In Company of Wolves

“No…” Harry moaned as he opened eyes, remembering the events before he had lost consciousness. “Please… Not again…”

Then he blinked. He didn’t hurt like he had expected… the pain was still there but… there was also something else that was nagging at him. He felt coldness against his arm and looked down to see Armand slithering closer to him.

“Armand?”

“Masssster! I’ve been trying to wake you…” Armand looked over him with worried eyes. The sheets of the bed were more rumpled than Harry remembered, and he could feel an odd wetness on the backs of his thighs. He shuddered as all the suffering he had recently endured came back in full force as his memories returned.

“Vernon?” Harry asked tonelessly. Armand spared a brief glance over to and empty space where an unconscious lump had crumpled against the wall the previous night, a glance that was filled with distain.

“Massster… how do you feel?” The snake asked hurriedly. Harry looked outside the bars on his small window to see that it was still dark outside. He couldn’t have been unconscious for more than a few hours. Usually by this time he would have received parcels from his friends, wishing him a good birthday. Dejectedly he looked down. There wasn’t a single bird or present in sight.

“I’m assss well asssss can be expected, I ssssupposssse.” He finally muttered. He winced as he pushed himself to his feet. The house seemed to be devoid of life; Harry stuck his head into Vernon and Petunia’s room. The drawers were pulled out of their dressers haphazardly, discarded clothing littering the floor and bed. Racing towards Dudley’s room, Harry found the same sight.

The conclusion that the poor boy came to was both harsh and accurate; they had left him, he had been abandoned. Harsh sobs wracked his chest, tears pouring in streams from his eyes as he crumpled to the floor with his back up against the frame of the door.

Several hours later, Harry was still in the same spot where he had collapsed, his eyes red and puffy from crying. Flashes of memories kept popping into his head that only served to increase his misery as his cries grew in volume. Armand was at a loss; how was he supposed to help his young Master? What was expected of him? A confused snake is not a happy snake, but in certain cases the reptiles overcame their natural instincts to help the ones that cared for them.

Growing impatient, and extremely irritated from the noise, Armand crept away to Harry’s room, spotting a covered cage in the corner.

He could smell an owl, a fellow predator on the smaller rodents, mixed with the lingering of Harry’s own distinct scent. Pushing up the canvas covering the cage, Armand came face to face with a pair of baleful, golden eyes as Hedwig stared suspiciously at him.

“You are Massster’ssss?” Armand tried to ask her. She chirped in annoyance, before lunging at the serpent, unable to understand what he had said to her. She came up flush with the bars, her beak clicking as it his the metal.

Knowing that Harry probably needed her for comfort, he looked at the cage for some sort of latch. Once he found it, he made sure that he was out of the way of the bird’s flight before releasing it and freeing Hedwig from her brass prison.

Ignoring the snake now that she was free and could see that it presented her no harm, she went straight to Harry… only to see someone else in his place. She alighted on the floor near him, hopping closer to inspect the creature before her. He smelled like Harry. But her master didn’t have any wings of his own, and this boy did.

However, fate must have been with Harry for at that moment he raised his green orbs, confirming himself to his owl. Cooing in delight, Hedwig hopped up onto his folded knees that he had grasped between his arms, shuffling over to his bare shoulder for a more comfortable position.

“Hedwig?” Harry whispered, his voice hoarse and cracking. She chirped merrily, trying to cheer him up. “How did you get out of your cage?”

“I let her out.” Armand slithered up to Harry, drawing a hiss from the owl on his shoulder. Harry hastily reassured Hedwig, and after a few moments the owl let the snake approach, although she was still keeping a close eye on him.

“Thank you, so much.” Harry nearly broke out sobbing again. His two animal friends remained by his side until he passed out from exhaustion. His new body was only slightly different from his old one, and still was susceptible to ordinary things like that. The owl and snake had reached an impasse, each one trying to stare the other down. Mutual concern for Harry was a common mediator, and they both soon accepted the other’s place in Harry’s life based on the events that had occurred before. They waited patiently for their master to awaken.

So again, hours later, Harry had regained enough energy to wake up and panicked, fully expecting Hedwig and Armand to be at each other’s throats, but the were sitting quietly next to each other looking at him. Harry rubbed at his sore eyes, taking a few deep breaths to calm himself further. So his family had left him… He could deal with it. He... he didn’t need them…

“Thank you… both of you.” He nodded softly towards his friends who had kept a vigil over him while he slept.

“It isss nothing to help my Massster. Do you feel better now?” Armand asked. Hedwig chirped, trying to add her own concerns for her young master.

“Better.”

Harry padded softly back to his room and packed his trunk for Hogwarts after pulling on a discarded pair of pants and underwear. It was sad to see what little possessions he had accumulated in his sixteen years of living, the majority of which was able to fit in a common trunk. He closed and latched its lid, bending over to try and drag it outside. To his surprise, he lifted it easily, cradling it within his two arms as he tread slowly downstairs. Armand and Hedwig followed closely behind him, stopping on the stairs as he put the truck down near the door.

Harry froze as he caught sight of his reflection in a mirror. Bloody hell… his eyes widened in shock as he caught sight of metallic, serrated ears poking through his suddenly tame and shining mass of black hair that curled gently around the nape of his neck. He lifted a hand to touch them, and started at the black talons where his fingernails had once been. Shock crept over him like a blanket as he surveyed his physical changes, praying that it was only a dream.

A movement behind his shoulder blades caught his eye; was that Hedwig? His jaw dropped as he craned his neck around to make out two small wings, each one sprouting from the middle of his upper back. They were colored a dark gray, and they were covered in scales, also a shiny metallic like his ears… and he could move them.

Another thing nagged at him, reminding him that he wasn’t wearing his glasses… that that he could see with crystal clarity things that he could have seen before, even with the darn things.

He sagged once again to the floor; he seemed fated to stand out. Now, on top of being ‘The-Boy-That-Lived’, he was going to have to go to Hogwarts to face the ridicule of his peers… the blood drained form his face as he contemplated the prospect. And Malfoy… dear God no…

“Masssster, don’t do thissss to yoursssself!” Armand started, worried. “Everything happensssss for a reasssson; you only don’t know your reassssson yet!”

“I never assssked for thisssss, Armand! Look at me! I’M A FREAK.” Harry snarled in self-loathing.

“You are no freak! You are the ssssssssavior of the WORLD-“

“Well, maybe I don’t WANT to be the sssssssavior of the world! Maybe I jusssssst want to live a normal life, with a normal family, with my mum and dad… but they are DEAD!” Harry once again went into hysterics, unable to deal with the emotional strain.

A wailing rose outside the small house, drawing Harry from his inward struggle against himself. Going to the window, he pulled back the curtain to see what was going on outside through tear filled eyes. He nearly gasped; outside there were nearly ten police cars, their lights flashing and some with their sirens on. Men surged forth, setting up a block around the house, while one other got a bullhorn.

“This is the police. Come out with your hands up! If you do not we will be forced to shoot.” The clicking of loaded guns followed his statement. Harry gulped nervously, his previous problem forgotten in his plight.

“Oh shit…”