Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The rain pours harshly on the roof of a small tent. The fabric bows under each heavy raindrops. The thunder shakes the thin planking and ropes that help hold up the structure. If there wasn’t magic to help hold it together it would topple down on the cages under it. The only light is that of a few candles that are lit by her mirror and the ever-persistent flash of lightning. There is a strong breeze that is washing over those that are too close to the door. It's cold and vaper escapes the mouth of a young woman that shudders and holds hard onto her shoulders. Her damp black hair is freezing along the edges. Before this, she had been accustomed to the warm jungles of her homeland. She moves her hands slowly down her thin arms and she blinks and wills herself back into existence. She is tired. She is in pain from a rough transformation and her fingers feel like they will never stop shaking. The blanket that covers her is too thin but enough to stop her from dying.

This had been her life for 10 years.

Nagini isn’t this frail girl anymore. She knows that in her bones. She has met death and she has fought wars. Her beautiful, disgusting form had become her prison and she had outlived every one of these people that left her here in this cage. She had become more than the girl who was stolen from her home, more than the teen who dreamed of love, more than the battered woman who lost her human form. No Nagini had become the only one the Dark Lord had ever loved. She had been his companion, his confidant, his protector, and the vessel for his soul. She loved Tom too. He was twisted, controlling, and powerful. Yet absurdly enough vulnerable, trusting, and lonely. They fit together because they could understand each other on a level that none could. And Nagini loved him. She loved him with all the broken parts of her that still existed trapped behind a wall of grief in her loss of Credence and the unfortunate realization that none had come for her. No one cared about the creature that she had become.

She feels Voldemort even now when she places a hand against her chest. She feels the absence of his magic and an ache for what once was and what could have been. If only things had been different. If only she hadn’t let him chase the boy. There are a lot of things that she has to grapple with. Many things that she is going to ensure never happen again. For Nagini had returned to this body and this time with a purpose and she would achieve it. She rubs at her neck and feels it under her thin fingers. Her head had been severed. She had felt it drop from her neck. Her last sight was Tom and his anguished cry on her demise. She had rendered him mortal and she feared what had become of him. It wasn’t fair.

None of it was; how the world got away with all the tragedies that made them who they were. How the murderers, the rapists, the child abusers got parts of them. She curled her fingers into a fist. She wouldn’t let it stand this time.

“Vengeance will only harm you.” The being looks at her as she looks at her human face in the water. Her form might be that of a woman but her teeth are as sharp as a snake's and she can feel the urge inside of her to strike out in fear. Fear of the being calling itself death and fear for her now imminent damnation.

Even in the second life or world between that she found herself in she can see the scars inflicted on her in her youth. They are branded with cut marks to get her magical snakeskin and her blood. Tom never took he asked. She splashed the water of the great lake she had a perfect view of her life in. She hit it with her firsts in anger as tears slipped down her cheeks. She had lost the ability before this to cry. Snakes couldn’t.

“Vengeance? No, it's justice.” She stood on wobbling legs. “I want justice for how I have been treated. I want retribution for what happened to Tom. Such things never would have happened if the world wasn’t how it was. It was cruel to us and is it so wrong that we blinded it back?” Her voice descended into a hiss. “If I could I would stop him from ever experiencing the things that I did. I could save him.”

“I can grant you one wish as you made it with the remainder of your magic and the soul that burned inside of you against your own. However, be warned that it is one chance, one attempt, to reverse what you have endured. To fail would be to end up between worlds, a cursed afterlife.”

“I would do anything for him.” She takes a deep breath. “I would trade my life in seconds for that and my afterlife without a second thought to hold him again.”

“So be it.

She slowly stood with all her strength and she held the blanket over herself, like a robe she wrapped it around herself. She wouldn’t let them hurt her any longer. She looked at the blue that decorated her arms like a blooming flower of rage. The yellows and the purples were her second set of scales and she found her magic. It was deep under the surface. It was weak but there, and as such, she could use it. She was well aware that it was burning inside of her. She looked at the trunk that was full of the few things that she was forced to wear and she held one hand up. Slowly she willed it and the candle's fire transferred from a small flicker to a blaze that consumed it. She threw her hands to the sides and it burned up the red to the tent even with the heavy rains. It burned stronger with the infused magic. It took the face of a snake and she felt it fighting to become more than it was; more wild. She could hear the terrified cries of those trapped with her and she laughed.

“Be free,” She willed her magic, “Free us both.”

Nagini’s prison burned as she stepped out of the melted bars. She truly in this moment shed the skin of the frail girl that she was.She looked at the man that had bought her like a common animal and treated her as less than a person standing trying to salvage his livelihood. The other creatures were running off into the night and she hoped they would find good places. She wished them well.

“Nagini.” He yelled at her. “Don’t just stand there you foolish girl. Get a bucket!”

She tilted her head and felt the hunger of the snake beneath the skin. He noticed her eyes and perhaps he noticed the change in her stance. Once she would have moved timidly to help. She would have cowered under the loudness of his voice. She would have prayed that if she did what he asked he would leave her be.

“Nagini!”

When she was 7 years old this man beat her to the point that she couldn’t move. He had choked nearly all the life from her thin body because she had not transformed on demand for him. He had hit her repeatedly with a stick, the same one that he banged against her cage as a warning. Now she has endured worse. Now, she knows better. There was no good in this world, only power and those who were too weak to seek it. Nagini had power that she hadn’t realized at this age. And so for the first time, she turned into the form she hated willingly. She shed her human self and became a snake. The snake won the grapple, and it only took one bite. She poisoned him with her venom. He would die for what he had done. There is no Severus Snape to make an antidote at the last minute to save his life. She bites him a second time and then a third for good measure before she turns back to a woman.

Her transformations still need work at this stage. She watches the ringmaster as he chokes on his blood. He has dropped his one hope of possibly prolonging his life and retaliating against her. She picked up the small stick from the ground that belonged to a less-than-competent wizard. Voldemort would have had a few good lines to share with his victim, one that would bring them even closer to despair in their final moments but Nagini is not like that. Maybe it is the snake in her but she prefers it clean, fast, and done. She looks into the dark eyes and they stare back at her.

“I took you in…” He gasped. “You betrayed me.”

“Betrayed you?” She tilted her head feeling another wave of anger and perhaps pity. He couldn’t understand. What was the point in talking to him if he did not see what he had done as wrong? “You betrayed me. I trusted you… and you used me. You abused me. You abused me and others.” Her voice is far more frail than she wished. Tom would not have been this weak. “You will not be able to do that anymore. I took that power away from you.”

Nagini watched the fire burn long after the rain should have put it out. She took everything from the man that was once her captor. She saw it not as stealing but as regaining what he owed her for every hit and humiliating performance that he forced upon her... for taking something so precious from her that she dared not think about it. Her innocence was lost long ago in this life and the one before it. She need only look at the scars and remember what trust did, what hope and promises brought her. She wouldn't make the same mistakes this time.

She took the good clothes he would give to the dancers who had fled as the larger animals had been freed. She took the fortune-telling cards that had fascinated her as a little girl. The ones she had turned and asked the gods of her fate. She took the other valuables from his trailer and the others. She would have need of it. When she was done she shrunk it all down just as she had seen him do thousands of times. The wand between her fingers felt clunky and she was exhausted because she wasn’t made for using magic like this. It drained her. It made her ache even more.

Yet she would need it. If she was to truly save Tom she would need this money and she would need to look the part. With one last look at the ashes behind her, she felt a breath of relief, as this was all that remained of the past and the parts she longed to forget. She was free years before the last time and all that remained of her tormentor was a corpse that would rot.

She smiled for the first time in a long time. She truly was free.

Chapter Text

The snake slips through the brick walls. It coils and it moves with a swiftness and cleverness that no normal snake quite could pull off. Not that there is anyone there to witness such a movement. No, the house was dark, dead, and quiet. She moved with memories to a hidden place deep in the wards, protected, and nestled into a padded jewelry box. It wasn’t like the men that had placed it in such a padded prison would have needed it.

The old man that she is stealing from still has a few years in prison yet to rot and his child wouldn’t be out for even longer. They deserved their punishment for their treatment of Tom’s mother. The poor girl had chosen a love potion of all things to try and get what she wanted. She pitied her. Nagini for all of her faults had not had issues falling in love and having men love her. She had to dismiss unwanted advances often before she had become less desirable in her cursed form. It had not stopped Tom from loving her. No, he had chosen her. She had laid near him, their bodies not compatible for more than holding onto each other and that was all that Nagini had needed. She had only needed assurance that she was important and that he would never abandon her. It would be different this time around. She would take on a very different role in his life. Still, she hoped that he would take care of her when this form eventually failed her.

This ring was best suited for her Tom. It was proof of what he was, who he was. It was also a stone that held great power even before it had held the Dark Lord's soul. She transformed a bit easier this time and placed the ring onto a chain and hooked it around her neck. She would need another artifact. This one however would not be one that she could simply steal. She would get it for him though. He deserved to have the relics of his family. Her lips pressed together as she ran a finger over the ring. She missed the slightly dark magic that it used to give off. Now it is just cold, much like death had been. She tapped at the symbol and squinted to see the mark of Grindelwald. Strange… she thought that this symbol came about because of him, not before him.

A small boy sits on his bed. It's a small wrinkly thing that if he were to shift wrong it would hit against the wall. There are many times that the boy thinks that perhaps the thing will fall out from under him but it was better than sleeping on the cold wooden floor. He had lost the privilege of a bed before and did not want to go through that again. The small boy pulls his legs close to his chest. There is a bruise forming on his wrist. They wouldn’t try it again. He brushed his thin fingers over the larger mark that was in the shape of a thumb. He smiled a little despite the pain that flared when he pressed against it. It was a reminder that he had won. They wouldn’t dare to hurt him when there was something inside of him that was much bigger than his bones and his muscles. It lived in him, coiled like a snake. He could feel it when it curled when it made the air electrified. It raised the hairs on his arms and it hurt those that dared to hurt him. It burned them, it pushed them, it broke their thin bones and it was this that saved him. He again pinched at the skin to feel it. He just wanted to feel whatever it was that kept him safe. It was his secret, it was his and his alone. He weld his eyes shut gasping and feeling the shutter of it run down his spine.

No one else would understand so he hadn’t bothered to explain himself. No one listened anyway. They thought him a freak. He had been called many horrible things, but words no longer stung. No, they just made him angry. Everything made him angry lately. If he wasn’t angry he was trying to blink away stupid tears. He would hate himself later for shedding as they would make his headache and his chest burn. It was a waste. When others would gain sympathy the caretakers would just look at him with cold eyes as they thought that he started it, that it was an admittance of his guilt, that he deserved it. He hoped that Billy’s little rabbit suffered. He should have done worse. He knocked Tom’s teeth out and in turn, Tom broke his arm and killed his precious animal.

The consequence for defending himself had landed him locked in this room. But Tom didn’t mind. He liked being alone. Alone was safe. No one could hurt him and no one could disappoint him. The hunger in his belly is a common and ever-present feeling so it bothers him little when it turns and grumbles its complaints. He wasn’t sure when it was the last time that he had eaten. Perhaps it was yesterday. Perhaps it was the day before that. His head was a bit fuzzy.

He wasn’t scared of the darkness that was creeping in with the promise of a rainstorm. Tom had long grown past worrying about imaginary monsters that lurked outside and made noise. The evils in this world he found to be the silent sort and ones that were easy to hide under a jumper or high socks. Evil came in the form of a man in well-dressed black robes and high collars. It was humans that Tom feared because they were the ones with the power to harm him and dictate his punishments. They were bigger than him and they controlled his access to things like food, water, and shelter. All things that he needed, all things that they could take away with one simple word.

The power that Tom had was strong. He felt it leaking from him when he was particularly upset. He could use it to force things like animals to listen to him even when they didn’t want to. Animals Tom liked a bit better than people; they were simple and they were dominatable. They couldn’t leave him. They needed him more than he needed them. He took care of them. He fed them, he gave them water, and he hid them in his shirt or his pillow. He feels better when he has some control over his world. He could be good to them and he could care for them or he could be cruel.

He was rarely cruel to things that listened to him. He saw no reason to be. The snakes were kind to him in telling him things like where people were, how many steps away they were, and if he should move from his hiding place. They knew the best places to hide too, places that the caregivers could never hope to reach him. Tom had no reason to harm them if they didn’t bite him that was and no snake ever dared. They called him a Speaker and Special.

It was things like the rats and the mice that Tom felt nothing for when he crushed them. He despised them for eating at his clothes and a few stashed away snacks. He wouldn’t do much more than kill them and feed them to his snakes, but every so often they deserved more than that. He felt nothing when mice died either, much like he felt nothing for the birds that he could catch for his snakes. It was survival and Tom had learned very early in life that only the strongest survived. He needed to be walled off to things that would hurt him. He needed to look after himself because no one was going to do it for him.

Tom had long given up hope on being adopted. He wasn’t even sure that he would like to have a parent at this point. He found adults to fall under two categories useless or hazardous. They would either lie to him and pretend to listen or they would punish him and scream at him. He didn’t think having a parent would be much different and even if it was… it would just be another person that would try and control him. They would tell him where he could go, and what he could do, and they would not be special like him. They would misunderstand.

Yet, sometimes when he had a particularly horrible dream he would long for his father. His mother he no longer thought about because she was dead. She died bringing him into the world. She failed him. She left him. His father had to still be out there and he probably wondered what became of his pregnant wife. The war had ruined a lot of lives and so he wondered if his father had been stranded somewhere and if he would ever come for him. He imagined his father running his hand over his head and telling him he was proud of how well Tom did in school. He imagined him yelling on Tom’s behalf for once. He would punch Father Matthew in the face forever doing what he had done to him and he would scream at the matron forever starving him and hitting him with a ruler. He knows that it is just a fantasy so he doesn’t hope for it much. He wishes for it and he would have liked it, he however knows it will not happen.

Tom is surprised when a woman comes to see him. She is taller than the matron and her eyes are strange. They are so deep brown that they look like they could be black. He has never seen another person with eyes like his. Her hair looped into braids on top of braids. They were fine and they wrapped over her head several times. They looked almost like they were coils, snakes wound over one another, held together by silver bands. She wore a very pretty dress, one that showed she was of the upper class. There wasn’t a single ruffle out of place and the black of it looked finely pressed. He slowly stood from his bed and felt the urge to flatten his hair. There had always been a curl that liked to stand up and he brushed a hand over it. Her intense gaze drifted away from him a moment and toward the matron. Her eyes softened when they returned to looking at him and her smile was a little tight. She must have not liked what she saw. He felt a flare of anger. He wasn’t inadequate! How dare she assume little of him.

“Hello, Tom.” Her voice was soft and feathery. “I have been looking for you for a long time.” The way that her voice tapered off towards the end and cracked with emotion made his heart leap. She wasn’t his mother. He knew that. She was dead, but he couldn't help but look at her hair and see himself a little in the way that it curled on the edges. Even if her face is more angular and her skin is different from his. His anger dissipated in the way that she looked at him. No one had ever looked at him so softly like they cared. She looked like she might cry.

“I am your Aunt. My name is Nagini and I have come to bring you home.” She moved forward and extended her hand to him. He slowly took her thin fingers in his. She was warm and she slowly gripped his hand tighter. She smiled at him and her teeth had a sharp edge to them almost like fangs. The smile grew when he did not resist her putting a hand on his head and feeling against the fringe to straighten it.

“Can I hug you?” She asked almost impulsively and Tom felt a bit of his nervousness starting to slide away as he slowly nodded.

She didn’t yank him into it. She didn’t hurt him in order to position him the way that she wanted him. She didn’t touch him strangely in a way he didn’t like. He still flinched for a moment and felt his breath still as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and she pressed her chest into him. She bent down so that he was level with her face that brushed against his shoulder. He shut his eyes and tried to still his rapidly beating heart, his fingers twitched to hold onto her. It was soft… so soft and he felt pinpricks of tears forming in his eyes and he let her hold onto him tighter and tighter. She smelt nice, like herbs, grass, and fresh rain. She felt like that electrical feeling that made him feel safe. She was like him…

~Can you feel it~ She asked and her voice was slightly different. ~My magic.~

Magic that was what he had. It fits so beautifully.

~Yes.~ He spoke back and he felt that little push with his words, the same feeling when he spoke to snakes.

~Only our line can speak like this, only our blood, magical people, and muggles can not understand.~

Special His heart swelled and he felt a surge of something that might burst. It felt so strange. He didn’t think he had ever felt this light before, this excited.

~Tell me. Did she mistreat you? Did she hurt you, my Tom?~ Her voice lowered. ~Because I will teach her a lesson.I will do everything in my power to make those that hurt you suffer.~

He opened his mouth but he didn’t have to say anything because she looked like she already knew. Her eyes had a slight tint to them now, the pupil was like a slit. She might not have been human. He wondered if perhaps he wasn’t human either…

~Do you want me to kill her or just scare her?~

Tom felt a strange feeling in his throat. He didn’t know for a moment if she was serious but it took one look in her eyes to know she was serious. He thought of Cole and all of her punishments. He hated her… but did he want her dead? He might have said yes had anyone asked him before this moment. Now, he was a little scared to know what it would be like to see her dead. He imagined the mice and their shattered bodies and he was shaking his head before he realized it. He didn’t want to see Cole dead… no if he had a choice he would see the Paster dead… he would like to see him bleeding. He would like to see him scared. Tom would have liked to see him beg. Beg like Tom had. For the first time since this conversation had started, Tom dares to look at the woman who had cared nothing for him. She was terrified and she seemed unable to move. She was looking between them as if they had been speaking in a demonic voice. She had her cross between her fingers. It wouldn’t protect her. Tom had tried that. God hadn’t answered any of his prayers.

“You have neglected my sister's child.” Her voice was cold. She pulled away from him. “It is because of his wish for mercy that I don’t kill you where you stand. Know this, there are people in this world who have magic and they can kill you just by thinking it. I would never harm another child again if I were you. Because if I hear of it I will think of the worst way to kill you as possible and I will ensure that it happens.”

The lights flickered and an invisible force shoved the woman back away from them. The magical woman…Nagini, his Aunt took his hand in hers again. “Do you need anything here Tom? I assure you that I will take care of you and ensure that you have everything you could ever need, but if there is anything that has meaning that you want to take with you please grab it now.”

“Books,” Tom says quietly. They are well used but they have been his escape all of his life and he doesn’t want to leave them. “Get them and put them in this bag.” She handed him one. “And you.” She waved at the matron. “You best get out of my sight.”

The old woman couldn’t scurry away fast enough and Tom couldn’t throw his few belongings into the bag as quickly as he wanted to get out of his stuffy room. He shuffled his feet a little, not sure what to do.

~All set?~ She hissed at him and he nodded. Then we best be off. ~I know a lovely cafe that we should stop at and we will need to get you some new clothes.~

Tom looked down at himself and then at her and their intertwined hands and suddenly felt a little lacking. Nagini was beautiful in a strange way and he was lacking when standing next to her. She had on the finest of dresses and his shirt had a stain and not one hole in it, but several. It did not matter that he was finally going to a better life in the moment he was embarrassed at the thought of being seen. They stepped out into the bright sun and Nagini walked to the gates in a brisk walk that did not fully suit a lady. She was happy that he could tell. She was waiting for him and he moved quickly to keep up.

~Tom~ Her voice called him from his thoughts. ~Your thoughts are loud. If you have any questions ask them as we walk.~

~Can you tell me more about…~ He searched for the words. He wanted to know just about everything about magic and why she had not come sooner. He was burning with questions and he didn’t want to come across as insensitive because she needed to like him. She couldn’t dislike him. She couldn’t leave him again.

~Shall I start with magic?~ She smiled at him. ~I have to explain that briefly before I can explain what became of your mother and our house.~

This boy breaks her heart far more than she thought was possible. She thought that she had known pain when Voldermort had mentioned the war and how he had been caught up in it. She thought she understood his feelings of loneliness because she had been alone too, but it was different seeing the innocent face of youth and knowing what had put a distrustful look into his eyes. Tom was 7 years old. No 7-year-old should look so jaded.

He had flinched at her touch…

It had taken a lot for her not to rip that woman’s throat out when she had dared suggest that Tom was abnormal. It took even more willpower not to bite her and make her suffer for failing her Tom in such a spectacular way.

She looked down at his set frown and watched him fidget. He certainly did not inspire the imposing figure that took over Britain. He was just a boy; a very scared and awkward little boy that wanted to be loved.

She explained what she knew of magic. How there were those born with it and those that weren’t. She explained that their world was separate and yet still part of the nonmagical world. She made sure that he ate the sandwich that she ordered for him and the soup between his questions.

He was so thin…

She explained about Hogwarts and wands. Tom mentions what he is able to do and she almost laughs at the small hint that he has hurt people before that have been mean to him. She supposed that he was a baby snake baring his fangs at her and she was far from intimidated. She was a little saddened that he had to.

“You will be a great Wizard.” She leaned a little forward putting her elbows onto the table. “You already have better control than most children your age.”

Tom preened with this and she felt again her heart lighten. He was so cute. Deadly surely if the rabbit was anything to go by, but his little smile was quite infectious. She would do anything for him. She already had gone through a lot of trouble in stealing his ring.

“What kind of magic do you specialize in?” He asked and she knew that now that they had exhausted most of the more understandable questions that children would want to ask about the world they now found themselves in it was only natural that they switched more towards herself.

“Nothing too interesting. I have no doubt that you will surpass me as I wasn’t ever given a formal education. It is something that I seek to remedy with you and I want nothing to hold you back. My magic is limited by my illness.” She dodged the question.

They went to a muggle shop to get a necessary overhaul of clothes. She let him pick whatever it was that he wanted and had the help to suggest better options for durable and well-made clothes. She put all these items once they were checked out into the expandable bag that she had stolen from her time as a performer. She had quite the amount of objects floating around in there. Tom had far too many questions about the bag for her to answer.

“We are going to travel by magic now.” She led him down an alley away from those who would notice them. “I need you to hold my hand and not let go.”

Tom tilted his head. “What happens if I let go.”

“You will most likely die.” She stated matter of factually. She had seen a few splintered people when she had been in the Malfoy’s manor. At the paleness that started to take over Tom’s face, she quickly amended herself. “If you let go there's a chance that you could fall several hundred feet, get stuck in a wall, or simply lose a limb. It’s not dangerous to Apperate if one knows their exact location and can concentrate on it. Nearly every Witch and Wizard can do it once they have been taught.”

Tom bit at his lip.

“I promise that it will not hurt, though the first time it might make you sick. We must be going as it is getting dark and I can not be out at night.”

“Why?” He asked skeptically.

“My illness.” She held out her hand. “Now please Tom, I know that this might be difficult, but you need to trust me. My home is safe from those who would seek to harm us and we must get moving.”

He slowly reached out his hand.

“Thank you.” She took it carefully in hers and searched for her magic. She pulled it and knew that she would not have much left after this.

His Aunt took his hand carefully in hers and the world popped and it turned and he felt himself vomiting before he even could open his mouth to express his discomfort. The ground was spinning. He fell into the tall grass and was very grateful for once to have been wearing his ragged clothing because he would have made a real mess of his pants on the mud and wet earth.

“I am sorry.” Nagini’s thin fingers patted lightly on his back. “I used to get sick every time we needed to move.”

Her voice took a slightly harsher edge when she mentioned that she had to move. While he had a lot of his questions answered he was still a hundred more. The house that she had taken him to was small; some trees were towering over them. There wasn’t a sign of other life or light than that from the small windows. He could not help but feel a little disappointed even though he had no right to be. He was away from the orphanage. He found out that he was loved by a family that he never had. He knew now that he was magical and had a promising future of being a very powerful wizard if his Aunt was to be believed. It’s just the house was so tiny it looked like it might just be 3 of the smaller rooms of wools put together. They didn’t seem to be anywhere near civilization either. There was nothing around him but trees and stars. It was nearly silent too; eerily so.

Nagini moved ahead of him and opened the door with a small push. “Come now, there are protections around the area but that will not stop some of the magical creatures from taking an interest in you.”

He didn’t even want to think about the possible monsters that could be real now that there was a whole new way to view the world.

He entered the house and was hit with the fact that it was much larger on the inside. There was a large kitchen that greeted them first. Large herbs hung from the ceiling and there was a large benched table in the center of it. The living room was to the left and stairs that went to the second floor that the house did not appear to have. It wasn’t a mansion but it had a cozy feeling and it smelt fresh.

“I can make tea to settle your stomach.” His Aunt moved towards the stove. “And while the water boils I can answer your original question.” She looked a little nervous suddenly like she was about to share something horrible. “You see, Tom, my illness is caused by a curse. A blood curse to be exact. It runs in our family however only the women receive it so you needn’t worry that anything is wrong with you. One day it will kill me.”

He felt a horrible feeling sink its way into his chest. Death had stolen his mother from him and it would take her too. Nagini continues to gather ingredients for the tea that she is making. She slices fresh ginger and lemon.

“I spent my youth traveling the world looking for a cure so I missed finding out that my sister was pregnant. When I returned she was gone and with the way that our father was I can not blame her. I searched for her but she was very good at hiding when she wanted to.”

“Why did she want to hide though!” Tom interrupts. He was following just fine but he didn’t understand why she would want to run away. It pressed through his thoughts that there was more family for him to meet. There was so much he didn’t know because his mother selfishly left him and ran away from home.

“Because she loved you I suspect,” Nagini said softly, turning to face him. “You are a gift. I thought our line would die out, but my sister fell in love and it was forbidden. Our father would have killed you and then her forever thinking to mix magical blood. Your grandfather is a horrible man. He is locked in prison as we speak for attacking your father.”

“Is my father still alive?” Tom had always wanted to meet him and now he wonders if he might be able to. Maybe he had been looking just as hard as Nagini. The woman though stills at his question.

She says slowly. “He is gone.”

He supposed that made sense as much as he didn’t want it to be true. He really should have known, perhaps he did know but didn’t want to acknowledge it because that would have made it true. Everyone that could love him was dead besides Nagini it seemed and he wondered if she just had found him out of obligation or love for her sister over any love for him.

“Now listen I used a great deal of my magic and night has fallen I will not be able to keep this form much longer. My blood curse makes me transform into a large snake. The transformation can last hours and it might take me a little to transform back. I will not harm you and we can speak in my cursed form.” She handed him the tea and her hands shook a little as if it was taking all her concentration to keep her fingers moving. “One day my curse will render me permanently as a snake. I have enough time to see you through schooling and I will never leave you completely. I want you to remember that. I loved my sister and I love you. The other members of our family do not matter. Only you matter.”

She took something from her pocket. “This is the sign of our house; it dates back longer than the established Wizarding government. We are Slytherins and we will endure. This was your mother’s the only thing that she left for you. I would like for you to have it.”

The locket was heavy in his hand and no sooner had he taken it and turned it over and over in his hands did Nagini start to thrash and twist. Before him a few seconds later was the largest snake that he had ever seen; it measured at least 5 meters in length and was thicker than his legs and torso. He backed up a step as the large brown eyes stared into his.

~Don’t fear me.~ Nagini sounded saddened. ~I am very used to fear, but I think that my heart might break if you are scared of me.~

~You startled me.~ Tom tried his best to compose himself. It was still Nagini. It was still the kind woman that had bought him clothes and fed him. The same woman who threatened Cole and meant every word that she had said. He could see her in there, the black to her scales like that of her hair. He slowly reached a hand out and the large head bumped into his hand. She was smooth and warm, just as she was in her human form. She wrapped herself around him in a protective gesture that perhaps should have scared him, but snakes had never scared Tom. They were almost like having friends.

Chapter Text

When Nagini dreams she dreams of thick forests that rise far over her. The hot, humid jungles are her home. She knows the paths around her small house and each tree. She hunts in the thick leaves that shelter her and she can make into umbrellas to help hide her from rain and sight. Her mind now has other shapes in the trees and faces in the water droplets. She sees paths as they unfold in front of her. The path that leads her back to the steps in which she lost her head and the other path one of smoke and a small boy that is not her Tom. He looks at her and she can see the red marks on his face and hands. He reaches out to her.

She breathes out a deep breath in his name “Credence…”

Sweat covers her body and she looks to the sleeping form that her arms now drape over in a protective embrace. Tom is beautiful. His hair had a darkened halo around his head. She holds onto him tighter and he sturs. They have not been together long and she already feels as if she can not live without him. He dreams horrible things and so does she. Laying near each other she feels whole.

It had taken nearly a month to get to this point. Tom is many things. He is in many ways pulled in two very polarizing directions. He is independent, he wishes to be alone to do what he sees himself capable of and yet craves intimacy and attention. He wants to be praised and he wants positive touch but pulls away from it, flinches, as if it is physically painful to be close to another human being. He can move near silently when needed and falls on his face nearly every moment that he tries to exert any form of actual exercise. He coughs with dust but seeks out the most quiet, and hidden corners of her home. A contradiction that she is doing her best to understand. His coping mechanisms are much like her own and yet some are different. So different that she struggles to wrangle her own trauma and not minimize his own.

He nearly had a heart attack when she had asked if he wanted to bathe.

His eyes look at her and they are calculating and concerned. As she fills the tub with warm water. His eyes look at the water and watch it fill. He doesn’t move. He stands ridged and he has seized up like a frightened animal since the suggestion was made to him. He is silent standing behind her. He bites his lip and tilts his head as he watches her every movement as if he is waiting for a reason to bolt. His eyes are on the exits to the room. It saddens her that he still does not trust her. She however wouldn't be completely in his place. She had been burned by seemingly kind people before as well.

“It should be warm.” She stuck her hand to show him. She fills it shallowly and motions for him to come closer. “Check and see if you agree.”

His eyes dance back and forth to the door and then to her. He grips his dirty clothes and she wants nothing more than to encourage him to shed the rags he is clinging so hard to. She however feels that would be a mistake. The layer of clothes is a barrier of protection and as much as she knows that he likes some of the more gentle touches that she has given him she is aware that he wouldn’t like it should they ever stray from ruffling his hair or a small hug. It is too soon to try anything else with him. He is fragile at the moment to even the kindest of touch. She doubts that he would open up to her enough for her to treat some of his scars at the moment even if he liked seeing her perform magic.

Nagini is also scared to see any more than she knows that are tucked under his longer sleeves. She might get angry and it wouldn’t do for her anger to seem directed at him. One wrong movement and he would retreat further from her. She could smell the fear and hear his heart even as far as he was from her. She did her best to ignore it.

“Once you test the temperature, I will show you how to adjust it. I will let you be, alright?” She holds her breath because of the way that he is looking at her. Slowly he moves forward and he holds his fingers under the stream. He winces as the wet touches the tips of his fingers.

See. She wants to say. It's not that bad. Trust me.

She however will not say it. She instead shows him how to adjust the taps. She uses soft and slow motions as it seems that he fears the water itself and not her. Maybe one day he will tell her why he is so scared of it. But that isn’t today. “I will leave you a towel and you can change once you get out. Call me if you need me.”

Tom still looks very unsure about even touching the water. She is tempted to give him a bucket and a washcloth at this point. Slowly he nodded. “Thank you, Nagini.”

“Of course.” She took her damp hand and slowly reached up to ruffle his hair. He doesn’t flinch this time. I would do anything for you. She wants so desperately to tell him. She doesn’t know how to make him understand.

It had taken a few nights for him to understand that he had a protector. She didn’t think that he still really believed it, but he let her be there for him. He let her in that small shared space and that was all that she could hope for. She needed him to tell her about what he dreamed so that she could help.

She would not act before he asked it of her.

Nagini coiled herself at his side whenever he made any sounds of distress in his sleep. He would wake with tears that wouldn’t fall from his deep brown eyes. She said nothing and she waited until he felt comfortable enough with her snake form to move closer to him. She would be a woman in the morning and there was a difference between being an animal and being a person. Tom was more relaxed with her near him in her other form. Snakes he had explained were kind to him.

Humans had tormented both of them.

“Nagini,” Tom whispers as he wakes. His dark eyes stare almost through her. She wonders if he can feel the way her heart is racing.

“Hush.” She rubs her fingers through his hair. “It was just a dream.”

“You have bad dreams.” He makes an honest observation, one that she can not dispute.

“Yes.” She says into his hair.

“What is it that you dream of?”

It was an innocent enough question but she knew that he was digging. He wants to understand her better. She can not tell if it is because he actually likes her or if it is because he seeks to use that as a way to connect to her. Tom is not indifferent to her, but he worries about her leaving him. The weakness that she showed him was leverage that he could exploit to endear himself to her. He need not make the effort. She already would kill for him. She planned to.

“I dream of many things, little snake.” She sighed. “But perhaps I dream most of when I was caged.”

“Caged? Don’t you have magic?”

“Magic can only help so much against others that have it.” She released him to stare at the ceiling. “I was trapped before that by Muggles.”

Tom sits up and traces at the marks that show on her pale flesh. He tilts his head at the scars. She knows they are unsightly and she can often conceal them under makeup and a touch of magical paste. They however are hers and the largest of them sits on her neck in a near-perfect ring.

“I killed the man that gave me those.” She said plainly. “I bit his throat out.”

Tom doesn’t look disturbed by this. He just looks at her as if imagining her teeth, sharper than they are now. He touches the one that is most painful, the mark of being less than human.

“He deserved it.” There was no question in his words. He knows well how she feels.

“He did.” She turns to look at the ceiling and there is silence between them for a long, long time. The only sound is that of birds and the wind against the window. The sun blinding through the gap in the blinds.

“Can you….” The boy’s voice hitches funny. Oh, he was crying. She had not seen this version of him cry before and as such did not expect it. He however was a child and children sometimes needed to let those emotions come out. She is surprised that it has not happened sooner.

He was such a brave boy. How could anyone ever claim him not to be?

He scrubbed at his face as the tears just kept coming.

She pulls him close to her chest and rubs his back. She never had someone to hold her when she cried. How things perhaps could have turned out differently if there had been anyone to catch her tears.

“If you wish for me to kill someone for you. You need only give me a name.”

He sobbed then and it was a horrible world-shattering sound. The world was bright and sunny outside but inside their small blanketed island there was nothing but rain and misery.

Tom blinked at Nagini as she placed a deck of cards in front of him. “What is this?”

“You asked what I do.” She said in that soft almost hypnotic voice. He watches her thin fingers move over the gold and black foiled cards. “I do readings.”

“Like a fortune teller.”

“Exactly.”

“But with magic.” He said skeptically as he didn’t know if she was having him.

“Divination is a noble art.” She hushed him with the deepness of her brown eyes. “It pays well and there will be those that come muggle and magic alike to hear my readings. I have led many to the correct investments and I have made several prophecies.”

Tom looks at the cards as she makes them flow in a flip in front of her. “I would like to do a reading with you today.”

“Why?” He couldn’t help but ask. He wasn’t sure that he wanted to have his fortune read. As exciting as it would be to hear that he could be a great wizard or to know that there was success in his future there just as easily could be the opposite. He liked Nagini a little. In the last few weeks, she had shown him more kindness than he had ever felt in his life.

He wanted for nearly nothing. She had given him nice clothes, books, and a home. She cooked for him in the evenings and she gave him space. She held him when he was disgustingly weak and she was patient even when he thought he might have said something that upset her. He didn’t believe completely that it was real… She had to have a point where it would become too much. He would displease her, she would yell at him, and she would abandon him. He wasn’t exactly the best of children. He was ignorant of much of the magical world. He asked her questions that she did not always answer fully and she would gain this coldness to her stance and her eyes.

He did not like it.

He did not like to think that he was displeasing her with his questions. It was frustrating that he wanted answers and at the same time could push too far and have her completely shut down. Nagini had shared with him that she too had suffered. Her arms held scars to them. She jumped at loud noises. She would cry when she thought that he wasn’t looking. She would leave for hours and wander the woods. He feared sometimes that she wouldn't come back.

Maybe he was a charity case. She loved her sister but… he didn’t know if she would always love him or care for him. She could learn to resent him for reminding her so much of her sister and the burden that had been placed on her. Nagini did not look that old. She easily could have found someone that would have her. Women often at the facility would talk about who they were dating. It seemed every orphan's goal was to either be adopted by someone wealthy or to marry one.

He gripped his pant leg hard. Nagini wouldn’t have many options with a child in her care. Even if they were from a house and old family that seemed to have a higher status. His mother, by loving his father, had doomed them to this small place in the middle of nowhere.

Tom had his doubts about how long his Aunt would want to be estranged. It was not her sin that cut them from the line. He almost feared the cards even if he felt that it might all just be nonsense. For even if his life was far better than it was before it did not mean that it would last. It was why he had a small bag ready to go if there ever came a time that Nagini did grow tired of him. The cards could say he was destined for death or something horrible that would make her turn from him. If she knew about the rabbit would she still love him? She killed her abuser and she offered him the same, but that didn’t mean that she would take kindly to his form of justice. The rabbit wasn’t the pastor. It never harmed him.

“This is my trade.” She leaned forward. “I wish to see if you too can develop the skill for it.”

He bit his lip and chewed a little on the flesh that was flaking. “And if I can’t?”

Another fear entered his gut.

“I know you will do well. You lack nothing but confidence in yourself.”

“If I can’t.” He repeated a little more firmly.

“Then I will teach you potions or anything else that could be useful for you to know before wizard schooling.”

Her eyes did not betray her. She is honest enough. He searched that sea of black and came up with nothing.

“Good.” She said meeting that gaze. “Always look the customer or the person that you are working within the eyes. Never be ashamed of what we are.”

“Are there others that will look down on us?” Tom had felt it when they were shopping. There were too many eyes and he wanted to force them to look away from him. He hated being looked at like that.

“there are always those who think that they are better. It does not do to make them think that they are right.” Her nose twitched as if disgusted with the very thought. “Humans always look for ways to try and make themselves feel more important than what they are. We all bleed the same at the end of it.”

The cards shifted again in her hands and over the table. “Choose 3 for a very simple reading. One will depict the past. One will depict the now. One will predict the future. What shall we explore with this…” She said it a bit more to herself than him. “Home or spiritual.”

“Uh… Home that’s where we are?” Tom tapped at one of the cards that had a slight fold to it.

His Aunt laughed and he couldn’t tell for the life of him what was so funny about what he had said. He felt his face color in a bit of embarrassment and anger. It wasn’t his fault that he didn’t know anything about the other side of the world that she was introducing him to.

“I am sorry.” She held up her hand. “It’s just you are warming my heart.”

He squinted at her but her eyes were soft. He wasn’t sure what to make of it but as quickly as that anger had come it was cooled. He wasn’t sure how she did it. She was calming. Her eyes wrinkled when she smiled and they almost closed. Her sharp teeth were exposed to remind him that while she looked human there were still parts of her that were very much the animal that she was forced to transform into.

She was beautiful and he wondered not for the first time if his mother looked like her. He suddenly really could picture a younger woman than the one in front of him. He could see her eyes matching his own and her hair just as fine and in long-wrapped braids. He slowly moved his hands to his locks which were starting to become a little too long.

“Come now, pick a few more cards. I have much to teach you.”

Maybe… Maybe she really did like him. His heart beat a little faster as he let something spark inside that he had long given up on. Hope. He hoped that she would be different than all the adults that he had met before her. He hoped that she wouldn’t ever leave him.

Nagini once had killed a man for simply standing outside a doorway and overhearing something that he was not meant to hear. She told herself that she would always protect Voldemort and do things for him especially when he was too weak to act himself. It was not like the man could have done anything with the information he was a Muggle and too old to truly comprehend the information. She still killed him all the same. She had killed an old woman for a shot to murder the person who actively was going after Tom's soul. She had killed for many reasons ranging from orders to emotional states to her very survival. There was a lot of blood that was on her hands and her scales. She could still feel the blood of her imprisoned in her teeth. She had always felt justified in her actions because regardless of who it was it was necessary. She knew her soul was far past redemption; to kill was to rip the soul, murder was a sin, unnatural. Yet no one had ever thought about animals. Animals killed just as much as humans did and they always had reason to.

Now she was killing again for Tom. There is no great scheme at play here. No plot for greatness or to gain opportunity. This was about survival. Her Tom needed closure.

“I will kill him for you.” She had promised the sobbing child as he clung to her. She had kissed his temple. He could not tell her what the other had done to him. He did not have to. Nagini knew that pain. She had shared it with Voldemort. “I will kill him and he will never harm you or anyone else again.”

She stood at the large doors and entered. It was late. The building was closed to those who were not like her. She moved past the large statues. They glared down at her with blank sockets and she felt the chill of the place enter her bones. It smelt horrid not that a normal human nose would have noticed.

No, they would be content with the smelling salts and candles. There however was darkness to the place, things had happened here in the sights of stained glass eyes, and in the shining gold, she found her reflection distorted. She moved closer to the center, up the parted path between the benches. She looked at the massive cross and the sign of a man nailed to it.

It had always seemed strange to her.

“For God so loved the world. He sent his only son.”

Was that not a twisted way to show love? How could anyone love anyone more than their child, love them so greatly, they would hurt their son for them?

No, if Nagini was to name how she viewed love it was to suffer in their place. If God loved his son and everyone so much why did he not do what she was doing? Suffer for the sake of another. She was ready to damage her very soul to make sure that the one she loved would be safe. She would have traded places with him if it were an option, taking all the pain that he experienced onto herself. That to her was love.

She turned and held the rail to the communion. She had only been in a church 3 times in her life. The message washed over her near-comatose state. She had not been able to listen to much more than what was necessary to get the food and clothes that she desperately needed. It was another life. She never would have to see her lover leave her to the streets and her illness for a man who was only running his mouth. She never would feel the bit of him dying in front of her either. No, in this life his rotting face and bloated form will only haunt her nightmares.

Her hand gripped the rail harder and her nails dug into the softer wood.

“Hello, my dear, what brings you here this evening.” The man approached her kindly enough. She however noticed that look in his eyes. It was the look that was in many of the death eaters. It was why Voldemort insisted that they only could trust each other. It’s a cold look, an empty one. The smile was false and that of a wolf. Only this wolf did not realize that it was looking at a much more dangerous predator.

He wanted nothing more than to get her out of there. She was too old for his tastes. He liked them young, hopeless, and with no one who would believe them or care enough to investigate. She tilted her head.

“I require guidance.” She said softly. “You see, my sister recently died and left her child to me. He is so lost and I am so confused on how best to help him.”

There was a gleam in his eyes then.

“Do you wish to talk more about this in my office?”

Oh so predictable. She had to bite down on her tongue and turn her head away from him to look at the floor to hide her face from him. She wanted nothing more than to smile.

“I wouldn’t want to intrude. I know that it is late.”

“One could never intrude in the house of the Lord.”

He took the bait very simply and he swallowed it. There wasn’t a single thing that he could do now to pull away from his interest. He was going to listen to her long enough to put his thoughts about her bringing her new charge to him. He would make a good push on how he could help the boy. She wonders how many people he has done this to. It seems to come to him naturally.

His fingers wrap around her as she lets out a ‘grateful’ “Thank you.” As he leads her away.

They are far from anyone now. The office is dark and there is no one there and there will be no witnesses. He shuts the door and she takes in the images on the walls. It matches what she has seen in Tom’s mind in another life.

“Can I get you anything to drink? I’m afraid it would be nothing fancy, but water might be helpful.”

“That will not be necessary.” She said simply. “I just wish to clarify something.”

“And what is that?” He now actually seems confused.

“You see.” She moved closer to him. “The boy that my sister left to me. His name is Tom Riddle. Do you know him?”

The man’s face is nearly a mask. There is only the slightest bit of hesitance in his eyes. They flicker a moment. “Many of the orphans come through these doors.”

“And you help them don’t you.” She says it sweetly, low, and his eyes flick again to the side and he is weighing his options. She is blocking the door, but there are plenty of blunt objects around him. He has a few options and she is very interested in what he chooses. The plea or the murder attempt.

“I help many people…”

“Sure you do.” She feels the scales creeping up her face.

He backs away from her a step. “What are you?”

“I am Nagini.” She says simply. “And I have a confession to make. I don’t have a sister, but I do care for a little boy that you traumatized. A boy that you would have continued to harm if I had not put an end to it. Yet you see he doesn’t sleep. He cries. He flinches from my touch and I know that you are responsible for this.”

“I…”

“This is the part where you beg for your life.” She made the room shake with her magic. The glass pitcher shattered as it fell from the desk.

He held up a cross.

“If he exists he has surely sent me to deal justice to you.”

“Please…”

“I am sure that is what a lot of your victims said too.” The form of a woman shed to that of a snake.

“Tom. I have something for you.” Nagini says when she comes home. She has been gone all night. He had stayed up all night worried about where she was. Not that he will tell her this.

“What is it?” He can’t be angry with her if she has brought him something to make up for it.

“Hold out your hands.”

Following her instructions he does so. There is something long and beaded placed in his hand. It takes him a moment to realize that it is a rosary. There is a dark stain on the corner of the silver cross. He stares at her with wide eyes.

“I made sure that he will never harm another again.”

He feels the cross drop from his fingers as he slowly brings them up to hold her. He has never indicated touch. It is always his Aunt that asks to hold and comfort him. She lets out a huff as the air leaves her and then she brings her hands up to hold him.

“Thank you.” He closes his eyes and buries herself in her robes. She is warm and she smells of rust and earth. There is a hint of flowers as well as lemon tea.

She laughs softly, her eyes closed, and her hand runs through his hair. “All you need to do is ask. I will always do what I can to help you.”

Chapter Text

Tom’s eyes are wide as they make their way down a crowded street. The way is narrow and the thick bricks tap under his new shoes that are starting to become a little uncomfortable as he hasn’t broken them in yet. He keeps taking small breaths to deal with the amount of people that are around him. Nagini gives him a small push forward to direct him. There is so much to see that he can’t possibly see it all. Some brooms are flying overhead. There are owls that are swooping and dropping packages off at stores. The witches and wizards are all dressed in a combination of old English fashion and muggle. It's all brightly colored and there are a lot of strange smells.

Tom doesn’t like people. He doesn’t make loud noises or crowded places. He takes another deep breath and then another. His heart is speeding up. Not because he is scared… Tom isn’t scared of people anymore. Not really. Nagini had killed the only one that he really had reason to fear. Whenever he wakes from a nightmare all he has to do is look at the cross and remember that it was his Aunt that ended the monster that haunts them.

“I will kill them for you, all I need is a name.

Tom feels like he should be over slipping from his bed and finding Nagini if she is not sleeping in the same bed as him. It’s empty without her and he doesn't need to be coddled. He isn’t a baby, however, he often finds himself shaking from his nightmares and it is comforting to know that there is another person there. Someone who actually cares about him and doesn’t care how irrational that it is to be scared still of a dead man. There are no hands that will ever roam him unwanted again. He hides well in sleeved shirts or those that have many nice buttons. He makes sure that he has a small coat or the like to wrap around himself. He feels safe like that and he is sure that he will feel even better when there is a nice thick cloak about his person. Once he learns to wield magic like the people in the few books that he has been able to read about he will truly be safe.

He doesn’t have fangs like his Aunt. His teeth had not been sharp enough, his magic too weak. He endeavored never to be that weak again. He is the man of the house. Nagini doesn’t have any suitors he quietly probed about that.

“I have no need for men.” Her serpent eyes narrowed. “They are all fools when it comes to emotions.”

He was grateful for this. He finds that he doesn’t particularly like them either. The pastor had violated everything the church stood for and the male caretakers were more of prison guards than actually helpful. The muggle police weren’t interested in tall tales from little orphan boys either. So if Nagini never wanted to marry, that was a comfort to him.

Her illness meant that she could never have children and if she did not wed then there was no worry that he would ever have to compete with another child. He had secured himself a nice home in the middle of nowhere. He was safe. He would grow and he would protect his Aunt when she was rendered unable to do more than the average snake physically.

He grabs at his sleeves a little harder. He has to become better than a scholar if he truly wants to protect her.

“You must never tell anyone of my curse.” Nagini turns the cards over in front of them. She is doing a reading for herself. Yet she has looked up from the gleaming stack and meets his eyes. He knows that she prefers this. She always meets his gaze and she doesn’t fear that there is something missing in it. Cole always said they were the devil’s eyes, devoid of any emotion, but how was he to be anything but angry when he was tormented? He knew nothing of joy until he met his Aunt.

“Why?” He asks.

“Because there are those that would seek to harm me for it. I am considered to be a very valuable potion ingredient and people have rights, animals do not.

Tom promises himself then that no one will ever harm his Aunt again. He would kill them for her as she had killed for him.

He doesn’t like the way that people are looking at her. He is on edge, even though there is a thrum of excitement about the new world and everything that he wants to learn and know about. There are questions at the tip of his tongue but he doesn’t ask them. Nagini is at his side and he doesn’t take her hand because he doesn’t want to embarrass her. He is too old to be clinging to a motherly presence at least in public.

He savors her soft touches and he takes up space with her in the same room even if they are doing completely different things. But that is at home. This is not their home.

Tom hates people.

He hates being alone more.

They are headed to the potions shop because Nagini makes a lot of her coins with the ingredients that she harvests and the scales that she sheds. She also wants to get him fitted for a few new robes that he can wear when he accompanies her into the forest and when they come to markets. She has put off fortune telling in the months that he has known her now because she is worried about upsetting him with strangers into their home.

He doesn’t have any clue about her finances. He had to be costing her a lot but he doesn’t exactly like what she is doing either.

“There is an honest coin to it.” She wagged her finger at him when he brought up his worry about her selling her scales and the like. “I don’t need them when they fall off. I would sell my venom but it would take a long time to get it back and it is my primary defense in my other form.”

He will have a better job he decides as he sees the many interesting and shiny jewelry in the store windows. Nagini doesn’t wear anything that fancy but there were plenty of simple things that he was sure would suit her. Nagini would look nice in something green too. There were so many fancy-colored robes.

Nagini holds the door open to a smaller shop towards the end of the narrow alley. There is a large bank and strange creatures rushing about outside of it. They have sharp teeth and are extremely bulbous and wrinkly. He shuttered and they were disgusting.

When the door closes he feels a little better. The robe shop is small and there are only 2 other people inside of it. The shopkeeper and perhaps a tailor.

“Welcome in.” The shorter woman greeted them. “How can I help you today?”

“Thomas is in need of new robes,” Nagini answers him. The woman looks towards him and then back at his Aunt.

“Pick anything that you like.” Nagini stands very tall and proud. He immediately straightens himself as well. He was an heir to the noble house of Slytherin. He had to act like it. He steeled himself for unpleasant pestering.

Tom moved about the store slowly, looking at all the color options and feeling each fabric. He could be picky about what he wore now and certain textures were better than others. The wool was a little too coarse. The silk he feared scratching and felt smooth but strange. The cotton-linen mixture was just right.

“I like this.” He held the orange robe. “Just not the color.” He rushed to assure Nagini that had made a distasteful look at the color choice. Her face settled to a more neutral one when he amended his answer.

He really didn’t want anything orange. He just liked the texture. It was why he liked some foods she made better than others. It had the right taste and feel when he ate it.

“Good taste.” The shopkeeper complimented. “It comes in these colors.”

He picked black immediately and then some green. It matched a lot of the colors that Nagini wore and it was the color of his house line.

“Add a deep blue one in as well.” Nagini pointed. “It will match a lot of his other clothes.”

Tom wasn’t averse to blue. He never owned anything that shade before. He hadn’t really owned anything but the horrible gray and old stained white shirts before he was rescued. Some colors might be nice.

“Of course, and will these be custom?”

“Yes, but leave room for growth. Tom is growing rather quickly.”

Tom felt his face heat. He had gained some weight in the past few weeks. Nagini insisted that it was important that he gain some.

“You will be tall.” She tapped her deck of cards. “I suspect that you will be nearly 2 meters if you eat correctly.”

“Did the cards tell you that?” He asked quietly.

“No. It is something that I just know.” She smiled.

“We can easily do that.”

He wasn’t unused to magic at this point but he felt unprepared for a storm of measuring equipment. After measurements. Nagini informed the shopkeeper that they would be running another Aaron and would not be staying in the nice chairs while they waited. Tom was almost disappointed the plush chairs and tea sounded nice. It had started to rain. He was coming to realize that this shop only the most elite of wizarding shopped at. There were many news articles in the back of the shop and the awards spoke volumes on how quality their robes were.

Yet the woman had complimented the sticking on his Muggle clothes. Witches and Wizards were ignorant as his Aunt informed him.

“You will learn quickly that the average Wizard is far more foolish than the Average Muggle. They shun the world that is not magic and therefore are ignorant of much. When we are conducting business it is best to pretend that we have little from the normal side of things.” His Aunt sighed. “One must never create unneeded conflict with fools. It is a waste of time to argue with them.”

“Should I be ashamed of living with Muggles?” Tom has no love for them, but he wants to make a good impression when he goes to school in a few years and the more that he knows not to say the better. He however also knows that there are Muggle-born Witches and Wizards and those that had Muggle parents.

Nagini’s lips pursed. “I would not be necessarily ashamed of dealing with Muggles. It is no fault of your own that you were raised amongst them. It makes you no less than any noble born Witch or Wizard. I just would not advertise it. I do not wish to have your legitimacy questioned too greatly by the Bluebloods. They are a fickle enough group and I would not wish them to see you as less. You are far too good for them as it is.”

She speaks it as if it is true and so Tom must believe it as well. Cole was wrong. He has greatness running in his veins.

“You don’t like Muggles do you?” Tom asked.

“I don’t dislike them.” She says softly. “I am sure that there are good ones. Just as there are good Witches and Wizards. They are human and sometimes I can't help but remember to be wary of them. We both have suffered things that no one should suffer, Tom.” Her eyes swam with emotions that he couldn’t place, her voice pained. “Part of me wishes that I could close myself off completely from everyone but you.”

“Can I have a name for the order?” His Aunt raised an eyebrow at the tailor's comment.. “Just in case you come back when I am on break and my daughter takes over. I want to make sure that your purchase goes as smoothly as possible.”

“Very well. Nagini Slytherin.”

The woman almost drops her pen. “What?”

“Nagini Slytherin.” She repeated. “I can spell it if you are not perficient in letters.”

“It’s just that name…”

“I am aware that our family has been dishonored by the Guant line. But I assure you that I have all the paperwork in order to prove that is indeed my name. Not that I have the need to prove my lineage to you.”

His Aunt was angry. He could tell by the way that her tone dropped.

Was he the dishonorable part…?

His heart ached in his chest and the smile that he had been wearing faltered.

Did she only love him in private? She had said that his mother and his father had a forbidden love. She said that his grandfather was in prison for killing his father.

“I meant no disrespect.” The woman quickly moves to salvage her sale.

“It was disrespectful,” Nagini says evenly. “Thomas and myself are not to be associated with that side of the family. He will be going to Hogwarts in a couple of years.”

The woman’s eyes glance quickly to him and he holds tight to his locket under her gaze. He glares at her for making Nagini upset and, making him doubt for a second his Aunt's love for him. She however seems to take note of the necklace.

“Salazar’s locket.”

“The one and only.” Nagini nodded. “He will have his Lord titles when he comes of age. Until then I will hold it in my brother’s place.” The ugly large ring that she always wore flashed in the shop's lighting.

Nagini doesn’t particularly like the potions shop. It gives her the chills. She never would admit to Tom just how close she had come to being in one of the pickled jars that is behind the counter. Tom isn’t scared but she can tell that he is uneasy in the place. His eyes keep scanning the different fresh ingredients. He looks particularly at one of the snakes that is hissing about being uncomfortably warm and being hungry.

~It hurts.~ The smallest snake is crying for help in small hisses. ~Please Speaker Please~

“It is a pleasure to do business with you.” The ugly man smiles at her from behind the counter. He has been a nuisance since she had started selling here. His name is Fletcher and he makes her skin crawl.

“And you as well.” She says plainly. “If I were to come across fangs from this particular snake would that be of interest?”

“The potioners that have taken interest in this shed would certainly be delighted. They say it is better than most of my live ingredients.”

“That is good.” She acknowledges. She needs more funds. Things are going to start to get expensive. There was a war coming.

Tom slowly slips his hand into hers. It is the first time that he has sought comfort since they entered the alley. She perhaps should have started a lot smaller. A remote Wizarding town. Even if she could not get nearly as many rumors as she wanted started that way. It would draw attention to them and she wanted to control the narrative. One way or another the letter would come for Tom and she wanted him to have the proper start. He will not be bullied by people far beneath him for something as stupid as a title.

“Aunty.” Tom’s voice has taken a slight inflection that is unlike him. “If you are cold we can probably go to pick up our new robes.”

He was helping her, she realized. She was trembling.

“Y-Yes.” She tries her best to steady herself. “Yes, they should be done by now.”

She is supposed to be protecting him. She can’t fall into her fears. Still, the snake is in her head long after they leave the potions shop.

Nagini dreams again of a boy across the world from her. His eyes are as deep brown as the sea and they swallow her up with pretty words and promises. She kisses him and he kisses her lightly. He is so kind to her and she tries to replicate the soft and nice feeling that she feels. But the pleasantness soon turns sour. She dreams of running with him down alleys and hiding among the Muggles. She dreams of a damaged boy who is lied to and makes a terrible mistake and she sees herself screaming, begging him not to leave her. She sees his dead body ripped to shreds and she can’t look away from it.

She wakes and no matter the amount of tea that she drinks can calm her. No amount of Calming Draught can clear the horrible ache that has formed in her chest. She is not able to save him at the moment. She doesn’t even know if she ever would be able to help him or if she should even try and open herself up to that possibility.

She holds her head in her hands and she for the first time in a long time starts to sob.

Chapter Text

Nagini is at the table when Tom comes down the stairs. She sits with a mug of tea between her fingers and sad downcast eyes that are glittering with unshed tears. She lifts her head and the large locks on her head slide like her coils over her head and face. She looks at him nearly the instant that he steps into the room. Her animal side can hear things and as such she hears far greater than most. She turns her head and lets out a deep breath that fills her lungs, and then she releases.

“Good morning.” She greets.

Her voice is caught between a snake and a human tongue; it's gravely and low. She takes a sip of her tea and again attempts to clear her throat. It’s strange in a fascinating sort of way, how her muscles move and constrict against the cup and the silence that grows between them. Nagini has killed for him. She has done more than anyone else has ever done for him.

Yet, the hands that could easily kill were always so gentle to him. She doesn’t regret killing. She had told him as much. “I am a fine weapon when I need to be, I can disregard my morals for the sake of those I love. There are limits to my abilities for compassion when it isn’t family

Tom was her family. She didn’t consider the others worth her time. He comforts himself with that thought when she disappears for hours and he is left to his own devices. The woods around their home have things that lurk in the trees but none of them seem like things that he has to worry about. The potion ingredients that she uses are near the tree line; there are beds that have some of the ingredients and other vegetables.

Tom doesn’t have many responsibilities. It seems to almost pain Nagini to make him do anything that isn’t directly with her as in training him with usable skills that he will need when he does head off to school. At one time the prospect of going away to a far-off place would have excited him. Now, it seems daunting

“Good morning.” He moves to sit at the other side of the table. Her tired eyes are on full display then. Her eyes flicker over him assessing perhaps if he dressed himself correctly today or if he was okay. She was always worried in some way for him.

One day she won’t need to be.

“Mmm.” Nagini hums. “There is food on the stove.”

“Alright.” He says, fidgeting a little under her intense gaze. “Do we have anything to do today?”

She ran a hand through her hair and the long ropes moved with it. The many pieces of thin gold shine and she presses her hands against her eyes. “Yes.”

“And you are going to be alright to do them?” He carefully asks, nearly flinching when her deep, black eyes catch his. He doesn’t want to doubt her. He knows she’s more than capable of taking care of herself. She had done it alone for a long time, but he wants to be useful. Maybe he should get up earlier.

“I can bring you with me today. I have a home visit.” She folds her arms in front of herself. “They will not mind if you observe, they will probably find you cute.”

There is a small smile forming on her face at his slight scowl and flushed face. “I’m not cute.”

“Of course not, my little snake, that is their mistake if they see your beauty as anything but a warning.” She was fully smiling now. “It’s much easier to deceive when they like what they see.” She tilts her head “Not that my craft is a complete fabrication.”

No, she had been teaching him and she does have a talent for it. She says he must get better at reading what people want to hear, what they need to hear.

“It's not about telling them a lie, or selling one. It’s about setting them straight even if it's cruel. You must also coat the harshness with honey so that it’s better to hear, easier to hear.”

He huffs getting up to get himself a bit of food. It would be terrible to waste it and he already knew that it would taste nice.

The house was large that they are moving up to. There are large maze-like gardens that tower with great and old trees. It reminds him more of a castle than a house, their home was simple, and he liked it well enough. It was weird because when he had been at Wools he had dreamed of a very large house like this, but after his Aunt had come for him, he didn’t care about where they lived, even if he did want a few more nice things inside of it.

“The boy is your age.” His Aunt glances down at him. “It would be good if you could get along with him, even if they seem insufferable.”

“Building connections.” Tom remembers her telling him that they were part of the 28 and while their blood was precious that none was as true as his.

“Yes, we must build our house from the ruin that my father put us in.” Her eyes soften. “However if they are not as insufferable as I remember, perhaps a friend would be good for you as well.”

“Children are all annoying.” Tom huffs despite the fact that he knows that he’s young himself. It was just normal children who didn't understand the things that he knew.

Nagini laughs. She cackles, reaches down and fixes his hair rather than messing it up like she likes to do.

Nagini can tell the future with stars, sticks, eggs, and blood. Her cards turn in the light, gold, and foiled. She tells the future of the house of Malfoy. She tells the older woman that sits in front of her that she will have only the child she has now, with his golden woven hair. She will lose a second should she try. Her son will have an affinity for charms, his wand would be the heartstring of a dragon. He would play quidditch, chaser, though he would want seeker, and not wish to do much else, but would under her tutelage try other options. The house will also have a dragon that comes to darken it 3 separate times. When implored Nagini tells her that the Dragon Pox would take her dear husband from her and then it would come for her descendants but at a much later date.

“It’s not all doom and gloom.” Nagini’s eyes glowed almost gold like when she transformed, it went down into her hair. “You will have the greatest, richest house. The eggs that you have put away are invested well. Your husband will bring you to new heights by avoiding the dark shadow of a wizard that crosses over britain. He will rise all the way to just under the minister position.”

Even if Nagini twists her words or if she speaks the entire truth, Tom can tell that she holds magic. He can tell that she is a very skilled witch because this noble woman is leaning out of her seat. She believes and Nagini had once told him that belief was quite the powerful magic in itself, because spells were by intent. One could make anything happen if they had enough drive, training, motivation, to do it.

Tom is introduced to Abraxas afterwards and Nagini was right he wasn’t all that tolerable, but he was definitely something to look at. Golden hair indeed. Only interested in sports was correct as well and he immediately starts talking about brooms. He wants Tom to fly with him and because of his blood, because he is a Slytherin he gains himself many more ‘play’ dates in the future.

Nagini smiles at him, watching him but she doesn’t seem to like the fact that he has a broom in his hand. It’s the first thing that Tom likes that he doesn’t think Nagini does. She however doesn’t stop him. She just nods with eyes that tell him to be careful. She turns back to her conversation with Lady Malfoy and they seem to both have similar feelings.He follows after Abraxas who is much faster than him, up the hills, out into the patch of earth that holds nothing near it. He’s nervous, but more than that he’s excited. He has seen the racing brooms in stores, he’s read about the capabilities of the newest Star that he holds in his hands.

“You’ll do great, even if you have never flown. I can show you how it’s done.” Abraxas tells him and Tom ignores him, feeling at the wind and his magic that sits in his veins. He reaches out to it, feels the word curl on itself to accommodate it. He kicks up into the air, he takes to it faster than anyone can predict. He soars up into the endless warm air, high above the trees and he doesn’t fall, he doesn’t lose balance or slip. He was born for magic, just like the wand that he holds between his fingers. He knows that he was powerful, it was meant to be.

It's freeing in a way that not even Abraxasus' high pitched yell can stir him from the calm that takes over after the first bit of excitement has died down.

He loves magic.

He wants to do even greater things with it.

“Do you think I can get a broom of my own?” Tom asks her when they go home.

“It can be arranged.” Nagini lets her hand drop from his. “Just promise me not to fall off of it.”

“I won’t.” Tom scuffed and Nagini thinks she knows that in her bones, because her Riddle was always so gifted, so strong. However he will not be the same. Nothing will be how it was. She had removed but one obstile from him and he would have many more to face in the coming years. The least she can do is try and make it so when he does have to cross those paths he has her with him that he is safe to do so. Even if ensuring his safety widdles down on the person that he could have grown to be.

The one that she loves.

However she knew that was what she had signed up for when she had come for him. She had ensured that the same monster that killed children and became the next dark lord would not become that person.

“I know.” She says, but she still worries.

The nightmares continue and so she starts to think, plot rather, how things needed to move forward for herself in the future. Where she wants it to go, what she wants for herself and Tom.

Tom is getting taller by the day.

Tom looks at her sometimes like she has hung the stars when all that she does is reach out to him when he is scared, when he is silent she gives him space. She feeds him, she clothes him, and he in return thinks he must do the same. One day perhaps he will realize that it is not transactional. Her love for him while it has changed forms has not lessened in any way.

So when she sees an advertisement for openings in teaching positions at Hogwarts and the names of the current teachers. She gets that feeling again. The soul-crushing, anxiety, and feeling of uncertainty. One that she wouldn’t let Tom see.

No. It was better that she shows for the most part that she has it together for his sake.

Still, it's the kind that makes her mouth fill completely up with venom. The man that teaches there, will teach her Tom. The man that turned from his kin, the one that promised her, then failed her to protect Credence. Albus Dumbledore’s face is looking back at her with the same eyes she had once trusted. The same she had seen become steel in the Ministry. The same blue that would say that he believed her Tom was a monster. The same that would order a small child to try and kill hers, to destroy parts of the soul as if they were just foul bits of magic and not closed-off parts of humanity that her dear Tom had cut out of himself because of pain, because the world was cruel.

She would have to take care of that gaze sooner rather than later. She has no intention of killing the man, but she can’t stand the idea that he could poison Tom’s self-growth and confidence. She can’t stand the idea that the war happens and Credence dies, the same way, this time without her to at least give him a moment's reprieve, some damn happiness.

Perhaps this time around there could be more than one life saved. The boy she dreams of lives in America at this time and has a father and uncle who could perhaps be better reasoned with as he hasn’t attacked them yet. He has not been hollowed out by Grindelwald and left with nothing but lies and false promises.

Maybe… Nagini thinks that she can save him.

Maybe she just wants to.

Maybe she wants to feel something as a woman again. She brings up her hands to her arms. While men were foolish creatures that took, took, and took. Credence had been gentle, sweet. He suffered and he knew she had as well. He took that from her, took that suffering, eased it, made her believe… And then like fire, like matches, and cigarette buds, he had burned her.

Left her so scared to ever feel again.

Left her so closed off that she wanted to rot with him. Crawl into his corpse for some remaining warmth and promise that could no longer ever be fulfilled. For the dead could no longer love, and the living were left with what remained of that pain.

Maybe… it’s not just Tom that she can help.

Rejection though still sets deep in her. She was rejected by the one she loved once, in another life. He had not believed her then, he might not believe her now. She is older than him, she is a mess of scattered thoughts and puzzle pieces. She has a life to think about far more than her own. A child that looks up at her with that same look she had seen before he split his soul several times, back when the world made a semblance of sense. Where her lonely isolation had been broken, not this… frosted over acceptance she has come to.

“I must do it.” She feels at the cards and she hisses it to them, magic, death perhaps. She implores them and Voldemort for guidance. “It would be wrong to ignore such suffering when I know it’s to come.”

Tom comes with her to the small town that sits outside of Hogwarts. There is a folded-up paper in her pocket and her cards, amongst other tools. Tom’s fingers lock well into her own for a moment longer. He’s still not strong after the apparition. He gets sick often and while he doesn’t throw up this time, it does take him a few staggered steps to get his bearings. One day he will not need her, he will carry himself just fine, so she takes this moment as she takes any moment that he shows her any form of youthful innocence.

“Auntie.” He has taken to calling her that. Because the Purebloods do it between the meals they attend and some of the parties that she makes them attend to bring back some favor to their nearly dead house. She knows sooner or later word will spread to the remaining living member of their house. She will kill him when he does get out of prison and further ensure her lie is safe and secure.

One day she will tell him.

One day she will try and have him understand.

He might not be capable of it, but she does hope that he will forgive her for deceiving him in such a way. They might not be bound by blood, but they were at one time, one corner of reality bound closer as they had shared a soul.

“What is it, my snake?” She asks.

“What are we doing here?” His face was puffed up by her nickname of him. She never calls him when they are not alone. She gives him all the pride that he deserves. She tells him Tom is a name that isn’t as common as he thinks it to be in the Magical side of things, and he shouldn’t be ashamed of anything that he is.

“We are here to see a man about a job.” She tells him honestly.

“For Card Reading?” Tom shivers a little as the cold wind blows up the bits of snow around them.

“Yes and no.” She answers him, moving forward to get herself out of the chill. She is a reptile after all and she doesn’t like when things can freeze.

“What does that mean?” He demands childishly.

“It means that I might do cards for them, I may not.” She moves along the cleared parts of the walk and Tom rushes after her.

The Hog’s Head’s sign is old even now, it would not look much better in 50 years when she had returned to this spot for a battle. She holds the door open to Tom and he wrinkles his nose a little as they step through. He is used to the finer things now, the humble home that they have is well-furnished and clean. The man who stands in the corner of the bar is in no rush to greet them. She didn’t expect as much. She had insisted on this place for a reason and she would win the first brother over before the second one would come. And if he didn’t she would just take a passage up into that castle and demand that he see some semblance of reasoning. She sits at the bar right in front of the man so he has no choice but to look at her.

“We don’t let minors at the bar.” He speaks not in greeting but with a scowl, as Tom sits himself at the side of her. He doesn’t move and the man just glares as hard back.

“He will not be having anything that would tarnish your business reputation,” Nagini says kindly, sweetly. She leans herself a little forward and puts her hands to the countertop.

The man grunts at that. “The Ministry won’t care about that.”

She smiles despite him. “No, they care nothing about the realities of those that they see as beneath them. Which is why I have come here. I have a business to discuss with you, Aberforth, if you would listen to it.”

“What kind of business does a noblewoman like yourself have in my inn?”

“This noble woman.” Nagini chuckled, “Is half blood as yourself, so please no formalities. This isn’t the place for that. I have come to talk to you about your time in Godric’s Hollow.”

“Everyone always wants to know about Godric’s Hollow.” The man leans against the bar. “I make no threats to women with children, usually, so unless you want things to get ugly I do suggest you leave.”

“I don’t want to talk about your brother or his Grindelwald. I give nothing but condolences to you on your dear sister’s death. I come to talk to you about the girl that you had a relationship with, back when you were younger.”

This causes the man to pause. He looks at her with squinted eyes. “And what would you know about that.”

“I am gifted in the arts of divination. Please sit. I wish to tell you of your son.”

The man’s eyes glanced towards Tom. The child gives a quick confused look to Nagini.

“That is my sister’s child. Tom.” Nagini shakes her head. “Your son is far over the seas. He is involved in a prophecy I am afraid and that is why he was lost to you. I have come to ask you to allow me to search for him, and when I come back a place for him to be.”

“This mystery child…”

“Credence.” She tells him. “He has a name, though it was gifted to him by monsters that take in all the children when they are seemingly unwanted.”

Tom knows because he shudders. “The church.”

“Correct.” Nagini turns her eyes to him.

“They made her leave.” The old man looked tired. “I never knew what became of her. I asked.”

“I am sure that you did.” She reaches for the cards and pushes them to show their faces. “I’ve seen a darkness growing in him, not unlike that of your sister, trauma builds things in our kind. I have seen a second shadow descend to try and claim that power. This person killed your sister. He will take your son should he not be found soon and he will turn him against you, for Credence will see your act of ignorance as betrayal.”

“I suppose that you were right, I do think I will need that chair.”