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The third in my, "I wanted to write, but not on something that matters" series...

This scene may or may not be canon.  Until it appears in an official short story (From The Immortal Chronicles), it must be considered non-canon.

Enjoy.
Eric Storm

===Scene Begins===

David stretched his arms to the sky, enjoying the warmth of the afternoon sun.  His classes were over for the day, and though he had exams to grade, it could wait for a little while.

He was walking along the rim of the castle moat, just relaxing from a stressful day.  It had been an Intro to the Conjuring Room day, which was a day of guaranteed failures and breakages.  Still, this year hadn't been as bad as some others.

David heard a bit of commotion from below him.  He looked down, to see what appeared to be some roughhousing going on down on the terrace.  Given that they were only shortly into the school year, however, he thought he should check it out, to make sure it wasn't something more serious.

"Amplivisius," David intoned.  Suddenly his vision increased as if he were using binoculars.  What he saw made him instantly pissed off.

David put his hands to his sides, gripping his thighs tightly.  He concentrated, and in just a second, the world turned to streaks of light.  Shortly thereafter, it popped back into focus, and he was somewhere new.

Several of the students screamed at seeing him pop into existence in their midst.  The four who were doing the highly dangerous thing, however, were more intent on their fun.

David's voice was harsh and warned of trouble.  "If you don't remove your hands from her within the next five seconds, you're going to be dead."

That got their attention, but the one who was still gripping the girl didn't let go.

"Nuh-uh.  You touch us, you lose your job, Prof. Ghoul."

"In one statement, you have made two mistakes," David told him.  "The first is that you think my job means more to me than my daughter.  I would gladly kill you to prevent harm from coming to her."

David paused, and his look actually lightened somewhat.

"Your second mistake is in thinking I'm the one you have to worry about."

A sudden heavy thud occurred from behind the unwitting student.  He turned, and nearly fainted.
Bisperion, in a very irate mood, was standing less than twenty feet away.  Fire was licking up from the sides of his mouth.

"Your five seconds is long past expired," David said coldly.  "I would strongly suggest you get your motherfucking hands off my daughter, before I ask Bispy to turn you into charcoal briquettes.  Come here, Gracie."

Grace broke free of the stunned, and now fearful, boy's grip, and ran to David.  She embraced him tightly, and he wrapped his arms around her, too.

Bisperion looked to David.

David said, "Don't kill him... but make sure he gets the point."

In the blink of an eye, Bispy whirled around, and his tail nailed the offender in the chest, sending him thirty feet away before he even hit the ground.

David looked at the others.  "The next time someone tries this, they will not survive.  Spread the word.  My family is to be treated as sacrosanct.  Anyone who is responsible for hurting them will die a very painful death.

"Understood?"

"Y-yes, sir!" the three remaining students replied in terror.  Other students were watching in a mix of awe and fear.

"Get out of my sight."

In the blink of an eye, the three were tearing across the terrace, trying to put as much distance between themselves and the duo of angry father and angry dragon as possible.

"Thank you, Bispy.  I will see that you are properly compensated."

"Far be it from me to stop you," Bispy said, "But this one is... what is that saying?  'On the house'."
David nodded, understanding Bispy's message. Grace was somehow important to the dragons... or at least, to Bispy.  That could simply mean that they understood just how important she was to David, which was self-evident.  The dragons seemed to be keeping an eye on the things around him.
Far be it from me to complain about having protectors of that caliber, especially for Grace.

David looked down.  "You okay, Gracie?"

"I am now.  Thank you so much, Daddy!"

David grimaced.  "You can't even shorten it to 'Dad'?"

"Uh-uh," she said.

"Not even if I give you a kiss?" since Zyla's approval of kisses at the beginning of the school year, Grace had kissed him at least twice a day.

"Umm...."

"Yeah, you know you're not gonna.  You just want the kiss," David said with a grin.

"Uh-huh."

David leaned down and kissed his daughter for a long moment.  When they broke the kiss, she hugged him even more tightly.

"I love you, Daddy," she said softly.

"I love you, too, Sweetheart.  Come on, I'll walk you to Potions class."

"Can't you make Prof. Stott go easy on me?  I hate potions!"

"Rude," David said with a grin.

Grace giggled.

"And no, Sam does not take requests for favoritism."

"Then you can expect a bad grade on my report card.  I suck in there."

"As long as you try your best, Gracie, I don't really care what grade you end up with."

"Even if I get an F?"

"As long as you gave it your best effort.  I won't say that I won't be a little disappointed... especially since you haven't asked me for any help..."

"You're busy."

"I am never, ever, too busy for my little girl.  We'll go over some stuff tonight after dinner, okay?"

"Okay."

David walked over to Alton Hall with Grace, and took her to her classroom.

"Well, an escort," Sam said, as Grace went to find her seat.  "To what do we owe the pleasure?"

David frowned.  "Some students thought it was safe to accost my child."  Some members of the class got a shocked look on their faces that anyone would be so utterly stupid as to cross David.

Sam frowned, as well.  "Are they still living?"

"I think Bispy probably ruptured a few organs, but I'm sure Annie has things handled by now.  Can I talk to you in the hall for a second?"

"Sure."

The two stepped out into the hall, and Sam closed the classroom door.  "What's up?"

"Grace says she's not doing very well in your class.  Is that true?"

Sam frowned again.  "She could certainly be doing better."

"Is she trying?"

"She seems to be.  Of course, I can't pay attention to her all class, but I've not caught her daydreaming or anything."

"Is there anything you can do to help her?"

"David Stroud, are you asking me to-"

"I am not asking you to grade her unfairly.  I'm asking if you can give her some assistance.  I will be doing what I can to tutor her on my own, but I don't have a lot of free time these days."

"I'll see what I can do... but my tutoring does not come cheap, you know," Sam said with a womanly grin.

David sighed theatrically.  "The things I must do for my daughters."

Sam giggled and gave David a kiss, then went back into her class.

David walked out, contemplating just what he had done over the years for Grace and Angela.  Garrett, as David had thoroughly expected, had ended up rebelling.  Though they still talked from time to time, Garrett had left home to go to Madchen Hall Academy, and had never come home again.  The girls, however, remained Daddy's Little Princesses, and he had bent over backwards to give them everything he could, without spoiling them rotten.

I can only imagine what I'm going to end up having to do when Tiamat's daughter arrives...