Sacrifice

Hi everyone :)

Oh my gosh, what an absolutely massively wonderful reaction to the first chapter! Thank you to everyone who took the time to encourage me and to tell me their thoughts :) I've put my replies at the bottom.
I don't really have anything more to say for now, so let's just get on with the chaper.

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The scent of fire brought Fenrir out of his sleep instantly and his eyes snapped open as fear ran through him. However, when he saw that it was only a small fire which the Potter boy was building, he cursed himself for being so jumpy. Sunlight streamed in through the mouth of the cave and judging by the height of a sun it was actually quite late in the morning, far later than he usually slept. That in itself was strange as Fenrir couldn't even remember falling asleep let alone needing to sleep for so long. With a light growl, which was more of the equivalent of a normal person's tired groan rather than a sound of anger or anything of the such, the silver haired werewolf pushed himself up and caught the attention of the boy who was tending to the fire.

"Good morning," Harry greeted him quietly, glancing to him for a second before looking back to the steadily growing fire. "Sorry if the fire bothers you but I'm cold and I just assumed it wouldn't unnerve you as much as it did Isaac. I can put it out if you like?"

"No, if it's keeping you warm, keep it." The adult grunted, partly because he didn't want to reveal that the fire did unnerve him to an extent.

"I found a few rabbits caught in snares earlier, I've left them at the side for you in case you're hungry."

"There was no need for you to do that." Fenrir muttered, feeling as though he was being coddled and uncomfortable with the fact that a part of him was enjoying it. It had been so long since he had been part of a pack, a family.

"Truthfully, I only did it through force of habit. Isaac hasn't been at his best for several months now and I've been getting the majority of his meals for him." Harry admitted as he poked at the fire with a stick.

It was with that revelation that Fenrir noticed that his Sire's body was no where to be found. "Where is he?"

"I buried him." The child answered quietly. "A little further back in the cave. We've lived here together for the past three and a half years and I thought he might be happy staying here." He paused then as his eyes grew sad and glassy with unshed tears. "I hope he won't be too cold."

Usually such immature words and such sentiment would have disgusted Fenrir, but considering who it was exactly who had spoken those words he instead felt his heart ache terribly. Silently, he got to his feet and moved closer to the boy before sitting down just beside him, close enough so that their sides touched lightly. "He was a strong wolf, he'll be fine." He reassured gruffly, feeling acutely uncomfortable with the situation.

Harry gave a small hum of agreement at that and continued to stare with unseeing eyes at the fire in front of him.

Looking down on him out of the corner of his eyes, Fenrir had to admit that he was impressed that such a young boy wasn't giving into the desire to cry. "Tell me about yourself, boy."

Harry shivered lightly at those words and Fenrir was rather surprised to catch the scent of slight fear; he hadn't said that in a particularly threatening manner, had he?

"I, um, well there's not much to tell." Harry murmured, poking at the fire again. "I've been with Isaac for the last four years. Before that I lived with my aunt and uncle and cousin. They weren't the nicest people to me and I ran away from then when I was six. I don't remember much about what happened to me in the couple of days I was on my own but I do remember waking up one morning and finding myself being looked after by Isaac. We were together every day after that."

"Your parents?" The massive male asked gruffly, wanting to know exactly what it was the child knew.

"My uncle and aunt always told me they died in a car crash when I was about a year old."

Fenrir held back a snort of amusement. A car crash killed James and Lily Potter? Oh yeah, right, that was rich and couldn't be further from the truth. The question was, however, should he tell the child about what really happened to his parents? That might open up a whole new can of worms but the boy did have a right to know. Perhaps he should wait a while, until Harry was older, because he knew there was no use in denying that the boy was going with him when they finally left this place. There was no way Fenrir was going to leave him, not when Isaac had obviously cared about the boy so much and not when, technically, they were pack mates. In the end, he decided to keep the information he knew to himself for the moment. Now was not the time for startling revelations, not when the boy was busy mourning.

"Isaac told me your name before was Harry Potter." Was all the werewolf grunted next.

"That's right."

"Would you prefer me to call you by your old name or the one Isaac gave you?"

Harry seemed surprised by that question and looked up at Fenrir, really looking at him for the first time with wide eyes. "Why do you...I mean, um, why..." He trailed off awkwardly, eyes dropping, apparently not knowing what to ask exactly and wary about angering the Alpha wolf even if it was only accidentally.

"Isaac's last request was that I take you with me, I plan on honouring that last request."

"So, I'm...I'm going with you?"

"Yes." Fenrir grunted before he took a glance outside; the sky was clouding over ominously. "We won't be leaving tonight though, looks like a storm's coming. We'll wait until there's no chance of sudden bad weather before he make our way out."

"Thank you." Harry murmured sincerely, a slight smile playing on his lips. "I really appreciate you taking me in."

Fenrir only gave another uncomfortable grunt at that before clearing his throat and taking control of the situation again. "You didn't answer my question, boy." He pointed out and once again he saw the child beside him shiver and his scent take on a hint of fear.

"I-I don't really mind, sir, whatever's easier for you. Can I...Can I make one request though?"

"Depends on what it is."

"Could you not call me "boy"? My uncle used to call me that and it brings back bad memories." Harry admitted quietly.

"Fine." He accepted the request in a monotone.

"Thank you, sir." Harry said with another smile.

"I'm not a "sir" so just call me Fenrir." The man muttered, cursing himself inwardly for already being so open. His instincts were all over the place though. The kid smelt so much like his Sire, it immediately made Fenrir think of him as a member of his pack.

"Okay Fe-Fenrir." The boy agreed nervously, stumbling over the name a little because of nerves.

"Have you eaten yet?"

"Yeah, I found a few things to eat when I was out getting the rabbits and then I got some things from the stores at the back of the cave when I got back." Harry answered easily and, when he felt the questioning gaze on him, he continued again: "It's so cold further in that it preserves food well. I stocked up on food before the cold weather set in."

"You should've had the rabbits then, I can fend for myself."

The boy wrinkled his nose at that. "I don't eat meat."

Fenrir's eyes widened at that and he stared down at the child in disbelief. "You don't eat meat? What do you eat then?"

"Fruit, nuts, vegetables, plants, mushrooms; anything except meat really."

"No wonder your so bloody small if you don't eat any meat." Fenrir growled critically.

"That's what Isaac always used to say." Harry said with a sad smile. "I can't stomach raw meat though, and fire made Isaac too nervous. Then there's the blood; blood always makes me nauseous."

"How the Hell have you survived for four years with such pathetic sensibilities?"

The boy gave a light chuckle, obviously amused that the Alpha thought it was such an absurd dislike and perhaps it was. "Well, I obviously don't let it get to me. It's an unavoidable necessity so I simply handle it as well as I can; I find holding my breath is usually a good way to hold off the nausea."

"You can't hold your breath forever and you'll find a lot more blood with me than you did with Isaac." The werewolf grunted, uncomfortable with the fact his very nature would cause the boy discomfort but also not willing to even attempt to change.

"I'll cope, I'm very adaptive." Was all Harry said to that and the man could tell that was true and the child would somehow find a way to cope with this change in his life.

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Unsurprisingly, Fenrir's prediction had been correct and a storm had come. And what a storm it was. For all the two occupants of the cave knew, the would outside may have ceased to exist for all they could see of it, the heavy blizzard hiding everything behind a curtain of white. They had remained in the cave together all day, the werewolf mostly dozing as he hadn't slept the night before and the boy keeping still by the fire to keep as warm as possible. Now that it was night, the situation was much the same in reverse; Fenrir was the one awake and alert and Harry was the one sleeping despite the obvious minus temperature of the cave.

It was another thing Fenrir didn't understand about the situation; Harry said he and Isaac had been living in this cave for the past three and a half years, how had the boy survived the obviously harsh winters this place was plagued with? Part of being a werewolf meant a tougher immune system and better incubation of body heat even in human form. A werewolf could survive in a harsh climate such as the one they were currently experiencing. The kid was not a werewolf (at least not a full one) though and it was amazing that he hadn't yet frozen to death or caught hyperthermia or something even with the blanket made of furs and the overly-large robe he was wrapped in.

His mind now on the boy, the transformed werewolf lifted his head and glanced over to where the child was curled up on his side, in a cocoon of furs, beside the now dead fire. Through the darkness of the night he could see the small form shivering and it occurred to Fenrir that in the past, perhaps Isaac had kept the child safe from the cold, sharing body heat and shielding him the cave mouth. That would certainly explain a lot though the whole situation was still rather remarkable to him.

Fenrir looked away and settled back down again before he spent the next few minutes trying to ignore the plight of the other occupant of the cave. If there was one thing the werewolf was, it was stubborn and he would be damned if he just rolled over and accepted Harry Potter despite the promise he had made to Isaac and the fact his instincts were screaming at him to look after his pack-mate. He had been without any real, close relationships for so long now that he was used to it and the thought of developing any kind of relationship: parental; friendship; romantic, was too strange and seemed like more trouble than it was worth. A part of him, a rather large part, continued to point out that in the end Fenrir would have little say in the matter but the part of the man that was stubborn simply ignored that part and continued to insist that resisting was what had to be done. Why? To save face? Perhaps. Because he was scared? Of course not! That was a ridiculous thought (right?). He didn't know how to act exactly? Another perhaps as it had been a long time...

The light sound of shifting had Fenrir instantly looking back over to the shivering mass of fur. Harry seemed to have curled even tighter into himself. Annoyed with himself and cursing mentally, the werewolf gave a low growl as he got to his feet and started over towards Harry. Upon reaching him, he leaned down and bumped his nose against the boy none too gently which instantly caused the child to poke his head out from underneath the furs. He seemed unphased by the sight of Fenrir in his wolf form, a sight most people would've no doubt found terrifying, and instead simply uncurled himself.

"S-sorry." He said through chattering teeth as he freed himself from the fur blanket. "I-I di-didn't realise you'd b-be c-cold too, you ca-can have the bla-blanket, I'll b-be all right in m-my robe."

Fenrir gave a low snarl at that completely ridiculous and foolish offer and Harry immediately stopped moving with the exception of his shivering limbs which had had no control over. The werewolf positioned himself laying on the ground on his side before he angled his head around enough to tug on one of the sleeves of the robe. The boy was caught off balance and went tumbling down, landing against the large, furry body of the werewolf with a light grunt. Immediately, he started to move away again quickly, but Fenrir caught his wrist in his teeth and applied a light pressure, one that would only hurt if the child tried to move away again.

"Yo-you want m-me to stay?" Harry checked carefully and Fenrir simply gave a low, growled grunt in reply as he released the small wrist, safe in the knowledge that the boy understood the situation now.

Slowly, hesitantly, Harry settled himself next to the silver werewolf so that there was a slight distance between them. When Fenrir decided that the boy was intending to keep that distance, he gave a warning growl and latched onto the back of the robe before giving a sharp tug which dragged Harry closer to him. Now intimately close together, the werewolf could feel just how cold the child was and so he curled himself around the small form a little more. For a few more minutes, Harry arranged himself and the quilt of fur so he was comfortable and well covered before he finally stopped moving and snuggled against the warmth of the large creature beside him.

"Night." He whispered, his shivering having already subsided greatly.

The werewolf merely gave another growled grunt. So much for not just rolling over and accepting the boy. When had he become so soft?

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The snow made the evening light seem so much brighter than it was supposed to be and Fenrir had to squint his eyes a little as he stood at the mouth of the cave, as naked as the day he was born. With a long yawn, the man stretched his arms and back and legs, satisfied when there were various clicks and pops from his stiff joints. It was time to move on, away from this cave which reeked of death, all he was waiting for was the kid.

Harry was busy packing, for lack of a better way to describe the process of gathering belongings and wrapping them up in the fur blanket. Apparently, the boy and Isaac had collected various items over their time together and they were all ones which were necessary to help the not-quite-human boy in surviving in the wild. At least that was what Harry had told Fenrir. The man was starting to consider judging the necessity of such items if the child took any longer than he already had.

As if on cue to that thought, Harry came hurrying out from the back of the cave, a branch over his shoulder with the neatly tied package of his fur blanket hanging off of the end. "Sorry I took so long, I had to figure out a way to keep the nuts from falling out."

Fenrir ignored that piece of information in favour of moving things along. "Are you ready then?"

"Yeah, I've got everything I'll need and I said my goodbyes to Isaac." The boy assured as he moved forward to stand beside the giant of a man beside him. It would've been amusing to see how much taller the werewolf was to the child if it wasn't such a pathetic fact that the child was grossly short and slight for his age.

"Good." The man grunted as he got down on one knee and turned to the boy.

"What are you doing?" He asked the werewolf curiously.

"You're not walking in the snow with bare feet, I'll carry you."

"But you've got bare feet."

Fenrir turned to look over his shoulder and fixed a hard look on the child. "Are you questioning me?"

"No, no." Harry quickly assured, immediately dropping his gaze submissively much to Fenrir's satisfaction; at least Isaac had been firm enough to teach the boy how to act around a dominant/Alpha even if the old werewolf had failed to put his foot down on the whole eating meat thing.

Harry did as he was supposed to and carefully climbed onto the Alpha's back, wrapping one arm around the thick neck while the other rested on the left shoulder and kept hold of the branch his pack was hanging from. Fenrir wasn't surprised at the feather-weight of the boy and barely even felt the presence as he stood and held the small legs either side of his chest in place with his arms. Without bothering to check whether Harry was comfortable or ready or anything of the such, the man started forward. Each of his heavy steps marred the perfection of the snow with his footprints and it was obvious that he didn't even notice the cold which should have been biting into his naked skin like sharp knives.

No conversation passed between the two as Fenrir walked and the only sound which broke the natural silence was the noise the snow made when impacted with the man's foot falls. The werewolf was pleased and slightly relieved that Harry was obviously fine with quiet which was neither uncomfortable or pleasant, it was simply there. After all the talking that had happened the day before (and even that hadn't been all that much) there was nothing left for them to say to each other really and neither felt confident enough to start a meaningless conversation: Fenrir because he wasn't much of a talking man anyway and Harry because this was an entirely new situation to him.

For Harry, it seemed like he had been with Isaac forever. True, he could vividly remember his time with his relatives but it seemed like so long ago that it wasn't important. The boy had expected the death of the old man he considered his family for a long time though, because Isaac had been old, really old. If the farmer hadn't have shot him to finish him off, Harry was unsure whether the old werewolf would've lived to see the summer anyway. Still, he would've preferred for Isaac to stay longer, just a little longer...

"He wouldn't want you to mourn." Fenrir's deep voice suddenly grunted and Harry felt the vibrations of the voice against the man's back where his cheek rested.

"Pardon?"

"Isaac wouldn't want you to mourn, he'd tell you it was a waste of time."

Harry couldn't help but chuckle at that; yeah, that sounded like Isaac.

The quiet returned just as quickly as it had been broken and Harry was once again left with his thoughts. Isaac had often spoken of Fenrir Greyback, always with great affection and pride. Harry had started to think towards the end that such a werewolf didn't actually exist and Isaac was either going a bit senile or he was exaggerating. But then along came the powerful werewolf and he could easily imagine that every single word his Sire had ever said about Greyback was true. Now that Harry was with the man, he felt infinitely grateful to his guardian for telling him so much about the infamous child-turner and also teaching him about wild pack culture. Harry had never seen the point of it before, Isaac wouldn't have been Alpha material even if he had been a lot younger so there was no way they were going to start their own pack, but now he had the nagging suspicion that the old werewolf had been preparing Harry for something like this. It seemed as though Isaac had known that Harry would one day leave with Fenrir Greyback.

From what Harry could gather, both from Isaac's stories and his own limited time with the werewolf in question, Fenrir Greyback was a very complicated person. None of the stories Isaac had told were sugar coated so Harry felt rather confident that he knew most of the terrible things the Alpha had done (the ripping out of children's throats only made the boy all the more anxious to not challenge the man over anything). He had known from the moment he had hit the silver werewolf over the head with the branch that he was a kill-first-never-ask sort of person and if he hadn't transformed back into a human the moment he did, Harry might very well be dead at that moment. Yet, despite all that, Fenrir had yet to pose any threat to him afterwards. In fact, dare he say it, the Alpha had even been nice to him what with sleeping beside him the previous night to keep him warm and the comment he had made moments before, reassuring him that Isaac wouldn't want him to be sad. The stories from Isaac, although they had always been in Greyback's favour, implied that such soft intentions from the werewolf were almost impossible towards anyone, let alone a child who he had known for little over a full day.

All such thoughts were useless though. Harry had no control over his situation now so even if he decided to leave on his own and try and fend for himself, he wouldn't be able to. Fenrir was going to honour their Sire's dying wish apparently and that meant he would never allow the boy to simply just walk away, though if Harry was honest he didn't especially want to. He may have been young but he wasn't an idiot. He wouldn't be able to survive in the wild on his own and he wouldn't know how to return to civilised society either. Put simply, he was stuck where he was for the foreseeable future, but perhaps that wasn't such an awful thing.

Several more minutes of silent walking later and Fenrir and Harry finally made it into a clearing where the werewolf then stopped. The sudden and unexpected stop of movement had the boy lifting his head from where it had been resting on the Alpha's shoulder to look around them curiously. He could see nothing immediately significant about where they were which raised the question of why they had stopped. Harry was about to ask when Fenrir beat him to speaking.

"Off."

"Pardon?"

"Get off." Was all the man grunted.

Although Harry was confused, Isaac had taught him better than to challenge an Alpha (let alone Fenrir Greyback) on anything and so he did as asked. He loosened his hold on the man's neck and helped himself to be settled on the snow covered ground. Upon touching the snow, his bare feet immediately sank into it and were bitten by the freezing cold. Harry grit his teeth to stop any sound of protest which might've felt the need to leave him. Being put down could very well be a sign that he'd somehow irritated the werewolf which meant he didn't need to do anything more which might further irritate the dangerous man.

"I have things I need to do." Fenrir said gruffly, puffs of white air leaving his nose and mouth as he spoke. "You will wait right here until I come back for you."

"Things?" Harry echoed curiously. "What kind of things? Because if you're worried I'll get in the way, then..."

"Unless you want to watch me take a piss and hunt down my lunch, then stay here, don't move and wait for me to get back." The man growled dangerously.

Harry's mouth clicked shut in an instant, the angry tone telling him that to protest or ask more questions wouldn't do him any favours. At least the Alpha seemed satisfied with his silence as he gave a small grunt before trudging off into the trees, leaving heavy foot prints behind him. The boy watched him leave and, for the first time, really looked at the man who he was going to be spending the foreseeable future with.

There was no doubt that Fenrir Greyback was as fearsome a man as he was a wolf. His hair was dark, darker than Harry's, though was also streaked with a lot of white and grey which was the only thing that gave away the man's age really. Although his face was really stubbly, there wasn't enough to say he had a full beard though the hair on his chin was long enough to be considered a goatee. He was a giant of a man and he'd be even taller if he stood up straight rather than slightly hunched over as though he was ready to pounce on a prey at a moment's notice. The man's eyes were hard and intense but Harry wouldn't have been able to tell someone what colour they were; he hadn't looked at them for long enough or closely enough to be able to tell. And, of course, Fenrir was also naked, proudly dressed only in his scarred and pale skin which had dustings of coarse dark hair all over it, but that was hardly anything that shocked Harry. Isaac had been always been naked, even towards the end when the old werewolf would get cold much more easily. Perhaps it was a werewolf thing; they just didn't like wearing clothes. Harry had nothing against being naked just like he had nothing against wearing clothes.

Sighing lightly, Harry looked around himself once his new guardian was gone. The cold biting at his feet was really starting to hurt; he needed to get them away from direct contact with the snow. How though? He could use his fur blanket but then he'd have his stash of nuts all over the place and it would take time to tie it all back up again. He could sit down and wrap his feet in the hem of his robe but then the robe would get cold and wet and he'd be even worse off.

The boy huffed in irritation as he slouched back, coming to rest against the trunk of a tree. A look of realisation crossed his face then as he glanced over his shoulder. Of course!

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A deep growl of satisfaction rumbled deep inside Fenrir's chest as he licked his fingers clean of blood. There was nothing like the pleasant and lazy feeling of a full stomach after the thrill and adrenaline rush of the chase. In many ways, he preferred hunting in his human form, it made it more of a challenge. He had to stalk more, he had to wait in anticipation for just the right second to strike. His reward that day had been a baby deer; he'd eaten it completely raw and on sight. At least he hadn't had to concern himself with finding the kid anything to eat seeing as he fancied himself a "vegetarian". Fine, if the kid wanted to starve himself, that was none of Fenrir's business, just meant he only had to hunt for one. Not that he couldn't hunt for two if he wanted, it just would've been more effort than he could be bothered to put in.

When he reached the clearing he had left Harry in, he came to a stop and almost immediately his previously relaxed expression turned hard. There was no boy in sight. He had left the whelp right in that spot, he knew he had, there were foot-prints there as evidence. Had the kid done a runner, perhaps deciding he'd rather take a chance on his own than be looked after by Fenrir Greyback? No, that couldn't be because the fur blanket was still on the snow covered ground (it held the boy's food, he wouldn't have left without it) and there were no foot-prints leading away. That knowledge led to more sinister thoughts. Had someone grabbed Harry? Magical creatures weren't uncommon in that part of the United Kingdom, had something come along and decided they wanted a companion? Or, even worse, had they decided they wanted lunch?

It was beyond Fenrir's comprehension or even belief but he felt his heart rate increase as anxiety, anger and, dare he say, worry began to set in with the thought that someone had snatched Harry. He'd barely known the kid for two days and the thought of someone coming along and hurting him...Well, it made Fenrir want to kill something before tracking down the one who hurt Harry and then killing that too, ripping it into tiny, bloody little pieces. Even when he'd had a pack of his own he didn't think he had ever felt such a burning worry, such an anger because of something that had happened to a pack mate. Fenrir liked to think he was a logical man so he didn't even try and deny what he was feeling, the fact he was feeling it in the first place was illogical enough without starting to act irrationally as well. He had to keep his cool, he had to keep in control, at least until he had found Harry and then he could track down the scum who had taken him and just let loose on...

"Oh, Fenrir, you're back already."

Fenrir froze at the sound of the boy's voice and he glanced around himself.

"I'm up here."

Sure enough, upon tilting his head up, Fenrir's gaze landed on the small form of his charge, sitting up in a high branch of a tree.

Suddenly, the Alpha felt relieved but that only lasted a second before irritation and anger settled in. His hard look creased into a dark scowl which he directed straight to the child. Harry had the sense to look worried but he didn't start snivelling and grovelling which gave him points in Fenrir's book.

"What the Hell do you think you're doing?" The man growled dangerously.

"Erm...Please don't think I'm being smart by saying this but, well, isn't it a bit obvious?" Harry replied hesitantly.

"I told you not to move."

"But my feet felt like they were going to drop off from the cold of the snow and, well, I haven't actually gone anywhere, I just went a little higher up."

Deep inside, Fenrir knew he was being unreasonable and he knew he was being unreasonable more because he was angry with himself and his own reaction rather than anything Harry had done wrong. The boy had done the smart thing, getting out of direct contact with the snow. Fenrir had done the stupid thing of over-reacting and instantly getting angry at non-existent child snatchers. If he had even taken a moment to think properly, he would've caught Harry's scent and he would've been able to follow it to and up the tree. The initial fear and panic for the boy's safety had over-ridden his common sense and that wasn't something the Alpha wanted to dwell on.

Fenrir gave a low growl and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Just get down here, now."

Harry hesitated a moment before giving a little sigh and shuffling across the thick branch he was sitting on, making his way from the middle closer to the tree's trunk. When he had got that far, he started to try and arrange himself so he could hug the trunk with his arms and legs. It was clearly awkward and uncomfortable for him.

"What are you doing?" The werewolf muttered, feeling his temper start to rise again.

The boy paused his movements, straddling the branch with his arms around the trunk as far as they could go. "I'm getting down, like you told me to."

"Why don't you just jump instead of messing about like you are?"

"Because I'll get covered in snow and I might sprain an ankle or wrist or something."

"I'll catch you."

Harry actually wrinkled his nose at that and started his mission to shuck himself down the trunk. "You don't need to, I'm good."

"Pup..."

"I said I'm good."

Ooo, the kid was skating on very thin ice. Fenrir was close to yelling, to threatening, to simply grabbing the boy by the hem of his robe and hauling him down. But then, as he watched Harry, the determination on the boy's face, the obvious reluctance to give up, and considered the fact that he didn't just want to let Fenrir catch him and wanted to make his own way down; well, he had to admit he was, grudgingly, pleasantly surprised. Maybe it was because he had been carrying Harry on his back because of the snow or maybe it was because the boy was stupidly small, but Fenrir had expected the child to be nothing but a burden, like a new born pup that couldn't look after itself. Now that he was watching the kid make his way down the tree, he remembered what he had been told. Harry had been basically looking after Isaac for quite a while before the old werewolf had died. Fenrir had been way off; Harry was the total opposite of helpless and that took the edge off of the man's irritation.

A startled sound from the boy had Fenrir refocusing his attention and he looked back to Harry just in time to see him fall the last three feet or so, landing on his rear in the snow. With the padding the white powder provided it was very unlikely the boy was even hurt but he groused nonetheless. After all, he had wanted to get away without getting snow on his robe because it was going to be cold and then it was going to melt which would make him wet...

"You all right, Pup?" Fenrir grunted as Harry picked himself up.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He sighed, brushing as much snow off as he could with his hands.

"C'mon then," the man instructed, crouching down and offering his back to Harry. "We'll have to find shelter before day breaks. I know somewhere suitable but we'll have to hurry if we're gonna make it in time."

"Kay." Harry practically chirped once he had grabbed his fur and food bundle and had started to clamber onto the werewolf's back.

Fenrir waited until Harry had stopped moving before he stood and started off again. They were, of course, silent and that just left the man with his thoughts and that moment wasn't necessarily a time he wanted to spend thinking. So, in the quiet, with Harry resting his head peacefully on Fenrir's shoulder, the wild man tried to figure out the domestic feelings he was already having for the child.

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End of Chapter 2.
I'm sort of pleased with this chapter. A part of me thinks that Fenrir's feelings are a bit rushed while another part of me thinks I did a pretty good job of explaining the conflict he's feeling inside...Not sure which part is the more dominant one which is why I'm only sort of pleased with the chapter XD
Now, review replies!

Zuka
I didn't mean to make you sad! So sorry about that! But I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter anyway and I hope you enjoyed this one as well :)

Lucie
I'm glad you liked it and I hope you liked this one too :)

merb
Yeah, Fenrir/Harry fics rock, it's just a shame that there aren't that many great ones around (I know that's mean of me to say XD). I hope this chapter was worth the wait :)

celestialuna
Thank you :)

Angiloce
Potential is always a good thing for a story to have :)

applesauce N soysauce
I hope you loved this chapter as much as the first :)

reflections_of_fear
I like to try new things when it comes to stories. I didn't want to make Harry a straight werewolf so I thought I'd just add a little to him. And, originally, the title of this story was going to be "Pup" but then the plot developed and I thought the current one would be better XD

Isner19
I'm glad you enjoyed it :)

Bones
Glad you think so :)

Tgwsworld
I'm a slave to the reviewer's request XD

Alodis
You're on the right train of thinking when it comes to why Harry isn't a full werewolf. Keep thinking along that line and you'll probably get it before I reveal it. Fenrir will be a little OOC in this but only because, as you said, he's pretty much a psycho in the books.

Felinity
I'm glad you though so and I hope you still think so :)

tinkita
Thank ya muchly, I hope this chapter didn't disappoint :)

Tina109
Thank you :)

darkpyroangel06
What a lovely, enthusiastic review :) I'm glad you enjoyed it so much. As you saw in this chapter, there is a fire beneath Harry's layers and it'll become even more apparent as he gets older. Thank you for your wonderful review and I hope this chapter was as much to your liking as the first :)

DerangedBichon
And wasn't even trying to be sad at the end XD

Kage
No sadness in this part :)

hell_on_earth
Thank you :) I hope this chapter was as enjoyable as the last :)

Alright, that's it from me. Let me know what you think and I'll see you all again in a fortnight :)

Hugs
Dream