Cold marble collided with Alice's knees as she was suddenly thrust into a dimly lit chamber, her innards feeling like they were taking a minute to catch up. Snape remained braced upon her right shoulder, somehow managing to keep himself upright despite the utter shock of being yanked to Merlin-knows-where. Alice herself was bent on all fours, trying her best not to vomit on her reflection below her. She turned the key over in her left palm, focusing on that until the nausea had passed.

A portkey, it was a damned portkey.

"You stupid, foolish, child! When we get to Hogwarts you are going to have detentions for a month straight!" The growl from Snape over her head echoed more than usual, and Alice risked a peek up to see that the marble wasn't just on the floor, but the walls and columns as well in the almost completely empty room. She took two deep breaths and shifted to get herself back into a standing position. For a second she thought she made a mistake as the bile rose slightly up her throat, and she closed her eyes refusing to vomit on the already angry man behind her.

"Where are we?" eyes still shut she mumbled the question low, but enough she knew Snape could hear her as he released her shoulder and she could hear the swish of his cloak as he looked around.

"I can tell you where we are not and that is where we were supposed to be." Snape muttered sharply. Alice rolled her eyes under the lids, probably her saving grace. "What in the world were you thinking? I told you explicitly not to touch that item and you blatantly disregarded my order!"

Finally allowing her eyes to flutter open, Alice made sure her stomach had settled before answering him, feeling his eyes on her while he waited. "I don't know, I just felt….something. I can't describe it."

"Try." Snape demanded.

Alice focused back on her reflection in the marble at her feet. "I guess…it was almost reflexive. Like if you hear your name called you instinctively look up. I saw and heard you behind me and yet it was like the key screamed my name at me and I couldn't stop myself."

Snape sighed deeply and held a disappointed annoyance in his eyes. "Oh yes, that certainly doesn't sound like something dark magic would be able to do. Lure in the weak minded into doing exactly what it wants."

The weak minded comment stung, and Alice bit her lip to stop her face from fully showing that the insult got to her. Snape suffers no fools… she reminded herself, and there was no denying she had been beyond foolish. She had heard the warnings, not only from Snape but her own brain as well, and any first year could tell you don't touch the magical artifacts in the dark, dank, creepy store. In all honesty, while she had been truthful about it, almost being instinctual to reach out and touch the key, this moment would be going on her shelf as one of the stupidest choices she had made in her life.

"Can you apparate us out of here?"

Snape scoffed, and that sound alone screamed Of course I can you imbecile. Alice simply walked over, her head slightly head in shame, and stood beside him. His arm came around her, holding her to him, and his body twisted into the apparation.

They remained steadfast.

A string of curses were sprung from the professor's mouth as he tried several more times, but no matter the effort, the signature "pop" that was expected never materialized. Alice remained at his side, even when it became clear that the spell wouldn't work, afraid that if she made a movement or uttered a noise the anger would crash down onto her. Eventually he stormed several meters away and tried to apparate without her, like she was cancelling his magic now. Tainted by the dark magic he had warned her about.

A sudden grunt surprised both the humans, who whipped out their wands and pointed them in the direction of the sound. At the end of the chamber, behind a tall podium, a pair of long ears appeared suddenly near the top. A young goblin climbed its way over to look down upon the two intruders, its eyes surprised yet focused behind its wire rimmed glasses.

"Visitors!" he spoke softly, but clapped his hands together in glee. "I can't believe we finally have visitors! This post never has any changes to the schedule!"

One puzzle piece clicked in Alice's head as she took in the goblin and decor again. "Excuse me sir…are we in Gringotts?"

"Why of course! Where did you think you were?"

Some sort of hell. Alice glanced at Snape, who nodded slowly, though his wand was still in his hand ready to attack. The two strode til they stood directly below the goblin, still watching them as if they were two looneys.

"I assume then you'll want to be visiting vault number 12?" He inquired pointedly.

Confusion crossed Alice's features. "Vault 12 sir?"

The goblin nodded, flipping through weathered pages of an enormous book on the podium in front of him. "Vault twelve is the only vault accessible from this entrance. Has its own set of rules from the usual clientele." He stopped flipping and slid his finger down the page. "Only those who can access the entrance can be allowed to see the vault." Once again looking down his nose at them he asked, "Do you have the required key?"

Alice looked at Snape for some sort of guidance, but could see Snape was currently trying to weigh his options. They couldn't apparate. There were no doors or windows that either could see, aside from the one behind the gate and goblin. Yet the item that had brought them there was acquired in a shop known for the dark arts, and even though Gringotts was a well respected establishment, it was old and protected enough that the use of dark magic as traps or protection was well within the realm of possibilities.

"What if we wished to simply leave?" Snape asked steadily.

The goblin paused, curiosity melding with impatience. "The exit is forward. If you wish to leave then that's where you must go."

Oh Snape was not going to accept that answer, and the goblin seemed to be aware of this fact as he smirked and shifted himself slightly. Alice had a distinct feeling that if they didn't follow the rules or caused too many problems there was a button or trigger for protection underneath the podium. She sighed to herself, and shot a look at Snape when he glanced her way. She hoped that her face conveyed the please don't expel me for doing this expression. "Well in that case…" she began slowly, almost giving the professor a chance to interrupt her, "I suppose we would like to see vault number twelve."

Before the goblin could ask again, Alice lifted her hand and placed the rusty key on the podium. His eyes glittered as he lifted it to his face and examined it with glee, a quick nod in their direction confirming that this was indeed the correct key to the vault. With quiet bustle, he jumped down and opened the large gate behind him, not even checking to see if the two humans were following after him.

Alice felt Snape walk up beside her, and she wondered if he could feel her trepidation.

"I'm sorry…" her voice squeaked out, shoulders dropping forward. "I'm so, so, sorry. This is all my fault." Alice hadn't cried yet, and she wasn't about to cry now, but there was no hiding the croak in her voice as she refused to look at the man next to her. She began to shuffle toward the cart the goblin had climbed on, comforted by the fact Snape stayed stride for stride with her but a panic was building as he didn't respond to her. Both clamoured onto the cart, and before the goblin had finished telling them to hold on, they were shooting forward down into the caverns. Vault twelve must be near the bottom if it was one of the oldest ones here, she thought, burying herself deeper into her cloak to stave off the wind.

After about five minutes of descent a thought popped into Alice's head. "Sir, when was the last time someone accessed this vault?"

"At least a hundred years according to the records!" He didn't bother looking back, focusing on a rather sharp turn.

"Do you know anything about the vault at all?"

"Nothing aside from what the rules say! They haven't been changed in centuries in the book!"

Alice blinked slowly as she kept trying to put together a puzzle that she had no clue what the final picture was supposed to look like. Next to her, Snape's fingers tightened on the railing of the cart, though his face remained stoic and his thoughts remained his own. Alice wished he would say something, even if it was to yell or chastise her some more, but then she would have some semblance of what the correct next step was to be. His silence just made her second guess every step she took and every question she uttered. If she managed not to get herself spending every night cleaning cauldrons for the rest of the year it would be a personal miracle from Merlin himself.

The cart lurched into a large dip, took one more spiral to the left before creaking to a stop in front of a decrepit stone archway with a dull iron door below it. The goblin practically galloped with the key in his clawed hand to the door, already inserting it by the time Alice and Snape caught up to him. Compared to its age, the door swung open surprisingly easily and silently, revealing a well lit chamber on the inside. Snape swung an arm out in front of Alice, his first acknowledgement in almost twenty minutes.

"After me Miss Ashford…"

Well you're not going to hear any complaints from me.

With tentative steps, Snape walked into the vault, wand at the ready and Alice was almost stepping on his cloak, she was so close to him. The chamber was long and narrow, with dust motes floating throughout the still air in the torch light. It was also empty, completely and utterly so. Even the broken shards of glass jars on the stone shelves showed no signs of ever holding anything inside of them.

"Do you see anything sir?" Alice's grip on her want tightened so much she could feel the pull of her skin over her knuckles. Snape shook his head, but kept scanning everything with an intensity only he could manage. When they both reached the back of the vault and found nothing they rounded back to the entryway only to see that it was shut. Alice's breath caught in her throat as she ran back to the door, banging against the metal with her fist.

"I'm so sorry!" The goblin's voice rang clear as if there wasn't anything between them. "But the rules of the vault are clear. Anyone who has the key is to enter and be locked in!"

"Why you little…." Snape snarled, shoving Alice behind him as he raised his arm. "We are faculty and a student at Hogwarts, you cannot just lock us in here!" A red jet shot out of his wand, illuminating Snape's features in the blink of an eye. She watched as he cast spell after spell at the door, but each and every one was absorbed by the magic encompassing it. Alice couldn't be sure but she would swear she heard the goblin chuckling before the familiar creak of the cart started and faded into the distance.

Merlin's balls, Snape might actually murder me.

Deciding to avoid her professor's current ire as he kept blasting the door with whatever spell he could think of, Alice started to wander again. She could feel a panic attack rising in her chest but she also was trying to think things through. The goblin had said that these were the specific orders for anyone who could access this vault, and that someone had accessed it over a century before. She wasn't sure completely, but she didn't believe that the goblins removed anything from the vaults, even the bones of those trapped inside. So if that was the case, and she hoped that it was the case, then the people who had come before must have found a way out, and Alice was doubtful it was through the front door. Her mind drifted back to the glow, and the symbol, and slowly she put together at least a corner of the puzzle.

"Professor?" She called out to Snape, who was adding some colorful verbal cursing to his spells. "Professor Snape?" Two steps toward him, still no response. Alice decided to brave it. "Sir!" Her hand came up to his side and she placed it gently on his arm, preparing herself to dive out of the way in case in his fury he continued to cast around him.

Snape's eyes snapped to hers, and she resisted jumping back. "What is it, Miss Ashford? Can't you see I am busy trying to free us from the situation you have put us in?!"

With her gaze leveled, Alice tilted her head to the side. "Fair…" she bit out, "but I need you to stop casting for a couple minutes." She removed her hand and gestured gently. "I don't see any skeletons here, so where did the other people go? I think there's a back door. It would be pointless to have this vault with those rules otherwise." Alice backed away, now that the flashing from the spells had died down she could see the room for what it was, and in the quiet she felt the same hum that was vibrating the tube and key. Snape huffed in annoyance behind her but remained silent as she followed the draw, to the back corner that had previously been scouted by the professor. Her wand arm raised toward the empty space with concentration.

"Revelio."

There, between the corner and a stone bookcase, a shimmer began to expand across the flat surface, blurring out all features until returning the air to normal. The wall now was occupied with an archway, the shifting haze inside of it obstructing a clear view of where it led to.

Snape came to stand next to her. "It appears you aren't as useless today as one would have thought Miss Ashford…" Well that was as close to a thank you she was probably going to receive. "I suggest from here on out you remain behind me as before, since we do not know where the next path leads."

No arguments here. Alice nodded and once again took her place as Snape's shadow, wand at the ready as she ran through any spells in her head that might be useful against whatever waited for them. Hopefully the inconsistency of Defense of the Dark Arts professors wasn't about to bite her in the arse. The two braced themselves and eased themself through the archway.

It became abundantly clear that the reason they couldn't make out the room on the other side was not because of the haze, but simply because the area they now stood in was pitch black. The disconcerning feeling in Alice's chest grew and she turned to go back to the light of the closed vault, through the archway…which had evaporated into thin air. Shit.

Snape had noticed they once again had no exit. He quietly cast revelio to see if it would reappear, but everything remained still and silent. Alice was ready for him to start cursing again, but he surprised her by casting lumos and turning toward her with patented Snape calm.

"Do you see anything that might lead us out?"

Confusion flooded her features and he shook his head, his black hair blending with the atmosphere. "I do not understand what is happening, but it was clear that you were not lying when you said you had seen that symbol. You also seemed aware of where to look for an exit when there was none. Whatever this is, it is clear I will need your insight if we are to make it out of here. So I ask again, can you see anything?"

Alice took a moment to roll up her jaw from the floor, merely for the fact that Snape didn't think she was crazy. When this was all over she was going to need a whole weekend to decompress from this. Her eyes took in the illuminated darkness around her, noticing multiple tall columns throughout the room, but no clear ceiling or even a floor. She took an unsteady step, balking sharply as balls of light shot from her foot and fled into the darkness.

"I'm going to guess you didn't see that?" she asked as Snape shook his head minutely. "This way…" For the first time this trip, Alice took the lead. Every step she took lit up and the lights always went flying in the same direction, which was good enough for her. After three minutes of silence, she was pleased to see a glowing ring on the floor, all the lights diving into it.

"There…" Alice walked over to the ring, kneeling down to observe it closer. Glancing up she saw Snape almost step into the ring, but he immediately stopped when she held her hand up, she wasn't sure how it would react if he disturbed it. Her hand floated over it instead, the light reflecting upon her skin with the same white glow she had seen earlier.

"Do you trust me?" She returned her gaze to Snape, who cocked an eyebrow looking down his nose at her.

"Do I have a choice?"

Alice smirked and shook her head no as she placed her hand in the circle, finding cold stone below her palm. In an instant the light grew and flashed blinding white, with even Snape reacting to it. As soon as it appeared the darkness overwhelmed again, and Alice grasped around on the floor for her wand that she had dropped in surprise.

"Professor?" No answer, no swish of robes, no presence of disdain. "Professor Snape?" Alice shifted her feet and was dismayed to see the lights had vanished as well. "Lumos!" Swivelling her head, she looked around to see where Snape had disappeared to, but there was no sign of the black clad man. Instead she found herself in the middle of three large, stone, suits of armor.

Ok Alice, breathe. You touched the ring of lights, so it might have transported just me somewhere else. Maybe Snape got sent back to a place he could escape, or maybe I just can't hear or see him. Or maybe I evaporated him and am getting sent to Azkaban the moment I free myself from this nightmare. Alice pushed the bile down, growing tired of almost throwing up continuously. Just think logically. Figure out a way out. Her wand held high, Alice knelt to look at each statue, noticing nothing remarkable with any of them. About to return to where the ring had disappeared, she noticed suddenly that the floor was reflecting the statues, but incorrectly. Lifting her wand again, her eyes widened as the reflections reacted and moved toward the light. A little shimmy to the left followed by one to the right confirmed her suspicions.

Keeping her eyes focused on the floor, Alice moved slowly until the reflections matched the statues above her, and more light glowed underneath the statues. Releasing a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding, Alice mentally patted herself on the back for figuring out the next step. Her gaze scanned the room again, looking to see if Snape had returned, but froze when she saw the statues slowly rising up, drawing stone axes and swords.

Oh shit!'

Alice dove, just as a sword swung where she had been moments before. It collided with the floor and shattered some of the tile, remnants of which collided with her head. Grunting, Alice rolled as she tried to clear dust and rubble from her eyes, but wasn't fast enough as she felt the sharp edge of a weapon graze her shoulder, tearing her sleeve from her robe.

"I am getting really tired of this.." Alice muttered as she got back to her feet, watching the three bearing down on her. "Protego!" she called out as the furthest one right swung its axe, her spell knocking him back off balance. Deciding to try and deal with these one at a time, Alice continued with a shout of "Incendio!" followed by a "Diffindo!" The combination was enough as the statue exploded before it could regain its composure.

Alice let her fear drive her, adrenaline pumping through her veins as she focused on the other two. She cast another protego and threw herself to the right, trying to keep distance as the both started swinging. She had more faith in her charms skill than purely defensive spells, so it was time to be creative.

"AGUAMENTI!" Alice cried out as water erupted from her wand, flooding the floor at the feet of the oncoming statues. Two more steps back to keep distance, and another protego, and she spun to cast her follow up spell.

"GLACIUS!" The ground cooled and cracked before resetting, until a large space in front of her was nothing but a thick sheet of ice. The statues kept trying to advance, but within three steps both began slipping. With a loud thwack, they landed hard on their backs, exactly where Alice had hoped they would. Throwing all her weight into the wand movements, she threw one final attack.

"BOMBARDA MAXIMA!" with a shattering bang the spell landed and the two statues as well as some of the ice exploded into tiny shards. Alice fell back onto her butt, breathing heavily as she took in the mess in front of her, and thrilled to see as she moved her empty hand off of the floor the lights had returned and back to flying into a ring beside her. Without even bothering to stand up, Alice crawled over and slammed her hand down in the center, shutting her eyes to the blinding flash.

Wherever she ended up was damper and cooler than the chamber before, as her skin immediately reacted. Alice opened her eyes and looked to see a large basin directly in front of her. Pensieve, her studious memory offered helpfully. Craning her neck, she locked eyes with an enormous statue pointing down right at her. Alice threw her wand across her body, shouting Protego immediately and preparing for another battle, the anxiety and adrenaline still coursing through her veins from the previous one. She scrambled up and turned to run back, only to collide with a black cloak that suddenly grabbed ahold of her.

"Ashford!" Severus Snape tightened his grip and shook her shoulders, only realizing she was injured when she cried out in pain from the gash on her arm. He kept a hold but gentler as his face grew momentarily concerned. "Ashford, look at me! What happened?"

Alice stilled and stared into the alarmed, black eyes. Neither moved as her rapid breathing slowly steadied, her mind catching up to realize she was not about to be attacked again. "Where did you go?" She meekly got out, embarrassment and fear rivaling for strongest emotion.

Snape backed away but let Alice keep gripping his wrist. "I did not go anywhere. You asked if I trusted you and touched the floor, I saw a bright flash, and then when I opened my eyes we were in this room and you're flailing about like you were being attacked by an army of trolls…" He took a minute to look at the tear in her uniform as well as her injuries on her arm and head. "And you appear to be bleeding enough to cause concern."

Alice hadn't moved her eyes from his face, afraid she was going to be left alone again to fight some other terror. "You disappeared…" She whispered. "The light flashed and I was alone in the room except for three statues. I called out for you and no one answered, so I tried to keep moving forward. I solved what it wanted but then the statues started to attack." Alice motioned with her good hand to the injuries Snape was currently trying to quickly heal. "They had axes and swords. I wasn't fast enough at first. I'm sorry."

The healing spells stopped momentarily as Snape analyzed her as if she had grown three heads. "Did you have to defeat them to open the way here?"

Alice nodded.

"Then what are you apologizing for? You survived and found your way out. I doubt many students would be able to say the same." For several seconds longer than necessary he kept eye contact, as if trying to convey something, before he finished healing her and took a step back to look up to the enormous statue of the bearded man and the basin underneath his finger. "I may not know what's happened most of today, but I would assume that we have to look into the Pensieve in order to leave.

"Merlin this better be the end of it…" Alice muttered, attempting to dust herself off as she followed Snape over to the swirling liquid. "I don't suppose you know the odds of something in the Pensieve being able to attack us in some way?"

"Historically I don't believe it has ever happened."

Alice sighed longingly. "I still don't like those odds. Watch me somehow almost drown in this." She decided to not even think about it as she dove her head into the liquid, a second later feeling Snape's presence next to her.

The vision swirled before two wizards or attire from centuries ago emerged from the smoke. With a wave of their wands they were creating the very chamber she knew that she and Snape were currently occupying. The two finished up with a flourish before coming together, talking about if their portkey was well hidden, and the shorter of the two complaining it might be too well hidden, and too tough a test for the one who discovered it and embarked on their path. No shit. Alice thought to herself bitterly.

The tall one, who Alice realized the large statue was based off of, waved off the shorter man's concerns. "You worry too much Charles. Anyone like myself who can see traces of ancient magic will find their way through the path we left for them. It will only be impossible for those unable to see ancient magic."

"Your ability to see what others cannot see will not be enough Percivel." Charles looked somberly about. "We are entrusting the one who embarks on this path with powerful secrets–ones that many would do anything to obtain."

Percival continued, talking of trials and earning the rights to the knowledge and responsibilities, but Alice had stopped completely focusing, her ears echoing what they had said. Ancient magic? What even qualified as ancient magic, and why was she only noticing now if that was what it truly was. Did simply finding the portkey start her senses, like a necessary trigger? Was this a family line thing? She had been adopted as a baby she knew, but knew nothing of her birth parents. Really she had never thought to ask since she had never considered herself anyone else's daughter besides the Ashfords. So what if she had missed the chance for someone to go, "Oh, by the way, you can see ancient magic that's going to almost get you murdered by stone people one day!" Maybe this was why she wasn't in Ravenclaw. A Ravenclaw would have sought all the answers at some point.

Percival and Charles suddenly morphed into watery smoke as the memory ended and ejected the two living people back to the current time, standing where the two men had stood centuries ago. Alice started pacing while biting her cuticles, a habit she had picked up during stressful end of the year exams. Snape stayed silent, but she could see him glancing between the memories and his crazed student. It was all just too much for her, and the puzzle she had thought she had finally started to see the picture of felt as if it had been knocked off the table and set on fire, replaced with smaller and more intricate pieces.

"Ashford…" Snape started, snapping her from her thoughts. Not because he had begun to speak, but because his face for once wasn't as masked as it always was. Severus Snape was scared…no not scared, but wary. She was dangerous right now in his eyes, seeing a magic that was out there for only her to have access to. Her brain couldn't handle that look right now. Instead she turned to a new ring of lights and charged right into it, ignoring the call of the professor behind her. Without slowing her stride, Alice emerged into daylight and into familiarity. The ring had brought them to the edge of the Forbidden Forest right outside of the gates of Hogwarts.

Alice felt Snape grab her wretched it free, not caring if it bought her detentions until she graduated. She took off at a sprint along the stone path to the castle in front of her. To home. To normal.