Warning: This chapter has not been beta-ed yet. I decided to go ahead and post the chapter because I've already made you guys wait far too long. I apologize for the trouble.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything Harry Potter related. It all belongs to JK Rowling, Bloomsbury Books, Scholastics Inc, Warner Bros., and any other entities involved. Nor do I own The Dance by Out of the Grey.
Also, Parseltounge will be in Italics.
I walked into the room
There he was
This was the first time
The first time that I'd met him
And I told him
Well I told him, yeah I told him
Turn that TV off
While you're doing your homework
And so the dance began
Every dance is made of steps
Some are slow
Some fast and confident
Some move us together
Some send us spinning
And we try again
There were times
When I wanted to hold you
And times
When I wouldn't be held
I was waiting
I was watching, I was wond'ring
Maybe we should call
This whole thing off
Or maybe I'll call him
And so we danced again…
Every dance is made of steps
Some are slow
Some fast and confident
Some move us together
Some send us spinning
They're never ending
Ever beginning
-Out of the Grey "The Dance"
Snape's POV
Groaning, I let myself gracefully collapse into the leather armchair next to the fireplace—all the while wanting to snarl over how that child was going to be the death of me. Not only did he carry a deadly snake around like his personal pet, but now he had to have a bloody emotional break down. A bloody emotional breakdown that had me trampling across the expanse of Spinner's Edge looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack.
And I still wasn't finished with the whelp. He sat across from me in a grey upholstered chair, his head bowed and thus leaving his eyes shadowed behind his bangs. Sneering at his submissive display, I mentally prepared for the battle ahead.
"As previously discussed you will be adopted as my heir and child, this is no longer negotiable." I frown down at the child letting the implications of such a statement sink in. The hooligan was trapped by his own stubbornness, for better or worse. Unfortunately, while I wished for the child to be properly cowed by such a statement, I knew that the idiot whelp would only find it reassuring. Therefore I would simply have to lead him to understand the hell which awaited him.
"As such you will be expected to behave as a pureblood heir. This is also not negotiable. What you must understand is that once I adopt you, you will no longer be a pureblood. The society you will take part in will be aware of your half-blood status and respond to you accordingly." I pause again, this time to evaluate the brat's expression. His body had stilled as he calmly watched me with disturbingly clear eyes.
Frowning, I continue, "As such the rules which apply to you will be much more rigid than those around you. To survive you will have to be twice as elegant, three times more magically endowed, four times as dangerous, and ten times more cunning. Do not once be fooled; by becoming my adopted son you are not being accepted into a loving household, but a nest of vipers." I watch as the child's eyes darken from an accessing gleam to a cold acceptance. Perhaps, the fool was finally coming to understand his situation.
"This one warning is the only kindness I will show you. Do not expect me to enable or assist when you fall into trouble." I wait for the child to nod before continuing. "That being said, I have already seen to the start of your education by purchasing the services of various tutors in Magical history: both recent and ancient, Magical Law, Pureblood Traditions and Etiquette, and the Latin language. I will personally see to your education in Potions, Transfiguration, Charms, Astronomy, and Herbology. When you prove yourself apt enough we will begin your lessons in the Dark Arts, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Ancient Runes, and Arithmancy."
Finally, I came to the end of my speech, "Tomorrow an acquaintance of mine will visit to outfit you with a wand so that I may begin your magical education. I ask that you leave your serpent behind for her own welfare, lest she accidentally catch on fire." The boy's eyes widened comically as he ran a hand protectively over the snake's scales. "We will immediately begin your private lessons with me. I will wait to introduce you your tutors until after the adoption ritual. I will also bring in healers to see to your disability after the ritual. Assuming that even one as poorly educated as yourself can read and write, I am preparing an altered adoption ritual in which the spoken parts can be written. Do you understand, or does your pathetic mind need me to repeat anything?"
The child paused for a moment before nodding in understanding. That was not reassuring of his intelligence.
"I have prepared a potions station and instructions for you across the room. You will be preparing a customer's perfume. Should you succeed in the brewing I will allow you a percentage of the proceeds. At the end of the brewing I will expect a two foot essay detailing basic procedures in potion brewing. There are books set out should you be in need of assistance." Nodding, my new charge stood before crossing the room towards his first school project.
Truthfully, beginning a child's education with this potions project was quite ingenious, if I do say so myself. Recently it has become quite the trend for ladies of class to purchase their perfumes from potion masters. This supposedly assured the customer that the perfumes would be of the highest quality possible, but, in truth, any two year old could mix the perfumes with little difficulty. None of the ingredients were of a volatile nature and the recipes tended to be quite simple. But the pay was good and as such many of the potion masters had encouraged this particular trend. It was with great relish that I passed these particular commissions onto my young charge.
With a self satisfied smirk I leaned back into my chair, letting my eyes graze across the book resting in my lap. It was time to begin researching the adoption ritual and possible adaptations to account for the brat's inability to speak.
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Audre's POV:
I was annoyed. It seemed, now that Snape had taken my child under his wing, a silent war had been declared between the two of us. He regularly dropped disparaging comments, purposefully made the manor into an uncomfortable environment for one of my species, and even attempted to separate me from my child!
Glancing down, I watched as Harry plucked a few rose petals from a bud before placing them down next to the Ashwinder eggs. Leave it to the snarky bastard to begin my child's Potions education less than a week into his stay.
And that was another problem! Who in their right mind allows a six year old child to work on a potion unsupervised? It doesn't matter whether or not the potion is benign because the trouble children can get into is unpredictable! Not to mention that every potion requires the use of a variety of pointy objects!
Slowly I shifted my body until I could read the recipe's instructions and ingredients list: red rose petals, butterfly wings, extract of vanilla, cantharidin, a ground rhino horn, and Ashwinder eggs. It seemed that my child was making a perfume. The roses and vanilla provided the core of the scent while the butterfly wings would be used to make the scent as fleeting and intriguing as a butterfly kiss. The ground rhino horn and cantharidin worked as aphrodisiacs while the Ashwinder eggs added a hint of passion.
Smirking to myself, I double checked the instructions once more. Oh yes, this could defiantly work, not to mention how entertaining this trick would be. It was time to teach Snape a lesson about the unpredictability of child rearing.
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Snape's POV:
Sighing in irritation, I lifted my hand to rub the bridge of my nose. It seemed as if my plan for altering the adoption ritual was going to be a bit more difficult than anticipated. The idea of a pureblood wishing to adopt a mute child had apparently never crossed the mind of the simpleton that created the ritual. As such, I was most likely going to have to create my own, while referencing heavily from the existing ritual, instead of simply altering the original.
Annoyed, I jotted a few notes down before setting my research aside in favor of checking on my charge. The child had been extremely hesitant when first working on the potion and I had wondered if the task was too difficult for the uneducated whelp. But, eventually the child had relaxed and seemed to be progressing at a much more acceptable rate.
The fact that the improvement in performance had occurred shortly after that bloody snake had curled tighter around the child, with its head positioned as if it were whispering in the child's ear, had not escaped my attention. The fool was becoming too emotionally reliant on the serpent. I suppose that is just one more item in a long list that needs to be fixed.
I watched as the idiot gracelessly plopped the Ashwinder eggs into to the potion, all the while reveling in the thought of the child's soon to come critique. It was a split second later that I noticed the potion had changed into the wrong color; what should have been a creamy rose was now almost a mother of pearl. Unfortunately, I was unable to react in time to prevent the explosion of light that soon occurred.
By the time the spots in my vision had lifted, I had an entire repertoire of scathing comments prepared for the imbecilic whelp that couldn't seem to get a simple potion right. Or at least I did. All venomous remarks fell short the moment I saw the whelp's expression. This child, who had previously seemed incapable of anything more than a slight tilt of his lips for a smile, now stood with bright eyes and a grin that stretched across the entire width of his face as he viewed the multiple rainbows that now stretched across my living room—the multiple rainbows that were now giving me a headache.
Sighing, I rubbed the bridge of my nose while approaching the excited child. "What, did you do?" I hissed in what I believe was a perfectly reasonable tone, especially considering the tongue lashing I had originally planned to give the hooligan.
The child's eyes shifted towards the serpent on his torso, who seemed suspiciously asleep with the most innocent expression possible, before he glanced down at the floor and shuffled his feet.
"Stand up strait, stop fidgeting, and look me in the eye like a proper pureblood." I snarled.
The whelp cringed before complying.
"I repeat, what did you do?"
He glanced around us, seeming to take heart from the annoyingly sparkling rainbows, before sheepishly smiling at me. Cursing the fates for that manipulative grin, I wondered how I could have possibly been glad to see this child smile just a moment ago.
Agitated, I turned to stalk out of the room, calling over my shoulder, "I expect you to have answered my question in essay format by the time I return." As I left to fetch a headache potion, I tried not to notice the child's expression returning to one of delight as he eyed the disgusting rainbows that now dominated my once pristine living room.
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Audre's POV:
Smirking, I watched Snape mop up the exploded potion. When his thorough cleaning failed to get rid of the rainbows, my smirk developed into a full grin. After two hours of cursing "inept whelps who couldn't be left alone for a second", Snape had finally been reduced to the futile task of casting every spell in his vast repertoire at the rainbows. Needless to say, by this point in time I would have been cackling with glee had it not been beneath my serpent nature.
Truthfully, the potion had absorbed into the various furnishing by creating a thin layer of reflective lacquer. If Snape wished to be rid of the rainbows he would first have to remove the furniture, which would certainly help in making this barely hospitable mansion much more child friendly.
Eventually, I tired of watching Snape's valiant struggles, and chose to consider this a lesson well taught and well learned. It was time to return to my child, who was supposed to be asleep for the night. Of course, what child actually goes to sleep when they're told to? As I slithered into Harry's bedroom, I found him curled up in bed with a book in his lap.
"I thought Snape told you to go to sleep?" I scolded as I crawled onto the bed.
"Mmm." Was the only response given.
Sighing in exasperation, I asked my next question. "What are you reading?"
"A book Mr. Snape gave me." The child said without looking up from the book.
Annoyed, I threw one of my coils over the book, successfully forcing Harry to look at me. "Why and which one?"
Harry fidgeted for a moment before finally looking at me. "The Pureblood stuff. I wanted to know what Agugin is."
Sighing, I took the time to correct the child, "Firstly, it is pronounced Anguigena and do you mean your Pureblood Traditions book?"
Harry nodded before attempting to correct his pronunciation, "Agugina."
"Anguigena" I corrected.
Harry merely scrunched his nose before continuing, "So what is it?"
"What is the point of knowing if you can't even pronounce it?"
He pouted for a moment, before attempting to pronounce it again. A few minutes later he had successfully pronounced the word and was comfortably curled around a pile of pillows as he waited for my explanation.
"I suppose I should start with the creation of the world."
"Why?"
"If you let me continue you will know." I allowed my child a moment to look sheepish before continuing.
"A long time ago—"
"But aren't you supposed to start a story with the words 'Once upon a time?"
I sigh with exasperation, "Fine, but no more interruptions."
Harry smiled at me and I was able to continue.
"Once upon a time," I said, all the while cringing at the thought of using such a childish line when telling the history of my people. "The world was a flat desolate place. There was no life, for all the creatures slept in the dreamtime. Then one day the great Rainbow Serpent awoke."
"Why's he called the Rainbow Serpent?" Harry asked, his eyes wide and innocent. It was obvious that he had forgotten his promise not to interrupt.
"Because his scales were all the colors of the rainbow."
"Wow."
I smile at Harry's awe, forgetting my previous annoyance at the interruption. "Anyways, after the Rainbow Serpent awoke, he pushed his way to the surface of the Earth and saw a new world. Curious, the Rainbow Serpent began to explore the new world. Yet, his body was so large that he changed the very surface of the Earth, leaving imprints that created the mountains.
After a while, the Rainbow Serpent grew lonely, for there was no one else in this world with him. So he called out, 'Wake up!' Both the humans and the dragons awoke from their slumber, but the Rainbow Serpent noticed that none of the dragons were able to move as fast as the humans. Worried, the Rainbow Serpent tickled their tummies and all the water they had stored in their sleep came poring out as they laughed. This water rushed into the deeper imprints from the Rainbow Serpent's body and created the oceans, rivers, and seas.
The humans, dragons, and Rainbow Serpent lived together for quite some time, but eventually the Rainbow Serpent once again became lonely. This time he missed his tribe, who he had left behind in the dreamtime when he chose to explore the new world. The dragons told him not to worry for they were sure that if they traveled far enough they would find his tribe.
So the Rainbow Serpent set out to travel once more, this time to find his tribe. Many years past before he found them, but once he did everyone was so joyful that they threw the greatest of parties.
As the party drew on late into the night, the Rainbow Serpent eventually chose to return to his tent and rest. When he awoke, he found two drunken humans attempting to rob the camp. Angered, the Rainbow Serpent ate the two humans by tricking them into believing that his mouth was the entrance to his tent. Disturbed by the fact that two humans could do such a thing, the Rainbow Serpent chose to sleep in a near by valley rather than the camp.
When the humans woke to find that their brethren had been eaten by the Rainbow Serpent, they became angry. They hunted the Rainbow Serpent down and cut his stomach open, while he still slept, in the hopes of freeing the two thieves. Yet, to their surprise, the two thieves had been transformed into parakeets.
Startled awake by the pain of having his stomach cut open, the Rainbow Serpent began to thrash, causing a great earth quake. As the humans ran away, the Rainbow Serpent used his powers to transform the guilty into various animals and magical creatures. These creatures were much purer of heart than the humans and as such would never commit such a betrayal again.
But still the Rainbow Serpent worried that such mistakes could be repeated and as such he gave his decedents the power of rebirth."
I pause for a moment, making sure that my child was still awake and capable of understanding what I was about to say. Harry rubbed at his tired little eyes, before nodding towards me to continue.
"You see, while every other race has an afterlife they travel to, we return to this world, which the Rainbow Serpent loved so much. Each time we are reborn we take on a new body and new life, while still retaining the memories of our previous lives. In return for this immortality, the Rainbow Serpent has appointed us as the teachers and tricksters of the world. It is our job to teach the foolish, which includes the entire human race and a few stupid creatures. Since there is no better way to learn than through hard earned experience, we teach through tricks.
There is only one exception to this cycle and that is the transformation in rebirth. One or two serpent souls from each generation will be born into a human body so as to keep a closer eye on the ever fluctuating race. That is what you are. The humans know you as a Parselmouth, but we retained the name that was given to you by the Roman Empire. Anguigena, which is Latin for 'Born from Snakes.'"
I waited for Harry to respond. It was obvious he was tired, but I wanted to make sure he understood.
"Why don't you have your own name for us?"
Surprised, I let out a slight chuckle. "We did at one time, but the Romans were very good at setting new ways and traditions that do not fade for thousands of years. We are just one of the many that forgot what we were before the Romans."
"But you said that you were immortal. That you memories never fade." Harry said, his bottom lip sticking out in stubbornness.
"The memories of our past lives are like dreams we can recall. No mind, aside from the Rainbow Serpent's, could retain an eternity of memories."
"But then how do you know the memories are real? That they weren't just dreams?"
"How do you know this isn't just a dream?" I ask in return.
Harry looked down at the bed sheets for a moment, unwilling to meet my eyes. "I don't, c-cause it f-feels like a d-dream."
Saddened, I curled around Harry's body and whispered sweet nothings in his ear, lulling him to sleep and hopefully away from his insecurities.
As he reached the cusp of sleep, Harry's eyes opened for a moment, "Do you think that the rainbows from earlier today were a sign from the Rainbow Serpent? D-do you think e-everything is g-going to be okay?"
Smiling, I curled myself tighter around my child. "Without a doubt, love. Without a doubt."
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Author's Note: (Please forgive the prolific note, but there is a lot of info to cover.)
I am soooo sorry about how long it took to update! I was having major writer's block! I knew what I wanted to write, but for the life of me I couldn't write it without making it sound like crap. I also came way to close to subjecting you all to "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" for this chapter's song before deciding not get my kicks out of torturing you guys.
By the way, if you're wondering why Audre can read and do potions it's because of Voldie using the snakes to spy on his followers. For the serpents to be effective spies, Voldi would need to make sure that they had the resources to understand what their families were doing. In this case Audre needs to be able to both read and understand potions to be able to properly spy on Snape.
So the Rainbow Serpent is a true myth from the aboriginal people of Australia. That being said, I took extreme liberties with the story and if you want to hear a truer version, I would recommend looking it up on google. I will post a chapter at the end of this story with all of my research and corresponding links for the curious readers.
Also, I shamelessly stole the idea of a trickster race from Rob Thurman. While I was researching serpent mythology, I had been unsuccessfully trying to find a unifying theme that could cover all of my research and define the culture I was trying to create. That was when I read Rob Thurman's book "The Grimrose Path" and it was like the proverbial light bulb going off. By the way, if you have not read Rob Thurman's books, do so! They are some of the best books I have ever read!
Thank you so much for the reviews! I'm very glad that so many of you find this to be a unique and original story!
Review Responses: (please forgive me for waiting this long to answer reviews but I wanted to be able to answer without causing spoilers, thus the wait to finish this chapter.)
Thrnbrooke: So, as you mentioned, Audre is a clever snake and, truth be told, that's part of the reason I'm writing this story. I love stories that include a snake companion for Harry, but I became annoyed with the serpents either not being intelligent or viewing Harry as their master. So in this story, serpents are not only fully sentient and self aware, but also have their own culture, religion, and governing laws. Harry, as a snake speaker, is a part of that culture and as such this story will kinda become a "creature" fic. No, Harry will not randomly grow scales and a long forked tongue, but instead his soul and personality will be shaped by the snakes' culture.
Fifespice & Thrnbrooke: So yes, Harry is mute. I'm actually giving him the disorder Selective Mutism. The cause of this disorder isn't really known, although there is speculation for and against it being caused by abuse. What is known is that children with Selective Mutism become unable to speak in stressful situations. What classifies as a stressful situation varies based upon the child and can be as simple as an unfamiliar person being in the same room as them. As for treatment, Selective Mutism can be treated with a mixture of medicine, therapy, and careful exposure to new situations.
I'm not going to tell you why Harry has this disorder. I will provide plenty of things that could have caused it, but I will never outright declare a cause for his disorder in this story. Selective Mutism will not be the purpose of this story but instead one of its many facets.
Selesteant: So hopefully this chapter answered your question.
Godwolf Fenrir: I am so glad you reacted to the smile in chapter 1! I was afraid that the smile wasn't strongly written enough to be noticed!