Drarry : A Snake Life

Chapter 32 - Smokescreen

We remain silent. Dennis just finished his little speech about how and when Goyle and him decided to trick Malfoy.

"And when did you decide to turn me into a snake?" Draco spits scornfully.

"The day after that conversation, I had to come back to my mom because she has health problem" Dennis carries on. "We already came up with the idea of turning you into an animal because it was a good way to control you. We could threaten your mother, telling her we kidnapped you and we could keep you nearby... without raising suspicion. But we didn't decide which animal." (He pauses, scratching his cheek.) "In my neighbourhood, there is a pet shop. I broke into the place with Harry's Invisibility Cloak –which I took from you before leaving, because I thought it might get useful. I stole a snake and brought it in Hogwarts secretly."

"But why a snake?" Draco asks in bewilderment.

"Because I could keep you in a terrarium under my bed" he replies, as if it was the most logical explanation. "A snake is rather passive. Plus, if you escaped, you couldn't have gone very far, because the snake I choose is an exotic one. It couldn't go outside, it would stay in the castle. That was clever, wasn't it?"

He smiles at me, seeking for my approval. I pinch my lips.

"What happened next?" I insist. "And how did you know about my Invisibility Cloak?"

He shrugs.

"You already know the rest of the story."

"I want to hear every detail" I push him. "If you want me to judge your actions, I need to know everything you did."

He looks at me for a second and finally decides to go on. Good. Buying more time is the only solution I have in mind. My best shot is to make him feel confident enough and then to trick him to get out of here. How long have we been in this cell since we woke up? One hour and a half? Two hours? Early morning was coming soon. Maybe someone would notice our disappearance...

"The cloak..." Draco insists. "I spent years keeping a close eye on this brat, but I really understood what it was just a few days ago."

Dennis pinches his lips, his eyes are dull. (Sometimes he seems really off...)

"Colin... told me about it." (His gaze sets on me.) "He was watching your every moves, he looked up to you so much... We both did..." (He gulps.) "He couldn't figure out how you could walk so freely in the castle... It really puzzled him... until he finally saw you put it on, or heard you talk about it with Ron and Hermione, I don't remember..."

The memories of his brother seem to overwhelm him. He takes a long moment before gathering up his thoughts and resuming his story.

"First, we sent the letters to Mrs Malfoy to threaten her, but –as we expected– it didn't work. So, one day, the person who helped me and I followed Malfoy." (He points the latter, who squints.) "I walked towards him with the cloak on..."

"...which is why he didn't see you" I realise.

Draco looks at me, cottoning on as well.

"...I stupefied him and performed a Sleeping Charm on him. We opened the box in which he keeps his letters with the palm of his hand. I took pictures of them with a Muggle camera, put them back in the box and then the Slytherin who was with me..."

"Why don't you just say his name" Draco mocks.

"Because I don't want to die" Dennis answers, blinking with surprise. "If I were to die now, the whole plan I made would be ruined. Plus, you two would be imprisoned in this place forever with my corpse, until you'd die from starvation and thirst." (I wince at this thought, Malfoy gets a tad paler. Dennis continues his explanations, very matter-of-fact.) "So, the Slytherin casted his old, forgotten spell on Draco. It went well, at first. The body of the snake and yours mixed together and then only the snake remained. But I guess something went wrong... and unfortunately... well, we didn't expect the snake to escape. It tried to bite us and it disappeared quickly into the grass. Since it was green in the green grass, we couldn't find it."