Author's Note:
Good Evening Readers & Writers!
I won't lie, this chapter was difficult for me to write. Especially because it ties up a lot of plot points that have been woven throughout the entire series.
Also, I know I've taken a few liberties with the canon timelines, but I am trying to stick as close to how things happened in the novels as I can.
I hope everyone enjoys this latest chapter!
Best,
Dragonwing
Ch. 12 – Counting Down
February 1978:
Adrianna was in the hospital wing for three days.
The first day she spent in a potion-induced sleep, building back up the physical and magical strength she'd thrown into the shield. Madam Pomfrey had also added in a strict cocktail of Calming Drought and Dreamless Sleep.
She spent her second day learning how to sit up and walk again, unassisted. There were also the sporadic nosebleeds and dizzy spells to contend with. Lily tried reading to her from their assigned textbooks for that week, but Adrianna could barely stay focused on what the red-headed witch was saying. The Mauraders paid her a quick visit before Madam Pomfrey shooed them out, and even though she wasn't awake for it, Adrianna knew Severus had been there as well. She'd woken up from a nap to find a small bottle of Calming Drought on the table by her bed, one that was twice as strong as Madam Pomfrey's
By noon on the third day, Adrianna was starting to wonder if she'd ever leave the hospital wing, when her mother and Aunt Seshat appeared at the foot of her bed in puffs of silver and blue smoke.
"Mother? Aunt Seshat?" Adrianna struggled to sit upright.
"Adrianna!" Celeste rushed to her daughter's side and enveloped her in a bone-crushing hug. "I'm so glad you're safe!"
"How did you get in here?" Adrianna's muffled voice drifted out from the vicinity of her mother's bosom.
"Your headmaster contacted us." Seshat perched on the edge of her bed. "He was able to get us permission to apparate directly into the castle."
"Don't worry," Celeste finally released Adrianna's head from her grasp. "Lilith will be here soon, she'll help you feel better."
"Wait, Lilith is here? In the castle?" Adrianna felt faint again. "Please, please tell me she's wearing a glamoring charm. Ten glamoring charms. Please."
"Well of course she is." Seshat plucked at the medallion around her own neck. The charms did very little to dim the succubus' beauty. If anything, it only made them look slightly artificial on the outside.
"What is going on in here…Oh my!" Madam Pomfrey's brisk pace slowed at the sight of two full-blooded succubi sitting in her recovery room.
"Madam Pomfrey, this is my mother, Celeste Fawley, and my Aunt Seshat." Adrianna offered weakly.
Celeste stood and clasped the medi-witch's hands. "Madam Pomfrey. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for caring for my daughter. I am indebted to you."
Madam Pomfrey stared at the ethereal silvery hands holding hers and squeaked out: "You're welcome, Mrs. Fawley."
"Celeste, you're making her uncomfortable." Seshat smirked.
"Oh!" Celeste stepped back. "My apologies, Madam. Please, don't let us disturb you. My older sister will be here shortly, she has experience in succubus healing. Professor Dumbledore suggested that she assist you with Adrianna."
"I suppose that's alright. If Professor Dumbledore recommended…" Madam Pomfrey walked dazedly back into her office and shut the door.
"Mother!" Adrianna hissed. "You didn't have to glamour her!"
"I didn't!" Celeste sniffed.
"I did." Lilith appeared at Adrianna's bedside, golden smoke swirling around her. "Not that I do not trust your school healer, but she has little knowledge of succubi and does not need to witness techniques that would be impossible for her to learn."
Adrianna's lips pressed together, but she didn't dare contradict the Queen of the Succubi. Celeste sat next to her on the bed, lending a comforting presence.
Lilith placed one hand at the base of Adrianna's skull and the other over her heart. Soon, the chill that Adrianna had come to associate with any succubus magic began seeping into her skin. It flowed through her veins, caressed muscles and organs, then drilled down into her bones. Her head rolled back as Lilith tapped into the part of herself she'd completely depleted and encouraged it to grow. Every cell in her body groaned with relief when the cold of Lilith's magic pulled back out again.
"Thank you." Adrianna gasped out, her body adjusting to the rapid healing.
"You're welcome, Adrianna." Lilith picked up her niece's wrist and flipped her palm up. "Would you like me to take care of this as well?"
Adrianna looked down at her wrist. Burned into her skin was an inverted version of the anti-love rune that had been on her bracelet.
"I didn't even realize… My bracelet. It must have melted." She examined the scar more closely. It was completely healed, and looked far older than only a couple of days. "I think I'd like to leave it for now."
"Very well." Lilith waited while Seshat fetched her a chair, then pulled her long red hair over to one side so she wouldn't sit on it. "Now, tell me exactly what happened."
OOOOOOOOOO
After her mother and aunts took their leave, Adrianna was discharged and allowed to change out of the infirmary gown and back into a set of school robes Lily had brought for her. She thanked Madam Pomfrey again and started making her way quietly through the castle. Everyone was likely still at dinner, and Adrianna had no appetite. Her conversation with Lilith had killed what little hunger she'd had after the healing.
The dark currents the succubi were feeling only traces of a year ago had grown stronger, more menacing. Whole groups of her distant aunts on other continents were making their way to Europe, to be closer to the safety that Lilith provided. Only a handful were still holding out, most likely because they had human companions they couldn't bring with them. Lilith was being particularly strict about that.
A select few of her aunts, Seshat included, had been disguising themselves as humans (as much as they could) and moving through both the muggle and wizard worlds, listening for any clues to the currents' origins. Her Aunt Sekmet had acquired a particular piece of information, one that had not made sense to the succubi until the events of the Valentine's Ball. The human Sekmet had tracked to a pub on Knockturn Alley and glamoured into talking had a mark on his arm, a skull with a snake coming out of its mouth. She'd tried to lure him away, to bring him to Lilith for more questioning, but his companions had come out looking for him.
"Come away with me." Sekmet had purred into the drunk wizard's ear.
"Yes…" He'd slurred from both the glamor she'd set on him and an enormous amount of fire whiskey, completely ignorant of the deadly creature whose arms were wrapped around his neck. "You wanna – 'hic – you wanna see what it's like with a Eaten…er…with a Death Eater, huh?"
Sekmet had propped him up when he stumbled against the alley wall outside the pub. "What was that, honey? What did you say?" She'd wrapped an arm around his waist, ready to apparate back to Lilith, when the door to the pub banged open.
"Avery!" Another wizard had shouted outside. "Where the hell are you, you drunken idiot?"
Sekmet chose to drop her prey and backed farther into the shadows of the alley. The wizard's companions had found him slumped on the ground and dragged him back inside.
"We do not yet know what this mark means, or what these so-called Death Eaters want." Lilith had warned her. "I know you trust your friends here, but you must not discuss it with them. Sekmet could feel the dark magic on that man's arm from a mile away. I will be meeting with your headmaster once the others have returned from their own assignments, but I do not know if this is something the succubi should be involved in." Her golden eyes had bored into Adrianna's. "Do not speak of this. Swear to me."
Adrianna rarely felt afraid of Lilith, but at that moment she'd practically quaked in her bed. "I swear."
OOOOOOOOOO
When Lily and the four boys stepped back through the portrait hole after dinner, they found Adrianna sitting by the fire in the common room.
"Adrianna!" Lily rushed to her and hugged the half-witch. "Are you feeling better? You'd have to be if they let you go, right? We were so worried about you."
"Slow down, Evans." Sirius sat on Adrianna's other side and squeezed her hand. "Gave us a hell of a fright, you did."
"I know," She squeezed back. "I'm sorry."
"How did you get well so fast?" James asked.
"My mother and…a couple of my aunts came to see me." Adrianna fluttered the fingers on her free hand. "Succubus magic."
"Bloody hell." Peter plopped into an arm chair.
"I'm just glad you're okay." Remus smiled tiredly at her. The full moon was on its way and he looked exhausted.
"Thank you, Moony. I'm fine now, really."
James glanced around to make sure all of the younger students had gone up to bed. "So, Evans and me, we went through every book we could get to in the library. That freaky skull symbol that was on the ceiling isn't in any of them."
"Oh?" Adrianna barely suppressed a shiver. She could not go against Lilith's word, no matter how much she wanted to share with them what she knew.
"There's got to be some other way to…" Sirius trailed off.
Lily's face was set. "Personally, I think we should focus our energy on finishing our last year at Hogwarts, and then tackle this problem. Unless something else big happens like at the ball, we really don't have anything else to go on."
Adrianna nearly sagged with relief. Maybe, by the time the next two months of school were over, she'd be free to talk without incurring Lilith's wrath.
"Are you alright?" Lily's brow creased. "You're barely holding yourself up. Let's go get some rest."
Adrianna gladly allowed Lily to mother her up to their dorm room, anything to change the subject. As she lay in bed soon after, listening to her friend's soft breathing from the other bed, Adrianna held her wrist up to the moonlight, much like she'd done when Severus had first given her the charm. Tracing a finger over the mark in her skin, Adrianna pulled the covers tightly around herself and spent the small amount of time she managed to sleep dreaming about snakes and runes.
OOOOOOOOOO
April, 1978:
Adrianna had never been so happy to be loaded down with school work in her life.
It seemed like nearly every night since March 1st, she and Lily and Remus had cloistered themselves in the library to focus on their advanced level classes. Professor Dumbledore had reinstated the Hogsmeade visits, but those had been few and far between.
It was during breakfast one April morning - while she and Lily were quizzing each other on Advanced Arithmancy – that a silver-feathered horned owl glided down to perch on the edge of Adrianna's book.
"Argent!" Adrianna offered the large owl her forearm. He sidled off the book and wrapped his long talons gently around her arm. "It's been a long time since I've seen you."
"He's your mother's owl, isn't he? He's gorgeous." Lily cooed while the bird puffed himself up at her praise.
Adrianna gave Argent a tidbit of sausage to nibble on, removed the note from his leg, and used her free hand to get it open. Her face lit up, the owl shifted impatiently.
"I don't need to send a reply right away. Thank you, Ardent." She gave him a second treat before he took off out the open Great Hall windows.
"Is everything okay?" Lily asked. Despite the distraction of their end-of-term work, there had been a heavy shadow hanging over the school since Valentine's day.
"It's wonderful." Adrianna grinned, slipping the note into the pocket of her robe.
"Well, what is it?" Lily laughed, pretending to grab at her pocket.
"Wait for the guys to get here, and I'll tell everyone."
Lily huffed and went back to her Arithmancy book. They didn't have to wait too long before the boys ambled their way into the Great Hall.
"Morning, beautiful." James snuck a quick kiss on Lily's cheek, dodged the book swiped at him, and slid into the seat next to her.
"G'morning." Remus rubbed his eyes and sat across from Adrianna with Sirius and Peter.
Taking pity on the lycanthrope, Adrianna tapped her wand against the glass of juice in front of him and transfigured it into a mug of steaming hot chocolate. Remus' head lifted immediately at the aroma and he gave her a look of gratitude before downing half the mug.
"Adrianna received some good news this morning." Lily poked her in the side.
"So impatient!" She laughed, then waited until she had everyone's attention. (Peter took some time filling up his plate.) Clasping her hands together, Adrianna said: "I received a letter from my parents this morning, and they've said that you are all invited to come with me to America for the week right after graduation! They've asked a family friend if we can all stay at his house on Cayuga Lake. If you want to, of course."
"Really?" Lily hugged her. "This is so exciting! I've never been to America."
"Where is Cayuga Lake?" Remus asked, trying to dredge up his limited knowledge of US geography.
"In New York State." Said Adrianna. "Oh, and a few of my school friends from Salem Academy are going to try to join us as well."
"Perfect! Maybe we can finally find Wormtail a girlfriend." Sirius wrapped Peter in a headlock.
"Lay off, Pads!" Peter wriggled free and returned to his breakfast.
"It's settled then, you'll all come?" Adrianna asked.
"We're in!" James high-fived Sirius across the table, then leaned around Lily and stage whispered to Adrianna: "Does this mean you ladies will be packing bikinis?"
Lily's cheeks flamed as red as her hair. "JAMES POTTER!"
OOOOOOOOOO
That evening, Adrianna was working on the final Transfiguration essay of her career at Hogwarts, while Lily sorted through her clothing. She was determined to have her entire wardrobe planned for the trip.
"Lily?"
"Hmm?" Her friend held up a cotton summer dress and deposited it in the Maybe pile.
"Have you spoken to Severus lately?"
Lily paused, then continued sorting clothing. "You know I haven't really talked to Severus since…"
"I know."
"I know you're still friends with him, and I'm not saying you shouldn't be, it's just…" Lily sighed. "It's hard to say."
Adrianna put her quill down and crossed the room. She picked up a blouse from Lily's Maybe pile and put it in the Yes pile. She spoke softly, "I'm worried about him. I've tried talking to him since the Valentine's Ball, and he is always too in a hurry to say more than a few words. I know it's almost graduation, but…something feels off. Not to mention I can barely catch him alone anymore. He's always with Rosier and the others."
"Ugh." Lily's nose wrinkled. "Evan Rosier has always given me a bad feeling, even when we were first years."
"What do you think? Should I just give Severus his space?"
Lily thought for a moment. "Honestly, I'm not sure. Severus has never had many friends. I'd always made excuses for him before but…Maybe he's just tense about school ending. I bet if you send him an owl after graduation he'll be free to talk about…whatever it is you two always talk about."
"That was vaguely helpful." Adrianna flicked the end of a skirt at her. "But maybe you're right."
OOOOOOOOOO
Meanwhile, in the boys' dormitory, Sirius was having his own troubles planning for the trip to America.
"Stop pacing, will you?" James linked his hands behind his head and reclined against the headboard of his bed. "You'll wear a hole in the rug."
"Fuck off." Sirius grumbled. "I can not mess this up, Prongs."
"True." The bespectacled boy grinned. "If you aren't able to profess your love for Adrianna Fawley while on a vacation with her, then you probably never will." He ducked the shoe that came sailing at his head.
"Could you keep it down?" Remus huffed from his own bed, which was currently covered in open textbooks and half-used scrolls of parchment.
"Moony, you know you're going to ace everything. Why put yourself through that?" James hopped up and peered over the werewolf's shoulder. "I don't even know what that means!"
"Of course you don't, it's Arithmancy." Remus pushed him away.
"Say Pads, is your brother going back to Grimmauld Place for the summer?" Peter piped up. He'd been digging in his trunk, looking for the last of his toffee stash.
"Yeah…" Sirius finally stopped pacing and stared off into space. He'd been keeping as much of an eye on Regulus as possible, but now that he'd be out of the Black family for good - hell, he'd already been burned out of the family tapestry the year before – he worried about his little brother.
"Change of subject." James reached over Peter's shoulder and snatched the toffees out of his grasp.
"Hey!" Peter cried.
James held the bag out of the shorter boy's reach only for a moment before handing it back. He hooked an arm around Sirius' shoulders and steered him over to Remus' side of the room.
"The real question now, Pads, is this: Are you prepared to finally get off your arse and tell Adrianna how you feel? You have to be ready for whatever her answer might be." He paused dramatically. "Also, possibly more important than that, have you prepared at least one heavy dose of Revive potion for when you see her in a bathing suit for the first time?" James ducked the punch Sirius aimed at his gut, hopping onto Moony's bed and sending parchment sliding off all sides.
"Get off!" Moony yelped, at the same time Sirius leaped onto the bed too, tackling James down in a flurry of books and ruined school work. Remus dragged himself out from under the ensuing scuffle, flopping onto the floor and staring up at the ceiling in defeat. "Why me?"
Peter rushed over and helped Remus to his feet. He watched Sirius try to smother James with one of his pillows for a few minutes before pulling out his wand and shouting: "Levicorpus!"
The two boys flew up into the air, nearly going through the canopy over the bed.
"Now," Remus said sharply. "You are going to pick up every single piece of paper and every book you knocked off my bed. The two of you might not care about your academic standing in our last year, but I do." He started to let them down, the flicked his wand back up. They bobbed in the air and almost collided. "And the next time you feel like trying to kill each other, you'll do it on your own side of the room!"
With that, Peter and Sirius came crashing back down onto Moony's bed, landing in a heap of limbs.
"Wow, Moony." James wheezed and pushed Sirius off of his stomach. "I've never seen you so commanding before." He straightened his glasses and waggled his eyebrows at the flustered werewolf. "I like it."
OOOOOOOOOO
May – June, 1978:
Adrianna spent a large portion of her last two months in school convincing Peeves the Poltergeist that she'd definitely come visit him when she was no longer a student.
"Oh, what will Peevsie do without his Pretty Lady to brighten his days?" The spectre blew his nose into yet another handkerchief, this one appeared to be a piece of some poor student's school robe.
"I swear, Peeves dear, I'll be back to visit you." Adrianna said for the tenth time that day. They were currently in between classes and Peeves had taken to appearing in whichever corridor Adrianna was taking to her next lesson. "There's really no need to carry on, so."
Peeves sniffed and lobbed the damp bit of cloth at an unfortunate third year's head. "Peevsie knows, oh he does know. But he cannot help himself!" He floated closer to her and whispered. "The Lady still has the gifts Peevsie has given her, doesn't she?"
"Of course, I do." She laughed. The spectre's gifts had become increasingly random over the years. Starting with a battered silver teapot that now sat in her room at her parents' home in America, a broken pair of omnioculars that nearly took Peter's eyebrows off when he tried to look through them, and a crystal ball of questionable origins with a large crack going through its middle. "Your gifts are quite memorable, Peeves."
"Peevsie is so happy to hear the Pretty Lady say so!" He whooped. "And the Lady must always keep Peevsie's gifts. Yes, keep them and keep them safe." Catching a couple of fifth year boys staring openly at Adrianna, Peeves made a beeline for them and snatched their books out of their hands.
"Oi! Give those back!" One of the boys yelled.
"You will not ogle the Pretty Lady! Peevsie will teach you some manners!" The spectre zoomed off down the hall with a loud cackle and the boys chasing after him.
"I think we all know who you're going to miss most around here." Sirius chuckled. He now kept at least five feet away while Peeves mooned over the half-witch.
Adrianna rolled her eyes. "Thanks for the support, Sirius. Don't think I haven't noticed how you guys all abandon me now whenever Peeves comes around."
"It's called maintaining a safe distance." He grinned.
She threw him a smile of her own. "Just for that, the next time I see him I'm going to tell Peeves you 'ogled' me."
"You wouldn't!"
"Wanna bet?" Adrianna turned so she was walking backwards and put a hand up to her mouth to call the poltergeist. "Oh, Peev—"
"Wait!" Sirius grabbed her hand and hit one knee right in the middle of the corridor. "I plead forgiveness and pledge undying fealty. I'll even throw in Prongs' and Moony's and Wormtail's fealty. Just please don't throw me to the poltergeist!"
Adrianna's head tipped back as she laughed and pulled him back to his feet. "Stop it, you're making more of a spectacle than Peeves."
Sirius squeezed her hand once more before letting go and lifted the school bag off of her shoulder. "At least let me carry this for you. Least I could do."
She gave him a playful push, but let him take the bag and sling it alongside his own. "What am I going to do with you?" Adrianna asked as they started walking again.
Sirius only smiled. Whatever you want.
OOOOOOOOOO
Graduation was a bittersweet affair for many of the students. The excitement of setting out on their own mingled with the knowledge that they were no longer students of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Despite the joy of the day, there was still the feeling that something sinister lurked in the shadows. Whether all the students felt it or not, Adrianna didn't know, but she shared a look with the headmaster at one point and instinctively knew that this wasn't the last they were going to see of the dark currents.
Many of the professors gave short speeches, followed by the commencement address from Professor Dumbledore. When the graduates boarded the boats to take them back the way they'd first come across the lake, Adrianna found herself crying softly. She'd missed out on this first-year ritual, and reached out to grasp Lily's hand. Her friend smiled through her own happy tears and they watched the castle disappear together.
OOOOOOOOOO
July, 1978:
Adrianna arrived early at the London Portkey Station. She wanted to make sure everything was still set up for the six of them to make it to the New York station together. She'd originally thought about suggesting they fly to the US, if nothing else to see the faces on the wizards who had never been in a muggle plane before. But the portkey was much more practical, and faster.
After queueing through the security line, she scanned the main station lobby for the best spot to wait. There were several benches situated around a fountain, that seemed best. She began to cross the marble-floored lobby, when something plucked at the edge of her magic. Adrianna stopped so suddenly that a rather heavyset, middle-aged witch ran into her from behind.
"Watch it!" The witch snapped, adjusting her eye-smarting purple hat.
"My apologies." Adrianna replied softly and, against her better nature, sent the woman a subtle push of succubus magic to make her move along.
Adrianna made it to an empty bench, set her bags down, and carefully sent out a magical feeler to see if it pinged again.
Yes! Her head whipped around. It was like the same dark strain of magic that she'd come in contact while training with her aunts. Only this was much fainter, almost like a shadow of the tendril that had lashed out at her. But where was it coming from?
Adrianna turned slowly in a circle. Everyone appeared normal. Average witches and wizards going about their day. She'd applied an extra dampening charm to herself to suppress her succubus traits, and it seemed to be working. Hardly anyone paid attention to her as she scanned the room.
There it is! She nearly had a hold of the wisp of dark magic, when her eyes focused on a dour-faced figure standing against the far wall of the lobby, and she lost it.
Severus Snape was waiting impatiently in the crowded station. Waiting for his contact to show up. The bastard was late.
"Severus?"
Finally. Whatever admonishing words he'd been about to say died on his tongue when his brain that remembered his contact was not supposed to have a woman's voice. He turned to find Adrianna Fawley, dressed like a muggle and smirking up at him.
Adrianna paused, Severus was quiet but it wasn't like him to not even greet her. He seemed more closed off than she'd seen him in a long time, even his cloak was buttoned all the way up to his chin.
She set her bags by her feet and crossed her arms. "I think you've been avoiding me."
He stared down at her. If his contact showed up and saw them talking together…
She should not be here! He fought to keep his tone neutral. "I visited you in the infirmary."
"Showing up while I'm unconscious and leaving a potion does not a visit make." She snorted. "Although I did appreciate it."
Severus quickly scanned the room behind her. Still no sign of him. "I apologize. The end of the year was busy. I know it was for you as well."
"Well, sure." Her brow crinkled, he wasn't fooling her. "What are you going to do, now that school is finished?"
"I…" Severus cleared his throat, checked the room again. "I have applied to a few apprenticeships."
"That's good." She sighed. "I'm still hopelessly undecided about what to do with my education."
The corner of his mouth turned up in the barest hint of a smile, but Adrianna would take it.
"I am sure," He said. "that you will far more opportunities ahead of you than I do."
"Don't be so hard on-" Adrianna reached out to place a hand on his arm, but as soon as her fingers touched his sleeve she became very still. A wink of silver flashed through her grey eyes and was gone again.
"Oh…Severus." She murmured. "You didn't…"
He quickly snatched his left forearm away and rubbed the place where her fingers had been. Fuck. How had she known?
Severus clenched his fists and brought both arms down by his sides. "I did not have much of a choice."
Adrianna looked up at him and smiled sadly. "You're wrong about that. You've always had a choice, Severus. I just can't believe you chose this."
"Can you not?" He sneered and looked off to the side, suddenly wishing he could blend into the throng of people and disappear. Glancing down, he finally noticed her luggage. "Where are you going?"
She wrapped her arms around herself. "America. Just for a short visit to see my family and a few friends."
He reached out a hand as if to touch her shoulder, then stopped himself and clasped his hands behind his back instead. "Are you travelling that far alone?"
"No." She shook her head. "I'm travelling with-"
"Oi! Adrianna!" A shout cut across the crowded portkey depot. She turned to see Sirius and Remus waving. They were in line to get their luggage and wands checked at the security gate.
"With Black." Severus finished her sentence for her, his voice so soft that she barely heard it.
Adrianna turned back in time to see the tall Slytherin backing away from her. She caught his wrist and used the tiniest bit of pressure to make him look at her.
"Take care of yourself, alright Severus?" Her grey eyes searched his dark ones, waiting for an answer. Snape gave her the smallest of nods before tugging his wrist free and vanishing into the crowd.
OOOOOOOOOO
End Note:
I intentionally kept the graduation scene short and slightly vague. Based on the details I could find of what the ceremony is supposed to be like, it seemed best. See you soon!