On Boxing Day, Harry was awoken by the rough tongue of Rogue licking his face. Groaning a bit at the early wake-up, he knew sleeping on was out of the question. So he got out of his bed and dressed up warmly, despite all the Warming- and Isolation-Charms were set on the castle, the dungeons could be quite cold, and he was certain an excursion there would happen somewhere during the day, or else they'd go outside.

He glanced at his bedside clock, and saw it was just 5 in the morning. Knowing it would be virtually impossible to wake up Zach at this hour, he scooped up Rogue and went for the library, determined to know more about dragons, and why they were able to talk to Ambika.

Rogue settled on Harry's shoulder as he went through the many rows of books. He finally settled on a promising book called: Dragons; All You Want To Know.

Going back to his room, he sat down in a comfortable armchair and looked through the entensive index. His attention was quickly drawn to a chapter called 'Parselmouths'.

Flipping to the right page, he read:

Most wizards and witches are aware of the fact that there have been Parselmouths, although few, throughout the history of the magical world. Research, however, has concluded that Parseltongue is a combination of three different kinds of animal-speach. It includes Draketongue, which is dragontalk, Salmandratongue, lizardtalk and Slythertongue, the latter often, and falsely, referred to as Parselmouth, since it is merely a part of Parselmouth and it is the infamous ability to be able to talk to snakes. Parselmouth, especially Slythertongue, is nowadays considered a Dark trait.

Reading on for a bit, Harry found that the rest of the chapter consisted of a number of stories about the three different kinds of animal-talk.

He then went to read about the history of dragons, and how they lived today, and before he knew it, Zach burst into the room.

"Wakey wakey!" He shouted happily, before stopping short when he noticed no-one was occupying the bed. He then spotted Harry in the armchair. "Oh, you're awake already..." Then he added: "You didn't have a nightmare, did you?"

"Nah, Rogue just decided to wake me up at 5." Harry said. In the beginning, he'd often had nightmares, about his previous life, but luckily, they were now few and far in between. Zach had once heard him during one. "I got this book about dragons from the library. Here, read this." Harry flipped towards the page he'd read about Parselmouths and handed Zach the book.

Zach read through the paragraph.

"So we're Drakemouths? Wicked!"

"Maybe we can talk to snakes and lizards too." Harry said. "We should try that out once!"

"Try talking to snakes? Are you mad?! What if they bite?"

"Are you stupid? There lives this supposedly friendly snake in the lake, right? We'll just have to wait for her to come up once."

"Oh. Right, forgot about that."

"Obviously." Harry grinned. "Now come on. We're supposed to be in the small livingroom when Remus, Angy, Kaya and Thomas arrive."

"What time are they coming anyway?" Zach asked as they made their way through the castle.

"Didn't you listen yesterday when Mum told us?"

"Nope."

"They arrive at eleven o'clock, that's in thirty minutes. And I don't think Mum would like it if we dropped in the minute before they arrived."

"Yeah. I remember this one time in Italy, when Uncle Remus came to visit. I kinda overslept and Mum nearly went ballistic. Of course, it could have to do with the fact I was supposed to help her in the kitchen, as we didn't have any house- or Rhona-elves there." Zach said.

Five minutes later, they arrived in the small livingroom, where no-one was yet. So they decided to play around with Rogue a bit, who still had been perched on Harry's shoulder.

After a little while, Zach suddenly sat up straight.

"Hey, I've got an idea!" He said with his mischievous glint firmly in place.

Before Harry could ask what this idea was, Zach changed into a dog. He playfully pounced at Rogue, who suddenly stuck up all her hairs and hissed frightenedly.

"Zach..." Harry warned, as Zach prodded the cat with his paw again. "Watch out!"

But it was too late. Rogue sped off to hide up on Harry's shoulder again, and Zach yelped in pain. Quickly turning into his human self again, he carefully tried touching his nose, where four gashes were visible, tiny drops of blood appearing on them.

"Ouch..." Zach winced and narrowed his eyes at the feline on Harry's shoulder. "Stupid cat!"

"I did try warning you." Harry said.

"Yeah, yeah, rub it in, will you..." Zach said grumpily.

"Should I go get Mum? She did do magical first aid..."

"No need to get me anymore. What happened?" A feminine voice came from the door.

"We were playing with Rogue..." Harry said. "And – "

"And I thought it would be fun to play with her as a dog." Zach finished grumbling. "Rogue didn't agree."

"Never mess with cats, son." Sirius said. "Believe me. I know."

Elisabeth shook her head, taking out her wand. "You really had it coming that time, love."

Sirius grumbled something, sitting down on one of the couches. Elisabeth said a quick spell and Zach's cuts disappeared like snow before the sun.

"What did you do then, Dad?" Zach asked.

"It was her bloody cat." Sirius said. "He always seemed intent on irritating me as much as possible. One day I had enough and changed into Padfoot, intend on chasing the annoying little monster up a tree or something. But instead, he attacked me." Sirius shook his head. "Bloody monster."

"I hope you're not talking about me, now are you, Padfoot?" Remus had just arrived at the fireplace.

"No. He was talking about Mums cat." Harry said helpfully.

"Oh you mean Snowbell? Yes, I remember him..." Remus said with a grin.

In the mean time, Angy, Kaya and Thomas had arrived through the fire too. Angy was short with long midnight hair. Her ears were pointed and elegant, her eyes large and orange. Her skin was a very dark brown, due to the fact that her father, as a Dark Elf, had black skin. Her daughter was much like her, only Kaya's eyes were Remus' baby blue, while Thomas had a slightly lighter colour of hair, and the same blue eyes, both twins had light brown skin and pointed ears, their eyes also large.

"Hello, Angy." Elisabeth greeted her new friend. "How's the baby coming along? Why don't you sit down?"

"She's coming along fine." Angy said as she sat down with a bit of Remus' help. "Moving around a lot though."

"I know what you mean." Elisabeth said. "Zach wouldn't keep still for a moment either. He still doesn't. Though Harry's almost as active as Zach is..."

"We're going outside, alright, Mum?" Zach said, not waiting for an answer and nearly pushing Harry out of the livingroom, leaving Rogue in the room. Kaya and Thomas were right behind them.

"Phew." Zach said. "I had to get out of there, before they're really starting up the baby-talk. I don't know how Dad and Uncle Remus can stand to hear it for so long."

"Baby's are cute you know." Kaya said.

"Yeah, but you're a girl." Zach said in a way that suggested that fact explained everything.

Seeing Kaya was about to retort, Harry said: "Why don't we go skating on the lake? There's a really big piece that Lance hasn't broken."

"But we don't have skates with us." Kaya said.

"We could ask Dad to transfigure you some." Harry said.

"Fine by me. But I'm not going back in there!" Zach said. "Let Kaya ask."

"Why me?" Kaya asked heatedly. "Just because I'm a girl doesn't mean you can boss me around!"

"Yeah well you're also younger than me!"

"So? Let Tommy do it then! He's the youngest of us!"

Seeing Thomas, who was always very quiet, look alarmed, Harry said: "I'll do it! If the two of you are too chicken!"

Before they got over the shock of Harry saying a thing like that, Harry had stepped back into the room where the adults were, to return with four pairs of skates five minutes later.

"They said we've got to be careful." Harry replayed to the others. "We can't go close to where the ice stops and the water starts, so we won't fall in."

"Let's go then!" Zach said, grabbing a pair of skates that were his size.

Ten minutes later, the four kids were on the frozen lake.

Harry had only skated once before, and was so far lucky enough not to fall. Zach, however, had no such luck. It was also his second time, seeing he'd grown up in Italy.

Kaya was showing off her skills on the ice, that were way above Harry's and Zach's, while Thomas was as good as Kaya, though he didn't show off nearly as much as Kaya.

While Kaya was annoying Zach, once again, by circling around him, Thomas was giving Harry pointers. Untill they were alerted by Zach's shouting.

"I can take you on anytime!" He yelled at Kaya, who was skating far ahead of him.

Kaya turned around with a grin. "Prove it then." She skated so she was next to Zach. "Who reaches that pile of snow the first."

"You're on!" Zach said competetive.

Harry shook his head, he really hoped Zach wouldn't fall, that way, he would at least have a chance.

Harry and Thomas skated towards the pair.

"I'll give the starting sign." He said.

"Then I'll go stand at the end." Thomas said. "To make sure you don't fight over who won."

Harry smiled. He had to hand it to Thomas. He might not be that talkative, he did know his twin.

Harry waited untill Thomas had reached the end, before giving the starting signal.

"Ready? GO!"

To Harry's surprise, Zach had a remarkably better start then Kaya did. The latter slipped a bit as she started and Zach had a bit of a headstart due to it.

Harry crossed his fingers, hoping Zach wouldn't fall. Only twelve feet to the finish... Zach was still in the lead. Ten feet... eight... six... four... three... two... one...

"YES!!!" Zach exclaimed, jumping in victory, forgetting he was standing on ice, and falling as he landed.

Kaya looked down at him and grinned.

"Grin all you want, but I did beat you! Hah!" Zach said, attempting to stand, only resulting in him falling again. The next attempt did succeed.

Suddenly, Harry felt the pressence of something large.

"WATCH OUT!" He yelled, but it was too late, as the foot-thick ice broke right beneath where the three others were standing. But instead of falling through, they were whipped up in the air as a huge head rose through the hole in the ice, followed by an equally as huge scaled body.

Harry stood frozen as his brother and cousins fell into the icy water. The snakelike beast, probably Lance, looked around herself wondering where the three kids had gone. Where are they?

IN THE WATER!! GO HELP THEM YOU IDIOT!!! He yelled, not even realizing he wasn't talking in English.

Lance instantly looked at Harry, before nodding and turning to the water.

Harry skated as fast as he could to the ragged edge of the water, where Thomas was getting onto the ice, though having trouble doing so. Harry helped the boy out.

"Go inside and to your mother as quick as possible." He said to the dripping boy.

Thomas immediately skated off, shivering as he went.

Harry's eyes reverted to the water, searching for Kaya and Zach, fear seizing him. Kaya wasn't anywhere in sight, but Zach was swimming between large chunks of ice. Harry breathed a sigh of relief as Kaya appeared above water on Lance's head, who swam the girl to the drawbridge.

Zach, in the mean time, was hard trying to get onto a chunk of ice, but every time he tried, the ice almost toppled over.

"Zach!" Harry yelled as the boy disappeared under the water, only to reappear seconds later. Zach was tiring quickly... He looked pleadingly in Harry's direction, opening his mouth, though no identifiable sound could be heard. Harry knew exactly what he said though: 'Harry! Help! I can barely keep moving!'

Concentrating, he turned into his wolf/cat-form and raced over the ice to the closest place on the ice to Zach. He slipped a few times, but soon used his claws for grip. Backing away from the edge, he took a run and jumped onto the closest chunk of ice and dug in his claws to not slide off on the other end. Using other pieces of ice, he approached Zach. Some of the ice-rafts nearly toppled over, but he managed to reach Zach without falling into the water himself.

With Zach, he changed half and dug his toe-nails into the ice, reaching out with his hand for Zach.

Zach took the offered hand gratefully, their eyes locking. Harry pulled Zach onto the ice.

'Thanks.'

"We're not away yet." Harry said. "Can you change?"

Zach nodded. He was already starting to turn blue.

"I can carry you then..."

Zach changed into the small dog and Harry changed fully too. Even though they weren't fully grown, Harry was still about twice as large as Zach and he picked up Zach carefully at the back of his neck. Zach startled a bit, but stayed calm, for which Harry was gratefull. It was hard enough as it was.

Gathering his strength and courage, Harry jumped and reached the next ice-raft. It swang precariously, but luckily, didn't topple over. The nex jump was a long one, Harry took the longest run possible before jumping. He made it, though his back-legs slipped, his nails finding no grip and he slid into the water, before his front-claws found grip and he hung into the water from his chest and down.

The water was so cold it was like a thousand needle were punctured into his body. Panic was overwhelming his thoughts, but an almost animalistic will to survive took over. Concentrating not to grit his teeth into Zach's neck, he pulled himself up onto the ice.

After a few more jumps, they'd reached the main ice. Harry didn't slow down though, but raced towards the stone bridge. Zach felt way too cold in his mouth, and he himself was shivering pretty badly. Running over the bridge, he saw his parents reaching the drawbridge. Angy and Remus weren't with them, though, and neither were Kaya and Thomas. Lance was not too far from the drawbridge.

Sorry, Lance hissed. I only wanted to play...

Sirius pointed his wand at Harry. "Accio!"

Harry was jerked forward and felt himself flying through the air towards the adults, Zach still in his grasp.

Sirius caught them expertly. Elisabeth immediately took over Zach, then muttered the Drying Charm twice to dry up the two nine-year-olds. Now that he was dry, the cold wasn't as biting, but Harry was far from being warm.

"Stay as you are. Your fur will help you get warm." Sirius said as he put his cloak around Harry's shivering form. Elisabeth doing the same with Zach, also rubbing the small form as they quickly walked towards the castle.

/\//\

Half an hour later, four kids sat in front of the roaring fire of the heart in the smaller livingroom, wrapped in heavy blankets and dressed in dry clothes. Angy had given each a cup of Pepper-Up Potion, and Harry'd instantly felt warm again.

Only Zach was shivering once in a while.

"We did tell you not to go too close to the water." Elisabeth said.

"We didn't." Zach said.

"Lancarda suddenly crashed through the ice." Harry went on. "Right where Zach, Kaya and Thomas were."

"Why would she do that? She didn't try to attack did she?" Angy asked concernedly.

"Lancarda never attacked before." Sirius said.

"She didn't attack." Harry said. "She wanted to play."

Silence... then:

"Why do you think so, Har?" Elisabeth said.

"Erm..." 'Parselmouth, especially Slythertongue, is nowadays considered a Dark trait.' The sentence from the book suddenly flashed through his mind. 'What if they'd hate me? I don't want to lose them!' "Well, why would she save Kaya and Thomas if she attacked first?"

/\//\

Later, after Remus, Angy, Kaya and Thomas had left, and Harry was in his bed, he was unable to fall asleep.

He hadn't exactly lied to the others, but he felt bad for not telling the real truth. Sirius and Elisabeth, and Zach too, had been so kind to him. He really felt at home here. But he was afraid they'd abandon him when they found out he had a Dark ability. True, Zach could also talk to dragons, but obviously not to snakes, as he hadn't told about hearing Lance tell she only wanted to play...

Why did he always have to be so different? Why wasn't he ever normal? All he ever wanted was to have a family that didn't hate him... be normal... be loved... He didn't want to ruin that.

But he didn't want to lie either, but how could he tell them this?

He really wished he could be like Zach and not have to worry about telling Sirius and Elisabeth about a thing like this. And he knew that Zach would just say he shouldn't worry and just tell them... But he couldn't... the risk was too big for him to take...

But that didn't pacify the turmoil in his mind. And he laid tossing and turning for quite some time, before falling into a fitfull sleep. And for the first time in quite a while, he had nightmares of his past, mixing with the present. There was no-one to comfort him, save Rogue, to whom he clang onto for dear life.

It's a bit of a depressing end of the chapter, but it can't all be sunshine and roses. Hope you liked it. And what did you think of Kaya and Thomas?

I'm also REALLY REALLY sorry to say this is the last chapter I've written, and will probably write, of the story... for the full explanation, please look into my profile...