The Lambs

Hey Pillan (AFF) – no I am not Swedish lol :P BWO are the new big thing in Ireland; I can’t find a DJ that doesn’t think BWO are cool lol. Thanks for reviewing; and to everyone else of course.

Hey BOOMrobotdog (FFNet) – I lied. They’ll get together sooner than I thought. All I’m saying on here, lol, because I don’t want to give it away to anyone else.

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Words: 3,391
Chapter 5
Something Strange About Harry
August 5th 1998.

Four days past. Harry continued to run a fever. For Harry the past few days were all remarkably similar. He woke up in the morning, rubbed his eyes repeatedly because even with his glasses on his vision was terrifyingly blurry. Then headed to breakfast, avoided eye contact with Sirius and his parents and drank four pints of water in ten minutes, before running outside to bath in the very cold lake inside Hogwarts. Sometimes, he was almost certain the water was evaporating, very slowly, where his skin touched the moisture. But he ignored that ridiculous idea. After all, Harry mused, the human body couldn’t withstand a temperature above boiling point!

After his bath, Harry would go back to breakfast, order three rare stakes (he would have eaten them raw but the first time he did that his mother actually threw up) and wolfed them down in minutes. His parents would watch wide-eyes and Sirius would cheer him on, acting as if Harry was playing some kind of game, or dare or prank. When he had eaten, Harry was almost always overwhelmed by the desire to run. He didn’t want to run anywhere in particular, but it was as if he had all of this energy stored up and going to waste and he had to let it out somehow. When he had mentioned it to Draco three days ago, the blond had frowned and offered to exercise with him. Exercise. Not run.

Harry had out stripped Draco in two minutes and did twenty-three more laps of Hogwarts than his friend. Draco concluded Harry could run as fast as the horses they owned, if not faster, but he certainly wasn’t fast enough to outrace a car! He wasn’t panting when he had finished, even though Draco was practically crawling after doing five laps, and apart from his usual fever, he hadn’t broken a sweat. Though, that might be in part to the fact that Draco didn’t feel the need to exercise often.

Harry was going to mention all the weird stuff to his mother, after all Lily was a Healer, but Draco told him not to. Draco told him it would pass. Draco told him it was just a phase. Harry trusted Draco explicitly.

Of course, though, Draco knew about werewolves, and he knew what was happening to Harry. But he was more afraid for his friend than he was afraid of Harry. It was with those thoughts in mind that he tried his hardest to keep anyone from finding out, and to keep Harry from telling.

There was one other Healer inside of Hogwarts apart from Harry’s mother. His name was Severus Snape. Draco was that man’s godson, and Draco would have trusted Severus with his life.

It was on the fourth day, after spending the night at Godric’s Hollow and spending the morning watching Harry eat a rack of ribs practically raw, that Draco finally spoke to Severus.

The man lived with the Malfoy’s at their manor, but he had his own suit of rooms, and took his meals separately. Lucius and Severus had been friends for years, and at times both wondered what it would have been like for their ancestors who had followed Lord Voldemort. Neither particularly minded werewolves, though they knew better than to say so where any of the others could hear them. Years ago, Remus had almost killed Severus. But the dark haired man knew that was not entirely Remus’ fault. In fact it had been Sirius’ fault, and since that day Severus stopped speaking to everyone who had anything to do with Sirius Black – including Lily, whom Severus loved very much.

“Severus?” Draco called quietly, as he pushed open the door.

The Elemental in question was a Healer, not a mage. That meant he couldn’t use the power of the elements the way Draco or Harry could. He used them like Lily did, harnessing them into his hands so that when he touched someone the power of the elements combined, the magic, would heal rather than cause injury. Severus spent most of his time harnessing that power into special potions and salves; that way he didn’t actually have to touch anyone to heal them.

“In here.” The voice was deep, velvety, but not particularly inviting. It was a bit like smelling dark chocolate, when you had spent years eating only white. Not welcome, but something about the voice bid you to come to his regardless.

Draco went to him. The blond haired teen grinned widely, rushing forward to catch the taller man in a quick hug. Pale arms tightened behind the boy’s back for a second before Severus pushed him away. “Hey, Sev. How have you been?”

“Fine, until five point three seconds ago whence this miscreant decided to intrude on me during a very volatile stage of my potion.”

“Now, who would have done a thing like that?” Draco asked with a grin.

Severus allowed one eyebrow to climb a little higher on his forehead, before he went back to stirring whatever concoction was in the cauldron to his left. He stirred counter clockwise three times, and then he laid down the wooden rod. “What is it you require Draco. Not that I’m not pleased to see you, but you haven’t been around as much of late.”

“Harry isn’t feeling well.” Draco said, avoiding Severus’ eyes. “Severus, I need help, please?” His voice seemed to break on the last word. Severus looked at him with a frown, and the frown deepened as he caught the spark of panic in Draco’s eyes when the boy turned back to face him.

“If you are referring to Potter becoming a werewolf, then yes, you need help.” Severus said acerbically. “Or, rather, Potter needs help.”

Draco’s mouth dropped open and he gaped unattractively for a moment. He snapped his mouth shut and sighed. “How did you know?” Severus nodded towards the one small window in the room. Draco walked to it and lifted the blind. He caught sight of Harry, rushing past in nothing but a pair of shorts. Harry didn’t look as if he was exerting any effort at all.

“Wait.” Severus suggested and Draco did. Five minutes later, Harry ran past again, looking as he did the last time. He looked as if he had been running for minutes, three or four, when in fact Draco was sure he’d probably have been out there since breakfast finished half an hour ago.

“Oh. You see him a lot, then?” He tried to sound casual. He desperately hoped Severus was the only one who noticed Harry. If it were any one else, any one that might hurt Harry, Draco knew he’d have to get his friend out of Hogwarts. Soon.

“I do.” Severus admitted easily enough. “Though I can’t help him. You realize that there is no cure for the virus, don’t you?”

“I know. I just thought maybe you could slow the change, or hide the symptoms?” Draco’s hands were clasped in front of him, as if he were praying for a miracle. And maybe he was.

Severus merely shook his head. He picked up the wooden rod and began to stir his potion again. Draco sniffled slightly, took that as a dismissal and walked out of the door. His hand was on the doorknob, pulling the door closed behind him when Severus spoke again. “Go to Bill Weasley. He’ll be of more help than I can ever be.”

“Thank you.”

Draco was already outside of The Burrow before he realized that he hated the Weasley family, and that the Weasley family hated his family. How on earth was he meant to be alone with the eldest child?

He decided to study the house while he thought. It had three floors, and each one seemed to have been added on at a later date. The bricks didn’t really match the colour of the floor below it, and the windows were positioned differently. It seemed to be leaning sideways as well, and Draco took a small step backwards, on the off chance that the building slid off its foundations and onto him. It was small, and pokey looking compared to the grandeur of Malfoy Manor. And it didn’t even have the quaint charm of the Longbottom’s cottage (though that was no longer inhabited, since the Longbottoms were dead and their son was a human). Of course it was nothing compared to Godric’s Hollow, the castle itself. Draco let out a snort. Harry had sometimes described The Burrow as homely, but Draco couldn’t see how!

Harry was friends with Fred and George Weasley, and if they went anywhere they always invited Draco too – they were decent like that. The elder Weasleys, Molly and Arthur, would give Draco suspicious looks if he was around them for an extended period of time, especially when Harry was out of the room. Draco didn’t want to think about what they’d do when they realized Harry wasn’t even here this time. Harry hadn’t been to see them since Narcissa had snuck the boys out of Hogwarts for Harry’s 18th.

The Weasleys probably thought that Draco had Harry tied up in his dungeon or something.

The blond snorted.

His dilemma was solved, ultimately, when Bill Weasley walked out of the low brown doors and grinned at him. “You probably want to have this conversation in private.” Bill’s voice was husky, and Draco blushed at the sound of it (even though he liked girls and Mione in particular).

“Oh my god,” Draco said when he processed Bill’s words. “Does everyone know about Harry?”

Bill started to lead the way behind his home towards a small patch of heavily wooded land. The trees would hide them and the leaves would muffle the sound. And anyway, Bill’s element would come in handy. With a wave of his wand the wind picked up and the leaves started to rustle of their own will, making noises that sounded entirely natural. Bill could control the wind and the earth, he’d inherited each talent from one parents each.

“What about Harry?” Bill asked in a confused voice. “I thought you were going to ask me out?” Draco went bright red and started to stutter. Bill just laughed. “Yeah I know about Harry. I’ve seen it before. Healer Snape actually warned me that if you ever asked for help he was sending you straight to me. We thought you’d have held out a bit longer though.”

“Someone will notice soon, and hurt him. He doesn’t realize what’s happening. He thinks it’s all great fun!” Draco gave a humourless laugh and ran a hand over his face. “He’s actually enjoying it. Except for yesterday evening when he got dizzy and collapsed.”

“It isn’t as bad as King James makes it out to be. He can’t help but feel that way; it was how he was taught. But I think it’s a little different to how they think it is. Harry hasn’t attacked anyone yet.”

“Yet.” Draco sneered.

“Yet, because he’ll lose control. Someone will need to help him keep control. If Remus Lupin was still around then it would be fine, but James’ prejudices pushed him away.” Draco’s mouth made an ‘o’ shape. He knew who Remus was, his father had told him everything he needed to know to protect himself and Harry – much more than James had deemed fit to tell him. “There really is only one option left for Harry now.”

“Which is?” Draco asked eagerly. Anything to help his friend.

Bill ignored his question. His eyes glazed over like he was tearing up but trying to fight them back, or he could have just been lost in memories. “I was eleven when it happened you know. It would have been about the time they sent Prince Harry to live with his human relatives.”

“The Dursleys?” Draco questioned in obvious disinterest. He had no time to be thinking about humans, when he had to think about his best friend!

“Yes, them. He was nine at the time, two years younger than me. He was nine when Harry first left and ten when Harry came back. That’s how I remember it, because of Charlie’s age. Sometimes I make him a birthday card, but I have to burn it afterwards because my parents wouldn’t be pleased if they saw it.”

“He’s a werewolf.” Draco said in sudden understanding.

“Yeah. He’s twenty-six now.” Bill smiled faintly. “Younger than Harry was when he turned, and a lot older than the Prince now.” Draco made a non-committal humming noise. “He started shaking one night. We shared a bed, you see, because there aren’t that many rooms in The Burrow. It’s not that much worse now, of course, since only Ginny was an Elemental and then Charlie was gone as well. I was asleep and he just suddenly started to shake and cry. And when I touched him, I thought he was on fire. He shouldn’t have been because his element is Earth, not Fire. But he was so hot Draco and he was so scared.”

“He knew what was happening, didn’t he?”

“Harry’s lucky in that respect.” Bill said, nodding. “He was bitten, four nights before. There was a scuffle outside of the gates and he went outside and got bitten. That’s why my parents aren’t fond of your father. He was supposed to be keeping the children inside, but I don’t blame him. He was left alone with so many children, how could he have been expected to keep them all safe?”

“Four days?” Draco’s eyes narrowed as if he thought Bill was lying. “It happened to Harry over night. When will Harry turn completely?”

“On the first full moon. Harry is lucky. He has almost two weeks to get used to everything before he changes properly. And yes, the younger you are, the longer it takes to begin affecting you. Not to mention, saliva is the slowest way to change someone. Biting them takes a bit of time, whereas if you mix blood through an open wound with their own, it’s a little faster and-”

“-Trading semen is the quickest way, right?” Draco bit out. Bill nodded. “I told him to stay away! I told Harry to stay away!”

“You knew it would happen eventually. It isn’t fair to keep a creature’s mate away. If that wolf was a Veela, they’d have died by now.”

“Veela don’t kill people.” Draco argued, spitefully.

Bill smiled again. “Charlie has never killed a person either. That’s why I’ll be going.”

“Going where?” Draco’s eyes widened again and his voice rose in pitch.

“To Greyback. I’ll bring Harry to him, because I know Charlie won’t attack me, and then Harry will have the help he needs and he might find his mate as well.” Bill rubbed his chin lightly. “What was the name of the wolf Harry had sex with?”

“Fenrir,” Draco whispered. He couldn’t find it in himself to be angry. He was too afraid. Afraid for Harry and afraid of losing Harry, afraid that he’d never see Harry again and that King James would kill Harry, or Greyback would kill Harry.

“Hmm.” Bill said as he took Draco’s arm and led him out of the trees. “F. Fenrir, also the name of the Alpha.”

“It looked a bit like him, but it was dark. I only recognized the amber eyes, not the face, sorry. Do you think it might have been Harry’s mate? The Alpha?”

“Well, Greyback has been the one trying to break into Hogwarts all of these years, so I assume he’s doing it for himself and not another, lesser wolf.”

They walked silently around The Burrow. When they were at the front of the house, Draco noticed one of the curtains flutter down and he smirked as he caught the flash of red hiding at the window.

“Ginny.” Bill said. “She’s hoping Harry would be with you.”

“She still has a crush on him?” Ginny had fancied herself in love with the Prince since she was eleven, and being only a year older than her, Harry found he wasn’t interested in anyone yet. And then, he found he was interested in boys only. No one had worked up the nerve to tell Ginny yet.

“Yeah, it’s embarrassing actually. Harry’ll be lucky to get away before mum decides to broach the subject of a marriage contract with the Queen.”

“When does he have to leave?” Draco swallowed around the lump that got caught in his throat.

“Tomorrow night. I’ll give you time to explain to him, and say goodbye. You know you can’t come right?”

Draco nodded his head. He kept his face down, and his eyes on the floor. He didn’t even say goodbye as he turned and walked back to his own home. He was afraid that if he would try to speak he’d start to cry and never be able to stop. And Malfoy’s didn’t cry.

XXX

August 5th 1998. Same time.

Ginny watched the blond through the window as he walked away. She smirked slightly at seeing him alone. For a while she had been rather worried that Harry was with Draco, for they were always together. Though Draco had been seen with some of the wealthier female Elementals as well.

If Harry wasn’t there, Ginny decided, he must have been at home thinking about her.

She knew it was only a matter of time before he proposed or his mother asked her mother about marriage. He always smiled at her when he came over, always. And he was kind to her and said hello, even though her own brothers some times forgot about her.

But Harry was just a nice person, and he hadn’t meant anything by it other than showing kindness to his friends’ sibling. Harry was close to the Weasley Twins. Surprisingly, Bill had always kept his distance. He probably knew Harry would end up a werewolf, and leave, eventually.

Ginny grinned again, her hand pressed against her chest as he heart started to pound at the thought of Harry. Bill walked back inside, noticed Ginny, who looked ready to swoon, and chuckled dryly. She was so far off base; he couldn’t help but pity her even as he laughed at her.

XXX

August 6th 1998.

When Harry woke up that morning, it was different to every other morning during the last week. This time, Draco woke him up and held out a pint of water. “Don’t go running today.” The blond pleaded. Even though there was something inside of Harry screaming at him to run, to burn off his energy, to get out, he ignored it.

“Ok, promise.” He grinned up at his friend. Draco breathed out a sigh of relief and collapsed onto the bed, on top of Harry. The brunette laughed and shoved at Draco, knocking the blond clean across the room. “Oh SHIT! I am so sorry. Shit, wow I’m strong! Huh, wow. Are you ok?” He got up, completely naked and went to check on the blond.

“Fine, put some clothes on.”

“I’m too hot.” Harry whined as he grabbed a pair of trousers anyway.

“You have too big an ego, Potter,” Draco teased and rubbed his shoulder where he had hit the wall. “I’m fine.” Harry frowned and tilted his head sideways in thought.

“What’s the matter? You have the ‘something’s-the-matter’ face on. Spill it, or get me to breakfast.” Draco put his hands on Harry’s shoulders and he pushed down. Harry didn’t budge for a second, until he realized what Draco wanted and allowed himself to sit back on the bed.

“I need to tell you something. And you might hate it and me and a whole load of other people, or you might like it and understand where we were coming from. Now,” Harry gave him an impatient look, “how much do you know about Werewolves?”

Harry blinked owlishly at him and Draco gave himself a mental high five. Of course, Harry was too clever to not notice a thing. He must have figured out something about the existence of Werewolves.

“That they don’t exist?” He blinked again, eyes wide and innocent.

Or not, Draco thought rubbing his face. This conversation would likely be the end of him, he decided, if Harry doesn’t kill me instead.

XXX

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Also, yeah, the music choices from the last chapter. Remember, Hogwarts is a village where the Elementals live. They live in the 19th century still; horse, carts, etc. cause nothing Muggle works around magic. The towns, like Hogsmeade, and Little Whinging, etc, are like the Muggle world compared to the Wizarding World. It’s all normal, normal century and normal clothes and music. The wizards are, once again, backwards! Does that make sense?

Please leave another review. I want to reach 100 before I post the next chapter, so you all know.