Aleksius- Who Are You? (Harry Potter x Shadow and Bone Fanfiction)

Mal was so cold.

They were in a forest of white, snow falling softly all around them, looking like little pearl stars in Alina's hair.

Saints, he wished he had realized how conniving that general had been before now. They could have been together so much earlier if he hadn't fallen for Kirigin's tricks.

And yet Alina was still uncertain about him, even after she learned of his plan to control her through the power of Morozova's Stag.

It made him angry. It made him agitated. It made him confused.

But he always has been and always will be her soldier, her loyal friend. And maybe something more, if she ever wished it.

They'd already had a few close moments, although Mal had yet to see if it would truly amount to anything.

And now, they were sitting together in the cold, huddled against one another to conserve some body heat.

"Mal, when we find the Stag, I need to be the one to kill it."

Mal glanced at her, lips twitching into a faint smile. "You're a terrible shot. They made you a cartographer for a reason."

Alina's mouth parted in shock, her expression terribly offended before she began laughing softly.

He grinned, a warm happiness flooding inside him at making her smile, and then stilled.

There was something in the forest.

Well, of course there was. A forest was full of so many different creatures, even in the winter.

But this creature was different. And it was close.

"That way."

Silently, the two got up, walking carefully to minimize the crunching in the snow, eyes scanning through the trees around them to find what they were looking for.

Mal's breath caught when he finally saw it.

It was gorgeous.

A beast with every inch of its body coated in white fur, save for its nose, hooves, and antlers.

By the Saints, those antlers.

They were enormous, towering things akin to twisting tree branches. Pointed tips that could impale two grown men and still have enough through the other side to puncture another one.

It was something of another world, a terrifying and beautiful power that shouldn't be there. And Alina wanted to kill it?

Mal wasn't there to question her, but he couldn't help but reel back a bit at the sight of such an amazing animal.

"You... and you will wear its bones?"

Alina's face was pale as she stared at it. "Yeah. At least, that's how it's been done."

The great Stag seemed to sense them, turning slowly until it faced the two teenagers, unfathomable brown eyes gazing calmly at them as Alina raised her rifle.

Her hands were trembling as she stared it down, her finger on the trigger, before slowly lowering it.

"Hang on."

Mal glanced sharply at her. "What are you doing?"

"I need to get closer to it," she murmured.

He stared at her. "If we keep it alive, how do we-"

"I don't know," Alina interrupted. "Kirigin didn't want me to have an amplifier. So he didn't teach me about this. Maybe there's another way to do this."