Snape sat on the ground, frowning as he gnawed on the charred piece of fish.
If only magic could conjure Butterbeer and steak, he muttered softly, poking the half-eaten fish disdainfully with the tip of his wand.
"Nagini," he suddenly turned toward the serpent resting with closed eyes, "how long have you been in Albania?"
The vertical pupils in the darkness suddenly brightened.
Nagini slowly lifted her head, flicked her tongue softly, but only emitted a few hoarse, broken hisses.
Snape put down the fish, wiped dust from his fingers with his wand, adjusted his posture to face her directly, ready to communicate.
"Do you… still remember how to speak?" he asked slowly and clearly, deliberately drawing out each syllable while watching Nagini's reaction closely.
But she still only responded with some unintelligible hisses.
Snape tried gesturing alongside his words, attempting to communicate further, but beyond a few simple sounds, she mostly just looked at him silently.
The encouraging part was that although Nagini couldn't form complex sentences, she seemed to partially understand his language.
Maybe it's been too long since she's spoken to anyone, Snape thought. Maybe she's losing her ability to communicate.
"I am Severus Snape," he nodded patiently, continuing, "Do you know how we got here?"
Nagini's tail swished restlessly, sweeping a small pile of pebbles into the shadows.
Snape sighed and fixed his gaze on Nagini's eyes: "Take me away from here, will you?"
The serpent was silent for a moment, her tail thudding irritably against the ground.
After a pause, she slowly slid toward a narrow passage deeper into the cavern.
Snape hastily got to his feet, wand tip glowing faintly, and followed closely behind.
The passage grew tighter, forcing him to squeeze sideways several times. After navigating three junctions, rushing water sounds reached his ears.
At the end of the passage lay a raging underground river, black currents crashing against rocks with thunderous roars.
Nagini stopped atop a jutting rock at the river's edge and turned to look at Snape.
From her gaze, Snape strangely understood her meaning.
"Hmm…" he frowned, as cold droplets splashed on his face, forcing him to raise his voice to overcome the river's roar, "You mean… we have to swim through this?"
Nagini didn't answer but flicked her tongue and slid her body into the water.
"Well, alright then." Seeing her about to enter the water, Snape hurried to her side.
He quickly cast Bubblehead Charm, encasing his head in a transparent bubble.
Hesitant at first, he tentatively placed his hand on Nagini's cool scales.
The expected resistance never came. She merely turned her head slightly, her vertical pupils meeting his gaze before lightly brushing his wrist with her tongue, as if urging him on.
Snape carefully tucked his wand into an inner pocket, making sure it wouldn't be lost in the rapids, then wrapped his arms and legs around Nagini's slippery body, pressing himself close.
Hope you don't throw me off halfway, he thought.
In the next instant, the world spun—Nagini plunged into the surging underground river, the icy current swallowing them whole.
Outside the bubble was endless darkness; inside, Snape felt the powerful contractions of Nagini's muscles wrapped in his arms, the serpent's body weaving gracefully through the undercurrents.
Water battered his body, rocks scraping his robes.
Several times, Nagini nearly got caught in sudden whirlpools, forcing Snape to cling tighter.
The darkness overhead seemed endless. The air in the bubble quickly grew stale, droplets condensed on the inner surface, and Snape's lungs began to burn.
Just as he was about to suffocate, a faint glimmer appeared above.
Nagini surged forward, and they were violently ejected from the tunnel, crashing into a calm pool.
Puff!
Snape struggled to the surface, tearing off the deformed bubble, greedily gulping air tinged with mossy scents.
He collapsed onto the jagged shore and cast a drying charm with trembling hands.
"Nagini?" he coughed, looking toward the pool.
The serpent stretched nearby, droplets rolling off her shimmering scales.
Snape noticed several scrapes on her belly; dark red streaks trailed from the water droplets, spreading into the clear pool.
"Come here," he called, and Nagini swam over.
He drew his wand, but Nagini warily retreated half a step, neck scales slightly raised—an unmistakable sign of serpentine tension.
Snape froze, slowly changing his approach, raising both hands.
"Just healing," he whispered. "Episkey."
The wounds on Nagini's body visibly closed under the charm's effect, leaving only faint pale marks.
After a brief rest, the humid heat of the Albanian forest pressed down; sweat soaked Snape's robes.
Looking up, the canopy fragmented the sky; sunlight filtered through gaps in the leaves, casting mottled shadows on the forest floor.
"Thank you," Snape gasped, glancing at Nagini shaking off droplets, "but now… how do we leave this forest? How do we find people?"
Hearing the word "people," Nagini twisted uneasily, even emitting a low warning hiss.
After futilely exchanging wide-eyed stares trying to communicate with Nagini, Snape gave up and resorted to the most primal form of wizarding divination—pointing his wand.
"Well, seems I have to rely on myself," he said, placing the wand flat in his palm. "Show me the way."
The wand spun a few times before pointing behind him.
Snape pocketed the wand and slowly spoke to Nagini lurking in the shadows of the undergrowth: "Follow me, but don't get too close. Stay alert, alright?"
Traveling through the forest was more arduous than through the cavern. Snape held his wand in one hand and wielded a magically sharpened wooden stick in the other, hacking through thorns and vines blocking his path.
He saw no sign of Nagini but gauged her presence from familiar rustles and sudden silences of birdsong.
After an unknown time, he finally discovered a faint path—so ancient it likely hadn't been trodden for centuries.
As he pushed aside vines, the last rays of sunset echoed between the trees, casting an eerie scene before him:
A hunchbacked old woman wiping sweat from the face of a girl wearing a small red velvet cap.