The Confectionary Chronicles || HP/SPN

Lollies and Loki- CH11

CHAPTER ELEVEN

The problem with getting attached to mortals was the very obvious fact that they were mortal. Sooner rather then later, they'd be off to Heaven and Gabriel never planned on darkening those hallowed halls again. Even with Hermione's naturally lengthened lifespan as a witch, she'd be lucky to reach a hundred and eighty.

It was why he tended to avoid humans, sticking with pagans instead– mortal lifespans were just too short, their loss came too quickly. But he had been around long enough to know that attachment wasn't always something that could be controlled, and in this case he had two options– he could distance himself from little Hermione to lessen the emotional impact her inevitable loss would have on him, or he could do the opposite and become more involved in her life, making the most of the time they did have.

Neither was an easy decision to make, but in the end it wasn't much of a choice at all; he'd already claimed her, his 'little stray' as Fenris had taken to calling her, and he was too involved with her life to start distancing himself now without causing that trusting, earnest little girl pain and distress. And that was the last thing he wanted to do, to hurt her when she was already so vulnerable to loss, with soul-deep scars of hurt and loneliness left behind when the part of her that had loved so unreservedly and completely had lost its anchor.

And maybe (okay, definitely) he was a selfish creature, maybe he liked to put his own needs first and foremost and spare himself discomforts like grief and loss, but he'd always, always, even in the worst of his pagan days, had a soft spot for children, especially the bright, wounded ones like his little stray. He could be just as greedy, spiteful and cruel as the next god, but he had a soft spot for innocents, broken things and those that were his— and Hermione was all of those.

He'd taken responsibility for her, when he'd claimed her as one of his– and no matter what else he was, all of his kids could attest to the fact that he looked after his own.

So Gabriel decided to make the most of the time they did have, before it was too late.

::

It was a gradual thing, startlingly discrete considering just who it involved. Hermione didn't notice how Loki was around more and more until suddenly it was stranger for him not to appear every few days to tease her or teach her or both, bending time around them so that no one was any wiser.

Hermione loved learning from Loki. He taught her how to mix 'ingredients' such as herbs, hair and bones into what he called 'hexbags', explaining how the latent properties of all the different 'ingredients' interacted together with the help of a spark of magic to produce different effects. The hexbags he taught her to make were for protection, but he also told her how they could be used to cast curses instead. Hermione had used the magic he'd taught her to turn lollipops invisible to turn her hexbags invisible then hid one in each corner of the house to protect her family.

After hexbags, Loki started teaching her how to write, activate and strengthen runes with her magic. He'd started her off with a variety of protective symbols from different runic alphabets and she loved it. Seeing her enthusiasm, Loki began dropping off books for her to study, marking chapters for her to read and the different runes and symbols he wanted her to memorise and practice writing out over and over until she could do them perfectly.

Hermione eagerly drank up all the knowledge offered, delighting in the challenge of memorising, writing out and then linking various runes together to various effects and results. It was amazing the variety of applications runes had, though she was currently limited by the fact that she could only use chalk and ink to write them and they were most effective and powerful when drawn with blood or pure magic. She wasn't advanced enough to use blood or magic yet, but Loki had promised he'd teach her once she'd reached that level— he'd also promised that he'd teach her how to create matter when he thought she was ready, an idea that honestly blew her mind.