Estella Parkington stepped out of the Floo into the Slytherin Common Room, seeing Lauren and Alvin standing there together. "Hi," Estella said quietly, and Lauren was about to speak when a cool voice interrupted.
"Nice excuse, Parkington."
"It wasn't an excuse!" snapped a girl's voice, and Estella turned to see Megan glaring at Draco. "She had too much venom, and it was rending her magic!"
Draco smirked at Estella. "Likely."
Estella turned away from him. "You could never understand, Draco," she said softly.
"She has seventeen bitemates," Meris told the ones in the room. "Better think twice before threatening her."
"And add me to the list of people you can't use Serpensortia on," laughed Estella, turning back to Draco and grinning.
Lauren and Alvin walked past them all, heading for the door to the rest of the dungeons. "Don't make a mess," Lauren cautioned them, then left.
Laughing, the Lestrange cousins shook their heads at the two prefects. "So tell us about when Potter's 'gift' was discovered," Karnt said, nudging Malfoy's feet over and putting his own up on the table as Draco scowled at him.
"There was a Dueling Club last year," Estella answered to stop the twins from annoying their cousin any more. "Lockhart and Professor Snape chose Harry and Draco to duel after them. After some lesser spells, Draco cast Serpensortia, Lockhart volunteered to get rid of it but only made it mad, and it was about to attack Justin Finch-Fletchley when Harry told it not to. Scary Dark Wizard, that Potter."
"Right?" said Megan, and the three Parselmouths laughed together, the others laughing at Potter and those that had been afraid of him.
"Have a seat," Meris told Ginny, pointing to the couch beside him.
Estella bit her lip. "Actually, I've got to—"
"Sit." Corin gave her a pointed look from the other side of Meris, and Estella huffed, sitting down as she was told.
"Wow," smirked Draco. "She listens well!"
"Not to Ron, and not to you," Estella replied, looking up at the ceiling. "You know, I wonder what happened to that boa constrictor."
Megan looked alarmed. "What?"
The dark-haired girl grinned. "Harry went to a Muggle zoo and set a boa constrictor free," she told them. "Then he locked his cousin in the serpent's enclosure."
The boys laughed, and Megan asked, "What happened then?"
"Ah, Harry got locked in his room under the stairs, and the zookeepers had to come rescue Harry's cousin from the boa constrictor exhibit. I'm surprised he fit," Ginny added. "Harry says his cousin was about the size of Crabbe or Goyle."
"Well, why did he set it free?" Corin asked. "Those things are dangerous. Shouldn't Potter know better?"
"No better than I would have at nearly eleven years old," Estella replied. "Ron said Harry told him that the constrictor wanted to return to its rainforest habitat. I don't blame it."
"And if it eats a few Muggles, who cares?" asked one of the older girls.
Estella looked at her sharply. "Harry wouldn't want to be responsible for something like that. He really didn't mean to let it go, but he felt boxed in himself, so he let the serpent out. Accidentally-on-purpose, you know."
The others smirked, and Rohan asked, "Do you know how much 'accidental' magic Potter's done?"
She shook her head. "I only know that Harry accidentally inflated his cousin's aunt and made her float away this past summer," she shrugged. The Slytherins gathered around burst out laughing. "I don't know of anything else, though."
"Enough Potter," Guage sighed, annoyed with all the talk about Harry. "Shall we head down to supper? Estella?"
"I've actually got something to do before supper," Estella shrugged. "Then I'll be down." Megan looked at her suspiciously, and Estella answered, "I've jussst got to drop off mossst of the bitematesss to the Chamber. Then I'll be heading down for sssupper."
Megan gave her a searching look, then said, "Guage, please save a seat for Stel and me. We'll join you shortly."
Estella stood and Megan followed as Estella complained, "Who said I wanted you to come with me? Who said you were allowed?"
"I've been charged to keep you from killing yourself on accident," Megan replied, walking by her side as they exited the Common Room again. "I think I need to go with you."
"Are your father and uncle that worried about me?" Estella asked in surprise.
"You're important, Estella," Megan sighed. "All last year, you had absolutely no idea that we were specially related through the bloodline of Salazar Slytherin. You had no idea that both of our families raise a species of basilisk that our ancestors created. You had no idea about your place as a Parselmouth, or even in the Parkington/Sage family. But it's coming to you, and you're coming into your own. My father and his brother are very excited, although they are concerned, because your own father has not been there to teach you. Because I am in your year, they want me to keep a special watch out for you just in case something else happens."
As they headed into the Chamber together, Estella finally replied, "I guess I feel like I've discovered another world within a world. Would it be an insult to say that I feel like I fell into an underworld of Parseltongue?" Megan smiled and shook her head as they entered the main room, then continued on to the sand room.
The two girls sat down in the sand together, the bitemates coming to them as they allowed their magic to crackle around them, making the bitemates hiss happily. "Icythan," Estella called, and he came to her happily. "Bitematesss," she said happily, giggling as she lay back and the seventeen bitemates slithered around her, hissing.
Several minutes later, Megan and Estella got up, stroking the bitemates gently as they slithered back to the sand, Icythan alone remaining on Estella's right arm. "Goodbye," she said softly to the rest. "I'll come visit, but I've been ordered to take a ressst by the little brother Sssage."
Megan laughed, and the two exited the Chamber, heading toward the Great Hall. They found the seats Guage had saved and realized that those that had been in the Common Room when Estella had arrived were seated all around them. Sitting down, the two began their meal, laughing and talking with the others around.
Moments later, Lauren came over, telling Estella, "Be careful who you invite into the castle. It's not widely known that there's that spot in the dungeons, Stel."
Estella nodded in agreement, just as Percy joined them. "Estella?" he said softly. "I heard you had some...complications. I'm glad you're back, and all right." The Slytherins were watching him, waiting for him to say something stupid, but he told her, "Avoid Fred and George right now. They're really embarrassed by what happened during the celebration." She didn't seem to know what he meant, and Percy added, "With that rowdy squirrel?"
The dark-haired girl burst into giggles, remembering that Tonks had run straight up Fred's robe and chattered merrily into his ear without being embarrassed at all. "Oh," she said. "Do they know...?"
"No," Percy said. "I told them that it was Roda, and they have no idea. They're not keen on looking her up, either. Anyway, Stel. Avoid them: they know you saw it happen. They think you disappeared to keep them from hexing you after everything you've done recently."
"Tell them Malfoy thinks the same thing," Megan laughed, looking up at the Head Boy, and Draco glared at her. "Except that he blames her for Roda being here—which is completely unacceptable behaviour for a Parkington."
"That was my idea," Percy told her. "She isn't to blame for that girl's visit to the school. Well, I'm off. Later, Stel."
She nodded at him, and he walked off. Lauren looked down at her in slight surprise, and Megan grinned, "He was amused that Draco thinks like the Weasley twi—" she ducked a hex Draco flung at her, which hit a Ravenclaw behind her, knocking him to the ground. "Oops," Megan giggled.
Lauren sighed, going over to the Ravenclaw and undoing the hex, reassuring the Ravenclaw (who wasn't reassured) that it had been an accident. She mildly chided Draco, grinning the whole time, and Megan snickered with Estella, both hissing together in Parseltongue.
"Estella!" cried two voices, and Estella turned to see Brianna and Samantha arrive in the Great Hall. "Where have you been?" demanded Samantha. "We heard that you were injured and had to be taken out of Hogwarts for a couple days. Where were you?"
"I was being treated for venom shock and for disrupted magic," Estella replied. "But I'm all right now. What have you two been up to?"
"Nothing much," Brianna said evasively, and Estella and Samantha shared a knowing glance.
Estella shrugged. "Okay. How's classes?"
Samantha snorted. "You sound like a visiting graduate. Shut up, and rejoin us, and then we can discuss matters of general interest."
Laughing, Estella motioned the two to sit down and eat. Brianna turned to Corin and Meris, who were on Estella's other side from Megan and Guage. "Move, boys."
"No," Corin answered.
"We were here first," Meris added. "She sits with you all the time anyway."
"Don't argue," groaned Estella with a sigh. "We can sit together in the Common Room, girls. I'll be around."
The Charleston twins frowned at the two younger boys, then moved to sit down the table on the other side of Megan and Guage. Corin leaned closer to Estella and said, "Good thing you know how to pacify them. They're kind of...explosive usually."
Megan snorted in agreement, adding, "It's a good thing she's as familiar with them as she is. They are rather difficult to understand."
"I still don't understand sometimes," Estella said flatly. "D'you know, that as much as I know and have learned, I don't know any of my family very well? I still feel completely naïve over so much of everything—"
"That's because you are naïve," Draco encouraged her from across the table.
"Just because you're a privileged little shit doesn't mean that you're allowed to callously critique everyone else, Draco darling." She got up from the table and walked down a little way to tell the Charleston twins that she was heading to the Slytherin Common Room. Estella then walked off without waiting for a reply, escaping the Great Hall without running into anyone else.
Once in the Common Room, Estella sat down, but had no idea what she was to be doing because she'd missed two or three days of school. She was alone, although there were other students in the room with her.
A little while later, the twins came into the room, sitting down on either side of her. As they updated her on what had happened around the school, she told them what had happened, leaving out the part where she'd take Megan to the Chamber twice. Brianna gave her their classroom assignments, and Estella gratefully began to work on them, thinking toward exams. School would be out in a little over a month, and she could hardly wait.