Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

The Long Road	By : SinisterMe Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Snape/Remus Views: 63607 -:- Recommendations : 3 -:- Currently Reading : 18
Disclaimer: This is a work of fan fiction using characters from the Harry Potter world, which is trademarked by J. K. Rowling. This story is purely for entertainment purposes, no money is being made from it.

Chapter List
- 9
- 10
- 11
Upstairs, Severus was not completely unsurprised to find Lupin halfway propped up on his pillows, the parchments he had given him earlier strewn across the bedspread. Though he had clearly been making some progress, he must have drifted off again at some point, his head leaning at an odd angle, a piece of paper still held loosely in one hand.
“Lupin,” he said softly as he approached the bed, setting the tray of their suppers on the nightstand.
Remus woke with a start, jumping slightly and sending a few of the papers careening over the side of the bed. “Hello, sir.” He reached for some of the fallen papers.
“I see you’ve been doing some reading.” Severus stooped to retrieve them for him, as many had fallen out of the other man's reach.
“Sorry sir, I know you said there would be time to look them over tonight, but I woke earlier and couldn’t stop myself,” Remus admitted.
“That’s fine; I assumed you would do as much. What have you found?”
“It is an curious spell; it seems to be very arcane. I certainly hadn’t heard of it until you brought it up to me. Where did you find it?”
“In a first edition of a compendium of binding spells; the edition I already owned was much more current and the spell wasn’t included. It seems to have gone out of style some time ago.”
“Well it makes it sound like apprenticeship was the only real way to get any education.”
“Because at the time it was created, that would have been true for magical folk.”
“You’re trying to tell me that this spell predates Hogwarts?” Remus asked in disbelief.
“As I said, it is a very old spell. Other than its origins, do you think that it may be of some use to us in this situation?”
“I suppose so, sir. I keep getting hung up on the fact that there wouldn’t be anything you couldn’t do to him.” Remus hung his head.
“That isn’t entirely true; I could not end his life, starve him, deprive him of water or leave him to endure the elements without protection. You seem to forget the nature of the situation we are all in; there would not be a spell I could cast on Teddy that would inhibit my actions or behavior. That is unfortunately the nature of slavery, Lupin.”
“I know that, sir,” Remus ground out. “But he’s my son.” As if that explained everything; and for Remus it probably did.
“That is one thing I will never argue you on. I have already broached the subject with him earlier today in the lab.”
Remus’ eyes bugged out a little. “About being my son or your slave, sir?”
“Both,” Severus said simply.
“And?” Remus was almost afraid to ask.
“He is a very intelligent young man. Although perhaps a little too quick to trust.”
“I’m not sure exactly what that means, sir.”
“He will tell you himself, I’m sure. I told him I want the two of you to discuss the whole situation tonight; I will be elsewhere while you do so. You will want to finish looking those papers over before that, though. Are you almost through them?”
“About halfway there, sir.”
“Would you like to eat, or finish reading first?” Snape asked, finding it nothing if not interesting to give Lupin choices, even small ones.
Remus gave him that strange look again. “If you don’t mind, I am rather hungry.” Remus almost laughed at himself; what he felt right now was nowhere near hunger, not the real hunger he had felt at many points in his life and especially in his time as a slave.
Snape didn’t say anything, just collected the handwritten sheets from on top of the bed and combining them with those that had fell to the floor, shuffling them back into order at a startling speed. He set them off to the side, sliding Lupin’s plate closer; Fred had already cut everything into bite sized pieces while they were down in the kitchen.
Snape helped him to sit up straight again and began to aid him in eating his supper.
He set the now empty plate aside and assisted Lupin with a few sips of water. He held out Remus’ potion. “One large swallow; as long as your pain isn’t too terrible we will break your dose up so that you can stay awake longer.”
Remus did as he was instructed, taking the stack of notes back from Severus.
Snape tucked into his own supper, giving the other man time to get back into his reading.
“The ritual actually doesn’t sound all that horrible,” Remus said suddenly.
“What did you expect? Blood and dismemberment?” Would it really be so remiss, knowing his history?
Remus gave him a long look. “I’m not sure I knew what to expect, sir.”
“That’s fair,” Severus allowed.
“It really does sound like it may be possible to release him when he’s completed enough of his training. Do you think the Ministry would go for that?”
“All of the restrictions and regulations in place so far speak strictly of werewolves that have been bitten. I have looked a great deal into this, as you could well imagine. I’ve followed the ‘progress’ the Ministry has made with lycanthropes and other non-humans over the past few years and it is mentioned specifically in many of the most crippling of their new laws.”
“Teddy was never bitten,” Remus said in a hollow voice; guilt didn’t even begin to describe what he felt when he thought about what he had passed on to his son.
“I know that Lupin,” Snape said in frustration, was the man being willfully ignorant? “Therefore I believe it may be argued, in a Ministry court if need be, that these laws do not apply to Teddy. He is a born werewolf, he will be well spoken and well educated; if the magic of the spell permits it I believe I can handle the Ministry,” Snape smirked as he said that last part. He never wasted a single chance to piss on their lawn.
“That sounds like a lot of work and gold to free one slave,” Remus said with skepticism.
“The real question is, given McNair’s will, will the magic allow us to release him. That is more difficult to get around than the Ministry at their worst. And you let me worry about the financial end of things.” There was most of the Dumbledore fortune at their disposal. Albus had left it to him, minus what he had given to other Order members for the losses they had suffered. No one had been more shocked than Severus to find that Albus had left him almost everything; he had been furious, as if he had wanted a single bronze knut from the old man.
“How do I know that this isn’t all an elaborate lie, just to get me to agree to something you want; something that I never would have consented to otherwise?” Remus asked desperately.
“I have said before that there is no real guarantee I can give you, other than to say that is not the case. Despite what you may have heard from the students while you were teaching at Hogwarts, being sentenced to study under me isn’t worse than the seventh circle of hell.”
Remus smiled quickly. “I’m not worried about your capabilities as an instructor. But… how will you punish him if he misbehaves or says something he shouldn’t? How can I know that you won’t hurt him just to get to me?” Remus knew he was way out of line, but these were things he needed to ask, no matter what the end result would be. All he could think of was how Severus had treated Harry, and he had only had a small amount of power over him at the time, being his professor. How would he behave towards his son, who would be under his complete control?
“I cannot promise that I will never get angry, if that is what you are looking for. But I can tell you that that anger will not result in the whipping of your son; I will not beat him, curse him or hold back the necessities of life from him. I have found through experience that such things rarely resolve or improve issues for either party.” Let Lupin draw his own conclusions from that.
Remus stayed silent.
“Would you like to see your son now, or would you like some more time to go over my notes.”
“No, I’ll see him.” Remus said hastily; he would never turn down an opportunity to spend time with his son, even if the circumstances were not favorable.
“I’ll bring him up; there are some things I need to work on in my lab, you will have plenty of uninterrupted time with him,” Snape paused. “Would you like me to perform the evacuation charm?”
“Yes please, sir.”
Snape preformed the spell and stood. He dosed Remus with another swallow of the potion to hold him over for a couple of hours. He collected the plate and cutlery from their spot on the nightstand.
“Thank you, sir,” Remus said.
Snape nodded and went to send Teddy up.
The boy ran upstairs, Snape heard him taking them two at a time as he himself descended into his lab.
He brought the basket over to the main prep station and ran a sink of hot water to clean the utensils from earlier in the day. As he washed and scrubbed the used tools, he pondered the best route to take in the brewing of Teddy’s Wolfsbane.
Because of the variations he needed to make, the potion was even more volatile than the original recipe. It took longer to brew and required more attention; this brew also seemed to be just as potent when cold as when hot, unlike the unaltered potion which would be as good as useless if allowed to cool too much before consumption. This, at least was optimistic. It would allow him to prepare the thing in advance.
He drained and rinsed the sink, dried his hands and cast a sterilizing charm on them, drying the utensils and cutting boards with a similarly sterilized cloth. He brought them right back over to where he had put the basket.
The potions would take three days each to brew. He would have to rely heavily on Fred during this time, which he found didn’t worry him in the slightest. Aside from bathing, the changing of Lupin’s dressings and the distribution of potions, he believed the elf totally capable of meeting both of the Lupin’s needs while he worked. It would be an exhausting week, all considered, and he needed to start tomorrow at the latest, though tonight would be best.
His hands worked independently of his mind, as they often did during basic prep such as this. Separate the aconite into individual plants, break them down from there. Aconitum is derived for a Greek word, meaning ‘without struggle’, probably a reference to how a wolf that was poisoned by it died. He chose to believe it also referred to how, when brewed properly, it also affected the werewolf’s transformation.
It allowed the person undergoing the change into the wolf to keep their mind and consciousness ‘without struggle’. Before even undergoing the first drafts of this potion, he had studied monkshood very extensively. He had been very familiar with its uses as a poison, but upon further exploration he found it had a potential that extended far beyond that. It affected breathing, circulation; hell, even the nervous system. It would slow the rampaging werewolf heart; cause his blood pressure to decrease. The correct amount would hinder the activity of the lycanthrope’s nerve-terminals; have an impact on his sensory intake. Within the proper doses it would therefore have the effect of lessening the pain of the transformation. However, the cerebrum did not succumb to the influence of these levels of aconite, allowing some consciousness and intelligence to remain for the most part normal, though it was found that memory was affected to a large degree.
He used only half the root of one plant for the first potion he would attempt for Teddy. Also, three if the stamens from inside the flower and three of the dark purple petals. He ground the latter two with the mortar and pestle, setting it aside and grating the root of the plant. This ingredient he weighed carefully, setting the rest of it aside. It went into the bowl, mashed up with the rest.
While he worked he pondered how the discussion was going upstairs. He hoped the two of them were working something out. Of course he had a backup plan, if they didn’t go for the whole apprenticeship thing for some reason or other. It just wasn’t quite so optimistic, binding Teddy to him as a basic slave, nature undeclared. This would still allow him to teach the boy a few things, but his actions and freedoms would be severely limited in comparison to the spell he was trying to push them to allow him to cast.He decided to get the first stage started after all before heading back upstairs to see how things were going.
It took him maybe another hour and a half to get the potion simmering properly, with all the ingredients needed so far added in as carefully as possible, everything precisely measured, nothing contaminated by anything it shouldn’t have been touching. These things were the basics of the craft, this was the easy part. Now the brew would be left alone for six hours, after which he would need to be adding small amounts of ingredients for twenty four hours straight.
At first, the ingredients would be added every hour and then increased by small percentages over the next day. By the end of the first brew cycle, he would be adding something every four minutes. But by that time tomorrow he should have everything wrapped up enough one way or another to be able to dedicate the evening to ensuring he had perfect timing.
He took his time storing the unused portions of plants he had prepared, aconite, nightshade and a considerable amount of chamomile. The white-sabre stem mushrooms were set in a liquid mixture of vinegar and camphor, which would help to keep Teddy from feeling the pain from inflammation and swelling of his muscles and joints. It would also aid the healing of any wounds he would incur with the transformation, internal or external. This mixture would be added just before the second phase of the potion began, the proportions and timing to this step were absolutely crucial to the functionality of the potion.
He washed and sterilized his tools and station all over again, putting everything back in its correct place before dimming the lights and ascending the stairs. He continued through the house until he reached Remus’ room. The door was pulled only part of the way shut; he pushed it open with his hand to signal his presence before entering.
He didn’t know whether to be reassured or concerned upon seeing the two of them under the covers, curled around each other like two people about to undergo the death penalty. Lupin was running his fingers lovingly through his son’s hair, he appeared to be trying to soak Teddy completely up and the child didn’t seem to mind in the least, almost glowing with a quiet sort of joy.
Suddenly, he was overcome with the feeling that he was interrupting something he was incredibly unworthy of; he shouldn’t even lay eyes on such pure emotion. Almost involuntarily he took a step back into the doorway, but Remus’ eyes turned to him.
“Hello, sir,” he said simply. Teddy looked over at him, smiling shyly in his direction.
Snape continued to keep his face neutral. “Did the two of you have a productive discussion?” he asked formally, not knowing what else to say.
Teddy giggled, Remus tightened his grip around his middle to quiet him, concerned what reaction that would bring from Snape. Severus had always had an extreme reaction when he thought someone was laughing at him.
“Yes, sir, we did. We have agreed to accept your offer, if indeed it was ever up to our choosing in the first place,” Remus said, his face becoming harder, more closed off than it had been mere moments ago.
Severus nodded, looking to Teddy, “This is true for you as well?”
Teddy produced that little half smile again. “Yes, sir.”
“Alright, then it is settled. We will begin in half an hour; I will need to gather a couple of things together. It is best that we complete the ritual on the patio just outside the back doorway.”
Remus looked alarmed. “You said there wasn’t going to be any blood,” he said in a whisper, covering Teddy’s ears as he did so.
“There won’t be,” Snape said quickly. “Not his, anyway. I believe it may be in our best interest to perform the ritual in sight of the moon.”
“The moon,” Remus repeated dumbly.
“Yes. The moon may have much sway and meaning for Teddy. He was born under its sign. If my research on this subject is correct, I believe the enslavement spell will allow me to make handling the child at the full moon at least a little simpler. I hope to be able to influence his behavior during his transformative period if need be.”
“What does that mean, ‘if need be’?” Remus asked with some hesitation.
“If the Wolfsbane formula I am preparing does not contain enough aconite to allow him to retain full or even any control. I recommend you and I discuss this another time, when perhaps we have the time to speak more freely.” He was of course meaning when Teddy was out of ear shot.
“Yes sir, I believe that to be wise. What do Teddy and I need to do to prepare?”
“Nothing. I will get everything in place; the two of you will remain here together until I have done so. Although another swallow of this would be prudent.” He held the bottle pf pain potion up to Lupin’s lips again.
“Thank you, sir,” Remus said after drinking his dose.
Snape brought the text he would need, a length of silk cord, a long dagger in a leather sheath and ten thick pillar candles. He also brought a goblet, a bladder of wine, a glass bowl and collected a piece of bread from the kitchen, wrapping it in a clean tea towel. He placed these things in a satchel and hung it on a hook by the door, folding a light blanket and threading it through the straps.
Looking out the window he saw the night was clear and calm; near perfect conditions for what he was trying to achieve. He was going for tradition, the way things had been done when this spell was still in common practice. He hoped that the Magic would sense his diligence in the matter and help fulfil the bond as it was intended, with the end result being a free and fully educated young man.
He went upstairs, heading briefly to the loo, removing his heavy outer robe, rolling up his sleeves and splashing cold water on his face. He tied his hair loosely at the nape of his neck and went to collect the Lupins.
“Ready?” he asked wryly upon entering the room.
“Of course, sir.” Remus was still being as polite and accommodating as possible, afraid to stir up Snape’s anger, now of all times.
“Alright, stand by me, Teddy. I’m going to situate your father back in the chair so that he can come with us,” Severus said.
Teddy hopped off the bed and came to stand a safe distance from the wand he knew was about to appear.
Snape moved the chair closer and repeated the process of getting Remus from the bed to a sitting position in the small wing backed chair. He then draped an extra blanked over the man’s thin shoulders, tucking the ends of it over his lap as well.
Remus stayed silent, still not sure how to react to these small acts of kindness that Snape continued to bestow on him.
Severus levitated him down the stairs and outside, onto the brick patio just behind the house, Teddy following wordlessly behind them. He grabbed the satchel from the hook as they went.
He placed Remus’ chair down on the patio, then set the candles in a relatively tight circle around them, still leaving enough room for them to move around inside of it comfortably. He emptied the bag piece by piece, setting each item on the ground in front of them, producing the knife last.
He clearly heard Remus’ betrayed inhale.
“It’s not for him, Lupin,” Snape reinforced again.
He stood and lit each candle individually with his wand in a clockwise progression, muttering the words of conviction, invoking the wild Magic and the power of the moon in old Latin, asking to be noticed by these mighty forces though they were miniscule by their very nature. Inwardly he asked for strength and wisdom, as he had countless times before in his life.
When all of the candles were lit, he returned to the middle of the circle with the other two, who were both watching him closely. He opened the ancient text at the top of the circle, flipping to the proper page and setting it on the earth there.
He guided Teddy so he was standing closest to Remus’ injured wrist, rolling up the boy’s sleeve so that his skin was touching Remus’, then bent down and retrieved the silk cord. He tied this loosely around the wrists of the father and son.
“When I indicate, I need you to pull the knot free, Lupin. I will alert you a second time, then you will take the cord and tie it in the same fashion, only around mine and Teddy’s wrists. This will symbolize your direct consent; it is a transference of sorts.”
“Yes, sir,” Remus replied quietly.
“Teddy, I need you to hold your arm still and not pull it away, okay? Even if you’re afraid, try to stay in place. Try to trust me.”
“Okay, sir,” Teddy said more cheerfully than his father.
Snape continued to speak in words only he seemed to understand, touching his wand first to Lupin’s wrist, then to Teddy’s. The small flames surrounding them leapt higher, seeming to sway in time with one another. Snape signaled to Lupin with his free hand.
Remus took his good arm and pulled the knot free of his and Teddy’s wrists with minimal effort, keeping the cord clutched in his fingers tightly.
Snape came nearer to them, kneeling on the bricks to be closer to the boy’s height; completely aware of the symbolism of this action. He was putting himself in a position of respect in relation to the other two, himself and the boy on the equivalent level while at the same time kneeling beside a seated Remus.
All the while Severus chanted the words he knew well and that were contained also in the pages of the open book at the head of the circle. He brought his bared forearm up and Teddy put his arm directly next to it, allowing Snape to make contact with it. He signaled a second time to Lupin.
Remus put the rope around their arms as he had seen Snape do to him and his son, tying it in a knot awkwardly, trying to avoid the use of his injured arm.
Words continued to flow seamlessly from Severus’ lips; he placed the glass bowl under their arms and picked up the knife, removing it from its casing with only one hand. He took the hilt in his free hand and brought the blade up to their tied arms. Quickly and without hesitation he made a deep slice across his own arm, directing the blood that fell into the bowl under their tied wrists. He could feel Teddy trembling in an effort to not pull his arm away.
He took the blade, now red with his shed blood, and brought it up to the side of Teddy’s face. He saw, rather than heard the sob that Remus couldn’t hold back out of the corner of his eye; but he didn’t waver.
He took a tuft of the boy’s hair in one hand and cut it loose with one swift motion, placing the strands in the bowl as well. He then set the contents of the bowl aflame with a spell, waiting patiently for it to burn out before removing the cord holding the child’s wrist to his.
With the hand that had been bound, he placed his middle finger in the damp ash now remaining in the bowl, touching the substance to Teddy’s forehead. He held the bowl out to the boy, “Now it’s your turn; just like you saw me do.”
The child dipped a finger into the mixture. “You want me to put this on your forehead?” Teddy whispered, just to be sure. Severus nodded and the boy pressed the mark to the older man’s brow lightly.
It left a slight mark on both of their pale faces. Snape brought the goblet so it sat on the ground between them, pouring a small measure of wine into its basin. He offered it to Teddy who took a small sip and handed it back. Severus took it in both of his hands, tipping it back so he could then drink.
He set these things aside, now bringing the tea towel to where he had first set the goblet, unfolding it from the wrapping and breaking it in two pieces, offering one to the boy before taking a bite of his.
He then spread the blanket over his own shoulders, taking it off after a moment and wrapping the child in it, standing slowly, both of his knees creaking loudly. He walked to the head of the circle, bringing the open spell book back over to them and taking the bowl in his other hand.
“Dip your finger into the bowl and make a print on the line at the bottom,” he held the two items out, first to Lupin, then to Teddy before making the same mark himself. He then went around the circle in a counterclockwise direction, dipping his thumb and forefinger into the mixture and pinching out the flames of the candles one by one until they were standing with only the light of the moon to see by.
“We’ve finished,” he stated.
“That’s it, it’s done?” Remus asked.
“Yes, now we best get inside and get you back to bed.” Snape didn’t want Remus to over exert himself again.
“I don’t feel any different,” Teddy declared.
“You wouldn’t,” Snape agreed, casting the levitation charm on Remus’ chair and leading them all the short distance back to the house. “Although this spell will likely have a great impact on your life, it doesn’t change you as a person. You remain the same, only your circumstances have changed.”
“What’s a ‘circumstances’?” Teddy asked, trying to look down at himself to see what was different from before the ceremony.
“A circumstance is a something that happens and affects the outcome of things; they are often out of our control,” he said that last part almost sorrowfully; it was as close to an apology as he could get, not quite wanting to look directly into the face of his actions at the moment.
“Oh, that sounds okay,” Teddy said optimistically, holding the back door open so Remus could be floated through.
Remus was looking at him with that scrutinizing stare again. He quickly got behind the chair, floating it effortlessly up the stairs and back into Lupin’s room. He hesitated before transferring Remus back to the bed, levitating the chair a second time. He went back out into the hallway and directed the chair into Teddy’s room instead, setting it down close to the side of the bed. He adjusted the lights and set the worn copy of ‘The Hobbit’ on Remus’ lap.
“Your father will be reading you the third chapter tonight. I trust you can manage your pajamas on your own?” It was a half statement, half question, leaving Teddy open to say either reply.
“Yes sir, I can do that. Should I put my clothes in the basket, there?” he asked timidly.
“That sounds like a good plan,” Snape agreed. “You should use the loo quick before you tuck in. Remember to wash your face and brush your teeth like we did last night before you get into bed.”
“Okay sir. Thank you.” Teddy smiled up at Snape, who didn’t return the gesture, but gave an acknowledging nod instead.
“I’ll be back in a bit to return you to your own room, Lupin.”
Remus nodded, not sure what to say in the face of the last five minutes.
Snape turned to leave, and just before he made it through the door Teddy called out, “Goodnight, sir.”
Severus paused, and without turning around replied, “Goodnight, Teddy.”
Severus had time to have a stiff drink in the wing backed chair by the dead fire in his rooms. He wasted little time, not wanting to think about the events of the night in too great of detail. He had taken that boy’s freedom, any way he wanted to slice it. He could now determine the outcome of his entire life if he so desired, how he desired. The reality was even more off putting than the idea of it had been.
After a time he set the empty glass aside, taking a moment to bind the slice he’d made on his arm. He decided it was probably time to collect Lupin and maneuver him back into his own bed.
When he went to the boy’s room he found Remus watching his son sleep in the dim light. He looked up to see Severus standing in the doorway and set the book that was still held in his hands aside. Wordlessly, other than the spell to levitate the chair, Snape took Lupin from the room, closing the door partially behind them and leading Remus back to his own room, leaving the hall light on behind them.
Once he was lying on the bed and Snape was removing his old dressings with sterilized hands, Remus said suddenly, “That was not what I was expecting.”
“What do you mean?” Snape asked outright.
“Well, I do know the symbolism of some of that at least, even if I didn’t recognize much of what you were saying,” Remus said softly. “I’m just trying to figure out how it all works into your plan.”
“You think you have me all figured out, don’t you.” The words were terse, but his hands remained gentle, carefully pulling back layer after layer of bandage from Lupin’s body.
“Of course not sir,” Remus spluttered. “I just don’t understand your reasoning, that’s all. My apologies.”
“If you understand the symbolism so well you should be able to draw your own conclusions, Lupin,” Snape drawled, pulling away the last piece of gauze from his wounded torso. “These are healing at a remarkable pace,” he added as a side note.
Remus continued, “You put yourself on the same level as him. It was your blood that was drawn, only his hair; I can’t even imagine how that changes things. He ate and drank first. You removed the clothing from your own shoulders to wrap him in. You chose bonds that wouldn’t burn or scar him, but would be soft on his skin; they were tied so loosely.” Remus realized he was rambling and stopped promptly.
“Yes, all of those things were part of the ceremony, it wasn’t directly stated whose blood would be drawn or in what order we would eat and drink. I was attempting to make my intentions clear to the Magic that was working through the spell; that I have no intent to harm him, or to mar his soul with the shedding of blood for the purposes of invocation. That I will meet his needs, before my own if the necessity arises. I acknowledged my desire for him to exist on the same plane as me when the time comes, free; at the same time I recognized your power as his father, that your permission was key in the casting.” If Lupin needed it to be spelled out for him, then that’s what he would do.
“But I don’t see how that could be true, sir!” Remus proclaimed against his better judgment. The stress and adrenaline of the evening was loosening his tongue to the point of putting himself in danger, and he knew it.
“And why is that, Lupin?” Snape was taking care to spread the healing cream across the burns with as light of a pressure as he could manage. He refused to cause further harm out of anger.
“Because -” Remus said in a broken voice. “I saw how you were with Harry.”
“What in the seven hells does Potter have to do with all of this?” Severus spit out, still rubbing gentle circles across Lupin’s shoulders with the pads of his fingers. All roads led to the great Harry Potter, or had he forgotten that already?
“You took it out on him, all of your hate for James; I don’t see what makes Teddy so different. Sir.”
“Perhaps it is because in that instance, I did not have James present; while here I have you for any ‘revenge’ I feel that needs to be wreaked,” Snape snapped without thinking.
“I see, sir,” Remus said stiffly.
“Merlin’s balls, Lupin! You don’t see anything, you're blind as a vampire at high noon in the middle of the desert. I had my reasons for being so hard on Potter. My hatred of his father aside, he needed a villain that he could stand up to. He needed to hate me. He needed someone to be that, hard and unforgiving, unrelentingly pushing him to do and to be better, even though he was already the miracle child and could do no wrong.” It was Snape’s turn to ramble; Potter often had that effect on him.
Remus sat there, stunned. “You’re being serious.”
“When have you known me not to be?”
“That’s insane, sir.” Remus felt the shielding charm, felt himself being turned over slowly so Severus could access the burns on his back.
Snape chuckled quietly. “That very well may be. Those are among some of the reasons that I behaved how I did towards the brat; trust me the list goes on. Little sot drove me crazy.”
“And Teddy doesn’t?” Remus found himself asking.
“No, I suppose he doesn’t.” Snape answered truthfully.
“He seems to think you like him just a little.”
“Where on earth would he get such an idea?” Snape asked, sounding bored.
Remus couldn’t tell if Snape was joking or not, unable as he was to see the other man’s face. “He told me about the other night,” he said, foregoing trying to figure out if the man even had a sense of humor.
“Oh, and what did he say?” Snape asked smoothly, imagining stories of liquor, smashed glasses and wands being drawn on crying little boys.
“He said that you were very kind.” Skepticism was clear in his voice. “That you didn’t curse him even though he wet the bed and had to wake you up. He thought you were going to, you know; even before you pointed your wand at him.”
Snape winced, though Remus couldn’t see it. “I never intended to… He surprised me.” It was like admitting to a deadly sin. Severus Snape, double or triple agent or whatever the hell you would call it, being snuck up on by a six year old child in his own home. The thought of it made him want to laugh.
To Lupin’s credit, he didn’t as much as snicker. “That’s what he seemed to think. He smelt liquor, so he thought he was really going to be in for it. He was so much worse after he had been drinking, to both of us.”
“I had a couple of drinks before turning in; I didn’t finish my last glass and it got knocked over when I woke up. I was not intoxicated,” Severus said indignantly.
“I believe you, sir.” Remus sounded sincere. “It sounded like you… took care of him.”
“He’s a small child, Lupin. He is incapable of doing everything for himself,” Severus said in such a way that implied Remus was quite daft.
“It’s just hard to believe; he talked about you, you know.” Remus sat still for a minute. “He told me the things you’d do to us if you ever got your hands on us. I suppose he must have already been planning his will or something. He said that you were worse than him, he learned what he knew from people like you. He seemed to think that we’d be begging for him, because the things he did to us didn’t mean anything to him; but with you, it would be personal. That over time...” Lupin trailed off.
Remus was almost laughing or crying, Severus could feel him shaking with it, his hands still running gently across the other man’s back in what could have been construed as a soothing motion.
“But here we are; you’re carrying Teddy to bed. Merlin, you’re holding him when he cries, reading him a story at bed time. This feels so unreal, Severus. Sir. Shit. I shouldn’t be saying any of these things to you, sir. I’m so sorry; I don’t know what’s gotten into me.” Remus was sobbing now. Perhaps it was those hands caressing his aching shoulders, somehow wringing every confession out of him. He felt himself floating in the air, the embrace of linens being wrapped around his body again.
When Lupin was lying on his back in bed Snape said, “It’s going to be alright, Remus.”
“Who are you?” Remus’ sobs turned to laughter as he wiped at his eyes with his good hand.
“I’ll leave that to you to decide. I’m not so sure myself, most days.”
“If that’s supposed to be comforting, sir, you’re missing the mark.” Remus was chuckling now; he had no control over his emotions or his tongue, it seemed.
Snape knew the adrenaline rush that Remus must have felt from the bonding was by this time worn off, leaving him at best a mess of jitters. He would tend to his feet and then leave the man to sleep it off; he’d be back to his usual placating self in no time. He felt like this was the closest to having a real conversation as he had had with Lupin since the other man first woke up.
He straightened the blankets so that Remus’ arms were free but he was still mostly covered with them. Then he moved to the edge of the bed, pulling those covers up cautiously to reveal Remus’ mummified feet and began unravelling them, revealing the mess underneath the bandages.
One of them looked almost like a foot, Remus thought idly. That had to be good news, right?
“If it bothers you, try not to look at them,” Snape advised without looking up from his task.
“But they’re my feet. What am I going to do?” Remus said frantically.
“You’re not going to do anything. I am going to apply this and we are going to wait for it to fully absorb. Then I am going to wrap them back up, keep them safe from contamination. Then I am going to give you yet another potion that isn’t available, well… anywhere, really.” Snape believed his infection had been gone for long enough; Remus’ healing was already starting on its own well enough for him to begin administering it.
“Why not?” Remus seemed concerned.
“Because, potions brewed specifically for lycanthropes have become startlingly unpopular of late, not that they were ever in very high demand to begin with. After my achievement of the Wolfsbane potion, I didn’t stop experimenting.” How many experiments, their subjects, successes and failures he didn’t care to go into.
“I have a substantial array of lycanthrope safe potions that have yet to be produced for the public, if indeed they ever will be,” Severus didn’t mention that he was thinking of binding them into a small tome for a less prejudiced future generation. Or more likely for someone to use as kindling on a cold night not too long after he himself was dead.
“Why would you keep working with them, sir? If they were not going to advance your career or standings?” Remus asked.
Snape shrugged. “Because no one else was working on them; they were a challenge to brew.” He was bored. He had always been fascinated (terrified) by lycanthropy.
“What will this potion do?”
“I hope it will help your burns to heal at an accelerated pace. If everything goes smoothly, it will be significant.” Of that there was no doubt, the risks were moderate, but the benefits were staggering. He had little doubt that it would work wonders on Lupin’s feet; Merlin knew they could use all the help they could get.
“What if everything doesn’t go smoothly?” Remus asked.
“I can’t say for sure. I can say that I will be able to handle it; I see no merit in giving you medicine that will further ail you.”
“So it hasn’t been tested,” Remus said in clarification.
“Yes, it has. This particular potion has a 100% success rate as far as I’ve seen.”
“How many times have you seen it work?”
Snape made a face. “Once.”
“So the werewolf lived, or was healed, or… whatever?” Remus sounded desperate to hear anything distinctly positive about this potion he was going to take.
Snape bent his head down, pretending to be engrossed in picking a fuzz off of the side of his robe. “From what I saw, the potion worked. She died the day after I administered it.”
“She died,” Remus was clearly uncomfortable.
“Oh, not from the potion, her death was completely unrelated to that,” Severus said quickly. Unrelated to the potion, not to the injury. She’d caused incredible damage to her own body after her first transformation. He had believed she would make a full recovery but Greyback had no patience for a weak link; he’d ended it while Snape had been occupied elsewhere. The strength of the pack needed to be maintained or some other such shite. He’d almost killed that son of a bitch when he’d seen what he’d done to that child, his cover be damned.
“You really believe it’s safe for me to take?” Remus asked.
“I do; though there may be mild side effects.” He was going to be up the whole night regardless, working on that potion for Teddy. He could spend the waiting periods up here with Lupin, just to make sure everything went as planned.
“Alright.” Remus agreed softly; not that he had much of a choice. If Severus wanted him to take it, there was no point in trying to refuse.
Snape was just finishing the last bandage. “Rest for a moment. I will be back shortly.”
“Yes, sir.” Remus closed his eyes and waited.
A/N: Sorry for the long wait in between posts! More to come, though.
Thank you to anyone who took the time to read this, as always. You guys are awesome! Please, if you’ve made it this far, take the time to review; I love hearing your thoughts and comments!
- 9
- 10
- 11
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

The Long Road