A Brother To Basilisks (a Drarry fanfic)

Chapter 5: First Potions Class

"You realize that everyone is staring at you?"

Harry shrugged and settled into his seat in Potions, then sat up and readjusted again. Dash was complaining that Harry had sat on his tail.

Well, don't put your tail on my arse, and it'll be even, Harry told him, which made Dash hiss and tuck his head under Harry's robe collar. Harry had already noticed that he did that when he was sulky.

I am not sulky. Not ever sulky.

Only someone sulky talks like that, Harry retorted, and Dash clamped his jaws shut and laid his head along the back of Harry's neck. Harry sighed and stroked Dash's throat. He was still getting used to having a snake, and someone who could talk back to him and seemed to want to protect him at that.

Do you have such a lack of people who want to protect you? Dash let his head dangle down the opposite side of Harry's neck while Harry got his cauldron and books out. Harry paused to move him a little yet again. The scrape of scales against his earlobe was a tickling distraction.

I don't think that's it, said Harry. He could think of Dumbledore and the Weasleys and Hermione and McGonagall off the top of his head.

But you don't think about your Muggles when you do that. Dash flexed a little, eagerly, around Harry's ears and the crown of his head. I shall have to think about this some more and see what I can do.

Any dread that Harry had about Dash's suggestion vanished when Snape swept into the room and up to the front. Then Harry had to worry about the dread he always had when Snape was around. Granted, Snape had been decent about Dash last night, but Harry thought that was because it was a snake and he was surprised. He was upset again about fifteen minutes later, after all.

"One would think that no one had ever seen a snake before." Snape made the remark to the air above his students' heads.

Immediately, some people snapped around so that they were facing forwards. Harry bit his lip desperately, and managed to hold onto his laughter. Laughing would get him in detention. Only Malfoy could get away with that in Potions, and according to Snape, that was because Malfoy was a Potions genius.

But he was secretly a little grateful that Snape was helping him, or at least making people stop staring at him. Dash was worth any amount of stares, but Harry thought it would get to him in a while, the way it had last year.

They seem to distrust snakes and Parseltongue and all sorts of things that are reptilian. Why is that?

Harry sent back a strong image of Voldemort as he had seen him on the back of Quirrell's head, but he didn't dare have a silent conversation with Dash, because Snape was glaring straight at him. "And you, Mr. Potter, should not allow the snake to distract you from your brewing, or cause any mishaps with ingredients."

It was a mild reprimand, at least when compared to some of the ones Snape tended to give him. Harry just nodded and said, "Yes, sir."

Snape raised his eyebrows and turned, waving his wand so fast that the words seemed to spring out of it and cover the board. Harry used his left hand to brush Dash's tail out of the way and began to write them down.

"The instructions will vanish in ten minutes," Snape said smoothly, and Harry thought he saw a smile on his face as the banging of cauldrons turned into the frantic scribbling of quotes.

Harry began to write faster, and ignored the way that he could feel Ron shaking with suppressed indignation next to him. They could work together, the way they usually did, and as long as one of them had a good copy of the notes, then they could brew the potion.