I know it got confusing towards the end there, but hey, it's a dream. And everything will be explained - in time.
And you can totally trust me when it comes to these things.
Dreams might be cropping up again - probably in this chapter, possibly in the next if I can't fit it in. But there's definitely more than just what I hinted at in the last one to explore.
Quite honestly, the talking wolf was the least weird part about the dream, in Fenris's opinion.
Unlike most of the dreams he'd had ever since his family had gotten back together, it didn't start to fade as soon as he woke up. Fenris wasn't sure whether it was a good change or not. It lingered in his mind all the way up until he walked into the Great Hall, where other things made him forget about it.
He'd forgotten that Tyr was still in the school.
His seat at the staff table hadn't changed, but Fenris remembered that he was supposed to be there as soon as he laid eyes on the god - it was a nastier shock to walk into Transfiguration and see him shadowing Muriel.
Tyr's eyes locked onto Fenris as soon as he entered the classroom. Fenris stopped just inside the doorway, staring back until Lysander nudged him forward with a complaint of "You're blocking the door, Fabian."
Muriel looked stiffly furious, tight-lipped and standing straight as a poker in front of her desk. Fenris didn't miss the two students at the back, either - a boy and a girl who looked uncomfortable under the curious stares from the Hogwarts students.
"As I'm sure you've noticed," Muriel said once everyone had sat down, "we have guests with us in class today. I should hope that none of you will try to derail today's lesson with questions - we are having class as usual. Understood?"
As if on cue, everyone nodded.
"Good." And Muriel made good on her words, even if she was less patient than usual and a little more curt with her instructions.
Fenris couldn't stop glancing at Tyr. The other god hadn't taken his eyes off him once, his narrow glare making Fenris fidgety and uncomfortable.
The only relief came when one of the Durmstrang students accidentally turned her beetle into a larger beetle - one that wasn't happy. Muriel swept in and reversed it, shooting Tyr a dirty look. "Mr. Hymirsson, perhaps if you kept an eye on your own students, we could have fewer of these incidents."
"I prefer not to do my student's magic for them," Tyr said coolly, and Muriel bristled.
"Then warn them before they Transfigure the desk on accident," Muriel sniped back. "And Ms. Mickelsen, please try to concentrate on what you are turning it into, not what you fear about the beetle."
The girl blushed and nodded, turning her attention back on the beetle. Tyr's narrow gaze lingered on Muriel's back in distaste as she walked away.
"What's up with him?" Lysander asked later, scrunching his nose in distaste. "Professor Angelo's great. I don't get why he doesn't like her."
Fenris was pretty sure he did, but he kept his mouth shut. He didn't want to out Muriel's secret identity.
"Hey! Uh - Lysander!"
They both turned around.
Teddy Lupin was standing behind them, hair slightly windswept and something dangling from his hand. "Hey," he said breathlessly. "I, uh - Harriet dropped this earlier, and I have to go talk with Professor Sprout afterschool about a thing - uh, a project I have, so could one of you give this to her for me?"
Fenris recognized the object, if only for the slight tingle of power around it and the fact that it was dangling from a cord. "I'll take it," he said quietly, holding out his hand.
Teddy dropped the necklace in his hand. "Thanks! She'll probably be in the common room after class - she's probably already noticed it's missing, actually, so if you see her before that-"
"I'll give it to her when I see her."
Teddy grinned. "Right. Okay. Thanks again!" He shot off as quickly as he'd come up behind them, melting into a group of other third years.
Fenris didn't keep walking, one hand tight around the pendant.
"Something wrong?" Lysander questioned.
"It's..." Fenris held up the pendant. The wood was smooth, like it had been rubbed to a neat finish by age. The animal it showed was curled around itself, something between its paws - a ball?
"It's what?"
"Meant to be me." Fenris felt like he'd undone some block by actually saying the words, something loosening in his throat.
"You?" Lysander gave the pendant a skeptical look. "Well, they didn't do a very good job. What is that, a wolf?"
A wolf.
Fenris shoved the pendant into Lysander's hands.
"What-"
"I can't-" Fenris couldn't even put into words why he was suddenly repulsed by this false representation. "I - I have to go, we've got class - you give it to her."
"Fabian, wait-"
Fenris was already moving away.
Lysander stopped at the foot of Fenris's bed. "Does that necklace mean she's pagan?"
Fenris was lying on his side, with his head facing the backboard. He didn't look up at Lysander. "Probably."
"Is that what freaked you out?"
"No," Fenris said. "This isn't the first time I've run into someone who worshipped someone in my family."
"Or you?"
"No. Well, yes, me. I mean that it's not the first time."
"So what was it?"
Fenris curled his hand into the blanket, wrinkling the smooth material. "I'm not a wolf," he said quietly - he snapped his mouth shut when he heard the edge of a growl enter his voice.
"Um," was Lysander's only response. "Obviously?" He moved around to the head of the bed, sitting by Fenris's feet. "How do you know it was you, anyway?"
"I can tell," Fenris said, looking down to meet his eyes. "It's a god thing."
"This isn't weird to you?"
"No. Why?"
"Well..." Lysander hesitated. "If she's, you know-"
"She's not," Fenris said. "It's just the necklace. I would notice anything bigger."
"Really?" Lysander looked curious. "What's that like? Do you just...know?"
Fenris considered the question. "Sort of," he said slowly. "If you knew Norse, maybe I could explain it better."
"Oh." Lysander looked disappointed.
"It's like if you know something," Fenris tried, "but you can't quite remember where you learned it, or who told you. Or seeing someone and recognizing them, even if you've never met before." He sat up, shaking his head. "No, that's stupid. That's not what I meant. It - it's like you know someone, but they don't know you."
"Like seeing someone who looks familiar but you don't know where you saw them before?" Lysander offered.
"Yes! Like that," Fenris said in relief. "I know them when I see them."
"That's pretty cool," Lysander said.
Fenris shrugged, lying back down. He had a mounting headache, and he wished it would go away - it felt like someone was pressing something sharp into his forehead, and no amount of rubbing made the feeling go away.
"You okay?"
"It's nothing," Fenris said, mustering a smile. "I'll be fine by tomorrow.
Review, please!