"Is it true you're friends with werewolves?"

"Well, we've barely met but I do like to think that Mr. Lupin and I will grow to be very fond of each other," Stiles replied cheekily to the Minister's question.

They had asked him a serious of controlled questions to set up a baseline. Stiles had to work very hard not to bark out a laugh. Even if he hadn't become accustomed to speaking without lying yet omitting the truth because he was constantly around werewolves who could hear if his heart skipped a beat, he was also the sheriff's kid. Stiles has played with the polygraph machine at the station plenty of times when he was bored. He knew how to play this game, but it was amusing that they thought they could beat him with such a simple tactic.

"I have a feeling we will get along swimmingly, Mr. Stilinski," Remus replied with an amused grin of his own. Next to him, Sirius was smirking mischievously.

McGonagall sent him a chiding look, as did others, but Remus ignored it. During their break, Harry had explained that Remus was a Marauder. A group made up of his father, Sirius, and Remus(plus another that he'd rather not mention). They were clever, mischief makers. Though Remus seemed like the rule biding good doer, he shouldn't ever be underestimated when it comes to cleverness.

"Since your time from either Hogwarts and Salem, have you interacted with werewolves?" The Minister asked, getting back to the task at hand.

"Yes." Was Stiles's reply.

As much as he would love to brag about his adventures, he needed to be careful. At the moment he had the leverage. It seemed like his outburst from earlier about what he's been through since he's been exiled wasn't enough information for them. Stiles needed to maintain the leverage and that meant keeping as much information from them as possible. Deep down he knew it was a personal spite to Dumbledore. A man who prided himself on knowing anything and everything. Switching the dynamics just pleased Stiles greatly.

"Care to give specifics?" The Minister prompted.

"Sure," Stiles replied with a shit eating grin. "Werewolves, or Lycanthropes, are creatures tied to the moon's phases. It's during the full moon when the were-creatures powers are the most powerful, but also makes him the most deadly. More beast than man. Instincts are heightened and well, best not to be around any that haven't mastered control. And by the confused looks I'm going to guess you weren't aware that there are different types of werewolves? Tsk, tsk...there are different types of wolves depending on the area and region. Not to mention all the different origin cases through mythologies and culture. Did you think that there was only one kind? Huh, maybe it's best I got kicked out. I learned more apparently in one summer than I would have in 7 years of school and...what? 145 years of being a teacher at a magical school?"

Okay, maybe that was a low blow and he was being specifically cruel, but he has been carrying around this anger for a long time.

He cleared his throat. "My turn. What's Greyback doing that's got you particularly interested in me?"

All this time Dumbledore's kept a calm demeanor. Being in his position he must be used to outburst just as Stiles's. But it was more than that. He's been analyzing Stiles as much as Stiles has been analyzing this whole situation. When he made a move to speak, Stiles butted in.

"And I'll remind you that I can tell that it's more than recruiting. I wouldn't be brought in if it was just that. There are plenty of werewolf hunters in the world that you could ask to consult if you were merely looking to take him and his pack down. It's nothing to do either with who he's biting. The humans, and creatures, I know who knows about the supernatural may not know a person can be both a magic user and a werewolf, I do. You do too. One is sitting at this table. Greyback is one too. You also know what I'm like and what I'm capable of. Do you really want me going off on my own, without knowing what the hell I'll plan that can, and probably will ruin your names?"

"Is that a threat, Mr. Stilinski?" The Minister asked, flabbergasted.

Stiles didn't miss a beat. "It's a promise, sir." He locked eyes with Dumbledore before continuing, "Let's stop beating around the bush and get on the same page. What does Greyback want? And what do you want? And I'm smart enough to know it's possible it's not the same thing."

The tension in the room could be cut with a knife and the silence reigned for well over a minute. Neither Stiles nor Dumbledore backing down or blinking.

"Greyback's had the same M.O. for as long as he's been an Alpha. Some of his pack have been muggles or muggleborn, but mostly they've been wizards and witches. It wasn't until lately that we've noticed his presence in...other areas." Dumbledore said as he took out his wand and began to form symbols in midair.

Stiles was glad he was now practiced in keeping a straight face when shown alarming facts.

There were various symbols that he recognized and luckily they would supply enough answers for them.

"Do you recognize these symbols?" Dumbledore asked.

"Yes. A lot of them are Celtic symbols used by druids. They're also in different places in mythology and architecture and literature. Alchemy too, I think. But I assume you'd like to know the connection between them and Greyback?" Stiles asked. There were plenty of nods and Stiles took a deep breath. "When a werewolf becomes an Alpha and they gain a pack...I can't explain why, but a symbol is needed. Sometimes it's an ideology, sometimes it's a symbol."

"Why?" Harry asked, casting Remus a side look, before looking back at Stiles.

Stiles knew that many in the room looked down on werewolves. Thinking them savage beast with nothing more to their personalities than blood-lust. Greyback sure as hell wasn't helping the case, Stiles guessed. So he decided to shed some better light on pack dynamics.

"A lot of these symbols carry a meaning. Usually, a message that ties people together on a belief. Because that's what a pack is. A group of people that become one...that become a family and they hold this symbol, this meaning, and belief, at their core. It helps them during the full moon, it helps them through life. As a lone member of society and as a pack. When a wolf becomes an Alpha they are drawn to a symbol that kind of manifests what their inner wolf wants to project." Stiles explained.

"And these symbols here?" Dumbledore asked, motioning to the floating, glowing symbols.

"I don't know all of them, but I recognize a few. There was a pack...of Alphas. An Alpha pack." Stiles supplied, frowning deeply as he remembered that horrible time in their lives. They nearly lost a lot of them in horrible, monstrous ways.

"That...how would that work?" Remus asked, baffled.

"Normally it wouldn't. Normally when an Alpha is around another, there's...tension. The need to show domination and prove you're stronger is, well, strong. Instincts like that are hard to argue with. But the Alpha pack had a huge grudge with a family of hunters. Survival was the main objective and it got...ugly. When emotions that intense are mixed with supernatural power such as an Alpha werewolf...logic has rare placing. Deucalion, Ennis, and Kali." Stiles said, pointing to a different symbol with each name(something he learned from Derek after they were on better terms. Before joining Deucalion, Ennis and Kali had their own pack symbol) "Were Alphas who killed their packs to gain their strengths and power. They formed a pack of Alphas...somehow going against nature and making it work. Though it was clear that Deucalion was the Alpha of the Alphas...his other name was The Demon Wolf. And he lived up to the name..."

"You said were?" McGonagall asked after a pause.

"Ennis and Kali are dead. Deucalion lost some confidence, as well as his pack, but he's still very much alive." Stiles replied.

"Is that all?" Dumbledore asked.

"There were Alpha twins but one died and the other became an omega," Stiles replied, doing his best to act like he didn't notice the Triskelion symbol that the Hale family uses.

"Thanks for taking me to eat at a Muggle place," Stiles said as he leaned back against the booth. He swirling the straw in his milkshake as he thanked Harry, Remus, and Sirius.

As confident as he felt during the meeting, he was drained now. Drained and worried. Turns out that Dumbledore didn't really know what Greyback was doing, only that it involved Alphas. Having lived through Deucalion's attack, Stiles had a better idea of what that was like than what the other adults could imagine. To them, werewolves weren't as much of a threat because they were seen as second-class citizens. Stiles just wanted to get back to Beacon and warn Derek and Scott about a possible threat from England.

Deucalion had an accent, so he may be in Europe. There was a small, hopeful voice in Stiles's mind that told him that Greyback's business wouldn't hop the pond. But it wasn't a sure thing.

"I learned to love Muggle living to piss off my family. And when I was on the run, it was easier to hide among the Muggles." Sirius said in reply as he took a bite of his food.

"Anything to make you feel comfortable, Stiles. The tension in the room was nearly suffocating. I can't imagine being the one to stare down Dumbledore." Remus said and Harry nodded, sipping from his own milkshake.

"So...why don't you tell us who from home you think is in danger?" Sirius said seriously.

Stiles's eyes widened and he clenched his fist closed.

"I hope I've given you enough evidence to prove that I am on your side." Sirius faked being hurt at the distrust and Remus elbowed him.

Then the wolf looked at Stiles with a gentle expression. "It's not that far of a leap. And you were being very careful with your wording. If there is something you're concerned about, Sirius and I just wish to help."

"Me too," Harry added.

Stile looked at all three of them before sighing. "I did recognize another symbol. It belongs to...a friend. He's an Alpha. I'm just worried he may be in danger and have no idea. I want a chance to warn him, but I feel like I'm having all of my actions monitored."

"Probably. I mean not here since I placed a few charms to make sure we don't stand out, but I wouldn't put it above the Ministry to have you followed or bugged. But luckily for you, you're friends with us. If there's a message you want to be sent, leave it to me." Sirius said.

"Padfoot's really good at sending secret messages through safe channels," Harry added as encouragement.

Stiles nodded. "I'll think of something to send. Something he'll know it's from me. Something short and sweet and to the point."

"Stiles!"

Stiles barely had the time to turn in the direction he heard his name being called when he was tackled into a hug. When he had his bearing together he returned the hug.

"Neville! How are you?" Stiles asked as he got a good look at the Gryffindor.

"Great! Ginny said you were back and I couldn't believe it. I wanted to contact you and I tried but..." he looked down at his feet in shame at having failed.

Stiles smiled despite it, he believed that Neville would try to keep in touch. He was just that sort of person. He was a really good friend.

"Hey, it's okay. I know you did. And well, I'm here now. I'll give you my address so you can send me letters if you want once I head back home." Stiles said.

"Are you going back soon?" Neville asked, frown on his features.

"I'm not sure if I'm honest," Stiles answered as he shared a look with Harry.

Harry had been watching the exchange since they entered the twin's joke shop. He remembered how much Neville and Stiles had bonded during the Twi-Wizard Tournament. In helping Harry solve his clues and keeping him alive, to learning how to dance for the Yule Ball.

After Stiles was sent home, Neville was only one of many who was seriously pissed. He tried to get in contact to Stiles himself by reaching out to Salem Institute. When they realized Stiles had been expelled and banished from the magical side, they were all even more upset. Hagrid himself went into a full tirade about unfairness. But that didn't stop Neville. He went to every teacher he could think would help him. Even to the ones he didn't like or thought were creepy, so long as he thought they had a clue of how to contact Stiles.

But it was all useless.

"Well, while you are here, we should hang out," Neville suggested with a happy grin.

Stiles nodded. "I'd love nothing more."

"Well, I should get going. I promised Gran I'd finish my errands before dinner. I'll stop by the Burrow tomorrow to catch up." Neville waved at them before exiting the shop.

"God, he's so...grown up," Stiles commented as they watched Neville through the window.

"He wouldn't let anyone speak ill of you when rumors began to spread about why you were expelled. He stood up to anyone, regardless of who they were. Adult or classmate, authority figure or otherwise."

Stiles spun at the sound of that voice, his heart racing and beating loudly in his chest.

"Cedric."

Cedric walked up to Stiles, charming smile on his lips, dressed in elegant robes and carrying a briefcase. Even though he's a graduate, Cedric wore a yellow and black tie with his attire and Stiles liked that he did. Yellow always made it seem like Cedric was glowing. Well, part of it Stiles thinks was the smile, but the yellow part probably had a hand in it.

"Hello, Stiles. It's very good to see you again."

"Oh, hey Cedric. I didn't know you were-" Harry was cut off as the twins appeared seemingly out of nowhere.

"Harry, there you are!" George greeted as he wrapped one arm around Harry's shoulder.
"Yes, there's something new that you just have to see!" Fred added as he matched his brother's actions.
"Come on, there's no time to waste!" They said together as they ushered Harry away.

"Uh...okay," Stiles said as he watched them disappear into the shop. Then he turned back to Cedric. "Hi."

"Hi," Cedric repeated. They stood there just looking at each other before Cedric cleared his throat, "So...what have you been up to today?"

"Huh? Oh, uh, I was just in the Muggle side having lunch with Harry and his guardians. But they had some errands to run and Harry thought it was a perfect time for me to see the twin's joke shop." Stiles explained.

"It is pretty amazing. So have you seen much of Diagon Alley yet?" Cedric asked.

"No, haven't had the time," Stiles replied.

"Oh, well...maybe I could show you around?" Cedric asked, cheeks tinting slightly.

Stiles own matched as he nodded. "I would love to. I...I've missed you."

"I've missed you too." Cedric said and the motioned towards the door, "Shall we?"

"I should probably let Harry know-" Stiles began but was cut off by Ginny who appeared out of nowhere. Geeze, were all the Weasley's stealthy?

"Don't worry about Harry, Stiles. You go have fun. I'll tell him to meet you at the Leaky Cauldron around...say seven?"

"Seven sounds fine to me," Cedric said.

Stiles nodded to Ginny in thanks, before leaving the shop with Cedric.

Harry came back towards the front with George and Fred as they met up with Ginny. "There's no new merchandise is there?"

The Weasley siblings just rolled their eyes at Harry.

"Derek, I'm starting to get really worried now. First Stiles gets kidnapped and now the Sheriff's MIA!?" Scott exclaimed as he followed Derek into his loft.

Derek growled lightly as he went to his alarm and deactivated it. "Don't you think I am too? But it's not like we've got any leads to chase!"

"Actually..."

Scott and Derek turned to Derek's Betas who were all huddled together on one side of the loft. It had been Isaac who spoke and was looking at a heightened spot across the loft. Derek and Scott followed his line of sight and spotted a...

"What the hell?" Derek asked.

"Is that an owl?" Scott asked.

"Yeah, it flew in here a few hours ago," Boyd replied.

"Then why is it still here?" Derek growled, eyes flashing red towards the owl. In response, the owl flapped its wings and gave a warning cry.

"We tried getting rid of it...but it just wouldn't leave." Erica scoffed as she crossed her arms and glared at the owl.

"You mean to tell me that three werewolves couldn't get rid of a flying rat?" Derek turned to glare at his Betas.

"It's very vicious!" Isaac cried.

"And it came with a letter. We tried to get it but it's fast." Boyd said.

"A letter?" Derek asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes. Addressed to Sourwolf." Erica replied with a smirk, knowing that would gain Derek's attention.

"Stiles! It's from Stiles!" Scott exclaimed.

Derek looked towards the owl, he had to flash his Alpha eyes since it's natural ink black feathers made it blend in with the shadowy corner it chose to claim. But sure enough, it was carrying a letter.

"Call to it," Scott said.

Derek looked at him in annoyance. "It's not a wolf. I can't just order it around. The most I can do is scare it."

"We've tried doing that for half an hour before we noticed the letter. Tough luck, that's one strong S.O.B bird." Isaac claimed.

"If it's some sort of messenger bird, maybe you can try holding out your arm?" Boyd suggested.

Derek looked at his Beta, Boyd being the least to try and make a fool out of him. Boyd just shrugged. It was only a suggestion and the only one he had at the moment. With nothing else to lose, Derek sighed and held out his arm. It took a moment but then the owl made a nose dive and just before it hit the ground, opened its wings and circled the loft once before landing elegantly on Derek's arm.

The Alpha walked it over to the table and nudged it onto it and grabbed the letter. The owl made a few squawking noises but otherwise behaved. Though it looked like it was glaring at all of them.

Scott snatched the letter and tried to open it but couldn't. Derek glared at him before snatching the letter back and doing the same. Though it opened for him.

"What's it say?" Isaac asked. Scott nodded in apprehension, both trying to read the letter over Derek's shoulders.

Derek shrugged them off and opened the letter and decided to read it out loud.

Dear Sourwolf,

I'm sorry about the abrupt departure. At the moment I can't explain. Just know I'm safe and with friends. I can't make contact with anyone back home, not even my dad or Scott. Too risky. I'm being carefully monitored and I don't want to shed any light on you guys. But I needed to warn you. There's a magic user who is also a werewolf by the name of Fenrir Greyback. He's British and lethal. And he's looking into Alphas with packs. From what I know he has info on Deucalion's, Ennis's, and Kali's packs back from before they formed the Alpha pack. But they aren't the only ones.

...I saw the Triskelion there too. I doubt the threat will reach you. I'll do my best to nip it at the butt from where I am, but just keep vigilant. I'll write again when I can.

P.S. Please feed and water the owl. He's had a long flight.

P.P.S. Be careful. He bites.

-Stiles

Just as Derek finished reading that, the owl bit Derek and broke through the skin.

"Ow!" Derek cried as he pulled his finger away and glared at the owl, who just glared back.

"So...what do we do now?" Scott asked.

"Boyd, get a bowl of water for the damn bird. Erica go get it a mouse." Derek ordered.

"Ew!" Erica scrunched up her nose.

"I wasn't asking," Derek said. She sighed and went to do what she was asked.

"Are we going to try to send a letter back to Stiles?" Scott asked.

Derek was quiet for a moment before he sighed. "I don't think so."

"What? Why not!?" Scott demanded.

"If he's being watched, then it could be too risky. Sadly...we just don't know enough." Derek answered.

"So what are we going to do?" Isaac asked.

"We have a threat and a name. We'll start by learning as much about this Fenrir Greyback as we can and see how he possibly connects to Stiles." Derek explained. Then he glared towards the owl, "And for the love of god, someone get some damn newspapers before that bird shits on the floor!"