Beautiful Raven

“Talking”

‘Thinking’

“Parseltongue”

Letters

Flashback

Draco was more than worried. He was terrified! Harry had been unconscious for seven hours now, and his body had only just stopped trembling from the curse. Lucius had said he’d try to offer a deal with the Dark Lord, and Draco had forced him to bring a portkey, so as soon as Lucius said a small phrase, which he could easily put into the conversation, the portkey would bring him to a safe house, which Draco had bought with his own money, so there was at least one place they would be safe. He wasn’t happy that his father had left, but he hated to see Harry so hurt.

It took a few more hours before Lucius came back, and even though he had clearly been hit with the Cruciatus, he seemed to be perfectly well. “I’m so happy Harry got that snake now.” Draco looked at his father with the most adorable confused look Lucius had ever seen. “Nayan somehow managed to come along, and thanks to her, Voldemort seemed to understand the situation. If not, I’d probably still be writhing at the floor in the manor. I don’t speak parseltongue, but she said something that made him act almost like he knew how to care. Nagini felt threatened at first, but for some reason she submitted to Nayan. Are we even sure Nayan’s a female? Maybe Nayan’s a male, and that’s why they seemed to submit so easily?” Lucius sat down on the chair next to Harry’s hospital bed, and calmly started caressing the dark hair.

Nayan slid in shortly after, and as soon as she put her snout against Harry’s cheek, he stirred out of his sleep. “W-what happened…?” Harry’s voice was dry, and his throat was sore from screaming. Lucius held a cup of water to his lips, and Harry eagerly welcomed the soothing liquid down his throat.

Lucius put the cup away. “I went to the Dark Lord. I didn’t want you to be in pain, so I offered him a deal.” Draco got up on the bed, and calmly let Harry use him as a pillow to get more comfortable, as well as feeling more safe. “Somehow Nayan managed to come along, and that was probably the main reason the Dark Lord agreed to the deal.”

Lucius walked down the hall in the manor. He hadn’t been there for so long now, and he had hoped he wouldn’t have to go there while it was so unsafe. If he got killed, his two mates would survive because they still had each other, but it’d still be terrible for them, to go through his death.

He knocked on the door to his Lord’s chambers, and walked in when he heard the permission given through the door. “My Lord, I bring news. Both good and bad, as well as a deal with great profit for you.” Voldemort was not pleased that Lucius had been gone so long.

It didn’t take long, before Lucius was writhing in pain on the floor. “You’ve been gone for so long, Lucius. Did you hide? Or were you betraying me?” the hissing voice asked.

Lucius was unable to answer because of the pain, and the only reason the spell was released, was because Nayan suddenly was in front of the Dark Lord, hissing angrily at the man. “Don’t you dare hurt Lucius, you wanna-be! My child’s mate will not die from my child because of the likes of you!” she hissed angrily.

Voldemort was shocked, but he didn’t show it. “Well, I have to keep him in line. If not, he may betray me, and then I’ll have to kill him for sure. He’s worth too much to be killed without a good reason,” the snake-like man said.

Nagini slid out further from her spot, next to the throne Voldemort sat on, and Nayan instantly noticed the threatening aura from the fellow serpent. “If you as much as consider attacking me, rest assured it will be the last thing you do!” Nagini did not stop her threatening, until she saw Nayan’s eyes flashing crimson red for a mere second. This made Nagini pull back and submit to the other serpent. “That’s better. And I want you to know that I will not accept that your sadistic actions hurt my child! Do you enjoy harming my child? He never wanted to fight you! The only reason he’s fighting is because of that old guy running that school of theirs!” She kept her guard high, but her threatening pose had relaxed a bit.

Voldemort looked at the snake carefully. “You say your child is fighting me. Is it to be understood, that you’ve adopted the Potter child? I must say you have some guts, threatening the Dark Lord; a man who could kill you with a single curse.” Nayan’s hissing laughter had clearly surprised the man, as he tensed up from hearing the sound.

Nayan flickered her tongue out, tasting the tension in the air; enjoying the way she was able to make the white-skinned man tense up. “Well, I’m surprised you even allow any harm on him. He smells like you. Not as a copy or a blood related person. No, he has your scent on him the same way your snake does. Whatever it means, I think you should consider the deal Lucius brought for you. And if he’s harmed the least when we leave, you’ll know why more primitive cultures call us ‘the snakes with thousand poisons’.” She slid over to Lucius, and helped him up.

Voldemort watched Lucius’ body shivering with the leftover pains. He didn’t really feel any remorse, but for the first time in years, he felt something he had no idea what was. “Lucius, you can speak freely now.” Lucius looked at Nayan shortly, before he looked at the Dark Lord, and presented the news and the deal he’d brought with him.

Harry smiled softly when Lucius was done talking, and turned to Nayan, who glowed with pride, since she’d helped her child’s mate avoid serious harm. “Thank you, Na. I’m glad you’re my parental figure. I don’t think I could ever have found a better mother than you.” Nayan’s pride got boosted with the words, and if they didn’t know better, Lucius and Draco would have thought she’d blow up from being far too proud.

Draco planted a soft kiss on Harry’s forehead to get his attention. “Well, even if you didn’t have Nayan, which I admit would be a big loss; you’d still have me and Luc.” Harry smiled and held Draco close, nuzzling his cheek again the blonde’s chest.

Lucius watched happily, as the teens were cuddling on the bed. “If Harry is well enough to go back to our rooms, maybe we can cuddle on a bigger bed? I feel left out.” Draco giggled at the slightly childish words his father used, though he helped Harry out of bed.

Poppy noticed quickly, and after doing a fast scan, she let them go, telling Harry to take it easy for a day or two. Lucius smiled and helped Draco support Harry back to their rooms. It didn’t take long before they got tired of supporting the slow boy, and Lucius lifted him up and carried him back to their rooms. Nayan followed them calmly, giving out a hissing laugh, as she watched her child squirm to be put down; and he was failing horribly.

-#-#-#-#-

Nagini watched the man she’d shared her life with. “Could the child really be a horcrux? Could that be the reason of your connection to him?” she asked softly.

Voldemort was angry. How could he not have noticed? When he thought about it, it made perfect sense! Harry had to be a horcrux! “If he is, we need to keep him safe. We cannot trust Dumbledore. The man is just in the way,” he hissed angrily.

Nagini nodded. “And remember the serpent that came in with Malfoy. She was not just bragging or showing off. I could taste on the air she was holding back her strength. She’d be a good ally as well. If we let the Potter child be our front, we can get many more goals achieved. He’s adored by the world. The prophecy never said he’d kill you, did it? It just said he’d defeat you, vanquish you. If you stepped down as a Dark Lord and let him pretend to have defeated you, you could be out of danger, you could keep him safe, and he could work as a front for you. That way, you could control the world with his help, without risking harm. I’m sure the child would trust you more, if you shared some of your hilarious blackmail of the Malfoys with him. If Lucius is the child’s soulmate, don’t you think the child would love something to tease the man with?” She watched him closely, waiting for any sign, that he didn’t like the things she’d said.

Voldemort looked out into thin air, considering the words. “Strong words, Nagini. I will consider it, I swear, but for now, we’d better get some rest. Something tells me an alliance with that snake will be very exhausting, even for me.” Nagini nodded, and soon after, they were both in the bedchambers. She had to see if the other snake could find some way to bring back emotions and looks to her master. After he had been ‘defeated’ he would have to hide. And if he was found, he had to have other looks. It’d be too dangerous to remain in this form, if he was to be thought dead. She did not want him to die.