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The Long Road	By : SinisterMe Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Snape/Remus Views: 63598 -:- Recommendations : 3 -:- Currently Reading : 18
Disclaimer: This is a work of fan fiction using characters from the Harry Potter world, which is trademarked by J. K. Rowling. This story is purely for entertainment purposes, no money is being made from it.

Chapter List
- 40
- 41
- 42
They stopped by the simmering cauldrons, where Snape set Teddy on Remus’ lap before crossing the wards that protected the potions. He doled the last dose of each potion into two goblets and extinguished the flame under the cauldrons.
Lupin and Teddy both drank their Wolfsbane without much complaint. Severus took his time washing out the goblets and scouring both cauldrons. There was still some time before the moon would rise, he had set three warning alarms to let him know how close its onset actually was, and the first one was just going off. He felt no inclination to usher either Lupin into that room before it was time.
When he was finished, he could find no other excuse not to continue on. He took up two bottles of the potion he’d brewed with Teddy the day before, he’d want it on hand as soon as the morning transformation was complete. Severus looked around the room one last time, praying silently that he hadn’t neglected to bring anything he would need into the transformation room. Finally, he decided to stop guessing himself.
“I think we should move on into the room,” he said at last.
“You’re probably right,” Remus agreed. He wished this wasn’t happening. There were so many things that could go wrong, and even if everything went perfectly he would still have to look Severus in the face the next day knowing what he’d seen. That wasn’t even to mention Teddy…
Severus levitated Remus’ and Teddy into the room, not securing the door just yet.
“I’ve got a couple of things to grab still,” Snape told them. “So I’ll just have to run upstairs for a moment.”
Remus looked down to his son on his lap and back up again. “We’ll wait here,” he said wryly.
Snape nodded and exited the room, heading for the kitchen.
He found Fred up there. The elf was just closing the lid on the last of four containers.
“This was all sir was needing?” he asked.
“Yes, thank you Fred,” Severus replied. “Of course I will need you to keep an eye on the place while I’m occupied tonight.”
“Fred is knowing,” he nodded. “Sir is being careful tonight.”
“I will be, Fred,” Snape answered, recognizing worry when he saw it.
“Sir had better be taking these downstairs then,” Fred said. “And was sir wanting this as well? Fred was finding it on the sofa.” The elf held out Teddy’s stuffed dragon.
“Yes! Thank you Fred, Teddy will be very happy to see him.” Severus took the toy, wondering how he could have been so carless as to have forgotten it. He collected the containers and returned to the Lupins in the transformation room.
“What do you have there?” Remus asked, seeing everything Severus had brought down.
Severus set the containers on the ground and went right up to the chair, holding out the dragon with a small quirk to his lips.
“This little guy wanted to be here with you,” he said to Teddy.
Teddy grinned and reached out with a quick jerk, stopping himself before he actually touched the stuffed toy.
“You promise you’ll keep him safe, sir?” he asked.
“I do; he’ll be waiting for you in the morning.”
“Okay sir, thank you,” Teddy said, snatching the toy from his master’s fingers and holding it immediately close to himself.
“You’re welcome,” Snape answered. He saw Remus smile at his son’s happiness before the other man’s eyes were drawn back to the vessels he’d just placed on the floor.
“Transforming isn’t easy work,” he said before Remus had time to voice the question, “I brought you food and water for later.”
“What kind of food?” Remus asked before he could stop himself, trying not to recall some of the things he’d vomited up the next day upon regaining his human form. The ‘food’ Macnair had seen fit to feed him had barely been fit for the garbage can.
“I had Fred prepare a beef and vegetable stew in thickened gravy; I thought that would interest the wolf tonight, but not be too hard on you in the morning. There are two containers of water as well. I have brought each you and Teddy your own respective water and food dishes so that there will be no disputes.”
Remus hid a smile at that. He wondered how long Severus had pondered everything he’d chosen to bring down here. Also, he thought about how many things he’d carried over from the time he’d spent with all of those cubs. Despite the fact that he wished Severus had never had to take part in that, he was relieved to know that this wasn’t his first time on a broom, so to speak. Even as he looked at him right now, Snape appeared perfectly calm. It was the opposite emotional state that someone faced with a full moon locked in a small room with two lycanthropes should be in, he thought anyway. But what did he know?
There were no windows and as far as Remus could see, no way to gauge what time it was or how close the moon was to rising. He’d yet to feel the onslaught of symptoms that told him it was nearly time, but all the same he wondered how many minutes were left until everything was out of his control.
He looked down at Teddy, who was quiet on his lap, holding his dragon closely. He wished that there was something he could say to reassure him, to make all of this go away. He felt more helpless than ever now that he was actually faced with transforming with his son. He’d always told himself that there would be something he could do for him, some magical way to make this easier for Teddy. Now that he was confronted with it, he knew it wasn’t so – he could barely find the words needed to comfort the boy, never mind make anything better in any real or tangible way.
Severus was keeping himself busy, putting the food and water well out of the way so that it wouldn’t be spilled or trampled during what he knew was going to be a very chaotic night. He set about locking them into the room, weaving layer upon layer of wards across the door. Just for the sake of healthy paranoia, he tested the rest of the wards to make sure that nothing had unraveled or slipped out of place. When he was satisfied that everything was up to standard, his wand went away and he turned his attention back to the Lupins just as the second alarm was going off in his pocket.
Father and son sat morosely on the chair together as if waiting for the gods to reach out of the sky and crush them at any given moment. He removed his outer robe and placed it in the trunk with the rubber balls and the rest of the odds and ends, tying his hair back and halfheartedly waiting for either of the room’s occupants to give him a sign.
None appeared forthcoming, so he went and crouched beside the chair to see if his proximity would encourage either of them to say something.
Teddy was the first taker.
“You’re really going to stay with us tonight, sir?” he asked, fiddling with his dragon’s ear.
“I am. The wards are all in place and the moon will be rising soon.”
“So you’ll be here in the morning when I wake up?”
“Most definitely. I told you we’d all do this together, Teddy, and I meant it.”
Teddy nodded like that was exactly what he’d wanted to hear.
“You’re not going to let me transform in this chair, are you?” Remus asked. “Because I’ll destroy it without a doubt and I was actually starting to get attached to this old thing.”
“I can move it off to the side and cover it with protective wards, though that means you’ll have to be on the floor when the change starts.”
“I’d actually prefer that, to be honest,” Remus told him, “it’s a shorter distance to fall that way.”
Severus signaled for Teddy to hop off Remus’ lap. He then moved the chair to a far corner of the room and levitated Remus to the floor a short distance away from it. He then put a quick layer of wards over the piece of furniture and turned back to Remus.
“It’s probably best that you protect our clothes as well, I know that they aren’t free,” Remus said, removing his shirt without allowing himself to hesitate.
Severus shrugged. “I’d just assumed it would be more comfortable without them restricting you.” He tossed Remus a blanket from inside the chest. “Wrap up in that to stay warm – go ahead and shred it, there are many more where that came from.”
“Me too, sir?” Teddy asked from his place at his side.
Snape nodded and handed him a blanket. He took both of their clothes and placed them with his robe in the trunk, careful to seal the lid shut after.
The last alarm went off quietly in his pocket. Severus picked up his dragon hide gear from where it sat beside the trunk and began to put it on, checking each piece a second time as he did. If Teddy’s potion didn’t work as expected, these pieces of clothing would be one of the scant things separating him from a set of razor sharp teeth that would cut through his flesh like a hot knife through butter if they got even half a chance to do so.
He went over to Teddy, who was wrapped in the blanket he’d been given like an oversized cloak, and took the stuffed toy from the child’s extended hand. That he put in the potion’s cabinet, on an upper shelf that he had kept clear for just such a purpose; technically, it was the safest place in the room as neither lycanthrope would ever be able to get at it.
“It’s best if the two of you give one another a bit of room, especially during the chenge,” he said. Teddy’s change would likely happen more quickly than Remus’ due to his age, and if he was done before Lupin and his potion hadn’t worked, there was no telling the damage that could be done in a short period of time since Remus would be unable to defend himself.
Teddy pulled the blanket more tightly around himself.
“Come here though,” Severus said, sitting on the ground on the opposite side of the room that he’d put Remus on and holding out an arm, “you can sit with me until it is time.”
Teddy didn’t waste any time in reaching his side, slipping into his arms as if he’d been waiting for the invitation since he’d climbed off of his father’s lap.
Snape looped his arms around the boy, content to wait with him. It would be any time now.
Remus could feel it coming now, and he wondered if Teddy could feel it too. He’d begun to perspire despite the chill and his entire body began to itch. He rolled his shoulders to relieve the pressure that was starting to build there, blinking purposefully to try and keep his vision in check. He didn’t see how it was safe for Teddy to sit next to Snape but not to be on the same side of the room as him. The man was so bloody paranoid, except when it came to his own wellbeing, it seemed.
“Severus,” he said, voice sounding odd to even his own ears, lower, more guttural, “you should probably let go of him and get your mask on.” He took a deep breath. “It’s going to be okay, Teddy, remember I love you.”
“Love you too dad,” Teddy’s small voice was heard.
Snape listened to Remus’ words as if from a distance and idly looked to the face shield that was sitting on the opposite side of him that Teddy was. He could feel the child trembling in his arms, see the sheen of sweat that was on every exposed inch of him, he could hear his panicked and shallow breathing. He could also feel the way the boy was holding onto the slack in his shirt like it was the last thing keeping him from blowing away in a hurricane. He couldn’t say that he felt very obliged to let him go, in spite of the danger.
Remus felt hair begin to erupt all over his body, the sensation was incredibly uncomfortable, but the least of what was to come. He could hear the creaking in his joints as the pressure increased and encompassed his entire body. The joints were the worst, hips, elbows, shoulders; but the squeezing and stretching was felt even through the long bones of his body – his hands and feet felt like they might blow clean apart from it even though he knew that they wouldn’t, not really.
The part that he hated the most was the transformation that overtook his face and head, which usually happened just before everything else. It felt like someone was closing his skull in a vice with the purpose of crushing it like a watermelon. Simultaneously, his teeth began to extend at an agonizing pace from his mouth; the thicker, sharper fangs that sliced his gums to ribbons as they slowly appeared.
He prayed, as he always did until he lost his mind completely, that he didn’t bite off his tongue with the involuntary gnashing of his teeth against the pain. The first break of his jaw was almost a relief – for half a second the pressure lessened. The next five or six successive breaks, however, were pure agony as his mouth began to thrust out to half-form what was about to become his muzzle.
His hands were up, partially to try and cradle his head and partly to cover the grotesque thing that was now his face. While he was struggling he saw that Severus hadn’t moved, holding Teddy and seeming to be immobilized by something.
“Severus, get away from him!” he tried to warn, the words coming out in an interesting parody of speech, punctuated with growls and snarls from his changing vocal cords. He wished Snape was far away from here, he didn’t want to be seen like this by anyone, least of all by him. Though Severus wouldn’t even live to remember it if he didn’t move away from Teddy. “Are you insane?!” That last exclamation didn’t sound human at all, coming out as more of a wretched screech than the English language.
Snape looked over at the sounds Remus was making, startled to find him so far though the transformation already. Teddy was beginning to produce hair everywhere that he could see but otherwise was far behind his father, a phenomenon that Severus couldn’t explain. With the increased virility and adaptability Teddy had on his side due to his age, he should be progressing much faster.
All of a sudden it began to happen. Teddy began to change as well, teeth erupting from his head at an alarming pace.
Severus took this as his cue to stand up and move away from the boy, though he did it reluctantly. The mask was in his hand when he was standing, so he slid it on, adjusting the visor for visibility, wand in hand.
Both Lupins were in the thick of it. Remus, though he had started more quickly, seemed to be almost slowing down. He was able to watch in sickening detail as the bones in the lycanthrope’s legs and arms began to shift, audibly breaking and then reforming his new joints. The feet and hands were almost more disconcerting to watch than the face had been, the many bones elongating and snapping back together like corn popping. The sounds sent shivers up and down his spine that would have been there even without the frighteningly sharp claws that were appearing at the end of each appendage.
He forced himself not to turn away, the sounds both Lupin’s were making cut directly through him. Agony, despair and desolation were howled out of both of them as they screamed in pain and rage. For a few moments they appeared to be neither man nor beast, just a morphing, writhing mess of spasming muscles, breaking bones and twitching flesh.
Minutes later it all came together, the legs bending the right way, hip and knee joints finally in place as they heaved to their feet one after the other, everything having shifted into its new position.
Remus shook his shaggy coat off, looking up at him with his head tilted to the side and a pink tongue tongue hanging out of his open mouth. He wagged his tail and took a couple of shaky steps towards Severus before lying down on the floor with a pathetic whine, head falling to the ground with a ‘thud’.
Teddy was still struggling to his feet with all the grace of a young pup, tripping over his own paws for a brief time before apparently remembering how they worked. He lifted his head, looking at Snape with glowing inhuman eyes, a low and dangerous snarl coming from out of his maw.
For a moment Snape thought that the Wolfsbane hadn’t had the proper effect. He cast a shielding ward, one of the same types that he’d developed specifically to target lycanthropes and waited.
Teddy suddenly shook his head roughly, and when he looked back up at Severus it with was with the more subdued eyes of an actual wolf.
Severus waited a moment before lowering his wand, the ward faltering into nonexistence.
“Teddy?” he asked, knowing that he wouldn’t get a response but that he would be understood if the boy still retained his own mind.
Teddy yipped at him, throwing both of his front paws on the ground and sticking his butt up in the air, tail flopping back and forth happily.
From his place on the floor, Remus let out a sigh and finally relaxed. Severus watched it happen, the silver haired wolf rolled over on his side, legs extending out in front of him. He let out another whimper, his tail wagging against the stone floor despite the sound.
Severus went up to him, one eye on Teddy the entire time; pups were simply not to be trusted not to try and play when no one was looking. Though he was much smaller than Remus, he could still have knocked Severus down on his arse without a second thought. He sat on the floor beside the older wolf, scanning him with his wand to see if there was any reason he would still be in pain.
Other than exhaustion and the worn out state he’d gone into the transformation with, everything seemed to be in order.
Teddy circled around them and came to sit on the other side of Remus’ head, lowering his nose to sniff him lightly.
Remus lifted his head and licked Teddy’s face a few times before laying back down again with a worn out huff.
Snape stood and retrieved the containers of food and water, setting two out a small distance away and getting Teddy’s attention. The small wolf came over immediately, sticking his nose in the food and pulling it back, startled when it came into contact with the gravy. He licked the gravy off of his nose until he was sure there wasn’t a speck of it left before sticking his face back in the bowl and digging in for real.
Snape rolled his eyes and brought Remus over his own dishes, setting them near enough that he wouldn’t have to get up to consume either dish’s contents.
Lupin drank about half of his water and laid his head back down.
Not really being able to stop himself, Severus reached out with his bare hand and ran it through Remus’ fur, surprised to find it much softer than it appeared. He wondered how Remus would fare in the years to come if he was so obviously worn down, even now at his relatively young age. He vowed to himself that he would find something to ease the change even more than the Wolfsbane. Keeping your mind was all well and good, but if the body that housed it was eroded away, where would that leave them?
Remus didn’t seem to mind this petting motion, moving his head so that it first rested by Severus’ thigh, and then directly on it, practically begging the man to scratch him.
Snape obliged, watching Teddy as he scarfed down his food, took a long drink of water, and then began to smell every corner of the room. He figured that would keep him occupied for a while at least, so he took this moment with Remus to collect himself and be thankful everything appeared to have gone as planned. All the while his fingers carded through Lupin’s fur, scratching lazily over one ear and then the other.
Teddy eventually tired of exploring the room, coming over to lie beside his father and Severus, seemingly content to have a small nap after his meal.
That appeared to suit Remus just fine, as his eyes were closed and his posture relaxed.
Snape decided to enjoy it while he could, knowing that it would be a long night and an even longer day. Also, there wouldn’t be much time before Teddy woke up from what would surely be a quick sleep, and then he would be rejuvenated and have some energy to burn. He smirked, knowing that the pup would love chasing the ball and regretting only that there was not more space for him to run.
He sat there with the slumbering wolves until long after his legs were cold and his arse numb from the stone floor. Despite that, he was almost nodding off, his head leaned back against the cushioned wall, when Teddy started to stir.
The cub stretched, rolled to his feet and gave his entire coat a good shake. Severus had to admit that while his appearance was far from what could be considered ‘cute’, that Teddy had a lot of the actions and attitude of an actual puppy. His fangs stuck out beyond his bottom jaw a little and the ends of his front paws were raked claws that Severus knew were not just for show or defense. All the same his tongue was lolling out and his tail was swaying back and forth as he looked at him with glinting eyes. Snape figured that he was almost endearing, in his own sort of way.
Teddy yipped and danced around, trying to get Remus’ attention as well as to keep Severus’.
Snape couldn’t help but notice the size of his paws, which he clearly still had to grow into.
When Remus didn’t stir, Teddy jumped closer to him, first nudging him with his nose and then nipping lightly at his ear.
Lupin opened an eye and let out a halfhearted growl.
Though he had no fear that Remus’ potion hadn’t worked properly, he still couldn’t help but feel just a little bit more than nervous with a growling werewolf whose head rested a few meager inches away from his privates. He knew better than to let his fear show, instead he ran his fingers over Remus’ head in a calming gesture, scratching down the coarse hair of his neck.
Remus sighed heavily and moved his head so that it was on the floor resting on his front legs.
Severus could sympathize with the tired gesture, but all the same took the movement as an opportunity to stand creakily and stretch his legs and back.
Teddy appeared to be excited by his movement, running to the far wall and back, stopping just short of Severus’ dragon hide shin guards.
Severus could recognize an invitation to play, when it was that obvious, at least. He went over to the chest, careful not to turn his back on the pup as he did. He opened the lid, extracting one of the heavy rubber balls from inside of it before closing it back up. He looked from the pup to the ball and back again.
Teddy seemed to expect something, though Snape was sure he didn’t know what with how his eyes flickered around the room as if he wasn’t sure where to expect the excitement to come from.
Severus tossed the brightly coloured ball straight up into the air and caught it again, watching as Teddy’s entire head made one slow nod that followed the motion of the throw. He grinned to himself, pulled his arm back and threw the ball so that it bounced off of the far wall.
The pup was after it in a flash, jumping up into the air and catching it in his mouth before landing back on his feet and trotting back up to Snape, dropping the ball next to his boots.
Teddy looked up at him expectantly. Snape smirked and stooped to pick it up again, throwing it again, only higher up on the wall this time.
Teddy raced after it immediately, this time leaping up, his whole body shifting as he spun midair, teeth closing around the ball just in time. He landed gracefully on his feet again and sauntered back over to Severus, dropping the ball again.
Snape looked back to see Remus watching with his eyes open a crack, head still resting in his paws. He bent and retrieved the ball again. He knew by the texture the ball was starting to take on that it wouldn’t be long until the strength in Teddy’s jaw would cause it to disintegrate. That was not a problem, as there were more where this one came from. However, their play time would be limited to whatever duration it took the pup to chew through them all.
How long he threw those stupid toys around, Severus lost track. All he knew was that he was thoroughly worn out afterwards, his arm feeling a little like all of the bones had been removed from it. Teddy, however, was just starting to breathe a little heavier and didn’t seem all that tired, though he was the one doing most of the work. All the same, the pup went over to Remus’ side, stretched, turned three circles and lay down beside him.
“If you’re both going to relax, then so am I,” Severus said.
He laced his fingers together behind his head and raised his arms slowly so they were as far above his head as he could make them go, a series of popping and cracking sounds emanating from his back and shoulders as he did so. It sounded dramatic, but it felt wonderful. He relaxed his arms to his sides and took his seat on the floor by Remus as well. He was aware that he could use the chair, but he’d started looking at it as Remus’ and didn’t mind a little bit of stiffness if it meant he got to be nearer to the Lupins.
Remus rolled so he was pressed up against his side, his nose pushing into Severus’ thigh before deciding to use it as a pillow again, his eyes closing with another sigh soon after.
Teddy didn’t seem inclined to sleep, but at the same time appeared to be enjoying snuggling with his father. He didn’t look like he was going anywhere.
Taking all of this in, Snape allowed himself to relax as well. He took time to thank any gods or higher powers that might be listening that everything was going so easily. To be fair, his academic mind hadn’t been expecting many, but his heart had held many concerns regardless of that. Now that the first change was over and both of the lycanthropes had retained their sanity so efficiently, he actually felt like he could let his guard down for a moment.
He checked the time, finding that there was just under two hours left before moonset. He rested the back of his head against the wall and allowed his eyes to close, just for a few seconds.
He must have dozed off, because he was startled back to consciousness by a cold nose on his cheek. As his eyes shot open he became aware of a low and pitiful whining sound. He turned to find himself face to face with Remus, who went a couple of steps away and returned quickly, teeth grabbing hold and pulling gently on his dragon hide apron string.
Looking in the direction Lupin seemed determined to drag him in, Severus saw Teddy prone on the floor. He recognized instantly that he was what was making that sound.
Not even taking the time to orient himself, Snape was on his feet and over at Teddy’s side.
“How long has he been like this?” Severus asked, feeling immediately stupid as there was no real way for Remus to answer him.
“Bark if he has been like this for over five minutes,” he amended.
Remus stayed silent.
Severus nodded, that was definitely a good thing. He was furious with himself for falling asleep. As someone with a more advanced knowledge of what to look for, he possibly could have noticed that something was amiss before Teddy reached this level of distress.
As it was, Teddy was breathing heavily, his tongue sagging out of his mouth as he panted in an attempt to cool himself. His eyes were shut, but Severus could see them moving rapidly back and forth despite the closed lids. Without even thinking about it he removed his gloves and knelt beside the pup.
He swiftly helped Teddy roll into such a position that he had easy access to the inside of his leg. Taking two fingers he set them on the inside of the cub’s thigh near where the joint of his hip met the rest of his body, feeling for the pulse of the femoral artery. He found it easily as it was beating hard and fast. Timing himself he counted the beats that occurred in fifteen seconds, quickly multiplying by four to get Teddy’s heartbeat.
Just to be sure he hadn’t miscounted or miscalculated, he repeated the process. There was no question about it, even for a pup his heart was beating dangerously fast.
He moved up to the lycanthrope’s head, opening one eyelid and then the other, directing his wand do shine light into them one after to other as he had done the other day for Remus, to gauge his reactions. Frowning, he also repeated this test a second time.
He noted the large amount of saliva being produced as well, it was literally dripping over the sides of Teddy’s mouth. He put a glove back on and lifted Teddy’s lip to inspect his gums, finding them much paler than they normally would have been.
None of this should be happening; the symptoms were all wrong. In none of his calculations had the tincture of Mountain Cap Mushrooms been the source for any alarm, yet with what was happening, he could deduce that it was causing Teddy’s symptoms. Still, even that only made marginal sense; even if he had used ten times the amount of that ingredient in Teddy’s Wolfsbane, the effects still shouldn’t be as strong as the ones Teddy was experiencing now.
First thing was first, he had to cool Teddy down and to address the racing of his heart, which could become fatal if it increased much further. He stood and dashed to the potion’s cabinet.
The ingredients and tools revealed themselves to him as he came close enough. Knowing exactly what he needed and where it was, it didn’t take him long to retrieve a small bag of vials. Again, it was probably more than he needed, but time was crucial and he’d rather not waste moments of Teddy’s life running back and forth to gather up something he’d forgotten.
He stopped on the way back and collected one of the blankets he’d given to the Lupins to cover themselves before they transformed. This, he would spell cool and cover Teddy in to hopefully bring his temperature down a few degrees.
As he knelt back down by the pup’s side he felt Remus butt his head up against his arm.
“He’s too hot and his pulse is far too fast,” he informed him. “I’ll do what I can, we have just over an hour until moonset. If I can’t get him into stable condition before then…”
Remus let out a mournful sound.
He paused and put his hand on Remus’ head. “I won’t let anything happen to him.”
Lupin whined and licked his gloved hand.
Snape quickly brought some of the contents of his pouch out into the open. He took up a large blunt tipped syringe and uncorked a bottle of ruby red potion. Sucking up a very precise amount, he carefully opened Teddy’s mouth and slid the tip of it between his teeth, pushing back on the plunger to distribute the serum.
Teddy rebelled against the taste at first, shaking his head and pulling away.
Severus stroked his fur, telling him softly that he needed to drink it, that everything was going to be fine and both he and Remus were right there beside him.
Teddy’s mouth began to work, tongue smacking against the roof of his mouth as he drank the potion.
Charming the blanket cool, Snape draped it over the cub’s overheating body, tucking the ends in around him. He ran his hands over his face in a motion of stress before filling another, larger syringe with clean water from a bottle he’d brought and opening Teddy’s mouth again. He went more slowly on the plunger, waiting as Teddy recognized what was being given to him and drank it back.
He waited a few more moments before moving to the other end of Teddy’s body and timing his pulse again. If anything, it was faster than before.
This whole scenario defied calculation. He moved back up to the cub’s head where Remus was sitting, nose pressed into his son’s neck.
The whining sound that Teddy was making was only getting more desperate. Severus, digging through his bag, looked for another dose of the potion he’d just distributed to Teddy. He had to get his heart rate down or there was a good chance this pup was going to have a heart attack. He looked over sharply as the sounds began to change from a low cry to a snarled retching sound. Even from where he was he could see the wolf’s throat working. Teddy was going to vomit.
He went over and helped the cub to sit up more so that there would be no chance of him choking on whatever he expelled. He indicated for Remus to come and sit behind him so that he wasn’t in the way.
After a few moments where Teddy was very stiff and that sound continued, his head finally bowed and he released the contents of his stomach onto the floor.
At first, Severus wasn’t surprised at the colour of Teddy’s vomit, which was a startling shade of red. The potion he’d just been fed had been that colour, surely it wouldn’t have all been digested so soon. He banished it from the floor and hurried to the potions cupboard and back again with a basin to catch the mess in next time so that they wouldn’t have to worry about it.
Sure enough, Teddy vomited another three times, the duration between which was startlingly short. When he puked a fourth time and the colour hadn’t changed, Severus began to worry. He scanned Teddy, not at all liking what the results showed.
He went back to the potions cabinet and returned with a small case lined with empty containers. Putting his other glove back on to avoid any potential reaction or contamination, he carefully filled four of them with the contents of the basin, putting the lids tightly back on three. One he left open, swirling it to determine its viscosity, smelling it as well before finally bringing his wand up to scan it. The results made him want to scream and tear his hair out.
Teddy was vomiting blood, lycanthropic blood, which shouldn’t come as a surprise since he was currently transformed. However, the fact that there seemed to be nothing else in the vomit but blood was what disturbed him more than anything. The pup just continued to retch; Severus didn’t think that he could keep it up for long before he needed a blood replenishing potion.
If it had been earlier in the transformation, he would have said that something had gone haywire with Teddy’s body when it formed the wolf, an artery wasn’t fully formed or connected when the change overtook him; he’d read of it happening. That seemed highly unlikely as the cub had undergone the entire night without any apparent problems. The same went for complications from the modified Wolfsbane. If anything, they should have been seeing his body temperature drop, not rise and in the very worst case his respiratory system should have been in distress, but never his heart.
All of this panic and speculation was wasting precious seconds in which he could be taking action. The first of three alarms that signaled the nearing of the next transformation was already going off. If what his scans had told him reflected what was actually happening inside of the pup, then he had a short period of time to get Teddy’s energy levels up and get him to a place where he could survive the change.
Remus was pacing back and forth restlessly, from anxiety or from the impending transformation Severus didn’t know. He prayed that what he was planning would work and for once was thankful for the ancestry of paranoid and imbalanced Dark Wizards that would make it possible.
He went over and petted his hand down Teddy’s back, trying to soothe the pup and let him know he wasn’t alone. When his hand came back covered in fur, he looked at it dumbly for a second. Taking his fingers he grabbed a small tuft of Teddy’s hair and gave it a gentle tug. It gave way with no resistance, pulling away from his body like it wasn’t even attached there.
Moving the blanket off of Teddy he found that the incident was not only localized to his neck. All the way down his body his hair was shedding itself in tick clumps, there was no other term for it. In the patches where everything had already fallen away, he could see a greasy looking tar like substance clinging to the pup’s skin.
Wishing he had a second set of hands, he quickly filled the same number of vials with this black tar as he had filled with the vomited blood. Hair samples were set aside as well. These signs and symptoms represented something, and if he couldn’t get them under control, he would have to determine exactly what that was one way or another. Taking a few seconds now could give him something to analyze later, something to go on to find out what was happening and how to stop it or reverse it if necessary.
“I need you to stay out of the way for what I’m about to do, Remus,” he told the silver wolf, who made a noise of complaint but complied with the request and backed away. “It will look much worse than it actually is.”
Standing and taking the basin of blood in hand, Severus proceeded to dip his protected fingers into it and allow large, sticky drops to fall to the floor as he walked around the place where Teddy was laying in a large enough circle that he could fit as well. Blood wasn’t specifically needed, not for what he was going to do, but it was an acceptable medium and wasn’t gained maliciously, so it would do the trick. He would invoke a powerful ward of protection using the blood of a Dark Creature. Not exactly Dark Magic per se, but it bordered so closely on it that he was glad for the ancient protection on the house that would prevent the Ministry from registering it.
When that was done he went over to the cabinet and drew out a thick syringe from the back of the top shelf. It was something he was hoping not to have to use, but he knew of no other way, not with the time that was allowed to him.
He got on his knees beside Teddy just as the second alarm was going off, invoking the ward of protection. The air crackled briefly with magic, Severus could feel it vibrating around him and focused his mind and intentions on Teddy’s smiling face as it would be tomorrow; this was not the exact way the ward was intended, but he knew that magic was more versatile than most people assumed. One more alarm to go and Teddy would be transforming back, whether or not he had the energy or the ability to cope with that change. Taking a deep breath and with his wand still in hand, he leaned over and positioned Teddy in a similar fashion to the one he’d put him in to check his pulse.
This time he uncapped the syringe and pushed the plunger so that some of the fluid inside the vessel squirted out the sharp end; this way he could be sure that there would be no air injected into Teddy’s veins on accident. What he was about to introduce into the boy’s system was a brew of ingredients that would react within his body almost like an artificial adrenaline. Unlike actual adrenaline, he felt that this was safe to use even with the speed of Teddy’s heartbeat; it would give him great energy and exceptional strength, but it would burn out soon after he transformed, leaving him to catch up on his energy reserves for the next few days. He would give him another potion to help with it.
He pushed the tip of the needle into the pulsing artery on the inside of Teddy’s thigh, pushing the plunger slowly and evenly to distribute all of the serum into the cub’s bloodstream.
The reaction was immediate. Teddy stiffened, his gasping breaths lengthening as everything seemed to still momentarily. He withdrew the instrument and gave Teddy some space, backing as close to the edge of the circle as he could get without breaking or exiting it, as either action would destroy what little protection may come from it.
Teddy began to shake more violently, hair drifting lightly off of his body with every vibration it made, piling on the floor around where he was laying. There was a moment in time where it appeared that he wasn’t breathing, but then he gasped in a full lungful of air. He was emitting a sound between a snarl and a whimper that sounded as he breathed, his hackles raised to show off a row of glinting teeth stained red with his own blood.
The third alarm was going off. Severus still didn’t want to leave the circle, hoping that the strength it emanated would help Teddy in some way. He pulled his protective mask into place and checked that all of his dragon hide armor was in order.
Against all odds it seemed that Teddy was going to try and stand up. Snape knew that he’d still be on the floor if not for the shot he’d just been given. The transformation would be striking very soon.
Seeing his container of vials on the ground dangerously close to where the boy was about to transform, he cursed and quickly reached his arm out to retrieve them. If Teddy had lingering problems after the moon set, those samples may be the only hope he had to set the situation aright. As he was pulling his arm back, Teddy turned in a flash. His jaws opened and closed again with a snap, closing completely around his forearm.
The dragon hide armor was strong, and Teddy’s state was weakened by his age and his mysterious symptoms, so the material held strong. Even so, the pressure created by the lycanthrope’s closing mouth was excruciating; he fought to keep a grip on the box of vials. He wished that there was another way, but he would need to cast a defensive spell to force Teddy to let go of his arm before the transformation hit or his protective gear gave out.
He was just deciding what spell to use when an angry roar was let out beside him.
Remus was crouched in a posture that screamed ‘attack’ and was letting out a warning sound that made the hair on the back of Severus’ neck stand on end. For a minute he thought that he was totally screwed and was going to have to defend himself from Remus as well as from Teddy, but then he felt the mouth unclasp itself from around his arm.
He watched Teddy back away, keeping low to the ground in case he had to protect himself. He kept backing away until Remus came into view, urging him back further and further still until he was standing between the two of them, keeping Teddy a safe distance away from Severus. The circle’s protection was broken, but Teddy seemed to be doing fine with that shot flowing through his veins.
Snape was about to thank Remus for his assistance, when an exaggerated tremor shook through both wolves. The change was upon them again.
Teddy was mostly hairless by this point, appearing too skinny and more than just a little bit desperate as his body began to contort itself back to his human form.
Remus had laid down on the ground, looking almost like he was resigning himself to his fate.
Watching the change back was in no way less bizarre or awful than the initial transformation had been. Where before skin and bone had appeared to grow from out of nowhere, those same things now collapsed back into the body just as radically and from the sound of it, painfully.
Amid the howls and screams that were the standard soundtrack for any transformation, a high pitched shriek was heard. He turned his attention to Teddy, who was having as much trouble with this change as with the last. He watched him for only a few seconds before everything slowed to a stop, Teddy’s sluggish reversion back to his human form had, for all intents and purposes, paused itself.
Remus’ appeared to be reverting as normal. Against his better judgment, Severus went a few steps closer to Teddy, panic clutching his chest again. He stopped well out of reach, twirling his wand in his fingers and wondering if there was anything he could do; he’d never witnessed a change happen like this and wasn’t sure there was an answer other than to let it play out. If he had thought that anything from standing on his head to turning his wand on himself and casting Avada would have helped he would have done it without hesitation.
As suddenly as it had stopped, Teddy’s transformation started up again, only this time it was happening double time.
Severus could almost not believe his eyes as he watched the sheer speed that Teddy’s body shifted at. Where he had been lagging behind his father even before he had stopped mid-transformation, he was now almost finished whereas Remus still had about halfway to go. The boy wailed in agony as his muscles, tendons, bones and skin rippled back into place at lightning speed.
The black tar that had been discovered under the shedding fur was dripping freely from his body, almost like its consistency had changed from tar to water to oil that was now sliding from Teddy’s skin without leaving a trace. It pooled around the boy, who was laying on the floor now and looked to be completely human.
Severus was kneeling at his side the instant the change stopped.
Teddy was unmoving, his glassy eyes unclosed and unfocused, staring up at two different places on the ceiling at once. He didn’t appear to be breathing. Snape was scanning for his heartbeat before he even knew what he was doing, feeling fear and despair very acutely.
Just as his wand made its first go over the boy’s chest, it heaved with a huge gasp of air, his eyes blinking rapidly and both hands coming up to his face as he let out a piteous moan.
Snape could have wept with joy. Instead he continued his scans as if nothing was out of the ordinary in spite of the hammering of his heart. He didn’t know what Teddy would remember about the change and didn’t want his panic to frighten the child, who would more than likely be very disoriented.
His blood pressure and heart rate appeared normal, as did his circulatory and respiratory systems. There was minimal swelling or trauma in his head and appeared to have no broken bones.
“Sir?” Teddy’s voice asked shakily, though he was looking directly at him.
“I’m right here, Teddy,” he said. All of the boy’s body parts were in place and intact, so his scans told him. He smoothed the hair back from the child’s forehead. “How are you feeling?”
Teddy looked lost and remained briefly silent. Then his face screwed up and he began to cry in a very serious way.
At first, Severus thought that the boy was going to curl into himself like he tended to do when he was distressed, he had made the first motions to do it, anyway. Instead of wrapping around his arms around his own middle, he stretched them out to Severus, his palms held out as if in supplication.
He didn’t hesitate, reaching out and enclosing Teddy in an embrace, holding him close, heedless of his armor or the boy’s nakedness. He stood, taking the child with him as he did, pulling him from the floor that was still pooled with the hardening substance that had basically sweat itself from his small body.
Cradling the sobbing boy close to him he went over to the box and retrieved another blanket, wrapping it around Teddy’s shaking shoulders, tucking it around his frame. He was overwhelmed with an immense gratitude that Teddy was here and alive next to him. He felt the boy lean his head down on his shoulder, the wails sounding nearer to his ear than before. He laid his cheek on the top of Teddy’s head, arms tightening around the boy.
“We’re going to go check on your father, okay?” Severus said, extracting another blanket from the chest. He felt Teddy nod against him.
He went over to where Remus was collapsed on the floor a short distance away from where Teddy had been. His eyes were closed and his breathing was beginning to even out; he was more than likely not conscious for the moment.
He bent over and scanned Remus, finding most of his levels to be within the expected range. He spread the blanket over him and levitated him off of the ground, knowing that it wouldn’t help his aching body any to lie on the stone floor for any length of time.
Taking the wards off of Lupin’s armchair, he levitated him over and into it, straightening out and going to secure the blanket around him. Gooseflesh had broken out anywhere that was exposed to the cool dungeon air. He decided to take both of them upstairs and to put this cold, enclosed room behind them for today.
“He’s okay, right?” Teddy asked, voice shaky, like another spell of tears was ready to come out of him at any moment.
“Your father will be just fine,” Severus assured him. “It’s you that I am more concerned about.”
“Me?” Teddy sounded confused.
“Let’s go upstairs, I think we’d all be more comfortable up there, don’t you?” Severus said, avoiding his inquiry for now. He went to the potions cabinet and retrieved the vials of potion that he would give to them to aid their recovery. He also made sure to give Teddy back his dragon, which the boy took with a whispered ‘thank you, sir’ and clutched to himself.
He levitated Remus and his chair out of the room after the tedious process of removing the (rather excessive) wards locking them into the room. He took them up to his rooms, turning back the sheets and floating Remus into the bed. Setting Teddy down at the foot of the bed, he covered Lupin up with the blankets.
It was hard not to notice how the shadows on Remus’ face appeared darker, the lines there more entrenched. He allowed the backs of his fingers to linger briefly on the lycanthrope’s cheek, wishing that something so simple could erase the exhaustion radiating from him. Even transformed, the wolf had lacked any obvious vitality, but only now, looking at Remus’ sleeping face, was the extent of the fatigue apparent.
Not finding the energy to go across the hall to look for something for Teddy to wear, he took out a large shirt from his dresser and helped the boy into it; the garment ended up going just about to his knees.
Severus took the opportunity to slip out of his armor as well, setting all of the pieces off to the side of the room. He wanted to look at his arm, which was throbbing and causing him quite a bit of pain, but he looked over to see Teddy watching him intently and didn’t want to startle him. He’d inspected the piece of armor that had covered it; it was indented but nowhere had the hide been punctured by Teddy’s teeth. In other words, he would be just fine and could deal with it later.
He scooped Teddy off of the bed and went over to the armchair by the fireplace. He sat them down in the chair, positioning it in easy view of the bed so he could keep an eye on Remus to see if he stirred. Teddy sat sideways on Snape’s lap, leaning so closely against him that even when he looked down all Severus could see was the top of the boy’s head. He felt the child take a shuddering sob and shift, trying to get comfortable.
“Are you in any pain, Teddy?” Severus asked.
Teddy nodded. “I hurt everywhere,” he said, “even my skin hurts.”
Severus leaned his weight onto one leg, fishing in his pocket for one of the vials he’d brought up from the lab. He uncorked it and handed it to Teddy.
“Take three swallow of this,” he instructed.
“Is this the potion we made?” Teddy asked, holding the container up to his eye, trying to see through it.
“Yes it is; it should help with some of the discomfort you’re feeling, but will also make you a little drowsy.” Especially with the adrenaline having left his system as well.
“I’m already tired,” Teddy said, but drank the potion anyway, handing the rest back to Severus. He yawned, as if to prove his point.
“Would you mind talking about what you remember from last night?” Severus asked. He didn’t want to upset the boy, but he had to know what was going on with him.
Teddy paused. “I remember some of the change,” he started, “but it’s fuzzy and… it almost feels like it happened to someone else. Do you know what I mean?”
“I think I do,” Severus said. Very difficult memories sometimes fudged themselves in people’s minds, especially someone Teddy’s age. “Continue.”
“I remember you and dad were in the room too. And there were so many smells in there! I remember… playing with the ball too,” Teddy added, giggling a little. “Then I… started to feel sick, it was awful but I don’t remember anything after that, not until I woke up, and you were there.”
Snape heard the reverent way Teddy said the last bit of his sentence, feeling completely unworthy of the sentiment. A fat lot of good his presence had been when Teddy had needed someone to help him.
“You don’t remember anything about the transformation back?” he asked.
“No sir; nothing, I’m sorry.”
That was probably for the best. “It doesn’t matter, Teddy, I’m just trying to figure out how you’re feeling.”
“It’s hard, waking up human again,” Teddy said as if that explained everything.
“How so?” Severus inquired.
“Well when you wake up, there’s all of this stuff going on in your head that you know just… wasn’t there when you were a wolf. It comes back all in a rush and it’s all so confusing to sort out.”
“Do you mean memories, or emotions?” Severus asked, intrigued.
“Both, I think. The emotions are the hardest; it’s like you remember how to feel them all at once or something.”
It sounded like the resurgence of his emotions and memories when he put a large amount of information back into his head after it was stored in a Pensive, or after longstanding Occlumency wards came down. If what Teddy was talking about was a similar sensation, he definitely sympathized. It probably wasn’t in Teddy’s usable vocabulary yet, or he would more than likely have used the word ‘overwhelming’.
“I believe I understand what you are saying. Is there anything I can do to help?”
Teddy shrugged. “I think you’re already doing it, sir,” he said, yawning and snuggling closer to Severus.
“Alright then; that’s good. Would you like to sit here until your father wakes up or would you rather lie down?”
“I’d like to stay with you, sir, if that’s okay.”
“It is; are you comfortable here like this?”
Teddy nodded and put his arm over Snape’s as if to hold it there much like he’d done the other night.
“That’s fine, we don’t have to go anywhere,” Severus assured, waving his hand in the direction of the fireplace. A small fire popped merrily into existence, not enough of a flame to give off much heat, but it would distract them both, at least.
Teddy nodded again, but more slowly than last time. Severus could feel his strained body finally relaxing. In sleep at least his muscles would completely relax and be allowed to heal.
Carefully taking his wand out again, Severus scanned Teddy’s vitals a second time, finding his results as regular as the first.
How was it possible for Teddy to have gone so quickly from such a severe reaction to what appeared completely normal was not something he could confidently explain. However, that fact was almost eclipsed by the actuality of said boy being perfectly fine and slowly falling asleep in his arms.
He shifted, helping himself as well as Teddy to get more comfortable. As far as he could tell, they both stared into the flames until the child was out for good, his fist closed in a bunch of Snape’s shirt and his cheek resting on the older man’s chest.
Tomorrow, once everyone had been looked after properly, he would clean out the transformation room. He would also set himself to the task of finding out just what the hell had happened to Teddy, so that he would be sure it would never happen again. Until then, he was content to sit with the child, enjoying the soft sound of his breathing and thanking Merlin that things had turned out the way they did.
A/N: Okay, so it’s been a while, for sure. Thank you for your continued patience!
Hope that was okay for everyone – the story has been working up to this for a long time, I hope it didn’t disappoint.
Again, thank you to anyone and everyone who has made it this far – I never anticipated that the title would end up being so ironic when I named this story – it really is a very long road. The end is almost in sight though, just so you know there will be one eventually haha.
Thank you for your stars and/or reviews, they definitely make all this worth it!
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The Long Road