“Wow! Polyjuice potion is dead brilliant, sir!” he said, lisping slightly around the unfamiliar teeth.

“Indeed it is, Harry” said Severus, adjusting the waistband of his cords to fit his beer-belly more comfortably. “Now, who are you?”

“I am Ben Jones, I’m thirteen years old and I am home schooled by my parents, Lola and Evan Jones in Fairfield, Maine. I am visiting my muggle Grandpa Jones who lives in Caerphilly in South Wales.” Harry parroted.

“Well done.” Severus said, tapping Harry lightly on the head with his wand.

“Why did you… Oh, wow! I sound American! Oh this is so cool!” enthused Harry.

Severus smirked “Come on, now, grandson of mine, or we’ll miss the shops.”

Harry beamed at the blue eyed, grizzle-bearded, old man. This day was turning out to be dead brilliant: not only was he getting a snake of his very own, Professor Snape had just, very nearly, called Harry his son!

oOoOo

“We’ll be wanting to see your Snakes, Sir.” Severus said, walking up to the tills of the Magical Menagerie. “Me grandson wants one.”

“Very well, Sir.” The sandy-haired shop assistant replied politely. “The snakes are kept in our conservatory, it’s through the green doors on the left. Hippocrates, our snake-handler, will be able to advice you on the suitability of our current stock.” The shop assistant hesitated, then said “He is a parselmouth but quite harmless.”

As Severus and Harry walked through the shop, Harry turned to his teacher and asked “What’s a parselmouth?”

“Someone who can speak the language of snakes.” Severus replied; he had been hoping to avoid this conversation, at least until they got home.

“Oh! But why did that man think we’d be afraid of the snake-guy because of it?”

“Because, generally speaking, humans are irrational, Ben: they often fear harmless things; tiny money-spiders, single magpies, stepping on cracks in the pavement. There are people who’d rather walk into traffic than pass under a ladder. Snakes have, as I mentioned in my opening speech, long been associated with dark wizards in the minds of the ignorant and, therefore, those who can speak to snakes are often regarded with suspicion. It also did not help that He-who-must-not-be-named was a parselmouth.”

Harry looked thoughtful “But, si… Grandad, Slytherin was a parselmouth.”

“Indeed, as were many other great and good mages. Flamel, it is believed, discovered two of the twelve uses of dragon’s blood through conversing with a rather charming wyrm, that is a dragon-basilisk hybrid.”

“Cool!”

The conservatory was a light, bright room, festooned with vines, carpeted with soft, springy grass and bordered with a deep, shimmering stream. There were snakes everywhere, sun-bathing on rocks, coiling around trees and some were even swimming.

“Hello!” a small, bald man with a prominent jaw scuttled up, smiling broadly. “You’ve come to see my little snakes, how charming. I’m Hippocrates, how can I help you today?”

“How come none of the snakes are attacking each other?” asked Harry, looking around in wonder at the harmonious contentment in which the hundred or so snakes were living.

“Oh, they’re all very good creatures and quite biddable. Being a parselmouth has some advantages.” Hippocrates added sadly.

“I’m a parselmouth too, Sir” Harry said compassionately “People seem to be very dumb about snakes.”

“In more ways than one” Severus added quietly.

“Oh, my boy” the elderly man said, his voice trembling “It is so good to meet another speaker. Yes, there is a lot of prejudice against us and most of the few conceal their abilities, as I advise you to do. However, it is they who should be ashamed, not us: you should be very proud to bear this most marvellous gift.”

Severus nodded, “Indeed. My young grandson wants a familiar. Something not too big but capable of defending itself. Good natured and non venomous.” he added firmly.

“Yes, very good. I’d usually suggest a corn snake for a beginner. Sweet natured little dears and so easy to care for. However, a parselmouth, you could comfortably begin with a python. We have some nice little ball pythons, python regius, just in; friendly little souls, they are, but still quite impressive.” Hippocrates winked a violet eye “I know what you young un’s are like.”

“Very well.” Severus nodded. The snake handler whistled, a strange, hissing whistle which had the parseltongue for ‘ball’ and ‘king’ and several slender, foot-long snakes untwined themselves from various trees, uncurled from rocks and, in one case, slid out of the river and slithered towards Hippocrates, stopping at his feet and raising their tiny, triangular heads.

*“Yes, ssspeaker”* said a pretty, white female with golden markings and garnet eyes.

*“Here ssspeaker”* hissed a golden male with black patches.

*“Hello ssspeaker”* pshssed a little grey female with green ring-like markings.

*“I was ssssssleeping”* sccchhed a brown and black male irritably.

*“I am here! I am here! I am heeeeeere!”* fizzed a bright-eyed male whose navy scales were blotched with sunset yellow.

*“Hello ssssnakes!”* said Harry brightly.

*“Ooooh!”* the young snakes chorused, wide eyed.

*“Yes, we have a speaker here to choose a familiar. Come and say hello, snakelets.”*

The little blue and gold male slithered over to Harry and wound around his ankle, leaving a damp trail.

*“Blue”* hissed the white and gold female *“You made the two-legs wet!”*

*“Ssssilly blue, alwaysss sssilly”* hissed the brown and black male, rolling his eyes.

*“Oh! Sorry two-legs! I was swimming. I like the water. Do you like swimming too?”* the navy snake hissed excitedly.

Harry picked up the little python, who flicked his tongue against the boy’s nose.

*“Oooh! You taste of salty air! You live by the big-water! Ssswimming!”*

*“I like ssswimming. My bassilissk ssswimsss with me.”* Harry confided, grinning at the gregarious little creature.

The gold and white female and the gold and black male approached Harry and slithered gently up his legs and body, coiling carefully until they could loop over his arm and neck. The green ringed female twined around Harry’s ankle whilst the brown and black snake flicked his tongue out close to Harry’s shoe.

Harry beamed at Severus, who smiled wryly at the snake adorned boy. “It seems that you are quite the favourite, Ben.”

*“Is big two legs your Bassilissk?”* asked the navy snake curiously. *“Sssmellss too young for grey ssscaless.”*

Harry laughed, petting the little snake’s head gently. *“Yesss, he isss my basssilissk.”*

*“Oooh! Feelssss good”* pssshed ‘blue’, leaning into the caress *“You can be mine please?”*

The other snakes hissed with laughter. *“He isss a nice two-legs but not my two-legss”* replied the garnet-eyed female. *“I think he iss for blue.”*

*“Yessss. Nice but not right for me”* replied the gold and black male, the other two snakes nodded. *“Goodbye, blue, be good for speaker.”*

*“Bye speaker, bye-bye blue”* added the white and gold female.

*“Swim together and be happy”* pssshed the green ringed female, sweetly.

*“Bye blue, don’t keep your two-legsss up with your ssssilly sssinging or he might drown you in the big-water”* smirked the brown and black snake, slithering towards his tree.

*“I wouldn’t!”* Harry said earnestly to the little snake, who was nuzzling his cheek gently.

“I think they’ve sorted it out amongst themselves” said Hippocrates to Severus “That little male is a particular favourite of mine, nice little chap though a trifle noisy and excitable but always gentle. He’ll do well with the boy.”

“The other pythons say his name is ‘Blue’,” Harry added shyly “He’s really nice.”

Severus smirked “I think that’s my cue to take over on the less important business of paying for him and his accoutrements.”

“Ah, it is always the case, Sir. They choose ‘em, we pay for them and often end up doing most of the caring.” smiled Hippocrates. “‘Blue’ is just what the other snakes call him, lad, he hasn’t got a human name yet. He’ll be with you for quite some years, so you want to choose his name carefully.”

Half an hour later, Severus and Harry walked out of the Magical Menagerie with full-pockets, a considerably lighter money pouch and ‘blue’ (as he was temporarily known) looped happily around Harry’s shoulders, sniffing inquisitively at the air. They did not need a vivarium as ‘blue’ would be no less safe than a dog, being magically trained and under the guidance of a parselmouth, but he did need somewhere to sleep: ‘Blue’ had chosen his bedding, Cyprus bark, and a comfortable bed (a large, magically-heated, moss-lined piece of tree-trunk, mounted on a square of wood). Then there were a number of essential bits and pieces, like a book on Ball Pythons, a litter tray, woodchip litter, a drinking bowl and a stasis box containing a months’ worth of food. (Harry thought it would be kind of icky feeding his new snake dead mice but, then again, ‘blue’ was definitely worth the effort.)

“Have you picked out a name for him?” asked Severus, as they waited for their portkey- an ancient boot- to activate.

“I was thinking… maybe Regulus. It’s was the first star I saw in Astronomy” Harry replied shyly. “And it sounds a little like ‘blue’s’ Latin name.”

Slytherin Harry Potter’s pet snake being named after the brightest star in the constellation of Leo, Severus thought wryly, I wonder what sort of omen will be inferred from that?

“A good choice, what do you think, Reggie?” said Severus, touching Regulus’ head gently; the little snake instinctively shied, then leant in to the touch.

“He really likes you, Sir” beamed Harry.

Severus hesitated, then put an arm around Harry’s shoulders. “So he does, my snakelet, so he does.”

oOoOo

“Will I ever come back here, Sir?” asked Harry, as he stood outside the front-door of Uroborus, with Hedwig’s cage in one hand and Reggie coiled around the other.

(*“Hello birdie”* hissed Reggie. Hedwig snapped her beak and turned her back on him. *“Bad-tempered grumpy. I won’t bite Harry’s friends”* sssshhed the little snake sadly, tucking his head under Harry’s chin.)

“Of course, Harry. We will probably spend time here during most holidays: I have a house in Spinner’s End, Worcestershire, but considering that this is known to certain unfortuntates, I’d prefer not to take you there.”

Harry’s face was suffused with joy “Really, Sir? I’ll be with you every holiday?”

“Yes, Harry, very probably.” Severus fished Slytherin’s locket out of his jacket pocket and placed it around Harry’s neck “This is a gift from Salazar Slytherin: a piece of his canvas is inside so, if you speak in Parseltongue, he will be able to talk to you."

Harry gazed in awe at the beautiful, ancient locket which glimmered in the golden sunset. "Thank you, Sir. It's so valuable, though."

"Slytherin, himself, told me to give it to you." smiled Severus "He wanted to be there for you, if you needed him."

Harry looked up, his eyes bright with emotion.

Severus gently ruffled the boy's hair "You are very dear to a lot of people, Harry."

"Thank you, Sir"

"You are welcome. However, for the time being, it would be better if no one else finds out about your gift, so only use Parseltongue when you are around Reggie.”

“Okay, Sir.” Harry beamed, pressing a kiss on Reggie’s soft-scaled head.

*“Why is my name sssaid?”* Asked Reggie, who had learnt two words of human: Harry’s name and his own.

*“My Bassilissk wantsss you to know that you can sssing lotssss”* Harry explained.

*“Ohhh!”* cried Reggie happily, his dark eyes dancing *“I love sssinging! I’m a python I like to ssswim, ssswim in the water, ssswim, ssswim, ssswim…”*

Hedwig ground her beak. Damn, noisy serpents.