The Confectionary Chronicles || HP/SPN

Sweets and Studies- CH20

CHAPTER TWENTY:

Gabriel enjoyed spending Halloween in America, what with the over-the-top decadence of it all– the candy, the costumes, the parties... what wasn't there to love?

He was at a frat house party, looking young and female and dressed as an angel in a toga and a lopsided halo, idly switching roofied drinks so the would-be rapists were drugging themselves, when Hel found him. His daughter was beautiful, gliding across the room of drunken co-eds in her wispy gown, dark red curls tumbling down her back, one gold eye, one milky-white eye blinking over at him.

"Hello sweetheart," he greeted her, pulling her into a hug. She smelt of cloying flowers as she rested her head briefly against his shoulder, whisper-light, before stepping back.

"Hello faðir," she greeted him. "I met your priestess today."

Gabriel couldn't help the automatic jolt of fear, despite not having felt any harm come to Hermione– mortals meeting death gods and goddesses just wasn't a good sign. "You what?" he demanded. "Is she alright? What happened to her?"

"Peace, faðir," Hel said, and the calm, serene expression she wore settled him somewhat. "Your priestess is in perfect health. She merely participated in a ritual that pierced through the veil between the living and the dead."

"...merely?" Gabriel said, a little incredulously. He wasn't sure he'd call that 'merely'.

"A Samhain ritual," Hel clarified. "An old one." Here, she frowned. "You must teach her to be more careful, faðir," she said. "Her soul is so very bright and rituals such as those... they open her up to beings not as benevolent as I. I lay claim on her tonight, as she belongs to the Norse pantheon through her worship of you, but she must be more careful."

"I'll teach her of the dangers," Gabriel promised, a grim set to his mouth as he thought of Hermione at the mercy of one of the many merciless beings out there, gods and tricksters and demons who devoured flesh and savoured bones and cracked open souls to swallow down the insides. "Thank you," he told his daughter, grateful for her interference, and Hel smiled, soft and faint.

"It was no trouble," she said. "I have been wanting to meet my little sister. She did not disappoint."

Gabriel couldn't help but smile back at her.

"No," he said, "she doesn't, does she?"

::

The day after Halloween, Hermione woke groggy and slightly headachy from the aftermath of the ritual magic. She barely bothered to magic the knots out of her curls before dressing in a white blouse over a flared green skirt and making her way down to the common room where she wasn't surprised to see Millie waiting for her on one of the couches, a book open on the other girl's lap. She was surprised, however, to see Theodore Nott sitting beside Millie, looking stiff and uncomfortable.

"Good morning," she greeted them both brightly, before turning slightly to Theodore. "How's your cousin doing?" she asked.

"Agneta is well, thank you," Theodore said awkwardly. "I spoke to her earlier this morning. She said that you saved her life."

It looked quite painful for him to admit that.

"I'm just glad she's okay," Hermione said earnestly and Theodore nodded, before withdrawing a stiff, heavy envelope from the pocket of his robes and holding it out to her. Puzzled, Hermione accepted the envelope. She wasn't sure if the proper etiquette was to open it now or to wait until she was out of sight of Theodore but when Theodore didn't move and didn't speak she decided to just open it, potential breach of etiquette be damned.