Author's Note: Hello wonderful readers and writers! This update is long overdue, and I realize that it's a bit short. It's kind of an interlude as we move forward with our favorite half-witch's story. A much longer update is coming soon!

Best,

Dragonwing

Ch. 4 – Moving Forward

The Christmas holidays were more than welcome for the students of Hogwarts. The atmosphere in the castle had been a bit more somber since the Record Player Incident, as it had come to be called. Adrianna's parents had written to say that they would pick her up in Hogsmeade on Christmas Day, and thankfully their visit did not include another trip to Uncle Josiah Fawley's house. She had endured enough of that side of her family to last a lifetime.

Sirius, as per usual, would be spending the holiday at the Potter house with James, while Peter and Lily were leaving to see their own families as well. Remus had opted to stay at Hogwarts again. After spending the first few days of the break together, Adrianna and Lupin saw the rest of the Gryffindors off at the train station that Christmas Eve morning.

"Now, you're sure your parents won't mind you meeting up with me the day after Christmas?" Lily asked for the tenth time that day.

"Yes, I'm sure!" Adrianna giggled. "They're looking forward to meeting you."

The redhead grinned and hugged her friend once more before boarding the train. As the locomotive pulled out of the station, the half-witch and the werewolf waved goodbye to their friends and headed back out into the town.

It was a rare opportunity for the two friends to spend some time alone together, their talks had grown less frequent as the end of term exams had loomed over them. Adrianna linked her arm with Remus's as they strolled down the main street of Hogsmeade.

"This is nice." She smiled over at him. "When was the last time we did something like this?"

"Walked in the snow?" The lycanthrope teased and she swatted at him. "No, I know what you mean. It's been too long."

They stopped in at Tomes and Scrolls to browse through the new arrivals. Remus excused himself to go explore the section that held books on vampires, werewolves, and the like, so Adrianna began perusing the more recently added fiction section. She plucked a book at random off of the shelves and thumbed through the pages. All of these books were written by witches and wizards, not a single one by a muggle author. Did they not realize all of the amazing literature they were missing out on? With her nose buried in the book, Adrianna started walking slowly down the aisle and bumped right into Severus Snape.

"Oh!" She exclaimed and dropped the book. "Excuse me." Severus managed to hang on to the massive potions tomb that he'd been carrying up to the witch at the checkout counter. He shifted his book to one arm and bent down to retrieve the one that Adrianna had lost. Glancing at the title, Severus handed the book back to her.

"It's quite alright." Snape calmly replied. There had been a shift between himself and Adrianna Fawley, ever since the…incident in the dungeons. Severus didn't speak of it and neither did she, but there was now more of a feeling of ease with her for the young Slytherin that he hadn't attained before now. The fact that if came from the necessity of having to step in and save her life was not lost on Severus, but he chose to shove that fact into a mental closet and lock the door tight.

"Do you like this book?"

"What?" Adrianna looked down at the novel in her hands. "Oh, well I'd just picked it up." She gave him a puzzled look. "Have you noticed that there are no books written by muggles in this shop?"

He blinked. That was not on the list of questions he had been expecting her to ask, then again, Severus usually had a pretty hard time anticipating what the half-succubus would do or say.

"I…hadn't really considered it." He made a face. "It's doubtful that many witches and wizards would be interested in reading muggle literature."

"It's their loss." She shrugged and put the novel back on the shelf. "So, are you staying at the school for the holiday?"

Severus enjoyed the constant mental back-and-forth that was conversation with Adrianna Fawley. He smirked. "Yes, I usually do."

Adrianna smiled and nodded. "Remus and I are going to be around too, and my parents will be here tomorrow."

Severus distinctly remembered his encounter last Christmas with Andrew and Celeste Fawley, and blushed slightly. Hopefully Mr. Fawley wouldn't be waving that camera of his around again. Before Snape had a chance to respond again, Remus came walking up with a book of his own tucked under his arm.

"Did you find anything, Adrianna?" He asked before noticing her companion. The werewolf froze for a second, he hadn't really spoken to Snape since, well, since that time he almost killed him as Moony. "Hello." Remus greeted politely.

"Lupin." Severus nodded stiffly. Of all of the Gryffindor prats he'd been dealing with for the past six years, Severus did have to admit that Remus Lupin was the only one who didn't absolutely disgust him. Of course, now there was an underlying current of fear mixed in there as well, something else to throw into the mental closet he supposed.

Sensing the tension between the two boys, Adrianna nudged Remus with her elbow. "We'd better go if we're going to stop by Scrivenshaft's." She smiled at Severus. "I guess we'll see you at the Christmas feast tonight?"

The Slytherin shifted his increasingly heavy book back into both hands and nodded. "Yes, of course."

"Great!" Adrianna gave Remus a gentle push and the two Gryffindors moved to make their purchase. Severus blended back among the stacks of books and watched surreptitiously as the pair finished their purchase and left the store. Adrianna hooked her arm through Remus's once they were back out on the snow covered cobblestones, and Severus felt a strange tightening in his chest. Last year he had questioned the intimate friendship that had developed so quickly between the two of them, but now he understood. Lupin was a werewolf, Adrianna was a succubus – well, a half-succubus – and being friends allowed them to have someone who could sympathize with the other's situation. What were the odds that their friendship could develop into something more serious? Severus shook his head violently and stalked towards the front of his store to buy the potions book.

'This is pathetic. I really need to stop.' He snorted to himself as he paid and made his way back out into the cold. Adrianna and Lupin were nowhere in sight, presumably in the quill shop by now. Severus drew the hood of his cloak farther over his head and began the walk back up to the castle.

OOOOOOOOOO

Adrianna and Remus spent a lovely afternoon together back at the castle. They grabbed a quick lunch in the Great Hall, read by the fire in the Gryffindor common room, and Remus even began to teach her the fundamentals of wizard chess. When it was time to get ready for the Christmas Eve feast, they agreed to meet up again by the portrait and went their separate ways to change clothes. The few students who were still at Hogwarts for the holiday were allowed to wear their own clothing to the feast that evening, so Adrianna opted for a red, knee-length sweater dress that one of her American friends had sent her for her birthday. It had a cowl neck that settled prettily across her collar bones, and long sleeves that belled out at the wrist. She layered black tights underneath and slipped on a pair of black ankle boots.

Ten minutes later, Adrianna trotted down the stairs back to the common room to meet Remus. The young werewolf was just coming out of the boys' dormitory and she grinned at him. "You look very nice, Remus."

"Ha…Thanks, Adrianna." Lupin blushed and tugged on the sleeve of his slightly shabby button down shirt.

The half-witch looked at him appraisingly, "I think you just need one finishing touch." From behind her back she produced a red tie. "Something a little more Christmas-ey." She giggled.

Remus chuckled and allowed his friend to knot the tie around his neck. "Thank you very much. Are you ready to go down to the feast?"

"Yep," She nodded and they exited through the portrait.

The Great Hall was as beautifully decorated as it was every Christmas. Candles floated along the ceiling, garland was draped over every window and along the platform that housed the faculty table, and a massive tree stood glittering in one corner of the room. The four house tables were gone, and in their place was one, large round table so that everyone who had stayed for the celebration could sit together. Adrianna spotted Severus across the table and gave him a wave. The Slytherin blinked for a second before shyly returning the gesture.

Professor Dumbledore stood and smiled at everyone gathered. "Welcome to all of our students and faculty who have joined us for this holiday season. Let us all enjoy this time together, and this marvelous Christmas feast." The headmaster sat back down and an enormous amount of food suddenly appeared on the table. Adrianna had purposely not eaten anything for the last few days so that she would have a decent appetite for the feast, and even Remus was surprised by the amount of food the half-succubus was able to put away.

"Where is all of that going?" The lycanthrope teased.

"I have no idea," Adrianna grinned and snagged a passing plate of pasties for herself and Remus to choose from. "But at this rate I probably won't need to eat again for a week."

OOOOOOOOOO

That winter was one of the most severe that Hogwarts had ever seen. Not even the best warming charms could cut through the chill that swept the castle. The students had taken to wearing their scarves and cloaks in the corridors between classes, and only Professor Binns seemed unaffected by the weather.

By the time February rolled around, all of the students (and most of the faculty) were experiencing a severe case of cabin fever. So much, that even Adrianna was glad to hear Dumbledore's announcement that they would be having another Valentine's ball this year.

"I wonder how long it will take for the invites to start rolling in." Lily smirked at the sour look Adrianna gave her across the table. The half-witch opened her mouth to respond, when three different spelled paper airplanes suddenly landed on the plate in front of her.

"I'd say right about now." Remus gave her a sympathetic look.

Adrianna took a deep, calming breath before opening the first of the folded pieces of parchment. As it turned out, the first two invites were from second and third years, she could let them down easily. The third was from a Slytherin fifth year.

This would have to be handled delicately.

"Hmm? I'm sorry, what?" Adrianna realized that Remus was still speaking to her.

The lycanthrope chuckled lowly. "I said, just let me know if you need me to, uh, escort you to the ball again this year."

"Thanks," She patted his arm. "I'll probably need to take you up on that."