Serpentine

They didn't talk on their way to Gryffindor tower. Harry was thinking about how his life was ruined for at least two months. Why did everything happen to him?

He thought that after the battle he could at least have a normal eighth year at Hogwarts. Just having fun with Ron and Hermione and the rest of his mates. He just needed something to distract him from the horrors on playback in his mind.

This summer was great with Sirius and Remus, but he needed his best friends with him. Especially in Hogwarts, the site of the Last Battle.

He was here to learn too of course, but he didn't want to be an Auror anymore, so he wasn't that motivated to perform well in his subjects.

Luckily he didn't have to face Snape in Potions class. At least one good thing came from this situation. 

As they entered the common room Ron and Hermione immediately approached Harry. "Where have you been?" Hermione asked. "And why do you have a snake?" Ron screeched as he took a step backward.

Harry had forgotten that Ron was almost as afraid of snakes as he was of spiders.

Snape hissed at Ron,  "Oh this will be fun," Harry heard Snape say, but Ron just saw a snake looking ready for attack and hid behind the sofa. 

"You didn't have to do that Professor, it will take ages for him to be comfortable around you now and he has to live in the dorms with you."

"While all this is going on I could at least try to have a little fun,"  Snape replied.

"Calm down Ron," Harry said exasperatedly. "Let's go somewhere quiet, I have to tell you guys something."

They went to the 8th-year dormitory which was fortunately empty.

Harry sat down on his bed and put Snape down next to him while Ron and Hermione sat on Ron's bed, the one on Harry's left side.

"You know we saw Snape die in the shrieking shack?" He began. "Of course," Hermione replied. "The poor Professor didn't deserve such an awful ending after all he did. Was his body finally found? It really is peculiar how he just disappeared from the shack."

"Yeah, even I wish he could have a proper funeral," Ron chimed in.  "What an honour,"  Snape softly spoke from Harry's comforter with his usual sarcasm present.

"Well, kind of actually," Harry said nervously. He didn't know how his friends would react to having to spend their time with snake Snape.

He gently picked the snake up. "Meet Snape," he said. "He accidentally got himself stuck in snake form."

Hermione let out a surprised gasp. "How could that happen?" She asked.

"According to Dumbledore, he transformed into his animagus form to defend himself from Nagini's venom. Now we have to wait for a potion to be brewed which can only be started on Halloween and in the meantime, he has to stay with me," Harry rambled.

He looked up to see two astonished faces looking back at him. "I have to sleep in the same room as the Dungeon Bat?" Ron asked affronted. "I have to research this!" Hermione shouted out at the same time.

At least his friends were predictable.

"Tell Weasley I don't look forward to this any more than he does,"  Snape drawled.   Harry dutifully translated the message.

Ron seemed a bit more understanding even though he still thought living with Snape was a terrible prospect. "I'm so sorry this happened to you Professor," Hermione said. "Out of everyone you deserve a nice future. You spend so much time in danger for all of us. What you did is truly remarkable. 

"Thank you, Miss Granger,"  Snape replied. "What did he say?" Hermione asked. "Just thank you," Harry said, "even though it is quite an accomplishment to have Snape thank you." Hermione nodded in agreement. 

"If you're going to pretend he's your pet snake, doesn't he need a name, though?" she asked.

"Yes, Hagrid named him Noodles, but that would just be mean, wouldn't it?"

Harry definitely thought it would be funny to name Snape Noodles, but he would rather not get murdered in his sleep, thank you very much.

"I think Noodles would be a great fit," Ron chimed in with a grin on his face.

"Ron, no! It's a miracle Hagrid survived that long," Harry replied. How that happened he didn't know, calling him Noodles and constantly cuddling him. Hagrid had truly been tempting fate. 

"What about Salazar?"  Snape said.  "I certainly won't settle for some kind of ridiculous name again."

"I think it would be a bit suspicious if I called my pet Salazar, wouldn't it?"  "What did he say? Hermione asked." "He just said he would want to be called Salazar," Harry answered with a grimace on his face. "That's ridiculous," Ron said, "like anyone would believe that."

Hermione looked deep in thought. "What about something to do with his colour," she said. "A lot of pets get named that way."

Harry thought that was a great idea. It would certainly be better than Salazar. "Do you have any ideas in mind, Hermione?" he asked.

"I don't really know," she replied. "What about Onyx or Ebony?"

"I don't really like Onyx, but maybe Ebony," He said. "What do you think Snape?"  "Ebony sounds too feminine to me, but Onyx would work. What about Asmodeus?" 

"I like Inky," Ron interrupted. Snape looked exasperated, in how far that was possible for a snake. "That's obviously a no." 

"He wants to be called Asmodeus," Harry told Ron and Hermione. "I don't really see you calling your pet that, Harry," Hermione said.

Harry thought about it for a while, it was obvious that he and Snape had different opinions about what would make a good name. Maybe he could shorten it in some way?

"What if we shortened it to Ash? That way it will still suit his look." He looked at Snape inquisitively. 

"That could work,"  he hissed.  "It's not great, but it would seem unrealistic for you to come up with a good name for a pet I suppose." 

Harry was a bit offended at that. He was great at coming up with names. Hedwig was a good name after all, and he knew he would for sure come up with good names if he ever had children.

"Ash it is then," he said.  "It is still Asmodeus in full, Potter,"  Snape's voice drawled.

Harry didn't know Parseltongue could sound annoying, but Snape sure made it work. "Sure, whatever you say," he replied exasperatedly.

"It seems we're in agreement guys," he told Ron and Hermione. "It's Asmodeus, Ash for short."

He knew he was probably only going to use Ash, but he didn't tell Snape that. What kind of ridiculous name was Asmodeus anyway?

"It's great you agreed so quickly, Harry," Hermione said. "I think this bodes well for how you are going to get on together."

"Don't expect too much 'Mione," Ron said. "He is after all still the Bat of the dungeons. It doesn't matter that he was one of us in the end, he's still a snarky git." 

"Tell Weasley that although I agree with his sentiments, he had better watch his words before he finds himself strangled in his sleep."  Harry laughed at that while his friends looked at him questioningly.

He was surprised to find Snape funny. At least he hoped he was joking. Ron shouldn't have said that though. He knew they all used to say bad stuff about Snape all the time but now was different.

"Be kind Ron," he said. "He didn't choose for this to happen either."

Harry hoped Snape would be at least a little more kind than he used to be in the classroom. Otherwise, it would be a very long two months.

"He's right you know," Hermione said. "I'm sure the professor isn't exactly thrilled to spend all this time with us having only Harry to talk to. 

"That's an understatement,"  Snape hissed sarcastically. Harry snorted. His friends looked at him suspiciously.

"Is he actually being funny?" Ron asked. "Surprisingly yes," Harry replied. "But I think I'm great company and I'm very offended you would imply otherwise Hermione."

Hermione laughed at him "You keep telling yourself that Harry," she said teasingly. "Can we go to the Common room though? I want to get some reading done in preparation for the lessons tomorrow." Only Hermione could give herself homework before school even started. 

They went downstairs and Hermione instantly went to work.

"Is that a snake you got there, Harry?" Neville said when they entered. Harry found it quite funny that Neville wasn't afraid of snakes at all while being terrified of Professor Snape.

"Yeah, it's my new pet, Ash." "What a nice name, it really suits him." Neville reached his hand out to pet Ash's head, but unexpectedly Snape lunged forward and snapped his fangs at him.

Neville wasn't at all bothered though. He just slowly tried again. This time Ash stayed still to be petted. 

"So Longbottom does have some nerve after all,"  Snape said. 

"Yes, you wouldn't expect it, but Neville takes care of some very frightening plants."  Neville was still softly petting Ash's head. "You're a very nice snake, Ash," he said. 

"Yes that's all very kind of you, but we're not in a petting zoo, are we now?"  Snape hissed at him. Harry was starting to appreciate the little sarcastic remarks Snape made.

"You better let go of him now, Neville. He's still a bit shy." Harry crossed the common room to the couch where Ron was already seated.

"You want to play some gobstones, Harry?" he asked. Harry was certainly excited to have some fun after the day he had. "Sure Ron that sounds like fun." 

"It sounds like torture to me. I'm just going to explore this garish monstrosity you call a common room while you play your foolish games."  He heard Snape hiss into his ear.

He slid down his arm and slithered off the couch.  "Sure, just don't get stepped on and don't try to scare too many people,"  Harry replied while he stood up to get the gobstones from the games cupboard.

"I can't promise anything about not scaring anyone, Potter. I can't help that some people are irrationally scared of snakes."  Harry swore he could see a glint of mischief in his eyes, not dissimilar to Dumbledore's usual look. 

"Alright then, but it's not my fault if someone is out to get revenge." "Now who would do that, Mr. Potter, I'm just an innocent pet." 

Harry shook his head amusedly. It was looking like it was going to be an eventful two months. However, it already didn't seem like the catastrophe it was when he was told in Dumbledore's office. 

Snape slithered through the common room. The students all stepped aside for him. Some thought he was cute, but most stepped away in fear.

'It feels good to at least still inspire fear in my students,' he thought. Word had gone around that he was Potter's new pet snake, but people still found it quite disturbing to have a snake amongst them.

Snape found it disappointing that he couldn't live in the Slytherin dorms for the time being. He knew he would be looked at with respect there. the Slytherins would certainly not be afraid of a little snake.

And their common room wasn't such an eyesore as this red and gold disaster. It was all sleek lines and beautiful colours, with a view of the fish and other creatures in the Black lake. Sometimes you could even see the Giant squid or some mermaids.

Of course, he really wanted to be in his own rooms. Where he had his books and his comfortable couch. And his own bed.

He wondered where he was going to sleep tonight and the rest of the months he had to spend in Potter's company. Dumbledore hadn't provided him with a terrarium after all.

He half expected Potter to dump him in a drawer for the night. Well, he wasn't going to stand for that.

He once again cursed his situation. Sometimes he wished Nagini's bite had killed him, he deserved it after all after everything he had done. It didn't matter what the others said.

Oh well, he would better not dwell on that. He slithered over to the fireplace where he could take a nap on one of the warm stones. This was definitely the best place in the common room, where it was warm and cozy.

He drifted off to sleep with the sounds of Harry and Ron playing their game in the background.

Harry was tired. They had been playing games for hours. At first just him and Ron, but later Dean and Seamus joined them. Even Hermione had some time to play along after she finished her reading.

He told them that he was going to bed after this round while his eyes wandered to the black, curled-up snake sleeping in front of the fireplace.

Snape had been sleeping there for a while. Harry guessed it was a comfortable place for a snake. He walked over as silently as possible so as not to wake him and softly scooped him up into his hands.

He was a quite beautiful creature, his black scales reflecting the orange light of the flames. When he picked him up one eye slightly opened. He guessed he hadn't been gentle enough after all. 

"Let's go sleep,"  he told the snake in a soft whisper. He walked up the stairs and only then realized he didn't have a place for a sleeping snake in his dormitory. 

"Wake up,"  he said quietly. " We have to get you a place to sleep."

"And you couldn't think of something yourself while letting me rest?"  Snape groaned.  "What if I just sleep at the foot of your bed?" 

Harry thought that was a well enough plan. He laid the snake out at the end of his bed and grabbed a throw blanket.  "This will keep you warm," he said. 

It seemed like Snape was going to drift to sleep very soon, but Harry still took his pyjamas and changed in the bathroom. He didn't want Snape to catch a look at him after all.

He gently inched the door open and tiptoed to his bed. As he fell asleep he couldn't help but wonder what the next two months were going to bring.