Title: Life as a Snake

Author: FairyTails13

Disclaimer: I own nothing…but the plot.

Rating: M

Summary: What do you do when the only person you know can understand you is your most hated enemy? And I don't mean this figuratively people. Harry, after making some weird witch mad, has found himself seeing from a different angle, with no arms and with scales.

He is a snake, very literally.

How the hell is he supposed to defeat Voldemort now! Or does he want to after meeting Nagini from a different perspective.

Warnings: SLASH(Male/Male parings) Dark Harry, Snake Harry

Parings: Lord Voldemort/Harry, Severus/Remus, Draco/Hermione

Spoilers: Books one – five, I will not include book six, and though I am finally getting around to reading seven, I will not include it either. Dumbledore is alive. Also, please refer to the HP Warning on my profile, please.

Key:

"Talking"

'Thoughts'

" Parseltongue "

"Mind link between Voldemort and Harry"

Chapter: The Dark Lord

By the end of the week Harry had grown used to the routine Voldemort has set for himself.

At five he woke up and took his shower and got clean for the day, like any other person. As he sat down on the bed to dress -in many, many layers Harry noticed- he would conjure Harry and Nagini live food. This consisted of two large rabbits for Nagini and a large rat for him.

It took him a while to get used to the taste of conjured rats. They did not taste at all a good as those few mice he caught that first time he hunted, but he knows it is better than nothing.

He turned it into a game after the first day, tricking his prey while he imagined it being Wormtail until he finally crushed all the air out of its tiny lungs and swallowed it whole. Nagini had laughed at him the first time, asking him if he always played with his food.

Harry had replied that it made life in a cage a bit more interesting and she had not bugged him about it since.

After they had finished eating Voldemort and Nagini would leave to the morning breakfast held at Riddle manor, where Voldemort ate with the followers that lived at the Manor. While they went he would be left in the room to wonder around; or rooms as he found.

The Dark Lord's bedroom is connected to not just his bath room, but his study and a small library that he knows Hermione would salivate over if she ever saw it. By the third day he knew the layout of the rooms by heart and took joy that the mouse family that lived there is no more.

On the fifth day he had grown very bored and wondered if he could read any of the books in Voldemort's private library.

Ignoring the books on the selves, not knowing how to get them down safely, he had climbed up a chair and looked for books on table. Sadly it seemed Voldemort is very careful with his books, leaving none out.

Usually the wizard-turned-snake would give up on reading, but not today he decided, he is determined above all else to get a book off the shelf. So distracted by his determination he did not notice how the time passed, and is quickly reminded as the owner of the library walked in with his two top Death Eaters right behind him and Nagini at his feet.

As his tongue scented them behind him he is sure his current position is not good for his health. Somehow he had gotten up to one of the torch holders and had coiled his body around it, and that is from where he turned to look at the newcomers with a ting of fear of being caught doing, nothing really, until he realized they did not notice him.

Harry watches them from his hanging position as they sit down at one of the round tables that litter the three story library, at first glance it looks like they are getting comfortable, not sitting in the elegant position he would expect of them. On second glance, to his shock, that is in fact what it is.

The two Death Eaters are not rigid with fear of their master; said master is not rigid with rage. The scene before them is anything but the images he has been sent over the last few years in his dreams.

When comfortable in the plush covered wooden chairs, Voldemort is the first to pull down the hood of his black and silver battle robes and Harry's heart races for a moment when the Snake-faced Voldemort he knows is revealed. Only to disappear like the illusion it is when he runs a hand over his face.

The two death eaters do not react and Harry wonders how long it has been since Voldemort got his youthful looks back. He is forced to push that to the back of his mind however, when the Dark Lord speaks and his name is mentioned, "Well, Severus, have you discovered the location of Potter's family's house?"

Now attentive as ever to this small meeting, Harry watches as hoods are lowered and porcelain white masked are removed to show his Potions Professor and his school rival's father. The young wizard cannot help but feel a little uneasy with how as ease Severus Snape and Lucius Malfoy look sitting across from one of the most evil wizards in the world today.

That day at the graveyard like a fresh memory in the back of his mind along with the pure fear the Death Eaters gave their master; so seeing this little scene that looks everything like a meeting between old friends perplexes him and twists his view of the Dark Lord a little more.

He has to calm his rapidly beating heart just to listen to his potion professor's answer, "I have not, Milord. Even the Weasleys were forced to forget to protect the little brat."

The glare Harry sends at the man's back is interrupted by his shock as Voldemort showed weakness he never imagined seeing. Groaning and resting his head on a raised hand the Dark Lord mutters a whispered, "What about the werewolf?"

Severus shakes his head, "Personally I doubt it. The wolf is starting to show signs of leaning away from the order. Dumbledore probably noticed it too would not trust him with that information."

Harry blotched at this revelation, and that Voldemort had not driven his professor into pain like he usually did in the nightmares that were forced on him. 'Has it all been an act?' Harry thinks to himself, the wheels in his head turning.

"Funny, Draco could say the same think about Potter."

Hearing his name from Lucius' lips again his coppery green eyes snap again to the Dark Lord, wondering how he will take in this information.

Voldemort's head snapped up, his red eyes widened with shock at this information, "Really now?"

Lucius nods and leans back in his chair, a hand resting thoughtfully on his clean-shaven chin, "According to Draco, our little Golden Boy is drifting away from his friends. He keeps up the facade of best friends in public, but is obvious when they are not under the constant watch of the professors."

Snape hums in thought, this information seeming to be new to him, "Then he hides it well. Of course, I have been focusing on how much more seriously he seems to be taking his classes now." A sneer forms on the stoic man's face, "And how easily he seems to side step my insults and prods. He has not once snapped in anger this year."

Harry had to stop from snorting, rolling his serpentine eyes, 'Well duh, they got old and I got smarter.'

Voldemort however could not hide his shock at these changes in behavior, "Well, well, is it me or does our lion seem more like a snake?"

This time Harry could barely hold back his laughter at the irony of that question and found himself silently snickering to himself. 'If only you knew, if only.'

"It's possible," Snape said thoughtfully, "Dumbledore couldn't keep the boy under a vale for much longer. I hate admitting it but he is more cunning than the headmaster gives him credit for."

Harry's jaw dropped at that complement from his most hated professor, and stared at him in shock until his rival's father once again started to add to the conversation.

"Severus, are you sure he was pampered by his relatives?" The two Dark Wizards connected gazes briefly, "Draco has mentioned some behaviors that stem from a more unhappy background, not that of a pampered child."

Voldemort sneered, "He grew up with muggles did he not, it is not that hard to believe that the Golden Boy grew up unloved by those that do not understand just what it is he is capable of."

From his perch Harry refrained from flinching at just how close to home the three older wizards are hitting; and yet, at the same time he has to wonder about the anger in the Dark Lord's tone towards muggles he has never met before when the situation they are pondering is nothing more than a hypothesis.

A moment passed with all those in the room silently thinking to them self, though it is not entirely unwanted when Lucius leans forward with a sudden thought that breaks the silence, "What if Potter is turning away from Dumbledore? What if we can bring him to our side?"

With a roll of his eyes Voldemort volunteered with a hateful sneer, "That damn prophecy will get in the way."

Catching on to his friend's thoughts, Severus also leaned forward, "But prophecies are only as true as you make them. If you do not believe them then they have no power over you. They are fickle like that. "

If Harry were still human his face would mirror that the frown on Voldemort's face, "It's kind of hard after these long torturous sixteen years Severus. Use that wit of your to try to convince me otherwise."

Apparently Snape had been expecting that and already had a reply thought out, "From what I remember the prophecy said that you would mark him as your equal, and that for one to live, one must die." Snape passed, letting his words sink before connecting eyes with his Lord, "You have already died because of him. Is there any way that meant that time, the same time you marked him?"

Face a mask of deep thought the Dark Lord stood and traveled to the wall to open a hidden compartment where his fire whiskey and other such alcohol are, turning back to the table he summed up his thoughts, "On one hand, we could have assumed that the prophecy laid out a time line, or on the other hand it could have described one occurrence."

As he sat down he poured three glasses of the strong beverage and handed them out. Each dark wizard cradled a glass in their hands as they thought deeper on the topic, their Slytherin minds fast at work. On the wall Harry also pondered the possibilities.

Being the only one to know the damned prophecy in its entirety he has more to think about, more words to guess the double meaning of.

First to gather his thoughts, Lucius is again the first to break the silence, "We can believe it, it is plausible."

Voldemort took a long swig of his whiskey, and hissed a few curses under his breath that made Harry blush and come out of his thoughts, "Thanks to Potter we were not even able to learn the whole thing."

Having come to the conclusion that it is all very possible Harry finds his self wanting to shout it out, to share the knowledge that was the 'last straw to break the camel's back' in his regards to trusting Dumbledore.

But he feared revealing himself much more then he trusted the three other wizards and kept his tongue still. Harry watched them through sad eyes, his thoughts muddied by his own confusion revelations and feelings. It does not help that his body aching from being in the same position for the last hour.

The young wizard cannot help but relax when Nagini finally notices his disappearance, hissing to her master her concerns, "Have you seen Drake? I can't seem to find him."

Broken from his thought Voldemort looks down at his trusted friend, his red eyes hinting at his own worries, "He isn't in any of my rooms?"

When Nagini hissed a negative the Dark Lord looked back at the two curious Death Eaters seated across from him, "Have either of you seen a six foot green boa wondering around here? He is a stray Nagini found on the last Trainee mission."

Their faces gave nothing of the shock in their eyes, but both shook their head in a confirmed negative the same moment Harry hissed at the gathered from the bookcase behind them.

"I sound like a dog when you say it like that…" The green boa took the chance at getting down from the awkward perch when it had been given.

Nagini slithered over to the book self and looked up at him in confusion and worry, "What the hell are you doing up there?"

Harry looked down at her, "Um…lack of anything else to do."

He had been getting ready to tell her that he had been trying to get a book off of the shelf, but something told him that he would be crossing the line of suspicion is he revealed that he could read as well as understand English. There is only so much a non-magical snake can do without raising questions after all.

He is thankful when she buys his excuse and he sees no hint of mistrust in her golden eyes. The larger snake huffs at him an annoyance, "Why didn't you just say that you were bored? Climbing book selves, really?"

The second question had been muttered under her breath and made Harry wince.

Silently the Dark Lord steps up behind Nagini, a snowy brow raised at the 'adventurous serpent, "Had I known you were boring of my rooms I would have introduced you to the rest of the house hold, Drake. I have been waiting for you to get comfortable with your new surroundings."

Shocked by his words Harry does nothing as Voldemort helps him from his perch with gentle hands, wrapping the six foot boa around his shoulders after checking for injuring by running hand down the length of smooth green, white and black scales.

Even in shock, Harry cannot believe he is allowing the treatment, and the metaphorical warm it fills him with. The Boy-who-lived felts ashamed of himself; this man had killed his parents and many, many others he did not know about and here he is, their supposed savior, letting his self be befriended by the monster.

The green snake let his thoughts drop and let himself be carried away in the kindness he is being shown, "It had not accrued to me," he muttered, thoughts not jumbled up enough for his quick mind to not supply him with an excuse, "I am used to no one caring about what I want."

Not a complete lie.

"I am not 'no one', Drake."

Harry does not know how to comprehend what is going on with those words, every view he has ever had of this man are slowly, one by one, crashing to the ground and breaking into pieces. The icing on the cake: even the man's serpentine red eyes had softened when they looked upon him.

"I will keep that in mind."

And that is all he can say in return. He dares anyone else to come up with something better with their mind in as much shock as his is now.

With a nod of firm acknowledgement Voldemort turns and goes back to his position at the round table where his followers are hiding confused shock. Harry still feels as if he has them beat though. The Dark Lord being kind to an unknown serpent has nothing on his tormented shock.

Neither Death Eater comment on the green and white serpent around their master's neck, and Harry is grateful for the small show of familiar behavior. No Death Eater has the right to question their Lord, no matter how friendly he is to them.

Finishing his whisky first Snape stands and gathers his mask, "Will we finish this conversation another time, Milord?"

Voldemort nods and with a wave of his hand dismisses both Death Eaters. "Another time," he confirms.

With his interruption, Harry notes that he not be able to hear any more of the conversation. Both Death Eaters said their good-byes and leave through the library's door. A flash of green throughout the rooms is all Harry needs to know that they left through the fire place in the Dark Lord's study.

When they were gone Voldemort placed his elbows on the table top, resting his head in the palm of his hands. From the Dark Lord's shoulders Harry witnesses as his parent's murder sighs deeply and his body sags how only an aged man can, tired and burned out.

The Dark Lord distracted, his mind where ever his turmoil is, Harry knows it would be so easy to squeeze till the murder could breathe no more. But he does not even think about it.

This, this old and ragged wizard, is not the man he hates. Harry has no doubts that he can very well be the man that killed his parents in cold blood and turned his wand on an infant, but Harry still finds himself rethinking everything he ever learned about one Tom Riddle.

As minutes pass Nagini claims a spot on the table top, careful not to knock over the empty glasses. Looking at her, really looking at her, Harry can see the worry stemmed deep within those eyes.

Feeling the heavy atmosphere in the room, Harry quickly thinks of something to say, wanting the mood to shift, to get back the Dark Lord who does not show weakness. Because, when the dark wizard shows such human capabilities it makes him into less of a monster in Harry's eyes.

At least, that is what he tells himself as she finally coughs up something to break the silence with.

"May I ask you something, Voldemort?"

Almost instantly it was like a mask slid back over the frowning face, a mask of confidence and hidden wisdom. The Dark Lord sits up, taking his glass of alcohol into one hand, and starts to stoke Nagini with the other.

"I don't see why not." Red eyes glance at copper, "And please, call me Tom. That name is reserved for the fools who fear me."

"Alright," Harry had to pull on his Gryffindor side for his question (what little there is of it), "Why- why do you hate muggles?"

Tom stills, his hands pausing in stroking the larger boa. Think he has passed over an invisible line Harry starts to stutter an apology, but is interrupted, "Well, I can't say I expected that one, but to answer you, I suppose that I really don't hate muggles as a whole."

Harry felt a little bit of anger boil up in him, thankful when his emotions go back to normal when confronted with the older wizard, "Then why do you kill them as a whole?"

Setting down the glass Tom reaches up and soothingly runs a hand down Harry's scales, like he can sense Harry's anger, making said snake curse his body when he untended.

Resting against his chair Tom's seriousness is think in his voice when he finally replies, defending his actions, "I don't, the ones that are killed by, what the newspapers call the Dark Side, are ones that abuse magic children -Muggleborn or not- because they fear what the child can do."

Harry found this very hard to believe, "Why?"

"Because I am tired of the ministry doing nothing to stop it," red eyes flared up at the thought, "For five years I begged for Dumbledore to put me somewhere else; anywhere else so that the muggles I lived with, so they would stop hurting and abusing me during summer break."

Nagini butted in, her hisses sharp with her displeasure on the matter, "And for five years he did nothing!" she seethed, "Even though he knew, he knew, that my Tom is being abused!"

Tom rubbed her head to calm her, not showing any anger at being interrupted, "Our goal is not to kill all muggles and 'purify' our kind despite what we let the world believe. We do not all wish for Muggles to die out, as they are needed in this world, they have their place. But we should cut out any possibility of them discovering us. We do not hate Muggleborns because of their blood, for new blood is needed; it is their Muggle families that we have distaste for."

The Dark Lord looked very old again, if only for the moment as his eyes meet Harry's, before he looked off in another direction before continuing on, "Muggles do not understand us, and even if we have those very few that will accept us, not all of them will. Their technology is far better than our own so if they discovered our world, they could easily destroy if in their search for 'answers'. Imagine a Muggle scientist discovering a witch or wizard, and the tests that witch or wizard will go through so that scientist can find their answers, answers they will never get even as they find more 'test subjects'. That is a nightmare that can and will happen if the Ministry doesn't step up their game."

Harry looks at the glass of liquor sitting on the table, the amber liquid keeping his attention as he thinks it all over.

He could believe it, knowing his relatives, and it is a indeed a very scary nightmare that needs to be cut off before it can happen, and the ministry is not really doing anything to stop it for the long run. Obliviation spells are very handy, but that just takes care of the problem of the moment. The Muggle parents of a Muggleborn will always pose a threat to the Wizarding World's secretly.

Not all of them are as understanding as Hermione's.

After a prolonged silence Harry asks the one thing in their plan that bugs him, "So how are you going to do it, just take the Muggleborns from their parents and take away that person's right to their child?"

Tom grunted, "Believe me when we say that we have thought about that Drake. Hogwarts has a way to tell the Headmaster every time that a magical child is born. It is very old magic, and can be used to take a magical child from a Muggle family that does not understand us and put them with people who do understand and will be there with answers that a Muggle just doesn't know.

The Muggleborns today grow up with no knowledge of the Wizarding world and don't know anything until they are eleven, an age that Purebloods and most half-bloods know what they need to know. That creates a disadvantage and a great annoyance."

Harry could only stare for a moment; the world being described to him would have made his life so much easier. No Dursleys. No being called a freak because he is so disliked and he would not have been thrust into a whole new world at the age of eleven, one that expected far too much of him.

But nothing can be that perfect. Sorrow filled his voice, no matter how much he tries to push it away, "It is not that easy…"

The Dark Lord, someone who Harry knows had a life before Hogwarts so much like his own, if not a little worse because of the time. So maybe that forlorn sigh is in memory of that childhood, "We know this very well, but nothing culture changing is meant to be easy."

Harry did not want to believe it, he did not want to believe that the man he is taught to hate is the man trying to save so many others from a fate like his own; even if it meant killing the ones that get in the way. Harry finally found his voice, at bit shaky he replied, "What about the people you killed that did not understand your means and foolishly try to defend the only thing they know as right?"

Tom shrugged his shoulders, "They will turn sides or die," he gave a cold laugh, "that is why I am an evil man, that's why I lead this side of war. I am able to do what needs to be done and not care that I am a murder."

When it got quiet Tom stood swinging back the rest of his drink with not even a grimace, he helped Nagini curl around his shoulders along with Harry, leaving the library behind, "Enough of this talk, off to bed; tomorrow is going to be very busy."

As the head into the bedroom, Harry cannot help but voice one more question, consequences be damned, "That Potter person you were talking about…"

Tom sits on the bed, red eyes glancing at him as he leans over to pull off his boots, "Hm?"

"What would you do if he has become tarnished, what if he wanted to fight your enemy? Would you let him join you or try to kill him and force him to fight on his own?" Harry is staring at the ground; he missed the shocked face of the Dark Lord and the curious look in Nagini's eyes.

"I haven't really thought of that. The Prophecy always proved a difficulty, but what Severus said will make me think on it."

TBC

A/n: edited: 2/26/11

-Coughs in embarrassment- Okay, some of you who have read this before might notice some omissions and changes. When I read this again I was horrified at how OOC the scene in the library was and I could no longer live with it. So ya, I fixed it…

Took a bit, but I hope that it is better.

~FT