A Brother To Basilisks (a Drarry fanfic)

Chapter 6: Slytherin and Gryffindor

"There is no way that you would be willing to leave the snake outside?"

It took Harry a moment to realize McGonagall was talking to him. He had been arguing with Dash about what Snape might have meant when he spoke to him earlier, and whose fault it really was that Dash had been close enough to the cauldron in Potions to get a drop of his saliva in the liquid, which of course wrecked everything.

"No, Professor," said Harry, when he could concentrate. He reached up and stroked Dash's scales, soothing down the hiss before it could begin. "Professor Dumbledore said I had to keep him with me at all times, just in case he tried to do something to somebody."

In truth, Harry thought the mirrors that Dumbledore had enchanted to whirl around him would probably follow Dash if they had to separate, but, well. There were some things McGonagall didn't need to know.

Like how much you blame her for not believing you and going with you to find the Stone in your first year? Dash asked thoughtfully.

Harry had already learned Dash was a genius. For example, he had a talent for asking questions like that right before a professor spoke. Harry was going to snap at him, but McGonagall said, "Then he will need to stay around your neck, and stay absolutely quiet. I won't have him disrupting my class. Transfiguration is a delicate subject."

Harry stared at McGonagall. Sure, he had heard her be harsh before, but not to people who hadn't done anything. And this time, he thought he saw a spark of disappointment in her eyes before she looked hastily away from him.

Was she disappointed in him for having a snake? For bonding with a basilisk? For speaking Parseltongue?

"I don't think it matters," said Dash, and of course he hissed aloud, instead of speaking mentally into Harry's mind the way he'd been doing all morning. People jumped in their seats and turned around to flinch. Harry lowered his head and stroked Dash's neck. Dash continued relentlessly, his head weaving back and forth in a series of loops that immediately melted into one another. "They would find some reason to dislike you."

But she never did it before, Harry told Dash, as he pulled out his wand and got ready to pay attention to the lesson. This time, McGonagall was having them Transfigure small booklets into butterflies. Her voice was high and stiff as she recounted the lesson, and Harry was sure it had to do with him.

Did she support you?

Harry hesitated. It was true that he couldn't remember McGonagall intervening last year when people were telling him that he was the Heir of Slytherin. But she hadn't been upset with him. She had done what she could to treat him absolutely normally.

Sometimes, that isn't what you need to do. Dash's head nudged his cheek. Sometimes, you need someone who's going to do more than that.

Harry would have answered, but McGonagall said, "Mr. Potter, I must insist on you leaving the snake outside if he's going to be a distraction from your schoolwork."

Harry lowered his gaze to the booklet and managed a passable imitation of the wand movement, he thought. The pages of the booklet in front of him fluttered, but didn't Transfigure. Harry grimaced and tried it again. Still nothing happened, and he could feel the angry frustration at the back of his eyes that made them grow hot.

You can't focus your magic that way, said Dash. You have to be calm and think about things that will make you even calmer.

How can I do that when everyone's being stupid about you? Harry slashed his wand down again. This time, the pages didn't even move. He thought he could see other people with wings beating on their desks, but he refused to look.