The Pack is a story I have had on the brain for a long time. I won't do continous A/Ns, but I should credit Anne, who wrote Living with Danger as she was an inspiration for this story. Also need to credit Lady Rowling who, of course owns Harry Potter. Hugs to all.
Chapter One: Finding Harry; where Remus Lupin rediscovers an old Friend.
"No! I will not do it!"
"But you have to. It is the only way to be sure that it works." The second man replied. They were standing outside of an unassuming neighborhood. Both were hidden by shadow and despite the rather loud conversation, it seemed as if neither could be heard by those in the homes around them.
"Do you realize just how dangerous that is? I could seriously hurt someone, or worse. I would be loose in a neighborhood Severus!" The shorter man was extremely excitable at this point. He seemed to tower over the taller man and his eyes were almost glowing amber in the dark.
"Yes, I realize that. But you are the one who agreed to try this out. If this potion works, well, do I really need to remind you just how important this is? I would not release you into public, little lone a neighborhood, if I didn't think that we were at this stage of testing. If I had even one inkling that something would or could go wrong, I wouldn't do this. Now, tere is no time for arguing. It is almost moon rise. We need to get going."
The first man looked wary, however he followed the tall, dark haired man further into the shadows of the small wood near the neighborhood. "Alright Severus, hand over the flask. But if this goes bad…"
It will not go bad, Remus! We have been over this. We have been testing it for months now. We have gone over every potential problem. I have checked the calculations, formula, and everything. The tirals have all turned out correctly. Now, just drink it! Or are you a Hufflepuff?"
At that challenge Remus yanked the potion out of Severus' hand and downed it in one gulp. He shivered and pulled a face. "I swear you hate me. Either that or you think it is a funny prank to pee in the potion."
"Well where do you think I got the acidic base?"
At the death glare worthy of a rabid dog, Severus added, "I am just kidding, I am kidding! I swear I did not pee in it!"
Remus growled, but relented. "A minute to moon rise. You had better be ready. Maybe next time we could try to make something for the pain. See you in the morning….Sev!" He began to change before the dark haired man could respond. He fell to the ground in a ball and screamed. As his body seemed to contort into ways it should not be able to and his clothes seemed to disappear, his screams turned into painful howls. His hair grew and covered his body. It was the same sandy color and his eyes flashed amber for a moment before swirling with blue. He looked up at his friend and whined a bit nuzzling the man's hand.
"Moony old boy, if you tell anyone about this I will kill you myself. And do not call me Sev!" He said sharply but without heat, as he scratched the werewolf behind the ears. "Now, here is the portkey if you need it. Go explore and see how you do. If at any point you feel you are about to loose control, just think about the dungeon room at Hogwarts and think 'safe room.' The wards will let you in." Severus wrapped a collar around his neck with a shiny galleon charm on it. "Good night Moony. I'll see you in the morning." He apperated away.
'Well, let's see what is going on around here.' Remus thought. ''Moony, old boy.' That is what he called me. I have not heard that in years. It reminds me of Prongs. He was the one who came up with that name for the wolf. I wish that he were still here. He and Lilly. Harry. That precious little boy. I wonder where he is and if he is happy. He smelled like warm milk and James. He probably would not still smell like the leather from James' auror robes and quidditch though.' The wolf breathed deeply as he trotted through the neighbor hood. Then he stopped dead in his tracks. 'Like warm milk and James. James. No! It can not be! James, James, James, must find my cub. I smell my cub. Leather, quidditch leather, and… .and… ..fear? Pain? Why would my cub smell like fear and pain?' Moony was trying to take over and it was taking everything in Remus' power to retain control. But he would not return to that place. He shot off at a full run towards the smell. He had to find it. He was so, so close! As he came to the front yard he cocked his head, tounge hanging out. 'Yes, this was the place. Now to see where I am. I know that we are in Surry. It was far enough away from Hogwarts and other wizarding places to be inconspicuous. Hmmmm. Privet Drive. And the house number….four. Right. Number four privet drive, Surry. But where in Surry. Damn. The sun is coming up. Just wait little cub. Moony will be back.' Remus set about marking the property in order to be able to find it again, just in case. He then howled out his encouragement to his cub and set back to the apparition point that he and Severus had set up. As he began to change again, amidst the pain, he thought about all that had happened. All in all it had been a most successful night.
Remus collapsed just outside the gates of Hogwarts. Severus walked up soon after Remus arrived and rushed to him. "We have to work on the energy point. Though, I suppose, that you won't have to apperate after each full moon." He then levitated the sleeping man into the castle.
When they arrived in the hospital wing, Poppy Pomfrey, the resident mediwitch, was waiting for them. "How did it go Severus? He seems to be fine. There are no residual scratches or injuries. He is just tired, and maybe a little achy."
"From what I can see there were no problems. However, I will not know how successful it was until he is awake enough to talk. I will be down in the labs. I have things to do today. Good day, Poppy." He turned on his heel and stalked, gracefully, away with his robes swirling behind him.
Mme. Pomfrey just shook her head after him. "After all this time, he still does not seem to realize, that I know he has a heart."
Later that day Remus woke up feeling refreshed. He said goodbye to Mme. Pomfrey and headed down to the dungeons. He knocked on the door in a very cheerful way and waited for the wards to drop before walking in.
"Well, well, are we not in a good mood. Is there any particular reason? Perhaps you could share with the class Mister Lupin." Severus said without even looking up from the cauldron that he was adding things too. The steam curled most pleasantly upward in enticing patterns.
Remus only chuckled at the man's acerbic tone. "If you are asking, yes, all went as planned last night. No one got hurt, there are no more werewolves in the country. From me at least, and I didn't get sent to the pound… .Much to your disappointment I am sure." He finished.
"One can only hope for next time." Severus added dryly. He continued to stir the potion that he was working on. Plant parts, insects, powders, and animal skins littered the workspace, all within easy reach. He reached over, measuring one of the brightly colored powders before slowly, and methodically adding it to the potion in exact two second intervals. "And before you ask, I am working on medical potions for St. Mungos at the moment. They are short on both memory potions and anti- hallucagens at the moment. Why in the world those dunderheaded teenagers would be stupid enough to try muggle drugs is beyond me. It is bad enough that the muggles do them, but the backlash on a magical core is extremely unpleasant. Now, I can not be disturbed any longer. Leave me."
Remus nodded and left without another word. He knew that the dismissal was important to Severus' concentration. Besides, he had work to do. It was one in the afternoon, and Remus had a date with a little cub. He walked across the grounds, admiring the sunshine, and for the first time in nearly a year and a half, Remus was happy. He was going to see his cub, his honorary godson, his Harry. He aperated away with a soft pop.
Arriving in Surry, just outside the little wooded area from the night before, Remus disillusioned himself. He then followed the trail that he had left for himself to number four. Remus looked in the windows to see a young woman with blonde hair and a long oval shaped. 'No! The headmaster wouldn't have! He wouldn't do that to us. Why would he leave him with Petunia….' As he was thinking, his eyes caught movement. There, sitting on the floor were two little boys. One with blonde hair who was rather stocky, and the other was small and had jet black hair. He gasped. The woman inside jerked her head in the direction of the open window. Remus instinctively ducked, then shook his head at himself. 'I'm disillusioned. Of course they can't see me. But I had better not knock on the front door. Inciting the neighborhood gossips is probably not the best way to go if I want to see Harry. Oh, how am I going to do this while seeing her again.' He walked around back and took the charm off. As he straightened his robes, he checked them for lint and other things and brushed them off. 'This will have to do. It isn't like a two and a half year old will care how I look anyway. Better get this over with. I just want to see Harry. I do not care what Petunia Evans, no Dursley, thinks. She is married now.' He sucked up his Gryffindor courage and knocked on the door. He heard some mumbling from the other side of the door and then a "Just a moment, I am coming!" before the door opened. "Hello, Petunia." He said softly.
To say she was shocked would be an understatement. She couldn't believe that he had the nerve to show up here, and at her back door of all places. She realized that her mouth was opened and quickly snapped it shut. "What are you doing here?" Petunia asked in her most polite voice.
"I came to see my Harry, Petunia. You have nothing to worry about. I just want to see my honorary godson." He replied calmly. "Can I…" He was cut off at that point by a blur of color and a sudden armful of little boy accompanied by the shout of, "MOOEYYYY!" Remus looked down into his arms to see the small boy that he loved so much. "You remember me." He whispered in awe.
"My Moey love me. I love my Moey!" Harry said up to him.
"Yes, my Harry." Remus murmured to the little boy as he stood up with him. "I love you too."
"Mooey," Harry turned innocent emerald eyes to him. "Where is Momma Lily and Daddy Pongs? Where is Pa'foot?"
Remus' eyes turned haunted and he looked to Petunia in confusion and hurt. She shrugged her shoulders as she wiped tears from her eyes. They noticed Dudley standing in confusion and trepidation at the door to the kitchen. Petunia went to pick him up as Remus stumbled through his explanation. "Harry, Lily Flower and Prongs had to go away. They, well, ummm, they…." He was breaking down now.
"They are in heaven now little one." Petunia interrupted the poor, hurting man.
Remus cleared his throat and looked down at Harry's face. He saw confusion and hurt. "Yes, Harry. They are in Heaven now. They… They died. And, Padfoot is, that is to say, he had to live elsewhere. It isn't safe for him to be around us now."
"They no love Harry anymore?" This came from Dudley who finally spoke up. He looked shocked at the idea that someone's parents couldn't love them.
"Duddikins, they do love Harry. But they had to go away to keep Harry safe. Now, why don't you to boys go play. I have to talk to Mr. Lupin now. Go on, off with you!" Petunia shooed the two little boys out to the living room. "You have some nerve Remus! Just showing up here after all this time, and to stir things up with Harry. I have been trying to keep him under the Radar. And now he will have his hopes up. Just what do you plan on doing? Taking him from here? The ministry won't look favorably on that you know. 'A werewolf kidnapping the son of James and Lily Potter.' I can see it now! How can you be here on the day after the full moon? How dangerous is that to us and to you?"
"Petunia, I found you last night by Harry's scent." He held up a hand to stop the tirade he knew was coming. "Yes, Pet, last night. Severus discovered a potion to stop the wolf from taking over and allowing me to keep my mind. I am perfectly safe on the full moon. I still change, but I am still myself. And I know that I can not take Harry. I know that full well they don't want me to have anything to do with him, seeing as I am 'dark' and 'not human' according to them. I have no intentions of kidnapping him as you put it. Now, explain to me just exactly what you meant by 'keeping him under the radar' and 'getting his hopes up?'" At this his eyes flashed dangerously. "And do not even consider lying to me, Petunia."
At this she looked defeated. She sighed and sank down into a chair looking through the door to the two little boys playing happily on the floor of the living room. One was blonde and stocky. He looked healthy and happy, if a little chubby. The other was dark and small. He looked slightly unhealthy and had a scar on his forehead. They were the perfect contrast. Petunia looked away and sighed again as she rubbed her hands over her face in a world weary gesture. "He hates him. He hated them. He screams, and yells, and has even hit him. He wants to get rid of the magic. Says it's freaky. I have been trying to keep Harry from his notice. I was able to keep him with Dudley until they out grew the cribs. Now he insists that Harry sleep in the cupboard. I have managed to hide away Lily's things and some of what Harry came with. I even have some pictures taken and stowed away safely. But, well, if he ever finds out that I now have magic too….it won't be pretty." Tears were falling from her face as she finished.
To say that Remus was shocked would be an understatement. He just gaped for a moment before he found his voice. "Petunia, what is going on? I thought you were a squib."
She laughed darkly. "I was certainly squib enough to not warrant getting into Hogwarts. I have always been able to sense magic and I do have a core. That is something that true squibs don't have. But when Dudley and Harry began their accidental magic, something just woke up inside of me. I felt warmer, more whole. I felt as if a tiny ember burst into an inferno. I feel alive now, and scared to death. If Vernon finds out, I feel for all of us. I have been able to hide Dudley's magic and even Harry's to some extent. But I think that he came to us having already shown his first bout of accidental magic. So, there is not much I can do to hide his. I have been using what little reserves that I have of magic to brew potions in the attic. I have brewed some to heal Harry's wounds and mine, as well as some to hide Dudley's magical core." She flinched at the angry look that was shot at that. "No Remus, not dull or get rid of it. I have just been masking his signature in order to hide it. I doubt even Dumbledore has been able to see or sense it. I have been trying to reserve my magical energy in order to allow it to grow as I know that it has been. But having to keep up with potions brewing for all of the wounds that Vernon has inflicted on Harry and myself is tiring." Petunia looked everywhere but at Remus. She was exhausted, he only just now noticed. She had dark circles under her eyes and was thin, too thin. However, she had no bruises on her, and neither did Harry.
"He is hitting you both then?" Remus had clasped his hands in his lap and was staring at her intently.
"Yes, he has been. But we can not leave yet Remus. It isn't safe. I want to make a go of this. I know it isn't ideal, but I do love him. At least I did. I want my marriage to work. I want to keep Harry and Dudley safe, too though. I have to keep trying."
"Okay, but if this gets bad you have to promise that you will get you and the boys out." Remus looked at Petunia with concern.
"I will. I promise." She said earnestly.
"Okay, I have a few questions for you now. Where did you get the potions books and the things that you needed to brew with. And, secondly, you have been brewing THOSE in your attic? What are you thinking woman! It is like asking for the house to be blown up!" Remus was nearly shouting.
"Well, I could hardly brew them in the kitchen could I?" Petunia rolled her eyes and said dryly. "The attic is the best I could do. I have Lily's old trunk up there. She had asked me to keep it the last time I saw her. I was able to unshrink it and look through her books. She had many notations and shortcuts in her medical books. I didn't know she was a mediwitch, by the way. I was able to sneak off to Diagon Alley on one of my shopping trips without the boys. Arabella Figg, an old lady who lives on the street, was watching them for me. I get the feeling that she is either a squib, or has magical people visiting her often. It is rather disconcerting." She looked up at Remus then.
Remus had paled. "Arabella Figg. Your neighbor is Arabella Figg! She was one of Lily's best friends back at Hogwarts. Oh Merlin. Be careful Petunia, she is probably reporting to Dumbledore. Do not let her in your house if you are brewing. She will know it in an instant. As for Lily. She was not a mediwitch. She just kept up on those potions to heal James, Sirius, and I after battles and skirmishes."
They were interrupted at that point by the boys fussing. The two boys came running crying and whining about a toy that was spinning confusedly in the air between. Remus raised a brow. "This is normal." Petunia responded exasperatedly. "They fight over a toy and try to levitate it to themselves. It then gets confused and hovers in between and neither one can reach it. Okay guys. It is nap time now." Dudley scrambled tearfully into his mother's arms. Harry on the other hand eagerly climbed into Mooney's lap and curled up into a ball. Both boys sighed contentedly as Petunia began to sing softly to them.
"Ho-ro-ro, hi-ri-ri
Sleep until dawn
Oh, hush thee, my baby,
Thy sire was a knight,
Thy mother a lady,
Both lovely and bright;
The woods and the glens,
From the towers which we see,
They all are belonging,
Dear baby, to thee.
Oh, hush thee, my baby,
Thy sire was a knight,
Oh, hush thee, my baby,
So bonnie and bright.
Ho-ro-ro, hi-ri-ri
Sleep until dawn
Oh, fear not the bugle,
Tho' loudly it blows,
It calls but the warders
That guard thy repose;
Their bows would be bended,
Their blades would be red,
Ere the step of a foeman
Draws near to thy bed.
Oh, hush thee, my baby,
Thy sire was a knight,
Oh, hush thee, my baby,
So bonnie, so bright.
Ho-ro-ro, hi-ri-ri
Sleep until dawn
Ho-ro-ro, hi-ri-ri
Sleep until dawn"
They had finally fallen asleep with contented sighs and sleeping heavily. "That was beautiful Pet. Lily sang that to Harry as well."
Petunia sighed and looked at him with a cross of hurt and frustration. "You can not call me that anymore Remus. I am not yours, not anymore. And yes, Lily probably did sing it to Harry. Our mother sang it to us, as did her mother before her. It has been passed down the family for generations. Come lay Harry down in his bed. It is time for you to go, before Vernon comes home and kills us both."
Remus was hurt, but he tried not to show it as Petunia showed him where Harry slept. He almost lost control to the wolf when he realized that he would have to put Harry in that horrible space. He reigned in his control and put Harry down. Sleepy emerald eyes turned on him. "Mooey, don't leave me…" the quiet whine echoed in Remus' heart.
"I have to go for now cub. I won't leave you for too long. I will try to come back and see you. I love you cub, sleep now. Just sleep now." He murmmered quietly as he brushed the hair off of Harry's face. He then kissed his forehead and whispered another goodbye before he stood. He quietly closed the door, leaning against it. Remus wiped tears from his eyes before looking up.
He found Petunia leaning in the door frame and looking at him. "He will be alright. I would never let anything happen to him."
"You already have Petunia. That is not the same boy that I saw on October thirtieth of nineteen eighty one. But I know that you are trying. May I come back? I want to see Harry again, and we need to work on your magical ability. I also don't want you to brew anything else in this house. It is too dangerous. I will bring you the potions you need. Also, with a bit of training we can control the boys' magical outbursts. That will help as well. I will harbor no arguments that you don't want to do magic. You have to for both your safety and theirs. Will you allow me to come back?" Remus was soft spoken, but firm in his speech and looks. It was obvious that he was concerned and serious.
"Alright, Remus, you can come back. However, no more than three times a week. You may only during the weekdays in the early afternoon. Also, come in the back door and be under disillusionment. You have to be careful. The neighborhood gossips are awful."
"Thank you, Petunia. I will be back next Monday. Be careful." With a last look to Harry's door, Remus disillusioned himself and left out of the back door.
Petunia sat down heavily in a chair for a few moments contemplating and running the video of what had just happened through her head. She couldn't believe what had just happened. How had he found her? What was going to happen now? She had worked so hard to distance herself from the magical community and now, in the last year and a half, she had been brutally thrust back into it. She was scared. Why was she allowing him to come back? Somehow, Petunia Dursley knew that this day would change her life. How? She did not know. She also did not know if she would regret it or not.