Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

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

Chapter List
- 30
- 31
- 32
As soon as he opened his eyes, Remus knew it was later in the day than he usually awoke. The room was illuminated brightly and the place where Severus had been sleeping was still warm but the blankets were turned back and he was nowhere in sight. The other door was open, so he assumed the other man was completing his morning routine in the loo.
Remus took this moment of solitude to stretch and orient himself; rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He felt good this morning; better than he could remember feeling in a long while. He thought that perhaps he was ready to try something more.
Remus stretched, mindful not to try moving his feet. Sitting up was the easy part. Getting the blankets off of his legs was fairly simple as well. He also managed to swing his feet over the edge of the bed with relative ease. Feeling fairly proud of himself, he saw that his chair was within arm’s reach as well, he sat on the side of the bed, thinking that it would be possible for him to shimmy himself over there.
He placed one hand on the arm of the chair and scooted his bottom closer to the edge of the bed. Being as careful as he could he slowly moved himself so he was almost in the chair; it was awkward, but he was managing it!
Out of nowhere, his purchase on the mattress gave way, the blankets he had been leaning on slid off the bed, the rest of his body falling along with them. He toppled to the floor, helpless to stop himself. He yelped, hitting the stone surface with quite a bit of racket, nearly knocking over the chair as he went.
Severus heard the commotion through the open door. He had been in the en suite, washing his face and cleaning his teeth; getting ready to start the day and trying to keep busy so he wasn’t tempted to peek at the rules of the bond while Remus was still sleeping.
He turned off the water and hurried into the other room. “Remus?” he called, not seeing the man in bed.
Walking around to the other side he saw Lupin sprawled on the ground between the bed and the chair, tangled up in the blankets and blinking dazedly. He hurried the few steps to the other man’s side, kneeling instantly.
“What happened? Are you alright?” he asked in rapid succession. How in Merlin’s name had Lupin managed to end up in such a position?
Remus lifted his head from the floor. “I think I’m okay, sir.”
“What happened?” Severus asked again.
Remus blushed, letting his head fall back ungently. “I… I was trying to get out of bed and into my chair; my hand must have slipped. I’m sorry, sir, I don’t know what I was thinking.”
Snape helped him to carefully sit up, a supporting arm slid under his back. “You were probably thinking something along the lines of how great it would be to move around on your own, even a little.”
Remus turned his head up to meet his master’s gaze, seeing no anger or disapproval there. “Something like that, sir.”
“Do you think you bumped your feet at all?” Severus asked.
“That’s the thing; I’m sure that I did, but they don’t hurt at all.”
“Not at all?” Severus asked. “I’m going to help get you into the chair and then I will take a look at them.”
“Yes, sir. I’m, sorry, sir.” Remus felt like a complete tool; at least Severus wasn’t frustrated with his idiocy.
“I probably would have done the same thing in your place,” Severus said, casting a featherweight charm on Lupin and lifting him from the floor. He set him in the chair and untangled him from the blankets. Then he knelt, cleansing his hands and bending to unravel the bandages around Remus’ feet, almost afraid at what he might find under them. The feet should undergo no undue pressure or stress until they were fully healed because so much new tissue had had to be regrown. Since there was no pain he hoped everything would be fine; perhaps his protection spell from last night had held. It was improbable, but the only explanation he had at the moment.
Remus was glad Snape was so understanding of his blunder. He watched what was happening with some apprehension; he hoped he hadn’t set himself back too far with that bonehead stunt. He decided to watch Severus’ expression instead of looking at his appendages directly in case they were in a state he’d rather not see.
Severus set the bandages aside, taking in Remus’ foot with a very odd expression on his face. Lupin wondered briefly if he had found a foot under there at all, the way the other man was looking at what was in his hands.
“Is it damaged, sir?” he asked.
“No,” Severus breathed, “no it isn’t.”
“Oh good; I was afraid I’d mangled them more,” Remus said, relieved. He wouldn’t be trying that again anytime soon.
“Can you wiggle your toes?” Severus asked.
“Yes sir,” Remus said, doing as he was asked to do and bracing himself for an onslaught of pain. It never came.
Severus set his foot down and wordlessly and took up the other, peeling the bandages back at an alarming rate.
“Now this one,” he instructed when they were all removed.
Remus moved the toes of that foot too; still no pain.
Snape pulled his wand out of its pocket in his robe, speaking softly to himself and moving the glowing tip over and across Remus’ feet thoroughly. When he was done, he shook his head slightly and repeated the entire process.
“Remarkable,” he said, lowering his wand.
“What?” Remus asked, really wanting to know what the hell was going on down there; those were his feet after all. Well, maybe they officially belonged to Severus, but he was the one using them. He couldn’t help his reluctance to actually lean forward and see for himself.
“I believe they’re essentially healed,” Severus answered, stunned.
“What?” Remus asked, jumping. He leant forward and did his best to pull his foot up so he could see it. Severus helped him in the end; his muscles were too weak to hold the pose for any length of time.
There was a foot; sure, it was scarred over, but it was healed. There were no scabs or abrasions; it was all smooth skin and shiny scar tissue. He’d been afraid for a while that he would never regain use of his feet or actually stand up out of this chair again. Though he had no proof they were currently strong or stable enough to support or carry his weight, it was ridiculously encouraging to see them healed. He wiggled his toes just so that he could see it with his own eyes, unable to stop the smile from spreading across his face.
“But how?” he asked, looking up at Severus.
“I cannot say for certain,” Severus said, still looking at the appendage cradled in his hands. “I didn’t administer the healing potion last night, though I did change the dressings. They appeared to be largely unchanged when I saw them then. The only conclusion I can draw is that the bonding magic did it.”
“I did feel a tingling in my feet,” Remus mentioned, “but I felt it in my entire body or I would have mentioned it before now. Do you really think that was it?”
“I have no other ideas as to what might have caused such rapid healing. That coupled with the way you and I experienced the magic taking hold last night makes me believe it is very probable.”
“It almost doesn’t matter how it happened, sir. I’m just relieved to see them better,” Remus said. Though in reality that wasn’t completely true. If the bond had actually healed him, then that would mean that his master actually wanted him whole. What that would mean, he had no idea.
“I am pleased as well,” Snape acknowledged. “I am going to recommend that we give you one more dose of the healing potion, however, to lean on the side of caution. Again, my concern is for the deeper tissues. If the healing does not extend through the entire appendage, premature use of it may cause further, more permanent harm; whereas if the healing is complete, the potion will only help to fortify and strengthen that new tissue.”
“Whatever you think is best, sir; I don’t want to take any chances.”
Snape looked up to see gooseflesh across Remus’ arms and shoulders. He didn’t know if it was from the knowledge that his feet were healed or because he was cold. He stood and retrieved a shirt for the other man, who leaned forward and allowed himself to be assisted into it. Remus did the buttons up himself as Severus retrieved the book that the bonding rules had been written in. They could be anything really; he fought unease as he sat on the bed beside Remus and opened the book, extracting the parchment they would be inscribed on.
He closed the book and set it aside, bringing the parchment closer so that he could read the words written on it. He read them once, his eyebrows climbing his forehead of their own accord.
“What does it say, sir?” Remus asked; the look of shock on his master’s face wasn’t encouraging at all.
Severus handed him the paper, watching his hands shake as he did so.
Remus straightened the paper and began to read the read script with trepidation.
“When possible, the bonded will not be kept apart from his son.
Regardless of any action (or inaction) of the bonded, the needs of his son will always be met.
The dominant wizard will meet the needs of his bonded: food, shelter, water.
Weather permitting, he bonded will be allowed outside.
When possible the bonded will share sleeping quarters with the dominant wizard.
The bonded will follow only direct orders as intended by the dominant wizard, unless they are impossible, endangering or against his moral code.
Any punishment incurred by the bonded will be dealt by the dominant wizard; the bond will interfere only if he is unwilling or unable to complete it.
The physical requirements of the bond will be completed four times per lunar cycle or as desired by the dominant wizard, without condition.”
“Are you sure that this is correct?” Remus blurted.
Severus turned to Remus, who was looking back at him with a confused expression. “I am positive it is correct; this was composed by the magic itself. It is supposed to be the culmination of the ritual and what the magic pulled from my soul.”
Remus read over the words again, still not quite believing them. What he was reading certainly sounded more than manageable, he had a hard time conceiving that this was what Severus wanted for him and from him in the core of his being. The concept was staggering almost, for him at any rate. He felt tears misting in his eyes and a tightness in his chest as he read the script yet again.
Weather permitting, the bonded will be allowed outside. What kind of a rule was that? Snape somehow must have thought it was important, as it was one of the rules that would dictate their lives.
“Well… what does it all mean?” Remus asked, glad his voice didn’t break.
“It means that you will be just fine,” Severus said. This was much more positive than he’d expected. The rules weren’t perfect, but they were something that would be possible to live within. They didn’t demand him to rub Remus’ face in the dirt or treat him poorly.
“How did it come to this?” Remus asked, trying to find the right words to say, but ending up feeling as if he had failed.
“It is close to the result I was hoping to achieve but doubted would be actually possible. I had no idea the magic would heal your feet, however.”
“You tried to make things turn out this way?” Remus inquired; this all seemed very strange to him.
“Yes, of course,” Severus said, irritated. He took a breath and continued, “I honestly have no desire for you to lie like a dog at my feet.”
“Well, maybe once a month,” Remus joked, though his head was spinning. He was glad he was already sitting down. It was difficult to believe that Snape had wanted something this freeing for him; but the other man didn’t seem at all put out by the rules of the bond, though they seemed to have as many rules for him as for Remus.
The edge of Snape’s mouth turned up a little. “Maybe,” he agreed. He took the parchment from Remus’ hand and returned it to its place in the book. “Keep in mind the requirements are not all so simple. You must obey an intended order.”
Remus brow wrinkled. “What exactly does that mean?”
“I believe it means that if I ask or tell you to do something, you will only be forced to do it by the bond if you refuse and I had intended the request as an order.”
Remus nodded slowly.
“Remus, raise your right arm,” Severus tried.
Nothing happened.
“Remus, raise your right arm,” he said again, this time focusing on the instruction as a command.
Remus’ right arm lifted in the air; he looked at it with mild displeasure.“I see,” he set his arm back on the rest. “Well it could be worse, sir. I am your slave after all; it wouldn’t be much of a title if I didn’t have to obey you at least some of the time.”
Severus shook his head. At least the bond had made it default for Remus to be allowed to disregard any verbal instruction that wasn’t intended as an order. Say for instance he was angry and told Remus to ‘go hang’ or to ‘go fuck himself’; the lycanthrope would not have to do either of those things because he himself would not have meant them literally. As well he would not have to follow a direct order that was not possible, would endanger him or anyone else or any order that went against his morals. That was almost the most damning thing that the magic had found in him, where this man was concerned.
He couldn’t believe it; there was a light headed, giddy sensation when he thought about how fortunate they had been. His preparations must have paid off, his patience and his clear mind focused on only what he actually wanted. That must have been at the forefront, the persona he had been forging for himself for these last few years; because if it had seen past that to his soul the results surely wouldn’t have been so favorable.
“I will have to punish you, if you do something to cross the bond or myself,” Severus said, not too impressed with the idea.
“That is perfectly understandable, sir,” Remus said, looking down at his knees. “I’m fine with that.” He said it like he had a choice.
“You’re fine with that,” Snape repeated sarcastically. This man would drive him insane. “Well I can’t say that I am.”
“You’d not want me to pay for my actions if I ever crossed you, sir?”
“Not particularly,” Severus growled.
“Well I’d rather you did it than the bond sir. With Macnair, anyway, when the magic rebuked me – I had hoped I would die. It was worse than the Cruciatus, or different I should say. It felt like it was grinding my soul to dust, like every nerve and artery was scalding hot in my body…” Remus shook his head. “I’d rather you did it sir. I trust you to be fair.”
“I hope that the bond you and I share would not treat you so harshly; but I will do everything I can to make sure we don’t have to find out. I will find something suitable.”
“Of course, sir,” Remus said neutrally.
“It isn’t like that, Remus. We’ll find something that satisfies the bond but that is also agreeable to both of us, or as much as it can be anyway. I’ll not just select something at random and run with it, without care or condition; I will want to know that it is something you can handle, something you find …fair.”
“Alright, sir; I believe you,” Remus said. “Hopefully we won’t need to worry about it for a while.”
“I can’t see why we would; these rules seem fairly simple to abide by. As long as we follow them carefully, there should be no issue. Keep in mind that as well as what we read here, there will be two others to follow as well that are that are ingrained naturally into this bond. They eclipse any of the rules on that paper, should conflict arise btween the two. You cannot intentionally cause me harm and you must remain faithful unless I specify otherwise.” Basically, he owned Remus body in every possible way, but he’d not wanted to put it quite like that.
Remus tried to hold back his natural expression at hearing that. “I don’t plan on hurting you and there seems to be an overwhelming lack of competition around here, sir. I think I’ll manage.” He hoped that Severus hadn't intended that 'unless i specify otherwise' as a foreshadow of possible events to come.
Severus snorted. “Yes, well, I just wanted to be thorough. The last thing either of us needs is a surprise where the bond is concerned.”
“I couldn’t agree more, sir,” Remus smiled, glad his master thought so as well.
“How does breakfast sound? I don’t know about you, but ritual magic makes me hungry.”
Remus laughed, glad Severus was taking all of this as well as he was. “Breakfast sounds great.”
“I’ll bet Teddy was up hours ago, the little scamp,” Severus said, glad that Remus had allowed him to lighten the mood.
Remus heard the words sound almost affectionate. “Probably; he never did sleep very much. Thank you for helping him last night.” Snape had been taking care of his son longer than either bond had said he’d had to.
Snape shook his head. “Quit that already, would you?” He levitated the chair. “I know your feet look good but I wouldn’t trust trying to stand on them yet; I’d like to give you at least one more does before we try anything like that.”
“I don’t think I would even be strong enough to walk at the moment, sir.” One fall was enough for him today.
“More than likely not; you will need some muscle restoratives and some small doses of exercise before we will try you on walking.”
“That is probably for the best, sir.”
Severus came nearer to the hovering chair, resting a hand on Lupin’s shoulder. “You can call me Severus, you know,” he urged again, having found Remus’ use of it the other night to be quite agreeable. “You did last night.”
“I did?” Remus asked, eyes wide.
“You did; I found that I quite enjoyed it.”
Remus blanched. “I’ll try, sir,” he mumbled.
“Perfect,” Severus said. He could order Remus to do it; but he wouldn’t. It would somehow be different if he forced the issue. He led the chair out of the room and downstairs.
In the kitchen they found Teddy already up and awake, sitting at the table and eating a plate of waffles.
“Morning!” he said around a bite of waffles.
“Good morning, Teddy, don’t speak with your mouth full,” Remus reminded his son.
Teddy finished chewing and swallowing. “Sorry dad.”
“It’s okay, Teddy,” Remus smiled as Severus parked him at the table. There was a pile of waffles under a stasis charm, as well as some sliced fruit and whipped cream. Severus supposed Fred was trying to fatten the Lupin’s up, but he certainly didn’t need it. All the same he made two plates and took one over to Remus, who was already munching on a sausage from the plate of them on the middle of the table.
“Did you sleep alright for the remainder of the night?” Severus asked the boy.
“Yes sir; thank you,” Teddy said, smiling bashfully.
“You would have done the same for me,” Severus said, pouring two cups of coffee. His back was turned so Teddy couldn’t see the smile he was wearing.
Teddy looked in confusion at his father before giggling when he realized he was being teased.
Remus took a bite of his waffle and his eyes almost rolled back into his head. Fred really was good at his job. Snape sat at the table with them, setting a steaming cup by Remus’ plate and taking a sip of his own.
“Sir?” Teddy asked.
“Hmm?” Snape returned, setting his mug down.
The boy looked at his father, then back over to Snape. “My daddy was sleeping in your room last night.”
Remus stilled; coffee halfway to his lips.
Severus folded his hands on the table, pondering his words very carefully.
“Yes he was,” Severus agreed, taking a deep breath.
“How come?”
“You know how you and I have a bond that we share just between us?”
“Yes, sir,” Teddy said with a little smile.
“Well, your father and I have a bond that is just between him and me,” Severus started, turning so he was facing the little boy directly. “It is a very special bond; he and I will be spending a lot of time with one another and getting to know each other very well. Part of this bond requires us to be near each other.” He left it at that for the moment to see how the boy took to that bit of explanation.
Teddy mulled this over, taking a sip from his juice. “So you’ll be sharing a room?”
Severus nodded. “We will; does that bother you?” He rather hoped not, as the bond left only marginal wiggle room on that one.
Teddy crossed his arms. “I don’t know.”
“Okay, fair enough; you know I always appreciate honesty. Do you know what might bother you about it?” Severus asked.
“Well,” Teddy’s eyes flashed over to Remus, who was watching the conversation fold out with burgeoning discomfort. “When our old master made him sleep in his room, daddy would always be so sad afterwards.” Teddy wrapped his arms around himself much in the same way he had when he first got to the house.
Snape didn’t need to peek into the child’s mind to see images of a hurting and broken Remus or how that would have made the little one feel.
He leaned forward and looked at Teddy intently. “I would never hurt your father like that, not on purpose,” Severus said, putting his hand lightly over Teddy’s.
The little boy looked up at him seriously. “Do you promise?”
“I promise,” Snape replied.
Teddy scrutinized him a moment longer. “Is it because you like him?” he asked suddenly.
Snape’s eyebrows rose a little. “No,” he said, “it isn’t.”
“But you do,” Teddy stated.
“What?” Severus asked, retracting his hand.
“Like him,” Teddy explained.
Snape set his elbow on the table and leaned his chin on his hand. “Yes,” Severus agreed, smirking both at Teddy’s brass and his perceptiveness, “I do like him.”
Teddy seemed to find this almost more satisfying than the promise. “Okay, sir.” He turned back to his waffles and continued eating.
Remus let out a small sigh. That had gone better than he had hoped it would; Severus was able to explain it to Teddy in a way he could understand, but also one that didn’t give away too many details. He wondered at the warm feeling spreading through his stomach when Snape had admitted to liking him.
Severus lifted his cup to his lips to take another sip of his coffee but was interrupted by a loud tapping on the window.
“Blast,” he said, setting down his mug and going over to let in the owl that was perched impatiently on the sill. Today definitely was interesting already and they weren’t even completely through breakfast yet. The bird swooped instantly into the kitchen, circling over the table before landing in the middle of it between the water pitcher and the syrup. The owl looked at Snape expectantly, holding out his leg.
“Yes, yes; I’m coming,” Severus rolled his eyes, taking his seat and having another drink before removing the letter from the owl’s leg. He broke the Ministry seal and read the words quickly. He paused halfway through, looking up at the bird. “Yes?”
It hooted in annoyance, realizing it wasn’t going to be fed. It ruffled its feathers and swooped off with a screech.
Severus ignored the bloody thing, looking back to the parchment. “Congratulations,” he drawled sarcastically, “we have all bonded successfully, as decreed by the Ministry of Magic.”
“Does that mean we’re staying here, sir?” Teddy asked brightly.
“Yes, it does. However, they apparently reserve the right to send a Ministry official by at any time to ‘make sure my accommodations are secure’. I suppose that means they want to make sure you will be appropriately lodged during the full moon.”
“They’ll more than likely come before the end of the week, in that case,” Remus said bleakly.
“They can come and look all they want,” Severus snapped. “I have nothing to hide. Your accommodations are more than safe; though I suggest not mentioning that I will be in the room with you while you transform. The less they know the better.”
“Agreed,” Remus said. His sanctioned treatment at the hands of that slaving company was enough to let him know that the Ministry did not care about him or his kind in the least. If decades of life before that hadn’t clued him in already.
“We’ll deal with it when the time comes,” Severus said, not wanting another day to be completely dampened because of post from the government. “Today, I believe Teddy and I will get some lessons in.”
Teddy looked up skittishly. “Like what, sir?”
“Maybe introducing you to some of the equipment that will be used in the lab, as well as some practice at writing the letters you have been learning in your book.”
Teddy smiled. “Okay, sir.”
“Remus, I don’t suppose you’d be interested in joining us?” Severus said.
“Of course,” Lupin smiled. “That sounds wonderful, sir.”
“After breakfast, of course,” Severus said, only now touching his own plate of food. He hadn’t realized how hungry he was until after that first bite. He cleared his plate and got Teddy to help with the dishes again. He wondered how old the child would be before such an activity would be a chore and a bother rather than a treat.
He refilled his and Remus cups with fresh coffee and sat at the table, bringing over some lined paper and a few pencils; they would move up to quills once Teddy had a better grasp on his penmanship as they were more challenging to use.
They practiced for over an hour. Severus was quite pleased at Teddy’s progress and he thought it was fair to say that Remus was exuberant over his son’s work just by the expression on the sandy haired man’s face. The boy was shaky and needed quite a bit of guidance at first, but seemed to grasp what he was doing fairly quickly.
Remus was impressed again with Severus’ patience; even his body language was relaxed as he continued to show Teddy time and time again how to make the letters properly, giving the boy all the time he needed in between demonstrations. He himself just sat there and sipped his coffee, tossing in his opinion where he had the chance, but mostly just observing the two of them.
It was interesting to watch Severus communicate with Teddy; he listened when the child spoke and always answered his questions, leaning in and showing him when he needed it. Teddy seemed to feel little fear of his master and blossomed under the slightest hint of his praise.
“Sir, I think my hand is starting to get sore,” Teddy informed Severus, setting sown the pencil and shaking his hand.
“Well then perhaps that is enough for now, then?” Severus said, setting his pencil down. “I’m very happy with your efforts this morning; you’ll be writing your own novel in no time,” he joked, collecting all of the papers and setting them aside.
Teddy giggled. “I don’t know about that, sir.”
Snape raised his eyebrows and shrugged his shoulders. “What do you think we should do now?” Severus asked.
Teddy bounced in his seat. “Now maybe we could go down to the lab, sir?” he suggested.
“I think we could definitely do that; I’ve got something planned for us that I think might end up being enjoyable.” Severus didn’t think that his lesson would stay a lesson for long; he figured it would dissolve into play fairly quickly, but in all reality that was the plan. Teddy needed to learn how to be a child more than he needed to know all of the applications of dragon’s blood or how to determine if a straight or contour blade would better prepare an ingredient. That could come later; this age would never come again for him, he should be encouraged to make the most of it.
“Okay!” Teddy said, grinning. “Can dad come too, sir?”
“Of course he can,” Severus said. He turned to Remus. “Care to come see the lab?”
“Oh yes; Teddy’s been so excited about it that I have to admit I’m interested in seeing it for myself.” Also, he found the idea of watching Severus in the lab, even if It was for a demonstration, to be appealing. He’d always liked watching the man work; there was a precision, an exactness about everything he did. He never questioned himself in the lab, or at least that he’d allowed Remus to witness.
“Alright then,” Severus said, standing. “Lead the way Teddy, your father and I will be right behind you; mind that you hold the rail.”
Teddy stood up, going to the door of the lab and opening it, taking the first steps down the steep staircase, railing clutched in his hand. Severus levitated Remus and the chair down the stairs once the boy was at the bottom, steering Remus into the room and setting him down by the side bench.
“Sir,” Remus said, eyes wide, “it kind of feels like you brought Hogwarts to your own basement.”
Severus smirked. “I was spoiled for quite a few years with that lab; I found it hard to leave all of its comforts behind. So I recreated some of them, with my own customizations of course.”
“Of course,” Remus smiled.
Teddy climbed onto a chair and sat beside his father. “So what are we going to learn today, sir?”
Severus went over to the work bench and pulled out a bowl with a lid securely on it, he also picked up two long strips of leather that had been rolled up and tied. Both of these things he brought over to the table, along with three cutting boards.
“We are going to learn the differences between different preparation terms and what they look like when they’re being put into practice.”
“Okay!” Teddy said, leaning in on his elbows so he could see from a better angle.
Snape wanted to roll his eyes; he’d never seen a child this eager to learn absolutely anything. He undid the tie on one of the leather rolls and unrolled it so it lay flat on the table. Inside the leather strip was a long line of tools, instruments and knives. He undid the second roll much the same as he had the first and inside of this one there was scrapers and picks, small saws and a myriad of other things, including many more blades and scalpels.
Teddy’s eyes bugged out of his head and Remus looked like he’d much rather he and his boy were upstairs, hands clasped tightly in front of him. Teddy leaned even farther forward.
“Wow,” he breathed. “Do you really need all of this stuff to brew different potions, sir?”
Severus’ lips quirked. “Yes, though not all at once of course. Every tool has a specialty and something that makes it unique, sometimes a brewer will need a very specific set of tools for each separate potion he or she makes.”
“Sounds like an expensive hobby, sir,” Remus said, still looking uneasily at all of the equipment.
“As a hobby it would be,” Severus agreed, taking the bowl in hand, “but as a career it can be quite profitable. You don’t need all of this stuff to get started of course, what you are looking at here in this lab is a lifetime of careful purchases. When one plans to brew for a living, the correct equipment is essential because one tainted or ineffective potion sent out to the wrong customer could ruin your reputation. Also, I come from a family of many brewers; many items in here were inherited.” He didn’t mention the equipment he had disbanded and destroyed; his family had been an interesting marriage of pureblood brewers and dark wizards for the most part. No one had been surprised to see what had become of him in his youth.
He pulled the lid off of the bowl and took out a large blue ball, setting it on the table and placing the bowl and lid off to the side. He took the ball and broke it into three pieces, placing one on each cutting board. He slid one board over to Remus, another in front of Teddy and one he kept for himself.
Remus looked questioningly down at the blue lump in front of it. “What is it, sir?” he asked. Teddy appeared to be thinking much the same thing, moving his head closer to his blob and squinting at it.
“It is a mixture of flour, water, salt and oil,” Severus explained.
“Play dough?” Remus said skeptically, picking a small piece off of his blue lump and sniffing it. He looked at Snape as if he had mushrooms growing out of his ears.
“What? It can be very helpful when learning the difference between slicing, chopping and the like. Plus, when we tire of that, I’m sure we can think of something else to do with it that might be interesting. There is no need to work all day when your age is more conducive to other things.”
“What?” Teddy asked, already getting his fingers into the dough.
“Nothing,” Remus said; not sure if he himself understood. Severus seemed very determined on some level to get Teddy to have fun; which was interesting coming from a man who had appeared for most of his life to scorn the very thing.
Severus handed Teddy a pair of gloves similar to the ones the boy had used the other day. He put them on and they magically resized to his small hands. Severus then handed Remus a pair of the same gloves.
Remus put them on just as his son had done; the gloves resized to his hands as well. He flexed his fingers, finding that the material didn’t change or alter the way his hand moved in the least. It felt as if he wasn’t wearing anything at all.
“These gloves are quite remarkable sir,” he said.
“They’re made from an interesting blend of fibers; very strong and incredibly resistive, yet not in the least reactive to ingredients as long as they are properly cleaned and maintained. They will prevent you or your son from any negative reactions you may have from handling any of this equipment, as many of these metals are, or contain, traces of silver in some fashion. Also they will prevent either of you from accidentally cutting yourselves while experimenting with the different tools.” Severus glanced over at Teddy as he said that last line, but moved onward immediately, taking his lump of play clay in his hands.
He pressed it into a long line and rolled it out like a large piece of dough, into a ling thick cylinder. Remus did much the same as Severus had; Teddy watched both of them carefully, mimicking their actions with his own lump of play clay. It took him a little longer and he had to use both of his hands, as they were much smaller than the other two men’s were, but he managed to make a similar roll of dough.
Teddy looked at Severus expectantly, Remus smiled to see this much genuine and unhindered excitement in his son.
Severus selected three very similar blades, handing one to either of them, handle first, and keeping one of them for himself.
“We are going to practice first what is called ‘rough dicing’. This is the least precise of all cuts. It requires only similarly sized pieces to be cut, not exactly sized slices. Therefore it is the easiest to master. Watch me,” Severus instructed.
He took the blade of his knife and marked his piece of clay with very light, approximated scores in its surface. He looked to make sure those scores were fairly even, then returned with the blade and made exact cuts in the lines he had marked, effectively cutting his clay into even slices.
Remus began to do the same thing with his clay. He remembered this from potions class when he had been only a few years older than his son was now. What he remembered was the pressure of cutting up an ingredient of worth or merit and messing it up; but here in this exercise there were no consequences, you would just re-roll your dough and start again. He half smiled to himself, wondering who else used this technique for teaching the basics, or if Severus had come up with it himself.
Teddy watched both of them do it and, tried to do the same thing, marking the top of his dough carefully, thinking about each and every impression he put in its surface. He then came back for a second swath, slicing through his marks. When he was done he looked at Snape and then his father, wondering if he had done as he should have.
Severus leaned in and looked at his cuts. “Very nice, Teddy,” he said. “Keep in mind that those end ones can be tricky; when they narrow out like that you may need to adjust your cuts for other types of slices in the future, but for this type of cut, very well done.”
“Better than mine anyway,” Remus laughed, looking down at his own cuts that were angled and not quite straight.
“I know you can do this, Lupin.” Severus smiled. “I did have the - dubious fortune - of being your lab partner for half of our fifth year.”
Remus smacked his palm to his forehead. “You would bring that up,” he groaned.
“Well I wasn’t the one who confused the proportions of cat whisker and dragon’s eyebrow in the StopSneeze allergy solution.”
“What happened?” Teddy asked, leaning forward on the table, knife set aside.
Remus laughed and covered his face with his hand. “Our cauldron expelled a belch of smoke that turned the skin on all of our exposed skin completely blue. We had to walk around like that for a day and a half before the effects wore off. Blue face, blue neck, blue hands and arms….”
Teddy covered his mouth, laughing.
“Yes, well at least the Professor gave us half marks on the assignment for most creative screw-up he’d seen to date for that particular brew,” Remus concluded.
“Yes,” Snape smirked, “at least there was that.” He had been so unpopular at the time that being turned any colour at all would not have changed his social standing, which was to say more of a social lying down or passing out. They had made fun of him for it, sure; but they had made fun of anything he did. So to have them mocking him about something that really was quite ridiculous for once was actually kind of refreshing.
On the other hand, the half marks on that assignment had caused his overall grade to drop by three per cent. Along with a couple of other blunders and one poorly written test question, his mark dropped a total of five per cent, leaving him with far less than a perfect score for that year. His grandparents had been none too happy about that loss of standing; he had paid for every lost mark with tenfold agony.
He went on to show Teddy several other methods of the cutting and shaving of ingredients. He did explain that most components would not be so malleable or so easily broken through, so practice would still be needed with different items. Teddy had taken it all in stride, doing overall quite well for his first attempt.
Severus set the blades they had been using aside for cleaning, rolling his dough into a ball.
“What kind of stuff do you think you could make out of this?” he asked Teddy lightly.
Teddy thought for a moment and then started to roll and form his dough.
Remus watched in amazement. Although his son had never done anything like thing before in his life, he seemed naturally in tuned as to what he was supposed to do with the clay. It took him a few minutes and a couple of tries on some of the pieces, but when he was done he set a miniature cauldron and spoon on the table.
Severus smiled. “It did not need to be potions related,” he said to the boy. “What else can you make?”
Teddy set about re-forming his play dough into something else immediately.
About an hour in, Severus asked, “Would be interested in taking your dose of healing potion now? That way it should be worn off by supper and you’ll be able to spend the evening clear headed?”
“That actually sounds like a good idea,” Remus agreed.
Severus rose and retrieved a bottle from inside the closed door of a large cupboard standing off to the side of the room. He returned and administered a dose to Remus.
“I might get a little bit goofy or tired,” Remus explained to his son as Snape put the bottle back in its place. “It’s only the potion though, so don’t be alarmed.”
“Okay,” Teddy smiled, sticking an eyeball into a fish he was making.
The next thirty minutes or so was spent with all three of them forming and re-forming their mounds of clay into different things. Teddy was laughing, loving every creation, no matter who made it or how great the skill or accuracy.
They were interrupted by the door to the lab swinging open. Fred said in a loud voice from the top of the stairs, sounding very unimpressed, “Sir, Mr. Potter and Mrs. Weasley is being back, what does sir want being done with them?”
“They’re in the house?” Severus asked. He thought that if Fred wanted, he could kick both of them in the arse and send them on their way.
“Unfortunately, sir,” Fred replied.
“Send them down,” Severus sighed.
Privately he thought that he had nothing to hide and wanted to show the Potter brat just that so the little sod would ease up a little, at least on Remus. Lupin needed some people to stand by him, not run him over in their own worries and vendettas. He hoped Potter would come to realize that, or at least see it when his nose was rubbed in it a bit. One had to have some fun in life.
A/N: Here’s the weekly update! THANK YOU for the wonderful feedback on the last chapters – you guys have been so fantastically encouraging!
Hope you like this installment and (almost) as importantly – the rules of the bond. It took me a long time to decide on those; let me know if you think they have potential or not! Of course general thoughts, opinions and comments are more than welcomed, they are praised and cheered!
- 30
- 31
- 32
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

The Long Road