In potions the next day, Sydney had a great prank planned, and for the first time, it wasn't for nothing. I was sitting patiently beside Harry, waiting for the right time to give Sydney the signal. Snape was still giving the instructions, so I knew it was a bad time.
I waited quite patiently, not making too much of a racket, or causing too much attention to myself. I felt quite like a Ravenclaw, to be honest, sitting and being an angel student, and working hard. Harry and I had made quite a perfect potion so far, and we could have passed off as Hermione.
Halfway through the lesson, when everyone had already started the potion, I knew it was a good time to give Sydney the signal. I moved my arm and pushed my textbook, which was lying open beside my cauldron, onto the floor with a loud bang. I bent down to grab it, muttering a few 'sorrys' for effect. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sydney grab a Dr Filibusters firework out of her pocket.
She tapped the firework with her wand, and with perfect aim, it landed in Goyle's cauldron. Once it went off, the potion started to fly everywhere. Snape ran over to where Goyle sat a few rows behind me, and I took it as my chance to get up and run into Snape's personal stores.
I ran around as quickly as I could, grabbing everything we would need. I could hear screaming from in the classroom, from all the students who had been hit with the swelling solution. I stuffed all of what we would need into my pockets. In only a minute's time, I had collected everything we would need, and I ran to the door.
Am I clear? I asked Harry in my head.
He's still at Goyle's cauldron.
I ran back into the potions classroom and slid into my seat. Snape indeed was still bent over Goyle's cauldron, but it seemed the firework had burnt out, as the potion had stopped flying. Snape, with a look that could kill, looked to Harry and I when he pulled the twisted remains of the firework out of the cauldron. Everyone had fallen silent by now, watching carefully with ears or hands twice the size usual.
"If I find out who did this," he drawled slowly. "I shall do everything to make sure they are expelled."
I cast a wary glance to Sydney across the classroom, my pockets seeming to weigh more than they had before. I sighed, knowing it was worth it if we were to figure out who the heir was. Maybe, even if Snape did find out it was us; we wouldn't be expelled if Bertram was the heir.
"Everyone who was hit, come to my desk. I have the reversal potion."
I couldn't hold back a laugh as Bertram ran by with his hands over his face, unable to cover his nose which was three times the side of usual. Ron ran up, one of his ears weighing his head down. Goyle had gotten the brunt of it, and his head was the size of a microwave oven.
Once everyone had sat back down, Snape scanned the scene once more. I put on what I hope looked like a confused look, but Snape saw right through it. His black eyes were locked with my eyes, which I had shifted to look like my mothers for the day. I was sure if I had left my eyes in their natural state, like my fathers, I would have been expelled on the spot.
Snape simply raised his eyebrows, and turned away. I let out a breath, and turned to Harry. I smirked, and he shook his head, muttering something about Slytherins. We finished the potion, which was perfect, according to Snape (saying this to Harry seemed to cause him both mental and physical pain).
The bell rang soon after, and we all gathered up our textbooks and supplies. I stuffed my hands in my pockets, hoping it seemed less obvious that my pockets were stuffed full. I felt all the potion ingredients, and shot one last wary look to Snape, who noticed. I gave him a smile, to which he nodded.
Once we were out of potions class, which was our last lesson for the day, Hermione, Harry, Ron, Sydney and I all ran straight to moaning Myrtle's bathroom (making sure, of course, Percy the Prefect was nowhere to be seen).
When the door was shut behind us, I breathed a sigh of relief. I laughed then, and Sydney started to laugh too. I high fived her and Hermione gave us both stern looks, as she took the ingredients from me. I rolled my eyes amusedly.
"Come on, Hermione," I laughed. "Didn't you see the size of Goyle's head?"
*
Tuesday evening, it seemed, could not have come quick enough. Monday took a month to pass (especially history of magic). Tuesday's lessons seemed to take four times longer than they usually did, even Transfiguartion, which was my favourite lesson.
When the final bell finally ran, Ron and I ran up the staircase, eager to get to the Gryffindor common room. I did hear Sydney and Harry calling me back, and I'm sure Ron did too, but I paid them no mind. We only slowed somewhere on the third floor when Snape caught us and took 10 points from Gryffindor (I got off with a warning, to which Ron wasn't very happy).
When Harry, Hermione and Sydney had finally caught up, all five of us were very out of breath. Sydney loosened her green and silver tie and unbuttoned the top button of her shirt, still breathing heavily. Once she had caught her breath somewhat, she threw me a glare.
"The duelling club doesn't start for two hours," she panted. "There was no need to run up seven flights of stairs."
Ron and I simply gave sheepish grins, and went to sulk in the common room for an hour to wait for the duelling club. We all pulled our potions homework out of our bags to try and pass the time, but it only took ten minutes, and I wasn't sure whether I should be happy or angry about that.
"I'm going to play Quidditch," I decided, determined to fight off my boredom.
"Quidditch?" I heard from the other end of the Gryffindor common room. "Did someone say Quidditch?"
"Yeah, I did," I said, finding myself face to face with none other than Oliver Wood. "Care to join?"
Oliver, of course, agreed. Sydney, when I asked, declined, saying she had late work she needed to finish. I waited impatiently as Oliver ran back up to his dorm to grab his broom and his robes, before we headed down to the dungeons so I could do the same.
Oliver chose to wait outside the Common Room, which wasn't unusual for Gryffindors, who seemed to have an unspoken fear of us and our common room. I quickly as possible grabbed everything I would need, before dashing back out to the corridor where Oliver (very impatiently) stood.
The two of us practically sprinted to our respective dressing rooms, where we jumped into our robes. I made my hair into a short cut, almost matching Harry's, so it wouldn't whip me in the face. I ran back out to the pitch, and did a few laps, letting the wind rush through my now short hair.
I urged my Nimbus 2001 to go as fast as it possibly could, and the world around me became blurry. After a few more laps, Oliver and I tossed around the Quaffle and had a few competitions to see who could find the snitch faster (to which I won every time).
I forgot all about the duelling club, remembering not even when Sydney, Harry, Hermione and Ron came running across the pitch. I raised my eyebrows and tossed the Quaffle to Wood, and flying down to where the four stood.
"What is it?" I said.
The four all exchanged incredulous looks quickly. In that moment, I remembered exactly why I had come out to the pitch in the first place. I had come out to the pitch to pass the time to the start of-
"THE DUELLING CLUB!" Harry, Hermione, Sydney and Ron all screamed in unison.
I didn't even change back into my regular robes as I sprinted to the dressing room and locked up my broom. We ran to the duelling club in the Great Hall, to which we were obviously late, as Lockhart and Snape were already stood on a stage along the wall of the room, wands pointed at one and other.
I pushed my way to the front, not paying any mind to the grunts and complaints I was getting. Some first years simply noticed the green and silver that Sydney and I both wore, and stepped aside. When we were right next to the stage, Harry gave me a glare, and a 'just because you're a Slytherin' statement.
I rolled my eyes and turned my attention to Lockhart, today in robes of deep plum, and Snape, in his usual black cloak of course. I smirked at the look of loathing that Snape had directed at Lockhart, the same one I supposed I had directed at Lockhart on occasion.
"-neither of us will be aiming to kill of course," Lockhart was saying.
I laughed, screaming an 'I wouldn't bet on the Lockhart' and Snape's head turned slightly towards where I stood. I tilted my head to the side, narrowed my eyes and gave a cunning smirk, nodding in acknowledgement. His smirk grew even more and I watched as his knuckles turned white from the tight grip he had on his wand.
Snape's lip was curling with intense hatred, and I laughed aloud. I was on my tiptoes in excitement to see what Snape had in store for Lockhart. Hermione was also on the ends of her toes, but I could hear her muttering about Lockhart's well being.
"Expelliarmus," Snape said with a smirk.
Lockhart's wand flew out of his hand, and into Snape's. As for Lockhart, he flew backwards and landed on his arse, right out of view. Ron, Harry and I all laughed, high fiving one and other and, along with Sydney, cheered for Snape (something we never thought we'd do).
"Oh no," Hermione was muttering nervously. "Is he okay?"
"Who cares?" laughed Harry and I in unison.
Lockhart's head popped up in the middle of a chattery, nervous, group of girls, all of whom seemed screech in relief when they noticed he was alright. They all swooned when Lockhart turned to them thanking them 'for their kindness and worry'.
His usually perfect blonde hair was disheveled, and his robes were crooked. His too white smile faltered as he stepped back onto the stage, and caught sight of his hair in the reflection of Harry's glasses. His hands both snapped up to his head, trying to fix his hair.
He walked towards Snape for his wand flinching away and covering his face when Snape moved. A smug smirk seemed to be growing on Snape's face, as Lockhart fearfully took his wand back. He moved as far away from Snape as he could, turning to the crowd around him, but keeping a wary eye on the Potions Professor.
"Ah- a Disarming Charm. As you saw, I lost my wand. Very excellent idea to show them that, Professor Snape, but if I do say so myself, it was very obvious what you were about to do," Lockhart said, while desperately trying to fix his hair.
Snape's murderous glare looked as though it could kill, and there was no doubt in my mind that if Lockhart hadn't said then that that was 'enough demonstrating' Snape would have killed him on the next turn.
"I'm going to come amongst you now and put you all into pairs. Professor Snape if you'd like to help me."
Lockhart and Snape were moving amongst the crowd of students. Pairs of students were becoming obvious amongst the crowd, and many of them looked nervous as they brought wands of all different sizes and colours out from in their robes.
Snape arrived to where I stood with Harry, Ron, Hermione and Sydney. His gaze settled first on Harry and Ron, who both returned the slight glare they were getting. Snape gave a smug smile, and his upper lip curled.
"Time to split up the dream team, I think," Snape said, with a cold smile. I snorted, earning myself glares from the three Gryffindors. "Weasley, go partner Finnegan."
Ron walked over to where Seamus was standing with Dean, explaining to Seamus. I saw Seamus give Dean a sorry smile, and walk away with Ron. Harry stepped to the left closer to Hermione, who looked relieved. Snape's cold grin grew wider.
"I don't think so. Mr Potter go partner Zambini. Granger, Bulstrode. Marshall, you can partner Malfoy," Snape's gaze finally settled on me, and I cast a glance over at Bertram, wondering how many spells it would take to make the kid cry. Snape, seeming to notice my cold growing smirk towards Bertram, gave a cold grin. "Ms Potter, let's see what you can make of Bertram, shall we? Bertram! Over here!"
Harry and Hermione's jaws dropped. I smirked, waved goodbye cockily, and eyes Bertram coldly as he walked over to our head of house. I cracked my knuckles, glad to see that he seemed slightly more nervous without his two bodygoons Crabbe and Goyle.
"Face your partners!" Lockhart said. "On my count of three, you will aim to disarm only! We don't want any accidents."
I easily knew that wasn't going to happen. In the back of my head, I was running over all the hexes and jinxes I had read in the book I had purchased in Diagon Alley. I smirked again, ready for anything that Bertram had ready to bring.
"Three, two, one!"
But Bertram and I had both started at two. My stinging jinx, though, had very little effect now that I felt that I had been hit over the head with a saucepan. I stumbled a bit, holding my head. Regaining my balance quickly, I looked up to Bertram with a look of loathing.
"Disarm only!" Lockhart yelled.
"Impedimenta!" I then screamed.
Bertram froze unable to move. I knew it wouldn't last long, so I quickly racked my brain for another hex or jinx that I could use before Bertram regained movement again. Once deciding on a jinx, I slashed my wand through the air.
"Ebublio!"
"Stop! Stop!" Lockhart was still crying.
Bertram, just as he regained all movement, was entrapped in a giant bubble. He banged on the sides of it, but with no luck. He screamed a spell that I couldn't hear through the layer of bubble that separated us, and the bubble burst with a loud pop.
"Tarantegella!" Bertram spat.
"I said disarming only!"
My legs then started moving uncontrollably. Bertram began to laugh. I fixed my hateful glare right into his cold blue eyes that were still sparkling with amusement. I felt loathing building in my chest and I pointed my wand at him once again.
"Rictumsempra!" I growled.
Bertram doubled over in laugher, falling to his knees on the floor. Even though I probably looked quite stupid with my legs dancing around out of control, I crossed my arms and smirked smugly. Bertram, although still howling with laughter from the tickling charm I had hit him with, gave me a deadly look.
"Finite incantatem," Snape said lazily, after Lockhart's many shouts of 'no, stop' went without compliance.
A green smoke hung over the scene. Ron was apologizing to Seamus for whatever his broken wand had done this time. Harry was lying on the ground, and Zambini offered him a hesitant hand. Sydney was smugly twirling Tracey's wand in her fingers. Hermione and Millicent were the only ones still moving.
Millicent Bulstrode had Hermione in a headlock, and Hermione was grunting and struggling to get away. Their wands were laying on the floor, and Hermione's had somehow or other, been snapped in half. I sighed, and took Sydney to free Hermione.
Once Bulstrode was pinned on the floor underneath me, begging for me to let her go, Hermione, with tears in her eyes, found her broken wand on the floor. McGonagall was called, and Hermione was taken to Dumbledore.
Many students were still panting on the floor, and a few were bleeding. Lockhart made no move to help them, only saying to 'pinch it hard, it will stop bleeding in a second'. I rolled my eyes at the ridiculous 'Professor' and with the help a seventh year, helped a few students who were bleeding.
"Okay, now we should show you how to block unfriendly spells," Lockhart said. "How about we get a pair of volunteers? Longbottom, Finch-Fletchley, how about you?"
"A bad idea, Lockhart," Snape said, a sneer growing over his face. "Longbottom causes devesation with the simplest of spells. We'll be sending what's left of Finch-Fletchley in a matchbox."
Neville's round face turned a bright shade of pink. Justin Finch-Fletchley gave Neville a sorry smile, and patted him on the shoulder. Snape was looking through the crowd, and when my gaze met his, I raised my eyebrows.
"How about Bertram and Potter?"
"Yes! Mr Bertram, Mr Potter!" Lockhart called.
My heart dropped.
"Ms Potter, Lockhart. I think Mr Potter may need to help Finnegan. Weasley's broken wand seems to have done more damage," Snape drawled.
Bertram and I stepped up onto the platform. Bertram walked towards where Snape stood, leaving me needing to go towards Lockhart. Lockhart's overly-white smile faltered again when he saw me. I knew Lockhart didn't like me, and I was glad to have it that way.
"Right then. Now when Mr Bertram casts his spell just twirl your wand like this," Lockhart waved his wand around ridiculously before dropping it. "My wand seems to be a little over-excited."
Bertram wasn't even talking to Snape. Snape stood off to one side while Bertram had fixated his gaze on me once again. I contorted my face into one of deep loathing, and brought my wand out and squeezed the handle tightly.
"Don't worry Potter," Lockhart said. "Just do what I did."
"What?" Harry said from the side of the platform. "Drop her wand?"
I grinned without worry, winking at Harry. Lockhart, with no success, was trying to explain to Harry what he had done. I walked closer to Bertram, and held my wand at the ready.
You don't even know how to block a spell! Harry said.
Harry, I won't need to. I'll just hit him first.
And if you don't?
Then I'll hit him second. And I'll hit him harder than he hit me.
"Three, two, one, go!" Lockhart shouted.
"Serpensortia!" Bertram shouted before I even had a chance to open my mouth.
A long black snake exploded out of the end of Bertram's wand. I watched as the snake raised its upper half and poised to strike. Screams erupted from the crowd, and everyone stepped back. No one made any move to do anything, except Harry, who had taken out his wand and stepped onto the stage beside me.
"Allow me!" Lockhart said, brandishing his wand. I sighed, knowing absolutely nothing good could come from this. "I'll get rid of it!"
When Lockhart waved his wand, the snake didn't disappear. Instead, there was a loud, echoing bang, and the snake flew ten feet in the air. When it landed, in was more enraged than it had been before. Now, its rage seemed to be focused on Justin Finch-Fletchley.
Without thinking, I started to walk towards the snake. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Harry was doing the same. I wasn't sure what was making me do it, or why I was doing it, I was just aware that I was doing it.
"Back off," Harry said to the snake.
"Leave him," I said.
Unexplainably, the snake dropped to the floor, locking eyes with Harry and me. It seemed now that it was about as docile as a thick black garden hose. I seemed as if it could be a kid's household pet. Now that it had backed off, I seemed to snap back into reality, and I stepped back proudly.
No one seemed to think I had done anything good, though. Snape waved his wand, and the snake disappeared, but he was eyeing both Harry and I with a curious, calculating look. All the students had backed further away from the platform than they had when the snake appeared.
"C'mon," I heard, and I felt a hand grab my arm. "Let's go."
Ron was dragging me from the room, and Sydney was doing the same to Harry. They dragged us into the nearest empty classroom before they let us go. Harry and I were eyeing them incredulously. Ron even seemed to be slightly scared.
"Why didn't you tell us?" Ron asked.
"Tell you what?" Harry said.
"That you're a Parselmouth!" Sydney practically screamed.
I raised my eyebrows and the newest magical word that I once again didn't know the meaning of. A swift glance at Harry let me know that he also had no idea what that word meant. Sydney rolled her eyes in annoyance.
"What's a Parselmouth?" I dared to ask.
"You can talk to snakes!" Ron exclaimed.
"I know," said both Harry and I at the same time.
"I mean,' Harry continued without me. "That's only the second time we've done it. We accidentally set a boa constrictor on our cousin at the Zoo couple years ago."
"Long story short, it told us he'd never seen Brazil, but one of us set it free without meaning to. That's before we knew we were magic," I finished.
"A boa constrictor told you it had never seen Brazil?" Ron repeated, paling slightly.
I was confused as to why he and Sydney seemed to be so frightened. It couldn't be that uncommon, or hard to learn, if Harry and I learned to do it without meaning to. Loads of students here could probably do it, and that's exactly what I told Ron.
"Oh no they can't," Ron laughed darkly. "It's a really rare gift. This is bad."
"Why?" I groaned. "Why is it bad?"
"If we hadn't told that snake not to attack Justin-" Harry was cut off by another incredulous look from Ron.
"Oh is that what you said to it?"
"What-? Ron you heard us!" Harry argued.
"I heard you talking Parseltongue! Snake language! That's what everyone else heard too! It sounded like you were egging the snake on or something! That's why Justin panicked. It was creepy," Ron shivered.
Harry gaped. He looked to me for guidance, but I was just as confused as he. I'd never heard of someone learning a language without knowing it. In muggle school students learned how to speak another language as one of their lessons, but no one had ever taught me how to speak snake.
"But- How could we speak another language without knowing?" Harry stuttered.
Ron shook his head, but he was looking at Sydney as though someone had died. I almost screamed in frustration.
"What does it matter how we did it, as long as Justin didn't have to join the Headless Hunt?" I exclaimed exasperatedly.
"It matters," Sydney said quietly, "because Salazar Slytherin was a Parselmouth. That's why the symbol for Slytherin house is a serpent. You might as well waltz around and introduce yourself as the heir of Slytherin, Lily, because that's what it looks like."
"Yeah, mate. The whole school's going to think your his great-great-great-grandson or something," Ron said in a hushed voice.
"But I'm not," Harry said, a hint of panic laced into his voice.
"You'll find that hard to prove, Harry," I sighed. "He lived about a thousand years ago. For all we know, we could be."
*
I couldn't sleep that night. It wasn't that I didn't love being in Slytherin, but the fact that Harry and I could be his descendants bothered me. Salazar Slytherin was quite simply evil. He had tried to rid the school of anyone that wasn't pureblooded. Muggleborns were never sorted into Slytherin house because of it.
It also didn't make any sense that Harry and I could be descendents of Slytherin. Harry was in Gryffindor, and if he were a great descendent of Slytherin, he would be in Slytherin. In the back of my mind though, I remembered Harry's mutters of 'not Slytherin' when he had the sorting hat on.
I groaned and threw myself out of bed, my bare feet hitting the cold dungeon floor with a clap. I took the invisibility cloak, which I still had from a few days ago, and threw it over my head, grabbing my cloak and slipping my feet into my converse.
I exited the dormitory, the door click sounding like a gunshot in the silence of the rest of the room. I carefully and quietly made my way through the common room, where a Prefect was sat half asleep, and out the stone door into the corridor.
I quietly as possible made my way through the silent corridors, passing nearly a dozen Professors on my journey. I found myself in the entrance hall, and I was suddenly torn between the entrance hall doors, and the kitchens.
Quickly deciding I'd prefer the cool night air rather than the stuffy kitchen, I exited the front doors, surprised I didn't set off any sort of alarms. I breathed in the crisp night air, and I ran from the front doors.
Near the lakeside, I tucked the invisibility cloak safely under a rock, before deciding the so far snowless November was too cold for me. I shivered once, shifting and heading towards the forest. I headed immediately for the clearing Sydney and I had discovered, and when I arrived, I shifted back and lay in the soft grass beside the pond, curling up underneath my cloak.
"Lily Potter."
John Doe, the black haired Ravenclaw, was making his way into the clearing. He stood slightly in the shadows of the trees, and gave me an innocent smile. I closed my eyes in annoyance, wanting to just be alone, or at least with someone who would actually care.
"What is it, John?"
"Ah, we're still using that name, are we Lily Potter?"
"Okay! Come on! Quit using my name every time you speak! Either go away, or stop and have a normal conversation with me! How'd you find me anyway? You follow me?" I sneered.
John looked quite shocked at my sudden outburst. He took another step back into the trees, but came around closer to where I was, without leaving the shadows. His look was curious and calculating, a look I was getting from a lot of people now.
"Alright. I heard you're a Parselmouth. That's quite a gift," he said slowly, as if trying to make conversation.
"So I've heard," I sighed, leaning back and closing my eyes. I heard John move up and settle into the grass beside me. "Everyone seems to think I'm the Heir of Slytherin now."
John was silent for a moment, but I could still feel his presence beside me. I didn't even bother to open my eyes, I just let the light of the full moon barely penetrate my eyelids, creating colours against the blackness.
"You must understand their speculation," John mused. "I mean, you do have the gift that Salazar Slytherin did, and you are in fact a Slytherin. Forgive me, but, it doesn't sound like an unlikely story."
"I know," I sighed, my breath making a cloud in the air. "That's what makes it so frustrating. It's so hard for me to try and prove it wrong because it sounds like such a likely story."
"What else are they saying?"
"Well, I hate Mrs Norris, she's caught me doing things I shouldn't be a countless number of times, and she was petrified first, as a 'test subject' so they say. I was found at the scene of the crime, even if I was with four others. Then Colin Creevy, the little Gryffindor boy was petrified. I don't particularly love how he's always trying to take pictures of me, and it's annoying quite frankly, so I petrified him too," I laughed humourlessly. "My Quidditch gloves were found at the scene. Now not only that but I'm a Slytherin Parselmouth."
John sighed. I heard him moving around, and I could practically feel his calculating gaze on me. It didn't bother me though, as it seemed that he was trying to find a way to help, rather than find more ways I could be blamed for the attacks.
"Your brother though, Harry Potter, he's in Gryffindor. If you were the Heir of Slytherin, he would be also, so wouldn't he have been sorted into Slytherin as well?"
I shrugged, finally opening my eyes, but letting them rest on the stars rather than the boy beside me. I watched at the stars sparkled brightly through the dark sky. I sighed and took a quick glance at John's face, before looking back up.
"Sure, that's what I thought too. But, just because you're the descendent of someone, doesn't mean you're exactly like them. Harry could be the descendent of Slytherin, but he doesn't have enough traits of Slytherin house," I said slowly, and carefully.
John nodded. He opened his mouth to speak, but shut it again soon after. He seemed to be thinking hard, and his concentrated thinking face matched his Ravenclaw robes. I touched the soft grass patiently, and gave a slight sigh in frustration.
"It seems you've got a problem on your hands then, Lily. This sounds hard to disprove. But, Lily, the truth will always reveal itself, hopefully sooner than later."
I nodded, and neither of us made any move to speak, or many any form of communication at all. Glancing down at my watch, I noticed it was already almost two o'clock in the morning. I yawned once and John seemed to take notice.
"Lily, you should go in and sleep. You've got classes tomorrow, no?"
"Yeah. I guess I'll go in and try and get some shut eye and I could use the warm indoors. See you around, John?"
"Bet on it," some of John's usual cockiness had come back as he stood up and walked to the forests edge. "See you soon, Lily."
I smiled and waited until he was out of sight, before shifting and running back to the lake, where I grabbed my father's invisibility cloak out from under the rock where I had stashed it. I threw it over my head and made my way back into my dorm, where I climbed back into bed and fell asleep easily, but not before wondering why I didn't ask John his name.
A/N: Please follow my friend booksb00ksbooks and read her book. It is also a Harry's twin fanfiction. Emily Gould is based off of her.