God, it's been so long. I have been so stressed with Senior year and kicking off/managing my school's new club. Things are starting to quiet down now, so I'm going back to working on this fic, which I love so much. Anyways, enough boring you with the details of my life. Without further ado, the new chapter...


Darkness. That's all he could see. Darkness and that tiny little light from the side of the room. Then there was the uncomfortable feeling in his tummy and he was bawling. The lights were turned on almost immediately after his cries started. A tall, beautiful woman entered the room, tying the knot of her robe. He cried more as he saw her, needing her to attend to the uncomfortable feeling in his stomach.

"Oh, my baby, what's wrong?" The woman asked as she picked him up.

He immediately felt safe and calmer in her arms, yet the uncomfortable feeling remained.

"Let's see... well, you haven't dirtied your nappy... and you're not a fussy baby... and what time is it? Ah, that's why, it's time for your feeding. Is that it? Are you hungry? Is Mummy's little boy hungry?" She cooed as she moved to sit on the rocking chair, him in her arms.

She loosened her robes and pulled the material along with her nightgown aside. She changed his position so he was nestled to her breast and could feed comfortably. He immediately took the nipple in his mouth and started sucking, relaxing as the uneasy feeling in his tummy disappeared.

The woman smiled softly as she lovingly brushed the small tuft of dark hair on his head. He hummed in content as he suckled happily.

"My baby boy. One day, you're going to grow to be your Daddy's right hand. One day, you'll take your rightful place as the Dark Prince. One day, you'll achieve greatness. But for now, you're just my baby boy and I love you so much. Don't grow up too fast, baby"

He didn't understand any of it, but he relaxed when she spoke. Her voice was soothing. Slowly, his vision became blurry and darker. It became darker and darker until there was nothing.


"That feeling"

"I know. It's a bit overwhelming visiting memories from early childhood, because there is no thinking, only feeling. As a newborn, or a baby, you have yet to develop your mental abilities and thus have no clear understanding of the world around you. You only know your physical feelings and some of your most basic emotional ones, such as that feeling of safety you felt in Bella's arms. It's the more primal parts of ourselves"

"Will it always be like that?"

"Yes"

"Oh"

"Yes. Now, you have a lesson soon. Go get prepared"

"Ok. Alright, Tom. Don't look at me like that! I will get ready!"

"Serpens," Tom said warningly.

"Fine. Ok. I won't be late this time. I promise"

"You better. I've pulled many strings for this. You better start taking this seriously"

"I will. Thank you, Tom"


Serpens was studying in his study when he heard a tapping noise from his window. He turned to look for the source of the sound, only to find Hedwig. Serpens grinned as he moved to open the window, letting Hedwig inside. It had been so long since he'd last seen her. Hedwig squeaked and flew inside, dropping a package on his desk before standing on his shoulder. Serpens rubbed her head and sat down. He was about to open the package when a voice stopped him.

"Stop!"

Serpens looked up, finding Orion, "what? Why? I want to see what I got"

"You just got a package from an unknown source, Serp. You need to make sure it's clean first"

"Clean?"

"Won't bring you harm in any way. Someone who wants to bring you harm could send you a cursed or poisoned letter, package, gift, anything really. That's why we don't open anything we receive"

"Oh. How do we know if it's clean?"

"It's a set of spells. They don't teach it at Hogwarts, although they should. I swear that place has gone to the dogs. Father will make sure it's up to standards again once he's taken over. Anyways, I can show you now if you want"

Serpens nodded and Orion approached the desk, pulling out his wand and casting a number of spells on the package. A few moments later, Orion nodded in approval, "the package is clean. You can open it if you want"

"Woah. That's cool. Will I learn how to do this?" Serpens asked.

"Obviously. You're the son of the Dark Lord now. You must know these things. Anyways, we're running late for dinner. Mother will kill us if we don't show up soon. She sent me to get you, actually"


Serpens plopped down on his chair, staring at the package sitting on his desk. He pulled it closer to himself and started unwrapping it. He was quite curious over what he had been sent. He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion when he found a bunch of parchment. He pulled out the first one, quickly realizing they were letters.

Dear Harry,

They told us to make this short! Can you imagine?! We haven't heard of each other in so long and they expect me to make this short! Anyways, how are you? What happened with you? Are you alright? Sirius says you joined the Dark Side. Is that true? I hope not. Honestly, Harry, I don't know what to believe anymore. If those people really are your family, then I'm happy for you. You deserve to be happy. Just don't let them pressure you into anything. Stay who you are. I miss you so much. I love you, Harry. You're my best friend.

Sincerely,
Hermione

Harry,

I thought we were friends but I guess I was wrong. How could you just leave us like this? How could you betray us after everything we went through? You sent my dad to AZKABAN. You went to MALFOY'S side. How could you?!

Ron

Dear Serpens,

Heads up, we're supposed to send you letters to make you feel guilty or something so you'll come back to "our" side. Anyways, we want to say we're sorry for what our dad did to you. You shouldn't have gone through such a thing. You deserve to have a loving family and be happy, even if they're the Malfoys. Come to think of it, the Malfoys aren't as bad as Mom and Dad make them out to be. We hope you're enjoying your time and that we can still be friends.

Your local pranksters,

Gred and Forge

Dear Harry,

I'll admit I was devastated when I heard the news. I can't imagine how you feel. I'm so sorry that James did this to you. But Harry, please, don't let this ruin you. I still love you. It doesn't matter who birthed you. You're still family to me. Don't let the excitement of finding biological family make you push away the people that truly care for you. We all miss you. We all still love you.

Love,

Remus

P.S: I know you're probably worried about Sirius. He's been in a sort of depression ever since he got back from the Malfoys'. He won't speak to anyone, not even me.

Dearest Harry,

I'm so sorry for what my husband did to you. No one deserves to go through that. But Harry, I want you to know that I still care for you. I want you to know that this doesn't define you as a person. You're who you choose to be. Just because the woman who birthed you is Dark doesn't mean you have to be as well. You are your own person. Your real family is the one you choose and love. I always hoped we could be that for you. I always cared about you like you were my own. Please make the right choice.

Love,

Molly

Dear Harry,

I wanted to tell you, Harry, that this doesn't matter. You're still Harry. Just Harry. It's still not late. You can come back now and we'll all forgive you. Harry, those Malfoys are real bad people. You don't want to stay with them. And let me tell you, so is that Tom Riddle. He and I went to Hogwarts at the same time. He got me expelled. He's a very bad person, Harry. Don't trust them. Be safe and come back.

Hagrid

Dear Harry,

I know we're not that close but I just wanted to tell you that I'm sorry that you had to go through what you did. You deserve happiness, Harry, but I don't think that happiness is with the Malfoys. Just come back. We'll all forgive you. We all understand.

Sincerely,

Ginny

Serpens stared speechlessly. He didn't know how to feel or what to do. He certainly hadn't expected this. He didn't know what to do. He just knew he couldn't go back. He couldn't leave his new family. He couldn't leave the people that have showered him with love from the moment they found him. He couldn't leave Orion. He couldn't leave his Mum. He couldn't leave Tom. He couldn't leave Uncle Lucius or Aunt Narcissa. He couldn't even leave Draco or Severus, who he still had a bit of a rocky relationship with. Those people meant the world to him now. He was still getting used to them, yes, but that didn't mean he didn't care for them. But what about the people from his past? He hadn't given them a second thought. He hadn't thought about their feelings or how much he hurt them. What sort of person was he? How could he just leave them the way he did?! They'd treated him like family. He'd thought of them as that. How could he do this to them?!

"Ready for bedtime, darling?"

Serpens jumped in surprise. He looked towards the doorway, finding the source of the voice, "Mum, you startled me"

"I can see that," Bella cocked an amused eyebrow, "come on, it's time for bed"

Serpens nodded and went about his nightly routine. He jumped into bed after he was done, snuggling into Bellatrix's side. Bella could see her son was distressed about something, but she decided to give him some space. She wouldn't breathe down his neck on every little thing. He'll tell her when he's ready. Serpens waited as his mother pulled out her wand, casting the "Star Charm" as he came to call it. He watched as a new constellation materialized in front of him.

"Tonight, I'll tell you all about Ophiuchus and Serpens"

Serpens snorted, "the snake"

"Yes"

With that, Bellatrix launched into a passionate explanation about legends and tales of stars. She spoke until Serpens was too tired to understand. At which point, she dissolved the hologram and fixed the blankets around her son. Serpens barely registered anything as she tucked him in, only noticing her gentle kiss on his forehead after she was done.

"Mummy," he whispered.

"Yes, darling?" Bella smiled.

"I never want to leave you," he said sleepily.

"And you never have to. Not again. You're finally in your rightful place. Sleep. I love you, my baby"


Welp, that's it for now. I hope to update again soon. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

As always, reviews welcome, even haters, I like to laugh