Hey everyone! Thanks to everybody who reviewed once again, I really appreciate them! Okay, good news, school is over for Christmas so I'll have a lot more time to write.

Also, thanks to my betareader, badbugz once again.

Chapter Sixteen- Flashbacks and Practices

"Why aren't my eyes amber like Remus'?" Darian asked Madame Pomfrey. He had been in the Hospital Wing for the past two hours while she had tried to fix the damage done to his back as best as she could.

"They will be eventually," she replied, handing him his cane, "when your body is used to the monthly changes."

Darian nodded as he took the cane.

"Careful now," Madame Pomfrey told him as he eased his weight onto his feet with the aid of his cane. "Does your back hurt?"

Darian frowned, "It just aches a little now but it's going away."

"Good. Now you need to take it easy or you could damage your back beyond repair," Madame Pomfrey sighed. "And tell your father not to make you do any physical work for a while." Darian nodded, wincing slightly at the title she had given to Snape. His thoughts drifted to the man.

Why oh why did he, Darian, have to be so clumsy? Things were going so well until he had fallen like an idiot. Then Dumbledore just had to walk in at that precise moment. Snape was actually being civil to him; he had even started to help him up when he had fallen but Dumbledore had walked in. Of course, Snape had felt embarrassed by showing that he had feelings so the man dropped him as if he were useless trash.

Darian sighed as he recalled the talk they had had….

###########FLASHBACK SNAPE'S POV################

"Why do want me to die?" Darian blurted out as he handed Snape the freshly cut caterpillars. The man nearly dropped the ingredients as he stared at the boy in shock.

"What?" was all he said.

Darian looked at the man in the eye and said dejectedly, "You want me to die; well, maybe not die exactly but you want me to go away." It took Snape a moment to realize that he was gawking at the boy; he quickly stopped. "What on earth makes you say a stupid thing like that Mr. Snape? While I certainly don't like you, I certainly do not wish you dead."

"You said I was worthless."

Snape looked down at the boy before him. Darian quickly busied himself with chopping up more caterpillars. Snape arched an eyebrow at him. He had never thought that anything he said could affect the boy so much. He sighed and reached a hand up to rub the spot between his eyes. Darian looked up curiously.

"When I get mad," Snape began, struggling to say something that would explain his words. "I…er….say things that I don't mean to say," he finished quickly before turning back to the simmering potion. He was well aware of Darian staring at him and felt slightly embarrassed for telling the boy. Damn. Albus was right; he was starting to open up more….and it pissed him off!

"Do you hate me?" he heard Darian ask, sounding a little more brave now that he had answered one question. Snape felt annoyance rise up in him at the boy and he bit his tongue hard to stop himself from yelling at Darian. Instead, he spoke in a quiet, controlled voice. "Just because I answered one of your questions does not mean that I will answer them all," he managed to say through gritted teeth. 'Don't snap at him. Be patient and don't say anything that you will regret,' he told himself firmly.

"So you do hate me?"

For a moment, Snape felt the anger rise up in him dramatically at the boy's nosiness but it faded away almost instantly, surprising him. He turned his eyes down towards the boy, who was staring up at him almost hopefully. His glare softened slightly and he turned back to the potion.

"The definition of hatred is that you never want to see the person again, and in some cases, you want them dead," he paused. "So…no, I can't say that I hate you…." He couldn't believe that he had just told the boy that! What was wrong with him? What had happened to remaining emotionless? What had happened to not ever telling anyone what he was feeling? Whenever he told someone anything about himself, they always used it against him in some way. He remembered how Dumbledore had witnessed when he had made that vow about loving his children when he had been young…Dumbledore had used that vow to make him accept Darian as his son and reveal it publicly.

Thinking about the vow caused him to look back down at Darian, who looking more at ease. He felt his lips twitch and manage to curl into a very small smile. It quickly faded when Darian looked up though.

Snape carefully ladled half the potion into a large vial. He turned to the slightly dazed boy beside him. "Put this in the cabinet," he told Darian. The boy nodded, snapping out of his dazed state before taking the vial in one hand. Snape watched out of the corner of his eye as Darian fumbled with his cane before limping to the cabinet. He turned back to the cauldron, taking another empty vial to pour the rest of the potion in to when a crash followed by a yell of pain made him whirl around.

Darian was on the floor; the potion all over him while the rest was sprayed on the floor beside the broken vial. He strode over to the fallen boy. He eyed the wasted three pints of Pepper-Up potion and heaved a sigh, mumbling, "Merlin, Darian…."

Darian sat up slowly, hissing in pain and clamping his eyes tightly shut as he did so, his hand flying to his back. "Oh shit!" he moaned in pain. "Oh shit…….shit…" Snape quickly squatted down next to him, having temporarily forgotten about Darian's back injury.

"Are you alright?" Snape closed his eyes in frustration, 'Stupid question.' He stared at Darian as the boy breathed heavily, his eyes squeezed tightly shut in torment as he tried to prevent the tears from falling. Snape hesitantly put a hand on the boy's back and gently rubbed it.

"We need to get you to Poppy," he told the boy, knowing that he probably didn't hear him. "Come on, try to get up." He waited until Darian nodded before slowly pulling on the boy's left wrist and putting a little bit of pressure on his back to encourage his body to stand up.

The door opened suddenly and Dumbledore strolled in. Snape's eyes widened as he realized what he was doing. No, he would NOT get close to someone again. He would NOT be hurt again. He felt slightly embarrassed as Dumbledore smiled at the sight and immediately let go of his burden. He stood up, ignoring the cry of pain as Darian dropped hard on the floor again. For a moment, he was tempted to try and help the boy up again but he remembered that Dumbledore was here and Dumbledore would help the boy, so he instead began to back away.

#############END FLASHBACK#####################

"Hello? Earth to Darian!" Darian jumped in surprise and nearly knocked Hermione in the head, who had been leaning close to his face in an attempt to get his attention. "It's time to go," Hermione said as she leaned back.

He blinked at her in confusion before shaking his head and mumbling, "Right…."

They walked out of the Hospital Wing together and made their way down to the Great Hall. "Lunch is just about to end so you can pick up something before we have to leave for Charms," Hermione said as they approached the empty Ravenclaw table. He shook his head, "Not that hungry. I thought that I would miss all my classes today."

Hermione shrugged in response, "You just missed Professor Lupin's class. Where were you anyway?"

"Snape said that I couldn't go to the class since you guys were repelling dementors today. He made me help him with restocking Madame Pomfrey's potion's supplies," Darian explained.

"How'd you end up in the Hospital Wing? Again?" Hermione smiled slightly. "You are attracted to that place aren't you?" He shrugged. "I fell when I was putting the Pepper-Up potion into the cabinet." His face darkened slightly.

"What's wrong?" Hermione asked, noticing his change of demeanor. He told her about what had happened with Snape. She frowned in concentration. "You know, it sounds as if he's afraid to get close to anyone, or he's embarrassed," she said as they approached Professor Flitwick's room. She put a hand over her mouth quickly, "I'm sorry! I didn't mean for it to sound as if he were embarrassed of you. I mean…he's embarrassed about getting close to anyone."

Darian smiled in amusement as they stopped in front of the classroom door. "I know what you meant, 'Mione, relax."

The second bell rang just as they walked in the door. Darian sat down beside Lisa while Hermione sat behind him with Ron.

Professor Flitwick carefully climbed the large stack of books in front of his podium and cleared his throat, causing the class to fall silent.

"Today class," he squeaked. "We are going to be starting a new charm called the Glacius Charm!" he announced proudly. "Now, who can tell me what it does?"

As expected, Hermione's hand flew up first. "The Glacius Charm is an ice charm used to freeze opponents. It is much like the Stupefy spell but instead of merely making the person unable to move, their body is completely frozen. It is not dangerous when used occasionally but if it is used frequently, or is held on a person for a long time, it can cause a heart attack, which is proven to be the only reason why wizards prefer the Stupefy over the Glacius," Hermione said in one breath, practically glowing. Ron snorted from behind Darian and mumbled, "Bloody Genius," under his breath.

"Excellent Miss Granger! Five points to Gryffindor!" Hermione beamed.

"Now," Flitwick continued. "The wrist movement for the Glacius Charm is similar to that of the Wingardium Leviosa except not as much swish and more flick." He straightened up. "I take it each of you have brought an animal?"

There were nods and murmurs of agreement. Darian had used a large gray school owl since he couldn't take Hedwig. Pig gave a shrill hoot, causing Darian's owl to ruffle his feathers indignantly.

"Alright then let's try it together now. One, two, three…"

A chorused, "Glacius," filled the room for a moment and Darian's owl froze for a moment before returning to its normal state. Hermione frowned and looked at Crookshanks, who merely gave a large yawn of boredom.

"Very nice, Mr. Snape," Flitwick said approvingly. "Try to hold it longer this time, come on now! You just need to put more energy into the incantation."

Darian was aware of the class going quiet and he resisted the urge to blush. He cleared his throat and said broadly, "Glacius!"

The owl froze completely and didn't move. Flitwick clapped his hands together. "Look here, class! Mr. Snape's done it! Ten points to Ravenclaw!" he crowed triumphantly, beaming at Darian. "Alright now, everyone back to work! Go on!"

The room was filled with the same incantation and Darian muttered, "Finite Incantantem." The owl unfroze and gave a loud hoot of annoyance.

"Glacius!" Hermione exclaimed, flicking her wand at Crookshanks. The cat stared blankly at her. She huffed in annoyance and glanced at Darian's owl, which froze once again at Darian's command. "How do you do it?"

Darian shrugged. "I guess I got it from my mum. She was really good at Charms." He watched silently as Hermione attempted it again without any success.

"Less swish," Darian commented and Hermione froze in mid-chant. She frowned and tried it again, cutting the swish so short that it looked like she had just flicked. Darian frowned. "Not that less." She tried again, making the swish too long again.

"Just a little less."

Hermione huffed in annoyance and tried again, this time nearly knocking Darian in the mouth. "Watch it!" he exclaimed ducking out of the way of the wand. "Sorry," she mumbled lamely. "I just can't get this thing! I'm used to getting it every time, what's so different about this charm?"

Darian rolled his eyes. "Hermione, you can't get it the first time all the time. You are only human, you know." He paused and put in for good measure. "And just because you can't get it the first couple of times doesn't mean you aren't ever going to get it. You're just going through it the hard way like us standard people do." He grinned at her. "Now," he began. "You need to remember that the wrist movements aren't exactly like the Levitating Charm only similar. There is a lot less swish and more flick…"

Ron grinned at the two of them and muttered to Lisa, "Ah to be young and in love."

"And you're saying you're not young?" Lisa asked cheekily. Ron shrugged. "I am but I'm not in love."

"And neither are they," Lisa stated. Ron rolled his eyes. "I guess not all girls are romance freaks, are they?"

"Nope," Lisa tried the spell again without any success. "It's just that you can't fall in love that easily!"

"Unless you haven't heard, Hermione and Darian have known each other for…." Ron trailed off and blinked. "…er…only a month," he finished lamely, blushing as he remembered to keep Darian's true identity secret.

"See," Lisa said smirking. "You can't fall in love in a month."

Ron said nothing. 'Maybe you can't, but they've known each other for over five years,' he thought to himself.

"Well maybe," he said gruffly, trying to regain some of his pride. "Maybe they have the potential…."

Lisa shrugged. "Possibly." She frowned and glanced wearily at Ron. "I don't mean to bring up…you know…him or anything but I think that she would have been much better off with Harry. They've known each other for five years and always seemed so wrapped up in each other, no offence," she muttered quietly.

Ron was silent as he watched Pig fly around like a snitch. He was about to correct Lisa and tell her that it had always been Harry, Hermione, and him, and of course Harry and Hermione would always be together but decided against it. After all, he was supposed to act rather gloomy at the mention of Harry.

Lisa mistook his silence. "I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed. "I didn't mean to make you think of him or anything. I just wouldn't expect that you would want everyone to be so cautious around you."

"No, it's fine," Ron murmured as he absently waved his wand again at Pig.

"…stronger flick," he heard Darian say out of his peripheral hearing and turned to watch Hermione try again.

"Glacius," Hermione flicked her wand hard at the cat, which promptly froze for about five seconds before unfreezing. She squealed happily. Darian grinned. "Right, now try it again and say it with more power."

"Glacius!"

Ron turned from the now frozen Crookshanks and muttered, "Bloody geniuses," under his breath before returning to a still lively Pig.

&&&&&&&&&&&

Darian looked at the door grimly. How had tonight gotten here so fast? One minute he had been coming back from Charms with Ron and Hermione when Dumbledore appeared and told him to be at Snape's at seven the next evening and the next, he's standing right here, waiting for the Professor to answer his knock.

"Enter," came the reluctant voice and Darian opened the door. He limped in and glanced around the abandoned classroom. All of the desks had been pushed to the side, revealing a rather large space for whatever they were doing. Snape was standing at the far end of the room with his arms folded, looking at him through a curtain of greasy hair.

"Professor Dumbledore told me to come," Darian mumbled quietly, not meeting his professor's dark gaze.

Snape gave a curt nod before unfolding his arms and walking toward Darian. "Tell me, Mr. Snape," he said in a neutral voice. "Do you know why you have accidental magic so much?"

Darian blinked and wondered if this was some kind of trick question. He pondered on it for a moment before shaking his head. "No sir."

Snape nodded again before turning and starting to pace. Darian shifted uncomfortably.

"The reason, Mr. Snape, is because you are emotionally unstable at times for several reasons."

Darian winced. It made him feel like a deranged maniac.

"But the best reason is because of your……gift."

Darian blinked and said in a calm voice, "I wouldn't call turning into a monster every month a gift, Professor. Besides, Professor Lupin is never that unstable."

Snape whirled around and glared at him. "Did I say that?" he asked coolly. "I said your gift, boy, use your ears! Do you honestly think that I would call turning into a werewolf every full moon is a gift? More like a curse in my opinion!" He quickly calmed himself down.

Darian looked at the floor and said nothing else on the subject.

"I meant the 'power that the Dark Lord knows not,'" Snape recited. Darian looked back up at him.

"I take it you don't know what that is?" Snape asked smoothly and at Darian's negative response he went on. "The last couple of times you have had 'accidental magic,' you have displayed a rather unusual exploit." He stopped pacing and looked at the boy to see if he was following him.

Darian frowned. "Do you mean me turning your spells against you? That isn't normal is it? Not even for accidental magic…"

Snape nodded. "Good, I won't have to explain." He paused for a moment to study Darian's expression. "That is not accidental magic, Mr. Snape, it is a gift……a talent that not I or the headmaster has seen any other wizard perform." He paused again for dramatic affect as Darian stared at him blankly. "You have the ability to control magical energy, Mr. Snape, and the headmaster has, requested that I try to train you to control that talent."

Darian frowned again. "Is that really such a good idea, Professor?" he asked nervously. "I mean, Occlumency didn't work so what makes him think that this will work?"

Snape sneered at him. "Well maybe I won't have to deal with a prying little snot that can't keep his nose out of other people's business," he smirked nastily. "But we all know that's not going to happen."

For a moment, Darian felt the familiar pain but in an instant, it disappeared and he couldn't help but feel angry….very angry. Snape couldn't even try to act civil, could he? Snape was a spy for Voldemort; he could act like the perfect Death Eater and yet he couldn'tt even pretend to be human to his son! Well if Snape wasn't going to make an attempt then neither would he! He shouldn't even care about the greasy git! Ron was right; Snape would never change.

Snape smirked as the boy's face morphed into one of fury. The boy was so easy to rile up and Snape almost laughed. Now, to put his theory to the test. He took out his wand and pointed it at the boy. Something that wouldn't harm him or even petrify him….

"Expelliarmus!" he shouted and a jet of red light shot at Darian.

Darian turned toward the spell and glared at it. The light froze in midair and Snape couldn't help but smirk in approval. He quickly moved out of the way as the light soured back toward him so the spell would hit the wall, but it didn't. Instead, the jet of light turned sharply away from the wall and headed towards him. Snape's eyes widened and he ducked under the jet of light. He moved quickly to the other side of the room and the spell followed him.

"Protego!" there was a flash of blue light as the spell was absorbed into the shield. He slowly turned to Darian, who had collapsed to his knees, panting.

"Now do you know what power I'm talking about?" he asked smoothly. Darian looked up at him wearily and nodded slowly, looking amazed at what he had done. "But," Snape went on. "You can only do it when you are angry or panicked or scared, whenever you are displaying a strong emotion it always works." He turned to Darian, who was starting to stand up again. "You need to learn to control that and do it at will, understand?"

Darian nodded, still looking weak. Snape clicked his tongue irritably and made his way to the potion's cupboard where he got out the Pepper-Up Potion. "Here," he handed the potion to the boy. "Drink it and we can began."

Darian downed the disgusting potion in one gulp and felt his strength return to him immediately. "Ready?" Snape asked in a slightly mocking voice. Darian nodded.

"Alright," Snape began. "I want you to choose one emotion, the strongest emotion that you think you have. Once you do, think of a time when the emotion was strongest for you. Use that emotion to try and control the spell, alright?" Darian looked at him wearily and nodded.

"This may take some time but once you get it, I'm sure it will be a lot easier," Snape explained in a voice that could have been considered calming by Albus Dumbledore.

Darian thought for a moment before picking anger as his emotion. After all, he seemed to do the most with anger. He thought of the time before his third year, when he had blown Aunt Marge up. She had been insulting James and his mother and it had made him so mad that he had accidentally inflated her. Gritting his teeth in concentration, he tried to remember the anger he felt at her words.

"If there's something wrong with the bitch then there'll be something wrong with the pup-"

"-but your sister was a bad egg. They turn up in the best of families. Then she ran off with that wastrel and here's the result right in front of us."

"A no-account, good-for-nothing, lazy scrounger who-"

"They go and got themselves killed in a car crash (drunk I expect)-"

Fury coursed through him as he remembered the words. Dimly he heard Snape mutter, "Expelliarmus!"

A moment later his wand, which had been in his hand, flew out of his hand and into Snape's grasp. Darian growled in frustration.

"You didn't actually think that you'd get it the first time?" Snape asked tolerantly.

"Well, I was really angry so, yea, I expected it."

"I told you you wouldn't."

A shrug.

"I think," Snape began, frowning to himself. "That you should direct that emotion toward me. Think of a memory where you are feeling that emotion toward me and it might work better." He handed Darian his wand back.

Darian snorted. Well that should be easy. He thought once again of his third year….

"How extraordinarily like your father you are, Potter. He too was exceedingly arrogant. A small amount of talent on the Quidditch field made him think he was a cut above the rest of us too. Strutting around the place with his friends and admirers… The resemblance between you is uncanny."

"Your father didn't set much store by rules either. Rules were for lesser mortals, not Quidditch Cup-winners. His head was so swollen-"

The anger came easier for him then it did for Aunt Marge. He had a hundred different memories that he could use to get mad at Snape.

"Expelliarmus!"

Once again, his wand flew from his firm grip and Darian gritted his teeth. Snape calmly returned him his wand again.

They continued on like this for what seemed like hours when really, it was only an hour and a half. At the end of the session, Darian was exhausted and furious. He hadn't made a lick of progress but Snape was surprisingly tolerant about the whole thing.

"I think that's enough for now, Mr. Snape," he said calmly, returning Darian his wand for about the fiftieth time. "No!" Darian snapped. "I've almost got it! I know I do! Just one more try!"

Snape's lips twitched. "You have been saying that the last ten times. It is almost curfew. We will practice more next week."

Darian growled inwardly and shoved his wand into his pocket. "What can I do to practice?" he asked tiredly.

"Unless you are considering for your friends to throw curses at you then you can do nothing," Snape replied tartly. "One of the reasons why I believe this will go better then Occlumency ever did."

Darian gave him a reflected sneer and Snape actually turned away.

"I expect you back here next Tuesday at seven, alright?"

Darian nodded and made his way out the door. He paused in the doorway and turned to Snape, thinking about what Dumbledore had said about the man. "Goodnight Professor," he said softly. He watched as the man's shoulders tensed before hurrying away.

Snape turned to look at the now empty doorway. "Goodnight Darian," he said quietly, not caring that the boy didn't hear him.

() So tell me what you think!