Choosing Darkness

Aw, come on, folks, all those hits and only TWO reviews? Have I not made myself worthy enough, yet? Hate it so much that you can\'t bear to review it? Sigh, that\'s what happens when one writes out of the loop, I suppose.





\"Ari\'s got a da-ate! Ari\'s got a da-ate!\" Drake pranced around Arista\'s rooms as she brushed her hair at the vanity. He was allowed to sing and prance around a minute more before the man lounging on the couch turned his head.

\"Drake...\"

\"Come on, BigDragon, the \'ball and chain\' has a ~staff meeting~,\" Drake grinned just as he flopped down on his brother\'s legs on the couch. \"I wonder if it\'s exclusive.\" The comment was meant for the woman in the chair.

Arista looked at them through the mirror\'s reflection. They were identical feature-wise with long lanky limbs and strong jawlines. Twin commet tattoos graced their cheeks and their hazel eyes were nearly indistinguishable. However, that was the extent of similarities. One\'s hair was a wild mass of waves with beads at the nape of his neck while the other\'s was tame in an old celtic braid style. One\'s clothes were a mass of 90\'s rock whilest the second was more refined, almost preppy. She loved them both, sometimes to the point where there was no distinction. One man kept her focused and grounded while the other kept her calm and bound as securely as iron chains.

\"You\'re not coming to this dinner, if that\'s what you mean.\"

\"Moi?\"

\"This is business. I have to make certain that this sleeping potion is to the correct specs that I need to teach these classes.\" Arista took a hold of a silver ribbon with stars dancing along its length to tie her hair at the nape of her neck.

Drake\'s eyebrow arched quizzicly and glanced over to his more laid back brother. \"There\'s something she\'s not telling us.\"

Kohl pulled each of his legs from under this heavier brother and then propped them in Drake\'s lap. \"It\'s not us she\'s not telling something to.\" He linked his hands behind his head and leaned against the arm of the couch. \"You didn\'t tell him, did you?\" The question was stated frankly.

\"Kohl...\" Arista sighed, standing up as she caught her shoes with her toe and kicked them up to her hands. \"No, I didn\'t tell him. I haven\'t told anyone.\"

The admission brought Drake to a new awareness. \"You haven\'t ~told~ anyone? Arista always told us not to hide our true selves, and unlike some of us,\" he threw a look at Kohl, who had pointedly ignored it, \"we do our best to--\"

\"It\'s an illegal thing, here. Their government system will crack down on me and then who know\'s what. There\'s something here that\'s very wrong, guys, that\'s all I can tell you.\"

\"Surely the Headmaster knows--\"

\"He may suspect that I\'ve been a unicorn in past lives, but the other,\" Arista shook her head as she headed towards the door. \"No one knows but you and me.\"

\"\'Rista, he saved you. He repaired your Circle, he must have known the bond he was creating when he did that.\" Kohl looked at her upside down as he hung his head further back.

Arista stopped and looked at her family. \"I actually started it. Severus was injured by some heavy duty spells the night before school started, and there were some major cracks in his circle. I did what any healer in my position would...heal him. He only followed the drink that I gave him when he healed me.\" She reached out for her wand on the table by the portrait. \"Almost forgot this.\"

\"Acquired a new wand?\"

\"Yep. Here\'s the clincher...more than likely, the core was our very own Black.\"

Drake snorted, shaking his shaggy mane of hair. \"Right. Well, don\'t do anything we would do.\"

\"Huh. Just remember to keep a silencing charm on, then.\" Arista pushed the painting aside and left them alone.

\"I wonder what she meant by that, BigDragon,\" Drake mused with an odd glint to his eye.
He jolted back as a pillow was smashed into his face. \"Hey!\"

\"Stuff it, Drake.\"

\"Give me a minute, and I will.\"


**

Snape figured that the most polite thing for him to do was at least be near the entrance when he told her to enter. The flicker in his eyes betrayed his indifference when he saw the vision that was Arista. Her grey eyes danced with mischief as she drew in breath to speak.

\"You know, I was just thinking,\" she fairly purred, leaning against the entrance way, \"the DADA and Potions quarters really aren\'t that far away from each other. Why is that?\"

\"It\'s Dumbledore\'s twisted way of torturing me,\" Snape replied drily as he turned from her. Rule number one in engaging the Enemy: Never let them see you sweat. He gestured slightly at the prepared table and two chairs set on the far ends of the table.

Arista stepped within the Potions Master\'s rooms, taking in the rich décor of greens and blacks as she made her way to the table. Her demeanor indicated nothing as she pulled her own chair out and sat down. \"Couldn\'t be anything to hint that the two teachers need to work together, then?\"

\"Hardly.\" Snape sat at his own side. Their visions of each other were obscured by the high silver domes that kept their meal warm prior to consumation. \"Wine?\"

\"Merlot,\" Arista answered automatically as she smoothed her napkin over her lap. She looked up to find the bottle levitating back down onto the table. \"Cute. Don\'t wizards do anything by hand?\"

\"Don\'t witc-people like you say anything not in a question?\"

\"Why would I do that? Everything in statements is so boring,\" Arista grinned a little as Snape glared at her.

\"Speaking of you, you were going to tell me who you actually were.\" Snape also smoothed the napkin over his lap and lifted the silver dome from his platter. Steam flooded his face and with a flourish he waved it away. A four course meal waited before him. The house elves had out done themselves this time. Exquisite French onion soup with five different cheeses, steamed vegetables and a thick side of prime rib cooked to perfection and a delicate sorbet in a silver dish, kept chilled by magic. A feast fit for royalty.

\"Not exactly English fare, is it?\" Arista lifted her spoon and poked through the cheese.

He suppressed a growl of frustration as his dark eyes sharpened upon her. \"I thought something more along the lines of American Cuisine would remind you of home.\"

Arista smiled a little as she tilted her head to the side. \"I was here one time before. In England...My cousin brought me here. He took me to Stonehenge.\" Her smile faded as she continued in a low voice. \"He was the first one to break my circle. I remember the feel of the alter I was lashed upon as he cut through every thread of my being. He became drunk on my screams. He became drunk on other things as well.\"

Severus saw her eyes glance up, dark and stormy as they searched his for something. \"Explain to me this circle. You seem to be the first to ever speak of it.\"

\"It\'s a magical matrix, a binding upon one\'s person that keeps them together, a lot like an aura. If another mage manages to break that matrix, your body is unable to function. It is nearly impossible for one to rebuild their matrix on their own. Hopefully, there is another who realises your plight, doesn\'t move you unless absolutely necessary, and prepares the potion to set you right. You can\'t perform magic a few days after as the circle sets itself again. You did quite well, Severus, I must thank you. I know I didn\'t have the chance to tell you all the ingrediants.\"

\"I\'ve had to teach myself to identify things on the first try.\"

\"The most important ingrediant to this potion is the essence of the brewer,\" Arista added. She showed her left wrist where there was a small but well healed wound over a thin blue line. With the way it had been cut, it seemed as if the unicorn tattoo had reared up and pierced her. \"You need a whole mage with their circle unbroken to plant the seeds anew. Unless, of course, you know the mage\'s heart rune, then blood or whatever wouldn\'t be necessary, but only one other person knows of my rune.\"

\"Hmmm,\" Severus began cutting into the thick side of beef, avoiding her gaze. She didn\'t remember what happened that night in the hopsital wing after all. Luckily, Arista missed his slightly disappointed look and continued on.

\"The good and bad thing about it is that you are bound by those threads given. Everything is interconnected to everything else, but by this, it\'s doubly so. You can learn secrets and hidden desires from that person you can also find the greatest joy and comfort in them, as well. My soul is ensconsed with Kohl. He is my mate, and my partner in this life. The one who has kept my circle in check and healed whole is Drake, however.\"

\"The brother?\"

Arista nodded. \"It is said that when a unicorn dies, its horn must be returned to the dragon who is partnered with it. After all, the unicorn is the focus for the dragon\'s power. When I die, my magic will go to Drake.\" She fell silent as she started in on her own meal. They ate in silence, relying on the music of their silver clinking on gold plates to entertain them. Severus realized that he could observe Arista and not be noticed. She didn\'t have her hair in that infernal braid of hers, but it was tied back in a loose pony tail with the tail draping over her shoulder. Every movement she made was with a grace that beheld a dancer or a potions maker, fluid and unwasted. After a while, he shook himself out of the drone stare, feeling self conscious that he was forming a drool pocket in the corner of his mouth.

\"Why Drake? Why not your husband?\"

\"Promised. Kohl is not magically inclined like that. He\'s an Assassin Dragon and Drake\'s a rust.\"

\"You speak as if they really were dragons.\"

He caught Arista looking at him with a bemused look on her face. \"Look beyond this crude flesh, and you will see the beauty of the soul beneath. Or the horror of the soul, depending on who you look at.\"

\"You can see people\'s souls.\"

\"You can\'t?\"

Severus straightened as he looked at Arista. She seemed to be avoiding him. \"What is it you are not telling me, Arista?\"

She ~was~ avoiding him! He knew that shifting of eyes and then feigned innocence. She didn\'t respond immediately, indicating that she was trying to think of an answer. Her eyes widened just as the Mark on his arm burned fiercely. \"Something\'s wrong with Harry.\" She was up on her feet and halfway to the door when Snape started to follow her with wand in hand. He noted that her own hand held her wand from Diagon Alley.

\"How do you know there\'s something wrong with Potter?\" he asked as he caught up with her.

She answered automatically. \"Sirus said so.\"

That stopped him dead in his tracks as Arista continued on towards Gryffindor tower. ~Sirus was dead.~ Snape\'s eyes narrowed as he started again, this time his wand trained on Arista. He should have known when Arista beat around the bush earlier that day.

~\'I believe the only living person he will listen to is Dumbledore.\'~

~\'Huh. Fancy that. Maybe he\'s a Necromancer, then.\'~

He knew it was too good to be true. He finally found a woman that he might like and she turned out to be a person more darksome than the Dark Lord himself. He\'d have to tell Dumbledore as soon as possible. That would break the old man\'s heart as much as telling him that he had become a Death Eater.

When Snape had finally made it to the tower, there was already an entourage on it\'s way out the painting of the Fat Lady. McGonagall had a grim look on her face as she tried to keep the rest of Harry\'s housemates at bay while Pomfrey was ~Molibus Corpus~ a voilently seizing and disturbingly silent Harry to the hospital wing while his friends Hermione and Ron were following. Albus followed after the children with Arista whispering hurridly beside him. He managed to catch a bit of what Arista was saying as they passed by.

-\"There\'s no time to wait for that potion. I\'m going to have to go in there myself.\"

\"Albus!\" Snape stood firm as the two people turned to face him. He pointed his wand directly at Arista. \"Do not make any sudden moves.\"

\"Severu-\"

\"What\'s going on, son?\"

Arista\'s eyes threw the potions master a warning look. \"You don\'t know what you\'re doing, Sev.\"

\"She\'s a necromancer!\" Snape cried out, sending the students behind him into silence. Even McGonagall stood in shock. Arista was the only one not surprised by his declaration. In fact, she seemed extremely saddened by the revelation.

\"Oh, Severus...why?\"

Albus turned to look at Arista. \"Is this true?\"

\"I have to go help Harry. If I don\'t, your world is lost.\" Arista waved her wand, and before Snape could respond, everyone fell unconscious. She sighed, turning to follow the mediwitch again.