"So Peter Pettigrew is an unregistered animagus, hiding in his animal form for the last twelve years as Wesley's rat. He's the one that actually killed those muggles, framing Sirius for their and his death by cutting off his own finger.
"And Sirius, another unregistered animagus, has been sneaking around the castle in his dog form, not actually trying to murder you, but Weasley's rat, with the help of Granger's cat." Julius tries to put straight the word vomit Hermione and Harry dumped on him as they wait in the Forbidden Forest.
"Well when you say it like that it sounds made up." Harry sighs, throwing the stick he had been using to explain the situation in the dirt to the side.
"I'm glad we agree on something."
Harry throws his hands in the air, frustration clear on his face. Julius doesn't feel too bad about it. The three of them are sitting on some fallen logs, a chain of dead ferrets set to the side and a rogue hippogriff chasing birds in the forest beside them.
"And on top of all that Professor Lupin is a werewolf, which is honestly the most believable thing you've said all night."
"Aren't you a little bit relieved?" Hermione interjects. "Your uncle's not a murderer! That must count for something."
"I-" Julius tries but is at a loss for words. "It's not that simple."
"It's not exactly complicated either." Harry gripes.
Julius rubs a hand over his eyes, praying that maybe tomorrow Draco finalizes his master plan of taking down the Boy-Who-Lived.
When he looks back up, green eyes stare intensely back, a passionate resolve in them that makes Julius jealous.
Twelve years of ridicule and uncertainty due to his uncle, those eyes were expecting him to get over in an hour because Harry had spent one night talking to the convicted murderer. The older boy was tempted to write it off as naivety, Potter was too young to understand what it meant to live with a brand like Black attached to his name, inescapable no matter where he went.
What stops him is Julius knowing deep down that wasn't the case. If anything Harry Potter knew what it meant more than anyone else in the world.
Julius gives in with a heavy breath. "Fine." he groans. His mom was going to be furious with him. "I'll help."
"Really?" The two Gryffindors ask. One hopeful, one less than credulous.
"What am I going to do? Say no to the people who can travel through time?" He tries to joke.
Harry's shoulders droop, the tension keeping him up abating slightly. Next to him Hermione clears her throat with a cough. "Actually time travel has a lot of rules that we have to abide by to prevent irreparably destroying-"
"Okay okay forget I said anything."
Believe it or not watching the Whomping Willow from a distance in the middle of the night isn't very comfortable. His back is stiff from sitting and he's fighting a losing battle against the bugs that are vying for his delicious pure wizarding blood. Occasionally he hears Buckbeak paw at the ground or snap his beak and in his hands the enchanted cold compress relentlessly sweats with condensation as it refuses to melt. Julius rests his chin in his hands as his underclassmen give him the play by play of the small figures atop the hill.
"There's Snape." Hermione points out, dark cloaked figure with equally dark hair enchanting the Whomping Willow to a stand still.
After a couple minutes, "I've probably stupefied him by now." Harry adds.
"You're going to be in so much trouble, Harry."
"I think that's the least of my worries right now, Hermione."
Another couple minutes of silence.
"Pettigrew's probably been turned human again."
Julius groans into his hands, in pain and in boredom. Is this what happened when the three of them weren't breaking into common rooms and saving hippogriffs?
He should've just gone to bed. An amused Cassius at his expense was leagues better than whatever the hell was going on now.
"There we are!" Hermione sits up, the two boys following her pointed finger as all of them come parading out of the roots of the tree. Harry and a long dark haired figure that must be Sirius Black help a limping Ron rest on a stump. Behind them Remus holds another struggling adult man who flinches and hunches over like he's not quite used to walking on two feet. At the tail end Hermione is quick to her friends' side.
Julius feels all the boredom slip away as he tries to train his eyes on his supposed uncle. Scarily thin with matted hair and matching scraggly beard, definitely looking the part of a twelve year prisoner who recently escaped and was living in the wild for nine months. It's too dark on this cloudy night to see any more details than that from this far, Julius even trying to see if standing would help, but only does it in time for Past Harry to walk up to the man and start a conversation.
"He's asking me if I'd want to live with him." Harry tells Hermione in a quiet hopeful happy voice. "When this is all over and he's declared innocent. I won't have to go back to the Dursley's ever again."
That churning bitter feeling is back in Julius' stomach and he bites his cheek to stop himself from saying something out of spite.
Does he expect to return to Grimmauld Place?
That he'd be welcomed by Julius and his mother after all the grief he's-
Julius takes a deep breath. Innocent. Innocent. Sirius Black was (possibly) innocent. He'd give the man the man benefit of the doubt, bolstered by Granger and Potter's earnestness.
Looking at him talk with Harry on the hill he certainly didn't act like he was some homicidal maniac.
"Harry look!" The distant Hermione cries pointing back to the end of the cliff where Professor Lupin started convulsing as the light of the full moon breaks free from the clouds.
Julius would admit he wasn't sure how much he had actually believed the werewolf part of the Gryffindors' explanation, but even from this far away it was grotesque to watch the usually so calm and laidback professor scream in pain. His back elongates, clothes tearing off his form as hands turn to claws and a jaw turns to a snout.
The three students could do little more than stare with held breath. The howl that echoes through the wood makes Julius' heart stutter in his chest, a cold fear washing through him.
"Should we…" Julius tries to do something, move, anything but his feet feel glued to the spot.
"Not yet." Harry shakes his head. "First, Snape."
The dark cloaked man comes out from the roots, descending upon his students before turning just in time to see the werewolf lurch forward.
"Then Sirius."
A large black dog jumps in front of the group, body low to the ground, ready to pounce protectively.
"And then…" Harry steps forward as the animagus and werewolf clash. They careen back the force of Sirius' jump pushing Lupin away and closer to the cliff's edge.
"Potter." Julius warningly says, itching to rush forward when a high pitched yelp follows Sirius' body as he is kicked away into the bushes. The werewolf breathing hard but victorious stands and looks to its next victim. Head turning to a foolhardy Past Harry Potter who had followed the fight.
"AWOOOOO!" Hermione's voice makes Julius jump out of his skin, her best imitation of a howl ringing in his ear.
"Hermione!" Harry yelps. "What're you doing?"
"Saving you!" She retorts before cupping her hands over her mouth and howling again.
It has the desired affect. Lupin's claw stilling in midair, curiosity piqued by the three students in the woods. It was a smart, quick witted plan up until the fully grown werewolf starts to run in their direction.
Julius feels like cold water had just poured down his back, reflexively rushing forward, grabbing his two underclassmen by their arms and delving deeper into the treeline. When he manages to push them into a running start he turns back to summon the chain of ferrets to him.
He finds the Gryffindors huddled behind a thick trunk, both jumping when he joins them.
"The two of you take Buckbeak and get out of the forest." He hushly orders, pressing a ferret into Harry's hand.
"No!" He hisses. "We can't leave yet."
"Potter!" Julius bites out as loud as he dared when a snapping twig makes them all stiffen. He moves closer to the trunk, pressing in close to the younger students and hiding them between him and the tree.
He feels their breath against his chest, all of them staring in a different direction on full alert.
In his hand Julius palms the cold compress from the infirmary, praying that all the keeper training was worth it, or he'd be hexing Knott. When he pulls away two hands are fisted in his robes to keep him close that he doesn't have the time to push away.
Seeing a clearing just to the right of them he winds back his arm and chucks it as far as he could. Blue plastic lands in a patch of muddy grass and Julius feels his heart leap into his throat as he hears a snarl too close for comfort and a beast that is easily twice his size bounds over to investigate.
"Petrificus Totalus!" Julius chants letting silvery purple sparks fly from his wand. For a heart stopping moment he thinks the spell doesn't take, Lupin's limbs stiffening but determined to instinctively attack the three students.
Next to him he hears Harry and Hermione send their own spells, and just before them the werewolf drops to its stomach, form trembling from the attempt to break free. Muffled snarling comes from its locked closed mouth and pinprick pupils track their movement as they step cautiously away.
Julius feels the adrenaline in his body leave just as quickly as it had made him move, making his legs weak as jelly. He's uncaring for the dirt he gets on his robes, sitting on the ground with a heavy sigh.
Was every year like this for Harry Potter and his friends? Maybe he should tell Draco to give the kid some slack.
"So now what?" Julius asks, looking up to the two Gryffindors that had notably not joined him.
Instead their head are raised to the sky, shadows passing over the moon that were more solid and colder than clouds. Julius shudders, goosebumps raising on his skin as all the dementors that had been guarding the grounds all year descend upon the lake where a collapsed Sirius in his human form is laying limp.
"Harry?" Hermione puts her hand on her friends shoulder.
"Hes going to appear." Harry's voice is filled with that quiet hope again. He points to the shore of the freezing lake just before them. "Right there and he's going to save us."
Hermione glances back to Julius, sharing a worried look.
"Who, Harry?" She carefully asks.
"My dad."
"Potter." Julius slowly stands, unsure if this odd behavior was also standard Boy-Who-Lived procedure. Judging by Hermione's expression it wasn't.
"He will!" Harry insists, turning to them earnestly. "He has too."
Across the frostbitten lake dementor after dementor descends upon Julius' uncle and Past Harry. The younger boy falls to his knees as the cloaked monsters feed on him.
Julius grips his wand tightly, ready to run forward if Potter's 'father' more than likely didn't appear. Hesitation stills his feet, trepidation in his chest and panic starting to settle in his stomach looking at the sheer number of dementors around them. He knew in theory how to cast the Patronus spell, but he doesn't think he could fend off this many-
"Harry!" Hermione's voice cuts through his thoughts as her friend rushes forward to the shore wand held high in the air.
"Expecto Patronum!" He casts the spell, a blinding light filling the clearing and making Julius reflexively raise his arms to shield his eyes.
When he lowers them he feels his jaw drop as his underclassman's fully fledged Patronus walks towards the retreating horde of screeching dementors. A silvery buck floating just above the surface of the water.
The dementors disperse in their haste to flee from the figment. Julius breath stops misting and the feeling returns to his fingers. Before long he could see the moon hanging in the sky again, and despite the werewolf it caused to go on a rampage before, it's light brought comfort.
Harry looks back to his companions, wide eyes only beaten by Julius' and Hermione's.
"That was…" Amazing. Julius dryly swallows around a nonexistent lump in his throat.
"A high level spell." Hermione finishes. "When did you learn that?!"
Julius leans against the tree next to him, the delirious type of tired starting to set in. Distantly he hears the back and forth chatter of his companions, but he's focused on the moving lights atop the hill.
Professor Snape, Dumbledore, and more members of staff all descending to where Harry and Sirius lay unconscious.
"We should go." Harry finally pushes to Julius' relief. Another step closer to this night being over.
As Harry helps Hermione up onto an awaiting Buckbeak Julius walks back to where Professor Lupin was still frozen.
"Julius." The boy calls out to him, a cautious tone creeping into his voice. Julius brushes it off with a wave, trying to assure that there was nothing to worry about. He just felt a tiny bit guilty is all.
He pulls out his wand and aims it as the frozen werewolf. "Lumenos." He casts.
A fuzzy halo of light surrounds Lupin, lighting up the clearing in a soft glow. Just bright enough for someone to easily stumble upon the petrified professor and help him when the effects of the moon wore off.
When he turns Harry is closer to him than he is Buckbeak, looking like he had rushed to stop Julius from performing the spell.
Julius is too tired to really be offended, only huffing dryly and patting the boy on the shoulder as he passes by.
By the time they're in the air and Julius realizes how terrible being the backseat on a hippogriff is on the lower back he thinks it's too late for him to insist on walking back.
It's nothing like riding a broom. It was like instead of walking you strapped two remote controlled, engine powered roller skates to your feet and let someone else have the remote. Hermione is screaming, Harry is laughing, and Julius is trying his best not to let the concussed nausea win for his companions' sakes. As soon as they land Julius hops off to regain his bearings on safe stable ground.
"We're going to get Sirius!" Harry informs him as the two Gryffindors run off without him. "Look after Buckbeak!"
Julius gives a weak thumbs up from his hunched over position. Honestly thankful for the moment of solitary peace. When he hears the noise of crumbling stone and squeaking hinges he takes a deep breath. He stands at full height, resisting the urge to bury his face in Buckbeak's feathered neck. Knowing his family's record with the creature he'd get his ear bitten off if he even tried.
Instead he gives Buckbeak a scratch to his cheek, closing his eyes as he hears the beats of three pairs of running feet.
"Reg?" A rasping gravely voice calls out to him, Julius turning with a churning stomach and sees his Uncle in all his prison garbed glory.
While Remus Lupin had been unforthcoming about a lot of things, he hadn't been lying when he said Sirius Black didn't look like Julius' boggart. Crooked nose and rounder cheek bones. Features only so sharp because of how thin the man was. Julius sighs as something finally, finally, laid to rest in his chest.
"My mom is going to kill me." Julius groans, waving the three to hurry up and mount Buckbeak.
Harry pushes a shell shocked Sirius forward, looking like he'd just seen a ghost, and for all that it was worth maybe he was. First Harry, then Hermione, then Sirius, Julius helps hoist and push all of them onto the hippogriff, grabbing Sirius' sleeve cuff before the trio could dash away.
Bluegrey eyes that are like his but so obviously not this close, stare down at him, still filled with a kind of disbelief. Julius breathes and says what he'd been rehearsing in his head since he saw the man pounce on a werewolf, risking his life for his godson.
"If you go to Grimmauld Place, my mom will probably kill you."
"Who-" Sirius tries but Julius wouldn't let his uncle finish. There was no time for it now.
"Tell her…tell her 'The ship should have been named Artemis'. She'll listen to you then." Probably.
Julius exchanges a solemn nod to Harry and Hermione both, stepping back and giving a swift smack to Buckbeak's flank. The hippogriff rears on its hind legs before dropping into a sprint off the roof. He watches the three go, Hermione's scream growing quieter and quieter the further they flew.
Julius feels whatever was keeping him standing fade, an all encompassing dizziness making him swoon to the side and onto a nearby parapet. Never more in his life did he just want to sleep, but being caught right outside where Sirius Black had just been busted out of his imprisonment, probably wasn't the best idea.
He forces himself to shuffle off the roof, unlocking an entrance to the next nearest corridor in hopes of avoiding any member of staff. He manages to sneak and scurry back to the medical wing, feeling an odd sense of deja vu.
The doors are closed and the moon shines a pristine light in the hallway. Inside he hears a harried Hermione proclaiming Sirius Black to be innocent, Professor Snape arguing back in harsh scolding words.
Julius just able to hide, tucking himself into a corner as the Head of Slytherin storms out with a flurry of his dark cloak.
A few minutes after him Dumbledore follows, not as hurriedly and taking the time to look behind the door like he had known Julius was there all along.
"Ah, Mister Black." The old Headmaster greets, giving him a once over before smiling that mysterious twinkling eyed smile. "Having an eventful night are we?"
Julius mouth opens, closes, opens again. "Yeah." He eventually lands on. "You could say that."
Dumbledore nods his all knowing, omnipotent head before going on his merry way. "Very good."
Julius watches him leave, feeling put at ease that there (probably) wouldn't be any negative repercussions for aiding the escape of a wanted criminal, but also that there was something he was forgetting.
Something important that should be really obvious-
Footsteps come up the set of stairs just to the side of the medical wing. A familiar head of black hair poking above the wall, and a familiar slouched posture limping towards the door. Julius can only stand as still as stone, staring widely as he sees himself squint back at him.
Past Julius rubs his eyes, heels of his palms digging into his sockets before turning to the doors and shuffling into the infirmary.
The entrance closes with a heavy thud, completing the loop of Julius' night. For his own sanity, Julius locks away the encounter deep deep deep in his brain, banishing the thought to the furthest corners of his psyche before his nose could bleed from the effort.
"Julius!" Julius never thought he'd be so relieved to hear Harry Potter's voice, Hermione and her friend running up the hallway, looking windswept but victorious.
"We did it!" Hermione excitedly informs him.
"He left on Buckbeak." Harry confirms with a sure nod.
He breathes a heavy sigh, too tired to stop his hands as he ruffles both Draco sized heads. "Good job." He praises, lowering his hand and retreating to the Infirmary.
Only Ron remains, looking baffled at the sudden reappearance. "What the hell…" He wobbly asks. "You were, but then…But you were-"
Julius ignores Weasley in favor of an empty cot, collapsing face down onto the mattress. He was going to sleep for a week. Don't bother sending him home. He'd say it was safer than school, but if the last five hours have proved anything it's that that's not the case. He'd take his chances with the school.
Galatea was having a pleasant night.
Earlier in the day she had gotten up, made a simple breakfast of oatmeal, brown sugar, and bananas. Caught up with the news of the week, had tried her hand at making a pie as practice for Anjali's upcoming birthday, before chucking the charred monstrosity away and deciding it was best for Kreacher to be the only one of them to cook in his kitchen.
She watches the Doctor Who VCRs she'd borrowed from the library, scandalously eating her popcorn lunch in her living room and chuckling at terrible special effects until the sun set and finished out the day by balancing the finances of the house.
Most of her days while Julius was away at school were spent in this way. A little monotonous, but peaceful in their own way. When she finishes she informs Kreacher she's heading to bed at the dreadful hour of eleven. Growing old was a curse, she thought not for the first time. When her back creaks as she straightens her posture or she has to squint her eyes to look at the clock she can understand why so many were desperate to retain their youth.
Not enough to start a war over it of course. No, only the Real crazies did that.
She's awoken from her slumber at nearly four in the morning by a crash downstairs. There's a loud thud of a heavy object hitting the floor just as Galatea tightens a dark green robe around her waist.
"Get off me you wretched thing!" A loud and angry voice demanded as Galatea rushed down the stairs, wand gripped tightly in her hand.
"Kreacher no longer answers to you." She could hear Kreacher sneer as she rounded the corner. "Only to Mistress and Young Master."
Underneath the old house elf was a bearded struggling man, blue grey eyes filled with anger as he was effortlessly wrestled to the floor. Galatea recognized him by his voice alone before she had seen him but she couldn't help the shock running through her body as Sirius Black looked up at her, no doubt mirroring her expression.
"Galatea Malfoy?" He squinted at her, voice confused and confounded. "What are you doing in my house?"
"You really are a daft idiot aren't you?" Galatea shakes her head in disbelief, voice louder than she intended as her mind raced. She thinks of what to do, pointing her wand at the intruder in her home before turning to her house elf. "Kreacher, call the ministry-"
"Wait wait no! Gala, wait I can explain- damn it what did that boy say?" Sirius curses, still wriggling against Kreacher's grip.
Galatea holds out her hand to stop the old elf, something cold growing in her chest. "Boy?"
"Yes! The one that looked like my bro- oh my god did you sleep with my brother?"
"You talked to my son?" Julius better have a good explanation.
"Artemis!" Sirius exclaimed as the memory came back to him. "They should've named the ship Artemis!"
Galatea drops her wand arm as her resolve falters. "My son helped you?"
"Yes! Along with James' son and his friend, Granger."
Galatea falls back onto a dining room chair, running a hand over her face as she tries to wrap her mind around everything. She looks back to the man on her floor, motioning with her head to make Kreacher secure his captive to the chair across from her.
The old house elf grumbles, something that sounds like, "Kreacher still thinks we should call the ministry." but complying anyway.
"Thank you Kreacher." Galatea sighs before casting a spell that bound Sirius in place, his butt to the seat, the seat to the floor. His mouth being the only thing capable of moving.
"You get one chance." Galatea warns him, staring into his eyes to make sure he understood. "If my son vouched for you then I will trust his judgment. One chance to explain yourself, and if it's not satisfactory I will call the Ministry and have them take you away."
Sirius twists against his binds, testing their strength before giving up with a deep and weary sigh. "Fine, yes, whatever. Where shall I start?"
By the time he finishes his voice is hoarse, the sun just breaking over the horizon and Galatea feels the most exhausted she has in a while. Her fingers massage the corners of her eyes, a low grade headache making her head pound.
"So, to summarize, Peter, your friend, was the real Secret Keeper, not you because you switched it without telling anybody. Allowing him to tell the Dark Lord where the Potters were. And when you found out what had happened you went to confront Peter, but to escape he cut off his finger and turned into a rat, casting the spell that killed those twelve muggles in the process, and leaving you to be framed for their murder.
"And after twelve years of being in Azkaban you finally decide to break out because you recognize Peter in his animagus form from a newspaper photo of the Weasley's trip to Egypt last summer, sneaking into Hogwarts to finish the job, getting so close as to make it into the Gryffindor common room, but then get caught so Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Julius have to come break you out.
"And also your friend Remus is a werewolf, the full moon foiling your plans on turning in Peter and getting proclaimed an innocent man."
Sirius nods in frustrated acknowledgment. "Well when you put it like that it sounds fake!"
Galatea sighs, rolling her head back in thought, wondering if it was too early to drink.
When she raises her head back up Sirius looks to be in much the same state, exhausted and ready for this long night to be over.
"Why didn't you say anything?" She presses, remembering the last time she had seen the man in his cell. Twelve years in that hell hole, surviving only because he had known he was innocent and had the good fortune of being an animagus to no one's knowledge. She had remembered trying to extend her hand, offering to help him if he'd just reach back, only to be soundly rejected.
"I did." Sirius emphasized bitingly. "No one would believe me. Not even Remus. By the time you came to Azkaban I had just given up. I suppose you were too busy defending your actual Death Eater brother."
Galatea charmed a glass marble from the table's centerpiece to hit the man on the forehead. It joined a growing pile in front of Siriuis' bound body. "Ow!"
It was a tense silence between them, only the ticking of the old grandfather clock in the sitting room making any kind of noise.
With an aggravated sigh, the woman waved her wand to dismiss the binding spell. Sirius cautiously sat up in the chair, stretching out his stiff muscles. He looked across the table at his ex fiancée who looked to be praying as she concentrated on her thoughts.
"Have Kreacher draw you a bath, you smell awful." She finally said dismissively, rising from her seat and walking swiftly to the stairs.
"You're not kicking me out? Or calling the Ministry?" He asks after her, cautiously following her just to make certain. After all this time it almost felt too good to be true.
"I'm locking any doors to rooms you're not allowed to be in. You're not to go outside without my express permission. If you do something I see as dangerous to me or my family, I won't hesitate to throw you out. Am I clear?" Galatea says from the middle of the stairs, looking down at him with a stern look that spoke of promise.
Sirius tries his best not to scowl, but ends up clicking his tongue with disdain anyway. "You sound like my mother. I hope you know that's not a compliment."
"Sirius."
"Yes. Crystal. Thank you for allowing me to stay in my own home."
Galatea scowls, already regretting her decision, but if Julius really thought it was worth saving the man, then she would trust her son. Even if said son was going to be in very big trouble when he returned for the summer.
When Julius steps off the Hogwarts express to see his mother standing there with a large well groomed black dog by her side, he almost steps back onto the train He knows it would only prolong the inevitable, but at least he'd have freedom for a bit longer before being grounded for the rest of his life. Marigold and Cassius bid their goodbyes before separating to their families, unwittingly leaving Julius in the fray.
"Mother." He greets cautiously, eyeing the panting canine she holds the leash to.
"Julius." The woman says just as warmly as she ever has the years before, her arms coming up to embrace him in a hug that he returns.
When he pulls away he looks back down at the hound, nervously shifting his gaze around to make sure aurors weren't about to descend upon them from every direction.
"Why the dog, mother?" He tries to ask innocently, the woman doing a much better job at it than he was.
"Well he absolutely insisted on coming, Wouldn't calm down when I told him. So now here he is." Galatea explained with a roll of her eyes.
In a lower whisper Julius leaned forward worriedly. "What if he gets recognized?"
"Why would anyone think that this nice pup with the Black family right now, would be anything more?" Galatea asked rhetorically as she gave the dog by her side a scratch behind his ear.
For all intents and purposes, Julius could see himself believing the charade. The large black head slightly leaning into his mother's hand before perking up, one ear high in the air as he looked over to where Harry Potter was stepping off the train. He shifts his weight from paw to paw whining and craning his head to look up at the Black matriarch.
Galatea rolled her eyes again before dropping the leash in her hands. "Oh dear, my hand slipped." She says but Sirius was already rushing through the station to meet his godson.
Even from this distance, Julius could see the younger boy's face light up as he is tackled by a solid forty kilogram dog. The Weasley family around him all exclaim in surprise, trying to help the boy up and shoo Sirius away, before Harry reassures them.
"Si-" At Julius' shushing motion Harry stopped himself. "I-I mean Julius! I didn't know you had a dog." The dark haired boy corrected as he raised his hands to pet the excited black hound and laughing as Sirius jumped up, sticking his nose in his face.
"My mother got it for me as a surprise."
Looking over his shoulder Harry's and his gazes are met by a simple wave of Galatea's hand, the woman keeping her distance.
"And you're keeping him?" Harry asked cautiously, hands stilling in the rugged black fur protectively.
"For as long as we need to." Julius assures, grabbing the leash back with the intent of bidding his goodbye.
"Julius! Is that a dog?" He stops in place as his cousin comes running up to him in an excited fervor. Draco spares a moment to sneer at his mortal foe still on the ground, before leaning in to stick his hand out for Sirius to sniff.
"Yes. Uh mother surprised me with him." Julius hastily explains.
When the animagus swiftly turns up his nose in a prudish manner Draco pouts in a way only Julius could tell was his pouting face before looking back to him.
"What's his name?"
It's an innocent enough question but it hits Julius like a stupefy spell. "His name? It's Sss-"
From behind his cousin Julius' mother's eyes are wide with warning.
"ssss-"
Harry looks up at him just as pale and wide eyed in ass clenching fear.
"sssssss-"
If dogs could glare daggers Sirius would be stabbing Julius straight in his stupid mouth.
"Sssnake." Julius chokes out, nearly out of breath from how long he was stalling his answer. "His name is…Snake."
Across the station Julius sees his mother pinch the bridge of her nose, eyebrows furrowing in deep thought or regret. Julius could probably guess which.
Behind him Ron Weasley, Granger, and Harry all release their collective sighs of relief. And next to him, Snake begins to bite at his pant leg. Julius wasn't even bothered, it's what he deserved.
"Snake?" Draco raises his eyebrow incredulously, giving no mercy as Julius hangs his head in embarrassment. "I like it."
Julius looks up. "Really?"
"I wish father would allow me a pet. So that I could name it stupid things too."
Julius think he hears Potter smother a snort and only wants to curl up in shame that much more. Of course the only way Slytherin and Gryffindor's famous feud could be put to rest would be at his expense.
"I'll be taking my leave now." Julius groans. Turning towards his audience he bows because he still remembers his manners, before leading 'Snake' away. With his other hand he weakly shoves a snickering Draco in front of him.
Author's Note
Dang guys this one's hefty. But I hope you all like it!