Thank you so much for reviewing, it really makes me happy. As soon as I checked and saw there were some, I immediately starting typing again, thanks guys. California Smells Funny (neat name), thanks for pointing out the anonymous thingy. And I'm glad you liked how I went about it. And thanks to Tald, too. I have a pretty good idea where this is going, but nothing's set in stone yet. Any suggestions and criticisms are welcome.

Veneficus Amicus

By Nu Rho

That evening, roughly 20 minutes after Harry had been swept away, the Dursleys--mainly Vernon Dursley--could be heard ranting about things along the lines of "when that boy gets back--" and "--a piece of my mind!!" It had taken Dudley nearly ten minutes to come out of the shock of the blonde boy's sudden appearance, and of course, then fact that said blonde boy had snatched Harry onto a brrom and flew away. Leave it to Dudley to run to his father wailing about the "tall, powerful wizard" who had threatened to end the fat boy's life if he didn't "unhand the Potter boy" so he could take him to go "do lots of magic." Petunia had gasped at the use of the 'm-word.' Now, miles away and high above in the storming sky, safe for the time-being from Vernon's furious raging, sat a stunned Harry Potter, perched awkwardly on the back of his nemesis's broom.

"Uhm... Malfoy..." Harry tried, finally finding his voice after running through the evening's rather sudden events several time in his head. "What... What about all my things? I mean, will I need them or are you going to bring me back..?" Harry couldn't deny it felt odd asking Malfoy, of all people, for anything, even just a little information. The only time they ever spoke, it involved shouting, insulting, and often times dueling.

"Don't worry about your things," the blonde answered. If he was as uncomfortable on has his passenger, he did an excellent job of hiding it. "I'll make sure someone picks it up for you."

The raven-haired boy nodded, a little uncertainly. "Alright.. And uhm, why.. You..?" He didn't mean to sound rude, but he really couldn't stop himself from asking.

Droco snorted. "I wish it wasn't me, as well, Potter." He paused as they dodged a dark cloud. The Slytherin had been trying very hard not to pass directly through any clouds in a feeble attempt to remain dry, which was much harder that it sounds because they skt that night was basically one giant rain cloud. It also didn't help that the setting sun made the darkening sky so dim that it would have been hard to tell clouds from flocks of Dementors.

Wait a minute... Draco glared hard into the haze ahead of them. He felt Harry's arm around his waist tighten almost painfully and the torso behind him stiffened. Draco gulped quietly and narrowed his eyes, whispering over his shoulder, "Silence, Potter... And try not to take any deep breaths." With that, they descended into one of the darker clouds and were immediately soaked through. The Slytherin shallowed his breathing as much as he dared, careful not to inhale any of the hovering liquid around them. He couldn't hear the boy behind him at all. It didn't even sound like was breathing.

"Potter?" He inquired in hushed tones, but froze when he suddenly felt like the blood in his veins would freeze and crack. Glancing up, he saw the dark shadows right above them, and his jaw clenched involuntarily.

Draco felt the body behind him shudder violently, then the weight of the other boy suddenly vanished. Draco glances down in time to see an unconscious-looking Harry disappear into the dark fog below him. Next, he was aware of the several black forms shooting past him, after the fallen boy. "Harry!" Draco tilted his broom down sharply and soon found himself racing the Dementors to the forest belo, rain suddenly coming down in torrents. He could barely see anything, let alone where Harry had fallen.

Harry was vaguely aware of the fact that he was falling. It would have been a nice feeling had he not been soaked, the rush of air freezing his bones. Oh, wait. That icy feeling in his center might be because of the Dementors. Oh, yes, he could see them now. They were swooping down after him. He recalled how much he hated Dementors. Oh well, at least he's hit the ground before they actually reached him. That's a plus. Ah, and there's Draco. Hah. Silly Slytherin, trying to reach him before the Dementors did. Or rather, before the ground did. He tried to yell something towards Draco... Something alone the lines of "Thanks, but forget it, just tell Ron and Hermione I said 'hi'," but it only came out as a whisper. Or rather a hiss. How odd. Harry would have shrugged if he hadn't felt so numb. He usually only hissed in the company of snakes. His last thought was that Draco should leave before the Dementors realized Harry was dead and went after the Slytherin instead.

Draco's point of view on the situation was a bit different. Basically, he'd managed to pull ahead of a few Dementors, but there were still two ahead of him. He had finally spotted Harry again and noted his eyes were open and looking at him. He saw Harry's lips form some sort of words, but all he could hear was the thunderous wind as it whipped past his ears. He pushed his broom as far as it would go, and while the Dementors and himself were catching up quickly, Harry was also falling directly for the tall branches just below him. The Slytherin gritted his teeth and pulled out his wand, racking his brain for any spell that might be helpful now, but before he could even recall a suitable one, something large, dark, and very long swept into his view and dived into the maze of branches below. Draco hadn't even time enough to make out what it was. His eyes searched frantically for his lodt target, but Harry was simply gone. He dived into the trees along-side the Dementors, and swerved around and between the branches, loosing the dark creatures somewhere in the jagged tree-limbs. The Slytherin nearly flew straight into threes a couple of times and he felt his heart hit his heels at the scarce probability that Harry, or anyone, would survive such a freefall into this forest. He searched anyway. Even if Harry was only a lifeless body, Dumbledore wouldn't appreciate Draco leaving him here. He sighed and slowed a little, scanning his eyes over the ground below.

"Damn it, Potter, where the Hell are you?"

- - - - -

Harry winced against the expected sunlight seeping into his eyes, but there came none. Sure, it was morning, that much was obvious as the sun was overhead and towards the east, and from his position, sprawled out on his back, Harry could see how the light filtered through the web of branches above him. He realized that the sun still shown as brightly as ever, but the bare, grey branches did much for shade, lessening the intensity of the morning luster. The ground surrounding the youth smelled like the earth does after a good down-pour and he vaguely remembered something about Dementors and falling. Harry groaned and sat up, trying to remember the previous night more clearly. Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, the Gryffindor glanced at his surroundings while subconsciously straightening his glasses. His gaze shifted back to the sky, barely visible through the nest of tangled branches as far as he could see in all directions. Wondering hoe he had gotten... wherever he was, Harry suddenly recalled Draco's presence and that led to his last memories at the Dursley's house at number four Privet Drive. Oh, yes... He remembered now. Only... why wasn't he dead? Surely, if the fall had not killed him, the Dementors would have. A silky voice emitting from somewhere to Harry's right pulled his out of his thoughts.

"Finally awake, I see. You've been sleeping nearly eleven hours, at least. Though, I suppose humans might actually sleep that long for all I know about them..."

Harry spun his head towards the voice and immediately regretted it. Pain shot through his skull as the headache set in. He winced slightly, eyelids determined to squeeze the paina way, but to no avail. Instead, he cautiously opened his eyes, doing his best to ignore the nagging ache residing behind his eyes. What he saw nearly made him jump out of his skin.

The young Gryffindor was instantly reminded of the basilisk from his second-year adventure and panic shot through his veins. Upon a second, longer glance, however, Harry realized that this creature looked nothing like the basilisk save for its snake-ness. The creature in front of him looked actually a bit more like a python with two twisted horns emitting gracefully from the back of it's narrow head. It was a deep grey-black color with yellow-orange stripes that Harry barely see unless the sun fell just the right way through the branches and reflected off the serpent's back. The curious eyes were bright, solid orange, vibrant and deep. There were no pupils, but the entire eyes seemed to get deep towards the middle, like a pool of liquid fire. The orange pools blinked at the Gryffindor, admittedly a bit unnerved by the boy's unceasing stare. Harry smiled when two flaps of thick, leathery skin on either side of the snake's body fluttered in an almost cute, curious manner and the creature's head tilted. Alright, Harry thought, not knowing what this creature was exactly, only that it wasn't quite a python. As far as size, the snake was quite large, its head about the size of a horse's and its long, sleek body visibly lithe and incredibly strong.

The snakes hissed something and Harry had to pull himself out of his observant reverie. "Sorry?" The hiss seeped easily from his lips and a chill ran down the boy's spine at the sound and vibration of his own voice. It had been a while since he spoke in Parstletounge and it was always a little odd to use it now.

The snake blinked again and the protrusions on either side of him lowered a little, finding a comfortable position, folded over his scales. He flicked his black, forked tongue towards Harry and blinked again. "I asked if you were alright." Harry noted that the hisses coming from this snake were deeper than his own, and they seemed to have a slight drawl to them, like an accent. Harry mused over the thought that different species of snake had different accents. When he noticed the slightly concerned expression the orange orbs held, he quickly nodded. "Oh, oh yes, sorry... I'm fine." He smiled to encourage his statement, even though now that the serpent mentioned it, Harry was feeling a little sore. He increasingly became aware of a few long bruises on his arms, but overall, he was fine.

Looking at the forest floor, littered with bramble and fallen twigs and branches, then up at the sky, bright spaces of blue between the dull, grey trees and the silhouettes of a few large birds. This forest looked very familiar but so different from any place he had ever been before, at the same time.

The serpent noticed that the boy, who's life he had saved the previous night, was taking in the forest slowly, trying to find a place for it in his mind. He knew that the young wizard had been somewhere quite the same as this place, but so very different in its own ways. He knew that the boy had actually been in parts of this forest, because he knew a lot of what this boy had done, and he knew who this boy was. Leathery wings fluttered again, and then disappeared into his back. If a snake could smirk, that's what this one was doing.

"Welcome to the Lost End of the Forbidden Forest, Harry Potter."

End Chapter the Second

A/N: Yaaay for spark snakes. They are one of my favorite creatures when it comes to the mythological. Hmm... Yes, anywhos, the next chapter will be up very soon and we'll be learning more about our friend the spark snake. Also, there will be fluff soon enough, it just bothers me a little when Harry and Draco go from "HATE!" to "I love you, kiss me!" in two paragraphs. So, don't be discouraged about that, it is on its way.