Chapter 2

"You two know each other?" Jenna shrugged. "Well, I'll be off then."

Harry was suddenly very aware of the fact that he was naked in the presence of his professor. Well, ex-professor, but it was still somewhat embarrassing. He blushed.

"Jenna, wait," Remus said, getting out of the car. "Harry, I'm sure you have a lot of questions. I promise I will answer all of them. Just get the car. It's too dangerous to be standing out here."

"Not to mention freezing," Jenna added. "But then I have my coat."

Harry nodded dumbly. Remus opened the car door and Harry slid into the backseat. Jenna got into the passenger seat and tossed the coat into the backseat next to Harry.

"There's some clothes in the back, Harry," Remus said as he started the car. "They should fit you."

Harry nodded again, and started to get dressed silently.

"Very pleasant young man, isn't he?" Jenna smirked, glancing back at Harry as he pulled on a black shirt.

"He's just had his first change, what do you expect?" Remus said with a hint of a smile. Harry was fully aware that they were talking about him, but the rest of the conversation was completely going over his head. His first change?

"I don't reckon I was that violent when I had mine," Jenna insisted.

"No, you just annoyed everyone until they got violent," Remus said. It was his turn to smirk.

Harry was now fully dressed and going over the events of the night, trying to rationalise things. He suddenly seemed to realise what was wrong with this picture. Lupin was driving a car.

"Uh, Professor," he said suddenly. "Why aren't we apparating to... wherever we're going?"

"Appa-what-now?" Jenna raised her eyebrows at the boy, completely perlexed.

"We can't," Lupin said. "It is protected by wards. Kind of like the ones Dumbledore has put over Hogwarts, but more powerful. More... sacred."

Harry felt himself shiver at the way Remus said sacred. He wasn't sure he liked it.

"But... I am a werewolf," he said slowly. "Without having been bitten."

"Now you're getting there," Jenna cut in. "The whole bitten thing is just a rumour. One we encourage among the wizards. Just like we encourage the rumour that we don't exist to humans."

"But Professor," Harry started.

"You can call me Remus, Harry. We're not in school," Remus said.

"Oh," Harry didn't quite feel comfortable calling him by his first name, so he avoided it. "But you were bitten. You said you were. In the shrieking shack. And Dumbledore..."

"There were wizards around that we needed to keep the truth from," Remus said. "Yes, even you at the time. I was left without any guidance. My first change followed a rather nasty bite by a dog, so my parents assumed I had been bitten. I assumed I had been bitten. I accepted that I had no control over it. I sought a cure. But of course, there was no cure, because this was no disease. Because Dumbledore kept the secret so well, it wasn't until after I left Hogwarts that they found me, and let me know the truth."

"They?" Harry asked.

"The Nation," Remus said. "Like wizards, we have our own society. Our own hierarchy."

Harry let it all sink in as he leaned back in his seat. His eyes started out the window just as the clouds gave way to the full moon. Harry felt it stir him. It was a strange emotion, a mixture of rage and sadness, and hope.

Wake up, Full Moon Child. Your new life is about to begin.

"So... what makes us werewolves?" he asked. "Are we born that way?"

"Yes, and no," Remus said. "When you are born, you are chosen by Luna. And you will have a godfather, or godmother, chosen to perform your baptism. I myself performed yours, when you were just a month old, under the light of your Auspice moon."

"My auspice moon?"

"The phase of the moon you were born under," Remus explained. "It defines your path in life. Your gifts, your shortcomings... your rage."

"Rage," Harry echoed. He had felt the rage. He could still feel it. It had almost consumed him totally before. He wasn't so sure he could control himself if it threatened to overwhelm him again.

"Harry, we all have the rage," Remus said. "You more than others, because you were born under a full moon. If you do not find a way to keep the beast inside you at bay, it will take you over. You will become nothing more than a slave to it. If you learn to control it, it will be your greatest weapon against the enemy. If it controls you, you will be put down like a rabid animal. Remember that."

The car stopped.

"We're here," Remus said. "Leave your wand in the car."

"What?" Harry protested. He was just about to walk blindly into a new possibly dangerous place. Going in without his wand was madness. Remus might as well be asking him to leave his head behind.

"Trust me, Harry," Remus insisted. "You will not need it. Your spells will do little against werewolves. Well, except maybe the really powerful ones."

"But," Harry said. "Then there's no harm in taking it along."

"You walk in as one of us," Remus said. "Not as a wizard."

Harry hesitated stubbornly, but Remus' eyes told him to trust him. He wouldn't do anything to endanger Harry. Unless...

"Prove it," he said. "Prove that this is all real, and not some plot to disarm me and kill me."

"Yikes," Jenna said. "Go easy on the paranoia, cub. You're still young."

"Jenna, go and tell them we're on our way," Remus said. "Tell them i bring a Full Moon Cub to the circle."

Jenna shrugged and opened the car door. She stepped out and left Harry and Remus in the car.

"It's good to be careful, Harry," Remus said, once they were alone. "But I would not mislead you. I need you to trust me now, like Lily and James did on the night of your baptism. Like you did on the night in the shrieking shack. Trust me."

Harry nodded, and finally relinquished his wand. Together, he and Remus stepped out of the car and looked around.

He was standing at the edge of a large forest. There was no house for miles, and there were no people. He couldn't even see Jenna, so he assumed she must have walked into the forest. But there was a small path, not enough for a car, but enough for a human to walk through, and it was lit up with hundreds of tiny lights, so that people could see it and not get lost if they walked through at night. Remus started down the path, and Harry followed. Neither of them said a word. Harry had a feeling that this was a very solemn occasion, and saved his questions for later.

They walked for approximately half an hour before they started hearing voices. Harry had to strain himself to hear, it seemed that there was more than one voice, talking at once. As they got closer he could start to make out a bonfire in the clearing up ahead. A grey haired man, leaning heavily on wooden staff, stood at the centre of the circle. Three people stood in front of him, two boys and a girl. They all looked to be about Harry's age. The boys had painted their faces and their chests with strange runes and symbols that Harry was sure Hermione would be able to decipher, but left him completely at loss. The girl who stood between them was holding a torch in her hand. Around them, stood a circle of men and wolves, all of them watching the three children. Harry tried to look around for Jenna, but saw no sign of her.

"Who steps from the shadow?" said the old man. Harry's heart stopped, until he realised that he was talking to the children.

"We, who are not now what we once were." they answered in unison.

"Who comes in the night, cold and hungry?" he asked.
"We, who do not hunger for prey or warmth, seek wisdom this night," they answered.
"Who comes before us wounded and dying?" he asked.

Harry felt a shiver down his spine as they chanted their response.
"We who have fought the enemy and yet live. We who tend our own."
"Who comes before the fire, nameless?" the old man spoke.
"We who are without a name, yet seek one." they said together.
"Who comes in the light of the rising moon?"
"We who have fought the bitter battle."
"Who comes in the glory of our Mother?"
"Your children once, but never again."
"Who comes before us as warriors, children no longer?"
"We do. We are a pack."

The man nodded and raised his staff.
"So let it be sung. So be it. Welcome."
Howls erupted from the assembled, men and wolves together. The three children at the centre suddenly started to change. The girl became a large white-furred wolf-beast, standing on its hind legs and still holding the torch, although it was much smaller now compared to her size. The boys shifted too, the one to the left becoming a black jackal like beast, kind of like the ones Harry had seen in books about ancient Egypt. The last boy become reddish-brown wolf-man, slightly smaller than the other two, but still exceptionally large.

Then they turned their faces towards the moon and broke into a howl.