Discliamer: I don't own any thing you'll recognize!!
A/N: long time, I know, just don't kill me
Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy this chapter, I'll post some answers to questions which were asked in reviews later
Thanks to all those who reviewed this story.
Thanks to Knarm for betaing this chapter and doing a wonderful job at it.
Anna if you could send me your address back, I'd appreciate it, the latest virus my computer got erased all my previous addresses.
Now, on with the story
Naia
Chapter Seventeen
The class looked at him, some shocked, some clearly revulsed, others curious, a few intrigued, and several enthusiastic.
Valentia was eyeing him with a predatory gaze.
"You can speak to them?"
Wincing as he realized his mistake, Harry nodded slowly, the King Cobra still starring at him.
Valentia's face split in a wide smile
"Excellent!" She took his arm and dragged him to a hut.
"I put the Basilisk here," at this Harry did a double take, thinking he had misheard it.
"Sorry? A Basilik?"
Valentia turned to him with a great smile.
"Isn't it neat? They're fascinating…." She had a dreamy look on her face.
Fascinating was not the adjective Harry would have used to describe this creature: viscious, deadly were more fitting for him.
"But I put a sash over it's eyes, so it's not very dangerous any more…, anyway could you explain him the situation?"
Harry only gaped at her, she was telling him to talk to this beast as if it was the most natural thing to do.
Shaking his head he stepped near the hut.
A low hissing could be heard even from outside and Harry shuddered as he started to made out the Basilik's words.
Going near the great snake seemed less and less appealing… he didn't want to to be sliced into thin bits to be fed to worms, thank you very much.
"If you wish, I can go firssst…" hissed the Cobra, which, Harry realized had followed him.
"That would be much appreccciated, thankssss"
The cobra hissed his agreement and slithered inside. A few minutes later in went out.
"You are allowed to ssstep in, alone."
Harry repressed a shiver, he didn't want to enter alone, his last encounter with a Basilisk had been anything but friendly.
"What did he say?" asked Valentia, which looked ecstatic.
"I have to go in alone…" sighed Harry.
Valentia looked at him closely.
"Are you sure? I don't like the idea of leaving you in there."
Harry nodded.
Valentia kept on eyeing him closely for a few more seconds before tilting her head a bit.
"Alright, but as soon as he gets threatening, I want you to come out of there."
Harry agreed, his past encounter with a Basilisk didn't make him look forward to a new one.
He opened the door and stepped in, feeling the snake on his heels. The hut was bigger than the outside let out, and it was quite dark. He made out a huge form in the back.
"SSSSyarissss tellssss me you wish to sssspeak to me? Why? Do you want to make me ssssuffer more? Make me ssscream? Hurt me? Anssswer me foolish human."
Harry frowned.
"Why would I want to make you sssuffer?"
"Isssn't it what you race do to mine? Ssssslimy, ssslithering sssnakesss you call ussss… you hunt ussss and kill ussss, as I wasss caught and taken away…."
The creature moved in the light and Harry barely restrained himself from taking a few steps backwards. The Basilik was huge, with metalic deep dark green scales. It's yellow eyes were hidden by a sash. A collar and some chains were put around his neck.
"I ssssmell him… the human who caught me isss near…. Where isss he? I want to kill him, torture, murder!"
Harry shivered, these words where too close of those he had heard in his second year.
"Why? Sssshe will releassse you once her classssesss are over."
"Foolish boy, ssshe will kill me."
"No…"
"Sssshe will, sssshe'll kill me then cut me into pieccesss for the potionssss." The Basilik turned its head towards Harry.
"But not if I kill her firssst… sssshe dessserved to die, sssshe killed my babiesss"
Harry's eyes went wide.
"What?!"
"My babiesss, they musssst be dead…. It'ssss been a long time sssince ssssshe caught me."
Harry starred at her, then thought over this problem, finally, he looked up at the beast.
"If I releassse you, do I have your word, that you won't harm any humanssss and that you'll come back to let ussss ssstudy you?"
The Basilik lowered her head to his own.
"Little foolish wizard, if you do thissss and help me with my babiesss, you'll have my word on thosssse termssss, that'sss it, until the day I'll eat you."
Harry thought more about it, then took out his wand, muttering a charm he had learned while at Karkana, it was an ancient Egyptian spell which could open nearly every lock around.
The collar and chains fell on the floor with a clang.
"I will take off your blindfold, do remember your promissse."
With a flick and switch of his wand, the sash was banished, to be sure Harry closed his eyes.
"You can open your eyesss, wizard, mine are closssed." The hissing voice said.
Cautiously, he peered through his eyelids. The Basilik was standing near him.
"Wizard, you'll have to come with me, my nessst issn't too far from thissss placcce."
"Yessss, I'll warn my teacher about our agreeement"
The Basilik nodded.
Harry stepped out of the hut, blinking at the sun.
Valentia nearly jumped on him.
"Well?"
"It's a female, you took her from her nest and her babies, I freed her and have to go with her to check on her babies. You might want to stay away from her as she is quite cross about you catching her."
Harry said it quickly, without taking a breath. Before Valentia could process what he had just said, he was walking towards the forest and a huge snake-like creature came out of the hut, following him, drawing panicked screams from the student near her.
The Basilisk had his, no, her eyes closed and caught up quickly with the new boy. She grabbed him with her tail and placed him on her neck, just behind her head before slithering quickly in the forest.
Finally Harry's words sunk and Valentia felt panick rise in her.
"Wai-…" she realized that the boy was no longer here and that she had a panicked class to deal with.
As she herded her students, trying to calm them, she noticed something else. The Cobra was still free…
She sighed.
Godric isn't going to like this….
Valentia cringed at the thought, the man had been quite insistant on the fact that no harm was to befall the boy… perhaps sending him alone to face a full-grown Basilisk hadn't been a good idea…
XOOXOOXOOXOOXOOXOOXOOXOOXOOX
"YOU WHAT?" Godric's scream was heard thorough the castle and the children wisely went back to their common room. It was common knowledge that when angered, Sir Godric, really earned his name of Griffindor.
All the teachers were gathered in the room, trying to stay clear of the founder.
Most of them were looking warily at the raging man, except Salazar, Helga and Rowena.
"How could you even think about leaving a fifteen-year-old boy alone with an adult Basilisk! How could…!"
The founder was pacing in the room, his face flushed in anger.
"But Godric, he is a Parselmouth! I thought he would be safe!"
At this Salazar's head shot up and Godric stopped halfway through his rant to look closely at her.
"He's what?"
Valentia frowned at him.
"He's a Parselmouth? Didn't you know that?"
The woman was puzzled. It wasn't the first time that Godric brought a protégé in Hogwarts. Every time they had been told to protect them, even if in the case of the last one, four years ago, they would have preferred to lock the young man in a room and lose the key; he had stormed through the castle, turning it upside down during his month-long stay. She had forgotten his name, but his face would stay printed in her mind. Harold looked a bit like him, coming to think of it, all of the young men and women who had been brought in had shared some features. This one had been younger than the others, and intriguing to say the least. But what puzzled her was the sheer protectiveness of Godric towards those youths, even the other founders helped Griffindor's founder in his task of taking care of them. It should mean that he knew them, so why the surprise at learning the boy was a snake-speaker? Hadn't he known?
Godric was blinking furiously.
"Harold? Parselmouth?"
Salazar seemed now deep in thought. The others present, were whispering or going over this piece of information.
Valentia turned to the thoughtful man.
"Sir Salazar, does Harold know the limitations about this ability?"
Salazar looked at her piercingly.
"I didn't know about it, I thought it was obvious."
Valentia wasn't fazed by the sharp tone, Salazar wasn't known for his social skills.
"You'll have to tell him about it, we do not want a repeat of the past."
Salazar nodded, but a calculating light had entered his eyes as he leaned in his seat.
"For once, your charge seems worthy of something Godric, though I thought I'd never see the day I'd say that…"
Godric had paled and a dark flush was making its way on his face. He tightened his fist.
"I'll get to the bottom of this!"
Rowena decided to speak up before thigs got out of hand.
"To do that, Godric, you'd have to speak to Harold who is currently missing," she pointed out.
Salazar stood up.
"I'm going to ask the snakes," he said, then turned to Valentia, "Valentia, if you ever need a Snake-like creature, ask me to provide you with some… it'll prevent any repeat of this event…," he sneered
Valentia looked down, she knew she should have gone to him to find a Basilik, but she didn't want to have to put up with his arrogance and sarcastic comments.
Helga coughed slightly.
"Well, half of us are going to search the Forest, the other half will stay here to guard the castle, the rest of the classes will be cancelled for the day."
The others nodded and soon, everyone was assigned a task.
Dusk came and the boy hadn't be found. They call out the search for the night. Salazar hadn't been able to learn a lot from the snakes, the boy was in the forest and unharmed, well they said he was. He couldn't manage to get them to tell him where the boy was.
As he reported it to the other founders, he tried to think of a reason.
"Well," he finally said, "my best guess is that they have been forbidden to tell me his location."
Godric slammed his fist on the table; they were the only ones in the room currently and were able to speak freely.
"By the way, Godric, how come one of your spawns inherited my gift," said Salazar.
Godric gritted his teeth.
"I don't know, but I intend to find out."
"That would explain why this kid is at least half brained…" smirked Salazar.
The two women rolled their eyes at them.
"Really, Salazar…" sighed Helga.
"Lovely as your discussion might be, we need to find him, alive," interrupted Rowena.
"Can't we trace his location?" asked the Gryffindor's founder.
Rowena shot him an exasperated look.
"As if it wasn't the first thing we tried," she retorted, rolling her eyes.
Helga sighed and stood up.
"We should go and rest a bit, talking more won't help," she sighed, straightening her robes before walking out. Godric slumped in his chair. Salazar quietly exited the room after a last pensive glance at his co founder. Godric was startled as a hand fell on his shoulder.
"Don't beat yourself about it, Godric, young Harold has proven to be quite resourceful during the past week , I'm sure he's fine."
"I don't know Rowena, it's a Basilisk for God's sake! No offense to Salazar, but I don't trust snakes, least of all snakes which can kill you with a glance."
"Wearing yourself out with worry won't help..."
"I'm responsible of him, if he was to be killed, the consequences would be dire."
"Go to sleep, we'll resume the searches tomorrow."
Nodding Godric stood up and left, the Ravenclaw lady behind him. None of them had seen Merlin for the whole day and they weren't complaining, they didn't want to deal with the spirit with Harold already missing.
The next day, were taught by half of the teachers while the other half resumed the search of the forest, changing roles at noon. But as the night came, the boy wasn't found. By this time, most of the adults had started to lose hope of finding the young dark-haired wizard alive, and the students were trying to guess in which state he would be found, if found at all.
As the third day started, half of the adults made their way out, unlocking the doors. The King Cobra being still on the loose, they had blocked them to prevent anything from entering. Suddenly they spotted a dark shape leaning on the stairs.
Hope swelled in their chest as they nearly ran to the form.
Godric nearly fell down with relief as he recognised his young charge, looking quite unharmed. The boy was breathing from the moves of the chest, and growling… Growling?
Immediately he took a step back. The teen was cuddling with a large wolf, male from the looks. The amber eyes were staring at them with mistrust and the growl was enough to make them understand the message: "don't come any closer.
Godric took out his staff, ready to banish the beast from the boy before it could harm him.
Rowena stopped him as the growl deepened and the wolf barred his teeth at the man.
"Godric, I don't think, the wolf is about to hurt him, he seemed to guard the boy…"
The Gryffindor paused and nodded, but remained tense.
The adults were at a loss about what to do to get the boy away when said one started to stir, the growling stopped as the wolf reported his attention on the teen, nudging him with his nose.
"Uh? What? Cereus?" He blinked a few times, focusing on the adults. "They're friends, Cereus."
The wolf glanced at them with distrust but stood up, nudging the teen up.
Godric took the animal's height. The beast's back reached the middle of Rowena's tigh, the body was muscled with several scars on the flanks. The fur was the common color for a wolf, a bit darker though. The amber eyes were looking around, intelligence shining in them, the teeth and claws looked quite sharp from his point of view and he wasn't about to go and check. As Harry stood up, stumbling a bit, the wolf walked and placed himself at the teen's side, never taking his eyes off the adults.
Godric looked at his charge: he looked tired, well; exhausted came closer to reality. There were a few bruises and cuts on his body, his clothes were torn and he was quite dirty, but nothing unexpected after two days days in the forest.
Harold tilted his head at him tiredly, but before he could say anything, Rowena had spoken up.
"Harold?"
"Yes Lady?" he answered, exhaustion seeping in his tone.
"Come on, we'll talk later," she motionned to him to follow her inside.
"Hmm… Lady?" She looked at him.
"Could Cereus come in too?" he said pointing to the wolf.
Rowena sent him a sharp look.
"If you can guaranty that he won't harm anyone, he will be able to, but we'll have to find other arrangements for him later."
Harry nodded before glancing at the animal.
Minutes later, they were in the castle, the animal shadowing Harry. The teachers parted, relieved to know the boy was safe and not willing to be present when Godric would unleash his famous temper on the teen.
Rowena and Godric led him to his room. Once the door was closed, Godric turned towards Harry, his mouth open, ready to berate the boy, but Rowena beat him to it.
"Go to sleep Harold, we'll talk when you'll wake up," the 'and you better explain everything' was nearly audible.
Godric snapped his mouth shut, gaping at the Lady near him.
"Rowena, But …. He…."
"He is tired for now, and yelling won't do any good if he is half asleep."
Glancing at his descendant, Godric realized that the boy was indeed dead on his feet.
"I supposed you're right, but he's going to regret this stunt tomorrow"
Harry was blinking at them sleepily. He stumbled towards the couch and fell asleep as soon as he felt himself laying on it, missing his ancestor's words. The wolf jumped on the bed and laid at his feet.
Rowena transfigured his tunic and pants into nightclothes and levitated him to his bed. That done, the two adults left, already planning the talk to come.
XOOXOOXOOXOOXOOXOOXOOXOOXOOX
Harry woke up. For a few seconds he nearly panicked. Managing to calm his heart, he was reassured to feel Cereus fur next to him, heat radiating from the body. Events of the past few days came back to his mind…
Flashback:
The Basilisk had been slithering through the forest, Harry clutched on her neck, trying to dodge the tree branches on the way.
"Hold on, little wizard, I'm going to ssspeed up a bit," she hissed.
"I will, thanksss for the warning, but what'sssss your name?"
The Basilik stopped abruptly, nearly making Harry fall from his perch.
"True Namesss hold a lot of power, little wizard, you didn't earn the right to learn mine, assss I didn't earn the right to know yoursssss."
"But SSSSyarissss told me hissss"
"SSSyarisss issssn't magical, thissss doesssn't apply to him."
Harry only nodded and tighetend his grip on the scales as the Basilik resumed her progression through the forest at a quicker pace now.
Harry was growing more and more nervous as they went deeper and deeper into the forest, shadows embracing them, muffling the sounds. He could however see some dark shapes moving, see a pair of eyes, or hear small noises. All of this was making him incredibly jumpy. He really didn't want to find some Acromantulas, even if Hagrid seemed to have been the one to introduce them in the Forest.
Harry was getting colder and colder, the trees were blocking most of the sun and the wind created by the Basilisk's speed was enhancing it.
Drawing a bit on his fire element, he heated himself, stopping the shivers running through his body.
Finally the Giant Serpent stopped.
Blinking as his eyes got used to the darkness around, he made out a snake's nest: small black forms with green reflects were lying in it.
The Basilisk lowered its head, letting Harry get off before rushing to her nest.
Harry shivered again, not because of the cold, but because of the creepy feeling this place was giving him.
"Wizard, come, my babiessss need help!"
Startled out of his musings, he walked cautiously to the nest. Four little Basiliks were lying in it.
"Will their gaze hurt me?"
The Giant snake shook its head
"No, their powerssss haven't ssstarted to appear"
Reassured on that point, Harry started to check the reptiles.
Sadly two of them were dead, well, one was dead and the other was beyond everything he could do. The two others though, he could save them; Odyeus had taught him basic healing and during his stay at Karkana, Amber had showed him ways to use his elemental abilities for healing.
"I will only be able to help them back to bassssic health, they'll need time, food and resssst to be back to normal."
"SSSSave them and leave the ressst to me, wizard…"
Harry nodded, it took him ten minutes, then the two young surviving Basilisks were moving slightly, hissing for their mother. Fortunately they hadn't been harmed; they were just weak from lack of food, cold. Apparently the Basiliks erected a strange type of ward around their nest which had kept most of the beast away, except the small bugs which had been bothering and hurting them.
Immediately the Giant snake started to tend to them, soft hissing echoing around.
"You keep you promissse, wizard, I will hold my wordsssss, once my children will have grown."
Harry bowed.
"Thankssss"
The Basilik nodded
"You'll have to sssspend the night here, young wizard… The Foressst issss not ssssafe at night, even for usssss, sssssnakessssss. Don't worry, my wardssss will keep them at bay."
Reassured Harry tried to find a place where he would be able to sleep. Giving up on that, he used his earth element to make a comfortable patch of moss. Taking off his cloak, he spread it on the moss, laying on it. He heated his body a little more, thanks to his fire abilities. He let himself fell asleep…. And nearly had a heart attack as he felt something crawling up his leg, waking him in the process.
"Don't move, foolish wizard, my child won't hurt you…" the hissing was the only thing which prevented him from blasted the baby Basilik away.
He got up, wincing a bit as his back muscles ached a bit, after making sure the young reptile was away. His stomach growled.
"You can eat the red berries, wizard, they're not poisonous to your kind," informed the Giant Snake
Harry eyed the red fruits suspiciously. They looked edible. Taking a few in his hand, he smelt them, sensing nothing wrong. He took a small bit in his mouth, tasting it carefully, ready to spit it.
As nothing happened, he decided to eat them.
Ten minutes later he had eaten enough of them to satisfy his hunger.
"How are your children?" he hissed, looking at the two small reptiles.
"They are fine, wizard."
Harry nodded, reassured. Feeling a bit ditzy, he leaned on a tree. After a few seconds, he felt a bit better.
"Are you alright, wizard?" The Basilik was close to him.
"Yessss, jussst a bit lightheaded…" hissed back the young man.
The great snake said nothing.
"If you want to wash a bit, there isssss a ssstream near, the water issss good."
Feeling his throat dry, Harry couldn't help but head towards the direction the Basilik was pointing at with her tail.
"Thankssss"
He found the stream easily and splashed water on his face, to erase the last trace of sleep in him. Cupping his hands he drank a bit, feeling strange but dismissing it as nothing happened. Seeing a small bird on a tree, he decided to try his beast-speaking abilities, to see if his stay with Sizrian had paid off.
§How are you?§
The bird stopped chirpping and nearly fell over.
§Youcanspeakyou'reabeast-speakerhowcanyouspeaktomewhoareyouwhyareyouhere?§
Harry gaped at the small bird
§Sorry didn't catch all all of that§
His beast speaking abilities were quite basic for now and the hyperactive bird's speech had made his head spin.
The little bird flew to him and hovered in front of his head.
That got his attention. From what little knowledge he had of birds, only hummingbird had the ability to hover. So either this bird had disappeared in the later year or it was a magical creature he didn't know of yet. Personally he was in favor of solution two.
§ Who are you and what are you doing in our Forest?§
This time the bird had spoken more slowly, but there was a suspicious underlying tone in his chirping.
Harry was a bit taken aback.
§ I, the great snake brought me. Need heal Babies§ He cringed, he'd have to work on this, he couldn't keep on speaking like this.
The bird stared at him. Harry took in his golden feathers; he was looking a bit like a snitch… As this thought came to his mind, he wanted to smack himself. This bird would be used as snitch in the early years of Quidditch…
§ Well… if she let you in… But you can't stay, you're not part of the Forest!§
Harry raised an eyebrow. What did the bird mean?
§ I leave soon…§
The bird looked relieved.
§ Good, thanks for helping, but you can't stay here too long… You're not part of the Forest §
Harry shrugged, this bird was quite obsessive but it wasn't like he was planning on camping here…
§ It was good to meet you, § he said, straightening his clothes and about to go back to the Nest then to the castle.
§ Go, wizard, §
The little bird disappeared in a flash, like the little golden ball that Harry was fond of.
He took several steps towards the Basilik place, then suddenly stopped and doubled over.
The pain was excruciating. A tongue of fire was tearing him from inside and spreading through his body. A knife of pain was cutting through him, he felt quartered and the pain was becoming too much to handle. He fell on his knees, trying to catch his breath as waves of pain hit him, growing in intensity.
He tried to stand up only to fall, this time on his back. He curled, trying, to no avail to escape the pain. The world was swirling through his tearful eyes.
What was happening to him? His body seemed to be tugged at in two opposite directions, by two forces which were trying to annihilate each other.
A new wave assaulted him and this time his vision blacked out for a few seconds.
He knew he was loosing the fight and soon felt himself fall into blessed unconsciousness. His last memory was of two amber eyes staring at him.
XOOXOOXOOXOOXOOXOOXOOXOOXOOX
He came back to the land of the living feeling hot and with a killer headache. The constant pounding in his temple was not improved by the two heated voices next to him.
§ How could you do this? § growled one
"I needed his help, he volunteered!" this one was more of a hiss
§ That don't work on me, snake. You knew of what he is, you knew what would happen should he heal while being in the Forest! §
"It would have happened sooner or later!"
§ NOT LIKE THIS! It nearly killed him! §
Harry chose this moment to open his eyes, immediately regretting it, the blazing light had not helped his pain. Why was it so hot?
He groaned, What was happening to him damn it?! The feeling of being torn from inside was still there, dimmed but still there.
He opened his eyes slightly and tried to sit up, something, which proved to be quite a bad idea. He groaned again, loudly this time.
"Shut up you mutt, he's waking up." The hissing voice was definitively annoyed.
Immediately he felt something warm and fuzzy nuding at his face. Groggily, he turned to face it and nearly had an heart attack upon seeing amber wolfish eyes a few centimeters away from his face.
The pain had subsided a bit, leaving a dull throbbing throughout this whole body, he tried to get up, only to wince as a fresh wave of pain coursed through his body.
§ Don't move, your Magic isn't grounded…§
At this Harry grew extremely confused: Magic? Grounded? He sat up abruptly, grimacing as the painfult jolt in his head.
§ What?! §
The wolf took a few steps backwards.
§ All will come in due time, all will be explained soon. But now, I need you to trust me so I can ground your powers enough for you to return to the Castle. §
Harry was too dazed to think carefully about it. He simply nodded, looking at the wolf carefully. He had seen this wolf before, or a wolf similar to this one.
He felt a small tugging in his mind, something cracking and then the pain disappeared.
Shaking his head slightly, he was relieved to feel no pain.
§ Thank you… §
§ Cereus is my name, Harry §
§ How do you know my name? § Harry was bewildered at this.
§ Don't you remember, a few months for you but many centuries for our pack. §
Wolves… Arrow! The alpha male of the wolves' pack that had helped them during their test back in Odyeus' time.
§ Arrow? §
The wolf looked at him, with something akin to amusement in his eyes.
§ No, even our race can't live that long, but I'm his descendant, and through the times we were told to watch out for you, for the time you'll come back and be ready §
§ For what? §
§The Great One will explain… Now, listen carefully. You mustn't do magic until we've seen Him, it's important. The grounding our bond provided won't be able to hold your powers in check if you do. §
Harry frowned.
§ Bond? §
The wolf stared in his eyes.
§ From now on and till your death, I'm bound to you, to your power, Familiar to Healer, Healer to familiar. §
Harry shook his head
§ I don't understand § his mind was blurry, how could he be that tired if he had been unconscious the whole time… § why did you bond with me? Why me? And why can I speak to you that easily, my beast speaking abilities aren't that honed. §
§ When I grounded your powers, I stabilized your abilities, and as to why you? My ancestor had known from the start you'd bond with our pack, why do you think he agreed to help? You're one of us. §
Harry shook his head again, he was lost, this was too much to digest.
§ Are you magical? §
The wolf seemed amused.
§ Not really, but when our pack arrived here and decided to stay here, we were slowly transformed by the Magic here… But you need to go back to the castle §
"I will bring you there, little wizard…. Asssss a thank you for your help. I will follow the termssss of our agreement and once my babiesss are old enough, I'll come back to the casssstle for one classssss."
"Thanksssss" hissed Harry, a bit drowsy.
"No need, now," she suddenly ensnared him with her tail and placed him behind her head. "Hold on tightly, you sssssssstayed unconssssssscioussssss a long time and the night hassss come…"
Indeed, The Forest was getting darker and darker, but Harry had barely the time to register what had happened before the Basilisk started to head towards the border of the Forest, the Wolf, Cereus, was running alongside them.
They reached the doors of the school moments later, the Basilik lowered her head, allowing Harry to climb down.
"We will meet again, young wizard, and I look forward our next encounter."
Harry nodded, still slightly dazed.
The Giant snake slithered away and melted into the shadows, her presence only revealed by the shine of her scales.
Harry approached the door, but to his dismay they were locked and nothing he did managed to open them.
"Looks like we'll have to sleep here, Cereus"
The young wizard sat at the end of the stairs, his back to a pillar, leaning on it.
§ Sleep, I'll watch over you. §
Harry smiled tiredly at the animal and shuddered, the chill of the night creeping in his body. Sliding to the ground, he curled on the ground, tightening his robes around him to stop the cold, with little results. Shivering he was then startled when a warm body curled around him.
§ Sleep, I'll stay here. §
"Thanks…Cer'us" said the sleepy teen before falling into Morpheus' arms.
The wolf settled around the young man protecting him from the cold.
§ Sleep, cub…§
He was woken up by a growling sound and voices.
He yawned still feeling completely drained, something which was worrying him.
§You need to wake up, cub, there are two-legs adults here…§
It took a few seconds for Harry to register what the wolf had said.
With a slight nudge from Cereus he was up and standing, the predator next to him.
He followed the adults inside; too exhausted to care about the dressing down he was sure to get for his actions.
Fortunately, his exhaustion must have showed as Lady Ravenclaw restrained his ancestor. He slumped on the soft mattress of his bed, sensing Cereus settled on his feet and fell fast asleep, hoping to be in better shape when he would wake.
XOOXOOXOOXOOXOOXOOXOOXOOXOOX
Hope you liked it
Thanks again to all of you who reviewed!
Naia