Loving Lily: A Snily Story

Chapter 97 - Burst of Green Light

Thank you for reading! I don't own any of Harry Potter! Please let me know if you enjoy! Updates every Saturday!
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"Are you positive this will work, Malfoy?" Harriet asked Draco for the hundredth time the evening she and her friends prepared to journey to Malfoy Manor.

"Of course I am!" Draco snapped, "How many times do I have to tell you? Malfoy Manor is my home, Snape! This will be the easiest bit yet! A simple stab through the head with a knife from my father's collection and-"

"-And Nagini will be dead, I know, we've been over it enough." Harriet sighed.

"I'll speak to draw her close." Tom nodded.

"......Ron and I will provide the distraction." Hermione added.

".....I'll get the knife." Draco frowned.

"........And you and I will put it through her skull." Harriet said in a quieter voice than she intended.

Unlike her father, Harriet had not been present to witness the brutal slayings of Voldemort's spurned elite at the jaws of his scaley servant.

Harriet had always thought of Nagini as a sort of friend.

It had been her interactions with the mysterious maledictus that had inspired her own desire for a reptilian friend.

"Are you alright, Harriet?" Hermione frowned at the melancholy look on Harriet's fair face.

"I'm fine, Hermione." She replied with a stiff upper lip as she nodded and met her gaze, "Let's get moving, shall we? The sooner this is done, the sooner we move closer to ending this war, to ending him."

From his cage, Anuman let out a crying hiss, "Take me with you, Harriet Snape!"

Anuman had finally found the perfect opportunity to prove himself as necessary.

Harriet and Tom both turned towards his cage.

Tom furrowed his brow while Harriet shook her head and hissed in Parseltongue, "No, Anuman, it's not safe. Remember what we talked about? You need to stay here and watch over camp. I've unlocked your cage, if you hear anyone coming, slither into a tree and tell us who you saw."

"The diversion you have planned is an easy one to spoil....." Anuman hissed, "Your friends will die if they are seen......Take me instead! Your enemies will think nothing of another snake. The one you seek to destroy will target me as prey, which will allow you to strike when she least suspects......"

Harriet's frown deepened while she reflected on Anuman's words and listened to the surprising  amount of logical reasoning they contained.

She and Tom exchanged glances before she looked over at Hermione and Ron.

"We could stay here." Ron shrugged, grateful to avoid the dangerous task of infiltrating Malfoy Manor, ".......Maybe it would be better to have a snake along, instead of us."

Harriet frowned as Hermione held her gaze and spoke, "It's up to you, Harriet. Ron and I are glad to help in whatever way we can."

Ron elbowed her in the ribs, which earned him a hiss and a glare as Hermione's amber eyes flickered towards him.

Harriet glanced back at Tom as she wondered........

A snake would be less suspicious.

A snake could be excused.

The longer she thought, the longer Anuman seemed like their best possible choice.

".......Fine." Harriet nodded after a lengthy moment filled with tension and anxious brooding.