A/N - poll in my profile for after you read this chapter. Also, please go back to chapter 10, and read Chapter 9: Scorpius Malfoy if you've gotten this far already. I sort of accidentally skipped a chapter in my updates, so I'm putting it in now. It's the one with Scorpius' birthday, and I really didn't mean to screw up and not add it. Sorry everyone.

Chapter 11: The Serpent's Way

After the incident on Scorpius' birthday, Teddy, Rast, and Valerie took themselves to bed, agreeing to discuss it all during breakfast the next morning. They didn't, though, owing in part to the fact that Teddy and Rast overslept. Their classes that day also prevented discussion; Professor Clearwater demanded absolute attention that day, Professor Zabini had a difficult potion set for them to brew, and Professor Longbottom was busy making them take notes on seed germination in the Venomous Tentacula.

In fact, the first year students were virtually stripped of their free time for nearly two weeks, preventing the three from having much opportunity to discuss anything at all. On a dreary late November day, however, Herbology classes were cancelled and Rast, Teddy, and Valerie were able to set aside their History of Magic essays to finally discuss what had happened.

"So, we've settled it. Professor Malfoy isn't trying to hurt Muggleborns and Blood-Traitors. He's given up being a Death Eater, and he really wants to be a good teacher. He's even trying to raise Rast to be a really, really good kid with a squeaky-clean record. That about sums it up, eh?" Teddy ticked off the thoughts in his head by holding up a finger for each one.

"That sounds about right," Rast answered. "I'm glad he doesn't want to kill your grandmother, Ted."

"I also noticed a lot of books on Muggle culture on one of his bookshelves. He seemed to have a large collection of Muggle novels, as well, the kinds of things Muggles term 'high fantasy,'" Valerie noted.

"Really? I never knew he was into reading fiction," Rast replied, astonished. "What's 'high fantasy' mean?"

Valerie sighed. Sometimes she thought it was silly the kinds of things these boys didn't know about Muggles, but then again, she couldn't blame them. They were raised by Purebloods, after all, whereas her mother was a Muggleborn.

"High fantasy is a Muggle genre where there's a lot of magic, an epic quest of some kind, and the story takes place in a sort of medieval-inspired time. There are lots of knights and swords and sorcery and stuff. It's all nonsense and shows how little Muggles understand magic, but it still makes for good reading," she explained. "I found one on his shelf called Belgarath the Sorcerer, and I'm pretty sure my mother has the same book at home, right next to my dad's encyclopædia of basketball."

"That actually sounds pretty cool. So, let's add to the list – Uncle Lucius likes Muggle literature and seems interested in Muggle culture," Rast added as Teddy held up another finger. "I wonder what basketball is."

"We'll explain that to you another time, Rast. Definitely sounds like reform to me. His Death Eater days are long past, it seems," Teddy stated emphatically, to agreeable nods from Valerie and Rastaban.

"So, now that we've cleared that up, we can get back to getting that runespoor in here as our pet," Rast supplied, his eyes wide with glee.

"And how do you suppose we do that?" Valerie questioned him, clearly thinking the very notion foolhardy.

"I've got it all worked out. See, when it comes time for break –"


Severus Snape usually waited in his portrait in the Headmaster's office, looking irritably at the sleeping form of Albus Dumbledore in the portrait next to him. He sighed, understanding that until Minerva died, he would be stuck with only Albus for neighbourly conversation, forevermore to be subject to the man's offers of sherbet lemons and other inane Muggle confections. However, this time, he was not in his frame in the Headmaster's office while he thought.

As he always did when Dumbledore slept and ceased his bothersome behaviour, Snape considered his life and the series of events that led him to his current position. He had been Headmaster, though he had resented the position. He had died, though his death came in a supremely ignoble fashion. He had been reviled for five years, his memory spat on despite Harry Potter's attempts to clear Snape's name.

Then, one day while Minerva had been serving as Headmistress, Snape appeared in her office, asleep, though he was only so for a few minutes. When he had awoken, he was startled by his own presence there, and immediately tried to hide himself from view. His attempt was to no avail, however, as Dumbledore immediately let out his greeting.

"Severus! How splendid to see you again! I am so glad that Harry has come through with his promise to get you in here."

"If you're telling me that I owe yet another debt to Potter, Headmaster, then you will find me ill-equipped to pay up. I am dead, and have been happily dead if my imaginings are to be trusted, and I owe the boy nothing."

"That boy is now a man, Severus," Minerva had said, looking at the portrait of her former colleague. "He has gone on to do great things, not the least of which was getting you put in here. He lobbied the Ministry for five years and then asked Professor Dumbledore's permission to use the Elder Wand to create your portrait when the castle refused to capitulate. He left only a few minutes ago. He seemed to think that now was not the time to speak with you."

Snape had remained quiet since then, not speaking to Headmistress McGonagall, Headmaster Flitwick after Minerva had stepped down, or any of the other former Heads of Hogwarts. He had remained so for six years, not speaking, always seemingly asleep in his frame, until he heard the rumour that Professor Flitwick had appointed Lucius Malfoy to teach Defence Against the Dark Arts. Since then, he had lurked the office Lucius had selected in the dungeons, the very same office Snape had used when he was still alive.

Often, he would stand in the shadow of Nurmengard, made tiny and unnoticeable as he stood in that wall scroll. At other times, he stood atop Azkaban, shrouded in shadow as the forms of several Dementors glided about, their heart-freezing abilities still present in diminished capacity, even in portrait form. After he had revealed himself to Lucius, though, he had stalked up to the Fat Lady, taking the shortcuts he knew from his many years in the castle. He waited in the corner of her frame, and as the three first year Gryffindors were permitted entrance he quietly slipped inside, finally choosing to rest in a portrait of a lion's den.

When the three came down from their dormitories several weeks later, apparently discussing a runespoor that Snape had seen the boy speak to, Severus seized his opportunity. Standing up and brushing himself off, the hook-nosed former Headmaster looked down at the students and cleared his throat. They stopped and looked around before their eyes finally settled on the man in the frame just above them.

"I can give you the opening you want to get that serpent, if you so wish. Professor Malfoy will not stop you."

"Um, thanks, I guess," Rast said as the strange man in the portrait walked out of the frame. "Does anyone know who that was?"

Neither Teddy nor Valerie could identify the man in the portrait, but they thought it prudent to hear from him again before making a move on the runespoor, if he could truly guarantee them the snake.


"I can keep them off the trail of the boy's ancestry for a time if you choose to go along with what I propose, Lucius," Snape began, looking down at the blond man who sat at the desk, Muggle fantasy novel in one hand and quill in the other.

"What do you want me to go along with, Severus?"

"The boy desires the runespoor you had in your classroom on Halloween. I'm inclined to believe that this might distract him for a bit, and that you should leave the runespoor in a cage that can easily be accessed. They will want to sneak in here and feel they have accomplished something, so do set a Caterwauling Charm or a Jelly-Legs Jinx to activate when the cage is moved, to better provide them that sense of accomplishment. I would advise that you do this and make certain that your absence from your office at times they could carry out their mission is conspicuous enough for them to make an attempt."

"Are you aware that the boy is a Parselmouth? If he gets that runespoor into Gryffindor Tower and this manages to get out... Those seventh years will not tolerate it. They'll hurt him," Lucius said, pleadingly.

"Then I suggest you prepare to tell him that his mother was a raving lunatic who killed more people than even Grindelwald did, and that his father was the Dark Lord. Or would you rather go with the first idea and just let him have another pet?" Snape replied, his voice cold, his eyes devoid of emotion.

"Fine, I'll do it."


It was the last day before Teddy, Valerie, and Rast would go home for the holidays, and there had yet to be a good opportunity to rescue the runespoor. At every turn, Professor Malfoy seemed to be around the corner, and they had to be turned back from their attempt at the quest. They still did not know the mysterious portrait who had guaranteed them that he could keep Professor Malfoy out of his office, and while the man had been out of his office often, they grew weary of trusting the advice that they had been given.

Not being adept sneaks, the three made somewhat predictable forays into the dungeons to reach their destination, always being caught on one of Professor Malfoy's regular patrols. The sallow looking portrait seemed quite comfortable in the Gryffindor Common Room and seemed to encourage them daily by saying "Perhaps the fifteenth time will be the charm" or other such things. Rast, and eventually Teddy and Valerie, chose to ignore him when he did this. They were bordering on frustration, though, one day in mid-December they tried to take a different route. This proved fortuitous, as they did not encounter the Professor on their way to his office, and carefully made their way inside.

The snake sat in a terrarium atop Professor Malfoy's desk, in plain sight and without any apparent protection. As eleven year old children are wont to do, they rushed forward toward their goal, never once thinking that there might be danger in doing so. Rast reached a hand into the glass box and the runespoor coiled around his wrist and slithered up to his shoulder. The snake hissed once, and Rast nodded in comprehension. As he drew away from the terrarium, though, he faltered, and nearly fell.

"A Jelly-Legs Jinx? That's Professor Malfoy's great protection around the Runespoor?" Valerie asked, unbelieving. After she had mended the other's legs and they had gotten into the corridor, they immediately had to duck into an alcove. Professor Malfoy stole past them, holding a wailing golden pendant. With sudden realisation, the three understood – Professor Malfoy would know when anyone entered his office, and the Jelly-Legs Jinx was merely a way to slow the intruders down. They quickly ran to Gryffindor Tower, both awed by and fearful of the Professor's methods.

They reached the Gryffindor Common Room safely, and after congratulating each other on a job well done, separated to their dormitories. Teddy and Rast were already packed and so slumped right into bed. The runespoor struggled for a moment or two, freeing itself from its position and coming to rest on Rast's chest. It softly hissed at him, and he answered the seeming question.

"Don't worry. You'll be safe with me. We can be friends."

Severus Snape watched this from an old, worn West Ham poster that stubbornly refused to be removed from the wall by even the most powerful magic. Smirking slightly, he stalked back to the Headmaster's office; there was planning to be done.