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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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Severus was jolted out of sleep by the chiming of one of the wards he had set earlier. It was still dark outside; he recognized that he was still in his guest room. By the ache in his neck, he knew that he had been sleeping for some time in the chair. The book lay open on his lap; still on the page he had first started reading when he had sat down.
He set it back on the table and rose, taking the few steps to the bed and drawing back the curtain. He found Lupin trying to sit up; he stopped suddenly upon seeing Snape standing there.
“Where is Teddy?” The question came out more harshly than Snape had intended.
Remus blanched, “I don’t know sir, when I woke he wasn’t here.” Remus struggled to rise again.
“Stop trying to get out of bed, Lupin!” Severus snapped. He was never at his best upon just waking. He took a deep breath. Remus dropped back to the mattress. “He can’t have gotten far. I will find him.”
He looked around the room carefully. Most everything was where it should have been, save the closet door which was slightly ajar. He crossed the room and gradually pulled the door open. Light streamed into the corners of the cramped space, illuminating the small boy cowering in the back among the dust bunnies and extra linen. He had his hands over his face, knees drawn up in front of him.
“Why are you hiding in there, Teddy? I’m sure the bed was more comfortable?” He would do his best to keep his temper at all costs with this child.
Teddy nodded, sniffling into his knees.
“How about you come out of there and we get you back in bed then?” Surely there was no way to win a small boy over with logic?
The boy scrunched down, shaking his head vehemently.
It surely wouldn’t do to grab him and haul him out of there? “Why not?”
No answer was forthcoming.
“Sir, I believe he wet the bed,” Lupin croaked plaintively. “He’s just a child, he couldn’t help it…” His voice trailed off. He was probably worried he would make the situation worse.
Severus kept his attention on the huddled form on the closet floor. “Is that all, Teddy? Did you wet the bed?”
“Yes,” he whispered, seeming to resign himself to whatever he thought was coming.
Snape stood, going to cast a drying and freshening charm on the sheets and blankets. He tucked his wand back into his sleeve before turning back to the closet.
“We will get you washed up properly tomorrow. Come on out, child.” He used a bit more force in his language.
Teddy snuck closer to the closet door, afraid to be punished for disobedience and for being an animal.
“That’s right, come out of there.” He got Teddy out and standing.
He debated casting the same spells on the boy that he had on the bed, but those rags really weren’t worth the effort. It wasn’t permanent, but he decided to transfigure a nightshirt for the time being.
“I’m going to take out my wand, but there is absolutely no reason to be afraid.”
The boy shrank back again looking very doubtful.
Snape pretended not to notice. He quickly cast the spell on the blanket he’d carried Teddy upstairs in, adjusting for size the best he could. Transfigurations had never been his strong suit. It wouldn’t fit perfectly, but it would be much better than what he was currently wearing.
Wand away, he turned and offered the garment to Teddy. “Put this on; then we can get you back to bed.”
Teddy took the nightshirt, slipping it on over his clothes and then wriggling out of them, exposing as little of himself as possible. “Is that all?”
Snape noted he omitted the ‘sir’. It also seemed like he was asking something else. Was the boy trying to provoke a reaction over the bedwetting by breaking what he perceived to be the rules?
“Should there be something else?” he inquired, almost hoping he wouldn’t be answered.
“You – you aren’t going to put me in the cage? The one where they put stupid beasts who don’t even know not to piss where they sleep?” Those words sounded so bizarre coming from Teddy’s small mouth.
Severus could tell he was repeating something he had heard countless times before.
“I have no such place in my house,” Snape said. But his own father had had one. “And if I did, you would not belong there. You are a little boy, not an animal; a tired child who had an accident while he was sleeping. I used to be a Professor, at a school where the youngest children were twice your age. It was not an uncommon occurrence, even among some of the second years.”
“Really, sir?” Teddy sounded eager to believe him.
“Indeed. In my experience, back in a clean bed has always been the best place for such boys. Let’s get you back there, shall we?”
“Yes please, sir,” Teddy said with obvious relief. Shed tears marked their way down his cheeks as he stood there, seemingly lost.
“Come on then.” Severus ushered him back to where Remus lay, hand on the boy’s shoulder. He hoisted him back into bed, where it took no time for Teddy to snuggle back against his father and close his eyes. Remus, however, continued to look at him discerningly while wrapping an arm around his son.
“Something to say, Lupin?”
Remus’ eyes dropped to the comforter.
“I thought not,” Snape sighed in near regret. “We can speak tomorrow, once you are more rested. I am going to retire. Is there anything you require before I go?” He fought the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose. Damn Walden to the darkest circle of hell.
Remus wavered. “I need to use the loo as well, sir. Or we may have a repeat performance.” Lupin colored.
Severus was surprised that after years of Macnair's humiliations, Lupin still managed to be embarrassed to ask for help to the loo. He stepped closer and pulled back the covers that were lying over Remus’ feet. Darting a look at the boy to make sure he was sleeping he pulled out his wand and ran it over the damaged appendages.
“Rising at this point is not practical; even with my help it would be impossible for you to walk so far as the door without further injury,” he stated in a clinical tone.
Remus looked like that was pretty much the answer he had expected. “What would you have me do, sir?” he sounded incredibly despondent and was meeting Snape’s eyes with great hesitation.
Almost on instinct, Severus brushed minds with him, the most casual of Legilimency; he would see nothing but the foremost thoughts and emotions.
He was hit by a near overwhelming sense of uneasy anticipation. A vivid image of a naked Remus crawling across the carpeted floor to the bathroom, hurrying but also trying not to jar the burns on his torso and feet became immediately clear. He noticed himself in the background, leaning casually against the bedpost smirking with satisfaction and drawling, “Today please.” The scene had all the over-bright color and lack of general detail that indicated an imagining, but the emotion attached to it was very real. Lupin was waiting for this, or something like it. He pulled away from the other man’s thoughts allowing none of his own to show.
“Nothing,” he replied, uttering the simple charm that would empty the other man’s bladder and bowel; it was briefly uncomfortable, but far easier than any alternative he could think of. “Except sleep; here, drink this.” Remus was offered another dose of the pain potion.
“Thank you, sir,” the lycanthrope whispered.
Snape didn’t dignify that with a response, shaking his head and exiting the room without another word but those needed to reset the wards.
Snape crossed the hall, leaving the door open a crack behind him as he went.
The clock on the wall told him that it was almost five in the morning, but he didn’t think that sleep would find him any time soon. He lay down on the bedspread still fully clothed and looked up at the ceiling through the dim morning light and pondered his next move.
An hour passed quickly and quietly, becoming tired of his own thoughts he decided to go downstairs and prepare some coffee. Fred made a wonderful breakfast but never had been able to master anything more than a tasteless, watered down version of the real thing.
He also had to think about beginning the base for some more healing potions. It was not as easy as one would believe to have a full stock of potions that were safe for a werewolf. So many elixirs required the use of silver in one way or another and finding an alternative was not always simple. One miscalculation could lead to serious consequences for the lycanthrope ingesting the end result. It was always intriguing to puzzle through another way to achieve the same result while at the same time keeping the finished product from being toxic to the lycanthrope system.
The Wolfsbane would also need to be prepared; with Teddy’s age and smaller frame to be taken into account. So far there had been no known tests done on children as far as that potion was concerned, but he was confident in his ability to make it safe for the boy to take. It may not be this month, with the full moon only a short while away.
He donned a clean set of robes and preformed his morning routine the same way he did every day. The one change was that on his way downstairs, he peeked in to see if either Lupin was awake yet.
The curtain was as he had left it, drawn on all three sides, the one facing the door pulled open. Remus was still lost to slumber, mouth hanging open, the sound of his deep even breathing filling the otherwise quiet room. This didn’t surprise Severus, the potions he had consumed last night would jumpstart the healing of his body and he would probably sleep a majority of the next few days.
Teddy, however, was sitting up in bed, one hand resting on his father’s arm like a small tether, the other fisted tightly in the blanket. He was sitting very still and pointedly not looking at Severus, who had made himself noticeable when he had widened the door with a creak of its old hinges. He paused for a moment, waiting for some signal from the boy.
Receiving none and having no intention of standing dumbly in the doorway all morning, he said in a voice he hoped wouldn’t be loud enough to wake Remus, “Good morning, Teddy.”
“G-good morning, master.” He snatched his hand away from his father, clamping it onto the blanket beside the other one.
Severus repressed a sigh; he should have gone to make coffee before attempting this.
He motioned his head to the hallway. “Come with me so we don’t wake your father.”
Teddy untangled himself from the blankets and hopped to the floor. With one last concerned look at Remus he slowly crossed the room, stopping about three feet from Snape, shifting nervously.
Snape started down the hall, glancing back to make sure he was being followed.
Teddy walked a safe distance behind him, trying to appear as if he weren’t interested in observing his new surroundings. They reached the kitchen where the sun was just peeking through the window over the sink, Teddy’s bare feet slapped against the flooring. Snape noted how filthy he was in the light of day. His hair was oily and unknown things were matted into it in places. Even the blanket he had transfigured into nightclothes for the boy was starting to look like it needed a wash.
Severus pulled out a chair at the kitchen table. “Here; sit,” he said, watching Teddy climb up and sit on the chair, legs swinging loosely above the ground. He retrieved a glass, filled it with milk from the icebox and placed it on the table in front of the boy. Finally, on to the coffee, which he prepared swiftly, not wanting to wait any longer than necessary to get his hands around a mug of the hot black liquid.
While it was percolating, he placed bread in the toaster and set to slicing an orange and coring an apple. These he placed equally on two plates, alongside the toast when it was finished. His slice he layered with butter and blackcurrant jam; the other slices were covered with honey. He put the plate of fruit and honey toast in front of Teddy, noting that although the boy was staring intently at the milk, he had made no move to drink it. The other plate he placed across the table, before returning to the counter to pour himself a large mug of coffee.
Sitting at the table on the opposite side from the boy, Severus took a sip of his coffee, watching the boy stare at his plate of food. “Teddy.” The boy looked up guiltily. “Go on.” He gestured to the plate of food, taking an exemplary bite of his own toast.
Teddy reached out and picked up an apple slice, turning it over carefully, examining it.
“It won’t bite back,” Snape said wryly.
Teddy took a bite, the fruit snapping between his teeth audibly. “Crunchy,” he giggled. Then his face went somber, eyes darting in Snape’s direction. When there was no reaction forthcoming from the older man save for raising his steaming mug to his lips, Teddy took another bite. He finished the whole glass of milk and nine tenths of his plate, finding especial enjoyment in the honey toast. His delighted expression at that first bite caused Severus to have to hide his own smile behind his toast.
Severus was putting the dishes in the sink for later when a soft ‘pop’ alerted him to Fred’s arrival in the room.
“Good morning, sir.” Fred beamed all too cheerfully at Snape. “Little One.” Fred went marginally closer to Teddy, who was looking at the elf with wide eyes. “Little One is not remembering; I is Fred. We was meeting last night.”
Teddy continued to blink at Fred; had the boy never seen a house elf before?
Fred turned back to him. “Sir is needing to get this child into the bath and being in clean clothes. Fred is going into town today for groceries and supplies.” Fred paused to think. “I is being back soon.”
Fred ‘popped’ away and was gone for not more than thirty seconds before returning to the kitchen. “There is being a change in the bathroom and the other one is still being sleeping. I is being home this afternoon. You is able to survive until then?”
Fred always had been precocious for a house elf. “I think we’ll make it.”
“I is believing it when I is seeing it.” Fred shook his head and disappeared.
“I know when I’m being told to get moving.” A half smile was still ghosting across Snape’s mouth. “When was your last bath, Teddy?”
The boy’s face screwed up and it took him a minute to say, “I don’t know, master. They hosed us down the morning you came to get me.”
“Well I don’t think they did a very good job, do you?” Snape raised an eyebrow.
Teddy shook his head in a definite ‘no’, wrinkling his nose. “No, sir, they didn’t.”
“We can fix that; come along, it seems that Fred has what we need waiting in the washroom.”
“Sir?” Teddy asked.
“Yes?” This was the first word the boy had spoken to him without prompt.
“Who was that?” Curiosity seemed to outweigh any fear he was feeling.
“In the kitchen? That was Fred, and he is my house elf. He helps me by taking care of things around the house and garden; he has been living with my family for many years.”
They came up the stairs and were going along the hall to the washroom. Snape pushed the door open and turned on the lights.
“Is he your – slave?” Teddy said the word more softly than the rest.
“No, I certainly wouldn’t say it like that. Since Fred has come to serve me, I find myself doing more of the things he wants me to do than the other way around.”
Snape turned the taps on the large claw foot tub. Merlin knew where he had found it, but Fred had set a small bottle of bubble bath on the ledge by the tub; he poured a measure under the running water. Also a small fluffy towel and a set of clothes that Severus realized had been his when he was small were also laid out.
The bubbles in the tub were thick and colorful. He stopped the water with the tub only half full, the basin was large and it would be more than deep enough for the undersized youth. Remembering how awkwardly Teddy had changed the other night he said, “See if this water is the right temperature.”
Teddy came closer to the edge of the tub and peered into it with wonder upon seeing the suds.
“Well?” Snape pressed.
Teddy plunged his hand into the tub, smiling in relief. “It’s warm!” he proclaimed.
Snape nodded. “Now I’ll turn around and you can get undressed and into the tub.”
The boy cocked his head at him slightly, but did as he was told once Severus was facing the other way. He knew that Teddy was in the water by the telltale sound of some splashing onto the tiled floor. He asked anyway, “You in?”
“Yes, master.”
Snape turned back around, thinking he had perhaps overdone it with the bubbles, which came nearly to the boy’s shoulders. “The water is satisfactory?”
“The bubbles are great! Thank you, sir!” Other than look around in what Snape could only call excitement, the boy seemed at a loss for what to do.
“Good.” He took a washcloth and poured a healthy dab of soap onto it. “Here, use this to try and get some of that grime off of you. I was led to believe there was a child under all that dirt.”
Teddy almost smiled, taking the cloth and scrubbing himself; the water took on a yellowy tint in no time. When he was done, he looked over to Snape for further instruction.
Severus was sitting on the damp floor, leaning back against the sink cabinet. “All done with that?”
“Yes, master.” Teddy’s voice was losing all of its short-lived luster. He continued to look at Severus like he was expecting something.
Snape went against his better judgment, something he had been doing far too often these days, and bumped minds with the boy’s as he had his father’s. It was not recommended with children this small; their thoughts were a jumbled, unorganized mess. It was easy to get drawn in; emotions were so strong it was difficult for someone with little experience to get swept away by them. Severus had been exercising some form of Occlumency or Legilimency every waking hour for decades; such difficulties were below his pay grade so to speak.
At first, what he saw was confusing, everything was blurry; he realized he was looking up from the bottom of the tub, the pressure of someone’s hands on his forehead and chest; his lungs were to the point of bursting. Fear and adrenaline became his whole world. He was only an observer, but the projection of the child’s emotions pulled at him like a strong undercurrent. Suddenly Teddy’s head broke out of the water, drinking greedy mouthfuls of air; or was it him who was breathing now?
“Filthy creature, one of these times I’ll hold you under another minute; it would save me the trouble of tending to your useless carcass!” The voice of an angry male made its way through waterlogged ears. Macnair.
He hastily withdrew back to his own mind, unsettled but overall no worse for wear, shaking his head momentarily, his ears still felt like they were full of water. He would need to do some research. There was no way he should have been pulled that far into Teddy’s thoughts, even for such a brief time. It was almost like they boy knew he was looking, had pushed the image at him, hard; but such a thing was unheard of. Underage magic rarely manifested itself in such a fashion. Was Teddy even aware of what had transpired?
“Alright then, we really need to do something about that hair of yours. I’m going to help you wash it; that means I’m going to have to touch you. Are you going to be okay with that?” Merlin help him if the child said ‘no’.
Teddy shrank down into the bubbles, shrugging his shoulders. “I don’t know sir,” he mumbled.
Severus nodded, “Thank you for being honest with me.”
He reached over and brought the shampoo and conditioning agents he had brewed specifically for the Lupins within easier reach. The stuff was able to get basically anything off and out of hair without being toxic uncomfortable to the skin. There would be no worries about any bugs or critters on either of them once these products were used. Too bad he would probably have to burn the sheets they had been using up to this point, if not the entire bed.
He recalled a simple magic his mother had done for him, briefly, when he was afraid as a child. It could come in many forms, though small. It was one of the few things from that time he still looked positively on. Severus formed the spell in his mind, latching on to the first thought that seemed to fit the situation.
By this point the bubbles had dwindled slightly and in a small clearing at the other end of the tub something made itself seen in the water.
Teddy pulled his feet away, startled to see something in the bath with him. Upon taking a closer look, he leaned forward. There, swimming in the water were two tiny dolphins. They were about four inches long and shone with a magical light, jumping and flipping out of the water and through the bubbles. He inhaled softly, chortling when one of the charmed animals tickled his foot with its nose.
“See?” Snape said. “There’s nothing to be afraid of.”
He lathered the shampoo in his hands and began to wash Teddy’s hair as the child played with the ethereal creatures gliding through the water around him. Even with the heavy duty soap, it took considerable scrubbing to get the boy’s hair sufficiently clean. Teddy shied away at first, trying not to seem reluctant. When all Snape did was run his fingers over his scalp and scrub at the knots in his hair gently, the child seemed to relax.
It went without saying that Teddy would not be comfortable dunking his head under the water to rinse the soap out. Severus opened the side of the cupboard he was not leaning on and pulled out an empty basin; this he filled with water from the tub. “I’m going to rinse your hair now,” he informed the boy.
Teddy pulled away to the farthest corner of the bath, water sloshing over the edge of the tub and down the front of Snape’s robes. The magical dolphins seemed nonplussed by the waves he caused, but Teddy looked horrified.
“Sorry, master! Please don’t put my head under the water, sir! My hair doesn’t need to be rinsed; I didn’t mean to get you wet!” Dirty suds ran down his temple as he spoke the words in a rush. Severus would have laughed if it hadn’t looked so pathetic.
He stuck his hand in the water and splashed the boy right back, only a little. Teddy giggled, clamping his hand over his mouth almost before the sound could escape.
“It definitely needs to be rinsed; however there is no need to dunk your head.” Snape held up the basin of water as a gesture. “If you will close your eyes and tip your head back only a bit, I will use this to get the soap out. You may remain sitting the entire time, I promise.” Not words he said often or lightly, even though he didn’t expect the boy to believe them.
Teddy looked very unsure, but slid back to where he had been sitting. Snape wasn’t certain if it was out of trust or because the boy had learned that disobedience was always worse. He doubted that Walden would have stood having his word questioned or ignored by a werewolf child. What price would such insubordination incur?
“I appreciate your effort to trust me.” Words he would never be caught saying to anyone, alive or dead, he said now freely to this child. Why was it he felt it was so important to gain Teddy’s confidence was something he would have to ponder. Perhaps he was channeling Albus after all; that or years of the old coot’s company had actually rubbed off on him a little.
He placed his hand on Teddy’s forehead like a visor to keep the soap out of his eyes. “Here it comes,” he warned, pouring the water over the boy’s hair slowly in case he started to panic. Once the basin was empty he filled it and repeated the process a second time.
“How was that?” he asked.
“O- okay, sir,” he responded shakily. Although after that he continued to play with the dolphins while Severus conditioned and rinsed his hair a second time.
Severus helped him out of the tub, enfolding him in a large fluffy towel. Even though he did his best to protect the boy’s privacy, he couldn’t help noting the scars on the child’s back. They were completely healed over, so he kept quiet about them for now; the child had had enough stress in the last couple of days and wouldn’t likely open up now. When boy boy was dried off, combed out and dressed in the clothes Fred had left, Snape opened the bathroom door, steam drifting out into the cool hallway.
“Go see your father,” he pushed the bedroom door just down the hall open. “I’ll be back shortly.”
A/N:
Thank you to my reviewers, just knowing that you are there and reading keeps me going!
Again, sorry for any grammatical errors occurring in this chapter, or any of the ones before it.
Let me know what you think!
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The Long Road