Sirius Black had always been the jokester of his friends. He took nothing seriously. However, when one sees a hundred foot long snake, it is not the time for jokes, so naturally Sirius screamed.

He didn't give a damn that Remus said the snake was nice – it was still a snake. It never occurred to him that it wasn't very brave at all to sit inside why his friend faced the snake. All that occurred to Sirius was that he needed to hide from the giant snake. And hide he did – until Remus called for him. If it hadn't been for the threat, he still would have been inside, but as it was, he was standing outside in front of a giant snake, and his best friend, who was holding a very familiar baby.

The second that Sirius recognized Harry as the baby he transformed back to his human form and ran to him, "Where did he come from Remus? How did you get him? Dumbledore doesn't know does he? He said that Harry would be fine, and that he wasn't going to check on him. Do you think he'll notice?" he grabbed Harry and spun him around in the air. The giggling boy started to hiss again, and Sirius nearly died of shock. Remus grabbed Harry back quickly to prevent Sirius dropping the small boy.

"Sit Sirius," Sirius did so instantly, though he did so with an unattractive thump. Remus winced, "Look Sirius. Do you remember that prophecy that I told you about? The one where the world comes together, and gets rid of interspecies segregation?" Sirius nodded, "well Harry is the child it's talking about."

Sirius's eyes widened even further, "what? You mean to tell me he's half snake?"

Remus sighed. Trust Sirius to miss the big picture, "not yet. You see, he has to go through all sorts of rituals to become the king of basilisks. The rituals are incredibly draining, and he will have to recover afterwards. Oasis found him in the woods, and has been taking care of him since. I don't think we have anything to worry about."

Sirius's brow furrowed as he thought it over, "so what you're telling me is that not only did Harry kill the dark lord, but now he has to go through all sorts of thins so that he can be the snake king and save the world from its self?" Remus nodded, "and Dumbledore?"

Sirius was extremely mad at the old man. He had manipulated and tricked them at every turn regarding Harry. He knew that if they were to go through with everything, and keep Harry in the woods that Dumbledore couldn't find out. To solve that problem they would have to go find whoever dumped Harry and make sue that should Dumbledore visit that he would find nothing out of the ordinary. That would involve a great many things, not the least of which was fining out where Harry had stayed, as Dumblefuck had told them nothing.

While Remus and Sirius were thinking, Oasis had been writing, and Harry had begun to hiss again:

Trucido – whom you call Harry - says that he was put in the woods by a giant man and a stick woman. I would also like to assure you that he will be safe. After all, who would mess with a basilisk?

Sirius stared at the message, "she writes?"

Remus nodded, "I taught her. I don't think that Dumbledore will visit. After all, he said he wanted Harry to have no magical influences."

"I think Harry means the Dursleys – lily's sister's family. They are the only ones cruel enough to treat a child like that. Can we torture them?" Sirius had been looking angry, but his face lit up instantly at the idea of being able to torture the people who had left Harry alone in the woods.

Remus silently agreed with him, but said nothing of the sort, "I suggest money. Do you remember how greedy they are? We can either pay them to move, or to say nothing."

Sirius grinned, "Or we could promise to make their lives a living hell."

Remus rolled his eyes and set Harry on the ground, "Oasis. We're going to help you, but first we have to hunt some Dursley. Will you and Harry be alright?" his question was answered when Harry gave Oasis a hug. He knew that the snake was really starting to believe Harry was her son. It would be good for Harry to have maternal influence, even if from a snake. He missed Lily and James deeply, but he could hardly be upset when fate had delivered Harry right to his doorstep. He couldn't wait to start teaching Harry all sorts of things about the magical world.

Sirius had taken everything far better than Remus thought he would, but that didn't mean he was totally alright with everything that was happening. If that snake thought that he would let her take Harry away from them, she had another thing coming.

--

Remus and Sirius struck a deal with the Dursley's that they would pa a fixed amount each year, plus a bonus for every time they had to lie about him. By the time they got home, they were incredibly nauseated. They found Harry curled up in a ball amongst Oasis's coils. Her tail was free, and she explained the first ritual to the pair. She decided the protection against basilisks eyesight was the most important, as well as the least stressful, and as such, should be first on the list of rituals to perform.

And so began the friendship between the four.

--

Over the next five years Harry underwent all but one ritual. He was twice as fast as most humans, and had reflexes to match Oasis. He went running with Sirius daily, and Sirius had to use his dog form to keep up half of the time. Remus would teach him about spells, and they discovered that Harry had some control of wandless magic, they began work on that. Oasis taught him of basilisk policies, and started teaching him the theory behind basilisk magic. Harry progressed quickly for some one of his age, and learned his lessons well.

Sirius and Remus dug a well in their back yard where Oasis and Harry always slept. Much to the two men's discomfort, after the first ritual Harry refused to touch cooked foods. His favorite things to eat were small rodents – namely rats, and small live fish. Vegetables were a no go for Harry, outside of potatoes, which Harry would only eat mashed with raw beef filet. Oasis found it perfectly normal, but Remus and Sirius could barely watch.

Oasis decided that Harry's name among basilisks would be Trucido, but that among humans he could retain his original name. She took over Harry's mother roll, and there was no one who could say she didn't do an excellent job of it. Harry only ever was uncomfortable when someone came over.

As Sirius was the sole heir of the Black fortune, a sum to rival that of the Malfoy's, and Harry was the heir of the Potter fortune, neither he nor Remus worked. Because of that, there were few visitors to the cabin. Those that did visit were Albus Dumbledore, some of Sirius's old auror friends, and some of their other year mates. The school mates, and other aurors were no problem – Harry and oasis simply went into their well and hid until they were gone. Dumbledore on the other hand required numerous protection and masking spells. After one near miss when Dumbledore came without warning, the quartet put permanent spells in place over the entrance to the well. All in all, everything was as near to perfect as it could be.