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 12 – Away From the Sun"Mischa…"
The dark-haired woman yelped and whirled around, whipping her wand out. A firm hand caught her wrist whilst another settled itself about her waist and jerked her close to a tall, strong body.
Harry smiled slightly down at her and said, "Why, my dear Miss Tatchya…pulling your wand on me already? And here I thought we were friends."
Mischa glared at him and jerked her arm away, pocketing her wand with a furious motion.
"Sneaking up on a body!" she exclaimed. "How dare you!"
"I'm Harry Potter. I dare many things."
Mischa snorted and glared at him before she sighed and said, "I'm sorry. The professor has me looking for a certain charm and I can't find it anywhere!"
Harry gave her a sideways look and said, "Have you checked the Restricted Section?"
When Mischa's mouth fell open, he chuckled.
"I'll take that as a 'no' then…"
"I'm such an arse," grumbled Mischa, shaking her head.
"No," said Harry. He leaned to the right slightly and gave her backside a quick glance before straightening and meeting her eyes again. "But you do have a very nice one."
"Cad," admonished Mischa.
"I wouldn't dare insult you," said Harry. His smile then faltered and he continued, "Would you mind helping me with something?"
Mischa shook her head and replied, "Of course not. What is it?"
"Tristen's mother."
"Your friend…Hermione, was it?"
Harry nodded solemnly.
"Death Eater's attacked her and Severus last night."
"Death Eater's?" exclaimed Mischa, careful to control her voice level. "But that's impossible!"
"Not quite," said Harry in a slightly dark tone. "A few of them did escape from the battle." His eyes swirled with black as he said this. Mischa thought it looked like a storm cloud gathering.
"What happened?"
"Cruciatus. Six at one time."
"Oh Heaven's chorus," breathed Mischa, saying an exclamation that Harry had never heard. She looked up at him and asked, "Is she alright?"
"She's in a coma," replied Harry. He moved away from her and sat down on the edge of her desk, careful to avoid a piece of paper that seemed to still have ink drying on it.
"And she's here?"
"Sev doesn't trust anyone else. Plus Madam Pomfrey handled him well enough when he came back from Death Eater meetings with that Curse's effects still upon him."
"I see." Mischa frowned and began to pace, her arms wrapped about her waist. Harry's eyes followed her as she walked seven steps forward, turned, and walked seven back before repeating the motion. To his eyes, it was the walk of someone who had been caged at some point in their life.
If he'd had the room to pace in his cupboard, he might have. It'd have been a four step pace but it would have been one.
The dark-haired woman paced for a few moments more before she stopped and turned to face him.
"I remember my Charms professor at Durmstrang once telling us that there had once been an ancient spell that could lessen the effects of Cruciatus. Sadly, its been lost to the ravages of time."
"How ancient?" asked Harry.
"Well…the Cruciatus Curse was created in the time of the Hogwarts Founders – just before they opened the school, in fact. He said the spell was first mentioned around the time that the Founder's fought and Salazar Slytherin left the school."
"So one of the Founders could have known it," mused Harry.
"Yes…" Mischa gave him a curious look and asked, "What are you getting at, Harry?"
"Come with me," was all the man replied as he stalked out of the room. Mischa jogged after him, matching his long-legged stride as soon as she caught up.
"Where are we going?" she asked as they headed in the direction of the entrance hall.
Harry looked straight ahead as he answered her.
"You said that one of the Founder could have known the spell…"
"Actually you said that."
"You agreed."
"Alright, alright. But where are we going? We can't ask any of them. All of the portraits in the school were painted when they were young. According to my professors calculations, that spell would not have been created until they were in their later years."
"Exactly," said Harry. He turned sharply at the edge of the staircase and snapped out a word in Parseltongue. Mischa jumped at the sound of the language of the snakes and gaped as an entrance appeared in the side of the staircase.
Harry extended a hand to her and said, "Come on. Before someone sees."
Mischa gave the slimy corridor a nervous glance then looked at Harry's face. Her eyes locked with his and she laid her hand in his own. Harry pulled her into the corridor slowly and began to walk forward. The woman jumped as the door slid shut, leaving them in darkness.
She could hear Harry chuckling.
"Find this funny, do you?" she growled. "If I knew where your face was, I'd slap you."
A pair of emerald lights winked on suddenly and Mischa thought for a moment Harry had summoned them up but then she realized that they weren't lights at all. They were his eyes.
"Nice trick," she remarked as the tunnel around them slowly came into view, its walls cast in an eerie green glow.
"Thanks," said Harry. "Come on. It won't take us long to get down."
"Where exactly are we going?" asked Mischa as she began to follow him down the sloping tunnel.
"To see an old friend."
"Must you be cryptic?"
"Of course."
"Bastard."
A few minutes later, Mischa was standing on the ledge in the Chamber of Secrets and staring blankly at the statue of Salazar Slytherin. Beside her, Harry was smirking and chuckling at the same time.
"Mischa, meet Salazar Slytherin. Sal, this is Mischa Tatchya."
"A pleasure, my dear," murmured Salazar. "And it is good to see you again, lad."
"You as well, Sal. I wish this trip didn't have a reason though."
"Your trips nowadays generally have a reason. I don't mind. Now…what is going on now in the great world above? Have the owls revolted? Perhaps one of that half-giant's creatures has escaped onto the grounds? Has that Whomping Willow killed someone?"
"No," said Harry. "But Hermione's been injured."
"The Phoenix?"
Phoenix? thought Mischa, looking wildly at the man beside her. He didn't look at her, just nodded in answer to the statue's question.
"Tell, lad, tell! What has happened? Was the Unicorn involved? How I do hate that I am a statue instead of a painting!"
Harry quickly went over what had happened and when he finished, Salazar let loose a low whistle.
"Hell's bells, lad, what have you gotten yourself into now? Six Cruciatus' is not an easy task to get past!"
"We…" began Mischa, stopping suddenly. Harry smiled encouragingly at her and she continued. "We were wondering if you perhaps knew of an ancient charm that was created during your time to counteract the effects of Cruciatus."
"Do you mean the Dolor Miniatus Potion?" asked Salazar. His stone eyebrows knitted as he continued, "If I remember correctly, it was supposed to reduce the effects of the Curse. I never saw it in action but I do remember the ingredients to it."
A smile broke over Mischa's face and she pulled a small leather-bound book from her robes and a Muggle ballpoint pen that she's snitched from Harry's rooms. "Could you tell me?" she asked.
Salazar smiled and replied, "I shall. Firstly, you shall need…"
Over an hour later, Mischa and Harry stepped back into the entrance hall, their robes covered in slime from the tunnel. Harry dispelled it with a wave of his hand then took the list of ingredients from her hands, looking over it.
"I know a few of the plants we need for this grow in the Forbidden Forest. Sev might know how to get the unicorn blood. And…crushed Thestral hoof?"
"Is there something wrong?" asked Mischa.
"No," replied Harry, looking rather pale. "But I don't think we'll get any of the Forest Thestral's to comply with us asking for some of their hoof. Do you think the hoof of a Thestral Animagus would work?"
Mischa blinked.
"Who's a Thestral Animagus?"
Harry smiled as he silently handed her back the book. There was a whisper of magic and an explosion of emerald green dust motes, after which a pitch-black Thestral stood in the dark-haired wizard's place.
Mischa stared at the huge creature as it tossed a black mane from glowing green eyes, revealing a white lightning bolt scar on its forehead. She slowly reached out and gently touched a white, star-shaped scar on its muscled chest. The Thestral twitched and gently butted her with its draconic head, its wings rustling softly.
"Sweet Merlin," she breathed as she stared at the Thestral. "You are beautiful."
The Thestral bobbed its head in what could be taken for a 'thank-you.' A moment later into another flurry of emerald motes, Harry stood in its place. Mischa's hand was still on his chest, her fingers brushing against the Muggle shirt he wore underneath his robes. If she moved it up, she would be able to see the scar that had very nearly killed him thirteen years before…
Harry grasped her wrist suddenly, pushing her hand away. Their eyes met and Mischa was shocked to see that the serpentine orbs were flooded black.
"We need to get that to Severus," he said softly. "He'll know where to find most of the ingredients."
Mischa nodded slowly then watched numbly as Harry turned and walked off in the direction of the hospital wing at a fast pace. She stood there for a long moment, the little journal held in a limp hand.
She obviously still had much to learn about this man she had fallen in love with.