Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

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
- 8
- 9
- 10
Severus rounded the corner to find Teddy and Fred standing over a glass overflowing with fizzing bubbles. “What are you two getting up to?” he asked.
“Fred is showing me what happens when you mix baking soda and vinegar,” Teddy said, practically dancing around in excitement. “It’s exploding, do you see, sir?”
“I definitely do,” Snape said, coming closer. “It’s a chemical reaction; similar to the process of mixing ingredients into a potion to get a result. The effect of this reaction is just more easily seen than most.”
“It’s very neat!”
“Fred will be cleaning all this up; most of the action is being over now youngling,” Fred said, moving the glass to the sink and rinsing it out.
“What are we doing now, sir?” Teddy asked.
Snape’s eyebrows rose. He was not entirely sure what they were supposed to do. Teddy really shouldn’t be present while he was preparing those herbs, it wouldn’t do to take any unnecessary risks with the boy’s health. He trusted himself to be able to keep the child out of any problems, but accidents did happen as he well knew from his own personal experiences while instructing hundreds of children over the span of many years.
He supposed that they could go down to the lab and try something the boy might consider fun. If he’d enjoyed helping to brew that potion for his father half as much as he said he had, then he would really have a ball if they brewed a Hair-Raising Potion or an Erupting Bubble Solution.
“I was thinking we could head down to the lab and brew something interesting.”
“You mean I could help?” Teddy asked hopefully.
“Of course. Come with me; by the time we are done it will more than likely be supper time and we can go see your father.” Snape always found it helped his communication with children if he told them far in advance what was on the agenda.
“Really, again? Thank you, sir, that’s awesome.”
“Unless it is impossible for some reason, you and your father will be seeing each other every day. As he continues to recover, you and he will be seeing a great deal more of one another.”
“That’s great, sir!” Teddy’s face fell slightly. “But why?”
“What do you mean, ‘why’?” Snape asked bluntly. By this point they were standing down in the lab. “Don’t you want to see your father?”
“Well, yes sir. Of course I do. Buy why do you think it’s a good idea? My other master hated when I spent time with dad.”
“Because I believe it is good for both of you if you spend time together. It will help you both to reach your full potentials.” Snape answered honestly. “Your father loves you; that much is obvious. It would be wrong for me to stand in the way of that.”
“Oh, okay.” Teddy agreed, but he still didn’t look like he understood.
Snape decided to leave it at that. If the child didn’t fully comprehend his reasoning, that was alright. He would still see his father daily, he would benefit from the continuing support they both offered each other. It would make them stronger; that he knew. Albus would have wanted it like that, for Remus and Teddy to know one another and to flourish in that relationship. Who was he to prevent such a thing when it was in his power to allow it to happen?
“We are going to brew an Erupting Bubble Solution,” Severus told the boy.
“What is that, sir?” Teddy asked, bringing his hands up near his mouth.
“Exactly what it sounds like; when we are finished brewing it, the solution will, well… erupt in bubbles.” That was the most basic way to describe it.
“So it’s like the baking soda and the vinegar?” Teddy asked.
“In a way. You will see the difference immediately. This reaction takes longer to happen but is a good deal more eventful when it occurs.”
“What is the potion used for, sir?”
“Mostly entertaining young children with an interest in the arts. It has no practical application that I am aware of.”
“So, we are going to spend our afternoon doing something extremely neat but we’re doing it for no reason at all?” Teddy wrinkled his nose.
“Precisely,” Snape said. He boy needed to have some fun. Too bad he was the worst person to look at for such a thing, he had had no idea what children had found interesting when he was that young; or ever, really.
“Okay,” Teddy agreed. “What should I do?”
Snape pushed the stool back over to the preparation table and moved the spelled basket of Wolfsbane ingredients far to one side.
He brought a glass vial full of what looked like amber gelatin over to their station. He set it on the counter and brought over a small metal scale and a box of neatly organized weights.
“We will need exactly one ounce of this.” He set a one ounce weight on one of the plates of the balance scale. “See how the scale tips to one side?” he asked.
Teddy nodded.
“We need the exact same weight of this on the opposite scale to balance it out; that is when we know the proper amount is being added.” He took a small spoon with a slanted edge and scraped out some of the sap; it came out in flakes like hard wax.
He set the scraping he had made on the metal plate opposite of the weight.
“I need you to keep putting this onto that plate until you come near to having both plates at the same height. When you feel you are getting close, let me know. I will be gathering the rest of the ingredients and heating the cauldron. Is that clear?” He felt the need to make sure that he was communicating on a level that the child could understand.
“Yes, sir. I’ll let you know when it’s close.” Teddy took the spoon and sap from him.
“Good.”
“What is this stuff?” Teddy asked, sticking the spoon into the jar and scraping off a chunk as he had seen Severus do.
“It is the sap of a tree from South East Asia; a mystic shrub that does not show its flowers to those without the gift of magic. The new shoots provide this sap; it is known to have many uses for the everyday brewer, as well as in more advanced recipes. A number of cleaning solutions are produced with it; as well as a glue used primarily to bind crystal fragments together. “
“But we are using it to make bubbles.” Teddy asked, still scraping at the contents of the jar.
“Yes we are. From your skepticism I imagine you will be surprised by the end result.” Every once in a while, when he had had a class of first years that was well enough behaved, he put this potion on the board and walked the class through it. When the potion was done, there was more laughter in his classroom than with any other concoction, almost without exception.
He busied himself lighting a fire and gathering other jars and vials, setting them next to where Teddy was working. There was no need to look at the paper, the reactions were pretty straightforward, the process simple. When he had everything they would need on the workbench he selected a small cauldron from the shelf and set it on the station where he had the fire already heating.
Teddy already had the scales teetering back and forth; he was getting nearer to having them balanced. Severus decided to wait until his assistance was called for.
This exercise would be entertaining, but it would also give Teddy an opportunity to try some things for himself and build confidence in his own abilities. So far, the child had no idea what he was capable of. That had always been the part of being a Professor that had made the job bearable; pushing his pupils to see their own potential, though he was sure most of them had looked at it as torture rather than that.
He set out the five preserved specimens of Chrysolina Cerealis, or Snowdon beetle, approximately two and a half liters of distilled water and two small caps of Gyromitra Esculenta, which was a delicacy in some parts of the world but happened to be poison if eaten raw. He would assist Teddy in the proper hand washing techniques after the handling of that item. Also he brought over a small jar of powdered bicorn horn and three stalks of dried whisperweed, roots still attached.
“Sir?” Teddy asked him quietly, “I believe I’m almost there?”
Snape set down what was in his hand and went over to where Teddy was working.
The boy had done a pretty good job of getting the two scales to be even; the side with the weight still hung lower than the other, but not by much. He had seen worse attempts from more experienced students.
“You are very close,” Snape agreed. “Having trouble getting that last bit to weigh the right amount?”
Teddy nodded, trying one more time and finding the portion to be slightly over the weight he needed.
He sighed in frustration. “Why am I so bad at this?” he asked in exasperation.
“That is entirely the wrong question for you to be asking yourself; or me for that matter,” Snape stated calmly.
“The wrong question, sir?”
“Instead, ask what could be done differently to achieve the desired results. It is important to understand that even a perfect technique may not work, if it is not the correct method for what one is trying to accomplish.” Snape gently took the spoon and jar from Teddy.
He tried to get some of the sap from out of the jar the same way Teddy had; his results were identical, too much weight. He put his collection back into the jar without even attempting it on the scale. He tried again, jar tilted so the boy could see. This time he tried to take some from the edge of the jar, pressing against it to cut out a much smaller, more precise spoonful.
“Do you see what I did differently?” Snape asked.
Teddy nodded.
Snape put it back in the jar again, offering everything back to the boy. “Would you like to try again?”
“Oh yes, sir, thank you.” Teddy took the jar.
It took him a couple of attempts, but on his third try the scales balanced out perfectly.
“See how the pointer is resting exactly in the middle of the zero? That is just what we’re looking to for.”
The boy was glowing as he screwed the lid back on the jar of sap.
“Now, the cauldron should be hot enough for us to get started.” Severus got another stool from under the workbench and set it by the cauldron. “Come on over here.”
He came over and climbed up on the stool.
Snape handed him the water. “Go on and pour that in.”
Teddy took it from him, tipping the container over and filling the basin. The first splash hissed and steamed against the hot metal.
Snape took the container and gave him four leaves from the whisperweed plant.
“These need to be slightly bruised before we put them in the water. That means you need to press them firmly in your hand to break up some of the fibers before you put them in the cauldron. They need to be added one every ten seconds just after the water begins to boil.”
“Okay.” Teddy closed a small fist around one of the leaves, squeezing until he heard it make a sighing sound under the pressure.
Bubbles were starting to rise to the surface. Snape waited until it was at a full boil. “Now.”
Teddy dropped the leaf into the water and squished another one in his hand.
Severus counted aloud with him to ten; upon which time the boy dropped the second leaf into the water. They repeated this process until all of the leaves were boiling in the cauldron.
“Good. That will simmer for a few minutes while we prepare the mushroom. Let’s go back to the workstation.”
He set out two cutting boards, two paring knives and a set of gloves he had charmed to be closer to Teddy’s size. It would make it a little more difficult for the boy to properly use the knife but would ensure he didn’t cut himself or have too much contact with the mushroom. On each of the boards he placed a whole mushroom.
Teddy climbed back up on the other stool and waited patiently for Severus to finish opening the exhaust vent above the steaming cauldron.
“What we have here is Gyromitra Esculenta, also called a False Morel. Some places in the world believe it to be a luxury food item while others claim it to be poisonous and not fit for human consumption.”
“How can that be good to eat and poison at the same time? Either you would eat it and be okay or you would get sick, right, sir?” Teddy seemed puzzled by this.
“That is a fairly logical assumption. However it seems that preparation and frequency of ingestion can play a large part in how it would affect a person. However it is of no consequence to this particular potion as no one is going to be consuming it.”
Snape stepped closer so he was at the cutting board by where Teddy was standing. “Here, put these gloves on; I’ve spelled them smaller and so they will adjust to your hands.”
The boy did as he was told; the gloves shrunk slightly to fit.
Snape took up his own knife. “Watch closely.”
He took the mushroom in his left hand, pressing the tip of the knife into the soft flesh on the underside of the cap and made a slow, circular cut around the stem, blade tilted slightly. He completed his cut and the stem fell off cleanly, all traces of it being removed from the cap. He set the stem aside.
“I put one out so you could try. This is not a test and this ingredient is easy enough to come by, so there is no need to feel uneasy. You will not be able to cut yourself in those gloves either, so feel safe to practice; however eventually you will be taking them off so, get used to handling the knife carefully. Do you have any questions so far?”
“I don’t think so, sir.” Teddy swallowed and picked up the mushroom and knife as Snape had done. He fought the urge to look up for reassurance, sticking the tip of the knife into the underside of the cap close to the stem as he had seen Severus do. Shakily he turned the cap in his fingers until he had gone all the way around the stem, which came easily off. The ring he had made was nowhere near as circular as the one Snape had demonstrated, but when he looked inside the void he had made in the cap, there was very little stem remaining.
“How did I do, sir?” he asked, handing his cap to Snape and setting the stem off to the side as he had been shown.
Severus examined what Teddy had handed him. Some of the cap had been accidentally cut away and a tiny bit of the stem was still partially attached in the very middle of the cap. It was a very good first attempt and made an excellent learning experience.
“You made a clean cut, fairly circular; but do you see that lighter colored flap on the very inside? That is a leftover piece of stem.” He brought the cap closer to the boy so he could see what he was talking about. “For some potions that would be perfectly acceptable, but this specific brew requires no stem at all.”
“Oh, sorry, sir,” Teddy said softly.
“It is easily fixed,” Snape said, handing the cap back to the boy. “Take your knife and remove it. Use the sharp side of the blade in a sort of scraping motion.”
Teddy took back his ingredient and did as Snape had suggested. He was straightforwardly able to wipe away the piece of stem with a gloved finger.
“There; that is a perfectly viable ingredient so far. Our next step is to cut the mushroom into evenly sized cubes. This will be more difficult with this species of mushroom because its cap is a very irregular shape. We will use our best judgment when deciding on where and how to slice it. Watch me again.”
He set the cap down onto the cutting board and took the knife in hand again. He cut the mushroom twice through vertically, turning it and with another series of slices cut it horizontally into cubes. When he released it from his hand the pieces fell apart onto the board. He broke them up completely with his fingers.
Teddy, who was still holding his knife, took him mushroom and went to cut it.
“Try taking a deep breath and make your slice while you exhale,” Snape suggested.
Teddy went at it again, taking his deep breath and trying to keep his hands steady as he cut the fungi through in clean slices. He did the same for the horizontal ones, though it took him much longer than Severus to turn it and get it back together for the last set of cuts.
He let go and his mushroom fell apart also. Snape noted that the shapes were somewhat irregular, but again, still within the standards of this potion. This was what made it such an excellent learning tool, the guidelines were very lax; it was a productive way to practice, especially for children who had zero experience in the skills needed for more advanced potions.
He nodded in approval and ushered Teddy back over to the cauldron. He placed a long glass stirring rod in the child’s hands. “Stir the potion clockwise in three complete circles around the outside of the cauldron.” He made a motion with his right hand to indicate just what he had meant by that.
Teddy did just that with little hesitation.
Snape exchanged the rod the boy was holding with the cutting board of his cubed mushrooms. He handed him the knife also, “Scrape them in with the dull side of the blade, careful not to touch them with your fingers. You won’t always be wearing gloves; safe practice is always worth the extra time.”
It was something he tried to make sure his students understood fully. One moment of carelessness with the wrong ingredient could change or even end their lives if they had not been properly trained. There had been more than one occasion where his fast action had saved the life of a thoughtless student, or even the lives of their whole class. Dreams of teaching an entire room full of Neville Longbottoms had woken him in a cold sweat more than once in his life.
He handed Teddy back the stirring rod and set the empty cutting board back on the workbench. “Now stir three times again, only this time in the opposite direction.”
One thing Severus could say was that Teddy followed instruction very well. This should come as no surprise, as he was raised to believe any order that was disobeyed, even if the command was impossible, would be punished.
“Excellent,” said Severus, taking the glass rod and setting it aside with the dirty cutting boards and knives. The mushroom he had prepared would not be used in this potion; the parts would be allowed to dry and he would use them on another occasion.
“Now, we will allow that to return to a boil and it will simmer while we prepare the Snowdon beetles. They have been preserved; it is not quite as potent as when they are fresh, however it is much easier to store and acquire them this way.”
“What do we need to do with them, sir?” Trust a young boy to be more interested than repulsed when dealing with insects of any kind. There had been exceptions, of course; young men who couldn’t stomach or condone the use or prep of such items, or young women who found such things of the utmost fascination. He himself had been absorbed with the use of living materials (whether they were currently living or not) for brewing purposes when he was young.
“The heads and wings must be crushed with the mortar and pestle much the same way as the amber from yesterday. We will also be making a fine incision in the abdomen of the beetle and use the back end of a spoon to remove their insides. Will that be a problem for you?” He was careful to keep his tone light.
Severus had no reason to wish to force such things upon the boy if he found them distasteful; but he did want to find out if he would make an acceptable apprentice, one who wouldn’t hesitate to do something that needed to be done. Not that his findings would convince him to not cast the binding spell he had chosen on the boy, but more to discover if it were possible for him to enjoy and excel at the work he would be bound to do.
“Cool,” Teddy said under his breath, then more loudly, “They sure are colorful, sir.”
“The hues from their wings, as well as certain magical properties they possess will definitely reflect in the end result.” Severus almost smiled, wondering if Teddy had ever seen anything as magnificent as this potion in its final stage.
He set a large chunk of whisperweed root on the tabletop in front of each of them. He set down a new cutting board with smaller paring knife and a stainless steel spoon down as well.
Snape placed four of the bugs at Teddy’s workstation and kept just one at his own. The potion needed only four of the insects, but he was determined only to show the boy what to do while putting only the ingredients the child had prepared himself into the potion. Then, when they were finished, it would be Teddy’s accomplishment and not his.
While he didn’t know Teddy as an individual very well as of yet, he did know that children needed to achieve things on their own. They also needed someone to recognize those undertakings; now admittedly, that person wasn’t usually him. He was more of the iron fist than he ever had been the velvet glove.
He was someone who could admit to their (countless) mistakes; but he would hold fast that many children needed someone to be tough on them. He knew at once that Teddy would not be one of those children, and he would benefit from someone standing quietly behind him rather than imposingly in front of him. He would do his best to be that person until Remus was well and confident enough to do it himself.
“What you want to do is peel each wing off with your thumb and index finger; the head will be removed with the knife prior to the incision you will make in its gut to remove its insides.”
He plucked each wing carefully off. Then he took his knife and made a clean cut under the beady head of the bug. He took the blade and made another small slice in the belly if the beetle, setting the knife aside. Severus took the spoon, placing its edge on the opposite end of the bug from where he had made the cut and rolling it forward towards himself, squeezing out the guts. He took the blade again and made another cut to sever the insides from the bug, setting the carcass off to the side.
“Wings, head, stomach, spoon,” Teddy stated, double checking he had everything correct.
“Exactly,” Severus nodded. “All four of them needed to be prepared the same way.” He set a mortar and pestle in front of Teddy. “Wings and heads go in the mortar; set the bodies off to the side and leave the innards on your cutting board.”
While Teddy was happily plucking and cutting he brought a grater closer and broke the whisperweed stalk off just above the root, setting the spindly thing next to Teddy’s cutting board. He moved the rest of the stalk into the discard pile. Severus had found it was not as potent if the roots were detached. He grew the plant on his own grounds and was not worried about the supply.
Snape looked in at the brewing potion, seeing that it was doing as it should; a light green froth was forming on the top that meant the potion was at exactly the correct temperature. He looked back at the boy, hearing him giggle as he crushed the guts out of one of the preserved beetles. He seemed to be doing an adequate job and was almost finished. Severus returned to his side, waiting patiently while he finished the process on the last beetle.
“Your timing couldn’t be better, although you better crush those wings in a hurry.” He couldn’t help it; he was smiling now, watching the boy hustle to start breaking down the shells and heads with a fast beating of the pestle.
“I think those are pulverized enough, bring them over here, they need to be added just before the innards.”
Teddy took the stone bowl in his hands and stepper up on the stool.
“Add them, now,” Snape said.
Teddy dumped them into the bubbling mixture. Snape handed him the plate of sap that had been resting on the scale. Teddy dumped that in as well. Before he knew it he was holding a clean stirring rod.
“Stir three times clockwise, then three times counter-clockwise.” He made the motions with his hands again so Teddy would know exactly what those terms meant.
The boy did as he was told; pausing only briefly before changing directions, something Snape hadn’t told him to do because they were running out of time. The additional second before the switch in stirring directions prevented splash up and kept the potion a consistent temperature. Although he was sure Teddy had no idea of these factors, Snape was still impressed that he had intuitively added that step.
He handed Teddy the cutting board full of the beetle guts and the knife, taking back the rod.
Teddy scraped those in at Snape’s nod. The potion began to shimmer, its surface changing color in rippling rainbow waves.
“Can you count to thirty?” Severus asked quickly.
“I don’t think so, sir.”
“You can count to ten three times?”
“Yes, sir, I can.”
“Start now.” Snape turned back to the prep table, taking the jar of powdered bicorn horn and presenting it to Teddy.
“When you reach your third set of ten, take a pinch of this and sprinkle it over the top of the potion.”
Mere seconds later, Teddy took the pinch and spread it over the top of the bubbling mixture.
The potion began to boil rapidly; Severus killed the flame under it, as well as the exhaust fan so the bubbles didn’t all get sucked outside; they would perfectly harmless. The bubbles began to break away from the surface of the potion, rising through the air in shimmering spheres of shifting shades, filling the entire lab until all the solution had exited the basin of the cauldron.
The room was thick with the rainbow bubbles. Teddy was standing on the floor, laughing and spinning around in the midst of them with his hands held high in the air. As the bubbles ran into walls and tables they popped, evaporating into nothing. Yet another reason why it was beloved by his students, no cauldron to scrub if you brewed it successfully.
When all of the floating spheres had popped, Severus found himself standing next to the boy, his smile probably as big and stupid as the child’s. He hadn’t heard Teddy laugh like that yet; that sort of uninhibited expression of joy that a person could hardly hold back. A child Teddy’s age should feel that over every new experience; he couldn’t deny the fact that it warmed his heart to be able to bring it out of him without anyone watching to judge him unworthy of taking part in such a thing.
“Well, what did you think of that?” Severus asked, although he was sure of the answer.
“That was so awesome!” Teddy said loudly. “I had no idea it was going to be anything like that!”
“I’m glad you enjoyed it. There is very little one cannot do with potions; I’m sure we can find more with results just as entertaining as this.”
“I’d like to get to do this again. But how do you remember all of this stuff, sir? It seems like a lot, and this is just one potion out of all the ones a person could make.”
“It takes many years of practice to know most of these things off the top of your head. There are instructions and notes you can read that will tell you most everything if you know how to interpret them; but it is a good idea to know what you are going on about, just in case the person who wrote the instructions didn’t. If you are interested in learning it, I will instruct you. If I have your permission, as well as your father’s, I would like for you to be my apprentice.”
“What is that?”
“It means that I will teach you everything that I can about the art of brewing potions, as well as a few other subjects that will be relevant.” He didn’t mention that in his mind, every subject was relevant to the use of one’s magic if one hoped to do it at all properly.
“You mean it would be like school?” Teddy asked.
“In a way. Although most of your education would happen here, instead of away at a private school like your father and I attended.”
“So there wouldn’t be any other children?”
Snape was taken aback by the question. He hadn’t thought much about that part, having mostly wished for people his own age to leave him alone when was young, and still when he was older.
“If it is something you feel you need, I will do all in my power to arrange it.” He couldn’t imagine many parents lining their offspring up for a playdate with a werewolf slave belonging to an ex-Death Eater spy, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t at least try.
“Seriously?”
“Seriously.”
“Wow, thanks sir. I always wanted to get to go to school. Dad always talked like learning more about his magic was the best thing that ever happened to him when he was young.” The boy looked up at him. “You really think I’m worth all that work, all those hours trying to teach me this stuff?”
Snape felt something in his ribcage tighten, but blatantly ignored it. “Yes,” he said solemnly, “I do.”
“Oh,” Teddy said softly, clearly not believing him.
“I want you to talk about it with your father. I believe it to be the most beneficial spell to bind the two of us.”
“You mean the spell isn’t just on me? My old master used to talk about the spell like I was the only one under it.”
“No; the spell will work both ways, to a degree. There will be some things each of are required to do to hold up our end of it.”
“Like what, sir, if you don’t mind me asking?”
“Well, I must instruct you in the art of Potions; that would mean you would need to know how to read and do basic calculations. I would also be required to meet your basic needs; shelter, food and water. However, most everything will be up to me, decided by me – there would be very little that would be out of the realm of things I could do. You understand that already though, I think.” Snape wasn’t sure how much of what he was saying would really, truly make sense to the boy.
“You would teach me to read? I would get to learn how to brew potions on my own?” Teddy sounded excited, yet at the same time, he was wringing his small hands in nervousness.
“Think about everything I just said, not just the parts you like, before making any decisions,” Snape advised.
“So you could do anything you wanted to me,” Teddy said, almost defiantly. “My old Master did what he wanted anyway, and he didn’t feed me or let me have things to drink when I needed them. He definitely didn’t think I was even able to learn anything, and if I was, he sure wouldn’t teach it to me. He didn’t let me see my father; he didn’t care if I was hurt or if I cried. Really sir, I don’t think it would be that bad.”
Snape had never heard the child say so much at once. He was surprised Teddy had been able to reason all that out on his own in such a short time. For someone who had supposedly been kept in a basement for a large percentage of his formative years, the boy was strangely articulate.
“Nonetheless, I still believe you should talk about this with your father. After breakfast tomorrow you and he will have some time alone to talk about things.”
“Okay,” Teddy agreed, reluctantly.
“What?” Snape asked, seeing there was more the boy wanted to discuss.
“Well… What would I have to do sir?” he inquired frankly.
Snape thought a moment. “You will need to be a diligent student; as you will be instructed in many areas and will be required both to practice and study to the best of your ability. I expect you to keep your room clean and to take proper care of your bodily hygiene. There isn’t much else you will be required to do, aside from your fair share of the chores. You will show respect to your elders; especially your father and me.”
Teddy thought a moment. “That sounds okay, sir.”
“I suppose it does, however I believe it will be slightly more work than you expect.”
“But at least I will get do something. Sir,” Teddy burst out.
“That’s true, you will. But I still want you to talk to your father about it.” He would continue to stress that until the child agreed.
“Of course, sir.”
“Come on, let’s go back upstairs and see what’s for supper.”
They found a steaming pot of mashed potatoes, fresh peas and corn as well as a baked chicken sitting on the counter. Three plates and three sets of forks and knives were also sitting out. Fred was just turning the corner back into the kitchen.
“Fred was just bringing something to drink up for father wolf. Supper is being done; dig in! Fred will make up an extra plate.”
“Thank you, Fred.” Snape went over to the counter and helped Teddy make up his serving before dishing up his own plate.
He set Teddy’s plate at the table.
“Fred, would you take your dinner in here tonight with Teddy? I am going to help Lupin with his supper and his bandages; he and I also have some things to discuss.”
“Of course, sir. Fred would be enjoying that very much!”
Teddy made a sound in his throat, but sat at the table as he knew he was about to be asked to do anyway.
“You will still see your father later this evening; I am not angry with him, but he and I do need to talk about a couple of things, okay?”
Teddy nodded uneasily, but began to slowly eat his supper all the same.
A/N: More updates on the way; thanks to anyone who is still reading and welcome to anyone new!

Things in the story will start to pick up soon, hope everyone likes getting to see Teddy and Severus get closer; Remus is next! Reviews are looked forward to, as always; they definitely keep me typing!
- 8
- 9
- 10
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

The Long Road