Updated: 11/09/21

Chapter 11-Parselmouth

Harrison took a deep breath before he started his memory. He didn't want to tell Draco this story, mainly because it was deeply personal. It was also the day he started holding more of a grudge against the Potters, and truly realized that no matter what he did-he was always going to be stuck in the boy-who-lived shadow, and no one would believe him.

He always thought of it as the start of what progressed before he was shipped off to Azkaban. How else would the Potters have stood there stoic, as their youngest son was dragged off by the black claws of the Dementors? As their youngest son cried and begged for them, they turned their heads away, ignoring him just like everyone else in the courthouse that day.

Harrison's eyes flickered as he recalled the day,

It was quiet inside Potter Manor which was a scary aspect. Normally, visitors flocked over to Potter's Manor to see the boy-who-lived to see how he was faring or when Dumbledore, or his parent's friends came over.

Not today.

The house was quiet save for his breathing as he watched the Potters through the attic window, his green eyes longing to be able to join them. He wanted to be able to join his father and his brother play Quidditch, or even have his parents' attention, but he knew his parents wouldn't like it.

They didn't like it when he upstaged Saeviour yesterday. When all he did was succeed in the spell, wingardium leviosa, and managed to float the feather up in the air by several feet. By the end of the lesson, he was the only one who managed that while Saeviour lip was curled, letting big, fat tears drop from his eyes as he lied about what happened; how Saeviour was the one who lifted the feather and in his anger, he hit him by throwing several objects to his head.

They hated him when he upstaged their precious son, which was why it was better if he stayed indoors. At least, they didn't have to pretend that they were all a big happy family and merely went on with their lives as if they didn't have another son.

Harrison looked at them as his father flipped upside down on his broomstick, while Saeviour with his mop of black hair stuck up in every direction, as he chased his father down to get the golden snitch first. His fists clenched tightly, his emerald eyes blurring with tears that will never fall. He wasn't going to cry over something that the Potter did to him over a thousand times. This was nothing.

He didn't notice that Lady Potter was unpacking food from her picnic basket, her red hair blowing across her face, with the levees rusting through the breeze. Her brown eyes looked up towards the manor and saw the tiny figure that belonged to Harrison and he froze. Was she going to hit him, or even belittle him, calling him a liar? All the thoughts rang through his head, as he gazed down at his mother.

Fortunately, this was one of the days where she actually remembered he existed,

"Harrison! Come down here and join us!"

A small smile grazed Harrison's features as he imagined that he would finally be a part of the family, that his existence was finally acknowledged. Harrison raced downstairs, taking two steps at a time before he reached the door.

But it was no use.

By the time he got downstairs and out the door, the Potters had already forgotten about him. His family was eating cucumber sandwiches on the ground, busy having a conversation about "visiting a menagerie," "getting a new training wand," and "visiting the Weasleys," but they didn't acknowledge Harrison's existence, as he stood there, head pointed down and kicking a small pebble that laid next to his feet.

Harrison frowned, his fists clenched as he squeezed his eyes as tightly as he could before he turned around, his steps crunched underneath his feet as he walked on a pebble path.

Eventually, he found an isolated area in his mother's garden. He sat underneath a tall, oak tree- his small fingers grazing the grass, and picking up small sticks. The garden was quiet; isolated even and at least, he didn't have to hear the Potters talking about something. It was somewhere where he could be alone in his thoughts.

*Watch it,* someone hissed at him.

Harrison looked around the garden, expecting to see someone standing in front of him, but there was no one there. He looked in all directions, but still couldn't see the person who said that.

*Who said that?* Harrison questioned.

*Down here, stupid human.*

Harrison looked down at his feet, and saw a small garden snake covered in greenish-brown scales, and it's pink tongue flickering out, by his feet. Harrison almost wanted to scream, but bit his tongue as the snake flickered its]'s tongue at him in annoyance.

*I didn't know snakes could speak English,* Harrison mused.

*You're speaking parseltongue, human… The language of snakes.*

Harrison tested it out for himself, and while it sounded like English to him, but when he focused on what he was saying- he could actually hear the hissy sounds like a snake. A smile bursted out on his features as he desperately wanted to tell someone that he was able to talk to snakes! But he realized that it was a bad idea.

His family hated snakes. They were often associated with the dark, and his family associated themselves with anything light and snakes were not considered that. At that moment, he thought he would keep the ability of parseltongue and his new friend a secret away from them.

By the time he finished his tale, Draco had fallen silent. Harrison studied him, watching for any flash of emotions on his face, but nothing. He finally spoke,

"Did the Potters ever found out?"

"Now that would be another story for another time, Draco," Harrison tutted him, letting a small chuckle escape his lips as the blonde everlasting curiosity shown his side once more. "You only wanted to know about when I found out that I was parselmouth and I told you that… You didn't ask if anything happened after that."

"Please…"

"They did… How do you think the Potters just stood there, watching me getting dragged off."

He left Draco in digesting what he just said as Harrison left him sitting on his bed, and out of the common room. Chatter of conversations lingered in the common room, no one paid attention to him as he left the common room and through the dungeons.

He walked until he found an abandoned classroom where he could finally be alone in his thoughts. He hadn't thought about the snake in a long time. His first friend, but it was nice having something that was just personally his, but of course all good things came to an end.

He probably wasn't being subtle enough while he talked to the snake, or they were getting suspicious when he sat in the same part of the garden, for weeks at a time, his mouth opening partially. Somehow, Saeviour wandered over where he was in that little section of the garden- saw the snake, picked up a rock and bashed its head multiple times, leaving blood and a snake body no longer moving in its wake.

Lord Potter came rushing out of the manor, and pulled Harrison up by his hair. He slapped him senseless, pulling on his hair every time he did so.

He could still hear the words that Lord Potter said to him, "The Dark Lord is the only one who is able to speak to snakes and now you're impersonating him…Speaking to snakes is evil. You're not going to be a son of mine if you talk to snakes."

He then left Harrison in the garden with the dead snake in his hands as he made a make-shift grave for his last friend.

His fists clenched tightly as he remembered the first and possibly the last time he formed a sentimental connection to someone. Something in him broke that day, and began the crumbling of the trust and any sort of love that he held for the Potters that day.

Update: Added more details, fixed any run-on sentences and the weird telling and showing part. Runs a lot cleaner and smoother now.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter and leave a review down in the comments below!