A/N: Finally, the next chapter of Brothers of the Flame. Now, I know it is a little shorter than usual, but I have had other thoughts on mind lately for other fanfics, and I will continue with my writing now that Uni is over. Again, I am so sorry for the long delay, but I will make sure to pump out more stories as time goes on.

-Line-Break-

Over the ten and a half hour flight from Melbourne to Tokyo, Harry and Drago got on as thick as thieves, their conversations ranging from what sports they played (Harry played Quidditch, while Drago preferred Quodpot), what their favourite spells were (Drago's was the blasting hex, while Harry liked the bone breaker he had read about) and what their favourite animals were (Drago loved wolves, while Harry admitted, more to himself than anything, that he loved snakes).

With that last fact, Harry had revealed to Drago that he was a parselmouth, which, surprisingly, hadn't fazed Drago one bit, with him explaining that a lot of his friends had been, and he had once envied them of their ability. However, when Harry explained his first two years at Hogwarts to Drago, he was absolutely shocked.

"Hang on, so you're telling me that in your first year, you went toe to toe with a Dark Lord and lived, in your School?" Drago asked exasperatedly. Harry nodded, and Drago continued. "And then in your second year, you were ostracised and shunned for being a parselmouth, and then faced off with a basilisk, with your being the victor?" Harry nodded again, looking solemn, before he was tackled into a hug from the bigger boy. He immediately flinched, not used to contact that wasn't harming before relaxing in the warm embrace of his brother. His brother, now that was a thought that had never crossed his mind before.

Noticing the flinch, but not bothering to ask, knowing the smaller boy would tell him when he was more comfortable with him, he continued to hug his little brother before letting go when Harry asked him to. He smiled at the smaller boy, before he said "You should never have had to go through that, ever. No matter what would have happened, you should not have had to go through such a traumatic experience at such a young age." He saw a slight movement in the corner of his eye, noticing the tail for the umpteenth time that night. "So would you mind telling me about the tail? Mephisto didn't say anything to me about that."

"Well from what he's said, it's from the Basilisk venom that was in me" Harry began, slowly, thinking things over. "My friend's sister woke up after I stabbed the diary, and I told her to leave the chamber without me. All I remember is that before I fainted, there was a flash of blue flames, and then I woke in Mephisto's arms as he walked with me to the headmaster's office. I think I was out for a week."

"That still doesn't explain the tail, though, you know that, right?"

Harry nodded, still lost in his thoughts while he said "I know that, but some part of me makes it feel right, you know. As if, going the first twelve years of my life without a tail felt wrong, and now that I have it, I feel complete. But I still don't know what it means to have it, though I'm sure that Mephisto will explain it to us later."

Drago was mulling things over in his head about their entire conversation so far, when a though struck him as odd.

"Hang on a minute. You said that everyone was calling you the Heir of Slytherin correct? And that this was because you were a parselmouth?" Receiving two nods in reply, Drago jumped from his seat and ran to his trunk, lying in the corner of the lounge they were in while on the plane. He dug through his miniature library and pulled out two books, one titled Great Families of the Wizarding World and their Histories, the other tiled The Ins and Outs of Lordships and Heirships. Returning to the couch with a perplexed Harry still sitting there, he started to flick through Great Families of the Wizarding World and their Histories, looking for Slytherin, while he flipped to the page he had marked off on Heirships in the other book.

"So quickly, the reason being the Heir of Slytherin is so bad in Britain is because of two things. Firstly, it is because of the fact that Dark Magic is strictly controlled and illegal in most cases, as well as considered evil, correct?" Receiving a nod, he continued, "And Slytherin is a predominantly Dark Family, correct?" This time he received a hesitant nod, and continued. "The other reason is because this Lord Voldemort claimed to be the Heir of Slytherin, saying that he was continuing 'Mighty Salazar's work', correct?" He got another, definite nod this time. "Would you actually care if you were the Heir of Slytherin?"

"No, I wouldn't, to be honest" Harry said, if slightly hesitantly. "The Sorting Hat at Hogwarts wanted to put me in Slytherin, but I was stubborn, and wanted to be with the first friends I had made…" Drago frowned here but let Harry continue "…but it said that I would do great things if I were to be in Slytherin. And, well, he is the most well-known Parselmouth in Britain, so I would consider it to be an honour to be his Heir. If only I could actually say that at Hogwarts without being bullied?" he finished absently.

"Well, I think I may know a way in which you would be an heir" Drago started, going into what his friends called lecture mode. "But first, a little history. Salazar Slytherin was the oldest of three descendants of the Ancient Peverell line. He knew that he would not be given Lordship unless his brothers died, as Lordship was always given to the third son, but he loved them too much to do anything to them. So, with his Father's blessing, he was able to change his name from Peverell to Slytherin, as he wanted to make a name for himself, without the use of his Father's name."

"It is said that, one day, while he was still searching for an animal to have as the symbol for his new house, he came across a basilisk and her eggs. The mother was dying from an attack made by a gang of local wizards who hunted magical creatures for sport, and they had crushed all of her eggs, except one. The mother was too weak to be able to raise her young, and when this new wizard came over to try to heal her, instead of harm her, she deemed him to be suitable to raise her young for her. And so, with her dying breath, she bit the Salazar, but not with the intention to harm, but to provide knowledge of her kind. Up until this point parselmouth's were completely unheard of, the first was Salazar himself. It is said that he was out cold for a week as the venom coursed through his blood, providing him with the magic and knowledge of snakes."

"When he woke, he had a baby basilisk wrapped around his torso, staring at him in the eyes. He knew immediately that the snake had chosen him to be his master and had willingly become the wizards familiar, allowing him to stare into the eyes of the basilisk without dying, and so he chose a snake, more specifically a basilisk, as the symbol of his house."

Harry cut in there, saying "But that doesn't explain how I can be an Heir of Slytherin at all."

"All in good time, Harry, I wasn't finished" Drago said calmly, not at all fazed by the interruption. "Before Salazar died, he performed a ritual that bound parseltongue to his family blood line, but only those descended from him, so those left by the Peverell's would not inherit the ability. So, when you think about it, every parselmouth is a descendant of Slytherin, no matter how diluted the blood is. However, he put in place certain contingencies so that his wealth was not given out to the wrong people, ensuring that only certain people could get access to the secrets he left behind. So he enforced the family magic to recognize bastard lines, but only to an extent. It is said that he has eight vaults at Gringotts, and the eighth one, the smallest, is filled with as much money as what I would expect the Malfoys to have. This was the only vault that Bastard lines would have claims to, and the only vault they would have knowledge of, as well as being unable to claim Lordship of the family."

"Now, it is well known here that Voldemort was a descendant of Slytherin, but through a bastard line called the Gaunt's. They were a disgraced family and as such, by the power of the family magic's, were no longer allowed access to the bastard vault. So he is not an Heir, no matter what he may think. So that means that being an Heir via Right of Conquest is out of the question, in regards to being an Heir, though you may have gained access to the bastard vault because of this. Seeing as the main line died out, and the families that married into Salazar's line were only allowed to gain Lordship of the family if they contained at least one parseltongue, there are two options. And both would need you to go to Gringotts to find out which one it is."

"And that is?" Harry asked, excited to know that he may be an Heir to a famous Parselmouth.

"Well, it is possible that our family married into the Slytherin line at some point, and since you're a parselmouth, you can gain lordship" Drago answered for the excited boy. "Or Someone in Slytherin's line changed their name to Potter, much like what Salazar did himself. That's option one, with you actually being related to Salazar. Option two, is that the Family Magic has picked you as the rightful heir to the family. However, as is said, we have to go to Gringotts to find out which one is correct."

"Okay, so when we get to Japan, we have to go to Gringotts for this" Harry said, getting a nod of confirmation from Drago. "And I guess we can find out about the tail then too."

"While that sounds like an excellent plan, my boys" Mephisto called out to them, placing his phone down on the table after finishing his call. "I would say that you should go to bed, it's going to be a long day tomorrow, and you will be meeting your other two brothers as well. So to be now, the both of you. I will wake you when we land, so that we can get your brothers. And besides, we need to go to Gringotts anyway, as Hadrian needs a new wand after what happened."

"Yes Mephisto" the brothers called back simultaneously, sending the two into a fit of giggles as they made their way to bed.