Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

AN: Another HP one. This one has a different take on the whole Boy-Who-Lived thing. Let me know if you'd like to adopt this or even just the bunny.

I'm not too sure I like this beginning but I wasn't sure how else to write it.

Baby Basilisk

The first time he'd done it his Daddy had screamed and his Mummy had come running. Daddy had been forced to explain to a skeptical wife that their son really had changed into a snake and if he hadn't still been alive he'd have thought it a Basilisk. Mummy hadn't believed him.

The next time had been in his sleep and it was Mummy who had screamed when she'd come in to check on him. Daddy had been smug for days and Mummy had locked herself in the library. She'd returned later with an explanation. He was a natural animagus. Daddy had not only been right about him being a snake but his being a Basilisk as well. She'd told Daddy that he was just too young to kill with his gaze. They'd need to take certain precautions as his gaze would gradually gain strength much like a mandrake with their cry. Mummy said that baby basilisks relied on their venom and when he was a year old a second, clear eyelid should grow. Soon after his gaze would turn lethal. There was always the chance though that an animagus was different than a true basilisk and his gaze could develop prematurely.

Soon after this realization came about they placed a warning system around him. It would emit a low pitched sound only they could hear when he was transformed. There was also safety spells placed upon them that would negate or minimize the damage done should his gaze develop sooner than expected. Mummy continued to work on negating his gaze entirely and working with him to help him gain control of his form.

They would never know how very lucky he was that they didn't find a spell to rid him of his gaze for it would save him life.

---

The air was heavy the night the bad man came. His human tongue flicked out, much like his snake's tongue, tasting the air. Something was coming and his life would never be the same. Somehow this thought, not yet comprehended by his young mind, ripped a cry from his throat. Fat tears poured down his chubby cheeks as his Mummy scooped him up.

An alarm ripped through the house, audible to only those who lived there as the door burst open. He heard his Daddy yell for his Mummy to run and they were moving. He was being jostled but he didn't mind much. The feeling in the air was closer and the snake within knew that whatever was to happen was happening now.

There was a thump from downstairs and a choked sob from his Mummy as they tumbled into his room. The stairs creaked as Mummy put him down in his crib. The door burst open much like the front door had only moments before and he watched a man who wasn't Daddy come in as Mummy pleaded. His eyes clenched closed. Something was happening and he didn't want to see. Tears leaked from behind shut eyes as he heard a second thump.

He felt the snake rise; the need to protect itself forefront in his mind. He heard a shout. Bright, bulbous yellow eyes with slit pupils looked at the green light on the tip of the stick, the magic rising completely within and the change took over. A snake, larger than one his age should be but certainly not big by basilisk standards lay in the place the boy had sat. The light left the stick and struck thick hide. Agony ripped through the snake as the light was absorbed, scales shifting and twisting as the light enveloped its form trying to find a way in before it gathered back where the light had hit. A silent scream erupted from the snake as the light shot back out. It didn't travel straight but at an angle so it missed the man and hit the wall. Flames licked the curtains, spreading quickly.

The snake's head turned, eyes shining a bright killing curse green and a sickly red cut above one eye, to look at the human that had hurt it so. It watched the human tense as the eyes widened and dulled before the body collapsed in on itself, dust scattering on impact with the hard floor. A black cloud pulled itself free from the robes and fled into the night. A scream of both agony and rage resounding back.

The snake's eyes drooped and it's form shimmered before a small, black haired boy collapsed back into the crib, blood sluggishly escaping the cut above one eye.


BUNNY

Harry didn't get his parseltongue ability from Voldemort. He's a natural animagus - a Basilisk. When Voldemort turned his wand on Harry, Harry transformed. The curse rebounded off his thick skin ... maybe the curse didn't actually hit Voldemort but Harry's eyes were what killed him and the curse was what set the fire. Voldemort was in too much pain to remember or notice Harry's change. Harry's secret is safe ... for now.