harry.exe has stopped working ━ hp x tmr | lv

21.

yall i wrote this chapter at work bc there was a blackout, it was maaaaaddd

anyways. yOU THOUGHT THAT I WOULD DISAPPEAR???? so did i, but alas--

ALSO I dyed my hair half pink half purple again bc i obviously have no self control send help my hair is d 3 a d

Chapter Twenty One:

One Saturday afternoon, Harry is left alone in his dorm room; well, as alone as he can be with his two snakes.

"Master, I beg of you, please do not open that box," Verde hisses, slithering around in anxiety filled circles across Harry's bed. "It's dangerous." 

Nimmy, who is sitting around Harry’s shoulders, gives the snake equivalent of a human's sigh and if she could, she'd roll her eyes too. "Danger is obviously going to draw our Master in, you idiot." 

"She’s right," Harry nods, "now I definitely have to open it." 

Verde, like usual when he is denied something, throws himself backwards onto the bed, his belly on full display. He wriggles around in an obvious show of displeasure; he's throwing another temper tantrum. It's his third one today. "It's from that wretched thing," he sulks, "He's gotten his fangs into our master. Just wait until I see him next time, I'll wrap my hands around his throat and--" 

"Again," Nimmy cuts him off, "you have no hands."

"Not in this form," Verde mutters snidely, turning back onto his stomach. He swiftly moves out of the way before his sister can jump from Harry’s shoulders and hit him with her tail. 

Nimmy hisses at him in warning but doesn't follow after him. 

Odd. Considering Verde knows how much Nimmy likes to bully him. Pausing, he asks, "What's wrong?" 

"It's nothing," she replies, flicking out her tongue to taste the air. She tilts her little head and hides it in the dip of Harry’s throat. 

Not convinced, Verde hesitantly slithers back over to Harry. "Are you sure?" 

When Nimmy doesn't answer, Verde lowers his head onto his master's knee and reminds himself to ask her later. 

Harry, who is too busy staring at the neatly wrapped gift on the foot of his bed, does not hear their conversation. He sits at the edge of his bed and carefully picks up the small black box. There's a card tucked underneath the shimmery green bow and Harry slowly pulls it out to read it. 

[ Dear Harry, 

I hope we meet again soon. 

LV. ]

"Oh," Harry blushes all the way from the tips of his ears down to his neck. His stomach immediately fills up with butterflies and his hair shifts into different colours. Soft, delicate pink spreads from the top of his head and then blends into pristine white at the ends. 

"Well," Nimmy raises her head and travels to the top of Harry’s head to curl into his hair, "I still like the blue better but I suppose this isn't bad either." 

"Very pretty," Verde agrees. There's not a hint of a lie in his words. 

"What is?" Harry asks, raising a single brow. There's a hint of confusion settled across his features. 

"Nothing," the siblings chorus innocently. 

Harry eyes the two with suspicion but doesn't question further. Instead, he returns his attention back to the gift he's received from Tom. He settles the card to the side and then unwraps the satin green bow. Inside the box lies an intricate silver key. When Harry picks it up it lays warm and heavy in his palm.