AN: Hello guys and gals! Another short chapter posted. But I plan to post the next one, which hopefully will be longer than this one in the next few days.

Chapter 20

The utensils clinked rhythmically on the plates, the sound creating a peaceful and homey atmosphere. Despite the delicious food and relaxing air, Remus couldn't help but occasionally glance at Ryan. When his plate emptied, he finally asked:

"Is there really a lily snake on your shoulders or is my old age finally getting to me?"

"There is. And you aren't old, don't be coy," Ryan glared half-heartedly at his godfather. He still felt the bruises from the latest thorough beating session, that was for some inane reason called training. "Her name's Mauvi by the way."

Remus snorted and looked at the young man incredulously.

"Who names a mauve-colored snake Mauvi?!"

Ryan smiled. Apparently, both inventing passwords and naming things weren't Tom Riddle's ancestor's forte.

"Salazar Slytherin."

"Hm-m…" The werewolf peered at the snake, now even more curious than before. "You mean to tell me that this snake is a thousand years old?"

"Cool, isn't it?"

"It is quite fascinating. How did you acquire such a pet? Or is it your familiar now?"

"No, definitely not familiar. The snakey is just clingy. You can call Mauvi my private stalker." Ryan just grinned at the angered hissing coming from his shoulder. "Besides, I already have a familiar - Hedwig. Though, I still don't know how to get her back without suspicion. She is living with 'Mione now, right?"

"She is. And by the way, have you decided what you will do about your friends?"

"Should I do anything at all?" This was one of the hardest questions Ryan had yet to answer.

"They think you died. They miss you."

"I am dead…" seeing the glare directed at him by his godfather the mage quickly corrected himself. "…In a way."

"Regardless. Don't you miss them?"

Ryan sighed and raked his hand through the messy hair. "Actually, not as much as I would have expected… I long for them like one longs for the childhood that eventually has to end. I have good memories of them, I just don't see myself going back to being the light heroic little Harry, the brave and naive child that I once was."

"You are being selfish if you think you are the only one who changed during this time. You should talk to them. At the very least, you could let them get to know your new self - without telling them about your real past."

"I'll think about it. Still, I won't be able to do it before September."

"It is your decision," Remus reassured. "I merely point out that you have some unresolved issues."

"Plenty of them, actually…"

"Hm-m… You still haven't answered how you got the snake."

"I met her in the Forbidden Forest. She helped me to get to the Chamber of Secrets."

"Ah-h. So that's where you disappeared to today…"

"Yep."

"Anything interesting?"

"Yep, one grumpy portrait of one Hogwarts founder, a library, and one priceless Basilisk corpse – perfectly preserved… Oh, and did you know, that I am now immune to poisons?" Ryan inquired brightly, looking in fake wonder at his wrist. Remus narrowed his eyes at seeing two puncture wounds on his godson's arm.

"Are you?"

"Yep. According to my favorite henchsnake that bite should have knocked me unconscious for three hours. Naturally, I just became pissed and more awake than ever. Apparently, this tolerance is the side-effect from that Basilisk bite back in the second year."

"I didn't know you were bitten by a Basilisk…" Remus said, his eyes widening in shock.

"Really?" Ryan looked surprised. "Well… No big deal, I believe I might have omitted the part about almost dying and Fawkes healing me the last second, in the misguided attempt to appear tough and not to worry my friends and Mrs. Weasley…"

Ryan took in the mixed emotions on the werewolf's face – a boiling pot of anger, pity and fear, and decided to retreat.

"Well, I'm off! There are dickens to summon, people to spy on, Apprentices to torture. Ta!"

Apprentices? Spying? What the hell was going on with Ryan?! Remus groaned, resting the face in his hands. And he used to think that Sirius-James Duo was trouble. Despite being one person, his godson was proving to be even more troublesome. Well, his life certainly won't get dull at this rate. Perhaps, he really should start researching the werewolf rights, as the mage suggested. He shuddered to think about how exactly Ryan would approach the topic, had the matter been left to his devices.

Somewhere on the other plane of existence a red-furred creature ran through the wilderness of ash and stone. Its strong four legs and sharp teeth clearly indicated it as a predator. This being loosely resembled a proud lion, except that where the lion's mane ended at corpus, this creature's mane stopped being a mane and covered its whole body except its muzzle, legs and bare tail with switch.

The lion-like being suddenly stopped and sniffed the air. Something was wrong. This wretched feeling was familiar but it couldn't exactly place it.

No… It couldn't be… Not again! The hot wind of the plane intensified and brought whispers… Thee… Lefus… Come… Lefus… Lefus, Lefus!

There was no place to hide.

"NO!!! Not again!.. Fuck this fucking su…"

The creature's desperate roar's last words were lost to this world and the body of the poor being was engulfed in flames and disappeared without trace. There weren't even ashes left.

The wilderness, however, was not as devoid of life as it appeared from the first glance. A humanoid figure watched the happening from atop a large rock, its sharp eyes picking and dissecting in its mind every detail. The figure grinned crazily.

At last! He was waiting for so long… So many centuries of boredom and waiting had finally come to an end.

AN:

RRW, well, I doubt that it is the correct old-English spelling, I just conveniently used "sowl" to cover the holes in the plot, such as why Ryan hadn't found this text when he first searched through the library with the word "soul" as an operative. Though, at the time there were so many dialects, that I could have guessed right.

As to how the DL couldn't know about his soul being ripped… Well, I suppose before his memory was blocked, he knew about that, but didn't really care or haven't seen his core to fully realize the consequences. And then his memories were blocked for Apprenticeship and that's that.

By the way, I took the time and checked the source about Eliza. And Harry really didn't try anything to stop the Basilisk. In fact, he didn't talk to the snake AT ALL. Funny that… So I'm free to exploit this hole in the plot. ;)

Zalepotter, hm-m. I guess he did, didn't he? And it won't be all fun and roses and too. And his cockiness will get him in trouble. But about that in the later chapters…

NelliGirl, thanks. I am glad you liked my take on Slytherin, I didn't want to make him all nice and fluffy, as sometimes fanfics show him. Ryan… well, hopefully some kind of personality is forming, though I don't really stop to think about it.

lady sakura cosmos, thanks.

Sylkie, thankssss. I am glad you liked my attempts at humour. =)))

AZNsexinezz, first of all, I do not insinuate anything about today's society and I won't argue here about the good and bad sides of the left and right points of view. This is a fanfiction site, for god's sake!… Secondly, I don't follow politics at all, so if something in my story touched a nerve… - can't be helped. Thirdly, you make generalizations and assumptions like – harry destroys buildings 'cause the society is becoming weaker. WTF? How do you get that? The burning down of the Ollivander's shop was more of a personal matter. And it was A building. Do you see him going on on a further rampage? Anyway, you are entitled to your own opinion, even if I don't agree with it. No harm done.

miss quirky bookworm, glad you like Mauvi. =) And Ryan drank his potion sometime before venturing into the Forbidden Forest.

Ryan wasn't allowed to the chambers because Slytherin's portrait was feeling bitchy, and this portrait's consciousness can grant or deny access.

abbyagapao, thanks!

disgruntledfairy, thanks! And yes, Draco will appear either in the next chapter or the next one after that.

Wow, the part about the impressive vocabulary happens to be the indirect praise to my own vocabulary, which is honestly very flattering. I am glad that you liked the interaction between Ryan and Salazar! =)

animehphantom, thanks!

DEDMUN, thanks! There will be some headway… well, somewhere around the next 10 chapters. =))) Though, I can't promise frequent updates. Right now, I'm really loaded at the university. But the more pressured I feel, the more I want to write, so maybe I'll update more frequently despite my lack of time. =)

America C., thanks for your opinion. All your points are valid. I do feel that I neglect the romance part of the story but I can't really help how it goes. I can control only so much about the story. The original plot is dead, only artifacts remain, but that was pretty much the point, because I wanted to twist and change Rowling's world to my heart's content. Hope, you won't be disappointed in the future.

Potter29, glad you appreciate it. Grin

Shivani, thanks. The goal was to amuse the readers, and myself, so I am glad it was achieved, at least with the 7th chapter. ;)