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The Dark Lord’s New Pet Snake 🐍
*Disclaimer: I don’t own Harry Potter. No money is made with this, I write out of love and not for money. Comments and kudos are more then welcome though. Enjoy!*
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Letting out one deep breath, Harry looked at his reflection one last time.
“Alright. I can do this. Just get in, play snake, gather some intel and get out. No big deal,” he reminded himself of his plan. Ever since he found out that his animagus form was a snake, he had thought that it would be something that would be very useless to him. But then, he remembered how obsessed Voldemort was with snakes. Surely, one more in his headquarters wouldn’t be surprising? He could sneak around and listen in on meetings and audiences and no one would be any wiser.
“Wand? Check. Invisibility cloak for emergencies? Check! Snack, in case I have to stay longer? Check. Extendable ears? Check,” Harry said to himself, going through his pockets one last time. Maybe he should give someone a heads-up on what he was planning, maybe one of his friends, but then again, he was sure they would try and talk him out of this. And even though he was aware of how insanely reckless his plan was, he wanted to do this. So after one last look around his room, Harry changed into his snake form and snuck down to where the Order was wrapping up their meeting and curled up in Snape’s potion bag which he was supposed to deliver to Voldemort right afterwards.
~*~
The Death Eaters’ headquarters were surprisingly lacking snakes Harry noticed once he managed to sneak out of Snape’s back again – really, that man should be more careful about his possessions – and slithered through the dark hallways of the unknown location. Somehow, Harry had thought that the Death Eaters and their Dark Lord were all chilling at Malfoy Manor. But he had yet to find anything that would tell him where exactly he was. While the interior certainly screamed filthy-rich-so-most-definitely-purebloods-living-here at him, Harry had no idea which Death Eater was on housing-Voldemort-duty at the moment.
Wiggling around the corner, Harry froze. Oh no. There she was. The one snake Harry had hoped to not cross paths with – Nagini.
“~Who are you?~,” the big snake demanded, though she sounded more curious than murderous at the moment.
“~Uhm…~,” Harry hissed unsure. He couldn’t say he was Harry! He needed to come up with a different name so Nagini couldn’t rattle him out! Merlin, he should have thought this one through before!
Nagini glided closer, her forked tongue coming out and tasting the air.
“~I’ve never seen you before~,” the Dark Lord’s familiar wondered. “~The other snakes are all afraid of me. You don’t smell like any snake I met before though.~”
“~I… I’m lost~,” Harry tried to explain. “~I was looking for… for food? But there were hu– two-legs’ around and I’m scared?~”
Nagini moved her head up and down as if she was nodding. “~Pest-y two-legs. They are getting in the way of good hunting. I don’t know why master keeps them around. Come with me, hatchling. I’ll share my prey if you share a story with me.~”
~*~
And that was how Harry, or rather Jeshile, the hatchling, came to ‘hang out’ with Nagini in an empty office. He was rather glad that his stomach and taste buds where those of a snake, because he was pretty sure that if he thought too much about it, he wouldn’t be able to keep the dead rat down Nagini had generously gifted to him. The Dark Lord’s familiar had asked for his name again and since he didn’t have one – thank Merlin that wasn’t too strange – she had named him Jeshile, an Albanian word for green. And after a while, Harry found himself relaxing despite the company and the strange, unfamiliar environment. That was, until the door opened and the Dark Lord himself entered the room.
Harry immediately tensed up and let out an involuntary hiss. Voldemort paused in his steps and blinked, reptilian eyes settling on the two snakes curled up together in front of the fire.
“~Nagini~,” the dark wizard asked in parseltongue, his voice guarded. “~Who is your little friend?~”
Much to Harry’s surprise he found he was irritated rather than scared, because little? He was not little, he was almost 28 inches long, thank you very much!
Nagini hissed and wound herself protectively around Harry, which startled him a little, but he found he didn’t mind. Hopefully Nagini liking him would keep him alive long enough to either flee or complete his self-claimed mission. Not that Harry regretted anything in that moment, no he didn’t!
“~Jeshile is my friend, master. He’s a hatchling who got lost~,” Nagini told her master.
Carefully, Harry let his own tongue out to taste the air. He couldn’t detect any form of anger or murderous intent from the wizard in the air between them. The Dark Lord only seemed interested and amused.
“~Ah, I see~,” Voldemort replied. “~Jeshile, was it? May I have a look at you? I have a strong interest in snakes and whenever I get the chance, I like to admire your kind.~”
Harry hesitated and actually found himself looking at Nagini for guidance. She would know her master better, at least he hoped she would. The living horcrux nudged Harry with her head and uncoiled a bit, giving him the option of either fulfilling the request or stay out of it.
Slow and hesitant, Harry slithered closer to his greatest enemy, until he was almost two feet away from him. Nervously, he tasted the air again while those red eyes seemed to drink him in. It felt almost as if the dark wizard was stripping him with his eyes. Was Harry the only one feeling the tension in the air?
“~Trimeresurus flavomaculatus~,” Voldemort muttered quietly, as if he was talking to himself. “~A Philippine pit viper. And such a beautiful one at that. Your red eyes and marks are stunning. May I touch you, Jeshile?~”
“~Uh…. S-sure?~,” Harry stuttered, his body twitching lightly.
Slowly, as if not to startle him, an elegant, pale hand reached out and touched one of Harry’s coils, petting him gently. And oh, that felt rather nice, Harry found, surprised. Who would have thought?
He actually found himself hissing softly, his eyes closing on their own.
“~Jeshile likes you, master~,” Nagini said as she slid closer to them, most likely to get her own share of pets.
Now, Harry wouldn’t go that far, but for now, he wasn’t going to say anything as to not offend anyone.
“~I’m glad. I hope you stay a little longer, Jeshile~,” Voldemort said invitingly. Harry tilted his head.
“~Will I be safe here?~,” he asked hesitantly and almost recoiled at the dark look that crossed over Voldemort’s face.
“~Nobody will dare touching you, I promise~,” Voldemort replied. “~I will protect you and take good care of you.~”
“~Master will do that. He takes good care of me too~,” Nagini added, sounding rather eager at the prospect of having another snake around.
“~Alright. I’ll stay a little longer~,” Harry heard himself agree. And who would have thought that a dark lord could look this happy?
~*~
That was how Harry found himself curled up on Voldemort’s lap during a Death Eaters’ meeting at some point, enjoying the gentle petting while the Dark Lord received reports, gave orders and did his scheming. Much to his surprise, this was actually rather boring and much more politics talk and much less blood bath than he had expected. Yawning, Harry curled up a little tighter and was about to take a nap, when a familiar voice made him perk his head up.
“My Lord, the Order is getting restless.”
That was Snape. What was he saying about the Order?
“It has been a week since Potter left their headquarters and nobody knows where he is or why he left,” the potion master kept on.
A week?! He had been gone for a week already? Merlin’s pants, this was bad! How did this happen?
“Every free Order member is looking for the boy, but since it seems that he left on his own free will and hasn’t used his wand since then, not even Dumbledore’s usual tracking methods are working,” Snape explained.
Harry hissed in agitation and found it rather pleasing that Snape actually took half a step back at the sound. It still didn’t distract him enough from the fact that apparently, his headmaster had put a damn tracker on him? What the fuck?!
“~What has you so angry?~,” Voldemort asked, red eyes fixed on Harry, while the soft hisses coming from the man were rather soothing.
Quickly, Harry made an excuse. “~I don’t like this one~,” he hissed, gesturing towards Snape with his head. And well, that wasn’t a lie. He really didn’t like Snape.
Voldemort hummed and resumed his petting. “Finish quickly, Severus,” he ordered in English. “My little Jeshile can’t stand you and if you don’t want to find out what his venom might do to you, I suggest you hurry up with your report. You have a Golden Boy to find, don’t you?”
Snape visually paled and took another step backwards. Voldemort chuckled darkly, long slender fingers gently scratching Harry’s still raised head. Needless to say that Snape did exactly that.
Harry was unable to rest for the remaining time of the meeting and once Voldemort carried Nagini, who had been sleeping on her master’s shoulders the whole time, and him back to his quarters, Harry found that he wanted to ask something.
“~M-master?~,” he tried, squirming at the name. Harry was still a little squeamish about using that title to address Voldemort, though it was the one Nagini used and Harry was pretending to be a snake, so he couldn’t know better, could he?
“~What is it, beautiful?~”
And those damn pet names the Dark Lord kept calling him. It was all very confusing.
“~Who is this Harry Potter everyone keeps talking about?~”
Voldemort sighed and sat down on the bed. “~Harry Potters is a wizard, like me. He’s supposed to be my enemy because of a prophecy. But that prophecy already mostly fulfilled itself when I killed his parents and tried to kill him. Because of the prophecy, however, everyone thinks that we must battle each other to death.~”
If Harry was in his human body, he would have blinked. That… didn’t sound like anything he had expected. This almost sounded like…
“~You don’t want to kill him?~,” he hissed questioningly and watched in wonder as the Dark Lord shook his head.
“~I think it would be possible to come to some kind of truce, negotiate for peace. But I haven’t figured out if the Light side might be willing to form a treaty. And now, that boy is missing too.~”
Harry faked a yawn. He had heard enough for now, his head reeling from confusion and his thoughts where allover the place.
“~You two-legs are weird~,” Harry hissed and curled up, enjoying the petting he was getting again.
“~He’s right, master. You really are. Should I track down that boy for you?~,” Nagini chimed in, having obviously listened to their conversation.
“~Not yet, Nagini~,” Voldemort declined. “~Let’s see how this continues for now. It’s no use to look for Potter while the Order does so. Why not let them do the work for us? And who knows, maybe the boy will return on his own.~”
Harry closed his eyes and listened to Voldemort’s and Nagini’s soft hisses while he let his mind wander. This was absolutely not what he had expected to experience on his secret solo mission.
~*~
“Iiieek!”, Bellatrix shrieked and jumped onto the table in the large library of the manor. “Don’t come any closer, you creepy, ugly snake!”
Harry had been minding his business, because for once, Nagini was taking up all of their master’s attention. His snake friend was shedding at the moment and with her length, she had a lot to go through. So Harry had left them and went to explore in hopes of clearing his head. That was when he had crawled upon Bellatrix in the library. At first, the insane witch had tried to kick him, but Harry let his instincts take over and soon, the Death Eater was sporting two sets of bleeding bite marks on her leg.
“You piece of trash bit me! I’ll have my Lord skin you alive!”
The witch was trembling and stumbled a little. Then her rapidly swelling legs gave out under her and she fell off the table. Her body twitched as Bellatrix clutched her chest, right above her heart. Harry hissed again, moving away from her.
“H-help!,” Bellatrix called out. The cramping and convulsing of her body got stronger and stronger, while her breathing grew irregular.
Harry couldn’t help but watch in fascination. He had known he was venomous, but he hadn’t known what exactly his venom would do. And since it was Bellatrix’ fault that Sirius was dead and she had kicked Harry too, he couldn’t help but feel as if she deserved what was happening. He hissed again, tasting the fear in the air and somehow, this satisfied Harry more than he was comfortable admitting.
“P-please, help!,” Bellatrix called out again and it was in that same moment that Voldemort entered the room.
“What is going on in here?,” Voldemort asked, his red eyes going back and forth between Harry and Bellatrix.
“Y-your snake b-bit m-me,” Bellatrix forced out. “Help, M-my Lord.”
Instead of coming closer or even taking a look at her injuries, Voldemort just leaned against the door frame.
“I told all of you that Jeshile is not to be touched, Bellatrix,” Voldemort stated calmly.
Bellatrix’ eyes widened in fear and she started begging, but the Dark Lord didn’t move. Harry was stunned.
“You must have offended Jeshile in some way. There is nothing I can do for you,” Voldemort shrugged and kept watching until the witch succumb to the magically enhanced venom inside her body. Just then, Voldemort pushed himself off the frame and went over, checking Bellatrix’ pulse.
“~She’s dead. Let’s leave, gorgeous~,” the Dark Lord said and offered his arm for Harry to climb. Before he could think about it, Harry had already crawled onto Voldemort’s shoulders.
They made their way back to Voldemort’s office in silence. He knew that the dark wizard must have questions and when he was gently placed on the large desk, Harry knew that he needed to answer them.
“~Why did you kill Bellatrix?~,” Voldemort asked, just as expected. He was blunt about it too, obviously not feeling the need to beat around the bush. Surprisingly, he didn’t sound angry.
Nagini looked up from where she had been resting, hissing softly, intrigued.
“~She kicked me… and I was also taking revenge, but I hadn’t planned on doing that. It just happened on instinct~,” Harry answered honestly, slowly moving around on the desk he was placed on.
“~Revenge for what, darling?~,” Voldemort asked, visibly intrigued.
“~For causing the death of my godfather~,” Harry said after a moment of consideration. And for the first time in over a week, he shifted back into his human form, sitting on the Dark Lord’s desk. The dark wizard recoiled, but to his credit didn’t draw his wand.
“Harry Potter,” Voldemort said, sounding almost awed.
“Lord Voldemort,” Harry replied, staring into those red eyes with his green ones. Their staring match lasted until Harry startled. Nagini had climbed the desk, her fresh scales gliding over his hands while she wrapped herself around him.
“~Jeshile is a wizard?~,” Nagini asked, something akin to betrayal in her voice.
“~I’m sorry, Nagini~,” Harry sincerely apologized. He had learned how lonely the big snake was and it broke his heart to disappoint her like that. She had been so kind and protective. Slowly, he reached out and touched her coils, wanting to soothe her.
The large snake sighed, her head coming to rest on his thigh.
“~Will you still spent time with me as a snake, hatchling?~”
The question was unexpected, but Harry immediately nodded. “~Of course! I really like hanging out with you.~”
“~Alright~,” Nagini said simply, her dark eyes closing.
The sound of Voldemort clearing his throat interrupted their conversation and Harry startled again. How could he have forgotten that their m- his enemy was still there?
“Right…,” Harry coughed and scratched the back of his head sheepishly. “So… negotiations?”
“You break into my headquarters, spy on us, kill one of my people, betray my trust and corrupt my familiar… and expect to negotiate with me?”
Ah. There was the anger Harry had been waiting for.
“Oh please, as if you haven’t killed enough of your enemies. Besides, this had literally nothing to do with you. And if you really wanted, you could have saved her. You can’t tell me you don’t have an antidote for my venom anywhere,” Harry spat and leaned in, glaring. “And I think after all the shit you put me through, I deserve a little revenge, don’t you think?”
The Dark Lord blinked slowly and then it seemed hat he came to a conclusion. “Fine,” he said and leaned back, arms crossed in front of his chest. “Since you have a point and also didn’t murder me in my sleep, let’s hear your proposal.”
~*~
And that was how negotiations between Voldemort and the Order started. All the while, Harry refused to leave the Dark Lord’s side. At first, it was to avoid the scolding of his friends. They sure had a lot to say when they met again, but Harry made sure to avoid them as much as possible. It took a few weeks, a lot of compromising, but then, both sides signed a peace treaty.
Afterwards, Harry just didn’t want to leave. He felt comfortable with Nagini and with his life no longer being in danger, he found it much more enjoyable to be Jeshile than being Harry. Voldemort too was enjoying his new snake-y companion, if the continuation of pet names was anything to go by. He also seemed to enjoy Harry’s company. They spend a lot of time discussing magic and their experiences in the muggle world, among other things. At some point, Harry too became Voldemort’s ‘darling’ and, after a little – big – freak-out, Harry found that he didn’t mind. And if they finally kissed on Harry’s seventeenth birthday, well… nobody's business, really.
🐍 End! 🐍