A/N: For now the votes look like this;
Parselmouth through the Peverell line which descends from Slytherin: 3
Parselmouth through creature inheritance: 5

I'm personally most inclined to go through with the creature inheritance.

INTERLUDE

The world slowly came into focus as she groggily blinked her eyes. What was she doing on the floor? Where was Harry? The last she could remember was- was- ...nothing? Lily started to backtrack her morning as she sat up. They had apparated directly to the Magical Menagerie, and as Harry opened up she had gone into the backroom to start their work. Then they had worked together until… until… until someone came in! Someone had entered the backroom! They had said something, she knew that, but funnily enough she wasn't sure what. It had sounded pleasant, but when she turned around to see who it was, she had got stunned. Who had it been? It had been a man, hadn't it… and younger than her, but older than Harry… Harry! Lily got up from the floor and looked around fervently after signs of her son. Potion ingredients and papers were on the floor, and there was no sign of either Harry or Nagini.

After she had taken a deep breathe to ground herself, Lily quietly ventured into the main room. The animals were still there, and everything seemed in order… but Harry and Nagini were still gone. Could they have gone outside to get help after she was stunned? No… why would Harry do that? He could defend himself quite well, and there had been no signs of a fight… Had the strange man stunned Harry as well? Then why was he gone? Why was Nagini gone? She couldn't come up with a reason as to why anyone would want to take her Harry and someone else's snake. Perhaps it was just a prank… yes, of course. Harry had grown up with the Marauders, and although he had never been one for pranking, things could change. Lily smiled to herself, calmed by the thought. Surely, Harry was waiting outside the shop for her. The strange man must have been one of Harry's friends.

Feeling better with this new knowledge, Lily walked through the shop door and out into Diagon Alley. She couldn't see Harry, and it was with a small frown that she looked around after him. As she turned to go back inside and look again, something caught her eye. Lily looked up at the sky, and screamed. Above the Magical Menagerie hung the Dark Mark, Riddle's mark. The Undesirable no. 1 had her son.

"Healer Potter, calm down!"

She snapped her mouth shut as a hand was placed on her shoulder, and turned to look at the speaker. Auror Kingsley Shacklebolt… the presence of an Auror made her feel calmer and she gave him a strained smile.

"Thank you. I needed that." she admitted quietly, before her smile faded and reality hit her once more.

"Healer Potter, what are you doing here?" Shacklebolt asked after she had calmed down a bit.

"My son works here. I was helping him with a potion for a client."

"Your son had a client?" Shacklebolt repeated with some confusion.

"Oh yes, a sick snake. It's funny though, the snake is gone as well…"

"As well, Mrs Potter?" Shacklebolt asked.

"Harry has been kidnapped." Lily answered, her tone emotionless. She couldn't fathom what Riddle could possibly want with her Harry. Her son was brilliant, yes, but he was merely a pet shop worker. She couldn't see what would attract a murderer to him.

"Kidnapped?" Shacklebolt repeated, and looked towards the Dark Mark. "Riddle doesn't kidnap."

"I know." Lily whispered. Had she not feared for her son's life before, she surely did now. Shacklebolt sighed.

"Tonks! Take Mrs Potter home, will you?" he ordered. Lily looked up and let her eyes fall on Tonks. The sight of a familiar face brought tears to her eyes.

"Yessir!" Tonks answered, and took Lily's hand. Lily looked towards the Magical Menagerie and the Dark Mark before they disapparated.

Lily sat by the dining table, a mug of tea between her shaking hands. She was staring at nothing as she waited for James to come home. Tonks had helped her sit down and had got a mug of tea for her from Tipsy. Lily had sent her away to contact James, Sirius, Remus and Severus. She needed her husband by her side, and Harry's godfathers' deserved to know what had happened, and Remus as well as a family friend.

"Lils?"

She turned her head slightly towards the noise, and her eyes focused in on James. Her hands were still shaking and her shoulders tensed for just a moment. James slowly approached her, and took the seat next to her. Lily followed his movements silently. He pried her shaking hands from the mug of tea, and held them tightly.

"What happened, Lils?" James asked quietly. She shook her head, the movement barely there. She didn't want to say it more than once, they would have to wait. James were about to say something more when Severus entered the room. Lily more felt than saw how her best friend sat down on her other side. James had a look of confusion in his eyes. It grew stronger as Sirius and Remus entered the room. Lily waited until they had sat down as well, this time opposite her.

"H-harry…" she started quietly, as she tried to force the words out. In the back of her mind, she wondered if Tonks had left. She assumed so. "He's.. Harry's… he's kidnapped." she got out, before she broke down in tears. Severus started to stroke her back, and his touch calmed her. James' grip on her hands tightened and she heard Sirius exclaim something in shock. Then she was turned around so that she faced Severus and a vial was pressed into her hands.

"Calming Draught." Severus said. Lily fumbled with the vial before she got it open. She drank the draught quickly. Her hands stopped shaking as the effects settled in. Lily gave a weak smile as thanks.

"Who kidnapped him, Lily?" Remus asked carefully. She turned to him, her face expressionless.

"Riddle."

It took a moment and some more Calming Draughts before the men had collected themselves.

"We need to save him." Sirius broke the silence, his tone as brash as always. James made an agreeing noise but neither Remus nor Severus seemed convinced. Lily chose to stay quiet. She would do anything to get her son back, but…

"From Tom Riddle, the man that the Aurors and Hit Wizards can't catch?" Severus asked.

"He's right, Siri. You can't expect someone that not even the Ministry can't find." Remus said, as he put a hand on Sirius' arm. Lily hoped it would be enough to calm him down.

"What about Dumbledore?" James suggested quietly. "He's powerful, more so than the Minister I dare say. Not to mention that Riddle went to Hogwarts, so maybe the Headmaster knows something."

"Potter, if you've forgotten, I'm still the potions teacher, and I can tell you as Riddle's former Head of House that there's nothing known about him." Severus sighed.

"We could still go to Dumbledore." Remus suggested. "He does have a knack for knowing everything."

"I suppose you're right." Severus said, as much as he hated to admit it.

"Perhaps we should wait." Lily spoke up. "Riddle is a murderer, not a kidnapper."

"He broke the pattern." Remus took over. "He might break it again. We might hear from Harry."

"It's… unlikely, but it's a better idea to wait." Severus agreed. "Lily, what can you tell us about the kidnapping?"

"Riddle, he… he entered the room… I can't remember what he started to say." she slowly began. It felt so off. Why wouldn't she remember that? Why was that detail escaping her when everything else was perfectly clear? "I turned around, and he stunned me. When I woke up, both Harry and Nagini were gone."

"Nagini?" Remus asked.

"A snake. Harry had taken her home with him just the day before. He was trying to invent a potion for her sickness…" Lily trailed off. The only reason as to why Riddle would take Nagini was… but surely… no, why would Harry have had her in that case?

"You think Nagini is Riddle's snake." Sirius stated. They turned to him in various states of surprise. Sirius shrugged at them. "Why else would he take the snake?"

"So… we're assuming that Harry was taking care of Riddle's sick snake. They must have interacted before the kidnapping." Severus said. "Then why didn't Harry tell anyone?"

"The Imperius?" James suggested.

"Could be." Remus agreed. Lily shook her head.

"No… Harry was so full of life. I don't think it was the Imperius." she said.

There wasn't opportunity for anyone to say anything more, as an owl swept into the room and dropped a letter on the table. They stared at it, until Severus took out his wand and started to check it for curses or spells.

"It's clean." he said, and put away his wand. Lily reached for the letter. Her hands were shaking again as she straightened out the roll of parchment. Familiar handwriting met her, and she gasped.

"It's from Harry!"

"Read it!" James urged her. Lily took a calming breath.

"Mother, father, whoever else is there with you,
I'm fine. Yes, Tom Riddle have kidnapped me, but I promise you, I'm fine.

His familiar is sick, and he kidnapped me in hope that I can heal her. At first, he wasn't going to go to such lengths, but then mother endangered him since she had offered me help. It's my own fault for accepting said help, without informing Riddle about it. It wasn't the first time he visited me in the Magical Menagerie, since he did entrust me to care for his familiar without him watching over us. I should have expected the situation and prevented it, but I didn't. I'm sorry.

There's no need to save me. Riddle agreed to let me write this letter when I told him that you would be worried. He has even let me keep my wand, which I must say have surprised me.

I don't know if I'll be able to write more letters. Most likely not.

I'll be back with you before you know it. As soon as his familiar is healthy again, Riddle has agreed to let me go. He has even promised to compensate me for my help, though I don't know how.

I'll see you soon,
Harry

P.S. You can ask Lucius Malfoy if you don't trust me, or if you desperately need to get in contact with me." she read, her voice shaking. "There's a message in another handwriting at the bottom…"

"May I see?" Severus asked. Lily handed him the letter. He scanned through it before stopping on the message.

"What does it say?" Remus asked.

"As Harry wrote, he's fine. Unlike what he wrote, I had intended to get him in my grasp from the beginning, though perhaps not through kidnapping. Your son is very interesting, Mr and Mrs Potter. I find myself captured by him. I promise to take good care of him. Do contact Lucius if you want anything. Of course, I can't permit you to see Harry in fear of him being taken away from me, but I'll make sure any messages you have for him will be passed along. I would recommend dropping the letter as it's going to destroy itself." Severus dropped the letter as he finished reading. It burst out in flames until a small pile of ashes on the table was the only thing left.

"...at least there's no doubt that Harry's okay." Sirius commented.

"It doesn't sound like Riddle is going to let him go even after Nagini is healthy." Remus said quietly. "He seems rather possessive even in that short message."

"He can't have my son!" Lily cried, though something about Riddle's possessiveness made her think back on his greeting. She was in too much distress to put much weight on it.

"They could be lying…" James said quietly. "Though Riddle can't harm Harry much if he wants his snake to get healthy."

"I know Lucius." Severus admitted. "I can pay him a visit to confirm the situation, and to pass along messages." Lily turned to him with tearful eyes.

"Would you please, Sev? I would feel better if you did."

"Write him a letter, Lily. I'll make sure that he gets it." Severus answered quietly.

Severus apparated directly into Lucius' study. His friend looked as if he had been expected, and Severus scowled in annoyance. He would have prefered it if his friend knew nothing about Harry's kidnapping.

"It's true then?" Severus drawled. "You know that Harry Potter has been kidnapped?"

"I heard something like that in the Ministry, yes." Lucius answered calmly.

"No need to act guarded, Lucius. We got a message from Riddle himself, referring to you." Severus huffed.

"Ah. I've been informed by him."

"And? Do you have any information? Any messages to pass along?" Severus demanded. Lucius raised an eyebrow in amusement.

"Now now, Severus, whyever would I keep such information from you?" Lucius asked. Severus scowled. He had hoped to learn something more, but of course not.

"Then you'll have to play owl for me, Lucius." Severus answered, and took three letters from his robe. "Two for Harry, and one for Riddle." he explained, as he slammed the letters down on Lucius' desk.

"I'll make sure they get them." Lucius promised. "Now, do you have any other business with me?"

"No." Severus muttered, and left.

A/N: You may have noticed by now that I try to update once a week. The interlude was suggested by a guest reviewer, and I decided to keep it a bit shorter since there's not much they can do currently.

I've also had someone ask why Harry likes to keep his distance from Dumbledore, and I'll try to go into it in more detail in future chapters.

The voting for why Harry is a parselmouth is still going on! For you who prefer the creature option, I'm deciding between Gorgon and Echidna.

I'm also debating on if Tom Riddle is Lord Voldemort in the shadows, and in that case in a political role. It may make things too complicated, so I would love your insight.

Please review x