Chapter 45: Ariana's Breakthrough
It was a crisp, cold morning in the beginning of December. The snow had begun to fall, leaving a gleaming white canvas across the Hogwarts grounds, compressing the wildlife burrowing beneath it, forcing them to dig deeper hollows in search of warmth.
The inhabitants of Hogwarts, however, were far from avoiding the snow. When they were not studying indoors in front of the fire, or attending classes, they were scampering across the grounds. They were playing with snowballs, making snowmen, or with some Slytherins like Avery and Mulciber, kicking over the younger students' snowmen.
Severus and Lily were finishing breakfast, when Glenn Tozer came over, handing Severus a note from Dumbledore, offering him the chance to use the Resurrection Stone that evening.
"Oh, good!" he murmured to himself.
He had wanted some last-minute advice from Lily Potter on how to approach Lily Evans for a first date and to reveal his feelings to her.
"Who's that from, Sev?" asked Lily, after swallowing a rasher of bacon.
"Robin, telling me that he and Mum are happy with whatever choice I make; stay at Hogwarts or go home for Christmas."
This was a half-truth, as he had received such a letter the previous day.
"Oh, are you staying? I was gonna go home," said Lily.
"I'm going home, don't worry," replied Severus, "but we've been debating on staying here in the past."
"Maybe we can ask if we can both stay here next year!" suggested Lily. "After all, we will have OWLs to study for, and it'll be easier not to procrastinate in an educational environment where we're used to studying."
"Good plan," agreed Severus.
Severus noted to himself to remember to ask Eileen about that arrangement upon their return home in a couple of weeks.
The day passed by quite eventfully, due to a snowball fight in the grounds, and to Severus' amusement, when Mulciber tried to assault Mary savagely with ice balls fuelled with what was clearly Dark Magic, Lily, James and Sirius made the spell backfire. Then with some food colouring, James called out:
"Have a warm snowball, Mulciber!"
He hurled the ball and jinxed it to follow Mulciber, whom did not want one of 'those' snowballs to hit him. He ran for the hills, and everyone cackled when he squealed in disgust when the ball hit his head.
"That'll teach that douchebag to try and use Dark Magic on our friend!" laughed James.
"Ooh, big word!" teased Sirius.
He received a backhand to the head for that.
That evening, after some scrumptious lamb stew, Severus left his friends to play Wizard's Chess, while he went to see Dumbledore, under the pretence of going to bed early due to not being up to shape for the snowball fight. He went as quickly as he could, so that it would seem that he had been in bed the whole time, by the time Quincey came up to bed too.
He let himself into Dumbledore's office, as the Headmaster had been expecting him.
"Good evening, Mr Prince."
"Hello, Headmaster, you wished for me to use the Stone tonight?"
"Indeed, today's the set day!"
With that, Dumbledore placed the Stone down onto the desk, and began to make his ascent to the office above.
"Professor," asked Severus hesitantly, "…why don't you wish to use the Stone yourself?"
Dumbledore paused before turning back to Severus with a smile.
"Because patience is a virtue, Mr Prince, and I believe I should wait out my life, before I deserve my family's forgiveness."
And without another word, Dumbledore disappeared into his office.
Knowing he couldn't just go up there and persuade Dumbledore, Severus took advantage of his solitude and took the Stone, turning it.
Lily Potter appeared, but she wasn't alone. James Potter and Ariana Dumbledore were there too, all three looking triumphant.
"Uh, hello?" said Severus nervously.
"Hey, Sev!" smiled Lily.
"What's he doing here?" asked Severus coldly, looking at James with great disdain.
"I tagged along," said James, "wanted to watch you get the news."
"What news?" asked Severus with newfound enthusiasm and hope.
"Ariana made the first breakthrough in our Horcrux hunt!" declared Lily excitedly.
"Tell me more, Ariana!" encouraged Severus.
"Well, I was watching over the Malfoys," explained Ariana, "living, figuratively of course, in hope that Voldemort would bestow upon them a Horcrux. And the other day, we finally got what we wanted. He gave Abraxas Malfoy that diary of his, and it was a Horcrux! He wanted Abraxas to protect it at all costs!"
"That's great!" grinned Severus, much to James' mirthful amusement.
"Sadly, there's some bad news involved," said Ariana.
"What bad news?" asked Severus.
"He made another Horcrux at the same time."
"What? What Horcrux?" cried Severus.
"He killed Abraxas' wife to make it. It was a snake. He named it Nagini."
"But…that snake shouldn't even exist!" spluttered Severus in horror. "How can that thing be alive to start with?! Unless…"
"Unless what?" asked Lily.
"That snake might be an Animagus cursed by Voldemort to stay an animal, or even possibly…a Maledictus!"
"A what?" asked Ariana and James in unison.
"A Maledictus is a female human that is cursed to transform into a beast, eventually the curse makes the transformation permanent. It can be any animal, depending on the blood of the cursed one, and the maternal family member it was passed on from," explained Severus grimly.
"So, both of those theories point to one thing: Nagini, that filthy, disgusting snake that killed you…was a woman all this time?!"
"If a Maledictus, not a real woman any longer," said Severus, "but more or less, yeah."
"I'm sorry, Sev, but this means you have another Horcrux to destroy after all," said Lily sadly.
"But this is still good news in a way," said James optimistically, "you now know where one Horcrux is and you also know that another has been made, and likely by Voldemort's side at all times."
"Destroying them might be about as easy as finding Grindylows in the Sahara Desert!" grumbled Severus.
"If Harry and his friends could do it, you can do it, Sev! I have faith in you!" encouraged Lily.
"As do I and Helena," said Ariana cheerily.
"And me, surprisingly," added James.
Severus felt a little more encouraged, though he didn't want to admit that James' words affected him positively as well. It wouldn't be dignified to let an enemy affect my spirits, he thought to himself.
"I only hope you're right," he said to no specific spirit in particular, "I'd hate to die trying as opposed to die a free man."
Lily smiled.
"Can I have a moment alone with him, now that we've given him the news?" she asked her husband and Ariana.
The two of them nodded in understanding, gave Severus a cheerful farewell and disappeared back to Heaven.
"I believe you wanted to talk to me in private?" asked Lily.
"Yes," said Severus, "while this news about the Horcruxes is great and all…I have another issue I want to ask about."
"About the other me?" asked Lily awkwardly.
"Yeah…um…how did Potter…ugh…seduce you? Make you want to be his…girlfriend?"
"A lot of Firewhiskey, Butterbeer, the pretence of being a more matured human being and being a good kisser on James' part," said Lily with a hint of contempt, "but also, always being there for me when I was aching over losing my best friend. He and my friends convinced me, incorrectly, I know now, that it was all for the best…but he also empathised with me with loss, as his parents died during our sixth year, around Easter time. I was his source of comfort, and through that, he became mine."
Severus nodded sadly in understanding.
"He was there for you when I wasn't."
"By my choice, so don't think it's your fault, or anything like that, Sev," insisted Lily.
"Okay…so you think I should…?"
"Just tell her how you feel. If she's like me, then she'll admire your courage and honesty on the subject, but don't come on too strong. Just ask her out on a date, the date she really wants and you know she wants."
"But…I'm afraid."
"Of what, Sev?"
"Of her and I having a relationship and then losing it if and when she ever learns the truth about me," he answered.
"Does she have to know?" asked Lily.
Severus considered for a moment, then nodded and said, "One day."
"I know I said she'd appreciate honesty…but this could break everything you worked for," said Lily warningly.
"I can't not tell her one day, Lils," said Severus sadly, "I can't bear holding this secret forever, and what if she only finds out upon arrival in Heaven? She'd never forgive me for hiding it!"
"Heaven is famous for overall forgiveness," said Lily.
"As evidenced by your happy marriage to Potter," said Severus with an innocent air, "but I just want to give this Lily more credit than I gave you, which led to losing you because I didn't."
Lily was sure there was no changing Severus' mind. But she gave some final advice anyway.
"Well, just don't tell her yet, Sev," she said, "just ask her out suavely and confidently, and then, depending on how the relationship pans out, you can decide when it's best to tell her about your past…if at all," she concluded hopefully.
"Thanks, Lil…I will…wish me luck!"
"The best of luck, Sev! You deserve some of that!"
Severus and Lily smiled at each other. With the newfound confidence about dating Lily Evans and the knowledge of two Horcruxes in his pocket, Severus deposited the Stone back onto the desk, watching Lily Potter disappear from view once more.
Dumbledore came out upon his call, and Severus keenly informed him about Nagini and the diary Horcrux.
"Ariana saw it?"
"Yes," said Severus with a smile.
"She's helping…she may be forgiving…"
"I'm certain that she and every other version of her that had the same sort of fate you were involved in have forgiven you, Headmaster," replied Severus mildly.
Dumbledore smiled.
"I will take whatever action I can to acquire the diary from Malfoy Manor, but it will take some planning…private planning," he said.
"No help from the Order?" asked Severus.
"The less people who know about our mission, Severus, the better. Any extra person with knowledge on the Horcruxes is a target for Voldemort, and it runs the risk of him finding out what we're up to."
"Then perhaps we need to leave the diary for a while, until we can ascertain all of the Horcruxes' locations, then go for them all at once, so we stand a chance of destroying him before he makes more, like Nagini," suggested Severus.
"That makes sense, Severus, but the longer we delay, the more likely lives will be at stake. Are you prepared to put that many lives into your hands?"
"I'm used to that responsibility by now, Albus," said Severus grimly.
Dumbledore nodded with a frown at that reality.
"Very well…hopefully Lily and Miss Ravenclaw will have more news soon," he said, "if Voldemort entrusted the diary to the Malfoys, he might be willing to do the same for the Lestranges."
Severus was less certain. After all, Bellatrix was still newly recruited. It might take time for her to fully gain Voldemort's trust. But he kept quiet for now, knowing full well that Dumbledore would take that into account on his own.
"Time for bed, I believe, Mr Prince," said Dumbledore.
"Yes, before Quincey notices I'm missing!"
Severus had forgotten all about that when Lily told him about the diary and the snake.
"Oh, and sir…" he said before leaving, "…I think there's more to that snake than meets the eye."
"Severus, I can assure you that this is so…but that's for another time."
Severus nodded and quickly headed back to the Ravenclaw common room.
But what nobody had considered was that Ariana had missed an important detail in what she had witnessed that night…Voldemort was planning an attack in Hogsmeade!
The Daily Prophet had a headline in its papers the following morning. Severus had anticipated it after his talk with Lily and Ariana. The picture on the front was of Lucius Malfoy and his father, both dressed in formal attire and looking heavily forlorn. The headline read: MALFOY WIFE DEAD: FUNERAL HELD YESTERDAY.
Severus read through it, as did the other members of the Union, as well as the Slytherin table.
'Mrs Evelina Malfoy, aged 75, died in the late hours of November 30th, says a source, known to be a friend of the Malfoys. She died peacefully in her husband's arms during her final moments, where they both praised the life and prosperity of their only son, Lucius, as pictured inset. The funeral was held yesterday, with a wealthy turnout, at Abraxas, Evelina's husband's invitation.
"I was deeply saddened in those last precious minutes with my wife, but I was also very happy and relieved. Happy due to our life and memories shared together and relieved that she knew she was loved and would be missed. I cannot imagine life without her, but for the sake of her memory, of my son, and of the future beneficial to all wizardkind, I shall proceed with my life as she'd have wanted…"'
"Future benefic- the cheek of him!" spat out Quincey contemptuously.
"He was basically bragging about being a Death Eater in that sentence!" agreed James.
"He's also just lost his wife, we need some, however little, compassion," said Lily softly.
They agreed to disagree in the majority, and settled down to breakfast once more, little knowing of the disaster that was coming their way in only a couple of weeks…
A/N: I know! This is my shortest chapter since I first started this story. But it's only because I plan on a much bigger chapter tomorrow. It will be action-packed, heart-breaking, fast, furious and more! Please review! Thank you for reading!