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Lunaticus Book Three: New Moon Rising	By : JBankai89 Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Remus Views: 12583 -:- Recommendations : 2 -:- Currently Reading : 2
Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns Harry Potter, I gain nothing from this but a way to pass the time.

Chapter List
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A/N: Next update will be this coming Saturday, October 21st.
Chapter Thirty-Seven – Tradition

An insistent knocking woke Harry on Saturday morning.

He stumbled over Remus, who grunted indignantly by being woken by Harry's knobbly knee digging into his gut as the sub climbed over him and stumbled, half-asleep, over to the door.

“Harry!” Remus suddenly hissed, his voice still thick with exhaustion, “pants!” Harry turned to ask what he meant, and let out a little squeak of surprise when he was hit in the face with his own pair of boxers. It was only when he looked down to pick them up off the floor did he realize what Remus was hinting at, and he tugged on the garment before he finally answered the door, to find Tavish standing on the other side.

“Tavish?” Harry asked as he blinked, “what is it? Please tell me there's no crisis, I've hit my quota on crises for the next decade, at least.”

“No crisis in the strictest sense,” he replied as he shouldered his way into the cabin, apparently ignorant to Harry's mate, who had promptly fallen back asleep after saving Harry from flashing Tavish. “I'm just making the rounds, you two were last, since I know you both like to sleep late.”

“Er, okay, rounds for what?” Harry blinked again, completely lost as to what Tavish was getting at.

“Fenrir is getting really touchy about the whole dress robes thing, and I think Adina and I have both told him at least six times that he can't show up in his jeans. So, no matter what he looks like, do not take the mickey out of him for how he looks, all right? Adina and I think he looks pretty handsome, but even us saying that is making him tetchy. So no comments, yeah?”

“I sincerely doubt any of the pack is stupid enough to poke fun at Alpha,” Harry pointed out as he rubbed his eyes, “but Remus and I will keep an eye out for any Weasleys who might not understand the danger.”

“Your wizard friends really would poke fun at Alpha over his clothes?” Tavish asked, his eyebrows raising curiously.

“They'd poke a dragon with a stick, given half a chance,” Harry replied, thinking of Ron and George's myriad of pranks they'd pulled on Draco over the last year. “We'll keep an eye out once the champagne starts flowing, I promise.”

Tavish's nervous expression shifted to a relieved smile, and he pulled Harry into a hug. The sudden move startled Harry a little, given that he wasn't fully awake yet, but he didn't have time to properly react to it before Tavish pulled back and he darted out of the cabin.

Blinking bemusedly at his friend's abrupt exit, Harry shuffled back to bed and flopped down heavily next to Remus.

“So we're not allowed to comment on Alpha's fashion sense?” Remus asked groggily, and Harry snorted a little.

“Apparently not,” Harry replied as he rolled onto his side with an exaggerated groan. Remus reached for him, and pulled Harry close.

“Hmm, I suppose I'll have to find another method to get myself killed by Alpha with my own stupidity...”

“You're Remus Lupin, remember?” Harry retorted with a small laugh, “you're a little more intelligent than the average pigheaded dominant.”

“Just a little?”

“It's early and I'm tired, shut up,” Harry stretched his arms above his head with another groan, and smiled indulgently when Remus leant in to brush kisses along the sub's collarbone. Harry shifted his position a little and reached out to cradle Remus's chin in his hand. He coaxed the older man into a warm kiss, and shivered with delight when Remus's hands found his waist.

“Come on,” Remus murmured against Harry's lips, “we have a little time before we need to get up. What do you say, Harry?”

“You're insatiable, you know that?” Harry asked, his mouth twitching into a grin when Remus chortled softly. Instead of answering properly, he pulled his sub close, and kissed him again.

~*~

Slowly, Harry and Remus got out of bed and meandered to the bath for a quick wash before dressing in jeans and jumpers for breakfast. It was a fairly normal breakfast, save for the fact that Greyback seemed to be absent, and both his mates appeared distinctly annoyed about something. If the way they carried food back to the alpha's cabin was any indication, clearly he was still being a bit infantile about the dress robes issue. Remus and Harry exchanged an amused look, but they didn't dare say anything.

After eating quickly, Harry and Remus returned to their cabin to get ready for the wedding.

On Remus's insistence, he had insisted that Harry update his dress robes from fourth year for the occasion. Now that the time had come to actually wear them, privately, Harry was grateful that Remus had pushed him towards that decision.

The robes Harry had selected were solid black with a green trim, paired with black trousers and dress shoes, as well as a white button-down shirt. They were smart, albeit a bit dark for a wedding, but he doubted anyone would really complain about it.

Harry had transfigured an old tree branch into an ordinary wall-mounting mirror, and he was staring at his reflection while he tried to charm his bow tie to tie itself. The result proved that sometimes doing things by hand was much better than using magic, as he quickly untied the knotted mess before he suffocated.

“Need some help?”

Harry turned at the sound of Remus's voice, and he smiled at the sight before him.

He'd never seen Remus in formal wizardwear before, and the effect was quite stunning. He wore a white shirt and black trousers like Harry, but over it was a lovely forest-green robe, trimmed with gold thread, and the fabric seemed to gleam in the soft light of their cabin.

As Harry stared, the colour rose in Remus's cheeks, and he began to smooth out the garments uncertainly.

“Is this all right? Is there a stain or something?” he asked nervously as he glanced down at himself, and with a chuckle, Harry shook his head.

“No, nothing like that. Just...God, you look so amazing,” Harry said, and his face reddened at the breathless quality of his voice.

Remus chuckled as he strode across the space and closed the distance between them, pulling Harry into a gentle kiss.

“You look wonderful too. Very handsome,” Remus replied softly, and Harry bowed his head in embarrassment as Remus's hands moved to the loose bow tie at this throat. “Can I help you with this?”

“Please,” Harry replied with a small nod, and Remus immediately stepped back, moved behind his mate, and rested his hands over Harry's.

Confused, Harry watched in the mirror as Remus gently lifted Harry's hands to the piece of silk ribbon. Like a puppeteer and marionette, Harry watched their reflections as he manipulated Harry's hands, showing him just how to tie his bow tie—this time, without inadvertently strangling himself.

Remus turned Harry around, and smoothed his palms over his robes, straightening out the creases that he saw, a warm, amused smile on his face.

“There is a small problem, however,” Remus said, and Harry quirked an eyebrow at him. “I believe there's a rule somewhere that states you're not allowed to show up at a wedding looking better than both the bride and groom.”

“Shut up,” Harry responded with a short laugh as he gave Remus a small shove, and stepped away long enough to grab the wizarding camera off his night stand, tucked it away in his pocket, then moved back over to Remus. “Let's go, everyone else should be ready, too.”

The pair exchanged a look, and the unspoken reference to the fact that everyone also meant Greyback, and once more Harry was overwhelmed with the idea of seeing his leader in robes.

They got their snickers out of their systems as they walked hand-in-hand towards the main area of the territory. Near the border that separated the cabins from the rest of the territory, Harry stopped short when he spotted something gleaming in the grass.

“Hello,” Harry said as he paused, and bowed down to investigate.

“What is it, Harry?” Remus asked as Harry parted the grass to reveal a knut pressed into the soil.

“It's a knut,” Harry replied, picking up the bronze coin. “Weird, I've never known anyone in the territory to carry money before.”

“Who knows,” Remus said as he took it from Harry for a moment to have a look at it. “Hang onto it, maybe it'll help you get lucky tonight.” He winked, and Harry chuckled as he accepted the coin back and pocketed it.

“Oh, yes, and maybe that painfully attractive, intelligent older dom will finally notice me...” Harry said with mock breathlessness, a hand planted over his heart as he spoke.

“Silas...?” Remus asked, and Harry snorted.

“I mean you, you prat,” Harry replied as he swatted his arm lightly. Remus laughed, and twined his fingers with Harry's as they resumed their walk to meet the others.

The couple found all the subs that were attending dressed and chattering happily near to the bonfire while they waited for the others. The moment Harry and Remus stepped up, the chatter broke up a little as they welcomed the couple into their group. Jade was dressed in a set of fine satin robes in soft pink, and he hair was twisted into an elegant knot, with a single cherry blossom woven into the style; Leticia was wearing a dark blue set of robes that seemed to sparkle in the sunlight, and her hair was pulled back in a complicated braid at the base of her neck. Sadie, who was standing a little farther back, was wearing cranberry coloured robes in a sleek, fitted design, her blonde hair styled in a number of elaborate curls that cascaded down her back. She seemed to be filled with a nervous excitement as she regarded the other subs quietly.

“Harry, Remus,” Jade called as they approached, “you two look wonderful!”

“Thanks, you too,” Harry replied as they stopped near to them. “Where are the quads? Not coming?”

“I think it may be a little much to ask them to sit still for the ceremony,” she replied with a small, amused smile. “Some of the unmated subs are keeping them occupied in the House while we're gone.” As Jade finished her explanation, Leticia sidled up next to her and took her hand, causing Harry to eye Remus with an arched brow and a look that clearly said, I told you so.

“We may duck out early, though,” Leticia added, “it's best not to keep the mother separate from her pups for too long, but we'll see how the evening goes. We trust the subs they're with, but...” she trailed off, and Harry nodded. He understood it was an instinct thing, more than a frame of mind cemented in common sense.

“Well, if anything, it'll give you a couple hours a grown-up time,” Harry offered, and Jade laughed.

“Yes, that is something I've been sorely lacking these last few months,” she agreed as she smiled at Harry.

“Anyone know where Alpha and his mates are, by the way?” Remus interrupted, an arm moving to wrap instinctively around Harry when Silas, Ulrich, and Wu-Fei approached. They too were all wearing dress robes, Silas in silver to match his hair, Ulrich in brown and green, and Wu-Fei in black. Harry rested a hand over Remus's in silent reassurance as the three dominants moved towards them, but he did not force himself out of his mate's embrace.

“Tavish and Adina went to try and convince Alpha to come out of his cabin,” Ulrich explained, a note of amusement in his voice. “I think he's having an issue with formal wear, and he's being a little stubborn about it.”

“You know Hermione never forced him to come, and she wouldn't fault him if he chose to skive off,” Harry pointed out, and Ulrich chuckled a little.

“I think he genuinely wants to come—not that he'd admit it,” Ulrich replied with a small chuckle, “he's always supported his pack. But I think he'd be acting this childish even if it was a muggle wedding. I think formal wear gives him hives.”

A large hand seemed to come out of nowhere, and it cuffed Ulrich sharply over the head, and the other two dominants that flanked him snorted loudly.

“Granger invited the pack, and she intends to present her mate to me officially, which means I'm obligated to show up,” Greyback growled. “I am her alpha, that's how these things work. Being dressed up in one of these ridiculous monkey suits is not my idea of a good time.”

Now that Greyback had joined them, Harry was surprised by how the dress robes seemed to suit him, though he looked extremely uncomfortable. In fact, the robes were very similar to the ones that Harry was wearing, except without the green trim. Both Tavish and Adina were clinging to an arm each, with Tavish dressed in robes of black and violet, while Adina wore a dress in deep, royal blue, with a sweeping neckline, long sleeves, and a slit up the side of the garment that almost reached halfway up her thigh. All three of them together looked so glamorous, and Harry found that even if he had been tempted to poke fun at Greyback for wearing wizarding garments, seeing him now, there was absolutely nothing worth poking fun at—he simply looked too good.

“We better get going,” Remus suggested mildly, breaking up the quiet shock of the other pack members seeing their leader dressed in such a way. “We don't want to be late. Alpha, you have your wand, correct?”

Greyback scowled, and nodded his head slightly.

“Yes, I have the damn thing.”

“It's just a precaution, Alpha,” Harry said quickly, “Ron's family are almost all purebloods, and we all know what wizards from that sort of background can be like.”

“If any of these wizards tries anything, there will be hell to pay,” Greyback growled, and his eyes swept over the group of werewolves. “We are pack, I want you lot to stay close. Granger swears that no one will harass us, but most of us have tasted prejudice at the hands of wizards too many times to warrant trusting them. I don't want anyone taking stupid risks.”

“No one will try anything, I promise,” Harry said firmly, and when the gazes of four dominants swivelled his way, he unconsciously shifted closer to Remus, but kept his voice firm and confident. “I've known the Weasleys since I was eleven years old. Some of their extended family is a bit...unsavoury, but Ron, his parents, his siblings...they're good people, and they wouldn't judge us like that.”

Greyback seemed to seriously doubt this claim, and with one final grunt, he nodded towards the Apparition Point, and the group set off

~*~

They reappeared just outside of the Burrow's wards, and Harry wobbled dangerously as he landed badly, but Remus was there in an instant, keeping him from toppling over.

“Thanks,” Harry muttered, his voice close to breathless, and Remus offered him a little squeeze of reassurance.

“It's what I'm here for.”

“C'mon everyone,” Harry called, but stopped short when he saw everyone (save Ulrich and Remus) looking at the towering, lopsided house with varying looks of bewilderment on their faces.

In their moment of pause, the front door burst open, and Molly Weasley hurried out, dressed in her own set of maroon dress robes. Harry heard the distinct growl of their alpha, closely followed by Adina muttering, “be nice,” in a firm no arguments tone of voice.

“Harry! Remus!” Molly cried jovially as she reached the group. “Oh don't you all look wonderful! Of course, Hermione told us you were coming, but we didn't expect—” she cut herself off very suddenly as her gaze fell on Greyback, and she shook her head once. “Never mind, never mind. Harry, would you care to introduce me to your—erm, pack?”

Nearly all the dominants regarded Molly oddly when she chose to ask Harry to take a pseudo-leadership role, save for Remus, Greyback, and Ulrich, who appeared unfazed by this particular development. Harry knew that it was a learning curve for them, and swallowed his amusement at their bewildered looks as best he could while he turned and began to point out the various pack members that he stood with.

“You remember Ulrich,” Harry said, motioning to his ex, “and that's Jade, Leticia, Sadie, Wu-Fei, Silas, and of course you know Alpha—er, Greyback—and his mates, Adina and Tavish.”

Harry dropped his arm as he finished, and bit his lip nervously when he saw Molly mouth the word, mates, but it did not hinder the welcoming smile she offered to most of them, but could not quite extend to Greyback. Considering what he'd done to Bill during the war, Harry couldn't exactly blame her, but both Adina and Tavish had not missed this, and regarded Molly with similar frowns.

“Come along, everyone,” she said and motioned towards the house. “Everyone is setting up out back...oh, Harry, would you mind coming with me, please?”

Harry froze mid-step, and blinked at her in confusion. Remus's hand on his hip tensed momentarily, but relaxed almost at once, though he too was regarding Molly with a look of confusion.

“Er, all right...what for?”

“Hermione wants to see you, dear,” Molly explained, “something about an old muggle custom she wants you to help her with. She tried to explain it to me, but goodness, it didn't make any sense. Something about borrowing, and old, and new, I'm not certain...”

Harry exchanged a look with Remus as they both chuckled at Molly's jumbled explanation. Given that Remus was half-blood, Harry knew that his mate would understand what Hermione had been on about. Before he could follow Molly, Remus pulled him in for a light kiss, completely uncaring that the Weasley matriarch was watching.

“Go on,” Remus murmured softly, “I'll keep the pack out of trouble while you're gone.”

“Something tells me you're less likely to attract trouble with me elsewhere,” Harry teased, and Remus laughed again, but did not contradict him.

Harry offered Remus's hand a quick squeeze, then reluctantly stepped out of the comforting embrace to follow Molly inside. She led him up to the guest room he and Ulrich had used the last time he'd been there, all the while babbling about the preparations that had been made for the day, who was and was not attending, and Hermione's stress and pregnancy-induced mood swings, all of which went in one ear and out the other as Harry tried to shake off his strange discomfort at being alone in a place that did not smell like pack, without his mate nearby.

Molly left him when they'd reached the door, and Harry knocked on it once.

“Who is it?” Hermione called from inside, and Harry did not fail to notice the high, stressed lilt to her voice.

“It's me,” Harry replied at once.

“Oh, thank God. Come in!”

Harry let himself into the room, and inhaled sharply at the sight before him.

Hermione looked beautiful.

The wedding dress she had chosen was a lovely, fitted garment, the bodice was strapless and an intricate design of woven lace had been sewn into the front. When she moved, the garment seemed to glimmer, and upon closer inspection, Harry noted that dozens and dozens of pearls had been woven into the design, and the entire effect made Harry think of a rushing waterfall, or waves breaking on the shore.

The bottom half of the dress was mostly fitted, but the train fanned outward, and reminded Harry a little of the mermaid painting from the Prefects' bathroom back at Hogwarts. The shiny material seemed to ripple whenever she moved, and it ended with a pair of satiny white heels that were not very high, but still made Harry's feet hurt to look at them.

Beyond the dress, Hermione's hair had been pinned up in an elaborate set of curls that fell down her back elegantly, and was woven with what looked like tiny little diamonds. Around her neck was a thin silver chain (though Harry assumed it was white gold or stainless steel, and not actual silver) with a tumbled piece of Lapis Lazuli in place of a pendant.

“Wow,” Harry breathed, “Hermione...you look...wow.”

“I don't look too much like a beached whale, do I?” Hermione asked teasingly as she smiled at him shyly, and pressed her hands to her swollen belly. Six months along, she was now very visibly pregnant, and paired with the wedding dress, Harry could not recall the last time he'd ever seen her so perfectly happy.

“No way,” Harry said as he shook his head, and offered his friend a reassuring smile. “You look great.”

“Thanks, Harry...I'm just...oh, I'm so excited,” she flushed a little as she spoke, positively brimming with happiness as she gazed at her friend. “Everything's finally working out how it should, you know?”

Harry nodded at once. He knew.

“So, what d'you need?” Harry asked, swallowing past the slightly hoarse tone of his voice as he got a little choked up. “Something old, something new, something borrowed, or a penny in your shoe? I see you've already got the something blue part covered.”

“I need a knut,” she said simply, “I think that'll cover the something borrowed and penny in your shoe part. I've got this,” she lifted up the skirt of the dress to show a thin anklet with all sorts of charms attached to it, though at a distance, he couldn't tell what they were. “It's an old heirloom my mum gave me when I was little, before...” she shook her head as her voice got a little croaky, and moved on to showing Harry the rest of her ensemble. “And this,” she paused again, and motioned to the dangly, teardrop-shaped earrings made of some sort of white crystal, “they're new.”

“Well, you're in luck,” Harry said as he dug into his pockets, and pulled out the tiny bronze coin and handed it to her. “I found it on the ground right before we left. Remus said I should keep it for luck, guess it's good I did.”

“Yeah, it really is,” Hermione agreed as she laughed and accepted the coin. She removed one of her shoes and placed it in the toe then stepped back into the heel before regarded him again with a serious look. It gave Harry the impression that there was something else she wanted to ask of him, and seemed to be working herself up to actually vocalizing it.

“There's one more thing, Harry,” she said, her tone taking on one of slight uncertainty, and he arched an eyebrow at her. “I almost wanted to ask Alpha, but I didn't think he'd really understand, and you're like a brother to me, and what with my parents still missing...I don't know if they'd really want to know that their daughter has become a—” she broke off and shook her head when her voice got a little weak again.

“C'mon, Hermione,” Harry said gently, “it's all right. Whatever it is...just, y'know, spit it out.”

Hermione laughed while she smiled at him, her eyes a little teary as she reached for his hand, and gave it a small squeeze.

“Harry, I want you to be the one to walk me down the aisle.”
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Lunaticus Book Three: New Moon Rising