The Daughter of the Snake

Serephine was trying to stay awake. She really was, but, as she would say, 'That bastardin' sand-asshole keeps makin' wi' the whole sleep in the eye thing!'.

So, every so often, her head would droop, and she would sleep for a mere few minutes before shaking her head, yawning and trying to stay awake.

She had tried everything to stay awake. Drawing, pacing and playing her Mp3 player full blast all had no effect on her.

Glaring at Draco's soundly sleeping, not to mention snoring, form she checked her watch, and discovered Harry and the twins were late.

She was about to get up, when there was two resounding cracks, which caused Draco to wake up, roll over and fall flat on his face on the floor, doing it all the while with a number of profanities, and the twins appeared, looking wide awake and 'absolutely spiffing', as they would say.

"Enjoying it down there, Malfoy?" asked Fred, grinning.

"Up yours, Weasley," snarled Draco, stretching.

"That's your comeback?" asked Serephine, shaking her head. "Absolutely terrible."

"Bugger off, Riddle," snapped Draco, scowling at her. "I've only had two hours sleep."

"And I have now been awake for..." she paused to check her watch, "forty-four hours and thirty minutes, but do you see me complaining?"

"You must be a freaking vampire," growled Draco, straightening his robes.

"Wouldn't tha be so cool if Ah was?" said Serephine, grinning. When they said nothing she continued, "Gred, Forge, could one o you's go tae Harry's room an' get him up please?"

"Young Mr. Potter isn't here?" asked George, looking around in mock surprise. "Tardiness will not be tolerated here!"

And with that, he disapprated out of the room with a loud crack.

Appearing in Harry's room, George found the boy, slumped in a chair, snoring gently.

Forming a plan, he put his wand next to Harry's ear and whispered a few words, and a shrill whistle was emitted from it.

"Gaaah!" cried Harry, rolling off of the chair. He landed with a thud on the floor, and then looked up to find out who had launched the attack on his defenseless ears.

"Fred, I might very well kill you," said Harry, taking the offered hand, and was hauled to his feet.

George grinned, "That's all well and good, Harry, but what did he do to you?"

"Well then, George, I'll just have to kill you instead," replied Harry, rolling his eyes as he yawned. "Why are you here anyway?"

"You slept in, mate," said George, grabbing his arm. They apparated out of the room.

"Warn me when you do that, will you?" asked Harry, shaking his head.

"No chance," said George, grinning. "Now I believe we, the prestigious Weasley Twins, are here to help two young men sneak from this house. Shall we get to it, then?"

George tapped Harry on the top of his head with his wand, and Fred did the same with Draco.

"Warn me before you do that," said Harry, making a face as he rubbed his head.

"Fat chance," said George, grinning.

"Move your arse, Potter, I haven't got all night," drawled Draco.

There was shuffling of feet, and they were gone.

"Nice 'o 'em tae say good-bye, don't yeh think?" commented Serephine dryly.

Fred and George, instead of answering, disapparated out of the room.

"Nice 'o 'em to say goodbye, anol." she said, rolling her eyes.

***

"Could you make any more noise, Potter?" sneered Draco, glaring at Harry.

"Shut up, Malfoy," said Harry, as he peered into the street to check if there was anyone there. "Come on, it's clear."

They walked out into the dark street, and kept walking until they were at least half a mile from Twelve Grimmauld Place.

"Do you even know where you're going, Potter?" asked Draco, looking exasperated (if you could have seen him, that is).

"No bloody idea, Malfoy," snapped Harry. "Do you?"

"Grab my arm, Potter, and I'll apparate us to where we can get into Malfoy Manner," said Draco, rolling his eyes.

Harry, knowing it was futile to even ask Draco how he knew how to apparate, reached out in the dark.

"That is most defiantly not my arm, Potter, so let go. Honestly, do you think I'm a gorilla?" snapped Draco, grabbing Harry's arm.

"I thought since you kept two for company you might be well on your way to becoming one," said Harry, glaring to the left of Draco.

Scowling, Draco apparated them from the street to a field faraway from any city.

"And you complained about where I live? You live in a field!" said Harry, getting a faraway look in his eyes.

"Bugger you, Potter," sneered Draco, letting go of Harry's arm. "And what are you looking at?"

"You never really were intending on being a Death- Eater, were you Malfoy?" said Harry, his eyes dawning with realization.

"No, I wasn't," snapped Draco, unconsciously rubbing his left arm, which went unnoticed by Harry. "What does that have to do with you looking like a lunatic?"

"You're pompous 'I'm a Malfoy, I'll get my father on you' attitude was really just an act, wasn't it?" said Harry, sounding a tiny bit urgent. "Does anyone really know you, Malfoy? Do you even know yourself?"

"No, Potter, I don't," snapped Draco. "Are you happy now that you know that I don't know who I am?"

"That wasn't what I was getting at, Malfoy," said Harry, looking Draco in the eye. "I was... stunned... that you could live that way."

"What other choice did I have?" whispered Draco, as if talking to himself. Then he shook himself, and said, "Move it, we haven't got all night."

"Well maybe if you show the way, we would be going there," shot back Harry, with an eyebrow raised.

Huffing, Draco grabbed Harry's arm again, and pulled him into a spot where the grass had been flattened.

"This is the only place where you can get into Malfoy Manner," said Draco, taking Harry to the centre of the circle. "Stupid Muggles think it's 'aleens' or something."

He kneeled down and touched the centre of the verge and said, "Draco Lucien Malfoy, heir of the Malfoy fortune."

For a moment, nothing happened, and then a hole appeared in the ground, the perfect size for a hand to fit into.

Grabbing Harry's arm, Draco grinned as he slipped his hand down the hole.

"Malfoy, what are you plan-" Harry's sentence was cut off, as they had been sucked down the hole Draco had his hand in.

"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU, MALFOY!" shouted Harry, as they fell through a massive black cave.

They fell for what seemed like ages, but was really five minutes, then finally fell onto a massive king-size four poster bed, not unlike the ones at Hogwarts.

Harry whirled round, ready to shout at Draco, but he found a hand over his mouth.

"Quiet Potter," whispered Draco, letting his hand fall. "We are in my room, which is right next to my parents'. Come on, the library's not far from here."

He grabbed Harry's arm and led him through a maze of beautifully decorated corridors, with portraits lining the walls.

Harry gave an inward grin at a portrait of Draco as a baby wearing a green nappy.

They reached the library quickly, and Harry was about to open the door when Draco yanked him back.

"I hear someone in there," he whispered, as Harry strained to hear. "We'll wait against the wall until whoever it is comes out."

Rolling his eyes, Harry leaned against the wall, and, not having been looking where he was leaning, leant on a portrait who screamed.

Draco, still having a hold on Harry's arm, yanked him off the portrait and against the other wall where there were no portraits.

The double-doors snapped open, and Lucius Malfoy stepped out, wand raised, with Peter Pettigrew and Bellatrix Lestrange behind him.

"Do be quiet, Lucien," he said to the still shouting portrait. The man in the portrait stopped shouting immediately. "Good. Now, what was it?"

"I don't know, Lucius," said Lucien, composing himself. "Someone or something leant against me, but it was invisible."

"So someone with an Invisibility Cloak, or some creature that can make itself invisible," said Lucius. "Wormtail, watch this entrance."

Wormtail screwed up his face, and looked as though he was about to protest, but Lucius silenced him with a glare, as he followed Bellatrix back into the library.

Harry scowled at Wormtail, and was tempted to curse him, but he was dragged along the corridor by Draco.

Once they were out of ear-shot of Wormtail, Draco said, "We'll try the other library," as they walked.

"You have two libraries?" asked Harry, in disbelief. "Hermione would be in heaven in this place."

Draco rolled his eyes, and continued along the corridor. "Granger wouldn't go near the library we're going to now."

"I doubt that," said Harry, frowning.

"Well, unless she's interested in how to skin a person alive, it's not her cup of tea," said Draco, smirking.

"Why are we going there then?"

"Family records are precious among pureblood families, Potter. We keep them very safe," said Draco, sighing. "As in, in the safe."

"And you just happen to know the combination to this safe," said Harry, smiling slightly.

"I'm not in Slytherin for nothing, Potter," replied Draco.

Soon the corridors they reached became medieval looking; with grubby, uneven walls which had the occasional dark stain splattered across them which Harry was positive was blood.

Suddenly Draco stopped and turned, so that he was facing the wall to his left. He reached out and put his fingers on different bricks on the wall and said, "Acquire what you can; return nothing."

"Family motto?" asked Harry, as the wall slid open, not unlike the entrance to Diagon Alley, to reveal another passageway.

"Of course," replied Draco, dropping Harry's arm, and grabbing a flaming torch from off the wall, and starting down the passageway.

"I feel like a cast off from 'Frankenstein's Monster,'" muttered Harry, after a while of walking.

"I've heard of him," said Draco, surprising Harry. "Poor chap forgot to change his plusses and minuses. The monster would've been alright but for that."

"He was a real person?" asked Harry, his eyes widening. "The monster was real?"

"Of course he was, Potter," said Draco, with the air of someone talking to a five-year old. "Every good Muggle fiction comes from the Wizarding World."

"Even Dracula?" asked Harry, frowning.

"He's a decent bloke, don't let the fangs throw you off," said Draco, as though it was the most perfectly normal thing in the world to be talking about Count Dracula. "Owes my father one-hundred galleons actually," he added in an afterthought.

"You have the strangest family, Malfoy," said Harry, shaking his head.

"You don't know the half of it," drawled Draco.

As they walked Harry started to think about the absurdity of following a (seemingly) floating flaming torch down a dark, dank passageway.

Soon they came to a large room, with a vault doorway as large as a small elephant.

"How big is this safe?" asked Harry, staring at the vault.

"Big enough to fit two average-sized muggle houses in it," grinned Draco, as he placed his hand on a raised platter on the vault door. It glowed, and Draco said, "Draco foy,"

"'Draco foy'?" repeated Harry.

"Loosely translated it means 'Have faith in the Dragon'," explained Draco.

"Another family motto?"

"The Malfoy family crest is a dragon," explained Draco, as the massive door swung open to reveal mountains of coins, which were mostly gold, piled on the floor along with other equally expensive-looking items. The only thing that didn't look as though it cost a small house was three old and tattered books, which were on a desk with a chair in front of it.

"Do not touch anything, Potter," warned Draco. "Anyone without Malfoy blood in them touches anything in here, there wouldn't be enough of them to cremate,"

"Are your family paranoid or what?"

"Oh, no," said Draco, picking up the books, "we're not paranoid; they really are out to get us."

"And insane, did I mention insane?" quipped Harry.

"Why thank you," said Draco, giving a mock bow. "Now, let's go."

"We're taking them with us?" asked Harry in disbelief.

"No, we're going to sit on the floor, which you can't touch with your bare skin and read them," sneered Draco.

Glaring at him, Harry whirled round, hitting a golden statue of a dragon, almost knocking it over. He jumped forward and caught it, inches away from the ground.

Realizing what he had done, he flinched, and waited to be cursed into oblivion.

"I don't think your curses are working," said Harry, after a minute. He straightened up, and set the statue down carefully.

"No, they're working fine," said Draco, looking amused. "You have Malfoy blood in you somewhere."

"What?" said Harry, staring at Draco. "I'm-"

"Part Malfoy," finished Draco. "Excellent. You can carry these."

He shoved all of the musty tomes into Harry's arms.

"You're evil," said Harry, as he followed Draco from the vault.

"Only on Monday's," replied Draco. "But then, who isn't," he added in an afterthought.

Rolling his eyes, Harry continued following Draco through the passageways, and eventually out into the halls, until they came to a stop when they heard a moan.

"What was that?" whispered Harry, straining to hear.

"I don't know, but it's getting louder," whispered back Draco.

The moaning was getting very loud, and it was coming from the double-doors to the side of them.

"It's my father and my Aunt Bellatrix," sneered Draco. "They won't hear us. Move it."

Deciding it best not to argue, Harry followed Draco back to his room. To their surprise, there was a suitcase lying at the foot of the bed with a note attached to it.

Do what you think is right.

NB.

"Who's that from?" asked Harry, as Draco grabbed the suitcase handle.

"None of your business, Potter," said Draco, slipping the note into his pocket. "Now come on."

"Please tell me it's not that bleeding slide thing again," groaned Harry.

"But of course, Potter," said Malfoy, giving him a sinister grin as they sat on the bed.

Once on the bed, Draco leant over and touched the wall and said, "Draco Lucien Malfoy, heir to the Malfoy fortune, leaving Malfoy Manor."

Suddenly the bed started glowing, and it changed shape, with them still on top of it, into a slide! With a cry of surprise, Harry tried to grab onto something, but found nothing, and slid quickly down the slide, only to land in the field where they entered the Manor.

"If these books are torn, I'm going to kill you, Potter," said Draco, carefully lifting up the books which Harry dropped on the way down the slide.

"If I can take on a Death-Eater what chance do you have Malfoy?" snarled Harry, glaring at Draco.

"Don't be cocky, Potter, it'll get you killed," said Draco. "Now, let's get out of here!"

He grabbed Harry's arm and apparated them back to twelve, Grimmauld Place, in the room where they started.

***

Serephine sat up with a start. She could have sworn she heard a crack. She had been dozing, although she had tried to stay awake. Not that she would admit it to anyone, but she was worried about Draco and Harry.

"Ah get too attached," she muttered to herself, unaware that anyone else was in the room.

"Talking to yourself is the first sign of madness," said Draco, smirking.

"An' yer point is?" asked Serephine, looking around the room. "Get rid o that damn spell will you? Ah find it just a wee bit diconcertin' tae be havin' a conversation wi' thin air. An' those books an' tha' suitcase look freaky,"

"Potter, could you get the twins?" asked Draco, straining to hear if Harry was still there.

"Back in a minute," said Harry, walking out of the room.

"Ah take it naebody saw yeh's then?" asked Serephine, still trying to find him.

"How'd you guess?" sneered Draco.

Grinning, Serephine raised an eyebrow, "Time o' the month?"

"What?" asked Draco, looking confused.

"No got that in female autonomy Ah see," grinned Serephine.

"You confuse me," said Draco, just as Harry, Fred and George came into the room.

"That isn't exactly hard, Malfoy," said George, grinning at Fred and Harry.

"I didn't know you knew the meaning of the word, Weasley," shot back Draco.

"You see, there's this thing called a dictionary and it had lots of words in it and their meanings," said George, rolling his eyes.

"You know how to read?" exclaimed Draco in mock surprise.

"Oh, get over yourselves already!" said Serephine, rolling her eyes at the two boys. "Hurry up an' take the goddamn spells off so yeh can bugger off!"

"Who died and made you boss, Riddle?" sneered Draco, whirling round to glare at Serephine.

"Bugger this," said Serephine, pulling out her wand, which was still in its case. She took it out and waved it over Harry and Draco. "Finite Incantatem!"

The spell was lifted and Harry and Draco were now visible.

"You're going to get an owl from the Ministry now," said Harry.

"They canny send meh an owl if they don't know who the hell Ah am," said Serephine, sitting down. "Noo, either get the hell out or sit the fuck down."

Fred and George scowled at her, and apparated out of the room. Harry, deciding the books would be best left until Ron and Hermione were up, left with them under his arm.

"One word outta you, and you won' be able tae sit down fer a week!" threatened Serephine to Draco.

Draco harrumphed, put his suitcase on the floor next to the couch and lay down on it with his back to her.

"Moody bastards," muttered Serephine, as she leant back in the chair.

***