Sorry for the wait, but from now on I'll just warn you that the updates will generally come a lot slower than normal - maybe every couple of months - because I'm graduating high school on Thursday and then starting full-time employment, so I really don't know how busy I'll be. Fair warning now, but I do plan on finishing this. Promise. ;)

...

Remus found Harry a few hours later, sitting at the base of a large tree. He had left Harry alone for a couple of hours, giving him some space, before he had the thought that perhaps Harry would try to run away if left alone too long. He rose quickly and followed the scent that Harry had left behind, realizing as he went that the trail was too easy - therefore, the child probably didn't plan on running.

However, when he found Harry calmly sitting under the large tree, he couldn't help the wave of relief that swept through him.

Harry looked upset, but not like he'd been crying. This worried him – if Harry hadn't been crying, he was burying his emotions. For a boy that young to be able to bury his emotions with such ease was concerning.

Harry didn't look up when Remus approached, so he took that as a go-ahead to get closer. He realized in the distant part of his brain that Harry had put on a pair of worn trousers in his absence; Remus had put on his own clothes after Harry had left as well as the human part of his brain pushed the wolf back and realized that it wasn't okay for a boy and a man twenty years older than the boy to be naked for long periods of time in each others' company. Their discussion had simply made Remus forget that.

He lowered himself to sit next to Harry, trying not to notice as the child scooted an almost imperceptible inch away.

"I'm sorry," Remus said after a long moment of silence. "I know now that I should've done more to help you in the beginning, but my own doubts are part of what held me back. I've said it already, but just to reiterate – I don't plan on being your dictator. Think of me as...as an uncle. I..."

"Not uncle," Harry interrupted. "I don't care for uncles after Vernon."

"Alright," Remus nodded, outwardly calm but inwardly cursing the fat man he'd never liked. "How about an older brother, then? An older brother who only wants the best for his younger brother and will do anything short of murder to keep him happy."

The boy shrugged noncommittally, but he appeared to be at least a little pleased. If not pleased, then...accepting.

"How about we start by getting to know each other?" Remus suggested. "I'll tell you something about myself, and then you share something about yourself. Sound fair?"

Harry nodded. "Alright," he allowed, turning to face Remus almost subconsciously. "You first."

...

It wasn't easy, Remus realized, to get Harry to begin to trust him. Harry - or, Itzal, as he insisted - hadn't trusted anyone for most likely as long as he could remember, and so learning something so new would take a very long time.

Remus didn't go back to the wizarding world or people in general in the following weeks - he stayed solely with Harry, trying to learn more about him and earn his trust, if not his friendship. They stayed in the forest, and Remus could see that Harry felt comfortable there. At first it confused Remus, but then it struck him - this was Harry's home. The forest was where Harry had been living for four years, even if it wasn't the same one every time.

At first Harry had been nothing short of skittish around Remus. He would flinch when Remus got too close, and he was always stiff and on his guard. It saddened the older werewolf, but he could understand. He was the unknown.

However, if there was ever a time to be grateful he was a werewolf, he knew it was now. It was his being the boy's Alpha that caused the wild side of Harry to trust Remus, and he knew how much the wolf's instincts could influence the wizard. Harry grew to be more trustful quicker than even Remus expected.

Of course, Harry was still defiant several times, but Remus was beginning to suspect that it was Harry's natural stubbornness shining through. He was a lot more like Lily than Remus had first realized. There had been a few times where even through Remus' seeming endless patience that he had felt ready to snap with Harry's unwillingness to believe that Remus only wanted the best for him, and didn't indeed want to control everything about him. But, he reflected, that was much like the same struggle that most parents had when their children became teenagers. It was only different with Harry because his belief was that wanting to control followed wanting to cause harm.

It was after one such exhausting day that Remus was coming back from securing the perimeter when he found Harry already asleep below the tree overhanging they'd decided to settle down in for the night. His upper body was leaned against the trunk - clearly he hadn't meant to fall asleep right there or so quickly.

Remus stopped and couldn't help staring at the boy. He looked so little, so small while he slept, and it reminded Remus once more that Harry was still just a little boy. His heart hurt at these thoughts - Harry didn't deserve this, being a werewolf and then being confused with an Alpha who was by and large a complete stranger to him. Already Harry had hardened his heart and his trust in others was severely diminished. A ten-year-old boy shouldn't know how to deliver such a fierce glare to a fully-grown man, but Harry was capable of that and more. He wished Harry could just act like the little boy that he was.

Remus knelt down in front of the child, knees cracking slightly as he was expecting the full moon again in one week and his old body was weakened. He gently lifted the boy away from the tree so that he wouldn't wake up sore, hand on the back of Harry's head to support it like he had when Harry was a baby. It was instinct more than anything, but it helped anyway as otherwise Harry probably would have woken by the sudden jerking if his head had flopped down.

Remus hadn't realized that Harry had tensed when Remus first touched him until his hand moved to the back of his neck and Harry instantly went limp. Remus recognized the sign - he remembered that a hand to the back of the neck was almost like a werewolf's show of dominance, while providing comfort and security to the cub they touched. The cub going limp was their instinct, like a pup to their mother. And while Remus knew that Harry was asleep and had no control over his wolf's submissiveness, he couldn't help but feel just a bit happy at the child's show of trust. It would still take some work, but half of Harry was already comfortable with Remus. Now it was just the other half that needed to trust him. Remus knew that that would be much harder than the wolf.

Remus carefully laid Harry down on the softer ground, and the boy shifted a bit after he had been set down before instinctively moving closer to Remus. Remus sighed quietly, his heart longing to feel the boy's love, and lied down next to Harry, dropping quickly off to sleep himself.

...

The pain was incredible. Joints popping, bones breaking - it was nothing new to him, but still he always seemed to forget the pain of being a werewolf until it came to the week leading up to and the week after transforming, though that was nothing compared to the excruciating agony when the moon first rose.

He screamed in pain as his shoulder blades expanded, rib cage widening to accommodate the larger heart and lungs. He heard his Alpha in pain a few feet away from him, and felt the overwhelming need to go to him. He still had most of his human mind though, and through the harmony of pain he recognized that it was merely his wolf responding to pack instinct. He felt a brief flare of disgust from his human mind at the thought before finally his mentality shifted, and his human side was smothered with the wolf's thoughts and instincts.

The pain in his joints was rapidly fading as the wolf's body chemicals fought the pain out. The young wolf cub panted heavily for a moment, and then when he heard the other wolf make a noise in its throat, he went over to his Alpha without a second thought. He nudged his head against his leg invitingly, asking him through that motion to come play with him. The wolf known as Moony shook his body briefly, as though shaking water from his fur, and then steadied his stance and walked from the cave, the cub trotting along contentedly beside him.

...

I hope you loved it enough to REVIEW! I do need some ideas on how to move the story along a bit - I'll admit that this chapter was a bit dull, and I have a few ideas floating around in my head, but nothing definite. Any thoughts from you? I promise that even if you think it's stupid, it will probably help me at this point. ;)