Viper Weed (Remix)

Viper Weed
By: Dream Red & Juno
Genre: Romance
Rating: R
Pairings: HP/DM
Spoilers: Probably.
Warnings: M/M
Disclaimer: We do not own any of the characters, the HP universe, or the majority of magical objects. All those belong to J.K.Rowling.

Summary: A twist on the Harry becomes a Magical Creature cliché. Harry has a bad encounter with a plant, and undergoes some drastic mutations.

Authors Notes: I started this as a spoof of all those Harry-comes-into-his-heritage-as-a-magical- creature fics, and decided to make Harry not become a Veela or vampire, but rather a glorified plant hybrid. It just kind of grew out of that really, although became less of a spoof. ~Dream Red

Written with the approval and based on Dream Red's story and story notes. I have adopted this story from Dream Red and hope to do it justice. All input and suggestions are welcome. Juno_skywalker@yahoo.com
ta,
~Juno
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Chapter 1

Harry let out a loud curse. Of course, he had every right to. He hadn't exactly enjoyed Herbology to begin with, but to be paired with Malfoy for the double lesson, and now this.

They'd all been warned about these plants. They were currently meant to be feeding and pruning Viper Weeds. Professor Sprout had said that they had a nasty bite, and if anyone was bitten they should report to her immediately.

No shit. Harry looked down at his hand to see that it was already swelling and turning an odd green color. Malfoy gave him a sneer, but it was lacking in real animosity, because he was watching Harry's hand with worry instead. Harry hurried down the rows of students, trying very hard not to let his legs go all gooey and weak like they wanted to.

He was just nearing the end of the greenhouse (why the hell were they so long?) where Pomfrey was when he felt more sharp pain in his hand, and to his dazed horror he saw that another of the Viper Weeds had latched onto his hands with its vicious jaws.

That was it, there were people shouting around him, and he was sure he felt another of the damn things bite him before he went down. Merlin he hated Malfoy more than anything. After all, this was all his fault.


---


Harry awoke much later. He wasn't much surprised to find himself in the Hospital Wing. He seemed to end up there unpleasantly frequently, and it was only natural that he and Poppy were on a first name basis by now.

With a groan he tried to heave himself up, or even look around, but it seemed he was in some sort of restraint. He began to breathe deeply. It's all fine Harry, take deep breaths. These restraints have nothing to do with the unknown properties of Viper Weeds. You'll be back in the Common Room with your friends soon.

"Ah, Harry, I see you're awake." Poppy. The mediwitch drifted into his view, and he was surprised to see she looked more…colorful than usual. No matter. "Harry. I know you'll have questions, but there are few things you should know before I begin. The Headmaster and I agreed it was best I explain things to you."

Harry watched with morbid curiosity as she took a deep breath and rubbed her hands together in the way she did when she was anxious.

"Firstly, as Professor Sprout no doubt told you, Viper Weeds have…unknown effects. That is why she set the seventh years to re-potting the young ones. She is conducting experiments on them as we speak. They are not completely unknown, and she did say that a single bite, or at least a succession of bites, provided that they are from the same plant simply knock the victim out for a limited amount of time."

"You have been unconscious and unmoving for three weeks Harry. Professor Sprout assured us that you would eventually wake, but…there have been some changes to you. That many plants to my knowledge haven't bitten anyone. There are theories about why it happened, and why it happened now, but I do not know fully, and Professor Sprout or Professor Snape would be able to explain to you better than I can."

Harry could see the concern in her eyes, and began to feel worried. He was in restraints, and he was feeling different. Maybe there had been permanent physical injury? Maybe he was going to have to be kept in St Mungo's insanity ward?

"Harry. You have to promise me that you won't shout." She said gently, calmingly. Oh gods. "Your voice at high levels can have some detrimental effects. Do you promise Harry?" No he damn well didn't.

"Yes." His voice sounded odd to him, different, deeper yet lighter at the same time. Poppy slowly lifted a mirror up to his face, and Harry couldn't help but draw a gasp.

His skin had become luminous white. It was speckled with the tan dots that had covered the Viper Weed. And his teeth. They were pointed and sharper definitely. Poking out his tongue he examined the vine-like quality of it. Flicking it this way and that, he watched as it split into two, and he let out a horrified yelp. So absorbed was he in his own reflection that he didn't notice Poppy's wince.

Oh this was very odd. White skin…his teeth, his tongue. And then there was the matter of his eyes. They were still green, but now unnaturally so. They shone with an eerie light in the dark of the room. No wonder Poppy had looked so worried. No wonder he was restrained. Harry sighed in defeat before speaking.

"Can…can I see Hermione and Ron?" He asked tentatively. "Please?"

Poppy nodded before moving out of his line of sight. A moment later his friends were rushing up, although they paused with a kind of shock, looking at him worriedly.

"Hi guys." He said quietly.

"Oh Harry! We were so worried!" Hermione cried, enveloping him in a hug. For a moment Harry got a great urge to lash out at her, struggling momentarily at his bindings. It must have showed, because she pulled away quickly.

"Harry, mate. You look…" Ron trailed off and continued to stare at him.

"Harry, I spoke to Professor Sprout while you were still unconscious. You…she said you'd need to know a lot." Hermione said quietly.

"Tell me ‘Mione." Harry replied.

"Harry, they don't know if the changes are permanent, but they think they are. The got a mediwizard in from St. Mango's and he said that they probably are. So don't…just don't get your hopes up. I'm so sorry Harry, I wish we could have done something." She cried. "You just went under and dropped to the floor, and the Viper Weed's thrashed about, and a lot of them fell on the floor near you, and they were just biting and biting you. We were so afraid. Professor Sprout was crying because she thought you were going to die. Even Malfoy was terrified. He kept saying he was sorry, over and over again."

"You went into convulsions, mate." Ron said hoarsely. Harry just stared. Somewhere, distantly, he could remember what had happened.

"You didn't start changing until it hit a night where there was a tiny crescent moon. The window was open, and you just started…glowing. I…I don't think it would have happened if you hadn't been in the moonlight."

"I was glowing?" Harry said in wonder.

"Yeah, it was really spooky. We thought you'd died and become a ghost for a moment." Said Ron, concern written all over his face.

"But why did the Viper Weeds attack me? I thought they were just meant to give you a quick bite and leave you be." Harry said slowly, still feeling rather groggy.

"I was speaking to Professor Sprout, and she reckons it might be some kind of…erm…pollination." She said tentatively.

"You didn't tell me that!" Exclaimed Ron. "You mean little plants will burst out of him?" Harry grimaced, but Hermione shook her head.

"They thought something like that would happen to begin with, but nothing did. The Viper Plant generally reproduces by killing a small animal like a rabbit and then injecting it with preservative venom, waiting until around February. Then they pollinate the corpse. Usually Viper Weeds grow in clusters of different plants, so pollination is easy." Harry nodded in understanding and she continued.

"But they never kill animals bigger than dogs, and they never try to pollinate anything magical. Professor Sprout thinks that this is the first case, but she's not sure yet."

"So I was…" Harry spat the word. "Pollinated?"

"Professor Sprout thinks that the chemicals and the fact that so many plants bit you interacted with your magic. It was weird though, after you left, all the Viper Weeds became really placid, and they didn't even snap. They just stared after you."

"It was bloody creepy Harry. The way they were looking at you." Ron said. Harry took a moment to absorb this, before asking his next question.

"Why am I restrained?"

"We weren't here for it, and all the staff has been very hush-hush, but I think something happened. All I could get from Pomfrey is that you're a ‘danger to the staff without restraints'." Ron dropped his voice low and secretively. "Though I ‘spect they'll let you out now you're awake." He said cheerfully.

Harry frowned. He needed time to think this over. He also felt monumentally tired. He bid his friends' goodnight, and soon enough was in a deep slumber.


---

When he next awoke, it was to the delicious feeling of sunlight streaming onto his skin. Harry practically preened under the light, feeling almost deliriously happy. So it was that it was awhile before he realized that Poppy was sitting next to him.

"Good morning Harry." She looked a lot less worried today, and it was nice to see her smiling for once. Harry returned the smile.

"How are you feeling?"

"Fine." Harry replied hoarsely. "Could I have some water?"

"In a moment Harry. We want to get you up and about today, so I'll release you from these restraints and then I'll get you a drink."

She busied herself with undoing the buckles over his chest, neck, and limbs. When Harry could finally sit up, he felt freer than he had in a long time. He stretched languidly before leaning back against the bed. He noticed that Poppy was looking at him oddly, but she hurried away to get him water, and before he knew it she was back carrying a glass and accompanied, to his surprise, by Snape.

"I take it we have finally awoken from our beauty sleep then Mr Potter?" The other man asked with a sneer.

"I'd hardly call myself beautiful now, but if you say so." Harry didn't care if he provoked the Potions professor this morning. Particularly as Snape had that same wariness in his stance that Poppy had.

"Professor Snape has kindly agreed to provide some potions that may be of use, and will be helping in trying to diagnose a cure." Said Poppy kindly.

"I doubt the boy can be cured Poppy. His entire cellular structure has changed." With another sneer at Harry he continued. "I suppose there's always hope. Potter, please get dressed and follow me. I will show you your new chambers."

It took Harry a little while to get dressed, and he felt weak even doing it. All he really felt like doing was curling up in the sun and sinking some roots underground. Roots? What the hell am I thinking?

Harry dutifully followed Snape's swift strides although he didn't find it as difficult as he used to. He contemplated his situation carefully. It looked as if he was stuck with being some horrible plant hybrid that was quite likely to burst open and be filled with tiny Viper Weeds. Great, thought Harry glumly. Just what I need.

They had been walking for some time when they reached an area of the castle that Harry had not been in much. It was on the East Side of the castle, overlooking the Lake and the Herbology greenhouses. They came to a halt in front of a tapestry that had a plant that looked suspiciously like the Whomping Willow stitched into it. Snape turned to look at Harry with an amused smile and said.

"Hybrid." For a moment Harry thought that the man was openly insulting him, but then he swept aside the tapestry and Harry saw a low doorway where there had been none before.

Harry entered and looked around him appraisingly. He was standing in a room that was otherwise empty apart from the standard Hogwarts four poster bed with Green covers. Harry was beginning to get a bit suspicious about this allusion to plants all the time. Other than the bed covers the room was completely white, with tan floorboards and a large window and ledge that he could easily sit on and absorb the sunlight. Obviously his instincts were ahead of him, but he really did want to go and bathe in that ray of golden light that was pouring in.

Harry began drifting towards the window, momentarily forgetting the irritable potion's professor still standing in the doorway. It was only when the other man's voice drifted back to him that he stopped and turned to face him.

"I will need to take samples of your skin, saliva and hair. I already took a sample of your blood when you were unconscious." The first thing Harry thought was that if it somehow got into the hands of the Dark Lord, he was in mortal danger. Snape seemed to have predicted this though.

"I have no intention of using them for any other purpose than diagnosis and study, so you can wipe that mistrust off your face Potter." Harry sighed and seated himself on the edge of the bed, looking longingly towards the window.


"And what else?" He asked. Snape looked as if he was going to give a sharp retort, but then sighed and gave a calm reply.

"You are to inform either me of Professor Sprout if you feel any strong urges. I can already see that you are anxious to sit in the sunlight, which is why you have rooms on the East Side of the castle. You will sit in the sun for at least twenty minutes each day."

Harry simply nodded and wandered over to the window to flop lazily on the thick stone sill.

"Your possessions will be delivered by lunchtime, and over there is a bathroom." Snape gestured lazily over to a narrow doorway to the right of the main entrance. "You are not, under any circumstances to leave these rooms. Precautions have been made to be sure that you do not."
Snape was just about to exit the room when Harry piped up.

"Professor? What happened in the hospital wing? Why was I tied up?" Snape froze before turning on one foot to look at Harry.

"You displayed some violent tendencies towards a member of staff. Thankfully they have been diagnosed and cured, which is more than I can say for you. You will not be getting your wand back until you start lessons once more." The older man sneered. "You are being kept here for the safety of the other pupils and members of staff."

With that he turned in a swirl of robes and walked briskly out of the door. Outside, Harry could hear a few muttered spells and then footsteps receding. For a few minutes more, Harry lay contentedly in the sun. Somehow everything didn't seem so bad when he was in the sunlight.

Finally, he heaved himself off of the window and headed into the bathroom, hoping that it had a mirror. As it came about, it did. It was a plain, full-length piece of glass mounted onto the wall. The room was white like the other, but the big tub at one end of the bathroom that was tiled in green.

Looking around carefully, Harry shut the door and locked it before stripping off his clothes and facing the mirror. In the dimmer light of the bathroom, his skin was completely entrancing. It was a luminescent white, glowing slightly in the faint light.

The brown speckles that dotted his face around his temples, nose and hairline trailed down his spine and clustered around his knees, feet and hands. Taking a closer look at the hair on his head, he noticed that it was a very dark green rather than black. His nails were sharper, and his lips were a greenish pink. Apparently the plants hadn't distorted his natural appearance that much. Brushing aside his fringe he noted that the lightening shaped scar was still there.

Slowly, and increasingly hesitantly, he opened his mouth and examined his tongue. It was probably the most radical difference. It felt more…organic somehow, aside from being a dark green and being able to split into forks. He tried to make it do it again, but was unable to.
Eventually he gave up and slumped on the floor.

Goddamn this sucks. He thought. Then, something else occurred to him. I swear, I'm going to kill Malfoy the next time I see him.