Snakes and Lions

Strange Reversals

After classes the next day, they met outside, near the Whomping Willow, and once again made the backbreaking walk out to the Shrieking Shack. Harry, who was the tallest, groaned as he tried to stretch out.

"Sit down a moment," Hermione coaxed.

Harry sat. To his surprise, Hermione moved behind him and pressed her fists into the small of his back, on either side of his spine. "Bend forward," she ordered. She moved her touch up, and pushed her weight into his upper back, stretching him further forward. "Let me know if it hurts."

"Mmm. Only in a good way."

Hermione eased off Harry. "Stand up and twist a bit," she said.

"Thanks. That helped."

"I learned that one over summer."

"Looks nice," Draco remarked. "I don't suppose you'd do the same to me?" He sniffed at Hermione's startled look. "You can just say no, Hermione. You've been friends with him forever, and you've no reason to be comfortable with me."

"That's the third time you've called me Hermione."

Draco shrugged. "You can call me Draco, if you want. Just not in public."

They had several spells to cast on Draco's item, which was a silver pendant in the shape of a soaring dragon. They finished everything in time for Harry and Draco to get to Potions lab, but Harry felt very tired. He hoped he recovered before Draco left.

Harry pointed at the little adder with Snape's wand. It felt strange and cold in his hand.

"Imperio," he said firmly. He willed the snake to coil in a circle, then slowly in, in a tight spiral, until it could go no further and lay with its head at the center of solid coil of scales. Snape set a small wooden stand on the desk. Harry, familiar with this from the exercises he had done the week before, had the snake uncoil, then knock down the stand with a crack of his tail.

"Finite Incantantum," Harry said. He felt dizzy, not just with holding the power, but from the added effort of channeling his will through another's wand. The snake twisted uneasily on the table.

"Soon," Harry hissed.

"This feeling," the snake returned, "like I was warm, but then I am not..." Frustration intensified his lashing.

"Sorry. You'll be home tomorrow, I promise."

"Apologizing to your victim, Potter?" Snape asked, with some amusement. Harry whirled to snarl at him, but was interrupted by a rattling of the door.

Snape reached over and plucked his wand from Harry's suddenly stiff hand. The Potions master kept his eyes locked on Harry's as he pointed his wand at the door and whispered "Finite Incantantum" to remove the wards. "What is it?" he called idly.

Harry shivered. His heart was hammering, and he was hot with fury. A single sly poke from Snape should not have him in such a state.

"Is Harry there?" Hermione called.

"Fuck," Harry cursed, at a whisper.

"Language, Potter," Snape reproved quietly. He raised his voice. "Come back at ten, Miss Granger." Snape toyed with the wooden stand, setting it upright, then knocking it down again.

"I can return by myself," Harry called out.

"Draco was telling someone the lab ends at nine-thirty, and I'm always late," Hermione replied.

Now, they both looked at the door. Beneath his panic, Harry sincerely hoped Snape had not noticed that Hermione had referred to Draco Malfoy as 'Draco.'

Snape's lip curled in an angry sneer. "Attentive, as always, Miss Granger," he growled. "Draco's lab ends at nine-thirty. Harry stays until ten." With a flick of his wand, he banished the two wild snakes to the storeroom. Susara disappeared rapidly into Harry's shirt.

"But Professor ...."

"Are we finished?" Snape whispered to Harry. Harry nodded. He was starting to feel almost normal, he told himself. He would not act guilty in front of Hermione.

"Alohamora." Snape flicked his wand at the door, and it flew open. Hermione was standing outside, looking terrified. Harry turned his head to look at her. Whatever she saw in his face made her take a quick step back. Snape rose and approached her.

"Harry has informed me he has no further questions about today's procedure," Snape sneered. "I will not guess whether this sudden understanding is genuine or a sop to you." Harry walked uneasily to stand behind the Potions master. "Take him and go, then," Snape said abruptly, turning his back on Hermione. He focused for a moment on Harry and gave a slight nod before stepping aside. Harry nodded back, and went through the door. He hoped he looked more confident than he felt. Recognizing the thought, he thought also to create his own confidence. He let it spring forth in his head and drop down through his body. He moved up the hall, trusting Hermione to accompany him. She had been left standing, and had to hurry to catch up.

"Harry..."

Harry restrained himself from responding angrily. Couldn't she have waited ten minutes? "Yes?" he said, as neutrally as possible. He slowed to look at her.

"Nice swagger, Potter," Draco sneered. "Is that what you're learning in your private lessons?"

"Draco!" Harry snapped. He glared at Draco's floating head. With an attempt to collect himself, he answered. "If my private lessons were any of your business, I would have told you about them."

Draco's sneer vanished into a searching look which Harry found far more frightening.

"Whatever Snape is teaching you," Draco said hotly, "I can teach you. Whatever. Why do you insist on risking your life, this way?"

"Draco," Hermione objected, "Snape is a highly respected Potions master. He has frequent publications in major professional journals. I think it is rather naive to say that you can --"

"Harry wouldn't understand anything above my level," Draco snapped.

"Gee, thanks," Harry said sarcastically.

"Besides," Draco said coolly, "I hardly think it likely that he is studying Potions. Certainly I could stay for that."

"Nice evil purr, Draco. You sound almost like your father."

Draco pivoted ninety degrees. The hem of the cloak swung about his feet, temporarily revealing polished shoes and the hem of his school robe.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"Your pathetic attempt to distract me has not succeeded."

"Too bad. I'm still not telling you anything." Harry gritted his teeth. "Look, what was the point of this?"

"Hermione was late," Draco said. "Again. I went to fetch her so we could return certain library books to the restricted section under the same conditions under which we removed them."

"I was rather surprised to be told I was late to fetch you, ten minutes before I planned to start down," Hermione added.

"Well, you were both right," Harry said, "and I'm fine."

"So why have you been lying to your two best friends?" Draco challenged.

"I never lied to either of you," Harry said angrily.

"Oh, so sorry, Potter. I didn't mean to besmirch your Gryffindor honor. What is it you do, now?" Draco made a show of thinking. "Ah, I recall. You 'forget to tell.'" He scowled. "It amazes me how greatly Gryffindor honor resembles Slytherin guile."

"Oh, fuck you, Draco. You know I could have been Slytherin. Don't insult Hermione over this."

Draco laughed with a sincerity that cut through his prior malice.

"What?" Harry asked.

"Such a Gryffindor move -- protecting your friend's reputation; such a Slytherin ... attitude? Pose?" He grinned. "I like it. Don't think you're off the hook, though --"

From ahead, they heard footsteps. Draco went quiet, and raised the hood back over his head. Harry moved closer to Hermione. Around the corner, they encountered Professor Flitwick.

"Out late!" he exclaimed.

"Harry has a special project lab with Professor Snape on Tuesdays," Hermione explained. "I'm required to escort him back to Gryffindor."

"Actually, you're not," Harry pointed out. "Since I'm out of the restrictions, I could have returned on my own, just like we do from detentions."

Hermione looked startled. "Oh," she said. "I suppose."

They continued up, to the level of the library. Draco's head reappeared at the landing, then he scooped them under the cloak.

"I should go in the center," Harry said. "I'm tallest."

"And it's your cloak," Draco noted, but agreeably. He and Harry switched places. Under the cover of the cloak, they stole into the library and returned the two books to the restricted section.

They had just left the library, when they again heard footsteps. They were different, this time. An even stride was overlaid with a light, shuffling sound. The three retreated into a protected alcove near the library entrance.

Figures came into view in the main corridor. Harry shrank back. It was Professor Horsyr, and with her was a lanky, fanged creature that paced her with a loose, hunch-backed lope. The two paused at the end of the library corridor and glanced first towards the library, then up and down the stairs. Harry's eyes traveled twice down the strange monster, from the long-fingered hands and feet to the tufted tail and ears, before realizing it was a quiri. He shrank back against Draco. He couldn't afford to have that thing smell him now!

"What is it?" Draco breathed in his ear. "It's lovely! I want one!"

Harry remembered feeling like that, the first time he had seen a quiri. He wondered if the repulsion of the quiri for Dark energy was mutual. If so, his reaction was scary, but Draco's was ....

"You haven't been practicing," he guessed.

"What?"

"That's a quiri. If you've been doing any Dark Arts in the last month or two, it should repulse you, and you it." Harry felt a little numb when he heard his own words, but Draco made an involuntary strangled sound that reminded Harry of a puppy whining. Fortunately, Professor Horsyr had started down the stairs. Harry saw the quiri's ears flick back before it followed, but the professor did not seem to have heard.

"I'm going to see it," Draco whispered, wriggling out from under the cloak.

"Draco -- " Hermione urged, at a whisper.

"I'm a prefect. I can be out if I have a reason. You two wait here."

With that, Draco ran for the steps and turned out of sight. Harry and Hermione looked at each other, and began to tread quietly to the top of the stairs.

"Professor!" Draco called.

Harry and Hermione were not yet close enough to distinguish the words of Horsyr's reply, but it was politely inquiring.

"...returning a book I found in one of the Slytherin dormitories," they heard as they crept closer. Draco's tone was confiding and slightly apologetic. "I wanted to keep it unofficial."

Harry was glad Horsyr did not focus on rules the way Snape or McGonagall did. He thought that excuse would have Draco in trouble with most other faculty members, but Horsyr was likely to merely nod and remember it. Harry and Hermione were right at the top of the stairs, now. They moved slightly along the balcony to the best listening point. From here, they could see the tops of the three heads, and some of the quiri's back and tail.

"I saw ... that's so beautiful, I had to see it up close. What is it? May I touch it?"

"It is a quiri." Professor Horsyr sounded amused. "You may touch it if it allows."

Draco, as Harry remembered doing, dropped to his knees and held out a hand to the quiri. Harry found it horrible to watch. Hermione, beside him, was making soft cooing sounds, but to Harry, it was as if his friend was holding out his hand to a crocodile. He could barely restrain himself from screaming out a warning, and his heart was pounding with adrenaline.

Then the quiri was in Draco's lap, and Draco was rubbing his face in its fur. Harry closed his eyes (vicious creature in grabbing, biting, throttling distance of Draco) and felt a little better.

"So soft!" Draco was exclaiming. Harry remembered the soft, silky fur of the quiri, and the velvet pads of its hands. "A wonder no one's tried to make a coat out of you, little darling. So pretty, too!"

Harry concentrated on wondering if a quiri pelt would retain some of the quiri's repulsion for Dark energy. Would it be protective, or just a badge of righteousness? Perhaps a judge's mantle?

"Quiris are very rare," Professor Horsyr was explaining, "and of almost human intelligence. They were never officially classed as beings, but I believe they should have been." She was silent for a minute, then, almost too quietly for Harry to hear, she said. "They are sensitive to the residue of Dark Arts. You have not done any Dark magic in at least a month."

Draco laughed nervously. "Oh, not since early February, I think." Beside Harry, Hermione twitched. "And it was really quite harmless. Harry and I found a smashing hidey-hole, but it was full of little animal bones. So I used the Bone Burning Curse to clean it out."

"It does not matter to the quiri if it is harmless in intent. It is still Dark magic. The energy is different."

"Oh yes." Draco laughed again, shakily. "Quite the rush. I tried to get Harry to do the second round, but he wouldn't. Said if he wanted a rush, he'd jump out his dormitory window, again."

"Shut up!" Hermione hissed.

Harry opened his eyes. Professor Horsyr was squatting beside Draco. The blond had his face buried in the quiri's fur. He muttered something. Harry had to close his eyes, again.

"The quiri seems to prompt some people to unburden themselves. It doesn't work that way for everyone." Horsyr's voice was warm with sympathy. "Don't worry. I won't use it against you -- or him." Harry wondered if she were touching Draco. He couldn't look.

"Oh." Draco sounded small and frightened. "Well, thank you for letting me meet it. I'm not likely ever to get the chance, again." There was moment of silence, then a sharp sound, then Draco, again, childish and near hysterical: "Don't look at me like that! You can't do anything for me!"

Harry opened his eyes at the sound of footsteps. Draco was fleeing up the stairs. Horsyr took a few steps after him, then stopped. Harry and Hermione watched Horsyr until she resumed moving away, then went to meet Draco.

Draco was wandering, arms outstretched, whispering for them. They scooped him under the cloak. Even in the dim light, Harry could see Draco's eyes were wet.

"Horrible creature," he hissed. "How dare it make me feel ... make me want to ..." He groaned. "Not its fault, I suppose."

"Here," Harry said encouragingly, "slap me for it, if you like."

"Why?"

"My great-grandfather created them."

"Oh, wouldn't he just!" Draco rubbed at his eyes. "It was beautiful, and felt lovely, and I'm glad I got to meet it now, when I really could. Still, babbling about Osum Crema was just horrible. I couldn't stop myself."

"How odd."

"Why?"

"I was able not to tell Dumbledore about the -- anything. I wanted to, though, so it may be just my usual damn fool stubbornness."

Draco twitched. "You've met one before?"

"When you claimed you were teaching me Dark Arts, it got back to the headmaster. I was summoned to his office and presented to a quiri."

"Crap! No wonder he's been glaring at me all the time." Draco frowned. "And the quiri obviously didn't ...." His eyes flicked ever so briefly in Hermione's direction. "We'll discuss this later," he threatened.

Harry stayed carefully with Hermione all the way back to Gryffindor. He woke the next morning understanding that he needed to talk to Draco, but unwilling to do so. When he went to get Susara, she did not want to come with him. This was uncharacteristic of her, and she could not explain it.

"Twitchy," she said, lashing her slender body. "Hunt, perhaps. Want gold."

Harry worried that it was some effect from the previous night's experiments. Although he wanted her in contact, he reluctantly agreed to let her stay, and he laid a galleon beside her where she lay about her warming device.

Harry stayed in a crowd of Gryffindors going to and from breakfast, although he saw Draco trying to get his attention. It wasn't until they were leaving Potions that Draco managed to get him alone. He grabbed Harry's arm and pulled him into a side corridor.

"We need to talk."

A minute later, Harry found himself in a narrow dungeon room, empty except for some piled and dusty furniture. Draco lost no time in locking the door.

"What," he hissed, "what the fuck have you been doing?"

"What?"

"Don't think I didn't notice. You were afraid of the quiri."

Harry took a shaky breath. "Draco, look, it wasn't really ... It was just an experiment."

"You bloody fucking hypocrite!"

Harry wanted to scream in anger or beg for forgiveness. Instead forced his voice to a neutral tone. "You always tell me not to trust you," he said reasonably. "So this time, I'm not trusting you. There was something specific I needed to figure out, and I can't risk it getting back to Voldemort."

"You think Snape won't tell Voldemort? Is that what you think?! Do you think?!!"

"Who said Snape knows?" Harry retorted.

"You were with him. You were with him, and hiding it from me and Hermione. I know what Severus Snape can teach, and 'defense' has nothing to do with it."

"Snape has been helping me. He doesn't know with what," Harry lied, to avoid the secondary argument that giving Snape information would cause. "Unfortunately, I had to do more than I intended, to keep the significant things obscured."

"And you think it won't change you," Draco sneered.

"Oh, but it has, hasn't it?" Harry let his fear show through. "The quiri was repulsive," he confessed. "Terrifying. I couldn't bear to watch you in reach of it. And I'd thought it was so beautiful, before." He bit his lip and shuddered.

"Look, I'm sorry," he said sincerely. "It's over now -- we finished last night. Come back, and I'll tell you exactly what I did, and why."

Draco surveyed him with angry scorn.

"The first of June, I will take you to Professor Horsyr. If you cannot abide the quiris, whether I can or not, I will kill you."

"Yes, Dragon." Harry did not point out that this was easier said then done. Draco looked petulant.

"Then I kill Snape," he added.

Harry laughed, despite himself. "Oh, good luck!" he exclaimed.

Draco's expression softened slightly, but only with desperation. "Promise me you're done with it."

"I'm done. I learned what I need to know, and I'm done."

Draco shook his head. "If you need to know it, you're not done."

"I can't give you details, Dragon. You need to trust me on this one."

Without reply, Draco unlocked the door. They walked up the empty corridors and staircase to the Great Hall. Just outside the entrance, Draco caught at Harry's shoulder.

"What?"

Draco looked at Harry searchingly. He was standing far too close for Harry's comfort.

"Potter..." The address was at odds with his intimate distance. A mocking smile spread across his face.

"What?" Harry snapped.

"Go jump out your dormitory window."

Draco turned, and walked away, picking up a swagger halfway over to the Slytherin table. Harry did not enter the hall until Draco had sat down.