The Lion and the Serpent

When Draco came to, it was already noon, and the sun was blazing through the window. He reached to touch his lip where Harry had struck him. It was slightly swollen, but there was no blood, to Draco\'s surprise and relief. He was hit, but not injured. At least, not seriously. A tentative hope returned: Perhaps Harry wouldn\'t kill him, after all.



Draco surveyed the living room cautiously. Harry was nowhere in sight. Probably still teaching, Draco thought.



Draco realized that he still hadn\'t seen the rest of Harry\'s quarters. Slowly, unsure whether he was trespassing into a forbidden area, he opened the bedroom door and peeked inside. The bedroom was as simple and unpretentious as the living room. A single double bed, a single chair next to it, and a simple trunk filled with clothes. Not even a wardrobe, or a nightstand. The savior of the world, one of the richest wizards in history, living in near poverty, worse than .. than Weasleys! Draco thought, astonished.



Thinking of Harry made Draco\'s chest ache. The ache throbbed and intensified, and Draco instantly knew he had to go find him. It was the bond, he realized, urging him to seek out his owner and reach out to him for comfort and forgiveness, even if neither was forthcoming. Quickly, Draco left the quarters, the doors shutting and locking behind him automatically.



He walked through the hallways, and saw the astonished and satisfied looks on teenagers\' faces, when they read the inscription on his collar. Slavery was not unheard of in the progressive parts of the wizard world, but still fairly uncommon. That the bond belonged to no other than Harry Potter, was perceived as both justified and appropriate.



A few tried pushing him, but were repelled instantly, as if an invisible wall was erected between him and them, as soon as there was an intent to attack. Draco had to admit that he felt a slight twinge of pride at the protection that his owner had bestowed on him. Around him, there were disappointed murmurs, and a few taunts, but eventually, Draco was left alone, as nobody wanted to find themselves charged trespassing on Harry Potter\'s property.



Draco stopped in front of the schedule posted on one of the pillars in the common area. Harry was teaching Defense Against Dark Arts Level 2, Draco saw, and headed quickly towards the classroom. He heard Harry\'s confident voice, and cautiously opened the back door to the classroom, hoping to remain unnoticed. But Harry\'s eyes were instantly on him, and Harry acknowledged him with a curt nod.



"Good of you to join us, Mr. Malfoy," Harry said. "Have you decided that you need some remedial Defense classes?"



The teenagers, most of them not older than 14 or 15 years old, giggled and whispered, amused.



"Have a seat in the front row, Mr. Malfoy," Harry said, and returned his attention to the class instantly. Draco sat down at a vacant desk, feeling on display. But the whispers and giggles died quickly when Harry produced a large pile of papers and slammed them against his desk.



"Do you know what this is?" he addressed the class, his voice both calm and terrifying.



The children stared at him, no-one daring to speak.



"I will ask again: do you know what this is?" Harry repeated. "Anyone?"



"Our essays," A small timid voice piped from the back of the class.



"Wrong," Harry snapped. "Ten points taken from Slytherin, for a blatantly incorrect response."



The boy bit his lip, and lowered his eyes, chastised.



"This," Harry lifted the pile in his hands, "Is a pile of trash, not fit to be burned. Only 5 passing grades in the entire class, and even they just barely made it. As much as it pains me to reward mediocrity, I will grant five points to Gryffindor, one point for each passing grade."



The students whispered amongst each other. Harry lifted his hand, silencing them.



"Let me ask you another question," Harry spoke coolly. "Do you want to die?"



"No, Sir!" the class replied in chorus.



"Then you must forget everything you think you know about Defense Against Dark Arts, and start with a blank slate," he said, his voice softening slightly. "You\'ve been taught too many things that will cause you to die in most horrible, excruciatingly painful way, should you attempt to apply that faulty information in real life."



The students listened to him, mesmerized.



"Let me show you something. Mr. Malfoy, would you be so kind as to stand in front of the class, and lift your shirt?"



Draco complied instantly. Without as much as a sigh of protest, he stood in front of the class, and lifted his shirt. The students gasped, staring at the image of the snake.



"Do you know what this is?" Harry asked.



"The Dark Mark," a student said tentatively.



Harry nodded. "Damn right it is. One point to Gryffindor. If you have any questions for the guest of honor, feel free to ask him. Mr. Malfoy, you will answer as completely and truthfully as you can."



A hand flew up in the air, and Harry acknowledged a tall girl with busy hair, that reminded Draco slightly of Hermione Granger. The girl wore a scarlet and gold scarf around her neck.



"It looks different from the Dark Mark images we find in the textbooks," she said. "Why is that?"



"I don\'t know," Draco said. "I mean, the look of the Dark Mark is pretty arbitrary, although most of them have serpentine design. But I don\'t know the meaning or the reason behind my design. My father conjured it it on me when I was 12."



Another hand was raised, and Harry nodded to a small boy, wearing a pair of heavily framed glasses.



"What does it do when Voldemort tries to speak to you?" he asked.



"It moves. The design physically moves on my body. I can feel it move, and you can see it move."



Another hand, and a question: "How did you hide it from everyone for so long? The gym, the locker room?"



"Glamours, and other spells. They were all shed when ... Mr. Potter acquired my bond."



"When was last time it spoke to you?" A voice asked from the back of the class.



"One point taken from Hufflepuff, for speaking out of turn," Harry said. "Answer the question, Mr. Malfoy."



"Just over a year ago," Draco said. "Never since ... Mr. Potter ... destroyed... the last Horcrux." Draco noticed that Harry\'s eyes narrowed, as Draco had stumbled over the word \'destroyed\'.



"One last question," Harry said. A girl sitting right in front of Draco raised her hand shyly. A silver and green scarf around her neck identified her a Slytherin. Harry nodded to her. "Go ahead, Miss Cain." Staring at Draco\'s mark mischievously, the girl ask, her lips quivering into an impish grin:



"Does the snake go all the way down?"



Draco looked at Harry pleadingly, and Harry raised his hand to silence him.



"Thirty points taken from Slytherin, for a frivolous, irrelevant, and completely inappropriate question," Harry said flatly and Draco breathed a sigh of relief, feeling nonetheless a twinge of sympathy for the girl. The girl shrank back into her chair. An angry Slytherin classmate shot a ball of paper at her back, and her eyes welled up with tears.



"Enough," Harry said. "Those of you who want to lead normal lives, will only need the basics of Defense, and you will learn those in this class, no matter how inept or dim-witted you are. Those of you who want to go further, and become Aurors, will need to delve deeper, study harder, practice more. You will learn to never go easy on yourselves, never forgive yourself, never allow any weakness or frailty to take root in your soul. And one more thing you will learn. Unlike for the rest of the world, there will be no good and evil in your life - only a single thin line that runs between the two. "



The children were listening to him, quiet under the spell of his calm, deep, hypnotic voice. Even Draco found himself mesmerized, still standing in front of the class, his shirt still lifted up to display his Mark.



"You will walk that line every day of your life, never wavering, never taking your eyes off it. You will listen to both sides speak to you, but you will not yield to either. Fall one way, and you will become weak and useless, your judgment clouded with inane sentimentality and foolish hopes. Fall the other way, and you will find yourself in darkness so heavy, your eyes will forget how to recognize light, and you will not see anything ever again. Remember the line, as it will become your entire life."



Draco glanced at his owner sideways, both terrified and grateful for the brief glimpse of Harry\'s mind. In his own imagination, he saw a thin line falling between the two worlds, stretching as far as the eye could see. But the line wasn\'t straight as one have thought - it was swerving and weaving, as a path of a serpent.



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