Healing 2/4
Title: Healing Chapter 2: Brewing, Shopping, and Goodbyes (part 1)
Rating : G
Author: sheankelor (Ree)
Word Count: 10k+
AN: This story mentions different disorders. I am friends with people who have three of the issues mentioned. One who has suffered with the specific desease and two who suffer symptoms of the others. So, please do not go into what I have left out. The lack of information was not intended to be a slight or insult to anyone. The fourth is completely a figment of my imagination. So is my description of the Muggle care system described here. It is based loosely on things I know of, but I cannot guarantee that they apply to the UK system.
Thank you for taking the time to try this. This bunny would not leave me alone...it has been patiently waiting since last October.
Thanks to SuNoYo for taking time out to beta this one. I truly appreciate it.
Disclaimer:None of the characters nor the universe are mine. They are JK Rowlings instead. I found a LEGO Harry and LEGO Snape and started playing.
Summary: Two curses started it all. Severus and Minerva lost so much to them and Hogwarts lost both of them. But now something else has come along. Will that allow all of them to heal? No pairings. EWE
Brewing, Shopping, and Goodbyes
Percy Weasley walked slowly to the Headmaster’s office. Since the Board’s decision was owled to him that morning, he had been waiting for this summons, and he was very nervous about how he was going to be received.
As the stairs delivered him to the opened door, Percy made sure that he had his “dealing with idiotic Ministry officials” face on. “You wished to see me, Headmaster?”
“How - how do you - a first year teacher, barely wet behind the ears when it comes to dealing with children - how do you think you’re qualified to be my Deputy!?” Headmaster Moreau’s face was red as he yelled across the room at the Ancient Runes teacher who had yet to walk more than a step into his office.
Garnering the quiet courage that he had learned from his Dad, Percy walked the rest of the way into the office. “The Board of Governors believes I am capable of handling this position. I realize that there is a lot of work ahead of me, and I am ready to get started. What did the previous Deputy leave for me to accomplish this summer?”
“The Board thinks you can?”
Moreau’s mocking tone made no dent on Percy’s temper, he had heard far better examples of mockery from his siblings. “Yes, sir, they do.”
“They insisted that you teach here against my desires, and now they are pushing you up to the Deputy position with in a year. What next? Headmaster? Are you aiming to be the youngest Headmaster in the entire history of Hogwarts'?”
Percy glanced at the portrait lined walls, wondering if he should tell Moreau that that title was already claimed. His eyes rested on Dumbledore’s portrait just as the man was signaling him not to say anything. “I very seriously doubt that I would be qualified to be the Headmaster of this school so soon, sir. Now, about the forms and duties that I must be working on over this summer?”
The sign of approval from Dumbledore almost made him shake his head. Yes, it had been years since he felt the former-Headmaster was not to be listened to, but he had never expected to need his guidance, or his approval.
The current Headmaster glared at the unfazed redhead for a full minute before he answered. “The letters for the first years acceptance are coming in. Organize them and then I’m sure you can figure out what you are supposed to be doing. If not, ask the Board as they wanted you to do this. Now, get out of my sight.”
Percy left the office not sure how he was going to make this work. He hadn’t asked for the promotion, but he could understand it, through his reports, the Board learned that the last Deputy had only halfway preformed his duties. They trusted that he would do everything as by the book as possible. Hogwarts had to improve somehow.
“Professor Weasley.”
Percy stopped as a portrait whispered his name. Turning towards it, he stepped closer. He didn’t recognize the little girl who was peering around the edge of the frame waving him over. “May I help you?”
“The Headmasters said that they would send you messages to let you know what you need to do and not to worry.”
A faint smile curled Percy’s lip as he thanked her. He was receiving help he had not expected.
When the Board placed him here, they’d told him the reason he was chosen was because he was qualified to teach the subject and he understood about following regulations. Additionally, he had to find out what was undermining the students’ ability to learn.
George had visited him that evening and told him that to succeed he was going to have to remember everything that he had learned in trying to outsmart him and Fred. He was going to have to be Head Boy Percy once again, by the book and upstanding on the outside, and the cunning mastermind that had learned how to almost corral his bothers on the inside.
Heading to his office, he prepared himself for the subterfuge ahead. The next level of the game was about to begin.
(Ô.Õ)
Severus blinked slowly, bringing last night’s events into focus. He remembered everyone sitting in the surprisingly clean front room of his house, introducing Payne to them, and then sending the elf to the Leaky Cauldron to procure dinner. He had sent Minerva and the twins upstairs to check out the bedrooms while he took a moment to relax. He didn’t remember Payne returning, nor lying in the bed that he was currently occupying. It took a moment to figure out that it wasn’t a bed, but the sofa in his downstairs parlour.
Closing his eyes, he took a moment to gather his strength. The last few days had been a taxing, all he really wanted to do was not move, but he knew that he wasn’t done. He had to go buy potions ingredients to restock his lab, then he had to brew the potion that he thought would help Minerva, while he was doing that, he would get Payne to watch all three. Nora and Tim would have a selection of books to read to bring them up to speed on some of the basics. He knew Minerva would help them as long as she could stay focused.
Before all of that, he had to send Payne out to restock the house, and he needed to get the electricity and water turned back on. No need to raise suspicion in the muggle neighborhood. Besides, it would provide a bit of normalcy for the twins.
‘But before that, I have to get off this sofa. I wonder where my cane is?’ Finding his wand where it normally was, he summoned his cane. Payne appeared right behind it.
“Master Snape, you should be resting.” The elf folded his arms and watched as the stubborn man pushed himself up to a sitting position.
“I have too much to handle to be lazing about, Payne.” Severus pulled out his wizarding money sack. “I need you to restock the house with food and cleaning supplies.”
He looked about the small parlour and came to a decision. He knew that the stairs up to the bedrooms would be too much for him on a regular basis. “I also need this room furnished to be my bedroom. There is a storage room upstairs, put all that is in it into the attic and furnish that room as one of the twin’s room.”
Severus checked the amount that was in the sack before taking a bit out for his own shopping trip. He then passed the bag over to the elf. “Food first, so everyone can eat breakfast. The rest can be finished by tomorrow or the day after.”
Payne accepted the bag, grumbled that Snape should stay put, and popped away.
After collecting himself, Severus headed for the downstairs powder room and then to survey his old lab to see what was salvageable. A quick spell changed the stairs into a spiral ramp and he headed into his cellar.
(Ô.Õ)
Breakfast was good. Severus was glad that Payne could honestly cook. While they were eating he explained his plan for the next couple of days. The three had agreed, after he had answered a number of questions about what potions were.
Later that afternoon found him in his lab sitting in a high back chair, his table lowered by magic, cutting up the ingredients that he thought would work.
Evening had come by the time he had one possibility cooling on his table and he was confronted by an irate elf who insisted that he needed to eat dinner. After dinner he had Minerva sign and send in the guardianship papers and told her in private what he had learned about the twins’ family.
He fell into bed that night, ideas still swimming through his mind. The next morning, Minerva tried the potion, and Payne was on strict orders to find Severus if anything unusual occurred. Severus retired to his lab to make another possibility. The rest of the week passed the same way. Severus tweaked his formula based on Payne’s and the twins’ reports, and on the behaviors he saw himself at dinner time. The week ended with a potion that Minerva had to take every morning at breakfast and a different one at dinner.
The next day, Severus smiled as the professor he remembered well was sitting Tim and Nora down to work with them on basic wizard history and the things that all wizarding children learned while growing up.
It was with mixed feelings that he retreated to his lab once again. He had spent as much of the morning as he could with the twins, helping them with their studies while Minerva watched him shaking her head. He had double checked the paperwork in his desk drawer. His will was there, signed and witnessed, the house would go to the twin with permission for Minerva to stay until she didn’t want to. The rest of his possessions were divvied up to the people who needed them, his potions to Matthew Reynolds and the rest of his Team, and every thing else to the twins and Minerva He had handled it while he was out getting potion ingredients. He knew the risk he was about to take.
Closing the door behind him, he made sure that it was soundproof. There could be no distractions, the last time he had attempted to brew this potions was before he was cursed - and that was only the fifth time he had done so successfully. After summoning his notes, he laid them across the work table and spelled them so that they would not move nor become dirty. Carefully setting out the ingredients in an order that was more familiar to his mind than his had, he took a deep breath and started.
Time passed in a haze of chopping, dicing, mincing, crushing, precise stirring patterns, and heat manipulations. A smile filled his face as after each step his current potion matched the description in his notes. ‘Matthew had attempted to make this, even after the rest of the potions community and the healers all refused to, but he said that there were preparation techniques that he couldn’t replicate. His attempts never matched my descriptions.’ Wonderment filled his eyes as he noticed that the potions opalescent sheen, it was better than before. It was what he had striven for all those years ago. Every time there was a hint of the sheen the more the potion passed the tests he ran on it. ‘Of course Matthew had some problems, he isn’t privy to as many muggle methods as I am.’
It was early evening when he finished; decanting the liquid into a small vial he sealed it before casting a charm to make the vial unbreakable and placing it into his pocket. He remembered all too well when he was first practicing his walking how he would drop cups, paper, and books as he tried to catch himself from falling. The worst was when there was no way to avoid falling, and breaking everything that he had with him. It had only taken one incident for him to learn to charm everything so that it would survive.
Severus made sure to savor dinner with everyone before he headed to his room. It might be the last time he saw them. ‘No negative thoughts - rhis is going to work, Severus. It will remove the curse and all will be fine.’ When he made it to his room, he called Payne to him.
Payne knew that something was about to happen, Master Snape was never in bed this early. “You wished to see me?”
Severus stretched out on his bed, dressed as comfortably as possible and cast a silencing charm and locked his door. Forcing his voice to stay level, hiding his own misgivings, he nodded to Payne. “I am going to take a potion. It has two possible effects. One is it will remove a significant amount of this curse from me, possible all. The second is that I could die. If the second happens, you are to take care of those three. All the paperwork that they need is in the top drawer of my desk.”
Light brown eyes widened. “Master...” His protest was cut off by a glare, so he changed what he wanted to say. “When shall I know?”
Severus sighed. Just that one statement said that Payne would be in to check on him. “I don’t know. But do not let the others know what is going on.”
When the elf nodded, Severus drank the potion and settled onto his bed.
(Ô.Õ)
Payne made sure that the house ran smoothly for the next several days. He assured Min that he was taking care of Master Toby, as everyone called Master Snape. And he did; he washed the sweat away, poured soup down the man’s throat and coaxed him to swallow, and monitored his vital signs.
Late in the evening of the fourth day after everyone else was asleep, that Payne was greeted with the sight he wanted to see. Dark eyes were opened and searching about the room.
“Master Toby.”
Severus frowned at the name but decided it wasn’t worth the fight. He rolled his head over to peer through the low light at the small elf. “Payne. How long?”
“Four days, sir.” Payne watched as the tired eyes closed briefly and a trembling hand ran through the sticky hair.
“Have they been worried?” Severus could feel the tendrils of excitement and relief buried under the exhaustion. He was alive - option two didn’t happen. They might have been worried that he had disappeared for four days, but they were not going to be presented with a dead body. Now that he was thinking about it, he wasn’t sure how Minerva would have handled that.
“Mistress Min said that she would be pulling you out of your lab tomorrow if you didn’t leave it yourself.”
Severus wondered if he would have the strength to leave his room tomorrow. He felt as if he had just come back from a Death Eater meeting that had gone horrible wrong. He would find a way though. He’d rather face Minerva standing not trapped in his bed.
“Master Toby, how about a bath while I change the bedding?”
Severus raised a tired eyebrow at the elf. “Where? It is late,” he gestured towards the dark windows. “And everyone would wake up if the bath was run.”
With a snap of his fingers, Payne floated a claw footed bathtub in front of the fireplace. Another snap had it filled with warm water. “You said to furnish the room.”
Severus tried to push the covers off him, only to find out that he was too weak to do so. Growling low in his throat, he stared at his arms, hoping he hadn’t made his condition worse - he was tired of being a burden.
It took Payne just a moment to have Severus in the tub, soaking in the water. A flannel was charmed to scrub him while the bedding was stripped and replaced. Payne soon had him in new nightclothes and back in bed. “Now you need to sleep. I will see you tomorrow, Master Toby.”
It was almost noon when Severus opened his eyes again. He took a moment to test his arms, and was glad when he was able to move the covers. Picking up his wand, he cast a simple diagnostic, one that he had done more times than he could remember, and watched the results.
Letting his wand drop onto the mattress, he closed his eyes in relief. ‘The curse is gone. Now, can I get out of this bed?’
Keeping his eyes closed he accessed himself. He was exhausted physically, but magically he was normal - better since he wasn’t having to use his magic to block the curse. A smiles curled his lips. He had done it. He had created and successful brewed a curse removal potion. Severus could tell that the potion had done what it was supposed to - the dark mass that had resided so long was gone. Not a tendril or a thread left. ‘And they said it couldn’t be done. That it wasn’t worth attempting to brew it.’
Gingerly he pushed himself to a sitting position and then growled. The potion removed the taint but it obviously couldn’t reverse the damage it had caused over time. Anger boiled up through him. If the healers had just agreed all those years ago! If they had just listened when he ordered them to get him into a lab and stick him to a chair and let him brew there would be no residual damage.
He stewed for the next several minutes before he let it go. He had learned over the last several years not to let the anger burn up his energy, he had too many things to accomplish. The first being getting out of that bed and reassuring Minerva and the twins that he was fine.
(Ô.Õ)
Tim was the first one to jump off the sofa when Severus came out of his room, leaning lightly on his cane. “Uncle Toby! Where have you been?”
Minerva took in the way Severus held his shoulders, his stance, and the lack of almost painful concentration on his face. “You... you made a potion for yourself, didn’t you?”
Severus meet Minerva’s widening knowing eyes. He returned it with a look that let her know that he didn’t want to make a big deal out of it before he crossed the room heading for the kitchen. “Yes, I did. And it mostly worked.”
The look on Minerva’s face told him he would be hearing about this much later. When he stepped into the kitchen, Payne pointed him to the table, and then floated a plate of food to him. The others joined him for lunch.
“How are you doing in your studies?” Severus looked at the twins waiting for a answer.
“It’s hard and Aunt Min goes too fast.” Tim frowned as he pushed his food about on his plate.
Nora shook her head. “They’re going fine.”
Severus focused on Tim. He was worried about how the boy would do at Hogwarts. He was going to have to work extra hard and without the support system he was used to. The set of Tim’s shoulders said not to talk about that yet. “When did Min and I become Aunt and Uncle?”
Tim’s head shot up. That wasn’t the question he had expected. “Aunt Min said we could call you that, since you adopted us, but we couldn’t see calling you Father or Dad and her Mother or Mum. You’re not married - you don’t have to be married to be our Aunt and Uncle.”
“That is well reasoned out. Since I am now your uncle and Min is your Aunt, know that we expect you to work harder than you ever have before. You have a lot of information that you have to learn before you go to Hogwarts. And once there, you are going to be on your own unless you make friends that can help you.” At the panicked looks on both of their faces, Severus sighed lightly. “You can always send us an owl to ask for advice, but it will take time for our response to make it back to you.”
The two relaxed a bit and nodded. Tim spoke up. “So, instead of the summer off, I have to work extra hard so I have all the basics down before I get there - that way I don’t have to playing catch up the entire time.”
Minerva leaned onto the table as she poured her another drink. “We shall endeavor to make the lessons as fun as we can, and we shall schedule a holiday in.”
She looked over at Severus. “When shall we take them to Diagon Alley to get their school supplies?”
“Give me three days.”
(Ô.Õ)
The next three days passed fairly quickly.
The first evening, Severus gave Minerva back her wand. He remembered it when he was searching for something in his trunk and they all watched as she cast a cautious light spell followed by a levitation one.
The next day, the twins found themselves in Severus’ lab learning about the different types of equipment used to make basic potions. Severus reached above his head to pull the stack of his smallest cauldrons down to show them to the two. At that moment, his legs gave out on him and the cauldrons came tumbling down onto him.
Tim and Nora’s screeches brought both Minerva and Payne into the room. Payne quickly levitated the cauldrons off and onto the table while Minerva ran a quick check over him.
“I’m okay, Min. Just a mild concussion, a few bruises and a headache.” Severus said as he pushed himself into a sitting position. He was glad that Minerva didn’t know about the number of times he had fallen or just barely collapsed into a seat while he was getting everything prepared for their move. He was still learning the warning signs and his limits.
“You will sit right there for a few minutes, Toby.”
Severus settled down as Minerva's stern look bore into him. When his legs stopped feeling weak, he pushed up to his feet. Using the wall and the counter edge, he made his way to his potions cabinet. It took no time to pull out two potions and down them.
“Uncle Toby?” Nora watched him as he drank a blue and then a green liquid. “What are those for?”
“The blue one is for the concussion, and the green for my headache. You will not go into my potions cabinet. It is locked, so don’t try.” Severus closed his eyes while he waited for the two to take effect.
“Why were you reaching up for those cauldrons anyway, Toby?” Minerva gave him another assessing look and decided that he would be okay if he just would sit down for a moment.
“Because Tim and Nora need to see the size and material difference.” Severus peeled his eyes open and pushed off the wall.
Minerva shook her head. “You’ve lived too long as a Muggle. Use magic next time. And sit down.” She pointed to his chair.
Severus sat down and started to explain about the different cauldrons.
The third day was spent practicing Apparating. Both Severus and Minerva had to make sure that they could do it without splinching themselves. Both were heartily glad that they easily succeeded.
Rating : G
Author: sheankelor (Ree)
Word Count: 10k+
AN: This story mentions different disorders. I am friends with people who have three of the issues mentioned. One who has suffered with the specific desease and two who suffer symptoms of the others. So, please do not go into what I have left out. The lack of information was not intended to be a slight or insult to anyone. The fourth is completely a figment of my imagination. So is my description of the Muggle care system described here. It is based loosely on things I know of, but I cannot guarantee that they apply to the UK system.
Thank you for taking the time to try this. This bunny would not leave me alone...it has been patiently waiting since last October.
Thanks to SuNoYo for taking time out to beta this one. I truly appreciate it.
Disclaimer:None of the characters nor the universe are mine. They are JK Rowlings instead. I found a LEGO Harry and LEGO Snape and started playing.
Summary: Two curses started it all. Severus and Minerva lost so much to them and Hogwarts lost both of them. But now something else has come along. Will that allow all of them to heal? No pairings. EWE
Brewing, Shopping, and Goodbyes
Percy Weasley walked slowly to the Headmaster’s office. Since the Board’s decision was owled to him that morning, he had been waiting for this summons, and he was very nervous about how he was going to be received.
As the stairs delivered him to the opened door, Percy made sure that he had his “dealing with idiotic Ministry officials” face on. “You wished to see me, Headmaster?”
“How - how do you - a first year teacher, barely wet behind the ears when it comes to dealing with children - how do you think you’re qualified to be my Deputy!?” Headmaster Moreau’s face was red as he yelled across the room at the Ancient Runes teacher who had yet to walk more than a step into his office.
Garnering the quiet courage that he had learned from his Dad, Percy walked the rest of the way into the office. “The Board of Governors believes I am capable of handling this position. I realize that there is a lot of work ahead of me, and I am ready to get started. What did the previous Deputy leave for me to accomplish this summer?”
“The Board thinks you can?”
Moreau’s mocking tone made no dent on Percy’s temper, he had heard far better examples of mockery from his siblings. “Yes, sir, they do.”
“They insisted that you teach here against my desires, and now they are pushing you up to the Deputy position with in a year. What next? Headmaster? Are you aiming to be the youngest Headmaster in the entire history of Hogwarts'?”
Percy glanced at the portrait lined walls, wondering if he should tell Moreau that that title was already claimed. His eyes rested on Dumbledore’s portrait just as the man was signaling him not to say anything. “I very seriously doubt that I would be qualified to be the Headmaster of this school so soon, sir. Now, about the forms and duties that I must be working on over this summer?”
The sign of approval from Dumbledore almost made him shake his head. Yes, it had been years since he felt the former-Headmaster was not to be listened to, but he had never expected to need his guidance, or his approval.
The current Headmaster glared at the unfazed redhead for a full minute before he answered. “The letters for the first years acceptance are coming in. Organize them and then I’m sure you can figure out what you are supposed to be doing. If not, ask the Board as they wanted you to do this. Now, get out of my sight.”
Percy left the office not sure how he was going to make this work. He hadn’t asked for the promotion, but he could understand it, through his reports, the Board learned that the last Deputy had only halfway preformed his duties. They trusted that he would do everything as by the book as possible. Hogwarts had to improve somehow.
“Professor Weasley.”
Percy stopped as a portrait whispered his name. Turning towards it, he stepped closer. He didn’t recognize the little girl who was peering around the edge of the frame waving him over. “May I help you?”
“The Headmasters said that they would send you messages to let you know what you need to do and not to worry.”
A faint smile curled Percy’s lip as he thanked her. He was receiving help he had not expected.
When the Board placed him here, they’d told him the reason he was chosen was because he was qualified to teach the subject and he understood about following regulations. Additionally, he had to find out what was undermining the students’ ability to learn.
George had visited him that evening and told him that to succeed he was going to have to remember everything that he had learned in trying to outsmart him and Fred. He was going to have to be Head Boy Percy once again, by the book and upstanding on the outside, and the cunning mastermind that had learned how to almost corral his bothers on the inside.
Heading to his office, he prepared himself for the subterfuge ahead. The next level of the game was about to begin.
(Ô.Õ)
Severus blinked slowly, bringing last night’s events into focus. He remembered everyone sitting in the surprisingly clean front room of his house, introducing Payne to them, and then sending the elf to the Leaky Cauldron to procure dinner. He had sent Minerva and the twins upstairs to check out the bedrooms while he took a moment to relax. He didn’t remember Payne returning, nor lying in the bed that he was currently occupying. It took a moment to figure out that it wasn’t a bed, but the sofa in his downstairs parlour.
Closing his eyes, he took a moment to gather his strength. The last few days had been a taxing, all he really wanted to do was not move, but he knew that he wasn’t done. He had to go buy potions ingredients to restock his lab, then he had to brew the potion that he thought would help Minerva, while he was doing that, he would get Payne to watch all three. Nora and Tim would have a selection of books to read to bring them up to speed on some of the basics. He knew Minerva would help them as long as she could stay focused.
Before all of that, he had to send Payne out to restock the house, and he needed to get the electricity and water turned back on. No need to raise suspicion in the muggle neighborhood. Besides, it would provide a bit of normalcy for the twins.
‘But before that, I have to get off this sofa. I wonder where my cane is?’ Finding his wand where it normally was, he summoned his cane. Payne appeared right behind it.
“Master Snape, you should be resting.” The elf folded his arms and watched as the stubborn man pushed himself up to a sitting position.
“I have too much to handle to be lazing about, Payne.” Severus pulled out his wizarding money sack. “I need you to restock the house with food and cleaning supplies.”
He looked about the small parlour and came to a decision. He knew that the stairs up to the bedrooms would be too much for him on a regular basis. “I also need this room furnished to be my bedroom. There is a storage room upstairs, put all that is in it into the attic and furnish that room as one of the twin’s room.”
Severus checked the amount that was in the sack before taking a bit out for his own shopping trip. He then passed the bag over to the elf. “Food first, so everyone can eat breakfast. The rest can be finished by tomorrow or the day after.”
Payne accepted the bag, grumbled that Snape should stay put, and popped away.
After collecting himself, Severus headed for the downstairs powder room and then to survey his old lab to see what was salvageable. A quick spell changed the stairs into a spiral ramp and he headed into his cellar.
(Ô.Õ)
Breakfast was good. Severus was glad that Payne could honestly cook. While they were eating he explained his plan for the next couple of days. The three had agreed, after he had answered a number of questions about what potions were.
Later that afternoon found him in his lab sitting in a high back chair, his table lowered by magic, cutting up the ingredients that he thought would work.
Evening had come by the time he had one possibility cooling on his table and he was confronted by an irate elf who insisted that he needed to eat dinner. After dinner he had Minerva sign and send in the guardianship papers and told her in private what he had learned about the twins’ family.
He fell into bed that night, ideas still swimming through his mind. The next morning, Minerva tried the potion, and Payne was on strict orders to find Severus if anything unusual occurred. Severus retired to his lab to make another possibility. The rest of the week passed the same way. Severus tweaked his formula based on Payne’s and the twins’ reports, and on the behaviors he saw himself at dinner time. The week ended with a potion that Minerva had to take every morning at breakfast and a different one at dinner.
The next day, Severus smiled as the professor he remembered well was sitting Tim and Nora down to work with them on basic wizard history and the things that all wizarding children learned while growing up.
It was with mixed feelings that he retreated to his lab once again. He had spent as much of the morning as he could with the twins, helping them with their studies while Minerva watched him shaking her head. He had double checked the paperwork in his desk drawer. His will was there, signed and witnessed, the house would go to the twin with permission for Minerva to stay until she didn’t want to. The rest of his possessions were divvied up to the people who needed them, his potions to Matthew Reynolds and the rest of his Team, and every thing else to the twins and Minerva He had handled it while he was out getting potion ingredients. He knew the risk he was about to take.
Closing the door behind him, he made sure that it was soundproof. There could be no distractions, the last time he had attempted to brew this potions was before he was cursed - and that was only the fifth time he had done so successfully. After summoning his notes, he laid them across the work table and spelled them so that they would not move nor become dirty. Carefully setting out the ingredients in an order that was more familiar to his mind than his had, he took a deep breath and started.
Time passed in a haze of chopping, dicing, mincing, crushing, precise stirring patterns, and heat manipulations. A smile filled his face as after each step his current potion matched the description in his notes. ‘Matthew had attempted to make this, even after the rest of the potions community and the healers all refused to, but he said that there were preparation techniques that he couldn’t replicate. His attempts never matched my descriptions.’ Wonderment filled his eyes as he noticed that the potions opalescent sheen, it was better than before. It was what he had striven for all those years ago. Every time there was a hint of the sheen the more the potion passed the tests he ran on it. ‘Of course Matthew had some problems, he isn’t privy to as many muggle methods as I am.’
It was early evening when he finished; decanting the liquid into a small vial he sealed it before casting a charm to make the vial unbreakable and placing it into his pocket. He remembered all too well when he was first practicing his walking how he would drop cups, paper, and books as he tried to catch himself from falling. The worst was when there was no way to avoid falling, and breaking everything that he had with him. It had only taken one incident for him to learn to charm everything so that it would survive.
Severus made sure to savor dinner with everyone before he headed to his room. It might be the last time he saw them. ‘No negative thoughts - rhis is going to work, Severus. It will remove the curse and all will be fine.’ When he made it to his room, he called Payne to him.
Payne knew that something was about to happen, Master Snape was never in bed this early. “You wished to see me?”
Severus stretched out on his bed, dressed as comfortably as possible and cast a silencing charm and locked his door. Forcing his voice to stay level, hiding his own misgivings, he nodded to Payne. “I am going to take a potion. It has two possible effects. One is it will remove a significant amount of this curse from me, possible all. The second is that I could die. If the second happens, you are to take care of those three. All the paperwork that they need is in the top drawer of my desk.”
Light brown eyes widened. “Master...” His protest was cut off by a glare, so he changed what he wanted to say. “When shall I know?”
Severus sighed. Just that one statement said that Payne would be in to check on him. “I don’t know. But do not let the others know what is going on.”
When the elf nodded, Severus drank the potion and settled onto his bed.
(Ô.Õ)
Payne made sure that the house ran smoothly for the next several days. He assured Min that he was taking care of Master Toby, as everyone called Master Snape. And he did; he washed the sweat away, poured soup down the man’s throat and coaxed him to swallow, and monitored his vital signs.
Late in the evening of the fourth day after everyone else was asleep, that Payne was greeted with the sight he wanted to see. Dark eyes were opened and searching about the room.
“Master Toby.”
Severus frowned at the name but decided it wasn’t worth the fight. He rolled his head over to peer through the low light at the small elf. “Payne. How long?”
“Four days, sir.” Payne watched as the tired eyes closed briefly and a trembling hand ran through the sticky hair.
“Have they been worried?” Severus could feel the tendrils of excitement and relief buried under the exhaustion. He was alive - option two didn’t happen. They might have been worried that he had disappeared for four days, but they were not going to be presented with a dead body. Now that he was thinking about it, he wasn’t sure how Minerva would have handled that.
“Mistress Min said that she would be pulling you out of your lab tomorrow if you didn’t leave it yourself.”
Severus wondered if he would have the strength to leave his room tomorrow. He felt as if he had just come back from a Death Eater meeting that had gone horrible wrong. He would find a way though. He’d rather face Minerva standing not trapped in his bed.
“Master Toby, how about a bath while I change the bedding?”
Severus raised a tired eyebrow at the elf. “Where? It is late,” he gestured towards the dark windows. “And everyone would wake up if the bath was run.”
With a snap of his fingers, Payne floated a claw footed bathtub in front of the fireplace. Another snap had it filled with warm water. “You said to furnish the room.”
Severus tried to push the covers off him, only to find out that he was too weak to do so. Growling low in his throat, he stared at his arms, hoping he hadn’t made his condition worse - he was tired of being a burden.
It took Payne just a moment to have Severus in the tub, soaking in the water. A flannel was charmed to scrub him while the bedding was stripped and replaced. Payne soon had him in new nightclothes and back in bed. “Now you need to sleep. I will see you tomorrow, Master Toby.”
It was almost noon when Severus opened his eyes again. He took a moment to test his arms, and was glad when he was able to move the covers. Picking up his wand, he cast a simple diagnostic, one that he had done more times than he could remember, and watched the results.
Letting his wand drop onto the mattress, he closed his eyes in relief. ‘The curse is gone. Now, can I get out of this bed?’
Keeping his eyes closed he accessed himself. He was exhausted physically, but magically he was normal - better since he wasn’t having to use his magic to block the curse. A smiles curled his lips. He had done it. He had created and successful brewed a curse removal potion. Severus could tell that the potion had done what it was supposed to - the dark mass that had resided so long was gone. Not a tendril or a thread left. ‘And they said it couldn’t be done. That it wasn’t worth attempting to brew it.’
Gingerly he pushed himself to a sitting position and then growled. The potion removed the taint but it obviously couldn’t reverse the damage it had caused over time. Anger boiled up through him. If the healers had just agreed all those years ago! If they had just listened when he ordered them to get him into a lab and stick him to a chair and let him brew there would be no residual damage.
He stewed for the next several minutes before he let it go. He had learned over the last several years not to let the anger burn up his energy, he had too many things to accomplish. The first being getting out of that bed and reassuring Minerva and the twins that he was fine.
(Ô.Õ)
Tim was the first one to jump off the sofa when Severus came out of his room, leaning lightly on his cane. “Uncle Toby! Where have you been?”
Minerva took in the way Severus held his shoulders, his stance, and the lack of almost painful concentration on his face. “You... you made a potion for yourself, didn’t you?”
Severus meet Minerva’s widening knowing eyes. He returned it with a look that let her know that he didn’t want to make a big deal out of it before he crossed the room heading for the kitchen. “Yes, I did. And it mostly worked.”
The look on Minerva’s face told him he would be hearing about this much later. When he stepped into the kitchen, Payne pointed him to the table, and then floated a plate of food to him. The others joined him for lunch.
“How are you doing in your studies?” Severus looked at the twins waiting for a answer.
“It’s hard and Aunt Min goes too fast.” Tim frowned as he pushed his food about on his plate.
Nora shook her head. “They’re going fine.”
Severus focused on Tim. He was worried about how the boy would do at Hogwarts. He was going to have to work extra hard and without the support system he was used to. The set of Tim’s shoulders said not to talk about that yet. “When did Min and I become Aunt and Uncle?”
Tim’s head shot up. That wasn’t the question he had expected. “Aunt Min said we could call you that, since you adopted us, but we couldn’t see calling you Father or Dad and her Mother or Mum. You’re not married - you don’t have to be married to be our Aunt and Uncle.”
“That is well reasoned out. Since I am now your uncle and Min is your Aunt, know that we expect you to work harder than you ever have before. You have a lot of information that you have to learn before you go to Hogwarts. And once there, you are going to be on your own unless you make friends that can help you.” At the panicked looks on both of their faces, Severus sighed lightly. “You can always send us an owl to ask for advice, but it will take time for our response to make it back to you.”
The two relaxed a bit and nodded. Tim spoke up. “So, instead of the summer off, I have to work extra hard so I have all the basics down before I get there - that way I don’t have to playing catch up the entire time.”
Minerva leaned onto the table as she poured her another drink. “We shall endeavor to make the lessons as fun as we can, and we shall schedule a holiday in.”
She looked over at Severus. “When shall we take them to Diagon Alley to get their school supplies?”
“Give me three days.”
(Ô.Õ)
The next three days passed fairly quickly.
The first evening, Severus gave Minerva back her wand. He remembered it when he was searching for something in his trunk and they all watched as she cast a cautious light spell followed by a levitation one.
The next day, the twins found themselves in Severus’ lab learning about the different types of equipment used to make basic potions. Severus reached above his head to pull the stack of his smallest cauldrons down to show them to the two. At that moment, his legs gave out on him and the cauldrons came tumbling down onto him.
Tim and Nora’s screeches brought both Minerva and Payne into the room. Payne quickly levitated the cauldrons off and onto the table while Minerva ran a quick check over him.
“I’m okay, Min. Just a mild concussion, a few bruises and a headache.” Severus said as he pushed himself into a sitting position. He was glad that Minerva didn’t know about the number of times he had fallen or just barely collapsed into a seat while he was getting everything prepared for their move. He was still learning the warning signs and his limits.
“You will sit right there for a few minutes, Toby.”
Severus settled down as Minerva's stern look bore into him. When his legs stopped feeling weak, he pushed up to his feet. Using the wall and the counter edge, he made his way to his potions cabinet. It took no time to pull out two potions and down them.
“Uncle Toby?” Nora watched him as he drank a blue and then a green liquid. “What are those for?”
“The blue one is for the concussion, and the green for my headache. You will not go into my potions cabinet. It is locked, so don’t try.” Severus closed his eyes while he waited for the two to take effect.
“Why were you reaching up for those cauldrons anyway, Toby?” Minerva gave him another assessing look and decided that he would be okay if he just would sit down for a moment.
“Because Tim and Nora need to see the size and material difference.” Severus peeled his eyes open and pushed off the wall.
Minerva shook her head. “You’ve lived too long as a Muggle. Use magic next time. And sit down.” She pointed to his chair.
Severus sat down and started to explain about the different cauldrons.
The third day was spent practicing Apparating. Both Severus and Minerva had to make sure that they could do it without splinching themselves. Both were heartily glad that they easily succeeded.