As much as Harry enjoyed reading the Quidditch book Snape had left for him, he was glad when Hagrid brought him his trunk.

Getting out his trunk, he got his broom and headed down to the Quidditch field to fly. For the next hour and half, he flew and flew and flew. He had a blast!

When he finally tired, he landed and started back towards the castle.

:help me pleasssse:

Harry stopped in his tracks as he heard a voice call out for help. Okay, that was weird. He started back up to the castle.

:please help me:

There it was again.

Harry stopped and turned toward the direction the voice was coming from. It was the Forbidden Forest.

What should he do? Snape told him not to go in, but if there was something or someone in there that needed help he couldn't just NOT help, could he?

:please:

The voice sounded desperate now, and frightened. That decided things.

Hoping back onto his broom, Harry flew into the Forest to try and find whatever was calling to him.

"I'm coming," he called out. "Where are you!?"

:I am here:

Harry turned in the direction he heard the voice and quickly came to a forked tree. Getting off his broom, he stared at the tree in surprise.

Caught in the fork of the tree was a snake, but not just any snake. This was a winged snake!

It's scales were a mixture of dark and light blue, and it's feathered wings were silver! It's eyes were also blue, and they glistened like twin sapphires. It was the most beautiful snake Harry had ever seen.

That it could talk didn't surprise him any. He was a Parslemouth, after all.

"What's wrong?" he asked the snake, trying to figure out why it was calling for help.

The snake looked at him, it's sapphire eyes staring into his own emerald orbs.

:my tail is caught:

It looked back toward the fork in the tree, flicking its tongue (which was also forked, ironically) back to where its tail was hung up.

Harry sat his broom down and climbed up to where the twin trunks of the tree met. He looked at the snake, hesitantly. "Uh," he said, "you aren't poisonous, are you?"

:Do not worry, little speaker, my bite paralyzes but does not not kill. I will not harm thee:

"All right," Harry said, "I trust you." He reached and yanked the snake's tail free. He then climbed back down and got his broom. The snake's silver wings bobbed up and down, letting it hover in mid-air. It coiled it tail like a corkscrew and then glided down to hover so that they were looking each other in the eye.

:I thank thee: It told him :I am Azure:

"I'm Harry Potter," Harry told him. "It's nice to meet you, Azure."

:You speak the language well, do you speak to my kind often?:

Harry shook his head. "Not really," he told him. "I've only talked to this one snake, and it was just a regular snake. Not a winged one."

:My breed is very rare we are not seen anymore:

"That's sad," Harry said, "so you don't have any family?"

Azure shook his head. :no:

"I know how that feels," Harry told him. "My mum and dad are dead, too. Up 'til last year I lived with my aunt and uncle, and they weren't very nice."

:Where do you live now:

"Well," Harry said, "it turns out one of my teachers at school is my dad's brother. He's gonna let me and my...uh...brother come live with him."

:You seem hesitant, do you not like this uncle?:

Harry shrugged. "I'm not sure," he told him. "He's been kinda mean and grouchy to me all year long, but he protected me a lot and he didn't have to let us live with him. I guess I'll just see how it goes."

:I will go with you:

"What?" Harry asked, puzzled. "Why would you want to do that?"

:You saved my life, little speaker:

"I just pulled your tail free is all," Harry told him, still puzzled.

:Had you not I would have starved:

"I wanted to help," Harry told him. "You don't own me anything."

:My kind always pays our debts, please let come to watch over you:

Harry thought it would be cool to have a pet snake, not that he didn't love Hedwig, but he knew Snape would have to say it was okay first. "We'll have to ask my uncle first," he told Azure, "I'm sure if he'll want you around or not."

Azure bobbed his head up and down. :very well:

Harry climbed onto his broom. "C'mon," he told the winged snake, "let's go back to the castle and wait for him. Azure bobbed his head again and began gliding through the air behind his broom.

When they got back to Snape's rooms, they found the potions master had returned and he wasn't very happy. "Harry James Potter!" he growled at his nephew, not noticing the flying snake hovering beside him. "Where have you been!?"

Harry gulped. He held up his broom. "I was flying," he told him. "Remember, you told me I could."

"Don't lie to me, boy," Snape growled at him. "I went to retrieve you at the Quidditch field and you weren't there! Where were you?"

Harry bit his lip. "I had to help Azure," he told him, glancing over at the flying snake.

Snape finally noticed the flying reptile. "My word," he said, glancing at Azure.

:I am Azure. I asked young Harry for help:

Snape, normally wouldn't have been able to understand him as he couldn't speak the snake's language, but Azure had projected the words into his mind so he could hear them clearly. "A very admirable feat," he said, turning back to his nephew, "but just where was he when you went to help him?"

Harry bit his lip. "The Forbidden Forest," he admitted, glancing down.

"I see," Snape said, his voice dangerously low. "Why is he here now?"

"He, uh," Harry said, "wants to stay with me... to watch over me, he said."

:Yes: Azure agreed, bobbing his head up and down.

Snape thought about it a moment. A flying snake was a rare magical creature indeed. It's scales, when crushed into powder, could heal most wounds and its venom paralyzed without killing. He could at least trust the snake to watch out for the boy when he wasn't around to do it himself. Goodness knows, Harry needed twenty four hour supervision.

"Very well," he told the boy and the snake, "he may stay."

"He can?" Harry asked, excited. "Really?"

"Yes, really," Snape told him.

Just then, Henry came out. "Hey, a flying snake," he said. "Wicked!"

Snape rolled his eyes. "Yes, I suppose it is." He was still glaring down at Harry.

Harry gulped. He had a feeling he was in trouble. "Uh, Azure," he told the snake, "this is my-uh-brother, Henry."

:You are twins:

"Yeah," Harry said, "sorta, anyway."

"Henry," Snape said, "why don't you show Harry's new friend around while I have a talk with your brother."

Henry looked at Snape's scowling face and then at his brother's worried one. Uh-oh!

"Sure," he said, "uh, Azure. C'mon."

The winged snake looked at Harry. "Go on," he said, "it's all right." Not!

:Very well: Azure followed Henry back down the hallway where he'd come from.

"Now then, Mr. Potter," Snape growled, sitting down on the sofa. "Let's have a little chat, shall we?"

Harry gulped again.

I'm dead!