Subitus Vices

Subitus Vices – Unexpected Events

Harry slammed his text book shut with a sigh. It was getting worse, now he couldn’t see the writing on a page; let alone do the growing pile of essay’s he had for homework.

He had to get out of here, Harry thought rubbing his eyes as a cover up to hide the wince as someone bumped into his arms on the way to sit down. He felt like he had scolded himself all over, and it was getting worse in the crowded Gryffindor common room.

Grabbing his things, Harry stood to make his way to bed but was suddenly stopped as his sight went dark for a worrying second and he swayed on the spot.

“Harry?” he flinched as someone gripped his sore arms to steady him. “Harry, you ok?”

Neville. It was Neville. No need to worry, calm down.

“umm I just felt a bit dizzy for a sec…” he replied to the concerned boy. Neville was one of the people he could trust, one of his true friends that wouldn’t care about his differences …

“Umm could you .. help me to the dorm Nev, please? I’ve been trying to do my homework instead of sleeping, these last couple of nights.. not recommended I tell ya” he added when he swayed again.

“Oh I know” Neville joked as he carefully guided Harry to their 5th year dorms “I tried it a few weeks ago, doesn’t sit well when you fall asleep in class. End up with more time consuming detention’s than you need”. He laughed, remembering the transfiguration class Neville had fallen asleep in. A weeks worth of detentions and a spell from the teacher to make him fall asleep dead on 10pm every Tuesday for a month, so he wouldn’t be tired for her Wednesday lessons again.

Once sat on his bed, Harry thanked his friend and watched him grab a textbook from his trunk before Harry grabbed some pajama bottoms from his own trunk and dashed into the bathroom to begin the painful process of getting changed.

After that, Harry waited.

Forgoing sleep for his dorm mates, he waited until all of them were in bed and Ron’s snores were loud and clear, and then he made his move.

Easing his trunk open, Harry grabbed his trusted invisibility cloak and the black silk hooded cloak he had treated himself to last year. The silk felt cool and soothing against his bare upper torso, where the peeling skin was most sore. But it wasn’t just the soothing balm properties of the cloak he liked, this cloak transformed with him into his animagus, so he didn’t have to worry about waking up somewhere butt naked after shedding his skin.

Draping his father’s cloak over himself, he tiptoed out of the dorm and Gryffindor common room. Glancing around quickly and skillfully evading the prefects and teachers on duty he made it to his destination.

A large portrait with an aristocrat dark haired man, sitting in an elegant chair smoking a pipe while his eyes scanned the halls for anything out of the ordinary with his nose high in the air.

Figures, Harry thought as he removed his invisibility cloak, watching in amusement as the man’s eyes widened like saucers as he jumped and fell strait off his chair, coughing as small wisps of smoke escaped from his nose and mouth.

Seconds later the portrait swung open and he was greeted with the very man he had been looking for.

“What the name of all that it holy, are you doing here Mr. Potter?” Snape’s cool and calm voice inquired, with a hint of displeasure at being disturbed.

“I need your help.. sir” he replied truthfully, making sure to add the ‘sir’ at the last minute.

“Oh really, and how did you find my private room Mr. Potter?”

‘I followed you last night, you paranoid git!’ “I over heard Draco boasting about the location a few day’s ago” he lied calmly.

“hmm, well I’m sorry but you’ll have to wait until tomorrow, after I’ve reported you for being out after curfew” he said with a bit of amusement in his voice, moving to close the portrait, who had righted himself and was now glaring at Harry for the near heart attack ‘surprise’.

No he couldn’t wait any longer. This had to be done now, or he would go insane and scratch his own skin off! Wait.. think Slytherin…

“Please wait.. I-I’ll make you a d-deal..” Harry stammered “Please just hear me out” he begged.

Snape looked down at him for a minute before sighing heavily and standing away from the entrance to let him in, muttering something about green eyes as Harry hurriedly stepped inside.

The room was how he expected it to be really, done in dark greens and deep mahogany’s. Black carpet and deep red ceiling, black leather furniture around a warm comforting fire.

“Sit and don’t touch anything” the older man barked, to which Harry complied right away at the tone; forgetting his condition and hissing in pain as the leather pushed against the skin on his back painfully. Harry looked up to see Snape in the chair opposite his, giving him an odd look before his feature’s hardened.

“Start talking Potter, I didn’t let you in out of the goodness of my heart. Tell me what’s wrong and go” his voice hard and unforgiving, making Harry almost think twice about his decision.

“I need your help with s-something..and if you help me… I-I’ll give you some rare potions ingredients.. that wouldn’t be sold in shops under ridicules amounts of money …if at all..” He didn’t care if he sounded weak under the other’s cold stare; he needed help, desperate for help.

“What kind of ingredients?” he sounded interested even though his voice remained even, it gave Harry hope to carry on.

“Rare pygmente scale’s and venom…”he said, hoping his scales were as valuable as the books said.

The potion master’s eyes went wide, “How could you possibly…? But there almost extinct! Even with you being a parselmouth, you wouldn’t get nearly close enough..!”

That seemed to have rocked his boat, Harry thought smugly

“Wait.. there’s something your not saying” he said curiously, seeing the smugness in Harry’s reaction.

Harry lost his smugness when he realized he would have to tell him what he had never old anyone before.

“The scales and venom will be from me…my animagus form… if you help me…. with my problem…” he admitted in a small voice. But he could tell that the older man had heard him but his shocked and disbelieving expression.

“Y- your animagus is….”

“A pygmente cobra...yes”

“Right..okay” he said, sounding quite far off from the here and now. Coming back to himself he remembered something “What is this problem of your’s? I assume it has something to do with your animagus?”

“Y-yes” Harry took a deep reassuring breath as he told the potions master about how everything was affecting him and how his body was reacting to it, casting the reveal spell and pulling his silk cloak away from his shoulder to show him the worst area.

Snape looked thoroughly surprised when his student spelled away his mask, showing how he truly looked, his longer hair and peeling skin. But what made Severus really help his student was when Harry looked up at him with his mothers eyes, only to find they had been tainted, cloudy and dead from his suffering ‘illness’. ‘Lilly’s beautiful eyes’

Snape immediately charmed a table to stretch 3 meters longer than usual and commanded him to sit on it while walking into his backroom to get some tools.

When he came out, Harry was perching on the edge of the charmed table where he placed a few items.

“Drink this” the potion’s mater said, holding out a small glass vial full of blue liquid. At Harry’s skeptical look he explained “It will make you sleepy and harmless for a few hours, you have just told me you’re a very large and dangerous snake. You might be Harry potter but I still want to make sure you won’t try to kill me”

Harry shrugged his shoulders at the perfectly reasonable explanation, taking the potion and then looking at the table. “So you want me to drink this, change into my animagus and lay across this table, sir?” he asked, looking thoughtfully at said table.

“So you aren’t as dumb as you look?” Snape replied wittily.

The younger glared but commented “The table isn’t long enough, sir” before sitting fully on it.

“Potter the table is 3 meters long, the Dark lord’s familiar is the only snake I know of longer than that”

“I’m just under 4 meters as a snake, so obviously it’s not long enough” with that said he downed the foul tasting potion and waited a few seconds before changing into his snake form.

Even when the potion kicked in, Harry still felt a slight thrill at the shocked and uneasy look Snape gave him. But being the Slytherin he was, the emotion was quickly masked as he set to work.

It felt nice to be helped and it felt even better when the first pieces of skin on his sensitive nose were gently massaged off, leaving new silky scales that felt like his cloak the first time he had run his hands over it in the shop.

The professor worked for what seemed like hours, but Harry could tell he didn’t mind. By the time he had gotten half way down his long scaly body, the potions master had already had to put 2 tray-full’s of his scales in other containers.

Harry was feeling very blissfully sleepy and took full advantage of his calm state by have a small nap; which was suddenly interrupted as he realized where Snape was currently working his skin away.

Those, Harry would later look back on, would be the most embarrassing 10 minutes of his life. Snape giving him very odd looks at the few pleasured hisses he couldn’t hold in as he was basically (although unknowingly) molested, having no teeth to clench and not a very strong jaw didn’t make it any easier.

Once Snape was happy with his work, he looked at the clock and noticed the potion should were off anytime soon.

Harry stirred and began to become fully awake from his second nap as he watched Snape gather up his tools. He wanted to give his professor something else to say thank you, but while he had the chance he wanted to have a little fun as well.

If snakes could smirk, this one would be evil.

Sliding from the high table, Harry’s large black form glided over to the older man. Harry smiled internally when he felt Snape’s body tense as he lifted himself high enough to curl around his waist, coiling his heavy form around the uneasy man.

Around his waist, then up around his chest and finally he draped himself over the man’s shoulder’s so that his head would be next to the man’s ear.

Harry knew he was a bit too heavy for the potions master when Severus had to brace his hands onto the desk to keep him upright.

Harry let out an amused hiss against the elder’s ear, making him shiver and start whispering swear words under his breath.

Flattening his hood, Harry let his venom flow to his fangs. Slowing sliding over the dark man’s shoulder, Harry made sure Severus could see his true intention.

The potion’s master watched as the large cobra willing dripped half of its venom in to one of the empty bottle. Still tense from being so close to such a dangerous snake, he forced himself not to flinch away from the small nuzzle he felt against his cheek, as he took as a thank you before the weight slowly disappeared from his waist.

Quickly turning his head, he saw the end of Harry potter’s tail; then he was gone. Disappearing to enjoy his new skin most likely.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Deep in the forbidden forest, two black rare snakes came across each other, locking eyes of brilliant emerald green and piercing ruby red.

A heady sent filled the air. Their senses becoming clogged and centered on the other as they soundlessly glided closer, the gap between them becoming nothing as appreciative hisses filled the quiet forest.