Thousand Years
Severinus Lyall sees how miserable his father is. He struggles as a single father and fights for the rights of werewolves. He knows what it's like to be alone and decides to snoop through some of his old things to set him up on a date with someone.
a/n: yes, I was thinking of A Thousand Years by Christina Perri because I felt it was fitting for their dynamic.
Cassander came home early in the morning, crashing on the couch. He buries his face into one of the throw pillows and falls asleep when his head hits the pillow. It is vaguely stiff and uncomfortable, but it is a welcome comfort after his day at the ministry.
Severinus stayed up that night to catch his father on the way home. He frowned and pulled the blanket over his dad, who was lying on the couch. It had been like this since his parents got a divorce. He never came home to an empty house, but by the way he acted, Cassander might as well have come home to an empty house. Year-round, while he was off at school, it was like that. Sev couldn't help but worry about his old man. Even being a werewolf was an isolating experience.
"Night, Dad, I love you." He whispered.
Severinus never went into the attic. It wasn't that he wasn't allowed to. He never had the opportunity when he was away. The ladder creaked as he climbed it, dust coating his fingers and making them feel fuzzy and gross. He grimaced and wiped it on his pajamas.
He had only seen the attic, which was small and filled with boxes and trunks, broken furniture, and other things that wouldn't fit in the house. Pulling out his wand, he muttered a spell, and the tip illuminated the space before him. He cracked open a cardboard box closest to him, hovering the light over the contents. It was mainly photo albums. Wiping the dust off the covers, he opened them to find photos of him as a baby. A wave of nostalgia hit him. When he was younger, his father was happiest.
After leaving that box, he decided to open another one. At the top of the box was a Hufflepuff scarf, which smelled like old age and dust. He set it aside and reached into the box for something else. It was a yearbook with the Hogwarts school crest on it. His eyes sparkled, and a smile widened across his face.
Quickly, he opened the yearbook and started flipping through it. He looked through portraits and chuckled about seeing people's parents and teachers. The book was like a time capsule. He stopped at the signatures on the back page; very few people had signed his father's yearbook. One of them was Remus Lupin.
I just know you'll make it big on a quidditch team. You're one of a kind. -R.J. Lupin
Something fell out between the pages. Severinus put the book down and picked it up, hovering his wand over the piece of parchment. Unfolding it, he discovered very scratchy handwriting. It was a note passed back and forth during class. His father was passing notes with Remus. The conversation started with homework but divulged how meeting each other made them feel less alone. He gasped as a lightbulb flashed in his head.
The following day, he was up bright and earlier talking on the phone with Arcturus Black; he had been convinced to buy a muggle phone because it was quicker than sending letters back and forth.
"I'm telling you, my dad really likes him. This would be a good opportunity for them.
"I... I don't know. Remus hasn't left Grimmauld place for a while, so this would be a reason to get him outside.
"It's a win-win! We set him up on a date with my dad, and he no longer sulks around."
"And is the date doesn't work?" Arcturus asked.
"Then it doesn't work, I don't have a plan B." Severinus shrugged.
"I doubt they'll agree to go out on a date with one another. How would we even get them in the same place?"
"Oh! There's this tea shop at Diagon Alley that sells pastries and chocolates. What if we say we want to go out and do something with them?"
"Well, Remus does like spending time with me." Arcturus sighed.
"It's foolproof!"
"What's fool-proof?" Cassander asked. His son didn't hear him come downstairs.
"Nothing! Breakfast?"
The blonde quickly put the phone back on the wall, smiling sheepishly as he held a plate of waffles. Cassander narrowed his eyes.
"You're planning something. Out with it."
"Fine, okay." Severinus frowned. "I've been missing spending time with you, and I was wondering if you wanted to go to this tea shop at Diagon Alley with me?"
Cassander blinked twice, taken back.
"You want to spend time with me?" His eyes sparkled, and he looked so hopeful.
"Yeah!"
Severinus was suddenly starting to regret lying to his father.
Seeing that his son wanted to spend more time with him, Cassander was far happier than he had been in the last two months. He was smiling, and there was this twinkle in his eye. At some angles, it almost looked like the stress had disappeared, and he no longer aged like leather in the sun. It hurt Sev to see his father so happy and refreshed. He knew that he would ditch him to watch him and Remus from a distance once they got there. In a way, this plan of his felt wrong.
Cassander excused himself from the table to go to the counter and order some pastries. His eyes lingered on the chocolate for a moment. It was always the happiest and could brighten anyone's day. Whenever he felt sad, Remus would always hand him a piece of chocolate, even sneaking it during their transfiguration classes. Like Roan, he hadn't heard anything from Remus in a long time. Not after he taught at Hogwarts for a year. Severinus was bursting at the seams when he found out his teacher was a werewolf. He kept those letters tucked away in his office, reading them when he felt things were worsening. It made him content to know that his son was happy and wasn't alone.
"Cassander?"
Surprised but primarily embarrassed, he whipped around to see Remus Lupin. The man he was just thinking of. His robes didn't hang off his body anymore and were patched in a way that made them look neater than the clothes he wore himself. His palms got sweaty, and his mouth went dry, so he could not respond. Meeting him here wasn't something he planned for, he didn't expect anyone he knew to be in Diagon Alley today. His eyes darted over to the table he and Sev were at, only to see that his kiddo wasn't there anymore.
"Remus! How are you?" He cleared his throat, hoping the crack in his voice wasn't too noticeable.
"Yeah, I've been doing well. What about you?"
Cassander wanted to run away and hide. Small talk was most undoubtedly awkward.
"Working hard or hardly working, am I right?" Cassander chuckled awkwardly.
Remus chuckled. "Have you been here before?"
"No, actually. Sev introduced it to me."
"Snape?" Cassander didn't notice the dejection written on the other's face.
"No, no. My son."
"Ah, Severinus. How is he? It's been a while since I've last talked to him."
"He's doing well. You know, he is trying to help his friend uncover secrets about the Black family. Usual teenager things."
"Roan's told me a bit about that, I don't understand why she doesn't just tell him."
"I know, right? If I were her, I would love to tell my son that his father was Regulus Black and preserve a bit of him."
"She's scared of his reaction, of how he'll view his father."
"I get it... Kids deserve to see their parents in a positive light."
Cassander relaxed slightly. He let his anxiety and nerves wash away. Despite not planning any of this, he was okay. It was unforeseen, but it is going well so far. Neither are running away or getting into a spat.
"How's Sirius?" he cringed, regretting the words as soon as they came out of his mouth. Cassander wanted to take it back when Remus tensed up, his smile faltering.
"We're still... It's a bit rocky. He's- It's complicated."
"I'll take it as you decided to date him, finally?"
"What? No. We've been best friends for years, and- " Remus paused. "Are you suggesting I ask him out?"
"No, no, no, no." Cassander shook his head quickly. "Not unless you want to!" He smiled and laughed awkwardly again.
The poor girl behind the cash register interrupted them to take his order, but Remus swooped in and paid for him before he could pay. Their teas and some chocolate were ordered together. Cassander felt like a teenager again. It was silly to blush and fidget. He was a grown man. This was different from anyone of his age.
"Remus, I could have- "
"Since your son abandoned you, why not join me? Arcturus excused himself a while ago to go find Severinus."
"But Sev was going to." Despair flashed through his eyes for a second, but he took a deep breath. "Thank you, Rem."
They sat down at a table and talked for hours. Arcturus and Severinus were in a corner holding menus up to hide their faces, peeking around the menus occasionally to see what was happening. The boys remarked that the men looked the most relaxed they had ever been in years. Cassander genuinely laughed at something Remus said and even blushed in some instances.
"I can't believe you said that to the Minister's face. You have quite the gall." Cassander shook his head, a grin on his face.
"It's not like I work for him, and you don't either, so why does it matter?"
"Right, right. He is a wanker. I mean, who denies werewolves' rights? We're people, too."
"Are you... Are you still fighting for that cause?" Remus asked hesitantly.
"Of course I am! For generations, werewolves have been denied the most basic rights. I want people afflicted with lycanthrope to have jobs and live unafraid of who they are."
"You're stronger than me," Remus remarked.
"No, you are the strongest person I know. I got it from you."
"What? How? I haven't done anything remarkable or-"
"You were unafraid to be yourself."
"Excuse me?"
"Remus, I'm going to be honest. I've admired you since the day I met you." Cassander admitted. "You were like me, and in a way that felt less damming because at least I wasn't struggling alone until your friends turned into animagi. Then I was alone again, but that's not the point! The point is, I'm unashamed when I say I love you. I care about you, and you inspire me."
Remus straightened his posture.
"We were kids- "
"I know." Cassander sucked in a breath. "I only say it now because I was unsure of how to say it back then. I kept that part of myself under lock and key, and the lavender marriage actually helped me to see it for myself."
"Lavendar marriage? I'm not familiar with the term."
"Tonks told me what it was, a marriage between two people pretending to be straight. Except Lilia was in love with me, but I couldn't love her the way I wanted. The way I love you."
"You divorced her because of me?"
"No, I divorced her because I didn't want to subject myself to a loveless and meaningless marriage just for the sake of making my old, dusty parents happy. And because she treated my son horribly."
"I don't- I don't know what to say." Remus looked down, staring pointedly at the tea cup almost as if it were going to sprout legs and started walking away. He was bashful, and being confronted with such a bold statement made him a little embarrassed.
Remus couldn't see why someone would love him when he couldn't love himself. There were no qualities of his that were nice, or attractive. He was a blood thirsty monster once the full moon came, but Cassander was too. Maybe after all his friends dying this was the way the world was tying to tell him that he wasn't alone again. That he could fall back on someone and let them take care of him instead of running around trying to take care of everyone else.
Severinus and Arcturus got bored of watching after a while, nothing eventful was happening. Sure, they listened in but it wasn't anything juicy enough to keep their attention. They had sneaked away a long time ago. Long after Remus and Cassander had finished their tea and the chocolates. They had sat in silence for a moment, taking in what the other way saying. Examining how they were feeling. When they got to the door Remus held it open with a lopsided smile.
"To be quite honest, I would like to go on another date."
"Wh- This was a date?!"
Remus blinked twice.
"I assumed you knew Severinus and Arcturus set this up."
"I didn't assume anything, Sev said he wanted to spend time with me. I- I can't believe this was a date."
"Why? Was it bad?" That cloud nine feeling Remus had been holding on to suddenly crashed to earth in the most violent way possible.
"No, no, no, no. It was good! I just- I didn't plan to bump into you."
"Perhaps fate had something to do with it, and those cheeky kids."
"I would love another date." Cassander let out a breath, smoothing down his clothes. "Does next weekend work for you?"
"My schedule is mostly empty because I'm no longer a teacher." Remus chuckled.
"Next weekend it is!"
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SAINT OF THE DAY (May 18)
On May 18, the Catholic Church honors the first “Pope John” in its history.
Saint John I was a martyr for the faith, imprisoned and starved to death by a heretical Germanic king during the sixth century.
He was a friend of the renowned Christian philosopher Boethius, who died in a similar manner.
Eastern Catholics and Eastern Orthodox Christians also honor Pope St. John I on the same date as the Roman Catholic Church.
The future Pope John I was born in Tuscany and served as an archdeacon in the Church for several years.
He was chosen to become the Bishop of Rome in 523, succeeding Pope St. Hormisdas.
During his papal reign, Italy was ruled by the Ostrogothic King Theodoric.
Like many of his fellow tribesmen, the king adhered to the Arian heresy, holding that Christ was a created being rather than the Second Person of the Holy Trinity.
Arianism had originated in the Eastern half of the Roman Empire during the fourth century and subsequently spread among the Western Goths.
By the sixth century, the heresy was weak in the East but not dead.
In 523, the Byzantine Emperor Justin I ordered Arian clergy to surrender their churches into orthodox Catholic hands.
In the West, meanwhile, Theodoric was angered by the emperor’s move and responded by trying to use the Pope’s authority for his own ends.
Pope John was thus placed in an extremely awkward position. Despite the Pope’s own solid orthodoxy, the Arian king seems to have expected him to intercede with the Eastern emperor on behalf of the heretics.
John’s refusal to satisfy King Theodoric would eventually lead to his martyrdom.
John did travel to Constantinople, where he was honored as St. Peter’s successor by the people, the Byzantine Emperor, and the Church’s legitimate Eastern patriarchs.
(The Church of Alexandria had already separated by this point.)
The Pope crowned the emperor and celebrated the Easter liturgy at the Hagia Sophia Church in April 526.
But while John could urge Justin to treat the Arians somewhat more mercifully, he could not make the kind of demands on their behalf that Theodoric expected.
The gothic king, who had recently killed John’s intellectually accomplished friend Boethius (honored by the Church as St. Severinus Boethius on October 23), was furious with the Pope when he learned of his refusal to support the Arians in Constantinople.
Already exhausted by his travels, the Pope was imprisoned in Ravenna and deprived of food.
The death of St. John I came on or around May 18, which became his feast day in the Byzantine Catholic tradition and in the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite.
In the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, he is celebrated on May 27, the date on which his exhumed body was returned to Rome for veneration in St. Peter’s Basilica.
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