The Serpent

**This story contains violence, war, death, and mature themes.
Romantic and sexual content is slow-burn and begins only when both characters are eighteen.**

Born of lies and legacy, Vera Thorne is the serpent no one dares to touch - cold, cunning, and impossibly composed. The daughter of a fallen Death Eater and a mother with secrets buried deeper than blood, Vera carries a truth that could destroy her: she is not the pureblood she was raised to be.

When she returns to Hogwarts, she crosses paths with Draco Malfoy, the boy who once shared her childhood and now walks the same path of duty and deception. He remembers warmth; she offers only ice. For years, they circle one another through rivalry, silence, and reluctant alliance - two Slytherins born of expectation, bound by masks they didn't choose.

But as the war brews and the walls of Hogwarts darken, truth becomes its own kind of danger.
And the serpent who hides her bloodline may be the only one who can teach a Malfoy what it means to shed his skin.

"They called her a serpent. But snakes don't lie - they survive."