Disclaimer: In chapter one.
AN: Please review.
The first snows of winter had struck the forest. Already howls were ringing up and down the river as more and more wolves poured into the forest. Oblivious to the quickly approaching Moon Council, Ginny was flying through the night beside Taranau. After he had taught her the basics of swimming, which she had become highly proficient in quickly, she had taught him to fly a broomstick. He was a natural, just as she had been when she had first discovered the joys of flying. She loved to watch as he flew and he had been caught staring with wonder in his eyes as she flew around him on many occasions. It wasn't rare for Eires to join their night flights but tonight she had not joined them.
The moon was descending and the dawn was fast approaching when they finally touched down again. "I'll see you again tomorrow after lunch, yeah?" Ginny asked.
Taranau had not responded immediately, so she turned to face him. "Sorry Ginny but we shouldn't fly tomorrow night. It would be a very bad idea."
He seemed to be very serious. "Why not?"
"I can't tell you."
"Can't?" She asked with disbelief.
"It isn't my secret to tell, Ginny. I can't tell anyone. I'd tell you if I could, but I have to keep other people's secrets. If I didn't, how could you trust me yourself?" Ginny accepted this reasoning with a short nod.
"Sorry." She had replied simply for she felt guilty, having questioned him as she had. Taranau just tucked her into his arms, he breathed deeply and inhaled the delicious scent of Ginny before nuzzling her neck with his head. "Taranau!" She giggled, with just the right tone to tell him that she didn't actually mind.
When they eventually released one another their faces were slightly flushed and they looked into each other's eyes, Ginny watching the flames dancing in his, Taranau watching the golden stars glittering within hers. He leant forward and kissed the tip of her nose before finally stepping back. He was sure that her broad smile was reflected upon his own face. "Goodnight Ginny."
"Goodnight Taranau."
With those words she had stepped backwards and turned, all the while smiling, and wandered back up to the Burrow and to her soft and warm bed.
It was the next morning when her fears that Taranau might not truly trust her resurfaced. She went down to their lake after lunch and sat waiting for him. She was about to give up hope that he would come to be with her, even during the afternoon, when he appeared at the treeline.
She stood and waited causing him to have walk to her. He quickly noticed that there was something that was upsetting Ginny. Taranau was about to take her into his arms when her hand came to his chest. It rested just above his heart. Ginny whispered, barely loud enough for Taranau to hear, "Trust." And Taranau knew immediately what had upset her so much. Even after having explained his reasons to her last night, she still believed that he didn't trust her.
He put his hand to her own heart. "I trust you. With all of my heart. I swear." A solitary tear dripped from her eye and her arm fell. Taranau rushed forward to hold her.
"Sorry, Taranau. I am sorry. I should have known that. I should have trusted you." More tears followed the first. He didn't reply. He continued to hold her as he kissed along her neck and pulled her down into his lap.
They soon lost track of time and curled up in each other's arms with Ginny's head upon his shoulder and fell asleep together. They woke with the moon. The howling of a hundred thousand wolves caused them to stir and Ginny to grip Taranau tightly. Unable to pry Ginny's tight grip from him, he rose gently and carried her to the boundaries of the Burrow and slowly rested her upon her own feet. She was shivering in his arms.
Taranau remembered her earlier fears and decided that he would put them to rest forever. He knew that both Cysged and Carrog would be furious when they discovered what he wanted to do next. "Ginny, I want to tell you a secret."
"You don't have to do that Taranau."
"I know, but I want to. Ginny, Taranau isn't my real name. Or at least it isn't my birth name, it is my real name because my true family use it. Any way the name I was born with, the name my first mother called me was…"
"You don't have to do this Taranau." She had whispered, interrupting him. And then he had whispered back. She gasped before she giggled. Harry Potter had started kissing the tip of her nose.
A ripple of magic ran through the forest. It carried a soft breeze with it and Carrog and Cysged knew what it meant. Someone had discovered Taranau's true identity. The magic that they had used to hide him collapsed and for the first time in many years a name appeared on a list in the Department of Mysteries as they had come into close contact with one of the 'Law Writers' as the Unspeakables had chosen to name them. It was embellished in gold and written in a cursive script. For the first time in over six years the name Harry Potter had found its way into the wizarding world.
Albus Dumbledore was waiting in his office. The Moon Council would be tonight and he didn't want to miss any information that Remus could provide him about the decisions and activities of the evening. He looked out of the window. Where were these moon council meetings? How far was he from the largest group of wolves in existence, a group who for one single night every three years and three seasons acted as a single great pack? For all he knew they were meeting in the Forbidden Forest right at that moment beneath his gaze and he simply wasn't seeing them.
The last moon council had been very interesting, one of Albus's enemies had been killed. Perhaps this time more good news would be coming. And if not, well, then he could push Remus to act as his personal envoy to the Moon Council. Surely even these savage beasts had respect for the Great Albus Dumbledore.
Alas at the moment it was just a matter of having to wait for moonset.
