Chapter Nine – Little Snake

Sirius hadn't known until that moment when he had seen the Prophet again how much he missed being in that world but there was a reason why he was about to propose to a Muggle and a sacrifice to be made. The memories he had of raising Harry in James's place, if he had just given up that night or found a way to take his revenge on Wormtail, he wouldn't have those memories. Still, if the magical world was pulling him back into it then he had some hard truths to tell.

Sirius looked at Harry who was asleep and then went over to Elizabeth who was just watching him in a very maternal way. "Elizabeth," he said to her as he came over and the woman nodded to him with a soft smile. "There's something important that I need to discuss with you."

"Should I be excited or worried?" Elizabeth teased but then saw the worry and concern in the wizard's eyes. She walked over to him and let her hands rest upon his shoulders. "You don't need to look so scared. I've already dedicated myself to this adventure with the two of you."

"The owls worry me," Sirius said.

"A fear of birds?" she asked before laughing softly, "Very common actually," she said before seeing him shake his head but still lead her towards the bedroom. She bit her top lip and chose not to say anything until Sirius had her sitting on the bed and he went to grab something, a newspaper or magazine. Elizabeth narrowed her eyes skeptically, what was he holding?

"This," Sirius said as he sat down on the bed next to her. "This is what wizards read, The Daily Prophet, is a wizarding newspaper," he said. Elizabth stared at it with widened eyes as she saw the people moving in the images. She knew that it was done by magic but she had never known just how much could be achieved with this skill.

"It's amazing, they move, is the whole paper like this? It's so fun," she said with a smile. "Can I touch them? Can you go inside of the pictures?" she asked as she pressed her finger against a small picture of a Quidditch star. "Wait? They have a broomstick? You ride on broomsticks?"

Sirius bowed his head and took a moment to enjoy his girlfriend's response to this. She was so excitable by even the concept of magic. Lily would have really liked her. Lily and Lizzy. Lily had been so open and so understanding,, of course people had said horrible things about her and her being the first witch in her family but she was kind and worked hard and she would have been good friends with Elizabeth and shown her all the magic she was allowed to show Muggles.

"I promise to answer every single one of your questions but first it's the actual presence of it being here that I find troubling," Sirius told her and Elizabeth stared at him quite confused. "I've been cut off from the magic world aside from some friends I have but very few individuals. Harry is not supposed to learn about magic right now for his own protection. Why was I sent this?"

"Maybe you should speak with that wizard I met, Dumbledore?" Elizabeth asked. She bowed her head, "Sirius, please know that I would never want to cause harm to your world. If I sound like an idiot at times it's only because I'm curious, only because I want to learn."

Sirius beamed at her and pulled her into his arms. "I love you, you never sound like an idiot to me," he reassured her before looking at the drawer which held the engagement ring. "Elizabeth, please sit here and I'm sorry that this won't be the work of planning and spontaneous overly dramatic whimsy but," he pulled out the ring box and got down on one knee. "Would you do me the honor of agreeing to marry me?"

Elizabeth laughed as she saw him there and nodded. Sirius grinned as he put the ring on her finger and she brought her hand to her heart. Yes, if he had lost his mind in the pursuit of revenge then he would never have had this moment with her and this was a very important moment for the two of them.

Sirius kissed her deeply and passionately and Elizabeth returned that romantic moment. As they broke she looked Sirius in the eyes and said slowly.

"How do you feel about taking Harry to the zoo?" she asked and Sirius chuckled, tucking some strands of her hair behind her ear.

"Is that really how you want to celebrate?" he teased her as he kissed her forehead.

"No, we'll celebrate after," Elizabeth laughed, "After we've told people. I just thought that it might be a fun experience, you know, for Harry."

9.2

The zoo had been a good idea and the three of them had had a lot of fun with Sirius taking photographs and also asking other to take photos of the three of them. He finally felt that he could support Harry and help him grow up with someone who – though not part of the magical world – understood what his family was.

The only times Sirius had felt a little uneasy was when familiar wizards who had blended in with the Muggle crowd in one way or another would point at Harry and whisper about his scar. Sirius was able to spot them and maneuver around them for the most part but if this didn't' stop then there would be plenty of questions when the young boy got older.

"So, we've seen the elephant and the lion and the gorilla," Elizabeth said as she looked at the map of the zoo, "Shall we go into the reptile house now or do you think that'd be a bit scary for him? With all the snakes?"

"Snake?" Harry asked as he listened to them from his pushchair.

"Yeah, all the snakes live in this part of the zoo which is kept to be nice and cool and dark for them. Lions and Snakes live in different temperatures and with different things around them," she attempted to explain it to the little boy.

Sirius laughed quietly before whispering to Elizabeth, "I'd much rather see a griffin than a snake."

"Well, just tell me where we can find that," Elizabeth winked to him before they went inside the room. There were tanks all around with different lizards and reptiles in them and then in the middle was a large boa constrictor. "Doesn't this look cool?" she asked. "Here, I'll hold you so you can see," she said as she unbuckled the boy and held him in her arms.

"It shows no photography," Sirius pointed and Elizabeth pointed to a sign that read that flash photography was prohibited but they could take pictures if they turned the flash off. Sirius nodded as he was about to take a picture of the two of them but Harry had looked away from the camera and to the tank.

'You people really do like your photos don't you? It's a bit invasive but I guess you just think I'm playing'

Harry looked at the tank and put a hand on the glass. 'Hi, Snakey. How are you?' he asked.

'Oh, so there are clever people here? Finally.'

'Clever people?' Harry asked but then heard a bang behind him he turned around and Sirius had gone deathly pale with his eyes wide and the camera on the floor – undamaged but dropped – he was taking a few steps over to the two of them as Elizabeth wasn't sure how to react. Had something gone wrong? It looked as if that was what he was attempting to tell her.

"Your snake sounds sound really good," Elizabeth said as she put Harry back in his seat and buckled him up a little bit. She turned to Sirius who seemed as if he was going to pass out. She grabbed the camera from the ground and saw his hands shaking as he put a hand on Harry's shoulder.

"H-H-Harry?" he asked unable to keep calm, "T-tha-t sn-snake was t-ta-lking to you?"

Harry nodded and Sirius sat back. Of course Elizabeth wasn't recognizing what was wrong in all of this. She didn't know what a Parselmouth was.

"Were th-the other a-a-aanimals spea-king to you?"

Harry shook his head innocently and Sirius tried to breathe calmly but this new information was overwhelming. Did Dumbledore know about this? Parseltongue was known to exclusively belong as a gift to bad wizards and witches but Harry wasn't evil, he was only a child and there was no chance of James having the gift and absolutely zero chance of Lily having it so why was Harry doing it?

"Can we go home?" Sirius asked as he tried to maintain his composure. He saw Elizabeth's concerned expression but again she wouldn't have a clue about what those snake sounds actually meant or the troubling meaning of him using them.

"Sure, is Harry going to be okay?" Elizabeth asked in a quiet manner hoping that Harry wouldn't understand her. Sirius nodded but he still appeared shaken up. He loved his godson. He would always love his godson and this wasn't going to change that but a Parseltongue, really? What did that mean? What if Harry went to Hogwarts and got sorted into Slytherin? Well Sirius would still love him and James and Lily would love him too but Sirius desperately didn't' want that. He didn't want Harry to be led over to the side most of his family belonged to.

"There are some things that you should know about my history, my former way of living," Sirius said as they headed to the exit gates and he looked at Harry who was starting to fall asleep. Looking at him, he didn't appear to be heading down a dark path or be a secret lord of evil, he just looked like a baby. Was this one of the reasons why Sirius had been told to try to live as a mortal so that none of these powers awakened.

"Speaking like that is seen as a very bad thing in my…culture," Sirius said and Elizabeth watched him. She could tell by his facial expression he was being completely serious about this, he wasn't lying and he was deeply shaken. She would ask if he could explain more of it when they got home but…Elizabeth stopped as they got to the gift shop. They had promised the young boy a plush animal and she didn't want to deny him that.

"Hey, Harry," she said but as she looked at the little boy he had fallen asleep. "I don't want to wake him, what toy do you think he'd like? Will you be okay if I just go and buy him one?"

Sirius nodded, "Anything but a snake," he said. How on earth was Harry a Parseltongue?

End of Chapter Nine

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