Darkness on the Horizon

Ch. 12

That night I slept well despite my nerves about teaching my first class tomorrow. When I woke the next day I scrambled to get dressed. I pulled on black pants and a white blouse. I slipped my cloak on before I rushed out the door to my classroom. When I stepped inside the room I was surprised to find Dane waiting for me.

"Professor Rosier," I said as he faced me with a smile.

"Isabelle," he said walking towards me.

"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be taking care of the animals or something?" I asked trying to contain my emotions.

"Probably but I wanted to wish you luck before your first class. I think you'll do great," Dane said as he ran his fingers through his dark curly hair.

"Aw, that's sweet," I told him as he gave me a nod.

"I should probably let you get ready but I'll see you later," he said as I grinned.

"See you at lunch," I told him before he walked out. I pushed Dane from my mind as I adjusted some of the syllabi on my desk making sure I had enough before the students started to pile in. I gave them a friendly smile as they took their seats chatting amongst their new found friends. "Good morning class."

"Good morning Professor," one Ravenclaw sitting in the front said.

"I'm Professor Malfoy and as I'm sure you are aware I will be teaching you about various dark magic. I know many of you probably equate dark to evil but that isn't the case," I said softly. "It is how someone uses magic that makes the act good or evil." I waved my wand sending the Syllabi to each desk. "This shows you which spells I plan to teach you as well as outlines each assignment for the year. I have taken less of a homework approach to teaching this class. I prefer practical knowledge so you will spend most of your time seeing or trying the spells on that list." A hand shot up causing me to pause.

"Yes," I said leaning against my desk.

"Do we have to use dark magic?" A Gryffindor in the back asked. I frowned at the question.

"If you want a passing grade in this class I expect you to try," I said firmly as she nodded in understanding. I could see she wasn't totally pleased with that answer but she would soon realize the benefits of dark magic. "Today we won't be doing any magic and instead I plan to answer your questions and sort you into groups for the rest of the class. These groups are the peers you will be working with to perfect your spell casting."

"Are you going to show us your magic?" A Ravenclaw asked eagerly. I raised an eyebrow at the question knowing he meant my ancient magic.

"Perhaps but not today," I said simply.

"Can you tell us about the war?" Another student asked as I sighed the irritation growing.

"I won't go into my past. I don't particularly enjoy talking about that part of my life. I will answer practical questions but I won't share my personal life," I said strictly. The questions quickly stopped coming and so I decided to sort the students into groups. I put two Ravenclaw with two Gryffindors at random for each group. I wanted to break up the houses and force students from other houses to work together, to use their unique traits to do better than the would if they only worked with their housemates. Once I had sorted the students I had them talk in their groups for ten minutes before dismissing them early. When I dismissed them I decided to go for a walk on the grounds to clear my head of the remnants of the war lingering fresh in my mind.

I wandered around but stayed close to the castle. I felt calm when I walked around the school. I knew the peace the school brought wouldn't undo the darkness lurking outside the grounds. I knew that someone was hunting down people in an effort to hurt me. My only hope was that my family would be left out of it but I wasn't confident that they would. I paused on the hill when I noticed Dane feeding a Hippogriff near his hut. He was smiling as he reached up petting the creature. I could see how much joy he got from taking care of magical creatures. The sight brought a soft grin to my face. I made my way down the hill towards him. I bowed to the Hippogriff who quickly bowed in return before I called out to Dane.

"Hello Dane," I said as he faced me with a smirk.

"Well this is fun. Twice in one morning," he said as I stopped a few feet in front of him.

"My class ended early so I wanted to walk around. Saw you thought I'd say hello," I said as he took my hand pulling me to the Hippogriff.

"Care for a ride?" He asked wiggling his eyebrows. I stared at him for a minute debating before a smile spread across my lips.

"Let's do it," I said as he helped me onto the Hippogriff before getting on behind me. The Hippogriff took off towards the sky as I leaned against Dane. Heat rushed across my body as his hand touched my waist gently. I looked out as the Hippogriff flew over the dark forest before circling towards Blake lake. The wind brushed against me as we flew. Everything looks beautiful from above and I found myself feeling happier than I had felt in a while. "It's so beautiful." I said to Dane as the Hippogriff landed back beside Dane's hut. He got off before he lifted me off. Our lips hovered close together causing my breath to hitch. I found myself unable to move as my blue eyes gazed into his dark ones. After a few moments Dane stepped back breaking the trance as he spoke.

"I'm glad you liked it. If you want another ride I'm always down for one," he said quickly. I shook off my rapidly beating heart as I spoke.

"Yeah um, I should head back," I stuttered nervously as my cheeks flushed. I hoped he couldn't tell as I turned rushing inside. I almost kissed him was the only thought on my mind as I walked back up to the castle.