Chapter - 6 : An Unexpected Escape

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"This is boring," Dudley moaned, moving off to pester a poisonous cobra that was sunning itself inside its enclosure.

"He's gorgeous," I cooed as we stood in front of the boa's enclosure, admiring the gleaming brown scales.

"I feel bad for him," Harry admitted. "Imagine having people staring at you all day, tapping on the glass."

The snake moved suddenly, uncurling slightly. It raised its head up to our eye level very slowly, one vertebrae at a time. Then it closed one eye in what was unmistakably a wink.

Harry and I exchanged incredulous looks.

"Can he-?" Harry began, winking back uncertainly.

"Can you-?" I stared at the snake. Its head bobbed up and down in a nod. My eyes widened and I beamed happily. I was talking to a snake!

The snake flicked its tongue out and gave a soft hiss, bobbing slightly like it was laughing. It sent a look towards Vernon and Dudley and then rolled its eyes. As well as a snake could, anyway. It was very clearly saying 'I get that a lot.'

"Must be annoying," Harry murmured in reply. The snake nodded vigorously. "Where are you from?"

The snake lifted its tail, jabbing it at the small sign in front of its tank. Boa Constrictor, Brazil.

"Was it nice there?" I asked curiously. The boa jabbed its tail at the sign again and I looked at the line below that. This specimen was bred at the zoo.

"So you've never been to Brazil?" Harry said sympathetically.

"You'll never believe what this snake is doing!"

Piers and Dudley came scampering across the room. Dudley punched Harry in the ribs, sending him crashing to the concrete floor. Piers gave me a shove, sending me down into Harry's lap. My elbow connected with his stomach and I head-butted him in the chin. He let out a moan.

"Sorry," I murmured, pulling back and glaring over my shoulder at Piers and Dudley, who had pressed their faces and hands up against the glass, staring at the snake who was back to looking bored.

It happened without any kind of warning. No bang, no puff of smoke, no flash of light. Just one second the glass was there and then the next second it wasn't. Dudley and Piers howled and recoiled as the snake uncoiled itself. The thick snake dragged itself out of the cage, slithering along the floor and sending people screaming for the exits. It nipped playfully at Piers and Dudley as it passed them.

"Brazil, here I come," the snake hissed as it passed us. "Thankssss amigossss…."

I smiled at the snake, and Harry gaped.

"N-No problem," he stammered. I stretched out a hand, letting the smooth, dry scales slide under my fingers as the boa wormed its way to freedom.

The zoo, of course, was terribly apologetic about what had happened. The director himself made us all tea in his office while Piers and Dudley jabbered, blabbering about how the snake tried to bite them and crush them. Privately, I figured that our new snaky friend probably had better taste than to take a bite out of something as ugly as Dudley, but they wouldn't be swayed.

The worst bit was when Piers calmed down enough to say, "They were talking to it, weren't they?" and Dudley nodded along with him.

For the sake of their reputation, Uncle Vernon waited until Piers had been picked up by his mother, which, going by the shade of red his face was, had been quite difficult for him. He managed to growl out, "Go cupboard… stay… no meals… a week…"

He toppled backwards into a chair, and I had to actively restrain myself from yelling "timber!" as Aunt Petunia rushed off to get him a brandy. Instead, I felt Harry's hand slip into mine and let him drag me off towards our cupboard. I slid inside, shutting the door quietly. When it came to Uncle Vernon in a mood, it was best not to make any extraneous noise that could draw his attention.

I sagged backwards onto our bed, letting my legs trail off the edge. I kicked them lightly.

"Well that went downhill fast," I announced as Harry lay down next to me, shoulder pressed against mine. I rolled onto my side and curled into a ball, wrapping an arm around Harry's scrawny ribs and burrowing my face into his arm. Harry patted my arm comfortingly, staring at the ceiling disinterestedly.

I mumbled something and Harry looked down at me. "What?"

I lifted my face out of his sleeve long enough to repeat, "You think the snake's okay?" before nuzzling back into his shoulder. Harry snorted.

"Rena, I'm pretty sure that thing could eat a bus. It's fine," he swore.

We lay on the bed, muttering back and forth as the night dragged on. Harry kept checking his watch with the cracked face to see if it was late enough to go sneak food.

"Think it's late enough?" he asked for the fourth time a little after eleven, offering his wrist to me.

"I'm going for it," I said, standing up. "Wait here."

I crept from the cupboard and tiptoed into the kitchen in my socks. I had learned over the years that the key was to get in and get out as quickly and quietly as possible. I could move almost silently in the shadows.

In under two minutes I had snagged an apple from the fruit bowl, grabbed a few granola bars from a forgotten package in the back of the cupboard, and snagged two cans of soup from the cabinet with pull tops. After adding a water bottle to the pile, I wrapped it up in my cardigan and crept back into the cupboard.

"What'd you get?" Harry asked, sitting up interestedly as I returned, shutting the door quietly behind herself. He had changed into the too-big t-shirt he usually slept in. I set down my bundle and opened it up.

"I figured this way we can get through tomorrow," I said, lifting the water bottle and taking a drink. We split the water and the apple, ate a granola bar each, and then stored the rest in a little cubby behind our bed frame.

I quickly stripped down to my stretched out camisole and underwear and slid under the covers with Harry. There was no heat under the stairs, so it tended to get pretty cold at night. Harry placed our glasses on the tiny table next to our bed and then huddled closer to me in a knot of limbs for the sake of warmth. Our blanket had passed thread-bare two years ago.

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