Hey everyone! Keep reviewing, I thought I'd update this pretty quick, I have inspirations galore.

What will happen to Draco now that Wyvern and Caroline saw him snogging Astoria?

Let's find out, shall we?

XXX

The clock struck midnight at the Burrow, and each dancing couple shared a brief kiss. When Harry's lips grazed Ginny's cheek, the twins made loud snogging noises. Ginny flushed a deep red.

"Oh, toss off!" Her blush only reddened when Fred snatched Harry's spectacles and slid them on his nose.

"Reckon you fancy me now, Ginny? Now that I resemble Prince Charming over here!" Molly whacked Fred over the head with a copy of Witch Weekly and handed Harry back his glasses.

"Just because you haven't got a New Year's kiss doesn't mean you've got to go and ruin everybody else's!" She scolded sternly. Fred looked slightly embarrassed as he apologized to his younger sister. Over Fred's shoulder, George sent Harry a knowing wink, signaling a job well done. Harry smiled, half shocked and half humiliated, suddenly focusing his attention on the fascinating pattern of the carpet beneath his feet.

While this was going on, Hiro stooped to kiss the girl of his dreams. Ariadne dodged the go at her lips and felt Hiro's soft mouth brush against her cheek instead. She had to admit it sent shivers down her spine.

"You're not getting shy on me, are you?" He whispered in her ear. Ariadne smiled sheepishly and rubbed her thumb over the boy's blind blue eye. His eyes fluttered closed at her touch and he exhaled slowly, as if comforted by the contact.

"No, I'm not. It's just…I don't want to break your pristine heart, love." Her hand dropped until it rested over the wizard's chest. Inside, his heart pounded madly at her touch.

"Please, Ariadne. Forget Draco for one bloody night and just kiss me back already." Hiro sounded exasperated and slightly annoyed—he had been waiting for such a snog since he was eleven.

"H-how do you know about Dra—?"

"It's written all over your exquisite face, darling." Hiro mumbled. "Although you're a wonderful liar, I'm not buying this story." Ariadne blinked back tears and stared into his eyes once more.

"I haven't a clue what to do, Hiro." She hissed back. "He's confused me. Used me, and even abused my trust. I don't know what to do. I'm compelled by that pompous ferret, when I should be all over you."

"Oh, lovie, don't get me wrong, if you look past the evilness and spite and biting sarcasm, Draco isn't really that bad…actually puts me in a worse light." Unsure whether this was sarcasm or a real statement, Ariadne chose to consider it valid.

"Have you looked at yourself rationally, lately?" Ariadne began, slate eyes narrowing into accusatory slits. Hiro shrugged, a nonverbal cue for her to continue.

"Damn you, just look at yourself! You're tall, handsome, caring, talented, and you've got the most beautiful eyes this side of Little Whinging." Ariadne rubbed her runny nose with her sleeve. This motion proceeded to expose the silver locket she wore in the hollow of her throat.

"What's that?" Hiro reached for the locket but Ariadne quickly tucked it back into her blouse.

"What's what?" She innocently asked. Hiro rolled his blind eye and reached down her shirt for the pendant.

"Nice try. Who's this from?" He demanded. The Slytherin's nimble fingers undid the clasp and saw the picture of Ariadne and Draco inside. He snapped the heart back shut and let the chain hang.

"So what? You two are an item now?" Hiro growled. The anguish on his face was evident, even as he tried to keep his features level.

"That's not how it is at all, Hiro! Will you please just look!" Ariadne hooked the second chain she wore around her neck and presented Hiro with the necklace he had given her. In the firelight, the cloudy blue stone twinkled subtly. At the sight of this Hiro relaxed considerably.

"What am I to do with you, Ariadne? Wait around until you get bored?"

To this solemn question, Ariadne could offer no answer. Instead she leaned up on his toes and pressed her lips against his. The contact was brief, and ended as quickly as it began.

The remainder of the evening was spent in an awkward silence, at least between the two Slytherin students. The rest of the party was warm and welcoming until around three in the morning, when Molly began cleaning up. Their guests left via apparition. Ariadne lingered to talk to Snape.

"You have to help me…I cannot do this alone." She pleaded. Her cold hands were tangled in Snape's cloak, literally grabbing his attention. He looked down past his crooked nose and assured her she would be fine.

"The Dark Lord knows Draco cannot kill. But he does not know what you are capable of, Miss Nocturne. Use this to your advantage. I am always nearby, ready to guide you through a lifestyle similar to my own. You are never without help." Ariadne clutched the bony hand of the Potions master like a lifeline, squeezing with a force so fierce it might've snapped a branch of the Whomping Willow.

"Thank you, Professor." She finally released Snape from her grip and took a step backward. The girl faced the blizzard and spun into nothingness.

She was dumped at the gates of the manor, where a half-frozen elf waited for her arrival.

"Merlin, how long have you been out here?"

"Since midnight, milady!" The elf squeaked through chattering teeth.

"Bloody hell! Get in my jacket this instant!" Ariadne waved her wand over the elf and a warming sensation coursed through his body. He accepted refuge in Ariadne's coat with no protest.

Once she was inside, the elf bowed so low his crooked nose hit the marble floor.

"I am forever in your debt, mistress!" The tiny elf cried, choked with tears of gratitude. Ariadne awkwardly removed her coat and hung it on the rack by the door.

"No need to thank me. Are Narcissa and Draco home?"

"Yes, milady! They've just arrived twenty or so minutes ago!" The elf bowed deeply again and scurried off to complete more housework. Ariadne shook the snow from her mass of hair and walked toward the kitchen for a glass of water. Her high heels clicked loudly against the floor, successful in announcing her arrival. She found Narcissa making tea and an ice pack. Draco was lying on the couch facing away from the two women.

"Hello, Ariadne! Did you have a good night, dearest?" Narcissa offered her a steaming mug and she accepted it gratefully. Narcissa took a second cup to Draco, who sipped it gingerly. He was clutching the ice pack his mother prepared on his ribs.

"Is everything all right?" Ariadne walked over to Draco and he sat up, making room for her. Once she was seated he laid back down, resting his head in her lap.

"Crabbe and I had a tiff was all." Draco supplied. There was a large chunk of the story missing, that much was evident. Ariadne decided not to press the issue. Narcissa, however, interjected loudly.

"A tiff? Draco Lucius Malfoy, your troll-like little 'friend' struck you with the Cruciatus curse in front of an entire party of pureblood families! He humiliated your father in front of very important people, and if you hadn't won the duel I wouldn't have ever been able to show my face around those wizards and witches again!"

Draco scowled at the situation but smirked triumphantly soon after.

"All is well, mother. I've adequately protected the Malfoy name."

"What's left of it, you mean." Narcissa sipped her tea with a cocked brow. "I'm off to bed now. No funny business now!" Narcissa locked eyes with Ariadne and the look was indecipherable. The older woman padded into the darkness of the hallway and out of sight. When Ariadne's glance flickered to Draco, a pink blush had crept onto his pale cheeks. He ran a thin-fingered hand through his messy hair and rose from the couch. Overcome by dizziness, he immediately sat back down.

"Your head is injured, you dolt. Sit down." Ariadne moved his head back into her lap and began combing her fingers through his hair. His icy eyes closed and his brows furrowed.

"Am I hurting you?" Ariadne asked, withdrawing her hand. He caught it in his own and pulled it back toward his scalp.

"Don't stop doing that, for the love of Merlin." Draco inhaled slowly, as if intoxicated, and exhaled again.

"You look quite handsome tonight, Draco. I'm sure all of the pureblooded girls were fawning over you."

"Oh, undoubtedly. By the way, how was 'Wyvern's', considering her entire family was at the Greengrass party!" Draco wriggled out of her lap and sat up, facing his torso in her direction. Ariadne admitted to the lie and instead said she went to Hiro's. Although this was a lie atop another, she felt it prudent not to admit that she had just been inducted into the Order of the Phoenix. Not a good way to start the new year off, with Draco infuriated and betrayed and all.

Draco turned indignant, and spat, "I cannot believe you lied! And what's worse, I bet you snogged the blind little bugger, too!" Ariadne rose to her feet and excoriated the platinum blond.

"Don't you dare speak ill of that boy! I gave him a peck on the mouth at midnight, but nothing more!"

A muscle flexed in his jaw, suggesting the tension bubbling within. He opened his mouth to calmly berate her when he was interrupted by a sharp rap at the window. Perplexed, the girl sauntered over to the sill and opened the glass, allowing a soggy white envelope to flutter in. On its surface, in Wyvern's loopy writing, was Ariadne's name.

"What could she want at this hour?" Ariadne failed to notice the look of complete shock that washed over Draco and tore the paper open.

"N-no! You mustn't read that!" Wyvern, the little snitch! She couldn't even wait until morning, either? Draco frantically grabbed for the envelope but Ariadne sidestepped him. Once the letter was open, the paper folded itself into a mouth and began reading in Wyvern's voice.

"Ariadne! You will not believe what Caroline and I just saw!" Ariadne shot a fierce look at Draco, who had paled considerably.

"The clock struck midnight, and at that point Astoria had swept Draco onto the dance floor. When it was twelve that tart shoved her tongue down his throat!" At this point, the voices switched, and the tone now reciting was unmistakably Caroline's.

"Yeah, youd've thought he would've stopped her, but no, if anything he deepened the snog! Youd've thought he dropped his signet ring in there and he was tryin' to fish it out!"

"Disgusting, really," Wyvern piped in.

"Anyway, we don't want that grimy git hurting you, so don't fall for any of his lies!" Then the letter tore itself up and left the two Slytherins in stunned silence. Draco braced himself for the inevitable onslaught of curses, but the screaming never came. Instead, Ariadne's slender hands curled into fists. Her slate eyes raked over Draco with disgust.

"You…you…" Her anger was so strained Ariadne had trouble finding the words.

"You snogged Astoria Greengrass? A fifth year?" Her white teeth grit together and anger rolled off of her in waves. When she turned to face the cowering boy, Draco flinched.

"S-she forced me to! I couldn't help myself!"

"Control your idiotic and childish hormones, Draco! And to think I actually believed everything you wrote in that five page confession you gave to me along with my Christmas present!" Ariadne reached up to her hair where Draco's gift—the lacquered, immortal gardenia—was pinned. She ripped it from her locks and hurtled it toward the ground. It shattered into three delicate pieces. The silence stretched between them until Draco finally broke it.

"I don't know why I bother with you, Nocturne. I can have any girl I want in Hogwarts…at any time they're falling over themselves to get at me. All except you." Ariadne was about to exit the room but this comment kept her rooted to the spot.

"And why is that?" She asked, voice haughty. Draco's smirk disappeared and a dark grimace replaced it.

"You're too good for me. You're too good for just about anyone, really. But I decided to give it a shot anyway. Just to see if I could. I've already completed my goal of snogging you, so I can finally cross your name off the long list of fools who've been tricked into my bed." A small gasp escaped her lips.

"Surprised? You should be. I've played my part well, and if we weren't assigned to kill Dumbledore together, I wouldn't want to be working with you one bit. I've seen your thoughts and dreams. Oh yes, the look on your face is priceless now. When you're asleep, I use Occumulency on that lovely brain of yours. I know everything that you do, Nocturne. So, that being established, I want nothing more to do with you, seeing as I can't control myself from snogging tarts and whatever else it is you're accusing me of.

"But just so you know, she was drunk when she kissed me. She wanted me to forget about you." Draco bent to pick up the gardenia and held it in his left hand.

"It was a mistake, sure. You're also overlooking the fact that you kissed Taminama as well. A peck or a snog, it doesn't matter. We both messed up. But it's obvious what you've chosen." Draco took a step toward her and for a fleeting moment she thought he was going to strike her. Instead, he reached at her neck and tore the locket from her throat.

XXX

Ariadne didn't bother hiding the look of complete shock that was stuck to her face. Draco kept his back to her as he walked out of the kitchen and up the grand staircase. The blonde girl moved to the table with shaking hands, collapsing into a hardback chair and fiddling with one of Narcissa's silken napkins. Words could not describe what had just transpired.

She first felt foolish for smashing the flower. It was one of the most thoughtful gifts she had ever received. It now probably sat in Draco's wastebin, never to be repaired.

There's another week until we go back to Hogwarts, thought Ariadne. How can I survive until then? After some contemplation she realized she couldn't. She had to leave.

"How do you send your message with a patronus?" Ariadne asked Zeus, who had fondly taken to weaving in and out of the blonde's legs. The cat mewled in response and Ariadne patted his fluffy head.

"Well, no harm in trying." She pictured Snape, wherever he may be, and cast the spell.

"Expecto Patronum!" A white lioness burst from the tip of her wand and sat at attention. Unsure of what to do, she asked, "Do I just tell you the message?"

The lioness dipped her head in reply and Ariadne took this to be assent. She carefully instructed the big cat to find Snape and to tell him she needed refuge until school resumed. The lioness darted through the glass wall facing the south and into the blizzard. In the meantime, Ariadne was summoning her belongings by wand. She didn't feel like being anywhere near Draco. Unfortunately, she could hear her trunk clattering against Draco's door in the attempt to bash it open. She cut the spell and trudged upstairs.

Luckily, Draco was sleeping soundly as she collected her things. She looked over the room for anything she might have missed and nearly died when she looked at Draco's desk. On the wooden surface was her gardenia, in pristine condition. Beside it, lying open, was a leather-bound book she figured was Draco's diary. Overcome with curiosity, she tried reading in the dark. Realizing this was futile, she muttered, "Lumos!" and began to read.

It covered the night's events in detail, noting the regret he had for kissing Astoria, and their argument in acute accuracy. Too injured to read more, she closed the diary and set it back on the wood, extinguishing her wand. She looked over her right shoulder at Draco, who began snoring slightly in his sleep.

"What are you dreaming about, Malfoy?" She asked the still air. Before she left, she walked to Draco's beside and crouched so her face was level with his. He looked troubled in his sleep, not peaceful like he normally would. She leaned forward and touched her lips to his once, thankful he did not stir. She waved her wand and a large gardenia bloomed in Draco's open palm, waiting until the moment he would awake. Ariadne closed the door and started back down the stairs with her trunk bobbing behind her.

She found Narcissa downstairs, aghast at the sight of a sparkling white doe that was padding around her kitchen. The doe stared at Ariadne and back to Narcissa, impatient at the fact that the two had company.

"Is this yours, dear?" Narcissa asked. Ariadne nodded, and Narcissa came over to hug Ariadne.

"I know that you're hurt. I just couldn't help but hear the whole argument. If you are leaving, please be careful. For Draco's sake, and mine." She kissed Ariadne's hair in the way only a mother could, and released her.

Once the doe was satisfied Narcissa had left, she opened her tiny mouth and Snape's voice came out. The pair was odd—Snape's monotone and the lovely doe—but it worked in a strange way. The doe revealed where Snape lived and transformed into a ball of white light. The ball flew into Ariadne's heart and filled her insides, and she knew where to go. She placed one hand on her trunk, scooped up Zeus, and was pulled into a spinning world, only to be deposited on a porch somewhere in Spinner's End. Snape's house was the best looking on the entire block.

Ariadne rapped at the door and it opened of its own accord. The interior of the house's walls, from floor to ceiling, were covered with bookshelves. Countless volumes were shoved in the available spaces with no decipherable order to them. A fire crackled in the hearth and purple curtains drew themselves across the window.

"Professor?" Ariadne called softly. The doe emerged from Ariadne's chest and bound down the hallway, past a wooden staircase and a coat closet. Ariadne set her trunk down and decided to follow the patronus once more.

"Ah, Miss Nocturne. Shall we drop formalities for the time being?" Snape looked comical, wrapped in a red plaid robe with black slippers. He was wearing a small pair of spectacles and sipping on tea. His kitchen was decorated with simple grey tiles and dark wood. Ariadne finally let Zeus out of her grip and the cat sped away to explore.

"He's trained, I promise." Snape's raised brow told her he did not believe this, but she shook it off.

"If we drop formalities, what shall I call you? Surely not Severus." Ariadne pulled out a high backed chair with curved legs and sat across from her mentor. Snape sighed through his nose and asked to be called by his surname.

"Would you like some tea?" Snape looked slightly uncomfortable, as if something were bothering him. Ariadne declined and turned toward her trunk.

"There's a guest bedroom upstairs with green bedding. You can sleep there, if you'd like." Snape drained the tea from his cup and lazily dismissed it with his wand. Curious, Snape asked:

"I'm impressed that you can produce a patronus, Ariadne. When did you discover this?"

"When Professor Moody had us practice in class." Ariadne cast her patronus and the lioness rested at her feet.

"Your patronus is a doe?" asked Ariadne, clearly confused. She imagined a warthog, or at least a dragon of some sort. Never a doe.

"It's a complicated thing, but yes, a doe," said Snape.

"She's lovely, regardless. I really appreciate you letting me stay here. I would've probably murdered Draco if I had to spend another night with him," said Ariadne.

"What has that arrogant child done this time?" Snape sounded annoyed.

"Arrogant? I thought you favored him," said Ariadne.

"You should know by now, Ariadne, that there isn't much I truly like."

"True, but that doesn't mean there's not a heart under all that bitterness." Ariadne sipped at her tea before continuing.

"He professed his love for me, then went off and snogged Astoria Greengrass." Snape, who has never had the need to navigate such waters, found himself unable to respond. Eventually he managed to say this: "It sounds to me like he is confused."

"I figured that much!" Ariadne said hotly. She had obviously been expecting some worldly, wise answer.

"He admitted to using Occumulency on me in my bloody sleep! He was watching my dreams and learning my secrets!" To this, Snape's eyes widened.

"I suppose Bellatrix has been teaching Draco a few new tricks. Has he told you what he's seen?"

"No, he wouldn't have found out I was in the Order. That just happened tonight."

"But he might have seen the first conversation we had—at the Christmas party, where you had drank enough liquor to choke a centaur."

Ariadne swallowed another mouthful of tea and contemplated this. Would Draco reveal Snape's secret? Would he use their alliance as blackmail?

"Draco loves me too much to put me in danger," said the blonde. Ariadne told Snape about the gardenia and the diary.

"Then it seems you both are at fault," said Snape. Ariadne shrugged and touched the tip of her wand to the wooden table. Another gardenia sprung forward and opened its petals in greeting.

"You and Draco must act quickly once Hogwarts is back in session." Snape adopted a serious tone and Ariadne made the gardenia vanish. It was time to focus.

"But didn't Dumbledore ask you to kill him?" Ariadne whispered. The thought of asking for death scared Ariadne, enough to make her barely want to speak of it.

"Yes, but you must first get Death Eaters into the castle. At the beginning of the year, I made an Unbreakable Vow to Narcissa, while Bellatrix bore witness. I promised I would help Draco succeed in this task. And now that you're involved, I made a vow to myself to assist you as well."

"What I don't understand, Snape, is why you so readily are there for me. You strongly dislike children—and I know you hated my mother, even though she was hateful to begin with. Why have you decided to jeopardize your own life in order to help me? I don't remember doing anything extraordinary, other than being in Slytherin, to merit your favor." Ariadne's slate eyes looked deep into the dark depths of Snape's. His emotions were unreadable.

"You…" he paused, as if unsure whether or not he should continue.

"You remind me of someone I love very much. People like her…I cannot help but try and save." The doe, which had been resting by the back door, lifted her head to glance at Snape.

"I see. I'm very flattered." Ariadne could tell this was a tender subject and skated across it swiftly.

"Getting Death Eaters into Hogwarts will not be easy. The protective spells on it are nearly impossible to break." Snape, relieved to be off the subject of love, readily replied.

"In Knockturn Alley, there is a store called Borgin and Burkes. Are you familiar with the establishment?" Ariadne nodded and he continued. "There is a battered old Vanishing Cabinet there. Its twin is somewhere in Hogwarts. Find it, repair it, and you have your passageway." Snape poured her more tea and the steam rose in swirling tendrils.

"Consider it done." Ariadne stood and walked over to the hearth where a dozen picture frames rested. One depicted a young Snape and a girl with fiery red hair. Another was a woman with silver hair and Snape's crooked nose—his mother. A third showed the original Order of the Phoenix, and beside it was one filled with Death Eaters. Oh, the irony.

Upon closer inspection of the Death Eater photograph, Ariadne noticed her parents in their younger years. Violeta was pregnant—probably with Crete, but she was beaming. Adrien Nocturne's arms were wrapped around his wife and he was laughing. The picture even showed Voldemort—back when he looked more like Tom Riddle than the Dark Lord of late. He was undyingly handsome, with soft dark curls and that smoldering smile. Compared to the more recent version, this Tom was a completely different man. Slightly perturbed she found Voldemort attractive; she quickly set the frame back down.

"Your mother and father were so alive then." Ariadne jumped—she didn't even hear Snape approach. It must be the fluffy black slippers.

"I wish I knew my mother when she was happy," Ariadne sighed.

"Your mother thought you were the most beautiful thing in the entire world," Snape told her.

"What? My mother resented me, she—"

"Your mother was jealous of the goodness in you. In you, she saw a life she could never have." The Potions Master touched the frame with the red-haired girl longingly and the moment didn't go unnoticed by his pupil.

"That's her. That's the woman you love. What happened to her?" Snape stayed quiet for several minutes, struggling with the pain and uncertainty battling inside him. He finally told her the story of Lily Potter.

Ariadne, struck numb, could only gape with an open mouth.

"That's one of the most romantic things I've ever heard." Ariadne's eyes welled with tears of sadness and pity, and Snape's face turned angry.

"I do not need your sympathy, Miss Nocturne. What's done is done, and there is nothing I can do about it. But, this very story is why I denigrate Draco for pushing you away with threats and silly names. For all he knows, you may run off with Taminama and he'll have lost you, just like I lost her." Snape turned on his slippered heel, uttered a goodnight, and went to bed. Ariadne could only stand there, staring at the picture of the giggling redhead she now knew as Lily Potter.

She levitated her trunk into the green-covered room and dressed for bed.

The last thing she thought before she drifted off was that the world was a cruel and terrible place.

XXX

Draco woke up and nearly crushed the gardenia in his hand. The sight confused him momentarily, but it soon dawned on him that someone had put it there.

"Ariadne…" He whispered, groggy with sleep. Draco sat up and saw that his diary had been shut and mentally kicked himself for leaving it out.

"How much did you read, Nocturne?" Draco strode over to the diary and flipped through the pages. When he bought the journal, the shopkeeper promised that if anyone other than Draco were to read the diary, their fingerprints would appear on the pages they had seen. Ariadne's hands had only touched one page—the page he had freshly written of the New Year's debaucheries.

Draco traced the shape of her fingers that were burned into the parchment.

"I have to apologize." He took the gardenia off the desk and slipped it into his pants pocket, where the locket was resting. Draco opened the door and jogged downstairs to find his mother, patiently waiting for the House Elves to fulfill her request for eggs Florentine. The blond noticed only two place settings were at the table.

"Where is she?" Draco demanded. Narcissa looked up from the Daily Prophet with sad eyes.

"She left, dearest. Left without a single word." Draco's heart slammed into his stomach and the feeling of defeat crept over him. It wrapped its constricting arms around his lungs and forced the air out of them. Ariadne left? Just like that?

"She's really gone, then? Where could she have run off to?"

"Perhaps she went to the Estate?" Narcissa offered helpfully. Draco turned on his foot and vanished with a crack!

He landed on the enormous terrace overlooking the sea. The waves churned below the boy, and he began moving toward the slate-covered house as quickly as his feet would allow. The place looked empty.

He cupped his hands on the glass and peered inside, trying to shut out the conflicting light. The inside was dark. No one was home.

"Ariadne!" Draco shouted, pounding on the glass. Nobody answered. He could send an owl, but where in Merlin's name would he send it?

He could try sending a Patronus, but he was never able to produce one.

"Expecto Patronum!" A white wisp of magic sputtered from his wand and faded instantly. He imagined Ariadne and tried once more, with fervor.

"Expecto Patronum!" A more substantial cloud of silver erupted from the Hawthorne wand and began swirling into a shape. What its shape was, however, was indistinguishable. The patronus flopped lazily onto the balcony and disappeared.

"Toss it all!" Draco growled, pointing his wand in the air and casting the spell a final time. A shaky but solid dragon roared from the end of his wand and flew around the air several times. Overcome by happiness at his success, the dragon intensified until it was completely opaque.

"Find Ariadne!" The dragon shakily launched itself from the railing and out over the open sea, disappearing into the dawn.

Snape rose early to fetch the Daily Prophet from his porch and to let Zeus outside. The white cat rubbed against his shin in affection, and Snape momentarily forgot his desire to kill the animal. It was cute once you got past the incessant shedding.

Outside, a light snow was falling. Snape thought the winter time dramatically improved Spinner's End, as the clean snow formed a nice layer over the dilapidation the town usually sported. He lingered on the front step for a few moments, allowing the brisk weather to chill him. Without warning, a poorly-formed dragon patronus shot through the Potions Master and inside his home. The wizard followed the weak thing until he realized the message was not for him, but for Ariadne.

He pushed open the door to her bedroom and saw her staring at the dragon, utterly perplexed.

"Does it have a message for me?" asked Ariadne.

"It should have delivered the message if there was one. The caster obviously isn't used to performing the Patronus Charm." The dragon dissolved into an indiscernible mist.

"Odd," said Ariadne. The blonde detached herself from the tangle of sheets and passed Snape at the doorway, intent on using the restroom. The halls were covered in framed art pieces, ranging from pretty nature scenes to delicately painted portraits. Snape's bathroom was paved in deep purple tile with a black marble sink.

"Did you decorate the interior yourself?" Ariadne asked, running a slender finger over the spotless counter. Snape called back that he had, and his answer impressed her. The décor was tasteful and un-dungeon-like.

Ariadne finished in the bathroom and waltzed downstairs for breakfast. Snape had a steaming mug of tea in her place setting, accompanied by a muffin and a slice of melon. She quietly thanked her mentor and ate the offering. Snape flicked through the Daily Prophet dismissively, not quite reading, merely scanning the pictures.

"A muggle family has gone missing." Those were the words that Snape actually said. What Ariadne heard, however, was, "A muggle family was murdered."

Slate eyes met shining onyx for a brief moment of understanding.

XXX

"Ariadne, I understand your father's will has not yet been settled?" Snape asked a while later. Ariadne was snapped from her reverie and replied that it hadn't. Snape unhooked a traveling cloak from a hanger by the door and threw it over his shoulders.

"Then I suggest we go to a firm to get it appraised." Ariadne nodded and retrieved her own cloak.

"Accio will!" The yellowed parchment zoomed out of her trunk and into her hand, where she concealed it within the folds of her robes. Snape held out his pale hand and Ariadne rested hers atop it. They twisted into the air and disapparated.

They arrived at a bright looking law office on the outskirts of Diagon Alley. The green-painted door rang a bell once Ariadne pushed it open. A red-haired witch behind a desk ushered them over to the waiting area, waving her wand and sending a clipboard Ariadne's way. No one else was in the firm. Despite this fact, the two had to wait around twenty minutes, as if they were waiting on another case.

"Miss Ariadne?" The witch called, looking around the small room. Snape raised his eyebrow in annoyance.

"We are the only two people present," Snape seethed. The witch narrowed her eyes and forced a smile, directing them into the magical lawyer's office.

The attorney was a stout, balding wizard with smart black robes. His desk was a simple oaken thing, with pictures of his giggling children sitting on its surface. Behind the lawyer, countless magical documents were being signed, filed, and put away of their own accord. The wizard gestured to two padded chairs across from him, where Snape and Ariadne sat down.

"Good morning, Miss—" he looked on the clipboard's information sheet. "—Nocturne. It says 'ere you need will read." Ariadne nodded and handed the lawyer her parents' will. He tapped it with his stubby wand and the will folded into a mouth.

"Is a magical attorney present?" Ariadne jumped when she realized the nasally voice of the will belonged to her mother.

"Yes, it is I—Ulysses Tapton—magical attorney at law." The will finally unrolled itself on the oak desk and Ulysses put on a pair of reading glasses that were too small for his face.

"The last will and testament of Adrien Avern Nocturne and Violeta Cherise Nocturne. In the event of our untimely deaths, we decide to divide our inheritance between our two children, Crete Vladimir Nocturne and Ariadne Fortuna Nocturne." The wizard paused and sized up Snape, wondering if he was Crete. He decided he wasn't, and asked Ariadne if her brother was present or available.

"My brother died many years ago." The lawyer looked at his sneakoscope on the desk behind him and was mollified when it didn't go off.

"In the event that one of our children…Oh, here we go," The wizard was pleased that the couple had the foresight to include this. "In the event that one of our children passes, our entire fortune shall be allocated to the surviving child. Ariadne, which must be you." Ariadne was still in shock that her parents had divided the will equally in the first place. She had guessed, no, believed she had known that they would leave everything to Crete. He was always the favorite, always better, always the one they were proud of.

"Well, it seems that your life will be forever comfortable," said Snape.

"But at what cost? Being the last of the Nocturnes?" Ariadne felt angry tears swell in her eyes. The lawyer, feeling uncomfortable at her crying, handed her the respective documents that would sign everything the Nocturnes owned into existence. She signed them with a scratchy scrawl and slid them back across the table.

"Thank you, Miss Nocturne. Expect the documents by owl in a few days' time." Ariadne thanked the man and left the firm with Snape in tow.

XXX

There were two days left before the second term began, and Snape decided to take Ariadne to Borgin and Burke's to view the Vanishing Cabinet. Borgin lead the pair to a cramped, foul-smelling corridor where magical furniture was stored. Ariadne accidentally kicked a floor lamp that had teeth, almost shattering a mirror that would shout all of the imperfections of the viewer with unfathomable volume.

"INDECISIVE! RULE BREAKER! LIAR! DOUBLE AGENT!" The mirror shrieked.

Mottled with shame, Ariadne ignored the surprised looks from Snape and Borgin and focused her attention on the black lacquered vanishing cabinet.

"Look well, Ariadne," said Snape. Borgin opened the cabinet and inside was a low, dusty shelf.

"Ye put something in 'ere, close the door an' it comes out on the other side," Borgin rasped.

"But the passageway is broken," Ariadne quipped. Borgin nodded and said, "Its twin is nowhere te be found, that is." Snape gave Ariadne a knowing look and she nodded once.

"Please put the cabinet on hold under this name," asked Ariadne, scribbling the name "Beatricce Bellaco" on Borgin's yellowed notepad. Borgin tapped the note with his wand and the cabinet was enveloped in an eerie green light.

"Thank ye fer yer business, Severus Snape and," Borgin paused to read the name, "Beatricce Bellaco." Snape thanked the man and walked out of the shop with his blonde apprentice.

"Are there any more items you need to acquire from Diagon Alley?" Snape asked. Ariadne insisted on getting an ice cream from the tiny cart outside of the Owlry. Snape almost snorted at her request, but caved after five minutes of incessant nagging. Ariadne bought a strawberry cone for herself and turned to Snape, expecting him to choose a flavor.

"I do not have a sweet tooth, I assure you," Snape said with a yawn.

"Then good luck in your life without a soul, Professor. One Caramel Toffee, please." Ariadne paid for the ice cream and left a fifty galleon tip, to which the kind ice cream vendor blushed in gratitude.

"T-thank you, Miss Nocturne!"

"Oh it's not a probl—wait, how do you know my name?"

"You're all over the prophet, dear!" And the ice cream man turned to another impatient customer.

Snape's expression quickly shifted from apathy to wild concern. With a sweep of his black cloak, he walked over to Flourish and Blott's and snatched a newspaper off the stack outside. His face darkened as he scanned over the headlines.

"What is it? Let me see!" Ariadne grabbed another copy and felt her heart stop. Emblazoned across the top in enormous black letters was: "Wizarding Couple Found Dead on Muggle Shore." It showed a picture of her parents' empty coffins on the shore of a Muggle beach and their bodies strewn about.

"Yesterday afternoon, two Muggles spotted glass caskets containing the bodies of Adrien and Violeta Nocturne. They had washed up on the shores of a local Muggle area, and the distress called in the Muggle authorities," Snape read aloud. Ariadne's eyes were brimming with tears. The story covered a brief history of their family and their supposed Death Eater status, and goes on to explain how Ariadne is the only surviving Nocturne in the old family bloodline. The picture they featured of Ariadne was taken last year on the train ride to Hogwarts.

"Hey! This picture is sitting on my bookshelf at home! How did they get a hold of that picture?" Ariadne snarled, shaking the paper violently in Snape's face.

"They must have searched your house for evidence leading to their deaths," Snape offered. Ariadne wheeled, and shouted to no one, "Isn't it bloody obvious they were done in by the Killing Curse? What in the hell else do wizards and Muggles die by these days?"

The few people who had been reading the prophet recognized the blonde Slytherin and gave her looks of pity. A few looked afraid, even. The rumors that her family members were Death Eaters was true, but that didn't mean that the rumor extended to Ariadne. She looked down to her arm and was relieved when her sleeve was still pulled over the dark mark. Someone would turn her in in an instant.

Snape grasped her hand and disapparated, pulling Ariadne into a black abyss that she wished she never had to leave.

XXX

Ariadne quickly turned to apparate to the Estate. Snape only asked if she would be back before nightfall.

"Yes, this shouldn't take too long." Ariadne spun on her heel and found herself on the balcony of the Estate. The entrances were covered in yellow caution tape, and a few Aurors were standing guard outside.

"Excuse me, what in the hell do you think you're doing to my house?" Ariadne growled, tearing off the yellow tape to step inside.

"Pardon me, miss, but this is a crime scene that the ministry is trying to sort out," said an Auror. Ariadne wanted to scream.

"Are you joking? They were killed by You-Know-Who! That much is obvious! I buried my damned parents in the sea just as they wanted to be buried!" The Auror said nothing as he waved his wand. A large and incriminating shield charm blocked her path inside.

"You're joking," Ariadne seethed. She stomped indignantly to the balcony and clambered up onto the railing. She faced the Aurors and gave them a daring glance.

"Get down from there!" One of the Aurors was now ready to freeze her body and drag her from her perch. But she would not be impeded.

"Don't think this will go unresolved," she threatened. The Slytherin spread her arms out wide, tilted her head back, and leaned backward until she fell from the railing.

She apparated inside the house and quickly ran to gather necessities. With a shaky incantation, she managed to adapt one of her mother's old enormous handbags with an undetectable extension charm. She shoved frame after frame of pictures, heirlooms, and other knickknacks into the bag, wincing as she heard glass shatter. The girl sprinted upstairs to her own bedroom, where she piled in her clothes and the fleece blanket at the edge of her bed.

Books, treasures, documents, and safes alike went into the depths of the tote bag. Once she was satisfied that she had cleared a room, she slammed the door and slashed it with her wand, painting an enormous red "X" on the surface. She even went ahead as to kick down Crete's door and take his things as well. Her parents' bedroom was eerie, and she felt wrong taking more photographs and important items. All of her mother's jewelry tumbled into her sash, along with her father's diary and a couple of pairs of their clothing.

"Just one more thing," Ariadne panted, flush from running and lifting. The girl half stumbled downstairs into her father's study, intent on emptying it of its secrets. The Aurors would realize she was in there soon enough. Once she finished, she made another trip around the house. Except this time, she conjured gasoline and doused any surface she could find.

One match was all it would take.

But Ariadne thought that would be wasteful and unexciting. She heard glass break from the balcony's doors and saw the Aurors rush in.

"Hey! This is private property!" An Auror drew his wand and Ariadne just stood there with her arms crossed.

"It smells funny in here, Mortimer," one said shrewdly. Ariadne glanced at her nails and attempted to appear bored.

"I know this is private property, you Aurors are trespassing in my house!"

"You will either leave the premises now or be detained by force. This house is property of the Ministry until the case of the Nocturne murder has been resolved," another Auror piped in.

"What utterly baffles me is that there are five skilled Aurors in here and none of you have done anything to discipline and or stop me from what I'm about to do now," Ariadne's wand was concealed in her sleeve, ready to drop in her hand at any moment. The Aurors drew their own wands upon her and she could see them getting dizzy from the petroleum fumes. Her mind began to swim as well. As they stood there in stalemate, Ariadne let the wand slip from her robe and into her right hand. Instead of pointing it at the Aurors, as they expected, she pointed it to a shimmery pool of liquid on the floor. Her lips parted slightly, and she whispered a single word.

"Incendio."

XXX

REVIEWWW BECAUSE I LOVE YOU! I'm trying to make the chapters extra long :D