Childlike Innocence
Chapter 7: Nothing with Kings
Remus found Severus in an old, abandoned well. The boy was unconscious and from the looks of it, his right leg was most likely broken. Remus gathered him up in his arms and headed back to the house.
Albus Dumbledore was waiting for them in the sitting room, and as Remus entered, he stood quietly and followed the pair to Severus' room. The two men cleaned the boy up and dressed him in fresh pajamas, being careful not to disturb the injured limb. Remus left Albus to watch over Severus while he went to the local apothecary.
Miss Laurence Welch was a young witch who worked at the apothecary in Tiddleton. She had only been there for a few months, but had met most of the populace already. It was a charming enough village and she did like the country, but she still missed the bustling city with all its diversions. She was just writing down that she needed to order more scarab wings when she heard a bell as the front door opened. She set down her clipboard and exited the storeroom.
Remus entered the apothecary and approached the counter as a pretty, young women came out of the backroom.
"May I help you?"
"Ah... yes, I think so." Remus said with a light smile, "I need to speak to a mediwitch, my uh…Godson has injured himself and is in need of medical attention."
She smiled, "That would be me then. Do you live in the area? I don't recall seeing you before Mr…?"
"Lupin, Remus Lupin. I live in the stone house by the meadow. I have been away for several years and returned just yesterday."
"Yes, I've seen that house, it is very lovely. I can come immediately; just let me get my bag." She disappeared into the backroom, "Do you know what is injured exactly?" her muffled voice floated into the room.
"Oh…yes, I think his leg is broken." Remus called back.
"All right then, let's go." She said as she reappeared and the headed out the door.
As they walked towards the house, she asked him if he had any family besides his godson at the house with him. He laughed and told her he was single and had no family living. He also told her that his godson's parents had died recently and that the child now lived with him.
When they reached the house, Remus led her straight upstairs to Severus' room. They entered the room to find Severus fully awake and looking very worried. The headmaster stood next to him and gave Remus a reassuring smile. Remus hoped desperately that the child would not blurt anything out while the mediwitch was there.
"Hello there young man!" Laurence said with a bright smile as she approached the bed, "You seem to have taken a bit of a fall. I'm gonna feel your leg to see where it's broken okay? This might hurt a bit." Severus nodded apprehensively and as she touched his leg, his eyes clouded with pain.
An hour later, the mediwitch had set the leg and put it in a walking cast, giving strict instructions that he was to stay off it for three days at the very least. She said she would stop by in about a week and check his progress. She also gave Remus a large supply of painkillers and sleeping drafts to administer as needed.
Remus walked the mediwitch to the front door saying, "Thank you very much for coming, I really appreciate it. I never caught your name by the way."
"I didn't give it." She said with a teasing little smile. "But it's Laurence, Laurence Welch."
ooO0Ooo
When Remus reentered Severus' bedroom a few minutes later, the headmaster was seated in a chair next to the bed, conversing quietly with Severus. Severus became quiet when he noticed Remus' presence. Remus observed that while the boy's complexion was paler than usual, he no longer looked frightened.
"Ah Remus, my dear boy, come join us." He said jovially, "I think hot chocolate is just the thing for everyone," And with a wave of his hand and an incantation, a tray laden with sweets and cocoa appeared at the foot of the bed.
Severus looked delighted. He was starving, since he had not eaten since lunch yesterday. Remus summoned Severus' cup from the kitchen, where it had been washed the night before, and filled it to the brim with steaming hot chocolate and a few magemellows. Magemellows were the wizarding equivalent of muggle marshmallows, but like many things, the wizard version was better. Magemellows were shaped liked muggle marshmallow but the colors were different. You never knew what color a magemellow would be until you touched it. Then it would turn from plain white to gold, silver, red, green or pearly white, and when put in hot beverages, it would glow.
"Severus and I have had a nice little talk about what happened. Everything will be alright now I believe…I do have one more questions for Severus though," the headmaster said, looking intently at the child, "How on earth did you open the study door? Remus had it locked and strongly warded."
Severus looked extremely uncomfortable. "I'm not allowed to say." He said in a little voice.
"Why not?" The headmaster questioned with a slight frown.
" 'cause Daddy says I'm not to tell anyone." The boy whispered.
Albus looked as though he wanted to press the boy further, but Remus shook his head firmly. "Okay Severus, but don't do it again all right? I locked my self in there so that you would be safe." Remus said gently.
"But you are safe, aren't you? You take wolfsbaned potion." Severus said looking slightly confused.
Remus' eyebrows shot up as he glanced at the headmaster. "Well…yes, but I lock myself up just in case." Remus said grimly. They sat in silence for a few minutes. After a bit the headmaster bid them farewell, leaving Remus and Severus sprawled on the bed drinking cocoa and eating cookies.
The two spent the remainder of the afternoon in Severus' room. They colored for a while, and then Remus read Severus one of the Gilderoy Lockhart books, which was entitled Logan and the Fluffy Cricket. For dinner, Remus brought up a tray of soup, bread and apple slices. Severus refused to eat the apples unless they were peeled.
After dinner, Severus asked Remus if they could play chess. Remus fetched his old chess set and carefully began setting it up on Severus' bed. Severus insisted on being black, not caring about getting to go first. This chess set was unique, even among Wizarding chess sets. While most chess sets take on the personality of their owners, this set was a bit different. One summer, many years ago, Remus had left the set out in the living room. He had a television (it had been Lily's idea) and had left it on with the remote next to the chess set. When he had left the house, he had thought that he would be back the next day, but ended up being away for over 3 weeks. As a result, his chess set was a menagerie of TV characters. On the way up to Severus' room, Remus had opened the box slightly and told the occupants to keep it PG.
The first problem came when they were setting up the board, as Remus tried to put the white king in place. "How come I always gotta play the King? I wanna be the Queen this time," said a prissy voice.
Remus sighed, "Rupert, you are a King, you cannot be the Queen, Cordelia is." The white king gave Remus the 'talk to the hand' gesture and stood in his square, hands on hips, pout on lips. The white queen merely rolled her eyes and flipped her hair. After a few more disputes regarding placement, (A black pawn named Pretty Boy refused to be next to another black pawn named Hannibal), they were finally able to start the game.
They played until Rupert started chasing the black king around the board, trying to kiss him. The black king called himself Mr. Darcy and was homophobic. Rupert had chased Darcy off the board, across the bed and halfway down the hall before Remus caught up with them. At that point, Remus decided to call it a night as it was getting late anyway. He cleared Severus' bed, gave him a potion to sleep and tucked him in.
"'Night Remus…" Severus muttered as he passed into dreamland.
Remus smiled slightly, "G'night kiddo." He whispered as he flipped off the lights and left for his own room.
(End of Chapter)
