Disclaimer: My name is not J. K. Rowling. I don't own Harry Potter and I never will.
"Parseltongue"
"Normal speech"
'Thought speech'
Flashback
"Parseltongue in Flashback"
AN: Thank you again for reviewing! It helps encourage me to write faster! Review thanks are at the bottom!
Chapter 3
Tom looked at the boy who had finally cried himself to sleep. The day had been a long and tedious ordeal. After trying to find that damn cat for Harry (through he had some suspicions about the furball from the things he saw in Harry's mind) he had come back to be faced with a hysterical Harry. It had taken nearly an hour to get him calmed down and throughout the day he had been like a zombie. No reaction at all. Sigh.
It wasn't as if he hadn't tried to find the furball of a cat. He had really apparated around to no avail. He had felt like a fool when he even tried calling out a few hesitant calls of "Neko." 'Damn cat. Now my Harry won't be as inclined to trust me if I had gotten it.' He brooded. Then he paused and backtracked. 'MY Harry? Since when have I started to refer to him as MY Harry?' It was too much. He needed to kill something to relax. Preferably something that screamed a lot.
He stalked out the bedroom and was nearly down the hall when he heard it. Hissing. Turning around towards the direction of the sound he quickened his steps. While it would be satisfying to torture something until its screams came out in gurgles due to choking on blood, the company he was seeking was much more relaxing.
"Nagini." he hissed when he saw her, pleased to see her. "I trust that you trip went smoothly."
An immense seven foot black cobra uncoiled from where it had been curled on the chair once it saw him.
"Yes Tom, it did." She hissed as pleased to see him as he was her. It had been a while since she had laid eyes on him. "I have gathered much information on that old coot. It seemed that late yesterday he ran out of the Hogwarts grounds in a great hurry. He looked very worried. As soon as he was beyond the wards he apparated. When he came back, he looked even more agitated. It was also immensely satisfying to the see how distressed he was."
"He was most likely worried on how he had lost his precious 'weapon'." Tom laughed devilishly. If Nagini's eyes could have widened they would have. However due to her being an snake she only slithered forward in eager anticipation.
"So you've done it? You've taken their 'Savior' right from under their noses!" Nagini hissed in excitement. Her Tom had planned this as soon as he had regained his body seven months ago. Oh what a night that was!
Flashback
Nagini could barely contain her excitement. Her Tom was getting his body back. She had known him since she was but a tiny hatchling and he a young snakelet that went to the school place he called Hogwarts.
They had cared deeply for one another. He had confided to her everything and she protected him from everything in her power. That had not changed in his rise to power nor was it different now. After searching desperately for his soul (She had refused to believe that he was dead. She could sense deep inside her that he was still alive.) she finally found him in a dark forest in Romania.
Sustaining him on her venom or 'milk', she had kept him alive until they had been stumbled upon by an unsuspecting wizard by the name of Quirinus Quirrel. The wizard was a fool who was lured in by Tom's honey-covered words that by the time he realized something was wrong, he was so ensnared that he was completely under Tom's control. Once that had been achieved Tom had taken her with him to see his former follower Lucius Malfoy.
That man had immediately bowed down to Tom; begging for forgiveness and trying to appease her Tom's righteous anger. Tom, of course was quite angry that none of his 'loyal' followers that were free had tried to find him. So he had been punished.
Lucius' screams had been quite delicious. Unfortunately, all good things have to come to an end and they had to get what they came for. They retrieved the diary that Tom had left with Lucius to protect some years ago and left with the warning that if Lucius were to breath a single word of his lord's return he would be wishing for quick death.
They quickly made their way to one of their safe hideaways. Once there, Tom immediately forced Quirrel to start writing in the diary. By forcing the man to pour his life's energy into the diary, he managed to resurrect one of his horcruxes. Once the younger Tom was alive and corporeal and Quirrel was dead, both Toms discussed their options. Finally they agreed to merge. So now he was soon going to have a physical and tangible body.
The power danced across Tom's figure as he agonizingly merged his fifty plus year old soul back into the sixteen year old horcrux. The end result was a figure that was spiritually in his early thirties but physically as young as someone in their early twenties. All those experimental potions had paid off.
"Nagini," Tom hissed. She slithered forward eagerly; delighted that everything had gone so well. "Let us go home to Slytherin Manor. I have some plans to partake in for young Harry Potter."
End FlashbackNagini broke out of her musings. "What was that again?" she asked, unsure she had heard right and that it wasn't some figment of her imagination. "Let me get this straight. You apparated all over the place searching for some CAT?!" She dissolved in hissing giggles.
"He was attached to it." He grumbled, annoyed that she found this funny. "If I had gotten it he wound have been very grateful and more inclined to listen to me. And it would have saved me a whole lot of trouble. He cried a lot and was practically an Inferi all day."
"I do not appreciate being laughed at." He huffed, slightly annoyed as well as embarrassed. "Especially for trying hard to make someone HAPPY."
"I have not really laughing at you." Nagini hissed, trying to hide her signs of mirth. "I just find you slightly amusing. That's all."
"In which you laughed at me." Hegrumbled. She was about to respond to that but was interrupted before she could utter a single hiss. "Don't deny it."
"Alright I won't then" Nagini said, laughter still bright in her eyes.
"Anyway it has been a long night, would you like to retire now? I can introduce you tomorrow morning. Hopefully Harry isn't fearful of serpents." Tom said and he stood up to leave. What he heard next made him freeze in utter shock.
"Oh, no! I'm not scared of snakes!" The young voice of who could only be Harry's floated enthusiastically into the room. "I think they're really cool. Your snake especially! I didn't know some animals could talk!"
"You understand what we were saying?!" Tom hissed in surprise.
"Umm, yeah. Why wouldn't I?" Harry hissed uncertainty.
"You don't realize you are speaking another language do you?" Tom breathed in astonishment. He had certainly not expected this. For the young child to be a parselmouth was a gift to him indeed.
"I am?!" Harry cried out flabbergasted. "How can I be speaking in another language without even knowing I'm doing so?"
"I do not know how this is so." Tom hissed thinking of various possible reasons. "This shouldn't be possible. Parseltongue is a rare trait that only occurs in people with Slytherin blood. As far as I know, you do not have any ancestors that married into the Slytherin line." As he said this Harry shook his head slowly and began to shake in the strangeness of it all.
"Calm down child." Nagini hissed soothingly. She slowly slithered close to Harry and gently wrapped him in her coils. As she tenderly rocked him back and forth she continued. "This does not make you any less of who you are. In fact his only makes you even more special. To converse with any serpent makes you our brethren."
"The bond… The bond we share must be connected in some way." Tom muttered. "Have you heard Parseltongue before? Have any snake ever come up to you and spoken with you?"
"No never! I mean I don't remember." Harry cried out. "I didn't even know I was speaking another language! I don't know…" 'I'm a freak. I can't even be normal in a wizarding world.'
"I'm a freak." Harry quietly uttered. Tom and Nagini snapped their heads toward him in shock. "Even here, I'm not normal…"
"Shhh. Little snakeling, you are NOT a freak. You are special in a way that allows you to understand some that most do not. Many judge us serpents as evil creatures. Do you believe I'm evil?" Nagini softly hissed.
"NO! You've been nice to me the moment you saw me. You tried to comfort me." Harry exclaimed, horrified that he had insulted her.
"That is because you understand what I am saying to you. Others would have run away in fear at the mere sight of me slithering towards them. You understood why I came over and that I was trying to comfort you. Without the gift of Parseltongue do you think you would have reacted as calmly?"Nagini reasoned.
"Oh. I didn't think of it that way." Harry whispered. "I just sorta… panicked."
"That's understandable. Now while this mystery is quite interesting, I would like to know why you aren't in bed and asleep?" Tom inquired, a bit amused.
Harry eeped and timidly said, "I had a bad dream. When I woke I decided to go look for you. I heard voices and followed them here." Harry chanced a glance at Tom. 'He doesn't look angry.' At that thought, Tom who had accidentally heard it, decided to speak.
"I am not angry. I do however believe we all should go to bed now. It is late and there is much to do tomorrow." Tom said as he picked up both Harry and Nagini.
He carried them back to Harry's bedroom and gently set them down. He backed up to leave them when he heard a hesitant voice.
"Tom? Would- would you please stay?" Harry tentatively asked. He shyly peeked at Tom from under his covers. "I'm scared."
"Do not fear, little snakeling. Nagini will protect you." At Harry's slight look of dismay, he conceded. "However, if you wish, I will sleep her tonight." Harry perked up and eagerly scooted over and made room for Tom.
Tom chuckled a little and changed to his silken pajamas with a wave of his hand. He climbed onto the bed and slid close but not too close to Harry. Harry's only response was to close his eyes and snuggle into Tom's side. Tom chuckled again and relaxed. Soon both were drifting peacefully into the realm of Morpheus.
To be continued…
AN: Yay, I managed to update. I've had a lot of schoolwork to do. It'll take awhile for the next chapter to get done though. Sigh
Thankies to the reviewers!
potteraddict1210: Nooo! The cookies?! Sniff I'll take the lemondrop though even when it reminds me of Dumbledore. :P
Jynx101: Thanks. And about the name, well… My nickname at school is Neko (combo of Neji and Anko who are Naruto characters) and I like it. Plus it will be explained further later in the story. -wink- ;)
brandygurl016: Don't worry, I'll try my best to update weekly. As for Neko… you'll see. ;P
Dreamweaver: -smiles- It's my secret! Don't worry, you'll find out… eventually. :P
tonksiscool: Thanks! Harry and Tom will get their revenge in due course. As for Tom not trying had enough… it's in this chappie! This goes for many of your questions. Don't worry, they'll all get answered in my story. See if you can find all the answers.
Prophetess Of Hearts: Just wait and see! ;P
Mr. Bunny says thanks for reading and reviewing! See if you can guess the what or who Neko is! I guarantee you won't figure this out since I thought this up. If anyone does before I post the chapter with the answers (which will likely be in Ch 4 or if I write too much, Ch 5), I'll add a pairing of your choice! (anything as long as it doesn't interfere with HPTR/HPLV) If no one gets it, I'll consider the pairing offered by the closest one to it. ;)
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