Prince of Serpents

"Harry!" exclaimed Sirius happily, a grin on his face as he met up with his godson outside the Great Hall. His eyes glittered with mischief.

Harry smiled widely and embraced the taller man. He was pleased with how well Sirius looked.

"Sirius, you prat! Why didn't you tell me they let you out without a trial?" asked Harry with mock anger.

"I wanted to surprise you," answered Sirius with a deep-throated chuckle.

"Well, you certainly did," assured the green-eyed boy, laughing.

"It's good to see you again, Sirius," Hermione told him, smiling. Ron, who was behind her, nodded enthusiastically.

"So Sirius, what kinda of stuff are we gonna be learning in Defense class this year?" prompted Ron with a mischievous grin.

The question brought a rich laugh from Sirius' lips.

"You'll find out when you have me, you little trickster," he answered with a twinkle in his eye.

"And Hermione," he said, turning with a warm smile to the girl. "Congratulations on earning Head Girl this year."

Hermione flushed slightly pink. "Thanks."

"'Mione, you're still going to let us boys get away with stuff, right?" asked Ron suddenly, turning to his girlfriend with puppy-dog eyes.

Hermione laughed and started to lecture him on how he shouldn't be getting in trouble anyway. She sounded reminiscently like Professor McGonagall.

Sirius took advantage of the moment to lean over and whisper in Harry's ear, "So what was it that you wanted to talk to me about?"

Harry glanced at Ron and Hermione, quickly thinking up an excuse to talk with his godfather.

"Hey guys, I'm just going to go get some stuff that Sirius brought for me, alright? I'll be up in the common room in a few minutes."

The couple didn't argue with him, and bid Harry and Sirius goodbye before heading off towards the Gryffindor common room. When they were out of sight, Sirius turned to the black-haired boy expectantly. Harry looked around nervously.

"Do you think we could go to your office to talk?" he asked gingerly.

"Of course," answered Sirius, his brow furrowing slightly at the serious expression on the boy's face.

Sirius leading the way, the headed off towards his office. Once inside, Harry looked around in interest, noting how the room seemed to change each year, at least in the last few years he had visited it. With Professor Lockhart, the walls had been plastered with pictures and clippings from the Daily Prophet of said Professor. With Remus Lupin as its occupant, you were more likely to find the latest specimen of dark creature that he would use to teach his class with. Dark Detectors and other such strange things had filled the room in the year of Professor Moody. In the past two years, the office had seen only one occupant. Professor Vargo, by far the most eccentric man Harry had ever met, had kept the room filled with books on curses, counter-curses, the deepest secrets of the Dart Arts and how to defend yourself from them.

But Sirius, having only been there a few days, hadn't had time to leave his mark on the office. Harry was sure that it wouldn't be long before Sirius had everything from books to living dark creatures to cursed objects filling the room. The man seemed to have a knack for such things.

"Tea?" asked Sirius, breaking Harry's train of thought.

"Hmm?" Harry turned his eyes to his godfather's. "Oh, yes please."

Sirius gave him a strange look before setting about to making tea. When each had a steaming cup of tea with sugar and cream, his brow was still creased anxiously.

"Are you alright, Harry?" he asked with concern. "You seem a little...distracted."

Harry sighed and set his cup down on the arm of his chair, putting his head in his hands.

"No, I'm not alright," he said softly.

Sirius knew better than to prompt him to continue; he would let Harry tell him in his own time.

"It's Draco," he started finally, keeping his eyes on the floor.

"What has he done to you this time?" asked Sirius darkly before he could stop himself.

"Nothing," answered Harry hurriedly, looking up to meet Sirius' eyes so the man would see he was not lying. Sirius relaxed slightly, waiting for Harry to continue.

"I think." Harry struggled to find the right words, raking his fingers through his thick hair. "I think I've fallen in love with him."

Harry looked up and saw Sirius' dark eyes soften and the rest of his body lose its tenseness.

"So that's it then," he said softly, smiling slightly at the boy.

Harry nodded with a guilty look on his face.

"Hey, don't look so ashamed," Sirius told him with a quiet chuckle. "I've been through the same thing, you really shouldn't worry about it."

"You?" asked Harry in surprise, looking up from his examination of a crack between the floorboards.

"Yes, me," answered Sirius, still chuckling good-naturedly.

"When, and with who?" asked Harry after a second, wondering if his godfather would even want to tell him.

Sirius' expression turned pensive and thoughtful.

"When I was in seventh year," he answered with a faint smile. "I fell completely in love with my friend Moony. Or, Remus Lupin to you, that is."

Harry's jaw dropped. "Professor Lupin?" he asked incredulously.

Sirius nodded, chuckling, "Yep that's him. Quite a looker in my school days, Moony was. I think even Prongs might have fallen for him if he hadn't met Lily."

A small smile quirked the corners of Harry's mouth.

"See, there's nothing to be afraid of," Sirius told him with a smile.

"It's not like he'll ever like me back anyway." Harry answered softly, his smile fading and his eyes dropping back to the ground.

"Hey," Sirius reached over and tipped Harry's chin up. "Don't worry. I have a feeling there might be more to that boy than you think."

*****

Draco, upstairs in his dormitory, was lying on his bed. His mind was whirling with thoughts of what had happened on the train. The sight of Harry Potter stripping off one article of clothing at a time had nearly caused him to blurt out every feeling he had in him for the boy. But he had known better than to do that. After all, hadn't Harry turned away from him all that time? Shown no reaction to him whatsoever?

Draco sighed and closed his eyes, shutting out the dark green canopy above him. Harry Potter was too good for him in every way imaginable.

*****

Morning was soon to come, and Harry was pleased to find out that Care of Magical Creatures was his first class. He hadn't gotten a chance to speak with Hagrid yet, and his talk with Sirius the day before had lightened his heart greatly.

"I wonder what new creatures Hagrid has for us this time," Seamus commented with a chuckle. "I hope we all get out of this class alive this year."

"I'm sure he'll have something interesting," answered Hermione, smiling.

Harry, too wondered what Hagrid had in store for them, although he wasn't sure whether to be eager about it or not. Hagrid's tendency to teach them about any creature that could kill them in a few seconds made many of the students nervous, including him.

Hagrid's hut came into sight, and Hagrid stood in front of it waiting for them. He was grinning widely and waved the whole class over.

"Now," he told them as he led them around to the back of the cabin, "I got somethin' really special for ye for the next few days. The creatures we'll be studyin' first'll be." He paused dramatically, "centaurs!"

Harry's eyebrows shot up as he saw the majestic creature standing in Hagrid's back yard, and he said incredulously, "Firenze?"

The blonde centaur with a palomino body smiled at him. "Greetings, Harry Potter. I was hoping to see you again. It has been 6 years now, has it not?" The centaur's voice was rich and musical, and his eyes were as sapphire-blue as Harry remembered.

"Yes, that's right," Harry said softly.

Everyone in the class was staring in awe and surprise at the exchange, but both Harry and the centaur seemed oblivious.

"You look well," Firenze told Harry, looking him over from head to toe. "But I am very sure you have not grown so much as to not be able to ride me again, am I right?"

Harry chuckled, "I hope not. That was incredible."

"Why not let the boy go fer another, Firenze?" broke in Hagrid, to Harry's great surprise.

Everyone else was still silent, watching on with their jaws at varying degrees of openness.

"I don't see why not," answered Firenze easily. He turned to Harry, kneeling down with his front legs so that Harry would be able to climb on.

Harry didn't hesitate, pulling himself up easily on Firenze's back, hanging on tightly with his knees. The centaur stood back up, and Harry felt the almost forgotten sensation of smooth muscles beneath the creamy white coat.

"Let's go," he said with a wide grin.

Firenze nodded to the rest of the class, telling Hagrid that they would be back in a few minutes. Then, in a pounding of hooves on the hard earth, he bounded off towards the forest. Harry hung on tight, exhilarated by the speed and strength of the creature beneath him. They wove through trees, jumping a few fallen ones. Firenze did a wide circle before pounding back to where Hagrid and the students were.

Harry slid off the centaur's back as soon as they had come to a stop, his breathing heavy and his eyes bright.

"Centaurs," Hagrid was telling the class, "very rarely let humans ride them, considering it to be shameful. Only when a human is a trusted friend will a centaur allow it."

"That's right," Firenze agreed, nodding his head. His flaxen hair rippled with the movement of his head.

"Firenze, why don't you tell them a little about yourself and your people?" Hagrid asked with a pleased smile.

"Well, our kind are the readers of the skies and stars," Firenze began in his lovely voice. "They tell us their secrets, and we honor them greatly for it."

He went on for the entire class, keeping everyone entranced with his tales of centaurs, all they did and knew. All were disappointed when the class ended, but Hagrid assured them that Firenze would be around for a few more lessons.

"That was the best Care of Magical Creatures ever!" Ron exclaimed as they made their way back to the castle.

Harry and Hermione fervently agreed, and Dean and Seamus chipped in with wide grins.

"What do we have next?" asked Harry, turning to Hermione.

"Defense Against the Dark Arts," she answered excitedly, looking down at her schedule.

"This is gonna be awesome!" shouted Dean happily.

Harry nodded slightly, not letting the smile fade from his face as it did from his eyes. They had Defense class with the Slytherins. And that meant a whole hour with Draco.

*****

Harry set his books, quill, and ink down on a desk, sitting beside Ron. Hermione was on Ron's other side, reading the class textbook. Harry smiled slightly; it was just like Hermione to have entire book read and memorized before the second class.

"Alright, everyone," Sirius stated easily from the front of the class, "don't worry about your books for today, because what we'll be learning today shouldn't be too difficult."

There was a general sound of books and papers being tucked away, then the class was back in rapt attention.

"Now who," Sirius asked, "knows what is the best counter-curse?"

Hermione's hand went up, and he nodded to her.

"Well, it depends on what sort of curse of jinx is being used against you," she answered, a hint of smugness in her voice. "If it's, say, a simple one like Jelly-Legs, you could just use a shielding charm. But if it's a more complex one, Expelliarmus might be better, so you can immobilize them completely."

"Very good," nodded Sirius. "But what if you didn't want to block it, but to turn it against its user instead?"

This time, surprisingly, Ron's hand went up.

"Exemplify?" he asked carefully when he was called upon, not sure whether he was right.

Sirius nodded again, smiling, "That's right. 'Exemplus", a mirroring charm. It won't be in your books because it's a fairly new spell, and we aren't even sure of all its effects yet. I'm not sure its even supposed to be taught yet, but Dumbledore thought you might want to learn new ones anyway."

Harry chuckled; Dumbledore always did seem to love rebelling against rules in the subtlest ways. And of course Padfoot would be perfectly willing to do it right along with him. After all, Sirius had been one of the Marauders in his school days.

"It has the same wrist movement as Expelliarmus," Sirius was telling them, "so it shouldn't be that hard to learn. Would anyone like to try and test it out?"

He looked around the room expectantly, but only a few hands went up. No one wanted to make prats out of themselves by being unable to do the spell correctly.

"How about you, Harry," Sirius said after a moment.

Harry lowered his hand and stood up, going to the front of the class with a grin on his face.

"And Draco, why don't you come up and be his opponent," the Professor summoned with a glitter in his eyes.

Harry's smile vanished and he sent Sirius a warning glare. But the dark- eyed man merely winked at him subtly. Harry groaned mentally as the blonde boy came up to the front of the class to stand opposite him. Draco had been seated at the back of the class the entire time, and Harry had managed to refrain from staring at him. But now, he was right in front of him, looking stunning as usual, even in plain school robes. His blonde hair fell around his shoulders in silky strands, and the silvery gleam in his eyes and small smirk curling his lips were making him look irresistible. Harry's breathing grew shallow, but he managed to keep his wits about him as he lifted his wand.

"Impedius!" Draco called, flicking his wand with the Impediment Jinx.

"Exemplus!" Harry shouted at the same time.

A small silver thread curled from the end of Draco's wand, and a bright blue cloud from Harry's. They met mid-enchantment, and everyone watched in amazement at the silver thread hit the mist, and was thrown backwards twice as fast. It struck Draco, and the blue mist vanished, leaving Draco frozen on the spot and Harry smiling triumphantly.

Sirius, along with the rest of the class, laughed out loud before performing the counter-curse on Draco. The boy immediately caught his balance before tumbling to the floor.

"Another go?" Sirius asked them both.

"Why not," answered Draco coolly, lifting his wand. He was prepared to shatter the mist the time.

"Sure," agreed Harry, lifting his own wand.

"Furnuculus!" Draco yelled firmly.

"Exemplus!" Harry shouted the spell again.

Green mist met blue mist, and everyone waited expectantly for the green to be rebounded. But it didn't happen. No, instead, the green and blue combined, forming a bright aqua haze. Draco and Harry both watched on in horror as in engulfed them both. No one else was close enough to be consumed, and they heard sounds of surprise and fear from around them. Harry suddenly found himself floating on air, lightheaded. Warmth surrounded his body as darkness did his mind. He drifted off into unconsciousness.

*****

"Dismissed," Sirius said in a worrisome voice as the mist dissipated, revealing two figured crumpled on the ground, out cold.

Everyone stood up and hurried out except Ron and Hermione, who hesitated with anxious expressions. But Sirius ushered them out, wanting to find out exactly what had happened to Draco and Harry on his own for now.

He knelt down and pointed his wand at both of them in turn, muttering, "Evervate..."

*****

Draco slowly felt his mind start to resurface. He felt a dull ache in his head, and he moaned, reaching up to hold his head. The first thing that seemed out of place was how smooth the movement was, as if his muscled were made of liquid steel. But he froze completely when his hands touched his hair. This didn't feel like his long, smooth blonde hair. This felt more thick, wild, and messy. His eyes snapped open, and he found his sight perfect...but through a pair of glasses. And he also found himself staring deep into a pair of bright silver eyes...his own eyes. He saw himself sitting opposite, a shocked expression on his face. He decided right then and their that shock definitely did his looks no justice.

"Harry are you alright?"

He looked up to see Sirius leaning over him, his brow knotted deeply with worry.

"I'm fine," came a reply from his other side.

Sirius turned to the blonde boy behind him, confused. "What...? You're..."

"Draco Malfoy?" Draco cut in calmly. He blanched slightly at the sound of Harry's voice from the mouth in his control, but continued nonetheless. "No, that would be me."

Sirius looked from one to the other, his face going from confusion, to understanding, to horror. "Oh gods..."