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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
- 58
- 59
- 60
Entering the room, Severus found Daniel still asleep. He scanned him, getting the same distressing readings as he had the last time. He let his wand fall to his side. Without intervention, he likely didn’t have more than a couple of days, even with his best efforts.
“How is he being doing?” Fred inquired.
“Not well,” Severus told him grimly. He Summoned the card David had given him at the hospital. “I need you to find this man and bring him back here with as much speed and secrecy as you can manage – but please, make sure he comes willingly.” He felt the need to add that last part, Fred could be a little more than insistent on occasion.
Fred gave a nod and disappeared into thin air.
Severus knew from his scan that Daniel's temperature was high, but that didn’t stop him from resting his wrist on the child’s forehead, from brushing the hair back from his sweaty face. He sat in the chair by the bed where Fred had been sitting before his hasty departure, and Summoned his notes from the basement. There was nothing to do now but wait, and it was either sleep or keep his mind occupied, and he might as well start copying things out for Granger – it wasn’t impossible that looking everything over one more time wouldn’t help reveal the answer. What he wanted more than anything was to just curl up in his room with a full bottle, but he refused to be anything other than clear headed when David arrived to help the boy.
“We’re going to wait for Fred to come back?” Remus asked. At Snape’s nod, he said, “I’ll pull up one of these chairs and we can wait together.”
“Go and have another bit of sleep,” Severus said. “You’ve been fairly exhausted and there are many miles to go, so to speak.”
“I can do that right here, thank you very much,” Remus told him, already moving one large chair away from its place by the window over near Severus. He pulled the dust cover off of it and sank down into the plush material, positioning his body so that he slouched sideways into the chair, a leg hanging over one of its sturdy arms.
Severus let out an undignified snort and turned his head down towards the reams of parchment in front of him.
                Remus drifted, not taking much time before he floated away completely into sleep. He was blissfully ignorant of the world for an unknown time, before he woke, stretching his neck and regretting his chair sleeping decision all around. Turning his attention outward, he found Severus where he had left him, but with pieces of parchment spread out all over his lap and hovering all around his chair while he looked from one piece to another, scanning them all for something that he obviously wasn’t finding, if that crease between his eyebrows was anything to go by.
“How’s it going over there?” he dared to ask, wiping any sleep from his eyes.
“I’m clearly daft,” Severus retorted, shuffling through some of the parchment rather viciously.
Remus let out an uncontrolled bit of laughter at that. “You’re the least daft person I know,” he told Snape.
“Then I am missing or have incorrect data.”
“How long have you been looking at that, maybe taking a break would help?” Remus suggested, stretching his locked hands over his head.
“You frequently offer that as a solution,” Severus pointed out waspishly, “has it helped you solve a great many problems?”
“In fact it has, you berk!” Remus laughed – freezing at his choice of language, suddenly uncertain. Why did he always take things too far?
Severus tossed his quill onto his lap and rubbed roughly at his eyes. “…I was being a bit of a prat there, wasn’t I?”
Remus opened his mouth to say god only knew what, when Fred appeared in the middle of the room with David, the Healer from St Mungo’s. He wasn’t bound and there was a distinct lack of a sack over his head, so it seemed that Fred had taken Severus’ words about kidnapping to heart.
“Mister Snape!” David exclaimed. “Are you well? Your elf said it was a matter of immense urgency that needed the highest level of discretion. What are your symptoms?” David asked, setting the satchel he was carrying on the ground and opening its zip.
“Though I appreciate your concern, I am not to be your patient,” Severus said. “This child is the one in need of your attention,” he indicated the unconscious form of Daniel in the bed.
“Who?” David began. “Is this your slave child, the one mentioned in the papers… Teddy?” David asked, already over at the bedside, scanning the child’s prone body.
“No,” Severus said.
“Who is he then?” David asked, openly curious.
“That isn’t your concern, he is ill and needs medical attention – please let me know now if you are incapable of providing that.”
He scanned him further, his face falling. “You’re damned right he needs medical attention, but you’re dead wrong if you think I don’t need to know who I’m treating!” David exclaimed.
“David, I need you to look me in the eyes and swear to me that what I tell you will not be discussed outside of this house,” Severus instructed.
“Yes, of course,” David said.
“I need you to look at me, and swear to my face that you will not tell a soul of what I am about to disclose to you,” Severus commanded, his voice gaining steel as he spoke.
David turned to meet his eyes. “Mister Snape, I need to know who this boy is so that I can properly treat him and for no other reason. I swear to you now that I will not speak of this outside of present company. I swear it on my life. Now please, tell me who he is!” David turned back to Daniel, his wand fluttering over the child’s form as he scanned him further.
“I do not know who he is,” Severus admitted. “He was liberated from Quinton Lanning’s basement shortly before the Ministry raid on his residence, if my timeline and the one in the papers are both correct.”
”I…” David started, his wand hand faltering and dropping slowly down to his side.
Severus subtly took a slow and deep breath. Perhaps he had been even weaker and more befuddled than he had thought when he left the hospital. Everything he believed he’d seen in this man’s mind had pointed to him being an asset to them – someone willing to do anything to help a patient, no matter who that patient was, no matter what the rules dictated. He was now watching his reaction to this news with something akin to dread pooling in his gut. He did not have the mental or magical fortitude needed to erase and rewrite this Healer’s memories as he had that vile Ministry Inspector and then do what was needed to help this child to recover. Yet there would be no other option if this went awry.
“Is there a problem, Healer?” he asked, hoping to achieve a lightness in his tone that he didn’t feel at all in his heart.
“‘A problem’, Mister Snape?” David asked, turning to face him.
“If you are unable or unwilling to help or participate in the continued care and treatment of this child, please tell me now,” Severus said. He felt his energy draining just thinking about what the next twelve hours would require of him, but there was nothing for it.
David’s face reflected surprise. “No, Mister Snape, that isn’t it. Just – how isn’t this all over the news like the rest of what they found down there? The man was a lunatic, as far as I’m concerned, and I’m ashamed to share a profession with him, but I don’t understand how there isn’t a sea of reporters outside.”
“You are now one of only a select few people that would know of his presence here,” Severus explained. “He was removed from Lanning’s house with the utmost of secrecy, and I have reason to believe that he was undocumented in the first place, so there is little reason for Lanning to come forward to claim him and even less likelihood that the Ministry or WIBNA are aware of, or will acknowledge, his existence.” Even forming the words was becoming difficult, “I am not anywhere near top form, but if your assistance is not forthcoming then I will do what is needed myself.”
Now David’s face showed clear distress. “Please don’t, Mister Snape! You are in no condition to be preforming the level of Magic needed to heal this boy. I didn’t say that I wouldn’t help you, only that I find everything around this completely surprising.”
“You’re not the only one,” Severus said with a rueful twist of his lips. “Does this mean that you are willing to offer both your assistance as well as your discretion?”
“I believe I offered you as much the last time we spoke,” David said. He turned back to Daniel, he scanned him one more time. “Many of his major organs have been seriously affected by something. Lord! Do you have any idea what happened to him before he was ‘liberated’? From what I’m seeing here it almost appears as if this was done deliberately, I’m not sure what could naturally cause damage this extensive.”
“I’m almost positive that he was poisoned by Lanning, who was likely feeling like getting rid of especially incriminating evidence with the heightened scrutiny on him in the Ministry and the media. Daniel here was dosed with that I believe is a combinative formula of monkshood and foxglove in a cruel attempt to dispose of him. When he arrived here and we realized what was happening, we began to treat him immediately. He was given a bezoar, Ünus-Cornü Healing Cream applied to his chest and philtrum to keep him stable and give his body the vitality it needed to continue to function, as well as a liquid blend of Naringin Solution and Rose Quartz Essence given orally for heart, lung and liver’s wellbeing. That appeared to stabilize him, and since then he’s shown little change in condition – he needs further help to actually improve once these potions metabolise out of his system.” Fucking blistering Hell, his throat and cheek hurt from so much conversation, but he doubted he was free of it yet.
David turned back to look at him. “Maybe I was misinformed, but I thought you were a Potion’s Master,” he said.
Snape’s eyebrows both rose at once as he moved to verbally defend his choices in medicine, when David interrupted him.
“That wasn’t what I meant to say!” he exclaimed over Severus’ pending rebuttal. “I should have said that I didn’t know that you were also trained as a Healer – the brewers I’ve worked with don’t know that much about diagnostics or the application of their brews. It was a creative take on his treatment, and probably why he is in such stable condition presently.”
Severus, who had learned in his life that kind words and compliments from strangers, enemies and comrades alike were not to be trusted, externally ignored this line of talk completely. “How much time do you have available and what supplies do you need to ensure this child improves?”
“I have the next two days free from work and… frankly, he will need a large amount of Lycanthrope safe potions – the cost will be staggering, but I can provide you with a list. The rest can be improvised, but without the proper medication, I don’t know if anything I’m going to do will make a significant difference.”
“Provide me with that list and if I don’t have what you need already on hand, I’ll eat my hat and then set my personal brewer on it,” he smirked, thinking fondly of Draco and not being able to stop the expression from manifesting itself on his face. He passed the Healer a parchment and quill.
“You’re a man of many surprises, Mister Snape,” David told him, hiding a smile.
“And you’ve only been here twenty minutes,” Severus barely heard Remus say to himself. My, his werewolf was full of sarcastic insights today.
David scribbled away, listing the things he would need, potions related or not. When he was done, he handed the parchment back to Snape, who looked over it and then took back the quill as well. He listed a series of numbers beside the names of the potions on the list and signalled for Fred to come closer. Fred went to his side and offered his hand without a word. Severus passed him the paper and waited for his bulbous eyes to scan over all of the print. “Any questions?”
“Where is Fred supposed to be getting a pound of hardwood ash? We is having the amla infused water and the copper pan to be boiling them in, but is you wanting Fred to be burning some of Mistress Snape’s furniture?” In spite of the bitch having been dead for years, the elf’s voice still shook at the thought.
“No, Fred,” Severus told him, “the furniture wax and polish would affect things in incalculable ways. Would you send word to Sebastian and kindly ask one of his men to deliver it to us with great urgency – explain the need for unvarnished and chemically and magically untreated woods, please – I believe he is our best source for such things, even if he needs to burn a usable piece of lumber. We can trust both his silence on the matter and that what we receive will be of the quality we request and not something unsuitable passed off as if it were of no consequence.”
“Fred is being doing that now,” the elf said. “I is bringing you everything else and then being going to town and back in a flash. Fred is seeing you when he is done and letting you know what Sebastian is being saying.”
“Thank you,” Severus told him, barely having time to speak those two words before Fred had disappeared from the room.
   “He needed very little instruction for such a complicated written list,” David pointed out, absently impressed.
“Fred is not your usual, run of the mill house elf,” Severus said wryly.
“Oh, that much was obvious as soon as he entered my office and informed me that he was expressly told not to kidnap me, but that you had requested my presence immediately, and would I please come with him now?” David laughed, not without nervousness. “Strong willed, that one.”
“One of the many reasons I trust him to do a job, and correctly, mind you.”
David nodded, gently raising Daniel's sleeping body and arranging another pillow behind his back so that he would be able to breathe easier. “So, you’re Remus Lupin, then? We met earlier, but we didn’t get much of a chance to really meet, you know?”
“I am,” Remus answered. He’d been wondering just a moment ago if his presence was truly necessary here, and now that attention was turned to him, he was more uncomfortable than ever.
“I was at Malfoy Manor and watched you and the others give your arguments as to why we should put our names on your ballots. Your speech moved me to put my name in to be one of the providers of Mister Snape’s care, and it is one of the reasons I’m here now.”
Remus was so on edge that he thought he might be falling over it already. “I’m not exactly sure what that means, sir, but thank you?”
“It means that as someone who has never really known a werewolf, never owned a slave, nor had anyone in their family or circle of friends own one, it is easy to fall into the propaganda about Lycanthropes. I’m a father as well, and hearing you talk about your struggles and the simple wishes you had for your son… I’m ashamed to say you reminded me that you’re all just people, with families and your own personal hopes, you know? I’ve never been for WIBNA or their policies, but I’ve never really had a reason to stand against them either. I can’t say that anymore,” David smiled ruefully.
“Thank you, that means more than I can put into words,” Remus told him truthfully. He had been so anxious at the time that he barely remembered giving his speech now, but the fact that it had reached even one person like that meant the world to him.
David opened his mouth to say something else but shut it again when Daniel's little body began to twitch and he let out a piteous moan. He turned to Snape instead. “On a scale on one to ten how much does that elf of yours drag his feet, so to speak?”
“Negative three,” Severus answered, now standing and hovering by the bedside as well.
“Good,” David replied. “I didn’t know what to expect, so I risked the wrath of your elf and gathered a few things that might help, but I need to give him a dose of at least two of those potions. …You have all of that just kicking around, do you?” David asked, referring to the list he’d initially handed Severus.
Snape nodded. “The moment I accepted Teddy and Remus as my inheritance, I began to prepare for any eventuality.”
“I’ll say,” David laughed nervously, “I don’t think St Mungo’s is this well stocked on Lycanthrope safe potions.”
“Why would they be?” Severus asked with his own brand of casual brutality.
David was saved from any potential answer he may have given by Fred, reappearing with a box under one arm and a duffel in the other. He set both on the table beside the bed. “Fred is going to town now – Fred is faster than any owl and is being twice as insistent.”
“Of that there is no doubt,” Severus agreed.
“Fred is reporting back,” the elf said and was gone again.
“Only a negative three?” Remus asked rhetorically.
David snorted a laugh, already digging through the box for what he needed.
Daniel let out another whine, his eyes fluttering open and closed as he fought against the resurgence of reality.
Severus reached over and flipped the record and started it over, bathing the room in soft piano music. He hoped that it would keep the child calm, thinking they could use all the help they could get on that front.
David eased the covers back from Daniel’s struggling form. “Hello, little buddy!” he said with a cheeriness that didn’t match the worried expression on his face. “Can you hear me, Daniel?” he asked again.
The boy pushed his hands away, coming to awareness slowly. His eyes blinked against the light and he let out a groan that made him sound like an old man. “No, please, not again, I’m too tired,” Daniel mumbled, weakly fighting as David tried to check his temperature and heart rate.
The Healer was visibly disturbed by this, but he carried on as if he wasn’t. “Don’t worry, little buddy, you don’t have to do a thing. How else are you feeling other than tired?”
“Who are you?” Daniel asked suspiciously, pulling away as much as his body would allow him to.
“My name is David,” the Healer smiled brightly at him. “I’m a H… helper, and I’m here to try and make you feel better, but I can’t do that if I don’t know what’s wrong. Can you tell me how you’re feeling, little buddy?”
Looking over his shoulder and seeing Severus and Remus there seemed to settle him some. “My tummy hurts!” The little boy finally exclaimed, his hands moving to secure themselves around his middle.
“I’ll bet it does,” David said sympathetically. He moved away to gather up a glass of water and began dropping potions into it. “Can you tell me how your head feels? Is there any tingling in your fingers or toes – do they feel funny or itchy, like they're being poked with little needles?”
“I’m dizzy when I move my head,” he admitted, “and my hands and feet do feel weird.”
The Healer brought the glass over to the bed. “I know your tummy doesn’t feel very good, but I need you to drink this.”
The child pulled away even further, even though it obviously pained him. His face was the picture of betrayal as he craned his neck to look at Snape.
“Don’t worry, little buddy, it’s just medicine – it’ll make you start to feel better, I swear!”
Daniel’s eyes welled with tears, and he brought one shaking hand up to wipe at his cheeks as he shook his head, obviously knocked off kilter by the action.
“He was given a painful, slow acting poison,” Severus reminded David quietly, “likely prefaced with words very similar to those. Lanning quite sounds the part of the gentleman, most of the time, anyway.”
David gave a nod, turning back to the boy and tapped the side of the cup he was holding, saying a spell alongside the motion. The liquid slowly drained from the glass, which he then set aside.
Daniel shuddered with horror, feeling the liquid pooling in his stomach. “You made me-!” the boy said, outraged and terrified.
“I had to, little buddy. You’re not feeling good for a reason, and I need to address that reason quickly, okay? Can you help me do that?” David asked hopefully.
“I’m not your ‘buddy’,” the child told him, letting out a sob. “I want to go home.”
“You need to let this man help you, Daniel,” Severus said.
“I don’t want to!”
“I know, Daniel,” Severus told him, “but there is little choice. Remus and I will be here with you, but you need to do as David asks.”
Daniel sat there, breathing heavily and looking very displeased with his lot in life. He was positively grey, thin and trembling.
“Please, child,” Severus implored, moving to sit at the foot of the bed. “Everything he is going to do, he will do for the sole purpose of helping you. Please let him do that.”
The boy sat there, fighting some internal war, that was eventually won – or lost, depending on how you looked at it. “Okay,” he finally said in a small voice.
“Thank you, Daniel,” David answered, his eyes trailing over to where Severus had his hand resting on the boy’s foot over the blankets. “I’m going to need you to lay back on the pillows and hold still – pretend you’re frozen in ice or that you’re a statue of marble. If you do happen to move, it will be okay, so don’t worry; the only thing that will happen is that this will take a little longer, alright?”
“What – what are you going to do?” the child asked fearfully, wriggling his other foot over so that Snape’s hand was resting on it as well.
“I am going to use my magical core to help you feel better,” David told him with a smile. “It might take a little time, and you might feel warmth and tickling in your abdomen and chest while I do it, but that’s good, that means it’s working.”
“Will it hurt?” Daniel asked, hands curling in the blankets.
“Not a bit,” David assured him. “The potion I spelled into your stomach earlier will make sure of that. If anything makes you uncomfortable, please say something immediately.”
“Okay,” Daniel replied, sounding lost.
“You’re going to heal him using your own magical core,” Severus said, feeling a little lost himself.
“That was the plan, yes,” David agreed. “I can’t take him to St Mungo’s, not without proper ID or paperwork. That means I don’t have access to the equipment needed to do this by the book, so I’m going to do it the only other way I know how. It was something we did on the battlefield, if it was needed and I was much more fatigued then than I am now. I’m assuming you have somewhere for me to crash after this, that is,” he laughed a little nervously.
“You will have any and all amenities provided to you,” Severus assured him. “I greatly appreciate you doing this.”
“Well I can’t just leave this little guy to… feel so bad,” David made his second conversational save of the day, looking over at the frightened little boy and thinking that knowing the consequences of failure wouldn’t help him. “So just lay still, Daniel, and this will be over soon.”
Daniel nodded, holding his breath and closing his eyes, clearly not trusting what he had been told about this hurting.
David widened his stance in the chair, leaning closer to the boy with his wand extended over the child’s torso, the palm of his other hand hovering over the child’s chest. He began to speak, lines of Latin whispered quietly to himself, his wand starting to make a series of intricate web like motions in the air above his patient. Sweat began to bead on his brow, and then run in rivulets down the sides of his face. From where he was standing, Remus could see the straining in his arms and chest, the quaking of his hands becoming more and more evident as he whispered the invocation quietly and without faltering. Minutes passed, and the signs of wear on David were becoming more and more apparent, but he didn’t waver.
Daniel’s face showed a collage of emotions, but he did his part and held still, fists balled in the blankets as they had been at the start.
David’s face was forming red splotches, as if he were blushing or had just stepped out of an overheated bath. The tremors were extending down his arms, which appeared to be remaining outright from his body only by the sheer force of his will, as his muscles looked like they wanted to fail him. This went on for moments that felt like hours, before he finally fell silent, collapsing over and onto the bed, half in his chair and breathing as if he had just run miles for his life. His forearms still supported on the bed, he raised his head with impossible effort and asked, “How are you feeling now, Daniel?” his voice hollow and tremulous.
“Tired,” the boy said quietly.
“What else?” David pressed.
“My tummy doesn’t hurt now,” Daniel admitted. “You were right, it felt warm here and here,” he indicated the parts of his body where his liver and kidneys were positioned, “and it tingled all through my chest, almost burning here, but not quite,” he held his hand over his heart.
“Severus, are you strong enough to scan him?” David asked, obviously not feeling up to the task himself.
Snape let out a derisive snort and held his wand out, scanning Daniel. Obviously satisfied, he moved to scan the Healer, who was so exhausted that he didn’t appear to notice.
“Well, how is he, did it work?” David asked, his words slurring together at the edges.
“I can say with authority that it did,” Severus told him with a small frown, “as I am now more concerned for your health than I am for his.”
“Great,” David huffed, lowering his head back into his arms. “So about that bed?” he mumbled.
“Can you walk?” Severus asked.
“Yep,” David answered. “Right away.” He was still for another couple of minutes, grateful for the time to gather himself, then hauled himself up and unsteadily to his feet.
“I’ll get him settled, Remus, you stay with Daniel – see if you can get some fluids into him,” Severus said, helping the man from the room bodily as it seemed he might collapse at any moment.
Given little other option, Remus nodded and moved to take up Snape’s position at the edge of the bed while the other two stumbled from the room.
“Hey Daniel,” he said quietly, “how are you doing?”
“I’m tired,” the boy said, “but I don’t hurt anymore. Hungry.” As if to emphasise his point, his stomach gave a loud gurgle. He shrugged his shoulders as if it was all pointless to list.
“When Severus comes back, we’ll get something to eat for you,” Remus promised him.
“He really meant it?” Daniel asked with heartbreaking disbelief.
“He did,” Remus assured him. “We’ll bring you something tasty and you will be able to eat until you’re full,” Remus promised. “Until then, do you think you could make do with a drink of water? Nothing else, just water.”
The boy nodded, smacking his lips together. “Yes, please,” he asked.
Remus filled the glass and helped Daniel sit up to drink it. The child couldn’t seem to manage more than a sip at a time, but they worked their way through the half of the glass before Remus nestled him back against the pillows.
“Thanks,” the boy said, his eyelids drooping. Just as Remus thought he was going to drift off, he flailed and opened his eyes in a panic, looking around desperately.
“Hey, it’s alright,” Remus assured him, moving closer. “What’s wrong?”
The boy floundered. “I just… sometimes forget where I am, you know?”
“Do I ever,” Remus smiled sadly, extending his hand. “Here, let’s sit together. If you’re unsure or afraid, squeeze my hand. I’m not going anywhere.”
“Okay,” Daniel said after a time, taking Remus’ hand. They waited together, Daniel slipping away into an uneasy sleep, and Remus keeping his silent watch.
Eventually, Severus returned to the room, his gait slowing as he saw what met him inside. He went over to Remus and ran his hand across his shoulders. “How is he?”
“Sleeping,” Remus answered just as quietly. “He seems to feel better, but he’s so much more worn down than even before…”
“His body is healing very swiftly, it is to be expected,” Severus told him.
“What did David do? I’ve never heard of that.”
“He used his own power to heal Daniel’s injuries. It is a spell sometimes used during war times, though largely infrequently, as it takes a massive toll on the caster. He will likely sleep for the next eighteen to twenty four hours, with how serious the boy’s condition was. It is essentially a form of sacrifice, transferring some of his life force into Daniel.”
“Did you know he was going to do that?”
“No, I had thought that he would have access to greater resources than us. It was what I was going to do if he was unwilling to help us, so his assistance was a mercy.”
“That’s one way of putting it,” Remus said wryly, thinking of the shape Severus would be in if he had performed that spell himself and almost shaking his head. “Will he completely recover?”
“David? Yes, though it will take time. We will feed him when he wakes, and I will insist on him taking a physical and magical restorative, but yes, with time it will physically be as if it never happened for him. What he did saved Daniel’s life – with his metabolism and all of the adrenaline coursing through his system, it might have appeared he was better off than he was. His heart, liver and kidneys were severely damaged by the poison, but according to the scan I have just taken, they are next to what could be considered ‘normal’ now.” Severus rubbed at his cheek, feeling foolish for worrying about an aching scar in the face of Daniel’s nearness to death. “He will feel much better when he next wakes up.”
“He was mentioning that he was hungry as well,” Remus noted. “How long do you think he’ll sleep?”
“Unknown,” Severus replied. He went to the bedside, selecting a potion from the bag Fred had brought and measuring a dose into a clean glass. He made the same motions beside the glass as David had for the potion he’d made Daniel drink. “His body is working very hard right now, and that takes energy reserves he likely doesn’t have, being so neglected by Lanning. We’ll keep monitoring his condition, I’ve just dosed him with a nutritional supplement, but it is no replacement for a proper meal. We will let him sleep for a while before waking him up so that he can eat something.”
“Thank you for taking care of him,” Remus said, feeling like the possibility was great that no one else ever would.
“David did most of the work,” Severus deflected. “If Ackerley isn’t able to come up with anything, then we might be responsible for his care for an extended period of time. We will do all we can to ensure that the time he does spend here, whether it is brief or not, is beneficial to him.” Severus’ expression was briefly haunted by something as he looked down at this boy, and though Remus’ heart was in his throat, he knew he had to find a way to speak around it because his silence wasn’t helping anything.
There was a sharp crack and Fred appeared in the middle of the room.
“Fred is now being reporting back,” the elf told Snape. “Sebastian is being saying that he is having the ash here very quickly. He is burning untreated hardwood in his forge and is being able to have some sent here in what is being ‘a flash’. Fred was making a stop or two on his way back, someone is needing to be restocking the pantry – they is maybe not being far behind him.”
“Thank you, Fred,” Severus told him. “We will be awaiting their messenger.”
“What do we need hardwood ash for,” Remus asked. “Fred mentioned that it was boiled with some kind of infused water?”
“That is exactly what we do with it, reducing it until the correct ratio is achieved – this will then be mixed into a bath of water that Daniel will soak in, extracting the remaining toxins from his system and boosting his ability to fight the continuing damage they would have caused. Once this is done, his vitality levels should shortly return to normal, or what passes for normal in his weakened state.”
“Fred is staying with him, he is being calling you if the boy is waking or is needing anything,” the elf said determinedly.
Severus knew better than to argue with him. “If you would keep the music playing, that would be helpful. There are many instrumentals to choose from.”
“Fred is doing that,” the elf assured. “Fred is keeping him comfortable.”
Remus reluctantly let go of the child’s hand and rose, following Severus through the door, which they quietly shut behind themselves.
“What next?” Remus asked, going for light-hearted and missing the mark by a mile.
“I want to make sure that Teddy is alright, and then I’m going to head to the lab and see what I can make of my calculations after one of your magical, restorative ‘breaks’,” Severus said with half a smile.
Remus lightly whacked his arm. “I bet you’ll be surprised.”
“That would be quite on trend with this last couple of weeks,” Severus agreed with a twist of his lips, moving down the hallway. He made it almost to Teddy’s room, reaching his hand out to the knob when he felt the chiming of his wards inside of his mind. “Damn,” he murmured. “I believe our ash has arrived,” he told Remus, turning and walking towards the stairs. He went straight for the back door, holding it open and standing on the back step, watching for whoever would mount the hill separating their sightline from the town a distance away.
Remus followed him, curiosity outweighing any need for propriety. He looked over his master’s shoulder only to see Sebastian, hair flying behind him as he sped across the countryside on the back of a grey horse towards the house. He backed into the kitchen as Severus stepped back off the stoop to make room for the man, who was jogging up to the house carrying two large canvas bags from off the back of the horse, just as infuriatingly handsome as the last time. The man was here for a good cause, he reminded himself forcefully, feeling a twinge of guilt for his jealous inclinations.
“Severus!” Sebastian greeted, open emotion in both his voice and his face as he walked into the house, ushered in by Snape. As soon as they were in the kitchen Sebastian stopped to take a better look at Severus, an expression of dismay crossing his features only to be eaten up a fraction of a second later by one of the most winning smiles Remus had ever been witness to. Sebastian reached out without hesitation, and to his surprise he found Severus reaching back, the two of them clasping forearms like old friends.
“Sebastian,” Severus greeted in return, offering his free hand to take the bags.
Sebastian held onto them until his forearm was released, moving to set both of them on the kitchen table before turning all of his attention to Snape.
“I didn’t know if I should come for a visit or give you a mile of space,” the carpenter admitted openly, moving closer to Severus. “All of my thoughts and prayers have been with you,” he said with honesty, moving a step closer still. “It does me good to see you here, standing tall and looking just as wonderfully formidable as always.”
“The house is done, you lying flatterer, and I told you years ago that I don’t use over half of it already, so there is absolutely no bloody need for an addition,” Severus said, brow furled.
They stared at one another seriously for a moment and then broke into light laughter.
“It’s good to see you smile, mate,” Sebastian told him.
“You’re a sight for sore eye,” Severus said, heavy with humor and gesturing to his blue eye.
Sebastian tried to smile in return, but it came out as more than a grimace. “God, it’s too fucking soon for me, I don’t know how you can joke about it.”
Severus appeared stuck for the first time in their conversation, as if he had actually expected a jest about his enucleation would lighten the mood with his friend and was surprised to find out that wasn’t the case.
“Your madly dubious sense of humour aside,” Sebastian said, “how are you?”
Severus was still stalled out, his face displaying nothing. He took a breath and something imperceptible changed in his expression – the slightest downturn of the left side of his lips, the appearance of lines across his forehead, a tightening around his eyes. He opened his mouth to respond, but his houseguest cut him off.
“Don’t lie to me,” Sebastian warned sternly. “How are you?” he asked again.
Severus opened his mouth to give a sneering reply, but Sebastian wouldn’t stop meeting his eyes, and brought his one hand up to lightly touch his elbow. He didn’t know why, and he would say later if asked that he hadn’t seen it coming, he choked, his voice and body stuttered. “I- I’m…”
“Don’t you dare lie to me, Severus Snape,” Sebastian said, softly this time. “I won’t stand for it.” His hand hadn’t waivered from the other man’s elbow.
“I-” Severus started again, “Its as good as could be expected,” he finally decided on his words.
They looked at one another, knowing that his reply didn’t convey the half of it, though because it was too vague an answer to even be considered false information, Sebastian let it slide. “That grim, huh?” he asked gently. He tugged lightly on Snape’s arm and pulled him in for a hug, wrapping his arms around the other man’s shoulders and just holding on without another word.
Severus hadn’t really moved, definitely hadn’t blinked, but somehow, he was returning the embrace and he felt the wetness of tears tracking down his cheeks. To say he was horrified at himself would be a gross understatement. His arms echoed the embrace he was receiving. He wept without sound into Sebastian’s shoulder, almost unable to stop himself or shield himself from emotion, bombarded at once from all sides, he was helpless but to let it out. Somehow, all he could do was to hold on and let go at the same time, even though there wasn’t time, people were watching, Remus was watching, but still it seemed there was no choice. The pressure inside of his shields was gone now that he had allowed a portion of them down, but now those emotions were free, unfettered to devastate his mind. In the face of this unexpected concern, he found himself falling into them.
Sebastian, to his credit, was just a silent, but comforting presence. He didn’t murmur platitudes or say that anything would be alright, he silently held onto Severus, until the wracking of his shoulders subsided into stillness. Still, he held on for a time, his hand stroking lightly along the other man’s shoulder blades, and then slowly prised them apart, holding Severus at arm’s length. “Contact me, you idiot,” he said with a watery smile. “I’ll come move that staircase for you a third time, or we can just sit and have a scotch in your back yard and not talk about anything – or whatever strikes your fancy that day. Just don’t go through this alone, not again.”
All that Remus could do was watch as this complete stranger walked in, spoke to Severus for a few seconds, and was awarded insight into his master’s emotions. He even briefly allowed this man to comfort him, something Remus felt that he had barely been able to achieve, even with them spending days together directly after everything.
Severus gathered himself, pressing a hand over his face and removing it as if that would restore his composure or his dignity. “I am not alone,” he said, his voice his own again.
Remus felt the ice lodged in his stomach melt by half.
“No, I suppose you aren’t,” Sebastian agreed, looking over Snape’s shoulder at Remus and giving him a sad smile. It was gone in a flash, replaced by his usual charming expression. Something twinkled in his eyes as he said, “Finally found some poor sod to put up with you then,” he teased Snape.
“It would seem so,” Severus said, his voice twisted sarcastically, “a bit of a captive audience, that.”
Sebastian took another long look over Snape’s shoulder, seeming to silently size Remus up. “If that makes you feel better,” Sebastian said.
“Don’t be a prat,” Severus instructed.
“Can’t help it, you just bring it out of me.”
“That would explain a lot,” Severus answered with a tired smirk, “like really, a lot.”
“Now who’s the prat?” Sebastian grinned.
“It’s still you,” Snape said definitively.
Sebastian threw his head back and laughed. “And here’s a man who truly knows me,” he said, mirth laced through his voice. “Now, where do you want this ash, and do I want to know what you’re planning on doing with it?”
“Down in the lab would be preferable,” Severus said. “We are going to brew a basic detoxifying potion with it to aid an acquaintance of ours. It is time sensitive, so I’d like to begin at once. There is no chance of this material having any stains, lacquers or treatments applied to it? No spells or wards? The contents of the fire that burned it was at least eighty per cent comprised of wood, not filler or accelerant? What is fair for payment – for your time and travels at the very least?”
“I see the last couple of weeks haven’t slowed you down any,” Sebastian said wryly. “In order: no, no, yes and definitely nothing. Ash has quite a few uses – I was actually planning on mulching this into part of my garden at the end of the season, so it was easily accessible.”
“Thank you,” Severus replied. “Both bags are ash?”
“Yes – I just collected most of what I had and hauled it over. Use it all, if you need.” Sebastian picked up the sacks again. “Down to the lab with them, then?”
“If you would be so kind,” Severus replied.
Remus took up the lead, opening the door and walking down the uneven steps.
“You’re sure you don’t want these replaced?” The carpenter only half joked as he balanced his way down the stairs behind them. “They’re a fucking death trap, really.”
“Positive.”
Remus rounded the corner to find Draco over the cauldron on the far side of the room and Harry sitting at one of the research tables building a fairly impressive house of cards.
“Hard at work, I see,” Severus sneered to the room.
“What can I say, you’ve broken my godson,” Harry told him, “he’d rather practise his reading than play, and I’ve been told I’m too distracting for the second time today. Oh, hello,” he greeted Sebastian when he’d reached the bottom landing.
“Hi there,” Sebastian smiled winningly.
Draco waved without turning around, his back to them and his body bent over the cauldron.
“Sebastian, the one with the poor posture and terrible manners is my godson, Draco Malfoy, and this is our guest, Harry Potter, who is spending his afternoon crafting a domicile out of playing cards. Draco, Potter, this is Sebastian – he is the carpenter from the nearby town and a very good friend of mine.”
This earned a head tilt from Draco, who briefly took his eyes off the potion he was working on to see the visitor. He then did one of the least subtle double takes of his life, before returning his attention completely to his work.
“Nice to meet both of you,” Sebastian said, nodding his head and rolling his eyes at Snape’s description of Harry and Draco. He moved around Severus and Remus and set the sacks down by the nearest brewing station. “Over here is good, Severus?”
“Fine, thank you,” Severus told him. He was already moving over to the rack of cauldrons, selecting one made of copper from the many seemingly at random. He briefly disappeared down the narrow hallway at the back, only to return with two large glass jugs full of liquid levitating behind him. They were moved to the top of the work bench and left to wait while a fire sprung to life at the workstation at the wave of his hand. He placed the cauldron over it and spelled the jugs to pour their contents into its basin while he retrieved a cloth bag from one of his pockets and set it beside everything. He took a glass measure in hand and pulled open the ties of one of the sacks of ash, which he then began to measure into the cauldron, one level scoop at a time.
Harry rose and went over to Sebastian, offering his hand, which the carpenter shook. “Pleased to meet you.”
“You as well,” Sebastian beamed. “I read about you throwing your hat into the ring to help Severus come home early, but I didn’t expect to actually meet you in person.”
“Well, here I am,” Harry laughed weakly.
“You used to be a student of Severus’?” Sebastian asked, moving away from the vague topic of Harry’s celebrity.
“Not a very good one,” Harry laughed legitimately this time, moving to retake his seat, “but yes.”
“Remember that obliterated door you replaced for me?” Snape tossed in without looking over at them. He had set the glass measure aside and was pouring some of the water into the ash in the cauldron. When he was apparently satisfied with the amount of moisture, he plunged his hand into the basin and began to mix the ash and water together.
“Oh! This is the one, is he?” Sebastian roared with laughter. “You’ve got some pair on you, coming back here after that!”
Harry blushed and fiddled nervously with his hair. “He invited me,” he said. “I’m actually staying here for a while, if you can believe it.”
“Yeah, well I’m sure by now we all know he’s a bit of an unconventional bugger,” Sebastian said, looking at Snape from out the corner of his eyes and smirking with what seemed to be his whole face. “You never know what to expect from this one, he might just want to keep you close in order to twist the metaphorical thumb screws without having to really reach, you know? It reminds me-”
Harry was struck speechless, glancing over to see Snape’s reaction.
Severus looked exasperated. “That sounds like a segue into a story I’d rather not have told in present company, thank you.”
“Oh, come on,” the carpenter joked, “I’d say you’re no fun, but I’ve seen otherwise. You remember don’t you, that time-”
“I swear that I will spell every other person in this room temporarily deaf,” Severus told him while using wandless magic to add more water to the cauldron. He’d given Sebastian his word years ago that he wouldn’t perform magic on him unless express permission was given, and he wouldn’t go back on his word even in jest.
“Fine. I’m sorry to mislead you, your Professor is old and stodgy and has never had any fun in his life, not even once,” Sebastian said sarcastically.
“Thank you,” Severus said pointedly, ignoring his tone of voice.
Remus smiled to himself, thinking that perhaps it wasn’t such a bad thing that Sebastian was here after all. The man seemed to bring something out of Severus, who was clearly trying not to smile while doing gods knew what to the ash in the cauldron with his hands. Sebastian was good at getting Severus’ mind off of things, which perhaps could be almost as good as a rest for him. Almost.
“There,” Severus said, as if to himself. He spelled the jug to pour the rest of its contents into the cauldron, rinsing his hands with the stream that came out of its mouth.
“What were you doing?” Remus asked.
“I was mixing the hardwood ash and amla infused spring water – using my bare hands allowed me to transfer a small amount of my magic into the mixture more cleanly than using a stirring utensil would.” He dried his hands on a towel and spelled the flame under the cauldron to grow larger and hotter. “When this begins to boil, I will infuse it again with my magic, as well as the essence of a fluorite crystal by stirring the brew with a large point of one. The mixture will then boil down until the water is mostly evaporated. What we are after is what is remaining in the cauldron when that evaporation is complete. The residue will be rehydrated into a bath that will help remove the remaining toxins from Daniel’s system.”
                “Daniel?” Sebastian asked.
“A friend,” Severus said.
“Ah,” the carpenter acknowledged the lack of information as its own answer. “I’m just glad I could be helpful.”
“More than you know,” Snape said. Remus privately agreed.
“How long until your sludge is done?” Draco’s voice came from across the room, where he was now washing and drying his hands.
“I will be stirring it momentarily, and then I should have about an hour before it needs to be removed from the flame,” Severus answered. He opened the mouth of the cloth bag and reached inside, extracting a long, geometrical point of fluorite crystal, gleaming dark purples and teals even in the dim light of the basement. He held this in his left hand while taking up a pair of tongs and grasping the flat end of the point with them, peering into the cauldron. He waited for another few seconds before dipping the fluorite into the bubbling ash mixture and stirring seven times.
“Perfect, because I could use a drink and I know for a fact that you took all of the good stuff upstairs,” Draco told him, walking closer and wiping his hands on a towel.
“You’ve completed the second stage?”
“To perfection, of course,” Draco told him smugly. He turned his attention to the carpenter. “Hello, I’m Draco Malfoy and very pleased to meet anyone who Severus considers a friend,” he smiled and held out his hand.
“Hello, great to finally meet you,” Sebastian grinned. “I’ve heard a lot about you over the years – your godfather here is always bragging about you, so its nice to put a face to it.”
Draco’s cheeks coloured and he was suddenly very interested in making certain his hands were dry. “Hopefully I don’t disappoint,” he said drolly, folding the towel and placing it on one of the tables.
“Nah mate, I’m easy,” Sebastian said, turning to smirk at Severus, “especially after a glass or two of Severus’ private stock. A Malfoy declaring it the ‘good stuff’, no less,” he teased. “Severus, I take back anything I said about a delivery charge. One, maybe two glasses should cover it.”
“One or two glasses you say,” Severus seemed to think about the offer briefly. “I suppose that could be arranged. Upstairs though, my laboratory is not a public house.”
“Noted,” Sebastian laughed and headed for the stairs.
They carefully filed up in a single line Remus going last, directly following Snape. His master appeared steady on the stairs, his steps sure and straight. Still, he wondered how much of it was an act. Even if his physical strength had improved and his pain diminished, there was still the matter of his psychological health. To see tears in his eyes was one thing, but the recollection of him puking and shaking, sweating and sobbing on his bedroom floor as he reintegrated some of his memories back into his mind wouldn’t leave him. He wished that there was more that he could do, but he knew that all he could do was to be near, to be there for him in whatever capacity he was needed.
Severus set out five glasses and gestured for everyone to have a seat. He then continued on through the kitchen and out of sight, presumably to retrieve the liquor.
When he was out of sight and the sound of his footsteps could be heard methodically moving up the stairs, Sebastian turned to Remus. “How is he, really?” he asked quietly.
Remus was unsure how to answer without either lying or doing Severus a disservice. “He seems to be doing well, but I believe he is struggling more than he is letting on.”
“That doesn’t surprise me,” Sebastian said, “I’m just glad he has all of you to be there with him. Last time was… ugly.”
“Last time?” Remus asked, as it was the second time the carpenter had mentioned this particular phrase.
“After the trials, when he had just moved back here. The place was a dump, but me and my team made it liveable in no time. He was in rough shape, but he helped every step of the way. I’d never met a wizard so prepared to put down his wand and get his hands dirty before.”
“I know he’s always on about ‘foolish wand-waving’, but why wouldn’t he use it?” Harry asked, giving a small snort at his own metaphorical quotes.
Sebastian looked briefly like he wished he’d swallowed his tongue. “Well, I suppose because I’m a Squib and my team and I do everything by hand,” he answered, his eyes flickering to Draco before meeting Harry’s emerald ones.
“Oh,” Harry said, suddenly awkward. “I’m sorry,” he said reflexively.
Sebastian shrugged. “Don’t be, I’m not.”
Draco’s eyes gleamed. “You’re a carpenter that doesn’t use magic?” he asked.
“Yep,” Sebastian said. “Hope I don’t disappoint,” he echoed Draco’s previous words, this time with extra sarcasm.
“I’ve never been accused of being easy,” Draco replied in kind, “but I’m far from being disappointed. I’ve recently accepted an apprenticeship in Magical Repair, and I’d be very interested in learning some things from you if you would be available to show them to me.”
Sebastian’s smile thinned. “I don’t know what you think a Squib can teach you about Magical Repair,” he said, obviously feeling like Draco was having him on in some way.
“There is surprisingly little magic in it,” Draco told him. “In fact, much of the time I will be unable to use magic, as it would disrupt the spells and wards already cast on the item to be repaired. I will need to learn how to do most of the actual repairing part by hand.”
“Really? That’s interesting,” Sebastian told him, his shoulders loosening. “Come on by the shop any time and I can go over anything you’d like to know.”
“I hope you have a lot of free time then, because I’m really starting from the ground up on this one. I don’t even know the names of all the bloody tools, never mind what they all do. I understand that the reason a person gets an apprenticeship is to learn, but I don’t want to look like a complete fool on my first day.”
“If there is one thing I have in surplus, it’s tools. I mean it, come on by the shop when you have a free afternoon and I’ll go over some of the basics with you.”
Before Draco had a chance to respond, Severus had appeared in the doorway holding a mostly full bottle and a thick manila envelope, which he set on the counter. “For god’s sake man, what’s wrong with you? I’m gone for two minutes and you’re offering to take my godson back to your shop and show him your tool!”
“Well,” Sebastian challenged back just as aggressively, “you were busy!” The ‘or I would have asked you’ was heard as clearly as if he’d actually voiced the words.
Draco and Harry wore similar expressions of disbelief, while Sebastian and Snape both laughed outright. Severus shook his head and said mockingly to the room, “That’s right, he’s only easy after a glass or two.”
Remus was sure his smile was nearly splitting his face. Where he had felt jealousy before, now he only felt relief. Relief that Severus could still do this, joke around and be happy, that he would even want to. His need to be part of it evaporated in the face of it actually happening.
Severus uncorked the bottle and expertly poured two fingers into each glass he’d taken out before. He waved his hand over them and the glasses frosted slightly.
“Useful, that one,” Sebastian pointed out. He took his glass and offering it up in a toast. He waited until the others had taken theirs up as well before saying, “To Severus, it’s a little late, but I’m pretty sure I speak for everyone when I say that we’re glad to have you home, mate!” They all touched glass rims and took a long drink.
Snape muttered, “Glad to be here,” and downed his in one go.
“Christ, that’s excellent,” Sebastian said after making an indecent sound at the taste of his drink.
“My father sent it as a gift,” Draco said, taking another delicate taste of his beverage.
“I think you mean bribe,” Severus corrected him, pouring himself another glass. There was nothing else for it.
Draco shrugged. “Same thing.”
Severus rolled his eyes, feeling a shooting pain go through his enucleated one and suppressing a grimace. “Do you have everything ready for the third stage of the potion?” he asked his godson.
“Yes, under a stasis spell downstairs. Do you have an extra Sober-Up potion kicking around?”
“Hallway cupboard in the lab, second shelf from the top, sixth from the left.”
“Perfect,” Draco said, holding out his glass for a refill.
Snape, who didn’t really feel like giving up control of the bottle, poured him a drink and then gestured that he would do the same for the others.
“I’ll be out of your hair after this one,” Sebastian said, “there are a few things I need to take care of back at the shop still, and I’m sure you have things to do as well. …Oh, and speaking of that – I have to tell you – I’ve had several people stop me in town or come by the shop to say that they would like to help make WIBNA history, if there is anything to be done. Put up posters, write or seal envelopes, turn up to protests… Just send me that mean looking owl of yours ahead of time and I’m sure I could have a small crowd waiting to be put to work.”
“Really?” Harry asked. “That’s… amazing, really.”
“Yeah, Lastanchor has no love for the powers that be, and many of them either had family affected or were affected themselves by the non-human laws when they came into place. They’re ready to act, but I think that they need some direction. Did you read about the protest in Diagon Alley? A lady from town was responsible for getting the ball rolling on that one. Her husband was a werewolf – killed while trying to escape from a re-education camp for ‘troublesome’ slaves, and she doesn’t even have a proper grave to visit. It was a good sized gathering, but if it had been correctly organized and promoted it could have been three times larger.”
“That is amazing to hear – Draco and I will start asking around town when we have a chance,” Harry said.
“Even with the publicity, people have been fairly reluctant to step forward or have their names tied to this,” Draco pointed out. “Why all of the fervency here, but nowhere else?”
“Whether he likes it or not, Severus is one of ours now,” Sebastian smiled. “They didn’t take well to the last couple of weeks’ worth of news,” he told them with a grimace.
“Thank you for bringing that to our attention,” Draco told him, “you can bet it is an opportunity we won’t let pass us by.”
“Good to hear,” Sebastian said, draining the rest of his glass and standing. “Draco, Harry, it really was nice to meet you. Remus, good to see you again, I’m sure I’ll come ‘round to bother you again soon.” He turned to Severus, “You,” he said, “don’t be a stranger. Use some of your fancy magic to pop by for a visit sometime, or I’ll be forced to do something mundane like saddle my horse and ride over here.” He took a couple of steps forward and wrapped his arms around Snape in a quick embrace. There was no trace of humour or derision in his voice as he looked him over again, “You’re looking great,” he said with a handsome smile. “If I’d just been through what you have… Shite, and here you are, getting gracefully day drunk and not even batting an eyelash.” He laughed, “I’ll quit embarrassing you now.”
“Embarrassing yourself, is more like it,” Severus said with friendly derision.
“You don’t know the half of it, Severus,” Sebastian grinned back, before tipping an imaginary hat at the other three and heading for the back door.

A/N: To anyone still following this story, thank you so much for your patience and dedication. I'm so sorry that it takes forever in between posts. I'd detail the reasons why, but you just read like 10,000 words, so I won't keep you any longer!
Please let me know if you are still out there and what you think of the direction this is going in. Your words of encouragement keep me coming back to this story! Thank you again!
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The Long Road