Alia: I updated. (watches readers cheer or faint in shock) Yeah, yeah. Very funny. I now seem to have an extended writing groove so you may see another update to this in (gasps) a week! Don't count your chickens though. I've also edited all of the other chapters for WDCA. So if you want, you can go back through. Might I suggest you guys peek back at the curse on Harry. It's much more clear now!
Thank you guys for voting for my story ideas and it seems that everyone loves the living Hogwarts deal. I'm working on it in my head and after many trial and errors it's done. I'm going to start summarizing the story and sooner or later I'll get to writing it. I do, however, want to finish two stories before I try to tackle that one. If anyone is interested in being my beta for that when I get started, I'd appreciate it.
Thanks for all of you guys that reviewed and despite how sorry this chapter actually is, I'm dedicating this chapter to Melissa Jooty, who really seems to like this story.
TITLE: With Darkness Comes Anew
AUTHOR: Alia
STATUS/PART: 12
RATING: PG-13
PAIRING: Severus Snape / (you're getting warmer)
SPOILERS: up to book four
WARNINGS: angst, language
DISCLAIMER: I do not in anyway or fashion own HP, etc. It belongs to JKR. curses
SUMMARY: Leaving the Wizarding World after a devastating betrayal, Severus starts a road in life that will eventually rock his world.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Yeah, it's so late. Thank god it doesn't have an expiration date but hey...I updated.
With Darkness Comes Anew 11
Severus sat on the bed with Harry curled up in his lap. The young wizard continued to sob pitifully in his arms, clutching to Severus desperately. Closing his eyes for a moment and dropping his chin on the young wizard's head, Lex concentrated on what was happening on the outside of Potter's room. He could hear hurried whispered and a few weak cries of pain. It was rather obvious that they were taking care of Weasley's injuries.
A few more loud whispers told Severus that Lupin and Black weren't too hurt from their rag doll experience.
Lex rocked Harry gently, trying to offer as much comfort as possible. "It's alright, Harry."
The man shook his head. "No! It's not okay. I couldn't stop it. I couldn't stop it!" He cried. "It was so awful, Severus!" He buried his head into Lex's chest.
"Shh." He brushed a few strands of hair from Harry's forehead. "Don't be afraid. We're gonna help you Harry. I promise."
"What happened? What's wrong with me!"
Lex then realized that the young man before him didn't know what was going on. Apparently when he'd first awakened, Madam Pomfrey had either brushed off his questions or Harry hadn't asked. /Bloody hell./
"Give it a little time, Harry."
The man shook his head furiously as he buried himself further into Severus's arms. "NO!" he cried. "What happened! I hurt Ron, why did I hurt Ron! I didn't want to, Severus, but I couldn't stop it!"
"Harry, you must calm down before I'm able to tell you anything about what is happening."
A weak sob issued from Harry, "But-,"
"Hush." He whispered comforting words and noises to the young man so that he would calm down sooner. It was something most parents knew about from comforting their children.
Lex's head snapped up at the sound of the doorknob turning, but he didn't stop whispering to Harry. Lupin's head slowly moved into the room followed by the rest of him. The werewolf looked at Harry's pitiful state then at Severus questioningly. Lex shook his head and turned back to Harry. Lupin slipped back out, closing the door behind him.
"Severus...please?" the weary voice whispered minutes later.
He squeezed the young man for a moment. "It's a bit hard to explain Harry. Do you remember being at the Weasleys' and receiving that vial from Gringotts..."
Albus and Minerva hurried toward the infirmary with as much speed as he could muster. The older man had been shocked to see a frightened Hermione rush into the Great Hall to alert Severus and Julius of Harry's out of control nightmares.
Albus gasped as he saw the scene in the infirmary. A badly bruised Sirius stood near the door of a private room. Remus, who looked only slightly better to the animagus, was trying to help the other man to a seat.
A large pool of slowly congealing blood drew their attention from smell alone. Albus flinched. Minerva suddenly needed the support of the doorway to keep her standing. She covered her mouth in shock.
Albus's eyes followed the trail of blood swiftly to a blood soaked bed. Julius was rushing away toward Poppy's office as she and Hermione were working furiously to help the man on the bed. From the tuft of bright red hair, Albus could see that it was Ron.
"Mr. Weasley!" cried Minerva as she caught sight of the condition of her former student.
While Minerva rushed over to help Ron, Albus quickly made his way over to Remus and Sirius. "What has happened?" demanded the Headmaster.
Sirius wouldn't look up from the ground so Remus, feeling a sudden wave of exhaustion, answered. "We don't really know. I...I think it may be the curse but I'm not quite sure. When we ran in, Harry was cursing Ron with an Unforgivable." He grimaced at his memory of the scene.
"Severus...God, Albus you should have seen him. He's the only reason we aren't dead right now. Harry was throwing the killing curse at us!"
Albus's eyes widened but he motioned for Remus to continue.
"He was crying the entire time, Albus. It was like he just could not stop. Harry was talking so incoherently... I don't know how he could anything in the first place. He didn't even have his wand!" Remus ran a hand through his greying hair. "I think Severus threw him back into a wall. He managed to do it without hurting Harry too much though. Then, Merlin, Albus, he just curled up crying. I don't think Harry had any control over what was happening to him."
He sighed. "Sirius and I tried to comfort him, but it wasn't over yet. It seemed like his magic lashed out at us. We were tossed across the room like dolls."
"What then?" asked an increasingly worried Dumbledore.
"Severus tried. Harry seemed to recognize him. Severus managed to stop whatever was happening. He took Harry in the room just a minute ago." Remus pointed at the door Sirius stood near.
"Are they alright? Both of them?"
"I just checked on them. Severus is trying to calm Harry down for the moment."
Sirius looked at the door for a long moment before storming over to try and lend a hand with Ron. Both men watched him with a look of confusion before comprehension dawned on Albus's face.
The old wizard shook his head before turning to the door. "Do you know how long they will be?"
Remus shook his head. The werewolf and the headmaster jumped suddenly when a scream came from the door behind them.
Remus was the first through, followed by Albus, Sirius and a distraught Julius. All four men were surprised to see Harry standing on the bed, his green eyes now an inky black. "FUCK YOU! IT'S NOT TRUE!"
Severus stood to the side, facing the wizard. "Harry, come down! That's why I'm here. I'm going to help." He was worried about Harry's eyes. /That shouldn't be happening./
Something in Harry's demeanor changed, but Lex was the only one that saw it. The way Harry looked at him suddenly was so familiar. There was a power there but at the same time...fear and utter helplessness...but it didn't look the way it should have from Harry.
/What the hell/ It quickly disappeared though. Harry stretched out a hand and opened his mouth to shout a curse.
Lex moved too fast for him, however. He reached out with a hand and roughly struck Harry across the face, the sound echoing through the room. The hit was strong enough to knock the young man off the bed to the ground easily.
"Harry!" Sirius and Remus ran toward the young man in concern. Albus remained where he was and Julius stood beside him. Lex stood on the opposite side of the bed, his head down and his eyes closed.
Had they been open, everyone in the room would have been shocked to see that his eyes had gone completely black. /I'm responding? Alexander's responding? That shouldn't be possible. What did I see/
Harry lay on the floor sobbing softly. Seeing his godson in such despair, Sirius stood up and stormed toward Severus only to have Julius stop him in his tracks. Julius looked Sirius straight in the eye and squeezed his arm tightly. "Believe me, Black. You don't want to anger him right now."
Dumbledore watched Severus closely. Lex was taking deep breaths as he tried to keep his temper. At least it looked that way to Albus. Lex knew differently. He was trying to keep his power in check. The look Harry had given him left him unsettled. He felt comfortable enough to open his eyes now that everything was calm.
Lex stood and walked toward the fallen Harry. Remus tensed, not knowing the man's intention. While he was pleased that Harry was himself again, he didn't like the way that Snape had done it. The werewolf found himself relaxing when Lex knelt down beside them and gently ran a hand through Harry's hair.
Pulling the wizard away from Remus, Severus stood with Harry curled up in his arms. He laid the crying man down on the bed.
"Alex? Can you please tell us what is going on?" asked Albus.
Lex pulled the blanket up over Harry. The young man turned to look at him. "I'm sorry," he whispered. Severus smiled gently. "It's alright Harry." For a moment, Lex's eyes unfocused. "It wasn't you." /I think I may have an idea. But it couldn't be possible.../ His face darkened. /It had better not be./
Straightening, Lex turned to Albus. "What you saw were the first symptoms of Mr. Potter reacting with the curse. When I alerted him to his current situation...he didn't take it well. It was a bit of a shock to his system and because of it, the sick joke of an immortality spell rose up." Severus gave Harry a sad look. "This is moving much faster than I predicted."
"It's taking over." Harry had sat up in the bed, pulling his knees to his chest. When Severus had explained what had happened and what was going to happen, Harry hadn't wanted to believe it. But his own behavior was erasing his disbelief.
"Yes." Lex also had an idea why. When Harry had fought Voldemort, he'd fought with nothing but the darkest magics just as the Dark Lord had. This practically branded his aura with darkness. /Yes, that could be it...except for that last curse he threw at Voldemort. What was that/ All Severus remembered was a bright light. /I'll have to think on it more later./ He shook his head. /Things are not adding up properly./
"Julian, give me the medallion by the bed." He looked back at Harry. "I wanted to wait until you were stronger but I see that we need to hurry this up." Lex sat on the edge of the bed and took the green medallion from Julius.
Harry looked curiously at the brilliant diamond medallion his former professor held in his hand. "What's that?"
Severus let the medallion dangled before his former student. The diamond glistened in the light coming through a window. "This is a scanner. It's going to scan your magical aura and tell me what the curse has done to it." Whether Harry's power was stronger and darker was what he needed to know.
"Is it going to hurt?" Harry felt he'd had enough for one day.
Lex shook his head. "Not at all now that your injuries have been healed." He sat on the edge of the bed beside Harry and put the necklace of the medallion around his neck. "Lie back and rest. This is going to a few hours."
Harry nodded silently.
Severus turned to Sirius and Remus. "Keep an eye on him. If he loses control again, find me immediately."
"You're leaving?" asked Harry before anyone else. He laid a hand on Severus's arm.
"For a short time. I'm going down to the potions lab to look at your results." He'd left several experiments to finish overnight. He needed to check on them quickly and see what the potion was doing to Harry physically. The curse usually didn't harm an individual physically.
"How will we know when the scan is finished?" asked Dumbledore.
"The diamond in the middle will turn black every five seconds. Contact me the moment you notice it. Julius, I want you to stay here."
The werewolf looked at him curiously. "Why?"
"You're the only one that could really survive a confrontation with Potter if what happened before occurred again." The two looked at each other for a long moment then Julius nodded in understanding. Unlike Lupin, Julius could change at will.
"Alex, do you know what signs we need just in case Harry loses control again?"
Harry blinked in surprise and looked at the Headmaster. /Why did he call him Alex? I know this is Severus./ His former professor had certainly changed, and for the better, but Harry could recognize him anywhere.
"Harry will know." Lex turned to the young wizard. "Tell them when you do."
Potter nodded. "Thank you, Severus."
"Rest." He left the room and headed for the dungeons. /What is going on? Things aren't right./ But what was it?
Julius sat in a nearby chair as Harry turned to Dumbledore. "Professor, why are you calling Severus Alex?"
The Headmaster looked inquisitively at Harry. "Why are you calling him Severus, Harry?"
The young man blushed, not able to answer. Julius smirked at him causing Harry to glare at him. "No reason." Not one of them believed him.
"How long has he been here?" asked Harry.
"Since yesterday. I've known Alexander for a couple years through a mutual friend." Julius responded.
Harry blinked in surprise at the name, then things finally clicked into his mind. /Alexander Evanson was the name I gave him for the muggle world./ "Oh. He's been in the wizarding world all this time?"
Julius shook his head. "No. I met Lex through a muggle friend." At least he'd thought Brea was a muggle at the time.
"You don't seem very upset to have him here, Harry." Sirius honestly wondered if Harry was in shock from the latest events or was suffering from an information overload.
"Isn't he here to help me, Sirius?"
Black snorted. "That's what he says." Remus sighed and Julius glowered at the wizard.
Harry went on. "I don't want to seem ungrateful. I'm very happy that something can be done about what's happening to me."
Dumbledore gave Harry a long look. The older wizard knew that there was something more. He turned to Julius. "Do you have any idea how Harry's results will come out, Julius?"
He shook his head. "No clue, but hopefully it will be good news." Unfortunately, he'd noticed a slightly disturbed look on Lex's face.
Severus tipped a few drops of Harry's blood onto a blank sheet of parchment that sat on top of a thin sheet of metal. He took a vial filled with a pale blue liquid and gently poured a single drop into the little red puddle. Immediately, the components of Harry's blood began breaking down.
Nodding approvingly, Lex eyed the blood and noticed that it looked perfectly healthy. /But looks can be deceiving./ Raising his left hand over the parchment, he whispered a soft chant, keeping his magical flow steady. If he didn't, something might go terribly wrong.
It was rather dangerous to break something down to its natural elements without assistance but he needed to see this. His eyes darkened as he called on a great deal of power to accomplish his goal.
It moved slowly. Unnoticed by Severus, who was extremely deep in concentration, time flew by quickly. Seconds, minutes, then hours passed before Lex finally pulled away.
He pulled away and leaned back against the wall, his breaths coming hard in his chest. He felt the weariness in his body but a smug look of triumph overtook his face. /We're going stronger./ The bond between him and his element was growing. /Mother never told us what happens if this continues./ Pushing the thought aside for later, Severus turned to see the results.
With the curse being what it was and Harry being who he was, the elements should be slightly out of balance and growing more so because of the curse.
Severus looked at the parchment...and blinked. "What in...What is going on here?"
TBC
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