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Fragmented Soul	By : StrawberryGirl87 & Bickymonster Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Fenrir Views: 79707 -:- Recommendations : 3 -:- Currently Reading : 10
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or anything in the fandom. no money/profit is made.

Chapter List
- 46
- 47
- 48
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Fragmented Soul
Chapter 47 – The Fight
Quidditch practice was the one thing Harry felt guilty about having missed the week before, not because he was rusty or he needed the practice, but more for the fact that he hadn’t gelled with his team mates as of yet. They needed to work like a well oiled machine to win against the other houses and he hadn’t fully proven himself yet, not even after winning the first game he had played in. So after dinner on Friday evening, despite running a little late and needing to use the Quidditch changing rooms to get ready, he had been eager to get back on his broom and practice.
Prucey, as captain, had taken the time to throw golf balls all over the stadium so that Harry could practice before going to aid the other team mates when it had proven that Harry really didn’t need much in the way of practice at all.
Since then Harry had been practising his Plumpton Pass, which involved catching the snitch up his sleeve; the main advantage of this being that he could keep both hands on the broom whilst catching the snitch, enabling him to do so at much greater speeds with improved manoeuvrability. It was not a particularly dangerous move, but certainly required a great deal of precision, focus and practice.
Harry was so focused at one point that he nearly flew directly into one of the goal posts. Thankfully the snitch changed direction at the last moment and when Harry swerved to follow he went between two of the posts.
“Watch out, Prince,” Draco teased, “no need to injure yourself every time you get on a broom.”
“Wouldn’t be as much fun if I didn’t,” Harry returned with a wicked smile; Draco just rolled his eyes and carried on with training.
Harry was glad to see that Romy and Clayton were in the stands watching him, though things still seemed a little tense between them. Romy had her nose in a book and Clayton was sitting unhappily beside her, his arms folded over his chest. Harry had no idea what was bothering his best friend but he was hoping that whatever it was, Clay got over it fast or at least decided to talk to one of them about it.
It was in that moment that Harry realised there was someone else in the stands, sitting apart from Romy and Clayton and entirely less welcome than them as well. Cedric had come to watch him play. Harry had a feeling that the head boy knew that he had been avoiding him and he had to remind himself that he had already decided to speak with Cedric soon, and explain himself. He had just hoped that it would be on his terms and not Cedric’s.
“I think that’s enough practice,” Prucey shouted. They had been out on the pitch for well over an hour and so no-one was going to complain about being allowed to go inside and get warm. “Go and enjoy yourselves,” he told them, as the team started to land around him, “have a good weekend.”
As the others flew down to the ground and dismounted, Harry remained in the air. He loved to fly and he wasn’t about to give it up so soon and, besides, the alternative was talking to Cedric, which he didn’t want to do.
“Harry,” Draco called out, “you coming?” he asked.
“You go ahead, I’ll be in soon,” Harry shouted down to him, before hurrying off after the snitch again.
He watched out of the corner of his eye as Romy and Clay approached Draco and spoke to him briefly before the blond headed off towards the castle, after the rest of their team mates. He wasn’t surprised to see that Clay and Romy were waiting for him, but it seemed that Cedric was prepared to be patient too.
“Harry!” Romy called up to him. “I’m freezing down here!”
He turned his broom and came a little further down so as to ensure they could hear him properly. “Then go inside,” Harry suggested; he was enjoying the freedom of flying, taking his mind off of everything.
This week hadn’t been as bad as he had feared it might be, but he was still plagued with nightmares, and he had been walking around with his hand over his wand and a stunning spell on his lips half the time. But he still missed the comforting presence of his mate, and the safety he felt in the territory. If it hadn’t have been for Clayton and Romy, combined with Baloo and the blanket with the Alpha’s scent on it, then he was sure that he wouldn’t have coped half as well as he had.
“Harry!” Romy shouted up to him again, this time sounding a lot more irate. “Will you come down here!”
“I’ll walk him back to the castle,” Cedric offered, “I was kind of hoping to talk to him anyway.”
Both Romy and Clayton looked at the head boy dubiously. They both knew that Cedric had a huge crush on Harry and that was unlikely to work out so well for anyone involved. However, Cedric was head boy and he had that position for a reason.
“Harry did say to go inside,” Clayton said with a shrug. He was bored and he was cold. He wanted to go and sit in the Slytherin common by the fire and defrost. He was not in the mood to be playing games and waiting around in the cold weather for Harry to come to his senses.
“We can’t just leave him out here on his own,” Romy said with a frown. She didn’t think that Fenrir would be very approving of them leaving Harry outside on his own, especially not so soon after the attack had happened and them returning to school.
“He isn’t going to be on his own,” Cedric said rather indignantly. “I’ll walk him back up to the school when he’s ready to go; I’ll even walk him to the Slytherin dormitory if that makes you feel any better.”
“See, Harry will be fine and I’m going to turn into a sodding ice block if I don’t go inside soon and so will you,” Clayton said, wrapping his arms around himself as a shiver went down his spine.
“Fine,” Romy said sceptically, but knowing that Clay was right about how cold they both were, and she was sure that Cedric would never let anything happen to Harry; yet she certainly wasn’t happy about leaving him there, even with the head boy. “If he isn’t back in half an hour we are coming out here and dragging him back inside, using force if we have to,” she said stubbornly.
“Hurt him, or let anyone else hurt him, and I’ll make sure you regret it,” Clayton said with a smile at Cedric that made the head boy feel a little uneasy.
“I have no intention of hurting him; I actually rather like him,” Cedric said, not quite understanding Clayton’s meaning.
“Good for you,” Clay hissed, “you’re not the only one.”
“Clayton,” Romy chastised, frowning at her cousin with disapproval.
“He is a very handsome young man, I wouldn’t expect anything else,” Cedric said calmly, not phased in the least by Clayton’s blunt comment. “I’m more than happy to prove my worth for him. I know how close the three of you are, I would never dream of getting in the way of your friendship.”
“We’re not just friends, we’re family,” Romy said firmly.
“You couldn’t get between us if you tried,” Clayton said with certainty; even with he and Harry somewhat at odds at the moment, the love between them was not in question, this head boy would never be part of that, nor be more important to Harry than their family.
“I already said I wouldn’t try,” Cedric said, having a little trouble not being offended by this point. “I have never placed any demands on Harry, as I am sure you are both aware, and I merely would like to speak to him. I have already given you my assurances that he will be safe with me, not to mention I am sure he is quite capable of taking care of himself, so either you can head back inside and get warm, or else you can wait here with me and eavesdrop on what I had hoped would be a private conversation.”
“The warning still stands,” Clayton growled. “Hurt him, I hurt you.”
“I think he understands, Clay,” Romy said with a roll of her eyes. “Let’s go, before you are proven right and we actually freeze.” She was also hopeful that this might get Harry to speak honestly with Cedric, something that was better to happen sooner than later.
Clayton glared at Cedric a moment more before turning to nod at his cousin; he wasn’t sure that he fully trusted the head boy but he was freezing and in a foul mood, the cold stinging his injured hand. He just wanted to sit by the fire for a while and warm up. And like Romy had said, if Harry wasn’t back soon then they would come and find him.
Cedric watched as Harry’s two family members turned and headed up towards the castle; there seemed to be an unusual tension and distance between them, but he figured that that was likely due to them both being uncomfortable leaving Harry under his protection. They sure were an odd family; he had never known one quite like it. They were such a mix of people, even more so than he thought if the group that had dropped them off were anything to go by, and so protective of each other, almost obsessively so.
He turned back towards the pitch and watched as Harry successfully caught the practice snitch only to release it again. Cedric didn’t think he had ever seen a more beautiful sight as Harry on a broom, he seemed so exhilarated, carefree and alive. It was certainly worth braving the cold for a little while longer just to witness.
The head boy pulled his robes tighter around his body, and cast a warming charm on them that would keep the very worst of the winter chill at bay, even knowing that it wouldn’t last very long; and then he headed back up into the stands, taking a seat and enjoy the view.
Harry caught the practice snitch twice more in the next twenty minutes, one of those times even managing to be a successful Plumpton Pass, which Cedric had cheered at. Apparently though, at that point, the cold had finally gotten too much for Harry and the teen had flown over and landed in the stands close by.
“You are really quite talented,” Cedric told him earnestly. He had seen him play against Ravenclaw and been impressed then, but there had been a whole match going on which was distracting. Today he had been able to watch just Harry. “I am definitely looking forward to playing against you in May,” he said with a wide smile.
“Thanks,” Harry said, not really having expected the compliment, his mind focused on an odd combination of flying and what exactly he was going to tell the head boy in regards to the previous week.
“How have you been?” Cedric asked kindly. “It seemed like you were avoiding me this week.”
“Noticed that did you?” Harry questioned rhetorically.
“I was a little worried about you,” Cedric told him, a look on concern on his face as he took a few steps closer to Harry. “There were so many rumours going round about why you were absent last week.”
“I didn’t kill Blaise,” Harry said quickly, “though my family certainly want to now,” he admitted quietly. He wasn’t sure if he was more terrified of one of them actually finding Blaise and going through with it, or of Blaise remaining free. He tried not to think about it most of the time.
“Did he try again, what I interrupted last time?” Cedric asked. He wasn’t the kind of person to kill anyone for any reason, but he could understand why someone might want to if they had hurt a member of their family in such a way.
“Tried and almost succeeded,” Harry admitted, as he started to lead them out of the stands; the weather was far too cold to stand still and talk. He had stayed too long at dinner and had been running late for Quidditch practice earlier in the day, so when everyone else had had time to change in the dormitories, Harry had had to leave his things in the changing rooms at the pitch; something that he was highly regretting now that it was just him and Cedric.
“I… erm… need to go change,” Harry said, gesturing towards the locker rooms. Usually they were only used during actual matches, but they were left open in case someone did want use of them.
“No problem,” Cedric said, following after him. He felt he should probably wait for Harry outside; but after the warning that Clayton had given him, and considering what had happened to Harry not that long ago, he wasn’t going to let Harry go anywhere without him. He would, of course, avert his eyes, but that was the most privacy he felt he could afford him.
“Oh… umm… you’re coming in too?” Harry asked uncertainly, not feeling hugely comfortable with changing in front of Cedric, who he knew had a crush on him. All he could think about was Fenrir and their fragile mating mark. It wasn’t bothering him anymore but he didn’t want to push his luck with it at all.
“I’ve been told that in no circumstances am I to leave you unprotected,” Cedric said, feeling a little sorry for Harry, who seemed to be always under guard and lacked any form of freedom; however, he could understand it after everything that had happened to him. It made sense that his family was concerned for him.
“Clayton?” Harry asked with a tired sigh, realising that his best friend would have probably had something to do with this. Only Clay would have been idiotically foolish enough to inform a young man that was crushing on him not to take his eyes of him for any reason.
“And Romy too. You’re much loved by them,” Cedric said with a fond smile at the younger teenager as he followed him into the changing rooms. Harry lent his broom up against one of the walls before heading over to where he had left his belongings.
“They’re my family,” Harry told him with a shrug. He had never thought that the level of over protectiveness in the pack was anything out of the ordinary; he had always been overprotected, even his father had been that way. Since coming to Hogwarts though, Harry had started to realise that not everyone was treated with such care and attention as he was. Along with this realisation came the uncertainty of not knowing how to feel about it.
“So they mentioned,” Cedric said with amusement as he took a seat on one of the benches, a little way down from where Harry was. The older of the two sat with his eyes on the wall trying not to even take a sideways glance, no matter how tempting it was, as Harry pulled off his Quidditch robes.
Harry tried to change quickly; normally he would have showered after having spent so long flying but that wasn’t going to happen with Cedric in the locker room with him. He would shower before going to bed that evening instead, he decided. He highly doubted Romy and Clay would appreciate sharing a bed with him when he smelt all sweaty.
“So, you want to tell me why you were avoiding me?” Cedric requested, needing to say something because it was just too awkward sitting there in complete silence while Harry got changed just a few feet away.
“I didn’t exactly feel like explaining everything that happened,” Harry said bluntly. “I knew you would have questions that I didn’t want to answer,” he added with a sigh after a few moments.
“Is that the only reason?” Cedric questioned. “You could have just told me that you didn’t want to talk about it,” he added, turning to Harry before he had time to think better of it.
Harry was facing away from him though, his toned back bare, his trousers hanging a little loose on his slender waist. It was a moment before he remembered that he really was not supposed to be looking at this young man in such a way, and he hastily turned to look back to the wall.
The damage, however, had been done and he could feel himself starting to grow hard has the image of Harry’s hips lingered in his mind. He had to shake his head rather violently to rid himself of the image of himself running his tongue up Harry’s spine and the delightful moan that would no doubt entice from the younger man. He felt guilty for even thinking such things after what the boy had been through.
“I know you like me,” Harry stated, feeling that it needed to be said, though Cedric didn’t miss the tone of sadness that was there.
“You like me too, don’t you?” Cedric asked hopefully, trying to keep his breathing steady and his gaze firmly on the wall in front of him.
“I'm already spoken for,” Harry replied evasively. He wasn’t sure whether or not he liked Cedric that way simply because it wasn’t an option, wasn’t even worth considering. He was with Fenrir and that was the end of it.
“You’re fifteen,” Cedric pointed out, “how certain are you that you are never going to want someone else?” he asked, knowing that relationships formed that young were unlikely to last simply because people changed so much as they grew to become an adult; that Harry was already seeing someone wasn’t going to be enough to make him give up hope.
“I’m certain,” Harry said, his voice steady. He was mated to the Alpha of their pack, a man he loved very much, even if they had their difficulties; he would never betray or leave his mate, he was certain of that.
“I am sure you believe that now,” Cedric said, smiling understandingly at the determination in Harry’s voice. He thought it was kind of sweet that Harry was so certain in his teenage romance. “But I’m not going to just give up…” he added, wanting to make that clear.
“Cedric, I really am certain,” Harry told him with exasperation. He didn’t want to talk about this anymore; he couldn’t really explain to Cedric why he was certain so he was really just having to hope that the head boy would take his word for it; sadly, it didn’t seem like that was happening.
“Go out with me, just once, let me show you how good we can be together,” Cedric asked. “Please, I really like you, Harry,” he said earnestly.
“I have a boyfriend,” Harry said coldly, not liking that Cedric would ask him to actually go on a date with him whilst he was seeing someone else.
“One Hogsmeade weekend, no pressure, just friends,” Cedric insisted, changing tactics slightly.
“Fine, just as friends then,” Harry said, knowing full well that not only would it not be happening but if everything went according to plan then Fenrir would be there with him anyway. Right now it just seemed to be the easiest way to get Cedric off his back.
Cedric turned to look at Harry in shock, unable to believe that he had just agreed. However, when the Hufflepuff did so, he came face to face with a still shirtless Harry, who was looking directly at him, staring with his large green eyes. It was hard not to admire the beauty of the younger teen before him.
Harry might not have been very muscular but he was toned, his skin a light tan colour. Thanks to the rather chilly changing rooms his small pink nipples were stiff with goosebumps covering his chest. The jeans that he was now wearing were at least a size too big for him and hung low on his hips where there was a defined V that disappeared below the waistband, a trailing of wispy dark hair from his belly button, down. The whole sight made Cedric’s mouth water.
“Looking at me like that doesn’t do a lot to convince me that you just want to be friends,” Harry said, needing to break the tension. As flattering as it was to be ogled so obviously, it was definitely making him uncomfortable. Instinctively he reached up, his fingers brushing over his mating mark on the nape of his neck; before grabbing a jumper and pulling it over his head.
“Sorry,” Cedric said, coughing a little to try and break the moment. “By the way, why do you do that? The touching your neck thing,” he explained when Harry looked confused. “I have seen you do it a few times when you get nervous.”
“That’s kind of a long story,” Harry said, not sure how to even think about explaining it; it would mean telling the head boy about what he was and probably who he was with; he didn’t think he was ready to do that yet.
“I have time,” Cedric said, looking keen to hear Harry’s explanation.
“Oh… look, when I said long story, it was more being nice…” Harry said giving him an apologetic look. He hadn’t actually expected for Cedric to ask to hear the story anyway.
“You don’t want to tell me?” Cedric asked. It was rather annoying that Harry’s secrecy just made him even more curious, because he was now sure that the teenager was hiding something serious. In all honesty, with everything that seemed to happen to the teenager, Cedric was a little worried that the relationship he was in was an abusive one, which would certainly explain all the secrecy. He really wanted to get a look at Harry’s neck, fearing that there would be a scar there from an injury inflicted by his boyfriend.
“Not yet,” Harry told him. “Sorry.”
“You’re a rather unique individual, Harry” Cedric said, meeting Harry’s eyes as he spoke, feeling glad that the younger teenager was at least dressed now, and so thankfully a little less distracting. “And I can’t get you out of my head. Whatever you need, time, space, anything, I’ll give it to you, but please, give me a chance. I know I’m older than you but I really do like you.”
Harry could have laughed at the fact that Cedric thought that it was the age gap that bothered him, two years was nothing. Not that he was going to explain to Cedric any time soon that his boyfriend was twenty-two years his senior nor was he going to divulge that Fen was also a werewolf, known infamously across the wizarding world.
“Okay, and this is why I was avoiding you for the best part of a week,” Harry admitted quietly with a sigh. “I know you like me, but I am with someone else. I already agreed we could go to Hogsmeade as friends; can we just head up to the castle now?”
“Sure and I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable,” Cedric said as he stood up, watching rather intently as Harry picked up his bag and Quidditch robes. “Here, let me carry your bag for you.”
“I can do it,” Harry said firmly, he might have been a submissive but he wasn’t weak and he wasn’t a girl either, he wanted to be sure that Cedric knew that he was no push over.
The two of them fell into a comfortable silence as they walked back towards the castle, though it was Cedric who broke the silence between them first. “I’m not Blaise, I won’t force myself on you but I’m not going to stop showing you that I like you.”
“If I thought for a second you were anything like him, I wouldn’t have even spoken to you,” Harry informed him bluntly. “I would have simply stunned you and left.” He was never going to give anyone the chance to hurt him in that way ever again.
“Good to know,” Cedric said with a chuckle, glad that Harry wasn’t going to be taking any chances with his safety. He had meant what he said to Clayton about Harry being able to take care of himself, but it was good to hear that it was actually true.
“I do appreciate you looking out for me,” Harry said as they reached the entrance to the Slytherin common room. He was feeling a little bad for being so abrupt and harsh with the head boy, he did think Cedric was a good person after all, he just wished they really could be friends without the complicated extra feelings.
“That isn’t ever going to change, friends or more, I’m always going to look out for you, if I can,” Cedric said with a smile as Harry glanced over at him. “And no more avoiding me, otherwise it makes looking out for you a whole lot harder.” he added.
“I have plenty of guards already,” Harry grumbled.
“I don’t want to be a guard, Harry, I want to be your friend and see what happens between us,” Cedric said, his voice soft and almost seductive.
“You have my friendship but you’re treading a thin line at that right now,” Harry said warningly. Cedric was seventeen years old and clearly not completely oblivious to the art of seduction, he was certainly giving it his best shot, everything from his tone of voice to his body language and charming smile.
“I know and I’m sorry,” Cedric said earnest, he didn’t mean to be so pushy but he had never met anyone like Harry before. He had never felt an attraction to anyone the way he did with Harry.
“It’s… it’s fine, just… I get that you want more, but we can only be friends,” Harry told him, knowing that there was no point letting Cedric hold out hope. “This is a take it or leave it kind of deal,” he said.
“Well when you put it like that,” Cedric said with an amused chuckle, “I guess I will take our friendship. I am still holding you to that…” he paused to rethinking the use of the word ‘date’, “...meeting in Hogsmeade though.”
“I didn’t think otherwise,” Harry told him, before giving the password to the Slytherin common room and heading inside.
FGHP
Clayton was sitting at a desk in the Slytherin common room with Romy and Draco. He was trying to hide it but Romy could tell that he was feeling on edge about Harry not having returned yet. It had been over the half an hour though, so she couldn’t keep from glancing towards the entrance way. She was trying to do research for the forest room, but she just couldn’t focus while Harry wasn't there with them.
“Relax, Romy,” Draco said, lightly gripping her arm until she looked away from the door and met his eyes, giving her a supportive smile. “Harry is with Diggory, who is a Hufflepuff, there is no way that goody-two-shoes head boy will let anything happen to Harry.”
“There is also the fact that Diggory is hopeless in love with Harry too,” Clayton pointed out, trying to keep the bitterness out of his tone from where he was sat close to the fire working on his homework. Seeing as he had been in such a snit the last few days, Romy had refused to help him, putting him in an even worse mood.
“He’ll be back soon,” Draco said soothingly as he rested against the arm of the chair Romy was sitting on.
Romy gave a huffy breath and turned back to her book, her light brown curls falling forward over her face as she started to read to try and take her mind off Harry’s absence. Draco had to bite back a smile, and reached forward to tuck one of her curls back behind her ear. She turned to look up at him in surprise; the affectionate gesture seemed quite natural between the two of them and, when she glanced at Clayton, she was glad to see that her cousin was yet to notice; thankfully.
Draco jumped up rather guiltily when the portrait door swung open and Harry traipsed in; given what Harry had seen in his head he didn’t want to cause problems between the werewolves, and definitely not while he was still trying to figure out his own feelings.
“Harry!” Romy exclaimed, having looked up at Draco’s sudden movement away from her. At the sight of her pack brother entering the room she practically jumping up from her chair and completely discarding her book. “You’re alright, we were worried,” she said, rushing over to him and throwing her arms around his neck, hugging him. A gesture Harry returned, though feeling rather confused about it.
“You saw me about half an hour ago,” Harry pointed out.
“It was not, it was more like forty-five minutes,” Romy chastised.
Clayton hadn’t moved from his position by the fire, grumpily scribbling notes while throwing glaring looks at his cousin and best friend. His instincts were telling him to go and check on Harry, but his mood was such that he wasn’t about to let his best friend know how worried he had been. He promptly turned his attention back to his work, though he kept an ear on his two pack siblings.
“I was with Cedric,” Harry pointed out, managing to escape from his pack sister’s almost punishing hug, it was so hard. “Did you seriously think that anything would happen to me with the oddly possessive head boy watching over me like a bloody hawk?”
“Well at least he took our warnings to heart and looked after you,” Romy said unapologetically.
“Yeah, looked after me, and not to mention relentlessly asking me out,” Harry added with a slight scowl.
“Ah, so now you know how that feels,” Romy said with a chuckle, though she wasn’t exactly happy to hear that Cedric still seemed intent on being with Harry. It was some reassurance to hear the annoyance in Harry’s voice though, he clearly wasn’t pleased about it either.
“Is Clay really that frustrating?” he asked, glancing over at where his best friend was sitting, fully focused on his homework. He might have thought that Romy’s reaction was a bit much, but it hurt him a little that Clay didn’t even seem bothered in the slightest; it didn’t really make sense to him given how he had waited outside the abandoned classroom the day before and commanded Cedric to keep him safe.
“Oh yes, you’ll have my sympathy when Cedric starts serenading you in front of a group of people,” Romy said with a roll of her eyes. “Until then I will sit back and laugh because now you know what it feels like.”
“Yeah but it’ll never happen with me and Cedric,” Harry told her firmly. “It might with you and Clay.” He still thought there was more to the connection between the pair of them than Romy was admitting; maybe she was a little scared, or denying it out of habit, but she had all but confessed that she felt something for Clayton when they had just put up the ward the previous day. Granted, she had said she might have feelings for someone else too, but Harry was still mentally cheering his best friend on, despite Romy protests.
“I really wish you wouldn’t give him false hope like that, Harry,” Romy said quietly as they headed back towards the table where Clayton and Draco were sat.
“I don’t think that it’s false hope,” Harry told her unrepentantly with a shrug of his shoulders.
“You really aren’t helping matters, Harry,” Romy told him. “How am I supposed to figure out how I feel when you are trying to tell me all the time?”
“You need to learn to just butt out, Harry,” Clayton said suddenly, looking up as the two of them reached the table, making it clear that he had been listening in despite having been pretending to study. “Whatever does or doesn’t happen between me and Romy is our business, not yours.”
“I didn’t mean anything by it,” Harry protested, glaring at his friend, as Clayton got to his feet, looking furious. “I just want both of you to be happy.”
“Well maybe you should worry about fixing your own messed up relationship rather than meddling in mine,” Clayton snapped.
“Clayton!” Romy exclaimed in horror.
“That was a low blow, Clayton,” Harry growled, holding back the overwhelming rush of hurt that he felt when he thought of how complicated things were between him and Fenrir at the moment. “Sometimes you really are a complete arse.”
“Yeah well, I’m not the one messing around with another man behind my boyfriend’s back,” Clay retorted, slamming his hands onto the desk in front of him before storming around it.
“I’m not messing about with anyone!” Harry declared loudly, furious that anyone, let alone Clay, would dare to make such an accusation. Given the state of his bond with the Alpha it hurt him deeply that anyone would question his loyalty to Fenrir.
“Clayton, stop this,” Romy pleaded, hating it when they got this way and disgusted by the unfounded comment that her cousin had spoken. She didn’t understand what could have possibly made her cousin so angry.
“No, you’re not my girlfriend,” Clay said, suddenly turning on Romy. “You’re not anything to me, you can’t tell me what to do!”
“Don’t talk to Romy like that just because you’re in a pissy mood!” Harry yelled, hurrying over and getting between the two of them. Clay could say all the nasty things to him that he liked, but Harry would protect Romy from his hurtful mood.
“That’s right, stand up for Romy; you and Romy united until the end and stupid, useless, more-trouble-than-he’s-worth Clayton will just stay out of your way,” Clay snapped angrily. “Oh but don’t worry, I will just follow you around like a good little guard dog, make sure no-one hurts a hair on your precious little heads.”
“You know it isn’t liked that! Why are you being such an arse all of a sudden?” Romy asked with a scowl.
“Don’t kid yourself, Romy,” Harry told her, his eyes still fixed on Clayton, “he’s been acting like an arse for a few days, it isn’t a sudden thing.”
“You know, you think you’re so damn special, everyone’s favourite; well, you know what, you’re not special at all,” Clayton snarled at Harry. “You may have your boyfriend fooled but the second he realises how fucked up you are he’ll kick you to the curb! Bet you even loved what Blaise did, just so you could get all the attention again.”
Harry didn’t even remember pulling back his fist, let alone throwing it at Clayton’s jaw, but there was a loud thud as the eldest of the pups fell backwards to the ground; in the shocked silence of the common room Harry could hear his blood pumping in his ears.
He was vaguely aware of Romy crying out but his focus was on Clay; Harry dropped to his knees, straddling his friend as he punched him again, Clayton’s arms grabbing out to try and get hold of Harry’s arms and push him away to no avail.
“Harry, stop!” Romy cried out, going to try and intervene but Draco’s arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her back, preventing her from intervening in the fight. He didn’t want to see her accidentally get hurt and he knew Harry and Clayton would feel awful if it happened too, regardless of their fighting.
“We should get a teacher,” Draco said, not sure that any of them trying to break up two brawling werewolves was a good idea; someone would inevitably get hurt or worse, bitten or scratched and turned into one of them.
“No,” Romy said quietly, with a sob, hating every sound of the two boys fighting. “They’ll be done soon, give them a minute,” she said tearfully, burying her head in Draco’s shoulder and accepting his arms as they wound around her waist, simply so she wouldn’t have to see two of the people she loved most in the world beating on each other.
“Aren’t they going to hurt each other?” Draco asked, watching on in horror at the sheer violence that was going on before their eyes. He knew that werewolves were stronger, more resilient, than humans but he couldn’t help but worry about his friends; it felt a strange moment to realise that he thought of Clay as a friend, even if he wasn’t as close to him as he was to Harry.
“Clayton wouldn’t dare,” Romy said quietly, still unable to look at her pack brothers, though knowing that what she said was the truth. Harry was still their Alpha’s mate and to actually harm him would take something a hell of a lot worse than a bad mood and a stupid argument.
“And Harry,” Draco asked, watching as the smaller teenage boy managed to land another punch. He wouldn’t have believed that petite Harry would have been able to fight in such a manner; though Romy’s comment about Clayton not daring made him wonder if the bigger teen was holding back.
“Would never hurt Clayton,” Romy told him, looking up at him and giving Draco a wry smile.
“They’re fighting and Harry actually started it,” Draco pointed out, looking back to where Harry and Clayton were rolling on the floor, kicking and punching at each other such that neither of them were going to escape this without some serious bruising at the very least, though it looked as though Clay might have a split lip already.
“Yeah,” Romy said, stepping back from Draco as though she had only just realised she had been literally crying on his shoulder and he had been holding her. She flushed a little red and turned back to her pack siblings who seemed to be calming somewhat. “They do that sometimes, you get used to it,” she said softly.
“Shouldn’t we do something?” Astoria asked, appearing at Romy’s side, and looking on with a look of shock and horror.
“No, we stay out of it,” Daphne said firmly, taking her sisters hand and pulling her away from the two fighting boys. There was no way she was taking any chances with two angry and fighting werewolves in the room. It was only with a great deal of self control that she kept herself from trying to pull Draco further away from them too.
A sudden scream forced everyone’s attention back to the fighting boys; Clayton had got the better of Harry, restraining him, however this had triggered something inside of the submissive and he was having a complete melt down. Realising what he had done, Clayton stumbled back, still looking furious, blood trickling down from his cut lip.
The dominant teen got to his feet and made a grab for his things, stuffing all the books that had been piled on the table into his bag without looking to see if they were all his or a mix of Romy’s too. He wasn’t interested, he just wanted to get out of there.
“Clayton!” Romy called after her cousin but he didn’t even slow down as he made for the exit, so she turned her attentions to her other pack brother.
Harry had curled into a ball and was sobbing hysterically, his body physically shaking and blood pouring from his nose, which looked like it might have been broken. He had a cut on his cheek and it seemed like he even had the beginnings of a black eye too. Romy rushed forward, Draco not far behind, to make sure that Harry was alright.
With Draco’s help, Romy sat Harry up and wrapped her arms around him as he cried. Draco knelt before them a little awkwardly, not sure what to do, except heal the injuries that he could see and stop the bleeding before one of the weaker girls fainted at the sight of so much blood. By the time he turned to see where Clayton was, the older werewolf had gone, having stormed out of the common room, slamming the portrait door closed in his wake.
“Harry,” Romy asked sadly, “are you alright?”
“Yeah, I just… panicked,” he whispered, though he was still fighting to contain his sobs. He had known how much even the idea of being restrained scared him but he still hated that he had lost in front of the majority of his house mates; he had been keeping it together so well, he thought, he had been trying so hard to prove he was okay and now felt like it was all for nothing. All these Slytherins could now see how weak and broken he really was.
“Clay would never have hurt you like that, you know that Harry,” Romy said kindly, as Harry discretely wiped the tears from his cheeks and eyes. “He loves you,” she insisted.
Harry reached up to his face and felt the blood there. “Yeah, he loved me so much he broke my nose,” Harry grumbled, his voice a little strange from said inflicted injury.
“Can you feel it, you can feel the pain?” Romy asked, almost hopefully. They all hoped that in time Harry’s senses would heal themselves, like his sense of smell already had begun to, but it would have been quite remarkable for him to actually feel pain.
“No,” Harry said pathetically.
“I can heal that for you,” Draco said softly, not wanting to startle Harry at all. “If you want me to,” he added, when Harry turned to look at him.
“Please,” Harry said, accepting Draco’s help and the blond cast ‘episkey’, and a spell that cleaned away the blood from his face.
“Is he okay?” Astoria asked; Daphne was holding her back, not wanting her little sister anywhere near the blood that had been spilt.
“He will be,” Romy said, “he just needs some rest. Draco, can you help me get him into the dorm room? You can perhaps finish healing him there, I don’t think the audience is helping him much,” she observed, noticing the way Harry was determinedly not looking at the whispering audience they had around them.
“Sure,” Draco said, shooting Daphne a stern glare when she went to protest. “I’m going to help you up, okay,” he said to Harry, who nodded and allowed Romy and Draco to pull him to his feet.
“Dizzy,” Harry commented quietly once he was standing.
“Okay, we will check you over once we get to the dorm,” Romy told him, as they lead him away from the crowd. As always, when Harry got injured, it was difficult to tell what damage might have been done.
“Shouldn’t we take him to Pomfrey?” Draco asked, worry in his eyes despite the passive expression on his face, as they made their way towards the dorm room.
“And have her want to know where and how Harry got hurt… again?” Romy asked. “I don’t think that’s necessary. My Mum taught me enough that I can check that he is okay, but let’s just get somewhere away from prying ears first.”
Draco frowned, not entirely happy with that suggestion. “But if he’s dizzy…”
“He probably hit his head, trust me, I know what I’m doing,” Romy assured him as Draco closed the dormitory door behind them. “My mum is a healer; kind of, she handles all the injuries for us at home.”
“Beauty and brains, that’s quite the combination you have,” Draco said with a smile as he helped Harry to lie down on his bed.
“Stop flirting and heal me,” Harry mumbled unhappily; he couldn’t feel the pain but he was familiar with the just slight feeling of wrongness that usually accompanied any injuries he had.
“Oh shush, Harry, be quiet,” Romy chastised, really not wanting to get into an awkward discussion regarding hers and Draco’s feelings at the moment. “Make no mistake, I will be writing to my Dad about this, so you might want to behave and let me make sure you are healed.”
“Don’t tell Fen, please, he’ll worry,” Harry begged, looking up at his pack sister with wide fearful eyes. He could only imagine what Fenrir’s reaction might be when told what had happened.
“I’m not telling Fenrir,” Romy told him firmly, as though the very suggestion was ridiculous. “I’m going to tell my Dad and that joyous task can be left up to him,” she added. “Now hold still!”
Harry had a sinking feeling in his gut; he knew the Alpha would be furious and worried all at once. It was Clayton that he was mostly worried for though; he dreaded to think what his mate would do to his best friend once he heard about how Harry had gotten hurt again. The Alpha wouldn’t let Clayton get away without some form of punishment, that much was a given.
FGHP
Clayton woke up with a lot of aches and pains, and seriously wishing that he had swallowed his pride and asked Romy to heal his injuries the night before; Harry really knew how to swing a punch.
Clay had initially gone to their abandoned classroom, intending to spend the night there, only to find himself unable to pass through the wards; he assumed it was something to do with him not having been in the room at the time they were put up. Whatever the reason, he had been left with the choice of heading up to Gryffindor tower, or sleep in the Slytherin common room; a decision that he made easily.
It was rather a pleasant discovery that the sofa in the Slytherin common room was more comfortable that it looked; he might even have had a good night's sleep if he wasn’t covered in numerous bruises and small cuts, including a split lip and a rather swollen jaw. He thought that he might have had a fractured rib too, it was at the very least bruised considering how much it hurt. He tried to stretch a little, but only ended up groaning in pain.
“I would offer my sympathies but I think you deserve to suffer at least a little bit at the moment,” Romy said, and Clayton turned to see her standing watching him from a little way across the room.
Clay sighed and flopped back onto the sofa; he knew that Romy was right and that some of the things he had said the evening before were completely over the line and out of order. Even he could admit that and he wasn’t very good at picking up on things like that.
“Yeah well, he shouldn’t have hit me,” Clay grumbled, closing his eyes and wishing himself back to sleep. He knew he had been an arse to Romy too and didn’t want to deal with the reality of that either.
“You deserved it,” Romy said. Clay could hear the anger and didn’t need to open his eyes to know that she was scowling at him. “I might have hit you myself, if Harry hadn’t beaten me to the punch… literally. Did you sleep here?” she asked, taking in Clayton’s sleep ruffled state.
“I tried to get into our classroom but your brilliant wards kept me out,” Clay told her grumpily. He didn’t want to admit it but it had made him feel like he was being excluded, even if he knew it was his own doing.
“They would,” Romy said dismissively, not surprised in the slightest by this information but it was nice to have the secondary confirmation that they worked as intended. “We’ll need to tune them to let you in,” she explained, confirming Clay’s suspicions.
“Are you going to heal me or not?” Clayton asked, opening one eye to peer up at his cousin who was not standing over him with her arms crossed over her chest.
“Not yet, you can suffer a bit more first,” she told him sternly.
“Great, is that all?” Clay asked, closing his eye again. “Because I’d like to go back to sleep now,” he told her; he wasn’t sure that he would actually be able to get any more rest, particularly knowing that various members of the Slytherin house would likely be coming down stairs soon, but he could pretend to if it got him out of Romy’s inevitable guilt trip.
“No, that is not all,” Romy told him a little angrily. “What got into you? I want to know Clayton and I won’t be healing you until you tell me,” she insisted.
“Guess I’m just going to have to be in pain then,” Clayton retorted, turning over onto his side to face the back of the sofa, trying to hide the wince of pain when he accidentally put pressure on his injured ribs.
“Stop being such a stubborn prat and talk to me,” Romy said, pushing his legs out of the way just enough to give herself space to sit.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” Clay mumbled, tempted to kick her off the sofa before realising that he could never be that cruel to her.
“I don’t care,” Romy told him sternly. “We could cope with you being in a crappy mood, that was entirely your issue, but last night it became a problem for all of us. I’ve had to tell my Dad what happened. What do you think Fenrir is going to do when he finds out?” she asked him, needing to realise just how serious what he had done was.
“I suppose Harry wanted you to tell them,” he said bitterly, turning to look at her sleepily, trying to ignore the fear that stabbed in his chest at just how angry Fenrir was going to be with him. He remembered how angry the Alpha had been that time that he had kept Harry’s secret about going to Hogsmeade, and he feared that this time it could be even worse.
“Actually no, he didn’t,” Romy said pointedly. “He begged me not to; he didn’t want you to get hurt and he was worried that Fenrir would over react. It was my decision.” She knew it had to be done, because otherwise it was exactly the kind of thing that would come back to haunt them later, but she too was admittedly a little anxious about how the Alpha might react; she just hoped that her Dad could keep him from punishing Clayton too badly.
“Great, thanks for that,” Clay said miserably, closing his eyes and curling back up as though trying to sleep. “The girl I love betraying me; I’ll be lucky if I survive the next trip home,” he grumbled.
“Don’t be so dramatic, you’re such a drama queen,” Romy told him with a roll of her eyes. “Now tell me what’s wrong,” she insisted; she had been content to let him wallow before but now she and Harry needed some answers.
“Tell me what my Dad is hiding,” Clayton said, rolling onto his back and leaning up against the arm of the sofa enough to meet her eyes.
“Clayton,” Romy said with a sigh. The secret of Micha and Damon’s relationship was certainly not hers to tell; she wouldn’t even confirm that there was a secret to be told if she could avoid it.
“I am sick of being the last one to know everything,” Clayton told her, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring at her. He felt as though no one thought he could handle actually knowing anything; like they didn’t think he could be trusted to know the truth about what was going on; like a little honesty might break him and he should only be told on a need to know basis.
“Then write to your Dad and ask him yourself,” she told him dismissively. Truthfully she thought that Damon was making a mistake in keeping Clayton in the dark about his new relationship, but that wasn’t her call to make and she had other things to worry about at the moment. “But I am asking about what this mood is about,” she went on, “and I don’t think it has anything to do with your Dad. It started after that detention with Umbridge, so why don’t you start by telling me what happened.”
“No,” Clayton said firmly.
“Fine, be like that all you want but maybe you should go home because you aren’t helping anyone in the mood you’re in,” Romy told him. “You are meant to be protecting Harry, not hurting him.”
“Is he okay?” Clay asked; he had really tried to just deflect Harry’s hits and kicks rather than throw any of his own, but some had been unavoidable and he was certain that Harry hadn’t walked away unscathed.
“He’s fine, Draco and I healed him,” Romy told him impatiently. “Though he had several nightmares last night, probably no thanks to you trying to restrain him,” she had seen that moment of pure fear on Harry’s face when he realised that he was trapped in Clay’s grasp. “Honestly, Clayton, what were you thinking?”
“That I wanted to stop him from hitting and kicking me mostly,” Clay told her truthfully, but there was guilt in his voice; he really hadn’t even thought about how Harry might react to, or feel about, being restrained, he had just wanted to end the fight.
“Well until you are ready to tell at least one of us what is going on that head of yours, you are to stay away from Harry,” Romy said angrily. She hadn’t wanted it to come to that, but Harry was, despite his opinion otherwise, in a fragile mental state; she wouldn’t risk Clayton making that worse.
“What?!” Clay exclaimed. He had been best friends with Harry for four, almost five, years and never, in all that time, had they really been forced apart; but he could hear the seriousness in Romy’s voice. “The only reason I am even here is to keep him safe,” he pointed out, the idea that he might not be there to protect Harry honestly scared him.
“Then go home,” Romy said bluntly, already knowing that that wouldn’t happen.
“No, I have been looking out for Harry since before he even knew who I was,” Clayton explained, remembering how he and his Dad used to watch over Harry and Severus when he was young; how he was told that Harry was special and they were to keep him safe, and that one day they would be the best of friends. “Like hell I am going to leave him here and just go home,” he said firmly.
“I know you have it in your head that it is some duty of yours to…”
“It is my duty, my place in the pack, I keep Harry safe,” Clay told her. He was starting to wonder how real the foundation of his friendship with Harry was, if he had literally been nothing more than a well trained bodyguard for the Alpha’s chosen mate, but that didn’t change the fact that he loved Harry and would protect him. “You think I would be in this stupid school for any other reason?” he demanded to know.
“Well you aren’t doing a very good job,” Romy pointed out huffily. “You’ve beaten him up, broken his nose,” she said, ticking off things on her fingers as she went, “...given him several bruises and not to mention the things you said to him last night. When he wasn’t having nightmares he was crying, though he tried to hide it…”
“I get it, alright,” Clay said firmly, sitting up and glaring at Romy. “I was an arse, said stupid things that I shouldn’t have…”
“But why, Clayton?” Romy interrupted, a desperate plea to her voice. “Please just tell me why.”
“Because Umbridge started interrogating me about Harry,” he all but shouted, “because it is always about Harry, because I am nothing more than Harry’s best friend and bodyguard and you would all probably be better off without me,” he ranted before he could think better of it.
“Oh, Clayton,” Romy said with sympathy, “you know you are more than that. When you aren’t being a complete arse, you are a really good person. Both me and Harry need you, and not just because you’re so good at protecting us; we love you, despite how idiotic you can be sometimes.”
“I feel like a glorified bodyguard most of the time,” Clay said, lying back down again and staring at the ceiling, unable to bear the look of sympathy in Romy’s eyes.
“Well you’re not,” Romy said firmly. She was definitely curious about what Clay had said about protecting Harry before he even knew him, but whatever the origins of their friendship, it was still real and true. “Now,” she said, not about to let her cousin get into a self-indulgent moping session, “tell me what happened with Umbridge.”
It took a few minutes but eventually Clayton sighed, sitting up properly and withdrawing his wand. “Don’t tell anyone, I don’t want them to worry,” he said and Romy nodded. With her agreement that she would keep his secret, Clayton removed the glamour and showed her the injured hand.
“Oh, Clayton, what happened?” she asked, looking genuinely horrified as she took hold of his hand and gently ran her fingers over the words carved there.
“Umbridge happened,” Clay snapped pulling his hand back.
“What!” Romy exclaimed, horrified. “How, why?” she demanded to know, confused as to what that awful Umbridge woman might want and how she could have inflicted such a strange injury on Clayton.
“She gives you lines and makes you use her special quill, no ink required,” Clay explained bitterly. crossing his arms over his chest, mostly so that he could hide the back of his hand from Romy, even though she had already seen it.
“So you mean…?” Romy asked in a hushed voice, as she put the pieces together, realising what had happened, what Umbridge had done.
“Yep,” Clay confirmed, knowing that his smart cousin would figure out what the blood quill did using the few clues he had given her. “Under no circumstances are you or Harry to get a detention with that woman, do you understand me?” He could deal with her inflicting this upon him, but he wouldn’t let that evil woman lay one finger on Harry or Romy.
“Clayton, I’m not stupid enough to get caught,” Romy told him derisively.
“Well let’s just keep Harry from having to spend a single second alone with that woman,” he said, not about to argue about Romy’s ability to keep herself out of trouble.
“Agreed,” Romy said with a nod of her head. “I don’t think he could cope with that right now,” she added, thinking about how upset Harry had been the previous evening and how distressed he had been each time he had awoken in the night.
“He won’t have to cope with it ever if I can help it,” Clay said firmly. He didn’t care whether Harry was having the best or worst day of his life, he still wouldn’t let Umbridge hurt him.
“Come on, you great oaf,” Romy said, her voice tinged with affection. “Sit up and I’ll heal what I can, starting with your hand,” she instructed.
Clay looked mildly surprised at that but, given the pain he was in, wasn’t about to turn down such an offer. “I thought you wanted me to suffer,” he said, as he swung his legs off the sofa, taking care not to kick Romy, and sat up.
“I do but I think your guilt will be doing that enough,” she told him with a stern gaze.
“I really didn’t mean for things to get that out of hand,” Clay said quietly as Romy started casting a spell on his ribs, easing the pain there almost instantly.
“I know,” she said with a sigh, as she moved her attentions to the cut on his cheek. “You never do and yet it always does.”
“The Alpha is going to kill me isn’t he,” Clay said miserably.
“He isn’t going to be happy,” Romy agreed, though she was certain that ‘kill’ was an exaggeration; Clay was still one of the pack’s pups after all.
“Is Harry going to forgive me?” Clay asked once she was done healing the worst of the injuries on his face; though, with some of the swelling on his jaw, they were just going to have to wait for it to go down naturally.
“You could probably start by apologising,” Romy suggested.
Clay knew she was right, but he suspected that a simple apology might not cut it this time. “Now?” he asked, not sure if Harry was awake and hiding out in the dorm or actually still sleeping.
“No, it is still early,” Romy pointed out, “and with him having woken up with those nightmares, he could use all the sleep he can get. Let him rest a little longer.”
“Did I hurt him badly?” Clay asked, wondering just how much healing Romy had had to do on Harry the previous evening.
“I think the emotional scars will be worse than the physical ones,” Romy told him sadly. Harry already had too many emotional scars, and Clayton had ripped a lot of them open again with his words.
“I’m sorry, Romy,” Clayton told her earnestly, taking a deep breath to hold back the tears that were threatening to form. He hated that he had hurt his family so badly.
“Why are you apologising to me?” Romy asked with confusion. She was still a little mad at him but, for once, it wasn't actually her who he had caused problems with; plus he had finally opened up to her.
“I wasn’t exactly nice to you either,” Clay pointed out, cringing as he remembered the horrible things he had said. He had said that Romy was nothing to him, and that simply couldn’t have been further from the truth; she was so very precious to him.
“No, but you didn’t punch me,” Romy countered with a shrug; not that she thought that Clayton was likely to ever hit her, no matter what happened.
“And I never would,” Clay said pointedly. He didn’t like that he had hit Harry, and the idea of hitting Romy was even more repulsive.
“I know that,” Romy said dismissively, but glad to have her thoughts confirmed.
“I love you,” Clay told her, reaching out and brushing a thumb over her cheek as she cast a spell to check him for any other injuries.
“I know that too,” she said quietly.
“So you’re not denying it anymore?” Clay asked in surprise.
Romy scowled. “I’m accepting that you have feelings for me,” she told him. It was obviously a fruitless endeavour anyway, and she had bigger fish to fry. Not least of which being her own feelings about not only him, but Draco too.
“But not admitting you feel anything back?” Clay questioned, already thinking he knew the answer, but he couldn’t help the little bubble of hope in his chest.
“Clayton,” Romy growled warningly.
“Okay, okay,” Clay said with a chuckle, holding his hands up in surrender, “I’m dropping it now.”
“Thank you,” Romy said, feeling a little awkward now that they were just sitting there alone together.
“Just do me a favour,” Clay said after a few moment’s silence.
Romy turned to look at him questioningly. “Depends what it is,” she answered cautiously.
“Don’t break my heart, okay,” he requested, and Romy gave him a small gentle smile as she nodded.
“I will try not to,” she promised sincerely.

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Review responses:
Kat - Yes they are. Dumbledore and Lucius both think they are entitled to treat those in their lives that way though; they believe they know best and are important enough that they can do whatever they like. Give it time though ;)
Jan - Romy is a very complex character with a lot of doubts about her own self worth, she has been through a lot and on top of all that she is just fourteen years old; she genuinely believes that he couldn't possibly love her. You are right that she is learning a lot about herself at Hogwarts and growing as a person quickly, but not in the ways that you are expecting.
On top of that, Clayton is just as complex and has a whole load of issues himself, he is being quite pushy with his affections; while Romy is starting to accept that Clay's feelings might be real, the constant comments from both Clay and Harry are making it more difficult to get her thoughts straight.
In terms of the secrets being kept from Clay, I promise you that that will be dealt with in due time, both in terms of him learning the truth and the consequences of keeping such secrets; though I don't want to say anymore because that would be spoilers. I hope this helps :)
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Fragmented Soul