A Brother To Basilisks (a Drarry fanfic)

Chapter 27: Springing the Trap

You don't need to talk to them, said Dash with a certainty that stabbed Harry under the heart like a sharp, slim bone dagger.

What a keen imagination you have, Dash added, and his heavy head came to rest in the place that Harry had been thinking of, his tongue darting coolly out for a moment. His closed eyelids fluttered a little, and he turned his head to the side, apparently feeling Harry's heartbeat. You don't need to.

"I still need a place to live for the summer," Harry reminded Dash quietly, running his fingers softly along the ridge above Dash's closed eye. They were in the middle of Harry's bed, sealed behind curtains that Harry had warded with several strong privacy charms. Harry spoke quietly as much to avoid waking Ron as because his throat was too choked with emotion to speak more strongly. "I can't have that if I don't talk to Sirius and Lupin."

You could have a place with your Weasley friend. You could have a place with your professor.

It took Harry a moment to realize which professor Dash must be talking about, and when he knew, he snorted aloud and shook his head. "Come off it, Dash. I'll admit, he's been nice to me, a lot nicer than he used to be, but there's a difference between that and wanting to adopt me."

He would not need to adopt you to guarantee you a safe home.

Dash sounded more enchanted with the idea as he spoke. Harry shuddered a little as he realized that Dash had vowed to get him an adult who could look after him. Snape might be the adult he had in mind.

No, Harry snapped, switching to the silent voice of their bond as he heard someone shift in their bed. Dean, most likely. He said that he always had bad dreams right before exams. I forbid you to do anything about getting "someone" for me, Dash. You couldn't talk to Snape without me being there, anyway.

Dash paused, his tail tapping the sheets. The stirring sound had stopped, but this one was loud enough. The only one louder was Harry's heart. Harry held his eyes, as well as he could when Dash's lids still blocked them, and glared.

I want to help you, Dash finally said, and laid his head in Harry's lap. His emotions tumbled through Harry's head like the images he had first hurled at Harry when he was explaining his name, and his voice was soft and sulky.

I know that, said Harry, and used his hand to gently smooth down Dash's plume. But I still have a home that I can get back if I say the right words.

What about the words they should say to you?

Harry let out a long, slow breath and shrugged. That shifted Dash's coils around his shoulders around in a way that usually made him grumble, but now he was silent, waiting, and Harry realized how seriously he took this. I don't know. I'll—we'll see how this confrontation goes.

You realize I will be with you, and that I'll bite them the moment they try to threaten you.

I know that. Harry leaned back on his pillow, and didn't speak what he was saying aloud in words: that if not for Dash's presence there, he wouldn't have been able to go to the confrontation with Remus and Sirius at all.

Dash's head snuggled further into his lap. You don't need to worry. I'll never leave you.

Harry closed his eyes. He could have contested that, could have asked what happened if Dash chased after one of his enemies or wanted a mate, but he didn't. For once, he thought, he could trust that a person who said something like that meant it.

No one else is bonded to me.

*

"Were they really awful, the Muggles?"