Author's Note: I think we all know by now that I do not own any of the characters from Harry Potter. But I like to leave this note anyway. Original characters are naturally mine.
I felt that, while I was writing Family Ties, I had to write this one. "Family Ties: Julius and Severus", as I guess I couldn't stop thinking of this young man that was Severus's older brother and, of course, Severus himself, as children - or coming of age. Dealing with their family and crushes and school and whatever else is going on in their world - including the possible of writing in the pinnacle moment of Julius deciding to leave the UK for Australia, which leads to us having Elijah, Victoria, Gabriel and Ainsley in "Family Ties". I hope you enjoy this fiction.
Chapter One
Meeting in the Park
"Come on, Sev!"
"I'm coming! I'm coming! I can't help it that I am shorter than you, Jules!"
Julius looks over his shoulder at his little brother, Severus, and chuckles, before slowing just a little so is to let him catch up, as they ran toward the park. It wasn't the nicest of parks around, but it was still worth going to, instead of being cooped up at home... and listening to the yelling and screaming they endure on a weekly basis.
Panting only a little, they reached their favourite spot, a small shroud of trees that was wrapped beautifully and evenly around them, making a sort of natural cave of leaves and dirt and large roots that were poking up out of the ground, making for nice little nooks for them to sit in near comfort and whatever else they could think of.
Once they crawled into the entry of the 'cubby tree' as they decided to call it when they first discovered it many years before, they set the blanket, bags and basket down. Not at all wasting time, they spread the blanket out before them, then opened their little backpacks to pull out their little cushions and placed them around the little area, before putting the basket in the middle of the blanket.
Before they could open the basket, they heard voices.
"Why did you insist on having us come here?"
"Because Mummy and Daddy told us go and explore the place."
"They told me to go with you, to keep an eye on you!"
"Same thing!"
Julius and Severus peeked out of the perfectly shaped holes that allowed them to see out of their cubby tree, without it being obvious that they were even watching. Together they saw two girls, one blonde and one redhead, the blonde was definitely the oldest of the pair. Based on her being taller.
"Can we go somewhere else?" the blonde asked, her voice sounding rather whiny.
"Oh come on! Please? There is a cool looking bunch of trees over there; we can go have a better look!"
The younger girl was pointing right in the direction of where the boys were. The blonde did look curious enough to let out a heavy sigh and agree.
It was at this point where Julius and Severus both quickly moved out to reveal themselves to the girls.
"Sorry! Didn't mean to startle you," said Julius when the blonde girl nearly let out a squeal with her startled reaction. "We overheard you and saw you coming, thought it was better to show ourselves now, than have you be scared off when you see us in there." He points at the bushes.
"That and to say hi," said Severus.
"Hi," the redhead grins. "I'm Lily, and this is my sister, Petunia."
"Julius and this is by brother, Severus."
Petunia makes a slight face. "Severus?" she repeats.
Severus frowns at this; "What's wrong with my name?"
"Nothing is wrong with it!" Lily insists, shooting her older sister a look.
"Our mother's side has a tradition where boys get named after Roman Caesars or Hebrew-Biblical like names," Julius explains. "Our Dad only agreed to the Roman Caesar names."
"Well, I think they're nice names!" said Lily, smiling.
"Thank you, I think you both have nice names, too," said Julius.
Petunia smiles in spite herself.
"Yeah, both after some really, really nice flowers, both have really nice properties that are associated with them," Severus blurts out. "Like, petunias help butterflies and bees to make sure everything is pollinated and healthy, and the Mayans once believed that they ward off evil spirits. Lilies help the larvae of some butterflies so they can grow up and help the other plants that need them, like the petunia, and they're also were seen as delicacies in various cultures."
"How old are you?" Petunia couldn't help asking, she didn't know whether to show she was impressed, or to keep her uptight persona. "You seem to know a lot about plants."
"I'm nine," said Severus.
"Me, too!" Lily exclaims with an excited squeal and then rounds on her sister. "See, I knew it was a good idea to come here!"
"I take it you are new here?" Julius made the connection.
"We just moved here yesterday," said Lily.
"So that was your moving truck we saw going down the street?" Severus said.
"Yep!"
"Our parents got offers of jobs in this area, they couldn't resist the chance, we've been told," said Petunia, she rolled her eyes at this.
"Where are you from originally?" Julius asks.
"Surrey," said Petunia.
There was a short silence.
"Hey, we have a basket full of food, if you would like to join us?" Julius then offers, thumbing toward the cubby tree.
"What sort?" Lily asks.
"We have sandwiches, crisps and cakes," said Severus.
"What kind of cakes?" Petunia seemed to have dropped the persona all together at this point.
"Ones with jam and cream in the middle," said Severus, smiling. "Our Mum is a whiz at making them!"
"She's just a whiz at baking," Julius laughs. "Would you like to try one?"
"Oh yes please!" said Lily, going forwards with Severus.
Petunia hesitated.
"We don't bite!" Julius insists to the girl, with a nice smile.
She takes in his dark hair and handsome face for someone in his early teenage year, even with the hooked nose, which is a shared feature of the two boys.
Finally, she decided that it couldn't hurt and joined her sister and the two boys.
"So, how old are you, Julius?" she dared to ask Julius, as she sat down next to Lily.
"I am twelve, thirteen in September," said Julius.
"That's two months away," said Lily; "Which day in September?"
"Fourteenth," Julius said, with a slight shrug.
"Oh, we would have to make sure you get a card from us then!" Lily insists. "We can come by your house and..."
"That's really nice of you, Lily, but it is not real big of a deal," said Julius, between flattered and embarrassed. "By the time my birthday comes by, I'll be back at my school."
"Where do you go to school?" asked Petunia.
"It's located in the north of Scotland," said Julius ever casually, Severus was carefully making sure he didn't accidentally spill something when Petunia did ask the question.
"No, I mean the name of the school?"
"St Edwards," both Severus and Julius said in unison.
"That's an all boy's school, isn't it?" said Petunia.
"Yes."
"Maybe we can send it?" Lily suggests.
"If you like, you can give me the card and I'll send it to Jules, that way he can get mine, as well as yours, at the same time?" Severus speaks up.
Lily thought of this. "That's actually a good idea."
Petunia took one of the cakes when it was offered and she was delighted by the engulfment of flavour and texture of the sweetness of the cake and the tart of the cherry flavour jam.
"Mmm, if your mother doesn't mind, I would love to get this recipe!" she said, forgetting herself again.
"Petunia loves, loves, loves to bake!" Lily giggles.
"Are you any good?" Severus couldn't help prying.
"You bet!" said Lily, before Petunia could answer. "She made this awesome chocolate cake once two years ago, even won a prize for it."
Petunia blushes a little. "It was nothing!"
"No, no, don't cut yourself short!" said Julius. "I mean, you're what? Thirteen?"
"Eleven!" Petunia didn't know if she wanted to be offended.
"Sorry, you look like a very pretty thirteen year old. But you're still just as pretty at eleven."
Petunia smiles at this.
"You have a talent, is what I am saying," said Julius. "Take pride in that."
"Yeah, and we can talk to our Mum, and if your Mum doesn't mind, you could come over and try to make some of the stuff Mum knows," Severus offers.
"I'll think about it," said Petunia, with a small nod, feeling a little better about this situation than she had before. She then sees her watch. "Unfortunately, we are going to have to get going. Our parents only permitted us to be out until three o'clock."
"Will we get to see you again?" Severus asks, eagerly.
"You bet you will," said Lily, grinning.
"I would think it is a strong possibility," said Petunia.
With that, the two sisters left the area and started walking away.
"Sevvy's got a crush!" Julius teased in undertone, when it was safe to do so.
"I do not!" Severus fires back. "But I do think Lily is special."
"Whatever you say, little brother," said Julius.
Severus rolls his eyes and goes to start packing up.
I know it's not how Severus and Lily meet, but I thought this would be a good alteration to bring in a nice little prequel or branch story from Family Ties, by giving the childhoods of Julius and Severus. Plus of course, Lily and Petunia, as they lived in the area.