Sacrifice

Hi everyone :)

Lots of people happy to see Dumbledore get a bit of a scare last chapter XD And, of course, we're all relieved that Fenrir is up and kicking again and back with Harry where he belongs. Our favourite Alpha is in almost every scene in this chapter (all but one) so hopefully it'll fill up your Fenrir-meters after so long of them running dry XD

Review replies!

mithrilandtj
I think we're all glad of it :)

Kuromei
Well, of course Voldemort still has to get his story time (even if it will be one of the shortest appearance he's ever had in one of my stories XD) *hugs Kuromei-chan*

catnona
Hmm, note to self; stop making catnona cry XD

ckhafre
Yep, Dumbledore's been pretty much scared away now XD And I'm super glad to hear you enjoyed the smut as I'm not often confident that I do them well (despite the fact I write them a lot XD).

Dragon
Well I think Sirius truly believes that Fenrir isn't what's best for Harry and is just being stubborn and ignoring te evidence that that's not the case. Don't worry though, this chapter things get better, read on to find out :)

qwerty
Yeah, we all knew things would turn out all right, but there was still that little voice saying "what if...?"

HentaiZaru
Wow, harsh words for poor Sirius ^_^;

dana_aeryn
Oh yes, we all know why :D

Ehlonna Bloodstorm
Gah, sorry! But it's okay; I have tweezers!
There was never any reason to be worried :D It's my writer way to always make sure there are happy endings (because there just aren't enough in the world :D).

Spiros
Don't feel guilty; at least you reviewed the last chapter ^_^

Just like to take a moment to point out that there are a mere five chapters left after this. Five more Saturdays and this fic will be officially complete.
Nothing more to say so let's get on with it all, yeah? :D

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Harry blinked slowly and lifted his head a little as he began to wake up, momentarily confused as to where exactly he was. However, when the sound of heavy breathing, almost snoring, reached his ears and he realised he was laying on top of someone else, he couldn't help but grin widely and snuggle back into a comfortable position. The move was obviously appreciated by the one he was laying on (who was apparently at least semi-conscious) as the man gave an approving murmur and readjusted his arm around the boy's waist.

As far as Harry was concerned, it was the greatest morning there had ever been. He ached pleasantly from the previous activities he and his Alpha had participated in and the man was still there, proving that everything really was all right. Breathing in deeply and appreciating Fenrir's natural scent for a moment, Harry went to roll off of the man but, unsurprisingly, the arm around his waist tightened to stop him.

"You ain't going anywhere." Fenrir grumbled lazily.

"But I'm awake now." Harry protested lightly, trying very weakly to push himself free.

"So? Just lay here then."

The teenager wriggled a little more energetically. "Fenrir," he whined.

Growling lightly, the werewolf suddenly rolled over, taking Harry with him, causing the boy to give a small noise of surprise. When his back was on the mattress, Fenrir allowed his weight to land on top of the teenager, completely squishing him. Harry gave a noise of protest and, now fully awake, began to wriggle in earnest.

"Fenrir!" He gasped, half breathless and half giggling. "I can't breathe!"

"If you couldn't breathe then you wouldn't be able to speak." Fenrir mumbled.

Harry didn't reply to that and instead focussed his energy on trying to buck the huge body off of himself. He failed of course and he gave an irritated huff when he relaxed again. "Goddess, you're so fat." He muttered petulantly.

"Think you'll find it's all muscle, Pup." The adult smirked without modesty.

The teenager obviously couldn't argue with that (it was the truth after all) and so he went back to struggling underneath the heavy weight.

Fenrir's smirk widened at his mate's delicious movements and the breathless pants and grunts coming from the boy. He leaned down to skate his tongue over the shell of the small ear before speaking; "You're only getting me hard, Pup."

It was then that the sound of knocking at the entrance to their rooms reached both of their ears. It made both males stop for a moment before looking to each other.

"You have to let me up now." Harry pointed out.

Fenrir simply raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And why's that?"

"Gotta go see who's knocking."

"No." Was all the Alpha said to that, relaxing his body and completely squashing Harry once again.

"No?" The teenager echoed in confusion.

"We ain't seeing anyone today."

"But they'll just keep on knocking probably."

"Let 'em."

Harry gave a disbelieving snort at that. "Oh come off it Fenrir, you'd be the first of us to lose your temper at continuous knocking."

Perhaps it was because his words were true, or perhaps it was because the Alpha was already sick of the knocking, Fenrir gave a small groan then and rolled off of Harry. "Go see who it is then," he muttered tiredly. "And then tell them to piss off."

Harry smiled fondly at his mate as he rolled out of bed and left the bedroom quietly. He retrieved his robe from the spot on the living room floor it had been left before the pair had retreated to the bedroom, quickly pulled it over his head and straightened it out before moving over to the portrait entrance. He took a final second to make sure he didn't look too sleep roughed or too thoroughly shagged and then pulled open the portrait just enough to peer out to see who it was.

"Severus," Harry greeted happily, immediately opening the portrait wider to allow his older friend entrance.

"Not disturbing you, am I?" The professor asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Actually, you are, so piss off." Fenrir answered that as he trudged into the room, squinting at the sudden brightness around him.

"Ah, Greyback, completely back to normal, I see." Severus said by way of greeting.

"Would you like anything to eat, Severus?" Harry asked then, preventing Fenrir from making any sort of retort. "Neither of us have eaten yet so I'll be calling a house-elf for some food anyway."

"No thank you Harry, I've already eaten."

"Tea then?"

"Tea would be appreciated." The professor consented as he and Fenrir sat down on opposite armchairs at the same time.

Harry immediately called a house-elf to give it his orders and while he did that, the two adults settled themselves.

"So what you doing here Snape?" Fenrir enquired lazily. "Pretty brave of you to come considering what the pup and me might've been doing."

"I assumed you would have both worn yourselves out last night. And, apparently, I was correct in thinking so."

The sneer on Severus' face as he said that had Fenrir thinking it was a slight jab at him, perhaps for being old or something. Before he could properly take offense at it and throw in an insult of his own, Harry came back into their immediate view, sitting in the middle of the sofa in between the two men.

Instead of starting an argument, the Alpha settled on reinterating his previous question. "What are you doing here?"

"I thought you might like to know more about the current situation." Severus said with the utmost seriousness.

"You mean the Horcruxes." Fenrir said as a statement rather than a question.

"I can't pretend to know everything about them, or even a lot, but I'll hopefully be able to answer any questions you're not comfortable about asking the headmaster."

Their conversation was momentarily interrupted then as the house-elf popped back into the room with the tea and Fenrir and Harry's food. Nothing was said as the little creature set everything down and then disappeared again. It was only when Harry slid to his knees on the floor, in order to serve that tea, that the two adults resumed talking.

"How long has Dumbledore known about these Horcruxes?" Fenrir questioned.

"I don't know." Severus admitted. "Though it would not at all surprise me if it had been from the very beginning."

"And there are seven?"

"That's what Dumbledore believes, yes. Three have now been destroyed and we have theories on what the others might be and their possible locations, nothing certain though."

"How hard have you been searching for them?"

"On and off for the past year."

"And you've only found two on your own?" Fenrir asked with clear distaste in his tone. "You need to try harder."

"They're hardly the easiest of things to find." Severus replied a little defensively.

"Have you looked around the school?" Harry queried, pausing in his tasking of pouring out tea. When the two men gave him a curious look, he shrugged his shoulders. "If I were him, I would've hidden a couple in the school."

"Pup's got a point." The Alpha grunted.

Instead of replying, Severus simply took on a rather surprised expression.

"Something wrong, Sev?" Harry enquired with a light frown of concern as he gently slid the professor's cup of tea across the table towards him.

"No," the man assured, regaining his composure and accepting the tea as he turned his focus onto Fenrir. "I was merely slightly surprised to hear you refer to Harry in such a manner still. He is now no longer a pup in any sense of the word after all."

"You think I called him nothing but "pup" simply because he had werewolf in him?" Fenrir asked with an unimpressed sneer. "And there was me thinking you were halfway intelligent. I would've thought you of all people would understand that he'll always be my pup."

Severus seemed quite speechless at that; it was essentially the closest thing to a public declaration of love that Fenrir would ever get to. And the professor had to admit that he was impressed by it. A small, genuine smile quirked his lips as he took a small sip of his tea. When he lowered his cup again, the smile was gone but he was still obviously pleased.

"I may not have understood before," he said to them quietly. "But I certainly do now."

Fenrir gave a small grunt and only to Harry was it clear that the man was slightly embarrassed. "Good," the Alpha huffed.

The teenager couldn't stop the beaming smile that spread across his face then. This was easily the best day of his life.

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It was one of those moments of pure comfort and relaxation that Harry realised he had previously taken for granted. Laying on Fenrir's chest as he was at that moment, however, the teenager knew he would never take such a thing for granted again. He had come so very close to losing it and now that he had it back, he swore silently to himself that he would always appreciate it.

Smiling lightly to himself, the boy pressed a soft kiss onto his Alpha's bare chest and he got a pleased, though sleepy, rumble in reply. That only made Harry's smile brighter and he snuggled against Fenrir, earning himself a small squeeze from the arm slung over his waist. He was so very happy at that moment and he would've said so if not for the fact he knew that Fenrir would've either just grunted in reply or made some sort of snarky comment. Besides, Harry was sure that his Alpha knew just how happy he was, just like he knew that the man was happy as well.

Unfortunately, that moment of complete happiness was abruptly ruined by a the second series of sharp knocking at the portrait entrance that day. Fenrir growled and even Harry gave a small groan at the sound. The teenager went to roll off his lover but was stopped when the arms around him tightened and kept him in place.

"Fuck off, Snape!" Fenrir yelled, not expecting it to be anyone else on the other side of the door and assuming it would simlpy be a repeat of the Potions Master's previous visit.

"It's Remus and Sirius," Remus' voice answered.

"All right, then you two fuck off."

"No!" Sirius' voice yelled in reply. "I'll stand out here all day if I have to!"

Harry sighed and shook his head lightly. "You know he will." He told his mate lightly. "And he'll be loud about it too."

"Sodding in-laws." Fenrir grumbled as he carefully sat himself and his younger lover up. "All right, let 'em in, let's get this over with."

Harry nodded and pecked a kiss to the man's cheek, perhaps in an apology or perhaps in thanks. The teenager then slid from Fenrir's lap and made his way over to the portrait entrance. He pulled it open and stepped aside, allowing both Sirius and Remus to enter. While the black haired man looked very serious indeed, Remus appeared more uncomfortable and reluctant than anything, as though he was dreading what was about to happen.

"Why have you come poking your nose around here?" Fenrir groaned irritably, taking the initiative to speak first in the hope that it would wrap things up more quickly.

"Since you seem intent on hanging around, I want a word with you Greyback." Sirius said very seriously.

The werewolf rolled his eyes. "Then say what you have to say and then go."

Sirius's hard stare turned intense then, and it was obvious he was very carefully scrutinsing his godson's lover. Harry could only sigh and hope for the best as he summoned a house-elf to request yet more tea.

After a few lingering moments, just as the house-elf returned with tea, Sirius finally got to the point of his and Remus's visit. "Why are you still here?" He questioned suspiciously.

Fenrir felt a thread of his patience snap and he returned the wizard's glare. "Because your godson's still virgin tight." He muttered.

While Sirius was obviously enraged by that, Remus merely looked surprised. Harry, on the other hand, gave a long-suffering snort as he began to pour the tea.

"Doesn't he say the loveliest things?" The teenager grunted.

"I'm just giving Black what he wants to hear." Fenrir justified easily.

"You think I want to hear how you've turned my godson into your own personal whore!" Sirius shouted angrily, only remaining seated because of Remus's hand on his shoulder.

"You want to hear anything that'll justify your continuing hatred for me." The Alpha said simply, not sounding the least bit bothered that he was hated by Sirius. "The fact is, you don't want to like me, Black. You want to keep seeing me as a big bad wolf who managed to somehow seduce and steal away your innocent little godson so he can be molested on a regular basis. You don't want to believe I make him happy, you don't want to believe I take good care of him, because then you wouldn't have a reason to hate me and you wouldn't have a reason to keep insisting he's better off without me."

There was a lingering silence then as Sirius was allowed to take all of what had been said in. Harry noticed that Remus, to the man's credit, didn't appear to be at all surprised by what he had just heard. Perhaps he had already figured out that Fenrir's feelings were genuine and had accepted them. That might explain why he had looked so awkward when entering; he knew what Sirius was going to ask and say and he knew none of it was going to be true.

Sirius continued to keep silent, his expression turning strange. He looked somewhat bewildered, as though he wanted to keep denying what Fenrir was telling him, but he couldn't figure out a way to argue against it. Fenrir was right after all; Sirius didn't want to accept his godson's relationship and at that moment he was trying desperately to think of a reason not to.

Harry chose that moment to speak clear and straight over just how he felt about Fenrir. It was something he hadn't ever really done before and perhaps that was part of the problem. He had disputed the things Sirius had said and his godfather had seen how much he had mourned the Alpha during the time of petrification, by Harry had never come right out and said the truth, had never made it concrete in his godfather's mind that he was happy.

"Sirius," he began gently, coming to kneel in front of the man, forcing him to look at no one other than the teenager. "Long before I even knew you existed, Fenrir was there, taking care of me. Ever since I was ten, he's been the one who's always been with me, protecting me from danger, helping me when I need it, supporting me when I have to make my own decisions. I love him more than anything and he makes me so happy. Surely that's all you want for me."

Sirius shook his head then as he closed his eyes and brought his hands up to cover his face. "You deserve so much better than him." He murmured, sounding heartbroken.

"Fenrir's said that to me in the past." Harry revealed with a small smile. "But I don't agree because I don't think there's anyone better than Fenrir out there."

"But you don't know him, Harry," Sirius tried to protest, moving his hands to seize his godson's tightly. "He's a violent killer! The things he does to children..."

"Are in the past," the teenager interrupted gently. "And even if they weren't, I don't think they'd stop me loving him."

Sirius seemed incredibly distressed by that and he quickly pulled his godson into his arms, holding him in a tight embrace. "What has he done to you?" He whispered heartbrokenly. "What has he done?"

"Black," Fenrir spoke up again then, a very serious expression on his face. "Don't make the pup choose, you wouldn't like the out-come."

"What makes you think he'd choose you?" Sirius asked, not sounding angry but rather resigned, as though he too knew who Harry would choose but was trying his best to remain in denial.

"If you'd listened to a word he just said, you wouldn't need to ask that question."

Sirius obviously knew that was the truth and he had obviously heard what Harry had said to him. He gave a defeated sigh and buried his face against his godson's neck. No one spoke, but everyone knew; Sirius would no longer put up such an active defiance of Fenrir and Harry's relationship.

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It was all too soon for both Fenrir and Harry that the full moon of March arrived and they had to be separated once again. Having become used to saying goodbye for three days, Harry had suddenly found it a very hard thing to do. He had held onto his Alpha tightly and had refused to let go for the longest time until he had been made to let go by Fenrir. Even the man had been reluctant to do that though so at least Harry was assured his feelings about the situation were not one-sided.

At least the teenager had something to take his mind off of the situation, however. He had decided to attempt research on the subject of the Horcruxes. When late afternoon of the first day had arrived, most of the day having been spent in the library, Harry had discovered exactly what methods were available to destroy Horcruxes. The accounts were hardly detailed but it was useful if only because he didn't completely trust Dumbledore and so finding out what was going on for himself, even if it was only vaguely, was a huge reassurance.

Unfortunately, there seemed to be no other information other than what he had found and that had been in a single book. Perhaps it was because it was dark magic, maybe books on such a subject weren't freely available to the general student population. Severus had told him something about a restricted section, however, so perhaps he would ask his friend to allow him access to that...

"Hello Harry," the voice of Draco greeted from behind moments before the Malfoy sat himself in the seat beside Harry.

The dark haired teenager turned and offered the boy a smile but nothing else.

"How comes you're in here?" The blond asked curiously.

"Full moon."

"Ah." Was the only reply to that; Draco's experiences with the full moon had hardly been wonderful after all.

A moment of easy quiet fell over them then before Draco reached over to snag the book Harry had found the Horcrux information in. He turned it over (being careful not to lose the page) to look at the title and his eyes widened in surprise upon finding it. He then turned back to the open pages and his eyes briefly scanned the caligraphy inside.

"You found a book with information on the Horcruxes in the general library?" Draco asked curiously.

"It's not much and it doesn't tell you how to make them or anything." Harry pointed out.

"Still, this is almost the definition of dark magic," the blond murmured. "Would've thought it would be in the restricted section." He paused then and glanced over the book again before turning his head back to look at Harry. "Will Professor Snape be able to get you into the restricted section?"

"That's what I'm hoping."

"Is there anyway that I can help?"

Harry frowned lightly at that offer. "How to you think you can help exactly?"

"My father is a Death Eater." Draco reminded in a pointed whisper. "All I have to do is start to show an interest in their activities and he'll start telling me things. He's always wanted me to take after him and if this hasn't ended by the time I turn sixteen then I can join and become a spy."

Harry's mind boggled slightly at just how fast Draco's mind seemed to work. One minute he was talking about the present, the next he was talking about months from that moment. If Harry had anything to do with it, Voldemort would be dead before the summer began let alone by the time Draco's birthday rolled around. He didn't want the life of a spy for his friend. Such a life had almost killed Severus and it would break his heart to see the same thing happen to Draco. And, if Harry was honest, he was rather surprised by the brave offer; it seemed rather out of character for the Malfoy who, although wasn't a coward, wasn't the most couragous of boys.

"Why are you so eager to put yourself in so much danger?" Harry asked gently, almost sadly.

The look on Draco's face was intensely serious as he spoke his reply. "I'd do anything for you."

The dark haired boy shook his head. "I can't ask you to do such a thing." He insisted.

"You're not asking, I offered."

"Sev would kill me."

"I'll take full responsibility; there's nothing he can do to me, this doesn't involve my school life."

Harry sighed and took off his glasses to pinch the bridge of his nose. Draco apparently had an answer to everything and it was slightly annoying, not to mention worrying. True, involving Draco might allow them access to valuable information but at what price? Harry didn't want his friend exposed to such danger. But simply seeing the expression on the blond boy's face, Harry knew that even if he said no, Draco was going to carry out his plan regardless of whether or not anyone had agreed it was a good idea.

Sighing again, the dark haired teenager gave a reluctant nod. "All right, fine, try and see if you can find out anything but I don't want you taking any stupid risks. And if you die, so help me..."

The treat was interrupted by Draco suddenly dipping in to press a kiss to Harry's cheek. "You won't regret it." He promised before standing and leaving the library.

Harry frowned after him as he rubbed his kissed cheek; he'd have to have a word with Draco in the future about his over-familiarity.

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Fenrir was undeniably happy the first morning after the end of the full moon. He was finally able to be beside his pup once again and his pace reflected that; quick and eager. Upon reaching his and Harry's rooms, he was momentarily miffed upon finding no eager Harry waiting for his arrival. He frowned lightly but didn't allow it to ruin his mood completely. Instead, he headed over to investigate the most likely location of his pup; the bedroom.

Nudging open the door slightly, Fenrir peered into the darkness and was satisfied to see a bump in the middle of their bed and a tuft of dark hair poking just out of the top of the duvet, resting on the pillow. The Alpha's frown turned into a smirk as he silently guided the door shut and then made his way over to the bed. When he was right beside it, he leaned over the lump under the duvet, caging it with his arms and body, and leaned down low.

"Still in bed, Pup?" Fenrir leered with a wide grin. "Waiting for me?"

When no answer came from Harry, however, Fenrir's grin turned back into a frown. Leaning over the huddled form in the bed, he pulled back the duvet a little to reveal the boy underneath. Immediately, he noticed something was wrong from the fact Harry was breathing through his mouth and had been for long enough to dry out his lips and cause the bottom one to crack slightly. Then, the heat he felt radiating from the teenager was rather alarming as well. A spike of anxiety shooting through the Alpha, he quickly grabbed his young mate's shoulder and gave him a sharp jolt of a shake.

An absolutely pitiful moan escaped Harry as the shake woke him up. He curled into himself a little and his mouth closed as he tried to swallow the dryness in his mouth. Whether he was successful or not was unclear but his eyes opened blearily and he spoke in a rough and weakened voice: "Fenrir? I feel awful."

The Alpha gave a furious snarl and turned to face the room. "Oi, house-elf!" He yelled into the silence.

Not a second later, one of the timid house-elves of Hogwarts popped into the room, visibly trembling but still willing to serve. "How can Binky be serving you, sir?"

"Go and get Snape immediately, tell him to come to this room and use the emergency password to get in." Fenrir ordered harshly.

The instruction had barely finished before the frightened house-elf vanished again.

"Fenrir?" Harry's weak voice came again then.

"Shh, Pup, I'm here," the man murmured in a surprisingly gentle voice.

"I'm scared, Fenrir," the teenager admitted quietly. "What's happening to my body?"

"It's all right Pup," Fenrir soothed as he stroked Harry's fringe back and pressed a kiss to his fevered brow. "I'm gonna look after you, I'll make you better."

Whether or not Harry was reassured by that was hard to tell. The boy fell silent however and his head lulled to the side slightly. His eyes remained open, though heavy-lidded, so Fenrir was reassured that his mate hadn't slipped into unconsciousness or anything of the sort. The quiet remained for long minutes until the sound of their portrait entrance opening and then shutting reached them both.

"Finally." Fenrir growled angrily as he moved over to the bedroom door, yanking it open and watching Severus make his way quickly through the living room. "Took your fucking time!"

"I came straight here," the professor defended with a slight glare. "What's happened anyway?"

"The pup's ill." Was all the Alpha said as he stepped aside to allow the other man entrance into the room.

Severus frowned lightly at that and entered the bedroom, immediately going over to the bed and sitting on its edge, just beside its ill occupant. The first thing he did was touch the teenager's forehead and, apparently, the professor's hand was rather cold as Harry gave a small moan of relief and turned his head against the palm.

"Harry?"

"Sev?" Harry mumbled hoarsely, his heavy eyes trying and failing to blink awake.

"Can you tell me what's wrong?" The professor asked gently as he began to pull down the duvet.

However, Harry gave a small noise of protest and made a feeble attempt to grab at the receeding cover. "Don't, feet're cold," he protested.

"How can he be cold when he's fucking burning up?" Fenrir demanded angrily, as though the entire situation was someone's fault.

Severus ignored the question and instead continued to focus on the sick boy. "How does your head feel?"

"Heavy," Harry grunted. "And sore. Like everywhere else. Moving hurts."

"Is it like an ache?"

"Yeah."

Severus nodded before he stood up from the bed. "Don't worry, I can get you something to soothe your aches. Just close your eyes again and relax for now, I'll be back soon." He then began to head out of the bedroom, though he beckoned Fenrir to follow him as he did so.

"Thank you Sev'rus," Harry called after them before he did as told and fell silent.

Once both adults were out of the bedroom, Severus shut the door behind them and almost instantly Fenrir was right in his face and demanding answers.

"What the fuck is wrong with him?"

"Muggle flu." Severus revealed simply, not sounding the least bit worried about it. "It doesn't seem to be too bad but I imagine it must feel quite dibilitating to someone who hasn't suffered from it before. I have some potions in store that will alleviate his symptoms..."

"You're not going to cure him!" Fenrir practically roared.

"Viruses such as colds and flu can't be cured; there are too many different straines and they adapt too quickly."

"Then what bloody use is any of it!"

Severus looked at the larger man in something akin to bewilderment. "Why are you getting so aggitated?"

"Because my pup's laying in there suffering and there's not a damn thing I can do about it!"

"It's only the flu." The professor reminded.

Fenrir gave a loud growl of frustration as he ran his fingers through his hair. "It's not just the fucking flu! It's what the flu proves!" He paused then to set a hard look onto the other man. "This is how it's gonna be from now, isn't it? The pup forever vulnerable to flus and viruses. He's not going to be able to go back to living in the wild again and, fuck, it's not just because of the risk of exposure. How the hell is he going to protect himself now? Before, I at least had the assurance that he could make a run from anything that got too dangerous. What has he got now? The pup's defenseless! How the fuck am I ever going to feel all right to leave him on his own again?"

Severus couldn't help but be silently amused by the larger man's worried rantings. For someone as arrogant and self-assured as Fenrir, he obviously had some genuine fears about Harry's safety and his own ability to continue to keep the boy safe and healthy. But to the Potions Master, they were unfounded fears and he proceeded to explain as much to the Alpha.

"Harry's lycanthropy never made him invincible. Yes, it increased his agility and his immune system but otherwise he gained no advantage. Making an educated guess, I would assume that the reason Harry is so ill now is simply because his immune system is not used to working without the lycanthropy. However, I believe it will soon get used to functioning on his own and will work better for it.

"As for returning to your wild lives..." Severus paused then, sighing lightly as he realised he could offer nothing positive to say. "Well, perhaps a compromise can be reached?" He ended up suggesting in the end.

Fenrir gave an annoyed growl then and turned his head to look at the closed door to the bedroom. "I can't even think about that when the pup's ill like he is.

"Then for now just focus on Harry," Severus advised. "And wait to see what happens in the future."

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Two days later and Harry was still bed-ridden though was able to sit up and was showing an interest in food again having refused to eat anything for the first day and a half. He spent most of the time sleeping and when he wasn't sleeping he was simply slumped against his Alpha who never, not for more than a moment, left his side. Severus had come and gone several times, bringing potions to relieve the symptoms and bringing himself for company. Sirius and Remus had also been to see him (having been made aware of Harry's illness by Severus) which had irritated Fenrir but he had simply lingered in the living room during the duration of their visit.

It was the night of the second day when the heart-warming sight of Harry being fed soup by Fenrir could be seen in their bedroom. The bowl looked absolutely tiny resting on the Alpha's massive thigh yet the teenager was struggling to finish its contents.

"No more," Harry said after he had swallowed one last mouthful.

"Sure? Only a little bit left." Fenrir revealed.

The teenager simply shook his head.

The Alpha silently put the bowl to the side, knowing that when it had grown cold enough a house-elf would come and take it away. With that done, the man turned himself around and brought his legs up to lay on the bed while he slung an arm around his mate's shoulders and pulled the small form close to his side. Harry immediately snuggled against him, his eyes closing tiredly and a hand coming to rest affectionately on the man's bare abdomen.

After a moment of restful silence in which Fenrir assumed his boy had fallen asleep, Harry suddenly spoke: "What do you want Fenrir?" He murmured sounding half asleep.

"What d'ya mean, Pup?"

"What do you want?" The teenager repeated, not really answering the question posed to him (and it was then that Fenrir assumed the boy was perhaps a little delirious). "I want a small house in the middle of no where," he went on to murmur. "Just two rooms, a bedroom and a kitchen, and then the whole of the British countryside as our garden. In the summer, we could spend every day and night outside, just us and no one else. And then in the winter, we'd have the house to shelter in but we could still be outside most of the time. That's what I want, I want a life like that."

"Right little house-wife you've turned out to be," Fenrir chuckled, though not unkindly as he seemed quite taken with the idea. "Maybe it'll happen someday."

"Maybe," Harry agreed, now sounding as though he was seconds away from falling asleep. "But I guess I don't mind where I am, long as you're there with me."

Fenrir's smirk faded to a serious though tender expression then. His gaze dropped to the top of the head of black hair before he leaned down to press a kiss to the strands. "Go to sleep, Pup."

The words went unheard, however, as Harry was already asleep.