Chapter 14

Mated?

Year: 1977

James was eventually called up to Albus's office when he was finally deciding the punishment for Lily, Severus and Peter. Harry had been heavily sedated after accidentally rollong off of his bed and his pain had broken through him and he had screamed in pain. He still couldn't get the screams out of his ears. Healer Conner had forced him to leave as she was situating Harry, telling him that she was sedating as she forcefully poured a potion down his throat.

James rode up the moving stairs to Dumbledore's office, very much aware of the fact that anger was steadily filling his chest cavity. When he reached Dumbledore's office door, he knocked a bit too hard, but he didn't care. 'How could those guys deliberately hurt Adrian?' was what consumed his thoughts.

"Come in, Mr. Potter." James opened the door and was greeted witht he sight of Sirius, Peter and Lily all looking shamefaced, heads hanging, and sitting on the left side of Dumbledore's desk. Severus and Remus sat on the other side, both of them looking quite angry. Professors McGonnagal and Slughorn stood behind Dumbledore, angry expressions on their faces.

"Mr. Potter, thank you for joining us." Dumbledore then paused, frowning slightly. "Are you okay my boy?" he asked gently. James walked over and sat in the only empty seat in the room, in between the two groups of students.

"No sir, I'm not." James said softly. McGonnagal looked worried for a moment.

"Maybe you should go back to the infirmary?" she suggested, but James shook his head.

"No, I don't think I could listen to Adrian's screams anymore." James's lips trembled and Dumbledore gave him a sharp look.

"I thought that Torosa had him stabilized and suitably numbed?" he demanded. James shook his head.

"He's immune to numbing spells and potions, so he can feel everything that touches him, and he told me that it's like being under a-a-" James paused, swallowing, feeling tears pricking in the corners of his eyes. "Like being under a cruciatus curse, only worse." All three teacher's eyes widened. "And he accidentally fell off of his bed just before I came up." James clenched his hands, closing his eyes and fighting down the tears. "I-I-I've never heard another human being scream like that sir. It was like something inside of me shattered and a thousands knives pierced my heart and brain, and my eardrums exploded, and I could feel everything that he could feel. And when I-I tried to help him, it-it-it jusy hurt him even more!" Tears leaked from his eyes. He then turned on Sirius and them.

"How could you do this to him? He's never done anything like this to you! Hasn't he been through enough? He's just lost all of his friends and family and everyone that he knows! He's been driven so deep into depression before that he tried to kill himself! No one deserves to have gone through what he's gone through! No one! And then you guys go and do this to him! Why? Why did you do this to him?" They all stared at James before Lily's chin began to quiver, Sirius looked dumbfounded, and all color had drained from Peter's face.

"They said that they did it for you, Potter." Severus's voice was quiet. James turned to look at him, and for once in his life, he didn't see Snivellus, he saw Severus Snape, one of the smartest boys in his year. "That it was revenge for making you contemplate suicide." James stared at him before turning on the others, standing up so fast that his chair shot out backwards.

"For me! You did this for me? You idiots! Don't you realize that it was Adrian that stopped me from killing myself?" James screamed. Silence fell in the office.

"What?" Lily finally ventured to ask. James was furious. He was so furious, that he was seeing red, his magic was barely kept in control, and he almost hadn't heard Lily's question because the blood in his veins was pumping too loudly in his ears.

"That's right! He walked in on me slitting my wrists! It wasn't you who stopped me, Lily! It wasn't you Sirius! And it definitely wasn't you, Peter! It was Adrian! He stopped me! And guess what, Lily, it was you who supplied me with the knife! Remember when you brought me lunch on the day that my parents died? You left the knife on the window sill next to me, and when I finally worked up the courage to do it, Adrian walked in. He was the one who stopped and healed me!" Everyone was staring at him still, horror in their eyes, and realization dawned on the three who could have potentially killed one of their werewolf friends.

"Now, unlike you three, I'm going to go look out for my friend, Adrian Rowthings. Not only is he my friend, he's my family." It was then that Remus and Sirius remembered that Harry was in fact James's son, which only caused Sirius to feel even guiltier, and Remus wondered how on earth James had figured that out. "Because he's pack."

James left Dumbledore's office, leaving eight stunned individuals behind. No one noticed a certain phoenix named Fawkes taking of off from his perch and going out of the only window in the entire office. But they did notice an infuriated Remus and Severus leaving the room, not sparing a glance towards the three shocked students.

Fawkes glided through the air as he descended from Dumbledore's office window and then caught an updraft that led him to the infirmary. Since all of the windows were closed, he pictured the inside of the infirmary and appeared inside, three beds down frowm where Adrian was whimpering pathetically.

It had already been discussed earlier up in Dumbledore's office by Torosa and Dumbledore in front of Sirius, Remus, Lily, Peter, and Severus that it would be impossible to heal Harry since he had not yet had his first transformation which meant that he had still yet to fully transform, which meant that the healing potions wouldn't work on him, so he would have to spend the remainder of time from the day to the full moon, suffering from his exposed nerve endings.

Fawkes fluttered down to the bed of the poor, suffering boy, who opened his eyes wearily and spotted Fawkes. He smiled painfully.

"Hey Fawkes, how're you?" he managed to mumble. Fawkes then knew that this boy was very important and that he would need to keep an eye on this boy to make sure that he remained safe. It wasn't his words, or his actions, it was the look in his eyes. Innocence under so much pain and suffering, and not just physically, mentally as well. Fawkes shed a tear and it landed on Harry's hand, which instantly regrew skin. Harry smiled, examined his healed hand.

"Thanks Fawkes, but it's not necessary. I'll be fine. You should save your tears for someone really important and needs them more. I'm going to go to sleep now, Fawkes. I'm sure that she dosed that last glass of water with sleeping potion." Harry yawned. "Night Fawkes."

After Harry went to sleep and before James came into the Hospital Wing, Fawkes shed some of his tears onto a skin growth potion that Torosa would most likely have him drink in the morning. The potion turned blue for a moment before returning to a light pink color. Fawkes sung out a couples of notes before he fluttered up into the air, and with one last look at the sleeping boy on the bed, he burst into flames, disappearing from the hospital wing.

The next morning after he woke up, Healer Conner had forced him to drink a numbing potion and a skin regrowth potion. She had then wrapped his hands in some bandages to he would be able to read a book that James and Remus had dropped off for him that morning while he was still asleep.

It was called Myths & Facts about Werewolves by Tony McFurry. It had everything in it that a werewolf would ever need to know about himself/herself. He was currently in the introduction where the author, who was obviously not a werewolf, was apologizing for the events that led up to "whoever" was reading his book. The author wasn't sorry, he was obviously getting the royalties off of this book, after all.

"Mr. Rowthings, it appears that, that potion has been helping you. Your face is almost completely healed, and your arm as well." Harry jerked out of his reading and turned to look at Healer Conner. He blinked at her.

"But I thought that you said that the potion wouldn't work because I haven't gone through my first full moon yet?" Harry asked. She frowned and she came over and gently prodded his cheek. Harry hissed, but it didn't hurt as much as he had expected it to. It actually felt more like a bruise, and he had had plenty of experience with bruises, so he was able to stand the pain.

"You're right, the potions shouldn't have been working, but who am I to argue with results? Oh my!" Healer Conner's attention was drawn. "What happened to you poor dears?"

"Transfiguration accident. He made his porcupine explode." A fifth year explained, and Healer Conner was drawn away to help the poor student. Harry blinked. Neville had never made his porcupine explode.

"What's your name again, dear?" Healer Conner asked and she began to magic away the quills.

"Frank. Frank Longbottom, ma'am." Harry blinked. Wow, no wonder Neville was so clumsy when it came to magic. He then went back to his book, no longer taking heed of his surroundings.

He became so absorbed in his book, so much so that he hadn't realized the passage of time. He hadn't even realized that it was lunch time until Severus plunked his lunch down in front of him, making him jump a foot high and throwing his book. Severus smirked at him.

"Jumpy?" he asked snidely. Harry shot him a death glare.

"Go fetch my book!" Severus blinked at him and then raised an eyebrow at him, reminding him deathly of the older man who would one day become his father and potions professor.

"And what makes you think that I'll go fetch your book?"

Harry had his wand in his hand and had it barely touching the tip of his father's nose. He smirked at Severus in an evil way. It was one of the smirks that instantly makes you think "oh-shit." Severus gulped, not realizing that it would one day be the same exact same smirk that he wore on his face while he watched his students suffer in detention.

"Because I know more hexes that'll make you suffer indescribable pain than you could ever hope to conceive of dreaming about." Harry informed him happily with a slight menacing threat to his voice. Severus scowled and went to get Harry's book, which had managed to fly about four beds over to the left from where Harry's bed was, which Harry thought was odd since he was right handed.

Remus and James walked in right as Severus was handing him his book. Remus smiled and nudged James in the ribs, giving him a meaningful look. James let out a sigh, remembering the talk that he and Remus had had the night before. The talk about how James would try to be nice to Severus Snape. If not because he was Harry's friend, but also because Severus had also stood up for Harry.

"So what are you reading?" Severus asked conversationally. James stopped Remus, wanting to see how the Gryffindor and Slytherin acted together when they thought that they were alone. He wanted to see exactly how good of a friend Severus was compared to himself, but he wouldn't acknowledge that out loud.

"Myths & Facts about Werewolves by Tony McFurry. If you ask me, his name's misleading." Harry informed Severus drily. Severus chuckled.

"Many names of aithors are." Severus paused. "Why are you reading that?" Harry looked up in surprise, and tried to remember if he had told Severus that he was a werewolf and came to the startling conclusion that he hadn't. He had thought that he had told all of his friends, but apparently not.

"I um, I was bitten by a werewolf right before, um, right before I came here." Harry almost stuttered nervously, afraid of his father's reaction. He remembered his father's behavior towards Remus back in his third year. Severus stared at him, blinking rapidly.

"You're a werewolf?" he almost croaked. Harry winced, waiting for the explosion. Remus also tensed, waiting for the impeding explosion too, and James readied himself to run to Harry's rescue from an outraged Slytherin. Severus seemed to pause, pull himself back in, and sat down heavily in the chair next to Harry's bed. He seemed to struggle with himself, and then let out a huge, long, heavy sigh. Harry forced an eye open, saw Severus's positioning in the chair, his slumped posture, and his bewildered expression before screwing up his face in a confused look, opening his other eye as well. He stared at Severus, waiting for anything, everthing, something.

"I want to blow up on you like I did with Lupin," Severus began, but looked up at Harry and gave him a tired grin. "But I can't. Maybe it's because you're here in the Hospital Wing, maybe it's because you were my friend before I found out, maybe it's because there hasn't been a full moon yet, and most likely becayse it's because I haven't seen you as a werewolf." Harry stared at his father.

"You're not going to freak out on me? You're not going to call me a mangy beast? A freak of nature? A flea bitten mutt? You're not going to run screaming out of here and tell everyone what I am?" Harry asked, completely astounded. Severus blinked at him, a look of realization passing over his face, and then he slowly grinned.

"No. No I'm not." Severus said softly.

Outside of the hearing range of the two boys, the aspiring potions master and the time traveler who would one day become father and son, teacher and pupil, two friends, a werewolf and a teenage boy, stared at them in wonder. Remus turned to look at James.

"Lets go to the library." he whispered softly. James nodded, feeling numb. Severus was a better friend than he was! Even he had made a remark about Harry being a werewolf. He allowed Remus to gently lead him away.

Inside of the infirmary, Severus gave Harry a sharp look. "I may be all ight with you being a werewolf now, but I might not be after the full moon." Harry nodded, feeling the sadness and pain rush into his heart.

"It's okay. After what you did to Remus, I can't say I fully expected you to accept me. Hey, after I'm done reading this, you can barrow it. It might help you understand Remus and me a little better. You should head to class, you know." Harry tapped the cover of the book. A hurt look crossed Severus's face.

"Oh, okay. See you later then, Adrian." Harry watched Severus go, knowing that he had hurt his father in someway.

"Bye Severus. Oh, and Severus?" Harry called. Severus turned around and gave him a hopeful look that was partially masked with boredom.

"Yeah Adrian?"

"Thanks for trying to accept me. It means a lot." Harry gave him a gentle look. "Not even James was able to accept me fully." The look on Severus's face made Harry feel like the richest and happiest man in the world.

"It's nothing, Adrian. I'll see you after my classes." Severus waved and left. Harry grinned, found his spot in the book, and continued to read until Healer Conner came to give him his check-up. She beamed as she poked and podded his new sin.

"I'm so happy that, that healing potion worked. I hadn't expected it to, but it did. Lets see, at this rate, you should be able to leave in a couple of days. You should feel happy, young man. Not even Mr. Lupin is out of this infirmary that fast after a bad full moon." Right then, some seventh years came in with three moaning and groaning, beaten up and bloody students. Healer Conner turned right towards them quickly. "What happened my dears?" she demanded quickly.

"They got into a fight in the courtyard over Ashley Prowtin's hairbrush that she accidentally left behind." a red haired boy explained. Healer Conner tutted and promptly began to help the three boys. Harry watched them before returning back to his book. He was getting into the part about mates.

What most don't understand about werewolf mates is that they aren't like other magical creatures with mates. While with other magical creatures, they don't ever have to have seen, met, or heard of their mate before, while with a werewolf, you must already have a connection with them, or develop one before puberty strikes. A werewolve's mate could end up being his greatest friend, his worst enemy, or even an already made lover and/or significant other.

That is one of the dangers of becoming a werewolf. A man who is already married and is bitten by a werewolf could potentially end up being mated with his best friend rather than with his wife, even if they already have several children. And even worse is, is the fact that a werewolf cannot go longer than five years without their mate in a sexual manner. The longer the werewolf goes without his mate, the more painful the need becomes, and if the mate comes near the werewolf, and the human part of the werewolf is unwilling, the wolf will take over to be with the mate. If the werewolf does not come near his mate within five years, he will go insane and within two years of going insane, will kill himself, and if prevented, the vital organs in the body will begin to fail.

A great deal of the time, the mate of the werewolf will be a magical creature because in the human form, the human normally subconsciously feels the need to be controlled since they are uncontrollable during the full moon. Even if the werewolf form is an alpha male or alpha female, they will normally have a dominant partner. Most magical creatures who have mates are normally dominant, except for veela's, werecat's, and the occasional male sylph. Werewolves are always submissive in thier human forms.

It's rare, but sometimes a werewolf will be mated to another magical creature before they are bitten and normally it takes place when either of them hit their sixteenth birthday and they become moody, have unexplainable personality fluxes, moodswings of the most extreme types, and deep dark depressions until they have mated.

Harry stopped reading, frowning. That was odd. He knew that he had changed almost unrecognizably since he had gone to America, but he had thought that it was because of the life changing experience, but he had also been having mood swings since he had been bitten and had become a little moody lately. Like when he had been with Lily, now that he thought back on it, he realized that he had been flirting with her when he had just been trying to be friendly and to get to know his mom. He had been moody, like over reacting with James and screaming at him on the day that James's parents had died, and when he had seen Lily and Severus walk past him to go snog up in the astronomy tower. Was it possible that he had been mated before he had been bitten

"Hey, Adrian, how's it going?" Harry looked up to see James and Remus walking in. He smiled, and ecided to think about things later.

Sorry, I lost the answers temporarily.

Hey, has anyone else noticed that in all of the pictures of Harry from the books, Harry's holding his wand in his left hand, but on the first book cover he's catching the snitch with his right? I thought it was amusing.