The Snake Princess

A/N: Welcome dear reader to my new story. Hope you'll enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Please leave a review or PM me if there is anything you want to tell. I plan to use this story to patch up my somewhat rusty skills. I haven't written much in ten years, so it'll be some time before I'm in top shape again, so in beforehand sorry for any mistakes.

My second reason for writing this story is to make an attempt to stir things up in this fandom. There are some hard-wired fannon points that need a good shaking so people come up with new imaginative ideas instead of always redoing the old ones.

All that's left is the usual disclaimer. I don't own any part, piece, chunk or whatever of the Harry Potter universe all of that belongs to J. K. Rowling. This writing is just for fun and I'm not getting any monetary gain from doing this.

Chapter 1: The price of being reckless

The October was beginning with its typical cool and rainy weather at Hogwarts. Unpleasant and grey. Whenever the cold, slimy raindrops stopped falling thick fog immediately took over, reducing visibility to a zero. It was a weather that was best observed from some warm, dry place. Preferably, after brewing a mug of some hot drink. Harry wasn't that lucky. He was having one of those days. Days after which you wonder why you even got out of bed in the first place.

It began with double potions. It meant spending a lot of time with professor Snape. Then it got gradually worse from thereon. He forgot his transfiguration homework. A presentation for the entire class. The aforementioned presentation never came to be. McGonagall chewed him out. Badly. House points were lost. After that all the boy wanted to was to crawl up in his bed and sleep the rest of the day away.

To say that the plan didn't come to fruition is an understatement. Oliver Wood intercepted him. Quidditch practice! The long haul! In the cold autumn sky! At first, it was just cold and foggy. Then it started to rain. Again! The slow, but persistent kind of drizzle. The kind in which you'll get soaked. No matter what you do! The team was miserable, but the captain didn't relent. It was well past sundown when he finally called quidditch practice off.

By that time, Harry was beyond tired. No! Exhausted! He was completely done. Not in the mood to even lift a finger anymore. He wanted only three simple things. A hot meal, a hot bath, and to hit the sack. In that particular order! He was determined to achieve the simple goals he set. Nothing was going to stop him. Broom on shoulder water dripping from his soaked robes he marched into the castle. His decision was rock solid! Nothing! Absolutely nothing could let him stray from his intended goal!

As he marched across the hallways he heard a muffled shriek from one of the corridors. It sounded female. It was followed by several other voices. This time male voices. At first, Harry chalked them up as a hallucination. A creation of his mind caused by the sheer amount of fatigue. Then it came again. A female call of "protego". This time he could clearly make it out.

Several other voices followed. All of them declaring some, or another form of offensive magic. There were three distinct male voices. Harry could make out the name of a nasty stinging hex; it was followed by another one that almost sounded like an "expulso". A blast and the echo of a small explosion followed in its wake. Someone was having a fight! From the sound of things, it was a three on one fight at that. The boy wanted nothing to do with it. He just wanted to eat.

He took a few more steps towards his goal. Sweet, sweet food. Potatoes, roast, and pumpkin juice, they were all awaiting him. Fresh warm food! Just the thought was enough to make his mouth water. He took a few more steps towards the main hall. Further sounds of the fight reached his ears. He fought hard to dismiss them. It didn't work well. Curiosity and the need to help someone in trouble was not an easy opponent.

His conscience was screaming at him. His resolve was screaming back. Another call of "protego" could be heard across the halls. This time he could make out the direction from which it came from. By the sound of it, the one employing the spell was in trouble. It wasn't his business he reasoned. He just wanted to end his day. Then his mind started to wander. Three boys apparently ganged up on a single girl. It reminded Harry too much of his experience with the Dursley family. He had the ability to do something, to help out. He knew he'd hate himself in the morning if he didn't go to investigate. He fought against the feeling and took another step towards the great hall. Towards the warm meal he was anticipating so much. He could feel the guilt spreading across his body. It was not like him to let anyone down when he can offer help. He desperately fought the urge. He felt like punching something.

The boy let out a long annoyed groan. He gave in to his feelings. Someone was in need. He had to help. Driving the need to find nourishment to the back of his mind, he started to run towards the source of the disturbance. With a by now well-practised movement, he pulled out his wand going through the various offensive and defensive spells he had on hand. He soon realized it was a very short list. He mentally kicked himself for his lack of knowledge and vowed to add some tricks to the list. He also concluded that this thing called "learning" might be something he should do more often.

When he arrived at his destination Harry was surprised. It was not the usual Hogwarts squabble. It was a Slytherin on Slytherin fight. A rarity in itself. Slytherins fighting members of other houses. Sure! That was nothing new! But them fighting among themselves? No! Most snakes had no problem with getting their hands dirty. But infighting was something of a taboo to them. Usually, they even went as far to lie to get each other out of trouble. In any normal situation, he would have immediately turned around. An in-fight among the green-silver house was a good thing in his book. This situation, however, was everything but normal. There was a girl. Harry guessed first-year. She was fighting off three third-year students. How she managed to pull it off for so long was a mystery of in itself.

Even so, it was clear that she was on her last legs. Harry crept closer to the fight. He wanted to know more before her intervening. The boy was further enraged when he saw the face of one of the three attackers. Crabble! This meant that the blonde one is Malfoy. The last one was Goyle for sure. The girl was getting weaker. It was only a matter of time before her protective shield breaks. Then she would be at the mercy of the other three.

Without even thinking any more Harry opened fire. The full-body bind curse hit Crabbe square in the back. The boy stiffened and fell over like a statue. The second shot was aimed at Draco, but the boy was quick on his feet. With a flick of his wrist, he deflected the spell, which crashed into a nearby wall. The ball of magic exploded sending sparks everywhere.

The adversaries didn't spend time with pleasantries. They engaged in a duel using every little trick they had. They throwing curses at each other. The incantations bounced far away along the hallways. Spells were flying back and forth leaving scorch marks on the walls around them. The hallway was filled with brightly coloured flashes as magical attacks kept on flying back and forth. The boys went all out. The bitter rivalry between them escalated to new levels. As the fight drew on the spells were getting more and more sloppy. Finesse was slowly getting pushed into the background. The spells were getting stronger for sure by blocking them was also getting easier. The boys responded by using even more force to break through the other's shields.

Goyle decided to keep focusing on the first-year girl. He fired curse after curse trying to break her defence, to take her down. Things were got going according to plan. At all! At first, they thought she would be easy to intimidate. She wasn't. Then the boys decided to show off their strength to achieve that goal. The little girl proved to be surprisingly resilient. Much more than they had anticipated. When she was finally about to go down she received help in the form of Potter of all people turning everything pear-shaped real fast.

The Slytherin first year proved to be somewhat of a fighter too. Now that she finally had the chance to fight back she did so with enthusiasm. There was apparently only one offensive spell at her disposal, but she made good use of it. Even if her attacks were hardly more than overpowered sparks she was doing her best to make the older boy's life interesting. Some actually got through. Even as Goyle was shrugging them off she continued her barrage without any signs of backing away.

The little girl was astounded by the ambush. Hogwarts was supposed to be safe! The safest in all of wizarding England! She would have never believed that anyone would dare to threaten her on school grounds. And members of her own house to boot. It was something unheard of. The rage over this kept her going. Third-year or not, she was determined to put him down.

At the same time, Harry and Draco kept up their own duel. The air between them was overflowing with spells. They were panting, feeling the strain on their bodies as they kept up the fight. Soon it became clear that when it comes to their magical abilities they were equals. Neither liked that idea.

With a scream of anger, they lunged forward. Their fight was still mostly magical, but it started to depress into a brawl. Harry kicked Draco in the stomach. Hard. The pureblood boy immediately returned the favour with a punch that caught Harry in the jaw. The combatants stopped for a few more seconds. They measured each other up. Years of bitter rivalry and hate was burning in their eyes. The fight was not really about the girl anymore. It was about settling their score. After a few brief seconds they charged each other again. Their wands were forgotten, discarded as dead weight. The two boys were filled with fury and started to throw punches without caring about their own bodies. Bruises were forming; it was only a matter of time before blood would flow.

They only wanted a single thing. To destroy the other no matter how they achieve that goal. To cause as much bodily harm to the other as possible. At any cost.

Both launched a punch simultaneously. The attacks connected at the same time making their heads twist to the side. Their teeth were rattling from the impacts. Their vision blurred, but they didn't feel any pain. The adrenaline coursing across their body made sure of that long ago. With cries of anger they were at it again. There was no planning, not thinking. Just punch after punch. The goal to inflict pain.

A loud crack echoed across the castle, the sound bounced off the old walls spreading far away in the ancient structure. The fight came to a halt with the same swiftness as it started. The boys stared at the source like deers caught in the headlights. They had their hands raised ready to deliver the next punch. Both froze mid-swing. Goyle's last spell exploded on a wall, dissipating harmlessly. He too stared at the two professors glaring at the scene.

It was Harry's worst nightmare. McGonagall and Snape. Of all the people they were the ones to find them. The teachers looked beyond pissed. Harry took a step back. He knew he was in trouble. His original goal may have been noble and justified, but the barbaric fight it became would have disgusted many muggles. Such a fist-fight among wizards was viewed as sacrilege. Even he was aware of that.

Apparently, the only one who managed to keep the cool was the first-year. Her absence was proof of that. The only sign of her presence was a puff of smoke. Something that could be easily attributed to a botched spell. Somehow she managed to detect the teacher's imminent arrival and took her chance to slip away. It was a feat in its own.

Harry didn't fault her. He knew the teacher's opinion all too well. They always came down in students fighting in the halls like a ton of bricks, no matter what the circumstances were. It wouldn't be any different in this case. If possible, it will be worse. The peeved expressions on the adults' faces left no doubt of that. "What is the meaning of this?" bellowed the voice of Professor McGonagall. Harry glanced at the woman's lips. He knew about her habit of pressing them together whenever angry. They were paper-thin. Not a good sign.

The students remained silent. Harry was actually surprised that Draco didn't already try to sell some lie to the professors. The professors waited for the answer, but none came. McGonagall closed her eyes gathering her thoughts. When she opened them the anger radiating made the boys gasp in unison. "Never in my life would I have believed that young wizards could act like simple brutes the way you just did!" she said in a more collected tone from before.

Her words finally made Harry open up. He knew there was not much use, but if there was a chance to lessen the trouble he was in he would take it. "Professor I saw Draco bullying a first-year. I couldn't let that stand! I..." Whatever Harry wanted to say he couldn't continue. McGonagall's glare was reaching dangerous levels. Those eyes were getting hard enough to make dragons think twice about their actions.

"Mr Potter! You know well what my opinion on fighting is!" McGonagall stopped for a second trying to gather her thoughts before continuing. "Even if you were trying to protect somebody your actions were wrong!" Harry opened his mouth to protest, the witch's glare multiplied in strength. "There were several things you could have done! You chose to resort to violence! This is a school! Not a wrestling ring for you to live out your animalistic urges! This school is for the best of our society! You were lucky to be chosen to study here! Many would have sold their soul for such an opportunity! And now you lower yourself to the level of a street thug! To say that I'm disappointed in you is an understatement!" The teacher's last words were more in disappointment than anything else.

Draco snickered at McGonagal's speech. His amusement didn't last long as it brought the professor's attention to him. "Don't be so amused, Mr Malfoy! If I find out that Mr Potter's words are true you will be in even more trouble!" Her words came out harsh again shutting the Slytherin boy up.

Unlike Draco, Harry managed to keep the smirk off his face. Barely. It was a small victory, but seeing his head-of-house descend on the blonde boy was priceless. She kept up her tirade and Draco could do nothing but to take it. There was some justice in the world after all. This didn't mean he was off the hook. His best option remained to ride it all out. There was also the quiet stare of Snape. While he never really liked the bat-like potions master, the disapproving gaze he was sending his way was strong enough to put down fiendfyre. For the first time in his life, Harry actually felt shame for angering the cold potion professor of all people.

Once McGonagall finished venting Draco opened his mouth to protest. He didn't even get to the end of the first word. Snape's holler of "Silence!" made him stop dead in his tracks. "I've never seen such a disgrace to wizards between these walls. Even the thought that a Hogwarts student would lower himself to the point of taking part in a brutish fistfight… Aren't you ashamed of yourself? You are supposed to be our future elite!"

"Twenty points from Gryffindor!" declared McGonagall.

"Forty from Slytherin!" added Snape.

This time Harry couldn't manage to keep from smirking. Slytherin got worse off.

The professors exchanged a glance as if having a silent discussion before they nodded in unison. McGonagall turned to the boys. "Tomorrow is Saturday! I want all of you in the Great Hall after breakfast for your punishment."

The three boys nodded silently. The fight from before had left them. They no longer wished to continue. She was satisfied with the response. Only Crabbe remained unmoving. He was still on the floor, looking quite battered after being the unhappy recipient of many deflected curses and jinxes. With an absent-minded flick of her wrist, McGonagall released him.

"Now get out of my sight!" declared the deputy-headmistress of the school. Her voice was dripping with venom. The boys fled. Only when they got to the Great Hall did they dare to stop.

"What was all that about?" hissed Harry. "You are a stuck up git I know that for a fact! But attacking a firsty? That's low even for you!"

"It's none of your business Potter! I had my reasons!" responded Draco.

"Like what? Proving what a coward you are?"

The blonde lifted his fist. He wanted to hit Harry so much. Harry saw the internal struggle. The features of the young Malfoy told him everything. After several heavy seconds, the blonde turned away and made his way to his table in his usual grandeur manner. Harry decided not to push the matter any further. Especially, after his eyes fell on the table laden with food. All thoughts of retaliation were forgotten, as he descended on all the food. He assaulted his dinner while trying to dodge the numerous questions about his injuries.

The next morning found the combatants of the previous night in the Great Hall. They were waiting for the professors to inform them about their verdicts. Unlike they had expected, McGonagall never came it was Snape only. Like usually, he moved across the room in complete silence. His cape, flapping behind him, looking like a set of leathery wings. His expression of anger from last night toned down into a scowl.

The potions professor observed the four of them with what could be described as an owl observing a rodent that is too small to be worth the kill. Harry felt as if Snape was staring right into his soul. At first, he wanted to return the favour with a defiant gaze. He didn't last long. After a single second, he lost the will and decided to observe the tip of his shoe instead. The professor seemed to be satisfied with this outcome.

Harry was surprised Draco didn't try to get out of this predicament with some a lie. It was the other boy's standard response whenever he came into trouble. He risked a glance towards the Slytherin boy. In turn he received an annoyed stare. "I have discussed yesterday's unfortunate incident with Professor McGonagall." declared Snape with a voice devoid of all emotion. "We agreed that your actions of last night are a disgrace not only to the school but to any civilized wizard. We hope your punishment will make you value your abilities and keep you from repeating yesterday's incident." the professor stopped casting a meaningful glance at each boy. "Starting from today all of you are going to have detention for the next two months. You are also forbidden to visit Hogsmeade until further notice."

Draco wanted to object to the second part of the punishment. A glare from the professor shut him up.

"Potter you are to clean every cauldron in my potion's classroom each Saturday morning. You are not allowed to use any magic. I want them to be flawless when I come to inspect your work."

Harry's heart sank. He had seen how those cauldrons look at the end of the week. The task he'd been set will take hours upon hours to complete. Draco smirked at the news. Harry had to fight the urge to hit him.

"I wouldn't be that smug Malfoy!" continued Snape noticing the little drama unfolding in front of him. "You and your two friends will work in the kitchen for the same amount of time. You three will help out our house-elves! Your task will be to clean every dirty dish. Every goblet, plate, knife, and so on. You will be responsible for all of it! You won't use any magic either! Professor McGonagall will inspect your work. I repeat! If any of you try to use any magic at all! There will be further penalties!"

Harry didn't respond. There was not much use trying to fight against the punishment. Fighting would have just made things worse. All things considered, he got the better deal of all things. Draco on the other side looked appalled. He was not happy to be relegated to a task that was by his own standards beneath him.

Snape took the silence among the boys as acceptance. "Get to work!" he ordered before leaving. Harry didn't waste the time he headed off towards the dungeons to get the task done. In his opinion, the best he could do was to get it done and over with. The young Malfoy soon followed his example with much less enthusiasm glaring at the back of the Gryffindor's head.