Choosing Darkness

The trip to Hogsmeade was but a splash in the wake of the impending Solstice Festival. A great feast and dance was to commence the eve prior to the winter holiday. Many students used this first two trips to the wizard town to prepare for the dance and to scout out potential dates. Everyone but Arista seemed to have caught the \'Christmas bug\' early.

\" Solstice Festival? Whatever happaned to Samhain?\" shewailed in the faculty lounge. \"This place is as bad as a Maul, putting up the Christmas decorations before Halloween!\"

\"Do keep in mind, dear,\" squeaked Filius from a nearby seat, \"that for many of the children, they can only associate Samhain with chocolates and masks, if that. The holiday is not a commercialized holiday like it is in America.\"

\"I\'m not talking about commercialization. I\'m talking about the beginning of a new year, the reflection of your own soul and how you wish to change.\"

At the mention of \'soul\', some of the other staff halted their quiet conversations and turned to stare at Arista. Oddly enough, her status as a Necromancer had been only an hor\'dourve for the Daily Prophet. Since she rarely left Hogwarts, the reporters could not verify the rumors that were leaking out of the school\'s grounds. But those on the inside knew the truth, the truth that they had a Necromancer teaching their students Defense Against the Dark Arts. So far, she had yet to display any of her powers, short of an unusually quiet and well behaved Peeves and her occassional fits of \'zoning with the locals.\'

Professor Sprout waltzed in with the Sorting Hat upended and a grim expression on her face. \"Time to pick the chaperones for tomorrow.\" Everyone cringed at the announcement. Only Arista did not seem apprehensive about the picking. Once, she knew she was already going and two, she was still sulking over the lack of recognition Halloween had.

\"Minerva, would you--\"

\"Not, so fast,\" drawled a voice behind Sprout. Arista looked up to see Snape glowering in the passage way. They had very little contact with each other since she\'d been founded a Necromancer. The only times she had seen him was when she hunted him down and cornered him to get more sleeping draught. She sorely missed his company.

\"The last time Minerva drew, all that came up was my name.\"

The Transfiguration professor smiled tightly with a twinkle in her eye. \"Ah. As if you had never done that, Severus. i recall the last time you drew...odd things began happening to the people you called on.\"

\"I don\'t know what you\'re talking about,\" Snape\'s menancing growl would have been more intimidating had there not been snickering in the foreground. He\'d been ready to demand why a student was in the lounge when he saw the golden blonde head bang softly on the table.

\"Find something amusing, Starfyr?\"

She responded quickly, a little too quickly for his tastes. \"Oh, NO, professor. Everything\'s just hunky-dory.\" Arista never moved her head, she just simply waved in his general direction. She went back to giggling maniacly.

Severus arched a quizzical eyebrow as everyone turned to look at Arista\'s shaking shoulders. What insane humor was she receiving from the world that was silent to most living creatures? The only thing that was heard was her laughter that was quickly becoming something akin to a hamster getting caught in a door.

\"Is she...squeaking?\"

A single, long high pitched noise seemed to be the answer. Arista threw her head wiping tears away from her face. \"Here, I\'ll draw.\" The Sorting Hat floated over to Arista\'s hand. \"How many do you need?\"

\"Four,\" Sprout responded, her hands still open as if she held the hat.

The blonde dipped her hand into the Hat, murmuring apologies and drew out four chips. \"Okay. Van Bausenheim, Snape, Flitwick and Trelawney. And me makes five.\" She tossed the chips back into the Sorting Hat. \"Yay, that was fun, wasn\'t it?\" Her eyes drifted over to Snape who had already twirled with an impressive flourish of swishing robes and stalked away.

*****

Arista watched the scenery pass before her little carriage window. The leaves were just beginning to turn, invading her with a thrill. Sighing softly, she turned to look at her travelling companions. There they all sat, oblivious to what wonders was around them. How could mages become so jaded to the magic that was inherently around them? They all had tired and fairly bored expressions on their faces as the carriage lulled them to another plane.

\"I know that scientifically, the death of the green chlorophyl turns the leaves to their reds and yellows, but why? What causes them to just ...give up the ghost like that and send their supporters into a winter hibernation?\"

In an attempt to capture \'weekend sleep\' that was forfeit this early morning, Snape opened his eyes like a cat would when prey scittered by it. Both the Arithmacy professor and Flitwick looked at Arista with gaping mouths and Trelawney hummed a monotonous tune.

\"Ms. Starfyr, it is too early to be contemplating the wonders of nature and the \'Great Being Who Created All Things,\" muttered Severus.

Arista sniffed indignantly. \"I was not contemplating a religious revival, if that\'s what you\'re implying. I mean, here we\'ve all seen the Song of Creation work on kittens and seedlings and children, but how many times does that Song need to play before one realizes that winter and the changing of the leaves and climax of the Hunt is all a part of that too?\"

\"You are obsessed with Death.\" He closed his eyes once more.

\"Heh, I am merely wise enough to know that it is but a crucial chapter in the continuation of life. Fall is my favorite time; it\'s the time to shed off the old decaying skin and allow the new one to shine irridescence in the sun.\" Snape popped a single eye open at her remark.

Van Bausenheim smiled a little in Arista\'s direction. \"I enjoy the autumn season as well,\" she murmured in a soft melodic voice.

\"Finally, someone who knows how to live a little! So, what\'s exciting here at Hogsmeade? Albus really didn\'t show me the sites when he found me.\"

Severus snorted and interrupted before Filius could respond, \"You mean, what trouble you can get into, here.\"

Grey eyes glittered in slight irritation, \"Need to practice your chaperone skills on someone your own age, now?\"

The Divination professor\'s humming stopped abruptly as the sound of the creaking carriage overwhelmed them. Severus sat up straighter as if a metal rod had been shoved through his spine. \"Your focus should be just that, Arista. Minding the students instead of investigating your own mischiviousness.\"

\"Who died and willed you as Gods-over-my-life, Severus?\" Arista sneered haughtily. \"Or do you just need a Midol?\"

Snape gave her a sneer of his own. \"I am simply reminding you that this field trip is for the students, not you.\"

The DADA professor flipped her hair and returned to watching the scenery through the window. Not once did she glance in Severus\' direction, and no longer did she join in the conversation that started up again. Snape huffed and glowered at her for the rest of the ride, irritated that his chance at sleep had been thwarted by the vixen in front of him.

With indignant precision Arista watched the students unload a few minutes later and gather in a haphazard bunch, eagerly awaiting the dismissal. Snape drew up to his full menancing form, glaring at every student when he growled. \"I expect you all to conduct yourselves in a manner that is befitting of the school you are priveledged to be attending. For those of you who are unable to understand such complexities, do not get into trouble, or serious consequences will incur.\" He glared at them for a minute more, making certain that they were all properly cowed. \"You may go. We leave in six hours.\" The students scattered away, leaving the teachers with proverbial tumbleweeds in their wake.

Arista breezed passed Snape as she headed down one of the strees, leaving him with her musical voice and the scent of jasmine in her wake. \"Remind me not to sign you up to be a motivational speaker for self-esteem classes.\"

Snape glart het her retreating form, contemplating if he should go after her and return her scathing remark. The decision was made for him as a voice slithered past his ear. \"You didn\'t tell me she was also the new DADA professor, Ssseverus.\"

\"You didn\'t ask, Lucius,\" Snape responded, turning to Malfoy Sr. and ensure he wasn\'t caught startled.

\"No. Instead I hear this by owl from my son. She\'s been teaching wandless magic amongst other trivial things!\" the man with high gloss platinum hair chuckled. \"That, and she has the Potions Master by the bollocks, eating out of her hand.\"

The hint was not met with resistance or confirmation. \"If there\'s something troubling you and your son\'s performance in the Defense class, Lucius, I suggest you take that up with his professor.\"

Malfoy\'s gloating smile broke into a feral grin. \"You are right, as always, Snape!\" He clapped a hand on Snape\'s shoulder, causing him to wince. \"Good day, Severus.\"

As the dark haired man watched Malfoy stalk after new and interesting prey, he couldn\'t help but have a strange feeling of apprehension settle in his gut. The man was up to something, and Severus had no idea what it was. He was fairly certain that it had something to do with Voldemort, and what Snape feared the most was that the Dark Lord said nothing to him. There was no decision tke ake as he followed Malfoy to find out what was happening.



She stepped into the apothecary\'s dimly lit shop, studying all the jars and contents therein. She carried a look of disinterest as she examined a particularly nasty vial of viscera. Her hair glittered unknowingly as she stepped through bars of light, alerting her presence to the clerk behind the desk. His watery eyes blinked in her direction as if he couldn\'t fathom that one like her would be in his shop. If he wasn\'t mistaken, this was the woman that He wanted for his own plans! If he could only capture her, then he would be richly rewarded for his efforts and be in the Lord\'s good graces again. He silently moved up behind her as a million plans to take her into his custody ran through his head.

\"May I help you with something, miss?\" the clerk asked politely.

Arista turned to look at the small portly man. There was something about him that she didn\'t trust. Was it the way he kept glancing at her cloaked left arm? \"N-actually, you wouldn\'t happen to have some fresh jasmine, or copal, would you?\"

What a perfect idea! Hide some knock out drops in the scented plumes, and she would never know! He silently hoped that she required fresh sprigs. \"Cut, dried, essence of or incense?\"

\"-She\'ll have the finest fresh cuts you have,\" interrupted a voice. It was quickly followed by a twang of coins landing on the counter. Though Arista could not see the owner of the voice, she saw by the clerk\'s cowed and disappointed expression that it must have been someone important and not well liked.

\"Honestly,\" she started, turning towards her attempted benefactor, \"I can pay for myself, si-Mr Malfoy.\"

\"I\'m sure, but the gift of fresh death always smells sweetest, Professor Starfyr, wouldn\'t you agree?\" Lucius asked in a voice of roughened velvet.

~Don\'t trust \'im~ Arista sighed softly, taking her time in replacing the jar upon the shelf. \"Actually, Sir, fresh cuttings are not exactly dead. Those cells that have been cut at the stem, yes, but not the flowers and leaves who know nothing of their eventual demise.\"

He threw her a malicious smile. \"I wanted to discuss your teaching methods, if you had time.\"

\"...Yes, I do.\" Arista glanced back at the clerk who had quickly masked his visible disgust towards Malfoy. \"I\'ve changed my mind. Thank you, anyway.\" She turned and headed out the door, leaving the breathless clerk holding wilting plants.

\"I like your style,\" he admitted as he offered his arm to Arista and opened the door.

There was a vicious hissing at the back of Arista\'s ear but she ingored the words. Revealing a smile, she gently gripped the wizard\'s elbow. \"It\'s not often I hear that from people.\"

\"What a horrifying thought. Pity that more people don\'t take notice of your...beauty and talent.\"

She avoided smirking at him. \"You wished to discuss your son\'s acedemics?\"

\"Is it true you raise the dead?\"

\"Do you really think this is proper public conversation?\" Arista countered, her eyes quickly searching for any passers by who may have heard Lucius.

He abjectly waved his walking stick, laughing lightly at Arista\'s veiled alarm. \"No one will care, madam! We are but two scourges travelling as companions.\"

She tossed her head up slightly, feeling the restraints of the spell. It had been meant to hide their true conversation, not to restrict her movements, so she willed her senses to be still. \"I must say, though Draco has imagination, he uses little of it for true purposes,\" Arista began, trying to push Lucius\' stated topic of discussion forward. Echoeing behind her was a retreating comment about the pleasant weather. \"He has little belief in himself and hides behind cockiness and bullying. He is also afraid of his own shadow. When he refused to confrint his fears in the Dream Zone, he neglected to imbibe the draught at the next class and proceeded to pull pranks on everyone who was alseep,\" she finished quite testily. Arista had not been amused to find her hair a shocking shade of green and as frizzy as a caterpiller amongst the other students\' chaos. \"That cost his house fifty and 5/16\'s points.\"

\"I will be certain to speak with my son about that,\" he growled slightly, not pleased that Draco had cost Slytherin House points because his pride had been wounded by a woman. Then something she said caught his attention. \"Five-sixtheenths?\"

\"Ah,\" she started off-handedly, \"it annoys Severus to no end that I take fractions of points away.\"

\"You never answered my question.\"

Arista started slightly. She had been listening to the false conversation about Thurmategy. \"Sorry?\"

\"Perhaps you are not powerful enough to raise dead, which is why you avoid answering.\"

\"What would make you think I knew how to begin with?\"

\"Because my son claims you are a Necromancer.\"

~You.....away from him!......something~

Arista cocked her head to one side. Something was preventing her from hearing Sirius\' warning. \"Boys claim a lot of things at this age,\" she informed Lucius loftily. \"A lot of it is for attention.\"

\"Are you implying that my son is a liar?\" Lucius\' somewhat friendly and seductione one changed so dramatically that it made Arista\'s hair on her neck stand on end.

\"Did you hear me say he was lying?\" she retorted, her own hackles raising a little. \"Because I thought I said that\'s what many boys do, not your particular child.\"

Malfoy\'s terrible glare softened as his gloved hand patted hers. \"Of course. You, a girl of good breeding would understand. We purebloods must stay together.\"

\"Hmmm...\"

\"I have a friend,\" Lucius murmured close to Arista\'s ear. So close, in fact, that she could feel his breath against her skin, causing her to shiver. \"He may be interested in your services.\"

She served quickly, her grey eyes locking onto Lucius\' ice chipped ones. There was something she needed to say, some retort that needed to be accented with a very well placed knee to the groin, but she couldn\'t remember it. And why was he looking at her like she was a meal?

\"Professor Starfyr!\" called out a half-panicked voice. The spells shattered and dissolved around her as she once again heard Sirius shouting at her.

~Get away from him, now!~

Arista peddalled backwards, her eyes trained on Lucius as the student rushed her. \"What is it, Elaine?\"

\"Thomas is stuck in a baby Devil Snare,\" the Ravenclaw girl replied breathlessly.

\"All right, we\'ll go get him,\" Arista finally turned away from Lucius to follow the girl.

\"It is not becoming of you to babysit, Arista,\" the silver maned man called out after her.

Arista pretended not to hear him as she headed off to another section of Hogsmeade. Lucius frowned at her retreating form, then smiled slightly. \"How long have you been listening, Severus?\"

Snape glared from the shaddows. \"Do you really thing she would fall for a little smoke and mirrors?\"

\"They are more powerfuan yan you think. A man who is impartial does not show such...concern,\" he drawled out with a triumphant gleam.

\"Leave her be, Malfoy,\" Snape warned. \"She\'s dangerous.\"

\"I will remember to bring my whips and chains, then,\" the man slid away into the shadows. Snape frowned as he headed towards the direction Arista went.




Arista shook her head slightly as she straightened Thomas\' robes. \"You never go near a Snare with candy in hand,\" she reminded him, taking his red and blotching hand and turning it over. \"You\'re lucky it was a baby.\" Her eyes went to the Snare that was suckling happily on the oversized lollipop.

There were tears threatening to spill over in the student\'s eyes, but he nodded bravely. \"Yes, Professor.\"

She covered the injured hand with her other and murmured something. Thomas breathed a sigh of relief. \"There. Don\'t get into any more trouble, or Professor Snape will have kittens.\" Once alone, the realization of her conversation with Lucius hit her full force. She remembered that there were mulitple spells that had been cast, and she had only been aware of the dialogue change spell. She didn\'t detect the one that had been ensaring her throat, squeezing common sense out of her. One brief glance assured Arista that no one was around, and she leaned against the fence, buring her face into her shaking hands.

Paranoid, she jumped at the sound of a twig breaking, gripping the iron fence behind her. \"Shit, damn!\" she leaped back from the fence, staring at the searing burns on both her palms. \"Shit,\" she muttered again, shaking her hands as if to throw water off them.

\"Let me see,\" rumbled someone as a tall body pressed up against her back and took her hands.

Arista knocked the hands away, kicking backwards viciously and turned to see Snape hopping around on one leg as he swore. \"Severus! Gods, I\'m sorry. I was just reacting-\"

\"It\'s fine. It\'s fine,\" he managed to get out as he tried to place weight on his injured leg. He felt foolish enough to be overcome by some small amount of compassion as he had watched Arista drop her defenses and then become burned by the fence when she started at some stray noise.

\"Your shin-\"

\"I said it is fine,\" he snapped, straightening his robes and cloak. Wait, she was burned by the iron fence? \"Let me see your hands,\" he requested, not making it a choice for her to refuse.

Arista balked, taking a step away as she hid her hands under her arms. \"Why?\" Her adremaline rush hadn\'t completely gone down from her escape from Lucius and she was wary of everyone at this moment. Especially Snape, since he hadn\'t been one to accept the common thread they shared since he found out she was a Necromancer.

He took a breath, trying to soften his look. \"Please.\" The deep rumble of his voice seemed to soothe her, and Arista took a hesitant step forward, avoiding his gaze as she stood there before him with bowed head and her hands still tucked beneath her arms. Gently, he moved his own hands up her arms, taking each one and straightening them so that she could only move her hands before him. His hands slid down them again, this time touching warm flesh as he turned her palms to face him. Breath hissed out from between teeth as he saw the angry red bar marks begin to blister on her fingers. His thumbs grazed over the marks in an effort to soothe them, but Arista winced at the touch, still avoiding his eyes.

\"How?\"

\"I have an allergy to iron,\" Arista responded tonelessly. \"It burns.\"

\"But...there is iron in the blood,\" Severus reminded her, confused.

She shrugged a little, finally turned her head to look up at him. \"That is one thing I don\'t understand.\"

The space between them was cleared in a moment as Snape gently kissed her. Arista fell into the kiss as she snaked her arms around his neck, the backs of her hands urging his head closer. She needed this comfort after the acostment by Malfoy, and right now she felt vulnerable after having the spells bound around her. Severus was intoxicated by her sudden surrender and desperate silent entreatment as he opened his mouth against hers. He groaned against the feel of her tongue touch the roof of his mouth and then slide across his teeth, gripping her closer to him. One hand splayed across the small of her back, bringing her thigh into direct contact with his suddenly brick hard member while the other hand followed the dip of her waist up to her ribs.

Arista\'s hooded eyes watched as he pulled away and drew her right hand from behind his head. She smiled wickedly as she ground against him, causing his eyes to roll into the back of his head. Then he held her more tightly, his dark eyes swallowing her as his mouth drew wet kisses along her fingers. He was encouraged by her moan and sudden weight as her legs sagged, so he darted his tongue between her first and second fingers, making them part so he could suck one down.

\"My gods,\" she whispered, shifting so that her leg wrapped around his to keep him pressed against her. Arista\'s head fell back as she lost herself to the ministrations of a very talented mouth against all her fingers and then against the pulse of her wrist. This felt so right, and she was dripping as he ground against her. It was something that was missing since she gave the potion to Severus, since he had bound her circle whole. She didn\'t want it to end as she pulled her other hand from the back of his head and started undoing the numerous buttons that started at his throat.

~Someone comes~

Arista jerked suddenly at the intrustion, her eyes startled as she looked at Severus\' dark, hungry ones. Unaware that her grey eyes were dark from lust as well, she flew from him, darting away as he was left there to quickly straighten his robes before the strolling wizard could see his raging hard-on. \"Damn.\"