Chapter 22
After closing the door, Severus looked thoughtfully at the galleons.
I only managed to skim the surface of his thoughts, but that is not surprising. Lucius is a fairly experienced Occlumens, and I would not be shocked if he had a couple more artifacts on him that block Legilimency. With a slow breath, he moved the coins into his pouch and headed upstairs. Still, you are too narrow-minded, Lucius.
In the moment Malfoy lost control, Severus managed to slip into his mind and catch a few plans, especially the one that had flashed up the instant he heard about a potion capable of enhancing a wizard's magical power: stealing the recipe and producing it himself. In times like these, that was the easiest way to make a fortune. But Lucius also did not want to ruin his relationship with Severus, so he abandoned the thought and decided to analyze the potions Severus had given him, trying to derive the formula instead. Of course, Severus had expected exactly that, and he had added something to the potion so no one could identify its ingredients.
He had not even considered the Strengthening Potion. One dose would not change much, and it would be a lesson for Malfoy so he never tried to deceive him again.
By the time Severus was heading to his room to sleep, it was already ten in the evening, and he had not even crossed the threshold when he felt someone enter the house.
"What is it with all of you, showing up at night? Could not you come during the day, or in the morning?!" he grumbled, turning around and going downstairs toward the kitchen, since that was where the uninvited guest was.
The moment he walked in, his right eye twitched.
"You have got to be kidding me." A huge greenish-brown snake was sprawled on the floor in front of him, currently rummaging around inside the refrigerator, which was powered not by electricity, but by magic, thanks to the Thermo spell.
Hearing his voice, the snake lifted its head from the fridge and hissed at Severus, opening its mouth to show its fangs.
"Sigh. there are too many snakes around me these days." he muttered with a mournful sigh, waving a hand and turning away, already heading back to the stairs. "When you are done eating, close it and leave the way you came in."
And Severus really did go back to his room, leaving the snake to gape after him in stunned indifference. After a while, hissing something under its breath, it returned to its meal.
The next day began, as usual, with a hearty breakfast. in the company of the huge snake. Oddly enough, Severus did not throw it out, probably because he felt sorry for it.
He needed only a glance to understand that it was not really a snake at all, but a cursed human. Even in Alan's old world, curses like that were not rare, though in most cases they became a gift once the wizard learned to control their power. This one, however, was a true curse, because she had spent too long in snake form. Her thinking and her magical core were slowly changing, adapting to the new body, and perhaps even Alan, in his former prime, would no longer have been able to restore her human form.
Another reason he let her stay was the loneliness that had been gnawing at him lately. And she was not much of a nuisance: she lay quietly in one corner of the room and watched his training. Still, Severus did not relax. He simply could not trust her yet.
So, closer to lunch, after finishing a set of sword movements, he tossed the blade back into his bag and sat on the floor, pulling out plenty of food to fuel himself even more.
"Come here." He beckoned the snake over. Narrowing her gaze, she slithered up and stared at the roast chicken. "This is for you." He nodded, then started eating too, taking a chicken leg for himself. "I almost forgot." A necklace with a black snake appeared in his hand, and he put it on under her puzzled stare. "Tell me, how did you end up like this?"
I really should not have decided to stay here for a while. He is completely insane. What normal wizard spends his time practicing with a sword instead of learning spells? Instead of a hiss, Severus heard a rather pleasant female voice, and his smile widened as the snake backed away warily.
"He is completely insane," she said, baring her fangs as she hissed. "Do not look at me, and do not come any closer."
"Do not be nervous. I am normal, I am just a little surprised."
"Now he even acts like he understands me."
"Well, actually, I do," Severus said calmly, nodding. She froze and stared at the smiling young man with bulging eyes.
"You understand me?"
"Yes. Thanks to this artifact." He pointed at the black snake on the necklace.
"Y-you are not lying?!" she asked in a strained, worried voice, appearing right in front of his face in an instant.
As I thought, she has been a snake for far too long. Severus smiled. "No, I am not lying, so calm down." He reached out and patted the top of her head. "Tell me about your curse. Maybe I can help."
The gesture made her narrow her gaze and hiss like a real snake, but after a few seconds she pulled herself together, forcing down her animal side.
"I want to talk!" she hissed, her eyes shining.
"Of course. Let us talk."
While Severus kept training with the cursed sword, he also talked with her and learned only a little. Mostly they spoke about nothing, but she was wary and could not truly open up. He understood that and did not pressure her.
Her name was Nagini. She had once really been human, but because of a curse passed down from her mother, she had gradually turned into a snake until she became what Severus saw now.
Before meeting him, she had lived at Hogwarts, but, tired of it, she left and wandered the world for decades. Only a few days ago she had ended up in Diagon Alley, and then, hungry, she sneaked into his house. And while she was not lying, she was still holding something back. Severus did not press.
After another set of movements, he decided to end his training for the day. It was already night outside, and for maximum benefit he needed to keep a routine.
"You still have not answered why you are training with a sword," Nagini said with keen interest as she followed him.
"Soon I will have to face a monster whose skin almost completely blocks magical attacks," he replied evenly, looking at her. Nagini's face showed no emotion, though her voice did.
"But why do you need this?"
"Because it is necessary," Severus said, ignoring the disgruntled hiss. "Are you going to follow me everywhere?" He added it with a smile as he took off his shirt, and Nagini's eyes narrowed, sliding over his broad chest.
"Are you embarrassed to undress in front of an ordinary snake?"
"Sorry, but I do not have that problem," he said, pulling off his trousers and barely holding back his laughter as he watched her slither away. "Even though you have been in snake form for a long time, you still think of yourself as human inside."
A few days later, again in the evening, after another not-so-boring training session with Nagini, Severus was about to take a shower when someone started pounding violently on the door. He only sighed sadly and went to open it. He already knew who it was, and Nagini followed.
"Stop banging already. I am coming, I am coming." He opened the door at last, and a man in a dark cloak burst inside, grabbing Severus by the chest and glaring furiously into his face.
"What have you done to me?!"
"Calm down, Lucius. What happened?" Severus asked with a smile, taking in the man's gaunt face, which looked uncomfortably similar to his own after the potion.
"You lied to me! You did not say it would hurt THIS much!"
"I mentioned pain, did I not? Have you forgotten already: 'Me, the future Head of the Malfoy family, afraid of pain?'"
"Not that kind of pain! And have you seen my face?! How am I supposed to appear in public looking like this?!"
"Eat more and do physical training. In two or three weeks you will be fine, and even stronger. Do not you see?"
"I see?" Lucius squinted at Severus and only then noticed that he was now as tall as he was.
"Do you think you can get results like this without hard training?" Severus said calmly, slipping out of Lucius's grip and sitting at the bar. "And it will do you good too. Spells are not only blocked, they can also be dodged. Did not you know that?" Under Lucius's shocked stare, Nagini, nearly five meters long, slithered up and rested her head in Severus's lap. He started stroking her, as if it were the most normal thing in the world. "Is something wrong?" Then, as if only now remembering manners, he smiled. "Meet my companion, Nagini."
"~Hesss." Nagini hissed, and goosebumps ran down Malfoy's back.
"I-I see. Then I will be going." Lucius met Severus's gaze for a moment, and cold sweat broke out across his spine.
"Lucius, my good friend, stay. I will make tea, and we will discuss whether you managed to derive the formula."
The man shuddered at those words.
"What are you talking about? Why would I do that?" He fumbled, almost forgetting himself, then pulled a small notebook from his inner pocket and handed it over. "Here are the test results."
"I see. Thank you. But maybe you will stay for tea?"
"I think."
"~Hesssss." Nagini narrowed her gaze and hissed at him again.
"Of course! Let us have a drink. I just. happen to have a free minute!" Lucius blurted.
"Glad to hear it. Sit down. I will go get the tea set."
"Can I come with you?!"
"Do not worry, Nagini does not bite. I think."
Only half an hour later was Lucius finally able to leave Severus. The moment he stepped outside, he Disapparated to Malfoy Manor, the Malfoy family estate.
"Damn it! Why was I scared?! It was Severus and a simple snake! So why did I see him in that moment?!" He could not forget Severus's gaze, cold and merciless, and Nagini only completed the terrifying picture. It left him afraid even after he found himself hundreds of kilometers away from Diagon Alley.
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