A/N: Thanks to everyone who has favorited and/or followed. I'm not particularly happy with this chapter, mostly because nothing happens, but bear with me, I swear the next chapter will be better!
Disclaimer: See Prologue.
Chapter 3
Dante arrived in Grimmauld Place in the morning after breakfast. Hermione pounced on him and dragged him upstairs.
"Come on," she said briskly, "We're getting rid of a doxie infestation. It'll probably take us well into the afternoon to finish up."
Dante stepped into the room to see everyone spraying curtains, clothes tied over their mouths and noses. Hermione handed him a sprayer.
Dante watched the curtains and doxies flying out of it. Then he looked back at the bottle, a grin plastering itself on his face. "Mrs. Weasley," he said, "You might want to step back."
She turned to him, her eyes narrowed. "Why?"
Dante himself stepped back, until he was in the middle of the room. He pulled out his wand and gave it a twirl. "Accio doxies!"
Hermione screamed. Ginny squeaked, and Ron, Harry, Fred and George all yelped as what looked to be hundreds of doxies zoomed out of the curtains and went for Dante, who couldn't even be seen under the attacking doxies.
"Attack!" said Fred, and the rest of them aimed their cans.
"NO – LEAVE IT!" Mrs. Weasley's cry stopped them in their tracks. "THE SPRAYS - THEY'RE POISONOUS! YOU'LL KNOCK HIM OUT!"
"He's half-demon!" Ron cried back.
"Someone missed the memo." said Dante from somewhere inside the swarm, and the doxies suddenly all stilled. For a moment, they remained there, as if frozen, and then dropped to the floor as one, leaving Dante standing victorious inside a circle of petrified doxies, holding the spray can aloft.
"They're more fun than I would've given them credit for." he said, grinning.
"You - " Mrs. Weasley was red in the face.
"Well, the ministry can't detect my magic here, it's under Fidelius…"
Mrs. Weasley worked her jaw silently for a moment, and then clutched her head and left the room.
Hermione was shaking her head mutely as she stared at him. Ginny was giggling madly. Ron and Harry were both grinning.
Fred and George were giving him disappointed looks. "You got off easy because you're not her son." said Fred, indignantly. "How is that fair?"
"Especially considering the crime." said George.
"But we'll just have to make the best of it." Fred said, and both twins gave him thumbs up and went to work picking up doxies and pocketing them.
Hermione grabbed him by the elbow and steered him towards the door. "Get cleaned up." she said. "Then get down for lunch. You're lucky Mrs. Weasley's too nice to cancel the entire party."
"Hey, I helped!"
Hermione pushed him out the door, turned back, turned around, smiling hugely, and gave him a bear hug.
"It's great to have you back." she said.
Despite the dubious means, Mrs. Weasley could not deny that the work was done, and so all of them got the rest of the day to themselves. The conversations started out innocently enough, but soon turned to the Order and what Voldemort could be up to.
"D'you reckon Snape's the only spy the Order's got?" said Ron.
"Probably not." said Hermione. "But he must be highest ranked in You-Know-Who's circle – there's always some sort of meeting called when he comes around. He must have a lot of important information."
"'Course Snape's highest ranked." Fred said grimly. "He hates most of us, a lot of the Order members doesn't trust him – and he hates Harry."
"Must be worth extra points, that one." George agreed.
Dante stifled a yawn behind his hand. Hermione turned to him, her eyes wide.
"Why don't you tell us about what happened in the school?" she said. "We know that there were demons, but a portal opening there? That's unprecendanted, a demonic portal has never opened in Hogwarts according to Hogwarts: A History-"
"Uncle Albus thinks some demon-lord wanted to play." Dante said lightly.
"There are demon lords?" Ginny piped up.
"Sure." said Fred. "They even have a king."
"You've been reading about demons?" Hermione asked suspiciously.
"We know the interesting bits." George said airily.
"We do know how to read, Hermione." Fred said, frowning.
"You went to the library and looked up demons?" Hermione pressed.
"No, we asked our little friend here." George nonchalantly patted Dante on the shoulder.
"You mean you badgered me until I threw you out." said Dante.
"Literally." said Fred.
"It wasn't your most patient moment." added George.
"Oh, I beg to differ." Dante folded his arms defensively. "I didn't break anything, so…"
"Except for the priceless relics we were carrying." George pointed out.
"That piece of china was already broken!"
"Yes, but you broke the broken piece." Fred said patiently.
Hermione, Harry and Ron had found another topic of discussion.
"It could be like a bomb." Hermione said thoughtfully.
"Something of mass destruction." Harry said.
"A mob?" Ron asked them.
"Bomb. Explosive devices." Hermione answered. "It can kill a lot of people at once."
"I've always wondered why wizards don't have anything like that." Dante agreed. "They do have fiendfyre, though-"
"They have what?" said Harry.
"Fire that consumes everything in its path." said Hermione. "It's uncontrollable, though, isn't it?"
"Uncle Albus can control it somewhat." said Dante. "Maybe Voldemort can, too."
"Can you?" Ron asked.
Dante grinned. "Considering it involves conjuring and controlling stuff… yes, I can."
"Wicked!" said Fred and George.
Hermione eyed him with admiration. "I knew you're great in Transfiguration, but this is… really advanced!"
"Can you do it now?" Ginny said eagerly.
"Hi, Mom!" Ron said loudly. Ginny snapped her mouth closed and looked at Mrs. Weasley, who was standing in the doorway eyeing them with a suspicious frown.
"Food's ready." She said. "Wash up and get downstairs."
After she had left, Ginny gave Dante another hopeful look, but he only shrugged and said, "After all the trouble you're going through cleaning this house, it'll be a real shame to burn it down." After a moment's thought, he added, "Maybe someday."
The table was packed with food. Dante was extremely surprised to see glasses of strawberry sundae sitting by the plates, charmed to stay frozen.
"Dumbledore said you'd like it." Mrs. Weasley informed him as they all sat down to eat. "Fred, George, no… DON'T SUMMON THEM!"
The cutlery zoomed over her head and landed with a thunk, one inside a bowl, another on a plate that cracked down the middle from the force.
"I'VE HAD IT WITH YOU TWO!" she yelled at them. Dante discreetly stuffed his earphones in his ear. Family dinners had never been his thing, anyway, and he could definitely do without the yelling.
Dinner passed at rapid speed and without any further incident. When he was halfway through his dessert, Dante heard something that made him look up from his sundae towards where Hermione was talking to Remus.
"-reminds me of his mother."
"Yes, I saw her records." said Hermione. "She had quite a lot of incidents to her name."
"Eva had a screwed up notion of fair play." Sirius joined the conversation.
"Like what?" Dante asked, his spoon frozen halfway to his mouth.
"She used to jump into any fight that involved unequal opponents." said Remus. "Never got made prefect, but she got the Head Girl badge. That made things worse. She got it into her head that she was responsible for every student in Hogwarts."
"She had a deceptively motherly vibe." Sirius said grimly. "That was a nightmare year – she never took off points or gave detentions, but she'd jump in and take sides in any duel she thought was unfair. She got in prank wars too – it was ridiculous."
"She pulled off any on you?" Ginny asked from Hermione's other side.
"On James and Sirius." said Remus, grinning. "She jinxed off all the hair on one side of their heads."
Ginny howled with laughter. Hermione looked torn between disapproval and amusement.
"Yeah." Sirius said, grinning. "She got a lot of detentions, too, even as Head Girl."
"Mostly because she smartmouthed everyone- including the teachers." said Remus. "She rarely got detention for fighting because she never used to start any fight. If she admitted to throwing the first hex against you, it was your reputation that got ruined, because it meant you were bullying someone." he smiled at Dante. "From what Hermione told me, it seems like you take after her."
"I try." Dante said sincerely.
"Without the motherly vibe, that is." said Sirius, laughing. "That's one thing I definitely don't see in you. When the firsties were missing home or having some other problems, they used to go running to your mother, and that wasn't just limited to Gryffindor House."
Dante winced at that prospect. "Well, it takes a supermom to raise Vergil and me. But no offense, I'd rather not play that role."
Hermione snorted. "I definitely can't see you doing that." She agreed. "Have you bought your books yet?"
"Cut me some slack, Hermione, I got admitted yesterday!"
"You need to work harder than any of us, you know that, right? You've been practicing at home, I know, but that's just not the same!"
"Whatever…" Dante went back to his sundae. Hermione's lips turned down. Dante sighed.
It would be a long summer.
Dante went to visit Snape that night, at Hogwarts.
Not that this was the first time he had visited Snape this summer. Dante had learned a lot of his magical dueling skills from Snape – hands on, of course – it wasn't so much teaching as it was learning to cast the spells Snape himself hurled at him without warning during duels. They had met up many times on every summer since his first year.
Dante had a feeling Snape knew that Dante could beat him at any duel they've ever had using his speed factor alone, that he was always holding back. That seemed to make him more determined to catch Dante off his guard, with curses and hexes that Dante sometimes wondered if Snape conjured up himself. He never protested, because it worked out to his advantage. He probably knew nearly all of the non-fatal curses and hexes Snape had in his arsenal. It was an unspoken agreement between them that neither of them would attack the other in a way that was fatal, even if cast by Snape and fatal only for humans. Neither of them was willing to take that risk, and the other knew that. It made for a strange bond of trust that could, at times, almost pass for casual companionship.
This summer, it was different. The Potions Master acted more and more aloof, almost like he had during Dante's first year at Hogwarts. It was getting on his nerves, and he was resolved to do something about it.
He entered Hogwarts through a passage from Hog's Head to a hidden room in Hogwarts that was known as the Room of Requirement. The room had conjured up this passage because he had asked it to, after one of their duels. He knew Snape would move into the school a few days before term started – he always did.
He found Snape busy at his worktable, making some sort of potion. As he entered Snape's office without knocking, Snape paused in his work, his hand inches above his pestle. "I see that civilized behavior is too much to ask for Albus Dumbledore's great-nephew." he said softly.
Dante stepped forward, pausing in the zone where the blue fire underneath the cauldrons cast strange shadows across his face. Then he smirked, and the mysterious look vanished into thin air.
"What can I say?" he spread his hands. "Civility and I just don't mix."
"Evidently." sneered Snape, resuming his work.
"Huh." Dante snorted, crossing his arms over his chest as he observed the other man. "So what are we playing today? Hoop jumping? Puzzle solving? Or maybe.." he raised his eyebrows, "Go fish?"
Snape finally turned to look at him. "What nonsense are you blathering, Sparda?" he snarled.
"Oh, come on! Every time I've come this summer we've done this routine. It used to be fun, but it's getting a bit... repetitive, don't you think? Takes the fun out of it!" he shook his head in a disappointed manner. "If you're gonna play the hard to get game..." he pointed a finger at Snape, "At least make it more interesting."
For a long, long moment, Snape seemed completely lost for words. An ugly blush had crept over his cheeks, and his face was horribly twisted.
"You dare, Dante?" he hissed finally. "You dare twist my words to make them some sort of perverse, pathetic joke? You have no idea- none- of what I've had to endure this summer. Don't act like you're being victimized when faced with the simple fact that not everything must revolve around you and cater to your heroics!"
Dante watched him, unblinking, somber. "Are you done?"
Looking furious beyond belief, Snape abruptly turned back to his potion. Dante leaned casually against a wall, crossing his arms.
"Aren't your fellow Gryffindors eager to celebrate with you?" Snape snapped after a long silence. "What in the name of sanity are you doing here, Sparda?"
"Is it a crime now to check up on old friends?"
Snape's upper lip curled. "Would you perhaps care to rephrase that?"
"I haven't been your student for the past three years, so... nah." Dante pushed himself away from the wall. "But if you want me to leave, just say the word."
The serious tone finally seemed to break through Snape's haze of rage, so uncharacteristic it was.
"If you came here for emotional assistance," Snape said, sounding more than a little wrong-footed. "You know I'm not the person you need."
Huh? He must think me getting serious means something bad's happened again. Dante snorted mirthlessly. "Trust me, assistance is the last thing on my mind. Looks like I screwed up again. I've got to pay that off, don't I? If you're angry," he took a step forward, "And if there's something I can do to make up for that, just name it. This distance thing is really starting to get old."
"If you want cuddling then go and ask Black!"
Disturbing silence.
Dante stared at him with wide eyes. Then he erupted into laughter. Snape gritted his teeth, humiliation and anger burning in his eyes.
"For real?" Dante said finally, wiping a tear from his eye. "Students' greatest nightmare Severus Snape acting like some kind of jealous-"
"If you have nothing of value to say, I suggest you remove yourself from-"
Dante made a momentous effort to get himself in check. "Sorry, I'm sorry." he said, lifting his hands in the universal gesture of surrender. "I solemnly swear that I love you just as much as I've ever done and there's space in my heart for both you and Sirius." he said with a straight face. "That said, I broke your heart, so what must I do to make up for it?"
Snape's eyes narrowed.
"Why don't you try out some of the things I've been subjected to at the hands of the senior Potter and his gang?" he said with a twisted smile.
Dante straightened up, surprised. "You want me to 'almost' get bitten by a werewolf?" he said, cocking his head in amusement.
"Or hanging upside down and-" Snape paused, seemingly thinking better of whatever he was going to say next. "Humiliated in front of every student in school!"
"That's kind of a two person job, don't ya think?" Dante said lazily, but his thoughts were as focused as they ever were. "Unless you want to do the cursing yourself-"
"Why not?" Snape hissed. "You think it's uneven, Sparda? Unfair? Your precious Black and his gang wouldn't attack me unless they were four on one, what would you call that, I wonder?"
"Actually, I think it's just bad taste." Dante shrugged. "And that if you do that, it's gonna cost you your job?"
"Is that right? But when a prefect and a head boy join forces against a student, they're applauded for it?" snarled the Potions Master. "When James Potter attacked me, he was promoted to Head Boy! When I fought back, that was Dark Magic, breaking rules, and slimy Slytherins being villanous!"
"So it all comes back to Uncle Albus, then."
Snape paused abruptly. "I'm not accusing the headmaster of unfairness." he said stiffly. "He couldn't have known everything that went on in the school... I'm sure it never crossed his mind that everyone's favorite boy Potter was nothing but a coward and a bully. He made Lupin prefect, I believe, so that he would put muzzles on his housmates. It was not his fault that Lupin was too much of a coward to honour that trust..."
Dante snorted softly, shaking his head. "You'd make a good Hufflepuff." he said. "Any house except Gryffindor, really..."
Snape was suddenly only a few inches from Dante's face, his wand clenched in his fist, face drained of all color. "Are you calling me a coward, Sparda?"
"What, you calling yourself a Gryffindor?" Dante said, his eyebrows raised.
Snape recoiled as if struck. He stepped back, and the look of bewilderment on his face was almost comical.
"Gryffindor does not have a monopoly on courage." he muttered finally.
Dante finally pushed himself away from the wall. "Nah, only on recklessness." he added with a smile, "You're proof enough."
Snape's eyes widened sharply. He stared at Dante in stunned silence.
A loud hiss emitted from the cauldron. Snape turned away and dipped his stirring rod into the potion, adding two clockwise stirs and three in reverse.
"Were those counter clockwise stirs supposed to be added?" Dante asked him, moving closer to the cauldron. From the ingredients, it was now clear what Snape was brewing - Polyjuice Potion. "I don't remember anything about that."
"They are for the extra five ingredients added two hours before." said Snape, waving a hand towards the notebook he had left open beside the cauldron. "This method of brewing lengthens the timespan to just over sixteen hours."
"I thought the official maximum was twelve hours?" Dante looked impressed. "You really have been cooking up a storm in that lab of yours, aren't you?"
"Keeping this success out of the records has been crucial for a great many undercover operations." said Snape. "When someone is being monitored for suspicion of using, they are watched for no more than twelve or thirteen hours."
"And here I am worried about my lack of recognition." Dante laughed. "You should publish these stuff after war ends."
Snape smiled bitterly, but didn't comment. A comfortable silence took over as Dante flipped the pages of the book and Snape went back to work.
It felt like the calm after a storm.
Hope you enjoyed it!
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