Disclaimer: I do not own HP. I repeat, I do NOT own HP. But, of course, you lot know this, right? If not, whack yourself repeatedly in the head with a blunt object until you do.
Serpens Erus Temptatio
"Serpent Lord's Temptation"
Chapter 9 – Found MyselfThe next morning (Saturday) found Mischa awakening to strange surroundings. She opened her eyes and immediately knew that she was not in her own bed. Her sheets were not dark blue for one thing and weren't charmed to stay at the perfect temperature either.
She sat up, gathering the sheet about her as she looked around the room. A sheathed katana hung to the left of the doorway, which was shielded from the room beyond by a black curtain, and several different objects and picture lined a long table underneath it. In one picture, Mischa could make out a younger Harry accompanied by a boy with dark hair streaked green. A girl with bushy-brown hair appeared to be scolding the both of them then was stopped when both boys tackled her and all three vanished from the picture. Harry reappeared a second later with a red-headed girl clinging to his back. Both were laughing happily and waved at her from the frame.
Mischa smiled sadly at the picture. She didn't know who the other boy and girl were but the redhead had to be Ginny Weasley.
Another picture was of Harry and the other boy dressed in Quidditch robes. The black/green-haired boy had a Quaffle tucked under one arm while Harry was holding a Snitch captive, its wings fluttering wildly. Both grinned goofily at her for a moment before they pounced on each other, Quaffle and Snitch forgotten. Mischa saw the Quaffle roll out of the frame but the Snitch flitted about the two boy's heads as they rough-housed.
The last picture was a Muggle one instead of a wizard one. It was of Harry and Ginny at some ball. Harry was dressed in a pair of sleek bottle green robes whilst Ginny was in an emerald green dress. They both were smiling at each other and Mischa felt that if it were a wizarding photograph, they would be slowly dancing as they leaned in to kiss each other.
It made her feel like an outsider.
Quickly she turned her attention to the other objects on the table. There was an old Firebolt lying there, still looking as though it got a good bit of use. In front of it was a Sneakoscope balancing on its tip, a stack of Chocolate Frog cards, a moving model of a Hungarian Horntail that was currently asleep, and an ornate dagger that looked as though blood had been allowed to dry on it.
The dagger disturbed her but everything else gave her a mild look at Harry – as she figured this was his room.
That was when she noticed that A) she wasn't wearing any clothes and B) a small black cat with huge almond-shaped eyes was perched at the end of the bed. She blinked at the creature, trying to remember what had happened the night before (particularly why she wasn't wearing any clothes), then said, "Hey, there."
The cat tilted its head to the side and said, "Mrow," before it leapt off the bed and dove underneath the curtain to the next room. Mischa blinked after it then jumped when the curtain was pulled aside and Harry stepped through. Her jaw dropped as she saw that he was only wearing a pair of blue jeans that were rather ragged in the knee area.
He smiled at her and sat down on the edge of the bed as he extended a cup of something foul smelling towards her.
"Here. You probably don't remember anything from last night." He blushed slightly as he continued, "I have this system of wards that erases the memory of anyone it isn't set to recognize. I forgot about it. Sorry."
"S'okay," said Mischa as she took the cup.
"Hold your nose," suggested Harry as she grimaced at it. "I'm sorry about the smell. There's probably a way to get rid of it but as Sev's told me before, the worse a potion smells, the more potent it is."
Mischa grimaced again and said, "I'll take your word on it." She then held her nose and downed the contents of the cup in one go. As she began to cough, Harry took the cup and began to gently rub her bare back. A few seconds later, Mischa's memories of the night returned and she began to hiccup uncontrollably.
"Whoa!" exclaimed Harry. "You okay?"
"Y-yes," choked Mischa. She coughed then looked into his eyes. "We didn't…did we?"
Harry frowned and said, "You don't remember?"
"Oh I do! I just…"
"You thought it didn't happen?"
Mischa nodded and Harry smiled gently.
"It did, trust me. I've got several bite marks to prove it." He rose and went back through the curtain, leaving Mischa to gap after him.
Bite marks? she thought in a horrified tone. Oh dear…
Harry reappeared a moment later and she gasped. He frowned at her and said, "What?"
Mischa stared at him with wide eyes as she breathed, "That scar…"
Harry blinked then looked down at the vicious scar that ripped its way across his stomach.
"Yeah," he said slowly, "that's what happens when you get a sword shoved through your stomach."
"Your friend?" questioned Mischa, remembering him saying that he had had to kill his best friend.
Harry only nodded and sat down on the end of the bed. The black cat from earlier padded into the room and leapt up onto his knee, purring gently.
"What's her name?" asked Mischa, turning her eyes away from the almost identical scar that shone on Harry's back.
"Medusa," came the reply. "Tristen has a cat like her. Calls her Trieste. If you ever see a gray ball with black stripes clinging to him, that'd be her."
"Such a fearsome name for such a tiny thing," said Mischa, leaning forward past Harry to scratch behind Medusa's ear. The cat purred and closed her eyes in pleasure, tilting her head towards the scratching hand.
Harry turned to smile at her and said, "I think she likes you."
"Does she like everyone?"
"She doesn't like the twins anymore. They gave her a booby-trapped piece of fish that had her on the ceiling for two days afterward."
Mischa looked curiously up at him, unmindful of the fact that the angle gave Harry a very interesting look down in the space between the sheet and her body.
"Who?"
"Fred and George Weasley," said Harry. "Tricksters by trade – which makes their mother very testy."
"You do know that there's a Weasley in third year, don't you?"
"Yes, she's Charlie's oldest."
"Charlie?"
Harry laughed and said, "I'd better explain. Let me find that pad of mine…" He glanced about the room then dumped Medusa into Mischa's arms as he got up to cross the room. When he returned a second later, he held a large black notebook and a black ballpoint pen.
Mischa arched an eyebrow at it and pointed out, "A Muggle pen?"
"I was raised by Muggle's. And these you don't have to refill every few words or so."
"There are quills that do that."
"I know," said Harry. "The charms wear off after a while. Have you seen those quills on my desk?"
"Yes…"
"That'd be them."
"Oh. What are you doing?" Mischa craned her neck to see what Harry was hurriedly jotting down on a blank sheet of paper.
"I," he replied, "am drawing you the present Weasley family tree. At the top we have Arthur and Molly, the current heads of the Weasley clan. Which is very large, I warn you now, and if you intend to spend any time around me, you'll eventually meet some of them, if not all."
"I'll keep that in mind," said Mischa.
"Good. Now, Bill's the oldest and he's been married – er, twice? Yeah… First marriage was during my sixth year to Fleur Delacour and his oldest, Benjamin, is from that marriage. That ended when Benji was one and Bill married Mariana du Phitschal about three months later. They have four children now: Arana's the oldest at thirteen, Sarah and Samuel (they're twins) are twelve, and Melinda's ten."
Mischa blinked and said, "That's only one part?"
Harry nodded solemnly and continued, pointing out the next name he'd written down.
"Charlie's the second oldest and he has three children. Lillianne's the oldest – she's the third year you were talking about – and Christopher'll be coming in next year. Riana's only four, so she's the youngest of the Weasley bunch."
"Okay, I think I got that. What about his wife?"
"She…disappeared. Just after Riana was born."
Mischa frowned and asked, "Where'd she go?"
"No one knows. Now the twins…Fred is the oldest, I think. You can never trust them to tell you the truth about anything. And never take anything from them either. They've probably charmed it to turn your hair into fire-breathing snakes."
"That'd be interesting."
Harry snorted and said, "Yes, well…anyway. Fred married Katie Bell a year out of Hogwarts and they just have one child because of Katie's complications with the birth. Mallia's twelve now. And George just got married about three years ago to Marissa Benton. They have a set of two-year-old twin girls now. Adriana and Amelie. Two more rascals if I've ever seen them."
"That's it?" said Mischa.
Harry nodded solemnly and dropped the pen onto the pad.
"Yeah," he said slowly, "that's it." He then picked up the pen and scribbled two names off to the right of George's. Mischa could barely make out the names 'Ron' and 'Ginny.' She noticed the far-off look in his eyes and leaned over to nudge his bare shoulder with her own. Green eyes blinked at her curiously and she smiled.
"What House's are all the children in? I must not have been paying much attention to have missed so many of them."
Harry smiled and replied, "They're just about everywhere. Benjamin and Arana are both Gryffindors, Sarah and Lillianne are Ravenclaw, Samuel's in Hufflepuff, and Mallia's a Slytherin. Fred nearly had a heart attack when he heard that."
"Does he have something against Slytherin's?" asked Mischa.
"All of them except me," replied Harry as he flipped the notebook closed. Mischa frowned in confusion at his words.
"Wait…I thought you were a Gryffindor."
Harry chuckled and turned to look at her with his serpentine eyes.
"My dear lady, you surely didn't think that I charmed my eyes this way, now did you?"
"You mean…?"
"Yes, serpentine eyes are the mark of an Heir of Slytherin. But only one who has been put under a certain charm and survived. I only know of two that ever have."
"Who?" asked Mischa.
Harry sighed and absently rubbed a set of dark scars on his right wrist.
"Myself and Voldemort. Both assisted by one Severus Snape."
Mischa blinked.
"Waitaminute. This Severus…is he the other boy in those photo's?" She pointed at the referred to items and Harry nodded. Mischa then continued, "But he's your age…"
Harry smiled and handed her a baggy shirt as he rose from his seat with a smile.
"It's a long and complicated story. Personally I'd rather be sitting in a nice, comfy chair with a cup of something warm when I tell it. Would you care to join me?"
"What's the cup of something warm?" asked Mischa as she took the proffered shirt with a wry smile.
Harry smiled slyly and replied, "You'll see."
"I look forward to it."
"Good."
Mischa smiled as Harry disappeared through the curtain, Medusa at his heels, before she pulled the shirt over her head and began to search around the bed for the pants she'd been wearing.