Disclaimer: I don't own the HP characters. This goes for the remainder of the story.
The alarm went off at 8:30, which annoyed Alec but there was nothing he could do about it. Having to wake up early every morning was one of the rules for the summer, or at least the part of the summer that he was grounded for.
The boy shuffled to his feet slowly, rubbing the tiredness from his eyes. He took a quick shower before heading downstairs for breakfast at nine. Severus was already at the table, reading the Daily Prophet and sipping his coffee.
"G'mornin'," Alec mumbled as he slid into his chair. He poured some milk into his bowl of cereal and began eating it.
"When you are finished here, you are to complete your charms assignment. Then you are to assist me in preparation for a potion that I will be brewing this evening."
Alec swallowed the food in his mouth before replying, "What potion are you brewing?"
"I have devised an alteration to the original formula of the Wolfsbane potion. Theoretically, it will continue to sustain the feral portion of the wolf while also rendering the transformation painless."
The boy looked up at his father and rolled his eyes. "English please? It's too early for all those big words," he whined.
Severus smirked. "The potion should help Lupin have a painless transformation, or at least it will reduce the amount of pain he feels."
"You could have just said that, you know," Alec muttered while his father continued to smirk at him.
"Finish your breakfast and get started on that charms assignment," the potions master instructed as he got up from the table. He swept from their kitchen with his cloak billowing behind him like usual.
Alec dropped his head onto the table with a thump. It was going to be another long day.
The first few weeks of summer break were basically the same. In the morning he had to get up early, eat breakfast and then start on assignments. He'd even finished them all up by the second week of vacation. In the afternoons, his father always found some interesting task for him to complete. That usually consisted of dicing up ingredients, scrubbing cauldrons or some other task that was never fun. Thankfully the evenings were his own to spend however he liked.
For the upcoming full moon, Professor Lupin would be coming over here for Severus to monitor him, while Alec went to stay with his godfather for the evening. Together, with Alec preparing the ingredients and Severus actually brewing the potion, the two Snapes had created a new prototype of the Wolfsbane potion. Lupin would drink the potion and sit in a secured cage to keep him away from Severus, should something go wrong during the transformation.
Alec's grounding ended on the first week of July, and happened to be on the same day as the full moon. Since he was going to be with his godfather, he was allowed to relax and have a fun evening since he was no longer being punished.
The boy was currently putting some clothes in a bag to take with him that evening. He finished putting items in his satchel just as his father called him from downstairs. He saw Remus stumbled slightly from the floo and then the older man dusted himself off. Remus looked pretty tired and worn down, but he was smiling at the prospect of a possible potion to help aid the transformation.
"Hi Professor Lupin," Alec greeted.
"I am no longer your professor, you know," Remus replied smiling at the young boy. "You can call me Remus or Moony, if you'd like."
"Okay," Alec nodded. "Moony it is."
"Are you ready to go?" Severus asked, eyeing the small bag in his son's hand.
"Yup," the boy replied. "I brought some clothes and that's about all I need."
"Black is waiting for you," the potions master stated. "Behave, if that is possible, and I will see you tomorrow."
"Me? Behave? When haven't I behaved?" Alec asked innocently. He reached forward and gave his father a hug before stepping closer to the fireplace. "I hope that potion works for you Moony. See you both tomorrow." Alec grabbed a pinch of floo powder, tossed in the fireplace before stating his destination and stepped into the flames, disappearing in a flash.
He stumbled from the fireplace, directly into the arms of his godfather, who thankfully prevented him from landing flat on his face.
"Hey kiddo," Sirius greeted with a bright smile.
"Hi Sirius," Alec replied, standing up and dusting himself off. "I hate flooing," he added with a grumble.
The other man laughed. "I hated it too until I got the hang of it. So, are you hungry?"
"Not really," Alec replied before he looked suspiciously at Sirius. "Can you even cook?"
"Um… no," his godfather smiled guiltily. "Moony didn't make any breakfast this morning," he added with a scowl. "He knows I can't cook!" he added.
Alec laughed. "I can cook a bit so let's check out what you've got in the fridge and see what I can whip together."
"A godson who cooks!" Sirius said in a mock astounded tone.
"You already knew I could cook. That's why you asked me first thing if I was hungry wasn't it?" he asked, raising an eyebrow, which of course made Alec look a lot like his father.
Sirius threw up his hands in surrender. "Apparently I am not as smooth as I used to be," he moaned.
"It's because you are getting old, my dear godfather," Alec smirked.
"What?! I am not getting old!"
"The first step to getting over it is acceptance, you know…" the boy quipped.
Sirius chose not to answer, and instead banged his head against the nearest wall.
Both Sirius and Alec flooed over the next morning to see how the transformation went for Remus. Last night had been fun for both of them. They hadn't spent a whole lot of time together in the past year and it was enjoyable for them both to sit around and just talk.
It was quiet in the house when the two arrived. They headed to the room where they knew Remus would be staying and found said man fast asleep on the bed. He looked exhausted as usual but he didn't appear to have any other wounds. Sirius stayed to sit with Remus, even though he was fast asleep, while Alec left to find his father. He found his father in the kitchen, pouring himself a fresh cup of coffee.
"Morning dad," the boy greeted. "How did it go last night?"
"Acceptable," the potions master replied. "The potion allowed him to retain his human mind but there was still pain during the transformation. Lupin assures me that it was only about half as painful from a normal transformation, which is better than nothing."
"So can you just increase the amount of pain numbing ingredients in the potion to make it stronger?" Alec asked.
"It's not as simplistic as that. When increasing certain ingredients, I need to keep the remainder of the potion balanced out so that Lupin would not overdose or end up in a coma," Severus explained.
"Were there any side effects?" the dark-haired boy asked curiously.
"Lupin described symptoms of being weaker than usual this morning after he returned to his human form. Once he wakes again, I shall give him a restorative draught and that should assist him in regaining his strength."
"I'm glad it helped him, even if it was only a bit," Alec commented.
Severus nodded. "Was your evening enjoyable?"
"Yeah, it was great! Sirius and I talked for a while, then he showed me some card games and we played several different games before going to bed."
"You didn't stay up too late, did you?"
"Define too late," Alec joked. Severus merely raised an eyebrow. "Alright, alright. I'm just kidding. No we didn't stay up too late, I promise."
"Are you going to contact your friends and decide upon a date for them to arrive?" the potions master inquired.
"I'd forgotten about that. I'll owl them later today and see when they will be able to come over. I can't wait until we can practice some more on our transformation," the boy added excitedly.
"I will also be testing their Occlumency shields to determine if they are adequate. If they are, then you are permitted to explain everything to them."
Alec grimaced slightly. "I'm glad that I won't have to keep my real name a secret from them anymore, but yet, I'm worried about their reactions."
"I'm sure everything will work out," Severus reassured the boy.
Alec crossed his fingers mentally and hoped very much so that things would turn out alright.
A/N: Here is the short start to this story, which has no title yet. Anyone want to suggest something? I wont give out any details about what is going to happen, other than that it will be an eventful year. Please review and tell me what you think so far! I'll get started in a day or two on the next chapter and hopefully have that up within a week or two. Happy (Belated) New Year!