See chapter one for warnings/disclaimers/summaries, etc. *Italics are for parseltongue.
RECAP: Harry has just publicly announced at the victory dinner that he will be leaving and snuck off to Hogwarts to rescue his lover. After freeing Eris, who was trapped as the Mirror of Erised, Harry prepares to retrieve his next lover.
In the Chamber of Secrets, Harry put two fingers to his lips and whistled long and loud. This would call to him the legendary reptile—the fearsome Basilisk. Eris huddled behind him, holding handfuls of Harry's thick, black cloak in hand, eyes shut tight to the dreary, watery surroundings.
The shrill sound of Harry's piercing whistle echoed eerily in the underground chamber.
"Ow," Eris whined, looking as if he'd like to cover his ears—but not wanting to let go of Harry. "I'm sure everyone heard that."
"She's a deep sleeper," Harry countered. He rubbed the arm with the phantom pain of a wound that was no longer life-threatening. "And these pipes are quite long. She could be a ways off."
"Why can't she meet us at the top—in a pipe?" Eris wrinkled his nose again as they made their way down to the main walkway of the chamber. "This place stinks."
"You could have waited at the top," Harry reminded him, patiently. "And your storage room was dusty. You're in no position to talk."
"By myself?" Eris said, offended. "And it wasn't as if I could clean, I was stuck in there for years and years."
Harry bit back a chuckle. It had been far longer than mere years, but he was glad that Eris wasn't focusing on the actual length of time. He'd tried to release him from the mirror sooner, but fate had a way of meddling in his life. "Basil?" he called out. "Basil, are you there? It's me, Harry."
Hhhhhharrrrrryyyyyyyy….
The long whispery hiss filled the entire chamber and a rich, powerful tendril of magic stretched out to fill the air. It was thick and lazy, moving as if there was no reason in all the realms to rush—unless there was a problem somewhere.
Eris flinched and pressed himself against Harry. He'd heard tales of this creature and he'd been terrified when Harry had told him about the entire adventure. He'd also begged Harry not to venture into the Chamber, but Harry was Harry and things had a way of happening to Harry.
"I-is that—it?" Eris licked his lips. He heard something slither closer and didn't dare turn to see what it was. The hairs on his arms stood up on end and he gulped.
Harry patted his head, before turning at once in the direction of the sound, his face alight with joy. "Basil," he crooned in parseltongue—grateful the rare gift had stayed. He hadn't made it public knowledge.
The massive Basilisk slithered up to her guests in a graceful swirl, stretching down to examine Harry with a huffing, fanged laugh. She butted him gently in the head when he placed a hand on her scaled cheek, touching their faces together, in spite of her massive size.
"Basil!" Harry called up to her. "I've come for you."
Mmmmmmiiiisssssssssed yyyooouuuuu… she lisped.
Harry grinned, craning his neck back to stare up at her. "You look well," he praised. "I missed you too."
She scented the air, eyes growing wide. She had only focused on Harry and so she'd missed the little detail of a second guest in her private living space. Yyyyoooouuuu brrrougghtttt ggguessssstt?
"Yes I did. Stop scaring him and stay still so I can help you with the transformation," Harry scolded. "We don't have much time."
Basil huffed again, but obediently held herself still.
Pointing the Elder Wand, Harry muttered the incantation. There was a brilliant flash of green light and then the massive creature began to shrink and twist, growing appendages where there were once none and turning serpentine features a little more human.
Eris was rudely jolted from his little spot of safety when Harry whisked off his overcloak and immediately draped it over the naked form huddled at his feet. He blushed a healthy shade of pink, averting his eyes before the girl could notice.
Harry dropped to a crouch beside Basil, stroking her soaking wet, brown-sugar hair and smiling down at her pale green face with fathomless black eyes and, nearly transparent scales of white and cream speckled along her entire body.
"A-am I beautiful?" she asked, in parseltongue. It was awkward to twist her forked tongue into such words that felt so natural in her true form.
Harry tipped her chin up and kissed her button nose, before chastely kissing her lips. She tasted of sea water and ice. "The most beautiful basilisk of all," he praised. "My Basil."
She lurched forward, throwing her arms around his neck, burying her damp fingers in his warm, furred ruff and crying in happiness. "Harry. Harry. Harry." She chanted. "My Harry." The cloak just about dwarfed her, but the movement of her arms and flared the fabric out around her.
Harry chuckled, arranging the cloak around her to better cover her bare form. He could transfigure it, but he could also simply snatch some clothes when they were topside again. He liked this particular cloak. It had been a gift he'd found in his parent's vaults. It wouldn't be a problem to transfigure a few things, but he'd always thought that he'd let his girls wear real clothes-that were made and not magically called into existence because he hadn't prepared ahead of time. Yes. He would definitely see about finding clothes when they were topside. "Can you stand? How are your feet?"
"Weird." She answered, truthfully. "Do I have to use them?"
Harry chuckled and pulled away from her embrace. He turned around and wiggled his hands, offering a temporary piggy back to their next destination. He'd already discreetly cast a featherlight charm. It wouldn't be the slightest imposition and this way, he could use a sticking charm, if necessary and still have his hands free.
Basil erupted in a flurry of happy hisses and sounds that shouldn't have come from such a human-looking mouth, but she readily hopped on, locking her legs around his waist—as best as she could—and her arms around his neck once more.
Harry's tail flicked lazily from side to side, smacking against Eris, before wrapping around one of his wrists in reassurance. Eris whimpered.
"This is Eris," Harry added, standing up to his full height, having checked that she was secure. He nodded to the pouting blond, giving his tail a slight tug to urge him forward. "He likes you better in this form, I think."
Eris blushed from pink to red at the tips of his ears, and he muttered a hello, grey eyes swiftly averted.
Basil grinned at him, a smile that was all pointed teeth and fangs, but softened by the true delight in her eyes. "You're the mirror, aren't you? You're the mirror! I have wanted to meet you."
"He can't understand parseltongue, love," Harry said, quietly. "It is a gift that not many have. But you'll learn to speak his language in time." He looked at Eris. "She's very happy to meet you and wants to know if you're the mirror boy." He chuckled. "He is, Basil, he is."
"How are we going to get out of here?" Eris wanted to know. He trailed beside Harry, content to be led by the tail wrapped around his wrist, as he clutched the edge of Harry's jumper. He was no longer worried or afraid, now that he could see what Harry had come for. Basil was peeking down at him from her perch, her smile shy and Eris puffed up with pride. They could be friends—maybe.
"Getting out of here?" Harry's smile morphed into a smirk. "Ah, Eris—that's the easy part."
A/N: Hey everyone! I'm glad you're enjoying this little fic-and that everyone liked Eris. he's a darling little thing and I can't wait to write more of him. He's definitely a bit more needy at times, but being trapped as a mirror for so long, can do that to a person. How did you like Basil? Did you see that one coming? There were some great guesses as to what Harry is, but I'm still not telling until I get a little further into the story-I will say that a few came pretty close though. Any guesses for who's next? :P Enjoy the madness and thanks for reading!~Scion