TITLE: With Darkness Comes Anew
AUTHOR: Alia
STATUS/PART: 3
EMAIL: PG-13 (and it's uphill from there)
PAIRING: Severus Snape / (Give it a while)
SPOILERS: not including OotP
WARNINGS: angst, language, character deaths( just two)
DISCLAIMER: I do not in anyway or fashion own HP. It belongs to Rowlings and friends.
SUMMARY: Leaving the Wizarding World after a devastating betrayal, Severus starts a road in life that will eventually rock his world.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: If you have a problem understanding something, you'll find out sooner or later.
With Darkness Comes Anew 3
Julius looked at the calendar on the wall nervously. Then he glanced at the clock, then at the wall. He'd been repeating this process for the last twenty minutes and was irritating his girlfriend to no end.
He could see Brea's brown eyes glaring at him every few minutes while she lay on her white couch, propped against the arm, typing on her laptop. Mouthing he was sorry, he did it again: calendar, clock, wall.
A stifled sigh escaped Brea. Julius fidgeted and tried to stop. He managed for a full ten seconds before he did it again.
Brea slammed the top of her laptop down and glared at him. Julius flinched, not enjoying the fact that he was about to be on the bad end of Brea's temper.
He loved her with all his heart, since the day he'd met her in a muggle clothing shop a year and a half ago. Her calm and pleasant, even playful, demeanor drew him to her. Julius had no idea that under that playful yet cool appearance, was a hellcat. Brea's temper was something to be feared. And fear Julius did.
"If you do not stop fidgeting, I will petrify you, glue you to my ceiling fan, and turn it on high. Maybe you'll stop annoying me if you have something else to think about!" Watching Julius cringed at her temper, the African American woman sighed, then took a deep breath. "Baby, I'm sorry, but you are driving me nuts!"
He smiled and blamed it all on PMS. "I'm sorry, Brea...it's just that...today is the day, you know. I could be cured!" He moved from his chair across from her and knelt at her side. "We could marry. We could even have children."
Brea laughed at him. "You forget yourself my friend. Julius-," she sat the laptop on the table behind her. "I love you for who you are. And as mushy as it sounds, I love all of you. From my everyday Hogwarts teacher to the wolf that is part of you." She caressed his cheek. "Besides, you know I can't marry you until you have permission from Mother. And what makes you think I want children."
He laughed at that. She denied it with a passion but she did want children. He could see it whenever she was babysitting for Lex.
Brea looked up at her clock. "Lex should be up from his nap soon. I'm sure he wouldn't mind if we woke him up a bit early." Julius smiled and kissed her cheek.
A groan gave a little echo through the room as the man in bed felt a gentle tug on his shirt. "Not now. Why are you not still asleep?"
A small voice giggled. "Aunty Brea and U'cle Caesar is here, Daddy. She told me to get you."
One weary, night blue eye opened and glanced at the playful blue ones in front of him. A long, but strong hand slipped out and roughly played with the black hair on the four year old's head. "Where's your brother, Xander?" Lex had just come from the shop and always took a nap the same time as Emma and the boys.
"Art is with Aunt Brea." Alexander watched his father sit up from the bed. His father was a tall, pale skinned man. He wasn't very muscular but he was strong enough to toss both Xander and Arthur around. The man ran a hand through the short black locks then followed the bouncing four year old from the room.
Lex smiled at Julius who was sitting on the floor playing with one of Alexander and Arthur's toys. He cleared his throat and smirked at the embarrassed man.
"Sorry Lex," muttered Julius.
He shook his head. "Apologize to the boys, Caesar. It's theirs. Besides your humiliation is more than enough to satisfy me."
Julius turned red. "Thanks," he said sarcastically.
"Your welcome. Where is Brea?"
"In here!" a voice called out from the nursery. A few moments later, Brea came out with a small bundle followed by Arthur. The boy rushed over to sit by his twin on the couch. Little arms and legs swung and kicked from the inside of the blanket. Lex walked over and took the yellow bundle from Brea. He looked down at the dark brown hair and light blue eyes.
"Did Brea wake you up Emma?" The baby girl only cooed at her father in response.
Brea rolled her eyes and snorted. "She was already up. I changed and fed her."
"Thanks." He placed Emma in her basinet beside the couch. Turning, he looked right at Julius who was now standing. "Chiara will watch the children for me tonight. Go into the lab. There's a large vial with a gray liquid inside. It has your name on it. Drink that and we'll find out if the cure worked tonight. Xan, Art, go get your backpacks."
"Kay, Daddy!" Both boys rushed toward their room.
Lex watched Julius walk hesitantly toward the door of his lab, the former linen closet. Amazing what a little magic could do. He looked at Brea who had a sad expression on her face. She was a lovely woman, though not overly beautiful, with brown eyes, raven black hair like his, and a nice figure. Her brown skin had a lovely glow to it but at the moment...
"It will work, Brea."
"I trust you Lex. You're my brother. I trust you." She gave him a brief hug.
He pressed a chaste kiss to her lips. "Can you take care of Julius? I'm taking Emma and the boys down the hall to Chiara." Brea's nod of acknowledgment had Lex gathering Emma's diaper bag and picking up her bassinet with his hands. "Art! Xander!" The boys came running, both had toys in their hands, and packs on their backs. "Let's go."
Chiara laughed as the boys rushed in. Her flowing dark hair surrounded her face as she leaned down to greet the boys. "Xander, Art! How are my boys doing? I haven't seen you in years!"
Arthur giggled. "You saw us yesterday! You did, you did!" He cried as she shook her head in playful denial.
Lex smirked as Xander joined in on the chanting. Chiara was trying to pick up both boys and swing them a bit with her arms. For her profession, she was a very pleasant woman. "Thank you sister."
Chiara laughed. "No problem, Lex. You know how much I like them around."
He nodded. She was in her element with the children. Their innocence and happiness made her glow with pleasure
"How are things going with Julius?" she asked.
"He just took my cure. He's in the lab now. We'll know the final results tonight when the moon is full."
Chiara smiled brightly. She was literally bursting at the seems with delight. "I hope it goes well. For him and for you."
Lex deposited the quiet four month old girl and her bassinet on the couch. Turning, he gave each of his boys a kiss on the forehead and a hug. "Behave."
"Okay, Daddy."
Lex just gave both of them a look. He knew better than to expect his children to act correctly. Twins were just made to be mischievous.
"I'll see you guys tomorrow morning, alright?"
"Bye Daddy!" The twins cried as he headed for the door.
"Good luck, brother." Chiara closed the door.
Later that night, Lex looked out of the window. Surprisingly, all of them had fallen asleep instead of staying away to check the cure. He cursed his idiocy and lack of attention. /Something important might happen and I fall asleep! Fantastic./ he thought sarcastically.
Standing Lex made his way over to the large cage in the corner of his laboratory. Lying there, and snoring quite loudly, was Julius. A human Julius.
He smiled. After all the years of work, he finally did it. And now a good friend of his could be happy. With his beloved Brea. Lex frowned. His beloved sister Brea... /Hmmm./
Brea was in the corner, sleeping on a lounge that she'd transfigured from one of his cracked beakers. "Brea. Brea get up. You may want to see this."
Brea groaned then looked bleary eyed at Lex. "Wha?"
He merely pointed at the corner and watched the woman light up. Brea looked at the window at the full moon then back at the sleeping male human on the floor of the cage. "It worked."
She looked at Lex then threw her arms around him. Throwing her head back she cried out, "IT WORKED. GLORY HALLELUJAH!" Brea began jumped and twirling around the room laughing. "Oh god, you did it Lex!"
Lex rolled his eyes at her but grinned at the excitement on her face.
Julius shifted at the noise then opened his eyes slowly to see what the hell was going on. Brea was jumping around the room like crazy and was dragging poor Lex along with her. "Brea, what are you doing?"
Brea stopped and both her and Lex just smirked at him. He glowered at the couple and stood up. "What is with..." He was talking. He was speaking to them. He couldn't do that...not in wolf form. Julius looked down at his hands. Not paws...hands. "Oh Merlin!" He dropped to his knees and began to weep in happiness.
Brea opened the cage and held her sobbing lover in her arms. Lex watched her rock him back and forth, comforting him and standing with him. He smiled. Mary would have been pleased. He certainly was.
Lex walked from the room giving them their privacy. He called Chiara and told her the results. The Japanese woman was very pleased to hear of his success. She was practically squealing with excitement. Lex then called Terry and hoped that he would still be in. He left a message on the machine and decided to speak to Sarah and Ash when he spoke to Terry.
Brea came out a little later, her energy from earlier totally gone but she was still quite pleased. "Julius is asleep. He says thank you and congratulations."
Lex smiled at her but remained silent. She sat beside him on his couch. "Are you going to publish it?"
He shook his head. "I seriously doubt it. I did this for Julius. Besides there is still quite a bit to do. We need to see how good his control is and I want to make some more notes. Otherwise, Hogwarts is going to get quite a shock next term."
Time had passed since that night Julius got his cure. When he'd returned to Hogwarts, Dumbledore had tried to get some type of information from him on his week away but Julius managed to keep it quiet. Lex wasn't ready to publish his findings. Julius had to wonder if he would ever do it.
He also felt a bit guilty every time the other teachers, Lupin included, would look at him questioningly, but he never said a word to anyone. He wanted to surprise them.
It was the day after the first full moon of the new school year. Lupin was noticeably absent but Julius could feel everyone gaping as he walked in and sat down at the Head Table for breakfast. It took a long time and restorative potions for a werewolf to heal after transforming. Julius didn't need them any longer. He had transformed but not because he had to. He wanted to test out the painless transformation and see if he'd had any changes since the last moon.
For the first time ever, turning into a werewolf was a great experience. Lex had cured him of the loss of control: mentally and physically. His friend had said that the ability to turn into a werewolf should be a gift rather than a curse. And it was now. He still had the instincts and at some moments the aggressiveness of the wolf but he was still himself. He wasn't taken over and forced anymore. In other words, he and the wolf had merged in some ways. They now co existed in one form.
Even better was the prospect that he could now transform into the wolf at will. Lex said that he would be able to protect himself and he would have to do so someday if he wanted to become Brea's husband.
He smiled at the other teachers and the students as they watched him fill his plate and act as if it were just another day.
Albus, who was two chairs down from him, called out to the young man. "Julius, my boy, what are you doing up so soon? Didn't you-,"
"Transform last night? Oh yes. But I feel strangely exhilarated this morning and came right down to eat."
Dumbledore eyed him for a long moment before saying, "Does this have anything to do with that friend of yours, Julius?"
Julius smiled, "I'm afraid I can't answer that, Headmaster." He turned back to his food. Dumbledore was thankfully silent, but Julius knew that it wouldn't be the end of it. It wasn't.
Later that day, just after his last class ended, Black entered his classroom. "Hey, Julius!"
He smiled weakly, " Sirius." He didn't like the man all that much. Julius thought he acted too much like the children. Black was just too immature to hang out with for a long period of time. He was also one of the reasons he picked friends like Brea, Lex, Terry and the guys. All of them could be completely wild at one moment but more mature then most men Dumbledore's age at the next.
Sirius walked into the classroom, closing the door behind him. Julius took a deep breath to brace himself.
"So, I heard that you were up and running this morning."
Julius smiled and nodded with pleasure. He was still on high from his voluntary transformation.
"How are you feeling? You should be completely exhausted from your transformation last night."
"I'm fine thank you Sirius."
Sirius looked at him for a while, fidgeting in the spot where he was standing while Julius looked at him while a calm demeanor. Sirius cleared his throat. "So how did you manage that? I mean there is no way you should be up and running so soon. The last time you had a transformation at Hogwarts, you couldn't get up the next morning."
Julius chuckled. "You're right. I was practically bedridden at that time."
"So how are you so energetic now? Remus would love to be able to get up right after his transformation."
Julius frowned then sighed. "Sirius-,"
"Albus told us that you had to leave on a personal matter at the end of last term. That has to be why you're so healthy after a transformation."
Julius interrupted before he could continue. "Sirius, that is my personal affair. Truthfully, however," he sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose, "I will say that you are right. That trip is the reason I'm able to teach today."
Sirius's face brightened and Julius felt sick to his stomach. "Then you can help Remus!"
"No, I can't. Sirius, a friend of mine did something for me that he didn't have to. And in payment for that I swore that I wouldn't mention what was done until he was ready."
Sirius glared at him but Julius rolled his eyes at him. He'd seen worse from Lex and Ash. Now those were two men to fear. Terry was too soft hearted.
"Why can't you tell me? All I want to do is help Remus! I thought you were a friend of his."
"Though not particularly close, yes, I do consider Remus a friend. Unfortunately, my friend and I are almost family, and will be soon if I can marry his sister." Julius cursed himself for the lack of tact on that last comment.
Sirius looked at him curiously. "How can you possibly...you know werewolves can only marry other werewolves."
Julius glared. "This case is different, Sirius." The other man cut him off before he could continue.
"A cure...you bastard, you took a cure."
Julius would later curse the fact that he could not control himself for that one second. Because the look on his face was all Sirius needed to believe that it was true.
Sirius started toward him. "You have a cure and you haven't told anyone about it!"
"Sirius, I didn't say that-,"
The next thing Julius knew, he was being pushed up against the wall. "Son of a bitch! Fucking Bastard! How could you do this!"
Julius looked down at the eyes glaring up at him. Sirius was trying to choke his secret out. It looked like Julius was going to have to knock him out.
Both looked to the side as the door slammed shut again. More than likely a stunned student who was now going for help.
Julius watched Sirius growl at him as if his was in his animagus form. The man was a fool. He would not listen. "Sirius, let me go. Let me explain what I meant."
"NO! You don't have to explain. I understand perfectly. You just going to let all the other werewolves suffer while you enjoyed your life with you little whore! Well I don't give a fuck about what you thought! You're going to help Remus or we'll find a way and force that friend of yours to tell us!"
Sirius had just crossed a line. He didn't know it until it was too late.
Dumbledore, followed by Remus came running into the room. Standing across the room was Julius but Albus would not forget the look on the man's face for some time. Rage. Pure and simple. His amber eyes were actually glowing gold and his canine's were quite visible. If it weren't for the fact the man was obviously still standing, you would think he'd have transformed.
They stood near the middle of the class room. Albus saw the destruction of the classroom. There were overturned desks, chairs, and broken glass and torn papers litter the floor. In the middle of it all, Julius was holding a hurt Sirius at least five inches off the ground by his throat. "Julius," the Headmaster called cautiously.
Julius turned to look at Dumbledore then back at the bastard in his grasp. "What?" he growled.
Lupin and Dumbledore exchanged a look. The two wizards wondered what Sirius had done to piss off Julius to such a degree. The other man was not known to have an explosive temper. "May we ask what is going on?"
Julius was silent before he tightened his grasp around Sirius's neck. Deciding to answer Remus and deal with Black, he glared at the idiot he held. "You listen to me, you idiotic sanctimonious asshole. Don't you ever-and I do mean EVER- insult my chosen mate!"
Remus's eyes widened and he gaped at Sirius. Albus sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. Sirius could be such an idiot.
"And you stay away from my pack. Do you understand that Sirius? You are not even allowed to speak of them in my presence." he asked the choking man. Julius knew very well that little air was getting to Sirius but wouldn't let go until he got an answer. Sirius nodded the best he could as he slowly turned red then blue. Julius smiled but managed to send a shiver down the spine of all three wizards. "Good." Dropping Black to the floor, unceremoniously, Julius stormed out of the room before he did something he would regret. Well, maybe not regret...
Bac k in the classroom, Dumbledore was demanding answers from Sirius while Remus helped his friend into a chair that was still standing nearby. "Why were you threatening him Sirius? I would think you knew better than to do such a thing."
As Sirius slowly tried to explain what happened, Remus took a good look at his best friend and flinched. Julius had done a number on Sirius if the bruises which were slowly turned blue and black were any indication. There was even a little blood. His head snapped up in shock when he finally tuned into the conversation between Sirius and Albus. "A cure!"
Sirius nodded excitedly while Albus seemed a bit more subdued. "Yeah, Remmy! That's why he's up so quickly." It had only been an hour ago when Remus had been able to leave bed. He would be the same way the next day and he was still weak even now. "He took a cure."
Remus looked to Albus. "It would seem to be correct Remus but from what Sirius tells me...Julius is not ready to admit to their being a cure and I think Sirius may be wrong, however, we will not know until we can get information from Julius. I think we should wait a while."
"But Albus!"
"I'm sorry Remus." Albus said raising a hand. "But you will only make him clam up more."
Both the younger wizards nodded in defeat as the wait began. Neither would expect that something even more important would come up.
TBC
