Hello everyone! I hope all of you have had a good two weeks, and sorry for not updating sooner!

First: thanks again to wonderful vampirela69 for reviewing again, and also huge thanks to Peter Max who left an impossibly nice review! Thank you SO MUCH!

Alsooooooo welcome Phljulianna and AinsleeRose! Thank you for following this story!

IX
Danger

January was gone way too fast and before they realized, the year was halfway through March and N.E.W.T.S. were just around the corner. Juliana did not have as many subjects as Severus did, but even without having her O.W.L.S. she was allowed to take the tests. They studied together four times a week, yet Juliana was still having a hard time. The school had provided her with a wand because she needed one for Charms and Transfiguration above all, and she had been told she could use it for D.A.D.A. but she was also allowed to use her own methods for that; nonverbal and wandless magic were considered a high level of ability to have when it came to defense.

With Herbology and Potions she didn't have any problems. History of Magic was a subject that she really liked, even if the professor was boring and it had more theory than any other subject. But it wasn't more than that, she just had to sit with the book in front of her and read a lot.

But when she had to use a wand she just couldn't do it. Either she ended up blowing everything up or it didn't work at all. She was studying extra hard for those two subjects, and was slowly becoming better, but she had a lot to practice still. Because in Brazil she didn't have anything like Charms or Transfiguration, she had to get ready to take an exam with expert students in two subjects she had just learned. She was going to aim for an Acceptable on both, but her gut told her she was going to get either a Poor or a Dreadful. She hoped the latter wasn't a real option, but in this situation she really couldn't help but expect the worst.

"Are you leaving for Easter?" Severus asked one day while she was trying to turn vinegar into wine— it wasn't working and she was getting very irritated.

"Not likely. I still have too much to learn." She replied absentmindedly, frowning at the cup in front of her. He nodded and looked at her.

"You can't hold your wand so tightly, and your posture is too stiff. As your frustration increases, the chances of getting it right decrease. Here." He said and got up from his chair, walking to place himself behind her. He put his hands on her shoulders. "Relax." He whispered on her ear and she felt herself calm down immediately, leaning back into him. His right hand grabbed her forearm and guided hers so it was pointing at the cup, while his left arm softly wrapped itself around her stomach, pulling her back against his front. "Loosen your hold on the wand." She did. "Okay, now concentrate. What you want has to be clear on your mind. Breathe. Now, try." She said the spell and was surprised to see the color of the liquid turn red.

"Oh my God!" She exclaimed, amazed. "I did it!" She turned her face and kissed him eagerly on the lips. She walked to the table and picked the cup, a grimace of disgust forming on her face as the smell hit her nostrils. "Well, I successfully made wine vinegar... but I guess that's good enough for today." She finished with a smile.

Severus smiled lovingly and kissed her one more time, before they both started to put their things away.

"Remember that tomorrow I'm going to Hogsmeade, so I will see you for a little while after dinner." He nodded in confirmation, and walked to her so they could kiss one last time, for a little longer. Severus was the first one to leave, and she waited a few minutes before leaving as well.

...

Juliana had a really nice day with Amanda on Hogsmeade. The weather was getting warmer now, and the snow was almost completely gone. After buying tons of candy and some books, they settled for a butterbeer on the Three Broomsticks before heading back to the school.

"You are a lone wolf." Amanda said out of the blue after taking a sip of her drink. Juliana raised her eyebrows.

"Uh?" She asked, confused.

"You love to be alone. You spend much more time on the library than anyone else I've met, I think. I don't even know how you can take being on that place for so long." She said, frowning.

I'm not alone, that's how I can take it, she desperately wanted to answer, but bit her tongue instead.

"Oh... It's just that love to learn about this place." She half-lied. She did love learning about the way they used magic and Hogwarts history, but that was definitely not the reason she spent so much time on the library. "Everything is so different here; I want to get to know all I can before I leave." Amanda nodded in understanding, believing her excuse completely.

"We should get going, I'm supposed to meet Peter on the Great Hall at five." Juliana looked at her watch and frowned. Amanda was already ten minutes late.

"Um— Amanda... it's already ten past five." She said carefully. Amanda's eyes widened instantly.

"WHAT? NO! We really need to leave." She said grabbing her things at record speed.

"I— uh... I really... need to pee?" Juliana said apologetically. "But you can go! I'll catch up."

"No... no. I'll wait. Hurry." Amanda replied, getting nervous. She had been dating Peter from Ravenclaw for about two weeks, and being late was something she absolutely hated. Also, she was sure they hadn't been together long enough for him to not get a wrong impression.

"Really, go. It's not like I can get lost, I'll walk to the castle on my own." She insisted. She hated doing things in a hurry. Amanda hesitated for a second but thanked her with a quick hug and left almost running from the place.

Juliana calmly picked her bags and made her way to the bathroom. She washed her hands afterwards, looked at herself in the mirror, and exited the pub.

She was alone walking on the path that led to Hogwarts when she heard her name being called. When she turned around to see who it was, she couldn't help but roll her eyes almost automatically and keep walking.

About twenty feet behind her walking unsteadily was Sirius Black. When he realized she had begun walking faster, he hurried his steps.

"Julianaaaaaa..." she heard again, this time much more closer. She stopped and turned around, already angry.

"What the hell do you want?" She asked taking a step back when she smelled the stench of alcohol on him.

"Oh, don't get so worked up." He said with a drunken laugh, popping the p at the end of his sentence.

"Get lost Sirius, you reek of firewhiskey." She growled disgusted and turned to leave again when his hand on her arm stopped her. She pulled away immediately. "Don't touch me." She warned, her anger now turned into fury.

"Oh, come on Julie... you know you want this." He said with a cocky smile, pointing at himself. He tried to grab her shoulders to pull her close and kiss her, but all he got was a strong fist connecting to his nose. His eyes watered and he felt warm liquid coming out, before feeling the taste of blood on his mouth. The blow was so hard that he nearly fell back, and it served to sober him a bit.

"Why the bloody hell did you do that for?" He asked, hand on his face, looking down at the blood that was starting to drip to the floor. When he looked up, he involuntarily took a step back. The look on her face was one of pure hatred; it looked like she was about to burst into flames. He had only seen one other person look at him that way on his life— and she was currently dating him.

"Oh, I'm sorry." She said lowly, her words filled with sarcasm. Sirius wished she was screaming at him, because he knew this tone was much more dangerous. "Was I supposed to punch you after you had your way with me while I screamed at you to stop? After you finally considered that maybe I keep saying no to you not because I'm playing hard to get but because I actually DON'T WANT YOU?" He took another step back, feeling slightly hurt by her words and the fact that she considered him capable of doing something like that. "I want you away from me. I can't stand being more than five minutes in the same room as you. I don't know what you think of the girls that surround you, but believe me, not all women are willing to take off their panties whenever you ask. When someone says no, you should start to consider that maybe they don't want you to keep insisting, they actually DON'T WANT IT." She let out a dry laugh."But how can you know or understand something like this, if you could try to kill someone and get away with it. Oh, no… wait... you already did that." She finished, her eyes narrowed and her teeth clenched in anger. She turned and started to walk away, but he spoke again.

"Why him? What could possibly make you want to be with Severus Snape of all people?" He asked with no emotion on his voice. Before he could prevent it, a fist made contact with his right eye, this time successfully making him fall backwards on his butt.

"We told you to shut up." She said, looking around to see if someone was around, not finding anyone.

"Why? The world should know that you are Hogwarts happiest couple." He muttered, his voice filled with malice and resentment.

She grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him up; their faces were only inches apart.

"Listen to me, asshole, and listen carefully. Do not try me. Or I swear on my life that I will not only destroy you, I will also destroy everyone you love." She moved her face so her mouth was on his ear. "How would Remus feel if everyone knew he is a werewolf?" He pushed her back and looked at her with scared wide eyes. "That's what I thought." She said before turning for the last time and finally walking to the school without being stopped.

Not even in her wildest dreams Juliana would consider to tell anyone about Remus or destroying Sirius life along with the lives of everyone he loved. But she needed him to remain silent, and with someone so unpredictable, threats were the only thing she could think of that actually worked. She wished she didn't have to do it, but she was sure that if she didn't he was going to talk. And in this situation, talking meant someone could die.

When she was finally out of sight, Sirius made his own way to the castle, completely sober by now.

...

What he didn't know, and what Juliana hadn't noticed either, was that there was someone standing not too far away that had listened attentively to their whole conversation.

"Well this is just great." Avery whispered to himself, a wicked smile slowly beginning to form on his mouth.

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