Here is where the erm.. shall we call it.. extreme.. differences with the original story differentiate. Sorry about the wait. We haven't had electricity or water at my house and there were somethings I wasn't comfortable typing at the library in the last month.
P.S. It's three in the morning... please forgive the errors.
Chapter Seven
Time passed slowly to Harry in his room. He was however, able to do his work out without anybody watching him. Making his way down the stairs, he pulled a hoodie on, and walked towards the front door. "Where are you going?"
Harry turned and gave George a look. "I'm going to go for a run. I've been running around the great lake, and I want to keep fit."
"For what?" Fred said, stepping out of the living room so that all three of them were standing in the entrance hall.
Harry frowned. "Do I need a reason to want to keep fit?"
"Take your shirt off Har-."
"I'm sure that you're fit-."
"As a fiddle, and thin as-."
"A rake."
Rolling his eyes, Harry turned away and started towards the door again. "I'm going for a run, I'll be back. Try not to blow anything up while I'm gone. Don't hurt the snakes. Don't put anything into my drawers. All of that stuff that seems like it would be a good Idea don't do it." And then he was out the door. Harry ran through the village, waving at the few people who waved at him, and avoiding the church that housed the cemetery. When he returned the sun was sinking steadily in the sky. As soon as the door was shut, he pulled his hoodie off, and revealed taut glistening skin.
Fred and George, who had moved towards the door when they heard it open froze, and watched him with wide eyes. But Harry turned towards the living room where there were snakes hissing at each other. "Ron.. why does Harry think of himself as a freak?"
"Hermione do you really not know the answer to that?"
"I still don't understand why Dumbledore would let the Dursley's abu-."
Harry coughed, alerting them all to his presence. "As touched as I am by your concern, I would like to point out, once again, that I was NOT-."
"Harry they locked you in the cupboard."
"Didn't feed you."
"Made you do all of the cleaning."
"And most of the cooking."
"They didn't give you proper clothes."
Harry's back was getting incredibly tense. "Again, as touche-."
"They beat-."
"Since you can't pay attention to the fact that everybody is listening to you, I will kindly implore you to shut the fuck up." Harry snapped, and turned, to come face to face with Fred and George.
"We made supper Harry." Fred breathed, eyes trailing up the body in front of them.
"Spaghetti." George added, hand reaching out to touch Harry's abdominal muscles.
Harry flinched away, and trying to cover it, summoned a t-shirt and walked to the kitchen. When they entered, Harry was sitting at the table, eating spaghetti. His shirt was on, and he had cast several cleaning and freshening charms over himself. "Are you two just going to continue staring at me, or are you going to sit and finish your food?"
They swiftly moved towards the food, and snakes slithered into the room behind them. "So what were the snakes talking about?"
Emerald eyes flew to George. "Nothing of consequence."
Harry took a few more bites, before something registered in the back of his mind. "What did you two put into my food?"
They shared a wide eyed look, obviously not having expected to be caught. "We need to ask you-."
"Just a few short questions."
Harry pushed himself away from the table. "You two are bloody arseholes."
"Harry, did you know that my brother and I like you,"
"did you realize that we spent most of our time around you,"
"imagining how much fun it would be to snog you crazy?"
"I've known since fifth year when I caught you two staring at me in the showers at the quidditch pitch."
Their eyes widened. "Why did you never say something?"
"Because I knew that as long as you didn't know that I knew then you wouldn't be more forward with your advances."
"Why haven't you told him that you love him?" They asked together, causing Harry to flinch.
"Because he's a 'filthy bloody snake' and all 'snakes' are evil." He answered, backing slowly away.
"What is his name?"
Harry quickly searched his mind for an answer that would satisfy the truth serum and keep the recipient of his affections secret. "He has been called a great many things."
"Why haven't you told him Harry?" George asked. "You walked around the question last time, but I'm demanding an answer now."
"Because I'm Harry Freaking Potter. Nothing else would matter to him, all he thinks when he hears the words Harry Potter, are I want to murder him."
"He's not Voldemort is he?" Came a dry chuckle from one of the snakes, causing Harry to turn and glare at it with a fierceness that would make a basilisk proud.
"NO! He's not Voldemort you dumb ass! Who he is, or isn't, is of absolutely no concern of anybody but me, seeing as I'm going to be the one spending the rest of my life without him."
"Tsk. Tsk. Potter, why so dramatic? Just tell the fool that you like him and be done with it." Draco drawled, as well as he could.
Harrys hands clenched into fists as he stared at the tabletop. "It's not that easy Malfoy, he's older than me and we've never really gotten along."
"Just tell us what his bloody name is!" George cried.
Harry's fists tightened and his teeth ground, "I CAN'T."
"WHY?" Fred cried.
"BECAUSE IT'S BAD ENOUGH KNOWING THAT HE WILL NEVER LOVE ME BACK! I DON'T WANT HIM PRETENDING TO CARE JUST BECAUSE HE'S HEARD ME SAY I CAN'T IMAGINE BEING WITH ANYBODY BUT HIM, EVER!"
"Why the bloody hell not? There's plenty of fish in the sea."
Harry however just stomped up to his room and slammed the door shut.
~0~0~0~
Glaring at the small hole he had Dobby put in the door to allow the snakes entry, and a way to exit, Harry hoped that none of them would use it. He downed a vial of dreamless sleep and lay back on the bed, sinking into the covers as the potion took effect. After Fred and George went to bed, Ron, Hermione, and most of the other snakes entered Harry's room and got onto the bed. "What's that vial in his hand?" Ron asked.
The black cobra slithered over to it. "It's dreamless sleep. Maybe.." He started, drifting off into thought, trying to make the smaller mind of the snake think through the changes a possibly active truth serum would have on Dreamless Sleep.
"What is it professor?" Hermione asked.
Snape however slid up the bare chest, making the body below him shiver. "What is the man you love called?"
For a few moments it seemed like nothing was going to happen, but then it happened. In his sleep Harry murmured a name that nobody would have ever thought would be connected to his person. "Sev'rus Shnape."
