Idiosyncrasy |Harry Potter

Chapter Twenty Eight

Whenever Harry came to have a conversation to have Zakari, the boy fell like a complete failure, because he never felt like he had the answers that Harry wanted, and all he wanted to do was help the boy. For some unknown reason, he just felt the need to help Harry. Learning the past mistakes his father had made working in the Dark Arts, certainly drove Zakari more than ever to do the right thing. While his father held no responsibility towards the death of Harry's parents, it was still unsettling to know at some point his father had been a Death Eater, a part of the group of witches and wizards that had one point followed a man who wanted Harry dead. And the Dark Wizard had planned to do whatever he could to take the life of a child.

Of course, to make matters worse, the majority of the Death Eaters had been in the Slytherin household, the same house that Zakari had been sorted into. The odds were just stacking themselves against the boy, who was already struggling with the communication barrier.

To see that Harry had dedicated some time to learning some basic sign, did bring a sense of joy to Zakari. Enough that in his head, he was willing to put the effort in and speak to Harry to the best of his ability.

Harry wanted information pertaining to the Chamber of Secrets, but Zakari once again didn't believe he would have the answers Harry sought from him. But he was willing to try to the best of his abilities.

Welcoming the boy to sit next to him outside, Zakari watched as Duncan walked over to inspect Harry in order to give him the Duncan seal of approval.

Harry remained still for a few minutes as Duncan circled around the boy's feet, sniffing at the ground.

Several times, he would lift his head and let out a loud snort, before dropping his head back down to the ground.  Harry gave Zakari a worried look, but the boy only gave him a reassuring smile in return to inform him that he would be just fine. 

Eventually, Duncan lifting his head once more and propped himself back up on his back legs to stretch out. He gave Harry's hand a gentle lick before settling back down on four legs and continuing back with his business.

Harry sat down with a small smile on his face, amused with the dog's antics before turning his attention to Zakari.

The younger boy scratched the top of his knee as he tried to think of what to say to Harry, unaware that Harry was trying to sign to him.

"I...I do not know about the Chamber of Secrets." Zakari said slowly. "I only know what...I...learned in school." 

He could see the obvious wave of disappointment appear on Harry's face as the answer was not what the boy was looking for.

"How are you always there?" Harry asked.

Zakari became paranoid in his mind as he wondered if Harry suspected it was actually him that was responsible for the horrible happenings in the school. Panic arose in the boy's chest as he looked over at Harry fearfully.

"Not me!" he signed quickly. "Not me!"

Harry's eyes darted to the boy's hands, confused as Zakari transitioned from speaking to signing rapidly, giving him no chance to prepare himself.

"Slow down." Harry signed in return.

Zakari's hands suddenly stopped, mid sign as he stared at the boy's green eyes. They seemed sincere, and didn't have any hint of suspicion in his eyes as they looked at one another.

Harry's finger spelling became quicker as he became confident, but it seemed he became confused with several of the letters.  Zakari stopped him by holding his hand out towards him. He waited until Harry offered his hand, slightly confused until Zakari took it.

The boy flipped Harry's hand so that his palm was facing the sky. He began to show him that he could write out the letters in the palm and Zakar would be able to respond. He had used the same tactic with his father whenever they struggled over the Christmas break.

The jet black haired boy seemed to like the idea as he quickly began to spell things out on Zakari's hand.

Zakari's eyes were hard at work as he focused on what Harry spelled out, but he had to focus even harder not to laugh as Harry's fingers tickled the palm of his hand terribly.

At one point as Harry asked about the most recent attack, Zakari jerked his hand back with a laugh, bringing the other boy to look completely confused.

Not to look like a complete lunatic as he laughed at the mentioning of a student getting attacked, Zakari quickly lifted his hands to his sides, just near his ribs and made the tickling motioning.

"Tickles."

Harry's eyes widened in realization before his face turned red, knowing he had been tickling the Slytherin boy the entire time during their conversation.

It seemed if they were going to have a full conversation, they would still have to rely on paper and writing for the time being.

Although, Harry couldn't help but laugh at the idea of the school finding out that the potential heirs of Slytherin were busy outside planning their next evil deed by tickling each other with a corgi resting at their feet.

They were absolutely terrifying.