Disclaimers: JKR still owns it all. I write AU/OOC...if you want canon you picked the wrong story.
Notes: This story will appear to be disjointed if you do not follow the story chapter by chapter because it actually covers two universes. For clarification purposes the story begins in the regular HP Universe. After that the story jumps back and forth between the two until the two universes realign and blend back into one.
Book of Dreams
Prologue:
September 1st is one of those dates that means the same thing in all the Harry Potter universes. September 1st is when all the magical children who are fortunate enough, or talented enough, meet at platform 9 and ¾ at the London train station to catch the Hogwarts Express and proceed on to school where they will learn to be good little wizards and witches…if we are lucky. The journey to upper Scotland takes about eight hours and the children arrive at the castle tired, hungry, scared and quite often, completely out of sorts.
Such was the case for Seventh Year Harry Potter. One would have thought that he would have more stamina, being a Seventh Year and all, but he was a small, frail looking lad who often suffered the effects of starvation as a young child and even now spent three months of the year at the residence of his relatives who continued their abuse and neglect with nary a thought in their abysmal heads.
And so it was that Harry managed to come back to Hogwarts and take up his life as a wizard. He had turned seventeen over the summer so he would not be going back to that place ever again… It was now his time to become who and what he had always wanted since he found out that he was a wizard.
He had to defeat Voldemort soon, but other than that, he pretty much had a clean slate from which to start life. He had a nice boyfriend who was witty, handsome, charming, and rich. He had great friends whom he loved more dearly than most did their families. And, he, himself, was a rich, talented, and extremely personable young man…
Harry had hair black as the feathers of a crow that glinted in the sun and often flickered like emerald green flames…the exact color of his almond shaped eyes. Harry had lightly tanned skin with a sprinkle of freckles across his small upturned nose, a red-tinted kissable mouth, perfect white teeth, and finally the feature that distinguished Harry to the point of almost defining him to most people was the lightning bolt shaped scar that graced his brow just above his right eyebrow.
However, Harry was oblivious to his delicious unique looks, he dwelt more on the practical aspects of existence. Issues like 'what was he going to do once Voldemort was defeated?' was of all-consuming interest most of the time. Harry was under few illusions of what his life was going to be like until he actually defeated Voldemort. However, he wanted very badly to get that done. And, so when the others went up to bed after the feast to prepare for sleep, Harry took himself off to the library. After showing his pass to the unrestricted section to Madame Pince, he settled in for a few hours study with a promising looking book…
Chapter 1: 101 Spells to Create an Alternate Universe
Instead of paying attention to what he was doing, Harry idly twiddled his wand and mumbled his way through a spell he thought belonged to the family of reverse images. Later he might blame it on the fact that he was also distracted by the thought of why Madame Pince never ate breakfast, lunch, or dinner in the Great Hall with the rest of the faculty and students. 'Why was she always in the library? Why was the library always open?' And so the spell was cast and Madame Pince could be blamed for all the alternate universe angst that she unwittingly unleashed by being so dedicated to duty.
The fog that rose out of the book and engulfed Harry didn't make him gag or cough. It just surrounded him and sucked him back into the book. It was, in fact, a soul splitting spell and Harry's Slytherin side got pulled into the book. The rest of the oblivious, but peacefully sleeping Harry sat in a reading chair, the book tumbled to the floor beside him while his wand still hung loosely from curled fingers.
Draco went looking for Harry after his owl came back from Gryffindor tower, letter unopened. The owl had let Hermione scribble a small note on the outside of the envelope stating that he had gone to the library. He found Harry in their usual spot, still sleeping. He was getting ready to shake him awake when he took a second look at his boyfriend and noticed that there was an Egyptian Temple Asp poised and ready to strike the moment he touched the sleeping wizard.
He drew back and shrieked.
Harry jerked awake at the sound of Draco screaming. Draco never screamed unless there was something wrong, or if his hair wouldn't lie properly, or his clothes didn't look quite right, or… Suffice to say, Harry did not get excited about the shriek. "Hey, Draco." He managed in a soft sleepy voice.
Draco was still trying to catch his breath. "There's a a a ,bbbbiiiiggg sssssnnnnaake on you." He finally gasped out.
Harry looked down at the snake that was sitting there weaving back and forth in front of his face. "Hello." He hissed at the beautiful magical creature. "What is your name? And, why are you here?"
"My name is Ve-ella and I have been sent to guard you. The temple priests will be here soon to talk to you. You have created a portal to an anomaly that has needed to be fixed for a long time. With our help you will succeed."
Harry petted the snake between the eyes and watched as it blinked its jewel bright eyes while hissing softly. "Do you know what I have done?"
"No. I am only here to guard you because you are now the Pure One. You will need to be taken away from here before the bad spirit who haunts your dreams can touch you. He will bring great death and destruction to the whole world if he were to destroy you now."
Draco cut in as he watched Harry pale even further. "Harry, what is it saying to you?"
Large clear emerald green eyes focused on the blond. "She says she has been sent to protect me until the temple priests come for me. If Voldemort finds me in this form and kills me, the world will fall to darkness."
Draco moaned softly, a sound of real anxiety. "Harry, you're scaring the crap out of me." He pleaded finally, "Can I sit with you? I need to be with you."
The snake looked at the blond for a few seconds then slid to the floor. It slithered around Draco, eyeing him from several angles, including under his robes, before it returned to Harry's feet and coiled up. Just as Draco was beginning to breathe normally again, it lowered it's mouth and spat out a young hatchling.
Both boys watched in fascination as the older snake gave the hatchling instructions to go to the Pure One's mate and guard him until they should meet again in the afterlife. The little snake glided over to Draco and tapped its head on his slipper.
Draco looked at Harry wide-eyed and waited for him to translate the proceedings.
The other had a silly smile on his face as he answered Draco's unspoken question. "You have just been gifted with a guardian familiar. His name is Siillsssch. The name means 'silk' in parseltongue."
"Is that all she said? You have that 'just been fucked through the mattress' look on your face and since there is only two things that can put it there, I want to know what that snake said."
The smaller male stood up and went to his lover. "She said," kiss, "that you and I" kiss, "are Mates for life and Silk is to be your guardian until the next life." Harry placed another kiss on Draco's down-turned face and finished by whispering, "You need to pick him up and bring him up to your face so that he can scent you properly."
The blond bent down and rested one knee on the floor. His hands shook slightly as he held them out and let the hatchling come to him. He picked the snake up and raised it to his face as Harry had instructed. Then stood there with huge tears rolling down his face as the snake darted forward and bit his bottom lip.
Harry looked from the hatchling to his new familiar. "Why did your son bite my mate?"
"How else is he to acquire parseltongue?" The snake queried.
Harry blinked at the snake then turned back to Draco, who seemed to be sweating drops of blood. "Ve-Ella says that Silk bit you so that you can learn parseltongue."
Draco choked on his tears and whimpered, "Are there any other surprises tonight?"
Harry spoke to the large snake for quite awhile before turning back to Draco. "Ve-Ella says that you have to open your mouth after the blood stops dripping and then Silk will spit what appears to be venom on your tongue. It isn't venom, but it is necessary in order for your tongue to force the syllables properly."
Draco blinked at Harry. "That's disgusting!" He made a face and stuck his tongue out slightly; when he did the little snake spat on it.
He felt his mind spinning out into the universe and then contract back into his body. There were changes; his perception had been altered and he looked at the world differently. Draco Malfoy became the first Snake-made parseltongue since Salazar Slytherin…and it felt good!
The two boys tucked their pets into their robes and headed down the corridor to the main set of stairs. They needed to talk to Dumbledore about everything that had happened so far.
