"How do you know all this?" Harry asked, his face pale.
'I am inside your head,' Venom reminded him. 'remember? All of your memories, all available to me.'
"Get out!" Harry roared, alarmed by the thought of anyone, especially an alien, accessing his mind.
'Not until you've listened to me,' Venom said with a hint of impatience, not appreciating Harry's constant interruptions. 'After your first year, you went back to the Dursley's, only to get locked up. You let poor Hedwig get forced into a cage,' Venom's voice sounded so disappointed that Harry couldn't help but wince, his gaze flitted across the room to spot Hedwig who was staring at him with concern. 'poor Hedwig. Poor, loyal and sweet Hedwig, locked up in a cage barely big enough for her to stretch her wings because you couldn't stand up to the Dursley's. She just saw you eat a bird and is still loyal enough to stick by you, but you weren't loyal enough to help her.'
"I'd die for her!" Harry snarled, desperately wishing he could move.
'Really? Yet you wouldn't help her out of the cage.'
"I couldn't do anything, I…"
'You're a wizard,' Venom cut him off. 'one that at the time had only had a year's training and couldn't use a wand, but if you had tried hard enough then you could have got her out. But you didn't. You were scared, you wouldn't have been if I was there. You had to be rescued from them by the Weasley's, then you went to school where you were nearly killed by a basilisk. After killing a fifty-foot long snake, what did you do? Let yourself get sent here again. If I hadn't found you then you'd probably go to school this year and end up back at the Dursley's again.'
"I… wait… what do you mean? That last part, about the Dursley's?" Harry asked, his voice noticeably softer than before.
'You think I'm going to let you go back there?' Disbelief covered Venom's voice. 'No, unless you're up for some revenge, we are not going there,' Venom said in a firm voice. 'no longer will you be forced to be their slave, no longer will they lock up Hedwig or you. It doesn't matter what Fudge or Dumbledore wants, you're not going back there. Do you want to know what I think?'
"What?" Harry couldn't help but ask. Venom didn't immediately reply, but Harry felt Venom release his hold on Harry's body because a second later he was able to sit up.
'The way I see it, we can do whatever we want,' Venom spoke up. 'I don't care what you want to do. All I need is a host and to eat, that's enough for me. What do you want?'
"I… I don't know." Harry breathed out, slightly surprised by the question.
'Nobody ever asks you what you want,' Venom said knowingly. 'your friends want things, the Dursleys want things, the teacher's want things, even the ministry. But what do you want?'
"I don't know," Harry repeated with a bit of frustration.
'We have plenty of time to find out,' Venom's voice sounded somewhat soothing to Harry. 'I don't care for other's, Harry, you are my host. You're all I will ever need.' Harry stayed silent for several minutes, staring at the wall opposite him as he gathered his thoughts.
"How did you find me?" Harry asked suddenly.
'You should thank your aunt, it's probably the first useful thing the stupid bint has ever done for you,' Venom answered.
"Aunt Petunia?!"
'No, the fat one, Marge,' Venom corrected. 'I ended up in a spider's body until I managed to find her dog, Ripper.'
"You were in Ripper?" Harry gaped. "Were… were you why he wasn't growling and trying to rip my legs off?"
'You're welcome,' Venom replied, sounding as if he just brought the whole of England under Harry's control and was expecting Harry to drop to his knees to thank him. 'when I observed you through the dog's eyes, I realised that you would be a perfect host. Ripper had many memories of attacking you, and I could see the delicious emotions pouring off you. The fact that you're magical is just a great bonus.'
"I… emotions?" Harry asked. "You feed on emotions?"
'Yes,' Venom answered, Harry, got the impression that if he had a physical form then Venom would be nodding right now. 'that's one of the things I feed on. I feed on intense emotional energy like anger, passion, or excitement."
"Yeah, well I can't make myself experience them all the time because you're hungry." Harry pointed out.
'I also feed on brains,' Venom mentioned.
"Brains?!" Harry yelped. "You can't eat people's brains!"
'Oh, I'm strong enough to do so.' Venom chuckled.
"I'm not letting you eat people's brains!"
'Are you sure I can't convince you to…'
"No!" Harry cut him off in a firm voice.
'Spoilsport,' Venom replied, Harry couldn't help but imagine a mouth full of sharp teeth making a pouting expression. 'fine, then you'll need to find me something else to eat. I'm sure that eventually, we'll find something that can satisfy me.' Despite his words, Venom didn't think that his host would stick to his 'no eating brains' policy for long, his life was far too messed up for him to not be tempted to just deal with a few problems permanently. 'So, what's it going to be, Harry? Let me stay, let me help you and Hedwig, or make me leave, and risk me finding a host that is not as nice as you. What's it going to be?'
'Well, that's just not fair.' Harry couldn't help but think to himself.
'Perhaps not, but that's your choice.' Venom's voice cut into Harry's thoughts.
"I… fine," Harry eventually nodded, he couldn't help but feel like he was making a deal with the devil in some ways. But overall, he couldn't help but agree with what Venom was offering. He could tell that if the alien truly wanted to hurt him right now then he could just force Harry to jump out of a window or something. He wished that he could ignore some of the other stuff that Venom had said, but he couldn't. Every school year so far he had nearly died multiple times, and then at the end of the year, he ends up being sent to the Dursley's. If anyone could use extra help, it'd be him. Besides, there wasn't a great alternative, keep Venom with him and possibly get some valuable help or risk letting him loose and into the hands of somebody like Malfoy, or worse, Voldemort. "I'm willing to have a trial period," Harry briefly wondered if he could get away with telling people about Venom but quickly dismissed that thought upon remembering that Venom would probably stop him before he could even get a word out. "under a few conditions," Harry added.
'I'm listening,' Venom's calm voice successfully hid the excitement he felt, having a willing host was so much better than those unwilling ones. He could tell that the boy wasn't fully committed to the idea, but Venom believed that with enough time he could bring the boy on board.
"Firstly, no taking control of my body, ever again." Harry began.
'But Harry, what if you're unconscious and somebody is about to kill you?' Venom asked. 'I could take control of your body and get you to safety.' Harry paused, and considered what Venom had said.
"Fine, no taking my body unless there's an emergency or if I give permission." Harry amended.
'Fair enough, what's the next condition?'
"No harming anyone I care about," Harry said with a surprising amount of firmness. "that's not negotiable."
'Your friends and family are my friends and family,' Venom spoke in a soft voice. 'they have nothing to fear from me.' Venom told him in an honest voice, he was fine with not harming friends and family, though if Harry suddenly decided they weren't his friends or family any more then that just meant more food for him.
"Good," Harry didn't fully believe Venom but that was better than nothing. "and no eating brains."
'Find me something I can feed on and then I won't.' Venom's voice held a hint of annoyance. 'Anything else?'
"Yeah," Harry nodded. "I don't know you, and right now, I don't trust you. But I'm willing to give you a chance, but if you make me regret it, then I will…"
'What?' Venom asked curiously. 'What will you do?'
"I'll find a way to stop you, no matter how long it takes," Harry said with plenty of conviction in his voice.
'You think that you can stop me?' Venom laughed. 'You think you stand a chance against me?'
"No," Harry answered honestly. "but then again, I didn't think I stood a chance when fighting Quirrell with Voldemort on his head, or when I fought the basilisk. Yet Quirrell became nothing but ashes and the basilisk is the one that's currently lying dead in the chamber."
'There's that inner fire,' Venom laughed again, though it wasn't the same laugh as before, that laugh had been filled with humour and mocking. This one held approval, the kind of laugh Harry would imagine his father would have given him the first time he saw him ride a broom, though obviously a bit deeper. 'you'll make a great host. Now, we need to find something to eat.'
"Now?" Harry frowned. "I just ate a pigeon." Harry reminded him.
'Not good enough,' Venom replied. 'I need something better, and quickly. I haven't eaten anything tasty in a while.'
"O… kay, I'll find something then." Harry huffed, apparently he was now an intergalactic babysitter. "Sorry Hedwig," Harry looked at his faithful companion who was still staring at him. "I… um… well, there's apparently an alien inside of me," Harry explained, opting to go with blunt honesty. Hedwig stared at him as if he had just burst into dance. "yeah, hard to believe, it's somewhere on the level of finding out that there's an entire race of wizards and witches hiding in front of her eyes. Still, this alien para…"
'Call me a parasite again and you'll regret it!' Venom warned.
"This alien is apparently here to stay," Harry coughed. "so… yeah. I'm going to go to the shops and try to find him something to eat, I'll get something for you as well, promise." Harry said before he stood up and reached into his trunk and began pulling out clothes. "Wait a sec, you can see me right? So you'd see me if I started changing my clothes?" Harry frowned.
'Why would I care?' Venom asked dismissively. 'I have access to every single memory you have and you are an entirely different species, for you, it would be like watching Hedwig take off a jumper.'
"Oh… fair enough." Harry sighed, living with an alien in his head was going to take some getting used to. "I like to think that I'm taking this surprisingly well." He commented.
'Do you want a medal?' Venom asked sarcastically.
"How about a little less attitude?" Harry asked, glaring at an opposite wall since he didn't really have a face that he could glare at.
'In that case, get me something to eat,' Venom said impatiently. 'do so, and I'll start proving to you how useful I am.'
"What do you mean?" Harry frowned.
'An underfed body and weak vision, I can fix that for you.'
"What? Really?!"
'Yep, better hurry with the food.'