really risky? What if someone clearly sees that I'm not a Maledictus and lets the whole audience know?"

He laughed as if she'd said something stupid. Maybe she had. "The non-magical folk already think it's all fake. I doubt the wizards really care about the authenticity of our circus acts."

She managed to force out a laugh, not knowing how else to react to the statement. "I see."

To her dismay, instead of ridiculing her and/or dismissing her, he leaned back in his chair and narrowed his eyes at her. "But since when have you cared about the well being of my circus?"

She straightened her back and stood tall, giving nothing away. "It's my livelihood," she said, shrugging for a nonchalant effect. "If something happens to the circus, I'll have to look for another job... won't I?"

For a painfully long moment, he just stared at her and she had to force herself to not take to her heels. She wondered if she'd made her concern too obvious and thus done the exact opposite of what she had wanted to do. The ringmaster was usually really easy to read, his only two emotions being anger and intense happiness (most often when a show raked in a lot of money), but his face looked eerily blank to her at the present moment. She was sure that she was doomed when he merely nodded and waved her off.

She wasted no time getting out of there.

.:. QK .:.

"You've been avoiding me."

She didn't need to look up to know who it was. "I haven't," she instantly protested. "I'm not," she added with a sigh, patting the spot next to her without taking her eyes off the horizon. "It's just been a difficult few days for me... but I'm fine now."

"You could have told me about what was bothering you."

Truthfully, she'd been embarrassed to face him after he found out the truth about her. She hadn't even attempted to tell him not to reveal it to others. Not that she thought he would anyway. In all honesty, she thought he would start avoiding her first. After all, what was the point in being friends with someone who'd eventually become nothing more than an animal? She looked at him now, surprised to see the warmth in his eyes.

"Doesn't mean that I should have told you," she said, averting her gaze and feeling guilty. "I didn't think you'd understand."

"I'm an obscurial." Of all the things she'd expected him to say, this wasn't it. The word was new to her. Judging from the expression on his face, it wasn't a good thing. "I've got this dark sort of power inside me, waiting to burst free and cause destruction. It's—I've—killed before. I've taken the lives of my sister and God knows how many other innocents."

"Your sister?" she asked, not knowing why she chose to question him about that rather than the killings. Well, other than the fact that she couldn't believe that he'd willingly hurt anyone let alone kill someone. He couldn't even stand it when the ringmaster so much as raised his voice.

"One of two. Both younger than me. We were all adopted by the same woman." So he was an orphan too. The revelation wasn't really shocking—those who joined travelling circuses usually didn't have any family—but it was sad that the two of them had yet another negative thing in common. He still didn't strike her as a killer, though.

"What happened to your other sister?" she questioned carefully. "And your mother?"

"My youngest sister's in an orphanage. It's safer for her to be there rather than around me," he explained, closing his eyes. "I thought I was protecting her when I killed our mother. Instead, I ended up killing our sister as well."

Her eyes widened at the confession. He'd willingly killed his mother. She remembered what he'd told her not too long ago about how she wouldn't call him good if she knew what he'd done. But then again, he said he'd killed his mother to protect his sister. Twenty-five odd years ago, her mother had done something similar to protect her. If that wasn't enough to convince her, the way that he was trembling, the way he was clearly holding back tears, indicated that he regretted the way things had turned out.

"I'm sorry," she uttered softly, knowing that his mother had to have been an awful person to warrant such a killing. She inched closer to him, pausing for a second before resting her head on his shoulder.

As a general rule, she didn't really touch other people and didn't let others touch her either. Thanks to her dancing days, she knew that people often misunderstood young women who were too friendly. Her skin tight Snake Girl dress didn't help much. It was different with him, though. She felt the need to comfort him because it looked like no one else ever had. She found solace in his arms, and she liked to think that it was the same for him.

She got her answer when he hesitantly snaked his arm around her waist and pulled her closer.

A/N: Thanks to The Gryffindor Pukwudgie for the review. I'm glad you liked the way I've written Nagini. Unfortunately, I don't think she's going to be anything more than fanservice and emotional support to Credence. I'm Asian too so I get where you're coming from.