A Brother To Basilisks (a Drarry fanfic)

Chapter 38: Questions About Allegiance Rings

You will have to do something about it sooner or later, Dash said, twining out of Harry's bed and poking the box on the table with his nose. The allegiance ring that Selwyn had given him rattled inside.

Then it can be later, Harry grouched, and dragged himself out of bed. His muscles throbbed. Even though he had had worse aches before, especially when flying or when he'd received a pounding from Dudley, there was a special ache about the first day of being back to school that made him want to sleep in.

Not that he would get to, of course. Dash had woken him up early so he could shower and get to breakfast on time, but also so that he could go to the library and look up allegiance rings.

Draco should have told me enough about the bloody things already when I asked, Harry thought, as he stepped into the shower and deliberately turned on the cold water. Not only did it wake him up with a leap and a shout, but it meant Dash had to stay outside the shower stall until it got warmer.

You are so anxious to be parted from me, then? Dash was now tall enough to rear up and look over the wall of the shower, at least if he slung a coil of his body around one of the sinks outside.

Harry bowed his head and scrubbed his fingers through his hair, not saying anything. He had thought—well, he had just hoped that he could stay out of it all this year. He probably couldn't get away from Voldemort completely, since there were reports of Dark Marks at the Quidditch World Cup. And, well, Professor Snape and Mr. Malfoy were Death Eaters, or had been. Still were, if you listened to Sirius, which Harry didn't make a habit of doing.

But he could stay out of politics. People were getting used to Dash now. The excitement around Pettigrew's trial and Sirius's release had already died down. Harry hadn't done anything remarkable at the end of last year, nothing to compare to saving the Stone or entering the Chamber of Secrets and rescuing Ginny.

He'd just thought, hoped, that people were forgetting about him.

Did you forget that you announced your abuse to the papers, and some other people started coming forward? I know you didn't look at the papers much of the rest of summer, but I did, and the public paid attention to that.

Harry paused and squinted up through the soap and shampoo at Dash. You read the papers? Really?

Yes. I didn't inflict it on you because I thought you needed some freedom from them. Dash's tail lashed once, and he ended up falling down from his high perch. But he just flowed over the wall again and into the water, since it was warm now. But I wanted to make sure that no new threats to you were brewing there.

Harry swallowed, and then reached down and swept a hand across Dash's flat head, because it replaced a lot of things he could have said and didn't have the words for.

You're welcome. Dash stuck out a tongue and licked at a bit of shampoo, then shuddered and scrubbed his tongue on the stones. He always said that shampoo looked like something that should taste good, since it was thick and glistened the way blood did, but he was always disappointed. In the meantime, you need to pursue the matter of the allegiance ring.

Harry sighed. Yes, he might prefer to forget about politics if he could, but it seemed politics weren't going to forget about him.

Fine, but I think it's just going to be a disappointment to them, he said, ducking his head through a final scrub of his hair and then stumbling out and reaching for the towel.After all, I'm not Slytherin reincarnated or whatever. What are they going to do when they find that out?

You're not, Dash agreed. But that doesn't mean you can't lie and claim to be.

It was Harry's turn to fall, as he whirled around to stare at Dash in shock and tripped over a slight irregularity in the floor. He choked and got up again, while Dash slid towards the door and said, Clumsy, clumsy. You should practice walking like a pure-blood.