~Parseltongue~

Spells

Emphasis

'Thoughts'

(Another language)

~Flashback~

Warning: Descriptions of mild child abuse and death

The songs for this chapter are:

12 Rounds - Bohnes (Lyrics)

Middle Finger - Bohnes (Lyrics)

AN: we truly hope you enjoy this story and share your thoughts with us, Courtney, [my co-writer] and I have decided this story will be uploaded monthly, this chapter is being uploaded a bit early though. blessed be!


The Rise of Mercy

September 24,1988

Lilith's Awakening

Lilith smiled down at Hope who happily slithered around her as she pulled weeds. Despite being a snake, Hope was Lilith's best friend. Hope was a rare magical snake called an Onyx Jewel-Headed Python Alba, who had learned how to speak English from her old master who had died some years ago. from Hope, Lilith had learned about magic, and being a Speaker, or parselmouth as the magicals called it. Lilith had deduced that her magic was why the Dursleys hated her.

At first, she was upset. She couldn't understand why the Dursleys would hate her for something she had no control over. But then Lilith had been ecstatic. She concluded that if she could control her Magic, hide it -or even stop it altogether- then the Dursleys might finally treat her like family!

More than anything, Lilith desperately wanted to be loved, to have a family. Hope had disagreed. She hadn't thought it was a wise idea for Lilith to suppress who she was just to gain the approval of her 'undeserving den-mates' as Hope had taken to calling the Dursleys.

However Lilith hadn't paid any mind to her words. Unfortunately, it had been months, and Lilith's efforts were in vain. no matter how hard she tried, or how much she suppressed her magic. The Dursleys treated her just the same as they always had.

If she stopped herself from healing as fast as she normally did, Aunt Petunia would accuse her of seeking attention, and send her to her cupboard without dinner. If she tried very hard to not stop plates from falling when she dropped them, -something that had gained her beatings before- Uncle Vernon would accuse her of letting the plate break on purpose.

Suddenly Lilith was startled out of her reverie by the garden door slamming open. Lilith's blood ran cold as she rushed to pull out a handful of weeds nearest to her. There were only three weeds left all within grabbing distance and she knew that she would not be able to grab them in time.

"FREAK!" Vernon bellowed.

Lilith swiftly scrambled to her feet and turned to face Vernon who was lumbering towards her. His face ruddy with anger, beady eyes scanning the garden, looking for some imperfection to complain about. Lilith held very still, knowing if she attempted to hide the weeds the inevitable beating would just be worse. She silently cursed herself for getting distracted, she gingerly touched her ribs which had just stopped aching from the last beating she'd earned.

Vernon's face reddened further as he raised his arm and backhanded her. Lilith bit back a cry of pain as she fell to the grass. For such a fat walrus, Vernon Dursley wasn't slow by any means when it came to beating his niece.

Tears welled up in Lilith's eyes as his meaty hand pressed her face into the ground. "You disgusting freak! What did I tell you about not finishing your chores before I got back!" he yelled belligerently.

"I-I'm sorry uncle." Lilith whimpered as she closed her eyes tightly, bracing for the blow that was likely to come. Suddenly there was a furious hissing.

Lilith's eyes widened in horror as Hope sprang forward, fangs bared. ~Filthy two-legger! Don't touch my young mistress or I will fill you with my Venom~ She hissed angrily while slithering onto Lilith's back. Lilith panicked, Hope was supposed to stay hidden, the last time Uncle Vernon had seen her he'd tried to kill her

Vernon jumped back with a slithered down Lilith's back quickly just as Lilith scrambled hurriedly to her feet, turning to grab Hope. ~No! Hope, stop!~ Lilith pleaded.

Hope ignored Lilith and reared up, prepared to strike. At that moment Vernon grabbed a spade from the bucket of gardening tools and swung at Hope wildly. "NO!" Lilith wailed, just as the sharp edge of the blade connected with Hope, and with a sickening slice took off her head.

Lilith gave an agonised cry as grief washed over her while she watched Hope's body thud onto the grass. Lilith felt as though a searing gaping hole had opened in her heart, nearly tearing it apart.

Her hands shook with the weight of the new emotion, physical pain she could endure, however this new, harsher feeling threatened to tear her apart. After a moment her pain twisted into the most violent anger she had ever felt.

"Y-you Killed her! You monster, have you no mercy?!" Lilith demanded as tears rolled down her cheeks. Hope had been right, she shouldn't change for these people. They weren't worth her effort. They were worthless, they were scum!

Vernon backhanded her. "Shut up, you worthless freak! For scum like you death is also a mercy! And certainly the only kind you deserve." He hissed. At that moment something snapped in Lilith.

She turned to her uncle, her green eyes seeming to glow in the afternoon light. "You're right uncle, for scum, death is a mercy." her eyes glowed brighter and it's the only one I'll grant you.~ she hissed furiously climbing to her feet. She didn't know what she would do. She felt different, energised, like there was an endless flow of…something, pulsating under her skin. Straining, yearning to break free and do her bidding, to follow her every command.

Following her instincts Lilith raised her hand and pushed. what she was pushing she didn't quite know, perhaps it was her magic? Vernon flew back with a fearful yelp -as if he'd been struck by a great force- and landed in a heap a few yards away.

Where before she had felt next to nothing while using her magic, or restraining it, she now felt as if a warm dam had burst within her, crashing through her veins and send\ing little pin pricks across her skin.

At that moment a blur of black scales attacked Vernon, and Lilith could not believe her eyes.

It was Hope! With… two heads? The shocking sight stunned Lilith into inaction. Though she watched with great pleasure as both of Hope's heads bit viciously into Vernon's fatty flesh and pumped him full of her venom. A relief she had never felt before swept through her, and her pain rapidly cooled to a dull ache as she convinced herself that yes, her friend was really alive, the fact that Hope was attacking Vernon certainly helped

Vernon let out a cry of pain the moment her fangs had connected with his flesh "FREA-" his words were cut off by a choked gasp as the area where Hope still had her fangs attached swelled, the skin turning an angry red, darkening further by the second.

After a moment Vernon's neck began to blacken, and his veins became a sickly yellow as they bulged against his skin. Obviously Hope's venom was fast acting. Lilith continued to watch in morbid fascination as her uncle's body convulsed, wondering how long he would take to die.

Vernon let out a panicked gurgle as tears came to his now bloodshot eyes.

She oddly enough felt relief, in fact she was happy her vicious uncle was dying, and wondered why she hadn't let Hope kill him before, she'd certainly asked enough.

Lilith wondered how Hope had survived and regrown two heads in the place of the one she'd lost. Lilith had heard of a similar occurrence with mythical creatures before, hydra's from greek mythology were said to have the same ability, was Hope a sub species of hydra? Or related to hydra in some fashion?

After five minutes the blackness had spread throughout the entirety of Vernon's right side. His right hand, which had already been fat, was now swollen beyond reason, so much so that Lilith began to wonder if it would burst, releasing the now poison infused blood and tissue.

'Now wouldn't that be funny? Aunt Petunia's perfect garden marred with the blood and remains of her beastly husband.' Lilith thought. ~Hope, come here, the disgusting mass will die sooner or later~ Lilith hissed. Her uncle's death would be as painful as possible.

As soon as Hope slithered onto Lilith's arm she began walking towards the house. Hope continued to wrap herself comfortably around her mistress's shoulders while hissing in contentment at having poisoned the fat two-legger who constantly hurt her mistress.

Lilith quickly entered the place that had been her prison since she could remember. Soon her aunt would be back from her "Book club" -though Lilith knew the only thing that was read during those weekly meetings were wine bottle's and caviar tins-

It was time For Lilith to let her dear aunt know that there would be some changes around here. Hope could hide while the bobbies and mortician came for Vernons body, and if Petunia behaved, then Lilith might just make her eventual death that much quicker.

Let it never be said that she was without mercy.

Lilith sat comfortably on the kitchen chair, -something she had never been permitted to do before- as she watched her hands curiously, she could still feel that strange thrumming, pulsing through her veins. It was invigorating, it was magical. Lilith wondered why she hadn't felt like this before

Hope could feel everything her Lilith could, and she guessed that it had something to do with her magic.

'She must be able to use it differently than other two-leggers', Hope thought as she wound herself around Lilith's neck. 'My old master had never used anything but a wand. My Lilith must be different'.

Hope felt pride for her Lilith at the thought. Of course she was different. There was no one else quite like her Lilith.

The front door opened swiftly, if not loudly. In the next moment Petunia's horse-like laughter floated into the kitchen. Lilith smiled, aware that her aunt's good mood would soon come crashing down into the depths of despair. She was so looking forward to that.

"Vernon, you'll never believe what I've just heard about Mrs. Bailey, you know that young french thing that had the gall to question us about the freak-" Lilith rolled her eyes and internally scoffed. She had always thought it ridiculous that the Dursleys rejected anything foreign.

Petunia turned the corner into the kitchen and shrieked as she spotted the two headed snake that rested on Lilith's shoulders. "Freak! What are you doing with that - that thing!" Petunia's face reddened, though she was smarter than Vernon had been and didn't attack Hope.

"And what are you doing sitting at the table? How many times have we told you freaks aren't allowed on furniture? Get that disgusting thing out of my house! You'll have no food for two weeks just for bringing it in! And if you don't get off of that chair right now and clean it, I'll make you sleep in the garden! Just wait until Vernon hears about this." Petunia took a breath looking around in confusion.

"I said get off that chair! If you're not up and scrubbing that wood spotless by the time I'm back you'll regret having ever been born. You're lucky you didn't bring that monstrosity in the house while my precious Diddums was here. It better be gone by the time he's back from the Polkins!" she hissed, storming towards the living room.

She was back a moment later, a confused and angry look on her horse-like face."Freak! Where's my Vernon?" she demanded.

"In the garden." Lilith said, a malicious smile gracing her face. "What is he doing in the garden? Nevermind, I'll deal with you when I get back, you ungrateful hussy." Petunia huffed as she headed for the garden. Lilith mentally counted down from five with an expectant grin on her face. As expected a piercing scream rang throughout the house.

Less than a minute later Petunia came rushing in eye's wild. "YOU! What did you do to my Vernon you freak!" she screamed.

Lilith raised an eyebrow at her aunt. "Me? I didn't do anything, Hope is the one that deserves all the praise." Lilith stopped for a moment to stroke Hope's head with a proud smile. "Her Venom is quite potent, of course I didn't know that until about half an hour ago. But I'm okay with how things turned out anyway."

Petunia stared at Lilith in horror. "You little bitch! I'm going to call the police, I'll see you sent to jail for what you did to my Vernon! You better hope he gets better or else-"

An invisible force slammed into Petunia, pinning her against the wall as her eyes widened in fear. Lilith smirked as she held her free hand aloft, keeping Petunia against the wall. "Are you naturally stupid, or did you have to practice? Your dear Vernon is likely dead by now. And your scream was loud enough to wake the dead." Lilith paused at Petunia's flinch.

"Oh, was that too soon?" Lilith purred. "Now, there are going to be some changes around here, but first, we need to deal with what's left of uncle Vernon, here's what you're going to do…"

~Scene~

"Th-thank you officer. I- I hope you catch that deadly snake soon." Petunia said through her tears. Lilith sat off to the side, hugging a pillow with what she hoped was a properly sad look on her face. she couldn't fake tears, so she settled for being 'shocked'.

One of the officers looked suspiciously between the oversized shirt Lilith was wearing. And the bruise peeking out of it, then to the opulent room she sat in and the obviously expensive dress Petunia was wearing "You're welcome Mrs. Dursley, are you sure we can't further examine the body? Identifying the venom-"

Lilith subtly poked Petunia it had taken half an hour before to convince the police not to look closer at the body

"NO! I-I mean… we don't believe in being cut open after you die and being pumped full of those unnatural chemicals. I'd just like to be done with all this and send my husband's remains to be cremated, thank you." She said, nervously glancing at Lilith.

Lilith curled her hands tighter around the pillow to keep herself from launching the officers out the windows. As much as she wanted them out quickly, using magic on these muggles would only make things more complicated. And Lilith wasn't going to let anything get in the way of her newfound freedom.

"Ok, we'll just be on our way then." the first officer nodded, the second one stood silently glancing around the room curiously.

Lilith watched the second officer curiously. 'Does she think that aunt Petunia had killed Vernon? That would be very inconvenient for me, especially now that aunt and I have come to an understanding.'

As soon as the police were gone Lilith smirked at her aunt. "Good Job. Now, I'm hungry. Make me some food while we wait for your pig of a son. Remember, you are going to explain the new rules to him. and if you don't, Well, Hope might just have to accidentally bite him. Stay and bite, sound awfully similar to her, you know." Lilith said innocently.

Petunia paled. "That- that won't be necessary." she stammered before she rushed into the kitchen to start making dinner.