*Parseltongue*
This is over 4000 words, so... enjoy
—
Harry was pacing the floors of Tom's room, waiting fo him to get out of the washroom.
It was the day they had agreed on to go to Diagon Alley, and Harry was stressed out. He had no idea what result he wanted.
On one hand, being a Veela didn't sound so bad. He'd get some kick-ass wings and, technically, he'd have been one all his life. Just without the wings, claws, and fangs, of course.
But then again, it's a lot of change. He wouldn't room in the Gryffindor tower anymore and, who knew, people at Hogwarts might have some hatred for Veelas.
Not that Harry necessarily cared about anyone other than his close friends, but... still.
The toilet flushed, the sink ran, and about twenty seconds later Tom walked out, running his fingers through his hair. He stopped, though, when he saw Harry.
"Harry!" He greeted. "Um... How did you get into my room?"
"I'm friends with Fred and George, remember?" Was all Harry said, continuing his pacing. "Merlin, I'm all jittery, I think I might explode."
"Because of your blood test?"
"No, why would you think that?" Harry said sarcastically, before huffing and plopping down on one of Tom's chairs. "Sorry, sorry, I know I probably sound like a bitch. I just— what if I am a Veela, you know? I don't even know what that entails—"
"Didn't Hermione lend you that book on Creature Inheritances?" Tom asked.
"You and Hermione give me way too much credit with remembering things, and I already gave 'Mione back the book," Harry said, before leaning his head against the back of the chair. "It's a big change, you know? I just got used to puberty, and now I have to go through this too?"
Tom was silent for a moment, before he gently grabbed Harry's chin between his thumb and forefinger, leaning down to press a kiss to his forehead.
"If it makes you feel any better, I went through the same thing about five months ago. It's rough for two minutes or so, but after that, it feels even more normal than before."
Harry looked up at his boyfriend dejectedly before wrapping his arms around the other's legs, bringing him close. He rested his head on Tom's thigh and sighed, pleased, when Tom started running his fingers through his hair.
"We don't need to get that blood test done," Tom said, gently tugging on a knot in Harry's hair. "I'll take you wherever you want to go— we can get ice cream, if you want."
Harry smiled reluctantly and looked up at Tom. "Ice cream in Scotland? In May? It has to be less than ten degrees outside."
Tom shrugged. "No one else needs to know."
Sighing, Harry turned his head so that he could press a light kiss to Tom's wrist. "Thank you for offering. But... even if I don't get that test done, I'd still go through it on my birthday. I might as well be prepared, right?"
"If you don't want to do it today, we can always go tomorrow."
Harry shook his head. "No, giving me more time to think about it will just stop me." He took Tom's hand. "C'mon, let's go."
—
It was strange being in Diagon Alley when it wasn't overcrowded due to back to school shopping. In fact, it almost looked like a wasteland to Harry.
"We need to make sure we don't get caught," Tom told Harry, squeezing his hand. "I'm first in line to be head boy next year, I can't risk it."
Harry rolled his eyes, but squeezed Tom's hand back. "Okay, subtle brag, but alright. Besides, I doubt anyone here gives a shit that two Hogwarts students are in Diagon Alley at this time of year. They could think we have special permission, or that we're homeschooled. Or maybe even that we've already graduated."
"Fair enough," Tom sighed. "But the whole 'already graduated' thing won't work until you stop swinging our hands."
Harry looked down and saw that yes, he had started swinging his and Tom's hands back and forth.
He looked up, smugly. "You want me to stop?"
Tom blinked, before looking straight ahead. "Yes."
Immediately, Harry's mouth tasted a sourness that caused him to recoil for a moment before pure glee overtook him.
"You like being a sap in public!" Harry accused, pointing a finger of his not preoccupied hand at his boyfriend. "Don't try and lie to me, Riddle, I see right through it! Er, well, taste right through it. We can do it back at Hogwarts too, it would really show the others. Matching t-shirts next? Oh, or maybe matching socks? Or—"
Before Harry could finish his long-winded monologue, Tom turned, put a hand on his shoulder, and connected their lips in a deep kiss.
At first, Harry tensed— woah, that was random— before he relaxed in the kiss, grabbing onto Tom's arms.
He forgot where they were until Tom broke away.
"Will you stop talking now?" Tom whispered.
"I'll do whatever you want me to do," Harry whispered back. It didn't dawn on him that he had said that until it was already said, and his face flushed.
Tom's eyes widened and Harry could see his ears redden. "I— yeah— Merlin, I love you," he said, reaching out and kissing Harry's cheek. "Let's go."
As Tom tugged him towards Gringotts, a still flustered Harry glanced at their connected hands.
"Can I swing our hands?"
"Harry."
"I choose to take that as a yes."
—
Gringotts was stunning. Well, it always was, if Harry were being honest. Except this time it wasn't filled with annoying eleven year olds, so it was so much more beautiful.
If not problematic.
"Y'know, considering Wizarding orphanages and orphanages in general are overcrowded with children and they have little to no funding, you would think the Wizarding World wouldn't spend all their money on a bank," Harry complained.
Tom nodded. "As an orphan, I've always been so annoyed with that. Have you seen pictures of Vatican City? Why does a pope need all that gold? Why can't they just donate? For people bragging about being so generous and giving, they're really just pretentious pricks who use money as a way to not only make themselves feel good, but also as a way to show their social standing."
"Maybe I'll turn into Robin Hood," Harry said. "Except I'm not a fox."
"What— Harry," Tom started, "Robin Hood isn't just the protagonist of a Disney movie."
Harry blinked. He actually didn't know that. "Uh, yeah, duh. I just wanted to tell you I wasn't a fox... y'know, just in case you were confused."
It was obvious that Tom could see through Harry's white lie, but he must have decided not to say anything. Harry sighed in relief.
The approached the main desk in the bank, the same dark mahogany wood but slightly taller than the rest. A goblin was already there, looking down at something on the desk.
Thankfully, Gringotts wasn't busy that day, and so they were the first in line. Must have something to do with the lack of pre-pubescent kids.
The goblin looked up and gazed at the two boys inquisitively. He said nothing.
Harry cleared his throat. "I'd like a Creature Inheritance blood test, please."
The goblin didn't move. He didn't even blink. If Harry hadn't seen his head move earlier, he'd have thought he was petrified.
"Name?" He asked.
"Harry Potter. And this is Tom Riddle."
Tom said nothing, but he did nod his head stoically. He was standing stiff with a resting bitch face and an air of superiority— Merlin, he's such a Capricorn.
The goblin looked at them for a long moment before walking out from behind the desk. "Follow me," he said, not even checking behind him to make sure the boys were following.
Tom and Harry gave each other a look before following the goblin down behind a wall.
Harry followed the gold accents down the hallway, until he felt Tom take a quick right. He turned his attention back down and into a very well lit room, with a large desk on the opposite wall.
Without being prompted, Tom and Harry sat in the two chairs at the desk. The goblin made his way over to the other side, sitting on the chair there.
"The name's Griphook," the goblin said. "I'm assuming you've received our letters?"
Letters? What letters? The only letters Harry ever gets are the ones from Uncles Padfoot and Moony, but never any from Gringotts.
He could feel Tom's eyes on him, so Harry looked over and shrugged his shoulders.
"No," Harry said. "I didn't know there were any letters, I never got any."
Griphook sighed. "Nothing surprising there, I thought it was suspicious that you never responded. The information in the letter included that someone took something from your vault without any clearance from you."
Harry blinked. "Huh? But Gringott's is—"
"Impenetrable?" Griphook supplied. "Yes, it should be. It just so happens that the wizard who took the item from your vault had an astoundingly good polyjuice potion and imperio'd the workers. We knew something was amiss when my coworkers woke up from the spell twenty minutes later."
Harry sat back in the chair, fiddling with his sleeves. Why would anyone steal from his vault? For money, he supposed. But Griphook didn't say money, he said item. Singular.
"What was it that they took?" Tom asked, seemingly catching on to the choice of words too. "Have you been working to catch them?"
"A cloak," Griphook said, "an invisibility cloak. We've been working with Aurors and going over surveillance footage, but it seems whoever did this casted a strong Confundus charm on anything that could have caught what had happened. There's no trace anywhere."
"And— let me guess— because it was only a cloak, the Aurors don't really care?" Tom asked.
Griphook nodded. "They only care that it doesn't happen again with something bigger next time. This won't even be put in The Daily Prophet."
Harry was silent. Another invisibility cloak? He already had one. Besides, Harry didn't even know he had a second in his vault.
But that brought up another question— someone else knew it was in there, not Harry. They only left with the cloak, meaning that was what they were looking for.
But why? Harry couldn't fathom anyone who would go to great lengths to get an invisibility cloak. Sure, they were rare, but stealing from Gringott's was really risky unless you were a very powerful wizard.
"So how do you know I'm the real Harry Potter?" Harry asked.
"You asked for a Creature Inheritance test," Griphook responded. "No thief would ever ask for that. It would show immediately that you are not who you say you are. Now, if you don't mind, I'll go get the equipment."
With that, Griphook got up, walked around the desk, and left the room, closing and locking the door behind him.
Immediately, Tom got up and started to pace the floors.
"Okay, what the fuck?" Harry asked. "Who would do all of that for a cloak? And why do I have two cloaks? And why haven't I been getting their letters?"
"It's obviously someone who knew there was a cloak in there, so they must have known your parents, because you had no idea," Tom supplied. "But who..?"
Tom looked deep in thought, and every few seconds he would pause in his pacing, look at the wall, nod, then continue walking. It was strange to Harry, but it was obvious he was coming to conclusions, so he said nothing about it.
"Harry, I'm going to say something and I promise I'm not being biased."
Harry blinked. "Umm... okay?"
"I think it's Dumbledore."
"Huh?" Harry frowned. "No. I mean, sure, he knew my parents and might have known about the second cloak, but what was the motive?"
Tom sat back down in his seat, angled so he was looking Harry straight on, holding both his hands.
"Think about it. The letters never got to you, and absolutely no student can mess with that, so it must have been a professor who has control of the wards and what can get through. Then, the powerful spells. Obviously no student would be able to pull that off, or even half the staff."
"Okay, but that still leaves half the staff."
"Didn't Dumbledore give you your invisibility cloak?"
Harry nodded.
"Then it adds up! If he knew your parents enough to get an invisibility cloak from them, he most likely heard about the second one, too. He kept the first cloak for about ten years after they died, don't you think that's suspicious?"
"But what's the difference between that invisibility cloak and the one that I own?" Harry asked. "They both make you invisible."
"The one that got stolen was the infamous invisibility cloak from the Three Brothers legend, I'd wager."
"Uh huh," Harry nodded. "Just a quick question— what's that?"
Tom paused. "You— you never read the story?"
"No?"
"Okay, well, in a nutshell, three brothers outwit death and in return death granted them each a gift. One wished for the Elder wand, the most powerful wand ever made, another asked for a resurrection stone, a stone that can bring back the dead, and another asked for an invisibility cloak."
Harry snorted. "You're telling me the Wizarding world has their own mythology? Is death, like, a god? Is this real? I—"
Tom leaned in and covered Harry's lips in a kiss, long enough that Harry's eyes began to close. When they separated, Tom smiled.
"This isn't important right now," he said.
Harry scoffed. "Not important? Yes it is— I'm on a tangent. Right. Got it."
"It's a belief that if the Elder Wand were real, it would be Dumbledore's. What if he wants to get all three? That'd why he spent so long with that cloak before giving it to you— trying to check it and make sure that it definitely wasn't an actual Deathly Hallow before passing it down to you."
Harry thought for a moment. Yeah, that sounded accurate. Except for one thing.
"Then why did Dumbledore practically push me into getting a Creature Inheritance test done?" Harry questioned.
"That I'm not sure of," Tom admitted. "But I have a theory. If he told you about the theft himself, it would incriminate him seeing as he'd be the only one other than Gringott's employees and the Aurors who knew. He wanted you to know, though, so he pushed you here."
"But what would the point in all that be? Why would he need me to know?"
"There's multiple reasons," Tom said. "For one, he could pull off stealing the cloak from Gringott's and not get caught, which would definitely be an ego boost. Also, if he wants to keep the cloak, he may actually be able to convince you to let him keep it by saying you already have one. Especially if he plans on framing someone else and to pretend to find them. That way, you may be more likely to trust him because it would look like he was looking out for you."
"I'd definitely fall for that," Harry cut in, admitting it.
"Yes, my darling, I know," Tom said, taking one of their linked hands and kissing Harry's knuckle. "But it makes sense. I—"
With that, Griphook came back in with the supplies. Tom casted Harry a look as if to say later, before the two righted themselves in their chairs.
"Alright then," Griphook said, sitting back down. He laid out a piece of parchment and a tiny gold needle. "I need you to prick your finger and let the blood drip onto the parchment. Anywhere is fine, it will dissolve."
Tom shifted in his seat. It was obvious that something was making him uncomfortable, and Griphook turned his attention towards him.
"A creature?"
"Yes."
"Mate?"
"Yes? Why—"
Griphook snapped his fingers, and suddenly gold chains erupted from the ground and strapped Tom to the chair.
It happened so fast that neither Tom or Harry had any time to react to it. Tom, though, reacted first, and started struggling against the confinement.
"What the hell?" He exclaimed.
"I don't fancy being killed because you see your mate's blood and assume he's in pain," was all Griphook said, turning to Harry.
Harry gave him a weird look, but he decided just to get on with the test. He pricked his left index finger, wincing lightly at the slight sharp sting.
Tom sat up straight in his chair, watching as intensely as Griphook was at the droplet of blood now forming at the tip of Harry's finger, about to drip off.
"It's just a tiny poke," Harry said, trying to ease Tom slightly. It seemed to work, because the tenseness in Tom's shoulders went away.
The blood dripped, and it stayed on the parchment for a moment before fading away. Nothing showed up for a few seconds before words assembled.
Witnesses: Tom Marvolo Riddle and Griphook.
Name; Harry James Potter.
Father; James Potter (deceased).
Mother; Lily Potter (deceased).
Paternal grandfather; Fleamont Potter (deceased).
Paternal grandmother; Euphemia Potter (deceased).
Maternal grandfather; Isaac Evans (deceased).
Maternal grandmother; Karen Evans (deceased).
Maternal aunt; Petunia Dursley.
Maternal cousin; Dudley Dursley.
Notable Ancestors;
Ignotus Peverell.
Linfred of Stinchcombe.
Heir to;
Potter.
Creature Abilities;
Parseltongue.
Creature Inheritance;
Veela.
Date of birth; 31/07/80.
Harry took a moment to pour over everything there. He could feel Tom's presence looming over him a few moments later, and figured that Griphook set him free after the blood disappeared.
In the corner of his ear, he heard Tom whisper to himself. "What the fuck?" He said.
"Excuse me?" Griphook said in response.
"You— you can speak parseltongue?" He asked, now gripping Harry's shoulder. It was bordering on too tight.
Harry shrugged, looking over at his mate, who looked ready to explode. "I guess so, but I don't even know what parseltongue is."
"It's the ability to talk to snakes," Tom said, looking at Harry with what seemed to be a new admiration. "I can. How can you?"
"Sometimes," Griphook cut in, "when a mate bond is, or will be powerful, they can share magical abilities. For example, parseltongue. Or even a creature who is also an Animagus can make their mate an Animagus as well, granted with different animals." He paused. "I've never seen this happen in person before."
Tom and Harry shared a look. Harry wasn't completely sure what the look meant, but it definitely meant something.
"Just a question," Tom started, looking back at Griphook. "Has Harry ever had an Inheritance test before?Perhaps as a baby?"
This time, Harry knew exactly what look he was giving Tom. Confusion. What the fuck was he talking about?
Griphook frowned in thought. "Not with me. Although unlikely, I'll still check."
With that, he turned to his drawers and searched through the files. While he was distracted, Harry turned to Tom.
"Why did you ask that?"
"Just a theory," was all Tom said in return.
Harry wanted to ask more, but decided to do that later. Instead, he turned back to Griphook, who seemed to have found what he was looking for.
He set the parchment on the desk.
"Yes, it seems you have," Griphook said. "At the age of... well, your parents were present."
He must have been only a few months old, then. Harry stared curiously at the parchment.
"Who else was there?" He asked.
"Your parents, Nagnok, and Albus Dumbledore."
Immediately, Tom shifted in his chair next to Harry, and suddenly he knew that that was the answer he had been looking for.
If Harry had already had an Inheritance test, one that Dumbledore had been present for, then why was the Headmaster so adamant that Harry should get one done now? Technically it meant that he didn't actually need one. It really only confirmed what Tom had said about Harry needing to know about the thievery.
"Thank you, Griphook," Harry said, standing up. "Is that all that needs to be done?"
"Yes, you're all finished. I'll just put the date in the corner and you'll be good to go as soon as you sign at the bottom right corner," Griphook said, writing May 26th, 1997 at the top of the parchment.
He gave Harry the quill, and Harry quickly signed his name at the bottom— it looked like chicken scratches, but when did it not?
With that, Tom and Harry made their way out of the room, closing the door behind them as to Griphook's request.
"Did we just—"
"We'll talk about it when we get out of here."
—
About twenty minutes later, the duo were sitting at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor. Tom had a single vanilla scoop in a cup while Harry had one scoop of chocolate and one scoop of rocky road in a cone together.
"I have no idea how you're going to eat all of that before it starts melting," Tom said, picking up some of his ice cream with a tiny plastic spoon.
"It's not that warm out, I'm sure people think we're crazy for having ice cream," Harry said. "Besides, I'm sure you'll be surprised at what my tongue can do."
It made Tom almost choke on his ice cream, but Harry thought it was totally worth it.
"Anyway," Tom said. "Onto what happened at Gringott's."
"I only have one problem— why would he tell me to get a blood test when, not only did he know, but also because he apparently stole from there? Was it just to get me in Gringott's?"
They had agreed not to use Dumbledore's name in public, seeing as it would probably draw attention. Besides, they both knew who they were talking about.
"I still believe he was trying to get you to trust him, I haven't changed my theory on that. I just don't think he foresaw me asking if you had had a blood test already. Also, the recommendation in and of itself could be indicative of him trying to make you think he cared about you."
Harry slurped some more of his ice cream. "Well, it's a good thing you were with me then.
"Alright, so. He stole the cloak because he wanted to see if that was the real one instead of the fake he ended up giving me. The theft is not being publicized, so he had to push me to Gringott's for something so that I could know about the theft, which just happened to be an Inheritance test. And he thought that that would show me that he cares because I'd see him recommending a blood test to me as looking out for me, and to get my trust he'd plant the cloak on someone and tip them off to the Aurors, and I'd let him keep it?"
"Yes," Tom said, taking another bite of his vanilla ice cream.
"Merlin," Harry groaned, letting his head hit the table. "If we're right, then that is one hell of a complicated plan."
Tom hummed. There was a silence for a few moments, but Harry still wasn't lifting his head.
"Why does he care so much about getting my trust?"
"I have no idea," Tom sighed. "He's never trusted me, so maybe he wants you to spy on me to make sure I'm not up to something? Maybe just so he could get your cloak? Because if he was caught with it, he'd get arrested?
Despite his new mood, Harry chuckled. "Does that make me James Bond?"
This whole revelation really was tearing Harry down. It felt like shit, knowing one of your mentors actually might not give a shit about you.
"Are you okay?" Tom asked. Then, he rolled his eyes. "Actually, that's a terrible question, I already know the answer. Tell me what you're thinking."
Harry sighed. "I thought he cared about me. If this is true, I... I don't know. It's a lot."
Tom reached out and grabbed Harry's hand, pressing a kiss to it. "I know, my darling. I'd try to see the positives, but I know you'd be able to tell I'm lying. I just want you to know that I'll always be there for you."
Smiling, Harry half-hazardously threw the rest of his ice cream in the garbage next to their table. When he turned his attention back to Tom, he smiled.
"I know," he said, "thank you. And I'm always here for you too, you know. You don't need to have a cold exterior all the time."
To that, Tom quirked his mouth slightly. "Not with you."
Harry smiled and looked down slightly. "So, talking to snakes, huh? Since when could you do that, or is it some Slytherin thing I don't know anything about?"
"... Technically, yes," Tom said. *I am Slytherin's heir, and anyone from that lineage can naturally speak to snakes.*
*Cool,* Harry responded. *Then why don't you have a pet snake? You definitely should.*
Instead of answering, Tom just stared, transfixed.
"Tom?" Harry asked, waving his hand in front of Tom's eyes. "Earth to Tom?"
He blinked once before reaching out and grabbing Harry's hand like a viper, cradling it in both of his.
"Harry, you just spoke parseltongue."
Harry rolled his eyes playfully. "Yeah, nice try. There's no way."
"No, seriously. I just spoke parseltongue to you and you spoke right back to me with no problem."
"Huh?"
"Holy Merlin," Tom whispered. "You don't know when you speak it?"
Harry shrugged. "Never talked to a snake, I guess. Well, aside from your friends."
It seemed Tom decided not to mention that last remark. *Well, it seems we have our own secret language now,* Tom said, *because that's what I'm speaking in right now, not English.*
Harry's eyes widened. "Oh, uh... huh. Listen, that's cool, and I'm sure I'll be even more amazed later, but I think today has had too many realizations. Can we, maybe, rain-check our day together to tomorrow? I think I might explode."
Tom nodded, standing up and offering his hand to Harry. "Of course. Tomorrow we won't even worry about a thing— just you and me in Hogsmeade."
"Oh, thank Merlin," Harry sighed, pleased. He took Tom's hand and stood up. "My letter to my uncles tonight is going to be insane."
With that, they apparated away.