*Revised 2/18/18

Harry awoke drenched in a cold sweat the next morning, panting as if he had just run a marathon. He assumed he must've had a nightmare, but for the life of him he couldn't remember what it was about. He pulled back the curtains and looked at his clock, seeing it was just after five in the morning. He flopped back down on the bed, sighing, unwilling to get up yet. He still felt as awful as yesterday. However, after ten minutes of unsuccessfully trying to relax, he grudgingly got up, showered, and dressed. By the time he was done getting ready it was still only a quarter to six. None of the other boys would be up for another half-hour.

Harry looked outside at the cloud-speckled, gray predawn sky and decided to go for a morning walk. He pulled on an extra sweater, an old hand-me-down of Dudley's, before donning his robe, as he was still feeling cold. Then he quietly snuck down the stairs and out of the portrait hole.

By the time he got to the entrance hall he was breathing heavily, heart pounding. He took a rest on the steps outside before making his way down to the lake. He enjoyed the cool, fresh morning air brushing his face as he walked, smelling of rain and earth. As he was nearing a small stand of trees, a stone bench resting beneath their boughs, he saw a snake slowly slithering through the dewy grass. It caught sight of him and started moving faster, obviously not wanting to encounter a potential threat at such an early hour.

"Hello," Harry said to it, on a whim.

He must've said it in parseltongue as the snake paused in its flight, turning to look at him.

"You are a ssspeaker?" it asked softly.

"Er, yeah?" Harry replied tentatively, taking a seat on the bench.

The snake slowly moved closer and Harry saw that it was a common grass snake. It was larger than most he had seen (not that he had seen many), probably around four feet long. Its body was a light tan color with alternating black spots lining a long yellow stripe down its back. A yellow band formed a collar behind its head. It was looking at him curiously with a small, golden, round-pupiled eye, flicking its tongue at him. Harry thought it was rather pretty, for a snake.

"Err...I'm Harry, what's your name?" Harry asked, not really knowing how to start a conversation with a snake.

The snake coiled up at his feet and replied, "I do not sssspeak the language of your kind, sspeaker."

Apparently Harry hadn't spoken in parseltongue. He concentrated hard on the snake, willing himself to speak in its language.

"My..." he began, a light hiss coming from his mouth, but stopped as he couldn't find a way to say the word 'name'. Did snakes not have names?

"I'm-" he began again, but was cut off as the snake spoke again.

"I do not sspeak your tongue," it repeated.

After several tries to find a replacement word for 'name' he gave up, simply pointing to himself and saying, "Harry. I'm Harry."

The snake seemed to perk up in understanding and it asked, "You are... Hasse?" It struggled with the foreign pronunciation.

Harry nodded, smiling. "Yeah. What are you called?"

"Ssnake," it replied, matter-of-fact.

"No, I meant you...individually. Like my kind are called humans, but I'm Harry," he explained.

"I am a ssnake of the grasss and water. I do not know any other call-by," it replied, studying him curiously.

Harry furrowed his brows. "I should give you a new...call-by, then."

"Why?" the snake asked.

"Well, every human has one. It sets them apart from other people and lets others tell them apart easier," he replied easily. He then felt awkward. He knew nothing about snake etiquette, and here he was offering to give it a name! "Do you want one?" he finished, embarrassed.

The snake's head swayed slowly back and forth as it thought. "Yess," it said happily. "I want thiss new call-by."

"Hrm," Harry said, scratching his cheek. He was never very good at names, and he didn't even know the snake's gender! Well, he supposed, he might as well start there.

"Er, are you a boy or a girl?" he mumbled awkwardly.

"I am female," the snake replied, unfazed.

Harry thought for a minute, but all the names he came up with were stupid. The worst of all of them was snakey. He hit himself mentally. How much stupider could a name get? And besides, he didn't even know what names would translate over to parseltongue.

"Could I have a bit to think on that?" he asked, rubbing his neck awkwardly. He noticed the snake shied back a bit as he lifted his hand.

"Yess," the snake replied, letting her head rest on her coils.

"Well, what are you doing out here? Er- before I started talking to you," Harry mumbled, not entirely comfortable with talking to a snake, after everything that had happened last year.

"I was going to sssun mysself," the snake said tiredly. "It is nearing time to hibernate and the cold takess hold of me."

"Oh," Harry said. He hadn't thought of that. "Er, would you like me to hold you or something? I could warm you up a bit."

The snake tensed slightly, asking warily, "Can I trusst you, ssspeaker?"

"Yeah," Harry replied lightly. "I won't hurt you." He gave the creature a slight, encouraging smile. Or what he hoped was an encouraging smile. Did snakes smile?

The snake uncurled herself tentatively, stretching her nose towards Harry's leg, tongue flicking in and out. Harry slowly crouched down, putting out a hand for the snake to climb onto. He felt a strange buzzing in his mind, not unlike that of bees, but he shook himself slightly and it disappeared. The snake gingerly edged her long body onto his hand, pausing often to check for danger. Harry felt her cool, smooth scales brush against his palm as she moved. He gently lifted her up, sitting back onto the bench, hand resting in his lap. The snake poked her head, tongue flickering lightly, into his sleeve, trepidation gone, searching out the heat trapped within. He didn't blame her; his hands were rather cold.

Suddenly the snake drew back sharply, saying, alarmed, "You are injured, sspeaker."

"What?" Harry asked, confused. Of course he wasn't injured. Madame Pomfrey had fixed his arm up yesterday, and besides, that was his other arm.

"Your arm," the snake explained. "It ssmells of blood. I thought it a scent you carried on you, but your arm is sstrong with the smell of hurt." She looked up at him, flicking her tongue out again. "You ssmell of hurt everywhere."

"That can't be right. I haven't been hurt on that arm, or anywhere else," Harry said quickly, frowning.

The snake stuck her head back into his sleeve and he felt a sudden pain, as if someone had pressed on a bruise.

"Oww!" he said, flinching. He pulled back his sleeve, not wanting to hurt the snake by grabbing it. "What was that for?" he asked angrily.

The snake looked at him, then bumped her head firmly against his arm. The pain flared up again.

"Oww." he said again, softer this time. He gently pressed on the spot himself. It hurt, just like it had when showering the past two days. That didn't explain how it was injured though. His clean, smooth, lightly tanned skin mocked him.

The snake looked at him expectantly.

He shrugged his shoulders lightly. "It just hurts," he said.

"Your injuriess are hidden, but they are there," the snake said firmly.

"Yeah, well, even if I am hurt, it'll heal eventually," Harry replied with a twinge of annoyance.

The snake looked back down. She flicked her tongue over his forearm once more before inching up his arm.

"What're you doing?" Harry asked.

"There is more warmth higher," the snake replied, sounding a bit sleepy.

"Er, just don't bite me, okay?" Harry asked. He knew grass snakes weren't venomous, but that didn't mean he was comfortable with one hanging around his neck.

"I would not bite you, ssspeaker," the snake replied. "You are much more powerful than me, and even if you hurt me I am bound to obey you."

"You are?" Harry asked curiously. Snakes had to obey him?

"Yess," the snake replied, "all ssnakes respect the ones with the gift of our ssspeech. They are to be our masters. This every ssnake with the power knows, and those without will obey ssimply because they have no reason not to."

"The power?" Harry enquired, tilting his head slightly.

"All things have ssome of it here, ssspeaker. You have much of it, as does the power-sstick you carry," she replied, curling around his shoulders contently, part of her body looping down his back. Harry realized she was talking about magic. She yawned and then let out a small hiss, almost like a sigh. He could feel her cool body expand and contract as she breathed against him. It wasn't as bad as he expected.

The sun was beginning to light up the horizon now, readying the world for its first golden rays. The mottled clouds shone pink and orange over the dark treetops, blossoming into a deep purple as the sky drew away from the horizon. Harry watched as the changing clouds as light painted a moving masterpiece across the sky.

"The sky is beautiful, you know," he said absently.

The snake lifted her head up, turning towards the direction he was looking. "The light will come ssoon," she said in agreement, readjusting herself around his neck. She seemed to be perking up a bit now that she was warmer. "It is difficult to ssee so far, though."

"Oh, really?" Harry asked.

"Yes. I use sscent to find my prey, not ssight, speaker. Your kind has better sssight, but can not smell as I can," she said somewhat proudly.

"Just call me Harry. All this 'speaker' stuff is kinda weird," Harry requested. It was strange enough to be talking with a snake; he didn't need all these titles. He'd had enough with being called the Heir of Slytherin all last year. He shuddered to think what his classmates would do if they found him talking to a snake, again.

"As you wish, Hasse," she said, nodding her head. "Have you chosen a new call-by for me yet?"

"Do you think you could give me some more time on that? I want to make sure it's right for you," he stalled.

"Of coursse," she replied enthusiastically. She really seemed to be perking up now. "What were you doing out thiss early? Mosst of your kind come out of the sstone cave once the sun is at itss peak."

Harry chuckled at the use of 'stone cave' to describe Hogwarts. "It's not a stone cave, it's a..." he paused, not able to find a word for 'castle'. "It's a place made by humans to live in," he concluded. "It's called Hogwarts."

"Pig wartss?" the snake asked in disbelief.

Harry chuckled again, grinning. "Yeah, it's a pretty silly name, isn't it?" He had never really thought of the absurdity of naming a castle 'Hogwarts' before.

"What is that ssound you make, Hasse?" she asked, pressing closer to his throat. A bit uncomfortably close.

"Er... what sound?" Harry asked, distracted by the feel of her long body contracting slightly around the sides of his neck. It made him nervous. He guessed that after the basilisk, any snake was enough to make him nervous. This one seemed very nice, though.

The snake breathed out in short puffs. "A ssound like that," she said.

"Oh, you mean laughing?" he asked with a laugh. Leave it to a snake not to understand laughter.

"Yes, this laughing is a nice sssound. It sounds of happiness. We ssnakes have a sound too, but it is not as nice."

"What sound is that?" Harry asked. He was genuinely curious as to what a snake's equivalent of a laugh would be.

Her body tensed as she took in a deep breath before expelling it out in a high, fluctuating whistle. It sounded almost like birdsong, but quieter, with a hissing quality to it.

Harry snorted with laughter, it was so absurd. A snake, whistling! Who would've guessed? The snake enthusiastically whistled again in reply. Harry joined in, whistling a nonsensical tune in between bursts of laughter. They sat happily whistling together as the sun cast its first rays across the horizon, like a huge golden flashlight. He mused that this must be one of the strangest things he'd ever done, and he'd pulled a sword out of hat to kill a basilisk before.

The sun usually rose at around seven this time of year, which meant that Harry's friends would soon be wondering where he was. Well, let them wonder, Harry thought. He was enjoying the time spent with his new snake friend. Hermione would just bug him to eat more at breakfast, anyway. He'd catch up with them before classes started.

A slight breeze set the leaves on the nearby trees whispering, and danced across his cheek like a soft caress. Harry briefly wondered if trees could talk as well, and if so, what they would say. He would have to look it up in the library sometime. Gosh, he was starting to sound like Hermione! But still, he was rather curious...

A bird flitted by, twittering a morning song. More joined in, creating a discordant chorus.

"I know," Harry said suddenly, straightening up as the idea came to him. "I'll call you Bird. Y'know...since you can sing like one."

"But I am not a bird," the snake said, confused.

"I know that, but usually... call-by's are given to represent things that someone reminds you of, or something like that," Harry said. He had heard that every name had some special meaning, but that a lot of them had been lost in translation. He wondered what his name meant.

"I ssee," the snake said, seeming to be deep in thought. "It would be nice to be a bird. They are always warm, and can fly sso fast. They're able to get away when they're being hunted. They can make beautiful sssounds, too. But ssnakes can hunt better, and are ssmarter, more patient." She seemed to be trying to convince herself that snakes were better than birds.

"Flying is pretty great," Harry commented.

"You have flown, Hasse?" she asked.

"Yeah, on a broomstick. It's amazing. I did ride a hippogriff yesterday, though. That wasn't quite as fun..." He thought back to the unnerving ride on Buckbeak.

"You must take me on this flying sstick sometime. I have seen your kind on them, but I did not know they were fun," the snake said happily.

"Yeah, and, er... this game we play on them is even better. I play seeker," Harry said proudly.

"A game in the air? That ssounds dangerous, not fun," she said doubtfully.

"Well, it is dangerous, but it's even more fun because of that!" Harry said enthusiastically.

"You humanss have strange ideas of fun," the snake said with a frown.

Harry laughed. "Yeah, I guess we do," he agreed, leaning back on his hands.

The snake stretched out, suspending a great portion of her body into the air. She whistled.

"Yes, I will be Bird," she said happily.

"I'm glad you like it," Harry said, smiling at her antics.

"I am glad of thiss new call-by, Hasse. It makes me feel differently about myself, ssomehow," Bird said slowly.

"Yeah, it makes you special."

The snake nodded.

Harry looked off toward the lake, swinging his legs. He was getting tired of sitting on the uncomfortable stone bench.

Bird coiled tighter around his neck, set off balance by his swaying.

"Do you wish to leave?" she asked curiously.

"Nah- well, I'm just a bit restless is all," Harry answered, stilling his legs.

"We should go then. I would like to ssee how it looks to be as tall as you," Bird said excitedly.

"Do you want to stay around my neck?" Harry asked tentatively. He wasn't sure that he wanted her around his neck... He was still feeling tense, which certainly wouldn't disappear if she was jostling around while he walked.

Bird looked around, finding the primary vantage point on his body.

"I think your hand would be better. There is little to hold on to up here," she stated, already starting to slink down his left arm.

He straightened his arm, allowing her easier access to his hand. As her searching head met his fingers she nudged between two of them, then carefully wound around his wrist, threading through his fingers like a silk ribbon. Harry smiled at her, realizing that the sensation of her movement on his skin wasn't so bad after all. Actually, it was pleasant, smooth and cool. His lips pulled up in a half-smile as her tongue tickled his fingertips. Once she had secured herself entirely he drew his arm in closer to his body, instinctively, as if to protect her.

He slowly rose from the bench, keeping an eye on Bird as she shifted slightly to compensate. He then set off at a slow pace towards the edge of the lake. The black waters shimmered like a thousand golden jewels, courtesy of the morning sun. Bird seemed to enjoy the view as she kept twisting her head around to look at things.

He glanced back at the castle, eyes lingering on the owlery at the top of West Tower. He wondered how Hedwig was doing. He vowed to go check on her as soon as he was done talking with Bird.

"Bird..." he began, staring off at the hazy far side of the lake.

"Yess?" she asked curiously.

"Will we see each other again, after today?"

Bird smiled at him. "Of coursse. You have to take me on your flying ssstick, remember?" she said cheekily.

Harry smiled too. "Yeah, I guess you're right," he said.

They walked in silence for a while –or rather, Harry walked and Bird rode on him –enjoying the scenery. The pain in his ankle was a bit distracting, but he did his best to ignore it. After a few more minutes continuing around the rocky edge of the lake, though, he found that the pain was increasing rather than decreasing. Without Ron and Hermione's constant chatter it was much harder to ignore. He stopped walking, causing Bird to stare up at him curiously.

"Er, I think I'm gonna turn around," he said. "Is that alright with you?"

She nodded. "This height iss very different," she commented as he turned around. "It must be hard to sstay on two legs and not fall down from dizziness!"

"Well, I think you just get used to it after a while, and then you don't even notice that it's high anymore," Harry speculated.

She nodded slowly, thinking. "That is true."

Harry found himself slowing down as he continued walking, the effort of hiding his limp growing. Eventually he stopped again, mentally cursing his phantom pains.

Bird narrowed her eyes at him reproachfully, saying, "You should not walk when you are injured. You will hurt yoursself more."

Harry ran his free hand through his hair agitatedly, making it even messier than before.

"But I'm not hurt!" he exclaimed. "It just hurts for no reason!"

Bird continued to look at him reproachfully, but said nothing.

Harry sighed, scrubbing his face. "Sorry, it's just annoying," he said softly.

Bird rested her head against his finger in a comforting way, giving him an understanding look and squeezing his hand slightly.

Harry sighed again and glanced up towards the sun, shielding his eyes with one hand. It was probably eight now. He just had enough time to visit Hedwig, then get his things from the dormitory and make it to the charms classroom before class started.

"I should get going," he said regretfully.

Bird nodded. "I musst go, as well. There is prey to be hunted."

Harry furrowed his brows. He hadn't thought of how difficult it must be for wild animals to find food. He didn't think Bird would appreciate any of his table-scraps though. Hedwig usually turned up her beak at them, and she ate much the same things as snakes did.

"Uh, I hope you find something to eat," he said, not really knowing how to respond.

Bird thanked him and they bid each other goodbye. She was slithering off into the grass when Harry suddenly said, "Wait!"

"Yess?" Bird asked, turning around.

"Um, do you want to meet back here tomorrow? At the same time?" he asked hopefully. He really had liked talking to her.

She gave him a smile and a wink. "I would like that," she said happily, turning again and disappearing into the brush.

Harry looked at the place where she had been for a moment, feeling a sense of loss within him. He then shook himself out of the melancholy, telling himself that there was no reason for it. He turned around and made his slow way up to the owlery.

Once he finally arrived at the top of the tower he looked out, taking one more glance at the beautiful mountainous scenery surrounding the castle. It was enough to take one's breath away, and he got to see it every day for the majority of the year. With a smile on his face he opened the door to the owlery, greeted by the soft hooting of countless owls and the papery rustling of wings. The owls sat in small enclaves built into the sides of the circular room, the top having been left open with two beams supporting the roof. It was dark inside, but not so dark that he couldn't see.

Suddenly he heard a familiar hoot and a white owl swooped down towards him. He put his arm out and Hedwig landed on it. He stroked her soft feathers gently and she nibbled his finger affectionately, giving him a chastising look.

"I know girl, I know," Harry apologized. "I'll visit you a lot more, I promise. And next time I'll bring you some owl treats."

He smiled as she perked up at the mention of treats, continuing to stroke her. He told her all about his new friend, Bird, and asked her opinion. Hedwig stared at him with her big amber eyes before giving a small hoot and bobbing her head. Harry took it as approval and smiled at her.

"Thanks, girl," he said. "I'm sure you'll like Bird."

Hedwig hooted a bit more doubtfully at that statement.

He spent a few more minutes with Hedwig before he sent her off to be with her owl friends. He hurried to the common room, rushing into the empty dormitory and collecting his things for the day's classes before making his way to the Charms classroom. He got there with a few moments to spare and Ron and Hermione immediately started pressing him on where he'd been. Fortunately Professor Flitwick called the class in before he had to come up with an excuse, buying him some more time.

Throughout the class his friends continually pestered him. Even Hermione wasn't as interested in the lesson (Drying Charms) as usual, so preoccupied with reprimanding Harry and telling him not to skip meals. Neither of them would accept that he had simply gone for a walk, which annoyed him. They didn't have the right to monitor him like this. He could take care of himself perfectly well, thank you very much. And so he stared in stony silence until they dropped the subject... for a few hours. Then Hermione just had to bring it back up again. And so it continued for the rest of the day. The next days were much the same, and though Harry spent most of his time with his friends (after his morning meets with Bird), much of it was spent tediously directing conversations away from himself.

Fortunately, it seemed that they had come into a warm spell, as the weather was unseasonably warm and sunny. Bird was very active and energetic, and Harry found that she had quite the sense of humor. She gave him an affectionate 'call-by:' Birdnest. She explained it slyly with two reasons: the first being that he had given her the name Bird and it was only fitting that her chauffeur be a nest for her, and secondly for his wild hair, which even resembled a nest to a snake. He accepted it with a grin and a laugh. They grew closer together than he would've thought was possible in the next few days, and Harry's friends constantly berated him for disappearing in the morning, skipping breakfast, and generally acting strange. He didn't mind too much though, if it meant he could be with Bird. He skipped lunch a couple times too, to see if he could find her waiting at the stone bench that they were quickly claiming as their own. All in all, Harry found that he was quickly forgetting how he had lived without her for so long. Ron and Hermione were wonderful friends, but Bird seemed to know him better than he even knew himself, probably because he couldn't seem to hide anything from her, big or small.

He was spending far too much time in the library for Ron's liking, though Hermione praised his newfound interest, browsing all the books he could on snakes and how to care for them. Unfortunately the library was sparse in that regard, most being exotic identification handbooks or instructions to butcher snakes for use in potions. Harry skipped the later subject, shuddering in revulsion. He did, however, find a guide to trees that stated they did indeed have a language of their own, but that no one had yet deciphered it. He vowed to be kinder to trees in the future, though this vow excluded the whomping willow. When the thought of reading another book made him regret beginning his quest, he sent a letter to the Magical Menagerie in Diagon, asking them for advice. Their response was more than he could've hoped for, and Harry planned to ask Bird to stay with him permanently as soon as they sent him some supplies by owl order. That meant that he would have to break the news to Ron and Hermione, though, and he wasn't looking forward to that. He didn't normally keep things from his friends, but this was different... he wasn't sure how they would respond. Hermione would probably go and tell Professor McGonagall, and then he wouldn't be able to keep Bird, since only one pet was allowed per person and he already had Hedwig. And Ron, well, Ron hated anything that could remotely be associated with dark arts, snakes most definitely included. He didn't blame him, but Bird was so much more than a pet. He couldn't bear to lose her, even after so little time together.

This pleasant haze of newfound friendship would continue until Thursday, when he would step into the Potions classroom for the first time that year, and for a double period, at that.