I don't own any of these characters. They all belong to J.K. Rowling. I just borrow them from time to time.

Packmates

In an old cabin located in the mist of a dense forest, an older man sat on the edge of his bed, his face obscured by the darkness, waking from a nightmare.



Over and over he relived that moment, that horrible moment when his last pack mate fell into the darkness, leaving him alone, without protection from the cruel world.

Sure there were people who would help him, care for him. But they weren't pack. They weren't family. They didn't go through hell and back more than once with each other, didn't understand how in certain cases, pack meant more than blood.

They had made promises*each of them*to each other. They were supposed to live forever, face their final death side by side. Because in the end, death is the only big adventure.

The man grimaced. Lily had used that quote from a Muggle children's book about little boys who never grew up. Her Lost Boys, that's what she used to call them. And out of all the lost boys, only he was left. Two had died, and the other...well in the end, he would wish for death.

A movement in the hallway caught his attention and she looked up as the door to his bedroom flew open and a teenaged boy came racing into the room.

"Remus!"

The man stood, catching the youth and stumbling a bit. He wrapped his arms around the sobbing youth, knowing exactly what the problem was and why the boy was in here.

He was one of the promises. The pack looked after their own, and that included the cubs.

So after exactly one month of living with his Aunt and Uncle, Remus had gone and collected the boy, to the dismay of the rest of the Order. It upset them more that the boy had readily agreed to go, grabbing his belongings and following the older man without question.

Now here they were, in the dead of night; a middle-aged werewolf none trusted and The Boy Who Lived who really couldn't care less if he lived or not.

Gradually, the sobbing ceased and the boy rubbed his face in the older man's shirt.

"Sorry," he mumbled. "Had a bad dream."

"Completely understand." He rubbed the boy's messy black hair affectionally. "Feel better now?"

The boy nodded, pulling away and rubbing absently at his scar.

"Does it hurt?"

"Hmmm? Oh, it always hurts now. I've gotten used to it."

"You shouldn't have to get used to it."

The boy smiled, and for a moment he looked exactly like his father...with his mother's eyes.

"Can...can I stay with you tonight?" He asked. "I can't go back to my room, I just can't. Not tonight."

"Harry..."

"Please Remus? Just for tonight?"

Remus sighed, and then reluctantly nodded. "Just for tonight."

He watched as the son and godson of two of his former pack mates climbed into his bed, dragging the covers with him. The man sighed, climbing into the bed next to him. Immediately, the young man grabbed his arm and snuggled in, soon falling fast asleep. He watched the boy, wondering how a child of sixteen could be as innocent as a toddler. And how anyone could not love this boy so completely.

Settling back, listening to the deep breathing of the young man beside him, he thought one last time of packs.

Young Harry had been their promise; his and Sirius'. If anything happened to his parents, they would take care of him. They were both fourteen years to late, and now he was last.

He and Harry.

And he would fight to the death to make sure the cub was able to live a full life.