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
- 3
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- 5
It took him mere minutes to retrieve a fresh bottle of pain potion from his basement lab and be back outside the Lupin’s bedroom door, which was hanging open just as he had left it. He paused, hearing them speak softly to each other.
“You’re sure he hasn’t hurt you? Teddy, you need to be honest with me; you know you can tell me anything,” Remus implored, clearly in distress.
“We had breakfast; I sat at the table, daddy! And I met Fred. He’s an elf and he’s kind of bossy; but I think master likes it. And I had a bath. ” Teddy’s voice sounded like a smile.
“I see that. Well you don’t go following this elf’s example. I really did go to school with our master, you know. He has an explosive temper and can hold a grudge longer than he could remember why. Do. Not. Make. Him. Angry. Please, son, just do your best to be a good boy.”
Teddy was quiet for a minute. “But I splashed him, Daddy; it was an accident!” he explained hastily. “He didn’t yell or anything.”
“He bathed you?” Remus sounded horrified. “Teddy… did he touch you?” Remus’ voice was flat; Snape felt that “explosive temper” rear its head.
“Yes,” Teddy answered sullenly. “He washed my hair.” His voice suddenly perked up. “But he didn’t put my head under the water, daddy. I think he could tell I was scared of it. Oh! And there were bubbles and magic fish! And he splashed me back! He didn’t smile, but I knew he thought it was funny.” Teddy was giggling again.
“Magical fish, you say?” Remus sounded unrepentantly skeptical.
“Mmhmm, they were so neat! They swam around and tickled my toes!”
“Right. So, he didn’t… look at you, or put his hands somewhere you didn’t feel comfortable with?” Relieved was the only way to describe Lupin’s voice.
“No, daddy. He looked in the corner when I got in the tub.” Teddy seemed puzzled.
“And that was it? He washed your hair,” Remus repeated.
“Well, I needed help with the buttons,” Teddy admitted.
“Good. That’s okay, buttons can be tricky. I love you Teddy; it’s wonderful to have you so close.”
“I love you too, daddy.”
“Remember what I said about being on your best behavior; we don’t know the rules here.”
Severus chose this moment to enter the room, clearing his throat to alert them of his presence. Remus had his uninjured arm wrapped tightly around his son; he looked at Severus with a deer in the headlights expression, unsure what Snape had all heard.
“Sir, I-“
“No need to explain, Lupin; we will discuss it at a later time.” Snape kept his expression blank as he went over to the side of the bed closest to Remus’ burns.
Lupin swallowed loudly. Severus cast the charm that would clean out Lupin’s bowl and bladder. “On a scale of one to ten, one being no pain and ten being the greatest pain you have ever endured, where are you registering at the moment?”
“A high six, Sir,” Remus said meekly.
Snape measured out a dosage of the potion he’d brought upstairs.
“This should bring you down to around a two, precluding any existing tolerance you may have.”
Remus pulled his arm away from his son and accepted Severus’ help in drinking the potion, swallowing quickly and squinting at the taste.
“Thank you, sir.”
“I will continue to give you doses of this daily, but if you are feeling pain that is higher than a three or a four on your personal scale, inform me at once, it may indicate that the infection is not completely beaten.”
He placed the inside of his wrist on a surprised Lupin’s forehead.
“You still seem warm; how do you feel?” Snape perused the bedside table, selecting a bottle from those sitting on it.
“Frozen, sir,” Remus admitted.
“Three swallows of this; other than the chill?” he asked, holding another bottle up to Remus’ lips; Lupin took it as directed.
“Stronger sir, at least a little.”
If Snape hadn’t heard him earlier, he would have believed Lupin had forgotten how to string together anything longer than a sentence at a time. He opened his mouth to reply but was cut short by Fred appearing in the middle of the room.
“Fred is being home, sir,” he said cheerfully, either not noticing or caring that he was cutting Snape off. “Shopping is done and Fred will be making supper soon. But first Fred will be making something for the older wolf to eat, since he is already having his potions.”
Snape nodded, “Very well, Fred. I believe Lupin and I need to discuss some things; would you be interested in some help in the kitchen?”
Fred smiled and clapped his hands in glee, catching on instantly. “Oh yes, sir. Fred is thinking that sounds like fun, what is you thinking, little one? Fred is making cookies too and is needing someone to lick the spoon!”
Snape rolled his eyes. Teddy looked between his father and master, who both nodded.
“Okay,” he said quietly, hopping off the bed and following a happily chattering Fred from the room.
Remus looked at Snape, waiting for whatever would come next. Whenever Macnair had wanted to ‘discuss’ something in private, it had never boded well for him. He took a couple of deep breaths and tried to relax. At least Teddy was out of the room and hopefully out of earshot; Snape had probably heard him earlier and was none too pleased with the way his slave had described him.
“Fred will take good care of him.” Was the last thing Remus expected to hear.
“Thank you, sir.”
Snape sighed in frustration, pinching the bridge of his nose.
“Is this the sort of behavior Walden actually preferred?” he snapped. A watered down, shadowed version of this same polite-almost-groveling had driven him nearly mad at Hogwarts when the two had taught there together briefly. It would surely drive him over the edge now in all its full-fledged glory.
Lupin paled. “I apologize, master. My son and I do not know how you wish us to conduct ourselves. I accept reprimand in his stead; punish me for both of us.”
“I will do no such thing,” Snape hissed.
“Please sir, he’s only a child; I take full responsibility for-“
“Shut up already!” Severus said loudly, hearing Lupin’s teeth click together as he closed his mouth. What he would have given for that ability when they were colleagues! “No one is punishing Teddy for anything; or you for that matter. Just stop your bloody kowtowing for five minutes and listen to what I have to say.”
Remus nodded, keeping his eyes on the comforter.
“Legally, you are mine and I may do what I wish with the both of you.” Severus took a breath, realizing he was speaking rather belligerently and although it felt wonderful, it was not how he had intended to go about this. For a moment he paused to clear his mind and thought about why he was doing this in the first place; because Albus would wish him to and was not here to persuade him to do it.
”What I mean to say, is that it does not please me to beat your son or to lock him in a cage. Do you know how I came to be in possession of you?” He tried to keep any snark from his voice but it sounded unfruitful even to his own ears.
“Our master – I mean, Walden-” he almost choked on the man’s name, “-died. They took my son and me to the auction and after a time you retrieved us. That is all I know, sir.” Remus seemed to take pause. “He is dead, isn’t he, sir?”
Snape nodded, “You are correct; he is dead. The key fact that you are missing is that he left both of you to me.”
“You- inherited us?” Remus was incredulous.
“Yes. I had the option to refuse, if I found the notion to my displeasure. However, you would have been put up for separate public auction; your records thereafter sealed. You would be lost again, to Merlin knows where,” he scowled, pulling an armchair closer to the bed and taking a seat. “Your son nearly was, regardless of my decision.”
“Teddy? Where-?” Remus stopped himself.
“It was a ‘misfile’ on the part of the auction house. He was put up for bid before the scheduled pickup time and was purchased by another customer; who I… convinced to return the boy to my possession.” Merlin, this was not where this conversation was supposed to be going.
The expressions crossing Remus’ face were interesting to watch. “Why are you telling me this, sir?”
“Because the fact that money changed hands allows me to choose the type of enslavement spell that binds Teddy to me; you, however, will be bound to me in the same way you were to Walden. It was specified in the will, there was no way to escape it.” He found himself briefly unable to look at the other man.
Remus was either afraid to speak or struck dumb by this revelation. After a time he asked, “What type of spell will you choose for my son?”
Snape hesitated, “It will take some more research to find one that will be mostly agreeable.” He realized how ambiguous that sounded. “I have been looking into a line of apprenticeship spells, there is a short grace period before this sort of thing must be cast and finalized. None of them will revoke his status as a slave, but it will allow him the freedom to be educated, at least partially, as well as hopefully the use of his magic, although that will likely be limited to his work.”
He felt Remus’ eyes boring into the top of his skull, so he raised his own to meet them. “Why would you do that for him?”
Snape thought for a moment. “The war has too many casualties already.”
“I – I don’t know what to say, sir.”
“Don’t thank me yet, Lupin,” Snape said wryly. “You are well aware of what is required by your own enslavement spell. I have spent days searching for an alternative, but none are forthcoming. We must complete the ritual, in a similar way to how you completed it with Walden. However, it seems that this particular spell will adapt itself somewhat to my wishes.”
“I believe I understand, sir.” Remus tried to sit up in bed more than he was, looking expectantly at Severus.
Somehow, Severus doubted that. He grazed Remus mind much as he had earlier.
He saw something in between an imagining and a memory. Remus was bent over a flat surface, being held down forcefully and taken brutally from behind. First, it seemed to be Macnair, and then himself grunting over Lupin’s shaking form. For a flash he saw himself grinding the other man’s healing flesh into the mattress, his palm pressing on pink skin but fingers digging like hot brands into the place where his burns began. Lupin cried out, he gave one especially cruel thrust in answer. The man was gasping for breath, barely even struggling and he wouldn’t let up…
Severus staggered back to reality. “I’m not sure you do. There is time before the ritual must be completed; I am taking steps to ensure that time is extended, at the least until you are healed.” This sounded rather weak to him, but it seemed to take a bit of the weight off Remus’ shoulders.
“Also, I am not now, nor will I ever be, interested in children, not in the way you seem to believe me capable of. In all my years as a professor, never once did I undermine my responsibility as an adult and an authority figure in that fashion. I’m not about to take the habit up now, so you may as well get the notion out of your head this instant.” It sounded more like a stern scolding than a reassurance, but overall he decided it was the best he could have hoped for.
He had to know: “Has Teddy been abused sexually at any time to your knowledge, or was that just a character assessment earlier?” Snape really couldn’t help the molasses drawl that cloyed to those words, really he couldn’t.
Remus’ mouth flapped open and closed once or twice. “I honestly don’t know, sir. These last two days have been the most contact I have had with my son in a long time. He’s always denied it in the past, when I had five minutes to talk about him. I… really don’t know what - Walden did with Teddy when he was kept from me, though I am starting to get a clearer image now.” For a moment his voice contained a barely restrained anger, his eyes burned with it.
Severus found himself approving. “When you were allowed contact, what would usually transpire?”
Remus groaned, “He was always there. I couldn’t touch my boy, couldn’t hold him; anything I said to him was ridiculed. He would tell me he was going to whip my son if I didn’t do what he wanted; anything he wanted. He made me watch him do it once, before the ceremony, so I would know what I was doing to Teddy if I disobeyed.”
Snape kept quiet, retrieving the salve from the nightstand. That explained the long tendrils of scar tissue across the boy’s back, at least. Again he pulled the covers from Remus’ feet and carefully removed the bandages. He pushed the chair to the foot of the bed and sat down.
Remus saw his feet and brought his good hand up to cover his mouth in horror. “I don’t even feel them, it’s like my muscles are sore!” he exclaimed, taking in the raw meat that used to be his feet and almost gagging.
“Even with your extraordinary healing abilities, these will take some time to improve. I will give you the strongest remedies I can make without the use of silver utensils.”
“-Will I be able to walk again?” Remus asked with a thick voice.

Snape seemed reluctant to answer; instead he tried evasion. “How did you come across these burns in the first place?” he asked simply. Well, it sounded simple at least. He rolled up his sleeves, jar balancing on one knee while casting the sterilization charm on his hands and forearms. He coated his hands in the salve, which he then set on the floor near his feet, lid back in place.
Remus blanched. “It was only days before he died. I must have done something to make him angry, because he got in my face; he warned me that Teddy was safe enough as long as I obeyed, at least for another ten years or so.” he said darkly. “That I would be getting too old by then, but that Teddy would grow up to be a handsome young man. The way he said it I – well I forgot my place. I would have hit him, but I had been… bound earlier. I spit right in his face; I couldn’t help myself, sir.” He looked at Severus to gauge his reaction.
The whole time Remus had been speaking, Severus had an injured appendage in his hands, carefully rubbing the healing salve over the healing skin. “Continue,” he instructed, smearing a portion on the sole of the other man’s foot and swabbing over it with his thumb. Thank the gods that Lupin couldn’t feel his feet for shite, or this treatment would have been nearly unbearable.
“He didn’t take it very well, sir.” Probably the understatement of Lupin’s life, and that was really saying something. “He beat me again; although that didn’t seem to satisfy him. He cast a spell, some variation of incindeo. It seemed to have a mind of its own, wrapping around me in a whirlwind. It felt like it had weight, curling over my feet, chest and neck, I couldn’t breathe. I must have passed out, sir.”
He finished applying the treatment to the other foot and bandaged the both of them again, tucking them back under the blankets and out of sight. He was almost certain that Lupin would regain full mobility with the right regimen of potions, but the niggling possibility that he wouldn’t kept him from saying anything about the matter.
“I see, and when you were brought to the auction house, all medical treatment stopped, I assume.” He finally let the disdain in his voice run wild.
“Yes, sir. They wouldn’t even tell me where Teddy was, or if we were going to the same master. I thought for a while that I may never see him again. I am very glad that we are out of that place. Thank you for accepting both of us, sir; and I really do mean that.”
Snape picked up the salve to avoid looking at Lupin for a moment. He stood and went to the head of the bed. “I’m going to levitate you so I can get better access to the burns on your torso.”
Remus felt himself lifting off the mattress, hovering in midair.
Snape unraveled the wrappings from around the lycanthrope’s chest. The skin underneath them was in marginally better condition than that of his feet, although this area had been the most severely infected when he had arrived here. He hoped that to be mostly gone, between the ingested potions and the topical cream, but treatment would continue until his wounds began to seal themselves.
He banished all the used dressings and refreshed the sanitation charm on his hands and forearms; he also cast a ward of protection across the other man’s back to keep it from being contaminated by the sheets. He guided Lupin back to the mattress, folding the blankets down to just below his belly button; the burns seemed to start again around his hips, so that is where he began to apply the cream.
Lupin held incredibly still, eyes shut tight with a small furrow on his brow.
Snape kept his touches light and as brisk as possible. He could feel the tautness of Remus’ muscles under his fingers, could see the man’s clenched hands shaking with the exertion of trying to stay motionless. “Don’t forget to breathe, Lupin,” he said sarcastically.
Lupin let out a huff of laughter that didn’t seem to ease his tension.
Snape worked his way up the torso, covering every inch of the burns in a thick layer of the healing salve trailing it off to cover even the edges of unharmed flesh. Remus would jump slightly, possibly an involuntary reaction, when he touched the smooth skin but no response could be seen when he pressed on the soon to be forming scars. He wondered to what extent the nerves were damaged and how much of the apparent numbness could be attributed to the pain targeting potions the wolf was full of.
Once Lupin’s chest, stomach, arm and neck were saturated, he cast a shielding charm over Lupin’s chest so that the pressure of the sheets wouldn’t wipe the salve off and any bacteria that came into contact with it wouldn’t be able to affect its efficiency.
“I have to turn you over to do your back.” He guided Lupin’s now floating form to do a one hundred and eighty degree turn before gently lowering him back to the bed, trying to keep the sheets straight as he did so.
He began the same ministrations to Remus’ back.
Apparently, the lack of possible eye contact gave the other man a little more confidence. “Sir?”
“Yes, Lupin?” Snape drawled, not changing the pace of his movements.
“You said earlier that the war had too many casualties, would you find it acceptable to tell me who?”
Snape paused a moment. “I will get you a list of fatalities in a day or so, when your health has improved.” He thought that was fair. Brooding over allies and friends lost would not improve Lupin’s condition.
“Sir, Teddy’s mother… She wasn’t taken with us.” He seemed unable to form the question.
“Nymphedora did not survive the initial attack on your residence. She died quickly, a killing curse. I’m sorry, Lupin.” He would not lie to the man about the loss of his wife, be it in his own best interest or not.
Remus’ breath hitched. “Thank you, sir. M- Walden would never tell me what happened to her. Please, let me be the one to tell my son.” That last request came out as a plea.
“Of course, Lupin; he won’t hear of it from me. When you think the time is right, you may inform him as you see fit, that decision is yours alone.”
Remus nodded into the pillow but seemed otherwise at a loss for words.
Snape cast the shielding charm again, cleansing his hands with a wordless spell. He levitated Lupin and returned him to his original position on his back, helping him to lean forward long enough to rewrap his linens and remove the shielding charm.
There were no tears in Lupin’s eyes, and the expression on his face was rather neutral considering the information he’d just received. Snape assumed he was hiding his emotions for a moment of privacy; it was what he himself would have done.
“Remus, I-” he began.
“Lunch is being served!” came a shrill voice behind him.
“I helped make it, daddy! We made cookies!” Teddy was more joyful than Snape had seen yet. He wasn’t surprised. Fred was great with children; he had always been a source of comfort and companionship to him when he was young.
Fred carried a tray of thickened broth with vegetables, a pot of tea, two teacups and a plate of oddly shaped chocolate chip cookies. Behind him came Teddy, sporting a barely contained grin and robes covered in four and a white streak in his hair.
The elf set the tray down close to Snape. “Fred is bringing enough tea for everyone.”
“And cookies too!” Teddy exclaimed.
Fred smiled indulgently at the boy. “Yes, Little One, and cookies too.” He turned to Snape. “Fred is having some more chores to do before supper is served. You two is done talking serious for the time being?”
“Yes, Fred. Go do whatever you need.”
“Oh, Fred is almost forgetting! When I was being out earlier I bought some things for the little one! I is knowing you would not be minding, sir.” Fred vanished and reappeared in seconds. “Some picture books and colored pencils. There is being clothes and other items in his room like you were asking Fred to do.” He set the books and colored pencils on the foot of the bed. “If you is needing me, call!” he squeaked before disappearing from the room.
Snape put a stasis spell on the platter and took the coloring book and colored pencils over to the arm chair and opened the box. “Do you like to color, Teddy?”
“I don’t know, sir; I haven’t tried.” Teddy came closer to him, craning his neck to see what was in the book.
“Well here is your opportunity to find out. Have you ever held a pencil or a quill before?” Snape extracted a blue pencil from the box and opened the book.
“No sir,” he admitted.
Snape handed him a green one, holding the blue one in his own hand in demonstration. “Can you try holding it like that?” he asked. “See how you can use your fingers to control the direction you move the pencil tip?”
Teddy fumbled slightly with it for a moment, stealing a look at Snape’s hand again before looking back at his own, the tip of his tongue poked out of his mouth in concentration. “Like this, sir?”
“Very close. Try holding it closer to the end; it makes it much easier to maneuver.”
Teddy changed his grip on the pencil, trying to mirror the way Severus was holding it. When he seemed to have it down, Snape demonstrated how to move it back and forth. Teddy tried to do the same thing but the pencil slipped from his fingers, clattering to the floor and rolling to a stop at Snape’s feet.
“Stupid,” Teddy chastised himself under his breath. He continued in a larger voice, looking at Snape with hopeful eyes. “It won’t happen a second time, sir. Please let me try again, I’ll do better, I promise.”
Snape bent and retrieved the pencil, handing it back over to the child. “Yes,” he said slowly. “I do believe you will; however, I refuse to believe you are stupid because your first attempt was unsuccessful.” Snape held out his hand still gripping the blue pencil with proper form, showing Teddy again.
The boy seemed more nervous, trying to get his grasp exactly the same as he was being shown. When he seemed to have it down, he wiggled it back and forth like he had been attempting to do before he dropped it and looked over to see Snape’s reaction.
Severus opened the picture book to the first page and slid it across the small table. Teddy seemed to take the hint and pressed the tip to the page, shakily pulling the pencil across it, making the first green marks across a white field of grass. Snape watched him silently for a moment, nodding.
After a minute or so Teddy asked uncertainly, “Am I doing it right, sir?”
“You seem to understand the mechanics,” Snape said in what he thought was an agreeable voice. “You may continue until you wish to stop.”
“Thank you, sir.” Teddy smiled as if he had just been given glowing praise.
Snape went back over to Lupin, pulling the chair closer to the head of the bed as he came. He removed the stasis spell he had placed over the food, taking a seat and looking over at the boy who was scribbling away at the book, tongue still poking out if his mouth. He shot a glance back at Lupin, who was watching the boy color with apparent fascination, one corner of his lips upturned.
Remus seemed to start out of a daze; he glanced over at Snape with an unreadable expression on his face. “That was very kind of you,” he sounded quite surprised.
“I don’t think it would be useful to employ an apprentice who does not even know how to hold a quill,” Snape said in a cool voice.
“Most likely not, sir,” Lupin agreed respectfully.
Snape took the steaming dish in hand and leaned forward with a full spoon, catching any drips on the side of the bowl. Lupin accepted the food, lowering his gaze as he took each bite. It was a slow process, but it allowed Lupin to eat more than he wore.
Teddy colored the whole time he ate, barely looking up from his book; he was using different colors now, tucking each pencil back into the box as he was done using it and carefully adjusting his grip each time he selected a new one.
Snape poured two cups of tea, casting a featherlight charm on Lupin’s cup and passing it to him. “Think you can manage that?”
Remus took the cup in one wobbly hand, the one unmarred by burns and bandages. “For tea, I could manage just about anything, sir.” He took his first sip and sighed in contentment, bringing the cup to rest in his lap.
“I suppose we’d best try some of these biscuits,” Snape said in a very nonchalant voice.
Across the room, Teddy’s head snapped up from his paper, shaking off some of the flour still clinging to his clothes.
Severus took the half empty teacup from Remus and replaced it with a lumpy cookie, taking one for himself and offering the plate in Teddy’s general direction. The boy hopped off the chair and scurried closer to them, taking the proffered treat but not biting into it. Instead he looked shyly at the two of them. Snape realized they were supposed to eat theirs first and briefly pondered the likelihood of poisoning before discarding it with a silent scoff; old habits died slow deaths.
Both he and Lupin bit into the sweet, chewing as if in contemplation.
“You helped make these?” Lupin asked brightly.
Teddy nodded, “I stirred the ingredients, licked the spoon and made them into circles.”
“All very important jobs,” Snape said in a serious tone.
“That’s what Fred said. It was fun.” He smiled and then looked to Snape, wondering if he should have disclosed that last part.
“Well the two of you did a very good job,” Lupin said, practically glowing at the chance to offer his son some praise.
“Indeed,” Snape agreed. “Perhaps Fred has found someone to assist him occasionally in the kitchen.”
“I could do it again?” Teddy asked eagerly.
Snape nodded. The boy took a big bite of his biscuit, smiling around the crumbs. “May I continue practicing with the pencils, sir?”
“Yes; those belong to you now. Later I will show you your room and you may decide where to keep them.”
Teddy looked immediately uncertain. “My – room, sir? Is it in the basement?” he whispered the last word, almost like he was trying to avoid saying it at all.
“No Teddy, It is not in the basement; that’s where my lab is. It is right next to this room. Would you like to see it now?” Snape figured that if he could just show the boy, it would assuage some of his worries over where his new master would be keeping him.
Teddy looked over to Remus, who was watching the exchange silently. “If you wish it, sir.”
That finalized it. “I believe I do. You may leave your supplies here, we will be returning shortly.” If Lupin was asleep when they came back they would take the materials down to the lab, he was noticing the other man’s eyelids beginning to droop already. Fred was occupied this afternoon and it did not sit well with him to leave the child unattended in his house before he was familiar with it.
Teddy chewed and swallowed the rest of his cookie. “Bye, daddy,” he said.
“I’ll see you soon Teddy; I love you.” Remus’ voice was full of the emotion, though Snape could see he was definitely flagging after lunch and a hot cup of tea.
“Love you too, daddy.” Teddy pulled himself up like a man fortifying himself for the long walk to the gallows.
Snape led him from the room after placing both his and Lupin’s teacups back on the platter; Teddy trailed behind him like a small shadow. The walk to the other room was short; it really was the room adjacent to the one Lupin was using. His own room was beside the shared bathroom across the hall from these two.
Though his house had belonged to his mother's family for generations, Severus himself had made many changes. A large portion of the house was unused, perhaps he would open some of the rooms back up now that he wasn't the only onle living here. He'd recieved keys to this house as well as Prince Manor when his Grandmother had died. He’d known even then that he would never set foot in Prince Manor again so long as he lived, if he had anything to say about the matter. Though the house he’d grown up in held as few pleasant memories, at least it was something he could make his own, unlike that miserable place.
Severus opened the door to Teddy’s room; he had prepared it in the days before he had gone to retrieve them. He turned on the light and stood aside, allowing the child to hesitantly follow him into the room.
Teddy looked around in surprise; clearly this was not at all what he had been expecting. There was a window with blue curtains drawn across it, underneath which sat a small desk and chair. On one wall rested a moderately sized armoire and a bookshelf with two shelves already lined with books, three remaining empty. On the other side of the room was a small bed made thick with blankets and pillows, ready to be slept in.
“This is – for me?” the boy asked, sounding shocked.
“Yes; your father will stay in the room he is already sleeping in. This room will be yours.”
Teddy walked over to the bed, touching it lightly with his small hand to make sure it was really there.
Snape opened the doors of the dresser, Teddy’s eyes bugged out of his head when he saw it was full of neatly folded clothing.
“You will need more than one change of clothes. I was a boy once; I remember how easy it is to find a mess to get into.” He lightly brushed the last remains of flour from Teddy’s hair, noting that the boy barely flinched this time, so busy he was looking around.
Teddy saw the books, going over and running his fingers reverently across their spines. “But I can’t read, sir!” he proclaimed in dismay.
“Not yet, at any rate. Your father and I are both able to do so. I wouldn’t worry about the books.”
Teddy nodded gravely, “Sir, will I sleep in here from now on?”
“I believe you and your father both would be more rested if you each had your own space. However, you will be allowed to have your door open and you will be able to see him when you both are awake in the morning.”
“Will I really be able to see him every day?” Teddy seemed skeptical.
“Circumstances permitting, you will be spending a great deal of time with your father,” Snape conceded. It wouldn’t matter what Walden had written in that damned will of his, Lupin was still the boy’s father and Snape refused to believe that any power he had over them could overwrite that. “Are you satisfied with your lodgings?”
“Oh yes, master, it’s wonderful. I’ve never had my own bedroom before.” Teddy seemed in awe of the concept.
“Teddy, I would like it if you would attempt to stop calling me ‘master’. I know that it will be difficult and that sometimes you may forget; that is alright, you will not be punished. Do you think you can do that for me?” Snape asked.
“I’m sorry, sir, I didn’t know,” Teddy said, lowering his eyes. “That’s what he wanted us to call him, most of the time.”
“I understand that; you are not in trouble. How could I expect you to know if I didn’t tell you?”
“I guess so, sir,” Teddy said aloud. Privately he recalled how that logic had never stopped their other master from doing just that.
“Let’s go see if your father is sleeping; if he is you and I will head down to the lab together. I have some work that needs doing and you still have many pictures to color.”
Teddy seemed satisfied with that and followed him back to Remus’ room.
Lupin was passed out sleeping. Snape collected the coloring supplies and ushered Teddy downstairs. There was a door that opened from the kitchen leading down another flight of stairs. Snape turned on the lights, illuminating their descent.
He reached the bottom first, looking back to find that Teddy had stopped somewhere near the middle of the steps. The boy was shifting nervously from foot to foot. Snape watched him for a moment, and under his stare the boy came down another couple of stairs, peering around the corner of the railing to see what awaited him. Snape continued into the lab, which encompassed the entire basement. The boy would follow when he felt it was safe to do so.
A/N:
Thank you to anyone who has read this far and especially to all of you who left reviews; they definitely make my day!
Next update will be along in a couple of days. Let me know what you thought of this one! Again, thank all you for cutting me some slack on my grammar and punctuation; I’m new at all this.
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The Long Road