FICLET: One Thousand Reasons, Harry and Snape. PG-13

[icarus]

This drabble is was requested by painless_j on behalf of aubrem:

One Thousand Reasons
By Icarus



Harry ducked behind a boulder as the spell skimmed overhead, white-hot and singeing. It sprayed across the rock behind him in a splash of white, turning it ochre and rancid as the mosses died. The attack paused, and Harry heard a low gasping breath off to his left. A greasy dark figure was curled at the base of the boulder.

"Snape," he whispered.

"Hsst! Find your own refuge, Potter," Snape hissed at him. His black eyes gleamed in the dark. "Perhaps your aim is to bring the attack down on me you spiteful little wretch, but rest assured: unlike your besotted fans, I will take no extraordinary measures to save your hide."

"I ought to leave you here," Harry said, stripping off his outer cloak. "But I'm not like that. I'll transform, and you can climb up and we'll get out of here."

"Transform?" Snape sat up a little, clearly startled. Then he sneered. "Taking after your family and marking every tree, are you? You Animagi are all alike. You think it's a solution to everything."

"Take it or leave it, Snape," Harry said, in a tone that Hermione would protest. "You go ahead and transform yourself then."

Snape froze.

Harry added in the cold sudden silence, "Professor McGonagall told me you learned. After you found about Sirius'."

"Black would have never gotten away with so much had he not had the audacity to attempt that in school!" Snape uncurled from his crouch at the base of the boulder. "If you know so much, then surely you know it is not necessarily useful. No one, not even Dumbledore, can choose the form."

Harry bundled his cloak around his waist and drew his wand, nodding absently. "You can climb up onto my fur and hang on."

Snape paused, his eyes sliding to the left and right, as if seeking escape or guidance. Finally he said, "Very well."

Within seconds the dark shadow of Snape shrank and elongated on the ground, wriggling. It lightened and squirmed. Harry took a step back. At his feet was a writhing, silvery centipede, almost a foot long. It crawled towards him, rising up on its front legs eagerly as Harry backed away.

After a long moment, it darkened and Snape appeared in its place.

"Afraid, Potter?" he said in a low, pleased voice.

"I'm afraid I might step on you," Harry said in disgust.

"I would not recommend it." Snape leaned closer until Harry could see his yellow teeth. "This particular variety is especially poisonous."

"I'm not afraid," Harry said, and hardened his jaw. To prove it, he drew his wand and circled the complex patterns in the air. His body began to stretch and lengthen, fur bristling along his face, itching.

Then Harry stamped his hooves, tossing his antlers a bit, trying not to let the whites of his eyes show. But he couldn't help it in this form. Stags were fast; but they were also hunted and afraid.

"Then the more fool you," Snape answered, and seized an antler. He smiled. "Stay absolutely still as I climb," he said in Harry's ear. The ear flicked. "Or else I won't be able to prevent the bite."

Comments

[aubrem.livejournal.com]

oh god, that's creepy and fantastic. Thank you!

Snape the long poisonous silver millipede and that idiot Gryffindor. Snape may be pulling a little self-deception here regarding his protection of Harry but he fools me too - in fact he scares the hell out of me with his slyness and malevolence.

The millipede is genius. Weak and dangerous and creepy.

Great stuff!

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I was noticing that Animagi always seemed to be something pleasant or at least impressive (unless you count Peter). Snape was unaware that Harry didn't know his Animagus form, but once he figured out Harry was surprised, he took full advantage. In truth, he was not at all pleased to have exposed his weakness there, which is why he emphasized how poisonous it was.

What? You believed him?

Icarus

[aubrem.livejournal.com]

I believed his nastiness! He was creepy beyong creepiness with those yellow teeth and sly looking sideways.
And ... millipedes ... ::shudder::

Brilliant. Now I want to see Harry wanting him because he finds nasty creepy millipede animagi hot. : )

[cordelia_v]

Or perhaps he's aroused in spite of himself, as the nasty creepy millipede,with its velvet soft skin, slides across a sensitive spot on his neck.

Query: if they're both in a transformed state, is that bestiality?

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Honestly, as a good Catholic girl you should know the hair-splitting involved: it is only bestiality if one of the participants is in human form. Bestiality refers to the physical act, and does not take into account the minds involved. ;)

Icarus

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

*blinks* Can it be done?


Harry stretched out on the ground, his chin pillowed on folded arms. The millipede climbed up the branch Harry had offered, then wavered, hesitant. Harry wondered how long it would be before Snape would be able to return to his own form, and if it ate leaves like caterpillars, or something else. Cautiously it began to nose at one of the leaves, nibbling delicately.

"I guess you're not such a bad sort," Harry said, thinking out loud. His eyes softened. "The animagus form tells us a lot, doesn't it?" He reached out a hand to stroke it the soft slightly fuzzed body. The millipede pulled away, its upper body almost falling off the branch. "Oh. Sorry. I guess I forget how helpless you are like that." He offered it another leaf. "That's kind of the truth, isn't it?"

Harry had a sudden idea. Shutting his eyes, he visualised the long body as a snake. Then said, "Snape? You in there?"

The millipede hissed back, "Yes, you idiot! You almost got us killed. Now hand over that leaf and release it - now - or else I will bite you."

Harry smiled, and decided not to mention he'd covered magical giant millipedes in Care of Magical Creatures. Snape was the 'fake' kind. As the millipede's head tipped and tore at the leaf, Harry's fingertip slid along its fuzz. He was surprised to find it warm and soft.

The creature turned a baleful eye on Harry, but kept eating.



Icarus

[aubrem.livejournal.com]

ok, confirmed not poisonous but ... parseltongue? Do I need to google millipedes? ::is curious as all hell::

I bet all those legs feel iiinteresting .... : )

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Heh. I would imagine it wouldn't work. I'm stretching canon as far as it will go.

Icarus