Magic In His Eyes

by MissYuki1990

"Harry?" John asked in a wavering voice, and Agent Potter turned around to face him slowly, clasping his hands behind his back as the right corner of his lips tilted up, eyes warming noticeably as a soft snort left his nose, and he stood at attention, saluting the Sheriff jokingly. "Hey, John," he greeted, waving his right hand. "It's been a while." WARNINGS IN THE FIRST CHAPTER

10. Beacon

cut

"Names and attributes must be accommodated to the essence of things and not the essence to the names,
since things come first and names afterwards."

- Galileo Galilei

cut

Harry and Stiles were startled by the door opening, breaking the silence filled with occasional turning of old, yellowed pages, soft breathing and hardly audible hums.

"Wow…" Scott looked around the room with wide eyes, seeing the many books strewn around, open on specific pages which meant very little to him since he had hardly any idea what the two were doing.

"Scott! We weren't expecting you," Harry greeted warmly, marking the page he had been reading and closing the book with Stiles copying his actions.

"I didn't have anything to do so I thought I'd come with mom since she's starting her shift," Scott answered as he walked over to the chair occupied by Stiles, taking his jacket off in stride and hanging it neatly on the back of the chair before he braced his hands on it and looked at the title of the book Stiles has been reading. "Sacrifices to Gods and Benefits of Sacrificing a Virgin?"

Scott raised his head, confusion written all over his face, trying to both understand the title of the ancient looking tome and figure out what it could ever have to do with their current situation.

"I don't think I follow," the young alpha spoke dryly and while Stiles snorted and shook his head, Harry merely smirked, eyes glimmering knowingly. "While Kate could have wanted to sacrifice Derek, I sincerely doubt he's in any way a virgin."

"Virginity doesn't necessarily mean a person who never had sexual intercourse," Harry clarified and Scott's eyebrows met the line of his hair. "It can also represent a person independent of the opposite gender, capable of standing on their own without need of being defined by another person. I sincerely doubt that Aphrodite was a virgin in the modern sense of the word, and yet in ancient times a lot of goddesses were called virgins despite having had intercourse and given birth to various other gods."

"Oh…" Scott raised his right hand and scratched the back of his head, looking utterly confused. "Does that mean Derek does fall into that category?"

"We don't really know," Stiles jumped in, exchanging a smirk with Harry who chuckled quietly and shook his head, taking the glass of water off of the nightstand and taking a sip before he relaxed against the pillows with an easy sigh. "We're actually grasping at straws here, reading everything that may in any way be connected to what happened to Derek. So far we've found nothing."

Scott frowned and looked at Harry, finding the wizard staring intently at the cup, the clear liquid within it sloshing slowly against the sides as Harry rotated the cup.

"Whatever she did to Derek has either never been done before or it's one of the ancient rituals that had long gone out of memory," Harry spoke, weighing each word, and it was quite obvious to both teens that the wizard was coming up with various theories even then. "I know that Tezcatlipoca was depicted with many varying abilities. The one we can even remotely connect with our current problem is the ability - according to legends - to take on the form of a turkey in which he could then cleanse people of contamination, enable them to overcome their fate, and absolve them of guilt."

Harry let go of a heavy breath and rubbed his eyes with his right hand, sliding lower against the pillows and making Stiles and Scott frown in worry. "Then again, Tezcatlipoca could also tempt people into self-destruction. Black Tezcatlipoca is also associated with death, which is in no way reassuring, to be perfectly honest."

"None of it makes sense," Stiles said, slumping in his seat, the tome he had been reading resting in his lap as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Except the part with death, why would Kate want to give Derek a chance to heal and be absolved of guilt?" the teen sounded frustrated and confused, and Scott shifted his gaze from Stiles to Harry, eyebrows narrowing when the wizard rubbed his lips with scarred fingers, squinting at something only he could see.

"Unless…" Harry murmured, making Stiles look up, the human teen's shoulders tensing. "Unless she didn't know the full extent of the ritual she used. But how did she even find out about the magic of La Iglesia?" the wizard started whispering into his chin, making the teens feel as though he was merely thinking aloud having forgotten that he had company.

"The Bestiary…" Stiles breathed out, eyes going wide, and Harry seemed to snap out of his thoughts, looking at the teen with a narrow-eyed stare.

"Bestiary?" he asked, slightly confused. "Don't you mean Grimoire?"

"What's a Grimoire?" Scott asked with a wrinkled nose.

"It's a book on magic, symbolism and various creatures," Harry answered, shrugging his right shoulder lightly, taking a deep breath before he continued his explanation. "Most wizards and witches have at least one Grimoire at home for various uses. The oldest one in our world dates as far back as ten centuries before the new era, although most Grimoires have been concealed from magic-less people to protect them. Those who were left in your world for usage are more fiction than fact, and the oldest ones you have are based on rituals performed by priests, shamans and such."

"I've heard of them, well read about them mostly," Stiles corrected himself quickly, shifting a bit in his seat. "Key of Solomon can be found easily-" the teen stopped speaking when Harry scoffed and shook his head.

"Please," he drawled, rolling his eyes. "Key of Solomon was written by a squib that dabbled in Dark Magic and thought he would be able to conquer the world by summoning demons. Sure, it is possible to use the rituals in the books, but to actually summon a demon? You need more than a few magical words, and herbs, and a sigil painted on the ground with second-grade ingredients and a bit of will and faith."

Stiles snickered and exchanged a glance with Scott who shifted his weight and crossed his arms over his chest, lips tilted up in a small smirk.

"Well, as fun as it would be to have you go on a triad about what you think about Grimoires, I don't think we're talking about the same thing," Stiles drawled dryly and Harry hned, looking at Stiles with a small, teasing glare. "The Bestiary is a book the Argents have compiled about every creature they have ever hunted. Kate could have gotten the idea from it." Harry frowned in contemplation, lightly grasping his chin between his right index finger and thumb, humming thoughtfully and tilting his head to the right a bit.

"For how long have the Argents been in the hunting business?" asked the wizard after a few long minutes of contemplative silence.

"Since the eighteenth century," Scott was quick to answer and Harry looked at him with raised eyebrows.

"Only about three hundred years?" he asked, and neither Scott nor Stiles could actually decide if he was impressed or appalled.

"Lydia has the complete copy of it," Stiles supplied. "It's in ancient Latin and she's been translating it for us, but she didn't get far with everything that's been going on."

"Could you ask her to bring it to me? I might work a bit quicker," Harry asked and Scott immediately pulled out his phone.

"I'll ask her if she's free," Scott said, dialing Lydia's number, "maybe she can bring it over during the visiting hours."

"It's already so late?" Stiles frowned, turning to look at Harry who snapped the fingers of his right hand, eyebrows rising when he realized how late it already was.

"Time sure flies," muttered the wizard and flapped his right hand through the misty numbers making them disappear while Stiles simply gaped at the small show of practical magic.

"Hey, Lydia?" the two looked at Scott when he spoke up, and the young alpha turned to look at them. "Are you free right now?" Scott waited while Lydia answered, a small smile tilting his lips and he winked at the other two. "That's great. Would you mind coming over to the hospital? And bring the Bestiary with you."

Scott nodded at the other two while Lydia answered him, and Stiles and Harry exchanged a glance, finally feeling as though they were getting somewhere.

"See you soon, then," Scott ended the call and took a deep breath as he tucked his phone inside the back pocket of his jeans. "She'll be here in an hour tops."

"Good," Harry said and shifted around a bit, downing his water before he placed the empty cup on the nightstand and took the book he had been reading before Scott arrived. "We might as well go back to research while we wait."

"Is there anything I can start on?" Scott asked, moving the other chair closer to the bed while Stiles went back to his own old tome.

"You can take one of the books on the nightstand," Harry answered distractedly and Scott moved to do what he was told. "If you run into a language you don't understand and prior paragraphs are connected to anything similar to our situation, just mark the passage and I'll check it out later."

"Sure," Scott said as he took a seat in his chair, eyebrows rising at the title of the book he had taken. "Blood Rituals and Why Not To Dabble in Dark Arts'?" Scott mumbled under his breath. "This is insane-"

"Shhhhh!" the other two hissed at Scott and he blushed furiously, shifting in his seat until he got as comfortable as he could. Glancing up he found the other two already nose deep in their respective tomes, and a small smile tilted Scott's lips before he took a deep breath and started on the first paragraph.

Suffice to say, it didn't take him long to realize that he had absolutely no idea what he was reading.

cut

Peter closed the book he had just finished and turned to the side to look at the spiral staircase leading to the upper floor where Derek's bedroom was. His nephew had arrived to the apartment looking worse for wear, hardly sparing a glance in Peter's direction before muttering something about taking a shower and going to bed and not being disturbed.

Seeing that Derek had started to look like death warmed over, Peter decided it was wise not to comment on it and simply let the younger werewolf get some obviously much needed rest.

In the end, Peter had other things to worry about. He went through every single piece of information he had gathered from various sources and found absolutely nothing on how to handle their current situation.

The only conclusion he had made was that Kate was either really desperate or she didn't know what she was doing exactly, none of which really helped, and Peter was slowly running out of ideas.

Well…

Not really.

Right now there were two men who could actually help him, one of which would close the door in Peter's face before he'd have time to say 'hello'. The other one was bed bound in a hospital, so Peter's chances of actually getting somewhere were quite a bit higher, if - that is - Mr. Potter proved to be a little more willing to cooperate by granting Peter such information than he is with actually telling Peter what they had and when they had it.

With a heavy sigh Peter got up and grabbed his brown leather jacket, pulling it on elegantly as he made his way towards the door. Making sure they were good and locked, he walked out of the apartment building and got into his car, starting on the way to the hospital.

Maybe he would even get a clue or two about this other mystery.

You never know what life might throw at you.

cut

Scott, Stiles and Harry looked up from their respective books when the door opened and Lydia walked in, closing the door along the way before huffing and rolling her eyes at the sight of books strewn everywhere.

"You're not a really tidy bunch, are you?" she commented, walking proudly over to the bed and placing her purse at Harry's feet, immediately digging through it to take out the copied pages of the Bestiary.

"It's called a creative mess," Stiles drawled, smirking at the banshee who scoffed and rolled her eyes, throwing a few locks of strawberry blond hair over her shoulder as she handed the Bestiary to Harry.

"I've only translated the things we've had to face until now," she said while Harry placed the tome he had been reading to the side, accepting the Bestiary from Lydia and leafing through it, his nose wrinkling after several pages.

"This is horrible," he muttered, squinting at some lines. "Werewolves are rabid monsters without control, and it is best to slay them while they are in their human form?" he read from the page. "Just because most werewolves can't control their urges three nights in a month doesn't make them monsters," he grumbled under his breath, quickly flipping through the pages. "The Argents may be one of the strongest hunter families in the business, but they sure are a bit fanatic in their beliefs if this is how everything's done with them."

"You don't have to tell us about it," Stiles muttered, ducking his head, and Harry raised an eyebrow at them, finding the teens looking at the ground with sad expressions on their faces.

It didn't take long for Harry to remember their story about Allison Argent, and he took a deep breath, closing the Bestiary and placing it in his lap. "Your friend didn't die for nothing," he told them, the three looking at him with confused expressions. "According to what you've told me, she didn't have it easy, especially once her mother died because she couldn't see past this Code of theirs. The fact is that most hunters are self-righteous bastards who don't see further than their own idiocy, and a great deal of them ended up in the business hating the werewolves and other creatures because one of them hurt or killed someone the hunters loved."

Harry stopped and took a deep breath, laying his hands down on top of the Bestiary, lips pursing a bit as though he was carefully choosing his words.

"But not all hunters are like that," he finally said and looked at the teens with a small smile. "Your friend wasn't like that. She fought for what she believed in and died a hero, and that's how you should remember her. As your first love," he glanced at Scott who ducked his head, squeezing his eyes tightly shut, "as your best friend," Lydia's lips tilted up into a small smile as she nodded minutely, and Harry gifted her with a small smile before turning to Stiles, "as an inspiration as to how to be strong."

Stiles couldn't stop his lips from tilting up, something in his heart shifting and a breath of relief washing over him as he looked at Scott and Lydia.

"Besides," Harry spoke up again, shifting in his seat a bit, "the ones we've lost are never truly gone. The memories of them, the experiences we've had with them, the feelings we've had for them stay with us forever, and that-" his lips tilted in a small smirk as he shrugged his shoulders, "if you ask me - is a really comforting thought."

Before any of the three teens could say anything, two strong knocks drew their attention to the door, and Lydia and Stiles frowned while Scott stood up and walked to stand in front of the bed, Harry suddenly tensing up.

"Harry-"

"Come in!" Harry called out, interrupting Scott who looked at the wizard with a confused frown, the other two teens going rigid when the door opened and Peter walked in, cocking an eyebrow as he closed the door and stopped in front of them, crossing strong arms over his chest. He looked as he always did; cool and suave, presenting a rolling presence that said he was meant to be exactly where he was - like it was all predestined in a grand design.

"Didn't know there was a gathering," the older man droned with a smirk and a quirk of a brow drawing attention to those intense blue eyes of his.

"Peter," Harry was the first to speak up, more than obviously taken aback by Peter's appearance, but doing his best to remain calm and collected, "I didn't expect to see you today."

Peter hummed, lips pursed, and he lowered his arms before clasping his hands behind his back, glancing around the room with a scrutinizing stare and taking a few steps forward. "I see you've been doing your own bit of researching." He stopped just a few steps in front of Scott who appeared unwilling to move out of Peter's way, making the older werewolf smirk at him.

"We're trying to find out what exactly Kate did to Derek and how to stop it from advancing any further," Harry answered and the teens looked at him with almost matching frowns only to have him shake his head at them, gifting them with a small, knowing, grateful smile, that simple action telling them that they should all just step down.

"I've tried to find an answer to that, but I've come up with practically nothing," Peter said, watching Scott walk around the bed to rest one hand on Harry's right thigh in a way that was almost reassuring.

"We're nowhere near an answer, either," Harry admitted, ducking his head a bit to look at the Bestiary, fingers tapping quickly against the hard covers. "And I'm starting to think that we should take a different route."

"What do you mean?" Lydia asked and Harry looked at her. She stepped away front the foot of the bed, her tan skirt swishing audibly around a few of the books, a heavy tome in her hand which she was skimming through.

"We need to get into Kate Argent's head," he answered calmly, and while the teens choked up in shock, Peter let go of a low threatening growl.

"You mean that we need to think like a homicidal, psychotic bitch?" Stiles blabbed, eyebrows cocked, earning several exasperated sighs with Lydia snapping the book closed and placing it on the closest pile, crossing her arms over her chest and looking at Stiles with a small smirk while Scott and Peter merely exchanged a glance.

"Stiles," Harry admonished softly, lips tilting up in a small smirk while his eyes glimmered mischievously. "If information in this Bestiary about the ritual Kate used and the consequences we can expect isn't wholesome, then we can calmly conclude that Kate didn't know what she was doing and that she only needed Derek for the talisman, which would in the end mean that there's no way for us to know just what she did to him."

"And that means that we won't know how to stop whatever she did to Derek," Peter pressed out through his teeth and Harry nodded at him, sparing the werewolf a glance.

"If that's the case then we're left with only one choice, and that is to find out exactly which ritual she used and go from there."

"Shouldn't we start from there?" Lydia asked her pretty face twisted in mild confusion. "It would be much simpler to just find the correct ritual. Then we'd know what to do to counter it."

"She is right," Peter admitted, drawing Harry's attention to himself again. The wizard stared at the werewolf for a few long moments before he nodded, turned his head away from Peter and took a deep breath.

"Since I don't know for how long I'll be stuck in this place, I'll concentrate on that," spoke the wizard, looking at the teens from under messy bangs, eyes darkened with quiet warnings and shadows. "What I need you to do is make sure that Derek isn't alone. We need to know the exact moment this thing advances and in what way."

"We can't spend every living moment with him," Scott said and Harry shook his head.

"Not all of you," he tilted his head to the side to look at Peter. "We just need to make sure we keep an eye on him."

"Right now he's at home sleeping like a log," Peter informed them. "I hadn't heard him move ever since he collapsed on his bed."

"Good," Harry nodded minutely. "Visiting hours will be over soon. You should all go home."

"Shouldn't someone stay with you?" Stiles asked as he stood up and placed the tome he had been reading on the nightstand. He rolled his shoulders, pushing the sleeves of his stripped hoodie up his forearms then shoving his hands in the back pockets of his tight, blue jeans.

"There's no need," Harry answered, offering Stiles a small, reassuring smile. "You need your rest as well, and if I'm not wrong, school starts on Monday. You should be getting ready for that, not running around solving supernatural mysteries."

The three teens exchanged almost sheepish glances before all of them looked at Harry who merely raised an eyebrow at them. He blinked at them and their sudden change in attitude. He could practically taste the chagrin in the air.

"What?" he asked dully, face blank and feeling more than a tad lost, while Peter snorted and looked heavenwards.

"I think what they mean is that they're not exactly used to letting adults handle everything while they go around being normal teenagers," he disclosed, smirking at Harry who looked at him with raised eyebrows.

"Oh!" the wizard's head snapped to the side again, making everyone wonder how his neck didn't break, and he looked at the teens with such an expression of utter confusion that no one knew how to react. "Right now I feel as though I'm looking at three different versions of myself when I was your age," he marveled into his chin, making the others choke up a bit.

Harry then sighed and raised his right hand to rub the back of his head with it, and the three teens suddenly felt as though they were waiting for a verdict of some sort, not really knowing where this would go.

"I guess telling you that was a bit stupid when I look at this that way," Harry spoke dryly, right hand flopping into his lap again. "So why don't we make it like this. You guys try to concentrate on school, and we'll keep you posted every day on what we've figured out. There's really no sense in all of us losing time on research, and since you are always outside and amongst people, you'll be the first to notice if anything strange in going on."

Stunned silence settled in the room with the teens staring at Harry in absolute shock, the mere fact that there was someone there besides Deaton they could count on to do some actual work taking them aback. Sure there's John and Melissa, but with the two of them almost always working double shifts to get by - even though they were always there when they were needed - the teens couldn't actually always count on an adult being there to help around.

And Deaton was an old school Emissary, always giving advice but adoring the whole self-realization thing, and conversation with him left the teens often more confused than they were when they came to him. Sure, he helped a lot of times, but really, the man could try to figure out what it meant to give a straight answer.

As for Peter?

Well. There was very little to say on that aspect.

"Harry's right," Peter pointed out, further stunning the teens which now turned to stare at Peter with suspicious stares; ones Peter either ignored or found too amusing to look at to actually say something on that point. "We don't have any other obligations. We'll focus on research. You go to school and keep your eyes and ears open. With the Sheriff and Mrs. McCall around, we'll know for sure something's going on before it all goes downhill, especially now that both of them know what to look for."

Harry nodded in agreement, straightening a bit with a small wince before he huffed and sat back against the fluffed up pillows.

"Besides, I think I'm done for today," he muttered and rubbed his face with his hands, covering a huge yawn. "I'm about to fall asleep sitting up."

"We'll just go then," Stiles spoke up, rubbing his hands against his sides and looking at his friends, his gaze landing on Harry and full lips tilting up into a small smile. "Should we do anything about all those books?"

Harry hummed in answer and snapped the fingers of his right hand, the books arranging themselves neatly one on top of another in the far right corner of the room. "We'll know the order of the books like this," he said and relaxed against the pillow. "I'll look through my other books tomorrow to see if I can find anything specific on Tezcatlipoca and rituals dedicated to him. Maybe we'll be luckier tomorrow."

"We'll come around during the day," Scott said exchanging a glance with Lydia and Stiles who nodded in agreement.

"I'll look around the net," Stiles offered, "maybe I stumble into something useful."

"I'll try to look around too," Lydia added and Harry gifted the three teens with a small smile.

"And I'll talk to Kira," Scott said, ending up the only one who didn't notice Stiles huffing and rolling his eyes, suppressing a grin. "Maybe her mom and dad know something about Tezcatlipoca and they can help us."

"Sure," Stiles drawled, hitting Scott's shoulder lightly with a fist and making the young alpha look at him innocently. "You'll go see your new girlfriend and talk about research. Right." Scott blushed furiously while Harry and Peter raised eyebrows at them and Lydia grinned brightly.

"You're finally together?" she asked happily, reaching forward and grabbing Scott's arm and Scott's blush grew even worse if possible.

"What do you mean finally?" he squeaked, frantically looking around the room while Lydia exchanged a grin with Stiles.

"I'm sorry to say this, dude, but it was pretty pathetic how the two of you danced around one another for months," Stiles jested and Scott choked up, looking at the ground wide-eyed. He had the look of a man regretting his current friendships and life choices.

"Say hello to Kira for me," Harry chirped happily, trying to divert the attention from Scott, and the young alpha breathed out, offering Harry a small grateful smile.

"I will," he said, Lydia letting go of Scott and all but hopping over to Stiles while Harry nodded, clapping his hands lightly.

"Good," he said. "Now, don't think I'm trying to chase you away, but I'm about ready to fall asleep, so…"

"We get it, we get it," Stiles drawled and walked over to the bed. Harry seemed honestly surprised when the human teen wrapped his arms around him in a tight hug, but it didn't take the wizard long to catch up, and he hugged the teen back tenderly. "Get some rest," murmured Stiles against Harry's ear and moved back a bit, gifting the wizard with a small smile. "And thank you… for everything."

"Don't mention it," Harry whispered and gave Stiles' arms a gentle squeeze, and Stiles groaned when Harry reached up and ruffled the teen's hair, Stiles immediately reaching up to bring some semblance of order to the brown mess.

"You're a menace," Stiles grumbled and Harry actually snickered.

"Takes one to know one," he drawled, and everyone in the room practically gaped when Stiles stuck his tongue out at Harry.

"Go to sleep, old man," he muttered only to yelp when a bright pink, small ball of magic hit his ribs, sending a surge of electricity over his body. "I thought you're forbidden from using excessive magic!" Stiles cried out, rubbing his tingling side and Harry snorted and rolled his eyes.

"Stiles, I've apparated more than four times in the past week, used very excessive magic to bring Derek's memories back and I fought a Berserker. A Stinging Hex won't make any difference," Harry counted in a matter-of-fact voice, tone dry, and Stiles huffed, shaking his head.

"I'm starting to see how you and dad became best friends in such a short time," he grumbled and waved his right hand. "See you tomorrow."

"See you," Harry called out after the teen before looking at Lydia and Scott. "Be careful," he said.

"You too," Scott answered and the two made their way towards the door.

"Wait for me," Peter spoke up and the two stopped in the doorway, appearing quite surprised, but Peter ignored them in favor of looking at Harry, finding the wizard frowning at him in slight confusion. "I'll come around tomorrow as well since I have no doubt that Derek will want to see you once he wakes up. Maybe you should reconsider what you've told me."

"Peter…" Harry started but stopped when Peter smirked at him, clasped his hands behind his back and leaned forward a bit, looking deep in Harry's eyes.

"You do realize that I will never give up," he informed quietly, and Harry swallowed audibly, trying to look away from Peter but finding himself unable to do so.

The werewolf's scent was simply too intoxicating for him after so many years of remembering and yearning for the smallest whiff of that perfect aroma. He could feel Peter's warmth rolling off of the werewolf in steady waves, and those perfect eyes stared at him promising Harry that Peter would eventually find out everything, that it was inevitable as the sun rising every day.

"If I remember correctly," Harry answered in a somewhat tight voice, forcing down a heavy swallow in an attempt to clear his mind and actually form a coherent sentence, "you always were quite persistent."

A nerve beside Peter's right eye twitched, showing the frustration he obviously hid pretty well until provoked, and the werewolf hned moving back a bit and nodding at Harry sharply.

"I guess that we'll be having this conversation again then," he spoke through lightly pressed teeth, and his frustration spiked a bit when Harry actually smiled at him, eyes full of resignation and acceptance.

"I guess we will," he said, and Peter pressed his teeth together tightly, right hand wrapping around his left wrist behind his back in a straining grip.

"Till tomorrow, Mr. Potter," he spoke tightly and turned on his heel marching right past Lydia and Scott and into the hallway while the two teens stared at Harry, concerned and not really understanding what just happened.

"Harry-"

"Scott, don't," Harry interrupted the young alpha and just shook his head. "Would you mind turning the lights off?"

Understanding that Harry in no way wanted to talk about what just happened between him and Peter, Lydia and Scott merely exchanged a glance and Scott turned off the lights taking the doorknob into his hand as they made their way out.

"Sleep well, Harry," Scott spoke as he closed the door.

The moment he was sure they were far enough Harry let go of a choked up gasp and rolled onto his side, covering his lips with his right hand, shoulders hunching as tears finally welled up, although they didn't fall.

He wanted - oh how he wanted for Peter to get his memories back! He wanted to hug him, to hold him and kiss him. He wanted Peter to call him Ry again, to caress him the way he did back then, to talk to him and argue with him, and spend quiet nights in front of the TV with him.

Harry wanted so much to be able to tell Peter that he loved him, that even after all these years Peter is the only one for him.

But he couldn't.

He could see what Peter lived through. He could see that Peter was finally on the mend; that he was finally albeit slowly becoming the man he used to be. And Harry couldn't get in the way of that. He couldn't bring Peter pain again.

No, he would rather suffer this alone; suffer the pain of unrequited love. He would rather be alone than have Peter hate him, because in his mind there was no way Peter would ever be able to love him again. Even allowing them some sort of a chance to be together would be much too painful for Harry, because Harry would never be able to forget what they once had.

Even if somehow Peter would fall in love with him again, even if there was the slightest chance that he and Harry would have something in the future, Harry wouldn't be able to handle it, because even though Peter wouldn't remember Harry would, and it would break what little of his heart and mind was left.

And even though Harry knew that Peter would pursue Scott, that the werewolf would do his damned best to make Scott unlock Peter's memories, Harry allowed himself a spark of hope. He allowed himself the useless belief that Peter would one day give up, and leave Harry to his misery.

Because not having Peter at all was better than being hated by him. Seeing Peter happy with someone else was better than breaking him. Not having Peter was better than losing what little Harry had of him.

No matter what anyone else might say.

cut

I loved you, and I probably still do,
And for a while the feeling may remain...
But let my love no longer trouble you,
I do not wish to cause you any pain.

I loved you; and the hopelessness I knew,
The jealousy, the shyness - though in vain -
Made up a love so tender and so true
As may God grant you to be loved again.

- A. S. Pushkin, 'I Loved You'

cut

"We need to talk," Peter declared just as Lydia and Scott walked out of the hospital, finding Peter leaning against one of the thick pillars, looking at them with darkened eyes.

"If you want to talk me into unlocking your memories, I should warn you that it's not going to happen," Scott informed him, voice laced with determination, and Lydia stood by the alpha's side nodding her head in quiet support, obviously trying to achieve some form of intimidation by glaring at Peter.

"I have the right to know," Peter pressed out through his teeth. His hands curled into fist by his sides, the slight tremor there depicting his growing outrage at the situation. "Whatever happened that made Talia lock my memories away is not proposing a danger now that he is here-"

"Harry doesn't want you to remember," Lydia hissed sharply making Peter look at her with a squint, lips slightly parted. "Now, while I don't understand his reasoning, I respect his wishes. He lived through too much, and if he doesn't want this then I'm all for backing him up."

Peter's nostrils flared, and he took a threatening step forward. "Respect hi-"

"Lydia's right," Scott interjected calmly wincing a bit when the older wolf growled, spinning on his heel and raking his hands through his hair, but Scott would not be deterred. "If Harry doesn't want you to remember, then I'll support him until he says otherwise."

"What about my wishes?" Peter snapped, rounding on Scott and Lydia, latter of which took a small step back when Peter's eyes flashed electric-blue for a mere second. The two tensed, readying for an attack that never came. "I have a right to know."

Scott turned to Lydia with a questioning gaze, the banshee swallowing thickly before she licked her lips, crossing her arms over her chest. She looked uneasy and shifty, glancing at Peter before she shook her head and turned to Scott again.

"Harry doesn't want you to remember," Lydia spoke quietly, head tilting to the left as she winced, shoulder rising a bit to brush her left ear. Scott and Peter frowned at the strange action, eyebrows narrowing further when Lydia's breathing quickened a bit and she looked around, eyes widening.

"Lydia, what is it?" Scott asked, but the banshee didn't answer, taking a few hesitant steps away from the two werewolves. "Lydia?" Scott tried again, reaching out for the banshee only to realize that she didn't hear him.

Scott exchanged a glance with Peter when Lydia repeated the strange action walking towards a bush to the right of the entrance to the hospital.

"Lydia!" Peter called to her a bit more sharply than Scott did, but the banshee showed no sign that she had heard him. She stopped a few meters away from the bush, rubbing her left ear against her shoulder again, breathing shallow and quick.

"Lydia!" Scott shouted, startling the people around them, his voice distorting just a bit, and in the next moment Lydia spun on her heel, blinking rapidly and looking around as though she woke up from a trance not a second earlier. "What happened?" Scott and Peter hurried over to her with the older werewolf throwing a few warning glares around, and Scott stopped right in front of Lydia, fingers wrapping gently just above her elbows as she quickly looked around, as though she was trying to figure out what happened.

"Did you hear something?" Peter asked, coming to stand to Scott's left and Lydia shook her head.

"I don't know what happened," she breathed out in a broken voice. "I - I thought I heard someone scream. I heard - I heard something like rain and - and thunder…" she looked in Scott's eyes, her own wide and dilated with fear. "And then I heard a roar."

"A roar?" Scott muttered and looked at Peter who shook his head.

"Like a werewolf?" asked the older werewolf, a frown marring his handsome features.

"No," Lydia breathed out tilting her head to the right, blinking quickly a few times. "Like a cat…" Scott and Peter looked at one another, confused and taken aback, while Lydia's eyes dulled again. "A really… big… cat." Her voice was hardly audible and she would have lost herself again had Scott not tightened his hold on her, startling her again.

"Let's get you home," said the young alpha, wrapping one arm around her and leading her towards her car. "I'll come back when I talk with Kira and her parents and see if I can sniff something out."

"I'll stay nearby," Peter murmured and Scott and Lydia looked at him in slight confusion, the former alpha raising an eyebrow at them. "What?" he blurted out. "That could have been a prediction, and if you've forgotten we have Harry lying in this hospital, and Mrs. McCall is working the night shift, and I think neither of the three of us has forgotten that we're dealing with a really big, possibly crazed cat."

Lydia and Scott exchanged a glance and the young alpha nodded not a minute later, looking at Peter with a hard stare. "You stay close, but don't let anyone see you. I'll be back as soon as possible. If Kate comes, call me. Don't do anything on your own, okay?"

Peter cocked an eyebrow at Scott only to sigh a heartbeat later, nodding in resignation. "Fine," he bit out and looked around with a squint. "I'll stay close. You hurry back."

"Alright," Scott muttered and he and Lydia walked away leaving Peter alone.

The werewolf took a deep breath and held it for a moment before he cursed under his breath and all but marched towards the café on the other side of the street.

Things were just getting more and more complicated with each passing minute.

Really made one think that it couldn't possibly get any worse, right?

There you would be wrong.

You would be very, very wrong.

cut

Melissa looked up, hands stilling mid-action as emerald eyes opened to look at her.

"Melissa?" Harry mumbled sleepily, while Melissa quickly finished injecting the medications into the infusion fluid before storing her tools away and coming closer to Harry who squinted at her in the dimmed lights.

"I thought you'd sleep through the night," she spoke warmly, brushing her hand almost reflexively through messy, matted black strands while Harry groaned, eyes slipping closed as he stretched a bit.

"I hope that wasn't more morphine," Harry grumbled and Melissa laughed quietly, shaking her head in slight exasperation.

"Your wounds are healing, and you would be in quite a bit of pain otherwise," she said and Harry sighed, looking at her with an unfocused stare, still struggling against the veil of sleep trying to part him from the world.

"It'll wash out soon enough," he muttered, making Melissa frown. "Normal medications don't work on wizards and witches for long, no matter how big of a dose you give them."

"You mean you've-"

"I didn't want the kids to worry," Harry interrupted her and Melissa opened her lips to argue only to halt and shake his head.

"I guess there's no helping you, then," she spoke heavily and Harry gifted her with a small smile. "I've been asked to get your signature to run the necessary tests. It's normal when we get cases like yours, but considering what you've just told me I'm not too sure what we can do for you."

"We can run the tests if it'll mean anything, but my body will heal on its own with time," Harry answered, and to Melissa's shock his eyes had already started to clear of drowsiness from both sleep and medications, making her wonder if Harry had suffered the pain of his injuries from the moment he woke up after the operation, and just how much pain he was truly in. "I don't heal as fast as werewolves, but I heal faster than normal humans."

"Should we get you out of here then?" Melissa asked a thoughtful frown on her face. "I could sign the discharge papers and put myself as your caretaker. We wouldn't want anyone to get suspicious." Harry hummed thoughtfully, eyebrows narrowing as he considered Melissa's words.

"That could be a good idea," Harry murmured, and rubbed his lips with scarred fingers, noting then that the nasal respirator has been removed already, "although I should spend at least another day here to avoid raising suspicions. I don't want to be forced to leave Beacon Hills just because some doctor decided to dig too deep."

"Then we'll do it like that," Melissa said, nodding for herself. "Although, right now you should go to-"

"Melissa!" the door was slammed open and Melissa turned around to look at the doctor standing there, looking frantic. "We need you in the ER!" he said and left, leaving the door open, and Melissa looked at Harry who nodded at her minutely.

"I'll see you later," he said and Melissa left with a small smile, pulling a rubber band off of her wrist on her way out and closing the door leaving Harry alone.

The wizard took a deep breath, wincing at the dull, annoying ache pulsating through his torso, holding it for a long moment before he breathed out slowly through his nose. Breathing in once again a familiar scent drifted through the air. Shivers wrecked Harry's body making him tense and sit up quicker than he was supposed to.

He took another deep breath, suppressing the pain, eyes slipping closed as he tried to recognize the horrid stench. A low, rumbling growl echoed through the silence of the small room, and the pupils of the wizard's eyes turned into slits, emerald irises glimmering lightly as full lips parted.

The scent was familiar and it spoke of nothing good.

'I guess there is no going back to sleep for me,' Harry thought to himself as he slowly stood up, his hospital clothes shifting into a pair of black sweatpants and a tight T-shirt. He slowly removed the IV needle from his left hand, a wince twitching on his face as he placed the needle on the bed rubbing his left hand with his right, wiping away the few drops of blood gathering at the small puncture wound.

Harry tucked his feet into the hospital provided slippers and made his way towards the door with a ripple of magic passing over him making sure that he wouldn't be seen unless wanted to, and he started on his self-appointed mission of locating the source of that smell.

One thing he could say about it with full certainty.

It reeked of death.

cut

"Hey," Scott greeted the moment Kira opened the door for him, the kitsune offering a small smile as she stepped to the side to let Scott in. "I hope I'm not disturbing anything," he said.

"You're not," Kira answered, smiling brightly as they made their way towards the living room. "I've told mom and dad that you're coming, and I've told them what's going on," she informed him and Scott tensed up a bit when he found Noshiko and Ken Yukimura waiting for him in the living room.

"Good evening." Scott bowed his head at them, receiving similar actions in return.

"Come, Scott," Noshiko spoke and showed him to take a seat. Scott and Kira took seats in the couch, the young kitsune placing her left hand on Scott's right thigh, her hand quickly covered by Scott's bigger, warmer one. "What Kira told us is quite concerning," spoke the older kitsune, exchanging a glance with her husband who nodded warily, for once any trace of the calm smile ever tilting his lips gone.

"I'm afraid that without doing some extensive research I won't be of much assistance," spoke Ken as he looked at Scott, "but I think that I speak in both of our names when I say that we will do what we can to help you."

"I don't think we can ask for more," Scott answered, nodding in quiet gratitude before he looked at Kira. "Harry has a lot of books that could help us, and he'll do what he can to find a solution. He said that we should concentrate on school and keeping our eyes and ears open at all times."

"That is good advice," Noshiko spoke up, attracting the attention of the teens while her husband nodded in agreement. "You may have lived through a lot, but you are still all young. Your concern now should be with your studies."

"Harry said almost the same thing," Scott said with a slight upturn of lips.

"From what Kira told us before you've arrived, this Harry seems like a very wise man," Ken answered, voice laced with curiosity and Scott shrugged his shoulders lightly.

"I don't doubt that you'll have a chance to meet him when he feels better," he spoke as he looked at Kira. "Besides, he said that he's not going anywhere and he's a wizard; really powerful too."

"Maybe now a greater part of your load will be lifted," Noshiko said, and Scott and Kira frowned at her in confusion. "You have been protecting Beacon Hills for quite some time now, young alpha," she smiled at him knowingly while Ken hummed in agreement with his wife's words, "yet you are still young. Life is still in front of you. Having a wizard on your side might make it a lot easier to protect this city and people you care about."

"He already proved that he is trustworthy by keeping you all safe," Ken added. "We will do everything in our power to help you as well."

"Thank you," Scott said and nodded minutely.

"Will you be going back to the hospital?" Kira asked looking at Scott with worry in her eyes, since Scott told her over the phone what happened with Lydia.

"I'll have to," he said, frowning at the ground. "Lydia doesn't know what she heard, and since Harry is in no condition to fight and my mom's there, I need to go back. I don't want something to happen to them."

"Do you want me to go with you?" Kira asked, glancing towards her parents as though quietly asking for permission, but her gaze quickly shifted to Scott again when he squeezed her hand.

"No," he said softly, making Kira's eyes widen momentarily. "There's no need for all of us to be there. Peter is sticking close to the hospital so we'll know when something-"

As though on cue, Scott's phone started ringing making the young alpha jump up, hurriedly answering the call while the Yukimura family exchanged worry-filled glances.

"What is it?" Scott asked, having seen that it was Peter calling him.

"Scott, you need to come back as soon as possible," Peter spoke without a greeting, and a frown marred Scott's handsome face, the werewolf looking at his girlfriend who suddenly looked terrified of the possibility that something happened already.

"What is it?" Scott asked, putting the phone on speaker so the others could hear what was going on as well.

"I've caught a smell I can't place," Peter said, sounding frustrated to say the least. "It leads into the hospital and to the ER. I can't go in there. I saw your mom go in though before I got out to call you."

"I'm on my way," Scott said, but before he could end the call Peter spoke up again.

"I'll wait with you in Harry's room," the alpha frowned at the phone, "we might need his help."

"Harry is injured, Peter, and he's sleeping," Scott answered, not wanting the wizard to strain himself more than absolutely necessary until his wounds healed. "The medications he's under won't make him of much use in a fight."

"If you had paid any attention to Harry's scent, you would have noticed that their effect doesn't last long on him." Scott's eyebrows met the line of his hair while the Yukimura family exchanged glances of slight amazement. "He's been in constant pain ever since he woke up, but even I have to admit that he's more than good at concealing it. If push comes to shove he'll be there to help us."

Not happy with this at all, but unable to think of anything better, Scott had no other choice but to agree. "Fine," he said. "Go to Harry. I'll be there in twenty minutes." He ended the call before Peter could say more, tucking the phone into the pocket of his jacket before he looked at Kira.

"I'm going with you," she said before Scott could speak, and the young alpha just sighed and shook his head.

"Alright," he agreed and looked at the adults, both of them looking at him with clear warnings in their eyes.

"We'll see what we can find," Noshiko said. "You two be careful."

"We will be," Scott nodded at them and he and Kira left the house in a hurry.

It appeared that there couldn't be a peaceful night in Beacon Hills after all.

cut

Peter huffed in annoyance when Scott ended the call, pushing his phone in the back pocket of his pants as he glanced around, wary of anyone paying too much attention to him. He hurried into the hospital, avoiding nurses, doctors and patients alike, quickly finding himself on the floor where Harry's room was.

The werewolf ducked behind a corner when a nurse walked out of another room, waiting for her to leave the floor before he all but ran to Harry's room, opening and closing the door quickly before he turned on his heel only to stop and gape.

Not a second later Peter took a deep breath, rolled his eyes and tilted his head back.

"Great," he pressed out and walked over to the empty bed, placing his right hand on the already cool covers. With his left, he was already pulling out his phone and dialing Scott's number, not surprised when Scott answered almost immediately.

"What is it?" the young alpha asked, sounding a bit breathless.

"We have a problem," Peter growled as he turned towards the door. "Your wizard is missing."

cut

Stiles jumped to his feet, his chair toppling over, but he paid it no heed as he rushed to the nightstand beside his bed and grabbed his phone, frowning when he saw that Scott was calling him.

"What is it?" he asked the moment he answered.

"Stiles, I need you to call your dad. Something's going to happen at the hospital and he needs to be informed." Stiles' breath caught in his throat and his eyes widened, every muscle in his body coiling. "Lydia heard something before, but she couldn't say what, and Peter called me not five minutes ago to tell me that Harry's not in his room."

"I'll call him right away," Stiles blurted out, hopping in his place nervously before he grabbed his hoodie off of the bed and rushed towards the door. "I'm on my way," he said, and without waiting for Scott to answer, ended the call. He halted on top of the stairs, hurriedly pulling his hoodie on, and turned on his heel.

His heart was beating madly in his chest and he was blinking rapidly, doing his best to keep at least his breathing calm. He ran back into his room and grabbed the aluminum bat resting beside the door before running out of the house, not even bothering to lock the door.

Throwing both the bat and his phone on the front passenger seat, Stiles started the car and drove onto the road, barely keeping to the speed-limit in his haste.

He glanced at the phone, thinking momentarily that he should call Derek, only to remember that Harry had told the werewolf to turn his phone off.

"Fuck!" he snapped, pressing his teeth tightly together, and took a sharp turn, changing direction and going for Derek's apartment.

If shit was going down all of them could be needed.

cut

Lydia looked away from the monitor of her laptop when her phone started ringing and she quickly answered it, already climbing to her feet and making her way towards the door.

"Yes?" she asked, fumbling a bit in the entrance hallway as she tried to pull on her jacket without letting go of her phone.

"Lydia, Harry's missing," Kira blurted out and Lydia's eyes widened as she halted with her right hand around the doorknob. "Scott and I are on the way to the hospital."

"I'm coming," Lydia breathed out, pulling the door open and slamming it closed on her way out, running towards her car. "Do you know what's going on?"

"No, but Peter told Scott that he smelled something strange in the hospital. Scott already called Stiles. He'll call the sheriff."

"Alright." Lydia got into her car, struggling a bit with the key because of how hard her hands were shaking. She let go of a wet gasp, a tear straying down her flushed cheek, and rested her head on the steering wheel to find her center again. "I'm on my way. Call me if anything happens."

"Will do," Kira answered and ended the call. Lydia sat up and threw her phone on the front passenger seat, finally starting the car and driving onto the road.

Her eyes were wide and breathing strained, knuckles white with how hard she held on to the steering wheel. Her thoughts were a jumbled mess and it took a lot out of her to concentrate on the road.

A flash of something black appeared in her line of sight and a whimper escaped her, her hold on the wheel growing stronger as she all but floored the gas pedal. She yelped when the flash of black appeared again, this time to her right, and she looked around frantically, gaze landing on the rearview mirror, her eyes widening as her breath hitched in her throat.

"Oh my god…"

cut

"Derek!" Stiles called out frantically the moment he pushed the door of Derek's apartment open activating the alarm. The teen hurried to turn it off, spinning on his heel when the sound of something heavy hitting the floor came from behind him.

His breath hitched in his throat when he found Derek there looking as though he just crawled out of bed although his eyes were fully focused, gaze hard.

"What happened?" the werewolf bit out, and Stiles shook his head, gathering his wits.

"Harry's gone," he blurted out, heart clenching when Derek's eyes widened and those massive shoulders tensed up, "and something's going on at the hospital."

Stiles watched as Derek's expression shifted from shock and worry to hard determination, and the werewolf marched towards him, not even bothering to grab the leather jacket resting over the back of an armchair.

"Let's go," Derek bit out, hurriedly tucking his feet in his tennis-shoes which were resting haphazardly beside the door. Not knowing what to say and not wanting to lose any time, Stiles nodded and followed after Derek, grabbing his phone from the pocket of his hoodie to call his dad, eyes never leaving Derek's back.

The line opened and John's voice came from the other side, sending a ripple of warmth and reassurance down Stiles' back.

"Dad, we have a problem."

cut

John's breath hitched in his throat at the sound of quiet panic and haste in Stiles' voice, and he was on his feet in a second, checking to make sure that his gun was in its holster before making his way towards the door of his office.

"Son, what happened?" John asked, trying to sound as calm as possible.

"Something's going on at the hospital. Everyone's on their way there. Harry's missing." John halted mid-step in the doorway, attracting Deputy Parrish's attention and making the young man jump to his feet.

"What?" he asked weakly, feeling as though his knees would give up on him.

"Dad, we need you to be ready to act, okay? We don't know what's going on, but I'm with Derek and we're on our way to the hospital."

"Son, I don't want you-"

"Not now, dad!" Stiles interrupted John and he cursed under his breath, showing Parrish to follow him, the two of them rushing through the Station and out into the cold autumn air. "I'll call you when we find out what's going on! Be ready to get there as soon as possible."

"Stiles, wait-" before John could finish the line broke and he cursed avidly, pulling the door of his car open while Parrish took the front passenger seat.

"What's going on?" Parrish asked as John started the car and drove off of the parking lot at neck-breaking speed.

"Something's going on at the hospital," John pressed out through his teeth not even bothering to keep to the speed-limit as he drove towards the hospital.

"Something?" Jordan asked for clarification and John spared him a glance, taking a deep breath through his nose and shaking his head.

"Stiles didn't tell me exactly what, but seeing that nothing good has happening in this damned town in over a year I'm not willing to risk it," he spoke as he concentrated on the road.

"Should I call for backup?" the Deputy asked, already reaching for the speaker, but John shook his head.

"Not yet," he bit out, making the younger man frown, although he obeyed without voicing his questions.

He has spent enough time in Beacon Hills already to know not to ask questions before time.

cut

Melissa took a deep breath, thinking about the young man that ran into the hospital over an hour ago and was settled into his room not fifteen minutes prior.

He was heavily sedated, the wounds on his feet and hands already tended to, and Melissa's heart ached as she thought of just what the poor teen lived through to end up in such a condition, having been too delusional to actually tell the doctors what happened.

He had been placed in a room and Melissa had just gotten off of the phone after talking to the hospital psychiatrist to come check up on the young man as soon as possible, making her way then to Harry's room to see if the wizard was awake.

She yelped and stumbled when a hand wrapped around her right forearm and pulled her around a corner, another hand slapping over her lips, and she found herself staring in stormy gray eyes belonging to none other than Peter Hale.

"Be quiet," he pressed out through his teeth and Melissa nodded hurriedly. Peter moved his hand off of her lips and she took a deep breath, glancing around to see if anyone noticed what happened.

"What are you doing?" she hissed, glaring at the werewolf.

"Harry's missing," he bit out, eyes flashing electric-blue, and Melissa held her breath, eyes widening. "And there's something dangerous in this hospital."

"What?" she gasped, a shiver running down her spine and horror surging through her veins.

"Something came or was brought into the hospital in the past hour and a half," Peter spoke quietly, accenting each word, and Melissa frowned, her mind already working on an answer.

"I was in the ER with the young boy who ran into the hospital. He was in quite a…" She stopped talking when Peter's eyes widened, lips going slack, and Melissa breathed out slowly, rubbing her forehead with her right hand. "Can you track Harry's scent?"

Peter cocked an eyebrow at her, but huffed not a second later, glancing around the corridor. "I've been trying to track him for the past half an hour, but he's good."

"Try again," Melissa urged. "I'll go and check up on the boy."

"Alright," Peter nodded and the two parted ways, Melissa holding back from running in hurry to reach the boy's room.

She hopped in the elevator, wringing her hands together as she fought to suppress the anxiety and fear threatening to overwhelm her. The elevator stopped and she took a deep breath, holding it as she walked out and took a turn towards the latest patient's room. She walked around a corner only to stop in her tracks, eyes widening and all color leaving her face.

The sweet boy she had helped tend to turned out not to be so sweet at all.

"Oh my good…" she breathed out before she could stop herself, right hand snapping up to cover her lips as the boy looked at her, crouching over the body of the dead nurse he has been feeding on, white eyes glimmering in the fluorescent light, and sharp teeth bared between bloodied lips.

A growl rumbled in the boy's chest as he moved towards Melissa on all fours, hunger such as she had never seen glimmering in his eyes as he stalked slowly towards the terrified, frozen woman.

"I tried," he choked out, trembles shaking his body as he swallowed heavily. "I tried to resist the hunger, but it's too strong!" his voice was distorted and wet, bubbles of blood and saliva popping between his teeth, blood dripping down his chin as he slowly straightened, appearing ready to pounce at a moment's notice. "I need to eat!" he roared and Melissa screamed, turning on her heel to run away, only to fall when the boy tackled her.

"No!" she cried out when she was turned on her back, bloodied hands taking hold of her shoulders to push her down, and the boy's breath fanning over her face, the stench of human meet and putrid saliva making her stomach churn.

But before the boy could do anything, a black blur flashed in the corner of Melissa's eyes and the boy was suddenly flying in the opposite direction.

Melissa scrambled to her feet, eyes wide as she stared at Harry who stood in front of her protectively, slowly backing towards Melissa, eyes focused on the boy who was trying to gather himself off of the floor.

"Harry-"

"We need to get out of here," Harry pressed out, coming to stand right beside her, his left hand wrapping around her right wrist. "We need to run, now!" he turned around and broke into a run, pulling Melissa along, the pained, horrifying roar following them together with the sound of a metal cart meeting the wall, bottles and glass tubes scattering and breaking, but neither looked back.

"What is he?!" Melissa cried out as Harry led her down hallways, the nurse not even paying attention to where they were going.

"A wendigo!" Harry answered and Melissa almost slipped when he waved his right arm sharply in a short arc, one of the doors to their left bursting open, and Harry pushed Melissa inside.

"Harry!" she screamed when Harry closed the door, slamming her hands against the wood, but the only thing she could do was watch in avid horror as the wizard turned on his heel, emerald eyes glowing brightly.

Her eyes widened when Harry stepped away from the door, her heart pounding in her chest as though it wanted to beat its way up her throat. Melissa shook her head in denial as she watched Harry crouch. Harry couldn't possibly think he could fight that... that thing. "Harry?!" she called out hoarsely, saliva thick in her throat, choking her up.

"Come on," Harry pressed out bowing his head lower, ignoring the cry of one of his oldest friends. "Come on!" Harry roared angrily, and in the next moment he was gone, disappearing out of Melissa's sight.

"Harry, no!" she screamed, slamming her hands against the door repeatedly only to halt when a soft click was heard and the door opened. "What the…" she gasped, taking a step back, only to grab the doorknob not a moment later and run out, her eyes widening at the sight before her. Blood - dark and rich - smudged over the floor, macabre imprints of hands dragged along the walls and Melissa suddenly felt very sick.

"Harry…"

cut

"Dad!" Stiles called out as John and the Deputy got out of the car, the two officers stopping in their tracks when Stiles ran over to them with Derek hot on his trail and Scott, Kira and Lydia running towards them from the opposite direction.

"We need to hurry up," Scott said glancing towards the hospital, his, Derek's and Kira's eyes widening when they heard Melissa scream for Harry. Not moments later, a roar such as they never heard reached their ears, and the teens and Derek ran towards the hospital leaving John and Jordan no other choice but to follow.

"Lydia!" the men of the group stopped in their tracks right in the doorway when Kira's voice reached their ears and they turned around finding the kitsune and the banshee on their knees with Kira's hands wrapped firmly around Lydia's wrists, the banshee's hands clasped over her lips, eyes pressed tightly shut and whole body trembling.

It burned and bubbled in her stomach, the knowing clawing at her chest, pulling at her ribs and stealing air from her lungs. All Lydia wanted to do was open her mouth and let go to feel the relief but that thought only made her fingers tighten over her lips.

"Lydia!" Stiles turned around and ran to the two girls, falling to his knees to Lydia's right before he looked up at the others, eyes wide and full of fear, not one of them knowing what to do or say. "Lydia, come on," Stiles blurted out, placing his hands on the banshee's shoulders.

Lydia shook her head frantically, tears trailing down her cheeks, and in the next moment Stiles figured out what to do. He covered Kira's hands and looked in her eyes before turning to the others.

"Cover your ears," he pressed out and Kira scrambled back, covering her ears while Scott and Derek heeded Stiles' words, John and Jordan looking at them in confusion. The human teen scrunched up his face and looked at Lydia, taking a deep breath and holding it. "This is gonna hurt." With that Stiles pulled Lydia's hands off of her lips, and unable to keep quiet anymore, Lydia opened her mouth and a terrifying scream echoed through Beacon Hills.

cut

Peter stumbled with an agonized cry, covering his ears and falling against a wall when the scream no one liked to heart pierced his ears. "God!" the werewolf cried out, the supernatural torrent of a banshee's scream slipping through the flimsy protection of hands to rend his eardrums. Peter could taste blood in his mouth, the ability of balance leaving him as he toppled to his knees, falling around a corner.

His eyes widened trying to focus, and when they did all he could see were doubles of everything. His breath hitched in his throat at the sight in front of him, a teenage boy struggling to cover his ears, unable to stand up, and Harry just a few feet away from the bloodied teen, pale and gasping for air, hands also pressed tightly over his ears.

The scream stopped as abruptly as it started and strained silence settled over the hallway, with Peter unable to take his eyes off of Harry and the wizard struggling to remain on his feet, the scream having obviously shaken him just as much as it did Peter.

A steady, rumbling growl broke through the ringing in Peter's ears, and his breath caught in his throat when the kid charged at Harry who avoided in the last second, running past the kid who pushed himself away from the wall and ran after Harry.

"Peter!" the werewolf looked around frantically and Melissa fell to her knees beside him, eyes glassy and full of fear as she placed her hands on his shoulders while Peter slowly gathered himself off of the floor. "Harry - Have you seen-"

"Roof…" Peter choked out, swallowing thickly as both stood up. "He's going for the roof."

"We need to get out of here," Melissa blurted out although she looked hesitant, obviously wanting to run after Harry, but fear paralyzing her.

"No!" Peter glared at her with eyes turning electric-blue and staying that way, and Melissa's heartbeat stuttered. "That was a wendigo, and your wizard is in no condition to kill it before it kills all of us!"

Peter tore himself out of Melissa's hold, running sloppily towards the roof, and Melissa stumbled looking towards the elevator before a surge of courage every mother had pulsated through her heart and she ran after Peter.

cut

"Lydia, we need to get out of here!"

"What are you lookin' at?!" Stiles snapped at one of the patients standing several feet away from Kira and Lydia, the kitsune trying to make Lydia move. Only the three of them remained outside, the others running into the hospital when Derek and Scott heard Harry's voice.

"Cat…" Lydia mumbled unintelligibly, completely out of it, unfocused eyes staring at something only she could see. "Big… black… cat…"

"Stiles, I can't snap her out of it!" Kira cried out and Stiles hurried over to them, falling to his knees beside Lydia and cupping her face between his hands.

"It followed me here. It followed me. The cat. It-"

"Lydia, snap out of it!" Stiles shouted in a thundering voice, the banshee gasping in a sharp breath, eyes focusing almost instantly and gaze locking with Stiles'. "What did you see?" Stiles spoke in a wavering voice, eyes wide with horror. "What is it?"

Lydia's lips quivered as she gasped for air, hands wrapping around Stiles' forearms in a bruising grip.

"A jaguar," she choked out and Stiles stilled completely, eyes going wide. "A black jaguar… a panther… with emerald eyes..."

Stiles all but stopped breathing, looking at Kira and finding her with equally wide eyes full of chock.

"Harry!"

cut

The young wendigo ran onto the roof, breathing in the crisp autumn air only to stumble when the door was slammed closed behind him, running backwards from the threatening figure of the black clad man walking slowly towards him.

Sharp, focused emerald eyes glanced around, noting the lack of cameras before focusing on the teenager again, a small, very small part of his heart aching for the poor boy.

"I didn't want to…" the boy whimpered in a hoarse, broken voice as he walked backwards towards the edge of the roof with Harry stalking him, head slightly ducked and shimmering emerald eyes following the teen's every move, unreadable and cold. "The hunger was just too big!" the boy cried out, a few tears trailing down blood smudged cheeks.

"It's too late for you now," Harry spoke in a calm voice. "You've tasted human blood. The hunger will never go away again." The wizard stopped in his tracks when the wendigo stopped and looked around, the low concrete wall of the roof right behind him. "If you try to resist it, it will drive you insane until you won't be able to stop yourself anymore and you will kill again."

"Why should I?!" the teen laughed hysterically and Harry's eyebrows narrowed in a strict stare, hands fisting by his sides, and a small pulse of magic made sure that every single door to the roof was locked, just in case the kid got any bright ideas about running back into the hospital to feed. "Why should I resist the hunger? Humans are cattle! They're nothing but food!"

"You won't get off of this roof," Harry pressed out through his teeth, hands clenching into fists and the wendigo bared his teeth at him, hissing as those white eyes filled with hunger.

"No, I won't," he grinned and Harry slowly bent his knees in a light crouch, fists unfurling as nails started to slowly sharpen, and emerald eyes glowed brightly, a threatening, hardly audible purr rumbling within the wizard's slowly rising and falling chest. "Not before I kill you!"

Just as the wendigo charged the wizard sprung into motion, both hearing but neither paying attention to both doors to the roof being slammed open and several various voices calling out to Harry in frantic horror only to fall mute at the sight they came upon.

The wendigo roared and reared back, white eyes widening when the wizard jumped into the air, changing mid-flight into a powerful, legendary beast, tackling the wendigo to the ground with superior weight, sharp fangs biting into the wendigo's shoulder.

The boy screamed and grabbed a hold of the huge cat's sides, throwing it off of himself, both scrambling to all fours and coming to a stalemate, glowing emerald orbs staring intently into wide white ones.

Not a moment later, the wendigo screamed in red hot rage, charging at Harry who lightly danced out of its way, making the crazed creature stumble as it almost fell over the edge. Harry crouched low, long tail swishing from side to side as he prepared to pounce, and just as they both moved, a high pitched scream overlapping with a powerful roar, an axe flew past Harry, lodging itself into the wendigo's heart, missing the wizard by a hair.

Everything stopped as the wendigo stood still, wide eyes staring at the axe as blood soaked the white shirt. With one last gurgling breath, the wendigo toppled backwards and fell off of the roof, and heavy, strained silence fell upon them.

Huge paws made hardly any sound as the sleek body of the black jaguar slowly turned around, emerald gaze passing over the shocked people at the gates focusing on the man standing atop the highest point of the roof.

Round ears flattened against the big head and sharp teeth bared as a threatening hiss passed them, and the man clad in darkness raised one hand, placing an index finger over the part where his mouth should have been before turning and disappearing in a flash.

The tension and silence were so thick one would have needed a diamond blade to cut through it as the panther shifted his weight, emerald eyes focusing on the faces looking at him in absolute shock, round ears twitching as the panther slowly shook out the beautiful black fur.

Derek, Scott, Jordan and John stood in one doorway, all four of them gaping, eyes wide, while Peter and Melissa stood in the doorway across from them in equal state of shock. Huffing shortly Harry took a few steps forward, paws padding lightly against the hard concrete, until he hopped to his hind legs shifting back into human form without so much as a hitch.

"We need to get off the roof," he spoke in a raspy voice, Peter and Melissa moving out of his way on pure instinct, the others shaking out of the shocked state and running over to them, exchanging wary glances.

"Did I just see what I think I saw?" Jordan asked, pale and breathless, and John looked at his Deputy, lips parting and closing several times with no words passing them.

"We've all seen it," Peter pressed out through his teeth glaring after Harry, lips thinning in a tight line before he all but stomped after the wizard. "And I for one want answers."

That seemed to shake the others out of their shocked state and they all moved after Peter with hurried footsteps.

"Guys!" Stiles called out to them when they entered the floor Harry's room was located on, the human teen helping Lydia with Kira right behind them. "What the hell happened?" he asked, seeing the shocked state of his friends and dad.

"We'll explain later," Scott said and nodded for Stiles and the girls to follow them, and all of them piled into the room, closing the door just in time to avoid being seen by paramedics and officers running towards the exit to the roof.

The sight they came upon shocked them further, because they found Harry leaning over the bed, braced on fisted hands, head bowed low and shoulders rising and falling with each deep, strained breath he took. The nurse in Melissa woke up and she was the first to move towards Harry only to halt in her step when the wizard spoke up.

"Stay right there," he growled in a distorted voice, sounding like neither man nor beast. "I need a moment to calm down."

"Mind telling us what that was?" Peter bit out angrily only to tense up along everyone else when Harry raised his head, peaking over a heaving shoulder at Peter, pupils thin and irises still glowing bright green.

"Are you referring to the wendigo, the mercenary who killed him or my animagus form?" Harry snapped as he slowly straightened, appearing somehow bigger than he usually seems to be, and he turned around to face them, crossing strong arms over his chest as emerald eyes looked at them cold and calculating.

"Animagus form?" Stiles piped out, glancing around at his friends before his gaze settled on Harry, having no idea what happened but understanding that another piece of the puzzle known as Harry James Potter was revealed while he, Lydia and Kira were absent.

"Mr. Potter here turned into a big black cat right in front of our eyes," Peter sniped, making the wizard cock an eyebrow at him.

"A black panther…" Lydia breathed out, eyes widening as she finally understood what she has been hearing and seeing. "A jaguar… A predator unlike any…"

"An apex predator," Harry drawled in dry amusement, nose twitching with something resembling disdain as he shifted his weight, shadows swirling in his eyes. "The lone hunter, the god of the rainforest, incarnation of Tezcatlipoca or what-bloody-fucking-ever!" his voice rose with each word until it ended in a thundering roar, and the wizard started pacing the room, everyone feeling the electricity snapping around him.

"Some wizards and witches have the ability to shift into animals that represent their inner self, and yes…" he growled and glanced at Stiles and Lydia as though he had seen them open their mouths even though at that moment he had his back turned on them. "The shape you take does show the person you are inside."

"Wait, wait, wait," Jordan Parrish spoke up, attracting everyone's attention as he moved forward and looked around before pale blue eyes settled on Harry whose nose twitched as he sniffed the air, shoulders squaring before he continued pacing, seeming as though he was trying to walk off some of the adrenalin still pumping through his veins. "What the hell does all of this mean?"

"I'll explain everything to you later, Parrish," John spoke up, coming to stand beside Jordan and placing a reassuring hand on the Deputy's shoulder before he looked at Harry again, the wizard having yet to stop pacing. "Harry, we're just confused. You've never told us you could shift into an animal…"

"An animal bearing familial resemblance to Kate Ar-"

"Don't you dare compare me to that bitch!"

Peter grunted, suddenly finding himself slammed against a wall with a strong hand wrapped around his throat and furious emerald eyes glaring into his. Harry's scent overwhelmed him, almost double as strong as it normally was, and the werewolf felt the wizard's magic snapping around them, the others too shocked to actually move.

Harry still somehow kept his distance from Peter, only his right hand wrapped around the werewolf's throat to hold him in place actually posing as threat, telling the others that he was still holding himself back.

"I am nothing like Kate Argent, believe me, otherwise the whole lot of your kind would be long dead!" Harry spat out, the teens quite suddenly remembering what Braeden told them about Harry.

The name, El Sabueso, suddenly received a whole different meaning.

Not a hound, but a hell hound in the form of a powerful wizard who could turn into an animal of legends.

"Harry, you need to calm down." Derek's words surprised everyone, especially the fact that he sounded perfectly calm, although the pallor of his skin and the slight wide-eyed look belied his calmness.

Harry spared Derek a glance and went back to pacing, Peter sagging against the wall, left hand darting up to rub his neck, a wince twisting his face for a moment, his eyes a luminescent blue, burning into the side of Harry's face. Peter's visible effort to reign in the animalistic reaction to such an aggressive move was something everyone grudgingly commended him for. The situation could go from bad to catastrophic if Peter decided to fight Harry.

"I'm sorry," the wizard pressed out through tightly clenched teeth, sparing Peter a glance as he turned his back on them again. "The panther is getting the best of me. That's why I avoid shifting unless it is absolutely necessary."

The wizard stopped on the other side of the bed, bracing himself on the metal fence as he took a deep breath and held it, ducking his head so that his bangs cast shadows over his eyes.

"You just keep revealing secrets, Harry," John spoke up and Harry raised his head a bit to look in his old friend's eyes, to his surprise finding no despise or resentment in them. "We're just surprised, that's all."

"A wizard always keeps his secrets, John," Harry spoke, voice slowly going back to normal as some tension seemed to leave his body, most of it disappearing when he saw that - while everyone was shocked and slightly uncomfortable - no one but Peter and Jordan seemed to actually be angry with him or resent him, Jordan being too shocked and trying to keep up with everything and Peter appearing like a wolf that had just been smacked on the snout. "You don't need to know all of them."

The wizard walked around the bed and took a seat, bracing his elbows on his knees and hiding his face in his hands, silence settling over the room as he breathed slowly and deeply. Every muscle in his body was still tightly coiled though, and his head snapped up when two gentle hands settled on his forearms and he found himself looking in Melissa's eyes, glimmering with concern, noticing in slight wonder that the woman didn't even twitch at his sudden action.

"Are you in any pain?" she asked, gaze racking over Harry's hunched form.

"I'm fine," he answered, the lie obvious even though he was no longer attached to the heart monitor. Melissa clicked her tongue and shook her head, gently tugging on Harry's forearms.

"Let me at least check your wounds to see if they've reopened," she spoke gently and Harry straightened slowly, pulling his black T-shirt off without so much as a wince, although the others didn't share that sentiment, most wincing or hissing at the sight of red splotches contrasting sharply with the white of the bandages.

"Scott, the supplies are in the last room to the right," Melissa spoke up, slowly starting to unravel the bandages around Harry's waist.

"You were in a war," Jordan commented, taking notice of the wizard's scars, and Harry looked at the Deputy over Melissa's shoulder, snorting as the right corner of his lips twitched up.

"Several of them, actually," he muttered making Jordan frown and look at John who just shook his head, quietly telling his Deputy to leave it for now.

"The kid that died," Lydia murmured and Harry's gaze shifted to her, growing considerably warmer. "What was he? I - I felt such hunger-"

"He was a wendigo," Harry cut her off when it appeared as though Lydia was spacing out, "wretched creatures who reach maturity at eighteen. They start hungering for human flesh. Most live… well, peacefully eating corpses, and they live normally, rarely past forty-five years. But some can't resist the hunger," he winced when Melissa probed his right side, the nurse murmuring an apology before moving on to the wounds on his left side, "and once they surrender to it and taste the flesh of a live human, they go insane with hunger and start killing without remorse, only thinking about satisfying it."

"But who killed him?" Derek asked, frowning when Harry winced again and Melissa raised her head, narrowing her eyebrows at him. "We didn't see the man who threw the axe."

"It was a mercenary," Harry answered. "I've never met him in person before, but I've heard of him." Scott came back in that moment with a bottle of disinfectant, some wipes and a few rolls of bandages in his hands.

"Who was he?" John asked.

"He's known as the Mute," Harry spoke before he took a deep breath and Melissa gifted him with a small smile, starting on cleaning the newly opened wounds, "mostly because he doesn't appear to have lips."

"How does he eat?" the Stilinski men asked in tandem making the others choke up in shock, while Derek and Lydia rolled their eyes, both murmuring 'oh my god, it's hereditary' under their breaths and drawing a smile to Harry's lips.

"You'll have to ask him that if you ever run into him, although I doubt you ever will," spoke the wizard making everyone look at him in slight confusion. "He specializes in hunting wendigos and only moves from the east coast of the States if his prey escapes him." Harry stopped talking, lips still parted and Melissa stilled in wrapping the bandages around him, frowning up at the wizard while the others tensed up. "As a matter of fact, this whole thing is quite concerning," he muttered.

"Why?" Stiles voiced the question plaguing everyone's minds.

"Wendigos live only on the east coast of the States. Their presence was never marked further than the western borders of Indiana, and they live in packs which means the kid wasn't the only one…" he hesitated as though weighing his words. "Although I'm prone to believe that the Mute killed them already."

"But what does that mean?" Scott asked and Harry took a deep breath, shaking his head.

"Wendigos are very traditional and they wouldn't leave their hunting grounds unless something really bad happened," he said, nodding at Melissa when she finished bandaging his wounds, and he pulled his shirt on again, sagging a bit in his seat with a huff, right arm wrapping around his midsection.

"Like a mercenary coming after them?" drawled Stiles and Harry shook his head.

"No. They know that strength is in numbers. They would have stayed wherever they came from if Mute was coming after them," explained the wizard.

"So what brought them here?" Kira asked and Harry hummed, frowning thoughtfully.

"Something must have pulled them to Beacon Hills," he murmured, rubbing his chin with his fingers, gaze focused on the ground. A gasp made him look up and he found Lydia staring at him wide-eyed, making him frown in concern. "Lydia?"

"Pull…" she breathed out and looked at Scott and Stiles who stared at her in confusion for no more than a moment before both paled and choked up. "The Nemeton!" whispered the banshee, Scott sighing gravely while Stiles rubbed his face with his hands, dragging them through his hair before allowing them to flop against his sides.

"Wait a second," Harry spoke up. "The Nemeton's power was sealed long before I first came to Beacon Hills."

"You know about the Nemeton?" Kira asked in slight shock and Harry nodded.

"Yeah, it was where I first…" he choked up, looking at Peter who was still glaring at him, although that glare quickly changed into a squint of confusion when a light blush seemed to tinge Harry's cheeks before the wizard shifted his weight a bit and cleared his throat. "I know about it, but like I said. Its power was sealed years ago."

"Remember how we told you about the Darach, and the whole Alpha Pack deal?" Stiles spoke in a slightly strained voice, face wrinkled in obvious discomfort.

"Yeah, but what…" the rest of Harry's sentence hung in the air as his eyes widened with realization. "Oh bloody fuck…" he breathed out, raising his hands to rub his face as he hopped off of the bed, starting to pace again. "The power of the Nemeton was awakened by three sacrifices," he mumbled into his chin ignoring Melissa's exasperated glare which clearly said 'would you please just sit down before I tie you to the bed', although the nurse clearly knew not to speak at the moment.

"And since the Nemeton lies on the crossing of several very powerful telluric currents and lay lines, its power is attracting every creature with enough cognitive…" Harry stopped mumbling into his chin, stopped mid stride and his head snapped up. "Bloody, buggering fuck!" he snapped, left hand fisting on his waist while he dragged the right through already messy black strands, turning on his heel as his hand flopped to his side and he looked at the gathered group. "We have a problem."

"I think we know that we have a problem," John stated, squinting at Harry as though he was trying to read the wizard's thoughts. "Question is just how big of a problem we have."

"Pretty big, sheriff," Peter spoke up for the first time since Harry slammed him against the wall for being a mouthy bastard. "We can't know what else besides wendigos could stray onto our territory because the Nemeton is leaking power.

"But we can know what will follow," Derek pressed out through his teeth as he crossed his arms over his chest, gaze locked with Harry's, the wizard nodding in confirmation of Derek's yet unspoken words. "Hunters," the werewolf bit out, "A lot of them."

"Wait," Melissa spoke up, raising her hands in a calming gesture, although she didn't look all that calm herself. "I don't think I'm following. The Nemeton is leaking power, and it is summoning creatures followed by hunters, am I right so far?"

"I'm afraid you are, Melissa," Harry spoke gravely, sighing as he crossed his arms over his chest and adjusted his weight on both legs, feet at the width of his shoulders. "Beacon Hills is about to live up to its name."

Harry's words brought forth a deafening silence as the reality of the situation crashed down upon them.

"That's right," the wizard muttered making everyone look at him, the dark shadows swirling in his eyes sending shivers down everyone's spines, even Peter's. "I'm afraid that we don't have just Kate and what she did to Derek to worry about anymore."

"Perfect," John huffed and rubbed his face with his right hand. "Things have just gotten more complicated." Harry snorted and shook his head.

"You have no idea, John," he murmured gravely. "You have no bloody idea…"

cut

Wow…. I think this might just be the longest chapter I've written for this story!

Anyway, I have a bit of a dilemma here.

Stiles and Derek are bound to end up together, and so are Peter and Harry (yes, you get a small spoiler because I love you), and Kira and Scott already are together.

Now, I'm thinking of pairing Lydia up with Jordan. I like him. Out of all the new characters that appeared in Teen Wolf, I like him most since he actually plays a part however small it is. And I like him. A lot.

Anyway, do you agree with it?

And I'm putting Mpreg to vote now, with voting going for the next five chapters. Please take note that you can vote only once!

So!

I hope you liked it, and that you'll join me next time in 'Key'.