A/N: Thanks to everyone that reviewed, followed and favourited since the last chapter, glad to see that you all appreciated the canon! Interesting idea from Aurora to give the Pansy/Draco relationship a bit more attention in the later chapters, I'll see what I can do to work it in :)

I also decided to invent a civil law court to go alongside the Wizengamot for this chapter. It is called the Burgamot – the supreme court for civil law (Wizengamot for criminal law) made up of the old English, 'burglagu' meaning 'civil law' and 'gemot' meaning 'assembly' so roughly speaking, the words have been merged to mean 'assembly for civil law'.

Enjoy!

Chapter Twenty-Four: Succession

"I know you're a clever witch and all, Ri, but I don't think even you have the ability to command objects with your eyes," Blaise said jokingly. He was sitting next to Arianwen at breakfast and had been watching her ever since she'd received a letter that she had proceeded to stare at rather than open.

"Mmm?" she mumbled absently, eyes still transfixed on the envelope on the table.

"Just open it for Salazar's sake!" He prompted, reaching for the letter and waving it in front of her face.

"I can't!" she squeaked, moving her eyes away from it for the first time since it had been delivered and looking at Blaise worriedly. "You do it!"

"Me? Why can't you open it yourself? What is it?" he examined the envelope for clues as to its content. "Is this from the Ministry?"

She nodded shakily. "Yeah. It's the result of my petition; they debated it early this morning. That letter has the news of whether I get my inheritance or if it gets passed to Uncle Dafydd."

"Oh wow." Blaise said, wide eyed. He pressed the envelope into her hands, as if to say 'open it'.

With quaking hands, she broke the seal and unrolled the parchment but at the last second, shoved it back to Blaise. "You read it!"

She watched his eyes move across the parchment but his face gave nothing away; after what felt like decades, he rolled the parchment back up and met her gaze carefully.

"Well?" she demanded, sitting on the very edge of her seat.

"Well, I'm afraid," Arianwen's face paled, "that I'm going to have to come up with a new nickname for you. How do you like Duchie or Duckie perhaps?"

"Excuse me?"

"You did it, Arianwen. Listen, it says: 'The Burgamot have passed your motion to remove gender considerations from inheritance decisions', you've won! You're the new Duchess!"

Arianwen stared at him, her mouth slightly open as she processed the information. Slowly, the corners of her mouth started to twitch upwards and before long she was wearing an all-out grin. She made an odd squealing sound and Blaise took this as his queue to grab her hand and drag her from the Great Hall

"Come on, we have to celebrate!"

Blaise had arranged for them to have a party that night in the Slytherin common room. While they did have to attend classes that day, the evening soon approached and Arianwen could hardly keep the smile from her face.

As she was walking back into the Slytherin common room, she collided with someone and staggered backwards.

"Oh sorry," she mumbled, rubbing her head. She looked up to see Draco, readjusting his robes and looking positively ecstatic.

"Ri! I've been looking for you," he said happily.

By the look on his face, she assumed that Blaise had beaten her to it and told Draco about her news. "You heard then?"

"Heard? What? No, Ri, I did it! That thing I've been working on all year – its ready!"

Arianwen blinked a few times, trying to work out what he was talking about. Then suddenly, she realised he meant his task, the one that the Dark Lord had set him.

"Oh Draco, that's wonderful! So uh- what happens next?"

"Well I need to uh-send a message, that's actually what I was on my way to do when we ran into each other so I'd better go." He said quickly, starting back towards the common room exit but he hesitated before he reached it he turned back around, pulled Arianwen close and kissed her.

It was a hard, explosive kiss, one that made her feel like her feet were being lifted from the ground as his hot lips ignited a fire in her chest. Just as she was getting into it and had wrapped her arms around his neck, she heard a loud wolf whistle and laughter from behind them. She pulled away, blushing, but Draco didn't appear to care, he kissed her cheek gently and said quietly, "I'll explain everything soon but can you just promise me that you'll stay in here tonight?"

She bit her lip nervously. "Why? What's going to happen?"

"Arianwen," he scolded in a low voice, his eyes boring into hers compellingly.

She sighed but nodded in agreement. "Okay fine, I promise. Just – will you just be careful? Please?"

He smiled reassuringly at her, seemingly relieved that she'd agreed to stay in the common room. "Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. I'll see you later, okay?"

She smiled and leaned in to kiss his cheek, but just as she did he whispered, "I love you," squeezed her hand and hurried off. She exhaled audibly, staring at the place he'd just disappeared from, her news would just have to wait.

Draco had hidden himself in a rarely used classroom on the first floor, he had just sent a message to Madam Rosmerta who he'd been keeping under his influence via the Imperius Curse and was now waiting for her response.

He felt the coin in his hand burn against his palm and held it up, it read, "Dumbledore has left the castle, will be in Hogshead while he has a few drinks."

That was it. He knew it was finally his chance to show everyone what he was capable of, he wasn't just some foolish schoolboy, he was going to kill Albus Dumbledore.

The thought both excited and unnerved him but just as soon as the weight of his task truly dawned on him, the door to his hiding place flew open and Severus Snape stalked in.

"Following me again, Professor?" Draco sneered, "So bored of your own pathetic existence, you have to follow mine?"

"That's enough." Snape spat venomously, "you know fine well that your mother asked me to watch over you. Now, I notice that the Headmaster isn't in his office, tell me, is it done?"

Draco glared at him. As if it's any of your business. "Not yet, but it will happen tonight. The other Death Eaters are coming too, so if you excuse me, I have to go and meet them."

He tried to push past Snape but the professor seized his wrist, turning it back painfully.

"Be careful Draco, you must not fail. Too much is riding on this."

"You think I don't know that?" Draco hissed, yanking his arm away. "Stop interfering. This is my task, and only I will complete it."

Meanwhile, in the Slytherin common room…

Arianwen and Blaise were swaying, arm in arm, singing a loud and out-of-tune version of the old folk song, 'Drunken Sailor'. They had only reached the third verse when they started to struggle with the words.

"Put him in a… wha' did they pur' im' in again, Ri?" slurred Blaise.

Arianwen stared at him, she had decided that rather than respond to his question, she would try to tap the tip of his nose with her index finger, something that was very difficult to do when she had had a few too many shots of firewhiskey.

"Put him in a long boat 'til he's sober!" Shouted a rather drunk Goyle from the sofa.

"Tha's it!" Arianwen cheered.

"Put him in a long boat 'til he's sober,

Put him in a long boat 'til he's sober,

Put him in a long boat 'til he's SOBEEER…

Early in the morning!"

They sang together, waving their hands at the ceiling for dramatic affect. A group of rowdy seventh years cheered them from the sofas and the pair bowed.

"Um, Miss Duchess Lady?" Squeaked a young girl.

"Mmm?" Arianwen mumbled, smiling at the first year.

"I think this is for you." She held out a vibrant red envelope and the surrounding Slytherin's hushed each other, leering at her unsympathetically. Someone had sent Arianwen a Howler.

"Ouch!" The girl dropped the letter on the floor after Arianwen failed to take it from her before it started heating up in her hands. Before Arianwen could grab the letter and escape to somewhere more private, it exploded and a deep, booming voice captivated the attention of the room.

Arianwen recognised the voice immediately, it was Aneirin.

"HE KNOWS. YOUR MAID IS DEAD. THE CHILD IS SAFE. BE ON HIGH ALERT, HE WILL BE COMING FOR YOU NEXT."

Arianwen clapped her hands to her mouth to cover her gasp. The Howler ripped itself up into tiny shreds of paper and one piece caught her eye as it floated raggedly through the air. It was a final message from Aneirin:

"Reply as soon as you get this so I know that you're safe."

"What the bloody hell was that all about?" Blaise spoke first.

Arianwen looked up to see the confused expressions of her housemates, they hadn't understood a word of the Howler as Aneirin was speaking Welsh.

Thank fuck for that.

She could hardly make sense of what she'd heard either.

So Uncle found out about baby Lloyd and had presumably tracked down Leah and questioned her about it, then killed her, and then somehow Aneirin managed to get Lloyd and take him to safety? And now Uncle Dafydd is coming after me?

It was a chilling thought but Arianwen barely had a chance to dwell on it as Blaise was tapping his foot impatiently, waiting for her explanation.

"Uh its nothing," she said, suddenly feeling a lot more sober than she had a few minutes earlier, "I just need to send a quick letter."

She called over to the young girl that had brought her the message. "Where's the owl that delivered that letter, lovely?"

The girl shrugged and pointed to Crabbe, who was sulking at a table near the common room door. "He let it in!"

Arianwen approached him and tried not to roll her eyes as he cradled his left hand, which sported a few peck marks.

"Where's the owl, Vincent?"

"Well I didn't keep a hold of the bloody thing, it was about to peck me half to death the way it was trying to get in here!" He growled, holding up his hand as proof.

She sighed exasperatedly and waved her wand over his hand, the marks vanished and he looked mildly happier.

"I'm going to the Owlery, Blaise, won't be long!" Arianwen shouted over her shoulder to her friend, not that he seemed overly bothered; he'd just cracked open a fresh bottle of firewhiskey and was pouring a round of over-generous shots.

"Alright, see you in a bit!" He called back. "Now, who wants a shot?"

After sending a quick message back to Aneirin, advising him that she was safe and enquiring about what had transpired, Arianwen made her way quietly down the tower and out towards the courtyard.

Something caught her eye from beyond a window in the corridor and she came to a sudden and immediate halt. She stared at it, aghast at its grotesque shape; for there, above the Astronomy Tower was the Dark Mark.

She heard distant shouts and screams from its direction and felt her heart beating through her chest as terror coursed through her.

Is someone dead? Are there Death Eaters in the castle tonight? But how? How did they get in?

And then, with a terrible shuddering drop in her stomach, she realised…Draco.

Without instruction, her feet started chasing each other towards the Astronomy Tower and her body followed, hurtling itself to the source of the shouts. Multi-coloured flashes of light were ricocheting around the courtyard; Death Eaters, teachers and even students were battling furiously. It looked odd, like an elaborate dance production.

With all that movement, it would have been easy to miss the motionless bodies lying in pools of their own blood at the centre of the action but Arianwen's eye had been trained to spot just that. Wand drawn, she catapulted over to them, dodging spells as she ran, and flung herself down beside them. Their bodies were face down on the stone and when she felt for their pulse, only one heart was still beating.

She mustered all of her strength and wrenched the shoulder of the only alive person, turning him onto his back so she could examine his wounds. He let out the tiniest of groans as she tried spell after spell to heal his mauled body.

"What's your name, love?" She asked routinely; it was always important to keep the patient conscious for as long as possible or they may encounter greater difficulties further down the line.

The man tried to speak but could only manage a weak whisper of a word, something that sounded a bit like 'Will'.

"Will, is it? Okay Will, my name is Arianwen, I'm going to help you but I need you to stay awake for me, alright?"

He grumbled in response but it was enough, she just needed him to stay awake a little while longer. For some reason her spells weren't healing his deep gashes and she started to wonder if he had been attacked by an animal rather than a human. Deciding she would focus on preventing any more blood loss she enlarged the emergency medical kit that she always carried with her and pulled out some tiny claw like clips.

"Now Will, hun, I need to get you to the Hospital Wing but I've got to clip some of these wounds together first. I won't lie to you, it's going to be very painful but I want you to be brave for me, okay?"

"'kay," he rasped.

"Right, okay then." She levitated some of the little claw clips to hover above his deepest wound in readiness to clasp his skin together and magically form a barrier to prevent any further blood spillage. "On the count of three: one, two-"

"Arianwen!"

Her head snapped towards the voice, could it be?

It was. Draco was running towards her, his cloak billowing behind him, giving him the look of a bird of prey swooping upon its victim.

But as he got closer, she saw the look of unequivocal fury on his face.

"I TOLD YOU TO STAY PUT!" He roared, charging at her like he was going to knock her so hard she would propel backwards to the dungeons.

Before he reached her, a hand grasped the hood of his cloak and tugged, forcing him to change direction.

"KEEP MOVING OUT!" Professor Snape screamed at him, and without a second glance, they both charged through the midst of the action and down in the direction of the school gates.

She was jolted back to her senses when someone tripped over the bodies she was tending too. It was Harry Potter. He hadn't even noticed her however, and quickly regained his balance, following Snape and Draco.

She looked back down at Will, whose eyes were threatening to roll back in his head.

"Three." She flicked her wand down and the clips clawed through his skin, pulling it taught over the exposed flesh. The man screamed horrifically but she carried on, now preparing the next set of clips. Just as she was about to set them upon his skin, a strong, hairy arm wrapped itself around her waist from behind and a hand clapped over her mouth.

Her body was slammed against a wall and her attacker held her in place with just one hand, which was half covering her mouth and half pressing her jaw and chin savagely against the stone. She could smell a mixture of dirt, blood and sweat from under his clawed yellow fingernails and she knew that this was the thing that had attacked Will.

"Think you can heal my latest kill do you, girly?" rasped the huge, whiskered man in her ear.

He laughed unnervingly at the fearful look in her eyes. "Don't worry, you won't end up like him, I have much better uses for you." He leant in and licked her cheek with his rough tongue, she flinched and tried to turn her face away but he had her in such a strong grip that she could do nothing.

To her horror, he started unbuckling his belt and trousers with his free hand and then, when he was naked from the waist down, he pressed his body against hers and ripped at the fabric of her skirt with his nails.

She screamed against his hand but all that came out was a muffled cry. Impatiently, he slipped his hand under her skirt and inside her knickers, his disgusting fingers scratching at the most delicate of areas.

She tried to lash out, to kick him, slap him, anything; but he was too strong, she was helpless.

Just as she thought all was lost she heard the tapping of hurried footsteps and her captor loosened his grip and wheeled around.

"STUPEFY!"

The man's body instantly collapsed, unconscious, clearing Arianwen's vision to see her saviour; Neville Longbottom ran over to her and embraced her tightly.

"Thank you," she said quietly.

He smiled at her before looking down at her attacker in disgust.

"That's Fenrir Greyback, right horrible werewolf he is. I think he's attacked someone else tonight too."

She gasped, "Will! We have to help him!"

They ran back in the direction from whence they came but Will had already blacked out. Standing over him, Neville seemed to recognise him for he pointed and said, "that looks like Bill Weasley!"

"Bill?" Arianwen asked, "yes it may well be. Can you help me get him up to the Hospital Wing?" But just as she had asked, Professor McGonagall cried out in pain.

Neville looked torn so Arianwen made the decision for him. "Go! I'll manage!"

He nodded and ran at full pelt to assist his Head of House.

"Are you alright Harry?" Hermione Granger ran to Potter as he entered the Hospital Wing with the Weasley girl. The Death Eaters had fled the school and Arianwen was looking after Professor Flitwick and Neville who had both been injured in the battle, while Madam Pomfrey treated Bill.

"I'm fine… how's Bill?"

Nobody answered. Potter looked over Granger's shoulder and saw an unrecognisable face lying on Bill's pillow, so badly slashed and ripped that he looked grotesque. Madam Pomfrey was dabbing at his wounds with some harsh-smelling green ointment.

"Can't you fix them with a charm or something?" he asked the matron.

"No charm will work on these," said Madam Pomfrey. "We've tried everything we know but there is no cure for wereworlf bites."

"But he wasn't bitten at the full moon," said Ron Weasley, who was gazing down into his brother's face as though he could somehow force him to mend just by staring. "Greyback hadn't transformed, so surely Bill won't be a-a real-?" He looked uncertainly at the middle aged, shabby looking man they referred to as 'Professor Lupin'.

"No, I don't think that Bill will be a true werewolf," said Lupin, "but that does not mean that there won't be some contamination. Those are cursed wounds. They are unlikely ever to heal fully, and Bill might have some, ah, wolfish characteristics from now on."

"Dumbledore might know something that'd work, though," Weasley said. "Where is he? Bill fought those maniacs on Dumbledore's orders, Dumbledore owes him, he can't leave him in this state-"

"Ron – Dumbledore's dead," said the Weasley girl.

Arianwen froze, horrified, her hands shaking as they rested on the cold cloth she'd been using to mop Neville's brow as he slept. So that was it, the person that Draco had to kill…it was Dumbledore. That was who the Dark Mark above the Astronomy Tower was for.

"No!" Lupin looked wildly from the girl to Potter, as though hoping the latter might contradict her, but when Potter did not, Lupin collapsed into a chair beside Bill's bed, his hands over his face.

"How did he die?" whispered a woman called Tonks, a name Arianwen vaguely recognised as an estranged member of Draco's family. "How did it happen?"

"Snape killed him," said Potter, "I was there, I saw it. We arrived back on the Astronomy Tower because that's where the Mark was… Dumbledore was ill, he was weak, but I think he realised it was a trap when we heard footsteps running up the stairs. He immobilised me, I couldn't do anything, I was under the Invisibility Cloak – and then Malfoy came through the door and disarmed him-"

Arianwen's palms were cold and sweating as she listened in. Could it really have been Snape that killed him?

Granger clapped her hands to her mouth and Weasley groaned. Next to them, Luna Lovegood's mouth trembled and her eyes began to tear up.

"-more Death Eaters arrived –and then Snape – and Snape did it. The Avada Kedavra." Potter couldn't go on.

Madam Pomfrey burst into tears. Nobody paid her any attention except the youngest Weasley, who whispered, "Shh! Listen!"

Gulping, Madam Pomfrey pressed her fingers to her mouth, her eyes wide. Somewhere out in the darkness, a phoenix was singing in a way that no one had ever heard before: a stricken lament of terrible beauty. Arianwen didn't stop to appreciate it as the others did, however, so relieved was she that Draco wasn't a murderer. She laid her elbows on Neville's bed and covered her face with her hands, breathing deeply. Her movement drew their attention to her for the first time since Potter and his girlfriend had entered the Hospital Wing, and they didn't look pleased to see her.

Potter stepped forward, his wand raised and pointing straight at Arianwen. "Did you know?" he demanded severely. Their relationship, which had started out on fairly friendly terms had turned cold since he had duelled with Draco. "Did you know what Malfoy was planning? Were you in on it too?"

Weasley got to his feet and stood beside Potter, his wand also pointing at her. "Of course she knew," he said, regarding her with an expression of utmost disgust, "do you really think Malfoy wouldn't brag to his little girlfriend about it? You were right about him Harry, he really is part of the Death Eater scum."

"No!" Arianwen cried. "No he didn't tell me anything! I-I didn't – I wouldn't have let – if I knew I-I-" she tailed off, her entire body trembling. "He just said that I should stay in the common room tonight, and-and then he just left…I had no idea he was planning to let the Death Eaters in, I swear it!"

"Harry, Ron, put your wands down for pete's sake. She clearly didn't know, Malfoy was probably told he couldn't tell anyone! Didn't Moody say that he keeps his other followers in the dark about the tasks he gives them individually? This isn't helping anything!"

They lowered their wands slowly and Potter even mumbled a begrudging apology but then, from behind Arianwen, another angry voice spoke out.

"But you knew that he was a Death Eater, didn't you?" She turned around to face a gut wrenchingly betrayed looking Neville.

Arianwen bit her lip, she couldn't lie to him, he could see right through her. "Yes, but Neville, he's not like the others, he didn't want to be a Death Eater, he was forced-"

"You've seen what those foul people did to my parents. I thought you cared about them! How can you be with Malfoy when you know what he is?" Neville interrogated further.

"I do care about them!" she insisted desperately. "Neville, you know I do, I visit them every time we're off school! But Draco, he's-he's not like them, I promise he's not!" And then, in the most plaintive and defeated way she whispered, "I love him."

Neville's face softened as he beheld Arianwen. She looked so meek and small that he reached out and took her hand comfortingly.

"I'm sorry, I know it's not your fault."

The other people in the room looked away, as though they were imposing on an intimate scene. Luckily, Professor McGonagall entered and provided them with some distraction.

Neville looked at Arianwen awkwardly. "Are you okay?"

She knew what he was talking about, he'd seen Greyback assaulting her and even though he hadn't been able to get too far, it was enough to upset even the strongest of people.

"Yes," she said, more defiantly than she had planned.

But nothing was okay about the events of that night. Somewhere out there Leah had been killed at the hand of her uncle, Snape had murdered Dumbledore, and Draco had facilitated the entry of the Death Eaters into the school. Her happiness about winning her legal battle to inherit her father's lands and titles had most truly been marred and now all that was left was a feeling of all-consuming repulsion; at Draco, at her uncle, but mostly, she was repulsed by herself.

A/N: Pretty please leave a quick review to let me know how I'm doing! Constructive criticism is always welcome!