Title: Serpentine
Summary: Harry's relatives never raised him. In fact, they abandoned him the day they found him on their doorstep. It's going to be a very different Harry Potter than Albus Dumbledore expects who shows up at Hogwarts ten years later...
Warnings: 1. This is a SLASH fanfiction. It contains yaoi. Male/male relationships. People who dislike fanfics like that should press that lovely back button right now.
2. I can promise you that Harry is NOT a Griffindor here. Nor is he likely to leap before he looks. So sorry to disappoint.
3. Harry. Is. DARK. In. This. Fanfic. I don't care if you think he's OOC. He's supposed to be.
4. There will probably be character deaths. Please, do not flame me if your favorite character dies. You have been warned.
5. I'm not experienced in writing human characters. If you don't want your eyes burned out by massive OOCness and bad character writing, you'd probably be better off reading someone else's writing.
Disclaimer: Me? Own Harry Potter? HA! That's a laugh. If I owned HP, Snape wouldn't have died, but he DID, so obviously, I DON'T own HP.
OoOoO
Draco poked his head into Zephyr's room. He'd been curious for a while now about the new kid in his house. But his lessons with his father and Severus prevented him from getting a chance to speak to him. Now, however, he was free, and he had a million questions.
The raven-haired child was sitting on his bed, looking at the arm band he was wearing and tracing the designs with a finger. A necklace hung from his neck, the charm both a moon and a wolf. He hadn't noticed Draco yet. "Hi," Draco said, more curious than ever. "Can I come in?" he added when Zephyr turned his head to see who had spoken.
"Sure." Zephyr shrugged. "Come in, sit down, just don't step on Aylen. She's around here somewhere."
"Aylen?" Draco questioned even as he entered the room, studying it as if he expected something to pop out at him.
"My snake," Zephyr explained as Draco sat next to him on the bed. Vibrantly green eyes met dove gray. "So what brings you here?" He paused and added, more curiously, "And who are you?"
"Oh! I'm sorry," Draco apologized. He held out his hand. "I'm Draco Malfoy, son of Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy." Zephyr took his hand and shook it.
"I'm Zephyr Ventulus," he introduced himself in return. "Brother of Evan Ventulus."
Draco cocked his head. "Brother...you don't look a thing like him," he said, even as his eyes took in the black hair, childish facial features, and green eyes.
Zephyr folded his legs Indian-style and met Draco's eyes as he replied, "We're not really related by blood. But he's raised me since I was a baby, so I've come to see him as an older brother, and he sees me as a younger brother." He shrugged.
"What do you mean," Draco said slowly, "he's raised you since you were a baby?"
"He didn't kidnap me, if that's what you're thinking," Zephyr defended. "No, he found me."
"Found you!" the blonde-haired child gasped, his hazel eyes widening. "Where?"
"In an alley," the black-haired boy responded. "A little-known alley. I would've died if he hadn't found me and taken me to where he was living."
"He doesn't look much older than eighteen," Draco murmured. "Just how old was he, if you were a baby?"
Zephyr paused. "He was eleven," he confided after a minute. "And he didn't know what to do with me for a while. But he figured it out after a day of watching mothers and their babies." He grinned and added, "He's pretty smart."
Draco gaped. "He took care of a baby when he was just our age?" he whispered.
"Yeah. Pretty unbelievable, huh?"
Zephyr shrugged and Draco managed to close his mouth. For a while, they just sat in comfortable silence Then Draco asked, "So...your snake?"
Zephyr smiled faintly. "Her name's Aylen, and she's just about the best friend I have." At that moment, a soft hissing came from the other side of the bed. Zephyr paused and leaned over, and by the time he leaned back, a thin serpent was resting on his shoulders. "This is Aylen. Aylen, this is Draco. Play nice, now."
Draco studied the snake. About three feet long, slender, flame-like red markings, bright yellow eyes. He noticed that when it hissed, Zephyr cocked his head slightly, as though listening to someone behind him speaking quietly in his ear. It clicked suddenly - Zephyr must be a Parselmouth.
"What's it saying?" Draco asked casually, and Zephyr jumped, looking startled. As if he didn't expect someone to know he understood the snake when it spoke in its own way.
"She...she says that you don't have to look at her as if she's about to bite you, because she isn't." Zephyr paused, and suddenly grinned as his snake kept on hissing. "And some other things I probably shouldn't repeat."
Draco blinked. Then slowly, he smiled too. Zephyr was an oddball, all right. But a nice oddball. "Well, Zephyr," Draco said as he stood to leave. "I have lessons soon with Severus, but...maybe we could talk later?"
"Sure," was the easy reply. "Come back anytime."
"And, Zephyr." Draco paused at the door and looked back to meet those unusually bright green eyes. "I look forward to having class with you at Hogwarts." Then he left, to find his godfather.
OoOoO
Hermione Granger was not stupid, by any measure. No, she was quite intelligent. She loved books, loved reading, and loved learning. All through school she got good grades. She paid attention in class, enjoyed the thrill of getting an answer to a question right. Yet, now she found herself struggling. Her entire life, she'd believed that magic didn't exist. But now...now she was being forced to rethink everything. She was sitting in her room, turning over her copy of Hogwarts: A History in her hands. She was also thinking of the incident with Zephyr and Evan that had taken place a month ago.
The headmaster of Hogwarts seemed, at first glance, a kind and grandfatherly man. He'd treated both herself and Ron Weasley as if they were his own children. He'd been talking to Evan and Zephyr as if he truly wanted them to see that they were safer at Hogwarts...yet there was something just below the surface, something she couldn't quite put her finger on. It was the same thing she'd caught a glimpse of when he'd turned up a month ago on her doorstep, smiling and asking to see Hermione.
Hermione opened the door to see a man she'd never encountered. At first she just blinked at him, racking her brain to see if her parents had any friends who looked like this. When she realized they didn't, she grew scared. She remembered to ask, "Can I help you?" Even as she said it, her mind began to race, and her heart began to pound against her ribs. Who was this?
"Are you Hermione Granger?"
Her eyes widened. "Yes, I'm Hermione...how do you know my name?"
He smiled at her. "Relax, dear child. I simply want to talk. I am Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."
Hermione hunched her shoulders and snapped, "Magic doesn't exist. Now go away, before I call the police and have you arrested." Before she could slam the door, he produced a book and held it out to her.
"Before I go, take this, Ms. Granger. Then decide for yourself, whether or not magic exists." His light blue eyes twinkled at her, and she resisted the urge to flinch away. Beneath the look there was something that she didn't like. Without giving him an answer, she said goodbye and shut the door. It was rude, but she didn't like the feeling she'd been getting.
Then she realized she was still holding the book, and to satisfy her curiosity, she peeked at the title. "Hmm...Hogwarts: A History." When she flipped open the front cover, she realized there was an envelope inside.
No, not just an envelope. A letter, addressed to her.
Hermione nearly dropped the book. That old man had planned this whole thing.
Hermione scowled at the book she was holding, half hoping it would burst into flames. Dumbledore had planned that encounter, and he'd planned for her and Ron to get on Zephyr's good side, and show Evan that Zephyr would do well with children he'd never met before and who had never met him.
Somehow, she got the feeling that Dumbledore was more than he seemed.
She sighed and set aside the book. She could only hope that no one would get hurt, come September first...