Summary: After a long summer of fighting to recover from a vampire bite, Harry has finally been cleared to attend school. Will he be able to keep his ailment hidden along with his true identity, or will it all come crashing down? Sequel to Searching for Wellness.
Categories: Healer Snape, Teacher Snape > Professor Snape, Parental Snape > Guardian Snape Main Characters: .Snape and Harry (required)
Snape Flavour: Snape Comforts, Overly-protective Snape
Genres: Hurt/Comfort, Supernatural
Media Type: None
Tags: Abuse Recovery, Creature!fic, New Identity!Harry, Physical Impairment, Slytherin!Harry, Vampire!Harry, Vampires
Takes Place: 1st Year
Warnings: Abusive Dursleys, Neglect, Out of Character
Challenges: None
Series: Aspects of Wellness
Chapters: 5 Completed: No
Word count: 20996 Read: 7087
Published: 09 Oct 2021 Updated: 11 Jan 2023
Story Notes:
And here it is, the long awaited sequel to Searching For Wellness. If you haven't read that one, I highly recommend you do so.
As this is based heavily on the Philosopher's/Sorcerer's Stone, I will warn you about some of the dialog. I see this story (and really any fanfiction) as a literal different timeline slowly branching away from the main story. As such, the farther we get from the main divide in the story line, the more things change. Some dialog will be literally from the first book, but as we get further and further along in the storyline, this will happen less and less frequently as certain events simply will not occur. Examples would be things like the Sorting Hat's song, the ghost's dialog, or Severus's opening speech in class.
Anyways, I hope you enjoy!
1. Staff Meeting by DesertPlanet
2. The Train to Hogwarts by DesertPlanet
3. The Sorting of Julian Snape by DesertPlanet
4. Classes Begin by DesertPlanet
5. The Potions Master and The Man in the Turban by DesertPlanet
Staff Meeting by DesertPlanet
Severus Snape was quite a stoic man, keeping to himself and frequently avoiding all social interactions with his fellow teachers unless absolutely necessary. Not that that was a difficult task as his office, lab, and quarters were housed in the dungeons of Hogwarts as opposed to on the main floors of the castle as the other professor’s quarters were.
This stoicism and introversion had played well into the current situation he found himself in. It was easy to hide information from others when you didn’t interact with them on a regular basis to begin with. However, it wasn’t just information he was hiding this time; it was a whole person.
Today, however, he was required by Hogwarts policy to disclose health and safety information about the person he had spent the better part of the summer trying to hide. Hide and heal.
Albus Dumbledore cleared his throat as he stood at the head of the long table which appeared in the staff room. It was time.
“Good morning all!” the headmaster began, smiling and opening his arms wide. “Welcome back to another year at Hogwarts! Thank you all for your diligence in getting your lesson plans completed in a timely manner. The members of the board were most impressed with the changes made to the Arithmancy and Muggle Studies curriculums for the upcoming year. Thank you very much Septima and Charity for your hard work in incorporating muggle mathematics into your classes!”
A small round of applause was heard around the room as the two mentioned professors nodded their heads in thanks to the headmaster. The muggleborn students and alumni had been complaining for years that they were struggling with transitioning back into the muggle world due to a lack of matching core education. The pure-blood members of the board had initially been against the idea, however as more and more alumni approached them about their struggles post-graduation, the board finally relented. The eventual goal was to find ways to incorporate basic muggle subjects into all classes, though this would be more difficult in some classes than others. Arithmancy and Muggle Studies seemed like a logical place to start.
“It is also my pleasure to welcome back to our teaching staff Professor Quirinus Quirrell. For those few of you who do not know, Quirinus has just recently returned from a year long sabbatical in which he completed a Grand Tour through Europe and North Africa.”
Again, another small round of applause occurred, during which the man in question looked around wildly and smiled in a way that made it look as though he were on the verge of vomiting.
“A few last announcements before I let you all go and finish your last minute preparations. Due to some rather unfortunate unforeseen circumstances, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is to be out of bounds for all students and faculty for the foreseeable future. My hope is that the artifact which has been stored there will find a new, more safe, home soon. Defenses have been put in place to deter would-be thieves from attempting to steal said artifact, however I am asking all staff members to add a defense within their own field of expertise to add to the difficulty in obtaining this object. If you have any ideas for adding additional layers of security, please let me know.
“Minerva, you have some announcements?” Albus finished, handing the floor to the Deputy Headmistress.
“Thank you Albus. We sent out a total of 54 invitations to new potential new students this year per the registrar of magical usage. Of these, we received 39 acceptance letters with an additional 5 acceptances from muggle-born students’ families following a visit from a representative. Thank you, again, Charity, Bathsheda, and Pomona for volunteering to be our representatives this year. For those of you not keeping track, we are preparing to have 44 new first years in our midst in just a few short hours.”
“Forty-three,” Albus interrupted suddenly. “Harry Potter and his relatives have agreed to have private tutoring as opposed to attending regular classes.”
Minerva sighed heavily as a few gasps were heard around the room. She removed her master list of names from her pocket and crossed off Potter’s name. She wished he had told her this sooner. It would be odd to not have the Potter heir in Hogwarts; she had been hoping to meet him and tell him the stories of his father’s antics and his mother’s innate skill.
“Forty-three then. Of those, only one notification of medical accommodation and one notification of creature accommodation were sent. Poppy, was there anything on their medical disclosures which is pertinent for the staff to know?”
The matron of the Hospital Wing, briefly made eye contact with the potion’s master and raised an eyebrow at him. Severus nodded his head subtly and sighed. There was no time like the present. Time to get this over with.
“They were sent to the same student. As for the disclosure, I believe the boy’s father would be the best to give this information,” Poppy said, nodding to Severus, who immediately felt rather self conscious but hid it well.
Gasps were heard around the room. Few of the professors had not seen Julian at the beginning of the summer, however it was easy to see how they assumed he was much younger than he actually was. At that time, Julian hadn’t been out of bed in over a month and could barely stand without assistance. He was still well below the average size and weight of the average first-year, but that would come.
“Yes, thank you Poppy,” Severus started, clearing his throat and gathering his thoughts. Closing his eyes briefly, he brought the memory of the story he had told Lucius Malfoy when he had first met Julian to the forefront of his mind. It wouldn’t do to change major details, especially when trying to keep Julian’s true identity secret.
“As many of you know, I have been working on a project for the past four years. Four years ago, I was contacted by the family of a former relationship I had briefly had years previous. They stated I had a son and that he was ill. I initially doubted this relation, however the paternity potion came back positive. When I first met Julian, he was still relatively healthy. Enough so that I didn’t suspect anything.
“As the years went on, his condition continued to deteriorate. Potions were not working for him, spells were able to provide some stability to his condition briefly, but he was losing the battle. Last May, the relatives he had been staying with reached out stating they could no longer take care of him. While I had been providing them with potions sporadically, I had never actually laid eyes on him, a fact I now greatly regret.
“Once he was under my care, it became evident that his relations had not been the saintly figures they made themselves out to be. Rather the opposite, actually. They had sought treatment for him in the muggle world, but did not complete any follow-up appointments until Julian was too ill to do anything. They used him to garner pity and support from their community, even going so far as to use him to get additional money from the government. It wasn’t until he was on his deathbed they truly reached out for help, and even then it was to get rid of him as he would no longer benefit them.”
Severus looked around the room briefly. He could see many of the women in the room had paled. Several of them were holding a hand to their mouth. Even Quirrell looked slightly more pale than his usual pallor.
“By the time I got him, his body had completely ceased to function in several major regards, most notably his body was no longer producing blood on its own, nor were his stomach or intestines working properly. His magical core was nearly completely depleted as it tried in vain to keep him alive. It took us an honestly embarrassingly long time to figure out what was wrong with him. Everything we were seeing, every problem Julian had, could be traced back to one particular event.
“His relatives had locked him out of the house one night while they had gone to a party of some sort and he was attacked by a vampire while they were away. All of the symptoms he was having were the end stages of vampiric starvation.”
Gasps were heard around the room. Even Minerva, who had been still standing, sat down suddenly, hand on her chest.
Severus gave them a few moments to digest what he had just said. It was a lot of information to take in, especially in such a short period of time.
“As of right now, he is still unable to feed on blood as his stomach simply cannot pass anything. He ends up extremely nauseated when he tries, however the instinct and urge is still there. We have discovered a variety of substitutes which help to quench the thirst he feels, however he requires much more care than even a healthy vampire would due to the damage prolonged starvation and magical depletion has done to him.
“Albus, Poppy, and I have discussed a modified schedule for him as any magical use right now exhausts him and can send him into a blood rage if his magic becomes too depleted. He will not be able to stay in the dorms, but there is no reason he should be prevented from socializing with other students.”
The other professors mulled this around in their heads. Some of the older professors remembered what it was like teaching Remus Lupin and the difficulties he had, though he was able to function quite well outside of the week of the full moon. Julian, on the other hand, was always in his creature state. This would be a first for all of them.
“Severus, question?” Pomona Sprout asked suddenly. “Are there classes he won’t be able to attend?”
“Anything outside during the day. He is extremely light sensitive and sun exposure drains his magic quite quickly. Would it be possible for me to discuss how he will learn herbology with this limitation with you later?”
“Absolutely!” Pomona said, conjuring a piece of parchment and quill and beginning to make some notes.
“Any other questions?” Severus asked, opening the floor for questions. He tried to keep his tone neutral, but some of his normal snide tone made its way out.
There was a moment of silence as the staff mulled all that he had told them over in their head. They had seen him stressing over something for the last few years, yet none of them had even thought that there was a possibility that he could have a son. And now to find out that his son was a vampire? It was actually rather on brand for the man, but still greatly unexpected.
“Does he have any other difficulties we need to be aware of?” Professor Flitwick piped up from his chair. “I know there are some standard vampiric traits that are commonly known, but I don’t want to rush to assumptions that ‘common knowledge’ is fact.”
“Of course,” Severus said with a small smirk. Naturally, it would be the Ravenclaw Head of House to pick up on the possibility of misinformation. “Sunlight is not immediately deadly to him, however it does have the potential to completely drain his magical core which would lead to his death shortly after. He is not sensitive to garlic per se, but rather finds the scent to be quite nauseating. The biggest difficulty that he has is the difference in the way he senses things. As I said before, he is very light sensitive. If a room is too brightly lit, it makes it very difficult for him to see. If he is struggling with seeing the board or reading from a text, please offer to copy the notes to a piece of parchment or allow him to leave the room to go somewhere darker so he may read. He may also need to sit closer to the front for demonstrations so he can view finer details of wand movements. His hearing is also quite sensitive, so he may jump at noises you may not consider loud.”
There was a scratching of quills as the professors who were taking notes quickly scribbled this information down.
“What are you planning to do to keep his thirst under control?” Professor Babbage, the Ancient Runes professor asked. A small frown graced her face. She wanted the best for all the students, but was unsure if she liked the idea of having a dangerous creature attending classes or wandering around the grounds unattended.
“He is on a strict regimen of muggle medication, nutrient potions, and partial blood products. We have been seeing some increase in activity in his stomach and have been working to transition him to drinking whole animal blood. So long as he is receiving the current regimen, he is able to control any urge to feed. Even when he is feeling the desire to feed, he is not immediately dangerous and does have the ability to control himself and not attack for long periods of time.”
Poppy piped in to add clarity to the statement. “One of the treatments he received from the muggles was a tube placed directly into his intestines which allows us to bypass the stomach and give him the blood products without him sicking up. We can also use this to run potions while he is asleep so he does not wake up thirsty.”
More quill scratching was heard as notes were made. Surely there would be more professors in the library at once at the beginning of this term than there had been in likely the whole history of Hogwarts.
“H-h-h-has h-h-he tried-d-d-d to use b-b-b-blood m-m-m-magic?” Quirrell stuttered out, face ashen.
“No, he has not made any attempt to use blood magic of any kind,” Severus said, feeling rather relieved and proud that that was the case. “He only recently began having enough magic in his reserves to be able to perform even basic accidental magic, but even then, none of what he has done can even remotely be considered dark.”
Sighs of relief were heard throughout the room. Severus’s mood immediately soured. Of course they were afraid, but they had never met the boy! Besides, they should know by now that not all ‘dark creatures’ were truly dark, nor were the light truly light. Everyone and everything fell in a shade of grey.
Once it was determined there were no more questions, Severus sat back in his chair with relief. Despite the looks of pity he was receiving from the other staff members, he was still in a rather good mood.
There were only a few more hours until the train arrived, then Julian Snape would officially be a Hogwarts student and the year could officially commence.
He only hoped the sticking spell he had placed on the boy’s fringe held when he removed his (now traditional) knit cap and replaced it with his Hogwarts pointed cap.
To be continued...
The Train to Hogwarts by DesertPlanet
Julian sighed and leaned back against the train window, trying to block out more of the light that was filtering through the blinds. Every jostle on the tracks let the curtains pull away from the window slightly, causing sunlight to stream into the cabin for a split second. This periodic strobe effect was leaving him with a raging headache and feeling rather nauseous in spite of all of the medications he was on.
“Are you ok?” Malcolm Harlow, the Slytherin prefect he was sitting with, asked as he noticed the increase in the boy shifting around.
“Yeah,” Julian said quietly as he pulled out the potions manual he brought with him. Maybe a little light reading would help him relax?
“Do you need me to get Professor Kettleburn?” Malcolm asked, already halfway out of his seat.
“No!” Julian snapped. “I don’t need Kettleburn. I don’t need anything off the trolley. What I need is for this shade to stay put!”
Julian leaned back more against the shade and dove into his book, missing the loss of color in the Slytherin’s face.
“I’ll … I’ll be back in a minute, ok?” Malcolm said, quickly backing out of the compartment and shutting the door, not waiting for an answer.
The prefects had always reserved a few compartments just for them so they could discuss plans for the upcoming year and welcome the new prefects into the fold. None of them had been too happy when they received word that they would be having to keep an eye on an ill, incoming student, but they decided to make it work by watching him in shifts.
That had worked for all of an hour.
Daphne Greengrass had been the first to watch Snape Jr. She had lasted just under an hour in the room with him. Something about him was… off-putting. Apparently, she had been trying to be nice to him and was trying to strike up a conversation but he was having none of it. From what they could understand through her tears was that he just kept staring at her and it felt like he was looking straight through her. She was thoroughly freaked out by it.
The next to try sitting with him was Alexandra Ashford, the seventh year Slytherin prefect. She too felt the boy was staring at her soul, his large green eyes magnified by the thickness of his glasses. She, however, managed to stay in the compartment with him for the entire hour and a half they had agreed to. Seven years of dealing with the boy’s father seemed to have given her an advantage.
Malcolm had agreed to go next, believing he had the same advantage plus he was confident he could build some sort of rapport with the boy simply because he was a boy too.
Julian was having none of it. He sat in a ball on the seat, alternating between reading a book and resting his head on his knees. Any time Malcolm tried to speak to him or ask him questions, the most he got in response were one word answers. There was simply no conversation the boy wanted to be a part of.
Things had only gotten worse when the snack trolley had come around. Julian had thought he had enough spare coins on him to purchase a blood pop, but was saddened to find there were none available. In fact, there were no candies he could have that he could afford.
Malcolm had purchased a few pumpkin pasties, which he offered to share with the boy. He could see the longing in the child’s eyes as the trolley continued on, and thought it was a nice gesture to offer one of his. Julian had taken it, but upon smelling it, immediately handed it back. The overwhelming scent of pumpkin and cinnamon made his mouth water, but not in a good way. It was such a sickening smell it was all he could do to not gag immediately.
They had sat in relative silence for the next half hour as Julian tried to get the smell of the pasty out of his nose. As the train made its final northward turn and the sun began to dip to the west, Julian began to realize the fatal flaw in the train’s design: all of the compartments were on the west side of the train. The sun was beating down on the side of the train he was on, the curtains were fluttering, and his headache was growing.
When Malcolm left the compartment, presumably to get Professor Kettleburn, Julian breathed a sigh of relief. The horrible stench of pumpkin was finally gone from his nose. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath.
After months of only being around a few people, it was odd being in such close proximity to such a large number. If he listened closely, he could just about hear their conversations. A deep breath and he could smell them, the blood coursing through their veins, the raging teenage hormones.
The overwhelming scent of cologne.
Julian wrinkled his nose in disgust as the smell of several different colognes permeated the air. How was any of that a pleasant scent? Tucking into his book, he relished in its scent, the smell of parchment wafting from the book reminded him of all the time he spent in Severus’s book-laden house and quarters. True, he had been so weak and sickly for most of the summer that he couldn’t enjoy it much, but the scent still triggered some of the few good memories he had.
He had barely read more than a paragraph when the cabin door slid open.
“What?” he snapped, not looking up.
“Julian?!” a familiar voice called out. “You made it!”
“Hello, Draco,” he said, rather meekly. Ever since the ill-fated trip to Diagon Alley, Julian hadn’t heard anything from the towheaded boy. “I’m sorry about what happened at Diagon Alley.”
“Severus said you weren't well. Are you feeling better now?” Draco asked. His father had warned him to stay away from Julian, but there was something about him that seemed more genuine than any of the pure-bloods he had been forced to meet over the years.
“A bit,” Julian said, stepping back out of the corridor and into his compartment again. “Would you like to join me?”
“Do you mind if Crabbe and Goyle sit with us as well?” Draco asked, gesturing to the two large figures on either side of him. Without squinting, Julian could only make out that there were two large boys standing behind Draco on either side.
“That’s fine, if they don’t mind the dark.”
Julian quickly backed back into the semi-darkness of the compartment. It felt much nicer with someone he knew sitting with him, as opposed to sitting with the prefects. It had felt so strange to have to sit with someone, and it stung a little when they started changing out. He knew they had friends and their own duties to attend to, but it still hurt that they didn’t want to sit with him. Having Draco there, even though he had only spent a small amount of time with him, was far more comforting.
Once the other boys were in the compartment, Julian could get a better look at the two larger boys. Neither of them were particularly bright looking, but he supposed both of them would make good body guards. In fact, he was rather sure that was exactly what Draco was using them for.
“Hello,” he said, looking at one of the boys. “I’m Julian Snape.”
“Vincent Crabbe,” the boy grunted, offering his hand to the smaller boy.
“Gregory Goyle,” the other behemoth said, following suit.
Julian shook both boy’s hands, noticing both had a distinct, rather acrid smell about them. It wasn’t overwhelming, but it smelled… dark. As though they had both recently been around someone or something which had been performing dark magic. Draco’s father had had a similar smell, though his was more faint than even these two boys were.
“How was the rest of your summer, Julian?” Draco said, cordially.
“It was alright once we got my potions in order,” Julian said, leaving out that most of his potions were actually muggle medication. “I almost had to go to St. Mungo’s after Diagon Alley.”
Draco’s eyes widened in shock. He had known Julian wasn’t feeling well at the time, but to hear he was nearly hospitalized because of his illness was shocking.
“What’s wrong wit’ ya?” Goyle said, looking only mildly concerned. “Ya look a bit peaky still.”
Julian smirked slightly. That was an understatement. He had thought he was just a bit small and that Dudley was just oversized. Being around other people of roughly the same age was really beginning to put his actual size into perspective. ‘Peaky’ was like calling a cave ‘just a bit dark.’ Julian was excruciatingly small in every aspect and pale as a ghost to boot.
“My stomach doesn’t like to process any foods,” he said, rubbing it lightly. “Hasn’t for years. It’s getting a bit better, but I still get really sick really easily.”
“Have you ever had pumpkin juice?” Goyle asked suddenly. “Or cauldron cakes?”
Julian raised an eyebrow at the boy. Judging by his weight, he had never missed a meal in his life. The idea of not being able to eat must be terrifying for him.
“It only started a few years ago,” Julian said, strategically sidestepping the questions. He had never had pumpkin juice or cauldron cakes, or really any food item from the magical world outside of blood pops and the occasional piece of chocolate. Though, to be fair, the chocolate was only slightly different from the chocolate in the muggle world.
Goyle grunted, accepting the answer before pulling out a chocolate bar and taking a bite of it.
Suddenly, the door was flung open and a rather thin professor poked his head in. He was tottering slightly on a pair of prosthetic legs of slightly uneven height and had one arm in a sling.
“Any problems here, boys?” he said in a rather gruff voice. “Malcolm said you were looking a bit off.”
“None thus far, Professor Kettleburn,” Julian said. “Though would it be possible for you to put a sticking charm on the curtains? Every time the train rocks, the curtains move and I’m getting a horrible headache.”
Mumbling under his breath about having to get up and how he hated travelling by train, Professor Kettleburn pulled out his wand and quickly stuck the blinds to the wall, preventing them from flapping about.
“Anything else I can do for you boys?” he said, leaning on the door as the train rocked.
“No, thank you,” Julian said, looking at his book again. At this rate, he would never get past the first potion in the book!
Mumbling under his breath again, Professor Kettleburn began limping back towards his compartment before turning back and opening the door once more.
“Your father told me to remind you not to forget your potions,” he said before limping heavily back to his compartment.
“Who was that?” Draco asked, looking after the man.
“Professor Kettleburn, he teaches Care of Magical Creatures. He volunteered to be on the train in case I needed … medical assistance,” Julian said, looking at the pocket watch Severus had given him in lieu of a watch. Apparently watches were a more “muggle” accessory.
With a sigh, he peaked out of the curtains. The sun was finally touching the horizon, meaning they would be getting to the school in a few short hours. He had hoped he wouldn’t have to change any of his feedings in front of people, but it looked like that wasn’t going to be the case. He could already feel the gnawing hunger beginning to grow as he hadn’t had any iron in nearly six hours and the albumin was bound to be running low.
Taking his backpack off and unzipping it, he removed the small pile that was his uniform from the top and set it aside. It would be time to change soon anyways. He then pulled out one of the large glass vials containing albumin and set it aside before pulling out a much smaller syringe filled with a brown fluid from a side pocket.
Draco and the other boys watched in shocked horror as their smaller compatriot pulled vial after vial and syringe after syringe from his bag. Draco had known he was ill, but to see this was a reminder as to how different the boy’s life was from his own.
“What is all that?” Draco asked, trying to hide his shock at the sheer size of the vials. They looked unlike any potions vials he had ever seen, but Severus was a potions master and must know what he was doing.
Julian ignored him for a moment as he reached into the bag and pulled out a bottle of water and one last large syringe. He then pressed a few buttons on the small machine at the bottom of the bag and a few beeps were heard.
“What is all of that?” Draco asked again, more insistently.
“It’s my potions,” Julian said, by way of explanation as he worked at pulling the metal cover off the top of the albumin bottle. “Can one of you get this off for me? I just need the metal bit removed.”
Crabbe took the bottle and looked at it as though he had just been handed a vial of poison. It was a rather large bottle containing nearly a quarter of a liter of pale fluid unlike anything Crabbe had ever seen. A white label graced the front of the bottle, declaring it to be 5% albumin. When he moved it, Crabbe could see the liquid in the bottle sticking to the walls of the vial as though it were syrup. A small, metal cap covered a dark grey rubber cork.
The two other pure-blood boys watched in fascination as Crabbe peeled back the metal with relative ease though he was quite careful to not cut himself. Julian, meanwhile, pulled out a small container which contained a miniscule tablet which he slid under his tongue before reaching his hand out and taking the now metal-less albumin vial from Crabbe.
“Thank you,” he said, swallowing harshly as the tablet made his mouth water. Why anyone would think grape was a good flavor for these tabs, he would never know.
“What did you put in your mouth?!” Draco said, rather frantically at the sour look on the other boy’s face. “Are you ok?”
“The tablet is so I hopefully don’t start getting sick during the feast tonight,” Julian said, rather annoyed he was having to explain this to the other boys. At least his headache was finally going away. “These potions are an additional food replacement on top of the nutrient potions I take.”
Draco still looked rather pale as Julian removed the grey cork from the large vial and began pouring it into a bag which was clipped into place in his backpack. Even Crabbe and Goyle were looking intrigued as to what the boy was doing, as was the red-head standing in the doorway watching.
“And you are?” Julian said, raising an eyebrow at the newcomer. This was just great, even more people to watch as the freak fed himself.
‘Dad’s going to be so mad if he knew you kept calling yourself that,’ a voice in the back of his head whispered to him.
“Percy Weasley. I’m supposed to sit with you for the remainder of the trip,” the red-head said, closing the door behind him and forcing his way onto the bench next to Crabbe and Goyle. Julian could just make out the scent of apprehension on him.
“You don’t have to sit with me, you know,” Julian said as he replaced the cork in the now empty albumin bottle and poured half of the bottle of water into a cup he had pulled from the depths of his bag.
Percy scoffed, “ I was given instructions from Professor Dumbledore himself to watch you until we get to Hogwarts.”
“You’re just scared of my dad,” Julian said quietly but rather snidely, lifting his shirt to de-access his feeding tube momentarily so he could give himself the iron and flush the tube with the water.
“What the bloody hell is that?!” Draco demanded, interrupting Percy’s indignant response and looking at the tube coming out of Julian’s stomach. He vaguely recalled Julian saying he had a tube in his stomach, but hearing about it and seeing it were two totally different things.
Julian ignored him, choosing instead to finish his routine. There would be time for questions later, now wasn’t it. Leaning his head against the back of the seat, he relished the feeling of relief the iron supplement brought him. For two long years, he had felt as though he were constantly starving. And he had been. Now, after only a few months of being fed, or attempting to be fed, he was finally beginning to feel more normal. Stronger. Healthier.
“Julian?” Percy’s voice cut through his thoughts. “A-are you ok?”
Julian cracked one eye and saw that Percy and Draco had switched seats. Draco was still staring at the bag Julian carried with a mix of awe and horror, however Crabbe and Goyle were resolutely ignoring it.
“I’m fine,” Julian said, resting a hand on his stomach and taking a deep breath.
“If you’re sure,” Percy said, sounding sceptical. “We’re getting rather close to Hogsmeade, you boys ought to get changed into your robes.”
Julian just nodded, undoing his belt and untying his boots.
“We’ll see you later Julian,” Draco said as he and the other boys got up to go back to the compartment where their trunks were stored. He then nodded curtly to Percy and said haughtily, “Weasley.”
Percy sneered slightly in response, making sure to shut the compartment door behind them just a little too loudly causing Julian to jump slightly at the sound.
Farther towards the front of the train, a whistle was heard. Moving the curtain slightly, Julian saw the sun had finally set. Peering off into the distance, he could just make out the southernmost tip of the lake.
He was almost home.
To be continued...
The Sorting of Julian Snape by DesertPlanet
*“Firs’ years!” a loud voice was heard over the chaos of the students disembarking. “Firs’ years over here!”
Julian stumbled towards the large man in the enormous jacket. He hoped it wasn’t much of a walk to wherever they were going. He was freezing cold in the autumn air and was already feeling the strain of having been awake for so long. He had been hoping to take a nap on the train, but that didn’t happen.
“All right there, young Snape?” the man bellowed, leaving Julian feeling deafened as he nodded. *“C’mon, follow me- anymore firs’ years? Mind yer step now! Firs’ years follow me!”
Slipping and stumbling down the steep narrow path between the train station and the houses, the first years followed the enormous man as he led them through the forest towards the edge of the lake. While the other students were struggling with the darkness, Julian was thriving. Stepping lazily over a protruding rock, Julian was rather amused as the students behind him tripped over it one by one. He had never had the chance to go wander in the darkness, but was now enthralled by it.
If only there wasn’t the gaggle of other eleven year olds following him.
Thankfully nobody spoke much, though the boy who kept losing his toad sniffed once or twice.
*“Yeh’ll get yer firs’ sight o’ Hogwarts in a sec,” the giant man said loudly over his shoulder, “jus’ round this bend here.”
As they rounded the corner, there was a collective cry of amazement. All of the windows of the castle were lit, its reflection shimmering on the water of the lake. Stars filled the sky and a crescent moon hung in the sky just over the tallest tower.
Even Julian was in awe at the magnificent castle, despite having lived in it for the past few months. The only time he had managed to be in a position to see the outside of the castle, the sun had been out in full force and he was quite tired as it was. That had been a rather frantic moment anyways as he and Severus were needing to be in Spinner’s End so as to not allow the muggle police officers to worry about his status. Hogwarts was truly a magical sight and made up for the freezing temperatures and long, exhausting walk.
Julian felt his legs start to wobble under him as he walked towards the boats. He needed to sit down and fast. He didn’t think his legs could hold him much longer.
*“No more’n four to a boat!” the large man called, before looking at Julian. “Yeh’ll be sittin’ with me, lad.”
Julian nodded and followed the man to the largest of the boats. Nearly falling as he stepped into the boat, Julian sighed with relief when he was finally able to sit down. His legs were already burning from the exertion of walking long distance, and if his calculations were correct, he still had several flights of stairs to climb after this.
Only a few more hours, then bed. He could do this.
*“Everyone in?” the large man said, climbing into the boat with Julian, making sure not to squish the small boy. *“Right then- FORWARD!”
The boats moved forward smoothly, the lake like glass under their bows. Julian was immensely thankful for this as the movement of the boat was already starting to make him queasy.
Everyone stared in silence at the magnificent castle as they approached, looking every which way as new details were made more apparent as they approached. The boats made a sudden right turn and went through a small archway which was covered in ivy before finally coming to a halt in an underground harbor of sorts.
Julian waited until the other students had climbed out of the boats and onto the rocks before following suit. His legs still felt shaky from the walk to the boats, and now they had to climb up to the castle itself. As he followed the group of other students, he knew he was falling behind. Even the shortest of them still had legs which were significantly longer than his and even the most out of shape of them was still able to keep up with the relatively slow pace of the rest of the group.
The castle sat on the side of a mountain, looking down over the Hogsmeade valley and Black Lake. A large, open, grassy plain stretched between the castle and the dark forest. Several well groomed stone paths stretched from the castle doors down to various places within the grounds. A large tree could be seen standing awkwardly alone on the top of one of the small hills on the mountainside, its branches swaying as though a light breeze was perpetually blowing. Farther around the side of the castle, Julian could just make out a few of the greenhouses.
While he wished he had time to gawk at the beauty of the castle, he had to focus on putting one foot in front of the other. It was getting harder and harder to keep going.
The rest of the students were halfway up the long staircase to the front of the castle when Julian finally reached the bottom. Legs shaking violently at the exertion, he tried to walk up the stairs in the usual fashion, but found it difficult to raise his feet to the varying heights of the old, well worn steps. Lowering himself to all fours, he began climbing the stairs using his hands for balance and for extra strength.
Almost there.
*“Everyone here?” the large man said, looking around. *“You there, still got yer toad?”
Julian managed to push himself into a standing position next to a girl with frizzy, mouse brown hair and slightly large front teeth. Breathing as though he had run a marathon, Julian rested against the base of the decorative arch over the huge, oak front door.
The huge man raised his equally massive fist and knocked three times on the door.
Julian winced as the sound reverberated through his head, but he didn’t have long to bemoan his suffering as the door immediately flew open.
*“The firs’ years, Professor McGonagall,” the large man said.
Julian had met her several times throughout the latter few weeks of the summer when she would come to assist in monitoring him while Poppy was visiting her daughter. While she was nice enough, she was rather strict and took no nonsense from anyone. It had become rather routine for her to demand Severus to get some rest and to allow her to handle things rather than him trying to deal with everything at once. Seeing her standing there, looking them all over, was reassuring.
Especially when she made eye contact with him and the harsh wrinkles around her eyes softened slightly.
After a moment of looking over the students, she turned and opened the doors wide, revealing the entirety of the entrance hall. The gasps of awe from the other students pulled Julian out of his reverie as he followed them in. Hogwarts truly was a beautiful school with its wide, sweeping staircases and beautiful architecture. Julian smiled as they entered the building. He had only been gone a few hours, but it felt as though it had been weeks. It was nice to be home.
From a door to their right, Julian could hear the drone of the other students. Occasionally he could pick up a few snippets of conversation, however it wasn’t enough to know what was being spoken about. The rest of the school must already be here, he realized.
Rather than leading them into the Great Hall, Professor McGonagall led them into the small, empty chamber off the hall where Julian had met many of the professors and students at the end of the previous school year.
*“Welcome to Hogwarts,” Professor McGonagall began, continuing to make eye-contact with each individual student. “The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your Houses. The sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your House will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your House, sleep in your House dormitory, and spend free time in your House common room.
*“The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each House has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your House points, while any rule-breaking will lose House points. At the end of the year, the House with the most points is awarded the House Cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever House becomes yours.
*“The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting. I shall return when we are ready for you. Please wait quietly.”
Her eyes lingered on a few of the students who looked … worse for wear. The boy who had lost his toad had somehow managed to fasten his cloak in such a way it was rotated over one shoulder and a red-headed boy was frantically rubbing at a spot of dirt on his nose.
There was a rat sticking its head out of the red-head’s pocket. That rat didn’t smell right. Something about it didn’t feel right either, like there was a sickening poison to it. A smell he had only been able to associate with some humans thus far.
He didn’t have time to investigate further as Professor McGonagall had tapped him on his shoulder and motioned for him to follow her. One more quick look at the rat in the boy’s pocket and Julian turned to follow the professor out of the ante-chamber.
“How did it go?” Severus said quietly as soon as the door shut. He had hoped Minerva would allow him to be the one to greet the students this year, however she had insisted stating that she didn’t want to scare them away so soon into the year.
“Dad!” Julian yelped quietly. He had been so focused on the rat he hadn’t realized Severus was waiting for him outside of the hall.
Severus smirked slightly at the reaction as Minerva turned and entered the Great Hall to speak with the Headmaster. It had been getting harder to scare the boy as he became more and more accustomed to the different senses being a vampire had given him. This may be the last time he managed to sneak up on the boy in such a way and he would relish it.
“Well?” he asked again.
“I don’t think I ever want to walk that far again,” Julian said, leaning against the wall.
Severus frowned, looking at the state of the boy. A slight sheen of sweat could be seen on his brow and his cheeks were flushed a light pink. With a trained eye, he could see the boy’s legs were trembling as he struggled to remain standing. It wasn’t long before his knees would give out.
“Do you think you will make it through the sorting?” Severus asked. “You’ll have to remain standing for around fifteen more minutes, provided everyone’s sorting goes smoothly. Or you could wait here and be sorted separately.”
Julian thought about it for a moment, then nodded.
“I think I can make it. Worst case scenario, I’ll just sit at the nearest table until it is my turn.”
Severus nodded, “That is an acceptable plan. Would you like to remove the backpack for now?”
“Albumin is still running, though,” Julian said as he removed the pack. Already he felt much better about his chances at remaining standing. The backpack, while necessary for him to ride the train, had steadily felt as though it were getting heavier and heavier the longer he wore it. If he had to wear it for much longer, he was afraid it would start cutting into his shoulders no matter how well padded the straps were.
“That’s fine,” Severus said, taking the bag and helping disconnect it without undoing all of Julian’s school robes. He then straightened the boy’s robes and adjusted the pointed black cap he wore. Soon enough, Julian would be wearing true school colors and not just the standard black of the incoming first years. Severus nearly smiled at the thought, then had a flash of the boy wearing the Gryffindor colors and had to stop himself from scowling.
Anywhere would be better for the boy than Gryffindor.
“You took your ondansetron, yes?”
Julian nodded, “Of course. Will I have to stay until the end of the feast?”
“If you are able. If not, there is an antechamber off the front of the Great Hall. If you need to go there, I shall join you and walk you back down to our quarters.”
“It’s time to go,” Professor McGonagall said, having come back to fetch the students.
“Thank you, Minerva,” Severus said, lifting the pack easily. “Behave, Julian.”
Julian smirked as he followed Professor McGonagall back into the room. The smudge on the red-headed boy’s nose looked as though it had gotten worse and the toad-boy’s cloak was finally in the right spot. The other students looked as though they had tried to straighten themselves up as well. Several of the Hogwarts ghosts had slipped into the room to greet the students while he had been out.
*“...my old House, you know,” the Fat Friar was saying to the students.
*“Move along now,” Professor McGonagall said sharply to the ghosts. “The Sorting Ceremony’s about to start.”
One by one, the ghosts floated away through the walls, some waving goodbye to the students as they did.
*“Now, form a line and follow me.”
Getting into the line, Julian was again made acutely aware as to how tall the other students were compared to him. He hadn’t been around enough healthy children his own age to really gauge how short he truly was, a fact that was now eagerly slamming itself in front of him. Walking as quickly as his legs would allow him, he followed the other students across the hall and through a set of large double doors into the Great Hall, struggling to keep up with their longer strides.
Julian’s jaw dropped. He had seen the Great Hall several times during his time at Hogwarts, but he was not prepared for how beautifully decorated it was. During the summer, there had been no decorations on the walls outside of the architectural details which were already a part of the building. The tables had been stacked along one wall so as to facilitate the cleaning and polishing of the floors and only a few candles had floated through the air to allow for lighting. The charm on the ceiling had also been disabled while the various charms and spells on the building were renewed.
Now however, everything was back in its rightful place. The tables were placed in four long rows with table runners of the various house colors running down their centers. Golden plates, goblets, and silverware sat in front of every student. The walls were covered in banners of the various house colors, with the different coats of arms hanging behind the head table. There were thousands of candles floating through the air, giving an almost ethereal quality to the room and the ceiling showed the beautiful night’s sky.
*“It’s bewitched to look like the sky outside. I read about it in Hogwarts: A History,” he heard the frizzy haired girl say quietly.
Julian had a feeling come over him that he was about to take part in a mysterious ritual when he realized he had never asked Severus what the Sorting consisted of.
Looking at the head table, Julian could see all of the Professors sitting there. While many of them were engaged in conversations amongst themselves, he was made acutely aware that many of them were staring at him. Not at the group of first years as a whole. At him.
He felt his cheeks turn a brighter pink as he looked towards the other side of the table and found Severus sitting between Poppy and a man with a large purple turban on his head. Severus nodded slightly to him as the group slowed to a stop in the front of the room. Julian smirked slightly and nodded back.
In front of the head table sat a small stool with a rather ratty looking wizard’s hat. It was patched in many spots and extremely frayed. And it looked filthy. It looked as though it hadn’t been washed in over a hundred years.
Julian’s hands ached at the thought of cleaning it. What would the fabric look like? Would it even stand up to a good scrubbing? What were they expected to do with it?
He didn’t have long to think about it as a rip near the brim of the hat opened wide and the hat began to sing.
* “Oh you may not think I’m pretty,
But don’t judge on what you see,
I'll eat myself if you can find
A smarter hat than me.
You can keep your bowlers black,
Your top hats sleek and tall,
For I’m the Hogwarts Sorting Hat
And I can cap them all.
There’s nothing hidden in your head
The Sorting Hat can’t see,
So try me on and I will tell you
Where you ought to be.
You might belong in Gryffindor,
Where dwell the brave at heart,
Their daring, nerve, and chivalry
Set Gryffindors apart;
You might belong in Hufflepuff,
Where they are just and loyal,
Those patient Hufflepuffs are true
And unafraid of toil;
Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,
If you’ve a ready mind,
Where those of wit and learning,
Will always find their kind;
Or perhaps in Slytherin
You’ll make your real friends,
Those cunning folk use any means
To achieve their ends.
So put me on! Don’t be afraid!
And don’t get in a flap!
You’re in safe hands (though I have none)
For I’m a Thinking Cap!”
The thunderous applause of the whole hall had Julian cringing immediately. He wanted so badly to clap his hands over his ears in an effort to keep the noise level down. If he had known it was going to be like this, he would have requested a pair of ear plugs from Severus before getting on the train.
The hat bowed to each of the four tables before becoming still once more.
“So we’ve just got to try on the hat!” he heard the red-head with the rat whisper to toad-boy. “I’ll kill Fred, he was going on about wrestling a troll!”
The idea of even attempting to fight another magical creature in his current state was unfathomable. Perhaps it would have be afraid of him? He had never been near another magical creature to gauge what their reaction would be towards him. He had read that other creatures would be able to sense something was different about him.
A sudden stinging curse hit him and jolted him out of his reverie. Who…?
Looking around, he saw everyone was now enthralled with the sorting, everyone except for Severus who just raised one eyebrow and gave him a look that said ‘pay attention.’
Ah, he was the culprit.
‘At least I wasn’t staring at someone’s neck!’ Julian thought with a smirk. ‘I doubt he would have let me stay in the same room as the other students then!’
*“Boot, Terry!” Professor McGonagall said, sounding rather muffled to his ears. He had been so distracted trying to find the rat he missed the sorting of the first few students.
*“RAVENCLAW” the hat shouted, again sounding rather muffled.
Another quick glance at Severus confirmed the man had applied some sort of muffling spell to his ears to make the sounds less abrasive, a fact the boy was immediately thankful for as the table to his left exploded in applause.
As the sorting continued, the group around him got smaller and smaller. He was thankful there weren’t too many students needing sorted. His legs and feet were beginning to ache even more from standing, but he refused to sit. If he was going to be a normal student, this was the first step.
It was interesting to watch the sorting as there was no set time on how long the hat remained on someone's head. Some, like Draco, were sorted the instant the hat touched their head. Others, like a sandy haired boy named Seamus Finnegan, took much longer as the hat seemed to be debating something for a long time before shouting “GRYFFINDOR!”
What house would it choose for him? He rather hoped to go to Slytherin or possibly Ravenclaw, as both of those houses seemed to suit him better from what he had heard about them. It would be interesting to see what the hat thought.
Suddenly his blood ran cold. What if it sorted him based on his parents? He wasn’t really a Snape or a Prince after all. Would it sort him as Harry Potter? Would it take his biological parents into account? Would that land him in Gryffindor? Would the hat even sort him at all as he wasn’t technically a human any more?
*“Perks, Sally-Anne.”
A bespeckled girl left the now miniscule group of unsorted students and took a seat on the stool at the front. The hat took only a minute before shouting:
*“HUFFLEPUFF!”
Julian watched as the girl went to the table directly to their right. If he had been Harry Potter still, his name would have been next. Were there any other students between the P’s and the S’s?
“Snape, Julian.”
Apparently not. Bloody hell.
Wide-eyed, Julian removed his pointed black hat, made sure his fringe was covering his tell-tale scar, and made his way up the stairs to where the Sorting Hat was, praying silently that his shaking legs wouldn’t give out from under him. He could hear the volume of the hall increase exponentially, as all of the students tried to get a look at him.
“Snape, did she say?”
“Snape really does have a kid?!”
“No bloody way!”
“‘E’s so small!”
“Looks like a twig!”
The last thing he saw before the hat fell over his eyes was everyone in the hall craning to get a look at him. Even the Slytherins, who were feigning disinterest, were looking over at the son of their Head-of-House while repeatedly averting their eyes. They all knew they would get the chance to meet the boy at some point. The next second he was reminded of how dirty the hat looked.
“Hmm,” said a small voice in his ear. “Well, Mr. Potter, or should I say Mr. Snape, you are certainly difficult. No no, not because of your vampirism. You have plenty of courage, a thirst for knowledge, and a desire for acceptance. There is certainly a lot of raw talent in you, yes - and a thirst to prove yourself with bravery in spades, now that is interesting. So where to put you? Hmmm…”
Julian thought for a moment before replying, “I’ll go wherever suits me best.”
“Ah, yes. A place to call home, where you will not have to fear your secrets as they won’t be asked… in that case, better be…”
“SLYTHERIN!” the hat shouted for the hall to hear.
With great relief, Julian pulled off the hat and walked as quickly as he could towards the green table in the corner as they applauded. It felt as though a massive weight had been lifted off his chest. There was some applause from the rest of the room, though it was more respectful towards Severus than it was for him.
With a sigh of relief, Julian sat at the Slytherin table. His legs throbbed and he swore his feet were beginning to swell, but he had done it. He made it through the sorting. There was now no doubt in everyone’s mind that he was Julian Snape, the son of the potions master of Hogwarts. Now just dinner and he could sleep.
There were only four students left to sort. A tall, black boy named Dean Thomas, who towered over the other students, was sorted into Gryffindor. Lisa Turpin became a Ravenclaw. Then came the red-head boy with the rat, who was looking rather green as he approached the stool and sat down.
“Weasley, Ronald.”
Another Weasley? How many were there?!
Looking at the Gryffindor table as Ronald went there, he noticed the plethora of red-hair. Apparently all of the Weasleys were Gryffindors.
Maybe the twins could get the rat for him? Or at least give him more information on it. Maybe they had a good explanation for why it smelled so weird.
Maybe they were the explanation for why it smelled so weird.
A round of applause from the Slytherin table pulled him from his thoughts. The last student, a boy named Blaise Zabini, had just been sorted there. Professor McGonagall rolled up her list, looked rather balefully at the Gryffindors (who were in the process of banging their silverware on the table), and took the sorting hat away.
Albus Dumbledore, wearing the most gaudy blue robes imaginable, stood and opened his arms to the students as though attempting to hug them all.
“Welcome!” he said, joyfully. “Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!
“Thank you!”
He sat back down as the students clapped and cheered. Julian looked at Severus and raised an eyebrow to which Severus responded by shaking his head and rubbing the bridge of his nose and visibly sighing. Good, he wasn’t alone in thinking the man was doing this for show.
Through the few interactions he had had with the man, Julian had found him to be both extremely caring and equally manipulative. He may seem a doddering old man, but there was a strength behind him that was rather intimidating to behold. Whether anyone knew it or not, Dumbledore held the school under an iron fist. He knew everything that happened in the school at all times and would routinely manipulate events so others would fall into his traps.
Severus routinely warned him of the man’s ability to manipulate and to always question what the man said or question why he was doing what he was.
The scent of food was a punch to the face as the dishes in front of him were instantly filled to the brim with all sorts of meats, potatoes, puddings, veg, and (for some reason) peppermint humbugs. Had he still been human, he knew he would have immediately dove into stuffing his face. All of the foods in front of him had been foods he had longed to try or only gotten the scraps of.
Now, however, they all seemed unappetizing. Extremely unappetizing.
“Julian? Julian? You ok?” he heard Draco calling him. The muffling spell was still in place, making it more difficult to hear the boy’s rather high pitched voice over the other voices in the hall.
He nodded rather slowly. Was he ok? For now, yes. Would he last the entire feast? He honestly didn’t know.
Taking one of the peppermint humbugs, he sucked on it experimentally. It helped somewhat to drown out the other smells of the food around him. Especially the overwhelming scent of garlic from the main dishes.
Quickly, he grabbed a handful of the peppermints and sat them on his plate. At least now it wasn’t obviously empty.
“Hey, Snape, come on now. You gotta eat something!” one of the older boys said, adding more potatoes to his plate. “House rules: gotta eat something at every meal, and not just sweets.”
“But…” Julian started, as the boy removed the majority of his peppermint pile from his plate. “I can’t …”
“Look, kid. I was in your shoes a few years ago. Was obsessed with my weight. Your dad made sure I had at least something to eat every meal, no matter how small. I’m sure you know that rule.”
Looking frantically at where Severus sat, he was saddened to see the man was currently engaged in conversation with Poppy and the professor in the turban. None of them were looking in his direction, however.
Severus had never tried to impose this ‘eating’ rule on him as he had never tried to eat human food since moving in with the man. They had had enough trouble with just liquids, let alone solids. And the idea of any of this food coming back up in a few hours made it even less appetizing.
“He can’t eat, you dolt!” Draco said, coming to his defence. “You think Snape would allow his son to get so thin on purpose? He’s been sick!”
Julian blushed. It was nice having someone come to his defense for once. Embarrassing that this was the way other students found out, but still nice to not be the one trying to explain it.
“Really?” the older boy said, looking shocked. “What do you have?”
“They… never really figured it out,” Julian said, trying to come up with a reason quickly while picking at the leftover humbug wrapper. “My stomach just stopped working right and I stopped growing for a few years. When Dad finally picked me up from my relatives, I had dropped to less than four stone. We’ve kind of gotten my stomach working again, but … not much. I’ve gained five pounds since the start of summer though!”
“What do you eat then?” a girl asked from slightly farther down the table.
“Mostly nutrient potions,” Julian said, folding the humbug wrapper up as tightly as he could as his stomach began to tie itself in knots. “I also have a few specialized potions I have to get from an apothecary in London. I can eat candies though! For a while this summer, I ate so many lollies I was afraid I had drained father’s bank account.”
The students around them laughed quietly, though many of them were shocked internally. Professor Snape was a brilliant potions maker, known world wide for his mastery of the art. If there was a potion he couldn’t make, it had to be an extremely specialized one. It was known, particularly to the older students, that he had been working on a project for the last few years, though no one truly knew what that project was. It would seem he had been trying to help his son and make the potion which would prevent his death.
What a morbid thought.
It seemed to have worked though, as here his son was able to attend Hogwarts with other children his same age.
He did look rather green, though.
“How long do you think he’s going to last?” Poppy asked, sipping on her tea.
“Before he vomits?” Severus asked, savoring a bite of roast beef. It had been so long since he had eaten something like this, something that wasn’t overly bland to avoid setting off Julian’s overly sensitive stomach. “He took his medication before he got here. Maybe he’ll last all dinner?”
“Doubtful,” Poppy said, looking at where Julian sat. A quick look at the wrist watch she had spelled to be connected with his vital signs showed his heart rate was increasing, but overall he was doing well. He was noticeably paler than usual, however. “I’m honestly surprised he’s lasted as long as he has.”
“I’m more surprised at the other Slytherins. They aren’t badgering him too badly.”
Poppy nodded and took another sip of tea. She was glad he got sorted into Slytherin; putting that boy in any of the towers would be a recipe for disaster if he was ever allowed to stay in the dorms with the other students. Just the amount of sunlight in those dorms would be enough to routinely burn the boy. And the Slytherins were less likely to do any insane stunts like what the Gryffindors did. Imagining the child she had worked so hard to keep alive over the summer performing some insane stunt on a broom made her heart drop.
James Potter’s legacy be damned, she was glad the boy wouldn’t be able to play on the Quidditch team.
“H-h-h-how d-d-do you th-th-think-k-k he will f-f-f-fair in c-c-c-classes?” Quirrell suddenly piped up from next to the two of them.
“I believe he has much of the theory for this year memorized,” Severus said, a small smirk pulling at his lips. “He spent the majority of his time this summer absorbing as much information as he could. I believe the biggest problems for him will be due to his core and the fact it is still recuperating.”
“H-h-he w-w-w-won’t-t-t-t have a f-f-f-full sched-d-dule though?”
“Not until we are certain he can recuperate fully between classes,” Poppy said.
Quirrell nodded and looked at the boy with a mix of apprehension and pity in his eyes. It would be a pity if he got caught up in his Master’s plans. The boy had not had an easy life.
“Well, he lasted longer than I expected,” Severus muttered, watching as the now green faced boy made a break for the side door before standing himself.
“Would you like me to save you some dessert?” Poppy asked as Severus straightened his robes.
“No, thank you,” he said curtly before striding away.
A quick look at the hall before he exited ensured him that the only people who noticed Julian’s rapid exit were those in Slytherin and were sitting nearest to the boy. Draco looked rather concerned, as did those who were sitting immediately around where Julian had been. Those farther down the table were leaning in and whispering questions to those who were closer to where Julian was.
He would deal with the rumor mill later. Right now, he needed to make sure Julian was taken care of.
Once outside of the door, it wasn’t hard to find the boy. He had barely made it beyond the threshold before his legs gave out.
“Julian?” Severus said quietly, cancelling the muffling spell he had placed on the boy’s ears.
Julian wretched once more on to the ground before groaning.
“Can you stand?”
He tried. He really did. But his legs refused to push him up, having taken enough abuse for one day. He couldn’t even get his feet under him, the muscles being so well and truly exhausted.
Miserably, he shook his head, belching as his stomach lurched slightly less violently.
Severus spelled the boy clean before conjuring a small bucket in case the boy needed it on the trip to the dungeons. As gently as he could, he lifted his son into a standing position then lifted him once more onto his hip when it became evident Julian wasn’t exaggerating his inability to stand.
“Too much food?” he asked as they strode towards the stairs to the dungeons.
“Yeah,” Julian said, hoarsely. His throat felt raw from the vomit. “Some of the older boys were trying to convince me to eat, but I didn’t. Nothing looked or smelled good aside from the peppermints.”
Severus nodded in silence. He wondered how long it would be before the other students noticed his absence. Likely not long, especially if the rumor mill was already beginning in the Slytherin table. He would have to nip it in the bud before it got too out of hand. He had hoped Julian would’ve been able to tolerate the smells of human food by now, but even he had to admit the house elves had gone a little overboard on the herbs and spices of some of the foods.
“Do you need the loo?” Severus asked, as they entered their quarters.
Julian nodded, wanting to at the very least brush his teeth before bed.
With a practiced hand, Severus spelled the boy’s robes off and switched him into his nightclothes, replacing the wizard’s cap with one of the boy’s more standard knit beanies. Julian relaxed almost immediately when the warm cap was placed on his head. Thankfully, those strange pointed caps were only for special feasts and not for everyday wear.
Once finished in the loo, Severus helped Julian into bed, making sure to leave a bucket in case the nausea came back. Julian was snoring softly by the time Severus had finished hooking him back up to the tube feed of albumin. No point in letting it go to waste; he would have to be up at midnight to give the boy a nutrient potion anyways.
Making sure Julian was covered and warm, he set a quick set of monitoring spells before heading towards the Slytherin common room. Soon enough, the students would finish their meals, sing the school song, and go to their dorms for the first time of the year.
The perfect time to start the correct set of rumors.
To be continued...
End Notes:
Ok, so sorry for the long wait between chapters. As per usual, real life kinda caught up with me and I just didn't feel up to posting or writing that much. Eh. Anyways, here's chapter 3 for this one.
Asterisks mean that all or most of the line is taken directly from the first book. This is the chapter with the most of these by far as the time line really hasn't diverged enough for the other characters to really start making many different decisions, or at least enough to really change what they would say in a certain situation.
Classes Begin by DesertPlanet
When Julian finally awoke the next morning, he immediately regretted his decision to take the train the day before. His stomach, thankfully, had stopped threatening to expel all of its contents. His legs, on the other hand, were throbbing fiercely. Having not walked so far in years, his legs felt as though they were going to collapse as soon as he tried to stand on them. They burned and throbbed and reminded him every time he moved that he had made a poor decision the day before.
Grabbing his glasses from the side table, he looked at them expecting both legs to be massively swollen. It was a minor let down when they weren’t. Gingerly stretching, he was relieved when they didn’t spasm. Having not worked out or done hard labor in a very long time, he had forgotten what it felt like to be sore.
With a sigh, he looked at the clock sitting on his bedside table. It was four in the morning. Far too early for most to be awake, but there was no point in trying to go back to sleep. Now that he was awake he remembered what today was and all of his nervousness and excitement came flooding back.
Today was the first day of school.
This would be the first time in two years he would be attending school properly, even if it was only a partial schedule. Saying he was a bit nervous was an understatement. What if he was really far behind? What if his first class had them performing magic and he couldn’t do it? Would he be kicked out?
He had spent the last week of summer holidays reading and re-reading the textbooks for classes hoping that he wouldn’t be missing something. The texts for the classes involving spell casting were some of the more difficult for him to understand, but Severus assured him that he would not be the only one to struggle with theory.
“Even pure bloods won’t immediately do well with theory or even spell casting,” Severus had said, though Julian had his suspicions the man may be lying to him.
But there was no more time to prepare. Today he started classes.
Gingerly lowering himself out of the bed, he padded sock-footed out of his room and into the kitchen after a brief stop in the loo. He was unsurprised to find Severus already awake and sipping on a cup of strong coffee.
“Morning,” Julian said, yawning as he pulled out a vial of nutrient potion from the cabinet he had deemed to be his.
“Good morning, Julian,” Severus said, taking another sip of his coffee. “Did you sleep well?”
“Mhm,” Julian mumbled as he lifted his top to expose the feeding tube. “My legs are really sore this morning from all of the walking yesterday though.”
Severus snorted lightly into his cup. This didn’t surprise him at all. By the time this week was over, he fully suspected the boy would be even more sore than ever before just due to the number of stairs. He hoped Julian wouldn’t suffer too terribly, but the amount of walking and exercise would do him a lot of good physically. The only concern was if his magic was going to try and heal the damage done by the extra walking.
While Julian’s magical reserves were much more intact now than they had ever been before, his magic would still respond strangely from time to time in response to minor injuries the boy had. Occasionally it would respond to a minor injury such as a small cut as though it were a life threatening issue causing an absurdly large swing in the amount of magic in his core, other times it would hardly respond at all. While Julian was healing, his magic was also having to relearn how to respond in a proper manner. Attending classes where magic was used would help this process, however they were still dealing with the rather delicate balance of energy input versus output in regards to his magic and feeding.
A quick spell confirmed Julian’s magic wasn’t being overly responsive to his legs being sore, much to Severus’s relief.
“Are you ready to see your schedule?” he asked as Julian finished giving himself the nutrient potion and iron supplement.
Julian shrugged before sitting at the table and pulling his knees to his chest and straightening the placemat in front of him. He didn’t want to admit how nervous he was, but it wasn’t hard for Severus to see it as he had become quite accustomed to the boy’s nervous habits.
“You’ll be attending classes with the other first year Slytherins,” Severus said as he handed the folded piece of parchment over. “After each class using magic, you must go to the hospital wing so Poppy can do an assessment on you. Once we see how your magic responds to being used in class, we will set up additional tutoring with your professors so you do not fall too far behind your classmates.”
Julian nodded and looked at his schedule. One class a day was easily doable and gave him plenty of time to get there, especially if he didn’t go to meals.
“You missed the house meeting last night,” Severus said, spelling his now empty cup into the sink where it immediately disappeared.
Julian looked up from the schedule in shock. He hadn’t even thought of there being house rules. Or that he had missed a meeting. This was a terrible way to start the year, he could feel it.
“Don’t worry, it was only a ‘beginning of the year’ informational meeting going over house rules and expectations,” Severus said, noticing the fact Julian’s face had paled slightly. “In essence, all that you missed was that all Slytherin students are to get A’s or above, tutoring sign up is available for all ages and skill levels for both tutoring and to be a tutor, and a small announcement about yourself and that you won’t be held to any different standards from the rest of the house.”
Nodding mutely, Julian picked up the discarded newspaper and flipped aimlessly through it. He hoped for something interesting to catch his eye, but no such luck. Even the moving pictures didn’t have anything worthwhile today.
“Would you like to visit the Common Room before breakfast starts? There are still several hours before the other students get up.”
Nodding once more, Julian pulled his hat farther down over his ears.
“May I get dressed first?”
Severus nodded, frowning as the boy limped slightly on his way out of the room. After everything the child had gone through over the summer, he hoped this new soreness was just that: soreness. The logical part of his brain said it was just that, but there was also a small voice whispering that it could be something more sinister.
A few minutes later, Julian emerged from his bedroom looking every bit the Slytherin he now was, having even changed his hat to the emerald green one he had gotten over the summer. He was by far the smallest Slytherin Severus had ever laid eyes on, but he felt a bit of pride bloom in his chest at the sight of the boy. Take that, James Potter!
“How do you tie a tie?” Julian asked, grumbling, looking down at the offending article. He had tried his best to get it done up on his own but couldn’t figure it out. It wasn’t like he had ever had to do one on his own before; he had never been allowed to attend parties with the Dursleys and even his primary school uniform’s tie was a clip-on.
A quick spell and the tie tied itself in a perfect full windsor knot. It didn’t answer the question, but Severus had every intention of teaching Julian how to do that spell on his own. There were a number of basic housekeeping and personal hygiene spells that would be good for the boy to learn how to do.
“Now, follow me. There is an entrance which leads from our quarters to both my office and to the Slytherin common room, but it would be to your advantage to know how to get there the way the other students do. I also fully expect you to spend a decent amount of time in the Slytherin common room.”
Julian nodded, looking slightly green. What if they didn’t like him? The last year he attended normal school in Little Whinging, he had had to run away from Dudley and his friends on multiple occasions. While he was stronger now than he had been, he doubted he would be able to run away. He hoped his new house-mates would get along with him.
Exiting from their quarters and turning down a long hall in the dungeons, they walked for only a few minutes before Severus stopped in front of a blank stretch of wall. Julian noted in the dim light that there were small snakes carved into four points on the face of the stone wall.
“This is the entrance to the Slytherin dorms. Just state the password when standing by the wall and it will open. The password is changed every two weeks,” Severus said to him before turning to the wall. “Quia Sanguinem.”
The wall slid open revealing a long, low room with an elaborately carved fireplace around which several high backed chairs sat. There were several other chairs scattered around the room as well as several low tables which sat between the tables. There were green banners which hung from the walls and the entire room was lit by round, green-glass lamps which hung from the ceiling on chains. Along the wall opposite the fireplace was a small stretch of bookshelves, though they were sparsely populated compared to the shelves in Severus’s quarters. Over the mantle of the fire was a large moving portrait of a thin man holding a long snake.
“Welcome to Slytherin House, Julian,” Severus said quietly as the boy looked around.
Julian was immediately drawn to the bookshelf, curious as to what may be on its shelves. He could make out the sounds of his house-mates still sleeping down the long hallway which ran perpendicular to the room.
“That hallway leads to the boy’s dorms,” Severus said, noting where Julian’s head was turned towards. “The hall on the other side leads to the girls' dorms. Do not try to enter the girls' dorms, as there are some rather nasty wards set to prevent men from entering.”
“Hmm,” Julian hummed in response, continuing to peruse the book selection. Most of the books available he had already read. The sound of crinkling parchment drew his attention away from the books.
“Here’s your schedule, Min- Professor McGonagall sent it down last night after you were in bed.”
Julian silently took the offered piece of paper, noting with disgust that there was pre-scheduled study time built into it. Did Severus really not think he would study? There was also a time slot built in after each of his practical classes to go to the hospital wing, though he knew he would have to go there after every class for the first few weeks of classes anyway.
“Would you like to stay down here and wait for your classmates to wake up?” Severus asked. “I need to get my classroom ready for classes to begin. You are welcome to come with me, if you would rather.”
“I’ll stay here,” Julian said, having finally found a book which caught his attention. “Thank you, sir.”
“I’ll see you later this afternoon,” Severus said before turning and walking from the common room.
Transfiguration had been a disaster. Not really a disaster, but it certainly hadn’t been ideal.
They were meant to be transfiguring matches into needles, however few of the students actually achieved even somewhat of a transfiguration. A few students had managed to change the matchstick silver while others had made theirs have a point, but only Theodore Nott and a Ravenclaw girl had managed to complete the transfiguration
Julian’s matchstick, however, had the strangest reaction of them all. Rather than transfiguring in any proper way, his had begun to ooze a rather dark, sulfur-smelling red fluid. It then pulsated strangely and exploded, splattering anyone in a five foot radius with the fluid. While it looked like something out of a horror film, Julian was glad the fluid was not blood.
“Mr. Snape!” Professor McGonagall barked upon seeing the scene.
Julian didn’t answer, but instead continued to stare at red splatter where the matchstick had been. What had he done? Was this what his magic would do when he tried to use it?
Heart racing, he collapsed down onto the seat behind him as his head spun. He wasn’t on the verge of passing out, nor was he feeling nauseated or the overwhelming thirst the appearance of blood tended to give him normally. He just felt… shocked.
He hadn’t attempted to actually use magic since going to get a wand. The terror of relapsing back into the state he had been in and possibly attacking someone had been the driving force behind that decision as he was allowed to use magic while on school grounds. If this was how his magic would consistently react, he was afraid to use it again. It wouldn’t be long before the assumption was made that it was actual blood.
“Julian,” Professor McGonagall said more gently, spelling the remains of the sulfuric liquid and looking at the pale boy. “Are you ok?”
Julian nodded mutely after a few moments. He was fine, just shocked and embarrassed. The other students had all stopped and were looking at him. Some in shock, some in curiosity.
“Do you feel well enough to try again?”
Shaking his head, he quickly pocketed the wand and folded his hands in his lap. He didn’t want to think about what just happened, nor did he want to try it again. Not here at least. Maybe he could convince Severus to let him practice in their quarters, away from the curious eyes of the other students.
“Do you need to go to the Hospital Wing?” Professor McGonagall asked, worried the boy may pass out. She had never seen him quite as pale or terrified as now, even during the short time she watched him for Severus over the summer.
“No, ma’am,” Julian responded quietly, trying to still his shaking hands. “That’s not necessary.”
“Very well. While the other students practice, please re-read the theory on matter transfiguration and write a few paragraphs summarizing what you believe happened.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Julian said politely, pulling out his quill and parchment. Theory was something he could do much more easily. But how to explain what had happened? What had even happened? It couldn’t be explained away in such simple terms as ‘vampiric magic gone wrong,’ so how to explain it?
Whatever it was, it certainly wasn’t blood magic.
Watching the other students in more detail as they continued to practice, he was pleased to find that many of them were struggling with the transfiguration as much as he had been. He had been afraid that he would be well and truly behind the other students due to his lack of exposure to magic prior to this summer, but this didn’t seem to be the case. If this was how much they were struggling now, his hope of keeping up with the class was much more of a reality now. It would be harder with time, but for now, for these first few weeks, there was hope.
It wasn’t long until the end of the period and Julian found himself still staring at the blank parchment in front of him. He had no idea how to explain what had happened. He had done everything they had been told to do: all of the right wand motions, the right words, the right enunciation of the syllables. Where had he gone wrong to cause that type of reaction?
“Mr. Snape,” Professor McGonagall’s voice cut through his thoughts. “Please stay behind, I’d like a word with you please.”
Nodding his head, he finished packing away the few supplies he brought with him and remained seated as the other students left the room, shooting him curious looks and whispering amongst themselves. He doubted there wouldn’t be some strange rumor spread about him throughout the school by the end of the day.
Once the students were gone, Professor McGonagall sat down in the chair next to him. Sitting there, feet wrapped around the legs of the chair to prevent them from swinging as his toes barely touched the ground, she was yet again reminded of just how small the child was. Vampire or not, he was still a child. She sincerely doubted he knew how to purposefully tap into his vampiric blood magic, though it was not an improbability.
Best to speak to him about it now than to allow him to get used to how that magic felt.
“Mr. Snape, did you manage to come up with any theories as to why your match exploded?” Professor McGonagall asked, trying to sound as gentle as possible. No use terrifying the already scared boy.
Julian shook his head. “No, ma’am. The only thing I could think of was that my…illness… was affecting how my magic interacted with the match.”
“Julian, blood magic is illegal,” Professor McGonagall began. “You can’t use…”
“I know!” Julian cried out, covering his ears. He knew he couldn’t use blood magic. He and Severus had talked about what blood magic was and why it would be easier for him to use it, but that wasn’t blood magic! How could it be! There was no blood!
“You need to understand that blood magic…”
“Is dark. And illegal. And dangerous. I know!” He cried out, grabbing his bag and heading for the door. “That wasn’t blood!”
“Mr. Snape, I know what I saw!” Professor McGonagall said, standing as well and following him to the door. “I will be speaking with your father and the Headmaster about this.”
Julian paused, hand on the door, before whispering, “It wasn’t blood.”
“Julian, I know you’re awake,” Severus said, sitting on the end of the hospital wing bed. “We need to talk.”
Julian swallowed harshly and pulled the blankets further over his head. His nerves had been getting the better of him ever since he got to the hospital wing for his mandatory check up. What was Severus going to say? What would the headmaster say? Would he be allowed to stay? Would he be allowed to attend classes?
“I heard Minerva’s version of what happened today, but I want to know your side of the events. She seemed to believe you used blood magic…”
“Blood magic requires blood, yeah?!” Julian said harshly, trying to prevent tears from coming to his eyes.
“Yes, it does,” Severus responded neutrally. “Blood magic requires the blood of a living being in order to be utilized.”
“There was no blood! I didn’t use any blood!” Julian said, pulling his knees to his chest. It was an awkward position, but he felt more comfortable like this.
“She said there was a small explosion of blood which covered yourself and several of your classmates in the splatter.”
“It wasn’t blood. I think it was the red stuff from the end of the match turned into a liquid. It smelled like sulfur, not iron. There was no way it was blood!” Julian continued to insist. “I didn’t use any blood. I don’t know what happened, but it wasn’t blood magic. I swear. I don’t even know what that would feel like!”
Severus looked at the boy pensively. If Julian wasn’t a vampire, this would be a non-issue. Minerva would have assumed the match had liquified and exploded, a much more common reaction for a first time transfiguration. While he thoroughly believed Julian had not used any dark magic in class, he was not there to witness it.
“Can you describe what happened for me?”
“Am I being expelled?” Julian asked, voice muffled by the blanket and cracking slightly.
Severus recoiled slightly. Minerva had spoken with the Headmaster, yes, but not about expulsion. She was concerned Julian was beginning to show preference for dark magic, but never once had mentioned expelling the child.
“No, child. You are not being expelled.”
“You aren’t going to send me away?” he asked softly, pulling himself into a small ball under the covers.
“I have told you once and I will tell you again, you will never go back to those awful people,” Severus said firmly. “I do not care if you used blood magic or not. You are in the process of learning how to tap into your magic and use it appropriately, mistakes are going to happen, that is a simple fact. I cannot, however, speak on your behalf to the rest of staff to assure them that you were not purposefully using blood magic if I don’t know what happened.”
Slowly, Julian unfurled himself in the bed to sit up. Keeping his knees pulled to his chest, he looked pensively at where Severus sat. It was still strange to him to have someone actively looking out for his well being. Someone who listened to his side of the story and didn’t punish him without reason.
“I was trying to use the spell like everyone else in the class. At first, my match didn’t do anything at all. Maybe it had started to go pointy at one end, but that was it. Then it started leaking that red stuff on the table. I tried one more time to transfigure the match and it exploded and the red stuff got all over everyone around me. It definitely didn’t smell like blood though and I didn’t want to try doing the transfiguration again in case it happened again.”
Whatever Julian thought Severus’s reaction would be, looking up and seeing the man smirking at him was not it.
“I believe I know what happened,” Severus said bemusedly. “I believe your match liquified slightly before exploding. That is not an unheard of reaction for some transfigurations. Were you focused on the transfiguration itself, or were you distracted by something?”
Julian thought about it for a moment. He didn’t think that he was more unfocused than the other students. Yes, he had been a bit preoccupied with what the other students were doing, but he figured that the other students were in the same boat.
“I … don’t think so? I was worried that the other students would be better than me, but I didn’t feel extremely behind like what I was afraid of,” he said with a small smile before the smile melted off of his face only to be replaced by a look of worry. “It just … happened. I had taken my iron before class and the morning albumin had just finished as well, so I wasn’t hungry. I could hear their heartbeats, but I was more interested in the coursework! I promise!”
“And I believe you,” Severus said with a sigh. “I’ll speak with Minerva tonight. In the meantime, try to work on the homework for the class. In future, do not attempt spell casting if there is any red fluid which could be mistaken for blood. Untrained magic tends to be rather explosive and it won’t do for you to be mistaken for using blood magic.”
Julian nodded once more, eyes downcast. It wasn’t blood, that much he knew. He had just hoped to not be the freak here at Hogwarts like he had been in Little Whinging and already he was failing at it.
“Now, chin up,” Severus said, gently taking Julian’s chin and lifting it so they were making eye contact. “Other than that little incident, how was the rest of your day?”
To be continued...
The Potions Master and The Man in the Turban by DesertPlanet
Defense Against the Dark Arts was a class many of the students had been looking forward to taking. The idea of learning to fight and learning about the war which had ended shortly after their births was almost as exciting as learning to fly. The older students told tales of learning hexes and curses while the third years were excited to be learning about dark creatures and how to defend themselves.
Entering the class for the first time on Thursday, Julian was immediately struck by two things: the fear of being behind in the class and the overwhelming urge to immediately leave the room to vomit. The smell of garlic which emanated from every nook and cranny of the room was causing his eyes to burn and his stomach to roll.
Sitting as close to a window as he could, Julian tried in vain to pay attention to the class. Professor Quirrell had to have known he was a vampire. All of the professors knew; Severus had told them as much during the staff meeting the first day of school. So why was Quirrell’s room so horribly garlic-filled? Was he really so afraid of the one vampire he had met in Romania?
Whatever the case may be, the class hadn’t gone as well for Julian as he had hoped. Even with slipping himself an ondansetron, he was still fighting off the waves of nausea for the rest of the class as well as an ever building headache which seemed to center right under his scar.
He was rather proud of himself, however. Despite all of these challenges, and despite the disgusting smell of rot whenever Professor Quirrell got too close, he managed to make it all the way through the class before his stomach finally gave up the fight and he was forced to leave the room, nicking a rubbish bin on his way out.
“Are you ok, Julian?” Draco asked as he waited for the smaller boy to stop retching.
Julian nodded slightly before pushing himself up and staggering slightly towards the hospital wing, bin still in hand in case he needed it. He really hoped that he didn’t, but the smell of Quirrell’s turban was ingrained in his nostrils and was continuing to send waves of nausea through him. He just wanted to smell something, anything, other than the scent of garlic and rot.
There was one thing he could think of that would certainly get those scents out of his nose, but he was fairly certain he would get in trouble for even thinking about it.
“Do you want me to walk with you?” Draco said, offering to hold his bag.
“No!” Julian snapped more forcefully than he meant, tearing his eyes from Draco’s neck and wincing as Draco took a step back involuntarily. “No, I’m sorry. It would be better if ... I’ll make it there fine.”
“Ok,” Draco said, wondering if he had said something wrong. “Will you be at dinner tonight?”
Julian shrugged before gagging once more, hugging the bin to his chest. He had managed to make it to one dinner since the start of term and, while it hadn’t gone spectacularly well, he had been rather pleased with the fact he had managed to remain sitting with the Slytherins for the entire meal. He had only retched once while at the table, much to his classmates' amusement, though he wasn’t the only one. Apparently Crabbe and Goyle’s ‘see-food’ competition was enough to make even the most stoic of the Slytherins queasy.
It wasn’t easy to make it to dinner, however, as that often involved lugging his tube feeding pump and a nearly full bag of albumin along with him. By the end of the day, it was a lot of additional weight to cart around. And on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, it was especially exhausting as Madam Pomfrey had begun insisting he begin doing more strenuous physical therapy.
Gone were the days of simply walking up and down the Hospital Wing, they were now trying to build endurance and muscle.
“Ok then,” Draco said, looking around for the other Slytherins who were beginning their trek to the greenhouses. “If you need help…”
“I have a pendant to call the Hospital Wing,” Julian interrupted with a sigh. “Have fun in Herbology, Draco.”
Draco nodded and turned back to the other Slytherins who were now waving him over. “See you tomorrow in Potions!”
Julian waved weakly at his classmates before sitting on the pedestal of one of the knights to catch his breath as another wave of nausea passed over him. Why was it so hard to get this stench out of his nose? And what was rotten under the layers of fabric around Professor Quirrell’s head?
He had been around garlic before but had never ended up with a headache like this. He would get lightheaded and occasionally he would get a headache when he was too anaemic, but he hadn’t felt like that in a while. He hadn’t been feeling overly tired or short of breath, and, after years of being critically anaemic, he was rather certain he would know what it felt like when his anaemia got too bad.
In short, something was going on and it behooved him to get to the Hospital Wing as soon as possible.
“I don’t know what to tell you, Julian,” Poppy said, waving her wand over the boy once more and sighing in exasperation. “Other than a small drop in the amount of magic in your magical reserves, you’re no worse off than what you were when you came in yesterday. In fact, many of the diagnostics are saying you are doing better.”
“Then why did my head hurt so much?” Julian moaned, rubbing his forehead with one hand. “Are you sure there’s nothing wrong with me? Are you sure I wasn’t having an allergic reaction to garlic?”
“Julian…”
“I was sitting by the window, am I not allowed to do that? Was there too much sun?”
“Julian, stop,” Poppy said, sitting in front of the boy who was beginning to wring the sheets in his hands. “It looks like it was just a headache right now. If it happens again, we’ll look more into it and see if there is something more sinister going on. For right now, you need to relax and try to get some rest.”
Julian shakily took a deep breath and flopped backwards onto the pillow behind him. Was he really ok? The severity of that headache scared him, as did the fact he seemed to be the only one who could smell something rotten under Professor Quirrell’s turban. He hadn’t read anything about vampires having hallucinations during the day, but nothing else seemed to be going right for him, so he wouldn’t be surprised if he was going to go insane as well.
It was strange to him, however, how little Poppy seemed to worry about the headache. Over the past several years, he had become so used to the doctors jumping on every little symptom and running a gambit of tests on him to see if they could find what was wrong with him that he was quite surprised when Poppy didn’t. What if something was wrong? How accurate were her spells?
Sighing, he crossed his arms over his chest in annoyance and closed his eyes. It was strange not being seen as sick with a mysterious illness anymore. Headaches were no longer seen as a potential symptom of something else. Feeling sore was now a good thing because it meant he was no longer wasting away. Even stomach cramps were seen as a good thing as it meant things were trying to move.
Everything he thought he knew felt backwards and it was frustrating trying to sort through what was right and what wasn’t.
Though she said he was in good health, Madam Pomfrey decided it was in his best interests to stay in the hospital wing for the remainder of the afternoon so she could monitor him for any additional issues. Though his headache was long gone, she routinely checked on him to make sure it hadn’t decided to come back. By the time mid afternoon had rolled around, both she and Julian had come to the conclusion the headache was related to the scent of garlic.
“I’ll have a word with Quirinus,” she said with a sigh as she finally shooed him towards the door. “He ought to know better!”
“Are you excited for class today?” Draco said between bites of egg. “It’s our first potions class!”
“Yeah,” Julian smiled as he rolled the lolly he had brought with him to breakfast around in his mouth. “Dad’s been grumbling about it all morning.”
Draco let out a laugh before pulling out his schedule and groaning. “Pity it’s with the Gryffindors though.”
“How come?” Julian asked curiously. Having not been in many classes, he always felt as though he was missing out on a part of the experiences his housemates were having.
“They’re awful, mate!” Crabbe said as he shoveled his breakfast into his mouth in a way that caused Julian to grimace.
“They love breaking the rules,” Nott chimed in from the other side of the table. “Not that the rules really matter to them!”
“They just skate by as though everything will be handed to them and everything will work out fine,” Zabini growled. “I’ve heard Professor Snape is the only one who doesn’t let them get away with their nonsense. All of the other professors just award them points and call it a day.”
“If any of us tried the things the Gryffs get away with, we’d be in detention on the spot!” Draco grumbled, violently stabbing a piece of potato. “I heard some of them actually won points in charms last year for spelling the door to the classroom so all the Slytherins who walked through would lose their hair!”
“I heard some of them snuck a werewolf onto school grounds on the full moon and didn’t get expelled!” One of the upper years added.
“They never get fouled in Quidditch but we do all the time!” Marcus Flint growled as he opened the newspaper.
“And they’re always sneaking around at night!” one of the older prefects said. “But they’re always calling us the snakes!”
Julian frowned but nodded. He hadn’t noticed the Gryffindors being particularly mean to the Slytherins, but he had also only had one class with them thus far. Outside of that one class, his only other interactions with them had been meeting the Weasley twins at the end of last school year.
He knew Severus wasn’t fond of their house and was always grumbling about how poorly they performed in his class, but Severus was always grumbling about something or someone under his breath. Julian could only hope that the Gryffindors wouldn’t cause too many problems in potions. Potions were too volatile to mess about with.
“Come on Julian!” Draco said, breaking the small boy from his reverie. “We need to go back to the dorms to get our books, do you want to come?”
Julian quickly whipped out his pocket watch and frowned at the time. Though he was getting faster at navigating the stairs, it would still be pushing it for him to make it all the way to the dorms and back to the potions classroom even though they were both in the dungeons.
“I’ll meet you guys there,” Julian said, swinging his legs over the bench as the rest of his classmates started to rise as well.
“Ok, save me a seat?” Draco said with a smirk.
“I’ll try!” Julian smirked back, knowing full well the other boys might actually beat him to the classroom anyways.
Potions class was by far and away the class he was most looking forward to, and not just because Severus was the one teaching it. After having spent the last few years in and out of the hospital and now using a mixture of muggle medications and magical potions to survive, he was quite interested in learning more about how this combination worked. He had spent most of the summer working on reading through Severus’s vast personal library on the subject; now he had the chance to put that knowledge to work.
He just hoped he could stomach the ingredients.
Making his way into the dungeons, Julian couldn’t help but smile. The rest of the castle was beautiful in its own right, but the dungeons were home. Their darkness enveloped him and held him in a way that made him feel more welcome than he had felt anywhere else. The simple fact that he was going to be having a class down in their depths filled him with a joy he couldn’t describe even if he tried.
In spite of his efforts to beat the rest of the students to the classroom, he was rather dismayed to find he was one of the last students to make his way into the room. Few seats were left and of those seats all of them were partnered with a Gryffindor.
“Sorry,” Draco mouthed from the far side of the room where he was paired with Blaise. “I tried.”
Julian shrugged his shoulders and sat at one of the last open seats near the middle of the room next to the red-headed Gryffindor who he suddenly remembered had the strange smelling rat. He could tell the boy didn’t have the animal on him at the time, but he knew there was a potential of being able to ask the boy questions during class.
He hadn’t thought much about the rat since classes had started, but now that he was sitting next to the rat’s owner, his curiosity had bloomed once again.
“Hi,” Julian said quietly as he pulled his potion’s book from his bag and blushing as he realized how tattered his books were compared to many of his classmates. While his father had bought him many new textbooks for this year, certain tomes he had decided to loan the boy instead. Julian hadn’t argued as he knew his father knew which books needed to be purchased new, but he couldn’t help but notice the strange looks several of his classmates gave him when he pulled a book out of his bag which appeared so worn the cover was nearly coming off.
“‘Lo,” the red-head responded gruffly, pulling an almost equally tattered book from his bag.
“I’m Julian,” Julian said as he quickly flipped to the potion he remembered his father saying they would be working on for the day.
“I know who you are, Snape,” the red-head grumbled, rolling his eyes before sighing. “I’m Ron Weasley.”
“I met your brothers last year,” Julian said with a nod and a smile. “Hey, I was wondering…”
Suddenly, the door to the classroom slammed shut and all conversation ceased as Severus strode into the room, robes flapping wildly behind him.
“Put your wands away,” he said by way of an introduction before pulling out a class roster and quickly going through the names, notably skipping over Julian’s name though he did look up briefly to make sure his son was in attendance.
Julian had to stifle a giggle when Severus got to Weasley’s name on the roster and looked rather like he had sucked on a lemon. Over the summer, Severus had made many mentions of how he loathed having any Weasleys in his class as they all seemed to grate on his nerves. Be it goofing off or brown-nosing, none of the Weasleys seemed to want to take his class seriously. And now Julian was sitting next to yet another one.
Severus could only hope neither boy would get injured.
“You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion-making,” Severus said in a voice so low Julian believed he may be the only one to hear the man speaking. Thankfully, the other students seemed to be hanging on his every word, staying remarkably silent. “As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don’t expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins-” he briefly locked eyes with Julian who raised an eyebrow and resisted the urge to smirk “-bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses … I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death- if you aren’t as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach.”
Julian couldn’t help but cover a snort of laughter with a cough. He had caught his father mumbling this exact speech several times over the last few weeks as he prepared for the first days of class. He had thought the speech to be a bit over the top, but apparently it was enthralling to his fellow students. Julian, however, found it rather amusing that the man had been practicing this same speech while doing house chores.
“Julian!” his father snapped, shaking him back to alertness. “What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood.”
Julian frowned for a moment as he thought back over the various potions manuals he had read over the course of the summer and tried to remember what interactions the various ingredients would have. “A heavy sedative, sir.”
Severus nodded to him in approval before turning to one of the other students. “Finnegan! Where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?”
A sandy haired Gryffindor looked around wide-eyed for a moment before he shakily admitted to not knowing though he did point out one of the other Gryffindors who seemed to be over-enthusiastically waving her hand in desperation to be acknowledged, an answer which caused the potions master’s lips to curl into a sneer as a few of the other students laughed.
“Such a pity,” Severus drawled in a way that made the Weasley he was sitting with squirm. “I had high hopes that this year my students would come with some sort of base knowledge.”
The Gryffindor girl continued to wave her hand desperately, even going so far as to rise partially out of her seat in her enthusiasm for answering the question. Julian sighed at the sight and waited for his father’s inevitable explosion. One of the first things his father had complained about was how some of the students thought the way to get good grades in his class was to force their way to the forefront and answer all of the questions. Knowing the answers to the questions was fine, but not allowing others the chance to answer was not.
Particularly when he was quite obviously choosing individuals to answer his questions rather than offering open-ended questions.
“Sit down,” Severus snapped at the bushy-haired girl, glowering at her until she was well and truly sat in her chair. “Longbottom. What is the difference between wolfsbane and monkshood?”
The boy who had lost his toad on the train whimpered slightly as Severus’s ire was directed at him. “Th-they’re the s-s-same p-p-plant, s-sir?”
Severus raised an eyebrow at the intonation of the answer, but didn’t press farther as it was correct. When the professor’s attention was no longer on him, the round-faced boy collapsed backwards onto his stool as though he were going to pass out if any more attention were placed on him.
“As surprising as it may be, Mr. Longbottom is correct: wolfsbane and monkshood are the same plant and are also known as aconite. Mr. Snape was also correct in his assessment of the addition of powdered asphodel root to an infusion of wormwood, though its official name is ‘Draught of Living Death,” Professor Snape said, turning to the blackboard at the front of the classroom and flicking his wand, sending the chalk skittering across the board as it wrote the directions for the boil cure they would be working on that day. “A bezoar is a stone taken from the stomach of a goat and can save you from most poisons, a fact you all should be writing down as not every potion we will be making in this class will be as benign as the one we are working on today.”
There was a sudden flurry of movement as all of the students in the class quickly pulled pieces of parchment and inkwells from their bags and frantically began scribbling notes down.
Severus lectured the class on the importance of lab safety, particularly on preventing accidental cutting of one’s own finger as blood was an easy cross contaminate, for the next half hour before dividing the class into pairs and having them begin to brew the potion he had written on the board.
“Julian, a word,” Severus said softly enough to not be heard by the other students over the din of the classroom as the other students scrambled to get ingredients out of the cupboard but knowing his son would hear him clear as day.
Julian sighed as he put down the mortar and pestle he had just brought to his and Weasley’s station and turned to look at his father who was sitting calmly yet impatiently behind his desk. As much as he wanted to get started on the potion, he knew there had to be a reason his father was pulling him aside.
“Yes, sir?” Julian said quietly as he approached his father’s desk.
“You are not to go into the ingredient cupboard,” Severus said bluntly. “I apologize for not informing you of this sooner, but I did not think of what all ingredients I had in the school supply until this morning.”
Julian took a deep breath and sighed exasperatedly as he looked back at his station where Weasley was viciously hacking away at a pile of snake fangs with a knife. “There’s blood in the cupboard, isn’t there.”
“Yes,” Severus said, refusing to be indirect about the topic so as to avoid any potential for miscommunication. “Not human blood, mind you, but there is some various bodily fluids of different creatures in there.”
“I understand,” Julian grimaced at the thought though his mouth did water slightly at the thought of a vial of blood sitting on a shelf. A vial of beautiful, crimson liquid sitting unguarded save a single wooden door.
“-lian?” Severus was saying, snapping his fingers in front of the young vampire’s face. “Julian, this is exactly why you aren’t allowed to go in there.”
Julian swallowed heavily and nodded. No, he wouldn’t drink the blood from the cupboard. Not when there was so much … No. He wouldn’t drink that blood either. That would certainly get him expelled. “I understand.”
“Now, go work on attempting to salvage whatever it is that Mr. Weasley is doing to your ingredients,” Severus said with a groan as he looked at the carnage which had befallen his son’s workstation.
Julian turned around and sighed at the sight. He really wished he had been able to be partnered up with Draco for the class, but if he had been there was no way he would have been able to even chance asking the boy about his pet rat. He would just have to put up with whatever nonsense the young Weasley boy would throw at him.
“The professor giving you pointers?” Ron grumbled as Julian returned to his stool and resolutely started attempting to correct for the utter butchering of the ingredients that Weasley had managed while he was speaking with his father.
Julian frowned for a moment before beginning to stew their horned slugs in the potion’s base which his father had kindly prepared for them before class had begun. It wasn’t that that was necessarily a difficult part of potions making, just a boring and tedious one which was not conducive to a lesson on the first day. “No, he needed to speak with me about… something.”
“Like what? How he’s going to give you a passing grade no matter how poorly you do on a potion?” Ron grumbled as he continued to violently grind the snake fangs they were provided into a fine powder.
“No,” Julian said shortly, stirring the cauldron slowly as described in the book. “He just needed to discuss some … rules with me.”
Ron snorted. “Of course, special rules for his special child. Must be nice to live with one of the professors and still not have to take a full schedule.”
Julian sighed and hung his head slightly. What had he done to attract the ire of the other boy? Did Ron hate him because he was a Slytherin or because of who his father was? The twins didn’t seem to mind either, so what was their brother’s problem?
“Ha ha ha, real funny,” Julian finally said darkly. “More like ‘don’t touch this ingredient Julian,’ ‘don’t touch that ingredient Julian,’ ‘don’t go into the ingredients cupboard Julian.’ Most of my life is what I can’t do. I can’t even have a pet.”
“How come?” Ron asked, his eyes wide as he looked at the smaller boy. “You sick or something?”
“Yeah,” Julian grumbled, looking briefly at the cupboard door. “Your brothers met me in the hospital wing last year.”
“That was you?! They said you were just a skeleton under a pile of blankets,” Ron said, dumping the powdered fangs into the cauldron in a haphazard way that made Julian flinch when it began bubbling violently for a moment. “Have you ever had a pet?”
“No,” Julian said as he vigorously stirred the cauldron in an effort to counteract the amount of snake fang that had just been added, his thoughts whirring as he tried to think of a way to ask about the rat. “You?”
“Yeah, my family has a few pets,” Ron said as he turned his attention to a pile of dried nettles and started throwing them onto a scale to weigh out the right amount. “We have a family owl named Errol. He’s a right mess and about as old as I am. Then there’s Percy’s owl, Hermes. He just got him this year when he became a prefect. Then there’s Scabbers, my rat. He’s my rat now at least. He was Charlie’s, then Bill’s, then Percy’s, but now he’s mine.”
“How long has your family had him then?” Julian asked in what he hoped was a casual tone.
“I’d say about nine or ten years?” Ron said with a shrug before handing the now measured nettles over to be slowly added to the cauldron. “I dunno. Still as healthy as can be though, even though he is so old.”
“How long do rats live?” Julian asked curiously as he slowly dropped the nettles in and turned off the flame under the cauldron before grabbing the porcupine quills.
“Dunno. I’d say probably around fifteen years if Scabbers is anything to go by,” Ron said as Julian added the quills and began the final few steps in the brewing process. Their potion wasn’t going to be perfect, but it certainly wasn’t the worst in the room.
That title certainly had to belong to two of the Gryffindors who were in the back corner of the room. Their cauldron had been bubbling ominously as Professor Snape wandered around the room making remarks on those potions he deemed worthy of his time before one side of it suddenly melted and great clouds of green smoke began pouring off of the potion itself as it splashed onto the ground and began eating its way through the shoes of anyone nearby.
“Idiot boy!” Professor Snape roared as he quickly cleared the fumes from the room and vanished the spilled potion with a wave of his wand. “I suppose you added the porcupine quills before taking the cauldron off the fire?”
Neville whimpered as boils began to pop up all over his nose.
“Take him to the hospital wing,” Professor Snape spat at Seamus. “Anyone else who was injured by this potion, follow them.”
Once Neville was removed from the class and a few other students who had the bottoms of their shoes eaten away had limped their way out of the class, Professor Snape rounded on the rest of them, lecturing them thoroughly on the importance of safety in the lab and how accidents such as that were completely preventable should the lab partners be paying attention to the potion at hand and not talking. He said the last part while staring directly at Julian and Ron’s table before continuing on with his lecture for several more minutes before allowing them to finish their potions.
When the class finally was dismissed nearly an hour after Neville melted the cauldron, all of the students were hot, sweaty, rather dismayed with how their first potions lesson turned out, and all had the same question on their mind.
Why had Professor Snape kept his wand out for so long after cleaning up Neville’s mess, and why did it seem to be vaguely pointed in his son’s direction?
To be continued...
End Notes:
Well, it looks like I'm updating a lot of stories tonight...
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.