Prologue

Severus Snape stood motionless before the headmaster’s desk, hands folded beneath his travelling cloak. The perfect silence that followed his tale was broken only by the tranquil ticking of a Grandfather clock in the corner…

1: Sweet Briar

Delilah Blackthorn was not a morning person. It was, therefore, powerful testament to the giddy anticipation that for the last week she had carried around in her chest cavity, like a soaring aria which increased…

2: Delilah Blackthorn

‘Don’t move.’ They had Apparated into a dingy hallway. He stood with his back to the wall, still holding her against him, the back of her head pressed into his chin, his arm around her…

3: Delilah du Lac

When Delilah stirred into consciousness the next morning, she experienced a blissful moment of wakeful oblivion: sunlight crept through her parted eyelashes, and just then she had no idea where she was or what had…

4: Of Age

Delilah didn’t even raise her head when she heard the door slam. She heard footsteps along the hallway and a thump as something landed at the foot of the stairs. ‘Miss Blackthorn?’ came a familiar…

5: Curses

The novelty of being seventeen wore off pretty quickly. It wasn’t until a few days after Delilah’s birthday that it really dawned on her that she could use magic whenever she wanted, all alone. That…

6: Transactions

Sunlight streamed through the bedroom window and Delilah woke peacefully, propping herself up on her elbow and reaching for the glass of water on her bedside table. She must have forgotten to close the curtains,…

7: Back to Hogwarts

‘What if your husband comes home?’ moaned Gannon, gasping with pleasure as she teased his cock with her tongue. ‘Don’t speak about Milton,’ Lilith whispered. ‘He doesn’t matter, you and I are what matter now…’…

8: Whispers

On her first morning at Hogwarts, Delilah got lost trying to find the Great Hall. She took the staircase on the right hand side of the portrait of Eldwidge the Eccentric and his Army of…

9: Bleak Midwinter

The days were drawing in. Rain turned to hail, and autumn to winter; the bitterest winter Delilah had ever known. Some mornings when she woke with her new alarm clock, it was so completely pitch…