Title: Harry Potter and the Queen of Serpents
Author: Sinayah
Distribution: Just Ask
Rating: PG for now but will move up to R in later chapters.
Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns everything except the plot and the original characters, creatures, etc.
Authors Note: As always, I want to thank my partner in crime Zenura Ravenscar. Without her support I would've never had the courage to write a single sentence. I'd also like to thank the dedicated fans who gave me so many wonderful reviews for my other fics. I hope you enjoy this as much as the others.
Chapter 13
After saying a quick goodbye to Hermione in the common room, Harry left the tower and walked down the corridor to the great staircase. He made his way down to the second floor, passing a few Ravenclaws on the way. After receiving a warning from Terry Boot, one of the Ravenclaw prefects, to be back in his dorm by curfew at nine-thirty, he decided it would be best to don the invisibility cloak and thereby avoid anyone who might be lingering near Myrtles' bathroom, well besides Malfoy anyway.
A few minutes later, he turned a corner and saw the silvery blond Slytherin leaning nonchalantly against the wall a few feet from the door to the bathroom. Seeing no one around, Harry slid the cloak off as he approached his rival. "Hey Malfoy, get here early? Let's get out of the hall before anyone sees us together. Here, put this on and follow me in. Stay quiet though, I'm gonna have to talk to Myrtle for a few minutes before I can con her into leaving." He said casually, holding his precious cloak out to the other boy.
"You…your head…Shrieking Shack. Bloody hell, where'd you get an invisibility cloak? No, don't tell me now. Wait till we're inside, I really don't need to get caught talking to you without hexes or at least insults being exchanged." Draco replied, forcing himself to get over the shock of realizing how the Gryffindor managed to break so many rules without getting caught.
Harry chuckled over his rivals' amazement and watched him disappear under the cloak. The raven-haired boy led the way as they walked up to the door and opened it. He held it open a moment before going in, feeling the Slytherin brush against him as the blond preceded him. As soon as the heavy door closed behind him, Harry saw Myrtle poke her head through the door of her toilet stall. "Hey Myrtle, how've you been?" He asked, forcing the pleasant greeting when he really wanted to groan. He'd hoped the ghost might be down in the lake or spying in the prefects' bathroom rather than moping around her toilet.
The ghost of the chubby Hufflepuff girl came out of her stall and smiled at the bespectacled boy. "Hi Harry." She giggled shyly. "I've been okay I guess, I'm dead after all, I don't change. How are you?"
The Gryffindor attempted a charming smile. "I'm good, thanks for asking. And thanks for your help last year by the way, I never got a chance to come see you afterwards with everything going on." He replied, trying to think of a way to get the ghost out of her bathroom in a hurry.
Myrtle ducked her head and hid her face behind her oily looking pigtails, giggling again in an annoyingly high pitched voice. "You came all the way down here just to thank me? That's so nice Harry, I never get any company in here. No one wants to talk to poor dead Myrtle." She pouted a bit after making the last comment.
"Umm, yeah that's the main reason I came down. There's another reason as well, but I don't think I should be asking you for another favor after all you did for me last year." Harry replied, turning his most intense puppy eyes on the ghost and adding what he hoped was a shy smile to complete the effect.
It seemed to work as the chubby ghost cooed at him and said, "Go ahead Harry, I don't mind doing things for you. You're the nicest person I've met in fifty years."
The raven-haired teen ducked his head and peered up at her while rubbing the back of his neck. "Well, umm, things have been kinda rough since what happened at the end of last year. My friends, you remember Ron and Hermione? They're being really smothering, won't leave me alone. I don't suppose you'd mind wandering down to the lake or up to the prefects' bathroom for a while? I really need some quiet time to myself so I can think, maybe relax a little."
His shy, pleading look and whining speech caused a lot more cooing over him from Myrtle and Harry swore he heard Malfoy trying to stifle his laughter. "Oh, poor Harry! I never did like those friends of yours. They're so mean, not letting you have some time to yourself. Of course I'll let you use my bathroom to be alone. No one ever comes in here, so you won't be interrupted. I'll go down and see what the merpeople are doing. I think I've finally got the hang of their language now. Come back whenever you like Harry." She said and waved goodbye before she swooped back through her stall door and down the pipes.
The emerald-eyed boy approached the stall and cautiously pushed open the door. Seeing that Myrtle had indeed gone down the pipes, he flushed the toilet to ensure her speedy travel and let out a deeply relieved sigh. "Oh thank Merlin! If I'd had to do that for much longer I might have run screaming. Be warned Malfoy, Myrtle is the biggest pervert in this castle. She likes to spy on you prefects while you're bathing so I suggest checking for her in the pipes before you undress in the bathroom."
"I'll take that suggestion Potter. No bloody way am I going to put on a show for that pig ugly ghost. I was caught between laughing and puking the whole time you were talking to her. I'm surprised even she fell for that load of dragon dung you were giving her. Never try for a career as an actor, you truly suck at it." Draco replied, sliding the invisibility cloak off and draping it over his arm.
Harry shrugged, coming out of the stall and hopping up to sit on one of the sinks, specifically the one that covered the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets. "Well Malfoy, you wanted to meet with me privately, and I'm here. If you need more assurance of privacy feel free to put locking and silencing charms on the door, but trust me no ones gonna come in."
Feeling paranoid after what he'd been told by Professor Vanimaer, not to mention severely nervous about talking to Harry Potter about his problems, Draco drew his wand and cast the charms to ensure their privacy. He turned toward the Gryffindor and offered his wand, handle out, since he'd made the offer earlier. Harry waved off the gesture, "Forget it Malfoy, I don't think you're going to try and hex me. It wouldn't fit with those damned confusing looks you've been aiming at me lately. Just pull up a sink, floor, wall or hell even a toilet and start spilling your guts."
The blond shook his head and smirked a little. "Way to help me relax Potter. Pull up a toilet indeed. Merlin, if only I were the type to spill my guts, it might make this easier. Do me a favor Potter, tell me why you chose this place of all the spots we could've met in this castle, give me a minute to collect my thoughts."
Deciding to oblige the other boy, Harry answered, "That's easy Malfoy. Besides being a place where I could ensure our privacy, this place was made for secrets, if you know what I mean."
Silver eyes widened considerably. "You mean…it's in here? The entrance to the Chamber of Secrets is hidden in the bloody girls loo?" An incredulous look graced the blond teens' aristocratic features. Draco could not believe the founder of his house would hide a secret chamber in a bathroom of all places, let alone a girls bathroom.
Harry nodded and replied, "Right under my arse Malfoy. How did you think Myrtle got to be a ghost? This sink is covering a tunnel. Tunnel goes almost straight down and connects with another tunnel. At the end of that tunnel, once you pass the partial cave in and the fifty-foot snake skin, is a round steel door. Through the door is Salazar Slytherins legendary Chamber of Secrets."
Draco shook his head in disbelief. "I can't believe you've actually been down there. People have been looking for it for centuries and you managed to find it within a year of learning it existed. Hell, the two youngest Weasleys have been down there, but no Slytherin has since whoever opened it fifty odd years ago."
"And that brings us around to what I think you want to talk to me about. It was Voldemort who opened the chamber fifty years ago, when he was a Slytherin sixth year prefect by the name of Tom Marvolo Riddle, the only half blood wizard to be placed in Slytherin for over two hundred years. I checked that after I recovered from the crap that went on down there." Harry said, trying to lead the Slytherin into making whatever confession was on his mind.
The silver-eyed teen nodded, remaining quiet for a few moments to take in the new information. "Yeah, the Dark Lord has a lot to do with why I wanted to talk to you. You know what happened at the end of last term better than anyone; but I know what the snake faced bastard has been doing since then, seeing as he's been doing a lot of it at Malfoy Manor."
Draco sighed and lowered his head to rest in his hands. "My father always told me that a Malfoy bows to no man Harry, but he does, I saw him. I watched my father, the great and powerful Lucius Valerian Malfoy, crawl on his knees to kiss the hem of Voldemorts' robes. I listened to him scream in agony from the Cruciatus, and thank that insane, moldering corpse for paying attention to him."
He paused, dragging his head up to look deeply into the emerald eyes of his Gryffindor rival. "I can't do that Harry, I don't even want to try. I know I'm a bastard, a pain in the arse, hell you could call me a Dark wizard and it wouldn't be far off the mark. But I'm not a Death Eater. I don't know where I want to stand in this bloody war, except that I don't want to stand by my father and his master."
Harry saw the sincerity in the silver eyes of his rival, as well as the fear and uncertainty. "That's a good thing Malfoy…Draco. You might not know what you want exactly, but you know what you don't want. I don't know why you wanted to tell me this, or how I can help you, but I'll try. I imagine your housemates won't be too pleased when they find out, not to mention your father."
The blond shook his head sadly, "Not when Harry, if. I might as well commit suicide if my housemates learn about this, because they'll tell their parents. Their parents will tell my father, and Lucius will pull me home before you can say oops. He'll either have me marked immediately or torture and kill me. If I manage to hide myself away before he can grab me, I'll be disowned and my housemates will have carte blanche on my life. It gets worse from there, but in any case, I'll be dead." Draco finished his explanation and leaned back against the wall, sliding down the smooth surface to sit in a tightly curled ball on the floor.
The emerald-eyed teen hadn't realized how dangerous it was for Draco to feel the way he did. He ran his fingers through his messy black hair in frustration, unable to think of a way to help the blond. "Merlin, this is a mess. I'm no good at planning Draco, everything I've done, all the bloody adventures have been typical Gryffindor recklessness. I don't know how to help you, I don't know what to do to keep you safe from the other Slytherins, let alone your father and Voldemort."
Draco whipped his head up from where it was resting on his knees, amazed at the other boys' frustration over his inability to do something to help. "Don't you see Harry? You're already helping me. There's no one else I could have said all this to and had them believe me. Just letting me say the words out loud would've been enough, even if you thought I was lying or that it was some scheme to get you in trouble."
"Listening to you talk isn't going to keep you alive and unmarked Draco. One slip up from either of us gets you marked, disowned, or dead." Harry stated flatly, angry that he couldn't think of some plan, however wild or impossible, to get the blond out of the mess he was in.
The silver-eyed boy nodded dejectedly. "Yeah, that's the bloody truth, and I've already slipped. You know what Professor Vanimaer wanted to talk to me about today? She sat me down and warned me that my masks were down and people were noticing something was wrong with me. She knew I was thinking about changing sides. I let the masks drop a few times on purpose because I wanted you to see what was going on in my head, but I honestly didn't think anyone else saw."
The blond was angry now; angry with himself for making things worse by slipping when he should've been cementing his hold on his housemates. Unable to sit still, he leapt up from the floor to pace as he ranted. "Professor Vanimaer reminded me of the consequences if anyone found out I wasn't Little Lucius anymore and warned me to get my act together. Damnit, I'm the Slytherin Prince, she shouldn't have had to tell me how to behave like it!"
"And now I know I've fucked up royally, I have to work extra hard to fix the problem and make sure no one knows I'm not a Death Eater in Training. I have to be an even worse prat to you and your friends, make your lives as miserable as I can to save my own arse." He stopped abruptly, right in front of the raven-haired teen. His shoulders slumped and he looked at the other boy with stormy gray eyes that filled with frustrated tears against his will. "I don't know if I can do it Harry. I don't know if I can keep up the act anymore. I'm too confused, too unsure of myself, and too tired."
Harrys' heart went out to the other boy as he watched Draco fight his tears and lose, letting them slip silently down his pale cheeks. Unwilling to let the blond drown in his misery alone, he slid down from the sink and took the single step needed to bring him close enough so that he could wrap his arms around the Slytherin.
Draco tensed up when he felt the other boys' arms encircle him. He wasn't used to being comforted, and couldn't remember receiving a hug from anyone since he was a small child. The Gryffindor was murmuring in his ear, nonsense sounds that were nonetheless soothing. Sighing in defeat, the blond relaxed into the embrace, resting his head against Harrys' shoulder and tentatively looping his own arms around the raven-haired teens' waist.
As the silver-eyed boy gave in completely and let his tears soak into Harrys' shirt, the slightly taller Gryffindor tightened his hold and rubbed Dracos' back in a soothing way. Relying on his experiences being comforted by Drakkara, Sirius, and Mrs. Weasley to get him through his first time being the one to provide some much needed comfort, Harry recalled his godmothers favorite way of soothing him.
Still holding the Slytherin close, Harry walked backwards until his back hit the wall. He slid down to the floor with the blond in his arms, settling Draco onto his lap. The smaller boy seemed unaware of the change in location, moving only with the green-eyed teens' urging. They sat for an interminable length of time, even after the blondes tears had ceased.
"You okay Draco?" The raven-haired teen asked when it seemed as if the other boy might have fallen asleep against his shoulder.
The blond nodded into Harrys' neck, embarrassed but unwilling to move. "Other than feeling like a pansy you mean? I understand why girls say crying helps now, I actually feel a little better. Embarrassed beyond belief, but better all the same."
Chuckling a little, Harry replied, "Yeah, I know what you mean. Kara has had me in this same position a couple times this summer. I have nightmares a lot, and she takes care of me when I wake up. I'm glad you feel better Draco, cause you can't give up. We'll get you through this somehow, you just have to keep up the act until we work out what to do."
Draco lifted his head from the Gryffindors' shoulder so he could look at the boys' face. "I like the sound of that, we'll get me through this. You really mean it don't you? Even after all I've done to you and your friends over the years; you're still going to help me now. I think that, above anything else, is what made me decide to do this. Somehow I knew that if I came to you, you'd do whatever you could to help me."
The raven-haired boy smiled at his former rival, "I'd like to think that I'd help anyone who came to me with a problem no matter who they were, but I really doubt I'd even listen to them. Believe it or not, what I said the other day in CoMC wasn't true. You've been an important part of my life since first year. I could always count on you to be your normal nasty self no matter what was going on around me. Hell I can't even say that about my best friend."
"You know, that's what I wanted to be back in first year. I may have acted like a prat, but I was sincere about wanting to be your friend. It hurt so badly when you rejected me for Weasley, all I could do to hide it was become your worst enemy; so I did everything I could to get you in trouble. I didn't realize at the time that you were already neck deep in your first adventure." Draco responded, remembering the pain of having his friendship declined.
The blond looked down at his hands. They were bigger now than they had been, as he was. The slight amount of baby fat he'd sported back then was gone, revealing long, fine boned hands. "I wonder how different things would have been for both of us if you'd taken my hand that day, but we'll never know." He looked back up at the other boy, locking his eyes with the sparking green ones. "Harry, if I offered it again, would you take it this time?"
Harry nodded and replied, "Yes Draco, I'd take it this time. Seems a kinda needless gesture though since I've been sitting here holding you in my lap for the last half-hour while you had your first ever crying jag. But if you want to go through the motions it's fine with me."
The Slytherin gave a bright smile. "Yeah it is rather unneeded. How about you just let me sit here for a while longer instead. You make a comfortable chair Harry." He said jokingly and resettled his head against the other boys' shoulder.
"Go right ahead, oh great Slytherin Prince. Never mind that your bony arse is digging into my thigh and my legs are numb. Just don't go to sleep okay? We'd better go back to our dorms soon. You might have the excuse of prefect duties, but I don't. I'm gonna have to sneak back up to the tower under my cloak and hope Hermione doesn't give me holy hell for being out after curfew and coming back too late to work on my potions essay like I promised I would." Harry complained jokingly, though he made a point of shifting his legs under the blonde until blood started returning to the neglected limbs.
Draco didn't bother to move so he could glare at the brunette, though his tone was quite haughty when he responded, "Many thanks, oh lowly Gryffindor. And my arse is not bony. Hey, did you bring your snake down with you? I didn't get a good look at her earlier. You said her name was Sirinav or something like that right?"
Harry shifted his right arm forward from where it rested loosely around the Slytherins' back. Draco was slender enough that he could bring his wrist around the boys' body and into view. Siranev was still fast asleep, which was normal for her after a big meal. "Yeah I brought her. I've got permission now to take her anywhere I want, even to classes, so I doubt she'll be leaving her favorite spot for a while. And her name is Siranev, but I shorten it to Sira sometimes."
The silver-eyed boy looked at the snake, closely examining her coloration. He reached out a hand and gently stroked his fingertips over her smooth skin. "She's beautiful Harry. She looks like a piece of jewelry lying there. In fact, she looks like a smaller version of those cool looking armbands Professor Vanimaer was wearing today."
The bespectacled teen burst out laughing at the comment, and explained between chuckles. "You don't know how right you are Draco. Those 'armbands' are Siranevs' parents, Narasi and Vrisan. I told you Kara gave her to me, the other two are her familiars. Apparently she's had them since she was just a little girl."
The two boys continued talking for a long while, enjoying the newfound friendship and camaraderie between them. Harry explained a little more about their mysterious new DADA professor, which increased the Slytherin boys' trust in the woman. In return, Draco confided that Drakkara had offered to help him if he decided he wanted help with the mess he was in.
The Gryffindor urged his new friend to take her offer, claiming that if anyone could keep Draco safe and unmarked, it was his godmother and the people she was connected with. The Slytherin said he would think about it, and that Harry was the second person to claim to trust the DADA professor with his life. The pair arranged for a way to signal to each other that they needed to meet; deciding it was not safe for the blond to drop his masks at all.
Instead, if Draco needed to talk to him, he would only make nasty comments at Harry that day, rather than at the trio as a whole. If Harry were the one who wanted to talk, he would say something in Parseltongue within the blondes hearing. They also decided that it wouldn't be a good idea to keep using Moaning Myrtles' bathroom as a meeting place. After all, the ghost might become suspicious if Harry kept coming in and asking her to leave.
The silver-eyed boy suggested a room he'd found deep in the dungeons behind a portrait of some unnamed wizard who was always completely sotted and would accept any password you came up with. Harry agreed that it would do, and said that the next time they met, Harry would be waiting outside the entrance to the Slytherin common room at eight-thirty under his invisibility cloak and would follow Draco to the room.
By the time the boys decided it was time for them to leave, it was ten forty-five, far past curfew for ordinary students. As a prefect, Draco could be out of the dorms until eleven-thirty. That gave him plenty of time to make a cursory round of his scheduled patrolling areas on the second and third floors, and still make it back to the dungeons on time.
Draco was extremely reluctant to leave the warmth of Harrys' arms. The Slytherin had never felt so content as he did while sitting in the other boys' lap, held in a loose embrace. He wondered absently if the Gryffindor would hold him again some time, or if the special closeness they'd shared over the last few hours would fade into a normal type of friendship like the one Harry shared with the Weasley boy.
With a sigh of disappointment, the blonde removed Harrys' left arm from around his stomach and crawled out of his lap, pausing for a moment as the blood rushed back into his derriere and wincing sympathetically when the Gryffindor groaned over the pins and needles rushing through his lower body. "Merlin Draco, I hope this room of yours has furniture." The brunette said through clenched teeth as he forced himself up onto his knees.
"It does. I think it used to be a professors chamber or something because it's actually a suite with a bedroom, bathroom, and living room." Draco replied as he forced himself to his feet and held a hand out to the boy he'd been using as a chair for the last hour or so.
Harry took the offered hand and let the Slytherin help him to his feet. "Good, I don't think my body would appreciate spending another evening on a cold stone floor." Limping slightly, the bespectacled teen walked over to the row of sinks and retrieved his invisibility cloak.
The boys walked across the room together and paused in front of the door. Draco watched his new, not to mention only, friend disappear from view beneath the cloak, feeling a pang of sorrow without having the proof his eyes gave that the Gryffindor was really there. He reached out a hand and encountered Harrys' chest. He followed the solid form down and over to the side until he was grasping the other boys' hand. "Harry, thank you for tonight. I don't think you realize what it means for me to have someone I can talk to, someone I can be around without constantly worrying about what I can and can't say and do. So, thank you. For being my friend."
The Gryffindors' hand tightened around his for a moment and Harrys' voice came out of the not so thin air. "Any time Draco. That's what friends are for. Now come on, put on your game face and go terrorize some snogging Hufflepuffs. We've got three classes together tomorrow, so get a good nights sleep. You're going to have to be especially nasty in front of your housemates."
"I know, and I'm not looking forward to it. Just remember that I don't really mean it okay?" Draco gave a heavy sigh and squeezed his friends' hand once more before letting go. "Here goes nothing. What is it the muggles say? Oh yeah, let's get this show on the road. Goodnight Harry."
Harry returned the goodnight and watched as Draco disappeared. The Slytherins' body remained, but Draco was nowhere to be found. Instead, standing in his place was Malfoy, the icy cold, sneering, posturing, and generally nasty Silver Prince of Slytherin. Without another word, the blond opened the door and stalked through it with predatory grace, and if Harry hadn't been quick to follow, the heavy wooden door would've hit him on the arse on his way out.
Severus Snape was on his way back to the dungeons after having participated in the second stage of brewing the Lupins Hope with Drakkara. He'd made it down to the second floor corridor that was the fastest path back to his part of the lower levels. Dressed in his normal black robes, it was easy for him to sink back into the shadows and remain unnoticed when the door to Moaning Myrtles' bathroom opened up ahead and Draco Malfoy stalked out.
'Now what in blazes was the boy doing in there?' The potions master thought as he watched the blond come towards him and pass by without seeing his head of house. Severus noticed with satisfaction that the boys' mask was firmly in place, Draco was practically projecting the words 'I am an evil, nasty man. You matter less to me than a pile of dung I wish to avoid stepping in, and I would sooner hex you than look at you.'
The onyx-eyed man suppressed a chuckle, but allowed himself a small smirk of pleasure. Draco had his masks back up, but they'd both changed and become better. Rather than copying his fathers' icily superior mask of indifference, the boy was finally forming his own face for the public, and that mask rather closely resembled Severus' own.
The potions master remained in the shadows for a few moments after Draco passed him by, and was rewarded for his caution with the answer as to why his Slytherin prefect had been in the girls bathroom. A soft squeaking noise was coming up the hall behind the blond, in the rhythm of footsteps, though not a thing could be seen to explain the noise.
'Well, it seems we won't need to approach Potter about a truce with Draco; somehow they've managed it on their own. Wonderful, I must fire call Drakkara and the mutts when I get back to my chambers and let them know. Now, hurry up and get lost Potter before I cease being pleased with you and decide to take points!' Severus thought, for once happy with the Gryffindor Golden Boys' rule breaking.
The squeaking footsteps faded around the corner as the invisible boy headed for the staircases that would lead him back to the Lions Den. A moment later the tall black clad form of the potions master separated itself from the shadows and walked quickly down the corridor to a hidden staircase that lead into the dungeons and his chambers. After muttering the password, "Slytherin Violet" Severus entered his suite of rooms, closed the door tightly and warded it against intrusion, and let a pleased smile cross his face over the accomplishments of the day.
Since he'd already partaken of a nightcap in the DADA suite with his colleagues, the potions master didn't make his way to the liquor cabinet as he usually would. He'd found years ago that a shot of brandy or scotch did wonders for his sleep, and now realized that it worked even better if taken whist engaging in pleasant conversation after a few hours of potion making.
After removing the bulky teaching robes, as well as his boots and socks, Severus finally relaxed his demeanor. He walked over to the fireplace and lit the wood with his wand as he knelt on the disused cushion and threw a pinch of floo powder into the flames. Calling out the desired destination of his call, his head and shoulders were engulfed in green fire.
No one seemed to be present in the living room when his vision cleared, so he spoke loudly. "You three had better not already be in bed! Get over here, I've something to tell you."
Apparently, the trio had been at least preparing to go to bed, since they all came in wearing their nightclothes. Severus noted absently that Drakkara still had legs one could aptly name Avada and Kedavra as the woman came into the living room donning a knee length robe over a rather short nightgown. He waited until all three of his colleagues were kneeling around the fireplace. "I thought you might be interested in hearing about something I came across on my way down here." He said by way of a greeting.
The dark-eyed professor told them about his encounter with a well-masked Draco Malfoy and the invisible, though certainly not stealthy Harry Potter. The trio were just as pleased as Severus that the two rivals seemed to have come to a truce on their own, rather than at the urging of their professors. They spoke for about fifteen minutes on the new development, wondering how they could help the boys pursue their new friendship. Deciding on a wait and see approach at least until the weekend, the four conspirators said goodnight and retired to their beds, smiling over the actions of the two teenagers under their care.