Choosing Darkness

Pomfrey discharged Arista from the hospital wing the next day with the promise that she would not use any magic for the rest of the week, which was fine by her. The professor didn\'t feel well enough for magic as it was. She decided to alter her classes and begin the physical defense...sooner than she wanted to do, but it wouldn\'t involve using magic. As it was, her two visitors would only be here for the week before heading back home.

She decided to hold class outside on her first day back. There\'d be more room to maneuver around and less chance of destroying something such as the suspended dragon skeleton. Arista was discussing the class to her two companions as the sixth year group filed into the courtyard. Almost immediately the girls began whispering and giggling amongst themselves as the boys looked on with wary eyes at the twins speaking to Arista.

\"I\'ve said nothing to them about you,\" she murmured, her eyes going from one to the other. \"So they know nothing of braces or even your fire, Drake.\"

\"Right, Ari. Be incognito.\" The wild haired one confirmed, dropping down on his haunches as he darted glances everywhere. His classic Muggle rockstar attire complete with leather pants caused more than one squeal from the students.

Arista\'s eyes widened as she leaned over to peer at him. \"Is that a ring through the rip in your shirt, I see? DracoKai58!\" She clucked her tongue and threw her cloak at him. \"Cover up, that\'s not for the kids to see.\"

\"Aw, she noticed.\"

His twin, dressed more conservatively for the damp weather, rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his well defined chest. \"I think she means being careful in what we say, Drake.\"

\"Well, duh, I know that. I was only kidding.\"

Arista smiled tiredly as Drake straightened from his crunch. As if noticing the class for the first time, he turned his attention on them, throwing them a feral smile as he murmured a low greeting. \"Hello, Lady Arista\'s class. It will be an extreme pleasure to help you in your lessons, this week.\"

Every girl promptly fainted.

\"Drake!\" Arista\'s smile turned abruptly as the twin rushed forward to catch a girl before her head connected with a stone bench.

\"How was I supposed to know they\'d all Thud?\"

\"What happened?\" demanded one boy.

\"They\'ll be fine, give them some air,\" Arista quickly checked the bruised eye of another girl who had deflected off a rock. \"They\'ll come to in a moment. You didn\'t bring any glasses, did you?\" She received a look that meant, \"Didn\'t think we\'d need them.\" \"Right. Gentlemen, this is my Promised, Kohl, and his brother, Draco.\" She noted how the Malfoy child brightened at this fact. \"They come from a long line of Assassins. This week we will begin to learn the art of self-defense.\"

\"Self defense?\" Malfoy snorted. \"We\'re supposed to learn Magical Defense. Physical defense is for Mud-bloo--\"

\"Fifteen points from Slytherin. There will be no derogatory comments in my class, Malfoy. And I can easily increase the loss of points each week if you continue to do this. Any more interruptions?\" She turned away as he glared daggers at her. \"Excellent. Now, we shall begin today with the lesson. Leverage, not Strength. It is this fact that a 130 pound person can overcome a 250 pound person. It is also this fact that I can down Drake, even though he can easily pick me up and haul me across the yard.\"

About ten minutes later, the class was broken up into small groups in which Arista and the two men were walking around to correct holds and techniques. Drake and Kohl tended to keep to the groups of boys while Arista worked with the girls to prevent more random cases of Thudding.

\"Professor Starfyr?\" Hermione whispered as Arista corrected an arm hold for her.

\"What is it?\"

\"Where are they from? Your husband and his brother, I mean. How can they just...affect girls like that?\"

\"It\'s a part of their genetic make up, I\'m afraid. The more you\'re around them, the more immune you become.\" Arista tilted Hermione\'s fist so that it was in the correct position. \"Hst. Watch that. Young Malfoy thinks he\'s going to get the one up on Kohl, there.\"

Draco was giving every appearance to be paying attention to Kohl\'s lecture of defensive holds. He stealthly pulled his wand out of the folds of his robes and pointed it at the man. A few words later and red sparks shot out and hit Kohl square in the back. The whole courtyard was swathed in silence as every eye turned to look at Draco. Kohl snarled, turned to view the boy as well. Draco\'s pale skin became almost invisible as the full brunt of the Fear crashed over the boy. As Draco turned to run, Kohl cleared the space between them and grabbed him by the waist. A very girlish scream came from the boy\'s mouth.

\"What we\'ve learned here, ladies and gentlemen, is the fact that you NEVER taunt a dragon. Should you decide to place your life into the hands of fools and do taunt a dragon, never run. Never run from anything magical. It attracts their attention.\" Arista walked over from her position behind Hermione to step over to Kohl and the struggling boy. \"Let him go, Kohl.\" Two hands automatically released Draco, causing him to sprawl on the ground much to the amusement of the other students. \"Be careful of whom you laugh at...you never know when they may become your most vile enemy.\"

\"My father works for the Ministry!\" Draco spat at Arista. \"When I tell him what you\'ve done--\"

\"By all means, be my guest. I\'d be most interested in meeting with Lucius again.\" Arista did not seemed concerned by the child\'s threat. \"Of course, once he learns that you have been misbehaving in a most important class...one that could determine your very life in the future.\"

Slytherin\'s prince gave Arista a heated look before sprinting off into the castle. Kohl looked up as if tracking a target, settling only when he felt Arista\'s hand on his arm. \"There\'s a class to teach.\"

After class, Arista\'s day could only get worse. The trip to Hogsmeade was coming upon everyone quickly, and most of the students were becoming unruly. Snape and Arista found themselves breaking up a fight between two third years between classes. As usual, it was between Gryffindor and Slytherin.

\"Twenty points from Gryffindor!\" Snape declared before the students had been properly seperated.

\"You don\'t even know who started it!\" Arista called out.

\"It doesn\'t matter, my student has the worst hex.\" That couldn\'t be denied. There were huge purple pustules on the boy\'s face. They looked ready to rupture.

Arista clamped her mouth tight to prevent from laughing out loud. She then saw her own captured student who had turned a bright and brilliant shade of blue. \"Well, you\'re right, they weren\'t supposed to be fighting in the first place...sixteen and a half points from Slytherin.\"

\"WHAT?!\"

\"You don\'t use fractions? It\'s a very important part of math, you of all professors should know that, Professor Snape.\"

\"You cannot take fractions of points away from the houses, *Professor * Starfyr.\"

\"Why not?\"

Snape glared at her as he would a misbehaving student. \"It matters not why, it just matters.\"

\"That\'s not an answer. We have to get these students to Madam Pomfrey.\" Still keeping her firm grip on her student, she started for the infirmary.

Snape quickly followed after ordering the other students to go back to class. \"Don\'t walk away from me, Arista.\"

\"You are not my keeper, Severus,\" she snapped. \"If you wish to discuss this, we shall on neutral ground.\"

\"There is nothing to discuss!\"

\"So you say.\" Arista lead the way, barely slowing to allow the stumbling child a chance to catch up. \"You\'ve been acting most oddly since I\'ve returned to work, and I\'d like a reason as to why you\'re so royally pissed off.\" After dropping off her charge, she walked with Snape back to classes.

\"WHAT, exactly, are you implying?\" He demanded with a sneer as he suddenly stopped and faced her.

Arista shrugged a little, meeting Severus\' eyes with her own. \"I am implying that you actually * like* another human being and you\'re afraid to admit it.\"

Arista expected him to sputter and deny everything she said. Instead, she found herself crushed against a portrait with warm hungry lips feeding off her own in near desperation and cool hands creeping up the back of her neck to grip her hair. She didn\'t resist when his tongue demanded entry to her mouth. Her breath came out as a soft sigh once she realized what was happening and began to return the kiss.

Snape shoved himself away, forcing his breath and heartbeat to some sense of normalcy. His eyes darted, fearing that someone spied this moment of indiscretion and once finding none, glared at Arista as if she was the one who had instigated the kiss. The figures in the portrait Arista had been crushed against already fled the scene.

\"Always keep a lady waiting?\" Arista asked coyly as she leaned against the wall.

\"You are no lady.\"

She did her best to hide her disappointment as she bowed her head. \"I don\'t know what I did to upset you, but my deepest apologies are with you.\" She slid away from the walk and began heading back to her classroom. If the spirit who had kept alerting herself to various events at Hogwarts hadn\'t said something, she would have missed the low entreatment.

\"Wait.\"

Arista stipped and turned around. There was a sulky defeated look to the Potions Master as he tried to deflate his glare. \"Yes?\"

Snape straightened as he prepared to speak to her. \"Would you care to join me for dinner?\"

\"Are you asking me out?\"

Snape straightened as if indignant of the implication. \"We need to discuss the parameters for your desired sleeping potion,\" he replied stiffly.

\"Ah. Well, in that case, I would be honored to join you for dinner. Where, here?\"

\"The walls talk. I would prefer my rooms.\"

A nod later, and Arista turned to head back to the class she believed was wondering where she disappeared to. She smiled, but didn\'t turn when she felt fingers brush against her and noted the tall, dark and menacing presence walk beside her.

Severus\' quiet euphoria shattered when he heard clashing and banging down the hall. Peeves was at it again and in full swing, this time. The ghost was delightfully and artfully (Note dripping sarcasm here) re-arranging a few dozen suits of armor. Peeves looked up just as Arista and Snape were passing the doorway.

\"Snapey and Lady, sitting in a tree!\" the Poltergeist taunted. \"K-I-S-S-I-N-G!\"

Arista stopped and glared at the apparition. \"I would behave, if I were you.\"

Peeves cackled maniacly, zooming around the room and shouting out more childish rhymes. Snape watched as she clucked her tongue. \"If you do not behave, I will find others.\" Her voice went up a fraction of a decibel in warning.

\"The Baron--\"

\"I\'m not talking about the Baron, Severus,\" Arista murmured, finally getting Peeves\' attention. \"I can always bind you and you can be miserable for the rest of your unlife. Or, we can go to the more messy alternative--\"

Peeves vanished with a razz before she could finish the statement.

Arista continued her walk with a satisfied smirk with Snape trailing somewhat more eagerly. \"What type of witch did you say you were, again?\"

\"I didn\'t.\" She arched an eyebrow but did not slow her steps. \"I am no witch.\"

\"You\'d have to be a powerful mage for Peeves to listen to you, then. I believe the only living person he will listen to is Dumbledore.\"

\"Huh. Fancy that.\" Arista\'s grey eyes slid over to the man walking beside her. \"Maybe he\'s a necromancer, then.\"

She was surprised by the laughter that was warm and almost inviting. \"That is highly doubtful, Starfyr.\"

\"Why not?\"

\"Because Necromancers are outlawed by the Ministry of Magic. They are a perversion of true magic. Legends themselves dictate that once Merlin rises again, he will vanquish all followers of the Death Magic and liberate witches and wizards from atrocities made against them.\"

\"You certain? Sounds pretty bigotted for some \'great savior\' to rise on up and kill off a bunch of people because they believe in something different than the rest of the population. You certain you\'ve seen all sides of Necromancy to make that assumption?\"

\"What exactly are you implying, Professor?\"

\"My job is to show the other facets of the crystal, Professor Snape. That\'s why I was hired. See you at dinner, tonight.\"