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Lunaticus Book Three: New Moon Rising	By : JBankai89 Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Remus Views: 12595 -:- Recommendations : 2 -:- Currently Reading : 2
Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns Harry Potter, I gain nothing from this but a way to pass the time.

Chapter List
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A/N: Hey everyone, thank you so much for all your responses to companion piece vs. early update! It will be revealed on Monday which has been selected, and the following update after that will be June 30th.
Chapter Nine – Tension

In the days to come, with Ulrich so busy with the trouble that the rogues were still causing, Harry had begun to sorely miss his obsessive-compulsive hovering.

That wasn't to say that he missed the activity of Ulrich's irritating hovering and his domineering behaviour in particular, but Harry liked to think that if he was around, maybe Remus would back off.

Remus wasn't exactly following him around like a duckling follows its mother, but every time Harry turned around, Remus seemed to be within his field of vision, and with the approaching full moon, emotions were running extra-high.

“Well, aren't you Mister Hot Stuff,” Tavish teased as he dropped down next to Harry at lunchtime.

Instead of eating, Harry was poring over a stack of perfectly dreadful essays, the spelling on them all so atrocious that he felt as though he might need a Translation Charm of some kind to decipher them. He lifted his gaze to his friend, who was grinning ear to ear, and cocked an eyebrow.

“What are you on about this time?” Harry asked, and instead of answering, Tavish nodded over his left shoulder to see Remus sitting away from everyone, watching Harry none-too-subtly. Harry groaned and rolled his eyes.

“It seems that he missed the memo,” Harry grumbled as he dropped his gaze back to the essays in his lap.

“What memo?”

“The one that says being stalked—or, in this case, stared at—isn't really a turn-on for most people,” Harry huffed in frustration and slammed down his quill. “It's driving me mental. I wish he'd just take a hint and go away.”

“What, you're not a fan of ridiculous personal drama?” Tavish teased, and snorted a laugh when Harry glared at him.

“Not as a rule,” he replied while he tried to ignore the feeling of Remus's eyes boring into him. “After what he put me through, he has some fucking nerve turning back up here, I swear...”

“Oh, don't be such a drama queen,” Tavish said with a dismissive wave of his hand, “I don't know about you, but having two handsome dominants on my tail instead of one...”

“Don't let Alpha hear you say that,” Harry shot back with a snort.

“Don't let me hear you say what?”

Harry's eyes shot up, and looming over the pair of them was Greyback, his suspicious gaze flitting from Tavish to Harry and back again. Harry looked at Tavish and arched an eyebrow, and his companion's eyes widened in a clear, silent message: Harry, don't you dare.

“Tavish was just telling me how how he wishes his life was more like mine,” Harry explained, a small smirk twitching at the corners of his mouth as his fellow sub flushed a deep red, “dramatic and chaotic and a right pain in the arse.”

“Hm,” Greyback grunted, and moved a hand to the back of Tavish's neck to give it a small squeeze. Greyback didn't say a word as a grin spread across Tavish's face, and he jumped up to follow the alpha—his alpha—away.

Greyback's hand dropped to Tavish's buttocks as they moved, and Harry saw him grip it firmly and possessively as he all but dragged the sub back to his cabin. As Harry watched them go, he felt a sense of uneasiness settle in the pit of his stomach as he looked on.

Despite the fact that logically he knew that werewolves had their own culture, their own way of doing things that deviated from what a wizard might consider normal, he still couldn't wrap his head around the concept of willingly bending to a dominant's wishes at the drop of a hat in such a way. It didn't sit well with him, and the thought of doing so with anyone made Harry feel immediately uneasy.

Harry's thoughts were interrupted when the scent of a nearby dominant enveloped him, and he looked up to see an exhausted, but smiling Ulrich traipsing over to him.

“Hey,” Harry said with a small smile, and the dominant dropped down next to him, making a big show of drawing him into a kiss, as though he was well-aware that Remus was watching.

In a vain hope that such a thing might give Remus the hint that he had moved on, Harry welcomed it, and shifted even closer to the beta, the essays in his lap forgotten. “You look knackered,” Harry said, “what happened?” Out of the corner of his eye, Harry saw Remus get up and storm off, and Harry watched his progression across the territory for a moment before he refocused his full attention on Ulrich.

“The rogue pack is upping their attempts at breaking our warding, and they're trying to draw Alpha out,” Ulrich explained softly, clearly not keen to be overheard, “all sorts of curses inlaid to our warding, so that if we removed them incorrectly the wards would dissolve. And we found another corpse—a child this time.”

“A child?” Harry asked, aghast, and Ulrich nodded solemnly.

“There...there wasn't much left, the poor thing was...” Ulrich's voice got rather croaky, and he trailed off, unable to continue. Harry reached for his hand, and offered it a small squeeze, while thoughts of what Tavish had told him about Ulrich's past came to the forefront of his mind, in particular how he had lost his mate and unborn child in one fell swoop. Harry had no idea what to say, but sat there quietly while he waited for Ulrich to collect himself.

“Are we in actual danger, I mean, is this rogue pack a real threat, or are they just blowing smoke?” Harry asked after a moment of silence, but Ulrich did not answer straightaway.

“We've been lulled into a false sense of security by these peaceful times,” Ulrich replied at last, again careful to keep his voice low, “I think we need to prepare for the worst, and hope for the best.”

His hand tensed in Harry's, and Harry shifted a little closer to the dominant while he wondered if he'd ever get the peaceful life that he'd always dreamed of.

~*~

Despite the threat of possible invasion by another pack, Harry found himself unable to focus on it very much, given that he was wholly distracted by the new turn his life had taken, in the form of him being stuck in between two single-minded and possessive dominant werewolves.

When Harry was alone, Remus would edge towards him in an effort to talk, and Harry would give him the brushoff. Ulrich would scent Remus on Harry, and then storm over to the pack's new omega and share his feelings on the matter with him. Those encounters always left Remus badly bruised, but Ulrich was careful to never hurt him enough to cause permanent injury.

Harry turned away at these moments, caught between the unease he felt at seeing Remus hurt at the hands of someone he cared about, and the gentle reminder at the back of his mind that told him that this was how werewolves lived, and it was not his place to try and change that.

A very, very small part of him also felt that on some level, Remus deserved the bruises.

Remus's persistence in trying to interact with Harry sparked a new level of possessiveness in Ulrich, and the beta now often took to the task of keeping an eye on the submissives for an excuse to watch Harry and make sure that Remus kept his distance. In addition, he fetched all Harry's meals, and was more than a little clingy whenever Remus was around, and snapped like an angry dog if the other dominant got too close. It was maddening.

Harry should have known it would have come to a head, and it did so two just days before the full moon.

It was just past midday, and Harry had slipped away from the main bustle of the territory to the Sub House for a little time of quiet contemplation. Though he had been spending more and more nights in Ulrich's company, Harry hadn't exactly 'moved in' with him yet, and most of his belongings were still scattered around the bed that he'd claimed in the Sub House when he'd first arrived at the pack's territory.

Harry had intended to slip inside and think, predominantly about how he might convince Remus to leave him alone and move on with his life. He didn't like having him here; he wanted Remus to move on like he had, but in the same breath, he hated how the idea of Remus with anyone else made him twinge with jealousy.

Harry eased down on the bedspread with a heavy sigh, but the combined stresses both werewolves had put on him wore heavily on his mind, and he quickly nodded off.

When Harry next woke it was twilight, and his stomach was rumbling in demand of food. He sat up with a soft groan as he ran a hand through his hair, but it did little other than make it stick up even more. Rubbing his eyes, he rolled off the bed and stepped out of the House, intent on finding Ulrich and some dinner, but instead nearly tripped over a person who had been sitting on the outside step of the Sub House, clearly waiting for him, and so happened to be the last person that Harry wanted to see.

Harry jumped away from Remus as though he carried some sort of catching disease, but he wasn't quick enough, and his hand closed over Harry's gently. He immediately wrenched it out of Remus's grip.

“Don't touch me,” Harry growled, his lip curled back.

“Harry, please,” Remus pleaded, “I just want to talk.”

“Talk? Talk? Remus, what is there to talk about? We're over, I want you out of my life. Why are you still even here?”

“I need to pay for what I've done,” Remus said hoarsely, “Harry, I'm so sorr—”

“Do not say you're sorry,” Harry growled, his voice cracking, “we're well beyond that now. How can you expect me to forgive you for all you've done to me? You'd need half a dozen lifetimes to even begin making up for it all. Remus, please understand, I want you to stay away from me. If you really are sorry, if you really care about me, you'll respect my wishes, and leave.”

Remus did not listen.

In a brazen move that Harry would never have expected, Remus swept forward and grabbed his wrists in a firm hold. Harry let out a soft cry before he could stop himself, his mind jerking back to the incident, and panic began to blind him. He shook his head minutely and tried to focus, but it was difficult, and it took every ounce of strength that Harry had to stay present and not dissolve into bad memories. He glared at the older man, who leant in, but other than the hands at his wrists, he did not physically touch him.

“You are right that there is nothing I can do to truly make up for what I have done,” he whispered, his breath tickling across Harry's mouth softly, “but that doesn't mean that I won't try.”

Harry was frozen in fear, and he had no idea what to say. He was relieved from answering when a large hand closed around Remus's neck, and wrenched him away from Harry roughly.

“You get the hell away from him,” Ulrich snarled as he threw Remus to the ground.

Remus groaned in pain as he landed hard, and Ulrich loomed over him, his eyes blazing in fury. He kicked Remus sharply in the stomach, and the omega grunted as he fell back to the ground in a heap. He did not look up or fight back, aside from his vocalizations of pain, he barely reacted to Ulrich at all.

“Get up! Get up!” Ulrich yelled, and Remus had made it halfway to a standing position before he was struck again, and he fell back into the dirt.

Harry watched the scene, frozen in shock, but when Remus tried to stand for the third time and Ulrich kicked him down again, Harry smelt and saw blood as Remus spat a mouthful to the ground. The sight of it snapped Harry out of his paralytic state, and he reacted.

“Stop!” Harry cried as he ran forward, but Ulrich ignored him. “Ulrich, stop it!” Harry tried to pull him back, but he could never hope to match a dominant werewolf in brute strength, and Ulrich batted him away like he was a mosquito. “Stop, you'll kill him!” Ulrich continued to ignore Harry, clearly well beyond reason as he bore down on Remus again. He looked up at Ulrich nervously, a thin trail of blood connecting the corner of his mouth to the edge of his jaw. He did not dare to meet Ulrich's eyes, and Harry saw fear in Remus's expression.

Harry circled them quickly, but he did not time it nearly as well as he could have, and when he jumped in between the pair, he let out a sharp yelp of pain as Ulrich's fist connected with his cheek, and Harry felt the bone crack as his legs buckled and he fell to the ground.

“Harry!”

Harry couldn't tell who had cried his name, but just as quickly a pair of warm, strong arms enveloped him, and he was lifted off the ground.

“Oh, fuck, Harry, I'm so sorry.” Harry recognized the voice as Ulrich's, and the scent that now enveloped him was of Ulrich, and not Remus. Harry clung to his dominant as he was bounced and jostled in Ulrich's arms, but he was too disoriented by the pain to protest being carried somewhere.

Harry heard the door to Ulrich's cabin creak open and swing shut behind them, not long before he felt himself being laid down on something soft. He grimaced when he felt a wand tip press into his injured cheek, but did not protest it, given how horror-struck Ulrich still looked at accidentally hitting him like that.

“Episky!”

Crack!

“Jesus fucking Christ!” Harry cried with a yelp, and clapped a hand against his cheek.

“Are you all right, Harry?”

Harry looked up to Ulrich; the dominant's face was lined with worry, his eyes were wide with guilt over what he had accidentally done, and his face was a little flushed from the exertion of attacking Remus and carrying Harry home.

“I'll live,” Harry replied with a small grimace, his tone of voice reassuring as he offered his dominant a weak smile. As he gazed up at him, Harry's expression shifted to serious as he thought back to what had just transpired. “Have you calmed down at all?” he asked with an arched brow, and Ulrich looked away shamefully.

“Don't move, I'm going to have one of the pack Healers see to him,” Ulrich said in non-answer as he stood up, and Harry narrowed his eyes suspiciously at him. “I swear I won't hurt him again,” he replied in response to Harry's expression, while he lifted his hands in a motion of surrender. However, it seemed as though the idea of not hurting Remus further was physically painful for him.

Still reeling from all that had happened, Harry nodded a little and watched Ulrich go, though his stomach churned uneasily, uncertain how genuine Ulrich's promises actually were.

It was less than ten minutes before Ulrich returned with a steaming bowl of stew and a hunk of crusty bread balanced in his hands, his expression carefully rendered blank. He stepped over to Harry hand handed him the food without a word.

“Thanks,” Harry replied as he accepted the bowl and stared down into it, but despite his earlier hunger, his appetite was now completely gone. “Now, what the hell happened?” he demanded, and Ulrich winced at his tone, “I've never seen...I mean...that was...new.”

“I'm sorry, Harry,” Ulrich said as he sank down on the bed next to him, his head bowed, “I really am. I just...him being here makes me edgy, and when I saw...”

“You snapped,” Harry filled in, and Ulrich nodded meekly. “That doesn't make what you did okay, Ulrich, you could've killed him.” Ulrich frowned, but didn't immediately answer, and Harry filled in the silence while he regarded his courting partner. “I like having him here about as much as you do, you realize, but...you scared me back there.”

Harry set aside the uneaten food and he crawled across the scant foot of space between them to clamber into the dominant's lap. Harry braced his knees on either side of Ulrich's hips, while he draped his arms around his neck, and leant in for a gentle kiss, which Ulrich eagerly returned. His arms moved to tentatively curl around Harry's waist, as though afraid that at any moment, Harry might suddenly reject him.

“What did you think would happen, hm?” Harry asked rhetorically in between gentle kisses, “that Remus would sweep in and take me away from you, or I would play both of you at the same time? Do I really strike you as the unfaithful type?” Instead of waiting for an answer, Harry leant in and kissed him again. “I'm with you now. Remus hanging around won't change that. But if you pull a stunt like that again, I don't know if I would be able to stay with you. You really frightened me, Ulrich.”

“I'm sorry, Harry,” Ulrich said; his voice was pained and his expression was unguarded and regretful. The sincerity rang through his words, and despite the combined shock and unease Harry felt at Ulrich's actions, he was more shaken still by Remus's brazen approach of him. It was close—too close—to the incident.

Harry shivered at the memory of it, and Ulrich's arms tightened around him, drawing him closer.

“I really am,” Ulrich continued, his dark eyes wide and apologetic, “it's been a very long time since I've had anyone in my life...since I've wanted anyone in my life. I don't want to lose you.”

Harry could all but hear the unspoken phrase of, I don't want to lose you to him in Ulrich's tone.

Being the subject of some ridiculous werewolf version of a game of tug of war still irked Harry to no end, but at the moment, he genuinely had no idea how to address it. Instead, Harry leant in and kissed Ulrich again. The dominant's warmth washed over him as Ulrich held his submissive close, tightly, but gently, as though he were precious. It had been a very long time since Harry had felt so safe with someone like this.

“Contrary to popular belief, I can take care of myself. I don't need you sweeping in like a knight in shining armour every time some cocky dominant makes a pass at me,” Harry said gently, his lips scant millimetres from the other man's, “but that doesn't mean I don't appreciate it. Just...where Remus is concerned, just ignore him, yeah? Beyond all the stuff between us, he was my dad and godfather's best friend...I'd never forgive myself if anything happened to him.”

“You're too good, Harry,” Ulrich whispered, “you are everything someone could want, and you extend kindness to people who don't even deserve it...why?”

“It's simple. I don't like seeing people hurt,” Harry explained in a similar tone of voice, “I don't care who they are or what they've done, there are some things that no huma—that no person deserves.”

~*~

Hermione,

Something's happened. I don't know if Ginny's told you, but Remus has come back to the territory, and he seems to have some sort of grand plan about making up to me everything that happened between us. I was just ignoring him and stuff, but...something happened. I need to talk to you.

If you can come to the territory before the moon that'd be great, if not, we'll talk about it then.

Harry

Harry had sent off the note with the only post owl within the territory, and in less than twenty-four hours, just after they'd had dinner, Harry recognized a certain bushy-haired someone darting across the territory from its Apparition spot and making a beeline straight for him. The scent of an approaching dominant made Ulrich tense, but one glare from Harry was enough to quell his protect instinct, and he backed off just as Hermione reached them.

She skidded to a halt, and lurched forward as though to embrace Harry as she always did, but hesitated at the last moment, her eyes darting to Ulrich, who had an arm draped over Harry in an obvious show of claim.

This close to the moon, Harry knew it was more instinct than common sense that was fuelling Ulrich's actions, and he fought the urge to roll his eyes at this behaviour. Harry wiggled out from under the dominant's arm and stepped forward to embrace Hermione, and she immediately hugged him back.

“Are you okay?” she asked softly, and Harry almost laughed.

“No, I'm not. C'mon, let's go for a walk.”

Hermione glanced towards Ulrich uncertainly when they broke apart, but Harry ignored it as he grabbed her by the elbow and dragged her away from the others. He could feel a number of pairs of eyes boring into his back, but he ignored them, well-aware how it must look to them, a sub that was being courted wandering off with another dominant, but Tavish and Ulrich knew that they were just friends, and that was good enough for Harry.

When he was certain that they were out of earshot, Harry opened his mouth to speak, but Hermione beat him to it.

“So, what's all this about?” Hermione asked, careful to keep her voice low, “Ginny told me about the attack and Remus showing up and saving you both, but not much else.”

“Remus has decided that he's sorry, and wants to make it up to me,” Harry muttered, unable to keep the sneer out of his voice. “He's rejoined the pack as the omega, and keeps trying to catch me alone to talk.” The memory of the last encounter with Remus floated to the surface of his mind, and he shuddered. “The last time, it was...bad.”

Harry stuttered to a stop, and clenched his hands into fists in an effort to hide his shaking. No doubt Hermione could smell his fear, but it didn't stop him from trying to conceal it from her anyway.

“How bad, Harry?” she asked softly, and for a long moment, Harry didn't answer.

“Bad. Remus, he...he didn't exactly do anything, but he...he made me think of...the incident. You know?” Hermione nodded, and he continued, “well, he just sort of said that he wasn't going anywhere, and was going to keep trying to make it up to me, and then Ulrich found us like that, and went ballistic.”

“Oh God,” Hermione whispered, and stared at him with wide eyes. “Is Remus even alive?”

“He's alive,” Harry confirmed, “I sort of...made the bad decision of trying to stop them myself and Ulrich hit me pretty hard by accident. After that he sort of calmed down and we talked. I mean, I can't decide how I feel about what happened, because werewolf culture is a bit...brutal, so I can't exactly blame Ulrich for how he reacted, and part of me almost feels like Remus deserved it, after everything, but mostly, I feel kind of sickened that it had gotten so...so...out of hand, I guess.”

Hermione didn't answer verbally, and instead drew Harry into a tight hug. He returned it readily, and tried to ignore his newfound werewolf instincts, which were balking at this contact, when he was already being courted by Ulrich.

“Oh, Harry, I wish I knew what to tell you...” Hermione said sadly as she pulled back. “It's such a complicated situation, but it's good that you stopped Ulrich before it could go too far. Are you all right, though?”

“Yeah, I'm fine, Ulrich felt really awful about hurting me, and put me right almost at once. It's not like he knew I was gonna jump in front of Remus like that.”

“Still...” Hermione shifted her eyes from Harry over to the group, and Harry followed her gaze, catching sight of Remus. Even at a distance, Harry could see Ulrich shooting Remus a nasty glare. Harry supposed Remus could sense it or something, because he did not dare lift his gaze once.

“D'you want me to talk to him, at the full moon, I mean?” Hermione asked timidly, and immediately Harry shook his head.

“No. I don't want him to think I need to hide behind every other dominant in the pack. I can fight my own battles, Hermione.”

“I know you can, but—”

“—no,” Harry interrupted, breathing a little harder than was necessary as he tried to remain calm as he talked with his friend. “I can...I can do this. I need to do this. Promise me you'll try and stay out of it?”

Hermione regarded him with a look of incredulity, as though he'd just proclaimed that he was going to slay a Hungarian Horntail with a Q-tip and an elastic band.

“Harry, are you sure...?” she asked uncertainly, and Harry snorted.

“No, I'm not,” he replied, and Hermione laughed. “I haven't a clue what I'm doing, but...please, stay out of it?”

“All right, fine. As long as it looks like your life is in no immediate danger, I'll leave it up to you,” she said with a small smile, “but, for the record, I think you're being even more stupid than usual.”

Harry offered her a helpless shrug and self-deprecating smile, but he did not answer. She shook her head at him, and together they made their way back over to the others, where Ulrich was waiting.
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Lunaticus Book Three: New Moon Rising