New Beginning

Chapter 13

The rest of the afternoon Hermione spent in the library, Darien stayed with Severus. Severus and Hermione had been splitting up the time that both of them have been watching him and allowing each other to have some personal time as well. She wanted to know the full extent of what exactly was going on with her. Hermione started pulling books down looking for the spells that had been cast on her.

Hermione sat at the table piled high with several books. She started reading through them when another person walked through the door of the library. His brown hair was pulled back, his silver robes cascaded off his figure like they were meant to be that way. The shirt he wore was dark gray and looked as if it was made of silk, the same look of his slacks that he wore, that was held up by a silver belt.

“Good afternoon, Professor Longfellow.” Madam Pince said who blushed.

Hermione had never seen the librarian blush, this was unexpected to say the least.

“Madam Pince, how many times have I told you? Call me Dante.” He flashed her a bright small.

Hermione was reminded of Professor Lockehart from her second year with that smile, but somehow Professor Longfellow\'s was natural, it didn’t seem to be charmed to drive women mad with loving emotions. Guilt immediately arose in Hermione, for admiring the man and she looked down quickly at the text she was reading.

“Is there anything you’re looking for?” Madam Pince asked him.

“Nothing I can’t find on my own, thank you for your offer.”

Hermione felt eyes on her and looked up. Dante was standing in front of the table. “I do believe we haven’t been introduced. Dante Longfellow, Professor for Defense Againt the Dark Arts.” He extended his hand for Hermione to take it.

Hermione reached out to shake the man’s hand and was stabbed with pain for even touching him, she looked back down quickly. “Hermione Granger.” She saidetlyetly.

“Excuse me, I don’t believe I caught your name.”

Hermione looked back up and said her name a little louder.

“Well, well, I must say I am honored to meet one of the ‘Gryffindor Trio’ I’ve heard so much about. You won’t be trying to put me out of my job now would you? I’ve heard how you three went through defense professors like it was water, while you went to school here.” His voice was low and teasing.

“No…uh, that was Harry’s job, not mine.” Hermione commented. “I’m here to teach Charms.”

“Good, I can relax some now that my job is safe. It was pleasure meeting you Professor Granger.”

“Hermione, please call me Hermione.”

He gave a slight bow, “Very well, I’m Dante.” With that he turned and walked over to the rictricted section of the library and vanished behind the row of books.

Hermione looked back down at the book, “Well, that was interesting.” She said to the book.

An hour later and Hermione had still had yet to find anything on the Adulterous Spell, she made her way into the restricted section and started mumbling to herself going down the rows of books fingering off each one. “Nope…no, no, no, no, maybe….not likely, no, no, no, no, good Lord definitely not.”

“Aren’t you in the wrong section for charms?” Dante picked up the bookbook Hermione had sat out and read the cover and looked at her. “Are you sure you’re not interested in my job.”

“Positive.” Hermione said as she took the book back and continued down the isle this time not saying anything as she fingered each book.

“What exactly are you looking for Hermione? Maybe I could help.”

Hermione shook her hea and and kept going, when she got to the end of the isle she crossed to the other side and made her way down that one. Dante was at the end of that isle leaning against the shelf with a book in his hand.

“I’ve never met someone whose emotions are so easy to read. It’s almost as if they are so strong, like you just got them back recently.”

Hermione stopped in her tracks half way down the isle and looked at him. Was it obv obvious that a total stranger could read her that w Gui Guilt was drawn back to her as she had been looking into his blue eand and had found them almost mesmerizing, she looked back away.

“I’ll leave you to your search, you might want to try two rows to the left, half way down. It’s a brown leather book, the title is ‘Ancient Magic of Aphrodite’.” Dante placed the book he had back on the shelf and walked out.

Hermione watched his retreating back. Rooted to the place in which she was standing. She shook her head and moved on going like she was before. She didn’t have to have anyone tell her how to do a search. She was Hermione Granger, read every book in the Hogwarts library before the end of her sixth year. Well almost everyone, the restricted section, had been denied to her. Not all the time, but Madam Pince had been the one to gather the books for her, she wasn’t allowed to come back here. So she wasn’t aware of how many she had actually read in the restricted section.

Thirty minutes later, Hermione stood in front of the book Dante had said would be there. Curious, she pulled it from the shelf and opened it up. The book was filled with nothing but spell, charms, incantations, jinxes and hexes on love and the relationships of magical creatures, human and or otherwise. Hermione rolled her eyes and took the book anyway, this was exactly what she had been looking for. She placed the book down on the table she had left and started going through it. She found the jealousy spell right off and started reading, everything she was experiencing was from this spell.

*******


Severus was in his office, Darien was on the floor playing with the ball that had shapes that could fit in it. He was working on revising some of the potions he would be teaching the Gryffindor and Slytherin second years when his office door was knocked on.

“Come in.” Severus said not looking up.

“Severus, just wanted you to know if you were up for a game of chess?”

Severus looked up at Dante. He was back early, he wasn’t due to arrive for another five days. “What are you doing back early?”

Dante moved closer to the desk and stopped, he noticed Darien and raised his eyebrows. “My, my, you have been busy since I’ve been gone. I got tired of the forest I was in, and decided to come back.” Darien looked up at the new person in the room, he cocked his head to the side trying to figure the new adult out. Dante looked at Severuo wao was watching his son. “Tell me yoren’ren’t the one who put that sex spell on Hermione.”

Severus looked at Dante. “You’re already on first name basis with her, and no I wasn’t.” The last part was said with venom.

Darien threw one of his shapes at Dante. Dante looked back down at the little boy. “Easy young man. I’m not the enemy here.”

“No, if you were the enemy he’d be throwing more than just one of his blocked shapes at you.” Severus went around the desk and picked up the shape and took it back to he put it on the floor and then reached out and picked up Darien. “This is Darien, Dante.” He turned back to the man.

“Darien.” Dante bowed to the little boy. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. Remind me not to make you mad, if you throw blocks because you feel your father’s anger.”

Darien looked from Dante to his father who was now grinning. “I think he has a protective streak in him.”

“Good quality to have. So I guess the chess game is off then.”

“We can still play, though I don’t know what Darien is going to do when he sees the pieces move yet.”

Dante grinned, “Oh, by all means, we have to show him chess.”

Severus, Darien and Dante ended up in Severus’s chambers. Dante on one side of the chessboard and Severus on the other. Darien was standing by his father holding onto the robes watching them set up the pieces. Once the pieces started moving Darien was entranced with them. Darien was fine until Severus brought his knight to one place on the board and Dante’s queen took it. Darien started screaming and slapping at the pieces. Both Severus and Dante looked at Darien iock.ock.

“What is going on with him, Severus?”

Severus picked en uen up and tried to calm down, “I don’t know.”

“That isn’t normal behavior Severus. Have you checked your son over? Maybe who ever put that curse on Hermione did something to your son.”

Severus kept looking back to the chessboard and Darien, Darien kept reaching for the board. Then it occurred to him, Harry’s first year, they played a chess game and Ron sacrificed himself so they could get across the room. “Darien, it’s not real.” He wasn’t sure how to tell him what he was remembering to what he was seeing now was different. “Put the chessboard away, Dante.”

Dante cleared away the board, it was several minutes later and Darien stopped screaming. Severus sat down in one of the chairs and turned Darien to him. His eyes were almost black, instead of the brown they had been. Dante was now standing behind him looking at Darien too.

“I thought he had brown eyes.”

“He does.”

“Severus, his eyes are black right now.”

“I can see perfectly fine Dante.”

The door to Severus’s chambers was opened and Hermione came in and stopped when she saw Dante, her eyes were swollen from crying. She had read everything in the book that Ron had done to her. Severus looked over at her, he saw the brown book in her hand. “Hermione.”

“I hate him, I want to kill him.”

Severus stood up and walked over to her, “That would get a sentence in Azkaban, you can’t do that.”

“I don’t care, I want to kill him.”

Severus covered his face with his free hand that wasn’t holding Darien, he had a very, blood thirsty Gryffindor on his hands at the moment. And he still wasn’t sure what was going on with Darien. “Hermione, think about it. you you go to Azkaban how is that going to make Darien feel.” Uncovering his face he looked at her.

Hermione was looking at Darien then back to him. “Okay you’re right, but I still want to kill him. And why are his eyes black again?”

“Again?” Severus asked, “When did they go black before?”

“This morning,” Hermione looked away from him.

“When he had the raw magical surge.”

“Yes.”

Dante stayed back but took in everything that was going on. He looked at the little boy, more intrigued with him. He was awfully young to be having magical surges, clearly something wasn’t right with this little boy. “I’ll just be leaving.” Dante said.

Severus looked back at Dante, “We’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Goodnight, Severus. Hermione.” Dante looked at Darien when he got up to them. “Night Darien.” Darien looked at him, Dante noticed the color in his eyes were going back to brown. It was rare for a wizard’s eyes to change color with magic but it was known to happen, those wizard’s were rare and very powerful, they were Mage. “When Darien gets older Severus, I would have him tested. Mages are rare, but it wouldn’t hurt to test him.”

Severus looked at Darien. He remembered a conversation that he had with Dumbledore about Harry, Dumbledore said that Harry was as close to a Mage as most wizards come. They had found out before the last battle Harry’s eyes had powerful properties in them, he was close enough to almost be able to perform wandless magic, he could do little things, but not enough that would qualify him as a true Mage.

“We will,” Severus told Dante as he walked out.