Hello lovlies! Sorry for such a long wait. I'll be getting to my other stories soon enough. This chapter is 15 pages! You all deserve a treat for such a long wait. Anyway, school was dreadful towards the end, so I was focused on that, and then family life demanded my focus, so that's why this is so late. I hope you enjoy the chapter. Also, the others should be updated in the next few days. Ta

Thinking

"Parseltongue"

Chapter 7—Connecting dots

Spinner's End—winter 1980

Snape poured the tea into Lily's cup. It had been several months since the initial visit and Severus had searched high and low throughout Europe and Russia for Harry's birth parents. He'd found nothing.

"So nothing at all?" Lily asked stirring Severus from his thoughts. She wore a soft pink jumper and a blue skirt that reached her legs. She wore no shoes or stockings; she had always preferred bare feet.

"No Lily, I'm sorry. I still have some leads to follow in the Americas but I can say they do not look promising at the moment," Severus said as he poured tea into his own cup and drank. "Now, tell me why you risked coming here; don't think I can see through your ruse. You could never trick me."

"I know, Sev, but I thought I'd gotten better. Seems you're still the only one who truly knows me; even Albus has trouble seeing through me these days," Lily sighed. Silence descended in the small kitchen as the two drank their tea. Lily was blushing from her slip up, and Severus was trying to keep his heart from bursting with joy at her words.

"Well, they're all a bunch of silly lions," Severus said without meeting her gaze.

"Oh come Sev, you're not that shallow. Remember when we were in first year and you stopped James from bullying a few Hufflepuffs; he said they were only good for target practice, and you told him only a fool underestimates others..." Severus set his tea down as he saw droplets appear on the table cloth, looking up he saw lily crying.

"Lily..." he murmured as he left his chair to kneel by hers. Lily sniffled to try and stop flow.

"Oh Severus, he wasn't at all changed, it's the only reason I took interest in him after all he did to you, you know. He's still the biggest dunderhead I ever have met, and he's a horrid husband," Lily said before the tears overwhelmed her. Severus rested his hand over hers while his other rested on her knee. He could feel the warmth of her body through the fabric.

"Lily—he tricked you. That's not your fault, I pushed you away and—"

"No, you didn't Severus," Lily told him her tears drying up due to indignation. Severus almost startled at the unbridled fire that suddenly lit her eyes, he hadn't seen it in so long he felt as if it was capable of burning him.

"What you said in the heat of the moment was horrible, but it was also understandable. I see that now; you had been humiliated in front of everyone, and you couldn't let your house members see you as anything less than a muggle hater... You also apologised, and I refused to forgive you—what you said, it hurt more than when anyone else said it. I felt heartbroken and it wasn't until seventh year I realised why you'd said... By then it was too late, you were a death eater and I was engaged to the biggest dunderhead who ever lived," Lily told him without breaking eye contact.

Severus felt his throat constrict and his vision bleared, he looked away and a hand callused by years of brewing cupped his face and brought his onyx orbs back to emerald ones. Lily smiled at him lovingly.

"I want us to be friends again, Sev. If that's alright with you—"

"Of course it is Lily; it's all I've truly wanted since that day of our O.W.L.S."

Severus woke us in his bed, in Hogwarts. He tried to discern the date and was confused for a moment before remembering Lily was dead and it was the night before Halloween of Harry Potter's second year. He laid back down on his dark cotton sheets, under his warm green wool. He felt tears prickle his eyes and forced them back with iron will, the last he'd cried had been the day he learned Lily had died.

Severus breathed the cold dungeon air of his room in before letting it out. He remembered that he still had to speak to Salazar and the Baron about Harry's lineage. The bank had failed. Certainly the goblins had tried to discern who had birthed him but had only been able to confirm two of Severus's suspicions and offer one insight. Firstly, Albus indeed had tried to get into the Potter vaults after Lily and James's deaths, but the precautions Severus had instructed Lily to take had stopped him; he could access the vaults containing money, but none of the heirlooms or books or artefacts could be take out unless by the lord. Secondly, the goblins confirmed Harry's parents indeed were not from this specific land of magic; upon asking for the to try and narrow down which land of magic Harry had been born in had lead to a surprise—Harry and Henry held the same elements from their magic.

Magic, while not necessarily inherited, did flow through the blood in trace elements, and the elements differed slightly from magical land to magical land. It was how the goblins were able to track bloodlines through all the lands they'd set up their banks in. Henry and Harry both had the same magical elements in their blood, meaning that they both were from the same magic's land. Severus had not told Harry this, nor had he told the lad that the goblins also noted Henry and Harry were directly related. Henry was Harry's nephew, and that meant Harry had a sibling.

Severus had spent the rest of the summer and the first two months of school trying to find time to speak with both the boys to share his findings and Salazar to discuss how Severus might locate Harry's family. Dumbledore and the other staff had kept him busy during the summer with all manner of projects and experiments, and from Dumbledore he was asked to give updated intelligence on the free death eaters.

I wish someone could convince the old man that the war is over, Severus thought as he rolled over onto his side and tried to get sleep.

Hogwarts—Halloween

Harry was holed up in Salazar's quarters. He wanted to research more about other worlds with magic. It was currently about four in the morning and Harry hadn't slept at all. The baron floated through the wall into the chamber and stopped close to Salazar's portrait. The pair watched in silence at the young warlock buried under a pile of book, scrolls and maps.

"Has he not left this room?" the Baron asked as they watched. Salazar shook his painted head.

"Just to relieve himself, and then he summoned a chamber pot and tissue of some kind. He is trying to narrow down the clothing his birth parents were wearing, or what kind of creature his father is," Salazar told the ghost. The baron looked at the portrait in shock, before turning his gaze back to the boy before them.

"Has he slept at all?" the ghost asked. Harry was shaking his head and exchanging the book he was holding for another from a pile in front of him.

"No, he has not; in fact, he has not seemed tired at all through the night," Salazar said. The baron shook his head and floated down towards the boy.

"Young Harry, I've learned you have been secluded in here all night," the baron said in greeting. The boy glanced at him.

"Hmm? Is it morning already, I thought it was only eleven," Harry said absently before returning to the tome before him.

"Yes, well, do you not need rest before your lessons this day?"

"It's the week-end, Baron. There's no class, and horrid things seem to happen to me on Halloween so I figure it's better if I just stay here."

"Well, if that is how you feel, perhaps I could spend this day with you in some of the less treaded halls of this castle. It would give you a chance to train in your skills; perhaps the less acceptable subjects, at least in the eyes of those foolish living, could be given your attention," the baron offered. Really, it wasn't good for the child to stay in this room all day searching for his parents, it would become an obsession, and the baron did not wish to see Harry end up as Tom had.

The boy perked up and turned his emerald eyes the ghost, and then the portrait, looking hopeful. Salazar, catching onto the ghost's plot, nodded his head.

"Perhaps your parseltongue could be practiced today, and soul trapping as well. The baron knows both and can train you. Perhaps you could some theory on necromancy as well," Salazar suggested. The baron nodded, noting the tomes and maps were now abandoned as Harry scrabbled to his feet. The lad was wearing an emerald shirt and soft grey vest with black trousers.

"Yes, I mean, if that's alright with you, Baron," Harry said in excitement. The pair of mentors had staved off teaching him some of the "darker" arts, as they didn't want him getting into trouble. He wasn't quite interested in necromancy, but he supposed learning how to commune with the dead and control inferi would be useful.

"Come, little serpent, I shall take you to the older portions of the castle, where not even Dumbledore treads," said the baron before floating off. Harry eagerly ran after him. Salazar watched the boy with amusement. The child was progressing very well, and he was sure the lad would be more powerful than any he knew when he was fully grown.

Harry followed his ghastly mentor through twisting passageways that none but the ghosts knew of. They reached the disused portion of the castle and sun glinted through the dirty windows. The baron lead his young charge down to a small, crumbling garden. It was a secret little place, overgrown with magical planted, and fairies and doxies both had made nests among the trees.

Harry gasped as he felt the wild magic in the garden, it was beautiful and deadly; he turned to the baron in awe.

"What was this place originally?" he asked the ghost. The baron smiled at the lad before him.

"This garden once was the private courtyard of the founders; just as this portion of the castle, no longer used, were once the private quarters of the great warlocks and sorceresses who made this school. They enchanted this part of the castle so only a few could find it, and they had to be led here in person. It is why none of the headmasters or staff even knows about it, they haven't for centuries."

"So, this part of the castle was the founders' part..." Harry mused. "Would their rooms still be furnished?"

"They are, little serpent. There will be future days here for you to explore this place; for now, however, we will have you practice your serpent speech," said the baron. "There are many snakes here in this garden; I want you to speak with three of them. Learn a secret from each and then return to me. Be mindful of the doxies and fairies here."

"I shall," Harry to his companion and headed off into the garden. Salazar had told him the more parseltongue was used the easier it would become to speak; eventually he would be able to use magic in parseltongue. Not long after leaving the baron, Harry came upon a large serpent. It had brown scales and was sunbathing on a large stone.

"Stay where you stand hatchling," said the serpent without opening its eyes. Harry obeyed and stopped moving.

"How did you know I was here, I was quiet and you didn't open your eyes," Harry hissed back to the serpent. At being answered in its own tongue the snake opened its eyes. The eyes were a pale white and Harry couldn't look away from them.

"You speak my tongue, hatchling. I would know your name."

"I am called Harry; do you have a name?"

"I am called Arcare, hatchling. You may approach me, I shall not harm you."

Harry walked slowing over to the blind serpent. Arcare uncoiled a fourth of itself and stretched toward Harry with a lazy air, it flicked its tongue at him.

"You are a male," said Arcare. Harry nodded on impulse.

"Yes, although I don't know how you know that."

"I smelt it; I am a male as well."

"You smell that I am a boy?"

"No, hatchling, I smell that your magic is masculine. It is very rare for the sex of a mage to not match their magic's scent."

"You can smell magic? How?"

"It is similar to Human's art of aura sensing and empathy. I learned how when I was a hatchling, it is how I survived although I have no sight."

"Would you be able to train me in smelling magic?"

"It is possible, although you must be powerful and have an aptitude for it."

"Power I have, I don't know if I have talent in it."

"Yes, well, it will take time to train you, and I am too busy today. Come tomorrow and we shall begin," Arcare said and recoiled himself on the stone.

"Then I return on the morrow. Good day Arcare," Harry said before continuing on. The sun had risen now and Harry spotted small snake slithering this way and that as two doxies spat poison at it. Seeing an opportunity Harry blasted the doxies with water before they realised he was there. Harry hurried over to the small green snake.

"Blasted nasties! Ruining my plans," the snake said as it turned to Harry.

"Thank you hatchling, for assisting me."

"No trouble, serpent. Although I wonder if you have any secrets to tell," Harry said as he crotched by the snake.

"A speaker! My, well, I do have a few secrets. Let me see... Ah yes, I have one that should be good for you. Take three doxy eggs, and mix them with ground asphodel; smear the mixture on your eyes and under your nostrils. You will fall in to a deep trance and be able to travel between worlds; be wary, though, if you lose your way you shall die. Now, I'm going to eat a couple of those doxy eggs before anymore of those fully grown ones come around," said the serpent before slithering towards a tree. Harry got to his feet and continued onward. He only needed one more secret before he could return to the Baron.

Harry wandered for an hour or so without speaking to another snake. He had found himself on the shore of the Black lake, and he was in awe at the size of the body of water. Harry sat on a stone by the water's edge to take a rest. He saw ripples in the lake's surface, ripples that were approaching the shore. Harry stood up from his rock and readied himself should a threat emerge, but a water serpent slithered onto the shore instead.

"Oh, you had me nervous," Harry told it before relaxing and sitting back down. This snake was as large as Arcare. The snake turned towards his and reared up as it got closer.

"You are a speaker hatchling; I did not realise there were any living in the castle," said the snake. Harry nodded his head, parseltongue was very rare in current times, more so than in ages past when it was more acceptable.

"What are you doing in this place, hatchling? There have been no living humans here for many centuries."

"One of the spirits of the castle is helping me master my less accepted gifts; he set me the task of gaining three secrets from serpents in the garden. I've met Arcare and another, and they've both given me what I seek. Will you do the same?"

"A secret, hmm? Secrets are precious, little hatchling. Like all things except one they come with a price."

"What do you mean all things except one? What is the one that comes without a price?"

"Silly hatchling, there is only one thing that can truly be given freely, true love. However, that is no secret. Perhaps, if you did a task for me I shall give you a powerful secret; the most precious that I posses. Would you be willing to accept such a deal?"

"I wish to know what I must pay in return for this secret."

"A wise hatchling; fair enough. Long ago, not long after I became a serpent I became the serpent of a hatchling that bore the Sigel of serpents from the hatchery inside the castle's walls. A cruel hatchling threw a pendant that was precious to my hatchling into the depths of the lake, near the grindelows' nesting area. When the hatchling graduated I did not go with him for I gave him my word I would return his pendant to him. However, I cannot get close their nesting grounds alone. Help me retrieve the pendant and I will give you my secret in return."

"I shall find a way to get the pendant for you, before I leave, may I ask what are you called?" Harry asked. He wondered how the snake would ever find its human once it had the pendant. Forget how it'll find its human, how in the world am I going to get the pendant? Harry thought as the serpent hissed in pleasure.

"I was named by my Hatcher, but my human gave me a new name; Artemis."

"I shall return when I have the pendant, Artemis," Harry said before heading back to the baron. There was much to tell the old ghost.

Captain Hook's ship, Never Land

"Well, how are we going to get to Henry and... Your brother? We don't exactly have anymore bean to use, only the one that was supposed to get us back after getting Henry," Snow said. They'd spent the last two days trying to figure out how to get to the two boys. Belle and Baelfyre had spent the majority of that time getting to know each other. Rumplestilskin was holed up in the captain's quarters, doing who knows what.

"Well, if the Imp would come out—"

"My father isn't an imp, Regina. The Dark One, yes, an imp, no. He's a man still—I think," Bae cut the queen off. Hook laughed at his former companion.

"Aye. Sure he is. That's why he looks like a man," Hook said between laughter.

"Knock it off. Bae's right. He might not look like it, but Rum is a man, and—and, he can't be all bad," Charming faltered off. "He's trying to figure this out for us."

"Charming, he's done a lot of horrible things," Emma said. "Maybe trusting him with this alone—"

"How can you say that?" Belle asked. Everyone looked over to the kind, loving girl. "Rumple may not be a good man, but he is a great one, and where would any of you be without him—Captain Hook excluded, but you stole his wife. He's the one who taught you magic, and helped you escape your mother, Regina. He helped you and Charming find a way to be together, and save your kingdoms. Goodness Charming, you'd still be a shepard if not for him. You all—You all overlook the fact that you all asked things of him, took something from him, that he helped you when no one else could, or would—and you stand here and refuse to trust him. He never lies in his deals, he always give everything a person needs to make an informed decision. Don't tell me I don't know that, any of you!

"I made a deal with him, he didn't abduct me, or hold me against my will. Ogres were attacking my people and no one else was able to help. So I made a deal to have him save my people, and I've always kept it. He's the one who broke the deal and gave me the chance to return to my father. All through my time with him I have seen more deals than any one of you, they were all fair; and many of the people who summoned him were wretched, greedy people. Charming, when he asked you to look for me with him after my father abducted me, you met a man who said Rumple turned his brother into a pig, right?"

"Yes, it was a horrible story."

"Did that man fail to tell you Rumple turned that man into a pig because he broke his deal to Rumple? The brother wanted help courting a lovely maid in the village, he didn't really love her, just how pretty she was. Rumple agreed but the price was the man could never stray from the maid after they married. He did, he cheated on her. He was a pig of a man, so Rumple turned him into a pig; freeing the maid from the marriage."

"He—I didn't—"

"Of course he didn't tell you, no one does. They only complain when things don't work the way they wanted it to, or if they break the deal so Rumple lets them pay for it. He isn't a good man, I admit that, but he's far better than a lot of men, and he's the best of any of the Dark ones before him. Bae, do you know why he became the Dark One?"

"I—he wanted the power. He was crippled in the wars and everyone called him a coward for not fighting afterwards," Bae said. He was a little shocked at the anger in Belle's eyes.

"No, did you even ask him? The Ogres where slaughtering the army. They lost more men every night, and the numbers were so low they were sending children to the front lines, using them for fodder and bait. When you were taken by the knights for such a fate he was desperate to save you and the other children. He murdered the Dark One, took power he didn't want, so he could save you, so he could save children."

The group stared at her as she descended from the deck. There was silence as they took in her words.

"...I never knew. He never said a word, he just took my anger and accepted my acusations," Bae said into the quiet. They all turned to him.

"So, he really was once an ordinary man?" Snow asked. Bae nodded his head.

"After my mother abandoned me when I was young, all I had was him. He was always kind and gentle, never spoke against the hate the other villagers threw at him, he always accepted their insults. 'As biddable as a sheep' they used to say behind his back. When he became the Dark One, he'd get angry and violent. He wasn't biddable anymore, or so I thought. I was so angry at him for what he did, I never stopped to think why he did it at all. Or that he never hurt me, or yelled at me, only kept trying to protect me, to look out for me like he always had... Even as the Dark One, he was a good father."

"I never knew. I always thought he was horrible, and cruel," Snow said. Bae gave a dry laugh.

"So did I, I think everyone did," he said. He felt ashamed. He'd never tried to understand his father, even he had looked down on the crippled weaver who'd raised him, never thinking that perhaps it took strength and courage to be the scapegoat and pariah to all.

"Everyone except Belle," Emma said. She had never liked Rumplestilskin, but she had to respect the man, and admit she had needed his help on more than one occasion. The man of the hour bounded up the stairs at that moment and stopped short of the group.

"Dearies, did something happen while I was busy, Bae, where's Belle?" he asked looking around. He was still, not moving, and everyone felt disquiet from such an odd display of seriousness.

"I thought she went to go get you," said Emma.

"Belle knows not to interrupt me while I'm working unless it's an emergency, but why would she need to?" said the scaled sorcerer. He was concerned now, why had his beauty gone off on her own? Snow was giving him a sympathetic look he did not like.

"Well, we, sort of upset her," said the princess. Rumple's eyes widened at that. It took a lot go get Belle upset.

"What did you do?" he asked. Charming cleared his throat.

"We were saying we didn't think you were trust worthy for finding a way to the boys. Since, you know, you're evil. Belle, didn't like that and she sort of—"

"Put you in your place," Rumple sighed. Sweet, faithful Belle. "What did she tell you?"

"She told us about your deal with her," Hook said.

"About what happened with the man you turned into a pig, the one whose brother I met," Charming added.

"She told us why you became the Dark one," Emma told him. Rumple sighed again and pinched the bridge of his nose. She had to say something. She can't let people think horrible things about me without correcting them, Rumple reminded himself. He knew full well, she corrected him about his assumptions of himself all the time.

"I should go find her," he said before turning away. He paused. "Oh, and Dearies, I found a way to get to the boys." Then he was gone, off to find his love.