A/N: - I know the snake doesn't have much in this chapter but it will return at a later date - I promise you that! You just don't know who it is yet! Enjoy, and review please!

8 – Parseltongue

The snake let out another prolonged and angry hiss as it slithered onto the bed, ready to bear down on Harry. Harry fumbled around for his wand but the snake beat him to it. It snatched up the wand in its mouth and swallowed it whole. It turned, and without a second glance at Harry, it left. Harry stared after it in disbelief. Why didn't the snake kill him when it had the chance? He slipped silently out of bed and crept down the stairs and into the common room. He could see the snake leaving through the portrait hole. The Fat Lady had hidden from it in a nearby picture, the incident with Sirius in Harry's third year had rather unnerved her and any Dark Creature just had to rear its ugly head at her and she would make a run for it.

Harry left the Gryffindor tower and followed the snake as it began its journey down to the dungeons. The snake entered the dungeon, obviously expecting it to be empty, but was promptly blasted by Snape with the other members of the Order looking on.

"What are you doing?! That snake had my wand!" Harry gasped.

"I know, Potter. I have conveniently managed to destroy the snake without destroying your wand. It may need cleaning though." Snape said briskly and, sure enough, Harry's wand was on the floor and covered in a thick brown substance that reminded him of tar. It was the snake's blood. Harry picked it up and wiped it on his robes. He moved his eyes around the room and saw the rest of the Order. They were having a meeting and judging by the looks on their faces they had been talking about him. Dumbledore rose and spoke to the gathered witches and wizard. Harry also noticed that the members who had been in St. Mungo's had recovered and were all seated in a circle and were smiling at him. The one person that he couldn't see was Lupin. He looked at Dumbledore who inclined his head to the small window. Though the window was barely large enough to let a single ray of sunlight through, a glimmer of moonlight could be seen. Of course. How could Harry have been so dense? It was the full moon again tonight. Lupin would probably be curled up in his office under the effects of the Wolfsbane potion. As if to confirm this, Snape said,

"Who's going to be updating Lupin on this meeting?"

"Are you volunteering, Severus?" Dumbledore inquired.

"Certainly not! I did it last time and I'd rather not go too near him after the full moon. He will most probably be wallowing in self-pity right about now!"

"Well, in any case, you have been volunteered, Severus."

"Very well, but I will not keep informing him of goings on…next time someone else will be doing it!" Snape snorted as he headed out of the doorway.

Harry had been sent out of the meeting after that. They were discussing private business. He felt cheated. He thought he deserved to listen in on the meetings as it was him they were talking about and Voldemort had everything to do with him. He lost track of time and found himself outside the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom. He frowned, a dark crease forming between his eyes. He shook his head and made his way back to his dorm. He felt confused. He didn't know where Voldemort was or what his next move would be. He didn't know what to expect. He was scared for his friends; for Ron, Hermione and Neville. All the Gryffindors were in danger; the whole school was in danger and it was his entire fault. He wished he had never been born. He wished the Dursleys had stopped him going to Hogwarts, and then he would never have discovered that he was magical. He wished Voldemort had successfully killed him in one of his attempts in the past five years. If he had never been to Hogwarts then Sirius wouldn't have died, Ron and Hermione would never have been put in danger.

He was haunted, that night, by everything that had happened in the past year. He re-lived the moment when Sirius fell behind the veil in the Department of Mysteries at the Ministry of Magic. He re-lived Cedric's death and the revival of the Dark Lord. He re-lived the night in the Shrieking Shack. He re-lived the sequence in the Chamber of Secrets and also the battle against Quirrell. Once again, he ended with the deaths of his parents. He awoke in shock and decided against telling Ron and Hermione this time. He would leave it. He was just upset and worried. The dreams would leave him when he calmed down…………he hoped. He couldn't be sure of anything anymore. One thing he was certain of was that if there was even one more attack on someone at Hogwarts, unless it was a Slytherin, he would leave. He didn't know where he would go; just that it would be the right thing to do. He could no longer withstand risking his friends, fellow students, and even staff. Their lives were at stake and Harry had to do something. If Hogwarts was attacked, then they would be finished. They wouldn't have a chance. It was all up to Harry. He made his choice. He would leave Hogwarts and he would leave that very night.

He reached underneath his bed and clasped the handle of his trunk. He pulled it out and hastily threw a few belongings into it before covering himself with the Invisibility Cloak and making his way out of the Gryffindor tower. He stared to walk among the twisting corridors of the great castle and heaved open the great door in the entrance hall.

As he struggled across the sodden lawn and out of the grounds, he looked back one last time at the school he had lived in for the past five years. The one escape he had from Privet Drive, where his friends were, the only family he had known for so long, he was having second thoughts. He couldn't leave Hogwarts. He could never leave his home; could he?

He shook himself from his daze and turned back towards the path before him. Where would he go? Perhaps to Hogsmeade and the Hogs Head. Yes, that's where he was going. In the Hogs Head no-one could possibly get to him. He stopped and looked back at the castle. Maybe he should wait a little longer…yes; he would wait for a while longer. There would be no sense in leaving until he had sorted the problems inside his head. Leaving Hogwarts would only give him more problems to worry about. He would stay a while longer. Sighing deeply, he sloped back to the castle and up to his dorm, unpacking silently so that no-one would know of what he almost did. But, even as he fell asleep, he knew something wasn't right.

Next morning, Harry awoke to the shrill cry of a woman. He got up and raced downstairs to the common room. No-one else was awake so he peeked out of the portrait hole. The Fat Lady was the one shrieking at the sight of several puddles of blood on the floor. She saw Harry and pointed desperately at the floor before passing out in her painting. Harry's eyes widened and he ran to Dumbledore's office.

Pushing through the crowds, Harry picked out Lupin. His eyes were bloodshot and had dark rings under them. Harry, for the first time since getting up, glanced at his watch: 5:07am! Lupin must've only just transformed back into a human when he was called to the office. Harry hesitated slightly before taking a seat opposite the pale-faced werewolf.

"What's going on?"

"I can't tell you, Harry. That's for Dumbledore to do; not me."

"Potter! Get back to your dormitory immediately!" McGonagall's voice pierced the hubbub. Harry was thrown out at once and had to wait until the feast, restlessly, to find out exactly what was going on.

He reached the Great hall and took his usual seat at the table. He glanced up and down the staff table: at Dumbledore sitting silently with his hands clasped in front of him, at Snape looking particularly edgy, noting the absence of Lupin, and at McGonagall dabbing at her face with a handkerchief.

"Students," Dumbledore stood, addressing them solemnly, "It grieves me to say this but you must know for the sake of everyone's safety. In the early hours of this morning, two Gryffindors and a Ravenclaw were brutally murdered. If you wish to talk to anyone about this then any of our Professors will be happy to help. I would also like to bring to your attention that anyone who was timetabled to have Defence Against the Dark Arts in periods one and two this morning will be having an extra potions lesson instead."

"Why isn't Lupin here?" Hermione hissed to Harry.

"All the teachers were called to Dumbledore's office early this morning so he wouldn't have been human for very long. He looked awful when I saw him in Dumbledore's office…" he trailed off before adding miserably, "…before I was caught and thrown out."

"Ha, serves you right," grinned Ron, punching Harry lightly on the shoulder. Harry was about to say something in return but the doors of the Hall burst open and Lupin, dishevelled and fearful, stood in the entrance.

"Professor Dumbledore," he gasped, making his way hurriedly up to the staff table, "get the students out – now!"

The hall wqas thrown into chaos and students were hurried out onto the grounds. Once all the students were safe, Dumbledore accompanied Lupin to the Defence classroom. Lupin had a lot of explaining to do.

"There are Death Eaters in the school. They're here to kill Harry and whoever else gets in their way. We have to find them."

"But we also have to keep them from escaping."

"I know, but we need to find them first," Lupin was unusually panicky.

"But how did you fin out----"

There was a loud explosion and the Dark Mark appeared above Hogwarts and all the windows shattered, shaking the school. The teachers had to find the source of the madness before the school was destroyed. Lupin and Dumbledore split up, as did the other teachers, and the hunt began. Lupin reached the dungeon and found Hagrid bound and gagged with Lucius Malfoy sneering at him. He waved his wand casually and Lupin was thrown into a tray of beakers which smashed on impact. So, thought Lupin, you want a duel? Then a duel's what you'll get – we'll fight to the death if needs be!

A/N: - Lupin's moment of glory. There's a sad chapter coming up next so be warned – it's a nasty memory revisited for the Order as they go to----- wait, I'm not giving anything away!