A/N: None here.

Disclaimer: Harry doesn't belong to me, blah, blah, blah. I only own Amelia, Ebony-Crested Dragon snakes, Silecia, Mithra, and any and all Dark Woods harps, along with anything else you don't recognize from the books. Oh, and I do use some of the same techniques Rowling uses with some fun lines I always enjoyed, so please don't sue me! I need all the money I can get for my student ambassador trip!

Parseltongue will be "~...~"

Chapter 20: Blaise's Return

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The dingy clock read 10:52 as the boys walked up to the barrier between platforms nine and ten. Racing eachother to the magical platform, both appeared on the other side at the same moment. To Harry, Platform Nine and Three Quarters was an extremely welcome sight to his eyes after the action packed summer. Draco pulled him along by his robe sleeve to the door onto the train.

After loading their trunks in behind them, they started prowling the halls, peering in every window for their friend. They passed by one open door with a girl they did not recognize, but she quickly shouted after them, "Hey, you jerks! I'm over here!"

Both boys looked at one another in confusion and pulled their things into the compartment, loading them in the rack and sitting down. Now that they looked, both did a double take. It was Blaise that had called them, though her voice was decisively different, more calming in some way, though no less exuberant. Her appearance, however, had changed quite drastically.

"Blaise," muttered Draco, "What the hell happened to you?!"

Harry thought that question was justified looking at his fellow Slytherin. She still looked sick, with dark circles under her eyes and gaunt face and frame, her wraith-like hands settling on her lap, skeletal fingers long and rather unhealthy-looking. Her hair, once a combination of deepest black with streaks of silver seemed to be losing its colour along with her skin, both smooth with a certain luminance to them. Her eyes, though still deep violet, seemed to have little specks of colour in them not there originally. It was not a surprise they had missed her.

Laughing, she said, "What do you think you're looking at? A ghost or something?" Just then, she spotted Mithra and Amelia on Harry's person and pulled them over to her, plopping both in her lap. Harry heard Amelia quietly tell Mithra to watch out for this one. The compartment door slid open, revealing three people Draco at least didn't look that happy to see.

Fred, George, and Ginny Weasley stepped in slightly to let people pass and greeted everyone in the compartment.

"So, Harry, will you be trying out for the Quidditch teams this year?" asked Fred.

"We remember you expressing some interest in that last year, didn't he Fred?" continued George.

"Though of course-"

"No matter whether he's good or not-"

"Slytherins will never win-"

"Against the mighty Gryffindors!"

Ginny was blushing slightly from her brother's antics and apologized. Harry just shook his head and said, "We three got used to this last year. Nothing to apologize for."

"Hey Harry-"

"You seem to have a little extra room in here-"

"Why don't you take Ginny?"

"Our compartment is crowded, and Ron's a prat."

Blaise lifted her head from where she had been cooing over Mithra and smiled, patting the seat next to her, saying, "Come sit next to me, Ginny. We Slytherins aren't that bad. At least not to allies."

Fred turned to Harry and motioned to Ginny, "Harry, you better not try to convert Ginny to the ways of Slytherin. Speaking of which, saw the Daily Prophet over the summer. Better watch out for that Harling kid. He's pissed as hell at you."

George nodded and added, "I guess you also have figured out the spell for summer usage of magic?"

"You two know me too well. Deatheaters were becoming disloyal, so I had to set an example. I must have Allies still for when the regime comes back into swing."

Fred and George just grinned and waved goodbye, Harry peering from the doorway to watch them leave. As soon as they fell back into their own compartment, Harry shut the door and jumped up to his trunk, pulling out the Animagus book.

"Is that the book you were talking about in the letter, Harry?" asked Blaise, leaning in slightly to see its pages filled with tiny scrawls and moving pictures. Harry nodded and he and Blaise switched so Draco could read at the same time. Harry plopped himself down next to Ginny, handing possession of the tome to the others, and grinned at her while taking back his precious familiars from the sickly girl. Ginny looked at them interestedly.

"Are they both yours, Harry?" Ginny murmured, in awe of the two beautiful creatures. Harry set Mithra down in her lap.

"Yeah, they are. Birthday presents two consecutive years. Mithra, this mini Hungarian Horntail, was from Draco this year," said Harry, motioning with a thumb at Draco, and then picked up Amelia and stroked her spikes fondly, "This is Amelia, one of the rare Ebony-Crested Dragon snakes. I got her as a present from Tom last year."

"Tom?"

"Ah, your siblings didn't tell you? You know that I was raised by Lord Voldemort, correct?"

After an involuntary shudder, Ginny pressed on.

"Yes, I read about it in the Daily Prophet."

"Well, before he was known as Lord Voldemort, his name was Tom Marvolo Riddle. He once showed me that if you rearrange the letters, it spells out 'I am Lord Voldemort'. I think I'll follow his example perhaps, when the time comes I have to name my lordship."

Not much else was said on the train ride to Hogwarts. Harry had pulled out a piece of paper and was playing around with names while Blaise and Draco were reading the Animagus book. Ginny did not mind the quiet, however. After a summer with everyone back at the Burrow, it was nice to get some peace. She didn't know why Ron complained about the Slytherins so badly along with the rest of her siblings. At least these three seemed nice enough, even if Draco was a Malfoy and therefore enemy of all Weasleys.

'The thought's stupid. We should be trying to make family alliances rather than enemies,' thought the young redhead. Looking around at the compartment's occupants, she gained something about each. Blaise looked very sick, though she seemed to act as though she were in perfect health, who seemed an energetic spirit as the girl quickly pulled the book from Draco's hands to look at a picture. Draco, the picture of a Malfoy, seemed to deny the rest of his family only in the matter of certain aspects of attitude. She watched as the supposedly calm, icy boy yanked the book back from Blaise which quickly led the two into a fight. Then she turned her head to look at Harry.

'Now here's an interesting one.' The boy was no older than twelve, and yet he had already accepted the facts that he never would lead a normal life and would one day become a leader of Darkness. She jumped slightly as he suddenly was hissing and spitting in a low tone while Amelia gave a slight hiss in response and little Mithra in her lap let out a little plume of fire. It seemed Fred hadn't lied when he told her that Harry was a Parseltongue. He truly was the apparent "Dark Heir", she thought, leaning back into the seat. Life at Hogwarts would certainly be interesting.

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The sun was slowly setting as the Hogwarts Express pulled wearily into Hogsmeade station while its passengers all bustled around, trailing out of the train onto the platform. The group of four eventually stepped out to the warm breeze of the outside, Blaise pointing Ginny towards the direction of Hagrid to make her journey across the lake. Harry headed off in the direction of some carriages he saw with Blaise and Draco behind him. Harry walked over to the spectre Thestral and patted its face while Draco and Blaise jumped into the carriage. The dark-haired boy came inside soon afterwards and the "horseless" carriage set off with the others towards the castle bathed in the red tone of the setting sun.

The Slytherin Trio looked in welcome upon the Great Hall, its candles flickering, the gold place settings glittering, and all were put at ease for a moment. For one glorious moment, Harry felt just like a twelve year old should as they sat down in their spots at the Slytherin table. Mithra and Amelia were looking around the Great Hall, watching staring students as they came into the hall and sat down at their respective tables. Harry turned towards the staff table and spotted Severus, smile flickering. The man seemed no different to other students with his glaring mask on as he surveyed the room, but his eyes betrayed themselves when he paused at Harry. The man looked deeply troubled about something.

Whispering his thoughts to Draco, his friend supplied him with some spare parchment and self-inking quill from a pocket. He quickly scribbled a short note on it, folded it, and gave it to Mithra, telling him who to give it to. Everyone in the Great Hall watched as the little dragon let of a little roar, opened its leathery wings, and took off towards the Potions Master. Severus took the note from the little dragon and read, "Is something wrong? You look troubled."

Severus pulled out his own pen and responded, watching as the little Horntail flew back over to its master and deliver the message. Harry read the note, nodded in Severus' direction, and looked over at the doors as the new students walked to the front of the hall to be sorted.

The students, however frightened they were, all showed their amazement of the Great Hall in some degree, not noticing McGonagall placing the Sorting Hat on the stool until it began to sing. Harry promptly ignored it, not particularly caring about hearing about the founders again. He was peering at Severus discreetly, trying to discern the anxiety behind the mask. It wouldn't be like him to pull him aside on the first night of getting back, and that's what the note had said. It asked Harry to meet Severus at his private quarters that night alone. Something was not right, and he felt it would inevitably involve him. Just as he was getting on a more complex thought of what the problem could be, the Hat finished its song. He turned his half-hearted interest back to the line now being placed in Houses, focusing solely on Ginny.

'I'm going to be the last one!' she thought desperately, scanning the tables frantically, looking first at her brothers, then back to the Slytherin table where Harry and his friends sat. She was torn where she wanted to sit for her next seven years, and the calling of her name just now increased that tear. She was almost trembling as she sat down under the Sorting Hat and listened as a little voice spoke in her ear.

"Very smart, yes, and a fine sense of loyalty. You are confused in your feelings of being in Gryffindor and Slytherin, a choice between family and friends. Your magical ability is hard to tap, but powerful when found. Unusual one, where shall I put you?... I believe it shall be..."

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A/N: Hehe. So which huse do you think Ginny will be in? Year two has officially started, and I'm glad Harry and his allies are back at school even if I'd rather beat my head in with a hammer in order to stay home from mine. Oh well... Sorry for taking so long to update, but of course, week before midterms is a royal pain, so.... yeah....

HEY REVIEWERS!!! Don't forget to send me ideas when you review! Shorty is getting really annoyed with me constantly asking her.

Review responses:

Thanks to Maxx77, jbfritz, saman007uk0, HecateDeMort, for encouraging me to update swiftly!

hermionegreen- Blaise's sickness doesn't seem to be totally gone, does it? It will have a major role in the story, I can assure you.

SilverKnight7- I have a fate that's worse than death for MOF planned. Bwahahahahaha!

Morie- Everyone in the wizarding world knows Harry's been raised by Lord Voldemort, though only a few people know he is to be the heir. The name Dark Heir was just a nickname at school, but most don't know how true it is...

Sea-Turtles- Animagi were always fascinating to me, so I will definitely make them Animagi in a realistic time frame at Hogwarts.

ReflectionsofReality- I've planned out a creature for this story that appears in a few years that will be the counterpart of all phoenixes, so Fawkes could go bye bye. It would be so fun to petrify MOF... ... Harry's not completely moraless, he just has so few you don't see them often, though I will include this in a chapter soon (a talk of morals).

Chozen1- I hate Lockhart with a passion; in real life, I have no tolerance for teachers who appear to know what they're doing but are complete idiot's. That's the deal with my English teacher. On her bookshelf in the classroom, she has "The Complete Idiot's Guide to American Literature". That both annoys and irritates me at the same time, really.

ER- MOF does have the nerve to kill Harry. Will Harry present himself to the light by the end of the year, or risk dying? Just remember, I never plan on Harry going to the Light, if that would answer a question.

Nicoletta- Darn right it will be an interesting year at Hogwarts! Glad you noticed the look; you took it a different way than I planned, however. Lucius had just been talking with Draco about mudbloods half-bloods when he gave Harry that look. I think with all the comments about Harry being a half-blood instead of a pureblood, it stands to reason that two generations must go by before the muggleborn is swept away. Does Harry know what his mother was, or even know about Tom?

Shorty- Harry will be a cool Animagus.

Rogue1615- I drown reviewers in suspense? I'm sorry. *throws in a lifesaver* quick, grab hold to the Lifesavers, little gummy bears!

Bosson12787- Like above, I never realized my stories were suspenseful...

RaistlinofMetallica- Will Harry still have a stag Patronus? I believe Patronuses feed on your life experiences and wishes, so it most likely will not be a stag. Blaise's illness will not be so much a warning light as it would be... I can't explain without giving the whole thing away. If you read the summer chapters very carefully, taking in details, you may figure out at least a small bit of it...

Falafal- I still love the name, you know... Dumbledore just seems too nice in the books without being suspicious... Animagi are awesome!

lady leah- Why, thank you for such a nice review! *blink blink*. No one who reads my story likes Dumbledore, as is my plan, Bwahahahaha! But thank you!

girlknight- You sound like me when I've gotten enough sleep! I live in Las Vegas, Nevada, so I probably would be a "yankee". I don't care if there are jokes. We have it nice. Our lows are only in the 30s here. I was reading the works of another Canadian. Do you really get snow by All Haloow's Eve? Completely weird...

greenday9829- Are you a fellow GreenDay fan? Thank you for liking both of my stories. I get so happy when people says things in reviews!

(January 5-9, 2004)