Snake Boy

4 - Familiar

Oma lay curled in some rubbish at the mouth of a dark alley. There were many Wizards and Witches bustling about here and she felt she'd have no problem finding herself a suitable match – if that had been why she was here.

Oh, she'd get around to that eventually, but for now her goal was simple: find out why the Wizards wanted her Harry. She and her mother had discussed it before she left. Her brother was a Wizard, and as such needed to be among his own kind so he could find a suitable mate. Although if it were possible for a Syren and a Wizard to breed Oma wouldn't turn him down, he was quite a handsome specimen when you thought about it. Unfortunately as far as she or her mother knew, it wasn't possible.

Celeste wouldn't have been concerned about the Wizards looking for Harry if they had only appeared after Oma had killed the one that struck her brother. But that was not the only time they'd searched the forest, before or since. Her mother had told the pygmy many of her concerns and suspicions before Oma had agreed to make this journey. The Wizards were looking for a boy called Harry Potter and the description Celeste had overheard matched their Harry.

Oma had not known it but in the first season Harry was with them the Wizards had searched the Syren's forest no less than twelve different times, almost once every moon. Luckily Harry had been kept in the nest with the rest of the hatchlings since the Syrens were too small to wander until they were almost a full two seasons old.

Celeste had confided that she had almost sent Harry back to the Wizards but when she had observed them searching and listened to them talk, no one had mentioned a home for the boy or where his parents were. Not one of them had smelled like Harry or seemed to know anything about him other than his description. They had commented that he must be found but not why. She had not liked the feelings she got around them and kept the boy.

So here she was, trying to understand all the noises issuing out of the people's mouths. Her biggest obstacle so far was that she didn't understand their language. She'd been here a little over a month and made no progress whatsoever.

Oma hissed in frustration. Her mother understood them, but couldn't remember how she'd learned.

Celeste had said she'd been a Wizard's familiar for a long time. She'd become a familiar as some sort of lark apparently, as she was a normal Syren and had only to mate with another normal male Syren to reproduce. The Wizard had liked to read to his 'pet' and Celeste had just understood.

A flash of silver caught her eye, ending her reverie, and the pygmy Syren beheld a most fascinating sight. A young Wizard, maybe the same age as her Harry, was walking down the busy street. He was wearing gray robes that made his silver eyes look like liquid mercury. His skin and hair were so pale he was as if snow personified. He could have been a Syren but for the lack of scales...

Intrigued, she carefully followed the boy. She passed unnoticed through the throng thanks to her incredible speed and the human tendency to not look down. Lurking in alleys and sewer drains, she watched him flit from place to place. He bought a few small things but it seemed as if he had no actual goal in mind.

Occasionally he would pull a small silver object from his pocket, look at it, and then replace it. She supposed it was a little after midday when he looked at the object and smiled tightly. He put the object in his pocket and headed into an alley – the very alley she was lurking in.

She tried to back away but was unsure of what she should do and then he was there.

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Draco stopped a mere foot into the alley. There at his feet lay a snow white snake with silver eyes looking just as shocked as he felt. It was a bit comical really, seeing shock on a serpent's face, he had always thought snakes were incapable of emotion.

It was a small snake really, only about five feet long he supposed. It looked carefully up at him, considering, and then cautiously slithered closer.

Draco stayed still. He'd never been particularly fond of snakes, preferring the birds of prey in his father's mews, but something...something fascinated him about her. Somehow he knew it was a she.

She looked up again after scenting the air around him and Draco found himself reaching down slowly. He held his hand in front of her and waited.

Just as slowly the serpent stretched forward and twined around his arm. He turned his head to watch as she moved up and settled around his shoulders.

"Merlin!" he gasped, catching himself against the brick wall of the alley as his magic surged. When it settled again he stared at the snake in wonder.

"Oma. Your name is Oma," he said.

She nodded regally.

Draco felt himself smile, a full out smile that was wholly inappropriate in public, but he couldn't stop himself. He had his familiar and it just felt so good. In the back of his head he could feel the bond that had formed. It allowed him to feel what Oma was feeling – and she was feeling immensely pleased.

His father would also be pleased. Finding a true familiar so young was rare and Draco would be the only current Hogwarts student to have one. Oh the school rules permitted all students to bring so-called familiars, but they were really just magical pets – teaching children how to care for their future familiars, if they were fortunate enough to attract one.

Thinking of his father made Draco curse. He yanked at his pocket watch just as he heard the 'pop' of a Wizard apparating into the alley. Jerking around he came face to face with man in question.

"Draco," Lucius snapped.

"I am sorry Father, something...came up."

The elder Malfoy's eyes narrowed. "What, pray tell, is that around your neck?"

Draco couldn't stop the smile as he gently stroked the serpent's head. "This is Oma, my familiar."

He watched his father cock his head to the side, a small smirk of approval appearing.

"Do you know what kind of creature she is," he asked.

Draco closed his eyes and waited for the information to come to him. The bond implanted basic knowledge of the familiar so that the Wizard could care for it properly.

"She is...a Syren...highly venomous...very fast..." His eyes snapped open in shock, "She has wings and can fly!"

"Intriguing." Lucius considered the serpent and she studied him in return just as intently. "I am proud of you son. Now come. We are late; hopefully your achievement will...divert our host from our tardiness."

Draco went from beaming with happiness at his fathers compliment to pale and rather nauseous, quickly apparating to Malfoy Manor.

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Oma was ecstatic. Not only had she found her Wizard, but her biggest obstacle to learning about Harry and his pursuers were gone. As soon as she had bonded with Draco she had understood the Wizard's tongue, easily following the conversation between Draco and his father. Now they were going to meet more Wizards, powerful ones at that, if she was interpreting the feelings coming through the bond correctly.

With a little luck she'd have her brother happily mated by the end of the season!