Choosing Darkness

She took a moment to straighten her clothing and take a cursory assessment of her injuries. It hurt terribly to breathe, but she was more certain now that her ribs were not broken, only badly bruised. Her bloody side was stiff from dried blood and soreness, but she was no longer bleeding. That, and she felt as if a Mac Truck ran over her, but she was alive, and that was all that mattered, at the moment.

Arista had somewhat hidden the fact that she was a Necromancer, not that the added knowledge should have altered anything. In fact, they never asked what she truly was. Unfortunately, given Snape\'s reaction, she knew that this did not bode well for her. Obviously, there were rancid fractions in their midst to cause the bad blood, and Arista would have to become the martyr for it.

She looked at the gargoyle statue thoughtfully, wondering whom she would find in the Headmaster\'s office. Arista swallowed back a pang of nausea, wishing that Kohl was with her. Then again, it may be a good thing that he wasn\'t. After all, she only wanted to explain one thing tonight.

\"Butterscotch Gravy.\" She watched the statue sink into the floor. Arista stepped upon the revealed platform and steadied her footing against the slowly rotating floor. The only regret she had was the look of betrayal in Severus\' eyes when he discovered the truth. She had not intended to hurt him and was afraid that her attraction and the bond between them had proven to be the Achilles\' heel to her secret.

~He\'ll get over it, that Snivellus is a stubborn one.~

\"Get out of my head,\" Arista muttered. \"You know better.\"

~They\'ll understand. Albus has tolorated a lot.~

\"What makes you so certain that he\'ll tolorate this?\" The woman questioned into the air. She figured that since she\'d been routed out, she might as well go back to her old routine and actually have conversations with the \'locals\'. They gave her more information about anything than the living could.

~Well, if he can\'t deal with a Necromancer, then how can he deal with a Death Eater?~

Arista felt an icy chill brush by her cheek, and she turned to follow the ghostly caress. \"What are you talking about? Who\'s a Death Eater, \'round here?\"

~Ummm...Doesn\'t matter. He\'s not working for them, anymore. Just a spy. I\'m going to see how Harry\'s doing.~

The floor \'schinked\' into place and halted its ascent. Arista was alone, again. She stepped into the small parlor and rapped upon Albus\' door. She was not surprised to see Dumbledore open it and beckon her in, nor was she surprised to see Snape there. She was surprised and relieved to find that her Promised had been called up.

\"Unknown!\" She whispered joyfully, forgetting to use his other designation. Arista walked stiffly into Koh\'s arms, relishing the feel of his protection enveloping around her like great wings.

\"How badly are you injured, \'Rista?\" he growled into her hair, careful not to cling to her too tightly when he noticed her breath hitch.

\"Nothing a week\'s worth of sleep won\'t cure,\" she responded, instinctively nuzzling into his chest.

\"We asked your husband to be here, so that you would not feel, \'ganged up on.\'\" Dumbledore explained, reminding them of the present.

Arista pulled away and headed towards the chair. She smiled at the feel of Kohl\'s hand upon her back to guide her safely across the room. Yes, with her Dragon beside her, she could face anything. Even the accusatory glare that flashed on Severus\' face for a moment before that mask of indifference came up.

\"You could have waited until Madam Pomfrey had healed you--\"

\"I can fare well enough on my own. She had more pressing matters to attend to.\"

Snape snorted.

Kohl\'s attention snapped immediately to the Potions Master and his eyes narrowed. Arista rested a hand on his leg.

\"I think that there are things we must discuss. Severus\' accusation is very serious.\"

Snape sniffed a little. \"It is not an accusation, Headmaster.\"

The portraits around them were all awake and listening intently. Not one dared breathe a word as this played out before them. Arista sat tall in her seat, trying to keep her breaths slow to avoid hyperventilating or aggrevate her badly beaten ribs. Albus\' eyes turned to Snape, but Arista nodded.

\"He\'s right. It\'s not an accusation.\"

The blue eyes that usually twinkled turned to Arista. \"Do you understand what you are admitting to?\"

\"My heritage. What I\'ve been for lifetimes, and something that you totally do not understand.\" She held Albus\' gaze, then turned to Severus. \"For millennia, since the beginning of All Things, it was the unicorn that was given the responsibility for for Life Force. They were the first to discover that this Life Force could also be contacted and somewhat controlled when there was no corporeal form to bind the Force on the physical plane. Since then, that pure form of Necromancy has been twisted and turned foul by people who sought to control the dead for their own purposes.\"

\"And you do not do that.\"

\"I try not to.\"

Albus leaned forward in his seat, suddenly looking 50 years older. \"That form of magic is illegal, here. Anyone claiming to possess the power to control the dead or to even raise them up are to be reported immediately to the Ministry of magic.\"

\"Are you going to turn me in, then?\" Arista challenged, her being bristling a little in preparation for attack.

\"Why should he not?\" Snape questioned.

\"Because right now, I\'m the only one who can give your students the skills to protect themselves from Voldemort.\"

\"Who\'s to say that you are not a spy infiltrating for Voldemort, intending to poison the students\' minds so that they are incapable-especially Potter-from defending themselves. I remember the boy calling out for his dead relative as he awakened, Headmaster.\"

Arista\'s eyes narrowed to glittery pieces of flint. \"Do you not remember those Death Eaters attacking me? How can you think that they would possibly injure their comrades? Just because their name is \'Death Eater\', Professor, does not mean that they are Necromancers. If they came across me again, I would have them running for their very souls!\" She then turned to Albus. \"If I were a Death Eater, Albus, or even a follower of this pokey Voldemort, would I have risked life and limb going in after Harry to the Dream Zone and yank him out? Do you have any idea what\'s there, how easy it is for one to fall in there and get lost?\"

\"She bears a tattoo on her left forearm.\"

\"It\'s a ~UNICORN~!\" Kohl looked up as Arista stood up and tore her sleeve down. \"Is this a mark of a Death Eater? Why the hell would someone use a pure symbol to reflect their true colors?!\"

Albus raised his hand, pleading for silence. Arista sat back down with her eyes spitting fire at Snape. \"Tell us what happened.\"

\"Fighting in dreams is different than when one is awake. There\'s a bigger arsenal available to both parties. And if you die, then you\'re dead. Depending on how good you are, your injuries will affect you in the waking time as well as Dream Zone. Voldemort had Harry in this curse...Cruatius Curse?...and I went after him while Sirius went to get Harry to wake up.\"

\"There was a ghost in your dream?\"

\"Shh, Severus, let her finish.\"

Arista rolled her eyes as she continued on, ignoring the interruption. \"It was Harry\'s dream, not mine. And yes, those who have passed on can show up as alive as you are. Oh, I\'m sorry, Snape, ~more~ alive than you.\" She quickly finished her story under the warning glare of Albus. She took no note of the faint pinkness creeping up on Severus\' cheeks.

\"The point is, it is dangerous to have all them untrained. Especially if he can control dreams like some Freddy Kreugar on crack.\" Arista waved away the wizards blank expressions. \"I\'m not leaving.\"

\"No one has asked you to.\"

\"I\'m still not leaving.\" Arista lowered her head and rubbed her temples with two fingers. \"There\'s too much to be done here, and I won\'t a little stereotypical prejudgice to influence my job.\"

Snape\'s eyes flew open. \"So you have made it your personal vendetta to help a boy save the wizarding world from the most powerful evil force it\'s seen in centuries? It was never your fight to begin with.\"

\"You made it my fight,\" Arista said softly, her eyes drawn up to his black ones. \"And there\'s more here than one boy to save.\"

Albus nodded slightly. \"The trip to Hogsmeade is upon us in two months. Arista, I want you to be a part of that, to assist the chaperones.\"

\"Headmaster!\" Snape rose from his seat. \"Have you gone mad? This is a Necromancer! She\'ll ruin us all.\"

~Like he\'s one to talk.~

\"What do you mean?\" Arista asked automatically, forgetting that the Voice could not be heard by the others. The three men\'s attention snapped to her as she \'listened\' to the voice that spoke only to her.

~Ruining...Snape\'s the Death Eater spy.~

\"Snape\'s the...\" Her eyes turned to the Potions Master, and he suddenly knew that Arista found him out. He rose from his chair without a further word and left the office.

Albus sighed softly. \"Evidently, it seems that the dead are better spies than the living.\"

\"You heard Sirius?\"

\"No. But you made it clear that you weren\'t in our conversation.\" Dumbledore fiddled with something on his desk. \"When the holidays come, I\'m afraid that some of the students here will not be safe even at Hogwarts.\"

The most silent of people there finally spoke up. Kohl\'s baritone rumbled through the office, causing the Headmistress portraits to faint. \"We are going back to our previous converstaion?\"

\"What previous conversation? How long have you been up here?\" Arista felt out of the loop, torn between chewing Snape out for keeping his own secrets and being offended that her Promised and the Headmaster were deciding a fate that involved her.

\"Albus was throwing out the idea that it may be best for Harry and his friends...stay at our place.\"

\"What? What do you mean, \'stay at our place?\'\"

~He wants to send Snape on vacation, too.~

Arista snapped. \"You shut up! Since when did I decide it was okay to spread this soap opera to Haven?\"

\"It\'s unlikely that the Death Eaters will go all the way to the U.S to torment them.\" Kohl soothed, his hazel eyes glittering in sympathy over Arista\'s distress. \"We should continue this tomorrow. Arista\'s a little...headstrong.\"

\"Headstrong? You guys are up here talking about me, and I\'m ~Headstrong?~\"

\"This much magic use usually puts her over the edge. She simply needs a bit of grounding, and she\'ll be fine in the morning.\"

\"I understand, Kohl,\" Albus nodded. \"I hope you feel better, Arista.\"

\"I\'ll feel better once people start treating me like I have a mind of my own!\" Arista growled haughtily. \"You\'re all insane.\"

The dark haired man pulled Arista up, keeping an arm around her waist as he steered her towards the door. \"You need a bath, love. A long, hot bath. We\'ll see about these cuts you have, too.\"

\"You didn\'t agree to this, did you, Dragon?\"

\"We\'ll discuss this in the morning.\"

**


The next day, Harry had a visitor. He could see Madam Pomfrey lead Arista to his section of the wing and his eyes widened when he saw all the bruises that marred her face and arms. \"You look like hell-, ummm, Professor,\" he amended quickly.

Arista smiled, drawing a seat to his bed. \"Trust me, i feel like hell, too. How \'bout you?\"

\"Better than you look,\" Harry responded with a small smile.

\"Excellent! We begin training tonight, then.\"

\"Tonight? But Madam Pomfrey hasn\'t even discharged me, Professor Starfyr.\"

\"That does not matter. This training session happens in your dreams. You did pretty good, but you can do better. There\'s always room for improvement.\" Arista procured a small vial with an almost metallic looking violet liquid. \"It\'s a special sleeping potion that I asked Professor Snape to research. I\'m going to use it for class to teach all of you.\" She watched as Harry gingerly took the small bottle. \"It has his writing on it. Feel free to use magic to determine if it\'s safe.\"

\"Why would I do that? Is there something wrong with it?\"

\"There\'s nothing wrong with it. I just want to make certain that you still trust me after last night.\"

\"Trust you? Of course I do! You\'re my DADA professor. Er-will Sirius be there, too?\"

\"If he wants to be there, I don\'t think anything will stop him, Harry.\"

\"He\'s dead.\"

The statement was so flat and factual that Arista had to raise an eyebrow on it. She leaned in closer to Harry\'s face, her eyes seeing the hurt and saddness thinly veiled behind his green eyes. Out of habit, her fingers moved and brushed away a stray lock of hair. \"I know...he told me.\"

\"H-how could he tell you if he\'s dead?\"

\"I\'ll tell you tonight. Professor Snape said that all you need is a dram of it, and you\'ll be in the Dream Zone before you can close your eyes.\" Arista stood and walked out of the infirmary, leaving Harry the vial.