Harry Potter and The Serpent's Den
This is the only warning: this story is rated M for a reason there are many mature themes in this story, and I'm not going to spoil them all. Part of the fun and excitement will be to see what happens next. I don't have the whole story planned out, but I do have a strong foundation, so we're all on this ride together. You've hopefully read the preview, if not read it now. and I hope you enjoy it.
Chapter 1
Today is a special day, Harry thought as he awoke from his bed in the cupboard under the stairs.
Today he was going to the park, which meant he didn't have to spend the day doing all the chores, well not all the chores anyway. Harry began to put on his cousin's old clothes and he took the rope his Uncle gave him and tied it around his waist to keep his cousin's pants from falling off. Harry picked up his chipped glasses and wiped some of the dust off of them with his old over-sized shirt.
Maybe Uncle Vernon will finally get me some new ones, Harry thought again. Uncle Vernon had told him he didn't deserve any new ones because he didn't take care of them. Harry had tried to explain it was Dudley who pushed him down, but Uncle Vernon turned purple with rage. That hadn't been a good night at all.
Harry slumped some and shuffled his feet, bringing his small body out of the cupboard and into the kitchen to cook the mornings breakfast. After the meal was cooked and placed at the table, Harry stood patiently for the rest of his family to arrive. Harry looked longingly at the orange juice he set out.
Maybe I can take some and nobody will know, Harry thought, quickly shaking his head, remembering the slaps Aunt Petunia gave him the first time he drank some.
Harry's head sunk as he waited. He began to hear the slow shuffling of the rest of his family. He could hear the floorboards creak as his Uncle and cousin slowly made their way down the upstairs hallway.
"G-good m-morning," Harry said carefully as he greeted his family.
"Good morning." Aunt Petunia began, "Tomorrow make our breakfast earlier. You boys will be starting school and we will not be late."
"Y-yes Aunt Petunia," The small black-haired boy said as he watched his family sit and begin eating.
"You know the rules Harry," his Uncle said happily, "No freaks at the table. You can eat after we are done."
"Yes, Uncle Vernon, no freaks at the table." He quietly said with his head down.
The grotesque fat man and his whale of a son quickly engorged themselves on the food. Washing it down with glass after glass of cold refreshing juice. The family finished eating looking rather happy with themselves. With bellies full of food they began their day, all except Harry that is. His Aunt and Uncle quickly stood as he made his way to go work, her leading him out.
"Goodbye Dudley, Goodbye Pet." the fat man happily said as he crossed the door's threshold.
"Eat whatever is left on the table boy!" He quickly followed up. Giving him a menacing glare as the door closed.
During this time Harry's wale cousin Dudley quickly ate the scraps that were left on the plates being sure to leave nothing as he happily ate it all.
"Be sure to clean up when you're done freak!" Aunt Petunia started to say as she went back up the stairs to get ready for her day, "Dudders, please be ready in a couple of minutes."
"Yes, Aunt Petunia." Harry somberly replied.
After his large cousin finished the food on the table, he stampeded out of the room, and up the stairs saying, "See ya soon freak," as he passed his cousin.
Harry quietly picked up the plates and the pitchers and started washing them. There wasn't any breakfast for Harry today, there never was.
They arrived at the park later that morning. After a full breakfast, Petunia and Dudley walked hand in hand smiling as they went to their usual spot in the park. Harry slowly shuffled his feet behind them with his head down. He learned in the car that it wasn't going to just be the three of them, Dudley had invited his friends as well, and Harry knew that meant one thing, Harry Hunting.
He had hoped this day would be a quiet relaxing day, one where he could just hide from his cousin and be left alone. He now knew that this wouldn't be the case. As soon as he arrived the usual spot. He saw his cousin laughing with his friends.
You see Harry Hunting was a game invented by his cousin. This game was like tag, where you would chase the person, tag them, and then they would chase you. In this game though, Harry would run from them, and they would chase, and if they caught Harry that meant they could punch and kick him until he started running again. He knew his fat cousin thought it was a delightful game, and he often told him that Harry should be grateful that he was even playing with the freak in the first place.
The young green-eyed boy was filled with a sense of fear as he saw them looking at him like sharks, wide menacing grins, like wild animals getting ready to chase their prey. He knew that was the signal the "game" had begun. Harry darted off immediately heading through the lush meadow. The park was very well kept, and beautiful, but Harry didn't have time to notice this beauty as he was running for his life.
He could hear the laughing of the predators behind him, calling out to him, "We're going to catch you!" The small black-haired boy fled moving left and right, he glanced behind him, and that was all it took. He didn't notice the rock before his path and tripped. His chipped glasses fell off in front of him as he struggled to regain his composure. The group of predators quickly encircled him and began their fun. Harry heard the crunch of glass before he felt the punches and kicks. One of Dudley's friends held him down as the other two punched and kicked at him from every angle. Their laughter drowned out the cries and whimpers as Harry curled in trying to protect himself. He heard the boy who held him down say something like, "I want a turn," and Harry knew this would be his only chance of escape. His glasses destroyed he squinted off and could see a large brownish shape in front of him. He knew that shape was a tree. If he could climb the tree, he might be safe.
As he felt the bigger boy's grip loosen, he pushed up and ran for the brownish blob. Taking them by surprise he would only have a few seconds to get up the massive tree. He could feel the rough ridges of the bark and dug his fingernails in with all his might. He slowly made his way up the tree. His fingers began to hurt badly. He knew they were bleeding from the rough bark but he had to keep going, he had to get away.
Up and up he went until he saw a thick brown blob to his left. He knew it was a branch so he pulled himself up and sat on the thick tree branch finally catching his breath. Everywhere was hurting, his fingers were bleeding, but he was safe. At least he thought he was safe.
Harry couldn't see it but below him, his fat cousin and his friends tried to make their way up the tree. Dudley's fat fingers slipped off the bark. One by one they tried, and one by one they failed until one of them noticed something on the ground. As he was catching his breath, he felt something hard hit his shoulder. It was very very hard and it hurt a lot. He could tell by the sound it made it was a rock. Then another one hit him, and another.
"Let's knock him down!" Dudley exclaimed with a vicious, joyous cry.
Rock after rock hit him, Harry knew he had to get away, but he was stuck in the large tree. He couldn't see very well, but something was telling him he needed to hang on for dear life if he didn't want to fall.
I need to get away, I need to get away he screamed in his head with worry frantically squinting around. Then it hit him. His cousin had hit him in the head, and he fell. He fell off the tree as he began to lose consciousness he only had one thought in his mind, I have to get away.
The cheers and laughter from Dudley's friends quickly died out as Harry vanished from the very eyes just before he hit the ground.
Lucius Malfoy was always on schedule. Every morning he woke up from his luxurious bed, next to his lovely wife. Every day he put on his black silk work robes and grabbed his silver snake walking stick next to the mantle. Every day he would sit down for breakfast with his lovely family. Every day Lucius would head off to the ministry to try and crush one of his many political foes. After he was done he would come home for lunch and eat under the gazebo overlooking his massive estate.
Today is a very good day indeed, Lucius thought as he sipped on his after-meal tea. His lovely wife, Narcissa, was playing with their son, Draco, on the lawn behind the manor. At the Ministry, he had succeeded in getting Arthur Weasley's funding reduced.
"Muggle Artifacts," Lucius chuckled to himself, "What utter nonsense."
Lucius softened his gaze, as his grey eyes looked upon his family. His wife, Narcissa, was just as lovely as when he first married her. The elegant blonde was from a noble family and just like Lucius, and her ambitions were just as large.
He's just like me the platinum blonde-haired wizard thought as he moved his gaze to his platinum blonde son.
Lucius's perfect, planned day would soon be turned on its head as he felt a disturbance in the manor's wards. It felt as though something forced it's way through. Lucius quickly jumped out of his seat and drew his wand from the silver cane, quickly searching for the intruder. His search would be over quickly as he saw a small figure land on the ground with a thud.
Hearing the thud Lucius and the rest of the Malfoy family ran up to see who this intruder was. Sprawled on the grass was a rather small and frail child with jet black hair. Blood and dirt covered the small boy. Lucius saw his wife quickly covering their son's eyes. He shouldn't see something like that at this age. Lucius could see the boy's chest barely moving up and down meaning he was alive, but only barely. Lucius moved closer to the small boy trying to examine him further with his wand out just in case this was a sick trap from some of his darker enemies.
"Lucius," Narcissa started in a whisper stopping when Lucius held his empty hand up to her. He knelt down and quickly waved his wand over the boy checking for traps. A sigh of partial relief as nothing immediate seemed to happen. He lowered his wand and began inspecting the boy with hands checking his pulse.
"It's faint..." Lucius whispered to himself. Narcissa relaxed her grip on her son and joined her husband in the examination. She had more experience in looking for medical injuries after many times helping Lucius during the war.
"Draco go to your room," Narcissa quickly said, as she used her wand to examine the boy further.
His wife looked just as concerned as he did. Many questions needed to be answered, who was this boy, how did he get here, and who had done this to him. One of those questions would quickly be answered as he heard his young son exclaim.
"Mum!" Draco loudly exclaimed.
"Draco, I said go to your room," Narcissa said firmly.
"But Mum!" Draco started, "That's Harry Potter!"
"What are you talking about Draco," Lucius said looking confused at his blonde-haired boy.
"Look! He has the scar just like the story!" Draco exclaimed with a look of wonder
Lucius grabbed the small unconscious boy and closely examined his forehead. His face paled, and he could see his wife pale across from him. They shared a look of confusion and shock. Their son was right. This small, frail unconscious boy was Harry Potter, the boy-who-lived.