Chapter 14

Severus growled at Black one last time before storming out the office, leaving the situation for Albus to sort out. Clearly the brat had told his mutt of a godfather some lies about being mistreated. He figured the elderly couple belonged to the girl. As he muttered to himself, robes billowing out behind him, he failed to see a shadowy figure watching him. Severus' first indication that something wasn't right, was when he was forcibly pulled into a classroom and heard the door lock behind him.

He drew his wand and peered round the room.

'Merlin help you if this is a prank' he hissed.

'Not a prank sir. Just a desire to speak with you' came the reply.

Severus wasn't sure where the voice was coming from. It sounded quite young but he didn't ease up the grip on his wand.

'Unusual way to get someone's attention' he remarked.

He heard a quiet chuckle.

'Yes, I suppose it is. But once you see me, you will agree it was required'.

'Then show yourself! I'm growing tired of this' Severus hissed.

He spotted a figure move out the corner of his eye and whirled on it, aiming his wand. Said wand slipped from his frozen fingers when he realised who it was. The figure quickly swooped down and caught it before it hit the ground, saving it from possible damage. Julian held it out to the older man.

'You…?! How…?! I thought…I thought you were dead…' Severus breathed.

The younger man smiled.

'I'm sure a lot of people did. It was better they did'.

Severus' hand twitched, itching to reach out and touch the younger man, to ensure he was actually there.

'What are you doing here?' he finally asked.

'I have a few reasons. The main one, is to ensure my brother Ebony, and my daughter Evangeline are being treated fairly in school'.

Severus was sure he'd heard wrong. Brother? Daughter?!

'Let me explain, please' Julian said, waving the older man to a seat.

Severus practically fell into it. The younger man proceeded to explain what had happened. From the moment he escaped from his cell, to now. Very little was left out. By the end, Severus didn't know what to say, didn't know what he could say.

'You escaped because of your daughter' he eventually whispered.

Julian nodded.

'She would have been killed. I thought I had no fight left in me. I was prepared to die in that cell, until she was born'.

'I…I didn't know… Did anyone know?' Severus asked quietly.

'No, not even I knew. Not until she was born' the younger man replied.

Severus stared at him in horror, the realisation finally sinking in.

'You gave birth to her?! How are you still alive?! That would have killed you! That should have killed you! Any male pregnancies need a potion to allow the child to be born!'

'I don't know. All I do know, is that I had the strength to run. As long as she was ok, it didn't matter about me' Julian replied with a soft smile.

Severus made a noise of distress, looking away.

'Mr Meadow…'

'Julian will be just fine' came the reply.

Sighing Severus continued.

'Julian. I wanted to get you out of that cell. I wanted so desperately to help. I just…'

'You were scared. You knew what would have happened had you tried' Julian finished.

He went over and put a hand on Severus' arm.

'It's ok. I've never blamed you, for anything. Another reason I came here was to tell you that'.

Severus took a moment to look at the younger man. Julian… It was a good name for him. It would appear that he'd been one of the rare lucky ones. He had a home, a family, a life. He looked happy.

'I am sorry, for what you went through. I'm glad you are ok'.

Julian smiled.

'Thank you. And now, I'd like to do something for you. But first, if I could get some information from you, about what's been going on at Hogwarts'.

OOO

When his visitors finally left, Albus felt like a little boy being scolded for stealing cookies. He didn't like it, but it didn't take him long to realise that the Meadows were not a family to be messed with. He was sure at one point that Rose was going to put him on a naughty stool. Getting Sirius and Remus on his side was also a no go. They now had their precious access to their pup, and they weren't giving that up without a fight.

Albus felt like taking a temper tantrum, he was so sure he would have Harry back in the Dursleys by the end of the year. Instead, he was being treated like a criminal. This would not stand.

He looked up as his wards told him Severus was outside his door. He called the man in, sighing at the thought of playing benevolent headmaster to a whiny potions professor. What he got instead was a nasty shock.

'I have been hearing some worrying things about you Albus. I feel it only fair that I warn you that your dealings are about to come back to haunt you. As a Slytherin, the best course of action I can take, is to take a step back, and distance myself from you. Thus I am here to hand in my resignation'.

'Resignation! Severus what are you doing?! Without me you would find yourself back in Azkaban, and you may not get the same help as before' Albus warned.

Severus stood tall and smirked. He rolled up his sleeve and proudly displayed his bare arm, curtsey of Demon. Now that was the biggest shock he'd had all day.

'Your help is not required headmaster, nor is it wanted. I admit I have been treating certain students unfairly of my own accord. But your persistence in allowing it to happen, to protect your secrets, has caused it to spiral out of control. I am not cut out to be a teacher, and I will not remain in a position that I hate, where students hate me, just so you can keep me under your control. I quit. That is the end of it. I will pack my things and be out of here by tomorrow. You had best start looking for a replacement potions professor'.

He turned and headed to the door. As he reached it he glanced back at the spluttering headmaster.

'You may also wish to look for a new defence professor'.

He spotted a shadow flying past the window, and smirked.

'And perhaps… a new headmaster as well'.

And with that he left. Julian had offered him sanctuary at the Meadow home until he could get back on his feet. He also offered help to rebuild the house at Spinner's End, and mentioned that his potions mistress mother could always use help with police cases. It was a chance to be his own master, how could he refuse.

Albus growled as the door closed behind the potions master. He was so angry he didn't even think to keep Severus locked in. How dare he! Albus had protected that man from Azkaban, he deserved some respect! As Severus' words sunk in he paled. What did the man mean by replacing Quirrell? Surely they didn't discover Voldemort already?! No! He had plans! Plans that needed Potter and Severus to stay exactly where they were. Harry was going back to the Dursleys, the Meadows were getting obliviated, and Severus was getting dragged back to his classes. Albus was not going to allow arrogant people to ruin everything he'd been building up.

OOO

Demon watched the fuming man from the window. It was amusing, he decided, to watch these humans play God. His magic hummed and he looked curiously around the room. There was something here belonging to a powerful entity. No, there was more than one. He pinpointed one item hidden in the old man's sleeve. The other one was in a desk drawer. Demon growled lowly. This mortal was not only playing God, he was playing Death as well.

'Are you going to kill him?'

Demon glanced towards the fire bird. Fawkes had of course noticed him the moment he set foot onto Hogwarts soil. This time though the Phoenix knew he was there to help, and let him pass without notice.

'I should. He deserves nothing less' Demon replied, his voice projected into the Phoenix's mind as Fawkes had done to him.

Fawkes trilled sadly. He knew Albus had done so much good, but lately all he ever did was make things worse.

'He has done wrong. But he was once a good man. I beg of you, let him life'.

Demon looked at the headmaster.

'Warn him then Phoenix. I will allow him a chance to defend himself'.

Fawkes trilled and flashed into the room. Demon watched as the fire bird attempted to get the man's attention. He should kill him. But the man would be hailed a hero if he did. A better punishment, would be to let the man know how it felt to be weak and helpless. Demon smirked. Yes, that was a better idea. The Phoenix had done nothing to him, it would be unfair to punish him for something his bonded did.

'Blasted Phoenix! Can't you see I've got enough problems without you buzzing round my head!' Albus growled, batting the fire bird away.

Fawkes huffed and flew to sit beside the sorting hat.

'Foolish man. I am trying to save your life!'

'Don't bother, my old friend. He has been blinded by his greed' the sorting hat said.

Trilling sadly Fawkes nodded. Together they watched as the monstrous creature slinked into the room, using it's magic to silence the portraits who had begun to notice him.

'I will not watch this. Fawkes, come. We shall stay in Minerva's room' the sorting hat said, more to stop the fire bird from having to watch.

Giving one last trill, Fawkes nodded, and flashed away with the tattered hat.

Demon took a moment to examine the man. This was the leader of the light, the defender of the wizarding world. A pity no one would know just how dark the man really was.

The last thing Albus saw, was the shadow of a large black wing as it closed round him.

OOO

Severus found himself fitting in quite well with the group, which surprised him considering who some of the members were. He took up house in the Meadow home until his own was repaired. For a while he assisted the police alongside Rose, building a close friendship with her and Jonathan, and of course Julian. Then he decided to start his own potion making business. In just a few short years, it went from a few orders a week, to a booming business which brought him in a very stable income. It also helped that he had spoken to the Goblins about the Prince inheritance, and was able to claim it. For whatever reason, he suspected it was Julian, he was never again bothered by the ministry.

Without the grudge to keep him back, he found himself delighting in letting Ebony and Evangeline assist him. He could never figure out why, but having young Evangeline around him brought out a parental side he never knew he possessed. He supposed it was because the girl reminded him of his mother.

The group was also joined by Hermione and her parents, and Neville and his grandmother. When Julian heard about Neville's parents, Demon took a visit to St Mungo's to see what the damage was, and couldn't help but groan at the idiots that called themselves healers. This was too easy! Soon Alice and Frank were able to rejoin their family.

The children didn't question the disappearance of both the headmaster and the defence professor. Ebony and Hermione continued to grow close, becoming boyfriend and girlfriend by fourth year, and marrying a couple of years after graduation. Neville and Ginny were close behind them. Ron took a while, being somewhat self conscious about himself. But he had eventually caught the attention of Lavender Brown from his year. She was a bit of a girly girl, but no one could question the attraction between the two. Nor could anyone contest the attraction between Percy and Miss Clearwater. Bill had been joined at work by a French girl who was looking to better her experience and her language skills. There was an instant attraction, which thankfully went both ways, and it didn't take long for the lovely Miss Fleur to become Mrs Weasley.

A rather large surprise was the paring between Fred and Evangeline, and George and Luna. No one saw that one coming, though perhaps they should have expected it as the foursome did enjoy their prank wars. Nymphadora finally snagged her man not long after Ebony and Evangeline's fifth year. Julian wasn't entirely sure how it happened, and Demon was staying well out of it entirely, but slipping the ring onto the pink haired woman became one of the happiest days of his life

Professor Quirrell and Voldemort had been planning their move for Halloween when Demon had come a knocking. There was sadly nothing left of Quirrell to save, and Voldemort was sent straight to Death's embrace.

Albus was left a panting mess in his office, his wand and James' cloak taken from him. He was alive, but as he discovered, being alive meant very little when one had gone from powerful leader of the light, to squib in less than a minute. Minerva was the one to find him, and had him sent to St Mungo's due to his babbling about being attacked by a Demon. She could find no evidence to suggest such a thing, and could not imagine a Demon attacking only to turn the man into a squib and leave. She did discover the philosopher's stone, and had it returned to its rightful owner. The traps made to keep the stone protected were dismantled, and Fluffy was set loose in the farthest away part of the forbidden forest, more at the insistence of Hagrid who promised to take care of the pooch.

She took over the position of head of the school. When she discovered that Severus had left, and Quirrell was dead under mysterious circumstances, she took on the heavy responsibility of informing the staff and students. She also, a bit smugly, hired better, more competent teachers for the missing positions, as well as rearranging a few other positions she had been nagging Albus to do for a while. It took some time, but finally Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry truly did become the best school to send young witches and wizards.

And just to sound horribly cheesy, they all lived happily ever after.