A New Snake

Chapter 6

Harry tried his best to stick with Lily, but when he got out of Arithmancy with Hermione, who had assured him there were no ill feelings between them, he was faced with Ronald Weasley and a posse of Gryffindors. Lily was nowhere in sight and though there were several Slytherins nearby, he doubted they would help him. Hermione had long been gone, already on her way to the Library to study something she had been a little confused about in the next chapter of their Arithmancy textbook. So Harry was all alone. He let Ron and his friends try to intimidate him while his eyes searched the corridor for a way out of the situation.

"Well, Potter. Looks like we finally have you cornered. You can imagine where this will lead. Lion always beats Snake."

So we're to surnames, now? Whatever. Harry thought to himself as he desperately looked for a way out. In his peripheral, he saw the Slytherins looking on with increasing interest. At that moment, he found an opening between Ron and a blonde-haired Gryffindor that must have been at least two years ahead. Just when he thought he'd gotten through, he was grabbed by the back of his robes and shirt—effectively choking him—and was dragged back into what had become a circle of hostile Gryffindors. Harry fell to the ground and was flashed back to a time in primary school where Dudley had gotten as many older, bigger kids as he could and let them beat him to a pulp. He hadn't been able to escape then, either.

Ron was the one to lay the first blow. He reared his foot back and kicked Harry as hard as he could in his stomach. Harry felt the wind knocked out of him and wheezed painfully while the rest of the group began throwing in their own punches and kicks. In a moment it was over when the Slytherins that had been nearby interrupted. Harry was surprised to find that this included Malfoy and Zabini. He vaguely saw Lily running as fast as she could towards him. Her face was panicked. He noticed that the Slytherins were threatening The Gryffindors, "If you touch one of our own again," Malfoy hissed, "You won't have to worry about the consequences with the professors." Reluctantly, Ron—no, Weasley and the other Gryffindors left to go to lunch. Harry sighed, noticing his glasses were completely obliterated about a meter away. He didn't think even Hermione's Oculus Reparo would fix them now.

He was shocked when Zabini's olive-toned hand came in front of his eyes. "C'mon. You need to go to the Hospital Wing."

Harry accepted the hand, but said, "I'll be fine. I get worse from my cousin. They didn't even break anything." The other Slytherins looked at him in shock. How could The Harry Potter be treated like that? And on what sounded like a regular basis?

But they wouldn't take no for an answer, "We take care of our own," a nameless Slytherin girl chimed in, "You're one of us now. You need to go to the Hospital Wing and we'll take you there. Besides, we won't miss any classes because it's lunch. Draco, could you go inform Professor Snape what happened. I'm sure he'll want to have a word with McGonagall about her Lions." The blond nodded and left towards the dungeons.

Lily finally caught up and began a full inspection of Harry, "Harry are you alright? What happened? Are you hurt? Where are you hurt?"

He winced and pulled her hands off of where they had been on his sides, "I'm fine, Lily. Relax."

She looked at him with honest concern, "We're going to the Hospital Wing." There was no way he could say no to all of them. So he went without any more fuss.

~ ~ ~ ~

When he and Lily came to dinner, Ron and the other Gryffindors glared at them and the Slytherins had made a space for them to sit. Harry could almost have cried. He had felt like an outcast after being accepted for the first time three years ago. He had thought he would never find a home at Hogwarts again. Now, he only had to worry about the very violent and risky Gryffindors. He looked up at the Head Table and saw that Professor Snape looked rather angry and McGonagall looked rather uncomfortable. Dumbledore was talking quietly with the Divination professor, Trelawney he thought her name was. Everyone but the Gryffindor girls said she was a fraud. Obviously, Dumbledore didn't think so or he wouldn't have hired her.

The past year, Harry had grown a feeling of mistrust when it came to the Headmaster. Remus had told him that it had been Dumbledore to put Harry in with the Dursleys. He tried to understand the man's excuse of blood wards and protection from his mother, but he couldn't see why that was safer than putting him in a wizarding family with a fidelius charm. They just had to be stricter about it. But thinking that wouldn't change anything, and neither would confronting the man about it. Nothing would change and he was just glad that he didn't have back during the Winter Holidays. Lily had already told him that she would be staying for winter and that a majority of the Slytherins were. Harry felt a little less lonely and a lot safer after she said that. There was also the fact that the other two schools would be at Hogwarts by then for the Tri-Wizard Tournament. They would come at the end of September, be there at the Halloween feast and would stay until the end of the year. Harry heard from Malfoy that the Bulgarian seeker from the World Cup, Viktor Krum, was coming as a student at Durmstrang and would be coming to sign up for the tournament, no doubt.

Harry was sure Ron would get super excited when he saw him. That thought made him scowl. Weasley had made it more than clear that he wanted nothing more of him than a punching bag. Now that he wasn't as worried about his own safety, he ate well at dinner. The professors noticed the change and were glad for it. They knew Slytherins protected their own and if they had accepted Harry Potter into their ranks, well, all the better for everyone.

Harry felt a lot of eyes on him at dinner but less were hostile than the night of the Feast. Tonight, Harry spent time with his housemates in the Common Room. They laughed and got to know each other and had a good time. Harry told the story of how he was almost a Slytherin, much to the shock—and slight indignation—of those around him. Lily watched on happily, glad he had made friends. There was so much Harry had to be grateful for. If they had chosen to, Slytherin might have killed him. But against all odds they accepted him. He was given a place he truly felt he belonged. He wasn't as brave as people thought. Sure, he could be reckless, but that doesn't equate to bravery. In fact, most of the time he's more afraid than anyone might think. But here in the dungeons he found sanctuary, he found family, he found a home.

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