Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. HP is the property of J. K. Rowling and is not my intellectual property. There is no financial gain made from this nor will any be sought. This is for entertainment purposes only.

Sorry for the long wait but I had a mild case of writer's block. As you can see It is all gone.

I give you the customary shopping chapter. Because why the cliche not?

ENJOY.

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Harry/OFC (A. A. Shade)

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§Testing§ - parseltongue

'Testing' - talking

"Testing" - inner voice

Testing - spells/letters

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5.

Aurora woke with a grunt of frustration due to the sound of tapping that was coming from the window. As she opened her eyes she saw morning light come thru the now clean window (she cleaned it herself with a few spells) and located the source of the sound that had woken her up.

Sitting on the outside of the window was a nondescript owl with a letter and a small pouch around its leg. Knowing what the pouch probably contained Aurora rose from the bed and (totally nude) opened the window to let the bird in. The owl in question flew immediately inside hooting frantically with annoyance and preached itself on the backrest of the chair that was beside the desk, which was probably used to study by the former occupant of the room.

'Sorry for the delay but I WAS asleep, you don't have to be so bitchy about it.' Aurora murmured under her breath. The owl must have heard it because she earned herself a glare from the bird.

Sighing she approached the owl (which presented its leg with an indignant hoot) and released the pouch and letter from it. The moment she did that the annoyed owl immediately flew outside thru the still open window, but not before clipping her in the head with its wing on the way out.

'Stupid bird.' She growled, sending an annoyed glare at the dwindling form of the owl as she closed the window.

Deciding that she will check the contents of the pouch, and the letter, later she put them on the desk and moved to the bathroom for her morning ablutions – starting with a relaxing shower.

After her visit to the bathroom, she settled to wear the same clothes as yesterday (including charming the dress) – cleaning them beforehand with a few spells. A quick check in the mirror later she was satisfied with her looks and moved to check her mail.

As she approached the desk she noticed that her familiar was also waking up.

§Morning Mors. I will be going with Harry outside, probably for quite a while. Want to go?§ She hissed to the now awake snake. §But, if you want to go, you will have to move into my skin – I think that humans here will be scared otherwise.§

Aurora informed Mors while checking the contents of the pouch – with satisfaction she saw the promised gold.

"I can finally buy some fucking knickers!" She thought with glee, mentally drawing the list of clothes she planned to purchase.

§I will go with you, Mistress. It's not like there is anything else to do here.§ Mors hissed back to her as she took the letter. §Besides – you never know when you will need my help.§

Aurora shot an amused glance at her familiar noting the pride in his last statement.

§Of course Mors, you are absolutely right.§ Aurora hissed, trying to hide her smirk.

With the letter in her right hand, she approached Mors and presented him her left hand so he could move to the runic portal and assume his tattoo form. After he did so she finally examined the letter.

She immediately recognised the coat of arms of Hogwarts on the wax seal and her name on the front, written in neat and elegant writing she assumed belonged to Dumbledore. She opened the letter and read it.

Dear Miss Shade,

As promised I'm including with this letter the gold we agreed on yesterday. I also want to, once again, remind you that your next pay will be on the first of November.

I have spoken with Madam Professor Griselda Marchbanks, the Governor of the Wizarding Examinations Authority, and she agreed to hold the examination for your Masteries (Ancient Runes and Defence Against the Dark Arts).

Of course, to take the exams you will have to be registered with the Ministry. If you have any problem with that please contact me.

The examinations themselves will be held over a two-day period and divided between theory and practical. Due to that, you are required to be at Hogwarts no later than an evening on twenty-eight of August, as the examinations start the next day. Please note that for the practical Ancient Runes test you will need your own rune carving tools.

I am looking forward to not only seeing you in the castle but also for you to join the Hogwarts staff for the upcoming year.

Sincerely yours,

Albus Dumbledore

Aurora was both glad and apprehensive that the matter of her Masteries was solved at the moment. Glad – because there was one less problem to deal with, and apprehensive – because of one small issue concerning her employer.

Dumbledore.

The owner of the FUCKING Elder Wand – one of the three Deathly Hallows.

She was shocked when she recognised the wand in the Headmaster's hand, enough to react purely on instinct and try to flee. The resulting embarrassing incident involving her, the floor, and cursing snake were somehow sufficient to calm her down. But the question remained – HOW?

Because of that the first thing she did once Dumbledore left, after drinking a nice calming cup of tea (courtesy of Harry), was locating and raiding the Black Library – not even bothering to ask Black a permission. After grabbing a few History books she started reading focusing on the Great War and rise of Dark Lord Grindelwald.

Right off the bat, she noticed a few differences – the first and foremost was the fact that HE wasn't a Dark Lord here! The books were only mentioning him as Dark Wizard at most. Other than that the war seemed to play the same as she remembered from history lessons, up to a certain point that is.

Up to the moment that Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore defeated in duel Gellert Grindelwald and ended the magical side of the raging war. No surprise that a bloody phoenix bonded to the barmy Headmaster.

Reading that was almost as shocking as seeing the Elder Wand was. But the mystery of how Dumbledore got the Deathly Hallow was solved – he won it from that Dark Asshole.

Aurora really didn't know what to think about that, especially considering what happened to the Headmaster's counterpart in her own universe. What she remembered of him was learned from a few stories she heard from her Grandmother … and it wasn't much. He simply died in an accident that also took the lives of his mother and sister.

Was it all it took to doom her world? An accident, a random event – that cost more than she could comprehend … was it really all it took?

Her musings were interrupted by sounds coming from the direction of the staircase. Aurora sighed, put the letter on the desk, then grabbed and attached the pouch with gold to a special harness on the waist of the dress. She then moved to the door.

"There is no point in overthinking this. What's done is done." She thought to herself, trying to put it behind her. "Besides – there is this new Dark Lord here to deal with, even if his scale of operation is much smaller."

What she read about this Voldemort from the books, after calming down from reading about the Grindelwald, was eerily similar to the way her own Dark Lord operated. There were a few differences of course, and the biggest one was the fact that Voldy operated almost exclusively in England. Her Dark Lord was much more ambitious than that. Not to mention far more successful.

"Let's hope that he is also far easier to deal with." With this final thought, Aurora exited her room.

She descended the staircase and landed next to the kitchen door. She noticed that most of the inhabitants of the paintings tried their foremost to ignore her. She smirked at that, regaining some of her lost humour.

Aurora opened the kitchen door and stepped inside.

The silence that greeted her was somehow surprising, considering that just second before she could hear conversations thru the door. She looked at the four Kid Gingers, Fuzz Hair, Red Banshee, Black, and Harry. Aurora noticed that Black was looking kind of guilty and not looking at her at all. Harry, on the other hand, was annoyed.

She moved and sit on Harry's left by the kitchen table and looked at the occupants.

'So ... what got your knickers in the twist?' She asked curiously noticing that Fuzz Hair had (somehow) a mix of the sad and angry expressions on her face.

Just when Harry was about to explain the girl in question exploded at her.

'HOW COULD YOU DO IT?!' Aurora was momentarily surprised by the outburst from the girl. She looked at Harry for some answers but he just stared, annoyed, at the Fuzz Hair.

'What exactly did I do? And, if you don't mind, no shouting ... I just woke up.' That said Aurora summoned her wand and put it on the table with an implied threat.

'You killed Kreacher! How could you do such a thing to this poor house-elf!' The girl accused her, but at least with much quieter voice.

'The poor house-elf? You mean the one that tried to kill me after I sharpened my sword on the portrait of his Mistress?' She asked, quite annoyed that she have to explain it to this little girl. 'You do understand the concept of self-defense right?'

'But ... but he was a slave! He didn't understand what he was doing! You could have just stunned him! I'm sure that he would have understood if we explained ...'

'Enough! Now you will listen to me, little girl ... 'Aurora noticed the thunderous expression on the Fuzz Hair face but she ignored it. '... I will not apologise for defending myself from a crazy and deranged house-elf. And for your information, I couldn't at the time cast spells so stunning was out of the equation. Also, I would never call house-elf a slave if I were you ... they take a great offence to that.'

'But ...' The girl was about to say something more but was interrupted by Harry.

'Hermione, I was there with Sirius. And, as I was trying to tell you before, she didn't really have a lot of options outside of killing Kreacher. HE attacked HER ... and he did so with a force that would have, at the very least, broken quite a few bones if it was me.' Aurora looked at Harry as he spoke to his friend, annoyance still slightly etched on his face.

'Harry is right Hermione. There was really nothing we could do to help, it happened way too fast.' Black spoke trying to appease the girl, who looked defeated.

Before anyone could say anything else Ginger Matron moved a mountain of food with her wand to the table earning for herself a wave of joyous exclamations … One of the biggest being her own.

'Nutritious breakfast everyone ... Enjoy! You will need a lot of strength today! The house won't clean itself after all!' The happy expressions of the kids imminently transformed into grimaces. The Matron seemed not to notice that as she happily moved to the kitchen area, but not before sending her a glare.

Aurora ignored her and enthusiastically started to eat the food, once again marvelling at the amazing taste. She heard Harry snort when a slight moan of pleasure escaped her lips ... She didn't bother to glare at him and continued to eat.

When the food finally disappeared (not in a magical way), she sighed contently while sipping a cup of Earl Grey. She chatted for a while with the occupants of the table, specifically with the Twin Gingers (apparently named Fred and George) who were very interested in her "tattoo". Aurora even entertained herself with allowing Mors to come out – sparking the interest of the onlookers even more ... with the exception of the Tall Ginger who looked horrified and disgusted.

She then watched amused as the Cheif Ginger herself started to dispense duties to the kids while constantly reminding them not to use magic when cleaning. Aurora carefully waited just before Overbearing Matron was about to speak to Harry and spoke herself.

'So Harry ... shall we go shopping?' She asked innocently enjoying the surprised looks on the kid's faces and angry one on the Banshee. 'You should probably take your gold, so we can shop for you as well. Take the vault key too, if you have one. Our first stop is at the Gringotts so you can replenish your gold stock if you want.'

Before Harry could respond to her the Banshee predictably exploded.

'YOU WANT TO GET HARRY KILLED?! Going outside is dangerous! You-Know-Who's servants will attack the moment they see him! I will not allow it!' The Red Faced Woman finally stopped her angry monologue and glared at Aurora, daring to contradict her words.

'Relax woman. He will go under glamour and no one knows how I look, so no worry.' She said with a slightly condescending tone to the Banshee, then addressed Harry. 'Well? What are you waiting for handsome? Gold, key and your Hogwarts letter – so we know what to buy for you.'

Harry looked at her with a raised eyebrow for a second earning himself only a slight smirk in the process from Aurora. He then shrugged and with a smirk of his own waved to his friends and quickly moved to the kitchen door, disappearing behind it.

Before Banshee could screech once more Black surprised her and spoke.

'It's ok Molly, Harry will be fine. He has bean pen up enough when he was staying with his ... relatives.' She could hear clear distaste at the mention of Harry's family. Not that she could blame him.

'I am also confident that Miss Shade will protect him if something happens.' Aurora could see that he didn't fully believe that himself, and was quite shocked that he took her side.

"Mabey Harry spoke with him or something?" She mused to herself and watched as Harry came thru the door wearing his school robes.

'Good idea Harry! You will blend much easier in your robes than in those muggle rags you usually wear.' She saw a blush of shame at the mention of his usual attire and a glare from Black. Aurora also felt slightly guilty but wanted him to know that this is a good opportunity to buy some decent clothes.

'Well? Do you have everything?' She asked before Banshee could interrupt.

'Yes ... besides the vault key. Mrs Weasly has it.' Harry spoke and looked hopefully at the Banshee. 'Can I have my key, please? I guess this year I will shop for myself ... for a change.'

'Harry, I don't think it is a good idea ...' Banshee started to speak to Harry but was interrupted by Black.

'Molly, he will be fine. They will be shopping, under glamour in the Diagon Alley with plenty of others around. And considering that Dark Tosser doesn't want people to know he is alive for the moment ... chances of an attack are slim to none.' Black spoke calmly, but with a hint of uncertainty, earning a few snickers at his creative name of the Dark Lord from the Ginger Twins. 'Give him his key Molly.'

Clearly, at a disadvantage due to the fact that Harry's godfather was agreeing to the trip, the Banshee reluctantly relented. After summoning her purse and a quick search she presented Harry his key.

'Just promise me, Harry, that you will be careful. If there is anything afoul you will immediately come back. You hear me?' The teary woman hugged Harry like he was about to be executed after he took his key. Aurora suppressed an urge to snort at the expression her shopping companion wore.

'Now that we are ready ... Let's go!' She said getting up from the kitchen table. She moved next to Harry and eyed him carefully.

'We should change your robes a little so no one thinks you are from Hogwarts.' Saying that she waved her wand around Harry and changed the colour of his robes to black with silver accents to match her dress.

'Now for the appearance.' She smirked at him and was satisfied to see a slightly horrified look from Harry.

Haveing a clear image of the changes she wanted to make she started to cast the spells at his face, making him close his eyes. She lengthen his hair to reach the shoulders, changed his nose, and facial features slightly to be similar to certain someone. Finally, after ordering Harry to open them, she changed the colour of his eyes to blue and added a little twinkling effect. As an afterthought, she changed his voice too.

'Look at the new you Harry.' Aurora jovially presented him a just conjured mirror, ignoring the snickering from around her. Especially from the Ginger Twins and Black. Even Banshee looked slightly amused.

'Um ... Aurora, why do I look like a long lost love child of Dumbledore's?' Harry asked with both annoyance and awe at his new looks, startled by the new but familiar voice of the Headmaster coming from his mouth.

'I have no Idea what you are talking about Harry.' She spoke as innocently as she could but lost it and laugh when he raised an eyebrow at her and called her "Miss Shade". She heard Black laughing as well. His godfather almost pissed himself when Harry asked him if he wants some lemon drops.

'Well, I guess you do look a little too much like the illustrious Headmaster.' Aurora spoke after everyone had a good laugh at Harry's new look, even the "Junior Dumbledore" (as christened by the Twin Gingers) had a good time imitating The Old Goat. 'But I guess that this look would be a little too recognisable, let me change a few things.'

She quickly changed his facial features to more average look, his eyes to light brown (without twinkling) and voice to only slightly more deep than normal. She decided to leave the hair as they were. He now looked to be around twenty.

'Well ... definitely less entertaining, but far more inconspicuous.' Aurora commented with a small smile while he studied his new appearance in the mirror. 'Now for the backstory, you are Garry Ashworth from Australia. If anyone asks your name give just that – without the surname. Give full name only if someone insists or you think it will be appropriate. Don't tell you are from Australia unless specifically asked – if asked mention that you travel a lot and lived all over the globe. It will help explain that you don't have the Australian accent. You are shopping for your nephew with your beautiful girlfriend – me. Any questions?'

Aurora looked at amusingly stunned expressions around her, finally Black recovered enough to ask a question.

'Why do he need a backstory? You just go shopping, not on some bloody infiltration mission or something.' Black asked with apprehension and slightly suspicious tone in his voice.

'Eh ... What do you thing would happen if I kept calling him "Harry", he wouldn't give his surname if asked, and acted nervous if someone tried to chat him up? Even a moron would think something is wrong.' She explained to now slightly sheepish Black. 'Haveing backstory will give him confidence, he will be less nervous and that will make him more inconspicuous. Not to mention "Garry" is close enough to "Harry" – so he should react to the name fairly instinctively.'

'Isn't that right, Garry?' She asked Harry, which, give him a start, he then smiled at her and nodded. 'Good, now ... any other questions?'

'Um ... girlfriend?' Harry asked shyly with a slight blush, she noticed that both Ginger Women (small and Big) frowned at that.

'Two young adults, man and a woman, that don't look related and shop together? What do you think people will immediately assume?' She decided not to mention the small fact that she could make them look related. 'It's better to go with what everyone assumed – people tend to remember things that go against their expectations.'

'Now that there are no more questions we should go, can we use the floo, Black?' Aurora asked quickly, not giving a chance for more inquiries.

'Sure, floo to the Leaky Cauldron. Harry ... or is it Garry now? ... knows how to get to the Alley from there. The floo address to us is simply Grimmauld Place.' Black said snickering a little at Harry. 'Have fun pup, and stay safe.'

Aurora grabbed Harry and took him to the door that Dumbledore used the day before. They opened it and stepped in a fairly large room with couches and chairs spread around – with plenty of space between. On their left was a big fireplace, with a small fire burning inside, that could accommodate at least three people standing inside. They crossed the room and stood in front of it.

'I go first, then you ten seconds after me. OK?' When Harry nodded she reached for the floo powder from the jar on the left of the fireplace. After a deep breath, Aurora tossed the powder into the flames making them tall and green. She strode confidently into them and clearly spoke. 'Leaky Cauldron.'

oOo

Harry emerged from the fireplace in the familiar bar with his usual grace, thankfully he managed to prevent falling to the floor. He heard a soft snort of amusement as he was dusting himself off.

'Well ... Garry ... that was one hell of an entrance.' He looked to his left and saw Aurora smirking at him. Harry scowled a little at that.

'Not my fault that the floo hates me. At least I didn't end up on the floor ... like usually.' He grumbled under his breath but she must have heard him because he was awarded another amused snort.

'I think that's enough lollygagging for now.' Aurora jovially informed him, then stepped to his left and took his arm into hers. Harry tried his hardest not to blush.

'Come on sweety, show me this Diagon Alley of yours.' Harry sighed and started to move to the back entrance. He took the time to glance around the bar.

Tom the bartender seemed bored and just cleaned a mug with a dirty rag. The patrons were few and nondescript, they also seemed to completely ignore them. Those that did seemed interested mostly focused on Aurora with a mix of slightly lecherous and fearful expressions on their faces. He guessed that they didn't appreciate her "tattoo". There were also few jealous frowns directed at him. Harry just smirked at that.

They exited the Leaky Cauldron and entered small, walled courtyard with a dustbin. Harry immediately removed his wand from the robes and, remembering the way Hagrid did it, tapped the bricks in the correct order (from the trash can, three up and two across).

Harry and Aurora waited til the entrance formed up and stepped on the busy looking Alley.

There were people all around them but it wasn't as crowded as Harry remembered from his other visits. Harry assumed that it was just normal traffic for the wizarding shopping district, without the infusion of parents trying to equip their children for school or the pre-holiday shoppers.

'I can see the Gringotts from here, let's go there then.' Aurora informed him and started to quickly drag him to the distinct looking structure of the goblin-owned bank.

They swiftly made it to the bank and entered inside. Harry noticed that the goblins were eying them, especially him, with suspicion. Before he could think about that further Aurora dragged him in front of the free teller and smiled, at the resident goblin, with a toothy grin.

'Well met goblin, I want to speak with someone concerning taking the Headship over now inactive House of Gaunt, as well as acquiring the House Ring belonging to the House of Gaunt. My companion, on the other hand, wants to withdraw some gold but without actually going to the vault.' Aurora smiled sweetly at the end not breaking the eye contact with the goblin. Harry was slightly confused why she told the teller that he didn't want to go to his vault ... he really didn't mind, and kind of enjoyed the ride if he was perfectly honest with himself.

Goblin glared at them almost hatefully and with a few harsh words in his native language summoned another goblin.

'Key, pouch, and amount of gold you want to withdraw. The goblin assistance will cost you ten galleons as a fee.' The teller spoke harshly to him and extended his clawed hand to him. Harry quickly gave him the key and pouch.

'Put as many gallons inside as you can, that's how I usually do it.' Goblin glared at him for his rather inaccurate measuring method and passed pouch, key and a note to the summoned goblin with instructions (Harry assumed) in rough Gobbledegook. The teller then pointed at a nearby stone bench and tell them to wait.

Harry waited only ten minutes for his gold, earning himself a comment from Aurora at how loaded he was … and how that make him a good husband material. He ignored her and waited til another goblin came to fetch her, which took almost an hour.

'You will come with me Witch, the manager wants to see you.' The much better dressed Gringotts employee turned around then and started to walk into the depths of the bank, presumably as a guide to the manager.

Harry was unsure if he was to follow Aurora or not, but she simply grabbed him by the arm and dragged him with her. Their guide just glared at him for a moment but thankfully didn't said anything.

After a quite lengthy travel thru the bank, consisting of many turns and (Harry was pretty sure) backtracking they finally arrived in front of rather ornament looking (slightly higher than him) double door.

'You will wait here until summoned.' The goblin then walked to one of the smaller doors to the right of the double door and disappeared behind it.

'You gotta love the efficiency and no-nonsense manner of goblins, don't you think so Garry?' Aurora spoke to him conversationally. He took a second to register that she spoke to him – but then remembered that HE was Garry.

'Sure ... I guess they don't mess around with unnecessary pleasantries and just go down to the business.' Harry spoke and looked ad his companion questioningly. 'Why did you tell the teller that I don't want to go to the vault? I really didn't mind ... and there would be no fee if we did go.'

'Thief's Downfall.' Aurora simply stated. 'It would have not only washed away your glamour but also derailed the cart ...' Harry saw her smirk at his no doubt paling face. '... and if we had survived that ... let's just say that becoming dragon chow would be one of the better outcomes.'

Harry saw her stifle a laugh at his horrified expression. He frantically tried to remove the wand from his robes so he could Finite his glamour – he really didn't fancy angering the goblins. Aurora stopped him in his tracks.

'Oh relax Garry, haveing glamour on yourself in the bank itself is not a crime ... only when going to the vaults it becomes an issue.' She informed him with amusement in her voice. 'They really don't care how you look as long as you don't try to steal their gold or attack them. They wouldn't bat an eye even if you came inside buck naked ... as long as you had the gold that is.'

Harry was about to retort but was interrupted by the opening of the double door in front of them.

'Come in!' Harry and Aurora complied with an order from one of the two heavy armoured goblins armed with swords that opened the door.

They came into a big rectangular office, with at least seven feet high calling and forty foot long walls. At the very centre of the room was a massive lush desk with an old but dangerous looking goblin. Harry saw that there were ten more guards, equally armed to the ones near the door, alongside the walls.

'I have been told that you want to take Headship of the House of Gaunt, not only that but also take possession of the Gaunt House Ring.' The manager spoke with no-nonsense tone and strong voice when they approached his desk under keen eyes of his guards.

'Yes. I have been named an Heir by the last, to my knowledge, male carrying the name, Gaunt.' Aurora spoke with equally to the point voice as the manager. Harry just stood slightly behind her on her right and tried not to make a sound.

'I see. To take Headship you will have to pass two tests. That of Blood and of Magic. If you fail the Blood test you will be treated as a thief and executed. If you fail the test of Magic – it will most likely kill you. If not ... you are free to go.' From the slightly amused tone at the last part, Harry concluded that her chances of survival at the failure were slim. He glanced at her but she seemed not to care much so he forced himself to calm down.

'I understand and accept. What about the ring?' Aurora spoke calmly.

'We will discuss the ring after you pass the tests Witch.' The manager spoke with finality and shouted something to the guards. One of them immediately exited the room thru a small door on the least of the manager desk.

After a few seconds, two new goblins entered – one carrying a shallow stone basin engraved with black symbols on the outside of it. The other goblin had in hands two small wooden boxes and a silver dagger with black symbols similar to the basin. After depositing the items on the manager desk they quickly left.

'Take the dagger, slash your wrist and bled to the basin until the wound closes itself.' The old goblin instructed throwing the dagger to Aurora who nimbly caught it. She the stepped near the basin and slashed her wrist without even wincing. Harry fought the urge to help her.

She stood there for a solid minute bleeding on the basin. After she lost about a pint of blood her wound closed up and Aurora stepped back to his left side leaving the dagger near the basin. He saw she was slightly pale but otherwise fine.

The manager eyed critically the blood in the basin, Harry assumed that everything was fine because the goblin took on of the wooden boxes and opened it. Inside was a blood red, perfectly spherical stone the size of a golf ball. The manager took the stone and tossed it to the basin, surprising Harry at the casual gesture.

He got surprised even more by the fact that the stone itself didn't imminently sink into the blood, instead, it travelled to the centre on its surface – almost if it was solid. At the centre, the stone started to glow with a soft red hue. After a few seconds, the blood started to travel in a whirlpool-like motion around the stone. Harry looked in fascination as the amount of blood started to decrease until the stone drank it all. With a final sharp green pulse, the basin was empty of the blood leaving only the stone.

'You pass the Blood test.' The goblin spoke with a hint of disappointment and deposited the stone in its box. He then opened the second box revealing a gold ring – similar to the one that Sirius show him. 'Now for the test of Magic. Put the ring on – we will discuss its ownership if you survive.'

Once again the manager tossed the ring to Aurora who caught it without a problem. She eyed the ring with a mixture of apprehension and excitement. Harry saw the family crest on the ring displaying two intertwining snakes in a shape resembling a Celtic knot In the middle of which was a small black diamond. He looked as his companion put on the ring on the index finger of her right hand.

Harry saw as the ring readjusted itself to her finger and started immediately glowing a deep green colour. Panic struck him as Aurora hissed with pain but before he could do anything the glow intensified and two serpentine figures emerged from the ring.

He looked as two dark green ghostly snakes entwined her body hissing softly in excitement. Both looked the same with a single difference – one had left eye closed (Right snake) and the other his right (Left snake).

§Daughter of our House.§ The left snake hissed to her startling both Harry and Aurora. §Our blood is strong in you.§

Harry could hear approval in its hiss.

§Yet we felt the Death of our bloodline ... how curious.§ The right snake hissed with slight confusion.

§Curious indeed ... of our House, yet not, at the same time.§ The left one hissed softly with unreadable emotion.

§Matters not in the end ... We shall judge if you are fit to lead our House.§ The right one hissed predatorily and exposed its fangs, which were surprisingly real looking. §If not worthy ... Death will be dealt.§

§Yes ... we shall judge. And if worthy ... Power will be given.§ The left snake hissed softly.

§Then judge me, Guardians of our House. I am ready.§ Aurora finally hissed nervously to the snakes, visibly bracing herself for what is to come.

The twin snakes opened their mouths as one, exposing fangs dripping with venom, and before anyone could react they bit Aurora's neck from both sides.

Harry watched in horror as she screamed in pain and fell to her knees, but before he could try to help her he was blinded by the sudden outburst of light from her. As he was recovering from the blinding light he heard her screams getting quieter, when he was finally able to see clearly again Harry was relieved to see her panting on her knees but visibly relaxing. The Guardians were fading and retreating to the ring.

§We judge, you worthy to lead our bloodline and our House.§ Hissed the right snake before disappearing into the ring.

§Yes ... So stand proudly ... Lady of our House.§ The left snake hissed as he also disappeared into the ring that briefly glowed green at the end.

'Bloody hell, that fucking hurt! Couldn't they just ask nicely or something?' Aurora grumbled under her breath as he helped her stood up from the floor.

'Maybe you should think about that before you put that ring on.' Harry helpfully pointed out glad that she was looking fine.

'I didn't think that the BLOODY GUARDIANS would appear! Normally the ring should just flash with magic – you are alive after that then you are the Head. Simple! The Guardians should appear only if there is some major decision to make – if there are two Heirs of equal standing for example! And that didn't happen in centuries ... I think. Dammit ... that was fucking scary.' Aurora was speaking to him massaging her neck that, Harry noticed, didn't have a mark on it.

'It seems that you have passed the test of Magic – with the Judgement of the Guardian no less. Well ... Guardians in your House case. Congratulations.' The manager spoke startling them both with his dry voice, Aurora visibly collected herself and faced the goblin. 'Now we shall address the issue of the ring ownership.'

The old goblin barred his impressive teeth making Harry extremely nervous.

'Your ancestor's saw, in their infinite wisdom, no need for the House Ring you now wear ... so they decided to sell it to us for some much-needed gold.' Aurora paled considerably at that making the goblin manager "smile" even wider. 'Gringotts is willing to sell it back to you for ... let's say ... measly thousand gold. A bargain if I ever saw one.'

'Fuck.' Harry saw his young Defence Professor look dejectedly at her pouch after a soft curse escaped her lips.

He, of course, knew why – she was seven hundred gold short from buying the ring. Before Aurora could formulate her response, Harry – being the rash Gryffindor he was – tossed his vault key in front of the slightly surprised goblin.

'Take the gold for the ring from my vault. And I would appreciate if you would be quick about it ... We have some shopping to do afterwards.' Harry spoke confidently but inwardly was trying not to fall apart from the fear the goblin stare made him feel. He held the manager gaze until finally, the goblin shouted to one of his guards.

Moments later three goblins entered one of which was carrying a stack of parchment. The two other assistants (Harry assumed) took the basin, dagger and the two boxes before leaving. After depositing the parchment in front of the manager the last goblin took the note from him, Harry's key and also left.

'Harry why did you did that! I could have tried to haggle the price down! You didn't have to do pay for me ...' Aurora finally managed to recover from her shock at his actions and started frantically whispering to him.

'Relax, consider it a payment for saving my life ... and for the training. Besides I have mountains of gold still left. Don't sweat over anything.' He whispered back earning himself a small glare from her, but before she could continue the manager interrupted.

'State your full name Witch.' The goblin spoke with bored tone holding a quill over the parchment. Aurora sighed with annoyance and, with a final glare at him, spoke.

'Aurora Ariana Shade.' That prompted the goblin to write on a few parchments and after a minute the manager raised from his seat and presented them an official looking document with a different quill – fully black.

'I Davhak, Manager of the London Gringotts Branch do acknowledge Aurora Ariana Shade as a Head of the House of Gaunt as tested by Blood and Magic. So say I, so mote it be!' The old goblin spoke with power and caused the document to glow slightly at the end – surprising Harry.

'So mote it be!' Aurora intonated just as powerfully causing the parchment presented by the manager to grow slightly brighter, she then took the black quill and signed it with a red ink – or at least it looked like it to Harry.

After signing the document the glow disappeared and the manager sat down once more.

'We will file the appropriate documentation with the Ministry concerning your new status tomorrow afternoon at the latest. Gringotts will also send bank statement concerning your House vaults and properties on Monday morning.' Davhak spoke to them not even bothering to glance in their direction while signing some documents. 'You may go.'

The door behind them opened with the dismissal of the manager. Harry was eager to leave but not without his key – which he still didn't get back, so he opened his mouth to ask about that.

Before he could speak Aurora grabbed his arm and moved them quickly out of the room with a loud sound of the shutting door.

Outside waited for them one of the "assistants" (as Harry dub them) and immediately started to walk in the direction they came from before. Assuming he was the guide out Harry and Aurora followed.

'Um ... what about my key?' He asked the goblin with a little unease.

'It will be given to you shortly Wizard.' Goblin spoke to him condescendingly without even looking at him.

Safe in the knowledge that he will get his key Harry looked at Aurora who was hissing to the Mors that poke his head from the runic tattoo on her shoulder.

§Mistress, what was that ... magic ... that assaulted you? There was a foreign presence and it felt like a snake ... very old snake. I tried to come out but couldn't move.§ Her familiar hissed worryingly at Aurora.

§Relax Mors, it was just a test to check if I can lead my bloodline. I didn't expect the ... snakes ... to appear but everything is fine now.§ She spoke placatingly to the agitated snake while stroking his head.

§Unexpected things tend to lead to deadly situations, my Misstress. Try to remember the advice of the Elder Master ... don't go in, recklessly, without a plan! Luck will not always be on our side.§ That said the snake dive back in her skin, leaving Aurora with a sheepish expression on her face.

'Grandfather always said that I have some Grifindorish tendencies.' She explained as she saw him sending her a questioning look. 'Oh well, we all have flaws.'

'Hey ... I am a Gryffindor.' He said with a mock scowl making her smile at him.

'Yes, I saw the robes. But you have a saving grace of, quite a few, Slytherinish tendencies yourself.' She smiled a little wider at his now not so pretend scowl.

'As you say, we all have flaws.' Harry sent her a grin at that. 'How do you know so much about Hogwarts Houses?'

'Books', she explained with a shrug. 'And don't think I forgot about YOU paying for ME back there. I am perfectly capable of doing so myself.' At that, he got pinned by a mild glare.

'Of course', he quickly said. 'But at the moment you don't have that much gold on you. And as I said before – you can treat it as a payment for saving me and a tuition for the training. I do hope that we will continue to train over the course of the school year.' Harry tried to placate the irate witch. 'Also, considering that I have piles of gold in my vault, it wasn't really that much of a strain on my finances ... I think.'

To be perfectly honest, he didn't bother to check how much gold he really had.

Aurora held her glare for a moment but then sighed tiredly.

'Fine. You win. But, if you are paying for the training now, I will have to step up my game. Prepare for some real workout. No more kid gloves.' She pierced him with a pointed stare and then smiled sadistically at his, now no doubt, horror-stricken face. 'Oh, and next time ... ask before you try to something like that. I would appreciate it.'

'Sure ... no problem.' Harry answered absentmindedly wondering what he got himself into this time.

"If the last time was with the so called kid gloves ... will I even survive this training?" Both trepanation and excitement filled him. One thing was sure – he was going to do his best to prepare for what is coming.

The rest of the way they stayed silent while following their guide. At reaching the atrium Harry was handled his key, which he quickly pocketed, and both he and Aurora swiftly exited the bank.

'Take out the Hogwarts letter, we will go shopping for some items for me and the school stuff now. After that, we will find you some decent snake.'

That's said she summoned her wand (Harry was just as impressed by that as he was the first time) and after muttered Expecto Patronum sent a vague serpentine shape soaring in the direction of Leaky Cauldron. It was visible barely a second and earned her a few curious glances from the onlookers.

'I send a Patronus message to your godfather, I don't want him to flip his shite from worry. We are out for over two hours and barely started the shopping.' She explained to him after she saw his questioning look. 'You already know how to cast a Patronus so learning this shouldn't be too hard. I will teach you later.'

With that, they started shopping. An hour was quickly spent buying the school supplies (including the books) for Harry and potions, potion ingredients, History books and rune carving tools (after his companion spent almost fifteen minutes gushing over multisurface rune carving pen that cost almost as much as her House Ring) for Aurora.

They packed everything in a trunk she purchased for herself, then shrunk to matchbox size and stored in her pouch. Finally, they stood in front of Madam Malkin's shop.

'I am going to buy some decent clothes for myself so you can do the same. I will find you when I am done.' Aurora cheerfully informed him and stepped inside the shop angling for women section.

Harry stood there for a second not knowing what to do. He didn't yet outgrow the resizing enchantment on his Hogwarts robes so he didn't have to worry about that for a while. The memory of Aurora calling his usual attire "muggle rags" come to the forefront of his mind.

"I guess it wouldn't hurt if I buy some decent clothes. I doubt Dursleys will notice if I hide them in my trunk next summer." That decided, he entered the store and began browsing men clothing section.

There were mostly fancy robes, trousers and boots – with an assortment of surprisingly modern looking underwear. He also spotted a small muggle subsection containing clothes that looked slightly dated but still wearable.

He started by selecting a few pairs of jeans, trousers, underwear, socks, t-shirts and shirts. He also got a pair of trainers and fancy dragon hide boots – he couldn't stop himself after he read from the label that they were made from Horntail leather.

Finally, Harry decided to also buy a black robe and cloak with a silver clasp so he could easily blend in next time he ventured to the Diagon Alley for some shopping. After a quick consideration, he grabbed the more expensive variant of the cloak and robe due to their superior enchantments.

As he deposited his selection of merchandise on the counter Harry was surprised to discover that he had quite enjoyed himself. This was the first time that he bought himself clothes and contrary of what he thought before – it wasn't that much of a chore.

He paid the clerk (a twenty-something woman who smiled at him pleasantly) who shrank his new clothes (except the boots – they were resistant to magic) and packed them in a hefty paper bag. Harry decided to try his new purchases immediately and got into the changing room.

He took out from the bag (and unshrunk) boots, a nice pair of black trousers, white shirt, robe and a cloak. As he undressed Harry caught his reflection in the mirror (thankfully there was no comment from it) and frowned slightly – his battered underwear barely hung on his wire frame.

"No ... that just won't do ... not at all." Harry thought.

Deciding to go all the way he checked that he was alone and undressed totally. He swiftly took the new undergarments from the bag along with socks (he didn't wear any before) and dressed in his brand-new outfit.

Harry was positively stunned how comfortable he felt in this attire. He didn't know if it was because they were new and his size, or because of magic in them. The robe specifically resized itself to fit him snugly. The boots (by far the most expensive of his purchases) reach halfway to his calf's and felt like a second skin, warming his feet pleasantly. Looking himself over in the mirror he decided that he didn't look half bad – even to his untrained eye.

"Now ... what to do with my former ... rags ... I guess Aurora was right." He felt the blush of a shame as he thought about the way he dressed normally. "From now on I will wear only things that actually fit me ... unless when with the Dursleys. They don't need to know that I have money."

Looking critically at the old and tattered grabs he decided to simply vanish them. Taking his wand from beside the paper bag he shrunk his transfigured school robes and deposited them to the bag. Then Harry started vanishing the items with a quick wand movement and harshly whispered Evanesco. After a few minutes, he was done and exited the changing room after donning the cloak, with a paper bag in hand.

He quickly spotted Aurora near the counter and approached her, he noticed the addition of a cloak around her shoulders that hide her bare arms.

'Looking spiffy there Garry! Elegant and simple – I like it.' She commented with a smile as she deposited her own bag (at least twice as big as his own) to now quite cramped trunk. 'Give me your bag, there is still some place for it.'

He complied and watched as she closed the trunk and shrunk it with visible strain.

'Should hold for a few hours, enough for us to go back. Layering the shrinking charms tends to make them unstable so we should go back sooner rather than later.' That said she hit the now matchbox sized trunk with feather-light charm and deposited it in her pouch.

They exited Madam Malkin's and Aurora moved them next to a familiar shop.

'Ollivander's? Do you have problems with your wand?' Harry asked confused, eyeing her she scowled at him lightly.

'No knucklehead, my wand is fine. We are going to, or more precisely you will buy a wand holster ... make that two – just in case.' He glared at her for the use a demining name, but she just smiled at him. 'Let's go – remember that we still have a snake to choose for you.'

Harry entered the wandmaker shop for the second time in his life, with Aurora in tow, looking at the familiar long boxes scattered around.

'Ah, hello there! What can I help you with?' The Ollivander himself greeted them emerging from the back area. 'I didn't expect many visitors today ... are you in need of wands?'

'Err ... No sir. I want to purchase two wand holsters ... and maybe a wand cleaning kit.' That said Harry removed his wand from his robes and eyed it critically. 'I guess it needs a little cleaning.'

Olivanders eyebrows shoot up at the sight of his wand. The old man eyed him then with renewed interest.

'Eleven inches, Holly and a phoenix feather core – nice and supple. With the addition of some interesting runes no less ... I have to say that I didn't recognise you, Mr Potter.' Harry looked startled at the wandmaker. The man in question just smiled at him benignly. 'No need to be so nervous young man ... but a word of advice for the future – you should never show wandmaker the wand he made if you don't want to be recognised ... we tend to remember the owners.'

Harry smiled sheepishly at the old man, internally berating himself fo such an obvious mistake. He didn't miss amused snort from his left, which diverted the attention of the ancient man before him to his companion.

'Don't look at me, I never bought a wand from you – I actually made it myself.' Aurora said to the now intrigued old man. She then smirked and summoned her wand, startling the shop keeper.

'Oh, my ... I never saw anyone able to summon wand like that.' Ollivander eyed both the wand and Aurora inquisitively.

'I bonded it to my body via a tattoo.' She showed him the runic design on her right wrist. 'It has both advantages and disadvantages ... but I have grown accustomed to it.'

'You bonded wand to your body? But that should be impossible ... the innate magic of the wand itself would fight back – even if magically bonded. To do so you would have to completely OWN it ...' Harry watched confused as Ollivander's eyes grew comically wide as he looked at Aurora with a surprised expression on his face. The woman in question just smiled innocently at the man.

'Oh, dear ... Are you trying to tell me that you crafted your wand following the Old Ways?' At her nod, he eyed the wand in her hand with reverence. 'Do you mind if I take a look at it?'

'Sure', Aurora said and passed her wand to the wandmaker.

Harry looked as the ancient man grabbed gently the long wand and looked it over carefully, tracing his fingertips over the runes.

'Fourteen inches, Ebony – nice and flexible. With an impressive array of runes.' Olivander murmured to himself loud enough for them to hear.

'I don't use runes myself because they are not necessary and it's easy to damage the wand while carving them.' He explained to Harry anticipating his question, then raised a wand to his ear and listened intently.

A short gasp escaped the wandmaker lips as he lowered the wand from his ear and passed it to Aurora.

'Correct me if I am wrong my dear ... but the core is dragon heartstring, is that right?' Ollivander asked disbelievingly.

'Yes. Seventeen-year-old, the same as me at the time, Hungarian Horntail female. Right bitch she was too.' Aurora spoke with nostalgy as Harry also eyed her now with disbelief. 'Killed her with a spear to the heart. Took me a month to recover from the wounds.'

'Um ... I think that I miss something here ... Are you trying to tell me that you killed a dragon ... with a spear ... just to make a wand? Why? And what did you use before this wand?' Harry asked flabbergasted by what she said.

"I barely managed to outfly a dragon and she actually killed one!" He really couldn't wrap his mind around it.

'The dragon was pretty young so it sounds more impressive than it was.' Aurora waved him dismissively. 'And I had to kill it because otherwise, I wouldn't be able to fully own the wand. According to the Old Ways, you have to do everything yourself ... including the gathering of ingredients. Oh ... and before this wand I used an old family one – it was good enough.'

Harry looked at her at the mention of the Old Ways. Asking her about that thrown Aurora into lecture mode.

'Before there were wandmakers witches and wizards had to make their own magical foci (usually staffs) and they noticed that their quality and power depended not only on craftsmanship but also on the Trails they got thru to make the foci. Trials of Acquisition, Crafting and Bonding were derived from that. Those Trials become customary for young magically gifted to go thru as a part of coming of age ceremony. And considering that the magical focus points at the time were really crappy – powerup of any kind was desirable.'

Aurora ended her explanation with a noncommittal shrug. Harry still didn't know WHY she got to such lengths to make her wand.

'What your friend says is indeed true Mr Potter. Even if the young miss neglected to mention that acquiring anything else besides feathers, scales and hairs of magical creatures for the core was rare. And actually killing the creature for the core ingredient was a staple of a powerful individual.' Ollivander added to her explanation, eyeing his companion with respect.

'Oh ... Sorry, I didn't introduce myself ... Aurora Shade, a new Defence professor at Hogwarts.' Aurora completely sidestepped the thinly veiled compliment and presented her hand to the wandmaker. He watched as the old man took her hand in his then lightly brushed lips on her knuckles.

'Garrick Ollivander, wandmaker. At your service.' The man smiled pleasantly at her as he released her hand.

'Now .. I think that we spent enough time on chit-chat ... Harry get the wand holsters and your cleaning kit so we can go. I am sorry to be so rude Mr Ollivander but we are short on time.' Aurora spoke putting them back on their original track.

'Nonsense Miss Shade, I understand the importance of time ... comes with age.' The old wandmaker waved her off jovially and proceeded to sell Harry the items he requested.

Deciding to go with a Horntail theme he acquired two holsters made from the black dragon hide. Strapping one on his right forearm he slid his wand inside. Aurora meantime packed the other holster and the cleaning kit to her trunk.

'Now ... You can use this particular holster, as it is a Duelling model, in two ways. First – as simply a place to carry your wand and when in a time of need removing it manually. In such scenario it's advised to have it strapped on your non-wand arm, for easy access.' Harry smiled sheepishly at that and moved to unstrap his holster but was stopped by a raised hand from the wandmaker.

'I don't think there will be a need to change the position of a holster, Mr Potter. It is required for the second mode of use – one that I think suits you better.' That said Ollivander raised his right hand and with a flick of a wrist summoned his Hornbeam wand. 'As you can see there is much less hustle, but it also requires some concentration and practice to pull off.'

'To do the same you need to push your magic to the forearm, focusing on the desire to see the wand in hand and then flick the wrist. Try it, Mr Potter.' Harry complied and focused on his magic. When he thought he was ready he flicked his wrist.

The wand jumped from his holster and shoot thru the room landing near the counter, surprising Harry completely with its speed. Ollivander summoned it and handed him the wand with a small amused smile.

'Like I said – it requires some practice to pull it off. I am sure that it won't take long for you to adjust.' Wandmaker reassured him as Harry laughed nervously and thanked the man.

After that, they said their goodbyes and exited the shop on to the busy Alley.

'Now to the Magical Menagerie ... let's hope they have som decent snakes there. If not ... there is always this nice dark alley we passed before.' Harry stared at Aurora at that and quickly responded in a whisper to her.

'That's Knockturn Alley alley you are talking about! The place is filled with illegal businesses, criminals and Dark supporters. We may be safe here but there is no point in pushing our luck!' Harry could see that she wasn't fazed by his warning as she smiled at him.

'Relax, it was just a suggestion. If we find the proper snake in Digon then there is no problem.' Aurora assured him and moved in the direction of the Menagerie.

They moved to the shop and asked the clerk about the snakes.

'The reptile section is in the back.' Was the only response from the bored looking middle-aged man. Harry thanked the man and followed the eager Aurora to the back.

After some manoeuvring between cages containing all manner of animals (from Kneazles to some kind of orange slugs), they arrived in a small clearing marking the end of a shop. It was a damp and dark place, in opposition to the most of the store.

Harry heard all manner of hissing and clicking noises from the terrariums around them so he began looking for the snakes. Aurora was doing the same on the other side of the clearing.

He spotted a big snake occupying a single terrarium alone, that reminded him of the reptile he spoke to at the zoo one time ... so he decided to chat with it.

§Welcome snake.§ Harry hissed making the snake whip its head at him. §How are you?§

Harry really didn't know how to chat with snakes, but he still felt that "How are you?" was a lame line.

"Good thing that I didn't try my luck with picking up girls." Harry thought as he listened to the reptile response.

§A Speaker? It is an honour to meet you. And I am fine ... thank you.§ The clearly male snake looked him over curiously. There was something inherently lazy about his voice.

§Er ... Well, I am looking for a companion to Bond with ... to help me in battles by biting and felling my enemies. Interested?§ Harry decided to cut the small talk and revealed his intent.

§Battles? I don't think that it would fit me, Speaker ... I rather like when food comes to me, not the other way around ...§ The reptile then stretched slightly and coiled while hissing sleepily. §And I still didn't digest my last meal ... so ... Goodnight Speaker.§

Harry looked bemusingly at the snake that just closed its eyes and fell asleep before him. His soft hiss from time to time for some inexplicable reason reminded him of snoring.

"I think I found Ron soulmate." He thought amused.

He was about to look for another snake when he felt someone hit him lightly in the back of the head.

'Seriously Harry? Did you just speak with a python about being your familiar? They are fine as pets but you are looking for a snake that can help you in a fight! And that means poison.' He looked behind him and saw Aurora shaking her head at him. He just smiled and shrugged at her.

'Now that we are back on track ... I found a good candidate! She was the only poisonous snake I could find, but what a find indeed – a King Cobra! Come look!' Aurora excitingly informed him and dragged to one of the terrariums on the other side of the clearing.

Inside he saw a beautiful deep green snake slightly smaller than Aurora's familiar. At their approach, the snake raised its head and extended the hood – narrower and longer than that of a Mors.

§Welcome back Speaker, is that human the one you spoke of?§ A pleasant feminine hiss reached him as the reptile hissed to Aurora. Harry somehow knew that she was fairly young.

§Yes, little one. He is also a Speaker like me and in need of a Bond-mate as I told you before. He will need you and your poison to help him survive the battles, the hunt ahead of him. Will you agree to the Bond?§ Aurora hissed to the female snake that looked at him critically, Harry decided to speak to her himself.

§Welcome young one. As my companion explained I am in need of a Bond-mate that is willing to aid me in upcoming battles. My Enemy has returned and will try to hunt me down so if you agree to the Bond you will become his target as well.§ Harry wanted to make clear to the snake the dangers to being his familiar. Her dark eyes continued to scan him as he heard a mirthful hiss.

§Just more to fell from my poison, It would be a nice change from the pathetic hunt the rats give when humans feed me. But what is this ... Bond? What will it mean to me?§ The she-snake asked.

Harry didn't really know what exactly Bond is, so he turned to Aurora. As he was about to ask he saw Mors emerging from behind her cloak that covered her runic tattoo.

§Welcome fellow snake, I might be able to clarify a few things to you. I am Mors. Bonded to my Mistress for many years now.§ Aurora draped her familiar around her neck as he fully emerged.

§Welcome ... Mors. I myself doesn't have a name to give you Elder.§ The green snake eyed curiously the black one, nodding respectfully. §Would you tell me about the Bond then?§

§The Bond has many benefits ... You will live as long as your Master – possibly many times more than you would normally. You will be able to think better, quicker and understand more. Your Master will be able to strengthen the poison in your Fangs, maybe even share his power with you ... But there is a price to it all.§ Mors rose slightly his head from Aurora's shoulder and extended his impressive hood, hissing proudly. §Your Master shall become more important than Hunt itself, more even than finding a Mate. Everything will become second to the word of your Master. Serving him will become your duty, your pride. Power in exchange for freedom ... I have chosen, now it is your turn.§

Harry watched as Mors returned back to his tattoo form accompanied by a soft chuckle of his Misstress and a murmured "Drama Queen" by her. He looked then at the she-snake with consternation.

Knowing the price of the Bond didn't really make him feel good about making the green snake and Hedwig his familiars ...

§Power in exchange for freedom ...§ Soft feminine hiss reached him as he was deep in thought. Harry concentrated and looked at the snake again. §I never tasted freedom, all my life ... the only thing I know is this place and humans that feed me.§

He heard the unmistakable bitterness in her hiss, one which he understood. After ten years in a cupboard under the stairs, it was hard not to.

§May as well taste power in the exchange of it. As long as I will able to Hunt worthy prey I will be content.§ The green King Cobra proudly stared in his eyes, her hood open – showing white scales underneath. §I agree to Bond to you Speaker, and to fill your enemies with my poison.§

Harry was truly conflicted, should he agree to the Bond knowing the price? Or just release her to the wild? His indecision must have shown because he felt Aurora's hand grip his forearm.

'Remember Harry that you can give her as much freedom as you want. It all depend on you. And you do need her help – she will be a valuable ally.' Aurora spoke to him and calmed his worries, almost as if reading his mind. He smiled at her gratefully and nodded his understanding.

He did need her. And he promised to himself that he will no longer discard anything that will help him survive. Not with Voldemort alive.

§Thank you snake. I will make sure that you will have plenty worthy prey to Hunt.§ That said Harry opened the terrarium and take out his new snake. He allowed her to coil his left arm. With cloak on no one will see her as long as she doesn't stick her head out.

§Now the one last thing little one, you will need a name for your Master to call you by.§ Aurora spoke to the green snake before going to the clerk.

§Name? ... It will be interesting to have one. But shouldn't he name me then?§ Female King Cobra spoke looking at him at the end. Harry smirked a little at that.

§Remember this well little one ... never let human males to name anything! They are famously atrocious at that.§ His companion hissed with amusement while sending a mild glare at the smirk Harry still wear on his face.

§Your name shall be Arma, a weapon to strike as your Master desires.§ Aurora declared importantly. His soon to be familiar looked thoughtful for a moment and then hissed pleased.

§Arma ... Swift and strong ... I like it.§ The newly named Arma hid herself under cloak as they moved to the counter. There was thankfully no one there but them so they approached the store clerk.

'Excuse me? I want to buy this snake ...' That said Harry shown to the stunned man coiled Arma around his left arm. 'How much for her?'

'Ten galleons.' The man supplied automatically, prompting Harry to give him the appropriate amount of gold. 'You do realise young man that this snake is very poisonous, right?'

Harry stifled a laugh at the man eyeing fearfuly the part of his cloak that Arma hid under.

'I am well aware sir. But I am very good with snakes, so there is no need to worry.' He assured the man and exited the shop quickly, with Aurora in tow.

Finished with the shopping they started to move in the direction of Leaky Cauldron so they could floo home.

Walking down the Alley Harry heard a soft snort from his side which prompted him to eye Aurora questioningly. She had highly amused expression on her face and her eyes shone mirthfully.

'What's so funny?' Harry asked curiously.

'Oh, nothing ... Just thinking how to introduce Arma to your godfather.' He could see she was holding her laugh at the prospect.

"Poor Padfoot," Harry thought while trying to hold in his own laugh.

oOo

A/N: Hello there, hope you like it and really sorry for the delay. Please Review!

Till nex time.