Snakes and Souls by Maddyson Ruby
Pairing: Harry/Daphne
Rating: T
Disclaimer: I own nothing and make no profit from this. All characters you recognise belong to JK Rowling.
AN: This is the third chapter and here everything kicks off! Finally! Hope you all love it too! I forgot to mention last chapter that your incredible response to this story has amazed me and I have such an urge to continue writing HP fanfiction all of a sudden, I don't know why. Enjoy this chapter! The scene in Umbridge's classroom comes from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
Chapter 3
We all entered the room together knowing there was strength in numbers and, judging by the toad in pink's saccharine smile, we needed it. Nobody in our class knew what she was like so everyone remained silent as she directed us take our seats in the usual regimented rows.
"Well, good afternoon!" she called from her desk, as soon as everybody had sat down.
I was one of the few who mumbled "Good afternoon," in reply as the transfiguration accident stood up from behind her desk with a frown on her thin lips.
"Tut, tut," she chided, her bulging eyes narrowing on each one of us like we were flies for her to eat. "That won't do now, will it? I should like you, please, to reply 'Good afternoon, Professor Umbridge'. One more time, please. Good afternoon, class!"
"Good afternoon, Professor Umbridge," we chanted back at her drearily, I scarcely held in my snicker as she looked down at us with barely concealed distaste in her bloated eyes.
"There, now," she crooned sweetly. "That wasn't too difficult, was it? Wands away and quills out, please." I was getting the impression that this delusional woman thought saying 'please' every other word was the key to making us cooperate. It wasn't, it was only succeeding in annoying me and my fellow classmates. Even the usually stoic and suave Draco and Blaise were having trouble holding back the sneer that wanted to spread across their faces. Personally, I was having trouble not glaring at the toad who was dressed in the same hideous cardigan of the night previous and I had to fight the impulse to ask her if she owned any other clothes.
We all exchanged looks that clearly showed our depression at the thought of a lesson on defence with no wands. It had never been any fun before and I doubted it would be now.
She stood at the front of the class, all five foot and twenty stone of her, her hands primly clasped in front of her as she proceeded to badmouth every teacher we had ever had in the subject. She set us to work on copying out her course aims before asking, "Has everybody got a copy of Defensive Magical Theory by Wilbert Slinkhard?"
We all mumbled our confirmation that we had indeed wasted our hard earned galleons on that disaster of a book. This did not go down well with the amphibious professor as she told us the correct was she should be addressed; I honestly think History of Magic might be more interesting…At least Binns is a ghost…
"I should like you to turn to page five and read 'Chapter One, Basics for Beginners', there will be no need to talk," the professor told us slowly like we had the brains of a troll, I could understand this tone with a child or someone like Crabbe or Goyle but not with a room full of now sullen teenagers.
I opened the book to the designated page and scoffed slightly in the silent classroom, drawing the eyes of Professor Umbridge to myself, "Something the matter, dear?"
"No, Professor," I told her, hearing the quiet laughter of my alleged friends.
"Very well."
I started to read as instructed and experienced the sensation of my mind melting for the second time that day as I re-read the same line over and over again. A nudge from my right had me looking up at Blaise with a raised brow, he just nodded to the other side of the classroom where none other than Hermione Granger sat primly with one hand raised in an attempt to catch Professor Umbridge's attention and a quick glance around the room showed that no single student was even looking at their book anymore under the false pretence of reading and were now staring at the muggleborn bookworm in suspense.
"Did you want to ask something about the chapter, dear?" the toad asked sweetly, her eyes narrowed in on the girl sitting there waiting.
"Not about the chapter, no," she admitted to the teacher.
The professor tried to dismiss her comment and redirect our attention back to reading but the bushy haired girl persisted, "I've got a question about the course aims."
The toady woman raised her eyebrows, staring down the student nearly every other professor at Hogwarts loved, "And your name is?"
"Hermione Granger," she said stiffly.
"Well, Miss Granger, I think the course aims are perfectly clear if you read them through carefully," she said ever so sweetly and the slight to the muggleborn's intelligence was not going to go unnoticed.
"Well, I don't," the muggleborn said bluntly. Clearly the girl had never heard of tact or that you'll catch more flies with honey than you will with vinegar. "There's nothing written up there about using defensive spells." I admit, I was curious about that but I wasn't stupid enough to actually ask.
The toad woman proceeded to act like Granger was insane for even suggesting the need to ever use defensive spells. "You surely aren't expecting to be attacked during class?"
That was when Ronald Weasley finally woke up, "We not going to be using magic?"
"Students raise their hands when they wish to speak in my class, Mr-"
"Weasley."
Harry and Hermione immediately lifted their hands in the air whilst the rest of us watched this circus act. The professor's eyes slid over Harry, landing on Granger, "Yes, Miss Granger? You wish to ask something else?"
"Yes," she agreed, "Surely the whole point of Defence Against the Dark Arts is to practise defensive spells?"
"Are you a ministry-trained educational expert, Miss Granger?" the Umbridge toad asked sweetly.
Granger walked right into that one, "No, but-"
"Well then," Umbridge began, "I am afraid you are not qualified to decide what the 'whole point' of any class is. Wizards much older and cleverer than you have devised our new programme of study. You will be learning about defensive spells in a secure risk-free way-"
Harry called across the classroom, startling me, "What use is that? If we're going to be attacked it won't be in a-"
"Hand, Mr Potter!" the professor sang at him, her eyes wide.
He did as he was told, a credit to him and his sense of self-preservation, but she turned away and began dealing with other foolhardy Gryffindors that questioned her authority. Frankly I agreed with the Gryffindors that something needed to be done about Umbridge and her abysmal teaching but it wasn't a good idea to charge into proverbial battle when you were so ill-prepared.
Dean Thomas, Parvati Patil, Hermione Granger and Harry Potter all acted first and thought second, something I found to be admirable but stupid; you wouldn't catch a Slytherin doing that.
I was drawn out of my thought when Harry spoke again, "Hmm, let's think…. Maybe… Lord Voldemort?"
The Gryffindors all freaked out at the sound of You-Know-Who. I did not let it startle me that badly but it didn't mean I wasn't shocked by his easy utterance of the Dark Lord's name. The other Slytherins were impressed too; I could read it in their eyes, Harry Potter had just earned our respect.
"Ten points from Gryffindor, Mr Potter."
It was silent as the toad's red face evened out to a dark fuchsia not unlike her clothing, "Now, let me make a few things quite plain. You have been told that a certain Dark Wizard has returned from the dead-"
"He wasn't dead," Harry argued angrily, his face taut with ire, "but yeah, he's returned!"
I looked up at Blaise and murmured, "He's going to get himself killed."
Blaise didn't argue, his eyes never leaving Umbridge's form as he replied, "Yep, but what a way to go. I can read the Prophet headlines now, 'Boy Who Lived died'. I tell you, Daphne, I don't like Gryffindors but Harry," he said pausing contemplatively, "Harry has guts. I'm impressed."
"Me too," I couldn't help but murmur as I watched him argue with our teacher. He was definitely brave. Stupid, but brave.
The professor spoke again, catching my attention, "As I was saying, you have been informed that a certain dark wizard is at large once again. This is a lie."
"It is not a lie!" Harry exploded in rage, "I saw him! I fought him!"
"Detention, Mr Potter!" Umbridge cackled. "Tomorrow evening. Five o'clock. My office. I repeat, this is a lie." A moment of silence descended on us all as she began to speak the biggest load of rubbish this side of the equator, "The Ministry of Magic guarantees that you are not in danger from any Dark wizard. If you are still worried, by all means come and see me outside class hours. If someone is, alarming you with fibs about re-born Dark wizards, I would like to hear about it. I am here to help. I am your friend. And now, you will kindly continue your reading. Page five, 'Basics for Beginners'."
The professor sat down behind her desk and I thought that would be the end of it but then Harry stood up and even I looked at him like he was mad.
"Harry, no!" Hermione whispered loudly, alerting everybody in the near silent class.
"So, according to you, Cedric Diggory dropped dead of his own accord, did he?" he asked her defiantly, his voice shaking slightly with pent up emotion and for some reason, I couldn't tear my eyes off of him.
"Cedric Diggory's death was a tragic accident," she told us with all the compassion of a gnat.
"It was murder," Harry insisted, shaking and I still watched him with an eagerness that frightened me but I could not pull my eyes from his form. "Voldemort killed him and you know it."
I breathed in sharply; my mind whirling at how easily he had used the name like the Dark Lord was an acquaintance or childhood enemy, not the most feared wizard in history.
"Come here, Mr Potter, dear," she said in her sweetest voice.
He kicked his chair aside and strode up to her desk with an attitude I hadn't known he had, Harry was strong like this, he was somebody to watch and respect. Two qualities I would never have put with Harry Potter, the usually simpleminded Gryffindor that let his 'friends' bully him about. "Take this to Professor McGonagall, dear," she told him in a voice as sweet as it was sharp.
He said nothing as he took the bright pink note from her chubby hand and left the room, slamming the door in his wake.
The Slytherins and I shared a look before nodding as one, this Harry that we had seen a glimpse of here was somebody we'd like to know more about, someone that had gained our attention and impressed us.
"Reading," Umbridge told us, "Now."
And that was the end of that.
The two weeks flew by until my birthday was upon me – the fifteenth of September. Lessons had continued on in much the same way, homework being heaped upon us so regularly I felt like I was drowning in parchment and ink.
I turned sixteen, the age of maturity in terms of physicality. I had another year to go until the trace was removed but a girl could dream. I threw on my school robes and Pansy and Millie gave me their gifts – a book on advanced beauty charms from Pansy and a floral wand holder from Millie. Only one of these would end up getting use from me and, despite my love for reading, it wasn't the book. I thanked them both and we descended into the common room below only for a yell of "Happy Birthday!" to catch me off guard making me shriek in surprise. I was caught up in hugs from everyone with Blaise feeling the need to outdo them all by picking me up and twirling me around before depositing me in front of an amused Professor Snape who smirked down at me before handing me a gift, "Potion Making for Dunces." I knew this was his own unique form of humour so I didn't say a word of outrage, despite how badly I wanted to. I also noticed that he smelt strange to me, something slightly different about his usual smell of potions fumes.
A snicker of laughter came from him as he instructed, "Open it, Greengrass." I did as he told me and grinned when the centre of the book was cut out revealing a perfect hiding place for all manner of objects but at that moment there was a large bar of Honeyduke's Finest. I wanted to squeal in happiness as the professor wished me a happy birthday before he spun and left the dungeons with his usual grandiosity.
I felt a twinge of pain in my shoulders but shrugged it off in favour of leading nearly every fifth year in Slytherin to the Great Hall, just before I stepped through the doors a silver sash embroidered with 'Birthday Queen' in green cursive was slipped around me by none other than Blaise Zabini.
We entered the hall together; the first hint that something was different in Slytherin house and that was before the Weasley twins stood up on the Gryffindor benches and bellowed across the hall amid the protests of Professor McGonagall.
"Hey, Greengrass! You don't look a day over forty! Happy Birthday!" the yelled together.
I stepped up onto the benches to yell back, "Well, at least I look younger than you!"
They shared a look before beaming, "Touché, Greengrass!"
The commotion eventually died down with the Weasley twins getting themselves a detention with McGonagall for their 'rowdy shenanigans'.
I overheard McGonagall telling Snape off for not disciplining his students, his droll reply was, "It's the girl's birthday, Minnie. Cut her some slack." With that he went back to his breakfast, leaving me laughing and McGonagall stunned into a stupor.
I tucked into a stack of pancakes drizzled with sweet syrup happily, my housemates smiling at me as those that hadn't seen me yet wished me a happy birthday, too. I think we left the rest of the hall in shock as they barely said a word, choosing to watch us snakes carefully. Even the professors seemed bewildered by our almost familial actions and spared Snape looks of curiosity throughout breakfast.
I recognised several of the owls as they poured into the Great Hall and nearly twelve landed in front of me, Millie and Blaise helping to send them back on their way. The first package I opened was from my aunt and it was a small handheld enchanted mirror charmed to comment as she would and a book on the languages of the world, muggle and wizard alike, as well as a book on the various magical creatures of the world. I made a mental reminder to send her a note later before tearing into my next gift, a set of charmed hair combs from my parents. The other gifts from my grandparents, cousins and relatives were all vanity related with the notable exception of my mother's mother who gifted me a book on illusion charms, a personal interest of mine. The Malfoy's even sent a package of Honeyduke's treats that I vowed to tuck into later. A house elf I recognised to be Dee Dee took all my gifts back up to my room and I thanks her with a smile as she stammered out her words.
"So, our little Daphne is sixteen…" Draco pointed out with a smirk.
I was about to reply when two arms wrapped around me making me shriek as my friends laughed, I spun to see my sister standing there with a grin on her little face, her teak coloured hair tied back and her eyes alight with mischief.
"Happy Birthday, Daphne!" she cried belatedly, throwing her arms up in the air before handing me a small, barely wrapped box.
"Thanks, Tory," I told her before looking down at the box with a smile on my face. She sat next to me as Millie slid up the bench and looked at me expectantly.
"Open it," she ordered and I obliged, pulling out a beautiful snake pendant necklace with emerald eyes.
"Thanks," I told her, pulling my sister into a tight hug as she smiled up at me.
"It's a mood necklace," she told me as she looked at the pendant, "It comes in a set of two, I have the other one. Look," she said pulling the necklace out from under her robes. "Mine changes colour to represent how you are feeling, whilst yours changes to show how I'm feeling. Awesome, huh?" I watched as the pendant the snake was on changed colour to a bright indigo, "That means excited," she told me with a grin.
I hugged her again and we spent the rest of breakfast laughing a having a good time with the rest of the school on tenterhooks, waiting for the shoe to drop. I didn't even care what they were thinking about me, I was enjoying myself, we all were. I think it is good for the other students and the teachers to see that we weren't inherently evil just because we were purebloods. The Weasley's were purebloods and they didn't weren't thought to be evil.
The day dragged by but I pulled through until lunch, the pains in my shoulders getting more frequent, coming and going every hour or so. The headaches started just before lunch and it was all I could do to walk into the hall and sit down. I saw the spread in front of me and chose to just drink pumpkin juice and rip into the bar of chocolate I had been given by Professor Snape that morning. The sweet taste of chocolate seemed to numb my pounding head as I indulged myself the treat.
My housemates sat down with me and as I felt better I joined them in conversation, feeling eyes on me for a majority of the time I sat there. I looked up suddenly, my eyes meeting Harry Potter's green ones and he nodded at me, mouthing the words 'Happy Birthday' before the Weasley girl drew his attention back to her but I didn't miss the spiteful glare she gave me.
"Daph, what's wrong?" Blaise whispered to me as he looked me over, a faint look of worry in his eyes.
"Nothing," I dismissed him, I was fine just a little under the weather for some reason or another.
He looked me in the eye for a minute longer before he nodded, "As long as you're sure."
"I am," I told him, digging into my chocolate once more.
I left for the green houses with my friends, a smile on my face that only disappeared when a pain wracked my body but I passed it off as stiffness from sitting too long and they seemed to believe me. I didn't know what was happening but I did not like it at all. If it persisted, I'd go see Pomfrey.
The last two hours of the day dragged by until I just wanted to crawl into a hole and die, pains coursed through me regularly, sending my mind into a stupor of discomfort. My eyes stung so badly that the light that filtered into the Slytherin common rooms, as minute as it was, set my eyes to feeling like they were being stabbed with a fire poker.
"Daph? Are you sure you're okay?" Blaise asked me again, drawing the attention of Pansy and Millie over.
Millicent placed a hand on my forehead and pulled away sharply, "You're burning up, Daphne. You should go to the infirmary.
"No," I groaned, curling into a ball on the sofa.
Blaise crouched in front of me with worried eyes, "At least let us go get Snape. He'll be able to help."
I didn't say a word because Pansy had already ran from the dungeons to get our Head of House. I just tried to focus my blurry eyes and still the warping of the common room.
A cool hand touched my burning face gently, and a blur of pale cream and black swarmed my vision, "She'll need to be put into quarantine in my quarters for the night," a voice said quietly and some small part of my mind that was aware still told me it was Professor Snape.
"What's wrong with her?" Blaise asked.
"Hopefully nothing serious," he told them. "I'll take her to the Potions lab so if it is anything serious, she can get to the infirmary quicker than if she were in a Girls' Dormitory. And so nobody is further exposed."
Within seconds I felt myself being picked up and a murmur of," Just hold on, Miss Greengrass." I tried to still my pounding mind enough to reply but couldn't control the rolling I felt inside myself.
I was laid down on a cold bed, that much I could discern. Where I was or who I was with, I didn't know.
"Miss Greengrass, I'm going to Floo your Aunt, I believe she may be of more assistance than me at this present time," Snape said quietly and I heard the rush of fire that signified a Floo call.
Soon the pain changed and became more continuous and I fought hard to contain the whimpers that wanted to crawl out of my throat.
"How long, Severus?" my aunt asked.
"Seven years," was his reply.
"Who?" she asked.
"Ex-student."
"Ah… I have yet to find mine."
There was silence again, the sound of my rushed breathing being the only thing I could hear over my racing heartbeat. Suddenly a blissful coolness began to spread through me, easing away the agony I had felt only moments before. I opened my eyes when I felt like I could breathe again and saw everything. Everything was in such clarity that I drew a breath quickly.
"Daphne?" a voice I recognised to be my aunt's made me turn in her direction only to freeze up as I took in everything about her.
"Aunt Selene?" I asked confusedly, sitting up on the bed quickly. "What's going on?"
She sat down on the edge of the bed, her blue eyes watching me carefully, "It's happened, Daph."
"What's happened?" I asked her warily, taking in the seriousness of her blue gaze.
"Your mother's maiden name was Cole," she told me, waiting for a moment whilst I nodded, "The women of the Cole line have occasionally been blessed, or cursed as you may wish to think of it, with the resurfacing of the creature blood of our ancestors."
My palms began to sweat and my breathing quickened slightly as I worked out where this was going, "What creature?" I asked breathlessly, my eyes wide with fear.
"Daphne, the women of our line occasionally inherit Succubus blood and when they turn sixteen it manifests itself physically," she told me in a voice no louder than a whisper.
"Physically?" I asked feeling sick as I started to untangle myself from the blankets to get to the full-length mirror on the other side of the room.
My aunt stepped back from me slightly as I stood up and I couldn't help but notice that I was now equal to Selene in height, "Daphne, take it slow," she ordered, "Let me help you."
We walked together to the mirror and I looked into my once boring brown eyes and saw they were no longer the colour of mud; they were a warm brown only found in nature with swirls and nuances of gold inside them. My dark chocolate hair was now down to my rib cage and was a startling lighter brown with darker tones streamed throughout. My face was also different, not an ounce of fat visible with higher cheekbones and fuller lips. My eyes trailed down to my body and the Hogwarts uniform I wore no longer fit properly with a button missing in the bust area as that had increased in size. My legs were also longer, seeming to go on for miles. In short, I was a knockout, curves in all the right places with the kind of figure only seen in a Playwizard magazine. My aunt met my eyes in the mirror and that was when I knew that the same thing had happened to her. My aunt Selene was a Succubus too.
"Do you understand, Daphne?" she asked me in her voice that rung like bells and hit every note.
"I think so," I told her seriously, a lot calmer than I had been. I listened as my own voice seemed to echo off the walls and ring at the perfect pitch. "We are Succubi."
She smiled, "What do you think of the wings?"
"Wings?" I asked and just the word was enough to send them peeling off of my back and unfurling so I could see them in my reflection. They were magnificent, covered in black feathers with a wingspan of around two metres.
"To draw them back in, take a deep breath and tighten your back muscles," she told me with a fond smile and I nodded at her words before focussing again and slowly but surely drawing them back into my skin.
"Was that good?" I asked, slightly breathlessly, hoping for reassurance.
She just nodded, leading me back to the bed. "There's a lot to tell you, Daphne. Succubi are… misunderstood. It is common in muggle folklore that we invade the dreams of men and have our way with them." She smiled, laughing slightly, "It's amazing really, just how much they get wrong about us, even wizards and witches still don't understand us. We aren't evil beings, Daphne."
I didn't say a word to her, just looked into her eyes as she continued, summoning a book from her bag and handing it to me. I read the title and looked up at her in disbelief, "Magical Beings of Lust?"
She chuckled at me and my hilarious facial expression before gesturing to the book, "That is probably the most accurate book I've been able to find."
I nodded, opening it up and scanning the index for Succubi before flipping to the correct page and starting to read the entry.
Succubi are creatures of magic that charm and captivate people of both muggle and magical origin. Muggle mythology traditionally calls them seducers of men and that repeated sexual relations leads to death or poor health. This is a true fact of Succubi and their mates whom are Incubi. A female typically comes into her Succubus inheritance at the age of maturity and then selects any male she deems worthy during a series of sexual encounters with various men with the one that please her the most becoming her chosen partner.
Her mate is always an Incubus to balance out her sexual hunger and lust with the females feeling possessive and territorial of their mates. If one of the pairing dies the other avenges them before beginning the cycle again and finding a new mate.
"Is this all true?" I asked my aunt worriedly, looking up to meet her eyes.
"No," she told me, shaking her head of mahogany waves, "It is true that we are able to charm and entrance people but not to the extent that book claims. It is a subtle allure, not mind control." She smiled at me, running her hand through my new hair, "We also aren't seducers of men… Well, you could be if you wanted but we aren't inherently and sex with a normal person doesn't kill them, Daphne." We shared a laugh and I was glad to find some normalcy in our interaction, "It is also true that our mates our Incubi but they don't start that way," she continued on, "they start human, either muggle or wizard and our more natural, instinctive side searches at night through the dreams of the men around us for the one with a soul that matches ours. It is quite romantic, no?" she offered a smile but there was a hint of sadness in the set of her face and shining within the depths of her eyes.
"Hmm…" I agreed, but I was more focussed on my aunt and the tear that trailed down her cheek that she thought I didn't see. I chose not to press the issue at that moment but I knew I would eventually; there was something more to that story. "Anything else?" I asked softly, sighing when she looked up and met my eyes.
"There is always more, Daphne. But, in regards to us? The only thing I can think to add is that if our mate is killed we avenge them and then we die." She paused letting me absorb this before continuing, "We are not the sex-driven harlots we are made out to be, we are just lonely women, longing for our soul mates."
It was silent as I took in what she said and had a moment to look around the dark, very Slytherin room, "Where are we?"
Selene cracked a smile, "Professor Snape's private rooms." I quirked my brow, waiting for an explanation. "Snape is an Incubus, darling."
I froze, "Wait, what?"
She laughed at my astonishment, "Why do you think that despite his foul-manner, girls at Hogwarts still find him to be the sexiest professor since Salazar Slytherin?"
Wow, longest chapter at over five thousand words! How brilliant! You response to this story has amazed me as Snakes and Souls has 22 reviews, 44 favourites and 67 follows.
To vampireex: Haphne can be expected soonish, I think. I don't want it to be too sudden but I don't want to wait either so, maybe in a couple chapters time?
To digijim95: Glad its original, that was one of the things that made me accept the challenge and I have a so enjoyed writing this. Keep reading!
To Sk8ernv: Thank you, character development has always been a weak point for me so that compliment is a huge ego boost.
To MaudeLebowski: Thanks for the review, sorry if the story is dragging a bit but I want you all to enjoy it. And if you have read the entire chapter, you know that Daphne's awesome Aunt Selene holds a secret or two.
To Lunar Kitsune83: Thanks for letting me know, I wasn't paying attention when I wrote it but now it has been corrected.
To MagicSilver7081: Thank you, here's an update! Also, thanks for mentioning the Order of the Phoenix thing, it is now corrected.
To Hivedragon: I know what you mean, I've always thought Slytherins were unfairly represented. The creature I've used is like the original one but has my own twist on it. I think it makes it more interesting and besides, Daphne and Selene aren't hoes.
To LordXeenTheGreat: Thanks, it means a lot.
To Master of the A.U. Fanfiction: Thanks for the compliments. Hope you liked this chapter.
To WinterRain36: Thanks, I'm not sure how it'll play out but I like your suggestion, tell me what you think of this chapter!
To SimFlyer: I'm so glad you like the different view; I've always thought Slytherins weren't evil, just misunderstood.
To LuxEterna1: Thanks a lot, here's another chapter!