Chapter 5: Nagini

A fateful encounter!

Sunlight shown down on the eight orderly rows of pink and red petunias in the Dursley's back yard.

The hedges had been trimmed into nice, neat squares, despite the unruly tendrils of the thorny rose bush determinedly trying to growing straight up through them. The many eyes that usually watched from the bushes had been gone for a long time now, long enough that Harry Potter knew he would be eight soon. The way the wind smelled and the extra jackets Mrs. Dursley made her son wear told him that fall was fast approaching.

Harry stood in the back yard with the last of summer's sunlight, emerald eyes searching the hedges. Snakes still came to the back yard under the light of the moon but the snake from his dream never did. It had been so long and the dream had stopped coming. Harry was finally beginning to worry that it might not come true.

Through the rose and hedge bush came a familiar red shape, the Aniliidae, or Coral Snake. Harry squatted in the grass and let him curl around his arm.

Aniliidae, like Dae, had consented to being called Indiis, which was simpler for a seven-almost-eight year old to say. He had returned a few days after he had left with the others, wanting to confirm the rumor that Harry could heal with his breath, and sporting a nick in his tail from where a crow had nearly made lunch of him. Harry had obligingly breathed over his tail which became whole once more. Indiis had sworn to stay by Harry's side always after that, and the two of them did stay together; wearing Dudley's old baggy clothes made hiding a snake inside them very easy.

Harry sat down in the grass as the sunlight finally faded. He looked up at the sky, emerald eyes reflecting clouds.

"Will they ever find the snake from my dreams, Indiis?" He asked softly.

The snake shifted on Harry's arm.

"We hear from every corner that they seek your snake, still, Emperor," Indiis replied.

Harry ran his palm over Indiis' scales. He knew the red and black snake liked the heat.

"I know what they say," Harry murmured, "but I want to see. I want to go. This place isn't where I belong."

The Dursley family had made that abundantly clear. They treated Harry as though he didn't exist; when they had to interact with him it was always grudgingly, to drop off food or water or an extra set of clothing. Mr. Dursley had stopped trying to assign Harry chores the first time Harry confused the dish washer with the washing machine and had ruined his best socks. Mrs. Dursley had given up trying to bother herself with teaching the nuisance who always hissed at her. Dudley had been taught by both his mother and father that the Potter boy was to be ignored or avoided, like the coffee table or coat rack. The few interactions they had had usually ended up with Harry ignoring Dudley or Dudley suddenly appearing back in his own room. The whole family now treated him like a picture on the wall that they couldn't remove but were determined to pretend did not exist.

Harry Potter knew he wasn't a Dursley. He knew he didn't belong because he knew what belonging felt like. The snakes that visited him always spoke kindly. They shared stories of the world, of their life outside the hedges and beyond the front lawn. Some would come and curl on his lap and say he was warmer than a patch of sunlight. Harry loved the way they tasted the air, sometimes tickling him! He loved their shape and the sound of their voices. Snakes were his friends, his family, and they taught him what it felt to be loved.

Harry didn't belong at Privet Drive number four. He knew that.

He was just waiting for the day his dream snake would come and take him to where he belonged.

The lights coming on inside the house told Harry that Mrs. Dursley was getting ready to make supper. He told Indiis to hide himself and headed indoors. Inside, Dudley was emptying his knapsack, eagerly bragging about all the things that had happened in day-care. Mrs. Dursley was nodding along as she jointed a chicken. The two continued on as though the black-haired boy didn't silently slip in from the back door and walk around them to the den.

Harry settled down in front of the fireplace and worked on the one chore he did without prompting, lighting the fire in the fireplace. Mrs. Dursley had seen him fall asleep there in the winter time and had made the rule that if Harry wanted to use the Dursley's fire place then he was to clean it as well as stock the wood when Mr. Dursley brought it home. Harry knew how to stack the logs, how to light and kindle the fire, and how to clear out the ashes once the last embers had gone out in smoke.

Once a warm blaze was going Harry sat with legs crossed before the fire. He shut his eyes, breathing in the warmth, and ran a hand down his chest along the faint outline of Indiis. The snake knew to be silent in the house and wriggled his appreciation. Harry smiled. He sat with his secret friend before the growing fire and filtered out the clamor of Mr. Dursely arriving home.

Dinner passed as it usually did.

No one asked Harry to the table.

No one offered Harry pudding once dinner was done.

No one made him get up to put the dishes away (he was banned from the dish washer and Mrs. Dursely didn't trust him with her fine china) or clear the table.

No one spoke to Harry as they went about their evening amusements; Mrs. Dursley knitting, Mr. Dursley turning on the telly, Dudley opening his trunk of toys and pulling out as many as he could.

An hour later, Mrs. Dursley stood to put a dozing Dudley to bed. Mr. Dursley would probably watch the telly an hour longer and Mrs. Dursley would join him once Dudley was asleep. Harry watched the fire, feeling Indiis curl against his chest, and went to his cupboard.

Harry say in the space under the stairs, eyes wide open.

Indiis poked his snout out of Harry's shirt.

"You smell sad."

"I am sad, Indiis," Harry agreed, running his palm over his friend's scales.

"Why are you sad, Emperor?"

Harry stilled, listening carefully to the sounds of the house. Indiis waited. Snakes, Harry had learned, were amazingly patient. They could lie for hours unmoving, unblinking, still as statues. He had come to appreciate their skills and adopted several. When he was sure his uncle was still listening to the crackling of the fire and the obnoxious roar from the telly, Harry answered.

"I'm afraid my dream will never come true. It's been so long, Indiis, and I don't dream that dream anymore." Harry rubbed Indiis' scales reflexively. His voice was low with worry. "Do you think that snake will come?"

The Aniliidae rose and met Harry's shining emerald eyes with its own. Its voice was calm and firm, but soft.

"It is not for me to say, Emperor, whether your dream will come to pass. But this dream has come to you more than once. If you believe it is special, then it will be special."

Harry laughed once, surprised at his friend's funny answer. But it had made him feel better. "Thank you, Indiis," Harry said earnestly. He felt the red and black snake curl into a familiar pattern on his chest and settle for the night. Harry ran his hand over Indiis' scales and slipped into dreams.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Bronze eyes opened. Indiis' tongue tasted the air and Harry Potter woke up.

The sound continued, quiet but urgent, and Harry tapped on the door to his cupboard. His throat was tight for some reason he couldn't explain, and he could feel his heart beating in his ears. Indiis curled around his ankles as Harry pushed the door open and walked toward the sound. He moved slowly, drawn as though in a dream.

Tap. Tap. Tap. It was coming from the back door.

All around him the house was silent and yet Harry felt anxious. There was no one he could see yet the noise came again. Someone, or something, was waiting for him on the other side of the door.

Harry raised his hand and tapped the door open. It clicked and swung wide.

Outside the garden was alive. The grass was threaded with snakes of every kind; some long and some short, some green and some black, some with extra eyes or two tongues, snakes all quivering with excitement… except for one.

Harry's breath caught in his throat.

In the light of the moon on the mint green grass was the biggest snake he'd ever seen. Its shape from nose to tail tip had to be the length of a small car. It was curled with its snout to the ground when he opened the door but now its head rose and Harry met two amber eyes. He could hardly hear the excited hissing all around him as he stepped out onto the grass from his relative's house, looking over the snake's thick shape: green scales with familiar black and brown diamonds all over. Harry realized with sudden certainty that she was thick enough for him to sit on, wide enough for him to ride on. Big enough to bear him away on her back.

This was the snake from his dreams.

All around voices called him though he could only hear the pounding of his heart in his ears. The snake's head tilted questioningly. Harry breathed in a moonbeam.

"Hello! My name is Harry Potter. Who are you?"

"I am Python, Harry Potter."

It was a girl voice, Harry realized. He stepped forward again, feet bare in the grass, and stood eye to eye with the snake. It could rear to match his height.

"Python," Harry repeated.

"I am called another name," the snake said, uncurling all twelve feet of her coils in the cool grass. Harry could feel himself leaning forward to hear her better. The snake's amber eyes never blinked as she spoke.

"Nagini."

Indiis poked his head out from Harry's shirt. The Aniliidae was draped across Harry's shoulders like a loose necklace. His bronze eyes searched Nagini. The Python stood her ground and met his eyes. The two seemed to hold a silent conference, each judging the other.

Harry hardly noticed. This was the snake from his dreams. He had eyes for only her now.

"I have come for you, Harry Potter," Nagini said, and the snakes in the grass quivered as one, though she rose her voice and spoke above their excited hissing.

"Will you come away with me?"

The smile that bloomed across Harry's face was more brilliant than moonlight.

He reached a hand out to Nagini's head. She ducked to let his fingers run over her crown. There was something familiar about the warmth. Nagini shut her eyes and pressed her snout up against the flat of his palm. He rolled his hand along her neck scales and climbed on her back. With a leisurely roll, casually showing her length and strength, Nagini unwound her long body and wove through the grass. Snakes darted to be quickly out of her way. The patches of soft mint-green grass tickled Harry's feet as they slid across the back lawn like leaves on a lake. Voices cried out in the quiet of night as the Emperor pressed himself tightly to Nagini's back with Indiis riding his shoulder.

"Farewell! Emperor!"

"Goodbye!"

"It has begun! He is going, he is going! The Emperor is going to his great adventure!"

"There he goes. Emperor! Goodbye!"

There wasn't a thought in his mind about the house behind him as Nagini's strong coils bore them through the hedges of Mrs. Dursley's back yard.

Indiis wound tightly around him and Harry pressed his fingers over his friend's snout as they disappeared into the night.

End Chapter 5