Bang

A/N: Something tells me there'll be flames for this one…something really tells me…I've got this inkling…I hope you lot like Malfoys…nice Malfoys…

***

Take this kiss upon the brow!

And, in parting from you now,

Thus much let me avow:

You are not wrong who deem

That my days have been a dream;

Yet if hope has flown away

In a night, or in a day,

In a vision, or in none,

Is it therefore the less gone?

All that we see or seem

Is but a dream within a dream.

I stand amid the roar

Of a surf-tormented shore,

And I hold within my hand

Grains of the golden sand—

How few! Yet how they creep

Through my fingers to the deep,

While I weep—while I weep!

O God! Can I not grasp

Them with a tighter clasp?

O God! can I not save

One from the pitiless wave?

Is all that we see or seem

But a dream within a dream?

~A Dream Within a Dream

Edgar Allan Poe

***

The Ghosts In My Head

Chapter Four: The Remains of Love Exhumed

Bang. Bang. Bang.

Ariadne stood and stretched. It must be whomever Severus had invited over. As long as it wasn't that Avery man, she would be all right. Everything was going to be just fine. Deep breaths.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

"Ria, just let them knock their hand to death, then!"

"Fine, I'll get the door, Sev! Calm down!"

Muttering about stupid brothers who couldn't greet their own slimy friends, she went to answer the door. She was not expecting to see the person that she greeted, however.

"Lucius?"

"Ah, Miss Snape. We meet again." Lucius Malfoy pushed past her and went into the living room, leaving her standing at the open door, a look of utter confusion on her face.

"I didn't know you and Severus kept in touch," she said, following him into the room.

He sat on the couch, looking right at home. "Yes, and I didn't know you lived here."

She glared at him. "I don't."

He raised an eyebrow. "Oh, so you're just here to visit at eleven in the evening?"

She scowled and sat next to him on the couch. "I'm staying here tonight. My other place of residence is not available for me tonight."

"Well, did you answer the door?" Severus came in, sneering as usual.

"Yes, your highness," Ariadne spat at him.

Lucius chuckled. "Are things always so pleasant between you two?"

Severus glared at his sister. "No, she just refused my offer of killing her big-headed ex."

Ariadne snorted. "Big-headed Remus is not."

A man with his self-confidence level? No wonder he didn't fight Arabella Figg's advances.

Lucius nodded. "Ah, the illustrious Mr. Lupin. I have heard all about the fiasco with him. Your sister gave an impressive lecture, Severus, I must say."

Severus looked confusedly at Lucius. "How would you know?"

Lucius chuckled. "You could hear her yelling at him from the front steps of the Ministry building."

Ariadne put her head in her hands as Severus stared. "Is that what you meant when you said you dealt with him?"

Ariadne slowly nodded. "Er…I think he was properly embarrassed."

Severus stood over Ariadne, making his six foot four inch frame look even larger and more menacing than usual. "You mean to tell me that you didn't even curse him?"

Lucius smirked. "Oh, her speech was eloquent, though. And rather sarcastic, as well."

"Yes, well, that's what living with him will do," she replied, nodding at Severus.

Severus was at a loss for words. "Ria, let me—"

"No." She glared pointedly at him. "Now get on with your business."

Severus reluctantly turned to his guest. "Lucius, about tomorrow night--"

Lucius interrupted the speaker. "Why are you still here?" he asked, nodding at Ariadne.

She turned her death glare on Lucius. "I know all about your Dark exploits, Malfoy. Hell, I even come up with some of the ideas. I lack only the brand, robes, and mask."

"Why don't you join us, then?" Lucius put his feet up on the coffee table and smirked at her once again.

"She hasn't the stomach for the Arts," Severus said shortly. "Now can we please get back to the topic on hand—"

"Wait Sev, I want to hear about this thing with your sister. What do you mean, she hasn't the stomach?"

"I'm not Little Miss Dark Arts, Malfoy," Ariadne said evenly. "Now drop it."

"But—"

Severus stopped him. "Lucius, would you like to explain to the Dark Lord why we don't have this planned? Because I'm not really in the mood for the Cruciatus Curse. Maybe next week." He glared irritably at his friend.

Lucius scowled. "All right." He looked at Ariadne and winked. She rolled her eyes.

"As I was saying," Severus continued, "we still need to figure out how to get into the Auror's Wing of the building undetected…"

As the two men discussed and debated, Ariadne found her thoughts drifting once again to Remus.

He had not turned out to be the perfect man, not by any stretch of the imagination. But he had been good to Ariadne, and never treated her wrong, save that one time at the Potter wedding, where Ariadne thought he was being controlling. She had ended the evening by trying to convince Sirius Black to run away with her.

But what had possessed him to cheat on her? Did Arabella push him into it? Maybe—just maybe— (here Ariadne felt a glimmer of hope) he was put under a curse?

No, that couldn't be it. He had tried to deny it, and had he been cursed, he would have admitted it and said that he didn't have control over his own body. Besides, as an Auror, he was trained to fight off the Imperius Curse.

Ariadne felt a new wave of hate come over her as she remembered the way Remus had been holding Arabella, his ruffled hair and shirt, her smug grin—

Remus! Yes, that was it! And then…they could do a little payback! That was how to get into the Auror's Wing!

"Remus!" she said suddenly, interrupting the men's conversation.

"Listen, Ariadne, we're done talking about your ex, if you don't mind. We have more important things to deal with than your wounded pride and heart."

For once, Ariadne ignored her brother's sarcasm.

"Remus can get you into the Auror's Wing!" she exclaimed excitedly.

Lucius raised an eyebrow and looked at her dubiously. "The goody-two-shoes Gryffindor help us get into the Auror's Wing? You can't possibly be serious."

"He's not going to know, you idiot," she snapped at him. "Just let me explain, all right?" Without waiting for an answer, she continued, "Remus is an Auror, right? Well, his office has windows…and I know the Charm needed to open them."

Severus' eyes widened. "You mean…"

"That's right," Ariadne said smugly. "I'll just tell you the Charm and you can break in very easily. And wreck his office or something while you're at it."

"Oh, so you're doing this for revenge?" Lucius asked, raising an eyebrow again.

"Of course. What, you think I'd help you and not get anything out of it?" She snorted. "What kind of Slytherin would I be?"

"A bad one," Severus agreed. "Does his door have a charm on it?"

She nodded. "But I know that one too."

Lucius stood. "Well, I guess that solves all of our problems. Thanks, elf."

She glared at him. "Hey!"

He shrugged. "It isn't my fault you stopped growing at nine," he drawled.

She glared at him and grabbed her cloak. "Severus, I'm going to go drown my sorrows in alcohol. I may end up at Lily's, so don't expect me to come home."

She nodded at Lucius and headed towards the door.

The nerve of that man! Telling her what to do and such! She took it from Severus; he was, after all, her brother. But Lucius Malfoy? No! He had no right, none whatsoever, to just come in and—

"Ariadne!"

She turned to find Lucius running up the path to meet her, having said goodbye to Severus.

"What do you want, Lucius?" Ariadne asked, not stopping her walk.

"If you're going to a pub, I'd be happy to go with you," he said smoothly, smiling coolly at her.

He said it as if going to a pub with him was the highest honor anyone could ever hope to achieve, especially if he offered. She looked at him appraisingly, wondering if anyone had a bigger ego than he seemed to possess.

"I'd actually rather go alone, thank you." She increased her pace along the sidewalk.

"No you wouldn't." Gods, did he ever go away?

"How do you know that, Mister High-and-Mighty Malfoy?" she said evenly, slowing her pace a bit.

"Because I want to go get drunk to forget about Narcissa as well," he said, grabbing her arm. "And I want company."

She sighed. "All right. Come with me."

He grinned. "No, my dear, you are coming with me." He took her arm and, without another word, Apparated away.

***

"Father! Please!"

"How dare you embarrass me in front of my colleagues! You're going to pay for that, girl!"

Smack!

"Father!"

Smack!

"Please!"

"And that friend of yours—the muggle-born—you are never to talk to her again, understand me?"

"But Father, Severus has a muggle-born friend, why don't you--"

Smack!

"Don't talk about your brother that way, bitch! He's a good child, not a dissapointment like you! He would never disgrace the family name like that!"

"But father--!"

Smack!

"Father!"

Smack!

Smack!

"Go throw yourself in the lake, bitch. You'd be doing us all a favor."

***

"Malfoy, where the hell are we?"

Lucius grinned at Ariadne. "My dear Ria," he said, patting her shoulder, "we are at the best pub in all of England—perhaps even the world. Welcome to Malfoy Manor."

She stared at him in disbelief. "You have got to be kidding."

He shook his head. "No. My House-Elf can make any drink you want—and you don't have to fork over five sickles, either."

She was still staring at him. "I say I want to go to a pub, and you take me to your house?"

He nodded. "What would you like?"

"I would like to leave," she said, looking around. "Where's the door?"

He grabbed her arm and pushed her into an armchair. "Stay there," he ordered. "Dobby!"

A few seconds later, a House-Elf wearing a torn pillowcase appeared, looking fearful. Ariadne couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for the little creature, but remembered that it was a House-Elf; its job was to serve.

"Yes, Master?" the elf asked in a squeaky voice.

"Dobby," Lucius said, "bring me my usual. And get her whatever she wants." He nodded at Ariadne.

Dobby nodded and turned to Ariadne. "What is you wanting, Miss?" he squeaked out.

She sighed. "Champagne."

The elf nodded and disappeared.

Lucius turned to Ariadne. "Champagne?"

She shrugged. "You said I didn't have to pay for it, and I've always had a liking for the stuff, so…"

Dobby appeared again, handing Ariadne a flute of Champagne and Lucius a bottle of Whisky.

"Drink often?" she asked, watching him down half the bottle.

"Only when I'm depressed," he responded, downing the other half. "And I have never been more depressed."

Ariadne laughed. She took a sip of Champagne. "Your way looks like more fun."

"What's stopping you?" He had started another bottle, this time taking his time.

"Surely you know that you're supposed to sip slowly at Champagne, not chug it down like a wild man," she responded with a mock air of surprise. "Your parents didn't own the Handbook of Manners for Alcoholic Beverages?"

Lucius laughed, spitting out some of his drink. "They actually did drill the rules into my head…I've just chosen to forget them. After all, they're dead, I'm not, and I want a drink. Go on, down it, I won't tell anyone."

Ariadne grinned impishly and polished off the Champagne. "Your drink looks better than mine as well."

He handed her his half-finished bottle. "There you go."

She took it and took a swig. "So, Lucius, when you aren't playing Death Eater, what do you do?"

He leaned back in his chair, putting his feet up on an ottoman. "I work at the Ministry. Department of Experimental Charms."

She stared at him. "Gods! Do you know how much those people get paid?"

He chuckled. "Every time I look at my paycheck. How do you think I afford all this? My inheritance only goes so far."

Ariadne snorted. "Bet it goes farther than mine."

"What do you do when you aren't being a sarcastic little vixen?" Lucius looked at her curiously, sneering nonetheless.

"I'm trying to get into Polviety. I'm a healer."

"Polviety?" Lucius sounded impressed. "Not bad."

Not bad? Polviety was the best school for healers there was. Either Lucius didn't know this, or (more likely) he did and wasn't going to let on that he knew she had to be good.

"How old are you?" he asked suddenly.

"Twenty-one next month," she replied, surprised. "Why?"

"Just wondering if I could screw you legally," he said without a trace of humor or embarrassment, finishing another drink.

Ariadne took another bottle. "You could. Though Severus might come after you if he knew." Hell, who cared if Lucius screwed her? Anything to get rid of the memory of Remus. Besides, Lucius was rather attractive…

Lucius nodded. "Over-protective?"

"Ex-ext—very much." She sighed. Great, now her words were slurring. She should have known better than to drink so much—low tolerance for alcohol ran in the family. Ariadne of all people should know better than others—the beatings were ten times worse when her father was drunk.

"Hmm. Are you any good?" Lucius certainly was smooth. He said this as though he was merely asking the time.

Before Ariadne knew what she was doing (she was awfully drunk by this point), she set down her drink, gone over to Lucius, and sat herself down in his lap.

"Y-you tell me," She whispered seductively in his ear.

He pressed his lips to hers, and she opened her mouth, giving him full reign. He put his hands on her back and pulled her so close to him she thought her ribs would break.

She pulled away. "Lucius," she gasped out. "I—"

He kissed her again, his tongue probing its way through her mouth. She moaned and leant against him, kissing him back with a fire that matched his own.

He took this as a sign of permission, and pulled her to her feet, pushing her out of the room. He pushed her all the way to the foot of the stairs, then picked her up and carried her up the steps in a way that made Ariadne think of that Muggle book Lily had made her read called Gone With the Wind.

Lucius walked through the open door to his bedroom, still carrying her easily. Ariadne wasn't the skinniest person, but she was so short that she weighed very little, especially to a man that worked out. He threw her onto his bed and kissed her again, removing her clothing as he did.

She began to do the same to him, but logic took over. What was she doing, sleeping with a Malfoy? This wouldn't help her get over Remus. She pushed Lucius away and rolled over onto the other side of the bed, gasping for breath.

"We—we can't—do—do this," she breathed. "It's not right—we're drunk, and—"

"I'm not drunk," he broke in, massaging her shoulders in a way that sent tingles up and down her spine. "I can handle my alcohol."

"Well, us Snapes can't," she protested. "And I don't want to—"

"Yes you do," he whispered gently, moving his hands slowly towards her breasts. "You do want to. You want it so badly it hurts, doesn't it?" His hands reached their destination, and he idly caressed her breasts.

She shivered and leaned away from him. "N—no, I don't," she protested feebly. "I—I just want—"

He pulled her closer and turned her so that she was looking up at him. "You just want me," he murmured as he brought his mouth down on hers in a searing kiss.

She didn't protest.

Disclaimer: I own Ariadne and her abusive parents. The chapter title belongs to Barenaked Ladies, from a song called Call and Answer. Someone remind me to give the CD back to my sister, I've such a bad memory…