Against All Odds

Chapter Six

Koneko-chan says!

Hi again, and sorry I left it there… I was hoping to upload, and I got online… then I couldn't upload 'cause the school computers screwed up my disk. Then I had to wait till I got home, and then I was in such a rush, I don't know what the hell I did, but I uploaded as quickly as I could. Sexy^Å^'s probably gonna kill me, but that's okay. You all lived. Hermione acts a little (and I mean a little) devilishly, and Draco has to endure it. Continue reading if you want! I'm doubtful it'll turn NC-17 (especially when I'm only fourteen and my parents would kill me if they found out) but if I get one of my friends, maybe Sexyangel^Å^ herself to do it! She doesn't have the same scruples as I do! (Though sometimes I wonder if that's a good thing…) Oh and, guess what? I have three new muses! (*shrugs* So I'm very greedy.) Let me introduce them!

*gorgeous purple velvet curtains open to a stage and the lights flare on. In the center, in the spotlight is the chibi, ultra kawaii chibi-Relena!*

Chibi-Relena: *smiles cutely* Hajinimashta!

Crowd: *in unison* Awwwww…

Stefani: *wearing a sparkling sequined gown like Vanna White* *poses* Ladies and gentlemen, our one and only Chibi-Relena!

Chibi-Relena: *smiles and waves some more*

Stefani: And next up… our own wonderful Heero-chan!

*drumroll*

*nothing happens*

Stefani: *clears throat pointedly*

*nothing happens*

Stefani: *abandons pose and stomps towards the wings of the stage, heads up the stairs where, of course, Heero is standing at the balcony watching Relena* *drags him down* *pulls him on the stage* *resumes pose*

Heero-chan: Omae o korosu. *clicks safety off gun*

Stefani: *glares*

Heero-chan: *glares back*

Stefani: *wishes she'd shoved her muse in a CHIBI Heero*

Chibi-Relena: *pouts* *glares* *snaps fingers*

*POOF*

Chibi-Relena: *is now life-size Relena* *glares at Heero-chan* Heero… *warningly*

Heero-chan: *puts gun away and manages to still look empty-faced while Relena has her arm in his as she waves to the crowd*

Crowd: Awww! * crowd has no memory, never remembers one or more of them would be shot by one half of the adorable couple a few seconds ago*

Stefani: And now, last but not least, our own wonderful Nanashi!

*drumroll*

Nanashi: *walks out* …

Stefani: *sweatdrops* Er… okay, well uh, LET'S GIVE A HAND TO MY WONDERFUL MUSES!!!!!!!!

Crowd: …

Someone In The Back: SHOW US HOW GOOD THEY ARE!!

Relena: *grabs Heero-chan's gun* *shoots jellybeans at SITB* *calmly hands it back*

Stefani: …

Stefani: ON WITH THE SHOW!

~*~*~*~

"Wanna bet?" she reached down and yanked, throwing them away from him to display him in all his naked glory. She raked her eyes up and down his body with an upturned lip, in an undeniable smirk. "Big boy, aren't you?" He grabbed the bedsheets and flung them back over him, covering him. He could tell his cheeks were turning red. "What the—what the hell was that for Granger?!"

"Tit for tat. Now we're even."

"I never ripped your clothes off!" But the mental picture for that was a little too much at the wrong time and he turned shades of red he never knew existed. Thank god his body hadn't given him away just yet…

"No, but you embarrassed the shit out of me, and you saw me close enough to it… what's wrong? Ashamed of what God gave you?" her smirk grew even wider. He felt himself turning even redder. What the hell was wrong with her? This was not the same girl he'd known last year at all! That Hermione Granger had been a plain, smart-ass, know-it-all, prude of a girl! What had happened over the summer?!

She grinned at his confused expression. "Don't worry 'Draco-baby', that didn't mean anything at all… but I warn you, if you don't show up in our common room in two minutes, I'm walking back in with my wand in my hand… And you don't want to know what kind of curses I've been reading up on this summer." She disappeared out of his doorway in a billow of Hogwarts robes, shutting it behind her.

Draco found himself alone in his room again, to stare at the door, and again wonder what happened to that girl over the summer. Other than become such a knockout that he'd looked more than twice at her. Cutting into his thoughts, a little counter suddenly appeared in front of him, counting backwards from 1 min. 45 seconds.

It took less than 20 seconds for him to grab something and wrench it on. In Granger's new state of mind, he didn't want to think of what she was planning… on the other hand, he wondered what she could do to him. And shivered deliciously in spite of himself at the thought. Dammit, what is wrong with me?! he yelled at himself mentally as he pulled on the white shirt. It's GRANGER after all! A Muggle. A nobody. A girl who's done nothing but be a thorn in my side for the last six years! '10 more seconds! 10 more seconds!' the little timer floating above his head made him focus back on the annoying little pixie-like thing and he bolted for the door.

"Ding, ding, ding." commented Hermione wryly looking up from her comfortable position, curled up like a cat on the large sofa, which she'd taken for herself. Crookshanks, who'd remained invisible (or so it seemed) for the last few days, appeared, purring, cuddling up to her stomach and eyes looking at the papers spread out before her.

Draco dropped down into one of the one-seaters and glared at her. "What do you want me to do?"

"What I want has nothing to do with it. You're going to have to work with me while we wait for Nagini to come back from Potions."

"Right." He sighed, there was nothing he could do right now anymore so he settled in as she handed him a stack of parchment. "Read through those… those are comments from students about previous Yule Balls… what we can do to improve, what we can throw out… blah, blah, blah." She rolled her eyes and returned to reading whatever it was she was doing, mumbling things to herself as she jotted down things with a sparkly blue pen. Yes a 'pen', one of those Muggle things he'd seen in his 'visit' to London, as well as a pad of 'paper', not parchment and quill. And as he watched, it looked much more convenient. She must've noticed him watching her write because she gave him a wry smile, reached into her bag and tossed him a pen and notepad. The pen was not sparkly, he noticed with relief and he nodded his appreciation. She turned back to her work, stroking Crookshanks at odd moments when she was less distracted.

He went back to work… 'The last Yule Ball reeked! This year, add some more spice in it. Don't get those hags to play the music! Bring in some Muggle artists!' Draco looked at the piece of parchment for in disbelief, then shook his head, snorting in derision. "How pathetic can you get? Muggle artists?! Oh, Dumbledore'll go for that no problem!"

"Not as bad as this, listen. 'Convince Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy to strip as the main event.' As if!"

"Not likely anyone will be watching me make a fool of myself onstage. Tell them to forget it."

"May I ask how you plan to do that?" she asked smirking delicately.

"Oh just burn the damn thing." She grinned as she crumpled it up and chucked it at the fireplace. It landed dead center. "TWO POINTS!" she crowed before noticing his blank look. "Excuse me?"

"Basketball."

"Which would be…?"

"Oh forget it," she waved it away as if it were nothing. "It's nothing important."

"I see…"

She went back to her notes, and Crookshanks jumped down from the couch, stretched luxuriously and waddled to Hermione's bedroom. "Stay off my bed Crookshanks, 'kay?" called Hermione towards the bedroom without looking up.

"MEOW!"

"Thanks baby!" she called back before falling silent again. The only sound was the barely heard sliding of her ballpoint pen on paper. Draco went back to work… the watch Hermione was wearing ticked the seconds, the minutes, the hours away, as they worked.

"That's it!" he finally yelled, throwing his pen down. He had a cramp in his right hand, a full notebook of notes, and a seemingly never-ending stack of parchment, half of which was scattered all around him. He ran a hand through his mussed white-blond hair, and picked up the still-giant stack of parchment and let it "thwump" to the ground. He dusted off his hands with an air of finality.

Hermione looked up with barely veiled amusement. "Good job Draco. You have succeeded in making a bigger mess than I could credit even my wardrobe back home."

"Any more of that, and you're going to hurt badly."

"Oh really? Come on then, I'm waiting to see what you can do." She smiled in such a way that he shivered despite himself. What was she planning? She smiled reassuringly at his uncomfortable look, "I'm just playing you, Malfoy. Forget about it." she stood up, stretching and yawning. "I'm making for the bathtub. You enter my bathroom, I'll hex you into next year." She threatened before walking towards her room, where her own private bathroom was. Draco was left in their common room, all alone wondering what had spawned that. With a shrug, he reentered his bedroom. He'd been rudely interrupted from his nap. This time, he chose to sleep in his boxers, just in case Hermione decided to pay another unannounced visit. The memory of that smirk on her lips made him shiver despite himself. Whoa, whoa, no blood flow down there, okay? Granger's a Muggle, and I won't waste any of my little guys over a chick like her.

With that, the untroubled (yeah right) Slytherin slipped into uninterrupted sleep. And the Gryffindor Head Girl relaxed in her huge porcelain bathtub, reading. All was silent in the Head Students sector… for now.

~*~*~*~

"Hey, you're all right, aren't you?" asked Harry as he literally had to shift almost all her weight on his own shoulder. "Do I… look… okay?" she managed to gasp between the hacking coughs. One hand seemed to be clutching her forearm in pain, but he couldn't see what in the world she was holding, since it was covered by the sleeve of her robes. Other students had appeared in the halls to witness the sight, but most had melted back into the walls (not literally) and other who asked were politely refused of their help. What else could they do, hold Nagini's hand and coo, "Oh, you'll be all right, you're gonna be fine…?"

Harry was convinced something was wrong with his eyes, because as he watched, he almost thought he saw the vertical-pupils of a serpent when he stared at her eyes. And they were really nice eyes, he noted almost absently as they ambled towards the Hospital Wing like some deformed troll. "This can not be happening," whispered Nagini through her dry throat between coughs, forgetting human speech in those few painful moments. What would happen at the hospital wing? They might find the traces of the Dark Lord's spell on her, and reveal who she was! That couldn't happen… not now when she had been able to enter this school, and found the Chamber of Secrets.

"It's happening, but you'll be fine, don't worry." The words were hissed in her own familiar serpent tongue, and her eyes jerked open as she immediately looked for whoever had spoken. There was no sign of tail or scale of any snake around her in the corridor. Then who had spoken…? Was it… was it Harry Potter?

She looked up at his face suddenly, as if she could discern it from his face. He looked confused at her face, "What?" he asked, uncomfortable under her stare. "You shouldn't worry too much about all this." He didn't know when he spoke serpent tongue! Nagini had the few moments to wonder whether she should be ecstatic that she'd found one other who knew her own, dear tongue, or to be enraged that this boy had all the gifts the Original Four had prized before the coughing came over her again.

What was wrong with her? Could there be something wrong with the spell, some horrible side affect that the Dark Lord had failed to inform her of?

*Nagini!*

The girl's head snapped up again as she looked for the sound of the voice she had suddenly heard, echoing in her ears. Was it her master's?

*Nagini. Get to the Chamber of Secrets if you wish to stay alive. You will not last much longer if you don't.*

The words were matter-of-fact, unemotional. Nagini stumbled to a stop, looking wildly at where they were. They were only a few corridors to the Hospital Wing. If she should go in, she would most certainly be found out. Summoning whatever supernatural strength she had, she flung herself away from Harry's strong arms that were supporting her and rushed in a mad dash towards the girl's bathroom, luckily nearby where the opening to the Chamber was [1]. She just hoped he wasn't so worried that he would follow her in to make sure she was all right. She had to enter it quickly! Quickly, she passed Moaning Myrtle's toilet, ignoring the ghost's wails, and made for the sink.

"Open!" her voice full of urgency, she rushed into the headlong dive downwards as the wall closed in behind her, cracked plaster and chips of porcelain from the already-broken sink coming back together behind her. Landing on her hands and knees, she gasped for breath as the coughing immediately stopped, the immense magic of her ancestor, the Great Basilisk still present in this place of magic, even when the snake itself was long gone. The pile of snakeskin that had been shed by her ancestor, lay there still, preserved as if time could never touch it. Shaking, she crawled towards it, enfolding herself in the layers of old scales, ten times larger than her own and she felt calmer. What had happened? Why had she been coughing like that? What was wrong with her?

"Oh my god!"

Her head jerked up as she saw Harry's face in the surrounding gloom of the place. "Nagini, what are you doing?"

"I…" For a moment, she was at a loss for words. What could she say? "How did you… how did you know about this place, Nagini?"

"I…" she repeated, wriggling out of the snakeskin, and onto her own two feet.

"She's a lamia, Mr. Potter." Harry whirled to face Professor Dumbledore standing behind him. "Professor!" he gasped.

Nagini felt her blood run cold. How did he know? How had he realized it?

As if he had read her mind, Professor Dumbledore smiled, eyes twinkling. "Do you not think I recognize a transfiguration spell when I see one, Miss Whetlyn? Of course, the one who cast the spell is what I am concerned about…" he frowned, and Nagini tensed herself for whatever this old man could throw at her. Even when he was in the seat of power, her master had never dared to face off against this man… why?

"How… how did you…?" she managed to say.

"I can see many things, Miss Whetlyn. I can also see something in you that I don't believe you can see for yourself. That is the only reason I allowed to enter this school at all."

"Professor, what's a lamia?" asked Harry, who had been forgotten momentarily by Nagini. She bit her lip as the Professor informed him. If things turned out the way she was expecting them to from the way things were going, she would never be able to bring this boy to her master!

"A lamia is a snake in a woman's form or vice versa. Miss Whetlyn here is an example of snake to woman. Her sire I believe is the same Basilisk that Slytherin himself kept in this very chamber.

"So you mean… I killed her dad." Harry's words were hollow as he looked from Nagini to the pile of snakeskin on the ground near her.

Dumbledore, unable to tell the boy anything different, nodded. "Yes, Harry." With a swift movement, Harry had ran for the entrance to the Chamber, pulling out his wand and with the words of a levitation spell, disappeared from view of both Nagini and Dumbledore.

"Why… why did he…?" whispered Nagini as she watched him disappear from sight.

"You should go after him, Miss Whetlyn. Explain some more." Nagini gave the Headmaster one long look, a look of vast wonderment before she had sprinted for the entrance, disappearing upwards as well.

"HARRY! WAIT!"

Dumbledore, still in the Chamber smiled softly, "I believe she has a chance."

~*~*~*~

"Daisy! Hey Daisy!" a loud knocking on her bathroom door made her look up in annoyance. Why did someone have to bother her right when she was taking a bath? And from the sound of it, it was the dratted Malfoy at her door.

"What?" she called back, irritably. All she could think of at the moment was all her bubbles popping way without her relaxing among them. "Hurry it up and come out already!" yelled back Draco, apparently in a hurry. "I'm still in the bathtub you idiot, what, do you think I'm insane?!"

"I'll think about that one and get back to you, but I just heard from some Second Year that Nagini's been in the Chamber of Secrets!" he said through the door of the bathroom.

"WHAT?!" Hermione turned cold with fear as she remembered her own narrow escape with the Basilisk that had lurked in that Chamber. She leaped out of the bathtub, spraying water all over the bathroom floor in her haste as she snatched her towel and appeared in the doorway, the white terrycloth towel wrapped snugly around her. A little too snugly it seemed.

Draco's eyes immediately zeroed in on her still-wet and dripping body before slowly looking back up at her face. A disapproving face. "Draco, if staring at me wide-eyed is all you can do, I've got a bubble bath waiting for me. "No, it's true Daisy. Potter just ran past the corridor portrait swearing enough to make a sailor's mother proud. And Nagini wasn't too far behind, chasing him and yelling something else… I couldn't hear what they said though." He paused.

Hermione waited to hear whatever he had to say, dripping even more water onto the floor as she did so. She reached backwards for a towel to dry her hair… it didn't look like she'd be in her bathtub any longer. "Well, do you think we should look for them?"

Hermione looked up in surprise. "Whoa, Draco am I hearing things? You want to help Harry?"

"No, I want to find out what the hell Nagini was doing in the Chamber of Secrets and why the hell she's chasing Potter. Besides, you can comfort Wonder Boy and I'll 'comfort' Nagini."

Hermione rolled her eyes, "I knew you had another motive." She turned away, "Well if you'll wait for me, I'll be out in five minutes—hey!"

The "hey" was because she had inevitably slipped on the soaking wet floor. Instinctively grabbing Draco for support, she found a moment too late that he was standing on slippery wet linoleum as well and he fell as well.

"OOF!" they fell crashing to the ground, Draco landing on top of Hermione rather ungracefully and more like a stack of bricks on her. "Ow!" she opened her eyes to find that his hand at cushioned her head from the floor to prevent her brains from splattering all over the already-wet floor. Only then did she notice just how close he was to… her… face…

Draco found himself unable to move, not even able to roll off her. For no reason at all, he couldn't move away from her… her eyes were wide as he stared down at the big chocolate-brown eyes that looked up at him through thick lashes. As if by a magnet, he found himself being pulled inexorably closer to her…

NO! NO! STOP GRANGER, DON'T EVEN GO THERE! Common sense literally jumped up and down on her brain, trying to make her shove him off, push him away, turn her head from his face. But something else seemed to beat down on Common Sense shouting gleefully, I DON'T CARE!!!

Swiftly, she closed the gap between their lips, sealing his with her own. Her eyelids felt so incredibly heavy as she did so, and she was unable to keep them open to see his reaction. Giving in, she let them drop as he didn't pull away, but continued kissing her, enough to open in his mouth and let his tongue travel to her lips, stroking them gently before entering her mouth, claiming it.

"Oh my GOD!" Both Draco and Hermione's eyes flew open and they jerked apart and looked up to see…

Ron Weasley.

Draco groaned mentally, Weasel Boy had to have to worst timing imaginable! Wait… that was a good thing right? He would have stabbed himself with his own wand if he'd let himself take that Muggle Granger! With a strangled growl, her pushed himself off the floor, swearing at his dripping wet clothes. "Great. Nagini's gonna to be halfway across the school by now."

"R-Ron! How did you get in here?!" stammered Hermione, embarrassed in her half-dressed state. "That girl let me in. The Slytherin." He wrinkled his nose in disgust at Draco's attempts to wring the water out of his shirt, and failing miserably. "And what's he doing in your bathroom."

"He came to get me, and we uh, fell."

"And your lips broke his fall, right?" he retorted, as Hermione turned red, but still, she snapped at him, "Don't you start."

Ron took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. "Look 'Mione, I didn't come here to fight with either you, or Malfoy." He suddenly turned red, "I'll uh, talk with you when you get changed then, okay?"

Hermione smirked before closing the door on both Ron and Draco, "Get a girlfriend."

"I'm working on it." he replied. Draco looked him up and down in his infuriating way before sauntering out of Hermione's room. Ron found himself struck dumb… what the hell had he just seen back there? Hermione? With MALFOY?! He found himself sitting down on a nearby chair and wondering what kind of alternate universe he had stumbled upon.

Draco, in his bedroom, behind his closed door, was literally close to smacking himself. What was wrong with him?! What had possessed him to kiss Granger? A filthy Mudblood at that! And damn, he had liked it! He fell backwards onto his bed, staring at the ceiling. He hadn't wanted to come all the way down to this. All he'd wanted to do was have a safe spot waiting for him on either side, depending on who won this pathetic 'war'. He pulled himself up, and forced himself to walk into his bathroom. He needed a shower. A cold shower.

~*~*~*~

Nagini, was lying on her own bed. And she was experiencing something new. Tears. There were tears coming from her eyes, sliding down her cheekbones as she stared up at the ceiling. Why? Why should she care what Potter thought? Was it because it was going to be near impossible to kill Potter with her secret out? Was that it?

She turned herself over. She'd given up running after him. She still wasn't coordinated enough to run that well, with these legs, and she couldn't change into a snake under any cost. He'd left her far behind, being an athlete. Where did this leave her? Slowly, she sat up, and wiped away the tears. She couldn't do this. She was the right-hand serpent of the greatest Dark Sorcerer since Slytherin himself! She couldn't fail him like this! She couldn't become human like all the rest of them!

She stood up, and walked towards the portrait hole with a grim look on her face. Being Head Girl, she knew the passwords of every portrait hole allowed to students in the school. And there was only one place where Harry Potter could be. In his dormitories, in the Gryffindor chambers behind the portrait of the Fat Lady…

She smiled, light glinting off the pointed canines she had… similar to Professor Sa Lai's, but much much better disguised. The professor didn't have to care. She on the other hand, had a job to do.

~*~*~*~

Hermione finished doing up the buttons to her cloak with trembling fingers… what had just happened? Had she really and truly kissed Draco Malfoy, jerk extraordinaire? It didn't seem possible… but just the thought of the feel of his lips on her made her feel all trembly and tingly all over. What in the world was wrong with her? She could have pushed him off her, apologized and then have acted like nothing was out of the ordinary. Nothing would have been out of the ordinary if she hadn't done that! What would Ron think? What would Harry think? What would the entire school think?!

Finally, taking a deep breath, she unlocked the door and stepped out to see Ron sitting there, watching her closely. "What did you want to talk about?"

"About… well… 'Mione, I wanted to apologize for, you know, blowing up at you earlier… I didn't mean to say all those things. But just the thought of one of my best friends being hurt by that… jerk is enough to drive me insane… d'you know what I mean?"

Hermione nodded, a little sadly, "I know exactly what you mean."

Ron looked up, rather shy all of a sudden, "So… d'you forgive me? I mean for hitting you and everything?" Hermione rubbed the back of her head ruefully, "Well, I did slap you… and Nagini did too… so I'd say we're even… as long as you don't KO Nagini too." she told him half-warningly, half-jokingly. Ron gave her a wry smile, "I said I was sorry, 'Mione."

"And I told you, you were forgiven." She quipped, before hugging the redheaded boy that had been her friend for over six years and counting. He turned red instantly, and she looked up and raised an eyebrow at him. "What?" then she looked down. She pulled away, "Damn, you don't notice much, do you?" she asked rather sarcastically.

"Er…" she sighed, reaching up and patting him on the head like a dog. "Poor, poor Ronald Weasley… can't even manage to look at one of his best friends without blushing… how on Earth are you going to catch a girl?"

"Well… I, uh, did have someone in mind to ask to the Yule Ball and all but… you know, the robes and everything…" he turned red. Hermione grinned, "You're talking to a Head Girl remember? Don't worry, you've got it made."

Ron blinked, "Huh?"

"The Head Students are planning the Yule Ball, dumbkof."

"Right…" it finally dawned on him and he grinned. 'RIGHT!"

"Any ideas? I was thinking something formal, but that's a little on the costly side…"

Ron on the other hand positively glowed, "Muggle clothes? You mean like the stuff Dad sometimes shows us in that 'magfine' thing right?"

"That's 'magazine'."

"Right, right… those things?"

"Are you thinking GQ?"

"I dunno… am I?" he asked, rather confused and she making him even more confused. She shook her head, "So you go for it. I don't know if anyone else would go for the idea… especially people who don't really care for Muggles…"

"You'll manage, 'Mione, you always have."

"Thanks…" he exited quickly after that, and she could see the tips of his ears were red with embarrassment for having been 'mushy' as he put it. Complimenting a girl when you're a guy sometimes seems that way to a guy. Guys can be weird. (So can girls, but for now, that's not important.)

~*~*~*~

"Monoceros." said Nagini as she stood before the Fat Lady. The woman in the portrait stared down at her suspiciously. "You're not a Gryffindor, are you?"

"No. I'm Slytherin. But I'm Head Girl and I need to talk with Harry Potter."

"What are you planning?" asked the woman, still suspicious. Nagini felt a spark of annoyance. Did being in different houses really matter so much?

"I want to apologize to him." Grudgingly the portrait swung open, and she stepped in, sudden feeling completely alien in the Gryffindor common room. All talk suddenly ceased as eyes turned to the intruder. Coolly, she asked anyone who might answer, "Where is Harry Potter?"

No one answered and she frowned. "Is he not here?"

"Why d'you want him?" asked a sixth-year girl with short, cropped red hair.

"I want to apologize for something Professor Dumbledore said to him."

"He's in the boys' dormitories. Stair to the left." Seamus finally gave up the secret, remembering her from the 'scuffle' with Ron and Hermione in the hallway. She didn't seem that bad… for a Slytherin. Thanking him, she walked up the spiraling staircase towards the large room with the multiple beds everywhere. Harry sat on one of them, staring moodily at a book.

"Harry?" she asked softly, suddenly shy… how could she talk to him without giving anything away? He already knew more than he should have.

He looked up at once, staring at her. "How did you get in here?"

She smiled wryly, "I'm Head Girl. I know the passwords to every locked door in this school… that students are allowed in that is."

He pushed the book, a photo album she noticed, off his lap and he stood, "Ah, I'm er, sorry about what happened back there… you in the Chamber…"

"No. I'm sorry." Nagini sat down on a chair on the side of his bed, facing him. "I'm sorry that you had to find out my… secret."

"About your, er, dad?" he asked almost painfully as he stared down at the album in his hands. "My parents were killed by Voldemort—I mean You-Know-Who and I thought… nothing could be worse than not knowing anything about my folks. But I did the same thing to you…" the images of his parents long dead still waved at him merrily and had to look away.

"You did exactly right."

He looked up startled at her conviction. "You did exactly right," she repeated, "because my sire would've killed you in an eyeblink. I've probed the memories of the Chamber and all I've found are sickening images of death and pain and torture." She had been torn when they'd flowed into her mind. One half of her felt her blood sing as she heard the screams, the horror-filled looks on their faces… but the other half had abhorred it, wanting to erase those memories from her mind.

"But that doesn't mean…"

"Harry Potter, you are a wonder."

"E…excuse me?"

"You are nothing like I expected when I came here. I thought you would be a pompous, egotistical celebrity flaunting your fame everywhere. And I find you completely different. You even feel sorry for killing the Basilisk because he was my sire. Why are you like this?"

"Er…" he didn't seem to know what to say as he turned rather red, "'Cause I know what it's like not knowing you are and not having family… I didn't want it to happen to someone else."

Nagini smiled, rather faintly. "Well then… do you forgive me? For being a… lamia?"

"The school forgave me for being a Parseltongue, I think I can forgive you for being what you are." he smiled, holding out his hand towards hers. She blinked and glanced at it for a few moments before realization hit her and she slowly placed her hand in his. She found herself smiling… his eyes had never looked so green until that moment… She shook her head, she had a job to do. Smiling tightly, she stood. "I must be going… Hermione and Draco will be waiting for my help in planning for the Yule Ball."

Harry gave her a small smile. "Er, bye then… I'll see you… in class." Nagini nodded and disappeared into the hall, and he could barely hear the swish of her robes on the smooth-paneled wood of the floors as she descended the stairs.

Only when she had left did he wonder why she hadn't panicked at You-Know-Who's name like almost everyone he knew. Was she not scared of him?

~*~*~*~

End of chapter. I'm done this chapter! Woohoo! Now all I have to do is think up an ending… it's dragged on for a while hasn't it? Ah well, keep reading and waiting. Read my muse fic, I like it. And if you liked the dialogue in the author's notes, read my Majora's Mask fic. Just check out my bio, you'll find it. Love you all lots! Ja ne!

[1] Where is this bathroom by the way? No idea? Good, neither do I.