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When Voldemort scratches the scales at the back of his head, Harry hums, leaning into the touch. Voldemort always seems to know when Harry feels itchy and he never wastes any time helping him get rid of it. In general, Voldemort is always looking out for him, making sure Harry feels comfortable, starting from the very moment Voldemort found him. At first, that confused Harry and made him suspicious. But he quickly realized that there was no hidden malicious intent behind it and that Voldemort wasn’t expecting anything in return. The reason why he’s so generous is simple: he enjoys making his snake companions happy.
It took a while for Harry to get used to someone taking care of him so thoroughly, of someone showing affection toward him multiple times a day. But once he did, he couldn’t get enough of it. He never had something like that in his life and he already knows he’ll cry himself to sleep every night once he’ll have to go without it again. And he will have to go without it again in just a few weeks. Voldemort has no idea that the snake on his lap isn’t a snake at all, that it’s the boy-who-lived who became an Animagus a month ago and decided to spend the summer holidays in his snake form to avoid having to go back to his relatives.
Harry hears the door opening wider but he doesn’t bother turning his head, keeping it pressed against Voldemort’s leg.
“Why is he always on your lap when I come in?” Nagini complains, sliding toward them.
“Shh,” Voldemort mutters, moving the tips of his fingers along the whole length of Harry’s body. “Harry’s napping. Let him have his rest.”
Nagini huffs and Harry feels the fabric of Voldemort’s cloak shifting as she lays her head on Voldemort’s lap right next to him. When Voldemort had given him the name Harry, because of his green eyes, he’d panicked internally. What if Voldemort suspected something? What if he killed Harry just to be safe? But by now, there’s nothing left of that panic.
If Voldemort had had any suspicions, he would’ve acted on them by now. So he obviously believes that Harry really is just some random snake he found on the side of a road. Well. Not just any snake. According to Voldemort, he’s a rare magical one. Harry has no idea if that’s true since he didn’t care enough to look up the species when he was still at Hogwarts.
Nagini nudges him with her head, causing Harry to roll onto his side. Voldemort hums warningly.
“Behave. There’s enough space for the two of you.”
Harry keeps his mouth shut and moves a bit to the side. It’s not worth angering Nagini over something that silly. She can be incredibly jealous at times and since she could easily swallow him whole, Harry prefers to stay on her good side.
“I’m hungry,” Nagini complains, rubbing her head against Voldemort’s leg. She reminds Harry so much of a cat in that moment that he almost snorts. Then he remembers that he probably doesn’t look any better, really, and he promises himself never to compare Nagini to a cat out loud.
“Then go hunting.”
Nagini hums, sounding unsatisfied. “I was wondering if you still need that rat-man...”
Harry shivers. Every other day, Nagini bothers Voldemort will that question, and yet he still hasn’t gotten used to it. Eating rats and mice alive, with their fur still attached, that’s fine. It was strange in the beginning but it doesn’t feel weird to him anymore. Eating humans, on the other hand, even such despicable ones as Pettigrew... Well. It’d be cannibalism in Harry’s case, anyway, and therefore definitely not acceptable.
“Look what you did, Nagini,” Voldemort murmurs. “You know your brother doesn’t like it when you talk about Pettigrew.”
Nagini huffs and rubs her head against Harry’s body. Since she’s so much bigger than him, Harry always worries that she’ll accidentally crush him when she does that. However, no matter how much Nagini likes to complain about him, she never hurt him once. Sometimes it makes him wonder if Nagini is actually grateful to have another snake around. Maybe she felt lonely when she was all alone with Voldemort.
Something in Harry’s stomach twists when he remembers that he’ll leave her alone soon enough. As much as he enjoys having a comparably uneventful and peaceful summer for once, he can’t stay here. He can’t stay Voldemort’s pet forever. The thought alone would be enough to make him laugh if he weren’t in his snake form. Snakes seem to be a lot less predestined to laugh in general, it seems. It’s just one of the many changes Harry noticed in his behavior as a snake.
Another one is that Harry prefers to nap a lot - though that also might be because there’s really not much to do here besides watching Voldemort work. Even the Death Eater meetings are surprisingly boring. They talk too much about strategies and people Harry never heard of to be entertaining. He still makes sure to remember as much of what they say as he can, though, knowing that the knowledge could be invaluable.
Voldemort sighs. “I know you don’t want to hear this, but you’ll need to get off my lap now. I have an important meeting to get to.”
Nagini whines, crawling even further onto Voldemort’s lap instead of backing away. “Why? Why do you keep wasting your time on all of these boring little humans? Are we not enough for you?”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I need to do things you consider boring to secure my power. Otherwise, I won’t be able to make sure we’ll remain safe and unharmed.”
Nagini grumbles but finally moves her head off Voldemort’s lap, sliding over to the fireplace. Meanwhile, Voldemort picks Harry up and follows her, cradling him to his chest.
“Aren’t you glad I found you, Harry?” Voldemort murmurs as he sets him down next to Nagini. “There’s nothing for you to worry about anymore, no one you need to fight off, and all of your needs are taken care of. There’s not a single reason you might want to leave, is there? Everything you could have wished for is right here.”
Harry hums. If you say it like that, Voldemort does have a point. Why, exactly, does he plan on going back to Hogwarts when summer is over, again?
“You’ll watch over your brother while I’m gone, won’t you, Nagini? Make sure he doesn’t wander off and gets himself into trouble.”
“Of course,” Nagini murmurs, wrapping herself around Harry. “You can count on me.”
“Excellent. I should be back in about an hour.”
Harry rubs his head against Nagini’s enormous body.
Leaving Nagini and Voldemort might turn into quite a challenge, but that is a problem for another time.