Disclaimer: I do not own harry potter or anything to do with harry potter that all belongs to the fantastic J.K.R

Subitus Vices – Unexpected Events

The door clicked softly behind him, locking immediately for the occupant's privacy as Harry Potter tip toed quietly into the 5th year boys' bathroom. Harry longed for next year when they would all get bathrooms to themselves; it was supposedly an added enticement for the students to stay in school to study for their NEWT's.

If Harry survived that long he would defiantly be basking in the mounds of privacy he would get, away from the world that wasn't on his side.

Harry gave a heavy sigh as he walked to the mirror above the sink, looking at the mask he wore in his reflection. No one noticed anything beyond his mask… well apart from a few Slytherin's who gave him discreet, knowing looks in the corridors or at breakfast; but they new the sign's, knew how to see through. They had their own masks after all.

Leaning his weight onto his hands on either side of the sink, he stared at his reflection contemplatively, as if trying to find a flaw. Unsurprisingly he found it to be perfect.

'Of course it is' he thought bitterly 'otherwise someone would have been concerned…. would have taken him to Dumbledore to fix the problem and send their savior back into battle with a little lollipop as incentive'.

Harry scoffed at the thought, turning to the shower stall and angrily shoving the water dial to warm. He had to try this. It had to work. He was desperate for it to work. Please let it work.

Whipping back around to face the mirror, Harry ripped his wand from his pajama pants pocket and fired the spell.

'ostendo sum totus'

The blue light hit the reflective surface and bounced back instantly, hitting Harry with the full force of the spell; which really only felt like getting splashed with cold water, without the wetness. Opening his eyes, Harry came face to face with his true self.

Harry glared at his reflection, not because he though himself ugly or unfit to be in society; it was the fact that his true form showed him how badly everything was effecting him. How his body clock was messed up through his experiences and how his instincts were getting so worked up and confused, he couldn't rely on them anymore to save his life.

To anyone else the changes weren't that noticeable. His hair was longer, reaching to his lower back with a few jagged bangs to cover his scar if he needed a quick disguise; his skin was pale, making its way to being translucent in areas, like his eyes, that were cloudy white over the dimmed emerald.

But if you looked closer, you would see how much certain reptilian animagi mixed with the wizard's DNA.

With all the dangerous events from the tri wizard tournament and after, his instincts went on over drive due to all the stress, making him snappy and cautious for months, loosing valuable sleep that left him weak. His body clock followed in suit, almost panicking. He usually only has the problem of having to change into his snake form once or twice a year considering how stressful his life had become once entering Hogwarts. That only happens either in the holidays or he deal's with being in uncomfortable skin for 4 days at the most.

But now…. nearly 4 months into the school term and his body is on overdrive. His snake form is taking his panic as signs of danger, his eyes were looking more cloudy and harder to see through every day and his new skin is being seen as old skin and is trying to force it's self off with his panicked stress of exam's, the new Umbridge women with her physically damaging punishments and the now resurrected Voldemort.

Older snakes would forcefully shed their skin as a natural instinct when they feel endangered and go into heat as soon as they have their new skin uncovered, feeling attractive and flaunting it as they look for a mate to make sure their breed doesn't die out, but become's stronger. Harry still being considered a borderline baby/adult in snake terms hasn't had to deal with this yet. Thank god.

Harry looked away from the mirror and began to undress, leaving his glasses and wand at the sink. He looked at his shoulder, where it felt to worst; gentle rubbing over the curling, scaled skin. Hissing in pain he concluded that this was going to be quite painful.

Closing his eyes, Harry felt his body change. Becoming long and slender, but he also felt stinging pain as the old flesh caught on the tiles of the bathroom floor as he glided over them to the steaming shower stall, reminding him of new shoes rubbing against old scabs on his heels.

The shower stall was barely wide enough for his large body as he curled around himself at the bottom. Being a 4 meter long, rare cobra breed that is around 5 inches wide through out most of his body makes Harry hardly an average size by any standard.

The warm water pelted down on his sore body in an effort to speed up the shedding process, but… no.. it hurt too much, the skin felt like it was being ripped off piece by piece.

Harry swiftly changed back and scrambled from the torturous shower, his body red and in agony. He moved as little as possible as he swore to the fates, tears dripping from his chin to the tiled floor he lay upon as his bottom lip quivered.

It didn't work. He can't stand it to try again. He couldn't go on feeling like his skin was made out of sand paper another week.

He had to get help.

But from who?