Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

A Brother to Basilisks	By : Lomonaaeren Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Draco Views: 85173 -:- Recommendations : 2 -:- Currently Reading : 15
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. I am making no money from this story.

Chapter List
- 9
- 10
- 11
Thank you again for all the reviews!
Chapter Ten—From a Distance
            Draco didn’t know what the—the fuck was going on with Potter since he got the snake, but he was coming to suspect that he was about to be left out of it.
            He was already sick of that.
            There were whispers all through the school the next day when Professor Lupin didn’t show up for class, and the whispers said that he had been summoned to the Ministry to testify somehow in the trial of Sirius Black. Draco had closely questioned the fifth-year Slytherin who’d told him that, in an effort to understand why Sirius Black was getting a trial now when everyone knew what he’d done, but the fifth-year was regrettably a half-blood and from an independent family.
            “Go do your own gossiping, Malfoy,” had been all the girl said when Draco tried to demand more accurate information, and turned back to her own conversation.
            Draco scowled.
            He scowled even more at the next announcement, from the Head Table as the students started to leave lunch, that Potions classes were canceled for the afternoon, as the Ministry had also requested Professor Snape’s presence.
            “I suspect that you will enjoy the holiday,” said Dumbledore, twinkling at everyone as though he fooled any student in Slytherin, and then sat down and continued on with his meal. His robes were a particularly nauseating shade of orange-pink today, Draco saw indignantly.
            No, we won’t, Draco thought, and stomped out of the Great Hall. Vince and Gregory were behind him as usual, but Theodore was also falling into line with him, and that was unusual.
            “Do you know anything about this?” Draco asked, although he made sure to keep his tone more polite than it had been with the fifth-year. Theodore was one of Draco’s yearmates, not older, but his father trusted him with some secrets that Lucius Malfoy hadn’t seen the light about showing to Draco yet.
            Theodore nodded, but paused as some Gryffindors went by before saying, under his breath, “Apparently they captured—well, Professor Snape captured—Sirius Black on the grounds yesterday. Only my father says that they don’t think he did it anymore. Something about Peter Pettigrew being alive, and the real criminal.”
            Draco gaped before he could stop himself. Then, as Theodore glanced sideways at him in amusement, he tried to smooth his face out and look as cool and calm and knowing as possible.
            “Of course he’s the real criminal, if he’s alive,” Draco said, as calmly as he could. “He probably slaughtered all those Muggles.”
            “That’s what my father’s spies in the Ministry told him,” Theodore murmured, and then moved ahead of Draco. Draco had meant to ask what Lupin had to do with all this, if Professor Snape was the one who had captured Black, but Theodore’s leaving put an end to that. On the other hand, Theodore tended to do that when he had no secrets left to share, so Draco wasn’t as put out as he might have been.
            And why haven’t they summoned Potter? You’d think he would have been jumping up and down to go.
            Cradling his wounded arm, Draco managed to draw near Potter. It was difficult, as they didn’t have a class right now due to the canceling of Potions and Potter and his friends were walking as fast as they could for Gryffindor Tower. Potter was stroking his basilisk and alternating between English words with his friends and Parseltongue words with Dash.
            What an undignified name, Draco thought, not for the first time. But right now he had more than the hope of a basilisk of his own for wanting to get an in with Potter. He also had the hope of gossip.
            “Potter!” he called, and hoped he sounded friendly. “Wait up!”
            Potter turned to glance at him, but while his face wasn’t angry, Draco had the distinct impression that was because he was thinking of something else, not because he had deeply considered Draco’s merits and come to the obvious conclusion. “What is it, Malfoy? I’m busy.”
            “I want to know about Sirius Black and all this business about him being captured and Professor Snape being called to testify,” said Draco, abandoning his attempt at friendliness. If Potter could be business-like, Draco could, too, even though it wasn’t the way he’d prefer to act towards Potter. “Why aren’t you with them?”
            Potter shrugged. “They said they would tell me the results as soon as the Aurors get done trying Pettigrew.” And then he tried to turn around and leave again, as though he hadn’t just told Draco something even juicier than Theodore had. At least he knew Theodore’s sources. He couldn’t believe that Professor Snape would just confide in Potter like that!
            He reached out one hand to grip Potter’s shoulder.
            The basilisk hissed.
            Draco found himself stopping all motion. And it wasn’t that the basilisk had paralyzed him—his lids were still over his eyes. It was just, one sound of that hiss and you just wanted to stand still for a little while, that was all. Draco thought even his father would have stood still, although that would be in respect and not fear.
            “Don’t touch me,” said Potter, turning back around and sending Draco a little frown. “Dash doesn’t want you to.”
            “Fine,” said Draco. He was proud of himself for shaking off the intense desire to keep standing still, and addressing Potter like an adult instead. “I won’t touch you. But how do you know so much? The whole school’s humming and no one knows, so how do you know?”
            For some strange reason, Potter smiled. “One instant you think I ought to be at the center of it because Sirius is my godfather, and the next instant you’re wondering how I know?” The basilisk swayed against him, and Potter absently stroked its neck, the way that Draco had seen some children (not himself, of course) tap a lucky quill. “You’re not consistent, Malfoy. And consistency is a virtue, you know.”
            Potter was imitating his father. He had to be. It was a lesson that Lucius tried to teach Draco all the time. Draco scowled. “Don’t make fun of me.”
            Potter shrugged. “Well, I hope that the newspapers and the Aurors are going to tell the truth this time, so it’ll be out in a few days, anyway. Pettigrew was a rat Animagus. He was—hiding near me and spying on me.” For some reason, Potter turned red, but Draco didn’t know why he would be lying about this. Like he said, it would be all out in the papers if it was true, and right now, Draco was listening with breathless attention that had to gratify Potter. “Dash smelled him, and said he smelled human. So we caught Sirius, and it turned out that the reason he came here was to protect me from Pettigrew.”
            Weasley pulled on Potter’s arm and whispered something. Potter nodded. “Right. See you, Malfoy.”
            And off they jogged. Draco stood there with his mouth open, wanting to ask more, but also not wanting to push his luck in case he destroyed the unusual good mood that had made Potter tell him that much in the first place.
            Of course, that only sparked more thoughts. How had Black known about Pettigrew? Where had Pettigrew hidden all these years? If he had come here to spy on Potter on his own, did that mean the Dark Lord was coming back?
            But eventually, Draco managed to shrug off his questions and trot back to the Slytherin common room, smug. He knew even more than Theodore did, now. He could sit on one of the couches and hint at people, and even the independent fifth-year would come to him to hear the gossip. He would be more popular than usual for a little while.
            It was almost enough to make Draco thank Potter. Or would have been if it had been combined with reassurance about when Potter would give him a basilisk egg.
*
            “Did you have to tell him even that much, mate?” Ron flopped back on his bed and stretched out his arms as if he wanted to embrace the ceiling. “He’s going to run around all smug and using it for gossip, and he’ll laugh his arse off when he finds out that Pettigrew was Scabbers.”
            “Dash said it was okay,” Harry muttered, as neutrally as he could, rooting in his trunk for more of his school robes. He’d spilled a glass of pumpkin juice on the ones he was wearing when Dumbledore had said that Potions was canceled for the day. And he’d spilled it on Dash, too. Dash had complained about that vigorously as they walked from the Great Hall to the Tower.
            “Dash said what?” Ron spun around onto his elbows with his feet dangling off the bed. Harry frowned a little. Dash was also long enough to reach the foot of the bed, but Harry wouldn’t be, even if he was lying closer to it than Ron was. He hoped he would be, too, someday, but it didn’t seem likely.
            “He said that Malfoy didn’t smell aggressive.” Harry shook his head a little when Ron stared at him. “Don’t look at me like that. I was surprised, too. But that’s what he said.”
            And I was right, Dash said, and looped his body around the pillow as he watched Harry take out the new robes. He didn’t attack you, did he?
            Harry looked at him in surprise. Then why did you hiss at him when he tried to touch me?
            Dash looped his head upside-down, which was something he often did when he had seen a contradiction in his own actions and didn’t want to admit it. I meant that he didn’t try to attack you after all.
            Harry laughed and went to the bathroom to put on the new robes. Dash didn’t come with him. While he adored the warm water of the shower, he didn’t like the cold tile, and usually refused to join Harry there unless he was actually going to wash. Luckily, their bond didn’t seem to be affected by distance.
            Why aren’t you angry about all the times that Malfoy harmed me in the past? Harry asked, and took off his robes and shook them out. No, he would have to use a harsh Cleaning Charm on them to wear them again. He would just have to use the new ones.
            Because I wasn’t there to see it. Dash yawned, the sound audible to Harry at that distance. But when I see him getting ready to attack you, then I would be ready to bite him.
            Harry rolled his eyes and pulled on the new robes, then walked over to the mirror to adjust his tie. I told you, you can’t bite anyone.
            Now that the Headmaster has made my poison less deadly, I can. Some people need to be taught a lesson.
            Harry paused in drawing his knot through. The way Dash had said those last words sounded…serious. Who are you talking about?
            Dash didn’t reply for a moment or two, which only concerned Harry more. Dash? he asked, and finished up with the tie. He wanted to be out there and with his basilisk as soon as possible.
            You don’t need to sound as though I’m going to sneak out of your bed and bite anyone I encounter, Dash said sulkily. I’m saving my venom for when I need it.
            I’m just worried that you’ll decide that’s during a time when I’m not around. Harry hurried out of the bathroom and lay on the bed next to Dash, accepting it as the basilisk carefully pushed the tip of his tongue into Harry’s neck, gathering up the scent. Or you might decide to use it on Sirius or something if he’s annoying.
            Dash lashed his tail. I will if he changes his mind about you and I living together.
            Harry stroked the soft, small scales on the back of Dash’s neck, where they came together neatly enough that there were almost chinks between them. Dash tossed his head back and flicked his tongue out in what looked like drunken bliss. From his bed, Ron rolled his eyes.
            “You’re worse than Neville with Trevor, I swear,” he muttered, and turned away to gather up his chess set. “Fancy a game?”
            Harry didn’t, actually, but he reckoned it would make Ron feel better. He was still tender about Scabbers, and no wonder. “Sure,” he said, and scrambled to the end of the bed, while Dash arranged himself so that his head was in Harry’s lap and most of his body was tucked under the covers for warmth.
            You can’t always bite people, you know, Harry told Dash as he stroked behind his plume this time. He was such a terrible chess player anyway that having a conversation with his basilisk while he played Ron didn’t change things all that much. What would have happened if you’d just swallowed Scabbers the way you wanted to? Then we wouldn’t have the proof that Sirius was innocent, and I wouldn’t be going to live with him.
            But then I could have bitten the Muggles.
            Harry snorted and leaned forwards to move his knight in what was probably the wrong direction. But it was worth it to watch Ron’s face light up.
*
            Severus grimaced and swallowed the antidote to the Veritaserum. The eyes of the Wizengamot members who sat along the gallery railing were too speculative already. At least he had not been forced to confess every detail of his childhood interaction with the Marauders. There had been a few people interested in that, personal enemies or past parents of students, but Fudge had taken control of the questioning quickly and moved it in the right direction. Fudge was a competent politician when he had someone to tell him what to do.
            Dumbledore, although he wasn’t here now, was the one who had set Fudge on this particular path. And Fudge was still nodding and rubbing his hands. Even his usual animosity for Dumbledore, Severus thought, had been driven aside by his relief at having a clear path to follow through a confusing situation, and the thought of the scandal that might attach to the Ministry otherwise. They never had given Sirius Black a proper trial, Dumbledore had told Fudge thoughtfully right before he departed…
            Now, Fudge held up his hands as though appealing to someone, and murmured to the member of the Wizengamot beside him, “We’ve heard all the testimony?”
            “Yes,” said that woman, a white-haired witch named Abigail Marcus, and leaned out as if she wanted to get a better look both at Pettigrew, in the prisoner’s chair, and at Sirius Black, who sat not far away with an Auror guard beside him. “And I must admit, it makes things easier, knowing that someone who doesn’t like Black is still prepared to testify that there was injustice done to him.”
            Severus kept his sneer to himself. This wasn’t Hogwarts, where he would get away with it. And he wondered if any of those fools knew that he was here only because Albus had ordered him to be.
            Well, yes, and there was the potential chance of courting Potter’s goodwill. But Severus was both unsure that this gesture was enough to win it and that Potter would really become as powerful as Severus thought he might. That was only a suspicion.
            “The decision should be clear, then,” said Fudge, and glanced from side to side as though he was prepared to throw out anyone who disagreed. Again, Severus concealed a sneer. In reality, the man was as soft and yielding as the foodstuff he was named after. “Who agrees that, based on the testimony of those parties involved and our witnesses, that Peter Pettigrew was guilty of the treachery against James and Lily Potter?”
            So many hands went up that someone could potentially hide amongst them with their hand down. Still, Severus doubted many would. The evidence was too clear, and any secretly loyal Death Eaters—like Lucius Malfoy—would vote to save their own skins no matter what their sympathy with Pettigrew.
            “And who agrees that Sirius Black should go free?” asked Fudge, and once again turned around, while beside him, Marcus counted the hands and scribbled down the numbers with a quill that was enchanted to move fast.
            Again, hands rose. Severus glanced at Black. He was looking from face to face as if a little dazed, one hand rising to touch the stubble on his chin. Possibly there were tears filling his eyes, although Severus was far enough away not to be able to see them easily.
            So the mutt wins after all, Severus thought, and swallowed a draught of bitterness greater than many of his own potions.
            But it would damage him more to let it out. For one thing, he had already testified that he believed Black was innocent; he had been convinced by Pettigrew’s stuttered words, by the fact that it was too great a coincidence for Pettigrew to survive and also to bear a Dark Mark, and even by what Black had said, Merlin help him. He would not turn his back on something he could not disown.
There was also still the fact of Potter.
Severus did not know that Potter would change the game between the Dark Lord and Dumbledore, between Dumbledore and the rest of the wizarding world, even between Severus and Black. He only thought it was possible.
            He would retain that chance, the chance that he might be able to act freely someday, as long as he could.
*
            “Hey, kiddo. I’m—they freed me.”
            Harry flew over to Sirius and grabbed him around the waist. Dash followed at a more dignified pace, and because Harry was holding Sirius, he felt him stiffen. Harry sniffed and glanced back and forth between Sirius and his snake. “Both of you, play nice.”
            All basilisk s know how to do that. Dash draped himself over Harry’s shoulders and around his waist. It’s the rest of the world that refuses to play nice with us.
            “It’s not easy to get used to a bloody great snake twined around you,” Sirius muttered, but he shook his head and smiled helplessly at Harry in the next second, as if he was—charmed by him, the way that so many adults seemed to be by Dudley. It was a way that only Mrs. Weasley had ever smiled at Harry, so it was pretty easy to forgive Sirius. “And now it’s settled. You’re going to come and live with me.”
            “Really?” Harry turned and glanced doubtfully at Dumbledore. They were in his office, and he had been standing behind his desk and watching Sirius and Harry’s reunion with a little smile. Now, he lifted his eyebrows.
            “Yes, my boy. I think it is what your parents would have wished. Sirius is your godfather, after all! They had reasons for making him so.”
            Harry breathed in deeply and spun around to look at Sirius. “And you’ll tell me stories of them? All the ones you promised?”
            “All the ones I promised and all the ones Remus can remember.” Sirius reached down and shook Harry’s shoulder a little, smiling. “He’ll visit us a lot. And he’ll be here as a professor, of course. You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”
            “Him as a professor or him visiting us?” Harry asked, and laughed at the look on Sirius’s face, and hugged him again. “Either. Both.” He was happy with a kind of happiness that he didn’t know what to do with; it kept bubbling up and flooding him, and he wanted to spin around in the middle of Dumbledore’s office with his arms out, laughing. “This is—Sirius, I don’t have any words for how great this is.”
            Sirius’s face softened, and for the first time since he’d transformed, he really looked like an adult to Harry. His hands came to rest gently on Harry’s shoulders. “I’ll try to be worthy, then,” he whispered into Harry’s hair. “The way that I should have been in the first place. The godfather I always should have been.”
            He was acting insane, and now he is not, Dash said, his tongue shooting out as if he wanted to test Sirius’s scent again, although Harry knew he had smelled it the minute they came into the room. I wonder why that is?
            Harry hesitated. Sirius was acting normal now, but then again, Uncle Vernon could act normal in front of other people, too, like Mrs. Figg. “Are you—are you going to get counseling or something?” he asked. “You were kind of scary before.”
            “I—suppose I could.” Sirius blinked and glanced at Dumbledore. “I’m hoping that the Headmaster here can recommend someone.”
            “I’d be happy to,” said Dumbledore, and beamed kindly at both of them.
            I don’t trust him. But Harry thought he could distrust Dumbledore and still live with Sirius. For one thing, then they wouldn’t have to go back to the Dursleys.
            Someday, Dash said dreamily, I will visit them.
*
            “Professor Snape?”
            Severus turned around, staring. That was the last voice he had expected to hear, especially on the first day that Black was officially out of Ministry custody.
But Harry Potter stood in the doorway of his office, and he didn’t back away or flush or flinch when Severus scowled at him. Perhaps the enormous snake on his shoulders had something to do with that. Oddly, Severus hoped not. Artificial bravery would not be of much use in most of the situations Potter was likely to find himself in.
“Yes?” Severus asked, and tried to make his voice less harsh than the croak that wanted to overcome it.
“I wanted to thank you for testifying the way you did for Sirius,” said Potter, and his voice was precise, and perhaps the snake had been good for his diction, too, because he spoke the words clearly, not in the disgusting mumble that was one of Severus’s biggest objections to Gryffindors. “I know he won’t thank you for it. Maybe someday one of you will tell me why. But I wanted to say it.”
Severus blinked and stared, and Potter turned and slipped away. A Slytherin couldn’t have done it better.
Severus stood there for a second, and then nodded quietly to himself.
It still might be true that Potter wouldn’t change the game as much as Severus thought he would. But there was something there—kindness or humility or foresight—that could reach out to a man who had humiliated him often and had only recently changed his behavior.
Whatever it was, Severus wanted to be close to it, to ensure that the flame did not go out.
*
ChaosLady: Thank you!
staar: Snape does not really know what he’s up to, but he wants to be up to it!
moodysavage: Right now, he is planning to do that a lot.
BAFan: Thank you!
SP777: Dash would get jealous if Harry then gave him no attention. But that would be pretty difficult to do.
- 9
- 10
- 11
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

A Brother to Basilisks