Chapter Six:

In the early morning light, Harry is sprawled over his bed on his stomach. His chin is placed in the palm of his hand and his green eyes are lazily peering down at a small, but thick book. It's an old thing, with wrinkled and yellow-y pages that are filled with names and their meanings. His hair is back to its normal dark colour, which is a weird relief. Harry's snakes are arguing just ahead of him, circling around each other on the dark brown carpet.

"Master likes me better," Black and Green declares.

"Yeah? Well Master said my scales are beautiful," Red and Yellow raises her head a little higher, she makes the snake equivalent sound to a 'hmph.'

"W-well Master thinks I'm funny!" Black and Green hurries to add, stumbling over his words.

Harry laughs at the two quietly and returns his attention back to the book. He skims over a few names before he stumbles upon 'Nimmy.' It's Hindi and apparently means friend of fire. Harry thinks it's a good enough name for Red and Yellow. Her scales are red and yellow and her eyes are a weird mix between bright orange and neon yellow. Her colours scream Gryffindor. Her attitude on the other hand, screams Slytherin. The phrase 'a wolf in sheep's clothing' comes to mind. It makes Harry grin.

"What about Nimmy?" He asks, slipping into parseltongue.

The two snakes stop bickering and both raise their heads towards him. "Nimmy?" They chorus.

"Yeah." Harry says and nods towards Red and Yellow. "For you." He elaborates. "It means friend of fire."

"Friend of—" Black and Green cuts himself off with an obnoxious laugh. He falls backwards onto his back, showcasing off his green belly as he wiggles on the carpet in hissy laughter. His colours matched Slytherin so well and yet he acted like such a Gryffindor.

Nimmy coils and sways her head from side to side, like she's readying herself for an attack. She unhinges her jaw, fangs flashing from the sunlight pooling I'm from the window.

"Nimmy!" Harry calls in a warning tone.

Immediately the Red and Yellow snake snaps her jaw shut and lowers herself to the carpet. She flickers her tongue out, tastes the disappointment floating through the air from her Master and curls into herself. The snake even goes as far as to hide her face into her scales.

Harry turns his gaze towards Black and Green. "And you," he starts off, "shouldn't be laughing at your sister like that."

Black and Green flickers his own tongue out and then curls into himself, lowering his head against his scales. "Sorry Master," he apologises, "sorry Nimmy." He then hesitantly slithers closer to Nimmy and nuzzles his face against the back of the females head. He pulls away when Nimmy raises her head.

She hisses out a quiet, "idiot," and nuzzles her snout against her brothers.

"Besides," Harry peers down at his book and quickly thumbs through it, an amused smile gracing his lips, "your name isn't all that better."

Nimmy flicks his tail behind her. "That isn't much of a surprise, Master."

Snorting, Harry decides to name Black and Green after the first name he sees once he turns to one of the end pages. "It's Verde," he says, "means green."

"But Master!" Verde whines. "That's boring!"

Closing the book, Harry gives an impish grin. "It's too late to look for another name now, Verde. I've already closed the book and I'm too tired to open it again."

Nimmy laughs. "The correct word to use, Master, would be lazy. You're too lazy to open it again."

Harry supposes she's right.

With only a few days left before the first term starts, Harry walks down Diagon Alley, going from one shop to another. He buys a set of cauldrons, two potion kits, the books he'll be needing for his first year and even stops by the Owl Emporium to pick up Hedwig. "Hello beautiful," Harry murmurs softly as he strokes her white feathers. He tries not to cry as she hoots at him and then takes flight, going to Harry's room in a shady place down in Knockturn Alley.

Harry had stayed at the Leaky Cauldron as long as he could without Tom, the bartender, getting suspicious. It had lasted a week before Harry broke down under Tom's narrowed gaze and concerned questions before he had just upped and left. After that he had took a walk down Knockturn Alley, hair bright and bubbly, atrocious and pink and got himself a room in an old inn run by a woman of the name 'Cynthia.' She didn't ask questions, just took one look at the arguing snakes around his throat, took his money and gave him a room. Harry was very thankful. The room wasn't as clean as the one in the Leaky Cauldron, but it was a lot better than his little cupboard. He still had a bed, a wardrobe, lots of space to move around and most importantly, secrecy.

Humming, Harry enters Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. He settles his shopping bangs on a nearby seating area and beams when he hears a delighted, "Mr Potter! Welcome back."

Harry turns around to greet Madam Malkin. "Hello," he says, tone shy of amused. "How has your day been so far?"

The woman doesn't seem to mind, because she grins herself. "Oh, it had been wonderful. I've had many customers today, you see." She replies. Today, her hair is covered in feathers of all colours and once again, her wand is tucked behind her ear. "And Oh! You look splendid!" Madam Malkin gushes, once she eyes him over.

Blushing, Harry runs his fingers down his dark green sweater. It hangs lowly off his shoulders and it's ever so soft. He had paired it with black jeans, that he had asked Madam Malkin to make a few days prior, and a pair of high converse that he had bought out in muggle London. He had sneaked past Tom in the Leaky Cauldron not long ago to buy them. "Thank you," Harry says earnestly.

With a coo, Madam Malkin ushers him towards her desk, "I've got your robes and your custom clothes ready, I'll be right back Mr. Potter." She flashes him another grin and then disappears behind the curtains.

"She's always so chatty." Nimmy voices from where she's curled around the right side of Harry's neck, head laid gently over his collar bones.

"She's nice though," Harry says quietly. "And she hasn't given away my location to any media or Dumbledore, for that matter."

"Do you trust her, Master?" Verde questions from where he's curled around Harry's neck on the left side, his head laid gently over bony collarbones.

"I guess," Harry answers. "It's not like she has a reason to betray my trust in her—"

A series of soft noises, like a 'thud,' sound just behind Harry and cut him off. Raising a brow, Harry turns around only to come face to face with three familiar blondes with the same silvery grey eyes.

The Malfoy's.

Draco is staring at him with wide eyes, hands awkwardly held out in front of him, like he had dropped something and tried to catch it. Narcissa is stood behind him, her eyebrows are slowly trailing higher and higher up her forehead. Lucius on the other hand, looks like everything he had fought for had just slipped between his fingers.

Lowering his line of sight, Harry eyes the many dress boxes that are littered across the plush carpet. Most of them are half open, showcasing a variety of rich materials. Ah, so that's what Draco had dropped.

Harry raises his gaze back up. "It's the hair, isn't it?" He smiles. "People are always having different reactions towards it."

Internally, Harry screams a series of fuck, fuck, fuck.