Riding on brooms with boys

by FrankieQuinn13

It's hard trying to understand something that you've been raised to hate. Ron decides to break the status quo just once, what happens in those few moments will change the course of his life forever and all in the space of just six months. Full summary, pairings and warnings inside. Slash, canon divergence, mpreg etc

12. Chapter 12

A/N: Hey!

Long time no see.

Thanks for all the reviews

P.S; a couple of inaccuracies this chapter, mainly about plants and their meanings, I made some stuff up so there's your heads up on that.

Usual apologies

Disclaimer: See previous chapters

Lily's diary, 12 April 1969

Something amazing happened today.

I was in the garden and I think I made the flowers in Mum's flowerbed bloom. Hanna couldn't come over to play and Tuney's upset about something, she won't tell me what. I tried to talk to her but she just yelled at me and called me stupid again. It made me feel really sad. I don't like it when she says mean things to me. I didn't tell Mum about it. She always scolds Tuney when she says those things and then after that Tuney won't even talk to me.

I went outside and sat in the garden. Mum's flowers hadn't bloomed yet. I was really sad and I started thinking about how nice it would be if the flowers were blooming but Mum said they won't bloom for another month. But then when I touched the flowers they started blooming! The petals opened up every time I touched one. They were yellow and pink and there was a red one in the middle too.

I tried to show Tuney but she's still upset. I'll just wait till tomorrow. Maybe she'll feel better then.

Tuney is going to be so surprised.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

When Lee woke that morning and prepared for his visit to Azkaban, he did so with one very specific objective in mind. He's going to get answers.

No more games, no more riddles, no more letting the Lestrange brothers get under his skin. He's getting answers today and he's getting all of them.

Unfortunately, when Lee arrived at Azkaban, Rabastan was unavailable.

"Solitary confinement?" Lee frowned, "What for?"

"He had a bit of an episode the day after you left." The warden said before giving the younger man a reassuring smile, "Nothing we couldn't handle of course."

"Of-Of course."

"You won't be able to continue with your interviews with him today, however, I understand that the older Lestrange has been somewhat cooperative with you."

"He has."

"Well," The man said folding his arms behind his back, his grey moustache bending with his smile, "I'm sure he'll be just as cooperative with you today."

It was… odd. But Lee figured that he could try and get something out of Rodolphus for now and just deal with Rabastan later.

"Lord Lestrange."

"Lee." Rodolphus drawled out, leaning against the door of his cell with his hands hanging through the bars. Lee's jaw clenched. "I wasn't expecting you back so soon. Though I'm not going to complain. I've missed you, did you miss me?"

Lee took in a very deep breath, "I'd like us to go through the events that transpired on the 31st of October 1981."

"My brother still hasn't told you?"

"Your brother is unavailable at the moment." The younger man said as he flipped through his note pad before he grumbled quietly, "Which is why I'm forced to deal with you instead."

"Unavailable?" Rodolphus paused as he stood up straight, "What do you mean, he's unavailable?"

Lee felt and heard the guards behind him shift uncomfortably. Edward isn't working today, they're actually supposed to meet and get a drink later and Lee's been looking forward to the little excursion.

Still, he couldn't help but glance back at the guards behind him with a frown before looking back at the older Lestrange. It's not like there's anything useful he could do with this information anyway.

"Apparently he had some sort of episode a few days ago-"

"An episode?"

"He's been placed under solitary confinement. That's why I wasn't able to interview him today-"

He was cut off when Rodolphus suddenly spoke.

"I wish to invoke my rights. I want an audience with my brother." The older man was standing at his full height, almost right up against the prison bars. Shoulders back and chin up, the slightest heir of dark energy almost seemed to ripple across the room and Lee had to subconsciously suppress the shiver that ran right down his spine. Those dark eyes were gleaming a bright green. Lee folded his arms against his chest.

"Rabastan Lestrange is under punishment for disorderly conduct. He is not receiving any visitors." One of the guards said and the older brother glared hard.

"I'm not invoking my rights as some commoner-"

"You are a prisoner, Lord Lestrange." The guard said with a sneer, "As a prisoner, you don't have the right to invoke any of the privileges afforded to those in your bloodline."

His glare didn't get darker but Lee could feel yet another wave of that dark energy ripple softly across the room and his hands instinctively tightened around himself.

Those gleaming eyes snapped down to lock onto him and Lee swallowed hard.

"Then Mr Jordan will go in my place."

Lee blinked while one of the guards gaped.

"What?"

"Go and see my brother, make sure he's alright."

"I-"

"He cannot-"

"It is because of the privileges afforded by those in my bloodline, that I may receive an audience with any relative of my choosing even if they are under solitary confinement. And I may, under my discretion, choose a representative to go on my behalf should I not be able to go myself. Under these conditions, I choose Lee Jordan to go in my stead."

"But-"

Rodolphus' eyes locked onto Lee's as he spoke, "Go to Rabastan, make sure he's alright. Do that and I'll give you all the answers that you want."

For a moment Lee felt trapped in that gaze, there were so many different emotions warring in those brilliant green eyes just right there on display. He can't trust Rodolphus, of course he can't, but right at that moment Lee realised-

"He can't-"

"I accept." The words tumbled from Lee's lips before he could even really consider them. Rodolphus' lips pulled into a slight smile, the guards seemed shocked silent. Lee took a deep breath, "But if I go, then you tell me what I want to know."

"I'll tell you all I can."

Lee nodded before he took in one more deep breath and turned around to face the guards who were both staring at him in shock. The muggleborn shifted uncomfortably for a brief moment before folding his arms over his chest again.

"Well then, let's get on with it. You're supposed to provide me with anything I need, anyway, that's what the warden said."

The guards shared a look before one shook his head, "Fine. This way Mr Jordan."

Lee moved to follow-

"Thank you, Lee."

There was a soft sigh before the low whisper. He paused and looked back, "You're welcome, Rodolphus." He said back just as softly, then turned back to quickly follow after the guards.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Blaise stayed close to his side as they made their way down to the dungeons. Parkinson was leading the way, arms folded in a huff as she threw a glare back at Ron every now and then. Harry walked close behind him along with Neville and Luna. In Ron's opinion, the blonde seemed entirely too excited as she prattled on about classes and schedule changes they'd probably be receiving as a result of the resort.

It was just as they entered the hallway leading to the Slytherin common rooms that Blaise looked back at the girl before he spoke.

"Is she always this… chipper?"

"Always." Ron said and Blaise shook his head.

"She's going to have a lovely time fitting in."

Ron scoffed, "What about the rest of us?"

Blaise looked back, his eyes going from Neville to Harry and then giving a shrug as he looked up ahead.

"Potter is going to be an interesting fit, considering everything that's been going on with Draco."

"Right."

"He'll just need to stand his ground. He should be fine. As for Longbottom… I give it a week."

Ron frowned, "A week for what?"

Blaise arched a brow at him and Ron rolled his eyes, "Neville's fine. He's stronger than he seems you know, he'll be able to handle Slytherin."

Parkinson suddenly let out a snort up ahead and Ron couldn't help but glare.

"Something you want to say Parkinson?"

The girl just looked back at him with a glare before she huffed and looked back ahead.

"Pansy be nice, remember what professor Snape said."

The girl just folded her arms over her chest. Blaise shook his head, Ron was still glaring at the girl even as he spoke.

"And what about me?"

"You don't matter."

"Excuse me?"

Blaise' lips pulled into a smirk, "We're courting, aren't we?" He held his arm out slightly and Ron quickly got the hint. The redhead's cheeks flushed as he reached out to lace his arm with Blaise's and the Italian scoffed, "Under these circumstances, you don't need to fit in. No one would dare touch a Zabini bride, I'll make sure of that."

His blush got darker even as he glared at the other, "What makes you think I need your help?"

"Maybe you don't." Blaise shrugged, "But that doesn't mean I won't try." He let out a scoff, "Mother sent something for you this morning."

"Oh, she didn't have to-"

"Of course she did, with the courtship announcement being made she wanted to be sure that you'd have everything you needed. I'll show you once we've spoken to Professor Snape."

Ron nodded, his hand tightening just a bit around Blaise's arm as he lowered his voice, "That thing you talked about, you know, about us staying together."

"What about it?"

Ron took a deep breath, "I'm not-"

"Alright, enough chit-chat." Pansy suddenly said and they all came to a stop. Ron blinked when he realised that they weren't standing at the stonewall entrance to the Slytherin common rooms. They must have passed it some way's back. Instead they stood before a statue of a basilisk in front of an aclove. Perched atop a black granite pedestal with its tail weaving its way around the column, mouth open in a gaping hiss. He could almost feel Harry tense behind him. Ron let go of Blaise to turn to his friend, a question in his eyes. Harry gave him a weak smile and mouthed "I'm fine." Ron's lips pursed just as Pansy spoke.

"This is the office of the head of house. There's another entrance through the common rooms however, that entrance is well guarded with curses and traps so it's better to use this one. All students in Slytherin have access to this office since the password for it is the same as the one's for the common rooms, they change the same way as well."

Neville frowned, "Why?"

Parkinson gave him a sharp look and Neville looked like he was regretting that question.

"Because, Longbottom, Professor Snape has his door open for all students in his house should they require his assistance for any reason. That being said, "She took a step closer, "His attention shouldn't be wasted with petty useless complaints that aren't worth his time."

Ron couldn't help but glare at the girl even as Blaise just sighed. Parkinson huffed at them before turning back to the statue and looking the serpent right in the eyes, "Bloodroot."

The statue hissed and slipped down from the pedestal and into the ground. The stone wall behind it slipped away almost silently to reveal a corridor leading inside.

Pansy led the way and they followed, this time Ron lagged back a bit a few steps so he could walk next to Harry. Blaise glanced back at him but otherwise didn't say anything as they went inside.

"You alright mate?" He asked and Harry gave a slight shrug.

"Yeah, I'm fine, all things considered." Harry said and Ron took in a deep breath before letting it out.

"I never said, but I'm really grateful Harry." He reached out to take his friend's hand, "You didn't have to resort but you did and I-"

"Its fine. I know you would've done the same for me."

"Well, yeah." Ron smiled, "But I wouldn't be so quiet about it."

Harry laughed, his hand tightening back on the one he held only to suddenly pause, "Ron, look, once we're settled in; we should talk."

"About what?"

Harry took a deep breath, "Hermione."

Ron looked away when he thought about what happened that morning. Did Harry know?

Ron just isn't ready to deal with that right now. "Yeah… but… later, alright?"

"Sure."

"Ron."

Blaise suddenly said and Ron looked up at the Slytherin who stood waiting at the entrance of the office. He gave Harry one more smile before letting go to catch up and looked into the room.

"Wow."

It was very obviously a Slytherin room, just black silver and green as far as the eye could see but not nearly as dark and oppressing as it should have been. It actually looked a bit like Snape's quarters only there was a large desk up against the furthest wall. Dark mahogany carved with Slytherin symbols of snakes and stars with a dark green dragon hide chair behind it. A large and menacing portrait of Salazar Slytherin himself just behind it, there were shadows over his eyes and his hands were folded behind his back. Thankfully the portrait didn't move, Ron was grateful for that much.

The portraits of the founders were somewhere in the school, everyone knew they were though no one knew exactly where. There were rumours that Salazar's portrait was somewhere in the dungeons and only Slytherin students knew where. It was curious but Ron was grateful that there would be no introductions with the Slytherin founder just yet.

There seemed to be another portrait beside the desk. A blue and black canvas that seemed to move like water behind glass. There was one stack of parchment on the centre of the desk with a golden ink pot and quill to the side. The opposite wall was simply a wall of books and… plants? Green leafy vines grew all along the sides of the shelves and hung down from the top shelf, while the bottom shelf held a myriad of potted plants as well. Neville's eyes went wide as he walked over to the shelf.

"Merlin… These," He crouched down to see the plants at the bottom, "It's too dark for these to be growing in here, no natural light. How-"

"Those are professor Snape's private reserves." Parkinson remarked snidely, "Special, very rare plants that he keeps and cares for here in the dungeons. He casts spells in here to make up for the lack of sunlight."

"Wouldn't it be easier to just keep them outside?" Harry asked with a frown, Parkinson rolled her eyes and opened her mouth only for Neville to speak first.

"No, these plants require specialised care Harry. They can't survive out in the open, come to think of it the dungeons are probably the best place to keep and care for them. Total control of the temperature and lighting, exposure to moisture. Bloody hell, I've never seen waxen blossoms in such pristine condition before-"

"Don't touch that!" Pansy hissed just as Neville reached out towards one of the plants, glaring at the ex-Gryffindor before she quickly reached over and dragged him up to his feet. "Other than the professor, only handpicked students are allowed to care for or make contact with the plants and even that's only after you've been completely disinfected. Who knows what's on your hands right now!"

"Sorry."

"Sorry doesn't make it better." Pansy said with a glare before she quickly crouched down and muttered a spell into her hands. They glowed briefly and she reached out to touch one of the emerald green leaves with its pale flowers, seeming to check each one individually while Neville watched on closely.

Luna suddenly let out a giggle and Ron looked over to her with an arched brow.

"What's so funny?"

She shrugged, "Nothing." and then she walked over to flop down on the black leather seat not too far from the bookcase, watching as Parkinson continued to mutter insults and Neville stayed close by.

He shook his head only to look over to the wall just beside the large desk. He didn't notice it before but the painting wasn't a painting, it was a window. Harry wandered over to Neville's side so Ron decided to get a closer look. Water, they're in the dungeons so this must look out somewhere at the bottom of the lake. He walked closer to the glass frowning a bit as he tried to see through the dark waters. He figured that he might be able to see the lake squib if he looked close enough.

He saw a shadow, somewhere in the distance. It looked like a speck at first that got bigger and bigger as it came closer. Some sort of fish maybe?

Ron came right up against the glass only to jump and let out a yelp when a figure suddenly popped up right in front of the glass.

"Ron?" Harry asked in alarm, "What's wrong?"

"I-"

It was deathly pale with long blonde curls drifting in the waves around it while its head tilted and white eyes seemed to stare back at him, a long silver tail swished lazily in the waters. There was a necklace woven with some sort of green pebbles around its neck and a stark white jagged spear against its back.

Harry tensed beside him and took a step back. Ron wasn't surprised. He remembers Harry telling him about the merpeople during the Triwizard tournament. What's weirder is how they still seem to be in the lake despite the tournament ending ages ago. Then again, there were rumours that the creatures have always been there, they simply chose to stay at the very bottom of the Black Lake is all, never to be seen by anyone.

The redhead turned towards his friend, "Harry, are you alright?"

"I'm fine I just… didn't realise that they're still there." the raven swallowed hard before he looked over to his friend and gave him a strained smile, "Really Ron, I'm O.K, I promise."

"If you're sure."

"I-I'm sure." Harry stepped back and joked, "I should make sure Parkinson doesn't murder Neville."

Ron let out a soft scoff and watched his friend walk away. He looked back at the glass expecting the mermaid to have left by now only to pause when he realised it was still there. He stepped closer to the window, reached out to put his hand against the glass pane. He nearly jumped again when the mermaid came closer and lifted a webbed hand to place against the glass right where he put his own. Its eyes closed and Ron frowned in confusion only for its eyes to suddenly open and then… smile.

It put both hands against the glass and looked back to nod at… something before it quickly pulled back a bit and started swaying from side to side. The next moment three more mermaids joined it. Swaying in the same way before they started to twirl around one another and swirled and dipped. Gold, silver and bronze scales shimmering on their tails as they moved and long curls of blonde, red and white seeming flowing around them like liquid.

"Wow."

Ron looked back to see Blaise leaning against the desk watching with a smile.

"What?"

"They rarely ever do that. I've only ever seen them dance for Professor Snape."

"They're… dancing?"

"Yeah." Blaise then pushed off the desk and moved over to the redhead's side, "I told mother about it once. She just laughed. It's supposed to be some sort of sign. Mother said she'd tell me what it meant someday, once I got married."

Ron arched a brow at the other, "So it's kind of marriage thing?"

"Honestly? No idea. Besides, I told you they usually only dance for professor Snape and he isn't married. It must mean something else."

Ron looked back at the mermaids, they were still dancing. More had come over to join them and he couldn't help but smile as the swirls and twirls in the dark waters made for such a pretty sight.

Suddenly they heard a door open and close. It couldn't have been the one they entered through and Ron realised he was right when Snape appeared from an entrance they didn't even notice beside the portrait on the wall. Snape looked over the room. Parkinson immediately straightened up and hurriedly – and quite roughly – dragged Neville away from the plants to stand at the desk. Harry followed along with an entirely too enthusiastic Luna. Blaise took Ron's hand and they went to stand in front of the desk as well.

"Ms Parkinson and Mr Zabini. A moment. Ms Parkinson I expect you to stay to show your new housemates to their dorm rooms." He said simply as he went around the desk to sit down.

"Yes professor." Parkinson said and Blaise leaned in whisper against Ron's ear.

"I'll wait outside."

"Why?"

Blaise smirked, "I need to show you what Mother sent."

"It can't wait till later?"

"No it can't."

"Mr Zabini, I don't like repeating myself." Snape said shortly and the Italian turned to leave the room.

"My apologies, professor."

Parkinson was waiting for the other and let out a huff as Blaise just walked past her to leave before she followed as well. Ron resisted the urge to glare.

Does she not know how to take a hint?

They heard the entrance to the door close just as Snape took out his wand and waved it over the room.

The black leather living room set moved closer so the seats were arranged around the mahogany desk. Professor Snape slipped his wand into his holster. He made for quite the menacing sight, especially with Salazar Slytherin, seemingly looming right over his shoulder.

"Sit down."

Ron went to sit on one couch with Harry while Neville sat with Luna. Ron looked over to Harry who only shrugged in return as the professor settled into his seat. Dark onyx eyes glanced over to the window and the man looked very close to rolling his eyes since there were even more mermaids dancing behind the glass now. He waved his hand towards the glass pane. Ron very briefly felt a wave of magic waft passed his face. The creatures immediately stopped, with the one Ron saw first coming up to the window and giving a sharp toothy grin as it placed both hands on the glass, before turning around and disappearing into the waters dark depths.

Harry swallowed hard, Ron reached over to hold his hand and gave him a slight smile. Harry returned it.

"I won't waste your time or mine. You have classes to get to and Ms Parkinson still needs to show you to your rooms." Snape reached over to the quill to dip in into the inkpot, before taking a piece of parchment to start writing. "As you all must be aware of by now, since you've all chosen to resort, I will be your new head of house. From now on you will reside in Slytherin House and you will be under the care of Slytherin house. The rules and code of conduct for Slytherin are the same as those for most of the other houses so I won't waste time going through all of them. Only those that differ."

He set the parchment aside and took another to start writing again, "As students of this school you are all aware of the fact that you have a curfew. You need to be in your common rooms by nine o'clock and in your dorm rooms by ten thirty. However, students in Slytherin are allowed outside of the common rooms until ten thirty and outside of their dorm rooms until eleven thirty."

Ron almost gaped, "What… that's not fair!"

Luna then leaned forward to get a look at the redhead, "Ravenclaw has the same rules, Ron."

Harry glared, "What-why?!"

"You are allowed outside of the common rooms until ten thirty only if you plan to use that time in the library to study and do school work." Snape said clearly, "It is not a pass to go off and get up to whatever abhorrent activities you may or may not be thinking of right now Mr Potter and I resent the implication."

"I didn't-"

"All Slytherin students have hall passes allowing them to visit the library before their allotted curfew time, in order to study. You may have been allowed to get away with barely studying while you were in Gryffindor, but I will not have a single student in my house receiving anything less than a consistent score of at least EE for every term."

"But-"

"Yes, Mr Potter, all students in my house." Snape said looking up from the parchment to fix him in a level stare, "I will have you know that Gregory Goyle hasn't received a score lower than EE since his third year under my care and I expect each and every single one of you to follow suit. There will be no exceptions."

Harry's mouth snapped shut and he glared at the older man, Ron huffed as he folded his arms over his chest.

Snape set the parchment aside and then reached for another, "Slytherin from fifth year upwards have the option to get their own private dorm rooms. Our founder had the dungeons expanded years ago for this very purpose and so each of you will have the option to choose your own rooms. However, for the time being I believe that it will be best for you to share your dorm rooms for the first few weeks until you become more comfortable in Slytherin. Mr Potter, Mr Longbottom and Mr Weasley; you will be rooming together for the next few weeks. Once this slight trial period is over you may choose to continue sharing a dorm room or choose your own. Mr Weasley, you are under courtship and so… you have alternate options available to you. I will wait for you and your suitor to inform me of what you choose to do."

Ron felt himself flush even as he felt Harry's eyes on him and stubbornly kept staring at Snape instead.

"As for you Ms Lovegood-"

"I'll be rooming with Pansy?" The blonde chirped and Snape paused to look at her.

"I do not appreciate being interrupted Ms Lovegood, but yes, for the time being you will be sharing a dorm room with Ms Parkinson. She is currently staying in a shared dorm alone so you will be living with her."

"Great. I mean, yes professor."

Snape's lips almost twitched down into a frown before he simply looked back down at the parchment.

"I'm sure you've noticed the Slytherin private library." He nodded towards the shelf behind them, "Those books are available to all students in Slytherin who wish to use them as references for schoolwork or whatever else. These books are never to leave the dungeons for any reason whatsoever, so its preferred that you use them only while you are in the common room. They are charmed so it would be quite impossible to remove them from the dungeons. It's a double shelf, a simple alohamora will open the shelf and allow access to the books on the next shelf behind it."

One more piece of parchment, "Next, punishments. You have standard point deductions and detentions as all students in this school receive, however, in my house I expect nothing less than exemplary behaviour and so any transgression of school rules will result in the added punishment of detention regardless of whatever transgression that may be. This means, that every point deduction will result in an additional detention period. I do not care if you only received a five point deduction or a two point deduction. Unlike certain houses in this school," As he said this he looked directly at Harry, Ron and Neville, "I will not have any student in my house breaking school rules and harming others only to get away with it. You will not get a slap on the wrist, you will not receive some laughable excuse for punishment. Your parents and guardians will receive a full detailed report on all your actions and suspension is always on the table."

Harry was back to gaping, "But-"

"Before you try and use Mr Malfoy as an excuse to weasel your way out of that one Mr Potter, allow me to enlighten you yet again. For every point deduction and broken rule Mr Malfoy has received detentions and detailed reports sent to his parents. Mr Malfoy has received countless hours of detention cleaning, assisting Hogwarts staff in their duties and has in fact faced the possibility of suspension before, which is why his behaviour has improved and he hardly receives any point deductions from any of the professors in this school." Snape lifted his gaze to pierce Harry with those dark eyes, "You are not in Gryffindor anymore. You are Slytherin, I expect you to uphold the name of this house with dignity and respect and so help me if you do not, I will ensure your immediate expulsion before the year is complete is that clear?"

The room was silent, Neville swallowed hard and answered for the room, "Y-Yes professor." Snape's eyes flickered to Neville before he simply pulled back and set the page before him down on the table with the others and brought his hands together to straighten his back.

"One final thing." He seemed to take in a silent breath, "You are now Slytherin. The house of the cunning and ambitious. You may not know it yet but there is a reason why the hat chose this house for you, why it thought you were best placed under the banner created by Salazar Slytherin." Snape's hands seemed to clench. "I'm sure you've all heard the rumours. The rumours of Salazar's preference for purebloods and his disdain for halfbloods and muggleborns. I hope you'll know and understand that those rumours couldn't possibly be true. If they were, then no half blood or muggleborn would be placed in Slytherin. I am a halfblood and not only was I sorted into Slytherin but I am also the head of this house. Salazar's mission was simple, to create an environment for students to create bigger brighter futures for themselves. For those with ambition to reach those ambitions and rise to great heights. Our mascot is the snake, contrary to popular belief they do not represent evil or death. Snakes are symbols of rebirth, transformation, immortality and healing. They symbolise the renewal of life. As Slytherin it is your responsibility to exemplify these traits."

Snape's eyes moved from Ron to Harry to Neville and then Luna.

"From this point forward, whatever you were before does not matter. What matters is what you choose to be. That was Salazar's dream, for all those who walk through his house to transform into whatever they choose. Whether your ambition is wealth, success, health or love. You can have whatever it is that you desire, all you need to do is work for it. Suffer and bleed if you must, do whatever it takes to shed your skin and become what you want to be and never let anyone stand in your way."

He leaned back into his seat a bit, "Our snake mascot is the adder, can any of you tell me something about this snake?"

Luna answered, "They're nervous animals, prone to attacking. In the choice between fight or flight most snakes choose to try and escape before trying to attack but the adder chooses to fight." She explained simply, "They're heavy snakes, not very fast so when they feel threatened they would rather attack than try to flee. Fighting gives them a better chance of survival."

"Exactly. These are all traits that I expect you to exemplify. Luna, Neville, Harry and Ron." They all collectively blinked at the use of their first names. Harry looked near flabbergasted. "You can be whoever you want to be. You must fight, even when you are afraid. Cunning, ambition, survival. Those are the traits of this house." He then looked at Harry and Ron respectively, "The old tattered skin of your past no longer matters, what matters now is the future. As your head of house it is my duty to protect and help you through your journey to success. And as such if there is ever anything that you need; if you have a problem or if there's simply something that you need to talk about, I always make myself available. I promise you, I will do everything in my power to assist you to the best of my abilities. Any questions?"

Harry was frowning at the older man, Ron just took in one deep before he let it back out and Neville swallowed hard. Luna-

Raised her hand.

"Yes, Ms Lovegood."

"What about Salazar's ball?"

The potions master blinked, "How do you know about that?"

Luna just stared back at him with a smile and Snape looked away with a slight shake of his head to take the pieces of parchment he was writing on earlier.

"In previous years, Horace Slughorn, the last potionsmaster and head of Slytherin House had a club. A selection of supposedly exceptional students from all houses who he believed had bright and successful futures ahead of them. It should be noted however, that Horace Slughorn was a pompous arrogant prejudice fool high on his own hubris with absolutely no self-awareness whatsoever."

Luna giggled and Ron couldn't help but scoff. Neville just blinked at the older man while Harry continued to frown.

"Every year, professor Slughorn would have a ball. A celebration for these special students in his club. He would invite high performing students in other houses, boast about these exceptional students, in a way that he thought didn't make it glaringly obvious that he was simply trying to take advantage of these students in order to gain favour with their influential and wealthy parents."

Ron was trying not to laugh. Well, Snape doesn't sound bitter at all.

He shared a look with Harry who finally let out a scoff with a shake of his head.

"Once professor Slughorn retired his Slugclub ended and so did the balls, however with the advice of the students in Slytherin we've decided to create a new tradition." Snape stacked the pages together before setting them down again, "Every year we have Salazar's ball. There's a banquet hall, hidden here in the dungeons, we use that space to hold the event. The point to it is to celebrate high performing students in Slytherin, their achievements and successful endeavours. It's usually held on the first day of the summer which is why I assumed that none of you would be aware of it." He pointedly looked at Luna. "The ball is open to all students in Slytherin, it is usually sponsored by the parents of students so on some occasions parents may choose to attend as well. There is one catch of course. In order to attend the ball; you must have achieved an O in at least two of your subjects. The student with the highest passing overall grade will receive a prize."

"What prize is that?" Harry asked.

"Whatever they want, within reason of course. As the winner you may choose one thing. The amendment of a school rule specifically on your behalf, for example. If you choose a monetary prize it cannot have a value of anything over two hundred galleons. A particular potion that I will brew myself, with the exception of poisons or love potions of course etc etc. Like I said before, anything within reason. Simply ask and if it can be done, then it will be." Snape's head gave a tilt as his gaze wandered over to Ron, "For example, Mr Zabini won last years prize; he asked for an amendment to the curfew rule. He wanted the freedom to stay out as late as he wanted."

Ron blinked, he remembered that first night when he ran into Blaise. The night that started this whole mess. He never thought to wonder why he seemed so calm despite the fact that he was very clearly breaking curfew.

He was literally out there because he was allowed to be.

Ron couldn't help but feel a little miffed at that.

"A seemingly trivial request, however, Mr Zabini made it clear that he had nothing else he wanted or needed." Snape then took in another deep breath, "Another part of the prize is the privilege of seeing Salazar's portrait."

Neville blinked, "His portrait?"

All eyes snapped up to the painting behind Snape.

"As the head of house I am aware of its whereabouts, in previous years it was the original prize for achieving the best marks however, thanks to a suggestion by Mr Malfoy we added an extra prize of one wish." Snape smirked, "Apparently his meeting with Master Slytherin had been quite eye opening, when he won in his fourth year. As is how it goes with most students that meet with him. It truly is something that cannot be described. After that Mr Malfoy has done everything in his power to honour Slytherin house, its values and all of its students."

Ron paused, "So, you've spoken to him then professor?"

Snape smirked, "Yes, and if you do well this year Mr Weasley, you may as well." He tapped the parchment in his hands yet again. "These are your new schedules, you'll be sharing all your classes however, I find it best that you each receive your own copy." Luna quickly hopped up first to take a piece of paper from the professor and the others moved to do the same. "You have about thirty minutes before your first periods start. Ms Parkinson will show you to your dorms."

"Uh…" Ron started awkwardly, "Thank you professor."

Snape nodded, "You're all excused, all except for Mr Potter. I'd like to have a word."

Harry froze, "Why?"

"There are things I need to discuss with you. The rest of you may go."

They all shared a look, all except for Luna who was already halfway towards the exit.

"Now." Snape said clearly and Harry took in a deep breath as he leaned in towards Ron.

"I'll see you in class."

Ron's lips pursed in displeasure as he looked from his best friend to the professor before he relented, "Alright, see you in class."

He and Neville both left, both glancing back in concern multiple times before Harry finally brought his gaze over to the potions professor and folded his arms over his chest.

"What did you want to discuss?"

Snape stared at him for a moment, not saying a word. Those dark eyes piercing right through him and causing Harry to swallow nervously before he spoke.

"Some information has come to my attention over the past few days. I thought I should discuss it with you however, I think it would be best to go a different route. Mr Potter, I think in your case, it may be necessary to break a few rules."

"What do you mean?"

Snape rose from his seat and Harry instinctively took a step back. The man arched a brow at him before he walked around the desk and headed for the exit.

"Follow me."

"Where are we going?"

"To the head of house private quarters, my quarters."

Harry froze, "What… why?!"

Snape stopped to look back at him, "It's the only way to reach Salazar's portrait."

Green eyes went wide, "His portrait? I thought you said-"

"Like I said before, I think your case requires us to break a few rules. Master Slytherin is already expecting you. We mustn't keep him waiting."

Harry gaped and his hands fell at his sides while the man simply turned around to leave the room. He quickly shook himself free of the shock before taking a deep breath and following behind the potions master.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

He was apparated to the solitary confinement section.

Apparently it's important that only the guards know the way to the solitary cells so sidelong apparition was important. Lee didn't really waste too much time thinking about it, even if he despised sidelong apparition with every fibre of his being.

They apparated to a long dark hallway, sparsely lit with even less lighting than what there was around Rodolphus' cell.

It was cold, Lee shivered as the perspiration left his mouth with every breath he took, but he still resisted the urge to wrap his arms around himself to rub his sides for warmth. The guards were already giving him sideways looks, Lee was sure they could feel the anxiety that poured out of his veins. He didn't need them knowing that he was freezing as well.

Down the hall, Lee had to squint to see the opposite side of the hall. It looked like a dead end. Nothing more than stonewall like the rest of the hallway. He frowned as he looked back at the guards who said nothing as they just kept leading him forward.

Once they reached the dead end, the guard on his left reached out to place his hand on the stonewall and quietly muttered some sort of spell. Lee could barely make it out.

Evanerta? Something like that.

There was a brief moment of pause until the wall seemed to evaporate right before his eyes and revealed an arched entryway. Rather small and not very wide, Lee couldn't even see anything inside from where he stood in the doorway.

They can't be serious.

"He's in there?" Lee sounded about as repulsed as he felt, the guard to his left seemed to let out a low growl.

"This is a prison, Mr Jordan, not a holiday resort and Rabastan Lestrange is under punishment."

Lee looked back at the man before simply looking over to the entrance again, "Exactly what is he being punished for?"

"He attacked the guards when they entered his cell, ranting and raving about Hogwarts or something." The man then let out a huff, "Rodolphus Lestrange only has an hour's worth of time for visitation of this nature. Are you going in or not?"

Lee felt his jaw clench as he simply glared at the man before he stepped forward. It's so dark-

"May I have a little light so I can see where I'm going at least?"

A guard reached up into his sleeve into his holster to take out his wand and cast a lumos above Lee's head, modified slightly so it would follow the muggleborn through.

"Thank you."

"You have less than an hour." The other one said shortly and Lee resisted the urge to tell him off as he simply stepped inside.

There was this smell in the air. Musty, old, grimy but thankfully not rancid; just very very unclean. Lee took one more deep breath before he was fully inside. He almost jumped right out of his skin when the wall from before suddenly sprang up right behind him. He had to take in a few more deep breaths of stale air to calm himself down. It didn't help too much but Lee couldn't waste time focusing on that anyway.

The place where he stood seemed to be some sort of short entrance hall, curving around and leading to another room. It wasn't a very large space, if Lee had to guess, it's about the size of two bathroom stalls at any given muggle bar. Which isn't saying much, all things considered. There was an old, not very hygienic looking toilet to one corner of the room and a thin mattress with a single sheet to the other.

Fortunately, or maybe not so fortunately, these were all distant things as he walked around the curve of the short corridor and walked into the cell to see Rabastan seemingly curled up on the mattress in the corner of the room, not moving, not saying a word and not lifting his head as the younger man stepped inside.

"I… Lord Lestrange?"

No response so Lee moved closer towards the mattress until he was standing right beside it and crouched down.

"Lord Lestrange." He lowered his voice, the room didn't have an echo to it exactly but Lee's voice still sounded unnaturally loud in the small space, "Lord Lestrange its Lee Jordan. The journalist, from the evening Howler." He didn't move so much as an inch. Lee hesitated before he reached out and placed a hand on the man's shoulder.

"R-Rabastan." A jump. Lee almost jumped as well but just held still as he tried to lean in a bit closer, "Rabastan, its Lee, Lee Jordan. Do you hear me? Can you say anything?"

Still no response. Lee wanted to sigh in frustration but he noticed just how cold the other man felt, the way the lumos above his head now made his skin look almost deathly pale. He rubbed a hand along Rabastan's shoulders, for a moment that realisation from before hit him again. How the prisoners can't touch you but… you can still touch them? It shouldn't matter, not really anyway, but something about that nagged at Lee and made him feel distinctly uncomfortable.

"Rabastan? I'm not sure but I think you can hear me." Lee let out a soft sigh as he sat down on the mattress beside the man and kept rubbing a hand along his shoulders. Slowly going back and forth until he felt like there was some kind of warmth beneath his hand. "The guards informed me of what happened, your brother knows as well… They said you were acting out. Rodolphus asked that I come see you on his behalf. Can you tell me what happened?"

No response.

"You know, we have a whole hour, you can't even spare one moment for your favourite mudblood?" He joked. He still doesn't like that word but he thought that at least that much would get some sort of reaction out of the man.

He got nothing.

Lee sighed again. This is pointless, at this point he's just wasting time and Rabastan… well, obviously he isn't fine but he's alive. Lee figure that it's about as good as things are going to get.

"I-" His hand stopped, "If you don't want me here then I'll leave. I'm sorry for disturbing you Lord Lestrange." He pulled back, about to get up from the mattress only for Lee to gasp.

A hand had shot out to grab his wrist. Not holding, of course, Lee knew that he would very easily be able to simply shake the man's grasp off but-

"Stay."

His voice was hoarse and very quiet. Lee swallowed hard as he looked back to the way he came before he lowered himself back onto the mattress. Rabastan still wasn't looking at him, but Lee still let that weak grip lead him back down.

Rabastan let go of his wrist which is when Lee noticed the bruises on his knuckles, still red but fortunately not bleeding. His hand went back to curl beneath his head and Lee didn't really know what to do for a moment. He thought about just rubbing circles on his back again when another thought came to mind. That one almost made him physically recoil and he swallowed hard.

That would be bad, very very bad. Especially under the circumstances when Rabastan seemed so unresponsive but. The idea was already in his head and Lee knew he was doomed. He moved slowly, not bothering to take off his shoes since, there was clearly no point in worrying about getting the makeshift bed dirty. He lay down on his side behind the man and slowly very slowly wrapped his arms around him.

Instant regret.

Firstly, because he had nowhere to place his head besides behind Rabastan and his mane of tangled only semi-clean hair and secondly because the man had a smell of sweat of grime on his skin. He didn't seem so bad when they met before. Well he is under punishment, isn't he?

Lee internally groaned.

The second reason is that he now felt incredibly awkward with his arms around the older man. Rabastan wasn't quite as tall as his giant of a brother but he was a good foot taller than Lee. Everything about the position he was in felt awkward, that's ignoring how worryingly cold Rabastan's form felt against his own.

Lee shut his eyes.

He made his bed, now he has to lie in it.

Merlin, Fred and George would love that one.

Lee jumped when he felt the man move in a little closer against him. Kept absolutely still when his wrist was grasped and kept where it was on Rabastan's waist.

Lee had no idea what to think or even how to feel about it so he kept his eyes closed and his body still. The lumos was still glowing above them though and it was quiet. Lee couldn't hear Rabastan breath but he could feel it on his chest every time the older man breathed and almost unconsciously started breathing in time with it as well.

Slowly in, slowly out. He could still smell the unpleasant smells from the room and the man before him but none of that mattered for the moment. In and out, in and out. After a while it stopped feeling so uncomfortable. It's absolutely mad but Lee felt himself calm down. Its completely insane but for a moment, he felt relaxed enough to almost fall-

"Rodolphus sent you?"

Lee was startled back to reality and he swallowed hard before he spoke. "The guards wouldn't let him come himself. He seemed concerned for your wellbeing."

A soft scoff, "The absolutely sentimental twit." Lee's lips pulled into a frown, "And you agreed."

"Yes."

"Under what terms?"

"What?"

"He promised you something in exchange for coming here, didn't he? What was it?"

Lee paused in thought for a moment. There's no point in lying.

"Answers, to the questions I've been asking."

It was quiet for yet another moment, Lee wondered what was going through the man's head when-

"Why do you want to know so badly?"

"Why shouldn't I? If the Dark Lord truly has returned then… we'll need all the information we can get."

"The Potters are dead and the Longbottoms are in St Mungos, what good is that information now?"

"I don't know… it might be worth something, it might be worth nothing. But… I won't know what its worth until I find out."

The man before him let out a heavy breath and spoke softly, "None of this is going to end well. You realise that, don't you? If you knew the truth and managed to find proof… it could ruin your whole world. Turn everything upside down."

"More than your Dark Lord is already trying to do?" Lee asked with an arched brow though the man couldn't see him, before he shook his head, "You keep trying to keep the truth from me even though you don't really have a reason to." Lee scoffed, "If I didn't know any better, I'd swear you liked me and were trying to protect me from something Lord Lestrange."

Rabastan let out a low chuckle, the hand around his wrist tightened slightly. "I have no such interest in mudbloods."

"Then tell me. Why do you care about whatever hell I unleash with the information you give me? Is it because it would negatively affect your cause?"

"No."

"Then why not tell me?" Rabastan said nothing and Lee let out a sigh, "Then… tell me what happened after I left. Why did you attack the guards?"

It was quiet yet again and then-

"You could simply call it madness."

"Madness?"

"When emotions are contained for too long they have a way of forcing their way through, unleashing themselves whether you like it or not."

"And what emotions were you trying to keep at bay?"

"Jeffrey was my friend." Rabastan said and Lee blinked at the sudden reply, "He was the most annoying little git but he was my friend. I cared for him, in my own way even if I didn't agree with his silly little infatuation with that mudblood girl. For Merlin's sake, she was a Gryffindor… But even then. Even if he annoyed and pestered me at all hours of the day, I never would have killed him."

Lee paused, "Are you saying you didn't?"

"I must have… but I couldn't have." He sounded confused, "I can't even remember what happened and that… somehow that's the worst part."

"Rabastan-"

"I remember the face and name of every single person that I've killed. Where it happened. How it happened. Why I did it. But I can't remember Jeffrey?" He could feel Rabastan's hand tighten around his wrist… or at least, try to. Lee felt the impulse for touch, for something to hold onto and without even thinking about it he moved in closer and wrapped his arms tighter around the man's waist.

Rabastan let out a shuddering sigh in response and Lee nervously liked his lips before he spoke.

"What do you remember, about that day?"

Another sigh, "It was school, nothing strange or odd about it. Regulus was in a mood because he'd heard Snape ended up in the infirmary because of something his brother did. He was pacing in the common rooms all day."

"Regulus?"

"Black."

"Right."

"We had breakfast, I hadn't seen Jeffrey yet. When he came he nearly jumped right on top of me. He was so… excited. Something happened the night before, he'd snuck out to go see the Evans girl."

"Evan's girl? The muggleborn he liked?"

"Lily Evans, she ended up marrying Potter… and producing he boy who lived, before dying."

Lee's eyes went wide and he had to stop himself from reacting too obviously as the older man continued. "He was excited because he wanted to tell me about something that happened the night before. Some sort of secret but, he couldn't just tell me right there. Something about the walls having ears. He wanted to meet in the dungeons after curfew, near the head of house office. I told him fine, anything so he'd stop annoying me. Later after classes I went and then-…"

"And then what?"

"Nothing." Rabastan seemed to curl into himself a bit more, "Nothing. Just blood, all over the walls and on my hands and suddenly I was in the headmaster's office and my brother was there with my parents… I don't remember anything else."

Lee's lips pulled down into a frown as he tried to process the information. Rodolphus told him some things about the incident. He said Dumbledore tried to use the murder as a way to get the Lestranges to swear their loyalty to him and presumably to the light. But even if that's true and Dumbledore really did do that, it wouldn't explain Rabastan's memory loss.

"Nothing else happened that day, before you met with Jeffrey. You didn't take some sort of potion or-"

"No."

"Maybe you were duelling and got hit with some sort of spell-"

"No."

Lee huffed, "I don't-" And then took in a deep breath, "Alright, you don't remember. Then… tell me something that you do remember."

For the first time since Lee stepped into the room Rabastan turned his head to look at him over his shoulder. Lee almost froze at the sight of those dark eyes looking so puffy and red, the tell-tale signs of tears across his face even as his lips pulled into a frown and his eyebrows pulled together.

"You still want to know about the Longbottoms."

"Yes." And then Rabastan moved, almost but not completely leaving Lee's grasp to face him and then lie back down on his side. Lee swallowed hard as those dark eyes just continued to stare at him for an unsettling amount of time and then-

"The truth won't help the Longbottoms now."

"Maybe not." Lee cleared his throat since his voice now sounded unbearably soft, "But there might be something I could do. And even if there isn't, I still want to know."

Rabastan's head gave a tilt against the mattress, "You're supposed to be doing an article on Azkaban, aren't you? You're sure your employer will approve of what you're doing right now?"

"I'm still working on it." Lee said with a slight shrug, "But what use will it be if I don't collect all relevant information on the prisoners of Azkaban and their crimes as well."

Rabastan scoffed, Lee resisted the urge to pull back when the man's hand suddenly went up to his cheek and stay there, whispers of air brushing against his lips as Rabastan's thumb brushed over them.

"I think I see what Rodolphus meant."

"Meant about what?" Lee asked and just to test the boundaries reached out to brush the back of his fingers against Rabastan's face, wiping away the tear lines that managed to stay there. The older man watched him, piercing dark eyes boring into his own but Lee didn't look away.

"The walls have ears, there isn't much I could say to you here."

"What do you mean?"

Lee's eyes went wide when Rabastan suddenly leaned in and for a moment he was sure the older man would kiss him… and strangely the thought didn't repulse him as much as it should have. He didn't feel the urge to pull away, he just stayed completely still. But Rabastan didn't kiss him.

He leaned in to whisper into Lee's ear, "If you want to know about the Longbottoms, you should just ask them yourself."

Lee frowned, "Wh-… how could I? The Longbottoms have been deemed insane. Incapable of-"

"There's a muggle philosopher Rodolphus is quite fond of, Frederick Nietzsche, do you know of him?"

"Yes."

"There's a quote Rodolphus loved to recite." Rabastan pulled back, his lips brushing against the younger man's cheek as he did so and Lee felt himself flush, even if he could just barely feel the touch. "And those who were dancing were thought to be insane-"

"By those who could not hear the music." Lee finished mindlessly and Rabastan's lips pulled up into a smile.

"Insanity is subjective, Lee. But just because you're insane, doesn't mean you're incapable of telling the truth." The older man settled onto mattress, his arms now curling around the younger man's waist as he whispered, "The privacy charms at St Mungos are much better than what's here. Frank Longbottom, he knows what happened. Ask him."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Once clockwise, once counter-clockwise. Once clockwise, twice counter-clockwise…."

The room was bare, with only one chair with a small table. Torches up against the walls to light up the small room in an orange glow and a window like the one in Snape's office to the bottom of the lake.

"Once clockwise, thrice counter-clockwise."

Harry swallowed hard when he looked up at the portrait mounted on the stonewall. It looked like a potions lab, a multitude of potions ingredients in bottles or bowls around the burning cauldron and the man standing over it stirring slowly as he recited.

"Once clockwise, four times counter-clockwise."

He had no hair, pale skin, piercing ice blue eyes narrowed in concentration, a long white beard and long pale fingers. He wore dark robes of emerald green and black folded up to his elbows.

"Once clockwise, five times counter-clockwise."

"Master Slytherin." Snape suddenly said from his spot beside Harry and Harry almost jumped. The man in the portrait glanced up briefly.

"Severus… I need some widow venom, Severus."

The potionsmaster nodded as he took out his wand and muttered a spell. One of the bottles in the portrait changed into a deep green colour and the label changed as well.

"Thank you. Once clockwise, seven times counter clockwise… You must be Harry Potter. This is quite the surprise." Salazar reached blindly to the bottle of spider venom, "Normally such an audience is reserved only for those who win the prize at the end of the term. However, Severus has informed me of the fact that this meeting may be necessary for you. Once clockwise, nine times counter clockwise. Severus."

The head of house nodded, "Sit down." He said gesturing to the seat and Harry hesitated before he sat down at the table. He couldn't help but watch as Snape turned around and quietly left the room.

"Do you know what my favourite potion is to brew, Harry?"

Harry blinked when he was suddenly addressed, "No, sir."

The man looked up and smirked, "Amortentia. The love potion. Do you know why?"

Harry shook his head, and the man answered as he poured the venom into his cauldron. "Because like love, it can take many different forms and be created in many different ways. Pink rose petals for a gentle adoring type of love, red rose petals for a passionate love. Unicorn hair for love that's whimsical, rose thorns for a love that's intense and almost painful… once clockwise, twelve times counter clockwise… daisies for something innocent and light, venom for a love so all consuming it kills. It's a fascinating brew to make."

"I… I guess so."

Salazar glanced up at him, "Severus tells me that you've resorted, you used to be in Gryffindor."

"Yes."

"He also tells me that the hat tried to put you in Slytherin in first year, but you resisted."

Harry's eyes went wide.

How does he know that?

"Is there any particular reason why?"

Harry stayed quiet, he looked back at the exit. He shouldn't even be here anyway. Maybe he could just leave. But he couldn't move, if he didn't know any better Harry would think it was some sort of spell and Snape was planning on trapping him with the Slytherin founder until he went insane. But he knew that he could move, he just-

Salazar simply looked away, "It's quite alright, I've heard the rumours." The man shrugged, "Honestly, I'm a little flattered."

"You're flattered?"

"I've never had any aspirations for world domination or reformation or anything of the sort. It's flattering to know that people think I was powerful enough to have the confidence to hold such an ambition." He gave a soft snort, "I have always had a fascination with the Dark Arts. I've always been interested in the taboo and abnormal, I won't deny that. But the thought of hunting muggleborns is something I never entertained."

"What about the Basilisk?"

"What about it?"

"The rumours said you were using it to hunt down muggleborns, to exterminate them from the school and the wizarding world as a whole."

Salazar scoffed, "My my what grand ambitions. And pray tell, how would I manage to exterminate muggleborns? There's a new magical child born of a muggle every day all around the world. Multiple magical schools all around the world which opened up not long after Hogwarts was established, the only way I'd be able to exterminate them all is if I dedicated my entire life to it and when would I find the time to brew then?"

Harry frowned at the obvious joke. Salazar's head gave a slight tilt.

"Basilisks are animals, Harry. Magical animals, but animals none the less. They have no use for prejudices or human concerns of class and status. No reason to try and decern the differences between bloodstatus. How would I even be able to train them to identify the difference between muggleborns and purebloods, let alone halfbloods and purebloods? That's something that even wizards are incapable of. When Severus started at Hogwarts, he managed to fool most of the school into believing that he was a pureblood. If a wizard can't tell the difference, then how would I be able to teach an animal to do that?"

Harry said nothing, Salazar just kept stirring his potion, "Helga had been horrified when news broke that a wizard had managed to create such a terrifying creature and Rowena made a wager that I would never be able to make one. It's nothing complicated, I made a Basilisk purely to prove that I could."

"Why did you keep it?"

Salazar paused to look at the boy, "I couldn't simply kill it, Helga would have slaughtered me alive for giving a creature life and then trying to take it away, regardless of how terrifying the creature was. It was entirely too dangerous to set it free in the wild. Godric suggested that I make it the house mascot, he had a pet lion. He thought it a good counter. I discovered that the snake understood parseltongue and could be controlled that way, that was also the year that parseltongue was added as an optional class. Very few could master it but it was available for all those who were interested." He said that last bit dismissively before he looked at the teen with a slight smile, "Severus tells me that you're a parseltongue."

"I… yes I am."

"Such a rare gift, I see why the hat tried to put you in Slytherin."

Harry gave a slight smile only to frown again, "The rumours also say you hate muggleborns."

"Not hate." The founder said adding something else as he continued stirring, "At the time muggles were still persecuting wixen kind, more so than now. I saw the inclusion of muggleborn students as a threat to security and nothing more. So yes, I did suggest excluding muggleborn students from Hogwarts, but my colleagues disagreed with me and I made peace with that. Magical children are hard to come by Harry, even back then. Helga and Rowena were both right, it wouldn't make much sense to exclude a magical child because of their parentage. We simply needed to make sure that their muggle relatives wouldn't be a problem and we did."

Harry listened, surprised that he almost agreed with the man as he thought of his aunt and uncle and how they treated him, but he didn't want to agree with bloody Slytherin-

"But… what about Voldemort?"

"The Dark Lord?" Slytherin looked very close to rolling his eyes, "He like many others misunderstood my intentions, I suppose he isn't entirely to blame considering what is being said about me. However, I will say this. Tom Riddle may be my heir but my legacy isn't the one he is building, the legacy he builds is his own. Its all pointless. Pointless death, pointless destruction, the boy is focused on nothing but his own greed. That is not the same as ambition."

"But Severus didn't bring you here so we could talk about him." Salazar shook his head, "You didn't want to be in Slytherin and now you are. How does that make you feel?"

How does he feel?

Harry blinked, "I… I'm not sure."

"Why did you allow it to place you in Slytherin?"

"I…" Harry took in another deep breath, "My friend was being resorted. My best friend, I did it so we could stay together."

"I see, your friend is Ronald Weasley?"

"Yes."

"How does he feel?"

"He seems." Harry frowned, "Happy."

"Well, he's in the same house as his suitor. I imagine that he would be pleased, but how do you feel Harry?"

"I… fine, I guess."

"You guess." Salazar stopped and turned to fully face the teen. "Severus tells me that you're set to be the saviour of the wizarding world."

Harry's hands clenched.

"You defeated this supposed, Dark Lord once and there is an expectation that you'll do it again. Is this true?"

"…yes."

"Is that what you want Harry, to be the saviour of the wizarding world?"

"I… of course it is. Voldemort is… pure evil. I have to stop him-"

"Why do you have to stop him?"

Harry blinked, "What?"

Salazar's head gave a tilt, "Who told you that it was your responsibility to stop Voldemort and his plans?"

"No one."

"No one? Then why do it?"

"Because no one else can."

"Why not? What do you supposedly have that no one else does?"

"I…" Harry felt speechless for a moment, "My… my parents sacrificed themselves to protect me, so I could survive-"

"And sacrifice yourself later?" Salazar asked incredulously and Harry blinked, "Such generous parents, willing to sacrifice their child at a later date to save the world. Truly admirable."

The teen's eyes went wide, "That's not what I meant! You're twisting my words!"

"So interesting, how corrupt and twisted we sound when the words we speak come from someone else's mouth."

Harry's hands clenched, "I don't need to stay for this." He got up to leave when-

"I want to know what you want, Harry. Not what you've been told. Not what's expected of you. Not what anyone else wants. I want to know what you want." Salazar said and for some reason the words caused the teen to pause. "Cunning, survival and ambition. Those are the traits of all of those in my house. I'm not asking you something that you don't already know. I'm only asking you what you want."

"I… I told you I don't-"

"You're human Harry, everyone wants something. They have some sort of desire. Something that helps them force themselves out of bed in the morning and lay back down at night. We all have something. I want to know what you want. It isn't a complicated question."

Harry's hands clenched so tight he could feel the sting of his nails biting into his palm.

"How about we make a love potion?"

"What?"

"At the centre of it all, all love potions stem from a place of want, of desire." Salazar had turned back to seemingly empty his cauldron before turning to the teen. "What do you want? Remember it isn't a complicated question, don't over complicate it. What do you desire?" he turned to the ingredients beside him, "You said you resorted because you wanted to stay with your friend. Is friendship what you want?"

"I… yes." Harry said as he turned back fully to look at the man. He nodded as he reached for… yellow rose petals and dropped them into the cauldron.

"What else? You've mentioned losing your parents; do you want a family?"

"Yes."

He reached for what looked like some sort of fur and dropped a clump into the cauldron before he looked back at the raven.

"What else?"

Harry paused, "I want to feel safe."

"Safety." Salazar almost seemed to pause as well before he looked over the ingredients and picked up a few dragon scales to drop them into the cauldron. "What else?"

"I don't really know."

The older man nodded, "How about traits that you'd want in a romantic partner? Would you like someone loyal?"

"Well, yeah, of course."

He picked up bees wax on the edge of the counter and dropped it inside, "What else?"

"This is stupid." Harry huffed, Salazar merely stared back at him.

"Humour me. What else?"

"I… someone nice or kind, I guess."

Pink rose petals and some sort of violet coloured flower.

"Someone, trustworthy."

Another white flower, Harry didn't know its name.

"Someone, honest."

"Honest?"

Harry looked down to the floor, "Someone who won't be scared to tell me the truth, who doesn't treat me like… some sort of idol."

"I see. A bitter truth."

Aconite and… daffodils?

"What else?"

"I don't know." Harry huffed before he mumbled, "A great shag would be nice."

"Alright."

"What? No wait! I-I didn't mean… I was just joking!"

Salazar paused just as he was about to drop something into the cauldron, "You're sure?"

Harry paused to bite his lip, "Alright put it in."

The man scoffed as he dropped something in the cauldron.

"What is that?"

"Goat skin."

"Oh dear Merlin-"

"An excellent student. What else?"

Harry took in a deep breath and let it back out; he's already said this much, hasn't he? "I want… a home. I've never really felt like I had somewhere I could call home. The only times I do is when I'm at school or, at the Burrow with Ron and his family. I want somewhere I can go back to where there's someone who'll love me and be there when I need them."

"A home… well." He picked up a stick of some sort and dropped it in before reaching for another, "I think some peace as well, for a weary soul. That should do it." Salazar picked up a jug of water and poured some in the cauldron before reaching down to turn up the heat underneath, the brew quickly started bubbling.

"Now, obviously, I can't give you this but I want you to think about what you just told me Harry. Think about what you actually want. It would be easy to simply focus on this Voldemort and how to stop him but you need to think about what will happen after you stop him. Once he's gone what will your purpose be then? Ambition drives us all, in small ways and in bigger ways. But your ambitions must always bring you joy, if they don't, then it means that something is wrong and you need to find a way to bring joy back into your life."

Harry went quiet while the man kept adding more and more ingredients stirring and pausing every now and then before he finally looked up at the younger man.

"Come and try it."

"Try it?"

Salazar scoffed, "Love potions, Amortentia in specific, gives of a particular smell. You know about this don't you?"

"We're only doing love potions next term, I think."

"I'll need to have a word with Severus about that. All the same, come and take a sniff." Harry moved closer, "It can be a good way of finding what you want. You'll know it when you smell it as Godric used to say." Salazar scoffed as an affectionate smile spread over his lips only to drop just as quickly.

Harry looked up at the man in the portrait before leaning in to take a deep breath and… he frowned.

It smelled like… parchment. Books? Ink and chocolate… some sort of plant? Harry couldn't place it.

"That's enough." Salazar said shortly, "You should get to class, they'll be starting soon."

"Alright." Harry stopped to offer the man a slight smile, "Thank you sir."

"Its quite fine and if there's anything you need, simply ask Severus. He's my head of house, he does all he can to take care of all my vipers. Don't be afraid to go to him for help, Harry."

Harry simply nodded before he turned-

"One more thing."

He looked back at the portrait, "You were a Gryffindor. Did you ever see Godric's portrait somewhere in the tower? Speak to him at all?"

"No."

Salazar's lips pulled down into a frown, "Thank you, Harry, you may go."

A/N: Please review