Chapter 8 – Ophidians

After Bulgaria was Paris, where they stayed with Fleur and her sister Gabrielle. Remus forbade exploring the city, to both Lizzie and Tonk's dismay, because it would be too difficult to keep an eye on surroundings and too obvious a place if Voldemort were to penetrate her mind.

Lizzie had forgotten how annoying she found Fleur at times. She was kind, usually, and sweet tempered, usually, but there was something distasteful about the way she carried herself in Lizzie's opinion. She knew her presence commanded weakness among men. That being said, Lizzie was massively shocked by Bill's proposal on their last day there. Bill, however, commanded the same presence he always did around Fleur. There was never any of the foolish comments or insufferable swooning she received from others. He just loved her, and Lizzie was fascinated by the dynamic. Since the trip was rather uneventful, Tonks took to helping Lizzie master how to change her hair and eye color. She picked up on it quickly but could alter bone structures.

Lizzie made a note to return to the city, but she was excited for the next destination. Bill mentioned Egypt as they gathered their things to leave and apparated them to the area he had lived prior to returning to Great Britain.

The air was hot and dry, Lizzie could feel the moisture leave her skin like it had been sucked dry by vacuum as soon as they apparated. The sun was bright and blinding, and the subtle scent of dust laced every breath.

She rubbed her eyes while they adjusted, they were growing dry and irritated, and she resigned to stop touching them until they were inside. Remus and Tonks helped erect the protections around their abode. Bill had set up a small accommodation for them outside of Giza near the Nile with a close friend of his from his work at the bank.

"Lizzie, this is Menes, Menes, this is Azalea Potter, but call her Lizzie," Bill said introducing them.

"Pleasure to meet you, Lizzie. I hear your stay will be short but I hope we can make it comfortable. You are enjoying the travels? Egypt is beautiful, hopefully we will be able to explore some," Menes smiled. Lizzie looked to Remus who shook his head no and her shoulders sunk in disappointment. Menes was tan and handsome with dark hair and eyes, and an accent she had never heard before.

"Menes, women here... what do they usually look like?" Lizzie asked. He looked confused but pointed to a picture of what she assumed to be his sister on a nearby table.

"Roughly like that, obviously not everyone looks the same, why?" He asked curiously.

Lizzie stared at the picture and closed her eyes. The roots of her hair starting from the tip went black and she opened her eyes now a muddy shade of brown. Her complexion was still rather fair but she didn't look like herself at all.

"Well, that answers it," Menes laughed. "I did not know you were a - " he started to say but she shook her head.

"I'm not, Tonks is though, and taught me how to change the basics. Can't alter my features entirely though. Mostly just pigments, skin I'm having a difficult time with though. Can only seem to make my freckles darker," she sighed and Bill choked on the water he was drinking mid-laugh.

"It's the ginger affliction, we can't tan anyway can we?" Bill chuckled and winked at Lizzie. Menes took them on a tour of the small abode and showed them the rooms. Lizzie would share with Tonks and Remus would share with Bill.

Every time Remus caught eyes with Lizzie he looked nervous but pleased to see her enjoying herself. After dinners with minimal distractions, they typically sat quietly and sipped tea, Lizzie reluctantly so. Since Vernon she noticed the ability to sense thoughts and feelings growing more intense. Perhaps Snape was right about her capability of being a legilimens. Remus's mind flooded with memories of Sirius and her father, she could sense he was hurting immensely but he changed the subject if she brought it up.

Lizzie sat down for dinner the night before they were set to leave and Menes seemed especially grim.

"Lizzie, Bill mentioned something about your affliction, and I wanted to give you a book I have on the topic," he said, breaking some awkward silence and handing over a thin hardcover book.

"You can keep it, don't think you have to read it tonight or anything," he said reassuringly.

"This is about Ophidians," she said quietly, flipping through the pages eagerly. "Do you know about that kind of magic?" She asked with anticipation.

He clenched his jaw apprehensively but nodded. "Did he complete the curse, Lizzie?" He asked sadly.

Lizzie nodded, "he um, he did, yes," she said awkwardly above a whisper, her insides shuddering around the memory. Remus and Tonks were looking intently between her and Menes hoping for more insight. Bill pushed his food around with his fork uncomfortably.

"The magic originated here in Egypt. Only parseltongues could administer it, but centuries ago Egypt was home to a great deal of them. It was a sign of being a deity they were basically royalty. The pharaohs being among them," Menes started to explain.

"They often gave it to their servants and their wives. It was an insidious and cruel way to ensure obedience," he continued.

"I don't quite understand what it does," Tonks admitted.

"Well, Lizzie experienced it but the mechanics behind it are rather straightforward. There are two potions made. The first one is taken by the one administering it, and it only works if they are a parseltounge. The second potion is made with the unborn fetals from a female serpent, a poisonous, but not deadly poisonous serpent. They're removed while mother is alive and preserved in the makeup of the potion. Her venom is added before she's ultimately slain. The victim drinks the second potion every night for seven days. It's said to be excruciating. The fetals grow over the course of a couple of hours inside the body of the victim. Their size conforms to just enough to keep their host from dying. They leave the host's body through the throat when the next dose is given and the process repeats. They die quickly because they ultimately starve..." he explained.

"On the seventh day, the one administering the potion consumates the connection and they're able to replicate and reproduce on their own. It becomes permanent..." he added, watching Lizzie's face contort around the memory.

"He raped you?" Tonks asked quietly with a hoarseness in her voice. Lizzie nodded subtly and looked down at her stomach expecting it to writhe. Remus buried his face in his hands looking forlorn.

"The serpents respond to not just commands but the feelings of the one who administered the curse. When he is content the serpents shrink and cause little pain. When he is anything but content they eat. The venom is excruciatingly painful but not deadly. On the seventh night they purge and regenerate. The victim is at their complete mercy," Menes continued.

"The potion is insidious. Feels being lit on fire from the inside. Just a single touch from him sets off every pain receptor in my body, so the - well that particular process was worse than any cruciatus. It was pathetic how helpless I was, I begged Peter to kill me. Then the snakes leave through your throat and you can't breathe. I was certain I'd died, but he didn't want me to. He wanted to control the obscurial without hosting it but since I can resist his imperius...he resorted to this instead..." Lizzie said calmly through some mild trembling. Tonks stopped eating and stared down at the table in horror.

"This lost popularity amongst men and their wives when most pregnancies failed. Men are often unable to keep their emotions in check, particularly anger. The bond makes them unable to consciously decide what they want to happen to their victim, the serpents simply respond with the same severity to what he feels. Many women were eaten from the inside out. Parseltounge became a rare gift as they failed to reproduce and pass the gift on. The ones that remained often used this method as a marital punishment for disobedience. Then it became outlawed completely..."

"They removed them... they aren't there anymore," Lizzie said, rubbing her lower abdomen lightly, no longer hungry for any food. Menes looked down at his hands sympathetically.

"You're not in his presence. It's dormant, they're too small to notice but they would come back in his presence," he explained watching Lizzie's face flush.

"I was... I was able to resist them sometimes. Not completely. But enough to make him think they weren't working," Lizzie said.

" a parseltounge. It confused them. It's not supposed to be given to someone who can speak to them, that was foolish of him," Menes reflected.

"But I'm... I'm only a parseltounge because he is. I retained his powers," she added.

"That would only confuse them more, they might think you are him. You are likely more able to control it than you think. Exploring ways to do so may save your life," he concluded with a weak encouraging smile.

"Are you ever free of it?" She asked with a hint of desperation.

"Only when the one who casts it dies," he answered apologetically. Lizzie nodded in understanding, the thought brought her some hope.

They left the next morning and she didn't know where to. Bill gave her a hug goodbye and Menes a gracious handshake assuring her she was always welcome.

"Where are we going?" She asked Remus as she stepped forward to grab his arm.

"Another friendly face, don't worry," Remus reassured. With a crack the three of them were gone.