Ardent Argent
Chapter 3: Haunted by Nothings
Because you are in control of your life. Don't ever forget that. You are what you are because of the conscious and subconscious choices you have made.
- Barbara Hall
"Look at everything!" Harry exclaimed breathlessly, dancing from storefront to shop window and examining the goods offered there before running back to the two werewolves and reporting what he had discovered.
Fenrir obediently took a quick glance around the small town they had wandered into, snorting disdainfully at the frightened looks they were receiving. "I don't see anything special."
Harry, in a whirl of ivory silk, spun to face him. "That's because you are too used to all of this," he said, waving a hard around.
"Tell me about it," Fenrir muttered inaudibly, sneering as a group of beggar children were passed by without a single glance their way. Inconspicuously, he tossed them a few sickles, ignoring their whispered thanks in favor of avoiding Harry's radiant smile.
"Used to it?" Garm asked, blushing slightly as Harry turned his bright grin on him.
"Did you like my meadow?" Harry asked in return, and Garm cocked his head to the side in confusion.
"Of course I did!" Garm exclaimed, eyes sparkling with awe. "I've never seen anything like it!"
"So you liked it because it was so different?" Harry said lightly, skipping backwards as they group continued forward, drawing a few odd glances from some passing villagers.
"I suppose so," Garm confirmed, and Harry nodded sagely.
"That same reason is why this place seems so wonderful to me." Harry sighed and spun in a slow circle, inhaling deeply. "I've never been to somewhere like this before and all the things I've never seen before seem so amazing!"
"You must have Seen a village like this before," Garm argued, and Fenrir hit him lightly on the back of the head.
"Alpha!" Garm yipped, gingerly touching the painful area.
"Perhaps you were never taught this, but secrets are things that are not meant to be casually spoken about where anyone could hear them," Fenrir snarled quietly.
"Aw, don't be too tough on him, Fenra," Harry sighed, hugging Garm's arm to his chest. "If something bad would have happened, I would have interfered."
"I thought the future was immutable?" Fenrir said, ignoring his newest nickname.
"It is, but if something bad was going to happen which would have lead to the dissolution of the future I Foresaw, then naturally it would have been necessary for me to interfere so that the future I Saw would be the present that Will Be." Harry smiled cheerfully as Fenrir pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Whatever," Fenrir grunted, glaring viciously at a trio of women who were staring at them in confusion. There shrieks of fear instantly put him in a better mood.
"Such a bully," Harry chided. He turned to Garm, pouting playfully. "Isn't Fenra such a bully?"
Garm froze, looking like a deer in the headlights. He nervously glanced at Fenrir, whose lip was curled, revealing an incredibly large and sharp incisor. "…No?"
Harry cried out in despair, and Fenrir nodded approvingly. Harry released the younger werewolf's arm with a huff, storming away towards a bakery. The two men watched him stalk off, and Garm shook his head fondly.
"He's a lot more childish than I expected," he remarked, and Fenrir crossed his arms over his chest.
"Like you're any different. You keep fawning over him."
Garm blushed slightly and shook his head, sending his flyaway black hair into his eyes. "No I'm not!"
Fenrir glanced at him incredulously, and Garm's blush darkened. "Okay, maybe a little bit," Garm admitted, rubbing his shoulder guiltily. "But I'm only seventeen; hormones, you know."
"Reign them in," Fenrir ordered. "It isn't that hard."
"Maybe not for a icicle like you," Garm muttered, "but some of us have actual needs."
"You'll only get hurt screwing around with the Seer," Fenrir said calmly, and Garm perked up at the Alpha's low words and felt the brush of a privacy ward come into existence with a twitch of Fenrir's hand. "I've seen it more than once; a poor sap gets himself infatuated with a seer's 'otherworldly beauty' and ends up heartbroken."
"You've gotta be exaggerating," Garm denied. "It's impossible to say that every time someone falls in love with a seer it ends in tragedy."
Fenrir huffed and turned to face the younger werewolf. "Just imagine trying to relate to someone who always knows exactly what's going to happen. You'll always be at the disadvantage because the seer will always have the upper hand. They'll know when you'll get together, how your life will unfold, even when it all ends. Who wants to be in a relationship with someone who knows exactly when you are going to die?"
Fenrir sighed at the stubborn look in Garm's dark eyes. "Who wants to be in love with someone who won't even fight to save your life if they think your death was meant to be?" Fenrir asked quietly, holding Garm's gaze, who refused to look away.
"I," Garm said loudly, hands clenched at his sides, "think you are being way too cynical."
Fenrir chuckled lowly. "I am?"
"Especially for someone who is supposed to fall in love with Harry," Garm crowed.
"I think you need to think about what you are saying a little bit more before you blurt it out," Fenrir mused. "I am supposed to fall in love with the seer? Okay, fine. But how does that guarantee me a happy ending? Just because I fall in love with him doesn't mean he'll fall in love with me."
"But-" Garm objected, but Fenrir ignored him and continued on.
"Besides, I thought we were talking about your unwise attraction to our quarry. Shouldn't you be pleased that I'm not going to pursue Harry?"
"That's just it!" Garm threw his hands up into the air. "Just because I'm attracted to Harry doesn't mean I'm going to pursue him either! You're the one interrogating me just because I'm acting my age. I'm the one who is actually concerned for you."
"I'm not so old that I need someone like you taking care of me," Fenrir scoffed.
"No, but you're acting like a child, which is exactly why you need my help." Garm gulped as Fenrir froze, knowing that he had crossed a line best left untouched. He swallowed his fear and continued on though. "If falling in love with Harry is inevitable, then why are you giving up before you've even started? You should be trying to make the best out of your situation! Just because there isn't the greatest precedent for relationships with seers doesn't mean you're absolutely doomed. You should at least try!"
"Garm," Fenrir said softly, and the teenage werewolf instantly quieted. "Go get Harry."
"Alpha?" Garm asked, and Fenrir slowly backed up into him and began walking him towards the bakery.
"In a moment, I am going to cancel the ward I set up," Fenrir said calmly, and Garm's eyes darkened as he caught the scent of deadly magic. "That will alert them to our presence. No doubt Harry is already ready to go, so I want you to grab him and run as far as you can. Do you remember how to summon me?"
Garm nodded shakily, too afraid to speak. He had had a few encounters with wizards before, but never so many and such strong ones too.
"If he resists, tell him that there are aurors trailing us and then if they capture him, he'll be turned into one of the Fettered."
"Fettered?" Garm whispered in confusion, and Fenrir nodded solemnly.
"He'll understand. Voldemort's base is to the east. Ideally, try and go in that direction. I'm sure these bastards have some idea where it is though, so that's probably where they'll be. Do not let Harry wield a wand, no matter how the bleak the situation," Fenrir ordered, and Garm faltered for a second.
"Why not, Alpha?" Garm questioned. "With how strong seers are, even if they aren't trained, they should be lethal on the battlefield."
"They are," Fenrir confirmed. "To everything in a who-knows-how-many mile radius. Seers are too powerful. They're not like the petty charlatans who pretend that they practice true divination; it takes an incredible amount of magic to peer even a second into the future, let alone weeks or years like a seer can."
"How strong is Harry then?" Garm asked, voice shaking with nervousness. "If he can see as many potential timelines as he claimed he could then…"
"See what I don't want you to let him get his hands on a wand?" Fenrir asked grimly. "The situation's bad enough without having to deal with a walking bomb just waiting to go off."
"I understand." Fenrir chanced a look back at the other werewolf. Garm's face was pale white, but his eyes were a cold amber. Fenrir could sense the wolf raging just under Garm's skin and he nodded in satisfaction. Garm would defend the seer, even until the end.
"Just one last thing," Fenrir said, exhaling harshly as a man with a long white beard Apparated not even twenty feet away. He swore mentally; at this distance, he could probably dodge any spell that the old man cast, but any closer…
"Is that Dumbledore!?" Garm gasped incredulously.
"Focus!" Fenrir snapped. "If you find yourself with out any recourse left, then go to Ottery St. Catchpole. One of the Dark Lord's plants resides there. I will go there as well as soon as I shake off this group. Do you understand?"
Garm was silent for a long moment before he took a shaky step backwards, edging towards the bakery. He smiled weakly. "Don't die, Alpha. I'm sure Harry would be very disappointed in you."
Fenrir laughed lowly, tensing as Dumbledore's sharp gaze slowly swept over the village, examining every nook and cranny. He didn't know what caused the Leader of the Light to come to this backwater town, but he knew he'd make him rue the decision if it was the last thing he ever did.
"I'll be sure to keep safe," Fenrir said mirthfully, feeling his bloodlust rise as he caught sight of Lupin by Dumbledore's side. It must have been his lucky day. "Go. Now!"
The ward was dropped and Fenrir watched as Dumbledore's icy blue gaze snapped to him, only to widen at the dark curse that hurtled towards him. A quick flick of his wrist and an unfortunate auror fell in a flash of green light.
He really did hate magic; it took the fun out of everything, but he was a pragmatist, and there was no way in hell that he was making it out of this little scuffle alive if he used brute strength alone. He kept an eye on the defensive contingent of Light warriors, only fully focusing on the fight once he saw a white and black blur sprint through the village's gates and out towards the woods. Dumbledore noticed the blur too, but Fenrir brought the old warlock's attention back to him with a quick burst of Fiendfyre.
"Greyback," Dumbledore greeted neutrally, and Fenrir snarled loudly, watching in glee as most of the group flinched back. Ah, the joys of frightening the soon to be departed. "Why are you here?"
"I could ask the same of you," Fenrir said smoothly, relishing the group's shocked looks. It was so fun setting people off guard when he didn't act like the rabid animal image he had cultivated for himself. Him, a mangy, feral child-hunter who served as a grunt for the Dark Lord? Honestly. He was just a blood-crazy murderer.
Fenrir smirked cruelly. "But I don't think I care much for your answer."
Three quick bursts of orange light were sent flying his way, and the weak shield he managed to erect crumpled under the assault. He rubbed a hand roughly over his cheek, surprised to feel the wound mending itself already and leaving behind a thin scar. From the looks on the Light side's faces, his rapid regeneration caught them by surprise as well.
"This," Fenrir said slowly, watching as the last of the panicked villagers ran screaming out of the town. Even the beggar children had been scooped up and brought to safety, and that fact alone convinced Fenrir that it was time to get serious. Thick tendrils of dark fire streamed out of his rarely used ash-wood wand, slowly igniting the wooden houses surrounding the group and spreading quickly.
Fenrir's grin stretched impossibly, baring his fangs for all to see.
"Will be fun."
…I did another Wikipedia dump on Old Norse mythology. I think my brain is broken from the sheer quantity of the things I've learned. Seriously, there is just so much!
Anyway, some questions were answered, more were raised, and we got a little bit of characterization for our trio. And look! Dumbledore and Lupin! I wonder what they're up to…
And only I know! Mwahaha!
As always, thank you to everyone who has reviewed and all that good stuff, especially those who wished me well concerning my Internet issues. They're still not fixed, but after the holidays have passed I won't have to worry about college applications anymore, so I'll try to start replying to everyone once again. You all don't know how guilty it makes me to not be able to thank you all individually, so I hope a great, big thank you will suffice for now!
Anyway, I hope everyone is enjoying the holidays so far, and I wish you all a happy new year. 2010, woot!
Ariaeris~
