Thanks to all that added this story to your alerts! :D And I received a helpful tip from Anon, pointing out that Harry stays a Parseltongue even after the war, and that it is impossible for people to learn Parseltongue. Well… I drew inspiration for this story from other authors who wrote stories in which Parseltongue is able to be taught.

Also, I assumed that Harry lost the ability to speak Parseltongue after Voldemort's soul was detached from his because the Parseltongue-ness comes from Voldemort… I'm very sorry if you don't like non-canon! D: But I'm going to continue in the same vein, because I don't really want to deviate. I'm sorry! But I hope you'll continue reading the story despite the flaws :-)

And I'm sorry for the delay in posting this!

"Hey, Harry! What's up? I haven't seen you in here for some time!" Ron greeted as Harry ducked into Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes from the rain, shaking the water from his robes. Harry smiled and took off his wet robe, spelling the water away.

"Sorry, Ron. Kingsley refused to let me get away till I finished the paperwork. The mountain of red tape slapped on the Howards case is as big as the bloody Chamber of Secrets. How's George?"

"I'm fine; you could ask me instead of my assistant." George joked as he climbed down a stepladder leading to the apartment upstairs and brought out the large boxful of brand new products- Enchanted Wizarding Wieners! Toys for lonely witches- any takers? Available in two sizes: Lockhart Large and Krum Kinda Kid-sized – to balance them on the counter. Ron yelped and covered his eyes at the image of Viktor Krum winking salaciously on the side of box, stroking a coral-pink dildo suggestively. Harry stared at the box then turned to George. Ron whimpered a tiny "is it gone now?" before ducking behind the counter and pretending to be busy.

"Are you really planning to sell that?" Harry asked faintly. "Kids come here every day."

"I'm putting it in the Adult section at the back. Say, speaking of kids, how have the kids been doing?" George asked, hefting the box nonchalantly as he made his way to the back, past a large violet velvet curtain. Harry followed, curious to see the adult section of the shop. He was assailed by rows and rows of boxes of adult toys and felt violated.

"They're fine… Uh, I just got Albus a snake as a pet. He likes it a lot. Jamie hates it, thinks it's out to eat Kludd." George chuckled as he dumped the box in between Bertie Botts' Every Flavour Condoms and a box of vibrating beads. Harry felt his eyebrow twitch.

"So, you're here to collect your map? I'm more or less done with it. You just have to set your own riddle to lock it." Harry grinned. He had commissioned a map of the Potter household (an extensively remodelled Grimmauld Place- five whole months of Wizarding construction workers wandering in and out of the place, planks everywhere and loud curses as they met with the old charms and spells) based on the Marauders' Map. George had leapt into the task with fervour and declared that Fred would have loved cracking the enchantments on the Marauders' Map.

"That would be great." George and Harry went to the counter and George handed Harry a blank piece of parchment that looked slightly tatty and worn out with a large brown stain in the middle with property of HJP in tiny cursive script in its upper left hand corner. Harry raised an eyebrow at George and pointed at the brown stain.

"I really hope that's tea." George shrugged.

"That was the general idea. You just tap it and say your riddle, it'll open. Once you set the riddle, you won't be able to change it. So I suggest you think about it first."

OoOoOoOo

"Albus really likes his snake," Poppy remarked. Lily giggled as she looked over to see Albus crooning to the snake in Parseltongue. They were all basking in the backyard of The Burrow under the supervision of Molly Weasley, who kept an eye on them while baking an apple pie with apples that James and Albus had scrumped from a nearby orchard.

"Yeah, he says it's clever. Al, could'ja come here?" Lily called. Albus turned and came over, the snake at his heels. Poppy petted its head politely and Lily tickled it under its chin.

"What'cha call me over for?"

"What's it say about me and Poppy?" Lily asked. Albus turned to the snake who gave a few short bursts of hisses and rested its head on Lily's knee. Albus smiled and pushed his hands deeper into his pockets rocking on his heels.

"He says Poppy looks like someone he's seen before."

"Well, what about me?" Lily demanded.

"He was laughing too hard for me to interpret." Lily snorted and turned away.

OoOoOoO

Draco could feel the full moon coming up in his muscles. He curled up in Albus' lap and closed his eyes, resting lazily in the late afternoon sun. He would have to change back to human form tonight to make sure that everything was fine with his human body. It was a ritual he had started back then in days he was living with his previous owner, Maeve. During the nights of the full moon, he would turn human and bask in the moonlight before turning back to a snake at dawn. Draco told himself that he did it only so that he would not turn out like Pettigrew- a filthy fat little man that had hardly taken care of his human appearance. But the real reason was vanity coupled with the gentle prod of nostalgia. It pleased Draco that his human physique was still attractive, though more slender than he would have liked.

"Thinking about something?" Albus asked. Draco shook his head.

"Enjoying the sun." Albus nodded and lay down on the grass, preparing to doze off. Draco watched the Potter brat and felt a twinge- if he hadn't gone into hiding, would he have had a son like that as well? Draco could imagine him in his mind, basing the image on Albus. His son would be pale and thin as well, though without Albus' knobbly knees. And he would name his son… Scorpius. Yes, that was a perfectly sensible Malfoy name. Scorpius would have Draco's own gray eyes, a gaze that would start out soft as eiderdown and over the years, learn how to harden to slate in appropriate circumstances. Somewhere above him, Albus hummed a soft tune that lilted and sloped, twisting out the elegant strains of a melody Draco was sure that Potter senior would never be able to pull off. Draco wondered if he should tell Albus his real form. He almost felt like he could trust Albus completely. This Potter brat, like Potter Senior in his younger years, had an air of utter trustworthiness and guile.

"Thank you, Albus." Albus sat up, startled. He looked at Draco.

"Why're you thanking me?"

"Because I feel like it, I suppose. Never let it be said that an Ophionus is an ungrateful animal." Albus grinned and pat his head gently, stroking his fingers through the mane of feathers.

"You're really weird," Albus commented. "Must be all those field mice you ate." Draco let it slide. After all, Albus was now his only friend.

I'm sorry, this chapter was a real block! Haha. I'm working hard on my other stories. Maybe the next chapter will be better! Thanks for reading and/or subscribing, please review!