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Fragmented Soul	By : StrawberryGirl87 & Bickymonster Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Fenrir Views: 79703 -:- Recommendations : 3 -:- Currently Reading : 10
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or anything in the fandom. no money/profit is made.

Chapter List
- 44
- 45
- 46
Okay, so amazing news... Fragmented Soul now has its own website!!! All the chapters are up there to read, fanart and lots of behinds the scenes stuff as well as character profiles and polls to vote for your favourite original characters.
I will make sure there are links in both profiles for StrawberryGirl and Bickymonster. It can also be found through our facebook accounts.

Fragmented Soul
Chapter 45 – The return
The strange stillness that had come over the pack was sadly familiar from just before their previous two returns to the school. No-one wanted to talk about it, particularly given what had happened soon after the previous time; which was at least partly why Harry had only once moved more than a few feet from Fenrir all morning, when the Alpha had gone to fetch water from the stream, during which time he had been all but pinned to Micha’s side.
As such the young submissive was feeling frustrated with himself; the last few days had been filled with progress and the return of some of his self-confidence, but it seemed to have vanished overnight. He was half tempted to just change his mind and stay with his mate, but each time that urge came over him he just closed his eyes and pictured his father’s face, filling himself with fresh determination.
Harry passed two hours of that Sunday morning thinking up various ways in which Fenrir would be able to come to the school with him, living in the Slytherin dormitory. It amused the submissive to think of Fenrir being there simply to satisfy him whenever he needed but he knew that it was never going to happen.
It had occurred to him though that perhaps Fenrir could sneak into the edges of Hogsmeade and that he might be able to meet him there; though that did seem rather reckless. However, given how desperate he was not to be away from his mate at this point, he was starting to think it would be worth it.
The second Fenrir returned from the stream, Harry was once again in his arms, snuggling into him, refusing to let go. The Alpha didn’t mind this in the slightest and quickly sat down by the fire, his back against one of the logs, so that he could cling to his little mate properly, while still appearing manly and holding himself together, when all he really wanted to do was break down and refuse to let Harry leave.
Harry was watching Romy spending time with her parents; Jenson had spent all day offering small supportive gestures to Callie, such as squeezing her hand or brushing a hand over her cheek and was keeping his daughter close. It reminded Harry what it was all for; he missed his Dad so much.
“Will you come and see me in Hogsmeade?” Harry asked suddenly, looking up at his mate. “I know it’s risky but…”
“No-one will keep you from me,” Fenrir stated with certainty.
“You can’t just come find me whenever you like,” Harry pointed out, before Fenrir started getting ideas about trying to meet all the time, putting them both in serious danger. “But there are weekends, when we are allowed down to the village,” he explained, “I could meet you then.”
“When?” the Alpha questioned, already having made up his mind that he would see Harry then. The three weeks that were left until the next full moon was far too long and he would see his mate before then, he was determined.
“Erm… not sure exactly,” Harry admitted. “I think it was next weekend, maybe the one after, but I have kind of had other things on my mind. I’ll write and let you know.”
“Soon, little one,” Fenrir said, thinking that he would like to know sooner rather than later when he was next going to see his little mate so that he would have something to look forward to. Despite the awful circumstances behind it, having the pups in the clearing this week was amazing. Fenrir had been able to see Harry, know that he was safe, hold him close and now he was looking at saying goodbye again, which was never an easy thing to do.
“Soon,” Harry promised. “I said I would write to Lukas anyway, I think he misses our intellectual discussion when I’m not here,” he said a little smugly. Of course he also wanted to hear more details about this new lady of Lukas’ but he didn’t really know how much Fenrir knew about that and wasn’t about to give away that particular secret.
The werewolf in question was trying to debate the benefits of structured education with Clayton, whose key argument against it seemed to largely be that it was boring and stupid; unsurprisingly that wasn’t doing a particularly good job of swaying Lukas to seeing things his way.
“I think the combination of structured social interaction when combined with an intensive programme of learning is an excellent way of preparing someone for life in the real world,” Lukas was saying.
Clayton just rolled his eyes at that thought. “Yeah, well trust me when I say these aren’t people worth socialising with,” he said with a derisive snort. “And that real world stuff sounds overrated to me; I mean we are here with the pack; why do we care what the rest of the world is up to? Plus it’s really, really boring.”
Romy rolled her eyes at her cousin’s somewhat flawed logic, but left it up to Lukas to try to explain it to him; it was quite clear that Clayton simply wasn’t looking forward to returning to Hogwarts but she was enjoying the distraction of listening to their bizarre debate. Tessie seemed to be listening in too, from where she was sat a short distance away; the female was quiet and kept to herself a lot of the time, but she had integrated into the pack well now and no-one questioned her place amongst them.
Her never ending effort to communicate with her cousin and the rest of the strays was relentless, she was determined to prove herself and be useful to the Greyback pack. She didn’t quite realise that none of what she was doing mattered because she was one of them now and no one, not even Fenrir, questioned that. Though the information that she provided them was invaluable and it was keeping her sister alive, giving them time to figure things out.
Callie was lying down, taking a well deserved rest. Jenson had been a little worried about her as of late and had insisted that she rest for a while. She really wasn’t looking great and her mate wasn’t the only one who was concerned. Damon knew the warning signs of illness in his little sister and he didn’t want her overdoing it. Callie was insisting that she was fine, of course, but the moment that she had lain down she had dropped off to sleep.
Jenson was sitting beside her, stroking her hair, unable to take his eyes off her, worry encompassing him. He hated it when his mate was like this, she had always been so frail, so delicate; the last thing he wanted was for her to get sick. He didn’t know how he would ever cope without her in his life, the thought was terrifying to him. He loved her more than he could put into words and he hated how much she was suffering right now, especially when there was nothing he could do for her.
Romy, with her parents otherwise occupied, was trying valiantly to cook without assistance. She was trying to take the strain off her mother a little; Callie did tend to work endlessly to ensure that the pack was taken care of and fed. Romy would never be as good as her mother when it came to cooking but she was more than willing to try. Tessie was standing by to help if needed too but Romy was thankful for something to keep herself busy.
They would put off the pups return as long as they could but the three pups were in agreement that they wanted to return by dinner. This was largely so that they might be able to work on dispelling the especially stupid rumours that would inevitably be being passed around with regards to their absence over the past week.
Harry remained a hopeful that Draco had at least kept some of the Slytherins on their side, or at least from believing or spreading such rumours; particularly the ones regarding them having actually killed Blaise that Cedric had mentioned. Though given he hadn’t had another letter from the blond he was mildly apprehensive about how Draco might have reacted to all that he had included in his response. He needed Draco as an ally and preferably a friend, and he just had to hope he hadn’t compromised that.
Either way, they would be back at Hogwarts in just a few far too short hours, but until then, each of them was going to enjoy every moment with their family around them. The issues and problems they had to deal with at school could wait until they arrived back. Harry simply wanted to enjoying being close to Fenrir, having his scent, feeling his warmth and knowing that as infuriatingly over protective he was, Fenrir was all his.
FGHP
They all knew it was time, and the whole pack were on their feet doing quite a remarkable job of procrastinating. Damon and Jenson had decided that they would both take the pups back; Micha would be coming along too as he had pleaded until Damon had finally caved and agreed that he could accompany them.
The difference this time was that they would be going via Hogsmeade, because none of them thought they would be able to face Dumbledore without actually risking giving into the urge to rip his throat out; something they were keen to avoid, at least for the time being.
Fenrir was once again considering coming along too. Harry, however, had put a stop to it before anyone else could raise an objection this time. The teenager had taken his mate to one side, kissed him until he couldn’t think straight and asked very nicely for the Alpha to remain in the territory.
“I’ll find out the Hogsmeade weekend and I’ll write to you, I promise. I’ll see you soon, Wolfie,” Harry told his mate with a smile. “Besides, I don’t think that the rest of the school is ready to meet my boyfriend yet.”
“Boyfriend,” Fenrir grunted in disgust, not liking the word.
“What else was I meant to call you without giving away what I am?” Harry asked in amusement.
“Point taken,” Fenrir said unhappily, “but I don’t like it.”
“Don’t worry, Fen,” Harry told him. “Up here,” he said, tapping his temple, “and here,” he said pressing his hand to his heart, “you are my mate and Alpha. And just so you know, I like it that way. But just don’t tell Clay I said that because that was almost Micha standard of cheesy and I will never hear the end of it. Probably start calling me a girl or something,” Harry said with a roll of his eyes.
“You’re no girl,” Fenrir said, with a scowl on his face but he was quietly pleased with Harry assurances.
“Yes, thankfully I had noticed that,” Harry agreed, smiling up at his mate fondly. “Just think what I’ll be doing tonight while I’m thinking of you,” Harry whispered, standing on his tip toes to attempt to be tall enough to whisper in the Alpha’s ear.
“Keep talking like that and you won’t have the chance because you won’t be leaving,” Fenrir said, his hold tightening around his perfect little mate, not wanting to let him go.
“We could always sneak away for a little while, we have maybe fifteen minutes,” Harry suggested hopefully.
“Harry, we need go,” Jenson called over to where Harry and Fenrir were talking, looking a little dubious about whether or not he was going to be able to convince the Alpha pair to part.
“Say the word, my Alpha,” Harry said, trying to sound seductive. “Take me into the forest and have your wicked way with me, we can leave in half an hour.”
Fenrir had to seriously consider this for a moment; on the one hand he really wanted to take Harry up on his offer, in fact there was very little he wanted more. However, on the other hand he knew that his little mate had to go back to school and the more they delayed the inevitable the harder it was going to be to say goodbye. With his instincts warring inside of him, Fenrir wound an arm around the teenagers waist, lifting him up off the ground and smashing their lips together.
“I think we might need that crowbar for real this time,” Clayton commented, pointedly looking away from what his best friend was currently doing before it completely destroyed his appetite; not that it was looking likely that they would actually get to the school in time for dinner anyway, despite their plans.
“Stay here,” the Alpha commanded to the rest of the pack and he turned and headed off into the woods with Harry still in his arms.
“Like we have anywhere to go, now that you have wandered off with Harry,” Damon gripped under his breath, making Micha, who was standing right next to him, giggle.
“They’re just going to go and say goodbye properly,” Micah said with a smile, while giving Damon a rather pointed look. Damon resisted the urge to roll his eyes and kiss his mate, knowing that it wasn’t exactly wise no matter how much he wanted to.
FGHP
Harry’s head was filled with all sorts of things he wanted to say, questions about whether Fenrir was sure, cheeky comments and pleas for the Alpha not to change his mind. But he didn’t stand a chance of vocalising any of them because, even as Fenrir carried him off into the woods, the Alpha’s tongue was more or less dominating his mouth completely.
Not that he was complaining. He wanted this, he was sure he was ready; he knew it had only been a week, but every other time he had tried something it had been okay and this was Fenrir. He knew with certainty that the Alpha would never hurt him, not deliberately anyway. The problem was, that despite knowing this he still couldn’t keep away the niggling doubts that he had.
Fenrir didn’t have the patience to go far. If the rest of the pack saw anything then it was their own doing because there was no doubt about what the two of them had disappeared off for. Deciding that they had gone far enough, Fenrir carefully, without detaching himself from his mate, lay Harry down on the ground.
He positioned himself on top of the teenager, ensuring to support his own weight and not crush the smaller male. Harry controlled his breathing, reminding himself that this was Fenrir, that he was safe, but when the Alpha ground his hips down against him, panic hit him like a bludger to the gut.
“No! No no no, get off, get off,” he ranted, pushing against the large chest above him. It took a moment for the fog of desire clouding the Alpha’s brain to lift and for him to realise that Harry was panicking, but the instant it did he was up on his knees, freeing his little mate from under him.
Harry sat up; tears flowing down his face as he scrambled backwards and pulled his knees up to his chest. “Sorry… sorry, can’t, just can’t,” he whispered, his whole body trembling. “I think I’m broken.”
“No,” Fenrir said defiantly.
“I want this so much but if I try… I can’t stop thinking about him, what he did.”
“It’s too soon,” the Alpha said, feeling angry at himself for having let this happen. He had been as pleased as Harry with their progress, but the things they had done together were nothing like the things that Blaise had done. And he knew that Harry was scared of being restrained. He felt so angry at the bastard that had done this to his mate, and at himself for scaring Harry.
“I wanted this, Fen,” he said, realising that his mate was more than likely blaming himself when it wasn’t his fault at all. “I wanted to be with you. I still do, but I just...”
“...can’t.” Fenrir finished for him, and Harry nodded, burying his head in his hands on top of his knees as he cried. “Little one,” the Alpha said gently, as he moved to sit next to Harry, tilting his mate’s chin up so that he could look into his tearful green eyes.
Harry tried to say sorry again but Fenrir stopped him with a short chaste kiss, before placing another on his forehead. Harry gave him a weak, shaky smile. “I love you, Fen,” Harry whispered softly as he climbed into his mate’s lap and snuggled into his chest, the Alpha’s arms wrapped around his waist loosely.
FGHP
It was almost a full half an hour before the Alpha pair returned Damon couldn’t help but notice that neither of them looked anything like as happy as they should have been after half an hour alone with each other in the woods. As they got closer he thought it looked a lot like Harry had been crying but as it seemed neither of them wanted to talk about it, at least not with him, he kept quiet.
“Are we going now?” Romy asked, looking up from where she had been sat with her mother. She was as anxious as her Dad about her Mum’s health, and so had insisted that Callie sat down and rested as soon as it had become clear that they weren’t leaving right away.
“Not yet,” Jenson said quietly, he knew that they really needed to leave but he could see as plain as day that Harry and Fenrir still needed a moment. The entire pack watched on as Fenrir drew Harry into his arms and kissed him.
No one caught the words that the Alpha muttered next, only Harry, whose response was to stand on his tip toes, wrap his arms around Fenrir’s neck and kiss him. The two words that he had said to the submissive, had simply been, “Not broken,” and it was enough for Harry.
“Okay, I think we can go now,” Harry said turning to smile at Romy.
“Unless Romy wants to come and spend half an hour in the woods with me first,” Clayton suggested, earning himself a hard clip around the ear from Jenson a second later. Romy didn’t even dignify him with a response.
“Come on, Clay,” Harry said, moving over and patting his friend on the back with mock sympathy. “There are plenty of woods for you to try and lure Romy into at Hogwarts,” he pointed out, and managed to duck just in time to avoid his own clip around the ear from the Beta.
There was a warning growl from the Alpha, and Jenson mumbled a quick apology; he chastised himself silently, reminding himself that he really needed to think before reacting to Harry, even if it was in defence of his daughter. Laying a finger on Harry was a fairly sure fire way to end up with Fenrir at his throat. It was sometimes easy to forget that despite being so young, Harry still out ranked each and every one of them except Fenrir himself.
Fenrir wanted to go over to Harry and snatch him back up into his arms again, and it was taking all his will and stubbornness not to. He had watched his little mate break down in tears so recently and that had burned such rage inside him; but he would keep that from Harry, protect his little mate from the fury he felt at the whole situation. He would stay strong for Harry’s sake, knowing that the moment his precious little mate was gone from his sight he would let his anger loose.
He had never been able to stomach watching his mate leave before but this time he would; his teeth were gritted and his fists clenched, his arms crossed over his chest to stop himself from reaching out and pulling Harry into his arms where he belonged. He had decided he would stay there and be strong, despite his screaming instincts, and he would not be so weak as to fail his little mate now.
“We should leave,” Damon said, beckoning Micha over to him. Clay automatically went to his Dad as well, so Harry hesitantly went to Jenson, who accepted him with open arms and didn’t attempt to clip him round the ear again.
There were few tears, several goodbyes and a handful of pathetic waves as they grabbed their bags and headed over to the apparition point; and all too quickly the three adults disapparated away with the three pups, heading directly for Hogsmeade so that they wouldn’t have to deal directly with the Headmaster one on one in his office again.
Callie, Lukas and Tessie all jumped at the roar of fury from the Alpha, even having known it was coming, and not one of them was foolish enough to try and stop him as he stormed off into the forest alone.
FGHP
Damon appeared on the edge of the little town of Hogsmeade, with his son on one side and his mate on the other. No more than a few seconds later Jenson apparated in a few feet away, with Romy and Harry.
The town was fairly quiet and the few people, who were crunching their way through the thin layer of snow of the ground, didn’t stop to spare them a look as they went about their business. Harry and Romy both wrapped their arms tighter around themselves for warmth, as they felt it more quickly than the others due to their smaller size, but even the rest of them seemed keen to get moving quickly as possible.
“It’s really cold,” Clay said rather unhelpfully, hitching his bag back up onto his shoulder, as they trudged their way down the main street.
“Well we are in Scotland,” Romy pointed out. “That’s north of where we live by the way,” she added, “and there are no wards to keep out the chill either.”
“Yes, I do know that,” Clayton replied with a roll of his eyes, “I am not completely stupid.”
“No just do a really good impression of it,” Harry teased.
“Oi! Knock it off, you three,” Jenson said sternly, just wanting to get up to the school with as few issues as possible. He quickly realised that a few people were starting to look their way, muttering the occasional whisper or pointing a finger, and he quickly moved to the far side of the group of them from Damon, so that Micha, Harry, Clayton and Romy were between them.
“We should get a move on,” Damon said to Jenson as he ushered the younger members of the group to move a little faster. They needed to get up to the castle before there was any trouble. Knowing the pups, there was bound to be something that wouldn’t go to plan.
“People are so nosey,” Harry complained, as he linked his arm with Micha so that they could walk closer together and share some warmth; Clay tried the same move with Romy but just got a back handed slap to his chest for his trouble.
“I was only trying to keep warm,” Clay grumbled with a frown. Harry laughed and linked his free arm with one of Clay’s, happy to have too hot men on either side of him to keep him warm. Romy opted to cuddle into her Dad’s side instead.
By the time they reached the far edge of town there were actually people coming out of their shops to watch them and they were all feeling rather annoyed. Thankfully no-one followed them as they began the small trek up to the large castle that was towering over them.
“It’s a lot bigger than I imagined,” Micha said, taking in the huge and impressive view spread out before him, looking really quite beautiful with its light dusting of snow.
“I bet you say that to all the guys,” Harry said, nudging Micha in the ribs, trying to lighten the mood between them.
“Harry!” Damon chastised almost without thinking, as Romy exclaimed “Ewww,” and Micha just laughed. Jenson seemed not to have heard but it was more that he was taking his role of keeping the pups safe seriously and therefore focused on watching for any potential dangers.
“You’re such a pervert sometimes,” Clay said with a tone of pride in his voice.
“Like you’re not,” Harry returned giving his friend a pointed look.
“Of course I am,” Clay declared, with no hint of shame. “I am just delighted that you can keep up with me now,” he explained with a grin, making Harry chuckle.
“I swear you two deliberately try to drive me crazy,” Romy said with a sigh and a shake of her head.
“Do you think I could pass for a sixteen year old? I could totally come to Hogwarts right?” Micha asked as they walked through the enormous wrought iron school gates, supported on each side by two large stone pillars, each topped with a winged boar statue.
“I think we can come up with a few things to do in the clearing that would be far more interesting than attending classes,” Damon said quietly, giving Micha a knowing look that made the older submissive blush scarlet. Harry laughed at them, pleased that the two of them were seemingly happy.
They reached the large front door to the castle without incident, and Clayton pushed one of them open, revealing the impressive Entrance Hall beyond. Even Jenson couldn’t help the wow that fell from his lips at the impressive sight.
They could have left the three pups there at the school, probably should have left them at the Entrance Gates really, but they were determined to see them safely to the Great Hall for dinner before saying their goodbyes. If the headmaster wanted to take issue with that then they would be considering that his problem.
Harry, Romy and Clayton lead them into the castle, across the Entrance Hall and into the Great Hall, which was abuzz with the conversations of the hundreds of students gathered there to eat their dinner. It took less than a minute before the first people noticed the six people who had just entered through the large doorway.
Draco looked over and gave Harry a smile, watching as the six werewolves approached the Slytherin table. Daphne, Theo and Pansy were all looking in their direction, but it was Astoria who waved happily at Romy. What Harry hadn’t expected was for what happened next to happen.
Draco nudged Daphne who looked furious but in turn elbowed Pansy while Draco whispered something to Theo, Crabbe and Goyle. Before the group of werewolves knew what was going on the group in question had stood up on their benches and started rather loudly clapping and cheering.
Getting on the band wagon upon realising what was going on, Cedric and a few other Hufflepuffs also joined in, as well as Luna and a collection of Ravenclaws. Even two Gryffindor’s decided it would be a good idea, Harry recognised them as the identical twins that Clayton sometimes spoke to.
With so many suddenly joining in, other students who had no idea what they were cheering for but not wanting to be left out of the fun decided that they too were going to make as much noise as possible in cheering the return of the three werewolves.
“Do they always greet you like that?” Micha leaned close to Harry’s ear to ask, looking both impressed and amused.
“Nope,” Harry said with a huge grin at Draco, who smiled right back. Amidst the chaos he motioned slightly to Dumbledore, who looked furious. This of course only made Harry laugh more.
“I’d be worried if I wasn’t so impressed,” Damon said with amusement, as he followed Harry, Clay and Romy over to Draco.
“That was quite the welcome,” Harry said as he reached his friend, who climbed down from the bench to shake his hand. “Was that entirely to piss Dumbledore off?” he asked, as the rest of the students started to return to their dinners; though a lot of people were still talking and pointing in their direction.
“More to celebrate the removal of a certain bastard from this school; the irritation of a certain headmaster was just a happy coincidence,” Draco told him with a smirk on his face. “Care to introduce me?” he asked, looking over Harry’s shoulder.
“Oh right, I always forget that bit,” Harry said with a chuckle remembering their meeting on the train to school. “This is Romy’s Dad, Jenson, Clay’s Dad, Damon and this is Micha,” he said gesturing to each of them. “Guys, this is Draco,” he told the pack members, but it was only Micha who pushed forward and pulled Draco into a hug.
“Nice to meet you,” Micha said happily and Harry couldn’t help but laugh when Draco looked more than a little stunned by the enthusiastic greeting.
“Don’t worry, Draco, he’s harmless,” Harry promised. “He just can’t resist a pretty face… or a chance to hug someone,” he added after a moment’s thought.
“You smell kind of familiar, are you sure we haven’t met?” Micha asked, pulling out of the hug to look the rather confused Draco in the face.
“Micha!” Damon chastised, having had enough and pulling Micha back to his side. Though Jenson was thinking the same thing. He thought it would be an awful coincidence if Draco was the son of one of his clients, though he kept his mouth firmly sealed. “Apologies, Micha can be a little be a bit… forward,” Damon said, reaching out and shaking Draco’s hand.
“This is a school,” Dumbledore’s voice suddenly interrupted, and they turned to meet the furious face of the headmaster. “You do not have permission to be here, I request that the three of you leave at once and that Mr Prince, Mr Danes and Miss Howard take their seats.”
“We will say goodbye to them properly,” Jenson said, squaring up to the headmaster. He was a good few feet taller than the elderly man and felt no guilt in towering over him now.
“Dad, it’s okay,” Romy said, tugging at Jenson’s sleeve where his fists had clenched. He was not usually one for violence but Albus Dumbledore was one of those wizards that could just bring out the worst in the Beta wolf. “Don’t make a fuss,” she pleaded, not wanting to see her father get into trouble.
“Romy’s right, Jenson,” Damon said, giving the young girl a warm smile. “This doesn’t have to get any worse than it is,” he said, giving the Beta a rather pointed look. They all knew how tense things were between the pups and the headmaster as it was, and they certainly didn’t want to complicate things for them any further.
“Fine,” Jenson agreed, though he made no pretence about being happy about it, as he pulled his daughter in a tight embrace. Damon did the same pulling Harry into his arms first, before letting the submissive give Micha a hug while he pulled his son into his arms.
“Please at least try to behave yourself, Clayton,” Damon said quietly, “and…”
“...keep Harry and Romy safe. I know, Dad,” he said, stepping back from Damon a moment later.
“I have been patient enough,” Dumbledore said in harsh tones, glaring at the three adult werewolves who were currently standing in the Great Hall of his school, surrounded by young students under his protection.
“We’re leaving!” Jenson snarled angrily, but he placed a kiss on the top of Romy’s head before he turned away and led Micha and Damon towards the exit.
“Your Dad’s huge,” Astoria whispered to Romy, as they watched them leave.
“And cute!” Pansy added, tipping her head to admire Jenson’s arse just before it disappeared out of sight.
“I don’t know, I think I preferred that Micha guy, he’s adorable” Daphne said, her eyes following the three grown werewolves from the room just as Pansy’s were.
“This is way too disturbing to listen to,” Clay said as he dropped his bag to the floor by his feet, taking a seat at the table and starting to help himself to food.
“Miss Howard,” Dumbledore said, and Romy turned to look at him, having forgotten that he was even there. “This letter came for you,” he said, holding out the parchment for Romy to take, which she did quickly with a glare, putting it into her back pocket to look at later. Dumbledore then turned his attention to Harry. “And Mr… Prince,” he bit out bitterly, “I trust that you will not forget that you agreed to meet with me. We have much to discuss.”
“What, nothing for me?” Clayton asked, looking over his shoulder with a falsely disappointed and hurt expression on his face.
Dumbledore glared at the boy for a moment, but said nothing. “Now all of you, take your seats.” And with that the headmaster turned on his heel and headed back towards the teacher’s table.
“I suppose we should just be glad that you didn’t bring Greyback?” Draco whispered in Harry’s ear as they took their seats at the Slytherin table; Harry putting his bag by his feet next to Clayton’s, joining his best friend, who was already digging into his food.
“It was tempting,” Harry said with a grin. “He did want to come but I persuaded him otherwise.”
“You persuaded him?” Draco asked, raising a sceptical eyebrow, trying to picture how someone might go about doing something like that, particularly someone as little as Harry.
“Oh yes,” Harry said with a grin. “You’d be surprised at what I can persuade that man to do.” His grin only grew wider at the look of sudden comprehension that crossed Draco’s face.
“Surprised or horrified,” Clayton added, thinking of the occasional displays of affection between the Alpha pair that he had witnessed.
“Hey, Harry,” Theo said, turning the submissive’s attention the Slytherin who was sitting a few seats down from him. “Good job on getting that prat kicked out,” Theo said earnestly with a smile. “Guy was a right dick!”
“Yes, he was,” Harry said with a vicious snarl on his face. “Though, that said, I feel that is an insult to dicks,” he added thoughtfully. “I like dicks and I bloody well didn’t like Blaise,” he said pointedly.
“Ewwwww, Harry!” Romy said, dropping her fork back onto her plate as her appetite failed her.
“I thought you guys might not like that I got a fellow Slytherin thrown out,” Harry admitted, looking at those around him. They seemed to be more accepting of him now, rather than less like he had feared; he strongly suspected Draco’s hand in that.
“Blaise was the traitor to our house, attacking a fellow Slytherin,” Draco said angrily. Sure, they would manipulate each other to get what they want, but to actually assault one of their own was not something they would forgive easily.
Of course, most of the house didn’t know exactly what Blaise had done, Draco had kept the details Harry had shared in his letter to himself, but he had told anyone who would listen that Blaise was no longer to be considered one of them. There were very few Slytherins who were foolish enough to question a Malfoy on such things.
“What did you tell them?” Harry asked Draco quietly, feeling a little nervous about how much everyone knew about what had happened.
“Nothing specific, only that he attacked you, hurt you badly and got exactly what he deserved. And that if anyone had a problem with that assessment of things then they were to come to me,” he told him, giving Harry a supportive smile.
“If you’re not careful, Draco,” Daphne said in a sharp tone, “they are going to start thinking you are Harry’s mystery boyfriend.”
Clayton snorted at that, which got him a few looks. “Draco is far too… dainty for Harry’s type,” he explained. “Sorry, no offence,” he added quickly when he spotted Draco’s affronted expression, which presumably was for being referred to as ‘dainty’.
“I suppose…” Daphne said lowering her voice to a whisper, “Greyback, isn’t exactly the type to be nice about things.” She gave Harry a look of sympathy.
“Oh, he’s plenty nice,” Harry said with a fond smile as he thought about his mate, “once you get to know him. He’s kinda like a big, grumpy bear, you have to let him sniff you first or he’ll attack.”
“Sometimes I really wish he could hear the things you say about him,” Clay said, shaking his head in amusement. There was certainly no doubting how much the Alpha loved Harry, given what his friend managed to get away with.
“I think he might appreciate the grumpy bear reference,” Harry said, making a mental note to mention it at some point. It definitely felt like a rather apt description.
“Certainly more than some of the things you call him,” Romy pointed out with an amused smile. Harry’s nicknames for the Alpha had become something of a family joke, one she was definitely a fan of.
“It’s good to have you three back,” Draco said with a smile as he started to tuck into his own dinner. “It was so boring here without you lot here to liven things up.”
FGHP
Harry was slightly surprised, when he entered the Slytherin common room after dinner, to find that the pool table was still there, pride of place in the middle of the room. It was exactly what he needed to take his mind off being away from Fenrir and the territory again. With one look at Clayton, who rolled his eyes and then nodded, he hurried over, dropped his bag on the ground nearby and started to set the balls up to play.
Romy followed and dropped herself into a chair nearby. She discarded her bag near her feet and pulled the letter that the headmaster had given her, out of her back pocket. She didn’t recognise the handwriting exactly, but it was familiar and she could certainly hazard a good guess as to who it was from.
“Nice shot!” Clayton exclaimed, and Romy looked up. It seemed that Harry had actually managed to pot two reds straight off the break, which was impressive, even by his standards.
“It has proven to be rather popular,” Draco drawled as he sat himself in the chair next to Romy and watched them play.
“I assumed, given it hadn’t been removed,” Romy told him a bit distractedly as she ran her fingers over the letter in her hand, debating whether or not to open it. She didn’t want to know if it was just going to be more insults from her birth parents, but she already knew that curiosity was going to get the better of her sooner or later.
“Who’s the letter from?” Astoria asked suddenly as she pulled up a chair on Romy’s other side.
“Astoria!” Daphne chastised, unable to believe the rudeness of her younger sister. They had both been brought up with far better manners than to ask such questions.
“Someone I am not sure I wanted to hear from,” Romy grumbled, considering asking Harry if he was okay with her going and sitting on his bed to read it so she could at least do so in peace.
“Come on, Astoria,” Draco said, getting to his feet and encouraging the younger Greengrass sister to do the same. “Why don’t I help you with that transfiguration essay I know you haven’t even started yet?” he suggested, giving Romy a smile over his shoulder as he headed off to one of the tables across the room.
She mouthed the word ‘thanks’ before returning her attention to the letter. She was starting to really like Draco, he had the same air about him as Clay did but he was a lot more refined. She had noticed that their scents were a little similar too. He was the kind of guy she could see herself falling for. He was refined, considerate and withdrawn, and such a refreshing change from the brash, boisterous and outspoken Clayton.
Shaking off that rather unexpected train of thought, she focused back, once again, on her letter. Sighing, she pulled it open, figuring that it would be best to just get the whole thing over with quickly. A small flicker of hope thought that maybe, just maybe, they would be writing to tell her that they were going home, having given up. However, she wasn’t to be that lucky.
“Wow,” Romy said quietly, more to herself than anyone close to her. She was sat closer to the pool table than to the others, who were gathering around the coffee table close to the fireplace, doing their homework.
If it wasn’t for Harry and Clayton’s werewolf hearing then they wouldn’t have been able to hear her exclamation of shock either. All Romy could do was gape in amazement at the piece of parchment in her hands, unable to believe what she was reading.
“You okay, beautiful?” Clay asked, coming to stand close to her, still holding the pool cue in his hands. Harry took his shot, potted another of his red balls and then came to join his fellow pack members.
“My mother, she apologises,” Romy said, looking at the parchment in her hands in surprise.
“Seriously?” Harry asked, taking a seat on the chair that Draco had vacated.
“She’s sorry and she wants to see me again,” Romy told them, still in a state of shock. After the disaster of the last encounter, where they had discovered that she was a werewolf, she hadn’t thought that they would want anything to do with her any more.
“Fuck her, fuck the lot of them,” Clayton growled, unhappy that this annoyance of a woman was still trying to upset their happy pack by hanging around. In his opinion she should have left a long time ago or just not come at all.
“Clayton,” Romy chastised at the language he used. “She’s making an effort at least, that has to count for something,” she said.
“No Romy,” Harry said gently, “after everything… it doesn’t count for anything. If you want to see her that’s your choice but think about it because neither of us want you to get hurt.”
“Thanks, I know,” she told them, squeezing Harry’s hand and giving Clay a grateful smile. “I need some time to think on this, she can wait a bit it she really does want to see me. You boys finish your game, take your time, enjoy your evening, but I think I might just head to bed.”
“We could come with you,” Clay offered; of course Romy took priority over a game of pool.
“No, honestly,” Romy told him, getting to her feet and returning the letter to her pocket, “I could actually do with a little time alone to think this over. Just come give me cuddles in a little while, yeah?”
“You want me as well or just Clayton?” Harry asked cheekily.
“What do you think?” Romy asked, giving Harry a stern glare.
“Just Clay, got it,” Harry said, grinning widely.
“Or better yet, you two have cuddles out here on the sofa and I’ll sleep in the bed alone, with the lovely blanket and Baloo,” Romy returned, snatching up Harry’s bag that contained both the treasured items; the boys had been laughing at this point, but this declaration swiftly shut them both up.
“We’ll be through in a little while,” Harry said and then quickly added, “both of us.”
“Thank you,” she said, smiling at them, giving each a kiss to the cheek in turn before picking up her own bag as well and heading for the dormitory to get ready for bed.
The advantage of heading to bed early was that she had the bathroom to herself, and so she took her time to have a long shower and dress herself in a warm pair of pyjamas before she headed back into the dorm room. The moment she stepped through the door though, she nearly jumped out of her skin.
“Draco, you scared me!” she exclaimed, pressing her hand against her heart as she waited for it to return to normal.
The blond boy was standing in the entrance to the dorm, leaning casually against the door frame, watching her with a concerned smile. “Sorry,” he said earnestly, but he didn’t move from his spot.
“No, it’s fine,” Romy said feeling a little awkward with him watching her heading towards Harry’s bed, particularly given the way her thoughts had been going earlier. “It’s your dorm room, I’m the guest here.”
Draco shrugged at that, he didn’t really see her as a guest there any more, not given he understood why she, Harry and Clayton shared a bed every night. “I just wanted to make sure you were okay. You looked upset about something,” he said, pushing off the door frame and walking over to her.
Romy didn’t really expect the supportive hand on her shoulder, and so when she felt it she turned to look up at him with a questioning expression. “It was just that letter, just some stuff I need to think about. I’m fine, honest,” she told him, not really sure what else to say. She was definitely a little shaken from what her mother had written but it wasn’t like she was about to ask for a hug from Draco Malfoy, that was what her pack brothers were for.
The moment that the thought of hugging Draco popped into her head though, she found herself blushing. “I should… erm…” Romy rambled, not really sure why she was suddenly so nervous. She had spoken with Draco several times though granted it was more or less always with Harry and Clayton around.
Draco smirked, kind of enjoying her most flattering reaction to him. “I guess I should leave you to your thoughts,” he said. “But if you want to talk sometime, let me know.”
Romy was still standing next to Harry’s bed, feeling rather confused, when she realised that she was alone again. ‘Damn it’ she thought to herself, as if she needed something else to be worrying about.
FGHP
When Harry got to potions the next morning it took him all of five minutes to become bored and a little restless. Slughorn had instructed them to brew the Draught of Peace, a potion that his Dad had taught him when he was ten. It was neither a challenge for Harry nor difficult by any stretch of the imagination; in fact, he was cocky enough to believe that he could probably brew it with his eyes closed.
This was why he had decided to do something a little different with his lesson. He had been considering what to do with the time for a few moments as the rest of his classmates had started work. Even Clay had given him a rather inquisitive look when Harry hadn’t started on the assignment.
Harry, however, had just given him an encouraging smile before flicking through the potions textbook to see if there was anything more interesting that he could do with the next few hours. He quickly realised that the book contained nothing more complex than an Invigoration Draught. But a smile twitched at his lips when he spotted the bookshelf off to the side of the classroom, near the back.
Pushing himself off his stool, he headed over to it, running his fingers over the spines, until he pulled out a copy of Advanced Potion-Making; it was a book he was familiar with and he was sure that there would be something that might prove useful. He let it fall open on his palm and began leafing through the pages, until he came across one that made a smile twitch at his lips.
Well a little luck couldn’t hurt, he figured, as he ran his finger down the list of ingredients. There wasn’t actually thing particularly unusual in the potion, but it was going to be tricky to get right. He reminded himself that he had wanted a challenge, and he just hoped that Slughorn would actually let him put it aside somewhere to let it brew for the six months it would need, but either way, it would be a far better way to spend the next few hours rather than on a Draught of Peace.
No-one questioned him as he went about gathering the ingredients he needed from the store cupboard and starting the process of brewing a potion that even his Dad had never tried to get him to make before. The steps were all familiar though and so he was confident he could pull it off.
“Why do I get the feeling you aren’t exactly following the lesson plan?” Clay asked, as he peered into his best friend’s cauldron a little while later, noticing that it looked nothing like either his potion or what was described in the book.
Harry shrugged. “Felt like mixing it up a little,” he told him with a grin.
“Is it going to explode?” Clay asked with a hint of excitement in his voice.
Shaking his head, Harry laughed. “Not if I am doing this right,” he said, laughing again at the look of disappointment on his friend’s face.
“Can you not do it right and make it explode?” Clay asked hopefully. This potions class was far too boring for his liking and a pretty explosion would be a definite improvement.
“No, Clay,” Harry said with a roll of his eyes.
“Then can you tell me how to make mine explode?” he said, peering into his cauldron at his potion, which didn’t seem to be going right anyway. It didn’t quite look how the book said it was supposed to.
“Sure,” Harry said with a chuckle, “just nowhere near mine, okay. I want to get this right,” he explained. It could prove to be useful, but more than that, he wanted to show that he was a match for such a challenging potion. Clay nodded his agreement enthusiastically.
“If you add that syrup of hellebore without turning down the flame I think you will be pleased with the results,” Harry told him with a smirk. He was fairly sure that, given Clay seemed to have gotten the directions of the stirring backwards anyway, that having it explode was about the only useful thing that concoction would ever do. “Add a little more powdered moonstone first though, and stir it twice clockwise. Fairly sure that will add some pretty green sparks when it explodes too,” he added after a moment’s consideration.
“Awesome,” Clay said, turning back to his own cauldron and following the instructions that Harry had given him, better than he had been following the instructions in the book. Harry could only roll his eyes at the fact that Clay listened to him more than he could follow simple instructions that were written down for him.
“You did hear me when I said not near my cauldron, right?” Harry asked.
“Oh, right,” Clay said, before turning to Draco on his other side. “Change places with me, Draco,” he insisted.
“Why?” Draco asked suspiciously.
“I want to make my potion explode and Harry doesn’t want me to mess up his potion,” Clayton explained hurried, Draco just rolled his eyes.
“Fine, just don’t ruin mine either,” he said, gathering his things and changing places with Clay before hastily erecting a shield between his cauldron and Clay’s so that his grade for the class wouldn’t be affected either. “That doesn’t look right,” he commented, as he peered into Harry’s cauldron.
“Matches what it says here,” Harry said with a grin, sliding the book across the desk under Draco’s nose, without stopping stirring.
“Felix Felicis?” Draco asked, looking up at Harry in surprise. He knew that Harry was good at potions but this was a very advanced concoction.
Harry was just about to explain himself when there was a loud bang on the other side of the shield Draco had put up and a delighted cheer of “Woo hoo!” from Clayton. As predicted it had blown up in a shower of green sparks, and through the cloud of smoke Harry could see that Clayton was a complete mess, covered in soot and potion, but laughing his head off.
“Mr Danes!” Slughorn exclaimed in annoyance.
“What?” Clay asked with an innocent shrug of his shoulders.
“You’re meant to turn it down before you add the hellebore,” Slughorn told him sternly, as he made his way across the room towards Clay.
“Not if you want it to explode,” Clayton said proudly, trying to get some of the potion out of his hair and off his robes.
“You wanted it to explode?” Slughorn asked, looking shocked.
“Yeah, it was fun,” Clayton told him, “and pretty,” he added, thinking of the green sparks that really had been worth the small effort of adding that moonstone like Harry had suggested.
“Mr Danes, the point of this class is to do the potion correctly,” the professor told him with exasperation.
Clay shrugged. “I got bored.” He probably could have brewed the potion, as it was meant to be done, but he just didn’t see what there was to gain by having done so. It wasn’t like he had a use for a Draught of Peace.
“Just clean up the mess you made and, for goodness sake, don’t touch anyone else’s attempt at their potion,” Slughorn instructed.
“Yes sir,” Clay said, removing his wand, a devious look on his face.
While Slughorn was occupied dealing with Clayton who had proceeded to vanish some of the mess, while flicking the rest in Ron’s direction, much to the annoyance of the red-headed Gryffindor, Harry put the finishing touches on his potion. Draco too was almost done, just turning down the heat and adding the hellebore, as the instructions told him too.
“Now I just have to let it brew for six months,” Harry said with a pleased smile, when he realised he had actually been successful so far.
“Six months?” Draco asked curiously. It wasn’t as though he was familiar with the process of creating Felix Felicis, let alone ever attempted it himself.
“Mr Prince,” Slughorn said as he looked into the cauldrons in front of Harry and Draco. “Would you care to explain this?” he requested, instantly knowing that this was not what the class had been instructed to brew.
“The other potion you assigned was too easy, I wanted a challenge,” Harry explained with a shrug of his shoulders.
“Too easy?” Slughorn asked with a raised eyebrow. “A number of your peers could not even brew this successfully and yet you believed it was too easy?” the professor asked dubiously. “May I ask what it is you have brewed?”
“You’re the potions professor, you tell me,” Harry said cheekily. He didn't much like his head of house, not since their last meeting had been so disastrous and he had made his feelings on werewolves perfectly clear, so Harry wasn't about to show him any respect.
With a disparaging look Slughorn leant over the simmering cauldron, the rest of the class watching on with a mixture of confusion, jealousy and awe. After a few moments the professor took a step back, a look of amazement on his face. He was stunned, utterly stunned, at what he had observed.
“Do you realise what you have brewed here, Mr Prince?” Slughorn exclaimed in surprise.
Of course he knew; he was the one who had brewed it. “A perfectly brewed batch of liquid luck,” Harry said in a bored drawl, not really thinking it was all that remarkable. It was just a set of instructions which he followed; surely anyone should be able to do that.
“Exactly, how on earth did you know how to do this?” Slughorn asked, having never seen a student manage this before. “Many of even the most proficient of potions masters have never successfully brewed this potion,” he said with an impressed nod of approval.
“My Dad was a potions master,” Harry said with a shrug. “He taught me everything he knew about potions.”
“Then you are a very lucky young man,” Slughorn said, honestly impressed by how well the boy had been taught. “May I enquire as to your father’s name?”
“Severus Prince,” Harry said proudly. Not many people asked him about his Dad and so he was quite happy to sing his praises to this potions master.
“You mean Severus Snape, I presume,” Slughorn said with a thoughtful expression on his face. He remembered teaching Severus, being impressed with his ability all those years ago and so it made sense than this young man would be so proficient at brewing with such an excellent example to follow.
“No, I mean Prince,” Harry said firmly, not liking that it was now even his father’s name that was being questioned. He certainly wasn’t about to let that happen.
“The man is one and the same, I believe,” Slughorn told him. “Prince was his mother’s name. I taught your father when he came to this school, he was a brilliant young man; we had quite the meeting of minds when it came to potion brewing. It is good to know that he passed his passion along to his son,” the professor said, looking honestly delighted with having discovered such a talented student in his class.
Harry wanted to ask if he had known his mother too but the middle of class was neither the time nor the place to ask such questions. He made a mental note to try and talk to the professor some other time; it would be nice to talk to someone who had actually known his Dad when he was younger too.
“Erm… sir,” Harry said, looking back at his potion which was still gently brewing. “Can I leave this here?”
“Excuse me?” Slughorn asked, before catching on to what Harry was asking. “Oh, of course, dear boy; we shall find a space where we can leave this to stew for the required time. I shall look forward to seeing if you really have been as successful as it appears,” the teacher said happily.
“Thank you, sir,” Harry said happily, deciding that he rather liked the potions master, even if the man was rather pompous. They wouldn't be the best of friends any time soon but the man could appreciate his enthusiasm and talent for potions and would let him get away with not doing the required class work.
“Perhaps you would like to come along to a little gathering I like to hold,” Slughorn suggested. “It is just for those students who have that special something, you understand,” he went on, “but I think you make the grade.”
“Oh, I’ll err… I suppose I could,” Harry said, not really sure what to make of this at all, though he remembered the way the potions master had been eyeing him up with interest at the welcome feast at the start of term. It was probably wise to proceed with caution, Harry thought.
“Wonderful,” Slughorn declared before turning to Draco’s cauldron. “Excellent job as always, Mr Malfoy,” he said, before heading off to check the potions of the other students who were just finishing.
“You brewed liquid luck,” Draco said sounding impressed. “That’s beyond brilliant!”
“Bloody show off!” Ron snapped from two rows behind them. “You ought to remember that Prince is your name not your title.”
“Well at least he managed to get your name right,” Draco muttered under his breath.
“Back off, Weasley,” Clay snarled, not about to let anyone attack Harry, not even verbally.
“Clay, leave the jealous little boy alone,” Harry said smiling sweetly at Ron. “He can’t help it that he’s useless.”
At this, Draco laughed, as he started to collect his belongings. Ron sneered and went for his wand but Slughorn had spotted that something was going on and gave the young Gryffindor a rather stern look. Ron glowered at Harry and his cronies but relinquished the grip he had on his wand, though he did so reluctantly.
“Labelled phials of your completed potions on my desk before you leave,” Slughorn instructed loudly, over the general hubbub of the class clearing away their various belongings.
Ron knew there was nothing he could really do with the professor watching. “This isn’t over, Prince,” Weasley spat at Harry, on his way up to the front of the classroom. “I might not have wanted that Zabini boy in the school any more than you did, but the way I see it, you have just proven what a monster you really are.”
“Don’t know what you heard, but that bastard deserved everything he got,” Harry told him angrily; he knew that Ron probably knew nothing really, that he was just believing one of the ridiculous rumours, but he would rather never have heard Blaise’s name mentioned ever again.
“Well me and my friends are going to make sure you get exactly what you deserve,” Ron said nastily, before going to put the sample of his potion on Slughorn’s desk.
“Move it along, Mr Weasley,” the professor said sternly, watching closely as Ron, Seamus and Dean gathered up their belongings and hurried from the room. Harry, Draco and Clayton took their time, not wanting to be ambushed in the corridor. They had had enough of Weasley to last a lifetime and they were more than happy to let him go ahead so they didn’t have to deal with his idiocy.
FGHP
Classes were over for the day and, thanks to Romy and Draco, everyone had headed to the library to make a start on their homework. The gathered group included Draco, Romy, Harry, Clayton, Astoria and Daphne. They had pushed a couple of tables together and spread out their books so they could study. Hermione glared at the disturbance they were causing but promptly went back to her book, which Romy thought just might have been a copy of Hairy Snout, Human Heart, but she couldn’t be certain.
Most of the group went about pulling out textbooks and pieces of parchment, but Romy had other things on her mind. She was debating about what to write in a letter back to her mother, still wavering on whether or not she actually wanted to see her again; however, she was finding it rather difficult to concentrate considering that Draco was sitting across the table from her and seemed to be playing a game of footsie with her. She was trying to ignore him; though she couldn’t stop the blush from rising up her cheeks and when she made herself look up and glare at him, he was smirking, clearing enjoying getting a reaction from her.
He knew exactly what he was doing, there was no mistaking that. Refined and reserved he might have been but Draco had more in common with Clayton than Romy cared to admit. She really had to get this letter written and the way things were going she wasn’t going to accomplish much sitting here.
“Hello,” a dreamy voice said, making Romy look up a little startled, surprised to see Luna standing close to them, radish earrings swinging beneath her blond hair and a cork on a piece of string around her neck. “May I join you?” she asked politely.
“Sure,” Romy said, smiling at the slightly older girl. She liked Luna, for all her oddities and randomness the girl was undeniably smart. She had figured out exactly what they were within moments of meeting them and she didn’t care. She was truly something else. “What are you studying at the moment?”
“Oh, I’ve finished my homework,” Luna said sweetly as she lay some papers out on the table, “Daddy asked me to look over some of the articles he’s been sent.”
“Does anyone know the Hogsmeade dates?” Harry asked suddenly looking up from the letter he was writing.
“Weekend after next,” Astoria told him with a smile. “You guys going to be around this time?” she asked, looking to Romy. She had been quite disappointed when she hadn’t been able to spend any time with her friend on the previous one.
“We are,” Romy said. “And our family is going to come and visit too hopefully.”
“Is Micha coming again?” Daphne asked hopefully, “And is he single?”
At this Harry and Romy shared twin looks of amusement. Of course they both knew that Micha was neither single nor interested in young, blond school girls, though they couldn’t exactly say that in front of Clayton, who had no clue about Micha and Damon’s relationship.
“Micha is a little nuts,” Clayton told her, “you would have to be a little crazy to want to deal with his madness.”
“Shut up, Clayton,” Romy chastised. “Micha is a sweetheart.”
“A crazy sweetheart; trust me Daphne, no one in their right mind would willingly take on that level of crazy,” Clayton said.
“Your dad must be off his rocker then,” Harry snapped at his friend in irritation. He loved Micha, they were friends, and he didn’t like anyone talking about him like that, especially not Clayton. In hindsight he probably shouldn’t have said anything but his temper had taken over and he’d lost control of his mouth.
“What?” Clay asked, turning to Harry with a baffled expression, no idea what his friend was getting at.
“Nothing, Clay,” Harry answered quickly; he really hadn’t meant to give away Damon and Micha’s secret and now just had to hope that Clay would just let it go.“Doesn’t matter. Just… nothing.”
Clayton narrowed his eyes at Harry suspiciously; he hadn’t missed the accusation in the way Romy had looked at his friend either. They definitely knew something he didn’t; he wasn’t going to let the issue drop but now was not the time to be trying to drag answers out of his pack brother and sister.
“But this means we can meet your family, right?” Astoria asked excitedly, leaning forward on her textbook to smile at Romy.
“Maybe,” Romy said hesitantly, not least because of the way that Daphne was glaring at her, clearly saying that she was not about to let that happen, but Romy figured that Astoria had already seen her Dad and it wasn’t as though any of them were obviously werewolves. Though, admittedly, they would probably have to keep Fenrir out of sight.
“I’m all done with this,” Draco said, shutting his book on Ancient Runes and slipping it back into his bag. “I have something to take care of, so I will see you all later,” he said, getting to his feet and looking around at each of them, and if he lingered on Romy for a moment longer then no-one mentioned it. Certainly not Clayton, who was over thinking what Harry had implied about his Dad and Micha.
On his way out the blond Slytherin stopped to say something to Colin, who they hadn’t noticed lurking near the doorway, watching them, but whatever it was that Draco said, it seemed to be enough to scare the little Gryffindor boy off. Clayton in particular looked pretty pleased when Colin hurried away looking terrified.
“What was that about?” Harry asked, once Draco had actually left the library.
“He does that sometimes,” Daphne said not looking up from her essay, apparently completely unfazed by Draco’s sudden absence; as much as she wished he would talk to her about what he was up to, she was, by now, used to him keeping her in the dark.
“Don’t worry, Draco can look after himself,” Romy said, as she gave up on trying to write the letter to her mother and instead, went back to researching wards for their forest classroom and trying not to think of Draco at all.
FGHP
It had been too long since he had last been here to the room of requirement. Even with the distraction that Harry and his friends had been since the New Year when the new school term started, it was still inexcusable to neglect working on the vanishing cabinet; though he had still been doing a little bit of research in some of his free time.
It had been a letter from his mother this morning that had spurred him to come back and visit it in person again hoping that he might get some fresh insight. He was sat across from the imposing looking cabinet once again, as he had so many times before, trying to gather his thoughts.
He had to admit that Harry was rather more impressive than he had anticipated; the performance in potions that morning was just yet another piece of evidence that showed that. After he had received the letter from Harry the previous week, explaining what Blaise had really done, he had been worried; it sickened him and he had worried that Harry would be in no state to help in this war.
But Harry had surprised him yet again, and actually seemed to be in surprisingly good spirits all things considered; though he had heard him when he had woken up in the middle of the night and cried to Romy. He would never mention it, of course; he would let Harry deal with it all in his own way as long as it wasn’t hampering what needed to happen.
He knew that was perhaps a selfish way to see things, but he would do everything it took to protect his family. Harry is family, his mind reminded him helpfully; Harry was Severus’ son after all. He leaned his head back with a sigh, looking up at the tiara that was still perched on top of the cabinet. If he was honest with himself, he wanted to help Harry as well as his mother and brother.
It was a little scary though, because he had no idea how he could possibly help Harry after all his fellow Slytherin had been through; he had tried to write back to Harry but the words always seemed to come out wrong and he knew there was no way he could understand what Harry had been through.
Draco figured the best place to start, was to probably be honest with Harry and tell him about how both Dumbledore and Voldemort had ordered him to make friends with him; of course that had been an irrelevant order from the moment that Draco had discovered that Harry was family, but he didn’t want that to be hidden from him.
Thinking of family though made him think of what his mother had told him about his Aunt Bellatrix, who apparently was becoming even more unhinged. Draco hadn’t believed it possible but his mother was insistent that her sister was on some terrible downward spiral. Brax, though, was apparently thriving and lifting his head up on his own now; Draco had practically been able to hear his mother’s pride as he read her words.
He was really looking forward to seeing his little brother again, even if it meant seeing the other people in the mansion. He was certain that it was only a matter of time before he was summoned before Voldemort to report his progress.
He shook his head, trying not to think about that, and picked up a book from the pile next to him. He would throw himself into his research; he would fix the cabinet even if it took him a year… or, Salazar forbid, longer.

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Review responses:
littlepanther - Thank you. I am glad that you are enjoying the story so much.
Delia cerrano - They were always going to get back together, they just needed a little time to work through their issues. Harry wants to tell him in time, but he knows Fenrir well enough to know that he wouldn't let him return to Hogwarts if he knew the truth. You are right about it probably helping reducing their stress, but Harry fears that he wouldn't be able to rescue his father if Fenrir knew the truth.
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Fragmented Soul