Jacob paced around the house with Seth. It was the full moon. Of course they weren't actual werewolves but the huge white eye still caused a certain amount of uneasiness. A howl suddenly caught their ears.
Jacob? Trouble I think. Leah sent. Sam's a-calling.
Coming. Seth, let's go. The big red-ish brown wolf sent.
Leah dropped in beside them suddenly, as they ran. Jacob gave an ear flick of acknowledgement. They met, both packs, at the agreed meeting place, a mutual zone between the two territories.
"Sam." Jacob said, shifting back to human form to speak to the other pack's Alpha.
The black wolf turned human as well. "Jacob. You're going to have to see this to believe it."
Jacob noted the whole pack looked nervous and twitchy.
"Come on." Sam turned away urging Jacob to follow him as he took off, his pack following.
Once Jacob caught up, the two Alphas paced each other not pulling ahead out of respect. Sam guided the way with a few quick points of his nose. It was really a very bright night with every tree and cloud highlighted. There were very few clouds this night.
Sam slowed to a stop on the top of a rise and pointed. Jacob started, not believing his eyes. There seemed to be some huge monster in the woods. It was no bear, nor was it wolf. It was larger even than the two Alphas together, huge and sickeningly hairless and its skin was a brownish grey. White moonlight highlighted massive scars and a few large fresh wounds.
"What the hell is it?" Jacob whispered, again in his human form, and staying hunched over behind.
Sam shook his head. "It dunno. Smell it though."
Jacob sniffed. "Wolf? Or wolfish?"
The thing stood up on its hind legs and howled. The packs cringed. The sound was laced with pain, absolute torment. Apparently the sound struck some chord in Leah. She slid silently down the slope.
"Leah." Jacob hissed about to stop her, one glance at her eyes quit that notion. "Be careful."
She nodded. The monster-wolf yowled lowly. They watched tense as the grey-white wolf crept toward it.
"I heard one of your vamps mention actual werewolves." Sam said not taking his eyes off his former girlfriend. "That be one of 'em?"
Leah was mere feet from the werewolf? Was it? She hid behind a bush. The monster rambled on then froze. They could hear it inhale in their silence. It roared viciously. The werewolf rose up on its hind legs putting it a good eight feet tall. She army crawled out from under the bush. The thing sniffed again and eyed her. It growled not viciously but in that painful 'get away' tone.
"Let's go." Sam slid down the slope. His whole pack slid its way down, toward the beast they had yet to understand.
The wolves approached and watched Leah walking with the assumed werewolf. It seemed less monstrous up close. Now it was just old and busted up. The werewolf looked over the new crowd with intellect. It still looked a bit gross but wise.
Leah? Are you OK? Jacob sent.
Yeah. I can't get anything on this guy though. She responded.
Sam walked up to the larger dog keeping his head down and fairly submissive. The hairless werewolf sniffed him lightly then jumped suddenly. Leah eyed the werewolf scornfully.
Clean those wounds yourself, then. She thought.
The werewolf lifted his head suddenly. He rose up part way and snarled dangerously. The packs whipped around. Another growl joined the larger one.
Crap. Jacob yelped.
Another one of the huge creature stepped into the cleared ravine. It was a lot bigger and covered in pure black fur. The others eyes were wild, crazed and young. It did not look friendly even in the slightest. It yowled beating the ground with its front legs. The first hairless werewolf pushed the pack out its way to stand before them and roared. The furred one launched forward. Their werewolf shot off even faster. They barreled into each other with a hair raising sound. There was a black flash before them. A mangy dog half their size appeared. It was disheveled and wild looking. It eyed them then stood.
A handsomely dressed but rough looking male became from the dog. "Move back. Back pups." He shooed them with his hands. In one hand he grasped a part of a tree branched neatly shaved until smooth.
Jacob stood up. "Do you know what's going on here?"
"Yes but in a bit." He glanced anxiously back. "C'mon Remus. You can take 'im."
Leah finally lost it. She couldn't stay quiet, privacy be damned. "Is Remus ours?"
"Yours?" The scraggly man asked.
"The bald one." She explained impatiently.
He nodded. "That's Remmy and the other one is a scoundrel named Fenir. Set 'imself up near a muggle boarding school to kill the little kids. Remus wouldn't have it. Even the night before the law needs to pass."
"Law? Muggle? Who are you two?" Jacob asked.
"I'm Sirius Black and that would be Remus Lupin. Oh Merlin!"
The great furry creature had wrapped his jaw about Remus's neck. It shook hard enough to snap bones. The skin wolf screamed and thrashed about whipping a claw across the other's chest.
"Is he going to be all right?" Everyone jumped and a younger man, about his early thirties came up next to Sirius. "Sorry. Didn't mean to startle you." He also had a length of wood and a definitive British accent. His wily black hair draped over his emerald green eyes.
Sirius set his hand on the younger man's shoulder. "He'll be fine Harry."
The thinner wolf finally freed itself from the other's grasp. Leah twisted herself to see. Remus slashed into the werewolf's flesh as quick as an arrow. He reared back and snapped his jaw closed in a crushing blow around Fenir's neck. The hairy wolf fell to the ground and made no noise or sound. Remus roared in his rage fed by the full moonlight. He walked down the valley.
"Harry?" Sirius looked towards him.
"Yeah? Oh right!"
The male tipped forward, transforming. Sam was quite startled. Two other wolf-shifters in one night. Then his mind and the packs' were blown. Instead of a new wolf scent the scent of a prey animal hit their noses. A large stag took off down the hill aiming at the werewolf.
"I'm going as well." Leah said darting passed and falling into a wolf.
"No." Sirius said trying to stop her. "That's quite dangerous." Sirius watch worriedly as the deer reached the enraged werewolf. "He's not himself, wolfsbane or not."
"He seemed okay with us before, though." Jacob stated crossing his arms.
That brought the older man to a pause. "Did he?" Sirius mused. Then he chuckled. "Moony always had a soft spot for children I suppose." He looked over the well-muscled teens. "Well. Let's go see then what we can do. Stay as a wolf though. Just for safety's sake."
The packs sped after the grey muzzled black dog. They slowed their approach to the clearing the deer, the werewolf, and Leah had found. They crept in slowly. The werewolf was pacing very slowly, unable to sit or lay down due its injuries. Leah was with it, on its right and the deer to its left.
Leah, can you not run off please? And isn't he a little old for you? Jacob felt the attachment she had formed to the vastly older wolf.
She smirked at the first comment and snapped at the second. I'm not like in love with him. He just feels… Knowledgeable? Like he has an answer. He feels like dad.
That struck Seth and Jacob to their hearts. The black dog trotted over and touched noses with the werewolf. He took to the deer's side. The two of them settled at the side of the clearing to keep watch.
The moon fell toward the edge of the sky. It sank beneath the bank of clouds and the werewolf suddenly jerked spastically. It shoved the pack of young wolves gently away from it and struggled backward snapping its jaw. The deer and dog were before them in an instant pressing the packs back. Leah whimpered as the popping of bones and snapping of tendons filled the quiet. Remus writhed in pain and fell back into a tree. The large creature melted painfully into a human.
Sirius ran to his side. "Remus."
Harry took the other throwing a cloak over top of the torn up body. "It's us Professor. You're fine."
A choked voice gritted up unable to reach the startled pack.
"No. It's fine. You got his Remus." Sirius affirmed. "You've done him in for good. No one else. Just that beast."
Harry waved his length of tree and removed the cloak. The newest man was clothed in a worn, brown robe and a suit to match.
There was a startling pop to one side of the huddled three.
"Severus." The younger man greeted warily.
This man looked the very oldest with a crooked nose and greasy hair. He had black treacherous looking eyes. When he spoke his words were monotone to the point of condescending.
"Well, well. Remus Lupin. Forty some years old and another night survived."
He dropped a sack into Sirius's hands. It clinked, filled with glass.
"Thank you Severus."
A soft voice reached them now. It sounded much more kind to the unkind individual than Harry had. The tone of the voice dragged himself backwards and propped his spine against a tree. The stale smelling man nodded and vanished of his own accord. The pack now had a clear view of their werewolf. He had thin sandy pale hair and cream brown eyes.
"This one first." Harry handed him a vial after rustling about in the bag.
The pale man raised it with a shaking hand to empty its contents. After several more bottles of dubious colored liquid the bag ran out. Remus sighed heavily closing his eyes. Then opened them again as if discovering a lost thing.
"I apologize. I had forgotten you."
Remus stood shakily and walk toward the wolves. Sam and Jacob changed back, so did Leah. They were hypnotized by the deep brown eyes the man possessed. He was not taller and maybe even shorter than them but his mere presence was so large. He held all the power of one of their elders but somehow his actions made him all the more real.
"Were all of you uninjured?" He asked concerned.
"No. I mean yes." Jacob stumbled.
"We're all fine." Sam said, collecting his thoughts.
The man nodded with a slight smile. "I'm glad." He returned to sit by his tree. "Harry?"
"Yes sir?" The young man looked up.
"Fenir's corpse." He said raising his hands. "It needs to be disposed of."
"Right." Harry stood dusting his hands off looking one way than another. "Which way was it?"
Remus looked up. "Pardon me but could one of you cubs please show Mister Potter were the other werewolf fell?"
Every wolf in the pack spun eager to obey. Harry had to run to keep up with them all. When they reached the spot Leah wasn't with them. The packs watched as Harry flicked his stick about in a complex pattern. The body floated up and caught fire.
"I'd plug your nose. This is quite nasty." Harry plugged his and the fire burst outward.
The body was no more but the smell hit them like a ton of bricks. Their eyes, even Harry's smarted and ran. It was a god killing smell.
"Merlin." The Brit swore coughing. "That never gets any better."
Another smell hit their nostrils as three more people came into the clearing.
"Hey Jacob, what's going on?" Bella stepped into the clearing.
The trio of Bella, Edward, and Carlisle froze seeing the other person there with the packs.
Oddly enough the newcomer bowed slightly. "Vampires." He said in greeting.
Edward and Bella started but Carlisle bowed back. "Wizard."
"Wizard?" Sam growled standing up.
Jacob held up his hands. "I'm just as confused."
"I apologize for the intrusion." Harry said to the trio. "We were just assisting our friend who I should be returning to." He turned his back not completely trustingly but not terrified.
Jacob and Sam flanked him at a bit of a distance. Carlisle explained quickly to Edward and Bella about a whole world that they didn't understand. The pack listened with confusion.
They returned and Remus and Sirius were sitting quietly with Leah just as silently sitting with them.
"Harry." Sirius said standing up. "We need to go."
The younger flicked his wand as Carlisle had said and the time of another area appeared before him.
"We do." He said looking with apprehension at Remus.
The still weak werewolf waved him off. "Go. I can't travel yet. I'll be alright. You need to pass that change for all of us."
Harry knelt by the old sandy haired man with devotion. "I will change this Remus I swear. We'll send Tonks and Teddy for you as soon as we can."
Remus smiled. "I know you will. I wouldn't worry too much my boy." He looked over at the packs and the vampires. "I feel as though I won't be alone."
"Harry we have to go." Sirius said urgently.
The young black haired man stood and both people disappeared off the face of the visible earth. Remus raised his eyes to the large group around him. He crossed his hands together over his knee.
"Good morning young shape shifters. To you as well vampires and vampress." He smiled. "I'm Remus Lupin. Pleasure to meet you."
"You as well." Carlisle said.
Remus cocked his head slightly. "You wouldn't happen to be the famous Olympic Coven would you?"
The blonde model like vampire nodded. "That we are. "I am Carlisle. This is Edward and Bella."
"Then this would be the shape shifting tribe?" He said turning his attention to the wolves.
Sam and Jacob nodded, each introducing their separate packs.
Remus nodded and stood with a groan. "It is pleasing to meet you all."
"You should come stay with us." Leah said seriously.
"I don't wish to impose." Remus said through teeth partially gritted in pain.
"I insist." Carlisle said. "If any representative of the Wizarding World is to stay here I cannot permit them to be chilled in the rain amidst the woods."
Remus chuckled and nodded to them both. "Please. Lead the way then."
Leah had slipped on her dress that she tied around her leg like the boys did their pants. She stuck near him as they walked. Many others of the pack slid on clothes just to walk with this older fellow.
"You're like an actual werewolf than?" She prompted.
"Yes, that I am Miss Clearwater." He stated nodding to her. "Clearwater?" He paused in his speech but continued his laborious stride. "You wouldn't happen to have a relation to Penelope Clearwater would you?"
"Penny Clearwater?" Seth jumped in.
"She's our Aunt, from London." Leah said. "Why?"
Remus smiled at both of them. "She was a student of mine. Very good with her charms too."
"She's a witch?" The two jerked back.
"Indeed she is."
They processed that.
"The other werewolf?" Leah pressed. "Was he a wizard too?"
Remus darkened. "That he was and I must apologize for him. He is the very worst of our kind, both wizard and werewolf."
"Can you do magic?" One of the younger wolves asked. "Can you show us?"
The man nodded a bit breathless. "In a bit cub. Once I sit down."
He stopped suddenly. His chest pounded heavily and he fell back. The two wolves behind him jumped back and let him hit the ground. The sandy hair lay there a moment but only a moment. He was sitting up with one knee to his chest in seconds.
Carlisle was kneeling by him in an instant. "Are you all right?" He put his hand on the other's shoulder.
Remus didn't flinch away from his hand. "Yes, yes. Please forgive me." All the color was missing from face and his collar was turning red quickly. "It has been a rough night and lycanthropy is tiring in the best."
Leah knelt at his other side. "You're bleeding. Will you live?"
"My dear." Remus said lightly. "I've looked worse. Trust me. May I have use of your hand?"
She held it out stunned. He placed his in hers and pressed down to raise himself from the ground. He pulled her up gently after him. Carlisle frowned and retreated to the front.
"Do you want a ride or something?" Sam offered gruffly.
"I'm alright cub. Continue please."
They pressed onward finally reaching the house. Remus admired it.
"It's a lovely building." He said.
"Thank you very much." Carlisle bowed.
Sam coughed. "Um. Is it okay for us to hang around a bit with uh Remus?"
Everyone realized quite suddenly that this was the very first time the Uley Pack had been on Cullen land. They had walked all the way to the house.
Carlisle looked them over and glanced at Edward who nodded. "I think that will be fine. Please Mister Lupin come in and let me have a look at that bite wound."
He got into the house but would not let his wounds be tended.
"It would hurt you more than it would help me." He explained. "Werewolf blood burns the skin. I don't know how it reacts to vampiric skin but I am not willing to make you an experiment."
"Momma?" Renesmee came down the stairs in view of the pack. "What's going on?"
She came down the stairs and was at the werewolf's side with in seconds. Her eyes ran over him greedy for knowledge. He studied her then smiled again. She walked around to be in front of him. He held out a hand.
"Hello little one." She took his hand and he shook it gently. "You must be the young lady that changed our laws."
She smiled back at him and he started and looked distant. He must have received her message through the mind for he nodded his assentation. She went over to Jacob and sat next to him.
"She is very bright, your daughter." Remus commented.
"Thank you." Bella said.
"Um." He switched his eyes to the young wolf speaking. "Can you show us your magic?"
Remus chuckled. "Curious cub aren't you."
He pointed his wand at a book on the table. "Wingardium Leviosa."
The book rose steadily into the air. It hovered. Than set back down. Remus sighed heavily.
"Sorry cub. My strength is a mere eighth of its usual."
The wolves seemed stunned enough from such a small demonstration. Leah, however, was brimming with questions. She took a seat on the floor in front of him like a child before their favorite grandfather.
"What law?" She asked suddenly.
"Law?" Remus thought for a moment. "Oh. That law." His brow furrowed and he looked worriedly at the window, fretting over that which he could not change. "I will have to start with the fact of werewolves are not highly regarded in our society. They are hated." He looked into the eyes of the pack. "They fought for a madman at one point so there is a public list of werewolves. They are persecuted and not allowed to hold jobs by law." He shook his head. "It is not fun."
"You're trying to pass that?" Sam growled.
"No! Absolutely not." Remus objected. "Our law will counter-act the jobs and the limit public's access to the list. Only those werewolves classified as dangerous will be unrestricted."
"You couldn't have a job?" Collin, from Sam's Pack, asked.
The old male shook his head. "I."
His voice crackled and he coughed into his sleeve. A glass of water was thrust into his hand. He nodded gratefully to Esme who had come in to listen. He drank it quickly and cleared his throat.
"We are not legally allowed to." He stated. "A great friend of mine wheedled me in as a teacher though. I love teaching." He grinned. "It was the best year of my life. Eventually things got out and I resigned to keep the headmaster from any trouble. The new head to the same school says she is willing to allow me my post if the law passes."
"Nice lady." Jacob smiled. "How have you survived without a job?"
"Honestly." Remus flushed with a bit of embarrassment. "I got married."
There was a howl from outside.
Sam stood up walking toward the window. "I think Paul and Quil found your guys Mister Remus."
Esme opened the door. Paul led the way and behind him an odd looking woman with really light brown hair came in. Remus stood quickly.
"Tonks." He greeted.
The woman ran up to him and hugged him tightly. "Remus! Remus! She passed it! Hermione worked it through!"
Remus grinned and rejoiced with her. The wolves about the room had to smile at their joy. Jasper was suddenly at the bottom of the stairs by the door basking in the happiness, Alice at his arm. Leah stepped back sincerely glad for the older people. Another voice quickly caught her attention.
"Aw yeah. I totally get it man."
Two more people invaded the house. One was Quil who received a friendly slap to the back from the other. They were both laughing hard about something. The teenage male who entered though got the most attention. He was not really all that tall but very lanky. His hair stood out the most though being bright blue on the edge of purple.
"Hey dad!" The teen laughed. "You got the news?"
Remus nodded giving the kid a one armed hug. "That I did."
He stepped back looking over the packs with a charming smile. His light eyes suddenly met Leah's. Something constricted in her throat and her eyes bugged out. There was no air in her lungs but for him alone. The world could go fly a kite. Also as he was here nothing could ever be wrong.
"Hiya." He greeted.
"Hi." She said rather breathless.
"I'm Teddy Lupin." He held out his hand.
She took it but instead of shaking he raised it up and kissed her knuckles. Leah swallowed hard.
"Leah Clearwater."
Remus and Tonks watched them amused. Then Remus nodded to Jacob and Sam.
"It was good to meet you. I apologize for the strange happenings around here but I don't think you'll be completely free of them."
The two Alpha nodded indulgently. Leah was flushed and embarrassed for the first time in their memory.
"Come Teddy." His father finally summoned.
Leah's heart sunk.
Teddy slid his gaze back to the female. "May I write you?"
Her stomach fluttered. "Yes please. I should … I should write … address."
The blue haired wizard shrugged. "Just tell it to me. I have a darn good memory."
She did and the teen nodded committing it to memory even though owls don't need addresses. He joined his parents and the trio disappeared.
That night, two things happened: One, Leah discovered owl post. Two, a little barn owl made the first trip along a route she would take many, many times.
Thank you to Reilly who let me know this had turned itself into one big paragraph. Copy Paste annoys me.
