Ariadne Freya Lestrange

Ariadne Lestrange is a British witch who was adopted by the Longbottom family. She is currently a Healer at St Mungo's.

## Personality

“It’s always the quiet ones”. Or at least that’s what they had said about Ariadne when the rumors swirled of her involvement of the Muggleborn killings on the Hogwarts express. Ariadne is quiet, but not because she is planning to murder anyone. She is simply an introvert, and would rather delve into the world of her books than converse about mindless gossip with her fellow students. As the elder daughter of a prominent Pureblood family, Ariadne was raised to be polite but distant to anyone her family didn’t deem worthy of their time. While she was not of the same belief system as her parents, the time she got to spend by herself was preferred, especially after the attacks on the Hogwarts Express that everyone assumed she was responsible for (she was NOT thank you very much).

When she is not seeking the solitude she prefers, Ariadne is kind and hospitable to anyone asking for her help, whether it be a simple question or a homework problem they happen to be stumped on. All that time with books had given Ariadne’s brain a lot of knowledge, and she tried her best to pass on that knowledge when she was asked. She also found a peaceful existence helping the school nurse mix together healing herbs and draughts for ill or injured students, which likely led to her ultimate career choice of being a Healer. It was likely surprising to most that Ariadne chose to go into the Maternity ward at Saint Mungos, but those closest to her knew her desire to bring life into the world over snuffing it out was made even stronger after her parents demise.

Ariadne was Sorted into Ravenclaw for a reason: she is intelligent, clever and witty. However, she is VERY loyal to the people she cares about most: her two siblings and James Potter, the only person aside from her siblings who truly believed she was not capable of the train murders she was accused of. She is very protective over these three people in particular, not afraid to voice her opinion to them if she believes what they’re doing is wrong or too dangerous. She is also quick to defend her loved ones if she overhears anyone speaking ill of them; she hexed someone who had called Andy a psycho at the Hogs Head once, and refused to apologize for the incident. She may be the most reserved and “harmless” Lestrange child, but lay a hand on one of her loved ones, and she’ll show you what a Lestrange is really made of.

## Relationships

-- ANDROMEDA KARINA LONGBOTTOM - little sister

-- ARES EDWARD LESTRANGE - older brother

-- PHILIP CARSON LONGBOTTOM - adoptive younger brother

-- James Potter - romantic history

## History

Ariadne came into the world at the tail end of January, the second child and first daughter born to Rabastan and Morgana Lestrange. She had an elder brother, who from his own birth had been tapped as the heir to the Lestrange family home and fortune, but Ariadne’s birth was a welcome one. The Lestranges were blood purists, and they truly believed that with the birth of their daughter they now had two avenues of keeping the Lestrange line pure for another generation. A peek into Ariadne’s early childhood would reflect a life similar to aristocrats of the 1800s; lots of reading, playing the piano, and lessons on etiquette and decorum. To the Lestrange familys’ surprise, one year after Ariadne’s birth came a third child, a daughter named Andromeda. They were unsure of how to go from there - they’d had their perfect family all figured out after all - and Andromeda was sort of the outcast. Not to Ariadne though, for although she was barely a year and half when Andy was born, it was love at first sight for the big sister. The two girls did everything together, partly because their parents restricted access to any friends that weren’t of the same status as they were, but partly because Ariadne genuinely loved her sisters company. Andy had a wild spark to her that Aria envied; though it got her little sister into more trouble, Aria simply didn’t have the courage to try and be different than what was expected of her.

Ariadne went off to Hogwarts the September after she turned eleven; she was expected of course to be Sorted into Slytherin, but to her surprise, the hat shouted ‘RAVENCLAW’ as soon as it touched the top of her blonde head. Her parents were disappointed, but relieved that at least the house known for its intelligence would still fit the perfect pureblood mold they were trying to put Ariadne in. The name Lestrange preceded Ariadne in terms of her reputation at the school; her brother had already made quite a name for himself since he arrived, so naturally people suspected Ariadne was one in the same. She quickly proved to her professors that she was a brightly intelligent witch, excelling in classes such as Transfiguration, Herbology and Potions. She also ended up making one or two friends who saw her as a person and not as her last name, and she showed them true loyalty in return. When her sister Andromeda arrived the following year and was placed into Gryffindor, Ariadne found that she was not altogether shocked. Andy had the courage to try and be different from what their parents wanted, and Gryffindor house valued that spirit. Ariadne watched with a strange sense of pride as Andy continued to become her own person, much to their older brothers’ chagrin. Alas, Andromeda’s rebellious spirit and Ariadne’s more reserved nature meant that the two ran in very different circles, and began to spend less and less time together at Hogwarts. Ariadne loved her sister of course, but came to the realization that it would be easier for her to make her own name for herself instead of always being in the two elder Lestranges’ shadow, so she accepted the distance put in between them with her normal cool reserve.

September 1st, 2022 was the first day of Ariadne’s seventh year at Hogwarts. She had decided on her career path as a Healer, however she had yet to determine which ward she wanted to concentrate in. She was lucky enough that Saint Mungo’s had a programme that would allow her to study the different types of Healing wards the hospital had to offer in the first six months of her training, so she was counting on that to help her decide. Thoughts of healing and graduating however, were slammed out of her mind when a Muggleborn first year was found dead, and fingers pointed directly at her. Ariadne was shocked at the accusations against her; surely people couldn’t believe someone like her would kill a child in cold blood? Unfortunately, people DID believe it - her family’s reputation after all was all the proof they needed to believe in her guilt. Her quiet mannerisms didn’t help either - ‘it’s always the quiet ones’ people would whisper as Ariadne would pass them in the hallways. It was a very difficult period for Ariadne, as she became even more quiet and withdrawn than usual, even from her tight knit circle of friends. She would keep the curtains around her bed drawn at all times, so nobody would know if she was there or not, and shrink back to the most quiet, undisturbed part of the library to study. She wouldn’t volunteer in class, or even participate, worried that any attention drawn to her would result in more whispers or veiled insults and threats thrown in her direction. To her immense surprise, there was one person who staunchly defended her, saying she was innocent of the murder. That person was James Sirius Potter. The Potters had been a family Ariadne was warned to avoid when she went to Hogwarts; the patriarch had been the downfall of Lord Voldemort both times after all. But there was...something, that drew Ariadne to James. He was everything she was not; loud, popular, outgoing, extroverted, and a known womaniser. Ariadne had never been on a date, let alone kissed a boy! Perhaps the old adage of opposites attract came into play, but somehow Ariadne Lestrange found herself falling hard and fast for the eldest Potter boy. Even more shocking was when she found out the feelings were reciprocated, and the two began to date each other exclusively. Ariadne had not known this sort of happiness existed; she only had her parents marriage to look at as an example of a relationship, and that was very old fashioned. They had married out of duty rather than love, and Ariadne was honestly not sure if love was even part of the relationship. With James, everything was different. The world seemed a whole lot lighter with him by her side; he listened to her, treated her as an equal, and made her feel loved, something she hadn’t realized she had been craving until she had it. Unfortunately for the two lovebirds, the honeymoon period was cut short as a second child of Muggleborn blood was found dead, and Ariadne and Andromeda were abruptly withdrawn from Hogwarts. Ariadne was despondent; she would stay up late at night in order to write to James under the covers, excusing her owls’ absences as wanting her to go out at night to hunt like she would at Hogwarts.  However, their father saw through this ruse, and secretly intercepted Ariadne's letters to James.  One morning, Ariadne came down to breakfast to find the letters spread out on the kitchen table, her father sitting at the head.  What happened next is something Ariadne will never forget.  Dragging her by the hair to the sitting room where her brother and sister were, Rabastan performed the Cruciatus Curse on his own daughter, screaming at her for soiling the family name by consorting with a Potter, and the shame she brought on the family.  When he finally stopped, Ariadne was whimpering and crying in the fetal position, and their father warned them that this was their fate if they disobeyed the family again.

Fortunately for the Lestrange girls, karma stepped in and they were brought back to Hogwarts. They were unofficially adopted by Neville and Hannah Longbottom, breaking them free from the Lestrange household. With this huge message from the Longbottoms, a very prominent and well respected family in the wizarding world, suspicions of Ariadne began to clear and she was able to resume a somewhat normal life. Her and James’ relationship began anew and their passionate romance began to crack the shell around Ariadne’s reserved nature. She would spend some meals with James’ friends, still far less outgoing than any of them, but finding herself enjoying their company. She was even able to build a bridge with her relationship with Andromeda, the two girls able to talk more and more with the restrictiveness their parents placed on them gone. They went to the Longbottoms home for Christmas, where they were treated to a completely different holiday than they were used to; full of love, and sharing thoughtful presents, and a lot of time in the kitchen coming up with fun recipes to bake together as a family. Ariadne decided then and there that THIS was what she wanted; a loving, kind family who encouraged each other to follow their dreams, whatever they may be.

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Spring term at Hogwarts was rather uneventful, at first. Then April 1st came around, and the group truly responsible for the Muggleborn killings infiltrated the school and kidnapped several students of prominent Pureblooded families, all in their seventh year. Ariadne was able to avoid being taken, thanks in part to her boyfriends assistance in dueling the mercenaries, but the event ended with Elaine Dupree being revealed as the real murderer, and Ariadne’s housemate Ethan Johnson dead, killed by Elaine and left to be found by the rescuers. Although by now suspicion of Ariadne’s true loyalties were evaporated, she still mourned the death of her housemate, a kind soul who didn’t deserve to leave the earth this way. With a heavy heart, but a more determined nature, Ariadne graduated Hogwarts a month later, James by her side. The attack on Kings Cross came when their train was making its’ way back to London, however because they had received word before coming into the station, the students and graduates were left relatively unharmed. Ariadne had wanted to help, but knew it was best left to the trained medi wizards instead, and to save herself for her trainings, so if something happened again she’d be ready.

Ariadne had started leaning towards maternity healing during her seventh year at Hogwarts, but after the kidnappings and death of Ethan Johnson, it took a more formal shape. Ariadne decided to forgo the six months of interning with each department and took a position as the Junior Healer of the Maternity Ward. She was mentored by a great witch and Healer, who didn’t give a figs worth of who her family was, only that her skills and her heart were in the right place. A few months passed by, with Ariadne training in her new ward, moving in with James in Grimmauld Place, and just being a relatively normal person. She had read about the Triwizard Tournament being played out at school, but after learning Andy had not been selected as champion, she tuned it out, not really caring who ended up winning (though obviously preferring a Hogwarts win!)

She should have known it was too good to be true; in the fall of that year, she started receiving threatening letters from her parents, telling her what a disgrace she was, and threatening to kill James Potter and make her “pay” for soiling the good Lestrange name. When visiting with Andromeda in Hogsmeade, Ariadne was unable to hide the despair she felt from her parents threats, and confided in her younger sister what they were saying. What happened next, Ariadne is still not sure. All she knows is that her brother and sister went to confront their parents the night of December 31st, and only Andy and their brother came out of the destruction that followed alive. The loss of her parents felt dulled in comparison to almost losing her siblings, who meant more to her than her parents ever truly did. She made sure that they were receiving the best attention and care at Saint Mungo’s, occasionally spending sleepless nights between the separate wards to be with her siblings. She was especially worried about Andromeda, who had been placed in the psych ward for evaluation. Her first clue into how far her sister had gone into the darkness came when visiting her brother; she saw old scars on his back that couldn’t have been inflicted by the destruction of the house. His response? “Ask Andy.”

Still, she held out hope that both siblings would recover, and eventually they did, with Andy returning to Hogwarts to finish out her final year. Physically and emotionally exhausted, Ariadne took a week off to recover, spending it coupled up with James in the safety of Grimmauld Place, just the two of them, reading, baking and tending to the herb garden she had planted in the little backyard. Finally, when Ariadne felt she was ready to return to life again, she resumed her duties at the hospital, helping her mentor deliver new babies, and marveling at the magic of bringing new life into the world.

Ariadne was pulled out of the maternity wing for a few weeks after the explosions of the Durmstrang ship and Beauxbatons carriage to help the Healers care for the survivors. It was an all hands on deck situation, and her mentor was more than capable of delivering babies on her own. Ariadne had a maternal instinct when it came to the survivors, especially the ones who had lost some of their only friends and family in the explosions. She knew what it was like to feel alone, and she didn’t want anyone else to ever have to feel that way. Not long after she resumed her duties in the maternity ward however, another tragedy struck - Harry Potter had gone missing, his wand found by his best friend Ron Weasley. James was despondent, and Ariadne knew there was absolutely nothing she could do or say that would take the pain away completely. She had lost her parents at the beginning of the year, but they had not had the bond Harry had with James, so it felt like a completely different situation. Ariadne was not part of the Order of the Phoenix, but knew of its’ existence due to James’ part in it. When he told her the Order had fractured into three groups, Ariadne was surprised. Why would they break apart when what the world needed right now was for them to band together? James had always been a man of action, so it came as no surprise to her when he told her he was going to go looking for his father. Ariadne gave him her blessing, telling him she’d be waiting here at their home for him when he came back, and off he went.

What felt like years passed for Ariadne before James returned, and she was surprised to learn that he had absolutely zero memory of his time searching for his father. She had a feeling he thought his memory loss had something to do with Harry, but personally she wasn’t so sure. He didn’t seem to want to push the subject, so she let it drop, and the couple is now trying to resume their lives to be as normal as possible, if that was even an option. James successfully tried out for the Chaser position with the Appleby Arrows, and Ariadne successfully delivered her first baby as the maternity healer on her own. Things are moving in the right direction, if the wizarding world could settle down for a few minutes. Ariadne knows her boyfriend will never fully stop questioning where his father is, but she accepts that and wants to help in any way she can. For now, she can just keep calm, and carry on.