The pet shop worker and the murderer

Easter Special

A/N: In my defense, it was Easter when this originally got posted on AO3 and FF.net. It's plot relevant, hence the belated posting.

Harry was exhausted to his bones when he woke up, and nuzzled closer to the warm mass next to him in hope to fall asleep anew. It took his sleep befuddled mind a moment to recognize the warm mass as a body, and yet another moment to remember what had happened before he fell asleep. He shot up from the bed quick as lightning, and Tom looked back at him with bemusement.

"I had a breakdown." Harry stated, his voice clipped. "And my magic attacked."

"You did. I don't see any obvious changes though." Tom said, and got up from the bed. He stepped close to Harry, and gripped Harry's chin. Tom turned his head in different directions. "I retract my statement. Your cheekbones and neck are covered in white, but transparent scales. They glitter in the light."

"Fantastic." Harry sighed. "Let's have breakfast. I can't deal with this right now, and I feel like I haven't eaten in a week." He glared pointedly at Tom, who only smiled in response.

"Breakfast then, though I think it's actually time for lunch now." Tom agreed, and moved his hand from Harry's chin, to Harry's wrist. He dragged the younger man with him to the kitchen and sat him down in a chair.

Harry watched as Tom prepared them both a light lunch. He was absentmindedly playing with the ring on his finger. He would have to ask Tom about it later, but right now he wanted to think about literally anything else than the mess that was his life.

"What are those eggs that you keep in the cooled cupboard?" he asked after a while. They had been a mystery to him for far too long.

"Basilisk eggs." Tom answered distractedly, as making food took up much of his concentration.

"...but they're not chicken eggs, and I haven't seen any toad around here." Harry commented, his tone laced with confusion.

"Did you or did you not get an O in Care of Magical Creatures?" Tom asked. "A basilisk can lay eggs. Those are eggs laid by a basilisk, hence I said basilisk eggs."

"We didn't go into detail when it came to basilisks." Harry defended himself. "I assume you don't get a basilisk from a basilisk egg. How come you keep them in the cooled cabinet? Where did you even get them?"

"I don't know for sure, but I think you're right. I keep them in the cooled cabinet because Nagini is least likely to get in there and eat them. I found them in the Chamber of Secrets."

"Yet you had them out for breakfast once, which I really want to know why. Also- did you say the Chamber of Secrets?" Harry asked, incredulous.

"I don't know how to hatch them, so I take them out sometimes." Tom answered, and put down two plates on the table. Harry looked down to see two slices of toast with baked beans and a fried egg. He raised an eyebrow at Tom in silent question.

"It's a chicken egg, child." Tom said with badly hidden amusement. "The Chamber of Secrets, yes. I found it in my fifth year. It was in the girls bathroom on the second floor actually, definitely not a place I would have thought to look at." he answered, as he sat down.

"How come you did?" Harry asked, and gave his egg yolk a poke with his fork. It was highly unlikely that Tom would feed him a basilisk egg, but you could never be too careful.

"I had looked pretty much everywhere else." Tom answered with a shrug. "It was worth a shot."

"Okay. Back to the basilisk eggs. Why didn't you leave them in the chamber?"

"With a basilisk that has exceeded her natural life-span with at least a hundred years, to be forgotten about?"

"I concede your point." Harry answered, and took a bite of his toast. "We should try to hatch one. See what kind of breed it is. Speak with it, maybe it's aware of what happens outside its egg?"