Chapter 2
The next day was the start of classes. Harry barely ate during breakfast and he had not slept at all last night. Ron did not care whether or not he ate because the red head was too busy stuffing his own face. Hermione nagged him about not eating but did not truly try to make him eat anything. Ginny was too busy hanging all over him to notice if he ate or not. The younger witch scared him and even his Veela was cautious. People were staring at him because of his allure but Harry was able to ignore them. He was not, however, able to ignore Ginny's hand on his thigh and moving slowly toward his crotch.
The Gryffindor stood abruptly, grabbed his bag, and hurried from the Great Hall. He dashed into the dungeons; already knowing his first class was Potions. His first class was always Potions with the Slytherins. He stood on the shadows across from the door to the classroom. It would still be a bit before other students started arriving. He sat down and leaned against the cold dungeon wall, ready to wait for the rest of the class to arrive.
His emerald gaze snapped down quickly when he felt something flick across his finger. On the floor by his hand was a black king cobra with white markings. The poisonous snake looked up at him before making a false lunge at his pocket. That is when Harry remembered that Hedwig had brought him a dead mouse this morning. She sometimes brought him presents like that and he had put it in his pocket so she would not get mad.
"Here you can have it," Harry told the snake, pulling the field mouse from his pocket. He placed it on the ground by the snake but it ignored the offering. It was too busy staring at Harry.
"You speak the language of serpents," it hissed. Harry nodded. "My name is Fey. My master has spoken of a boy who can speak to snakes."
"My name is Harry," he told the snake.
The snake ate the field mouse and spoke with Harry for a bit longer. Once students began to arrive Fey was startled by the noise they made. She slithered into Harry's robes through his sleeve and rested her body across his shoulders, her tail wrapped around his left bicep. Harry stood up and picked up his bag with his right hand. He slipped into the group of students and waited for the door to open.
When Professor Snape arrived he opened he door to the potions classroom and they all entered. Harry purposely sat on the other side of the room from where he, Ron, and Hermione normally sat. The only down side to this was that he was now on the Slytherin side of the room. Draco sat beside him and Blaise Zabini, a black Italian wizard, had no choice but to sit next to Neville on the Gryffindor side of the room.
Draco shot Harry a dirty look and he felt a tightening in his chest. Knowing that his mate hated him was not easy on him or his Veela. Harry ignored Draco and listened as Professor Snape explained the potion they were making today. When he was done, Draco got the ingredients while Harry started a fire beneath the cauldron. The blonde placed the ingredients on the worktable and sat back down in his seat.
"Start cutting the ingredients, Potter. I don't want you screwing up our potion," he sneered.
Harry nodded and started preparing the ingredients. He and Draco worked in silence and their potion was coming along better than Ron and Hermione's. His movements did not disturb Fey and Harry actually believed she had fallen asleep on his shoulders. Snape was leaving him alone for once because he was not actually preparing the potion.
Harry was almost starting to like potions when he made the first cut into a root that had to be diced. A foul odor came from the inside of the root and it had his Veela reeling. Harry dropped his knife onto the table and stood up so fast his chair clattered noisily to the stone floor. Everyone in the class stared at him as he backed quickly away from his table, his mouth and nose covered by his sleeve. An angry hiss had Harry looking to his right and he saw that he was not the only one who had leapt up because of the smell. Draco Malfoy was standing beside Harry, covering his own mouth and nose. Draco looked over at him and Harry saw confusion in his grey-blue eyes.
"Potter what did you do now?" Snape asked coldly. He walked over to the two boys and Harry knew he would get blamed for this.
"It wasn't his fault Professor," Draco spoke up, shocking the entire class. "It's the smell of the plant. Veela react strongly to that root so I had Potter cut it. Obviously I shouldn't have."
"That can't be possible," Hermione protested. "Harry isn't a Veela. Dumbledore would have told him if there was any creature blood in his father's family."
"Ten points from Gryffindor for speaking out of turn, Miss Granger," Snape drawled. "Bottle your potions and put them on my desk. Once you have cleaned up your stations, leave." Everybody hurried to do as told.
Harry began cleaning up their station after Professor Snape banished the root. Draco bottled a sample of their potion and brought it to Snape's desk. Harry was about to banish the potion but stopped when he saw Ron knock the sample from Draco's pale hand. He got another sample and handed it to the Slytherin when he walked back to the table. The blonde nodded in thanks and put the sample on Snape's desk.
Harry and Draco were the last students in the class room. Draco had been talking quietly to Professor Snape while Harry gathered his things. Fey was beginning to stir on his shoulders and he would rather not be in the potions classroom when she did. A hand suddenly grabbed his left arm tightly and caught a hold of Fey's tail. The snake hissed in pain and Harry yanked his arm away harshly. He glared at Draco because it had been the blonde who had grabbed his arm.
"Why did you grab my arm Malfoy?" Harry demanded angrily.
"You have oil from the root on your sleeve and if it touches your skin it will burn you. You need to take off your cloak before it hurts you," Draco snapped.
Harry was surprised by this but slowly took off his cloak. Fey hissed angrily at Draco when she caught sight at him. Harry could hear her yelling at him for grabbing her tail. He never knew a snake could be so vulgar. Harry himself hissed several curses as he slid his left hand out of the sleeve. When he looked at it he was surprised to see that his skin was an angry irritated red color. The end of his left sleeve had apparently been soaked in the oil and he had not even noticed. Honestly he was not surprised that he had not felt the burn. After all, he had burned his hands enough when he was learning to cook for the Dursley's.
Draco gasped at the sight of Harry's hand and hurried to a case of potions. Professor Snape was glaring at Harry and he grabbed his right arm tightly. A shock went through Harry's body at the contact but Snape did not seem to feel the same sensation. His black eyes bore into Harry and the teen had no idea why he was so angry with him.
"I could have you expelled for breaking into a teacher's rooms and stealing their familiar," he said coldly.
"I don't even know where your rooms are, sir. I was sitting outside waiting for everyone to get here because I left breakfast early. She found me. I didn't know she was yours," Harry protested.
"Why should I believe your story Potter? You have never had a problem lying to teachers before." Snape tightened his grip on Harry's arm and the eighteen year old had to hide a wince. Fey hissed, sensing Harry's pain, and lunged at Snape, snapping at his hand as he pulled it away quickly.
"She's saying that if you had locked her tank she wouldn't have gotten out," Harry said quietly. He did not want to get in anymore trouble and he did not know how the potions professor would react to what the snake was also saying. Their argument was interrupted by Draco walking back over with a jar of light blue ointment. He took the lid off and placed both the lid and the jar on the desk.
"This is going to sting but it's the same thing Madame Pomfrey would put on it," he said. He began to apply the ointment to the other boy's hand and wrist.
"So why can't I just go to the hospital wing?" Harry questioned. He pulled his hand away from Draco, trying to ignore the shock that had shot through him just like when Snape had grabbed his arm.
"Because if you let it sit for much longer it will scar," the blonde snapped. He grabbed Harry's left wrist and began applying the ointment to his hand again with a gentleness the brunette did not know he possessed. As the ointment was applied, the redness and burn marks slowly started to disappear. Harry's stomach started feeling fluttery with his mate taking care of him so gently. When Draco finished, Harry snatched up his bag and bolted from the classroom while muttering a quick embarrassed thank you.
