My Secret Snake

By

Pokepotterfan93

Walking back from Hagrid's was proving difficult for Harry. The Felix Felicis was guiding him somewhere else, and before he knew where his feet were taking him he was led to the Black Lake, where a lonely girl with flowing mahogany, waist-length hair and light blue eyes wept silently, her cheeks stained with tears. He knew her name — Tracey Davis. She was one of the girls in his year who hated Draco.

"Davis, are you okay?" he asked, sitting down beside her, offering a sympathetic look.

"No, I'm not, Potter. If you must know my boyfriend dumped me because of my blood status." She sniffled and wiped her eyes, glaring at him. "What are you doing here? Wouldn't it look bad for your image if the Gryffindor Golden Boy was caught with a Slytherin snake like me?"

"You look like you need a friend, and to be honest with you I don't give a crap what the rest of them think." He hesitantly wrapped an arm around her and allowed her to cry into his robes for several minutes. "Let me guess, you're a half-blood?"

"Right in one… Harry," she sighed, looking up at him and seeing the genuine concern in his eyes. "He dumped me like a bad batch of Hagrid's rock cakes," she laughed bitterly, snuggling into him.

Harry could feel the Felix Felicis wearing off and immediately became aware of the girl burrowed into his shoulder. It felt unfamiliar, different than his feelings for Cho, or even for Ginny, but he realised the touch was welcoming, and he liked it. Throwing caution to the wind Harry decided to comfort this girl any way he could.

He smiled warmly to her, gently wiping away her tears with his thumbs. "Then he's an idiot, you're an attractive girl that anyone would be lucky to have." She smiled at him and snuggled more closely into him, sighing.

"He said he needs a proper pure-blood like himself—" she shrugged and closed her eyes, "—so he's gone skulking around my best friend, Daphne; he's in for a disappointment, for one, she's gay, and even if she wasn't she'd never date that pompous prick."

Harry pondered her words and realised exactly who she might be referring to. "You were with Zabini, weren't you?" He asked, rubbing her arm gently.

"Were being the main word — that asshole dumped me, because my grandmother was a Muggle-born," she sighed and rested her head on his chest. Harry knew she needed the comfort and was content to remain as long as she needed someone. After all, he certainly knew the discrimination even a half-blood could face.

"That's stupid. I mean, my grandmother on my mother's side was a Muggle, and I bet half the pure-blood girls in this school would ignore that little fact just to get with me," he smirked, holding her closer and cuddling up to her. Perhaps there was still an inkling of Liquid Luck holding on. Whatever it was, he wanted to continue to comfort her.

As the weeks went on Tracey and Harry met many times by the lake after curfew. Sometimes it was to chat or do homework, but this time was different — they had both come to realise their feelings for each other.

"Harry," Tracey breathed nervously, deciding to take a page from his book, and rush in like a Gryffindor, and hope for the best with it all, "I was wondering if you'd like to go out with me sometime?" She said it in one breath and was pleasantly surprised when he kissed her quickly in reply.

"I would love to — you know that — but we'll have to keep it on the down low; I mean, we're basically in a Romeo and Juliet situation. Our friends would freak out, and don't forget our houses have been at each other's throats since the clash between Gryffindor and Slytherin themselves." Harry whispered fervently, holding her face to his and caressing her cheek with a gentle sweep of his hand. "I know it's barmy, and I know we've barely gotten to know each other, but I love you — so much, and I promise you that I would never be embarrassed to be seen with you. It's just — if something happened to you because your classmates didn't approve — it would kill me."

Tracey sniffled; Blaise had never cared about that much. Yet here was Harry, who instantly told her they had to hide it for her safety, and that meant the world to her. She wasn't a fool; he was the Golden Boy, and she was just a dirty snake to every other Gryffindor who crossed her path, but she didn't care. She loved him… yes she loved him, and she knew it. "I love you too, Harry," she whispered with tears of joy and love and exultation pouring from her eyes as she tenderly kissed his lips. Harry's lips returned the embrace and his heart soared as he arms pulled her closer, wrapping his arms around her.

"So, we don't tell our friends?" he clarified, kissing her nose and smiling lovingly.

"No, we'll be secret lovers." She smiled back, blushing as she said it. "I mean… oh, Merlin take me now, this is so embarrassing…"

"I know what you meant," he laughed, keeping her in his arms.

The tranquillity didn't last long as the Death Eaters attacked the school when Harry and Dumbledore went after the Horcrux. Tracey was scared; here she was fighting alongside Granger and Weasley in order to find her Harry. She had no choice but to tell them and was forced to make a magical oath to prove it. When she did — to her immense surprise and relief — they smiled and went on to protect her like she was a precious diamond — and she knew that it was because, to Harry, that's what she was…precious to him.

Harry saw her, the single most important person in his life and he knew he had to run to her. The last few months had shown him what love was, and he wouldn't change that for anything — not all the gold in Gringotts or the Philosopher's Stone itself — and to think it all started with one sip of Liquid Luck. As he ran to her she did the one thing they both knew was about to happen, she placed her hand on his cheek and beamed before kissing him soundly.