Disclaimer: See prologue. Also, no copyright or trademark infringement is intended with the quoting of the Hogwarts letter in this chapter.
Guide: "Speech", Thoughts, ~letters and other written things, "Parseltongue"
Beta: cuter-than-a-guinea-pig. All remaining errors are my own.
AN: One of my reviewers asked when I would reveal the second part of the prophesy. The answer is that it will be revealed with the start of the HEA arc, so in about 15-20 chapters.
-~-~- Verbuar -~-~-
-~-~-by Still waters are deep-~-~-
-~-~- Chapter 6 -~-~-
Eleven is a very important age for a magical child. It is the age at which they start to attend Hogwarts or one of the other magic schools in Europe. The eleventh birthday is even more special for witches and Foreas as they not only receive their Hogwarts' letter but also, finally have their introduction to society party.
I couldn't wait for my own eleventh birthday to come with how much Draco praised all the social gatherings he had attended in the last two years. Dancing, eating lots of desserts and, even better, staying up well past his bedtime.
And while I had a lot of fun during my introduction to society party, it unfortunately didn't go as planned as an attack by Greyback and his pack of rogue werewolves once again disrupted a party my parents were hosting. At least this time they didn't attack the party itself.
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It was fortunate that the only part of the Prophet I was interested in was the page with the Quidditch news. So, I hadn't gotten wind of all the speculations about my revealed Foreas status and my possible fiancés that were printed the week following Draco's introduction to society party. So, I still didn't even suspect that my fiancée wasn't even of the female gender like I'd assumed.
However, Tom had decided that at eleven I was finally old enough to learn about our engagement. So, a week before my birthday, he asked my father to stay behind after a meeting to plan the reveal.
Thursday, 25th July 1991
"With Harry's birthday approaching, I'm sure you can imagine that what I want to talk about concerns your son," Lord Slytherin said to my father.
"I assume that it is about your engagement?" James answered.
"Yes, among other things. I believe that Harry has already told you that I promised him that I would pick out a snake for him when he starts Hogwarts?" Tom asked.
When my father nodded in agreement, as I had recently bragged about it during breakfast, Tom continued, "Good. I would like to take him to Diagon Alley with me on the sixth of August to buy the snake. I could shop for his Hogwarts things too then, if this is agreeable with you?"
"Of course, my Lord," James answered. After all how could he deny his Lord such a simple request? Besides, Harry would surely love to spend some time with Lord Slytherin, he argued.
"Good," Tom said again, folding his hands and letting his chin rest on them. "With this solved, we only need to discuss the announcement of my and Harry's betrothal.
"I would like to tell Harry about our engagement myself on his birthday next week when I present him with the second earring," Tom stated, leaving no room for protest.
Not only was my father relieved to hear that I would finally know about the engagement, but also that he wouldn't be the one to explain it to me. Besides, he thought that the gifting of the earring was the perfect opportunity to explain the situation to me. "That would be perfect," he commented.
"As for the public announcement, I believe that Harry and I sharing his first dance should be enough to make my claim known. We can give an official statement the next day if it becomes necessary," Tom said.
My father hummed in agreement, before he asked, "Anything else you wanted to talk about?"
"No, that was all," Lord Slytherin dismissed him.
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Wednesday, 31st July 1991
It was finally the day of my birthday. My eleventh birthday. So, it wasn't surprising that I was up at dawn. And while my mother was able to be amused about I waking up the whole house at shortly after five, Draco wasn't really in the mood to get out of bed. In the end, he humoured me though, but this could also have something to do with me threatening to empty a water bucket over his head if he didn't get up. Not that I would really have done it as it was my bed he had slept in.
"Why again did I agree to sleep over at your house instead of coming over at a reasonable hour?" Draco asked me when he finally entered the kitchen at half past five.
"Because you wanted to be the first to wish me a 'happy birthday'. Which you didn't by the way; mum beat you to it. Except, of course, 'Go away and let me sleep' nowadays means 'happy birthday'?" I asked, teasing my friend about not being a morning person.
Draco just groaned in reply as he took his seat at the kitchen table, sweetening his tea to his liking.
"Oh, come on, Draco. It isn't like you didn't wake me up at four last month when it was your birthday. At least the sun is already up," I said, reminding my friend that, when he had woken me up on his birthday, it had taken forty minutes before the sun decided to show herself.
"Someone is very hyper today, isn't he?" my dad asked rhetorically when he entered the kitchen.
"Not as hyper as uncle Sirius on Christmas morning, though," I answered. Really, my godfather could be worse than a five year old on a sugar rush when he was about to get some presents.
"That's true," James answered. "He and Remus should be over soon," he added as he took a scoop of the scrambled eggs from the pan my mother had just placed on the table.
Half an hour later, just as we finished eating breakfast, a black dog raced into the kitchen, hoping into my lap and licking my face with his wet tongue.
"Sirius," Remus called out in a scolding voice. "Can't you behave for a change?" the werewolf asked as he entered the kitchen.
In answer, the dog let out a playful bark, obviously saying, "Why should I?"
Before the situation could escalate though, a tawny owl entered the room through the window my mother had previously opened in anticipation of the mail delivery.
"Let me get my camera out first," the now human again Sirius said before I could open my Hogwarts acceptance letter. "We cannot not capture this moment," he said as he rummaged in his robe pockets.
"Okay, I'm ready," he finally gave his okay a minute later.
And even though Draco had already read his own letter and knew what it said, he still moved closer towards me, our shoulders brushing against each other. And as the adults seemed to be as curious as Draco about what the letter said, I read it out loud.
~Dear Mr Potter,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.
Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July.
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall ~
"Oh, our little Harry, finally growing up and starting Hogwarts," Sirius said with teary eyes.
"At least Harry is growing up," my mother commented, clearly referring to Sirius childish and sometimes bipolar behaviour, which my godfather claimed was his special form of the Black insanity.
"To quote James Barrie*, 'If growing up means it would be beneath my dignity to climb a tree, I'll never grow up, never grow up, never grow up!'" my godfather chanted the last part enthusiastically in answer to my mother's jibe.
"More like barking up at a cat in a tree," Severus said dryly, having obviously overheard Sirius last sentence.
The animagus just huffed in answer while Severus walked over towards me and wished me a happy birthday.
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Three hours later Draco, Sirius and I were playing a game of Exploding Snap in the living room when the doorbell rang. With it being my birthday, I didn't hesitate to race towards the door to open it. However, my father still reached the door long before me as he had been busy decorating the hallway with balloons for the party in the afternoon.
"Good morning, my Lord," I heard him greet which could only be Lord Slytherin.
"Good morning, James. I hope that I'm not too early?" Tom asked, worrying that I may still be sleeping at nine o'clock.
"Oh, no. Harry had woken us all up at five. So, you're actually rather late," my father joked just as I reached the door.
"Good morning, Lord Slytherin," I happily greeted Tom.
"Good morning, Harry, and happy birthday!" he answered.
"Thank you. Where's Nagini?" I asked him, being a bit sad to not see his snake with him.
"She was still on a hunting trip when I left the manor," he informed me as we entered the house.
"Why don't you show Lord Slytherin your room?" my father suggested, knowing that Tom would want to talk in private with me and not have Draco or Sirius listening in on our talk.
"Okay, dad," I said, not really understanding why he wanted me to do this, but nevertheless, I showed Lord Slytherin the way to my room.
When we entered my room, Tom couldn't help but to look around, not that there was much to see though. Compared to Draco's gigantic room, my bedroom was rather small. Besides some shelves with books and my closet, a king size bed and a writing desk with a swivel chair were the only other pieces of furniture in it.
"I see you still have the toy I gave you as a baby," Tom said with a smile when he saw the big black cuddly toy dog sitting on the floor to the left of my window.
"Ehm...yes," I answered, tousling my hair in embarrassment. While I really loved the big toy as it reminded me of my godfather and also because Tom was the one who gave it to me, most people found it rather childish if an eleven year old still had a little kid's toy. I tried to justify myself by adding, "Draco still has the cuddly toy dragon you gave him, too," pointing at said toy laying on the side of my bed where Draco had slept.
"You don't have to embarrassed about it, Harry," Tom said to me, giving Draco's cuddly toy a look I couldn't discern. If Nagini had been there, she would have said something along the lines of 'Are we now jealous of a toy, Tom? Or are you angry that the toy shows that another shared Harry's bed?' So, it was a good thing for Tom that he didn't bring her with him.
"I rather like the thought that you kept something I gave you even though some people would say that you're too old for cuddly toys," Tom added as we sat down on my bed.
In bashfulness I moved my hair behind my left ear, baring the lightning bolt earring.
"I really like your earring," he told me as he caressed the mentioned jewellery.
"Thank you, my Lord," I answered, blushing and not knowing just yet that he liked the earring so much because it marked me as his.
"Do you know what the earring symbolises?" Tom asked me.
"No," I answered with a shake of my head. "I only know that I have had it since birth and that it was given to me by a family member, though my father never said which one. I can't even take it off, not that I want to as I really love it," I rambled.
Tom chuckled once before he explained, "In my family it is a tradition that we give our intended a pair of earrings as a symbol for our betrothal. Usually they are a pair of silver snakes but sometimes they also have other forms."
"That is a wonderful gesture," I said, loving the idea that someone would use something like my beloved earring as a symbol of love, just like my mother proudly wore the stag pendant my father gave her for their engagement.
"Yes, it is," he answered, taking out a small blue jewellery box from one of his robe pockets. "For your birthday," he said as he handed over the box.
Gingerly, I opened the box and peered inside.
"You're the one who gave me the earring?" I asked when I saw that the jewellery box contained an earring which was an exact copy of my lightning bolt.
"Yes," he answered, making a gesture with his head that suggested that he was waiting for me to come to another conclusion.
I didn't need long to connect the dots between the earring in my hand and Tom's previous comment about his family tradition. "Does this mean that we're engaged?"
"Yes, Harry, we are. We will marry after you graduate from Hogwarts," he said, anxiously waiting for my reaction to the news—be it positive or negative.
"This means that I won't have to marry a girl, yes?" I asked, speaking slowly, still comprehending the new revelation, but at the same time wanting Tom to clarify his previous statement.
"Yes, you won't," Tom answered calmly, surprised by my question. "Not another male either," he added believing that this would have been my next question.
"Thank Merlin, I won't have to kiss any girls," was my relieved replied. "I had been worried about it ever since I overheard my father argue with Sirius about my future spouse."
"You certainly don't have to worry about that," Tom said, amused by my fear of female lips. He was glad that I seemed to take the news about our engagement rather well and hadn't started to scream at him for not telling me sooner about our engagement or run out of the room because I didn't want to marry him or something else along those lines.
After a pause, Tom asked, "So you are okay that you will marry me once you finish Hogwarts?" He wanted to be sure that I was really comfortable with the idea.
"I knew that I would have to marry someone since the day I was marked," I told him. "I'm just really happy right now that it won't be some random girl I don't even know or like," I truthfully admitted. "So yes, I really don't have a problem with marrying you," I added with a small smile.
While Tom was glad to hear this, the first part still bothered him. After all, I was only glad that he wasn't a random girl and not that it was him in particular who I would marry.
But as I was unaware of his thoughts, I asked, "Will you dance the first dance with me on Saturday? My parents told me that a child dances its opening dance either with a family member or with its future spouse. And when I told them that I want to dance it with Draco, they said that I couldn't. So, I can only assume that they said no because they already knew that I would be dancing with you?" I asked.
"Yes, we will be dancing together. But first, let me put in the second earring," Lord Slytherin suggested and I freely offered the box with the earring to him.
Tom carefully took out the lightning bolt and swept my hair out of the way.
"Thank you, my Lord," I said after he had put the earring in the previously empty piercing I had gotten together with the one in my left ear.
"You can call me Tom in private," he said, not liking that in such an intimate moment I addressed him by his title.
"Okay, Tom," I agreed with a happy smile.
Smiling back at me, Tom said, "Your father and I want to keep our engagement a secret for a while longer, so you cannot tell anyone about it before our dance on Saturday."
"Okay," I easily agreed to the request. "Anything else?" I asked.
"If you want to, you can tell Draco and the rest of your family that you got the earrings from me. Knowing them, they will figure out what they mean, just like you did," he praised me.
"And before you ask, I haven't forgotten my promise that I would pick out a snake for you," Tom said. "I'll take you to Diagon Alley next Tuesday to buy him or her."
"Will you bring Nagini with you then?" I asked, already missing the snake I hadn't seen in three months.
"Of course. It wouldn't be good if the two of them wouldn't get along, would it?" he asked.
"Yeah," I agreed, happily throwing up my arms into the air. I really loved Nagini and was more than excited to see her again.
"I'll see you on Saturday," Tom said with a last ruffle to my hair before he got up from the bed.
"Won't you stay for cake and the party?" I asked him, wanting him to celebrate with me.
"I would love to, Harry," he began and just as I feared added, "but as Lord Slytherin, I have obligations to fulfil which can't wait for another day. I'm sorry," he said as he left through the door.
When the door closed after him, I let myself fall down on the big bed. Engaged to Lord Slytherin, I thought with a sigh.
No, Tom, I corrected immediately.
I really didn't know what I should think about this new revelation. While I wasn't angry or mad about it, I couldn't say that I was overly excited about it either. But then, I had only just turned eleven and marriage wasn't something I had been thinking about.
Could I imagine eating dinner and breakfast with Tom every day? I asked myself. Did I want to share secret jokes with Tom and Nagini during some political function or another and live together with them at Slytherin Manor? Would I find dancing in Tom's arms as funny as dancing with Draco had been two years ago?
The answer to all of those question was a clear yes. So, maybe I should just enjoy my birthday party instead of working myself up over something which I clearly didn't mind at all and should just let it all work itself out on its own when the time comes. It wasn't like I could change it anyway.
Having made my mind up, I got up from the bed and joined Sirius and Draco in the living room, showing off my new earring and just enjoying the rest of the day, celebrating with my friends and family.
Though, I can't deny that when I was lying in my bed later that night, with Draco already fast asleep next to me, one thought crossed my mind. If Tom was my fiancé, had he been the one to insist on my marking four years ago like Sirius had believed? Did it mean that if I had gone to Tom for help and asked him to talk my father out of branding me that he wouldn't have intervened at all?
No, I can't think like that, I told myself. After all, hadn't Tom said that he liked my lightning bolt earrings? So, maybe he would have been satisfied with the earrings alone and could have lived without me being marked, especially since it was my father's mark and not his.
With that justification I finally closed my eyes, joining Draco in the land of Morpheus.
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Saturday, 3rd August 1991
To say I was nervous would be an understatement. While I already got an idea how tonight would progress from Draco's introduction to society party, I would be the one in the spotlight tonight. And I really hated to be the centre of attention.
What made me even more nervous was that I would not only dance my first dance with Lord Slytherin, but at the same time, also announce our engagement. I didn't know how the people would react to the news.
Would they be as critical and cruel as Agatha had been two years ago? Or would they welcome the news with open arms, happy that their Lord finally wanted to settle down?
I was especially worried about how aunt Bella would react. About a year ago she had told me that she'd wanted to marry Tom but her advances had been dismissed by him. Would she be angry with me because I got the man she had wanted to marry?
What made it even worse was that the reason why aunt Bellatrix didn't have children of her own was due to an illness of her husband. If she had married Tom, she would have been able to care for her own kids instead of having to make do with spoiling and coddling Draco and I.
Thus, I was glad when Draco entered my room at Malfoy Manor, providing a distraction to my anxious thoughts. Lucius Malfoy had offered my father the use of the Malfoy's ballroom for my introduction to society party and he had accepted.
"The Potter-red really doesn't suit you," Draco said matter-of-factly. "It's a shame that you can't wear the Malfoys' black and green again," he said with a sigh.
We both knew that I wouldn't be able to wear Draco's family colours. What my best friend didn't know though, was that I had already asked my parents if I couldn't wear robes in the Slytherin colours green and silver. Obviously, they said no. Their explanation was interesting though.
My mother, who finally knew about my engagement and had scolded my dad for not telling her sooner about it, said that with the party being held at Malfoy Manor the people could easily assume that I and Draco were engaged as the Malfoy green was nearly identically with the Slytherin house colour.
My father agreed with her, adding that it was important that I didn't say anything about the engagement before the opening dance as they wanted to announce the betrothal with the dance and not any other way.
So, I was forced to wear red robes. But at least this time I didn't need Draco's help to secure the cloak to my shoulders.
"Are you nervous?" Draco asked me as he examined my outfit, trying to find a wrinkle.
"Yes," I answered truthfully. "Though I don't know if I'm more afraid of dancing with Lord Slytherin or giving my speech."
"You don't have to be afraid of dancing," Draco told me. "Just follow Lord Slytherin's lead and you will be alright," my friend advised. "It worked when you danced with me, didn't it?" he added.
"Yes," I answered, feeling less nervous about the dance.
"And if the speech goes wrong, you can always blame Nagini. Knowing you, the snake will coil around you as soon as she sees you," the blond added, his long-standing jealousy obvious.
"Of course, it will be her fault if I stammer or say 'horrored' instead of 'honoured' that they could attend the party," I joked.
"You do know that horrored isn't even a verb," Draco commented. "Besides, I've listened to you practising the speech ten times so, stop worrying!" he commanded.
"You know, you could've always decided to not listen to it," I said with a laugh, my nerves much calmer and muscles less tense now.
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Two hours later Draco had been proven correct. I had successfully given my short speech, with Tom having to forcefully remove Nagini from my person so that she couldn't tickle or distract me during the speech. But my blond friend wouldn't be proved correct about the dancing part, at least not completely, as something very unexpected happened during the dinner.
While we were all enjoying the main course, an Auror approached Tom. I could clearly see how both my father's and Tom's face fell as they listened to what the Auror had to say. The only words I did catch were "Greyback" and "attack on Hogsmead", but they were enough to get an idea what the emergency was about.
"I'm sorry, James," Tom said loud enough for me to hear. "But I really have to go. Taking Lucius with me should be enough, so enjoy your son's party."
"I understand, my Lord. The lives of the people in Hogsmead are more important than a silly dance," my father answered.
"Take care of Nagini, Harry," Tom said to me in passing as he walked passed me, my mother, Severus, and Draco to reach Lucius' place at the end of the main table.
While I was sadden that Tom wouldn't be able to dance with me, I could also understand that Tom really hadn't wanted to leave me. Now though, I was missing a dance partner, so I asked my dad, "Should I ask Draco to step in for the first dance?"
"That would be the best alternative. Make it inconspicuously though," he whispered back, as about ten of the off-duty Auror guests also left because they wanted to help their comrades. The Lestranges brothers were among them seeing as they were part of the elite Auror unit.
When I had finished the main course and saw that Draco was finished with his meal too, I got up from the table and walked towards the bathrooms, hoping that Draco had noticed my sign to follow me. But I shouldn't have worried, as half a minute later my friend joined me in the bathroom.
"What is wrong?" he asked me.
"As far as I've gathered from the snippets I've caught, Greyback attacked Hogsmead," I said.
"That's horrible," was all Draco could say.
"It is. It really angers me that he has to attack when my parents are hosting a party. First when we were young he crashed the Halloween party and now my introduction to society party," I said, resting my arms on the sink in front of me.
"But you didn't ask me to follow you to just tell me this," Draco said.
"Yeah," I answered. "I wanted to ask if you would mind pitching in for the first dance? As you've noticed he can't dance with me anymore," I said, nervously playing with the hem of my dress shirt.
"Of course I wouldn't mind dancing with you, Harry," my friend immediately answered. "Even though your red robes will clash horribly with my green ones," he added, making me laugh and relax again. Trust Draco to be able to cheer me up. I hadn't even realised how disappointed I had been that Tom wouldn't be dancing with me.
"Come on, Harry. Let's go back before all of my ice cream has melted," Draco said as he dragged my back towards the dining room where the desert had already been served.
And while I was still a bit down about Tom's unexpected departure, Draco made sure that I not only enjoyed dancing with him but also the rest of the night. I didn't say a word about my betrothal to Tom though as without the dance to announce my and Tom's engagement I had a feeling that they didn't me to say anything about it. And even when I overheard someone gossiping that I and Draco could be engaged, I still kept my silence, giving Nagini another loving caress.
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Tuesday, 6th August 1991, Diagon Alley
Diagon Alley―the famous and popular shopping street of wizarding London. I had been there with my parents so many times over the years that it lost its charm long ago. But today, it was like I was seeing the street for the first time all over again.
The reason? It was not only my first Hogwarts' shopping trip, something I was very excited about, but also the ones to accompany me were Tom and Nagini, and only them; my father had to work and while my mother had wanted to come with us, she had been called away before breakfast due to an emergency at the Ministry.
So, instead of meeting Tom with my mum in Diagon Alley, Lord Slytherin had taken the Floo to my house and Side-Along-Apparated us just around the corner of Gringotts. And somehow the wizarding bank with its light stone facade looked more magnificent than usual.
"Your father insisted that we use the money from your school-trust-fund for today's expanses," Tom offered as an explanation as he led me into Gringotts.
My feeling that he had wanted to pay for my purchases with his own money was confirmed when he reluctantly demanded us to be brought to my trust-fund. After a two minute ride through the underground of the bank, we finally reached my vault. While I was telling Tom how much fun I had during the ride, Nagini was loudly complaining about goblins and their unfit methods of transportation.
"Here we are," our goblin guide announced as he opened the door of my vault.
"That's only for my time at Hogwarts?" I asked when I saw the mountain of Galleons.
"It is," Tom answered, not the slightest bit impressed by all the money.
"That's just...Wow," I said, being nearly speechless. I couldn't believe that all of it was mine.
Having calmed down, I finally asked, "How much do we need?" being unsure how expensive my school supplies would be.
"One hundred and fifty Galleons should be more than enough," Tom said after he estimated the costs. "Especially with Severus having already gotten your Potions supplies," he added, making me feel like the Potions stuff I and Draco got for our birthdays had cost about fifty Galleons or even more. And knowing uncle Severus and his love for good quality ingredients and equipment, I wouldn't be surprised if he had paid nearly one hundred Galleons for our presents.
"Okay," I answered, a bit surprised at how expensive the initial equipment was.
Luckily my parents had arranged that if I opened my money bag and said "I want to take out one hundred and fifty Galleons," the mentioned amount would automatically move into the open bag. Thus, I didn't spend minutes on counting out the sum Tom had calculated.
When we reached the main hall of the Gringotts, Nagini was once again complaining about goblins and their lack of elegant and smooth transportation. However, I wasn't paying any attention to her as I tried to decide where we should go first.
Getting my own snake was at the top of my list. Nagini, unfortunately, wasn't in a friendly and amiable mood and would surely find a reason to dislike any of the snakes we saw. So, I told Tom that I wanted to get my robes first in the hope that while I was fitted Nagini would calm down.
"An unusual first stop," Tom commented as we walked towards Madam Malkin's.
"Nagni doesn't seem too social right now so the Menagerie has to wait," I said. "Besides, it will be nice to have the robes out of the way."
"You don't like Madam Malkin?" Tom asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Oh, no. She's alright, I guess," I told him with a shrug of my shoulder. "I just don't like how long it takes for the clothes to be fitted and having to stand still for so long."
"Ah," Lord Slytherin replied in understanding as he opened the shop door for me.
"Welcome. Hogwarts too, my dear?" the shop owner greeted us, or me.
"Yes," Tom and I answered simultaneously.
"Come over here then," she said, surprisingly ignoring Lord Slytherin, who was standing right next to me, and only having eyes for me as she guided me towards the adjusting area.
"Finally," I groaned out over an hour later as we left the shop.
"See it positive, Harry. At least now we only have the enjoyable things to get, like your snake," Tom said to cheer me up again.
"Come on," I said as I grabbed Tom's hand and dragged him and Nagini towards the Magical Menagerie.
Tom just laughed in amusement as he let me drag him towards the shop.
When we entered the pet shop, some of the smaller animals tried to hid as much as their cages allowed out of fear of Nagini.
"Lord Slytherin," we were greeted by the manager of the shop. "How can I help you?" he asked, eager to please his Lord.
"We're in search for a snake for Harry," he said, guiding me a step forward with his right hand on my back.
"If you would please follow me," the owner said, leading us towards a back room with about twenty terrariums which housed not only snakes but also an iguana or two.
"Thank you, we'll pick out a snake on our own. Won't we, Nagini?" Tom dismissed the owner with an obvious reminder of his Parseltongue ability, wanting some privacy as we picked out my snake.
"Of course, my Lord," was all the salesclerk said before he left us to our own devises.
As the terrariums were constructed of two aisles, Tom and I decided to split up and pursue one aisle each. Looking around the terrariums in my path I saw a green anaconda, a green tree python, a black mamba and a king cobra.
"Another idiot to stare at us," the black mamba said when I was in front of its glass cage. I wondered why he called me an idiot. Hadn't he heard how Tom spoke to Nagini? I thought, deciding that I wouldn't take this one.
A bit put off by its remark, together with my bad mood from Madame Malkin's, I couldn't help but to tell the snake, "And you will be stared at for a while longer," before walking towards the next terrarium.
"How about this one, Harry?" Tom asked me from the other aisle before I could take a closer look at the tree python.
Going over to Tom, I saw that he was looking at a snake which was only about one metre long but its marking and colouring looked very similar to Nagini's.
"Hello," the snake greeted me. "Nagini told me that you're a very special child," the snake added before I could greet it back.
"Hello," I finally greeted the snake, surprised that Nagini seemed to already like the snake. Maybe it was because they were of the same species? I mused.
"How are you?" I asked, not knowing what else to say.
"I'm fine. I would be better though if I could get out of here and stretch out my body. This place will be too small in a year or two," the snake answered, clearly wanting to leave his glass prison.
"Just take him with you, little one," Nagini demanded, having moved her head from Tom's shoulder towards my face. It was obvious that she wanted to spend more time with the snake in front of us.
With a chuckle Tom chided her, "It's Harry's decision, and not yours, which snake he wants to take."
"Would you want to go to Hogwarts with me?" I asked. While I still hadn't decided if I would get him, I couldn't say that I didn't like his colouring. His attitude was also much better than that of the black mamba I met before.
"It depends. Will I get some tasty rats and rabbits there?" the snake asked.
"Ehm...Yes," I answered, not knowing if it was true, but then I could always ask Severus if he could buy me a rat or two when he goes out of the castle to get some new potions ingredients.
"Then I would happily come with you."
"You can't bite any of the students or teachers though," I added, only now remembering that Nagini and this snake were very lethal creatures.
"As long as they don't attack you or me, this won't be a problem," he said.
"I'll take this one," I said to Tom, slipping out of speaking Parseltongue when I stopped looking at the snakes.
"Are you sure?" he asked me in English.
"Yes," I answered. "He seems very friendly. Besides, I'm sure that Nagini will dislike any other snake in here out of principle anyway," I added.
"That's true," Tom answered with a smirk.
"Do you have a name?" I asked the snake, slipping back into Parseltongue as I once again was facing the snake.
"No, not yet," he answered.
"How about Nagijan*?" I asked, remembering the name I had come up with some days ago.
"After Nagini?" he asked back.
"Yes," I admitted, a bit embarrassed that I wanted to name my snake after Tom's. "You can have another name if you don't like it," I added.
"No, I like Nagijan very much," the newly named Nagijan answered, as he climbed up my arm to coil around my shoulders. Tom had already pulled out his wand to cancel the spells on the terrarium so that I could open the lid and Nagijan could move out of his prison.
"Let's go to the counter then," Lord Slytherin said.
"We're taking this one," Tom informed the owner of the Menagerie, offhandedly pointing towards the snake coiled around me.
"Ehm...well...yes...That will be thirty-six Galleons, nine Sickles and twenty-two Knuts," he finally stammered out. Apparently, he was spooked by the sight of a very dangerous snake so leisurely lying around an eleven year old's neck. Which was very funny considering that he didn't seem to mind Nagini being draped around Tom.
After Tom handed over the mentioned amount, we walked out of the Magical Menagerie and crossed the street to get my books from Flourish and Blotts, before it was time for our last stop, Ollivanders.
"Ah, Mr Potter and Lord Slytherin," the old wandmaker greeted us when we entered his shop. "Yew, thirteen and one half inches long with a Phoenix feather core," he said to Tom, making it seem like he couldn't greet anyone properly without rattling off the facts about the wand he sold them.
"Try out this one," Mr Ollivander said to me as he handed me a wand made of cedar and unicorn hair after he had taken my measures.
Both Nagijan and I were startled when the shelf to our right exploded.
"Not this one then. How about this," Ollivander said, handling over the next wand while Tom repaired the shelf with a flick of his wand.
After ten more wands which didn't match, Ollivander gave Tom and I a searching glance, taking in our mathcing looks, black hair, dark green robes and our snakes coiled around us and walked towards the back of his shop, muttering, "Maybe...Hmm, yes that could be it..."
Two minutes later he finally came back to the front and presented me another wand in a dusty box, "Eleven inches of finest holly," he said.
Taking out the wand, I felt an immediate connection. The wand felt like it warmed under my touch and began to hum.
"Try it," the wandmaker encouraged me.
And for the first time in fifteen minutes, instead of something breaking or exploding, the wand let out colourful sparks.
"Interesting, very interesting," Ollivander mumbled so low under his breath that I was barely able to catch what he said. "How very interesting, indeed that you, Mr Potter, would be the one to wield the brother wand of Lord Slytherin," he finally explained his previous mumble to us as someone opened the shop's door making the bell chime.
"Ah, there you are, Harry," said a coarse voice coming from a man who was over eleven feet tall and was poking his head through the door as he was too tall to enter. "I've been searching for you," he added.
Unsure, I looked at Tom, seeking his advice on how I should react to this unknown big man. It unsettled me that he knew my name while I didn't even remember having seen his face anywhere.
"Let's pay for your wand first, then we'll see what Hagrid wants," Tom said, leading me towards the counter, obviously not happy to see the half-giant.
"That will be seven Galleons," Mr Ollivander said.
After paying, we walked out of the shop to see what Hagrid, as Tom had called him, wanted from me.
"Hello, Harry, Tom," the man greeted us with a nod.
I could see how much Tom disliked to be called by his given name, which I could completely understand. After all, he was the Lord of wizarding Britain and should at least be called by his last name, if not addressed by his title in public. Therefore, I wasn't surprised by Tom's unfriendly and harsh, "What do you want?"
"Oh, yeah..." the big man began. "Dumbledore sent me here to give Harry a belated birthday present," he said, holding out a cage with a beautiful snowy owl in it. "Great man, Dumbledore. He remembered that some years ago you said that you wanted to bring a pet to Hogwarts but the one you had in mind doesn't agree with the rules, so he asked me to pick out a nice owl for you," he explained, holding out the cage towards me.
While I couldn't deny that the owl was really gorgeous and I would love to call her my own, my parents had told me to not accept a sweet or anything else from a stranger. I also didn't want to risk being able to go shopping with Tom again by angering my parents with taking home the owl.
For the second time in five minutes, I looked at Tom for guidance. And, to my great surprise, he seemed to know exactly what I was thinking. Maybe he had used Legilimency on me? I wondered as Tom handled Hagrid.
"As you can see, I already got Harry a pet," Lord Slytherin said, pointing at Nagijan who hissed at Hagrid.
"But Headmaster Dumbledore explicitly said that snakes aren't allowed at Hogwarts," Hagrid interrupted him, repeating the reminder Dumbledore must have given him this morning.
"And neither are Acromantulas," Tom immediately replied, making me wonder why he was bringing up dangerous spiders. "And I've already told the headmaster that Harry has my expressive permission to bring a snake.
"But nevertheless, I'm sure that Harry would love to accept the owl you picked out for him. wouldn't you, Harry?" Tom added to my relief. For a moment, I had feared that Tom would deny me the owl.
"Yes," I said with an enthusiastic nod, happily taking the cage with the snowy owl, now that I knew that it would be okay for me to accept the gift.
"Thank you," I said after a short pause to pet the owl through the bars. My mother would have scolded me if I didn't at least thank the person who gave me such a wonderful present. "And also pass on my thanks to the headmaster," I added as an afterthought.
"I will," was Hagrid's short answer. He seemed to at least be happy that I loved the owl he chose for me.
"The owl really is beautiful," I commented, as the snowy owl playfully nipped my index finger.
"That she is," Hagrid agreed. "Do you already have a name for her?" he asked.
As I hadn't known her gender before, I needed a moment to come up with a name. "Hedwig." I finally decided, naming her after the German witch who invented the first flying broom and was also well known for her very pale complexion and even paler hair. Thus, naming the snowy owl after the equally pale witch, and also because I had just gotten her Chocolate Frog Card this morning.
"She likes it," Hagrid said. "I have to go though. See you at Hogwarts, Harry," Hagrid bid in farewell before he took his leave.
"How about we go to Fortescue's before we head back?" Tom asked and I happily agreed.
When we arrived, I saw that Fortescue had a special "Alice in Wonderland week" where he had created ten new ice cream flavours, all named after characters of the Muggle book.
The two of us decided to not brave tasting The Mock Turtle as it consisted of vanilla ice cream with Bertie Bott's Every-Flavour Beans. Instead I chose to try out The Mad Hatter which was made of chocolate chip ice cream and Acid Pops. Tom, on the other hand, chose The Cheshire Cat, a mix of chocolate ice cream with Pepper Imps.
"How can you two eat something which is so sweet?" Nagijan asked when he smelled the sundae in front of me as we walked towards one of the free tables.
"Unlike us, humans have a sweet tongue," Nagini explained from Tom's shoulder. "You'll get used to it."
"As long as I don't have to eat it," Nagijan replied before resting his head back onto my shoulder. I just shook my head while Tom smiled softly.
"Mhmm," I moaned after I took a first bite. I loved how the Acid Pops prickled in my mouth and mixed with the melting chocolate.
"I'm glad that you like your ice cream," Tom commented with a smile.
I smiled back and eyeing Tom's sundae asked, "How's yours?"
"It's good. Do you want to have a taste?" he surprisingly asked me.
"Thank you," I said as I took a small scoop with my spoon from his portion. "It's good, but a bit too much chocolate for my taste," I commented.
"Don't you like chocolate?" Tom asked, wondering about my comment as kids usually loved chocolate.
"Oh, no. I like chocolate just fine. In ice cream though, I prefer it to be in chunks and not splashed with milk," I explained my dislike of chocolate ice cream.
When we finished our sundaes, Tom took Hedwig's cage into his right hand and my hand into his left one and walked us to the nearest Apparation Point to return to Slytherin Manor where I would be staying for a whole week so that Tom could help me get to know my new snake as he explained my extended stay to my parents.
In truth though, he just wanted to spend some time with me so that we could get to know each other better. After all, being a Parselmonth I was perfectly capable of getting to know Nagijan on my own.
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Wednesday, 7th August 1991
"Have you already read today's Prophet?" Severus asked Lord Slytherin, when the two met for a talk a day after my and Tom's trip to Diagon Alley.
"No, I didn't have the time yet," Tom answered. "Harry had been talking non-stop during breakfast about his new snake Nagijan. So, I hadn't even thought about picking up the paper. Should I read it?"
"It would be advisable," Severus dryly replied.
"Wipsy," Tom called out and the mentioned house-elf appeared. "Bring me today's Prophet."
Not a second later, the elf returned and handed over the newspaper. Tom only needed to take a look at the headline of the first page to see why Severus wanted him to read it.
~Harry James Potter – The new heartbreaker?
By Rita Skeeter
He is just about to enter Hogwarts this coming September and already he seems to have caught the interest of two influential people. I'm talking about none other than Harry James Potter, son of Lord Slytherin's second in-command James Potter, and a rare Foreas (for more information see page 5).
The list of Mr Potter's possible future husbands does include both Draco Malfoy, heir of the Malfoy family and son of Lord Slytherin's first in-command Lucius Malfoy, and―who would believe it―Lord Slytherin himself. While neither party has confirmed an engagement to the young Mr Potter, there are still many signs for both of their interest.
Draco Malfoy did not only share his own introduction to society opening dance with Mr Potter, but he also was the one who lead Harry to the dance floor a week ago during the brunet's own party (see right picture). And, my dear readers, we all know that often the child is dancing its opening dance with their future spouse, don't we?
However, one of the guests of Mr Potter's party told me that they overheard that Mr Malfoy wasn't Harry's first choice of dance partner. Apparently he was only a substitution for Harry's original dance partner, who had to cancel at the last minute. Thus, it is self-evident to assume that it was one of the single men which had been called away from the party due to Greyback's attack on Hogsmead, as none other guests had cancelled their presence at the party so abruptly. Which brings me to Harry's other suitor, our beloved Lord Slytherin.
It didn't stay unnoticed that whenever Lord Slytherin and Harry attend the same social gathering, the two of them are always sitting close to each other so that Lord Slytherin can 'keep an eye on his snake Nagini', as he officially says. Another, more saying indication for our Lord's interest in the young Mr Potter is that Harry wears two earrings. It can't be coincident that Harry was seen with the second earring for the first time during his introduction party.
I am sure that, if the attack hadn't happened, Lord Slytherin would have been the one to lead Harry to his first dance and afterwards would have officially announced their engagement. Though, the strongest indication that Lord Slytherin is already the lucky one who had caught Harry for himself is his lack of denial. There hasn't been a case before where Lord Slytherin hadn't promptly ended any rumours regarding an engagement or potential love-interest of his.
Therefore, this author believes that our Lord has finally found someone who he wants to marry. Though, we hope that he will be patient enough for Harry to grow up before he makes any advances on the young, impressive boy. But currently, we don't have to worry about our beloved Lord taking advantage of Mr Potter if yesterday is any indication.
Then, Lord Slytherin and Harry were seen in Diagon Alley obviously on the child's first Hogwarts shopping trip, something which is usually done with the child's family. Besides the obligatory trip to Flourish and Blotts, Ollivanders and Madam Malkin's, they also went to Florean Fortescue's Ice-Cream Parlour, where our Lord even let Harry taste his ice cream (see left picture).
Another interesting stop on their shopping trip was the Magical Menagerie, where Lord Slytherin picked out a snake for Harry. It is remarkable that he picked out a snake of the same species as Nagini for the young boy. It makes us wonder why he chose such a highly dangerous snake for an eleven year old, who, unlike him, hasn't the help of speaking Parseltongue to keep the snake in line. After all, our Lord's own familiar is known to be extremely poisonous besides being a deadly constrictor.
However, the snake wasn't the only living present Harry got. I was fortunate enough to witness how Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts, gifted young Mr Potter with a snowy owl handed out by the gameskeeper, Rubeus Hagrid. Apparently, the headmaster had already previously voiced his disagreement of Harry bringing a snake with him to Hogwarts even though Lord Slytherin had given his explicit permission as a founder's heir.
However, one has to wonder why Albus Dumbledore decided to appease Mr Potter with another approved animal. After all, it was just four years ago when Gregory Giles had been denied to bring his iguana to school and Dumbledore hadn't given him a compensation, had he? So, it seems like that not only Lord Slytherin and the Malfoy family are interested in the young Mr Potter, but also Albus Dumbledore.
All in all, with Harry being a rare Foreas, the son of the greatly respected James Potter and, to top it off, having so many influential and important people showing an interest for him, we at the Daily Prophet are sure that Harry Potter has a great future before him and will break many a man's heart.~
"And that's why I wanted to keep the engagement secret," Tom finally said when he finished reading. "While Skeeter hasn't directly called me a paedophile, she still planted the seed of doubt in her readers' mind," he added, referring to the middle of the article.
"Yes, I was surprised that someone like Skeeter had been able to write something so subtle," Severus commented. "We can only hope that she will continue to not make any direct accusations about you taking advantage of Harry," the Potions master said.
"However, I had assumed that you wanted to keep your engagement a secret because of Dumbledore and not because you feared what one journalist would say," Severus added.
"You're not wrong. But, I believe that we both know that Dumbledore already knows about my interest in Harry. Besides, I feel better now that Harry knows about our engagement. This way he can get used to the idea," Tom answered.
"And as Harry isn't an Occlumence like us, it would only have been a matter of time until Dumbledore would have found it out from Harry. So, I see no reason to hide my intentions any longer," Lord Slytherin explained.
"That's also why you decided to go Hogwarts shopping with him without his parents instead of making an official statement?" Severus asked rhetorically. "Though, I have to say that I'm surprised at your choice of snake for Harry," Severus said, picking up on another comment of the newspaper article.
"Ah, yes," Tom said, before he took a sip of his coffee. "If you remember what Dumbledore said two years ago about snakes being able to strangle people to death or poison them, I had actually considered getting a Basilisk from Knockturn for Harry. After all, opposed to all the other snake races, it can kill with a glance," Tom told Severus about the idea he had to spit directly in Dumbledore's face but in the end had decided against it. If necessary, he could always tell me about the Basilisk who currently resided in the Chamber of Secrets.
Severus wisely decided to not comment on the Basilisk, instead he changed the topic. "By the way, how is Harry getting along with...Nagijan, you said?" the Potions master asked, correctly remembering the name I gave my new snake.
"They're already inseparable," Tom answered with a smile, fondly remembering the sight he saw when he checked up on me the previous night. I had been sleeping in the bed with Nagijan resting next to my head, sharing one pillow.
And as to prove Tom's point, I chose this moment to knock on the study door and entered the room after Tom called out his permission with Nagijan securely coiled around my shoulders and Nagini following after us, ending the adults' discussion as I proudly showed Nagijan off to my godfather.
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And this is how I finally knew that I would marry Tom after I graduated Hogwarts. Though, the news paled in comparison to getting both of my pets―my owl Hedwig and my snake Nagijan. But then, I had the animals with me now, while the impending marriage was still years away. So I, of course, was more interested in getting to know my new pets than thinking about my wedding or what being the future consort of Lord Slytherin would mean for the rest of my life―besides not having to kiss any girls.
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James Barrie: The author of Peter Pan.
150 Galleons: equals 750 ₤.
Nagijan: The name is inspired by Nagini's name. The Hindu call the Female Snake God Nagarani and the Male God Nagarajan. So I modelled Nagijan after Nagini.
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AN: The next chapter will be taking a bit longer again as exams are approaching and I really need to work on my other story. Sorry, but this chapter was extra long to make up for it.
And if anyone knows how expansive schoolbooks and uniforms are in the UK, fell free to tell me.