Category: Book
Sub Category: Harry Potter
Series Title: Serpentine
Title: The Dark Truth
Genres: General - cause I can't think what else it would go under, really
Language: English
Author: Zephyr5
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Challenge Response: Harry was abandoned by the Dursleys at the tender age of four, and a magical serpent took him in and brought him up. He grows up into a wild child who only understands Parseltongue, wants to be a real snake, and dislikes human beings in general. When he decides that a certain Dark Lord should be his mate, all hell breaks out.
Warnings: male/male relationship later, dark!Harry, confused!Snape, character death, mention of bestiality. Oh, and everyone's probably horribly OOC…
Spoiler Warnings: none - this is AU through and through (obviously, since he gets abandoned before the books really get started)
Disclaimers: I do not own the canon Harry Potter characters who make an appearance, I do, however, own the idea of Nye, shadow vipers, and the plot.
AN: This is my response to the 'Child of Serpent' set by PxW at thesilversnitch, and my first completed Harry Potter fic - please review :)
Challenge Instructions: 1.The magical serpent can be anything as long as it is part snake or takes snake form. 2. Harry has to learn to become an animagus and takes the form of a silver or black serpent. 3. Voldemort initially thinks Harry is just an unknown species of poisonous snake and takes him as a pet. 4. There must be a scene where Harry fiercely defends his mate.
The Dark TruthHades quickly discovered that life with Voldemort was even more interesting than life in the forest. Admittedly, his inability to understand anything other than Parseltongue was a hindrance when it came to comprehending the meetings between his mate and his mate's servants, but Voldemort was more than willing to explain things to him afterwards. He learnt much of the politics behind dealing with treacherous supporters and cunning enemies in this way. He also expanded his knowledge of magic, since Voldemort also tended to cast spells with Parseltongue incantations - his enemies never knew what was being used on them, and so didn't know how, or when, to defend themselves.
He also learned about the intimacies between two men - mainly by spying on two of his mate's favourite servants. It seemed that for all the verbal shows of hatred between the two, the one with the silver eyes and the one who stank of treacherous magic actually cared a great deal for each other. He didn't understand why his questions about this interplay between the two sparked so much laughter from his mate.
On Voldemort's side, the Dark Lord discovered that his new familiar and 'mate', was extremely curious, as well as extremely intelligent and quick-witted. The shadow viper had quickly come to understand why he allowed Severus to believe that his treachery was unknown, and also to understand the ways in which he treated his other servants. Neither was the reasoning behind his acts of terror beyond the creature's comprehension, and, in fact, Hades had taken his ideas and actually managed to improve on some of them. For instance, they had discovered that when Hades used his poison to deliver his victims to a lingering and painful death, the corpses looked, for all intents and purposes, as though they had been killed by the cruciatus - without the early release of organ failure, or the blissfully unfeeling fall into insanity. They had both basked in the wave of terror that had spread throughout the wizarding world.
The creature's fascination with the relationship between Lucius and Severus though, was most intriguing. Voldemort attributed Hades' burning curiosity about all aspects of sex between two men to the lack of sense such a thing would make to a snake. After all, snakes did not mate for pleasure, but for procreation, and there was no such thing as a same-sex pairing between snakes. He was also surprised to find that he could still blush, when Hades' inability to comprehend the idea of a prostate led to a practical demonstration - that ended with Voldemort being thoroughly fucked by his familiar's tail, and achieving the most intense orgasm he'd ever had.
But, barely a year after Hades had joined the Dark Lord, the forces of 'light' finally decided to take the offensive. They were led by Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts, who had apparently given up hope of ever finding his prophesied saviour - Harry Potter. Hades never connected the name with his own human-form's name, and Voldemort - who didn't even know that his pet was actually an animagus - never even thought about the two in conjunction, except to sometimes wistfully dream of the boy dying under the influence of his familiar's deadly poison.
Dumbledore had known since the second year after Harry Potter's disappearance that it would likely come down to this. His search of Clipstone forest - they knew the general area where the Dursleys had dumped the boy, damn them - had drawn a blank, and so, when Voldemort's search - eleven years later - had also drawn a blank, he had begun to plan the final assault.
His spy in the enemy camp, one Severus Snape, Potions Master at Hogwarts, had informed him of Voldemort's new familiar - a development that was neither welcome nor expected. Nagini's venom, as a king cobra, had a well-known neutralising serum, but this new snake was unfamiliar to even Hagrid - Hogwarts' resident expert on all magical creatures, the more deadly the better - and its venom was, apparently, lethal even when only a scratch was inflicted. Of course, they didn't know that Hades had perfect control over the amount of venom he injected, nor that it was his venom that was responsible for the 'killing cruciatus' - not a spell at all.
So, it was not without some trepidation that, the very next time Voldemort summoned Severus Snape, half a dozen Aurors, led by Albus Dumbledore, apparated with him…only to appear in the middle of a circle of waiting death eaters.
Even outnumbered, the Aurors gave as good as they got - as Voldemort had intended. He had deliberately summoned only lower ranking death eaters, enough to deal with the Aurors, whilst leaving Dumbledore and the traitor, Snape, to him and his familiar…
A familiar who was conspicuous in his absence…
"Finite incantatem!"
"Petrificus totalis!"
The first two spells of the exchange between the two most powerful wizards of the time were neither what anyone might have expected, nor aimed at a target anyone might have expected. They were aimed at the 'traitor', Severus Snape.
The first spell, Voldemort's, broke the imperius curse that had been dictating the man's actions and had been cast years earlier by Albus Dumbledore. The second spell, Dumbledore's, effectively removed a very confused Snape from the fight.
"Expelliarmus!"
An Auror, managing to break away from the fight with the death eaters, cast the spell past Dumbledore, relieving Voldemort of his wand. Somewhat disconcertingly, the dark wizard smiled, as if the Auror had done him a great favour. Ignoring the smirk plastered across Voldemort's face, Dumbledore advanced, wand at the ready.
"Mine!" Eyes blazing, Hades appeared as if from nowhere, interposing his body between his wandless mate and the advancing wizard, hissing his warning, his determination, and his increasing displeasure. Dumbledore paused, scowling, then flicked his wand dismissively.
"Petrificus totalis." It was said almost contemptuously. Hades felt the magic wrap around him, holding his body immobile and rendering him impotent. He needed a way to break the bindings, but only his human-form could cast magic, and…he suddenly realised that the very act of transformation would be enough to throw off the binding magic.
Reaching down inside himself, as he hadn't done for so long, he found the memory of his human self within his soul, grasped his magic, and forced the two to merge. Everyone in the room froze as the black snake vanished, replaced by a tall, naked young man with long, wild black hair, blazing green eyes…and a lightning-bolt shaped scar on his forehead.
Harry hissed angrily at the wizard in front of him, who was gaping soundlessly.
"H-Harry?" The old man gasped out, softly, blinking in disbelief.
"Leave my mate alone, old man…" Harry hissed warningly, not understanding what had been said.
"Harry…my boy…we thought you were dead…" Anger flared as the wizard who had threatened his mate refused to back down, instead making noises at him. Interpreting the sounds as a challenge, Harry hissed a final warning.
"Leave or die!" The wizard remained where he was, but half raised a hand towards him - the hand holding the magic stick… Harry's eyes blazed in fury.
Ignoring Voldemort's wand, and ignorant of the stunned expression on his mate's face, Harry grasped the magic within himself, and channelled it outwards, through his hands, as he had learned to do under Nye's tutelage.
"Avada kedavra." He hissed the spell that he had learned by listening to his mate's spell-casting, gratified when the green light gathered about him and then shot towards the old wizard who had dared to threaten his mate. The light vanished into the man, who promptly crumpled to the floor, a comical expression of confusion on his face. Harry squinted around the room, unable to see properly without the glasses that he had lost a long time ago. Seeing that there was nothing - and no one - now threatening his mate, he quickly transformed back into his serpent form.
Of course, once the death eaters realised that Harry Potter had defended their Lord, and the Aurors decided that said Lord obviously had their saviour Harry Potter under some sort of imperius-like curse, the battle was rejoined.
That left Voldemort and Severus Snape - whose bindings had been released upon Dumbledore's death - free to do nothing more than dodge the occasional stray curse, and try to come to terms with the knowledge that the saviour of the side of the 'light' was actually a sadistic snake animagus, who had chosen the leader of the 'dark' forces to be his mate.
It was a lot to take in.
They were still trying to come to terms with it when the last Auror fell.
The death eaters who had been present for the fight lost no time, once dismissed, in spreading the story. Along with the tangible proof that Dumbledore was dead - his head was left on the doorstep of Hogwarts - the story seemed credible, and a wave of fear and despondency spread throughout the forces of 'light', just as a wave of triumph and elation spread throughout the forces of 'dark'.
Only Severus Snape was present for the 'confrontation' between Harry and Voldemort after the pivotal battle, and even then - unable as he was to understand or speak Parseltongue - he couldn't have told anyone what, exactly, was said between the two wizards. He could speculate of course, but since his speculations were rather along the lines that Voldemort was on his hands and knees pleading with his familiar to come out from under the bed, he wisely wasn't about to go broadcasting them…even if it was almost, cute…
"Harry Potter - come out from under there thiss insstant." Voldemort had already tried using magic to extract the snake - with a tangible lack of success. Hades had, apparently, discovered that he could cast most of his defensive spells just as well in snake form as in human form - probably since he'd learned to focus his magic without the aid of a wand.
Now the Dark Lord was attempting to coax him out with a mixture of threats, promises and the judicious waving of potential food. Unfortunately Hades' ability to go without food was more than a match for the Dark Lord's patience, and said Dark Lord had no experience in talking teenagers out of anything - least of all a very determined sulk. It didn't help that Voldemort had absolutely no idea why Hades was sulking.
Truth be told, neither did Hades. He hadn't been at all happy about being forced to reveal his human form, and was even less pleased by his mate's new insistence on calling him by his human name, but… He just knew that everything between them was going to change now. Which was a shame, because he'd come to enjoy those occasional nights when Voldemort would huskily enquire whether he understood about the prostate gland yet. His mate was so beautiful when he was writhing in ecstasy…
"Harry…" His mate's voice broke Hades out of the pleasant memories.
"Don't call me that! My name isss Hadesss!" He spat, shooting out from under the opposite side of the bed, and glaring at Voldemort across it. The Dark Lord took a moment to thank the gods that his familiar's stare alone didn't have the power of the killing curse.
"Hadess then - what iss wrong with you?" Hades' weaved side to side, unsure of himself.
"If I am Harry Potter then you will want nothing more to do with me." He finally hissed, so quietly that Voldemort had to strain to catch the words. "You will sssend me away - like thossse horrible mugglesss who kept me in a cupboard before abandoning me in a foressst." Voldemort was torn between sympathy unbecoming of a Dark Lord - which would probably lead to an embarrassing moment where he tried to reassure his familiar - or incandescent, albeit grateful, rage at the muggles who had dumped him in the forest as a child - which would probably lead to a killing spree…
Forgetting that Severus was loitering patiently in the room beyond, he abandoned his dignity and opted for the former.
"Once, maybe that wass true. But that wass before I met you, before you chosse me ass your mate, and killed Nagini to make me yourss. Before you put your life before mine by putting yoursself between me and Dumbledore, and killed him to protect what iss yourss." He could see Hades was listening intently, although what effect his words were having, he didn't know.
In the room beyond, Severus goggled at his image in the mirror, and wondered if he had been hit by a confundus charm and was only just noticing - or if Voldemort had been hit by a confundus charm and still hadn't noticed, because the tone of the hisses coming from the bedroom had most definitely changed from 'irritated-but-in-control' to 'gently-coaxing'.
"Your human form iss nothing to be asshamed of." Voldemort continued, earning himself another glare from Hades. He pushed on regardless. It was more than nice having Hades in his bed - a lot more than nice - and he could just imagine how good it would be to have Harry in his bed, where he could show the boy just what he'd been doing to him as a snake. "You are beautiful - and jusst ass Hadess hass taken me ass hiss mate, I would take Harry ass my mate." There was a long, tense silence as Hades considered this, then the snake slowly wound his way onto the bed and transformed into Harry.
"You mean that?" He queried, posture screaming his readiness to flee and transform - or vice versa - should Voldemort spook him. Slowly the Dark Lord moved to join him on the bed.
"With all my being, yess."
By the time Voldemort recovered sufficiently to remember that Severus was waiting in the other room, Snape had decided that life had left him unfairly prepared to deal with listening to the sounds that had issued forth from Voldermort's bedroom. It had left him sane enough to know what those sounds were. Embarrassingly, this had left him with a slight…problem, which, he decided, was definitely urgent enough to decide to hell with secrecy, and diplomacy.
"My Lord." He addressed Voldemort, who was clearly still high on what had to be his fourth afterglow. "Please, either let me go, or summon Lucius." There was a snicker from the bedroom doorway, and Severus glanced over, instantly regretting it as his eyes swept over a thoroughly fucked, thoroughly naked, and thoroughly gorgeous Harry Potter. His erection hardened still further, and Severus let out a slight whimper. He had sense enough to tear his eyes away as Voldemort hissed at him for ogling…well, Severus assumed that this meant the two were…mates? Lovers? Definitely lovers.
"Yess, yess, Sseveruss - go celebrate with your lover. I wissh you and he to help sspread the newss of Dumbledore'ss death, and that Harry Potter iss mine." He felt the wards drop, and gratefully apparated away to Malfoy Manor.
Harry snickered again, and transformed back into Hades before slithering back into the bedroom, shooting a come-hither look at his mate.
Voldemort was only too happy to oblige.
AN: yes, this is the end, no I'm not writing out the smut scene, all I will say is that despite transforming back into Hades, he doesn't necessarily stay as Hades. Anyone who's interested, there is now a companion fic for Serpentine called Corvine, which covers the same story but from the side of the 'light' – it should clear up a few questions I've had about this, oh, and anyone who has reviewed this chapter already will find responses scattered throughout Corvine -winks-