Disclaimer: I own nothing but the annoying plot bunny that jumps from brain cell to brain cell in the thing I call my head.

Pushing The Boundaries

Repercussions and The Forgotten Familiar

~You! Young one, you swore that you would notify me before that ritual of yours! But no, you went on ahead with it anyway! Without me!~ Vitas dodged out of the way as his familiar, Venustas, snapped her fangs at him as she reprimanded him.

He had just been released from bed rest as Narcissa had deemed him back to full health and had gone to his room, but his silver snake familiar had other plans it seemed.

He grinned as he remembered what had happened he had brought her home at the end of the day and his parents had noticed the small snake wrapped around his wrist.

Flashback

"Vitas! I thought you didn't want a familiar? Did you steal the snake?" His mother demanded, they hadn't noticed him receiving the snake form the reptile's room and the manager hadn't included any price for her, so it seemed logical for Narcissa to believe that the snake may have been stolen from the store.

"Mother, I promise you that I didn't steal this snake, the manager let me have her for free and I didn't want wither of you to panic in the shop… she killed her last thirteen owners." Vitas said calmly, indicating the snake sleeping while wrapped around his wrist.

Narcissa and Lucius' expressions immediately became alert whereas the three children stayed calm, unbothered by the facts that a snake that could potentially kill any one of them was in their home.

"Don't worry though, Melantha, myself and Draco are able of speaking parseltounge, I'm sure Draco and Melantha will share in the sentiment that we are sorry for not alerting you to such a fact before, however, we felt it a secret best kept until it needed to be revealed. Such as now, because I, and the other two, can tell you exactly why young Venustas didn't kill me the second we walked out of the Magical Menagerie." Vitas explained dismissively as though the topic wasn't that important.

He watched with a child-like glee as his parents looked as though they had just had miniature heart-attacks… which, to be fair, was probably what had just happened, after all… they had just implied that the Malfoys were descended from Slytherin… something that Lucius really should have already known.

~Venustas, would you mind awakening for me, I'm sure everyone of the Malfoys family present would like an explanation as to why you didn't kill me first off, and recognised me as Slytherin and Ravenclaw's descendant?~ Vitas hissed gently to the awakening snake.

~Of course, are they all Speakers?~ Venustas asked.

~My blood-siblings are, but the older ones are not.~ Vitas replied smoothly, resisting the urge to smirk as his parents watched the exchange with clear interest.

~Which blood-sibling will translate for us?~ The small snake asked, directing the question to the Malfoy children.

~I will, Venustas, it is an honour that a snake such as yourself is my brother's protector. I am named Melantha.~

And so the inquisition began.

"Mum, I will be translating everything Vitas and Venustas say, okay?" Melantha said as Vitas hissed to his familiar to begin the explanation.

~As you already know, you are a potential heir to two major bloodlines, /I would have chosen Dark Flower for a familiar as she is the oldest of you both, but you are linked to the still living Lord Slytherin, it makes sense to choose you.~ Venustas said as an introduction.

Melantha translated – "Venustas realized when we entered the shop that Vitas and I were potential heirs for two founder bloodlines, and would have chosen me if not for the fact that I had found my familiar in my snowy owl."

~Why did you want to be bonded to an heir of both Ravenclaw and Slytherin?~ Vitas asked.

~My species of snake is a magical breed that has knowledge passed down through a process that I don't quite understand. However I can tell you that my ancestor was the first of our kind, created by the pure Magicks of Lady Rowena and Lord Salazar, with the purpose of seeking out any of their heirs, since Rowena had conceived a child at the time, and to protect them if they did not yet have familiars. The knowledge is passed down through memory and I know that there aren't many of us snakes out there, I only know to seek out the most powerful heir and to bond with them.~ Venustas explained.

Melantha translated all of the knowledge, not seeing anything that could potentially harm the Trio of Malfoy kids.

~Guess I'm stuck with you then?~ Vitas said with a smile at the snake.

~You'd better believe it~ Venustas replied before going back to sleep, looking like a shimmering silver snake bracelet.

Narcissa and Lucius could only stare.

End Flashback

~I'm sorry Ven! The ritual took more out of me than I could have guessed, but guess what? You'll get to meet the Snake-Lord~ Vitas said, trying to placate the snake, his comment about Tom seemed to calm her though.

~You are forgiven, now conjure up some small mice for me… I actually had to hunt during the two days you left me!~ Venustas said, vitas smiled, she was spoilt rotten, though he didn't care – In his eyes, the snake was Magical Snake Royalty, created by Magic itself, and she wasn't the small thing she had been before.

She had grown to more than two feet in the short month and a bit he had had her, apparently she was growing fast due to the fact that her body was changing and adjusting according to the changes Vitas' magic had been through since his birth. Venustas was feeding and growing off of his magic, and continued to grow at a fast rate, though should slow down soon and eventually she would grow at the rate a normal snake would – but alongside his magic until he reached seventeen.

He conjured up several baby mice and let her kill and eat them; he was going to go to write to Melantha… though he had just reached the wall hiding the secret passages when a voice stopped him.

"Vitas? Are you okay?" Tom had appeared, though he knew about the passages and such, Vitas suddenly found himself leaning heavily on the wall, trying his best not to succumb to exhaustion.

"What the hell is going on? Vitas, are you hurt? Vitas, What happened?" Tom seemed to be panicking slightly, and noticed Venustas moving over, having finished her lunch.

~Snake-Lord, my wizard exhausted himself with the ritual to bring you back didn't he? Think carefully, he just wandlessly conjured up some rats for my lunch and then was about to use more magic to move around in those dark secret places… it seems to me that he simply needs to stop using magic for a while before he is better. I am Venustas, his familiar… go get help!~ Venustas had no problem ordering around her wizard's wizard around when it concerned Vitas' well-being.

In his disbelief of coming across a purely magical snake that had decided to order him around, Tom obeyed her order and fetched the other Malfoy's in record time.

They arrived back at the room and levitated a now-unconscious Vitas onto his bed and everyone sighed collectively.

"When will Vitas finally listen to us about not using magic without permission?" Lucius said rhetorically to the silence of the room, they all chuckled weakly, remembering earlier in the summer… and actually throughout the time at the manor, Vitas always used magic.

He didn't care, rules had always been more like guidelines anyway.

So, yeah, anyone who wondered about Vitas' familiar, I finally found a place to add her in, this is like an interlude, but hey, it a chapter with over a thousand words and it's just in time for Christmas! 3 more days! Merry Christmas everyone!

Review. Inspire me for the next chapter?