"Demons run when a good man goes to war. Night will fall and drown the sun when a good man goes to war. Friendship dies and love lies. Night will fall and the dark will rise when a good man goes to war. Demons run but count the cost; the battle's won but the child's lost." - River Song, Doctor Who.

Chapter One
One Hell of a Student

Her favorite class was Potions. Perhaps it was just bias, as the professor was her uncle, but she enjoyed the calmness that rose from stirring the cauldron. Potion-making was a precise science that very few could appreciate, and Kristina Magi was one of the few who could appreciate it. That was because her uncle Severus taught her to appreciate the subtle science. Not once has there ever been any silly wand-waving, just the soothing motion of stirring the cauldron.

Kristina Astrid-Leigh Magi was about average height for a girl—standing at about five-foot-two. Her eyes were crystal blue gems and her hair was the color of walnuts, while her skin was an ashen shade. Appearance-wise, the most she ever did was comb her hair. Her outfit was simple and plain: a deep midnight blue sweater overtop a white button-up shirt, black slacks and shoes, and a blue and black robe for House Ravenclaw.

No one was surprised when Professor Snape approached Kristina's table and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder as she stirred her cauldron. Standing on the other side of Kristina was her best friend, Erin Hartnell. A praise for the pair of them was uttered by Professor Snape, and the girls responded with a confident, "thank you". Professor Snape offered a smile to Kristina and walked past to examine the next group's less-than-spectacular potion. At times like this, Snape wished he was not a teacher. The pure idiocy! How could they screw up something so bloody simple?

"You call this a love potion?" Professor Snape asked, horrified. "You should have your potion smelling of chamomile and should be a light pink! Not this...disgusting...whatever." He glanced behind him at his niece and hoped he was not imagining this heinous attempt at potion-making. "Kristina, my dear, I am not hallucinating the color being anything but pink, correct?"

"Yes sir," Kristina nodded. "In fact, it's steel grey."

"Steel grey!" Professor Snape cried. "How did you manage this...this...atrocity?! Out of such a simple recipe, nonetheless!"

Kristina slapped a hand over her mouth as a squeaky giggle crept up her throat. Erin giggled without the restraint Kristina gave herself. Pointing at the girls' cauldron, Professor Snape urged the boys to examine their cauldron and learn how the potion should look and smell. Meanwhile, he whipped out his wand and pointed it at their cauldron. He simply could not bear to look at the disgrace any longer! After muttering, Evanesco, the fluid disappeared out of the cauldron and Professor Snape then demanded the students redo their potion.

"But sir! There's only fifteen minutes of class left!" one boy, a Hufflepuff named Caprio Douglass, protested.

Kristina and Erin now began bottling up their potion and cleaning up their station. Amused, Snape crossed his arms and smirked.

"Then I propose you two get going so you are not late for your next class, correct?" he suggested as he returned to the front of the room. "It is such a shame that only two of you can appreciate the subtle science that is potion-making. Then again, I taught one of you from an early age. I'm quite disappointed to say the very least. Under his breath, he muttered, "Bloody abyss." After thinking hard about the potions that were made that day, he continued, "Most of you did mediocre at best with your potions. The rest of you, well, you would have most certainly failed your O.W.L.s in the potions department. I expect twelve inches of parchment describing the process of making this particular love potion recipe. Do. Not. Give. Me. Two. Sentences. Twelve inches, and as many details as you can conjure up. Due Monday upon your entrance."

A couple of Gryffindors groaned, and the Ravenclaws all glared hard at them. If looks could kill, the Gryffindors would be beyond dead at this point.

"One more groan and will add another twelve inches!" Snape threatened.

"Promise, Professor?" Kristina grinned.

"I love you, Kristina, however..." Snape shook his head. "You most certainly take after your father. He'd be more than proud of you with that sense of humor." Pausing, he added, "Don't tempt me to fulfill the threat, my child. Now, with what little time is left, I want you all to begin your assignment."

Kristina reached down into her bag and retrieved a roll of parchment.

"Kristina, don't over do it on the detail," Professor Snape told her. "No silly stories either, child."

"Aw, but Uncle Severus..." Kristina giggled.

"No. Silly. Stories. I'm not grading a novel, I'm grading an essay," he told her. "As much as I absolutely adore your stories...this is not the time to show me your novel-writing skills."

Kristina pouted and nodded, "Yes sir."

"Thank you," Professor Snape swiftly spun on his heels and returned to his desk. His long, black cloak billowed around him as he stalked back to his desk. Kristina offered him a goofy smile when he turned back around and he responded with a wave of dismissal at her silliness. "You are a silly girl, Kristina. I don't know what to do with you sometimes."

"Love me?" Kristina grinned.

"I already love you, my child," he responded quickly. "Alright, enough silliness out of you!"

Kristina grinned and looked at Erin, who was smiling in amusement and trying to not giggle.

"What?" Kristina asked with a wry chuckle.

Erin relented and giggled at them, "Nothing. Just, you two are silly."

"You know you love it," Kristina told her.

"I do," Erin agreed. "You and Professor Snape are adorable."

"I. AM. NOT. ADORABLE!" Snape exclaimed. "How dare you!"

"Actually, you kinda are," Erin grinned. "And, quite easily."

"Dear me," Professor Snape shook his head, groaned in annoyance, and sighed in exasperation. "Why do I even bother with you two sometimes?"

After a couple more giggles from the girls, they went back to working on their assignment. A queer feeling inside of Kristina began building up, however, she was not quite sure what it was. Shaking off the unfamiliar feeling, Kristina continued working. Certainly, it was something small and it would eventually pass When it was finally time to go, Kristina swiftly cleared her things and shoved them into her backpack. Before she left, she came up to Snape and gave him a hug. He hugged her back and allowed her to run off to lunch with Erin.

Not surprisingly, when they got there, the Great Hall was loud. It almost always was. What, with the cacophony of random conversations, laughter, the clinking of plates and forks, the occasional 'thump' of a backpack or a couple of books, or the shouting across the tables at one another because they want to talk but are separated by house. Kristina and Erin chose a quiet corner of the Ravenclaw table and sat down. As soon as they sat down, they glanced at the empty plate in front of them and watched as food appeared.

Quickly, the girls dug right on in. They were desperate for food, which was due to the fact that they got up late and missed breakfast. What made things worse was that no one bothered to check and make sure that they were already awake. It was surprising that no one thought to check on them, especially after the long night the previous night of trying to get their radio to actually work so they could listen to their favorite radio comedy shows.

Kristina found herself enjoying a plate of fish 'n chips, a favorite treat of hers. Three evenly breaded pieces of cod sat upon a throne of crispy french fries—which was actually the best part of the whole dish—and on the side was a dish of ketchup that refilled whenever a wand was pointed at it. A big grin appeared on Kristina's face as she chowed down on the cod. Perfectly crisp, and nice and juicy on the inside. She could tell lemon had been squeezed on it already, which was fine because that just added to the flavor of the white fish. Next thing to be eaten were the fries, which had a perfect crunch.

Erin's plate had the same thing. The only difference between her and Kristina was that Erin wasn't half as fond of the fish 'n chips as Kristina was. But then again, Kris just loved the dish. Erin simply liked it.

As they ate their lunch, they also made sure to review Professor Snape's notes on potions. Sure, the O.W.L.s were months away, however, they wanted to make sure they were not cramming last-minute.

"So, Kristina..." Erin started. "You're going to take N.E.W.T. Potions next year if you pass the O.W.L.s?"

"Yeah," Kristina nodded. "Will you join me?"

"I probably might as well," Erin nodded. "No harm in taking N.E.W.T. Potions too. We do make a pretty good duo."

"Yeah, we do," Kristina nodded in agreement. "We're just awesome like that."

"But don't you ever think Professor Snape is a little harsh?" Erin wondered.

Kristina shrugged, "At this point I'm figuring that's just how he is. He's not harsh with me so I don't really notice when he's harsh with everyone else. Though I'm not sure why he's like that. I'd never seen him so harsh to other people until first year."

"Did something serious happen in his personal life?" Erin wondered.

"He didn't have much of a life outside of the house," Kristina shrugged. "Although...that summer...he came home in tears. I don't know why. I never asked him because I know it's none of my business. Maybe something did happen. But, you know, I'm not gonna ask him. Not my business."

"Understandable," Erin agreed.

When they finished eating their lunch, they gathered their things and left to go to their next class, which was Defense Against the Dark Arts with Professor Delmarva. As they walked, they were greeted by some of their own teachers who were heading off to eat lunch. Professor McGonagall even approached them, praising them for their performance in class that day and for their beautifully-written assignments. After saying 'thank you', they split ways and continued on until they saw Professor Meriwether Moses talking to an unfamiliar person. Neither girl dared to make their presence known to their Herbology teacher or the stranger.

Meriwether Moses was a tall, dorky-looking man. He stood at roughly five-foot-eleven, with short-cropped jet-black hair and hazel brown eyes. His skin was a pale olive color, from Lebanese ancestry. On his right cheek was a long scar going from his jaw to just under his eye. He wore a long, maroon trench coat and a golden Polo shirt. He was a favorite teacher amongst the students.

Kristina and Erin were startled when they saw him scowl and cross his arms in frustration. He did not seem pleased with whomever he was talking to. Some witch who charmed her pen and paper to float and write on their own, and that was all they could gather. The pen scribbled furiously across the page as Professor Moses and the witch spoke to one another.

That's when it clicked with Erin.

"You know, she must be a reporter. And I bet you I know who it is," Erin looked at Kristina.

"Hm?" Kristina glanced back.

"That's Rita Skeeter, from the Daily Prophet," Erin responded. "Man, what on earth is she doing talking to Professor Moses?"

"Dunno," Kristina and Erin continued to stay paused so they could listen to the conversation. Erin couldn't fully make out what was being said, but fortunately for her Kristina could.

"...Kristina's the best student I have," Professor Moses told the reporter, Rita Skeeter. "She's always studious, she never cheats, keeps good grades, on time to her classes, and she's quiet. Heck, even Professor Snape is fond of her! But...then again, that's because he knows her father, and they get along rather well. But...I don't know why you would suspect there was anything bad about Kristina because she's a favorite amongst the teachers and some of the students. Oh, she's such a silly girl too. She loves making jokes and making people laugh and smile. She's made me smile many times! I can guarantee you, she's made Minerva and Severus smile on numerous occasions."

"Well, there are reports from her cousin that she's cheated before and that she gets good grades somehow," Skeeter told him.

"The one time wasn't even her fault, her cousin was forcing her to do her homework and then try and turn it in as hers when it was Kristina's work," Professor Moses's irritation was beginning to show. "Kristina never has cheated. Never. See, this is why I bloody despise journalism. Journalists take stories and twist them in ways that they should never be." He shook his head, "All in all, Kristina is a good student and she doesn't deserve such a crappy cousin. It ticks me off that her cousin, who was supposed to be a good role model for her, turned out to be a really awful person and was a terrible role model by using her kindness and using her intelligence. I mean, only an unstable narcissist would do that."

She was writing all of this down as Professor Moses turned away and said, "I really need to get back to class so if you'd please excuse me."

Skeeter nodded, "Thank you very much, Mister Moses."

Professor Moses waved her off and walked off. He suddenly saw Kristina and Erin and he walked up to them. They tried to pretend that they had not been listening. When he finally came up to them, he raised an eyebrow at them but smiled.

"Hey, Kris! Erin!" he greeted them. "Were you guys listening?"

"What? Us? Listening in on you talking to some strange reporter?" Erin feigned surprise.

"What was the conversation about?" Kristina asked straight up, earning her a sideways glance from her best friend.

"She was asking about you for a paper she's writing on your cousin's trial," Professor Moses answered. "She wanted to know more about you. It honestly sounded like she wanted to twist my words against me and you. I hope I said the right things..."

Kristina smiled, "I think you said the right things."

"Really? You think so?" Professor Moses asked, blushing and smiling wryly. "Thank you, Kristina. I'm glad you think so. I suppose I'm just worried about this whole trial. Despite what it seems on the surface, justice isn't always properly served in the Ministry. You'd think it wouldn't be like that but that's how it is."

"Yeah," Erin nodded her head in agreement. "That's a valid point. Should we worry about Desari not being served the justice she deserves, Professor?"

Professor Moses gave a thoughtful expression towards the ceiling, then looked back and shook his head, "No. You two have enough to worry about with the O.W.L.s, y'know?"

"True..." Erin agreed.

"Not sure that'll stop me," Kris shrugged.

Professor Moses gave a wry chuckle, "Of course not. Well, I should be off back to my class, for sure. And you two have a class to run off to, right?"

"Yeah," Kristina and Erin both nodded.

"I'll see you two in Herbology tomorrow, then," he smiled.

"Of course," both girls nodded.

With a wave of his hand, Professor Moses turned and walked off towards the greenhouse. Kristina and Erin both exchanged glances as they began towards Dark Arts again. Precariously, Kristina held one book in her arm as she anxiously ran her free hand through her hair. With a sigh, she glanced back at Erin and they shook their heads.

"Why would the reporter be asking Professor Moses about me for a report on my cousin's trial?" Kristina wondered.

"I hope there hasn't been a break in the case that we haven't been told about yet," Erin frowned at the thought.

"I'd say I hope that she was asking for curiosity's sake, but something tells me that's not true," Kristina sighed heavily.

"I think she's trying to dig up dirt on you," Erin told her. "I mean, that's what she does...naturally."

"Well, she certainly won't get dirt on me from any of our teachers," Kristina pointed out.

"I think later we should warn Professor Snape about this," Erin told her.

"You think so?" Kris asked.

"Yeah," Erin nodded. "Because she may try to talk to him next. Let's not have him surprised, right?"

"Something tells me she's already tried talking to him," Kristina scowled. "I think it'll be fine. He'd tell us to watch what we say if she approaches us if that helps any. He already knows to avoid reporters like they're venomous spiders."

"You sure?" Erin asked.

"Yeah," Kristina smiled. "I've known Professor Snape basically my entire life. I think I would have a general idea of how he'd deal with this situation."

"Alright, if you're sure," Erin told her. "Oh, and let me just say this. Your circumstances don't determine who you are as a person, only your words and actions towards people do. Just remember that if Rita Skeeter does something to try and tarnish you. What Desari did to you does not define you as a person. Alright?"

Kristina gave a wry smile, "Thanks, Erin. I appreciate that."

Erin grinned, "No problem!"