And is there a better second place to begin-Then the torrid past of Salazar Slytherin?

Something wicked this way comes

With the Fire of one thousand Suns

For nothing in the world burns and smothers

Like the jealous heart of a younger brother…

Chapter Two-The Spare

By the pricking of my thumbs,
Something wicked this way comes.

-William Shakespeare

Salazar Slytherin. A wonderful name if she did say so. Adelind Slytherin smiled to herself as she stroked her son's head. His wide green eyes stared up at her, blinking innocently. He would be a great and noble man one day, she could feel it.

Adelind smiled to herself as she gazed out the castle window. One of the loveliest things about her husband being in a position of power was living at court. Not that Slytherin Castle was anything to sneeze at, but the king's palace was truly a sight to behold. They had everything they could ever want, and King Egbert was so very generous with his coffers.

The doors to her chamber burst open and little Pythois burst into the room seconds ahead of his harried looking muggle nurse.

"Mother, mother!" he cried, reaching out his pudgy arms and pulling on her dress, demanding to be picked up.

"I'm sorry my lady." The muggle nurse gasped, bending over to catch her breath, "But he is a wild child that one."

"Yes he is." Adelind cooed, putting Salazar gently down in his cradle and lifting Pythois into her arms, "You will rule this land one day-won't you Pythois?" she nuzzled his cheek.

"Yes, mama." The little boy giggled, tugging on a loose strand of his mother's night colored hair. The child was the spitting image of his parents. Adelind and Velos were first cousins, and both had the midnight black hair and high cheekbones the Slytherin family was so known for. Pythois had inherited every asset each of his parents possessed. Adelind just hoped he would know how to use them.

"I love you Pythois." She whispered into her son's hair. He giggled.

"That tickles Mama!" he turned towards her and stared up at her with his wide green eyes.

"I love you." She repeated, placing a gentle kiss on his forehead.

"I love you too Mama." He grinned up at her before hopping off her lap. "Let's go play!" he commanded his nurse before taking off into the corridor once more. Shaking her head, the nurse took off after him.

Adelind laughed after the pair, never tiring of her eldest son's boundless energy. She leaned over the cradle once more and lifted her son into her arms once more.

"You have such a good brother Salazar." She smiled as she brushed her lips against his tiny forehead. "I know that one day you'll be the best of friends."

Four years later…

"Come on Salazar, come outside!" Pythois Slytherin called out to his younger brother from the castle gardens, straining his little neck upward so as to better see his four year old brother peering down at him from the second story manor window.

"No." Salazar called down, crossing his pudgy arms resolutely, "I won't come out; you'll just push me down again!"

"That was one time!" But Pythois grinned at the memory. He was six, going on seven, and nothing thrilled him more then picking on his younger brother, especially when his friends were around.

"Make him come down!" Prince Ethelwulf demanded, coming up behind his friend. The prince was seven years old already and the only child of the old king. He was used to having his every desire indulged and he wanted to see Salazar fly, like Pythois had made him do last time.

"I'm not coming down!" Salazar called back, having heard the young prince's command.

Hearing this, and liking it none at all, Ethelwulf squared up to the window, "Well, I am Crown Prince of England and I command that you come down."

"I don't have to listen to you!" Salazar asserted, though he sounded a bit unsure of himself.

'Yes you do, yes you do!" Pythois said in a sing-song voice, skipping around the gardens gleefully.

"No I don't!" Salazar cried, getting more and more agitated. His tiny face, usually pale, was a tomato red, and his little fists were balled up and clenched to his side.

"Come down here or I'll come up there and get you!" Pythois threatened, growing tired of the game.

Salazar weighed his options carefully. Even at a mere four years of age, his mind was able to make such comparisons. If he went down on his own, it would hurt a lot less then if his brother came up to get him.

With a resigned sigh and a weary shake of his head indicative of a man much older then him, Salazar made his way down the manor steps.

"Hah!" the prince cawed in triumph as soon as the child came into view, "Look how he comes-not so mighty now Salazar? Now that you're not up in your tower?" the price shoved the toddler hard in the chest and Salazar fell to the ground.

"Look at him, he can't even get up!" the prince cackled, Pythois joining in rather hesitantly. It was all well and good to pick on his brother when he was safely out of reach was one thing, but to allow another boy to lay hands on him? A prickle of guilt jumped up and down Pythois' spine at the sight.

"Look at him! Look at you're brother! Rolling around in the dirt, right where he belongs!" Ethelwulf was beside himself with glee.

Salazar finally managed to get to his feet, his face flushed as he glared at the young prince, "You belong in the dirt!"

The courtyard went silent as both older boys stared in shock at the younger one. Even Salazar seemed shocked at what he had said.

"What did you say?" Ethelwulf asked, his tone turning menacing.

Salazar swallowed hard, but he did not back down, "I said that you belong in the dirt!"

"How dare-!"

"You're nothing-you can't even use magic!" Salazar cried, heady with his newfound bravery, "You're, you're…you're nothing but a muggle!"

"You little-" Ethelwulf lunged for him, but Salazar was quicker, with a BANG the young prince was blasted off his feet and landed thirty feet away in a heap, moaning.

"Salazar!" he turned to see his mother running out of the manor, "What on earth…?"

"Salazar attacked the prince, Mother!" Pythois piped up, "I saw the whole thing!"

"Salazar why on earth would you do such a thing?" Adelind asked, a frown creasing her delicate brow. A muggle nanny had run to the prince's side.

"I didn't I-"

"You did, don't lie!" Pythois grinned at his own cruelty.

"Shut up!" Salazar cried, tears springing to his eyes. Rather then stay and endure the humiliation of having his brother see him cry, Salazar turned on his heel and ran off into the garden, ignoring his mother's cries to come back.

She always takes his side. Salazar thought as he ran, the tears finally coming free and leaking down his face, She never listens to me. And that thought only made the poor child cry harder.

He ran without thought, without direction, and without much idea where exactly he was going. With tears obscuring his vision and the garden overflowing with exotic plant life, it was no surprise to him when he ran into something. What surprised him was what he had run into.

It was a woman, or, what he thought was a woman. He couldn't tell because its face was obscured by a black cloak that reached all the way to the ground. But the figure had long hair, longer then his mother's, and only women had that long of hair, his child's mind reasoned.

But what was this woman doing in his garden? Salazar's father was a very private man, and had put up many protections around the manor; surely this person could not have simply walked in?

"Hello Salazar." Its voice was hiss that sent shivers up and down the young boy's spine.

"Hel-hello." Salazar stuttered, taking a nervous step back.

"Don't worry, I won't hurt you my young friend." The voice assured, holding out one wrinkled hand, "I was just wondering if you would care to take a walk with me?"

A walk? Harmless enough, Salazar concluded in his child's mind. Besides, he was in his own garden, it was likely that this person had been invited to stay, and it was rude to ignore a guest.

"Ok." But he did not take the strangers hand. But the figure did not seem to mind. It turned and, without a glance back, began walking deeper into the miniature forest of plant life.

Salazar hesitated for only a moment before his curiosity got the best of him and he followed his mysterious companion into the garden.

They walked in silence for a long while. Salazar's father loved plants (more, some thought, then he loved his family at times) and thus his gardens were the most extensive and beautiful in the country. On Salazar's part, the silence was out of necessity, his companion's strides were twice as long as his own, and he could not ask questions and keep the pace at the same time.

Suddenly, the figure stopped and Salazar nearly ran into him. They were in the exact center of the manor's gardens, where Salazar's mother had placed a fountain. She was quite proud of it actually. It had been in the Slytherin family for centuries. His father had levitated it to its current position.

"Now Salazar," the person hissed, "I just know that you and I will be perfect friends, don't you agree?"

"Who are you?" He hadn't ment to sound so insolent, but the question that had been plaguing his mind bubbled to his lips before he could stop it. A sick, uncomfortable feeling had formed in the pit of his stomach and the child couldn't help but feel that this person had something to do with it.

It laughed, a throaty, deep, and bone chilling laugh, "Who am I? Such a curious mind for one so young! You may call me Evermore."

"Well, what do you want?" to Salazar, this seemed the most logical follow up question.

"What do I want? Well what does anyone want, wealth, power, fame, glory…I think the real question is-what do you want Salazar?"

"What do I want?" young Salazar furrowed his brow in confusion. This person, whoever and whatever it was, was the most frustrating person Salazar had ever met, no one else said things to his half so vague.

"Yes my young friend, what is it that you most desire in the entire world? It can be anything-anything at all…and I will give it to you."

"Why?"

The figure paused, obviously not having expected this rather astute question from the four year old.

"Does it matter? I'm offering to give you anything, and asking nothing in return-does that not prove my pure intentions?"

"No."

The figure laughed again, more heartily this time. "Oh, you are smart; I didn't expect you to be so smart! How's this Salazar," it leaned closer to him, so he could almost see inside its hood, "I'll make you a deal."

"A deal?" his father made deals all the time, Salazar remembered, if his father did it, that couldn't be so bad.

"I can show you great things Salazar, things you can only dream of, wonders that you could never imagine." Its voice was hypnotic, carrying on the summer breeze, and Salazar found himself growing strangely weary, the sick feeling in his stomach morphing into an intense pain in his forehead.

"I'll teach you magic as old as time itself," its voice became so low that Salazar had to strain his little ears in order to hear, the pounding in his head becoming stronger as he did, "And all I ask is that, when the time comes, that you help me."

He could barley see straight anymore, the pain was too much for him, everything was shifting, he was so dizzy….

"Do we have a deal, Salazar Slytherin?"

He was so dizzy…

"Salazar, do we have a deal?" the figure extended its wrinkled hand again.

"Yes…" he whispered. Anything to make it stop.

"Good."

And then, with a flash of blinding bright light, everything went mercifully black.

"Salazar! Salazar!" his mother's frantic voice woke him.

He was lying on the cold stone of the fountain, his cheek pressed against the granite. The garden seemed to have returned to life since his strange companion's departure. Bugs buzzed, birds chirped, and the fountain bubbled happily in the background.

"Mummy? I'm here mummy!" he called, sitting up quickly, just as his much came hurdling through the bushes and gathered him up in her arms, covering his face with kisses.

"Salazar, oh Salazar, you frightened me so." She whispered against his forehead, "Where have you been all this time?"

"I…right here mummy." He had been about to tell her about his little adventure, but had felt a twinge in the back of his mind that made him think better of it. After all, he didn't want his mummy to know that he had been rude to a guest.

"Never do that again." His mother said, in a voice that would have been stern if he hadn't seen the tears in her eyes.

"I promise mummy." He said, throwing his arms around her neck and burying his face in her shoulder. He hated seeing his mother cry. She was too beautiful and wonderful for that.

"Let's go back to the manor." His mother said standing and taking him with her. Cuddled in his mother's arms, he felt warm and safe and he forgot his harrowing experience in the gardens, wondering instead what delicious food the servants had prepared for them.

Neither of the Slytherins noticed the unwelcome addition to their garden as they made their way back to the castle. Curled around a tree, watching them very intently, was a giant, black snake with the most curious yellow eyes. As it watched the retreating figures, it made its way higher into the branches, as though to keep them insight. It was not until they disappeared into the manor that the snake seemed to relax.

Salazar may have forgotten his little adventure, but the adventure did not forget him. And if there is one rule that all must learn in their time it is-never forget your promise to a snake.

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