Ariadne wasn't sure whether it was a combination of nostalgia and familiarity or some other influence that brought her straight down into the bowels of Hogwarts where the potions dungeon was housed. She had no trouble finding the old classrooms, although she began to wish that she didn't have such a good memory as she found herself outside room D3. At least, if she had gotten herself lost, it would have made a good excuse as to why she hadn't managed to speak to her brother. But she knew she wouldn't get away with that.

Her palms were damp and her clothes were beginning to feel too tight for her as she stood outside the door, waiting for the courage to come from some deep reserve within her that would allow her to knock.

It never came, but it was cold and draughty in the damp stone corridor and she didn't want to go back up to Sirius and have to tell him that she hadn't found the guts to face her brother. So she closed her eyes, held her breath, and banged on the thick oak door.

'Come,' shouted a cold, indifferent voice from the room beyond.

Her heart thumping dully in her throat, Ariadne pulled her cloak a little tighter around herself and opened the door.

Severus Snape was hunched over his desk on the raised dais at the front of the dimly candle-lit, smoky classroom. He was scribbling on a piece of parchment that was already trailing at least six foot over the edge of the desk, almost every inch of it covered with tiny, carefully formed, immaculate calligraphy-style lettering. He didn't even raise his head as Ariadne stepped inside and closed the door behind her.

'The doors to classrooms D5 and D6 need repairing, Mr Filch, if you've finished with the doxies in the staff room. Most likely, Peeves has been up to his tricks again, but I don't have time to deal with it until I get this final chapter completed,' he said, his voice muffled because he kept his nose so close to the paper.

When no reply was forthcoming, the quill ceased its scratching and he looked up.

Ariadne smiled apprehensively, not daring to step any closer to him in case he decided to throw something at her - which had been one of his more favourable methods of greeting her in the past.

'Hello, Severus.'

He slowly lowered the quill to the desk and steepled his fingers over it, glowering at her with some barely contained emotion that could have been either anger or disbelief. It was difficult to tell; Snape had never been a man who allowed his emotions to be easily read in his expression.

'Somehow, when I read The Prophet this morning, I had the feeling that you might see fit to put in an appearance,' he drawled, his black-hole eyes growing wider in his ash-white face. 'Just because the rest of wizardkind has seen fit to absolve that inconsequential detritus that you were involved with of his crimes, that doesn't mean that I have suddenly become as short-sighted. You may leave now.' He dropped his gaze back to the parchment and lifted the quill again.

The ripping open of old wounds was even more painful than having them inflicted in the first place. The venom he exuded seeped beneath her skin, taking her breath away and filled her eyes with burning tears of shame and regret. She blinked, lowering her gaze from his to the row of desks beneath the dais. It was amazing how the passage of years had been as nothing to the hatred he still seemed to have for her. More than that, she was surprised at how quickly and how easily he was still able to hurt her.

'You have no right to speak to me like that,' she said softly, struggling inwardly against the urge to run from the room in defeat. 'It wasn't easy for me to come here today. I think I deserve - '

'You deserve nothing,' he spat, throwing down the quill and spattering ink across the desk. 'You're the one who chose that murderous, egotistical, bullying, manipulative, aggressive lunatic over your family. You're the one who turned your back on your own parents, not to mention your brother. Now if you don't mind, I have important work to finish and I don't have time for distractions. Close the door on your way out.'

'They turned their backs on me! You left me alone, you rejected me when I needed your support the most!' she finally sobbed, angry with herself for letting him hurt her as she wiped her eyes. She struggled to retain some measure of control, but the more she tried to control her breathing, the more her voice shattered into breathy, staccato bursts of pain. 'How can you be so cold? So cruel? All I wanted was a chance to talk to you. How can you deny me that? I'm your sister, Severus…do I really mean nothing to you anymore?'

Snape sighed deeply and stepped down from the dais, pulling out a white handkerchief from the sleeve of his robe. He walked between the desks to where she had sat down on one of the students' wooden chairs and offered the handkerchief to her. She looked up at him, unsure of his intent for a moment before accepting it and dabbing carefully at her eyes.

'Thank you,' she murmured.

He left her alone for a moment for her to compose herself as he leaned back against the desk.

'Why did you come here, Ariadne?'

'There were many reasons,' she sighed, wiping her nose. She kept the handkerchief clutched in her fingers, grateful that she had something to do with her hands now. 'But one of the main ones was to try to heal the rift between us. It's been too long, Severus. I'm sorry that I hurt you all so much. I never meant to. But I also wish you could understand that I can't help the way I feel about Sirius.'

'Oh, please,' Snape spat. 'Spare me.'

'I'm not here to start another argument with you. Either you accept Sirius or you don't. But you are my brother and no matter what may have happened between us, no matter if you no longer care for me, I still care about you. I came here to tell you that your life is in danger.'

He raised a dark eyebrow. 'And this is news? My life has been in danger for the past fifteen years.'

'Not like this, Severus.' Ariadne wiped her nose and slipped the handkerchief into her sleeve. 'There's so much we need to talk about, I just don't know where to start.'

Snape sighed, his face set into an almost cold expression of irritation, but there were the first flickering of something else in the dark depths of his eyes as he looked at her. Something…softer…something of the brother she had once known. He gathered his robes around him and straightened up.

'I was about to make some elderflower tea,' he said, gesturing half-heartedly towards the preparation room behind the dais.

'That would be nice,' she smiled, 'thank you.'

He didn't wait for her as he strode back through the rows of desks towards his office. She followed him into the small, circular room. Rows upon rows of shelves were overflowing with glass jars of potions ingredients, books, rolls of parchments and all sorts of knick-knacks from miniature models of the solar system to paperweights with medicinal herbs frozen inside them. Candles in the shapes of skulls were staggered across the tops of the bookcases and along the narrow windowsill. A tired, worn looking rug lay in front of the rather Gothic-looking stone fireplace with two wing-backed armchairs arranged on either side of it. A strange, cloying scent hung in the cold air; musty, smoky, but with a vague scent of eucalyptus oil beneath.

'Don't you find it a bit cold and damp all the way down here in the dungeons?' she said, just to break the awkward silence. 'I would have thought that you'd have preferred an office in one of the towers…you know, somewhere you can see the stars. You always used to like astronomy.'

'There was no future in such a career,' he replied, busying himself with preparing the tea, but he did take a moment to point his wand at the hearth and instantly, the fireplace was filled with crackling, popping warmth.

Ariadne smiled gratefully, but he didn't notice. 'You seem to have done well for yourself, Severus. I'm glad that you've found the success you've worked so hard for.'

Snape smiled as though the gesture was the last piece of grain in a famine; a thin, almost imperceptible curling of his lip as he danced a cup of steaming tea towards her through the air before taking the chair opposite her.

'If you call this success. Professor Dumbledore doesn't seem to think me suited to Defence Against the Dark Arts, no matter how many times I try to persuade him otherwise.'

'Why not?'

'He is of the opinion that it would be too much...temptation. Though I must admit that there have been times over the years when the darker path has seemed quite appealing.'

'You don't mean that.'

'No,' he sighed. 'I suppose I do not. In truth, he believes the position to be cursed and for some odd reason does not wish to lose me.'

'It's always good to be appreciated, Severus.'

He raised an eyebrow and sipped more tea. 'Perhaps.'

'You wouldn't leave Hogwarts though, would you?'

'No,' he admitted, his gaze wavering from her for a moment, 'I am becoming resigned to my station. Perhaps even fond of it in a strange sort of way. But I don't think you came here to discuss my career path, Ariadne.'

'Actually, I would like to hear about what you've been doing…if you'd like to tell me. I wasn't so sure that you would even see me.'

'I don't think I had much choice in the matter. You were already in my classroom.'

Ariadne lingered over her tea, trying not to let him see how much that comment had stung.

'And you could have asked me to leave.'

'I believe I did. Twice.'

'And then offered me tea.'

'You said my life is in danger. I was intrigued. That is all.'

'But you didn't seem worried when I told you,' she said, hurt feelings and pride giving way to impatient anger. 'I didn't come here to be ridiculed and humoured because you have nothing better to do. If you're not even prepared to listen to me without looking for opportunities to score points, then maybe I shouldn't have bothered coming at all.'

'Did you come alone?' His tone was smooth, low and even; as always. He showed no outward signs that he had even heard anything she had said. 'No, I suppose not…I'm sure he came straight for you when he made his spectacular escape from the Dementors, didn't he? Anxious to share his latest tales of daring escapades with such a rapt, devoted audience.'

Ariadne could feel the blood draining from her face. The intensity of the white-hot anger that was bubbling up within her was making her feel nauseous as her fingers tightened against the china cup. 'What has that to do with anything?'

'Did you bring him tonight? I suppose he is enjoying his newfound freedom, is he? Coming here with you, filling your head full of stories of Death Eaters and - '

'Don't you dare patronise me, Severus! Fill my head with stories? Do you really think so little of me that you think that I could be so easily led? Do you think it was easy for me to come here? Do you think it was easy for Sirius? Have you even spent one single second considering everything that he has been through these past twelve years?'

'I would imagine that he derives a certain amount of enjoyment from the game. He always did, even when he was a child - an annoying, jumped up little idiot with his gang trailing behind him like rats in a rubbish pile. Maybe he has managed to convince you that he isn't a Death Eater with those sugar-coated, lilting stories he likes to spin, but he will never - '

Ariadne put the half-empty cup of elderflower tea down on the small wine table beside her chair and stood up, clenching her hands into fists and digging her nails into her palm in an effort to stop herself from shaking with fury.

'Then I really am wasting my time. I'm sorry I bothered you, Severus. I won't make the same mistake again.'

She was halfway to the door before he spoke again.

'Ariadne…stop.'

She did, but hesitated before turning back around. He remained in the chair, but he had moved to the edge of it, his gaze fixed on the crackling fire.

'I am…sorry,' he said slowly, tasting the word. It was quite possibly the first time he had ever said it. He paused a moment longer before adding. 'I didn't mean to upset you. It is…good to see you again.'

He blinked as though the firelight and smoke was stinging his eyes before his gaze flickered over to where she still stood motionless, unsure of his sincerity.

'You haven't finished your tea. Please…sit down.'

Slowly, hesitantly, against her better judgement, she shuffled back to the chair.

'Mother and Father had their reasons for reacting to your…relationship…the way they did. As did I,' he said so quietly that she had to struggle to hear him as he continued to gaze into the fire as though divining something from the flames. 'They behaved in the only way they felt able to, but that did not mean that they no longer cared. They did what they did because they loved you. They didn't want to lose their only daughter. They could not understand your devotion to an inmate of Azkaban at the expense of your career and everything you had worked so hard for. I didn't wish to lose my only sister either, Ariadne.'

She closed her eyes, finally allowing the tears that she had been struggling with to fall. Hearing about her parents was affecting her more deeply than she had ever imagined it would. Suddenly, all the years that she had stood on the outside seemed like so much wasted time - time that she could never get back. So much time struggling on her own, putting up with the discrimination, abuse and hatred when she could have been with her family. Sirius had been sentenced to life - how could she have known that he would ever have escaped? What point had she been trying to make in refusing to make the first move in trying to build the bridges between herself and her parents when for all she had known, she could have spent the rest of her life alone?

'But they told me they didn't want to see me anymore. They told me never to set foot in the house again. They never even tried talking to me after Sirius was convicted. They never gave me that option. They never came looking for me. How was I supposed to know that they were willing to talk to me?'

'Because they are your parents, Ariadne. Parents love unconditionally.'

'That's not the way they made me feel,' she whispered, pressing the back of her hand to her nose. 'They wanted me to renounce Sirius as a murderer, to turn my back on him at a time when he had no-one else. I couldn't do that. It would have destroyed him. It wasn't an easy decision and the last few years have been harder than I ever imagined they would be. I've been so lonely, Severus...but Mother and Father forced me into a corner. So did you - but for different reasons.'

'Black had done nothing but bully and ridicule me all through school. The man tried to kill me. Is it so much to believe that when I heard what had happened to the Potters and the rumours of Black's involvement that I believed them? That I was concerned for you? You could have been under the Imperious curse. I didn't want you to be publicly discredited because of your association with a filthy, lying, psychopath.'

'Oh, Severus, stop it,' she said, running her fingers over her cheeks to push away the tracks of tears that were beginning to make her feel dirty. Weak. 'You know that Sirius never tried to kill you. It was a kid's prank that backfired. You didn't see him after he found out what almost happened. I've never seen him so upset.'

'I doubt that. And if he was, it was most likely because he failed.'

'I can't believe that you think Sirius could ever be capable of hurting anyone, Severus! You never liked him because you were jealous of his popularity and took every opportunity you could to try to make things difficult for him. If he and James retaliated by humiliating you then it was only because you did exactly the same to them. No matter what he did in school, you knew that he could never have been capable of the things they had accused him of. James was his best friend; he loved him like a brother, for God's sake! You knew that. To see an innocent man given to the Dementors is just unconscionable. Don't ever try to make what you've done sound any more noble or moralistic than the cruel, bitter, nasty-minded revenge that it was.'

Her words echoed through the ensuing silence like aftershocks, each one hitting its intended target and killing each acidic rejoinder that he might have been about to make.

'You make your feelings very plain. I find myself wondering why you here. Why should you care whether my life is in danger or not?'

'Because, fool that I am, I still love you, Severus.'

Snape blinked, averting his gaze back to the fire. She watched as he touched a finger to the corner of his eye as though a mote of dust from the fire had irritated it. He drew in a long, slow breath and exhaled just as slowly, the flames flickering aggressively in response.

'I love you too, Ariadne,' he said quietly. 'And I am sorry that my actions have caused you pain. I only did what I thought was right. For you. For your future. It hasn't been easy for me either, knowing how alone you must have felt. We used to be so close, you and I. I am very sorry that things turned as sour as they did between us. It was the last thing I could ever have wanted.'

She went to sit on the arm of his chair. He seemed surprised as she put her arm around his shoulders and looked up at her, as though he had become unaccustomed to physical contact. When he didn't say anything or try to push her away, she brought her other arm around his neck. He tucked his head into her shoulder and allowed her to pull him into a hug. A few moments later, he even slipped his own arm around her waist.

'I don't want to quarrel with you anymore,' she said, smoothing her hand over his hair. 'There are things happening now that are bigger than both of us and we need each other. We have to try to move away from old prejudices for everyone's sake.'

'Perhaps. But I will never forgive Black. Too much has happened. Things he has done that not even you know about I cannot forget. But you are my sister. I want to be able to see you again. As do Mother and Father. I will tolerate him, for your sake.'

'That's a start,' she smiled. 'Thank you, Severus. He is not the man he was. I promise you. Just give him a chance.'

Old habits die hard and he scowled at her as he stood up, straightening his cloak and smoothing out his hair where Ariadne's fingers had ruffled it.

'I will try, but do not ask me to trust him. I will be watching him. Where is he now?'

'With Dumbledore. Upstairs. They said they would follow me down here. They should be here any - '

'Ah, Severus,' interrupted Dumbledore with a tap on the open door. 'I see you have found your sister.'

'Yes, Headmaster,' Snape replied, his face souring even more than usual as his eyes fell on Sirius who was standing behind Dumbledore. 'We've had…things to talk about.'

'I imagine so,' Dumbledore nodded.

She smiled nervously in response, the majority of her attention fixed on the seemingly very small space between Sirius and her brother. They were glaring at each other as though each one could cause the death of the other if they just wished it hard enough. She couldn't blame Sirius for his present loathing - after all, the last time he'd met her brother, he'd been bound and gagged by him, about to be delivered to the Dementors.

'Everything okay?' Ariadne asked Sirius.

Sirius nodded, though he never broke his gaze from Snape's.

'I suppose your newfound freedom means that you are now able to adopt the role of guardian to your godson, Black,' said Snape, pulling his cloak around him and folding his arms across his chest.

'What I intend for Harry is none of your damned business.'

'I beg to differ. As his guardian, I need to discuss with you Potter's abysmal Potions marks and his generally poor attitude towards his studies in my class. Not to mention the charges that I am still considering pressing concerning his unprovoked attack on me last summer. It is strange, as irritating as Potter has always been, he has never displayed a propensity for violence until his acquaintance with you. You would appear to be infectious.'

Sirius took a step forward, grinding his jaw as his fingers itched towards his wand. 'I promised Ari I wouldn't curse you. But keep pushing, arsehole.'

'Severus, now is neither the time nor the place for such discussions,' said Dumbledore. 'There are more important matters to attend to. Now, you have a wonderful fire here, so I think with another two armchairs and a nice cup of tea brewing, we would be quite comfortable down here.'

Dumbledore waved his hand and two more large soft armchairs appeared beside the fire and the battered kettle on the rack by the hearth moved into the flames to heat. They all sat back down, Snape and Sirius sitting as far apart as it was possible to get, eyeing each other like a couple of circling lions around a recent kill, while Dumbledore warmed his hands in front of the fire.

'Now then, it seems as though perhaps the most logical and practical thing we could do is to start at the beginning,' said Dumbledore. 'Am I to understand that you have not yet had a chance to tell your brother about what has happened, Ariadne?'

'Not yet, professor, no,' she replied, nervously eyeing Sirius' hand which was continuously curling into a fist then relaxing...curling...relaxing...

'Perhaps you should, then.'

For the next half hour or so, Ariadne and Dumbledore - interspersed alternately with salient and sarcastic quips from Sirius - told Snape of their desperation to prove Sirius' innocence, their consequent meetings with the Death Eaters, their initiation into the circle, Malfoy's influences at the Ministry which had led to Pettigrew's capture, Voldemort's imminent comeback and, most painfully for Ariadne, the instructions they had now received from the Death Eaters to bring Snape back to the circle to suffer the punishment for his betrayal.

Snape's skin had always been pale, but what little remaining colour he did have leeched away until his face was the colour of curdled milk. He absently scratched at the underside of his forearm where his Mark had been burned and stared at the fire, its crackling and spitting the only sound in the room for what seemed like a very long time.

Although he had always known that his life was in danger, it had probably come as a great shock to him to realise that the Death Eaters had stepped up their attentions to a definitive order for his termination. Moreover, to know that they had asked his own sister - and a man he so personally detested - to lure him to his death must have come as an even greater blow.

Even through his cold indifference, Ariadne could see his concern. A rush of deep affection for him almost made her go to him, but she knew that he was far too proud a man to allow himself to be comforted, particularly in front of others.

'Severus, you know I would never do anything that I thought would endanger you, don't you?'

He blinked several times, as though waking from a dream before he looked over at her.

'If you had asked me that yesterday, I probably would have said no. But having spoken to you today…' His lip curled upward in a sad sort of smile. 'Of course I do. I suppose I should consider myself lucky that you decided upon such a dangerous course of action or I might never have known what they were planning. They might have sent anyone and I would have willingly, ignorantly, walked in to my own execution. It is not a thought I wish to dwell on.'

'I have already suggested one possible avenue that we might explore, Severus,' said Dumbledore. 'The Draught of Living Death.'

Snape frowned, considering. 'I don't know whether that would work, Headmaster. I would think that idea would be one of the first things that Malfoy would consider. The greatest mistake we could make is to underestimate him - he is a cunning, intelligent, and gifted wizard.'

'You almost sound as though you respect him, Snape,' said Sirius. 'But then he was an old mate of yours, wasn't he? Tell me, why is it that Harry says that you give him such a hard time whilst overlooking Draco Malfoy's arrogant and sometimes flagrant disregard for rules, giving him overly high marks when his work doesn't deserve it? Are you still in Lucius' pocket?'

'How would you know anything about Harry's schooling, Black, when you've been absent from his life until now? Chasing after my sister like a dog in mating season instead of trying to do something constructive for your friend now that he's dead. Considering that you failed him so miserably while he was alive.'

'Furnunculus!' shouted Sirius, managing to pull out his wand, shrug away Ariadne's hands and hit Snape with a hex before Dumbledore or Snape realised what was happening in sufficient time to respond.

Snape was blown backwards with the armchair; such was the force of the incantation. As he pulled himself up from the floor, huge purple coloured boils were starting to erupt all over his face and hands.

'Well, well, Snivellus…I see the years haven't done much for your acne, have they?'

Snape glowered at Sirius, his thin lips curling nastily as he raised his own wand. Something dark and malevolent was swirling in the blackness of his eyes, something that terrified Ariadne to her core. She leapt from her seat.

'Severus, no!' But it was already too late.

'Incido!' Snape bellowed, a jet of silver light shooting out of his wand. It sliced straight past Sirius' cheek like a streaking comet, gouging a bloody trail across the side of his face and sending him flying backwards into a bookcase packed with jars which exploded over him like hundreds of glass bubbles.

'Stop!' said Dumbledore, and as he raised his arms, Sirius and Snape's wands were ripped from the hands of their respective owners and flew to opposite ends of the classroom. 'That is enough! Remember who and where you are, both of you!'

Sirius sat up among the thousands of glass shards that surrounded him, but he was clearly dazed. His hand was pressed hard against the side of his face, but blood was still oozing up through his fingers and dripping onto his robes from many more tiny cuts over his forehead and arms. Ariadne swept the glass to one side with her wand and fell to her knees beside him.

'Oh, Merlin, Sirius…are you alright?' she gasped, tears swimming in her eyes. 'Let me see.'

'Yeah, I...think so,' he murmured, pulling his hand away to see how bad it really was. The blood running down his wrist and slicking his palm made him feel dizzy and nauseous. 'Damn...I'm going to kill that sick bastard,' he said, shrugging away Ariadne's hands to try and get to his feet. He never managed it as a wave of dizziness knocked him back to the floor.

'Severus, that curse was unwarranted, not to mention illegal,' Dumbledore said with a gravity Ariadne would not have thought him capable of as he strode across the room towards the desk against which Snape was now standing, still shaking with fury even as the boils were beginning to shrink on his face. 'I will speak to you privately later concerning what just happened. Now you will behave civilly, do you understand?'

'Yes, Headmaster,' Snape muttered, still eyeing Sirius with a look that could wither weeds.

'That goes for you too, Sirius. I will not tolerate this kind of behaviour whilst you are in this castle.'

'Yes, sir,' said Sirius as Ariadne helped him to his feet.

She took out a small silver coloured pot from the pocket of her robe, unscrewed the lid and dabbed some of the sweet smelling ointment within it onto the worst of the cuts on Sirius' face. Within a few seconds, the smaller ones had disappeared and the larger gouge in his cheek had almost gone, leaving only an angry looking red mark that she assured him would fade within a few hours.

'Sit back down, all of you, and we will continue this conversation as adults,' said Dumbledore, lowering himself back onto the plush armchair. It didn't take long for Sirius to join him, but Snape was still obviously seething and Dumbledore had to glare at him again before he moved.

'Now then,' Dumbledore continued brightly, as though nothing had happened during the past few minutes. 'I believe I made mention of some tea, didn't I?'

They all sat in moody silence while Dumbledore made tea the Muggle way. Where the delicate china cups came from, no one seemed to notice, but they each accepted them as Dumbledore handed them around.

Snape leaned back in his armchair, idly turning the cup back and forth on the saucer as he stared blankly into it. Ariadne and Sirius accepted their tea with slightly more enthusiasm and half-hearted attempts at smiles, but it was still clear that the incident had left them more than a little shaken and with the desire to leave as quickly as possible.

'I believe we were discussing the Draught of the Living Death. You were saying that you don't think that it is a feasible idea, Severus.'

'Malfoy will never believe it,' he muttered, his lips barely moving, his eyes never leaving the cup.

'Does the draught not make the drinker, to all intents and purposes, appear dead? With no marks at all - just like the Avada Kedavra curse?'

'If made properly, yes,' Snape admitted. 'But there is a way for Malfoy to check.'

'Mmm. Yes...and he would be prepared to use those methods.'

'What methods?' asked Ariadne.

'Pain,' Snape replied, his gaze unfocused, staring at the space between them. 'Severe enough to cut through the effects of the potion.'

'Dear God - '

'And I am not prepared to take that risk,' Snape said, putting his tea down untouched onto the floor beside his chair. 'It seems to me that the only people in immediate danger are Black and Ariadne, and Ariadne would not be in danger at all if Black hadn't been so arrogant as to presume that he could take on the Death Eaters single handedly.'

Sirius was grinding his teeth so hard it was a wonder he had any left at all. 'You colossal bloody prick. Have you listened to anything Ari has said? No, probably not. It's just impossible for you to believe that I'm not actually a psychopathic murderer and she is happy with me, isn't it? Are you that bloody lonely and pathetic that it's not enough for you to wallow in your own perpetual misery, that you have to make everyone around you miserable too?' Sirius started to rise from his chair again, but Ariadne grabbed his sleeve, pulling him back.

'Sirius, please,' she begged, then turned to her brother. 'Severus, I was the one who went to them. Sirius tried to stop me, but I thought we could just get him cleared and then tell everyone the truth. I admit I was naive to believe that, but I didn't know that You-Know-Who was regaining strength. Whether or not we had gone to Malfoy, they would still have come after you. By doing what we did, we've been given a chance that we would never have had otherwise. We can't afford to waste the time we've been given by constantly bickering about the past.'

'It is futile to argue about things that are past. It is the future that concerns me.'

'None of us are going to have a future if you don't pull that thick head of yours out of your bloody backside,' said Sirius.

'Alright, alright,' said Dumbledore, 'I think that's enough for now. Ariadne has made a very valid point and I think we all would do well to consider it. Severus, you are a clearly a target now. Protesting and arguing about it will achieve nothing. You have been given an advantage and we need to exploit it. Many will suffer if Voldemort is allowed to return to full power. We all knew this day would come.'

The muscles in Snape's neck tightened like overwound guitar strings as he kept his gaze fixed determinedly at his hands clasped in his lap.

No one breathed a word. There was nothing more to be said as they waited for some kind of response from Snape. He continued to stare emptily, the awkwardness of the silence seemingly failing to touch him.

Eventually he blinked, sighed and raised his eyes to Dumbledore. 'Malfoy will see through any attempts to deceive him. The only way to convince him of my death is for me to die.'

'What?'

'I have to die, Ariadne. Or you will.'

'No! For God's sake, this is - '

'I can be brought back.'

'Severus, you still have - ' began Dumbledore.

'Yes, Headmaster. In my private stores.'

'Have what?' asked Ariadne.

'A small piece of the Philosopher's Stone,' he replied. 'The Headmaster wished me to keep it for emergency purposes. No-one knows of its existence except myself and Professor Dumbledore. It was supposed to be for Potter, should there be any unfortunate...accidents. I can use it to create a small quantity of the Elixir of Life. Provided that it is administered within an hour of death.'

'And what if it isn't? What if something happens and - '

'Then I suppose I shall have to rely on you and Black to ensure nothing does happen.'

'No! I won't let you do this...the Draught of Living Death is a better idea, we can stop him from - '

'He will know, Ariadne. And then he will kill us all.'

'But this is...insane, we can't - '

'It is perhaps the best suggestion,' said Dumbledore. 'Provided that you are prepared to take the risk, Severus.'

'It would appear as though I have little choice. My sister will die if I don't.'

'Severus, I...I can't believe that there is no other way, this is - '

'The risk is minimal provided that I can rely on you to administer the Elixir at the appropriate time. I trust you.'

'Thank you...that means so much to me, Severus,' she said, squeezing his hand, 'but still, I...I just don't know.'

'I will do it for you, Ariadne,' Snape said, touching the back of his hand ever so lightly to her chin. 'I am perfectly able to take care of myself and I have never been afraid of the Death Eaters. But I do fear for you…I have always only been concerned for you.' A sadness touched his eyes then, a sadness so deep that it almost brought tears to Ariadne's. He dropped his gaze from hers. 'Family is the only thing that matters in this unfair world.'

Ariadne pulled him into a brief hug that he reciprocated with what seemed to Sirius to be genuine affection - surprising not for the fact that his affection was genuine, but that he was prepared to demonstrate that affection in front of others when he had always been so fiercely private before.

'Good,' said Dumbledore, waving his hand to vanish his cup and saucer. 'I'm so pleased that the matter has finally been settled. Now, it is getting dark and we would not want to see you travelling back at this late hour. Will you stay the night at the castle? Then tomorrow we can discuss the particulars over breakfast.'

'Thank you, sir,' said Sirius. 'But we really should be getting home now. We can always come back tomorrow.'

'If you're worried about Buckbeak, I've already asked Hagrid to go down to the forest to - '

'Buckbeak?' Snape spat, sitting up. 'That thing that attacked Draco Malfoy? I thought it had escaped. You took it, Black?'

'Calm yourself, Severus,' Dumbledore smiled. 'Buckbeak is as innocent as Sirius. You know Lucius' influence with the Ministry. He had his own agenda to serve, as well you know. No one 'took' Buckbeak. By a serendipitous turn of events, he has been cared for by Sirius these past few weeks and I will trust you to keep these facts between ourselves.'

'Draco Malfoy is but a boy, Headmaster. You know my feelings on this subject. He is not responsible for his father's actions, and it is unfair to punish him like this. That animal attacked him and - '

'Because 'that animal' was provoked, Severus. Draco failed to follow Hagrid's instructions.'

Snape's expression soured as though he'd just eaten something particularly nasty, but he bowed to Dumbledore's will - the only man whose opinion he still seemed to respect.

'Buckbeak is with Hagrid now?' asked Sirius.

'He is fine,' Dumbledore reassured him. 'Hagrid did not believe it wise to bring Buckbeak up to the castle so he is tending to him down in the Forbidden Forest. Both parties are more than happy to see each other again and are quite contented down there, so you need not concern yourself.'

'Good...okay. Well, in that case, we would be pleased to stay, sir. Thank you.'

'Excellent!' said Dumbledore, rising from his chair and motioning for them to follow him. 'Let me show you up to our guest quarters. I believe Mr Filch has already made up the room for you.'

Snape snorted derisively as he rose too. 'Headmaster, if this…meeting…is concluded, then, if you'll forgive me, I think I shall retire too. I have some matters to attend to.'

'Certainly, Severus. We shall meet for breakfast in the Great Hall at, say, eight o' clock?'

'Goodnight Ariadne,' he said, nodding respectfully to Dumbledore before he brushed past Sirius in a flurry of black robes and greasy, dark hair.

'Well then,' Dumbledore continued brightly, unaffected by Snape's rather abrupt departure. 'These dungeons are very cold and draughty. The sooner we get upstairs, the better. Unless you'd like Madame Pomfrey to take a look at that cut.'

'No, sir,' Sirius replied, 'thank you. I'll be fine. Ari's salve seems to have done the trick.'

'Very well.'

Sirius and Ariadne followed Dumbledore from the dungeons through the Entrance Hall and up the Grand Staircase to the top floor where, in the west wing, the guest quarters were housed. There weren't many rooms there - most likely because Hogwarts very rarely entertained visitors - but there were more than sufficient for their needs. Dumbledore showed them to two adjoining rooms and with a warm twinkle in those clear blue eyes, he told them to make sure they got plenty of sleep because it would be a long day tomorrow.

They both retired to their assigned quarters. They even stayed there for a while, waiting for Dumbledore to retreat back downstairs. Ariadne met Sirius creeping silently along the corridor towards her room barely ten minutes later.

'Oh,' she smiled at him as she emerged from her room dressed only in a thin negligee and matching silky robe. 'You weren't thinking of coming into my room now, were you? That's against the school rules, you know.'

'Is that so?' Sirius grinned, touching the thin fabric of her negligee. It felt like liquid silk though his fingers, almost like Harry's invisibility cloak. 'Well, Miss Snape, I don't think that's exactly school issue either.'

'Perhaps not,' she said, caressing his face. 'But it would have been much more fun in those days if it had been.'

'Mmm.' Sirius stepped closer to her and slipped an arm around her waist, his lips so close to hers he could almost taste her already. 'Although those sliding staircases would have been a real pain the arse,' he murmured against her neck as he touched his lips to her skin, his hands moving upwards over her hips and her waist, holding her close against him as he pushed her back inside her room and kicked the door closed behind them.