AN- I Don't own Harry Potter.

Winter Spiral

One down side to living in the mountains was the drastic weather change when it came to winter. It was only early October and the school grounds already looked like the beginning of some muggle Christmas movie. Snow lightly dusted the ground with a few blades of dying grass slowly freezing under its weight.

The trees hadn't even had enough warning of the coming weather to completely shed their leaves and as Desiray watched she could see the veins in them drying and darkening to wither and die.

Desiray did not like the snow...in fact she hated it with a passion. So as the temperature began to drop, so did her mood. This kind of weather was her brothers element and she was instantly relieved that he wasn't here to start a 'winter war' of some kind.

Those things were hell with magic...

Either way, Desiray trudged through the clotted white mess, loathing the way it clung to the material of her robes. She focused on following the faint tracks under it, left over from the resident Potion Master who she had asked to help look for a few potion ingredients. If her tracking skills we're on point (like they always were) , they lead around the great lake and he was at least a good five minutes ahead of her.

Unless Snape had done something to naturally detour her...the man was a spy after all.

Hmm...

A hint of excitement shone in Desiray's eyes as instincts mingled with curiosity and she quickened her pace.

When Desiray approached the forest edge she sped her pace up to a quiet jog, her experienced feet easily passing over difficult clusters of snow. Her eyes quickly scanned the darkness with ease when the looming evening slowly darkening the horizon with violets and dark oranges.

The tall trees of The Forbidden Forest had distorted the light flurry into random chunks on the ground, bits of snow fell from branches and covered any trace of animal tracks or human footsteps, yet if one looked closely, snapped twigs and subtle indents showed passage of a larger being other than innocent forest life.

Snape had been through here and wasn't too far off by the details that his footprint betrayed and his strong scent on the cold breeze was even easier to pick out. Musky and obviously male but unlike her pine scented brother, Snape's was more of a subdued combination of potions and herbs. Some kind of heavy sandalwood with ...Freesia?

Beneath all the tantalizing cologne of dark magic of course...

Desiray had to calm herself at the thought of the situation . A relatively young male, infused with dark magic who was currently alone in a vast, empty forest that effectively muffled all noises.

She couldn't have him of course, unless she wanted to deal with Ramiel's angry glances for a few more eons.

Frankly the woman was getting tired of them...

With a frown, Desiray hoisted herself up a sturdy tree, her long nails proving to be used for something more than aesthetics when strips of bark were shredded off. She moved from branch to branch; tree to tree with agile movements, slim hands grasping sturdy vines and confident feet narrowly evading perilous drops. She risked a flip or two when she felt confident her robes wouldn't snag before the landing.

It didn't take long for her to catch sight of the Potions Master with his tall silhouette seeming to be the only think darker than his personality. The man moved slowly in an experienced manner , the noise level only a soft eco even to her heightened senses.

Desiray crept closer to him from her high perch, not really planning on doing anything...maybe just startle him a tiny bit and dodge whatever curse he would certainly throw at her.

Just a little innocent fun...

She inched herself out on a thick branch to observe his stiff form curiously. Snape's posture was tense and ridged with his dark eyes scanning the shadowed landscape around him. He stood very still at the moment, except for the couple of times her glanced behind himself. If the man's sights had been a few inches higher he would have easily spotted her.

Or perhaps not.

Desiray was quiet adept at hiding herself from view. She knew how to use the shadows to her advantage and even the snow that clung to her hair and clothes did a job of obscuring key parts of her form.

One step... two steps and a slight shift in weight...

...She licked her lips slowly.

He turned on the spot, a silent spell leaving his wand so quickly the words 'oh shit' didn't have a chance to escape her mouth. Desiray threw herself off the branch in a back flip with a sharp exhale and she would have had time to grab the limb if another spell hadn't been aimed at her face. The heat of it almost close enough to blush her pale skin but missing by just an inch.

Of course, her jumping from a 30 foot tree meant there was a long way down... one that was sure to have an unpleasant landing. She would have landed on her feet if another curse hadn't been thrown at her falling form for good measure. She twisted out of the way, only to land with a solid thud on her back ending up mostly buried under the snow that had plummeted with her.

"Cold!" Desiray exclaimed as she jumped up hastily, shivering and raking clumps of snow out of her hair. The woman's tense form looked very much like a cat dropped unceremoniously into an ice bucket. "So much for a tactical approach." Desiray mumbled dejectedly, "What gave me away?"

When she focused on the man once again, she saw that Snape hadn't let his guard down even an inch. His wand was still locked on her torso and his body still in a 'Fight' response.

The man's eyes narrowed with a venomous irritation, "One does not simply ignore the feeling of being hunted."

Desiray chuckled, "Fair enough. Are you planning to throw another spell at me?"

"Perhaps if you give me a reason."

He didn't sound very pleased by her antics.

"Well we are here in the middle of nowhere...alone." The woman smirked, "That's usually enough for most men."

For a split second, Snape's eyes narrowed in annoyed contemplation before he silently replaced the wand back in the sleeve of his robes. Desiray watched the movement closely with a raised eyebrow before giving the man a new curious look.

"The Headmaster would not approve of that course of action."

She almost laughed.

When it was obvious that there would be no more childish baiting from the vampire, Snape motioned in the general direction off their destination. He never let her too close and didn't let her stray too far out of his sight, he already couldn't stand the fact that he had to lead the way...

He could feel the Vampires eyes boring into his back the entire time, causing the skin to raise in sharp goose bumps.

She stayed silent, for the most part, only speaking when she spotted an ingredient or two that Snape's eyes overlooked in the looming shadows.

He didn't enjoy that at all, neither was he comfortable with the unnatural silence of her footsteps or how she lingered in that annoying part of his peripheral vision that refused to fully focus on anything.

But at least she stayed there right?

No.

If only it was that simple.

He checked behind himself like he had made a habit of himself doing and she was there of course, bent over and admiring a lone blue orchid in a bush with its pale, less fortunate brothers, but that wasn't what cause him to pause and glare.

She was sporting a long leather trench coat made out of a very fine material. The dark coattails fanned out behind her and the sleeves were cut off at the shoulder, leaving her arms bare to the elements yet it failed to raise chill bumps on her smooth unblemished skin.

Which he imagined being much more pale, but that wasn't the point at the moment.

"Where did you get that coat?" He questioned.

" I found it." The vampire answered simply. Her hand outstretched and plucked the flower from its branch before she stood.

"When?" He asked.

"When you were busy with the Winterglaive I believe."

He raised an eyebrow at the woman as she toyed with the plant, but said nothing.

A small smirk fell across her face when she seemed to notice his scrutiny hadn't ceased so she rolled her eyes and gave him her full attention.

"It's my brothers. He lost it here and I remembered that about 30 minutes ago. Sooooo...I found it."

The material fell loosely as she stood, obviously a few sizes too big for her feminine figure so he supposed the Vampire was telling the truth. he caught a glance of two custom buckles on the back, one on the right shoulder blade and the other near the right hip.

"Are we done then?" Desiray asked.

"Yes. Unless you plan on searching for an Abyssal Dragon." His voice was layered in sarcasm.

Desiray levitated the orchid in her hand and let it float away with the breeze, "I told you not to worry about it and as for the other ingredients, I'm sure Ramiel has some too spare. I mostly just wanted to irk you before."

"I still do not find it plausible that Ramiel Salvatore is your father."

Amusement at the subject once again surfaced in Desiray's dark eyes. "Your skeptical nature amuses me. Oh what must I do to convince you? What is it that you don't believe?"

There was a long pause as Snape considered his answer.

"Ramiel Salvatore's daughter would be more... admirable." He sneered at the woman with a great amount of disdain before turning sharply and stalking away.

Desiray stared at his back, her lips parted in a grin of shocked delight and the chuckle that followed wasn't supposed to slip passed her guard.

She shook her head .

It seemed like Ramiel had a secret fan boy.

Oh she was going to have a Field Day with this...

AN- This chapter was actually really fun to write. Well I hope you liked it.

Next Chapter - Desiray's nosy butt...