A Trio of Serpents

65: Deer Me!

"Horribly. I mean, we know how to destroy one, and we know what we have to find, but now we actually have to find them!"

"I know where Hufflepuff's Cup is," said Snape, who had returned in time to hear them.

Harry gaped. "Really? Where?"

"How do we get it?" Sirius demanded.

"When do we get it?"

"Settle down!" exclaimed Snape.

Harry and Sirius fell silent.

"And here I thought Obsidian blabbering was bad enough," Snape muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose.

Harry winced sympathetically. "You know a lot more about crocodiles than you bargained for, don't you?"

"And snakes." Snape waved off Sid's indignant expression. "Just before I removed him from the Malfoys, I came across Bellatrix. She bragged about how her Lord entrusted her with a precious heirloom."

"Does she know it's a Horcrux?"

"I do not believe so. But she does not question the Dark Lord. If he told her to let a dementor get her, she would."

"That would be the one good thing Riddle would do," Harry said almost wistfully.

"You've been calling You-Know-Who Riddle?" said Sid, opening a bottle of water.

"That among other names."

Sid waited, but Harry seemed content in prolonging the suspension by chewing more slowly than was necessary. So he turned to Sirius.

"He called him a dildo lover once," Sirius said with a shrug.

Harry smirked as Sid turned spat out a mouthful of water. Snape leaped back, swearing.

"Obsidian Amsel!"

"Sorry!"

Sneaking four people, three of which were rather tall, under the Cloak would have been a disaster, as Snape put it. So he simply cast a multitude of concealment spells over himself and Sirius while Harry and Sid used the Cloak.

The spells were removed upon entering Grimmauld Place.

"Never thought I'd be happy to see this place," Snape remarked.

"Hold that thought," muttered Sirius, waiting for the inevitable.

Sure enough, Sid tripped over an umbrella stand, and the portrait began screeching a moment later. Sirius and Harry scrambled to close the curtains while Sid stared wide-eyed.

"Wonderful woman," he tried to quip.

Sirius gave him a look that was half amused, half exasperated. "Shut up."

He led them into the kitchen. Mrs. Amsel and Remus were waiting. As soon as Sid entered, his mother let out a shriek not unlike Mrs. Black's portrait and ran over to stand in front of him, lighting touching his bandaged arm.

"You're hurt..." she murmured. "But you're alive... Oh, Sid!"

Sid leaned forward and buried his face in her neck. "I was so scared... I thought they had... Severus told me you escaped, but I didn't..."

Harry stepped away from them, feeling as though he were intruding.

Snape followed him out into the hall and paused as Harry was about to go up the stairs. "I should be returning to Hogwarts," he said, his distaste evident in every line on his face.

"Okay. Be careful," Harry replied as Snape turned.

Snape gave a short nod in return before disappearing.

Harry stared at the door for a few seconds before heading up, knowing Ron and Hermione would be waiting. Just as he had suspected — not Seen, of course; that was Ron's thing — they were sitting on his bed. Rather close, at that. And they weren't quick enough to hide their sheepishness.

"If you were doing anything intimate on my bed, I'm setting fire to it," Harry warned them.

Ron rubbed the back of his neck. "Er, no. Unless you count kissing?"

Harry narrowed his eyes. "I'll allow it this one time. Anyway, Sid's here."

"He's okay?" Hermione asked, standing. "I mean, he's alive and all."

"Yeah. He'll be fine pretty quickly. Physically, anyway," Harry added in a mutter. "Snape knows where another Horcrux is."

Ron perked up. "Where?"

"In Bellatrix Lestrange's vault. No doubt Riddle believed no one would be able to get in."

"Oh." Ron slumped.

"Well, maybe the goblins don't know it's a Horcrux," Hermione suggested. "I don't think they'd be pleased if they knew such dark magic was inside."

Harry wasn't convinced. "Would they care, though? As long as they got their money's worth..."

"They wouldn't want it to get out," said Ron, his eyes gleaming. "You know how proud they are. Bill works with them; he's told me how prickly they can get."

Harry made a low humming sound as he pondered over this. "First thing tomorrow, we're going to Gringotts. And let's hope they listen."

Severus entered the headmaster's office, lip curling slightly. Merlin, he hated it here, and that was a first.

"It went well, I presume?"

Severus dipped his head. "It did. Obsidian is safely with his friends."

"Obsidian?" Even in portrait form, Dumbledore's eyes twinkled.

"It slipped out."

"Yet you kept using it." The amusement in his voice was gone a second later. "What are you going to do about the Cup?"

"Me? You know I can't be the one who goes there myself," said Severus.

"Then what is Harry going to do?" Dumbledore pressed.

Severus hesitated. "I do not know."

Probably something stupid. It was in the Potter genes after all, regardless of the boy's Sorting.

"May I ask one more question, Severus?" said Dumbledore.

The humor was back in his eyes, a warning to not take the bait, but Severus slowly nodded anyway.

"How many species of snakes are there in the world?"

"Over 3,400," answered Severus before he could stop himself. He clapped a hand over his mouth, his face flushed, as the portraits laughed.

Sources give a variety of answers, unsurprisingly, so I just went with a rough estimate.

Anywho, our favorite reptile-lover is back!