Chapter 13

Ginny Weasley had never liked snakes. She disliked the way the light hit their scales and the way their tongues forked out and the noise they made, the dry hissing that made the hair on her neck stand on end. Fortunately, she could count the number of times she had interacted with the reptiles on one hand.

The first time, she had been five, and one had rose from the grass in her back garden with an outraged hiss, that to her young mind, might as well have been a roar. The snake hadn't been poisonous, nor particularly large, but it had terrified her nonetheless. Her father had removed it with a swift banishing charm, and then rocked his sobbing daughter until her tears subsided, assuring her that it had only been a Grass-snake, and it wouldn't have really hurt her anyway.

"It was more afraid of you then you were of it." he had tried to assure her, but the young girl was not so easily calmed. Her parents set up wards around the house to scare off any snakes, hoping to prevent the incident from occurring again, but Ginevra had nightmares for weeks, nonetheless.

The second time had been on a trip to the Zoo. Several years had passed since the girl's encounter with the grass-snake in her back garden, and Ginny had practically forgotten it. Her family were having a glowing day, looking at tigers and penguins and all things fury and cute, eight year old Ginny was in heaven. That was, until Fred and George demanded to go to the reptile house. When they had first asked their parents, Ginny had felt a faint churning in her stomach, but pushed it aside; Ginny was the youngest Weasley and only girl, she didn't want to be dubbed a coward by her brothers, so she had marched in with the rest of her family, chin held high. It had taken one hiss to shatter her brave facade entirely though, the girl had turned and sprinted from the 'Reptile house' in tears. She had been inconsolable. In the end, it wasn't her parents who had calmed her down, but her brother, Ronald. The boy was nine and dressed in clothes that were slightly to big for him as he slid down next to Ginny on the cold concrete,

"Don't be sad." he'd said, his sister had ignored him, picking at a scab on her knee and glaring resolutely at the floor. Her brother caught her hand in his own, palms sweaty and knuckles dimpled in the bright sunlight, "I'm scared of stuff too." he said, "I don't like spiders." Ginny had glanced at him sharply, before returning her attention to the floor,

"So?" she asked, sniffing slightly, Ron squeezed her hand,

"Everyone's allowed to be scared of something." he had said. Ginny relaxed slightly beside him, and Mr and Mrs Weasley had exchanged a smile from where they had been sitting, quietly watching the exchange. Somewhere, in the Weasley household, there's a picture of that moment, taken on a cheap wizarding camera. It was the perfect shot, catching the moment that Ginny looked up at her brother with eyes filled with stars. An unattainable snapshot of the past.

The third time Ginny had encountered snakes was hazy. She was possessed by a diary, but in the back of her mind, a small part of her couldn't help but grumble at the fact that of course the monster of Slytherin was a giant snake. When she regained consciousness, her hand clasped in that of Harry Potter, it had taken everything she had not to react as they passed the statues of snakes decorating the walls of the Chamber, or the giant serpent lying dead on the chamber floor, it had been humiliation enough to cry about snakes in front of her brothers when she was eight years old, she wouldn't let Harry Potter know how much of a coward she was.

The fourth time, was mere months after the third. Professor Lockhart's duelling class was, unsurprisingly, a disaster, especially due to the presence of Professor Snape. The tall, hook nosed man had pitted Malfoy and Ronald against each other, knowing full well the resentment bubbling between them. Ginny had watched with baited breath as he murmured a spell into the ear of his blonde haired charge, and then recoiled as the duel started, and a large black serpent shot from the end of the boy's wand.

All of her fear suddenly hit her full force, she was back in the chamber, in the zoo, in her back garden, all at once, and her breath caught in her throat as the snake rose up, swaying side to side as it moved towards Ron. She had never hated Severus Snape more as she took in the sight. Then, the snake spoke.

The hiss that haunted her nights was gone, in it's place, was a dry rasping voice.

"Foolish humans, awakening me. I will feast on their flesh and-" Ginny lunged forwards panicked as the serpent came closer to her brother,

"Stop!" the word slipped unbidden from her lips, in a language that wasn't her own. The snake obeyed, turning sharply to watch her, along with the rest of the hall. For the first time in her life, Ginny missed that awful hissing, she wasn't a Parselmouth, Tom Riddle was. Snape banished the serpent with a flick of his wand, but the damage was done. Ron, who had been frozen before, fell to his knees, and pointed at her with a trembling finger,

"It was her!" he shrieked, "I tried to tell you all! She did it! That's not my sister!" Ginny turned and fled the hall, too afraid to meet anyone's eyes as she did so,

"Ginny!" she heard a voice call, Harry, she didn't dare turn, just continued away, terrified of the disgust that must be showing in his eyes, she was a Dark Witch, Parseltongue was a dark ability, and most importantly, it wasn't hers, it was a curse, from Tom Riddle from beyond the grave.

Ginny ran without direction or pause, turning through dark corridors and flying down steps until the world around her became unfamiliar and strange, made even more forbidding by the tears blurring her vision. Tom seemed to lurk in every corner, every shadow reflected his dark eyes and bright smile, and his voice hissed at her, echoing through her mind. Finally, with gasps that tore at her lungs she collapsed in a corner, chest heaving. Sobs wracked her body and she trembled where she sat, head tilted to rest against the cold stone wall.

"Why the tears?" The words were not english and Ginny tensed where she sat, eyes flitting for the person who had spoke, but she could see no one. It was only at the sound of scales on stone that Ginny glanced down and almost screamed. Almost invisible in the dark, was the outline of a snake, Ginny couldn't see the colour, but it wasn't very large,

"Stay back!" she hissed frantically, scooting as far away from the reptile a she could, the serpent obeyed, slithering back a bit, what little light there was in the empty corridor flashed against the animal's eyes,

"Why do you cry, little speaker?" the serpent persisted, and Ginny flinched as it spoke, hating the fact she could understand it more then it's presence, somehow, being able to talk to the snakes she so feared made them both less and more intimidating at the same time.

"How did you get in here?" she asked, "Why are you in the school?", the snake rose slightly from where it sat, looking almost indignant,

"I live here." the snake hissed, offended, "My speaker brought me here.". Ginny's fear was pushed aside for a moment as she slid forwards eagerly,

"There's another speaker?" she asked, voice frantic, the snake swayed in an approximation of a nod and Ginny felt her limbs weaken, she wasn't entirely alone, "Who?" the snake hissed angrily at this.

"You have not even asked me my name, yet you expect me to lead you to my master? He is much more polite then yourself." perhaps if Ginny weren't still in shock, she would have blushed at the reprimand, but instead, she said robotically,

"What is your name then?" the snake responded eagerly,

"Greta the Great!" she said, voice significantly more friendly now, "What is yours, little speaker?"

"Ginny Weasley." the girl finally said, relaxing finally in the snake's presence, "Will you tell me who your speaker is?" The snake slithered away, and for a moment, Ginny was afraid the snake wouldn't answer, but the serpent hissed,

"I will bring him to you, Ginny Weasley, he has been searching for you all morning anyway." and with that, the snake was gone.

Ginny sat numbly for she didn't know how long. The cold of the stone floor seemed to seep into her bones as she sat, shivering slightly, in the dark. Finally, a pair of running footsteps awoke her from her daze, and a figure dropped to his knees beside her. She couldn't make out his face, but as he let out a relieved,

"Ginny!", she blinked, she would recognise that voice anywhere,

"Harry?" she asked, surprised at how much she her voice croaked, the figure nodded,

"Everyone's been going mad looking for you Ginny, Greengrass has been going insane, and Dumbledore called your parents in. They want to run some tests to make sure you're okay after what happened at Christmas, because you can…" the boy tailed of and Ginny winced,

"Talk to snakes." she finished miserably, "I bet everyone thinks I'm dark now, right?". There was a pause, and then Harry spoke,

"I'm not gonna lie to you Ginny, this has just reinforced the Heir of Slytherin Rumours, but Draco, Blaise and Theo are in the common room right now, making sure everyone knows that it's crap. Being a Parselmouth doesn't mean that you're necessarily a dark Witch." Ginny felt her lips tug up into a smile at these words,

"Thank you, Harry." the boy nodded again and stood up, offering her a hand. She took it, and stood, flinching as he rapidly pulled his hand free,

"You're frozen." he said, by means of explanation, before pulling off his outer cloak, and wrapping it around her shoulders. He caught her hand again, tugging her gently towards the light and warmth of the occupied halls of School. It was only when they passed the first lamp that Ginny saw Harry's arm. His white school shirt sleeve was rolled to his elbow, and, like a gaudy bracelet, 'Greta the Great', was curled around his forearm. She dug in her heels, dragging them both to a halt,

"You're the speaker she went to find?" Ginny asked, eyes wide, Harry grinned crookedly,

"Yeah, don't tell anyone though, it's been pretty hard keeping Greta quiet during classes." Ginny laughed, an odd nervous sound, but a laugh nonetheless. Some of the tension slipped from her body. If Harry Potter was a speaker, then it couldn't be that bad, could it?

Finally, Ginny found herself in Dumbledore's office, a place she was becoming uncomfortably familiar with. Her parents sat anxiously before the headmaster and stood as she and Harry entered. Mrs Weasley eyed the boy as they came in,

"Why is it that every time something happens to Ginny, this boy is in the thick of it?" Harry looked at the woman in surprise, but seemed to decide against responding. Mr Weasley placed a hand on his wife's shoulder as though to calm her, and Dumbledore nodded to him,

"Thank you Mr Potter, you may return to your common room." he said, politely dismissing the boy. Harry glanced at Ginny once more before he left, and Ginny noticed the serpent around his arm was no where in sight. He smiled reassuringly at her before disappearing down the spiral staircase. For the second time in months, Ginny found herself swept into a bone crushing hug by her mother and father. All of her fears that Tom was still lingering on within her suddenly rose to the surface and Ginny began to cry again.

Albus kept Ginny in his office for what felt like hours. Her parents sat on either side of her, watching worriedly as the headmaster muttered incantation after incantation. When he finally slid back into his office chair, twirling his beard between his fingers and looking undeniably perplexed, Ginny burst out,

"Is Tom still there?" Both of her parents flinched at her bluntness, but the headmaster merely shook his head, peering at her over the rim of his half-moon spectacles as though she was a very interesting test subject.

"No need to fear that, Ms Weasley. All traces of Tom Riddle are long gone from your magical signature. Your new ability, odd as it may be, seems to be yours entirely. There's no chance you were unaware of your talent before?" Ginny shook her head, and Mr Weasley spoke up,

"From a young age, Ginny has been terrified of snakes. She would know if she could speak to them." he wrapped an arm around Ginny's shoulder, and she leaned into her father's embrace, relief still coursing through her at Dumbledore's assurances that she was not connected to Riddle.

"How do we get rid of this?" asked Mrs Weasley, brown eyes crinkling worriedly. Dumbledore leaned forwards in his seat, tangling his fingers together as he pondered the question,

"I don't believe that removing this is an option," he finally said, "and such a talent is rare. Perhaps, in time, your daughter will be glad of it." Mrs Weasley nodded in acceptance of this. Ginny felt her eyes droop as her parents continued to pepper the headmaster with questions. Finally, she let out a loud yawn and the attention was once again returned to her.

"Ah, I do believe it's time for us all to retire to bed." the headmaster said, eyes twinkling, "Please let me know if you gain any new talents, Ms Weasley." Ginny nodded and hastily excused herself, legs leaden. The shock of the day had finally worn off, and fatigue slowed her limbs as she made her way down to the dungeons. The warmth of the Common room made her eyes droop further, and Ginny noticed Astoria asleep on one of the couches, wrapped in a blanket. Ginny felt her heart melt a little at her best friend's gesture, and nudged the girl awake.

"Ginny, what-" Astoria's eyes were hazy as she tried to talk and Ginny shushed her with a smile,

"Come on, I'll explain in the morning. We need to go to bed." the girl nodded, and the two made their way to their dormitories without another word. Before Ginny drifted off, she reassured herself that clearly, not everyone thought she was evil because she could talk to snakes, both Harry and Astoria didn't care, so neither would others. It was to this reassuring thought that Ginny fell asleep.


Lucius Malfoy sat across from his wife in his study, palm pressed against his forehead as he re-read the document before him. The normally pale man was practically grey as his eyes flitted across the file labelled: Sirius Black.

"Narcissa, dear." he said, his wife glanced up from her book, bright blue eyes curious, "I was looking into your suggestion, of making Sirius Black, Potter's temporary guardian, if we could pay to get him removed from Azkaban." His wife nodded in response, prompting him to continue, "I believe it may be easier then we initially planned." he ran a hand along his chin, "How certain are you of his guilt?" Narcissa shook her head,

"Sirius Black loved James Potter like a brother. No one suspected he could have been a traitor. I was as shocked as the next person, why do you ask?" the man nodded, as though having expected her response,

"He might be innocent yet. He was thrown into Azkaban without a trial."

TBC


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