Snake

Chapter One

Draco's POV

"Countess d'Ella Serpentine. Your cousin, Mr. Malfoy," the butler said and stepped away to reveal the guests.

Draco saw the most beautiful person he had ever seen. Her jet colored hair fell in smooth waves over her shoulders and brushed the silver belt cinched around her waist. Safe at a distance, he observed her closely trying to remember if he had ever seen her before.

With exquisitely carved features enhanced with the lightest of make-up she stood arrogantly and surveyed her surroundings. He understood that if nothing else, she was definitely a Malfoy. He studied her face that betrayed absolutely no emotion and her posture that gave away nothing but pride and calm. She shrugged the cloak off her shoulders and handed it to the doorman without giving him even a glance. She walked over to the center of the greeting lounge and turned to face the door. He followed the gaze and saw a couple walk in. He noted the gold of the woman's hair and the ebony of the man's.

"Pleased to have you here Taylor." His mother walked forward and hugged the woman.

Draco watched his father shake the man by the hand and then everyone turned their attention to the girl who had been examining her fingernails. He started down the stairs still observing her minutely. She was dressed in a casually elegant dove gray robe with a hem that matched the belt.

"Oh my! Natalie, how you've grown!" His mother went towards her and hugged her.

"Pleasure's all mine, Aunt Narcissa," he heard her murmur before she turned to face him. Onyx eyes searched steel ones before he took her hand in his and murmured the usual Malfoy greeting in Old Latin. She replied appropriately before dropping her gaze.

"Draco, Natalie will be starting Hogwarts this year, I sincerely hope both of you will get along well enough to commence your... ah... training," Lucius said and looked to Natalie.

"I'm afraid we must be off now Narcissa. Richard and I have to go to Italy and Natalie has to make the new mansion more comfortable," Taylor said and beckoned to Natalie. Draco observed that the top of her head barely reached his own shoulder.

"Of course. If there is any way we can be of assistance..." Lucius left the matter standing and followed them out. They watched the family make their way to the mansion on the right, expensive silk whispering over the grass.

"Come inside, Draco, dear, it's chilly." Draco bristled at his mother's honeyed voice and saw the woman kiss Natalie on the top of her head and leave at her husband's heels. They reached the gate and Apparated. He flicked his gaze to the girl and saw he turn to the mansion and call someone. A fat, homely woman waddled out and led her inside.

He finally went inside and sought out his mother.

"Mother, how come that's one cousin I didn't know about?"

Narcissa raised her head from her copy of Witch's Weekly and observed him.

"There's far too much to tell, so why don't you do a little research? I'm sure you can find her and her parents in the Picture Corridor."

He did just that and headed towards the concealed corridor. Giving the password to a flower vase he stepped through a wall and briskly walked past portraits in heavy, ornate frames. It was the only collection of portraits in the magical world that did not move. No one really knew why but it was understood that even with them being purely Muggle in appearance, they were the most imposing and impressive. He finally stopped in front of one and saw Natalie's face, as bored and proud as he had seen it earlier. The caption in gold underneath it bore her title, Countess d'Ella Serpentine and name, Nayyah Paris Natalie Frost. He looked at the painting once more and the ones of her parents on the either side.

"Pleased to meet you Countess," he whispered.

Making sure that the Concealment charm held he left for his room.

"Poppy, get me some lemonade," he said to a nearby house-elf who fled at the command.

Entering the room, he went out on the balcony and filled his lungs with the fragrant evening air. So much had happened.

The most recent battle between Voldemort and the magical world had ended with the shattering of Voldemort's forces. Once again, Harry Potter had been unable to destroy the Dark Lord. But the mere battle had brought spectacular changes and surprising revelations. All the surviving pureblood families had allied against Voldemort. England discovered that the best Aurors working abroad were the Frosts. The pair being the alliance of Taylor Malfoy, a cousin of Lucius Malfoy and Richard Frost, the last male of the Frost lineage.

The three major magical schools rejoiced once more in peace and trained themselves for the final battle against Voldemort. They had purged themselves of all who were evil, either converting or capturing the Death Eaters. The result of this "Cleansweep" as called by the Ministries was that Durmstrang had been nearly completely emptied. No minor schools remained. The Dark Force had razed all to the ground.

And now, he, Draconis Malfoy was a friend to Harry Potter and his friends. No severe distinction between houses remained. Nearly all dormitories had been changed to individual rooms. So now he had a living space in the West Tower with an extra bedroom to be giving to another sixth year when one came and a comfortable lounge done in Slytherin colors.

Draco stretched and thought of the spell he was going to introduce today. Dumbledore's Army was strong and larger than before. They depended a lot on the Slytherins for the knowledge of curses.

On his way to the Harry's house, comfortable in his limousine, he wondered if Natalie would like to join the DA. But the thought was wiped clean at the sight of Dudley. The image of a pink cow was drawn to his mind. Smirking at Dudley drawing away slowly, he went inside and made straight for Harry's room. Hermione sat with the DA's spell register in her hands, Ron was doing his homework and Harry was feeding Hedwig.

"All hail Malfoy!" he said, slicking his hair back from his fore head. They all grinned and beckoned him to a chair. The meeting began and he mentioned a few curses that he thought would be simple but extremely effective. And then he mentioned Natalie.

"Oh! I've heard about her! The books say that she's extremely smart and just as beautiful," Hermione gasped. The register fell unnoticed from her hands.

"All I know is that her parents are currently the best Aurors in the world. They were the ones who gave Voldemort's position away," Harry said, looking up from his letter to Cho. By now Ron and Hermione had become used to hearing the Dark Lord's name and the only reaction they gave away was a slight wince.

"Hmmm..." was all that Draco volunteered before telling them all he knew about the Countess.

"But why is the Picture Corridor concealed?"

"That's so that if any enemy attacks, they won't know where to find the most powerful and influential of witches and wizards. Nearly every pureblood is there," he explained.

"Well, I hope that she joins the DA," Ron said, oblivious of the ink that was leaking from his inkpot and onto Harry's bed.

"Who the hell are you writing to Potter?" Draco asked, looking at the letter that had reached the approximate thickness of his wrist. A blush was all he needed.

"Harry, mate, the woman sobbed when you kissed her and you're writing her a thesis?" Ron asked disbelieving his eyes.

"Sod off..."

"I wonder if Natalie writes letters to anyone... special... What the hell! You're going soft for a pretty face, Malfoy," he scolded himself. He had nearly choked on his cake after that thought. He's rich, proud and handsome. Why should he spend his time thinking about girls? That's what they were there for right? Thinking about him?

"I should ask Mother to call and see if she needs help with anything." At that thought, he'd have stabbed himself with his quill if he had been alone.

"That robe looked really nice on her."

"Stop thinking about her!" he hissed to himself.

"Girl problems, Malfoy?" Harry asked a little too calmly. Ron exploded with laughter.

And to his horror, he couldn't come up with a retort. Draco Malfoy daydreaming about girls... What was the world coming down to?

* * * * * *

"Drake, dear, Natalie will be arriving any minute. Could you tell that good-for-nothing elves to fix that spare room on the third floor?" his mother asked, spearing a morsel of food.

"Arriving? Why? Isn't she going to live in that other manor?"

"Yes. After it has been cleaned up and her parents put protection charms around it. I want you take her with you when you go visit Potter. Maybe she can contribute to their store of spells."

And he knew that that was the end of the conversation. He sought out the elf and gave the order. Fifteen minutes later, she had arrived with an appropriate amount of luggage and been installed.

He came into the room to tell her that they'd be leaving in a few minutes for Harry's house, and to his horror, saw her magically moving things around and changing the color of the bed sheets and curtains.

"The Ministry's going to send you a letter of warning."

"They would, if they knew," she said peacefully as she nudged the dressing table closer to the wall.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"It's a spell I discovered. It puts a magical shield around the area you want to do magic in so the authorities and magic detecting instruments can't find you out." She changed the color of the bed sheets from a somber gray to crimson.

"Well, tell me it later. I'm going to visit my friends and you have to come too."

"Sure. When are you leaving?"

"As soon as possible. Get ready and come downstairs. Mother needs the car and Father has a meeting so the fireplaces are busy. We're taking the Knight Bus." He didn't think he should tell her to go Muggle and only remembered when he was halfway down.

He was about to turn to go back and tell her when she came down the stairs taking three at a time.

"Wooooow!"

She had certainly dressed Muggle. Wearing dark blue hipster jeans and a pale pink mid riff top; she was in the process of pulling on a leather jacket.

"Do I look okay?" she asked self consciously, patting her immaculate hair in place.

"Yeah. But button the jacket. Stan's got a weak heart." She laughed, and he realized that he was now officially in her good books. They walked out and past the protection barriers on the road.

"Take out your wand and hold it out," he instructed, holding out his own. He saw her pull hers out from a specialized pocket in her jacket. A few seconds later, a loud bang broke the silence. The bright bus exploded and stopped exactly where Natalie had been moments before Draco had snatched her away.

"You okay?" Angry onyx eyes met his own and, before she could reply, the doors popped open and the pimply faced conductor opened his mouth to begin his speech.

"Stuff it Stan," Draco said sourly and pulled Natalie into the bus behind him.

"Well, if it isn't the younger Mister Malfoy," Stan said and followed them into the back of the bus.

"Where to folks?" he asked taking their fare.

"Privet Drive," Draco said shortly. He watched Natalie sit in the armchair facing him looking at the old wizard on the other end of the bus with fascination as he picked his nose with his wand tip.

With another bang, the Bus started off again and all the chairs (with their occupants) slid forward a few inches.

"Why exactly are we going where ever we are going?" she asked, pocketing her wand.

"My friends. Some students of Hogwarts have formed a group called Dumbledore's Army where we practice spells and prepare ourselves for the final battle against Voldemort." He noticed that she wasn't perturbed by his use of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named name.

"In-ter-est-ing. We don't really have to at Durmstrang because the teachers use some Dark curses on us to make us, ah, immune to them." She looked at her perfect nails.

"Father wished me to go to Durmstrang."

"You DON'T want to go there. Asides from being frozen to death there, the library is awful and there's hardly any water. We're not even allowed to heat it or create fires in the dormitories for warmth. And the teachers use curses on you regularly to keep you "ever vigilant". Even the candles are lit with no heat flames."

"Rrrriiiiggggghhhhhttt, I heard something like that from Hermione..."

"Granger? Krum never shuts up about her."

"Hasn't he graduated by now?"

"No. He had magically besieged in his house by his ex-girl friend who forgot to remove the charm and only remembered when she was back at school. Voldemort had attacked the school so no one could go and release him. He had to repeat a year."

Another bang and they were at the mouth of Privet Drive. They aborted the conversation and stepped out. Stan peered at her hopefully but the jacket remained closed.

"Hello, Mrs. Dursley," Draco greeted her and watched her beady eyes survey Natalie, who told her that using bleach regularly on kitchenware soon becomes ineffectual on germs.

Grinning broadly at her horrified horse face, they went up the stairs and into Harry's room.

"Oh my God..."

"I..."

"Drake, my man, that's a...a..."

The reactions from his friends were mixed, but the most interesting one was from Ron, who still hadn't finished the essay he had working on last time. The moment Natalie had stepped in and shut the door behind her, Ron had tipped his inkpot over Harry's bed. Harry had just stared and Hermione finally raised her head and saw the guest.

"Countess!"

"Please, Natalie!" she corrected.

"This is my cousin Natalie, and as you can see, she will be joining us today," Draco said formally and sat in his usual chair.

"I thought we should put the Overturning Spell on this year's agenda," Hermione proposed and wrote it down after a mutual consent. Natalie had shed her jacket and coaxed Hedwig out of her cage. She sat down on the windowsill and fed her an Owl-Treat.

"You might also try the Blinding Curse," she suggested dreamily as Hedwig chewed her fingers lovingly.

"That's a good idea, specially when combined with an Immobilizer," Hermione said and jotted down a note in her register.

"Have you noticed that the book list is late this year?" Harry asked, riffling through his Potions notebook.

"Maybe Dumbledore's having trouble choosing a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher," Ron suggested.

"What does that have to do anything with the book list?" Natalie asked burying her fingers in Hedwig's feathers.

"Usually the teachers choose the books they want to teach the students," Hermione explained, and told Harry that the best way to get ink off sheets was to cover the spot with detergent for some time before washing it the normal way.

"Where's that pig of a cousin of yours?" Ron asked commenting on Dudley's absentia.

"Spending time beating up some poor, innocent and defenseless soul."

"What does your aunt do with the lawn? Go at it with manicure scissors?" Natalie asked in surprise as she looked at the lawn.

"I wouldn't put it past it her," Harry said darkly. In minutes they all settled down with books to pick out spells. Draco looked up to see if Natalie was okay and was immediately captured. She was still holding Hedwig and looking out at the clouds. Her hair hung loosely around her shoulders shining in the ending sunlight. She flipped it off her face and leaned back. He got a perfect view of her stomach and noticed how the color of her clothes emphasized her clear, pale skin. The charm of approaching evening clouded his mind and he wondered vaguely what it would be like to hold her close. He shook his head trying to snap himself from her spell.

"Draco, I'm booooooooooooooored!" she moaned and put Hedwig back in her cage.

"We'll leave in a few minutes," Draco said and put the book back in Harry's trunk.

"Hey open the window! I think the booklists have arrived," Ron pointed out and Natalie hurriedly unfastened it and let in a swarm of owls. All of them were Hogwarts' barn owls with similar packets tied to their feet.

"If you've been promoted from a Prefect to a Head Girl, I'll scream," Ron growled and freed the owl from its burden.

"The Dark Arts Defined?" said Draco. He had already opened up his book list and read it.

"Meaning they have found our teacher. Let's see, what can we expect now? A man with Voldemort on the back of his head, a toothy fraud, a werewolf, a man disguised as an Auror and a venomous cow like Umbridge. That's our record as yet." Ron counted off on his ink stained fingers.

"Maybe we get a vampire?" Hermione suggested.

"Or a Veela..." Ron thought aloud.

"I don't think so. Considering that you were ready to jump off a stadium seat to impress some, Dumbledore would not have hired one," Hermione interjected and snapped her purse shut having deposited the booklist in it.

"Well, let's get going. How did you two come?" Ron asked Draco and Natalie.

"The Knight Bus. Father was using Floo."

"Hermione and I'll join you," Ron said straightening his maroon jumper over his front.

"Harry mate, sorry about the bed."

"So I reckon we'll meet up in Diagon Alley tomorrow?" Harry asked, quelling his anger.

"Sure. We might be a little late. I'll get my car back early tomorrow," Draco said and put on his jacket.

Hermione noted that Natalie's clothes might have looked like simple Muggle ones but must have cost more than half her own furniture put together. Draco read Hermione's expression and realized that Natalie's jacket alone would have bought a whole new set of dentistry paraphernalia for the Grangers.

They trooped downstairs and out the house. Looking around carefully for pedestrians or people working in their gardens, they took out their wands and waited. The Bus was a little longer in coming but Stan explained that they had had to come all the way from a tiny immigrant wizarding community in Australia. Settling down after paying and then settling down again after the initial shock of Ernie's terrible driving they contemplated the probability of this year's teacher.

"What subjects do you take Natalie?" Hermione asked curiously.

"Potions, Defense, Alchemy, Arithmancy, Muggle Studies, Divination, Rune casting, Astronomy, Charms, Herbology and a little Transfiguration," she said calmly.

"So many?" Hermione squeaked.

"But this is only what I study in school. I have to do fencing, language study and elementary combat education otherwise."

"What, no archery?" Draco asked flabbergasted.

"A little."

"Malfoy Manor!" Ernie yelled and braked. The chairs slid forward. They both got off, leaving Ron and Hermione mute.

"I like your friends," she said easily.

"We were arch enemies six months ago," he said and he proceeded to explain everything that had gone on since then.

"Amazing! I have to stay here another month before my term begins. I hope I can help you with the DA. Which reminds me, I need your Transfiguration notes and your old books," she said and followed him up the stairs.

Draco watched her go into her room after he had told her he'd give her the things at dinner.

"A lot can happen in a month..." He was severely tempted to hit himself at this thought but instead fell face forward on his bed letting the cool silk absorb the heat of his face.

Natalie's POV

"Hey thanks!" she exclaimed when Draco entered her room after a satisfying dinner of smoked salmon and dumped a sheaf of parchment and some books on her desk.

"I think that's all. Why do you need them?" he asked and cast a cursory glance around the room.

"The teacher's a kook. She hardly turns up" She followed his gaze from the white curtains to the crimson and black canopy bed.

"Well tomorrow after breakfast, okay?" Natalie followed him with her eyes till the door closed behind him.

"Janna said he might be cute... but I never quite imagined this! He's hotter than hot!" She laughed at her thoughts before getting up and taking the books and notes to check them.

"His writing's amazing. Just like him. Calm, strong and smooth." All his notes were in emerald green ink except the perfect tiny drawings along the edges.

"And now I know the perfect present." This last thought was spoken aloud and she drank in the amazing quillwork.

"You have a catch, Nayyah! And I must tell him not to call me Natalie. I hate that name," she told herself and blew out the candles.

"I wonder what training they were talking about that day?" And this was a thought that she shared with Draco concerning Lucius Malfoy's statement the day she had arrived.