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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.

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After Snape had left the room, Fred bustled about for a bit, fluffing Remus’ pillows and clearing away anything that needed it before heading to the door.
“Fred will be doing the dishes, if you is needing something just call.”
“Of course; thank you for everything,” Remus said.
“You is not to be worrying about it; it is being Fred’s pleasure!” The elf exclaimed as he left the room.
“You spoke very freely with our master just there,” Remus felt the need to caution his son as soon as the elf was out of earshot.
“It was true, he was tired!” Teddy protested.
“Yes, that may be so, but not everyone enjoys being told what to do, especially by their six year old apprentice,” Remus had never been comfortable with the use of the word ‘slave’, specifically when in reference to his son; at least now he had something else to say, even if the situation hadn’t changed.
“You worry too much, dad.”
“I don’t think you worry enough, kid-o.”
“He hasn’t even been mad at me once!” Teddy exclaimed.
“That doesn’t mean he never will be, Teddy,” Remus reasoned.
“He promised he wouldn’t whip me.”
Remus didn’t say that there were other, worse things in the world than a whipping, but he restrained himself, wanting to hear what his son would say. “Did he?”
“Yes; he came upstairs to check on me. He used to do it every night, but now I think he only does it if he’s downstairs when I go to bed.”
“Oh really?” Remus was interested now.
Teddy nodded. “The other night when he came up, I had just had a bad dream. I dreamt that I’d accidentally knocked over his potion, and he chased me, and when he caught me, he hauled me upstairs and he hit me with those ropes over and over just like our old master did.”
Remus’ heart clenched in his chest. The mere thought of that event caused all of the blood in his veins to run cold. He would die rather than allow that to happen again; to have to sit there and watch helplessly, to listen to his child’s cries of agony… yet here he sat, still unable to do anything about it.
“But when I woke up, I didn’t know it was a dream. I thought it was real. I hid under the desk when I heard him coming. He called for me, I think he was scared when he saw I wasn’t in bed.”
“Did he find you hiding under the desk?” Remus asked, not sure what he would hear next.
“Right away, daddy,” Teddy said.
“And?”
“And he tried to figure out what was wrong; but I didn’t know. I was very rude to him because I was so upset, but he kept asking me questions until he found out I’d had a bad dream. Once he did, he told me he couldn’t hurt me like that, and waited for me to come out.”
“And did you?” Remus was sure this was the incident that Severus had mentioned to him the other night, although he hadn’t gone into any detail about it, obviously.
“Yes; he wanted to tuck me in again, even though I wasn’t being very nice. He seemed to understand about the dream, daddy. I was so glad he wasn’t going to be angry with me and that he could help me know what happened that I just hugged him!”
“You hugged him?” Remus couldn’t imagine Severus would have been very comfortable with that. He was the type of man whose entire persona screamed ‘stay away’ and it always had.
“I did, daddy; I think I surprised him. I couldn’t stop crying, even though I wasn’t scared any more. He hugged me back!”
“Really; you don’t say.”
Teddy gave him a strange look. “Yes I do, I just did.”
Remus chuckled. “Never mind, what happened then?”
“He asked if my back hurt. I didn’t want to lie to him after he’d been so nice to me. He looked at my old sores and got the cream to make them feel better. He told me not to feel bad about them.”
“Oh, why is that?”
“Because he has some too; he showed me since I didn’t believe him.”
Remus was aghast, “He showed them to you?” Severus was always such a prideful, secretive person. He had certainly seemed self-conscious when he’d caught Remus looking at him.
Teddy nodded, then screwed up his face trying to remember something. “He said I shouldn’t feel bad about them, but to be proud because I was strong enough to get through something that hard. Well he used bigger words, but I think that’s what he meant.”
“And what did you think about that?” Remus asked, partially because he wasn’t sure what he himself made out of it.
“It made me feel good; I thought if I had been tougher or bigger maybe I could have stopped it from happening. But our master seems so strong already sir, if it happened to him and he couldn’t stop it… maybe it wasn’t my fault.”
“Of course it wasn’t your fault, Teddy,” Remus felt tears threatening to pool in his eyes; he hated getting so damn emotional so quickly, but he’d always been like this where his son was concerned. “None of what happened there was your fault. You are such a good kid that it breaks my heart; you didn’t deserve one second of what he did to you. I wouldn’t lie to you, son.”
“I thought you just said that stuff because you were my dad,” Teddy said. “But…”
“But what?”
“But he showed me something – it’s kind of hard to explain. He… gave me some thoughts from inside his head, when I was really upset.”
“What?” Remus wasn’t too thrilled to hear this; exactly what was Snape doing messing around in his son’s mind?
“I know it sounds crazy,” Teddy said. “But it was like… I saw him watching me while I was cutting those beetles for the bubble potion. At the same time I felt… he felt… so happy that I could do that. He was proud of me, I could feel it. It was like my first bite of honey toast, so surprised, but pleased about it. It was the same when we were colouring for the first time; he wanted me to be able to do it so bad, and when I did, his heart was glad.” Teddy flushed. “If any of that makes sense, dad.”
“I think it does,” Remus said slowly. “That was really what he showed you?”
“Yes, I asked if he was making it up. He said even though he could have, that he didn’t. I believe him, dad. He doesn’t seem much like a liar to me.”
Remus wondered then if his son was perhaps more intuitive than previously believed. Teddy seemed to see something in Severus that wasn’t yet apparent to him. Of course, he’d been asleep almost half of the time that they’d been here, so he hadn’t had the chance to spend as much time with the man.
“I hope you’re right on that one,” Remus finally said.
Teddy just smiled confidently.
Remus shook his head; maybe Snape had been right, his son was too trusting.
“How about you go get your colouring book and pencils and come back here with them? You can work on that for a bit if you like.” Remus suggested.
“Okay,” Teddy agreed brightly, scarpering from the room. He returned with his art supplies and a small softcover book tucked under one arm. He sat next to Remus on the bed and got everything set up.
He set immediately to work, which suited Remus just fine. As the boy was doodling, Remus pondered everything he’d just heard, trying to make sense out of it all.

It was near dark when Severus heard Fred say his name. He opened his eyes blearily, seeing him standing a safe distance away.
“Supper is being ready in the other room. The other two is already eating,” the elf said, heading from the room.
“I’m coming,” Snape said his voice raspy from sleep. He forced himself to sit up and swing his legs over the side of the bed. Once he woke up a little, Severus knew he’d be a lot more alert than he’d been earlier today. He wanted to smack himself for saying so much to Lupin; he’d really opened his big mouth, on more than one topic.
He stood, stretching his back and shoulders; sleeping in that armchair earlier hadn’t done him any favors. He went across the hall to Remus room where Teddy and Lupin were both eating on the bed. It seemed that Fred had made chips and burgers for supper; something Lupin could easily eat without help. Teddy sure seemed to be enjoying it.
Severus sat in the armchair, took up his own plate and dug in.
“Did you have a good sleep, sir?” Teddy asked, holding his burger in both hands.
“Yes, thank you,” Severus said, mostly just to see Remus eyebrows jump.
The boy nodded happily, munching on his supper again.
Remus and Teddy finished first, as they had had a head start while Snape was getting up. Teddy stacked their plates and set them on the nightstand, picking up his colouring supplies from somewhere on the far side of the bed. He sat next to Remus on the side closest to Snape and started scribbling away.
Snape was relieved that Teddy seemed to be settling in somewhat easier than his father; though to be fair he had spent more time with the boy than he had with Remus, who had been healing.
Lupin currently looked like he was waiting for the other shoe to drop, which Snape found understandable after their talk earlier today. Severus suspected that Lupin would be on what he considered to be his best behavior for the remainder of the night out of his fear of what Snape would do to him later if he was pissed off.
Snape finished his meal, stacking his plate on top of the others on the nightstand; he would take them downstairs later.
“So what did you get up to all day?” Severus asked Teddy.
“This morning I went outside with Fred; he said you wouldn’t mind,” Teddy paused and looked up at Snape to gauge his reaction.
Severus kept his face still, nodding to show he was listening. “Go on,” he said.
Teddy flashed a smile and continued, “We picked apples and he took me to see the pond out past the greenhouse. Did you know there were frogs out there?”
Snape stifled a smile. “Yes, I knew. You weren’t nervous with all the open space around you?”
“Not after a while, sir. I had my dragon and Fred held my hand; he said if I was scared he would take us back to the house just as fast as he could just snap his fingers. That made it a little better; but then it was so exciting, I think I forgot to be afraid,” he admitted sheepishly.
“Good; what did you do then?” Snape said.
“We came back in and up here. While you were sleeping, we had lunch, I coloured and dad read me some stories from a book Fred brought us. I did some coluoring too.” Teddy looked like he had something more to say but he remained silent.
“That sounds like it was fun,” Severus nodded.
“Are you going to show him what you made, Teddy?” Remus prompted.
Teddy looked uncomfortable for a second, then opened his colouring book to the last page and brought something out, closing the book again.
“It’s nothing special, sir. I just wanted to say sorry for keeping you awake last night - and I thought you might like it.” Teddy held on to the item for a couple of seconds longer, seeming reluctant for to actually hand it over. Finally he held it out in his hand; Severus took it carefully.
He brought it closer so he could see the item. It was another paper airplane; it must have been one he had folded today as Remus still had one resting on the edge of his nightstand. The wings were decorated in shaky pictures Severus could only assume the boy had drawn himself. On one wing was a picture of him and Teddy standing on either side of what he believed to be a cauldron; on the other wing was one of Teddy lying in bed, Snape sitting beside him holding a book. There were colourful circles? Bubbles. There were colourful bubbles drawn across the entire plane.
Severus was speechless. He had had many parents send him things, thinking that it would increase their child’s standing in his class; as if he would ever allow anything like that influence his decisions. He couldn’t remember ever receiving a gift from a student, however; especially not one like this. The boy had clearly worked very hard on the thing; he found himself being rather impressed, this was probably some of the first original artwork the child had ever done. He felt something tighten in his throat, clearing it to try and rid himself of the feeling.
“This is wonderful, Teddy; thank you. You seem to have mastered the use of those pencils in no time,” Severus allowed some of his emotion into his voice so the child would know he was being honest about it.
Teddy moved closer to him, smiling behind one hand. He pointed to the pictures. “See, that is you and me making the bubble potion; and here you’re reading me a story.”
“I saw that immediately, you did a remarkable job on this. Are you certain you want me to have it?” Severus found himself skeptical.
Teddy nodded. “I really am sorry for making you tired today.”
“I would not have been sleeping last night no matter what had happened, I was brewing a potion that takes a very long time; so don’t fret about it. Thank you for thinking of me, though.” Severus had to say it; he was actually rather touched that the child had felt concern for him. He also saw the hopeful vulnerability behind the action, it would only take one carless comment and he could crush Teddy. He understood now the child’s initial reluctance to let him see it, even though he had worked hard on the item.
Teddy smiled openly now. “I’m glad you like it, sir.”
Severus folded the wings carefully and set the plane on top of the book he had been reading. “I’ll find somewhere safe to keep this,” he assured Teddy, who all but bounced at hearing it.
Remus was looking at him oddly again. He hoped the man would be able to just spit it out one of these days; he was tired of prying to get everything out of him.
Teddy was already colouring in his book again. Severus thought maybe he would do some reading, since the boy seemed to be occupied and he still didn’t have energy for much else.
“Lupin, would you like me to bring you something to read?”
“You mean to read for myself? Remus asked lightly.
“Yes; any specific topic of interest?”
“I don’t know, sir.” Remus seemed genuinely bothered by it.
“I’ll bring a couple things for you to pick from,” Snape said. He was sure he could find something in his library that Remus would be interested in; it was time to attempt to wake up his mind, get him out of his own head, so to speak.

Severus returned shortly with three hardcover books tucked under an arm. He sat by the bed and handed them to Lupin so he could read the titles.
Remus looked at each of the covers, spreading them across the mattress. There was a Herbology text that seemed to be quite expansive, another was a comprehensive analysis of the evolution of Defence spells and stratagems over the last hundred years and the last was a thick novel by a man named Victor Hugo, Les Miserables. He wasn’t sure which one to choose, he toggled between them in indecision for a while.
Severus had his own book sitting open on his lap, but he was looking at Remus instead of reading it. “Any of those appear to be of interest to you?”
Remus snuck a look at Severus. “I don’t know which one to choose, sir.”
“It doesn’t matter, Lupin; keep all of them in here for all I care.”
“I didn’t know you were interested in muggle fiction,” Remus said, cracking the novel and flipping through its pages.
“I’m sure I have many interests that you are not presently aware of,” Severus said in an amused voice.
Remus blushed. “I didn’t mean it like that, sir.”
“Indeed.” Severus placed the two books Remus wasn’t currently reading on the table where he had been keeping his book. He looked down at the tome on his lap and began to read.
Remus waited for another sign or an instruction from Snape. He didn’t receive one, so he opened the large book to its first page and dove in.
Just over an hour had passed when Severus closed his book. “Teddy, what would you think about having another bath? I don’t know that I’ll be able to help you with it for a few days if we don’t do it tonight.”
The boy looked up from his colouring book. “Okay, sir.”
“Soon would be best; that way you can be in bed at a proper time.” Snape set his book aside and stood. “I’m going to go run the water now; I’ll come get you when it’s ready.” He strode from the room.

When he returned, Teddy had already set aside his colouring supplies. He was sitting close to his father, Remus’ arm wrapped around his shoulders. They both looked so content that he felt rather like a knob for saying, “Come along now, it’s all ready.” Severus was already making a note to give these two some more time alone together.
Teddy patted his father on the hand in a comforting fashion and hopped off the bed, walking to Snape’s side and waiting for further instruction.
“We’ll be back shortly, Lupin,” Snape said.
“Yes, sir,” Remus said, eyes locked on to his son. Teddy smiled encouragingly at him.
Severus led him from the room, stopping just short of the bathroom door. “You go ahead and get in; I’ll leave the door open a crack and you can let me know when you’re in the tub.”
“Will the water be cold this time, sir?” Teddy asked.
“It will be the same temperature as last time. You seemed to find it acceptable, or am I mistaken?” Severus wanted to be sure.
“No! It was great, sir,” Teddy said.
“Alright then, go on.”
“Yes, sir.” Teddy went into the steamy bathroom.
Snape was only kept waiting for a few seconds before he heard a small voice say, “Ready, sir.”
Severus pushed the door all the way open and entered. Teddy was hidden in a large mountain of bubbles, only his grinning face sticking out. Snape closed the door partway so he could hang his outer robe on the hook. He rolled his sleeves up past his elbows and sat on the floor next to the tub, leaning back against the vanity as he had last time.
He poured some soap onto a cloth and handed it to Teddy. “Here you go.”
Teddy accepted it with a hand covered in suds already. “Thanks, sir,” he said. The boy set about scrubbing his feet immediately.
Severus could distinctly hear the boy humming to himself. He had to bit the inside of his lip to keep a smile from appearing. He sat there and listened for a few minutes, finding no discernable melody to the song; Teddy must have been making it up.
Suddenly, the sound stopped. “Sir?”
“Yes, Teddy?” Snape asked.
“You and my dad really did know each other when you were in school, right?”
“We did; we went through seven years of school together. Same year, different houses,” Snape wondered where this was going.
“What do you mean, different houses?” Teddy asked, molding the bubbles in his hand into a sphere and then destroying it.
“There are four houses at the school we went to; Slytherin, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Gryffindor. I was in Slytherin House; we resided in the dungeon. Your father was a Gryffindor; they bunked in a tower.”
“Oh, okay,” Teddy seemed satisfied with that. “Were you friends, sir?”
Severus cleared his throat. “No. We were not friends.”
“Oh, how come?”
“There were many factors. His circle of friends and I were often at odds.” Severus was finding it difficult to discuss this while keeping things in terms the child would understand. He would not badmouth Lupin to his son; not at this point and not ever, if he could help it. He was trying to keep things politic.
“You fought?” Teddy seemed concerned. “Why?”
“Too many reasons to go into; we saw the world in very different ways, we will not discuss it in great lengths right now.” There, hopefully that would settle things.
“Are you still mad at him, sir?” Teddy asked, turning his head and looking him straight in the eyes.
Good question. “It was a long time ago, Teddy. I’m sure we both did some things we regret now.”
“But are you?” Teddy persisted.
“Yes and no; mostly no. I will not allow the small bit of resentment that remains to influence how I treat him. Do you believe me when I say that?” Severus asked, curious.
Teddy continued to look him dead in the eye; it was almost eerie. “I think so, sir,” he said after some deliberation. “I don’t think he knows that, though.”
“What makes you say that?” Snape was intrigued.
“He hasn’t said anything, sir,” the boy assured him hastily. “But I can tell.”
Severus nodded. “That’s fair. How about we wash your hair now?” The boy wasn’t telling him anything he didn’t know already, but it was fascinating that he had picked up on it.
Snape helped him lather and rinse his hair with the bucket. The boy seemed much less frightened this time around. All in all it took much less time than his first bath; in a short while Snape had him toweled off and in a fresh set of night clothes.
Running the comb through the boy’s damp hair for the last time he said, “Should we go see your father now?”
“Yes please, sir.”
“You go ahead, I’m just going to clean up in here,” Severus said.
“Okay sir, thank you.” Teddy exited the bathroom, leaving the door open behind him.
Snape wiped the floor down with the towel and rinsed out the tub. He unrolled and buttoned the sleeves of his shirt, putting back on his outer robe. He ducked into his own room, finding a place for the plane Teddy had made him immediately. It sat on the mantle above the small fireplace that was on the far wall.
Severus also checked that Fred had changed his bedding, which of course he had. That elf was bloody efficient when he wanted to be; he rolled his eyes at the thought. The room was as tidy as it ever got. Though most of his research took place in the lab, some of his more interesting projects made their way up here, books and papers stacked neatly on a small table by his chair. Book cases covered most of the walls, he had left all his family portraits up in the actual manor, the thought of those caustic pricks watching over him even from inside a frame made him shudder; may their canvases collect much dust.
Overall it was a lived-in but tidy space. He didn’t bother to change it, if Lupin had a problem with it he would be too reserved to say anyway. Snape almost laughed at himself, he was fretting like a teenage girl, and for what? He shook his head and left the room as it was.
Back in Remus’ room, Lupin and Teddy were sitting on the bed together, talking quietly.
“Hi, sir,” Teddy said, seeing him standing in the doorway.
“Perhaps your father would like to read you the next chapter in your book?” Severus suggested.
“Okay,” Teddy jumped off the bed.
“You go climb in; I’ll bring him to your room.”
Teddy smiled encouragingly at his father, walking from the room to do as he was told.
“You ready, Lupin?” Snape asked, pushing the chair closer to the bed.
“I have to be, sir.”
Severus had a feeling he was talking about more than being moved into the chair. He took the healing salve and Lupin’s pain potions off the nightstand, ignoring any double meaning in the other man’s words. He levitated Remus into the chair. He cast the same spell on the chair, directing a seated Lupin into the hall and on into Teddy’s bedroom. He set the chair down by the bed and adjusted the light so Remus could see.
“Teddy, I’d like to put more of that cream on your back. Would you be okay with that?” Severus asked, taking the jar from his pocket and approaching the bed.
“Oh yes; thank you, sir. My back barely hurt today!” The boy sounded quite happy about that fact.
“Glad to hear it. Would you lie on your stomach? I’m going to move the covers and pull your shirt up so I can get at the scars, sound good?” Severus asked him before setting a hand on so much as the blankets.
“Sounds good, sir.” Teddy rolled over so his back could be accessed.
Severus pulled the covers back only as far as he needed, moving the fabric of Teddy’s shirt out of his way. He pulled his sleeves up and sterilized his hands and arms, dipping his fingers into the cool salve and spreading it thickly across the child’s marked skin.
“Did you brew this stuff yourself, sir?” Teddy asked curiously.
“Yes, I did. It isn’t complicated to make; it took a long time to perfect the recipe, though.” As always, his hands continued their careful work as he spoke.
“You invented it?” Teddy sounded very impressed.
“I have discovered and altered many potions over the years,” Severus informed him with a smile, almost forgetting Remus was in the room.
“Cool,” Teddy said. “Will you teach me to make it one day?”
“One day; yes. Tonight; sleep.”
Teddy giggled. “Yes, sir.”
“All done,” Severus cast the protection spell across the boy’s back, pulling his shirt and the covers back into place.
“Thank you, sir,” Teddy said.
“I’ll be back in a bit to get you, Lupin. Goodnight, Teddy; and you’re very welcome.”
Teddy yawned. “Goodnight, sir. See you tomorrow.”
“Indeed.” Severus exited the room quickly. He went down to the kitchen, sitting at the table. He glanced idly through the latest edition of the Prophet to see what drivel they were passing off as truth today. He gave Remus and Teddy about half an hour, taking that time to collect his own thoughts.
When he went back up to Teddy’s room, the boy was sleeping. Remus was leaning over against the arm of the chair, his son’s small hand held in his own larger one, thumb stroking across his small knuckles affectionately.
“Would you like some more time with him?” Severus asked in a hushed tone.
Remus looked over at him, startled. “No, sir. Let him sleep.”
“Alright then,” Snape said, casting the levitating charm on the chair again, leading Lupin out into the hallway. This time he directed the chair past Remus’ door and into his own room.

A/N: Thank you for all the wonderful comments; I can’t believe how many people are still reading this story! Hope this chapter doesn’t disappoint.
Please drop a short thought, suggestion, anything! I love hearing your comments! Another update to come soon.
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The Long Road