Chapter 1 – What was once

Ariana Snape and Sirius Black were at Hogwarts around the same time. He was a seventh year and she a fifth year when they found themselves entwined in an empty classroom halfway through a Quidditch victory celebration.

Sirius was a sought-after charmer, a living legend for all the ridiculous pranks he and the Marauders pulled. She was Ariana Snape, the younger sister of Severus Snape, a.k.a. Snivellus to the Gryffindors. She was the freak of the family, much like Sirius, the first Gryffindor from a decidedly Slytherin family. When she was sorted into the Lion's house her brother became more distant and she made friends quickly, all who were Slytherin-bashers.

Ariana had the same black eyes and frail build as Severus, but her eyes were more like glittering onyx's that shone with a life-energy their father managed to beat out of Severus many years ago. She was not beaten often by her father, as Severus was, but Tobias did hurt her in other ways, he did things to her that he could not, would not, do to his boy. Ariana knew her father was a piece of shit and relished in every day she spent away from her miserable home. Ariana also did not inherit the hooked nose and had an acceptable, if slightly larger than she would have liked, nose. Her skin was also pale, but not as pallid as her brother's. She spent many of her hours outside, soaking up the sun, when it paid England the courtesy of showing its face. Her hair was also pitch black, but was never lank after her initial arrival at Hogwarts. Her fellow dormers taught her how to treat her hair properly and Diane Baker asked her mother, the owner of a Bewitching Waves, the most prestigious salon in wizarding England, to send Ariana some volume spray. Her hair was always a straight and sleek curtain that she loved to play with and toss over her thin shoulders.

The most important difference between Ariana and Severus was their personalities. Ariana was outgoing and jovial, while Severus was the complete opposite. Perhaps Sirius thought he could do Snivellus the ultimate injustice by soiling his sister. Ariana would have never come close to her big brother's tormentors if she wasn't drunk off her face on fire whiskey, but she did. She had her first pleasurable sexual experience with a man that only caused her once beloved brother pain. The man who was probably only using her, taught her how two people's bodies can fit perfectly and grant each other great pleasure. When they were done they started talking and didn't stop until the morning's light. Something in them seemed to pull them towards each other. They started seeing each other in secret and when he finished school at 18, when she was only 16 years old she moved in with him, vowing never again to set foot in her abusive father's house. Sirius had left his parents' house at sixteen, staying with the Potters mostly, but now he had his own small flat near Diagon Alley.

She knew Severus was lost, a follower to the Dark Lord. He was the darkness, so she needed to be the light. Sirius and Adriana partied like they were the king and queen of the world that summer, until it was time for her to go back to Hogwarts. It was hard for her to leave Sirius after spending every waking moment with him, but he wanted her to do her N.E.W.T.S. and pass them with flying colours. Ariana was not one bit dumber than her brother, if maybe a little more lazy, but she was the academic star of her year, and with Lily Evans gone, the brightest mind at Hogwarts. Sirius said he would get a job so they could stop living off money and jewels he stole from his parents.

Ariana finished her N.E.W.T.S. with a full set of Outstanding's, even in Arithmancy, a terrifically difficult subject. They celebrated with good old Muggle champagne and by shagging on every surface in their flat. Within the month she secured an apprenticeship with Barabbas Dragonsteele, the pre-eminent charm-conceiver of the time. They were so blissfully happy in the summer of 1981, even though it was wartime and they did not see much of each other. The love of danger which brought them together made their time together all the more passionate.

31 October 1981 was the worst evening of Ariana's short life. James and Lily Potter were killed by the Dark Lord and Sirius was to blame. A boy was orphaned and the Light Side lost two of its greatest defenders by her lover's hand.

"You can place a Slytherin in Gryffindor, but you can never take the Slytherin out of him."

Off-hand words spoken by a barmaid haunted Ariana until she tried to take her own life. She thought she would also turn on Dumbledore and all he stood for, because of her heritage. She tried to hang herself from her and Sirius' four-poster bed, but the wood had broken under her weight and Remus Lupin found her lying on the floor unconscious before she could try her luck a second time.

Remus became her guardian angel; he was what kept her alive through the first year without Sirius. She became more active in the order of the Phoenix, even though she had only just turned 19. The risk was less now the Dark Lord was gone, but they still had rogue Death Eaters to calm down. She never knew why Remus cared so much about her staying alive, whether it was because he learned to like her in the numerous hours she and the Marauders spent together, if she reminded him of Sirius or if he was simply a good person. She lost her apprenticeship and got a job at a bookstore in Diagon Alley. She learned to live with the pain of another man breaking her trust and she and Lupin would spend many bittersweet days together discussing books and the future of the wizarding world.