Chapter 7: Acceptance

"Welcome back." The painting of Salazar Slytherin forced a smile out at Lily. She spun towards it.

"What do you want?" She asked, her voice about as blunt as a sledgehammer.

"You offend me, Miss Evans." The painting sighed. "Here I am, welcoming you into my inner sanctum, and you respond with such uncouthness. I am, frankly, disappointed but not surprised."

"What's gotten into you?" Lily inquired suspiciously. "Is it possible to potion a painting? You're being nice to me…"

"As far as I am aware, no, it isn't." Salazar told her. "Of course, it is possible that something has been developed in the nine-hundred years since my passing that none of the heirs that came through here thought to inform me about."

"So, if we rule out Tessie putting you under a spell, somehow, what has caused this from you? I thought you found pranks to be anathema?" Lily stared at the painting, waiting for something, really, to happen.

"I was recently reminded about the ideals I ascribed to in life that I seemed to have forgotten." He admitted.

"I thought you were against mudbloods in your life?" Lily questioned. This wasn't how their interactions usually went…

"Yes, that is true." He nodded. "But, in the hierarchy of my beliefs, that particular belief was subordinate to other, core ideals. My primary beliefs and values are the ideals of what Slytherin House was meant to be. Ambition. Cunning. Subtlety. Ruthlessness. Pragmatism. I was reminded that I had gotten so caught up in my dislike of muggleborns that I was forgetting my true beliefs. My antipathy to those begotten by the mundane was always a product of the threat they posed to wizarding society. Of the inferiority they displayed in magic compared to the purebloods. You, my dear, have given that particular belief a swift kick in the posterior. It is not prudent to continue on a path that will lead down a path that results in a less advantageous position for no gain. Clearly, the pureblood supremacy complex that is extant in the world is more damaging to wizardkind as a whole and my legacy than the inclusion of the Muggleborns has been."

Lily stared at the painting. And blinked a few times. "So, you no longer hate me for being a muggleborn?" She blinked a few more times. "Are you sure that one can't potion or spell portraits?"

Salazar let out a soft chuckle. "Ahh, Miss Evans. I admire your skepticism. In my time, I was probably the greatest cynic under the heavens. No, what I am saying is truthful."

Lily shook her head, trying to ignore the odd feelings that were swelling within her. "Ok. You no longer want me dead; I presume?"

The painting nodded. "The opposite, if anything. I want you alive and well. Pragmatism is merely a single example of the traits I both value and exemplify. There is so much more to be done once we've chosen rational goal. There is ambition, to set a goal worthy of those who seek it, cunning, to be clever and plan well when executing the course of action to get to one's desire. There is subtlety, never acting with more force than needed, and ruthlessness, doing what must be done, and putting your enemies down hard enough they may never rise against you again. And you will need all of these."

"Why? I mean, I kind of understand why, but why?" Lily asked.

"Because I, the painted reflection of Salazar Slytherin, name you properly as descended from Salazar Slytherin in life, and thereby declare you The Serpent's Heiress and all that entails."

Lily felt something strange wash over her. "What was that? Does that give me the right to claim the Slytherin Lordship, or something?"

The painting laughed a hearty, belly laugh at her. "No." He said pointedly. "You do not yet meet the requirements to claim the Slytherin Lordship. Especially considering that there isn't technically a Slytherin Lordship to claim."

At her confused expression, he explained. "The Slytherin seat existed in the wizard court of the Carolingian and later the Holy Roman Empire. But, seeing as that governing body ceased to exist in 1648 when the Wizard's Court was dissolved as a concession to the Papacy in the Peace of Westphalia, I think you might find it a rather difficult seat to ascend to. My grandfather was the founder of that seat. I was more concerned with English affairs and found claiming a seat in the governing body of the time to be a tedious and pointless affair. I always did prefer to manipulate events from the shadows, after all. No Slytherin after I rose to enough prominence to claim a seat, and so there is no 'Slytherin Lordship'.

"So, why'd you do that, then?"

"Because I felt like it. I can do what I want! I'm Salazar Slytherin, after all." He crossed his arms.

"So, you were being melodramatic, and that did nothing but make you feel good." Lily observed. "I see."

"Anyway." The painting drew out his words. "Now that I recognize you as my Heiress, I task you with several objectives."

"Now, wait a minute –"Lily interjected.

"The First!" Salazar ignored her. "Is to become the best witch you can be. For it is only once you have done that that you may restore my good name."

"I never agreed to this."

"The second goal I task you with is to rise to power and reshape wizarding society into a whatever image you desire."

Lily was about to interject again, but she considered what he was saying, kind of liked it, and decided to not say anything either way.

"And of course, the last one I doubt you will have any problem with. Put Tom Riddle in the ground where he belongs." The painting spoke vehemently, fury flashing in his eyes.

Lily nodded. "I'll think about the second one, but I will definitely do the first one, and the third is also on my agenda."

"Excellent." Salazar smiled at her, a sharp, lean smile. "You will be my greatest descendant yet."

"Not like I'm chasing a high bar." Lily muttered. "Any other words of wisdom, oh great one?"

"Yes, in fact." He peered at her, then looked to the bookshelf behind the desk, then back to her. "As you are now, you rest heads and shoulders above much of the wizarding world. However, that is not enough. In order to truly defeat those who threaten your life and world, you must be even better. And it is to that end that I implore you to pick up my magnum opus resting on the shelf behind you, and perform some of the rituals within. The first two I suggest –"

"No." Lily's denial was more venomous than Tessie. "I won't. Doing some darker combat spells? Fine. Killing someone in battle? I could probably stomach that. But I will not go so far as to do dark power rituals."

Salazar shook his bald head. "If you insist. Rowena did some of the rituals, as did Riddle. They will do you a lot of good. Rejecting power because of the connotations associated with it is foolish, dear Heiress. You don't reject this chamber and all that's held within despite the darker connotations with it. Why reject this other source of power?"

Lily shook her head in denial, flaming red hair flying about. "No. This is different. This isn't using a room and an ancient library. This is crossing a line. A line I won't cross."

"To achieve what the rituals will do for you in a matter of hours, it will take you months or even years of hard work, and that's if what you achieve is even possible without the ritual. You may be a Gryffindor, yes, but you aren't some sort of Hufflepuff that sees intrinsic value in hard work, no matter if it's meaningless." He persuaded her, glancing at the book every few moments. "I was going to suggest the ritual that improves one's mental acuity and speed. Both have a relatively minor sacrifice associated with them and would provide a great boon to you."

"I still won't do them." Lily shook her head, and then wandlessly summoned a book on transfiguration. "I'm not going there." She dove into the book, devouring the long since forgotten or suppressed knowledge within. Salazar harumphed, and then dozed off.

"§I told you he would come around§." Tessie raised her beautiful head up and rested it on the stone floor of the raised section. Lily walked over to where she was and began rubbing her scales. Tessie gave a satisfied, deep hiss. "§He had to be confronted with your power, and reminded of himself, but he came around§."

"§I'm still kind of in a daze§." Lily admitted. "§Of all the things that might have happened, I never considered this to be one of them§."

"§Don't be confused, Heiress§." The snake hissed softly in pleasure at Lily's actions. "§Humans and snakes aren't so different. We both recognize power. It's just that snakes are smarter, and don't complicate things§."

Lily smiled at the beast. "§I think you might be right on that one, Tessie§."

"§Of course I'm right§." The serpent hissed smugly, her crown rippling in contentedness, like a dog wagging its tail. "§I'm always right. Name a time I've been wrong. You can't§."

Lily chuckled softly. "§I can't. You've got me there. It's just – It's just he's Slytherin. He's not what I expected at all§."

"§He may not be what you expected, but he is what you have. He will provide great council to you. Learn from him. I leave whether or not you do his rituals to you. I will say, he performed a great ritual when I was young that tied me to this school and gave me the mandate to protect it, in exchange for more power and effectiveness in combat. Whether you actually do them is up to you. We can't force you, and I won't try to persuade you any further§." The serpent advised.

Lily just nodded and continued to rub her scales. "§Indeed§."

"Don't." Lily hissed at James. He looked at her, then back to the wand he had discreetly palmed and was aiming at one of the Slytherins. He pouted at her, then relented, tucking his wand back into his sleeve.

"WHIPPED!" Sirius mocked him "It's been a few weeks and she's got you whipped."

James looked at Lily, glancing up and down as she checked out his girlfriend's body. He shot a lecherous grin at her, then looked back at Sirius. "It's an acceptable tradeoff."

Sirius gasped daintily and held a hand to his mouth. "James Potter, bachelor extraordinary, is no longer the stag we thought him to be." He then held the back of his head to his forehead, and swooned. "I never thought I'd see the day."

James flicked his wand at Sirius, and a mild stinging hex left a nasty red welt on his face.

"Hey! Hey! Okay! I get that enough from Marlene as it is." He defended himself. "That girl is vicious in training sessions."

Another stinging hex flew across the room and hit him in the back. "And that girl is in the same room as you." Marlene holstered her wand dramatically. Sirius pouted at her.

"Want me to kiss it and make it better?" She asked sardonically.

Sirius let out a heavy, exaggerated sigh. "Well… if that's what you think is best…" He grinned lecherously. "I appear to have been hit with a stinging hex to the a-"

Another hex hit him. "a – Lips! I was hit with a stinging hex to the lips!"

Marlene nodded, and walked over to him and sat in his lap. She wrapped her arms around him, and they began snogging furiously.

"Let's give these two lovebirds some room." Lily suggested. She stood up and held out a hand to James. He accepted it with a flourish, and they walked out of the room.

"The grounds, perchance?" James asked. Lily nodded, and they cast warming charms on themselves before leaving the building.

The December grounds were swirling with snow. Only a few trees still had leaves to speak of, mostly the dark, verdant evergreens and a few magical specimens, but they were all covered in snow, leaving a powder white vista around them. The snow crunched under their feat as they walked out towards the forest.

"When did you become an Animage?" Lily wondered aloud.

"No." James shook his head with the hint of a grin. "If you want secrets like that from me, I'm going to need payment."

Lily stared into his hazel eyes, and extended her feet, so she was standing on her toes to peck his lips. "What about that?" She purred.

"I think I might be able to do something with that sort of currency." James smiled at her. "To answer your question, midway through fourth year."

She couldn't help but gasp. "That young?" She asked in disbelief.

"Yeah." James gave an amused, fake growl. "And it took me longer than Peter and Sirius."

"They are Animages too?" Lily pondered. "What forms do they take?"

James smiled at her, and Lily rolled her eyes. She wrapped her arms around his neck with a defeated sigh and gave him a longer kiss. When she opened her eyes, she stared back into those warm, hazel eyes of James Potter that were full of both mirth and mischief. James reached into his coat and pulled out a parchment, that read: Peter Pettigrew's Animagus form is a rat in Peter's tidy writing, and Sirius Black's Animagus form is a Black German Shepherd in Sirius Black's intentionally carefree scrawl with the hints of the delicate, precise pureblood script he had beaten into him as a child.

"We swore an unbreakable vow not to reveal our forms." James explained. Lily cocked her head at him. "It seemed like a good idea at the time? This paper is a way around it. They are the ones telling you." He tossed the paper in the air, and incinerated it with a flick of his wand, before vanishing the ashes.

"So, what was it like, becoming an Animage?" Lily asked.

"Why, you want to become one?" James grinned at her. At a halfhearted slap, he continued. "Peter had the easiest time of us. His inner animal was the closest to coming out, and he managed the process the way the American Indians do it, with large quantities of hallucinogenic drugs and toteming."

"There are multiple ways to become an Animage?" Lily's head reeled. She had only heard of one, which involved two potions, a spell, and lots of work.

"Yes. Many different ways, most of which were developed independently. For as long as humans have been around, it appears we've wanted to unleash the beast within." He explained, his eyes lighting up uncharacteristically at a subject he was obviously passionate about. "The American Indians will achieve the transformation in a few weeks at most, but the beast has to be ready to come out, and it takes months or years to get to the point where the beast is no longer in control."

"And Black?"

"Sirius managed it with the druidic English method. He mediated for great periods of time in the wild and 'tokened' to various natural things: leaves, grass, animal hair, and the like. He brewed that into a potion, and those 'tokens' anchored him to his animal form and let it out."

"And how did you do it?"

"I'm going to need some more payment for this one." Lily rolled her eyes, and kissed him again, and then pressed into him for warmth. "I used the Tibetan method." He grumbled. "It took me… it took me a while. The Tibetan method is the only known method that requires nothing. You don't even need a wand for it."

"Really? That sounds nifty."

"Yes, it sounds nifty, but it was six years of painstaking meditation. All of the processes use some form of meditation, but this one uses exclusively meditation." James growled. "I didn't respond to any of the other common methods, I didn't have the twelve other people needed for the African tribal method, and I wasn't skilled enough in transfiguration for the other methods."

"Hmmm." She wondered. "Wait a minute, six years? You achieved the transformation fourth year!"

James winced. "I, I um, might have started when I was seven."

"Really now?" Lily asked incredulously. A lock of red hair spilled out of her beanie as she tilted her head.

James winced. "Yeah… My family is known for transfiguration, so we view animagery as a point of pride… I touched great-grandfather Nathaniel's totem on my seventh birthday. Touching another's totem is the first step in the Native Indian method." He explained at her confused expression.

"Hmmm." Lily nodded. "That is interesting. And if I know anything about you, I'm guessing none of you are registered?"

James laughed, and shook his head. "No. Not even Uncle Charlus, and his form is an Elephant!"

Lily laughed melodically at that. "That's hilarious!"

James nodded. "Yeah. Just like an elephant, he is rather stubborn, and he has a long memory. James smiled a deep grin. "You should have seen him at the gathering we had last Christmas break." His mirth was contagious, and Lily smiled at him. "My father's form is a partridge. They're the two most different people you might ever think of. He kept flitting around his face annoying him. Sirius joined in on the fun, and Uncle Charlus knocked him almost fifty feet away with his trunk."

"That sounds like a fun time." Lily admitted.

"It really was." James leaned in for another deep kiss. His nose had grown red in the crisp air, and Lily's entire face was almost the same color as her hair. "Say, you wanna become an Animage?"

"Kind of, but I can't." Lily replied.

"Why not?" James seemed befuddled.

"I took the form revealing potion back in third year." She admitted with a grin. "It was on that one weekend where I disappeared into the library for three days straight. It didn't show me anything. Funnily enough, it did show Snape his form." James's expression soured at the mention of his longtime rival. "He would be a bat." Lily continued.

"That's funny. I didn't know Snivellus had it in him, although that is a rather appropriate form." James contemplated ponderously, overexaggerating his thoughtful motions. "And the form revealing potion isn't reliable. The ministry suppresses knowledge of the other ways of becoming an Animage. The Potters only know about them because we're a bit obsessive on the matter, and" He flashed her a roguish grin, "if you haven't noticed, not exactly the best at following the rules."

Lily rolled her eyes and slapped him playfully. "Interesting. Any reason to the ministry's actions?"

"Yeah. There are some…" James grew pensive for a moment. "There are some very esoteric and powerful things you can do if you are an Animage. The ministry doesn't like them, and for good reason. Charlus has been the only Potter to delve into them for a while now. The 'Standard Method'," James made mocking air quotes with a lighthearted scowl, "which starts with the potion, is somewhat difficult, limits the number of people that can use it, and is relatively easy for the ministry to track. They actually have a minor Taboo on the spell used in the process."

Lily nodded thoughtfully. That was something the ministry would do. "So, what can you do with the Animagery?" she asked, staring hungrily into James's eyes.

"Lot's of things. Charlus was able to tap into the connection between him and the elephant to animate an army of elephants almost effortlessly in his duel with Grindelwald. He was able to harness the symbolic resilience and mass of an elephant to prevent Grindelwald's curses and banishing spells from doing much."

"Whoah." Lily breathed. She had seen a book in the chamber titled Esoteric Implications of the Animagus Transformation but hadn't given it a readthrough yet. She might just have to move that up on her list. "That's…"

"Incredible." James nodded. "I might delve into them after school." He looked at her. "Are you sure you don't want to become an Animagus? The form revealing potion, as I've said, is a load of tosh, and I'm sure there is at least some technique in our arsenal that ought to work for you. The Potters have collected over three dozen independent methods. I'm sure one would work with you."

Lily considered his offer, then shook her head. "No. It sounds like a massive time sink, and I've got other things I need to do. Maybe after this conflict is over, and I don't need to focus on school and defense." She smiled at him.

"Suit yourself." James shrugged.

Lily didn't mention, for obvious reasons, the other thing that made her recalcitrant to attempt the Animagus transformation. The niggling fear scratching at the back of her head that her form would have something to do with the recent revelations to her ancestry.

AN: And there we are.

Title Drop. It's mostly just Slytherin being his Melodramatic self. What's the point of being a pseudo-villain if you can't be melodramatic?

The more powerful stuff that can be done with Animagery is stolen from PoS primarily and maybe Vox Corporis (Been a while since I read Vox Corporis but I remember there being something with the eyes and the growl.)

The 'Native American Method' is from Jbern's rather interesting 'Bungle In the Jungle', and the 'Tokening' method is from Vox Corporis, I think, although I have seen in used in other places. The 'Tibetan Method' and the 'African Tribal Method' are conjurations of my tortured imagination, though they've probably been done before elsewhere, if under a different name.

I have 75k+ words written for this story, and we are about 25k in. It's kind of shocking, reading some of my old work. This particular chapter was written when I had ~100k total written, and now – if I had to guess – I'm at 200k total written. I've written a lot since I wrote this, and I've learned a lot about writing. It weirds me out, you know?

Huge thanks to Theobeobo for his review and placement of this story on the 'Great Tier' of his Archive. While I don't agree with some of his placements (Namely my own. I'm not that good of a writer), most of them are fairly accurate in my opinion.

Also, He placed 'Unseen Perspectives' in top tier and for that I'm shamelessly promoting him in my AN's.