quillpunk | (Reply)

From:

happy halloween (also on ao3)

Draco sneaked into the hidden room in the basement, cradling an armful of fruit to his nonexistnet bosom, and he grimaced sligthly at the faint smell of rot in the air. But the Nagini was waiting right where he left her, and he bent to his knees before her, the fruit tumbling onto the floor. Hissing, she slithered over and swallowed a pear in one go, then a pumpkin, then a few apples and the lone tomato. There was a handful of strawberries, too, that she nosed but didn't eat, and then she slithered around him and let him pet her.

"So this is what you've been up to," Lord Voldemort said, stepping out of the shadows and frightening Draco into utter incoherence, his thoughts spilling from his mind like sand through a sieve, and the man—the most powerful Dark Lord of all time—laughed in that kind of snake-y way of his. Waved a hand, and said, "Oh, don't be afraid," Lord Voldemort hissed, "Nagini is a good friend to have."

"I—yes, my lord," Draco bowed his head, and Nagini hissed at the Dark Lord. Shuddering, Draco waited for his fate to be meted out. Lately, Lord Voldemort had begun to look somewhat human—it had something to do with that diadem Draco had found in the Room of Requirement last year, the one that stank of magic so dark he didn't even touch it with his bare hand, just shoved it in his trunk and smuggled it home. The last thing he'd expected was Nagini's excitement when she broke into his trunk upon his return and slithered off with it.

But Lord Voldemort had seemed—different, the next day.

And yet again in the day after.

Now, Lord Voldemort looked at Draco canoodling with his snake and didn't kill him, nor torture, nor even scold him. He only said, "Don't overfeed her," and leaned against the wall, not moving another muscle, gaze heavy upon Draco. Gulping, Draco slowly resumed his petting of Nagini, and she once more deigned to put her head in his lap, allowing him to cuddle her.

And the Dark Lord watched, and said not a word. Even when he followed Draco up into the manor and joined him for dinner.

And then did so again, the following evening.