A/N: This story is also known as The Plot Bunny That Showed Up When it Shouldn't Have and Took Over My Life. Does that explain anything to you?
Disclaimer: Harry Potter isn't mine. Neither is anyone you recognize. There probably will be a couple of OCs later on, but hey, work with me here…
Re-Arrival
Prologue
It was in the summer before his fifth year that he disappeared. Harry Potter, the Savior of the Wizarding World, mysteriously vanished from his home in Number Four, Privet Drive. When questioned by Ministry officials, his guardians, the Dursleys, said that a man had come to take him away. Hiding in the kitchen with their son – who incidentally, the man had turned into a pig – they never heard the conversation between Harry and the man. All that is known is that Harry apparently left willingly.
He deposited the small, white snake on the window-sill, reaching up with his freed hand to unlock the window. The small problem of the lock being on the other side was easily overcome with a touch of magic, and the window clicked open silently. Getting a firm grip on the sill, he picked up the snake again, letting it wrap around his neck. He pulled himself into the room as quietly as he possibly could.
I hope Aria's well known to everyone by now, he thought idly, watching his best friend sleep. His red hair was completely mussed-up, as Ron turned in his bed. Softly, he padded around the room, the snake's green eyes scrutinizing each of his dorm-mates as he passed.
"So, what do you make of them, Sylvan?" he asked, in that strange hissing tongue many found frightening. The snake took its time to answer.
"I think you can trust them," it finally replied. "Except the pale, pudgy one in the last bed. That one will betray you like Wormtail did."
The boy's emerald eyes, exactly matching the snake's, clouded over. "Are you sure? I wouldn't have thought it of Neville."
"Look into his mind and you will see. He hates you. He conceals it well, but he well and truly hates you."
He quested out with his mind, probing gently. To his dismay, he found that Sylvan had spoken the truth. Longbottom's mind held nothing but hatred and cowardice.
"How did scum like him and Pettigrew make it into Gryffindor, anyway?" he wondered, sinking into his bed at last. He idly pulled back the curtains with a thought, so that he could watch all his dorm-mates. "And thank goodness no one got my bed."
"Aria would have made sure of that," Sylvan told him, snuggling into the crook of his neck. "And now, Harry, I should very much like to get some sleep. Being dragged through the air in your talons for hours and climbing up castle walls is not my idea of fun." So saying, the snake fell fast asleep, spooned against his neck. He smiled and stroked the scaly skin of his friend and confidante, knowing that he should follow suit and get some sleep. Still, he'd only been awake four days. He could go for much longer without sleep. And besides, he wanted to watch his friends.
Harry Potter sat on his bed motionlessly, watching his friends sleep.
