Reconstruction of a Death Eater

Full Grown Baby

Remus groaned as the Skele-Gro plaster wrapped around his leg made it ache fiercely. Shacklebolt and Tonks had apparated him into the backyard of Grimmauld Place, then hurried him into Molly's care as soon as they managed to manoeuvre him through the back door. Dosed with Skele-Gro potion and bandaged to within an inch of his life, he had little left to do but contemplate the ceiling and wait until Molly or Roger pronounced his leg was healed enough to walk on. He was furious that the Death Eater he had been duelling with had managed to get away pretty much unscathed. On the other hand, he was quite glad that the Death Eater had chosen to leave the moors with their duel unfinished rather than come looking for him. After all, he had been unconscious for quite a few minutes, long enough for half a dozen Unforgivable Curses to have blasted him into the hereafter!

He contemplated Paddy and Judy O'Leary and their parts in his rescue. He was surprised and pleased that they had come after him, even on such a short acquaintance. The older couple were good, honest people who had an interest in seeing that justice was done, despite the darkness of the times. If they were lucky, the Order had just gained two new recruits - a little raw yet - but every little bit helped.

Trying to distract himself, he rolled his eyes left and suddenly realised the coat rack in the corner was actually a human being. His eyes widened dramatically when he saw who was standing there.

"Severus? Severus Snape?" he called, trying for cheerful and merely achieving a gasp. There was no response to his call so he hitched himself higher on the pillows curiously.

"Oh Remus, it's so sad. He's lost," Molly tossed over her shoulder in passing, a bundle of towels in her arms which she deposited in the nearest cupboard.

"Lost? But he is right there, what do you mean by lost?"

"He has a brain injury," Molly said flatly as she straightened and shut the cupboard door with a snap.

"Oh, bloody hell!" Remus flopped back on his cot in shock, stunned by the unfairness of it all. Severus had always been the brightest star in their year, brighter even than Sirius and himself, not that either of them would admit such a thing. "What happened? Or do we not know?"

"That... that monster and his curses is what happened. Poor Severus was minced, inside and out, more broken bones than I thought the human body actually had." Molly shivered and went to Severus' side, laying a hand on his arm to guide him over to the cot near Remus. Encouraging and scolding, she made the stiff man fold in the middle, seating him on the edge of the cot. "I wish I knew what was going around in his head."

~~*~~

"Useless, disobedient waste of space! You are old enough to know the meaning of an order. If you disobey an order, you will be punished. Have I ever lied to you, Boy? Don't you dare make a noise! Did you think I was lying when I said I would punish you? No noise, you wretched piece of detritus! I said do not take a step out of line but you did, so now you must face the consequences of your flagrant disobedience!"

The transfigured wand was a thin whippy riding crop that whistled as it cut through the air and laid a burning line of fire across his back. The next blow cut his buttocks, the third his shoulders. He tried not to, tried very hard not to make a sound, but it hurt, it hurt so much!

As the tiny whimper left his mouth the old woman who was his grandmother smiled vindictively and brought the crop down smartly across the back of his legs in a roundhouse slash. "Every little sound will bring its own reward, you know that, you useless piece of effluvium!" she said almost conversationally as she cut at his back once again.

He managed to stifle even the tiniest wisp of sound, and his grandmother settled back against her throne like chair with a huff of disappointment. "Continue," she instructed sharply.

~~*~~

Molly felt the man flinch under her hand and blinked uneasily as a quickly gone twist of agony cut across the blank canvas of his face. It was so unexpected she almost instinctively checked her grip to see if she had grabbed too hard on his barely healed arm.

"I really don't think you do want to know what is going on in his head, actually," Remus said softly as another miniscule flinch made the cot frame squeak just a little. "From the little I know of the Snape Family, it's a wonder he grew up at all; and only as twisted as he usually is, instead of fully dysfunctional, or so Dark that black would be light relief in comparison. His grandmother used a mixture of abuse and potions to try and turn him into a vampire. I think she had a theory about how a vampire could be created and was intent on proving it."

"Yes, I remember overhearing my grandmother talking about Veraline van Harbekk before she married Thaddeus' father and how there were rumours that her mother was highly placed in the vampire serving community. They say that the only reason she married Snape was to get access to the European entail, or at least breed a son who could access it. Of course, Thaddeus couldn't, nor could Severus. I don't know how true the rumour was but Veraline was not one to take disappointment in her stride, and she had a reputation of being both intelligent and sadistic."

Sometimes Remus forgot just how closely the pureblood wizarding families were actually related, and it always came as a shock to find out just who was related to whom. "So does that make Severus one of your relatives, your cousin or something?"

Molly cocked her head consideringly. "With quite a number of removes, but yes, he would be a cousin of sorts. Now, let's have a look underneath this plaster, you should be almost as good as new by now." Deftly unwinding the bandages, Molly scrutinised the hairy shin before her and poked it a couple of times with her wand, making Remus squirm and chuckle. "Oh, come on, you can't be ticklish on the shins, surely?" she reproved humorously.

"I can't? Oh, oh well, must just be me then." Remus laughed back, clutching his shin to protect it from Molly's wand tip. "So, what's the verdict?"

"You are almost as good as new again, and you will be as good as new in a couple of hours. Now, we just have to work on those sniffles, don't we?" she added as Remus sneezed into a large handkerchief. "That really does not sound good, Remus, very deeply seated in your chest."

"Don't worry about it; the rattles and sneezes will be gone in no time. I'm a werewolf; I don't usually get colds for more than a couple of hours, then they go away. So, is there anything I can do to make myself useful while the rest of the potion does its work?"

Molly eyed him consideringly. "Well, there is one thing that needs doing, but I really do hesitate to ask it of you." She folded the towel she was holding into a small package then shook it out and began to fold it again. "Oh dear, now I don't want to offend or embarrass you, but there are not many who are used to, er, handling a man's, er, body , er, intimately." She flushed, gulped and swallowed before going at it in a rush. "Would you consider giving Severus a real bath? There is only so much cleaning spells can do, and he needs a good application of soap and water, and I daren't ask any of the others to do it. They may not be kind or gentle or only do half a job, you know...." Her ears were as red as her hair, which Remus had to admit to himself was fascinating. He managed not to smile as she ploughed on with her request despite her obvious discomfort. "Roger wants to put him in St Mungo's special ward and forget about him, and I can't really say if Arthur agrees with me or him, which is a sad thing for a wife to have to say about her husband. I know you will be kind and gentle, and you are strong enough to manage if he objects at all, which I'm sure he won't. Well, not that he is capable of objecting to anything just now, but he does go rigid and is hard to move about, which is as good as objecting, isn't it?" Her whole face was almost as red as her hair by the time she had finished rambling and subsided into an uncomfortable silence.

Remus managed to keep a suitably grave face as he nodded and replied in matter-of-fact tones. "I can do that for you. Just give me a minute to make a call, then I'll give him a good scrub down. Has he any clean clothes? Those ones he's wearing are going to need a proper wash, too. I can smell them from here."

"Clothes? Oh yes, yes, of course, I'll call Minerva and she can owl some straight down."

"I'll loan him a dressing gown until they arrive," Remus assured her before turning to Snape. "Come on, stand up now, we are going to use the bathroom," he said gently as he eased a hand under the man's armpit and lifted him.

For a second Snape did not move, then slowly as if having to manually work every muscle, Severus rose to his full height. Remus was small for an adult wizard, a childhood spent reforming himself twice a month had stunted his growth quite substantially. Severus was very tall, most likely around the six feet and six inches mark. It was almost as bad as standing next to Hagrid except that Severus was as thin as a twig and looked like a good breeze would snap him. The perception was deceptive. When Remus tried to push or pull, Snape went rigid and was all but immovable, just as Molly had warned him. If Remus exerted his werewolf-enhanced strength, he feared the barely healed bones would break. Finally, he discovered that a firm but gentle pressure, applied slowly and surely, would ease Severus in the direction he wanted him to go.

Getting Severus out of his robes was a task all on its own; there were buttons everywhere! Buttons on the neck, buttons on the front right down to his knees, buttons on the cuffs right up to his elbows, and the robes clanked! When the first couple of inches of buttons came undone and a fold of robe slid down, there was a distinct rattle of glass. Patting the man down, Remus began to find pockets and hidden folds everywhere, and every single pocket and hidey hole was full of stuff! There were pills, there were potions, there were little tiny vials and boxes, and even a half-litre flask tucked into a pocket near his waist. Another pocket held a couple of quills and a travel bottle of ink as well as parchment and sand.

"My Gods, Man, there is so much stuff in here it's a wonder you can move, never mind walk! And what is this then? Humm, you do have good taste, Severus, best Ogden's twelve- year-old Firewhiskey. Pepper-up Potion? And Pecker-up Potion? Well, well, well, you are just full of surprises. Contraception potions? Now that is just wishful thinking, my man!" Remus lined the bottles and jars up on the sideboard, then finished the job of stripping Snape down to his underwear. Casting a quick warming charm on the room, Remus left his charge and bent to run warm water into the bathtub, adding cleaning potion to make some foam.

An odd little noise caught his ear, and he turned just in time to slump wearily onto the side of the bathtub. "Oh damn, Molly did warn me it was like taking care of a baby, but I had to forget the basic rules. No, no, no! Oh no, Severus, please don't do that! Don't cry, it's not the end of the world! I can clean it up, it's okay." Waving his wand hurriedly, Remus removed the growing puddle and quickly made sure the man was safely perched on the commode before turning off the taps. Molly had warned him that Severus was no longer capable of looking after himself, but he had not realised just how incapacitated the proud man was. If he ever remembered any of this if he regained - when he regained - his mind, he would hex Remus into Outer Mongolia or worse!

The silent sobs were the worst, all the more heartbreaking for the lack of expression that went with them. There was no noise, no expression of sadness, just wave upon wave of tears rolling freely down the long, sallow face and dripping off the end of his chin, unchecked and unheeded. Remus knew when he cried he just let rip, but this rigid control was almost scary. Throwing caution to the wind, Remus wrapped his arms around the skinny frame and petted his hair, stroking his back and making soothing noises until the man seemed to relax some of his rigidity, even going so far as to lean into Remus' shoulder slightly to find comfort. After-tears shudders wracked him, but again there was no noise as Remus finished undressing him and eased him into the hot soapy water.

The water relaxed him, and Remus got his first good look at the damage the Potions Master had suffered, a silent whistle breaking out. There were bruises in many shades of blue and yellow, angry red new scars, and half-healed scabs all over him. Even worse, Severus himself was as thin as a rail, not an ounce of fat on him and not much muscle either; it was all bone and sinew, strung tightly over long, protruding bones. His shoulders were square and wide, compared to the rest of his frame, a few arm muscles built over years of heaving cauldrons and stirring them in precise increments. His legs were long, skinny, and pale as milk, but his feet were elegantly arched, his toes smooth and long. His hip bones jutted out from a sunken belly like dead reefs on a wasted beach.

Where there were no bruises or scars, Severus' skin was pale cream and hairless, the few hairs on his limbs were very dark, a scattering between his nipples barely enough to accent his chest. Even his pubic hair was dark and sparse, and Remus did his best not to ogle his equipment though it was of exceptionally good quality, uncut and abundant despite being completely flaccid. In some ways that lack of interest was a bit of a bummer, but under the circumstances it was probably for the best.

Having washed every inch of skin most carefully and rinsed off the grime and smell, Remus hauled Severus out and dried him carefully, scrupulously drying in the creases before slipping the enlarged dressing gown over his arms and belting it around his waist. Sniffing delicately, Remus decided the other man was clean enough to meet Molly's exacting standards and carefully guided him out of the bathroom. Even as he helped Severus toward the ballroom and his cot, a tremendous sneeze caught Remus and almost blew his head inside out from the force, which set off a fit of coughing that left him breathless and sore.

Surprised, Remus blew his nose and helped Severus into bed, rolling him onto his side and tucking him in. Glancing around to make sure no one was watching, Remus bent forward and pressed a gentle, chaste kiss on his brow. "Good night, Severus, sleep well," he murmured, a shiver coursing down his spine. Perhaps a cup of tea would warm him up properly. He headed for the kitchen.

~~*~~

"He can't stay here, he's in the way and he's freaking the casualties out! Molly, it's like having a statue of a vampire coming to life and springing to attention. He needs to go to St Mungo's or back to Hogwarts, or anywhere but here!" Shacklebolt roared, then he spun away from the anxious woman, banging a fist into the nearest wall before spinning back. "Sorry, sorry! Everyone is on edge. Let's face it, without the greasy bastard we are hobbled. His information was bloody invaluable, and now we are losing, Molly! We're losing and he's a living accusation and a testament to our incompetence!"

Remus, huddled in a grey wool blanket, cradled his cup of hot chocolate to his chest as he hunched over it. "I'll take him," he muttered, then coughed hackingly. His case of sniffles had not gone away as he had predicted but grown to a full blown case of influenza, and he was not recovering well. "I'm not good for much else at the moment, but at least I can make sure he's fed and keep him out of everyone's way."

Both protagonists turned to look at the miserable huddle of werewolf. "Would you mind?" Shacklebolt asked as Molly said, "Oh, we couldn't ask that of you."

They turned to glare at each other again.

"I wouldn't mind and I can manage," Remus assured them, lurching to his feet unsteadily. "Besides, I have my own room, and I don't mind sharing with Severus, at least he's quiet. Someone will have to look after him tomorrow night, but I should be right the day after that."

Molly sighed. "Oh yes, full moon. Will you need the cellar?"

"Not if you don't mind a full grown werewolf roaming around the house," Remus half joked, making Molly blush and sigh.

"I'll make sure you have a comfy bed made up."