The Raven and The Snake

The feast was as delicious as always with many new students coming in. There were two new staff members which were introduced at the end of the feast. Hagrid was away on a mission for Dumbledore so he had a temporary replacement, an old crone called Professor Grubbly-Plank that had filled in for him in the previous year after he'd taken a break from teaching due to a scathing article by Rita Skeeter.

The position for Defense Against the Dark Arts had reopened and the Ministry of Magic had taken the opportunity to start interfering with the inner workings of the school. The Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, had continued to be in denial about the return of Voldemort, despite being in the know almost as soon as it had happened. The entire summer he had lodged a campaign to discredit anything Dumbledore said to the contrary.

Fudge had always been something of an idiot, particularly when compared to Dumbledore. Dumbledore had turned down the position of Minister of Magic, teaching being his passion. Now Fudge thought that Dumbledore was trying to cause trouble to get back into the Ministry and refused to be told the contrary.

The new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher was called Professor Dolores Umbridge. She was rather short and squat with a pouchy face and a disturbingly girlish voice. She wore a bright pink, fluffy cardigan and an oversized bow in her hair as though she were a child.

Normally, no one ever interrupted Dumbledore's speeches, but Dolores Umbridge did. She stood up and cleared her voice with a high "hum hum" sound. Dumbledore stopped and sat back down so she could give her own speech during which she talked down to the students and heavily implied the changes the ministry intended to make at the school.

Antigone bristled at Ariadne's throat. She didn't like Umbridge. By the end of the year, no one would. The way she simpered at the crowd of students and spoke to them like they were five years old made Ariadne's lip curl.

Her eyes scanned Professor Snape's face, but he was expressionless. The only indication of bother were his whitening knuckles on the table in front of him. They would all need to be particularly careful this year if the ministry was watching. Harry Potter was more of an outcast than ever. The majority of the school seemed to be against him these days. In the first day of classes, he managed to land himself in detention with Professor Umbridge.

Ariadne had a sinking feeling about the whole thing. Her own first class with Umbridge was a disaster. Umbridge treated the students like naughty children and banned any spell practice in her class.

Chyou Chang and many of the other Ravenclaws had been quite frustrated by this. Ravenclaws generally took their lessons very seriously and performed well in exams. The concept of being unprepared due to lack of practical experience was distressing for many that prided themselves on doing well.

Ariadne didn't really mind not practicing the spells, she was already miles ahead after her practices with Moody and Snape. Voldemort himself was a fairly decent teacher as he expected the best out of his Death Eaters. She wasn't concerned about doing well on exams.

What she was worried about were the number of disgruntled students. Umbridge was doing her best to squash any claims that the Dark Lord was back, but there was a still a lingering fear. Fear and discord seemed to be the theme of this year with the changes happening to the school.

The Weasley twins were preparing to open their own joke shop once they'd finished the school year. They'd already gotten a building with the money they'd gotten from Harry and were testing out a wide range of products of their own invention. Ariadne, who already spent most of her time in the potions lab, was preparing a variety of treatments for any mishaps.

"Thanks, Aria," Fred said, leaning his head over her shoulder while she mixed together a potion to increase blood production on only their third day back.

She patted his cheek affectionately. George was with Lee, trying to recruit first-years as testers for the products, much to the annoyance of Hermione who had been made a prefect this year. Fred pressed his face into hair, making her giggle when someone cleared their voice loudly.

Fred backed off, several shades paler. She turned her head to smile at Professor Snape who wore an icy expression. For some reason, Fred and George, who had both been particularly affectionate with Ariadne up until a couple of years ago, had become very afraid of touching her since there had been an incident where they'd been caught by Snape.

The incident had been horribly embarrassing, made worse when Ariadne had attempted a poorly planned distraction so the twins could get away. She'd thought at first, that sheer embarrassment was what kept them from being physical with her for a while, but the twins were shameless people.

Snape was very good at occlumency, so she couldn't hear his mind at all if he didn't want her to. The twins, were at least quite aware of how her legilimancy worked and always did their best to think about other things when the subject came up. She was certain that something else had happened between them and Snape to make them extra wary around her.

Professor Snape strode right up to her, looking over her shoulder to see what she was making. "Blood replenishments? Are you planning to do something that will make you bleed a lot, Weasley? If you are, I'm not complaining, but do make sure not to make a mess in my classroom."

Ariadne's brows rose. Was Snape being more childish than usual? Normally he reserved this petulant behavior for Potter's class where he couldn't seem to help himself.

She felt Snape's hand brush briefly against hers because he was standing so close and she broke out in goosebumps. Fred gave a half-articulated excuse so he could leave. She went to kiss his cheek goodbye, but he did a sort of dance to avoid it.

What on earth had happened between them? Fred was nearly fearless. She pursed her lips.

"Professor-" she started to ask.

But Professor Snape had stalked away to his to desk and sat down to look at papers. She frowned, finishing up her potion before approaching him. He didn't look up at her when she approached.

"Is there something wrong, Professor?" She asked curiously.

He raised his wand deftly and the door to the classroom slammed shut. There was another flick and she could see a sort of shimmer over the door. He was putting up a shield to keep it shut. Another to dampen sound.

Antigone's chirping scales started across the room where she'd been left beside the cauldron. Ariadne put a hand on Snape's shoulder. "Professor..."

He tugged her wrist, pulling her so her back pressed against the desk, his hands on either side of her. She trembled a little, looking into his beautiful black eyes. Her mouth watered slightly.

"Miss Black, I've received orders to keep you very close to me this year." He spoke in a low growl.

Ariadne flinched. She knew very well what sorts of orders he'd been getting. Voldemort had wanted Snape to take a keen interest in her to maintain his hold even more closely. Dumbledore wanted them to do exactly what was asked of them so that Voldemort trusted them completely.

One of Snape's hands touched her face. "You can't be too friendly with the people you like, Aria. You know how much danger they're going to be in just because their parents are part of the Order."

Of course, he was trying to protect her. He was still her professor, even if their private lives were being controlled by other people.

"I'm not stupid, Professor. I just wanted to be friends with them for as long as I could. This is their last year here."

Snape's thumb ran across her bottom lip. It was a thing that she was used to from Voldemort, but it had a wholly different affect when it was coming from Snape. Instead of feeling slightly nauseated, she felt warmer. She squirmed a little against the desk, her lips parting.

"I know you play your part well." He murmured, watching her mouth as he pushed his thumb into it. His fingertip brushed her tongue and it was warm. He was so much more human than her grandfather who touched her intimately just to show he owned her.

He moved his hand away from her mouth, running it down her neck. His thumb felt wet from her saliva and sent a shiver down her spine. She felt a burning desire for him, a tiny whimper escaping her while she squirmed.

He sat back down, turning away from her. "You won't be sleeping in your own room anymore."

She frowned. Her body was hot and needy, but he showed no signs of taking it further. It was kind of a letdown. It took her a little longer than it should for his words to sink in properly.

"I have to say in the group dorm again?" she asked.

"No," he shuffled some papers. "You'll be sharing my quarters from now on."

Her eyes widened. Her whole body went slightly rigged. "What about the other staff..?"

He glared. "This isn't up for discussion, Miss Black. You will report to my private rooms every night from now on."

She nodded, side-stepping away from the desk. She couldn't imagine why he was doing this. He hadn't indicated at all that their relationship was changing. He must have a reason to want her in there on a regular basis. She pressed a tiny kiss to his temple and went back to Antigone who made a noise of discontent.

"What is he playing at?" She hissed.

"I don't know."