Archive of Our Own ^beta

At first the dragons did think him odd, and they often teased him for having an accent and a lisp—to be expected with sibilance that came with snakes—but, ultimately they could have stilted conversations. Conversations that eventually, with time, became manageable in some weird mix between whatever language they spoke and Parseltongue. Just how with English and Spanish some individuals spoke inglañol , now Harry and the dragons of their colony now spoke an odd mix of what he dubbed Parseldovah. When talking directly to him without care if the others in the colony understood, they often spoke their native tongue, but when speaking and wanting others—outgroup members (e.g. dragons to the snakes or snakes to the dragons)—to be clued in, they would speak Parseldovah which they had picked up from observing Harry code-switch. 

As the only one who could truly communicate with the dragons, Harry found himself with the colony most days to conduct his research, a task he found himself enjoying more and more as his rapport with the creatures grew. 

❧ Any day now, they will be here ❧ Aine was telling Harry proudly one cold day, circling her eggs protectively in their nest with her long, spiked tail. They were an array of scaled, iridescent colors that were warm to the touch. 

❧§ And is there something innate that tells you that, other than the amount of time that it's been? §❧ Harry asked, quill poised above his notebook. 

“Harry!”

❧§ There goes your mate again §❧  Aine laughed, flames tickling her snout as she did so, turning her large head to look behind Harry. ❧ We’ll allow him passage ❧ 

Harry eagerly turned toward the entrance of the colony, seeing the form of Charlie Weasley slowly but surely making his way toward them after making his way past the wards. A tall man, after many years of keeping up with dragons, he was fit, too. Unlike his brothers, he had more of an aristocratic face that gave off a regalness which was ironic considering there was no place he’d rather be than living in the wild. He had tousled hair that curled up at the ends and a roughness to his jaw that was the beginnings of a beard, but not quite, that made Harry wonder how it would feel against his skin. 

He felt an immediate smile fall on his lips, causing a ripple of amusement to pass through the many creatures around him.

❧§ He’s not my mate §❧ Harry replied for not the first time. 

It’s not that he had confided in the dragons and told them of his budding feelings for the other man; dragons, as it turned out, just happened to be very perceptive to that kind of thing, apparently.

§Then why do you scent like arousal? Any hatchling who has shed their egg tooth knows that smell § Syninth, a snake with beautiful silvery-blue scales sniffed as he slithered by. 

The snakes, however, had their sense of smell to out him. 

Harry had nothing to say in defense of himself, instead turning away from the approaching man and puffing out his flushing cheeks indignantly. 

❧§ Look at you puff out your cheeks like a little Hognose snake. Such an embarrassing drama queen of a speaker! Choose a more regal one like my breed. Spit acid at him §❧ Saphina flicked her tongue at him, coiling around his arm with slightly more force than was needed to get her point across. 

❧§ Better yet, imitate a dragon, Orator, true regality at its finest §❧ sniffed Aine, ignoring the way Saphina hissed lowly at her in retaliation at the subtle dig. 

§He is our Speaker, not yours. He has to learn your tongue, cousin. He was gifted ours § Wendig finally inputted testily, dropping out of the lisping gutturalness of Parseldovah into hissed irritation of Parseltongue. He raised himself higher on the rock he was sunbathing on, hood flared. It was ironic given that Aine was easily forty meters of him. 

❧§ Be calm §❧ Harry insisted, trying to avoid the fight that occasionally popped up among the colony. Once only a colony of dragons, it was unavoidable that magical snakes would eventually make their way there, too, in search of the only living Parselmouth. It had led to more interesting research, and a quirky not-so-little family, than Harry could have ever dreamed of.  

Movement among the dragons and snakes indicated that Charlie had found where Harry was sitting. 

“Hiya, Harry,” Charlie greeted, slowing to a stop with a grin on his face. With one hand, he brushed his red hair out his face, while the other held out a sealed letter. “A letter came for you in the office.”

“Ah, thank you.” Harry stood, brushing dirt that may or may not have been on his trousers before approaching the older man. He grabbed the letter, intending not to touch Charlie in the process, and somehow ended up brushing several of his fingers with his own.

Fighting back a blush, Harry quickly busied himself with opening the letter. He quickly read that it was from Dudley, and after a quick scan of his awful handwriting, he shoved the paper back in the envelope, which he then crammed in his pocket, and turned back to the dragons.

His chest felt so tight that it felt like it would burst. His magic, usually calm, was simmering beneath his skin, itching to crawl out of it and rampage the feelings he couldn’t even quite untangle or decipher. After the war, he occasionally struggled with controlling outbursts of wandless magic, but it had been years since then. 

❧§ Something is not right §❧ Snagtooth hissed, tongue flicking the air.

❧ What is wrong, Orator? ❧ Aine huffed, air expelling from her nostrils the moment she noticed his posture was off and heeding Snagtooth’s superior sense of smell. 

He took a deep breath, inhaling, hold, then, exhaling and the magic slowly settled into human skin again, settled into him. 

❧ Orator? ❧ A Norwegian Ridgeback turned its head and leaned closer, concern lacing her voice. 

The dragon who had been circling the pasture overhead all day, guarding against anything that may go after Aine’s eggs, suddenly grounded right behind them, dust and debris rising in the air with the impact. 

A few workers beyond the warded barrier in the distance shouted uncomfortably. 

❧ Something has caused you harm? ❧ Micah demanded between growls, flames starting to lick between his teeth. The fire merely warmed Harry, not doing any harm. The concerned Dovah almost brought tears to his eyes, but he tried to push it down. He wanted to lean forward and hug the gentle giant, press his cheek against the dark scales, but he knew that would only alarm his coworkers and the others in the colony, so he decided against it. 

❧ Harm?! ❧ Aine shouted, alarmed, distress in her voice but she remained where she was with her eggs, letting her mate handle the situation. The other dragons around the colony watched with varying degrees of concern, some hackles raised and a few bared teeth. 

§What is happening? § Saphina demanded anxiously from where she was wrapped around his arm, unable to keep up with the quick Dovah, especially not knowing some of the words. § Speaker? § She made to slither further up into his shirt. 

❧§ I'm fine everyone §❧ Harry ground out. ❧§ Please go back to what you were doing §❧

Micah stepped closer, lowering his neck down to Harry's feet. Then, he took in a deep inhale, slowly raising his head as he did so so that he may take in the full scent of Harry from top to bottom. Saphina stilled. 

Harry let him, used to this by now. 

Seemingly satisfied, Micah huffed before taking flight once more, his powerful wings almost knocking them clean off the ground if not for a charm sticking them in place, one that he had already long placed on their resident snakes.

His willing departure caused the rest of the creatures around Harry to relax, though he could still tell that they were still unsure. 

After a moment, Charlie took a tentative step closer to Harry, the movement not unwelcome. “So…anything exciting in that letter?”

Harry glanced back over at him, chewing on the inside of his lips. He didn’t necessarily want to flaunt the news to the world, but Charlie was a genuine guy.

“You don’t have to tell me, of course,” Charlie quickly continued, flashing a reassuring smile. “Your face just…didn’t give much away.”

Yeah, but the colony did. 

Harry tried to shrug nonchalantly, though his throat was beginning to tighten knowing that he couldn't brush it off. “Oh, it’s nothing really. Just saying my aunt has died.”

❧§ The bad nest mom who raised him died. Good riddance. ❧§ Saphina finally relayed to a fellow snake who immediately disseminated the information. Gossips . 

Charlie didn’t immediately respond, and Harry didn’t think much of it until he finally let out a quiet, “The aunt that raised you?”

Harry bent down to pick up one of the books he kept his notes in, flipping to a random page and sighing out, “Yep.”

Since moving to Romania and reconnecting with Charlie and working at the same business, they had gotten close. Perhaps the same level of closeness that he and Ron had back at Hogwarts, though Harry never looked at Ron and felt—. Anyways, Charlie worked more with Dragon Taming, a business that—perhaps awkwardly—Harry hoped to revolutionize and change with his research. Who would have known that the ability, Parseltongue, he once was so afraid of and was deemed Dark for would have been the doorway to what he hoped would be his life’s work; that and the Triwizard’s Tournament? Having been publishing on his work with the colony for several years, he’d already been nicknamed the magizoologists' Jane Goodall. And it had all been thanks to Charlie taking a chance on him after he had graduated Hogwarts after the war and rejected the offer to join the Auror’s. He had asked him a question that changed his life: “so, snake kid…ever try talking to dragons?”

So Charlie knew of how his childhood had been, of how he had been treated by the only family he had left. Sure, he and Dudley had some sort of stilted relationship now, but no true amends had been made between his aunt and him before her abrupt…passing.

“That’s a lot,” Charlie said after another pregnant pause. “Did you want to take a break? Or the whole day off? I’m sure Matei will understand.”

“No, no need,” Harry quickly decided, scribbling a few notes down about his day with the colony, though he could barely read it he had just written. 

“I’m on my break right now,” Charlie continued, as if Harry hadn’t spoken. “We can go somewhere—maybe that bakery a few streets down that has the delicious hot chocolate I know you love—and talk about it. Or not talk about it. Whatever you want to do.”

❧§  You should go ❧§   Aine cut in coyly. And by coyly, it was loud—the only coy thing about it was the fact that Charlie couldn’t understand. ❧§  It can be like mating dance, or whatever you humans do ❧§ 

❧§ Ah, yes, because talking about my dead, abusive caretaker is definitely first courting material §❧ Harry retorted snidely.  

Out of the corner of his eye, Harry saw Charlie watching him, expression quickly shifting to an awe-struck one. He always had this certain look on his face every time he witnessed Harry conversing with the dragons, like it was a marvel he could never believe was real. It was endearing.

Harry doubted he would find it endearing if he knew that every time he was near them, the dragons and snakes loved to talk about how to get them to mate. 

“I don’t know if there’s much to talk about,” Harry admitted, turning back to the redhead. “Or, at least right now,” he relented, recognizing that sooner or later, something about this was bound to come up whether he wanted it to or not. But that was fine for another day.

“Like I said, we can talk about anything else you want to talk about if not that. I just want to be there for you right now,” Charlie admitted with a dashing, almost shy smile.

❧§  Talk about how you want to lay his eggs ❧§   Saphina insisted, a toothy smirk somehow playing on her inhuman lips.

❧§ Tell him you can do oviposition. It’s the best, he will love it ❧§ Aine said proudly, looking lovingly at the sky where her mate was guarding, then down at her eggs. 

Saphina suddenly poked her head outside of his shirt, staring him dead in the eyes and nodding up and down. ❧§ Yes! I hear humans typically cannot, so if you tell him, he will definitely mate you for life ❧§

Cheeks a flaming red, Harry closed his book with a firm thud, shooting the dragons and snakes hissing with laugher a scolding look before gazing back over at Charlie. “ Alright , then ! Hot chocolate sounds nice.”

He tried not to smile at the way Charlie's face lit up, and the way the older man tried to hide his own growing smile.