TITLE: With Darkness Comes Anew
AUTHOR: Alia
STATUS/PART: 4
EMAIL: PG-13 (and it's uphill from there)
PAIRING: Severus Snape / (Give it a while)
SPOILERS: not including OotP
WARNINGS: domestic abuse, angst, mild child abuse, 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: We're going back to Harry! YAY!
With Darkness Comes Anew 4
Harry fell to the ground laughing himself sick as he watched his best friend, Ronald Weasley, chase the two naked redheaded toddler boys around the front yard of the Burrow. Beside him was Molly Weasley, who was loudly admonishing her youngest son for losing the twins in the first place. Wiping tears from his eyes, he yelled, "Come on, Ron! You can do it!" Harry managed to sit up but fell back over laughing when one of the twins ducked out of the way and Ron went flying head first into the ground.
Molly was furious. Molly was also ranting. "Do you hear me, Ronald Weasley! I cannot believe that you are so irresponsible that you can't bath two children without losing them! They are just babies, for Merlin's sake!" she shrieked.
"How do you think Bill will react to this! You were suppose to be RESPONSIBLE for his children and you have them running amok around the Burrow! How are you suppose to become a father with such a lack of attention! I don't believe you left the children in the bathtub by themselves! Anything could have happened, this included. You catch those children this minu-," Molly screamed as one of the twins began rolling around happily in a large puddle of mud then jumped up and ran for the Burrow. "Ronald, stop him! He's headed back inside!"
Meanwhile Ron continued to run about the yard like some deranged hippogriff. Harry wasn't even sure his best friend was even chasing the twins anymore. Harry briefly wondered when Hermione would get here. After four years of marriage, Ron had begun begging for them to have a child...but after this little experiment, Harry was hesitant to think he'd be a godfather anytime soon.
A pop could be heard nearby! Then a shout and scream across from where he and Molly stood. Bill stood there stunned watching his children, covered with mud and grass, avoid their now hysterically screaming uncle.
After about fifteen minutes of calming down the twins and Ron, who took much longer, Arthur, accompanied by Hermione, arrived home with a small package. Molly kissed her husband. "What's that, dear?"
Arthur held it up. "This is for Harry, actually. Someone left it at my office at the ministry. It's from Gringotts apparently."
Harry blinked slightly confused but took the package. Usually, when Gringotts wanted to speak with you that sent a message. Those goblins never just shipped something out of their vaults. You had to come to them and get it, with permission of course, despite the fact that it was yours.
He took the package and sat down on the couch inside to open it. Ron, now fully recovered, sat beside his best friend. "What do you think it is?"
Harry shrugged. "Don't know. I didn't think the goblins sent something to you like this. Don't you have to come and take it from them?"
Hermione nodded in confirmation. "This is a bit strange. Maybe you should check it for any hexes or anything. It could be a trick."
Harry took his wand out from his sleeve and began scanning for any hexes and curses on the package. Nothing. He looked at Hermione who shrugged. "It seems as if its safe."
"I guess so," muttered Harry. He was, however, still unsure. His instincts were telling him that something was wrong. He kept his wand out as he opened it.
Nothing happened. Shaking his head at his paranoia, Harry pulled out the simple vial within. There was a clear liquid inside. Hermione named it immediately.
Harry looked at her curiously. "Isn't pensieve liquid suppose to be in a bowl?"
"Usually," explained Hermione. "However, there are wizards who place their pensieves else where. I once heard of a witch that kept hers in a crystal vase."
Before Hermione could extend her lecture, Harry asked, "Whose do you think it is?"
"It could be your folks, Harry. Gringotts took it from your vault," said Ron.
His heart fluttering slightly at the thought that he could learn so much about his parents, Harry quickly removed the stopper of the vial. His heart sank when it turned black. Harry looked to Hermione and he suddenly became nervous when the girl looked confused. "Hermione, what's wrong?"
"HARRY, LOOK OUT!"
Ron's cry came too late. Before the darkness totally engulfed Harry, he swore he could hear a familiar laugh.
Julius continued to nod as his followed Rose down the hall to the infirmary. The potions mistress had caught him in the hall moments ago and asked him to carry a large box of potions for Poppy's stores. The old witch (and that was not meant in a mean sense) had a rule about not using levitating or apparating spells on her potions. So being the gentleman he was raised to be, as it often made up for Brea not being a lady in any sense, he volunteered to help.
Rose was a step ahead of him and had just finished gossiping about one of the shop owners in Hogsmeade. That meant it was something Julius really didn't care to hear. Rose opened the door. "Hmmm...I wonder where Poppy is?" She called out for the mediwitch but got nothing but silence. Rose motioned Julius into the room. "I wonder where she's gotten to? Never mind. Put it there dear." She motioned him to the bed closest to Madam Pomfrey's stores.
Julius smiled as Rose thanked him. Both Potions Mistress and Charms Professor were turning to leave the room when the floo flared. Julius turned with his wand in hand while Rose Transt took a step back. Both she and Julius gasped.
Pomfrey burst into the room first. "Julius! Rose! Quickly, we'll need your help. Mr. Weasley, please take him to into one of the private rooms."
Julius was stunned. Lying in the arms of a Weasley was an unconscious Harry Potter. The lighting bolt was covered with blood, but so was the rest of the man. Potter had blood all over him, from head to toe. There was a gapping hole in his chest. Everything could be seen. His pumping heart was visibly showing but as Poppy began shouting demands, he knew the man still had a chance. A very slim one, but a chance nonetheless.
Poppy whirled toward him as Weasley followed by someone she called Miss Granger rushed toward a private room. "Snap out of it Rose! I need your help. Julius, I need to know if you can-,"
Julius was already running for the room. "Of course!" He already knew what she wanted.
Poppy turned back to Rose and began demanding potions. Julius began ignoring his surroundings as he raced for the room. Granger was sobbing in Weasley's arms as Potter continued bleeding to death. Julius pulled them away from the bed.
"Manere Sanguis Corpus!" A glow appeared around Potter before diminishing.
Julius gaped. That was one of the most powerful binding charms. "Shit." He pointed to both the now calmed, or at least no longer hysterical, Granger and Weasley. "Say the words with me this time." Potter was still losing blood quickly.
Julius, Hermione and Ron all tried again but to no avail. The spell continued to cancel. Poppy burst through the door.
"Julius, I thought-,"
"The spells won't work Poppy. Something keeps canceling it. Don't do anything yet. Give me a moment." Raising his wand, Julius began chanting. Something told him to use a strong scanning spell.
"Shit!" Julius looked at the young man mournfully. He'd never seen anything this bad before. This curse was dark. One of the darkest ever. THE darkest if you wanted to get technical. /Fuck! Who the hell had found this/ He cast a stabilizing charm then turned to Ron.
"I have a spell that will work. Potter will be stable for the time being, however, you'll be taking the brunt of his pain. The bleeding will stop but that will also increase the pain on you. Are you willing to do it?" He decided not to tell Weasley that this was a borderline curse he'd learned from a couple of friends.
Julius summoned forth a roll of bandages and charmed them to slow and stop the bloodloss. It wasn't nearly as effective as the other charm but apparently he wasn't able to use certain charms on Potter. A flick of his wand and they wrapped themselves tightly around Potter's chest.
Ron nodded. "Stand by the bed." After performing the spell, Julius sent Poppy to Ron's side. "Poppy, you can tend to him," Julius said, pointing at Ron.
Her eyes widened at him. "B-but what about Mr. Potter? For Circe's sake, he's dying!"
Julius sighed and explained what he'd done. "This is the only way. Poppy, I have heard of this curse before."
"A curse! What kind? I thought it was a potion." Hermione was obviously confused about what was happening. The woman was sitting by her husband who now lay asleep. Poppy had drugged him to stop the pain. Potter was momentarily stabilized.
Julius felt sick suddenly. "It was potion? Madam-," "Mrs. Weasley," "Yes, yes," he waved his hand absently. "Just tell me what happened."
Julius didn't know what to think when he got the entire story of what happened. The curse was meant to be worse than death...and it was. Unfortunately, he had never heard of anything like this. "We may have a problem."
The door opened again, this time to reveal Dumbledore and Arthur Weasley. Both men were pale and weary. Julius ignored them for a minute to turn to Pomfrey. "Heal him Poppy, but you're going to have to do it the muggle way. I've helped only a little. Close his chest and put some natural healing herbs in the wound. Pack them in if you can but do not use any magic on him or his wounds."
"Do you know what happened to him Julius?" asked the weary Headmaster. The old man was worried about Potter. Julius couldn't miss that fact.
The man nodded. "Yes Headmaster. I have an idea. Unfortunately, we have a large problem."
Feeling that everyone needed to be there to hear what was wrong with Harry, Albus called the Order of the Phoenix together in his office. Julius had never met any of the members before as they were no longer needed as much as they once were. He would usually be slightly nervous as he usually was but right now he had other things on his mind. He knew someone who could save Potter. Whether they would do it or not was the question. Hell, they were going to have his ass for even asking. "Shit."
"Julius!" The man's head snapped up and his eyes turned to the Headmaster. "Could you please tell us all what is happening to Harry?"
"Of course, Albus." The man stood but he ignored everyone as he began explaining. "From Mrs. Weasley's account, Mr. Potter received a potion earlier this morning. All three, Potter and the Weasleys, thought that it was pensieve liquid. From Mrs. Weasley's account, when opened, the liquid turned black and exploded. When things cleared, Potter was lying on the floor with a hole in his chest." He ignored a few gasps and some soft cries and continued.
"Potter was brought to the infirmary and Madam Pomfrey asked me to try and stop the bloodloss. Unfortunately, something kept canceling the spell even when it was done by the Weasleys and I. Potter could not be saved if we couldn't keep blood in him. I scanned him for any spells and I did find something." Julius suddenly looked defeated and the everyone else in the room became tense.
"Potter has a, well let me rephrase that, THE dark curse on him."
"What do you mean by THE? The darkest curse is the killing curse, isn't it?" asked Remus who sat beside his trembling friend. Sirius had been shaken ever since they saw Harry earlier in the infirmary.
Julius shook his head. "No. Just because its an Unforgivable, doesn't mean there isn't something out there worse. There are some things worse than death. This curse was meant to be just that."
He sighed. "It's not a well know curse. One reason is because the spell doesn't even have a true name. It has been lost over time. This is known as a vengeance curse. You're cursed because you can't die." He let that sink in before he said, "Historically, the curse was used as retribution. Say someone murdered a child. The mother would curse the murderer and he would always live with her feelings of hatred, sorrow, and pain. Mr. Potter is in for a very difficult time. So that you'll understand better, I'll tell you the consequences of the curse."
"Another reason that the curse is not well known is because it provides immortality. This is a curse that will make Potter immortal if it stays on long enough. Another reason it isn't known or even used is because of magical issues." H paused for a moment then continued. "Mr. Potter is now the equivalent of a squib. Potter will never be able to use magic again. Either on himself or on others. This is why I told Madam Pomfrey to use the muggle way of healing him."
A sob came from Molly Weasley in the corner of the room. Her husband was trying to comfort her while calming himself as well. Others in the room looked devastated. Hermione Weasley was also crying from her seat next to the Headmaster.
Julius continued. "Trying any type of magic on him will possibly kill him-,"
"What about the spell you used? To bind Harry's pain to Ron?" interrupted Hermione.
Dumbledore frowned. "That's a borderline curse, Julius."
Julius rolled his eyes. "No, really!" he snipped rudely. He then sighed and apologized to the Headmaster. He'd gotten Ash's bad habits. "Yes it was and I was going to explain before Mrs. Weasley interrupted me." Julius shook his head. "No. I'm lying. To be honest I wanted to spare you this. Potter can't use any light curses anymore. The only curses he can use or that can be used on his person are dark curses...or the unforgivables."
Sirius stood abruptly causing the chair he was seated in the fall to the floor. He stood there shaking before rushing from the room, more than likely to his godson's side.
Julius smiled grimly. "It's probably best that he wasn't around to hear this part. You can't curse yourself. Someone else has to. This curse has to be cast in not only absolute darkness but evil as well."
"Voldemort," whispered the Headmaster as he placed his head in his hands.
Before the others could comment, Julius kept talking. "Whoever cast it, wants Potter to live with their hatred forever. The caster placed every dark or evil thought they had into that curse and now all of them reside inside of Potter's head. His thoughts will slowly disappear into the background and the dark ones will be all that exist."
"This is the ultimate revenge because Potter will be driven slowly insane. His mind will be weakened emotionally by the circumstances he is in and it will be easy to overcome. What I'm saying that if something isn't done soon...Potter will become the next dark lord and I promise you no one will stop this one."
The emotions in the room became more pronounced for a minute. After a short while, everyone managed to calm down. Dumbledore stood. "Julius, is there anything that can be done?"
"The only person that can release the curse is the castor. Voldemort-," Julius ignored it when a few people still flinched. "-is dead so that's not going to happen anytime soon. However...I do know someone who may be able to help."
"Really?" A woman with fuchsia colored hair was bouncing in her seat excitedly. "Then your friend can help him?"
"My friend is an expert at dark curses. If anyone can help Potter, he can...the problem is I don't think he will help."
Dumbledore frowned. "Why not?"
"It's personal, and no I can't say why. Look, all I can do is ask him but I can't give anyone guarantees."
"Julius?"
He turned to Remus with a questioning look.
"Is he the one that helped you with your lycanthropy?"
Julius nodded. "Yes, but like I said...I have to ask him. And there is a large chance that he says no."
TBC
Alia: Oh poor Harry...sobs...I don't think I made that bad enough.
