Nagini meets Harry

A/N: My first crossover!

Nagini was different from common snakes. She was a magical beast and way bigger than any other snake. There was no creature in the forest she had to fear. She was also more intelligent than any natural breed. As an example, she knew not only who wizards and witches were. She was aware that some of them could speak Parseltongue, the common language of all snakes. However, she had never expected to meet a Parselmouth.

"You don't happen to know the way out of here?" Hearing those words shocked Nagini so utterly that she stopped dead in her trail. She lifted her head and turned it mechanically. Her tongue slipped out to take a sniff.

Her behavior unsettled the wizard obviously because he cried, "I warn you! I got a wand and I'll use it!"

Nagini couldn't even remember the last time she had communicated with a sentient being! She hurried to exclaim, "Snakes never hurt a Parselmouth!"

The young wizard seemed still doubtful. He did not lower his wand but he asked, "Really?"

Nagini hissed positively. Her tongue slipped out of her mouth to smell how young he really was. She slithered a bit closer to get a better look at him. She could sense the warmth of his body but her eyes were not very useful in the almost darkness of the nightly forest. She would have liked to take a closer look at him but he remained a gray silhouette. She was really curious what he looked like. Nagini loved colors. Especially blue! She loved to lie under a blue sky and soak up the warmth of the sun...

"Stop!" he cried once more. "If you get any closer, I'll use magic!"

She did stop but not because of the threat. This wizard was no danger to her well-being. "Nagini," She said and instantly felt the need to clarify, "That is my name."

In exchange for her name, the wizard introduced himself as well. "I'm Harry Potter."

"Nice to meet you, Harry," Nagini said politely.

Harry stared open-mouthed at her. Then he remembered his manners and responded in stride, "Nice to meet you too." His wand wavered indecisively, "You're not going to eat me?"

"No." In imitation of human behavior, Nagini shook her head. "I'm no mere beast. I would never eat a human. There are creatures who are more than just flesh. Like unicorns! Once you eat one of those you lose something of yourself. Something very precious. Humans are like unicorns to me."

Harry stared at her for a while. Then, he shook his head like he wanted to get rid of some pest in his unruly hair. His wand was leveled at the ground. "Do you know a path out of the forest? I'm kind of lost."

"I know everything about this forest. I've been living here for quite some time."

"Which direction do I need to go?" Harry asked eagerly.

"Follow me." Nagini lowered her head to the earth and sidled away. She moved freely through a terrain that was full of obstacles for any other creature. She slithered over the unevenness of the ground like it was not there, slipped her scaly body around tree trunks and pushed through bushes without spending a second thought on them.

Nagini knew that Harry had not an easy time following her. He had to run and occasionally needed to use his wand to cut bushes apart. On one instance he actually hit her.

"I'm so sorry!" he cried out in anguish. He knelt down next to her. "I didn't mean to hurt you." One of his hands rubbed over her back while the other aimed his wand at her to localize where he had hurt her.

Nagini's scales were unblemished. had protected her from his magic. "Don't worry." She hissed kind of amused, "You couldn't hurt me if you tried to." She slithered away feeling his warm hand slip over her sleek body. "Follow me! We're almost there."

Only moments later she slipped through a bush and into the light of the half-moon. She liked to come to this place during the day to look at the blue sky and sunbath.

After cutting his way through the bushes, Harry said, "This is a clearing."

"Very perceptive of you." chuckled Nagini. "Come here where the light is better. I want to look at you."

Harry fulfilled her request and stepped into the sparse moonlight. Nagini could finally examine him. Her initial uncertainty of his age was due to the young wizard being in the transition phase from child- to adulthood. Now she saw that he was definitely closer to the latter than the former. Furthermore, she registered that he had black hair and wore black clothes which she found very bland. His skin had one of the normal human colors. His eyes were something special though. Sadly, green was one of the common colors for anyone living in a forest. A lot of her scales were green too.

Warily, Harry asked, "When will you lead me out of the forest?"

"I've had nobody to converse with for..." Nagini's voice faded away. "Actually, I don't know how long."

"Will you lead me out of the forest at all?"

"Are you in a hurry?"

"I should be lying in my bed right now," Harry grumbled.

"To be fair, you should have been lying in your bed for hours. Curfew is around which time? Ten? Eleven?"

That caught Harry off guard. "How do you know about curfew?"

"That's a sad story. If our paths cross a second time, I might be willing to tell you." Nagini deflected the question. "This time around I want you to answer my questions and to give me some glimpses at another life."

Harry sighed, "And what do you want to know?"

"Why don't we start with something easy?" Nagini asked thoughtfully. "Tell me about the content of your satchel. It smells like a collection of real rarities to me."

Harry put his hands protectively over said satchel. "I'm sure you can find all of this on your own. I managed to after all and I don't live here. You said you knew everything about the forest."

"Oh, you misunderstood me. I'm not interested in those plants but why you're out of bounds to collect them."

The young wizard relaxed but only marginally, "I need them to brew a potion. I'm planning a prank."

"A prank?" Nagini asked. "You're out of bounds for a prank?"

"Not just any prank!" Harry exclaimed, his pride clearly hurt. "It's going to be the greatest prank Hogwarts has ever seen! I'll best the Weasley twins. So far their masterpieces are a real sized dragon out of fireworks and turning an entire floor of the castle into a swamp. They'll finish school this year. So I have no time to spare. I want to see their faces when they realize that I beat them!"

The snake said in confusion, "I thought wizards and witches visit Hogwarts to learn about magic not to compete about playing pranks."

"Well, I do study." Harry huffed, "But once in a while I want to play a prank too!"

"Aren't you too busy with attending your classes and homework?"

"I'm a good student," Harry stated categorically. "I have an Outstanding in Defense, Exceed Expectations in Charms, Transfiguration, Potions, and Care… of Magical Creatures."

"Are those good grades?" Nagini asked curiously.

"Yes. O is the best possible score and E is the second best."

"So you have the best grades in the school?"

"No. Hermione is and will always be better. She is going to set a new record. She has a perfect score despite visiting more courses than anyone else. But don't try to compare me to her!" Harry warned Nagini. "She is different. She is a genius - the most clever witch of our age. Period. Everyone says so. And anyone who claims I could do as good as she is just not aware of how intelligent she really is!" The last was said in a challenging tone.

"I understand." Nagini tried to imitate a human nod.

Harry grimaced. "Please don't nod or shake your head. It looks really weird."

"Fine." Nagini wondered how the shaking of her head could be any different than a humans. "So you're already doing as good as you can?"

"Look, I understand you're curious about the school." Harry grumbled once more, "And that's okay. There is this huge building right in front of your... tongue. A place you're not allowed to enter. But there is much more to the school then just me and my grades."

"Like what?" Nagini asked eagerly.

"I'll tell you!" Harry said with a gleam in his eye. He began talking about pranks, Quidditch, Houses, magical stuff, various students, portraits, teachers and at the end even about his classes. It was a very enlightening experience and they forgot the time about it.

When Nagini led Harry out of the Forbidden Forest it was almost sunrise. The upcoming arrival was indicated by an orange glow which emerged from beyond the horizon.

"Thanks for helping me out of there," Harry said gesturing at the treeline.

"You're welcome."

"I haven't slept a single minute." Harry groaned under his breath. "Classes are going to be hell today. But talking to you was quite nice. We should repeat that sometime."

"I'd really like that."

"So... where are you when you're not leading lost students out of the Forbidden Forest?"

Nagini had not expected this question. Could Harry really be interested in talking to her? She doubted that... he would be able to find his way back to her favorite clearing. "You know the stone circle?"

"Sure!" Harry chuckled, "I could never forget it even if I tried to. It's where Hermione punched Draco in the face." Harry imitated a right hook. "Right on the nose!"

A/N: Feel free to point out any mistakes. / I'm looking for a beta.