Hey guys. Lady Zalen here. New story. More coming soon.
.:This is parseltongue.:.
PERCHED IN HER TREE, HAEL COULD SEE THE STARS. It was well past midnight now. She would be strung up by her ankles if anyone found her. She was in the Forbidden Forest and out past curfew. What a crime. Despite the situation, Hael found a slight smile on her face. Then it turned bitter as her thoughts turned to what had happened.
She had thought she had friends. When Hael had entered the Hogwarts Express, everything had changed. She'd met Ron, her first friend. At the Dursley's no one had wanted to even talk to the freak. And here- well, she was famous. She had a fortune, and had made friends. The Golden Trio- herself, Ron, and Hermione had been called. Well, they weren't so golden now. Ever since the school had found out she was a parselmouth and she'd been accused of being Slytherin's heir and siccing the curse on everyone, they had turned on her. She was no longer their savior, the girl-who-lived but an outcast to be feared and avoided, the next Dark Lord er, Lady as it may.
It had surprised Hael to say the least. Even Ron and Hermione were avoiding her and saying that parseltongue was a dark power. Hael had never thought of magic as dark or light. Magic was magic. It was based in intent. The other girls in the Gryfindor Witch's dormitory had even gone as far as to move their beds to the opposite side of the dorm. The whispers and stares and god, no one talking to her had finally gotten to be too much, so she'd come out here for an escape. At least for a while.
The pain she felt now reminded Hael of her Uncle Vernon's nightly visits when she was at Privet Drive. Except this was more emotional and -what was the word- lonely. Hael had never felt lonely before. Before Hogwarts, she'd simply not had friends and no one had been kind. And then at Howarts, she'd loved it secretly. The attention and even Professor Lockhart's dragging her into more fame-hound things. She had gotten used to it all. And now she was unprepared for what it felt like to lose everyone.
Hael and Malfoy were standing on the dueling table.
He sneered. "Ready to lose, Potter?" Sometimes Hael wondered what she had done to make him hate her so much. And then it was on. They were shooting their entire (but rather limited) knowledge of spells at one another. And then Malfoy summoned the snake. Everyone backed away. Except her. The snake was hissing, about to attack Justin when Hael told it to stop.
The snake turned it's head in her direction. .:A speaker?:.
.:I can talk to snakes, yeah. Why does that make a difference? Can't a lot of people?:.
.:Oh, no. Such a rare gift. An honor indeed to have met a speaker.:.
.:But to the point. Don't attack Justin.:. Hael tried to sound commanding.
If snakes could have smiled then that was what it did. .:How about a trade, then? I won't attack the human boy and you'll take me as your familiar. It has been my life's dream to be bonded to a speaker.:.
.:Alright then, I suppose. My name is Hael Lillian Potter. What's yours?:.
.: My name is Enit, Mistress. My mother is Eglė, the Queen of Serpents. She will be happy to hear of this.:. Enit then began slithering towards her. Now that Hael had the time to examine her, she supposed that Enit really was beautiful. Sandy copper scales with a red tint and the slightest hood.
.:Pleased to meet you Enit. And please- don't call me Mistress.:. It was then that Hael noticed how everyone was looking at her.
"What?" she questioned the bewildered and scared faces.
"Potter," came Professor Snape's voice, "back away from the snake. I will destroy it."
Hael's eyes widened, "What! No!" Then Snape shot a curse at Enit and Hael dove in the way, scooping Enit into her arms and getting to the side.
As if to snap her from her reverie, Enit's voice came from where she'd draped herself over Hael. .:Feeling better, Mistress?:. Hael had tried but she couldn't get Enit to stop calling her Mistress. A tiny part of her that she would never admit to enjoyed it just a little. Hael fingered her invisibility cloak- she'd used it to sneak out of the castle.
.:Yeah, lots. I'm just worried about tomorrow.:. Apparently things had gotten so serious that there'd been a Ministry investigation called in on her, on allegations of attacking the other students. They were coming tomorrow to find evidence and interrogate people. If things went bad, which they most likely would, Hael would be sent to Azkaban. Hael was terrified. Earlier that evening, Headmaster Dumbledore had taken her aside and said that her parents must be rolling in their graves. He said that such blemishes could not be upon the Potter name and as or the moment she was Hael No-Name. It was possibly this that upset her most. Her name and appearance were her only connections to her parents.
Anger had filled her and she had snapped "What right do you have?!" He had looked at her in that way- the one which had always freaked her out, like a creepy grandfather or something but mostly like a military officer sending his troops into battle.
"Don't misunderstand me dear. But you must be on the side of the light."
.:Understandable, Mistress.:. For a few more worry filled moments, everything was silent. The Enit spoke again. .:Mistress, I scent a group of people coming.:. Taking the warning, Hael pulled herself into a more secure position on the tree and wrapped her invisibility cloak about herself.
A group of girls in silver varying in age from about eight to sixteen, accompanied by wolves and hunting falcons made their way into the clearing before her.
A girl with auburn hair about the age of twelve announced, "This is where we will make camp." Oh, great. There was no way Hael was going to be able to climb to climb down the tree with her invisibility cloak on and get out of there without the girls noticing. I'm doomed. Hael tried to think of a way out. She had her wand, but unfortunately not her broom. The summoning charm was too advanced but a broom suddenly whirring into a clearing and up a tree would definitely be noticed by the girls.
It was then that a wolf started barking at her tree. Hael was so startled that she lost her balance. Eighty feet up in a tree, that was not good. Because she was holding her invisibility cloak and had a snake on her arm, she couldn't catch herself. I'm going to die, was her last thought as she plummeted towards the ground.