Slytherins secret

Disclaimer: still don't own Harry Potter

AN: Thanks for bearing with me over the time it has taken for me to write again, I had serious difficulty writing this before I realised it was due to the scene I was trying to write being unnecessary to the plot.

Chapter 15: changing relations

Sunday passed uneventfully; Harry woke, escorted Snape back into the chamber, talked with Hagrid and Neville and then returned to provide (limited) help with the work in the chamber. Snape had made the sensible choice Harry admitted grudgingly, he had rendered the carcass down into the largest easily transported pieces possible and just moved those into his workrooms where they became vastly easier to handle. Harry supposed his recent monetary acquisitions almost explained why he had been civil, (not nice, no, never nice, but civil,) he had been 'Mr Potter' rather than a shouted 'Potter!' and his normally scathing comments had lacked their cutting edge. Harry was so unsettled by the continuing civility (after the initial shock of the Basilisk had worn off) that he was actually unsure whether this startling alteration was a good thing and found himself almost wishing for the presence of an audience so that the sour man would inevitably return to predictable behaviours. Nevertheless the day had gone well and after his late night lesson Harry had gone to sleep content. Now however it was morning and Harry found himself staring blankly at the note that had been owled to him, having suddenly become a bundle of nerves.

Mr Weasl-Arthur Harry mentally amended, had sent him a message, Bill was back in the country for a short visit and would talk with Harry about the details of his plan to settle the debt between their houses. Now Harry certainly had no reason to expect talking to Bill to be difficult, but aside from some anecdotes of Ron's neither he, nor the Heir to house Weasley, really knew anything about the other. If this became an old fashioned negotiation full of pureblood formality Harry would not be totally lost, but he might not make a good accounting of himself and more importantly, he might not feel that he could really trust Bill. The nature of magic was such that there was always a loop hole in any magical agreement if you were determined enough, Muggle fairy-tales alone demonstrated that, if the meeting with Bill went poorly he'd both have to come up with something else (short of marrying Ginny) to clear the debt and find another way of figuring out what in Merlin's name was going on with his scar and the diary. Given the connection to Voldemort that his scar seemed to possess he would dearly love it dealt with sooner rather than later and just knowing that he had a plan was helping him with the gut wrenching nausea that being connected to that THING had induced, a significant delay would have him mentally chasing his own tail, he just knew it.

Finally at 10:30 the suggested time arrived as did Bill, he came spinning from the Floo lacking either a significant amount of soot or any sign of disorientation much to Harry's peevish indignation. Harry unintentionally gasped "how on earth do people do that?" before blushing furiously and looking at the floor in an attempt to reassert the control over himself that he had apparently just lost.

Some of his fears over how this meeting would conduct itself were absolved by his lapse however; as his visitor chuckled warmly before replying "I assume you mean not face plant on the exit? Ron did mention that incident?" at Harry's mortified nod he continued "practice, practice and more practice, most forms of magical travel become easier once you learn to apparate, so that helps, those that suffer from motion sickness never can learn to flue properly, it has to do with the spinning."

"Umm thanks" Harry murmured, finally looking up, he consciously straightened his spine and tried to relax his shoulders "pleased to meet you, obviously I'm Harry Potter; I assume you are Bill Weasley?"

"Right you are Harry, no need to worry, I'd be pleased to meet you even if you hadn't just saved my little sister and the first female Weasley in 7 generations, you've had a good impact on little Ronnie, he sometimes thinks before he speaks lately, mind you it doesn't actually help but it is something."

A laugh escaped from Harry before he could do anything to stop it and he felt a smile forming on his lips, "Yeah Ron tries, but if there's a curse for metaphorical foot in mouth syndrome he's been hit by it! Still he's a great friend, never makes me feel dumb for not having been brought up knowing the stuff wizards take for granted you know?"

"You weren't? Right, obviously that is part of why Dad said there'd be a lot I need to keep private from everyone, I assure you my Occlumency is top notch, the goblins insist, now where are we going to talk about this?"

Harry bit his lip slightly and motioned Bill into the meeting room from the previous Friday "in here if you'd just put up some privacy spells?"

Bill nodded and began (or at least Harry assumed he was, it wasn't like he knew the spells yet) as he finished Harry added "and now we leave" and Fawkes flamed them both to the chamber.

Bill landed with a yelp, slightly unbalanced by the first instance of involuntary magical transport he had experienced since he gained his apparition licence more than six years ago and Fawkes trilled a wicked little snigger. Harry grinned at the bird's sense of humour and thanked him for the transport before sending him back so that Dumbledore couldn't miss him; whilst he was occupied with that Bill's curse breaker reflexes had kicked in and he was now stood in a balanced stance, wand out, looking around the cavernous space cautiously. "Harry?" Bill asked a question and a warning in his voice, after all the man was cursed with prankster brothers.

"Bill this falls under the Oath of secrecy that I believe you offered and that I know your Dad warned you I was going to ask for as part of the repayment of the Life Debt, not that you could easily betray any secrets you learnt in this room." Harry snorted adding the last bit as an aside to himself.

"Alright, I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt here but why, and where are we?" Bill was still glancing about him warily.

Harry grinned suddenly feeling an urge for the dramatic and flung his arms out spinning slightly "Welcome William Weasley to the creation of my Patriarch and Ancestor, scene of my most recent battle, personal hideaway and the fabled Chamber of Secrets!"

"What?!" Bill spluttered staring at Harry open mouthed.

"Well it's a long story, which you will get in detail but let me quickly give you the bare minimum, between the defeat of the Basilisk and Ginny waking up a few things happened that I've not told anyone about; the long and short of which is that my Mum had Slytherin blood and I won magical rights the line of Slytherin by defeating Voldemort a third time. We are using this rather uninviting room because the Chamber of Secrets is literally that, nobody can gain information learned in the room by any form of coercion save perhaps deceit." Harry finished and looked at Bill hopefully, he would be the first living human to hear about Harry being the Heir of Slytherin and Harry was worried that his reaction would be worse than the one he had received for being a Parselmouth (or beast speaker as he now knew himself to be).

Bill blinked a few times, opened his mouth and raised his hand then closed his mouth, before finally speaking, and when he did his words surprised Harry "I William Fabian Weasley swear on my life and magic not to reveal anything which Harry James Potter reveals to me in confidence without his express permission and then only to those whom he gives me permission to reveal it to, so mote it be" he glowed for few seconds and Harry felt the magic still and settle a faint line to his own core. "Now" he continued sitting down tailor fashion on the stone floor "tell me everything!"

"Merlin Harry how in Morgana's name does a twelve year old have a life this complicated?" Bill asked at the end of Harry's lengthy exposition.

Harry grinned and gave a slightly watery chuckle, the day had been cathartic for him, it had cleansed some of the poison from the memories but recounting his experiences was still a harrowing ordeal, as Bill said he had been through a seen more than most adults could fathom "just luck I guess?" he ventured sarcastically.

Bill snorted and replied darkly "your luck is a strange thing, it seems to give with one hand and take away with the other!"

Before Harry could do more than shrug glumly (because really it was true) Dobby appeared next to his master with a 'pop'. "Dobby could tell master didn't wants to be interrupted when he was talking to the long wheezy but Master Harry is done now and must eats or nice Phoenix's hard work is being wasted." The elf cringed at giving Harry something tantamount to an order but straightened again when Harry smiled approvingly and nodded an OK, so he popped away again saying "Dobby brings food for the long wheezy to."

As Dobby left Bill who was more used to elves who haven't been ordered to be themselves sat blinking in astonishment and Salazar's statue, which had been silent during the story, hissed a chuckle and commented ~binding that elf the way you did was one of you best decisions to date little Heir but by Merlin's pink undies he's a weird one!~

Bill spun around fast enough to cause whiplash at the eerie hissing sound that Salazar's comment caused to echo throughout the chamber, searching for the source of the sound. Harry's ancestor had been silent and unmoving during his recitation both to encourage him to open up and talk and to avoid any appearance of controlling Harry. For poor Harry bill's face combined with Salazar's irreverent comment was too much and he dissolved into uncontrollable giggles before hissing back ~thank you oh illustrious Ancestor, now I have an image of a Dumbledoresque figure in frilly pink undies, I think I need an obliviate.~ Bill continued to look unnerved although he had by now identified the statue as the source of the sound by Harry turning to face it during his reply so Harry took pity on him "William Weasley may I introduce you to my Patriarch Salazar Slytherin, he tends to forget when he's speaking Parseltoungue, it's a sign of age" (Harry grinned at the statue knowing perfectly well that Slytherin was only 'speaking snake' to get a reaction from Bill).

"A sign of age! The cheek, you know perfectly well I was deliberately…uhh I mean I forget how to speak English sometimes?" Salazar responded hotly before realising his little snake had set him up.

Bill groaned and rolled his eyes at Harry, "whatever you do Harry don't let Fred and George anywhere near him, they don't need the encouragement," he turned towards the statue "did you get the reaction you wanted oh illustrious founder?"

"Well not really, given current opinions on Parseltoungue I was rather hoping for girlish screams or fainting." Salazar replied unrepentant "This response probably bodes well for your ability to help my young Heir however, so well met William Weasley and welcome to the chamber."

"Well met Lord Slytherin and blessed days to you" Bill replied formally, giving the traditional greeting for a ghost (some ghosts could not move on until a person meeting a specific criteria wished them well, this was largely forgotten but the greeting had become traditional upon a new meeting with benign un-dead and spirits).

The statue chuckled "don't worry lad I'm quite dead, my spiritual presence on this plane is due to Harry and I having a connection to the Peverells and an agreement I made with the Slytherin family magic."

Bill nodded in acknowledgment of the rebuke and grinned saying "it's still a polite greeting Lord Slytherin."

Before a war of banter could break out Harry intervened with a question "Ancestor, what was that about the Peverells? I know Dobby said that my cloak belonged to Ignotus and that the white stag in my family's coat of arms represents them but how does that relate to you being in a giant stone statue?"

"Aren't the Peverell brothers just a child's story?" Bill queried remembering the tales of Beedle the bard from his childhood.

Salazar sighed "that question more than anything illustrates how much damage Cuthbert Binns has done to British magical history in his 350 year tenure, the Peverells were legendary already in my time, but they were not yet merely a legend. I actually married a woman of Peverell descent, not from Ignotus line but Cadmus although neither of us was aware of that at the time. The Peverells were historically speaking contemporaries of Merlin, they , like him, were magical pioneers, using the raw abundance of unshaped energy in new ways, and their family's affinity was for spiritual magics, it was thought that they descended from the great druidic dynasties of the Celtic era; unfortunately by the time of the three brothers there were few members left of their family perhaps because their spiritual bent often left them more concerned with the other world that human attraction, the line suffered extinction of the male line shortly after marrying into the Potter family. The Hallows were rumours only even in my time, but then the same was true for most powerful magical artefacts, who needs the unsavoury attention possessing one can bring? However Harry possesses the cloak, I saw Artemus Potter using the same item when I was alive, as you know invisibility cloaks last between 40 and 100 years depending on the initial quality and if the enchantments are properly maintained but this cloak is a minimum of 900 years old!"

"So the Hallows are real?" Bill asked at the same time as Harry queried "what are the Hallows?"

Bill blinked at Harry "Blimey Harry, that just underscores what a great disservice Dumbledore did you by leaving you with those people, The deathly Hallows are part of one of the most common children's stories in our world, thy are in the book 'The Tales of Beedle the bard' and it talks about three brothers, Antioch, Cadmus and Ignotus Peverell who bested Death before he tricked them by offering them gifts, Antioch chose an unbeatable wand of Elder wood which he boasted of and was promptly killed for, Cadmus a stone that could bring back the dead which drove him mad communicating with his departed love before he killed himself to truly be with her and Ignotus a cloak to hide from death which he passed to his descendants when he was ready to die."

"I good summary William, and yes I believe the Hallows are real, although their true powers, and the true nature of their owners or creators deaths is impossible to deduce at this late point." Salazar replied to their earlier questions.

"Ok" Harry answered slowly wondering how the heck thy had got on to this subject before remembering the gist of his original question "So how does that relate to you being here, the spiritual affinities must have been significantly diluted in my blood and the Slytherin one by this point and you never possessed them?"

"Ohhh good question Harry" Bill complimented grinning.

"Indeed good question little Heir, now tell me boys, what do you know about the founding of a magical line?"

"Ummm nothing" Harry replied with a grimace.

"Not much" Bill responded with a shrug, "There's something about being the first of your lineage in the British Isles and something about leaving a lasting legacy but I've no idea of the specifics."

"Not surprising" Salazar responded, "it's a very personal matter and you don't know if you've succeeded until after your death, but the reason I can be here now is that I am the Patriarch and founder of a deliberately created magical line, I originally left behind a legacy through the dedicated research and combined gift of myself and my wife Elaine, that legacy was the ability to impart life or spirit to objects, in the first instance Hogwarts itself, the work finalised after the death of my wife and in the end I sacrificed myself here in the chamber to provide the spark of life to awaken Hogwarts. Anyway after my death I found that it had worked, I was magically speaking the Head of the Slytherin line, my body was petrified ad I discovered if ever the head of my lien drifted from the principles I espoused, the family magic could do nothing and there was another viable option I could intervene. Sadly the Gaunts were very inbred so there was no choice there and your ancestors were non magical, but the events of a week ago fulfilled the criteria for my return, the fact that I'm helping the last of the Peverells if most likely what is keeping me here. I would imagine you wished for help just after you magic was unbound since that would coincide with me waking up."

"So I'm doing this? Will you leave if I do something wrong? What if I messed up and you're trapped forever?" Harry began babbling until Bill interrupted him.

He reached over and wrapped an arm around Harry's shoulders pulling him into a hug and murmured "breathe Harry, Just breathe."

Salazar was quick to reassure him ""It is all in the hands of magic child, your need called me but it does not bind me I stay as long as I have purpose."

"Sorry" harry muttered embarrassed by his outburst, but he NEEDED Salazar, he couldn't image returning to a life without his support.

"It's fine child, perfectly understandable, it has been a stressful week."

"Long day Harry, telling me everything must have been very difficult, maybe you should go and lie down for a bit, it is getting late….Tempus. Oh Merlin, it is late, how are we going to explain this!"

Salazar chuckled his creepy stone laugh and remembered what Harry had forgotten to mention, "you are going into the rooms just of off the Chamber and activating the time ward, your past selves re-entered the castle just seconds after you vanished from the room next to the infirmary, Harry can activate it, good night boys and see you a week ago, remember to watch out for yourselves and Mr Snape."

Bill nodded and waved vaguely as he steered Harry in the direction Salazar had indicated and they did as directed.