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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
- 93
- 94
- 95
Hi, it's been a while. This chapter should be dedicated to all our fans who have waited so patiently for this chapter. We appreciate each and every one of you.
However, this chapter is dedicated to one very special fan and friend, who has been neglected but most definitely not forgotten as of late. Anthony, this is for you, and we will spend time with you sometime soon.
Enjoy!
Chapter 94 - Dates and Detentions

Fenrir refused to go to sleep, partly because his young mate had not yet woken up and partly because there was no room for him to fit on the tiny hospital bed. He had sent Romy, Clay and Seamus away, not that the pups had been happy about that but they needed the sleep; though they had promised to be back first thing in the morning.

It was in the early hours of the morning when Harry finally woke. “Fen,” he whispered, before he had even opened his eyes, knowing that his mate was close. “Fen.”

“I’m here, little one,” Fenrir said in a whisper, raising the hand of Harry’s that he was holding and placing a soft kiss there. The Alpha felt such relief when he saw that those big, bright emerald eyes that he loved so much had flickered open and were staring at him.

“What happened?” Harry asked, looking around and trying to make sense of his surroundings, “Where am I?” he asked with confusion and panic.

“Lie still,” Fenrir instructed and at once Harry stilled, his panic laying way to his instincts to obey his Alpha male. “Someone tried to poison you, you need rest.”

“Robin?” Harry questioned, trying his best to shuffle over to the opposite side of the bed to his mate, thinking, or rather hoping, that somehow he would be able to make room for his mate on the bed.

“We don’t know,” Fenrir said with a frown, wondering if Robin really could have been that cruel in her ambitions. He really hoped that she couldn’t because if he ever found out that she had been the one responsible for hurting Harry then he would kill the girl himself. “Stop moving, little one,” the Alpha scolded, wanting for his little mate to rest.

“Sleep with me,” Harry said, the potions in his body making his mind a little addled, he didn’t really know that what he had said was wrong until he saw that the dominant wolf was frowning.

“I do not think…” Fenrir began but Harry started to shake his head, realising that Fenrir had seriously misunderstood what he had meant.

“In bed, be in bed with me,” Harry corrected.

“I will not fit,” Fenrir said, now frowning at the bed, really wishing that he could fit in beside his little mate; however the bed was too narrow and even though Harry had scooted over as far as he could there was still no possible way that he would fit as well.

“Magic,” Harry mumbled, his eyes closing, sleep threatening to claim him again, “Use magic, you great oaf.” Fenrir couldn’t help but huff, even half asleep and addled with potions his young mate was as cheeky as ever.

“Sleep, little one,” Fenrir said as he withdrew his wand and tried desperately to remember the spell he would need to use to enlarge the bed so that he could crawl in beside his mate and wrap him into his arms where the teenager would be safe.

FGHP

Damon had Micha cuddled into his side as he let his eyes trail over the pack, many of whom were still asleep, thankfully including Robin. Callie too was still tucked up in her bed. As strange as it was not having Fenrir there, it was even weirder to see Jenson slaving over the pack breakfast.

Tessie had automatically started cooking when it had become clear that Callie wasn’t going to be up any time soon, but her arm was aching badly, and so Jenson had been insistent that she too get some rest. Damon wasn’t entirely convinced that the Beta wolf making breakfast was a great plan, but he wasn’t about to offer to do it himself. Besides, he had things on his mind and so he was happy to sit quietly for a while and think.

He was uncertain about what to do. He and Micha were supposed to be leaving this morning to collect the last of the children that Fenrir had bitten, a boy called Quinn. The problem was, with the events of the previous day and the Alpha still not in the territory, he wasn’t sure what to do.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Jenson asked a short while later, as he handed a bowl of rather grey looking porridge to Damon and then another to Micha, who was sat beside him. Jenson hadn’t thought it would be that hard to make, but the porridge had turned into a grey slop rather than the nutritious and filling breakfast it normally was.

“Fenrir asked Micha and I to go looking for another pack member today,” Damon explained, trying not to look too dubiously into his bowl, knowing that his own attempts would likely have been no better. “I was wondering whether or not to still go in light of the current situation.”

“Go,” Jenson said decisively, “he’ll be angrier if you don’t go. I have things under control here at the moment.”

“If you’re sure,” Damon said hesitantly, and Jenson nodded confidently in response. “I suppose we could use the extra dominant in the pack, especially in the wake of everything that has happened recently.”

“We’re sure this last one is a dominant?” Micha asked curiously, no wiser about who they were going to fetch this time, than he had been with any of the others.

Damon nodded confidently. “Fenrir told me the other day,” he confirmed. “We’ll go after breakfast,” he added, with a concerned look at the bowl of grey sludge. “Any plans on how you are going to handle Robin?” he asked curiously, fairly certain that there was no power on this earth that would convince the girl to eat Jenson’s cooking.

“Sternly,” Jenson said bluntly. “I am not going to tolerate any of her nonsense and, if need be, I will take a leaf out of Fenrir’s book and tie her to a tree.”

Micha chuckled as Jenson headed back over towards the fire to serve up everyone else’s breakfast. “Almost wish we could stay here so that I could see that,” he said, giving his mate an exaggerated pout.

“You can stay here if you want, trouble,” Damon said quietly with a grin, discarding his bowl by his feet, “or else you could join me and we could find somewhere nice to have fancy breakfast together.”

“Well how can I refuse an offer like that,” Micha said, putting his own bowl down and letting Damon pull him to his feet.

“We’re going to go get the new kid,” Damon called out and the two of them were laughing as they hurried off in the direction of the apparition point before Jenson had a chance to comment.

FGHP

Madame Pomfrey had not been impressed to have the infamous Fenrir Greyback in her hospital wing the evening before. However, she was even more displeased when she arrived to check on her patients in the morning and found that Greyback had crawled into bed with one of her very sick patients.

She felt sick to her stomach knowing that a thirty-something man and a fifteen-year-old boy had that kind of relationship. She was half tempted to call the Ministry of Magic and report what she had seen. Fenrir was a wanted man after all and this serious offence would only add another nail to the coffin. She wasn’t sure why Dumbledore hadn’t done so sooner.

Her thoughts were interrupted when her hospital wing was rather suddenly invaded by a Professor and three other students, all of them making rather a lot of noise as they walked in the door. Despite his condition, Poppy liked Remus; he was a lot more refined than the other beasts. Though that did not mean she appreciated this early morning interruption to her rounds or the racket that they were making.

“It is a little too early for visitors,” Poppy told them all curtly, hoping that they would catch her meaning and quickly leave. She didn’t want them to wake either Harry or Greyback and then have to deal with all of them. The headmaster had assured her that he would come and help with the mass of werewolves so that she did not have to but so far he had not kept his word.

“Back off, lady, we’re not going anywhere,” Clayton said with a snarl. He really didn’t like the medi-witch; her dislike of them was evident and with Harry seriously sick, Clay was not in the mood to deal with her.

“Clayton, calm,” Remus said disapprovingly. He knew that Poppy was somewhat prejudice but she had never been unkind to him in all his years at the school and he didn’t want to give her a reason to be now. “How is Harry?” he asked Poppy, wanting to be reasonable with the woman.

“Asleep,” Poppy said curtly, through pursed lips. “And given all that happened yesterday, I would like him to remain that way.”

“Bit late for that,” Harry muttered, though he didn’t open his eyes or move from where he was cuddled up against Fenrir. The Alpha was, however, very much still asleep, given his slow deep breaths.

Madam Pomfrey threw an annoyed look at the visitors as she moved over to the side of Harry’s bed, casting diagnostic spells over the teenager. Harry allowed her to do it, he knew he wasn’t going to be a great judge of how he was feeling, especially after what had happened the day before.

“Well?” Romy urged, eager to know if Harry was alright. She was leaning into Clay for support, hating seeing any one of her family as vulnerable as this. Whomever had done it had been cruel and vindictive, and in her mind it had to be someone who knew about Harry’s ability not to feel any pain and that meant it could only be one person.

“He is healing nicely. Not as fast as your kind would normally but he is healing,” Poppy informed them, replacing her wand back within her robes. “Once he has had something to eat I will allow him to return back to his own dormitory.”

“Tell me, Madam Pomfrey,” Seamus said rather calmly, looking at her directly in the eyes rather accusingly, “if another student, who was not a werewolf, had been injured in such a horrendous manner, would you be so quick to release them from the hospital wing, or would you be more professional and caring?”

Harry couldn’t help but snort in amusement at Seamus’ words, a sound and movement that stirred the Alpha wolf from sleep. Poppy, seeing that Fenrir was starting to wake up, quickly turned tail and fled. She was not about to get into a debate with the vile creatures, especially not when the infamous Greyback was among them. The last thing she wanted was to become one of them or one of their victims. Instead she was going to floo the headmaster and insist he deal with the problem.

“Why’re you awake, little one?” Fenrir asked gruffly, his strong arms holding his little mate close, even as Harry attempted to sit up. It was too early, as far as he was concerned.

“Because we have company,” Harry told him with a grin, leaning up and pressing a kiss to Fenrir’s lips. “And I don’t think Remus really likes watching us being all cute and snuggly,” he informed his mate. Fenrir scowled at him, but Harry ignored his reaction and instead looked over his shoulder to smile at the professor, who did indeed look a little uncomfortable watching the two of them together.

“Do not get up on my account,” Remus told them however. No matter how much he disapproved of their relationship, and how awkward it felt to see them lying in bed together, kissing, he still wanted Harry to get all the rest he could, to ensure that he made a speedy recovery. “We simply wanted to make sure that you were alright.”

“Yeah, you scared the shit out of us yesterday,” Clay declared, feeling much better now that Harry was awake and seeming far more like himself. “If I find who fucking did this, they are going to fucking regret it.”

“Clayton, watch your language,” Remus chastised, earning a completely unapologetic grin from the teenager. “Pack, I might be, but as your teacher, I do expect you to at least pretend to behave.”

“Aww, come on, Professor, my best friend was poisoned, surely that gives me a little leeway on the whole behaving thing?” Clay said, trying his darndest to look innocent. It was not overly convincing.

“Enough,” Fenrir grunted, sitting up in the bed, and lifting Harry into his lap so that he could start inspecting Harry’s injuries for himself. He was certainly in no mood for Clayton’s particular brand of humour.

“Fen!” Harry protested, giggling slightly at the tickling touches, as his mate’s hands ran over every inch of his body.

Fenrir, however, was not deterred. Much of Harry’s skin was red and raw looking from where the aconite had burned him, and Harry was rather glad that he couldn’t feel a thing. It certainly looked like it should hurt. He assumed he was doing better than he had been, because Fenrir seemed content with his progress.

“I am glad to see you are awake, Mr Prince,” Dumbledore said as he approached them, Madam Pomfrey on his heels. “After a short discussion, Madam Pomfrey and I have agreed it would be best for you to remain in the Medical Wing for a while longer,” the headmaster told him, though the nurse looked like she didn’t entirely agree with his words.

“Well that will be fun,” Harry said sarcastically.

“I am afraid, however, that we cannot permit you to remain with him,” Dumbledore went on, his gaze moving over to Fenrir.

“I’m not leaving him,” Fenrir grunted, his arms tightening around his mate.

“Fen,” Harry said, reaching up and touching the Alpha’s face, drawing his attention, “you are needed back home. I know you want to stay and I want you to as well, but I am safe here, I am healing fine, and you need to go and deal with Robin, and make sure everyone else there is taken care of. The rest of the pack need you more than I do.”

Fenrir grunted, knowing that his mate was right. Part of him was proud that Harry was thinking about the rest of the pack, considering their needs, but there was a stubborn part of him wanted to hold onto Harry and never let him go.

“Do you think that Robin will have pissed off my dad enough for him to kill her,” Romy said, unable to keep the hopefulness from her voice.

“We don’t kill our own,” Fenrir told her firmly. He cared little for Robin, but he was her sire, she was pack, and he would protect her until she gave him true cause not to. And he certainly wasn’t going to allow her death at the hands of his subordinates. He trusted that Jenson knew that.

“As reassuring as that is,” Dumbledore said, reminding them of his presence there, “I really must insist that you leave my school.”

“Seriously, Fen,” Harry said, before his mate could snap at the headmaster, “go home, and take care of our family.” Fenrir scowled at him but Harry just leaned up and kissed him regardless. “I have Remus, Clay, Romy and Seamus to take care of me here. And you will see me in a couple of weeks for the full moon.”

“Too long,” Fenrir grumbled, threading his fingers into Harry’s hair, tipping his mate’s head back enough that he could press their lips together once more. The headmaster coughed loudly, but the Alpha didn’t care for the headmaster’s objections, not when Harry had been attacked in the man’s school.

“Of course it is,” Harry agreed, as they parted, “but we will just have to make up for lost time then. Now let go of me, you great oaf, and get out of my bed,” he said, chuckling quietly.

Fenrir huffed his disapproval, but released his hold enough that Harry could climb off his lap, and then the Alpha reluctantly climbed off the bed. Harry scowled as Fenrir fussed over him, tucking the blankets around him firmly; normally he would never have allowed such a thing, but it was clear to him how hard Fenrir was finding it to leave him. For one thing, Fenrir was not the fussing type.

“Pretty sure he won’t be escaping those blankets now, Alpha,” Clay said cheekily, worried that if Fenrir tucked Harry in any more securely, his best friend would no longer be able to draw breath.

Fenrir sent a stern look to Clay and the teenager immediately shut his mouth, realising that his Alpha was not in the mood. Fenrir then turned his attention to Remus, who looked terrified by the manic gleam in the Alpha wolf’s eyes.

“I realise this could not have been prevented,” Fenrir said, his voice firm, “however, you are responsible for his well-being and preventing injury.”

“I understand, Alpha,” Remus said respectfully. He knew how serious it had been for Harry, it was amazing that it had happened in the school without anyone noticing it. It was bad enough that Harry was going to be left with faint scarring from the incident, a permanent reminder of the attack on him.

“You,” Fenrir said, rounding upon the headmaster, invading his personal space so that the elderly man knew that what he was about to say wasn’t a joke or to be taken lightly. “I expect for you to find out who did this to my mate and punish them because if you don’t then I will.”

FGHP

Damon and Micha had eaten too much breakfast, Micha having wanted to try a bit of everything. Damon hadn’t minded in the least though, just happy to see his mate enjoying himself.

“Look,” Micha said as they left the cafe, “I have a food baby,” he said with a laugh, rubbing his stomach.

Damon chuckled, pulling his mate into his arms and kissing him possessively. “You look so damn sexy like that,” he said with a low growl. It made him want to give his mate an actual baby, to see Micha genuinely pregnant with his child, but he was fairly sure that Micha wasn’t ready for that just yet.

“You always think I look sexy though,” Micha pointed out smugly. Damon couldn’t really argue with that, it was true, and so he just kissed him again.

“Maybe we should find somewhere that I can show you just how sexy I find you,” Damon suggested, pressing their bodies close together.

Micha chuckled. “Aren’t we supposed to be finding the new kid,” he reminded. He wasn’t at all opposed to some alone time with his mate, but he didn’t think that Fenrir would be happy if they were gone all day and returned without the person they had gone to fetch.

Damon groaned, burying his head against Micha’s neck. “You’re right. But as soon as we are done, you and I are having some time alone,” he promised, trying to will away his arousal, which was made impossible when Micha bodily grabbed the front of his jeans, massaging it gently. “Not helping, trouble,” Damon told him, though he made no move to stop his mate.

Micha just grinned unrepentantly, as he pulled his mate into the alley that went behind the cafe, moaning happily when Damon pinned him against the nearest wall, pressing their bodies together. Micha reached around, his hands groping at Damon’s arse, pulling him closer and enjoying the friction.

“Bloody hell, Micha,” Damon said breathlessly, as they ground their cloth covered erections together. He could hear how rough his mate’s breathing was becoming and knew that neither of them were going to last long.

FGHP

Damon had been right, they hadn’t lasted long, and had both come in their trousers like teenage boys. Thankfully a quick spell had put them back in a state suitable for going to meet people and the two of them were feeling much more relaxed as they approached the house where the young dominant supposedly lived.

“Looks like a nice house,” Micha observed, as they came to a stop at the end of the drive. It was no mansion or anything but it looked well cared for.

“It does,” Damon agreed, as he took Micha’s hand and led his mate up the path to the front door. Given the state that they had found the other children in, he was anxious about what they might find, but he didn’t want to trample on Micha’s optimism.

He knocked on the door and after a few moments, it was pulled open. The man behind it looked between the pair of them, clearly waiting for one of them to say something. “Can I help you?” he asked.

“Mr Rodgers, I presume?” Damon questioned, and the man nodded, looking apprehensive. “We are looking for your son, Quinn. Fenrir sent us.”

“He doesn’t live here,” the man told them bluntly, narrowing his eyes. “And I don’t really appreciate your kind showing up unannounced on my doorstep.”

“Okay…” Damon said slowly. “Any chance you know where he does live?”

“Wait here,” the man said huffily, closing the front door on them. Micha and Damon shared a look, and a few minutes later the door was pulled open and Mr Rodgers thrust a piece of paper towards them.

Damon took it, and in the time that it took for him to read the address scribbled on it, the man had shut the door in their faces once more.

“What a pleasant gentleman,” Micha said rather sarcastically. “I can see why Quinn moved out,” he added.

“Come on, trouble, let’s go and try this address, see if we can get anywhere before we find a nice hotel somewhere,” Damon said with a smile, keen to get his mate alone somewhere that wasn’t an alley. He didn’t like stooping down to alley ways as if he didn’t care for his mate, Micha was worth more than that.

“Sounds good to me,” Micha told him with a grin.

FGHP

Fenrir approached his Beta when he got back to the territory, his eyes drifting over his pack, checking to make sure that everyone was present and accounted for and nothing had happened in his absence. Most of them seemed quiet, and even Robin was simply sulking at the edge of the clearing.

“Damon and Micha?” he asked, not able to see either of them around.

“Off fetching the last of those kids you bit,” Jenson told him, getting to his feet and turning to face the Alpha. “How’s Harry?” he asked. Fenrir seemed relatively calm, so he assumed it was good news, but he still wanted to know for certain.

“Healing,” Fenrir told him truthfully. Jenson was about to ask more, but at that moment Niko noticed the return of his father.

“Dad!” Niko screeched, jumping up from where he had been reading with Jaylon, and charging over to Fenrir. He all but leapt into Fenrir’s arms, the Alpha catching him easily and swinging him up onto his broad shoulders. “Is Mum okay?” he asked urgently.

“He’ll be fine,” Fenrir assured his son, before turning back to Jenson. “Has she said anything?” he asked, glancing over towards Robin.

“No,” Jenson said with a tired sigh, “she has been her usual delightful self.”

“Can’t we kick her out of the pack, Dad?” Niko asked hopefully. “She’s mean.”

Fenrir glowered a little up at Niko, not liking the suggestion from his son that he should remove a member of their pack. He could see the ten year old’s point but that didn’t mean he was right. “No, Niko,” Fenrir told him firmly, “we can’t, however she must be dealt with. Stay with Jenson.”

With a gentle sweeping motion, the Alpha removed his son from his shoulders, placing him upon the ground once again. Jenson pressed a heavy hand on Niko’s shoulder as the Alpha headed over towards Robin, knowing that the ten year old would want to follow his father.

“Get up,” Fenrir grunted out as he came to a stop in front of the foul tempered teenage girl. Robin looked up at him, and glared. Fenrir, however, just merely waited, his arms crossed over his chest, displaying his muscular strength and looking intimidating.

“Fine!” Robin huffed after a few minutes when it was clear that the Alpha wasn’t going to leave her alone. “What the fuck do you want now?” she asked, as she pushed herself to her feet.

Fenrir growled loudly, taking a step closer to her and backing her up against the tree. “Watch your tongue,” he snarled at her angrily. This girl was already testing his limits and he was not going to tolerate her disrespect.

“Back off,” Robin said, steeling her expression, despite how nervous the towering Alpha was making her. “What’s your problem, what did I ever do to you?” she demanded.

She had started to realise that she was never going to get the Alpha, but that didn’t mean she had to accept it; or respect the Alpha and his mate. In fact she was going to rather enjoy trying to destroy the both of them and the rest of the pack, simply because they had been mean to her.

“You raped someone,” Fenrir pointed out angrily. Not only was that intolerable to him, but the last thing they needed was pack members making more enemies with wizards. As werewolves they had enough stacked against them, without them becoming the stereotype everyone thought they were.

“I didn’t!” Robin protested. “Look at me, of course he wanted me. He should be fucking grateful that I let him touch me. Just because your little whore won’t let you have me...”

“I should rip out your tongue!” Fenrir roared, his hand wrapping around Robin’s neck and pinning her to the tree behind her. “Harry is no whore, and I would never want someone... “ he paused to sneer at the skimpy outfit she was wearing, “... like you.”

“Let… me… go,” Robin gasped out, struggling to remove the large hand from around her throat.

“Did you poison my mate?!” he demanded to know, his suspicions growing with her hateful words. He didn’t want to think about one of his pack trying to hurt, if not kill, his mate but it seemed to be a more plausible than anyone else doing so.

“No…” Robin said, her fingers trying to pry his large hand from around her neck. “Didn’t…” she insisted. Fenrir released his hold, letting her fall to the ground. “He has other enemies you know,” she pointed out, rubbing her bruised throat. “There are others who want him dead.”

“WHO!?” Fenrir roared, punching the tree just above Robin’s head, causing her to flinch. The tree itself shattered a little, bark flying everywhere.

“The many people he let between his legs that he then rejected,” she lied viciously.

“LIES!” Fenrir’s temper was burning fiercely. He knew for a fact that no one had touched his mate that way, he would have felt it through their bond, and it enraged him that she would try to make him believe that Harry would betray him. “Names!” he demanded.

“Fuck you,” Robin said smugly, enjoying that she could deny the Alpha the information he so badly wanted to know. She wouldn’t name Harry’s enemies, not when they still might succeed and take Harry out of the picture now that she couldn’t do it herself.

“Tessie!” Fenrir called out, barely reacting to the words that Robin had spat at him. He waited a few moments while the young woman he had called hurried over to him.

“Yes, Alpha?” she asked, looking concerned. Most of the rest of the pack was now watching Fenrir, Robin, and now Tessie, as she scurried towards the Alpha.

“Collect all Robin’s clothing,” he instructed firmly, maintaining eye contact with Robin. “Any of it that you wouldn’t wear yourself, destroy.”

“No!” Robin exclaimed. She had seen the sort of clothes that Tessie wore and she didn’t want to end up left with such frumpy clothes.

“Yes, Alpha,” Tessie said as she headed off to do as instructed, worrying that the poor girl wouldn’t have anything left after she was done. She was not about to disobey the Alpha and leave anything that could be construed as inappropriate; she didn’t want to get into trouble. Besides, Tessie couldn’t help but feel that Robin did not deserve to have anything left after what she had done.

Fenrir turned from Robin, who was now angrily pleading with him to change his mind, and headed over towards the fire. Robin could whine and cry all she wanted, but he was done listening. She wanted to fight him, then she was going to find out that he was not a man to mess with.

FGHP

Micha frowned as he looked up at the apartments that had clearly been cobbled together with magic in a rather haphazard sort of way. “Are you sure he lives here?” he asked, thinking that a small apartment might be the worst possible place for a werewolf to live, aside from Atwood School.

“This is the address,” Damon said, equally taken aback by the location. Werewolves never did well in enclosed spaces and Damon thought it odd that Quinn would pick such a confined location to live. “Let’s go and give him a better option than this.”

Micha nodded his agreement and allowed himself to be led over to the door that declared itself to be apartment 406. The door was flaked and peeling it’s blue paint, the handle and hinges orange with rust but on the plus side they couldn’t smell any silver, which was a step in the right direction compared to the last time they had gone to fetch one of Fenrir’s bitten children.

Damon raised his fist and knocked on the door, loudly, and waited. However, after a few minutes when no one answered, Damon knocked again.

“Maybe he isn’t here,” Micha said hopefully. It wasn’t that he didn’t want another pack member, he really didn’t mind one way or another but with no Quinn to take back to the territory, he and Damon could have some alone time a lot sooner.

“You would be right,” a scrawny young girl said, coming out of her apartment next door. She, much like the apartment block around them, looked a bit worse for wear. Her dirty-blonde hair was scruffily bunched up into a haphazard bun and the hoodie she was wearing looking several sizes too large. “He travels a lot with his work. You are looking for Quinn right?” she asked, looking at the two attractive men with interest.

“Yes,” Damon said, “Quinn Rodgers. He does live here?” he asked, wanting to make perfectly sure that they had the right address.

“He does,” she said with a smile, focusing all her attention on Damon, “he isn’t in any kind of trouble, is he?”

“None at all, we’re friends, we wanted to surprise him,” Damon answered, taking hold of Micha’s hand as the submissive was glaring at the girl, clearly not liking the way she was looking at his mate.

“He should be back in a few days, the weekend at the latest,” she said, withdrawing her wand and muttering locking incantations. “Just a warning, if you’re thinking of breaking in, he has some pretty serious spells up to prevent it. Not sure what he keeps in there but he likes it well protected.”

“We’ll come back in a few days,” Damon said with a polite smile, “thank you for helping us.”

“No problem. Can I give him a message for you? He usually calls in to see me when he gets back; he’s a gentleman for such a young man.”

Damon smiled, glad that Quinn seemed to be pleasant and grounded, with the thoughts and feelings of others in mind. It made a change to a couple of the children he had brought back, that was for sure.

“No,” Micha said. “It’s better if we talk to him,” he added firmly. “We should be going now though. It was lovely to meet you…”

“Riley,” the girl said with a smile and a small wave, turning to leave. Damon and Micha watched her go.

“So now can we find somewhere for you to have your way with me?” Micha asked hopefully, turning to grin up at his mate. Damon, however, scowled.

“You know you mean more to me than that, right?” he asked, not liking the way that Micha sometimes spoke about himself. He was fairly sure that Micha was simply teasing in his casual dismissiveness, but he needed to be sure.

“Of course I know that,” Micha said, wrapping his arms around Damon’s waist. “I fully expect to be completely pampered and adored, marshmallow.”

Damon chuckled at that, wrapping his arms around his mate, and leaning down to press a kiss to his lips before he apparated them away to one of his favourite hotels.

FGHP

Romy had found it rather strange the day before, with Harry stuck in the Medical Wing, Robin having been removed from the school, and the ongoing awkwardness between her and Clay. In the end she had decided to spend the night in the Ravenclaw dormitory. Clay had not been happy to hear that, given he had only just moved back into the forest room himself, but she had insisted.

All things considered though, it had been a quiet and rather pleasant day, and she had even spent some time with Luna, and had a chance to catch up with Astoria, even if the latter had mostly wanted to grumble about Draco’s apparent interest in Tracey Davis.

“Morning,” she said as she dropped herself into the seat next to Seamus at breakfast on Friday morning. Clay was on his other side, all but falling asleep into his helping of scrambled eggs on toast. “Take it he didn’t sleep well.”

Seamus gave her a wry smile. “Pretty sure he was up half the night plotting against whoever hurt Harry,” he told her. “And he woke up shouting your name at least once,” he added in a very quiet whisper, though not quietly enough given the glare that Clay shot him.

“I was worried that someone would attack you next,” Clay told her miserably. “And with you hiding away in Ravenclaw tower, how am I supposed to stop them. I mean, I couldn’t even protect Harry when he was with me basically all the time.”

Romy sighed. “Come on, forget breakfast given you clearly aren’t going to eat anything anyway. Let’s go see Harry,” she suggested, getting back to her feet and grabbing a piece of toast to eat on the way. “You know you are going to just pine away all day if you don’t see him,” she said with a smirk.

“Do you have to make it sound like I have some school-girl crush on him,” Clay said as he got to his feet too, looking rather nauseated by that idea. Seamus chuckled, taking a final bite of an apple before hurrying to follow the two of them.

“You do get a little… obsessive,” Seamus pointed out, as he moved into step with them.

“He’s my best friend,” Clay said defensively. “And it is my responsibility to ensure that the idiot doesn’t get himself killed. You would take that pretty seriously too, given the alternative is facing Fenrir’s wrath.”

“Fair point,” Seamus conceded. “But doesn’t change that it is kind of cute how much you obviously love him,” he added with a grin. Clay didn’t even bother to dignify that with an answer.

It didn’t take them long to reach the Medical Wing, but they were rather surprised to find Harry out of bed when they got there, almost completely dressed and just pulling on his robes.

“You’re being released?” Clay asked, hurrying over. “I thought Dumbledore said you were going to be staying a bit longer.”

Harry looked up with a grin at the sound of his best friend’s voice. “Apparently Madam Pomfrey decided this was long enough,” he told them. “I was just going to come and find you guys, I assumed you would still be at breakfast.”

“Gave up on breakfast when Clay nearly did a nosedive into his eggs,” Romy informed him with a grin. Harry might have only been in the Hospital Wing for two nights, but she had really missed him.

“Oh,” another voice said from the doorway, none of them expecting to see Cedric, “I thought that you might have been alone, my mistake.”

“What are you even doing here?” Harry asked with confusion. He had had enough of the headboy to last him a lifetime. If he never saw Cedric again then Harry would be ecstatically happy.

“Everyone is talking about what happened to you, I was worried. I wanted to make sure that you were okay.” It was clear that Cedric wasn’t sure where to look or what to do with himself now that he was confronted with not only Harry but three of his closest friends as well.

“What exactly are they saying?” Harry asked before Clayton could jump in and insult the headboy, which he was evidently very close to doing.

“There are so many different versions but mostly that you got hurt by some kind of poison and now Robin is missing, though no one knows why,” Cedric said, feeling entirely out of place. “Where is Robin? I thought that she would be here with you.”

“Just because Robin is one of us, doesn’t mean she’s a friend of ours,” Romy said snidely. She was thrilled that the girl would no longer be at the school with them; Robin was far too much trouble.

“But she is okay, right?” Cedric asked, feeling a little sad that Robin was gone. She had been a friend to him and told him the truth about Harry’s situation. He was worried that she had been sent away because she had been fighting to get Harry away from Greyback and was being punished for it.

Starting to get rather annoyed, Harry clenched his fists, trying to keep hold of his temper. “Did you have feelings for her or something?” he asked, thinking that it would be a relief if Cedric had because then he would leave him alone.

“No,” Cedric said at once, “of course not. There is only one person I have feelings for,” the headboy said, giving Harry a meaningful look. It was this that made Harry completely lose it; he had no idea just how many times he was going to have to tell Cedric that he simply wasn’t interested.

“You really want to know what happened to Robin?” Harry asked, getting irritated to the point where he simply wanted to scream. Cedric nodded his head, though he did so hesitantly. “I shuffled her off the mortal coil, you see she was causing too much trouble for me and if you continue to pester me, you’re going to be next.”

Having had enough and needing to be in a space that felt a little more like home, Harry barged past Cedric, who was still gawping at Harry in shock, and headed for the forest classroom. He spared no thought to the classes he was supposed to have that day. Clayton, Seamus and Romy followed him out of the room, however, not before Clayton had said his piece too.

Stopping in front of Cedric, the dominant teenager looked the headboy directly in the eye and said, “I think it’s time you left Harry alone. He might not have the strength to kill you but I do, so do yourself a favour and leave him alone.”

FGHP

Robin had screamed blue murder as all of her prized items of clothing were thrown on to the fire the day before. She had been left in some of Romy’s old hand-me-downs, which were not exactly to her taste. Ever since then, she had sat herself on the edge of the clearing, arms folded across her chest in a huff, refusing to talk to anyone. She had even slept well away from the others that night.

No one else really cared what she did. Robin was a nightmare when she was in one of her moods. No one disagreed with the punishment that she had been given by the Alpha, they were all convinced that she had been the one to hurt Harry, though they had no proof to that effect.

The pack was continuing as normal, ignoring the moody teenage girl, waiting for her to swallow her pride and come and try to affiliate with the rest of the pack. Aspen and Rosie, by comparison, had fit in well with the others, getting to know the routine of those that they now resided with and helping out with small chores.

Callie had rejoined Tessie in their cooking duties, not that Damon nor Jenson had been thrilled about this as they both believed that Callie needed to rest some more. However, they both knew that there was no point in arguing with her, she was too stubborn and trying to force her to do something she didn’t want to do would only make Callie more stressed.

“Can I help at all?” Rosie asked, having gathered together all her courage to come and talk to the two women who were sat at the fire, preparing food and having a chat. She had never prepared food before in her life, however, it seemed that it was a role that the submissives, apart from Robin, took on and therefore she wanted to offer to help as well.

Despite her initial reservations about the pack, Rosie had found that she quite liked it here. Despite the dramas, which could only be attributed to the fact that there were just so many werewolves here, all with such large personalities, it was a welcoming and comfortable place to live, considering it was in the middle of a forest.

“Of course,” Callie said with a smile, “have you done much cooking before?”

At the question Rosie’s cheeks flushed pink, bowing her head in shame as she answered, “no, not really.”

Tessie smiled at her, feeling a little sorry for the poor girl. She remembered how it felt when she had first came here, the thirst to prove that she was worth keeping and the things she had done, not to mention seen, because of this. “It’s quite alright,” Tessie said kindly, “we can show you the basics if you would like to learn.”

“None of the dominant men have any hope in the kitchen,” Callie said with a smile, “teaching you would be a pleasure. The last time I tried to teach Jenson, we all went without lunch.”

“If you don’t mind,” Rosie said, a smile on her face; the thought of the large Beta wolf attempting to cook was a funny image. “I want to make sure that I’m valuable here. The Alpha didn’t have to accept me here, I want to show him that I was worth it.”

Tessie looked at the young girl with sympathy, she knew that feeling. “Fenrir is very cut and dry when it comes to his pack, if he didn’t want you here then he wouldn’t have allowed you to stay.”

“That’s nice to know,” Rosie said with a smile, “but Aspen is the one who is meant to be here, to protect the Alpha’s mate and make this pack stronger. I’m a drain, another submissive to protect, I have it good here, I know that now and I want to make sure I’m an asset.”

“Oh, sweet girl,” Callie said with a kind smile, “you are never going to be a drain here, never believe that. We can teach you if you want to learn but not because we feel that you are a drain, though admittedly it’ll be helpful once I’m a little too pregnant to do much.”

“You’re pregnant?” Rosie asked in astonishment, looking down to her only slightly rounded belly that didn’t seem as if there was a baby in there at all.

“Yes, about three months,” Callie said with a fond smile, one hand coming to rest on her belly. She loved knowing that there was a life growing there, something that she and Jenson had created out of their love for each other.

“You’re a brave woman,” Rosie said in awe, “I don’t think I could ever be a mum,” she said with a sigh. Even now she wanted a drink, it was taking a lot to resist the urge to leave the territory for a few minutes and steal some.

“I want to help too,” Niko said, bounding towards the group. He had been strangely drawn to Rosie since she had arrived and he didn’t know why but Rosie just hadn’t seemed interested at all. He would do near enough anything to be close to her, even learn to cook.

“Alright,” Callie said with a laugh, “it’ll be good to have a few dominants learning how to cook, we’ll have to ask your father first though and make sure he doesn’t mind.”

“Dad!” Niko called out loudly as he charged off across the clearing towards Fenrir, determined to convince the Alpha to let him.

“Well he seems enthusiastic,” Rosie observed, watching the ten-year-old with a bemused expression.

Callie and Tessie shared a knowing look. “Yes, Niko tends to be rather excitable, but even for him, he seems keen,” Tessie said, and while Callie chuckled softly, nodding her agreement. Rosie just felt as though she was missing something.

FGHP

Clay had had to head off to the weekly detention he was still doing with McGonagall, his ongoing punishment for having attacked Ron. As such Harry had been on his own as he made his way back to the forest classroom, thinking that he could join Romy and Seamus and enjoy a nice Friday evening, relaxing and recovering from his recent ordeal. However, Umbridge had other plans. She had taken the opportunity of Harry being on his own to corner the young teenager and drag him quite forcibly into detention.

Umbridge had been helped, of course, by Amycus and Alecto Carrow. Being outnumbered, Harry had gone along with what they wanted but only because he knew it was the smart thing to do. He wasn’t about to risk himself getting hurt again, not when he was still recovering from the Aconite poisoning.

Harry had been sat at a desk in Umbridge’s office that was covered in pink and kittens, which was making Harry feel a little sick, as a piece of parchment and a quill was placed in front of him. He knew what quill that was and he was determined that he wasn’t going to be using it.

“You know, it’s customary that when you give someone detention you have to tell them what they’ve done first,” Harry said, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms over his chest. He was wondering how long it would take for Clay, Romy and Seamus to worry about him and come looking. He didn’t think that it was going to take long.

“With one of your attack dogs otherwise engaged in his own detention, I thought that it would be an opportune moment to have a little chat,” Umbridge said, smiling a sickly-sweet smile. In his shock at being unexpectedly dragged into detention, Harry had completely forgotten that Clay was otherwise occupied and it made him feel a little sick that only Romy and Seamus could come to his aid.

Trying to keep his resolve in place, Harry looked Umbridge directly in the eye. “You still can’t put me in detention if I haven’t done anything to warrant it,” he said.

“I am questioning you regarding the disappearance of Robin, there is talk around the school that you killed her.”

It was hard to keep a straight face in the face of such hilarity, so he didn’t even try; he threw his head back and laughed. He had said it to Cedric as a joke but apparently that joke had got out of hand, just like telling Cedric that he was pregnant with quads. It seemed that no one could take a joke in this place.

“You are joking right, you think I killed her?” Harry asked incredulously, struggling not to laugh even harder at the shocked expressions on the faces of Umbridge and her two goons. “You might want to ask the headmaster about this one as he was the one that dispatched her, not me.”

“You expect me to believe that Albus Dumbledore killed a student of this school?” Umbridge asked angrily. She almost hoped it was true, because then she would be able to use it against the old man, but she didn’t think he would have been so foolish.

“Of course not,” Harry told her dismissively, smirking a little at how she had jumped to all the conclusions he had intended with his words. He did enjoy making her seem extra paranoid. “That man would never risk his reputation like that. He just expelled her.”

“Expelled her?” Amycus asked angrily, a little disappointed that the young girl was apparently out of his reach.

“It seems that your attack on her made her act out against another student,” Harry snapped in annoyance. He wasn’t certain exactly what Amycus had done to Robin, but it had apparently been enough to provoke her into raping Cormac. As much as he was furious with his pack sister, he also blamed Amycus, and it infuriated him that the man remained at Hogwarts.

“You will remain here,” Umbridge sneered impatiently, as she pushed herself to her feet. “I will confer with the Headmaster and be back shortly,” she informed them, before all but storming from the room.

“Sister,” Amycus said, “leave us, I need a word with the beast,” he said and without a question Alecto did as she was told, stepping out from the room, closing the door as she left.

“What did you do to Robin?” Harry asked, glaring at the deatheater in front of him, challengingly. He wanted to know what had been done to his pack sister because despite hating her guts, she was still part of his pack.

“You really want to know, little beast,” Amycus mocked, enjoying taunting the teenager. “You see the little girl was a little too high and mighty for my liking so I took her down a peg or two.”

“What did you do to her?” Harry demanded, getting to his feet so that he could square up to the deatheater, despite not even being half Amycus’ size.

“I took what was so freely offered,” he replied, a sick smile on his face and Harry knew exactly what he meant. It hadn’t taken a genius to figure out what he had done.

“You’re sick,” Harry said, his hand going to the blade he kept hidden on his waist. “You call me a beast and yet you’re the one acting like an animal.”

“She was the animal, the way she squirmed…” Amycus bragged, and that was all it took. Harry drew his blade and swiped at the larger man, catching his arm and drawing blood. “You little shit!” Amycus exclaimed, kicking out and knocking Harry backwards to the floor, as his hand flew to the wound on his arm.

“I’ll fucking kill you,” Harry told him angrily, as he moved to get back up. “No one touches my pack!” He was still stiff from the aconite poisoning, and his body not moving as quickly as usual, and so Amycus was able to grab him and slam him against the wall before he could attack again.

“You can try,” Amycus whispered in his ear, as his hand wrapped around Harry’s wrist, keeping the teen from trying to cut him again.

Harry cried out in fury, but before he could do anything more the door to the office swung open, and they both turned to see Alecto and Umbridge standing there, staring at the pair of them in shock.

“Amycus!” Alecto exclaimed. “You’re bleeding,” she said, rushing forward. Amycus turned towards her, and as he released Harry, the teenager took the chance to hide his blade.

“He attacked me!” Harry told Umbridge, who was still standing in the doorway looking stunned.

“Get out, you little bastard,” Alecto raged, her attention still on her brother, whose arm was still bleeding pretty badly.

Harry didn’t have to be told twice, barging past Umbridge and out of the office. He didn’t need to think, turning and running off in the direction of the forest room, just wanting to get to a safe place, to find his pack siblings, and calm his racing heart and furious temper.

FGHP

“Where are Romy and Clay?” Harry demanded the second that he entered the forest room. Seamus was the only one in the room when Harry reached it, and he felt rather surprised and a little thrown; he had assumed his best friend was going to be there.

“They went to dinner together, it was only about five minutes ago,” Seamus said, a little taken aback by how tense the submissive seemed.

Harry frowned at that, and supposed that Romy must have been whisked off by Clayton the moment he had finished his detention. Apparently Harry hadn’t realised just how late it was. It did make the Alpha’s mate a little angry that he had been forgotten so easily and no one had come looking for him. However it took him a moment to realise that he didn’t want to be protected all the time, he wasn’t weak, he could defend himself.

“You okay, Harry?” Seamus asked, watching his friend with concern. He hadn’t missed the way that Harry had all but stormed into the room.

“Yes,” Harry responded with a grunt, his pacing giving away his stressed mood. Seamus simply raised an eyebrow in question when Harry didn’t elaborate. Harry sighed. “I need a distraction, come with me to Slytherin common room?” he requested.

“Of course,” Seamus agreed, pushing himself to his feet. He wasn’t sure what had happened, but it was quite clear that when Harry said he needed a distraction, that was an understatement. “Want to talk about it?” he asked, as the two of them headed back out into the corridor.

“Nope,” Harry said emphatically, grateful when Seamus didn’t ask again, just letting the matter drop and walking next to him in silence. They passed a few other students, but other than a few curious looks, no one paid them any attention. Not until they reached the dungeons.

Harry let out a frustrated huff when he spotted the potions professor heading towards them. He really wasn’t in the mood to deal with Slughorn, but from the expression on the professor’s face told him that he wasn’t going to have much choice.

“Mr Prince,” Slughorn greeted enthusiastically.

“Evening, sir,” Harry replied. He was about to keep walking when something Clay had said came back to him. “Sir, there was something I had hoped you could help me with. I considered asking Dumbledore, but I thought it would be more your area of expertise.”

“Of course,” Slughorn agreed happily, falling straight for Harry’s subtle flattery. “How can I help you?”

“I was really hoping you might have some Veritaserum,” Harry told him. “I know it is a lot to ask, but…”

“I think we can work something out,” Slughorn told him with a belly laugh. Harry chuckled along, not really sure what the professor was finding funny, but just happy that Slughorn was reacting so well to the request. “Come by my classroom tomorrow,” he instructed.

Harry just nodded as the professor moved on past them, rather surprised that it had been so easily. He had expected to need to create excuses about research projects or something, but it seemed that Slughorn had made his own assumptions about what Harry might need it for.

“Well that was a bit easy,” Seamus whispered as they headed off towards the Slytherin common room once more and Harry nodded in agreement. At least for once things had gone his way, which made a nice change.

Draco was sat with a few of the Slytherin girls when they reached the common room. Tracey was sat close to him, talking happily, and Pansy and Daphne were both close by, listening intently. Harry approached him, Seamus following a few paces behind, feeling a little uncomfortable being in the Slytherin space.

“You alright?” Draco asked as he spotted Harry. He could easily tell that something was going on with his friend but he wasn’t sure if it was something they could discuss in current company.

“I’m fine,” Harry told him dismissively. “Are we interrupting something here?” he asked, looking pointedly at the girls sat around Draco.

Draco snorted. “Only Pansy’s chance to catch up on the latest gossip.”

“Did you really kill that Robin girl?” Daphne asked Harry in a conspiratorial whisper, and while Pansy and Tracey both gasped at Daphne’s forward question, Draco chuckled, shaking his heads.

“Well, she did have it coming,” Seamus said with a laugh, causing Pansy to go wide eyed in shock.

“Of course I didn’t,” Harry told her dismissively, giving Seamus a half-hearted glare. The Irishman certainly seemed to be gaining his confidence back, which Harry was glad for, but making these three girls actually believe he was a murderer would probably end badly. “I was just screwing with Cedric’s head,” he explained.

“Well how were we supposed to know that,” Pansy said defensively. “You look like some mad killer now you’re covered in those ugly scars.”

“Don’t be a bitch, Pansy,” Tracey said, glaring at the other girl. “Don’t listen to her, Harry,” she added, giving him a smile that Harry couldn’t help but return. He was sure that she was only being nice to earn points with Draco, but it was nice to have her support regardless.

Pansy huffed. “I should have just gone to Durmstrang with Blaise,” she said as she got to her feet, before storming off across the room.

Harry stared after her in shock. He was still feeling pretty shaken from the confrontation with Amycus, and certainly hadn’t been prepared to hear Blaise’s name from so out of the blue. He was also rather surprised to hear that Blaise had apparently gone to another school despite all he had done.

“Harry?” Seamus said, sounding worried. He hadn’t been friends with Harry when Blaise had attacked him, but word of it had spread through the school, and he remembered all too well how Ron had declared that Harry had got what he deserved. As far as Seamus was concerned, no one deserved that.

“I’m fine,” Harry said yet again. It seemed to be becoming something of a mantra, but he wasn’t going to let thoughts of Blaise get to him. It might have only been a few months, but Harry felt so much stronger than he had back then.

“Why don’t we play some pool,” Draco suggested. “Beating me at something will make you feel better.”

“Sure,” Harry said with a chuckle, letting himself be led over to the pool table, Seamus following them. He was definitely glad to have something to take his mind off the whole evening. “So have you heard back from your Mum yet?” he asked, when they were out of earshot of the girls.

Draco turned to him with a grin. “It worked, the cabinet,” he told Harry quietly. “She found my letter and sent one in return. She is still planning to stay put for now,” he added, looking less pleased by this, “but that’s just because she thinks it will put me in danger if she leaves.”

“But at least she can get out now,” Harry pointed out, as he handed Draco a pool cue. “That has to make you feel better.”

“It really does,” Draco agreed, smiling as he thought of the letter he had had from his mother, and the attached picture of his six-month-old baby brother.

FGHP

Clay had gone to a lot of trouble convincing the house elves to prepare a special dinner for two in the kitchens for himself and Romy. He was a little surprised by how nervous he was about it as he lead his mate down the marble staircase, veering her towards the picture of the fruit bowl.

“Where are we going?” Romy asked in confusion as they came to what appeared to be a dead end.

“A surprise,” Clayton said with a grin, though that was more to cover his nerves than anything else as he reached up and tickled the large green pear.

Romy was rather bemused when the fruit that had just been tickled, squirmed, laughed and then transformed into a green doorknob. She was even more in awe as Clayton opened the door and ushered her inside an enormous, high-ceilinged room which was as large as the Great Hall itself. There were mounds of brass pots and pans piled around the edge of the room and a large brick fireplace at the opposite end to where the two of them stood.

There were five tables, identical to that of the Great Hall and even in the exact same position too. On what would have been the Slytherin table, there was a small area that had a dainty white table cloth placed upon it with candles and two bottles of butterbeer.

“Clayton, what is this?” Romy asked, looking to her mate with bemused wonderment.

“I wanted to do something nice for you,” he said, going a little red in the cheeks, suddenly rather unable to look anywhere other than the floor.

“Please tell me you didn’t cook,” Romy said with a playful punch to Clay’s arm, trying to bring out the confident teenager she knew and loved dearly as she wasn’t sure how to handle the shy and nervous Clay that was with her now.

“I didn’t want to ruin it by doing that,” Clay admitted, glad that she seemed to like it, though she hadn’t said that she did and until she vocalised her happiness he wasn’t going to be happy himself. “Is it okay, I mean, do you like it?”

“Honestly, you are a complete cheeseball,” Romy said with a huge smile spreading across her face, “I love it,” she added upon realising that this was what Clay needed to hear from her.

“I got you something too,” Clay said, the final nail in his coffin of embarrassment being nailed in as he spoke.

“Clay, you didn’t have to,” Romy said with a sigh as the two of them crossed the room and took a seat at the beautifully laid table just for the two of them.

“I wanted to,” Clay told her as be poured out her butterbeer into a glass, “you put up with so much shit from me and I wanted to make sure you knew how much I appreciate you.”

“Still…” Romy said as Clay thrust a small, badly wrapped box at her. A little hesitantly she accepted it, most of the time she would have been worried that the contents would have exploded at her or something equally as dangerous that Clay would find hilarious, however something about his demeanour told her that this was serious.

“I know you’re a fan of everything practical but I wanted to give you something you wouldn’t usually have, something pretty like you,” Clay said, his heart racing faster than it ever had before.

“Clay,” Romy said, suddenly rather nervous herself, her mind having jumped to all sorts of conclusions. She knew that Clay was a romantic cheeseball at heart but the things she was now thinking, they just weren’t ready for yet. “I hope this isn’t an engagement ring, I know you like to skip a few steps when you do things sometimes but I don’t want that with us, I want to experience everything, when it’s time.”

“It isn’t an engagement ring, though one day I will give you one of those, whether you like it or not, even if I have to superglue it to your finger. This gift, it’s something to remind you of how I feel about you, even when we argue, but I’m giving it to you freely, not expecting anything in return.”

With her hands trembling, Romy opened the present she had been given, the badly put together wrapping practically falling apart in her hands as she opened the box within, to reveal a dainty, gold heart shaped locket on a thin, identically gold chain.

“It’s beautiful,” Romy said in admiration, her fingertips ghosting over the metal. So entranced in the beauty of the gift she had been given, she hadn’t noticed Clay move around the table so that he was stood behind her.

“May I put it on you?” he asked, startling her a little, however she nodded and allowed for Clay to remove the necklace from its casing and fastening it around her neck.

FGHP

Two hours into his shift and Micha found that he was having a brilliant time; he had thought that it was going to be tiring and that the novelty of earning his own money might wear off after a while, however he was still enjoying the buzz of it. Normally that had a lot to do with Damon working away in his office upstairs, however, tonight Damon had had to go and deal with a slight emergency at one of his hotels. So he had left Micha working alongside the manager, Jenna, and Stacey, the another bar member, who had been brought in not long before Micha.

“You’re working it tonight,” Stacey said with a grin as she sorted some cash into the register, “I’ve never seen the tip jar look so full,” she added.

“They’re not here for me,” Micha said, flushing a little. He didn’t like to think that the tips they had received were just because of him.

“It was never that full before you got here,” Stacey joked as she moved on to the next customer to ask what they wanted. Micha shook his head at her silliness before he looked up to see a young man stood on the opposite side of the bar, staring at him.

“Good evening,” Micha said politely, “what can I get for you?”

“I’ll take your number,” the gentleman replied, causing Micha’s cheeks to go bright scarlet at the request. Before he had started working here Micha had had no idea what that meant but he had learnt pretty quickly that it was a chat up line.

“Unfortunately that isn’t something that’s on our bar menu,” Micha said with a smile, it was something that he had had to say a couple of times before. It was a line that all bartenders were trained to use when they were asked for their numbers by drunk customers.

“Shame that,” the man said, “I’ll take a double whiskey, straight,” he added, giving Micha a wink and a smile. The submissive nodded his head and turned to fetch the order. He could feel the man’s eyes on him as he moved and it made him feel a little uncomfortable.

“That’ll be three, ten,” Micha said as he placed the ordered drink on the bar, giving the gentleman his most convincing smile. The way the young man was staring at him was a little unnerving, though he had experienced a few people like this, both men and women, who were a little over confident about chatting him up.

“This is for the drink,” the man said, putting some coins into Micha’s hand, the touch lingering a little too long as he did so, “and this is just for you,” he added, putting a roll of notes into the breast pocket of Micha’s shirt.

Micha stared at him in confusion as the man picked up the drink, raising it in a silent toast to something, and gave him another wink before walking away. It made him very uncomfortable the man having touched him so, particularly given Damon’s absence, and even if it was just putting money into his pocket.

“Was he getting handsy?” Jenna asked as she started pouring a drink just behind him. Damon had asked her to keep an eye on Damon before he left, a job that she was taking very seriously. Plus, she liked Micha and knew that he was a little too naive to be working at a bar and she wanted to protect that innocence as much as possible.

Micha turned to smile at her, feeling better knowing that she had been keeping an eye on what was going on; it always made him happy to know that Jenna had his back. “Not really,” Micha admitted, “just a bit overly… interested.”

Jenna eyed him skeptically for a few moments before nodding and going back to mixing the drink she was making. Micha turned to the next customer, just hoping that it was the last he saw of that particular customer, and thinking that he might just spend the money on something nice for Damon.

FGHP

It wasn’t until the very end of the shift, when everything had been cleaned down and Micha was sat chatting with Jenna and Stacey, waiting for Damon to come and pick him up, that he remembered the roll of notes that been tucked into his pocket. Reaching inside he brought it out and immediately both Jenna and Stacy gasped as they saw the reddish pink notes.

“Jesus, Micha, where did you get that?” Stacey asked, her eyes wide in awe at the large amount of cash.

“That guy, he put it in my pocket,” Micha said with confusion, “I don’t understand, is it a lot?” he asked, not fully understanding muggle money.

“It’s a lot,” Jenna said, from what she could see there were at least four or five notes there, if not more. In that instant, Jenna knew that they had not seen the last of that man, no one was going to part with that much cash and not come back to check on his investment.

“Don’t tell Damon,” Micha said at once, “I don’t want him to worry and also I think I want to buy him something with this. I’ve never really had money of my own and he gives me so much, please, Jenna.”

“I’m not sure I’m comfortable with keeping this from him. He did ask me to keep an eye on you, after all,” Jenna said with a frown.

“Oh come on, Jen, the man wants to surprise his boyfriend,” Stacey said with a smile to Micha, “let him have some fun with what he earnt.”

“Alright, but if he asks then I’m telling him,” Jenna said, still not feeling entirely comfortable with the situation. She wouldn’t tell Damon about the money, but she would be keeping an eye out for the guy who had given it to Micha; anyone crazy enough to hand over that kind of cash to someone they don’t know, was worth a bit of caution.
Hope you enjoyed the chapter. It will NOT be this long between this and the next chapter, we promise. We hope to be posting the next chapter along with a birth announcement for StrawberryGirl's new baby.
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Fragmented Soul