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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
- 79
- 80
- 81
Apologies for the delay but real life kind of got the best of both of us. We do have a few chapters written, so we will try not to let it go too long between updates, but we do appreciate your patience.

Fragmented Soul
Chapter 80 - The Map and the Separation
After the workout skating the day before, the three pups had slept remarkably well, and had woken up feeling fully rested for once. Together the three of them left the forest room and headed for the Great Hall at a leisurely pace, to go have breakfast with their friends. Despite the day of lessons they had ahead of them, all three were in fairly good moods, not least because it was Friday and hence almost the weekend.
There were looks from some of the other students as they reached the more used parts of the castle, though thankfully no remarks or comments. Harry was feeling somewhat hopeful for a nice peaceful day, but that delusion shattered pretty quickly when he heard a familiar voice call out his name.
“I’ll catch up with you,” Harry said to Romy and Clay with a sigh. He had known he was going to have to talk to Cedric again at some point and he supposed that now was as good a time as any. “Cedric,” he greeted as he turned to see the head boy hurrying over to him.
“Harry, I have been wanting to talk to you,” Cedric said, leading Harry off slightly away from the mill of students heading past them in the direction of the Great Hall. “I wanted to make sure you were… okay,” he said, fixing Harry with a meaningful stare as he gestured vaguely at his stomach.
“I’m fine,” Harry told the head boy, feeling increasingly annoyed at the reminder that it had almost certainly been Cedric who had told Dumbledore about the ‘pregnancy’. “I didn’t appreciate you running off to the headmaster with my private business though,” he told Cedric bluntly, crossing his arms over his chest.
The head boy flushed red at the chastisement. “I was trying to help; denial of the situation wasn’t going to help you or those children,” Cedric said, attempting to defend himself; he really had only wanted to do what he thought was best for Harry.
“I’m not pregnant, you complete dolt,” Harry told him with a roll of his eyes. “And for all your claims for wanting to help me, take care of me, protect me, you seem awful cosy with Dumbledore; are you in his pocket? Do I even want to know how you really got to be head boy?”
Cedric’s eyes went wide at the implications. “I barely know Dumbledore, I really am just trying to protect you, Harry. And you were the one who told me that you were pregnant.”
“Yeah, and now because of you and your big mouth, Voldemort thinks I’m pregnant too,” Harry said, bending the truth a little. He didn’t really think that Cedric telling Dumbledore had been the way Voldemort had found out about it but he was happy to guilt trip the head boy into thinking that it was.
“But I never… I wouldn’t…” Cedric tried to protest. He was shocked and horrified at hearing this, it had certainly never been his intention. He had only wanted to protect Harry, to get him away from Greyback; he honestly didn’t even care if Harry hated him anymore, he just wanted him safe.
“Yeah, well you did,” Harry said somewhat harshly, “no point apologising and making excuses now.” The more he said the happier he was, he could see the guilt on Cedric’s face and how hurt he was that he had caused Harry so much grief.
“I’m sorry,” Cedric said, trying to reach out to take Harry’s hand.
Harry, however, snatched it out of his reach. “That sounded an awful lot like an apology, which I just said was pointless.”
“How do I make this right?” Cedric asked desperately. He hated the fact that he had hurt Harry and he wanted to make it right, he wanted to preserve their friendship in any way that he could but it didn’t seem that Harry was very agreeable to this.
“How about staying the hell away from me?” Harry suggested. “Like I asked you to weeks back,” he pointed out, enjoying the fresh wave of guilt on the head boy’s face. “Have a lovely day, Cedric,” Harry said sarcastically before turning and storming off in the direction of the Great Hall; he definitely wasn’t in the mood for breakfast anymore, but at least he could maybe cuddle up to Clay or Romy for a bit and calm his temper.
FGHP
“You wanted to see me, Headmaster?” Remus asked as he entered Dumbledore’s study. He hadn’t been thrilled to be summoned to see Albus over lunch, however, he had been curious about what it could be about. After all the only thing they really had to discuss was Harry.
Of course there was Sirius but Harry had already told him where he was. He wasn’t sure if the Headmaster was aware of his exact location but he wasn’t about to give Dumbledore any information that could be beneficial. His loyalty was no longer to Dumbledore or even to Hogwarts, it was to Harry and his pack.
“Yes,” Dumbledore said with a small smile as he motioned for the Professor to take a seat. He had been watching Remus and how he interacted with Harry and the others and he wanted to know if the relationship they had formed could be used to his benefit. “I was wondering what you could tell me about the small boy in Greyback’s pack, who accompanied Greyback to the school on Monday,” he said softly, gesturing for Remus to take a seat.
“I am not sure I know who you mean,” Remus said, though he was quite certain that the headmaster was referring to little Niko. He had no idea what the headmaster’s interest in the boy might be, but Niko had done nothing to warrant having someone like Dumbledore nosing around in his life; the young boy had had a rough time of things but was finally happy, Remus wasn’t about to let the headmaster mess with that.
“I simply thought he looked familiar,” Dumbledore said a little dismissively, trying to make nothing of it. “My curiosity got the better of me,” he said with an exaggerated sigh, as though pretending to be exasperated with himself.
“I’m sure,” Remus said, his lips pinched tight and trying not to let too much of his annoyance show. “You would be better asking Harry about such things, after all it is his pack. Unless you think that he wouldn’t tell you for some reason,” he added calmly, though inside he was chuckling smugly to himself.
“Harry is… reluctant to talk about the pack,” Dumbledore admitted to him. “I simply wish to understand Greyback’s pack better so that I might be able to understand and work with them more easily.”
“Hmmm,” Remus said tersely, not at all convinced that Dumbledore had ever done anything to make things easier where Harry was concerned. He was a little worried now, about where this conversation might be heading, particularly given the Dumbledore was aware he would be spending the next full moon with the pack.
“I was hoping that you might tell me what you learn about Greyback’s pack when…” Dumbledore started to say, but Remus raised a hand and cut him short.
“I’m sorry, no,” Remus said firmly, not at all sorry in truth. “You are asking me to spy on Harry’s family, when they had offered to give me somewhere to go for the next full moon, at no benefit to themselves. I will not thank their kindness and trust with such a betrayal.”
“I do not understand why you must be so difficult on such matters, Remus,” Dumbledore huffed with frustration. “I thought you wished to see the end of this war as much as I do.”
“Of course I do, but my loyalty lies with Harry, my best friend’s son,” Remus stated, sick of pretending otherwise. He was sick of Dumbledore’s manipulations and wanted to make it clear to the headmaster, how things were.
“If you don’t work with me, then I doubt I will have any chance of ending this war with Sirius still alive,” Dumbledore told him angrily. Harry kept continuing to make everything more difficult and hoping that Sirius still held at least part of Remus’ heart.
“So you do know where he is then?” Remus asked, his eyes narrowed in anger.
“I am pretty certain,” the headmaster confirmed. “It would not be easy, but there is still a chance. All I ask, is that you provide me with a little information, Remus.”
“I have a pack now, one I won’t betray,” Remus told him, surprising himself with his own words a little, at how much he had accepted his place among them already. “And no-one can help Sirius at the moment, but if there is anyone who I would want to help me rescue him, it wouldn’t be you.”
“I hope you do not come to regret this choice, Remus,” Dumbledore said, his threat barely veiled, though in truth he knew that there was little he could do; if Remus truly was pack to Harry now, then the clause in the vow now protected him too and there wasn’t anything he could do to harm him.
“How would I ever come to regret this choice, Albus?” Remus questioned, wanting to push the headmaster a little, challenge him and see if he would show him his hand. It was a long shot, Dumbledore rarely gave anything away but it was always worth a try.
“Not many people would employ a person, such as yourself,” Dumbledore warned; it was an amazing talent that the headmaster had, to threaten someone and make it seem like a casual conversation.
“You wouldn’t fire me,” Remus said with a small smile, “you need me because I’m the closest person to Harry who will give you any time of day. None of the other members of the pack will speak to you.” He was feeling rather smug at this point, he knew his words had value because he could see it in the headmaster’s eyes.
“Then perhaps it is Sirius that will come to regret your choices,” Albus said calmly, watching the Professor with annoyance. “I think that that is all I have to say any more; though, if you change your mind, do feel free to come and talk to me.”
“Thank you kindly, headmaster,” Remus said with heavy sarcasm, taking a deep and exaggerated bow, “good day to you,” he added before turning on his heel and sweeping from the room. He felt as if he had been the victor in that particular conversation; talking to the headmaster was always a battle after all.
FGHP
Seamus had decided to skip lunch; he really wasn’t in the mood for people, not even his new found Werewolf friends. He had spent the night in a classroom, having transfigured a desk and a chair into a bed and a blanket. His transfiguration skills were not as good as they could have been and as a result it hadn’t been a very comfortable night’s sleep for him at all.
He was using the lunch hour to search the castle for his missing things. His trunk was still missing and he dreaded to think what had happened to that, though he had found a few items of clothing including one set of school robes so he could at least go to class without questions being raised.
All his homework had been missing and he had been severely reprimanded by Professor Lupin and Professor Sprout when he hadn’t been able to hand in the work, and the latter had told him that his attitude was not good enough. He had been spared detention but he knew that was only because of the incident with Harry. He was feeling entirely miserable about pretty much everything and having to search the school for all his belongings wasn’t helping matters.
“Sorry,” Seamus mumbled as he accidentally knocked into someone going in the opposite direction. He had been lost in his own thoughts and not been looking where he was going properly.
“Oh, it’s quite alright,” an airy voice said sweetly. “You’re Seamus, aren’t you?” she asked dreamily. Seamus stopped and turned to look at the strange girl with blond hair, a vacant expression, Ravenclaw tie and horseradish earrings.
“Umm, yeah,” Seamus said, not sure why this girl was talking to him or in fact even being nice to him; it was very strange after having been treated so badly by his former friends. He had seen her sitting with Harry and the others countless time but he had never spoken to her before.
“I’m Luna,” she told him. “You don’t need to worry, you know,” she said, smiling softly as him.
“Erm… I don’t?” Seamus asked uncertainly; he actually thought that there was rather a lot for him to be worrying about in his opinion, given the way his life had been going lately. He wasn’t quite sure what to make of the strange girl; though strange was certainly preferable over the hostility he had been experiencing from the Gryffindors.
“Harry and his pack will take care of you,” Luna assured him kindly.
“You know what they are? What I… might be?” Seamus asked. There weren’t many who would choose to be friendly with known werewolves; it had been rather surprising to him to realise that Malfoy and Knott knew exactly what Harry, Romy and Clay were.
“Of course,” she said with a kind smile. “It will all work out.”
“Yeah, it doesn’t feel like that right now; the entirety of Gryffindor house hate me, all my stuff has been thrown around the sodding castle,” Seamus grumbled.
“Do your housemates like to hide your things too? My socks are all missing today; it was fun at first but now it’s rather tiresome,” Luna said in a sweet day dreamy voice as she gazed up at the ceiling as if her missing socks would all magically appear there.
“They do it to you a lot?” Seamus asked in surprise. The week before he probably wouldn’t have questioned people doing that to this girl, but now he had experienced it for himself, he really couldn’t imagine why anyone would do that to a person.
“Not so often now,” Luna said, not sounding particularly bothered by any of it. “Shall I look for your things too?” she offered.
“How about we look together,” Seamus suggested, feeling quite glad that he wouldn’t have to do so alone. “You can show me the good hiding places,” he told her with a wry smile, and Luna nodded enthusiastically.
FGHP
“So are you going to tell me what had Fenrir’s pants in a bunch this morning?” Micha asked as he dropped himself into Damon’s lap. The Alpha had been in a bit of a mood the previous evening when they had returned, and had pulled Damon over to one side that morning and had a stern word, before storming off into the woods, presumably to finish work on the platforms he was making for Harry.
“He was rather under the impression that I had had some business things to take care of and was going to bring back Robin when we returned,” Damon explained, cuddling his submissive close.
“Aren’t we supposed to be collecting her on Monday?” Micha asked, frowning in confusion.
“Yes, well that’s the plan,” Damon confirmed, “but I think that Fenrir thought that while we were away from the pack we should have done so anyway.”
“So ‘we were tired from ice skating’ wasn’t an acceptable excuse?” Micha asked with a teasing smile.
“I might have neglected to mention exactly where we were and with whom,” Damon told him quietly. Niko had been given very strict instructions to stick to the story that they had simply gone to one of Damon’s work places. “I didn’t think that telling him that I broke the pups out of Hogwarts for a few hours without telling him was going to earn me any bonus points.”
“Not with Fenrir but it did with me and certainly with Niko,” Micha said with a smile. “That Seamus kid seemed to enjoy himself too.”
“I still can’t believe that Clay bit him,” Damon said with a sigh, shaking his head.
“Accidents happen,” Micha said with a shrug of his shoulders, “I mean look at Lukas, Remus didn’t mean to bite him and he wouldn’t change being here, at least I don’t think he would”
“Yeah and my Dad didn’t mean to bite me or Callie,” Damon said. ‘Or Mum and Leah,’ he thought sadly, though he didn’t want to say that when Micha was just trying to be supportive.
“I wouldn’t know, I was born a werewolf,” Micha said sadly, “does it make me a horrible person to say that I’m not sorry that you got bitten?”
“Not at all, trouble,” Damon said, stealing a brief kiss. “I am not sorry how things turned out either; look at what an amazing family I have now.”
“And more to come hopefully,” Micha said with a grin, but it faltered when he realised what he had said. “Oh, umm, I didn’t mean to say that, sorry, ignore me, I’m an idiot.”
Damon stopped his mate’s ramblings with a chaste kiss. “You know full well that I want them too, one day,” he said with a smile, cuddling Micha in close.
Across the clearing Fenrir had just reappeared from the forest, he was looking rather pleased with himself and even in a slightly better mood. The others were all finishing clearing up the clearing after lunch, it had taken a little longer than usual to cook and then to clean up afterwards too as Callie had needed to sleep.
Tessie had taken on the role herself, Jaylon had helped her a little but his skill level was nothing compared to Callie or even Tessie. It had still been an enjoyable meal, even with Niko’s constant interrupting, asking what they were doing, trying to learn how to cook and failing miserably. He had seen Harry cooking and therefore he wanted to learn too.
“Alpha,” Niko said excitedly as Fenrir came towards the fire where Tessie had constantly been yanking Niko away from the fire to stop him from falling into it. Jenson and Lukas were both at work and therefore unable to help with any of it.
“Niko,” Fenrir said, still not entirely sure how to react to the ten year old who seemed to become enraptured with him, every time he was around; he wasn’t used to people greeting him so enthusiastically… well except for Harry.
“Where did you go?” Niko asked curiously, trailing after Fenrir as he headed towards the fire. “Can I go with you next time?”
“No,” Fenrir told him bluntly. He had finally finished the platforms anyway, and he didn’t think that letting Niko know that they were there was a very good idea.
“Aww, please, please, please,” Niko begged, looking up at Fenrir as they made their way across the clearing. “I can help, I like helping, I can carry stuff, you can teach me stuff like you did with the hunting. I want to be big and strong like you one day; please, Alpha, please, please.”
“Stop talking,” Fenrir said firmly, though not angrily. He was glad that Niko was so keen to learn, but the young boy’s constant talking was rather overwhelming, not to mention a little irritating at times. He just wasn’t really sure how to deal with it.
“Sorry, Alpha,” Niko said, biting his lip to hold back the question why that he desperately wanted to ask. He turned to look up at the Alpha, waiting patiently for Fenrir to say something, for him to hopefully explain why he couldn’t go with him.
“I have finished what I was doing,” Fenrir explained after a few moments, a little surprised that Niko had obeyed his command to stop talking so quickly. He was starting to understand the young boy a little better and Fenrir strongly suspected that Niko’s bond to Harry had a lot to do with that.
“Oh,” Niko said, a smile spreading across his face as he realised he wasn’t really being rejected. “Can I see? Please, I want to see,” he requested hopefully.
“When Harry comes home,” Fenrir said, knowing that there would be no hiding the platforms from any of the pack once Harry knew about them anyway. He was trying to think of a way to get the young boy to be anywhere else other than following him around the place.
“I miss Harry,” Niko said with a sigh. “I know I only saw him yesterday but I really, really miss him,” he said, getting closer to the Alpha as the large man came to a stop. Niko tucked himself into the Alpha’s side almost instantly.
“You saw Harry yesterday?” Fenrir asked, looking down at the young boy with eyes narrowed in suspicion. Damon and Micha had taken Niko out of the territory, however, they had informed him that it was just a business meeting and that Micha would occupy Niko until it was over. Damon had never said that it involved Harry and now he was a little concerned.
“Oh, um, no, I didn’t, Harry wasn’t there and we didn’t go anywhere,” Niko said quickly, realising his mistake. He was looking entirely guilty as he detached himself from the Alpha and bowed his head, staring determinedly at the laces in his shoes.
“Where did Damon take you, Niko?” Fenrir asked gently. He wasn’t sure he appreciated one of his oldest friends lying to him. He didn’t want to think badly of Damon and knew that there had to have been a reason for the lie.
“Not ice skating,” Niko mumbled softly, not wanting to get anyone into trouble, especially not Damon, who had been nice enough to take him with them when he didn’t have to.
“Damon, a word!” Fenrir bellowed, loud enough that a few birds were startled out of their nesting places in the trees nearby.
“Wait here, trouble,” Damon said to his mate, kissing Micha's cheek quickly and shifting the submissive onto the log next to where he was sitting, and getting to his feet. “I think our little Niko has given the game away.”
“Don’t get mad at him, he is only ten,” Micha said, looking a little worried as he grabbed hold of Damon’s wrist before his mate could get anywhere. He couldn’t quite help his instinct to make sure Niko was okay.
“I know, don’t worry,” Damon said with a chuckle. He had always known that asking Niko to not say anything to Fenrir, particularly given the man was the closest thing the boy had to a father at the moment, was a long shot; when he had made the choice to take them all ice skating he had known that the responsibility for it would fall wholly on him.
“Don’t get mad, Alpha,” Niko pleaded, pulling on Fenrir’s jacket a little, causing piercing golden eyes to turn on him. He didn’t like the way that the Alpha had raised his voice and narrowed his eyes at Damon, and it made him worry for what Fenrir might do. He had seen how bad things could get when Alpha’s got angry.
“Go and sit,” Fenrir said, pointing to the logs by the fire where Tessie was sitting Jaylon, talking to him quietly. He didn’t want Niko to be caught in the middle of whatever might happen between him and Damon, and he wanted Damon’s focus on the questions he had, not on the curious ten year old.
Niko didn’t look at all pleased with this suggestion, but when the Alpha continued to look at him sternly, his gaze almost daring Niko to challenge him on this order, the young boy gave a sigh and slumped his shoulders as he headed in the direction the Alpha had indicated. “Sorry,” he said, looking guilty as he passed Damon.
“Don’t worry, kid,” Damon said with a smile, ruffling Niko’s hair. He didn’t really blame Niko for the situation in the slightest, but he appreciated the boy’s apology none the less. “Fenrir,” Damon greeted respectfully as he reached his scowling best friend.
“Where did you take them all yesterday?” Fenrir demanded to know, hoping that Damon wasn’t going to keep lying to him now. The Alpha wasn’t sure his temper would hold if he did.
“We went ice skating,” Damon said with a sigh, seeing no point in lying further. He hadn’t wanted to worry Fenrir with it, but he had heard Harry’s name mentioned even from where he and Micha had been sitting and knew that the Alpha would be worrying anyway now, so it was better to just give him the truth. Fenrir tended to prefer blunt honesty with most things anyway.
“You took Harry out of school?” the Alpha questioned, his brow furrowing further. He wasn’t really happy to hear that Damon had done this without talking to him about it first, but it also meant that Harry had been out of Dumbledore’s reach for while, which was always a plus.
“Yes, for two hours,” Damon admitted. “The headmaster didn’t know he was gone, Remus came too, along with the other pups and that new friend of theirs that was bitten; he seems very nice, a good addition to the pack, if he turns.”
“You should not have taken them, not without my permission,” Fenrir said with a scowl. It wasn’t that he was angry with Damon for taking them, it was genuinely glad that he had, especially Niko who needed to burn the energy. He just would have liked to go and to see Harry in the process, though he could understand why Damon hadn’t spoken to him first.
“Fenrir, those pups needed a break,” Damon said with a sigh, “with everything going on I thought they needed to have some fun. I didn’t think that you would want to come, that ice skating wouldn't be your thing, but you would have regardless if you had known.”
“Next time you tell me,” Fenrir said sternly, wanting to make that perfectly clear.
“Of course,” Damon said with a nod of his head, clearly just glad that he wasn’t going to be punished for what he had done. Though he hadn’t really gone against the Alpha’s orders, he had known that he shouldn’t have been doing it.
“I found this,” Fenrir said, thrusting a scrunched up piece of paper towards Damon, it certainly looked like it had seen better days.
“Has Jenson seen this?” Damon asked as he scanned over the hastily scribbled note and the information that it gave them about the strays. “For that matter, have you shown Tessie? I’m sure she’d like to know her cousin is safe.”
“Jenson has,” Fenrir told him. The Beta wolf had not been at all happy to pick up on Dean’s scent on the note, as well at Aiden’s. “Not Tessie,” the Alpha added. He wasn’t sure he wanted to tell the female submissive. He knew that she was worrying but he saw no point in making her think about it any more than necessary. She had enough to worry about with little Jaylon clinging on to her every move.
“There is another’s scent on this,” Damon said, “a friend perhaps?”
“A mate,” Fenrir said, his tone heavy with distaste, “there was...evidence.”
“Ah,” Damon said, cottoning on pretty quickly to what the Alpha meant as evidence. He was under no illusion just how carried away mates could become when alone and having sex. “It’ll be beneficial to us if they are both allies.”
“Jenson doesn’t trust Aiden’s mate, Dean,” Fenrir informed his friend. The Alpha wasn’t sure either, as he recognised the scent as one of those who had been there when they had tried to take Harry from him. It was something that he would definitely have to speak with Aiden about at some point, and Dean too, find out whether Dean’s loyalty was to his mate or his Alpha.
“You think that it’ll cause problems?” Damon asked, wondering exactly what they were going to do if they couldn’t let Dean into the pack and Aiden refused to leave his mate behind. It could get extremely complicated to say the least and not only because of the family bond shared between Aiden and Tessie.
“If Aiden’s mate hurt Harry or Romy then he will not be permitted in this pack,” Fenrir stated; to him it was very simple. If Aiden had a problem with that then he wouldn’t be joining them either. Even Tessie, whom he valued as a member of the pack was not in-disposable; if she chose to go with her cousin then he would let her go without a fight.
FGHP
Harry was procrastinating. He knew he probably should have already left to get to his detention with Dumbledore but he was putting it off for as long as he could. Clay had already gone off to go to his weekly detention with McGonagall, and Harry was standing in the Slytherin dormitory as Draco gathered up his things for Quidditch practice.
“I am seriously jealous that you get to go flying tonight,” Harry said a little petulantly. He knew that it had been his own fault that he couldn’t go but he didn’t regret his decision regardless. He had been missing a lot of practice recently and he felt a little guilty about that. They were supposed to be a team after all and he was constantly letting them down.
“Well if you weren’t such a prat and didn’t keep getting yourself detention, then you could have come too,” Draco said with a shake of his head, as he pulled out some thick socks from the bottom of his trunk. “Pucey would probably prefer you actually were free to come to practice occasionally too,” he added, as he headed for the doorway back towards the common room.
“Ah, well I am just too awesome,” Harry said with a shrug, following after his friend. “If I was there every practice you would all get demoralised by not being even half as amazing as I am,” he said, catching up with Draco, with a grin on his face, as they made their way out of the Slytherin common room and into the school corridors.
“Or maybe you could actually teach Bletchley how not to almost fall off his broom every five minutes,” Draco countered. The keeper wasn’t actually that bad, but he had nearly fallen off twice the previous week, much to the amusement of the rest of the team. Harry had had a good laugh about that when Draco had told him.
“Yeah, or you could just try tying him to his broom or something,” Harry said with a shrug. “Though I saw him out there practising by himself the other day, I think all the teasing has made him paranoid,” he told the blond. “Either way, I am sure you will all manage without me for one more week.”
“I am sure we will,” Draco agreed. “You just try not to have too much fun with Dumbledore, I know how much you love your chats with him.”
“Oh yes, delightful,” Harry said sarcastically. He had no idea what the headmaster had planned for him this evening, given that they had talked all they could about the Horcruxes the day before, so unless Dumbledore had found out something new in the last twenty-four hours that seemed unlikely. “Anyway, I better hurry, wouldn’t want to be late,” Harry said, gesturing up a nearby set of stairs.
Draco simply nodded, and gave Harry a wave as the submissive headed off up the stairs. It wasn’t very far from Dumbledore’s office, so he thought that despite him putting off leaving it seemed that he might be there on time anyway. For a moment he considered deliberately delaying himself longer, but that felt definitely juvenile.
He walked the now familiar corridors to the headmaster’s office and wasn’t surprised when the Gargoyle moved out of his way and allowed him entry. Dumbledore was expecting him after all.
“Good evening, headmaster,” Harry said with exaggerated enthusiasm, as he stepped into the office. Dumbledore looked up at him in confusion that just made Harry’s grin widen; he did like to keep the man on his toes, never knowing quite what to expect from him.
“Have a seat, Harry,” the headmaster instructed, gesturing to the usual chair across the desk from him, and Harry crossed the office and dropped himself into it.
“So what’s the plan this evening?” Harry asked, still keeping up the appearance of being in an excellent mood. “Another few hundred lines, another fascinating discussion about evil mad-men and their schemes…?”
“Umbridge requested to take over the detention you missed with McGonagall on Wednesday,” Dumbledore interrupted. “She seemed quite keen to be the one to take responsibility for your punishment.”
“I am sure she was,” Harry said drily knowing that Umbridge would have loved another opportunity to try and break him, her previous attempt having failed so completely. “So when am I expect to meet her?” he asked, resigned to having to see her again.
“I refused her request,” Dumbledore told him. “I asked her how she intended to punish you, and apparently she thought that a few hundred lines of ‘I must learn some respect’ would be suitable. I am inclined to agree.”
“Well that sounds like fun,” Harry said sarcastically. “I will be so sorry to miss that,” he added.
“Ah, then you will not be disappointed to know that you will be completing that punishment this evening,” the headmaster explained, looking rather pleased with himself; he hadn’t been about to let Harry go back to a detention with Umbridge after it became clear that she was using a Blood Quill. “I thought you would be grateful to be able to use a traditional quill, however,” Dumbledore added, sliding parchment, ink and a quill across the desk.
“You want me to be grateful, because you think you saved me from her?” Harry asked incredulously. "You saved me from nothing, headmaster. I don't feel pain, she can't hurt me," he said smugly. He hated that Dumbledore was constantly trying to win him over with such pointless gestures.
“You would have preferred I agree to her request?” Dumbledore asked sceptically.
“Even after she tried to use Crucio on me, I’d still prefer her company than yours,” Harry told him, crossing his arms over his chest. “At least she’s honest about being an evil bitch, unlike you who likes to pretend they’re the good guy.”
“I have only acted for the greater good, Harry,” Dumbledore said, clearly looking completely serious in his belief of this. “I have always done what needed to be done.”
“Yeah, thanks for that,” Harry said with a scowl. This man’s supposed greater good had been messing with his life since he was just a baby. “So shall we get these lines started,” he said, reaching forward for the quill and parchment.
“First, I have a few questions I would like to ask you,” the headmaster said, placing a hand on the parchment before Harry could take it.
“Oh, joy,” Harry said sarcastically, leaning back in his chair again, and glaring at Dumbledore expectantly.
“The young boy, who visited you on Monday,” Dumbledore said, and Harry couldn’t help the growl that escaped his throat then. He would not let the headmaster anywhere near Niko.
“You stay away from him,” Harry warned. “He is pack, you cannot touch him.” The vow would keep Niko from being harmed by the headmaster, but he didn’t trust Dumbledore not to find some loophole somewhere. The ten year old was all but a son to him and he would never let anyone take him from them.
“I am merely curious,” the headmaster said dismissively.
“Niko lost everything because of this stupid war, we’re just giving him something back,” Harry informed Dumbledore defensively. “Stay the hell away from him,” he instructed, determined to protect the young boy from ever being manipulated again, like Voldemort and Gideon both had.
“Was he bitten by a member of your pack?” Dumbledore asked, wondering if the Greyback pack were recruiting; Fenrir was renowned for biting children after all, so it wouldn’t have really surprised him. He was still sure that the boy was familiar to him somehow and was determined to find out where from; at least he had a name to go on now.
“No,” Harry snapped, knowing that Dumbledore would jump at the chance to blame Fenrir for such a thing. “His parents were killed by deatheaters; Niko was bitten by a werewolf Voldemort has hostage. We’re looking after him and making his life the best it can be given the circumstances.”
“And Professor Lupin,” the headmaster went on, knowing that now Harry was on the defensive he would not learn more about Niko, and he had plenty to be working with for the moment. “Are you helping him make the most of his circumstances as well?”
“Of course,” Harry said. “He will see how we are supposed to be, how packs are supposed to work; he might have been raised to hate what he is, but he is starting to see that there is another way.”
“The Professor has become rather fond of you,” Dumbledore pointed out needlessly; it was something that Harry knew already, though he wasn’t keen that Dumbledore knew this now. Harry was going to have to talk to Remus about this as soon as he could.
“I know,” Harry said smugly. “Now, how about those lines I was so looking forward to writing,” he added, not really wanting this conversation to go on any more.
FGHP
It was before dawn and Narcissa was awake, sat in a plush armchair in the nursery that had become her entire world, her youngest son in her arms. He had been fussing for a feed and she had been more than happy to give it to him.
Fortunately Lucius had not come to her tonight, she was forever grateful for the nights that he left her alone. She was still sore and a little bruised from the last time he had forced himself on her.
Holding her son in her arms, feeding him a bottle, none of it mattered. Lucius could do whatever he wanted to her because she had Brax, he and Draco were all that mattered to her. Little Brax was reaching up to grasp at the bottle, the little boy was able to support his own bottle but Narcissa like to rock him in her arms while he fed.
Entirely focused on her youngest son, Narcissa didn’t notice the beautiful eagle owl until it tapped on the glass of the window, startling her out of her thoughts. Using her wand, she opened the window allowing it to swoop gracefully into the room and drop the letter it was carrying on her lap.
Helping Brax finish off his bottle, Narcissa got to her feet to snuggle him back into his crib so that she could read the letter. The little boy reached up for his mummy, flexing his little fingers as he tried to reach out for her, grizzling unhappily at being put down. Once she had the parchment open, she held it in one hand, letting Brax’s little hand grip tightly around one of her fingers while she read. He was still grizzling lightly but seemed somewhat happier now that he could reach his mother at least.
The letter was from Draco; it didn’t say a great deal, but it told her that he had done as she had suggested and spoken to Harry about the cabinet. Apparently Harry was going to talk to someone he thought might be able to help fix it. She smiled, a small sigh of relief on her face at the knowledge that they might have an escape route soon.
“Your brother is going to save us, Brax, just you wait and see,” she said, smiling down at her five month old who was blowing raspberries at her now.
As much as she had tried to reassure Draco when he had been there last, in truth Lucius’ more frequent and vicious attacks and Bellatrix’s increasingly fragile hold on her sanity both had her worried. She was sure that she had heard screams from the dungeons, that had sounded like Sirius, and those of a girl, and she had taken care to stay away from that part of the house. Things in the Manor were becoming unstable, unpredictable, and she feared what might happen next.
FGHP
Everyone was in a good mood on Saturday morning. For a start it was a Saturday and that meant no classes, no detentions and only a little bit of homework left to do; it also meant that they had the next two days to goof off and pretty much do whatever they wanted. That was until the post arrived.
Several copies of the Daily Prophet were winging their way to students in all of the Hogwarts houses, including Draco, who was a regular subscriber. Harry had never bothered with it, he didn’t want to know what they were printing about him; most of it was lies anyway.
“Umm, Harry,” Draco said as he unfolded his paper and saw the front page. He knew that it was going to cause an uproar and he was a little nervous about showing Harry at all. Looking over at the head table, however, told Draco that they were going to find out one way or another regardless because Professor Lupin had a copy.
“What’s up, Draco? You look concerned,” Harry said as he took a sip of coffee. He wasn’t particularly hungry this morning and was just eating an apple. He had only taken the fruit at Romy’s insistence.
“I think you need to see this,” the blond said, handing over the Prophet.
“What…? Oh,” Harry said as he took the paper in hand and saw the front page that read: Harry Potter, the boy-who-lived, a Werewolf! “Shit,” he said, showing Clay and Romy simultaneously seeing as the two of them were sitting together, Romy practically on Clayton’s lap.
“Well we knew it was coming,” Romy said with a sigh as she scanned over the article. There were pictures of all three of them, that looked like they had been taken while they had been at school, given that they were all in their house robes; but they were all clearly oblivious to the camera that had taken it.
“Guess we’re famous now then,” Clayton said with a smile. He wasn’t ashamed of what they were, he didn’t much care that everyone knew now and he felt confident that he could deal with any threats to his pack siblings it brought about.
“I don’t think anyone is going to be asking for our autographs,” Romy said with a frown, not liking that Clay was taking this so lightly; it could cause them some serious problems. Though, what was done was done, and it wasn’t as though this was something they could fix or undo.
“If anyone tries, I’m going to hex them,” Harry stated firmly. He was tired of people thinking they knew him, that they had a right to know about his life; he was just a teenager who wanted to be left alone to live his life and he was going to do that as best he could despite the attempts of other people.
“Judging by the looks you’re getting from some students they might be hexing you,” Theo pointed out, glancing over the other students in the hall. There were conversations being held in hushed whispers at all of the tables to various degrees, and angry and fearful looks being sent their way.
“Let them try,” Clay growled out. No one would be hexing him or his pack siblings; he would take down anyone who even so much as seriously considered it.
“At least they haven’t mentioned any links to… our Alpha,” Romy pointed out, as she scanned the article carefully for a second time. All three of them were mentioned by name, and there were some insinuations that Dumbledore had been irresponsible to allow them in the school, but their pack had seemingly been left out of it.
“Yeah, that could have made things a hell of a lot worse,” Harry agreed. “And there is no mention of a certain professor either,” he said with a small smile, glad that Remus was being left out of their mess.
“It’s got to be Hermione, she’s got all of the facts but none of the information that could make this a truly juicy story,” Romy said with a small laugh. “Does she really think that this is going to do anything?”
“It’s outed you,” Draco pointed out dryly.
“But no one else,” Harry said. “We can handle it, as long as the ones we love aren’t targeted. Though we do need to let the pack know as soon as possible.”
“I’ll go to them,” Remus said quietly, as he came to stand just behind Harry at the Slytherin table. “I have a copy of the paper, I’ll go to the territory later and let them know what is happening. You three focus on staying out of trouble.”
“Will you take a letter for Lukas too please?” Harry asked, “It’s important.”
“Do you have it on you?” Remus asked, thinking that he needed to show the paper to the rest of the pack sooner rather than later. If Harry had the letter on him then he could go there now and get it over with; it wasn’t likely that Fenrir was going to be best pleased with this.
“Yes, I wrote it last night after my detention, something Dumbledore said…” Harry started to tell him, but realised that there in the Great Hall was neither the time nor place for such a conversation. “I’ll come see you later to explain, just please,” Harry pleaded.
Remus sighed and nodded, knowing that Harry wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important, at least he hadn’t done so far. “Alright,” he said, holding out his hand as Harry went into his pocket to retrieve the letter.
“I was going to go to the Owlery after breakfast but this is faster,” Harry said with a smile as he handed it over, “thank you.”
“Maybe we should get out of here for a bit,” Romy suggested quietly to Harry and Clay, as she looked around the Great Hall. She could see Hermione across the room looking pleased with herself, but what was more worrying were that some students looked to be planning something, whispering and throwing increasingly nasty looks their way. “Just until things calm down a little.”
“Romy’s right, maybe a low profile would be a good idea,” Remus said, fixing Harry with a stern expression, and then Clay; he knew that the two boys were not going to react well to the inevitable verbal attacks that would be sent their way.
“We’ll go to the Slytherin common room for a while,” Harry said with a sigh so that Remus would know where to find them, “we’ll have stuff to do there at least,” he added with a sigh thinking that being stuck in their forest room all day with very little to do did not sound appealing.
“We’ll come with you,” Draco said with a nod to Theo, “just in case you need the support.” Theo nodded his head in agreement, thinking that the other Slytherins might just have an opinion on the article. He knew they might need a few people to back them up. Remus nodded his approval to this idea before heading off ahead of the others.
Harry smiled at Draco in thanks as he got to his feet, the others all following suit, including Luna, much to their surprise. None of them said anything as the strange Ravenclaw girl linked her arm with Theo’s and the six of them headed out of the Great Hall.
They all tried not to notice the glares and hushed whispers that followed them as they left. It was hard to miss however, they were the talk of the school, their secret having been revealed. On their way out, the group past Cedric at the Hufflepuff table, who they all heard valiantly defending Harry and even the others; however, they didn’t stop to thank him, he wasn’t really doing it for them, he was doing it for his obsession with Harry.
FGHP
The Slytherin common room was near enough empty. It was to be expected with a lot of the students at breakfast, however, two of the handful of occupants that were in the common room were Astoria and Daphne, the two of them having a blazing row.
It wasn’t at all surprising that the subject of this argument was the three werewolves. The youngest Greengrass sister was not impressed that she had been kept in the dark about so much and the moment that the six of them walked into the common room, Astoria turned her attention to Romy, a look of Fury in her eyes.
“And you could have told me!” Astoria raged, pointing her finger at Romy, who looked utterly shocked at being yelled at so abruptly. Clay, who had been at Romy’s side, stepped in front of his girlfriend, getting between the two girls and letting of a warning growl. “Don’t you dare growl at me, Clayton,” Astoria snapped, completely unafraid.
“Back off, Astoria,” Draco said calmly as he put a hand on Clay’s shoulder as a warning to calm down. No harm was going to come to Romy and they didn’t need to dissolve into fist fights, it simply wasn’t needed.
“How did everyone know apart from me?” Astoria shouted at them all. “Even you Luna?” Astoria was truly heartbroken that her friends had lied to her. Luna nodded her confirmation quietly, not really wanting to say anything, more than happy to remain linked with Theo.
“Perhaps we should move this to our dormitory,” Harry suggested, not really wanting to deal with this in front of everyone else. There was enough gossip going around about them with adding fuel to the fire by bickering in the common room.
“Yes,” Romy agreed, “we can talk about things in private.” She could see Harry’s logic with this and thought that he was right. Astoria, however, wasn’t calm enough to be persuaded to do the sensible thing and take the conversation up to the boys’ dormitory.
“No,” Astoria raged, “I want to know why my so called friends and my family have been lying to me. I’m not a child, I’m the same age as Romy and Luna, why couldn’t I know what they were?”
“Because you didn’t need to know,” Daphne told her sternly. She had been trying to make this point since Astoria had seen a copy of the paper, but her little sister didn’t want to hear it. “It was safer for you not to know.”
“Safer?” Astoria raged, furious and not caring that the other students were starting to return to the common room after finishing their breakfast. “They’re werewolves! Knowing what they are wouldn’t change how dangerous they are.”
“You think we’re dangerous?” Romy asked, feeling a little hurt. She honestly counted Astoria as one of her close friends, not as close as her pack of course but still, she valued her.
“You are dangerous,” Daphne snapped before her sister could say anything. Her opinion had never changed; she liked Harry, Clay and Romy, they were tolerable to her at least, but the fact that were werewolves was not something she could just gloss over and she was glad to hear that Astoria wasn’t going to either.
“I don’t care what they are, they’ve always been that and always been nice, but you all lied to me!” Astoria shouted; of course the revelation about what they were was significant, but it wasn’t that which was making her question her friendship with them. “You told them to lie to me,” she said, rounding on her sister.
Daphne narrowed her eyes at Astoria. Her sister had always had a softer heart and she had feared that her little sister would not take the threat seriously; while she was pleased that Astoria wasn’t oblivious to the dangers, it was rather frustrating to have her getting so agitated over a few secrets instead.
“I think we all should have been told what they are,” one of the other Slytherins piped up, clearly having been listening to the argument going on. Harry thought it was a third year, but he didn’t know the boy’s name. “We should have known that we were living with werewolves,” he insisted; there were several murmurs of agreement around the room.
“Do you all feel that way?” Harry asked, his voice raised and his question was met with a murmur of agreement to what the other Slytherin had said. Angry at the reaction, Harry, with Clay’s help, climbed up on to the pool table so he could properly address the entire of Slytherin house.
They all fell silent, all waiting for what Harry was going to say. “You all see me here right?” he asked, glaring at his fellow Slytherins. “I’m the same person that I was yesterday, the same person that came here at the beginning of January and taught you how to play pool, the same person that put the gnomes all over the school. How does it change anything now you know what I am?”
“Did you bite that Finnegan boy?” a girl shouted out curiously. The rumour had been going around the school for the last few days, and while it hadn’t been given much traction in Slytherin house before now, the article was making a lot of them question it again.
“Yes, I did,” Harry said, shooting Clayton a stern glare. “It was a mistake, it won’t be happening again,” he promised, hoping that what had happened with the Gryffindors was going to break things with the Slytherins now in consequence.
“How can you be sure?” another boy asked, obviously not convinced. If Prince had actually bitten someone already, and was still allowed to remain in school, then what was there to keep him from just doing it again whenever he liked.
“I just can,” Harry said firmly. “A large part of it was down to Weasley’s stupidity, but it doesn’t just happen; I can assure you that it won’t be happening again.” He knew he had to get this explanation right, find a balance between giving them someone else to blame and taking responsibility.
“Why should we believe you?” a seventh year girl called out, from further back closer to the door to the entrance to the girl’s dormitory. Again, as before, there was murmuring around the room, from those who seconded her question.
“We belong to a pack,” Harry told them, hoping that he wasn’t going to come to regret telling them as much as he was about to. “I am our Alpha’s mate, I have taken responsibility for my actions and I swear to you that it won’t. If it does then that falls on me.”
“And the poor sod who’s stuck being a werewolf for the rest of their life,” some fourth year boy called out clearly thinking himself funny, and causing a few around him to laugh; though most of the room remained serious, not thinking this a matter to laugh about at all.
“Treat us with respect, and we will do the same for you,” Harry promised. “Then you will have absolutely nothing to fear from us.” He just hoped that it would be as simple as that in practice.
“What about Voldemort?” someone asked after a few seconds, their voice carrying over the whispered discussions going on around the room, as groups of friends tried to work out whether or not to believe Harry.
“Yeah, you’re meant to destroy him!” a young boy shouted out, through the quiet that was falling in the common room. This was something that affected them all and while they had heard talk of what Prince was doing, they had never heard him actually talking about it.
“I’m working on it,” Harry said with a sigh, hoping this won him more allies than it cost him. “However much I dislike the headmaster, we are working together and have come a long way in destroying Voldemort but it is taking time.”
“Now you can either accept us or you can’t,” Clayton said with a low snarl, hating how they were all ganging up on them. He had pulled Romy close to him, to protect her if things got out of hand.
“Clay’s right, but, either way, we’re not going anywhere,” Harry said with a sigh, we’re rarely here, we don’t bother you, if you don’t like us just stay out of our way, we won’t take offence.”
“If you’re really working on ending the war, then I can deal with sharing a common room with you,” a girl in the year below them commented from near the fireplace, looking around at her friends, who seemed to be vaguely nodding and muttering in agreement.
“Me too,” an older boy called out from the other way. “Prince is right, he’s barely here anyway. I got no problem even if he does decide to take a bite out of a few Gryffindors anyway.”
“That really wasn’t the point,” Harry said under his breath, but he was quietly glad that others were speaking up in their defence now.
“I don’t like them being here,” someone called out from behind where Harry was stood, but as he turned to look, he couldn’t work out who had said it, and a few people seemed to agree with that sentiment too.
“Not asking any of you to like anything,” Harry told them. “You can go right ahead and hate me if you like, but as long as you don’t cause me, my friends or my pack siblings any problems, then you won’t have any problem from me.” Not really thinking that there was anything more to say on the matter, he let Clay help him down from the pool table.
The common room was buzzing with discussion as various opinions were shared and argued over, and it was clear that many had yet to make up their minds on where they stood in this matter; but for now no-one was attacking them or trying to throw them out and so Harry was going to count that as as close to a win at they could hope for.
“Hey, Romy, look,” Astoria said, having listened carefully to everything Harry had said. “I still like you, I don’t much care that you are what you are, I am just pissed off you lied to me,” she explained.
“I was just trying to respect your sisters wishes,” Romy told her sadly; she hadn’t meant to hurt her friend this way and she wished that Daphne had listened to them all and let them explain it to Astoria before.
“Quite,” Astoria said with a pinched expression. “Trust me I am even more furious with her at the moment,” she said, turning her back on her scowling older sister.
“You still have us,” Draco said motioning between him and Theo, “regardless of what these idiots think.” Theo nodded his head in agreement, wanting it clear that he had solidly aligned himself with Harry and that wasn’t going to change any time soon.
“You have me too,” Luna said dreamily with a smile on her face, “I never minded werewolves much, I think they’re quite beautiful really.”
“Well I know one that is,” Clay said giving Romy a sweet kiss to her cheek.
“And what about me, am I not beautiful?” Harry asked with a grin as Clayton gave him a playful shove in response.
FGHP
Lucius Malfoy had shut himself in his office, wanting some privacy to properly read the day’s paper. He had barely had time to look at them at all over the last few days, and had a few copies of the Daily Prophet on his desk in front of him. He checked the dates on them, discarding the ones from the second and third, focusing his attentions on the one for that day, the fourth of March; he would go back and check the previous editions at a later point if it was needed.
There was one article dominating the front page and he read it carefully. Most of it was nothing he hadn’t already known; it was primarily about Harry Prince and him being a werewolf, but that was not the part of the article that had caught Lucius attention.
He hadn’t been able to stop thinking about what Draco had told him about his other son, about his and Chloe’s son, Clayton. Draco had said the boy was a werewolf, a friend of Harry’s and now he held confirmation of that in his hands. The paper spoke of two others who had gone to Hogwarts with Harry, and even showed pictures of them.
He frowned with thought as his eyes fixed on the picture of the boy. Knowing who this Clayton really was, he could definitely see aspects of both himself and Chloe in him. He hadn’t wanted to believe what Draco had told him, but found it hard to deny the truth of it now.
Lucius snarled in anger, scrunching up the paper, unable to look at it a moment longer. It hurt to think of everything he had lost with Chloe; and the boy, who had once been a perfect combination of them both, was now tarnished, cursed, and nothing more than a beast.
“Incendio,” he said, setting fire to the copy of the paper on his desk; he didn’t care about the large scorch mark it left, the house elves would be able to fix that later.
He needed answers, about how Clayton had ended up a werewolf, how he had ended up in the Greyback pack of all places. There was only one person who he thought could give him the answers he needed though, but he hadn’t even heard mention of Chloe in over ten years. He had a few ideas of places to start, however; it might take a while, but he was determined to find her.
Getting to his feet he stepped around his desk and stormed from his office. He was so angry and hated how out of control of things he felt; he should have had a life with Chloe and Clayton, they would have been perfect, but Narcissa had ruined everything, even her son was defiant. He would make her pay for that, he decided as he took a turn in the direction of the Nursery, where he knew he would find his wife.
FGHP
Having had enough of hiding away in the Slytherin common room Harry had taken it upon himself to go and visit Remus. He was keen to know what Fenrir had made of what had happened. What Harry wasn’t expecting was for his mate to have come to the school to have an in-depth conversation, not only with Remus but with Dumbledore too.
Harry had knocked on the door and had been rather affronted that rather than being allowed to enter, a flustered looking Remus had opened the door, only wide enough for his head to fit through. The Professor had visibly relaxed when he had realised that it was Harry.
“You two must have some form of homing beacon for each other,” Remus said with a small smile as he had bid Harry entrance to the room and ushering him inside. Harry’s face had lit up when he had realised that Fenrir was stood in Remus’ study.
“Fen,” Harry said with a gasp as he rushed forward and practically fell into his mate’s arms. The Alpha was a little shocked to see his young mate there but he wasn’t exactly upset about it and quickly lifted Harry up and held him close.
“How did you know I was here, little one?” Fenrir asked as he held Harry in his arms. The Alpha looked to Remus, who had just shut the door, locking them all inside; the professor shook his head in response, informing Fenrir that he hadn’t told Harry anything.
“Guess I just knew,” Harry said with a shrug, as he snuggled into his mate. “I was just coming to speak with Remus, and apparently have brilliant timing. So what were the two of you talking about before I interrupted?” he asked, looking between his mate and Remus.
“This article,” Remus said with a frown, looking at the copy of the Daily Prophet he had spread out on his desk. “Fenrir has come to talk to headmaster Dumbledore; this has put you in a lot of danger, Harry,” he explained with a look of concern.
“What danger are we in?” Harry asked, not sure how it could have put them in more danger, it wasn’t like he didn’t already attract danger wherever he went.
“There are people out there who hunt us, Harry,” Remus said with a sigh. He was regretting having told Harry not to worry about the hunters now, because the teenager was being rather blasé about the situation, and they needed Harry to take the threat seriously.
“They have already tried once,” Fenrir said with a grunt, hating that his mate had already been subject to an attack by people who would like to see them, as werewolves, dead.
“It doesn’t mean that they won’t try again,” Remus said with a pointed stare to Fenrir, who was holding his mate close as the younger male leant into him, clearly needing the support. “Why was it that you wanted to see me, Harry?”
“I wanted to see what Fen had said about the article. Oh and did you give Lukas that letter I asked you to?” Harry asked. The letter had asked Lukas to look into ways of making sure the pack had full legal guardianship of Niko; he didn’t know if it would be possible but it was something that he thought he needed to prioritise, seeing as Dumbledore had started asking questions about the little ten year old.
“I did,” Remus confirmed, “are you going to tell me what that was about?” the professor asked, intending to hold Harry to the explanation he had been promised in the Great Hall that morning. Fenrir too was look at Harry questioningly.
“Just asking him to look into a few legal security measures,” Harry explained, not really wanting to get into it when they had other things to discuss, and not wanting Fenrir to worry over it.
“Little one?” Fenrir asked looking at his little mate curiously. Even he didn’t know what this could be about; he wasn’t sure what legal security measures the pack might need but he wanted to know, if Harry thought that they were a good idea.
“Just want to do all I can to make sure that no-one can get any ideas about trying to take Niko from us,” he told the Alpha. “Most of the pack is of age and so can choose to be there for themselves, we know Romy’s parents aren’t about to try and take her again, I don’t see Lucius Malfoy trying to lay claim to Clay, but I worry that, as an orphan, the ministry might be able to take custody of Niko.”
Fenrir growled at the very suggestion of anyone trying to take any member of his pack away from him, particularly the young boy he was becoming so fond of. “Let them try,” the Alpha snarled.
“They just might,” Remus said, looking rather impressed that Harry had reached these conclusions before they had even occurred to anyone else, and had already quietly tried to take measures to prevent it.
“I was going to talk to you before I did anything,” Harry promised his mate, wanting to make that clear. “But I just asked Lukas to look into it, so at least we know our options. He is trusting us to keep him safe, I can’t let him down,” he added, looking to Fenrir beseechingly.
The Alpha growled deeply, as he held Harry close, pulling him into a kiss. Harry kept on amazing him, and that his mate was as protective of their pack members as he was, was a great source of pride for him.
Remus gave a rather awkward cough, and Fenrir and Harry broke apart and turned to look at him. “As pleased as I am sure you both are to see each other, shouldn’t we go speak with Dumbledore,” the professor suggested, not wanting to give the couple a chance to get carried away.
“Oh, talking of whom,” Harry said suddenly, remembering, “he gave me that invisibility cloak you were talking about.” He still felt a little strange about being given it just because it had belonged to James Potter, but there was no denying that it was pretty amazing.
“Good,” Remus said, a serious expression on his face. He had honestly thought for a while that Dumbledore was going to try and keep it from Harry.
“Invisibility cloak?” Fenrir asked, confused about why the headmaster would have given his mate such a thing; he found it hard to trust anything that man did, particularly when he seemed even slightly altruistic.
“It belonged to my biological father,” Harry explained, and the Alpha nodded his understanding.
“Oh, which reminds me,” Remus said, hurrying around his desk, pulling open his desk drawer and removing what looked to be an old piece of parchment. “I had been looking for this for a while, and happened to come across two rather troublesome red-heads using it a few days ago.”
“What is it?” Harry asked as Remus came back around the desk and spread it out for him to see. Harry wriggled in his mate’s arms a little and Fenrir got the message, putting the submissive back on his own two feet, so that he could look properly. It simply looked like a large blank piece of parchment, however.
“This,” Remus said proudly, “is the Marauder’s Map. I solemnly swear that I am up to no good,” he said, pressing his wand to the parchment. Harry watched closely, Fenrir leaning over his shoulder so as to see as well.
Harry gasped in surprise as details started to appear on it, little lines of ink spreading out and slowly forming the image of a map in front of them. In many of the rooms and corridors, Harry could see small words written and shuffling about, and it didn’t take much to work out that they were names of people, presumably identifying where they were.
“This is amazing,” Harry exclaimed as his eyes scanned over it. “Is this Hogwarts?” he asked, not even trying to keep the excitement from his voice. He had had a very extensive magical education but he had never seen anything quite like this before.
“It is,” Remus confirmed. “Misters Fred and George Weasley were sorry to let it go, I assure you,” he said with amusement in his tone, “but when I informed them that I was Moony, they seemed to think it right for it to be returned to one of its creators.”
“You and James created this?” Harry asked in amazement, his head buzzing with all the questions he wanted to ask about how they had managed it, but knowing that now was perhaps not the time for a detailed lesson in magical theory; Fenrir would likely find it rather boring if nothing else.
“Yes, and Sirius,” Remus told him, a hint of sadness in his voice, as he mourned for the friend that Azkaban had stolen from him. “And another supposed friend, but that is a matter for another day,” he said dismissively, not wanting to get into a discussion about Peter; the man was dead anyway, killed by Sirius not long before they had found Harry.
“You can see everyone on this,” Harry said with a smile. “Look, even Romy and Clayton,” he said pointing to the Slytherin common room where they were clearly sat with Draco and Theo. “And there we are,” Harry said pointing to Remus’ office where his name, Fenrir’s and Remus’ announced their presence.
“You are supposed to be keeping him out of trouble, not encouraging him to cause more,” Fenrir said with a frown, he too was eyeing the map but he was not as pleased about as Harry seemed to be.
“I was thinking that it would mean he could always find Romy and Clayton when he needed them,” Remus pointed out. “Me too for that matter. And that he would be able to stay away from Dumbledore and know if people are nearby, possibly eavesdropping or something. There are many things this map could help him with,” he insisted.
The Alpha grunted in acknowledgement of these points, a little less inclined to insist Remus took the map back now that he saw things that way. “You are to use it responsibly,” the Alpha said to his mate, who turned to look at him, grinning, which wasn’t a great start.
“Of course,” Harry said happily, going up on his tip toes and pressing a soft kiss to his mate’s lips.
“Perhaps we should go,” Remus suggested, glancing down at the map, “Dumbledore is in his study,” he said, spotting the name on the parchment.
“Before you go,” Harry said quickly, not wanting to be parted from his mate so soon, “how’s Niko doing?”
“Fine. I left him with Damon and Micha,” Fenrir informed his mate, giving him a small smile, “he told me how much he enjoyed skating with you.”
Harry giggled. “For the record, not my idea,” he said, leaning back into his mate's large body and inhaling the scent, wishing that they could just stay together, or at least had time to appreciate one another a little bit, but alas they did not.
“I know, little one,” Fenrir said, pulling Harry up and kissing him. The full moon felt as if it were an age away when he wanted to be with his mate so badly, even though he knew that it was truly only one more week.
“Give Niko a big hug when you see him,” Harry requested when their kiss broke. “I miss him,” Harry admittedly a little shyly as Fenrir placed him back down on his own two feet, realising that Remus was waiting somewhat impatiently, determinedly looking anywhere else other than at them.
“He misses you too,” Fenrir said with a grunt as Harry gathered up the map and headed for the door, Fenrir close behind him. “I will see you soon,” the Alpha said, giving his mate a final chaste kiss.
“You’d better,” Harry said with a soft smile.
“Oh, Harry,” Remus added as he opened the door so that they could finally leave, “to wipe the map after you’ve used it, all you have to say is mischief managed,” he said with a smile.
“Thank you, Remus,” Harry said with a wider smile this time, “I truly appreciate this; it’ll come in handy avoiding the people that hate us.”
With that said they went their separate ways, Remus and Fenrir heading towards the headmasters office while Harry went in the opposite direction to the Slytherin common room to where he knew that Romy and Clay were, thanks to the map. However, there was only one dot on the map that he was watching as he walked, and that was the one belonging to his mate.
FGHP
“You realise he is unlikely to punish whoever it was who sent that information to the Prophet, don’t you?” Remus asked the Alpha a little hesitantly. “Even if he does know exactly who it was.” He didn’t want Fenrir to expect too much from this meeting, because that would likely only lead to someone probably losing their temper, and as much as he disliked Albus at the moment, they did need him alive at least for the moment.
“Yes,” Fenrir replied bluntly. While he did want to find the person who had caused his pack’s pups this trouble, it was also a good excuse to get Dumbledore to see him. Come Monday they would have Robin in their pack, and he was determined to see her come to Hogwarts with the others after the next full moon.
Normally he would not have cared what the headmaster thought and just sent her anyway, but things would likely go smoother if he could get Dumbledore to agree, something he thought would be easy enough since the one thing they both agreed on, was that Harry needed to be protected.
“Do you want me to talk to him with you, or should I leave you to it?” Remus asked, not sure what answer he was actually hoping for. On one hand, he really wasn’t in the mood for dealing with Dumbledore’s manipulations, but on the other he wasn’t sure that leaving the two of them alone was particularly wise.
“You can stay,” Fenrir stated. Remus would be expected to take care of Robin too when she came to Hogwarts in a little over a week’s time, so he might as well as know what was going to be happening. Besides, he knew he might need the professor to keep him from ripping Dumbledore’s head from his shoulders.
Remus nodded, accepting his Alpha’s decision, as the two of them continued to walk through the corridors of the school towards the headmaster’s office. At one point two second year Hufflepuffs had rounded the corner ahead of them, caught sight of Fenrir and quickly ran off in the other direction, but other than that they thankfully didn’t encounter anyone else.
It took them very little time to reach the stone Gargoyle and it wasn’t a moment too soon as a group of students rounded the corner and headed right for them. Not wanting to be recognized, Fenrir went first, heading up the narrow stone steps that were barely wide enough for him to fit up.
Remus followed in his wake, equally keen to get out of the more commonly used areas of the castle. Even though the article hadn’t mentioned him at all, it had still shaken the Professor. It had always been a great fear of his, to be outed to the wizarding world as the monster that he is.
Treading the stairs up towards the headmaster’s study, Remus couldn't help to feel the small nagging guilt because he was hiding things from his Alpha. He hated what he was, he couldn’t trust himself and that was why he would continue to take the potion despite knowing how much Harry and Fenrir didn’t want him to. Fenrir was trusting him to stay while he talked to the headmaster and yet he couldn’t be entirely honest.
“Are you ready for this?” Remus asked quietly as he went to knock on the headmaster's door. Fenrir nodded to show that he was indeed ready, though he wasn’t looking forward to it particularly, and so Remus knocked on the door.
“Enter,” a voice said and the two werewolves did just that. “What are you doing here?” Albus asked, his eyes narrowed as he set eyes on Fenrir. He had not wanted the Alpha werewolf to be wandering around his school, he was a dangerous man after all.
“We came to have a calm and rational discussion,” Remus said before Fenrir could say anything; however, he knew he had spoken out of turn when the Alpha let out a low warning growl. At this Remus shut his mouth fairly sharpish and took a step back, allowing for Fenrir to take the lead.
“I see,” Dumbledore said, putting aside the papers he had been looking at, and watching the two men in front of him with curiosity. It seemed that he was right about Remus becoming part of the Greyback pack, given the way he was reacting in the presence of the Alpha wolf; this definitely was not good news.
“You should have stopped this,” Fenrir said, pointing at the paper that was sat on the headmaster’s desk, the picture of Harry, Romy and Clay clearly visible on the front.
“This was not my doing,” Dumbledore stated simply. “I had no wish for this information to be made public,” he pointed out. He had always tried to help the teenagers hide their nature, and so he had been most displeased to see the information sprawled over the front page. He certainly wasn’t about to let Greyback blame him for it on top of everything.
“One of your students did it,” the Alpha told him “Harry is not safe here. After the next full moon I will send another to help protect him.”
Remus turned to look at Fenrir in surprise, trying to work out who the Alpha was planning to send now; he knew that Niko was still too young, that Jaylon wouldn’t be able to handle it and he was fairly certain that the rest of the pack were too old; unless Micha was actually younger than he had believed. He wanted to ask but he made himself keep his mouth shut, knowing that the Alpha wouldn’t appreciate being questioned in front of the headmaster. He was sure he would get his answers later.
“I don’t think another werewolf in the school is the answer to the problem,” Dumbledore said with a sigh; it was, in fact, one of the last things he wanted.
“I do,” Fenrir said firmly. “I will send her here when the other pups return.” As far as he was concerned, this was non-negotiable. This article was just the latest proof that headmaster truly had no control in his school and he couldn’t allow Harry to stay without more protection.
“Fine,” the headmaster snapped with barely restrained anger. He suspected that no matter what he said, the Alpha would send this new werewolf along with the others anyway. “Bring her to my office, she will be sorted here. I will need to know some details, such as her name and how old she is?”
“Robin Page,” Fenrir said, not wishing to mess around at all with this. “Born seventh of August, nineteen-seventy-nine.”
“Okay,” Dumbledore said with a thoughtful humming sound, “that would mean she will be in the year above Harry, if my calculations are correct.” He still wasn’t at all sure that another werewolf would do any good for the situation, he thought it was more likely to exacerbate things further. However, he knew that, as much as it pained him, he would be unable to deny the girl a magical education if she truly was a witch, werewolf or not.
“Fine,” Fenrir snapped. He didn’t care what year she was in as long as she was in the school. It was obvious that the headmaster was not at all pleased about this new addition to the Hogwarts, but it made no difference to him; Robin would join Harry and the other pups, that was the whole reason for bringing her into the pack in the first place.
“Well, if there is nothing else…” Dumbledore said impatiently. It had been a very long and frustrating day all round, and he was not in the mood to deal with Greyback; or Remus, for that matter, now that it seemed that the professor’s loyalty had shifted.
“We’re leaving,” Fenrir stated rather abruptly, turning and heading for the door without another word. Remus was still trying to figure out who this Robin person was, his head buzzing with questions, so he was taken a little off guard by his Alpha’s sudden declaration.
He glanced at Dumbledore, opening his mouth to say something, but promptly closed it again, and hurried after Fenrir, who was already halfway out of the office. He honestly didn’t have anything to say to the headmaster at the moment, and he wanted to speak to Fenrir before he left; plus he felt he really should walk with the Alpha back to his own office.
“Robin?” Remus asked, as he caught up with the Alpha, who was taking large strides back in the direction they had come earlier. He didn’t want to push his luck with asking Fenrir too many questions but he was all but pack now, and it was a name that he hadn’t heard any of them mention before.
“She’s new,” Fenrir said bluntly. “She’ll join the pack on Monday,” he added, deciding that Remus would need to know what was happening if he was going to be part of their pack, if he was going to protect the pups at Hogwarts.
Remus opened his mouth to ask yet more questions as he tried to keep up with the bigger man, but shut it again a second later with a frown. He wanted to ask if this was another child that Fenrir had bitten, but he was certain he wouldn’t manage to keep that from sounding like an accusation; and truthfully he wasn’t sure he wanted to know the answer.
He also wanted to ask Fenrir why he hadn’t been told that someone else from the pack would be coming to the school, but he reminded himself that he wasn’t really part of the pack yet, and had no entitlement to that knowledge; not that even a full place in the Greyback pack would entitle him to know everything.
“Has she always been a werewolf?” Remus asked, finally finding his voice as they approached his office. He thought that this was the least explosive way of asking what he wanted to know.
“Her parents asked me to bite her,” Fenrir said by way of an explanation. It was the truth, and he wouldn’t hide that and couldn’t change it, even if he wanted to. He knew that Remus was not yet comfortable with what they were and that they could turn others but he had no regrets about what he had done at the request of Robin’s parents.
“Oh,” Remus said, looking more than a little surprised at that, and the professor found himself lost for words. He felt sceptical, not understanding why anyone would choose such a life for their child, but he had never known Fenrir to lie; the Alpha had always been bluntly honest about those he had turned, and there was no reason to believe he spoke anything but the truth now.
“You will meet her at the full moon,” Fenrir stated, as Remus let them into his office.
“Yes,” Remus said, pausing at the reminder that he would be spending the next full moon with the pack, “I supposed I will.” And with a curt nod of his head, the Alpha disappeared through the floo, leaving Remus alone with his thoughts.
FGHP
Lukas had known that this evening was coming, hell it had mostly been his idea after the disastrous first meeting that he had had with Nell’s parents; however, that didn’t mean that he wasn’t a complete bundle of nerves as the two of them travelled to Nell’s parents home in a taxi.
He had had a lot on his mind since he had received the letter from Harry via Remus that morning. He thought that he had it mostly figured out, at least the general idea of what they should do, as the information was easily enough accessible. Lukas was hoping that he could get the massive amount of paperwork organised within the next week, so that Harry could sign it when he came home for the full moon; hopefully before they transformed. He didn’t want to risk waiting till afterwards; he knew what the Alpha pair tended to get carried away when they were naked.
Tonight, though, he had to have his wits about him; he wanted to be able to impress Edward and Ann-Marie, seeing as he wanted to marry Nell one day. He couldn’t afford to have them dislike him, and it was clear that, as a family, they were rather close. His stomach started doing black flips as the taxi came to a stop outside a rather large family home.
“Your parents live here?” Lukas queried, looking up at the three story building that seemed to be extremely well cared for. The garden alone looked as if it had been tended to by professionals and, even though Lukas was no expert, the car on the driveway looked to be extremely expensive.
“Yes,” Nell said, though she looked as nervous as Lukas felt. “Daddy owns an insurance company; whatever you do, don’t mention it or we’ll never hear the end of it tonight. Trust me, he could bore you to death with it if you let him.”
“I think that your father is going to want to kill me a lot more violently than that, seeing as I’m violating his little girl,” Lukas said with a frown as he glanced up at the large house through the taxi window, a feeling of foreboding settling in his stomach.
“Hopefully not, because I rather like you violating me,” Nell said with a cheeky grin as she leaned over and placed a sweet kiss to her boyfriend's cheek.
“That’ll be fourteen-sixty please,” the taxi driver said, rather affronted by the conversation that the young couple were having in the back of his car. Lukas dug around in his pocket and gave the taxi driver the money he had requested before he and Nell clambered out of the vehicle.
“I think we scared the taxi driver,” Nell said with a giggle as the cab drove off. Lukas smiled at her, pulling her into a kiss by tugging on her jeans and drawing her closer to him. He did love her giggles.
“He’ll get over it,” he said, once the two of them were standing alone in front of the large house. “One more for good luck,” he said, stealing another quick kiss, knowing that he was going to have to find it in himself to keep his hands more or less to himself for the evening.
“Okay, come on,” Nell said, breaking their kiss. “Let’s go inside before one of them comes out and finds us like this,” she said, knowing that that would do nothing to endear Lukas to her parents.
“Well at least we have clothes on this time,” Lukas pointed out with a teasing grin, but he let Nell lead him towards the front door anyway. He really didn’t want to start the night with the two of them being caught snogging in the driveway.
“I thought you were going to behave this evening,” Nell said with a laugh. She loved Lukas just as he was, from his serious intelligence to his often perverse silliness, but she was fairly sure that her father would prefer the former aspect of her boyfriend’s personality.
“I will, but you just make me feel young and reckless,” Lukas told her, only half joking; his mother had always said he was an old soul, but Nell made him feel alive in a way he rarely had. She certainly seemed to inspire his sillier side.
“You’re twenty-one, you are young,” Nell pointed out with a shake of her head as they reached the front door. She took a moment, and a deep breath, before reaching up and pressing the doorbell. They could hear it sound inside the house, and a moment later they heard the soft clack of heels heading towards the door.
“Nell, Lukas,” Ann-Marie greeted as she opened the door, stepping aside to allow them into the house. “I thought I heard a car pull up, I was about to send your father to come looking for you.”
“I can manage to find the front door, Mum,” Nell said with obvious exasperation, as Ann-Marie shut the door and took their coats.
“Thank you for having us, Mrs Green,” Lukas said politely as he handed over his long woollen jacket. “You have a really amazing house,” he added as he looked around the large entrance hall. Everything in the place seemed to be of high quality, from the expensive vases on what looked to be antique side tables, to the solid, highly polished wood floor.
“Thank you, Lukas,” Ann-Marie replied, “we rather like it. Now, come, dinner isn’t quite ready so let’s find you somewhere to sit and something to drink until it is.” And with that she led them deeper into the house, and into what looked to be a comfortable sitting room.
“Ah, Nell, sweetheart,” Edward said, getting up from where he was sitting and pulling his daughter into his arms, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. “Are you well?”
“I’m fine, Daddy,” she said fondly, returning the embrace for a moment, before pulling back and gesturing to her boyfriend. “You remember Lukas, of course,” she said with a smile, hoping that they could both play nice.
“Of course,” Edward replied rather formally, holding out his hand, which Lukas promptly shook. “Did you manage to find the place okay?” he asked.
“Oh, we just took a taxi,” Lukas said dismissively. “Think they are pretty good at finding anywhere you want to go as long as you pay them in the end,” he said with a smile. Edward, however, didn’t look particularly amused, clearly not a fan of Lukas’ brand of humour.
“A taxi?” the older man asked in surprise. “Do you not have a car of your own?”
“I don’t find that I have need of one,” Lukas said, realising very quickly where Edward was going with this. “I earn enough to cover the cost of a rental or a taxi when the need arises.” He wanted to make it clear that he was certainly capable of providing Nell with anything she needed or wanted, even if he didn’t choose to in the way that Edward expected.
“Yeah, Lukas hired a limo with our own personal driver when he took me to the tea house,” Nell told her parents. She had been so amazed by that date and she wanted her parents to see what lengths Lukas would go to make her happy. “It was lovely.”
“Ah, are you a fan of tea as well, Lukas, dear?” Ann-Marie asked, wanting to minimise the tension in the room. She was aware that her husband didn’t like Lukas but this evening was supposed to change that, at least that had been the general idea.
“Yes,” Lukas said with a smile, “I think that is what brought us together,” he added as he put his arm around Nell’s waist, drawing her close to him, wanting her next to him, touching her if possible.
“Remind me,” Edward said, “what is your profession?”
“Daddy,” Nell said with a sigh, “Lukas works as an accountant.” She knew that her parents didn’t exactly approve of her boyfriend but she thought that was really more to do with how they had met, than anything to do with Lukas personally, and she really wanted to change their opinions of him.
“Perhaps we should move this to the dining room, are you hungry, Lukas dear?” Ann-Marie asked, taking Lukas by the arm and guiding him deeper into the depths of the house.
“I am quite,” he told her earnestly. “I had breakfast with my family this morning, but I got rather distracted with some research I was doing for my, erm, nephew this afternoon, and completely forgot to eat lunch.”
“Oh that is not at all a good habit to get into,” Ann-Marie chastised lightly. She could see why her daughter liked this man, he was charming, handsome and clearly had a good head on his shoulders.
“I know, it was accidental, I assure you,” Lukas said with a reassuring smile, he found that he rather liked Ann-Marie, however, Edward he was still rather wary of, especially considering the man's current attitude towards him. “Though it does mean I will get to properly enjoy whatever delights you have prepared for us this evening even more fully.”
“He is a shameless flatterer, Nell,” Ann-Marie said over her shoulder to her daughter, who was following close behind with her father. Nell was smiling happily, but Edward was looking less than impressed. In his mind no one was going to be good enough for his daughter.
“I know,” she said with a wide grin, more than a little proud of her boyfriend right now. “And a family man too,” she pointed out, wanting her parents to know his good qualities more than ever.
“So it would seem, do you have a large family?” Edward asked sternly, not quite sure how he felt about this. Being a family man was not necessarily a good thing if it meant his nineteen year old daughter being pregnant, which was the last thing he wanted. “Do you still live at home?”
“I don’t live with my parents if that is what you are asking,” Lukas told him, keeping his tone as polite as he could. He was really starting to dislike Edward a lot. “But I do eat with my family most days, they are very important to me, though I own my own home outright, no mortgage.”
“And you were able to just not go to work today, so that you could do that research for your nephew?” Ann-Marie asked. As much as she approved of such dedication to family, she wasn’t sure she liked the idea that he would shirk his responsibilities so easily.
“Oh, absolutely, I work for myself,” Lukas told her with a smile. “It means that when my family needs me I can put them first,” he said, not even trying to be subtle as he turned to smile at Nell over his shoulder, as they entered the dining room.
“You run your own business,” Edward said, sounding impressed despite himself. He valued a man that worked hard and clearly Lukas was one of those men. Though that didn’t mean that he wanted him dating his only daughter.
“Essentially. A lot of businesses outsource work to me,” Lukas said honestly. This was possibly one of the only truths he could tell them about himself so he would take advantage of it while he could.
“Ah, so you don’t own your own company, it sounds to me as if it isn’t a stable source of income at all,” Edward said disapprovingly as he took a seat at the head of the table. Lukas, Nell and Ann-Marie all sitting down as well.
“I am good at what I do,” Lukas assured him; it didn’t escape his attention that Nell and her mother were sharing exasperated looks between them but knowing that it was for the best to keep quiet. “I have a lot of regular clients that keep me busy.”
“But they have no contract with you,” Edward clarified, hoping that his wife and daughter would see reason, that this man was not good for Nell.
“No,” Lukas admitted, realising that he had lost all the ground he had thought he had made; it was very frustrating. He didn’t really understand what it was that Edward had against him, but it felt like the man was looking for reasons to dislike him.
“And you expect to be able to support my daughter on such an unstable income?” Edward asked with obvious scepticism. He had worked hard all his life to ensure that both Ann-Marie and Nell had the very best of everything, and he wasn’t going to see her with some lay-about, who couldn’t even get a real job.
“I’m good with numbers, and I have enough money to live off for a year even if all my clients did… magically decide not to work with me anymore,” Lukas said, his whole body tense as he forced himself to remain calm and collected. He suspected that Edward would love nothing more than for him to lose his temper, and so he used that to motivate himself not to.
“Daddy, do we really have to do this?” Nell asked pleadingly. Glancing towards Lukas with an apologetic expression. She had been worried that her father would be like this, but had hoped otherwise; however, it seemed that he really didn’t want to even give Lukas a chance.
“I am merely checking that this gentleman is good enough for you,” Edward informed his daughter sternly. “He is doing a very poor job so far,” he added, giving Lukas a look of disapproval.
“Excuse me but I love your daughter, I know you don’t like me very much but I am perfectly capable of taking care of Nell. Perhaps not in the way she is accustomed,” Lukas said motioning to the grand dining room they were sitting in and even the maid that had come in carrying their starters, “however I know that we will be happy.”
“You presume that I will permit you to remain together,” Edward said gruffly, keen to get his daughter away from this young man as soon as possible.
“Daddy!” Nell exclaimed in protest. “I love you, but that really isn’t your choice to make.” She didn’t need his permission to be with Lukas and even if her father wouldn’t grant Lukas her hand in marriage, she had no intentions of letting that stop Lukas from becoming her husband one day.
“Nell, you will watch how you speak to your father,” Ann-Marie said with firm disapproval. She rather liked Lukas in some respects, but he seemed to bring out a rebellious side of their daughter she could not approve of at all.
“No, Mum, I won’t,” Nell said stubbornly; she wouldn’t allow herself to be pushed around this time, she wasn’t going to just sit there and let them attack Lukas. “I won’t,” she repeated, “not when he’s making threats like this!”
“This boy is no good, you are worth so much more than this,” Edward told her firmly, trying to make her see reason. He didn’t understand why she had to be so difficult, so stubborn, sometimes.
“I’m sitting right here!” Lukas reminded them indignantly, annoyed at the way they were just discussing him as though he would have no say in the matter at all.
“Come on, we’re going,” Nell said getting to her feet, and holding out her hand for Lukas to take. She loved her parents but she loved Lukas too, and she wasn’t going to be made to choose; if her parents really were going to push the matter then they would be the ones that lost out.
“Don’t you dare leave this house, young lady,” Edward snapped angrily, getting to his own feet, barely holding onto the last shreds of his temper.
“I’m not a child any more, I’m nineteen!” Nell shouted, furious at her father for acting this way. She loved Lukas so much and hated how her father had seemingly taken such a dislike to him so quickly. “It doesn’t matter what you think, Daddy, it’s too late for you to break us up; I think I’m pregnant.”
Silence fell in the room, as the other three occupants stared at her in shock. Edward all but fell back into his seat as he watched his daughter with a heart-broken expression. “Nell, sweetheart, are you sure?” Ann-Marie managed to ask after a few moments.
“I took a test,” Nell said bowing her head unable to meet anyone’s eyes, especially not Lukas whom she hadn’t had the chance to tell. She hadn’t wanted for him to find out like this, but it was done now. “I have a doctor’s appointment on Monday to confirm,” she told them.
Lukas wasted very little time, rounding the table and, ignoring everyone else in the room, he took Nell into his arms and kissed her for all he was worth. He couldn’t believe that she hadn’t told him; this was the biggest and best news that he had heard in a long time; he was going to be a Daddy.
“You’ll get rid of it,” Edward said firmly hitting his fist against the table lightly, though hard enough to make the crockery clink. Lukas, while still holding Nell in his arms, turned his head and growled at him warningly. The wolf inside of him didn’t like the suggestion of that at all. He would rather have killed Edward where he stood than allowed the man to hurt his mate and child.
“No,” Nell said strongly; it felt so strange standing up to her father, it was not often that she did. The first time she had done so she had managed to win her right to independence with a job and living alone, although the compromise had been that her parents owned her flat but it had still been a win to her. This time there wasn’t going to be a compromise; she wasn’t getting rid of this baby.
“You will do as you are told!” Edward raged, getting back to his feet as he lost his temper and stepped around the table to confront the young couple. Instantly Lukas stepped in front of Nell, puffing up his chest and growling at the large man in warning; he wouldn’t have his family hurt.
“Touch her and you will find out just what I am capable of,” Lukas threatened with a snarl, his fists clenched and ready to fight; his instincts were in overdrive as it sunk in that he was going to be a father. He would protect his mate and his child at any cost, they were all that mattered now.
“Edward, I think that it is perfectly clear that these two are not going to be broken apart,” Ann-Marie said, finally coming forward and trying to calm her husband. She did not approve of how strict her husband was at times but Nell was a good girl and she could see just how much the young couple care for one another. She only wanted for her to be happy, even if she was not best pleased with this news.
“Get out of my house,” Edward said through clenched teeth. He was talking to Lukas, but from the way that Nell clung to her boyfriend, it was clear that Ann-Marie was right; Nell was not about to be separated from him. “Get out!” he shouted, knowing that if Lukas was not gone from his sight in the next few minutes he would be unable to keep himself from hitting the man who had got his nineteen year old daughter pregnant.
“Happily,” Nell said, though there were tears on her face that contradicted that completely. She took Lukas’ hand in her own, and only just managed to keep herself from actually running in her haste to get away from her parents, from the disappointed looks they were giving her, and the angry ones they were giving Lukas.
“Nellamy Marie Green,” Edward said angrily, “you will not be leaving this house with him!” Edward didn’t want to lose his daughter, she was the only child they had left and this poor excuse for a man was not good enough for her, he only needed for Nell to see that.
Lukas had Nell by one hand, but Edward reached forward and grabbed the other, stopping them from leaving. If Nell had not been between the two men then Lukas would have swung for him with the grip that Edward had on his mate.
“Let her go, Edward,” Ann-Marie said calmly, “this is her choice to make and despite how we feel about this young man or the situation they’re in, it is Nell’s choice to make. If it is a mistake then we will be here to help her learn from it and pick up the pieces but this is what she wants.”
Nell turned to her mother with tears in her eyes, going to her and hugging her tight, “thank you,” she whispered to her. The two of them had been close, Edward having been forced to work a lot during her childhood and she appreciated what her mother was doing for her now.
“I’ll look after her,” Lukas promised, addressing only Ann-Marie; he had very little time for Edward, who was stood with his fists clenched glaring at him as if he could kill him just by imagining it.
“You see that you do young man,” Ann-Marie said with a smile. She might not have entirely approved of the situation but she could see how desperately in love her daughter was. She too remembered being nineteen and in love, she would have done anything to have that feeling back. This was the biggest gift that she could give to her daughter.
Nell pressed a kiss to her mother’s cheek and returned to Lukas, snuggling into his side where he wrapped his arms around her. “For the record, Sir,” Lukas said looking back at Edward, “the reason I don’t own a car is that I’ve never needed one, I have… alternative methods of transportation at my disposal.” With these last words he made sure that he was holding onto his mate securely and disapparated.

Thank you for reading. We hope you enjoyed the chapter. Please do take a moment to leave us a comment to let us know your thoughts.
Review Reponses:
Littlepanther – I am sure they would love to have you join them skating. But yeah, can you imagine Fen skating; that is quite the mental image. I kind of want to beat up those meanie Gryffindors too. Haha, you will have to convince Seamus that you are the one for him ;) Glad that the update helped you to recharge. Hope this one does too.
Lord_shadow – Glad to hear that you enjoy the story and look forward to our updates. Seamus has sure been through a lot in a short period of time.
Happyreader – Glad you are enjoying the story (though it might be a while before you get to this point and get to read this. Hope you are still enjoying it by the time you do).
MrEQuecky – Yes, this story has already been published on AO3 (as well as FF.net and the fragmented soul website, which can be found through either of our profile pages). You should be able to find it by searching for Fragmented Soul, or either of our writers’ names (BickyMonster or StrawberryGirl87). If you have trouble let us know.
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Fragmented Soul