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The Long Road	By : SinisterMe Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Snape/Remus Views: 63598 -:- 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
- 10
- 11
- 12
Down in the lab, Severus added the first batch of ingredients into the Wolfsbane potion. For the first and second phases that was all well and good, but in the third phase all of the ingredients would need to be prepared fresh, directly before they were added into the cauldron. He set the timer on his wand, it would alert him with more than enough time to come back down and add the next round.
He also took a bottle from the top shelf, its glass almost black to keep out the light, which would negatively affect its potency. He had devised the formula years ago, and had brewed a fresh batch shortly before he went to go collect the Lupins from the auction house, having no idea what condition he would find them in. He set it on the prep station closest to the stairs.
There was one more thing he had intended to do while he was down here. Severus took a bottle from out behind the rest at what would seem like random to someone who wasn’t familiar with his organization of things. He measured a very precise amount into a wide spoon and popped it into his mouth. The flavor was totally repellent, even to him. It was, however, essential he take a dose no later than that night. It was the potion that would make it impossible to fulfill the bonding ceremony with Lupin in the immediate future. The other man was nowhere near ready for that, on more than just a physical level.
He put the bottle back in place, retrieved the one had set on the prep table earlier and then headed back upstairs.
Remus seemed to have fallen asleep; Snape walked softly to the bed and covered his feet with the blankets, as he had forgotten to do before he left. He glanced up to see Remus looking at him with that blasted expression on his face again. “What?”
“I don’t know, sir. Just trying to figure you out.”
“Here,” Snape measured out a dose for Remus to take, offering it to him.
Remus took the potion without hesitation. “It doesn’t taste like anything.”
“Never thought I’d hear you say that like it was a bad thing.”
Remus blushed. “I’m sorry, if only you could taste the Wolfsbane, sir, and then you’d understand why I always grumbled about it. Oh my.”
“What is it?” Snape tried to conceal any worry in his tone.
“My toes are tingling, sir.”
“I believe that’s a good sign.” Snape sat in the chair by the bed.
“Glad to hear it.” Remus didn’t mention that the world was spinning slightly. Or that the tingling was being felt across his chest and arm a well. Or that something was compelling him to speak; his brain almost seemed to stop functioning altogether. He bit his bottom lip viciously to keep things he would rather not say from bursting out of his mouth.
Severus sat there looking at him serenely, waiting for any sign that anything wasn’t as it should be. Other than looking like he might bite through his lip, nothing seemed to be visibly out of place with Lupin, though he was sure that more was going on than he was able to see.
“How are you doing, Lupin?”
“Fine, sir,” Remus ground out. He was afraid if he said much more than that he would begin to speak and never stop.
“In that case, I will be right back,” Snape said, standing again.
Remus heard him walking out of the room with something like relief. The urge to spill his guts was lessening with every minutes that passed. He heard the door to his son’s room creak open and the sound of two muffled voices in conversation. He wondered exactly what was going on in the next room. It was perhaps fifteen minutes until Severus returned, sitting back down in the chair as if nothing had transpired.
“What happened, sir? Is Teddy still in bed?” Remus couldn’t stop himself from at least inquiring.
“Where else would he be?”
“I don’t know, sir. I just thought I heard you speaking to him in the next room. I thought he was asleep.”
“He was; I woke him briefly so he could use the loo,” Severus said.
“You woke him up so he wouldn’t wet the bed in the night?” Remus’ eyebrows rose.
“I fail to see another reason why I would do that.” Snape hoped it was Remus’ potion addled brain talking and that Macnair hadn’t rattled something loose up there while exacting his fun on the other man. “Speaking of Teddy; I will be involved for most of the day in the brewing of a potion for him. I doubt you will see much of me.”
“Thank you sir,” Remus said.
“You don’t have to thank me for every last thing I do, you know.” Snape was really beginning to get fed up with this whole arse kissing thing that was going on all the time.
“What would you have me do instead, sir?”
“I don’t bloody well know!” Severus said in exasperation.
“You could always stop me from speaking at all, sir. Honestly, it might be for the best, I don’t feel like I can hold my tongue at all with this new potion in me.” He had never been this honest with Walden, not even once.
“That is perfectly normal, from what I understand. Strong enough healing and pain relieving potions often have that effect.”
Remus continued on as if Snape had never spoken. “He would have done it, no question. He didn’t want to hear me say anything that didn’t directly relate to how he owned every last bit of me; whereas you don’t seem to want me to acknowledge that any more than strictly necessary.” Remus paused to lick his lips. “He blinded me once, you know.”
“What?” Snape asked sharply. It seemed Lupin really couldn’t stuff a sock in it.
“For the ceremony. He said it was more efficient than any blindfold. I thought that most spells of that nature were permanent, but it was only a long couple of days before he returned it.”
“The ceremony took two days?” What had Walden done?
“No, sir; that was how long it took for him to decide to remove it. I wasn’t well behaved enough to deserve a reward, he’d said. The worst part was that I continuously didn’t know where he was or what he was about to do to me.”
Snape was silent.
“I’m sorry, sir. I shouldn’t have said any of that,” Remus moaned.
“Its fine, Lupin.” Now was as good a time as any. “You realize that for the purposes of understanding the spell that was cast on you, I will need to witness the ceremony.”
“His ceremony?” Lupin asked, aghast. “But sir, you can’t!”
“I understand that you wish I wouldn’t, but it is imperative that I do. It is the only way I can choose my own words and actions properly, to manipulate the spell and achieve my desired results. This is one thing I cannot allow you to refuse.”
“You wish to do it now, then,” Remus said listlessly.
“The sooner it is done, the more time I will have to prepare. But no, we will not do it right now; tomorrow, once you have had a chance to rest.” Besides, he had no wish to enter the other man’s mind when it was in this disorganized and over-emotive state; not to mention he would have to go add the next round of ingredients soon. He had no sooner had the thought as his wand began to get warm in his pocket.
“Whatever you say, sir.”
“I’ll be back,” he said after a moment, standing and sweeping from the room without as much as a backwards glance.
He added the next set of ingredients first thing upon entering the lab. He stirred fifteen times clockwise; eight times the opposite direction. He adjusted the fire so the flame would burn a few degrees hotter; the next few additions required him to up the heat.
Severus used the next few minutes to steady himself. He wondered what exactly he would end up viewing in the other man’s memory the next day. It would leave Lupin shaken at the very least, without question. He hoped he was equipped to handle it.
Snape knew that it was best not to linger, he would be back down here soon enough. He reset his timer and slowly ambled back to the top floor of the house. He made a brief stop in his own room, collecting two books, a quill and inkpot as well as a long scroll that was already half covered in his own near indecipherable scribbles. Then he headed back to Lupin’s room, he would do his work in there so that he would be directly present if any problems arose.
He set himself up in the armchair, spreading the parchment over the table at his side and setting the inkpot down near it. He got nearly ten minutes of reading done before the slumbering werewolf began to stir fitfully.
Most of his delirious whimpering came across as a litany of apologies; he was begging to be forgiven, but for what he never said. Through the mutterings something was said louder than the rest, “Master, please!” He sounded so agonized that Severus stood up and strode to the bedside.
Remus was thrashing about, or what passed for it in his state of limited mobility. Beneath his closed lids, Severus could see his eyes racing back and forth. “Please,” he implored again.
“Lupin,” Snape said loudly, trying to wake the man.
Remus threw his good arm up in front of his face, cowering away from the sound of Severus’ voice. Snape sat on the bedside.
“Lupin!” he tried again a little more loudly.
Remus still wasn’t waking, trying pathetically to roll away from where Snape was sitting.
“Remus, wake up!” he said with authority in the loudest voice yet, tapping the other man lightly on his unburned shoulder.
Remus opened his eyes and looked directly at him.
Snape could see that his eyes were glassy; he wondered how much of the other man was really present. The next few doses of this potion should affect him like this less and less as he built up immunity to some of the stronger ingredients that were needed to brew it.
Lupin peered at him as if he were having a hard time seeing him even though he was a mere arm’s length away. “Master?” he asked in a very uncertain voice.
Snape decided to go with it. “Yes,” he said. “I am your master.”
Remus managed to look terrified and relieved at exactly the same moment. “Thank you, Master.” Then he looked horrified. “Master! I am so sorry, please, you need to forgive me; please forgive me. Punish me, do anything, just don’t hurt him-”
“Remus,” Snape interrupted, sliding closer, trying to keep the delusional man lying down so he wouldn’t disrupt his own healing process. “Just lay back, everything is going to be fine.”
“Whatever you say, master.” Remus relaxed against the mattress, putty under his hands.
“What are you apologizing for?” Snape asked him, his curiosity taking the wheel.
Remus screwed up his face, thinking for too long. “I don’t know sir,” he answered forlornly, trying to sit up again.
Severus placed his open hand on Remus’ uninjured shoulder and pushed him back again. He needed to keep the other man lying down. “I forgive you Remus,” he said clearly, shrugging his shoulders. If it worked, it was worth it; if not, the other man likely wouldn’t remember a moment of this the next day.
Remus’ eyes welled with unshed tears. “Thank you master; thank you.” He was beginning to shiver; Snape could feel the mattress shaking with it.
Severus pulled the blankets up and over the lycanthrope in an attempt to warm him. His body was most likely using all of its energy to heal, leaving him freezing and more than a little delirious. Then he cast a warming spell on the blankets for good measure, taking his wand out and tucking it away in a split second.
Remus couldn’t help it, he groaned in appreciation, curling further under the covers.
“Other than cold, how do you feel?” Snape asked. Not like he was going to get anything coherent out of Lupin tonight, but he had to ask all the same.
“Itchy,” Remus said, sounding rather frustrated about it.
“Believe it or not, itchy is the best we can hope for. It means you are healing. Don’t scratch though, that would go very badly.”
Remus nodded and paused before admitting in a smaller voice, “Afraid.”
Snape didn’t know what to say in return to that.
“Master, is Teddy alright?” Remus asked meekly, deep ridges appearing in his forehead.
“Teddy is sleeping in the room right next to this one, he is fine,” Severus assured.
Remus nodded wearily, relaxing to a near boneless lump under the heated blankets.
Snape stood and went back over to his chair.
“Would you permit me to sleep, master?” Remus mumbled, desperately trying to keep his eyes open.
Part of him was tempted to say ‘no’, just to see what Lupin would do. “I would,” he replied softly instead, taking his seat and setting the book he had been reading on his lap.
The other man visibly relaxed, shoulders sinking back into the soft pillows. “That’s very kind of you, sir,” he huffed, lowering his eyelids slowly.
Severus sat back in the armchair, taking up where he had left off in his reading. Tomorrow would be easier, or at least that was what he was telling himself. In the morning he would see how, Lupin’s injuries were progressing. There was nothing else he could do for the other man except keep him comfortable and hope that potion was doing its job.
Severus had turned no more than three pages before the alarm on his wand went off again.
He took another tour down to the lab, added the next set of ingredients and resetting the alarm on his wand. Remus had been sleeping like a dead man when he left his room. He didn’t worry about any more effects the potion may have, they would have made an appearance long before now.
All the same, he went back up and sat in the chair again, partly to make sure nothing went wrong, partly because he still had all night to kill and it didn’t matter to him which room he did his reading in. If Lupin did happen to wake up, Snape didn’t want him to further his injuries out of confusion.
The night progressed like that until light began to creep through the window. In a mere couple of hours, Teddy would be waking up. He still had quite some time before the intervals of ingredient additions became of so close together he wouldn’t be able to leave the lab.
Lupin would likely sleep for most of the morning, which actually suited his needs perfectly. There would be time after supper, once he had started the second phase, for him to come up and take care of anything that needed doing. He hoped to be able to have time to shower; he’d been so preoccupied the last couple of days he hadn’t made time to do so.
He went down to the lab another four times, returning each time to his reading. The brew could now be left alone for a short time before anything else needed to be done with it.
Severus had just taken up where he had left off trying to make sense of the enslavement spell the Ministry had told him was the closest in likeness to the one Walden had cast of Lupin, when he heard small feet pattering across the hall. The bathroom door clicked shut almost undiscerningly.
He used his magic to push Lupin’s door all the way open, so Teddy would be able to see him on his trip back to his room. He marked his page and waited.
The sound of water running was faintly heard and then the door opened again, light from the bathroom window streaming into the hallway. Then Snape saw the boy tiptoeing slowly past the door.
“Good morning,” Severus said.
Teddy froze, looking in his direction with surprise, eyes wide. Snape would have thought he had been caught doing something underhanded by his reaction, not just taking his morning trip to the loo.
The boy clutched his stuffed dragon to his chest. “I had to go, sir,” Teddy said, as if his actions needed some kind of an explanation.
“It is not uncommon, upon waking,” Snape said, a little amused. “You have unlimited access to the loo, remember.” Severus thought it would be prudent to remind him, since he seemed to think he would be in trouble for using it without permission.
“It’s hard to remember sometimes,” Teddy admitted, looking at the ground.
“I am not always at my most aware upon waking, either,” Snape allowed; it was another admittance that he hadn’t intended to react the way he had when the boy had woken him up the other night.
Teddy looked up at him, smiling crookedly. “I understand, sir.”
Snape gave a nod; perhaps he did. “How about you go get dressed; I’ll meet you in the kitchen and we will have a bite to eat.”
“Okay,” Teddy replied brightly, disappearing from his sightline and returning to his room.
Snape set his book aside and stood. He went to Lupin’s bedside; preformed the spell that would clear his bowls and bladder. He also ran his wand over the other wizard’s sleeping form. Everything seemed to be alright, nothing completely unexpected reared its head through the scan.
By the time Teddy appeared in the kitchen, he had already cut up some melon and poured a glass of juice and a bowl of cereal for the boy. Teddy sat in the same place he always sat at the kitchen table. Snape brought the melon over on a plate and poured some milk onto the boy’s cereal.
“Go ahead,” he said, indicating Teddy should start eating.
He turned back to the counter, prepared his usual cup of coffee and sat across from the child. Snape noticed that Teddy didn’t put a single thing to his mouth until after he had sat at the table himself.
He ate a piece of melon, stirring his coffee to cool it slightly. He was about to take a sip when a rapping sound came from the window over the sink. He turned his head to see an owl shuffling impatiently on his sill.
With a sigh Severus set his mug on the table and went to open it so the bloody thing could deliver its message and be on its way. The owl flew straight to the table, where Severus untied the message and shooed it away. The owl gave a perturbed hoot but flew off all the same.
He picked up his coffee, taking a long drink before even opening the letter. He recognized the generic envelope in a heartbeat; he always did love correspondence from the Ministry first thing in the morning. He unrolled the scroll, perusing its contents.
Blah, blah, blah your bonding to #4629 was successfully completed. Gibberish, gibberish if unsure what to do next contact a Ministry Representative near you. About four lines of complete bullshit, thank you for supporting the WIBNA (Wizards Injured by Non-human Attacks) Program. It was stamped by some altogether un-noteworthy Ministry troll.
Voldemort had enlisted a great many non-humans during the last years of the war. The Ministry was clamping down on them, restricting their movement, freedoms and employment to list only a few things. Riddle had offered them equality, positions of power within his organization. He promised change upon their victory over the Ministry. The man always was able to sell a point when he’d wanted to, never mind he actually believed that such creatures were a blight on his perfect world. Either way, they had eaten it up; fighting to the last to further what they believed was their cause.
In the aftermath of the war, the Ministry saw the actions of those that had joined Riddle as a wonderful excuse to implement some of the more radical policies they had been formulating to control and subdue these groups. They fanatically publicized stories of witches and wizards who had been killed, attacked or threatened by such groups, calling the Wizarding World to the aid of their fellows.
Donations began to pile in, but it wasn’t enough, they claimed. Too many lives had been devastated by these monsters; they would all have to do more to get through this crisis. The Ministry then provided an outlet for that need, in the form of WIBNA.
They enforced registration for all non-humans; the penalty for not doing so voluntarily was imprisonment, at an undisclosed location for an undetermined length of time. (Snape personally figured they had a giant incinerator somewhere, taking care of the un-registered offenders in their own much more permanent ways, but that was just speculation.) They also set in place mandatory fees for this registration, all proceeds going to WIBNA.
When, after a time, the funds were still not great enough; houses and estates needed rebuilding, an entire portion of Diagon Ally had been devastated by a large pack of transformed werewolves – the costs were staggering! Or at least that was what The Prophet had been reporting daily.
The Ministry finally implemented the most extreme (and predetermined) course of action yet. All registered non-humans were deemed a threat if left living on their own. They were called to come to the Ministry; those that would not come willingly were rounded up by Aurors or even in some cases, the general public.
The Wizarding World was called on by the Ministry to assist them in making sure these monsters were never allowed to harm the public again. This meant the forced division of packs and in most cases family. If they could not conspire together, their strength would be greatly diminished. A price was assigned to each of them based on species specific criteria.
Then the auction houses that had been closed for generations were re-opened, the non-humans were distributed among them and the bidding began, a vast majority of the proceeds going to WIBNA. These horrible creatures would then be controlled and policed by the populace they had sought to destroy, while at the same time aiding their victims and their families. How just, how ultimately righteous they were all being.
Unfortunately, there were very few guidelines in place, even fewer procedures for actually following through on them. Snape knew that somewhere, the Ministry was sponging up some of the extra gold, fortifying themselves in the wake of their near destruction. The public was still reeling from the war, people so caught up in the rebuilding of their own lives that they either didn’t notice or didn’t care what was happening around them, as long as they were safe.
Over time, almost all pretenses were done away with. The Ministry was in the business of slavery, parading it around as being for the good of the whole, and no one really cared. Or if they did, they either kept to themselves or were kept quiet. And so it continued.
The paper incinerated in his hand, alarming Teddy quite thoroughly. What a load of shite.
He looked over at the boy, who had his spoon of cereal held halfway between the bowl and his mouth, which was hanging open.
“Junk mail,” he said, a twisted smile making its way onto his face.
Teddy kept quiet, finally eating his bite of cereal.
His appetite sufficiently ruined, Snape refilled his coffee and sat back down.
Three more owls swooped through the window in sudden succession. He barely bit back a curse. The first one was The Prophet, which he set aside for possible amusement later in the day. The second was a Howler from an anonymous source, the owl dropping it off and leaving through the open window in one fluid motion. He banished it before it had so much as a chance to shriek; they were all the same anyway. He wished some of these people would use a little more inventiveness in composing the tripe they deemed necessary to screech at him.
The third was delivered by a haughty looking barn owl; he held his leg out to Snape with distain, lingering on the table with a cocked head, waiting for something.
It was clearly another letter from the Ministry. Snape wondered if they expected him to feel special. He untied the letter, reading this one instantly.
This time he swore aloud. Instead of a generic letter, this one was handwritten and addressed to him personally.
It seemed the Ministry thought he was taking too long in the completion of the bond between himself and #4628, one Remus Lupin. He had sent them a letter the day before retrieving the Lupins from the auction house alerting them of his ‘trouble’ in completing the bond, or at least in the one specific area that counted. What did he care if some stuffy fraud of a paper pusher thought he couldn’t get it up? He’d hoped that it would buy them more time than it had.
This new piece of correspondence specifically referenced the previous letter he had sent. ‘There is no need, Mr. Snape, for me to inform you that there are potions for such difficulties, knowing as I do your standing in the world of brewers. Our records need to be completed as soon as possible for #4628 to be considered a non-threat.’ What utter shite. Since the trials, he had no standing as a brewer. The upstanding portion of community barely acknowledged his existence, which suited him fine as most of them were utter morons. Some of his fellows had stood with him however, in their own subtle ways.
What the letter should have read was, ‘Since we understand that you are not a complete idiot, take a bloody potion and get it over with already; we are tired of waiting and want to close this specific case. Your continued delay is an annoyance at best.’
He sighed and looked up from the letter. Teddy had leaned closer to the owl in interest. The bird spread its wings threateningly and squawked at him in response. Teddy jumped back in his chair, looking frightened.
Snape whacked it ungently with the rolled up paper, sweeping it off the table with his arm. The bloody thing had the same ‘holier than thou’ attitude as the Ministry.
“Sorry, sir. I didn’t mean to scare it.”
“Bloody bird has no manners at all.” Was all Snape said on the matter.
Teddy finished the last couple bites of his breakfast, draining his orange juice and sitting quietly.
Snape tucked the last letter into his robe pocket; he’d want to read it over once more before he threw it into the fireplace.
Fred chose this moment to appear near the sink, a bunch of carrots dangling from his hand. “Morning, sirs!” he said cheerfully. “Fred was taking care of the greenhouse; the day is being very warm.”
“Excellent; thank you,” Severus said. The alarm on his wand went off. “Would you keep Teddy company for a while? I have a potion that needs tending.” Remus’ bandages would be fine until tonight. He’d change them this evening, before he administered another dose of the amped up healing potion.
“Of course, sir. Fred would be enjoying that very much.”
“I could come help you,” Teddy offered, shrinking back at the same time.
“I would like that,” Snape said garnering a large smile from the child. “But unfortunately it is not safe for you to be near this potion or its ingredients until all the steps have been completed.”
“Oh,” Teddy tried not to sound too disappointed. “Okay, sir.”
“Don’t worry, in a few months you will be so sick of that lab you’ll be wishing for more days like this.”
“Maybe, sir,” Teddy said slowly. He couldn’t imagine becoming tired of something so very interesting, but anything was supposedly possible.
Snape huffed with suppressed laughter, “We shall see.” He collected the dirty dishes from the table and placed them in the sink. “I’ll be back up later tonight; I’ll most likely need to wake Lupin to change his dressings. If I am too late in either tending to the potion or to Remus I may need you to help Teddy to bed.”
“Fred is knowing how to put children to bed just fine,” put his hands on his hips and looked up at Snape.
“In that case, see the two of you in a bit.” He descended the stairs to his lab quickly, time was wasting.
Severus remained in the lab for the rest of the day and on into the evening, completing the first phase of the potion. The second and third phases were longer and although he had more time between steps, he would need to monitor it very regularly to ensure correct temperature and viscosity. Also, he would not be able to prepare the ingredients ahead of time as he had with the first phase, they would need to be prepared directly before addition.
Either way, he had a bit of a break upon the completion of this portion of the potion. Under normal circumstances, he would use this time to sleep, resting for the next steps of the serum. This time, however he would need to go tend to Remus, make sure that Teddy had made it to bed alright, and if he was lucky, he would be able to shower. He felt grimy, even by his own standards.
He put away anything that would not be needed for the last step, washing and sanitizing everything. Then he set out the majority of what he would need the next time he came down here and cast a quick refreshing charm on himself.
He made his way back up to the kitchen, filling a glass and having a long drink of water; during long spells of brewing the air in the lab tended to get rather dry. Sitting on the counter were two plates, preserving charms on both of them. Upon further inspection, he saw that Fred had made lasagna.
He took a serving and sat at the kitchen table, deciding to eat something before he went upstairs. It occurred to him that Remus may not have had anything to eat today; he hadn’t asked Fred to assist him with something for lunch. He inhaled is own supper and took Remus’ plate and a tall glass of water upstairs.
He walked past Lupin’s room and peered around Teddy’s door. The boy was sleeping soundly, his dragon tucked under a small arm. Fred must have put him to bed earlier. The elf was good with children, with people in general; Teddy could do much worse than to spend his time with him.
He pushed Lupin’s door open with one knee, going immediately over and setting his supper on the nightstand. Lupin was looking at him warily. He supposed he must look almost as disheveled as he felt, despite the freshening charm.
“I suppose you’re hungry? Did Fred come bring you something to eat while I was down in the lab?” Severus asked.
“I’m not sure, sir. He may have at some point, but I believe I slept most of the day. You were in the lab all this time?” Remus sounded oddly relieved.
“Where else did you think I would be? I warned you yesterday that I would be occupied most of the day down there. I’m attempting to brew Teddy’s Wolfsbane,” Snape explained.
“Oh, I guess I don’t remember you telling me that. Sorry, sir; I do try to listen to the things you say to me.” Remus seemed genuinely distressed.
“I may have disclosed that information to you at a rather… inopportune time,” Severus admitted. “What do you remember from last night?”
Remus thought for quite some time. “You gave me that potion; I remember itching like I never have before in my life. I think I slept.” His face changed into one of immediate concern. “The things I said; you have to know that wasn’t me sir…”
“I understand perfectly. Those side effects will diminish with subsequent doses of the potion.” Snape cast a heating charm on Lupin’s plate.
“You want me to take it again?” Remus seemed very unsure.
“Several times, in fact, if the last dose did anything worthwhile.” Severus said with conviction, taking up the bottle of pain potion and holding the bottle to Remus’ lips. “Two swallows.
Remus did as he was told, asking after, “And how will you know that?”
“I’m going to unwrap you and take a look.” Snape re-corked the bottle.
Remus looked incredibly uneasy. “What do you mean by, ‘take a look’ sir? Am I to be your… test subject so to speak?”
The expression on Remus’ face was unreadable, but he could see from where he was standing that the other man’s respiration had sped up. Snape brushed minds with the lycanthrope; partly out of habit, partly because he wanted the truth, not the mere version of it he would get if he simply asked.
He saw it in an instant. Remus lay out on a table in what looked like an imagined version of the basement lab, Snape peeking into and around his healing burns with a scalpel, as if Lupin were a toad from which the liver needed collecting. All of his blood was being caught in troughs on the side of the table, draining into a large basin underneath it; it was valuable enough that not a drop was being wasted.
It was another imagining; the other man really did expect the worst out of him. On some level it would give him deep satisfaction not to meet those expectations; while on the other hand, the small voice in the back of his mind drove him to make use of what was provided to him, to the fullest extent of its possibility. What Slytherin didn’t take full advantage of any given situation?
He pulled back, all of this taking mere seconds; he kept his face neutral.
“Not in the way you’re most likely thinking,” Snape had no desire to let on that he was gleaning information in such a fashion. “I will never give you a potion that I have not researched extensively. The potion I gave you last night was five years in the making; although opportunities to test it have been slim, I have refined it to the point that it has my complete faith. It will not harm you.”
Remus took a deep breath. “If you say so, sir.”
“I do. How about some supper before we get into anything too serious?” Snape suggested.
Remus’ stomach gave an answering growl.
Snape helped him to eat the entire plate of pasta and drink the glass of water. He didn’t say much, the only things on his mind would unsettle the other man at best; one step at a time.
He set the plate aside, taking off his robe and rolling up his sleeves again. He cast the sterilization charm on his hands and forearms, setting about carefully removing the other man’s bandages. Once Remus’ torso was completely bared, Severus stood back, shock written on his face, even though he’d had some idea of what to expect.
Overnight, Remus’ burns had retreated an astonishing amount. On a regular human being, such progress would mark weeks of healing, filled to the brim with every potion imaginable. There was no doubt that this potion would be a rousing success in the healing of lycanthropes everywhere, would the Ministry just come to its bloody senses.
“Lupin, look at yourself,” he instructed the other man, who had his eyes tightly closed against the sight of his injuries.
Tentatively, Remus peeked down at his chest. Then he opened both eyes and gaped at it. “Sir, this is remarkable,” he said in wonder.
“That potion exceeds even my greatest expectations of its capabilities.” It was true; for the cost of the ingredients and materials, this potion would be more easily made and distributed than Wolfsbane ever would be. Of course, it was un-publishable in the present day; but he would hold onto it, distribute it to anyone who might care or be able to make proper use of it. Even if were after his death, it would benefit someone somewhere.
Severus still spread the cream over all areas of Remus’ burns, newly forming scar tissue included. Without aided healing, it would be extremely tender to the touch. He would heal it to the best of his abilities, because to do otherwise would discredit his art.
Remus closed his eyes. The sensation of Severus’ touch was even greater with the new level of health his burns were in. He tried to bite back the content sighs that tried to whisper from his mouth almost without his notice or permission.
The last thing Remus wanted was for Snape to feel that he was eager for his touch in any way, and if he didn’t inhibit himself, there would be no other interpretation left for the man. He had never expected this reprieve, this delay before the bonding ceremony took place and he had no desire to speed it along; once was enough for a single lifetime, in his opinion.
He couldn’t stop the tensing of his stomach muscles as Severus applied the cream below his ribcage and down to his abdomen. The rough pads of the potion Master’s fingers seemed afraid to apply too much pressure even to the places that were in their most advanced stages of healing. Remus found himself wondering if anyone had ever touched him so carefully in his entire life. It was almost too much; he was entirely grateful when he felt the levitation spell lift him up and turn him so his back could be reached. By that time he was already feeling his throat and chest tightening, he closed his eyes against the tears he felt there.
Severus continued on much as he had, giving Lupin’s back, sides and arm the exact same intent treatment he had given to his chest. If one was not going to be thorough, the entire process would be for nothing, at least in his opinion. Once Lupin’s back was coated in the cream, he set about rubbing it gently into the skin it needed to heal. It was the most efficient ways to apply such a cream; if left just on the surface of the skin, more would be wiped away than be absorbed.
On some level, Snape found this type of contact acceptable; unlike what was to come. In a way it would be like practice for that. It served a purpose; it was controlled and limited; only so much of Lupin’s body required this level of physical contact to heal. Only so much of the other man’s skin needed to be exposed. He hoped it would help the other man to relax, to settle down; he was a bundle of nerves, no wonder his muscles were in such poor condition. It would also help him to get used to such lengthened periods of physical contact without having to invoke the ceremony itself. He wondered how they would both get through it. Ministry be damned, he wasn’t rushing into this without planning each step before it was trod.
His plan, as it had been in Teddy’s ceremony, would be to rely heavily on symbolism. He would take all the same steps as Walden had; of that there was no choice. But nowhere did it say that he would not be able to transpose the spell into something that would better meet his needs. Though the events needed to be the same, how he went about them was up to him.
In fact, since the entire process was set up to meet his needs alone, whatever they may be, he doubted there was little he would not be able to do, as long as he stayed in the basic parameters of the original ceremony. Lupin was lucky to have fallen into the hands of someone with the level of understanding about these types if spells as he himself currently had. The average wizard would have little idea how to even begin changing the spell while keeping it stable and true to its own form.
He recognized that perhaps he had been applying the cream for longer than necessary, not that Lupin seemed to notice; the man appeared to be nearly asleep again.
Severus cast the levitating charm again and bandaged the other man’s torso and arm at an astonishing pace, setting Remus back on the mattress as he had found him when he came into the room. He moved down to Remus’ feet, almost afraid to see what lay beneath the bandages. All the same, he untucked them from under the blankets and one by one exposed them to sight.
It seemed that his left foot was healing rather better than could be hoped. All his toes were there; the flesh here seemed to be repairing itself more slowly than his chest. However his right foot was still in extremely poor condition. It looked much unchanged from the day before, the only part of him to not be dramatically improved.
Severus tended the healing foot first, lying on a heavy layer of the healing salve.
“Well, a peg-legged slave is better than a completely footless slave, I’ll bet,” Remus said with humor, a grim look on his face.
“It may heal yet; your body may have the energy to only heal so much in such a quick span of hours. Give it time.”
Remus could give it as much time as anyone needed, if Severus would only continue to rub his foot like that. He bit his tongue and closed his eyes, trying to keep a blank expression on his face. Such a simple thing, but over the past couple of days he had not been able to feel it like this, his nerves had been too damaged.
Severus took his stiff posture and stony face as signs that he was causing the other man pain; he eased his pressure, finding that foot finished at any rate; he wrapped it back up in fresh medicated gauze, not wanting to leave it to the open air for longer than needed.
He turned his attention to the other foot, the one that looked much the same as it had yesterday. To this appendage, he applied the salve more heavily than he had the others. He truly hoped that after a day or two of the new treatment this foot would heal as well. If not, there were other options, but they were rather grim, holding little more hope than the severing and attempted re-growth of Lupin’s right foot. There was no way of going about such things pleasantly, he himself would know.
He flexed his right hand pensively. If it was needed, they would address the issue then, and not a moment before. It would be difficult, every step of the way; but it was better than Remus not being mobile. Either way, it would be best for him to be able to move about himself.
He ghosted his hands over this foot, taking every precaution not to press too firmly out of carelessness or sloppy movements. The toes were the main concern; perhaps only they would need serious consideration. It was about as optimistic as he could be at the moment, but as he kept saying to Lupin; time would tell. He lingered not on this foot, completing his task as efficiently as possible, bandaging it as he had the other.
“Before I dose you again with the potion you took last night, I would like to view your memory of the ceremony. I will make it as brief as possible; do everything in my power not to view anything else. I will not go rummaging around in your head.” The things he would be capable of while casting a full-fledged Legilimens on Lupin would be nothing compared the brief probing he had done before. If he pushed, Lupin could hold nothing from him, based solely on the fact that he was such a poor Occlumens, never mind that their magic would recognize as him as the one with all the power.
“If you say so, sir,” Remus said in a subdued voice.
“I’m afraid I must insist. I need to be sure what I’m doing; without knowing everything I can about this spell there is little hope to change it in the manner I am hoping to.”
Remus wasn’t sure what he meant by that, but didn’t bother asking. It wasn’t as if it would make a difference anyhow. He knew his status. Snape would give him what he thought he deserved; nothing less, nothing more; though Merlin knew what that would be, because Remus had no idea himself. At least it couldn’t be worse than life under his last master, or maybe that was just what he needed to tell himself in order to keep himself going.
Snape sat in the chair by the bed, closing the door with a wave of his hand.
Remus hadn’t noticed it until just that moment; his door had never been fully shut one time while he was here. Not like he was able to go anywhere, but he noticed the change immediately, feeling himself get warm; suddenly he felt very trapped.
Snape was the last person on the planet he would want witnessing this, his worst moment. It would leave him vulnerable to the man in ways he didn’t even want to try and fathom.
Snape cast the bowl and bladder evacuation spell again; Lupin would be uncomfortable enough while he was in there, no need to make trouble.
“You need to try to not resist,” Snape cautioned, “Legilimens.”

A/N: Sorry for the long delay yet again, hope it was worth the wait! Please, review!
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The Long Road