One week after the Swelling Potion incident, Jack, Harry, Ron and Hermione were all walking though the Entrance Hall when they see a small group of people gathered around the notice board, reading a piece of parchment that had just been pinned up.

"Wonder what all the fuss is about," Jack said wondering if there had been another attack.

"Apparently they're starting a Dueling Club," Seamus Finnegan said calling them over "First meeting tonight. I wouldn't mind going. It could come in useful one of these days."

"Dueling should only be used as a last resort," Jack said rolling his eye "It's not a skill you should play around with or throw about just to get revenge on someone you dislike."

"Well if we don't go, how are we meant to know what to do when said opportunity crosses our paths?" Elisa's voice said behind him making him turn around to see her and Annie both looking excited.

Pouting at being one-uped by the girl he liked Jack took a read at the notice as well.

"Bet it's Lockhart who set this up," he said looking at the girly swirly writing. "anyone want to challenge me?"

Everyone stayed quiet knowing how good Jack was with his betting skills.

o0o

At 8 o'clock that night everyone who wanted to learn how to duel was back in the Great Hall carrying only their wands and looks of excitement.

The tables had been pushed back and a stage had been set up in the middle of the room.

Jack, who didn't really like crowds that much stayed at the back as the others grew nearer to the stage.

Looking around Jack couldn't believe that there was this many students who wanted to learn how to duel. Don't the older student learn how to do it themselves in lessons?

Checking his watch, getting a little bored, Jack was about to decide to leave when just as he predicted, Lockhart came over and made his way onto the stage in deep plum colored robes tonight, along with surprisingly Snape.

"Hmmm… Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all," Jack said to himself smirking, preying to Manny that Snape would do something – anything to get rid of this idiot.

"Gather round! Gather round," Lockhart called looking around the room "Can everybody see me? Can you all hear me? Excellent."

At this Jack rolled his eyes a little betting himself that this fool didn't mean anything about the dueling.

"Now," Lockhart began again "Professor Dumbledore has given me permission to start up this little Dueling Club, to train you all up in case you ever need to defend yourselves as I have done on countless occasions – for full details, see my published works."

"Yeah right," Jack said, again rolling his eyes, staying at the back of the group.

"Allow me to introduce my assistant Professor Snape," Lockhart continued giving a wide smile "He tells me he knows a thing or two about dueling himself, and has sportingly agreed to help with a short demonstration before we begin. Now I don't want any of you to worry – you'll still have your Potions master when I'm done with him."

"If you're still alive sir!" Jack called out mockingly getting a few nods from the boys in the room, and an ever small smirk from Snape.

Coughing a little to get over the comment, Lockhart turned to Snape.

Looking bored Snape turned to Lockhart as well and both bowed.

Well Lockhart did being the drama queen he always is and adding fancy girlish twirls of the wrists.

Thankfully Snape didn't do that, instead he just jerked his head irritably.

Together they raised their wands like swords in front of them.

"As you can see, we are holding our wands in the accepted combative position," Lockhart explained to the silent crowd "On the count of three, we shall cast our first spells. Neither of us will be aiming to kill, of course."

"Wouldn't bet on that," Jack heard Harry say looking towards Snape.

"One –"

Jack wondered if he should interrupt and mock their teaching about not explaining how to defend yourself, first.

"Two –"

But then… Jack looked at Snape and the look in his eyes at the idiot in front of him, and decided it could wait a little longer.

"Three!"

"Expelliarmus!" Snape called out making Lockhart go flying and shooting his wand out of his hand.

Jack, along with a few Slytherin's cheered as Snape looked proud.

Hermione was dancing on her tiptoes. "Do you think he's alright?" she asked worried.

"Who cares!" Ron and Harry said together.

A little unsteadily Lockhart got to his feet his hair slightly messed up.

"Well, there you have it, that was the Disarming Charm – as you can see I have lost my wand – thank you Miss Brown. Yes, an excellent idea to show them that, Professor Snape, but it was very obvious what you were going to do. If I had wanted to stop you it would have been only too easy - "

"Then why didn't you!" Jack called out smugly to nods from everyone who was already sick of this man being here.

Pretending to be deaf to Jack's cry Lockhart continued.

"However, I felt it would be best for them to see…." Lockhart was saying but stopped at the murderous look Professor Snape was giving him.

"Enough demonstrating! I'm going to come among you and put you into pairs. Professor Snape, if you'd like to help me…"

"Sir!" Jack called making both adults stop before they even started pairing up the students.

"What is it Frost?" Snape asked annoyed that this boy was being so annoying, as usual.

"Shouldn't you both be teaching everyone how to defend themselves, and block unfriendly spells first sir?" Jack asked innocently. "After all we don't want anyone being sent to the hospital wing in matchboxes, or set as an ice sculpture do we?"

"An excellent ides, Mr Frost," Lockhart looking to Snape who just glared at him "Um, lets have a volunteer pair – Potter and Miss Annie Dale, how about you?"

This made Jack look around and for the first time saw that Elisa and Annie were there as well.

"A bad idea Professor Lockhart," said Snape coldly "Miss Dale becomes easily distracted at the simplest things. As Frost says if we are not careful we will be sending her to the hospital wing in a match box."

This got Annie, who before Snape's comments had been looking excited, to blush and look sad.

"May I perhaps pick some from my own house?" Snape asked "Malfoy, perhaps?"

With that he turned to the blonde boy telling him to get up onto the stage.

As the teachers were 'motivating' Harry and Malfoy, Jack went to see if Annie was ok with what Snape just said.

"I don't get distracted that easily do I?" she asked looking between him and her sister.

"Well, there was that time when you put off all your summer homework till the last day of the holidays." Elisa said starting to count on her fingers. "And then that time you and mum made cookies and she told you to come get her to take them out when they were done but you didn't because you were watching tv meaning they burnt."

"Summer Holidays are meant to be for fun, not boring school work," Annie argued "And the cookies only burnt because the beeper wasn't set meaning I didn't know when to take them out."

Not wanting to get into this obviously family matter talk, Jack looked up to the stage where the boys had got into position.

"Three – two – one – go!" Lockhart shouted.

Malfoy was the first to get off the mark and cried out "Serpensortia!"

The end of his wand exploded and a long black snake shot out of it, landed in the middle of the stage, rising up to meet Harry in the eye.

There were screams from the crowd as those closest to the stage backed away.

"Don't move Potter," Snape said clearly enjoying how scared everyone was "I'll get rid of it."

"Allow me Professor Snape," Lockhart said loudly and pointed his wand at the snake, but all he manage to do was send it flying into the air making it land rather hard right in front Justin Finch-Fletchley, making it mad.

Seeing the snake was about to strike, Harry moved forward.

'Leave him!' he called out.

But the snake didn't listen, it just turned to Harry hissed and turned back to Justin.

'He said to leave him!' Jack called out from where he was wand in hand making an ice wall around the snake so it couldn't harm anyone.

Together Harry and Jack looked to Justin to check he was alright, but the third boy just looked a little freaked out.

"What you think you're playing at?" he asked scared before turning and leaving the hall.

Confused Jack looked around and saw everyone else also staring at either him or Harry.

Coming forward Snape, with a look of minor concern on his face, made the snake disappear.

Ron came over to get Harry off the stage while Elisa took Jack's and Annie's hands.

Together, along with Hermione they all left the Great Hall, the crowd parting ways to let them pass.

No one explained anything until they were a few floors up and in an unused classroom.

"You're both Parslemouth's!" Ron said to Jack and Harry "Why didn't you tell us!"

"What?" they asked confused.

"A Parslemouth," Ron said "You can talk to snakes."

"Oh…" Jack said in realization "No. No I can't talk to snakes."

"But weren't you just doing it back there?" Annie asked confused.

"Nope. Because I wasn't speaking snake," Jack said proudly and before anyone could interrupt said "I was speaking Dragon. And seeing that snakes and dragons are basically the same, except one has legs, can fly and can breath fire while the other can't, I see why you got mixed up."

"Who the bloody hell taught you how to talk to dragons?" Ron asked in a mix of disbelief and wonder wondering if his brother Charlie knew that dragons had their own language.

"My friend who works with dragons, and wrote that book I got for you last year," Jack answered.

"Ok but that doesn't answer how Harry can talk to snakes," Hermione said.

"Well don't ask me" Harry said backing off a little "I've only done it once before and that was when I accidentally released a boa constrictor on my cousin Dudley at the zoo, long story but it was telling me that it had never been to Brazil and then Dudley shoved me out of the way and onto the floor and then, I don't know, it just got loose. That was a few months before I knew I was a wizard."

"So what if they can talk to snakes and or dragons," Elisa said saying that part so Jack didn't correct her "What's the big deal I bet lots of people can do it."

"Oh no they can't," Ron said still a little on edge "It's not really a common gift. Guys this is bad."

"What's bad?" Harry asked offended "Look if we didn't tell that snake to back off of Justin –"

"Oh that's what you said to it," Ron said.

"What you mean?" Harry asked confused "You were all there you heard us."

"They would have heard us speaking in Parsletounge and Dragonese," Jack explained, somehow up on one of the support beams near the ceiling "Which meant to everyone you were hissing and spitting, and I was popping and whistling, and saying words that don't make sense."

"It was freaky," Annie said speaking up now "It sounded like you were egging it on, and the way you were walking up to it, and the look in your eyes…"

"I… spoke a different language?" Harry asked trying to understand. "But I didn't realize…"

"Yep, but I don't see what the big deal is," Jack called from his spot "In my eye, it doesn't matter how we stopped the snake from attacking Justin, and not just Justin but everyone else too, as long as he doesn't get his head bitten off and have to join the Headless Hunt."

"It matters," Hermione said slowly as though thinking of something "Because being able to talk to snakes is what Salazar Slytherin was famous for. That's why the symbol of that house is a snake."

"Exactly," Ron said "Now everyone's going to think you guys are his descendants or something."

"Well I doubt I am," Jack said coming back down "Because as I have already said I wasn't speaking snake, I was speaking dragon. Plus I come from America and as far as I know Snake-Boy never left the UK."

"But I'm not," Harry said panic on his face.

"You'll find that hard to prove without a DNA test they do at Greengotts," Elisa said explaining she had seen another wizard having one done that summer. "He and the others lived over 1000 years ago, for all we know, you could be."

o0o

After a few more minutes talking everyone went to their common rooms and straight to bed.

Jack stayed up saying he wanted to watch the starts and snow for a bit before he turned in, to which the other boys didn't mind.

Baby Tooth kept him company a little put off that he didn't let her come to the Dueling Club with him.

"Hey no need to be like that," Jack whispered so not to wake anyone "It was a con anyway, set up by Lockhart. Nothing happened. Well except for everyone finding out I can speak Dragonese and Harry can talk to snakes."

The word 'snake' scared Baby a little and she looked around afraid there was one here – a few of her sisters had been eaten my snakes in the past.

After calming her down Jack asked "You think if I wasn't sent to watch over Harry I'd be better suited to be in Slytherin?"

Baby gave him a look that said 'Are you really asking me that question, when it's so obviously a yes?'

"Hey it's not my fault I had 300 years learning how to be a tricky tricker like Flim and Flam," Jack said speaking of two con-men sprite brothers who nearly always get what they want unless they get found out and will do anything as long as it means they get money in the end.

Just then the two of them heard Harry beating up his pillow in anger from behind his curtains and Jack checked the time, seeing it was getting early – which meant it was getting late.

So with a yawn Jack got off of the window ledge and went to bed himself.

AN: This might be it until the New Year

I'll try to get one more in, but don't get your hopes up

Merry Christmas