"Must you fidget so?"
"Shh!" hissed Harry, as he passed some guards at Little Whinging's railway station. "Do you want them to wonder why my pocket's hissing?"
"Then stop shoving your hands in here and poking me in the eye!"
Harry sighed, and removed his hand from his pocket. He'd been standing here at the train station for almost forty-five minutes waiting for the next train into London, and he was on edge, expecting Ministry officials to swoop down at him any moment. He hated standing still like this. He was under the Invisibility Cloak, but still, every face that he saw was an enemy, perhaps an Auror in disguise ready to take him away somewhere. In his agitation, he paced up and down the platform, fidgeting aimlessly and shoving his hands into his pockets, recoiling each time his skin met that of the snake's, forgetting that she was there.
"What are you so worried about anyway?" she asked, still slightly disgruntled. "You're invisible, aren't you? Humans can't smell you, can they?"
"No," murmured Harry. "But I still don't like it."
"Where's the sense in that? Humans really are strange creatures."
"So you've told me half a dozen times already, now will you stop hissing?" Harry asked. "They might not be able to see me but I'm sure they'll notice a hissing sound in mid-air!"
The snake made no reply, but Harry sensed, rather than heard her annoyance. He resumed his agitated pacing and only just stopped himself plunging his hand into his pocket once again. The board above his head said the train was due in at any moment, but he wouldn't be relaxed until he was actually seated. But then what? a voice said to him. Where are you going to go once you get to London?
His stomach dropped, and he tried to turn his mind to more immediate concerns. A distant rumbling noise drew his attention and, to his relief, he could see the bright lights of the train approaching the station through the semi-darkness. It glided to a halt and in an instant, he'd climbed on board, found a quiet corner to himself in the rearmost carriage and he was off again. He sat as still as he could, even though he was invisible and practically alone but for a couple of dressed up teenagers heading into the capital for a night out. Their giggling however was not distracting enough to pull his mind away from the feeling of dread in his stomach, nor the stinging pain on his back from his injuries. He knew without looking the t-shirt he was wearing underneath his light jacket was soaked with blood.
He resigned himself to staring out of the window, where night was falling on the world around him. It was still fairly light, despite the late hour, and in the distance he could see the shapes of houses and small villages which gradually gave way into larger towns and built up areas. Every stop the train made he grew alert, worried in case any incoming passengers would sit in his apparently vacant seat, or worse, that those incoming passengers would be Aurors ready to drag him off to the Ministry, or even Azkaban. But the few people that embarked stayed away from his corner of the carriage, mostly businessmen and women heading home after a day at work, or people in NHS uniforms going to begin a night shift. The ticket inspector came around, but Harry remained hidden, despite a small wave of guilt. He didn't want to waste any of his precious Muggle money if he didn't have to, and besides, he didn't want any witnesses to where he was going, even if they were Muggles.
All the while, the little snake remained coiled up in his pocket. He would have thought her to be asleep if not for the slight quivering of her tail. She was wary, and he couldn't blame her. The night closed in around them, and finally the bright lights of the city began to appear at the windows. Before long, the train was cruising to a stop, the woman over the PA informing the passengers they'd arrived at Euston station. There was a scramble to get off, but Harry waited a moment or two; he had no desire to bump into anybody in the crowd. When the platform outside the window had cleared somewhat, he followed, walking slowly and watchfully. It wasn't often he used his Cloak in such a busy area, and he didn't want any awkward encounters.
He followed the crowd of people at a distance, and hopped over the barrier when he came to it, after carefully checking if anybody was watching to see a pair of disembodied feet in the air. He made his way through the dimly lit station, carefully negotiating around luggage trolleys, vendors and befuddled tourists until he found himself on the streets of London. He breathed in the night air in relief, listening to a babble of voices and the noise of traffic nearby. A subtle hissing in his pocket brought him back to reality. He made his way down the street, walking quickly and silently, going in no particular direction, until he found himself walking through a small park. A few people were strolling nearby, but he ignored them, and crossed the grass until he was in the shelter of some trees. Only then did he remove the Cloak.
It was a relief to feel the cool air on his skin, and he immediately felt better; the suffocating feeling of being under the fabric removed, he was now able to breathe deeply. He reached his hand into his pocket and withdrew the snake, and glanced around quickly before speaking.
"Happy?" he said. "I brought you here. Now you can slither off and make your own way."
"I don't appreciate your tone," the snake hissed.
"I'm not here to make friends with you," Harry replied. "I've got my own problems, my own life to lead. And so have you."
The snake hissed fiercely, and she squirmed in his palm. She waved her small head around, her tongue darting out to taste her new surroundings.
"The air is dirty," she said. "It tastes strange. There are more humans here than I have ever smelt."
"You wanted to come to a city," Harry reminded her. "This is what you signed on for. Now, are you going to leave me alone, or not?"
"You cannot abandon me in a strange place!" She was indignant, her dark eyes flashing. "I am defenceless!"
"I think there are some puncture wounds on Dudley's hand that would disagree with that. Look," Harry sighed, losing patience, "I did what you asked. What more do you want?"
"I want to stick around with you."
"With me?" Harry repeated. "But why?"
"Just until I …"
"What, find your feet?"
She hissed angrily. "I need help to settle in."
"I'm not a babysitter-"
"What have you got to lose?" she retorted. "I simply need to have somewhere I can rest in safety. I can find my own food. It would be company for us both. Let me stay."
"I thought you hated humans?"
"You are not as bad as some," she said. "I could learn to tolerate you."
"Thanks," said Harry. He sighed, thinking it over. He wasn't sure he liked the idea of a snake sticking around, it was far too Slytherin-like. But, he told himself, she might be useful. It could be handy having someone small who could sneak around, particularly one with such a great sense of smell; he'd hardly be caught unawares by authorities either Muggle or magical. And anyway, the sight of Dudley's mangled hand was still large in his memory. He was painfully aware of the proximity of her teeth to his fingers.
"All right," he said, and she hissed with pleasure. "But it's not permanent, right?"
"What would it matter if it was or wasn't? You've hardly got any future plans to worry about, have you?"
He scowled at the reminder. "Do you want to stay or not?" She went silent. "Good, now, get back into my pocket. I need to find someplace for us both to stay, preferably as cheap as possible."
"Lovely," she said, slipping back into his jacket pocket. "We snakes love living in hovels."
Harry set off back towards the entrance of the park, this time leaving his Cloak off, deciding that the streets were too busy to risk it.
"You know," he murmured, emerging back onto the street. "If we're going to be spending this much time together, you really should have a name."
"A name?" she hissed in contempt. "What would I want a silly human name for?"
"Remind me again, whose pocket is it you're living in, rent-free?"
"Fine," she sulked. "Give one of your silly names then. But I get to decide whether I like it or not."
"Deal," he said. He thought for a moment about how he'd named Hedwig, repeating name after name at her from his books until he found one that she had seemed to like. What could be good enough for a snake? He thought back to his textbooks about wizarding history and magical and Muggle mythology for anything vaguely snake-like.
"Medusa?" he suggested. "She had snakes for hair."
"I am more than a decoration, human," she said. "Hair is an ugly mammal attribute."
"All right, what about Eve? She talked to a snake once."
"I know that story, it is the root of the human hatred for us. She was a silly woman."
"Ok," he said, almost laughing at the thought of a snake somehow managing to read Genesis. "Then what about Lamia?"
"And who was she?"
"She was a beautiful queen that was turned into a snake-like creature and devoured children. One of the most feared creatures of ancient mythology."
"Hmmm …" pondered the snake. "Beautiful and feared? That is … acceptable."
"The fact that she ate children doesn't bother you?"
"We snakes do not fawn over our young like you humans do. We begin our lives looking after ourselves. Something you could learn from, human. Particularly in your current situation."
"You know, I've got a name as well."
"And what is it?"
Harry laughed for a moment, both at the realization he's spent several hours in the company of the snake without telling her, and the fact that there was a living creature who both knew about wizards and had never heard of him.
"It's Harry."
"Very well, as you are doing me a favour, I shall comply since you think it so important … Harry."
"You know," he said quietly, "I think we could end up getting along quite nicely, you and I."
"We'll see," Lamia said from his pocket, though her voice sounded decidedly less antagonistic than before.
"Any word?" Ron asked immediately, as Kingsley and a couple of other Order members strode into the kitchen of Grimmauld Place, though the expressions on their faces had said it all. Beside him at the table, he saw Hermione press her hands together so tightly her knuckles went white. Her face was deathly pale. Across the room, Sirius had finally ceased his restless pacing, staring instead at a spot on the wall, his face hard as stone.
The arrival of Kingsley meant the end of the night shift of searching, though no one in the kitchen had slept at all. His dad and the others on the night shift who had just arrived were weary, and sat slumped in their seats after perking up briefly when Kingsley had entered. The next team were preparing to leave, waiting only for Kingsley's report.
"Nothing?" Mum asked desperately. "Not even a clue?"
"No," said Kingsley heavily, seating himself at the table and taking the cup she had offered him. "The Ministry also has people looking for him, and from what I've gleaned from my contacts they don't have the slightest idea what has happened to him. Dumbledore is still out looking, but he's had no luck either."
Ron's mood deepened. What hope did they have when even Dumbledore couldn't find him?
"That poor boy," said Mum. "Out, alone all night."
"And injured as well," said Dad, rubbing the bridge of his nose where his glasses had been resting. "Remember the blood in the kitchen?"
Hermione went even paler, if possible.
"We're coming," said Fred and George together. "We'll go out and look for him."
"And us," said Ron, and Hermione nodded. "We know him better than any of you."
Lupin shook his head, before his mother could even open her mouth to contradict him. "Fred and George maybe, but what good could you two do? Neither of you can Apparate, or even use any magic."
"We can't sit here and do nothing!"
"Harry doesn't want to see you," said Ginny quietly, her own face as pale as Hermione's. "Remember the letters? He'll avoid all of us for as long as he can."
"But he's in danger!" said Mum. "Why can't he see that?"
"Harry is a smart boy, capable of looking after himself-" began Lupin, only to have mum glare at him. "Molly, you cannot deny it. I don't like the idea of him being out there any more than you do, especially in his current emotional state. But I highly doubt that with his skills and not to mention his Cloak, that we will be able to find him if he does not wish us to."
"So what, we just give up?" Sirius looked towards Lupin, anger in every line of his face. "Voldemort is out there, Remus! It isn't just case of surviving on the streets, we all know Harry could handle that if he needed to, Merlin knows he's handled worse. But he's never been up against an army of Death Eaters before!"
Ron went cold all over at this thought. An army of Death Eaters. He looked down at the table, fists clenched into balls. What had Harry been thinking? Just how bad had the Dursleys been this time?
"Sirius," Lupin said, trying to calm his friend. "I am not suggesting we stop looking. Of course we must find him if we can. Harry is no fool. He doesn't go looking for danger."
"Doesn't go looking for danger?" Mum repeated, face red. "What do you call flying a car to Hogwarts? Running around in the dead of night with Dementors and werewolves about? No offence, Remus," she said, "but Harry finds danger wherever he is whether he's looking for it or not."
"I agree," Kingsley said, draining the cup she had given him. "He must see sense eventually."
"No offence, but you've never even met him," Sirius said, resuming his pacing. "He's like his father that way. Stubborn, especially when he has his mind set on something. He won't come back with us unless we drag him. But it's our only option. I'm not going to wait for him to come back voluntarily."
"What about the Trace?" Lupin asked Kingsley. "Can't you find him that way?"
"Not if he isn't using magic," Kingsley explained. "He was raised by Muggles. He knows perfectly well how to cope without."
"But if he's hiding without magic," Fred wondered, "then surely it'll be easier to find him?"
"Not necessarily," Kingsley said.
"I've had enough of this," Sirius said, coming back to face them all. "I'm not waiting here. I'm off."
"You can't!" Hermione objected. "Dumbledore-"
"Dumbledore is welcome to try and stop me," Sirius said, his voice a deep growl. A moment later, he had transformed into his dog form and bounded out the kitchen.
"Dumbledore won't be pleased," Lupin said, but he made no attempt to stop Sirius.
"He may actually be of use," Kingsley said. "It may be easier to track him that way, and stay unnoticed."
"But if he's caught-"
"Sirius will not be persuaded," said Lupin. "I'm surprised he waited as long as he did. We just have to hope that he finds Harry before anyone else does."
Ron wanted nothing more than to run out after Sirius, though where he'd start looking he had no idea. He didn't know anything of the Muggle world, never mind where Harry would hide in it.
Please come back, Harry.
A/N: Any and all reviews would be much appreciated :)
