Disclaimer: I am not JKR, or any of her minions, or whoever else has rights to Harry Potter
Note: It would be a shocker if I wrote more on this story, it's actually the first fan fic I ever wrote, even if I wasn't posting till just now.
Year Two, or Black as Pitch
Harry had a lot of fun borrowing the family brooms and chucking golf balls around for his housemate to catch. They even tried to simulate some of the drills recommended by a playbook Blaize had, and Harry was happy to finally learn the actual rules of the game. The family took him on two outings to "the alley," as they called it, and were very entertained by an altercation between the Weasly and Malfoy patriarchs on one visit. The Zaibinis would use the scene for years to taunt the latter for generally acting exactly like his enemy, especially as it was "public brawling like a common muggle," in the words of Mrs. Zabini.
When the barrier to platform 9 3/4 was sealed, the elder Zaibinis had lots of fun chewing out both the ministry officials in charge of it and the Headmaster, before side-along apparating both boys into Hogsmead, just in time for them to walk into the Welcoming feast. Later on, the Syltherin team tryouts were an equally entertaining event, featuring an appearance by Draco's father, who wanted to buy a spot for his son with brooms for the team, after he had been clearly out flown by Blaize.
When the chamber was opened, almost everybody's first guess was that Draco was the culprit, as the bribe hadn't worked, especially as the Zabinis had quietly loaned their family brooms to any of the players who had older models. Ron Weasley actually began to stalk Malfoy, much to Hermione's annoyance, as she too had seen the fight, and assumed it was part of the family feud.
Harry agreed with her, but had felt forced to avoid her, despite the fact that she still was really his only friend. Her incessant prattle about Lockheart was unbearable, especially since the idiot wouldn't shut up about his being the boy-who-lived. His negative view of defense teachers was only to be confirmed a few weeks later.
"Serpentsortia!" shouted Draco, with a satisfied smirk, which only faltered slightly when a small green snake slipped silently off Harry's outstretched wand hand. Lockheart checked himself from the banishment he was about to attempt, eager to see the snakes interact, and confused that the powerful boy-who-lived would produce a smaller serpent.
"Kill the enemy human," hissed the black snake, advancing rapidly towards the smaller, which hissed back, "the speaker's enemy is behind you, big brother," in a conversation that only Harry could hear.
Snape, for his own part, was shocked to see Draco's snake turn back towards its caster and quickly canceled it for the startled boy, while Harry quickly scooped up his. How had Potter cast silently, and then controlled both of the animals wordlessly? He was not the only one to start suspecting that the unlikely Slytherin was in fact the heir so feared. Only a few days later, Hermione managed to corner him in the library.
"Where on earth did that snake come from, you couldn't have mastered silent casting yet, could you, and how did you control both, and don't try to deny it, I know better, you did, we saw you."
Harry groaned loudly to interrupt her whispered tirade, then pulled up his sleeve to show one of the snakes, "look Hermione, it's just my pet."
"Are you trying to make me think that it just knew to go tell off the other snake, or something?" she said suspiciously, "because the only way I've heard of controlling snakes is…"
"Parsletongue," Harry finished for her, "I know, but trust me, if I'd said anything to them, everyone would have heard."
"Oh," she said, "so you aren't the murderous heir of Slytherin or some other nascent dark lord?"
"If I were, we wouldn't be friends, now would we?" he replied testily.
"Are we?" she replied, a wistful tone to her voice, "you have been avoiding me for so long. I'm tempted to think you've come into some evil inheritance and thought better of befriending the bookworm."
Harry blinked at her and said, "No, that's not it, I just can't stand to be around you when you're mooning over Lockheart. I think that man has some kind of horrible crush or something on me!"
"Eww, that's gross, Harry," she said with a frown, "though now that I think about it, I wouldn't be surprised. He is awfully flamboyant—he hasn't done anything to you in those detentions has he?" When he shook his head, she continued, "D'you want to help me research what the creature might be?"
He smiled, "sure, as long as I can do my homework first," and was rewarded with a scandalized glare. Hermione really set herself up for that kind of comment. It did turn out to be fun getting to learn about some of the more dangerous creatures out there.
When Harry finally heard the voice in the walls, the snake currently riding on his arm went absolutely rigid, cutting off circulation. He ducked into the nearest empty classroom, and began to croon softly to it, trying desperately to coax the little animal off his arm. Finally, it dropped into his waiting hand.
"Big, very big," the poor thing hissed, pooled bonelessly in the boy's hands. "The biggest snake of us all."
"But we didn't see it," he whispered back, glancing around nervously.
"We use the plumbing all the time to come to you," the snake responded, "and there's room in the bigger ones. We should probably hibernate early."
"I'm probably the only human besides the heir who can talk to it," Harry said, correctly including himself in the snake's comment about hibernating. "I have to do something to help everybody."
"I'll tell the others," the little creature said in a defeated tone, "and somebody will tell you what we decide. But take me outside, I'm not going through the pipes alone, when it is roaming them."
When Harry came out of the room, the hall was full of people talking about the petrified student, curiosity and fear taking turns in their expressions. The next time he saw Hermione in the library, he suggested she look at types of big snakes, in addition to her current perusing of creatures that can petrify. This reminded her of the myth of Medusa, and sent her scurrying into the stacks without questioning his suggestion. They didn't really get any further than that, as the homework squeeze before winter break consumed their efforts. Harry's little friends had long since gone underground, leaving him to join them when he would. As break drew nearer, he became increasingly agitated, debating whether to leave, considering the chances of the "biggest one" hibernating, along with his chances of waking up before it.
Remembering their tendency to briefly awaken at early spring thaws to taste the chances of a true arrival of warm weather, Harry determined to leave as soon as term ended. On the second to last day of classes, when he heard that a blizzard was coming, Harry immediately fled to the forest, knowing that it would be his last chance before everything was completely covered in a thick blanket of snow, which probably wouldn't melt till spring.
Little did he know that somebody would be petrified only days later, and blame pinned on him, with the assumption being that his absence indicated his flight from the scene of the crime. Even those who remembered his disappearance the year past were reluctant to start a search.
When Harry arose, prophetically, on Easter, to the muffled complaints from the sleeping mass, it was only to return to a school that had tired from months of speculation. Almost immediately, he got into a violent argument with Draco, featuring the boy's pointed disbelief in the rumors that Harry was the heir. It always angered him to have his rival agree, as it ruined the argument. He retreated to Myrtle's loo to spend the night, and got the diary as well.
She insisted he write in it to "get his feelings out" because she wasn't in the mood to hear his problems after having it thrown through her. It was when he was on his way to give it to Dumbledore the next morning, after seeing the clearly fake scene featuring Hagrid, when he ran into Ginny Weasley.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to," he gasped, helping her pick up her things.
"That's my diary," she hissed, "why do you have it?"
"I found it in a loo, I was going to give it to the Headmaster," he said, throwing his hands up at her suspicious tone. "There's something wrong with it, you must be confused, this isn't even your name on it."
She snatched it away from him, hugged it close, and said, "this is my diary, sorry I'm not rich enough to get my name engraved."
"Alright, sorry, I didn't mean it that way," he replied, resolving to keep an eye on the furious girl.
He drifted listlessly into the library after classes that day, afraid to go anywhere, but desperately needing to catch up on homework. Hermione instantly cornered him with a homework make-up schedule, surprising him to no end with her vehement support of his innocence.
"Honestly Harry, how anybody could believe that rubbish, when its obvious you had to have left before the blizzard, and did the same thing last year," she groused. "At least you got back sooner this year. I just finalized your study schedule last night when I heard you were back."
She insisted on him working in the library with her, "so I can explain things to you," but he suspected she just needed to get away from her house, which was united in hating him, aside from her. Hermione finished all her work long before him, which gave her time for their "extra project."
The day she finally found basilisks, the parted ways towards their own dorms carrying hastily conjured mirrors as a precaution. When she was petrified that very night, Harry was devastated, which amused Draco to no end. When he was finally able to retreat to Myrtle's bathroom to unburden after all the excitement involving Dumbledore and Hagrid's removal, she was unusually excited, happy even. He had to listen as she told him all about her death, after a similar petrifying incident, but he was glad to be hearing it when she talked about Tom, as it confirmed his suspicions regarding the possessed diary.
Watching Ginny like a hawk had become his main priority, besides faithfully completing Hermione's catch up schedule and taking scrupulous notes in class for her own catch up. She would awaken to use them, he had to believe it. Therefore, he knew exactly what the message on the walls meant that fateful spring day. He pushed his way through the crowd to be at Ron's side.
"Where's your sister, Weasley?" he whispered, rhetorically.
"You took her, tell me, you bastard!" the redhead shouted, and we aren't even halfbloods!"
"There's something wrong with her diary, you git," Harry replied, exasperated, "now come with me, if you want her back."
"I'm not going anywhere without a teacher," Ron yelled, "you can't kill me too!"
"I'll come," Lockheart enthused, "I'm sure this is all a misunderstanding, Harry will set everything right."
Both boys looked at the man, incredulous, but it was Harry who broke the silence. "Fine, come on then," and pulling Weasley along behind him, headed to the bathroom. He actually managed to stun the teacher before he got Ron's wand. It was amazing how much living with Draco and his thugs had improved his reflexes, even beyond Dudley's tender mercies. They left the man on the floor like so much trash, though Ron kept his wand on Harry nervously the whole way in.
He dove to his sister's side with an incoherent roar, and stayed there, shocked, during the ensuing conversation between Riddle and Potter. When the former called the basilisk out, Harry yelled at him, "keep her safe, but don't look at the snake because it can kill you with its eyes if you see them."
"Oh, is dear heroic Harry trying to protect his little friends? Not running away like you do every year? Dear little Ginny was so angry you weren't dead she threw my diary into a loo," the specter sneered, "and besides, the boy dies as soon as you become my first kill in this new body."
Harry shrugged, "and no doubt Dumbledore and a bunch of Aurors will be waiting at the top to arrest you for it." At that point, Fawkes burst into the chamber in a ball of flames, and the fight was on. Afterwards, the phoenix flew them right past a terrified Lockheart, who had just spotted one of the basilisk's cast-off skins. Dumbledore had to actually cajole the bird into going back to fetch the man, who made a grand protestation and quit immediately upon his return to the surface, much to everybody's delight.
As much as he was glad to have the entire Weasley family's undying gratitude and friendship, Harry was a bit sad. He had wanted to talk the snake out of following Riddle, but in its maddened state, after Fawkes had taken its eyes, killing had been the only option for the magnificent beast. Harry really regretted his earlier reluctance to seek it out as soon as he knew where the chamber was located. At least he was able to help Hermione get caught up on her school work and return her earlier favor.
Harry was not surprised by his boring summer, just happy that his small friends were still willing to associate with him after all of that. Apparently, they also could have been petrified, as they slithered through the same pipes. Dear "Aunt" Marge fainted when his current reptilian companion parted his hair to hiss at her balefully. Fortunately, the snake hid from the rest of his unpleasant relatives, and he was delighted to find that he was not going to be locked up in his cupboard for once in his life. Instead, they chased him bodily out of the house and ordered not to return till Marge left after her week-long visit.
He sat on a swing in the play park, aimlessly considering how to feed himself for the next few days when he saw a huge black dog. It dashed off immediately, but the next morning, when he woke up under a bush, he saw it again and called, "here boy, c'mon, don't be scared. We're both strays, I guess, aren't we," he said upon clearly seeing the shaggy state of the thin and nervous animal. "Let's get something to eat, shall we?"
"Ruff, ruff," the dog barked, with its bright and surprisingly blue eyes locked on his green.
"Wait here," Harry whispered upon reaching Mrs. Figg's yard. "We don't want you to scare her cats, or we'll get nothing. I'll bring something for you, okay." He was a bit surprised that the dog stayed, and to find the big dog still waiting in the bushes with a lolling tongue. Harry laughed, "aren't you a smart dog! Look here, she even gave me a water dish for you. Old Mrs. Figg's pretty nice, eh?"
Harry didn't mind sleeping on her couch, and the dog didn't mind sleeping under her bushes, so life was good on Wisteria Walk. They played in the park, and both filled out slightly. It was the most idyllic week of his life that he'd been conscious for, but the evening of the day he saw Marge's car leave, he knew it was time to go back so he could get a ride to the Cauldron to meet the Weasleys for a little shopping and a place to stay for the last few days before the train left.
"Well, I guess this is it, boy," Harry said, stroking the dog fondly, "I'm not allowed to have dogs at Hogwarts, unfortunately. Not that snakes are allowed either," he paused to laugh when the dog jumped at seeing one poke its head out of his collar, "but you are much harder to hide, invisibility cloak or not." The dog woofed happily, "and I can always argue with Snape that they are my house mascot." It would be months before he knew why the dog chose that moment to snort and dash off.
