Writing was a straining, difficult job. Remembering his lost loved ones made him want to curl up in a corner and bawl, or wishing to die to finally be with them. But he was determined, heavily digging into the well he gained from them to be able to continue. He decided to start at the beginning, not disclosing any particular information about his life before magic, but making it clear that he didn't know anything before. His first meetings, first impressions, from when Hagrid found him in the little house in the middle of the sea. It was easier and harder with early memories. He had more time to settle with them, but they reminded him of a time, when he had no care in the world, when he had no weight on him, no expectation, at least not so great as they were at the end.
It helped however, more ways than he thought at first. His soul lifted every time he could write down one of his memories. True, it hurt like hell, but it purified him in a way. It took the enormous weight away from him, oh so slowly – he had too many memories and emotions for it to be fast, but it still helped. And it helped with his training. He didn't stop exercising, and working out his frustration caused by reliving his memories gave him a good feeling. It helped also, that there WERE vampires in the area, evident by the bear sized wolf men he met.
He sank into himself, his routine and his remembrance. Slowly tearing away his scabs, the poison in them leaving him. He lost count of the days and mostly his surrounding too. He was still capable of recognizing and acting in danger, but the only thing he had seen or felt for were the hares he hunted. The muggles didn't even get close to his camp, while the Quileutes only patrolled, not endangering him. They were part of the scenery to him.
The wolves watched him. Well, they watched when they could… And they watched the little fox that brought its prey back to his tent. It was an average one, dark red, with black tips of ears and tail, not too big, but fast and silent on its feet.
The man on the other hand seemed oblivious to his surroundings. He spent his time on physical exercises, waving that stick of his, and destroying conjured targets, strolling, or even just standing somewhere. He often watched the sky, the canopy of the forest, the sea, or closing his eyes meditating, feeling the surrounding magic, the shifting of air around him – not that others could see the difference between these. He even went swimming – no matter the weather. He was like a drifting spirit, a ghost. He practically blended into the forest, often being so still that the patrol only saw him by chance, and after some time, when they kept an eye out for him.
It made things easier for them. Less disturbance. Jacob didn't have time to patrol for that month however, he was discussing the treaty with the elders, and waiting for the pack's reports to see how much of a problem it'll be to leave him there. Making several plans depending on the outcome, he would visit the wizard some time.
Once in a while at night, when he was just settling down to sleep, his mind wandered back to that look, to that whiff of smell he felt, trying to decipher it, feeling oddly restless. Something was stirring in him, urging him to go after the man. He tried not to dwell on his instincts, only concentrating on the intellectual part. It was hard. His wolf was practically howling at him to go, but he smothered it, not even giving it the chance to state what it wanted with the man.
That made him more and more frustrated. He was using all his self-discipline and stretching it thin. After a month, he decided that enough was enough. The plans were made, the reports were the same and he was at the end of his wits. It was time for a meeting.
It was just starting to turn colder, signifying the coming of autumn when it happened. Harry was out hunting with his not so hidden watchers. The wolves long since concluded that they couldn't find the human when the fox was out, so they took to follow him in this form too. As usual, he wondered around, finally settling on a higher ground, to try finding his prey. He spotted a rabbit and was fast to pursue, having no difficulty with the rockier terrain. He just caught a leg and snapped a bone in it to forestall any fleeing from his dinner when he heard hissing.
Unknown to him, the pack also heard it, and they were already on alert.
Harry, on his side was thanking any and every God that he didn't lose his ability of Parseltongue when he parted with Voldemort's soul shard. He heard cussing and rambling in a vaguely female tone, with a lot of hissing undertones.
He froze out of instinct.
"The only prey and now I'll have to fight a fox for it! Like I have a chance with an animal so big! What do I do now? I don't want to hibernate while I'm so hungry! I don't want to die!" If a snake could sniffle, it would. "Alright, here comes!" He heard, before seeing the snake menacingly rise from the ground, slowly inching his way and madly rattling his tail. "Come on! Fall for the intimidation little canine, I want to eat today!" Harry felt his jaws loosen, the rabbit falling from his grip slightly, before he snapped the neck by reflex, not to let it get away. The snake may have said cajoling things, but they were pronounced in a whining, complaining tone. She was an odd one.
Harry, decidedly a bit out of it, turned back, for the first time before the eyes of the pack, to talk to the snake. He had to wait a second to before he could talk, now fully focused on her, and still not remembering his minders, who were staring wide eyed at him.
"Hello there!" He opened the conversation, satisfied that the snake's head snapped up when she heard him. "How long were you without food to try going against a fox like that?" He crooned, and beckoned the snake with a hand. The wolves were stock still behind him, now starting to panic.
She slithered closer slowly, warily. "If I tell you, will you give me food?" She asked. Harry almost snorted. No wonder Slytherin had snakes as their mascot.
"Maybe, if you promise not to attack me and mine, and not to ruin my food with your venom." Ah, animals were so much easier to deal with. Harry started wondering why he didn't start talking to native snakes on his journey, but discarded the idea fast. The past should remain there, in the past.
The snake was looking between him and the meat, still not sure, but quickly falling for the hook. "You won't hurt me? There were others here like you, they saw me and started shouting trying to kill or capture me, or just hurt me or scare me, I don't know. I didn't like them. If you hurt me, I'll hurt you too!" She added, not really convincing, given her mildly scared tone, but she was a rattle snake, so it carried some weight.
Harry nodded. "Come here, I'll take you to my dwelling and give you some of the game. You can even rest on my skin; I know you'll like it. It's nice and warm." He encouraged. When she cautiously slid up his arm, resting her head on his shoulder, just outside his shirt, he spoke again. "My name is Harry, but you can call me something else too, since my name has other sounds than hissing. What should I call you?"
"I don't know, I think I can say Harry. And my name is Ester. Now let's go to your dwelling to eat!" she said. The names sounded a bit off, but Harry gladly accepted Ester as her name. It was oddly normal, ordinary.
While he was trudging back to his tent, he didn't even notice the loss of companions or the mad howling that went on in the forest, further and further away from him.
"HE DID WHAT?" The booming voice that echoed across the reserve was coming from one Jacob Black. He just heard the breathless report of the two assigned to watch Harry. It was madness. He took a deep breath, trying to calm down. "So let me get this straight. HE was the fox you were following all along." Glancing up, he saw the two others nod. "He hunted like usual. Came across a snake, turned to human, and started hissing at it, like they could understand each other. And you saw the snake crawling under his shirt before you left." Mad nodding ensued. He felt like ripping his hair out. They finally settled on the terms and follow ups, and this comes his way. Breathe in, breathe out. "Okay, I'll go, see him. You go inform the elders, but don't include the pack just yet." He said, feeling suddenly really weary.
It didn't take Jake too long to reach that cursed tent. He felt calmer, his massive muscles less tense after the run. He missed being in his wolf form while negotiating with the leaders. He found Harry in the kitchen part, seemingly berating the aforementioned snake that had its head lowered. When he took a step in, Harry lifted a finger, signalling for him to wait a bit, while he concluded his speech.
Jake decided to slowly walk closer, and saw that there was a mess of bones and some kind of saliva or whatever covered it, and a part of the kitchen counter.
He finally stopped, and Jacob saw the snake sliding down from the counter on a spiralling stand that was placed just next to the counter and was definitely new. Harry hissed something after the snake, before he turned to Jake.
"Hey, I didn't expect you. What's up?" He asked, like this was normal, and he wasn't to blame for the stress of the pack leader at all.
"You can really talk to that snake? Like you understand each other and all?" He asked incredulously.
"Yes. Anyway look at the mess she made. I thought she knew not to leave trash in one's dwelling, but after this you understand why I had to tell her to do her business outside. I don't want to clean up after her every single time, thank you very much." Harry exclaimed, whipped out his wand, and vanished the mess with a wave. He looked up straight into the chocolate eyes of Jacob with one last huff. "What's up, you seem stressed." He asked.
Jake was close to breaking down, he just didn't know if he was going to laugh or cry. He started massaging the bridge of his nose. "You can actually talk to snakes. Didn't you think to notify me of this little fact? We finally worked out all the bindings you'll have to abide by, and that didn't include snakes so far." He trailed off, not really knowing how to proceed.
"Well, it's not like I'll go looking for other snakes to attack anyone, and Ester couldn't hurt anything bigger than a rabbit if she tried, besides, just between you and me, I think she'll stick around so she doesn't have to worry about hunting. I fear I spoiled her with that one meal." This was starting to get dangerous, Harry thought. He was starting to challenge the Alpha, even if he knew he shouldn't. To treat him with this familiarity was a dangerous gamble. "Ester, you hear me?" He asked, knowing if she was awake she'd heard him.
"What now?" She whined.
"No matter what happens, don't interfere please. Even if you think I'll be hurt I'll handle it, you understand?" He asked, opting for precaution.
"Whatever." She grumbled, coiling into herself on the upper bed's pillow.
"Sorry about that, just had to add another rule. You should hear her; she's like one of those high school girls. I just don't know if I should regret taking her in." Harry smiled, again disregarding his intellect, which screamed at him to tell the other everything, particularly what the rule was. His instincts were dead set on riling the other up. He was testing his boundaries and frankly, playing a dangerous game, but it was exhilarating and he just couldn't say no.
Jacob was a second from snapping at the smaller man, when he looked into those smiling green eyes. There was humor and a mild challenge there, he knew he'd see those from the exchange so far, but he saw that complicated mess of emotions just underneath. A low growl escaped his wolf before he could stifle it. He advanced on the other, looking every bit of the leader he was, even if Harry refused to react like he should. He was propped up against the counter, still smiling and unafraid, looking him in the eyes.
He stopped just a hair's breath away from Harry, snaking a hand behind his head, and yanking upwards, until they were almost touching. Jacob didn't understand what was happening, even if his wolf was, his actions were dictated by instinct rather than thoughts.
Harry literally felt his pupils dilate as he got more and more excited. He felt defiant, he felt challenging, he felt alive. He growled back and was slammed back to his feet and into the counter, but before he could tell himself all the reasons of why he shouldn't, and before Jake could attack him for real, he leaned up to lick the lips of the Alpha.
That small action snapped the precarious control Jake had on his wolf. He attacked, devouring those delicious lips and found himself lifting up the smaller man onto the kitchen counter before invading that sweet mouth with his tongue. He pushed himself closer, hands already mapping out Harry' toned body.
Harry on his part was taking advantage of the loss of control, fully reciprocating, and brushing and massaging the heavy muscles he could reach. When he reached Jake's ass, he squeezed, and heard the other growl. He lost the lips on his, and not long after felt them descending on the junction of his neck and shoulder, teeth sinking in hard, claiming him, marking him. He almost came from the feeling and had just caught the echoes of his shout at the sensation.
He tightened his grip on the strong backside and felt the teeth breaking skin, the mouth sucking hard before the tongue soothed the hurt and lapped up the blood.
Jake finally snapped out of his daze at the taste, if not completely freezing, but tensing nonetheless. Both of them were panting hard, and if he felt right both of them were more than interested in continuing, at least physically. He could just make out a soft, breathy moan from Harry, so maybe not only physically.
"What are you doing to me?" He growled, not really believing what just happened. He thought he would always pine after Bella, even if she was a leech now, or would find another woman, but a man? That he didn't think possible. He was torn between ripping Harry's throat out and dropping him on the bed and ravaging him for long hours. It seemed he always had double impressions from this man.
Harry looked up, distancing himself from Jake just enough to see his face before he put on his most innocent, puppy eyed expression. "Me? I didn't do anything." And it would've been believable if the big eyes effectively didn't give away how he was laughing on the inside.
A/N.: I know it was a long time, and I can't really tell if I switched styles too fast in the middle, but I hope you'll like this anyway! Reactions?
2013.09.28