Tallis crept out of his room, trying to avoid waking up his Father and Bill. Merlin, he was embarrassed. He couldn't remember exactly what happened but he knew that he had been looking through the old classroom when his Uncle had found him. He stopped short in the hallway, forcing himself to fix the sentence in his mind. The boggart had found him, not his Uncle. Uncle Vernon couldn't come to Hogwarts.
He assumed that he had a flashback. He sighed heavily. He had thus far been able to avoid having such attacks while near Bill. He hadn't wanted his lover to know how broken he was. He found that if he concentrated intently on the moment at hand then he was better able to avoid flashbacks. The sight of his Unc—the boggart—had been too much for him though.
He started walking toward the kitchen once more, desperately needing a cup of coffee and some more time to process recent events. He stopped short once more when he came to the sight of Draco, Ron, and Hermione; all asleep on the couch and chairs in the sitting room. He swallowed heavily. Merlin, they all knew too. He didn't mind Ron knowing. He had helped him so many times before that one more flashback wouldn't damage his opinion of Tallis too much more than it already was. He winced. Hermione though hadn't known about the majority of the flashbacks that he suffered and Draco didn't know about them at all.
Draco. He thought back frantically over the day before, realizing with a sinking feeling that Draco had surely been present during his flashback. Given the presence of his Gryffindor friends he could only assume that he knew about his identity as well now. He shook his head in confusion. What was he still doing here after learning the truth and probably nearly being killed by his panic yesterday? He should have run screaming by now.
He walked quietly through the room to the kitchen, coming to an abrupt halt once more when he saw his Father sitting at the table, calmly sipping a cup of tea. He stared at him quietly, uncertain what to say. Merlin, this was embarrassing. Why couldn't he just be normal?
"Good morning, Tallis," Severus said calmly, recognizing that his son was terrified of what to say after what had happened yesterday. Usually they avoided talking about these things but Severus and Hermione had decided yesterday that they were doing Tallis no favors by ignoring his flashbacks. Whether he wanted to or not, he needed to talk about them. Hence the sleep in of his three friends and his Father's early wake up call. "Do you feel better?"
Tallis nodded slowly. "Yes Sir."
Severus looked up sharply at this. Tallis had never called him 'sir' before. "Tallis, look at me," he ordered, trying to take the anger out of his voice. The damn muggles were hurting his son even still. Tallis hesitantly looked up at his Father, certain that he would be punished for something. Reason pushed in, telling him that his Father had never punished him for anything before and he found himself battling confusion once more. Severus recognized the war taking place in his son's eyes and he sighed. "Tallis, you need to remember that I am not your Uncle. I will never hurt you," he said as gently as possible.
Tallis nodded again. "I know," he whispered. "I just get confused sometimes."
"It is understandable, son. Why don't you sit down and have some breakfast? I think you've been too busy to eat properly in the past few weeks." Tallis slid into his chair across from his Father and started piling his plate with food, still trying to avoid his Father's eye. He knew that his Father who was ostensibly ignoring him and reading the paper would watch every bite that went into his mouth, making sure that he was eating enough. His mouth quirked up into a small smile at the thought.
Bill and the three students stumbled into the room. Bill had woken the moment that Tallis had left the safety of his arms but had left him a few moments of privacy, knowing that Severus would already be awake and in the kitchen waiting for him. The students had likewise awoken when Tallis had stepped into the room. There was something about their friend's magic that seemed to change the atmosphere of a room instantly and it shook them all awake. They had all continued to feign sleep as their friend looked at them closely, clearly worried about the previous night. The four had listened to his conversation with his Father, exchanging worried looks occasionally. When he started eating though they deemed it safe to enter.
Bill collapsed into his seat next to Tallis and Draco sat in the only extra seat. Severus quickly spelled two more chairs for the Gryffindors. Everyone sat close to each other, squeezing into the small table which was once made only for one. Tallis looked hesitantly up at Draco who was calmly putting marmalade on a piece of toast. "Why are you still here?" he asked quietly.
Draco looked up in shock. "Where did you expect me to be?"
Tallis shrugged helplessly. "As far away from me as possible," he whispered.
Draco set the toast down. "Tallis, you are my friend regardless of who you used to be. It was a bit of a shock but it doesn't change anything. Why would you think that it would have?"
Tallis looked at him, dumbfounded. "I just…I just…I don't know," he finally said. "I lied to you Draco."
"You didn't lie, Tallis, you just didn't tell me everything. I knew that you were keeping secrets from me and I understood why you were doing so. I've never been mad about that. Once I found out the truth I understood the need for secrecy even more."
"Speaking of," Hermione cut in, "shouldn't we spell him to prevent him from slipping on the truth? I doubt anyone would ever think to call him to the stand but it is within the realm of possibility."
Severus nodded and pulled out a vial of the potion needed to work as a catalyst for the spell that his son had developed a few months previously. He had been working on making one that would work for his godson ever since the original had been developed, knowing that one day they would need it. "We can do so whenever Tallis is done with his breakfast."
Tallis immediately set his fork down on his still half full plate. "I'm done now," he announced. At his Father's glare though he picked up his fork once more and set to clearing his plate. He supposed he was still hungry. The small group ate in near silence. Draco and Ron were fighting their instincts to attack each other and both knew that too much conversation would prove their efforts meaningless. They didn't want to give their friend any more stress through their stupid bickering. Hermione had given them both harsh instructions the night before about their behavior and neither young man wanted to anger her. Bill, Hermione and Severus were quiet because they were trying to figure out how to broach the topic of Tallis' flashbacks.
When they were finally finished the dishes vanished from the table. Severus passed the vial to his godson quietly who nervously eyed the apricot liquid. "What does it do?"
"It prevents you from telling anyone about my son," Severus said simply.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "It is a potion and spell combination that Tallis invented which encourages dream and fiction over the cold facts. It will allow you, even under Veritaserum, to say with perfect conviction that Tallis Snape is not Harry Potter. It isn't a mind altering substance and it is not a controlling substance, it merely helps to protect you from mind magic invasions by people that are searching for specific information and it also protects you from truth serums."
Draco nodded and swallowed the potion, clearly impressed that his friend had managed to invent something so delicately balanced. While still insanely difficult, it was moderately easy in comparison to invent something that would keep the information safe but would also control the will of the person in question or else tamper permanently with the mind. It was very difficult to cut out those two less desirable effects and still retain the first one.
Tallis motioned him to stand as he did as well, walking over to his friend. He reached up, hands nervously touching Draco's temples lightly and he started to hiss the incantation. Draco's eyes opened in wonder as he felt the spell taking effect. "Gods," he whispered when it was finished. "This is an incredible invention. I hope that one day you can be recognized for all of your work. You didn't get any recognition for your tattoos either. Doesn't it bother you?"
"Not really," Tallis said softly. "I invent to fulfill my needs, not to become famous. I have no need for it."
"But this time you would be famous for your own accomplishments!" Draco argued.
Tallis shrugged indifferently. "I just want to live a quiet life far away from society and work on my potions and healing."
"That'll be a bit difficult to heal people if you are far away from them," Bill said dryly.
"I mean far away from high society, from the media and the Ministry and famous people in general. I don't mind the rest."
"Shall we move to the sitting room?" Severus asked the group. Tallis looked down at his sleep pants and bare chest, wanting to go get dressed. The other students were in pajamas as well, having asked Dobby to go fetch them some from their dorms but he was still uncomfortable. Bill recognized a delaying tactic when he saw one and simply accioed a tank top for him and handed it over. Tallis reigned in a sigh. There was no delaying this. He pulled it reluctantly over his head and settled down on the loveseat with Bill at his side.
Severus took his usual chair and the other students quickly sat down on the sofa and remaining chair. "You had another flashback yesterday," Severus began immediately. Tallis nodded slowly, his eyes guarded. "Can you tell us what sparked it?" He knew damn well what sparked it but he also knew that Tallis needed to admit it out loud.
"My Uncle came to Hogwarts," Tallis finally said, then shook himself visibly as his words sunk in. He thought he had already fixed that mistake earlier. "I mean, I saw a boggart that looked like my Uncle."
Severus stiffened when he heard how Tallis referred to it at the beginning. Even now, even hours later, Tallis still initially thought of the experience as if his Uncle had truly made it inside Hogwarts. He was starting to understand his son's fear of his Uncle arriving at Hogwarts a bit more. Irrational or not, it made perfect sense that he had barred the door so tightly when he had his last treatment session with Poppy and was unconscious.
"You realize that it was a boggart, don't you? You realize that the muggle wasn't really here?"
Tallis nodded quickly. "I do. I don't know why I keep saying that Uncle Vernon was here. I know he wasn't," he said, shivering lightly in fear. Bill wrapped a strong arm around his slim shoulders, pulling him tightly into his side.
"Can you tell us what you saw in your flashback?" Severus asked. Tallis' face turned white. He shook his head almost violently. Severus reigned in a sigh. "How often do you suffer from these flashbacks?"
Tallis started to tug at a few loose threads at the hem of his flannel sleep pants. "I don't know. Not too much anymore."
"And before? When they were at their worst, how many were there?"
Tallis shrugged, his fingers still tugging at the strings. "I don't know. Maybe once a week?"
Ron stepped in. "In our second and third year you often had a flashback or else a partial flashback around three times a week."
Tallis looked up in shock. He hadn't realized it had been that bad. "But they're a lot better now. I've only had two since I arrived at Hogwarts."
"And before you arrived at Hogwarts?" Severus asked, immediately realizing how carefully his son had worded it. He was truly his father's son. He would have done the same thing.
Tallis looked down again, unable to meet his Father's piercing gaze. "I'm not sure," he muttered. "It was kind of a blur."
Bill tightened his hold on Tallis. "Love, you need to tell us when you have these. We can't help you if you keep them secret."
"But maybe I don't want help!" Tallis said angrily, pushing away. "I'm not a kid. I can deal with this on my own!"
Severus looked about ready to snap at his son that he could damn well not deal with them on his own if his way of dealing with it was to ignore it and pretend it wasn't happening. Hermione stepped in before his temper could get the better of him. "We know you're not a kid and we know that you can deal with a great many things on your own," she said soothingly, her voice almost immediately calming him as it always did. "We just worry. We all love you, Tallie. Why won't you let us help you? We all let you help us often enough with out problems."
Tallis looked at her quietly, letting her words sink in. She was right. They all did accept his help when they needed it. Why was it so difficult for him?
"Look mate," Ron finally said, breaking the tense silence. "I know you've gotten loads better recently but I still worry about you. Mione worries about you too. I bet the ferret does as well." Draco glared at him and Hermione punched him hard in the arm, making him grimace in pain. "I mean Malfoy. The point is, though, that we're your friends and we want to help in whatever way we can. I know you don't like talking about it and I completely understand but I think you might need to, mate." When he saw how Tallis' face turned pasty white again he continued quickly. "Maybe not to any of us or even Bill but maybe you could with the Professor. I'm sure he would be ok."
Severus rolled his eyes at Ron's glowing review of his abilities as a confidant. It seemed to work with Tallis though who appeared to be seriously considering it. Tallis knew that his Father wouldn't be shocked and horrified by anything he said to him and he knew that he wouldn't comment too much. He could just tell him things and then be done with it most of the time. Granted, he had no idea how much self control it took on the part of his Father to maintain a neutral expression during their conversations. Talking to his Father about the Dursleys wouldn't be too bad, really. He had already told him a bit about them and he hadn't gone running from him. Maybe he could tell him some more.
"Just think about it, will you love?" Bill asked quietly.
Tallis nodded. "Are we going to the lab later?" he asked, changing the subject.
Everyone bit back sighs. Tallis always did this when he didn't want to discuss something anymore. They let him get away with it today, knowing that they had made a significant inroad into getting Tallis to talk about his memories with someone through their earlier (although short) conversation. "Yes. I think we're nearly there," Severus said.
"Can I come?" Draco asked eagerly. "I won't work with you guys since I don't know what's going on, I just want to look at some of your notes and watch."
Tallis looked at Hermione and his Father seeking approval. Both nodded immediately. "Sure," he said. "We need to change first though. Come on, you can borrow some clothes." Draco looked at his small friend with one eyebrow raised. "Well, maybe not mine but you can borrow some of Bill's. They'll be big but we can shrink them some. Are you coming too, Ron?" Tallis asked, knowing that Ron wasn't usually allowed in the lab since he was so wretched at potions.
"Can I?" Ron asked, brightening immediately. "I promise not to touch anything at all."
Tallis smiled. "Yes but you need to stay with either Draco or Bill the whole time. You need to stay with whichever is farther away from the potion."
Ron nodded eagerly. He'd even put up with the ferret if it meant he could see his friends at work. He knew that Tallis was a genius with potions as was his Father and he knew that Mione was very skilled. He might not like doing potions personally but he was still fascinated by the process. He also hoped that watching them might give him some clues as to potential weaknesses since it was his job to work on strategy and help them find the problems with the potion.
"Er…Mione, I guess you'll need some of Bill's clothes too," Tallis said, blushing lightly. He was too small for her to borrow his pants. It was very hard on clothes to expand them because it stretched the fabric too much, creating too much stress for it to bear. It was not nearly as rough on the material to shrink them down.
"That's fine Tallis," Hermione said. She had long since stopped being bothered by the fact that she was too big for his clothes. She was slim but she was a good three inches taller and with a curvy woman's figure it would simply be impossible for her to squeeze into his clothes. The group went back to Tallis and Bill's room, pulling clothes out of the large closet to shrink. Tallis passed Hermione one of his tops, knowing that she could fit one of his looser tops without any spells.
Draco managed to put on the borrowed clothes without making any comments about the cheaper quality of them at all, surprising both Weasleys. Bill knew that Draco wasn't the asshole that he pretended to be but he was still a pampered pureblood who only wore the best of everything. Ron decided that he might need to reevaluate his opinion of the ferret.
The group made their way to the lab, spotting Severus already setting up the four cauldrons needed for the potion. It needed to be brewed in each one for a short time, the different metals purifying the potion one step at a time. Ron's eyes widened as he saw the enormous amount of equipment set out, more arriving on the wide and high counters with each moment as Hermione and Tallis grabbed more.
The counters here were the same height as those at the manor and Tallis grabbed his stool and pulled himself up on it, organizing the ingredients that his Father was pulling down. Hermione set out one last set of knives and started to help Tallis. Draco was alternately staring at the activity and reading through the meticulous notes that were taken in Hermione's hand.
She was good at potions and certainly talented enough to serve as a research assistant and potions assistant for the Snapes but she was no where near the level of the two men. She tended to take the notes and jot down possible questions or concerns for the three of them to consider later while the two men worked. She helped with the preparation and she took the used ingredients and materials out of their way when they were finished with them but she was not involved in the actual brewing process.
Tallis and Severus were insanely grateful for her assistance, knowing that the potion would be impossible without the help of an assistant who was not only incredibly talented but who also knew both of them well enough to be able to anticipate their needs. When they were ready the three exchanged a look and took a deep, calming breath simultaneously. They quickly went to work, their motions almost a dance as they worked around each other closely, hands moving with unnatural speed and grace as they perfectly timed each step.
Ron watched, fascinated. Bill also found it interesting but he had been allowed to observe before since he wasn't the walking potion disaster that his brother was. Draco had given up reading the notes and watched in disbelief. He had always considered himself to be talented at potions but he was nowhere near this level. He grudgingly admitted that he wasn't sure he could even do Hermione's work.
Two hours passed and it seemed as if only a few moments had gone by to those observing. They watched with bated breath as Severus carefully lifted the heavy gold cauldron and poured the distilled potion into the small platinum lined cauldron that Tallis steadied. The potion would only sit in the cauldron for three minutes and then be decanted into vials, ready for consumption. The three minutes were tortuous as Severus, Hermione and Tallis stood still for the first time since they had entered the lab, watching in silence.
After the three minutes had passed Tallis lifted the small cauldron and poured the potion directly into the small vials. No metal could touch the potion after that final step or it would be contaminated. Once each vial had been tightly capped by Hermione and labeled with Severus' tidy scrawl the three brewers took a deep breath once more.
"Can we test it?" Draco asked eagerly.
Severus looked down at him, mischief glinting in his dark eyes. "You can."