Sacrifice

Hi everyone :)

Ah, I love reviews, they cheer me up when I'm feeling low and I have been feeling low lately. So yes, many thanks for all the reviews :)
Many of you will be pleased to know that I have but two and a bit chapters left of this story to write. However, they're going rather slowly. I'm doing my best to stick with the getting-one-chapter-done-every-other-week thing though, so fingers crossed that I'll have it all written and complete in another four weeks or so.
Also, someone asked me what pairing I'm going to be writing next. I won't be revealing that until the very last chapter of this story, so you'll all just have to live in suspense XD

And with that happy thought, let's get on with things.

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It was a disaster, perhaps one of the worst things that Harry could remember happening. The wolfsbane potion that Severus had been brewing had spoiled. Even the Potions Master was struggling to understand exactly what had gone wrong with the brew. He wondered if he had got a date wrong somewhere, but Harry knew he hadn't. He wondered if perhaps the plant itself had not been ready to be picked and used. He even wondered if he had properly washed the couldron he used. The botch job was at that moment a complete mystery but that didn't stop one thing from being very clear; neither Remus nor Fenrir would have wolfsbane potion to take that evening, the first day of the full moon of January.

Had such a thing happened at the same time the previous year, Harry could have seen himself being pleased with such an occurance. However, he had grown used to the peace of mind Fenrir taking the potion brought him. Under the influence of the potion, Fenrir had caused no trouble. There had been no killings or anything of the such, there had been no accidents. With Fenrir's full animal instincts being free for that coming full moon there was suddenly a risk again and it had the teenager extremely worried.

He knew it made little sense. Fenrir had been on the grounds of Hogwarts while not being under the influence of wolfsbane before. Harry supposed he had simply grown used to the security, the knowledge that if someone, somehow, did come across Fenrir then the man's common sense would win over his animal instincts.

Standing by the open front entrance into the school, Harry looked up at the clear winter sky and gave a light sigh. The situation had made him realise just how domesiticated (for lack of a better word) he had become. And the fact was, deep down, he thought it was for the best which just made him feel even worse. To him it felt like he was betraying Isaac, betraying Fenrir, betraying the part of him that was a werewolf by being this "human" person who lived inside and worried about his Alpha not being drugged. It was terrible of him and he hated himself for it and he wished desperately that the time would come when he got to be his old wild self again. But for that moment, he had to embrace the more human side of himself and so did Fenrir.

"Good morning, Harry." The familiar voice of Draco greeted suddenly.

Harry's eyes widened a little in surprise, not expecting the sudden greeting. He turned and upon seeing the face of his friend, he smiled warmly. "Morning Draco."

"You seem rather gloomy, anything the matter?" The blond asked as he moved around to stand beside the other teenager.

"It's nothing, I'm just being paranoid." Harry assured as he turned his head to look back outside. "I always feel a little anxious around the full moon. When I lived in the wild, it was different, there was less that could go wrong. There are so many innocent people here though."

"You don't usually worry, what's different now?"

"There's no wolfsbane this month." The dark haired teenager whispered, very conscious of not letting anyone over-hear.

"Professor Snape didn't brew any?"

"Professor Snape messed up."

Draco's eyes widened then before a huge grin spread across his face. "You're kidding?" He gasped in disbelief, sounding delighted for some reason. "Snape, perfectionist Potions expert Snape, messed up a potion?"

It was more to do with Draco reaction than anything else that made a small grin cross Harry's lips then. "Yeah." He confirmed, amusement laced in his voice.

"Oh Merlin, that's classic!" The blond laughed heartily, resting a hand on the other boy's shoulder and leaning his weight on him slightly.

Harry couldn't help but chuckle along with his friend and before long they were both laughing in earnest, leaning against each other and the wall beside them. It was amazing to Harry just how much better laughing was making him feel. It was as though the ache in his ribs was blotting out the worry he had felt before and the sound of Draco's laughter seemed to drown out the little nagging voices that kept throwing up "what ifs?"

However, the laughter could not blot out the sound of approaching footsteps and then the sound of someone, an adult male, clearing their throat. Harry stopped laughing immediately, afraid that it was Severus who had been listening to the whole thing and was now going to scold them both. Upon lifting his gaze, though, he was relieved to see that it was only Sirius. Unfortunately, if the glare on the man's face was anything to go by, it was not a very happy Sirius.

"I thought I told you to push off?" Sirius said to Draco darkly, referring to what he had said the last time he had seen the blond boy with his godson.

"I believe I'll leave Harry alone when he tells me to." The aristocrat replied easily.

Sirius leaned in closer to the blond teenager then. "And I believe you'll leave before I break your legs and leave you here." He hissed nastily.

To Draco's credit, he seemed unphased by the threat and simply gave a sneer and a roll of his eyes before looking to his friend. "I'll see you later, Harry, when we can have a decent conversation without interruptions." He walked away then, after sending one last condescending look to the older wizard.

Harry watched his friend go for a moment before he turned to look at his godfather, an angry glare on his face. "This is getting very old very quickly." He said with a dangerous note in his tone.

"You need to stay away from him, Harry." Sirius insisted.

"He's not dangerous!"

"His father is!"

"I'm not making friends with his father though. His father, who I've never even met by the way, has nothing to do with any of this!"

"Harry, I don't want to argue with you." Sirius said, his hurt puppy face making an appearance.

"Then stop trying to dictate who I can and can't be friends with." Harry muttered, looking away for the main reason of not having to look at the man's sad face. "You don't have the right to, especially when there's no reason."

"I can't help but worry about you, you're my only family left."

"You have Remus."

"Remus doesn't need my protection."

Harry gave the man a pointed look then. "Neither do I."

Sirius' expression visibly darkened for a moment before he seemed to force himself to cheer up. "I know, but I like to pretend you do." He said with a happiness in his voice which, if not for the fact Harry had seen his previous expression, would have been hard to believe was forced.

The teenager sighed. "I don't like arguing with you, Sirius, but you do make things very hard sometimes."

"I'll try to make more of an effort in the future then."

Harry looked at his godfather then and gave another sigh before he wrapped his arms around the man's waist. "We'll see." He mumbled as arms came around him, returning the embrace.

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The evening came far too quickly. Harry stood outside the school with Severus and Sirius, saying goodbye to Remus and Fenrir for the next three nights and two days. Fenrir, of course, knew about his young mate's fears. Naturally, he didn't share them. Remus shared much the same fears as the teenager, though the fact he went all the way to the Shrieking Shack (Harry had no idea where it was but it was apparently well out of the way of the school) was making the man feel better. It wasn't much consolation for Harry who was more worried about Fenrir than Remus anyway.

"Stop frowning so much, you'll get wrinkles." The Alpha grunted roughly to his mate even as he held the boy's face in one hand while he rubbed the pad of his thumb over the creases on the usually smooth forehead.

"Sorry," Harry mumbled, making a conscious effort to relax his face.

"Nothing'll happen." Fenrir said very quietly, perhaps so he wasn't over-heard by anyone else. "You'll look back in a coupl'a days time and realise just how stupid you're being."

The teenager felt he had to give a small laugh at that. Fenrir was probably right, he usually was.

"Now give us a kiss," the man growled lowly as he leaned down to close the gap between them. "And look forward to the morning after the final night."

Harry had no time to voice his consent before he had been pulled into a deep kiss. Of course he wouldn't have declined anyway so it didn't really matter. The fact that they weren't alone seemed to fade away to nothing, the presence of Sirius and Remus meaning as little as Severus' presence (it was nothing Severus hadn't seen before after all). Neither Remus nor Sirius had seen their best friend's son kiss his mate before and neither were particularly happy at seeing it then. They didn't comment though, and instead averted their gazes so at least they didn't have to watch.

The kiss was actually very chaste compared to some of the kisses the two werewolves had shared in the past and it didn't linger for very long. After only a few seconds, their lips parted and they drew away from each other. Harry pecked another, very quick, kiss to his mate's lips before he relaxed his feet again so he was no longer standing on tip-toes.

"See you soon." The teenager murmured quietly.

Fenrir gave a grunt but otherwise didn't say anything before turning and heading off.

Harry turned to Remus then. "Take care." He smiled to the man.

"You too, Harry." Remus replied as he ruffled the boy's hair before he too started to walk away.

And so the other three males were left to watch the two men, one naked and the other clothed, walk away, disappearing into the fading light and the cover of the forest. Harry gave a little sigh, worry still churning in his stomach, but otherwise showed no sign of how he was feeling.

"Where's Greyback gonna spend the time?" Sirius asked then, sounding nothing more than casual.

"Somewhere in the forest, as usual." Harry replied, focussed on where the sight of his Alpha had last been than anything else.

Perhaps if Harry hadn't been so focussed, he could have seen the worryingly malicious smirk that had spread itself across his godfather's face. Severus noticed it but said nothing, choosing to instead ignore the immature man; Black's affairs were nothing to do with him after all.

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It was no doubt because he felt more assured of Dumbledore's need for him to remain in Hogwarts that Harry now felt comfortable enough to stretch rules that had been set for him ever since the beginning. For instance, he was still not allowed to leave the school walls on nights of the full moon. Technically, at that moment, he was still inside the school, it was just that he had an unguarded view of the outside world from where he sat underneath an open window in one of the greenhouses. No one could accuse him of breaking any rules and so he felt content to bask in the moon light without guilt or worry.

It was the third and final night of the full moon and so far everything was going well. The first night and the previous night had been uneventful and the days had passed just as quietly. Really, now that Harry had relaxed, he had to wonder what he had been so worried about. What had he thought was going to happen? It all seemed so absurd and silly now that he looked back on it with a clearer mind.

In an instant, though, Harry's relaxed and good mood vanished when he spotted something through the darkness of the night. A figure! A figure walking outside! A figure walking outside and appearing to be heading further outside rather than heading back towards the school! Why was there someone walking outside? And why were they strolling further away when they should've been sprinting towards the castle as though they were being chased by, well, werewolves? If they went any further, they'd be dangerously close to the forest where Fenrir was...

Harry couldn't move fast enough then. He scrambled onto his feet desperately and dashed out of the greenhouse, staggering a little as the abrupt pace almost made him lose his balance. With his speed and agility, it was luckily only a few minutes later before the teenager was pressing his full body weight against the school's entrance in order to push one of the massive wooden doors open. The moment there was a gap big enough for him to squeeze through, he was off in a sprint again, his bare feet barely touching the ground before they had left it again.

Thankfully, because the other person was walking instead of running, Harry easily caught up. And, upon catching up, it was immediately obvious just who it was out for a midnight stroll. Harry felt both anger and irritation swell up in him as he reached the blond haired moron who apparently either had a death wish or the desire to be turned into a werewolf.

"Draco!" Harry hissed urgently, grabbing the boy's arm and trying to tug him back. "What the hell are you doing out here?"

Strangely, the blond only looked confused when he turned to look to the other boy. "What?" He asked with a light frown, his body turning more towards the shorter teenager.

"It's a full moon night and there are two adult, male werewolves running around who are not drugged up on wolfsbane, remember?" Harry clarified impatiently as he continued to try and get the other teenager to move.

"But Harry, you asked me out here." Draco protested lightly, stubbornly keeping his footing for some reason.

That made the dark haired teenager freeze and he took his turn to be confused. "Huh?"

"I got your note."

"You got my what?"

"In my bag, I found it at lunch. I think it's still in my pocket..." Draco allowed his words to trail off then as he reached into the pocket of his trousers and felt around for a moment. He obviously found nothing as he soon switched to feeling his second pocket. It was then that his eyes lit up and he pulled out a folded piece of parchment. "Here."

Harry accepted the piece of paper immediately and unfolded it so he could see what was written. The words instructed Draco to meet him by the Whomping Willow (whatever that was) as there was something very important they needed to discuss about their relationship. And it was signed in his name, but he knew for a fact he had never written it.

"Draco, I didn't write this." Harry revealed, holding the note back out to the other teenager.

The news only made the blond frown again. "But you must have."

"Well, I didn't." The smaller teenager insisted. "For one thing, I wouldn't have bothered with a note, I just would've spoken to you. For another thing, I haven't been near you all day, when would I have slipped you the note? And finally, I wouldn't have asked you to come outside on a night of a full moon, especially not this full moon."

Draco, understandably, seemed very confused with the entire situation. "But why would someone write me a note pretending to be you?"

Harry shook his head uselessly and opened his mouth to speak...But then froze. A sound had caught his ears and it filled him with dread. A deep growling; a heavy footfall, though not heavy enough to be a human; the rustling of leaves that were much too close to them...

"Harry...?" Draco started but was forced to stop when Harry stepped forward and clamped his hand over his mouth.

"Shh..." He hushed quickly, his eyes darting about nervously as he tried to catch a glimpse of anything that might help them. "Don't move and don't say anything." He instructed in a whisper, every part of him except his eyes remaining as still as stone. "One of the werewolves are nearby and that means we're both in danger. Whatever I tell you to do from this moment on, you do it without question, okay? If you've got a problem with that, lick my palm."

A moment passed as Harry gave his friend the chance to protest. No lick came however.

"All right then," Harry murmured, still trying to find a sign of the werewolf. "As soon as I start moving, move with me..."

They were both completely still then as Harry tried to find the threat so they could start going in the complete opposite direction. However, that strategy was their downfall. Harry spotted the werewolf and immediately recognised it as being Fenrir. However, the moment his eyes met with those of the creature, that seemed to give it some cue to move. A terrifying snarl echoed through the night mere seconds before Fenrir's beast form came leaping out of its cover no more than half a dozen metres away from the two teenagers.

"Run!" Harry immediately screamed, his hand dropping from Draco's mouth in favour of grabbing his hand.

To run was simply an instinct. Deep down, Harry knew that running would do nothing, there was no way even he could escape such a large werewolf in the open space they were in let alone escape with Draco who, apparently, wasn't the fastest runner there ever was. A mere few seconds after they had started to run and Harry glanced over his shoulder to see that not only had the werewolf almost closed the entire distance between them, it was getting ready to pounce. Once again acting on instinct and impulse, Harry threw his weight to the side, knocking against Draco and flinging the blond sideways. He did that just as Fenrir jumped and so there was no time to save himself.

The pain was much worse than the few times Isaac had bitten him. With his Sire, they had been small nips, just enough to break the skin and attempt to turn the child. This, this was an attack; it was meant to be deep, it was meant to be vicious, and it succeeded in being both. The sharp teeth sank into the flesh of his calf far too easily, the jaw clamped down far too tightly, and Harry didn't need to hear the crunch of his bone to know that something had broken. He couldn't stop his scream of pain as he was forced to stop dead, over-balancing and falling to the ground face-first.

Despite the terrible pain, however, relief was what next filled Harry as his leg was released in an instant and a mournful whimper came from the werewolf behind him. Naturally, Fenrir knew who Harry was, recognised him as part of his pack and his mate, and so naturally hadn't meant to attack him. In fact, in as much agony as the teenager was in, he had to admit that it was all a rather convenient turn of events. A werewolf would never try and mount their mate if they were so seriously injured so Harry was no longer at risk of being raped by an animal. Also, Fenrir's basic instinct would be to protect his fallen mate; that meant that Draco was free to escape back into the safety of the school as the werewolf wouldn't dare to leave Harry's side to pursue the blond. Unfortunately, Draco appeared to be an idiot and was instead reaching for his wand.

"Don't you dare!" Harry snapped at his friend causing the blond to jump in surprise. "Put your wand away and get back into the school."

"I can't leave you!" Draco insisted heatedly.

"Of course you can. I'm not the one in danger anymore, you are. He'll be too intent on taking care of me now, you can get out of here."

"But..."

"Do you want to be turned into a werewolf? Because if you keep hanging around, that's what'll happen. Either that or you'll die." Harry said very bluntly; no point in sugar-coating anything.

"I can't leave you." Draco repeated, though this time he sounded more heartbroken than anything else.

Before Harry had a chance to reply, Fenrir began to growl very lowly and came to stand over the teenager, two legs on either side of the fallen body. The werewolf's shoulders were hunched and its teeth were bared and Harry quickly saw what the sudden display of aggression was for; both Sirius and Severus were running their way.

"Stop right there." Harry called to them immediately.

Surprisingly, the two men instantly did as they were told.

"Are you all right?" Sirius asked anxiously.

Harry debated over what to tell them for several moments before he decided to go with the truth. After all, if he tried to insist he was fine, the two men would no doubt insist on him going back inside with them. "My leg's broken."

"That's it, I'm coming over there." His godfather immediately insisted and made to stride over.

Severus, being the smart man that he was, however, immediately understood the situation and so reached out to hold the other man back. "As much as I'd love to see you mauled by a werewolf, Black, you mean something to Harry and I'd rather not have to comfort him while he mourns your pointless death. Just take a moment and look at Greyback. He knows Harry's hurt and he's protecting him because of it. You try and go over and you'll be ripped to pieces before you can even touch your godson."

"We can't leave him out here!" Sirius tried to protest.

"Oh, of course you can." Harry said with a roll of his eyes. "I'll be fine. Fenrir'll clean me up, we'll spend the night here, and then in the morning he'll carry me up to the Infirmary while scolding me for being out here and taking a bite for Draco."

"The attack was meant for Mr Malfoy?" Severus asked, apparently surprised at that.

"Why would Fenrir attack me? Try and mount me probably, but not attack me. Anyway, that's enough questions, go away now," Harry advised, shooing them away with one of his hands before laying back on the grass. "Don't come back out here and I'll see you in the morning."

The other three were terribly reluctant and it was very obviously so, but there really was nothing they could do. Perhaps they too realised that as only another moment passed before they had turned and begun to trudge away. Severus was the first, urging Draco to do the same. Sirius lingered for a little longer before he too left. And so, finally, Harry was alone with Fenrir, and the werewolf seemed to relax because of it.

A light sigh left Harry as the rough moistness of Fenrir's tongue began to lap at his bitten leg. He could tell the creature was trying to be gentle but it hurt nonetheless and he had to grit his teeth to stop himself from giving any sort of noise that would betray that fact. The pain was similar to when he had got his leg caught in the deer trap that October when he was thirteen, only a little worse at that moment because of the broken bone.

When Fenrir was done with the cleaning, he moved up to Harry's head and gently nuzzled the teenager's face. Harry returned the affection, bringing his hands up to rest on the sides of the werewolf's head as he rubbed his cheek against the warm fur. It was lovely to be with the animal again. Harry was quite surprised to realise how much he had missed it since that October so long ago. And as Fenrir settled down in such a way that Harry could cuddle against him for warmth, the teenager remembered just how comfortable it was to sleep against something that was both warm and furry.

Yawning, Harry allowed his eyes to close as his blood loss made him rather sleepy. Fenrir angled his head so he could deliver a few small licks to his mate's hairline.

"You're being all affectionate now, but I bet the first thing you do tomorrow morning is yell at me." The teenager mumbled tiredly but with good humour.

The werewolf simply gave a rumbling growl.

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When morning arrived, Harry, unfortunately, wasn't allowed to wake up naturally. Instead, he was jolted out of his sleep by Fenrir moving from behind him and the loud sound of not one, but two werewolves snarling. His eyes were open and he was sitting up in an instant, only for blinding pain to run through his body, eminating from his broken leg.

"Fuck!" He yelled at the top of his voice as he over-balanced and fell back down again, wincing at the pain the entire time.

Opening his eyes again quickly, however, Harry found that Fenrir was standing over him protectively and snarling at an approaching werewolf who, although he didn't know for sure, he guessed was Remus. The other werewolf seemed suitably nervous about an annoyed Fenrir but was snarling in return, obviously trying to prove a point, and it also seemed quite intent on getting in closer for some reason. Perhaps it was because, in werewolf terms, Harry and Remus were sort of related. After all, Harry's Sire was Fenrir's Sire, and Fenrir was Remus' Sire. It was almost as though Harry was an uncle of some sort to Remus and werewolves, like ordinary wolves, stayed close to and protected their family. Unfortunately, Fenrir's werewolf obviously held the opinion that there were only two in his pack, and Remus was not one of them. Therefore, Remus had no business sniffing around his injured mate.

Luckily, before anything could go wrong or any fight could start, the sun officially rose and both Fenrir and Remus began to return to their human forms. A few minutes later, the basic instincts of animals had been replaced with the intelligence of humans and both men relaxed. Well, Fenrir relaxed, Remus more sort of collapsed where he had been standing.

"Bloody hell, Lupin, d'ya have a death wish?" Fenrir muttered as he raised one arm to stretch the kinks out of the muscles.

"Moony smelt Harry's blood and was worried about him." Remus defended himself weakly as he awkwardly pushed himself up into a sit.

Fenrir gave him a sneering look of disbelief. "You call yourself Moony during the full moon?" He asked, obviously incredibly amused by that.

Remus offered a tired glare. "It's not me during the full moon."

The Alpha snorted. "Yeah, whatever." He grunted before his gaze fell onto Harry. "So, feeling stupid enough yet?"

It was Harry's turn to glare then. "I actually think I did the smart thing." He defended easily.

"Yeah, if wandering outside to get mounted by a werewolf is a smart thing to do."

"Actually, I came out here because I spotted Draco," the teenager revealed. "And I think it was a smart thing to do to go after him seeing as you would've attacked him and either killed him or turned him, both of which for you'd be sent to that place Sirius was made to live in for so long."

"What was the blond sissy out here for? He got a death wish too?"

"He said he got a note from me asking him to meet me out here."

"Why would you write him a note asking that?" Fenrir asked with a frown, completely missing the look of gradual, dreaded realisation that was spreading across Remus' face.

"I don't know, and I told him as much." Harry revealed.

"Who the hell knows what goes through the minds of sissies. Matter of fact, who the hell cares?" The Alpha muttered as he got to his feet and then leaned down to pick his mate up. "Ready to get that leg seen to then, Pup?"

"Yeah, just give me a minute." The teenager requested before he grit his teeth and screwed his eyes shut tightly.

However, before the signal to proceed could be given, the three werewolves were distracted by the sound of approaching footsteps. Looking to their left, they saw both Sirius and Severus approaching, both with their wands drawn for some reason, as though they'd need them.

"How is he?" Severus asked the moment he reached them as he got down on his knees beside the injured boy.

"I'm fine, I'm fine." Harry assured even as he winced when the professor touched his injured leg. "It's nothing too terrible."

"The bone's been shattered," Severus noted critically. "And there's serious muscle damage. You're lucky we have access to potions otherwise you'd be in for a long and painful healing process."

"Who says I want him drugged up with potions?" Fenrir growled then, perhaps more annoyed at having the decision made for them rather than anything.

Severus gave him a hard look. "You wish to let him suffer needlessly from an injury you, yourself, inflicted? And there I thought you actually cared for Harry."

The seemed to act like a slap in the face for Fenrir and, surprisingly, he had no retort to give.

Harry felt the immediate need to comfort his mate but he suddenly noticed what Remus and Sirius were doing. While Sirius was looking rather awkward and guilty, Remus had pinned a look of disbelief and disappointment onto the man. It was rather intriguing and also confusing as Harry was sure they all would've heard any argument that could've just taken place.

"Is something the matter?" The teenager asked, causing Severus and Fenrir to also pay attention to the two other men.

A moment of nothing passed before it was Remus who broke the silence. "Well? Would you like to tell them or should I?"

Sirius made no reply.

Harry, Severus, and Fenrir all frowned at that, none of them having any idea what was going on. It clearly didn't make Fenrir's mood any better as his frown was much deeper and darker than the other two.

"Lupin?" Severus said then, a very serious look on his face. "Perhaps you should tell us since Black seems to have lost his tongue."

Remus looked from his friend to the other three and gave a sigh. "Last chance Sirius." He warned.

There was no answer.

"All right." The werewolf sighed again before he looked back to the teenager and the two adults either side of him. "The note that Draco Malfoy received, the one signed Harry, Sirius sent it."

"What?" Harry gasped.

Meanwhile, a look of horrified realisation crossed Severus' face. "Black, you idiot!" He gasped. "I can't believe you made the same stupid mistake twice!"

"What mistake?" The teenager continued to question.

"When we were at Hogwarts together, Black set me up so I'd encounter Lupin during a night of the full moon. Apparently, he has played a similar trick on Draco. In my case, I imagine the motive was nothing more than hatred. With Draco, however, I cannot imagine what that poor boy has done to deserve such an attempt on his life."

If Sirius was planning on finally speaking, he never got a chance to. At hearing the news that he had been set up, Fenrir gave a vicious snarl and made a move forward to attack the man.

"Fenrir, no!" Harry cried, aghast at the Alpha's sudden lunge.

Disregarding his injured leg completely, he threw himself at the man's feet, wrapping his arms around his right shin in the hopes of holding him back. It didn't work, but it did succeed in intensifying the pain, which made Harry cry out, which in turn stopped Fenrir dead as he looked over his shoulder to check on his mate. So, in a round-about and painful way, it did work.

"He's not worth getting kicked out the school for." The teenager managed to get out through his grit teeth.

Fenrir gave an annoyed grunt, reluctant to agree with his mate but knowing he was right. He turned a vicious glare onto Sirius. "Use me to do your dirty work again and you won't live to do it a third time."

Harry freed his mate's leg and turned a sad look onto Sirius. "Why?" Was all he asked quietly.

No reply was given.

The teenager sighed and shook his head slightly before he looked to Severus and lifted his arms to the man. "Take me to the Infirmary please, Severus."

"Not Greyback?" The Potions Master asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Fenrir needs to have a bath and grab his robe before the students start to get up." Harry explained reasonably.

When the Alpha made no sound of protest and neither did he disagree with what the boy said, Severus moved forward in order to gently lift Harry into his arms. There was a little pain that made Harry wince, but otherwise the process went smoothly. Before they started towards the school, however, the teenager once again addressed his godfather.

"When you decide you want to explain yourself, I imagine I'll still be in the Infirmary. If I'm not, then you've taken too long, and I'll want nothing more to do with you." He said with the utmost severity. "Let's go, Sev." He instructed next and his order was followed without question.

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End of Chapter 26.
Oh, the drama (again)! I quite like this chapter and it was fun to write. I hope you all agree :D

Replies for the reviewers :D

Kati-chan
Glad to hear it :)

elphaba
Yeah, he's just sort of dealing with it on his own what with knowing that Fenrir probably couldn't do anything about it.

darkpyroangel06
If my calculations are correct...It's wedding time! *throws confetti and rice at you* I wish you a life time of happiness :)
Okie dokie, review time :D As always, your reviews rock and I love reading them ^_^ And I'm glad I was able to make things seem realistic emotionally; that's the part that really has to be realistic even if the world around it is fantasy.

AHHHHHHH!!!!!
Cliche, hmm? And there was me thinking it was actually the correct term for that sort of hold. Assuming you're still reading (because it would be fairly pathetic to stop reading a story you enjoy simply because of the use of one word) may I ask what you would call such a hold? And don't tell me just to describe it instead of naming it. Why waste a dozen words describing something when I can just as easily describe it in a way that everyone understands with just two?

qwerty
Yeah, Remus was the awesome one in this chapter :D
Harry's got it into his head that just because Fenrir doesn't use magic, he can't help with Voldemort so it's better to keep it to himself. As I said, silly boy -.-

Coobs
Glad to hear it :)

Kuromei
Yeah, I think Hermione was a little too distracted by the mention of dear Ronnie-kins :D And I could tell you what will be done with Harry, but, well, then you wouldn't get the surprise, would you? :D *hugs Kuromei-chan*

Sirin Black
Draco will be a semi-minor character. if that makes sense XD Some pretty important things will revolve around him but he won't get much actual siginficant story time.

DarklessVasion
I'm glad you're enjoying the story so much ^_^ Gah, I can just imagine the trouble that would come about if Fudge started to stick his big nose in their business. Thankfully, that won't happen as the idea never even occured to me XD

Kalendral9
Harry can't transform (for a reason I'm still not letting on to) and I'm not completely sure where you got the idea that he could ^_^; Must've made a major typo somewhere or something XD

I have nothing more to say for now so I'll let you all return to reality again. Have a good fortnight, my munchkins, and I'll see you all again in the next chapter.

Hugs
Dream