Hiding the Ills 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.