Daddy Dearest - (No Update, Edit)

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to JKR. All situations are mine. No $$$ is being made from this fanfic.
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Chapter 49 ~ First Leg of a Journey

Jasmine Malfoy was on cloud nine as Mathias sat next to her in the common and explained the latest chapter they had to summarize for Potions class. Her blue eyes were focused on his face as he talked. She noted he had a lot of the physical expressions and movements his father did, and punctuated his comments with "Is that clear to you?" or "Did you get that?" just as Severus did. She nodded enthusiastically. When he finished, Jasmine looked at him with distinctly admiring eyes.

"Mathias, you make everything so clear!" she gushed, "You would make a marvelous teacher."

Mathias blushed slightly at the pretty witch's praise, then toughened up.

"Well, if I am so good at it, that means you will get a decent mark on this summary," he said gruffly.

Andreas had come down and sat in an armchair adjacent to the table Jasmine and Mathias occupied. He was reading, his black eyes occasionally shifting towards the witch and wizard. He wore a small smirk. Jasmine was quite good at sucking up. Well, Mathias would have to learn about the witch the way all wizards learned about witches. Trial and error. That was the natural way of things after all.

If Mathias completed his journey successfully, Jasmine would have to truly change in order to reach the wizard. After all, Mathias would be able to see her deception by her aura once he learned to control the sight and identify the proper colors surrounding an individual. Andreas would help him with that. He would help him with many things. It was important that the young wizard be prepared. It was more important that he be kept from the lure of the Dark Soul's power. Mathias was ambitious, and ambition had destroyed many a fine wizard.

Andreas studied Mathias, wondering what would challenge him during his journey? What would the Dark Soul use to test him? It had sent charging lions at Andreas, who stood his ground and commanded them to halt. He had no other recourse, he had no weapons and felt it would be useless to flee.

All thirteen lions continued to charge, snarling and roaring, stopping only when they were upon him, dropping to the barren ground and rolling to their backs in submission at his feet. He also saw many of his ancestors, and other beings that could have never been on the earth. Some spoke to him kindly, others threatened him, but they didn't touch him because he refused to be cowed.

Andreas couldn't tell Mathias any of these things, or even how to react. It was his journey, meant to test his mettle, strength and wisdom. There would be another test, a physical one so compelling it would be a great temptation. Andreas almost failed when the Dark Soul made that particular offer of early knowledge. The desire to acquire that knowledge was so strong it was almost painful, and seemed to take hold of the wizard's body and soul. It took all of Andreas' strength to walk away from it. He hoped Mathias would be able to do the same.

This weekend would tell.

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Early Saturday morning Mathias arrived at Andreas' room. He was about to knock when the door suddenly opened. A very sober-eyed Andreas stepped out. He had a sack in his hand, which he quickly placed in his robes pocket. The wizard looked Mathias over.

"You didn't eat did you?" Andreas asked him.

"No. The last time I ate was at supper last night," Matthias replied.

"Good. I don't want to have to clean up vomit while you are journeying," Andreas said, starting to walk up the hall.

Mathias followed him, catching up quickly. It was about eight o'clock in the morning and there were students in the common room getting ready for breakfast. Jasmine was there, waiting for Mathias, and unfortunately Andreas…his shadow.

Mathias caught sight of her first.

"Oh gods, there's Jasmine. She's expecting us to go to breakfast with her. If we say we are doing something else, she's going to want to tag along. Or worse, she will sneak and follow us," Mathias said.

Andreas scowled for a moment, then brightened.

"We will walk her down to breakfast, then I will say I've forgotten something and you will pretend to accompany me back," the wizard said, "Most likely she will go into breakfast, expecting us to return."

"She's going to be mad if we don't" Mathias said, looking at the witch.

Andreas smirked.

"If she is, she will control it," he said confidently, "Remember, she is trying to 'change.'"

That was true. Jasmine hadn't lost her temper in a while now. They would come up with something to explain their absence.

"How long will my journey take?" Mathias asked Andreas as they slowly walked down the stairs.

"About six hours, though it will not seem that long to you. Time is different when you journey," the wizard replied.

They walked into the common room. Jasmine walked up to them.

"Good morning Mathias. Andreas," she said, smiling at the wizards.

Andreas gave her a courtly little bow.

"Good morning Jasmine," he said courteously.

"Hi Jasmine," Mathias said, "Ready for breakfast?"

"Yes," she said, falling into step with them, "I'm starving. But I can't eat much. I'm on a diet."

Mathias looked her over. Jasmine wasn't at all fat.

"But you're not fat. Why are you on a diet?" he asked her.

"Moral support for Christina Wallsfort. She is fat. All of us witches are dieting with her so she can lose weight," Jasmine replied.

Mathias looked at her, surprised. Jasmine was acting nice, but he never thought she would deny herself anything for the sake of another person. Mathias didn't know however she was the one who told Christina she was too big in the first place. Dieting with the witch and making the other witches do it was simply because she was controlling all of them. It was a power thing, not a niceness thing.

"That's really nice of you, Jasmine," Mathias said, sounding impressed.

Jasmine shrugged.

"I'm just supportive that way," she replied as they entered the dungeon corridor.

On the other side of Mathias, Andreas rolled his eyes. He always kept Mathias between him and Jasmine. As sweet as the witch was trying to act, he knew she didn't like him and would take offense, at least internally, if he walked beside her. He was fine with that. Getting close to Jasmine Malfoy was not at the top of his list of things to do.

They turned into the main hall and walked to the Great Hall. Andreas pulled the door open and Jasmine walked through. Then he made his move.

"Oh damn, I forgot something in my room," he said frowning, "I've got to go back."

Jasmine looked at him.

"All right, me and Mathias will save a seat for you," she said, about to catch Mathias by his arm.

"I'll go with you, Andreas. We'll be right back, Jasmine. Save both of us a seat," the wizard said to the witch, who fought back a scowl as Mathias walked back toward Andreas.

"All right," she said sweetly, her face turning black as she stalked up the aisle towards the Slytherin table. Mathias looked after her.

"She may not have gotten mad, but she sure walks it," Mathias said as Andreas let the door close.

"Let's hurry before she decides to come look for us," Andreas said, hurrying toward the main stairwell. Mathias was right with him.

The two wizards took the shifting stairwells up to the floor that held the Room of Requirement.

"You know how to cast an illusion, don't you Mathias?" Andreas asked him. He hadn't yet learned that spell in Charms.

"Yes," Mathias replied.

"How long can you make it last?" Andreas asked him.

"As long as it needs to," Mathias said.

"Good. You are going to have to make an illusion of the castle wall to hide the door to the Room of Requirement. Someone may come to use it. If they don't see it, they may think it has moved to another part of the castle," Andreas said.

Mathias nodded. It was a good idea. They couldn't afford anyone walking in on them. Mathias had a feeling they would both be expelled.

They approached the wall where the door to the ROR was supposed to be located. The two wizards stood in front of it expectantly. Two minutes passed.

"Where is it?" Mathias said.

"Probably preparing the room for us," Andreas said. He looked at Mathias with a wry grin. "Patience, Mathias Snape. Your journey will soon be at hand."

As soon as Andreas uttered those words, the door appeared. Andreas gripped the handle.

"Make the illusion, Mathias. Make it for eight hours. We only need six but it is better to go over than under," the wizard said.

Mathias nodded and pulled out his wand. He made a number of intricate motions to set the duration of the spell, then cast the illusion with his signature so it couldn't be removed. The wall seemed seamless, Andreas' hand sunk into the stone as he held the handle to the door. He pulled it open.

"Enter quickly," Andreas hissed.

Mathias shot through, and Andreas followed, closing the door tightly behind them.

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In the Great Hall, a scowling Severus watched as Jasmine entered alone. Normally she accompanied his son and Andreas to breakfast. The young wizards must have had something else to do judging by the frown on Jasmine's face. She sat down and was immediately surrounded by the other first year witches. All of them were carrying a plate with half a grapefruit on it as they joined her. Gods, were they dieting already? They didn't even have any curves yet. Such vanity. But then again, they were Slytherin witches. Their vanity was for the most part, ingrained.

Severus was in a very foul, snarky mood. Hermione owled him from the Ministry yesterday to inform him she would be busy this weekend with spellwork she had to complete before Monday. He owled her back informing her she couldn't work in bed, to which she owled him back a one-word message.

"No."

Hermione and Severus might be in a monogamous relationship, but she wasn't going to be available whenever he wanted her. Severus wondered if this were some kind of test to see if he would seek out another witch because she wouldn't accommodate him. The wizard then cast a detection spell on himself to see if the witch had surreptiously cast a tracking spell on him. The Potions Master was paranoid that way. No, he was clean.

If Severus was simply randy, he might have been tempted to go get a quick shag as he used to do, but his randiness was focused on Hermione. No other witch would do when he wanted her. The relationship was new, so he hadn't yet fallen into that comfort zone. He needed to claim and reclaim her until she sunk into his psyche.

The Potions Master was quite tempted to drop in on Hermione anyway and see if he could "help out." Maybe he could seduce her during a break. If he couldn't, it still might be interesting to see exactly how she worked. Plus he could stock her medicinal Potions store. Yes, that was the perfect reason to "drop by."

Severus quickly finished his breakfast and hurried to his Potions classroom, stopping off at his private rooms to collect his carryall bag. He then went to his Potions stores and put enough pain and healing potions in the bag to service a small army.

Next he went to his lab and bottled the powerful contraceptive potion he had brewed for the witch. One tablespoon would protect her a full month. It had a built in indicator that appeared as a red flash on her lower belly when it was time for another dose. It was the Potions Master's own formula. He was planning on marketing it soon. He needed to test it on a human subject first, though he was sure it worked. All of the nifflers he tested remained infertile and they bred worse than rabbits. Hermione would make the perfect guinea pig and him, the perfect tester. He placed it in his bag, warded his lab and returned to his bedroom.

Bag in hand, Severus disapparated.

It was time to pay a friendly, platonic little visit to his lover.

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Mathias stared at the Room of Requirement in awe. They appeared to be on a cliff, high above an ocean. It was very warm and humid. The sky above was blue, filled with clouds and crying birds wheeled above the water. They were quite a distance up. Behind them was nothing but jungle. Mathias could hear the surf, smell the water, hear the breeze rustling the trees and feel the moisture in the air.

"Wow," he breathed, turning to Andreas.

Mathias froze, staring at the wizard. Andreas had removed his robes, revealing that he was wearing what looked like a loincloth made of lion skin. The wizard also wore a necklace strung with fangs. Very long ones. He was barefoot and held the sack in his hand. He rattled the necklace at Mathias, grinning.

"I thought I should dress the part," he said to the wizard, smiling. "Ideally, you would be in a loincloth too, but I didn't think you had one in your wardrobe."

Mathias grinned at him.

"No. I didn't pack it," he replied, looking Andreas' loincloth over. "It looks comfortable."

Andreas tugged on it a little.

"It is. You swung free. Very nice," Andreas replied, reaching into the sack and pulling out a bottle. "This is the Iboga drink. It tastes very, very bad, but you must drink every drop of it, without vomiting it up. Take off your robes and lie in the circle of stones on your back."

Mathias began to unbutton his robes, one eyebrow arched quizzically.

"Circle of stones? What circle of…" he asked, his voice faltering as he saw a circle of white stones with red symbols painted on them. Well it was more oblong than circular. Big enough for him to lie down in.

"Where did that come from?" Mathias asked.

"The Room of Requirement knows everything we need. Most likely the door would not appear for anyone wanting to enter, due to the nature of our business here…but I felt it best to be safe."

Mathias removed his robes, dropping them on the ground next to Andreas' robes, then walked to the circle of stones, lowered himself to the ground and laid on his back. He wore only his black silk boxers just as Andreas instructed. Andreas squatted on his heels beside him, the loincloth dangling between his dark legs. He unstoppered the bottle.

"Lift your head," the wizard said, slipping one hand behind Mathias' head to help him and putting the bottle to his lips.

Mathias had never wanted to gag so much in his life. Dragon dung had to taste better than the Iboga drink…but he swallowed determinedly, not losing a drop as Andreas chanted something in a language he couldn't recognize. When he finished the bottle, Andreas lowered his head to the ground gently.

"Keep your fears, but be brave, Mathias. Be honest. Tell the truth," Andreas said to the wizard, who looked up at him.

Mathias tried to reply, but found he couldn't move his mouth. He couldn't move any part of his body. His eyes shifted wildly as he looked at Andreas.

"Remember the properties of the Iboga root," Andreas said comfortingly. He knew what it was like to be paralyzed by the potion. The fear that washed over the initiate.

Suddenly, everything around Mathias took on a brighter, more vivid coloration. The sky became impossibly blue, the jungle a vibrant green and Andreas' chocolate color intensified. He could smell the ocean as if he was standing on the shore itself, and he could hear small scuttling, like the very feet of insects. The breeze on his skin was like a heavy caress.

"You are going under," Andreas said, his voice sounding rich and hollow. "You are beginning your journey. Close your eyes, Mathias Snape. May all that is good in this world go with you."

Suddenly Mathias' eyelids felt heavy as stones. They closed and immediately all sensation stopped. He was in utter blackness and could sense nothing.

"This is what death must be like," he thought.

Then suddenly he was being pulled backwards, images of his life flashing before his eyes. He was with his mother and Severus in their living room being told he was the Professor's son, then he was naked by the lake, James and his friends laughing at him. Then he was arriving at Hogwarts. Then he was with his mother, with Harry, fighting James, in his mother's lap. Images soared past him, he becoming younger and younger.

Suddenly he was in a strange witch's arms…she was masked and he was screaming, then he was in his mother's arms and she was looking down at him with love. She seemed enormous. Then there was a great pressure around him and suddenly he was in the womb, floating in warmth and comfort. He felt a great sense of peace.

Suddenly he was above the cities of the world, watching them build up and fall apart, to be built up again, each one becoming more primitive than the one before it, the men and women also becoming more primitive. Then the cities stopped and he saw men digging with sticks, fighting among themselves, being devoured by animals and hiding in caves and on mountains.

Then the men disappeared and great animals appeared and disappeared rapidly, seeming to sprout from the soil for an instant then falling back. There were terrible beasts like dragons.

"Dinosaurs," he thought as they rose and fell. Then they too disappeared and now trees burgeoned from the earth and withered away, becoming smaller and different until finally they too winked out and the ground became red and angry, boiling and frothing with magma. Then it all disappeared and he was in darkness again.

He became aware of a redness, a pulsing redness the color of blood spreading all around him. Then a darkness, moving like slow spilling ink in water, began to suffuse it, tendrils stretching outward. It seemed as if he were surrounded by a red sky full of black cloud. Then red ground appeared, a bit darker than the sky, and in the distance several dark mountains sprouted out of the flat plain that stretched as far as the eye could see in every direction. There was no curvature in the distance…it just ran straight on. This was not earth.

Mathias felt himself drift downward slowly, his feet hitting solid ground. The little wizard looked down at himself. He was naked. His boxers obviously couldn't make the journey with him. A rumble of thunder sounded in the distance and he looked up, staring over the plain. He saw nothing to break the landscape, no trees or even a single stone. Then his eyes rested on the mountains.

If anything was in this place, most likely it would be there. Mathias began to walk quickly in that direction. He had to find the Dark Soul of the World.

Above him, the black cloud rolled ominously, as if with a life of its own.

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A/N: Wow. Mathias is on his journey. Deep stuff. I think Severus' day with Hermione will be a quick rehash after Mathias goes through his adventure. This is far too cool to write about. Lol. Wonder what the big temptation was that Andreas almost didn't make it through? What will the Dark Soul send at Mathias? Ooh…questions, questions. Next chapter ya'll. Please review.