Memoirs of a Serpent's Son

Memoirs of a Serpent’s Son

--Age 17—part 27

January 14

We told Remus of our plan to go swoop in and rescue Harry’s abusive and uncaring family. Oh, no, allow me to correct that: HARRY told Remus of HIS plan to go charging into the battlefield on everyone’s doorstep just to go and prove, once again, though no more evidence is necessary, that Gryffindor’s are bloody idiots.

Thankfully, Remus seemed to have been bestowed some kind of Slytherin form of reasoning and managed to point out that while the intention was noble, his mighty plan of simply popping right into the Dursleys’ house while the muggles have gone made with rage and bloodlust was likely a bad idea and would most probably result in one or more deaths… mainly on our side.

Harry, being the ever-so rational man that he is, proclaimed loudly to the world that we could not simply sit around and do nothing while all of this chaos raged around us.

Ah, sometimes I wonder if perhaps there aren’t secretly TWO Harry Potters who like to switch spots once in a while. This one likes the spotlight more, it seems.

Remus continued to explain to him that he acknowledged Harry’s need to go, but a mission of that level of risk needed to be carefully prepared for and planned out.

He immediately cast a Patronus and before I could even see the shape of the silvery-creature, it was gone.

I blinked several times before jerkily glancing around myself to try and detect some kind of Dementor. Thankfully, there were none.

Ok….so I’m paranoid. WHY ELSE DOES ONE CAST A PATRONUS?

“We send Order messages by Patronus,” Remus explains carefully, judging my reactions. “They are impossible to forge and virtually immune to tampering. Plus each Order member has a unique and distinct Patronus that is easily recognizable among us. Messages are safer that way.”

I gaped. I wish they told me of things like this AHEAD of time so that I didn’t make a bloody fool of myself so often.

Though, in all fairness, I don’t make a fool of myself nearly as often as Harry does.

Which pleases me.

“But we’ve sent owls before,” I countered, remembering the message to McGonagall.

“Yes, but rarely,” he conceded. “We use owls when the messages are coded or not particularly important. For instance, I used an owl when sending out the orders Harry gave me for your Christmas gifts. We certainly cannot communicate clearly with average witches and wizards if we use a Patronus charm. That and they would not likely be able to send one back.”

I flushed a bit at the mention of the gifts. Remus simply gave me a knowing smile and nodded his head to me, as though suggesting that no thanks or any kind of apology was required. I looked away briefly and nodded back.

“We put glamours on the owls every time, mind you,” Harry added with a broad smile. I wondered why. Perhaps he was simply so proud of the ingenuity of glamour spells that he couldn’t help but express it.

Or perhaps he had simply gone completely mental.

The latter was likely more probable.

In either case, it did not matter.

The Patronus was sent and, once more, we were forced to wait and prepare.

During that time we trained. Harry continued to train me to use the Patronus spell (though I found it more and more difficult to concentrate hard enough on a solely HAPPY memory… I’ve so few of those.

The idea of being with Harry… should have been the most exhilarating and joyous feeling in the world… but even that comes with a side-order of pain and frustration.

I suppose everything does.

In any case, while Harry taught me the Patronus charm, I did my best to instruct him, Granger and Weasel on everything I knew about Inferi and the Dark Arts. They learned Deleocorpus easily enough, though I don’t know how effective it would be on large scale Inferi attacks… the effects of the spell only last as long as the affected Inferius is still solid. Once they dissolve… well they keep on attacking.

I also told them anything and everything I could think of in relation to soul magic and bloody magic, as well as other curses the Death-Eaters were known to use. They varied from simple spells with similar effects to Sectumsempra, to darker spells that would literally cause your bones to shatter and burst from your body, slicing through your major organs.

My father was always a fan of that one.

Though he never did like the mess it left on the carpet.

……

I told them of the torture methods that turned your skin inside out, that would shrink your blood vessels or simply turn your blood into ash. Thankfully, all those curses are rather difficult to perform and not common knowledge amongst His followers.

Most of them were poorly educated (or rather completely dimwitted) dark wizards who knew enough to know the difference between the Imperius Curse and the Cruciatus Curse, but hardly enough to make any original combination of the two.

Imperio first. If that doesn’t work, Crucio. And then, finally, when all the fun is over, Avada Kedavra their arses and move on to the next victim.

They also tend to enjoy levitation charms. Simple magic that, when used wisely (or should I say, unwisely) can cause a great deal of damage, both emotional and physical.

My father, along with No-…. Nott’s father, the Lestranges (though they had an affinity for the Cruciatus Curse) and the Carrows… well, they liked to shake things up a bit.

And Snape…

Snape was INFAMOUS for his curses… sometimes (Father once told me) it seemed as though he was making them up on the spot.

The three of them seemed horrified to hear me speak so candidly about everything I knew. They gaped at me.

Well, no that’s not quite true. Weasel and Granger gaped at me. Harry had a mildly surprised look on his face, but it was tainted and covered with loathing and determination. It was powerful and demanding and, most importantly, it was vengeful.

“That’s SICKENING!” Harry burst out, looking about ready to explode. He jumped from his seat and began pacing in a furious state.

“No one ever denied that,” I said simply, disliking the idea that he was still so unaware of the true horrors of the wizarding world.

“How do you know all this?” Weasel asked skeptically. What, do I need to strip down to my knickers and give him a lapdance to show him I’m not hiding a Dark Mark anywhere? Is he REALLY that daft?

“Father liked to tell stories,” I answered sharply. “He probably thought they were serve to excite me and make me want to become a Death-Eater too.”

“Did they?” the three of them asked at once. I stared with a dark smirk.

“Yes,” I answered silkily. I sat back in my chair and let them simmer in their skins, trying to comprehend the possible meanings of that one simple word. “But then several factors swiftly changed my mind.”

Harry relaxed slightly, but Granger was still surveying me worriedly and Weasel was on the edge of his seat, staring me down. I gave him the coldest look I have and he immediately sat back and cast his eyes away.

“What factors?” Granger asked me. I ran my tongue over my teeth.

“I realized I much rather play Quidditch than turn reverse people’s insides,” I began enumerating. “I saw the misfortune it brought my father, and decided that if I was going to be successful and powerful I couldn’t have something as stupid as overt support of Voldemort staining my reputation. Then, of course, I met Voldemort face to face… and I must say the experience wasn’t nearly as exhilarating and enlightening as all that.” I paused to examine my nails for a moment while they stared at each other. “Oh yes,” I finally added, without looking at them. “And then the most important factor, of course,” I turned and looked directly at Harry. “I met you.”

Granger’s face shone with a sneaky kind of victory while Weasel gave me a look that was somewhere between disbelief and disgust, while Harry cocked an eyebrow and shook his head.

“You hated me at school,” he corrected. “At least for most of it, you can’t deny that. And you clearly wanted to be a Death-Eater during that time… or at least you still pledged your love for the Dark Arts.”

I smirked and tilted my head back, ignoring Weasel.

“True,” I admitted. “But you see from the moment I met you, you infiltrated my carefully calculated mental controls and sat yourself in the middle of it all, throwing my entire world off. I couldn’t think of anything but you, practically… whether it was out of hatred, jealousy or… something else.” I leaned forwards onto my knees and looked up at him through my fallen locks of hair. “You pushed yourself to the forefront of my mind and consequently forced the Dark Arts to take a seat in the back.”

Harry continued to look at me puzzled for a moment before chuckling and seating himself next to me. Weasel still looked lost as ever but Granger was giving me some kind of approving grin.

It was a little unnerving.

“Ah, there you are,” Remus’ voice came from next to us. He appeared in the doorway looking disheveled and worn. “I have received message from Moody. They will meet us in Diagon Alley tomorrow to escort us through London.” He walked in and took a seat nearby.

“Why are we going to London?” Harry asked. “The Dursleys live in Little Whinging. That’s in Surrey. Can’t we just go there directly and avoid the chaos in London?”

“Afraid not, Harry,” Remus admitted with a sigh. “There is no safe place for us to Apparate anywhere near there. We will Apparate into the back room of Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes and then proceed through the Leaky Cauldron. The only way to get to the Dursley’s house will be to trek through London and face whatever horrors lie within.”

“But… we certainly can’t walk all the way to Privet Drive,” Harry said, uncomfortable with the situation. Remus shook his head.

“No, once we arrive in a suitable area outside of the main fighting zone,” he continued. “We shall have to fly.”

Granger made a squeak of discomfort while the rest of us gave him strange looks.

Fly? As in, on broomsticks?

Ah yes, that’s DEFINITELY the BEST WAY to go unnoticed by the muggles, not to mention quash all those rumours that witches ride flying broomsticks. Good plan there, Wolf.

“Are you mad?” Harry voiced my opinion appropriately. “How will we get away with that?”

“Simple,” Remus smiled rather wolfishly and pulled over a bag that was sitting beside the couch. He lifted out several wizards hats embroidered with three ‘W’s.

Weasel snorted.

“Invisihats??” he snickered. “Honestly?”

I cocked my head to the side. I had to admit the absolute absurdity of the suggestion… and yet…. Fred and George’s products haven’t let me down yet.

“You’re joking,” Harry said, staring at the hats. Lupin smiled as he looked at them. I got the impression the idea of it reminded him fondly of his time with Sirius and James…

“Not at all,” he replied. “These hats are wonderfully powerful objects. They turn everything the wearer is touching invisible for several hours. Four to be exact.” He tossed Harry a hat, and then did the same to me and Weasel. “This way your brooms are also hidden from view and all you have to do is make sure to avoid stray bullets or curses. No one can see you, but Fred and George have also managed to arrange it so that you can see each other and anyone else wearing one of their products.”

I stared, open-mouthed and awed at their genius. I need to make good friends with those two.

“I can’t believe this,” Harry mumbled, staring at the hat. Then I realized something.

“Why doesn’t Granger have a hat?” I asked curiously. “And why don’t you? Aren’t you coming with us?”

Harry snapped to attention and glanced around the room realizing what he’d missed.

“I don’t fly,” Granger admitted sadly. “There is no way I could help you… I would just slow you down. I’ll stay here and prepare the place for your return. That and someone needs to stay here anyway in case any news comes from the Order.”

I nodded to her simply. My face was mostly blank but it didn’t matter.

“Yes,” Remus agreed. “And I will indeed be coming with you… but I’m afraid I will not be able to fly.” He gave a sad smile. “I’m afraid your little excursions always fall on the worst time of the month for me. Thankfully, however, Hermione has been studying the Wolfsbane potion this last little while and has managed to brew me some. I will follow with you through London as long as I can, but then I will have to leave you to transform. After that, I will do my best to keep up and defend your exit. At least I will have my mind, but no magic.”

“That’s insane!!” Harry burst out. I was inclined to agree. “Are you mad? Transforming in the middle of a city full of murderous muggles out to kill anything remotely magical?? You can’t take that kind of risk!”

Remus smiled again. The look was reminiscent of mine, it seemed. It was full of hidden mischief and amusement.

“I’m afraid that is not your decision, Harry,” he replied calmly. “I am notoriously good at avoiding attacks. You shouldn’t worry about me at all. You three and Fred and George will have to go on to Surrey on your own and find your family.”

“Fred and George are coming?” Weasel asked, confused.

“Of course,” he said simply. “They were rather eager to go, actually. All other members of the Order are currently wrapped up in matters with the Ministry who cannot seem to get enough hands. They immediately offered their help. They’ll meet us in the back of their shop as well.”

“Well, it’s settled then,” Harry admitted, almost defeated. “Tomorrow we go save the Dursleys… I never imagined I would be saying that.”

*******

January 15

We rose early this morning. Harry, of course, woke me up as soon as he was awake. I didn’t fight him this time. This he needed to do and I could understand that.

We got up quietly and bathed and readied ourselves. He chose my clothes for the day… which was rather odd. He picked out muggle clothing. He said that the worst thing we could do was dress like wizards in a war against magic.

He did have a point but when I highlighted the fact that the Death-Eaters would likely be targeting anyone in muggle clothing he reminded me that the Death-Eaters would have targeted us regardless of what we were wearing.

Point taken.

He picked a pair of denim trousers, a dark green shirt and a black fitted jumper. I scowled at the outfit though it wasn’t terrible at all. It was that without a cloak I would FREEZE outside in January like this.

He handed me my Slytherin scarf from my trunk along with a pair of gloves and thick socks. The socks were fuzzy.

Fuzzy socks.

I smirked at him. They were NOT mine.

“They are warm and you will wipe that smirk off your face,” he warned with a sly grin. “And if you are good, when we get back I’ll show you why I like them so much.”

I snorted.

“Slytherins are never good,” I hissed as I put the socks on my feet. Even without his promised demonstration, I could tell why he liked the socks. They were indeed very warm and very, VERY comfortable. I almost let myself smile at the idea before shaking it off and finally donning the jumper and my trainers.

We went downstairs for some breakfast and then, once it was done, we found ourselves waiting hours before Remus came in to give us the go ahead. It was definitely past lunch by this time and much closer to dinner.

So much for an early start.

“Alright, are you all ready to Aparate?” Remus asked. I nodded, holding onto Harry’s arms tightly. I had never been to the back room of the Weasleys’ shop and so he took me for a side-along.

Then, with hardly a word, we disappeared with a crack and arrived with a pop into a messy room, littered with all sorts of Joke supplies that the greatest pranksters could only ever dream of. As I looked outwards towards the actual shop area, I saw that the street outside was littered with rubbish and rubble from the unknowing muggle attacks.

Harry let me go after briefly brushing his lips to my cheek when both Remus and Weasel had turned away. With another few pops the room was suddenly filled with people.

Moody, Tonks, Shacklebolt, Bill and Charlie Weasley (I’m told), Mr. Weasley and Fred and George were all present with us. I suddenly felt rather uncomfortable under the eye of the two eldest Weasel brothers but showed nothing and turned my attention to the others.

“Are yeh ready?” Moody asked gruffly. His blue eye whizzed around searching every corner and shadow of the room.

“Yes,” we each answered, pulling our wands and preparing to venture into the madness that had taken London.

“Do NOT stray from the group and keep a weathered eye,” he warned harshly. “Avoid being seen as much as possible and don’t try to play the hero for any reason at all.” His eye landed briefly on Harry before it passed to me and others. “And most importantly, CONSTANT VIGILANCE!”

I nearly jumped out of my skin but then he grinned and lead the way out of the small back room.

We moved through Diagon Alley towards the Leaky Cauldron and could already hear the shrieks and bangs that came from the world just on the other side of the wall. My heart raced and I kept close to Harry, unaware of whether it was out of possessiveness and over-protectiveness or fear and cowardice.

The gateway to Diagon Alley was lying in rubble at our feet and we pushed carefully through the door to the Inn. It was empty… completely devoid of life in any way and the sounds from beyond the doorway grew louder and more imposing somehow from inside the building.

Moody stood by the door for a moment or two before pushing it open and slipping out. We each followed him closely in turn, keeping our backs to the walls as much as possible and weaving our way in, out and around the devastation that marred the streets of England’s capital.

It was horrifying.

The sky was ashen and dark. The mist and the haze and even just the tension and bloodshed on the air rose up into the sky and blocked out the sun, tainting the heavens with red and death.

The ground was no better place to look. Bodies lay strewn out across the roads and walkways. I can’t even begin to imagine which was a worse sight…

The Death-Eaters’ (and other wizards’) bodies were lying broken on the ground, spilling blood and bone out onto the stones. Their faces were splattered with blood and they were cut or torn and wounded in all places imaginable. The black cloaks were burned and singed pieces were all that remained of the traditional garb of our world.

But the muggles…

There were piles of muggle casualties. There were twitching corpses whose eyes were empty and distant, their souls having been sucked out through their mouths. The soulless were only a part, mind you. Those that had been attacked by Werewolves were mauled and hardly recognizable as Human anymore. They littered the ground in pieces often…

Those that were killed by wizards were lying motionless, cold and empty amongst the other cadavers. Their eyes were completely devoid of any sign of life… their entire beings shrieked of some kind of vast pit of despair and emptiness if you were to look too far into their eyes.

And the worst of all these… were the ones that had been called back as Inferi. They weren’t numerous in our area, but in the distance we could see freshly broken bodies rising up and coming back to take revenge on their killers… or on their friends.

There were screams and loud explosive bangs coming from all sides as we slipped behind collapsed pieces of buildings and down little alleyways. Just as we increased our speed to cross a street and pass behind a large monument, I tripped over some of the rubble and fell to the ground, tearing one of the knees of my trousers and scraping my palms on the walkway. I cursed under my breath and muttered a spell to repair my trousers before I had even realized what I had done.

There was a loud gasp from somewhere a few feet off and when I looked up I found myself staring down the barrel of what I imagine was a gun. The man behind the device was in shock and trembling in fear. His face was stricken with terror as he tried to hold the thing steady and likely use it to attack me (however that might work).

I didn’t have a chance to move before I heard someone scream.

“DRACO!” Harry’s voice broke through the air and within the moments that the man tried to use his weapon, a flash of light sliced through the air and he fell down motionless. Harry was immediately at my side and pulling me to my feet.

I was mildly shaken as I stared at the piece of metal on the ground by the man’s hand. How could that really hurt me?... unless he hit me over the head with it…

I still don’t understand, but I was jerked back to reality by Harry.

“Are you alright?” he asked roughly, shaking me until I looked at him.

“Yes,” I answered surely. “I’m fine, stop shaking me.”

“Don’t you fucking listen?!” Harry snapped immediately. I was taken aback. “I told you those things are dangerous! He could have killed you!!” I found that hard to believe but nodded and frowned nonetheless. “Don’t go standing in front of guns anymore, yeah?” His voice was angry. I nodded again and we kept moving.

“What did I say?!” Mooddy growled at us. “CONSTANT VIGILANCE!” His voice was soft but the searing tone was not hard to catch.

We kept going, moving more and more quickly. Every so often someone would have to cast off Inferi or shield us from Werewolves. We moved through the least occupied areas on our route, keeping low and watching around us carefully.

Suddenly, Remus fell behind and stopped dead. He looked up at the sky and, without warning, the moon was revealed from behind the clouds of death and murder. Night had fallen and we hadn’t even noticed.

He tried not to move, his face betraying his worry that the potion might not work. We were in an area of town that seemed empty of people (whether muggle or wizard) and hidden in a dark alley.

Remus began to convulse momentarily before looked up at the sky again. The Aurors moved us out of the way and shielded us from him but none of us could tear our eyes away. His irises changed and his pupils dilated, making his eyes look black.

His nose elongated into a muzzle slowly with his cries of pain and terror as his body slowly gave in to the magic, the curse, and he shifted from man into wolf. His wolf form kept itself curled into a ball for a few moments, pining and whining out strange sounds as the initial pain of the transformation seemed to subside. Finally it lifted its head and glanced from Harry, to me, and finally to Moody.

He nodded and began to pad forward to join us, seeming completely tame though there was a terrible sadness in his eyes as he followed us. Every so often a soft whine would come from his throat and once we reached an area with other werewolves he had to fight the urge to howl with everything he had.

Moony… that’s who he was now. More than just Remus. Or less, could it be?

Either way, we kept moving.

A statue next to us caught my attention as we passed. It was a dragon atop a cement pedestal and I let my eyes linger on it for a moment before I continued on, increasing my pace to keep up with the rest.

I don’t know how long we walked… it could have been hours… it probably was. I had no concept of time during this whole thing. All I knew is that it was against us… we were running and trying to fight something that we simply couldn’t kill… and it was growing.

Somehow we managed to make it to the edge of the city and Moody led our group to a small enclosed area. It was abandoned and free of dead bodies or wreckage. Once we were safely hidden and given the go-ahead, we pulled out our brooms and returned them to their original size and prepared to mount them, carrying our wands at the ready.

“Now, before you go,” Moody warned us with the same harsh tone. “remember to keep low to the ground for the first little while out of the city. It’s not safe enough for you to fly near or above the clouds what with the Dementors flying around. The power of the Invisihats is lost on them, so until you are further out and there are fewer clouds, stay low. Keep your eyes open for guns and grenades… and of course curses. This will not be easy.”

Harry and I nodded and gave each other dark looks. Weasel and the twins nodded as well, getting out their hats. I took mine from underneath my jumper and looked over at Harry before placing it atop my head. Immediately there was a strange shift in my eyesight. I looked over and saw Harry, Weasel and the twins shining as though they were illuminated, but the rest of the group appeared completely normal.

“Let’s go,” Harry said before kicking off on his Firebolt. I immediately followed and urged my broom onwards to keep up with him. The Weasels followed quickly and we each looked around carefully, swooping back down to fly closer to the ground.

I have to admit that, despite the circumstances, I felt liberated. I haven’t flown in ages… and it is the most wonderful feeling… next to sex.

Well, it’s true.

“South-West from here,” Fred (or George) said, pointing in an innocuous direction. Harry pressed forward and we all forced our brooms to catch up.

The thing that surprised me the most was that, despite our moving away from the city and towards the country-side, the number of people fighting did not decrease at all…

In fact, it increased.

There were more masses marching about on the ground, flames raised high, jumping over these massive metal boxes with wheels that were overturned and on fire. Explosions ringing out from every side and more of those short blasts that I couldn’t identify.

I was just beginning to get comfortable, feeling more confident now that I was invisible and on my broom when the most uncomfortable feeling hit me.

It was a searing kind of pain that burned through me and immediately cut off my air-supply, letting me choke on my own saliva. My eyes bugged out and I opened my mouth to say something but nothing was coming out. The pain was too intense, to concentrated and too unfamiliar for me to take in stride. I instinctively moved my hand from my broomstick to my stomach where much of the agony was concentrated.

I pulled my hand back and when I looked down at it, through the overwhelming pressure behind my eyes and the lightness in my head, I realized that my palm and fingers were covered in blood.

I guess this is how those metal things can hurt…

I felt my eyes roll back as the pain became too overwhelming and suddenly everything went black and I was falling…

Somewhere in the distance, someone was screaming…

------IIIIIII------

A/N: Mm, bad time to leave, neh? Again. I won’t say a lot this time because I really feel very terrible today, but I’m trudging on with this.

First off, Harry didn’t actually go into Diagon Alley to buy Draco’s gifts (as I hope I’ve clarified here), he had Lupin order them for him by Owl. No one was really going shopping at this point.

Also, the whole Draco!top Harry!bottom thing won’t necessarily be forever. I believe that they would have a very err… equal kind of relationship because they are both strong personalities, however, I have trouble writing a Draco!bottom… all my problems will be resolved and you’ll understand very soon…

I’m glad there are those of you that agree with Voldemort’s actions, and those that don’t well that’s why he’s Voldemort isn’t it? You really aren’t supposed to think it’s a smart thing to do, because he’s evil. Not saying those who do agree are evil, but it shows how populations always split nicely down the middle.

And as for the German, I am aware that it is wrong and I apologize profusely for that, though I did warn you I have no experience in it. Also, I did not mean to insult or offend anyone by choosing to name the group in German. It was a choice for various reasons, that’s all. It’s really not important or any kind of focal point… they likely won’t be mentioned again (except in passing) and if they are I shall go back and change it. Thank you, also, for the offers to help me translate should I need it. If it does come up, I will indeed take you for your word :)

As for “Kira”, yes I did indeed take that from DeathNote ^_^ Not stealing, just borrowing and again, not important at all… just needed more names.

As for seeing Malfoy Manor, yes you’ll get to see it (not sure when but you will) as it is also my favourite place in their world, though we’ve never really been there have we? O_o ah well, Draco’s world is my paradise hahaha jks.

Thanks very much for the reviews and everything. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! The Invisihats amuse me to no end really… and I like to play with when the Moon is full and not, so let’s just pretend that it’s entirely possible.

Love and cookies to all!