Sacrifice

Hi everyone :)

Many thanks for the many reviews and also for those of you who gave me an answer to my question. I suppose I should've been able to predict the outcome; the majority wants 39 chapters. So that's what'll happen. Some of you wanted it because you assumed I'd be evil and leave 39 as a cliffhanger (I wasn't actually going to be that mean; 39 would've been a solid ending with 40 as more of an epilogue of sorts), and some of you admitted that you simply just didn't want to wait for a fortieth chapter. To those who wanted 40 chapters, my apologies, but I hope such a minor detail won't take away from your enjoyment of the story.

Review replies!

BloodLust777
Yeah, Kingsley's a jerk in this XD I'm making it up to his character in my next fic though.

darkpyroangel06
Chocolate cake is good...Though not the best XD
Doing the CoS plot was one of the few things that's remained definite from the very beginning ^_^; Almost everything else has been swapped and switched around with other ideas numerous times. But the CoS element, it's always been becoming because, y'see, I need it to happen for something else, something HUGE, to happen. Hopefully, I've just driven you into an insane state of needing to know what I'm talking about :D
And you got your wish on the chapters since it was everyone else's wish as well.

qwerty
Yeah, I feel sorry for Draco as well. Man, even though I got bored of writing Drarry I can't seem to write Draco in any other way than being hopelessly in love with Harry XD

Spiros
Hehe, yeah, I used to write Draco/Harry but grew bored of them. So, my sympathy for Draco is still evident, but it's not enough to make me want to ship them anymore XD

Kuromei
It's not often that I include canon dialogue, mostly because I can never remember it and often it just doesn't fit what I'm doing, but I do like doing it on the occassions that I can fit it in; makes my inner fan-girl happy :D *hugs Kuromei-chan*

Lina
Glad to hear you like the story and you got your wish; the chapters will be combined.

Enough from me, on with the chapter.

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Trying to research an unknown subject was turning out to be a lot harder than Harry had originally anticipated it to be. Even with petrification as a starting point, he and Hermione were struggling to find anything of worth or significance. The quest for knowledge was driving Harry to distraction and he was spending more and more time in the library with the Muggle-born witch. He knew he was rather neglecting Fenrir and he knew he had to do something about that. Now he was returning from yet another fruitless search through dozens of books, his feeling of discouragement was making him lean towards the option of giving up and once again focussing on his friends and Fenrir. They were what was most important after all.

"All right, Harry?" The voice of Ron suddenly greeted Harry as the red-head came up to walk beside him.

"Hey, Ron," the half-werewolf smiled in return, slightly cheered to see his friend. "How's everything?"

"Ah, y'know, not bad," the Gryffindor shrugged and on the whole he seemed relaxed and nonchalant. There was something, however, that seemed a bit worried and on edge about the boy though.

"Something on your mind?" Harry queried, a light frown of concern on his face.

"It's nothing really..." Ron murmured, sounding rather reluctant though also as if he did actually want to talk about what was bothering him.

"But?" The dark haired boy therefore prompted him.

"It's just...My sister's been acting strange lately."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, she's usually all friendly and stuff with everyone but recently, I dunno, she just seems to be really on edge all the time, doesn't relax anymore. Always looks as though she's waiting for something to happen."

"Like what?"

Ron shrugged awkwardly, clearly embarrassed that he couldn't say exactly what it was that was bothering his sister and therefore what was bothering him. "It probably really isn't anything."

"Have you tried talking to her?" Harry inquired sympathetically.

"Course I have!" Ron said slightly defensively, as though insulted that he even had to be asked. He quickly deflated back to his awkward concern however. "She just brushed it off, told me it was none of my business."

Harry gave a small hum as he considered the wizard's situation. "Could be a girl thing that she's too embarrassed to talk about." He mused after a moment of thought. "Whatever it is though, Ron, perhaps, as harsh as it sounds, it really isn't any of your business. I know she's your younger sister and you're bound to feel protective of her, but she's growing up and you can't look after her forever. Perhaps you should use this as the beginning of slowly letting her go."

"Maybe..." Ron muttered grudgingly, clearly not liking the idea but understanding where Harry's reasoning was coming from. "S'not like I can do anything anyway if she won't tell me anything." He added glumly.

"If you're really that worried, why don't you ask one of the professors to speak with her?" The smaller teenager suggested.

"No reason to bother them with something like this," the Weasley quickly refused, for some reason extremely reluctant to involve figures of authority. "Anyway, I've got a lesson on the other side of the school so I better get going again."

"All right. Come find me again if you need to vent some more, okay?"

Ron gave a small nod before offering a shy smile. "Thanks, Harry, for trying to help."

Harry returned the smile brightly. "You're welcome."

With one last grin, Ron turned and left without further word, dashing away at a full run. Harry turned to leave himself not a moment later, though had barely moved two paces before a voice reached him from somewhere further off.

"Harry! Wait!"

Harry stopped accordingly and turned to see Draco hurrying after him from further down the corridor.

Despite what the werewolf had said to the Slytherin about trying to keep away from each other, neither were making any particular effort to do as such. It was just too easy to fall into the habit of greeting and meeting with each other, especially after Draco had been so kind to him the nights during the last full moon. Harry supposed he had been a little over-dramatic in telling Draco to stay away. After all, Sirius wasn't mad enough to try anything again and Voldemort was already part of the Malfoy's life due to the head of the family.

"Morning Draco." Harry greeted the other boy cheerfully. "How are you?

"I'm sorry, Harry, but you've got to take it back." Was what Draco said instead of answering the pleasantry, his tone insistant but also apologetic, as he all but shoved a familiar black book at the other boy. He had offered to keep the book as Harry had been reluctant to keep it in his and Fenrir's rooms, but apparently was now retracting his offer.

"What? Why?"

"There's something about it. It makes me feel strange, uneasy. I swear I haven't had a decent night's sleep since I took it. No, I'm sorry, but I can't keep it anymore." The blond revealed as he all but pushed the book into his friend's hands.

Harry took the book back slowly, looking down at it in his hands, before looking back up to Draco. He had thought that the strange and unpleasant feeling from the book was something only he had felt, considering Hermione said she felt nothing from it. The fact that Draco felt something as well wasn't very pleasant news. It meant Harry couldn't just chalk it up to him being paranoid and imagining things. It meant there was a better chance that there was something about the book to be wary of, it meant that he had another problem to deal with.

"I really am sorry, Harry..." Draco began to apologise again when his friend continued to give no reply.

"Don't worry about it Draco." Harry reassured then. "If it's making you feel uncomfortable then of course I don't want you to keep it with you. It's all right, I'll find a place for it."

"You really don't mind?"

"Nah, of course not. I'm sure it won't be too hard to find somewhere to put it."

Of course, that was a complete lie. It was going to be very hard to find a place for it, very hard indeed.

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The evening had arrived and still Harry had the creepy book that neither he nor Draco wanted to keep and yet Harry was very unwilling to let too far out of his sight. He had attempted to find Hermione again during the day but she had proved to be surprisingly elusive. As far as the teenager was concerned, asking Severus to look after the book just wasn't an option; the man was always far too busy and Harry didn't want to bother him with something that could turn out to be nothing and completely harmless. Of course, he trusted Dumbledore about as far as he could throw him and he didn't really think Ron would be up to the job.

So there was no one, and that was why Harry was laying on his and Fenrir's bed, with the book, still not knowing what to do with it. He knew he shouldn't have really brought it into their rooms. It was a magical item after all, and knowing how Fenrir felt about magic, he would go mad if he somehow found it. But where else was there to put it where it would stay safe? Harry knew, could feel it deep in his stomach, that the book was probably something either very important or very dangerous, possibly both. That being the case, he wanted to protect others from it, but he also wanted to keep it near to him so that he could study and examine it whenever he could. After all, the teenager was determined to eventually find out what it was, where it had come from, and why it made himself and Draco feel anxious but not Hermione.

The sudden sound of a roughly closing door and the call of "pup" had Harry jumping up in surprise before he began to guiltily look for a place to hide the book. Hurried and with extremely little time, the teenager eventually just stuffed the book underneath the pillow of their bed. No sooner had he done that and turned to face the bedroom doorway than Fenrir came strolling in.

The man's expression actually looked rather pleased upon his entry. It took no longer than a second to turn into a frown, however, and his eyes immediately landed on the pillow Harry had just hidden the book under. He didn't say anything and he didn't start moving after stopping just inside the doorway which was something. Fenrir kept staring at that spot though and it was starting to get to Harry just a little too much.

"Fenrir," the teenager greeted him, perhaps just a little too enthusiastically to be considered completely natural. "Where've you been?"

"Walking." Was all the answer the Alpha gave to that, his eyes still not moving from the pillow.

Harry wanted to bite his lower lip in anxiety but he knew that would give him away. So, he kept a firm control of his nervous reactions and instead tried to think of a way out of the situation. He had to at least get Fenrir out of the room and then preferably keep him distracted and occupied for a while after, at least until he forgot about what was happening at that moment. The question was, however, how to do that? The idea to seduce Fenrir was the first one to occur to Harry, but they were in their bedroom and he wanted them out of it. If he could just move them somewhere else...

"I'm glad you're here, Fenrir," Harry sighed lightly as he slunk towards his Alpha.

"Oh, and why's that?" The man asked somewhat suspiciously.

"We haven't spent much time together recently." The teenager murmured. He paused as he stepped up to his mate, leaning in to rest his cheek against the hard chest as his hands came up to gently fist the material of the robe. "I've missed you."

"Pup..." Fenrir began in a warning tone.

"Haven't you missed me?" Harry practically purred, determined to continue even if it meant pushing his luck more than usual. He trailed a hand down his lover's chest, gently scrapping the material with his nails. "Won't you let me make it up to you?"

Fenrir seemed to lose his voice then, he didn't answer anyway, and that was enough for Harry. He labelled the initial step of his seduction a success and then moved on to gradually coaxing his Alpha to back up so they left the bedroom and moved back into the living room. Harry had to admit that he was rather surprised at just how easy that turned out to be and within the minute the bedroom was behind them and the teenager had pulled the door shut with his foot. Now, all he needed to do was complete the seduction. Since he had failed to prepare himself beforehand and the lube was back in the bedroom, that left only one real option; oral.

The two werewolves only stopped moving when Fenrir's back came against the back of the sofa and they had to stop. Harry wasted no time then in lifting up his Alpha's robe, which Fenrir then lifted the rest of the way over his head, and then falling to his knees to come face to face with his Alpha's heavy erection, jutting out proudly from the nest of black curls at its base. Gently, as the teenager silently congratulated himself on getting Fenrir so hard without even touching him, he shuffled just a little closer to Fenrir's length as he looked up at the man's face through his eyelashes. The usually hard, dark eyes were even darker than usual and were looking down on Harry with an intensity that was a cross between impatient and slightly awed. After all, this would be the first time Harry had ever done something exclusively to Fenrir. Usually, it was the adult pleasuring the teenager or them both pleasuring each other.

When Harry began to wrap his mouth around the erection, his lips sliding over the swollen head slowly before lowering further down the rest of the shaft, Fenrir gave a loud groan and shuddered, his body relaxing completely. The teenager made sure to watch his lover intently as he got to work on swirling his tongue around the tip and the length inside his mouth. Fenrir was clearly struggling between wanting to close his eyes in pleasure and keeping them open so he could watch the debaunched picture Harry no doubt made. The decision seemed to be taken out of the man's hands when Harry wiggled his tongue along the underside of the cock in his mouth however.

"Fuck!" Fenrir moaned, his eyes finally closing as he brought his hands up to thread through Harry's hair rather roughly.

Harry made no complaint, only too glad that his plan to distract his mate was working. His lips fought to turn upwards into a smile, and instead only succeeded in tightening, adding to Fenrir's pleasure. Harry gave a few bobs of his head which produced several more sounds of pleasure from his Alpha before he once again changed his technique.

A small, growled curse slipped past Fenrir's lips as a gentle, irregular sucking pattern began, sending jolts of unexpected pleasure through his body. His head sagged forward and he forced his eyes to open so he could see the sight beneath him. It was almost enough to undo him completely. Harry's hair was even more disshevelled than usual and his cheeks were blushed a light pink. The teenager looked a lot like he did after they had mated and that only created lovely mental images and memories to run through the man's mind, making him all the more aroused. The green of Harry's eyes had deepened to an ink-darkness and the slipping of the large erection in and out of the boy's mouth was too sinfully delicious.

Harry recognised the sounds Fenrir was making only too well and so when the Alpha released a long, deep growl, he could predict that his mate was feeling the first stirrings of his orgasm. His jaw starting to ache, the teenager eagerly brought his fingers up to stimulate the heavy sac in an attempt to hurry the process along even more. Hands came back into his hair, clenching the strands painfully and it took all of Harry's control not to wince. When the grip in his hair started to dictate his movements, he made no protest and simply relaxed his jaw completely, allowing himself to be used as his mate wanted to use him.

"Ready, Pup?" Fenrir growled huskily, his hips pumping roughly even as he moved Harry's head. "You're gonna swallow it, Pup. All my cum, sliding down your throat..."

Harry was glad he had been given a warning, it allowed him time to brace himself. He held his breath and protected the back of his throat with his tongue just in time. With a roar from above, hot, thick seed splashed into the teenager's mouth, harmlessly hitting his tongue rather than sliding down his throat. The teenager had to swallow quickly as the stream seemed to be never-ending and he fought the desire to gag. Fenrir, obviously, didn't taste great. All that red meat he ate meant that swallowing what he offered wasn't a great pleasure. But Harry used his mouth on his lover so rarely, it really wasn't too much of a hardship.

With it all over, Harry expected to simply get up and go back to his business. He hadn't expected Fenrir to allow himself to slide down until he was sitting on the floor and then proceed to grab the teenager to press their lips together, gifting the boy with one of the softest, most heart-felt kisses they had ever shared. Harry's heart hammered in his chest as their lips gently slid over each other and the hot moistness of Fenrir's tongue tenderly stroked the smaller one. It made Harry feel quite light-headed and he could only respond in a sort of daze, a daze he remained in even when the kiss had ended and he was instead pulled against the man's chest.

As Harry cuddled against his Alpha, basking in the amazing kiss they had just shared and happy with what he thought was a job well done at diverting a crisis, he completely missed the look on the man's face. Fenrir's expression was back to looking slightly suspicious and it was obvious that the teenager's efforts to make him forget had, in fact, failed completely. All Harry had successfully achieved was preventing Fenrir from discovering the diary at that very moment rather than altogether.

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The moment Harry stepped into the room, he could tell that Fenrir was angry. It took him only a second longer to realise that the man was angry at him. The teenager wasn't completely sure what he had done to deserve the anger and so he decided to play it very cautiously. He didn't speak, he simply stopped where he was, his arms by his sides, dutifully waiting for whatever rant was he was about to endure.

"Where have you been?" Fenrir growled very quietly, much too quietly; a quiet Fenrir was an angry Fenrir indeed.

"I was with Severus, playing the piano." Harry revealed uncertaintly.

"Really?" The Alpha asked lowly as he nodded his head a little. "Well, since you've told the truth about that, maybe you can tell me the truth about this as well." There, the man held up the familiar object that was T. M. Riddle's diary and Harry couldn't help but wince; he knew he should've hid it somewhere else. "What, the fuck, is this?"

"It's nothing."

"If it's nothing then why did you hide it?" The man challenged, his voice still nothing more than a seething growl. "Better yet, why did you even bother to hide it? Surely you knew I'd be able to sense it just as well as you can."

"What?"

"Dark magic!" Fenrir practically roared then, holding the book up. "This thing reeks of fucking dark magic!" He flung the offending item away then and it hit a wall with a slight whack. "Why is it in our room?"

"Fenrir..." Harry tried weakly.

"Don't try that tone with me, Pup. I am seriously pissed off with you right now. Tell me, why is it in here? Following in Voldemort's footsteps?"

"No, of course not!"

"Or are you just embracing your dirty blood?" Fenrir asked cruely

Harry hated the fact that those words hurt. He should've been just as against his magical and wizarding background as Fenrir was, in fact the teenager thought he had been. But hearing his heritage, his blood, being called "dirty" was far more painful than he have ever imagined it could be.

"What if I am?" Harry demanded angrily. "It's part of who I am, why shouldn't I find out more about it? There's something going on here, Fenrir. People are getting hurt and I want to find out why!"

"I thought we agreed that the Wizarding world isn't our place? I thought we agreed that we don't give a shit what happens to it as long as we stay safe? And now you're getting some hero complex just because a bloody cat and some retarded student managed to get themselves petrified?"

"We could be at threat from whatever it is as well!"

"Then I'd protect us!"

"You can't protect me from everything, Fenrir! That's the very reason we're here. And I wouldn't want you to anyway. You once told me that you didn't want a weak mate; have you changed your mind?"

"There's no shame in being protected by someone larger and more powerful." Fenrir growled, his tone overly controlled as he struggled with his growing temper.

"So you want me to be some simpering, clingy, wall-flower now, someone who's afraid of their own shadow and screams for help at the slightest provocation?" Harry sneered in distaste. "You should've raised me to be one then, rather than someone who knows his own mind, who isn't afraid to at least attempt to look after himself and has a sense of strength."

"Strength?" The man echoed snidely. "I don't think a skinny little vegetarian half-werewolf has anything strong about it. Maybe I'm not surprised that you're turning into a wizard; you barely even act like a werewolf the majority of the time."

"Well we can't all be meat-headed brutes who see murdering our entire family as some sort of sick werewolf initiation task!" The teenager shot back nastily.

Fenrir was on him in a second, grabbing his shoulder and pushing him back against the wall directly behind them. Harry didn't show that the impact had been rather painful and remained defiantly unshaken by the sudden attack. Despite the furious expression on Fenrir's face and the Alpha's heavy breathing and snarled mouth, the teenager showed no fear and simply stared at the adult down.

"What now?" He asked in a monotone. "Going to hit me again?"

Harry instantly regretted those words when Fenrir looked as though he had just been slapped. They both stood there for a moment, silent and motionless, the Alpha still pinning the teenager tightly against the wall behind him. Eventually, Fenrir's hand released its hold on Harry's shoulder and the arm lowered until it was by the man's side again and Harry's muscles began to relax. Their eyes were locked together the entire time, neither straying even a flicker.

Then, very abruptly, Fenrir turned sharply and stalked towards the portrait hole. Harry immediately gasped and moved to hurry after him, reaching out in an attempt to grab his Alpha's arm.

"Fenrir, wait, I didn't mean..." He tried to apologise but his voice fell on deaf ears.

The man left the room without further word, slamming the portrait shut behind himself. Harry winced at the noise it made and the sharp contrast of the silence after it. Now what was he going to do?

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Fenrir wanted to see Dumbledore, he wanted to see Black, he wanted to see Snape. He just wanted to see anyone whose face he could punch without guilt. It had been quite a while since he had been so intensely angry. It was such pure anger he felt, not clouded any other emotion such as worry or fear. It was just pure, unadulterated rage. As the Alpha stalked through the corridors of Hogwarts with the intention of going outside (if he couldn't kill a person, he'd kill as many animals as possible), what had just happened swirled in his head.

That pup, that boy! Talking that way, saying those things, going behind the back of his superior to dabble in things that could be very dangerous! It was infuriating, that Harry couldn't see that getting involved in Wizarding practices was dangerous! Bringing an object radiating dark magic being a perfect example! Did the boy not even think?

Fenrir had wanted to hit the boy. Goddess, it had been such a huge temptation! But no, the man refused to sink that low. No matter how angry he was, not matter how disrespectful and disobedient his pup was, Harry didn't deserve to be hit, didn't deserve an attack he couldn't defend himself against. That was exactly what Fenrir had been saying though! Harry didn't have the means to protect himself, especially from things he didn't understand. Of course, now the Alpha was thinking it would serve the boy right if he found himself in a dangerous situation he couldn't get himself out of, might scare some sense into him. But then Fenrir would have to pick up the pieces, because he wouldn't be able to stop himself from doing so.

Nothing had changed with that argument after all. Once the anger had faded and his temper had cooled, he knew he'd feel the same as before. Despite the frustration he sometimes caused, Harry was wonderful the way he was and was turning into a good, strong man. No doubt the butting of horns they had just experienced would happen throughout the teenager's adolesence. The pup was a definite Beta with the potential of being a very good Alpha if not for the extreme lack of physical strength. Harry was a boy who knew his own mind, and while on the whole that was something Fenrir liked and was glad of, it did lead to clashes of opinions.

Although all his thinking had calmed the Alpha down and he no longer felt the urge to kill something, he wasn't yet calm enough to return to the rooms and to Harry. He needed to stew in his bad mood for just a little while longer before he would feel confident that he could see his mate again without another argument starting. So, the man continued on his way outside, though the plan was now simply to enjoy the fresh air rather than to find something to kill.

However, while walking through the corridors, Fenrir suddenly began to hear something. A rough sliding sound and hissing. It immediately put him on guard and he slowed to an abrupt stop. It was too similar to what Harry had described hearing and considering the boy was a parselmouth, it was very possible that the hissing Fenrir could hear were actual words to Harry. But if it was a snake, it had to be an extremely big one if it was producing the sort of sounds that the Alpha was currently hearing.

However big and whatever it was, it was around the corner straight ahead of him.

His curiosity getting the better of him, Fenrir moved to the corner in question, pressing back against the wall upon reaching it and turning his head to peer around the edge very carefully. When he didn't see anything and was positive that there couldn't have been anything there, he stepped out from the corner. Unfortunately, he had barely moved forward a pace before, through the still form of a ghost, he saw two huge yellow eyes and his world turned black.

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Sat huddled on the sofa in his rooms, Harry glared off at the wall opposite him. He wasn't sure who to be more angry with; himself or Fenrir. Yeah, okay, Harry could admit that he had said some pretty cruel things, but so had Fenrir! And Fenrir was the one who had turned it physical. And he had flounced off over two hours ago and still hadn't returned! So Harry felt quite justified in his annoyance with his Alpha at that moment, though he still wished that the man would return so things could be patched up. Not since that time when he was thirteen had he and Fenrir argued so intensely and ended things so badly and Harry was desperate to make up. He didn't want Fenrir to be mad with him and he, in truth, didn't want to be mad at Fenrir.

When there was an unexpected knock at the portrait entrance, Harry's first thought was that it was Fenrir. Of course, then common sense caught up to him and he realised that Fenrir wouldn't knock. So, disappointment heavy in his heart, Harry trudged over to the entrance and pulled the portrait back a little to peer out to whoever was on the other side.

"Hey Severus, Headmaster," he greeted the two men he found on the other side and he immediately noticed their manners; neither adult looked happy, and neither appeared as though they were visiting for no reason. "What is it?" Harry asked hesitantly, looking more to Severus than to Dumbledore.

"It's Greyback." Was all that Severus replied.

Harry felt his heart freeze as his stomach sank and his mind went blank. Fenrir...

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The Infirmary doors flew open with such force that they collided with the walls behind with a loud bang. Harry paid the noise no notice though as he ran through the open doorway. He slid to an abrupt stop and began to frantically look at each bed in turn. Finally, after moving his gaze and looking to the left side of the room, he saw what he had been searching for, what he had dreaded to see.

"No!" The teenager all but wailed as he once again ran forward, not stopping or slowing until he had reached the bed that Fenrir's still body lay on. Harry threw himself onto the petrified form, immediately pressing his face into the broad chest and sobbing his heart out. "No, Fenrir, wake up! Please wake up!"

A hand came to rest on his shoulder but Harry ignored it in favour of continuing to cry into his lover's chest. It was his fault, all his fault. If he hadn't said what he had, if he hadn't kept that stupid diary in their room!

"Harry, calm down," Severus instructed him gently as his hand moved up to softly pet the teenager's hair. "He's not dead, only petrified. We can revive him, he isn't gone forever."

"Then do it!" Harry ordered harshly, whipping his head around to stare up with angry eyes. "Make him better, now."

"We can't yet, Harry." Dumbledore said with a sympathy and regret which may or may not have been genuine.

Harry's eyes teared up even more then and his bottom lip quivered. "What use are you to me then?" He asked bitterly before he turned his head back to look down at Fenrir's petrified form.

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For once it was not the sound of a female crying that could be heard from the little-used girls' bathroom. Instead, it was the quiet sound of a boy sobbing heart-brokenly.

After being told that he had to leave the Infirmary by Madam Pomfrey in order to get something to eat, Harry had promptly yelled at everyone in the room before sprinting from it, determined to leave them all behind and find solitude. It was the girls' bathroom he had found his solitude in and it was there that he had huddled in a corner created by a cubicle and the wall it was up against, his legs hugged to his chest and his face buried in his knees. However, he was not as alone as he thought he was, unaware of the ghost watching him from the ceiling, though he wouldn't have cared even if he had known. At that moment, he didn't really care about anything.

It was his fault, all his fault. Fenrir leaving the room was his fault. Bringing Fenrir to Hogwarts in the first place was his fault. The Alpha had never done anything but protect Harry and this was how he was repaid! Wasn't Hogwarts supposed to be safe? Weren't they there so they didn't have to get involved in the danger from the Wizarding world? Well, Harry had certainly made sure that whatever danger there was found them. He might as well have opened the door for it! And now Fenrir was...He was...

Fresh tears came spilling out of Harry's eyes as he thought of his mate's condition and how helpless he was to do anything about it. Why couldn't it have happened to him? Harry was the one who was connected to the Wizarding world after all, he should have been the one to end up petrified. Instead, he was left alone, crying on a bathroom floor.

He heard the sound of footsteps on the tiled floor, he simply chose to ignore them. He felt the presence of someone coming to stand just beside him, he ignored that as well. He ignored them as they knelt next to him and he ignored them as a comforting hand landed on his shoulder. His resolve broke, however, when a voice, a voice that was too kind and too sympathetic, spoke to him;

"I'm sorry," Sirius's voice said gently.

Harry suddenly didn't care about what it was exactly his godfather was sorry for. Whether it was for the mess with Draco, or the fact the animosity had lingered between them for so long, or because of what happened to Fenrir, or simply because Harry was upset and crying. No, the teenager didn't care exactly what it was Sirius was sorry for, all that mattered was that the man was, indeed, sorry.

With a hiccupped sob, Harry threw himself into Sirius' arms and began to sob afresh into the man's chest. Arms came around him and held him tight and although they weren't as strong or large as Fenrir's, they were firm and reassuring nonetheless. Gentle words were whispered into his hair as a hand patted his back comfortingly and a cheek was pressed against his forehead.

At least something good had come out of the tragedy.

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Harry woke with a frightened sob, sitting up in his bed with wide and wet eyes. He looked around himself frantically, as though he didn't understand where he was. After a moment, the teenager gave another small sob and hugged himself tightly. Nightmares were so much worse when the room was completely silent and his bed was empty except for him. Before, there had always been the heavy breathing and light snores of Fenrir and the man's heavy figure laying beside him. Now there was nothing but silence and an empty chill.

Swallowing thickly, Harry wasted no time in reaching over to the bedside table to retrieve his glasses before he got out of bed and stood up. He slipped his glasses on and then hurried out of the bedroom, moving through the living room and then squeezing through the portrait hole to the corridor outside. There was no way he was going to spend the rest of the night alone. His mind was too frantic, his heart beating too fast. He needed reassurance, he needed someone to sleep next to.

In all honesty, the thought of going to Sirius never even entered the flustered teenager's mind. They had been friends again for barely even half a day after all, it was hardly enough to justify picking the godfather after Severus. In Harry's mind, there were two personifications of safety and love in his life; one was Fenrir, and the other was Severus.

It was just as well that Harry knew the way to Severus' rooms off by heart because he wasn't paying any real attention to where he was going. He was simply running on auto-pilot, moving in the well-practiced path he had trod almost every day for those past seventeen months. It took him less than five minutes to make it to the place of safety and he didn't hesitate to knock on the frame of the portrait that barred him from entering.

It was a little disconcerting to have to wait for an answer, though understandable as Severus was most probably in bed. However, when the reply did come, it was hardly inviting. The portrait flew open very suddenly, startling Harry into staggering back a few places. Severus' expression was positively murderous, and the tired eyes only made him look even more angry. Thankfully, it only took the professor a moment to realise that it was a tearful looking Harry who had knocked on his door rather than an annoying student.

"Harry?" He asked gently.

"I'm sorry, but..." The teenager murmured tearfully. "Can I sleep with you tonight?"

Severus gave a light sigh then and opened his arms a little. The teenager took that as an immediate invitation to rush forward and cling to the man, burying his head against the warm chest and bringing his hands up to cling to the material of the dressing gown. The professor gave another light sigh then as he brought his arms around the shaking Harry in a comforting hold.

"He isn't dead, Harry." Severus reminded him gently.

"He might as well be." The teenager murmured, his voice filled with tears.

Severus said nothing more and he pushed the portrait until it had sealed the entrance, leaving the two males alone for the rest of the night.