Summary: Viper was never strong, but they know how to get what they wanted. And Viper wanted to survive. They've survived one Hell and came out on top, so why would the Mafia be any different?

Viper's a survivor, never a hero. They will do anything to further their own gain and protect their own. Viper's a Misty Cloud after all, and Checkerface will rue the day he dragged her children into a world they should've stayed far away from.

Or; In which Viper was not always Viper, and, due to a little accident, history is changed, love is formed, and a child dies.

(Inspired by Kuroyuki_Kokuyoku's 'Acedia'. Both this fic and Acedia are also on Ao3. So check it out.).

Well, I'm a horrible author with a lot on my mind, so updates are gonna be sparse. Sorry. I started the second chapter at least.

Sorry for the grammer mistakes and everything. I'm not a pro, just a barely teenager with school to deal with in Slovakia.

This was inspired by Kuroyuki_Kokuyoku's 'Acedia', a fanfic which you all should check out! It's amazing! This is also a present for her, or him, or them, or zie.

I was listening to 'This Little Girl' by Cady Groves while writing this.

Chapter 01: This Little... Well, Viper?

Contrary to popular belief, Viper has a very good memory unlike most dyspraxic children. Which meant that they remember everything about magic and Before pretty damn well. That also means that they know their aunt is a jealous bitch and their parents were respected people.

(Terrifying too.)

(Where do you think Viper got their vindictive streak from?)

They remembers their mother's gentle emerald eyes, so unlike their own heartless ones. Viper remembers how they used to tangle their chubby fingers into her long red locks. They remember the soothing scent of thunderstorms, wild lilies and pork.

(Viper remembers quite well what Lily did to James when he tried to sneak away one of her pork chops. Never again, they promised themselves. Never again.)

They remember their father's eyes fillied with mischief as he pranked their Godfather Padfoot, his eyes the brightest shade of hazel. His hair was the exact shade of the dark chocolate that their fat cousin despised, but resembled more of a bird's nest than anything. A trait they had inherited from him. Unlike their mother, he had the cheerful scent of sunshine, forests after rain, and chocolate chip cookies.

(Viper will never mention the incident which they vaguely remember, always in embarrassment and frustration, when they tried to eat James's hair. Never.)

They know why the Dursleys make (or made, if you take into account the years after her eighth year of life) them do chores, why they make (Viper is very smug to say made) them have worse grades than Dudley when they revealed they were obviously a genius (particularly in the Maths department), and why they treated them less than a person.

Viper hated it.

They hated how Petunia always shoved them into oversized wool dresses and how uncomfortable it made them feel. They hated how they were expected to act like 'a proper girl', never curse or backtalk, and always listen to men like a proper lady. They hated how they were locked into their poor excuse of a bedroom and later forced to do chores.

(Gardening was probably the only bright side. They liked flowers.)

(Coincidentally, they made their first friend in the garden.)

So they did everything they could to piss their relatives off. From occasionally dressing up as a boy (how they got the well fitting male clothes the small family will never know) to hanging out in the dangerous parts of Surrey and charging people for the smallest of things. (The gangs had a healthy fear of the small green eyed demon after the incident with Lorenzo.) They got quite a deal for that. Who knew people would pay millions to find people were?

(Though the fact that they were searching for these people was questionable, Viper was content with not getting involved in their business. They were only in this for the money and pissing her relatives off after all. They didn't care if the people were going to die.)

(People always did call them a cold-hearted bitch.)

The Dursleys were furious, but what could they do? Viper was quite famous (or rather, infamous) with the people down in the shadier parts of town, and they would come asking if the strange kid that made Boss Lorenzo cry like a baby went missing for long periods of time.

So the Dursleys gave them extra chores, less food, and a slap or two on the face for making them look bad.

Viper didn't care about her relatives. While the chores (bar gardening) were tiring, they could easily sneak out to buy some food if they were really hungry. And the less said about what they did to Vernon about the slaps the better.

(Who knew he could scream like a girl when confronted with a car full of worms and spiders?)

(Coincidentally, they had stolen a camera from the store a few months back, and the blackmail was pure gold.)

To make them even more pissed, Viper took to ripping the ugly secondhand dresses up with scissors they found in their aunt's sewing kit. They refused to act like a proper girl (okay, they did, but only when needed), going from backtalking to cursing occasionally and mastering the art of sarcasm.

Sarcasm was her weapon.

When they turned eight, they refused to listen to the Dursleys any longer and did something that they hadn't the guts to do before.

They did better in school, much better than Dudley, and the teachers (specifically the gentle Maths teacher Mrs. Barbados) adored her. Thye ignored her sarcasm and clinical way of viewing the world, and refused to listen to the Dursleys when they told her she was a liar and cheater.

(Well, she was a liar.)

Aster Potter was many things, but a cheater they were not. The teachers thought their want of being called 'Viper' was adorable, so they complied to their wishes to see their very rare (and smug) smile.

So what if the girl dressed up as a boy and preferred to be addressed as 'he' that day, and the next 'they'? So what if the girl tended to fall, trip, bump into things and people, was easily worn out and bad at sports? Sure, their handwriting and eyesight could use some work, and they needed to slow down when speaking (they really had no tact and couldn't put their thoughts into words) and had a cute little tick, but they were well behaved and intelligent for someone with their condition.

As they later learned from the school nurse, little miss Potter had a milder form of dyspraxia, but was a better case then most dyspraxic children.

So, much to the Dursleys displeasure, Viper was a rather well liked individual in the town of Surrey. At least, by the adults. The younger generations hated the clumsy know-it-all, they called them freaky. Until Viper sent a kid to a therapist with only words when he called them that. After that incident, the kids avoided them like the plague.

Viper was rather pleased with that. They had to deal with annoying kids less that way.

They had only one friend. They met him when a few weeks before they turned eight. How they acquired him is not important, and Viper doesn't like to think of it.

Their only friend was a strange yellow-and-white viper with red eyes and a habit of munching on his own tail. He was only a few weeks old when they met and befriended eachother. Much to Viper's delight, they found out they could talk to snakes and lizards quite easily. It was a skill which they heavily enjoyed.

(It truly proved that magic existed.)

He told them his name was Fantasma.

They told him they wanted to be called Viper.

Fantasma was happy to comply.

(The day the Dursleys met Fantasma will forever be engraved in their mind as the funniest part of their childhood.)

(Dursley never tried to hit her after that.)

(Apparently, their snakey friend was poisonous. Who would've thought?)

So, despite their relatives best wishes and actions, Viper was content with her life and ruled them with an iron fist.

(They still did the cooking and gardening, mostly because none of the Dursleys could cook for shit, and they and Fantasma enjoyed the garden.)

(When Petunia grudgingly gave them their mother's old things, Viper called it a win.)

Then they turned nine, and an incident happened in which they acquired another friend, a special ability, and became aware of her other abilities.

It doesn't mean they were happy about it.

Especially why they learned their friend was with them.

(Whoever said Viper wasn't capable of murder is an idiot. They might be small, but they're vicious and know where to strike to make it hurt.)