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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
- 68
- 69
- 70
Apologies for the delay in posting this chapter, but a few RL issues got in the way as they tend to do. But we hope you enjoy this chapter.

Fragmented Soul
Chapter 69 - Connections
They were in a little bit of a predicament, stood in the atrium of the Ministry of Magic with a psychotic mad man in front of them and four crazy werewolves out for blood not far behind. Harry was fairly sure that this was about as bad as things could have gone; however when one of the fireplaces flared to life, and Albus Dumbledore stepped out of the fire, matters only got worse.
“You have got to be fucking kidding me!” Harry, who was still in Fenrir's arms, exclaimed with exasperation at the sight of the headmaster. “Can’t we deal with one mad man at a time…? I think three of them is definitely pushing my limits. Assuming Gideon didn’t get himself lost on the Department of Mysteries indefinitely, but that is probably wishful thinking.”
“Tom, to what do we owe this pleasure?” Dumbledore asked a little pompously, ignoring Harry's remarks. The headmaster swept his way into the atrium towards them, as a witch with bright pink hair and haggard looking wizard came out of the floo just seconds later and came to join him.
“Ah, have you not heard, Albus,” Tom replied with forced sweetness, his gaze flicking over the two Aurors who had just arrived, “this is my ministry now.” There was a good reason he didn’t trust the Aurors to take care of important business; how could he when many of them were loyal to the headmaster.
“You have less power than you believe you do, Tom.” Dumbledore said, his tone imperious, as though he was imparting words of great wisdom, and his gaze too drifted to Tonks and Moody for a moment, a not so subtle reference to the control he still had left over some.
“I have more power than you,” Tom told him with certainty. It was he who controlled the Ministry, he who controlled the wizarding towns, and yet Dumbledore had one castle, a few loyal friends and some students.
“Not at Hogwarts, not yet,” Dumbledore said firmly. He would not see the school fall into the hands of Tom Riddle, of that he was sure. He could see no point in fighting over towns, or homes, or shops, or even the Ministry, when none of it would matter after Tom was defeated; they would all be returned to their rightful owners in time.
“Albus, have you managed to retrieve the lovely young girl who helped return me to this body yet?” Tom asked mockingly, smiling at the headmaster.
“I have made arrangements,” Dumbledore said dryly, not happy at the reminder that there were places in his school that were beyond his reach.
“If you two want to stand here and flirt, do you mind if we leave first?” Harry asked, butting in, really not in the mood to watch two men try to one up each other.
“Harry, I was rather under the impression that you were going to try and not get caught this evening,” the headmaster said, turning to look at the teenager, who was being held onto very tightly by the possessive Alpha wolf.
“This wasn’t exactly intentional,” Harry grumbled; he knew now that he had acted too impulsively, but he couldn't dwell on that, not until he had seen them all out of the situation safely.
“You planned this?” Fenrir almost roared, his fingers knotted in Harry's hair as he made his little mate meet his furious golden eyes; he was enraged that Harry had been planning this recklessness. “You confided in him and went behind my back!”
“Fen, I’m sorry…" he said earnestly, genuinely a little alarmed by the rage he could see in the Alpha's expression, "it really wasn’t like that!”
“You should have stopped him,” Fenrir snarled, glaring angrily at Clayton, even looking to Draco for a moment too.
“He would have just come on his own,” Draco pointed out, keen to defend himself. “What were we meant to do, tie him to a bed?” He wasn't about to let himself get punished for this when he had just been trying to help Harry
“YES!” Fenrir roared angrily at the young blond, releasing his grip on Harry's hair, but holding onto his mate just a little bit more tightly, tucking Harry's head in against his neck.
“And what about Remus?” Clay snapped, more than a little tired of being blamed for all of his best friend's stupid decisions. “There are far worse mistakes that he should have stopped Harry from making,” he said angrily, sure that he would never forgive the professor for helping Harry to take the unbreakable vow.
“Clayton!” Harry exclaimed, needing to get his friend to stop before Clayton ended up making the whole situation even worse; it was obvious that Fenrir was furious, and rightly so, Harry could admit, but that didn't mean they needed to throw fuel on the fire.
“ENOUGH!” Tom shouted; he had not come here tonight to listen to teenagers bickering.
"Voldemort, seriously, eat a cookie or something,” Harry said with an annoyed huff, “you probably just need a sugar boost." He knew he was going to have to explain to Fenrir what Clayton meant, and so would have to tell the Alpha about the vow now, thanks to Clayton’s big mouth. Even the thought of his mate's reaction made him feel nauseous and he really wasn’t in the mood for dealing with Voldemort; nor Dumbledore or Gideon for that matter.
"Harry, that's Lord Voldemort," Damon pointed out with exasperation, "he's a dark and dangerous man, and you just told him to go and eat a cookie?"
Harry shrugged. "He’s being seriously grumpy."
“Little one,” Fenrir started to chastise, but he was cut short but a loud clang and a roar of fury from the direction of the lifts. "Damon,” the Alpha barked out and, realising that Gideon and the other werewolves would be on them in mere moments, handed his mate over to his friend. “Take Harry, Clayton, Clayton's idiot of a blond brother and the other boy; go to Hogwarts, protect them," he instructed.
“No, I’m not leaving you,” Harry said desperately, fighting in vain to get out of Damon's arms and back to his mate.
“Don’t let them leave!” Voldemort shouted, drawing his wand and throwing an Incarcerous spell towards them, which was blocked only thanks to Lukas’ quick reactions.
“I can help, I can fight, please, Fenrir, I’m not a child!” Harry shouted, trying to free himself from Damon's strong and unrelenting grip, as the man tried to get the attention of the other teenagers, needing to get them out of there quickly as possible.
“Seize him,” Dumbledore instructed his two loyal Aurors, gesturing to Voldemort. He knew they weren’t ready to kill him just yet, but it would be much easier come the time, if they already had him captured. In the meantime he turned his attentions to the three huge werewolves, who were rapidly approaching where Harry was arguing with Greyback.
“We have to go, Harry,” Damon tried to insist, putting Harry down so that he could get hold of Clay, Draco and Cedric as well, but this was a mistake.
“Like hell I’m leaving Fenrir here!” Harry shouted, dodging out of Damon's grip and going back towards Fenrir, determined to fight, to help and to protect his mate.
“You will never betray me again, Greyback,” Tom cried out with fury. “Cruicio.”
“No you fucking don’t,” Harry said, throwing himself in front of the Alpha, the curse hitting him dead on. However, when the unforgivable hit him he didn’t fall to the floor writhing in pain, he remained on his feet, staring Tom straight in the eye and smiled. The grin on Tom’s face faltered as he realised that the torture curse was having no effect on Harry whatsoever.
“Harry, leave, now!” Fenrir roared, taking hold of his little mate once more, and passing him over to Damon once more.
“I’m not leaving you!” Harry said stubbornly, fighting against the hold that Damon once again had on him. There was no way that he was leaving his lover, his mate, here to fight with just Lukas to help him; it wouldn’t be enough, not against Voldemort and Dumbledore, not to mention the two Aurors.
“Yes, you are, Harry,” Damon said almost apologetically, apparating them across the room to one of the fireplaces and pushing all four boys in with him.
“FENRIR!!” Harry bellowed, as he saw Gideon get free of the spells Dumbledore was attacking him with and charge at the Alpha wolf, pouncing on Fenrir and gripping him with his silver hand.
Harry had only a second to register the pain and anger in his mate expression before Damon called out for the floo to take them to Professor Lupin’s office at Hogwarts school, sending the five of them through the floo.
FGHP
“I have to go back!” Harry shouted as the five of them landed in Remus’ office, tumbling out of the fire place and completely ignoring Theo, Romy and Remus, who were sat waiting for them. “We can’t just leave him there!”
“He has Lukas,” Damon said, keeping a firm hold on Harry, wanting to make sure that the young man couldn’t just use the floo to get back to the ministry and into whatever fight was going on there.
“What’s going on, where are the others?” Romy asked in a panic, getting to her feet but being completely ignored as she looked between the five men that had just arrived back.
“It’s not enough! We have to go back, we have to help him!” Harry shouted, struggling against Damon’s grip still. Clay and Draco were stood very silent, in shock almost, neither of them looking at the other. Cedric stepped forward, thinking that he would be able to calm Harry down but only managed to get pushed quite forcibly away by the little submissive werewolf.
“Clay…” Romy said, her voice trembling as she took a step toward her pack brother, knowing that something was wrong and not knowing what. She was terrified that something awful had happened, that someone had died and sent Clayton into shock.
“Then perhaps you will think twice before doing something this idiotic again,” Damon snapped at Harry; now that his worry had subsided, he was furious at the two boys, he couldn’t fathom why they would have done this.
“You don’t understand!” Harry shouted, managing to finally get out of Damon’s grip and turn to glare at him. “I had to get answers, and this was the only way. He shouldn’t have been there, none of them should have been; I don’t understand how they knew we were there.”
“The Carrows,” Draco said with dawning realisation; his mind was spinning with what Fenrir had called him, but Harry made a good point, Voldemort shouldn’t have been there. “They must have seen us leaving the school or something. That’s the only thing that makes sense, unless there is someone else reporting back to the Dark Lord here.”
“We’re brothers…” Clay said in disbelief, finally looking at Draco. “He said… Fenrir said…”
“You’re what?” Romy asked, gaping at Clayton and Draco in shock, even Theo stood up and came forward to stare at the two supposed siblings, trying to figure out if it was a joke or not.
“Yes, why does it not surprise me that the two of you are related!” Damon exclaimed, running his hands through his hair. “Both of you encourage Harry to go off and do stupid things,” he said, keeping himself between Harry and the fireplace as he tried to calm himself, despite the anger he felt, and the fear for both Fenrir and Lukas. He could barely even process the fact that Fenrir had said that Clay was related to Draco, was his brother.
“Now you say that, they do look a little alike,” Harry said thoughtfully, narrowing his eyes and looking back and forward between his two best friends. It was difficult to tell, what with their polar opposite hair, and with Clay’s eyes being as dark as Draco’s were light, but facially they had definite similarities.
“I’m still angry with you, Harry,” Damon said firmly, taking the teenager by the arm and dragging him over to sit down in the chair that Theo had got up from, hoping it would be far easier to keep the rebellious young man from diving back through the floo that way.
“What are you going to do, spank me?” Harry asked, glaring up at the man he considered a second father figure in his life. “We’re in the middle of a war and truthfully I’d rather you leave the spanking to Fenrir.”
“Don’t tempt me,” Damon said firmly. He had only ever smacked Clayton a couple of times in all his years as his father, and every time it had been when his son had scared him badly enough that he just reacted before thinking; however, he couldn’t help but wonder what it was going to take to get Harry to stop being so reckless.
“Are you seriously going to just gloss over the fact that Fenrir Greyback said that we’re related?” Draco asked, still feeling sceptical and a little in shock. He certainly couldn’t see the similarities that Harry had mentioned.
“Yeah, how did he know that?” Harry asked, turning to look to Damon for answers. He didn’t doubt that if Fenrir had said it, it was true, and although he had a fair idea how his mate had known, he thought that Draco had a right to hear about it; not to mention that Damon explaining about Fen was preferable to yelling at him.
“We’re assuming he’s right?” Draco asked curiously, giving Harry an odd look.
“Fenrir has a uniquely strong sense of smell; he would have been able to scent the familial link,” Damon grunted, wondering if Fenrir had known about Clay’s true parentage all along. He certainly didn’t doubt the validity of Fenrir’s claim, but wished that his friend had just told him the truth rather than just dropping it into conversation while yelling at him to get the pups to safety.
“Nice diversionary tactic, Harry,” Clayton said quietly, sitting down in the chair next to Harry’s, genuinely impressed and knowing full well that Harry knew exactly how Fenrir would have known; even he knew about the Alpha’s ability, having known that that was how Fenrir had found Lukas, even if that was a sire link as opposed than a familial one.
“Thanks,” Harry said with a half-smile. He was still fighting the urge to jump up and dive back through the floo, to go and help his mate. He was terrified for both Fenrir and Lukas and sitting there talking was so difficult.
“Is someone going to tell us what exactly is going on?” Remus asked impatiently. He was glad that Harry, Clayton, Cedric and Draco had returned safely, but they were not being particularly forthcoming with details on what had happened at the Ministry.
“We ran into some unexpected problems,” Harry told him a little cryptically. It had actually all been going brilliantly, right up until Voldemort had stepped out of those shadows, making feeble attempts to win his loyalty. And Gideon; why did Voldemort have to bring that monster? Even the sight of him made Harry’s stomach lurch violently, both with the memories of what had been done to him and the knowledge of what that man had done to Romy.
“And the award for understatement of the year goes to...” Cedric said with dry humour from where he was leaning against a wall. He felt like he didn’t really belong there among them, but wanted to stay and make sure the others were okay; it wasn’t as though he thought he would be able to sleep at all tonight anyway.
“Voldemort showed up,” Harry said with a sigh. It was difficult admitting how badly things had gone, and he was sure now that Draco was right; the Carrows must have seen them leave, it was the only way that Voldemort could have known, the only way he could think of for the moment anyway.
“With Gideon, an Alpha werewolf who is in Voldemort’s pocket, in tow,” Clay added, glancing at Romy to make sure she was okay; even at the mention of the man’s name he saw her flinch, and he gave her an apologetic smile. “He had a couple of members of his pack there too.”
“And my Father,” Draco added quietly. He had no idea how that was going to play out now; there was a chance he could persuade them that he had to keep Harry’s loyalty to act as a spy, but he knew that neither his father, nor Voldemort, would ever trust him properly again.
“Our Father apparently,” Clay pointed out bitterly, looking and sounding far from happy about this fact. It was so strange, because he had never really cared who his biological parents were, but now he suddenly was faced with the knowledge that his father was Lucius Malfoy, that the man presumably had an affair or something, that he had been the product of.
“Don’t remind me,” Draco sneered. It wasn’t that he had anything against Clay, but being related to him was going to take some serious getting used to; not to mention the implications that their father must have cheated on Narcissa, given how close in age he and Clay were, a matter of weeks if he remembered correctly. He supposed he probably shouldn’t be surprised by this but he had at least thought the early years of his parents’ marriage had been good.
“I’m glad being related to me seems to be repulsive to you,” Clay snarled. He didn’t know what Draco had to be so bitter about, he had known his whole life that he was a Malfoy, that he was related to Lucius; it wasn’t like Draco had just had half of his identity thrown into question.
“It’s not like you seem any happier about it then I am,” Draco pointed out.
“I should be the one that’s repulsed, but that’s because that bell end is apparently my father,” Clay told him. “I can deal with being your brother, as weird as that is, but his son… urg.”
“Yeah, well he is a dick…” Draco admitted, unable to deny that there were times when he had been fairly disgusted with his father. “Oh, I guess that means you’re Brax’s brother too,” he added, the realisation sinking in.
“Two little brothers,” Clay said, shaking his head, ignoring the way that Draco glared at him for referring to him as his little brother. “That’s weird.”
“I’ll say,” Draco agreed.
“This is really sweet… and totally strange,” Theo interrupted. He had known Draco for most of his life and to find out that he had an older brother, even if it was a half brother who was less than two weeks older, it was very weird to think about. “But how about we get back to the Voldemort showing up bit,” he suggested, still not really sure about what had happened at the Ministry.
“Yes, where are Fenrir and Lukas?” Romy demanded to know. It was only the calm of Harry, Damon and Clay that was keeping her from really panicking; they had mentioned Voldemort and Harry had been shouting for the Alpha, so she doubted that Fenrir and Lukas were safe, but the relative calm of her pack mates was helping her hold it together.
“Fighting,” Harry said unhappily. He was fidgeting in his seat, wanting nothing more than to return to the Ministry and help; it was his fight after all, he didn’t want them to fight it for him. It was taking a lot of self-restraint not to throw himself into the fire and go back, and if he believed he could get passed the others in the room he would have gone.
“Against Voldemort or Gideon?” Romy asked, looking scared, not at all sure which of those two options was preferable. She glanced towards the fireplace, half wishing she could go help them, but knowing that Damon and Clay would no sooner let her go than Harry.
“Both,” Damon said with a frown; he too was wishing that he could have stayed and fought. It felt rather unsettling to have been sent away with the pups; however, he knew why Fenrir had made the decision to send him and not Lukas back to Hogwarts. Clay would never have left him to fight and would have put up as much of a battle as Harry; at least this way Clay had more or less been on his side.
“And Dumbledore’s there too, though I am pretty certain the vow will keep him from being a threat to Fen or Lukas,” Harry said before casting a glare at Clayton; “Something that Clay has just let slip to Fenrir!”
“Not completely,” Clay said trying to defend himself. He hadn’t intentionally cornered Harry into telling Fenrir about the vow, not really, though he couldn’t bring himself to regret it. Despite all of Romy’s hard work, they had found nothing to get Harry out of it, so now it could be the adults’ turn to try and figure something out.
“Yeah but he won’t let it go now!” Harry said angrily, still glaring at his best friend. He knew that Fenrir would have had to be told eventually but not like that, not in the middle of a fight and certainly not when the Alpha was already furious at him for doing something that he wasn’t meant to.
“Fenrir had to know eventually, Harry,” Damon said gently; though he was still fuming at the teenagers, he didn’t want the two of them to start fighting. Things always seemed to spiral out of control whenever that happened.
“No, he didn’t… he’s going to mad enough at me as it is,” Harry said, suddenly sounding hopeless and utterly defeated. So many doubts and uncertainties were going through his mind, hating that Fenrir was going to be angry at him, possibly angry enough that he might discard him.
“He has every right to be!” Clay snapped, not believing that he had been in the wrong at all. He was happy to see that his Dad nodded in agreement to this sentiment.
Romy came to curl up on the floor beside Clayton’s chair, resting her head against his thigh, knowing that it would calm him down to have her there. She didn’t want them all fighting either and she knew that it was going to be a rather trying evening as it was.
“Don’t you think I know that?” Harry snapped, realising just how much he had fucked up this time. He had been in such a bad mood, all he had wanted was answers and he wasn’t sure that he had got them. “… Is he going to leave me?” the teenager asked, looking to Damon as he voiced his fears.
No one noticed Cedric’s ears prick up at this question; the head boy had been observing everything going on, trying to remain unnoticed and not get involved but the thought that Fenrir might leave Harry, it was music to his ears; however, the pain in the younger teen’s voice was not and was even a little hard to stomach. Cedric was starting to realise just how in love with the large violent man, Harry was.
“Don’t be so fucking stupid,” Clay snapped, “of course he won’t leave you. Merlin, haven’t you figured that bit out yet?” Harry grimaced at the harsh tone his friend used with him, and he brought his legs up and curled himself into a ball, resting his chin upon his knees as he watched the fireplace, waiting for Fenrir to come to find him.
“He’s going to be so angry though,” Harry muttered softly, fighting the tears that were beginning to well up in his eyes at the thought of his Alpha and mate punishing him again. It had been hard enough to endure the first time, despite the sex afterwards being astoundingly fabulous.
“Oh yeah,” Clay said in agreement, a little calmer now as he had brought his hand up to run his fingers through Romy’s hair. Her presence by his side doing exactly what Romy had hoped it would do and settling the adrenaline fuelled teenager down.
“Very angry,” Damon said with a sigh, taking in the gathered crowd in the small office, wondering how it had come to this. Three non-werewolves, one man who wasn’t sure if he wanted to join their pack or not, two disobedient pups on the cusp of adulthood and all of them in the middle of a war that they had no control over but were neck deep in.
“Absolutely livid I would think,” Romy told him with very little sympathy. She had tried to warn Harry what a bad idea it was and he had chosen to ignore her; he had put many members of their pack and two friends in serious danger; she honestly felt that Fenrir being pushed to the point of punishing Harry severely for his behaviour might be best for everyone.
“Thanks,” Harry said sarcastically. Despite his attitude he knew that he deserved his mate’s anger, it was hard for him to think about but whatever Fenrir decided he would accept it.
“Harry I haven’t a question for you,” Draco said, breaking the tension and asking something that had been on his mind since it had happened in the Ministry.
“Sure,” Harry said with a shrug, looking to Draco and wondering what it was that was on his mind.
“After everything we went through to get that damn prophecy, you just smashed it; why?” Draco asked, looking at his friend curiously.
Harry shrugged. “Seemed like a good idea at the time,” he told him; he felt mentally exhausted and couldn't really work out how to explain it any better. “I didn’t want Voldemort to hear it.”
“You smashed the prophecy?” Romy asked, sitting up a little to gape at Harry as if he had well and truly gone barmy. She couldn’t believe that they had gone to all that effort, caused all this trouble and put their pack in danger only to smash the thing that they had gone to get.
“Yeah, but I did get to hear it,” Harry said, trying to alleviate her worries a little. He didn’t want her to think that it had all been a waste after all and he knew that that was what she had been thinking.
“So did You-Know-Who,” Cedric said with a grimace. He knew that Harry had meant well, trying to ensure that Voldemort couldn’t get his hands on it but smashing it had backfired horribly and now they all knew what it had said.
“Yeah, didn’t really occur to me that smashing it might make it actually play back the prophecy,” Harry said with a small shrug of his shoulders. “At least now we know, one less secret.”
“Know what?” Damon asked with concern.
“Neither one of us can live while the other survives,” Harry said in a small whisper. Before anyone could say anything in response to this however, the fireplace came to life with brilliant emerald green flames and Albus Dumbledore stepped out looking entirely unscathed, though a little tired.
Everyone fell silent, waiting. However, when nothing happened, when no-one else came through, Harry was suddenly in a panic with the thought that something had happened to Lukas or Fenrir and all because of him. It made him want to fight and scream and be sick all at the same time. He was up on his feet within seconds, demanding to know what had happened.
“Where are they, where are Lukas and Fen? What happened, why aren’t they here? Why didn’t they come back with you?” Harry shouted, grabbing at the headmaster's robes and shaking him as hard as he could as if this would make the elderly man give him the answers he needed faster.
“We fought until Tom and his surviving friends fled the Ministry,” Dumbledore explained calmly, ignoring the frantic teenager and what he was doing. His calmness, however, only made Harry more enraged.
“Then why aren’t they here?” Harry demanded, shouting at the elderly man, unable to control his temper. “Are they okay? Are they hurt?”
“To my knowledge they are fine, I simply left first,” Dumbledore said, removing Harry's hands from his robes and sidestepping the frantic teenage boy. “Cedric, Theodore and Draco, it is the early hours of the morning and you all have class in the morning; I will speak to the three of you at lunchtime about tonight’s festivities. Please return to your dormitories.”
Cedric nodded and went to leave without question, though not without casting a worried look over to Harry, who ignored it. Draco and Theo, however, stood their ground, not wanting to leave their friends, but Harry gave them a small nod and a smile of thanks; there was no point them staying for this, not if it was going to get ugly.
“Are you suggesting we don’t have class in the morning?” Romy asked the headmaster snidely, as Theo, Cedric and Draco reluctantly left the office. “Or do you just want to see us suffer a little more.”
“Actually, Miss Howard, I thought you would like to see your pack members before I sent you off to bed as well,” Dumbledore told her curtly.
“Don’t act like you’re doing us any favours,” Harry spat out, his fists clenched by his sides as he paced the length of the office, clearly agitated. “You’re the one who suggested I go after the damn prophecy to begin with.”
“I’m sure I don’t know what you mean, Mr Prince,” Dumbledore said innocently. He had certainly never told him to do it, though he had implied it heavily. He had wanted to see what the teenager could do after all and he had proved himself to some extent.
“Oh don’t go acting all fucking high and mighty with me,” Harry snarled, glaring hatefully at the old man, hardly able to believe that the headmaster was actually trying to deny his involvement in this. If he had ever hated someone as much as he did Albus Dumbledore then he didn’t remember, he wasn’t sure even Gideon and his gang of mutts came close.
“Language,” Damon said warningly. He didn’t care what was going on, or how angry Harry got, he wasn’t going to accept any pups of his to use language like that.
“He’s the one who wanted me to do this, he got what he wanted and look what’s happened,” Harry raged, turning to Damon, feeling as if there was no one on his side. He knew he had been a little rash in his decision making and gone off without thinking of the consequences but he had needed to hear that prophecy, not that it had helped him much. At least now he knew though, Vow or no vow this was his fight.
“You should have known better,” Damon snapped. “He is a meddlesome old fool, who you knew you shouldn’t trust. Now sit down and wait; Lukas and Fenrir should be back soon.”
No sooner had these words left Damon’s lips, than did the fireplace burst into life once again, this time a tired looking Lukas stepping out. Damon almost had to catch him to stop him from toppling over he looked so exhausted and beaten up.
“Fenrir…” Lukas said, trying to catch his breath, knowing that he needed to tell the others, they had to know so that they could help Fenrir.
“What about him, where is he?” Harry asked, pouncing on his pack brother; no one noticed the look of horror as something dawned on Remus when the professor looked at Lukas. He had seen the young man before of course but there had been so much going on, Harry had been in danger.
Now that they were in a smaller, more enclosed space, now that he was calmer, he was able to pick up on the scents of each wolf in the room. He didn’t think that it could be possible; the boy who he had bitten was dead, he had been so sure of that, he had killed him and yet the young man before him, who looked so tired and in pain, smelt like family in a way that could only mean one thing.
“Aurors… they took him, something about arresting him,” Lukas managed to say. The colour almost instantly drained from Harry’s face, making him as white as a sheet. His legs seemed to give up the effort to keep his standing as he fell to his knees, on the floor. It was all his fault, his mate was a wanted man and his actions had forced Fenrir to go to the Ministry and now he had been arrested.
This was his worst nightmare, Fenrir gone, his mate, his Alpha… he was gone. His stomach felt as if it might expel its entire contents as the shock radiated through him. He had to get him back, he just had to.
Turning to the headmaster and looking up at him pleadingly Harry said, “Get him back,” his voice soft and demanding all at the same time. He struggled to stand and eventually Clay had to help him to his feet as he repeated his request, this time a little more forcefully.
“I’m not sure I can,” Dumbledore said regretfully. He wasn’t sure what had happened, he had been under the impression that Greyback and the young werewolf were going to follow him back through the floo, he had no clue what had happened after he had left, it was certainly nothing he had sanctioned. Having Greyback arrested would serve no purpose, not when he needed Harry to cooperate with him.
“This is hurting my Pack,” Harry said venomously. “You should be dead; why are you not dead?”
“Because he was not arrested on my orders, nor with my knowledge!” Dumbledore said rather stiffly, wanting to point out that he had no need for Greyback to be arrested, not to mention there was nowhere to hold him, not with Azkaban in the hands of Deatheaters; it simply wouldn’t have been a logical action to take.
“Fine, I don’t care! Get him back or I don’t fight!” Harry yelled, not caring if he lived or died in that moment because without Fenrir, without his dominant mate, he was nothing, at least he felt as if he was nothing. He didn’t want to consider his life without Fenrir in it. He would do whatever it took to get his Alpha back, not only for himself but for his pack too; they needed Fenrir or else they were going to fall apart.
“Then it will be you who dies,” Dumbledore responded tersely, not really believing that Harry would willingly die for something so silly. However, the fire in Harry’s eyes made him doubt the validity of this and he wondered if Harry really would die just to save his mate; after all the boy had taken the vow, risking his life to protect Severus and his pack.
“So be it!” Harry raged, crossing his arms over his chest stubbornly and maintaining a solid glare at the headmaster, daring the old man to challenge him on this, to call his bluff and see what happened.
“Harry!” Romy gasped in shock, getting to her feet and coming to stand by Clayton, linking her hand with his, terrified about what was going to happen and just wishing that her parents were here to help sort it out.
“It was those two Aurors you brought with you,” Lukas said to the headmaster. “I get this wasn’t something you wanted them to do, but you must be able to do something.”
Dumbledore sighed, wondering what on earth Tonks and Moody were up to. He knew that Greyback was a fugitive, wanted for numerous crimes but to arrest him when they had no way of holding him… however, there was one place they could have taken him, the only place he knew that would have been able to hold a man like Greyback because it had been designed to contain a transformed werewolf.
“There is one place we can try,” Dumbledore said with a slightly annoyed huff. It was already late, he had had to spend his evening fighting Tom and a group of werewolves, even going so far as to try and protect Greyback from harm, he certainly wasn’t in the mood to be traipsing off trying to fix what Tonks and Moody had taken upon themselves to do.
“Then we go there. Now,” Harry insisted, not about to budge of this an inch. He was getting his mate back.
“Very well,” the headmaster agreed, unsurprised that Harry was insisting on sorting this immediately; he was quite certain that it could wait until morning, that Greyback would be perfectly fine for a few hours, but it was clear that Harry was not going to be that patient. “The rest of you can wait here. I do not wish you to be wandering around my castle.”
“Harry… I can’t permit you to go on your own,” Damon said stepping forward and placing a hand on Harry’s arm to stop him from storming towards the fireplace.
“Then come or send Lukas with me, I don’t care, I’m going to get Fen,” Harry said stubbornly. “Besides Dumbledore won’t hurt me, he can’t, I’ll be safe with just him.”
“I’ll go if you like,” Clay said, not really wanting to leave Romy but knowing that she would be safe here and Harry might not be, wherever it was that the headmaster was taking him.
“You’ve caused enough trouble,” Damon hissed at his son. “You’ll stay here,” he told him firmly, not about to let Harry and Clayton head off alone with the meddlesome headmaster.
“I assure you all, Harry will be in no danger while accompanying me,” Dumbledore told them, finding all the bickering a little tiring. It was obvious that the werewolves were all rather on edge, but it just grated on his nerves. “We will return shortly.”
“Damon, we can’t let Harry go alone,” Lukas said, wincing as he tried to stand on his own two feet without aid, clearly having been injured in the fight.
“And you can barely stand,” Damon chastised, knowing that he couldn’t send Lukas off with Harry and Dumbledore any more than he could leave him here. He was going to have to trust in the Vow and hope that Fenrir didn’t get too pissed off that they had let Harry go alone with Dumbledore to rescue him.
“The vow will keep me safe,” Harry told them. “I might not trust him, but I am certain that it is in his best interests to keep me safe,” he pointed out. “We will be back soon.” He understood that Damon didn’t feel right letting him leave with Dumbledore, but he honestly didn’t think he was going to be in any danger.
“Okay, someone is seriously going to have to tell me what this vow is,” Lukas said with a frown as Damon helped him over to the chair next to where Clay was sitting.
“Sure, I bet the others would love to tell you all about it while we go get Fenrir,” Harry suggested, looking between Damon, Clay, Remus and Romy hopefully. He really didn’t want to have to watch yet another person he loved react to being told about the vow and he had no doubt that Lukas would understand the full implications of it very quickly.
“Harry…” Lukas said, looking at him with concern.
“Sorry, really got to go,” Harry said, stepping into the fireplace next to Dumbledore, who was apparently done waiting. “I’m really sorry,” he said, before the headmaster called out their destination.
FGHP
Aiden wrinkled his nose in disgust at the smell of unwashed bodies and faeces which hit him as he came into the small area where the fire was. Ragged sleeping bags were strewn all over the place, with many of the pack asleep on top of them, not caring that their Alpha and three of their pack were off fighting and certainly not caring about the dirty clothes thrown haphazardly around; though they all took care not to disturb Axlar's knitting over by one of the trees. The whole place was disgusting.
Having a large group of men, who were not keen on personal hygiene, living together for long periods of time was clearly going to kill them all with dysentery; it might have done already if they hadn't been werewolves. Aiden had never before lived in such vile conditions but none of the others seemed to care much at all; Gideon certainly didn't. Not even Dean complained about it at all, having grown used to the smell and the mess.
There hadn't been many new wolves arriving in a while, but there were still over a two dozen of them, though the total number lessened or grew depending on how many new arrivals there were and how many killed off in the inevitable fights. Gideon was keeping them all firmly under lock and key; the only freedom they had was on the full moons, though even then they weren't allowed to stray far.
The latest arrival, who had appeared two weeks previously, was the youngest yet. He was a timid little thing, clearly terrified of the huge dominant wolves that were roaming around. The boy was smart though and kept quiet, kept away from everyone and Aiden had seen to it that he had been fed and looked after. Aiden could see him sleeping peacefully off to the side of their clearing, a short distance from where most of the others were. A few of them had stayed awake waiting for Gideon’s return, but at only ten years old, Niko had just got too tired.
It had taken about a week after he had arrived but the young boy had finally opened up. Aiden had learnt that his name was Niko; the young boy’s parents were muggleborns and had worked for the ministry of magic but had been killed by Deatheaters in the purge, unable to escape in time. He'd been contained in a locked room after he had been bitten and once the full moon had passed and his werewolf status confirmed, brought here. What had horrified Aiden most was that Niko was only a child, ten years old, not even old enough to go to Hogwarts.
He might not have been able to step foot in the wizarding world for a while but Aiden thought it must be pretty awful out there if this is what was happening. Though what was going on in their pack wasn't much better; if you wanted to stay alive you had to keep your head down and not make a fuss because there was always someone who wanted you dead. He was amazed that he had survived this long as it was.
He was forcing himself to stay awake, so that he could watch over the young boy, feeling oddly protective of him. The ten year old was sleeping soundly, in both Aiden’s sleeping bag and his own, as it was so cold. Settling himself a few feet away, slightly hidden from the clearing by the undergrowth, Aiden allowed himself to relax a little, wondering if his cousin was faring any better than he was.
He didn’t know exactly where Dean, Gideon, and the two others, whose names he didn’t even know, had been summoned to go fight, but he was thankful that they weren’t being ordered to attack the Greyback pack; not yet at least. He wasn’t sure if Gideon was still corresponding with Tessie, but he was fairly sure that she was still alive and living in Greyback’s territory.
There was a pop of apparition a short distance away, and those of them that were awake turned and looked towards it; some of them, including Aiden, pulled out their wands. A few seconds later though, Dean appeared through the trees.
“Just me,” he grunted out. “The Dark Lord is speaking with Gideon, the others are dead,” he told them bluntly, seeing no reason to pull punches given how little anyone here seemed to care about anyone else.
There were nods of understanding and several of the pack members who had been staying awake went to lie down, apparently appeased enough to feel they could sleep now, while others went back to what they were doing to pass the time.
“The Dark Lord is speaking with Gideon?” Aiden asked sceptically as Dean headed over and sat down next to him. “Why do I get the feeling that there is less talking, more cursing going on?”
“Well I don’t think that the Dark Lord was particularly pleased with how the evening turned out, so yeah, I imagine there might be a few curses thrown around,” Dean said uncaring with a shrug. “I didn’t exactly stick around long enough to find out.”
“Want to tell me what happened?” Aiden asked. He considered Dean the closest thing to a friend he had at the moment, so he would listen if he wanted to talk; besides he didn’t often get to hear about things happening outside their pack and territory.
“Not really,” Dean said dismissively, but Aiden looked curious. “We were there to try and catch that Harry Prince boy, but Greyback showed up, then Dumbledore, and it all went to shit. They all got away though, and once the Prince boy was gone, the Dark Lord pretty much ordered us out of there; not that Gideon could resist the chance to have us fight Greyback.”
“Hence two dead,” Aiden said, nodding his head in understanding.
“Didn’t help that Dumbledore seemed to be helping Greyback,” Dean snarled. He didn’t particularly care for the majority of their pack, but it still irked him to see them killed. “Guess that little submissive, Prince, is a good enough lay to persuade Greyback to work for Albus Dumbledore,” he said derisively.
Aiden just nodded; he really didn’t care who was loyal to who but if Greyback truly was working with Dumbledore then the Alpha werewolf just might have enough power to protect his pack. And that was the kind of protection that Aiden was going to need if he was going to get himself and Niko out of there.
FGHP
The second that they appeared in Ingleton, Harry wrenched his arm out of Dumbledore’s grip, not wanting to touch the man any longer than was necessary; they had had to floo to the wizarding pub, the Hog’s Head, which Harry now knew was owned and run by Dumbledore’s brother, and then had apparated from there.
It took Harry a moment to get his bearings, as he looked around the town they had appeared in; though, the second that he realised where they were, he had to take a moment to catch his breath as all his memories of a happy childhood came rushing back; and then the nightmare of what had happened when he had had to run when the Aurors attacked.
“What are we doing here?” Harry asked, looking over to the headmaster suspiciously. He wasn’t sure what motivation the old man would have to bring him here, he had more happy memories here than bad ones.
“It is the only place I could think of that would be capable of holding a werewolf,” the headmaster explained simply. As these words sunk in Harry’s eyes went wide in a mixture of shock and realisation.
“Fen,” he said, his voice soft and broken as he ran off towards his old house. It hadn’t changed much; the front door was still locked so the teenager skirted around the building to where he knew the rear door would still be hanging off its hinges.
Dumbledore didn’t try to stop him, simply following in the young man’s wake as Harry ran ahead. He thought that it might be fairly amusing to see what Harry would do when faced with two Aurors, who would not let him get close to Greyback without a fight. He certainly wasn’t going to warn either of them that a hormonal and enraged werewolf was coming their way, looking for his mate who they had taken prisoner.
Wand drawn, Harry burst through the back door, firing a stunning spell directly at the war torn man who had been stood in the kitchen. Alastor Moody was fast and managed to shield himself; however, as Harry fired stunner after stunner at Moody, his age slowed him down until he just wasn’t fast enough and the jet of red light hit him squarely in the chest.
Charging towards the door to the basement, Harry wrenched it open and fired more stunning spells into the darkness. A scream alerted him to the fact that he had hit his target. Then silence descended and very carefully Harry went down, taking one step at a time, using his wand as a light. He was familiar with the layout of the house, he knew which steps creaked and which ones didn’t, avoiding making any sound.
As he neared the bottom a jet of blue light came shooting towards him but he was able to duck out of the way just in time as several more spells were fired in his direction. Apparently the scream had been misdirection to make him think it was clear, that he was safe. However, he was determined; he was getting Fen no matter what the cost.
Harry managed to erect a shield charm against the spells the Auror was firing in his direction before firing off several of his own. It was made harder by the fact that he could barely make out where his target was but he kept firing every spell that he knew until they stopped being fired at him; though he kept a shield charm in front of him, not to be fooled twice.
“HARRY!” A familiar roar sounded through the door where Harry knew his cage to be. His heart almost skipped a beat when he heard his mate’s voice. Throwing caution to the wind and hoping that the person firing spells at him was unconscious, Harry dropped the shield and ran for the door that he knew Fenrir to be behind.
“Fen,” Harry said as he threw open the door and saw his mate. The Alpha was hurt, some of his chest and throat was burnt, it made Harry tense up to see that the burns were in the shape of a hand and he could make out each of the five fingers on his mate’s neck.
Fenrir was crouched in the middle of the cage, not touching any of the bars, not wanting to do himself any more injuries. Harry could feel the silver heavy in the air and it was a struggle to step foot into the room; it made him wonder how he had ever managed to come in here before, let alone choose to every month.
“Where are the others?” Fenrir demanded as Harry came forward. Using his wand the teenager started to undo the locking charms the Aurors had put in place, not caring as his hands touched the silver bars, burning his skin, the sight and smell making the Alpha male growl unhappily that his mate was being hurt. “Be careful,” Fenrir snapped irritably.
“They’re safe. They had to stay behind, I came with Dumbledore,” Harry explained in a rush as he managed to unlock the cage and open the door. Despite his injuries, Fenrir came out and scooped Harry up and into his arms, carrying him from the room and slamming the door shut, giving them a barrier so that the silver could no longer hurt them.
“Quite impressive, I must admit,” Dumbledore said. He was standing at the top of the stairs down to the basement, nodding his head in approval, seeing that Harry had already found his way into Greyback’s arms, Tonks lying unconscious at the Alpha’s feet.
“No one takes my mate from me or our pack,” Harry snarled, and Fenrir had to tighten his grip on his little mate to keep him from throwing himself up the stairs to charge at the headmaster.
“Perhaps you would be so kind as to bring Tonks up with you,” Dumbledore said almost conversationally, a small smile on his lips. He was truly impressed with how easily Harry had got passed two trained Aurors, and he had to wonder if Severus had actually trained the boy such combat techniques; most convenient really, would save him the trouble later.
“Do it yourself,” Fenrir grunted as he carried Harry up the stairs, taking them two at a time, before barging passed Dumbledore into the kitchen. The headmaster frowned at that, but said nothing, instead levitating Tonks up the stairs.
“They had no right to be here, to use this house,” Harry said firmly, glaring at the still unconscious man on the kitchen floor. “It's bad enough that you and they came here once," he snarled at the headmaster, "that you did what you have to my Dad, but to use this place against my mate… You have NO idea how angry I am right now,” he sneered, as Dumbledore lowered Tonks’ body so that it was next to Moody’s.
“I believe you are already perfectly aware that this was not on my orders,” Dumbledore said calmly, not really caring how angry Harry was getting; the young man had his mate back and that was more than Dumbledore felt he had to do for him.
“Yeah, because you have been so bloody helpful this evening,” Harry snapped hatefully at the headmaster.
“He saved me,” Fenrir admitted reluctantly, looking at the elderly wizard unhappily. He knew he ought to be grateful that Dumbledore had saved his life but he just bringing himself to be, not knowing how much he was putting Harry through.
“He only brought me here because I insisted and argued with him, and said I wouldn’t help him unless he did,” Harry told him with a scowl. “I would hardly say he saved you.”
“At the Ministry. He saved me from Gideon,” Fenrir explained. “Gideon got the upper hand, he would have killed me.” He didn’t really want to admit this to himself, let alone say it aloud but he needed Harry to hear it, he needed his precious little mate to know what had almost happened because he couldn’t do what he was told. This was the second time that he had almost died to protect his mate.
“Fuck, Fen,” Harry said cuddling into his mate, turning his head to look at Dumbledore. “I… appreciate what you did,” he said, trying to keep the bitterness from his voice. It was as close to a thank you as the headmaster would ever get from him.
Fenrir tightened his grip around his mate, holding him close, relieved that he had Harry back in his arms. He was furious at him for what he had done but the fact they had both survived and were here to be mad at one another meant that for the moment the Alpha could curb his instinct to punish Harry for what he had done. For now.
“Wake them up,” Harry said in a moment of decision. “I want to hear you tell them that they are never to step foot here again. I want you to tell them that the only time they are to ever come near a member of our pack is to protect them.”
“I cannot guarantee that they will promise me such things, Harry,” Dumbledore said tersely. “And I will not be able to be certain they will stick to them, even if they do.”
“They’re your lackeys, you tell them, even if they don’t listen but I’m warding this house up; when my Dad wakes up he’ll want to come home," Harry told him, "this is my house until then, no one else can come here.”
“Little one, your father is dead…” Fenrir said, looking down at Harry in his arms with concern, wondering if the headmaster had actually managed to manipulate Harry into thinking that it would be possible to bring Severus back.
“Oh, um, well, actually he isn’t,” Harry said, giving his mate an apologetic smile, his eyes pleading with his mate to not be too mad at him. He had honestly forgotten that Fenrir didn’t know this particular detail.
“Explain,” Fenrir said gruffly, his concerned expression morphing into one of annoyance. That was a fair big secret for Harry to have been keeping and he didn’t understand why it was something his mate wouldn’t have told him. Of course he didn’t like the idea of Harry wanting to go back to living with his Dad, especially given Severus was the one who had given Harry the wolfsbane potion and locked him in a silver cage, but he knew how much Harry loved his Dad, and he wouldn’t want to keep Harry away from him.
“Later?” Harry requested, looking up at him with wide eyes, pleading with him to understand.
Fenrir glanced at Dumbledore. As much as he wanted answers, he didn’t want to talk in front of the headmaster, so he turned back to his mate. “Later,” he agreed with a curt nod.
“Thank you, I will explain it all, I promise,” Harry said, his heart feeling heavy, knowing how badly his mate would take some of what he would have to say, the vow in particular. He felt a little bad for hoping that maybe giving Fenrir all the bad news while he was already mad, might mean that he only punished him once.
“Perhaps you and your friends would like to spend the next two nights at home, to recover,” Dumbledore suggested, hoping to skip over whatever discussion Harry and Greyback seemed to need to have.
“Why would you do that for us?” Harry questioned, frowning at the headmaster, not trusting his motives. He was quite certain that if he couldn’t see what was in it for Dumbledore, then that was only because he had missed something.
“I believe that you have much to talk about and you have been through a lot,” the headmaster said a little impatiently, growing rapidly tired of having to explain himself; it was not something he was accustomed to having to do. “Only Mr Danes is behind on his school work and besides, I think the school can probably do with a break from your antics,” he added pointedly.
“They will come home,” Fenrir said with certainty, not about to argue or question it if Dumbledore was going to willingly allow them home for two nights. He needed to talk to his mate; he would need to punish him too because there was no way that he could let his mate’s behaviour slide, not when it was something so serious.
“Will you tell Draco and Theo where we are and that we’re okay?” Harry asked, not wanting his friends to worry that something else had happened. If he had a chance, he would ask Remus to talk to them too, because even if Dumbledore agreed, he didn’t trust him to pass the message along.
“And what of Mr Diggory?” Dumbledore asked curiously. He had seen the head boy’s apparent affection for Harry over the last few months, but he wasn’t sure how Cedric had come to be part of the little group that had ventured into the Department of Mysteries.
“I never wanted him involved, he tagged along because he caught us leaving the castle,” Harry said dismissively. “I don’t much care if he knows or not,” he said truthfully. He didn’t particularly want him to worry, but he had more important things to concern himself with than Cedric’s feelings; the head boy could always ask Draco for information if he wanted to.
“Very well, perhaps we can go then,” Dumbledore suggested; he was going to have to deal with Tonks and Mad-Eye at some point that evening and explain to them how things had to be, and it had already been a long night. “Unless there is anything else you want while here,” he added tiredly.
“Actually there is,” Harry said with a sudden smile, as he thought of something. He had dismissed the idea of coming back to get things from here because it was hassle they didn’t need, but while they were there...
“Little one?” Fenrir asked curiously.
“I’ll be right back, Fen,” Harry said wiggling free of his mate’s arms; the Alpha was clearly reluctant to let go of him, so he had to almost pry the large arms from around himself, but he was soon on his own two feet and heading for the hall.
“I don’t think so,” Fenrir said, following after his mate, not about to let Harry out of his sight again anytime soon. He just didn’t trust his little submissive not to end up in even more trouble.
“I’m only going upstairs, wolfie,” Harry said, stopping and pressing a hand against the Alpha’s large chest. “And you’re hurt, you should go sit down,” he suggested, gesturing towards the living room. “I will only be a few minutes.”
“We should probably head back and let the others know that you’re both okay,” Dumbledore said, not really wanting to wait around while the teenager decided what he wanted to take with him. “You wouldn’t want them to worry.”
“You fucked up my life, you can wait five minutes while I get a few things,” Harry called back, already halfway up the stairs; Fenrir, having ignored his suggestion to go sit down, was right behind him.
Now that he was back in Ingleton he was going to make sure to take a few things he had forgotten. Once he had his broomstick, he was going to put wards on the house to keep everyone else out; then he would head over to Clay and Damon’s old house and bring Clay his old skateboard. It was the least he could do after everything his friend had been through for him that evening.
FGHP
“I thought you died,” Remus said weakly, unable to take his eyes off of Lukas. “I swear I never meant to bite you, or anyone.” He had lived with the guilt of what he had done to that little boy for more than fifteen years, but now he found himself racked with a whole different kind of guilt, over what he had put Lukas through.
“It was you?” Lukas asked, not really at all sure how he felt now that he was actually standing in front of the man that had turned him into a werewolf. He had always thought that he would hate the person who had done that to him, but he was surprised to realise he didn’t. He was certainly curious, but he didn’t hate him. “My family fell apart because of what you did to me.” It was a statement more than anything, Lukas just needing this man to know what he had done.
“If I had known that you lived I would never have left you there,” Remus said sadly. “I know that there is nothing I can do or say to make what I did to you alright but…”
“Stop,” Lukas said rather forcefully, “I don’t want to hear your guilty rambling. My birth family was never perfect but I have a family now, one I love dearly and I would be on my own if I wasn’t a werewolf, I wouldn’t know any of them.”
“You’re not angry?” Remus asked, seemly caught between sceptical and surprised. He supposed he kind of understood though, because he wasn’t sure he was exactly angry at Fenrir either for some reason.
“I thought that I would be but now I see you… no, I’m not angry,” Lukas told him kindly. “Fenrir bit you, if I have anyone to be angry at then it’s him but I look at everything he’s given me and I can’t be angry at him either,” he tried to explain, even though he wasn’t sure he understood his own feelings completely either.
“You’re really happy at the pack?” Remus questioned, the young man in front of him being yet another reason he felt he should give the Greyback pack a chance.
“Yes, happier than I have been in a long time,” Lukas told him honestly. He had been furious at Fenrir after the full moon, and sometimes the pack members drove him completely mad, but he still loved them very dearly.
“You’re going to join us right?” Romy asked hopefully. She hadn’t spent much time with the professor before that evening, but he had always been good to them, helped them when he could. She had even felt comfortable and safe around him this evening, which she now thought was probably because her wolf had recognised him as not only someone sired by Fenrir, but also the man who had sired Lukas.
“I am considering it,” Remus told her. He wasn’t quite ready to commit to such a thing just yet, but his doubts were wavering and he was becoming more and more tempted.
“You should,” Lukas firmly. He supposed this man was kind of family to him, as much as Fenrir was, and he wanted to get to know him, or at least have a chance to try to.
“Merlin, that’ll be weird, a teacher living with us in the clearing,” Clay said, pulling a face at that prospect. He knew that Harry seemed to get on well with Professor Lupin, but it was difficult for him to think of him as anything other than a teacher.
“Enough, Clayton,” Damon said sternly; his son’s behaviour had left much to be desired this evening and he really wasn’t in the mood for any back chat from the teenager.
“I hope Harry and Fenrir are alright,” Romy said with a glance towards the fireplace. She had really hoped that they would be back already, particularly if the headmaster was right about where Fenrir was being kept; she wasn’t sure what they did next if they hadn’t found the Alpha.
“I’m sure they’ll be fine,” Remus tried to reassure her. “They do have Dumbledore with them,” he pointed out; he would have never let Harry leave if he didn’t at least trust the headmaster to keep Harry safe.
“Strangely that is not a comfort to me,” Damon said with a frown. He didn’t trust the headmaster, not with everything he knew about him. No man that could manipulate a teenage boy the way he had could be trusted.
“You don’t trust him?” Remus asked, curious as to why this was. In truth he wasn’t entirely sure of the headmaster’s motivations or his methods any more but he still trusted the man, at least a little. He at least thought that Albus wouldn’t betray them to Voldemort.
“No, I can’t trust a man that forces a fifteen year old into an unbreakable vow,” Damon snapped rather irritably. Lukas had been filled in only moments before and was fuming at what had happened and really wanted to lay into Harry for how idiotic he had been.
“He didn’t force Harry,” Remus said with a frown, “The vow was actually Harry’s idea,” the professor said, thinking that they needed to know this and it was something that Harry clearly hadn’t told them.
“How do you know that?” Damon asked, turning to Lupin and looking at him accusingly. He knew that Harry spent a fair amount of time at school and possibly even in Remus’ company but he didn’t see the submissive teen opening up that much to a man he barely knew.
“I was the person who performed the magic,” Remus said quietly. He knew that there was no point shying away from this fact, it was the truth. He knew that they ought to know his role in the vow; there were a lot of things that would need to be out in the open before he made his decision about whether or not he was going to join the pack.
“Why would you do that?” Lukas asked accusingly, suddenly second guessing his instincts not to be angry and to trust the man who had bitten him.
“To make sure that it was an even playing field. I didn’t want Dumbledore having an upper hand or a loophole that he could get through, if I hadn’t done it someone else would have. I was trying to protect Harry,” Remus tried to reason. He needed them all to know that he hadn’t performed the spell in a malicious way, he had only wanted to do what was best for Harry.
“It’s okay, we understand,” Romy said quickly, not wanting an argument to start. The tension was already building in the room and in truth she did understand her professor’s motivations.
“Yes,” Damon agreed, with a small frown. “We all know how stubborn Harry can be when he gets an idea in his head.” If Harry had been here then he would have given the teenager a look but since he wasn’t he had to settle for running his hand through his hair in frustration. He was concerned that Harry and Fenrir had not yet returned and he was worried about what could be taking so long, worried that Dumbledore hadn’t been able to locate Fenrir.
“Case in point being this evening,” Clayton said with a shrug. There had been no reasoning with Harry, though in truth he hadn’t even bothered to try particularly hard on this occasion; it just hadn’t seemed worth the effort when he already had known the outcome.
“His parents were remarkably stubborn too,” Remus said fondly.
“That’s true,” Damon said with a fond smile, “there was often no reasoning with Severus.”
“Oh, I meant his birth parents,” Remus said looking a bit nervous. “His father, James, was one of my best friends and every bit as stubborn as Harry; though it doesn’t surprise me to hear that Severus is that way too.”
“Guess Harry got that from all of his parents then,” Lukas said with an amused chuckle.
“I don’t suppose you tried telling Harry about his real father earlier did you?” Clay asked, narrowing his eyes in suspicion at the Professor.
“Why do you ask, Clay?” Damon asked before Remus could say anything, though it was notable that Lupin looked slightly abashed about this.
“Something Harry said at the Ministry about the prophecy having the name Potter… something had wound him up when he came to the common room, something spurred him to want to go to the Ministry, we hadn’t planned to go for days.”
“He was already in a terrible mood when he got to me,” Remus said a little defensively. “Though, admittedly, I might not have helped matters. I was not trying to deny that Severus is his Dad, but I might have been a bit pushy about the fact that James is his father.”
“Fucking idiot,” Clay hissed, only to receive a clip round the ear from Damon who was glaring at him for his language. “What?!” he said defensively. “As someone who has just found out who is own birth father is, I think I actually have more perspective than you guys on how much that might have pissed Harry off.”
“This isn’t helping anyone, Clay,” Romy said gently. She knew that the whole being-a-Malfoy revelation was bothering Clayton, but there was no use in arguing over why Harry had done what he had, at least not until he got back and was able to explain for himself.
“Sorry, I’m just worried about Harry,” Clay told her, wrapping his arms around her and taking deep breaths, inhaling her scent and those of the other pack members around them. He was also feeling in doubt about who he really was, but it was easier to admit his worries for his friend, than how he felt about being related to the Malfoys.
Lukas and Damon watched the two young pups curiously. They had known that Clayton had feelings for Romy, hell everyone knew that; however, Romy allowing him to cuddle her, for them to show affection on this level to one another and for Clay to be calmed by her scent in this manner, it was all very new.
“Jenson isn’t going to be best pleased,” Lukas said to Damon, eyeing the two pups with a smile. He was genuinely very pleased that the two of them seemed to be getting somewhere with their relationship, he knew that Romy would be good for Clay and vice versa.
“So how come you’re giving Clay a chance now? Last time you were home you were still playing hard to get,” Lukas said, smiling at the young girl, who was blushing furiously at the question. She really didn’t like being the centre of attention.
“He gave me a choice,” Romy muttered, thinking of the photo album in her trunk rather fondly, knowing exactly who Clay was going to be to her now.
“And he serenaded you,” Harry said having just come out of the fireplace in Fenrir’s arms, the others too focused on distracting one another from the fact that they were waiting for them to notice that their Alpha pair had returned.
Before anyone else could react, Lukas was on his feet and was wrenching Harry out of Fenrir’s arms, holding him close in a tight embrace. “How could you be so fucking stupid?” he asked, clutching tightly at the teenager.
Clay couldn’t help but snigger a little when he heard what Lukas had said. “That’s what I said too,” he admitted. “Though I wasn’t as calm about it as you.”
“You never are,” Romy said fondly, smiling at her pack brother.
“We’re going home,” Fenrir said, removing Harry from Lukas’ arms and putting the teenager firmly back at his side, not wanting to allow Harry out of his sight or even out of arm’s length from him. “All of us,” he added as the fire went emerald green again and the headmaster stepped into the room carrying a broomstick.
“Harry… isn’t that?” Clay asked noticing the broom that Dumbledore was carrying. It was something he hadn’t seen in many months now, not since they had left Ingleton and he had thought that the treasures he and Harry had had during their childhood were long gone. “I don’t suppose…”
“I might have,” Harry said grinning, patting his pocket when he had put some of the other things he had brought from the house, shrunken down for easy transportation; something that wouldn’t have been good for his broomstick, which was why Fenrir had given it to Dumbledore before the headmaster had had a moment to protest.
“What’s going on?” Romy asked looking between Harry and Clayton suspiciously. It was rarely a good thing if the two teenage boys were conversing with one another in a way that none of the others could understand.
“I got him his old skateboard back,” Harry said beaming at his pack sister from his position under his mate’s arm, rather enjoying being cuddled there. Harry was determined to make the most of it while they weren’t arguing. He knew that when they were back at the territory he would have to explain what had happened and divulge what he had done, which was never going to end well.
“Enough of this,” Fenrir grunted, wanting to get the pups and the rest of his pack home and to assure the others that they were all okay. He would need Callie to tend to the silver wounds on his neck and chest from Gideon’s hand when they got back too, as they were stinging terribly.
His injuries would need help to be healed given that they had been made with silver; even a werewolf couldn’t heal from absolutely everything. He was sure that they had some ointment for it somewhere; it was something he always liked to keep on hand in the territory seeing as they were so highly affected by the metal.
“We’re really all going home?” Romy asked hopefully as Dumbledore handed the broom back to Harry, looking a little disgruntled at the fact that he had been made to carry it. He was only grateful that Harry hadn’t made him carry the numerous textbooks that the teenager had shrunk down and put in his pocket.
“I have permitted you two nights at home,” Dumbledore said smiling at the young girl. “To recover from the evenings activities,” he added when she looked a little confused as to why he would have done this for them. “I trust, Miss Howard, that you can catch Mr Danes up on all the school work that he will miss in that time.”
Romy giggled a little as Clayton groaned. “Sure,” she said giving her cousin and soon to be boyfriend a pointed look.
“Let’s go,” Fenrir said somewhat impatiently. His injuries were hurting and he was keen to get home. None of them had slept and they would need to rest before anything else could be done; the pups especially. However, as soon as they awoke, he was going to need explanations.
The Alpha had decided that he had had enough of not knowing what his little mate was up to. He was furious that they had gone running off to the Ministry of Magic and these actions had almost got him killed… again. He wanted answers and he didn’t care what Dumbledore said, Harry wasn’t going to be coming back to Hogwarts until he knew what the hell was going on.

Not sure exactly when the next update will be, as we are trying to get a few others writing projects sorted at the moment, but at least we haven't left you with a cliff hanger this time. Feel free to come and join us on Facebook, where we will keep everyone updated with what we are working on and our progress.
Review Responses:
Littlepanther - Sorry about the delay, but hopefully this chapter was worth the wait. And well a few of the strays died, but I imagine they weren't the ones on your death list.
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Fragmented Soul