I am so sorry for the long wait. I think this is one of the first times I've gotten writer's block for this story....
Well, once again thanks to my wonderful reviewers as well as my beta reader, Badbugz.
Chapter seventeen- Full Moon?!
The days seemed to pass quickly and soon everything began to drop back into Darian's normal schedule, or as normal as it could be. He soon found himself drinking Wolfsbane Potion as the full moon was only a few days away.
"Have you made any progress with your training?" Hermione asked one day at lunch. Lisa and he were sitting with Ron and Hermione at the Gryffindor table today. Darian scowled and shook his head viciously. "No," he snapped, though his anger wasn't directed at Hermione.
"Have you tried switching emotions?" Hermione asked softly, obviously not wanting to rile up her friend.
"At least ten times," Darian replied sourly. "We try each emotion for about a week, give or take a few days, and then we switch them. I should at least be able to stop the spells! We've been through anger, panic, terror, and sadness; what else can there be?"
Hermione sighed sympathetically. "You'll get the hang of it eventually. Just because you don't get it the first couple of times doesn't mean you aren't going to get it," she tried using reverse psychology. It didn't work. "This hasn't been 'the first couple of times' this has been literally about a thousand times per emotion!" Darian snapped, his eyes flashing to amber for a brief instant. Hermione glanced at the Gryffindors who were looking their way curiously. "Calm down," she said soothingly. "If anyone sees your eyes change color…."
Darian 'hmphed' and returned to his lunch. Hermione really couldn't blame him; after all, the full moon was tomorrow night.
"Mr. Snape," came a pleasant voice. Darian's anger faded away immediately. "Hey Professor Lupin!" he said cheerfully. Remus also looked slightly pale and nodded in greeting. "May I speak to you about…er…the essay I assigned for you?" he glanced wearily at the still staring Gryffindors.
Darian frowned and nodded, standing up to follow Remus. "I'll see you guys later," he called to Ron and Hermione. It was Saturday and the whole morning had been spent doing homework in the library (Hermione's strict orders) with Hermione and Ron. Darian really hadn't minded much. He had already finished all of his homework and he had used the time in the library to work on some work he would be missing due to the full moon.
They entered Remus's office where Snape was already in there with two steaming goblets. Sirius was also there sitting impatiently in one of the overstuffed chairs. Darian groaned as Snape handed him one of the goblets.
"Your second to last one," Snape reminded him. Darian nodded and held his nose before chugging the revolting mess. Snape already had a glass of pumpkin juice ready for him when he finished. "Thanks," he whispered as he finished the juice.
Snape grunted something in response.
Darian turned to Remus. "Was there something you needed to talk to me about?"
Remus nodded, looking even paler. He glanced nervously at Sirius and Snape, who merely stared wearily back at him. "Look Darian," he began. "I'm really, really sorry to have to tell you this but…" he broke off and Darian blinked at him in confusion. "…I have some Order business to attend to for a couple of days. Severus is going to take over my classes during that time."
Darian nodded slowly. "Okay…what's that got to do with me?"
"Well, I'm leaving today," Remus muttered quickly. Darian stared at him. "But…what about the full moon?"
Remus shook his head. "I'm sorry, Darian but I'm not going to be here for the full moon. It's just going to be you and Sirius."
Darian paled and looked at his hands. Remus put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm really sorry. I know this is only your second transformation but…."
"No, it's fine," Darian mumbled quietly. He looked up at Remus. "You have Order business. It's okay, Sirius will be with me to…"
Remus nodded, still looking troubled. "You won't fight with me so that means you won't be injured as much." Darian nodded absently. He knew that all he and Remus did was fight during the full moon but having another werewolf around brought a lot of comfort to him for some reason. It let him know that he wasn't the only one experiencing this, that there was someone else who understood his pain. But he could do it couldn't he? He was sixteen; it wasn't like he was a child or anything. He'd be fine.
"I'll be fine," he voiced quietly. Remus squeezed his shoulder briefly. "I'm leaving now. So I shall see you on Wednesday alright?"
Darian nodded. "Okay. Bye Professor."
"Goodbye Darian." Remus picked up his tattered brief case, nodded to the three of them, and walked out of the classroom.
Darian released a breath that he didn't even know he'd been holding. Sirius put a hand on his shoulder in a similar manner that Remus had. "Are you sure you'll be okay?" Darian gave him a forced smile. "Yeah, you'll be with me." Sirius nodded. Snape looked at him suspiciously through a curtain of hair.
Darian ignored his stare.
&&&&&&&&&&&&
"Professor Lupin isn't going to be there?" Hermione repeated the next evening. Darian nodded again.
"Will you be okay with that?"
"Why does everyone have to keep asking me that question?!" Darian snapped. "I'll be fine! It's not like I'm six! I don't need anyone to hold my hand!"
Hermione scowled. "I was just asking Darian, you didn't need to get all defensive," she said coolly. Darian's glare softened. "I'm sorry, 'Mione. I can't help it."
"I know you can't," Hermione said soothingly. "It's okay; I'll just ignore everything you say."
Darian smiled slightly at her. Snuffles gave a soft 'woof' from beside him. They were now walking down to the Whomping Willow. Hermione said that she'd escort him as far as the willow, which brought Darian more comfort then he would have thought.
"Did you take your last dosage?" Hermione asked softly. Darian frowned and shivered. "No." Hermione jumped. "What?"
"Snape had a Death Eater meeting and wasn't able to give it to me," Darian murmured. "I can't believe this! The one time I can't get my potion happens to be the one time that Remus isn't here!"
"Well that could be a good thing you know," Hermione mused. "You and Remus would probably kill each other without the potion."
Darian said nothing as they went through the Entrance Hall. "Just make sure you hurry out before the moon rises." Hermione giggled. "Don't be so paranoid. I'll have plenty of time. Last time you went down about five minutes before the moon actually rose."
"I know but still…."
They stepped out onto the grounds and were greeted with a swish of cool air. The grounds were so silent at night, so peaceful that Darian smiled despite the circumstances. As they made their way down to the Whomping Willow, a dark figure caught Darian's eye. Snuffles started to growl. Hermione jumped. "What is it?" she whispered.
Darian shook his head and pulled his wand out. He sniffed the air experimentally, finding the scent familiar.
Hermione also pulled out her wand. The figure was just coming out of the Forbidden Forest when it stumbled and fell sharply on the ground.
In a second, Darian realized who it was. "It's Snape!" he exclaimed and hurried over to the border between the forest and the grounds. Hermione followed after quickly, her robes whipping in the wind.
Darian fell down beside the man and turned him over. "Professor!" he exclaimed, shaking him slightly. "Professor Snape! Wake up! Please wake up!"
The man stirred and groaned, slowly coming to. His black gaze focused on Darian and Hermione, who were looking at him worriedly. "Darian?"
"Are you alright?" Darian asked softly as he helped the man up. Snape groaned and rubbed his head. "Cruciatus…." He muttered weakly. "We'll get you to Madame Pomfrey. Hold on," Darian said gently.
Snape stood up shakily. He stumbled twice and, with the aid of Darian and Hermione, finally made it to his feet. They began to make their way up the hill when Snape seemed to return to normal. He gazed up at the sky, absently noting that the moon was rising. He froze, causing Hermione and Darian to stop. Snape slowly looked at Darian in horror as he realized that he hadn't had the chance to make him his last batch of Wolfsbane.
"Darian," he said very slowly. He glanced at Hermione, who was looking at him strangely. "Miss Granger, get over here," he hissed extending his hand as he began to back away from the boy.
"What?" Hermione looked at him in confusion.
"Now!" Snape snapped as he eyed Darian with caution. He looked past Darian to the rising moon. "Oh shit," he whispered.
Hermione and Darian followed his gaze and Hermione gasped. "Oh Merlin!" she squeaked, all but running over to her professor.
Snuffles immediately transformed into Sirius, not caring who saw, as he ran up to Darian, who was backing away from Hermione and Snape.
"Darian!" he tried to get the boy's attention by grabbing him by both shoulders and giving them a squeeze.
"Sirius, get away from me," Darian whispered, fear evident in his voice. 'Oh Merlin,' he thought to himself. 'I'm going to kill them! I'm going to kill my father and best friend!' What had he done? How could he have been so irresponsible? He was dimly aware of Sirius grasping his shoulders and yanking him toward the Forbidden Forest when a searing pain tore through him. He dropped to his knees; tears of agony pouring down his cheeks. The transformation seemed so much more painful. Was it because he didn't get his last dosage of the Wolfsbane? He didn't know and frankly, couldn't care. It just hurt…hurt so much…. A ragged scream tore from his lips, which quickly morphed into a deep howl.
Hermione screamed as he began to transform and turned to run but Snape caught her arm. "Don't move, Granger!" he hissed quietly. She froze behind her professor as she watched her best friend change into something that was commonly called a monster. It was quite like Remus's transformation in their third year but this was different. Remus had been her favorite professor, but Darian was her best friend and it pierced her heart to hear him scream like that, to watch as he transformed into a monster. Tears were slowly making their was down her cheeks as she cried silently, staring at Darian's writhing form on the ground.
Sirius was on the ground beside him. He still had one hand on his shoulder and was murmuring the same things he had said to Remus. It was a terrible sight. Darian's head was lengthening. Hair was sprouting all over his face and body; hands were curling into clawed paws. The scream quickly turned to a snarling howl.
Snape tried to stop himself from trembling as he watched his son's horrible transformation. He couldn't help but feel sorry for the boy. He could only imagine the pain he must be going through. He shivered, trying to reason with himself that Darian wouldn't be near as big as Remus, who was a full-grown werewolf. But flashes of Remus's werewolf form from their schooldays, when that prank Black had pulled on him got him face-to-face with the wolf soon chased away those allegory comforts.
Hermione squeaked as she slowly started to back away along with Snape, whose eyes never left Darian's form.
"Run!" Sirius yelled from behind Darian's larger form. "Now!!" Whatever else he was about to say was cut off as one swipe of Darian's large paw sent him hurling into the forest. Hermione screamed, which, unfortunately, attracted Darian's attention.
Darian advanced upon them, his now dagger-like teeth dripping with saliva as he eyed them predatorily.
"D-darian?" Hermione whispered shakily. "Darian?" Darian's now amber eyes ran over her and Snape as if measuring to see which one looked like an easier prey.
"Darian?" Hermione whispered again and her brown eyes met his. For a moment, the werewolf froze and they stared at one another. Hermione took a tiny step toward him and Darian let out a loud roar, leaping at her. She screamed and was shoved out of the way by Snape, who took the opposite direction.
Hermione drew her wand and shakily pointed it at Darian. The werewolf snarled at her once more before turning and suddenly leaping in the other direction. "Professor!" she shrieked.
Snape was caught off guard as Darian suddenly leapt at him, pinning him down to the ground. Snape gasped, his chest exploding his pain as he struggled to breathe. Darian lowered his jaws to his face. Snape tensed as he felt the hot breath against his face. He opened his eyes blurrily to look at Darian, who was now sniffing him.
"Darian…" he moaned desperately, trying to reach his son. Darian reared back, his long jaws snapping when a blur came out of nowhere and a second later, Snuffles had clamped his jaw securely around Darian's neck, who howled loudly in pain.
Hermione hurried over to Snape and helped him up. They stood there, petrified, as Snuffles wrestled Darian to the ground, trying to get control of the ravenous werewolf.
"Come on!" Snape whispered to the girl behind him. "We have to go now!" He grabbed the collar of her robes and yanked her with him up the hill that led to Hogwarts.
"No!" Hermione whispered. "Hagrid's is closer!"
"It is also in the wrong direction! Now move it, Granger!" he snapped, clearly getting angry with the stubborn girl. He was already in pain; hadn't the Cruciatus been enough for one night?
A shrill whine brought their attention back to the matter at hand and Hermione squeaked as Snuffles was flung off Darian with such a force that he was sent pin wheeling out of sight.
Darian again focused his attention on them and Hermione whimpered, "Please Darian! It's us! It's me, Hermione, your friend and this is your father!" she whispered desperately but to no avail. She briefly recalled her explanation on the werewolf. He would kill his best friend if he were to come across his path. She shook her head stubbornly. No! She wasn't going to die like this! Not only for herself but for Darian as well. Darian would kill himself if he killed them. She knew it for a fact. He would try and try until he succeeded and she wasn't about to let that happen.
Narrowing her eyes with renewed determination, she pointed her wand at the werewolf. Closing her eyes, Hermione remembered Darian's words: There's a lot less swish and more flick……
She tried to steady her wand at Darian. The wolf eyed the wand and immediately reacted in defense mode, leaping toward them like lightening. Hermione opened her eyes and shrieked, "GLACIUS!!!"
A jet of light blue light struck the wolf and he froze. Tumbling to the ground, he lay unmoving. Hermione gasped. "It worked," she muttered lamely. Snape grabbed her arm and jerked her up the hill.
"Yes and it will only work for about a minute, we need to go now!" he hissed and she snapped out of her daze, hurrying up the hill after him. The door to Hogwarts came into view just as they heard a loud howl from behind them followed by the fast padding of footsteps heading toward them. Hermione yelped in terror.
"Don't stop!" Snape yelled from a bit a head of her. "We're almost there!"
Darian was closing in on them. Hermione could hear his loud panting. Snape flung open the large door and quickly ushered Hermione inside. She flew in and immediately slammed it shut, wincing as she heard a loud 'thump' followed by a shrill whining sound.
"Sirius!" she exclaimed. "He'll be fine," Snape interrupted.
They both slumped against the wall. Hermione wiped the sweat that was pouring down her brow.
"Next time you two decide to have a little night stroll, make sure it's not on the night of the full moon!" Snape suddenly roared before falling into a dead faint.
Hermione slumped against the wall, slowly sliding into sitting position. She stayed that way for a while before finally getting up to get Madame Pomfrey.
&&&&&&&&&&&&
"But Darian could be anywhere couldn't he? I mean, there was no one to restrain him with Snuffles knocked out. Is it possible that he could've ran away?"
"How would I know, Granger?" Snape mumbled tiredly.
Hermione frowned and looked out the window that was beside the bed she was residing in. Sunlight was streaming through the dozens of windows that littered the Hospital Wing walls. Madame Pomfrey had insisted that she and Snape stay in the Wing for the night. It was now around nine in the morning. Hermione had classes off and Snape's classes were canceled as Madame Pomfrey suddenly decided for them to stay in the Hospital Wing for the day as well.
Dumbledore and Snuffles (who had turned up around one in the morning with no sign of Darian) had been searching the grounds for Darian since six in the morning and had yet to find any results.
Hermione was worried, to put it simply. She really didn't blame Darian for what happened. After all, he had been preoccupied with his wounded father who had suddenly showed up. Besides, no one had gotten hurt (except some minor bruises Snape had gotten).
At that moment, the doors to the Hospital Wing burst open and Dumbledore walked in carrying a bloodied Darian who was wrapped up in his cloak. Hermione gasped and Snape sat up. Snuffles was trailing behind slowly.
Darian had three long scratches that trailed from his face down to his chest. A nasty looking gash was on his forehead and many other gashes littered his body as well as many bite marks. Darian groaned, his now green eyes opening weakly. Hermione tried to get up but Madame Pomfrey snapped at her to stay in bed.
"Where did you find him, Albus?" Snape asked quietly, eyeing his son's torn up form in alarm.
Dumbledore gently lowered Darian onto a bed next to Snape's and Madame Pomfrey began her work. She pulled the curtains around for no one to see and Hermione sighed unhappily.
"I found him beyond the wards," Dumbledore said restlessly.
A ringing silence met the end of his statement. Snape was now paper-white as he stared at the headmaster.
Dumbledore nodded to the unspoken comment. "It is a miracle that no one found him." His face darkened. "No doubt they probably would have killed him or turned him into the Ministry."
"But why?" Hermione whispered, her eyes glittering with unshed tears. "He's just Darian Snape why would anyone want to kill him?"
"Because he's a werewolf, Miss Granger," Dumbledore replied tiredly. "Some wizards and witches are so discriminative about non-humans that they'd rather kill them all off."
"That's terrible!" Hermione exclaimed. "It's unethical! It's inhuman! Why can't they just accept something that's different from them? What is so hard about that?"
Dumbledore shook his head, his white hair gleaming in the sunlight that was flooding through the window. "The world is cruel, Miss Granger, and it just gets worse as long as people like Voldemort are still around."
"Then it always gets worse," Hermione stared at her headmaster with dread. "It will never get better."
Dumbledore nodded as he gazed in Darian's direction sadly.
Snape was quiet as he stared unblinkingly at the curtained off bed. From the foot of the bed, Snuffles let out a soft whine.
&&&&&&&&&&&&
"Darian! Talk to me! Please!" Hermione ran after the boy and hurried down the many flights of stairs to catch up with him. Darian whirled at her; his expression was one of pain.
"How can you even talk to me after what I almost did?" he whispered, turning away. "I'm a monster. A hideous monster who almost killed his father and best friend!"
Hermione shook her head. "No Darian! You couldn't help it! Snape suddenly showed up and he had just had the Cruciatus cast upon him and you were worried and I was worried and we were both worried and we just forgot!" She finished in one breath, still trying to step in front of Darian to prevent him from leaving.
"Stay away from me, Hermione," Darian said in a hollow voice. "I'll just get you killed…."
Hermione shook her head more violently as visions of a pale Remus telling her and Ron what Darian had attempted…
"NO!!" she yelled suddenly, causing Darian to stop. "Don't you dare say that again Darian Snape or I'll break your neck!" Darian stared at her. "Herm-"
She shoved him up against a wall not to gently. "You listen to me! I've been one of your best friends since we were eleven. I've stuck by you when no one else, not even Ron would and the only time we ever got in a fight was when I was concerned about your safety so don't you even think that I'd abandon you for something as stupid as a life-threatening situation 'cause I've been through those for five years and I'm not about to suddenly care if I die because I want to be with you!!" She stood there with Darian pinned up against the wall as she regained her breath.
Darian stared at her as if she'd grown another head. "What has gotten in to you?" he muttered faintly. She rolled her eyes in annoyance before softening.
"I just…..don't want you to try what you did before when you thought there was no way out," Hermione swallowed and felt tears welling up in her eyes. "Don't do it again, Darian. Please! Promise me that you'll never, ever try something like that again!" Tears were pouring down her cheeks.
Darian stared at her, amazed that she cared so much about him. How could someone as brilliant as her care about him so much? He didn't understand. Finally, he nodded slowly, suddenly realizing that he couldn't bear it to see her cry.
"Say it," Hermione whispered.
"I promise," Darian whispered back and she gave him a watery smile.
"Er…'Mione?" Darian asked awkwardly.
"Mmm?"
"Could you let me go?"
"Oh right! Sorry," Hermione blushed and immediately released him. He grinned at her while she smiled back and he felt warmth in the pit of his stomach at the sight of her.
Darian still felt in a slight daze when he entered Snape's chambers for another lesson.
Snape frowned at the reverie his son was in and smirked slightly as he yanked out his wand.
"Darian?" he asked curtly.
Darian turned to him. "Hmm?"
"Expelliarmus."
The spell had barely left his wand when it suddenly changed direction and hit him dead on. His wand flew out of his grasp and into Darian's hand.
Darian blinked, snapping out of his daze and stared at the wand that was in his hand. He looked at it in awe before turning to his father, who was also staring at him.
"You did it," Snape whispered as if afraid he would shatter the moment with something above a whisper. Darian nodded numbly. "I….did it?"
Snape cleared his throat and made his way over to Darian's side, where the boy was still staring at the wand. He plucked his wand out of the boy's hand and asked, "What emotion?"
Darian stared at him. All the color seemed to have drained from the boy's face and Snape became faintly worried that he would pass out. "Darian?" he shook the boy's shoulders a little. Darian blinked and said very quietly, as if telling a secret, "Love, I think," the awe in his voice was the most obvious thing as if Darian couldn't believe the words he had just spoken.
Snape didn't seem to get what was so amazing about the situation. Well they never had tried love before. "What memory?"
Darian looked at him again, his color finally returning to normal. "Wasn't a memory," he mumbled. Snape arched an eyebrow. "Alright," he said slowly. "Then what were you thinking, or, should I say, who were you thinking about?"
Darian blushed deeply and Snape felt faintly amused. Oh this was good. The boy was in love. He snorted at the thought. Right, love. As if anyone could really find love at this age. The boy was probably just driven by his teenage hormones, happens all the time with kids this age…. Then again, Snape had first started going out with Lily at this age but…no, what was he thinking? Lily and him had been lucky to find each other at this young of age. Things like that happened very rarely.
"Well?" he prompted.
Darian lowered his dark head and mumbled something.
Snape frowned. "What?"
Another soft mumble. Snape growled in annoyance. "Spit it out, boy!" he snapped.
Darian blushed even more. "…Hermione…" he said very quietly and very slowly.
Snape stared at him. Granger?! He had expected Chang or even Miss Weasley but…..Granger?!! Snape pondered on it. Granger and Darian had been good friends since their first year. They had always been together even when everyone, including Weasley, had gotten pissed at Darian because he wouldn't tell them how he had entered the Triwizard Tournament; she still had stood true to him. Snape frowned. Could it be possible that they were really…. No! Of course not! That was preposterous! Absurd and utterly ridiculous! He glanced at Darian, who had his head lowered to hide the blush.
Darian had taken control of Snape's Expelliarmus energy and in order to do that, the emotion had to be strong, very strong. Could Darian really feel more then just a fondness for Granger? Was it really love? Snape shook his head, feeling the beginnings of a headache. This was why he hated teenagers at this age; they always had to make everything so complicated!
A/N- Er..... #glances up at story# yeah.....well....that last part just kind of wormed its way in, not really sure what to think of it.
Tell me what you think....