Two years later

"Liz!" called Harry as the door slammed closed behind him, dropping his school bag and shoes by the door. "Liz!"

"In the kitchen Harry!" called Elizabeth as she turned to the muggle cook book she had borrowed from her neighbor Mrs. Hemmly.

"Liz! Guess what happened at school today!" Harry said excitedly as he threw himself into the nearest chair.

"Hmm did you see a hippogriff?" she asked teasingly.

"No!" giggled Harry.

"Oh? Well then did Mrs. Heatherforth bring cookies for the class?" she asked with a laugh.

"Yes, but also, I talked to a snake I found in the bushes!" he said with a manic smile on his face.

Elizabeth dropped the baking sheet in her hand.

"A snake?" she asked cautiously.

"Yeah! Her name was Nysandra! She was really nice too," said Harry with a smile.

"Well you learn new things every day," she muttered to herself before picking up the baking sheet from the ground and putting it in the sink.

"What's wrong Liz?" asked Harry.

"Nothing love. So you can talk to snakes, did you know that there's a term for being able to talk to and understand snakes in the wizarding world?" she said sitting down next to him.

"No, what is it?" He asked, looking excited.

"The term is Parselmouth, now you know how I told you about the bad man who took your mummy and daddy from us right?" Harry nodded. "He could talk to snakes too. A lot of people in the wizarding world think being able to talk to snakes is bad, a dark magic, but it's really not. Just like everything in this world, things are only bad if you use them to do bad things. So what do you say next weekend we go to Flourish and Blotts and see if we can find some books on it?"

"Yeah! That sounds awesome," said Harry eagerly.

"Now remember, anything from the wizarding world can't happen at school on purpose, so no talking to snakes where others can see or hear you okay? We don't want to get in trouble," Elizabeth said ruffling his hair. "Now do you have any homework?"

"Only reading, but I've read all the muggle books we have," he said with a furrowed brow.

"Well then let's go to the library then, we'll find something to fit the task hm? Let me wrap up what I'm doing in here and we'll head out in five."

Elizabeth put the cookbook back on the counter as Harry ran out of the kitchen.

She would always be glad she chose to step in when she found him. When the kitchen was clean she found Harry right by the door, practically bouncing in place. He enjoyed going out of the house, whether it was to muggle London or Diagon Alley. Elizabeth quickly made sure that he had his coat before grabbing her own along with her keys.

"Ready Harry?" she asked.

"Yep!"

"Then let's head out," she said, extending her hand for Harry to grab, "hold tight so you don't get lost okay?"

"Okay," he said with a nod, his eyes bright.

Elizabeth and Harry walked up to the local library, "Once we go inside, I want you to go to the children's section, and pick three books okay? Then come find me, I'll be over in the adult fiction section. Remember, no running!"

"Yes ma'am," he said with a smile.

"Alright you rascal, and if anyone gives you any trouble-"

"Get a librarian, and if they don't listen come find you," Harry said, cutting her off.

"That's right," she laughed.

"I'll be good, I promise," he said.

With that they split up inside the library, Harry to the children's section, Elizabeth to the adult fiction. Twenty minutes later found Harry with three books in hand, trying to find Elizabeth in the stacks of the adult fiction while trying to avoid the cranky old Mrs. Rivers, a frequent library patron and their neighbor from three houses down. Mrs. Rivers seemed to hate children, and would especially sneer at Harry whenever he passed her home.

"Potter, what are you doing in the adult section? Where is that lazy guardian of yours?" came the harsh three-pack-a-day voice of the grumpy old lady.

"She said she'd be in the adult fiction section," he said, trying to decide how best to get out of Mrs. Rivers' grasp, without causing a problem.

"Of course, that woman would leave a child wandering around unattended." she sneered. "Come with me."

"Why?" Harry asked.

"Because you're a delinquent abandoned in the library with no guardian."

"That's not true! Please just let me keep looking for her, I promise I'll keep out of your way," he begged, knowing that Mrs. Rivers would likely exaggerate what happened in an attempt to get rid of him.

"Come with me now Potter," she hissed, grabbing him by the wrist.

"I swear Elizabeth didn't abandon me," he said, trying to pry her bony fingers from his wrist as she dragged him towards the front desk.

"Stop that this instant, you're making a scene," hissed Mrs. Rivers.

"I'll make a bigger scene if you don't let me go," he replied, "and I doubt you want to be caught in that!"

His threat seemed to make her think twice, causing her grip to loosen enough for him to escape her grasp and run back to the adult stacks, with the crabby old woman heading towards the front desk, presumably to get a librarian.

Eventually he found her browsing the art books.

"Elizabeth!" he exclaimed before he was reminded to be quiet.

"What is it Harry?" she asked, looking at him in confusion.

"Mrs. Rivers tried to take me to the front desk, she called me something, too," he said, grabbing her hand with his free hand, the three books he chose gripped tightly to his chest.

"Well in that case, let's go to the front, see what's going on, and check out those books for you, sound good?" she asked with a soft smile.

With Harry's nod the two walked up to the front desk seeing Mrs. Rivers furiously whispering at the librarian.

"Ma'am, I assure you that we'll-"

"There's the delinquent now!" squawked, pointing a bony finger at Harry.

"I'm sorry but you said he was unaccompanied?" the librarian said.

Mrs. Rivers' face turned three shades of red.

"Mrs. Rivers, your blood pressure," reminded Elizabeth with a kind, if patronising, voice.

"Ma'am if that's all, could you please step aside so that we can take care of the other patrons?" asked the librarian patiently.

With a look just shy of a snarl Mrs. Rivers stepped aside, and headed off.

Harry had checked out a book on snakes, and two other books that had caught his eye. When they got home again he ran to his room and started to read.

"Did you know some snakes can travel up to twenty kilomters an hour?" Harry said excitedly as Elizabeth worked to cover his scar with her makeup and magic, a habit they had gotten into for excursions into the wizarding world just to keep people from noticing him. Harry knew he was well known in the wizarding community, but he liked that no one could tell what he looked like.

"Wow that is fast!" said Elizabeth, encouraging Harry as she ensured the make-up hid his scar.

"Yeah and they can go a really long time without eating!" he chirped.

"Well soon we'll be learning about them from the magical side of things, come on, grab my hand," she laughed.

Once he did they went into the fireplace and floo'd to the Leaky Cauldron. It was a more quiet day, with only a low din of conversations in the backdrop, as they walked to the entrance of Diagon Alley. Harry kept a tight grip to her hand, attempting to drag her to Flourish and Blotts with all the strength a five year old could muster, causing Elizabeth to chuckle under her breath.

The shop itself was fairly empty of clients, as a good number of it's clientele happened to be Hogwarts students, and with the school year well under way with all the students having already purchased the books needed for course work, only a few older witches and wizards roamed the shelves.

Harry and Liz wandered the store, looking for books on snakes, and Parslemagic, though what they did find wasn't much. They proceeded to purchase the books they could find, despite the odd look the shopkeeper gave. They followed the book trip with a trip to Florean Fortescue's for some ice cream, to make up for the lack of reading material on the topic they were so keen to delve into.

"Should we maybe check out the Magical Menagerie and see if they have any books on snakes?" asked Harry.

"Do you really want to check there or are you just wanting to look at the animals?" Elizabeth quipped teasingly as she finished her ice cream.

"Um can't it be both?"

"Sadly we do have to go home," she replied ruffling his hair, causing the naturally unkempt locks to become somehow even more erratic looking.

"Okay," he said sadly.

The two headed back to the Leaky Cauldron to return home, their purchases held tightly, counting the trip successful.