Against All Odds

By: stefani teee a.k.a. Koneko ^Å^

© Tale Spinners Inc.

Email: mirroredsakura@yahoo.com

~*~*~*~

Koneko-chan says!

Stefani: *grins* Am fixing this up! Be happy!

Heero-chan: *rolls eyes* Or else.

Nanashi: Just shut up. You'll get on her bad side, otherwise.

Stefani: *glares at Heero-chan, smiles at Nanashi*

~*~*~*~

Prologue

A snake lay coiled around the feet of its master, its forked tongue flicking back and forth in its opened mouth as it lay its head on the armrest of the velvet-covered armchair. Its master's hand lifted slightly and it slid its head beneath. The hand stroked it slowly as its master stared at the flames in the fireplace of his empty manor, thinking, eyes set deep in his head were narrowed as they absorbed the light of the fire's dancing flames and refused to reflect them. When he finally spoke, his voice was quiet, but hard and the snake could feel the hatred underlining every word he spoke aloud. "I've waited for too long, Nagini. I can't wait anymore…" the words were hissed, and not in any language of men in the world.

The snake however, understood perfectly, hissing her reply. For he was a Parseltongue… and that gave him the advantage of learning the serpents' wisdom. "Patience, lord, patience… Your wretched servant is too much afraid of you to do anything to disobey you. He has no other choice. He would be killed if anyone from the wizarding world caught sight of him."

Her master laughed, softly. "HA! Wormtail? That pathetic coward is no one I can depend on. And that foolish Minister called on the Dementors to take the soul of my most trusted follower."

The snake smiled, remembering. He had been a good follower of the Master, but the Master could always find others hungry for the power he had to give. "Master. You have regained most of your health, and your full strength will come in time. Let me go to that school, that place called Hogwarts and let me be your spy. I would not fail you, like that faithless rat did." The man's face sparked slight interest. "And what could you be able to do, dear Nagini? You are but a serpent, a wise and clever one, but a serpent only."

"I have power, my lord. And you might give me the power to be human. You might make me a lamia. I could enroll as a student." Its master sneered. "My power, Nagini? You would need my power?" the snake flinched its head back from its master's touch, but he knew of her loyalty to him, having had her since the beginning of his Dark days. "I would not fail you, ever, my lord."

Making his decision finally, he nodded. "Yes. I trust you. You are one of the few that I might say I almost trust, and will gain for me what Wormtail never could. You will go then, and as that traitor Snape once was in my lair, you will be my spy in their haven."

"M-master?" asked a stuttering voice from the doorway. The snake's head jerked and turned, a hiss escaping its open mouth, and watched as the man squirming in the doorway sputtered and looked down at his feet. "What is it, Wormtail?" asked her master, his voice icy.

"Y-you wanted y-your wand?" he asked holding out the wand by the fingertips, unwilling to hold it completely in his hand. A wand, which held, even though it couldn't be seen, a golden-red feather at its core.

"Bring it to me." The words were biting, fierce and the man trembled violently, producing a short, cruel smile on the master's face. The man stepped forward hesitantly and shuddered as he eyed the snake watching him with predatory satisfaction at his fear. He gave the wand to the man and as quickly as he could without seeming too scared, backed away waiting for what the master would say.

"Leave."

"A pathetic fool, that one is." remarked Nagini watching Wormtail scuttle away. "He has his uses." The master replied, waving a dismissive hand at the doorway. He held out his wand, beckoning the snake to coil directly in front of him, in order that he could cast the spell without leaving his place before the fire. She complied, slithering a little closer to the fire, away from the chair, and facing him, watching him with large golden eyes. "Serpentia Alteratio!" he declared a blast of green light flying at the snake and blinding any whom might have looked at it except the caster and the serpent, which didn't blink.

When the light faded away into nothingness, a young woman stood there, completely naked, her eyes as green as the color her now-gone scales. He looked at her face, his eyes never falling below her neck, having given up shallow pleasures of the flesh long ago. "You are now akin to an Animagus and have been given the power to transform… you are a lamia, and a walking servant of Lord Voldemort. Be careful with this new power should anyone suspect you."

She nodded slowly, adjusting herself to the newness of the strange form she had taken, "I won't fail you, Master." With a languid wave with his wand, he gestured to a wardrobe at the side of the room. "Dress now, and send in an application to the school with one of the owls. Wormtail will assist you if you require his help."

Her nose wrinkled in disgust at the thought, amusing him greatly, his laughter was heard as a soft hissing sound.

"I won't be needing that fool's help." She told him, before she finding a black robe in the wardrobe and slipped it on, doing it up slowly as she became acquainted with her new limbs, her walk a slow, jerky gait.

When she'd left the room, her master stared back into the flames again, this time a small smile on his cold lips. That boy would die this year; he would never leave that school alive. Although never anything like this, Nagini had done assassinations for him in years for centuries. And she had always been very efficient in her work. It took a serpent to know subtlety as well as she.

~*~*~*~

End. Aren't you happy with it? *beams* I'm rather proud that it remained the same, but sounded less… dorky… I think is the term.