TITLE: With Darkness Comes Anew

AUTHOR: Alia

STATUS/PART: 6

EMAIL: PG-13 (and it's uphill from there)

PAIRING: Severus Snape / (Give it a while)

SPOILERS: not including OotP

WARNINGS: angst, language

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: Surprise! It's Severus!

With Darkness Comes Anew 6

Lex swung Arthur up into the air, and laughed as his son squealed and kicked before he was brought back to the ground by his father. Alexander rushed over and bounced excitedly before his father. "My turn! My turn!"

"NO! One more time daddy, please!" cried Arthur as he threw puppy eyes at his father.

Lex laughed shaking his head. "No, Arthur. It's Xander's turn."

The four year old twin sighed despondently but obediently stepped aside. Xander bounced over to his father as Art moved to stand beside his sleeping baby sister. Emma lay in a car seat beside a bench sleeping blissfully under the shade.

Lex quickly finished swinging Xander but as he became dizzy and began losing his equilibrium, he decided that enough was enough for both of the boys. "Okay. That is enough for now."

"Are you dizzy, Daddy?" asked Arthur.

"Just a little. Come on you two." Both boy scrambled up to sit by their father on the bench. Three women who were walking by smiled at the picture. Lex glanced at them.

"Looks like they like what they see."

He glanced over at the lake a few paces away then back at the three women who had now settled nearby. "What are you talking about Tsunami?" he asked softly. The boys were slowly drifting off to sleep. When the three women disappeared, he would transport them all home.

The water rippled. "What better appeal is there to some than a man playing with his children. One that isn't wearing a wedding ring?"

Lex heard a faint giggle from the trio of ladies and, with a glance, could see that he was the focus of their amusement.

"I think they like you."

"Unfortunately, the feeling is anything but mutual. Now show yourself and help me get rid of them."

Another ripple appeared in the water. "Are you mad little brother? No. I think I'll wait just a bit longer. Heads up!"

Lex looked up from the water to see a young woman slowly approach him. "Excuse me, sir?"

"Yes?" he asked with a small smile even as his stomach cringed.

"Does this belong to one of your boys?" She held up a small ball that was striped with red, blue, and green.

Lex nodded. He tried to raise an arm but a short whine came from Arthur. The woman before him chuckled.

"He's adorable. Both of them are."

Lex smiled with pride. "Thank you."

The woman brushed her brown locks to the side and looked at the car seat with a gentle smile that oddly enough annoyed Lex. Why wouldn't she just drop the ball and leave? He hated it when people got conversational. This didn't include his friends who knew when he wasn't up for talking.

"Is that your little girl?"

Lex glanced at her two friends who were watching them like vultures. "Yes, she is."

"She is very pretty. What's her name?"

Lex just wanted her to go away. Hell she couldn't even come on to him the right way...not that there was a right way.

"Emma. Her mother's middle name."

The woman blinked and for a moment she looked crestfallen. "Oh." She glanced at the non existent wedding ring on his hand.

Lex tried to keep the smile from turning into a smirk. He only just managed it.

The woman coughed and blushed. "Well then." She put the ball down by his feet. "Have a good day. Bye Emma." She said waving at the still sleeping babe.

Lex sighed in relief as she left. A soft laugh could be heard. Lex glanced over. The three muggles were leaving. Sarah sat down beside him, her blonde hair flowing softly behind her.

"You could have come a little earlier."

"Really, Lex. What type of fun would that have been?" She brushed some hair from his face.

He snorted. "You really enjoyed living up to the job of big sister. Annoying your siblings is a sick pleasure for you?"

"I rarely do such a thing and no one in their right mind would have let that scene go by. You should have held her longer. And besides, Chiara is the oldest." Sarah leaned back against the bench, her eyes gazing about the park sleepily.

"That is totally unimportant information." He snapped at her.

Sarah smiled back serenely. "I know." Her face turned serious. "I won't stay long. I just wanted to drop by and see you. Will you be alright today?"

Lex chuckled slightly. He lifted his head and watched some clouds float by lazily. He hugged the boys to him. "No. I don't think I will be. It will be so hard facing them again. I haven't really been near the Wizarding World for five years."

Sarah coughed. Lex groaned, "Alright so technically it's over two hundred years but you damn well know what I mean."

She giggled. "I know Lex." She glanced at him. "Do you need one of us to go along? Brea has yet to scream at Caesar."

"I need to do this myself. I don't think I really faced my past during Restoration. Not the most recent anyway."

"You're hurt Lex. They betrayed you. The people you believed you could trust betrayed you just like so many have in your life."

"I understand why. If anyone ever laid a hand on Emma and the twins," he hugged his boys closer and looked at his little girl. "But...it's so hard to forgive."

"Who in the world said you had to forgive? You can't always just forgive Lex despite what many would say. Its just not in some of us to forgive. Do you think I ever forgave my husband for what he did?"

Lex shook his head. Sarah's husband now burned in hell as far as Lex was concerned. He'd murdered their child in cold blood. Right in front of Sarah's eyes.

"No. And I never will. Lex...Severus..." She sighed. "Do you want to forgive them so badly? Do you need to let them go or do you still need them?"

"I have my family and friends. The ones that mean the most."

"Damn you, Lex. Answer the question!" she snarled. Her eyes crystal blue flashed a brilliant dark blue for a moment, her hair, so black that it hinted blue in the sunlight, seemed to flow in the absent wind.

Looking behind his sister, Lex could see a large disturbance in the water. He felt a hard pressure in his chest. "I don't know. I don't know what to think. Just that I have to go back. I must help Potter."

Sarah opened her mouth to speak but soon quieted. She picked up Emma's car seat. She rubbed her pale cheek against the baby's hair. "Come on. Let's take the kids back. You need to get to Terry's soon."


Lex entered the garage to the sound of the usual loud music in the back. Cars were every where and the car parts were scattered all over. He shook his head. Terry's garage was a good business, but there was no organization at all. All the mechanics did was litter tools and parts, but if asked...all of them had a system.

Growing a headache at the loud music and the noise of the mechanics fixing cars, Lex quickly hurried to the back of the shop waving hello to a few of the mechanics who'd seen him and knew him pretty well.

Looking through the glass door, he saw Terry hunched over some papers on his desk. He knocked gently on the glass but hard enough for Terry to hear it over the noise.

Annoyed brown eyes glared up at him before doing a 180. Terry smiled at Lex and motioned him inside. "Lex! I didn't expect you so early."

Lex entered and dropped in the chair in front of Terry's desk. The man sighed with exhaustion. "Actually, Terry, I'm late. I should have been gone two hours ago but the boys..."

Terry nodded sympathetically. The boys loved their father dearly. "Just make sure to contact them as much as possible Lex. We'll take good care of them."

Lex nodded his head. "I know," he said with complete certainty. "Is she ready?"

Terry chuckled and stood. "Purring like a kitten. You'll certainly make an impression." He opened the door and exited.

Lex froze in the doorway. "I'm not trying to impress anyone." At least he hoped not. He was dressed no differently than he had dressed for years. He stood there in white long sleeve over a black T-shirt with black jeans, black boots with his black bike helmet in hand. So what if he could have apparated to Hogwarts gates. He rarely apparated any more. The same went for his siblings.

Terry turned with a frown on his face. "I didn't mean it that way Lex and you know it. Don't sound so defensive."

"I'm not-,"

"You are." Terry's voice was commanding. His face softened. "I know that you aren't trying to impress anyone so calm down. We all know that you're nervous about this. It isn't easy to face your past."

Lex flinched. No it wasn't easy. "Sorry. You're right. What I need to do is to concentrate on helping Potter."

Terry looked at him for a long moment. "Do you want me to come?"

Lex glowered at his brother. The black man laughed at him. Lex growled. "Will you bunch quit treating me like a three year old?"

"Well you are the youngest, little brother. Mother asked us to keep an eye out for you."

Lex bit his lip. He'd almost stomped his foot at that comment and that was frightening. He needed to get the hell out of here. "Where the hell is my bike?"

Terry pointed to the corner smirking. He tossed his little brother his keys. "Take care little brother."

"Goodbye you fucking bastard!"

Laughter followed him out of the garage.


Lilith sighed as she and her friends sat inside the Three Broomsticks. Things were so boring this year. Everything was so dull for the young Gryffindor sixth year. The students tried to use the Hogsmeade weekends as something to stop the utter boredom but it wasn't much. The pranks had picked up for a short while between all of the students. It didn't matter what house you were in but the pranksters soon got bored with the continuous detentions with Filch and let everything go.

She sighed again this time catching her friend Jenna's attention. "Aw come on Lilith. Things aren't that bad."

Lilith and their two other girlfriends stared at her for a long minute. Jenna frowned. "Okay so things are that bad. There is that thing with Meredith Price though!"

"No one cares that she's working her way through the Ravenclaw Quidditch team. I certainly don't."

"Could be interesting when the Captain's girlfriend finds out though," said Clare.

Lilith rolled her eyes and let them rest in one spot in particular. The girl gave a low whistle. "Be still my heart."

Clara, Beth, and Jenna directed their attention in the same direction as Lilith's. Some man had just flooed into the Three Broomsticks and was in the process of brushing the obscene amount of ash from his white over-shirt.

Lilith leaned back to get a good look at the stranger. The man had finished brushing off his shirt and was in the process of brushing the soot from his jeans. It was impossible to see his face. He was wearing some kind of helmet. "He's in muggle clothing. I wonder why."

Beth, usually the quiet one, said, "Perhaps it's none of our business."

Jenna rolled her eyes. "Of course, it's our business. Besides, look at that body." All four girls admitted that the man certainly had a good looking body. The muggle clothing only emphasized the man's figure

Clara started coughing to cover her laughter. She could have sworn the man glanced their way for a moment even though none of them could see his face.

The man headed toward the door and just before he exited he removed a small motorcycle from his pocket. The girls all jumped up to follow him when they heard their teachers call. It was time to go back to Hogwarts.


Lex chuckled as he stood outside the Three Broomsticks looking around as they people of Hogsmeade rushed around busily. It had been a long time since he'd seen Hogsmeade. He groaned at the fact that he felt sentimental. He was getting old. He was just 244 years old. (AN: The age is not a typo)

He watched the girls that had been gazing at him inside scurry toward the student carriages. It was apparently time for them all to head back to Hogwarts. Lex chuckled again. The girls would be shocked if they knew just who they were talking about.

Lex took a deep breath when he noticed Vector and Sinistra gathering the stranglers. He closed his eyes momentarily behind his helmet. He didn't want to have to deal with this. He needed to heal Potter and go. Apparently, the less contact he had with his past, the better. It may seem as if he was being a coward, but it had much more to do with wanting to live without any real problems.

He leaned against the wall of the Three Broomsticks and watched the students and teachers leave in their carriages. Lex slipped into an alley and enlarged his motorcycle. Julius said that they would meet him at the front steps of Hogwarts and Lex was already over an hour late. He started the bike up and next thing anyone knew he was off. Unfortunately he only managed to scare the local residents and shop owners rather than running one of them over.

Lex enjoyed the wind as it flew against and around him while he rode on his bike. He loved this mode of transportation more than apparating, floo, or cars. The only car he used was Mary's old one and that was when he needed to drive the children around.

He quickly caught up with the Hogwarts group. Students had heard the sound of his motorcycle and were practically hanging out of the window of the carriages, pointing and gawking at the man on the motorcycle. Vector and Sinistra also looked quite surprised.

Lex laughed and sped ahead, leaving nothing but dust and wild rumors behind. After a minute he could see the gates of Hogwarts up ahead.


Julius tapped his foot impatiently as he and the members of the Order stood on the steps of Hogwarts waiting to meet Julius's friend. Albus frowned. "When did your friend say he would arrive Julius?"

"An hour ago Headmaster. He's usually on time for everything. I hope nothing came up."

Sirius was pacing back and forth and this was causing everyone else to become agitated. "He didn't go back on his promise did he?"

Julius snorted. "Lex would never do anything like that."

Dumbledore blinked. "Can you give us any information about your friend Julius? Anything at all." Remus had not been able to find anything because the wizard had absolutely nothing to work with.

Julius nodded. "His name is Alexander Evanson. He's an expert at Dark Arts. That's all I can tell you right now."

"How do we know he's creditable Julius. We trust you but..." Remus trailed off as a noise that sounded like a motorcycle was heard. Everyone looked to see a figure that had a trail of dust behind him.

Julius smiled. "Finally! I wonder what took him so long. Don't worry Remus. Once you meet him, you'll see that he's creditable." Julius broke from the group and moved forward. Lex was almost there.

Lex braced himself as he slowly came to a stop about ten feet away from Julius and the Order of the Phoenix. He sat for a second before putting down the brake on his bike. He stood as Julius rushed over to greet him. Julius hugged him and Lex returned it though not as he should have. He was too tense to be actually happy to see Julius.

"Thank you." The werewolf had a truly grateful look on his face.

Lex shrugged. "As long as Brea is happy, the rest of us won't kill you."

Julius blanched for a moment until Lex laughed and patted him on the shoulder. "We're your friends Julius. Calm down."

The Charms professor sighed. "Lex what am I going to do with you." Julius glanced at the people gathering in front of Hogwarts then back at the tense man before him. "Are you going to be alright?"

Lex nodded. "I'll have to be now won't I. They won't let me near Potter if they don't know who I am. I can guarantee that." After quickly shrinking his bike, he started toward Hogwarts without another word.

Julius ran to keep up. "They don't know who you are," he whispered quickly.

Lex smirked.


Albus took a step forward. Moody and Arthur stood on his right leaving Sirius and Remus his left. The other members of the Order stood behind watching the exchange curiously. Everyone wanted to meet the man who could possibly save Harry Potter.

Albus smiled brightly even though he could feel something...uncomfortable from the man before him. He merely shook the thought away figuring that the man was just nervous. He tried to get a glimpse of the man. It was nearly impossible to see his face through the helmet he wore.

Julius smiled. "Everyone, this is Alexander Evanson. He's here to see what he can do for Mr. Potter."

Albus smiled. "I am Headmaster Albus Dumbledore. It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Evanson."

The man was silent before he dropped his head to remove his helmet. He shook his head, short black locks were thrown about for a moment before he lifted his head as a hand ran though his hair.

Albus felt his heart jump. Something that was certainly not good at his age. But what emotion caused it he was unsure.

"Unfortunately, Headmaster, I cannot say that I am all that pleased." Severus replied while raising an eyebrow.

He should be uncomfortable. If anything, he should be just a bit uncomfortable instead of wanting to laugh in their faces. Their priceless faces. He did nothing of the sort however. Just looked at all of them with a face carved from stone.

A resounding gasp had sounded at the revealing of his face. Sirius Black and Lupin stared, in either shock or horror. McGonagal had a hand over her mouth in shock. Granger's eyes looked as if they'd fall out of her skull. Many were shaking their heads and looking at him again just to make sure their eyes weren't playing tricks on them. Molly Weasley even looked faint for a moment.

Dumbledore took half a step forward. "Severus..."

TBC

Alia: My my...what will happen now.

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